Chapter Three: It's Always Sunny In Orre

Around seven a.m. that morning, Kris lay in bed fully clothed. She had been there all day yesterday, on her stomach with her head buried in the pillows. She didn't get much sleep last night, she was just there. Croc was currently chewing on the curtains of her room, causing sunlight to pour in annoyingly. Kris heard steps outside her room, but couldn't care less. Croc, on the other hand, pulled up its fists and prepared for combat.

The door was kicked open by Fernando, much to Croc's disappointment, as it had wanted a proper fight.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" Fernando proclaimed loudly. "Today is another gloriously horrible day! Get up and get some breakfast! I made waffles!"

But Kris didn't budge. Croc looked worried and started sniffing at Kris, probably thinking that its trainer had suddenly died. But Kris just brushed the Pokémon away with her hand.

"Hmm…" Fernando pondered, twirling his moustache and quizzically watched Kris as the girl wouldn't get up. "Okay, okay, you got me, I can't make waffles! Satisfied?"

Kris still didn't move or say anything. Fernando sighed impatiently.

"Ugh, seriously?" he said. "You're just gonna be there all day again, even though the weather outside is wonderfully horrible? No sunshine, no snow, just another gray morning in Mahogany Town. Yay! Now come on, we need to have our practice battle!"

"I don't wanna," Kris replied lazily, her voice muffled by the pillow.

"Please, girl, that attitude would have worked ten years ago, but you're a freakin' adult!" Fernando ranted. "You're a grown-up! Act like one!"

"I didn't grow up," Kris said, still refusing to move. "I never had time. I lived at home until I was nineteen, then I was drafted to Extranormal Operations and spend most of my four years there just sitting indoors. So leave me alone."

"I have orders," Fernando said simply, "but I don't have the energy to force you. Funny, though. I read your files, and it seems that you dreamed of being a badass Pokémon Trainer one day… but if you're thatscared of losing…"

Fernando used the oldest trick in the book, but it worked. Reluctantly, Kris got up from bed and followed Fernando.

~o~O~o~

The "battle room" where Fernando took Kris was basically just Palmer's office where Kris had been yesterday, with Palmer's desk and other items moved to the sides in order to make a clearing. Kris and Croc were ready, while Fernando kept throwing his Poké Ball in the air, juggling it from one hand to another. Palmer stood next to Fernando.

"I'll act as the judge," Palmer explained. "We shall now test your level of skill as a trainer and the level of synchronization you have achieved with your Pokémon. Ready? Go!"

"Abso-positive-lutely!" Fernando announced and gave his Poké Ball a kiss for good luck.

"Sure," Kris replied lazily. "Croc, go, fight, or whatever."

Hearing this, Croc looked at its trainer nervously, but nonetheless walked to the arena and assumed a combat stance.

"Muk… go!" Fernando screamed theatrically and threw a Poké Ball on the arena.

After a bright flash of red light, a Pokémon erupted from the Poké Ball. Muk looked like a large pile of toxic, purple sludge with two large hands, the left one being larger than the right one, and a humongous mouth. Still, Kris focused a bit when she saw her opponent - this battle wouldn't be too hard, Kris thought, as her opponent looked like a pile of crap. Hell, it was a pile of crap. She just had to remember not to let Croc touch Muk's sticky and poisonous "skin" and it would be okay.

"Don't tire yourself out, Croc," Kris said exhaustedly. "Just use Water Gun for starters!"

Croc didn't really appreciate being told to fight like a wuss, but it shrugged and sprayed water towards the Muk from its mouth.

"Muk, Minimize!" Fernando shouted.

To Kris' surprise, Muk suddenly shrank in size, pulling all its sludge together into a ball, causing the Water Gun to miss. Kris frowned.

"Okay, let's go with something stronger, I guess," she said. "Croc, Ice Beam."

Kris ordered the attack without any kind of passion, causing Croc to groan, but the Feraligatr nevertheless fired a freezing beam of energy towards the Muk.

"Muk, Harden!" Fernando ordered.

