Saylee—Pokémon: 6 Deaths: 3
Key—Pokémon: 6 Deaths: 0
(See the bottom of the chapter for team rosters)
{Jinua 2nd, 4:30pm}
{Floaroma Town}
"Item teleportation's a bit on and off, but the very next time the teleporters are on, we'll send your Geodude to the Tower," the nurse promised, washing off Seine's back and then carefully collecting and sifting the sand into a small casket. The little Shellos made a happy purring noise under the running water.
"Thank you very much," Saylee said, giving the box full of damp sand a last gentle pat. The Pokémon had already said their goodbyes and were waiting with Key in the room in the inn across the way that Saylee and Key had been given for the night. Saylee could hear the sound of Kel playing her requiem, the gentle music floating through the quiet evening.
The nurse moved over to Belle, who was sitting under a UV lamp, and started unwrapping her bandages. "There's a bit of a scar, but I'm sure you'll grow out of it," she promised, gesturing to the yellowing slash running up one side of the little Budew's face. "Just make sure that you get plenty of sunlight, okay?"
"Of course," Belle said, kissing the nurse's hand. "Merci beaucoup. Excuse me!" She toddled along the counter towards Saylee. "Pray tell, how ever did you defeat les totons?"
"Our Pokémon are better-trained than most of theirs were," Saylee said with a shrug. "We were stronger this time." But not stronger than Pluto…
"Is it true that the Monferno est la princesse?" Belle continued curiously.
"She's the youngest sister of Fire Lord Indra of Mt Coronet," Saylee explained. "She's determined to become strong enough to overthrow her brother and be Fire Lord."
"Ha! My kind of girl!" Belle declared with a grin. "Then I have a request. I would like to fight with you in place of your lost ally!"
"You would?" Saylee said, reaching a hand out to the tiny grass-type.
"Certainement!" Belle declared, hopping into the proffered hand. "I simply must grow stronger! Plus, you intend to destroy Galactic and avenge your friend, non? I, too, must have revenge. That bande de bâtards will never desecrate our Meadow again!"
"Well, let's go talk to Caelin," Saylee said with a little smile. "I'm sure she'd be happy to have you."
On the way to the inn, Saylee and Belle stopped by the police station, intending to see how the interrogation was going. Inside, however, they saw the police officer arguing with a middle-aged man in a blue suit.
"My clients are not obligated to answer any of your questions, officer," the blue suit said flatly, running a hand briefly through his spiky, swept-back black hair before shoving both hands in his trouser pockets. "They will only be speaking to me until their trial."
"Excuse me," Saylee said, stepping before the irate-looking police officer could speak again, "but are you Galactic's legal counsel?"
"…May I ask who you are?" the lawyer asked, looking her up and down. "You're not with the police here."
"We are of the retinue of Princess Caelin of Coronet!" Belle said proudly.
"And I'm Sar Saylee of Kanto," Saylee said, pulling her dragon emblem out of her coat. The Lawyer tapped it tentatively, then nodded. "Now. Are you Galactic's legal counsel?"
"Clients of mine are currently being held at this station," the man said robotically. "I am here as their legal counsel."
"But you were also defending two members of Galactic personnel arrested in Jubilife City," Saylee pointed out. "You're defending them on behalf of Galactic Energy Corp?"
"Those two individuals are also my clients," the lawyer replied flatly. "To discuss any further details would be a breach of client confidentiality. I am not here to answer questions about my clients." His body language was odd; he was looking Saylee in the eyes when he spoke, but his gaze was glazed and he held himself extremely stiffly, almost statuesque, allowing himself not even the slightest fidget.
"I have to interrogate your clients!" the police officer demanded, red-faced.
"You are welcome to," the lawyer said, turning his blank gaze on the officer, "but as their legal counsel I have advised them not to answer any questions."
This isn't going anywhere, Saylee thought with a frustrated grimace. "I suspect we'll meet again at the trial, Mr…?" she asked, holding out her hand.
