Chapter Twenty-One: Senses Awakened
INCESSENT BEEPING NOISES and the steady sound of exhaling lungs filled Maddy's ears. At first, that was all she could hear within the dark, monotonous realm that encompassed her entire world. But gradually, on the outer fringes of her hearing, the Latias Pokéshifter began to detect the muffled sounds of a conversation. She strained to hear the voices, half-afraid that they would fall into silence; but instead they did the opposite, gradually increasing in loudness and frequency. Maddy's keen Latias ears picked up the sounds with stunning clarity. She heard the voices as if the speakers were standing right over her.
"Is she close to recovery yet, Nurse Joy?" It was the intelligent, smooth voice of Haku, but it had a slight tone of concern underlying it. "She's been out for about five hours now."
The kindly, slightly accented voice of the nurse chuckled. "Don't be impatient, young man. You can't rush the process of rehabilitation."
Rehabilitation…? Maddy's ear locked onto that one word, scrutinising it. Does… does that mean I'm in rehab…? What… what happened…?
Her addled mind attempted to fit the puzzle pieces together, but she could barely remember anything; everything had descended into confusion.
"So…" Nurse Joy continued, "this is your Latias? Where did you find her? …If you don't mind me asking. It's just, well, it's not every day that you see a real-life Legendary Pokémon!"
There was a short pause before Haku answered. "She was originally my mother's Pokémon Partner. She passed her onto me once she…" his voice faltered.
"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that…" the nurse mumbled apologetically. "Well, she must be important to you."
Maddy experimentally opened one eye. The lid cracked open, and although her vision was blurry at first, it quickly realigned itself. She observed white sheets, a mess of electrodes and wires, and the undulating readout of a heart monitor. Arceus, I really am in hospital.
The conversation continued, and now sounded so close the voices were practically blaring into her ear. "Yeah," Haku replied, sounding rather fatigued. "Yeah, I guess she is."
For seemingly no particular reason, at that moment, Maddy's heart thudded. The machine on the wall responded by emitting a cacophony of bleeps that caused her to screw up her snout in indignation.
"Her heartbeat quickened," Haku casually observed. "She must be awake."
"Looks as if you're right," Nurse Joy agreed as the two of them stepped closer towards Maddy. Now the Latias Pokeshifter could clearly see the two of them.
Haku was close enough for her to meet his eyes – amethystine orbs full of intelligence and enigmacy. His silvery fringe was swept sideways across his forehead, thick, black streaks carving mysterious patterns through his hair. As Maddy gazed upwards at him, she realised just for the first time how good-looking he was. But as soon as that thought entered her head, she shook it off.
Ha ha. Me and Mr Wise Guy? No way. He's already capable of irritating me to the Distortion World and back. Plus, he's one hell of a slave driver. As she was now fully awake, her thoughts had been reorganised and the memory now returned to her – she recalled bolting out of the range of that thunderstorm, becoming exhausted, fighting to stay conscious; and finally, being overcome by a weightless sensation before everything descended into darkness.
He's the reason I'm in rehab. All because of his stupid paranoia.
Suddenly angry, the Latias Pokéshifter averted her gaze from her Absol counterpart. No. There's no way… I don't see him like that, she convinced herself.
But as Nurse Joy began pulling electrodes off her body and smoothing out her down-covered wings, checking them for a healthy sheen, she found she couldn't get that feeling out of her head; how she had felt when she first laid eyes on Haku after waking up. Also, why did my heart rate quicken when he… when he said that… he thought I was important? Dammit, Arceus…
Nurse Joy's soothing voice cut through Maddy's thoughts. "She's ready to go, but you'll be careful with her, won't you? Don't exert her too much. There's a limit to what even a Legendary Pokémon can take."
Yeah, there's a limit, Haku, she thought sardonically.
Haku once again appeared to read her mind. He flashed a rather mocking smile in her direction, as if responding directly to her thoughts.
Give me a break, Maddy mentally groaned as she was gently eased off the bed by Nurse Joy. Once airbourne, she spread her wings dramatically, almost slicing through the watery-blue dividing curtain set up around her bed.
