[The Odd One Out -- A Reborn Adventure]

@Evi Crystal: Yes... it's a lot of the point of this entire section. And the nastier bits are still to come, obviously.

 

Also, the thread has now over 5000 views and 35 chapters. I wasn't confident I'd keep going on when I started (slightly less than a year ago), but well, here it is. Thank you to all of you who read!

 

So... new chapter. If you've followed the status posts (or discord maybe? I don't remember), you've read that the Shade chapters were a bit of a headache during summer break, and that I had to, er, rework them quite a bit. It might be somewhat weirder than you expected it to be. 

 

Also, I'm really unsure about how the dialog is handled, so don't hesitate to comment on that. 

 

And I'll stop delaying now, enjoy!

 

 

 

Chapter 35: Nigh Nightmares

 

Spoiler

Dr. Sigmund Connal was worried. He didn't exercise any exposed position, but he was some sort of authority in Reborn City, and, in such wretched times as those he lived in, he had developed at least some instinct about politics. As such, he was aware just how catastrophic the events of this day were. 

 

The consequences were clear as day to him. He could see the different institutions of Reborn City at odds with each other, trying to shift the blame for their own inept management of the city, their dreadful planning, their senseless budgets, and their dismal attempts at turning around the downward spiral the city was trapped in. Very quickly, however, they would focus on the most convenient scapegoat, the Orphanage itself. 

 

Everything would go downhill from there. The negative publicity would result in drastic budget cuts directly detrimental to the way the Orphanage was run. He was forced to do so much with so little already... The funds allocated to the battle arena, an important part for the Gym Leader kids' very personal therapies and enjoyment, had not been actually delivered, and the workers would not do their job without pay. And the League had deemed the matter settled months ago, when they had finally managed to convince the Budget department, after a bureaucratic battle of over a year!

 

Speaking of Anna, Noel and Charlotte... He knew how pointless it was, but he couldn't help thinking of the events, trying to find where he had made a mistake, how he could have corrected it, what other decisions he could have taken... Because of course they would have headed for their top-notch Pokemon first, before using them to leave! It was obvious in retrospect. But what could he have done? He couldn't have committed all the Orderlies to protecting these Pokemon in the first place, it didn't make any sense!

 

He only managed to change his course of thoughts to consider again the consequences of the kidnapping. Because not only would it all undo all the work he had put into the Orphanage and all the good it did, but, if these kids spoke, they would misrepresent reality... Thus destroying all the work he had done to help normalize mental health issues as genuine issues for people to seek advice for. All these people suffering from the effects on their minds of their hostile living conditions... they would go back to ignoring their issues, not acknowledging them... What a waste. 

 

Even worse, those kids... Of course they were sweet, but they were blatantly unsuited to living in the real, unsheltered world. Only fools would consider their issues mild! Anna was having severe and nigh-permanent perceptory hallucinations, for Uxie's sake. Charlotte was prone to impulses and terrible anger crises -- it was barely surprising she had tried to burn him when let loose with her Pokemon. And Heather... was heartbreaking. Doubtlessly as a last-ditch way to shelter herself from abusive parenting, she was living in an imaginary world where she fancied herself as a hero blessed with the mission to thwart evil. Except that with that Salamence of hers, she just didn't have the means to tell reality and fiction apart... and she would badly hurt herself. 

 

Not to mention that Charlotte was one of the oldest kids in the Orphanage, and, for all her faults, she was a dear, "big sis" figure to most the children there, and there was no telling what her leaving on her own might do to them. Not that she really cared, but he did. 

 

Bottom line, he needed these kids back. For their own sake -- and his, and the Orphanage's, if the scandal could still be avoided. He didn't like what he was about to do, but he didn't believe he had any other choice. He dialed a number on the phone. 

 

"This is Dr. Connal speaking. According to our agreement, you owe me."

 

 

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

"Hi Cain," I said with mostly pretend enthusiasm and genuine surprise as I stumbled upon him in the railnet tunnels. 

"Gabriel?" he asked, also surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you do, I suppose." I answered with resignation, wondering if Ame had directed me to the tunnels on purpose. "I'm trying to leave Reborn City."

"Why?" Cain asked, baffled. "You... didn't do anything."

"No," I retorted sadly, "but you did. And I'm involved in the story anyway, and I'm a foreigner suspiciously involved in many of the city's tribulations, so I'm going to be a target as soon as it hits the news."

 

"Wow, that's paranoid." Cain commented.

"Not my idea, it was Ame's." I corrected. "Anyway, where are the kids?"

"There's a large shut door a bit further. Shelly thinks the switch is in the old Yureyu power plant, across the Beryl Bridge. So I'm going there."

"And you're letting all of them alone in the tunnels for hours, at night?" I asked, the realization and its implications setting in.

"Why do you care? You wanted nothing to do with this."

"I do care about all this. I thought things would be best fixed by informing the League... not by taking justice into your own hands." I sighed, "I don't think it helps with Reborn's current unstability. Nor is it, I think, really fairer than the current system."

 

"How can you say that?" Cain replied, puzzled. "You saw the note as well as I did. We couldn't let these kids there. If you ask me, it's a good thing if the Orphanage is shut down."

"Yes, but now the political crisis is going to strike the city and it really doesn't need that. If the city is weakened, it certainly won't have time or money to help all the other orphaned children. I don't think their fate will be more enviable. Anyway," I went on tiredly, "I've got a bike, so I can probably get to Yureyu a lot faster than you can. And you're the oldest of the group, I assume, so you'd better stay with them."

"Well," Cain retorted, "now, you're the oldest, I suppose."

"They don't know me. They'll trust you to be with them, more than me."

"All right, if you insist, I guess I can ask them."

 

"Cain," I asked, struck by a thought. "Do you have anything to stay the night here? I don't know, blankets, food? Do you even have a plan after that?"

"You didn't want to have anything to do with this. Certainly I shouldn't tell you that."

"Let me put it differently." I sighed. "Say the group accepts that I go there and open your door -- I take it you can't blast it by the way? Do you want me to bring you back some snacks and maybe a couple of blankets... just in case?"

"We're trying not to be noticed by the whole city, and not to be crushed by the collapsing tunnel either, so we're not blasting through anything." Cain articulated very distinctly. "But if the others accept, I'd love for you to help us. I knew you couldn't resist me." he winked, smirking.

 

 

 

Whatever.

 

"So can you go ask them? By the way, ask Shelly if she wants some other books. I may take a stroll in the Beryl Library."

 

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

The very quick and less than optimal shopping for supplies for Cain, Shelly and the others was tense, as I was expecting each time a squad of police officers coming for me, to interrogate the whereabouts of the kids out of me. Being at the Beryl Library was ample compensation for this fright, but it couldn't lessen the apprehension I was feeling as I was crossing the Beryl Bridge. 

 

That accursed place. There I had failed to save Corey from himself. There I had seen his body plunge into the dark night, my fingers unable, by so tiny a margin, to grab his shoes. It wasn't as dark as then, but it was certainly night, and I was definitely spooked. The caws of dread, coming from invisible sources, that I had been hearing every night since didn't help either. Perhaps I was already insane, imagining them. 

 

The other side of Beryl Bridge didn't do much to soothe my uneasiness. It was sinister, derelict. Southwards, there seemed to be a steep path towards a more mountainous area, which was, according to my Pokegear, the start of Citrine Mountain. That wasn't the way I was going -- I had to go the the main building on that side of the bridge, the now-abandoned Yureyu power plant. 

 

It wasn't a pleasant sight. At some point, the building might have been a sight of power, of optimism, of growth, but nothing of that aura was left. Now, it was deserted, silent. Nobody even pretended to tend to it; the painting mostly didn't exist any more and the walls themselves cracked. It hardly seemed like the right place to turn power on to make something happen. 

 

And yet, perhaps it was. The former power plant seemed to match the rest of Reborn City -- a place who had stopped living, but whose inertia allowed for a very, very drawn-out death. As I was readying to enter, I heard the caws grow stronger, closer to me, and finally recognized a Murkrow rushing me. I ducked to avoid it, but the Pokemon didn't give up, and soon enough it was soaring, making a U-turn and flying at me, cawing all the way. 

 

If there isn't a way to shut you up... I thought.

 

I started to feverishly rummage through my bag, until I found a Great Ball, but I was forced to roll again as the ill-omen bird was on me, and I threw it as soon as it was clear from me, stopping its momentum altogether. The ball shook a bit, in a still, even more disturbing silence, then froze. 

 

 

And now, alas, there wasn't any reason to delay entering the power plant. 

The interior was very dark, already enough to put me on edge, but that wasn't the worst of it. The lights weren't inactive altogether... There were small fluctuations, and, very occasionally, a rare, blinding flash of light, with an ominous sizzling noise, that made everything pitch black for the next seconds. 

 

Greetings, Gabriel, I heard in a blood-chillingly close whisper. 

 

I turned around frantically, trying to escape at once. I couldn't bear them, but I was on edge enough to recognize a horror-movie setup when I was in one. Even though I hadn't watched a single one.

 

"Mr. Shadow?" I asked, while silently turning on myself, trying to locate the door. It wouldn't do to rush blindly, precipitating the events, in a wrong direction. 

Yes, the same whisper answered from just as close, as if it was in my ear. 

There! There the door was. I could simply push it open, but I had to at least make an honest effort to get the tunnel clear.

 

"I'm coming on Anna's part." I answered, conforming myself to Cain's instructions. "Um... Can you please turn the power on in the abandoned railnet tunnels, to let her and her group open the door that blocks them?"

 

 

I can, was Mr. Shadow's answer. But I will not... he added, and went silent for what seemed like hours. Yet.

 

The situation was becoming less and less comfortable to me, but he was begging for the question I had to ask. 

"Why not?"

Mr. Shadow's silence was almost palpable, and it terrified me. If he was dangerous, I tried to reason, would they have sent me without any warning? Probably not. 

But what if I had misjudged them? What if they were all indeed insane?

No, I decided. Way too unlikely. Which didn't mean that Mr. Shadow was even remotely safe.

 

"Please," I insisted. "They're children in the cold, humid tunnels. Don't let them stay there for the night."

 

 

Come and find me, then, it exhaled. 

 

I heard the noise of a door locking. Oh no! Cursing myself for offering to replace Cain, I rushed as fast as I could to the doors of the plant, but they were locked, as I had feared. I was now alone, in the ominous darkness of the forsaken building, without available exit. 

 

I didn't want to move, least of all without reliable lighting, or, just maybe, a way to trace back my steps to the exit. So I could just try and break through the doors, with whichever Pokemon I had. But this meant quitting the mission, failing all these children. I... couldn't bring myself to do that. Not yet, as Mr. Shadow would have said. I could just remain there, where I was safest, and simply wear out my, well, host's patience -- if they were mostly of goodwill, as I fervently hoped, maybe they would give in and unlock the tunnel doors if it was clear I wasn't about to play their game. Or I could play said game. 

 

As pleasant (and most of all safe) as the second option sounded, I was rather confident it wouldn't work. The first option, of course, make the situation complicated for the kids below... So I didn't actually have a choice. How familiar, I mentally sighed. I wasn't even sure to be able to find my way back... 

 

Note to self: get a lot of rope for the next times. 

 

Correction: try to act so that there is no next time. 

 

So, hating every inch I was moving, I obeyed Mr. Shadow, and tried to find him. The atmosphere of the plant was supremely unnerving, with its almost permanent near-pitch blackness and short, unpleasantly noisy flashes of light. Danger in any form, a monstrous, aggressive Pokemon, or even a PULSE, a mad guy, a Meteor strike team, Corey's hateful ghost, or even a wall, any of them could be lurking within three feet of me, ready and eager to kill, devor or otherwise torment me at their whim. 

 

What was even worse was that the power plant wasn't, as I had believed, entirely dismantled. There was some remnant of energy within, which provoked bursts of static electricity at some of the times I tried feeling the machinery (to make sure I wasn't heading into a wall). Each time this happened, I started and cautiously looked around, with the meager hope to spot any threats, which was an improvement from the first time -- where I couldn't keep myself from stepping back a couple of paces, having a small yelp and panickedly looking around. 

 

In this oppressive silence, an agressive unpredictability of sensory inputs, a mind-dissolving straight-line labyrinth of mostly imaginary hurdles, I had no choice but go on, dreading every step that somehow resounded against my best judgement, and trying my hardest to suppress the full-body shivers my own recklessness was giving me.

 

For the briefest instant, the lights went stable, and the bright image of a red-haired woman, looking sickly somehow appeared. I was too surprised to process what happened to her, but one moment she was standing, and the next one she was falling like a doll, as if all strength had left her. 

What? Who was she? Was she... dead?

 

Nice try... I felt, more than I heard, this whisper in a chill of cold air, which made me jump again and turn around, trying fruitlessly to spot whoever was... well, toying with me. 
Bastard, I thought. Probably.

 

Search again...

 

I realized by feel that I was in a dead end, and turned around, slightly more confident, because it was an area I had explored. I moved on, trying to feel my way around as little as possible to avoid the static electricity, but my newfound confidence was soon undercut by ominously cold drafts, that could have meant the building was broken but for the fact that they seemingly came from various directions. And with the drafts, came hurling voices, with various tones, out of sync with one another, so that whatever they were half-shouting, half-whispering was unintelligible. drove me to desperately try and spot whoever spoke them and whom I couldn't find. 

 

Despite my frantic but fruitless attempts to try and spot whoever was speaking, I uneasily moved on, but I called Leaf around, to try and make some small light, which actually helped. But paradoxically, this small light made the surrounding darkness look even more dangerous, more menacing, by a clearer distinction between the known (a couple of feet in radius) and the unknown (everything else). The drafts were definitely more talkative now, more numerous, which wasn't reassuring in the slightest. It sounded like a crescendo of some sort. And in the dim light which Leaf produced, I could feel, almost see, the shadows gathering, organizing, for a terrible assault, and the sync between their spectral voices seemed to improve. 

 

... Skull ... chions...
Viv... Life...
That... Heart...

 

There seemed to be an odd reflection in the light before me, suggesting that perhaps, I may be at the end of the corridor. The whispers and drafts might have been suggesting that Mr. Shadow should be close -- and it was something I both dreaded and hoped for. 

 

And on the pedestal these words appear:

 

Another startlingly bright flash of light, and I could see the profile of a standing ageless woman with very unusual, long, emerald green hair. 

My name is Ozymandias, king of kings, the wind voice came to a climax. 

 

 

She turned slowly to face me, and she had a look so odd, so unnerving, so inhuman, that I stepped back. But as I was doing so, she was slowly being enveloped in a cocoon of white light -- which somehow didn't even light the Power Plant. 

