Mindlack
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Pokemon Reborn Development Blog
Pokemon Rejuvenation Development Blog
Posts posted by Mindlack
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I like that update. I had forgotten how over the top the entire Magnolia Library incident was. And the other sidequests... Karen's first appearance in the story... Great episode, in a nutshell. I'm excited to read what's next!
(Now I really want a Rejuv story where all the MC does is sue the Blakeorys for all their money, collecting stories and evidence for a massive lawsuit. I'm pretty sure it would be interesting to explore the consequences to Melia, Venam and Ren, who don't actually meet us. They end up happy and still friendly and we become rich and powerful and adored by every person of lesser social status than the Blakeorys. Happiest ending ever.)
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Now, I really should get back at writing, because my buffer is diminishing... But never mind, as usual in the week-ends, I can give you the next chapter.
Chapter 28: The Enemy's Gate
SpoilerI had been thrown to the ground, head first, and my already sore neck ached really bad. I hadn't been able to identify my enemies. Anyway, the smartest move here was to run. I pushed on my arms, knees and legs to get myself standing, twisting my neck in the right direction to have a peek at my foes.
I saw two angry-looking Lycanrocs and two dark-clothed hooded Meteor agents. I saw that they were all between me and the exits -- either the rope ladder, or the continuation of the tunnel. I had a cold sweat -- if they had been ordered to kill me, I was dead, full stop.
"I recognize you! You were at the factory! Here's revenge, hah!" one of the Meteor grunts said, in a voice that actually resounded against the walls of the tunnel.
"You think he was that terrified kid, Aster?" the other asked, the voice a woman's. "Yeah, it's probably him. You're aware," she added, turning to me, "that you are trespassing on our operating territory."
I didn't like at all that mention of their territory. Because on their territory, they would be free to act regardless of usual moral codes, or, more concretely, dispose of me as they saw fit. But I knew, again, that I couldn't look weak. And the odds weren't overwhelming against me -- the Lycanrocs were small, I might be able to push all of them aside while I dashed to the rope ladder. It might work. I tried to go forward my attackers, very slightly, as if not thinking of it.
"Look," I offered, deciding to play the victim card, "the police up here forced me to go down to investigate. I'll climb up and let you be."
I fought hard to still look impassible and not wearing a manically hopeful grin.
"No." the girl said again. "I don't buy it. You've been involved in most operations against us. We're keeping you, in accordance to our orders anyway."
Delaying so much the statements of these orders could only mean one thing, and it wasn't good. I took another step forward, trying to not look as I had a purpose.
"And what would these orders be?" I asked in a voice I fought to make as serene as possible.
"We take you down to the big boss. He requested explicitly that any prisoners here may not be harmed."
"Unless they clearly ask for it," Aster completed. "So throw your arms in the air like a nice boy and come with us without doing whatever you were planning."
Crap. I had to work on my subtlety. The Pokemon started coming closer to me, until I could notice that the Lycanrocs had teeth. With two against me so close, I wouldn't be able to get them out of the way, I realized. I had to keep them away. So I surrendered like a nice boy complelely out of his depth.
"The Lycanrocs are a bit nervous, I think." the woman said. "Don't make any sudden moves and excite them. Keep your hands up."
Aster led the way further down the tunnel, I went second (after a safe distance preventing me from trying any backstabbing), followed closely by both rock wolves, and then by the woman whose name I didn't know. Both of the Meteor operatives had lit a flashlight, which did interesting things to the crystal-encrusted walls. Reflecting the white light, the crystals had a more iridescent glitter. It would be, I thought, a place of wonder, a palace of color, an encyclopedia of reflects, with such lighting everywhere.
The path ended up to a giant hall, decently lit even without the flashlights, due maybe to numerous minute skylights. The crystals here were more abundant than ever and I revised my opinion about lighting -- the sheer amount of colorful reflections, of gleams of different orientations and colors, would have made the onlooker dizzy. Perhaps such a scant lighting was for the best.
While I was admiring the landscape, I also was trying to keep in mind the path we were choosing, and trying to spot for escape opportunities. But it never was the right time: the Lycanrocs were too close, perhaps the woman had another Pokemon -- and ultimately, I didn't want to take chances. The Lycanrocs growling threateningly at me whenever I started lowering my arms might have also weighted on this decision, or rather undecisiveness.
Aster led me down a series of small ledges into one particular, darker, edge of the hall which was somehow barely noticeable from the entrance, and instructed me to follow on the path alone. This seemed extremely ominous, but I was outnumbered and with little means of defence. Once again, I decided to obey instead of resist, but keep being wary of (literal) backstabbing.
I first walked in a short, narrow and very dark corridor, where I stopped anguished several times to try and listen at anything that could come at me from behind, but found nothing. It came out on a place much better lit, with actual torches making the surrounding crystals gleam with a range of colors going from pink to orange, including yellow and scarlet.
Old-looking, worn stone stairs were leading down to some sort of square. It was quiet, but people had come down here recently, at least to light the torches, which felt very unnerving. But I slowly went down the stairs, as I had been instructed, and found out that I was utterly alone.
That didn't reassure me in the slightest. Wasn't there a big boss supposed to be there? I paced the available space nervously, trying to spot hidden paths, but to no avail. The room I was in -- after the stairs, there were the buried remains of a rectangular square, with a locked grid at the end, walls even more filled with crystals, ones that reflected light better and shone brighter as well, and, in some part of the wall on my right, a massive, plain black door.
I paced nervously the square and even the stairs, trying to decide on a next step, anguished thought after anguished thought coming to my brain, such as -- they've resolved to let me die, they'll never let me out of here and I'll starve to death. Or: they'll obstruct the corridor entrance with a huge rock and I'll run out of oxygen. Or, the latest and the really scary one: They're just letting me here until carbon monoxide levels raise and I die. Then they take me back up -- a tragic caving accident, which nobody would have reason to disbelieve.
Then again, I reasoned, it can't really be an assassination attempt in this way, right? The counter-move is simple -- I simply have to extinguish all the torches.
Unless that's what they want you to think, the small voice of paranoia chimed in. What if they simply leave you alone?
I started blowing the lights out, just in case, starting one at a time so as not to trip on the way. I was about halfway up the stairs (I had started from the square below) when I started hearing footsteps. Steady, confident footsteps, the kind of person who knew their way and didn't bother with stealth. This got added to my tab of worrisome elements, which started to overwhelm me with panic.
I forced myself to breathe normally. If they want to kill you, you can't fight them, I told myself. But you can hope: they have stated an intention to not kill you. I forced myself to cool down and not feel, to be able to read my evolving situation more clearly.
"So, Trainer," he said in a deep, and serene voice, appearing atop the stairs (while I was at about a quarter of their length starting from the top), "it is you they caught."
I didn't answer but slightly nodded, as I couldn't find any satisfactory verbal reply. I looked at him and I was surprised. He was very tall, over six feet, and had a medium build. He looked in about fifty, with lax-military-short hair that was mostly dark, but slightly greying, and was wearing a light brown coat covering his body from shoulders (not counting the turned-up collar) to his ankles. Clearly, he thought himself above uniforms."Be at ease. My grunts and I have no intention of harming you unless you start rebelling."
My first thought was that there was a giant unaddressed loophole to that sentence (mostly, what counted as rebellion and against what specific action -- they could lock me up here and kill me because I resisted). My second thought was to dismiss the first thought, because I was beyond screwed anyway if he was the kind of villain to play on words. My third thought was to ask if this introduction could have been in a more casual setting -- perhaps an invitation to some restaurant.
"I would like to show you something downstairs. Please follow me." he added after a pause, then started walking down the stairs confidently despite their unevenness. "Do you know," he asked me, "why so many torches are unlit?"
I thought about giving the carbon monoxide explanation, but remembered that I was talking to a terrorist who had razed over a third of Reborn City to the ground. It really wouldn't do if I started giving him more ideas.
"No offense", I answered, "but how do I know I can trust you? You harmed a lot of people for no reason I know, why should I be any different?"
