Weedle in a Haystack


The next morning came without much fanfare, which Inyssa found to be quite rude. Couldn't it at least congratulate her? Give her a nice, sunny day? A rainbow or two? Something to celebrate the occasion, maybe?

As she un-buried her face from the pillow her gaze came to rest on the boy sleeping on the makeshift bed of pillows and blankets below. Inyssa felt her heart skip a beat. His hair was a mess of yellow, not too unlike a Starly's nest, and the fingers of his left hand closed around hers, dangling from the side of the bed down toward him. The sudden rush of emotion almost made her dizzy. She didn't know if she was more overwhelmed by the memories of what had happened last night or offended because falling asleep while holding hands was the sappiest thing two people could possibly do.

"Morning, Niss…"

Shit, he was awake. And he caught her staring at him which… wait, why was that a bad thing? She was his girlfriend now, she could stare at him all she w–

G-girlfriend? Realization of what she'd thought came to her a moment after, turning her cheeks a deep shade of red and making the inside of her arms feel all itchy. I'm his…

"Uh… Niss? You dozin' off again?"

She came to her senses with a jolt, and had to swallow whatever had risen from her chest to her throat before she could reply.

"Yeah, yeah… I'm fine." She pursed her lips and tried to form a smile. It felt like someone was playing bongos inside her chest. "Did you sleep well?"

Barry let out a giggle, squeezing her fingers a bit tighter. "I slept on the floor, but other than that…"

"Right… sorry about that."

It's not like she hadn't been willing to offer him a spot to sleep next to her, but the bed was only a single. And as much as she liked the idea of cuddling with Barry she was pretty sure she would sooner stand on the middle of the nearest town square and sing a bunch of praises to Team Galactic than to say that out loud.

"It's okay," he smiled. "I had nice dreams. How about you?"

"Well… I didn't have nightmares. Didn't dream anything else either, but I guess it's an improvement."

"Nice…"

There was a short, somewhat uncomfortable silence as they lay on their own beds, staring at each other with only slightly more excitement than anxiousness. What was he thinking? Dammit, why was his expression always so hard to read? Couldn't he wear his heart on his sleeve for once, like she did every single day of her life?

"So…" she whispered.

Barry raised an amused eyebrow. "So…"

"So… appears to be the thing that we're saying right now." She swallowed. "Uh… are you… you know, okay? Doing good? Not… regretting… stuff?"

Nice. Real fucking nice, she heard her own voice in her head. That was about as smooth as a fucking Cacnea.

Barry, however, didn't seem to mind her lack of articulation. He simply let out a small sigh, rolled his eyes a little and shone her one of his usual smiles, the ones that made her feel like her stomach had done a twirl.

"You overthinking stuff again?"

Fuck me, he knows me so well, she thought. How annoying.

"Yeah… kinda." She averted her eyes from him, looking down at her pillow instead. "Sorry, didn't mean to ruin the moment. I just… don't want what happened last night to be because I pressured you or anything, and…"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. Couldn't have, really, as Barry's hand went up to her shoulder and gently pulled her down from her bed and on top of him, making her slightly yelp from the surprise. Her lashes fluttered and she found herself less than an inch from his face.

"U-uh…"

"You always say nonsense when you over think things," he said, the sound of his voice so close and the feeling of his chest moving up and down under her sending a shiver throughout Inyssa's body. "It's a really bad habit of yours."

Their kiss only lasted for a couple seconds, but to Inyssa it felt either like an instant or an entire minute, she couldn't really tell with all the Butterfree in her stomach exploding into fireworks at the same time.

They stared at each other for a while, Barry with a smug smile on his face and her with a dumbfounded look. Then, once the cogs in her brain finally started to turn again, she let out a scoff and slightly punched him in his non-broken arm, trying her best not to smile.

"I haven't even brushed my teeth yet," she said, looking to the side. "Couldn't you wait until I do that at least to kiss me?"

"Guess I couldn't."

"Dumbass… thinking you're all suave and shit." She could barely contain her giggles as she pushed herself to her feet, grabbing Barry by the arm to help him up as well. "So then, you're not…"

"I don't regret anything, really," he hurried to say. "I meant everything I did and said yesterday."

Inyssa's relief was almost palpable as she heard him say that. Somehow, even though Barry's expression was always so hard to read, she knew that he was telling the truth. Or maybe she was just projecting. She'd take either option, really.

"Well… good. Same here." She looked around, moving back and forth on the ball of her feet. "So… what do we do now?"

Barry shrugged. "Whatever we want, right? I don't think we need to like… do anything differently. Reiko told me one time that being in a relationship with someone is kind of the same as being friends with them… only not."

She blinked a few times.

"Well… I'm glad she gave you such a priceless nugget of wisdom," she said, voice thick with sarcasm. "But I like that idea. I wouldn't want us to treat each other too differently just because… because we're…" She swallowed, feeling heat rise to her face. "…you know."

He gave her a short nod. "It's okay, I know." The sound of a yawn filled the room as Barry raised his free arm toward the ceiling, his back and neck making crack noises as he stretched. "Well… I should probably go check on Auri. I did kinda leave her alone last night." He frowned, then looked down at his wrist. "Crap, I also gotta leave my Pokétch charging. Forgot to do that too."

"Right…" She nodded, perhaps a bit too forcefully. "We also gotta visit the professor and ask Lucas to show us the library today, so we better get going. I'll brush my teeth and change while you go to your room."

