Palmer sat quietly in his office deep within the Battle Tower. The sun was shining through the open window, a soft breeze following it. He breathed in the glorious, clear air and sighed. However, this was no happy sigh, but one of weariness.

He looked out the window, away from the stacks of work piling on his desk. He saw birds outside, flying around freely with the wings they were all too lucky to possess. He sighed again, wishing that he were more like the birds, free to come and go as he chose. But, he wasn't, and that left him feeling more than a little blue. More and more these days, he found himself tied to his desk, or within the confines of a battle room with one of those few with a battle streak of 21. He didn't mind the latter so much, though. Battling was one of the reasons he'd taken this job. The problem was that the rest of his work usually got in the way of it -- as well as everything else. Right now he would've loved nothing more than for the phone to ring announcing a new challenger. Not that it would. The thing hadn't rung all month. Not even a call from his family.

Family... Heh. Now that he thought about it, when was the last time he'd spoken with his family on a whim? It hadn't been too long ago that he'd seen his son. He had a picture sitting on his desk to prove it: He and Clint standing side by side, wide smiles spread across their faces, their three-pokemon teams standing in the background. He smiled at the picture now, remembering how fast and nastily his son had beaten him. But then the smile faded as he suddenly realized just how long ago it had been. Four years. It'd been four years since that day, and Palmer couldn't even remember speaking to or seeing his son since. Now he's been hospitalized and I can't even go to see him. Some Father I am, he thought and returned to his work. Stupid work.

Then the phone rang. Palmer looked at it, one eyebrow raised. Here he'd been thinking about the phone and the various persons attached to it and now it goes and rings. Had it been reading his mind? No, it's a friggin' phone, you moron. Slowly, he stretched out his arm and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hello, Tycoon Palmer? I am the lead geologist of Sinnoh, Marvin Terrik. I'm afraid there's a matter of the utmost importance that I must speak with you about."

He sighed again. "Then you're going to have to stand in line, Mr. Terrik. I'm booked up to the sky with at least ten other meetings this week."

"This can't wait that long," the man persisted. "You don't have until next week. You may not even have until the end of this week."

Palmer scowled. "Is that a threat?"

"If it were only that. You'll find out what I mean in about... three... two... one..."

Right as the geologist stopped counting, a tremor ran through his office. It wasn't very large, but it was noticable. Some books tried to dislodge themselves from their cases, but stayed firm. Other small items rattled around, moving only a few centimeters or so. When it was over, Palmer resumed the call: "What was that all about?"

"Presents from Mount Coronet, Palmer."

"And why do you keep calling me by my first name?"

There was a slight pause. "I'm sorry, sir, but you really must listen. If you don't, the entire battle island will be destroyed and its residents lost."

"Right. How soon can you be over here?"

"Within the hour, sir."

"Be here in half that," and Palmer hung up.

*..*..*

Lucas watched as his target suddenly jumped up out of the tall grass and ran away. In the distance he could hear Eve sighing. What had gone wrong? He'd been completely silent, soft on his feet and everything. Maybe he smelled? ... No, not that he could tell.

He stood up from his hiding place and looked around. Not one blade of grass was rustling. Normally, there would've been something shaking the grass; it didn't really matter what it was. But right now, there was nothing. No wind, nothing to make it move. He found the scene to be really unsettling.

Eve noticed it, too. "Something feels strange. Do you feel it?" She asked him from outside the tall grass.

Lucas went still and tried to see if he could. Sure enough, there a was a low vibration in the ground. "I feel it."

"Weird, isn't it?" She asked as the vibration ended.

Lucas waved the comment away. "It was probably the Iron Works."

Eve turned towards the building looming in the background. "Yeah, but as far as I know, the Iron Works isn't even open at this time of day."

Forgetting that he had left it with Rowan to be upgraded, Lucas lifted his arm to check his non-existant poketch. Irritated with himself, he called to Eve, "What time is it?"

Eve checked her watch. "It's eleven-forty-six."

Lucas shook his head. "No, they started working about two hours ago. Nine-thirty to midnight every day."

"Oh." Eve scratched her head. "I guess it could've come from over there, then." Then her stomach growled. It was so loud that Lucas could hear it from several meters away.

"Or maybe that's where the vibrations came from," Lucas laughed pointing at her. Then his own stomach growled equally loud. Eve laughed back at him, much harder than he had at her.

