I am alive!
And I'm so sorry for the huge delay . So much is happening in school right now but on a brighter note, I'm going to be attending Manchester MCM Comic Con this year and I'm super excited for it!
Also, another note for this chapter. The main focus here is Serena and please just be aware that I have a sort of weird headcanon where Professor Sycamore is her father who has divorced her mother so this is just a heads up since it'll be appearing here ^-^
As usual, thank you for reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon
Chapter 3: Departure
Serena
A man dressed in a knee-length white lab coat ran a hand through his dark hair as he sighed, leaning over a complex looking machine that emitted frequent beeping noises. It was a radio of sorts and multiple dots were crammed onto the tiny screen as flashing bulbs on the sides illuminated the room in an array of red and orange: the warning colours.
"Professor?" A honey blonde haired girl asked tentatively, her brow furrowed in concern. "Is something wrong?"
The Professor let out another large sigh before turning to face his protégée. A pained look flashed through his eyes before he took a bottle and splashed water over his face. It had been a while since Sycamore had reacted like that to his messages but the expression on his features was one that Serena was familiar with. The cause of his great distress lay hidden in the coded words he had received a few moments ago and the swarm of dots that had suddenly appeared on the machine.
"It's terrible." He muttered, tugging at his hair gently with one hand.
It was a habit Calem had observed whenever Professor Sycamore got nervous and it was generally a bad sign, an omen of something terrible. Augustine Sycamore was a charismatic man and to see him such disarray was a worrying sight.
"Absolutely awful." Sycamore continued, beginning to pace in his lab. "Serena." He suddenly paused and looked up at her. "Go and call Calem, he should be at Prism Tower with Clemont and Bonnie. I have something to tell you both."
Serena nodded, shrugging off her own lab coat and grabbing her hat from the stand on her way out after descending down the elevator. The midday sun was at its peak in the sky, showering light down upon Lumiose City. Many citizens were outside, enjoying the weather as they crowded around small tables set out in front of the cafes that dotted the street. In reality, Kalos was a much more peaceful region in comparison to that of Kanto or Johto where signs of disrupt had long since appeared. Here, people could afford to relax and live, even if they were confined into the gates of the city.
The young girl sat down upon the steps leading to the lab before hastily clipping on her roller skates to her shoes. In such a large area, the quickest way to get around was to use a bike or simply skate and Serena preferred the latter. She got to her feet and jumped down the steps, bending her knees as she landed before taking off down the rounded streets of the city and into one of the many alleyways leading to the heart of Lumiose: Prism Tower.
It was very much a sight to behold, even in the day when the lights weren't even on. The tower stationed at the very centre was one of the most iconic features of the Kalos region's major capital, but it was also the base of the Fifth Division where Leader Clemont helped supply the defences with his intricate machines. He was a genius to say the least and at the age of 18, only one year older than Calem and Serena herself, he was the youngest Division Leader in the region.
"Hey Serena! Over here!" A young, feminine voice called out to her.
Serena turned and a grin appeared on her face. "Bonnie!" She sped up and embraced the other girl in a hug. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
She was rather petite in structure with rather short lemon blonde hair, held up in a side pony. The girl wore a brown shirt with little sleeve and a poofed out white skirt that looked childish on her even if she was around the age of 13.
"Jeez, Seré." Bonnie pouted, trying to fold her arms as if she was upset with her friend. "You should really come to visit more. I see boring old Calem every day."
"Hey, I heard that!"
The two laughed as they were joined by two figures. One was a boy with blonde hair with large circular glasses obscuring most of his face, clad in a blue coverall stained with patches of grease and a large backpack around his shoulders. The other was another boy with short black hair and grey eyes. A red cap was perched on his head with large sunglasses on top of that and he was wearing an outfit made up of a blue jacket and trousers along with brown hiking boots.
"Boooring!" Bonnie repeated in his face, dragging out her vowels.
Calem pulled a face before clasping his hand over her mouth to shut her up. "What are you doing here anyway, Seré?"