Inyssa spent the next five minutes with her body on autopilot, brushing her teeth and dressing up and grabbing her belt while her mind assaulted her with about fifty trains of thought all at once. Normally she wouldn't have minded, as that was how her brain tended to function, but the memories and distant feelings of what had happened last night didn't mesh well with it. She honestly had trouble believing it really had happened. She wasn't dreaming, was she? Crap, how long had she been brushing her teeth for? They were starting to hurt…

How… am I supposed to feel about what happened? I have no idea…

First thing they needed to do was to get their new Pokédex. Then they could freely explore Canalave's library in search of any clues regarding Team Galactic's true plans.

I mean, I'm happy, but this is so goddamn weird.

She also had to search any information available about the Pokemon she believed was influencing Shadi. If her suspicions were correct…

Shit, I hope I was a good kisser. Would he even know if I wasn't? Wait, why do I care?

Then as soon as she got the chance to she needed to start training Shadi again, needed to find a way for her to fight without putting her life at risk. Was such a thing even possible?

We're… a couple now. Why does that sound so weird when I say it in my head?

Not to mention start preparing to face against Canalave's Gym Leader. Without Enma and with Shadi temporarily out of commission a Steel-type user would be tricky to deal with. Though if she could come up with a few strategies to…

"Inyssa?"

Uxie's voice shook her out of her trance. She blinked a few times, looked down at her toothbrush and found that there was a bit of blood on it. Fuck.

"Barry's been knocking at your door for almost a minute."

"Oh. Shit."

"Do you want me to help you clear your mind once in a while?" Uxie asked as she hurried toward the door. "It seems you could use some assistance in that regard."

Shut the fuck up, she thought, trying to hide a smile.

Only when she opened the door –a bit more strongly than necessary– did she realize that she had put her hat on backwards, which Barry realized as well judging by the way his glare moved slightly up and a tiny smile formed on his lips.

"Going for a new look?"

"You shut up too," she snarled. "Why the hell where you even knocking anyway? Just come in!"

Barry shrugged. "Pays to be polite. Also…"

She caught the way his glare moved to the side a bit, and only then noticed the strange sound coming from the other side of the door. It was like a short but powerful gust of wind. Like the sound wings made as they flapped.

"So, remember how I went to check on Auri? Well…"

The Pokemon which slowly flew toward her had Auri's face, but everything else about her was wildly different. Though her torso was still somewhat egg-like in shape, she had grown out of the shell covering most of it and now sported longer legs, arms, neck and a pair of puffy, angelic wings which seemed to expel small amounts of silver dust as they flapped up and down with the rhythm of her flying.

Before she could process what she was seeing, Barry grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her Pokétch toward him as he whispered something into it. A second after, an electronic voice rang throughout the room.

Togetic: The Happiness Pokemon – Fairy/Flying Type. This Pokemon is said to be acutely attuned to the emotions and mental state of their trainer, and might even evolve into this form after sensing a powerful burst of happiness from them. They are able to absorb and distribute the joy all around them, which makes them perfect partners for trainers suffering from any kind of depression.

A low groan escaped Inyssa's lips as she took a step back and hid her face in her hands. She could feel blood rushing to her cheeks.

"Oh my god…" she whispered through the clump of embarrassment in her throat. "We're the sappiest fuckers who ever lived, aren't we?"


Their meeting with Rowan went smoother than expected, which Inyssa was thankful for. After pretty much ruining one of the city's parks and costing god knows how much money to the Association it was a miracle she got away so scot-free. Any day where she didn't get sued or had her trainer card ripped in half was a good day as far as she was concerned.

I'll have to thank the Gym Leader when I meet him for covering up for me, she thought. Still, I can only imagine what people are gonna say about me online now… not like I don't deserve whatever insult they throw at me.

But this wasn't the time to be negative, she tried to convince herself with a questionable amount of success. Things were finally looking up. She'd gotten a boyfriend, an incredible and heart-pounding Pokemon battle with said boyfriend, a brand-new and shiny red Pokedex and an entire afternoon for her to hang out with Barry and Lucas, not to mention the opportunity to do what she loved most after Pokemon training: solving puzzles.

One of her hands pressed against the pocket of her coat, where Cynthia's letter rested. She felt a chill of excitement run throughout her entire body, and couldn't help but smile as she curled her fingers into fists. She could smell adventure in the air, along with the salty, musky scent of the ocean a few streets away.

"…and sure I ended up breaking my arm, but it was still cool as heck." Barry's conversation with Lucas seeped into her train of thought, breaking her out of it. She turned toward the two boys walking alongside her. "Except for the part where Niss got hit with a lightning bolt. That was… not as cool."

"Oh my god…" Lucas whispered, eyes going wide. "That sounds..."

"Painful?" she offered. "Yeah, you have no fucking idea. But hey, at least I got some cool scars out of the whole deal." She rolled up the right sleeve of her coat, showing Lucas the dozens of vine-shaped red lines running through her arms. "What do you think?"

Lucas squinted, an uncomfortable look on his face. "I… feel like commenting on their coolness would be somewhat insensitive, considering how you got them."

"It's okay. I choose to think them as an accidental and extremely painful full-body tattoo."

"Besides," added Barry, "there's no shame in scars you got by protecting other people, right?"

"I… see." She could see Lucas trying to stifle a smile. "That attitude… really suits the two of you, I think. You really never cease to amaze me."

There was a slight pause in the conversation as both her and Barry's cheeks turned a bit pink and they exchanged a short glance as well as a wordless conversation.

Can you believe how cute this piece of shit is?

I know right?

"You're just exaggerating," said Barry after a few seconds. "It's not like we did anything incredible, just what anyone else would've done."

"The fact that you really believe that is what makes you two so amazing."

