It was a cold day, though in the thick of winter how could it not be? Thankfully, Obsidia's natural heat provided at least a small barrier against the cold, even being enough to set the snow in a five-foot radius around the Camerupt to melting. The snow on the ground was beautiful, so white and fluffy. She could barely feel the cold. Laughter, joyous laughter, came from behind her as Pad darted along in Obsidia's trail, moving from snowbank to snowbank to touch his tiny yellow bill to the frosty substance and squeaking in startled delight.
"Pad, stop, you're spraying snow everywhere!" Elle's meant-to-be-firm order clashed with the giggle she let out at the statement. The Lotad turned towards Elle. "Aww…"
As usual, Elle could only hold up for a few seconds under Pad's tearful eyes. "Okay, Pad, you win. Beat those snowbanks!"
"Yay!" Pad leaped headlong into one of the snowbanks, burying himself up to the lilypad atop his head that gave him his name. He burst out a second later, grinning, and lunged towards the other snowbank.
"Spirit?" Elle asked. "How are you holding up?"
Spirit turned her head even as she continued to stride. "Fine, thank you." She had only mastered telepathic communication with her Trainer recently, but it felt surprisingly natural even after only a few weeks of utilizing it.
Elle smiled. "Good," she said. "We're almost there, everyone! Just a few more minutes!"
"Thank Arceus," Obsidia uttered. "Why would we even come to this forest? I'm sure there are plenty of other training spots that don't require us to walk this far?"
Spirit snorted. "Welcome to Kalos. The land of adventure and plenty."
"More like the land of cold temperatures and long walks," Obsidia growled. "How in Distortion are you not even stumbling? You don't even look tired!"
"Hey, before I met you all, I was training daily in these kinds of conditions," Spirit pointed out. "To me, this is par for the course."
"You Meditites are all so hardy," Obsidia griped. Spirit grinned at the faux-weary tone in the Camerupt's voice.
"Whee!" Behind them, Pad plunged into another snowbank.
"Sometimes it feels like he's even hardier than I am," Spirit admitted. "Look at him! An hour of walking and he's still leaping into every half-melted snowbank in his path!"
"Sooner or later he's going to hit a buried tree stump," said Obsidia. Both she and Spirit chortled at that thought.
"We're here!"
Elle's call snapped them back to reality. Spirit looked around at the patch of snowy forest that didn't look all that different from the rest of the snowy forest.
"What's so special about this place?" she asked Elle telepathically.
"Well," said Elle, "look over there."
Spirit looked where Elle was pointing, as did Obsidia and Pad. All three of them instantly saw the massive, half-buried tree stump that looked as if it had once held a tree nearly the size of a house.
"That," said Elle, "is our training arena for today. Pad, Obsidia, why don't you get up there? Spirit, stay here. I've got something I think I want you to try."
Spirit watched as Pad and Obsidia stepped up onto the tree stump, the latter melting all the snow around it as she pulled her way up a particularly thick root. "Hurry up!" Pad cried, dancing in place at the top of the stump.
"I'm coming," Obsidia grunted, hauling herself onto the top of the stump. "All right, let's do this. Volcanic Plume!"
As Pad and Obsidia fell to their usual bout - Obsidia firing dodgeable but not too forgiving attacks while Pad either dodged or didn't dodge and landed weaker hits of his own - Spirit looked up at Elle, who was grinning at the prospect of whatever idea she'd come up with now.
"So, Spirit," said Elle, "I can't help but notice that every time you wind up in a physical fight, while you have good form, your power is…a little lacking."
"That is true," Spirit admitted. "Back around the time you caught me, my power was enough. But now that we are facing more powerful foes, I do find myself being forced into Psychic Retribution a little more often."
"So I looked up the possible moves you can learn," said Elle, "and I thought we might try our hand at Force Palm."
"What is that?" Spirit asked.
"It's a palm that uses force," said Elle. She grinned. "Seriously, though, it's a Fighting-type technique that uses open-palm strikes instead of fists. I think it'll be perfect for you."
"Maybe," said Spirit. "But I do not normally fight with open palms. The muscle memory will be difficult to conquer."
Elle smiled. "I know it's going to be difficult, but it should be a pretty good upgrade," she said with a grin. "Your first Fighting-type attack! I bet you can't wait to - what? What is that?"
Her eyes looked to a nearby bush. "Who are you? What do you want?"
Spirit followed Elle's eyes as she addressed whoever she was looking at with a firm and questioning tone, noticing that Obsidia and Pad had paused their fight to do the same. She beheld the glossy white fur, dark claws, face, horn, and tail, and bright red eyes of an Absol, a species that brought a slight chill to her as she gazed upon it. Absols were said to be harbingers of disaster, and to see one, Spirit had heard, meant danger was not far behind.
The Absol was staring right at Elle from the edge of a nearby bush. "Hello, Elle Reynolds," it said with a feminine voice. It did not speak telepathically. It simply spoke, and yet Elle's facial expression indicated that she had heard and understood it perfectly.
Elle's eyes did not leave the Absol. "Okay, how can I understand you, and how do you know my name?"
"One question at a time," said the Absol. "My name is Bringer-Of-Visions. You can understand me because I have mastered the art of human speech by way of careful study and experience over several decades of life. And I know who you are because I have been watching you, though only by way of Future Sight and not by the mundane stealthy following."
"How long?" Elle asked.
"Only for two months, not to worry," Bringer-Of-Visions responded. Her tone was soothing, but there was something in her voice that set Spirit on edge. "I haven't peered into your private life or anything. I only know your name, your Pokemon, and their names. Nothing more."
