Chapter 4: Past

"It all began with a night much like this one. Pokemon of all kind stood staring up at the gentle moonlight while the humans remained in their beds. All except for me, at least. I wanted to observe the interaction between the newly migrated Clefairy and the local Volbeat and Illumise. You know, it's intriguing, yet sad when you think about it – pokemon always find new places that suit their needs after avoiding a disaster caused by man. The drought and flooding of Hoenn, the ancient weapon of destruction of Kalos; they all contributed to the migration and meshing of species between all of our regions. Yes…and I was out studying just that. Sonitus and I sat on a hillside and gazed down at the Clefairy dancing with the local bug dances of the moonlight. My father was too busy that night to see them himself, so he sent me out to the field in his stead. It was such a beautiful sight – a sight everyone should see at least once in their lives. The synergy between them was so entrancing that neither of us could look away. Sonitus and I watched them for most of the night before succumbing to the need of slumber. The rays of midday sunlight pulled me from my dream. I picked up Sonitus and rushed home knowing my father would not be pleased with me.

"When I arrived home, my heart sunk as I noticed a large crowd gathered around my father's house. He used to receive visitors but never to that extent. I tried ever so hard to shrug off that nagging feeling taking over my head. I pushed through the crowd, pushed past the officer standing by the door, past everything in my way…And then I saw him lying there…and I froze.

"Dead. No rhyme, no reason; no wound no trauma…nothing. Just…death. No one could find out why. I wanted anything, but was only given nothing. At his funeral, the entire town showed up and offered their support to me – but it was all just a sham. A farce. They didn't care for me, they cared for my father's research. Days went by and little by little those who'd stop by slowly disappeared. They would pretend to help and ask for something from my father's research and leave once I'd tell them. How naïve I was…

"Over time, bills began to stack up. No matter what I did, I could never bring in enough money to pay them all off. One day, I lost it. I ravaged the house, searching for anything that could help me and Sonitus get by. My father was always gifted money from benefactors…but once he died we stopped receiving funding. I hoped that I would find a secret stash set aside in case anything happened. My heart leaped for joy as Sonitus clumsily knocked a shelf off its hinges, which smashed the dresser below it and revealed a black wall safe behind it. I thought we were in the clear. Sonitus melted the lock with his Heat Wave attack. I opened the safe and my heart sank. The only thing sitting in the safe was a briefcase. I opened the case and inside there were three things. The letter addressed to you, a letter addressed to me, and a pokeball made entirely of crystal. This one, to be exact." Cladis reached into his bag and held up a pure light blue crystal pokeball. The jagged pokemon shined in the moon light.

"His last gift to you, wasn't it?" Cynthia asked as her eyes fixated on the pokeball.

Cladis nodded quietly. "The letter he left for me told me that the pokemon inside this pokemon was unlike any other – but that's all he said about it. The rest of the note was telling me to find you. He left enough pokedollars for me to get a ticket to Sinnoh and to support myself for a few days until I found you. The way he wrote it though, it's almost as if he wanted you to take care of me. I didn't want to be a burden; I was going to give you the letter and…" he chuckled, "well, figure it out from there."

Cynthia looked down at her own letter. "Your father wrote that you'd say that," she said with a chuckle. "Well…I won't stop you from choosing your own path – everyone has to at some point. And with your pokemon, I'm sure you'll be fine." She looked back at the pokeball. "What's inside?"

Cladis smiled as he opened the pokeball. In a flash of light, a small, pink-fluffed pokemon was on his lap. "B…Buneary?" the pokemon said, rubbing a sleepy eye.

"Go back to sleep, Aristsora. I didn't mean to wake you," he cooed as he gently stroked the rabbit's head. He looked up at Cynthia. "She was inside the pokeball. And, I must say, she truly is spectacular. Perhaps I will show you, later. But for now…I think it's best for me to head to bed and consider my options, if I may."

Cynthia nodded. "Go right ahead. I'll see you in the morning."

Cladis bowed and headed back inside the house. Cynthia soon followed as clouds began to hide the gently light of the moon.