Part 2 of 3: Golbat

By the time Seeker had evolved into a golbat, Cyrus had picked up a few other pokemon: a magikarp, a murkrow, and a sneasel. But he had gotten them the normal way, with pokeballs and her help. He hadn't even nicknamed them, and he'd given the magikarp to someone else. Initially, that seemed to mean she was the leader of their group, and special at that.

Convincing the sneasel of that was like trying to fly through a wall. "It all comes down to numbers and facts, yes?" he said. "I am more valuable to the team because my kind is low in numbers. Your kind is as common as dirt and as weak as grass. You have nothing more than small fangs." He swung his claws, stopping right before he actually hit her. "I have sharp large claws and I move quicker than either of you. So you will listen to me or I will kill you."

"Claw, claw!" Murkrow cheered.

Seeker could actually see now, but she didn't think it was that useful. She got more information from sound and scent. Still, it was intimidating to have those claws so close to her eyes. "It's not about that."

"It's not, it's not," the murkrow cheered.

"Well I'll make it about that." He took a step towards her.

"Fight, fight!"

Seeker flew up in the hallway, but a sharp clarity from Cyrus rung in her mind. "Oh, not now. He's going to talk and we mustn't make a ruckus."

"Ruckus, ruckus!"

"Shut up, you brainless bird," Sneasel hissed, making a mock swipe at him.

"Oh poo, I was having fun," Murkrow said, dispirited. He landed on a rod that was on the wall.

On the stage, Cyrus stopped in front of a stand with a microphone. The people in the audience cheered, unseen by the three pokemon. "People of Galactic, thank you for coming to hear me today," he said. "I mean to talk to you about our future, but first, our present."

"Present?" Murkrow asked, interested.

"No, not a present," Seeker said. "He means right now."

Sneasel snickered. "See, even she's not that stupid."

"I am not stupid," she said.

"Says the 'mon who's obsessed with a human," he countered in condescending tones. "I ought to just kill the both of you and make the world a better place."

"I am not obsessed," she said, trying to stay calm. Cyrus didn't want his speech interrupted and she wouldn't be the one to do that. From observing his thoughts, she was figuring out how to stay calm.

"This world is flawed," Cyrus was saying. "It was not always so. At the very beginning, there was just the flow of time and the expanse of space. Everything worked as it should and it was perfect. If it stayed that way, it would have remained so. What changed was the introduction of spirit."

"Do you believe that?" Sneasel asked. "He is always on your mind. And you pay attention to him so much when he's the most distant trainer I've ever seen."

"My mind is connected to his by the red thread," she said.

"This vague thing they call spirit, what is it? It is said to be the blend of intelligence, willpower, and emotion that makes us who we are. It is a comforting thing to believe, but I am here to tell you that it is a falsehood to believe in it. These things do not make us strong, especially what they call emotion. Emotion makes us weak, leads to foolish decisions. It leads to pain. Emotions make people believe that they are the most real, the only one that matters. Then willpower drives them to conflict with those who do not agree, and intelligence gives them the means to hurt the other as much as possible. This leads the other to seek revenge, which the first will retaliate also in revenge, in a never ending cycle. This is why you suffer so much through life, because of the spirit that people tell you is a gift you should cherish."

"I'd hate to be connected to that mind," Sneasel said, scratching his head.

"He is very smart," Seeker argued. "And he wants to make things better. If you serve him well, then he'll treat you well too."

"Pfft, if he's going to treat me like a machine, then I'll treat him that way too," he said, the last part coming out in a snarl.

"How do you even know it's red?" Murkrow piped up. "I thought you bats were blind."

"I was told it was red. I can see, though."

There were clinks as the bird shuffled his feet to move down the bar. "Really? So what color is that curtain?" He pointed a wing across the narrow space.

She looked over there, blinking her eyes. "Dark? I see dark and light. I don't really know what red means."

"Aw, that's sad," he said, turning a caw almost into a coo. "If you can't see color, then you can't see how wonderful all the shiny things in the world are."

