"What was that about?" Damien asked after Taen had left.
"I don't know," Vale replied. "But something about this doesn't feel right to me."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think that was just general advice. If they've really been keeping close tabs on us, they know I hate the Augur. They don't need to tell me not to trust him. That was a warning."
"Well, it's not like we have anywhere else we can go except into the Tower," Damien pointed out.
Vale nodded and started climbing.
The ladder ended in what at first appeared to be a solid floor, but, after Vale carefully felt around above her and found hinges, they realized was a secret door.
The door opened after a single push, producing a soft thwap as the carpet that had been on top of it slid to the side and then folded over on itself.
Vale finished climbing up and then turned on her flashlight, shining it around the room they had arrived in with one hand as she helped Damien up with the other.
"I guess this is the basement," she said as she watched the beam play across dusty piles of foldable chairs and tables, old books, and what looked like holiday decorations. "Looks like they're using it for storage."
"Perfection must've built their base into the sub-basement and the old escape tunnels, then," Damien said.
"It's pretty smart when you think about it," Vale said. "No one would ever expect a group like that to set up so close to police headquarters. But now we can make sure the Augur finds out they're there."
"Surely they knew we would do that, though," Damien pointed out. "Why let us go?"
"What if Jaern already knows?" Vale said.
"But if he did, he would have done something about it," Damien protested.
Of course he's still hero-worshipping the guy, Vale thought.
"Maybe," she said.
Rather than starting an argument, Damien walked away, straight into a pile of stored items. Vale turned the flashlight in the direction he'd gone and saw that he'd stubbed his toe on a table.
"Ow," Damien said.
Vale chuckled.
"Come on," she said. "I think I see the stairs."
The stairs up from the basement came out just around the corner from the reception desk. Vale and Damien found that out the hard way when they walked around said corner and locked eyes with the surprised receptionist.
"Hello," Vale said.
"How did you get in here?" the woman demanded.
"We took the back entrance," Damien said. "Through the tunnels."
"Right, right. The old escape tunnels," the woman said. "But why?"
"Well, the main door was blocked," Damien said.
"What? No, it isn't."
Vale looked toward the door. The whole front wall of the room was made of glass, so she had no trouble seeing what was going on outside.
There was no longer a man in green standing outside the Tower, although the street still looked deserted.
"It was earlier," Damien insisted.
"That door has not been blocked off at any point today."
The receptionist was starting to sound like she was getting suspicious of them, so Vale cut in to the conversation.
"I know this sounds suspicious, ma'am, but the Augur is expecting us. Can you please just call up to his office?"
"Very well," the woman said. "But if he doesn't agree to see you, I'm calling the police."
She pressed a button on her desk. A speaker crackled to life.
"Yes, Margaret?" asked the all-too-familiar voice on the other end.
"Sir, I have two children in the lobby asking to see you," said the receptionist, whose name was apparently Margaret. "They say they came in through the basement entrance and that you're expecting them."
Why is how we came in important? Vale wondered.
"Mr. Augur," Damien cried. "It's us. Damien and Vale."
"Your soon-to-be sponsees," Vale added.
She could feel herself starting to get excited. They'd all but beaten the challenge, and it was only 2:45 in the afternoon. She'd be sleeping on the train to Sinnoh tonight at this rate.
"Ah," Jaern said. "As a matter of fact, I am expecting these two. Send them up please, Margaret."
"Yes, sir."
She disconnected the call.
"Go on up. The elevator's at the end of the hall," she said, pointing back the way they had come.
"Thanks," Vale said.
Vale spent most of the elevator ride lost in thought.
I know I saw a guy in a Sky Cult uniform outside the front door. If there wasn't actually anything there, and I imagined it, Damien would have said something, right? But if he was there, how did the receptionist not see anything? It doesn't make sense.
"Hey, Vale?" Damien's voice jolted her back to reality.
"Yeah?"
"Have you decided what region you're going to visit?"
"Yeah," she said. "Sinnoh. I decided while we were walking down from the Cavern. What about you?"
"I don't know," Damien said. "How did you decide?"
