Hotel Internationale (0)
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of the characters. Just the story and hotel AU once we get to it.
Also, beware of a minor discrepancy between the fanfic and common Pokemon knowledge. The Kalos legendaries are given genders here (X is female, Y and Z are male) even though they are technically genderless in the games.
The story takes place mainly in the anime universe, although I will try to stay true to aspects of the games as well. After all, EVs and IVs are all lovely sources for headaches.
Prologue X
Late August, 2012
It was an ordinary morning in Allearth Forest. The forest displayed its usual vivacity as zigzagoons and sandshrews scurried about in search of berries, accompanied by a backdrop of abundant foliage and a gentle stream of sunlight from the canopy. If one was paying particular attention, one could detect the first signs of autumn in the yellowing tips of numerous leaves, and the premonition of a thunderstorm in the stuffiness of the ozonated atmosphere. But even the sharpest senses would not have predicted the tumultuous events that were destined to take place on that fateful day.
"Thunder punch," a deep male voice commanded calmly. This was followed by some commotion involving a brief self-introduction from the attacker (Pokemon announce their names when they attack) and screeches of pain from the victim (who could not care less which species attacked it). As the flurry of dust and leaves settled, the blur of purple and yellow resolved itself into a victorious electivire and a fainted noibat.
"Good," uttered Electivire's trainer, a male with long, plum-colored hair and cold gray eyes by the name of Paul Verity. He tossed a Pokeball towards the purple bat Pokemon, which captured it immediately.
"Elec vi vir," Electivire asked as he handed the Pokeball to his trainer. He wanted to know the species of the unfamiliar Pokemon he had just defeated.
Paul took out his Pokedex. The red wallet-sized device scanned the Pokeball in his hand. A high pitched voice began its recitation, "Noibat, the sound wave Pokemon. It-"
"That voice is annoying," Paul stated flatly as he cut off the sound on his Pokedex. He proceeded to scroll through the rest of the information. "Noibat is a flying and dragon type, which won't do any good against Brandon. This one's got decent speed, but a limited moveset. It's only at level 10."
Paul paused for a moment, then made a very tired statement. "It took you two attempts to defeat. That's pathetic for a sixty level difference."
Electivire simply grunted to acknowledge his trainer's remark. To a Pokemon with the generic trainer, this lack of repentance might seem odd, if not a little impudent. Even Electivire himself might have apologized once upon a time, but that was before he had grown used to Paul's style of training. Over the years, the Thunderbolt Pokemon had grown desensitized to Paul's criticism, which was directed, on average, to each of his Pokemon at least two times an hour.
"Is it worth keeping?"
Now that surprised Electivire. His trainer always made firm decisions, and never asked anyone, let alone his Pokemon, for advice. With Paul's pride, Electivire figured that the purple-haired trainer would sooner eat a kilogram of trubbish than ask for someone's opinion.
"I'm asking you a question, Electivire. Should I release the noibat?" Paul sounded impatient.
"Vire," Electivire nodded. After only a brief battle, Electivire could tell that the noibat had a strong personality. Although weak and dreadfully unskilled, it was very brave in its struggles against the Thunderbolt Pokémon, which, in a way, reminded Electivire of his unevolved self. After all that time spent under Torterra's shadow, it would be nice to see a member of the younger generation grow up following his footsteps.
"I'll trust your judgement then." Paul smoothly pocketed the Pokeball and motioned to Electivire that they should get going.
But when Electivire glanced at Paul's Pokedex just before he put it away, he noticed that the noibat's IV total was only 63. Furthermore, what was supposedly a limited moveset consisted only of the move screech.
So why did Paul keep the noibat at his request?
For the next couple of hours, the complementary color duo of purple trainer and yellow Pokemon treaded forward in silence. The canopy had gradually thickened, and the density of insect life increased exponentially with the humidity.
"Elec vir tivire," the thunderbolt Pokemon commented sarcastically. He thought Paul should assemble a bug-type army with all the scatterbug they kept accidentally stepping on.
