Sharp, bright sunlight leaked through the cover of tree branches, the twilight sun setting the forest trail ablaze with orange and red. The trail led north and westward away from the nearest town, and the blinding rays were the perfect cover as a figure made its way among the trees to the Pokémon laboratory just ahead of it.
The single security guard stiffened on first sight of the form but relaxed when the figure flashed its form of identification, even wishing them a good evening and allowing them inside. Once within they turned and went up a flight of stairs, passively giving a greeting to the scientists they passed before entering the main office of the building.
The office belonged to the bright but less esteemed Professor Willow, an expert in the field of Pokémon behaviorism. She stood on a stepping stool in her office reading a small journal she had plucked from her bookshelves and hardly glanced up when the sound of an opening door reached her, only adjusting the thin-framed glasses on her face to read better. "What is it Anton?"
"I know it's been awhile but surely you still recognize me, Professor."
The professor started and turned on a dime, her face lighting up. "Isn't it a bit late in the day to be visiting me?"
The figure shook their head. "I don't have much time lately to do things as I'd want, so I make do with the time I'm given."
Prof. Willow closed her journal and replaced it on the shelf before climbing down from her stool. "You've come an awful long way just to pay me a visit, halfway across the region in fact. Why do I get the feeling that there's something more to why you're here and not with that girl of yours?"
They seemed to take a bit of offense at that. "She isn't anyone's girl. You know that. But there is news."
"Alright, let's hear it." Prof. Willow turned to them.
"There've been reports from Crotan. They're finding people in the streets, nearly dead. One has even slipped into a coma and shows no sign of recovering."
Prof. Willow gasped. "Do they have a cause for their conditions?"
The figure turned away, shaking its head. "They're a suspicious bunch in that area, I should know. But they can't think of a logical reason for it."
"And what of an illogical one?" Prof. Willow breathed. She knew the world was always full of surprises. She'd seen a great deal in her time and understood that things didn't always abide by their so-called laws of physics. "The Pokémon have been acting odd recently, is there any way...?"
"Ari and I are the only ones who've thought of it, maybe Vi as well but it's not exactly-"
"Tell me."
"We think it has something to do with Pneumae."
Silence fell between them. The professor of Pokémon behavior was struck absolutely silent at the thought.
"But, they're only a legend." She whispered after it was too much to bear.
The figure looked at her, in a way as one would a dear friend. "Weren't all Pokémon once legendary?"
"Just because you were born in Crotan doesn't mean all the stories you heard are true." Prof. Willow shook her head, turning away from them to pace across her office, heels shuffling over the rug she had insisted be placed in front of her desk for this very purpose. "You know how people will react when they hear you three – three children of all things – spouting about some Pokémon that doesn't exist."
"It does exist."
"But you have no proof!" She waved her arms in the air. When the figure began to leave she spoke up again. "I believe you! I really do. But there's no way to prove to the world that the creature exists."
"They'll believe when it spreads to the rest of the region." They said haughtily, a sneer forming. "You know the story, Professor, I know because I remember telling it to you when we met. You know how important this is!"
"League Champion or not I won't let you lift that tone of voice with me." Prof. Willow snapped, cutting her glaring eyes at them. "What do you even expect me to do?"
"Do whatever you have to. Come with us to find the thing."
"My days of journeying are over. I have a job to fulfill, and I have to perform it within a day as a matter of fact. I can't just go gallivanting off with you." Prof. Willow moved around her desk to sit down, her body slumping from the strain of their conversation. She placed a hand to her forehead and leaned on the arm of the chair. "And before you say it I will not let you take Anton with you. I need him here to help me."
"I wasn't going to." The figure said. "I was going to ask that you let us watch over your next brood."
Prof. Willow gawked at them. "No! No, I will not. You'll just carry them away and get them mixed up in your plan. Think for a moment!"
"I am thinking, professor. I'm desperately thinking." They said, lowering their gaze. "Thinking of... Of some way to save my people from suffering her fate."
Prof. Willow took a deep breath, his words striking a chord in her heart.
Marisa Ramon had been a dear friend of hers as a child. Both born in Subsola City high in the mountains they'd been of wonderful health and spent their childhoods roaming the hills of the mountain and the rolling moors at its feet near Fictra Town where the wildlife was always thriving. Though they lost contact when she had gone on her Pokémon journey Marisa had always kept in touch through letters sent by Wingull. The last letter she'd received from the woman told of her meeting the love of her life, a handsome man she'd met in Crotan Town, in the southernmost most part of the region. Though she was still young they married for love and even had a son, and by then Prof. Willow had returned to the Meduro region to wish them well and set up a home where her lab stood now in Genning Town.
Seven wonderful years had passed before she would receive a letter detailing the woman's tragic death, how she had succumbed to a coma-like state and how her life slipped away over the course of a week. She had mourned her friend's death for weeks, and even now she wore a necklace they'd made together as children in her memory.
"Remus is still a part of the Elite Four, is he not?" Prof. Willow asked softly.
"He has been for as long as I've been Champion. I'm surprised he hasn't fought me for the title."
That brought a smile to the professor's lips. "He's humble. He knows he'll lose." She looked up at the figure, the Champion of her region. "Consult him. He has every fairy tale memorized, every legend passed down over the years. If there's some kind of instruction as to how to stop the Pneumae from appearing he'll know a way."
The figure matched her smile and dipped its head. "Thank you, professor." Without another word it turned and left her to the silence of the office.
The professor sat back in her chair and sighed, glancing over to the photographs she had hanging up, memories from days past. In one she stood with Marisa in her prime, her son at only four years standing between them, a broad smile on his pale face. Another frame held a picture from very recent years, standing beside her son and his close friends she seemed more like her present self, the creases showing that had begun to appear on her skin from stress.
She pulled her chair forward more and booted up her computer, pouring over the information about her next batch of trainers. Two children from other regions had sent in letters stating they'd like to have a starter to begin their journey and she knew of two more from her region who had admitted their interest. There was a young man from her town who tended to come to the lab and work as an assistant some days when his mother would permit and, though he never seemed interested in getting a starter Pokémon as a result of being given a Mareep early on, was very interested in accompanying the trainers she'd told him about.
As she let her train of thought wonder she worried that they might come into contact with the pandemic occurring in Crotan Town. After all, Calicrete lay beyond it, the hardest gym to beat in the entire Meduro region. The temptation may be too great, and if they weren't careful they could suffer the same fate as those the Champion had mentioned.