"You aren't any different." he answered, not looking at me. "This place is. I will explain downstairs."
His tone made me shiver. Without a single overt word, it seemed to negate my personhood, my right to life or whatever right I could have claimed before him. All of the respect he could have had for human beings, their hopes, dreams, attachments, projects or inner worlds of thought, he focused in the reverence in which he held (or at least so pretended) this place. He walked downstairs, me behind him by a couple of meters. He finally stopped in front of that black gate.
"Do you know, Trainer, what is beyond that gate?" he spoke in a question which I couldn't decide was rhetorical or not. He didn't wait for me to ponder whether or not to answer. "It is the very core of Reborn, a sacred place. A place from where the world began."Okaaaay. Now it was clear: the "big boss" was a religious nut, his affinity with sci-fi-level technology notwithstanding. There already were places, much better known, aspiring to that title -- the Sinnoh Spear Pillar, the mystical Sinjoh Ruins. It was probably one of these again.
"So, tell me, Trainer." the Meteor boss went on, and his voice grew more exalted and angry. "How insolent, how utterly ignorant, must one be to build such a wretched city over this precious holy symbol? For that", he almost shouted, "is Reborn. The city of insolence."
Afraid of the violence concealed in these words, I didn't argue about the meaning of that ignorance, which couldn't be considered malicious in all justice. I didn't argue that if even the outside world had forgotten about this place, perhaps one should not judge the people of Reborn so harshly. I didn't even argue that if Reborn could be currently called wretched, maybe the Meteors had some part of responsibility.
"Ironically, the city's official emblem is reminiscent of the sanctum which it occludes. Look!"
He pointed at the center of the gate, where I saw a circle with four crystal beams meeting at the center, oriented as in a X, with two small crystals, one separating the left branches, one separating the right branches, making, I realized, an angry face with a decidely unsmiling mouth and cartoonishly frowned eyebrows.
"Ruby, the seal of pain", he demonstrated, and the top-right crystal suddenly grew bright red. "Sapphire, the seal of love", he went on as the top-left crystal turned deep blue. "Emerald, the seal of faith", he pointed out as the bottom-left crystal went green -- a color which remained me of mountain hikes, of purer nature, and I barely refrained tears -- that wasn't the moment at all to be homesick. Especially since I didn't like hikes that much actually. "And Amethyst," he concluded emphatically, as the last crystal shone purple, "the seal of the beyond."
I stood silent, letting him do the exposition, see what he would get at -- at least he gave valuable information.
"Each one is a key. When the four are brought together, Reborn's true power -- its sacred rite -- will be restored. We will be rid of this malignant junkyard and beauty can be restored to the world."
There was a pause, where I was trying to digest what I had been told and shown, which seemed to go on longer and longer.
"When you leave," he finally spoke again, -- at least one positive word -- "share this place with the world. Remind them that this world which they have undone will itself be their undoing."
And, simple as that, he started leaving. As, at last, one question sprung to my mind, I asked it hesitantly:
"Why do you judge the inhabitants of Reborn so harshly? This place was buried ten meters beneath the earth -- how would they know? Isn't it," I added, willing to not ruffle his feathers by completely antagonizing him, "at the very least, their elders' fault for not retelling the history?"
His answer, and subsequent immediate departure, chilled me."Ignorance of the law, to earthly justice, is no excuse. Why should divine justice be any more merciful?"
And I was all alone in a huge room, with only task to mull over the Meteor's words.Team Meteor was under the control of a deluded religious fanatic who believed himself in a crusade against the city, or perhaps against the whole world. They had futuristic technology, and state-of-the-art AI, otherwise, no offense to fairy tales, the gate crystals couldn't have reacted to the lead Meteor's words this way -- or, perhaps, it was some sort of trick?
And... the four seals... the ancient rite done anew... the restoration of beauty to the world... was the guy thinking he was in some sort of epic? Only stories had patterns this clear-cut. And besides, if he didn't appreciate the beauty of the current world (well away from Reborn, at least), what did he have in mind?The picture brought an immediate expletive to mind.
I found myself leaning against a wall corner, to rest my neck, shut my eyes, and start thinking about how, if the opportunity arose, I might try to make profit of that peculiar conception of the Meteor leadership. Perhaps there could be clever deceptions or good arguments to make against some of their actions.
For instance, I realized that I should have answered that at least earthly justice gave the defendants lawyers. But the line of thought wasn't overall really successful and I probably dozed off. When I awoke, the room was darker and several more torches had burnt. It was high time, I thought, to leave before they left me in total darkness, a sure enough way to die trapped in this cave.
Confident in the lighting, I went on to confront my de facto jailors to bargain for my freedom. I climbed up the stairs, and went into the darker, narrower tunnel, my heart beating with the sheer ludicrousness of the demand I was about to make.
There is nothing more normal, I told myself to reassure me, than to demand to be free to go. Everyone adores freedom, especially those who are, or feel, deprived of it.
But each time I made this point, it seemed to become more childishly helpless -- after all, did the Meteor grunts have any reason to agree, except for oblique words from their boss that I alone had heard?
Drop the uncertainty, I tried to order myself. Otherwise, they for sure will let you rot there. Unfortunately, the sight of the still-angry Lycanrocs showing teeth at the edge of the tunnel restored, and fortified, my uncertainty and shyness.
"What are you doing here?" a grunt, Aster if I recalled correctly, snapped at me.
"Your boss told me I was free to go." I answered uncertainly.
"Nice try," the other grunt said, "but we were given no such indications. You stay down there."
"But it's pointless..." I objected weakly. "You're not doing anything worthwhile here, and neither am I. And your boss told me to, quote, carry this place with me when I leave, unquote. If this isn't an explicit wish to see me leave, I don't know what it is."
"Sounds like something Solaris could say." Aster grunted. "What do you think, Eclispe?"
Ah. Some names at last."You're such an idiot, at times." she said, actually annoyed. "Why did you have to use the boss's name? And the kid, here" -- I wasn't a kid -- "was successful in quite a few operations against us. I don't think the boss was aware of that."
"You're going to ask him to reconsider?" Aster asked, shocked.It sounded like that Solaris wasn't very accessible.
"No. But who needs him alive?"
Needless to say, that escalation didn't sound pleasant at all to my ears. I was also sure I wasn't imagining that the Lycanrocs looked, all of a sudden, fiercer and more aggressive.
"Look," I said. "I don't think that's really what you want to do. I desire little more than stay our of your way."
"Gabriel?" shouted Victoria's voice somewhere nearby. "Is that you?"
I shouted to indicate my presence, and had the pleasure to watch Eclipse and Aster's confidence waver. That sight gave me additional nerve and vigor, and I started pushing at the Lycanroc, which slowly retreated, pace after pace. I felt incredibly nervous, as if I was walking on thin air and would fall if gravity noticed me.
"Looks like we'll need a hostage." Eclipse said after seconds of my slowly pushing back, with a malignant smile replacing her temporary uncertainty.
Character ratings:SpoilerSolaris: 1/10. What's even going on in this nut's head?
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3 minutes ago, VividGrey said:
I swear if @andracass put this in as a practical joke I'm gonna reee.
"yeah guys there's a one in a million percent chance you'll run into a lvl 1 mew if you just run around in Byxbysion"
Is there a truck to look underneath, maybe?
SpoilerWasn't it behind a door that was supposed to stay locked?
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3 hours ago, Gastronely said:
The truest way to play Reborn is with the Wii Fit Balance Board
Nice idea, but it gets easy after a while, no? I'm setting up a, um, randomized version, where the character counts of the latest tweets determine each keystroke (like, "odd" is enter, "even odd" is "right", "even even odd" is "up", and so on...)
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I'm pretty sure there was an actual in-game scene where Erin asks Melia that kind of question, but I can't find it. Never mind; it can't get any wronger than the "AU" I came up with:
Erin: Melia, can I ask you a question?
Melia: Sure, what's on your mind?
Erin: I wondered... if you trusted MC.
Melia: That's a strange question. Do you have a particular reason to ask it?
Erin: Just answer it naturally.