"Okay," said Elle. "So why? What do you want with me?"
"You…" Bringer-Of-Visions said slowly and a little haltingly. "There is no easy way to say this." The Absol's eyes turned to Spirit. "Your Meditite must remain here."
Spirit's eyes widened. Obsidia and Pad exchanged uneasy glances. Elle's face was uncomprehending fully. "Wait, wait, just a minute," she said. "What do you mean by that?"
"Spirit here has a destiny of her own," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "One that requires her to leave your team and remain here. I have come to take her upon her own path."
"And what if I don't want to?" Spirit asked. Bringer-Of-Visions's eyes swiveled towards her. "I've been with Elle for months. She's my Trainer. I'm not leaving her for some weird 'destiny'. Find someone else."
"There is no one else," Bringer-Of-Visions stated; the Absol's tail was twitching now. "It has to be you."
"Can you at least explain what kind of destiny this is?" Spirit asked.
"I'm afraid not," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "You cannot know your fate until it has happened. Otherwise you might take a different path, whether by accident or by intent."
"Then you'd best find someone else," said Spirit. Obsidia, Pad, and Elle all nodded in agreement.
"You really don't understand, do you?" Bringer-Of-Visions growled. "It must be you. There is no other possibility. Your destiny must be fulfilled, even if I have to resort to force in order to fulfill it."
"Okay, that's enough." Elle's eyes narrowed. "You aren't forcing Spirit into anything she doesn't want to do."
"I'm afraid none of you have any choice in the matter," Bringer-Of-Visions retorted.
"Obsidia, take her down," Elle ordered with fury resplendent in her voice.
Obsidia crouched, the miniature volcano on her back welling up with power. "Volcanic Plume!" she cried.
Bringer-Of-Visions exhaled. In one smooth motion, the Absol blurred out of the way of the blast. The explosion of Fire energy licked against a snow-covered tree as the Absol lunged forwards, not aiming at any of the three Pokemon. Spirit heard Elle scream in shock and pain, and twisted to behold her body falling in the snow, staining it red with blood as Bringer-Of-Visions withdrew her horn from the new hole in her stomach.
"ELLE!" Obsidia roared as Pad gasped in horror. Spirit just stared with wide eyes at Bringer-Of-Visions, unable to fully process what had just happened as she looked up into the eyes of the white-furred, dark-clawed Pokemon standing over the body of her Trainer. The Absol's face was unreadable as blood dripped from its horn and it stared at her with unblinking eyes. Spirit turned her head to look at Pad and Obsidia to see absolute rage in their expressions. Even the normally carefree Pad looked as if he was about to fly at Bringer-Of-Visions and tear her apart.
One thing was for certain; Bringer-Of-Visions wasn't planning on letting them leave. They were going to have to fight their way out. She rounded on her foe, eyeing its white fur that would have blended in with the snow if it hadn't been for its dark claws. "You're going to pay for that," Spirit snarled.
Bringer-Of-Visions's eyes narrowed. Without a word she opened her mouth and exhaled three rays made of Dark energy straight at Spirit. Even as they left her mouth, Spirit knew there would be no dodging. "Psychic Retri-!" she began.
But the rays slammed into her before she could complete the move and she was sent flying as her chest exploded with pain. Then her back joined it as she slammed into a half-buried stone and fell to the ground. Spirit raised her head in time to see Pad and Obsidia lunge for Bringer-Of-Visions, while Elle lay unmoving in the snow.
"Volcanic Blast!" Obsidia roared.
"Leeching Vines!" Pad cried.
The two timed it perfectly. Obsidia sent a cannonade of Fire energy screaming at Bringer-Of-Visions, while Pad fired a flurry of seeds which would hit just after the Volcanic Blast, preventing Obsidia's attack from burning up Pad's.
It was an effective combination, and one that failed utterly.
Bringer-Of-Visions hurled herself straight at Pad, blurring out of the way of his Leeching Vines as Obsidia's Volcanic Blast exploded against the snow behind the Absol. Bringer-Of-Visions's horn slashed down at Pad. More blood sprayed the snow as Pad tumbled to the ground; the Lotad was screaming, writhing in agony, blood streaming from a deep gash in his lilypad.
Spirit heard a groan and turned to see Elle, raising her head to gaze upon the scene, face pale with both shock and blood loss, one hand at her side and the other clamped over her stomach wound. "Elle," Spirit whispered telepathically. "Recall us…we can't win this fight…"
Elle's head turned to see Spirit lying in the snow. Her hand reached down to her belt, fumbling for the Pokeballs. Her fingers hit one practically at random, and to Spirit's relief Pad disappeared, leaving only his blood behind.
"Volcanic Eruption!" Obsidia bellowed; now that she was the only one fighting against Bringer-Of-Visions, she had no reason to hold back her strongest attack. The Camperupt's miniature volcano glowed bright orange with power as she channeled as much Fire energy as she could into it.
"BURN!" Obsidia roared as she fired the attack. The explosion practically vaporized the unmelted snow within a twenty-foot radius of the attack and rattled the branches of the surrounding trees.
And then Bringer-Of-Visions materialized right in front of Obsidia, completely unharmed, and slashed upwards with her horn. Obsidia howled as the Absol's horn carved a deep gash diagonally up her face, narrowly missing her eyes. Elle's own eyes pulsed with fury as she reached down for another of her Pokeballs.
"No."
