The festival was a fascinating mix of thrilling and terrifying.
The entire town had been decked out in flowers the colour of blood, of gold, and of dirt. The red flowers were paired with either the yellow or the brown, but never all three together. The dry, hard-packed dirt of yesterday now bloomed with these colours, and seedot and lotad waddle between the rows, quietly tending to the plants. Remni watched as water filled a lotad's leaf, welling up from nowhere, before it poured out through the cleft to fill a long, narrow trench. The water quickly soaked through the soil, and the nearby flowers visibly brightened, it's colours took on a fresh shine.
Lengths of silk tipped with star-shaped pendants curled through the trees like ekans, and statues and shrines carved from dark-coloured rock had been set outside each and every weather-beaten home. Some were almost entirely covered by plucked flowers and paper stars while others were bare. People filled the dirt roads, dressed up in bright reds and yellows, with brown jewellery. Remni tugged at her shirt self-consciously. Like most trainer outfits, it was blandly coloured- designed for efficiency and camouflage rather than aesthetics. She didn't stand out against the townspeople, but she didn't quite blend in, either.
The most unnerving part, however, wasn't the decorations that sprung up overnight, but the ash that fells from the sky. Normally it was a light, unassuming grey, that smeared black when from a touch. But something psychic had thrown a light barrier over the town, and every particle of dust that fell through turn brilliantly scarlet before it hit the group. It was like walking in snow, and the trainer's shoes quickly became encrusted in red. The main roads, far more disturbed by foot-traffic, were a muddy combination of bright red and the brown of the soil beneath. Remni learned quickly to stop rubbing at every small itch, but she'd already gained three read smears on one cheek, and a particularly long one down her arm.
"Where are we going?" Alexei asked curiously. Having arrived days earlier than Remni, he and the other two had already bought outfits for the festival. Alexei himself had opted for a light-yellow robe over his normal clothes, and long necklaces with deep brown beads.
"There's a huge shrine on the edge of town," Risa answered. She had opted for yellow as well, a comfortable looking shirt with a vague star pattern down one side, and a bright red sash studded with star pendants. She wore beaded bracelets as well as necklaces similar to Alexei's. "Everyone's going there for some kind of demonstration."
Stalls lined the sides of the road, each canopied by thick cotton sheets, or a nearby psychic. The closest stall was run by two younger men, who eagerly chatted with passers-by and exchanged glass-like pendants for money. A lunatone, hovered between them, its eyes glowing blue. Pink energy shimmered in waves overhead, as if caressed by a non-existent breeze.
At the edge of town, down by more fields of red, yellow and brown flowers, but before the forest began, a thick slab of rock stood as a smooth, industrialised dais. A man in flowing burgundy and grey robes stood in the middle, towards the front. A sea of people stood before him, alternating between quietly chatting and nodding as the man spoke.
As they approached, a woman with a charming grin and a lunatone hovering at her side pressed a length of wood into Remni's palm. Startled, she clutched it tightly to avoid dropping it, and stared, but the woman had already passed over them to the rest of the stragglers. She walked down the line of townsfolk, turning this way and that to hand out more of the tiny pieces of wood.
It wasn't much longer than her thumb, and about as wide. A dark stone had been inlaid about two-thirds of the way down, and light glinted on its polished edge.
Eti held hers up to the waning sun. The stone showed through on both sides, and as the light passed through it, a diamond of black light played over her cheek.
The throng of people pushed them towards the dais, but they were late enough to be stuck way in the back. Remni could barely hear what the man said. It wasn't until he spoke up, at the very end, that his words were clear to her.
"And this year, as with every other preceding it and for every other after, we offer to the gods what we can. A portion of our lives, for their eternal ones. A gift, and a wish. Born unto stone, and brought forth through the stars. To the deity of the earth!"
"To the deity of the earth!" the crowd roared back.
"To the Wishmaker!"
"To the Wishmaker!"
He lifted his hand to the sky, palm up, just as the final drop of the sun dripped below the horizon. When he lowered his hand, the wood looked longer and darker, but shinier somehow. It was too far away to see clearly.
Remni felt something thin press against her finger, and glanced down, before she fumbled the wood with a start. It was no longer a neat little talisman, but a blade. A wisp of grey-black now curved from the end furthest from the stone. It tapered off into a sharp point, and was lightly outline in a shimmer of black energy. Blood beaded from her index finger, where the blade had pressed on coming into existence. But there was no sting, nor ache. Remni watched with blunted fascination as the drop of blood slid down her skin, coating it red, and dripped from her nail. It barely rested on the dehydrated soil before vanishing.
