The weekend, in places that don't have an insane work culture, is generally a time to relax, kick back, and to get straight to the point, socialize.
Blanche, if one has not noticed, is something of an outlier, and therefore, a loser. As such, he planned to sleep, reread his textbooks, and try to find something good on TV or die trying.
That is how he would describe his plans at least. In reality, he was going to sulk, mope, and many other words that substitute wangst.
Unfortunately for our bandage babe in chief, staring at the ceiling and thinking about how much work he wasn't doing gave other people the impression that he was bored.
"Excuse me, Blanche." Trevor appeared at his side, hovering over the living room couch.
"Yo," he replied. He was kicked back on the end, arms behind his head and really wishing he had a bit of straw to chew on.
"I think I'm going to go down to Estival Avenue later. There's a lot of hobby cafes, but I like the card shops. Do you play any card games?"
"No. Have fun though."
A few moments passed, Blanche blinking and quickly realizing he was once again being an asshole without thinking about it.
"Oh, I mean, yeah, let's go."
Everyone else was already out. Tierno was putting some time in at the dance studio (Which Blanche made a mental note of to visit sometime), and Shauna had dragged Serena and Ariel out to do something. Mrs. Grace was standing on top of Rhyhorn outside, along with Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie as they left, and if he could believe his ears, she was counting somewhere in the triple-digits and the rocky Pokémon did another push-up.
"Sorry about that, by the way. I'm not really good at thinking before I speak," he admitted to Trevor on the way to the station.
"I've been friends with Shauna for seventeen years, it's really not a problem."
"Ah, yeah… Are we that similar?"
"In some ways. Not that that's a bad thing! You're both very… intentional," the short boy resolved, rolling his hands in front of him as he walked. "Like Dragon-types, if you understand."
"Uh-huh, yep, yeah, no, I don't have a clue."
"Well, let me think…" Trevor's awkwardness seemed to drop away as he focused inwards instead of outwards. "In Kalos, we don't have the most archetypal examples, Goodra are really friendly in fact, and Zygarde is… well, I can't remember exactly. In the Japanese mainland regions, Dragon-types are incredibly fierce and are used heavily by leadership as symbols. A champion of Kanto has the title of Dragon Tamer, despite using more Flying-types than Dragon-types. A League Champion is said to be someone that has enough strength to conquer the heavens, and given that before 1960 or so many regions still worshipped pseudo-Legendaries as avatars rather than viewing them scientifically as they do now…"
Blanche blinked at the boy, looking down at him with a fixed, questioning gaze.
"I mean, um, I apologize for rambling."
"No, no, it's very educational, I'm just still trying to get caught up with all of the lore around here."
"Lore?"
"Don't worry about it."
Their destination being Estival Avenue didn't narrow the search down in the slightest. It was wider than most highways and just as busy even without cars, but Trevor seemed to know where he was going.
On the corner of a busier block, a popcorn-walled shop had a sign with spiky red letters above, spelling out "GAME", and in an odd way, it was familiar, but only gave him the sense that it should be familiar. He couldn't put a finger on it.
"The employees here mostly sell Duel Monsters merchandise, but if you're interested in something else they might have it."
"Right… Duel Monsters."
Duel Monsters.
That's what the card game was called in the Yugioh universe. It could just mean that the name had simply changed, but it could also mean…
And as a boy just as short as Trevor popped around the counter to talk to the old man in charge, with spiky reddish-brown and blond hair, Blanche became the most articulate person alive, gracing the world with his revelation.
"Oh, shit."
Clearly. The narrator would never lie or exaggerate anything.
"Blanche?"
"All this shit is twice as weird. My head hurts when I remember stuff, it's like a wall or something." He waved off the other boy as they approached the counter. "Don't worry about it."
"Ah, Trevor," greeted the old man with a scratchy voice, "Brought another friend?" The squat man wore a dress shirt, overalls, and an orange-head wrap.
"Yes, I didn't know what sorts of games he liked, so I thought to bring him here, Mr. Moto."
"Now that's brand loyalty!" Moto gave a hearty laugh, slapping the glass counter, bringing his attention to the cards inside the display.
