Oh boy, more craziness... I hope this isn't becoming too much to bear.
Part of this chapter turned out a bit too similar to what happened in one of the XY anime episodes... I swear that wasn't intentional.
"Dexio, what was their number again?"
"Do I look like a phone book to you?!"
"You're about as clever as one, actually."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
Sina and Dexio could have potentially saved Professor Sycamore in a timely manner, had they chosen to invest their effort in trying to come up with a plan instead of continuing their incessant row, a verbal struggle that was highly difficult to stop whenever it started.
"Look, let's not argue right now. The professor's in trouble, so we can't waste time!" Sina reminded her friend of the current situation, and he curbed his hostility.
"Yeah, okay, I got the Holo Caster." Dexio tossed a small device towards the girl, which she caught. "I dialed the number, so just wait."
The boy and the girl stood by until a neon-blue glowing hologram was projected from the device, displaying the standard Holo Caster logo, a non-descript human figure with a smiling face.
"Hey,thanks for calling," a man's voice came from the speaker. "Unfortunately for you, I've got some business to deal with, and I'm already out doing something about it. Ain't that a bitch?"
"Just a recording," Dexio groaned as the hologram vanished. "Now what are we gonna do?"
Sina pondered. "Hmm… I've got it!" She went into a closet in one corner of the room, rummaging through the various contents within.
%%%
"Noivern!" Nate called out, his eyes tracking the dragon Pokémon high in the air as he gave chase. It was hard to determine from so far away, but it looked like Sycamore was still in its clutches, relatively unharmed.
Pollux tried to help too, by charging and firing Moonblast shots while running by Nate's side. However, unlike the last time the two Pokémon had clashed, Noivern had the advantage of altitude this time around, and swiftly zipped away from the barrage, cutting through the air with its broad wings.
"Be careful!" Nate told the Sylveon. "You might hit the professor!" Pollux ceased to use Moonblast after the boy had given his warning.
As the pursuit continued, Nate soon found himself standing before an exceptionally tall tower, easily taller than any other building he had seen in Lumiose City by far. The huge building appeared white as marble, and bore a thin, pointed shape, like a Samurott's horn piercing the sky. The boy was very much in awe from seeing it, just as he had been from seeing the tower in Shalour City before.
"Impressive, isn't it? They call it the Prism Tower."
That voice… It couldn't have been. Yet when Nate turned to see who was speaking to him, he saw, among a small crowd, the very same black-haired man in the lab coat from last time, the man headed for Geosenge Town.
Before Nate could ask any questions, a booming screech from above had caught their attention; with Professor Sycamore in tow, Noivern circled Prism Tower, steadily ascending before reaching its pointed peak, the highest point of the tower. There, the flying Pokémon laid the professor down on a small ledge, before landing nearby to roost.
"Heeeey, Professor!" Nate called out from below in an attempt to alert the professor. From the way Sycamore was waving one arm as he clung to the building for safety, it looked like he had heard the boy. The full extent of the message was lost from so far away though; the professor tried to call back, but all Nate could hear from ground level was a vague shouting noise.
"It's no good," Nate said to Pollux and the other man. "We need to get him down!"
Pollux jumped in place. "But how would you do that? You'd need to be able to fly to get up there… and even then, you'd have that Noivern to deal with."
Nate was at a loss; he didn't have any of his old Pokémon at his disposal, and in this region there were no familiar faces around to lend him a hand. Looking around in search of ideas, he noticed the large doorway at Prism Tower's base. Taking the long way up seemed inconveniently time-consuming, but as it stood there were no other options. Quickly, he ran to the doors, but as it turned out…
"Prism Tower is currently closed for major renovations," Nate read the paper taped to the door. "We apologize for the inconvenience…" The boy shook his head in despair. "What am I going to do now?" Out of sympathy, Pollux gave him a ribbon pat on the back.
Nate remained overcome with hopelessness for what seemed like at least ten minutes, when he suddenly heard a series of tumultuous stomps, sounding like large pistons hammering into the ground. Instinctively the boy swiveled, and jumped back in surprise after seeing the hulking, cobalt-blue behemoth that had come out of nowhere; the Pokémon that he and many others knew as Metagross. Pollux intercepted, standing between Nate and Metagross; even while defending the boy, the Fairy-type Pokémon trembled with uncertainty, remembering its weakness to Steel attacks. Metagross did not attack though, simply staring back stoically with its dimly glowing, deep red eyes. The glasses-wearing man had mounted the big metallic Pokémon, they saw, standing upon the flattish surface of its head.