Seeker twitched her ears. "I prefer how the world sounds." Like the way the curtain shuffled when moved, or the hushed breaths of the audience listening to the speech. And especially Cyrus' voice.

"So who told you it was red?" Sneasel asked.

"I don't really know," she admitted. "But Cyrus has said it was red too."

"Pathetic."

"I will now tell you why I have gathered all of you in this long effort," Cyrus said, still addressing his audience. "We seek to remake the world at its very foundations. All of the research we have done is a search for a way to call on a legendary pokemon: Palkia, the master of space. We will bring it into this world and then take control of it through use of the red chain, an artifact I am working hard to reproduce. With Palkia listening, we will borrow its power to recreate the world from a flawed sorrowful state into a perfect peaceful form. We will banish pain and suffering from the world by removing the source of it. This world will be for you, Team Galactic! We shall be free of the crippling spirit and become perfect beings ourselves!"

This was met with a thunderous applause and many agreeing cheers. The sound of it was overwhelming, but not in a bad way. As it reached even into her bones, she felt proud that so many were going to help Cyrus reach his heaven.

"What's a palkia?" Murkrow asked.

"Beats me," Sneasel said. "What's this red chain? Is it like your red thread?"

That worried her. "Yes. It's supposed to be more powerful."

And Sneasel laughed at that. "Oh, so it needs to be more powerful to replace you with a more powerful pokemon? Because you're pathetic."

Fighting back a desire to bite his precious claws off, Seeker stayed in the air. "I'm sure he'll still want my help." A thought came to her. "He wants us to go out and greet him when he comes over here."

"I'm not going to be some groveling pet," Sneasel said.

"What, for presents of shiny things?" Murkrow asked. "Shiny!" He then left the bar and flew onto stage. It was miraculously on cue, so Seeker followed him out. Although she knew it wasn't for presents, she also knew that Murkrow would forget about that in a couple of minutes when he spotted the next shiny thing he could check out. Sneasel came out on stage, but did not budge from just past the curtain.

After the show of meeting them, Cyrus recalled Murkrow and Sneasel. Seeker couldn't be called away, but most people here were used to her flying around after him in this building. He didn't pay her heed until they got to the teleporter. Once they transferred to the deserted lobby, a bubble of glee emerged in Cyrus. "They believed it," he said, in quiet words as if he didn't want anyone other than her finding out. "They think the perfect world will be for them, with them. But it won't."

"What will it be for?" Seeker asked. Of course, he couldn't answer. She sighed. "And what is a palkia?"

"We're going out for a little while," he said, speaking normally and walking briskly to the front door. She followed after him. "I've won over most of Veilstone with your assistance, but Craig is still speaking out against Galactic. Convincing him directly isn't working well, but I think I have a way."

"Yes, I'm helpful," she said, closing her eyes as she flew through the door he held open for her. The sun no longer hurt her skin, but its brightness washed out her vision so much that this new sense was truly worthless. "And you don't have to replace me."

They passed through the city streets. Seeker flew just above the heads of people so that they didn't worry about bumping into her. On the other hand, Cyrus didn't bother to move out of anyone's way. He expected everyone to move out of his way. For the most part, they did so without being told. Was it because he was inconsiderate? No, it was because he was that important and powerful.

Seeker lowered her ears briefly, but had to put them back up to listen to her radar. Right as she thought that he was inconsiderate (of her feelings too), there had been a little sharp hot pain from the red thread and a dull ache in her mind. But once the right thought went through, both were gone. It could be because thread was bad; that made her head hurt again. No, it was just some weird incident. The red thread connected her to him, and so it was good.

At this point, a scent distracted her from the thread. It was mostly a meaty smell of human food, but a hint of berries in the mix. There were some restaurants around here and she had smelled them before. Now the smells made her feel hungry. Was he taking her along to get some lunch? He usually took his meals in his room or office. They were things that weren't appetizing to her, quite bland smells.