Spirit's last hope faded as a second Absol leaped out of nowhere. Elle cried out as she jerked her hand back, one finger shedding blood. Pad materialized right next to Elle, still screaming in pain, as Spirit saw exactly what the new arrival had done. All three of Elle's Pokeballs had been carved right through in one swift strike.
"W…wh…why?" Elle gasped as she stared at the newcomer.
"You cannot interfere," the second Absol said. "The Meditite's path has already been decided, and we cannot allow you to alter it."
He stepped around Elle's body, horn darkening with Dark energy. "If it's any consolation, though," he said, "you won't remember any of this."
Spirit felt rage surge into her body. She stood, shaking off the pain from the Dark-type attack that had struck her, and lunged for the second Absol, trying to ignore the fight between Obsidia and Bringer-Of-Visions as the first Absol easily dodged a Volcanic Crash from Obsidia and retaliated with another strike from her wicked horn, this time carving a scratch down the Camerupt's side.
"STOP!" Spirit screamed as she hurled herself forward, fist drawn back.
The second Absol twisted. "No," he said coldly, and lunged forwards. Spirit threw the hardest punch she'd ever thrown, but her opponent simply blurred out of the way.
"Too slow." Spirit's back exploded with pain as she was sent flying once again. She saw bushes nearing her face and closed her eyes as she plowed through them. Then she landed, rolling across the ground until a snowdrift finally brought her to a halt.
Spirit finally opened her eyes. She was lying on the ground, left cheek frozen from the snow, eyes locked on the undergrowth in front of her, waiting for that Absol to come after her. But he didn't. Instead, all Spirit could hear was more agonized screaming, mingled with another explosion that signaled Obsidia had managed another Volcanic Eruption.
Spirit began to crawl forwards on hands and knees, practically dragging herself through the snow. Her entire body hurt, but she pushed forwards regardless, knowing that she couldn't just abandon her Trainer, her team.
She was so close! Just a little farther, just a little, until she was-
"What have we here? It seems Bringer-Of-Visions's plan worked to perfection. For a given value of the word, anyway."
Spirit twisted to see a third Absol staring down at her. Her resolve broke and she flinched away. "N-no, please…"
"Don't worry, you're not going to die," this Absol said softly. "I'm…I'm sorry about all of this. None of this was my intention. But it's going to be all right. When you wake up…" His horn began to glow black. Spirit whimpered softly and helplessly.
"…it'll be like none of this ever happened."
"And he was right," Medicham finished. "When I woke up, I wasn't Spirit. I was Meditite, the hermit of the forest, born a wild Pokemon, and had lived in Kalos for my entire life." She chuckled sadly. "It actually explains a lot. Detect, Endure, Force Palm...they all came to me so naturally because I'd already learned them once. And...I could telepathically communicate with Elle. I...I haven't tried it again, but I think, back in the chamber, I accidentally did the same with Marcus. I...I think they installed some kind of mental block that prevented me from accessing too many of my moves. And that mental block started falling away slowly when I joined Marcus. First I started remembering moves, then bits and pieces of my old memories..."
"Medicham, I didn't know..." Kriesh had no idea what to say to comfort Medicham. She was practically rambling as she pieced together a puzzle she'd clearly been working on for some time.
"A couple years afterwards," Medicham continued, "Boulder told me that on that very same day, an Absol had passed through, prophesizing a flood, and had been driven away. I'll bet you anything that Absol was one of the three that attacked us - probably the one that knocked me unconscious." She sighed. "Which means that incident must have been the real thing that drove Seeker-Of-Endings's friend to leave for Hoenn. So many things make sense now..."
"Who's Seeker-Of-Endings?" Kriesh asked.
"Serena's Absol," said Medicham; this elicited a look of shock from Kriesh. "No, I'm not lying," Medicham added. "He told me his name back in Lumiose."
"Oh, was that where you disappeared off to before Houndoom joined us?" Kriesh asked.
Medicham's expression turned stricken once again. "Sort of. You see…that's another one of my memories that just came back…or rather, reset to what it was supposed to be. When Betrayer-Of-Kin was running from the Lifebringer, she looked back at me and told me to send Seeker-Of-Endings her regards. I knew Seeker-Of-Endings had to be an Absol, and when he showed up again at the Power Plant, I decided to act on my hunch."
"You believed Betrayer-Of-Kin?" Kriesh asked. "The Absol that literally tried to murder Marcus?"
"Yes, well, I had to be sure, and she did turn out to be lying," said Medicham. "Seeker-Of-Endings did give her our location, but I'm pretty sure it was an accident. But that's not important. What's important is that Seeker-Of-Endings panicked when I confronted him, and dropped a little bit more information than he was apparently supposed to. Because that night, when I was training in the field after everyone else had gone to sleep, three Absols jumped me, knocked me unconscious, and rearranged my memory of the conversation with Seeker-Of-Endings."
"So that's why you never came back to your Pokeball that night," Kriesh realized.
"Exactly," said Medicham. "The three main things they wiped away were, firstly, the name of their organization. They call themselves the Heralds, and their goal is to, as he put it, 'protect the desired future', which Seeker-Of-Endings was and still is doing by monitoring Marcus in the guise of one of Serena's Pokemon. The second thing is that, to an extent, they are capable of seeing the future, which, from what I can tell, allows them to manipulate events practically as they wish. And the third thing is that, using that future-seeing ability, Seeker-Of-Endings had realized that if I continued to follow Marcus, I had an 86.39% chance of dying." She chuckled darkly again. "Well, he was right about that, because I did."