 

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

 

And she simply exploded. 

 

Nothing ...sides ...ains. 

 

The first word was already lower than the previous ones, and the next ones were almost drowned in the sudden desynchronization, and loss of intensity, of the drafts. The little "game" of hide-and-seek wasn't over. Or was that what Mr. Shadow wanted me to think? To draw me further into their lair? Did I even have a choice?

 

There's no better place than the darkness to pace to think. But for that, you need a secure darkness -- your dark bedroom would work. In hostile darkness, you can freeze -- but if you're forced to move, you're suddenly forced to confront thousand of hidden terrors, would-be nightmares, because you're pretty sure they're not actually there... Just that pretty sure wasn't nearly sure enough. 

 

Such was the line of thought I was trying to keep following as I trod even deeper in the plant, to help prevent myself from focusing on my own would-be nightmares. But it was becoming harder and harder to not lose track, as it seemed that some malicious entity from the building itself was conspiring for the whole structure to be more and more nerve-racking until I could but break down. The lighting and overall static electricity were getting increasingly chaotic. The unnerving silence was slowly being replaced by an irregular humming, out of sync with the lighting, which was even more unnerving, if possible. 

 

It was in this mental state that I had a third vision. For once, I was able to recognize someone: it was a tall young woman with long blue-dyed hair, the Water-type Leader, Amaria. She was standing on a tiny rocky headland in a large river overhanging a huge waterfall... The picture was so vivid that my mind supplied on its own the sound of water. And nothing seemed to happen for a while, so I was free to look at her face. She looked... more than sad, far beyond sadness. She looked utterly hopeless, and in the instant I realized what, unfortunately, had to happen next. In spite of the background sprint of a red-haired young woman, about her age, Amaria, without a look back, threw herself into the emptiness. 

 

No!

 

It took me a while to realize that what I had witnessed wasn't the truth, couldn't have just been happening. How could it be? Given the nature of this forsaken place, it was much more likely to be a malignant illusion. The Amaria I had met... just wouldn't act like that, right? RIGHT?

 

Character rates:

Spoiler

Cain: 4.5/10 (minor increase). At least he's not resenting my choice of getting involved as little as possible. If he chose to keep the kids out of the Orphanage, I'm certainly not letting him leave them for an errand I can do myself. But Arceus knows he can be annoying at times. 

 

Mr. Shadow: 3/10. I'm quite freaked out there. Help, anyone?

 

Anna: 4/10 (-1). What was she thinking (or whichever mental process she undertook to make a decision) when she decided to get that aforementioned... whatever... involved?

 

[The Odd One Out -- A Reborn Adventure]

Here's the new chapter, we're ending the Orphanage arc here. Which, alas, leaves us to deal with the consequences afterwards...

 

Something something Shade fight something something Azurine something something screenshots something something Amaria something something Blacksteam

 

(don't pay attention, that's just my subconscious complaining about the next chapters not coming too smoothly -- but it'll work out in the end). 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 34: Breaking Out

 

Spoiler

Lapis Orphanage, about 5 pm

 

 

There had been rather many Orderlies determined to beat Shelly to stop the intrusion. But thanks to Noel's Clefable preventing them from hitting her Pokemon, her team had been able to somewhat set up. At that point, it would have taken much more than sequences of three uncoordinated Orderlies to beat her, even unaided by the Clefable. 

 

In the last few battles, Noel's fairy had instead taken to playing a Metronome where the beat was given by Shelly's Pokemon hitting their opponents. It didn't help either that it was raining in the entrance hall, which tended to be very demotivating to the defenders. All in all, she, with Noel's help, had probably defeated over fifteen Orderlies and was starting to tire. Fortunately, none of them seemed to arrive anymore, as all of them were healing their Pokemon; this was the best moment for the two children to join Cain and the others in the Circuit. 

 

 

Cain definitely hadn't been idle on his side. But his fights had been much more uphill than Shelly's, as he didn't have a much bulkier Pokemon to endure all the enemy hits while his team members were setting up. Shelly and Noel realized their mistake when they found that Cain, Anna and Charlotte were under attack in the corridor on both sides. Cain's Nidoking and Primarina fought forward, while his Alolan Muk and Alolan Marowak were the rearguard.  

 

The orderlies attacking from behind soon found themselves overwhelmed when Shelly's Bug Pokemon joined Cain's Alolan Pokemon to team up on them. 

 

"What took you so long?" Charlotte complained over the battle, annoyed at the newcomers. 
"Be reasonable, Charlotte." one of the Orderlies, trapped between Cain's Pokemon and Shelly's, said. "You know you can't win."
"I wasn't talking to you." the teenage redhead snapped. "Get out."

 

It was in this moment that a bolder, stealthier, and stronger Orderly grabbed Noel's relaxed arms from behind and dragged him back, prompting him to panickedly shout:

 

"Get the Pokemon!" 

 

Alarmed, Shelly turned back, and, upon seeing Noel being captured, sent her Masquerain. But the Orderly was already retreating, paying close attention to keep Noel between him and Shelly's Pokemon. Noel, Shelly observed, wasn't bothering to struggle.

 

But he was right, she thought. He couldn't possibly compete with the Orderly, and his being taken did not compromise their intermediate objective, getting hold of the Pokemon. So, as repulsive and cowardly as the idea could have sounded -- she was positive that Strider never would have acted this way, but she was also aware that there wasn't a single resemblance between her and the hero -- instead of rushing to Noel's rescue, she went on fighting the Orderlies separating her from the rest of the group, while her Masquerain, now very aware of the danger, was watching her back. 

Soon enough, her opponents were forced to give up and retreat, with all three of Shelly's Pokemon and Cain's duo ensuring they played fair. 

 

"Th-they t-took Noel." Shelly stuttered when reuniting with Charlotte, Anna and Cain. 
"It's okay," Anna said, managing to be upbeat and soothing simultaneously. "We are going to get him back."
"I think," Cain said, "that it's time we start to battle for real. Are you with me, Shelly?"
"I-I am."

 

Now that the pressure was slightly relieved, Cain was starting to sing:

 

Me and my friends are gonna do it right, you'll never see us running away from a fight... 

 

"You're singing at a time like this?" Charlotte asked, baffled. "You really are a regular magical princess, aren't you?"
"Some day, my prince will come and sweep me away!" was Cain's answer. "Charlotte, dear, be my prince?"

 

For once, Charlotte found herself at a loss for words, while Cain and Shelly's combined efforts drove away the last team of orderlies. Cain leaned against the nearby wall and sighed in relief. 

 

"I think," he said, "that I'm going to take a break now."
"Princess," Charlotte told him, "we still need to get our Pokemon. You'll take your break when you'll have allies."
"Shelly's more than up to the task." Cain pointed out, shutting his eyes as if to take a micro-nap. 
"Shelly battles well," Charlotte replied, "but there's no way she's going to bully anyone into giving us our Pokemon. At least, lend me your Nidoking."
"All right, I'll do it." Cain sighed and pushed himself off the wall. He went ahead with Charlotte, his Nidoking walking with a dark look. 

 

Shelly was following the exchange and instinctively knew, as Charlotte was speaking, that she was right. She could battle, she knew, but she couldn't really fight, with all the prosaic reality that was implied. Of course, these weren't the terms in which she was thinking. She was thinking of how she hadn't been able to protect Heather from the Doctor, how Noel had been snatched without her being able to react... She was obviously useless, and kept around because of... what?

 

"You're really strong, Shelly!" Anna went to compliment her, warm and cheerful as ever. "Want to be friends?"

 

 

 

"F-Friends? But I..." Shelly stuttered, surprised at how Anna could want to befriend a failure such as herself. "But I-I'm a t-terrible friend."
"No, you're not! You're here to rescue Heather, aren't you?" Anna contradicted her. "That's not what a terrible friend does."
"But Charlotte... says... " Shelly managed to articulate. 
"Charlotte isn't realizing how many Orderlies you kept off our back. If it weren't for you, I'm not sure Cain would have been able to hold, even though he's good. So, I know you already have many friends, but there's room for one more, right?" Anna explained before going back to the topic at hand. 

 

There was the sound of something hitting a wall or a partition very fast, and Charlotte snapped loudly: "Open the door, or you're next."

"B-But I don't have many friends..." Shelly protested weakly at the strange girl. 
"Of course you do! Can't you see all the strings?"
"S-strings?" Shelly asked in a quiet voice. 
"Charlotte, you know you can't have your..." an adult voice said, before being cut off by the sound of a massive slap. 
"Every time a friendship is formed, an invisible thread is tied between two people. Only, I can see them! And you have so many around you! I've never seen so many! There must be a lot of people who really care about you." Anna explained.
"Really?" Shelly asked in a tiny voice. 
"Yeah! And it's one more, since we're friends now!"
"Did we miss something?" Cain asked, his hands holding three belts full of Pokeballs, as he was coming back with Charlotte who was watching her own Pokeballs. "Here are your Pokeballs, Anna. Now what's the plan?"
"Heather is in session with the Doctor. So we have to disable the locks leading up there. I think the control systems are in the Doctor's private library." Anna said without missing a beat, as if she had known this all along. 
"And there was the spare key of that library nearby, so I took it." Charlotte added smugly. 
"So let's go!" Cain said. 

 

The funny thing, they realized, was that in their little group of four, one person was craving battling and had quite missed it. The other thing that both Cain and Shelly realized was that Charlotte was really strong, strong enough to beat the both of them without a sweat. Her style might have been rather straightforward, but the results were spectacular. The Orderlies had run away on the ground floor after seeing her Darmanitan. 

 

Here we are in a new adventure, Cain sang. Danger lurks somewhere in the darkness...

 

Using the key she had found inside the Circuit, Charlotte didn't have any trouble at all to break into the Doctor's private library. The lock to the therapy room had been found and disabled without any issues either. Then she started cleansing the second floor with what probably were years of barely bottled frustration, as the Orderlies fleeing in panic put up some protection fence. Anna suggested that the controls could be on the ground floor, but there was no repressing Charlotte's temper anymore. 

 

 

"Darmanitan, Flare Blitz!"

 

The Fire Pokemon, however, completely failed at denting the fence. For starters, it had been made with a similar contingency in mind, and thus had been built to be sturdy. Moreover, the Darmanitan had just fought a few battles after a rather long inactivity, and wasn't at peak strength. Finally, the layout of the room didn't let the Fire Pokemon gather any momentum to strike. 

 

"Fine." Charlotte grunted, somewhat embarrassed, recalling the Pokemon. "Anna, Shelly, do you mind going downstairs? I'll wait for you here with princess."

 

We are set for surprises, even battle. Cain went on. But we're a team, no one better messes with us.

 

The caution was pointless, as nobody felt the slight inclination to go fight the twelve-year-old duo. Granted, they weren't very impressive on their own, Anna's status in the league notwithstanding, but the staff wanted least of all to risk another episode of Charlotte's rage. The girls quickly located the lock and opened the barrier, enabling the prince and her princess to progress further. The latter two, climbing to the next floor of the building, found the children's room, small, extremely plain, cramped spaces of six square meters, badly needing paint, disinfection, sometimes new furniture, and always behind bars. They were aligned in a long corridor. They walked swiftly past the room, glancing at the children locked inside each time to spot Noel, who they knew had been taken upstairs. 

 

"Noel!" Cain shouted when he saw him. 
"So, you got our Pokemon after all?" he asked. 
"What's going on?" an anxious child's voice questioned from another room. 
"Nothing, really, Bill. They're breaking the new girl out and we're helping."
"So, you're leaving?" yet another child asked. 
"Um," Charlotte decided in a split second that she didn't want the kids to get ideas, "no."
"We need to go on." Cain said urgently. "How do we unlock you, Noel?"
"Upstairs, I think." he answered vaguely, motioning them to go on. 

 

On the fourth floor, right outside the stairs, Cain and Charlotte were welcomed by about a dozen Orderlies in a large semicircle, blocking every path except retreat. 

 

"It is outside visiting hours." one Orderly, more confident than the others, said. "You should leave right now. And you, Charlotte, should be reasonable."
"Where did you guys come from?" Cain asked, surprised. "Pretty sure I didn't see any of you down there. You're jacks-in-a-box?"
"This is our final warning. Please do not make matters more difficult for yourselves."

 

As an answer, Charlotte sent out a Typhlosion and a Ninetales, both of them rather irritated and itching to blow some steam off. 

 

"You can't possibly believe you can beat all of us."
"What's, um, happening?" Shelly whispered to Cain, having just arrived. 
"Who wants to burn?" Charlotte said, angry herself, and unconcerned by the perspective of such uneven odds (in her favor, that is).
"Whoa," Cain exclaimed, "calm down."
"Let us pass." Charlotte snapped. 
"You know we can't do that, Charlotte." someone else answered, pleading reason.
"What else are you gonna do? You can't beat me and you know it."

 

There was the sound of steady, very assured footsteps, which made Charlotte tense immediately, and Anna grab Shelly's hand nervously, much to the surprise of the latter. 

 

"The Doctor is coming." Charlotte growled between her teeth. 

 

Soon enough, there was a small opening in the semicircle to let Sigmund Connal enter it. Like Charlotte, he had two Pokemon out, a sleepy Musharna and a Hypno, both looking quite unconcerned with the situation, playing with the Hypno's pendulum as with a ball.

 

 

"Have you had your fun, Charlotte?" he questioned in an utterly bored voice. "I appreciate your communicating us other issues you would like to discuss during your sessions, such as your fits of rage, and your worrying habit of acting out for attention."
"It's not about me this time, Doctor." Charlotte answered.
"I also find myself concerned by the unprecedented scale of this disruption." Dr. Connal answered without changing tone, or even acknowledging the interruption. "It is currently Heather's session, and you are interrupting it, but it seems like you need an immediate outlet to your feelings. I will be available momentarily, once Heather's session is over." 
"But that's the point." Charlotte replied, annoyed. "They're here for the girl."
"We k-know you're doing shock therapy, and that's w-wrong. Let go of her right now!" Shelly said, departing herself of her comfortable position behind the taller Cain and Charlotte.
"So," the Doctor observed, still looking unconcerned. "have you come here to get therapy for your self-confidence issues? Or perhaps a psychology class?"
"Nobody needs any alone time with you, Dr. Geezer." Cain snapped. "We're here to get Heather and you're not going to delay us."
"Well, we certainly need a few sessions about your blatant and unreasoned disdain for authority." Connal answered evenly. 
"Even I have standards." Cain retorted with a pout.
"Perhaps there are other issues you would wish to privately speak to a therapist about?"