Muk's body started shining and its sludge became more dense, causing the Ice Beam to just ricochet off Muk's surface. Muk just laughed at Croc's attack attempts as it released toxic gas in the air.

"Damn it, this ain't working!" Kris groaned. "Can I just give up, guys?"

"We're just getting started, Krissy," Fernando mocked. "Muk, Giga Impact!"

Palmer swore loudly as Muk charged at Croc, moving surprisingly fast for a pile of s…ludge. When it was close enough, Muk jumped into the air and hurled itself towards Croc.

"Croc, Dynamicpunch!" Kris yelled desperately as Muk came closer.

Before Muk reached Croc, the bulky Feraligatr punched it as hard as it could, sending Muk flying backwards towards Fernando. But Fernando grinned, as did his Muk: Croc had gotten some toxic sludge on its hand, and was now feeling woozy and starting to stagger.

"Damn it, I should have kept an extra Pecha Berry…" Kris muttered to herself. "Uh… yeah, that's it Croc… keep it up or… whatever…"

At the other end of the room, Palmer was irritated by Kris' poor performance while Fernando chuckled to himself.

"Great job, Muk!" Fernando told his Pokémon. "High five! Ah, gotcha! I ain't touching you again! Remember when I had that diarrhea for five days straight? Man…"

"This isn't going too well," Palmer muttered. "I shouldn't have told her about Lyra…"

"Actually, boss, that gives me an idea," Fernando pondered. "Hey! Kris!" he yelled.

"What?"

"At least try to give me a challenge," Fernando said and smirked. "You fight worse than you friend Lyra, and she has the excuse of only having half her stomach left!"

Kris felt like punching Fernando. She clutched her fingers together, forming a fist while visibly shaking all over, as if she was ready to erupt. All her aggression was piling up, and she was ready to unleash it.

"Croc, Slash!"

Kris' next order came with a powerful, convincing voice, making Croc happier as well. Ignoring its poisoned state, Croc started to run towards Muk, and Muk tried to counter this by using Sludge Bomb. It opened its mouth and rapidly fired brown balls of sludge towards Croc.

"Ice Beam!"

Croc opened its mouth as well, blasting all the sludge bombs with a blue energy beam, causing them to freeze mid-air and shatter into pieces.

"Muk, Harden again!"

Fernando finished his order just in time as Croc approached Muk. It hardened its skin again, causing Croc's Slash attack to bounce off. Croc retreated a bit, and Fernando took advantage of the pause in combat:

"You know, Mr. Palmer, we should give up!" Fernando yelled, looking at Kris the whole time and grinning. "Clearly she's just not Pokémon Trainer material. She can't even put all that baggage behind her… poor widdle girl… I mean, come on, Lyra couldn't have been that important…"

Palmer tugged Fernando's sleeve anxiously. "What are you doing?" he muttered. "Fernando, there's no guarantee that she'll-"

"Just watch," Fernando muttered back.

Kris looked furious, as if something just had exploded inside her. Her hands clenched in fists of rage, her stringy, greasy hair hanging on her face so you couldn't see her expression, but she was breathing heavily, shaking, ready to attack…

…then she brushed back her hair, screaming out her attack ear-piercingly loudly: "CROC! HYDRO CANNON!"

"Muk, Gunk Shot!" Fernando yelled quickly.

Croc opened its mouth, causing a blue of flash of light to appear in front of it. Meanwhile, Muk sucked in air, preparing its attack.

They attacked simultaneously. Croc blasted a huge orb of water towards the Muk, while Muk fired a powerful blast of liquid poison towards Croc.

The attacks collided mid-air. The ensuing explosion shook the whole building, causing paintings to fall off walls. The shockwave knocked back Fernando and Palmer, who had to shield their eyes from the cloud of dust and rubble. The water from Croc's attack was splattered all over the room.

When the dust cleared, Fernando and Palmer opened their eyes. Both Croc and the Muk were standing still, as was Kris. Croc panted and clearly struggled to stand, but didn't even blink as it stared down at the Muk. Finally, the Muk closed its eyes and fainted. Almost forgetting his role as the judge, Palmer wiped some dust off his jacket and was clearly grinning as he got up.