With a flick of her wrist Inyssa delivered a very light punch to the boy's arm, trying to hide her embarrassed smile from view. God, why was she so bad at taking compliments?

"Agh! What was that for?"

"Because no one calls me amazing without paying the price," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "Besides, you're forgetting about the most important part. We couldn't have done anything against that guy and his weird Pokemon if it weren't for you."

A look of confusion flashed across Lucas' face for a moment, before realization dawned on him. "O-oh, right. The silver Pokeballs." He let his shoulders fall a bit, a shy but proud smile on his lips. "I'm… really glad they were useful, if only because of an unintentional design flaw."

"You gotta own it, man. Call it a feature, not a bug."

"Yeah! Those Pokeballs ended up being so useful!" Barry added, giving the boy a strong pat on the back. "Oh. By the way, Niss, remember what you said about properly thanking him when we met again?"

She and Barry locked eyes, and a tiny, identical mischievous smile formed on their lips.

"You know what… yeah, I think I do."

"Huh? What are you two…?"

Before Lucas could react both trainers stopped at opposite sides of him and, after placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, got closer and planted a delicate kiss on his cheeks.

His reaction, or lack thereof, was immediate. Inyssa had never seen a more hilarious 'Deerling caught in a headlights' look on anyone before, and the way the dark skin of his face turned redder and redder with every second that passed only made it more wonderful.

"Wh-wha…" Lucas took a sudden step back, placing both hands on his reddened cheeks. "W-what was that for!?"

"We just told you," said Barry. "It's to thank you for those Pokeballs."

"Yeah Lucas, get with the program," Inyssa added. "There's plenty more where those came from, so if you want more feel free to keep saving our lives with cool gadgets, okay?"

"B-but… I…"

"All right then!" Inyssa cut him off by planting her feet firmly and pointing north, a huge grin on her face. "Off to the library! There's some cool secrets we need to learn!"

"Off to the library!"

Sporting similar smiles on their faces, Barry and Inyssa dragged a still dazed and embarrassed Lucas forward, heading toward the enormous building a few blocks ahead.


"Ulmere sciontionem ciiabi durii ludis."

Inyssa whispered under her breath, staring up at the carved words atop the arch separating the library's lobby from the rest of the building. They were a dark grey outlined with a bright blue, and though they seemed old and faded, their placement suggested they were meant to be the first thing most visitors saw when entering the library.

"Cool welcome mat," said Barry.

"Isn't it incredible?" Lucas asked, giddy. "Those words have been there since the library came into being hundreds of years ago! It's written in ancient Sinnohan and it means…"

"Let the light of knowledge cast away this moonless night."

She uttered the words without thinking, the crackle behind her eyes so faint that she barely noticed her eyes had turned golden. There was a moment of silence. Then realization hit her, just as Lucas turned toward her with a raised eyebrow, barely giving her time to blink and turn her eyes back to normal.

"…Yeah. How'd you know? Did you study ancient Sinnohan back in high school?"

Inyssa clenched her teeth and mentally cursed herself. Her gaze moved toward Barry and she shot him a silent plea, which he returned by simply shrugging. Fucking asshole.

"Ah… no I just… think I remember reading that somewhere online," she said. God she was bad at this. "In a… story? Of a book, about an… archeological report regarding ancient Sinnoh. Yeah, that."

Thank Mew Lucas was staring at her and not Barry, because if her complete inability to lie hadn't been enough then the mixed look of amusement, utter disappointment and second-hand embarrassment on the boy's face would have swiftly confirmed just how full of shit she was.

Lucas' brow furrowed for a moment, and he tilted his head to the side. "Oh…" There was a moment of silence, and then he relaxed his expression and smiled. "That sounds pretty interesting! Tell me the name of that book later if you remember it, okay? Though now we should probably head inside."

"Right," she said, trying not to sigh in relief. What a blessing it was, to be surrounded by a couple of dumbasses. Then again, what did that make her? "Yeah… let's get going."

The true guts of the library were massive, easily twice as big as it looked from the outside, which already appeared to be the size of two or three cathedrals. Rows and rows of curved bookcases spiraled through the many circular floors above and below, climbing up to a ceiling of clear glass so high she could barely make out and diving deep underground toward unlit chambers, darker and darker the farther away from sunlight they were. There seemed to be little rhyme or reason to the way the bookcases were arranged, looking from a distance like a bunch of concentric circles within another bunch of concentric circles.

Inyssa couldn't help but frown, feeling a distant spark in the back of her mind. Why did it look so familiar?

Unlike in the lobby they had left behind, which had a reasonable array of computers, phones, lights and electronic devices, the inside of the library itself was completely devoid of any kind of technology. Windows and chargestones were positioned all around the building in such a way that no lamps or electronic lights were necessary to illuminate any of the bookcases or hallways. Even when she took a peek past one of the handrails separating them from the lower floors, staring down at the darkest ones at the bottom, she noticed the people down there carrying odd, flickering lights with them, potent enough to illuminate whatever they were reading.

"Holy crap… it kinda looks like a labyrinth, huh Niss?" Barry said, a huge grin on his face. "I mean I'm not too big on books or libraries but this place looks so cool!"

She shot him a smile, squeezing his hand a bit. "Yeah… I wouldn't be surprised if people got lost inside here."

"Well… that's kind of what happened the first time I came here." Lucas rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "I was maybe a bit too excited and rushed in without asking any of the scrivs for directions or lights or anything to help me orient myself down there. Still, I can't say it wasn't worth it; this place is…" He let out a huge sigh, his eyes almost sparkling with excitement. "…it's so beautiful. The biggest throve of knowledge in the entire world, all those millions and millions of books at arm's reach… I feel like I could cry every time I come here."