Another person caught her confusion, and grinned and shrugged to get her attention. "Neat, isn't it? The stones store dark energy, and exposed to a lack of light-" she nodded at the sky, "-when the sun sets, the energy forms a blade. It's an old combat technique. Our psychics and dark-types have since tampered with it, adding a layer of energy that numbs the skin on contact."
"This is a blood ritual?" Eti asked, shocked.
The lady waved her concerns away. "It's not a ritual, it's the way we end our celebration. A way of re-pledging ourselves to our gods. With a little sacrifice, of something each person only has, the gods will protect us into the future."
"Then why the magic painkillers?" Risa challenged. "Not much of sacrifice."
The stranger raised her eyebrows. "Do you only see adults around you? All children of Fallarbour wish to contribute, and excluding them or keeping secrets has only led to danger and injury in the past as they sought our traditions out. This is the safest way to include them, and keep our traditions intact. When they come of age, or make a training journey and return, anyone can make the choice to use a spelled dagger."
"We're trainers," Risa said, but her voice was lighter, a mix of embarrassment, regret and curiosity put a lilt in her tone
"We have no intention of harming strangers, or indoctrinating those unaware into our… rituals."
Risa nodded, pink-cheeked.
The stranger lifted her arm, letting the sleeve slip back like silk, and plunged the blade into the meat of her upper arm. She twisted it as she pulled it out, and blood flowed dark and smooth down the handle. She left the weapon against her skin for several long seconds, allowing the blood to flow unimpeded. Then she withdrew it.
The energy vanished back into the blade, and the stone lit up like an occupied pokéball. The skin of her arm knit itself together with a spark of black energy, and she dropped her arm. "Of course, none of you are required to participate." She swept off into the crowd, where others were already withdrawing their knives.
Alexei whistled, impressed. "Well, that was-"
"Wait," Eti said, sounding vaguely panicked. "She said children of Fallarbour, right?"
"We're not children, Eti," Remni reminded her gently, not knowing where Eti intended to take her train of thought.
"I know," Eti huffed. "I'm not worried about the children part, I'm worried about the 'of Fallarbour' part. What if it… well, ties us to the town like a curse?"
"What?!" Risa sounded exasperated.
"I don't think so. It sounds like they've done this with strangers before. And there's definitely other travelling trainers here." Remni glanced around slowly. Even if she couldn't see them right now.
"So, we should trust their implications of a precedent?" Eti asked, sounding increasingly suspicious.
Risa shrugged. "No one's forcing you to stab yourself, Eti." Then she sunk the knife into her own arm, the sleeve between her teeth, in the same area as the stranger had shown them. "Nothing to it," she said, muffled and breathless.
"Aren't there muscles under that part of your arm? Tendons? Do you even care?" Eti asked. She glanced at her own knife, and tilted it back and forth in disinterest.
Alexei went next, same spot, and waited as long as Risa did before pulling the knife free. "Well, my arm still works. How about yours, Ri?"
She punched him in the shoulder. "All good here."
He slapped her hand away, but laughed.
Remni stared down at the knife, only half-listening to the warm chatter surrounding them. It felt soothing in her hand, warm somehow.
Beside her, Eti drew the knife along her forearm, apathetic and with an uncharacteristic snort. The blood welled up along the line on cue, and dribbled down both sides.
Remni tossed her hair over her shoulder, and, between heartbeats, plunged the knife into the side of her own neck.
The next morning, there was no trace of the previous days' celebration. Even the dais had somehow vanished.
"Training time~!" Risa called, and leapt onto the bed. The two of them shouted, Remni in pain and Risa with excitement, and they both went over. There were about three too many elbows in her ribs, but she sighed and waited for Risa to untangle them.
Alexei's face swam into view before Remni's sleep-blurred eyes. "You two good?"
"Ugh."
"We're good," Risa said, and nodded, headbutting Remni in the chin.
"Ugh- Carrow, please," Remni begged. There was a pause, then thick pink energy washed over them.
Carrow held the two of them in the air, then dumped them both on separate beds.
"Thank you," Remni said, while Risa swore.
The temperature had dipped again, and the four of them bundled up to go out into the woods. Alexei and Risa eagerly filled Remni in on their training details. Both their bagon had mastered the weak Dragon Breath, and were adept with holding more-condensed dark-type energy between their teeth for a Crunch. Risa's bagon, who had refused to respond to any name, was already lining her tiny claws with orange and blue energy, but couldn't hold it long enough to hit something with them. Alexei's bagon, who had introduced himself to them as Mehk, was just behind her.