 

During that exchange, Anna had been mostly trying to overcome her deeply-ingrained (and, all in all, reasonable) fear of the Doctor, who hurt them so badly. But another, idle part of her mind was contemplating the scene, and wondered what exactly the Doctor was doing. Of course, he was well within his job to offer therapy for whatever reasons he thought of, but it still felt off. 

 

She realized that the Doctor would have called the authorities and was trying to stall them until they arrived, completely outclassing their little group and dooming their escape attempt. It wasn't time to play nice. 

 

"Ninetales," she whispered, "Fire Blast the Hypno."

 

The Fire Fox obediently sent a large blast of fire at the Hypno, too shocked to step away in time, who was pityfully slammed against the wall (and set on fire). Nonetheless, it managed to uneasily get back on its feet, albeit with a precarious balance. 

 

"Shocking." the Doctor commented. "Beat them." he ordered to his Orderly army. 
"Leave them to me." Charlotte pleaded to Cain and Shelly. 

 

Then, she proceeded to whip out a Volcarona, making the fight about four-to-one against her. But no sane person would have bet on the Orderlies. Their Pokemon just weren't on Charlotte's level; except for a couple of Water-types which she dealt with in priority with Solar Beams, none could really resist a single Fire-type move, and neither could they do significant damage to the Ninetales or the Typhlosion. Worst of all, they kept every enemy off the Volcarona's back, leaving it free to its purposes, namely, Quiver Dancing. 

 

A few of the Orderlies were out of Pokemon in no more than a couple of minutes, and, when the Volcarona was ready, it was all over for the others, as the fiery butterfly unleashed several deadly Heat Waves, so powerful they forced the Orderlies, the Doctor, his Musharna and his barely standing Hypno to retreat first by a few steps, and then break their group. Then Charlotte's Bug Pokemon started buzzing loudly at the Doctor's Psychic Pokemon, which they simply couldn't resist. 

 

As the Doctor recalled them, Charlotte went forward, lighting a cigarette she had found who knew where. She stopped about one foot from him.

"Release the girl, Doctor." she hissed, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Or I'll..." 

The enraged teenage girl drew the lit end of the cigarette closer to the Doctor's face. His confident arm mechanically slapped Charlotte's away. 

"Ninetales," she spat. The Fire fox ran at her. "Burn him."

 

 

"Charlotte!" Anna shouted, dismayed. 

The Doctor, after checking his watch, stepped back. 

"Enough." he articulated loud and clear. "I care little for this power struggle. Have it your way, and take your children. You should, however, question if your impulses or your wild charades are the best for this girl."
"Better that than lighting her up like a Christmas tree!" Anna protested. 
"By the by, I took the liberty of contacting the authorities. You should all be apprehended in minutes."
"So, um, w-we should h-hurry?" Shelly asked in a tiny voice. 
"Yeah." Cain replied curtly. 

 

Anna showed Shelly and Cain the way to the therapy room, where Heather was lying alone on a what looked like a dentist's chair, looking oblivious to everything happening around her, while an Electivire glared at all the newcomers. In the meantime, Charlotte managed to disable the room lock, letting Noel leave his room. 

"Heather!" Shelly said, relieved. "A-Are you okay?"

 

Corey's daughter turned to her, but didn't respond. 

 

"It's o-okay now, Heather." Shelly said uneasily. "You're... you're free. We have your Pokemon and we can leave. Do y-you want to come?"

 

 As in a dream, Heather pushed herself out of the chair and onto her feet, wavered, only to be caught by Cain, and then recoiled at the contact. 

 

"We're leaving, Heather." Cain said, alarmed at Heather's reaction but wise enough to conceal it (and stopping the contact). "Do you want to come along?"

 

Heather's apparent reaction was somewhere between indifferent and apathetic, but she did follow them.

 

 

Character ratings: 

 

Spoiler

Cain: 4/10 (-1). Why, oh why, did you just break the kids out of the Orphanage, even for a good reason? Can't you see what is going to happen?
Ame: 5/10 (0). Points for not losing track of reality, and also suggesting me a way out of the city. But is she sincerely convinced that Noel is lying? 
Shelly: 7/10 (-1). Why, oh why, did you think following Cain was a good idea? 
Noel: 6/10. Anyone using crypto would be a friend by default, but did he lie? That would just be... I don't know what to believe...
Anna: 5/10. She looks nice enough, I guess, but even on TV she was a lunatic. She's way too pushy too. 
Charlotte: didn't really meet/10. 
Doctor: 4/10 (-1). He refused all attempts at negociation! He may be torturing his patients! But then again... perhaps he's right and Noel is lying...
Fern: 3-/10 (minor decrease). Sounds like him to mock a child Gym leader traumatized by her friend's father's death. 

 

[From Everland to Reborn ~ A fairytale themed run [Last defeated: Adrienn]]

4 hours ago, Corso said:

Besides, I don't really see a decrease in animosity, or at least there is no significant improvement of how Vanilla sees Adrienn (not considering the relationship point she gave them), in my opinion she just surrenders to the opponent's ideal of trainer.
To be more specific, she never tells them they could be right but instead she insists of defending her own way, and after their conversation she changes her mind only because of Pikachu's stubborness but Vanilla never mentions them or think about them for the rest of the episode. This is my opinion.

 

As a Wise Old Wizard (TM) once said, it’s easier to forgive people for being wrong than for them being right. For very many people, it’s hard to acknowledge they’re wrong and the other speaker is right even when you know (or “subconsciously” believe) it. It’s easier to grudgingly apply their advice. 
 

Also, isn’t Vanilla a bit selfish when considering how Pikachu’s death affects her (or her plans)? After all, she’s denying the actual victim their desire to fight. Then again, it’s a really understandable reaction. 
 

I wish I could find the drive to read back the mom chapter and try and find clues, but I’m pretty bad at spotting these and, even then, at connecting the dots. Vanilla not being harmed suggests that Candy’s message was successfully delivered, but how? She couldn’t just threaten Lin, the latter wouldn’t be fazed... did she sell the Devon raid, against a commitment to not harm Vanilla? Improbable...

 

Very nice chapter. I look forward to the Power Of Friendship (TM) is going to destroy Adrienn... good luck (I’m not sure levels really help enough though – a specific choice of mons would, but it’s not really your approach)! 

[The absolute difficulty of this game.]

I remember beating that Sirius fight with revives, x items, and lots of save scumming (not that I didn’t struggle with many other fights as well!). This is one reason why 

Spoiler

I now choose to not fight the Doctor at Yureyu. 

I don’t know where you are now, but if that fight is the one you remember, I think you still have lots of difficult battles ahead. Enjoy! 

[Was there a way too save Nova my game skipped my choice when Aurora asks you. And is there any way to get toxicroakite?]

Regarding Nova:

 

Spoiler

She can be saved by unlocking a secret dialog option (iirc, the two standard options are "she deserves what's coming" and "she needs to be forgiven", none of which offer Aurora an actual reason to spare her). This dialog option can be unlocked by reading one of Aurora's diaries in a locked room in the Archives. You can get the key to the room if (I'm not sure it's sufficient, but I think it's absolutely necessary) you helped Rosetta do a job for the police, and then asked her about the Archives.

 

 

Regarding the real world:

Spoiler

During the plot of E5, you can't freely go from one world to the other (the plot dictates your travels). However, at the end of the release, you can do that. I'm not sure if it's just to help pass the time, grind, do sidequests, or if it's intended to be this way even in the future episodes.

 

I 'm not sure, but it looks like Toxicroakite isn't available yet.

[Which one should I choose]

I would switch them (even though the grinding is going to be a pain) but I am not that great at the game.

Noivern has slightly better defences virtually everywhere, far better speed and its special attack significantly beats Pidgeot's attack (also iirc fighting-type Pokemon rarely have a great special defence). It also learns Hurricane, Dragon Pulse, and perhaps even Boomburst (if you can use the move relearner) which is boosted on the field. It also resists everything Pidgeot resists, nullifies its electric weakness and fighting weakness, at the cost of being *4'ed by ice and weak to fairy. It's also resistant to fire, so perhaps also a good option to deal with the fire leader.

[Theory Crafting Thread]

3 hours ago, Crystalrage said:

Amanda seems to know things about the MC. And even the MC doesn't remember that they are from the region. But Amanda mentions MC's return to the region to Melia. And since she is a robot/android, she could have been made by those scientists who either started the interceptor project, or do research on it. 

That’s not a bad idea, but the timeline doesn’t seem to track, does it? Amanda says their plan has been in motion shortly before the MC returned to Aevium. 
 

But I’m pretty sure the Interceptor project is much older than that (at least Garufa old).

[The Odd One Out -- A Reborn Adventure]

Hey, new chapter here!

Perhaps I should apologize to Ame for how I portrayed her self-insert... You'll decide for yourselves, I guess. 

 

 

Chapter 33: Shocking Authorities

 

 

 

Spoiler

Grand Hall, about 5.30 pm

 

I sighed wearily outside the meeting room as I turned yet another page of The Two Towers. The Hobbits were well on their way to Mordor and Ame's budget meeting seemed just about endless, having apparently gone on for over three hours without any interruption. Maybe there was a bloody bureaucratic battle being fought. Perhaps, I allowed myself a sliver of hope, they'll cut some funding to the League to rebuild the railway station.

 

As Tolkien's prose was slowly becoming unbearable to me, which meant that some lighter reading would soon be necessary, the doors of the room started opening and people starting going out. Some of them looked quite red in the face -- there might have been a sizable disagreement. 

 

I put the book back in my bag and moved my chair to a point easier seen from the entrance, where Ame couldn't but notice me. Still, as she left, looking quite annoyed, she tried her best not to look at me. I felt a strong impulse to just let her be and come back later, but the situation was too serious. I tried to give myself the appropriate seriousness and walked to her. 

 

"Um, excuse me, Ame..." I ruined all of it in a burst of dismal self-confidence. 
"Yes?" she snapped, turning to me. "Oh, it's you. Is it really important?"
"It is." I answered with slightly more assurance. "Really, it shouldn't be long."
"All right," she sighed, "let's go to my office."

 

Ame's office was quite unremarkable. Mostly empty shelves with still a few books and many folders. A tyrannosaurus of a computer in a corner, running quite noisily. And, most importantly, piles of paperwork on the desk, and, fortunately, two chairs. Ame motioned be to take one and she sat on hers. I wanted to start somewhere but wasn't sure where. Ame's stare, without being overtly hostile, felt uncomfortable enough. 

 

"Um, first," I stammered, "I think I owe you an apology. For what happened at Corey's Gym. It was neither polite, nor fair."
"That's the least one could say." Ame answered, still very distant. "Your presumption on my Gym Leaders was offensive."
"I'm sorry." I said humbly, not daring to meet Ame's eyes. "I usually know better, but it was a stressful time of a most stressful day, and..." my thoughts strayed.
"Did I mishear you, or are you justifying bigotry?" Ame snapped. 

Ugh... whatever.

 

 

"No." I answered with a contrite look. "Anyway, it's about Heather, you know, Corey's daughter. She had decided to stay at Shelly's Gym for a while, the time she got over... the worst of the trauma. During a stroll in the Lapis Ward, she was accosted by Dr. Connal, the one in charge of the orphanage, who decided, against her will, to take her to live in the Orphanage."
"Dr. Connal acted in perfect accordance with the city ordinances." Ame answered calmly. 
"I have no doubt about that," I hastily said, "but then I went to the Orphanage the next day to enquire about her living conditions there..."

 

 

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

 

 

Lapis Orphanage, about 11 am

 

Dr. Sigmund Connal's office was very typical. A full library of medicine and, I realized, psychology books, an impressive collection of journals. On the back wall, so that no visitor could fail to see them, many doctor diplomas were framed. 

 

"Please," the Doctor said, polite for once, "sit down."

I did and he sat too. 

"So, what can I do for you?" he enquired. 

I composed a steady enough face for myself and tried to remember the choice of words I had prepared. 

 

"It's about the girl who, I heard, is your newest resident, Heather Molinar. I was on first-name terms with her father, and she knows me as well. I wished to know how visits could be arranged."
"The girl whom you are referring to is still in the process of adapting to this place." the Doctor answered. "I would deem it unfortunate if unwelcome stimuli were to hamper this crucial process."
"Doctor," I started -- this wasn't exactly as per plan, but the concept was simple enough -- "being a layman, as far as medicine is concerned, I do not quite understand you."
"She cannot adapt well to this place if she is constantly reminded of the alternatives. Unless, of course, you are here to become her legal guardian."

 

I had given a second of thought about that too, and decided that I didn't want the responsibility, as I would inevitably botch the job beyond repair. Not to mention that I hoped to be safely out of Reborn far before she came of age. 

 

"No," I said with a not-quite-sincere smile, "I trust you to know better about educating children. But, I do not quite understand -- are you advocating against visits? Against people whom she knows, to bring her comfort and familiarity?"
"Heather has qualified personnel to care for her." the Doctor answered after a pause. "Therefore, especially in this adaptation phase, visits are a privilege. Heather has been repeatedly misbehaving since her admission and has not earned this privilege."

"Doctor..." I said in a lower voice, aware I was using one of my last trump cards. "Three days ago, Heather has been witnessing her father act in unmistakably harmful ways, and left him. He took his own life a few hours later. From what I know, Heather has been living on her own since then, and until yesterday afternoon, when I found her. She was angry and exhausted, but she wouldn't follow me. At least, I was able to convince her to go to a friend. And I understand you admitted her to the Orphanage that very afternoon? I think she deserves a break, Doctor."
"I appreciate your concerns and your compassions, but I have much experience in dealing with children as unruly as she is. You cannot give in to their whims, lest they realize too late, in a far less forgiving setting, that this is not the way it will always be."
"I don't think anyone would object to give a break to a child who has been through so much, so recently, as Heather has." I answered, again in a softer voice, pursuing the same thread of argument. 
"But I know better than them, with more experience and without emotion clouding me." the Doctor answered, voice steady with certainty. "But, you see, Heather's upbringing gave her... issues. She seems unable to comprehend the concept of rules to obey for her own good. She is, and will be for a while, undergoing therapy. Too many stimuli from her past would ruin such an endeavor. "

 

I sat speechless for a moment. Heather being mentally ill? It didn't track. But then again, I didn't know much about psychology, I had seen Heather's blatant disregard for rules and her elders... while rules were usually a concept rather well accepted in my limited experience... it could stem from something more serious, after all. Maybe the Doctor was right. But in desperation, I thought of something else to say, a real last trump card...