"Mr Court," he said, shaking her hand. "See you at the trial, Sar. I'm afraid, due to some issues at the Prosecutor's office, it might be some time coming."
"Plenty of time to get more of them, then," Saylee said. For a second, Court's face twitched, almost like he was going to smile, but then he just nodded.
"May I ask, Sar, what it is that just happened?" Belle asked as Saylee stepped outside of the station.
"Galactic might be claiming to know nothing about these incidents, but they sent the same lawyer out to this one as the Jubilife incident," Saylee said thoughtfully. "He's keeping them quiet in interrogation and blocking the trials, which is making it damn hard to pin Galactic down for anything…" She sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Forget about it. So long as they're in holding, they're not committing any more crimes. Come on, let's go introduce you to Caelin…"
{Jinua 3rd, 6:17pm}
{Route 205}
The road to Eterna Forest was a long uphill trek. Saylee and Key spent most of the day determinedly climbing upwards. Belle and Basma rode on their shoulders, soaking up the cold sunlight. Stan flew overhead, scouting out the path ahead, but he reported no sign of Galactic or Looker—in the cold of winter, there weren't even any travelling trainers. Caelin, Leo, Sally and Terra were ahead of the girls, Caelin riding on Sally's back and Terra on Leo's while the strong Luxio climbed up the steep path easily. Terra explained the layout and ecosystem of the forest during their climb.
"Leaf Lord Teria has but one daughter, Tanya," Terra explained. "As she is a certain Leaf Lord, she must of course find a mate among our clan. Since the alliances between our clans are normally kept through the marriages of younger siblings, such as my lady and Prince, this has of course been problematic. Instead, there was an exchange of handmaids such as myself."
"Did you want to go?" Key asked.
"Oh, yes!" Terra insisted. "I left Princess Tanya's service voluntarily. I was curious to see the mighty mountain…"
"We are grateful every day for that," Caelin said with a fond smile. "We could have no better companion by our side."
"We won't be going through the Eterna court, will we?" Saylee asked, looking up at the bulk of the forest ahead.
"Heavens, no!" Terra said quickly. "It is in the very depths of the forest, where humans do not venture."
"Don't you have any family there that you want to visit, though?" Sally asked, glancing back over her shoulder.
"No…" Terra said uncomfortably. "My parents did not approve of my leaving the service of the Eterna heir in favour of a youngest daughter. I fear that there will be only scorn and ridicule for me if I return to them before my lady is Fire Lord."
"We are conflicted," Caelin mused. "You are our dearest friend and confidante, and it is our inclination to burn any who would ridicule you. However, they are your family."
"Maybe we should leave off the family visit for now, huh?" Leo laughed.
"Princesse, you are a wonder," Belle declared. "Such a gentle and relaxed air you have to those who are yours, but when they are en danger—such passionate rage! Truly, you make my heart skip a beat," she sighed.
"We only wish that we could vow that none of you would ever see harm," Caelin replied, blushing somewhat at Belle's unsubtle adoration, "but Sean, Bob and Gimli already lie testament to our failure."
"You can't always protect everyone," Saylee told the Monferno, pressing a hand to the fire-type's warm shoulder, "but you can know that you did your damndest to try and see that they didn't die for nothing."
"Wise words, Sar," Caelin said softly. "If they died that we may live, then it is no less than our duty and imperative to become Fire Lord and protect this land from the likes of Galactic."
"Aren't any of the rulers doing anything about Galactic now?" Key complained.
"No," Caelin growled. "As yet, it is seen as a human affair, to be dealt with by humans. Such foolish divisiveness will doom us all!"
Stan flew down towards them. "There's a couple of ladies setting up camp outside of the forest," he reported. "They've got one of those little cloth nests and everything."
"The forest is best traversed in the light of day," Terra suggested. "In the night, they say, things creep out of the Old Chateau…"
"What's that?" Basma squeaked.
"An old house in the forest," Terra explained, shivering. "I know nothing of it, but that it is forbidden to enter and filled with ghosts."
"We can skip that," Saylee said immediately.
