Saylee—Pokémon: 3 Deaths: 1
Key—Pokémon: 3 Deaths: 0
(See the bottom of the chapter for team rosters)
{Monua 27th, 7:15 pm}
{Route 203}
Most of the route to Oreburgh was a well-worn footpath along grassy slopes. The day was clear, if cold, but it was comfortable enough so long as Saylee, Key and their Pokémon kept walking, which—aside from a stop for lunch—they did until sunset, when they stopped to eat dinner and pitch camp by a small, crystal-clear lake. The grass was still frosty where it was shaded by the trees, but at least the water hadn't frozen over. Doing her arm exercises was a little tougher for Saylee in the cold air, at least until Caelin made a point of entirely coincidentally sitting against her advisor's right side while the princess waited for her food.
She's pompous, but she genuinely cares, Saylee thought, slowly flexing her fingers in the warm air around the little fire-type. She could make a good Fire Lord.
"Your dinner, Princess," Terra said, toddling over to Caelin with a plate with the princess' favourite flavour of poffin roll and a couple of spicy berries.
"Our thanks, Terra," Caelin said, taking the plate and beginning to eat. Terra returned to get her own bowl of salad from Key.
"You guys are so formal, it's weird," Leo commented.
"Duh," Sally said, stealing some of his berries. "She's a Princess."
"Hey, get your own food!" Leo yelped, jumping at her. The two began to play-fight. While they were distracted, Bob plodded over and started eating their dinner.
"Ceez, what kind of royal guard are these kids?" Stan complained.
"You're not so old yourself," Key pointed out with a smile.
"You'll get stronger," Saylee promised. "We all will. I just wish I could have someone like Skye or Mary or Tobias here until then, to protect you…" She trailed off at the sound of music. It was faint and warbling, but pleasant, and lingered in the air.
"What pleasant music over dinner!" Caelin exclaimed. "Stan, find us this excellent musician!"
"Sure," Stan said, grabbing his last berry and flying off.
"Wow, it is nice music, isn't it," Sally said, pinning Leo and perking up her ears to listen to the music. It stopped a moment later, replaced by sounds of faint conversation.
"Yeah," Leo agreed, before pushing Sally off of him and going back to his dinner. "Hey, where's my food?!"
"Dunno," Bob said, straight-faced. "Maybe Sally ate it, huh?"
"Sally!" Leo yelled, attacking her again.
"Calm down, both of you!" Terra snapped. "Here comes Stan…"
Stan flew towards them, holding something brown and wriggling in his talons. Something tiny and green was sitting on his back.
"Don't eat me! Don't eat me!" the little brown one was screeching repeatedly.
"Set her down, Stan!" Saylee ordered. "Gently. You're terrifying her!"
"Our apologies, minstrel," Caelin said as Stan let the round brown-and-cream Pokémon down. "We did not intend for you to be harmed."
"I'm not getting eaten?" the little brown bug said, relaxing visibly. She reminded Saylee something of a Ledyba in shape, but according to her Pokédex, the little Pokémon was a Kricketot, a bug famous for their musical abilities. The display switched to Budew when a little green Pokémon with a round, yellow face hopped down from Stan's back.
"Hey, you're a Turtwig!" the Budew said excitedly, waving the green bud on top of her head at Terra. The twisted bud could uncurl and split entirely apart to reveal some kind of red flower bud nestled inside. "Look, Kel! A Turtwig!"
"My name is Terra," Terra introduced herself. "And this is Princess Caelin of Mt Coronet."
"A princess? It's an honour," Kel said, lowering her antennae respectfully. "What can I do for you?"
"We enjoyed your music greatly," Caelin said. "We wish for you to be our minstrel."
"A royal minstrel?" Kel gasped. "They say that if you play at the court on Mt Coronet, every Pokémon in the country can hear it!"
"Do it, Kel!" the Budew encouraged her, hopping up and down excitedly
"Once we are Fire Lord, you will play for the world from our court," Caelin promised. "So you are agreeable?"
"Yes, of course!" Kel said excitedly, or rather sang—the Kricketot's voice grew more melodious the happier she became.
"Hey, can I come too?" the little Budew asked, trotting up to Caelin.
"And who are you, little one?" Caelin asked, smiling gently at the tiny Pokémon.
"I'm Basma," she declared. "If you're going to travel, can I come?"
"You can come with me," Key offered. "I'm Terra's trainer. You'd like to train with Terra, wouldn't you?"
"Yay!" Basma said excitedly, hopping into her arms. "Thanks, miss, um…"
"Key," Key giggled. "The Starly is Stan. Those two Shinx are called Leo and Sally. The Bidoof is Bob."
"And I'm Sar Saylee," Saylee introduced herself. "I'm Princess Caelin's trainer and advisor. You'll be training with me, Kel."
