"As the color fades, you'll fall into the black hole. I will make you see your mistakes over and over again."

"Shut up!"


Audino Agatha woke up shaking and nauseous. Her upper body jolted up on her bed.

Her arms had turned black with a smoky aura. They burned. An invisible weight growing on her chest made breathing more difficult with every inhale. She reached under her pillow for her phone, struggling to call Alondra with her shivering fingers. It took three rings for her to pick up.

"Agatha?" Alondra's tired voice asked.

"Do you know where I live?" Agatha asked.

"I... think. Yes, I looked at it," Alondra answered. "Why?"

"Get here now."

"Agatha…?"

Agatha squirmed from a twinge of pain and caused the phone to slide off and onto the floor. The black color creeped further up her arm. The phone hung up when she looked over the rim of the bed, but she probably got the message through.

Her ears picked up on noise from the first floor. The noise must've woken the Mightyena Claire. She could hear Claire's messy footsteps coming up the ramp up to the door of her room. When Claire came into the doorway, she paused.

"Agatha?" Mightyena whispered. "Are you awake in there?"

"Just had a-"

Agatha got cut off by her own yell. Mightyena burst through the door and ran up to her. She stopped just a single step away when she saw her.

"Agatha!?" Mightyena asked, "what... is this? I mean, what can I do? What's happening!?"

"I already c-called someone," Agatha said, "just let the Meowstic in when she comes..."

"Are you okay!?"

"Just wait by the front door for her, okay?"

Agatha's pained voice convinced her. She retreated back a few steps. Her eyes stayed on her until she was out of the doorway.


Even in pain, it felt like a short amount of time till Alondra came. The black color didn't creep further up Agatha's arms, but the burning didn't change.

When Meowstic Alondra came to her bedside, she looked up and down her body with crazy eyes. Once she took in the sight, she rubbed her paws together. Energy that shined like a gentle rainbow curled around each of her hands like a strange jelly.

"I don't know what this is," Alondra said, "but I can fix it. Luckily."

Agatha winced as the black color spread to her chest. Alondra continued to move her hands around while Agatha choked down yells for a very long minute.

"Got it," Alondra said.

As soon as she spoke, the pain vanished from her body along with the black color. She sighed and rolled onto her stomach.

"Sorry," she continued, "it was strange. But I figured it out."

Audino Agatha pushed the covers off of herself. Surprise and shock leaked out of Alondra's otherwise straight face. She couldn't blame her. Her own scars made her cringe the first time she saw them. The missing feet didn't help.

Laying on her side, Agatha noticed Mightyena Claire standing in the doorway. Her posture relaxed somewhat, but her face stayed tense with a frown.

"It wasn't anything particularly dangerous or lethal unless there were outside circumstances," Alondra said, "but still worrying if it came up at another time. I need to research to know the details."

"I don't want to interrupt," Claire said quietly, "but what's going on… What was that just now?"

"Just tell her…" Agatha whined.

"Alright," Alondra said. "Everything?"

"Yeah…"

Alondra tuned to Claire. "She's safe, but I can explain things downstairs so she can rest."

"Are you sure she's okay?" Claire asked.

"Yes, and I'm right here if she's not."

"Are you a doctor?"

"In a sort of different field. Let's head downstairs."

Alondra followed Claire out of her room. Agatha pulled her covers back over herself. The pain tired her out.


When Audino Agatha woke up again, the sun rose past her window. Her body's clock told her it could've been around lunch time. She pushed herself up onto her side.

Already in the room, Mightyena Claire sat down with a book on the floor. She looked back at her.

"Hello..." Claire greeted, "uhm, Agatha."

With her pain behind her, Audino had the fortitude to think a little harder.

"Sorry about earlier," Agatha said.

"You don't need to apologize,"Claire said, "I was just worried. There wasn't any way for me to guess anything like this..."

"What did she tell you?"

"About... things I feel I shouldn't know about."

"I'm guessing you called me in sick?"