"Shivering, Sar?" Belle laughed. "Does the brave knight fear ghosts?"
"If a ghost had possessed your best friend and made him try to kill you when you were fifteen, you'd be a little scarred for life too," Saylee said, hauling herself up a steep ridge. "And that's not even the worst thing to have ever happened to me in Lavender Town. Hey, there they are!"
Two women were sitting next to a roaring fire, with a large green tent behind them. It had a pokéball insignia on it that Saylee recognized as being the emblem of the Sinnoh Rangers. The woman with long dress in the same shade of green as her hair was helping her Chansey to nurse an injured Ponyta, while a woman with curly brown hair and a red hat and coat was stirring something over the fire.
"Hi there!" Saylee called, waving. "Are you rangers?"
"I am!" the woman in the red hat called, waving back. "I'm Di. This here is my partner Pearl…" She patted the injured Ponyta's muzzle. "We're lucky we ran into Cheryl and Claire here."
"We're nurses, and we're heading to the clinic in Eterna City," Cheryl explained. "It's rather urgent. Three nursing Chansey have gone missing and they're very understaffed."
"I'm Sar Saylee of Kanto, and also a ranger," Saylee explained, walking up to the fire, "and this is Key, Champion of Hoenn." They released and introduced their Pokémon. "Mind if we borrow your fire to make dinner?"
"You're welcome to it," Di said, pulling her pot off of the fire and pouring the stew inside into a couple of bowls. "If some've you want to pile into the tent, the more the merrier—and the warmer!"
"Thank you very much," Saylee said gratefully, beginning to pull various types of food out of her bag.
"So, what brings a Kanto ranger-knight and a Hoenn champ to Sinnoh?" Di asked, shuffling back to give them room to cook. "Same thing that brought that Interpol officer who rushed by us this morning, I bet… Galactic Corp?"
"Well, we came for the missing Aqua leader and stayed for the Galactic," Saylee quipped. "Got to admit, Galactic's worrying me a little more right now."
"We passed by a bunch of them earlier today," Pearl sighed. "I'm sorry, Di… I wasn't strong enough to take them down."
"Don't apologize, Pearl, we were outnumbered six to one," Di insisted, stroking her Ponyta's muzzle.
"Pearl's going to be alright, though," Claire, the Chansey, promised. "We're glad to have strong trainers going through the forest with us. We tried last week, but we fled right back out again… I'm a healer, not a fighter!"
"There was fighting in the forest?" Terra asked nervously.
"Yes, green-haired men all over the place fighting something huge!" Cheryl complained. "Oh, it was awful. I don't know for sure what was going on, but we had to get out right away. We were too scared to try going back in until Di and Pearl came by..."
"The six who passed you must have been the ones from the Valley Windworks," Key said, helping dish up the food for the Pokémon while Saylee put their own dinner over the fire. "One of them was calling someone about 'Eterna'… they must have been planning something there."
"Forgive us," Caelin apologized, accepting her dinner from Patricia. "Pearl, you were injured because we failed to capture the Galactic scoundrels at the Windworks."
"At least you threw the four bâtards from the Meadow into jail," Belle reassured her.
"Don't expect them to stay there," Di said bitterly. "The police are not being helpful in dealing with Galactic… investigations keep getting cancelled, prisoners released, rangers referred for evaluation…"
"Evaluation?" Key asked.
"Rangers get a lot of independence and freedom to make legally dubious judgement calls," Saylee explained, "but we have to keep to high standards. You've got to attend an ethical and psychological evaluation at least once a year, as well as any time some other authority refers you for one."
"I'm just glad that the evaluations are run by the League and not by the police," Di grumbled, "otherwise I bet there'd be a lot of fired rangers right about now. I mean, I know all referrals have to be taken seriously, but come on, I've been sent five times in the last eight months!"
"Seriously?" Saylee said in surprise.