"Yeah… try not to, okay?" said Inyssa. "Wouldn't want to make all the books damp before we got a chance to read them."

"It would be funny, though we'd probably get kicked out for that," whispered Barry.

"Of course… here, let me see if I can find the books you two were looking for." Lucas took a step forward and looked up at the higher floors, squinting. "Sinnohan myths… Mt. Coronet… the Lake Trio and the beings of time and space… yeah, I think that's in the fourth floor, section DCL. Follow me."

They zig-zagged through half a dozen hallways and went up a few flights of both regular and spiral staircases in a way which felt like they were going in circles. And yet, slowly, they reached each floor after a couple minutes and without having to turn back. Something that would have been impossible without Lucas' knowledge of the building's architecture.

In the meantime Lucas thought necessary to explain in detail how the book organization system worked, and how it was incredibly difficult to properly catalogue books according to genre or dates or content when considering where to place them inside a library. Inyssa tried her best to listen, though she could feel her attention span drifting further and further away with every word spoken. She glanced to her right; Barry hadn't even made it that far, it seemed. The look on his face was comparable to that of Johnny.

"So technically speaking, there's ought to be hundreds if not thousands of books that have been lost due to being misplaced." Lucas continued to explain, the usual stuttering of his voice gone and his posture straighter than usual. "Can you imagine that? I could be looking through one of the many bookcases around and find by pure chance a book that doesn't belong there, a book whose pages haven't been seen by anyone for hundreds of years! Isn't it exciting!?"

"Y-yeah… sounds fun, I guess." Barry gulped, trying his best to form a reassuring smile. "Everyone has their own type of adventure they like, right?"

Inyssa nodded. "I'd call you a nerd but that does sound pretty neat." Also you're way too cute when you nerd out like that, she thought. "I've always liked the idea of finding secret books or scrolls containing forbidden information. Though in reality you'd probably just find… like, an old book about berries or shit like that."

"The journey is often more fun than the destination, though. At least that's what the people in books say." Lucas smiled, and then stopped walking as soon as they reached one of the furthermost bookcases within the fourth floor. "Ah, here it is! Hold on, let me see if I can find a book like the one you're looking for."

Lucas disappeared into one of the crevices between the bookcases, his head moving like that of a Hoothoot and his gaze flying through the titles of the books all around him. Finally, after what felt like an entire minute, he picked one up from one of the upper rows and opened it. He whispered something under his breath, then made a gesture for them to come over.

"You find something?" asked Barry, tone excited.

"I think so…" Lucas frowned as he moved from one page to the other. "This section is full of books about Sinnohan myths but I was trying to find something a bit more… academic than the usual pixie tales or storybooks which tend to dominate this section of the library." He lifted up the book from the spine and showed its leather-bound cover to them. "Birth of Sinnoh: A comprehensive listing of myths and folk tales by Draccus Lochees."

"Sounds fancy," said Inyssa. "Is there anything there about the space and time Pokemon?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact…" He flipped a couple more pages, then his expression brightened. "Here!"

Inyssa and Barry hurried to his side and tried to look over his shoulder as best they could, the space between both bookcases barely wide enough to accommodate three people. There were two almost identical illustrations at the top left of the page, depicting the rough shape of two enormous dragon-like Pokemon with shining eyes and jewels encrusted all over their bodies. And written under it…

"Dialga and Palkia," she whispered. Something about their appearance… a small spark crackled behind her eyes for a moment. Why did they look so familiar? "Is that… them?"

Lucas nodded, then began reading aloud the text beneath the illustrations.

"Strangely enough, and in clear counterpart to the Lake Trio whose tales and myths are too numerous to count, these two are rather obscure as far as legendary Pokemon go. Our only reference for their appearance are a few cave paintings dating from thousands of years ago and the two oldest statues in the region –located at opposite extremes of Eterna city– which depict these creatures with debatable accuracy."

"Wait," Inyssa turned toward Barry, eyes wide. "Is that…"

"We saw one of them!" Barry jumped in excitement, poking with his finger at the illustration on the book. "That one, when we first got to Eterna! It was when we found…"

She immediately squeezed his arm and shot him an icy glare. Barry froze, then closed his mouth.

"So… according to this it's Palkia's statue we saw," said Inyssa. "Anyway, keep reading."

Lucas glanced from her to Barry and then back, clearly confused.

"Uh… sure. Here…" He cleared his throat. "While not much is known about their origin or appearance, some ancient manuscripts and paintings held in Celestic Town have helped us shine light on the exact nature of these two Pokemon. According to legend, they are some of the first life forms to have come into existence, created by Arceus itself in order to give birth to space and time respectively. Palkia (etym: meaning dragon of pearls) gave shape to the universe while its sibling Dialga (etym: meaning dragon of diamonds) put it into motion. Their forms are said to always be engulfed in shadows, perhaps referencing the theory that they live outside of our reality, which might explain why they are so scarcely revered in comparison to the siblings of the Lake Trio."

Engulfed in shadows… Inyssa gulped, the image of that strange painting within the depths of Celestic Ruins coming to her. She remembered the darkness which had swallowed the entire fresco once it had stopped moving, which they had at first thought as the world not yet having come into being… but what if it was something different? What if Arceus, Dialga and Palkia being represented as those three lights wasn't just an artistic rendering?

How about it? She spoke to Uxie inside her mind. Any of this ringing a bell?

"I'm… afraid not," it answered back, a hint of shame in its voice. "As I said me and my siblings came into being long after these two Pokemon, and I can't say I've ever laid eyes on them. Well, not eyes, but…"

Yeah yeah, I get it. She scoffed. You three are so much less useful than I thought you'd be.

