Daughter

by walkswithwheels

"The sun was rising high in the sky, and there was still no sign of Holly." Short multi-chapter, companion fic to Holly Rising and future fic Usurping, AU, Erika-centric, fifth part of the Traveler series

11. Shocking Strike

Welcome back to another chapter of Daughter! This chapter is a little longer, about two to three times the length of my regular chapters, not counting authors notes. However, as with all my longer chapters, there will be an explanation within the author's notes.

On another topic, there has been an interesting update. So I discovered my old multi-chapter stories that would eventually become Traveler. Even though these stories would never be completed, I decided to post them as archived versions on my profile. Those interested may find these stories under the names The Altar and The Price of Rebirth respectively. Each of these is about the length of one of my regular short multi-chapter stories, so they are both around 10 chapters.

However, for those interested in even more history involving Traveler and what it used to be, there is another document on my Deviantart account (known as wordwheels). This document contains a massive amount of notes about The Price of Rebirth that were created over the 10 years that story was conceptualized. This document is very long (over 500 pages) and almost none of the notes are in story form or even edited. However, I figured I would post them for those interested, and that they would give a glimpse into a bit of history involving Traveler and my writing overall. So feel free to check those stories out!

Other than that, I do not own Pokémon, and see the author's notes for details.

---

11. Shocking Strike

Erika still stared at Anabel, transfixed by the purple haired policewoman.

Erika was aware of how rude she must have looked, and wondered if anyone would call her out on the behavior.

However, no one else said or did anything.

If Anabel noticed what Erika was doing, she did not show it.

Instead, the policewoman's icy gaze never left her eyes. Cold, controlled, fury simmered beneath as she made her way to the witness stand.

Anabel stood tall and confident at the front, chilling gaze alert and focused.

Erika found herself shivering, feeling as though Anabel had captured everyone in the room.

Given how important Anabel was to the case and her experience as a police officer, maybe she had.

Regardless, what would Anabel say now, and how would it affect the case?

How would the others in the courtroom react?

Most importantly, how would Holly react?

Would she try to use what Anabel said against everyone?

Knowing Holly, she would be completely helpless no matter what Anabel said…

But what kinds of weapons would Anabel bring to the battle against the monster?

And given that she was the one that allowed the monster to survive and cause the damage that led to this…

Would Anabel's weapons even be effective?

Or would they be blunted by grief and guilt, no matter how much tried to hide it?

Erika finally began to get her answer as Anabel started speaking.

She mentioned that she first met Holly when the latter had been poisoned near Mt. Moon… Holly had been severely injured by a wild female Nidoran and had been unconscious by the time Anabel reached her… Anabel knew Holly would not survive the trip to the nearest city, Pewter… So she took Holly to the Pokémon Center on Route 3, a short distance away… The people there knew about Pokémon venom, so they were able to treat Holly… However, Holly was still extremely ill and alone, and the nurses there were concerned… Therefore, Anabel offered to stay and help, and that offer was accepted… It was a long and hard fight for Holly, but she eventually recovered completely… Seeing as so many journeys ended in tragedy because of these things, it was a relief for Anabel… She just never imagined the person whose life she saved would turn against her…

As Erika listened, she resisted the urge to hang her head low.

Erika had never seen what happened, and was just a bystander as Anabel recounted the events leading up to where they were now.

Yet Erika believed she understood how Anabel felt.

She could barely believe what happened herself, at least at first.

And even still, Erika had found it was difficult to contain her anger, guilt, and grief.

She couldn't imagine how difficult it was for Anabel, the person indirectly responsible for almost all the events leading up to this.

Especially since Anabel probably didn't know who Holly was and what she had done until was far too late…

Would Anabel be unable to hold her emotions back and unleash them now?

Or would she get them under control, only releasing them once the case was over?

And that was if Anabel displayed her emotions at all…

Then again, Anabel didn't seem like the type to hold emotions in…

She didn't when she had spent time and energy treating Holly and regretted what happened…

Then again, Erika barely knew the other woman, so there was no telling how she really felt…

But there was something she did know.

And that caused her to suppress a shudder.

For Erika had heard about wild Pokémon attacks where Trainers got injured or even killed.

Yet she had never heard about it happening to someone she knew personally.

Until now.

She had hoped it would never happen to someone she knew, yet Anabel's words told Erika that all those hopes were dashed.

Because Holly was one of the people Erika had hoped an attack would never happen to.

Monster or not, Erika still knew Holly personally, as Holly was her adopted daughter.

And to hear that this had happened to Holly and she had suffered so much…

It was almost as though Erika had been struck and sick herself.

Yet that sensation rapidly faded.

Because at the same time…

Erika recalled that if Anabel had not found Holly and healed her, Holly probably would have died.

And if Holly was killed early on in her journey…

Then most of this would not have happened.

And things would be all the better for it.

At that moment, Erika couldn't stop her eyes going wide and her face blanching.

She couldn't want Holly dead after all this!

How cruel that would be!

Especially since she wanted nothing more than for Holly to be alive and safe before!

No matter what happened, Holly was the person she had raised since she was a baby and her adopted daughter.

But now…

Holly had become a monster that hurt and even killed others.

So putting her down was the best way to stop her reign of terror.

Furthermore, there was no denying that the world would be a better place without Holly at this point.

Or least without the monster she had become.

Or perhaps the monster she always was.

Perhaps Holly would forcefully lose her life because she had taken another's.

Erika had heard of that happening, although it usually didn't happen to those that were not adults.

Perhaps the Trainer laws made an exception, considering Trainers were almost treated like adults.

But Erika didn't know if treating Trainers like adults extended to adult punishments, and she didn't dare ask.

And even if the law treated Trainers like adults, that didn't mean they were.

As Holly had proved time and time again.

So that alone would give anyone thinking of putting her down today second thoughts.

But there were still more issues.

Because there were those that didn't believe in killing out of revenge.

And depending on how one looked at it, that was exactly what destroying Holly would be.

Perhaps the judge was one of those that didn't believe, and Erika knew it wasn't her place to ask.

Yet regardless of whether Holly departed the living world today, there was the fact that whoever she was before this was dead no matter what.

The girl Erika knew before was dead…

Holly, Erika's daughter, was dead…

And the monster was all that remained.

If the monster wasn't always there, and Erika just saw a façade.

Either way, Erika couldn't truly call Holly her daughter anymore after what happened.

Holly probably didn't think of her as her mother anymore, as she showed no regrets or sadness.

There was just the monster that caused all this, whether that monster could be called her daughter or not.

Erika was jerked from her thoughts as she was aware of the judge speaking to Anabel.

However, the words the judge spoke made Erika's breath catch in her throat.

Why were you in the same area as Holly? As the leader of the International Police Force, wouldn't you have been somewhere else?

Erika tried not to let her eyes go wide.

Anabel had mentioned being a member of the International Police Force before, but not that she was their leader.

The International Police Force kept peace and solved crimes throughout all regions, so the fact that Anabel was a member of them was already very important.

But to think that Anabel was also their leader…

The highest-ranking member in the chain of command, possibly above all other police forces…

And possibly the strongest battler the International Police Force had, if strength was an indicator of authority…

Erika couldn't imagine being in the presence of someone like that, even if she had known who Anabel was…

But to think something like that was happening and Erika didn't even know until now…

It was almost impossible to believe!

Yet, if what was going on now wasn't impossible to believe, then meeting Anabel and finding out her identity was not impossible either…

Yet even so…

The judge did have a point.

What was Anabel doing near Holly, when as the International Police Force Leader, she probably had countless other places to be?

Erika suspected whatever Anabel's reason was, it didn't involve anything good.

Unlike Officer Jenny, Anabel did not hesitate as she spoke, looking the judge straight in the eye.

She spoke of how the International Police Force had been investigating child Trainers getting hurt and killed on their journeys and trying to figure out how to stop these tragic occurrences… Apparently, they had been doing so for a long time… The International Police Force noticed runaway child Trainers being unsupervised caused a lot of problems… So they thought maybe they could have one of their members supervise one of these Trainers under the guise of a traveling companion… Anabel, being both the leader of the International Police Force and one of the best battlers the force had, was an excellent candidate… And since Holly was Erika's daughter, the news about her running away spread quickly… At that point, Anabel suspected this could be her chance, and went to search for Holly…

She found Holly injured near Mount Moon, as mentioned before… But even under those circumstances, she couldn't legally force Holly to come home because of the Trainer laws… Anabel didn't know the whole history behind Holly running away, but decided to supervise her anyway… She figured that if there were no problems on the journey, or if anything that came up could easily be taken care of, it would prove the idea would work and could be used for others… But if there was a problem, Anabel could take charge and make Holly come home, or least make sure she was in a safer place…

As Anabel finished speaking, Erika found herself nodding.

She wondered if anyone would see the gesture, but if anyone did, there was no indication.

Instead, Erika found herself focusing on what people couldn't see.

The fact that she agreed with what Anabel said and clung to every word…

The fact that she would've agreed no matter what child Trainer was involved…

The fact that she wished she could've been right there with the International Police Force, investigating, so that she could directly lend them her strength…

The fact that she believed Anabel was absolutely right in supervising Holly and in investigating the issue of runaway child Trainers overall…

The fact that if she was there, she would've approved Anabel supervising Holly from the start, and would have done everything in her power to keep the purple haired policewoman safe…

The fact that she would've been, and would be, Anabel's ally now and forevermore…

But now, standing silently in the court, Erika couldn't say any of that.

Instead, Erika could only continue listening, and hoped Anabel would understand what she was thinking.

Yet Anabel couldn't speak either.

Because the next person to talk was the judge.

What did you tell Holly, Officer Anabel?

Anabel's gaze was stern, and that was no hesitation in her reply.

The purple haired policewoman had told Holly she wanted to supervise her… Holly already had issues on the Trainer journey that could be seen as something abnormal if one wasn't paying attention to what went on with child Trainers… Anabel quickly used that as a cover story, telling Holly she would help her correct the problems that were going on within the regions… It was exactly what Holly would be doing, but it wouldn't be problems she expected and what she did in the past would work against her… But Holly would never know that, or if she found out, it would probably be too late to do anything… Like it was now…

Erika couldn't resist shuddering as Anabel finished speaking.

No matter when Holly found out about Anabel's true intentions, it would never be too late for her to act…

Because Holly would undoubtedly do everything in her power to use the fact that Anabel lied against the purple haired policewoman…

No, it wasn't a lie…

Just a half-truth, with some omitted information…

But that wouldn't stop Holly from seeing it as a lie…

And knowing Holly, Erika doubted she would ever forgive or forget what Anabel had done…

Erika stole a glance at Holly, but Holly didn't return the gesture.

Instead, Holly focused on Anabel with a glare resembling furious flames.

Her face was contorted into a snarl, and Erika wondered if she would shout something out in response to what Anabel had said.