Cyrus stopped outside one of the restaurants. "Good afternoon, Miss Maylene."

There was a soft pat as the girl turned to him. She wasn't wearing shoes? That struck Seeker as odd, as nearly every time she heard a human walking, it was with the sound of shoe steps. "Oh, Cyrus. Good afternoon." She didn't sound as cheerful as before, but she was trying to be. "What are you doing here? Sometimes I see your Golbat around at night, but I don't see you a lot."

"I have work to do almost constantly, running my business," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Just hanging around," she said, but the pace of her heart and the scent of her sweat suggested that the question made her nervous.

"Are you hungry?" Cyrus asked, although he seemed to know the answer. "Do you have any money to get a meal?"

This made her embarrassed. "I'm okay, really." But then her stomach growled, possibly at the point where Cyrus could hear.

"I see. Would you care to join me for lunch here today? Seeker and I would like some company."

"We would?" Seeker asked, confused. Then she realized that he was treating them to a special lunch. "Oh yes, we would!"

Her stance shuffled. "Are you sure? This place is pricy."

That didn't seem to bother him. "It's supposed to be worth it. It's no big deal to me. You may have whatever you wish, my treat."

"Really? Thanks, Cyrus. I'll repay you someday, somehow."

"It's fine." He then held the door for both Maylene and Seeker.

It was a great meal. Cyrus didn't get much for himself: some kind of fish, a salad of greens, and egg drop soup. For Seeker, he ordered a chewy patty that was made of mixed berries, mealworms, and oats. Probably some other things as there were tastes and scents that she couldn't identify. But it was really good, one of the best meals she had ever had. And a lot less work than catching bugs herself. Maylene had two pokemon with her, the riolu and a meditite, so they got similar dishes.

As for Maylene, she had more than all the rest of them combined. She had the egg drop soup and greens salad too. As well as a bowl of noodles, a shrimp roll, steamed dumplings, a fruit and cheese salad, grilled beef on skewers, and sweet red bean buns. "Wow, this place really is good!" she said as she was finishing off her last plate. ""Worth its price, don't you think? Are you sure you don't want a bean bun?"

"I'm sure," he said. "And it is worth the price for an occasional treat. Do you eat out much?"

That caused her to stop before starting on the last bun. "No, not unless Craig takes me. And we usually just go out for ramen if we do. I eat lunch with him most days, but,"

"He's off at a league meeting, right?" Cyrus asked. Maylene seemed amazed, but Seeker wasn't. She'd been helping Cyrus trail Craig and Maylene, even during the day. "What about your father? Does he take you out?"

"No," she said, now with bitter tones. "I hardly see him. He's either working or at the casino, only coming home when he needs to sleep. I buy all the groceries and things with what I can earn from battles and some from Dad. He always tries to get out of giving me money, or asks me for more to buy drinks. Most days, I leave these two with Craig, cause they'll get what they need there."

"So you guys live at the Gym?" Seeker asked.

"Pretty much," the meditite said. "Though we'd rather live with her."

"And protect her from her father," the riolu said, fighting off a snarl at the thought. "Not that he ever hits her, but if he does cross that line, I'm gonna slam into him so hard, he'll feel it into next year."

"That's unfortunate," Cyrus said.

That made Maylene embarrassed again. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to be a complainer when you've been so nice to me. Thank you."

"I was simply concerned about you," he said, although Seeker didn't detect any concern about her in his thoughts. "Why don't you move in with Craig? As you're his apprentice, I'm sure there would be no problems."

"I hadn't thought about that. I really don't want to impose on anyone."

"It would be something to consider."


The sky was not returning her sonar. But Seeker just crouched on the rooftop of the Galactic building, not feeling like trying tonight. After so long of flying so high, she didn't feel like she was making any progress. She always blacked out and plummeted back to Earth, with ice crystals coating her wings. And he tended to notice, feeling disappointed.