 

"She hasn't been very cooperative, I suppose?" I asked, trying to fake an air of purpose. 
"We are making progress into helping her admit she has an issue." the Doctor answered in a confident tone. 
"Look," I said, "I can understand your explanations. But I also speak for a young girl her age, who is worried sick about her. She wouldn't understand your explanation." I added, the first true lie I uttered. "So, perhaps you could arrange something with her and Heather, while I fill you in on Heather's background, which should help you treat her."
"I have no doubt," the Doctor said, his tone fully resolute, "that I can do well without your help." He did not try to hide that his skepticism that I could be useful -- but of course I felt the same way. 

 

 

I knew it was pointless to try anything more. The doctor was too sure of himself, too confident in his experience and ability to accept to compromise with emotions, or an exchange of favors of sorts. And maybe, I thought, quite possibly, he was right.

 

"In this case," I sighed, getting up, "I won't be disturbing you any longer. Could you perhaps give me a timeline? Approximately, the moment when you would be ready to approve a visit?"

 

The Doctor frowned thoughtfully, then offered me to come back in a month. A month! I could but thank him, as we shook hands and he motioned me towards the entrance hall. Noel was waiting before the door, watching me intently. He extended a hand. 

 

"Good bye, Gabriel." he said solemnly. 
"Good bye, Noel." I answered in kind and shook his hand, before realizing that he had something in his hand which he left in mine. He must have seen my shocked gaze, because he met my eyes and nodded very slightly, before letting go. 

 

 

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

 

 

Lapis Orphanage, about 5 pm

 

"Um... I t-think", Shelly stuttered, "that, um, perhaps..."
"It's going to be alright." Anna said reassuringly. "There is no reason for you to hesitate!"
"P-Perhaps, um, we should go f-fetch your, um, Pokemon?"

The twins and Charlotte exchanged quick looks. 

"That's a good idea!" Anna chipped enthusiastically. "They're there," she added, pointing at the rightmost door, "beyond the Circuit."
"Princess, you're leading the way." Charlotte stated firmly, pulling Cain forward, "and you," she added for Shelly, "are going to be our rearguard."
"All r-right!" Shelly managed to say, mustering all her determination and will to save her friend. 

 

Cain, followed by Charlotte and Anna, walked through the door to the Circuit, while several Orderlies were speeding down the stairs in a hurry. 

 

"Quick!" Noel muttered to Shelly, who was watching them as in a dream, unable to move. "The door! They're forced to fight you one-on-one there!"

 

But he was too late. The orderlies were too fast and were already blocking the access. Cain and the kids would be assaulted from both sides. 
A couple of orderlies turned to Shelly and said, in a relatively gentle voice:

"It's past time for visits, miss. We're going to have to ask you to leave."
"I'm not leaving!" she managed to utter with a credible voice. "I'm here to save Heather?"

 

Seeing as she wouldn't budge on her own, the Orderlies started calling Pokemon to them. Three of them, against one of Shelly... Already she could feel her resolve falter, that ridiculous attempt was doomed... and perhaps, if she gave up like a good girl, there wouldn't be any punishment? 
Noel, who was behind her, whispered in her ear, Reborn's Bug Gym leader, aren't you? I've always wanted to see you battle. You're better than them. I'll help you. As in a dream, Shelly felt herself reaching for a Pokeball. And he drew one of his own, calling a perfectly serene Clefable between the children and the three orderlies.

 

"Noel." one of them said, in a very disappointed, almost genuinely sad, voice. "I lent you Clefable for the day because you promised me you wouldn't let it attack anyone or damage anything."
"Heather, Bugsy," Heather said, "I'm counting on you!", as she called her Yanmega and her Volbeat. 
"I'm not going to let Clefable attack." Noel said with almost a smile. "I don't need to. Clefable, use Follow Me!"

 

 

 

And Shelly understood Noel's move. He was giving her a total liberty of action -- the three enemy Pokemon were so obsessed by the Clefable's entrancing moves, that they couldn't, for the life of them, spare any attention for Heather's own Pokemon. She had free rein. 

 

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

 

Shelly's Gym, about 12.30 pm

"So t-the letter sequence is a code and the picture gives us the key?"
"Yes, that's my idea." I answered. 
"But what kind of key are we talking about?" Cain asked. "What's is supposed to be, concretely?"
"I don't know." I answered. "It could be a word, a series of words, a sentence, a reference to a place in a book... Or", I added with sudden dread, "if he's imaginative enough, a nightmare of possibilities for us to drown in."
"You told us he had a Cleffa doll, right?" Cain suggested. "Maybe it's its name? I mean, it's a Cleffa with a key on a picture."
"It's a Cleffa he's drawing?" I asked, surprised. I was so sure it was a Clefairy. 
"Y-yes, um, I think." Shelly answered, and Cain approved. 
"Then let's say it's Nomos, then." I decided. 
"So how do we decode?" Cain asked. 

 

I asked Shelly for several sheets of paper and started copying down about half the message. Then, underneath, aligning letters carefully, I wrote NOMOSNOMOS... till I covered the entirety of the message. 

 

"So, when you take one letter, look up the corresponding letter in the key: here, we want to decode the first letter, Q, with the corresponding key letter being N, the 14th letter of the alphabet. So you take 14 letters before Q, which makes..." I hesitated for a second. "C. If you need to come back before A, just make a loop, as if Z was the letter before A."
"Gabriel?" Shelly asked. "I remember reading about something like this, but I t-thought that a 'A' in the key meant that you shouldn't change the letter..."
"That's a possibility." I admitted. "So it means that instead, with an 'N', you would go thirteen letters backwards. Can you do it?"
"Gabriel, it doesn't look like it's making sense... It's SGD... er... CNB." Cain noticed. 
"You're sure?" I double-checked with him. Well, there went a promising idea.
"I think it w-works for me." Shelly stuttered in a very small voice. "I have THEDOCTOR."

 

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

 

 

Grand Hall, about 5.30 pm

 

"So," Ame said, "what was the message you were given?"

I produced the original message and recounted what we had deciphered. "The Doctor shocks us every day. He calls it therapy. We all hurt. Heather too. Help appreciated."
There was a long pause, as Ame, her gaze fixated somewhere above my head, digested the information. 

"How likely is it," she finally said, "in your opinion, that your messenger, since you refuse to name them, is... misrepresenting reality, for whichever reason? Maybe ignorance of psychiatry."

 

The question made me frown. That option simply hadn't occured to me. Could Noel have been acting out for attention, which, say, Anna got but he didn't? Anna saw things that weren't there, but apart from that there wasn't any sign of mental illness for Noel or Charlotte. Trauma over being an orphan, maybe... 

 

"I haven't thought of someone deliberately lying, I confess. But I checked in Shelly's library -- she had a couple of related books -- and then managed to get more information from the OTS's library. A bit annoying to get Florinia to agree, but never mind. Shock therapy is a well-known psychiatric method for certain very serious forms of mental illness, such as mania, catatonia, or schizophrenia. But it's generally applied with caution and under anesthesia, at the very least."
"So, that brings us back to the question: do you believe your messenger could be lying?" Ame asked me. 
"I... really don't know. I guess they could. But... That note, Dr. Connal refusing the visits, the way he took Heather into custody... I don't know. I guess it makes as much sense." 

 

"You're not the first person to distrust medical practitioners," Ame pointed out, "especially those who specialize in mental health. Dr. Connal is a highly respected member of the medical community. That's why I think your messenger isn't genuine. Some of the children there like their pranks a bit too much. Some would burn the place down if it could help them leave." And, I thought, I was an easy patsy. All he had to do was throwing in a little secret code and I was taking the bait. "But I'll look into it anyway." 
"I mean -- is your first instinct that the kid is lying?" I asked after an uneasy pause, flustered, not knowing whom to believe. 
"Look," Ame sighed, "what do you think is going to happen if --"

 

She was cut off by a series of loud beeps emitted by the paleolithic computing machine in the room. With an air of alarmed recognition, she jumped towards the monitor and started to read. I noted that given her reaction, the way she turned at me, and the overall tone of her voice, something was very wrong:

 

 

 

"So you're proud of what you've done?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked back uneasily. 
"Well, from the police memo I just got here, it seems that two minors looking very much like your acquaintances Cain and Shelly just broke out four children from Dr. Connal's Orphanage." Ame snapped. 

 

"No..." was all I managed to say, feeling that everything had spun out of control again. There was no telling about the consequences of such an action, to the city, the "rescuers" and the children themselves... 
"I think, now," Ame said with strained patience, "that you should leave, forget about this meeting, and put some distance between yourself and the city when all this mess becomes public."

 

Cain, Shelly, I internally moaned, what have you done?

 

And then again, at the end of the day, skipping town was precisely what I wanted to do from the beginning. Moreover, I had Ame's blessing to do so. There just a not-so-little detail left...

 

"Ame, which way exactly am I supposed to leave? I mean, the station hasn't even started to be rebuilt..."

 

The League manager took a deep breath and then answered very calmly:

 

"Most people would attempt to use the now deserted tunnels previously used by the Railnet. One easy-to-find entrance is in the Peridot Ward. "

I thanked her, trying to hide the concern and uncertainty I was feeling, and, very worried, turned to leave, but she interrupted me:

 

"I nearly forgot. You told me you had got Shelly's Badge, right?"

 

I nodded. 

 

"Then you will need this through the tunnels." Ame said, throwing me a disk. "It's my exemplary of the TMX Rock Smash. Please don't lose it."

 

[The Odd One Out -- A Reborn Adventure]

Thank you @Evi Crystal for your comment!

 

I was trying to answer yesterday and it devolved into more or less a retelling of every internal monologue Gabriel had to this point... so something pretty useless.

So I'll try to summarize Gabriel's attitude differently.

 

He's lawful good at heart, but he's in Reborn City, a place almost as far as possible from everything he's ever witnessed. A harsh, torn apart, unforgiving place, where he doesn't even believe he had any reason to go to in the first place. So he has two main goals: survive and leave. Hence, as he's not a fighter, his attempting to not make any enemies (especially not any officials, because they control when the station is rebuilt) and remain on the sidelines. Trying to not take sides, and especially to not go to extremes, is pretty natural to him. In the Orphanage situation, there is also (I think I wrote about that) another reason for him not wanting to storm the place: his first-world belief in institutions in general (hence the "lawful"), and in particular in the Orphanage being very likely a better place to children than just living in Reborn's street.

 

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by my universe's situation plot? It's not exactly like it, but it's set in a universe mostly like canon Reborn, with minor differences that will appear in time.

[The Odd One Out -- A Reborn Adventure]

Hey, it's been quite a while since the last chapter -- that's summer vacation for you. 

(I swear, I'll try not to make that many excuses from now on)

 

The views counter keeps growing, I'm quite amazed -- thank you to all those of you who read. 

 

This chapter and the next one follow a nonlinear time structure, meaning that some events in chapter 33 happen between some of those of chapter 32 and some of those of chapter 31. I've tried to keep mentioning the correct timelines so that you don't get too confused. 

There is also a little riddle in the chapter -- do you like crypto? Whether you played the game or not, you have all the necessary information to solve it (if you're interested) at the end of the chapter.  

Finally, a point for more about the story as a whole -- there may be spoilers for some books, films, or fan fictions. But they'll be written carefully enough, so that one can't realize which work this spoils, so I don't think that counts. 

 

 

 

Chapter 32: Undertakings

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

Shelly's Gym -- about 4.30 pm

 

"What do you mean, you're long done?" Cain asked Shelly.

 

They were alone in Shelly's room, and Shelly was sitting in a chair, almost at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring and wishing she had thought of asking Gabriel the next book. She put one of her countless colored bookmarks on the right page, shut the book and lifted her head up until she was looking at Cain somewhere between his neck and his nose. 

 

"We f-found out what Gabriel wanted to know about shock therapy. It took a lot less long that we thought."
"So where is he now?"
"We, um, found some information here, he went to confirm it in the Onyx Trainer School library, I think, and, it's, um, not good, so now he's reporting to Ame."
"How bad is it?" 

 

Shelly explained their findings, in short sentences, in an uncertain tone and very non-committal modalization. Cain started to frown in concern, and the expression only deepened as the account went to its end. He went silent for almost a minute afterwards. 

 

"Shelly, we should do something." he said finally. 
"Um, aren't we doing something?" Shelly answered, lifting her eyes from the book, but not exactly looking Cain in the eye. "Gabriel is passing the information up, and they will, um, release Heather."
"Look," Cain said. "Gabriel trusted the Orphanage to be reasonable. He discovered, as I had insisted from the start, that it was not. For the same reason, authority isn't going to help. We already knew that Heather was in trouble. We can't leave her there. You know what she's going through, right? You can't be her friend and let the doctor give her electric shocks like that!"

"B-but... If we do something," Shelly protested shyly, "won't we get in trouble?"
"Yes, of course," said Cain, slightly dismissively. "We could maybe be arrested, put in jail... Big trouble. But Heather's the one in real trouble. So I'll take the risk. Are you with me?"

 

 

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

 

Shelly's Gym, about noon

 

"Hey, Gabriel."  Cain greeted me at Shelly's Gym as I was returning (conforming to our agreement of the previous day) from the Orphanage. "So, how was the Orphanage?"
"I'm not sure." I answered uncertainly. "It seemed well-kept enough, the staff seemed competent. They have a bunch of children which are apparently very good battlers -- I saw two Gym Leaders, and another girl, with about your age, Shelly, whom I saw on TV but whose position I don't really know."
"And, um, did you see Heather?" Shelly asked nervously. 
"No, the doctor wouldn't let me."

"Told you so." Cain asked, half smug, half mocking. "Anything he wanted you to swallow? Did he allow Shelly visits?"

"I insisted." I protested, thinking of the singular trade I had offered him. "But no, he wouldn't let her get visits. He explained that apparently, having visits so early would prevent her getting used to the place. The rules, he stated, only allowed them two full weeks after settlement, and were, of course, a privilege. As she had been misbehaving, he offered a month."
"Sounds creepy to me." Cain remarked. 
"I agree." I said, however much the confession cost me. "But I also have a piece of information from a different source." I announced, my breathing finally easing as I realized that I hadn't been caught with it. "One of the children gave me this unnoticed, look."

 

I produced a strip of paper from my pocket, hastily sheared from a sheet, and showed them the sequence of letters:

 

GVQRGPHAFKUCOYKHGQJWEMPOQUSOODYGUHLUSDOHLKQODYVGFLUSMHZRFFCGUSXDSCDDSUVOFSV

 

"It's, um, a code, right?" Shelly said. "Do you know what it says?"
"No. I had one idea which is slightly tedious to make work, and I'm not sure if it works."
"Wait." Cain said. "Can't you see something on the other side?"

 

I frowned skeptically, because I had had to unfold the piece of paper and hadn't noticed a thing. But I turned the paper regardless and realized I had managed to miss a very neat pencil drawing of a Clefairy holding a key. That kid could draw very well.