"Wait," said Kriesh. "Hold on a second. Isn't Drapion known as 'the Marked One' because his egg was marked by an Absol before it hatched?"
"Yes, that's probably the Heralds as well," said Medicham.
"So let me get this straight," said Kriesh. "Marcus, you, and Skorupi are being stalked and manipulated by an organization of Absols called the Heralds in order to achieve a specific future that they want you to cause. Those Absols attacked your original Trainer and her other Pokemon and wiped your memory of the incident, and probably theirs as well, in order to push you into their desired future. We've also got another Absol, Betrayer-Of-Kin, who the Heralds are working against and who seems to want Marcus dead. One of the Heralds has been masquerading as one of Serena's Pokemon to keep tabs on us, and arranged for your memory to be altered again when he accidentally spilled too much information to you. And now, thanks to the Lifebringer bringing you back to life, all your previously wiped memories have now returned?"
"That's about it, yes," said Medicham.
Kriesh looked back at the rest of the team who were still standing out of earshot. "We need to tell them."
Medicham's eyes narrowed. "No! We can't! Don't you understand? The instant the Heralds realize that I have my memories back, they're going to show up! And telling anyone else is going to put them in danger! I…" Medicham's fury gave way to a choked sobbing. "I can't lose another team…"
"Medicham…" Kriesh began, trying to find the words to comfort her.
"I'm…I should have done what Seeker-Of-Endings told me to…" Medicham gasped out between sobs. "I'm putting everyone in danger…against Team Flare, we nearly lost Drapion…and Cloyster, and Trevenant, and you…I've let all of you get hurt…" Medicham's fists clenched and she pressed them into the earth. "I'm nothing but a monster…"
"Medicham!" Kriesh snarled harshly. "You are not a monster! You hear me? Against the Heralds, you were facing long odds at best, you couldn't have done anything! And we all chose to fight Team Flare! What they did to us is not your fault! None of this is your fault!"
Medicham's eyes snapped to Kriesh's face. "What do you know?" she asked bitterly. "You're not the leader! You don't know what it's like to be responsible for the lives of every single Pokemon on your team! They-"
"I know perfectly well!" Kriesh growled. "Think, Medicham! I spent a year caring for an entire flock of children who could barely even fight! I know what it's like! So stop blaming yourself! Do you think I blamed myself when you beat and captured me?"
"No, you blamed me!" Medicham retorted.
"I blamed Marcus!" Kriesh snarled. "Not you! Never you! You are not the problem here, and you never were!"
"I…" Medicham's voice died on the way up her throat.
"Medicham," Kriesh urged. "After…after Team Rocket, I felt…horrible. LIke those six months defined my entire life. Like I'd always be a monster for what I'd done. I took care of the flock because it was my mother's last wish. But…I also took care of the flock because I didn't feel like I was worthy of anything else. I'd always wanted to be with a Trainer, but in my mind I didn't deserve that after what I'd done. And…it took me a long time to realize that I wasn't the monster there. Onyph, and Evan, and Ariana…they were the monsters. I blamed myself…when the whole time I should have known it was all them. Team Flare, the Heralds…they're the monsters here. Not you."
Medicham stared mutely at Kriesh. Slowly, her eyes slid closed. She practically fell into Kriesh's feathers. Kriesh wrapped her wings loosely around Medicham as she began to sob once more, feeling Medicham's tears wetten her feathers.
"It's going to be fine," Kriesh whispered. "It's over. Team Flare's gone."
Medicham's chest heaved with effort as she continued to silently cry.
Kriesh remained still until, with a rattling breath, Medicham finally stood freely again. Her cheeks were wet, but her eyes radiated understanding and thankfulness. A sad smile crossed her face as she looked into Kriesh's eyes.
"I…I'll need some time," she said slowly. "Time to think, time to process…I need you to do me a favor, Kriesh. I can't lead this team anymore. You…and Drapion…you're the two next most senior Pokemon on the team…"
"Don't worry," said Kriesh. "I'm happy to help. And I'm sure Drapion is too."
She sighed softly. "Let's go back over to the rest of the team," she said. "We don't have to tell them about…about Elle. Just…say you're taking some time off from being team leader, okay?"
Medicham nodded with understanding. "Thank you," she said, and the two of them began moving back towards the rest of the team, Kriesh's wing around Medicham's shoulders.
Elsewhere, in the tall rooms of the Kalos Pokemon League, the fallout of the Battle of Geosenge was ongoing in a rather different way. In one of the League's many side rooms, Siebold and Drasna sat in comfortable chairs, hands crossed over their laps and looking morose, while Siebold's Starmie watched with his one gem-like eye glowing. Wikstrom was still in the hospital with a concussion.
"The Admins claimed that they were only fighting for Lysandre because they were afraid of Yveltal," Siebold reported. "We don't know that for certain, but given the alternative, I'd honestly rather just believe that. And they're all going to prison anyway, so it doesn't really matter. Mable's being kept separate from the rest, of course, to prevent retribution for her actions against Team Flare. And Surge and Jasmine said they'd handle Aliana. They seemed oddly interested in her; I don't get it, but they insisted, and at this point I'm not going to bother arguing."
Drasna sighed. "What about Malva?"
"As far as we know, she had no knowledge about Yveltal," said Siebold, "unlike the rest of the Admins. She did know about the Ultimate Weapon, though, so she's still complicit in attempted mass murder." He turned to Starmie. "Of her team, from what I can tell from Starmie's interrogation, most of them, including Hellhound, just went along with it out of loyalty to their Trainer. Considering the circumstances, they'll all be facing prison sentences."