She hovered over her hospital cot impressively, stretching her full wingspan out for all to see. The nurse backed away slightly, a small sweat-drop beading within her magenta locks. Yet she remained tactful as ever. "Well, I suppose if she has no Poké Ball or is unwilling to return into it, standard Pokémon Centre regulations can be put aside just this once. Just give a wide berth to the Audino and Chansey around the building."
"I will," Haku promised. "Merci, Nurse Joy."
"De rein! It was a pleasure meeting you." Maddy was initially confused when Nurse Joy did not bow, before remembering that she wasn't in Sinnoh any more. Holy Arceus. This is really Kalos, huh…
But she had barely seen anything yet.
Once she and Haku had re-emerged into the late afternoon, the glimmering majesty of Lumiose City shone into Maddy's retinas like a gleaming treasure trove of precious jewels. Lumiose was a jewel in its own right – the regional gem of Kalos. Colours seemed to blaze brighter here than anywhere else in the world – even with the fading light of the sun, the clouds' undersides were ignited by fiery ruby streaks, and the neatly-trimmed leaves of the trees lining the impossibly wide boulevard glowed peridot green. A steady stream of tourists and locals ambled along the pavement, accompanied by Pokémon of all shapes, Types and sizes. The streetside cafés were so packed with customers they looked as if their outer walls might burst. Roller skaters, cyclists, taxis and even herds of strange, shaggy goatlike Pokémon roamed the streets.
"Wow," was all Maddy could utter. But in Pokémon form, this expression came out as more of a high-pitched "tii" sound.
"Lumiose City," Haku began, launching into full lecture mode. "With a population of four hundred and sixteen, it is by far the largest city in all the regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos put together. It is also known as "The City of Light", named so for the nighttime viewing of Prism Tower, a monument that is seen as the very icon of Lumiose City. Prism Tower was contructed –"
"Yeah, yeah," Maddy interrupted. "Come on, Mr Wise Guy. You're spoiling the atmosphere with your lecture."
"Hey, mama!" a nearby child shouted as she pointed one pudgy finger in Maddy's direction. "A Latias!"
At the mention of "Latias", all the tourists in the immediate vicinity whipped out their cameras and began taking rapid-fire shots of Maddy. A cacophony of "oohs", "aahs" and one "Is that real?" accompanied the unwelcome attention. Flinching, the Latias Pokéshifter covered her face with her paws to hide her embarrassment.
It sucks to be a Legendary Pokéshifter… Maddy thought, not for the first time.
"Haku, let's get outta here. I need to breathe." She hoped that that had gotten through to him through the jostling crowd – as the Absol Pokéshifter was now mostly concealed by a thick press of bodies. Maddy attempted to avoid the crowd by swooping low over their heads, but this just served to captivate them further.
Once he was free of the crowd, Haku made a beeline for a narrow, well-concealed alleyway about fifty metres down the boulevard. Maddy swooped gratefully into the backstreet, shifting once she knew she was out of sight of any prying tourists.
As her Latias down transmuted to human skin and her wings morphed into limbs, Maddy extended her body and sighed in relief. "Whew. It's kinda refreshing being in human form again." She smoothed a hand down her hair, checking that it was still pulled into its signature ponytail.
Her hand paused, still tangled within her wispy dark-blonde locks, as she noticed Haku simply staring at her, with that typical deadpan expression pasted right onto his face. She glanced away quickly before her cheeks could begin to redden. Holy Arceus, what has gotten into me? …I'm tired. That's all. I was out for an entire five hours. No wonder my vision is still a little wobbly… She shook herself once again, as if in an attempt to disperse those thoughts and emotions, but didn't succeed. She composed herself fully, inhaled deep through her nose and met Haku's eyes once again.
It's weird… she mused. I've set eyes on this face many times before, but it somehow feels like he's a stranger. He just seemed so… different, in a way that she couldn't properly explain. She figured it was her own perception… but since when did she start feeling this way? Did something happen during her comatosed state to create these confused emotions? Or had those feelings been present for a long time, and had she been ignorant of their existence up until now? But whichever way, thinking about this phenomenon was giving her a grating headache. So she tried to momentarily push those thoughts to the back of her mind and instead got straight to the point.