"I'm aware of that."

"In conclusion…" Lucas kept reading, his glare focused almost at the end of the page. "…while these two Pokemon are depicted as possessing incredible influence over reality itself, not much unlike Arceus, it is an oddity that their existence has not been incorporated into Sinnohan folk tales and myths, with very few exceptions."

Inyssa waited for more, but Lucas simply breathed in and lowered the book, looking up at them.

"Wait… that's it?" asked Barry. "But that was like, barely a page!"

"And it didn't really tell us anything we didn't know already," added Inyssa. "Are you sure this is the best book we can find on the subject?"

Lucas nodded, lowering the book with a disheartened look on his face. "I've read a lot of Draccus' books; he's one of the most renowned historians of this century. If he couldn't find anything then I doubt anyone else has."

No one said anything for a few seconds. Inyssa felt her shoulders drop and immediately looked up at Barry, who seemed to be thinking hard about something. This couldn't be it, could it? Had they really come here just for nothing?

"No… there's gotta be more." Barry finally broke the silence, grabbing the book from Lucas' hands and forming a smile as he raised it in front of his chest. "You said it yourself, there's oughta be a bunch of books here that no one's read since like… forever. I'm sure if we look hard enough we'll find something!" He looked at Inyssa. "Cynthia told us to come here because she trusted us to find that book, right?"

"Yeah… yeah, you're right." She shone his smile back to him and straightened her posture. "Come on, let's keep looking. We're not leaving this library until we find what we're looking for."

They began searching the bookcases of that section one by one, Lucas looking from left to right and Inyssa doing the opposite, with Barry using the moving ladder to look at the books which were too high to reach.

It was pleasant at first, or at least more than she would have expected. The dry, cracked leather, the faint smell of old pages, the texture of each book as she picked it up by the spine, opened it and ran a finger through its pages, it made her feel calm and content in a way few things could. Some books smelled of dust and dried flowers, while some had a faint scent of citric or coffee or chocolate. The smell was always there, and yet it was never strong enough to bother her nose. It made her feel strangely at home.

However, her enjoyment was short-lived. Inyssa got bored easily, and twenty minutes later the whimsy and pleasure of reading through every book had completely evaporated, leaving only a nagging, biting frustration. All she found were countless myths, stories and studies about the Lake Trio with occasional mentions of the Lunar Duo. Not a single scrap of paper detailing new information about Dialga and Palkia, or… anything else for that matter.

She slammed one of the books in its hole out of frustration, earning a glare from Lucas. God, why bother mentioning those two Pokemon if they weren't going to provide any detailed information about them? All she found were stupid rumors and nonsensical myths. What did they look like? Cute, fluffy dragons, apparently. What were they like? Nice and cuddly, it seemed. How were you supposed to meet them? By dragging them down from space with a chain made of rubies. What the hell was wrong with these people? How could they write something so asinine with a straight face?

She even found a red leather-bound book with no title and pages so brittle and yellow one could only assume the tome was hundreds of years old, if not more. She opened it, saw it was some kind of travel diary, and promptly closed it. What a waste of time.

The strangest part of the evening however was when she pulled a book out and found herself face to face with a yellow, fuzzy bug Pokemon the size of her palm, staring at her with its eight blue eyes. Luckily she wasn't the one checking the upper rows, otherwise she would have fallen backwards as she yelped in surprise, probably cracking her head open in the process.

Lucas explained –from the other side of the hallway, his voice barely reaching her– that she shouldn't be afraid of the Joltik; they were supposed to be there. The library gave shelter to hundreds of the little buggers, offering them a place to stay and a share of the building's electricity in exchange for eating any critter that might want to harm the books and absorbing the dust of the building onto their own electrically-charged fur, thus extending the books' lifespan and keeping them nice and clean.

Inyssa listened to his explanation as far away as she could from the Joltik. As interesting as she found the idea of a modern, mutually assisted ecosystem between humans and Pokemon, that didn't mean she wanted to examine it up close. She hated anything with eight legs, as small as they were. No one needed that many.

At least Lucas seems to be having fun…

Another twenty minutes passed and Inyssa could feel her frustration quickly turning into exhaustion. Now each book felt heavy in her hands and the mere act of reading a few lines made her head hurt, not to mention she had to reread every paragraph at least two times to fully understand it. It felt as if someone had poured cement fix into the cracks of her brain.

She closed the last book, sighed and took a step back to rest for a few seconds. How much ground had they covered so far; half of this one bookcase? Less? She looked out toward the space between the hallways and toward the end of the floor. A spark of vertigo hit her stomach. How long would it take them to look through the title and summary of every single book in the library? A week without sleep or rest? Two weeks? Judging by the fact she could barely see the ceiling or the base subterranean floor, she guessed it was probably more than that. How dizzying, how overwhelming…

And yet, a strange determination remained within her. The book they were looking for was here. She could feel it in her bones, in the spark behind her eyes every time they turned golden, urging her to keep looking. It was here. All they had to do was find it.

She came back to reality with the sound of Barry gently slamming his head against one of the books.

"How much longer is this gonna taaake?" He let out an exaggerated scoff, his voice tired and slightly whiny. "We're barely halfway and there's like a million more bookcases to look through."

"Hey, weren't you the one who said we couldn't give up?" she asked, crossing her arms and glaring up at him. "Don't go regretting your words now."

"Yeah well… it's your fault for listening to me."

"Hmph."

