Disclaimer: Obviously this is a fanfiction and that means Pokemon isn't mine nor its original characters and neither is the idea of a Detective Pikachu book series. And now I shall lament forever on now I will never own Pokemon.
This is an experimental story I'm writing.
What if the events from ORAS didn't just end happily ever after with everyone getting out unscathed? What happens to our character after this event? What if our main character was older? This story is meant to be more serious, dealing with ideas such as wanting to be someone else, finding one's value in oneself, and dealing with the past and a loss. Aster is a character that can't exactly distinguish between reality and her own head. Most times, when you read something that seems dramatic or dreamlike it's actually meant to be Aster's distorted perceptions of these events: like sometimes you feel as though everyone is staring at you and start to feel extra self-conscious and uncomfortable, but in reality, everyone is actually minding their own business.
i. Prologue
The Lumi-Cab's radio was tuned to a classical broadcast: an aria from Madame Vivillon sung by a hoard of Chimeco and Chingling. Composed by a native Kalosian, nothing fitted more with the region's metropolitan Lumiose City. From her seat, the city's blend of classical and modern architecture – ivory Kalos-styled stone buildings and sleek skyscrapers – was a magnificent sight. As day melted into the night, the fluorescent lights transformed the city fitting of its namesake. At first, a handful of illuminated dots emerge, followed by an immense blanket of glitter until it all unfolds to reveal the splendor of Lumiose City in the evenings. The streetlights shined with a prim and proper light: soft around the edges, brightest at its core. It created a misty look on the city. The rich cobblestone streets, pearly weathered buildings, and black smooth glass turned the light into a brilliant soft glow, giving the city a romantic air.
Under normal circumstances, Aster would have enjoyed the pairing of Madame Vivillon with Lumiose City's sights, but today, everything felt worn out. The serenity of the melody and the harmonic chimes of the Chimeco and Chingling could not soothe her. Hours before, Aster had stepped off a plane; her emotions at the time were a mixture of shock, awe, and ecstasy at the new region. People had stared at her; she couldn't blame them. One glance told them that she was a foreigner. She felt ten again, her old self starting out on a brand new Pokemon journey. But now, she was just plain annoyed with a sensible amount of anxiousness. What should have been an hour ride from the airport to her hotel in Lumiose City was replaced by a never-ending trek. Aster tended to exaggerate scenarios, especially when she was grumpy, but the unprecedented traffic jam had already put her an hour behind schedule.
She tried to settle herself against the plush, leather seats of the Lumi-Cab. Her eyes fluttered close as she attempted to mirror the napping Swablu on her lap. Aster sighed deeply. Traveling always carried with it an exhalation of weariness: there was the jet-lag to deal with and the crick in one's neck and back from sitting upright for so long. There was also something incredibly tiring about traffic jams: it can sap away the energy of any poor soul stuck in the middle of one.
It was seven or eight o'clock – Aster couldn't bring herself to check how behind schedule she was anymore. She was getting anxious, feeling that this whole trip was a mistake. Looking outside at her new surroundings brought a feeling of exhilaration and fear. Kalos was the farthest she's ever gone from home. The place where she was left stranded in her Lumi-Cab was bustling with activity, everyone seemed to be immersed in something as they moved briskly around her while she remained painfully immobile. Her chest tightened again. Could she even call Rustboro City her home? Sure, Aster had grown up there until she was ten, but she could not recall a time where she felt that she belonged there. For her part, Aster did not understand why she was left to grow up in an orphanage. Her early childhood left her confused as to who she really was, and this drove her to a desperation. She thought of her aloneness as something that stripped her of an identity that could belong with Rustboro City's people. Thinking about this made Aster a bit gloomy. What difference could Kalos bring her? Staring back out the window, she saw her reflection against the Lumiose City nightly sights. This little image created a mix of complicated emotions, as if she had not been tormented enough already.
At twenty-five years of age, Aster's accomplishments should have brought her at least a little happiness. She was a prolific academic and writer: several pages worth of observational study on the habits and habitats of Pokemon under the guidance of Professor Birch, many detailed dissertations of her own theorizing the connections between the habitats and habits of Pokemon to why they evolve with the help of Professor Rowan, and her most treasured mystery-book series Detective Pikachu. She could not hide that she wrote the intensely popular Detective Pikachu. The entire population of Rustboro City knew exactly who she was. Whenever she was there, people stopped to turn and stare. All the people who had never given a second thought to Aster suddenly became convinced they had been wrong all along. Although she was the target of their admiring gazes and her work had made her a celebrity in Rustboro City, she was left with the feeling that she still didn't know who she was. The fame had simply thrust upon her a new identity that wasn't her, like a mask upon another mask.