Starmie looked to Drasna as the Dragon-type Elite Four member cleared her throat. "And what of her spot? Malva was always the first Elite Four the winner would face. With the Kalos Pokemon League Tournament coming up, we need a new member, and quickly."
"Diantha should be helping to handle that," said Siebold, "but we've got options. And there's one in particular that I'm planning to float by her…"
Unbeknownst to either Siebold or Drasna, one of the subjects of their conversation was even now waking up from a short nap.
Aliana rose, stretched, and sighed. Her hands had been left uncuffed, something that actually seemed to surprise the Team Flare executive a bit. Her eyes wandered the bars and walls of the cell she was sitting in.
And fell onto a Raichu that she instantly recognized.
Aliana sighed. "Lieutenant Surge is right around the corner, isn't he?"
"Indeed," said Lieutenant Surge. Raichu stepped back as his Trainer moved into view of the cell. "Welcome back to Kanto, Executive Ariana."
The red-haired woman in the cell sighed. "I stopped using that name years ago, Surge."
"I have to ask," said Surge, "what were you thinking when, for your secret alias, all you did was change a single letter of your name?"
"It worked, didn't it?" the former Executive of Team Rocket pointed out. "For a time, at least."
Surge smiled grimly. "That it did. But now, I've brought the last of the former Team Rocket Executives to justice. How does it feel, Ariana?"
Ariana grinned back at Surge. "'Former' is such an odd way of putting it, Surge. I like to think of Team Rocket less as 'former' and more as 'on hiatus'."
"Heh," Surge chuckled. "Call it what you want. The fact is, you're going to prison for a very long time. So get comfortable, because this is probably a lot nicer than your later accommodations are gonna be. Come along, Raichu. We've got better things to do than listen to a former Team Rocket Executive prattle."
Raichu turned to follow his Trainer out of the room, pointedly not looking at Ariana as she stared after them.
In a room at the very top of the Kalos Pokemon League, Gardevoir, as par for the course, was watching as Diantha engaged in a meeting. The goodbyes and thank-yous had already been said to the representatives of the regions that had been able to respond; the apologies had been offered and accepted from the representatives of the regions that had not. This conversation was of a more personal nature, at least for Lysandre.
"…and that's pretty much everything," said Diantha. "I know Lysandre was invaluable in the fight against Cipher, so…while technically this information is meant to be highly classified and not shared with anybody outside the UPW, I thought it would be best if you knew how he died."
The leftmost one of the three people sitting on the other end of the screen sighed. "Yeah, Lysandre was great." He chuckled. "Can't believe a guy like him actually went bad."
"He who fights monsters, and all that," said the middle person of the three.
The person on the right closed her eyes in sorrow. "I'm glad he ultimately chose the side of good," she said. "Even if it cost him his life in the end."
"So am I, Rui," said the middle person. "So am I."
"Real shame no one's gonna understand that," said the left person. The middle person looked oddly at him. "What? It's true, Michael. No one outside Orre is going to remember what he did against Cipher. And, in all likelihood, no one in your little organization is going to remember what he did for them either. All they'll remember him as is the leader of Team Flare."
"As much as I hate to admit it, Wes is right," said Diantha. "Kalos is already up in arms, calling for Lysandre Labs to be dismantled and everyone working there to be arrested for connections with Team Flare. Professor Sycamore's already moving to buy Lysandre Labs and mitigate the damage, but it's been done. I've heard reports of some Lysandre Labs employees leaving Kalos entirely."
Rui smiled despite the situation. "At least we can remember him from before Team Flare, can't we?"
Wes chuckled. "Yeah, guess we can. I've got some drinks right here. How about a toast?"
Quickly, the leftmost Orrean withdrew a bottle of liquid and a trio of cups from a nearby cabinet and poured two for his partners and one for himself. Gardevoir, knowing what to do in this sort of situation, turned towards a nearby cart and telekinetically poured a small flute of champagne.
"To Lysandre," said Wes solemnly.
"To Lysandre," the other two Orreans and Diantha echoed, and then, all as one, they drank to the memory of the man who, even now, was the subject of riots across Lumiose and would, for centuries to come, be known as one of Kalos's greatest villains.
Further down in the depths of the Pokemon League lay a large, bright room with a large pond in the center, trees dotting the grass around the pond, flowers blooming, and walls painted to make the room appear as close to a lush, beautiful island in the ocean as humanly possible.
The two occupants of the room, a fierce-looking Noivern and an even fiercer-looking Gyarados, formerly of the late Lysandre's team, paid no heed to their surroundings. Both were slumped on the edge of the pond, the Gyarados in the water and the Noivern just out of it, looking almost lifeless if not for the occasional twitch.
The door to the room opened and another Gyarados floated inside. Lysandre's Gyarados raised his head to peer at the newcomer. "What do you want?" he asked morosely, eliciting the Noivern's attention with his words.
The newcomer Gyarados sighed. "Siebold sent me," he said. "I…just wanted to talk about what happens next."
"We know what happens next," the Noivern said from her sandy spot. "We've taken out enough Pokemon thieves and the like to know what happens to their Pokemon. If they were brainwashed, coerced, or something similar, they get put into rehabilitation. Otherwise, it's prison. And…we didn't get our brains washed, and we sure as Distortion didn't get coerced. We made our decisions. So don't keep us in this glorified cage. Just send us to the real prison and be done with it."