"Well, Mr Wise Guy. I think some apologies are in order."
Haku's face seemed genuinely apologetic as he spoke. "I'm sorry, Maddy. I could tell that you were suffering from major exhaustion. I was frightened-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Maddy cut in. "You don't need to drone on about it. You had a dream that we were going to die in a thunderstorm, and it scared your tail off, but that was all. C'mon! We're still alive, ain't we? And we're finally in Kalos! That's the important thing." Maddy was being honest; she truly wanted to let bygones be bygones, and her mixed-up feelings as well as her lingering exhaustion left her wanting to get this exchange done and over with. She was still annoyed with Haku, however, and figured she'd use a theoretical Revenge attack on him sooner or later.
Unblinking amethystine eyes settled upon Maddy. "Is that all? I thought you'd be absolutely apoplectic."
"Naw. Whatever that means." She tagged on a slightly nervous chuckle at the end, as she sensed the conversation might take an awkward turn at any moment. Hopefully, he won't get suspicious. But what are the chances of that? He's always suspicious… "So… uh… well…" she uttered in an attempt to change the subject, "what did I miss? What sort of shenanigans did you and Sakura get up to whilst I was dead to the world?"
Haku blew a silken string of silver out of his face. "After you fell unconscious, we crash-landed into the basement of the lab of this region's local Pokémon Professor."
He had uttered that so casually, it was almost comical. "Holy Arceus!" Maddy blurted. "Was he… okay with that?"
"Yes. In fact, he was completely fine with it. No negotiations were necessary. However…"
"Yes?" Maddy urged.
"He gave the impression that he wants us to do voluntary work for him. You know, as repayment."
"And what did you say to that?"
"Well… I neither confirmed it nor denied it. Still," he continued, his voice taking on a tone of dismissal, "we do not have to worry about him at present. I am much more concerned about Genmi…"
Of course… "I understand," Maddy replied, concerned. "About that… have you managed to get anything done about that yet? That was meant to be the entire reason we stopped here."
"No, not yet." The Absol Pokéshifter sighed. "It appears I miscalculated. I may not be able to seek that kind of help here… though I will assume for now that there is the possibility of other towns."
Maddy nodded. "I see." Her face suddenly twisted into a frown. "Wait… where's Sakura?" The timid Zoroark Pokéshifter was nowhere in sight.
"Oh," Haku replied, reassuming his usual deadpan expression. "I sent her to resupply our foodstock."
Maddy found herself sighing. "Haku, you can just say "shopping", you know."
"I presume you want to rendezvous with Sakura, so I'll take you to her," Haku uttered, ignoring Maddy's last comment. He stepped briskly into the dark recesses of the alley, stopping as he noticed Maddy wasn't following. "Is there a problem, Maddy?"
"Uh… no," the Latias Pokéshifter mumbled. "I'm… coming."
Maddy was once again transfixed as she and Haku emerged into the gradually fading sunlight of Vernal Avenue. A rainbow of painted colours lined both sides of the street, and choatic troupes of shaggy white-haired Pokémon (Haku had immediately identified them with his in-built Pokédex as Furfrou, and had even attempted to provide the Poodle Pokémon's full statistics to Maddy) frolicked among themselves. Prism Tower stood in the distance like a scene from a postcard – indeed, Maddy felt that it was so close she could almost reach out and touch it.
Haku, who had been restlessly searching the area for Sakura, jolted Maddy out of her trance as he announced, "She's over there."
Following his outstretched finger, the Latias Pokéshifter's electrum eyes fell on the Murkrow-haired Zoroark Pokéshifter. Her spindly, gangly body struggled under the weight of several hefty shopping bags. Jeez, he really is a slave driver, ain't he? she thought, casting a cynical glance over at Haku.
Sakura appeared to be lost. She cast her eyes around wildly as she wandered in erratic circles. She yelped whenever a pedestrian got to close, causing them to glance back and stare at her. She tried desperately to manoeuvre through the crowd whilst remaining inconspicuous, but it seemed that whatever she tried, she couldn't flow against the rapid river of the Lumiose crowd.