"I'd love to see what Brandon's regirock would do against 20 different vivillon forms," Paul responded with an equal dose of cynicism. "Seriously, we're here to seek out rare, powerful Pokemon to strengthen our team. Keep your senses alert."
The skill with which Paul turned every conversation into a command to his Pokemon was exceptional. The perfect chance for small-talk thus transformed into another period of endless silence. The pair continued their monotonous trek.
Just when Electivire was getting bored out of his mind, a pulse of golden light suddenly flashed from behind the trees in front of his path.
"Vire!" Electivire leapt forward, intending to seek out the abnormal light source. A firm hand restrained him, however.
"Careful," Paul warned, though his expression did not change. "You see that?"
As the glow intensified to a white-hot radiance, a stag-like creature emerged from the trees. For a moment, its features were distinguishable - a long neck, four slender legs, and multicolored, branched antlers.
"Xerneas," Paul whispered under his breath.
As though it sensed his presence, the Life Pokemon erupted in another shower of golden light. The formless supernova shrank in size, becoming bluer, until it was only a wisp of light like a comet, barely detectable. The light darted rapidly into the roots of a nearby tree, sparked like fireworks, and disappeared.
Electivire was in awe. His mouth was gaping open.
"Cut that out. You're making a fool of yourself with that drooling." Electivire immediately refocused.
"I want to catch it. We've got to find it again," Paul stated simply.
Electivire looked at his trainer as if Paul had suddenly grown a pair of shiny golden antlers himself.
"What? Stop staring like that. You're going to help me catch a legendary today."
As Paul's tone made it clear that there was no room for negotiation, Electivire set out towards the direction where Xerneas disappeared. Moments later, both trainer and Pokemon emerged in a treeless part of the forest.
They entered a grassland of sorts, with small pines and low-lying shrubs characteristic of primary succession. Some areas had only moss growing on bare rock. Lining a few of the stones was a shiny pink substance with a quartz-like structure. It was Kalosian diamond.
"Carbink! Car car bink!" A dozen of rowdy carbink suddenly emerged from beneath the rocks. They were rather pudgy-looking, with cone-shaped bodies and rabbit-like ears. Apart from the leader who had longer ears and a fluffier collar, all of the other carbink looked like clones. Completely oblivious to Paul and Electivire, they marched - or rather hopped - deeper into the clearing.
"Vire?" Electivire asked.
Paul raised an eyebrow. "Of course we follow them. They're fairy types, so they're attracted to the aura of Xerneas."
The carbink were awfully slow, so it was not until half an hour later that they stopped at the edge of a giant hole. At least, most of the carbink stopped. The motion was too abrupt for two of them, whose forward momentum caused them to fall. One of the carbink tumbled towards the bottom of the pit, squealing desperately as it rolled. The other carbink was caught by Electivire's tails.
Electivire smiled amicably at the carbink. He knew that it was 'amicable' because the carbink immediately scrambled out of his grasp, and voluntarily succumbed to the force of gravity pulling it into the pit. If Electivire used his 'sinister' grin, he was certain that the carbink would launch itself into the air with enough epinephrine to counter gravity for at least half a minute, before falling to its death at terminal velocity.
It was only because he was being nice that the carbink survived. It was what his trainer had taught him to do.
Alas, his behavior around the carbink had attracted some unwanted hostility from the remaining carbink. They had begun to glower at him with their beady little eyes. Several of the carbink began building up silver spheres of energy, readying themselves for an ancient power attack.
"So they're teaming up on us, huh. Let's see how you do." Paul tossed a Pokeball into the air, from which emerged the weakest Pokemon in his possession - Noibat.
Electivire's brow twitched - he was not pleased about his trainer's decision - but he was prudent enough to raise no further complaints. It was clear that Paul was ready to test the noibat's limits by exploiting its type disadvantage to a maximum. Since, it was weak to both fairy and rock type moves, the battle against the carbink would serve as the perfect test.
"Electivire, stand back." Paul commanded just as the carbink released their ancient power attacks. Noibat took a direct hit and dropped to the ground.
"Hn, I was hoping you'd be faster than that." Paul sighed, then addressed Electivire. "I guess you'll have to battle by yourself then. Use thunder on the whole battlefield!"