"Kris wins!" Palmer proclaimed.

Fernando recalled Muk into its Poké Ball.

"Good job, buddy," he said to the Poké Ball, put it in his pocket and turned to Palmer. "See?" Fernando asked, his tone smug and condescending. "Told you it would work."

But just when Fernando said that, Kris collapsed on her knees. Concerned, Croc immediately rushed to her aid while Palmer shook his head.

"See, this is what I meant," he muttered to Fernando discreetly. "Push her too hard and she'll just exhaust herself. Take care of her for now, Fernando. Once she's feeling better, take her to my office."

"You know, boss, I could do the thing you want," Fernando stated proudly. "You don't need her," he added and looked at Kris as she was something he had scraped off his shoes.

"I've made my decision, Fernando," Palmer said and turned to leave the room.

~o~O~o~

Kris was back in Palmer's office, sitting by the man's desk and staring at him with her arms crossed. It had taken Fernando a few hours to make Kris recover, but now she acted like nothing had happened. Croc was doing its own thing on the background, chewing on the books it pulled out of the bookshelf, but Palmer ignored it. He just smoked a cigarette while staring back at Kris.

After the two had stared each other for some time, Palmer put out his cigarette and started talking. "Good fight, Kris, I'll give you that," he said. "I knew you were just the type of person I was looking for."

"Uh huh."

Kris' tone of voice and attitude had changed. Instead of uptight moping, she was now back to arrogant cynicism.

"I realize that we may had pushed you too hard," Palmer continued, "but it was necessary. I need to know you've dealt with what's happened and moved on."

"Name the job and I'll do it," Kris simply stated. "No guarantees that I'll succeed, but I'll see how things go…"

"I just wanted to make sure," Palmer said. "If I wanted to hear whining, I'd play a Japanese role-playing game. Now, I'm sure you want to hear what I have in mind for you."

Palmer stood up, but motioned Kris to keep sitting. Then, he waved a signal at Fernando, who was leaning to a wall at the other end of the room. He turned off the lights, then turned on a projector.

A picture of an ancient temple of sorts was projected on the wall. To be more precise, it looked more like ruins of an ancient temple, with only some stone pillar and pieces of the walls remaining. The temple resided on a snowy mountaintop, high above ground. Kris couldn't quite recognize the place.

"This is the Spear Pillar," Palmer explained. "It's in Sinnoh, on top of Mt. Coronet. Explorers, hikers and researchers have been looking this place for years, yet no one seems to find a clear path. This picture is the only one ever taken. But whoever took it… well, only his camera was found. You get the picture."

Kris seemed to have more important things in mind: "Couldn't you guys have done a PowerPoint-presentation or something?" she asked. "A slideshow is so retro. I hate that."

"Fine, I admit that I can't use PowerPoint!" Fernando yelled from the background.

"Please, Kris, concentrate!" Palmer pleaded. "Next slide!"

As Fernando pushed a button, the next picture was projected on the wall. This time, Kris recognized what was in it: the plates of origin. Sixteen rectangles-shape stone tablets of different colors, all only slightly larger than an average human palm. The very same things Kris sold to Palmer.

"I'm sure you know what these are," Palmer said, "but have you ever stopped to consider what they do?"

"No," Kris said honestly.

Her curiosity was piqued. Indeed, everyone seemed to think that the plates were highly important, ready for people to risk their lives over, sought out by people for millions of poké-dollars. But for what?

"Namely, they boost the power of attacks of different types," Palmer lectured, "but there is more to it, it's just not common knowledge. All of them, especially the main trifecta - the Draco Plate, the Iron Plate and the Splash Plate - are also incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands. They have known to cause mental corruption in people who spend too much time near them, they have even made the powers of nature bend to them, and yet researchers have only concluded that they're just little stone blocks."