Maddy could just pick out the Dark-Type's voice as she slowly drew closer to their position. "U-um… E-excuse me, sir… C-can I get p-past? M-maybe? Please? Eep!"
The Latias Pokéshifter sighed. I suppose it's hard getting around in a crowd when you can't stand up for yourself…
Sakura was only several feet away from them when she collided with a smack into another passerby. "A-ahh! I-I'm so sorry, miss! I-"
The woman whom Sakura had banged heads with laughed good-naturedly in response. "Oh no, that was my fault! Clumsy me!" She was just about to shift sideways to let Sakura pass, but then her gaze suddenly landed on Maddy.
Amber orbs met with striking reddish-pink irises. The woman casually blew a lock of magenta hair from her face as she regarded Maddy; scrutinising her, almost. Then her mouth twisted in a strange smile before she broke eye contact and moved off.
What in Houndoom's realm was that about? A small bead of sweat travelled down the side of Maddy's face.
"Sakura!" Haku called. "Did you get everything?"
The Zoroark Pokéshifter initially froze at the sight of Haku, before dashing towards him so quickly she almost tripped over her own boots. Her cheeks were coated in a rosy blush.
Maddy almost groaned. Oh, here we go with this again.
"H-haku!" Sakura cried, "I-I brought everything you asked me to! Herbal r-remedies… P-potions and Revives… I even got a c-couple Lumiose Galettes. S-someone recommended them to me and..." She stopped, her slight grin wavering and then morphing into a forlorn expression. "B-but… everything's so pricey here… I… I… spent all the PokéDollars we had between us…"
"Wha-?" Maddy yelled out in frustration. "I contributed ten thousand PokéDollars! What do you mean, you spent it all?!"
Sakura looked down in shame. "I-I-I'm sorry, Maddy…"
Haku shrugged. "We can get some more if necessary. Plus, judging by the size of those bags, we probably have enough provisions for an entire month."
Sakura seemed a little cheerier after that. "Y-yeah! I-I bought as much as I c-could carry."
Maddy consciously fidgeted with her backpack strap. "Yeah. I'm not sure if it'll all fit in here though…"
"We can improvise," Haku suggested. "We-"
He cut off during the middle of his sentence, and his last syllable descended into a low moan. He clutched his temples and writhed a little before his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell unconscious, toppling backwards. Sakura only just managed to catch him in time.
"O-oh no…" Sakura mumbled with concern. "He's… he's having another v-vision like the one he had on the way here…"
Maddy instantly recognised the symptoms. It was those strange visual premonitions of the future that Haku got – it probably had something to do with the fact that he was an Absol Pokéshifter. But that was all that he would ever disclose; he never gave details of what exactly he had seen during those visions.
Some of the people in the nearby crowd stared at Haku in confusion, but thankfully, none of them asked questions. After a moment's passage, Haku's eyelids snapped open and he leapt to his feet frantically. A nearby child squealed in shock.
The Absol Pokéshifter never noticed the unwanted attention directed towards him. Instead, he pulled Maddy and Sakura in closer towards him. "We need to leave. Now," he whispered breathlessly. "It's Genmi. They'll be here, at Vernal Avenue, in ten minutes."
As Sakura absorbed this news, her face became utterly horror-struck. "H-how did they kn-know we were here?!" she stammered in fright.
"Obviously, somone informed on us." Maddy wondered who it could have been. Perhaps someone had seen her shift in that alley after all? She knew from experience that the undercover agents of Genmi inhabited every dark corner, every shadowed alcove and every grisly backstreet of every city; just waiting to pounce on unsuspecting Pokéshifters. Perhaps that woman… Maddy mused. It was true that her behaviour had definitely been suspicious. But it was crazy to assume that.
"Anyway, we need to leave Lumiose. So I hope you two have every valuable possession on your person, as we're not going back for it."
"B-but Haku!" Sakura protested, "What about your s-sugery?"
