Suntouched City sparkles in the sunlight. Not for nothing is it sometimes called the Jewel of the Plains. The shine comes from the hundreds of solar panels on all the tallest buildings. Almost the entire city is solar-powered, and it is a combination of the panels themselves and the shine they create that gives the city its name.
But all is not glittery in this Jewel. This gemstone is counterfeit. Just as sparkly as a real one, but the glitter is a façade. For below the office buildings and high-rise apartments, Suntouched City has a poverty problem as massive as that of any of Torren's major cities, made worse by the fact that the mayor is more concerned with maintaining his city's reputation than with living up to it. And so the poor and homeless are ignored.
Once Suntouched City was a jewel in more than just name and initial appearance. There once stood a shining temple to Reshiram on a hill overlooking the city. Why a city known for its sunny days would choose her as its patron deity over Ho-oh or Groudon is anyone's guess, but the temple's high priest was once quoted as saying that the light of the sun would burn away falsehood. That priest would probably be turning over in his grave were he aware of how the sun now aids the city's great lie.
At its height, the temple was a popular pilgrimage destination for followers of the goddess of truth. They came to leave their offerings and prayers, and to gaze upon the reason for the temple's popularity. The statue that stood within the main chamber of the temple was possibly one of the most lifelike depictions of a Legend ever carved in stone. The men—and occasionally women—who made the statues for each temple possessed rare skill in sculpture, with some going to so far as to say that the sculptors had been blessed by Arceus himself. Regardless, this particular statue pushed the limits of what could be done in the medium of stone. Reshiram's twin crests streamed behind her as though caught in a gust of wind, and her wings stretched out to the sides as though she was just about to take flight.
But it was not to last. Such magnificent stonework was fragile, and it came to pass that the statue's wings and crests were broken off during an earthquake that struck the city. With no way to re-attach them and the temple's claim to fame thus ruined, it was abandoned. With the pilgrims went the city's main source of income. And so it stands today as a monument to irony.
Vale was still wondering how this latest brush with death had fazed her so little. She'd been terrified most of the time she was in the Darkrai Cult's base; had everything that had happened since really changed her so much?
How little I'm scared scares me, if that makes any sense, she thought.
She was so utterly lost in thought that she didn't notice that Suntouched City was in front of them until Nora elbowed her in the ribs and said, "Hey, we're almost there."
"Almost" soon proved to be a relative term. Suntouched City was visible a long way off thanks to the sun reflecting off the solar panels, as well as the fairly straight, flat path that led to it. Nora and Vale walked for another hour or so, with the city never seeming to get any closer. And then suddenly they were in it.
At street level, the panels mostly weren't visible. Down there, the brightness came from the sun reflecting off windows. It was also noticeably hotter than out on the plains. Heat radiated off the pavement, and to a lesser extent the buildings.
Looking around, Vale realized she and Nora were standing on the roof of a tunnel. There was a small platform up there, with walkways branching off to lead foot traffic onto the sidewalks and out of the way of the cars that periodically entered the tunnel. There was a railing at the front of the platform, where people could watch as the road sloped dramatically downward, carrying motorized traffic underground for a short period before popping back up and merging onto Regional Highway 1, bound for either Helios City in the north or Lumiose City, in Kalos, to the south.
It was early afternoon by this point, about 2:00, and so all traffic was at a minimum. Those who worked were working, and those who didn't were inside trying to avoid the hottest part of the day and the scorching summer heat that came with it.
"Your purpose in Suntouched City?"
Vale jumped. There was also a guardhouse on this platform, a two-tiered one, with one guard posted here to regulate foot traffic, the other in the tunnel below to deal with the motorized variety.
"Just passing through on a Pokémon journey," Vale said.
"I'll need to see some ID."
Both girls pulled out their PokéGears and brought up their Trainer Cards. The guard scanned both.
"Didn't expect to see any journeyers coming through this summer, what with the increased cult activity."
"How do you mean, increased?" Nora asked.
"Surely you heard. The Arceus-damned Abyssals tried to assassinate the Augur!" He reached into the booth and pulled out a copy of the Helios Sun from three days ago.
Vale took the newspaper from him. The headline declared, "TWO ARRESTED FOR ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT" in bold letters, with smaller text below that that said, "Bloodshed narrowly avoided in Telnor Town."
"Can I take this?" Vale asked.
"Sure."