"Apparently, you were. Alondra told me something you hadn't heard yet because you were sleeping last night. She went to research it further on her own, but she said she has a good idea of what it is."

Agatha pushed herself into sitting up with her arms.

"She said it was a mutation of an ability called Pressure that made some sort of… disease. But I'll let her explain it better later."

Agatha was familiar with the ability, but questioned what she meant by "mutated". She couldn't think of anyone she had been close to that even had it.

Except Palkia has it. She read about it last night.

"She also went back and brought materials," Claire said. "I guess you asked for them? They're still downstairs."

Agatha nodded, rubbing her eyes and massaging the side of her head. Claire didn't take her eyes off her.

"Would you like some lunch?" she offered. "I'll make something and bring it up."

"I can just find something," Agatha said. She started to adjust herself to be able to grab her prosthetic feet at the base of her bed frame.

"Lay down, dear. I'll bring you something."

"O-kay."

Audino Agatha waited. She laid face up in her bed while Mightyena Claire made small noises downstairs for a few minutes. She had her eyes closed and under her forearm, dealing with a dull headache.

When Claire came back, she carried a tray with a bowl of salad with her. She lied it next to the her on the mattress.

"Thanks," Agatha said.

"Of course," Claire nodded. "I'll give you some space. I'm downstairs if you need anything."

"Okay."

Agatha ate the whole salad. She almost wanted to lick the inside of the bowl when she finished. Crunchy and soft textures worked together to bring her the satisfaction of a whole meal. After, she put on her prosthesis to walk downstairs with the large empty bowl in her arms. She went down the ramp and saw Claire, still reading her book on the couch facing the blank TV. She set the bowl down in the small kitchen and went in front of her vision.

"Hey," Agatha said, "uhm, you didn't believe what Alondra said. Right?"

"Not at first, of course," Claire said, "but then she grew a little field of daisies out of thin air outside while glowing like a nightclub."

Agatha paused at her saying "nightclub".

"Uhm," Claire stammered, looking up from her book, "the point is I do. And, well, I would like to help. Somehow."

"Help?" Agatha questioned.

"Yes, help."

"With?"

"Destroying Palkia," Claire said. "It might sound bold of me to say, but I did used to be the head of a rescue team with a Guild."

"A Guild… Really?"

Explorers were a dying breed. Claire never seemed the reckless sort.

"Yes," said Claire.

"So… you were an explorer?" Agatha asked.

"Yes."

"But then, like… What happened?"

"I was a chef at the Guild, so now I own a restaurant. And well, trying to continue my old lifestyle, I adopt pokemon like you and raise them here. I've been doing that for…" She tilted her head from side to side. "Twenty year. Or so. I never really wanted to leave the Guild, but finances crumbled when helping people wasn't seen as a 'real job' anymore."

"How many other kids like me have you adopted?" Agatha asked.

"Seven, including you. Four of them are out at college."

Claire looked different all of a sudden. She'd been helping kids longer than she'd been alive. The doctors and social service works picking her must've known she wouldn't even think about how much money Agatha had.

"I'm, uh… Gonna head up and use those materials now," Agatha said.

"Okay," Claire said, smiling. "I'll be here if you need me."

The materials were in a cardboard box leading back up to her room. Audino Agatha bent over and picked it up. The weight slowed her steps.

In the center of her room, she set the box down and started to rummage through it. After setting a few things down, she walked over to the corner of the room and grabbed her backpack. She unzipped it and took out her notebook.

Adding boosters to the bottom of her feet would be difficult enough on it's own, but Agatha had to do it without even having them on. She lied on her stomach while working, picking her head up whenever she found she was missing a part. She could shape most of the lightweight metal to add what she wanted.

Thanks to her notebook, the process went fast. To test it, Agatha turned the metal foot away from her and injected a little of her body's own energy.

Agatha got pushed back and rolled over. With her ear strands on the floor, she heard Claire shift around below, but she didn't stand up.

With it functional, Agatha called it a success and repeated the process on her other prosthetic foot. It took thirty minutes instead of an hour the second time around.

