In the outer limits of Lumiose-3, in the sectors where the towers drop away and are replaced by suburbs, there was a church. The building was old, but not decrepit, made of rough stone and stained glass. Rather than a cross on its highest point, there was a helix that curved in on itself. The church was not visited often by those outside of its denomination. However, it was a historic site, one of the few remaining of what was once simply known as Lumiose City.

It had caught Blanche's eye when he bought a tour guide. It was familiar to him, a comfort despite the pain of forgetting. The boy sat on a pew in an empty church and clasped his hands.

"Hey, God. I know this is a church of Helix, but I figured it's close enough. If you're mad about that and I'm wrong, well, I hope you can forgive me."

He sighed, shaking his head.

"I don't remember most of your rules. I know that I should be kind to people. I'm going to do my best in that regard. So if I screw anything up, I'm sorry."

He asked, brow furrowing unconsciously, "Your whole thing is forgiving people, isn't it? I'm sorry that I can't remember what you'd want me to do, but most of the stuff about this world. Is that what you want me to do? Use what I know to do something? None of it applies."

He paused, not knowing what else to say.

"...I think I'm supposed to ask for support next, right? I could use some guidance. I'm starting a new school tomorrow, which isn't something I thought I'd be saying when I first got here. Please give me the strength to be kind to people, even if they hurt me. Please let me learn everything I can. Please let me break through this wall in my memories that holds me back."

Blanche raised his head, whispering, "And yea, for I may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil…" He trailed off, the words slipping back into his subconscious as soon as he became aware of them. "...Amen."


A certain Trainer School in Lumiose-3 did not have a uniform policy, though it had a dress code that Blanche had already been following. Rubber engineer boots that FLARE had in his size, slightly baggy jeans, an old belt, a red tee, and a silver-gray jacket. Almost as an afterthought, he asked Clemont for gloves and a scarf. Though they wouldn't cover his bandaged face or his mop of white hair, it would be considerably more comfortable against the wind. He didn't want to look too much like the Invisible Man, so just accepted that he couldn't completely cover up.

"And, um, remember to take notes! They're very important!" That would be the female professor, taking the older Sycamore's joke about tutoring him a bit too seriously. "I can look you over for them- I mean, look over them for you!"

"Right, thank you." Blanche secured a satchel to his back and double-checked that his Holo Caster was in his pocket.

The two were standing in FLARE's main lobby, more like a train station than anything else, though there were only the stairways and elevators for transportation. Employees hadn't quite arrived for the nine-to-five grind yet, but the ginger receptionists (Yes, multiple of them) were already working at their desks. Because of the monotony of the room, he noticed when a familiar-looking girl entered; With dirty-blonde hair tied into a ponytail, dressed in stockings, a red skirt, a long and a black vest underneath, she stood out against the clinical buzz of the underground. Much like the outdoor air, she seemed… cold, almost. Frigid, but so cold that it felt like a burn. She walked past one of the turnstiles, the receptionist closest seeming to recognize her.

If the Professor noticed him staring, she didn't comment on it. "And… I know you have the Shield now, but you shouldn't try to fight any Anomalies... It won't give you the same abilities as an Esper, despite what, um, Clemont may have made you think. It's primary function is to protect you. Let Geranium handle it. Ah, I mean, the Anomaly!"

He could have asked who Geranium was, but he didn't see the point. It sounded like a codename, even if the Professor's last name was a sort of plant as well. And as such, he didn't bother mentioning it again.

"Alright. I won't bite anything that doesn't bite me first. Anything else?"

"Um… maybe… don't get in any fights? Please? It would reflect badly on FLARE."

He noticed the dirty-blonde girl walk out again as he answered, "No, yeah, I get that. I'll try not to, though it's probably hard to get mugged with all of these layers."

"I mean… There are rogue Espers running around too. Most of them are unaffiliated, but some are in gangs and mafias and all sorts of bad groups, so… just be careful?"

"I'll try my best. Thanks for the map, too, have a nice day at work."


He swung his bag back over his shoulder as he climbed the last step upwards. Winter air blew over his face as he returned to the streets of Lumiose-3. FLARE had five entryways across the city, the one that he had just emerged from being located on the edge of Jauna Plaza, a locale surrounded by skyscrapers with a roundabout and at its center, a small, elevated park. Paths crossed over the streets, which would soon be bustling with people and Pokémon. Gogoat were already walking through the streets, signs laid over their backs offering rides.

The girl he saw earlier was already half-way up the street, headed north towards Hibernal Avenue. Shaking off the familiar feeling, he pulled the map up on his Holo Caster, opting for a two-dimensional display rather than a hologram. It had him following the same route, and not seeing any harm in it, he went along with it. The city wasn't cloaked in snow, though tiny flakes fell lightly as he walked.

Another girl, dwarfed by a shockingly hot-pink parka, tackled the other girl at at least forty miles an hour, but she didn't budge, only stopping with an aside glance.

He didn't catch much of the conversation, mainly because it was more interesting to look at all the advertisements posted outside of shops and stalls. Whipping his head around and acting incredibly out of place, as well as unknowingly catching up to them, it's a wonder he didn't realize how strange he looked.

"...I think that guy is following us…" The second girl glanced back at him, and the whisper carried just barely.