Electivire raised his tails and began to charge. He could feel that the air particles were ionized, which he knew would help increase the power and accuracy of his attack. But it also warned him that a storm was coming. Soon.
"Elec-ti-Vire!" Electivire released a bright yellow wave of electricity, with the force of a thunderbolt and the range of a discharge. It hit all the carbink, who were subsequently knocked into the pit.
"Now that's more like it. Let's go. Xerneas is not here, and I don't like the scent of that storm." But as Paul turned to leave, Electivire did not follow.
"What's the matter with you?"
Electivire gazed down solemnly at the pit. When Paul commanded him to use thunder on the whole battlefield, he did not think that it would knock the noibat into the pit as well.
"Oh, that useless bat? We're abandoning it. It's not worth keeping."
But Electivire would not listen this time. He normally did not care whether Paul kept his new recruits or not, especially knowing that Paul's release rate was close to 80%. But for some reason, he did not agree with his trainer this time.
Without a moment of hesitation, he leaped into the pit.
Electivire did not expect to hit water. Nor did he expect to feel his trainer land softly beside him.
"Don't do something this stupid again," Paul complained. But Electivire was grinning. He just received that rare confirmation that, deep down, his cold-hearted trainer cared for him. If I died today, I would die happy.
"We need light. Froslass, stand by!" Electivire was puzzled when the ice-type emerged. As far as he knew, Froslass did not know any light-generating moves. Did Paul hit his head?
"Froslass, hold your ice shard. Electivire, use thunder on it."
Froslass created a sphere of ice, which Electivire proceeded to strike with electricity. The golden light illuminated the ice, momentarily creating a shimmering lantern.
Electivire snickered. This ice-chandelier was similar to the combination that Dawn had used two years ago at the Sinnoh Grand Festival with her mamoswine and pachirisu. Paul had claimed that he was not going to watch the competition, but he had stuck around the TV in the Pokemon Centre nonetheless. Now it was clear that he did pay attention.
Perhaps Paul harbored feelings for a particular blue-haired coordinator.
Electivire did not get much time to reminisce, however, as he spotted the noibat and another carbink on the edge of the murky pond in which they were standing. His eyes narrowed as he noticed that the carbink had gotten up and was ready to launch another attack at the weakened noibat.
He broke into a run along the edge of the pond, splashing the water all around him. He was preparing to use brick break on the carbink when the noibat woke up, and released a horrible, wailing, screech.
The screech echoed off the walls of the pit, rebounding off the oddly-shaped stalagmites and stalactites and resonating with the water. Within two seconds, it was amplified beyond the threshold of pain, and every human and Pokemon inside the pit became helplessly immobilized by the merciless onslaught of noise.
The noibat did not stop wailing. No one could make it stop.
Not when the water began to glow purple. Then red.
Not when the pond began to churn, building up into powerful vortex.
Nor when a large black cocoon covered in spikes and gray diamond-shaped marks levitated out of the water.
Not even when the cocoon began to open with a flash of red light, revealing a sharp beak and two glowing purple eyes. Yveltal - the Destruction Pokemon - was awake.
The Y-shaped creature pecked the noibat on its left ear, and the noibat immediately stopped screeching. Its body stiffened as its life force drained out, leaving behind an empty, petrified shell. The Sound Wave Pokemon was silenced forever.
Every living creature in the pit was released from their immobilization, but no one moved upon witnessing the scene before them. In the face of the harshness of death, even the most unfeeling of hearts beats with increased heaviness.
But life had to move on. The carbink soon recovered and regrouped. All thirteen of them found their way together, and the leading carbink with the puffy collar began to issue commands.
"Car car bink!" The older carbink began charging ancient power attacks again, while the younger carbink prepared to use rock throw. The after a few moments' delay, the leading carbink began building a sphere of pink energy, preparing to launch moonblast.
Yveltal was unfazed. It built up a purple orb of its own, between its wings. When the carbink released their rock type attacks, the Destruction Pokemon released a dark red beam of energy that cancelled out all twelve attacks while knocking out all of the clone carbink. The moonblast from the leading carbink could not be avoided, however, and it hit the large black bird on the left wing. There was a small explosion, but the Destruction Pokemon showed no signs of pain.