"Quickly, get on Metagross!" he instructed. "We don't have any time to waste!"
Nate was quick to comply; asking questions could wait until the professor was safe. Once he and Pollux were seated atop the Pokémon (with little, but just enough room to spare), it gave a loud grunt of acknowledgement, and tucked all four of its limbs closer to its body. Then, Metagross began to rise off the ground. It sat just a few inches in the air, which eventually became three feet, and then five feet, and then twenty… Before they knew it, Metagross had used its Magnet Rise to levitate to half of Prism Tower's full height. Still sitting cross-legged on its head, Nate focused his sights on Noivern and Sycamore, trying not to look down and become afraid of heights. Like many Pokémon Trainers, Nate knew what it was like to ride a flying Pokémon as a quick means of transportation, but this was a completely different experience, more similar to using an elevator with no roof or walls. In contrast, the black-haired man remained unfazed as he stood at full height on Metagross, his graying lab coat billowing in the wind like a hero's cape.
%%%
They continued to ascend, until at last they were close to the top of the tower. Sycamore was in reach, huddled closely to the center of the ledge.
"Nate?" the professor exclaimed. "But, how did you get up here?"
Nate didn't have a chance to explain – not that he knew entirely, himself.
"Screeeh!" Noivern's shrieking alerted them to its presence.
"Metagross, use Protect."
The blue metal Pokémon responded to its Trainer, forming a translucent barrier that surrounded itself and everyone who was on top. Metagross's barricade proved sturdy; Noivern had collided into it head-on, and was knocked back, stunned by the impact and falling down until it clung to a corner of the tower, regrouping after its failed attack.
Carefully, Metagross floated closer towards Sycamore, allowing Nate and Pollux access to the ledge. They exchanged places with the professor, but didn't get back on the floating Pokémon afterwards.
"Por quoi?" questioned Sycamore. "What are you going to do up here?"
Nate adjusted his visor as his hair was swept askew by the wind. "Someone's gotta get Noivern to calm down!"
Sycamore nodded, seated carefully on Metagross's head. "Ah, but of course! I wish you luck!" He threw Noivern's Poké Ball to Nate, before the big blue Pokémon descended as it carried its passengers. Now alone with Pollux, Nate waited for Noivern to return. Surely enough, the dragon Pokémon did appear once more to see that Sycamore was gone, and it roared in disapproval of having its quarry taken away.
"There he is," Pollux said. "What's the plan?"
Nate paused to think. "…I don't have a plan." The Sylveon covered its face with its ribbon feelers.
Noivern took its chance to attack; it swooped towards Nate and Pollux, but the boy had seen it coming and jumped, landing on its back. Before it could get too far, Pollux lashed at the dragon Pokémon's tail with a ribbon, but the Sylveon was dragged off the ledge and left to dangle in mid-air. Being unused to flying with so much extra weight, the Noivern attempted to flap its wings harder to stay aloft, but to no avail; they were falling at a slow but uncomfortable pace.
Pollux's ribbon feeler coiled tightly against Noivern's long, black tail. "This is madness, Nate! We just made a pact, and I can't have you dying on me now!"
Clumsily straddling the flying Pokémon, Nate replied, "It's… it's okay! I know why Noivern is so angry now!"
"How did you figure it out?"
"The back of its neck… something's stuck to it!" Noivern was flailing about as the ground came closer swinging its tail about and tossing Pollux about in all directions. The Sylveon maintained its hold, but started to look increasingly distressed; being tethered and tossed about was not a fun experience.
"…" Nate dug into the shaggy tufts of white fur around Noivern's neck. With a little effort, the boy managed to remove the foreign object, which turned out to be an annoyingly prickly Sticky Barb. Now that it had attached itself to Nate's fingers, he could certainly see for himself why the Noivern had acted so ornery. It wouldn't detach itself after Nate shook his fingers furiously, so he ended up sticking the pointy thing on his bag.
With the offending object removed, Noivern had at last stopped fidgeting, and calmly came down to the ground, affording a safe landing for itself and the boy… Pollux was unharmed too, but did not have such a comfortable landing to speak of.