He buried his face in his Holo Caster, red in what was visible of his face (and not just because of the wind), and focused his attention on the map. I'm not! He shouted mentally, in heavy anguish. The problem was that it was a no-win scenario. If he told them he wasn't, then it would seem like he was eavesdropping, but if they had no clue, they'd probably get super creeped out. And that would be bad, because people feeling bad is bad. Obviously.

So he just had to stick it out and hope they split off from his route sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, they didn't. At any point. He would've dropped back, just to compromise between his two options, but it was the first day of school and he really didn't want to be late. A very obvious reason for their shared path simply didn't occur to him.

So naturally, when he crossed the threshold to the Trainer School's campus, he didn't have a chance to explain himself when the girl in pink whipped around, hood flying off, and pointed at him. "You!"

"Me," he sighed. "I wasn't following you guys, I'm sorry if I freaked you out, I get it, but I go here too."

"There's no way you're zoned for here! Serena just had to pick something up at FLARE, and you were already following her when I met back up with her. There are tons of other schools in this city, and the chance that you go to this one is basically zero, so, yeah. Get out of here, mummy," the tan, maybe middle-eastern girl snapped and pointed past him, back out the gate.

"No, I really do go here. I've got my copy of the paperwork somewhere…"

A gear clicked into place in his head, and he froze while opening the bag. Serena? That was supposed to be the rival in X and Y, but… her clothes all matched up perfectly, even the default ponytail, but her disposition, the figurative aura around her… it was cold like a rock left out in the snow. Even as she watched her friend yell at him, her face was completely blank. And if that was Serena… The girl yelling at him had to be... Shauna? That number of ponytails was ridiculous, and he couldn't think of any other characters that had four of them curving every which way, with bangs, and that much hair. Those traits separately, maybe there were a few others, but he couldn't put a name to them.

It was odd, he realized, seeing people that looked exactly the same as polygonal three-dimensional models, despite the discrepancy.

"Hey, are you listening? I said scram! I'm not letting some creep ruin my last year of school, especially after I've been waiting for two more than I should've!"

"Sorry, I zoned out. And I'm not a creep, I was just… Well, you know how it is! If I said something I would look even weirder, and I walked off, I'd get lost. It's the most direct route, so sorry about that." He shrugged, hoping that it would be sufficient. What to do now… The paperwork didn't say anything about classes or room numbers, so his best bet would be to find the largest crowd of people, which would likely be looking at a board for assignments. "Again, I do go here, so can I go find what class I'm in? I don't want to start any issues either, I'm just… trying to figure some stuff out."

"What stuff, creep?"

"Don't call me a creep, it's rude." The girl raised her eyebrow, about to retort, but he continued, "I have amnesia. You probably don't care, and you really don't have to, but I'm trying to learn what I can."

"Pfft. Alright, sure. I've got my eye on you, mummy." She pointed two fingers at her eyes, then at him, then started walking backwards, before grabbing a bystander's arm and running off.

The bystander was not Serena, but some orange-haired kid who had been gawking at him for a moment before. Whatever that was about, he wasn't sure.

"...I do really live at FLARE though, I hope you understand," he said to Serena. The girl was nearly as tall as him, not making him feel short per say, but more on even ground. She had been watching the exchange with the same, flat look the entire time.

"Of course. You were talking with the Professor."

"Ah, you noticed that? Well… why didn't you say anything?"

"I felt no desperate need. Goodbye." The stoic girl turned and walked further into the courtyard, towards the crowd around a set of poster boards.

He stood there, more than a little confused, before continuing as well. Something is wrong here, he noted, but then again, so is everything else. How bad could Heaven itself shattering be?


Blanche found his name after a little searching. Because the year groups had been sorted without account for current age, picking up right where everyone else had left off, he was placed into the oldest, graduating year, as he wrote that he was turning seventeen that year on his paperwork. By most standards, he would have been able to get his Trainer's License already, but most certifiers required graduation from Trainer School. The many exceptions were simply not allowed to participate in the Gym Challenge, those known as Youngsters and Lasses among them.

The problem with classes, he realized, is that because nearly everyone in the Pokémon World was the leader of their own story, everyone has their own little quirks that make games of "spot the main character" absolute nightmares. There was a kid dressed like a greaser, shades and all, a kid wearing an actual karate robe and headband, a kid dressed like a spirit medium, and a kid whose hair was shaved on the sides and stuck up in three different directions. Serena was already there as well, sitting in the classic seat at the exact middle of the class.

He took note of that because there were exactly three seats that made someone the main character: The center, either front row or exact, or the second from the back by the window. And, playing a joke on the universe and/or that part of his brain that visited him in his nightmares, he sat down at the third sort of desk.

Class started soon after that, with the teacher filing in along with the last of the students. She was a very, very short girl, barely coming up behind the teacher's podium and poking her head over. She introduced herself as Miss Komoe (which seemed like a weird name to him but he was literally just called white in French), and shouted at a very high pitch that calling her a twelve-year-old would result in a detention.

"Everyone's a character," he mumbled as she began calling attendance by seat number.

The names in front of him passed quickly, but he made sure to at least memorize them. He realized that he was in seat number four as she called it, which was probably a bad omen or something, and jumped from his desk. "Uh… You all can call me Blanche, I have amnesia, so please be patient if I ask any stupid questions. And don't let the bandages freak you out, I'm not a Cofagrigus."

