Chapter Eight - A Convergence of Power!
August 9th, 2022
Pokémon Gym, Jay Town, Asture Region
It took less than three days to convince the seven Gym Leaders to close their doors and make their way to Jay Town. They had arrived in order from the closest town to the furthest city. In order of arrival they were Constance from Sparrow Town, Reuben from Robin City, Skye from Starling City, Archibald from Blackbird Villa, Josie from Mallard Town, Claire from Chickadee City and lastly Fergus from New Dove CIty.
Mirella had taken the brunt of the conversations when convincing them to attend, but Raine had been asked for by most of them as the potential replacement for Professor Sakura. They all wanted as much detail about Team Omni and the attack on Jay Town so Raine promised to tell them everything they wanted to know and more once they had all gathered.
Once all eight Gym Leaders had come together in Jay Town they gathered in the Pokémon Gym. It was the quietest and safest place even if the citizens were using it as a shelter while their houses were in ruin.
"Hello," Raine said awkwardly as all eight sets of eyes in the circle they had formed fell on him. "I'm so grateful that you have all made the journey so that we can resolve this matter as quickly as possible. As you have all been made aware Team Omni destroyed half of our town and murdered the beloved Professor Sakura. The duty falls to us to hunt them down and make sure that whatever nefarious plans they have for the rest of the Asture Region cannot come to fruition."
"Have the police been informed?" asked Skye from Starling City, the most surprising of all the Gym Leaders. She was just nineteen years old with bubblegum pink curls and bright blue eyes. She, like the rest, wore the customary Gym Leader's outfit of black pants and a stiff cropped black jacket with her Gym's chosen colour adorning the outside of the sleeves and pant legs. For her that was the same blue as her eyes.
"Officer Jenny came from Sparrow Town and took detailed records of everything that happened," Raine explained. "She advised us to leave the matter to the police and that capturing the culprits was their highest priority. But I'm not okay with that, and I'm sure that you aren't either. We will do what we can to uncover Team Omni and bring them to justice ourselves."
"I don't know about the rest of you," Reuben from Robin City said in a slow drawl. He was a towering brute with thick muscles bulging out of his shirt and red detailing on his clothes. If Raine had to make a guess he would have said he was a spry fifty. "But I'm more than happy to do the police's work for them. Officer Jenny alone cannot hope to achieve what we will be able to as a group."
Murmurs and nodding came from every other Gym Leader and it was clear that no one was going to disagree with what they had signed up for, otherwise they wouldn't have come in the first place.
"Team Omni are not going to be pushovers," Raine said. "You all saw the damage that one Charizard did to our homes. I can only imagine what they will be able to do with the rest of their Pokémon and those that they stole from us."
"What can you tell us about them?" Josie from Mallard Town asked. She was close to thirty years old with what could only be called an immaculate mullet and thick lensed glasses. Her clothes had yellow stripes down the sides.
"I've done what research I could in the time it took you all to get here and I don't have any good news," Raine said apologetically. "There were some news reports from twenty years ago when Team Rocket was defeated in the Kanto Region that say that a mysterious organisation had emerged from their ruins, but not much else. I looked into Team Omni's tactics against us and I was able to piece together that from all across the world someone stole Pokémon en masse at about that same time twenty years ago, but no one mentioned Team Omni by name. If they have existed for twenty years they have been extremely quiet about it and remained completely hidden. I have no idea where we would start looking for them because other than attacking us their existence is a mystery."
"Sounds like we need an Ash Ketchum of our own," Reuben said, calling back to the boy who had single handedly defeated Giovanni and the entirety of Team Rocket. "Someone who can fly under the radar while going about their Pokémon journey."
"I don't know much about Team Rocket," Mirella said, "but I will not leave it up to children to face Team Omni. They are not messing around. Just to be clear they murdered Professor Sakura in cold blood!"
"We know, dear, and we're all extremely sorry for what happened," said Claire from Chickadee City, trying to ease the tension. She was a near 75-year-old grandmotherly figure with a bushy mass of grey hair and a constant warm smile. The stripes on her clothes were a vibrant purple. "I don't think any one of us is taking this lightly, Reuben included. Which is why we all came at the first report of trouble. You're right that this is not a task for children and it's safest to be completed by our hands. No one is better suited to rout out evil and I'm glad you asked for our help."
"Thank you, Claire," Raine said warmly. "I wish I could give you all the same level of confidence in our first action, but I can only speculate at this stage."
"What do you mean?" asked Spencer from Blackbird Villa. A sixty year old monk with a shining bald head and calm and welcoming green eyes that matched his Gym colours. "Do you have an idea of where we might find them already?"
"I meant that I don't." Raine ran an uncertain hand through his hair. "My first inkling was to ask all of you if you had ever heard of or seen them in your towns. Surely one of you must have a clue so we know where to begin."
No one said anything and Fergus from New Dove City said, "Well ain't this a riffing conundrum." He was easily the strongest trainer out of all eight Gym Leaders and could potentially rival the Elite Four or even the Champion in the strength of his Pokémon. But in appearance he was just a very normal looking 40-year-old who could easily be lost in the crowd. Only the white lines on his clothes made any lasting effect. "None of us had even heard of Team Omni before they attacked Jay Town. How could that be possible? Surely no one could have become so powerful without us knowing about it. Unless they aren't based in the Asture Region at all. Could they actually be from somewhere else and they've only just started to operate here?"