Melia: Of course I trust them! We've been through so much and they've been great and reliable companions...
Erin: Okay then.
Melia: Except for the time they shoved me down the stairs.
Erin: What?
Melia: But they didn't know it was me and I kind of deserved it anyway.
Erin: What?
Melia: And I guess there's also the time they bound and gagged me atop Valor Mountain.
Erin: ...
Melia: But they were right. I was clearly completely nuts at that time. Who knows what would have happened if they had let me do as I wanted?
Erin: Didn't you tell me that it resulted in them, two Gym Leaders and your father falling into lava, your rescue mission irrevocably compromised, and MC so scared of heights and heat that they asked Rhodea for an underground fridge instead of a room?
Melia: Sure, but it clearly would have been worse without MC. And the time we found Venam badly beaten up claiming MC had stolen her Charizard. With MC offering no explanation whatsoever.
Erin: Wasn't it the Pokemon she herself had stolen?
Melia: Yes, but how did you know?
Erin: Venam's a teenage Poison Gym Leader, a fairly recent one, and she hasn't made her own teenage rebellion subtle. No way she's got a Charizard.
Melia: But, well, most of the time, MC's great. Why were you asking again?
Erin: They've tricked a dozen Bladestar grunts into walking into a bottomless pit. I still don't know how, they claimed it was a magic trick.
Melia: Er, what?
Erin: And then they went all Bladestar-happy and worked at their secret underground lab for 48 hours straight, pretending to be away for training.
Melia: WHAT? They told me they were making a custom birthday present!
Erin: Afterwards, they asked me to help them tamper with the vents and install poisonous gas tanks.
Melia: ... I think you really shouldn't mention that.
Erin: Also, they told me that they gave me the Time Amulet specifically to upset Spacea and Tiempa.
Melia: Told you they were great.
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Lickitung
hi, I'm half-bored, half-procrastinating -
9 hours ago, Crystalrage said:
But the latter part of this theory contradicts to the fact that the interceptor can't be killed until they have fulfilled their duty.
I think it's not a fact. IIRC, the Interceptor can die for real (with dire consequences) if they "fail" (i.e. die a mundane death) too many times.
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Must... stop... responding...
It's... becoming... so... irrelevant.
Ugh. The impulse is too strong. Maybe next time I'll manage to restrain.
I always thought that the underwater mechanic was a compromise between "realism" (whatever it might mean) and gameplay. Realistically, no non-aquatic Pokemon (or some that were specifically comfortable in water, like dolphins) should remain conscious after even, like, three turns underwater. Another hint about that is the behavior of moves like Fly and Dive (because the other Pokemon will naturally adjust their levels in the water precisely to get hit). Then again, trying to find some remotely consistent biology principles in Pokemon is probably a hopeless quest.
But Sirius does fight disloyally -- iirc, you only escape his Chandelure (when Eclipse... doesn't) because Aya is watching out. He has his Seviper bite Florinia in the "defeat Solaris" route when Team Meteor attacks Fiore Mansion. And he has the Abra teleport you to wherever when you attack their base in Tanzan Mountain. He doesn't at Mosswater (where he states he wanted to send a message but got bored by the group's slow progress), in Yureyu (he doesn't really care because he already has what he wanted from the children), in the Belrose home because he's seething with rage (and grief? how knows), the second time in Tanzan Mountain (because Lin is coming and we have to pretend to be a Meteor, which doesn't fool her), and in Agate, where iirc the order seems to delay us (and it looks like Lin would rather toy with us than have us killed).
As you said, it's beside the point anyway. In two sentences, my point is that, although the loss of life is sad in each case, I feel that the situations of Titania and Saphira are deeply dissimilar, and that the latter is justified in employing lethal force. I believe that when you don't have the time to think of a perfect solution, you shouldn't be expected to put the life of your (terrorist) assailants before the well-being of your loved ones.
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I'll grant you that I really didn't think of A). There are drawbacks though. Dragonite probably can't accelerate to supersonic speed on such short distances, needs several trips back and forth (and they don't even know where it's safe), and clearly can't fly even near supersonic speed without the wind/sonic bang horrifically mauling a human body (you know, like why you shouldn't stay outside in a hurricane, even if nothing fell on you, but at least three times worse).
Maybe the other flying dragons could help, but does Saphira have her full team on her?
B) seems to me like a losing proposition though. First, Sirius is in a boat and Saphira is in the air, so they'll have to find a (literal) common ground (which may, or may not be closer than the boat to the house). So added risk. Second, Sirius can seriously mess Saphira up without fighting (have the Seviper slither around, unnoticed, until it has sneaked behind her and... or Chandelure if you want to get more horrific), and has enough grunts and other Pokemon to keep her overwhelmed until it is too late. So in her value system, high risk, not high reward.
Also a note: the Belrose sisters' home burnt when they were young. That probably explains such a fierce attachment to it (and why they didn't think of fleeing it with the Dragonite).
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4 hours ago, Candy said:
Yah I'm talking original game Tanzan arc. It can be taken as self-defense but she had zero mercy which might be taken as cold-blooded.
When the kids had been kidnapped in Yureyu building, protagonist and Cain didn't kill anyone unlike Saphira and Tania.
I beg to disagree with your comparison. Yureyu and WTC are, when you think of it, rather mirroring each other, while Tanzan Cove is different.
In Yureyu/WTC, we are teamed with another character to reclaim people Team Meteor abducted.
In Yureyu, the Team Meteor members are antagonistic and callous, yet are defeated bloodlessly, while Team Meteor members "staffing" the WTC aren't like this at all, but many are stabbed to death.
In Yureyu, neither the MC, nor Cain, nor anyone else want blood to come out. It's even dubious whether they would be capable of it. Also, if Cain/MC started harming Meteors to get the children back, violence would escalate, the hostage children would get hurt (at best), and Sirius would win in the end, because he's unquestionably way more ruthless than anyone else there.
But Saphira is defending her home and family (not trying to abide by "common-sense morality") in Tanzan Cove, so (although I don't really like to admit it) what other option does she have? She's outnumbered, so her only option to take them down is sinking the boat. Stalling has no point because our faction is, in effect, trapped in the house. She could negotiate or plead, but that is, in effect, taking a risk with her family -- she would be trading increased odds against her family to retain the hope to keep her hands clean (remember, time works against her and her ability to be a threat, hence against her bargaining power). Would you trust someone willing to make that trade to protect you?
(PS: Despite the rather edgy talk, I'm speaking about story morality here. I probably couldn't apply it in real life, even in similarly unambiguous circumstances. Although I'm definitely glad I don't actually know.)
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7 hours ago, Candy said:
you're less likely to label her as a coldblooded assassin like you might Saphira
I haven't re-read all that you made Saphira do, but I don't remember anything that was like a cold-blooded murder.
I do remember an unambiguous full-blown assault launched against her home by terrorists who had already abducted her sister and are twice as many as there are battlers defending the house. Honestly, I feel that at this level we're mostly talking self-defence.
(Not to say that the needless Meteor deaths weren't sad, but I feel that calling Saphira a murderer for this is a bit too much.
Also, most of the blame lies with Sirius. Had he been a competent squad leader, he'd have made sure his subordinates could swim, and then given them safety vests anyway).
7 hours ago, Candy said:Vanini hasn't killed anyone since coming to Reborn (as Candy says, it's not necessary to kill when things are decided with a pokemon battle).
Now I really want to see her go to Aevium. Who wants to bet on how many hours she'd hold before her first kill?
(I admit, that is being cheap)
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5 hours ago, Candy said:
Makes me happy to know that Vanini occupies even a second of someone else's conscience xD
Given how developed your story is, it's probably happening more often than you think!
I'm quite worried about how badly Devon will mess everyone up (and hoping against hope the answer is: "not too much").
Also who is Violetta?
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Hello!
The hiatus is finally over. I expected it to last two or three weeks but actually it went for five weeks. Time does slip by.
Shameful confession: I used to judge fanfiction authors doing that kind of stuff. Couldn't they manage their schedules, plan ahead, or something? But, well... Now, I know better.