That got a few laughs, and he sent out a quick prayer that he managed to not embarrass himself.

The stand-out boy in leather introduced himself as Gin, slouching when he stood up but smiling like he knew something that no one else did. Serena was simple, only saying her name and stating her desire to learn. The large boy with the weird hair said his name was Tierno, which Blanche really should have seen coming, but didn't. What were the odds that three of the original main characters attended the same school, especially if the main plot wasn't happening anymore?

Miss Komoe started writing rules about lab safety on the board, explaining that she was their homeroom teacher as well as their chemistry teacher, and that they were mostly going to review in their first few weeks of classes. Most people were too busy trying to get back on their feet to study when the League was just barely holding everything together.

He took a lot of notes, fascinated by the rules he hadn't heard before. There were more than a few about non-corporeal Pokémon near open flames, which Pokémon would be allowed in the campus lab, what kind of Trainer gear did and didn't qualify as safe, and a reminder that nothing that they would be testing in the lab would make them stronger Espers, "So don't drink it!"

After putting away their notes, the class broke into whispers about what they did over the last two years, as teenagers are subject to doing.

"Yo," said Gin something-something, leaning over from his desk. His eyes were obscured by his sharp sunglasses, which he was still wearing inside for the style-points, or something like that.

"Huh?" Blanche replied, painting the very picture of eloquence, and demonstrating to the world the beauty of a response that makes you look like an idiot.

"What's the deal with the bandages? You get 'em in a fight?"

"Ah… not exactly. Woke up with them."

"Metal. So you got in a fight and beat the other guys so bad that you got memory loss? That's kind of badass."

And you're kind of an idiot, he thought, but at least someone's talking to me.

"I don't think it happened exactly like that, but thanks for the cover story."

"No prob, man. Hey, you wanna know my theory about Homeroom?"

He figured that he meant the teacher, and felt a sense of dread, but answered, "You know what, sure, what is it?"

"She actually is a twelve-year-old."

Gin's face was then moved a foot to the side by a piece of chalk coming from right next to the door at Mach Two.

"I heard that!" The teacher squeaked. "Detention, young man!"

"Agh! Man, I thought she left. And the first day back? Seriously lame…"


The rest of the day went about the same, only with language, math, and some fascinating history.

Blanche got the impression that Pokémon Care was more of a fine art, something people would probably do anyway, but still a required course. Most of it was notetaking, with the practical aspects being postponed until the weather was clearer. Which was, truthfully, very unfortunate. His classmate in the karate robe, or the karate kid as Blanche referred to him in his head, complained aloud that his Sawk and Throh were itching for a spar.

Other than that, the first day continued without incident. At the final bell's ring, well, that was when it started to go sideways.

The boy with the three-leaf and shaved on the sides hair, Tierno came over to him, confusedly looking at his Holo Caster. The machine was completely dwarfed in his hands, and considering the boy wasn't wearing gloves, that was impressive. He wasn't wearing any winter gear, actually, seeming completely comfortable in an XXL black tee (With an ice-cream cone on it? Oh, that's a Vanillite) and loose cargo shorts.
"Hey! Sorry to bother you, but my friend Trevs is looking for someone that looks like you. He's pretty shy, though, so do you mind if we boogie on down to his class?"

Am I being hit on? He thought, then immediately dismissed it. There was no way someone would hit on him, of all people. And especially not a supposed deuteragonist.

"Yeah, sure, why not. I'm sure I did something wrong."

"Really? I hope not! That would be bad. And Trevs isn't the confrontational type of guy, so you've got nothing to worry about!" The boy gave him a thumbs-up, which was a bit terrifying given his fist was half the size of Blanche's face. And as far as he could tell, it was almost entirely muscle.

"Might as well meet all the main characters," he muttered inaudibly. Tierno led him out of the classroom, matching his pace evenly. The boy was taller than he was, and Blanche was six-foot-something. Truly, a presence to behold.

The other class was nearly empty already, and only presented an orange-haired boy scribbling in a notepad on his desk, which was already stacked high with textbooks.

"Hey, Trevs! Is this the guy you were looking for?"

The boy, Trevs, or Trevor as he assumed, looked up, looked at him, and just about shot out of his desk. In a moment, before he could blink, the boy had jumped across at least two desks (Quite an accomplishment for such a short person) only to throw himself at Blanche's feet, forehead nearly scraping the ground.
"I owe you my life, thank you!"
"Wha… huh?" He was wondering if he'd met him at some point, but he put the sense of recognition up to all of the people that worked at FLARE.

"You're the Esper that defeated that weird Pokémon, aren't you? I thought I was going to die!"

Weird Pokémon… Nihilego?

"Oh, shitttttt," he realized. "Um… yeah, basically. I'm not an Esper though."

"So… you don't work for FLARE?"

"...Let me get back to you on that, I'm not sure. It was a mutually beneficial thing."

"Then I appreciate your saving of myself more!" The boy's hair was flattening against the floor, which meant whatever spray he used to keep it in that swirl shape wasn't strong enough. "Truly, I am in your debt. Ask of me anything, and I will make it happen!" The door to the classroom slid open, just before Trevor said, "Homework, notes, anything!"

"Hey!" Shauna shouted, "Are you bullying him?"

"Oh my God. No!"