But miraculously, Holly stood silent, seemingly transfixed by Anabel.

Perhaps even Holly realized that she needed to follow at least some rules, or else face the consequences of embarrassing herself in court.

Or perhaps she was just biding her time, waiting to both strike and retaliate.

After all, she knew the only thing keeping her foes together was that they were all against her.

Even then, allegiances were shaky, as most of the people in the courtroom hardly knew each other besides a name and a title.

And if Molly Hale's display was anything to go by, those allegiances were already weakening.

If they weren't already broken.

Erika resisted the urge to clench her fists.

Perhaps Holly was been silent not because she was following rules, but because she had already won.

Yet regardless, the silence was broken as the judge began to speak again.

Yet the next words made Erika's eyes go wide.

Officer Anabel, you are aware that your actions could be seen as violating the Trainer laws, aren't you?

Anabel's gaze was hard as she immediately responded.

The purple haired policewoman explained that she was indeed aware, because she decided to follow and supervise a child Trainer without that Trainer's consent… And she even wanted to force the Trainer to come home, which could be grounds for kidnapping charges… As it was, Anabel could be considered infringing on said child Trainer's right to train… Everything that happened and every word she spoke now could be turned against her instantly, and she knew it from the moment she stepped in the courtroom…

Erika clenched her fists.

Of course there was the issue with Trainer laws!

They were the cause of all of this!

It was because of them that almost everyone was suffering right now, and why those who should have been able to stop the suffering couldn't do anything!

Especially poor Anabel.

She was meant to be one of the top authorities that would protect child Trainers!

And now she was being villainized, her authority being questioned if not torn apart, with her career possibly in danger, just because she was trying to do her job!

Anabel shouldn't be going through this.

No one should be!

And yet there was no way to stop this!

Erika could feel her face twisting into a scowl, and she clenched her fists even tighter.

Yet at the same time she resisted the urge to flinch.

If she continued like this, her anger would take control of her!

Not only would she break custom, but she'd probably end up looking like a fool in front of the entire court!

Not to mention she was playing into Holly's hand.

If she hasn't already.

So Erika rapidly glanced away from Anabel, and her gaze fell on Kristine.

With that, her anger dissipated instantly, replaced by silent sympathy.

For there was clear frustration in the Mold Breaker Kristine's gaze. Yet sadness also permeated Kristine's gaze, and Erika could briefly see a hint of anger mixed in.

A sharp realization jolted Erika as she realized why the Mold Breaker would be feeling that way.

Kristine had begun her journey at 18, the age when people were considered adults.

As a result, the Mold Breaker Kristine had never gotten protection from the Trainer laws.

Judging from her expression, Erika guessed Kristine knew that well.

Erika didn't know why the Mold Breaker had chosen to start her journey as an adult, but Erika suspected it may have been something out of her control.

Why else would a Trainer start so late?

Yet despite not knowing Kristine's motivation, Erika did know one thing.

It was because of the accursed Trainer laws that adult Trainers like Kristine were simply neglected and ignored, while child Trainers like Holly could literally get away with murder.

The Mold Breaker Kristine had every right to be furious, forlorn, and frustrated.

And Erika suspected there was more to the story than just not being protected.

With all of her travels and the prevalence of child Trainers, Kristine had most likely met those that had abused the Trainer laws.

Perhaps the Mold Breaker had even seen authority figures in the same situation as Anabel.

And because Kristine herself was not protected by the Trainer laws, there was probably almost nothing she could do.

Of course, Erika didn't know that much about the Mold Breaker Kristine, so she could've easily been wrong.

But considering what she had heard, the aforementioned situations didn't seem unlikely.

Erika continued glancing at Kristine, but the Mold Breaker's expression never wavered.

She may not have even noticed Erika looking at her, and if she did, she gave no indication.

Erika had to admire the Mold Breaker Kristine's emotional control, however.

Kristine had the right and the power to destroy everything and everyone in the room, yet somehow the Mold Breaker resisted the urge.

Erika wasn't sure it was something she would have been able to do.

But the Mold Breaker did not act up perhaps because she knew it wouldn't do her any good, and would probably make everything worse.

Unlike Holly, Kristine seemed like someone who respected rules.

And yet…

That didn't stop Erika from wanting to break one.

For soon as the shock of Kristine's situation overcame her, Erika's sympathy returned.

She wanted to do nothing more than walk over and comfort Kristine somehow.

But not only would that have broken courtroom rules, but Kristine would probably find that display awkward and reject it. After all, the two barely knew each other before this moment and still didn't know each other that well now.

The Mold Breaker Kristine probably wouldn't understand Erika's feelings, and everything was so tense Erika probably wouldn't be able to communicate that to her.

So Erika kept her thoughts to herself as her attention was jerked away from Kristine.

For now the judge was speaking to Anabel again, and Erika's eyes were on the purple-haired policewoman.

So why did you do it? Why be at risk of violating a law if you are the one who is supposed to be enforcing it?

Anabel met the judge's gaze evenly, icy confidence in her eyes and her response.

Because there is no right to train.

Before anyone could react to what Anabel had just said, the purple haired policewoman's rang powerfully around the courtroom.

Anabel wasted no time as she stated that she believed Pokémon training was a privilege that must be earned with proper behavior, knowledge, and skills… Something that future Trainers must prove they're ready for… But instead, it is seen as a right children feel they are entitled to… And with almost everything revolving around Trainers, this keeps the regions alive… But all that is the problem with them… Because that believe, that entitlement, with the laws built around and encouraging it is what gets Trainers hurt and killed… And as the International Police Force leader, Anabel believed it was her duty to protect child Trainers and stop the tragedies… So if that meant disobeying the laws that enabled that, then so be it…

Confidence never left Anabel's eyes, and Erika's own eyes were wide.

To think that Anabel would put everything on the line, including her life and career, in order to make sure not just Holly, but all Trainers were safe…

Beneath Erika's shock and surprise, admiration welled up.

When Anabel had done was beyond honorable, and should have been commended and rewarded.

Yet now she was being treated like a villain, perhaps even like the criminals she sought to stop, all because the laws deemed it appropriate.

Erika clenched her fists again.

It was just another example of how twisted the laws were!

Yet…

Anabel knew how backwards the legal system was…

And she knew that she would be considered in the wrong because of what she did…

Yet she chose to do it anyway, hoping that someone would see her as being in the right and that she would save at least one life…

Honorable couldn't even begin to describe what Anabel had done, and Erika's admiration threatened to overflow.

And yet…

A simple question stopped the admiration momentarily…

Instead, Erika felt shock overtake her again, along with the faintest hint of doubt.

Would she have done when Anabel had?

Would she have been willing to put her career, reputation, and life at risk just for the faintest hope of keeping others safe?

It was a terrifying prospect, to be sure.

And yet…

The answer was instantaneous.

Because of her duty as a Gym Leader and as a person…

And because she was someone that had very nearly experienced the tragedy of losing a loved one from Trainer's journey, regardless of how the relationship was now…

She would do Anabel had done.

She could do Anabel had done.

Without any hesitation.

Erika suddenly was aware that her fists were still clenched, and could feel her knuckles turn white.

She was also alerted to the fact that her eyes were no longer wide, and were instead narrowed as her gaze was sharp and focused.

Yet at the same time Erika resisted the urge to gasp in surprise, and perhaps embarrassment.

It was all well and good to be concentrating and passionate about something, but not so much when it meant acting like this!

Not only could she get uncomfortable, but she just might lose control of her emotions and embarrass herself in the court room!

And the latter had to be avoided at all costs!

So Erika unclenched her fists and glanced away from Anabel.

Instinctively, Erika turned her gaze on Mold Breaker Kristine.

Emotion was present in Kristine's eyes, and for once the message was clear.

Agreement.

And yet…

Erika could detect another emotion permeating Kristine's gaze.

Sorrow.

Anabel didn't know why Kristine felt that way, but she could make a few guesses why.

Perhaps Kristine had seen people that have felt the same way as Anabel, but had fallen or otherwise been thwarted.

Perhaps Kristine herself was one of those.

Or maybe Kristine just had an entirely different way of doing things, but agreed with Anabel nonetheless.

Regardless, Erika's attention was torn away from Kristine as the judge spoke to Anabel again.

How did Holly react when you decided to supervise her?

Anabel replied rapidly.

Holly was furious.

Anabel wasted no time as she spoke again.

The purple-haired policewoman believed that Holly secretly plotted to get rid of her, and things got even worse when they reached a small town called Sable… Holly had resented her Nidoran despite Anabel telling her to give the Pokémon a chance… Thus, when Anabel wasn't looking, Holly ran up to a nearby lake and attempted to drown the Pokémon… She wanted to throw its Poké Ball into the water, and probably would've done something even more heinous if Anabel had not stopped her… Anabel was a powerful psychic, so it was easy for her to halt what Holly was doing… But that didn't mean that Holly's ways were changed…

For Anabel spoke to Holly after the attempted murder, saying that she shouldn't have used her past as an excuse… However, Holly still showed no remorse, blaming Anabel for interfering with other peoples' business and going where she doesn't belong… Holly then claimed that Anabel was using her power and authority as an excuse to do whatever she wanted, and to that end, she was using her own past as an excuse since she had gotten that power and authority sometime in the past... Holly saw Anabel as nothing but a hypocrite, and there was no changing Holly's mind…

Not even when Anabel threatened her with arrest if she didn't stop retaliating against her, as this would have been the crime for anyone trying to murder a Pokémon… Holly instead taunted Anabel, sarcastically saying she could go ahead and arrest her… Holly went on to say that League would love hearing about how an International Police Force officer abused their powers against a child Trainer… After all, the Trainer laws protected people like Holly, and if Anabel was who said she was, then she clearly knew that… But perhaps Anabel wanted to be in jail… After what she had done to Holly, it suited the purple haired policewoman…

Anabel hesitated slightly for the first time as she stated that she knew Holly was calling her bluff... And even though Anabel could arrest Holly on the spot and had the power to do that, Holly was also correct about the laws defending her… And given that Anabel was already breaking the Trainer laws obviously and severely to begin with, the League would probably offer her little mercy… Breaking them again so blatantly was something she couldn't afford…

But she still felt the need to punish Holly for everything she had done… So she took her starter Torracat away, telling Holly it was as though Torracat had died by Holly's hand… She also tried to tell Holly to use her Nidoran in the next battle… But Holly had reacted only with even more fury… She called Anabel a Pokémon thief and a hypocritical liar, thinking that she enforces the laws but only really uses it as an excuse to break them and make sure they didn't apply to her… But Holly claimed that the reality was that Anabel was drunk on her power, and needed to be taught a lesson like a spoiled child… And now that Anabel had stolen a Pokémon, she was guilty of one of the greatest crimes a Trainer could commit… Which meant that sooner or later, someone would find out that things would not end well for her…