Anyway, the second part of the story is starting... It should be faster-paced than the first part, in my outline the Shelly fight is in "only" five chapters!
I hope you enjoy.
Also, I noticed that we're almost at 3200 views now! That's great!
Part 2: Taking Responsibility
"Man's motive power is his moral code."
A controversial, yet influential, American best-seller from the 1950s
Chapter 27: No Rest for the Wretched
SpoilerI had bad dreams that night. I would see my bloodied, weakened father, and fail to get timely help. My sister, my brothers would be lying in pools of blood, neck completely torn open by falling debris. Huge ghastly balloons would carry me away, up in the air, above a dizzying height, under mocking caws, and would just... drop me. An unspecified nefarious group had finally managed to lay their hands on me, that they would kill me, but not before beating me up as if they enjoyed it. I dreamt that I saw my mother plummet to her death and that I failed to grab her hand by half a second.
When I finally woke up, it wasn't very late and I felt everything but rested. The blows I had endured the day before were aching about as much. I felt as weary, as stained, as last night when I had failed to save Corey. Because you didn't let a man fall like that, no matter his crimes or the depth of his misery. Which I had let do.
But I had to go on, in some way or another. Mourning my not saving the terrorist that had all but killed me several times was, I was dimly aware, about as self-destructive as trying to arm-wrestle a PULSE Tangrowth. What I needed was something to clear my mind...So of course, in the morning, not paying attention to the rumor in the Pokemon Center (and oblivious to the dark looks I was getting from a few passers-by), I went to take a shower (and they forced me to book a room just for that. Outrageous but not worth a fuss). Fourtunately, the facility provided soap and towels.
What I saw in the mirror while undressing surprised me. I saw a bruised face with rampant purple marks. I saw my light brown unkempt and dirty hair, in a way well past my usual tolerance. I saw deep, dark shadows under my dulled green eyes. I saw purple contusions on the rest of my body -- chest and stomach-level, shoulders and forearms, on my thighs. And my ankles still felt frail.However shocked I was upon seeing what five mere nights in Reborn City had done to me, I was relieved to be able to take a long, hot shower. It was relaxing, almost cathartic, to be able to let it all go. The negativity, the pressure, the life-endangering risk, the taste of failure, misery, and death... Even math left my mind for a while. Nothing mattered but the comfortable hot running water.
I felt anew, almost fine and cheerful, when leaving the shower. I lost the smile when I was explained that there was an added fee for the hot water, but I didn't want to altogether ruin my mood and make a fuss over it. I could afford it once, and, looking back, I knew I had needed it badly.
The job was over, I realized. There wasn't anything I had to do anymore. Just be a regular League challenger. Or get something more steady. Some sort of job.
I adjourned the decision-making to have a walk in the new Ward I had set foot in, the Lapis Ward. It was easily the nicest of all Wards. The houses were in a better state than all those I had seen, much cleaner than elsewhere. The smell was almost neutral, and the pavement was just about decent. It really looked like a place I could survive in, waiting for that station to be rebuilt. But I wasn't sure I would be able to afford it, unless I could get something steady and respectable enough. Someone there needed math tutoring for their kids? Or just somebody honest and good with numbers?I was aware on some level that these were daydreams, but they were so pleasant that I spent most of the walk mulling them over, going around the Ward clockwise, from south to northwest and then walking along the northern border, enjoying the flowery smell that a flower shop spread liberally all around it, possibly as advertising, or maybe a much-needed feel-good service. The several low-level, relatively high-reward battles I fought in this stroll also helped.
In the northeastern end of the Ward, I saw people gathered around a discontinuity after a tall building, maybe ten floors high. I made my way to them, curious, and found that the group as a whole faced north, but the people were chatting excitedly with one another in random directions, words of a rumor I couldn't really make out. But there was only a high, vertical wall there, what could there be...
I remembered the last night. I felt my back bow on its own, and my eyes lower as a consequence by at least an inch. I started inserting myself in the crowd to try to check whether my terrifying supposition was founded. It first smelt ominous when a disgusting and vaguely familiar stench came at my nose.
Then, down the wall, I saw... something atrocious. It was without any contest the goriest of sights I had ever had the misfortune to lay my eyes on, and I'll leave the description at that. No preparation I could have undertaken would have avoided the physiological reaction usually associated to such sceneries. In fewer words, I threw up out of sheer horror and disgust.
"I think that's enough, Shelly", a voice I remembered at once said near me. "You're only making yourself sick. It's over now."
Shelly? Where had I heard that name? I turned and recognized Victoria, as well as the girl she was with, the bug expert of the Reborn League, who had given me Wolfgang.
Shelly sobbed. "But t-that's..." She sounded about to burst into tears, and I didn't blame her. "W-Why w-would... ?"
"Shelly, honey, it's going to be okay." Victoria's voice was steadying, but she hadn't really gone over the trauma herself. "Let's get you inside." I saw Shelly open her lips but I wasn't able to hear what she said. Looking alarmed, Victoria grabbed Shelly's head with her two hands and drew it away from what presumably were Corey's remains. "Look at me." she added authoritatively. "Inspire... Expire..."
But it wasn't working. Shelly couldn't keep her eyes off the grisly sight. Victoria sighed and started forcefully dragging her away, at which point I followed her to the Gym where she was heading and entered right after her. Victoria and Shelly had settled in a small entrance hall.
"Gabriel." she noticed, as soon as her exercises had managed to get Shelly breathing again. "What happened to you?"
I really, really didn't want to go over the details with a traumatized Shelly (who was now crying uncontrollably), so I simply answered: "Life."
There was an awkward break, punctuated by Shelly's mood-saddening sobs. I added awkwardly "and you?" to try and keep the conversation going.
"I went to help at the Grand Hall in the aftermath of the Obsidia issue. Arceus knows I'd have loved to go on challenge the League instead, but that was more important. That's my first actually free day."
"I'm sorry." I answered Victoria.
"T-That was H-Heather's... dad." Shelly managed to articulate, before crying again.
I wondered whether to ask her how she knew about Heather, pondering if it would help her calm down thinking of something else. I decided against it, fearing that topic was too close to Shelly's grief. Heather's whereabouts were worrying as well. She was very young, possibly unstable with her life shattered and no place to stay. Did she even know her father was dead? Did she have a place to go?
And why did that suicide have to bother me so much? It wasn't enough that I was a powerless witness to it, but I also had to deal with the aftermath? And aftermath meant further interference in what used to be Corey's business... So Meteor affairs. I didn't want to be involved in that again.
At that point, I realized that a call was inevitable. I needed to make sure that Corey's suicide was handled appropriately, that Shelly and Heather had the support they needed, and that I was wantonly unqualified to offer. I didn't dare state it for myself, but I probably also wanted to convey the message that I wasn't having any of their messy business any more.
"Shelly," I asked, as gently as I could. "Is your Gym panel able to contact the Onyx Trainer School's Gym, please? I need to make a call."
Shelly lifted her head, which had so far been buried in her hands, and managed to say in a very small voice "Um, y-yes, let me set it up for you" without bursting into tears again. She rose, manipulated the panel and went back to her seat.
"Onyx Trainer School Gym?" a new voice said, not a pleasant one.
"Hello, I'd like to speak to Florinia, please."
"The Leader doesn't take phone calls without appointment."I sighed audibly, then decided to borrow another cliché from literature. "Tell her it's Gabriel calling. She'll want to speak to me."
There were a few minutes' worth of silence."Ms. Florinia is unavailable now. Should I pass on a message?"
Crap."Tell her my job is done, and that there are developments I would like to tell her directly. Today, at least, she can probably join me by calling Shelly's Gym, I will be in the surroundings."
"Very well, Gabriel." Such disrespect. "Is there anything else?"
"No..." I sighed. "nothing." I cut the communication.Victoria had looked at me very peculiarly.
"What do you mean," she asked in a low voice, "when you say that Florinia would want to talk to you?"
"You remember Obsidia?" I asked back. "The plants coming to life?"
