Sebastian Arc: 3a

High school marked a milestone in life. It was either a fiery hell or a frozen one. For Aria Wicket, it was a wooded treasure trove. Now that she was an upperclassmen, Carol and Samuel decided that she could learn the ways of the Con as an official intern. The troopers took the ranger under their wing, brought her on service calls, and taught her everything they knew. Aria's leisurely hikes became the testing grounds of her knowledge and skills. She was the perfect employee: one who lived and breathed the job but didn't cost a cent. Even on a Saturday, Aria and Sebastian were out in the heart of the mountain, deeper than they had ever gone before. The day would never feel right without a little sunshine, chlorophyll . . . and misfortune.

"No, Sebastian, wait!"

Aria flinched with a hiss as glass cracked. Sebastian looked down to his foot and lifted it. Bits of compass and cellphone peppered the ground. Aria dropped her head and arms with a sigh. She should have known better than to put them down so close to the lairon. That was her second phone this month. Several pieces of plastic and metal clung to Sebastian's foot. He smashed his heel against the ground a few times to remove the persistent leftovers. Aria's heart sank with each one. But what could she do? Smashed was smashed. When Sebastian was finished, he grunted for Aria to stop playing around and continue the hike. His life's purpose was protecting his trainer and managing the forest, not worrying about some measly piece of plastic weaker than his own metal. Sebastian continued through the woods to clear the way for his trainer. The wild pokemon knew better than to get in his way. Aria straightened her back with another sigh and rubbed her face. With their combined knowledge of the mountain, they would make it home eventually. Another grunt from Sebastian pulled Aria's thoughts back to the hike. They crossed a stream and climbed a fallen tree. Aria even rode on Sebastian's back over some rocky terrain just for the heck of it. It was only when a large set of boulders appeared that Aria realized she had never been on this part of the mountain before.

The rocks made a wall of stone too big to look over and too tightly packed to see what was beyond. The formation was odd but not unusual. Sebastian eyed it suspiciously. There was very little that he did not know about his mountain. When Aria was at school, he was patrolling and exploring. Not once did he come across this place. It smelled different, felt different than the rest of the mountain and yet this was what the mountain was supposed to feel like. The reservation troopers would have marked it on a map and made some notes. Aria reached out her hand and stepped closer. Something electric filled the air and tingled her skin. The boulders reminded Aria of the time when she visited the neighboring peak and found Sebastian, a time of excitement, wonder, respect, and pokemon that had the ability to mystify her every sense. The minerals in the boulders glistened like jewel dust and flashed into Aria's eyes, not to blind but to share their color. Her hand came close to a boulder. Aria was almost afraid to touch it, like stroking the back of a wild arcanine. It would be soft, beautiful, but possible the last thing you would ever feel. The energy radiating off of the rock was cool yet comforting like a breeze in summer. Aria touched the stone and her eyes lit up as if going through an evolution. It was hard to tell if it was a trick of the light or zealous excitement. A breathy whisper turned her attention to the side. There was a crevice between the boulders big enough to squeeze through sideways. Aria glanced around behind her as if she discovered some sort of secret garden and the woods pulled rebellion from her once again. Aria slipped into the crevice and shimmied through. Sebastian tried to follow but was too wide to fit through the space. He growled in annoyance before finding another way to get around the obstacle. Aria couldn't get through fast enough. Light broke through the boulders and Aria came out on the other side.

"Wow," Aria breathed as she looked up and around.

The mountain dipped like a shallow bowl into an oval shaped clearing. It was carpeted in emerald grass as soft as a mareep's wool. Small wildflowers dotted the grass like imperfections made of precious metals. Large trees bordered the oval like a circle of children holding hands, keeping their playful secret away from the world. The blue sky looked down from above with a curious smile. White clouds sprinkled the view to keep the eye from getting too lonely. Entering the clearing made Aria feel free, as if she had no body and was a part of the clearing as much as the air floating around inside. It made her forget how to use her limbs so that when she went to step forward, she tripped and fell down the small slope into the basin. The grass laughed as it caught her. Not a shred of dirt touched her skin. The trees surrounding the clearing shook in excitement. Centuries had passed since their last visitor. The breeze carried off their hushed whispers for the rest of the mountain to hear. Sebastian struggled to climb over the last boulder. He heard something in the breeze that put Aria into his thoughts. He quickly hurried over the boulder with one last kick and landed in the clearing on his back. He rolled over and saw Aria on the ground. For a moment, his heart quickened until he realized it was Aria being as helpless as usual.