"They'll evolve soon, I know it," Risa said, and pumped her fist.
"Troublemaker before Mehk," Alexei had whispered. He'd nicknamed the bagon on his own, but only used it when she was out of earshot.
"How's your swablu?" Remni called to Eti, who was wandering by the roots of a few dead trees several metres away. Deadshot stepped lightly beside her.
"He has been doing fine," Eti answered, and dug around in her pocket for the swablu's pokéball. "He doesn't really understand the concept of naming, seems like swablu and altaria use differently-pitched hums to communicate in general, not as individuals." She let him out, and he perched on her shoulder. "…Em named him Spooner after he stole her spoons, though."
When they started, it quickly became apparent that Victus was the furthest behind. Remni felt the guilt begin to pile up as he consistently failed to complete a Rock Slide. She had been so distracted by Raune being missing, and-
'Calm down,' Carrow said idly.
"I've screwed everything up," Remni replied miserably.
'A small delay will do no harm. It is not as if your human association has set a time limit.'
Remni fidgeted unhappily. "I know, but-"
'But nothing. You know better than to catastrophize.' His voice was hard like steel. 'Do you intend to spiral into despair when I leave?'
Foreign anger began to seep through her brain like water, but Remni knew him well enough to cut right to the heart of what he was saying. "…You're worried about me."
He snorted, but stopped talking.
"Is that why you're waiting so long to leave? Carrow, I told you to go whenever."
'I do not like leaving you in this state. With- Things are changing, it is becoming more dangerous here.'
"What's changing?"
'…Nothing I can tell you. I want you to bring another of our team here. Perhaps Silias? Or Laiza? I am sure that Asio will enjoy the company.'
"If that's what you want. You know I'd be happy to see anyone from home."
Carrow plucked that thought before she even finished it, and flipped it as if to examine something on the underside. 'Not everyone,' he said mildly.
Remni frowned at his use of misdirection, then sighed. "Not- Dad. But you already... Whatever." She sighed again. "What would I even do about him?"
Carrow tossed the thought aside, and it felt like a soft weight moving across her mind. 'I cannot claim to particularly understand that relationship. Based on set precedents, I would suggest allowing Luka to handle it. She appears to be the most emotionally mature of your siblings.'
"Do you think that's because she's the oldest?" she asked, jokingly-sarcastic.
They were interrupted by a rush of air, and both dropped to duck under a speeding rock.
"Time for lunch," she told Carrow. "C'mere, Victus! We're on break. And you need a 'congratulations'."
'Perhaps he will learn Crunch today, too,' Carrow said unkindly, but Remni just rolled her eyes at him.
The sparse forest was too hauntingly skeletal, and empty besides, for Remni to comfortably let her team wander off, but for some reason all seven were very happy to eat their meaty kibble around the clearing. Asio lay beside her, radiating warmth like a space heater, and Carrow orbited overhead.
"Is it just me, or are they kinda clingy?" Alexei asked from where he leaned against a nearby tree. Cineraria the luxray was up on her hind legs, with both forepaws on his chest while she begged for his sandwich, pretending she hadn't already scarfed down her own meal as well as a scrawny spoink pup. Wisteria the staraptor clung to the side of the dead trunk with her sharp claws, and snuck bites from the underside of the sandwich whenever her trainer focussed on Cin.
Remni shrugged. "New region?" But she knew, unconsciously, that they'd been in Hoenn far too long to justify the behaviour.
Alexei shrugged. "Everyone's been acting weird. Lotus won't drink from any natural water, and on the way here neither Anoushka nor Lassie wanted to swim. It weirded me out," he admitted.
"That is… weird," Remni replied. They'd taken to the ocean just fine after the initial ferry trip, so what'd changed? "Did you ask them what's up?"
"Em, De and Leila did. Leila just laughed at us like usual, dunno why Ri bothers with that damn mismagius anymore. Em and De just said that it felt wrong. The water, that is. The water felt wrong." He stared at the missing half of his sandwich in despair, then turned tear-filled eyes on Wisteria. The crumb-covered bird just cooed, and leant forward for another bite. "Wisteria!"
"Huh." She rolled her energy bar between her palms, appetite gone, then let Tanner steal it from between her fingers. 'Carrow?'
He hovered over, and combed psychic fingers through her hair. 'Is that supposed to feel like something?'