"Splendid!" Caelin declared. "We will train beginning tomorrow. For now, it is dark, and we must not stray from the fire."
"It's only eight, why is it pitch-black already?" Key grumbled.
"Because it does that up here," Saylee said, rolling out her sleeping bag. "Let's get warm, then we can use my 'dex to read up on Kricketot and Budew."
{Monua 28th, 8:09 am}
{Oreburgh Gate}
The retinue headed into the Oreburgh Gate shortly before dawn the next morning, when there was just enough predawn light for them to make their way safely along the path. The cave was strung with bright miner's lights, allowing them to locate it in the steep hillside by the glow from the cave mouth.
"I don't like winter," Basma complained. "There's not enough sun! How'm I supposed to bloom like this?"
"You'll just have to wait for spring, won't you?" Terra said. Basma was riding on the Turtwig's back, leaning against her sprout. Caelin was on Bob's back next to them. Sally and Leo were leading, with Kel sitting on Sally's back and singing while Stan sat on Leo's and watched the path ahead with his keen eyes.
"Something's going on up ahead," Stan reported.
"What is it?" Saylee asked, looking up the path. She realized that several of the lights had blown out ahead, creating a patch of darkness. Something was moving in the dark, but it was hard to make out.
There was a sharp screech and another light blew out. Key screamed as she was showered in glass from the bulb.
"Key!" Saylee yelled, running over to her friend. "Guys, be on your guard, it could be a strong electric-type! Key, are you okay?"
"I'm fine…. I think I cut my hand," Key said, giving the bleeding cut a lick.
"It's not an electric-type," Sally said, peering into the darkness.
"Yeah, that wasn't an electrical surge," Leo agreed.
"Well, if it's not electricity, I'm going to see what it is," Stan said, spreading his wings. No sooner had he taken off, however, than he was knocked out of the air. Saylee ran over to him and found that he had been knocked down by an unconscious Zubat, who was twitching and glowing pink.
"This is psychic power!" Saylee gasped, picking up the Zubat so Stan could get up again. She caught the Zubat in a pokéball; whatever the psychic attack was, it wasn't stopping.
"We must light this tunnel!" Caelin demanded. Her tail flame flared, but her small tail wasn't enough. "Sally, Leo, what can you do?"
"You can spark, right?" Key said. The two Shinx nodded and began to fire sparks of electricity randomly into the tunnel, lighting it up in bright bursts. There was a cry of pain as one of the sparks hit something.
"Is that a Psyduck?" Saylee said, turning her Pokégear flashlight on the plump yellow Pokémon that was curled up on the ground, clutching its head. It gave another squawk of pain and another light blew out.
"What is it and what is it doing?!" Key yelped, startled.
"Psyduck have dangerous psychic headaches," Saylee said, stepping tentatively in the direction of the sick Pokémon. She ducked as another light blew, showering glass all over her. Her thick coat and warm hat protected her from the worst of it, but just one stray shard of glass or spark in the right place... "Sally, Leo, we're going to have to knock it out to stop it. Use Spark!" The two Shinx began to direct their electricity at the Psyduck.
"Sar, we must demand that we see this poor creature to a clinic immediately," Caelin ordered as the Psyduck collapsed when struck by the electrical sparks. "His pain must be seen to."
"Yeah… damn, I used my last pokéball catching that Zubat," Saylee cursed, patting her pockets.
"I got you," Key said, throwing a pokéball at the barely conscious Psyduck. It didn't resist capture.
"Very good," Caelin said. "We must make haste to Oreburgh."
"If we return all of you, we can run," Saylee said. Caelin nodded, and the humans returned everyone to their pokéballs.
"You have the light, lead the way," Key said. Saylee nodded, directing the beam at the tunnel floor ahead of them and starting to run. A few Zubat flew at their heads, but the Pokémon were young and weak and the girls easily managed to duck them and keep running. Saylee switched off the light when they rounded a corner and found themselves faced with functioning lights again.
"Nearly—ooft!" Saylee gasped as she ran out of the tunnel mouth and collided at full speed with someone trying to run into the tunnel. She was knocked flat on her ass. "Oww…"
"Oh, hey, I'm sorry!" the lanky blond kid that she'd run into babbled. He was wearing a surprisingly light orange-and-white jumper and a green scarf that swayed constantly as he bounced nervously on the spot. "Really really sorry! Are you okay?" He held out his hand to pull her to her feet.
"Thanks," Saylee said, pulling herself up. "Sorry, wasn't watching where I was going…"
"Me neither," the kid said proudly. "I'm too excited! I just got my first gym badge!" He proudly puffed up his chest, patting the gleaming black-and-gold badge pinned to his jumper.
"You beat Si—Roark? Well done," Saylee said, with feeling. "Is he in his gym right now?"