"I don't think that's the case," Raine said. "They wanted to capture Mirella because of the apparent actions of her father. That means they had at least something to do with Asture before they came here several days ago."
"Where does that leave us?" Skye asked, twirling a finger in the locks of her enormous hair. "If none of us have ever seen or heard of them in our homes, where else could they be?"
"We are just going to have to figure that out as we go along. We follow a trainer's journey through the Asture Region so that we can investigate each town and look for any dark secrets that you might have missed."
"Do we really have the time to do that?" asked Constance from Sparrow Town meekly, the last of the Gym Leaders to provide an input to the conversation. She wore her jacket tied around her waist exposing her muscular arms sticking out of a bright red tank top. She was another young Gym Leader at only 25-years-old and had grey adornment on her clothes. "Won't Team Omni continue with whatever their plans are while we bumble our way across the World? Or more importantly won't they come back here looking for Mirella again? Shouldn't we just stay put and be prepared to put up a defence since most of the townspeople here had to give up their Pokémon?"
"That was my second option, but one I put to the side," Raine explained. "I assumed that you would all rather be proactive in chasing them down instead of sitting on our haunches and waiting for them to make the first move."
"Why don't we split up and cross purposes?" Reuben asked, flexing his forearms. "Surely all nine of us don't need to sit around here waiting or all travel together. We could have three stay behind in Jay Town, three head out on the regular route of the Gym challenge and the last three explore the rest of the region."
"That's a remarkably genius idea, Reuben," Raine mused. "I just don't know how we would decide how to divide it up? Where do we need to position our strengths the most?"
"It doesn't really matter who goes where, dear," Claire said. "Whoever finds them first can alert the others and we can quickly converge on their location. I know that this is your home Mirella and Raine, but I'm far too old to make a tough journey so I recommend that I, along with Reuben and Spencer as the eldest here, remain in Jay Town."
"That sounds agreeable, Claire," Fergus said. "I will take Josie and Skye with me towards Victory Road to warn the current Champion and the Elite Four."
"That just leaves myself, Raine and Constance," Mirella said. "I suppose we start here and work our way towards New Dove City while visiting each of your towns and cities."
"That was easier than I expected," Raine said and pulled one of the Pokédexes out of his pocket as he brought Buizel out of his Poké Ball. "The only thing I have left that I haven't made any mention of yet is this. I see your confused looks. It's called a Pokédex and it does this."
He pointed the Pokédex at Buizel and it spoke his detailed description for the Gym Leaders.
"That's amazing!" Skye said and brought out a Shuckle. "Can it do every Pokémon?"
Raine pointed the Pokédex at Skye's Pokémon and it said, "Shuckle, the mould Pokémon. Shuckle quietly hides itself under rocks, keeping its body concealed inside its hard shell while eating berries it has stored away. The berries mix with its body fluids to become a juice."
"Can I see that?" Josie asked, pushing her glasses up her nose.
Raine handed it over without hesitation. "I have four of them in my possession," he said, bringing the other three out of his pocket. "Other than the one that Team Omni stole in exchange for Mirella's safety, these are the only ones in the entire region. It is my intention to send one with each group in case they can come in handy. I still don't know what they are capable of besides recognising Pokémon."
"How did Team Omni know what it was and accept such a deal for Mirella?" Josie asked, flipping the Pokédex around to look at it from every angle.
"Someone named the PokéTinker saw me use it and blabbed to the wrong people," Raine explained. "It was my fault for being so careless. But I truly don't know what made them change their mind and accept it in place of Mirella."
"I've heard of this Tinker," Fergus said. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was an agent for Team Omni actually. He's nothing but trouble."
"Where did you get this Pokédex?" Josie asked, as everyone who had met or heard of the PokéTinker nodded in agreement.
"From the Professor of the Kanto Region, Professor Oak. He sent us five to hand out to new trainers to assist them on their journeys and put them through a field test. But I don't think that's the best use. As I said, we will benefit from them more than children would."
"You have four remaining?" Claire asked and Raine nodded. "Why not do as Professor Oak asked and leave the last one to a young trainer?"
"That was Professor Sakura's last task," Raine said, dropping his head. "I wouldn't know how to pick a trainer to give it to. So I'm doing what feels right and putting them in the safest hands possible. Each team will carry one except for mine which will have two. One is for me to experiment with to find its further uses."
"Sounds like another reason to hunt down Team Omni as fast as possible," Reuben drawled. "Who knows what that device can truly do and what will happen with it in their mischievous hands."
"Mischievous?" Spencer asked, blowing out his cheeks. "I don't think that's a strong enough word for them considering what they did here. Let's call them what they are. Terrorists."
"The World didn't deserve to lose a good man like Professor Sakura to these scum!" Fergus practically spat. "Don't worry yourselves too much everyone. We'll hunt them down and remove them from this World. Whatever it takes."
"Whatever it takes," many of them echoed.
Raine felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards in a slight smile. With Professor Sakura's death he had felt like he would never have any hope again. But the gathering of the Gym Leaders had been the perfect first step to putting things right and enacting the revenge that the Professor deserved. There was hope yet.