The Mist

White ocean mist billowed over the waters and a freezing wind chilled me to the bone. Heaving a frozen breath, I hugged my body close to Kair's Charizard who emanated heat as he flew. The fire lizard was close to the brink of exhaustion but continued to push himself onward. In her pregnancy Kair had since been unable to give both her Pokémon the attention they needed, and so I'd since taken responsibility of Charizard for her.

I had no idea where I was, and in my mind, I cursed Sa'lu's nephew for his impulsive stupidity - and to the detriment of my Dragonair at that. I could only imagine the struggle he faced with these sub-temperature conditions. Dragons generally don't fare well in the cold. It was these thoughts that kept me pushing Charizard on.

"Hurrrr," Charizard heaved a grumble, alerting me to a small, glinting light in the distance. It moved about, as if to spin around in a wide circle.

The mist at this point cleared enough for me to spot the jagged walls of a cliff face and the light's source – a lighthouse that sat on the furthermost point. We'd just reached the mainland, but still with no sign of N and Dragonair.

"We should probably land and rest for a bit," I ordered Charizard to a grassy spot not far from the lighthouse when suddenly as if from nowhere, the brilliant Hyperbeam struck us from above.

"Ahhhh!" I yelled, feeling the force of its impact on Charizard's back just inches from where I sat.

"HUURRRR!" Charizard roared, his body twisting and contorting into a spiralling freefall.

"Pull up, Pull up, pullup pullup!" I screamed but there was only enough time for him to re-align in the air before he crash landed stomach first into the ground. I suddenly found myself topping forwards head over heels, hitting the grass several metres from where he lay.

Staggering to my feet and ignoring the crack in my ribs, I bolted for the Charizard who was still breathing but visibly dazed. I knew exactly what Pokémon that Hyperbeam had come from.

"I know you're out there N!" I bellowed into the blinding mist that surrounded the cliff face. "You have no right to use my own Pokémon against me!"

Silence. I soon spotted the dark, snake-like shadow that hovered around the cliff face, keeping itself hidden in the cloud cover.

"You dare claim to take ownership of Pokémon who themselves have free will?!" his voice echoed over the loud crash of waves below us.

"Show yourself!"

But he seemed more adamant on hiding. I had no choice. Drastic action was required on my part. I conjured a Dark Pulse attack, flinging it in the direction of the figure that sat precariously on the shadow's back.

"Ahhh!" It hit him square on.

The figure wavered before he slipped off Dragonair's back.

"Charizard! Catch him before he hits the water!" Kair's recovering Charizard didn't hesitate. Leaping from the cliff, he vanished into the darkness below for a matter of seconds before reappearing, holding one dazed beginner Dragon trainer in his claws.

The teenager was dropped in the grass and he rolled twice before landing at my feet, confused and dazed at the sudden attack.

Pressing a boot into his chest, I ensured he wasn't going anywhere. "Release your hold of my Dragonair," I growled.

N blinked away the dots from in front of is eyes, the look on his face a mix of amazement and horror. "Dragonair. Thank you for your assistance." His eyes closed over for a moment until the trance-like state that gripped my Dragon wore off.

I watched Dragonair's body twitch in the cool of the mist, as though to wonder how he'd gotten there. Then noting my presence, he came out from hiding and landed neatly on the cliff beside me. Leaning down, I plucked the pokéball from N's belt and recalled Dragonair before releasing my hold on the kid and turning and walking in the direction of Kair's Charizard. With my back to the kid, I briefly checked Charizard over for hurt before I mounted him and heard N's hesitant call.

"That's it?"

I glanced back over my shoulder to spot him pulling himself upright.

"You're not taking me back to the island? You're just going to leave me here?" He questioned me.

"You got yourself into this mess, N. You can get yourself out of it."

"We're in the middle of nowhere! You can just leave me here!"

"You have your Axew don't you?" I pointed him in the direction of the lighthouse. "A Pokémon researcher lives there. I'm sure he'll put you up for the night."

N fell silent and I interpreted this as an indicator to take off but then he stopped me again.

"Wait! You called me a Dragon Seer. You've only seen part of what I am capable of in my gift. You said I need to be taken to the temple. Well then take me. Teach me to become a Master just like you."

I heaved a sigh. He did have a point. He seemed to hover about on both feet, as though to be caught up between two minds about the situation. A fierce fighter when it came to his ideals and ethics, but he didn't seem to have a clue as to how to cope in the real world. Had he been locked in a tower his entire life?

"Your gift is nothing unique to me. Your ability to communicate with Pokémon on such a level is something that some Masters take many years to perfect. The Dragon Clan calls a version of these the Shadow Arts."

"And you've received such training in these arts?"

I hesitated. "Yes. But I choose not to use them."

N fell silent, his frightened eyes watching me in the darkness until I heaved another sigh.

