"Only the dead have seen the end of war."

George Santayana


Traveling along the road known as Route 11, our wandering courier, not knowing that he was traveling with not one but three Team Rocket members, tried to take to conversation with the three Rockets, they seemed nervous about something, no doubt there was some worry over the giant tarantula hawk, but Roxie knew not to attack other people unless they were openly hostile, deciding on the right words to say. Six spoke up.

"I told you guys earlier, Roxie won't bite or sting, she's a big old bug puppy, just give her a pet on the head, you'll see she likes that."

Following his advice, James stepped up to the plate, patting the cazador on the head, Roxie confirmed that she liked this by giving a mixture of small buzzes and chirps.

"Well, what do you know, I guess it really is harmless, give a try Jess."

Jesse prepared to do the same, before she could however, all of the team heard a beeping noise, it was coming from Six's new Pip-Boy add-on, with a few presses of a button, Six had received a text document from the tank, informing him that they had intercepted another drone, this one mostly intact, it appeared to be disguised in the form of a purple moth-like creature, with green colored jets where wings would obviously be. So someone else was spying on the complex huh? Six was assured by the tank that they had strengthened the disruption fields due to this incident, there would little to no chance of a successful attempt on the lab.

Feeling content with the information he had received, Six switched off the system, and looked to his rear to see three puzzled faces. Jesse was first to speak.

"What exactly is that thing? I've never seen any Pokedex like that in Kalos." James also had to agree.

"I second that motion, you wouldn't mind explaining what that is would you?"

Well Christ on a unicycle...Six knew he had to figure something out, it was only a matter of time before he used the wrong ruse..wait, he remembered hearing about regions, he figured they might buy the story he was crafting in head, at least he hoped so.

"Why of course. I hail from a region out towards the west, far across the ocean. I've been hired by an organization to map out various other regions that we've only just recently discovered, this is a mapping module that also allows me to keep in touch with said organization."

Team Rocket seemed to buy it, at least for now anyway, happy that he was able to fool them, he continued towards the south, eventually reaching a halfway mark for Geosenge Town, he was curious about the area. Six was curious about anything of pre-war value, this might count...right?

'What exactly can you tell me about this 'Geosenge Town'?" Six making doubly sure to add air quotations.

James was more than happy to offer an explanation. "Well, it's a town long-known for its many odd rock formations, many believe they are burial markers for the dead, while others believe that they were a part of some ancient super-weapon. Geosenge Town, though, has recently famous due to the high probability of discovering an mega-evolution stone."

Six just had to ask. "What the hell's a mega-evolution stone?"

"They're stones that a trainer can use to supercharge their pokemon, in many cases, the mega-evolution is only successful if both the trainer and pokemon are in sync with each other."

"And exactly how many stones are there?"

"No one really knows, though there have been up to 46 reported stones discovered, they're really rare."

Six was intrigued, evolution, mega-evolution, this is Borous' dream come true, if Six managed to find something like this stone, he could only imagine the capabilities the Tank could unlock with it, almost immediately, Six was hungry for some more information, he was starting to find out some interesting facts.

"What can you tell me about the scientists here? If there are any."

Jesse, knowing quite a bit regarding the professors and the sciences here, offered to speak. "Professor Sycamore is the head pokemon researcher in Kalos, his study is based mainly on mega-evolution, he also handles handing out the starters to beginning trainers."

"Beginning trainers? Starter pokemon? Do tell."

Meowth was happy to explain to the obviously confused stranger. "Well, each region has its own set of starter pokemon, dis region has Chespin, like your little friend right dere', Fennekin and Froakie. In dat order its grass, fire and water respectively, see? And you can only pick one."

Six was intrigued, so his little buddy had control over the elements of nature? This place just got a lot more interesting.

Six was shaken out of his thoughts by James. "So what exactly is THAT pokemon?" Clearly pointing to the cazador by his side.

"It's a...cazador." Hell, it was simple and more than likely they had no clue what a cazador even was.

"A cazador huh...Native only to your region I suppose?"

"Yep, lives in high mountains and likes to eat whatever comes across its path, including unwary traveling humans."