"Ah!" She tapped her head as she remembered. "Yeah, the Professor has another message for the two of us. We should hurry back, he was in an awful state when I left him."
Serena grabbed his arm to pull him back, missing the light blush on his face that crept up to his cheeks the moment they made contact. Calem glanced down and adjusted his hat, feeling his face burn before skating towards the labs behind her. Clemont and Bonnie watched the two retreating figures, sharing a glance and grinning sneakily.
"He likes her."
"Totally."
"Professor Sycamore!"
"Prof!"
The two burst out of the lift as the doors finally opened with a soft 'ping' and scrambled towards Sycamore's desk where he was waiting with their briefs. The mood was solemn to say the least. The Professor's second nervous habit had appeared as he drummed his fingers on the polished wooden surface of a once cluttered table.
Nervous habit number three was impulsive cleaning.
Calem took a step forwards as the man appeared to have not heard their clumsy entrance. He was deep in thought, resting his chin on his free hand as he reread the sheet of paper in front of him.
"Um… Professor Sycamore?"
No response.
The two teens sighed, Serena shook her head with a 'I can't believe I have to resort to this' look on her face.
"Papa?" She called out to him in her sweetest voice.
The results were instantaneous. He jumped up to his feet, his chair flying out from underneath him. "Serena darling?"
The heavy silence followed his sudden outburst before the man realised where he was. His lips shifted into an 'o' shapes before he slapped his face with both hands.
"Ah, right. You're both here." Professor Sycamore gave an embarrassed cough and straightened out his clothes. "I've just received word from the League Headquarters." He gave a loud sigh. "The monsters are on the move and have decimated another town."
Serena gasped, a hand flying over her mouth. "That's horrible…"
"Is there anything we can do for them, Professor?" Calem asked, furrowing his brow. "We're ready to go out at any moment."
"Ah but you see… This time I haven't received distress signals from anywhere in Kalos… It's Kanto." Professor Sycamore explained. His reluctance in sending them away was growing more and more obvious. "The base of Kanto's 8th Division, Viridian City has been completely destroyed and-"
"Say no more Professor!" Serena cut him off. "The League requested for people to help with aid and relief, right?"
Professor Sycamore's eyes widened as he realised what she was inferring, raising his arms in the air. "But I couldn't possibly-"
"We're you're ace field assistants, aren't we?" Calem interrupted. "We can handle it!"
"The two of you aren't even of age yet!" He protested, running a hand through his hair again. "I'm supposed to be responsible for your safety. Your parents won't be pleased to hear that you're going to the most dangerous and far off region."
He took several papers off from his floor and aligned them up, leafing through them and shaking his head. "I'll tell the League that I won't be able to-"
"What kind of field assistants to the League professor would we be, if we couldn't handle a request like this?" The two chimed together.
Professor Sycamore frowned. "Where are you going with this..?"
"Professor…" Serena hesitated. "Do you not trust us?"
The man felt a prickle of guilt surge through him.
"We went to Ambrette before with Trevor and that turned out fine." Calem added in hopes of convincing him.
"Korrina has overseen our mastery of off-peak skating too." Serena pointed out, gesturing towards her clip on skates that had been adapted to rough roads and the wilderness.
"And Valerie has been teaching us self-defence, she may not look it but she is crazy strong." The dark haired teen mentioned before dropping his voice to a grumble. "It must be that furisode she always wears… It weighs a ton."
Sycamore sighed, running his hand through his hair again. "It looks like I can't do anything to change your mind." He complained almost childishly. "I'll let you go… Only if you get consent you're your guardians."
The two instantaneously brightened up, they were almost certain that they would receive permission. Grace, Serena's mother, lived for the thrill of life and had only settled down when her daughter was born. She used to be a risk taker and was almost ecstatic at the fact that her own kin was doing something of the sort, albeit with a small trace of motherly worry. Grace was the sort of woman that let her daughter make her own decisions as soon as she was old enough to. At the age of 17, she trusted Serena to do what she thought was best.