She wanted to impress him and she hoped that finding what was past the sky would do so. But she hadn't done that and so it was hard to get Cyrus' attention. Every night, he seemed to be working hard, building all kinds of machines in order to get his red chain. He talked to her at times, but it was always about his machines, his plans, and his dreams. Rarely did he talk to her about her, and when he did, it was about what she did for him in letting him eavesdrop on Veilstone.

Veilstone. It had been so fascinating and wonderful when she'd first come here as a zubat, but its music didn't make her feel happy now. Nothing much made her happy. The sneasel would tease her about it and she'd snap at him. At least that usually got him to be sent away. Not sure of what else to do, Seeker flew down into the city.

As it was early in the night, the streets were active. The areas around the shopping mall and the casino were particularly popular, with people and pokemon out talking, laughing, play-fighting. Everyone seemed happy, keeping her from staying on one spot for long. Why could they all be happy? Why could they all have friends that talked with them instead of at them? Was she doing something wrong in trying to fly past the sky, and so the sky god was punishing her? It made sense she didn't want and she wished the god would at least tell her it was so, because then she'd know not to try.

Near the gym, she heard a familiar voice. Seeker flew to behind the building and found Maylene practicing with several adults and pokemon. She listened for a while as the girl managed to beat a woman who, in the golbat's vague sight, seemed to be twice the size of her. From the sound of things, she knew they were all barefooted. Maybe they had some reason.

"Hey, it's you again," a voice said.

Seeker twisted her ears and picked up an unfamiliar pokemon. He had some steel on his body, which was odd as she was used to steel pokemon being all metal. "You know me?"

"Yes, Seeker." He bowed. "It's me; I was the riolu with Maylene. I evolved into a lucario."

"Oh, you," she said. "I didn't recognize the sound of you. But you do smell about the same."

He didn't seem bothered. "It's all right. You seem different too. Last time I saw you, you were a little sad. But now you're very sad. Why is that?"

Knowing that someone wanted to listen to her made her feel a little better. She landed on a windowsill of the gym and held her wings close round her body. "It's Cyrus. He's busy with something. I don't entirely understand it, but he works on it all the time. Back when I was still a zubat, he made time every night to take me out for a walk, and battling others. We don't ever do that now."

"That is bad," Lucario said, patting her foot. "I guess it must be hard since you're nocturnal and most humans aren't."

"That's not it," she said. "He says he doesn't believe in sleep, so he takes small naps of a couple hours each in between working on things. This project is taking up all his waking hours."

"So you don't like that he pays more attention to it than you?"

The red thread seemed to heat up, so she scrunched up further. "It's not quite that. I need to get better before I really deserve…" no, that didn't seem right. That's what Sneasel teased her about all the time. "I mean, I worry about him. He works so hard even though he has all sorts of people there to help him. Like me, if he'd just ask."

"Do you try helping him anyhow? I help out Maylene a lot, especially with her training. We spar a lot, and that makes us both happy."

He seemed quite happy. Seeker felt jealous and wondered if she should not talk to him. "I can't work on machines, though. I don't know anything about them."

"Hey, it's Seeker," Maylene said, her footsteps shifting the grass. "I was wondering where you and Cyrus were. I bet he's working, huh?"

"Always working," she said.

"How do you know one bat from another?" one of the men asked.

"She always has that red thread on her leg," Craig answered. He had some active device in his hand; Seeker heard its faint sounds. What was he doing?

"Why're you taping her?" Maylene asked.

"I'm curious about something. I know someone in Kanto who knows about pokemon like that and a video's easier than trying to explain it." Craig came closer. Seeker leaned away from the sound of his voice; it was odd to get all this attention from humans she didn't know that well. "You can hang around now, as long as there's no trouble. Come on, guys, next match!"

The adults moved away, but Maylene stepped closer. "What kind of accessory is that thread? I don't think I've seen it in the store."

"Don't touch it," Seeker said. But as the girl came closer, she decided it was better to leave then.