Furthermore, Holly refused to follow Anabel's instructions to use Nidoran… The first acknowledge that it was that no matter what it was her journey and she was in charge, so she made all the decisions no matter who else was there… Holly also insisted she was under no obligation to obey Anabel, both because of Anabel being an almost complete stranger and because of the Trainer laws… Even trying to order Holly to do something could be seen as grounds for breaking the Trainer laws… And she was sure Anabel knew that… Because even though Anabel claims she enforces the laws, she is not above them… Eventually, she would learn that the hard way, as someone would punish her for everything that happened…

Anabel slightly hesitated again as she stated that all she did was ignore everything, thinking it was just Holly babbling in her rage… However, Holly got her chance to enact her plan when they were at Sable's Pokémon Tech… Holly had gotten ambushed by a Growlithe earlier on in her journey, so Anabel had captured it for her… However, that Pokémon was in Holly's PC at the moment because Holly didn't want it in her party… But then Anabel had Holly's current Fire Type and Growlithe was of the same Type, so Holly simply grabbed that Pokémon… Then there was a battle against Giselle, the head of Pokémon Tech… Despite Holly acting rudely to Giselle, the latter decided to battle the former… Giselle had sent out a Pokémon called Sylveon, one which Nidoran would have had an advantage against… But Holly instead chose to use Mawile, a Pokémon that also had an advantage, and won easily…

So next, Giselle sent out a Pokémon called Scizor... Scizor was a Pokémon that was extremely weak against fire, so Holly won handily… Anabel hadn't expected Holly to retrieve Growlithe, so of course she was surprised… Holly used this opportunity's taunt Anabel, saying that this served Anabel right for stealing her Pokémon… Giselle immediately stops the match, and repeats that Anabel stole a Pokémon… Anabel tries to say that wasn't what it was, but Holly instead explains what happened… Holly had left out that she tried to kill her own Pokémon, instead saying she tried to release it into the wild… Once again, Anabel tried to say what really happened, but at that point she had no power and there was no proof that Holly was lying…

Regardless, Giselle stated that no matter the reason, when Anabel did was theft… Stealing a Pokémon was a serious crime, akin to kidnapping someone… Crimes like could disrupt the economy of the entire region, because so much revolved around Pokémon… Giselle demanded that Anabel return the Pokémon at once… Anabel asked her how she could demand that, and Giselle sternly responded that Anabel stands before Kanto's Champion… Giselle went on to say that she had the authority to arrest Anabel on the spot for the theft and to make sure she never does anything involving Pokémon again... If Anabel did not return the Pokémon immediately, then she would be the one going to a jail cell… As it is, even if Anabel returns Holly's Pokémon, Giselle will file a report to the League about what happened… If the League finds Anabel truly guilty of a crime, she can at least expect a fine… Anabel had no choice but to return Holly's Torracat and the group parted on hostile terms…

When Holly and Anabel reached Mt. Moon, Holly's Nidoran evolved via battles with wild Pokémon… But Holly didn't seem to care too much, most likely because she was already enacting her plan to get rid of Anabel… A sudden thunderbolt was launched, hitting almost everything in the area… Almost everything, except Holly, and including Anabel… Anabel could do nothing as another electric attack was launched, something that looked like a ball of electricity… This ball of electricity struck Anabel dead center, making it so that she fell over and couldn't move… And as soon as that happened, Anabel felt excruciating pain… There was a sensation of her energy and strength being drained… That sensation extended to her Pokémon, even though she had never let them out of their Poké Balls… In the end, Anabel felt so weak that she doubted she could move even if she wasn't paralyzed…

But that wasn't the worst of it… The thunderbolt had also agitated many wild Pokémon… Since Holly was long gone, Anabel became the only human in the wild Pokémons' midst… And since none of the wild Pokémon could have launched the thunderbolt, the wild Pokémon directed their ire at her… Thus, they began to attack her mercilessly, and Anabel was defenseless… But even if the wild Pokémon hadn't blamed her, Anabel suspected the attacker would've stuck around and kept assaulting her until she was dead… After all, why else would a foe render her completely helpless and at the mercy at of countless enemies? And since none of the Pokémon regularly seen in Mt. Moon could utilize the specific combination of attacks Anabel's attacker had… So she suspected the attacker was a trained Pokémon, one Holly hid and deliberately order to assassinate her when the time was right…

Anabel paused, and Erika could see she was trying to suppress a tremor of rage… Erika wondered if she would lose her composure right there, but the policewoman continued speaking… Anabel explained that Holly would've succeeded in her assassination attempt if Kristine had not appeared… At the time, Anabel did not know it was Kristine, because the latter took Vessel form… It wasn't anything Anabel had seen before, but it resembled a golden Archangel wreathed in light… The Archangel brought forth a brilliant white light and covered the entire area… This defeated the wild Pokémon and healed Anabel's paralysis… Unfortunately, it did not heal her wounds… Anabel later learned that it was because taking Vessel form required a lot of Kristine's energy and she lacked enough to heal Anabel's wounds and attack without completely exhausting herself… As it was, she was at risk of doing so even using the Vessel form back there… But somehow she managed to summon shadows to take Anabel to safety before she disappeared completely…

Kristine eventually left her Vessel form and encountered Holly, questioning her about her intentions… The shadows also brought Anabel to where Holly was, although Anabel still couldn't do anything… It was at that point the Anabel recognized Kristine was a Vessel, being one herself, but didn't understand the massive amount of supernatural power flowing from her… Holly took advantage of that, though, taunting Kristine about her power and whether it was real… Kristine responded by taking Archangel form again, and easily defeating Holly's Pokémon… With that, Holly became enraged and tried use her Shifting Gem, Kristine defeated her even easier and knocked her unconscious… After that, Kristine was left very weak, but still managed to walk out of the cave with Anabel and use the shadows to drag Holly along…

Kristine insisted that she would be fine and just needed to get the city… She could do that as long as the traversed the hilly route outside Mt. Moon, the one that they were currently on… However, Anabel noticed Kristine could barely walk, and Anabel herself wasn't much better… Anabel wanted the two of them to rest, but Kristine thought they could rest when they got to a hospital… It led to a bit of an argument, and Anabel started asking who Kristine was and how she could do what she did… Kristine ended up sitting on a rock near a cliff on the route and Anabel across from her as the former answered her questions…

Through that, Anabel learned a few things about Kristine… One was that Kristine had chosen to take her Vessel form despite its toll on her body because she had complete control over how much damage she did in that form… Thus, she adjusted her power so that the damage inflicted would be very painful and induce unconsciousness, but Holly would be completely uninjured… Then, she could attack Holly all she wanted, but Holly would be unscathed… It allowed her to be aggressive and defend herself in the fight, but not get into any trouble legally for hurting Holly… The same was true for Holly's Pokémon, who were also uninjured despite being unconscious, and what she did was no worse than a typical battle…

Kristine also explained that she had visions of both the past and the future, but couldn't control where or when she had them… However, these visions told her everything Holly had done, and alerted her that Anabel was in danger… So that was why she knew what she did when she saved Anabel and fought off Holly… Kristine had then stated that the Pokémon that attacked Anabel was a Gengar, and the only area that Pokémon could regularly be found was a place called the Old Château in the Sinnoh region… Unfortunately, Anabel had no idea how Holly could've gotten there, and Kristine didn't divulge anything more…

As for her abilities, Kristine was indeed a Vessel, but from what Anabel understood things worked a little differently from typical Vessels… Regardless, Kristine had the ability to fuse with both Pokémon and any supernatural power source to become something that was much stronger than the original… But this came at a cost… Depending on what Kristine did when she was fused, it used a lot of her energy… Furthermore, despite being extremely powerful when it came to supernatural abilities, Kristine couldn't use them outside of fusion and her Vessel form… Even though Anabel didn't understand why Kristine was like that, she was grateful those abilities had saved her regardless…

Anabel's last question was asking Kristine why she was there… Kristine explained that she normally worked as a Pokémon Ranger for the League... However, she had recently had a particularly difficult mission, one that exhausted her both mentally and physically… Thus Kristine's superiors and everyone else thought it was a good idea for her to take some time off… But now the time off was almost up, and Kristine was running low on money… So she started mining for treasures with her fusion abilities... Shortly after Kristine received the visions that had gotten her into the whole mess…

Kristine had hoped that this was Anabel's last question, as she wanted to get going before Holly regained consciousness… However, the two were too late, and Holly woke up… She wasted no time attacking Anabel again… Even with the brief rest, Anabel wasn't able to fend her off… This time, Holly scattered Anabel's Poké Balls… Anabel instinctively ran to go retrieve them, putting herself at risk for more wild Pokémon attacks... Anabel couldn't see what happened after that, but from what she had been told, Kristine tried to help stop Holly… However, Kristine's attempt failed because of her weakened state, and she was helpless as Holly attacked her as well…

But unknown to Holly, Kristine still had a Pokémon on her, and said Pokémon stopped Holly from injuring Kristine… But the Pokémon can only fight at very close range at that moment, and although Pokémon and Trainer tried to stop Holly completely, they were unsuccessful... As a result, Kristine could only watch as Holly threw her newly evolved Nidorina's Poké Ball over the cliff… The Poké Ball opened up as it soared in front of the cliff, and Nidorina was released into the air… However, the only thing that awaited her was a long fall, and the poor creature was killed instantly…

Kristine still couldn't help, but the mysterious Pokémon could… Using some sort of transformation that must've taken a long time, the bizarre Pokémon appeared… Anabel wasn't sure what that Pokémon was, and it wasn't anything she had ever seen before… However, there was no denying that the Pokémon was incredibly powerful… This Pokémon rapidly defeated all of the wild Pokémon, saving Anabel again and subduing Holly… The creature even grabbed Anabel's Pokémon and Nidorina's body… But this time, Anabel had seen what happened, and the policewoman was quick to arrest Holly with the Pokémon's help... The strange Pokémon took them all to a hospital, where they could finally heal…

Anabel then went on to describe the extent of the injuries, the phone calls that followed, and talking with Professor Pine. However, Erika barely listened.

Instead, she clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes as a scowl made its way onto her face.

How dare Holly try to drown her own Pokémon!

It would make her guilty of one of the most severe crimes, especially since one could just release a Pokémon into the wild if they didn't want it!

And Erika was sure Holly knew what she was doing, and she knew that it was wrong, but she just didn't care!

After all…

Holly had already hurt many others in her quest to have her own Pokémon journey, some of them even possibly fatally…

What was one more victim, especially when the victim was a defenseless Pokémon?

Yes, Nidorina was just another victim of Holly selfish desires…

A victim that no one had been able to save from paying the ultimate price…

At least Kristine and Anabel had tried…

And while Erika had not known the latter was a psychic, she was grateful she knew now…

Anabel's power allowed the purple haired policewoman to halt Holly before she succeeded in her plan, or did anything worse…

And if Anabel wasn't a psychic, Holly would have surely attacked her right there…

Not like it stopped Holly from verbally assaulting the purple haired policewoman.