Blanche didn't recognize any of them, because duh, amnesia, but they didn't feel familiar in the slightest. The formatting was different, and even when he thought he recognized one, it had a different name.
Red-Eyes Black Salamence? A card called Time Wizard with something similar to Celebi dressed like a magician? Change of Heart with a two-faced Morpeko?
"My day just got weirder. Which I think is saying something, really."
"Did something catch your attention, young man?" Moto sidled to where he was looking. "Now, do you already have a deck or are you looking to buy? Synergy is very important, but building a deck yourself can also make for some interesting strategies."
He thought about denying the idea completely because he had better things to do, but he remembered that he, in fact, didn't, and so he asked, "How much does a starter deck cost?"
"Around 2,000 , but the more complex and rare you get, the more expensive."
"Right. What've you got?"
"Well, just step over here, and I'll show you something much better than what the manufacturers put out…"
Blanche ended up with a deck based around the Heroic archetype of Ground and Steel-types, though they were called the Earth Attribute. It was much newer than the older decks, but the current gimmick was called Xyz Summoning, which was too ironic for him to pass up. He'd look up the rules for a refresher later, and he probably wouldn't be able to win against Trevor anytime soon, but the box felt good in his hands.
At least he wouldn't have to deal with the later gimmicks, not that he could remember what those were.
Trevor fidgeted with the booster pack he got as they walked back down the street, neither of them really sure what to say.
"Thanks for showing me that place," he settled on.
"Um, of course, we're friends after all."
It would have been rude to question it, so Blanche was unable to make himself feel like shit by denying Trevor would want to be friends with him.
"Well, thanks anyway."
They passed a flower shop, one of the many open stores that lined Estival Avenue.
"Hey, don't flowers have like, meaning or something? I should buy some Amaranths, that would be funny."
"I think so. You'd be better off asking Serena, she's quite knowledgeable."
"If Shauna doesn't bite my head off, I just might."
Trevor's voice dropped to nearly a whisper, though his tone didn't change. "I don't think Shauna hates you. And I don't think you hate Shauna."
"I don't hate anyone," he shrugged. "Not in a heroic way, hating people just wastes my time. She's not a bad person, she's just annoying."
"She says the same about you."
He recoiled in shock. "Girls talk about me? Ew."
Our hero, everyone. A teenage boy with a lingering belief that cooties are an actual disease. Well, not really.
Trevor sighed. "Not like that. I don't want to gossip about either of my friends. If you two have UST to work out, I'm not getting involved."
Blanche squawked with indignation. "There's not- Where did you even get that idea?"
"Well, Blanche, how should I put this… When two people go red in the face at the very mention of someone else, it generally implies- And don't deny it, a good amount of your face is visible- that there's something more than just annoyance."
"I'm not," he huffed, pausing to think, "I was embarrassed, okay?"
"..."
"Not because of that! Because of how I treated her. I know it wasn't nice, I'm working on it. Doing bad things makes me feel bad, I know, shock and awe."
"Not anything else?"
"No! Is this the same reason you told Ariel to wear a maid dress? You knew she'd get on my case about it."
"Well, I thought you'd both appreciate it."
"Well… Yeah, Ariel didn't seem to mind."
"I'm not talking about Ariel."
Blanche paused in his steps, looking at the other boy. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"If you don't get it, you might need to loosen your head wraps to get some blood flow to your brain." Trevor sighed, the diminutive boy slouching even lower. "It's not my place to tell anyway."
"I can't exactly ask about that sort of thing, it's rude."
"It's not."
"Okay, you got me there, but if I ask, there's going to be a problem."
"Not as much as you might think."
"Now I'm actually confused."
"I think that's something I can't help you with. Moving on, do you need any help studying?"
"Hey, I… Well, actually, I'm having some trouble with the velocity of an Ember question from my Physics class…"
"Dream on, dream on, dream on. Dream until your dreams come true…"
Monday afternoon, Blanche clicked off the music as he exited the elevator that led into FLARE.
Because Blanche, regarding the idea of talking to people, was not an expert in any sense of the word, he was on his way to ask someone more knowledgeable than him.
