Chapter 49 – The Capital of Pumbloomberg
Pelame was roused awake by the screams of terror coming from outside the house. Though none of them were coming from anyone she knew, it still wasn't a good sign. And as soon as she heard the sound of falling heavy rubble, she knew something really terrible was happening. She jumped out of bed and took a look outside. A sheet of Mortite was creeping along the ground toward their current location. Dark Eyes were turning numerous Pokémon into Mortite statues. Smaller Mortite spires were jutting out from the sides of the buildings and firing off energy shots. Soon, Pelame was dragged away from the window.
"Come on, Pelame, we gotta get out of here!" Pinna cried, worried.
Pelame followed her parents outside, where everyone else was. Zeki had Zaki's still-unconscious body on her back. They all were joined by the ones who had stayed in a motel.
"Just don't look into the Eyes, and we'll be fine!" Pelame ordered. She got out her Eon Flute and played it. "I hope they haven't become Mortite…" She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw them perfectly well. "Thank Arceus." The two had on harnesses that were connected to wagons being carried behind them.
"Long time, no see, Pelame!" Latias joyfully greeted. "Where to—"
"MAISON PUMBLOOM! DON'T LOOK INTO THE DARK EYES!" Pelame belted out.
"Gotcha," Latios answered. "It'll be a bit of a long trip since we have lots of Pokémon to carry. Good thing we picked up these wagon-harnesses. Climb on."
Everyone did so.
"How are these staying up?" Torden asked.
"Strong supports," Blessing answered. "These harnesses must have been expensive."
"Kinda. 70,000 Pokéns isn't loose pocket change. Now let's go!"
The Eon Duo took off as soon as the passengers buckled up.
"Reaching Maison Pumbloom will take about 45 minutes, so relax, everyone," Latias said.
"By the way, Latias, between you and your brother, who flies faster?" Torden asked.
"I do," Latios answered.
"Then why slow down?"
"Well, obviously, I don't want us to get separated."
"Plus, I don't want to be staring directly into my brother's big blue butt for an entire flight."
"Sis, please don't…"
"Take it from me, guys: it's not a pleasant sight."
"Eh, I think it looks kinda cute," Sanjuro interjected, patting Latios's rear end.
"Hey, stop that!" Latios ordered as Sanjuro gave a mean-spirited giggle. "And where'd you come from, anyway?"
"Custody teleportation. I've been in that house Pelame stayed in since last night."
"Oh, that reminds me…" Pinna transferred Custody back to Pelame. "I can take it back if you want."
"No thanks," Pelame answered. "I can handle him."
"Oh, joy…" Sanjuro complained.
"Je ne peux pas croire que ce soit entrain d'arriver..." Henri said sadly. "Qu'est ce que c'est de toute façon ?" Henri looked at Pelame. "Vous avez étudié cette chose pas vrai?"
"My brother wants to know about the…uh…" Marie turned back to her brother. "Qu'est ce que tu voulais savoir à propos de la Mortite ?"
"Tout. Qu'est ce qui la fait apparaître, et qu'est ce qu'est la "Dark Blessing" exactement."
Marie nodded to confirm her brother's request and then turned back to Pelame. "He wants to know everything about Mortite and the Dark Blessing. Every single detail."
"I see…" Pelame answered. "Well, I've got lots to go over, so I hope you're in the mood to translate the verbal equivalent of a novella."
"Fire away."
At Marie's insistence, Pelame explained everything she knew about the Dark Blessing, making sure to include her own experiences with being attacked by it and fighting it. It made for quite a long conversation since Marie had to translate for her brother. By the time all was said and done, the Eon Duo entered the jurisdiction of Luttney.
"Quel Calvaire..." was all Henri could say.
"Je sais Henri..."" Pelame responded.
"Penser qu'elle frappe ici aussi maintenant… Chestebury est quasiment enterré sous cette chose- Attendez une minute..." Henri then remembered someone. "FLYGON! Il ets toujours a Chestebury! On doit le sauver!"
"Oh mon dieu tu as raison ! Latios, take Pelame to Buryshire Detention Facility! Flygon's there, and he could become Mortite!"
"Okay, but I'll have to set some of you down first," Latios responded. He made a quick landing and let off everyone except Pelame, her parents, and Sanjuro.
"Oh, okay. I'm coming along, then without a chance to say 'absolutely not?'" Sanjuro complained.
"How weird, Sanjuro," Pelame teased. "I thought you'd jump at the chance to prove how 'awesome' you are."
"Well, I'd much rather be doing that by beating you in battle, Pelame. But if a simple thankless rescue mission will get me some recognition, let's get it over with."
"That's the spirit, Sanjuro!"
Latios then took off with his lightened load of passengers.