Erika clenched her fists so hard she thought her knuckles were turning white.

Holly had no right to accuse Anabel of the things she did, when she herself was the one guilty of most of them!

Holly had utilized her past as an excuse from the very beginning, from the moment she tried to use her age and previous escapades to go on a journey without Erika's consent.

Yes, that's all Holly had done was make excuses for herself, even if some of them were backed by conclusions that weren't entirely wrong…

And now using her past as an excuse had led to several attempted murders, and finally a successful one.

And just like what happened with Anabel, Holly didn't regret her actions at all, and Erika doubted she ever would.

Still, Erika wasn't surprised that Holly blamed Anabel for interfering with her business and going where she doesn't belong.

To Holly, it would most certainly seen that way.

But at the same time, Holly had no right to talk when that was exactly what she had done!

She had been in other peoples' business from the get-go, stealing the Shifting Gem and tormenting the many people trying to find her!

And then there was the fact that she had been in a place she didn't belong the whole time! Holly never belonged on the journey, or in any of the places she had gone on it!

And all this was proof of that!

And Anabel wasn't using her own power, authority, and past as an excuse!

Anabel's job was to protect the innocent from those that were dangerous!

And Holly had most certainly proved she was dangerous, even without all of the things she had done before!

So Holly was simply getting angry at someone because they were doing their job!

Like arresting her when she wouldn't stop fighting back and wanted to murder her own Pokémon!

A crime worthy of arrest, to be sure!

And yet…

Anabel couldn't do her job.

And that was something Holly knew.

Erika's rage towards Holly's actions was now intertwined with sympathy, and she understood that sympathy was for Anabel.

To think that a high-ranking police officer would be unable to perform their duty because of a belligerent child Trainer!

And yet, that was exactly what happened…

And Holly had been correct about how and why that was the case.

Erika wondered what would have happened if Anabel had just decided to go ahead and arrest Holly anyway…

Holly probably wouldn't have cared, considering she knew the laws were on her side, and that Anabel was playing right into her hand…

Just like how getting angry was playing into Holly's hand now.

After all, if Anabel arrested Holly, she would be risking breaking the Trainer laws again, and the arrest would look like a clear abuse of power…

Erika briefly felt her sympathy dissipate as it was replaced by burning rage.

Anabel shouldn't have been the one accused of abusing her power!

The only one abusing power was Holly!

Power that she shouldn't have in the first place!

Power that she only had because the Trainer laws made her entitled to it!

Power that made the authorities and adults helpless as she did whatever she wanted!

Including murder and assassination.

If anyone deserved to be in jail, it was Holly!

Perhaps for the rest of her life without parole!

But Anabel couldn't arrest Holly for her abuse of power, and perhaps she hadn't wanted to either way.

But she could try to prevent Holly from doing any more damage.

So that's when Anabel decided to take another risk.

One that Erika couldn't blame her for.

After all, Holly needed some consequence for her actions.

And Anabel probably viewed taking away Holly's Torracat like a parent taking a misbehaving child's toy and then returning it after the child behaved.

Except that it wasn't.

For in the eyes of the law, Anabel truly had committed theft.

In the circumstances of a misbehaving child and a toy, children typically didn't legally own their toys because the parents bought the toys for them.

And children typically didn't have the power or the knowledge to go after their parents for the supposed theft, nor would most courts be willing to look at it.

But Holly did legally own Torracat when Professor Pine gave the Pokémon to her, and Torracat was no toy, but a living creature.

And Holly did have the power and knowledge to go after Anabel, and a lack of emotional attachment to Anabel would prevent her from considering otherwise.

And it was all thanks to the Trainer laws that she had the power and knowledge, and that the courts and any other authorities would look at her case.

So Anabel's plan was almost doomed to fail as soon as she put it into action.

Anabel probably knew the difference between Holly's situation and that of a regular child and a toy, or perhaps she had forgotten in all the chaos.

Regardless, it had backfired spectacularly, and everyone but Holly paid the price.

So perhaps it all made Anabel a thief and a liar, but Holly had no right to talk.

After all, Holly herself was both of those things, and with no regret whatsoever.

And while Holly did not enforce any laws, she would find whatever excuse she could to break them, as long as it suited her. Thus, it was even clearer that Holly was the very thing she accused Anabel of being.

But if there was anyone drunk on power, it was Holly.

Drunk on power simply expected and given to her.

Destined to become a spoiled child herself with all that power, regardless of how Erika raised her.

Spoiled to the point where Anabel could do nothing as Holly controlled everything.

So spoiled that she wouldn't even honor a simple request to use a Pokémon in battle.

Granted, Holly was correct in that Anabel didn't really have the power to make that request in the first place, and that the journey was Holly's alone.

But such a harmless request wasn't worth reasserting her power over Anabel and humiliating the purple haired policewoman again.

Then again, to Holly, every potential opportunity was worth doing that.

Holly would stop at nothing to beat someone down if they did something she didn't agree with.

And Anabel did that many times.

Enough for Holly to want to put her life at risk, and possibly the rest of hers.

And the worst part was that the courts might somehow side with her, and Holly was confident enough to assume they would.

Erika suppressed a shudder.

She was grateful Anabel was a witness, and not being held on trial for her actions.

As a witness, she was protected from being criminalized as she detailed the many ways she had broken the Trainer laws in order to protect Holly, and perhaps others.

But even still…

Holly had been right.

Because even though she was protected as a witness, she wasn't protected outside the courthouse.

And the rest of the world wouldn't see her the way she was here.

Which meant that people could try to go after Anabel and punish her in the most severe ways possible.

There was a chance that things really wouldn't end well for her.

And even if she ended up unscathed because of what she tried to do, her reputation might've taken a massive blow already, if it didn't get completely ruined sometime afterward.

And then there was the matter of Holly herself.

Were it any other child, Holly's harsh words might just seem like idle threats.

Yet Erika now painfully knew that was not the case.

With how much Holly hated Anabel and any allies, she would stop at nothing to carry her threats out.

Even if things didn't go well in the courtroom for her, she would find some way…

Yet poor Anabel did not know any of that until was far too late…

Another pang of sympathy stabbed Erika, but she let that the feeling wash over her.

Trainers getting ambushed by wild Pokémon was not uncommon, including some Trainers catching the Pokémon out of desperation.

So of course Anabel acted as any Trainer might and caught the Pokémon, not realizing that it would be her undoing…

And by the time Anabel realized that, Holly used her actions against her, and it was too late for Anabel to do anything…

The sympathy rapidly faded, replaced again by pure rage.

To think that Holly would then trick a regional Champion in order to make that Champion side with her!

And to think that the trick had worked!

All because the Trainer laws stated that Giselle should believe Anabel over Holly!

But Erika couldn't fault Giselle for what happened, even though her actions had contributed to all this.

The regional Champion was just doing her job, and ended up being a victim like almost everyone here.

Giselle was correct in that when Anabel did was theft and she was correct on why was so severe. Theft was something a Champion could and should prosecute people against, so Giselle was just upholding her duty.

And demanding Anabel return the Pokémon was not only within her power, but also the path of least resistance.

After all, Giselle might have been stern when enforcing the law, but she wasn't heartless.

She at least gave Anabel a chance to resolve things peacefully, and a chance for a lighter sentence.

Chances which Anabel took, when things could've gotten so much worse…

Yes, if this truly was a clear case of Pokémon theft, then Giselle had done everything a Champion should have done.

Yet it was anything but that, but poor Giselle had no idea…

And all because of Holly's tricks and abuse…

Erika's anger was briefly replaced by sympathy again, as she wondered how the Champion felt about what happened.

Did she feel horrible about what happened, perhaps guilty?

Would she and Anabel go from being hostile and enemies to the best of allies?

Erika didn't know, but anger overtook her again as she focused on the one person she knew felt neither horrible nor guilty.

After all, Holly couldn't have felt that way if she tried to assassinate the woman who saved her life.

She supposed the Pokémon could feel guilty and she could feel sympathy for it.

But Erika quickly shoved the idea aside.

That Pokémon would have been smart enough to know what it was being asked to do.

And even if Holly had told it incomplete information, it would know that trying to murder someone was wrong.

And yet it had decided to do those things anyway, and had nearly succeeded in the assassination.

Erika's fists clenched even more.

She couldn't feel a shred of sympathy for the Pokémon like that!

Oh, Erika had always heard of a phrase where Pokémon were only evil because their Trainers were, but she had never believed it.

Now she had even more reason not to.

Because that phrase would imply that Pokémon had no will of their own, that they weren't smart enough to do anything else, and that they weren't their own individual creatures.

But none of that was true.

And the Pokémon Holly had proved it.

Especially the assassin was the Pokémon species Anabel thought it was.

It was impossible for Gengar to learn the particular set of moves Anabel had described on its own.

Either it had to be taught those moves by a Trainer, or had to be bred from a Pokémon that already knew those moves.

And Erika knew Holly didn't have access to any of the resources required to teach Gengar those moves, and Erika would easily be able to tell if Holly was breeding Pokémon.

So Holly couldn't have taught the Pokémon those moves.

But another Trainer could have.

Gengar were powerful, proud Pokémon, so it wasn't implausible to think that someone had tried to raise one, and taught in a few special techniques, but then found it was too much to handle, and released it.

It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened.

Not to mention it would also explain why the Pokémon was able to use two attacks at once.

It was rare, even for a trained Pokémon, but with special techniques it was possible. Erika even heard that were places that allowed Pokémon to link two attacks together as though they were one. But the two attacks could not be used individually, it cost a fee to do so, and Erika herself and never been to one of these places.

But it was possible the former Trainer had, or otherwise taught the Pokémon how to use to attacks at once.

And the poor Trainer would never know that their former Pokémon was being used to assassinate another Trainer…

That the techniques they taught their Pokémon would be utilized to almost take someone else's life…

Perhaps the former Trainer didn't even care about the Pokémon anymore.

If they even remembered it.

But trained Pokémon weren't the only problem.

There was the innocent wild Pokémon that Holly had dragged into it.

The ones that Erika could feel nothing but sympathy for…

They were just trying to protect their territory and themselves after Holly tried to harm them, and attacked the only target there was…

Even though it had been the wrong target, and had been exactly what Holly had wanted…

She wondered what would've happened if the wild Pokémon knew the truth.

Would they have assaulted Holly with the fervor they had Anabel?

Would Holly have even survived the encounter?

Erika didn't know, and she could now only hope that the wild Pokémon had not been injured too badly in the retaliation.

Because the wild Pokémon were just more victims to add to Holly's long list.

Erika suddenly clenched her fists so tight she thought they turned white.

How dare Holly have that long list of victims!

How dare Holly do this to a respected authority figure when she saved her life, and then involve a bunch of innocent Pokémon!