Calem's parents on the other hand were well-known members of the Kalosian League, they themselves beginning their training before the usual age of 18 like many other over eager teens, desperate to protect their region. From their own experiences, they encouraged the boy to get a head start and began to teach him all they knew about defence and the monsters, starting from a basic level.
"Video call them, and then we'll see if we can make flight arrangements from here to Cyllage City and then to Kanto." Sycamore said with a defeated tone, bending down to pick up the fallen papers. "But only if they agree."
"Thanks Professor!" They spoke at the same time before hurriedly leaving his office and across the street to one of the three red roofed buildings that lined the bustling streets of Lumiose.
The safe houses or relief centres as they were more widely known as, were undoubtedly one of the more important buildings built for the war, distinctively marked by their crimson tops. In Kalos and most likely every other region, they brought aid and comfort, a welcome support in the harsh times the people were living in. Each one was equipped with the basics of several rooms for travellers, an operating theatre, a few wards and video calling booths as well as a full-time working Nurse who mysteriously looked identical to every other healer in every centre.
Calem and Serena stepped into the building, the automatic doors sliding behind them, to be greeted by an overwhelming sense of warmth. The ever present humming of the machines continued on as a pink haired woman exited a room where the glowing 'operating' sign had faded off.
"How is he, Nurse Joy?" A worried elderly woman asked, lifting her head from the table she had been resting at whilst the pair made their way to the booths at the other side of the room.
The young woman gave her a kindly smile. "He should be just fine, it's just a little wound from a bite so he should be up and about in a short moment."
Relief flooded her face as she finally relaxed. "Oh thank goodness…"
Their conversation grew quieter as they crossed the polished floors of the relief centre.
"Hey… Calem..?"
The said teen glanced over at his companion, taken aback by the sorrowful look in her eyes. "Y-yes?"
Serena sighed, tugging at the hem of her skirt. "Why do they have to do this?"
Calem blinked at her.
"The monsters." She elaborated. "Why do they have to attack us?"
His mouth moved into an 'o' shape. "Well, no one knows why but I guess it's in their nature. They're not sentient beings like we are so maybe their filled with some sort of blood lust."
"It's sad." She declared in a finalising way, pulling out a stool in front of one of the machines to call her mother. "If their thoughts are rules by pure wrath then it's just sad."
Calem hadn't said anything after that but it was probably because he was calling his own parents.
Serena tapped in the numbers for her home phone, listening to the melodic tone that played after every key she typed. Soon enough, her mother appeared before her eyes.
"Bonjour, ma mere!" She greeted cheerfully, as if she had never been in a dejected state moments before. "How are things back in Vaniville Town? Have the sentries been doing their job?"
"Bonjour, Serena." Grace nodded at her. "It's good to hear from you again, everything is great over here. There haven't been many monster appearances recently and it's probably as peaceful as you can get. How is it over in Lumiose? Is city life starting to get boring after that thrilling trip to Ambrette?"
"Ah… about that." Serena began, smiling sweetly at the screen.
Her mother's eyes lit up. "Let me guess, that man is sending you away again! Where is it to this time? Snowbelle City? Geosenge Town?"
"Kanto."
Grace's smile faltered slightly. "Kanto? That's pretty far away… and dangerous."
Serena watched her mother, unsure whether her decision would benefit her or not. "He's not forcing us to go or anything. The Professor was reluctant to send us off but we finally convinced him and he said we would be allowed to go with parent consent."
"And so you came straight here to ask me." She mused thoughtfully.
"I know it's dangerous there but I can't back down now. The League is depending on the Professor to send someone." Serena said. "Calem and I work well together too; we've never been injured in the field and we've been at it for ages."
"Look honey." She sighed eventually. "I've told you before and I'll tell you again, you're a grown girl, even if you're not legally recognised as an adult in the eyes of the League. You're old enough to make your own choices and if you want to go to Kanto to do whatever whacky task that man wants you to complete, then all I can do is support you to the best of my abilities."
"Mum…"
"Serena, just promise me that you'll stay safe and be cautious."