"Interesting..it's rare for trainers from different regions to arrive with their companion pokemon."

Six was clearly trying to keep them away from Roxie, he knew something was off about these three, they more than likely could've been opportunistic bandits looking for a shot at the gold, he mentally made a note to himself to keep a close eye on them.

Checking his wrist, it was now close to 2 o'clock, he had been traveling for around six hours, stopping for a moment, he noticed a large building, it had a large circle as a sign, half of which was red at the top, and the other half solid white, a white button was in the middle with a black line going between the edges of red and white...

"What's this I wonder?...Hey, you three know what this thing is?"

Meowth looked at the courier nearly wide-eyed. "What, never seen a pokemon center before?"

"Pokemon center? I'm guessing its a place to heal the injured right?'

"Pretty much, man, for someone who looks as old as you, you sure a schmuck of a trainer."

'Trainer? What if I'm not a trainer at all you talking cat...thing. What then?" Man that comeback was so bad, even a deathclaw would facepalm. Roxie of course just shook her head in shame.

"First off. I'm a Meowth, second, if you aren't a trainer, den what are ya?" This cat just played mental chess, and he caught the courier in checkmate, damn this cat was persistent!

"I told you. I work for an organization that hired me to pull off a mapping survey, why should my responsibilities be any of your business?"

"Jeesh, you're about as weird as dat other guy we met."

"Other guy?" Six felt it was someone he most likely knew.

'Yeah, dis other guy, wearing a sleeveless trench coat, dreadlocked hair, real shady looking, y'know?" Oh Six definitely knew, for identity's sake though, he didn't know.

"Interesting, never seen anyone like that during my time here." A thought soon crossed Six's mind to change the topic of conversation. "You said this building assists trainers and their pokemen, correct?" The rockets nodded at his strange translation of pokemon. "Then would it be possible that this place acts as a hotel of sorts?"

James turn to talk was up. "That's right, a lot of centers offer free room and board up to a degree of time." Free housing for a limited time? Seems like a hell of a reward just for a career choice. James interrupted the thoughts of our courier.

"There's no need to go in though, we're almost towards town, about two miles to go I think, plus all your pokemon look relatively healthy."

"In that case, let's keep it moving." Six figured that he might try to find one of those stones they mentioned and make a quick fortune. Six simply stored the thought in his mind for now.


Walking towards the cave system famous for its many reflective mirrors, Ulysses knew this was the cave of which was from the prophecy, with Sawk and Throh closing the distance, they stood ever vigilant in their poses.

"Calm your stances, we search for something, something that hides within the darkness, follow close so as to not get lost."

Heeding the order, the two fighting types stuck close, continuing the walk forward.

Ulysses was cautious, he knew something was watching, whatever it was though was something he couldn't figure out. That is, until he came across another path, this one lined with mirrors, but smoothed rocks, someone clearly dug this out quite some time ago.

Feeling that this path was the one to travel, the former Legionnaire took the path immediately to his right, into the darkness that swallowed it almost instantly, Ulysses remembered that he had come across an old atomic powered torch in his travels, a symbol of old world fears of the darkness, now a necessary survival tool for many a wastelander. While it was considered dark, the natural crystals on the ceiling provided decent lighting.

Turning on the torch anyway, our former legionnaire was greeted with several entrances to differing rooms at the far end of the corridor, the hallway he was in able to fit two people going in different directions, continuing to walk forward, he saw one room immediately to his left that interested him, a small room with a shallow ceiling, housing a desk and old lantern, the lantern appeared to still work despite its age, beside the desk, hidden from unperceptive eyes, was hidden a journal, dusty and clearly worn, nonetheless, Ulysses found it an object of interest, and, along with turning the lantern on, decided to start with the first page.

'Dearest Journal. Today I found an exceptional specimen of pokemon rarely seen in Kalos, this cavern system houses an exceedingly rare gengar inside its walls, one that is able to conduct a complex set of of mind tricks as well! There exists the rumours of another pokemon, gastly, conducting similar actions around Kanto's infamous Maidens Peak, if the rumours are indeed factual, then their evolutionary chain might be linked somehow, we'd just need to find the unknown middle evolution.'