"Normally, I wouldn't have picked Sinnoh. Everything I've read says that the culture there is really religious and conservative, but that's exactly why I think it might be a good place to get answers about this whole Chosen thing."
"Well, where to you think I should go?" he asked.
"That's your choice to make. You have to pick what you think fits you best."
"O…kay?"
I guess he needs more information, she thought.
"Kanto is super technologically advanced. All the futuristic stuff that's scarce here is widespread there. Johto is a lot more traditional, but more progressive than Sinnoh. Hoenn's culture is very laid-back, but it's stiflingly hot there this time of year, so you'd have to consider that. Kalos is stylish and upscale, and the architecture is awesome if you like that stuff, but the people are kind of snooty. Unova is…kind of a hodge-podge of all the others, now that I think about it."
"Unova, I think," Damien said. "Wait…yeah, Unova."
There weren't very many doors on the top floor of the Tower, so Vale made an educated guess as to which one led to the Augur's office. Choosing the most ornate one seemed like a safe bet.
She seriously considered slamming the door open in an attempt to make a dramatic entrance. This was the start of something she'd waited nearly her whole life for. A big entrance was appropriate for how she felt inside—but, she realized, not for this specific situation.
So she swallowed her excitement and just knocked.
"Come in," said Jaern's voice from the other side.
Vale pushed the door open.
The room beyond was quite large. Its central feature was a large, ornate desk, with a computer on one end of it. There was a single equally ornate chair behind it and two slightly less ornate chairs in front of it. There was a small table and two more chairs off to the side.
Each side wall was occupied completely by floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and the rear wall, behind the desk, was mostly taken up by a single large window.
Jaern was sitting at the desk, wearing what Vale could have sworn was the exact same white suit he'd been wearing the day she'd first met him.
Beside him stood East, her father's friend who ran the city's unofficial Gym. Next to Jaern's immaculate suit, East's black business slacks and blue polo shirt made him look like a poster boy for Casual Friday. His gray hair was a scruffy mess, and his shirt had a few pronounced wrinkles.
"We stopped by the Gym earlier looking for you," she told him.
"Jaern asked me to be here for this," East said.
O…kay, she thought. Why does he not seem happy to see me?
"See, Mr. Jaern," Damien said. "We made it. We've even decided where we're going to go."
"Yes, good," the Augur said. "I have a quick phone call to make, then I'll be with you. Feel free to look around the office."
Neither of them seems at all emotionally invested in this, Vale thought. Now I know something's not right.
There was an intercom speaker set into the wood of the desk. Vale guessed that was what he had used to speak with the receptionist earlier, but that wasn't what he used to make this call. Instead, he pulled a small communicator out of a drawer and put it to his ear.
Vale tried to listen to the conversation, but she could only hear Jaern's half of it, and figuring out the subject of the call wasn't easy with only half.
She set her backpack down by the door and went to look at the books on the bookshelf, while making sure she was still half-listening.
The bottom shelf of the bookcase, at about her chest level, did not hold books. Instead, it displayed small figurines made of bronze, mostly depicting Legendary Pokémon, as well as a few other rare species, like Lucario. Vale immediately noticed that the figurine of Rayquaza was positioned front and center on the shelf, displayed more prominently than even the one of Arceus.
There she is again, she thought. If didn't know better, I'd say the universe was trying to send me a message.
She half-expected a snarky comment from Mew, but one didn't come.
There have been multiple delays since we got here. First the guy out front who apparently wasn't actually there, and now this call. Could he never have actually intended to give us this sponsorship? Is that what Taen meant?
She considered it for a second.
No. Jaern's definitely not the type to toy with kids like that. And that's dickish but ultimately harmless. Taen wouldn't have sounded so serious if that's all it was.
She picked up the Rayquaza figurine and examined it, trying to look at ease when she was actually anything but.
He said "Don't trust the Augur." He knows I don't trust the Augur, or at least he should if he's really been observing me. There's no way that was a general warning. He had to have meant something specific.
She paused.