Lucas placed one of the books back where it belonged and cracked his knuckles, looking as determined as ever. "Maybe the Champion left you some other clue in that letter? A hint about where the book might be?"

"I don't think so." She grudgingly took out the letter from her pocket and unfolded it. "Unless you can find some clue I missed, which I doubt."

Both boys huddled up behind her, almost pushing her to the floor with their weight as they looked over her shoulders at the letter. There was silence for a few seconds, until Lucas spoke.

"Hmm… you might be right. I don't see any other secret message besides the two you already told me about."

"Yeah. There's only the letter and her signature at the bottom. Unless she wrote something else with invisible ink I doubt we'll find …"

That's when she felt it. A powerful wave of excitement, so sharp and sudden it made her incredibly dizzy. She heard Barry's gasp a second after.

"Wait… that's it!"

She frowned, pushing him away a few feet. At least try to control your powers, asshole was written all over her face.

"What, invisible ink? That's stupid, Cynthia would never…"

"No, not that!" Barry smiled like a madman and pointed at the piece of paper in her hands. "Those letters and numbers at the end! Cynthia never told us what her middle name was, did she?"

"I… uh, no?" She tilted her head to the side, baffled. What the hell was he talking about. "But judging from the letter it's safe to assume it starts with V."

"Does it really?" he asked, his body almost vibrating from excitement. "Lucas, you said something about this being section DCL, right? What's that about; how are the books here organized?"

Lucas shared the same look as Inyssa. "W-well… they are divided by section, row and number. The numerals out there in the hallway tells you what section it is, the row is a single letter that represents a specific bookcase and then the number tells you…" His voice slowly fizzed away as his gaze turned distant. "…where you can find the book in question."

Inyssa's eyes went wide, realization coming to her as well. She looked down fast enough to make her neck click and focused her eyes on what she thought was Cynthia's signature and the date of the letter.

"x.C.V.A 2518." She read the letters out loud, voice barely above a whisper. "Th-they're numerals. Section ninety-five, row A, book 2518! T-this… this is it!"

There was a moment where they simply looked at each other, the joy and excitement in that hallway almost enough to make the bookcases vibrate around them. Then, almost unconsciously, Inyssa threw herself at Barry. She placed both arms around his shoulders and planted a sudden kiss on his lips, still smiling.

"You really are an unappreciated genius," she whispered as soon as the kiss broke.

He shot her one of those smiles of him which she loved. "All in a day's work."

"W-wait! Did you…" They turned to find a flabbergasted Lucas, eyes wide and red covering his cheeks. "D-do you just go around kissing everyone now or are you two…"

She interrupted him by grabbing his arm, as well as Barry's, and pulling them forward toward the hallway.

"I'll explain later," she said. "Come on!"


Once more Lucas led them through the labyrinthic layout of the library, heading down toward the third of the five subterranean floors where he said section ninety-five was. The light of the windows and the glass ceiling above dimmed the more they went down. Inyssa had to squint once they reached the end of the stairs leading to B2. She could barely make out the shapes of the bookcases around her, much less the metal plaques on the side of them announcing what section they were in. How were they supposed to find anything here?

Luckily she didn't need to voice the question out loud, as Lucas answered it before she could.

"Stay here for a second. We'll need some lights." He cleared his throat and placed both hands on the side of his mouth as he whispered into the darkness. "Uh… excuse me? Could we get three of you over here?"

Inyssa blinked in confusion. "Three of what?"

"Yeah man, I don't think the lights are gonna come to us just because we…"

Barry's voice trailed off as a bright, purple glow appeared at the end of a nearby bookcase, slowly approaching them. Two more flickered to life a moment after. The silence around them became thick as the lights came into view, as well as the things carrying them.

They looked like candles at first. Chubby, white candles the size of her palm floating through the air toward them, their wicks burning with a weak purple flame. But… there was something else too, a faint glimmer just under the head of the candles. Gold. It looked like… an eye? Inyssa felt a rush of panic and her hand immediately went to her belt.

"Wait!" Lucas put an arm between her and the candles. "It's okay, they're here to help."

The three… things stopped a few inches from them, and only then their form became clear. What Inyssa had mistaken for a candle were the Pokemon's bodies, and the gooey bumps of wax falling down at the sides of their heads were their hair, apparently.

The one in front of Inyssa opened its mouth to smile, its one golden eye finding hers. She couldn't help but shiver, a sudden rush of cold spreading throughout her entire body.

"Oh my gosh…" Barry whispered. She didn't need to see him to know he was smiling. "Look at their little arms and mouths! They're so cute! What are they?"

Inyssa grabbed the Pokédex from her pocket and pointed it at one of the creatures, determined to answer that question herself.

Litwick: The Candle Pokemon – Ghost/Fire Type. This species is most commonly found in cemeteries and dark forests. They will offer themselves as a light source for lost humans and intentionally lead them astray, slowly absorbing their life force to use as fuel for their flames, until their victim collapses and dies of exhaustion.

An uncomfortable silence spread through the dark hallway. Inyssa looked down at the Pokédex, blinked, then looked up at the smiling Litwick, its expression so cute and innocent that it was hard to believe what she had just heard.

"I… I don't know about this," said Barry.

"Yeah," she added. "Like… I have a flashlight app on my Pokétch."

"It'll be okay, trust me!" Without fear or hesitation Lucas showed its palm to one of the creatures, who came down to rest on top of it. "The Litwick in this library have been trained not to hurt people. The heat from your hand should be more than enough to fuel their flame, which won't burn or produce heat unless they want them too, so us and the books will be safe."

"That still sounds like more trouble than it's worth," she said.