The two females shared a smile. "Of course, I promise." She held up her pinkie in a childish manner and her mother did the same. "I'll come back with Calem as soon as I'm done there."
Grace laughed lightly. "That's my girl. Do me proud, okay? Tell that partner of yours I said hi and send my love to that old geezer."
"His isn't old, Mum." Serena giggled, imagining the appalled face her father would pull if her mother ever said it to his face.
"He's older than I am." She winked before pausing. "Call me again once you reach Kanto."
"Will do, Mum." Serena nodded. "I'll talk to you soon." And with that, she ended the call.
The honey blonde haired girl had a content smile on her features as she got up from her seat.
"I take it that it went well?"
Serena glanced up, noting the bright look in her partner's eyes. "It sure did, and I'm guessing it was the same over at your end."
He nodded. "I don't think that Sycamore actually expected our parents to agree." Calem adjusted his hat as they stepped foot from the centre, walking side by side with her.
She rolled her eyes. "He knows my mother; there was no way in hell that she was ever going to say that I couldn't go."
Calem hazarded a guess. "So he's just in denial."
"Probably."
Serena sighed, resting her chin on her propped up elbow as she stared out of the small window belonging to the aircraft with a forlorn look in her eyes. They had only just recently taken off and Calem had almost instantly reclined his chair, much to the disgruntlement of those sitting behind him, and dozed off with his head lolled to one side. He looked peaceful in his current state and dare she say it- calm- and she was rather jealous.
The news stories in Kanto were frequently broadcasted on TV and now that she was actually on her way to the region, her nerves began to set in. There were too many reports about attacks for it all to be a rare occurrence there like it was in Kalos and that fact alone made her uneasy.
But she had promised. She had promised the friends that she had left behind and Serena Levesque was a woman of her word.
"I can't believe you're going away again so soon!" Bonnie whined, clinging to her friend's skirt in a desperate manner. "And to that region of all places!"
Serena released the younger girl from a tight hug before ruffling her hair. "It's okay Bonnie, Calem and I are fine with it."
"Jeez…" She pouted, crossing her arms. "Just because you two are, doesn't mean I am! It's going to be so boring without the two of you."
"Bonnie!" Clemont exclaimed in a reproachful tone. "Don't be so selfish. Serena and Calem have their duty to Professor Sycamore's field work just as we have our duties to the 5th Division. They can't just play all day, especially with what's happening in Kanto right now."
She hesitated for a moment, deep in thought before letting out a defeated sigh. "You better come back alright, or else!"
The older girl laughed as her partner was saying farewell to Clemont. "Cross my heart." She promised, nodding at her.
Bonnie instantaneously brightened up. "Got it! Bye bye Serena, Calem!"
Sycamore stood to the side waiting patiently, his eyes exposing his own emotions. "Stay safe, okay?" He told them for the umpteenth time. "Remember to prioritise your own safety above everything else, I don't care if I lose several documents of research if it means putting the two of you in danger."
And Serena and Calem had nodded earnestly, taking his words to heart with some reluctance.
Serena blinked back to attention as she was startled by a large shout nearby.
"What's going on here?" A panicked voice cried out. "What's happening?"
Several murmurs broke out between the passengers as they turned towards the speaker, a rather burly looking man donning a sailor's uniform. His eyes were wide with horror as he had leapt out of his seat, pointing at whatever was out of his window.
Serena looked again, having not paid much attention to whatever was outside before.
She froze.
"Calem." She hissed, shaking her partner awake. "Calem, wake up, this is important."
The black haired teen groggily rubbed his eyes, covering his mouth with a hand as he tried to stifle a yawn. "Sere..? What is it?"
"Look."
He leant across her seat to peer out of the window, letting out a small 'oh' as he noticed them.
The surrounding areas were thick with varying shapes as thousands and thousands of monsters had gathered in the sea and the air.
AN: Okay, okay. I'm progressively trying to make my chapters longer. Please review and tell me what you think!
Next chapter: We're heading back to Viridian City with Gary and Ash