Though her fame had made her a celebrity in Hoenn, she was not a celebrity of TV screens or battle stages, nor a well-born from an influential family like "Hoenn Champion" Steven Stone, who was both of those. For Aster, it was by chance that they were the same age and from the same city. But she was sure that their successes had made Rustboro City's people rejoice at their luck: "TWO amazing people came from our town!" Aster was uncertain at being called amazing. The praises felt as uncomfortably undeserving as the new identity that was thrust upon her. It fitted Steven Stone much better. She felt that her designation should stop at "prolific academic and writer" and hint only at her curious mind. She felt that her designation should carry with it a commonplace sort of vanity, evoking the image of an ordinary person who simply loved Pokemon and writing. Steven Stone's "Hoenn Champion" title was won with overwhelming support. He had always been good at Pokemon battles. When he became the champion several years back, the news came at little surprise to the people of Rustboro City unlike when Aster had first published her work. Steven Stone epitomized what every Pokemon trainer wanted, and as a result, he became the subject and vehicle for everyone's fantasy.
Aster wasn't jealous of Steven Stone. On the contrary, at times she even felt a bit bad for him. He was a dork. She decided this ever since their chance encounter in Granite Cave when they were both ten and had only just began their Pokemon journeys. She had ventured deep inside to look at the cave art detailing the events involving Kyogre and Groudon thousands of years ago. There she had met Steven Stone. He had been trying his luck to find some "cool-looking stones", as he put it, but caused a mess while doing so. Imagine her horror to find a boy at the bottom of some pit because he accidentally caused a rock slide while looking for some "cool" rocks. After Aster had managed to pull him out with an Escape Rope, she explained that the only things he'd find in Granite Cave were cave paintings and limestone.
Steven Stone had appreciated her magnanimity and found her quiet nature likable. Because he came from an affluent family and people always doted on him, he found that his own nature came into conflict with others' expectations of him. He wasn't outgoing, instead he felt most comfortable as a down-to-earth and solitary person. Quickly, he had found how apathetic Aster was to most things. He had tried extremely hard to please Aster and repay her kindness for saving him – he and his Beldum had been stuck for half a day. He first had offered to pay back the Escape Rope and medicine she used on him and his weakened Beldum. When Aster refused, he had attempted to give her a Thunderstone for her Pikachu. He guiltily had found the whole thing entertaining when both Aster and her Pikachu had stared at it in horror and then promptly moved back several meters. In his last attempt to repay his debt, he had proclaimed that they would continue their Pokemon journey together until he was able to offer her something she wanted. Of course, Aster was quick to deny him that too, but Steven's mind had already been set, and so Steven self-proclaimed himself as Aster's friend and travel buddy and Aster reluctantly allowed him to have his way. Forced to bask in each other's company, the two of them had become good friends in the end.
Speaking of Steven Stone, she had yet to respond to the hundreds of missed calls and messages on her Xtransceiver left by an amalgamation of people which included him. He had sent her a dozen happy birthday wishes today and several pestering messages asking where her new address was so that he could visit her. Aster was pretty sure that he only wanted her address so that he could send her heaps of purposeless rocks and stones he found "cool". He really was a dork. She could see it now: "Dear Aster, yesterday I found the coolest stone ever! It reminded me of you, so I want you to have it!" – or something along those lines. The rest of her missed calls and messages were from Professor Rowan, asking if she had arrived safely, and her pesky-but-means-well publicist Eli. She had gotten back to Professor Rowan with a quick voice-message back at the airport to let him know she was safe, but she was definitely in no mood to talk to Eli today and decided easily she'd get back to him later. He'd get mad at her when she finally called, but that man's bark was much bigger than his bite, what's the worse he can do?
"Are you in a rush, mademoiselle? It seems there's something big happening up ahead at Prism Tower. They've blocked off the roads there entirely." Aster jumped at the sudden conversation and the Swablu on her lap did too at the sudden jostle. It shot her an annoyed look, wondering why it had been woken up.
"How far is the hotel?" She gave a reply, ignoring the Pokemon's angry puffs.
"I'd say around fifteen minutes if you walk."