"Of course I do. I don't know what happened to you back there, but we found out that it was due to a specific machine, under the control of Team Meteor." Victoria answered.
"Yes. And the same calamity had struck, a few days before, Beryl and then Jasper. So Florinia instructed me to go help." I said, thinking back bitterly on that moment.
"Why -- why you?"
"Because I was the ludicrously lucky guy who dismantled the Obsidia contraption. I still don't understand how they failed to get me killed. It would have been easier than Florinia or Amaria."
"Oh."
"So I wanted to tell Florinia that the job was done. Also, to convey the important details, the more worrisome ones as well. And the most important point of all -- that I'm not doing anything like that again."
"But... why?""Because they've basically treated me as an expendable scout." I answered after a full minute of introspection, sadness and annoyance in my voice. "Because I needed these things gone, because I needed Reborn safe, because nobody here cared remotely about me, they basically sent me alone to deal with that mess." I added bitterly.
I stopped myself in time to not mention Heather's antics or Corey's murderous games. With Shelly listening and sobbing again, it wouldn't have worked at all.
Victoria didn't answer, and we remained sitting there, I darkly reminiscing about the last two days, Shelly sobbing. After about an eternity, the "phone" rang again."I'll do it." I got up and told Shelly, expecting that Florinia was calling back.
"Hello?" It was a male voice, and the implications made me shiver. It was the voice of the Chief of Police, and I doubted he was there to enquire about Shelly. "Is there someone named Gabriel around?"
"Speaking." I said in the communicator, dreading what would come next.
"There has been an explosion at the Grand Staircase, north of Opal Bridge. Shady people with Meteor-looking uniforms were seen around the place. We'd like you to come there have a look and share your thoughts."
It wasn't even a request, I realized. But for the same reason as always, I couldn't say no. No matter how much I wanted to.
"I'll be on my way." I sighed deeply and cut the communication again."Gabriel," Victoria interrogated me, "you just told me you didn't want to be involved."
"I don't." I answered. "But the same logic applies each time: if Reborn doesn't recover, I am stuck there. If I decline to help and Reborn recovers anyway, they'll probably forbid me to travel." I explained in a dull voice. "Look at what happened! I let Florinia know about my location, and twenty-ish minutes later I get a call from the police."
"I see your point. Will you need any help?"
"I'm not going into any action." I said resolutely. "I'll be fine."
"In that case" she answered, lowering her voice and standing up away from Shelly, "I'll stay here for now. I came here to challenge her, but I'm worried about Shelly. She's only twelve, and outside... she shouldn't have had to see that."
I could but agree.
***************************
I had walked by the Grand Staircase the night before, but it had been past midnight, I had been tired and with an exhausted kid, so I hadn't been able to appreciate the sight. Just behind the Opal Bridge, there was a large empty area, with a lot of people watching and commenting the explosion.
Northwards, majestic stone stairs were supposed to be standing, with hundreds of large greyish stained steps, the monument impressive by its size and its former quality. They would lead to huge gates. But this day, a large cloud of dust veiled everything.A police officer which I didn't recognize, noticing me, greeted me and explained me that the event had sent the entire force on the lookout for suspicious events city-wide. The common belief, he argued, was that this noisy and spectacular, yet almost victimless explosion, could well be another distraction, such as the gas leak in the Grand Hall. It had to be investigated nonetheless. And if the Meteors had a genuine interest in the Grand Staircase exploding, the investigator had best be someone who knew them.
"Seriously," I asked, annoyed, but knowing, deep inside, that the logic had trapped me again. "Field work again? I'm not a policeman. Officers get paid. They get recognition. They get week-ends. There are better Trainers, better investigators than me. Whichever reason you chose me, there probably are official people better qualified than me!"
"I'm only relaying orders, don't take it out on me. They're saying that you're the only one to ever have destroyed these contraptions of theirs, these plant monsters."
I felt like I had repeated the words a thousand times, only to never have them penetrate anybody's brain but mine: "It was luck. I got favorable circumstances. I was on the spot, and I didn't get beaten before the battle even started. Even so, if they had used it properly, I woud have died several times."
Pointless, I thought. I would never get anyone to believe me on this one.
"Anyway, why do they think it should be investigated by someone they think is a Meteor expert?" I asked.
"We have witnesses saying they saw suspicious individuals, matching the descriptions of Meteor in uniforms, with a lot of rope. They disappeared into the cloud."I mulled over this for a second. Could they have wanted that hole blown to go in the depths? That seemed silly. I didn't think anything worthwhile could sleep beneath the pavement of cities. Foundations, sewer systems, some utility lines, such as power and water, maybe. But it probably wasn't the best spot to disrupt any of these. I didn't see any means of getting someone else to do the assignment. So, after another deep sigh (and a second of burning hopes that everything would turn out all right), I went into the dust and smoke cloud.
Which was, in retrospect, quite stupid, because it made eyesight barely useful, while (apparently) having a large gaping hole nearby -- a safety hazard even Julia would mind. I kept my head low, discounting the risk of dust (for at least a short while), as I wouldn't see anything from my own height. Alternating between standing straight (to breathe better air) and bending almost to a crouch (to actually see the ground), I got to the huge hole, deep enough that I couldn't make out anything inside, quite quickly, and started to turn around in hope of seeing something suspicious.
At about the eastern point, I found an outright oddity: a taut-looking rope ladder solidly tied to the stairs' banister rail. There had to be something interesting to Meteors below. I didn't exactly like the idea of climbing it down, but obviously the police would have instructed me to do so. Besides, it couldn't be too bad a trap, as the place had been unearthed for maybe an hour... What could possibly happen? And they would probably need a way out as well... I should have known it was a stupid idea, but I nonetheless, slowly and carefully, climbed down the ladder into the darkness.When I finally got below the dust and smoke, I was surprised to find myself in an actual tunnel. And what a tunnel! There shouldn't have been much light, but there managed somehow to be some light gleams that glinted, reflected madly all over the crystal-encrusted walls. The place remained dark, but it was possible to somehow see the way; with proper lighting and what high fantasy would have called "Dwarf expertise", it could become a place of light, reflects and wonder. There was, surprisingly, only one direction in which to go. If the Meteors knew of that place, they had probably had to aim just right. Surprisingly right, in fact. It would have needed careful planning, and...
At that moment, lost in thought, I didn't pay attention until something hit me in the back of the head. Alarmed, I turned back brutally (moaning because I was doing so on the bad side and my sore neck hurt badly), but the world was starting to spin and I saw stars. I could but try not to fall too badly, and wait for it to pass.
By the time I had fully recovered my spirits, I had been thrown to the ground and relieved of my bag and my Trainer belt. And two Meteor grunts were standing a few feet from me, with a vaguely satisfied look.
Powerless again.
I cursed my recklessness, stupidity and distraction.
I cursed the police and Florinia.
Character ratings:SpoilerVictoria: 10/10 (0). She sounds like a very good person. Kind to Shelly, committed to the city restoration above her own goals. Nice to me too.
Florinia: 4/10 (-1). Manipulative satanic robot. Leading me into danger, irrespective of my wishes.Shelly: 7?/10. Hard to judge someone whom I mostly only saw crying. Even though she entrusted Wolfgang to me, almost an eternity ago.
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Great! A new story!
That's an interesting prologue. I wonder if the Pokemon's behavior, and that "rage" mode were natural (whatever the word might mean in a Pokemon story), or if they had to do with Rejuv's, um, specificities...
But they could be a way to follow the game's plot with Pokemon you like more instead of the more common encounters.
I'm very interested to see what comes next!
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42 minutes ago, Papzaz390 said:
But please please please can anyone tell me is version 13 comming this month or not.
I don't have any other information than the dev blog about Rejuv's dev pace, but I don't think V13 can be coming before at least three months. I'm saying '"three" because I really don't want to be wrong, seeing as how dev started last August and the progress bar isn't half done yet (of course there's been unexpected stuff, progression isn't linear, they had to wait for Gen 8, Jan's been ill, and so on).