 

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

 

Grand Hall, about 2 pm

 

"Well, if it isn't Gabriel, looking as usual like a lost puppy."

 

 

"Hi Fern." I answered, mustering all my inner niceness and wishing that, like some reborn (the irony at work wasn't lost on me) fanfiction heroine, I radiated an aura of purity and kindness to help me avoid unnecessary conflicts. "What are you doing here?"
"It's about the consequences of your little accident with the Beryl Gym Leader."

 

Because there wasn't time to be confrontational, I had resolved to be unfailingly nice. However, Fern's phrasing was starting to make me doubt the decision and my determination was already wavering. I called to mind the idea of the therapy all the orphanage kids were undergoing to re-impress upon me the seriousness of the situation and help me get smoother.

 

"You looked even more confused than usual, so lemme explain. Gym Leaders have back-ups, like I'm a back-up for the Flobot. If she retires, or quits, I take over. Well, your Beryl buddy, yanno, in a sense, quit, so his back-up had to be notified."
"But it's been two days." I objected. 
"Shush. Turns out the Poison Gym Leader's back-up is, was, some chick living in the Wastelands south-east of the city." Greeat. Wastelands. What next? A literal desert?  Sea bottom? "But, see, they're usually locked, so you need a key. And guess what! I do."

"That's great!" I answered with almost sincere enthusiasm. Had he started the talk only to brag?
"It wasn't easy. I was supposed to get it from a boy who looked fruity, all purple, more like a girl. But I couldn't find him, so I reported him to the Grand Hall and they gave me the key. Ha!" he boasted. "I've got already three Badges, and it's about to be four. Man, that Shelly girl was a pushover. It was like she wasn't even trying -- she was crying the whole battle long. But hey, I'll take the Badge any day." Oh. Fern was the challenger that had demanded a battle in spite of her shock. "Anyway, I need to go... or perhaps you'd like to get the key as well?"

 

 

"I'm not interested at the moment." I tried to reply evenly, not letting my concern for Shelly and my annoyance at his heartless behavior visible. "But thank you for the offer." I then ostensibly ignored him and walked to the counter, explaining that I had to talk urgently to Ame, that it was very important. 

 

I was answered that there was an important budget discussion this day which Ame had to attend because of her rank, all the more so since it also regarded allocation of funding to the League. 

 

"Please send the word to her. Tell her Gabriel really needs to talk with her. That it's about Corey's daughter. I'll wait here if needed." I pleaded. 

 

*******

 

Lapis Orphanage, about 11 am

 

I was nervously standing before the Orphanage. I didn't really have a legitimate reason to go there, as Heather was hardly related to me, and anyway would probably refuse to see me. It was stupid to go explore such a place on my own. The League had to take care of Heather; they had to watch the Orphanage; there had to be standards. My move was unwarranted, and, unwelcome. Besides, I thought bitterly, it could even damage my standing with the authorities. But I had committed, and, as much as I could, I fancied myself as a man of my word. 

 

I had a last look at the notes I had taken the previous night to try and prepare myself for the little escapade, tried to fix my persona in my mind, took a deep breath and pushed the door, only to find it locked. 

 

Of course it would be locked. And of course I hadn't even thought of what to do if it were locked. So I started to knock, first very shily, and then, upon noticing that nobody seemed to be picking on, stronger and stronger until someone opened the door from the inside.

 

The entrance was very typical. It served as both a waiting room, and a "quiet playing room", overall quite large, for sufficiently ruly children. There were several potted plants all around and a few very white sofas (covered with tartan rugs, as no sofa could withstand children and keep such an immaculate color), a few bookshelves filled with a random collection of books and magazines, including, at the highest shelves, under locked glass pane, some expensive-looking art albums, and scientific journals. There was some more paper, including stupid magazines as well, over low tables with armchairs around. 

 

About half a dozen kids were in the room, two of them kneeling at a remote table (the furniture was, after all, laid out thinking of adults, and wasn't convenient for kids playing), playing "four in a row". A red-haired teenage girl, who maybe was fourteen, was sprawling on a sofa she had all to herself and straightened up as soon as she saw me. A dark-haired young boy, barely teenage if he even was a teenager, was quietly reading in an armchair in the back, obviously uninterested. 

And there was that girl I had seen on TV, maybe Shelly's age, but with long black hair in two huge bunches, one left and one right, who was holding the door, and greeted me with so much enthusiasm it became chilling -- how could anyone be so cheerful at seeing a random unknown guy?

 

"Hi! Who are you?" she said. "Why are you all glowy?"

 

 

Glowy? I thought, pondering the word, trying to search for an inkling of meaning. But then I remembered the TV interview, and quickly dropped my quest. 

"Nobody's glowing, Anna." the reading boy said. I hadn't noticed, but he had lifted his head from his book and was watching us. 
"Sorry, Noel, but he clearly is!" Anna shot back. "But never mind, let me introduce you to everybody." she said, dragging me with a surprisingly contagious enthusiasm into the center of the room. "So, I'm Anna, and this," she added, pointing at the doll she was carrying, "is my Jirachi, Nostra! Say hi, Nostra!"
"Hi Anna, I'm Gabriel. Hi Nostra!" I found myself play along, before needing to blink a few times, as I could have sworn the doll had winked at me. 
"She says, 'It's nice to meet you, Gabriel.'" Anna managed to answer both seriously and cheerfully. "And over there," pointing at the boy who used to be reading, "is my twin brother Noel, and his Cleffa, Nomos."

 

"Good morning, Noel." I said more formally, the spell broken as I wasn't looking at Anna. 
"Nostra and Nomos are just dolls," he explained very bluntly -- no need for that with his twin sister, I thought, but none of my business, "but hello. Nomos says 'hi' too, I guess."
"Don't lie, Noel," Anna retorted vigorously, "they're not just dolls. Stop being ridiculous!"
"You're the one to speak." Noel bickered right back. Was I witnessing an argument they had had many times?

"Anyway," Anna said, turning to the formerly sprawling teenager, "here is my friend Charlotte. She's actually very, very pretty, you just have to see through the burn scars."

I didn't know about pretty, and she naturally had clothes about everywhere but her face, so I couldn't see any kind of burn scars. 

 

"Anna," Charlotte said, sighing and getting up, "for the last time, I don't have any scars." Noel approved immediately afterwards, trying to make his sister face up to reality, an effort I assumed was doomed. 
"I'm sorry," said Anna, the apology in her voice being amplified as well (enough for me to grasp it), "I'm so insensitive. I won't talk about them anymore, I promise. I was just saying you're pretty!"
"There's nothing to not talk about." Charlotte answered. 

 

"Hum," I asked, vocalizing my suspicions, before chiding myself for being so unadultlike, "is that an act you're performing for every visitor?"

 

The answer I got was so unanimous it could have been rehearsed, but the glances they exchanged afterwards convinced me it wasn't. "It's the truth!"

 

"So," Charlotte asked, "why are you here, Gabriel?"

 

I composed myself into an "adult business" face. 

 

"There's a new girl in the Orphanage, I heard? Heather, I think? I represent someone who is worried about her. So I was hoping to get details about her current... situation."

Noel burrowed himseld in his book again. Charlotte frowned. Even Anna seemed to lose a bit of her unearthly cheer, before realizing it and flashing her smile again, but this time without words. 

 

"Eep, Nostra says the Doctor is coming!" she said, the distressed tone a stark contrast with her previous demeanour. 

 

A newcomer made his way into the room. He was, without the shadow of a doubt, the person who had made the decision to take Heather the previous day, Dr. Sigmund Connal, if I remembered correctly. His clothes hadn't even changed, as he was wearing the traditional white overalls.

 

"Ah," he said, and his voice and gaze made me uneasy for a reason I couldn't define. Probably nervousness, I decided. "A visitor, I see. I was right to wonder about the noise."

 

 

He went forward, prompting Anna to frantically rush on the side, and extended his hand.

 
"Greetings. I am Dr. Sigmund Connal, but you may refer to me simply as 'Doctor'." I shook his hand. "So, how can I help you?"

 

With masterful self-assurance, Anna asserted, despite my flabbergasted (and admittedly quite weak) sounds of protest, that I was a League challenger and coming to the Orphanage because I had heard a few Gym Leaders lived there.

 

"Is that so?" the Doctor said, his voice growing perhaps a hint more benevolent. "Indeed, there are some particularly gifted individuals in our care, several of them able to earn or inherit quite high-ranking positions. In normal circumstances, organizing a battle with them requires going through the League management." I realized a bit tardily that I had been looking at his feet instead of his eyes and hastily drew my head up. "But I suppose I can make an exception, for you certainly do not lack confidence in your skills."  

 

Was there a tinge of irony in his words? It didn't matter, I thought, because it was all a fake situation.

 

"Orderly," he called in a voice only barely louder than his previous one. Someone rushed in the room. "Please conduct a brief examination of the challenger."

 

The employee went around his boss to my side and asked me to follow them. This was all wrong, I thought. Not at all what I went for. I took a deep breath. 

 

"Excuse me." I said in a voice I successfully forced into steadiness, and forcing myself to keep eye contact with the Doctor. "There seems to be a little misunderstanding. I didn't know there were Gym Leaders in the Orphanage, and I may battle them some day. I'll make sure then," I added apologetically, "to go through the regular channels. But this is unrelated to the reason why I am here. I am here to discuss special arrangements concerning the newest girl in your care, Heather."

"Hrm." the Doctor made a noncommittal noise. "We will be more at ease to discuss this in my office. Please follow me."

 

*******

 

 

Lapis Orphanage, about 5 pm

 

"Well, that's stupid." Cain chuckled in spite of himself. 
"Um, what's wrong?" Shelly asked, looking at Cain with concern. 
"It's locked. Geez... I hoped at least we would be able to get in."

 

As Cain was backing away from the door of the main building, distancing himself to think, Shelly tried as well, but this time the door gave way. Surprised, she drew it back with a start, but Cain, alerted by the sudden move, commented, flabbergasted: 

 

"That door was just locked! But that's good, right? Let's come in!"

 

Anna was the one opening the door, of course. Noel was drawing something on a table, but was anxiously watching the door. Charlotte, ever the teenage girl, was sprawling again on the same sofa, and, again, she straightened up as soon as she noticed Anna opening the door. 

 

"Hihi! Oh," Anna said, going from cheer to surprise. "Who are you?"
"You opened the locked door again for complete strangers?" Charlotte reproached her, annoyed. 
"But there are all the strings, can't you see?" Anna said, pointing at Shelly. "And look at him, he's a charming prince on a white stallion..."
"Looks more like a princess to me, Anna. " Charlotte cut him off, smirking. "So, princess, what are you here for?"

 

Shelly, Cain noted, looked a bit like a deer in headlights. He had to confess to being surprised as well. Gabriel hadn't done a very good of conveying what exactly the kids in the Orphanage were like. It was time to refocus, else their rescue attempt would get drowned in fairy tales. 

 

"We're here for Heather." he said. 

 

We're gonna bust her out of there, he started singing. 

 

"W-We're, um..." Shelly managed to articulate, before regaining a sufficiently serious composure, "going to save her!"

 

 

"Yeah, so we're doing this little prison break... I take it you guys want to come?" Cain offered. 
"Totally." Charlotte said. 
"That's not..."
"Shut up, Noel. We all hate that place, and you too, we're all leaving." Charlotte cut him off.
"I don't think..."

 

"We're n-not leaving without Heather!"
"Of course!" Anna smiled at her. "Still, Heather is in her therapy session, so..." She managed to somehow spit the word "therapy", despite all her cheer. 
"We must go free her at once!" Cain exclaimed. 
"But there'll be most of the Orderlies on the way." Charlotte said, earnest. "Our Pokemon were confiscated, you'll be seriously outnumbered." She stopped for a second, and there were rushing footsteps approaching. "And... here they come. Anyone has an idea?"

 

 

 

 

[From Everland to Reborn ~ A fairytale themed run [Last defeated: Adrienn]]

On 8/4/2020 at 5:02 AM, Candy said:

And I added the disclaimer but hecc I should add a disclaimer for everything all these psycho characters do. Imagine someone suing me cause they tried to hang off a cliff from their dress while getting avalanche'd

How about writing disclaimers for every insane action done by the characters, shuffling them, and putting the entire list in the prologue? No one would read it in full, let alone remember it, but you would be un-suable. 
 

Also fEtR is a good title, the one we all know and love, I don’t think there’s any need to change it? 

[From Everland to Reborn ~ A fairytale themed run [Last defeated: Adrienn]]

Very nice chapter!

So many call-backs... I don't have the courage to read them all, even when I know I'm forgetting about events. But, it's summer break, so maybe I'll gather the courage to read it all from start (and give you your word count if you haven't checked it yourself ).

 

I can't say I'm too much a fan of Sandy though. Perhaps you should add disclaimers about slash-and-burn agriculture and not try large controlled forest fires without professionals.

[Missing Murkrow in Lapis Ward?]

12 hours ago, Starry Knight said:

Pokesnax?
also refresh map just in case

Indeed, I had forgotten about Pokesnax (as Abyss had also suggested on Discord). The event doesn’t activate without it. 
Thank you! 

[Missing Murkrow in Lapis Ward?]

Alas, I am positive that the weather for me is windy (and it's night) and Murkrow doesn't show up: 

 

[Missing Murkrow in Lapis Ward?]

Hello, 

 

I'm currently right after Shelly's Gym Badge and I'm planning ahead for a few upcoming boss fights, so I'm trying to grab a Murkrow.  

So I think I did everything right: I joined the Aqua Gang, stole Ms. Craudbury's (?) Pokemon for them, beat the Magma Kingpin in his own hideout (with a couple of Revives and way too many Lemonades). Now it's a windy night (I used the SetWeather from the SWM Modpack for Reborn 18.2; I tried wind both normal and harsh; it's around 11pm in game), I'm in the Aqua Hideout... and no Murkrow is there? 

 

Is there something I'm forgetting? Or is it a wild encounter like the Espurrs, Trubbishs, Alolan Meowths of that place? 

 

Thank you (I can attach a save file or a screenshot if useful). 

[The Odd One Out -- A Reborn Adventure]

10 hours ago, Candy said:

Lol dw protagonists who are role models aren’t common in these forums

Wait, you mean that Vanilla isn’t... 

Well... I’ll, er... be right back. 

...

 

Yes, Gabriel does care... in his way. His rationale is that it’s not an easy commitment to make to provide for Heather’s physical needs (food, shelter, safety, stability) until she comes of age. He doesn’t believe Cain understands that and won’t commit himself because he certainly intends to have left Reborn City far before Heather comes of age.