"Wow, Pelame, you're really good at taming this guy," Pinna complimented his daughter.
"'Taming.' You flatter her too much. I may be in her custody, but I'm definitely not under her control."
"Whatever you say."
"HELP ME! I DON'T WANNA BE MORTITE!" Flygon screamed in terror as he attempted to break out of his shackles. The Mortite had reached his cell and was getting close to him. His desperation to escape turned into outright panic. "STAY AWAY FROM ME! DON'T TURN ME INTO YOU!"
Latios set his passengers down at the entrance to the facility. Pelame and Pinna pooled their Alpha Power together to get through the Mortite covering the front door and then Pinna broke it down with a Double-Edge attack.
"You could've left the door to me, you know," Sanjuro griped. "I'm better built."
"Then put up or shut up," Neve scolded. "You're indoors with Pelame, so you have complete freedom of roaming."
"That I do. See you later, or until you leave." Sanjuro ran off.
"You know, maybe we should split up," Pinna suggested. "We'll cover more ground that way."
"Good idea," Pelame responded. "If anyone else has become Mortite, we can save them, too. Go back to Latios when you're done, and we'll all meet up there."
"What about Sanjuro?" Neve asked.
"As soon as I leave, he'll be teleported outside with me."
"All right. Let's get going."
Pelame and Pinna activated their Alpha Power, with Neve using Helping Hand to boost her husband's power. "I'll be going with Pinna."
"Yeah, I'll need that Helping Hand boost to catch up to you, dear," Pinna said to his daughter. "Together, we'll both get this jail Purified."
"Excellent idea. All right, here we go."
Pelame took the east wing of the jail and her parents took the west wing, repelling the Mortite as they went. Pelame followed the sound of Flygon's panicked screaming to navigate through the facility to find him. When she reached him, he was already being petrified. The Mortite had reached his neck. He could only move his head around.
Pelame had two of the prison guards flanking her by the time she made it to Flygon's cell. They unlocked the door for her and allowed her in to rescue the prisoner. When the Mortite retreated from the terrified salamence, it also retreated from the room itself.
"You saved me… thanks…" Flygon said, nearly crying.
"Come on, we need to get going!" Pelame responded. She turned to the guards. "Come with us. We'll transfer this guy to a jail in Luttney."
"Sounds like a deal," responded one of the guards. "You got a way to do it?"
"Yeah, I have a ride. Let's get out of here."
As soon as Pelame, the guards, and Flygon (who was dragged out by the guards) arrived and boarded Latios's wagon, Pinna and Neve joined them soon after. Sanjuro appeared once Pelame left the building.
"Yeah yeah yeah, just get your spiel over with now," Sanjuro said irritably.
"So, how'd you do, Sanjuro?" Pelame asked as Latios took off.
"Uh, can you make a quick stop at Loudly Detention Center?" asked one of the guards.
"Sure," Latios answered. "It's nice that it's on the way to Maison Pumbloom."
"My turn! Pelame asked me something first!" Sanjuro interrupted. "Now then, before you left the building and called me to you, I was busy rescuing your helpless parents from an advancing sheet of Mortite! If you'd have seen it, you'd have swooned over my amazing skills rescuing them!"
"I guess it's good she wasn't there, then!" Pinna retorted. "Or actually, no, I wish she was there to see what truly happened!"
"Yeah, dear, Sanjuro would've hated for Pelame to see him have to be saved from the advancing Mortite," Neve added. "Boy, did he embarrass himself trying to break free when it got his legs."
"Oh, yeah! That was so funny!" said a gengar suddenly appearing from Pelame's shadow.
"Tastebud?!" Pelame gasped in shock.
"Yep, I'm going back to my original name, dearie! No more of that 'Big Fat Scary Purple' rubbish! No more Big Fat Syndicate of Purple. And by the way, you may want to get on them, because they escaped."
"Well, thanks for the tip, but why'd you leave?" asked one of the guards riding along.
"Pelame was in one of the houses we were told by Higon to attack. I'd have ditched the job if I knew she was there. I don't want to hurt her."
"Well, thanks for looking out for me," Pelame said with just a hint of sarcasm.
"Look, Pelame, I know our first meeting wasn't pleasant, but I wanna change."
"Then why'd you join such a notorious gang, then?" interjected a guard.
"Pelame likes to do the right thing all the time. I hoped that being in the Syndicate would enable me another chance to see her when she inevitably would come after them. Of course, then Higon betrayed us and we all got arrested. But I guess it all worked out in the end, because now I'm here with her." He sat down next to Pelame, resting on her shoulder. "Pelame, could I please have another chance, my lovely? You're such a lovely Pokémon everyone who knows you should be lucky to know, and I want to help you."