"Scree-screek!~" The dragon Pokémon showed its gratitude by giving Nate a slobbery lick on the cheek, catching the boy off-guard.
Once Pollux's disoriented feet had found the ground, the Sylveon observed Noivern's newly-discovered benevolent disposition. "How strange… I've never seen a Noivern that acted so childlike. It's almost, dare I say, adorable."
After sufficient petting and coddling, Noivern was returned to its ball, and through the cluster of people who had come to observe the spectacle, Professor Sycamore had come to see that Nate and his Sylveon had made it back in one piece.
"Ah, so you have quelled the unruly Noivern, Nate?" he asked. Nate nodded in response, holding up the dragon Pokémon's ball as proof.
"Tres bien, tres bien!" Sycamore clapped. "I must admit, that was all very exciting to see!"
Nate chuckled sheepishly. "Exciting, huh… Oh, where's the guy with the Metagross? I couldn't have rescued you without his help!"
The professor shrugged with a puzzled look. "It was very odd! After we got down to the ground, the man in the gray coat, he just ran off into an alley with his Metagross! I tried to chase after him, but the Metagross used Rock Slide to block the alley off!"
Nate scratched his head in confusion. Even after the black-haired man had been so helpful, he remained elusive, shrouded in mystery… Nate still didn't even know his name. Would the boy ever see him again? Only time would tell.
With nothing else to say, Nate turned to Pollux, seeking the Fairy-type Pokémon's opinion. "Hey, don't ask me, I'm only a Sylveon."
Now that the commotion was over, the various onlookers quickly lost interest and returned to their usual business… save for one man sporting thick black shades and dressed in a flamboyantly mauve-colored suit, who proceeded to merrily skip towards the boy in the visor.
"Dahhling, dahhling, that performance you put on back there! It was just amazing… beyond amazing even! It totally blew me away!" Clasping both hands around one of Nate's, he shook vigorously and enthusiastically. Sycamore and Pollux didn't know what to think, and continued to look on.
"Please, dahhling, tell me your name? I simply must know."
Nervously, the boy replied, "Uh… it's Nate."
"Oohhh, good, gracious heavens, such a wonderful name! It's almost too much to bear! Just imagine, 'Nate' could be the next big thing! You'll be a star, baby!"
"A star?" Nate was getting more confused by the second.
"Oh, where are my manners?" From the chest pocket of his suit, the flamboyant man produced a business card to give to Nate, while reading its text aloud.
"Mr. V. Deeoh, Lumiose City's number one motion picture producer!" The name sounded vaguely familiar to Nate… he wondered if this Mr. V. Deeoh had any famous relatives. After the boy put the card away, Mr. Deeoh continued, "Nate, dahling, up there on the tower? I saw the whole thing! So fearless, so talented, so… Nate-ly! Tell me, Nate, baby, have you ever been on TV before?"
While Nate had pursued a minor interest in shooting movies at Pokéstar Studios back in Unova, he had never been on TV before. Either way, he found early on that performing was fun, but it was not something he wanted to do in the long run. "Not really, but-"
"Ohh, how dreadfully disappointing! You simply must come with me to the Video Studio, dahling!"
Nate really wanted to decline; he had already had enough excitement for today. "I… I can't. I have someone I'm looking for."
In an instant, Mr. Deeoh's jolly expression had deflated. "Ohhhh… Dahling, you're just tearing me apart, you know! Please, please, please, if you ever feel like changing your mind, come see me, mm'kay? Just look for the studio in the South Boulevard, it's not hard to find, trust me."
Once the mauve-suited man had left, Professor Sycamore gave Nate a pat on the shoulder. "Come, we should head back to the lab. Sina and Dexio must be very worried about us."
%%%
When Nate, Sycamore and Pollux had reached the lab gates, they ran into a pair of masked strangers, one wearing a red mask and scarf, the other clad in the same, only colored blue. When they saw Nate approaching, the two of them struck flashy poses.
"Stop right there!" announced the boy in the blue mask.
"We've come to save the day!" declared the girl in the red mask.
In unison they stated, "We're the masked heroes of Kalos, and we…" Their voices died down once they saw Professor Sycamore. "We… we gotta go." The masked duo then made a hasty escape to Sycamore's lab.
"Who were those guys?" Nate asked out loud.