Siebold's Gyarados stuttered for a moment before pressing on again. "Look, I-"
"Just…" Lysandre's Gyarados interrupted. "Stop. Please. Whatever deal you're going to offer, whatever you're planning on giving us…we don't care. Our Savior is dead. The rest of our family is dead. All I ask is…when you do take us to prison, don't separate us. It'd break Noivern's heart."
"Look," said Siebold's Gyarados, starting over again. "I don't want to have two highly-capable Pokemon such as yourselves rotting in prison. Any Ace Trainer would probably kill to get the two of you as a package team, or there's always opportunities at-"
"We don't want to serve another Trainer," Lysandre's Gyarados interrupted again. "Like Noivern said, we made our decisions. And we're gonna live with them. You're wasting your time."
Slowly, Siebold's Gyarados nodded. "All right. I'll…talk to Starmie, and see if he can't get some people to pull some strings to put you both together. And…if you change your minds-"
"We won't." This time it was Noivern who made the interruption. With those two words, she laid back down on the sand and closed her eyes. Lysandre's Gyarados sighed and leaned back into the water, turning away from Siebold's Gyarados as well.
With a sigh of his own, Siebold's Gyarados withdrew from the two broken Pokemon, closing the door behind him with a quiet gust of Flying energy.
"It is a shame that so many vital developments were masked from us," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "Had we foreseen any of this, we could have acted in a far more rapid capacity."
"You were up against the will of a Legendary, Bringer," responded Keeper-Of-Memories. "It is not your fault."
"But we should have done more to prevent Marcus's Medicham's death," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "I knew delaying on that front was a mistake. For the second time, we were fortunate that the Lifebringer intervened to keep Marcus's destiny on track."
"It appears the Master is smiling on him," said Keeper-Of-Memories. "Additionally, Seeker-Of-Endings's bravery must not be denied. Though it is only by way of a miracle that he survived, the fact remains that he likely saved Marcus from a second attack by Betrayer-Of-Kin."
"We must be more careful," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "We have given Betrayer-Of-Kin far too many opportunities. It is only due to chance that she has not succeeded."
"I have made the suggestion before of inserting an agent directly onto a destined Trainer's team," Keeper-Of-Memories pointed out. "Now, more than ever, might be a good time-"
"No, for the same reason that this suggestion has been refused in the past," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "We already had one close call with the Medicham thanks to Seeker-Of-Endings's inexperience. Having a Herald on the team may cause problems with the memory alterations." She sighed, changing the subject. "How is Seeker-Of-Endings, by the way?"
"He will spend a few days in the hospital while his bones are reconstructed," said Keeper-Of-Memories.
"When that time comes, I will send him a Song and let him know that he did well," said Bringer-Of-Visions. "Thank you for your aid, Keeper. Keep up the good work."
"Just doing my part." Keeper-Of-Memories's words echoed across the Perish Dimension as Bringer-Of-Visions dropped the Song.
Alone once more, Bringer-Of-Visions sighed. It could have gone far worse. Far, far worse. But they could not rely on the Lifebringer's aid forever.
Something would have to change. Keeper-Of-Memories was right; they needed a better solution to protecting Marcus.
Bringer-Of-Visions began to think, mulling over possibilities and scanning the futures that would stem from those possibilities, searching for the best solution to this newfound problem.
Geosenge Town was deserted. Its normal occupants had all fled to Cyllage City in the rush to evacuate Kalos. Even now, those evacuees were traveling back across the ocean, but the residents of Geosenge Town would not be allowed to return home. The former base of operations for Team Flare would likely be placed under strict League supervision for the time being in order to attend to the evidence and to deal with all of the Pokemon Team Flare had stolen. The wild ones would be released back into the wild; the Trainer Pokemon would be taken to Psychics who would ascertain the names, locations, and statuses of their Trainers and ensure their safe return. And, of course, the Team Flare Pokemon who had fallen in the fight would be rounded up and shipped off to some prison or 'rehabilitation center'.
Like clockwork.
Ripper seethed at the possibility. He was not in the greatest state of mind, or body for that matter. It seemed he'd been unconscious for at least several minutes, for by the time he'd come to the Fearow and the Houndoom had both gone, and the nearby sounds of fighting had died down. It had been fairly easy to get to one of the elevators, and while Ripper would never have condoned cowardice, privately he'd been thankful when a fleeing Grunt had shown up to operate said elevator. The Grunt had not asked any questions, and so Ripper had wound up on the surface. He had crept into one of Geosenge's now-abandoned houses, and only then had he allowed himself a chance to rest and attend to his wounds.
Between the multiple Hyper Beams from the Fearow and the multitude of smaller injuries the Houndoom had dealt, his body ached quite a bit and he knew the bruises would remain for several days at least. Ripper knew he needed to leave the house as fast as possible before some enterprising League employee decided to peek inside or, worse, the League elected to use it as a temporary base of operations, but he also knew that leaving as fast as possible would aggravate his injuries further. So he had resolved to stay here for only half a day. Then he would leave. Where, he did not know.
But he knew that wherever he was going, it would be somewhere he could train.
As much as he hated to admit it, he knew exactly what that curved Hyper Beam had been. The Fearow had unlocked her Ability. Last time he'd fought that Fearow, she'd only won because Ripper hadn't expected Bide of all things from that Meditite. But this time, she'd won because of her own Ability, an Ability that she would, next time they met, be able to use from the start.
She was growing stronger. And if Ripper simply tracked her down again, by the time they met she might actually be strong enough to defeat him herself.
So he would grow stronger as well. Discharge had been a neat trick, but in the end it hadn't been enough. He would go into the next battle with far more than a single new move.