"Alright, come on. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

We arrived in Blackthorn city the next evening under the cover of darkness. On our travels, I'd been able to make contact with my mother who had confirmed that Kair was safe and well, and being held at a hotel in the main part of town. My first priority was Kair but with N tagging along, I soon realized that he would prove to complicate things.

Still, my mother who was staying with my cousin at the gym readily welcomed us, providing us with food, showers and fresh clothes. N retired to a guest room to rest and I took the opportunity to better explain the situation to my mother, leaving him in her capable hands while I attended to other, more pressing matters.

It was barely past midnight when I landed on the hotel balcony with a light thud. Recalling Charizard back into his ball for much needed rest, I picked the lock and pushed my way past drawn curtains into the darkness of the luxury suite.

Two figures slept on a king-sized bed, one human and the other a Feraligator. Two eyes blinked open and I heard the low toned growl as, alerted by my intrusion, the gator raised his head.

"Shh, Feraligator, it's me," I hushed him.

The Feraligator's mouth snapped shut and he hesitantly pulled himself from the comfort of the bed, allowing me to approach his master who slept soundly on her side, hugging a pillow to her tummy. She was clearly hot as sweat covered her body and she'd kicked the sheets away. Placing a hand to her stomach and the other to her face, I lent down and kissed her lightly on the forehead. I felt the movement in her belly, as alerted by my presence, the babies kicked and caused Kair to stir.

"Lance?" her voice croaked, her eyes blinking in the darkness of the room. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to see if you were alright," I whispered.

She gave me a tired chuckle, her hand reaching out and pulling me onto the bed beside her. Lying with her baby bump between us she placed clammy hands on my chest and I kissed her lightly on the lips.

"My father has agents scouring the region for you," she said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"I know," I replied.

"But I think he is coming around to the idea of you, of all people, being the father of his grandkids." She paused, licking dry lips. "He seems more interested in the fact that our son has an ability."

My heart sank. "So he knows."

Kair gave me a nod. "I had to tell him. He is the only person I know who can provide the right care for this kid."

I severely disagreed with the idea that Giovanni knew of our son's gift. But there wasn't anything I could do about it now, not yet anyway. If this later resulted in a custody struggle, then that would be a fight I'd have to be prepared for.

Exhausted from the ordeals of the past few days, I didn't even notice myself slip into a slumber until I snapped awake to the sunrise.

Sitting upright, the first thing I noticed was the fact that I was now alone in the room with a tray of breakfast on a table by the window. My eyes fell across the suite that seemed so much bigger in the daylight. Feraligator had since made himself comfortable on a couch in the small sitting area and watched me carefully from his location.

The sound of running water came into range and I noted that the bathroom door was closed. Kair must have been showering. Pulling myself from the sheets, I carefully made my way across to the breakfast table and pinched a piece of toast. And then ensuring that I was still safe in this room I approached the desk and sat myself down in front of Kair's laptop. It was already running when I waved the mouse but after much searching, I couldn't seem to find any information on the testing that Giovanni had put his daughter through. This in itself wasn't a surprise to me. So giving up on that endeavour, I took to disabling Team Rocket's tracking device that I knew was on the computer and checked my email.

A single unread memo came from the head office of the Government agency I worked for. It was an update with regards the theft of the Mew fossil from our branch in Goldenrod. Investigations had since proven my suspicion: the woman in the video was not Shelly of Team Aqua after all. So sights had turned to other possible crime syndicates including Team Rocket.

Logging onto the database, I pulled up the video footage of this 'Impostor Shelly'. Playing it over and picking up on individual movements that strangely enough, I found somehow familiar. Though the footage was scratchy at best, it was hard to make a positive ID of the woman until I stopped the recording on a frame that suddenly made me drop my toast. The image showed the woman reaching up for something off the screen, her Team Aqua inspired tank top riding up her torso and revealing a long scar down her side…. A scar that could have only been acquired in an incident from months before…

"Holy Arceus, father of life!" My blood ran cold and for a moment I found my eyes glued to the screen. Kair! The woman was Kair! I was such an idiot! How did I not realise this?!

Leaping upright, my chair tumbled backwards behind me and I bolted for the bathroom door, hammering on it. "Kair!" I bellowed. Surely she had to be out of the shower by now! "Kair, open up!"

I managed to bust the door open only to find the bathroom empty. She was gone. Not only this but the commotion I caused only seemed to alert hotel security as suddenly there was a loud ramming at the front door.

"Shit!" I cursed, reeling on the spot just as the Team Rocket agent came bursting through the door.

"You!" he hissed, his hands going to his belt for his pokéballs.

Feraligator immediately came to my defence, leaping from the couch and pitching himself between me and the agent, snarling and fangs bared. I took the opportunity to dash for the bathroom, throwing Charizard's pokéball through the window and leaping out after him as he formed in a beam of red.