"Accomplices of Xerneas," Yveltal projected a telepathic message, "you are more unskilled than the last time you fought me. Has her majesty been careless with her training? I never understood why she always relied on such pathetically slow rocks. Perhaps she has already given up on you and sent you on this suicide mission!" Silent laughter ensued.
"Car carbink carbink bink bink!" The leading carbink protested loudly.
"Ah, so Xerneas did not expect me to wake yet. You are telling me that she wanted you to attack me in my sleep, exploiting my weakened state! But even then she is too fearful to come fight me herself! Ha!"
"Car bink bink-car bink!"
"So she would have come, were it not for the human here." Yveltal seemed to notice Paul for the first time. "Well, well. And that noisy bat belonged to him too, n'est-ce pas? Why, I must thank him for his assistance - for being at the wrong place at the wrong time! Xerneas is such a hypocrite, afraid of a little boy. Especially when she has her own hotel filled with human pawns too!" Yveltal gave Paul a once-over. "Ooh, he's so puny. What is he, ten?"
"Vire elec ti-ti vire!" Electivire, who had remained silent through this whole exchange, suddenly spoke out in an angry outburst. Froslass seemed angry too.
Paul raised a hand to silence them. But they had the Destruction Pokemon's full attention.
"You are quite the one to get excited, n'est-ce pas," Yveltal remarked, still amused, but with a hint of anger now that Electivire had insulted him while stating that Paul was not ten but rather seventeen. "Maybe I should teach you some respect. We can have a battle. Your little ghostly friend over there can help too. I'll give you the first move."
Electivire began to charge up electricity. Meanwhile, the leading carbink had launched another moonblast at Yveltal, which it avoided easily. Yveltal's wings glowed metallic silver, before it swooped down and used steel wing on the carbink. It fainted from the super-effective attack and fell into a pile with the other carbink.
Yveltal proceeded to do something truly nasty. It used psychic on the carbink and dropped them directly into the pond water. This woke them up, and they immediately started flailing. Meanwhile, the dark storm clouds that had gathered began to release their condensed water content. Fat gray droplets splashed into the pond, further drenching the carbink. Being rock types, they cried out in pain.
"Now that those little minions are out of the way, we can have our little battle. What do you say, human?"
"I decline."
Electivire could not believe his ears. Paul never turned down a battle. He stared at his trainer incredulously. Froslass was also confused.
"You know, that is not a valid answer. You have to battle me whether you want to or not," Yveltal sneered impatiently.
"Okay. I'll battle you."
Paul proceeded to do something truly unexpected. He returned both Froslass and Electivire to their Pokeballs. Then he released Honchcrow.
"What? You returned your electric and ice type in favor of flying type? You know that is the most stupid move I have seen today."
"Honchcrow is not battling you," Paul stated simply. His expression never wavered from its mask of indifference.
As Paul was speaking, his hands were working furiously with the straps on his backpack. He removed all of his less personal belongings from the bag to lighten its weight, and procured all six of his Pokeballs. He took off his waterproof purple and black jacket and wrapped it around the precious mechanical devices. Then he stuffed this package into the backpack, which he secured to Honchcrow's back.
"Fly straight to Veilstone City with this, and don't you dare come back for me," he whispered firmly. Honchcrow was very confused, but being one of Paul's more obedient Pokemon, he did not ask more questions as he flew away from the pit.
Once Honchcrow was gone for good, Paul turned to Yveltal. "I believe that you did not hear me correctly. You asked whether I would battle you, and I agreed. I am not Honchcrow or Electivire or even Froslass, although I have been told that I look like her." He smirked at his own dry humor, and continued, "I am Paul Verity, and I challenge you to a one-on-one battle."
"Well, you sure are a crazy little human." Yveltal's eyes gleamed wickedly. "Tell me the terms of your challenge, and I will gladly accept. This shall be entertaining."