The feet made a metal clink whenever Agatha walked around without the cream rubber coverings over her prosthesis. The metal plates for boosters she added were underneath, so she had to choose between wearing the coverings or walking around with her metal feet exposed and being able to use the boosters.

Agatha walked around her room in a circle to feel them out, then back down to the first floor. Her feet made the clinking noise with every step against the wood.

She didn't realize Meowstic Alondra had come back. She sat next to Mightyena Claire on the couch, staring back at Agatha.

"Hello, Agatha," Alondra greeted, "I was just coming to see you both about last night."

"Oh, hi," Agatha said. "So, uh, you figured something out?"

"It's a unique strand of disease its body creates. It goes away on its own, but causes extreme pain and can start very quickly. Being closer than three meters to the source should make symptoms start instantly, and it scales with time and distance to Palkia. So, with me knowing this now, we can't fight it."

Agatha huffed as her eyes fell.

"We need to look for some key or way of vaccination," Alondra finished. "Otherwise, it's impossible."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Agatha asked.

"I'm sure there are clues we can piece together if we search the Old World."

Agatha noticed Claire staring at her feet. Claire seemed to realize she was staring.

"Did you do something with your prosthesis?" Claire asked.

"Just a touch-up," Agatha said.

"Really..." she smiled, "well, that's good. Do you plan on going out without your cloak soon?"

"What!? No. Of course not. I barely want to see what's underneath myself."

The atmosphere dimmed. Agatha wasn't sure what to say next.

"I heard you had a little trouble at school yesterday," Claire said. "I know it's a much more... down to earth thing to talk about right now, but it's still been nagging at me. Getting to know you, I think you're really sweet, so hearing people say otherwise sounds wrong."

Sweet didn't sound right. She hadn't done anything nice in months, or at least not anything worth remembering. Agatha walked further into the room and sat on the carpet next to a short table in front of them.

"Why do you, uhm, think that?" Agatha asked.

"It's just a feeling," Claire said.

"I haven't done anything, though."

"You have," Alondra input. "You've done a lot."

"So," Claire continued, "when I hear that you've been 'mean' or 'rude' at school, I'm going to come to different conclusions than other people. You've been way too tame up till now with everything that's happened."

"Too tame?" Agatha asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Agatha, please. You're supposed to be exasperated, and stressed, and having problems. And just because you're not doesn't mean there's no problem."

"Okay?"

"It might not be my place to ask, but I'm curious what happened a bit," Alondra said. "Everything aside, you seem too quiet for-well… most things."

"These random kids were just breathing down my neck," Agatha said, "I just got annoyed."

"Why are you calling them kids?" Claire asked.

"What do you mean? They are kids."

"Fellow kids. Unless you think you're a grown up."

Agatha thought about it for a quick moment. "Yeah. I mean, I'm fine on my own."

"That's not what being grown up is about," Claire said. "Alondra, you seem pretty grown up."

"My job is shutting myself into a library and I don't know how to cook for myself," Alondra said. "And I dropped out of high school to work on my plant growing superpower."

Agatha felt an uncontrollable glimmer go through her eyes.

"Don't think about it," Claire said.

"Well, superpowers practically run in my family," she argued.

"What?" Alondra asked. "What do you mean by that?"

Agatha shivered a bit in place from her high tone. Claire looked between them with a questioning gaze.

"Just, uh, visions," Agatha mumbled. "Like, uh, fortune telling stuff."

"Fortune telling," Alondra repeated. "Huh…"

Agatha pushed herself up. "I'm just gonna take a walk outside for a few."

"Okay," Claire said. "See you."

Agatha's feet clinked against the wood on her way out.

Dirt and grass outside spared her of the noise for most steps, excluding small pebbles and rocks. Her ears weren't picking up any conversation behind her as she left out, but she had no doubt they'd talk more about her family. It didn't bother her, it was pointless. Their family secret: any "visions of the future" they had were rare, and any records that described them flew around somewhere, burnt to ash.