She truly was a monster, if she hadn't been one already!

Just like that Pokémon that she used to carry out the assassination!

A twinge of guilt struck Erika as she remembered this was a Pokémon she also didn't know about.

A Pokémon that Holly hid away from even her…

A Pokémon that no one knew the extent of the power of or could do anything about until it was too late…

A Pokémon that Holly probably indoctrinated for a long time, carefully planning all of this until she could execute that plan…

But if only Erika had been more observant, more attentive, more careful…

She could have found out about the Pokémon, and could have stopped all this!

But then…

Would it have really helped that much?

After all, if Holly had to capture that Pokémon, as Erika had suspected she had, then the Pokémon was legally hers.

And since there were no restrictions against Holly having Pokémon other than Erika's own word and rules, Erika would have to acknowledge that Holly owned a Pokémon.

No matter how she felt, Erika couldn't take the Pokémon away from Holly.

At least not without getting into the same situation as Anabel had, or worse.

And since Holly would have shown that she could own and take care of a Pokémon, she would have even more reason to start on a journey without Erika's consent.

And Erika would have even less evidence to stop her.

If she had any at all.

No matter what, things were not in Erika's favor, leaving her at Holly's mercy.

Just like everyone else here.

But as rebellious as Holly was, Erika had never expected her to do any of this.

Yet she supposed she should expect anything now, as Holly made it clear there wasn't anything she wasn't willing to do to pursue her goals.

But there were other things she didn't know or expect.

Like Kristine's true identity.

Erika had heard of the heavenly Angels that served the Lady Arceus, the strongest of all Pokémon, and possibly the strongest of all beings…

That they were the only ones that to even glimpse Her true form, one of those in the mortal world could never see…

The worthy in the mortal world were only granted a fraction of her power as she took a Pokémon form all could see, but supposedly the Angels had much more than a fraction of the said power…

Arcues's Angels were the most virtuous and most powerful of Trainers in life, receiving the highest honor in death.

But Erika had never heard of an Angel that was still living and interacting constantly with the mortal world…

Even though she had heard many Trainers had tried to become Angels while living but somehow failed…

And Erika had most certainly never heard of an Archangel of Arceus, although she supposed such a thing could exist.

After all, they existed in other religions and stories.

There, Archangels were considered the leaders of heavenly armies, possessing unimaginable strength and wisdom…

And if the same could be said Mold Breaker Kristine…

What kind of power did she have, why was she here in the living realm, and who exactly was she?

Despite her rage from before, a chill ran down Erika's spine.

To think that there was a divine being walking around in this courtroom, and Erika didn't even know it!

Perhaps no one even knew it, until now!

And Kristine being an Archangel wasn't the only factor that made Erika tremble.

Anabel had also mentioned that Kristine was a Vessel.

But that shouldn't have been possible!

Disabled people were too weak to be Vessels!

Even in the rare cases where one did succeed with transforming initially, the new form was unstable, and the poor people often died a horrible death…

Yet Kristine had been the exception somehow, like with almost everything else she did.

It was just another reason why she was called the Mold Breaker.

But with her breaking the mold that much, Kristine should have been constantly using her Vessel form with her head held high.

Yet she didn't, and probably many in the courtroom didn't know about the Mold Breaker's transformation until now.

Another shudder raced down Erika's spine, as she realized she could think of many reasons why the Mold Breaker Kristine wouldn't use her Vessel transformation.

A power that constantly exhausted Kristine could lead to discomfort at best and hospitalization at worst. And that was if the power didn't outright destroy the Mold Breaker. Erika doubted it could, or Kristine would probably find it too risky to use at all. But who knows what else it could do to her body? The fact that she wasn't using it all the time proved that whatever side effects the power had, they weren't good.

And then there was the side effects that weren't physical.

Such as the fact that the media wouldn't leave Kristine alone if they found out she was an Archangel.

If she wasn't already having trouble with the media before this, or even if she had been seen in her Vessel form before.

Kristine was the first of her kind for stable disabled Vessels, and she was most likely the first of her kind for Archangels in the mortal world…

The media would eat it up, wanting to know everything…

Kristine would be forced to lay her personal life and biggest secrets bare, or go through a lot of suffering and pain trying to keep her privacy.

And that wasn't even getting into what the Mold Breaker's opponents might do.

Once they knew that Kristine had the power, and if she constantly used it, they would start to know about its strengths and weaknesses, and probably analyze it themselves…

At that point, the Mold Breaker would lose her advantage, and any loss she had would become her opponents' gain.

But perhaps the media, her opponents, and her own fatigue weren't the Mold Breaker Kristine's biggest problems with her power.

Maybe the biggest problem was with her own allies, perhaps even her own friends and family.

For there was always the potential of abuse.

Sabrina had told Erika stories of people that were abused, used, and taken advantage of by those they had known, loved, and trusted until they had been run ragged and their powers almost bled dry.

Then there were those that lost their lives, subject to a horrible death no matter how it happened.

But even they didn't have it as badly as some others.

Erika shivered as she recalled the tales of people who grew weary of the abuse and then finally snapped.

These people turned on their tormentors, dealing immeasurable damage and wounds that never healed.

Oftentimes, they ended up locked up somewhere.

And those were the lucky ones.

There were those that were never caught or never stepped forward, still filled with distrust and causing catastrophes wherever they went…

And there were some that didn't survive their rampages, paying the ultimate price trying gain their freedom…

Erika shuddered again.

Was this abuse something that had happened to the Mold Breaker otherwise?

Was it something she narrowly avoided?

Or thought about?

Something she had seen happen to others?

Erika shook her head.

It wasn't doing her any good to think about that now.

Regardless of the Mold Breaker Kristine's power, abuse was something she could not afford.

It was obvious the way she kept her powers hidden.

But there was still some aspects Erika did wonder about.

Such as how ironic it was a being of light could also use the power of shadows.

Would not the two powers contradict each other?

Could Kristine simply harness the power of more than one divine being?

Or was this something exclusive to Archangels?

And then there was Kristine's reaction to Holly…

The Mold Breaker clearly knew Holly was up to no good, or at least knew Holly was doing something she wasn't supposed to be…

And that was enough time to get Anabel to where everyone else was…

Yet Kristine's powers were so unknown and potent that even Anabel, a powerful Vessel herself, could not recognize it…

Anabel might've just been surprised, but Holly of course tried to use that against Kristine…

Of course, Holly found out the hard way that this was a huge mistake, but Erika doubted that Holly knew much about the Mold Breaker…

Or perhaps she knew something, but just didn't care.

That would be fitting, considering what Holly acted like.

But either way, Holly had been made painfully aware of who the Mold Breaker Kristine was.

At that thought, Erika started shivering, and she knew the room had not gotten colder.

She recalled Sabrina's words when Holly had stolen her Shifting Gem…

"Holly is athletic and physically healthy, but against someone who is armed and has true knowledge of combat, she's useless."

And now, Sabrina's words had eerily come true.

For they described exactly had what happened.

No matter what type of strength Kristine had, it was clear the Mold Breaker knew about and was experienced in combat.

And as such, Holly stood no chance.

Kristine could've maimed, mauled, and murdered Holly…

Yet in an act of mercy, she left her unharmed and unconscious.

An act of mercy she hoped Kristine did not regret.

Or maybe she automatically didn't regret it, considering it was part self-defense.

After all, unlike Holly, the Mold Breaker Kristine truly cared about and followed the laws.

Such as the fact that harming Holly might leave Kristine herself in trouble.

Erika didn't know the laws involving that, so Kristine might still have some legal issues, or at least be chastised.

But if that was the case, at least it wouldn't be as bad as it she had fought to wound or kill…

Erika could only hope the courts and laws would be on Kristine's side.

Or maybe they automatically would be, if she was confident enough to do what she did…

But there were other things about Anabel's conversation with Kristine that got Erika's attention.

Such as Kristine's psychic visions.

Sabrina had explained to Erika that many psychics had visions, especially if said psychics were particularly potent.

But could Kristine really have visions that would tell her everything about the past and what was to come?

Even if it was just the beginning of Holly's journey, it sounded like the Mold Breaker would never stop having visions!

And what kind of visions were they if she couldn't control where when she had them?

Sabrina had told Erika uncontrollable supernatural powers were an enormous problem that could cause a lot of damage and heartbreak, to the point where she had an entire ward for people with that issue…

So wouldn't Kristine's power be the same, if it truly was uncontrollable?

And if so, why wasn't she speaking up about it?

If she had explained everything to Anabel, she clearly wasn't afraid of talking about it…

Moreover, why wasn't anyone helping Kristine?

With her fame, it should've been easy…

Regardless, there was one detail that made Erika shudder.

It was the fact that Anabel had been attacked by a Gengar from Sinnoh's Old Château…

Erika and Holly had gone to Shinnoh on a trip once… Sinnoh had a city called Eterna that was famous for history and Grass Type Pokémon, so that's where they had gone… But Holly couldn't care less about that… Instead, she and a few other young Trainers had gone into a nearby forest to a building called Old Château… There were supposedly rare Pokémon there, and Holly and the others wanted some of those rare Pokémon for themselves… From what Erika knew they were unsuccessful, and Holly and the others were brought back to the city…

But what if Holly had been successful, and no one knew?

And even if someone did know, what if they were trapped with the knowledge that they couldn't take any Pokémon she captured away from her?

And if they tried to tell the truth, that it would make things worse?

Assuming that anyone even believed them in the first place?

What did that person feel, if they were even around?

Would they ever come forward?

Would they be able to?

Regardless, Gengar was a rare and powerful Pokémon, so Holly had certainly gotten what she wanted, if she did indeed catch it…

But there were other things to focus on.

Such as Kristine's information about her abilities.

With the Mold Breaker's condition, of course things worked a little differently…

But what did that mean, especially considering Anabel couldn't understand it?

And what did it mean when Anabel said Kristine had the ability to fuse with Pokémon and supernatural power sources?

As far as Erika was aware, attempts to fuse people and Pokémon together had ended in failure and heartbreak…

And even if there was even a hint of success, it was too risky to keep trying…

So how was fusion working for Kristine, to the point where she could make herself stronger?

Was it a different type of fusion than what the failed attempts were?

It had to be, surely.

But what, and how did it really work?

And how could Kristine have strong supernatural abilities yet not be able to use them outside of fusion and Vessel form?

Especially when she had some abilities that were uncontrollable, yet some she had complete control over?

Who exactly was Mold Breaker Kristine, and what powers did she really hold?

And then there was Kristine's reason for being there in the first place…

At least, Kristine was still working for the League, and nothing horrible had happened to get her fired…

And yet…

What type of mission would be so taxing that even the Mold Breaker Kristine would get rattled?

What could be so horrible that Kristine superiors would force her to take time off, and then she would be reeling from it so much that she was still reluctant to talk after that?