"But when all the plates are combined," Palmer continued, getting more and more excited as he spoke, "and placed into slots at the Spear Pillar, have the power to summon a mythical beast from the skies. The creature revered as the creator of the universe, the god of all Pokémon-"

"-Arceus," Kris finished Palmer's sentence.

Palmer just nodded and smiled. Thinking he had said enough to impress Kris, Palmer walked back behind his desk and sat down, but wasn't finished just yet. Fernando put the lights back on and turned the projector off.

Kris was equally excited. She was starting to get it, the big picture. No wonder people were all so excited about the plates. Arceus, man, holy crap! Kris briefly entertained herself with a scenario in her mind where she captured the Arceus. She imagined herself riding on it, flying through cities, telling it to blast everyone with bolts of lightning, causing everyone to turn into piles of goo…

Take that! Fry 'em, Arceus! That's it! Run from me! Scream for me! You, run faster! You, run slower! Mwahahahahaa!

"Uh, Kris? Kris… Kris!"

Palmer snapped his fingers under Kris' nose, dragging her away from her dream sequence. She cleared her throat in embarrassment.

"Yes, clearly this is important," she said.

"I knew you'd understand," Palmer said. "While I hold the plates now, it's only a matter of time before someone tries to summon Arceus some other way and turn the tides of this war. Someone like, say Giovanni and Team Plasma."

"Giovanni himself owned the plates for quite some time," Fernando explained. "But he only learned of their true importance after he had sold them, which royally pissed him off. I imagined that the reason why he allied himself with N and Team Plasma was because he needed men to search the plates."

"And Extranormal Operations, the organization you worked for, had the plates last," Palmer finished. "As such, Team Plasma is hunting you all down."

Kris nodded, but didn't say anything. No comments, no backtalk. She needed to know more.

"I want you," Palmer said, "to head to Sinnoh, fight your way through any opposing that Giovanni puts on your way and use the plates to call Arceus from the skies and put an end to all this. But you can't do this alone."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Kris said and pointed at Palmer. "You're a former Tower Tycoon." She pointed at Fernando, who was behind her. "And he's a damn BAMF."

"Why, thank you, Kris," Fernando said, smiled and bowed. "That means a lot, though I don't know what it means…"

"Google it," Kris said impatiently.

"I can't exactly go around racing around the world," Palmer said, his voice calm but stern. "I need to control everything from here, plus I have an adult son already, for heaven's sake. I'm fifty-three years old!"

"Well, you don't look a day over fifty-two," Kris said. "What about him?"

"Ah, Fernando, yes," Palmer said. "I need him to gather more information, and it's good to have field operatives. Look, Kris, you will receive help. I need you to gather a team of specialists. I arranged you two meetings: a Pokémon researcher in Saffron City, Kanto, and another with a legendary Pokémon expert in Ecruteak City, Johto."

"Okay…"

"But additional muscle would be nice," Palmer added, "so before you recruit any of them, head to Orre. I know it's a long way from here, but I contacted a bounty hunter called Wes who lives there. He brags that he can tame and train any wild Pokémon he encounters, and he has a pretty impressive team of six with him, I hear."

"Is that it?" Kris asked impatiently, wanting to get to business immediately. "So I can go now?"

"Well, there is a third-thing that I need done, but I'll tell you about it after you've done assembling the team," Palmer said evasively, moving uncomfortably. "For now, let's just say that there's an important piece of technology that I want to ensure the success of our mission."

"Okay, but can I go?"

"Hang on!" Palmer said just as Kris was about to stand up, so, despite her frustration, Kris sat down again. "I managed to find the whereabouts of one of your old friends from Extranormal Operations."

"Who?" Kris asked excitedly, with Lyra in mind.

"Shane… or at least, I think that was his name," Palmer pondered. "That little blonde guy, bisexual, hangs around with a Sandshrew, not the sharpest bulb in the harbor… or something."

"Oh," Kris said.