And there's only one thing specific that I'm trusting the Augur to do: to sponsor us. But if I'm right and he's not pretending to sponsor us just to toy with us…
Just as her train of thought trailed off, she heard the man on the other end of Jaern's call say something, the only part of that half that she heard as more than just mumbling.
It was: "We are ready to strike, sir."
"Good," Jaern said, and hung up. "Now then—,"
"Damien," Vale cried, cutting him off. "We're leaving."
"What?" Damien said. "Why? What's going on?"
"I knew I had a bad feeling," she said, running across the office to grab her backpack. "And I think I just figured out why."
She was reaching for the door when it was pulled open from the other side…
…revealing five armed men in Sky Cult uniforms.
Part of Vale hoped she was wrong, that Jaern was going to send out his Salamence or one of his other Pokémon and battle these men. But he didn't.
Instead he simply said, "Good afternoon, gentlemen."
"Wait," Damien said. "Why isn't he doing anything?"
"Because he called them here. That's what that call was," Vale said, turning around.
"What on earth gave you that idea?" Jaern asked.
"You're not denying it," Vale pointed out. "That man you were talking to called you 'sir.' You're the leader of the Sky Cult, aren't you?"
Jaern started slow-clapping. "So, you figured it out," he said. "Smart girl."
"Wait," Damien said. "So all that about the sponsorship was a lie?"
"He needed to get us here," she said. "Well, get me here. So he could get rid of me."
"What do you mean?" Damien asked.
"I'm Chosen. And there's a long historical record of Chosen stopping people like him. He needed me out of the way so history couldn't repeat itself."
"People like him?"
"People who try to exploit Legends." She looked at Jaern. "I'm guessing you're after Rayquaza."
"How exactly did you figure that out?" Jaern asked.
"Once I knew you were the Sky Cult leader, it was kind of obvious, especially considering all these replicas of her you have lying around."
"I suppose you've also figured out that I can't let you leave here alive."
"Damien's not part of this," she said. "He's just a stupid kid that I never should have dragged along."
"Vale…" Damien whispered.
"Oh," Jaern said. "Originally, I gave the offer to both of you so that, when you mysteriously disappeared en route to whatever region you chose to visit, I could direct suspicion away from myself by pointing out that my other "sponsee" made it safely. However, when Margaret said that you'd come in through the basement I got a hunch that you'd figured it out and decided to kill you here. And now that he knows what you know, you both have to die."
And that's when we stop talking and start fighting. Mew, a little help here.
There was no answer.
Okay, she thought. I guess we're on our own. It'll be tough, but if we both let out our whole teams at once, we should be able to clear the exit and get out of here. None of the cult grunts I've fought so far had spectacularly strong Pokémon. Shaymin should wipe the floor with them.
She had no way to signal Damien without the cultists behind them catching on. Hopefully, he would figure it out if she let out her team.
She still had her Pokéball bag over her shoulder. All she had to do was dump out the balls.
She reached for it.
The cultist behind her grabbed it first.
"No!" she screamed, as she twisted around and tried to wrench it out of his grip.
Another cultist grabbed her free hand and twisted it behind her back. A kick to the back of her legs sent her to her knees.
"Nice try," Jaern said.
The cultist that had grabbed her bag relieved her of her Pokémon. The one holding her arm put his gun to her head.
Another did the same to Damien.
"Any last words?" Jaern taunted.
"Sir," East said.
"What?" Jaern snapped.
"It's 3 o'clock. It's time."
"Ah. Good," Jaern replied.
"Sir," said the cultist holding Vale. "Shall I…"
"Not yet," Jaern said. "I'm needed upstairs, and I also need to be here to make sure this can't be traced back to us. They die when I get back."
The cultists shoved Vale and Damien into the two chairs in front of the desk and handcuffed each kid's right wrist to the arm of the chair.
The men then stepped back, to stand guard around the door. East slid into the chair on the other side of desk. Vale made a point of not looking at him.
"Vale?" Damien asked in a small voice.
"Yeah?"
"Did you really mean that, about how I'm just a stupid kid?"