As he pondered his next move, Ripper heard a sudden sound that chilled his blood. The sound of something moving across a nearby wooden floor.
Ripper instantly tensed. Likely this was a foe. He glared at the door to the small closet he was hiding in, readying a Discharge to blast and potentially paralyze whoever opened it, while at the same time crouching, ready to run.
The footsteps stopped. Silence fell for a few seconds, and then a voice that Ripper had not been expecting at all broke the silence.
"I know you're in there, Ripper," said Betrayer-Of-Kin calmly. "I can hear your electricity crackling. Put away the lightning, will you? I just want to talk."
Ripper let out a low growl at the sound of Betrayer-Of-Kin's voice. Last time he'd seen the Absol, he'd made the rather ill-advised move of attempting to force her to locate the Fearow with her powers. Admittedly, he had not expected her to break free of his Static, but the fact remained that the result of that endeavor had been the Absol making sure Ripper knew the only reason he'd gotten away with his life was because she'd let him.
And now she was here, asking to talk?
"What makes you think I want to talk to you?" Ripper growled.
"You seek vengeance on a specific Fearow," said Betrayer-Of-Kin. "I happen to be seeking that same Fearow's Trainer. I believe we can assist each other in our respective endeavors."
"Like I'll believe that," Ripper growled, still not turning off his electricity. "We didn't exactly part amicably last time we met. How do I know you're not planning to stab me through the throat the instant I come out?"
"Simple," said Betrayer-Of-Kin. "If I wanted to kill you, Ripper…"
"…then I would have just done this," she finished from right behind Ripper. Ripper whirled so fast he felt his neck wince at the sudden movement and reflexively fired off a powerful Thunder Release.
Betrayer-Of-Kin simply blurred out of the way, allowing the bolt of lightning to dissipate against the closet wall.
"I have killed twenty-six Trainers and thirty-four Pokemon," said Betrayer-Of-Kin. "If I wanted you dead, you would be dead."
Ripper did not relax. "So why don't you want me dead?"
"Because I have a feeling you might be useful to me," said Betrayer-Of-Kin. "I have found the Fearow's Trainer twice. Both times, outside factors have coincided to deprive me of my goal. Such outside factors include Pokemon of both his team and not. In particular, if you had been aiding me in my most recent attempt, I have no doubt I would have succeeded in my goal. So I am endeavoring to ignore our previous…meeting…and secure an alliance."
"And what if I refuse?" Ripper asked.
Betrayer-Of-Kin shrugged. "Then you know too much about me, and could eventually become an obstacle that interferes with my own mission. As such, I will have to kill you after all."
"Not much of a choice, then, is it?" Ripper growled.
Betrayer-Of-Kin smirked. "What do you say, Ripper? Are we allies, or enemies?"
Ripper sighed in frustration. "If you can help me track down the Fearow, and help me get stronger in the bargain, then we're allies."
"I can most certainly do those two things," said Betrayer-Of-Kin. "I'm glad to have you on my side, Ripper. Now let's get out of here before the League shows up."
Several miles away from Geosenge Town, on a road heading towards the Kalos coastline, a line of trucks all marked with the initials "IP" moved slowly and carefully, for they were carrying the largest fleet of prisoners since the end of the Plasma Crisis.
There was no expense spared to the transportation of Team Flare. The trucks were made of sturdy material that even a powerful Hyper Beam from a Dragonite or something similar would have a hard time breaking through. A fleet of Flying-type Pokemon surrounded the convoy to make approach practically impossible and escape liable to be spotted immediately. Guards were situated in every truck, one for every prisoner, each with teams of three strong Pokemon - six for every guard would be completely untenable even for an organization as well-funded as the International Police. And, finally, interspersed at various points in the convoy, anti-psychic field generators were situated on trucks, their fields overlapping in such a way that one would have to take down two generators in order to get at any of the trucks via teleportation or any other sort of Psychic power.
Yet there were two glaring problems with their security. The first, and practically unsolvable, problem was that the guards themselves were only human, and as such only had human reaction times. Then again, the entire surrounding security system made it so that they only needed human reaction times.
The second problem, and the one that now made the first problem a problem in the first place, was that the anti-psychic field generators had been partially created, programmed, and distributed by the Aether Foundation, who had originally devised a smaller version as a way to help Psychic-type Pokemon suffering from psychic headaches or uncontrollable use of abilities before, in a landmark partnership with Silph Co., had expanded them in order to cover areas ranging to a quarter-mile in diameter. Similar devices were also employed at Pokemon Leagues around the world in order to prevent out-of-arena teleportation and also to prevent spectators from being affected by Psychic moves from battlers in the arenas.
So it was that, as the convoy moved slowly towards the coast, two of the anti-psychic fields spontaneously suffered a five-second breakdown. Those two now-useless fields had both been covering several trucks, trucks which were, for those five crucial seconds, left unshielded.
Most of those trucks were filled with Grunts and Executives, the Team Flare rank and file that had no way of knowing that the shields were down and, even if they did, no opportunity to use it to their advantage before they went back up. But one of those trucks happened to only hold nine occupants; two guards, each with their standard compliment of three Pokemon, and Xerosic, head scientist of Team Flare.
And then, in a flash, two more occupants materialized; a wiry Alakazam and a white-coated man wearing a bulging set of translucent green goggles.
The plan had been agreed upon beforehand; before the guards, with their human reaction times, could react to the new arrival's presence, Alakazam's Psychic energies struck at their minds. The two guards fell to the ground, asleep, with no Pokemon sent out.