Erika felt like she didn't want to know, but with all the chaos, anything could happen.

No matter how badly she wanted to know things or not.

Like learning about Kristine's valiant efforts to stop Holly again and save the latter's Nidorina, and how the poor Pokémon had died anyway…

Rage returned to Erika's countenance again, so much so that she wondered if it would ever stop.

Even after all she had been through and being defeated in battle, Holly still chose to attack Anabel again!

And she put Anabel's life and that of her Pokémon at risk again without an ounce of regret!

Surely the Pokémon and Anabel would not have survived any more injuries!

At least, if the Mold Breaker Kristine hadn't helped them!

Or tried to, at least.

Erika found herself trembling, and she wasn't sure if it was rage or shock.

From all the stories, it seemed like Kristine's abilities were without limits…

But the cold cruel reality was that there was nothing but limits…

And since hardly anyone knew that, no one could help Kristine.

And it was terrifyingly easy for Holly to take advantage of that…

But at least Kristine wasn't completely helpless, and still had some form of self-defense…

Yet Erika had never heard of a Pokémon in a situation like Kristine's…

A Pokémon that could only fight in very close range when things were desperate, yet somehow could still try and stop Holly completely united with its Trainer…

What kind of Pokémon was like that, and what else could it do?

And then there was still Kristine herself to worry about.

Such as the fact that she had witnessed Nidorina's murder.

At least the Mold Breaker had only seen the Poké Ball fly off the edge of the cliff and not the Pokémon's body or the fall itself…

But even so…

Erika couldn't imagine how traumatized Kristine must've been, even if she had seen death before, or even killed someone…

Of course, the Mold Breaker Kristine wasn't acting traumatized now, but she could've just been putting on a brave face.

Or maybe she wasn't.

Erika recalled that many of the tales she heard of the Mold Breaker Kristine were of her being in life-threatening and extremely stressful situations.

Yet none of the tales mentioned anything about Kristine having the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, despite it seeming guaranteed that she would…

Erika guessed this may have been because Kristine never talk about her personal life or someone wanted to make sure she had at least some privacy…

But with Kristine being a famous Trainer and working for the League, word would've gotten out fast and someone would've figured out something was wrong…

And considering everything, there probably was something wrong.

Yet no one had said anything.

Why was that?

And this wasn't even getting into the problem that there was something else wrong.

Such as the strange Pokémon the Mold Breaker Kristine had, which not even Anabel could identify.

And the fact that this Pokémon required some sort of transformation to go into battle, and even that had never been seen…

Yet somehow this Pokémon was powerful enough to vanquish all of the wild Pokémon threatening Anabel, prevent Holly from attacking anyone else, save both Anabel and her Pokémon, and take everyone to safety.

This was despite being unable to save Nidorina or properly protect the Mold Breaker without the transformation…

Just what was this Pokémon, and what type of Trainer was Mold Breaker Kristine?

Erika's shuddering suddenly ceased, and her countenance hardened.

No matter who or what Mold Breaker Kristine was, Erika had come to one clear conclusion.

An icy confidence flowed over her, and Erika nodded resolutely.

Even though she never felt that confidence before now, she knew exactly what it meant.

Holly was an irredeemable monster, and she had to be destroyed!

Even though destroying her would most likely mean ending her life.

But Erika was more than ready for that.

Because her daughter was already dead, gone long before any of this.

And the monster was in her place.

Perhaps Erika had never had a daughter, only being tricked by the monster.

But that didn't matter now.

Because Erika would annihilate the monster no matter what.

Even if it had to be by her own hand.

For Kristine's, Anabel's, and everyone's sake!

Erika was snapped from her thoughts by the sound of footsteps.

She noticed Anabel was leaving the witness stand and returning to her seat.

Anabel's gaze was even colder than Erika's icy confidence had been, and Erika wondered if the purple haired policewoman would freeze the room over.

Erika didn't linger on Anabel for long, once again wondering about the Mold Breaker Kristine.

Perhaps Kristine would be filled with rage or sorrow. After all, she was one of, if not the, primary victim in all this.

But as Erika's gaze drifted over to the Mold Breaker, she realized clear concern shone in Kristine's eyes.

Erika supposed that would make sense.

After all, Kristine would be concerned for several reasons.

Concerned for Anabel.

Concerned for the future.

Concerned for herself.

Concerned for the Pokémon.

Concerned for the others in the courtroom.

And perhaps, even concerned for Holly in some way.

But Erika knew that even though she understood Kristine was concerned, she wouldn't get any answers as to why.

So instead she tore her gaze away and focused on the front of the courtroom.

The witness stand was empty now, but before long the court case would proceed.

And she needed to be ready for it.

---

Author's notes:

-So as mentioned, the chapter is quite a bit longer than what I usually write. When I decided to have Anabel give a witness statement and explain everything that went on between her and Holly, I realized that having said witness statement be extremely long was unavoidable. This is because Anabel is present in almost every event in the story up until now, and since it was vital for Erika (and by extension, some of the other characters) to know about these events, skipping them is not an option. I did consider splitting up Anabel's witness statement, but quickly realized that it would seem awkward. After all, Anabel would still be talking, Erika would still be listening, and whatever else was happening in response would still be going on. Thus, I just decide to bite the bullet and make a very long chapter so Anabel could do her witness statement all at once, it would have a proper beginning and end, and Erika would have a proper pause that would transition into the next chapter.

-The length of Anabel's witness statement and what she says also affects Erika's internal thoughts. Originally, I was planning on having Erika commenting after certain paragraphs before Anabel would keep going. However, I quickly realized this homework because unlike regular dialogue, there is no pause where Erika can think about what's being said and possibly interject without disrupting the flow of the conversation. Since Anabel is summarizing things and is still talking at the time instead, Erika would probably end up missing things when she's otherwise supposed to and or indicated to be listening intently. And due to the importance of what Anabel is saying, missing information wouldn't work and would just make things confusing. So Erika's internal thoughts are just summarized at the end instead.

As for things which are not related to the length…

-Erika talking about wild Pokémon attacks were Trainers get hurt or even killed is a darker take him what happens in canon. Canonically, people (and in some cases, their Pokémon) do get attacked by wild Pokémon, and some of them get hurt. Most of the time, though, the attack is stopped before anyone is injured. If someone is injured, injuries are usually minor, or nothing that the victim cannot heal from. However, with Traveler being a darker take on the series and explain what would happen if the Pokémon world was a bit more realistic, I thought it would not be improbable if someone was hurt or killed in wild Pokémon attacks. This is also what led to Holly's poisoning in first place, which in turn influenced almost all the rest of the plot.

-Erika thinking about Holly being killed for her actions and what that would mean comes from real life US laws and stances on the death penalty. Canonically, the death penalty is never mentioned in any Pokémon media. Furthermore, hardly any criminals die because of their actions, directly or indirectly (e.g. causing a big battle and getting themselves killed). But since Traveler is a darker take, the idea of a criminal getting killed for their actions and the death penalty is brought up.

In real life US courts, the death penalty is extremely controversial, illegal in several places, and there are a lot of rules surrounding it. Since it would be quite a few hardened criminals in Traveler and others that people would want dead, I decided to make the death penalty legal. However, there are still many rules surrounding it, and Traveler makes things even murkier. When it comes to real life US laws surrounding the death penalty, children cannot be sentenced to death even for crying even the normally would be as adults. The reason is that it is believed that they do not have the ability and maturity to completely comprehend what they have done. There's also the issue of a child being manipulated by someone that's older or otherwise an authority figure, and not being able to realize this by the time or until the court case rolls around.

But that also brings up an issue in Traveler.

In Traveler, children can become Pokémon Trainers. When they do, they are treated like adults in many situations. However, even though the laws in Traveler treat them like adults, mentally, emotionally, and physically, they are not. So there then is the issue of whether they should be given the same punishment as adults legally, despite not being an adult. Hence why Erika thinks about the conundrum when she thinks about Holly dying for her actions. I do not know whether the issue of children receiving adult punishments will come up again or what decision will be made on that at the time of this writing. However, I am leaning toward something like a case-by-case basis, with adult punishments being an option, but only after looking at a child's individual crime and history. There would probably be a separate set of laws go with that, however.

-Anabel being the International Police Force leader is my own interpretation of who she is canonically. Canonically, it's never stated to the International Police Force leader is. However, Anabel is a powerful and high-ranking member of the force despite not being there very long. Furthermore, she's above a longtime member, Looker, and is the leader of a division that deals creatures called Ultra Beasts. Therefore, her being leader wasn't that much of a stretch, especially since she's even more powerful here. It's worth noting that in Holly Rising, the idea of Anabel being a leader wasn't developed at the time of her introduction, so Lance is the leader instead (being a powerful police officer in the anime). However, I realized that I did that that I wanted Anabel to be the leader, and since stories related to Usurping take place in a separate timeline, I just made her leader there.

-Similarly, in Holly Rising, Anabel's full motivation for supervising Holly is never revealed. The reason for this is that I couldn't think of anything other than a basic motivation at the time, and I didn't have a lot of the story plotted out due to it being based off of a role-play where I had to write quickly. Furthermore, since the story focused on Holly, any sort of ulterior motive Anabel had for supervising her got dropped. However, since the story now focuses on other characters in addition to Holly, I knew I had to bring it up again. While Anabel could've still been in the area and saved Holly by chance, it would have probably been unlikely. So I made up of the more complex motivation shown here. The basic motivation in Holly Rising still would've worked as a cover story, so what Anabel tells Holly she's doing comes directly from there.

-Anabel's reasoning for doing what she did despite breaking the laws was a bit different in the original script for this chapter. Instead, Anabel was going to state that she did not agree with the Trainer laws because it had gotten so many hurt and killed. So she believed it was her duty to interpret the laws and then use that interpretation to protect others. However, I quickly realized this explanation could be seen as her manipulating the laws for her own gain, and otherwise acting corrupt. The whole idea of Anabel's explanation was that she wasn't corrupt and manipulative despite Holly thinking she was. So Anabel instead goes with the clear-cut explanation that plays more into the series' themes as a whole. It also allows a brief explanation as to why the Trainer laws would remain in place and no one would do anything change them, despite so many horrible things happening because of them.

-The concept of Holly trying to drown her unevolved Nidorina by throwing her Poké Ball into a lake comes directly from Holly Rising. However, the scenario there is completely different. Anabel stops her after threatening her with arrest, as she mentions, and talks to her about using her past as an excuse. However, in that version, Holly is remorseful, which is why Anabel doesn't go through any further. It's also worth noting that Anabel is not a psychic in Holly Rising. Instead, she has the ability to sense others pain and a heightened sense of empathy. It works similar to some types of psychic power, but is not directly called that. This ability comes directly from the Pokémon anime, and Holly also has it in Holly Rising. In Holly Rising, Holly also tries to release her Nidorina the way a player can in the games, but Anabel stops her there. She tells her to give the Pokémon a chance, but Holly just secretly gets angry and tries to murder the Pokémon.