"No, Damien," she said. "He thinks he needs to get rid of me because I'm a threat. I was trying to make it seem like you weren't."
"You know you're the only one to ever believe in me?" he asked.
"Really? Everyone else you've ever met has called you a failure?"
"Yeah," he said. "Well, either that or they haven't said anything at all about it. I thought he believed in me, but…"
"Screw those people," Vale said. "I wasn't sure when I met you, but you've really come a long way in two weeks. If they could see you now, they'd be eating their words."
"When I met you, I thought you were amazing. I would have followed you anywhere."
"Yeah," she said. "Well, I led you to an execution."
She hung her head, and that was when she saw the paper clip sitting at the very edge of the desk.
Well, that's how we'd get out of the cuffs, but I'd never be able to grab it without being noticed. East's staring right at us.
She turned her head, craning her neck to see the room behind them. Her supplies and Damien's were piled together by the door, along with her Pokéball bag and his belt.
And our Pokémon are on the other side of the room. We'd never get to them without being shot.
She turned back around and locked eyes with East.
Crap, she thought.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked him. "You were my father's best friend, and this is how you honor his memory?"
"You can return to your other duties, gentlemen," East said to the cultists. "Oh, and make sure you change clothes."
Do they work here? Vale wondered. Is everyone who works in the Tower a Sky Cultist?
"But, sir," said one of the cultists, "what about them?"
"I am more than capable of keeping an eye on two kids," East said. "I am a Gym leader, after all, and they're cuffed and unarmed."
The cultists left without further objection.
East stood up from the chair and turned around.
"If you're going to pick those locks, I suggest you hurry up," he said.
Vale grabbed the paper clip with her free hand, straightened it out as well as she could, and went to work on her cuffs.
She'd never actually picked a lock like this before. The closest she'd ever come was jimmying locked doors with bobby pins back home. She figured the principle was the same, and she wasn't wrong.
Once she'd picked the lock on her cuffs she moved to Damien's. This time, it went more quickly since she had two hands to work with.
As soon as he was free, Damien ran to grab their stuff.
"This, Vale, is how I'm honoring Jacob's memory," East said. "By sticking my neck out to protect his daughter."
Damien came running back up, carrying two backpacks, Vale's Pokéball bag, and his trainer belt.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Jaern believes that he can only summon Rayquaza when the sun is at a certain angle relative to the top of the Tower, and he calculated that that angle would be achieved at 3 PM today. You two just happened to arrive only a few minutes before that."
"Of course," Vale said. "That's why he renovated the Tower and moved in. It's an obelisk."
"What's an obelisk?" Damien asked.
"Obelisks and pyramids," Vale explained, "are shapes that point to the sky. People used to believe that building temples in those shapes would help their prayers reach the Legends."
"So obelisks are those columns with the little pyramids on top?"
"Yes," East said. "He thinks using the Tower as an anchor will strengthen the summoning and allow him to control her."
"It won't work," Vale said. "Summonings aren't real."
"It might," East said. "There's a lot about Legends we still don't understand. And, if it doesn't, he has a back-up plan. He is going to capture Rayquaza today, one way or another, which is why I have to get you two out of Torren as soon as possible."
What?" Damien asked.
"No," Vale said.
"Jaern is too powerful for you to face right now. I'm taking you somewhere safe."
"No," Vale said again. "I don't have to defeat him today, but if he manages to control Rayquaza, it won't matter how far we run. With the power boost—and the ego boost—she'll give him, what's to stop him from declaring war on another region? I know I can't fight him, but I can disrupt his plans."
"I can't let you do that," East said.
"And I can't let you stop me," Vale replied. "Damien!"
"Yeah?"
"Ever considered trying your hand at a Gym battle?"
AN: Vale and Damien arrive at the Tower and run into a final, potentially deadly complication...
And here's the big twist. If you've played Pokemon: Insurgence, or heard anything about the game, you probably knew this was coming.
I know I changed East a lot. In the game, he dies too fast to get much development. I wanted to do something more with him here, especially after adding the detail that he was friends with Vale's dad.