Haku shook his head. "I've already asked about that issue. Discreetly, of course. But Nurse Joy of the South Boulevard Pokémon Centre told me that, due to safety reasons, it's illegal to perform surgery in any Pokémon Centre in Kalos. Unless it's an absolute emergency, of course, which in my case it isn't." His fingers gingerly touched the area just above his pelvis, where the Genmi subordinate had shot him back in the woods just beyond Kalos.
"That sounds crazy," Maddy commented as the trio began to retrace their steps through the alley, walking at such a brisk pace they were practically running. "Why won't they let you have surgery?"
"Simply put, it's not what Pokémon Centres specialise in. They're all about providing medication and rest for Pokémon. It's often rare that a Pokémon should need surgery anyway; but in such a scenario, they would need to visit a specialist Pokémon surgeon. That's the advice Nurse Joy gave me. But, according to her, there isn't a single one of these Pokémon surgeons in Lumiose."
"I see…" The Latias Pokéshifter was now even more concerned for Haku. That bullet inside him must be troubling him… Although he's not letting it show on the outside at all. Tough little Mr Wise Guy…
Within minutes, they had re-emerged from the alley and were dashing down the broad paving slabs of South Boulevard, almost knocking over a Roller Skater in their wake.
Maddy glanced backwards, gritting her teeth as she spotted the purple G of Genmi blurred in among the crowd. "Shit! They're here. But that wasn't even ten minutes!" And then she thought: Is it really impossible for us to ever catch a break?
"Time flies when you're in immediate danger," Haku explained. "But I think I can see our ride out of here."
"R-ride?" questioned Sakura.
Glancing upwards, Maddy could see yet another of those big, bushy goatlike Pokémon with the fantastically curved horns. And Haku was making a beeline straight for it.
"Um," was all Maddy could utter in regards to this situation.
The Absol Pokéshifter had already mounted the behemoth Pokémon's broad back once Maddy had reached its side. Sakura quickly leapt up, shopping bags flailing, and Maddy followed suit.
Haku grasped the huge Pokémon's horns and spoke softly and politely to the Pokémon (who Maddy assumed was a Grass-Type, as it had a veritable forest of bushes sprouting across its entire back). "Nice to meet you, Gogoat-san. Could you possibly take us out of Lumiose as fast as you can? We're in a bit of a hurry."
"Sure, fine. So long as there's a bucketful of Berries in it for me at the end," the Gogoat grunted in response; seemingly, he could understand the language of humans pretty well.
"Done deal." Haku smiled, tightening his grip. "Hold on tight. Gogoat are one of the fastest Pokémon on land in Kalos – Oof."
Sakura had interpreted the phrase "hold on tight" as meaning "squeeze the life out of Haku", as she had her arms wrapped around him so tightly it looked as if she might squash his internal organs into intenstine pancakes. Maddy clung to Sakura, albeit not as tightly as the Zoroark Pokéshifter clung to the other Dark-Type.
Enraged voices called out behind them as Gogoat pounded his hooves, preparing for takeoff.
"Stop them! Stop those Poké – err - humans!"
"They're getting away with my Gogoat!"
Haku leaned forwards in anticipation. "Let's go, Gogoat!"
And then every sound of the city – the cries of Pokémon, the squeals of frolicking children, the angry shouts of the Genmi grunts behind them – all blended into one.
As Maddy's vision became rapid brushstrokes of blurred colour and her eyes began to stream relentlessly, one thought crossed her mind.
This is how others feel when they ride on my back in Latias form… Isn't it…
Luci chewed silently on her Aspear Berry sandwich as her amber-hued gaze darted around the small campsite. She bit into another mouthful as the taste of slightly-stale bread and the refreshingly sour flavour of the Aspear paste spread over her tongue. The paste caused a warming sensation to bloom in Luci's oesophagus as she swallowed; the manifestation of the anti-Freeze effect of the Berry. Luci was glad of it; her extremeties were so numb, she almost felt as though they were frozen stiff.
She had demolished the sandwich in seconds, but Flara had gobbled down her own Cheri Berry meal even more rapidly. The Flareon Pokéshifter licked a spicy crimson moustache off her lips before she spoke.
"So, yeah, like Luci-Lu was saying-" she began.
"Don't call me "Luci-Lu"." The Lucario Pokéshifter glared threateningly at Flara as she spoke. "Or I'll do a lot more than slap you."