Hunger driving them, the two made their way to Gud Burger for lunch. Lucas ordered his usual "Gud Burger" with large fries and a large soda. Eve, having never stepped foot inside the restaurant, had trouble deciding. She stood at the register reading the menu and shaking her head for five minutes before ordering the same thing he had. The cashier -- the same one Clint had insulted a few days before -- glared at her as they made their way to Lucas' and Clint's usual spot. Once there, Eve immediately dove into her food, devouring it with more passion than she put into battling. Lucas wanted to do the same thing, but found that his mind had started to wander. Lost in his thoughts, all he could do was swirl a fry in ketchup and stare out the window, his eyes shifting in the direction of Stark Mountain in the distance. It seemed different from the last time he'd seen it. Maybe the smoke rising from it was darker? No, that wasn't it. It was something more subtle than that... but what? Maybe it was just him. Or maybe it wasn't and something really was different about it. Either way-

"Are you going to eat that?" Eve asked, snapping Lucas back to the present.

"Yeah," he said absent mindedly. "I'm just not feeling like it now."

Eve cocked her head at him as a dog would when eyeing something strange. "Something wrong?"

Lucas, still trying to regain his train of thought, didn't answer. Well, not right away, anyway. Eventually, he did say, "Well... It's just... Ah, never mind."

"What?" Eve persisted. "What's bugging you? You can tell me if it's really personal. I won't tell anyone."

Lucas gave her the look he liked to give Clint whenever the guy said something annoying. He wasn't sure if the look could be used for the same instance, but he did it all the same. "We've only known each other for a couple of days. Why would I tell you anything super secret?"

Eve shrugged. "I dunno. You're kind of weird that way."

I'm weird? What does that make you? Lucas sighed and decided to bite. "I was just thinking about something."

"Like what?"

Suddenly hungry again, Lucas began to eat his burger, saying with a full mouth, "Oh, you know, just wondering why Mount Coronet just now decided to blow up."

"Oh." Eve looked disappointed. "That's it?"

"Basically." Lucas took another bite. "It had been classified as an extinct volcano, right?"

"I guess..." Lucas could tell that she didn't care, so he didn't even bother to to continue the conversation. He noticed he was still swirling that fry in the ketchup and stopped. Silence followed. And then Eve broke it saying, "But... so is Stark Mountain." She spoke so suddenly that it startled Lucas and he nearly choked. She began to say, "You don't think that it might..." but her voice trailed off and her face began to twist and contort itself again.

"Perhaps," Lucas answered, guessing what she was trying to say and ignoring her broken state. Ultimately, that was the exact same line his thoughts were following. "But what are the chances of that happening so soon after Mount Coronet?"

*..*..*

"Pretty damn high, sir." Marvin told Palmer inside the tycoon's office. "We're running calculations 'round the clock, but things are only looking worse. Everytime we find an error in our data, we recieve a closer date for its eruption."

Palmer hung his head and sighed. "You're sure that a new lava channel has formed?"

Marvin looked indignant. "We're not sure, sir. We know. We knew about the lava channel six years ago, and we released our findings publicly -- how you managed to not know this is beyond me. But back then it wasn't a matter of whether or not it would erupt. Now, though, with Mount Coronet creating all sorts of seismic disorder, it's only a matter of time before it does."

Palmer hid his face in his hands and sighed again. As the Tower Tycoon, it's his job to oversee everything on the island and make sure that no harm comes to it or its residents. Basically he's performing the job of a mayor, which isn't hard in and of itself, just time consuming. But never in his life had he had to deal with anything quite like this as the tycoon.

He shifted his gaze towards the window and the towering mountain it provided a view of. Smoke was lazily rising from its summit, dissipating as it got higher into the sky. Palmer noted the presence of a crack in its side that he had never seen before; a sure sign of immenent destruction. He sighed yet again. But somewhere in the middle of it, a lightbulb in his head went off. He stopped sighing and began to ponder a wonderous idea. It was a rather insane idea, one that most likely wouldn't work, but it was so absurd that it would almost certainly work. Whatever logic that followed, he didn't know, or care for that matter. All he wanted to do now was carry through with it whether it failed or not. At the very least it would look cool.

Not voicing the idea, he stood tall and proud with his chest puffed out and his hands in fists at his sides; the perfect paragon of a stalwart hero. No longer was he the tired and weak figure from a few moments ago, but now the person that he became in order to fight: The fearless Tower Tycoon. Without any restraints, he waved a hand forward as the voice of his soul burst forth -- the same voice he had passed on to his son: "Well, what are we waiting here for? Send out distress calls, warn the populace, evacuate every populated area and herd everyone to the docks. If we're going to survive this shit, then we need to evacuate. Hurry!"

And Marvin did exactly that, leaving the suddenly transformed tycoon by himself. Palmer looked out towards Stark Mountain again, a baleful look in his eye. No longer did he see a deadly killer in it. Just another enemy for him to crush. And crush it I will. Or, more accurately, we will. Maybe... Damn well better.