She couldn't really mask her disappointment, and all signs of excitement vanished from her face. She didn't really know what to tell Shane - the guy was always a bit… out there. She and him were friends once, sure, but he basically abandoned her in favor of some rich guy…

"He made a full recovery after the explosion, that much we know," Palmer explained, looking at a one of the many files on his desk. "He's currently working at Silph Co. Hmm… which itself is owned by the Committee… but whatever you do, don't come into contact with him."

"So why did you tell me this, then?" Kris wondered.

"Just thought you'd like to know what's what," Palmer replied. "Here," he added and gave Shane's file to Kris.

Kris knew there was something else going on, but also knew that Palmer wouldn't give her an honest answer anyway. For now, she needed to focus on her mission: go to Orre, put team together, take plates to Spear Pillar. Apparently in order to save the world and blah blah blah. Maybe doing that would finally earn Kris the fame and immortality she had always searched...

"So am I going to Orre with one of those teleport-thingies?" Kris asked.

Palmer waved the question away. "Of course not!" he scoffed. "They're insanely expensive, and come in pairs. Put one warp pad to one place and the other into another, and you can travel between them, but that's about it. Actually, I'll get you there by boat. It's leaving tonight from the Olivine City harbor. You should probably go out and wait for the bus."

Kris was honestly expecting something more glamorous, but submitted to her fate anyway. It was nice to get out, even if the weather outside was cold, damp and gray. Kris signaled Croc to follow her and walked to the door. Before she was out of the building, Palmer started talking:

"I'm honestly surprised you didn't ask about the data, Kris," he said.

Kris sighed. What was he talking about now?

"What data?"

"You don't remember?" Palmer asked sheepishly. "The time you sold me the plates wasn't the first time we met. We also had a brief encounter right in Olivine City."

Kris struggled to remember. It was about a year ago… she and Shane were on a mission, they needed to get critical information, stored on a flash drive. They had infiltrated the Olivine Café as workers and stopped Team Plasma from attacking someone… someone who had the data with him… Palmer!

"That was you?" Kris asked. "Small world…"

"It was no coincidence," Palmer said. "That memory stick had info that I could have used to bring down the Committee and stop the war from beginning. But you stole it and delivered it to professor Kaminko. I just happen to know where it's now."

"Where?"

"Stolen by another one of your colleagues, Touko White," Palmer said. "You know her. White cap, brown hair, aggressive attitude, could beat even Fernando at arm wrestling…"

"She could not!" Fernando protested. "I lift weights, like, once a month! Plus I went to the gym once!"

"I remember Touko," Kris said. "Why did she steal it?"

"She protested the way her own organization treated Touya, her boyfriend. She took it right to the International Police, at the same time confessing all the work she had done to professor Kaminko, helping them to arrest him. Problem is, Touko didn't want to go prison herself, so she had the memory stick surgically attached intoher. For all I know, she still has it, but I don't know where she went. A shame… that data could have helped us a lot."

Palmer took another cigarette from a pack while he finished his monologue:

"Have fun on the desert, Kris," he said. "And watch yourself out there - with both Team Plasma and the Committee's goons after you, it'll be a rough ride."

Kris couldn't help but to feel nervous as she left the building and climbed the stairs to Mahogany's abandoned store, which had the hidden access to the hideout. From there, she stepped into the outside world.

~o~O~o~

Location: Fishing Boat en route to Orre, somewhere in the middle of the ocean
December 2
nd, 2099, 7 PM

On board the fishing boat, Kris finally managed to get her Pokétch working again, allowing her to see the time and day. Now she was on out on her own again, just her and Croc, on the way to Orre. After an agonizing six-hour long bus trip from Mahogany Town to Olivine City, Kris was bored out of her mind.

She leaned over the side of the boat, watching the water as the boat slowly made its way towards the Orre region. Every once in a while, she could see a Goldeen or a Tentacool swimming by.

How could the Pokémon just suddenly be hostile against us, Kris wondered. What did we do wrong?