The green-goggled man touched a hand to Xerosic, and the two men and the Alakazam disappeared in another flash of light. A second later, the anti-psychic fields went back up. The operatives in charge of monitoring the anti-psychic field generators, not wanting to halt such an important convoy over a five-second field breakdown, wrote it off as a system glitch and said nothing more.
And so it was that, one teleportation later, Xerosic found himself standing in a dark room, sweating heavily as his cuffs were removed. He'd recognize those goggles anywhere, and…of course he'd recognize the hair of the third occupant of the room. And, of course, he knew exactly why those two had arranged for his 'early release'.
"Ah…ah…Lusamine…" Xerosic stammered, looking around the room wildly and thinking of ways to stall for time as Faba stepped back, dangling Xerosic's cuffs from one finger. "Look, I…ah…you know, you fired me years ago…so thank you, but I don't understand why you'd go to…such lengths to…rescue me from…"
"Enough stalling, Xerosic," said Lusamine coldly. "I must admit, a part of me regrets firing you. You were one of our best scientists on the Type: Full project. If your excesses had not become too…public…for our tastes, you might still be working here today."
"Thank you…for…ah…the high praise…Lusamine, but…" Xerosic continued to stammer.
"The thing is," said Lusamine, her mouth rising into a tight smile, "when you left, you claimed you were on the edge of a breakthrough. And so we requested you surrender your notes, which you did. Notes that we proceeded to operate off of for months before concluding you had been mistaken." Lusamine leaned in closer. "But you weren't mistaken, were you, Xerosic?"
"Ah…" Xerosic gulped, seeing no way out. "No," he said in a very small voice.
"So," said Lusamine, "here's how this is going to work. You are, as of this moment, reinstated into the Aether Foundation's Alolan Branch, effective immediately. You will answer to Alolan Branch Chief Faba alone. You will be kept hidden, safe from prying eyes in the International Police and elsewhere. You will have your own room with a private bathroom, a full-screen television, and a large play area for all of your Pokemon. You will be given three square meals a day, while your Pokemon will be granted a large, replenishable, supply of food. You will report to your laboratory for work at 9:00 in the morning and be allowed to return to your room at 4:00 in the evening."
Lusamine leaned in even closer, her smile turning positively predatory. "And you," she finished, "are going to tell us everything you know about how to properly create a working version of Type: Full."
Medicham watched from over Marcus's shoulder as he pulled out his Pokedex. She had not yet worked up the courage to telepathically communicate with him again. She just knew that he'd start asking questions...and if she gave the wrong answers, he might very well end up a target for the Heralds as well.
And every time she thought of that, her mind flew back to Elle bleeding out in the snow with a hole through her stomach, and she pushed all thoughts of telepathically communicating with Marcus out of her mind.
Marcus turned his head to see Medicham. "Oh, hey," he said. "So...congratulations on the Ability. Seems like you're getting on well with it."
Medicham nodded, unwilling to even speak in case the voice would come out telepathically.
Marcus grinned. "Seeing as the next Gym's an Ice-type Gym, I'm sure you're going to be making use of it pretty soon," he said. "Trouble is, I'm going to have to bring Kriesh or Trevenant, since Wulfric demands five-on-five battles, and both of them are weak to Ice...I'm not going to lie, part of me still wishes Heliolisk was still on the team. I wonder how he's doing..."
Medicham caught Trevenant wincing out of the corner of her eye, and resolved to ask him about that later.
"Whatever, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," said Marcus. "Besides, you beat Viola's Vivillon and Skorupi beat Grant's Tyrunt. I shouldn't be so worried about type advantage."
Medicham nodded in agreement again.
Marcus's Pokedex suddenly flashed and began to buzz. Marcus frowned, staring at the screen. "It's Mom. Give me a second, Medicham."
Medicham obediently retreated as Marcus pressed the button to accept the call. "Hey, Mom," he said.
"Marcus Chase Grayson." Medicham stopped short and everyone else in the clearing looked over as the very furious-sounding voice of Sarah emanated from Marcus's Pokedex. "Would you care to explain this?"
Curiosity pricked at Medicham's mind and she stepped slowly back over, trying to look at Marcus's screen from an angle she would not be seen at.
Sarah, looking extremely livid, was holding up her own Pokedex. On it was a news article with, emblazoned on the headline in huge letters, 'HEROIC TEENS AID IN BATTLE OF GEOSENGE!', and a picture below it of Marcus, Serena, and Calem sitting together on a bench in what was very recognizably Geosenge Town.
Marcus's face paled. "Crap..." he uttered slowly as Medicham, recognizing the storm of anger that was about to erupt from Sarah, quickly backed away, signaling for the rest of the team to do likewise.
There you have it. The Geosenge Arc is finally over. It was...big. Very intentionally so, although it turned out even bigger than I'd initially imagined it. We're now approaching the end of this story - or at least this part of it.
For the last couple arcs, things are going to scale back down a bit. There were a lot of viewpoints during the Battle of Geosenge, seeing as the main characters obviously weren't involved in most of the fights, but the last couple arcs are mostly going to be from the viewpoints of Marcus's team. Hopefully you all didn't mind the additional viewpoints during this arc.
Anyway, I'd been looking forward to writing the Battle of Geosenge for a while, and I think it turned out well. Please let me know how you all think it went! I always love reading your feedback.
I will not be taking a hiatus before the start of the next arc this time. Next chapter will release on the normal two-day schedule.
Thanks for reading, and see you in the next arc, otherwise known as the Victory Road Arc!