"Is there anywhere we can train while we're in the city?" Nora asked.
"There are always people looking to battle in the park. If you want to meet up with them, the Pokémon Center on Sol Street is always a good place to start."
"Thanks."
The two girls turned and started to walk away. Then the guard realized that he recognized the brunette.
He pulled out a cellphone, dialed a number with methodical precision, then spoke into it.
"She's here."
"Good," came the reply.
Vale and Nora ducked into a small diner and sat down at the corner table, where Vale spread out the newspaper.
"'Tragedy nearly struck in Telnor Town yesterday," she read. "While giving a speech in the town hall, our beloved Augur was attacked by two cultists who snuck into the building with intent to kill.'"
"Listen to how they talk about him," Nora said in disgust.
Vale kept reading. "'The attempt was thwarted by a pair of quick-thinking young Trainers, whose names have not been released for their own safety.'"
"Who was the other?" Nora asked.
"Damien."
"Really? Him?"
"He was following my lead."
"Because that makes you sound humble."
"It's the truth. Anyway," Vale skipped a few lines. "'In the wake of this attack, the Augur has renewed his efforts—and the efforts of his task force—to capture Abyssal Cult leader Audrey Haskill, believed to be the mastermind behind the attempt on his life. The police are asking anyone with information to come forward, as Haskill is a shadowy figure about whom little is known."
"So that's yesterday's news today," Nora joked.
"Yeah." Still wondering why he's fixating on the Abyssals for this, Vale thought.
They left the diner without ordering anything, leaving behind a somewhat flummoxed waitress, who was wondering why two girls had come into her workplace just to read the news.
They wandered around town for a while, looking for Sol Street and getting progressively more lost. Finally, Nora flagged down a passing taxi and asked for directions. As was typical with taxi drivers, this one knew the city like the back of his hand, and he was able to point them toward the Pokémon Center they were looking for without any problem.
That isn't to say that finding it wasn't a problem, though. The streets of Suntouched City were completely unfamiliar to the two of them and were not laid out in an easy-to-follow grid pattern. Finally, Nora came up with the brilliant—and rather obvious—idea to take the subway.
Vale hesitated for no longer than a few seconds, remembering Jaern's conditions for the challenge, before deciding that there was no way he expected them to travel around a big city like Suntouched on foot. The subway got them right where they needed to be in less than thirty minutes, at the cost of 10 Poké each to buy a metro card that they would probably never use again.
Once there, however, they found the Pokémon Center mostly empty, aside from the nurse, her Chansey, and a man watching the news on the TV in the waiting room. They rented rooms, again free for the first 24 hours, and asked the nurse for directions to the park.
She was not quite as knowledgeable about the city as the cab driver, but she solved that problem, as well as Vale and Nora's previous one of getting lost, by showing them how to access the GPS function on their PokéGears.
"Surprised you didn't know about this, Vale," Nora said as they left.
"I don't know everything! I never used one of these until three days ago. Did you know it was there?"
"I forgot. I never use it," she added in response to Vale's smirk.
The man entered Suntouched City. The guard gave him no trouble, at least not after being bribed with no less than 150 Poké. Going around to the south entrance would have gotten him in for free, as that guard was on his payroll, so to speak, but the man was far shorter on time than on money.
He pushed his light brown hair out of his face. No one would recognize him, he knew. These fools, all they saw was the uniform. Take that off, and you were just another guy on the street.
Right now, he had a job to do. He'd lost track of the girl after she'd left Midna Town, but he'd easily been able to track her down again by guessing where she'd be headed next. There was only one route to Helios City from Telnor Town for one traveling on foot, after all. Now he had to find her and make sure he didn't lose her again. If he could track down the source of that strange energy signature emitting from the city, well, that was just a bonus.
The park would not have been hard to find even without a GPS. Even someone who didn't know where they were going and just wandered around the city aimlessly would probably blunder into it sooner or later. That was because it was situated almost in the exact center of the city, and it was huge. It seemed almost as though the city had been built in a giant ring around this area of land. In fact, the park had not been in the original plans for the city and been added during the early stages of construction when the equipment of the day proved incapable of moving a particularly stubborn rock formation and the planner decided to simply add a park centered on the rocks to his layout. This was the reason for the city's strange arrangement of streets.
Visitors entering the park from the south entrance were treated to a decidedly unwelcome sight. Or at least, Vale considered it an unwelcome one.