Augustine Sycamore, naturally, was the best choice. There was probably irony in that intent, but he didn't pick up on it. Luckily for him, he always managed to get to the lab when people other than Michael were also present.
As such, the older Professor was there to greet him, looking up from scattered blueprints spread out by Clemont. Another one of the seven tubes along the wall had dimmed, bringing the total to three.
"Hey, good afternoon!"
Michael, as always, was rapidly clicking through boxes on the screen with his visor low over his face.
"Afternoon, Blanche," Clemont added, pushing up his glasses. "What brings you here?"
"I had to ask the Professor about something… What's that?" He loomed over the table, trying to comprehend the sketches.
"I'm working on a new Clemontic Gear for our Espers to use in the field. Because we only have three, I'm trying to think of which Gear we should build. The higher-ups don't want us to overextend resources."
"Don't we literally fight demigods? Seems like that would be a priority. And since when are there three Rangers around here?"
"Demigod's a strong word for Anomalies. And you're right, I misspoke. We only have two FLARE Rangers in Kalos. The point is, we're trying to narrow it down." Clemont spread his hands, laying the paper flat again. "Two projectile weapons, a spear, or more armor. FLARE uses a lot of Infinity Energy to transport them, so the lower the number, the less likely we are to overload LADY."
"Who?"
"That's the computer's name."
"Of course it is." Blanche pinched the bridge of his nose. "Since when?"
"It got mad when we kept calling it a computer."
"It's an A.I.?"
"No, but the digital assistant gets snappy with Michael."
"I just tried to open two tabs in Chrome, stop bringing that up."
"You nearly brought down the whole thing and burned through all the RAM, Michael."
"As fascinating as this conversation is," Blanche reeled their attention back in, "I don't want to get my ass kicked next time there's some Anomaly popping out of nowhere."
"Ah, right, of course." Clemont pointed at a diagram of a blocky pistol and equations. "We don't use guns, but this should work once it's out of testing. FLARE is the only organization with access to Aural Shells, but they are still volatile."
"Again, what?"
Clemont shared a look with the Professor. "Has Aveline not told you?"
"Um…"
Michael didn't say anything, but he was clearly listening.
"I probably just forgot, that's my mistake."
"Ah. Well, the future is now, thanks to-"
"Not next to my computer!" Michael yelled, jumping up to shield the screen.
A dot showed up in the corner, starting to roll text with a lot of exclamation points that Blanche was a little scared to read.
"Ahem," Clemont coughed, looking in the exact opposite direction. "Aural Shells can invert AIAM fields and essentially undo them completely. Even a small amount of the refined Shell making contact with a field can weaken it."
Seriously?
"...That's really something. Isn't that like, uh, a chemical weapon though?"
"No, we're still working on refining it into small enough amounts to use as projectiles. We're working with a liquid model that when surrounded with a rubber-like compound, has both its properties shielded and preserved until the exterior is broken."
"So… It's like a paintball?"
"You could say that. Lethality isn't the intention, of course."
"Aural Sap, Aural Shells. One's a buff, one's a debuff." Blanche crossed his arms. "Right. What else is there?"
Clemont drew his attention to a much bulkier design. From the written scale, it looked like it was four feet long, a sixth of that wide. All kinds of batteries and rails pointing to one end, with a cable leading out the back. It had its own separate sheet, but the design there didn't seem too complex.
"What am I looking at?"
"This, I call Clemontic Gear BURST." Clemont's grin became crooked and damn near infectious. "I have a prototype, but the problem is power. It's an electromagnetic railgun, but the problem right now is that its sights are inaccurate and the beam it creates is inconsistent. If we had an Electric-type Esper, we'd be able to intensify its range. We've even got an extra suit, but as it stands, no dice. Also, it doesn't shoot anything."
"So it's a Tesla coil gun?"
"Essentially."
"Well, wouldn't an Electric-type Pokémon work? And not that I don't appreciate you all letting me do something with my life, but why are we fighting instead? Pokémon are a lot less squishy."
"They're also a lot less smart, not to generalize. I wouldn't trust a Magnemite to aim correctly instead of just eating the batteries."
"Psychic-Electric-types anywhere?"