You very likely will not get any estimate for the release date from the dev team, because it's hard to predict and quite a bit is unexpected.
(and if you actually got one, well, it would probably be so visible that you wouldn't need to ask the question).
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8 hours ago, Gengar768 said:
i somewhat agree with that except instead of Melia i think its Erin?
I dont know but i feel that melia is fighting for something for her friends for the player and ESPICALLY for venam
it wouldnt make sense for melia to betray us like that(though if she did maybe itd be for venam or the player)
but Erin..Shes experienced so much sadness and rejection(by the kids hell by souta even by idraid her damn father and to a sterch Anathea) she didnt have anybody she was just tossed into the unkown dimension forgotten about unlike melia infact melias always took the spotlight away from erin in away like with her powers, her friends, her life everything and i think Erin is going to get jealous and lash out at some point
Also to support this think of the pokemon they use Melia uses a Mega Gardevoir(Light prophecey) While Erin uses a mega Absol(Dark prophecy) coincedence?
Nice catch about the Mega Pokemon. Although, I can't really bring myself to see Erin as a traitor. She's found friends, which she lacked her whole life... I can't find plausible a genuine betrayal. However, there could definitely be a more convoluted scheme where a smart enough opponent impersonates an obviously corruptive character, whom Erin wouldn't trust, that suggests bad decisions, and a few very good ones.
(spoilers for Star Wars 3)
SpoilerA bit like when Palpatine suggests for Anakin to go attack General Grievous, while knowing full well that Anakin switching sides (upon seeing him wounded and dying) was crucial to his plan. By this point, he has made himself sufficiently distrusted by the Jedi Council, so that they will oppose any of his suggestions about their internal business.
Or Erin pretends to betray the group at a smart opponent's (pretending to be dumb) request; except that the seemingly innocuous action he asked her to take was really damaging. Or she starts going in way over her head trying that and it gets almost impossible to bail out.
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1 hour ago, Riceratio said:
As a Ttar fan, it's funny reading the first part of this thread. Anyone who bets against this guy hasn't seen this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi701TTqq4U
Very true, but at some point he has to get an unlucky battle.
(Then again, I thought the same when watching this very series, so perhaps I'm just jealous of how he manages to win while I struggle.)
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I am not sure about the first one, but Venam should be in the sewers.
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2 hours ago, Magus543 said:
The fashion police should really do something about Madam X's outfit.
I'd suggest marketing it as a revolution in protective gear -- both stylish (for some definition of "style" at least) and inconspicuous (there's no way anyone saw the character art and thought "oh, she's wearing armor").
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Just a random fact that I don't think anyone has pointed out in this thread yet (but I can't be the only one to wonder).
Remember, we have rather solid evidence that Comet, Cosmia and Nim, under Crescent's orders, are conspiring to turn people to stone. The note that lured Talon to his (?) doom was in a red envelope.
Yet, another streak of red envelopes appears in the lore: (spoilers WLL)
Spoiler"A formal man" sends them to Kenneth in order to blackmail him into killing the Maiden of Rejuvenation.
Indriad is a likely suspect, although I think that someone gives a description for the Wispy Tower pyromaniac that fits Crescent.
So it suggests at least a circumstance alliance.
This is somewhat confirmed by the two phenomena that seem to turn people to stone: Nim and the calamity, which we know is a watered-down version of "Indriad's gift". Remember also that the calamity is heralded by brutal (and apparently random) weather changes, which is what happens to Nim when she loses control of her emotions. This hints as a deeper similarity between the events, and a closer bond between Crescent and Indriad. Or perhaps she intends to destroy him with his own weapons?
This raises several issues:
Crescent does not really act as an antagonist -- her most hostile action is her going out of her way to withhold information from us. And she wants us to smile, which is, well... not really villanous. Or she could be a smart Big Bad capable at least to feign some form of empathy, which is at least a useful way to deter questions.
She imprisons Jenner and Zetta once, without bothering to go after them when they break out until we die. She may still be working for the Stormchasers at that point, and so she works towards Jenner's planned elimination. But the keystone of that plot is clearly Geara, and he doesn't interact at all with Crescent until Mt. Valor, so that's dubious. So perhaps instead Crescent is trying to derail that plan, as she's becoming rogue?
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9 hours ago, Crystalrage said:
Madame X was also furious when mandelis kidnapped amber.
But I want to keep this theory out of my mind. Tesla's like a mother like figure to the MC and crew
Unconditional support for the second line. The first line is a bit less clear to me: she was, but it was because it was a dumb plan executed idiotically that, moreover, endangered the main plan (Geara and Zetta trading Nim for Melia atop Valor Mountain).
11 hours ago, Delta3416 said:Thought of two random-ish things:
(1) what if Erick is connected to the Timesurfers in some manner?
His hair sort of looks like Freya’s hair. Also, we know that he became the leader after both Saki and Volta gave up their positions, and that Saki’s disappearance is connected to Freya. There’s not much, but it could relate to something. The way he talks is also similar to Kieran.
Specifically, we could be dealing with part of the plan stated by Robot Amanda. After all that scene took place in West Gearen where Erick is currently leader.
(2) I think the title of Chapter 14 is HIGHLY significant. ‘Death of One, Birth of Another’. This has been explained in part by the devs. Death of one refers to the fall of Bladestar. So it strongly implies there will be another evil team.
I think it is likely Madame X may not be our #1 opposing force... I think the name Celine is relevant still to that fact.
(1) I don't know, you're only paranoid if you're wrong. I'm not too sure about talking styles, and Erick is still a third choice for a Leader so I don't think he holds too much sway over West Gearen (it's supposed to be Blakeory territory iirc).
(2) Perhaps. And we already have a new (or perhaps not, who knows) evil group coming to light (Robot Amanda), and two incoming threats: Isha's "baby" rising, and the Xenpurgis. Also, we do know a few things about Celine -- spoilers for a sidequest
SpoilerCeline was a leading figure of the Sashila group, weakened after some fight on a mountain and then gone after the attack on Alamissa. Alexandra, Ryland, Damien, Adam, Karen and her parents... she's talked to them all, and (Karen observes) they changed radically and trained to fight, because else "everything may fall to pieces" and "this world may be lost forever". And apparently she couldn't write what it was all about (but she understood everything, she said).
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I don't think I have commented on this thread before, as I'm more of a lurker, but I wanted to express my delight at seeing that your run, which I immensely enjoy, wasn't dead.
I loved your recap, even though finding the exact correspondance took me a while.
What's your Madame X theory again?
SpoilerIs it that she's secretly Dr. Jenkel, or the other way around?
I look forward to your analysis about Crescent too.
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I've got a really stupid idea... (atop Eclysia Pyramid)
Ren: Stop talking as if you've already won! We're still here and we will stop you!
Flora: But... I've already won? There's nothing else for you. As I speak, the Judicial building is being taken over by my loyal followers. It won't be long until Grand Dream City is completely under my control. Perhaps, if you sacrificed your three friends you desperately tried to save and stayed in the city... Things would have been different.
Ren: I don't even know what to say to you... I've never met someone so far gone... So disconnected of her humanity.
MC: As you met Nastasia and Madame X, he's saying something.
Ren: MC, it's not really the moment.
Flora: Whatever, it doesn't matter.
MC: It totally does! Just because you're worse than Madame X doesn't mean you can't be reasoned with. You just need the right chips.
Flora: Always a pain in the neck, MC. You and Erin. Thank the heavens that bitch actually blew up with the Ball.
Aelita, threateningly: What did you just say?
MC: Whoa, everyone calm down, I'm sure we can find a compromise. Or kick Flora's ass through proxy, whatever.
Huey: Can we do that in fifteen minutes?
Ren: Sure we can. Reina, got my back?
MC: Guys, it's Flora we're talking about. She has a contingency plan even if we win. I'd rather we bargained.
Flora: I don't care, I already won.
MC: Hear out my offer, still.
Flora: Fine, it suits me to see you waste time.
MC: You relent within thirty seconds, and I don't blow you up.
Flora: Don't try to bluff, it looks pathetic.