"Here is fine then, I'll walk."
She let the Pokemon fly out first and then grabbed the dingy, black backpack that laid by her feet in the cab. It was the only item of luggage she had taken with her; it held a few changes of outfits, her wallet and passport of course, her laptop, a notebook with some pens to accompany it, and a few other bare necessities. Comically, she had patched up this old backpack more times than she could count and probably had spent twice or even thrice the amount of money to buy a new backpack just to fix it. Steven had been completely exasperated at the stubbornness she revealed. He even offered to buy her a new one at one point when it was first beginning to fall apart. Imagine what he'd say about it now, knowing she still hadn't replaced it. She couldn't find it in herself to part with it. After all, this was the same backpack she took on her Pokemon journey fifteen years when she had just turned ten. She made a mental promise to herself that she'd get herself a new one when it couldn't hold onto her belongings anymore. But then again, where was she going to go these days that she'd need a backpack? Her Pokemon journey has long since ended.
To get to her hotel, located in Centrico Plaza where Prism Tower was, she had to walk along South Boulevard and make a right turn onto Vernal Avenue. The driver had given her succinct instructions, telling her that because the city was built in a circle where all major avenues led to the center plaza so there was no way she'd miss the place. At her insistence, he eventually gave her a flimsy map he kept for directionally-impaired foreigners like her. For him, at least this way she could wander around wherever her heart desired, which he encouraged greatly: "The best adventures are the ones you have when lost, but here's a map just so you can be safe. I hope you enjoy Lumiose City, mademoiselle."
Once outside, she took her time to walk according to the brief directions the driver had given her. As she did, Aster couldn't help admiring the view of the city again. The city wrapped around her, and it finally gave her a sense of just how big this place was. Before her arrival all of those anecdotes and photographs of Lumiose City seemed fake, but once she had seen the city for herself everything was now entirely unreliable. Those stories and images couldn't hold any of the Lumiose City's true charm. Even from her Lumi-Cab window, the city hadn't stunned her the way it did now.
The wind was picking up, rustling the tips of her white blouse, but she didn't feel cold. She was getting a bit anxious again, but this time she felt as though it was a good anxiousness. All of a sudden, the wind picked up even more, and she was blinded by a flash, illuminating the area like the sun itself. After the light died down and her eyes adjusted she gaped at the crater in the ground beside where she stood. Numbness had taken hold of her by the time she stumbled off to the side for safety. All she could see was people screaming and running. Thoroughly stunned by the sudden turn of events, she stood there watching, her breathing heavy and her heart pounding in fear.
"Attention citizens! There's a Garchomp currently on a wild rampage! Please stay indoors!"
A powerful feeling of needing to do something gripped her. But she wasn't Steven Stone. She wasn't good at battling, she never was. She couldn't whip out her Metagross and take down that Garchomp like a "Hoenn Champion" would. In fact, she had no Pokemon with her. Only after shifting her gaze to crater did she suddenly realize Swablu had been hit by Garchomp's attack. The strange thing was that this scene itself did not appear terrifying or foreboding to her as it should've, the familiarity was what made her sick. It was calling out to her. She stepped towards the little Pokemon – it wasn't even hers, it had attached itself to her earlier at the airport. At that moment in the airport, she was able to recall fondly the several pages worth of observational study on the habits of Swablu she had completed for Professor Birch. Her proudest moment was when he allowed her to update the Pokedex with her findings: Swablu originates from the Hoenn region. They have sky blue bodies and white, fluffy wings to help it blend in to the sky, allowing it to avoid being spotted by other Pokemon. This Pokemon is not frightened of people and often likes to sit on people's heads like a cotton-fluff hat. They also love to make things clean. If it spots something dirty, it will use its cottony wings to clean it. Swablu reminded her of Hoenn, and this was one occasion when she allowed herself to be reminded.
She could make out the Swablu's now dirtied features: disheveled feathers and a bruised body. The Swablu's wings laid limply against its body and its face lay propped against its bottom wing. With the bird Pokemon in her arms, she returned to the sides of the streets only to discover that everyone had gone. Though Aster's twenty-five years of life had seen their moments of drama and incident, she had never before felt so much fear and aloneness. Everything at this moment was dreamlike. She couldn't feel her body; she couldn't concentrate on anything. Aster stood quite still as the Swablu cooed at her again. She felt a tenderness well up in her heart. At that moment, her feeling for the wild Swablu approached a maternal love – a protective love of wanting to keep the Swablu safe.