"Not the point. Also, Espers have to be good for something. For now, the BURST is going to sit in my workshop," Clemont sighed.
"Unfortunate. I just remembered, I actually came here to talk to the Professor, if I may."
"Ask away!" Sycamore smiled, putting himself on display like he was God's gift to mankind.
Blanche glanced at Michael, who didn't seem to be listening, as the virtual match was getting a lot more intense.
"So, I might have, uh, yelled at someone. I don't think they deserved it, so what do I do to apologize?"
Sycamore cupped his chin, closing his eyes in thought. A single opened, his expression becoming sly. "Was it a girl?"
"Yeah, that's why I asked you," he said. "Is that important?"
"Well… I'll tell you when you're older since you probably didn't know before you lost your memories, but you see; In Kalos, if you want to make out- Ahem, make up with someone, you buy them some flowers. If you want her to forgive you, I'd say some White Lilies. It's not the color or breed that matters, it's how she feels, understand?"
"Uh-huh," he answered hesitantly.
"Presentation. Is. Key!" The Professor took a step onto a chair, pointing at the tiled ceiling but assuming a much more heroic disposition. "You have to make her feel like a queen, no, a GODDESS! Understand?"
Blanche's face was dull, but internally, he was complaining about how out of his depth he was.
"Yeah. Alright. Back to reviewing weapons of mass ass-kicking. I think that the Aural Shell thing will definitely be useful for leveling the playing field…"
After school on Tuesday, after telling Tierno that he had some errands to run after school, Blanche went to buy flowers.
He purchased flowers.
He then went to go talk to a girl and-
"Holy shit, why didn't I think this through?"
Ah, there it is. Unfortunately for him, he was already halfway through the airlock, and she would know someone had tried to come in.
Aveline Sycamore was standing over a microscope-like device against the left wall, though what she was examining was hidden by her lab coat. She looked up just as he instinctually held the bouquet behind his back.
"...Ah, good afternoon," she said after a few moments of mutual staring.
"Hey."
Another few moments of silence.
"...Do you need any…"
Blanche closed his eyes, pulled his sanity taut enough that it might snap, and whipped the flowers out in front of him.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you the other day!"
Another few moments.
"...Flowers?" She said faintly.
"Well, they mean, uh, forgiveness, and even though you don't have a reason to, um, listen, you know I'm not good with talking about my feelings or talking in general. I'm a teenage boy and all that, even if that doesn't excuse it. Just take the flowers. I think you're like, super smart and cool and awesome, and you really didn't deserve what I said to you."
The younger professor stumbled back, her glasses sliding down her nose. "...Um, well, I don't really know what to say…"
"Just take them, alright? It doesn't mean anything, so it's not weird. I mean, it does mean something, but it doesn't mean mean something, you get it?"
"...Not really."
"I feel stupid enough, alright?" He wasn't embarrassed, not at all. His voice's pitch doubling was completely coincidental. "You can throw 'em away later if you want, but I'm just going to look more stupid walking home with flowers when it's not even February yet. Wait, no, not as in Valentine's Day, I mean, uh…" He looked around wildly for some kind of vase. He pulled a beaker from a shelf, ripped the flowers from the plastic wrap, and dropped them inside. A hose was pulled over from the emergency shower, and the beaker was quickly filled halfway.
The Professor was silent the whole time, the red of her face likely being from anger and annoyance.
No one ever said that Blanche was smart, exactly.
"So just," he struggled out, turning towards the airlock while entirely too tense for the situation. He looked for his next words, and upon not finding any, said, "Yeah," as if it were the conclusion to a groundbreaking thesis.
"...No one has given me flowers before…"
"Don't make it weird! I'm apologizing, alright? You don't have to accept it, but-" Blanche's cry was downright incoherent. "You know what? I'm going. Sorry again. It's not a weird courtship thing, even if you are like really pretty, holy shit, why can't I think straight today, goddammit! I'm leaving now, don't read into it," he slammed the button on the airlock and threw himself inside, "Adieu... Goddamnit, now I'm being pretentious too! Mother-"
And then the airlock slid shut.