Given that one of her friends was prostrate before the creep from that morning, Shauna didn't have much reason to believe him. "Ooh, I'm going to-"
"Shauna! It's fine! He saved my life, I owe him!" Trevor jumped up, waving his hands in the air, though they didn't come much higher than Blanche's head.

"Don't say it like that! I'm not calling in some life debt to beat you up; There is no life debt, and just to be clear, I wouldn't do that anyway!"

The air around Shauna seemed to stop crackling, which was a good sign, even if he was probably just imagining it.

"Pfft, yeah, whatever. Trevor, this guy's a creep, you don't have to worry about owing him."
"I didn't mean that either, and I resemble that remark. Resent. Shit," he sighed, turning the boy, who was now on equal footing. "Listen, you don't owe me anything. I couldn't exactly leave some guy to get his brain eaten or whatever those things do. And I mean, for someone like me, there's no point in worrying about risk or self-preservation. So it doesn't matter." He noticed his Holo Caster buzzing in his pocket, but continued on, turning to Shauna. "And you know what, ponytails? I didn't do anything wrong, it was a misunderstanding. I'm trying my best, so just leave me be."

"Well… Fine." She turned to whisper to her friend, but it came out as raspier at the same volume. "Trevor, blink twice if you need help!"

"You know what, I'm out. Trevor, if you don't mind me calling you that, I appreciate the offer, but I have a lot of things to do on my own. Learn on my own. If I need help, I'll ask. That's more than what you owe me." Blanche waved over his shoulder as he headed towards the door. Tierno had been standing only a few feet away from him, but he saw that the large boy was still smiling. "So, what Trainer School did you go to before this one? We all went to the small one in Aquacorde, before it got destroyed."

"Sorry to hear that," he offered on his way out. That would explain why all of them were going to school in Lumiose. "I don't remember. Amnesia, if you recall, of the laser-guided sort. Really annoying sometimes. You know how you walk into a room and then forget why you went in there? It's like that, but for nearly everything not directly related to Pokémon battles." He clapped Tierno on the shoulder. "You're both cool guys. We can hang out sometime, but I have a lot to catch up on."

"Hey, no problem!" Tierno thumped a free hand on his chest. "It's always good to have more friends."

"Even if they're a creep?"

"Shauna…" Trevor nearly whispered.

"Can you leave me alone? I just walked on the same path as you. Is there some misconception you have about me that I can clear up? Because from what I can tell, bottling up negative feelings only distorts them and makes them worse." Blanche absent-mindedly pulled out his Holo Caster, having found an opportunity to check. Huh, text from the Professor. "If we have issues, it was unintentional on my part. I don't think you're an idiot, so I'd like to figure out your thought process."

"Mind your own business!"

"I'm not playing games. I've been in this world for a month as far as I can tell. If you want to play games of cat and mouse trying to catch me out, that's too bad."

The Professor's text alarmed him. It said something about reports of an Anomaly appearing in the alleys, and that if he came across them, not to engage.

So naturally, it felt more like a hot blade cutting through his chest than the lifting of responsibility.

"Just got a text from the Professor, not that you all know her. If any of you see something strange in the streets, call FLARE." He looked out the window, just to check. Huh, wonder why Serena was leaving without her friends?

No one ever said Blanche was smart, exactly.
"So I should call them right now? Professor Sycamore's a man!"

"There are two, y'know. And also, your haircut is probably the strangest thing I've seen today, and that's saying something."

"Says the mummy."

"Says the… wait, I can't say that. Skinny, I guess."

"What did you just… I'm not small!"

"Well, obviously. You're hardly short."

"That's not what I meant! See, only a creep would say something like that!"

"Like what?"

"Agh!" The girl doubled over, scratching wildly at her hair. "You're an idiot, a creep, and a pervert!"

Blanche sighed and shook his head. "I plead not guilty to whatever that means. But seriously, you all be on the lookout. For safety and things like that."

"Pfft, fine," Shauna nearly audibly rolled her eyes a few moments later. "Hey, Tierny, do you know where Serena is? She said she'd meet us here when she finished speaking to the teachers."

"Why was she doing that?"

"Dunno. You know how she is."

Blanche called over his shoulder as he finally managed to get a foot out the door, "I think she left a few minutes ago, I saw her leaving from the front gate."

"You are so not helping your case, mummy."

"Just trying to be helpful…"


Blanche decided to take one of the MagLev trains to explore more around the city, and possibly, to treat himself. Familiarizing himself with the area could only help in the long run, and he had a bit of pocket change from FLARE. Clemont had insisted on him taking at least a little bit of actual pay.

As the car glided over the upper layers of the city, above many paths and the roofs of shorter buildings, he pressed his head against the window and sighed.

He knew that somewhere in Lumiose-3, there was a rogue Esper or Ultra Beast or something causing chaos, and he… wasn't doing anything about it. The shield didn't make him stronger, it put him on even ground with other normal people.

The MagLev flew towards the Rouge Plaza, as a whine came through the speaker.

"Passengers, we apologize for the delay, but the track is being switched due to a FLARE operation in the close vicinity. We thank you for the patronage and we will be reaching an alternate location as quickly as possible."

That would be it. Of course.

He looked out to the right of the train. Flashes of light gleamed from between billboards, and he heard the distant rumbling of earth.