MC: Fine. (Heavy silence, then ephemeral boom through the loudspeakers in Ryland's mouth -- The Forgotten Prince falls limp) There goes Bladestar HQ. Aelita, mind guiding Ryland to the panel? He looks kinda out of it.
Ren: What exactly happened?
MC: We set up bombs at the Bladestar HQ. After I patiently explained Erin that wanting to take Flora down by herself was idiotically self-indulgent, she came up with amazing plans to smuggle explosives. It was actually so easy I kind of pity Flora. Her grunts really were morons.
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1 hour ago, Gronzak said:
Madame X wants to destroy Yvetal (that we can asume, is Indriad or closely related), and Chaos Energy might be the key to do so. "Madame X" body is like Ren's body, it's artificial (as we saw in amethist cave that a machine is producing the bodies)
Are you sure we see actual bodies? It looks rather like armor (although, it could still be an artificial body underneath)...
I didn't think of androids for Nancy, I always assumed "doll" referred to maids. But indeed, why would a maid be able to program? It makes more sense indeed if Nancy is an android. Though I do wonder how come the MC didn't notice, if such is the case.
A random question though: is it confirmed that maids are Garufan? Aren't they more ancient, as Indriad is supposed to be way older than that?
23 minutes ago, Display name said:So Is nancy an android or is she a garufan maid because she has some connection to cresent and both madame x and cresent refer to Nancy as doll. 2 I thought that it was confirmed that xen came from lord xenadin
We also know that madame x was alive during storm 9 and even before that as she is mentioned in gardevoir's place in kugerean city
That notion is a bit tricky when you realize that Madame X has a Time Diamond. Basically, she's able to go anywhere in time, which is... tricky.
About Madame X's Soul Stone (I don't find anyone to quote): Yveltal is pretty far away at that point, why would its Soul Stone gain precedence over ours?
The Odd One Out -- A Reborn Adventure
in Team Showcase
Posted · Edited by Mindlack
@TheHellHamster: Thank you very much!
Thank you to all of you who read and enjoy the story (for those who read and don't enjoy, please tell me what you think I'm doing wrong
).
As you may have seen it on Discord or the status bar, I'm not very fond of this chapter. I keep feeling something is wrong with it, but I can't find out what exactly. So after a last revision, here it is...
This is the chapter of the Aster and Eclipse battle underneath the Staircase, if you didn't follow. It went more smoothly than I had hoped for, mostly because of the work of another Pokemon which isn't in Gabriel's team yet (obviously, there's not a full correlation between the story and the playthrough), and I don't want to spoil the surprise. You won't have to wait long for it, though.
Chapter 29: A Mob Job Gone Wrong
Forgetting all caution, I pushed for real at the Lycanroc, went on, managed to rip Aster's hand from my clothes, and started fleeing.
"You're forgetting your Pokemon." Aster said, showing me my own belt and my bag -- which they had taken away from me and to which I hadn't paid attention so far.
As I stopped indecisively in my tracks, another Lycanroc pounced at me from the side where my sore neck couldn't let me see. I noticed it too late and realized, in a terrifyingly fraction of a second, that I would be too slow to dodge it. Fortunately, Victoria's Torracat was fast enough, and managed to tackle the rock wolf as Victoria rushed into my -- not so much field of vision, because of my neck again, as my field of vague awareness. At least she was in earshot.
"Thank goodness you came!" I shouted at her in a slightly wrong direction.
"I'm this way!" she answered.
"I know!"
While that unessential dialog was occurring, the second Lycanroc had started ganging up with its partner on the Torracat who was starting to struggle, giving ground, against the two Rock-type Pokemon of an effective typing.
"Please, please, hold on, Torracat! Can't you do something to help?" Victoria shouted at her Pokemon and then asked me.
"Sorry, they've got everything I have." I answered, pointing at the belt and bag.
Victoria called two Pokemon, a Pancham and a Kirlia. The former was instructed to give his Torracat ally some breathing space by throwing the Lycanrocs away from it. The latter didn't move at all. Still, on its own, my belt started slowly floating towards me. Eclipse noticed it in a grunt of annoyance, and called on her Lunatone's psychic powers to stall the Kirlia's telekinesy. The Kirlia outsmarted the rock Pokemon again -- it simply detached a Pokeball and threw it at me, an object significantly smaller but easier to manipulate.
I caught the Pokeball and realized it was Baby, the Loudred. It took me several seconds to decide on a course of action, and that left ample time for a Lycanroc to attack the motionless Baby, with a swiftness and power I hadn't expected. Loudred barely repelled the assault by showing off her voice, but after the second blow I knew she couldn't take down her foe.
Fortunately, the Pancham had sneakily reached the Lunatone and had thrown it in into a wall, disrupting the flow of psychic power, and the Kirlia was able to get me my full belt, while -- I realized just now -- Victoria had used her Pikachu to protect the utterly focused Psychic Pokemon from its foes' physical assaults (with well-placed electric shocks). I immediately sent Leaf at the nearest Rock-typed wolf, and she sent it recoiling with a vengeful Double Kick, and repeated the move to be fully rid of the bloodthirsty monster.
She then moved to help the exhausted Torracat, but was intercepted by a Solrock whose Rock attacks were quite unexpectedly powerful, forcing her to focus on avoiding them. Baby leaped at the sun-shaped Pokemon and bit it -- a move that did little damage, but again, disrupted its attack schemes, enabling Leaf to retaliate (with dubious success). Baby and Leaf managed to gang up on the Pokemon to defeat it. By that time, the swift and nimble Pikachu had managed to beat the other Lycanroc and the Pancham had fainted the Lunatone (itself wearied by the psychic assault from the Kirlia).
We were victorious.
"Now," I said, slightly panting, but with a fresh Wolfgang by me to give my words some weight, "I can take my bag and leave, can't I?"
Eclipse and Aster winced.
*********
"Thank you, Victoria." I told her when we were back in Lapis (the rope ladder had still been in place, and no police officer had enquired about me at any point. I started believing they all thought me disposable of). "I really don't know what would have happened if you hadn't showed up. They seemed to want me..." I shivered. "Gone. But why did you came in the first place?"
"I have been trying to comfort Shelly," Victoria answered, "but she was becoming so distant... I don't think anything I said really got to her. Then in the early afternoon, she took a book." What a nice way to distract oneself, I thought. What wouldn't I give for a good book...
"You weren't coming back and Shelly was so absorbed -- so I thought something had happened to you. I asked a police officer about you. He said you had gone down there and hadn't come back. I told him I would have a look, and you know the rest. But you told me you wouldn't go into the action. What happened?"
"I got new instructions." I sighed. "And I was reckless. I thought I could sneak down there to get an idea of what was there. I didn't expect to be given a tour of their holy sanctum or ruin or temple or whatever it is. Least of all by their boss."
"You met the boss of Team Meteor?" Victoria froze, turning at me. "I don't think anyone else did... And you, well... four days ago you weren't even willing to step in during the Obsidia Ward Attack."
My voice got darker. "I want to go home." I explained, feeling like I needed to re-iterate the reasoning once again to convince myself. "I need the railway station rebuilt. So I need Reborn City to be safe. And I do not need its authorities annoyed at me because I didn't pitch in and preventing me from travelling. And," I added, the fully-formed thought more painful than the vague intuition, "I'm the perfect cat's paw for that. I don't have any link to the city, I'm utterly inexperienced in every possible respect. If I come to harm, when they communicate with the outside world they claim I died in the attack at the station. I win, they win. I die, nobody loses."
"But I got off topic. Yes, I met the Team Meteor boss, I think. He's nuts."
I went on, broadly rephrasing what he had told me of the gate below the city.
"That's strange." was Victoria's comment. "Maybe it's better for them somehow if people know about this place?"
"I don't know. That's likely, but how? What benefit could there be from knowing about a buried ruin which someone claims to be the birthplace of the world, something which isn't even original in worldwide mythology?"
I didn't mention the voice-recognition part. That was an element best left for later. I was probably overthinking it. It could be a cheap trick.