Agatha picked her favorite clearing in the woods around the maple and birch trees. She stood in the center with her legs apart, feeling out for the way the metal in her feet interacted with her body's energy. It felt like a suction cup for what would normally go into her moves. Even without putting any energy in them, she could feel the potential force like a relaxed muscle.

Agatha flexed it. She bounced up in the air and landed hard.

She had moved forward a little without meaning to, but it worked. She tried again right after and reached the height she would normally jump at.

Agatha wanted to know the highest limit she had right now. It probably wasn't safe, but she did it before she could back out.

She shot over the trees. The view of streets in the distance made her sensible side rush back to her in an instant. As she started to drop, she put energy into her feet to slow her descent. She landed on her side.

Agatha sighed and rolled onto her back. She'd practice landing first. Her next goal would be to get her energy flow more stable. She sat up with her legs crossed.

Most of her family had been explorers. Lots of them settled down like Claire had, but Agatha's parents continued engineers and researchers. Maybe telling someone about the visions was for the best.

A sharp pain went down Agatha's back. She grunted and took a deep breath.


Audino Agatha trudged back to her house. When she opened the doors, Meowstic Alondra and the Mightyena Claire were talking to each other. They paused when she came in, looking over their shoulders past the couch they were on. They obviously noticed her being hunched over.

"Are you alright?" Claire asked.

"Just pulled something," Agatha said.

"Alondra," Claire said, turning to the Meowstic, "can you help?"

"Not specially with this sort of thing…" Alondra answered. "We should take her somewhere or call someone."

"Ah, well… I'll give it a try first."

Claire stood up and walked around to Agatha's back. She looked at it with a gentle touch at first, until she started to feel around the center of her back.

"Oh, I got this," Claire said. "Take a deep breath in and out."

Agatha did as she asked. As she breathed out, pressure from Claire's arm accompanied a small jolt of energy as she released her breath. The relief traveled down her back.

"This is common in someone learning to use their body's energy for fighting and moves," Claire explained. "I can tell you've been training given your muscles and all... Just don't overdo it."

"Thanks," Agatha said.

"Don't mention it."

"I don't know the appropriate time to ask," Alondra said, "but I think we should plan on a day to take some form of action. There are many pathways from the Old World to the real world. There has to be something holding Palkia inside of it considering there's been no news about its appearance, unlike that other one..."

Claire walked back over to Alondra on the couch and Agatha followed her. She sat on the floor in front of them with her legs crossed and back straight. She looked between them before speaking.

"Well, there's another crazed Legendary we can look at for reference," Agatha suggested, "so what do we know about that one?"

"Yes, well… That one is also altered," Alondra said. "It's missing rings on its tail that prevent it from burning itself. And, of course, the glass. Did Palkia seem different to you?"

"Well, yeah. Its entire body was jet black."

"Then a change that drastic may mean it's been there for a long time."

"Speaking of long time," Claire added, "what is this 'Old World' really? Why is it called that?"

"It's a mess of distorted reality. Other than that, I couldn't tell you myself. But, I think we will find something if we look for it."

"Alright," Claire said, "well, I'll try to make some sort of process so we're not going in circles…"

"How does Monday after school sound?" Alondra asked, turning her head between Claire and Agatha. "That device is just about finished."

"I'm fine with any day," Claire nodded. "Agatha?"

"Yeah. Me too."

"And Agatha, continue to do your best at school. Don't let this distract you."

"Yeah, yeah…" Agatha stood up and huffed. "I'll just do some homework or something."

"Alright. Tomorrow, we'll meet with an old friend of mine."

Agatha walked over to the ramp. When she glanced back, Alondra and Claire already started to talk again. She sighed and continued up.


Audino Agatha finished her homework in five or six minutes. She took off her feet to take a break from them, then lied on her stomach with a book in her hands.

It was a fiction about a Growlithe with a magical mirror. Agatha turned her tired eyes to the ceiling. She wanted to continue to read, but she didn't have the energy. She didn't realize she ran out of energy until she fell asleep.