His Holo Caster buzzed in his pocket, and he spared it a glance.

It was another text from the younger Professor, and without the overly formal syntax, it was basically, "Clemont's tracker on your Gear is displaying your coordinates. Geranium's opponent is not well suited to her strengths. I would never ask you to interfere, but be warned."

Disturbingly so, his face nearly split in half with a grin. He quickly typed back, "What's my morphing call?"

"I do not understand," was the exact response.

He sent off a few texts, as he got up and went to open the door to the next car.

"How does the Shield work?"
"The frame and design of the shield will replace your clothes, as well as nearby items. This is done with Infinity Energy."

The wind whipped at his hair, nearly tearing the bandage across his forehead free, but he grinned nonetheless. He hopped up the ladder, holding his bag tight as he brought himself low on the roof of the car. The gravity pulling him down was stronger than the air pushing him back, so he managed to stay on his two feet.

Something was flying in the air above the plaza, the ground overgrown with thorns and earth jutting out at rough angles. A figure covered in black danced along the fissures, the ground answering their call and shooting upwards.

"Do the boots have springs?"

"Yes, but…" He had only read the first part of the text before opening the door.

And so, as he ran calculations of trajectory in his head, charged up his Infinity Battery, and saw the building coming up on his left, he made his choice.

"Clemontic Gear," he shouted as he jumped from the roof of the car, "Access: SHIELD!"


In a lab beneath the city of Lumiose, in a room filled with tubes, computers, and people, words flashed on a central screen.

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: BLUE

Designation: CGI

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

"Activation C-confirmed! Access granted!"

Clemont slammed his fist into a button, and the second dimmed tube in the room, the ridges of the cylinder flashed with blue-green light. "On the way!"

Aveline Sycamore shouted into the headpiece. "Geranium, help is coming, keep it up, please!"

"Of course," the Esper replied from the other side of the line. "I will continue for as long as is necessary."

"Alright! E-everyone! Set designation of FLARE Ranger 02 to Amaranth!"


As he fell from the sky towards the Rouge Plaza, Blanche wondered what exactly he was getting himself into.

If he kept falling right there, well, that would just be too bad. And so he did, but the wind no longer blew in his hair. His vision had taken on a gray tint, and his clothes suddenly felt more like a second skin.

He plummeted towards the winged speck, growing closer and closer, as he quickly realized it was a person as well. Instinctually, he threw his legs out from under them. Covered, quite literally, head-to-toe in pink and red spandex, he landed boots-first into the surprised Anomaly.

"Agh! The heck? Another one?" The boy's voice was incredibly nasally and whiny at the same time. His hair was like what one would imagine a neon sky would look like, in all the worst ways. Massive moth wings protruded from his back and wisped with aura as they ended the freefall.

Blanche realized how unfortunate it was that he had let his legs get caught by a flying opponent before they threw him fifty-feet downwards, straight into the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the earth had come up to meet him. It curved around him instead of bashing his skull in, and he simply tumbled down the ramp as it decreased its angle. He came to a rest at the feet of the figure and black.

They were similarly wearing spandex with significantly less armor, which for some reason had a skirt around the waist, and a helmet that obscured their face, but not the dirty-blonde hair falling down their back. The visor of the helmet was pitch black to him, and he imagined it was the same the other way around.

"Greetings," she said to him, her voice digitizing slightly.

"...Have we met?" He asked as he stood up.

"Duck."

Rather than asking, "Where?" like an idiot, he simply dropped into a crouch as a spear of purplish spikes shot by his head.

"Argh! You darn FLARE Espers! You're too tough!" The brat in the air seemed to be incapable of swearing, as far as Blanche could tell. "And why are you wearing pink? You sound like a man!"

"Real men wear pink," he offered, standing up once again.

Goddamn it, he thought, I'm wearing pink. I'm going to find Clemont and… Well, I'm not dead, so I can't complain too much. On second thought, I'm the Pink Ranger?

"I'm Underwood, the best criminal this city has ever seen!" The boy let out a very terrible and super scary and this-totally-isn't-a-lie supervillain laugh. "You'll never stop me, coppers!"

Blanche gestured to the boy with his thumb and turned to the Esper in black. "If we haven't met, I'm-"

"Your codename has been designated Amaranth."

"Oh. So this is a wild guess, but then you'd be the Geranium I've heard so much about."

"Hey, don't ignore me! I'm a criminal mastermind, pay me some respect!" The boy continued flitting around in the air, waving his arms.

"Indeed."

"Why are we named after flowers and not colors?"

"I am unsure."

"Same. Hey, why are we fighting a ten-year-old? Actually," he turned back to the clearly Bug-type Esper. "Hey! Why aren't you doing your homework?"

"I'm a criminal mastermind, I don't need to do my homework! What are you, my mom?"

"You know, Geranium, I thought I'd get in an actual fight today." Though Blanche's face was hidden, he hoped his helmet conveyed his frown. "I'm actually a little disappointed."

"A blood knight, I see."
"Eh… Not usually, from what I remember. Must be the hormones."

"It is possible."

"How did this place get so torn up? He's just some kid."

"AIAM fields wielded poorly can be very destructive."

"I mean, they're the closest thing you guys have to nuclear energy, so I don't doubt it."