There were three sailors and four fishermen on board, and while they were big, trash-talking, muscle-flexing unhygienic men, they had all been incredibly nice to Kris. Though on occasion, Kris felt that they were a bit too jolly, constantly talking to Kris and yammering on and on about the weather and life as a sailor even though Kris had explicitly stated that he wanted to be alone.

One sailor climbed the stairs on the deck, noticed Kris standing alone and walked to her. Like the others, he was a big, burly man in a sailor suit who had an anchor tattooed to his shoulder and whose arms were thicker than Kris' neck.

"Ahoy, there!" the sailor shouted in a stereotypical manner. "The boys and I have been looking for you! They're having a fight below deck! One of the fishermen told that his Poliwhirl could beat a Machoke that belongs to one of our boys. They might tear a hole to the hull! Come see!"

Kris sighed and didn't even bother to turn around and look at the jolly sailor. Still, she tried to be nice, as she didn't want to burn any bridges.

"That's okay, thanks," she said. "Say, can you tell me how much longer before we get to Orre?"

The sailor smiled and walked next to Kris, leaning over the side as well.

"We're there by this time tomorrow," the sailor replied. "We'll drop you off near Pyrite Town. The port is a few miles away from the town, but don't worry - your friend, Mr. Palmer, paid us to get you all the way there."

"Thank you," Kris said.

There was one thing she was curious about. It felt like she had been there before, at least the name sounded very familiar. She turned to the sailor.

"So, I take it that you've been there before?" she asked and the sailor nodded. "What's it like?"

The sailor shook his head and stopped smiling for a moment. "Terrible," he replied. "There ain't many urban centers there, so most of it is just a desert wasteland. There are criminal gangs everywhere, with barely any law enforcement. Traveling from one town to another is basically death sentence. If you don't get lost in the desert, you'll get mugged and killed by one of the gangs. All navigation equipment seems to break down there…"

"Sounds fun," Kris groaned.

"Yeah, but hey, at least it's always sunny in Orre," the sailor said, sounding cheerful gain. "Why are you going there anyway, if you don't mind me asking?"

Kris was quiet for a moment, trying her best to avoid the truth while still sounding convincing. "Business," she grunted.

The sailor wasn't convinced, but he dropped the subject and started to head under the deck again. Right before he left, he looked at the sky, noticing that the sun was already going down, making the sky appear orange. It was oddly relaxing, as the sound of the fisherman and sailors brawling below deck didn't reach the areas above the deck. Only the sounds of waves crashing, the ship's engine humming and the Wingull screeching were heard.

"It's going to get dark soon," the sailor lamented, but Kris didn't respond. "Uh, you know, life on this boat gets kinda dull. Between work and wrestling with burly men and even burlier Pokémon, there ain't much to do… I'm just saying that… my cabin door is open all night… yeah."

Then the sailor disappeared behind the deck again. Kris raised her eyebrows in confusion, wondering whether she should be flattered or disgusted. Either way, she decided that it would be best to lock her cabin for the night.

But now that no one was around, Kris pulled back her sleeve to operate her Pokétch, a wristwatch-like gizmo that was used all over the Pokémon world. While it had various apps, the most important one was installed during her time in Extranormal Operations. All operatives could use their Pokétch to use Pokémon Powers, a.k.a. moves that their Pokémon had. For example, Kris could use her Pokétch to fire an Ice Beam, provided that she concentrated enough. Her "mental capacity" and "Pokémon synch-level" was measured by a chip installed into her brain, just like with all the other operatives. Besides occasional headaches, Kris had suffered no aftereffects, though she heard that others had it worse…

But right now, Kris wanted to use the Pokétch's built-in Xtransceiver to contact someone. As much as she didn't like the guy she was calling to, he was the only one whom Kris trusted in this.

~o~O~o~

Meanwhile, at the Silph Co. office building, Saffron City, Kanto

Shane, a 24-year old, blue-eyed blonde guy who was even shorter and skinnier than Kris and who looked perpetually confused, was "working" in his cubicle at Silph Co's office. And by "working", we mean that he was playing "Angry Pidgey" with his Pokétch. Once an enthusiast who was into legendary Pokémon and even had a scrapbook for pictures and diary entries for them, Shane was forced to join Extranormal Operations when Kris had called him and told him about it.