Paul knew that he was probably insane. The fact that Yveltal was laughing maniacally at him proved that. Can Pokemon even laugh telepathically? Or maybe Yveltal was not really laughing, and it was all his imagination. After all, no sane person saw two legendary Pokemon within the same day.
Even if Paul was not insane, he figured that he had the worst common sense ever. Challenging a legendary Pokemon who knew a move that could petrify you to a battle? Excellent idea! Especially when you did not have any of your own Pokemon, or even a decent weapon to fight with. Well, Paul supposed he did have weapons. He had a toothbrush, half a tube of mint toothpaste, a water bottle, a sleeping bag, a first aid kit, two cans of Pokemon food, and a flashlight.
Wait - a flashlight? Why did he not remember that earlier. He could have avoided the trouble of using one of the Troublesome Girl's tactics to light up the pit if he had remembered earlier (not that ice chandelier was a bad move, but still). Wow, he really was stupid today.
"Human boy, have you already given up? You are hitting yourself in the face! Perhaps your challenge today is to see whether you or I can kill you faster." Yveltal sounded a bit impatient.
It was only then that Paul realized he had face-palmed himself. Hard.
Paul was thinking furiously. He needed a strategy to survive, or at least have a decent chance at survival. He knew that fighting was not going to work. It was why he had sent away all of his Pokemon. Even with his entire team, Paul doubted that he could beat Yveltal. He had seen how risky that Oblivion Wing was: one hit, and you turn to stone.
He was still racking his mind for a plan when Yveltal 'spoke' again."You know, if you do not give me an answer soon, I will just have to decide for you."
That taunt was too familiar. Inexplicable anger flared, and Paul's mind suddenly became a lot sharper. All remaining fear of death that lingered in his consciousness dissipated, and Paul felt the sudden urge to charge forward and bash Yveltal's head with a flashlight. Not wanting to be consumed by emotion, however, Paul quickly calmed his nerves and began to search for the motivation for his anger.
He was indignant about Noibat's death. No one, not even a weak Pokemon he was going to abandon anyways, deserved to die. Sure, Paul was abusive and put his Pokemon through very painful training measures, but he never purposefully killed one of his Pokemon (he was close once though). But no, that was not the reason why he was angry.
Looking up at those glowing purple eyes, the pieces suddenly fell into place.
The answer was so obvious that Paul was surprised he did not make the connection until now.
It was his father. It was always his father. Was it ever anyone else?
Even eight years after his father's death, Paul was still living under his influence.
He always thought that he understood his father. After all, Paul still behaved like him sometimes. It was because he did not wish to repeat his father's mistakes that he took on a persona of indifference, hoping that if he did not allow himself to feel, he would eventually stop feeling. But now he realized that his understanding was flawed.
Yveltal's bitterness - it made sense only if...
"You want revenge," Paul blurted out.
"Why do you think that?" Yveltal stared at him, dumbfounded.
"Your tone," Paul stated simply, without elaboration. When Yveltal continued in its state of bewilderment, Paul decided to offer an explanation. "When you addressed the carbink, you had to insult Xerneas in every way possible. You hate her."
"Of course I hate her! She is always sending her minions to attack me in my slumber, never allowing me to gather enough energy to fight her. She is a despicable monster, yet Pokemon love her because she brings life! Of course, no one knows that she can take life just as easily. She feeds on memories, just as I feed on entropy-" Yveltal suddenly paused. After a moment to recollect its thoughts, it continued more calmly, "Ah, but that is not important to you, little human. You will die before this storm is over."
"But it is," Paul insisted, "I can help you defeat Xerneas." He loathed himself for being so persistent, sticking his nose in other Pokemon's business. But desperate times called for desperate measures.
"And how do you think you can do that?"
"Earlier, you mentioned that Xerneas owns a hotel. Now, you claim that she feeds on memories. I am positive that those things are related. I can help you sabotage her hotel if it helps to weaken her, and in exchange, I want you to restore life to my noibat and let me go free."
"Ah, but you are asking for quite the bargain here! Asking for two things in exchange for one little favor. Why do you think I would agree to that?"
"You will agree. I can see that this matter of Xerneas is not some 'little favor'. To you, she is not just any enemy."