 

 So of course (as a first-world math nerd) he concludes that an orphanage suits Heather better, if they (or at least Shelly) are allowed visits, to provide for Heather’s (and Shelly’s maybe) emotional needs. 

 

Of course, in Reborn canon the decision is wrong, but given the information available, can you blame him? Heather’s likely fate as a 10-year-old on her own in Reborn City could be... tragic (look at what very nearly happened to Lucia and Victoria in Chronicverse, and they’re about adults!), even without Team Meteor to hunt her. 
 

@Evi Crystal: I wish you luck for your job applications!

It’s easier to say as a reader than as a writer but I trust your readers to be patient. 

(Although seven months’ wait for Derog’s Rejuv is a little long... here’s to hoping it’s not cancelled)

[The Odd One Out -- A Reborn Adventure]

Thank you @Evi Crystal for your comment! And you haven't even seen how Gabriel takes it. 

 

So, I haven't been following my posting schedule, it's surprising the amount of things I've had to do these last days -- help grandparents move out, finish writing my master's thesis, understand the answers to some technical questions I had asked the researcher who knows the topic very well... Never mind. 

 

About the present chapter -- as you've seen, we've started not following the game's timeline. I think it's a good place to recall a disclaimer I think I already wrote somewhere: Gabriel isn't supposed to be a role model -- he usually means well, but that doesn't make his actions themselves advisable.

 

 

 

Chapter 31: Relapse

 

Spoiler

I had taken up some serious training in and around the Lapis Ward during the afternoon, finally getting my team as strong as I decently could, getting Watt to evolve a second time into a powerful and confident Ampharos, Sicy to evolve as well, Mouse the now-Stoutland, Hex the Swalot, Batley the Swoobat and Leaf to reach new heights. Leaf looked hyperactive, on the border of evolving, and I wanted to keep it this way for the battle.

 

 

 

I wanted the confidence and morale boost caused by an evolution as assets to challenge the person who had been advertised as the most challenging of Reborn's Gym Leaders. I also caught a male Espurr that was enthusiastic about the PokeSnax I was carrying. His primary role in my teams was obvious, hence his nickname:

 

In the end of the afternoon, I returned to Shelly's Gym, hoping to get to battle her, to test my team and planning against a harder challenge, albeit for once a fair one -- I suppressed a shudder thinking of Corey's Crobat. But the Gym was empty when I went there, so I walked in a different direction, reasoning that Shelly and Heather must have left for a walk, or even dinner. 

I walked at random in the streets for a while, trying to stay in the main arteries instead of small ways, reasoning that Shelly and Heather would be easier to spot this way. I only found a group of three male adults, two in white overalls with covered heads and actual respiratory masks, the third one leading them, blond, tall, in the same outfit, perhaps in his late thirties.
I crossed them without really minding them, but soon afterwards I heard an unimitably rude voice: 

 

"Get out of my way!" Heather shouted at probably another person unfortunate enough to have come to anger her. 
"That is alsolutely no way to speak to your elders."

 

That got me to turn back. I supposed she had got it coming. I saw Heather facing that white-overall person, and, some distance behind, Shelly and Cain hurrying after her. 

"I don't care! Just shut up and move!"

 

Again, that person looked down on Heather's words (which someone was bound to do -- not everyone was as willing as I was to be a doormat to a tiny ten-year-old, no matter how aggressive). 

"You seem unusually animous, child. Haven't your parents taught you any manners?"

I was so curious as to how it would play out, that I tried to get inconspicuously closer. I could see that he had seized Heather's wrist, and that Cain, slightly out of breath, was still standing firmly behind her. 

"Woa there, geezer, back off the girl." Cain said steadily, causing Heather to turn back. 
"Excuse me," he answered. "I am not a 'geezer'. I am a doctor; I have worked many hours for that title; in turn, I expect to be addressed appropriately."

He really, I thought, should have known better than force Cain of all people to use proper addresses. Cain surprised me again by being so unexpectedly witty that he actually got Heather to snort. 

"Then, back off, Dr. Geezer. Hey," he added, not in anyone in particular, "I got her to laugh! That's a victory!"
He was tempting fate, I thought. 
"I wasn't laughing!" Heather protested angrily at him. "I had something stuck."
"Something stuck... like a giggle?" was Cain's reply. 
"I hate to break up your giddy humor," the blond man half spat, still holding Heather's wrist, "but I am afraid I have to. Little girl," he asked Heather, probably too condescending for her age (and her attitude), "where are your parents?"

 

 

"You shut up about that!" Heather said, trying fruitlessly to get her hand free. 

Why didn't I like where this was going? On the other hand, perhaps that "doctor" would be compassionate enough to let the matter rest once he knew the truth?
 

"Um, doctor..." Shelly hesitated, "um, her parents are, um... not here anymore."
"I see." These simple words taught me that the doctor wasn't going to give in. When he said these words, he meant them -- he was alert and, I wondered, purposeful? "So, who is now your primary caregiver?"
"No one! I don't need anyone! I'm fine by myself!" Heather snapped back, then turned to Cain with renewed anger. "That means you too, freaky boy!"

 

 

I realized that I really didn't like the way the conversation was taking. But it wasn't really any of my business, and for all I knew, his actions could be legitimate. And Heather, whether she knew it or not, needed some care badly.

"No guardian? How unfortunate. But I may have a solution. You see, I myself run a service for the children of Reborn City. I give homes to those who have none, food, shelter, and even many friends just like yourself."
That sounded pretty sudden, but, indeed, a lot of what Heather needed. There's a catch, I thought. There can't not be one.
"Does that sound nice to you, little girl?"
"I don't want anything from you!" Heather shouted again, and she struggled harder to free her wrist. 

 

"Why not? I'm offering you a home. Why would you resist?"
"Dr. Thingy, maybe you should let go of her wrist if you want her to follow you." Cain said, stepping in. 
"I don't need you defending me!" Heather spat. "Why do you keep following me? And you," she snapped at the doctor, "are a creep. No girl ever would want to be around you!"

"I see." the doctor said, and there was an ominous resolve in his words. "Actually, you do not have a choice in the matter. Under Article 4, Section 9, Clause 3, we are legally responsible for the actions of all orphaned children within Reborn City, wherein the status of an orphan is defined as someone who has no living parents nor legal guardians willing and capable of providing care for the subject." Arceus. Legalese now. And what that article allegedly meant was sheer insanity. It opened the way to... "Under Article 7, Section 2, Clause 2, we are granted the authority to adopt into custody any discovered orphan within the city limits, provided they cannot produce legal documentation of guardianship in or outside of the municipal district. Orderlies, seize her." 

 

The two orderlies obeyed and grabbed her arms, while Heather was struggling and kicking and screaming. 
"Hey, not cool, Dr. Oldguy. Back off." Cain said, walking another step forward and grabbing a Pokeball. 
"I suggest that you do not interfere. Physical interruption to this procedure qualifies as personal assault and severe delinquency detrimental to standard city functions, thus will result in a criminal record and lawsuit against your name."
Cain became more hesitant, and he finally lowered his hand. 
"Do have a good day", the doctor said, leaving.
 

I knew he wasn't going to be fazed by confrontation, but maybe the right argument...

 

"Doctor?" I asked very hesitantly, as he (after his orderlies passed before me without a glance) was already behind me. The doctor turned around. "These... benefits you're offering her, food, shelter... Isn't she going to resent them if she was forced to use them?"
He just stared at me without answering, a long, cold stare which he must have practised, reminding me that I looked like nobody, knew nothing, and yet I dared to question him. I lowered my eyes first and he left without unnecessary words. 

 

"Gabriel!" Cain called me right afterwards. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"I was trying to locate Shelly for a Gym battle, but I didn't think I would watch... this. It was disturbing."
"Yeah, it was. What's he got up his butt? Insisting himself to be addressed properly. Nobody does that."
"Well," I answered in a spirit of fairness, "no one likes to be called a geezer. But he's probably lived too much in academia where, sometimes, long study allows for a more honorific address. That's stupid if you ask me. But that ruling he quoted... it sounds even more insane. Authority to take any children that can't produce evidence of legal guardianship. There's lots of room for abuse."
"My god..." Shelly muttered in a strangled voice. "That ruling... If I hadn't said anything... H-Heather w-wouldn't..."
It was too much for her, and she left running in the direction of her Gym. Cain ran after her, which I found was a little pushy -- she probably needed some time alone.

 

 

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

 

 

Indeed, Shelly was in tears in her room upstairs in the Gym, and Cain was trying to provide her some moral support. 

 

"Shelly... don't blame yourself for what that creep did."
"But..." she sobbed. "It is my fault! If I hadn't said him anything..."
"He would have found out about her lack of legal guardians in many other ways, as that was what he wanted to know." I chimed in. "You couldn't have known in advance, and I don't think that it would have been different if you hadn't spoken."
"But..." she stammered. "I still did it. I was supposed to be her f-friend -- and now she's going to be so m-mad at me. I'm so sorry... I'm such a terrible friend."

 

 

"No, no." Cain protested, "you were there for her. That's what was important. And I'm to blame too. I kinda chased her out of here. But I'll make it up to her."
"What do you mean?" I asked him, wondering what he was getting at.
"Well, we can't leave Heather with Dr. Butt now, right?"

"You're seriously suggesting to break her out of the orphanage?" I asked him, shocked. 
"Well, of course. Heather's in big trouble now, so it's time to take chances."
"How do you even know she's in trouble? I mean --"
"Come on, that guy was seriously creepy."
"Was he?" I asked genuinely. "Of course, I don't really approve of his use of force, but I hope we agree that Heather needed food and shelter. And perhaps, the realization that her manners were... could be improved."

 

"How can you overlook what he did?"
"I'm taking a chance, like you -- that Heather's fate in that orphanage is going to be better and safer than if she were on her own, at the mercy of any cruel fate that may befall a, what, ten-year-old orphan girl in... this place. Besides, if that doctor is indeed responsible for orphaned children in the city, his reaction may have been the adult one."
"You're delirious." Cain said. "How can this kidnapping be called anything else?"
"That's legal action through a deranged law. But if the guy is responsible for all orphaned children, then for the sake of the children already there, he can't afford to let anyone else become a liability. So he's got to keep an eye on every orphan in the city. That's messed-up, but that's what poor city ordinances do." I explained calmly. "Now, instead to have to provide for her needs, you can just go visit her and act as a friend."

I could see that Cain wasn't convinced. So I added: "I don't think they'll be delighted to see any visitor now, but I can go enquire tomorrow morning if you want."
"Fine." he said finally, before leaving. "You shouldn't trust them like that, but I'll let you make up your own mind."

 

In the meantime, Shelly had dried her tears and had been watching us one after the other, as if not knowing whom to believe. I turned next to her and, feeling a bit bad about it, decided to ask her if she was still okay with that Gym battle we had agreed upon. 

You're manipulating her, my inner guilty conscience nagged me. You're aware that it's much harder to refuse to do something you agreed to earlier, due to unforeseen circumstances or missing information you presumed to be favorable.

Then again, I answered for myself, I didn't really have any means of not manipulating her. It was also a common technique to insist that the person had a choice (when you wanted them not to change their mind). So if I asked Shelly, say, you've had a bad day, if you want, we can do it tomorrow morning, I'm in no hurry, that would probably only fortify her resolve. 

I would have preferred to have that battle now, but I believed it best for Shelly to rest after the emotions of that evening, so I offered to delay the battle to the next day in the morning. Shelly agreed lifelessly, which gave me serious concerns -- but I would probably mess her up only more if I tried to help any further. 

 

 

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

 

 

Shelly's Gym was far better than Julia's and Florinia's. It didn't rely on pointless trivia to be looked up in random textbooks or asked to the right database. It didn't involve massive safety hazards to be manipulated by any wandering people. On the other hand, it involved a puzzle with something much more damaging to me. 

 

Bookshelves. 

 

Variable-height bookshelves to be arranged into a path to Shelly's arena where she was waiting for me, probably finishing up on one of the books I had given her. I knew that if I helped myself on the shelf, I would be absorbed and that would be it, I wouldn't defeat Shelly before reading the entirety of the books there. And I couldn't do that because I had promised Cain and Shelly to go to the Orphanage afterwards. 

The puzzle wasn't easy, but using a scrap of paper and a pen I grabbed from one of the Gym Trainers, because the back-and-forths were getting tedious and I kept going in circles, I managed to plot a successful course. 
As expected, Shelly was waiting for me at the end, in her arena. 

 

"Hi, Gabriel." she greeted me with almost a smile. "What did you think of my garden library?"
"I like it. I managed to avoid the deadly trap of reading it all." I answered, only half-joking (and I was a bit nervous at the challenge actually). 
"Well, um... Good luck!" she wished me with slight nervosity as well. 

 

Shelly's first Pokemon were a Masquerain and an Illumise, while I led off with Hex and Sicy. A very common and usually successful paradigm, I scantly remembered from classes an eternity ago, to win Double Battles, is to make it a two-versus-one. Take one of your opponents, disable it, make it irrelevant, powerless, and the pressure on your own Pokemon is alleviated and they can focus on the bigger threat.

 
The Illumise started the battle by somehow having rain fall on the battlefield, while already the Masquerain was sending a Struggle Bug. I asked Hex to use Yawn on the Illumise, intending to disable it swiftly, while Sicy created a protective Mist. 

 

"No you don't", Shelly muttered while withdrawing the Illumise. "Bugsy... go!"

 

The Masquerain struck a second time, weakening Sicy, but she masterfully retaliated with a powerful Ice Beam, the coldness of which numbed the flying bug, leaving it open to Hex's move, a Body Slam which knocked it out. 

 

Five to go.

 

"Good job." Shelly muttered, recalled her fainted Masquerain. "Anorith, go!"
 

Anorith? Why would she use such a weak Pokemon? But it didn't matter. 
 

"Sicy, Mirror Shot; Hex, poison it to finish it off."

 

Shelly's Volbeat was content to ignore my team for now, and wasn't doing anything, gladly flying idly, his body shining.

 

"No, Hex!" I shouted, realizing what trick Shelly was up to, "target the Volbeat instead, quick!"

 

But it was too late already -- Hex had shot her poison at the little fossil Pokemon, who had effortlessly dodged it, like it had avoided Sicy's attack, hiding on the forest field wherever it pleased, moving too fast for Sicy or Hex to have a favorable aim. But its Rock Slide fully struck both of my Pokemon, fainting Sicy and tiring Hex. 
So it was speed that mattered... I wondered. Hex would be able to defend for a short while, but I needed to match that speed -- and take down the Volbeat very fast. 

 

"Good job, Sicy. Let's go, Batley! Stay out of reach and Calm Mind! Hex, forget about the Anorith and poison Volbeat!"