She titled her chin up reflexively. "Is what supposed to feel like what?"
His touch carded through her hair twice more, then he announced, 'I am experimenting with human affection. I have also felt nothing odd from any inland bodies of water.'
The sun began to set, and Remni shivered into her jacket.
Asio swayed closer, subtle and looking away as if the movement was unintentional, but the warm line of her body pressed against Remni form head to foot, and she sighed happily at the heat.
Victus now dug with surprising speed, and flung rocks beyond the tree tops. His throws narrowly missed Quil even as she glided through the clearing, but he was getting closer. His Bites were coming down harder and darker, but not dark enough. He couldn't even break through the weaker psychic attacks Carrow had used.
When the projectiles slowed, and Victus barely disturbed the earth more than to snuffle at it, Remni called it. "Doing alright, Victus?"
He croaked noncommittally, and she fed him an extra serving of pokéfood and a handful of treats, then carried him all the way to the pokémon centre.
The setting sun naturally marked the end of a trainer's day, so it was busy for Fallarbour. Still, only about half the seats were filled and there was a line of two people waiting to see the nurse. A mightyena with a raised front paw hopped along in front of them, and Remni went back and forth on offering an empty pokéball for it, before a chansey waddled up with a rolling cart. The dark-type clambered on, and lay down with a happy sigh. It barked happily at its trainer as it was wheeled away.
When it was her turn, Remni lowered Victus' sleeping form onto the table. The muscles in her arms immediately protested after adjusting the to dense little ground-type. "He just needs a check-up, thanks. And these six." She set down the tray of pokéballs that he'd rested on.
The nurse took the tray with a nod, and set it in the machine beside her while another chansey hefted Victus overhead like a boulder. He went onto a separate table, and snuffled quietly as he was checked.
"It's early for an advanced trainer," the nurse said conversationally.
Part of her prickled at being picked at, but Remni just laughed. "Yeah. Well. He's new-" she jerked her chin at the trapinch "-so we're done when he's done. How's business? Slow?"
The nurse folded one hand under his chin, and tapped away at the healing machine. "You'd be surprised! With the new trainers flooding in, everything is much busier than before, even out here on our little corner of the map." He sighed, and leaned forward onto his folded palms. A sad spark burned in his eyes. "I'm looking forward to the day our skies are filled with dragons again, as strange as that may sound."
Remni felt both humbled and placed on a pedestal, all at once. "We'll do our best."
The nurse smiled. "I suppose that's all we can ask. We need a few extra moments to properly scan the trapinch. The Association wants updated tests every month."
"A month? It's been a month already?"
"Just about. You're welcome to sit and wait, if you like." The nurse nodded, and returned to the computer that was throwing out dialogue boxes. He sent a few of the results off, and Remni went to the side. She kept an eye on her team and Victus, but stayed quiet as other chansey accepted other's trainer's pokéballs.
"Oh, Miss Remni?"
She jerked to attention. "Yeah, is something wrong? What's wrong?"
He frowned. "Nothing's…wrong, per se. Has your claydol fought in a particularly high-level battle recently?"
Remni ran the recent events through her head. "A gym battle? With Firenze, Lavaridge's gym leader. Nothing besides that. Why?" Nerves crept up her forearms, making her skin itch.
"The scan is reporting some disruption in his nervous system. His synapses are firing at approximately point-seven-five the rate it should be. Hold on moment…" He trailed off, and tapped at a few other things on the keyboard. "Hmm. It appears some other centres have recorded similar scans. This is above my level, though. I'll write a referral, I'd like you to take him to a psychic specialist. There are a few in the major cities, Mauville, Slateport, etc. Talk to a nurse in one of those centres and get him check. Trainer card? Sorry to ask again."
She handed it over, mind thrumming. "Is this common after intense battles?"
He slid the card into a slot on the computer, flagged it with an alarm for a week from now, then every week after for a month, and uploaded the referral. "You want a hard copy? And it's mostly common in psychic pokémon who have fought several powerful ghost- or dark-type pokémon."
Victus had lost a tooth sometime during training, and eagerly showed everyone the gap when they crossed town to get to their motel. Quil resorted to scooping him up when he startled two younger children and their parents.
"How much does pokémon dental cost, again?" Risa asked as she tapped at Victus' teeth with a pen.
The trapinch had scrambled onto her bed, and settled in a proud, low stance to show off his 'battle scars'. As the designated new baby of the group, each of the trainers cooed over him appropriately.