-The changes to this version are for several reasons. One was that Holly's character was not completely developed at the time of writing the first incident with Nidorina. So she wasn't completely ruthless and more simply rebellious. However, as I started developing her character more, she became more ruthless later on. Eventually, I decided I wanted her to be ruthless from the start, so the new ruthless character is the one that's used in later books in Traveler. Thus, I knew she would react much differently. Therefore, she is much more serious about killing her own Pokémon (whereas it's implied it's more of an impulsive decision that Anabel talks her out of before) and doesn't even bother trying to release it in a typical way. Holly also doesn't have the respect or obligation to obey Anabel because of her personality change, so she doesn't care about what Anabel is saying after the lake incident. Needless to say, because of her lack of empathy, the ability to sense others' pain is gone as well. The idea of Holly doing even more to try and drown Nidorina is also because of new developments in the setting. Originally, when I made the scene in Holly Rising, I had the idea that Nidorina couldn't swim. Later on, I decided that all Pokémon could swim but some just did it better than others. So Holly would quickly find out her plan wouldn't work, but that wouldn't stop her from doing a bunch of other things to make it work.

-Turning Anabel into a psychic had several reasons as well. She was initially planned to be a psychic in Holly Rising, but I didn't know the mechanics of psychic power at the time and I thought was cliché (since Anabel tends to be a psychic in a lot of fan works). When I was writing for Usurping's timeline, I realized it would make more sense if she was a psychic. One of the reasons was the scene at the lake. In the original version, Anabel just drags Holly back from the lake. However, I realized that would probably pretty hard to do realistically, especially since Holly is fighting Anabel the entire way. So Anabel just uses psychic powers in this version and Holly can't do anything. The other reason was that psychic powers and other supernatural abilities play a much larger role in Usurping's timeline than in Holly Rising's. This is mainly due to the change in protagonist, since Kristine is in tune with and has supernatural powers, whereas that's not the case for Holly. So making Anabel have psychic powers would help her better understand what's happening to the protagonist in Usurping and play into the role of psychic powers in the story overall.

-Anabel taking Torracat happens in Holly Rising, but like almost everything else, it's a bit different here. Holly's reactions comes from an observation I made later (which is the same observation Erika realizes when she is hearing about what happened). Originally, when Anabel takes Torracat, Holly is upset, but Anabel gets away with it. This is because when I made the scene, I envisioned something like a parent taking a toy (including something like a cell phone) from a misbehaving child. In most cases, even though it's technically theft, it's not legally considered it. The reason is that legally and financially, the item usually belongs to the parents because they bought it for the child. Furthermore, a child doesn't have the power and knowledge to turn the theft into a court case, so it doesn't go anywhere when it comes to the law. Granted, there are very rare cases where a child does take a parent to court over something been stolen as a punishment, and the court sides with them. But it's considered the exception, and usually there's another parent or adult that really has the power and is behind it all.

-However, in Holly and Anabel's case, things aren't quite that simple. For one, Torracat is legally Holly's, and Holly does have the power to take the case to court without another adult helping her. Furthermore, Torracat is not a toy, but a living, breathing, creature. So the consequences for stealing are much more severe, even without taking how Pokémon theft is treated in this world into account. So no matter what Anabel believes, she did commit theft, and a severe one at that. Consequently, Holly is also within her rights to take Anabel to court over it, regardless of what Holly did or believes. Hence why things change drastically.

-Giselle's role changes drastically as well because of this. While Holly being ambushed by a Growlithe and Anabel having to catch it comes directly from Holly Rising, it's applied much differently. In the original version of the fight, Holly ends up losing to Giselle's Scizor because she forgets she had Growlithe. Thus, she doesn't have any fire Pokémon when she faces Scizor and can't target its greatest weakness. Since her other members can't do much damage, she ends up losing. In this version, she does remember she has Growlithe and defeats Giselle's Pokémon. However, in Traveler, battles keep going until one side is completely out of Pokémon rather than having each side restricted to the same amount of Pokémon. Therefore, I needed something to stop the battle so that the plot could continue. Giselle learning about the theft and stopping the match herself made perfect sense.

-In Holly Rising, Giselle was much friendlier in this scene. This is because Giselle never directly learned about what happened. She only inferred that there was something happening at the lake after she was done talking to Holly and Anabel, and by then she couldn't do anything about it or learn anything more. Furthermore, she didn't have connections to the Championship at that point in the story, so she may not have really been able to do anything anyway. But in this story, since she is the Champion and does learn about what happened, she lays down the law despite not having the entire context. In Holly Rising, it's established that Champions govern the region, and have the power to take away Pokémon and right to train from lawbreaking and undeserving Trainers. That power is carried over to Usurping's timeline, which is why Erika just believes that Giselle is doing her job.

-Giselle's reasoning for why Pokémon theft is such a severe crime is based on my own interpretations. In canon media, Pokémon stealing is considered horrible, but it's never elaborated on as to why. However, since everything revolves around Pokémon and most of them are a cross between humans and animals intelligence-wise, I figured the reasons Giselle mentions would make sense.

-Mt. Moon has several changes based on what is observed in Holly Rising. Since Nidoran is never used in battle against Giselle and it involves there otherwise, it just evolves in Mt. Moon instead. Furthermore, Holly has the same trap for Anabel in Holly Rising, but does not immobilize her. Thus Anabel is able to fight and get out of the trap, albeit with injuries. In this version, Holly is much more manipulative and calculating, so she would realize that she has to immobilize Anabel or any other foe and then injure them to the point where they can't move no matter what in order to truly get rid of them. However, Holly has no Pokémon that would be willing and able to do that, so I had to think of something else.

That's when I got the idea of Holly secretly having another Pokémon that she captured herself. Since she believes she has the right to go on a journey from the get-go and that causes most of the plot, that wouldn't be out of character for her. I then decided it had to be a Ghost Type, because those Ghost Types were good at hiding. But then I had to figure out which Ghost Type to choose.

I eventually got the idea to use Gengar, both because of its location (detailed further down), and because of what moves it can learn. Gengar can learn a move that could launch a thunderbolt around a large area (Thunderbolt in this case, but also Thunder), like what Holly did in the original version with her Pikachu. It can also learn a move that guarantees immobility if it hits (Zap Cannon, even though the move is inaccurate), and can learn moves that drain an opponent's strength and ability to fight (Mega Drain and Spite in this case, although it can also learn Leech Life, Giga Drain, and the Ghost Type version of Curse). Therefore, Gengar was the perfect choice.

In my original drafts, however, Holly was going to use Rotom because of the aforementioned location. However, Rotom lacks a strength draining move (its only option is Dream Eater, which only works if the opponent is asleep, and Rotom doesn't have any reliable way to put an opponent to sleep). Furthermore, Gengar is stronger and rarer than Rotom despite them both showing up in the same location, so Holly would probably be going for the former.

-Probably the largest changes from Holly Rising is Kristine's character and reaction. This is because Kristine is treated as a completely different character than her counterpart in Holly Rising, for reasons explained in both the middle and the end of that book (which I won't say here because of major spoilers for it, although I do plan on revealing them later in Usurping's timeline for anyone that hasn't read Holly Rising; those who have will know exactly what I'm talking about). As a result, she has the ability to save Anabel and take Vessel form when her counterpart could do neither. Kristine's Vessel form is based off of depictions of Archangels. Although depictions differ on what colors they wear, a lot of times they are seen wearing gold and associated with golden light. Hence, Kristine's Vessel form looks like that. This is also why she uses light as an attacking move. The reason she also uses shadows is something that will be explained a little bit later, although those who have read Holly Rising will probably know why.

-Kristine deciding to fight Holly in Archangel form was also something that happened based on observations with Holly Rising, but also something added later. In the original version in Holly Rising, Kristine takes the invitation to battle, but just has her Pokémon use move called Spore to put both Holly and her Pokémon to sleep. However, I realized without the limitations of Holly Rising's RP, it would be much more likely that Kristine would want to fight and incapacitate Holly even before the former's character diverged from her counterpart. Originally, it was just going to be a regular Pokémon battle that Kristine would win easily, and she would just have the final attack also hit Holly. However, that probably get her in trouble and could injure Holly instead. So I was trying to figure what to do.

Luckily, as soon as I decided Kristine would be an Archangel and have a separate form, I knew it would make the most sense for Kristine to use the form to save Anabel and then fight Holly with it. And given the lore that was already in Traveler, Kristine being able to have complete control over the damage she does in said form also made sense. So that was what I went with.

-The idea of Kristine and Anabel resting on the hilly route before Cerulean and then planning to go to said city comes directly from Holly Rising. Kristine is sitting on a rock near a cliff also comes from there. That's where the similarities end, though. In the version Holly Rising, Kristine and Anabel are never seen talking to each other while resting. The reason is because the entire story is from Holly's point of view, and she's unconscious for most of that time. But I could see Anabel and Kristine talking, since Anabel would want to know more about the Trainer who saved her, especially since she doesn't know too much about Kristine personally. So I figured them stopping and chatting would make sense.

The scene where they were stopping and chatting was going to be a little bit different originally, however. In the original version, Kristine was is going to fall asleep on the grass from exhaustion. She would then have a vision, and wake up with her nose bleeding on the grass. Anabel would be concerned and stop the bleeding, but Kristine would not elaborate until much later on. After that, the two would talk. This was removed for a few reasons. One was that a lot of time would have to pass with both the vision and the talking. With both of them being weakened and then needing to get to a hospital, they probably wouldn't want to spend that much time waiting around. The second reason was that going to sleep would allow Kristine to regain some of her strength. Thus, the fact that she was too weakened to stop Holly and save Nidorina wouldn't make too much sense. The final problem had to do with the vision itself. The vision wouldn't have been something that would've made much sense for the characters' situation or for Kristine herself.

Kristine was originally going to talk to the three dragons of Unova (Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyrem). There would be three paths laid out before her, and she could only pick one. Kristine would choose a path involving being surrounded by and walking through flames. At the end of the path, Kristine would choose the dragon of truth, Reshiram, over ideals (represented canonically and in Traveler by Zekrom), and neutrality (what Kyrem represents in Traveler, although it's just an empty shell canonically). This was removed for several reasons. One is that neither Kristine nor her journey has the struggle between truth and ideals, instead having a mix of both. Furthermore, the vision wouldn't be too relevant to the characters, as she wasn't planned to get the power of the Unova dragons until much later. Since she was originally supposed to have the struggle between truth and ideals, it would've been more symbolic than anything. So the vision was moved to a low bit later, and it was something completely different that was more immediate. However, there was a reference to the original vision midway through Holly Rising. Holly Rising's version of Kristine is implied to receive a negative version of that vision where all the paths disappear and the dragons are disappointed. However, it's never stated outright that she had it or that she even can have visions. Furthermore, it's only a few lines, and Holly doesn't pay much attention.