"Nah, he went down the mine after our battle!" the kid said, pulling a face. "Anyway, sorry to run into you. Gotta dash! I've just gotta show my friends!" He charged off down the tunnel.
"…Three," Saylee muttered, watching him go.
"Say what?" Key asked, staring at her friend in confusion.
"He's an avatar too," Saylee said, frowning. "Three kids here…"
"Oh…" Key said, eyes widening. "Wow. I mean, what is he, fourteen?" She grinned wickedly. "And taller than you…"
"Shut up," Saylee grumbled. "Let's go get these Pokémon healed."
{Monua 28th, 12:00 pm}
{Oreburgh City}
"So I thought you said your brother's name is Silver?" Key asked while they waited on the Zubat and the Psyduck being healed.
"Roark's his birth name," Saylee explained, "but he doesn't like it much. He's stuck with it for official reasons, but he tends to ask people he likes to call him Silver, which admittedly isn't a lot of people. He could get it legally changed, but he doesn't particularly want to yet."
"Here you go," the nurse said, handing their Pokémon to them. "If your Psyduck experiences any more psychic headaches in the next few days, bring him back for a checkup, okay?"
"Sure thing," Key said, accepting the Psyduck's pokéball with a smile. "C'mon, let's take them outside and meet them!"
Once they'd moved outside of the boundaries of the town again, they first released Caelin and Terra to greet the new Pokémon before Saylee released the Zubat.
"That feels better," the little blue Pokémon said, stretching her wings. "Oh, wait…" she looked up at Key and Saylee. "Did you catch me?"
"We captured you in order to carry you safely to be healed," Caelin explained. "You will be freed if you wish, but first, would you not consider joining our royal guard? Your night vision abilities would be invaluable."
"Royal guard?" the Zubat said, flicking her ears curiously. "You're royalty?"
"She is Princess Caelin of Mt Coronet," Terra explained. "I am Terra. And you are?"
"I'm Zoe," the Zubat said, bobbing her head. "It's really cool to meet one of the rulers of the mountain!"
"Not yet," Caelin said calmly. "But one day, we will be Fire Lord."
"Woooow," Zoe said, sounding excited. "I'm in! This sounds cool! So, who're the humans? Our trainers? Do princesses have trainers?"
"Well, apparently I'm her chief advisor," Saylee said with a smile. "Call me Saylee. This is Key. I'll take good care of you, Zoe. I've raised a Zubat before. She even evolved into a Crobat!" Zoe perked up excitedly.
"You've raised everything before," Key said, rolling her eyes. "C'mon, I want to meet this Psyduck!"
When Key released the Psyduck, however, it immediately grabbed its head and started wailing in pain again.
"Another headache?" Key gasped, slapping her hands over her ears.
"This is not normal…" Saylee said with a wince. Something heated up sharply against her hip. Something on my dreamcatcher's reacting? she realized, looking down at her bag and opening the side pocket. Diana's pearl was glowing and rattling against the red scale.
"What is that?!" Caelin asked, yelling over the Psyduck's cries. "What is causing this?!"
"It is a forced power signal!" Saylee gasped, pulling off her gloves so that she could untie the pearl from the dreamcatcher. The string was just long enough to be tied around the Psyduck's neck, and the panicked water-type calmed down the moment she did so.
"Oh, that's better…" he gasped, clutching at the cracked, dark-blue pearl. "What is this?"
"A pearl from a Dragonair," Saylee said, looking at Caelin, Terra and Zoe, all of whom were staring at the Psyduck but were in no visible pain themselves. "Well, I don't think a pearl is strictly what it is, but whatever… do any of you hear anything at all? A kind of whining buzz…?"
"Not a thing," Caelin said, bewildered. "What on earth is going on?"
"Key, I need to talk to Stan," Saylee said. Key nodded and released her Starly. "Stan, you lived near Lake Verity. Have you ever seen a red Gyarados?"
"Sure," Stan said with a nod. "A bunch were going berserk in Lake Verity a while back… League humans caught 'em and took 'em somewhere, though."
"Did you hear any odd sounds at the time?" Saylee asked urgently.
"Aside from the roaring of two dozen angry Gyarados?" Stan asked, tipping his head to one side.
"Like… excuse me, what's your name?" Saylee asked the Psyduck.
"Philon," he mumbled, clutching the pearl. "The noise you described, the whining buzz… I started hearing that several hours ago. It was so loud…"
"Anything like that, ever?" Saylee asked Stan.
"Nope," Stan said, shaking his head. "Although… come to think of it, in their more coherent moments, the Gyarados might have been raging about a noise… I dunno, it's not like anybody was getting too close to them. They were angry Gyarados."
"Seriously, what is the deal with a red Gyarados?" Key said, nonplussed. "You said that forced-evolution signal made it happen before?"