"Well, flashlights and lamps are actually prohibited inside the library so…"

"Yeah come on Niss!" Barry took a step forward and followed Lucas' example, offering his palm to one of the remaining Litwick. "We get to use ghost fire to look around! How can you say no to something that cool?"

She squinted at the little bugger in front of her. Still floating, still smiling that eerie smile, not to mention the flicker of its flame looked… hungry, almost. Sighing, she raised her palm and let it rest on it.

"All right… just try not to eat too much of my soul; I doubt you'll like the taste."

"It's probably cold and bitter, like wine," said Barry.

"Shut your fucking mouth."

Despite the uncomfortable feeling of having the heat of her palm slowly absorbed by a ghost Pokemon, she couldn't argue with the results; their light was just strong enough to guide them through the lower floors without being burdensome on their eyes.

After a couple more minutes of wandering around they finally reached their destination. Bookcase A, section ninety-five. It looked exactly the same as every other one they'd seen, and yet the spark in Inyssa's stomach crackled strongly. Here it was. Now all they had to do was grab it.

"Must be a displaced book since this is the embroidery section. Oh well, it should be… up over there." Lucas pointed at the second highest row of the bookcase, which rested at least nine feet off the ground. "The… thin, black one, I think."

"It's a bit too high up," she said.

"Yeah, let me see if I can find one of the ladders." Lucas turned around, focusing the flame of his Litwick further down the hallway. "Should be over here…"

Inyssa felt fingers brushing her hand, and a moment after Barry appeared at her side with a familiar grin on his face.

"What are you planning?" she whispered low enough for Lucas not to hear her.

"Just watch."

He furrowed his brow, took a deep breath and almost immediately his eyes turned a bright gold. A faint purple glow covered his arm as he raised it up at the book, which a moment after came out by itself and hovered in the air, still. Barry slowly lowered it toward his hand, grabbing it with a satisfied look on his face.

"Showoff," she said. "Think you're cool because you're good at telekinesis and I'm not?"

"Kinda, yeah."

The sound of her swatting at his arm caught Lucas' attention. He turned around and looked confused at the book on the boy's hands.

"H-how did you grab it?"

Barry opened his mouth, though it took a couple seconds for the words to come out. "I… jumped."

"Oh… must've been a nice jump then." Lucas smiled, and Inyssa had to contain her desire to slap her palm against her forehead. Not a great idea considering Litwick was resting on it. "All right, let's see if this is the one."

Barry handed the book to Lucas and the three of them huddled close in a triangle, their ghostly companions now floating above them like crowns, shining their pale light on the tome. It was thin and encased in black, cracked leather that smelled of something she couldn't quite identify, but it reminded her of the Old Chateau. As Lucas opened it she saw the paper, dry and yellow-ish, crackling at the turn of every page.

It was a small book, she realized. Couldn't possibly have more than fifty pages. Lucas reached what looked like the middle-point, and stopped.

"Here it is."

The room seemed to dim and the air became dense as the boy took a deep breath and began to read.

"I stand here today at the base of Mt. Coronet, the result of millions of years of change, of creation and destruction, and I wonder. I wonder what lies above. I wonder of times long past, when legends walked this earth and reality was nothing but the canvas through which they would manifest their fate. I stand here and I wonder… what lies beyond the stories and myths?

"Not much, according to those around me. They are simply tales of the past, my predecessor tells me. Our task is simply to memorize them and make sure they are never forgotten, for even something as insignificant as stories are a form of knowledge, and knowledge is the most important weapon of all. One day, my father tells me, others may ask what we know, and then our true task will commence.

"It seems, even after becoming the Lorekeeper of Sinnoh, there are still secrets that escape my grasp. But that is just fine. For what fun is there in finding the truth the easy way?"

Inyssa felt a chill. The Lorekeeper? Could this be…?

No, the book looked too old to have been written by Cynthia. Someone from her family, then? If it belonged to her grandmother or one of her ancestors then it explained why she knew about it when no one else did.

"…the latest target of my interest have been the twin dragons themselves, Dialga and Palkia. Unlike with every other myth I have attempted to study, these two have proved quite troublesome, as the few pieces of truth I have been able to find are barely sufficient to paint a bare sketch of what lies beyond. These legendary Pokemon are said to embody time and space and, unlike other legendaries with similar characteristics (Groudon and Kyogre, for example), their domains lie not within our world or even our dimension, but beyond it.

"And… that is it. Until today, that is all the information I was able to find. How… harrowing. There are statues of Dialga and Palkia in Eterna City, probably built hundreds if not thousands of years ago, and yet no other record remains of their existence? Of their story? We honor and worship Arceus, the Original One, and yet talk not of its two most powerful creations? I wonder… is it the power itself? Stories of the Lake Trio and their chosen humans are exciting; their struggles, their foolishness, their rises and falls, it all works wonderfully to paint a picture of humanity itself. The legendary heroes reminds us of what we can achieve, of the power we have over reality. Perhaps this is why not many stories have been told about Dialga and Palkia? Not many interesting stories can come from omnipotent beings who share nothing in common with us, after all.

"That's where my search should have stopped. And yet my mind, pesky as usual, wanted more. It wondered… are they truly omnipotent? After what happened in Hoenn many years ago, after those people somehow managed to capture and control the lords of the sea and the land themselves… one can't help but think. Is the same possible for these two? The thought itself was enough to send a shiver down my spine, which is why I knew I was on the right track. After all, as long as power exists, no matter how grand or unattainable, humans will try to seize it. This is an undeniable truth of life."

