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Chapter Two: The Essence of Infinity (I)
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Rangernet, June 16th- 2050
Title:Operation Firebird
Subjects:
Bliss Aurora – GC Class I, (Umbra Certified),
Goldenrod City,
Johto (F)
Meir Aurora – WC Class I, (Umbra Certified),
Sunnyshore City,
Sinnoh (M)
Ash Ketchum, Class III Trainer (Penumbra Certified)
Pallet Town,
Kanto (M)
May Crestora, Class IV Coordinator (Penumbra Certified)
Petalburg City,
Hoenn (F)
Status:Awaiting level-two authorization...
/\/\/\
Bliss cocked her head to one side, eyeing the dusty figure, who, apart from being the World Champion, was also her husband.
'You seriously need to give Moltres a lesson on "How to land while carrying humans on your back."'
Meir didn't look back, as he was busy brushing off the dust. When he finished doing that, he murmured, 'You think that she'd let me teachher? Honestly, it's not that easy.'
Bliss shrugged, but helped him de-dust himself, giving him a peck on the cheek. Cynthia on the other hand wasn't so dusty – an advantage of riding on the back seat – and proceeded to help the teens get back on their feet. Drew's Butterfree completed this process with a mild dosage of its Gust attack.
'Hello Ash, Dawn and Brock! It's been a while.' Cynthia said, with a small smile on her face as she helped them up. 'You too, Pikachu.' She added, spotting the yellow rodent. The quartet plus Drew were of course, surprised at this sudden appearance, but for now they were helping themselves up and making sure that the Pokémon were unharmed.
'By the way Bliss, the crazy landing was Meir's idea.' Cynthia said an amused edge in her voice. Meir pretended that he hadn't heard anything, and Bliss only replied (with a slight sigh), 'I can tell. What, he wanted to test out some crazy physical law or something?'
'Something like that.'
Our quartet soon turned their attention on the new faces. They exchanged hellos with both the Sinnoh Champion as well as Meir. Of course, since they didn't know the latter (except by reputation, of course), Cynthia introduced him.
'Ash, Dawn, Brock and you two are – May and Drew, am I right?' asked Cynthia. The two rivals nodded silently, and Cynthia continued. 'Meet Meir Aurora.' She motioned to the now-cleaner World Champion who nodded back in acknowledgement. A series of questions, hi and hellos soon followed, and Meir got on nicely with the five others. There came a predictable wave of astonishment; the result of the fact that three of the most powerful trainers of the Eastern Hemisphere being gathered at one place. Another slight distraction was Brock's inevitable "reaction" to Cynthia. The encounter ended this time, not with Croagunk performing his routine "antidote" of Poison Jab, but more with Cynthia's tactful response.
'Cynthia,' the Breeder announced dramatically, 'it is with you that I –'
'You what know Brock,' Cynthia interjected, before Brock could quite complete his sentence. 'I would loveto hear what you have to say, but I don't think it's polite to interrupt someone while they are talking.' She motioned toward Meir.
Bliss had whispered something in his ear.
'I think,' she said, 'that you better tell Drew too.' Meir quirked an eyebrow, and although Bliss didn't see that motion, she could feel how he felt – a consequence of sharing his unique Aura signature, through a complex interplay of the Law of Entropy. 'It's possible that Drew might become Variable Four.'
'Look here everyone.' Meir announced, giving Bliss a barely noticeable nod in the process. He had resolved to do what he had come here to, even though it was going to be difficult explaining something as complex as Auradynamics to the young teens, but it had to be done nevertheless. Only if they agreed, could he embark on initiating the normally-impossible Operation Firebird.
'I'm going to be giving you some answers.' Meir said, earning looks of slight surprise and then expectance from the quartet. Drew was confused, not having been a part of the events that transpired in Sinnoh, but the eyes weren't on him, although Meir noticed. 'Don't worry Drew; your friends will explain everything.' The coordinator nodded, and the quartet proceeded to start their story, following Meir subconsciously as he led them through the Festival grounds, heading to a more secure destination.
It was already quite dark now – the Sun was no longer visible in the sky. A dim path of silvery moonlight led the group of eight as the proceeded along a sparsely lit path out of the blinding lights of Johto's largest city. The ambient sounds of Hoot-hoots and Noctowls proceeded in making their journey a little spooky, but still pleasant. The temperature was a welcome change from the afternoon's furnace.
As the long walked continued, Drew was told not one, but two tales. Apart from the recent events in Sinnoh, Ash and Brock narrated the Sea-Temple incident which had transpired last year. Drew had never before been so actively involved in his "rival's friends'" journey, but he found that the adventurous trip perked his interest. He also found himself becoming increasingly conscious of Ash's, let's say, unique character. He seemed to be a magnet which guaranteed adventure, but at the same time, Ash always remained the approachable, amiable, confident - and sometimes silly - self. He now realized why May chose to take Ash's advice when he had asked her ... well that doesn't really matter now. If there was one thing Drew could tell, it was acceptance – no matter how much of a thick, impenetrable layer lay on top.