 

The Swoobat soared above the terrain, high enough that only the Volbeat could chase and target it, while the Anorith's Rock Slide only hit Hex. Then, and only then, it relaxed its guard and focused. In a last effort, while the Volbeat shot a bright light at my Flying Pokemon, Hex managed to throw toxic sludge at it, poisoning it. 

"Come rest, Hex. Let's go, Mouse!" I called, intending to match Attack with Attack.

The dog Pokemon glared at the minute Anorith. The latter didn't even blink and instead hit it fast and hard, somehow gliding on the wet undergrowth to gain momentum. At the same time, the aerial battle of the Volbeat and the Swoobat already was ending, my Pokemon managing to deliver a deadly (and boosted) Air Slash to her opponent. 

"You've done well, B-Bugsy." Shelly muttered. "H-Heather, it's your turn."

 

But the Yanmega didn't go out for Swoobat, and instead remained close to the ground, focusing on Mouse like her Anorith. Mouse wouldn't last long, if it had to battle both at once, the Yanmega out of reach but dangerous, and the Anorith too fast to be properly dealt with... So, at my command, Batley started focusing Air Slashs on Yanmega, slowly gaining ground, the dragonfly Pokemon's escapes more and more nervous and close, until finally, one attack made contact...
"Now!" Shelly ordered. 
Focused on downing the Yanmega, Batley had flown too far to the ground, I realized too late. It had been Shelly's plan all along -- luring Batley to ground level so her Anorith's Rock Slide could take her out. And it had worked, with still an upside for me: the Yanmega had fainted as well, the final Air Slash having been too much for it to handle. 
"I'm s-sorry, H-Heather..." Shelly muttered. I couldn't be sure for afar, but I thought her poise had somehow shifted... and, perhaps, she was smaller now? "A-Araquanid, go!"

Three on three... And I had the appropriate Pokemon to win this. If I played it right. I called Watt, now a confident Ampharos. 

 

"Thunder Wave the Araquanid! Mouse, Take it Down!"

 

The Anorith's moves were more uncertain, as if it had something on its mind. It threw another Rock Slide, but it missed completely Mouse and Watt shrugged it off. The Araquanid took both the Thunder Wave and the Take Down, although it resisted better than I had expected. Its answer was an Icy Wind which finally fainted Mouse. 

I can win this. I can still win this. Leaf, don't fail too fast. 

 

Leaf wasn't quick enough to dodge the Anorith's Aqua Jet, but went on stubbornly to strike the weakened and slowed down Araquanid with a Flame Charge, an ineffective move but which had an important upside. Watt finally defeated it by launching summonned magical gems.

 

"I-Illumise, it's y-your turn! Rain Dance! Anorith, A-Aqua Jet!" Shelly said, as the rain was relenting.
"Watt, the Anorith is focusing Leaf, Power Gem in her direction!" I said in a low voice. 

 

By the time the attack was fully powered, Shelly's fossil bug had already fainted Leaf, but hadn't really moved away from the area, looking a bit uncertainly in Shelly's direction, letting itself open to the super effective Rock-type move. The Illumise, left alone, didn't stand up to Watt afterwards. 

"W-Wow." Shelly said, audible for the first time since the battle started. I heard something wrong in his voice at once. "C-Congratulations. You d-did v-very well."
"Are you okay?" I asked, walking to her across the battlefield, a bit concerned at her stutter coming back. 
"I-I'm just thinking of my b-brother. It's to be g-good enough for him that I've spent so much time r-reading... t-training..." she started sobbing. Not again... "He's so c-cool, he's a G-Gym Leader in Johto, and I w-wanted to b-be just like him... But it's n-never enough. No matter what I d-do, h-he just pretends like I d-don't exist. And he's r-right... I had only one f-friend, and it's m-my fault she's..."

 

 

"Shelly," I cut her off. "That's not true at all. It's not your fault if the law here is demented. You were there for Heather and that's what matters, like Cain said. I take care of the rest, remember? I'll be off to the Orphanage right now. And you did great, given your situation and your worries. I prepared a lot," I insisted, "and I don't think I'd have beaten you in normal circumstances."

But I couldn't leave her without (the Badge, of course, and) perhaps some advice -- wasn't it, I thought bitterly, ironical that I had been for long in her brother's role inside my own family?

"I'm... anything but an expert on this," I went on. "Perhaps your brother truly is extremely demanding towards you. But it's as likely that he's living in his own world. Or has other issues..." Jealousy didn't sound too unlikely either, but no point in mentioning it. Perhaps he was the bright child himself and couldn't bear to be overshadowed by his younger sister. "The thing is, it's more likely to be an issue of his than a failing of yours. And I'm sorry to say this, but... it isn't up to you to change his behavior."
"But look at yourself instead! You're known as the most challenging of Gym Leaders in Reborn City, you're the League's expert on Bug-type Pokemon, and you're just twelve. Take it from me, that is impressive. You are good enough."
"T-Thank y-you." Shelly stammered, although I wasn't sure she was convinced. "H-Here's your C-Cocoon Badge... And y-your TM, S-Struggle Bug."

 

 

Spoiler

Player's note:

 

I made the battle with Shelly quite more dramatic than necessary. Actually, I was terrified of the battle and had completely over-prepared. So I destroyed her (Victoria's battle was rather unremarkable, apart from the fact that, again, I forgot it was coming. But I digress) . Here are the highlights: 

 

 

Illumise sets up Rain Dance, Masquerain used Struggle Bug, Hex Yawned Illumise and Watt Power Gemmed Masquerain.

 

Shelly sent Anorith to replace Masquerain. I switched out Mouse to replace Hex (for the intimidate) and Shelly replaced Illumise with Yanmega. Anorith Rock Slided (that mon is so powerful) and Watt Power Gemmed Yanmega to death.

 

Shelly sends in Illumise again. I heal up Watt, who Thunder Waves Anorith. Said Bug Pokemon Rock Slides again (probably) and Illumise Struggle Bugs.

 

Mouse dies after using a final Baby-Doll Eyes, Watt uses Power Gem (I think), Shelly attacks.

 

 

I send Batley in with a Seed, it Calm Minds but Illumise uses Confuse Ray. Anorith is paralyzed and Watt finishes him off with a Thunder Punch. 

 

Batley overcomes her confusion and Air Slashes the newcomer "Bugsy" to death. Watt will Thunder Wave the Illumise who Struggle Bugs.

 

Batley and Watt focus on the just-arrived Araquanid -- Batley couldn't kill it in one shot because her boost was nullified by the Struggle Bug (I forgot, alas, that Simple worked both ways). 
By the way, did you know that Araquanid had a better Special Defence than Ferrothorn or Mega-Venusaur? I discovered it just now.

 

Watt barely survives the Struggle Bug, Batley is now diminished as a special sweeper.

 

I switch out Watt for Leaf (I wanted her to evolve) and Batley attacks... it is the end, I have five Pokemon and she has one of her weakest.
 

 

 

 

Character rates: 

Spoiler

Shelly: 8/10 (no change). She struggles to cope with lack of recognition from her older brother. Little wonder she has issues and feels like everything is her fault. Poor girl... Maybe I should add a compassion number for some characters, unrelated to a character rate.

 

Heather: 5/10 (no change). Her stubbornness is annoying, and she should have lost points for stupidity when she confronted the doctor, but how to do that when she was the first one to take the consequences? Hopefully she'll have a better life in this orphanage than on the run.

 

Cain: 5/10 (no change). Points for nerve and assertiveness, but negative points for rashness. How can he believe than in a hellhole like Reborn City, Heather is better on her own than in an orphanage. And, well, it's child kidnapping to take a child legally residing in an orphanage -- even if the child consents.

 

Doctor: 5/10. Cool, a doctor! It's a bit demented how he was able to take Heather, but he answers to the incentives created by the city and thus he has to. I didn't really like his nonverbal way to notify me that I wasn't qualified to question him, but maybe he has a point. He's a medical doctor while I'm a math student. 

 

Death count:

Spoiler

Start-Julia: 4

Julia-Florinia: 0

Florinia-Corey: 2

Corey-Shelly: 0

 

Total since last Gym: 0

Total: 6

 

[Flannery in Reborn - The Tale of a Firehead [Last defeated: Aster & Eclipse]]

Wow, I can't believe I managed to so completely miss the release of your chapter. 

It was pretty nice too, although I was quite surprised at Flannery's brutality -- it's well-motivated, of course, but it's still unsettling to see violence escalating this much.

(Although I believe she would have a very long way to go to be what Sirius would wish for her to be)

Your visuals are amazing too. 

 

I'm surprised that no one seemed to comment on Fern's behavior -- and how Flannery was perhaps slightly hypocritical when she complained about the blatant lack of empathy of men she had known. Fern's attempt to defuse and pass the bucket is, if somewhat thoughtless and cowardly, very human in my opinion. It was Flannery's choice to escalate violence to "I'll literally burn you" levels in the confrontation, without Fern's backing. That Fern decided to rather let her down rather than risk being burnt alive as retaliation isn't surprising (not heroic, for sure, but hardly callous). 

[Theory Crafting Thread]

7 hours ago, Between Life and Death said:

The dialogue between Melia and Erin implies that MC actually died in Kugearen, but due to their powers as the interceptor Madame X was able to save them and bring them back a few seconds.

I watched that scene a few weeks ago, and I don’t remember Kugearen being mentioned or alluded to... could you please be more specific? 

[Theory Crafting Thread]

On 7/5/2020 at 4:10 AM, Between Life and Death said:

Madame X could have just saved us because if we failed, there would be no world left for her to take over.

Hm... In Kugearen, she knew the event was occurring. Why she didn’t simply arrange for someone else (not the person whose mother she slew before their own eyes – or, if she doesn’t know us, as indicated by the dialog, not complete strangers who meddle out of nowhere) to get the orb from the maid? Why bother to reset time for us (making us aware earlier than necessary of her power)? 

[The Odd One Out -- A Reborn Adventure]

Hi!

I'm not uploading with the usual schedule, I had other things to do (mostly the mental load of procrastinating getting in touch with people, but a bit of thesis too). I'm not 100 percent sure about this chapter either, but it fits a purpose (several, actually). Whether it is the best way to fulfill it, is what I don't know.   

 

Anyway, I think I'm the only one reading all the doubt-filled posts before chapters, so I'll stop straining your patience. 

 

(Random question: I've started putting chapter texts in spoilers, because I felt it let the progression be easier to spot -- do you like it this way or was the earlier method better?)

 

 

 

 

Chapter 30: Presents Day

 

Spoiler

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't think I'm following you. Would you mind repeating again?"

I almost tried to take a deep, obvious, sigh at the officer trying to make me repeat my story all over again, but, realizing that it wouldn't help, I ended up breathing just slightly more deeply. 

"You filthy thief! I'll have your skin!" the same old woman, witnessing through some unfathomable procedure loophole my interrogation, shrieked. She had been doing so for at least the past hour, cutting me off. 

I thought that perhaps believing the policeman to be a dimwit was too harsh. No one could keep their brains intact when submitted continuously to her shrill tone. 

"So," I started again, "I was at the Pokemon Center watching TV. Then I decided to take a walk because sleep wouldn't come and the programs were starting to annoy me."

"In my days, anyone like this," she spat at me, "would have been whipped to death before thinking of getting within a mile of that city! And now it's all gone to shit. All street trash now! And to think we upstanding citizens have to pay for welfare of scum like that! Disgusting."

"Madam," the officer said when she stopped to take her breath. "I cannot properly interrogate him when you're cutting us off so regularly. If you want this young man to be brought to justice, you have to be silent."
"You moron! What could you possibly use that my visual testimony cannot give you? I saw him, I tell you, I SAW him stealing my Pokemon!"
"Madam, I'm going to ask you to leave."
"And the cops too are corrupt snakes. No wonder everything is going to hell." the charming elderly lady hissed and left. "You'll hear from my lawyer."

"So, back to us." the policeman said. "What time did you leave the Pokemon Center, as you said?"
"I already told you. I'm not sure, but I would say about 10 pm."
"In these clothes? It's near midnight, you must have been cold. You went somewhere to warm yourself up."
"I told you I didn't." I said, thinking. I knew what he wanted me to do -- it served a purpose to read random stuff, sometimes you stumbled on useful content. "I'm not changing anything to my previous version."
"But, you heard the witness. She was positive she had recognized you. There's more than enough evidence to get you behind bars."
"How could you have evidence," I asked, my annoyance rising, "when I didn't do it?"
"Yourself, for instance."

"What?"
"You're dressed as a tramp, without any fully-working belonging, and look pretty well beat-up, yet you have a hefty enough envelope of cash in your bag." the policeman observed. "One may wonder where such money came from. Perhaps this isn't your only theft, just your pettiest. Add to that the fact that a reputable witness, who is perfectly sound of mind and eyesight, positively identified you. Also, you were unable to direct us to a place where you lived and could only provide us with a Trainer Card as ID."

The case against me, I realized, was slightly more well-documented than I had thought. My former assessment had helped me keep cool, as there weren't any stakes but temporary annoyance and delays, while I had time to spare. But thinking that there was a serious presumption about my being a thief made me reconsider. I could almost feel my composure slipping, and it felt like the police officer grew more confident, almost triumphant, every psychological second. 

 

"Ask Ms. Florinia, the Onyx Trainer School headmaster, or Amethyst, the League manager." I said, after taking a deep breath to try to remain calm. "There are specifics to my situation that would be too long to explain. Long story short -- I'm the latest tourist in Reborn City, the only other survivor of the explosion at Grandview Station. I assure you they will vouch for me."
"A rather bold claim, I'm afraid." the policeman answered. "We can't call them at this time, and of course you don't have proof of that."
"Okay." I answered, trying to work out who could answer at this time. "Your Jasper colleagues. Tell them about me. I guarantee you they'll be able to tell you something."

There was a pause.

"You can call them, right? I've worked with them... I don't know, twenty-four hours ago? They'll remember." I insisted.
"Don't be ridiculous."
"The scene was before an orphanage, right? Ask the children, they'll tell you about that Pokemon battle. And that girl with that so strong Pokemon. I think a child called her 'sis'. "
"Well, we'll look into that, but if you don't have anything better, we're keeping you here."

 

 

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

 

 

That so charming and trusting officer had put all my things in a locker, and locked me in a tiny, smelly cell, with a single wooden plank for a bed (too short by half a foot, and about as soft as the pavement) where I was made to wait for about eternity. I felt something slowly give way (with a very ominous creaking sound) when I tried to lie on that plank to help pass time, so I hastily got off it and sat in a corner, brooding. 