What did she have to do to impress him? To make him happy to have her around? Cyrus didn't have strong feelings often, so they were readily noticed by Seeker. If she could just feel him being happy on something she did, then she'd know that he really cared about her. But now he was paying so much attention to this red chain project, to replace her with Palkia. Some days it didn't seem worth the effort to even try.

But she kept trying. Today, she was following him through Veilstone again. He was talking to people, something that had to do with keeping up an image as a trustworthy figure in the local community. He was calm as usual, but under the surface, there was uncertainty. People kept saying, "It's odd that your golbat hasn't evolved yet. She's always with you, isn't she?"

And he would have this mild frustration that never lasted long. "She's been sad for a little while. I'm trying to cheer her up with this walk." But that wasn't the purpose at all.

Seeker wondered if something was wrong with her that was making Cyrus look bad. That was not what she wanted. But she didn't know quite how to evolve again. She could remember the wild golbats saying that the last evolution was something special. One would just know when the time was right. As it seemed that might make him happy, she wanted to evolve again. But what exactly did the wild golbats mean?

In an unusual course, Cyrus went up to the gym and entered. Within seconds, they were greeted by Maylene. "Good afternoon Cyrus! And you too Seeker. Are you here to challenge Craig?"

"Not today," he said. "I would like to speak with him."

"Hi Seeker," Lucario said. "How are things?"

"Not that great," she said.

"He's got a challenger right now," Maylene said to Cyrus's comment. "But it should be over in a few minutes; Craig's much too strong for this guy."

"I see. And how have you been doing lately?"

Her mood brightened. "Great! I talked with Craig about what you said, and he said it was fine if I live here with him. He even made me one of the gym trainers, so my pokemon get to fight a lot of strong teams and we get more money for it."

"That's good," Cyrus said, smiling for her. Why would he smile for her? He wasn't even really happy about it, only a little pleased that he had her support. Seeker would be happy to get a smile from him, even though she wouldn't see it, only feel it through the red thread. "I suppose I do have one question you might be able to answer."

"Really? I'll try, but Craig would know better."

"I think you would know. It's about pokemon that evolve through happiness, like your lucario here and my golbat. Seeker's been sad for a few days now."

"Has she?" Maylene said, sounding a little sad in sympathy. "Why?"

"I don't know exactly why. I'm worried about her and I'm trying to find ways to cheer her up." He wasn't really worried, except about his own image. Seeker nearly glowered at him for that, but the red thread fought that off before she could do more than think about it.

"Yeah. Well you could have a nurse check on her and see if she's not sick or something, in case it's something more than just being sad. That'd be a little hard cause she's not in a pokeball, but they should be able to do something. And maybe you should go on a walk with her at night. I see her by herself sometimes, so maybe she's lonely."

"That might help." He was disappointed that she didn't have any extra insights, but not revealing it in his words.

"Oh, there was one time when I was out with him, when he was a riolu. I found a Carbos drink in the bushes and I thought about selling it, because they're expensive. But it was still good, so I gave it to him to drink. And he was really happy about that! I guess they taste good, or maybe they know it makes them stronger."

"What are you doing here, Cyrus?" Craig said in a booming voice, one that suggested that he wasn't happy to see them there.

"I wanted to speak with you and this was the best time I had to find you," Cyrus replied, calm on the surface. But he had a flicker of anger at Craig's tone.

"The gym has to stay open. But I can meet with you in my office for a few minutes. Maylene, call me if any other challengers come."

"Okay, Craig!"

Seeker and Cyrus followed Craig to the back of the gym, occasional shuffles sounding as panels were slid out of the humans' way. A medicham was in there, humming in some form of meditation. After sliding the door shut, Craig said, "Now what's on your mind?"

It was about various civic issues, things that Cyrus was interested in because it helped his businesses or it built his image as a good person. Seeker found a spot on the ceiling she could hang from and stayed there. While the humans talked, she listed and felt out her trainer's feelings, what few came out of his calm chill. Most of it this afternoon was friction with Craig. They both had different ideas about what to do on many things. Cyrus kept cool and defensive, but Craig kept trying to incite him.