Saylee held up the red scale that the items on her dreamcatcher were tied to, showing it to Zoe and Philon. "I had one myself before. His name was Gabriel. He was red because his evolution was prematurely forced, and he didn't evolve quite right… some of the necessary changes didn't go down, you know?" She stroked the smooth scale gently. "I've tried reading up on Pokémon evolution, but there's a lot of biology and chemistry to it that I don't really understand, and that's setting aside the parts of it that nobody really understands, such as where the power comes from… anyway, you know what evolution is, right?"
"A growth spurt, basically," Key said. "But there are a lot of changes, depending on species…"
"Monferno crests manifest quite abruptly," Caelin added. "Also, though we grow quite significantly prior to evolution, there is a surge in muscle mass."
"Chimchar and Turtwig, from what I've seen of their evolutions in the Pokédex, are 'gradual' evolvers," Saylee explained. "They progress steadily from one stage to the next, with a couple of brief surges. Magikarp are different; their evolutions are powerful surges, where they gain huge amounts of mass and almost their entire body reforms. Magikarp are actually some of the worst surge evolvers. It's thought that the sudden and tremendous change in body and brain mass is why they're so angry and violent…"
"We think we understand," Caelin said thoughtfully. "The evolution of Magikarp is unstable at the best of times. Should it be forced…"
"It's easy to force, and goes wrong even more easily," Saylee said with a nod. "Gabriel was…" She clenched her fists uncomfortably. "Mentally, he wasn't… too stable. I trained a Gyarados before him, Miranda. She was perfectly intelligent and in control of her power, even when she was in a foul Gyarados mood. Gabriel had problems with his short-term memory and attention, and he… well, he didn't have much control. He had powerful, violent mood swings. He was also kind of undersized for a Gyarados. The forced evolution messed up his brain chemistry and physicality. At the Lake of Rage, however, he was the only one who evolved."
"Stan, you said that dozens evolved at Lake Verity," Terra gasped. "So it is a similar signal with greater power?"
"And more precision," Saylee said. "At the Lake of Rage, the signal bothered all Pokémon… and on Chrono Island, for that matter. But Stan didn't hear anything, so it was specifically targeting Magikarp. And nobody but Philon here has heard anything, so now it's targeting Psyduck…"
"Thank you for this pearl," Philon said feverently. "That sound really hurt."
"So were your psychic powers!" Zoe said reproachfully. "You threw me all around the cave!"
"Oh, I'm really sorry!" Philon gasped, reaching with one hand for the little Zubat. "I didn't know I'd hurt you! Can I make it up to you?"
"It's okay, it's not your fault," Zoe sighed, allowing him to pet her ears. "I'm glad you're feeling better."
"But Sar, why would your Dragonair's pearl protect Philon from that signal?" Caelin asked.
"Because Diana died while trying to destroy the generator creating the signal at the Lake of Rage," Saylee said softly. "Her pearl heated up in my bag when Philon had his second attack. I guess it set her off."
"Wow…" Key breathed, staring at the pearl. "Philon, do you want to hang around with us for a while?"
"Oh, sure," Philon said, clutching the pearl. "I don't want to take this off, but I wouldn't want to steal your pearl, either. Nice to meet you all."
"It is a pleasure to meet you too, Philon," Terra said. "I am Terra, and this is Princess Caelin of Mt Coronet. If you will be travelling with us, you will be expected to serve in her royal guard."
"I, uh, don't know how good I'll be at that," Philon said nervously, "but I'll give it a shot."
"Well, you can start by helping us get into the mines," Saylee said, looking up at the street map at the entrance to the city that highlighted various landmarks such as the museum and the mine entrance. "Silver says it's not too dangerous, but some of the Geodude in there can get a little belligerent. You know water gun, right?"
"Sure," Philon said, spitting a jet of water at a stone that, while looking like a harmless jet of water, cracked the rock.
"Then let's go!" Key said, scooping up Terra. Saylee stooped to let Caelin get onto one shoulder while Zoe settled on the other, so light that Saylee barely felt her there at all as they started walking through the City.
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Saylee
Name: Kel. Species: Kricketot. Nature: Lax. Ability: Shed Skin. Acquired: Route 203.
Name: Zoe. Species: Zubat. Nature: Careful. Ability: Inner Focus. Acquired: Oreburgh Gate.
Key
Name: Basma. Species: Budew. Nature: Docile. Ability: Natural Cure. Acquired: Route 204
Name: Philon. Species: Psyduck. Nature: Careful. Ability: Cloud Nine. Acquired: Oreburgh Gate
SAYLEE
Princess Caelin the Chimchar, Bob the Bidoof, Sally the Shinx, Kel the Kricketot, Zoe the Zubat
KEY
Terra the Turtwig, Stan the Starly, Leo the Shinx, Basma the Budew, Philon the Psyduck