"Stop ignoring me! I'll show you who needs to do their homework! Horn…"

"Dodge," Geranium told him.

"Drill…"

"This kid watches too much television," he murmured as sickly luminescent green stingers folded out of the boy's arms and into a cone in front of him.

"Breaaaaaaaaker!"

Blanche jumped to the side but couldn't stop the projectile, which he assumed could only move straight, from bending to the side half-way to the ground and zeroing in on him.

The boy slid to a stop as the sickly green drill faded away. "My special move, Horn Drill, is the best! There's no way some pinky could stop it!"

He wanted to think of a witty retort, he really did, but the fact that the drill's impact, despite only catching his shoulder, had thrown him twenty feet across the torn-up field really took the wind out of his sails.

"I've stolen from FLARE itself!" The boy reached into his pocket and withdrew a vial. It was filled with a strange, luminescent liquid that refracted light like a prism. "With this sweet Aural Sap, I'll be the strongest thief in Kalos, no, the whole world!"

In the bottom right of his tinted vision, a window appeared. The younger Professor was sitting in the FLARE lab, frantically typing at the monitor as people milled behind her. "Amaranth, are you alright?"

"Not as dead as I thought I'd be," he groaned as he stood up."

"The current goal, object, I mean, objective..." the girl stumbled over her words. From over her shoulder, Augustine Sycamore appeared and leaned into the camera.

"The current objective is to recover the Aural Sap and disable the Anomaly! Michael, send the data now!"
A box appeared in his upper right periphery, running a scan. A faint blue outline surrounded the gloating rogue Esper, data popping up around it and running around the visor's interface.

"The Anomaly's AIAM field is inclined towards the Bug-type, with a secondary Flying-type!"

Underwood leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding the stalagmite that shot upwards from beneath his feet.

"What type is Geranium?"

"Primarily Earth, Rock, and Steel. Takes after her mother's profession; Quite the wonderful woman, might I add," Professor Sycamore said, wistfully.

"Dad!"

"Right, right, we're being serious right now. Blanche, your artificial field doesn't have a type, nor offensive capabilities."

"Shit."

"Um… I did say you shouldn't jump into any fights… not to be rude or anything, I just! Um…"

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine. So, Bug and Flying. We're going to need a bigger magnifying glass."

At the moment, Underwood and Geranium were at a standstill, with the criminal being too busy gloating to realize that running would be a more effective option, given he was probably ten, and Geranium's mountains being too easy to dodge.

He ran the calculations in his head. Fire, electricity, ice, rocks… rocks! But the speed issue…

"Geranium," he spoke, hoping to reach her through the headset. "How well can you control small amounts of earth? Say, a solid slab."

"It varies according to weight and range," she replied in a steady monotone.

"You know how bugs can't fly in a storm?" He asked, smiling and cracking his knuckles. "Can you control sand?"

"Yes."

"Well, make it rain."

Geranium paused in sending rock slides towards the sky, dropping lower to the ground and placing gloved palms on the torn earth.

"Hah! Giving up? I knew FLARE was all talk, you Espers have sold out! All the power in the world, and you're just giving it away?"

"I am giving it for someone that no one can name," Geranium said, as dust began vibrating and lifting from the ground around her. "He would have done as I do now, and so I must. There is nothing for me other than this."

Blanche snapped his fingers and pointed at the blindly-laughing Esper. "Hey, I think I have a name for this move. Y'know, when moths eat my clothes, they smell all musty. So here's my revenge, let's get DUSTY!"

That was so dumb, he thought.

A wave of sand and gravel shot towards the sky in a wave, enveloping Underwood even as he tried to fly upwards and escape. It settled on his aural wings, sticking and conglomerating as he was trapped in a sandstorm. His wings sputtered, but he soon found that the solid earth forming on his wings was beginning to weigh him down. He shot upwards one more time, before falling down to the ground with a simple thump.

Blanche walked up to him and was relieved when the rogue was only unconscious and not a splat after falling five stories. In his left hand was the vial he'd been flashing earlier, still sealed. "Man, he really is ten. That's kind of messed up. Hey, Professors, can we call CPS or something? There's really no reason for this kid to be up to this sort of thing."

"I'm sure the higher-ups will have it looked into. Lumiose-3 PD and FLARE agents are being dispatched as we speak. Good work, both of you."

"Nah, not really," Blanche responded, ignoring the aching in his limbs and the dulled burning of his skin. He couldn't show that it hurt, he wouldn't. What would it accomplish? "I do have a question, though."

"If it's about Aural Sap, that's classified information."

"What? Well, it wasn't that, not right now, anyway. I just wanted to know why I'm pink. Because… Hey, Clemont, you hear me? I better be looking fashionable, because it's definitely not my color."

He could swear he heard a pebble fall as the people "bridge" failed to respond.

"What, you think just because I'm a guy that I hate pink? I think it's pretty nice, but it clashes with a lot of the colors I prefer to wear. I'm more about the blues and greens, it kind of sucks that I'm stuck with an autumnal complexion now."

"...That wasn't the answer I was expecting, but it's an answer I wholeheartedly agree with. You're a real character, aren't you?"

He couldn't even begin to explain how ironic that statement was.

The boy at his feet snickered, alerting Blanche. "You may have taken my Sap, but you'll never take my freedom!"