'That's a lot you guys have been through.' Drew said, as Dawn finished the story. How anticlimactic the ending seemed as they dozed off in the lobby of the Sunnyshore Pokémon Centre!
'I know that you helped saved my hometown once Ash.' He said referring to that time when the electromagnetic disturbance Deoxys had created caused the block robots to go haywire. 'When Rayquaza came and started on LaRousse's –'
Meir froze, causing the party to come to an abrupt halt. 'I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that.' He said quietly. Briefly, May looked up, and was immediately drawn towards Meir's chartreuse eyes. It was ironical how similar they were to Drew's yet possessed almost none of that emerald polish – only a strange perception of warmth, and a seemingly infinite depth of experience and good faith. Ten more paces later, Meir announced, 'We're here'.
Looking around however, there was nothing to be seen. It was simply a continuation of the mildly forested land...trees and a few empty spaces.
'I can't see anything.' Dawn said, looking around. Piplup was following her gaze as he sat on top of her hat. 'Or are we supposed to chat over here in the open?'
'I agree Dawn, there isn't anything around here.' Brock said. He was wrong this one time though. However, Dawn's assertion of not being able to seeanything was correct.
'Really?' asked Cynthia. 'Ash, May, what about both of you?'
The duo didn't reply. They weren't sure, but they could sense a weak presence. How? That was something they couldn't quite tell yet. It was as though something tingled in the back of their mind, telling them that this was an illusion. There was a brief moment where their thoughts became so perfectly synchronised that they could almost feel how the other felt – a feeling so mystical yet close that there was a sense of deep connection, interwoven between the mild mental networks around them. Another sense awoke...one that could almost hear the Universe talking...slowly, quietly...
They were brought back to their natural senses by a sudden jerk. 'It's alright,' Cynthia told them – apparently, she was the one who had shaken their shoulders, 'Don't overexert yourself.'
'Pika!' added the rodent; its expression was a one of worry.
'What just happened?' asked May getting up. She noticed that they were still in the woods, and that hardly any time had passed at all. Despite that, she and Ash had obviously collapsed – causing the other members of the group to look at them in worry. Well, everyone except Meir.
'I'll explain once we get in there.' He said, pointing to the clearing up ahead.
The others, following his finger, looked at the clearing.
'But there's nothing ther– oh wait.' Drew halted his mouth opening along with the rest of the teens. Right in front of them, an oval-shaped structure had materialized...out of thin air. Whatever that structure was, they seemed to be standing directly in front of the front door. On the front door was engraved what seemed like a symbol...an emerald coloured tornado. Whatever the building was, it was evident that it seemed a little old, and unused for at least a decade. The overall makeup didn't posses a modern-finish, although one could tell that it must have been cutting-edge construction when it was built.
'Team Whirlwind's Johto base.' Bliss announced, walking towards it. 'You see, me and Cynthia managed to confuse them enough so that they ultimately split into two groups – the ones you know as Aqua and Magma.'
'That was more than ten years ago, we were only nineteen or something.' Cynthia remarked, also heading towards the base.
The quartet was in awe. 'You're saying that Team Aqua and Magma were once the same?' Brock asked, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. 'Maybe that does make a little sense though, since their bosses seemed to know each other...from what Ash told me.'
'What I want to know is how it can turn invisible like that.' Dawn said.
'Oh, it doesn't turn invisible.' Meir grinned, 'It's something called a perception field – you can only see it if you know exactly where it is and what you're looking for.'
'That makes sense,' Brock said, 'Otherwise; their members wouldn't be able to see it either.'
The group entered the building as the doors slid open, admitting them with a loud groan. Inside, it was quite obvious that the place had been uninhabited for a decade. Despite that, however, the building was still powered, and watered too.
'This place became a kind of secret lab and base for the three of us, whenever we were in Johto.' Cynthia explained.
'Actually, it was more like Meir's hiding place from my parents.' Bliss said amusingly. Meir didn't reply, but put on a small, wry smile. The building wasn't all that big, but it was large enough to contain a covered Pokémon battle field, a dozen rooms, a control centre, a parking lot and finally, what seemed like a classroom – which was their final destination. Team Whirlwind – being native to Hoenn, didn't maintain a significant presence in the Johto region.
Teeming with even more questions, the group finally settled down, sitting in the chairs scattered across the "classroom's" floor. Only now, it was apparent that it wasn't actually a classroom – but more like a laboratory. The various equipments in this particular room hardly looked outdated. On the contrary, they seemed to be cutting-edge, never-before-seen instruments. What their function was, it was still unclear to the teens. However, they could tell that the place hadn't gotten a fresh coat of paint for quite a while – although the general structure of the room was still fine, along with the rest of the building.