"On an unofficial note, what kinds of things do you do to keep a pokemon happy?" Cyrus asked after his business was finished.

"Treat 'em right," Craig said in a challenging tone. "Pay attention to them and don't let them get depressed like your golbat over there."

"I treat her well," Cyrus said, with an ember of anger finally showing. But not in his voice. "I've been concerned about her lately, but I got into pokemon training later than most people. I'm not entirely sure what to do."

"I don't specialize in either of her types, so I wouldn't know that much. I can tell something's wrong with her, given how she holds herself and how she flies aimlessly at night."

Well Cyrus didn't always fly with her so she didn't have something to aim for. Seeker wondered if she ought to try just looking happy. That would keep her from making him look bad, which could help.

"I'd like to know why you've been taking an interest in Maylene," Craig said to change the subject.

"I've been concerned about her too," Cyrus said. "She seems like an exceptional person and it is regrettable how a community can ignore someone like that in need."

"Well I don't mind looking after one of my students, as that whole situation was holding her back. But you now, I can't see why you would go out of your way to lend a girl a hand, unless you had other intentions about her."

At that unstated accusation, Cyrus' anger flared up as the strongest emotion Seeker had felt from him yet. His restraints were pushed to the point where they buckled, but didn't break. "It is nothing inappropriate, I assure you," he said, but past his words, there was a thought that it might be easier to kill Craig than continue trying to gain his acceptance.

The thought was locked down quickly, but Seeker still noticed.


It was a rainy night. The insects were keeping low and most pokemon were also under shelter. Not Seeker. Although it made her wet, she flew over Veilstone, thinking, searching. Cyrus had gotten her some treats lately: more of those bug and berry patties, as well as power drinks like a Calcium. They did make her feel a little better, but she wasn't sure if it meant that he cared. Or if she was really happy with those things. Did she deserve them?

Why was he even trying? She knew why he wanted her to evolve: if she was a crobat, then people would approve of him and think that he was a great person. For now, people generally liked him, but her being a powerful golbat made some wonder if there was something he was hiding, something bad.

But he was a good person! She was pretty sure of that, as if she wondered otherwise, the red thread would correct her thoughts. It was hard to think of why he was good sometimes. Sure, he was intelligent and he made incredible devices. But then… what was there? He did want to change the world, or remake it to be better, or something. In that, there was something he seemed to hide from everyone. But that didn't matter. Cyrus wanted to make things better, and for that reason, he was good.

Seeker flew south, away from the city. While she was there, her radar picked up on someone else out in the rain, a human out on the route. She flew lower and was able to identify him as Craig. He was alone, doing some kind of training by kicking the air. He didn't even have pokeballs with him, at least not where she could hear them.

It was just the two of them and that brought out a terrible thought. Cyrus thought things could be better if Craig were gone. However, the temptation was mixed with reluctance. There was something ancient holding her back, a natural law that pokemon were not to kill humans except in self-defense. Why was that? Seeker couldn't say. But she had to do something to impress Cyrus and make her worthwhile in his eyes. This could be that something.

After she'd flown within fifteen feet of him, Craig paused and turned to her. He didn't seem worried. "Ah, it's you. He's been ignoring you again, then. Such a thoughtless and selfish man." He then focused back on training himself.

"You're in his way," Seeker said. "He'll make the world better, but you make him look bad in front of everyone."

And if she did this right…


She landed on the floor next to where he was working. "Cyrus," Seeker said.

"Hmm?" He was a little irritated at being interrupted; he had a large device to work on, something about energy draining and restraints. But that went away once he saw her. Cyrus actually put his tool down and crouched down near her, running his finger along her face. "How did you get so bloody? It doesn't look like you're hurt."

"I…" she didn't know whether to say that she was sorry or that she had done it for him.