Underwood began glowing white, at which point Blanche began swearing a mile a minute and tried to figure out a way to protect the vial in his hand.

Do I just toss it? It seems pretty valuable, he yelled inside his head as he started running.

Geranium had been standing still as he ran past. He didn't have time to shout for her to run before a wave of earth crashed onto the Esper.

A ton of dust plumed into the air as he stumbled. A rumble later, and the small hill washed away like a sand dune in the wind, revealing Underwood to be much worse for wear and without a doubt, fully unconscious.

"I will return the Aural Sap." Geranium held out an open palm, almost mechanically.

Blanche quickly walked back to her and placed the vial, thankfully unharmed, in her hand. "Right. So… you do this sort of thing often?"

"Yes."

She then elaborated by saying absolutely nothing.

"Well…" A thought had been scratching at the back of his head for the whole day. "Now, no spoilers, but is it safe to stop going by codenames?"

"Lumiose-3 CCTVs do not have high-quality microphones. However, you should refrain from removing your helmet."

"Right. You'd be Serena, if I'm guessing right?"

"Yes."

"That's…" That's complete bullshit, he acknowledged in his head. Law of Conservation of Detail, the Heroes Do Everything, the Unreveal… If his life was a show or book, the audience would've probably known way before he did. The world seemed to truly be built out of tropes, and that thought made him cry inside.

Because from what he could tell, Darker and Edgier also applied.

"...I see. Again, nice to meet you," he struggled out. "Well, I don't remember if we've been properly introduced."

"It's inconsequential."

"Eh…" Blanche scratched the visor where it covered his cheek, to no effect, but in essence he was trying to scrub off the awkwardness from his windshield wipers.

FLARE employees in what looked like SWAT uniforms arrived a few moments later, having finally blasted away the rubble that covered their Rouge Plaza entrance.

A few minutes later, he stood apart from the clean-up crew and Serena and spoke into the headset. "Hey, couldn't you have had Geranium, like, melt the rubble if it was blocking you off?"

"Well, I mean…" Aveline Sycamore trailed off, visibly shrinking in his periphery window. It seemed like it had calmed down in the FLARE lab for the most part. "You two were having a conversation, and I didn't want to interrupt…"

"You should have said something, they were using TNT or something."

"Voltorb, actually, but… You're right, I'm sorry." The peaks of the Professor's hair drooped, which would have made him laugh if it didn't strike him like puppy-dog eyes.

"Actually, don't worry about it!" He quickly added, "It wasn't too inconvenient, I'm sure!"

"If you say so…"

Change the topic, change the topic!

"Well, I'm beat. Weird day, huh? Anyway, can we order Hibachi? Or whatever it's called, fried rice and vegetables. It's just about… well, only a little before five. I'm sure we'll all be hungry in an hour."

"...That doesn't sound too bad. I miss Japan, even if I only lived there for a little bit."

"Mission success!"

"E-excuse me?"

"Don't worry about it, boss lady! Man, I love my job!"


As Blanche entered the small bathroom attached to his hospital room and began unraveling from the day, he sighed as he pulled away red.

He turned on some music on his Holo Caster and dropped it on the counter. As a song by Unovan Goalroll began playing, soft rock and an obvious analog to something he couldn't name, he removed his bandages and underclothes and put them in the hamper.

He rested his arms on it for a minute, trying to ignore the liquid already beginning to travel down his sides.

"I'm such a goddamn liar."

The sides of his arms had turned a faint greenish-blue, beneath the skin. No new cuts, as far as he could tell, but from the trickle, some had been torn open from the fight with Underwood. His ribs were still aching, but the bleeding didn't seem too intense. He didn't feel dizzy yet, that was a good sign.

He stepped into the shower, and soon enough the sweat and grime that had seeped into his skin were washed away, the cool water trailing a pinkish hue.

"Not to be…" He murmured as water ran through the grooves in his skin. "Overly… Dramatic…"


Blanche redressed and chose to save his angsting for later. He couldn't exactly celebrate in a bad mood, so he put it off instead of addressing it. Y'know, like an idiot.

Michael was reviewing some sort of statistics, showing off some numbers to Clemont in the lab, who seemed more preoccupied with his little sister running around the room.

"Oh, hey, Blanche! Good job today!" Clemont waved him over. "I'm glad your Battery didn't break, did the armor work well?"

"Yes," he said, not bothering to explain. "Is this who you've been complaining about?"

The blonde little girl bounded up to him, a tiny orange mouse Pokémon barely managing to stay on her head. "Wow, you're tall! And yeah, I'm Bonnie! Clemont's my stupid big brother!"

"Bonnie!"

"It's true!" She pulled down her eyelid and stuck out her tongue at Clemont, the Dedenne on her head doing the same thing. "You're always working! That's why you need me to help you find a life partner!"

Blanche pfft'ed and looked away, laughing at Clemont reacting like he'd been shot through the heart.

"I don't need help!"

Bonnie ignored her big brother and turned back to him. "Mr. Blanche, my brother is completely hopeless with romance, isn't he?"

"I plead the fifth."

Neither of them seemed to understand what he meant, but Michael scoffed at the computer, pulling up the Battlegrounds simulation and returning to his "work".

"He told me about the armor he made for you, are you two friends?"

The airlock hissed open, revealing Serena, but Blanche answered anyway to be polite. "I mean, yeah, we're colleagues."