After everyone - except Meir - sat down, the World Champion, looking surprisingly at-home despite the place not being his popular element (that is, being in a Pokémon battle field rather than a mysterious, hi-tech lab) took a deep breath and started to speak. His tone didn't lack confidence, even though it was apparent that he was having a small degree of difficulty in choosing his words.
'Alright everyone.' He started, 'What I'm going to tell you all is just a very probable theory. I may be wrong in almost everything that I say, but for now at least, all evidence – experimental or otherwise, points that I am...correct to a certain degree. Are we all ok with that?'
His question was obviously pointed at the younger section of the group – Bliss and Cynthia were merely listening, but they seemed to know what he was going to say. Ash, May, Drew, Dawn and Brock all nodded, and Meir continued.
'Now, the first thing,' He said, eying the teens carefully, 'is that since what I'm telling you is sensitive information, I...' He trailed off searching for the appropriate terms, '...don't think that we should openly discuss it – especially when we're in a place likely to be overheard.'
The listeners nodded, and even Ash was able to understand what Meir was hinting at, given the seriousness in his voice.
'Lastly,' Meir said, 'what I'm about to tell you is complicated, and you may not understand it the first time. That's perfectly fine, because none of us – 'he motioned to Bliss and Cynthia, ' – could either when we were your age.'
He paused for a while, and nodded to himself. It was time.
'First, I'm going to ask you a question Ash.' He said, looking right into the trainer's amber eyes. They showed a little surprise, naturally, since it was a rather sudden question. Nevertheless, he nodded.
'I'm sure you've heard about the term "Aura" for quite a while now,' he said quietly, although the silence served to magnify his words, 'I want to know what you think it means.'
Ash blinked. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see May and Dawn looking at him intently, waiting for his answer. Meir's chartreuse gaze was still on him – he was surprised that it didn't make him feel uncomfortable at all. He only felt warmth, and an unspoken encouragement. The trainer began to think – he didn't usually need to think hard and fast unless he was in the middle of a battle. Pikachu gently got off his shoulder in the meantime, thinking it would make his best friend more comfortable. Finally, he gave his answer.
'I've...never thought about it, but I ... remember something about it being,' He paused to remember, and then carried on, 'a...kind of energy existing inside all things.'
'Well he is right you know.' Cynthia said. 'That iswhat Aura is, after cutting down the details.'
Meir nodded thoughtfully. 'I agree with you Cynth, and so Ash, you're right, but all of you don't know the details we've discovered after all this time the world has known the existence of Aura.'
'Details?' May interjected, a little puzzled. 'What do you mean?'
'Any physical law,' Bliss explained, 'can be broken down, rearranged and applied when you learn it in detail. But you don't need to worry about that right now – it becomes insanely complicated and I don't think even Meir understands it completely.'
'I never claim to understand anythingcompletely,' Meir replied, 'it would be a downright lie if I were to claim that I know everything about Pokémon battles and strategy – I don't even though I'm World Champion.'
'Erm, can you continue explaining now?' Brock said tentatively. Meir and Bliss immediately regained their focus.
'Yes, of course.' Bliss began. 'As Meir was saying, the definition of Aura has been changing ever since we first knew about it from the very first Pokémon – Dialga and Palkia – right down to the specialized sub-species of Riolu and Lucario. It's – what was it again?' Bliss turned to her soul mate.
'Aura is the "Quantum harmonic oscillatory motion of hyperspatial superstrings."' Meir recited. Noting the confused looks her was getting from everyone, he quickly added, 'You don't need to remember or understand any of that, I was just formalizing the introduction. What I wanted to explain is how those strange things happened a couple of weeks back at Valor Lakefront.'
A sudden vision of remembrance passed through the minds of the quartet. Once again, Ash and May felt that strange "bind" – that force which seemed to connect them so harmoniously, giving a real sense of depth to their emotions. It was strange how that shield had cropped up on the beach...protecting them from the derbies of Team Rocket's destroyed "Groudon".
The "explanation" truly began when Meir drew that same diagram which his laptop had produced. It was a square with two diagonals. At the four vertices were the letters "C", "M", "A" and "D" in clockwise order. Branching from the "M" was another line to the letter "B", and much in the same way, another line branched out from the "A" to a new "M".
What was this strange square?
/\/\/\
Afterword:
Sorry for the rather abrupt ending, but there is another part to this chapter (if you haven't guessed from the title). Anyway, I'd like to make sure that I've done this one correctly before I go on to the "real explanation".
And yes, Operation Firebird is only Ash, May, Meir and Bliss. :D
Review please!
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