Flara sheepishly smiled before continuing. "So, yeah, anyway. We both come from Sinnoh, and we were actually traveling with a whole bunch of other… people when we got separated from them at Sandgem Town."
Luci glared out into the distant shadows of the badlands as Flara chattered, silently grumbling to herself within her thoughts. Ugh. Why'd we have to end up in this situation? We're going to have to tell them everything now. All because of Flara's idiocy. Seriously, she'll do anything as long as food is involved. Especially if it's an extra-spicy Cheri Berry sandwich. She almost sighed. Now we have to hope against hope that these people aren't of any danger to us…
"How did you get separated?" the curly-haired boy known as Vernon inquired. His peridot gaze was so intense, Flara almost recoiled from it. Or perhaps it was just the dim lighting; the cinnabar ribbons of flame only illuminated the left side of Vernon's face, leaving the other cast almost completely in shadow.
"U-um… We… uh…" The Flareon Pokéshifter glanced warily at Luci, as if expecting another slap. Luci merely shrugged. She didn't care anymore about these complete strangers learning all their secrets, especially as she couldn't forsee any way out of this situation now without telling them.
"Uh…. so have you heard of Genmi Incorporated, by any chance?"
The name appeared to vibrate through the bodies of the campfire duo like the tidal ripple that precedes a tsunami. Both of them froze; Vernon stiffened in a rigid cross-legged position, and Magiku, who had sneakily pilfered a charred twig from beneath the fire, stared, her jaw petrified in mid-bite.
It was only once the two of them had snapped out of their induced stupor that they reacted to Flara's question. Vernon simply cringed, but Magiku's reaction was a tad more dramatic. She hastily jumped to her feet in a reddish-yellow blur, brandishing her burnt stick through the air. The twig reignited as she waved it around, eventually thrusting it right into Flara's face. Heterochromial irises bored into Flara's own chestnut orbs.
"G-Genmi Incorporated!?" she spluttered. "H-how do you know about them?! W-we don't even speak of them around-"
"Magiku, keep your voice down!" Vernon interrupted forcefully. "And what did I tell you about not eating those twigs?"
The girl simply grunted in annoyance at that and bit the stick in half, shovelling both sides into her mouth and chewing down on the wood, flames and all.
Seriously… Luci thought disapprovingly as she watched. As if there weren't enough weirdoes around here…
"How do you know about them?" Vernon posed, repeating Magiku's question. His eyes narrowed almost to slits as he spoke again: "Are you by any chance… affiliated with them…?"
"No! Never! No fucking chance!" Flara retaliated, utterly enraged that such a notion could ever be applied to her. She leapt imposingly to her feet. "Those… thugs killed my family! They threatened my friends! Heck, they even hurt me… They beat me up, had me tortured, and… You're suggesting that I was with those sick arseholes? As in, working for them?" She cackled almost hysterically as she advanced forwards. "Well, mate, if you think like that-"
At that point, Luci stood up, no longer able to let this conversation flow without intervening. She grasped a handful of vermillion hair before yanking Flara away from Vernon by the scalp. "What she's trying to say," Luci uttered as she released Flara's head from her Vicegrip-like hold, "is that we're both Pokéshifters."
The Flareon Pokéshifter sank to the cracked, dusty desert floor. "Yeah. That's right," she confirmed, almost wearily. It seemed as though Flara's usually bottomless source of energy had somehow run dry.
However, Vernon remained suspicious. "A-are you really?" he asked sceptically, although it seemed as though he desperately wanted to believe it. "Prove it."
Luci frowned, suddenly apprehensive. "Why should we have to? Isn't word of mouth good enough for you?" Her gaze locked onto Magiku, exuding annoyance. "And what's up with you lot? You seem pretty suspicious yourselves… I mean, who eats burning twigs?!" Luci practically spluttered her last sentence.
"Huh?" Magiku was still chewing relentlessly as she glanced up. "Isn't eating twigs a normal thing to do?"
"No, it's not!" the other three chorused furiously, causing Magiku herself to back up defensively.