Inyssa had to remind herself to breathe. In a moment she felt a familiar crackle and a multitude of memories flashed before her. Team Galactic…the Lake Trio... what Cyrus had said the first two times they had met…

No, that can't be it, she tried to convince herself. That's… it's just absurd…

"I shared my thoughts with my father, and while he at first seemed hesitant to address the topic, in the end I managed to convince him to lend me the golden ring. Already technically mine, as I am the new Lorekeeper, but it still felt right to ask. After all, I know that there is still one place left which might offer me the answers I'm looking for.

"And indeed I found something, even if it wasn't what I expected. In the heart of the Celestic Ruins lay a most peculiar fresco, one whose secrets can be unveiled by the ring I now hold. At first it didn't seem like much, simply an artistic recreation of what I assume was the origin of Sinnoh itself, but at the end waited for me a most peculiar poem, written in ancient sinnohan and emblazoned in shining, golden letters. My familiarity with the language isn't perfect, but I will do my best to translate it accurately. It read as such…"

Lucas looked up. "Should I do a voice or..."

"Oh, that'd be fun," said Barry.

"It's fine. Just read it," she said.

"Alright…" Lucas cleared his throat and began to read. "In the beginning there was nothing but a tempestuous sea of chaos. A light broke through the heart of nothingness, and the Original One began to be. Its power gave rise to two entities. Time began to turn. Space began to expand. Its soul gave rise to three smaller souls. Once together, the three ordered reality to manifest…"

Inyssa and Barry glanced at each other while Lucas finished reading the poem. The rest was the same as when they had read it themselves –if somewhat awkwardly translated– but that sixth line was new. It was the one that had been erased. The one she had theorized to describe the original duty of the Lake Trio, before they became the protectors of the human spirit.

Interesting…

"…it seems my search was not in vain." Lucas continued to read. "I wrote the poem down and read it over and over again, all night long. Even now I find my mind pelted by innumerable questions, few of which I have answers for."

Preaching to the choir, sister, Inyssa thought.

"What is this sea of chaos that existed before Arceus came to be? Where is the Hall of Origin located? What are these seventeen shards? And most importantly, what is the nature of the connection between the Lake Trio and Dialga and Palkia? I can't help but wonder… what if their existence isn't a simple coincidence?

"The possibility is haunting, but if the combined might of Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie are able to…"

Lucas' finger grabbed the edge of the page and turned it, filling the hallway with a dry, crinkly sound. Inyssa held her breath. She could feel the anticipation around her, so thick it could be cut with a…

"W-what…?" There was a moment of silence. "What the hell!?"

The next page was blank. Not only that, but the little spikes of paper jutting out from the connecting point of both halves showed that the following two pages had been ripped from the book. Inyssa opened her mouth and didn't know if the sound that came out was a scoff or a gasp. The sheer anger and indignity in the room was almost palpable, and not just because Barry was broadcasting his own all around.

"Oh come on," Barry sighed, his shoulders dropping. "Really?"

"You can't be fucking serious," she muttered angrily.

Lucas frowned. "I can't believe someone would do this to a book."

"Is there something after that?" she asked. "Like, about Dialga and Palkia."

"Well…" A few seconds passed while the boy's gaze flew through the following pages, his expression turning sourer with every second that passed. "No, it looks like the author moved on to writing about other myths after that."

"Son of a bitch…"

Three echo-y giggles reached her, and she looked up to find the Litwick trying their best not to burst into laughter. She felt heat rise to her face. Would it be a dick move to punch one of them in the face? I mean, they were ghosts so they were technically already dead…

Her revenge fantasy was interrupted by Barry. "At least we learned the whole poem this time. So we did gain something from coming here."

"Yeah… I guess you're right." She rubbed her eyelids slowly, letting out a sigh. "Do you think we can like… keep the book? Even if that's all it says about Dialga and Palkia I'd still like to read the rest."

"Well… the book is technically displaced." Lucas looked like he shrunk into himself, an uncomfortable look on his face. "And the Champion did send you to retrieve it, so as much as it pains me to break the library's rules…"

"Awesome. Give it here, then."

Lucas did as he was told, somewhat reluctantly, and let the tome rest on her hands.

Then everything went white.

She heard the distant sound of thunder, and when she opened her eyes she found herself someplace other than the library. It was a small room with a bed, a wardrobe and about a dozen books and pieces of paper strewn all around, barely illuminated by a couple of candles placed on the floor below. A young, blonde girl sat between them, looking down at the pages of the very same book Inyssa held in her hands.

The blonde girl turned the page and blinked, her stormy grey eyes almost as bright as the smile on her face.

"What the…?"

She blinked, and the scene changed again. Now she was back in the library, in the very same hallway they had found the book in, but neither Lucas or Barry were anywhere to be found. A single person stood before her, reading –once again– the same book. Her ash-black hair was tied back in a ponytail and the green of her eyes seemed to shine with something she couldn't quite identify.

"S-Shadi?"

Inyssa saw her sister turn the page, and then her eyes went wide. The name of the chapter was written in big, stylized letters, so she had no problem reading it.

Darkrai and Cresselia: The Lunar Duo.

"Here you are…" Shadi's lips formed the shadow of a smile. "Now…"

Her fingers closed around the edges and, without hesitation, she ripped out every single page from that chapter, crushing the pieces of paper into balls and saving them into her pocket. Inyssa could only stare with a mix of anger and horror. Why would she do that? What could possibly drive her to…?

"See? That wasn't so hard" Shadi let out a little laugh and looked over her shoulder, her gaze meeting something invisible. "Wouldn't want anyone to learn anything they're not supposed to… eh, partner?"

Inyssa blinked one more time, both the memory and the world itself vanishing as she did so.