At the end of a short cobblestone path, just inside the park, stood a ten-foot statue of Jaern on a five-foot pedestal.
"If I wasn't tired enough of people making him out to be larger than life, they had to go and do it literally," Vale said.
Nora chuckled. "Does that inscription say what I think it says?" she asked.
Vale read it off the pedestal. "'May his hits be critical and his Focus Blasts never miss.'" She could barely finish it with a straight face.
"What is that? Some kind of competitive battler's blessing?" Nora asked, also giggling uncontrollably.
As a veteran of online competitive battling herself, Vale could conclusively say that she'd never heard of any such thing.
"Maybe if someone was trying to get attention," she said.
"Trying to get attention," Nora repeated. "That sounds about right for him."
"Well, he doesn't have to try very hard."
Another round of giggling ensued.
"Come on," Vale finally said. "We're here to train, right?"
"Yeah. Right." Nora sounded a bit breathless.
The park was full of people with Pokémon, but none of them were battling. There were several battlefields clearly visible from the entrance, some surfaced with grass, others with sand, and all currently unused. Instead, people walked Furfrou down the paths and children played with Pachirisu and Teddiursa. A man with binoculars watched a family of Pidgey. Another man was throwing a Frisbee for two bearded collies and a Stoutland.
"You sure he said the park?" Nora asked.
"Yeah," Vale said.
"Well, why is no one battling?"
"We did wander around the city for a few hours. Maybe it's too late in the day now."
"I guess. Kind of disappointing."
"Yeah."
"We could always battle each other."
"I'd lose!"
"Pokémon learn when they lose too, you know."
"I know that," Vale said.
"Hey, Vale," called a voice.
Vale spun around. "Damien?" she asked.
"Hi."
"How did you get here before us?" Nora asked.
"Borrowed someone's Pidgeot. Don't tell—"
Vale shook her head to cut him off. Nora scowled.
"You did check in at the guardhouse, right?" Vale asked.
"Of course I did. I'm not stupid."
"Actually—" Nora started.
"Don't be mean," Vale cut her off.
"Anyway, I expect you're wondering what kind of progress I've made," Damien said.
"Not really," Nora muttered. Vale glared at her.
Damien pulled out a Pokéball. "Check this out," he said.
A Metang materialized, floating above the grass.
"Nice job," Vale said.
"It took hours," Damien said. "Hours of battling at the Trainer's School, and just calling Take Down over and over again."
"Well, looks like it was worth it," Vale said.
"I'm really starting to enjoy this, actually, even if it can be boring at times. I came to the park because I was told I could find people to battle with here, but there isn't anyone."
"Join the club," Nora said.
"I could battle you," Vale offered. "Nora's team is too much stronger than mine, but I bet you're in about the same place."
"I'm in."
He peered through the bushes. Him, the son of one of the most feared men in the region, reduced to hiding in shrubbery like a naughty child. Oh well. His orders were to find the girl and to remain hidden. He'd accomplished the first and so far managed the second. She had no clue she was being watched.
Now he just had to send the signal that would communicate her location and then they would once again be able to track her wherever she went.
His energy detector beeped. He whipped the device out of his pocket, hiding it with one hand so passersby wouldn't see the strange device. The signal he'd been looking for in the city had been located. Except it wasn't in the city. The detector was indicating a location outside of town.
One that could only be the old temple.
AN: The girls arrive in Suntouched City, but so does someone else, someone who has an interest in Vale...
Sorry about that. Writer's Block, bad internet connectivity, and my cousin's wedding in St. Louis all conspired to keep me from getting this chapter up in a timely manner.
The first thing I need to explain is the map. I designed this world before I realized the extent to which the Pokemon World parallels the real world. As such, I put all seven regions on the same continent, with Torren in the middle and almost completely landlocked, Sinnoh in the north, and Hoenn in the south. Kalos is southwest of Torren and northwest of Hoenn.
I originally intended to poke fun at the lack of canonical last names in the anime by having a similar lack in this story, but that didn't work for very long. So Audrey's last name is now Haskill. And yes, it is significant that Jaern called her by her first name back in chapter 5.
That statue is in the game, put there (I imagine) as a joke for competitive battlers to pick up on. Focus Blast's accuracy is something of a joke in the community.
Also, any guesses as to who Vale's stalker is?