-The original version the fight near Cerulean was very different as well. Holly scattering Anabel's Poké Balls and Anabel being attacked again trying to get them is straight from Holly Rising. Additionally, Kristine being knocked off of the rock and Holly trying to beat her up also comes straight from Holly Rising. However, those are the only similarities. In the original version, Holly unknowingly exploits Kristine's weakness that she can only defend herself with Pokémon (and she can only call on them like a regular Trainer). Kristine only escapes by seen someone Pokémon in the distance and commanding them. She acknowledges later that even though she has the ability to do that, it could've very easily backfired and they only listened to her by chance. Why and how Kristine got that ability is never explained either, at least until the very end of Holly Rising, and by that point it's no longer relevant.

In this version, Usurping's Kristine is anything but defenseless even without Pokémon, as she doesn't need traditional methods to call on them. However, I had written before then that using a lot of her powers would weaken her because she would be exhausted. Given all the things I was going to have her do, it was the perfect explanation for why she couldn't simply stop everything. However, that would not prevent her from trying, so she tries and fails and only draws attention to herself for an enemy attack. It's also worth noting that due to certain events in Holly Rising, Kristine does not have and cannot obtain the strange creature used in Usurping. However, in Usurping, those events from Holly Rising never happen, among other things, so Kristine has the strange creature shown here.

-Kristine mining for treasure because she's low on money comes from the Sinnoh games. In the games, the player eventually gets access to mining equipment and the underground part of the region. With this, they can mine for many useful items, but a lot of these items can also be sold for high prices. Thus, it's one of the best ways for a player to make money in those games. The player can learn mining very early on, so they can become rich quickly and easily.

-Kristine stating that Gengar been found in the wild in the Old Château in Sinnoh comes from the games. Gengar could be found there, but only under very special conditions that the game gives no hints toward. In order to make Gengar appear, the player must first be playing on a DS or DS lite game system. After that, the player must have a Game Boy Advance Pokémon game inserted into the Game Boy Advance slot (meaning Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon Sapphire, Pokémon Emerald, Pokémon Firered, or Pokémon Leafgreen). Doing this would make Gengar have a very low chance of appearing at the Old Château. This method was called the dongle method, and it could be used to make some other Pokémon appear in different places. However, Gengar at the Old Château was probably the most notable. This is because it was extremely low-level, much lower level than what the player could normally get it at. Furthermore, it was much more powerful than what the player could normally find at that point in the game, and remained powerful throughout the entire game. This was also one of the few times a player could use the dongle method before the main game was cleared.

The dongle method at Old Château is to this day (or at least, at this time of writing) the only way to find Gengar normally in the wild. While Pokémon Sword and Shield introduced another way to find wild Gengar, it was only through a special event called a Max Raid battle. And there was no way Holly would find a Gengar using that method. This is because the Gengar found in Max Raid battles are at a high level, Max Raid Battles are extremely difficult and require allies to complete (which usually includes other players in real life), Holly would have no way of getting to Galar (the region where Max Raid Battles take place), and Erika would have no reason to take her there. So even though Max Raid Battles also exist, Kristine doesn't mention them and is correct that the Old Château is the only place where Gengar can be found regularly.

-Erika being grateful that Anabel is a witness comes from both my observations and a real-life aspect of court cases. As I was running out Anabel's witness statement and everything that happened, I realized that she could easily be incriminated because of what she had done, no matter how good her reasons were or how many people supported her. However, I quickly realized that that was the case, there would be an issue with the plot, because I needed Annabel to have a clean record. So I quickly looked up whether witnesses could be incriminated and came across something called witness immunity.

Witness immunity means that if a witness said something that could incriminate them, they cannot be charged for that same crime. It also means that witnesses cannot be forced to say anything that would incriminate them. It does not stop a witness from being charged for other crimes unrelated to the case, and it does not stop public opinion of them from believing that they should have been incriminated. Hence why Erika states that Anabel wouldn't be protected outside the courtroom and various bad things could happen.

-Trainers being ambushed by wild Pokémon and sometimes having to catch them out of desperation is seen in all media. However, the best example is in the main games. In most of the main games, Pokémon appear randomly. They're usually confined to tall grass, but in some areas such as caves they can appear anywhere. Thus, it's not uncommon for players to have to head into tall grass or other areas in order to get from one place to another, only to be attacked repeatedly by Pokémon randomly appearing. In most cases, a player can either run or defeat the Pokémon easily. However, sometimes, a player finds it easier to catch the Pokémon and just not use it. Random encounters and wild Pokémon constantly attacking were done away with almost entirely in newer games starting with Pokémon Let's Go, but it was still possible to run into a Pokémon and be forced into battle.

-The phrase that Erika recounts about how Pokémon aren't evil and only do evil things their Trainers are comes from the anime. Similarly, her not believing the phrase comes from both my observations and contradictions within canon. This idea is a common one in the anime, and first comes up when Jesse and James's (two of the main villains) Pokémon explain why they do the things they do. They also explain that because of that reason they can't obey another Pokémon, Meowth, when he tells them to attack Ash's Pikachu. Without the orders of their masters, they are not willing or able to commit evil acts. This seems to be the case all Pokémon until Mewtwo is introduced. Gary battles it, but then quickly realizes it's harming both Pokémon and challengers just because it wants to, not out of any respect or orders from Giovanni (its Trainer at the time). It's later discovered that the reason Mewtwo acts like that is because of a misguided perception of humans, and that perception is eventually changed. But then the anime goes on to contradict itself many more times, showing many mischievous or even outright malicious Pokémon, some of them without a Trainer. So I quickly realized that the whole idea didn't make sense, which led to Erika's observations.

-Trainers getting a powerful Pokémon, teaching a few moves, and then realizing it's too much to handle and then releasing it is based on the anime. In the anime, there are a few examples of this, but probably the most notable example is Ash's Snivy. Snivy is a powerful Pokémon in the anime that uses the move Attract. Attract is a move that can only be taught by a Trainer or bred onto a Snivy. With this move, Snivy becomes much deadlier than it would be normally, able to take out most of Ash's team at the time. It's never explained why Snivy has the move, but it speculated that Snivy was either abandoned by her Trainer or abandoned the Trainer herself. The games never go into Pokémon being released because a trainer can handle them and thus having moves from them. However, with Traveler being a darker take on the concept of a Pokémon journey, I figured that scenario wouldn't be too improbable. It would especially be likely in the case of Gengar, because it's so much stronger than what an early player can normally get, and it's not usually supposed to be gotten until much later.

-Pokémon using two attacks at once is seen in all media. It can't be done directly in the main games, but it is possible to have a Pokémon use a move that selects another one (such as Sketch, Mimic, Sleep Talk, and Metronome). The game treats this as selecting the first move rather than the second in most cases, so it's not quite the same. However, in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon side games, the player can link moves, and it's exactly how Erika describes. In the anime and the mangas, there are cases of Pokémon using two moves at once, and sometimes combining them to create an entirely new move. However, this is pretty rare, and those that do this are usually acknowledged to be particularly powerful.

-Arceus's Angels are a custom concept, and are first seen and explained in chapter 91 of Holly Rising (including the author's notes). Some of the lore Erika recounts about them comes from there. However, most of it is an expansion of the lore, since an Angel is now in the spotlight. Arceus having a true form and the form others seeing Her as being a mere fragments of her power is also something custom to go along with the Angel lore. The information the Erika recounts about Archangels comes from stories of them in Christianity (which is partially what the concept of Arceus's Angels is based off of).

-Disabled people being unable to become Vessels is first mentioned in Holly Rising, and like the lore about Arceus's Angels, the concept is expanded on here. Kristine's reasons for not using her Vessel and Archangel powers constantly were originally going to be explained by Kristine herself later on in Usurping. However, I figured it would make sense for someone who heard about the power to wonder about that. And since Erika knows Sabrina and at least a little bit about supernatural powers, she'd be able to realize, or least guess at, the reasons why. So the explanation was given early.

-Sabrina having a psych ward for supernatural power users who are out of control and trying to help them is something that is mentioned in both Holly Rising and Diary. The inspiration for the word comes from the anime. In this medium, Sabrina runs a psychic school which several students attend. However, she also has trouble controlling her own powers, and not as many people are aware. In Traveler, the psychic school is still there, but Sabrina never has issues controlling her powers. This is because the events that cause her to lose control in the first place never occur. However, being the potent psychic she is in all media, that wouldn't stop her from wanting to help others with their power issues, or possibly even seeing people with power issues before she created the psych ward. Thus, she has one here.

-Erika's trip to Sinnoh and what Holly does there is first mentioned in Diary. However, with Diary being metafiction, nothing is finalized. As a result, several changes were made from the original scene. Originally, Holly was after Rotom, but fails to capture it or anything else. Instead, Rotom is caught by a woman named Cheryl. Cheryl is a canon character from Sinnoh, and first appears in the forest near the Old Château, so that was why she was chosen to capture Rotom in the Traveler. She would've eventually made her way to Kanto, where she would have helped in apprehending Holly after the latter's arrest. She also would have taunted Holly with the Rotom, explaining that she captured and knew what happened later. Cheryl would've also healed the others and joined Kristine's group because she is a doctor (canonically, she is skilled at healing). However, when the story was changed into its current incarnation, all of that was also changed. There is still a chance Cheryl may appear at some point, but she most likely will not be a part of Kristine's group.

-Erika's thoughts about fusion come from canon Pokémon media, and, outside of the fusion Kristine uses and Erika's thoughts there, it's exactly as she describes. Kristine being a Ranger is part of her backstory mentioned in some of the other books, and being a Pokémon Ranger itself is something that can be done canonically via the Pokémon Ranger games.

-Erika wondering about Kristine having posttraumatic stress disorder and not showing signs of it even when she's very likely to have it comes from both Kristine's original backstory and my observations about it. Early on, I realized that with the amount of stressful situations Kristine had her life, she was almost guaranteed to develop PTSD. So originally, she did have PTSD and had to work so that alongside other issues. However, after doing some research, I realized she wasn't acting like someone that would have PTSD despite everything that happened to her. Furthermore, I didn't know too much about PTSD, and quickly realized I felt uncomfortable writing about it. This is because it could make the story very sad about no matter what I did, and I didn't feel like I could portray accurately. So instead Kristine acts mostly normal despite everything, but something else is at play instead of PTSD. It was a condition I knew a lot about, and realized I was unconsciously writing about when I created Kristine's character and her reaction to what happened to her. So the PTSD quickly changed to this condition, with a little extra explanation as to why it was there. What's really going on and what said condition is will be explained later on. However, this would stop someone from wondering why she didn't have PTSD or at least didn't show any symptoms, especially since Kristine never seems to have therapy. Hence why Erika wonders about it.