The two had been friends for eight years now, having met each other on a field trip and having hated each other ever since. Yet somehow, despite getting into verbal arguments every time they spoke, Kris and Shane shared a connection, an unbreakable friendship. While Shane liked to play clueless, callous and lazy, he had a picture of Kris in his cubicle.

"Lousy supervisor," Shane muttered to himself while playing. "Keep me overtime, will she? I work harder than anyone else in this company! I think… there are no other people working in customer service, though… and no one ever calls me…"

For anyone else, it looked like Shane was talking to himself, but his Sandshrew, called "Shrew", was hiding under his desk. Shrew, like all other Sandshrew, was a small, yellow critter who looked like an armadillo, or perhaps more like a pangolin, with tiny but sharp claws and a dry, hard skin. The difference between Shrew and other Sandshrew was that Shrew was a bit shorter and fatter than the rest of its kind, and that it was a coward. Whenever danger struck, Shrew would curl into a ball or cover its eyes with its little hands. As suspected, it wasn't much of a battler, but Shane loved his Pokémon all the same, even if he never admitted it and mostly just made fun of its cowardice. Not that Shane himself was exactly very brave, or a good battler or anything…

Shane had adopted Shrew from the Lavender Volunteer Pokémon House when no other sane person wanted to give him a Pokémon. But despite his lack of training skill, Shane treated Shrew better than he treated actual people.

"Well, Shrew," Shane said to his Pokémon. "It's seven p.m., and we get off work at ten, so that means…"

Shane stopped talking and started counting with his fingers. After a few minutes, he gave up.

"Bah, it's not important!" he said. "Who needs math anyway? But at least now we have a job, and nothing's gonna change that. I'm gonna grow doing this tedious task, retire and die alone. Yup, that's my future. And it's not gonna change!"

Just as Shane said that, his Xtransceiver started ringing. Confused, he look at the phone on his desk instead, then finally realized where the sound was coming from. He looked at the screen of his Pokétch, but it only said "Caller ID unconfirmed".

Shane pressed a button on his Pokétch and spoke into the microphone, frowning in confusion. "Hello?" he said. "If this is another prank call, I-"

"Hi, Shane," a feminine voice on the other end of the line said. "I hope you haven't forgotten me."

Shane almost fell off his chair as he recognized the voice. Similarly, Shrew squeaked happily and jumped on Shane's lap to hear the voice better.

"Kris?" Shane croaked and looked around him to make sure no one heard anything - the office was empty except for the night-watchmen and the janitor, but still. "Where are you? What are you doing? How-"

"Save your breath, Shane," Kris said. "I can't tell you anything, yet, as much as I want to. More importantly, are you working for Silph now?"

Frightened, Shane looked around him before answering, as if expecting Kris to suddenly pop in from a ventilation shaft.

"Uh… maybe," he said. "How do you know that? I mean, assuming that it's hypothetically true… Shrew, get off my lap!" he shouted at the Pokémon. "You'll ruin these pants, Silph Co. paid for them!"

"You're as sharp as always," Kris said with heavy sarcasm.

"Thanks, Kris," Shane said, sounding genuinely happy. "Now, onto business. Why did you call? Just remember what happened the last time you did it: my life was ruined!"

"Don't pull that one on me. You and Shrew were living alone in a studio apartment in Viridian City, being unemployed and living in your own filth. Then you got recruited by ExOps, and you had the whole world!"

"Yes, for a while," Shane said bitterly. "Then it was all taken away, thanks to you. But at least now I have a job. I'm uh… very respected around here. You, boy, bring me coffee!" he shouted to the empty office. "See?"

"No, I don't, this is voice-only," Kris said. "So, what, now you live with Shrew alone in a studio apartment in Saffron?"

"No," Shane corrected, "it's a one-bedroom apartment in Saffron. I'm climbing the social ladder as we speak!"