"Seriously," Di said with a nod. "A lot of rangers are getting sent in even more frequently. I mean, you know there's no upper limit to how many times you can be referred, no matter how well you pass, right? I know accountability's important, but this is just abusing the system. It's a waste of my time and a pain in my ass, especially since a good dozen rangers have gone missing in Eterna since the Galactic Corp building was built there…" She scowled and dropped her spoon loudly into her empty bowl. "I knew a couple of them. They were planning to investigate that building, and I bet the other rangers were too. But the police immediately take Galactic Corp's assurances that they know nothing about the missing rangers without investigating properly."
"Sounds like a pile of crap to me," Leo opined.
"Lies and 'tankshit," Sally agreed.
"Well, if the police are corrupted, thank goodness for rangers," Cheryl declared. "Are you planning to investigate the corporation yourself, Di?"
"Of course," Di said firmly. "I'm going to find out what the hell's happened to my friends. I'll sneak in, try to get some incriminating evidence, and then get in touch with a guy I know who works in TV in Jubilife. The police and Galactic can't suppress evidence that the entire country's seen on the nine o'clock news."
"Commendably brave," Caelin said. "Allow us to join you… ah, but we must also speak to the Eterna leader, must we not?"
"Yeah… we need to see if Archie battled them for a badge," Key said thoughtfully.
"Gardenia? I gotta warn you, she doesn't even see anybody who can't battle past her girlfriends," Di laughed. "League guidelines don't permit a leader to share details of their challengers, normally, but I bet you can get what you need if you pull rank, Sar."
"I guess I'm coming in with you, then," Saylee said, pulling open her lapel to show her dragon emblem.
"We must find Archie in order to find Prince," Terra insisted. "They might still be in Eterna City. We must find out immediately if they are!"
"Tell you what," Di said thoughtfully, "if we leave at first light tomorrow, we should easily make it through the forest a couple of hours before sundown, and I'm sure not doing any B&E without the cover of darkness. I can get Pearl healed properly at the centre and scope out the building while you're at the gym."
"This seems a wise plan," Caelin agreed. "Zoe and Zoran could, perhaps, 'scope out the building' with you, as they did at the Valley Windworks?"
"Sure," Zoran said.
"We'll do our best!" Zoe agreed. "We'll keep a good watch out tonight again, too!"
"Well, this is exciting," Belle said happily. "We must be sure to train extra hard tonight in order to prepare!"
"Finish your dinner and we'll get right on that," Saylee promised. Maybe getting the Valley Windworks back online means that the teleporters work again… I'd feel better about doing this with Eric and Perun, or Toby and Mary…
{Jinua 4th, 10:08 am}
{Eterna Forest}
"Well, there were tacky-ass humans with green hair," Belladonna the Buneary said, flicking her fluffy ear, "until about a week ago. I don't know if they thought they were camouflaged or what, but let me tell you, it did not work. Most of them got wiped out by this huge, angry Gyarados… is 'angry Gyarados' just repetitive, though? Aren't they always?"
"Gyarados don't live in this forest," Terra muttered nervously. "There are rivers, but they're too small…"
"So where did this Gyarados come from, chérie?" Belle asked, leaning close to the Buneary that she was questioning.
"Oh, he was here with some humans," Belladonna sighed. "He didn't leave with 'em. Poor thing got dead, and then his trainer really flipped his shit, y'know? Oh, it was awful…"
"Never fear, chérie, Princess Caelin is sworn to destroy that bande de bâtards," Belle promised.
"Oh, I would love to help!" Belladonna said enthusiastically. "Those bastards got my sisters! And I am pissed at Leaf Lord Teria just now. I'm sorry, sweetie," she added to Terra, "but your people are the slowest shits in the forest, I swear to Moss. They didn't turn up to help until after everything was over and done with. They're wandering around repairing trees right now, but really, seriously…" She sighed with irritation.
"You are welcome to join our royal army," Caelin said with a slight frown, "but we will require that you cease and desist with your insolence to the mighty clans with which we hope to be allied once we are Fire Lord."