"Brave boy," Alexei crooned, and buffed his knuckles against the trapinch' jaw until he earned a rumbling purr. "I want one."
"Get your own," Remni answered automatically, not glancing up from her watch. It projected the news from the day, the screen almost too bright for her tired eyes. Missing boat to the northeast of the island, developing plans for evacuation in the cities and towns too-near to the water. A suggestion that trainers keep at least two pokémon capable of flight, swimming or teleportation. With Carrow, Nikko, Quil and Tanner, Remni was far over that particular line. "We should head to Dewford soon, who knows when it'll be under water." Two more missing trainers. An eccentric shard collector putting out a call for the dusk stone shards. A legendary sighting? Remni frowned, and tapped on the blurry thumbnail.
The video started, but the screen was black for several seconds. "I don't hear anything?" a deep, off-screen voice asked.
"Shh! Hang on," someone else shushed the first speaker.
The silence extended for several seconds, and Remni cranked up the volume. A soft, light and unmistakeably ethereal coo of something ancient sung through the air. The camera stilled, then turned. Remni saw a ring of gravestones, and a flash of blue.
"Is that-" And the video cut out.
"Whatcha watchin'?" Alexei asked, and slumped onto the bed. He rolled until he was pressed against her side, then threw an arm over her shoulders to get a better view of the video. "Weird porn?"
"Shut the f-" She flushed red. "Shut up, Lex, gods. Listen to this." She hit 'replay' then set the watch down to rub the heat from her cheeks.
"So, is it weird porn?" Risa asked, having just entered from the adjoining bathroom. She sunk down on Remni's other side. Resigned, Remni hit 'replay' again. Then she quickly paused it before it started. "Eti? I'm not playing this again. Come here if you want to see it."
"I've already seen it," Eti answered, but dutifully abandoned her backpack onto the desk and wandered over. She paused to take in the scene, then lay across Remni's back. "Okay," she chirped, sugar-sweet.
"You're bony," Remni complained, but relaxed to take the ache away, and played the video again.
"Where'd they shoot the video?" Alexei asked.
"Scroll down," said Eti.
Remni did, and in the video description it said: UNALTERED FOOTAGE TAKEN AT THE TOP OF MT. PYRE. LEGENDARY?!
By morning, it had a dozen different theory videos in the 'Related' section, and the noise had been linked to half a dozen legendary pokémon. Most of them weren't even Hoenn legends!
"I thought the meteorite pokémon was an unconfirmed legend?" Remni asked. She thumbed through a blurry collage of a humanoid pokémon with long arms and a glowing blue core. "The hell is this?"
"Ah, the meteo-human. An odd, elongated cryptid from yonder-" Alexei broke off into a wheeze as Risa elbowed him.
"Shut it." She sat down with a huff. "Are you going to play with your watch all day, Remni?"
"No," Remni said guiltily.
They left to train.
Author's Notes:
Gonna try out shorter chapters again. Like, waaaay shorter. I'll put up one a week for the next month and a bit just to try it out! Let me know if they're easier/nicer. Most of this is setting up for the future, little hints about what's to come. Let me know if anyone has any theories about what's up with Hoenn ^.^
Oh, and you don't know Silias and Laiza! Remni has raised pokémon other than her current team, but they all stay at her home or with other trainers. No matter which one Asio, Carrow and Remni choose, you'll see both eventually ;]
Big stuff coming up in the next chapter! See you in a week!
Thanks for reading!
Team Lists-
Remni- Carrow (claydol), Jackal (luxray), Nikko (sharpedo), Quil (skarmory), Asio (stantler), Tanner (togekiss).
Anna- Shyanne (metagross), Reucali (tauros).
Keith- Narsch (gardevoir), Caligulette (mantine), Lupo (arcanine).
Michi- Tyreille (tyranitar), Diem (gyarados), Blitz (flygon), Noiris (infernape), Exsce (?).
Tamora- Denri (houndoom), Salur (manectric).
Alexei- Wisteria (staraptor), Cineraria (luxray), Lilium (roserade), Lotus (golduck), (weavile), (hippowdon).
Eti- Detonate [Nate] (magnezone), Ricochet [Ric] (rampardos), Deadshot [De] (lucario), Metronome [Rono] (kricketune), Backlash [Lassie] (floatzel), Emanate [Em] (alakazam).
Risa- Twit (abomasnow), Denno (crobat), Renna (rapidash), Annushka (gyarados), Leila (mismagius), Tar (rhyperior).