"You're going to be just fine Swablu."
"Sweee."
Aster remembered seeing on her map that there was a Pokemon Center in Centrico Plaza. The next thing she knew, she was running down Vernal Avenue straight for Lumiose City's center. In that instance her body felt light. Her heart was pounding like a drum, and her arms and legs still trembled faintly. Even her teeth still clattered in between her breaths. Her mind just went blank except for one thought. Everything around her grew fuzzy; the city sights she had admired greatly before faded off into the distance as if they were a mere illusion.
Even with the city's streetlights ablaze, the streets now seem to be shrouded in darkness. The trendy shopping district along Vernal Avenue should have greeted her with activity of people and Pokemon strolling about. In place of this, Aster was the only one out, moving in and out from the illuminated areas of the lamps into patches of darkness. She had completely forgotten her original objective and had no idea where she was – all she did was run towards the growing tip of Prism Tower.
The haze lingered, pressing down upon her heart, even as her view opened up to reveal Prism Tower at the center of Centrico Plaza. Then she snapped out of her daze, her shivering ceased, and her heart rate returned to clamor of sirens, the gasps and cries of people and Pokemon, and the boom of explosions all forced their way inside Aster's subconscious. Rather than disrupting what little clarity she still had, they formed an incessant, ambiguous noise that seized her. Like arms physically taking ahold of her, the noise jostled her so sharply it cut through the thickness of the enshrouding haze around her.
The scene before her felt like a dream still. She stared frozen at the boy falling from the top of Prism Tower. In his arms, she could make out a small yellow Pokemon. It was a Pikachu. She could identify one at any given point. The crowd around her are frozen in shock as well. Some of them scream and cry, even attempting to blind themselves with a hand over their eyes. Just as her heart was about to burst, a blur of red snatched the two out of the air, allowing them to all safely land on the ground. She recognized the blur of red, it was a Blaziken, but held several distinguishable features that were different from any normal Blaziken she had seen.
A scream broke out again, "Oh no, Garchomp!"
Aster barely registered the man shoving her aside. The harshness nipped at her upper arm where the man had applied his pressure the most, but she merely rubbed the spot absently. At the gasps and fingers pointed upward, she gazed up at the falling Garchomp. Automatically, she returned her gaze to the Blaziken. It was then a sickness welded up inside her; she grew numb and unfeeling again, her eyes becoming blind again except for that small center in her vision where she could only see the falling Garchomp. Aster came to a realization that the Blaziken couldn't save the Garchomp, and it was then that the powerful feeling pushing her to do something returned again.
"Swee!" As if Swablu had experienced the very same feeling Aster did, it jumped out of her arms, flying straight for the falling Garchomp. Aster yelled after it. What could a little Swablu do if that Blaziken couldn't? All of a sudden, a blinding light wrapped around Swablu's little white and blue body. The people around her gasped even more. Aster's eyes were the first to readjust. The light hadn't completely faded, but she could see its wings puffing up and its neck growing longer.
"Altareea!" The Pokemon screeched, emerging from its sphere of light in a new form Aster easily recognized as Altaria, the evolved form of Swablu. It glanced back at the crowd of people where Aster stood, and their eyes met. It was calling out to her again.
People turned and stared at her. The only clear-seeing thing her eyes could focus on was the falling Garchomp and Altaria flying upwards to meet it. There wasn't a way for Altaria to slow down Garchomp; it couldn't possibly fly the Pokemon down safely. It was too small to do so. But still it tried.
The people were waiting for her to call out a command, their expectant gazes bearing into her. Her senses were extraordinarily acute now. The pounding in her chest and in her ears hurt, and her arm was throbbing from the earlier impact. She felt so sick, she crumbled a bit into herself. But in doing so, as she forced her eyes away from the falling Pokemon, her eyes caught sight of Garchomp's trainer. She saw the emotions on his face, marked with overwhelming desperation. He was running towards the falling Garchomp.
With a quiver in her voice, Aster whispered her commands, they came out more like pleads but it was all Altaria needed. On her command, Altaria sliced through the air, leaving Garchomp, and aimed a Cotton Guard at the ground. Then it followed with powerful flaps of its white wings to create Gust, aiming precisely at the undersides of Garchomp's wings. Though weakened, the Garchomp was able to effortlessly flap its own wings enough to slow its descent onto the cottony, soft landing Altaria had prepared.