"Sure thing, Princess," Belladonna promised immediately, "iiiiif one of you can show me just how strong you are… you can talk the talk, sweetie," she said to Belle, flicking an ear and winking, "but can you walk the walk?"
"Watch me, chérie," Belle said, twisting open her bud. "Orders, Sar?"
"Stun her!" Saylee ordered.
"I thought I was," Belle said smoothly, dodging Belladonna's attempt to strike the tiny Budew with her ears and spraying the Buneary with yellow powder. "Nice try, chérie, but too slow!"
"Now, Bullet Seed!" Saylee ordered. Belle sprayed seeds all over Belladonna, who collapsed and was captured a moment later by Saylee, who opened up her Pokédex to send it through to her safety location, her stepfather Byron's gym. Other Pokémon that Caelin had recruited to her cause had been sent there, training together as Caelin's private army, led by a Machop called Miller. Saylee's mother texted her regular updates on their progress, which was apparently enthusiastic.
"You are a highly effective recruiter, Belle," Caelin commented.
"I am not worthy of your praise, ma belle princesse," Belle said with a bow. "…Although I have often been told that I am irrésistible." She winked at Caelin. "Very often."
"…Quite," Caelin said, staring at her.
"So, this is your home, huh?" Basma said, looking around from her perch on Terra's back. "It's very pretty."
"It's… normally different," Terra said, looking around uneasily as they progressed through the forest. It looked as if, normally, it was dark and dense, but there were long strips of fallen trees around furrows in the ground that Saylee recognized as the tracks of an angry Gyarados. The gaps were dusted with snow, while the rest of the forest was coated with iced-over moss. The Gyarados had likely used many water attacks, contributing to the thick ice layer that had them carefully walking in Caelin and Pearl's warm, melted footsteps. Their footing was made even worse when they had to detour from the path to get around a fallen tree, which was often. Cheryl and Di rode on Pearl's back, with Claire in her pokéball unless she was needed to heal an injured Pokémon. Sally and Leo, with their sharp claws, didn't have too much trouble with the slippery terrain, so Terra, Basma, Belle and Kel were riding on their backs, while Patricia and Philon hid in their pokéballs and Zoe, Zoran and Stan flew overhead.
"You sure have an unusual menagerie of Pokémon," Di commented, watching Caelin haul aside some broken branches from the path. If wild Pokémon were around, they were mostly avoiding the group. "Why does the Princess put two stripes of blood on her forehead every morning?"
"She considers them a vow of vengeance," Saylee sighed. "She won't stop making them until she punishes a Galactic member called 'Pluto', who killed our Geodude, and a blue-haired man who killed our Starly." I guess she figures she already avenged Bob…
"Oh, that's awful," Cheryl gasped. "Di, have you heard of them?"
"Not that Pluto guy, no," Di mused. "Give me a descrip and I'll keep an eye out for him in the Galactic Corp building. Have you put out a report on the blue-haired guy?"
"Yeah, you should be able to find his description at the police station," Saylee said. "The blue-haired guy…" Di expanded her pokétch screen and took notes while Saylee and Key described the dead-eyed, blue-haired man.
"Terra? Is that you?"
"Takeshi!" Terra called, waving to another Turtwig who crawled around a fallen tree ahead of them. "I'm glad you're okay! I heard that there was quite the commotion here."
"Yeah, seven days on and we're still cleaning up," Takeshi said, peering around at the other Pokémon. "Wow. You've sure met a lot of funny Pokémon, huh?"
"Everyone, this is my friend Takeshi," Terra said. "Takeshi, aside from the Ponyta and the humans on her back, everyone here is a member of the retinue of Princess Caelin of Coronet… except for the Princess herself, of course," she added, nodding to Caelin.
"Ah… forgive me, Princess," Takeshi said, bowing to her. "Will you be calling on the court?"
"Not today," Caelin said, shaking her head. "But give the Leaf Lord and the Princess our fondest wishes and hopes for their good health, and tell them that we must make haste to destroy the scoundrels that have desecrated this forest."