"But why?"
Paul knew that he was making progress. Yveltal had not contradicted any of his hypotheses, meaning that his guesses were correct. He smirked slightly to himself as he placed what he hoped would be the final straw.
"Because you loved her. And she betrayed you in the worst way possible."
Shock - that was the only way to describe the Destruction Pokemon's expression at that moment. But it quickly turned to all-consuming rage.
"How could you possibly know?! Xerneas must have sent you. That is the only explanation. You are her spy. I should have known that earlier when you came with the carbink!" Yveltal began to store energy for an oblivion wing attack.
This is the end. Paul though to himself. He just had to be stupid again. This was why he tended not to vocalize his thoughts unless it was absolutely necessary. When you talked too much, you increased your chances of drowning in your own stupidity. Like now.
But the more he stared at the purple orb of energy between Yveltal's wings, the more he found it strange. Yveltal was not making a beam. It seemed to be weaving a net.
Yveltal broke the suspense by 'speaking' again. "Ah little human, you see, it does not matter if you belong to Xerneas or not. I actually liked your idea, and so I will accept your deal after all!" Yveltal laughed again. "But on one condition. I will save your noibat, but I will not let you go free. I will capture you with this net and you can be my pawn against Xerneas. And when we are done with her, you will help me defeat our father. You can be my plaything for all of eternity!"
Now, Paul was certain that Yveltal resembled his father. They both had that psychopathic mindset and never-ending grief. From that simple speech, he understood Yveltal's insecurities, and he finally knew what his one-on-one battle will be.
"Fine. I agree."
"Ah, wonderful, so we can begin!"
"But we have not yet battled," Paul stated calmly.
"You were the one who chickened out of the battle and asked for a deal instead."
"That deal was just extra. My challenge still stands. I, Paul Shinji Verity, challenge you to a mental battle. My will against yours. If you wish to possess me, you will have to crush my freedom of thought first."
"Now, this really is interesting! I accept, little human. Let's get started!" With a piercing screech even more terrible than noibat's wail, Yveltal released a wave of dark energy towards the purple-haired trainer.
Paul felt as if he was drowning in emotions. He felt thousands of years of loneliness and despair crashing upon him like a tidal wave. Wrath and envy and pride beyond anything he had ever experienced threatened to engulf him in their greedy clutches, slowly devouring his conciousness until he was only a shell of his former self.
But raw emotions he could handle. I am Paul Verity, he chanted to himself. As the darkness grew heavier and the swirling cyclone of memories tore at his identity, he kept a firm hold on the anchor that was his own goals and ambitions. My father could not crush me, and neither can you.
His anchor was growing stronger by the minute, and the tumultuous currents of his opponent's emotions were receding. Paul felt willpower strengthen, and his thoughts became more clear. I have to survive. I have to defeat Brandon and Cynthia. I have to accomplish what Reggie never achieved. I cannot let my father control me. I will crush my father. I will vanquish my sister.
Wait - sister? Paul did not have a sister. But the more he thought about it, the more confused he grew. Did he have a sister?
Paul realized belatedly that he had misjudged Yveltal. He was not like his father. Xerneas was not a former lover, but rather a dominant family member who gained their father's powers. The Destruction Pokemon was not bitter from love. He felt betrayed because he was always second best. Yveltal was like Paul.
Or rather, Paul was Yveltal. They had they same goals. They had the same grievances.
They were one.
The purple net of energy descended upon the unconscious bodies of a purple-haired trainer and a red Y-shaped Pokemon, wrapping them together into a cocoon. By the time the storm receded, the two figures had become so tightly integrated that it was impossible tell one from the other.
Rays of sunlight again descended upon Allearth Forest, revealing another ordinary morning. Leaves gleamed brightly with crystalline droplets from the previous day's storm. Accompanied by a backdrop of diamond-like foliage, the zigzagoons and sandshrews continued their usual preparations for the winter. If one was paying particular attention, however, one would notice a particularly barren part of the forest - one that consisted of mosses and shrubs indicative of primary succession.
Within this area, a solitary noibat could be heard screeching, with tears in its eyes.