"Why not?" the pre-teen inquired. "Or is it just because you guys aren't Fennekin Pok-"
Magiku's last syllable hung in the air like an axe about to fall on the small company. Silence sliced through the atmosphere of tension, and all four of them simply exchanged awkward, suspicious glances for a full ten seconds.
"Pokey… pokey poke… poke… poke… pokey-mon… hee hee hee…" Magiku giggled sheepishly.
Abruptly, her companion rose, elongating to his full height. "So. Perhaps this will settle it?" he suggested before his entire body dissolved into a lumionous swirl of greenish hues. Once the light had faded, a gargantuan beast of a Pokémon stood before the Lucario Pokéshifter. Its impressive, curvature horns were banded with a green stripe that matched the hue of its eyes. Covered in mostly beige, shaggy fur with a few streaks of rich earth-brown, a thick tangle of bushes sprouted across its back.
Luci had to admit she had never laid eyes on such a Pokémon before; but then she remembered that she was in Kalos. Kalos sure is a region that's full of surprises, huh…
An instant later, Vernon had reverted back to his human form. "Well. I hope you understand now why I, as a Gogoat Pokéshifter, would like you to prove that you are kin of ours."
"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" Magiku cut in before Luci could reply. "Can I shift too, Vernon? I'd like to show them my Pokémon form!"
And of course, she did. Her relatively miniscule Pokémon form was tiny in comparison to Vernon's; though it had huge, billowing foxy ears and large heterochromial eyes. Although the foxlike Pokémon appeared innocent and cute, two sharp canines were visible behind its lips. Looks can be deceiving. I'm sure this kid is an absolute monster to face in battle, Luci mused. She wasn't sure exactly why she thought that – perhaps it was something to do with the girl's Aura. Though my Aura perception is always down when my PP is low. If I'd been hale and hearty, I'd have known that these two were Pokéshifters immediately…
…But I can still sense something. There's still one other person out there, watching us. I can't determine who or what they are, but…
"You know what. I'll prove that I'm a Pokéshifter so long as the other guy comes out and introduces himself."
Flara met her gaze. "What other guy? What are you sensing, Luci?"
"I'm not too sure…" she replied, her fierce amber gaze rapidly alternating between the faces of Vernon and Magiku, who were unsuccessfully attempting to feign confusion. "It could be another Pokéshifter…"
The sound of calm applause ricocheted off the surrounding rocks as a dark figure emerged from the shadows, just outside the ring of illumination thrown by the fire. As soon as the newcomer entered the circle of light, Luci could make out his facial features.
The form was that of a teenage male perhaps a little younger than Luci. His pale, almost whitish ice-blue eyes coolly appraised the Lucario Pokéshifter from beneath a thick fringe of azure hair. The boy's skin was pale porcelain, perhaps a shade darker than albino; with the exception of an azure rhombus that appeared to be tattooed on to the centre of his forehead. He was dressed warmly in a thick white winter parka and matching baggy trousers. The neck of a cerulean shirt poked out from under his parka, and his white boots were tightly secured by cobalt-blue laces.
His mouth was set in a serene smile. "You found me. I wonder how?" He spoke slowly and softly, as if he were contemplating the meaning of each word as it rolled off his tongue. "Perhaps you're a Psychic-Type…?" Shaking his head, he continued, "No… that's not right. It seems as though you can sense Aura, but not in the way a Psychic-Type would. You have spirit worthy of a Fighting-Type, and the sort of unbending will commonly associated with the Steel-Type. Hmmm."
Luci blinked. How the hell did he manage to deduce all that? …Unless he can sense Aura too… But Luci thought that unlikely. There aren't that many Pokémon that can read Aura, after all…
"Azzurro!" Vernon blurted. "Were you listening to everything just now? I thought you were asleep!"
The boy named Azzurro shook his head. "Nope. I was gazing at the stars above. The desert night sky is beautiful, no? And it's even more amazing when you stop to consider that those stars might have planets orbiting them. Planets that harbour life… and perhaps some that don't… but all different. All within the same universe… the same galaxy, even, and yet concealing an almost infinite number of varied possibilities…" He shrugged, his tone becoming slightly exasperated. "But you two distracted me, as ever, with your loud conversation. It was all I could do not to listen with noise like that filling my ears."