"The trails are all messed up," Terra said morosely. "Takeshi, do you know a good way to get through to Eterna City?"
"The human one?" Takeshi said, tilting his head thoughtfully. "Well… get down into the Gyarados trail just past this tree and follow it. It goes pretty much all the way to the Old Chateau, and then the path's clear past there."
"We thank you, Takeshi," Caelin said with a slight bow of the head. "We will call upon this forest again when time is less pressing." They waved, nodded or bowed to Takeshi as they passed him, climbing into the furrow left by the angry Gyarados. It had filled with a shallow layer of water and iced over, making the footing downright treacherous. Saylee and Key both clung closely to Pearl as they made their way along the icy scar in the landscape.
"Oh," Cheryl gasped, pointing to a patch of dark ice. As they walked past it, they realized that the darkness was frozen blood.
"Takeshi said that the Gyarados was killed," Terra said quietly. "Galactic are awful…"
"Hey, I think we're nearly there!" Zoe called, flying back over them. "Check this out!"
"It's really creepy!" Zoran added. "It's a big house covered in plants…"
"That is the Old Chateau," Terra said nervously. "We must not go inside!"
"We won't," Key promised. "Hey, Di, do you know what the deal is with that place?"
"The Old Chateau? I hear it's been abandoned since the last owner went dangerously depressed over his wife's death, murdered his young daughter and then killed himself," Di said with a shrug. "That was about fifty years ago. I think it went to the owner's brother or something, but if it did he's never lived there. I can't blame him. It is still private property, strictly speaking, so going in there would be kinda illegal in addition to being really creepy."
"We don't really want to go in anyway," Saylee said fervently, shivering as they walked up the slope at the end of the furrow and found themselves at the rusty, ivy-covered gates of an old manor house. The building looked about as big as her grandparents' place in Mahogany, Saylee estimated, but two floors high rather than one and in a gothic stone style rather than ancient Indigo.
A deeply worn dirt path ran along the crumbling stone walls outside of the house. They followed it along, occasionally glancing nervously over or through the cracked walls at the imposing black house. Saylee thought, more than once, that she saw red eyes peering out of a window, but they always vanished whenever she looked at them properly. Maybe I'm just imagining things…
"How about some music to cheer everyone up?" Kel suggested. She started to play a bouncy, upbeat tune that incorporated jovial whistling.
"I do believe that I know this song!" Belle put in. "He whistled and he sang 'til the green woods rang, and he won the heart of the la-a-a-dy~"
"Your Budew has a beautiful voice," Cheryl commented as Belle sang along to Kel's playing.
"You learn something new every day," Saylee said, feeling her spirits lift somewhat as the music carried them past the Old Chateau.
"Beautiful!" Caelin declared once the song was finished. Everyone cheered. "We still have a ways to go through the forest, so let us hear another song!"
"Kel, chérie¸ do tell me that you know Defying Gravity," Belle said excitedly. In response, Kel began to play again.
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Happy Halloween, all! I really badly want to go to the Hearthome Festival that Key made up XD We have also made up a crapton of minor characters for this region, a good chunk of which are based on our favourite gay lawyers, and their subplot is largely here to explain why Galactic appear to be immune to the intervention of law… Also, the boys fighting
Saylee
Name: Belle. Species: Budew. Nature: Hardy. Ability: Poison Point. Acquired: Route 204
Name: Seine. Species: Shellos. Nature: Mild. Ability: Storm Drain. Acquired: Valley Windworks
Name: Belladonna. Species: Buneary. Nature: Sassy. Ability: Klutz. Acquired: Eterna Forest.
Key
Name: Connery. Species: Combee. Nature: Modest. Ability: Honey Gather. Acquired: Floaroma Meadow
SAYLEE
Princess Caelin the Monferno, Sally the Luxio, Kel the Kricketune, Zoe the Zubat, Patricia the Psyduck, Belle the Budew
KEY
Terra the Turtwig, Stan the Staravia, Leo the Luxio, Basma the Budew, Philon the Psyduck, Zoran the Zubat