"Show me what you've done," he said, then entered her mind again. He was only there for a minute, and then he seemed pleased. "We can't leave him like that. That kind of death is too unusual." Thinking quickly, he got up and went to his tool box. "I think I have what's needed to start a fire even in these conditions… no, that would get noticed too soon. A strong acid may work but I don't want something uncommon."

Footsteps entered the room. "Sir? Did you need something?"

"Something's come up, but I'll handle it myself," he said. "I'll get back to this work later; get on with your own. Come, Seeker."

She'd given him some more work to do, but he seemed appreciative. Seeker came to his call, feeling happier. "Of course!"


Although he hadn't liked him, Cyrus showed up to Craig's funeral. The whole city of Veilstone seemed to show up for the public service. Cyrus was important enough to be in the main room, with Seeker close by him. The whole time, he sat there quietly observing what was going on. He was the lone calm person in a room filled with disbelief and grief.

In the front row, Maylene was attending too. Her father was nowhere in hearing, but some of the other gym trainers were there with her. She wore a dark dress that she didn't seem comfortable in, but whatever trouble that was was nothing compared to losing her mentor. During the ceremony, she cried often, not getting up to speak even though some of the other gym trainers did.

Seeker felt odd during the whole ceremony. She had done something wrong; she was the one who caused all this sadness. But where she should have felt guilty, she felt numb instead. She had done it for Cyrus and he was pleased with her. She couldn't feel proud or happy with that either. Only numb.


Being numb seemed to be the way to go. Cyrus was always calm, shutting down his feelings. Perhaps if she tried to be more like him, then he would accept her fully. Would that let her evolve?

Today, he had her out with Sneasel and Murkrow for some training. Seeker did her best to ignore Sneasel's taunting and Murkrow's clowning. "You are so weird," the black bird said, flying around near her.

"I'm just being rational," she said.

"And now she's been around Mr. Machine so long that she's started acting like him," Sneasel said, trying to insult her. "I hope that doesn't start happening to us."

"Beep beep!" Murkrow said, then started laughing.

"Don't be so foolish," Cyrus said sternly. "I don't see why so many people are attached to pokemon. At least I can understand what people are saying."

"Forget about them," Seeker told him. "But if you could understand me, things would be better."

Sneasel snickered. "And then he'd know that you were trying to flirt with him."

"Cyrus, sir," a man called out, coming down the route. It wasn't one of Team Galactic, as the radar came off his clothing differently. "Good thing I've spotted you. The city council is taking suggestions on what to do about the gym; the league wants to be able to reopen it before it's been inactive a month, or they might open a gym elsewhere."

"Yes, and the community doesn't want to lose such an important part of itself," Cyrus said. "Are you taking suggestions from anyone?"

"It'll come up to a public vote, but we're taking nominations for the new gym leader in private. We'd like your input."

That pleased him. "Ah, thank you for your consideration. I have thought about it and I would nominate Maylene for that position."

"The apprentice… even though she's a child?"

"From what I understand, she was Craig's best student in every way. And I'm sure no one in Veilstone would doubt that she's a phenomenal trainer, no matter what her age is." Not only that, but Cyrus felt that Maylene owed him, at least enough to be on his side.

"True. I'll put that in for you." The humans spoke for a little longer, then the man from the council left.

Cyrus waited for a moment, then said, "I didn't want to make that risky of a move in getting rid of Craig. But since he's dead, favor should come back to me. They don't have a clue that you would even be a possibility as his killer, Seeker."

Sneasel lowered his ears at that. "Wait, what? You killed somebody?"

"Yes," Seeker said, keeping her voice calm like Cyrus did. "The gym leader Craig. That was what Cyrus wanted, but he couldn't do it himself."

"Huh?" Murkrow asked, startled. "But, but that's wrong! We aren't supposed to kill humans. That's just not done."

"It had to be done, so I did it," she replied.

"You seriously killed him?" Sneasel asked. The scent of him shifted, betraying that his opinion of her had changed. Now he was scared of her.