'Continuing my research. I've found there is a stone that naturally enhances a gengar's power. I've to wonder exactly how it's formed, on another subject. I've found that the gengar residing in this cave, whom I've taken to calling Boris, appears to enjoy the record player I brought along, he seems to love classical music, particularly those of classical ballads. I've stored several dozen records in my newly constructed bedroom as a result of this experience. I feel that it should be suitable for habitation soon, whilst my food stores are more than enough for one person such as myself.'

Ulysses soon reached the last page, sprawled in scribbled handwriting, signaling that something was wrong during the process.

'I've unfortunately come into contact once again with a group of bandits, their leaders leave behind a trail of ruin no matter where they go, the ruffians! I fear they may have found this cave system. I only pray to Arceus that my soul rests easy, for I know they wouldn't spare one as trivial as a simple scientist. Should anyone find this, find Boris at any time possible, he heeds the call of the NO. 15 Shalourian Waltz.'

The rest of the journal was empty, Ulysses felt he knew whom he was now searching for, he just needed to get it under his command, leaving the desk behind and turning off the lantern, he searched across the small cave system, eventually coming across another room farther down, something akin to a bedroom, the sight inside was sadly one many wouldn't want to set their eyes upon.

Blood splatter covered a section of the wall, dried by the element of time, thus signaling the unnamed residents struggle and subsequent demise, whispering an old legion prayer for the long-passed, Ulysses walk through the room, finding what he was looking for, an old record player, covered in decades worth of dust, sat upon an end table beside a poorly-made bed, the mattress all but gone, our former legionnaire took to looking for a shelf of some sort.

"Sawk! Sa-aw sa."

Looking towards his companion's direction, he saw Sawk pointing towards something, it was a shelf lined with vintage vinyl discs, left untidy since the fate of its owner, Ulysses set his eyes towards one particular record.

'The Number fifteen...Sha-lowerian Waltz. I've never heard much of classical music, I suppose everyone has their firsts."

Sawk and Throh merely nodded, as Ulysses inserted the record, he was confused for one of the first times in his life...how does one operate a device like this?

Ulysses soon discovered out that the handle on the side of the machine controlled the speed at which it was played, the needle above the record produced the sound that in turn became music.

The waltz that played was a beautiful orchestra, a serenade for the heart, a classical melody that hadn't been heard by a certain set of ears in decades, searching through the darkness, it came across three figures, one red and other blue, another was too covered in darkness to see.

Ulysses, he had to admit, was honestly taken aback by the arrival of a pair of red eyes at the doorway, they didn't appear evil or anything of the like, they looked more friendly and lonesome, as if they'd been isolated for much of their life, in the case of this creature, that was probably true.

"Are you the one from the journal, he who is named Boris?"

The eyes perked up, changing shape to show their surprise, Ulysses shined his light upon the creature, showing a shadowy purple figure with no discernible features save for a large mouth and the equally sized eyes.

"I go as Ulysses. I continue to walk a path, the same as the man that I follow, perhaps you would like to come along? I understand the pain and suffering of being alone, it's a feeling that none should have to feel. So I ask of you, would you wish to accompany us?" Ulysses knew the pain of losing friends, the man lost his entire tribe's identity to Caesar. Notably, this was evidently one of the few times he had ever shown anything close to emotion.

The Gengar named Boris didn't even need a second to answer, feeling energized and optimistic once again, he felt the need to accept the humans offer, feeling a bond with said human, Boris gave a quick nod as an affirmative.

Upon preparation to leave the cave, Ulysses noticed something rather peculiar. Next to the brightened lantern in the desk room was a stone of some sort, purple in color and shining a near violet shimmer towards light, Ulysses knew this wasn't here before, deciding not to pay the discrepancy any heed. Ulysses took the stone in hand and placed it inside one of his coat pockets, he believed that someone may want this journal as well, either to archive or to remember someone important. With that finished, Ulysses took back to the reflection cave, motioning himself towards the direction of one Shalour City.