I thought unkind thoughts to police forces of all kinds, and started to find myself warming up to some of my former classmates's more radical ideas on the proper purpose of policemen. Then I decided to temporarily dismiss my assessment, as it clearly would make everything harder, and resolved to focus on what could help. I found myself mulling over the incident, trying to remember the exact details, to compose the best formulation, to have a normal delivery instead of awkward pauses at the weirdest moments. 

I must have dozed off, because somebody at some point yelled "Everything okay?" very loudly, which started me awake, and did not acknowledge my grunted answer. What was the point? This comedy repeated several times in the night, which I felt was making cop-bashing viewpoints very attractive. 
After a night about as pleasant and restful as one spent in a plane (on the one hand, it was quieter, but on the other hand, planes definitely were more comfortable), I was given "food", and then (after a needlessly long time) taken (with handcuffs) in another interrogation room, with a policeman waiting for me. 

"So, Gabriel." he said as soon as we were alone. "How come you didn't report on what happened in that cave?"
"You know about that?" I asked, surprised. 
"Well, the Chief of Police sent me here after a short briefing when they heard of you being detained. So what happened down there?"

It wasn't relevant to the exact matter at hand, but it would have been counter-productive to point it out. So I gave as detailed an account as I could of the events, including a description of the Meteor leader, his speech and the gate underneath the city. The policeman asked a few questions at some point, but mostly he was taking notes and recording me. 
"Thank you." he said at the end. "And now, about the matter of last night, please."
I started retelling the story I had already told several times, stressing the evidence of other people's participation to these events. The names, the unknown young woman, the children from the Orphanage. Again, he barely lifted his head from notes, asked a few questions, and I was taken back to that cell. 

An hour later, I was free at last, with a new envelope in my bag. When I opened it, I found a "Bike Voucher" with two stickers, apparently from the Obsidia Department Store. There was also a type-written note: "Do think of visiting us in Jasper."

What the ...?

 

 

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

 

 

And of course, upon cycling to Jasper (which was a definite and appreciable speed-up when compared to a walk, although there was a trick to learn about riding a bike with a large bagpack), I was asked by yet another policeman to go to the station because of "new developments in the Meteor situation". I failed to suppress a resigned sigh, folded my new bike to fit in these weightless, bottomless bags -- how convenient, I thought, why weren't they so available in Kalos -- and entered the station. 

I explained the situation, and was told, after a short waiting time, that someone was waiting for me in an interrogation room where a policeman escorted me. I realized something was off when I saw through the transparent door that three other officers were waiting inside, but the other officer told me not to worry, that it was standard procedure in my situation. 

"So," I asked hesitantly, after everyone -- all four officers, I noted with slight alarm, but they weren't about to harm me in a police station -- was settled. "What is this about?"
"It is," one policeman answered, "about gratefulness."
"What?"
"Well, you put yourself at risk to save the Obsidia, Jasper, and Beryl Wards. You managed to do it. And afterwards, you still went looking for us when Corey had us abducted."
 

I... didn't expect that, of course. Who would? 

 

"Don't think about it." I answered uneasily.

 

I hadn't really done it for them. I had considered contributing to it because it had to be done, nobody else would, and staying idle would only have cost me more trouble long-term. And I had somehow succeeded instead of getting gruesomely killed, or at least mutilated. 

Which, now that I mulled it over, made it almost monstruous. Could you conceive of someone being hailed as a hero for deeds accomplished mostly through luck and about entirely under selfish motives? I felt a monstrous hypocrite, sullied by myself.

 
"And after you did it, and the Chief, asks you, even without thanking you, to do another investigation about Team Meteor? That's unbelievable you did it. "

 

That's selfishness for you. That motive never gets old. And that thankless, life-threatening assignment was just what I deserved. 

 

"So anyway, we thought you deserved actual thanks."

"That's kind," I stammered, "but really..."
"You saved me from that Raticate, remember?"
"You helped me out of that alley."
"You got me out of that Nuzleaf-made prison."
"You got me out of the grips of this Meteor grunt north of Beryl."
"And you saved our colleagues from Corey."

I probably would rather have been berated, denounced, spat upon, than have endured that mound of thanks. Each grateful word was a sear on my soul, a reminder of the petty, self-centered reasons why I had done all of this. Adding to the shame was the realization that I simply couldn't tell them that, and ended up barely restraining my tears with a small, dull:

"You needn't be thankful for that."
"But we are! And quite a few citizens of Jasper and Beryl are too."

Oh no.
"So we decided to get you some Trainer-friendly presents."
"That's... too much already. The Bike Voucher... the stickers... That was you?"
"Yes, it was. But we had others too."
"This..." I about choked with emotion, "really isn't necessary."
"We have little use for them. Let us help you like you helped us."

They gave me a Pokemon Egg, who (they said) contained a rare Pokemon, but they didn't know the specifics. They also gave me a Mining Kit. I protested of course, arguing that it was too much (but, I thought guiltily, you would be very glad to keep them anyway, wouldn't you?), but they protested harder, so I ended up keeping them all. 

 

 

 

 

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

 

I also found that Mareep from Jasper Ward, who recognized and ran at me with an enthusiasm that boggled my mind, rubbing itself against my leg. Still having a heavy heart over the officer's so undeserved praise, I crouched and petted it. But when I got up again, the electric sheep Pokemon didn't relent, and went on rubbing itself against my leg. I couldn't believe how it could choose to act so self-destructively as to choose me, but I... asked anyway. 

 

"Do you want to come with me?" I questioned in a gentle voice, showing it a regular Pokeball. 

Apparently, it did. 

 

 

Spoiler

Player's note: Yes, Watt was the party member I didn't write about in the note of the previous chapter about the Aster&Eclipse fight. With the proper training it's much better than I expected. 

 

Thinking of presents, or at least of actions done out of goodwill, I went to that library in Beryl. Perhaps there would be books I could bring back to Shelly, at least to help her get over her sorrow. But I found the building in a wretched state -- I wouldn't be able to find anything if there wasn't a semblance of order in the books. So, as much as I could, I took the time to sort them a bit. Fortunately, as I had remembered, the plants hadn't really wrecked that particular building, so at worst shelves had fallen (and they were too heavy for me to put back in place) but the books, however damaged, wouldn't be scattered too far away from that place. It took a while, but I managed to find some books I knew to be good in the "foreign literature" section, and I took quite a few of them (silently thanking my bag), making sure to leave a note detailing which books I had taken. 

I went up to train in a more mountainous area, a mile or so above (and north of) the Beryl Ward. I helped Mouse the Herdier make enough progress to evolve into a powerful and confident Stoutland, and, more uneasily, Sicy the Vanillite and Watt the Mareep to slightly grow (Watt got to evolve quite quickly, but not Sicy). Leaf and Hex also trained hard and got better, but not to the point of evolution (not that Hex could anyway). 

 

 

At some point in the early afternoon, I felt a shadow over my head. Looking up, I saw a Salamence, and I realized in a flash that it had to be Heather's. I instantaneously felt curious, and concerned, and somewhat guilty (thinking back on Corey's last words) about how she had fared through these two days that must have been horrific to her. So I started making hand gestures and yelling her name in the air. 

A bit stupid, I realized too late, if my goal was to shelter her from malignant intentions, and I watched anxiously the moves of the Salamence. I saw it make a U-turn, and slowly descent towards me. Soon I could indeed distinguish Heather riding it, and she finally stepped down from it, to immediately snap at me. 

 

"What is it now?"

 

She looked awful. Her clothes were about the same as the last time I had seen her, but they were dirtier. She had dark rings under her eyes and looked a little pale.

The concerned reply came automatically to me. 

"Heather, are you okay?"
"I'll be okay, when idiots stop calling me from mid-flight for no reason at all!"
"You're sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure! I'm fine being all by myself."

While I couldn't tell if she knew it as well, I was confident that her statement was false. But I didn't know if I could make her aware of that, and I didn't want to upset her situation any further. So I simply asked, remembering some of the Bug Leader's words:

"You know Shelly, right?"
"What's it to you?"
"Maybe you should go see her?"
"Don't tell me what to do or not!"

 

I sighed. I just wasn't ready to break her stubbornness -- and I didn't know if I could pull it off. But would it even be a good thing to have her listen to me? Doubtlessly sensing my indecision, Heather readied herself to take off, before a voice in her back called for her -- a voice I recognized. 

"Heather, right?" Cain called. 
"How do you know my name?" she asked, visibly annoyed.
"My name's Cain." he answered with almost palpable warmth. "I heard some stuff had happened, and I'm looking for you because I'm worried."
"So that you get to place a bunch of stupid rules over me, too?" she yelled at him, clearly both angry and somehow glad to have an outlet.
"Hey, no," Cain answered, surprised. "I just wanted to be fri-"
"Just shut up! I didn't ask you for anything! I don't even know you! And I don't need anything anyway!"

 

Point, Heather.

 

"I think you need a friend." Cain said, very empathetic. 

 

"I already have a friend, who's way less annoying that you!" she shouted, before storming off on her Salamence. 
Cain tried to hurry after her, but he also noticed me, and, while keeping one anxious eye on Heather, he greeted me too familiarly for it to be fully comfortable. 
"Heyyy."  At least I was getting used to his boundary crossing a bit less than the previous times. Also, I wasn't a pawn to him. Probably. "What were you doing with Heather?"
"Hi Cain." I answered with a half-hearted smile. "I suppose I was trying to do the same thing as you, but you're way better at that than I am."
"I didn't succeed though, and I can't lose her now." he said, turning back to try and see the Salamence. "She's probably going to the Lapis Ward. It's going to be a long walk, I better go now."

She's on the road, I heard Cain singing while walking away, far from home, but she doesn't have to feel alone...

 

 

At least she was going to see Shelly.
 

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

 

 

I found Shelly with Heather in the former's room at the Gym about forty minutes afterwards, much better than Cain would have managed on foot -- but I avoided him for the entire trip, so hopefully he wasn't aware that I had cheated him of a means to complete his purpose more easily. You bastard, I thought to myself. I hadn't wanted to hinder Cain, of course, but I didn't really trust him, or value his purpose, enough to help him. After all, Cain didn't look like a paragon of stable living, and Heather had clearly communicated a desire to not have any contact with him. 

Of course, Heather went ballistic at me when she saw me. I waited for a gap in her flow of angry shouts, "explaining" that she wanted to be left alone. So I told her that I only had come here for a few words with Shelly. 

"Hello, Shelly. Are you... are you better today?" I enquired. 
"Y-yes." 
"I'm... glad to hear it. So, er, would you be ready for a Gym battle sometime in the late afternoon? About, I don't know, half past six?"
"That s-should be good, I think." she answered after a brief frown of concentration. 

"I was wondering... you love reading, right?"
"Y-yes, why?" Shelly asked uncertainly. 
"I picked some great books at the Beryl Library which I didn't remember seeing on your bookshelves... I thought you could be interested."
"Oh. Um, what are they about?"
"There are," I explained while taking the books from my bag, "a fantasy epic, a detective novel, a science-fiction story, and... another great novel I can't characterize so easily. All four of them are highly-praised and really great books. Are you interested?"

 

"F-For me? But... why?"
"I thought you would like them." And perhaps, they would help her control her emotions should she feel sad again.

 

Shelly's smile could have lighted candles. "No, I don't know them. Thank you."

 

 

Character ratings:

Spoiler

Shelly: 8/10 (no change). 

Cain: 5/10 (+1). I admire his dedication, but is he right to go after Heather, almost demanding to be her friend? 

Heather:  5/10 (no change). I had almost forgotten her rudeness and pointless stubbornness, but how to scold her about that when her father died and I couldn't even prevent it?

 

[Theory Crafting Thread]

1 hour ago, Between Life and Death said:

He eliminated Valerie and Adam's memories, and tried to do the same to Braixen. And also, he helped Narcissa get rid of her memories. Oh, and he transferred his memories to his son, and then tried to do the same to Lavender.

I feel stupid for forgetting about Narcissa and the specifics of Isha’s own story.
 

But I can’t remember where it’s hinted (or even said) that he did something to Valarie or Adam. I always assumed that was Freya. 
 

(Another possible outcome is Crescent utterly pwning everyone on that scene and making them remember a version where she faked her death – see below for why it’s not absurd. Not that I believe that, but I don’t think it’s inconsistent). 

Note that hugely altering memories isn’t too unusual a feat by Rejuv standards, see Karen at the Starly help request or Crescent with Nim (well, either that or she convinced Nim so thoroughly that she trusted Crescent more than us, and changed her name and purpose with that). That’s also why I’m pretty sure that Freya may be more able to modify memories than “just a little”

Spoiler

(and it’s not “just a little” that she did to Kenneth).

 

[Theory Crafting Thread]

9 hours ago, Between Life and Death said:

I guess we've only seen Isha wipe people's memories.

I don’t recall which scene this is? Can you recall me? 
 

9 hours ago, Between Life and Death said:

But I'm sure he and Freya's Beheeyem, if they worked closely together enough, could start completely changing people's memories.

Again, I don’t think Freya needs Isha. She didn’t need anyone to 

Spoiler

destroy Kenneth. 

 

[Theory Crafting Thread]

So, that was quite the read.

I suppose it all boils down to this: is Saki being, well, Saki, more likely than her being an evil mastermind? 
 

There is another piece of evidence against Saki being just  over the top – that kind of stuff was rather removed from the game (Melia’s early “handling” of a Xen grunt). 
 

Some of it sounds dubious – I am not sure why Saki would jump to utter ridiculousness to try and attack us at the Chrysola Hotel. I mean, she must know such mundane means wouldn’t kill anyone – least of all us, and instead would give away her game. 
 

But a lot of the rest makes disturbingly much sense. Although it could as well be that the Saki we saw is a Xen-controlled robot masquerading as the actual Saki, and failing by being “too anime”. 

 

(or perhaps she saw the game’s full plot and lore the real relationship between the Blakeories and Team Xen and Went Mad From The Revelation). 
 

Trouble is, you’d expect Braixen to comment on something that amiss... 

 

Also, is there any canonical evidence for Isha to successfully and reliably alter memories? He experimented on Braixen but as far as we know its memory wasn’t modified... 

 

Spoiler

Freya is the one altering memories, see the BW Pokedex for Beeheyem (or WLL). It’s much more sensible that she did that to Val and Adam.
 

Also, there’s Ryland to worry about. They altered his memory so that he wouldn’t remember his brother Adam... I wonder why that is.
 

Perhaps it was needed to get both brothers atop the Pyramid and for Adam to recover his memory — except that they could probably undo their own trick? 

 

[My Rejuvenated Adventure]

That was an impressively productive week-end, and pretty good episodes too. 

 

You kept your favorite Seviper nickname! 

I'm interested to see how you'll write what comes next...