"Hey, Azu! Are you saying my voice is loud?! 'Cos it ain't!" Magiku yelled at the exact same volume of a Loudred using Screech.
Azzurro appeared to wince. "Painfully loud, Magiku. You're compressing my eardrums."
Luci simply stared at the three of them as they, having casually forgotten that she and Flara even existed, became completely fixated on their own argument. Even Vernon soon got involved as he attempted to break it up. Holy Arceus. Looks like I've found another bunch of complete Lunatones, she thought, recalling her first meeting with the Pokéshifter Squad in Eterna Forest. This whole rendezvous seemed almost nostalgic; like a case of déjà-vu.
Flara suddenly cut in, as was her speciality, by asking: "So, what kind of Pokémon do you shift into, blue-haired dude?"
Azzurro smiled. "I'm an Amaura Pokéshifter, in actual fact. Though you're from Sinnoh, aren't you? So you might not necessarily know…"
In an explosion of azure light, the boy had transformed into a little dinosaur-like Pokémon with several diamond-shaped crystals lining his back. Two identical crests sprouted from his temples, glowing in alternating shades of ice-blue and aquamarine. Then, within a millisecond, Azzurro was human once again. "And you two are…?"
The two of them promptly shifted, and then back again, introducing themselves as they did so.
"Flara Rayong, Flareon Pokéshifter."
"Luci Strider, Luca-"
"Lucario Pokéshifter," Azzurro finished with a smile. "I guessed as much."
Luci frowned at the Amaura Pokéshifter. This kid… something about him oddly reminds me of Haku… In fact, these guys are almost like the Kalosian counterparts of the Pokéshifter Squad. Weird.
"So… what now, Vernon?" Magiku asked. "Are these guys gonna… join us, maybe?" She glanced almost pleadingly at the Gogoat Pokéshifter.
Vernon opened his mouth to speak, but Flara got there before him. "Join you?! Hell's yeah! So long as you give me more of those Cheri Berry sandwiches. They were scrumptious!"
The Gogoat Pokéshifter sighed. "That was the last one-"
"Aww. Oh well, I'll join you anyway. What's your group name?"
"Well, we call ourselves the K.L.A.P.!" Magiku announced proudly. "Or the Kalos Liberation Agency for Pokéshifters!"
Luci almost spluttered. Holy Arceus.
"That's so cool!" Flara gasped.
"Well…" Vernon mumbled, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, "because you've got no supplies on you, I suppose you can stay with us for the time being. We do have a spare sleeping bag. But it's just the one."
Luci passed a sidelong glance to Flara. "Right. I suppose I can tolerate you, on the condition that it's just for one night."
Flara grinned. "Aw, don't be like that, Luci! Be grateful that you even have a sleeping bag at all. 'Cos, y'know, they could just as well have forced us to sleep on the cold 'n' uncomfortable desert floor."
"Oh, no," Vernon replied casually. "The floor's reserved for Magiku."
"Huh?!" the Fennekin Pokéshifter spluttered as everyone else burst into explosive laughter. "Hey! Stop laughing! That… that's not even true, anyway! Vernon, you meanie!"
As Flara smoothed out their sleeping bag onto the uneven desert terrain and Magiku poked admist the dying the embers for yet another midnight snack, Luci leant back against a nearby rock formation, her eyes closed and her body relaxed, as if meditating.
Amber orbs snapped open as a sudden wave of Aura slammed into her like an Icicle Crash, and the sound of incomprehensible whimpering filled her mind. What the-
The sound was almost unbearable to hear. It ached of loneliness, desperation, pain…
But as quickly as it had manifested itself in Luci's brain, it had ebbed away.
Flara glanced up, concerned. "Is something wrong, Luci?"
"Um…" The Lucario Pokéshifter's eyes panned over the dark scenery of the twilight Lumiose Badlands, but she couldn't pick out anything in particular, and she sensed no more Aura radiation. "I… just thought I sensed something. That's all."
She tried utterly to believe that statement, but it was no use.
Aura never lies.