Gradually the tension dissipated upwards into the air, turning into erupted cries of gratitude and disbelief towards everything that had transpired. People were patting her on the back and offering their praises. At the sudden onset of emotions and clamor being pressed onto her, she retreated to her numbing state; she could only meekly nod her head in acceptance of the praises even though she felt them undeserving. Her eyes glazed past the people and Pokemon who surrounded her with eagerness. There wasn't anything she could focus on. Their praises spoke of a grand rescue, backed by the way she had commanded her Pokemon with confidence and grace. Some recognized her as Aster Kormos, the writer of the "sensational Detective Pikachu" mystery series. This reveal caused the others to be even more determined to speak to her. No one could see her beyond Aster Kormos or that she was Altaria's amazing trainer.
A man, the same one who had shoved her aside before, reached his arms to her shoulders, steadying her as she just began to sway. She vaguely registered a warm softness pressing against her bare back legs as if to keep her upright as well.
"Mademoiselle, thank you so much for saving my Garchomp with your Altaria–" He paused only to start again with even more fervor in his voice. "Oh Swablu! It's you! But I suppose now, I should call you Altaria! This is simply marvelous!"
Aster realized that this man must've been Altaria's trainer. The people around her became animated with movement and activity. They were done with their praises and left to return to the stuffs of their everyday, ready to forget all about her in the coming days.
She couldn't exactly hear the man's words as he spoke to her. His voice was modest and gentle, and, though a little excited, his excitement arose from a genuineness. Blankly, she stared up at the man's mouth as it moved. Her body uncomfortably close to his, so close she could discern nearly everything there was to know about the man just from his scent alone. He had on cologne, but it was vastly overwhelmed by a scent of sweat, muskiness like that of grass and trees, and smoke as if he had been in an explosion.
"I'm Augustine Sycamore, the Kalos region's very own Pokemon Professor. Are you Aster?"
She nodded absently. It was only by chance that she heard his question and the numbness had gone away just a little for her to answer correctly.
"Très bien! So, we finally meet! Steven Stone has been telling me all about you. Well now, you do have a certain je ne sais quoi about you. It's amazing that you were able to command Altaria, she's quite the feisty and disobedient little thing, at least whenever I try to get her to do something when she was still a Swablu."
Her brain swelled at the foreign words and the mention of Steven Stone. They knew each other?
"Steven told me you'd be arriving today, please I would love to talk with you more at my lab. I've read your research and your Detective Pikachu series, they're simply marvelous!"
"I-I'm sorry, I would really just like to get to my hotel and rest for the night." If it weren't for his hands and Altaria's soft body against her, she would've fallen to the ground in a heap of exhaustion and overshot nerves. Speaking had even become difficult for her. Words rolled off her tongue like thick syrup, she wasn't sure that he could understand her, she couldn't even understand what she said herself.
Uncomplaining, the man smiled down at her with a certain softness. "My apologies, sometimes I get a little too excited when it comes to Pokemon research. You must be exhausted. How about you save your money and come spend the night at my lab? No talks of research or your other works, I promise, though tomorrow might be another story if I see that you're up for it."
Just as she was about to refuse, a young girl came up beside her. "Ma'am, may I pet your Altaria? I've never seen one in real-life before. It's so fluffy!"
"Oh, it's not mine." Aster was quick to correct.
"This is actually the Swablu from my lab. She must've escaped and found Aster during all the commotion. But now she's evolved into an Altaria."
"Oh wow!" Another boy exclaimed as he and a blonde-haired approached them.
Aster's breathing stilled. It was the same boy who had dived off Prism Tower to save his Pikachu. Her heart raced, and her hands grew clammy. Deep down her heart and stomach were in knots. The Pikachu stared into her eyes with confusion and it was at this moment, she realized that her Pikachu was gone.
"Mademoiselle Aster, you look pale, are you alright? Perhaps we should get back to my lab quick and let you rest."
The rest was all a blur: returning back to his lab, eating dinner, taking a shower, getting into bed. She had somehow held herself together through her clouded and exhausted state. But then, just as she settled into the bed in one of Augustine Sycamore's guest bedrooms, she broke down. She couldn't pretend any longer that nothing happened. Everything returned her years back to the events that took her Pikachu away from her. That night, despite how exhausted she was, Aster did not sleep well. She regretted coming to Kalo. But where else could she go? She had no home, she never did.