Blanche is a teenage boy. This revelation may lead to shock and awe across the world. Teenage boys have a miraculous ability to get along even when it seems that their personalities inherently contradict. Some say this is because boys are generally too stupid to think of gossip to spread or rumors to take into account.
Regardless, there was some sort of glue tieing the boys of a certain class of year terminale students at a certain Trainer school.
"I play the spell card, Wrath of Reshiram, which does 800 points of direct damage to your Life Points!"
A wisp of flame popped over the desk, hazy and tinged purple.
"Agh!"
The tomboyish spirit medium, Lenore, spectated the match being played and waved her hands around to make the game a little more… three-dimensional. Perhaps adding a little depth. Maybe even making it a mystical experience.
She was a low-tier Esper that could create weak illusions. What her primary type was is a total mystery.
"Wait, so all three of you are Espers?" Blanche said, watching the tiny armored Pokémon fight on the desk.
A Dark Magician Gallade swiped a scepter at a Catapult Tirtuga, both standing not even an inch tall and hovering above their respective cards.
"Yeah dude, totally," Gin replied, slapping a card face-down as his turn ended. The karate kid across from him, LaRusso, drew another card.
Blanche had realized they'd not all been properly introduced, despite the three being a definite power trio, and decided to watch them play a card game instead of reviewing his notes.
"I'm a Black Belt," LaRusso said, "It's likely obvious what my typing is. Very mundane, but I can match my Sawk and Throh in spars thanks to my aura."
"Man, don't say that! It's still super cool," Gin reassured him, "I mean, I can fight smarter than you, but you fight a ton harder."
LaRusso played another Monster Card, called Golett, Soldier of Stone, and another card face-down.
"You guys get in a lot of fights?"
"I tell them not to," Lenore sighed, pushing her shawl out of her face. The illusions dimmed for a second, but reappeared as she returned her attention. "They hang out in that bar way too often."
"It's not a bar, it's a cantina, even if it's above-ground. And we don't even throw people through the walls anymore."
"Bartender said they were reinforced," Blanche added after connecting the dots.
"Really? Man, that explains so much." Gin sighed and drew a card, before looking across the field. "...Alright, then. I attack your Golett with Dark Magician Gallade!"
"You activated my Trap Card, Magic Cylinder."
"What?"
The illusory Gallade shot a purple fireball at the armored Golett, but it didn't meet its target. Twin barrels, the size of pencil sharpeners, appeared in the air. One sucked in the blast, and the other shot it back out towards Gin's face. It didn't harm him, but he still jumped back.
"My turn, Gin."
"Aw, man…"
"I use the Spell Card, Ego Boost, to increase my Golett, Soldier of Stone's Attack Points by 1000 until your next End Phase."
"Still not strong enough to beat my Gallade."
"And then I equip it with Ceal, Shooting Star Bow, which decreases its attack by 1000 but allows me to attack you directly."
"What? But that just negates the buff," Gin took a second and did some math. "Oh, damn it."
"That's right. That gives me just enough power to bring your Life Points to zero."
"Man…" Gin swept up his cards as a tiny pin of light was stuck onto his head by Lenore. "I can't wait for today to be over, I'm gonna sleep all weekend. What are you guys going to do?"
"I've got a killer headache," Blanche admitted, "So I'd probably do the same thing if I didn't have to talk to some people."
"Work?"
"Not quite. One of my coworkers might know something about my past, so I've got to talk to her about that. I've been working up the courage."
"Don't talk to girls, man," Gin sighed, clapping him on the shoulder. "They're crazy. Just look at Lenore."
"You won't have enough of a spirit for me to medium if you keep talking like that."
"See? Basically, don't take it too seriously. Just think of it like talking to one of the guys. It works the other way around too. Just look at Lenore."
"Your funeral will be closed casket, I'm telling you now."
"See? We get along just fine. If it's not like, weird and icky, you'll be fine."
"I'm getting the impression you're not the person I should ask about women."
"Well, it's not like you can ask an actual girl for help. Just look at-"
"The joke stopped being funny five lines ago."
"See? Basically one of the guys."
"Yeah, alright," Blanche sighed non-committally. "Enlightening."