"Whatever… look, Shane, let's not argue. I know I've said this before, but… I have no other friends anymore. Do you know anything about the others? Leaf? Silver? Touko? Anyone? All I know is that Elm was thrown into jail."

"Yeah, I read it on the news," Shane said. He was more relaxed now and leaned back in his chair - he had to admit that he was happy to hear about Kris again. "But I don't know about the others. I'm surprised you didn't mention Lyra. I know you hated her when you first met, but you were pretty close by the end of it. What do you think happened to her?"

"I… I dunno," Kris lied. "How are you holding up, by the way? I heard about Cheren."

Shane stopped leaning backwards. Mournfully, he sighed and looked at a pair of glasses on his desk, all that was left of him. Shrew tilted its head, trying to read Shane's facial expression.

For a moment, both Kris and Shane were quiet. Eventually, Kris spoke up:

"But you know he used you, right? He only wanted to date someone who worked for ExOps to bring them down from the inside or something, whatever his master scheme was. He didn't care about you!"

"Yeah, I guess so…" Shane sighed. "Good work making me feel better, by the way."

"Shut up!"

Shane could hear a hint of laughter in Kris' voice, and lightened up himself a bit. Whatever happened with him and Cheren, that was in the past. And Shane's attention span was fairly short anyway. Most of the time, he was like an eight-year old kid on sugar.

"Seriously, Shane, I didn't call you so we could reminisce. You're in trouble. Tell me, how did you get that job."

"Funny thing, actually," Shane said, though remembering what happened a few weeks ago was a task to him. "When I got out of the hospital, I was totally lost. I just sat on a bench here in Saffron, trying to teach Shrew circus tricks so we could get some money. Then, these men in suits approached me. I thought they were aliens about to probe me, so I helpfully dropped my pants, and-"

"You can skip that part, by the way."

"Oh, right… anyway, they instead said they worked for Silph Co. and wanted to offer me a job, just like that. And… here I am."

"You didn't think something was going on?"

"Uh… no. Why should I? I got this easy job and an apartment only a couple of blocks away."

"Ugh… Shane, open your eyes! Silph Co. is just one of the corporations owned by the Committee. We have valuable technology inside us, remember? They want to keep tabs on us until they figure out a way to kill us but not destroy the chips. I bet you're being monitored right now!"

"Psh, nice conspiracy theory, Kris!" Shane scoffed. "Next you're trying to tell me that this place is the same UFO that shot JFK and faked the moon landing!"

"Just keep your guard up. Don't trust anyone. I… I really wish you could join me. I'm going to Orre."

"Hmm… does that sound familiar to you?"

"Yeah, I know, it's like I've been in that region before, even though I actually haven't… weird. Anyway, after I've been here, I'm coming to Saffron. Just say the word and I'll get you out of there."

"No thanks," Shane said. "I've got a life, a job and plenty of Pokéblocks to feed Shrew with," he added, taking a pink out of the bag on his desk and throwing it to Shrew, before eating one himself. "Hey, these ain't bad…"

On the other end, Shane could hear Kris sighing.

"Okay, Shane, I get it. So… bye, I guess?"

"What?" Shane asked and took his eyes off the Pokéblock bag. "Sorry, I wasn't listening…"

But then he heard Kris closing her Xtransceiver on the other end, followed by just static. Shane shrugged and turned off his Pokétch before yawning and turning to look at Shrew.

"What a wacko," he said to Shrew. "But I guess she's always been a little paranoid… Shrew, cover for me! I gotta go the bathroom."

As Shane got up and left, a surveillance camera in the ceiling automatically turned to follow him.

To be continued...


Author's Notes: To clarify, Shane is an original character that appears in my earlier stories. He's a dumbass, because writing from the perspective of a dumbass is always fun. Him and Fernando are basically the only OC's I use in the story. Well, in theory anyway. Also, I changed the summary. I figured this one would give a clearer description of the plot: Kris must do these things or else the world will end. Pretty simple, for now...

Coming up next: Kris arrives to Orre, meets Wes and battles ensue.