"Well, first of all, get off my shoulder," Pelame said assertively. "And respect my space. Second of all, explain about Higon. You mentioned twice now that she betrayed you and the rest of the Syndicate."
"Ugh, Higon, who insisted we call her 'Little Thin Running Green'—"
"Wait a minute, Higon was 'Little Thin Running Green?'" asked one of the guards. "We searched through the Syndicate leader's email history and found many emails sent to him from a Pokémon using that label."
"Why not go ask her, then?"
"I know you were trying to be sarcastic, but that's a good idea." The clefable guard turned to Latios. "Sorry, but we need to make another detour. Can you turn back around to the giant mansion just over there?"
"Sure, but please let this be the last detour," Latios answered. He turned around and flew in the opposite direction. "So, where is this mansion exactly?"
"Keep going straight," Flygon answered. "We'll be there in two minutes."
Right on Flygon's prediction, Latios's cargo landed at the front porch of the mansion in Chestebury in two minutes.
"Everyone, don't look into the Dark Eyes!" Pelame warned.
"Got it," responded one of the guards. "All right, let's sweep the place and find our Pokémon of Interest! Remember, she's a flygon with no wings!"
Keeping their eyes off of any Dark Eyes that tried to impede their progress, their search yielded only an old computer that was left on. There was an email open.
"To Miss Higon,
Per your recent divorce and the arrest of your ex-husband, all of his belongings now belong to you. The transaction has gone through as of this morning at midnight. We thank you for your cooperation during this tough time of yours.
Sincerely,
Chestebury National Bank"
"She wanted everything I had…" Flygon said, feeling betrayed.
"But where is she, though?" Pelame asked.
Before getting any answers, the house began to shake. Everyone left the house and found that it began to shrink and lift out of its foundation. Soon, it was small enough to be able to fit into Pelame's backpack. It flew up into the sky and vanished somewhere, leaving everyone who saw it shocked and awed.
That evening, Latios had gotten his passengers to the front gate of Maison Pumbloom, where Latias and the rest of the traveling party was waiting.
"How long have you all been standing here?" Pelame asked.
"Nearly an hour," Mori answered. "We explained to the President's guards already."
"That he did, and you sure sound heroic from his description," interjected one of the two furret guarding the gate.
"Heroic? Me?" Pelame couldn't keep herself from blushing. "I mean, I want to do good for the world, but I'm hardly a hero."
"Well, why don't we let our president be the judge of that?" The guard opened the gate. "Until he says otherwise, Pelame only."
Pelame stepped forward through the opened gate which shut behind her. She followed the guard into Maison Pumbloom. It was tough for her to resist the urge to go explore the interior, which was one of the fanciest and awe-inspiring she'd ever seen. "All in good time, Pelame," she mentally told herself as she followed the guard up to the second floor (third floor by the count she was used to). They stopped in front of a door that was the fourth one down the hall.
"The president is beyond this door. Please be courteous to him, as he is a World Leader."
Pelame nodded in confirmation. She entered the door the guard opened and slowly walked up to the desk at the opposite side of the room. Sitting on the chair was a small chatot dressed in a dark gray coat.
"Good evening, Miss Pelame," he greeted graciously. "Welcome to Maison Pumbloom."
Pelame bowed to the president.
"Oh, no need for bowing. Here, handshakes are the customary formality."
He stood up and fluttered down to Pelame, offering his right wing. Pelame offered her right paw, which the chatot grabbed and shook.
"I'm very honored to meet you, Mister President," Pelame said.
"Actually, it is I who should be honored to meet you, Miss Pelame. I have been informed by Emperor Kentahito about your bravery. Your reputation precedes you."
"Mister President, I'm no hero. I mean…I want to do good things for the world, I want to save it from destruction and all that. But 'hero' is too strong a word…"
"Nonsense! It's exactly the right word for you. A noble Pokémon like yourself who has the world's best interests at heart and the willingness to face the very thing that wants everything you hold dear to be destroyed can't be called anything but a hero. And I must say you've been doing a great job at that."
"Have I, though?"
"Certainly! Why would you doubt yourself?"
"*sigh*… too many reasons… I'm sure the Emperor told you about what happened to his country, as well as lots of other things I'm responsible for."
"Yes, he did. And I don't blame you for any of that any more than he does, so there's no need for you to blame yourself. Even the best of us make mistakes. The important thing is what we do about them, and I say you have been doing an excellent job fixing whatever mistakes you may have made. And I also say that I and the other World Leaders would like nothing more than to assist you in your efforts. If there is ever anything we can do to help, just let us know."
"Hmm… well, for now, there's only one thing."