"LADY is showing a high-velocity object approaching from the North Pole." Michael's keystrokes accelerated as he sent out the alert. "Satellite's picking up a UFO the size of a jet plane. Should we call the Hoenn Champion and ask for aerial assistance with Rayquaza?"
"Let's, um, cross-reference satellite images with known species of Pokémon before sending Amaranth and Geranium in. If there is an Anomaly, it would be better for FLARE to handle this." Aveline answered over the phone
"What exactly could those two do? Clemont's prototypes aren't ready." Michael ran the computer's Pokedex recognition program. If there were any Pokémon that matched whatever it was that was approaching Kalos, it would find out which soon enough.
"Total lack of AIAM field," he said after he overlaid FLARE's dedicated satellite, RKS-2's, Aura Reader map. "Nearing Mach One. No jet streams nearby."
"Triangulate its destination, please."
"Lumiose-3. It'll make landfall in less than four hours on the coast of Shalour, with a wide margin of error. It's not a Pokémon."
"Check against the Aether Foundation's database! I'm on the way, call the others!"
Michael's hand hovered over the big red button that had been bought exclusively to be dramatic.
"Alright!"
He slammed his hand down onto it. The screen flashed red as an alert was sent out to all needed on deck. The Professors, Clemont, and the two FLARE Rangers would be redirected soon enough.
"That idiot better not break down again during the battle."
Friday the 29th. Only a little less than a month had passed since Blanche first woke up. In that time, he'd seen some pretty crazy things. That afternoon, it was time for him to do one of those things. Hopefully, with a little more restraint.
"Serena, I need to talk to you. It'll be less complicated if it's without people around." He was struggling to keep a straight face because he thought that if he looked anything remotely like another lovestruck (hormonal) teenager, then the rumors would be about ten times worse.
She closed the textbook on her desk before looking up at him, her lips in a thin straight line. "Is there a complication at FLARE?"
"No, well, sort of. Again, really complicated. The roof is the place to talk, isn't it?"
"Very well."
The view from the top of the school wasn't particularly impressive. The schoolyards and shorter buildings nearby provided some breathing room, but those quickly fell away into massive blocks and skyscrapers centered around Prism Tower. The wind chilled his face that day, cutting through his bandages like they were wet paper.
The sun was low in the sky, much more than it would have been any other time of year. He faced towards the west, towards Prism Tower, towards the fading orange and yellow in the sky.
She followed behind him, though she stopped halfway to the railing, while he stood much closer.
Oh, Christ, this is going to be framed like a revelation from God, isn't it? Blanche thought, wincing at the idea of appearing even slightly messianic.
"Is this sun the same sun that I've always known?"
She didn't answer for a few seconds. "Perhaps," she said. Serena didn't sound confused, she didn't sound like anything.
"I think I remember it." He looked up at the top of Prism Tower, the gleaming wired beacon that seemed to glow in the setting sun. "I can't remember my own name or my family or any of my friends, but I know the exact map of the Kalos region, the names of nearly every Pokémon, and the type chart like the back of my hand. I also... remember a lot of things that no one else does."
"I see."
"Are you like that too, Serena? Do you have memories that you can't explain? Memories of things that don't exist anymore?"
She was silent.
There was a terse minute on the rooftop, neither of them speaking. The wind continued biting at him like a pack of dogs. His hair flew about, the catch of his head wraps nearly coming free.
Red reflected red as he continued looking outwards. "I'm not trying to be philosophical or spiritual. There's something wrong in this Earth, and I don't understand most of it."
"You still live on it."
"Maybe. I don't think I used to. Maybe I did. I have dreams. Not of the life goal sort, I don't have those anymore. Maybe a better word would be visions. People I haven't met are familiar to me, and when I meet them I remember something like a game. But games aren't real, they're games. The people in them, the world they live in, they're artificial and static. Was this world once like that, Serena?"
Another minute of silence. "I don't know."
"You're a smart person. Smarter than I am. You're definitely smart enough to be a Professor like Aveline. But see, Aveline told me that some people remember things that no one else does. She thinks that people with enough aura haven't forgotten. Do you think the same?"