"I don't know either..." she answered thoughtfully. We walked a while, the conversation waning. "I'm going to go check on Shelly, you're coming?"
********************
Shelly, it turned out, was back in tears in her room. She tried to conceal it as Victoria announced herself, but even the "Come in" the child Leader said in a tiny voice spoke volumes. She only kept her head high for seconds, where even I could observe the red eyes, before going back to sob wordlessly.
The sight made me uncomfortable, as I was standing embarrassed, with no idea what to do. Ask her what felt wrong, like some sort of therapy by someone who knew nothing about it? Let her express all her sorrow and wait for her to calm down? Fortunately, Victoria had better interpersonal skills. As I was standing undecisive with my eyes lowered, not really looking at Shelly nor at anything else, she simply sat near her and gently put her hand on her shoulder.
Between her sobs, Shelly stammered that a challenger had demanded a battle, and, upon seeing her crying (because it had make her think of Corey's corpse again) and winning easily afterwards, had calling her weak, pathetic, quote, a joke of a Leader, unquote. Obviously, she had been very affected, and was, between her sentences, profusely apologizing to Victoria for making her worry about such a waste of space (that she said she was).
I stayed mostly silent during the exchange, because I was worried that a word from me might do more damage, especially since Shelly proved herself quite sensitive. So I tried only to agree in monosyllables or short sentences with Victoria at the important points. Left to myself, I could have dabbled into gallows humor, spoken self-defeating arguments, or used unfathomably weird metaphors. Moreover, it would probably be a waste of time trying to argue with her: I knew from experience that, at a time when she was so certain of her own worthlessness, convincing her otherwise was impossible. How ironical.
Through an impressive technique of barely believable patience, understanding and sympathy, Victoria finally managed to calm down Shelly after most of an hour. She had enough of her mind to offer to battle us, but Victoria declined, stating that she did not want to cause Shelly to have a relapse. I agreed with her, but wanted still to have an inkling of what to expect.
For some reason, there was a communication issue with the Grand Hall, as the connection broke as soon as Ame picked up. Or at least, this was what I told the Leader and Victoria -- clearly, Ame hadn't liked at all my outburst at the Beryl Gym. I didn't try again, and asked Shelly what she thought Ame would say.
"I don't know if, um, you've been told, but I-I'm one of the Gym Leaders who fight in D-Double Battles. Um, I think that you know it, but I specialize in Bug-type Pokemon. I'm b-battling on the Forest Field, and I like r-rain to help defend my team against fire. Um, t-that's all, I think?"
"You forgot something," Victoria observed.
"Did I?" Shelly asked, looking worried, and turning at her.
"You forgot to say that as a keen reader, you're a knowledgeable and smart battler. And that according to League challenger rumors, you are the most challenging Leader of the entire League." Victoria said, wearing a warm smile, which caused Shelly to whisper incredulously, lower her face, cover it with her hands... and start sobbing again.
**************************
Shelly's successive tearful moments had taken away my desire to train for whatever of this day I had left, and I resolved to go sleep very early. But very quickly, my terrifying recent memories started overwhelming my dreams, adding insanity to already-existing horror. That Solaris guy was before the gate, but it was smeared with blood, and his speech slowly descended into a more and more pessimistic rant about pain, until he turned to me -- and suddenly he had Corey's corpse horrific "face" blaming me for his death and stating that I was to be disposed of.
Needless to say, I awoke sweating and without the slightest desire to go back to sleep, especially at such an early time, it was about 9.30. I started the TV, not really settling on a specific channel at first, but then watching the Gym Leader interviews. Some of them were entertaining, such as the reserve Fighting-type Leader's. A circus strongman of all people, he got to end the interview as soon as he said an arbitrary fact to the camera. So he literally said "an arbitrary fact to the camera".
Then a black-haired girl of about Shelly's age with a smile about three times too large for her age (these were supposed to be angsty or anxious or something, not with optimism and cheer deeper than Julia's, right?), a Jirachi doll she insisted was sentient, and an unspecified (but implied to be high-tier) position in the League was interviewed. She explained that if there were old people talented enough at something, there should be young people with the same kind of talent. This was so utterly naive, so fundamentally wrong, that I decided I couldn't watch any more and instead went for a walk.
Night had fallen, but the public lighting was actually decent and I didn't need to call Leaf to help. The air was very still, without any wind, and quite cold, but it didn't matter. All was quiet until, in some street, I started hearing shouts of "Come back here!", "Thieves!", and so on. I managed to react fast enough to at least not bump into two casually-clothed people (except for their dark hoods) sprinting the other way.
I heard a blood-chilling yell, and both of them turned back. While trying to look unconspicuous, flattening myself against the nearest building, I followed their gaze and managed to make out a large hound-like Pokemon standing atop a mass, maybe a person. I thought of being in the same situation, as I had narrowly avoided earlier on this day, and shivered.
"Dammit, Maxwell!" shouted one of the two guys. "That's messed-up. Let him go!"
"When you wanted to steal that Pokemon and frame us, Archer? Who's messed-up?" I heard a yelled reply.
I saw "Archer" slowly start walking back, and shout: "Let's make it right, then. You free DeFacto. We battle one-on-one. The winner keeps the prize."
There was a long silence, interrupted by my beating heart and my gradual realization that I wasn't likely to like what would happen on this spot -- but I was already a witness, and I would reveal myself for sure if I tried to flee. So it was best to, at least, try and leave when all the others were distracted.
It was, I thought, a more brutal battle than the ones I had fought, but one of higher level as well. Archer and Maxwell had specialized teams with fully-evolved Pokemon, much stronger than mine. So, very interested by the display of skill and power, and oblivious to the risks I had been aware of, I stayed to watch the battle. I even went a bit forward to enjoy the show, trying to always remain in a dark enough corner.
Archer's Pelipper was trying to land Hydro Pumps on Maxwell's Houndoom. The latter was surprisingly nimble for a four-legged Pokemon, ducking, rolling when necessary, never letting the water spurt near him, and more than enough capable to hit back -- his Dark Pulses, while not aimed at me in the slightest, still sent a shiver down my spine.
But the shadow of a person, flying on a massive shape I couldn't well recognize, landed in the middle of the battlefield.
"Lady," Maxwell drawled, "you shouldn't be here. Get gone."
The newcomer looked at "Maxwell", then at the battlefield. Then she jumped lightly from her mount, and whispered something. The shadow... simply slammed the Houndoom into the pavement so hard that something cracked.
"Now," she said in an absolute voice, knowing that she had everyone's attention, even mine, "you are before an orphanage. With my sisters there. So you may do whatever you want," she went on with a somewhat sour tone," but you will respect their sleep."
"You think you can..." Maxwell started, before the powerful Pokemon grabbed him by the neck with one hand, and started flying, raising the man without a sweat. At about fifteen feet (although it was hard to judge), it stopped, and let the man consider his position.
"I know I can." the young woman said. "Put him down, Dragonite."
"Hi sis!" a voice came from the building that had been designated as an orphanage. "Have you finally decided to break us free?"
"The cops!" someone else yelled.
The battlers ran away. The newcomer flew away. I didn't move, as the whole show vanishing meant that I would be able to go on with my stroll. Moreover, I felt like I had done everything conceivable to be in good standing with the authorities.
However, when an obstinate old lady came accusing me of stealing a Pokemon and a Water Stone, items that were, in fact, lying around, probably abandoned by the thieves I had just witnessed, there wasn't anyone I could point to, so I was taken to the station for interrogation, under the ominously mocking caws of some bird Pokemon, a sound reminding me, with a shudder, of the Beryl Bridge.
Character ratings:
Victoria: 10/10 (no change). She saved me and was very nice to Shelly. Very kind indeed.
Shelly: 8?/10 (+1?). While I can relate to her (triggered by Corey's death and/or that challenger or permanent?) self-esteem issues, it's pretty disrespectful to her to judge her on that. Although, she loves reading, so that's a very good point.
Death count (reminder):
Start-Corey: 6
Corey-now: 0
Total: 6