"Yes, seriously," she said.

"You, you…" Murkrow tried to say something, but fear was coming off him too. "Um, never mind."

And they stayed terrified of her. That didn't matter, though. Only Cyrus' opinion mattered and he was pleased with her.


The building smelled of sickness and fear. As Seeker flew around, sometimes she caught the faint sounds of pokemon crying or pleading for help. Once she saw one of them, tied up to a machine and striving to fight against it, even though the wires holding her captive threatened to choke her. Cyrus had shifted the captive out of that danger, but left her there tied into the machine. So did Seeker.

"Out of sight, out of mind," Cyrus said to her. It was more of giving voice to his own thoughts than looking for a conversation with her. Still, she appreciated it. "Everything is functioning on schedule now."

"And that will get you to your goal on time," Seeker said. But that also meant that the time when he would replace her was coming.

That was the hardest thing to be numb about. The other pokemon were helping Cyrus to his goal, so it didn't matter if they were troubled now. In the end, it was for the best. But to think that no matter what she did, she still wouldn't be enough for him to reach his goals, that was depressing. But she couldn't be depressed. She had to be here to serve him. And to better serve him, she had to figure out how to evolve.

Currently, they were away from Veilstone, in Eterna City. Cyrus had business here in this building, checking on his energy gathering. Why that involved pokemon being held captive, Seeker had no idea. But it wasn't her place to question such things even if she could.

It was one of those boring days where Cyrus went around talking to people. Seeker took some time to nap while he did so. Like with being numb, napping was another way she was trying to be like him. Cyrus never slept, only napped. He claimed that there was too much to do and not enough time to get it all done if he kept to a regular sleep schedule. It was hard to do, especially during the day when Seeker wanted to escape the sun and sleep.

She didn't even get to escape the sun by staying in this building, as Cyrus left shortly after his business was done. There was no use in complaining, so she quietly followed him. While they moved through Eterna, she wondered if he would stay here for the night. She might be able to find her old friends if he did, although this was a little far out of their territory.

While she was thinking out the best way to get to their territory, Cyrus made a short detour and stopped. "Here it is, the statue of Palkia," he said quietly.

"Palkia?" Seeker asked, feeling a jab of hurt and jealousy. She couldn't see much due to the sunlight washing everything over, but she could hit the statue with her radar. What that revealed was a large pokemon, with a dragon's powerful build and large claws. The statue depicted it with armored plates.

"Not nearly as big as the real one, I would guess," Cyrus said. "But it's supposed to be the most realistic depiction in Sinnoh."

"That's Palkia?" Seeker asked. She hit the statue with her radar again, keeping in mind that it was probably small. It made her tremble; if this statue was small, how was she supposed to compare? She was a golbat, commonplace. And this Palkia seemed to be a rare and powerful dragon, special enough that the humans made a statue of it. Nobody made a statue of a golbat or zubat.

Even worse, Cyrus seemed to be enthralled with it. "A pokemon from the creation myth, said to have existed at the very beginning of the world. Palkia created all of space, while Dialga created all of time. Palkia helped to make the world… and it can help to unmake it. Remake it into a more perfect form, such as how it was at that dawn of history. But this dragon does nothing while the world suffers. It won't have a choice when I have control over it. I will make things as they should be. Everything I've done up to this point has led to this. Yes, even capturing you, Seeker of Heaven. I had to test the theory of the myth before putting it to practice on this scale."

"That's…" even her? She was only a test, nothing more? She was trying so hard to be useful and needed, but then, there was no way she could compete against a pokemon who helped to create the whole world. She couldn't even fly past the sky.

"And I will have the last thing I need soon," he said. Then he turned from the statue. "We can't dally here too long; there's people I need to talk to in the next town."

And with that, he went back into Eterna to head south. Seeker listened over her radar's information on the Palkia statue once more, then flew off after him. If only she could be as controlled emotionally as he was, then knowing this wouldn't hurt as much.