"What are you asking me?"
"People don't talk about what hurts them unless it's with people that hurt the same way. People with trauma often seek out others with similar circumstances. It's the same with personalities, with passions. Ultimately, people group themselves by what everyone in said group can relate to. Hence, people don't talk about the pain that they alone feel. Serena, I think I know what your pain is, even if my pain is the opposite."
"You don't."
"You're probably right about that."
Another minute followed.
"I'm going to feel like such an asshole for this, but I really do think it's necessary. Does the name Calem mean anything to you?"
The wind grew fiercer, the sky itself screaming in his ears.
"How do you know… that name?" As she asked, her voice was perfectly flat.
"I know a lot of things. Things I shouldn't. Things no one else does. But for all of that," he laughed dryly, "I still don't know how to talk to people."
"Who are you?"
"I'm no one, really. My history's written out on every sheet of printer paper. I want to know the history of this world because that matters more than me. There's something wrong here, Serena, and I think you know this. Trevor and Tierno don't know the person behind that name, other than you saying it a long time ago. I'm guessing Shauna is the same."
"She… no one remembers," she managed to whisper, her voice becoming gravelly.
"That's what makes us Anomalies, isn't it? I'm not even a human by most standards. You're a human that's gone even further beyond and developed the ability to physically change the world. I think some people call that alchemy, but other people call that a blessing of God."
"What are you, then, if not a human?"
Blanche shrugged. "I don't think I'm a Pokémon. I had a dream where some crazy demonic thing called me an avatar. Maybe the few memories I do have are fake. Maybe I knew you all once upon a time, and my brain got scrambled up with some video game terminology. Am I from this world? Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know. Hence, I'm no one. I'm as blank as my name."
Another minute passed.
"...Are you Calem?"
"I honestly don't know. Probably not. What happened to him?"
"He…"
The door to the rooftop slammed open as he heard Serena fall to her knees. He turned, red eyes reflecting a fading orange and looked at Shauna.
"Mummy! What did you do to her?"
"You wouldn't understand, Shauna. Do you remember Calem?"
"Who?"
"Serena locked herself in her room after the Heavens Shattered, Tierno told me as much. And she said a name. Did you ever listen to her? Did you listen when your friend cried out in pain? Or did you ignore her until she became cold and silent?"
"Mind your own business! You're not her friend either."
"I don't deserve friends, if you haven't been paying attention. Take something seriously for once. People died, Shauna. You can't remember it, but she can, I can! I know it seems like no one gets hurt in fantasy land, but they do, even if you can't see it."
"You jerk! You're hurting her right now!"
Serena was still, hands barely holding her up as she shook silently.
"It's unavoidable. I'm trying to figure out this world, I'm trying to do something about it. She's suffering because no one knows what she's gone through, no one remembers her best friend, your best friend. What did you do when she cried out for him? Tell me!"
Shauna ran past Serena, jumping onto his and slamming him into the metal fence with a clattering ring.
"Shut up! What could I do? She wouldn't tell us what was hurting her, we all thought Darkrai had visited her or something!"
"Did you ask?"
"Yes! Of course I did! She's my best friend, I know her better than anyone else!"
"You don't. I have memories of a world that doesn't exist anymore, and so does she. You, Ponytails, do not."
She pushed him back again, causing him to trip and slump slightly.
"I can't help that! She asked for days and days, had we seen someone named Calem. And we didn't, okay? I've never known anyone like that! People don't forget people they care about."
"Without outside interference. It's not your fault you don't remember. But she does, and she's in pain."
"How do you know? Does that hurt you too or do you want her to think that?"
"Of course I'm in pain. But no one gives a damn about that, especially not you, because at the end of the day, I'm a God-damn side character who can't even take control of his own life!" He pushed her back and jabbed a finger in her face. "Instead of focusing on me, maybe you should focus on the people that actually matter and not your stupid, annoying, petty grudge."
Two ringtones went off at once. Emergency alerts, blaring sounds. Blanche checked his Holo Caster only for it to be slapped out of his hands.
He bent over and calmly picked it up, side-eyeing Shauna."I can't hit you back. That's not fair and you know it. This message is from FLARE." He walked around Shauna, offering Serena a hand. "Serena, we have to go."