The mansion grew back to its normal size in an isolated clearing in a nearby forest. It was set down on a spot that flattened itself and made itself suitable to place the mansion on.
"Perfect," Higon said, finishing with preparing the land and setting her house with her new power. "And thank you too for this amazing power and body."
"Don't thank me yet. There's still time for your ambitions to topple either way, so I advise you take special care."
"No one's taking my house from me ever again." Higon's Mortite shell sank into her body, giving her back her normal appearance. "By the way, you look familiar, Dark Blessing."
"You'll be fine, Pelame," Mori reassured as the two stood at the entrance to the TIGHS Luttney HQ.
"I hope so," Pelame responded. "It's just been so long since I saw everyone."
"Same for me. Believe me, Pelame, my heart's pounding like crazy, too." Mori knocked on the door, hoping for an answer.
"Uh, Mori, did you forget Trailblazer can't hear?"
"No, but Winifred can hear us."
The very Pokémon he mentioned answered the door. When she saw who it was, she experienced an extent of shock that would be hard to explain in words.
"H-h-h-hello, Miss Winifred," Pelame greeted, sweating nervously.
"Pelame? Mori?" Winifred responded. "Is it really you?"
"It's been too long," Mori said.
"Come in! Come in! The boss will be so happy to see you!" She dragged the two into Trailblazer's office, leaving quickly.
Pelame looked at her former boss, feeling a mixture of relief, nervousness, and happiness. Mori felt much the same way.
"Welcome back to TIGHS, both of you," Trailblazer greeted. "Mori, I suppose this means your extended vacation is over."
"Yes, sir," Mori answered. "Sorry it went on so long."
"No problem at all. The world's been going crazy, as I'm sure you know. It's good to have you back."
"It's good to be back."
Trailblazer nodded and then turned to Pelame.
"S-sir…" Pelame stammered.
"Hello, Pelame. It was quite a sad day when you left us. Am I right in assuming you're rejoining us?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well then, welcome back. Stay here in the HQ. I'm sure the other Researchers will be overjoyed to see you."
"Okay. I don't suppose you have a spare crew room left?"
"Just one, and it's big enough for the both of you. Just play nice now. Hee hee hee."
Pelame and Mori giggled at their boss's joke. The two went into the empty crew room and set their belongings down.
"Not that this isn't nice and all, Pelame," Mori said. "But why did you not just consult a map about the HQ's location? Why get the location directly from the president?"
"It was all I could think of at the moment as far as favors," Pelame answered. "He's offering his cooperation in what's to come, though."
"I see. Well, it's sure great to be back in TIGHS. Can't wait to go Researching again."
"Oh, me neither! Just like old times…"
"Yeah, it's so exciting! Gosh, if only my tail was as movable as yours. I'd be wagging it right now like you are."
"Huh?" Pelame looked back at her own tail and saw how rapidly it was wagging. She giggled a little bit at the sight of her own visible excitement. "So… top or bottom?"
"I'll take the top one." Mori climbed up to the top bunk of the two-tiered bed. Before Pelame could settle into the bottom bunk, Trailblazer stepped into the room.
"Pelame, may I please see you in my office for a moment?" he asked.
"Sure," she answered. She followed her boss into his office and took a seat.
"So, Pelame, how have you been lately?"
"*sigh* If only I could tell you that I've been doing well…" Pelame then explained in detail everything that happened since she left TIGHS.
"I see. That sure is awful that you were set up like that. But you know what? I think you're managing just fine despite that. Plus, I think you picked a perfect time to return to us. It seems the Dark Blessing has more to do with the world's situation than we ever thought before."
"Yes, and I want to find out all I can about it so I can stop it once and for all."
"I understand. But there's something else I called you in for. You see, we at the Guild have uncovered some findings about your species."
"What about?"
"Well, it has to do with how many species an eevee can evolve into."
"Seven. Everyone knows that."
"Knew that. As it turns out, what we found is evidence that Pocketurn miscounted. There is an eighth species—Eeveelution, as they say—that an eevee can become."
"An eighth? How?"
"We don't know that yet. We don't know how an eevee can become this new form, what type it is, or even that form's name, though we suspect it ends with '-eon' like the others. The only other thing we found was this picture of it. Komed took the photo, so remember to thank her."
Trailblazer showed the photo. It was an inscription that had a picture of a quadrupedal Pokémon that appeared to have a bow on its head with ribbons flowing out of it and an identical one on its chest. It had a short tail and long ears, and stood fairly tall. No discernable facial features could be made out from the photographed inscription.
"The only other thing we found about this Pokémon is the name of the first, and probably only one so far, who ever achieved it."
"I don't see it on the photo. It was found elsewhere?"
"Yes."
"Then what's the name?"
"Nihilda."