"Colleagues? Is that a kind of vegetable?"

"Coworkers, Bonnie," Clemont said, shaking his head.

"Oh! Kind of like how you're coworkers with the Professor?"

Clemont, for some reason, turned a much deeper shade of red. "We are just coworkers! Get that out of your head! This is why I don't let you come with me to work!"

Bonnie ignored her brother again, spinning around to Blanche and whispering with the appropriate gesture, "See what I mean?"

"Indeed, I do."

"Blanche, you're not helping!"

"So, you'd be willing to help him?"

He decided to indulge her and said, "Sure, why not?"

She grabbed his hand and kneeled like a knight, "Please take care of my brother!"

Evidently, that proved too much for Michael, who contrarily took off his headset in a calm manner, then fell out of his seat in a raucous laughing fit.

"Bonnie!" Clemont shouted, even as he was drowned out by both of the other boys' laughter.

"I'm flattered, really," Blanche said, holding his ribs in both a bow and to keep himself from laughing too hard and hurting his ribs again. "But I'm not really good enough for that sort of thing, and I don't think I like guys. Thanks for the offer."

Bonnie was lifted like a dog by its scruff, a clawed appendage shooting out of Clemont's backpack. That didn't stop her from asking, "What? But why?"

"Bonnie doesn't really… get the difference," Clemont said, spinning the girl around with her Dedenne holding onto her for dear life. "Ignore her."

"Eh, there's not much of a difference," Blanche shrugged, managing to stop laughing at the engineer's expense. "No big deal."

Soon after that, the two professors arrived, carrying armloads of bagged takeout.

"Whew, there's a lot of traffic topside," Augustine said as he placed his share on a spare table. "Most of FLARE's employee's have gone home for the day or are out doing repairs. Luckily, we're white collar! Well, most of us." He clapped as Aveline set the other bags down behind him. "You two did great today! Great thinking with your AIAM fields, Serena! You get that brain from your mother, I'm sure!"

"Dad…" the younger Sycamore groaned.

"Just make sure you tell her I said that, alright?"

"Dad!"

Serena just nodded, pulling a seat over from the cluttered side tables. Blanche, Clemont, and Bonnie quickly did the same, though Michael just disconnected and pushed himself over on his swivel chair.

What happened to make her so cold, he wondered. Most people would take someone hitting on their mom with offense, but she just… didn't.

"Kidding, kidding!" Sycamore waved off his daughter's embarrassment and popped open the lid of one of the boxes. The smell of sesame, meats, and onions wafted through the lab.

"Makes you wonder why we have an airlock," Michael said, taking a paper plate and scraping a portion of rice and teriyaki.

"Who's ever heard of security, anyway?" Clemont joked. "I mean, it's not like anyone is going to be sneaking in through a takeout box."

"Just don't spill anything on the computer."

Blanche looked at the Hibachi with a bit of confusion. Wouldn't it have to be made of Pokémon? It was probably beef, meaning… Miltank? Were those sentient?

"Hey, completely unrelated, which Pokémon are and aren't sapient?"

Aveline Sycamore perked up slightly, answering, "Well, it depends. I mean, obviously, oh, I'm not trying to be rude! But most Water-types and Bug-types aren't."

"So is this… fish meat?" He poked at the cube-sliced meat with his plastic fork.

"I think so… the Professor ordered it…"

That was good enough of an answer for him to start digging in like everyone else.

Said man clapped his hands after a few minutes. "So, how was everyone's first day of school?"

Bonnie nearly jumped out of her seat, listing all the different things she'd done, like art class and language and math being too easy and science and history being boring with all the censorship and would have gone on to other things if Clemont hadn't put his hand on her head like the snooze button on an alarm clock.

"Half of us don't go to school, Professor," Michael said. "I graduated early, got my apprenticeship with Professor Krane in 2009."

"Ah, that I know all too well. I haven't been there since I stopped by to pick you up! How is your mother, by the way?"

Michael's glare probably could have cut through any armor, even Blanche's. The Professor held up his hands in mock surrender, "Kidding!"

Aveline was holding her head in her hands, trying to shield her red-hot face.

"I had to graduate early to be a Gym Leader," Clemont added, removing his hand to avoid his sister trying to vibrate it off. He scratched his face, awkwardly adding, "But, well, I retired early too, after the second time Prism Tower got destroyed."

So he was still a Gym Leader at some point? That… made a bit of sense.

"How does that work?" Blanche asked. "Is it like an Advanced Placement test?"

"Something like that. I think they just wanted me out of the chemistry lab as soon as possible."

Michael made a sound resembling both a snort and a laugh. "I believe it."

"Well, that's all good. So, Serena, Blanche, what about you two? Make any friends?"

Serena nodded, her expression not changing as she ate another forkful of rice.

Blanche looked away as he became acutely aware he was the center of attention. "Well… I don't think I made any enemies… Actually, scratch that, I did. Wasn't my fault, by the way."

"As they say, if you don't make any enemies, you're doing something wrong!" The Professor said with entirely too much energy, opening the lid on a container of miso soup.

"Uh… Maybe that's true, but I'd rather not. Thanks for the food, by the way."

"No problem. You both did great today."

In regards to myself, he reminded himself in the deepest recesses of his mind, that couldn't be much further from the truth.