Sebastian waddled down into the basin to Aria's side and nudged her arm with his head. Something tugged at the corner of his eye and he looked up further into the clearing. What he saw motivated another nudge. Aria raised her head and pushed the hair back from her face. An ancient stone structure filled her gaze. Pillars of stone rose out of the ground like the trees surrounding it. They guided the way to a platform and altar. Pokemon statues pulled out of columns as if trying to come to life while carvings left no surface untouched. Everything had a set place and purpose. A few of the pieces were broken with time and age. Untamed grass slightly taller than the rest rose up against the bases of the pillars as if the structures stimulated growth. Vines and mosses hugged onto several to keep them warm in winter and fashionable in summer. Time preserved this place against erosion that should have staked a claim in it long ago. There was a magic like quality to the air that reflected the mythical nature of the legendary pokemon carved into the stone. Aria looked at the small complex as if it were a new species of pokemon. She slowly stood up and walked a little closer.

What was this place? It felt like . . . home.

"There! I told you we would find it!"

Aria flinched out of her enchantment. Two men came through the rock crevice entrance. The first was covered in more gear and equipment than clothing with arms too thin to hold it all. He held a device in one hand that resembled a Geiger counter. Pokemon researcher Chris stumbled down into the basin. He didn't give Aria or Sebastian a shred of recognition.

"Just look at that," Chris exclaimed in a giddy laugh. "I told you it was real. I told you. I told you!"

"Yeah, I get it already. Stop telling me," his partner snapped.

The second man struggled to fit through the crevice because of his bulk. The size of his muscles matched the curve of his scowl. The clearing's discovery cooled months of failed searching smoldering in his patience. But security was his job, not research. He immediately spotted Aria and Sebastian in the clearing.

"It's bigger than I expected," Chris continued.

He jogged towards the structure, Aria, and Sebastian. His equipment threatened to break with each bounce. Sebastian growled and by some instinct Chris sidestepped the pair. He passed and the device in his hand crackled in a high spun whine before it maxed out and popped. Aria scrunched up her nose with the technological insult but Chris continued and ran up to the nearest pillar. He looked it up and down then around without a clue where to start. His body guard, Slade, followed at a much slower pace. He was wise enough to give a foot or so of space between him and Sebastian. The lairon growled even harder. Slade looked down and sneered before walking on. The full belt of pokemon around his waist caught Aria's attention. Something grabbed her throat and twisted its grip. Her parents never said anything about an archeological team or research project. Tourists and visitors weren't allowed beyond the small welcome area closer to the foot of the mountain. Chris set up some equipment for measuring, scanning, and analyzing the ruins. He released a xatu and the only thing it did was look at the altar then Aria.

"There are a ton of tests I need to run," Chris began. "We should start with a topography scan, no, laser mapping, soil sample uh, maybe -,"

"Would you just hurry up," Slade spat.

Aria's presence in the clearing made him nervous. It took them months to find this place and here there was a girl and her pokemon standing around like it was the neighborhood park. Aria picked up on his anxiety. When people were nervous about doing something in the sight of others it often meant that they were doing something they weren't supposed to.

"Umm, excuse me," she said.

The call was soft and nervous enough for the men to ignore. Sebastian took a step forward and pulled out her strength.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?" she asked again.

Slade shot her a glare as if speaking were taboo. Researcher Chris also looked up, just now realizing that they were not alone. He didn't have time to deal with some girl now that he just made the discovery of a life time. He glanced to Slade and the two exchanged something Aria couldn't make out. Whatever it was prompted Slade to take a few steps in her direction and wave his arm.

"Sorry, but this is a historical renovation," he said. "We're going to have to close off the area for security purposes. You can come back tomorrow."

"What kind of renovation?"

"A normal one, so go on, you don't want to get in our way."

Chris glared. This was anything but a normal excavation. It would take years for him to finish all of his research, maybe decades. He should have hired muscle that appreciated the work he did. Aria's eyes slanted to a knife's edge. These two were defiantly up to something, but what was she supposed to do about it? She could run back home, get her parents, and risk letting these guys do God knows what to her forest, or she could confront them herself before they could get away. Aria's heart quickened with a different type of adrenaline. The forest was her home. If she had the chance to stop the flame before it turned into a forest fire she would take it. Aria planted her feet into the grass and it latched tightly onto her shoes.

"This is private property. I don't think you're supposed to be here," she continued.

Slade stiffened. It was time to address the brown haired issue with a little intimidation. He turned around and utilized his bouncer like characteristics.

"Look, kid. Get out of here before I make you."

Aria didn't move. Slade glanced to Sebastian. He was a lairon but that didn't mean anything. She could have bought it over the internet for all he knew. There were loads of crappy trainers and their pokemon out in the world. Slade unfastened a pokeball, threw it, and a granbull materialized. Granbull snarled and shook his head, staining the grass with drool. Chris glanced up from his notebook and tilted his glasses down as if to say "Really? You're going to threaten a high school girl? How barbaric." It was exactly what Sebastian was hoping for. He shook his back like a wet dog and the armor plating clanged together like Viking shields. The noise almost shook the glasses off Chris' nose. Sebastian stepped out in front of Aria, shook his head, and roared. Her anxiety crumbled under its ferocity.

"Look, now," she mimicked. "I'm part of the trooper team here in these woods and you need to leave. This is private property. You're only trespassing so I'll let you off easy if you go quietly, but do anything more and I'll have to act."

Aria had run into poachers before but normally they always ran off when she appeared with a pokemon in tow. It was hard not to be scared even with Sebastian at the forefront, she was bluffing after all. Her cell phone was in pieces and technically she was not an official employee of the reservation. Slade clenched his teeth. The territorial pokemon fuming in front of him held the bluff together. His Granbull did not scare either of them in the slightest. Intimidation was not going to work and his paycheck was too big to just let it go. Aria was a problem and getting rid of problems was his specialty.

"You asked for it kid," Slade yelled as he looked to his pokemon. "Granbull, Bite!"

Granbull charged. Aria tapped into all of the training she and Sebastian accumulated over the years. She put aside the strange equipment, unfamiliar men, and hesitation. This was another pokemon battle just like all the others.

"Iron head," Aria ordered.

Sebastian took off faster than a steam train and rammed headlong into Granbull's open jaws. Shattered teeth scattered across the clearing. The bull flew into the universe, saw nothing but stars, and fell to the ground in a dizzying feint. Chris dropped his notebook. Slade clenched his teeth so hard a tooth cracked. The hit was super effective. A high school girl just bested him in a single shot KO. Slade filled each hand with a pokeball and released two streams of energy into the clearing. A nidorino and electabuzz materialized.

"Thunder shock! Horn attack!" Slade yelled.

Electabuzz sparked and a jolt of electricity roared ahead of him. Sebastian laid flat against the ground and pointed his head into the earth. The attack cracked like lighting across his head and channeled straight into the ground from nose to tail. Sebastian knew how to divert electric attacks across his metal plating from the hundreds of lightning strikes that struck him every year. Being a solid metal figure on top of a mountain made him an antenna for lightning. But hunkering down and then getting up took valuable time. By the time he got to his feet, Nidorino was already in place. He charged into Sebastian's side and immediately staggered back from the impenetrable steel fortress. Sebastian's tail glowed. An iron tail sent the poison point pokemon flying across the clearing. Slade panicked and ordered a swift from Electabuzz. The spray of stars exploded against Sebastian's steel shell like pouches of glitter.

"Iron slap!" Aria instructed.

Sebastian's head glowed and he charged. At the last second, he dove his helmet into the dirt at Electabuzz's feet, flung it up, and struck him square in the chest with a mud slap infused iron head. Slade and Chris froze in bafflement. Electabuzz staggered back and tripped. The trees jeered and howled like spectators at a cage match.

On the other side of the clearing, nidorino got to his feet and cleared away the spins with a shake of his head. Slade didn't understand how a scrawny girl like Aria could be this strong but that wasn't going to stop him from winning. When defeat was near in a match, you stop trying to defeat the pokemon and go straight for the trainer. Slade's eyes turned to Aria.

"Get her," he screamed.