She looked up at him, expression dull but her eyes red. "...But…"
"We can talk about him later. I'm sorry for ripping off the bandage so quickly, but we have work to do."
"Hey!"
"Shauna, get the hell out of here." He wrapped Serena's arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a shaky stance. "You can hate me all you want. I'm not a hero, but the actual hero has work to do. If you can't fight, you can't help. I'm sure you really are Serena's best friend, because you're a good person even if you really piss me off. Most people are like that, actually. But we have to go."
"I'm coming with you!"
"No, you're not. You're not an Esper."
"Neither are you! Why else would you need all those bandages?"
"Somehow, not having any aura is more helpful than having a little. And so, they need us and not you.."
Shauna clenched her fists, clearly restraining herself. "...I do have aura."
"Oh, of course you do. Thanks for signing up at FLARE, by the way. You're really useful out in the field," he spat, once again stopped from approaching the door.
"I didn't want to, okay? I just wanted to live normally, even if Serena didn't! Is that so bad, Mummy? You can't expect everyone to join just because they could if they wanted to. I wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer, graduate Trainer School without any problems, and then the four of us would go on a journey together, but you screwed all of that up! You're going to take them away from me, I don't want that!"
"...What in the blue hell are you even talking about?"
"I'm afraid, alright? I admit it!" She stumbled forwards, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. "I'm afraid of our group splitting apart and leaving me behind! Serena's the best in simulated battles, Trevor's the smartest person in my class, Tierno could probably wrestle a Dragon-type if he wanted to, but I'm just me! If they all fall in with other groups, make other friends, I'll be left on my own, and I don't want that!"
She grabbed Serena's other arms, making her steady on both sides.
"There, are you happy, Mummy? Is that good enough for you? Are you proud of yourself now?"
"No." He started the six-legged race for the nearest FLARE entrance. "But I just realized that we're very alike."
"The Aether Foundation has confirmed that the Anomaly is designated as UB-Blast. Its recorded typing is Steel-Flying. It is currently approaching Lumiose-3 and will make landfall in a little more than three hours on the coast of Shalour City." Michael turned to the others in his chair.
Serena had recovered, standing on her own without help, with Shauna and Blanche on either side. The two professors stood nearby, Augustine with his arms crossed and Aveline standing at attention. Clemont had not yet arrived. Around them, uniformed FLARE technicians fiddled with the tech, making sure it was at one-hundred percent.
"Back to you, Professor."
"R-right!" She said, turning to Serena. "The Anomaly should be weak to Electric and Fire-type attacks, so use those if you can!"
Blanche raised his hand. "Do we have any of those?"
"In fact," Michael said, "We do. Ponytails' primary type is Electric, though her AIAM field is only slightly above average. What can you do?"
"Well, um, I can see electromagnetic waves if I try really hard. I think I can bend them, but…"
Michael took off his headset and slammed his face into the table, making them all jump in surprise.
"Michael?"
"Ignore that. Do we have authorization for Aural Sap?"
"Underwood stole the last vial that was gathered and lost it," Augustine said, shaking his head. "Lysandre keeps the rest under lock and key after they're finished processing. Making an Esper more powerful is a volatile process, it's just good sense."
"Wait, Serena, I gave it to you…" Blanche turned to the girl, quickly finding that she had pulled the vial of kaleidoscopic liquid from her bag.
"Serena, put that away. Why do you have that?" Sycamore sighed. "If you found it, you should have turned it in."
"Yes." Serena, as always, elaborated by saying nothing.
"Well, give it here," Shauna said, reaching out for it.
"Don't use it in the lab," the Professor chided. "It's volatile. Serena, I trust you to administer the Sap in the field."
"Yes, sir." The vial dropped back down into her bag.
"And Shauna, if anyone asks, you've always been an Esper of that level."
"Eh? Um, yes, sir."
"Professor," Blanche sighed, "Is this a cover-up?"
"What? No, of course not. I mean, why use the opportunity to use something that's registered as lost by the system to our advantage? That would just be ridiculous," the Professor ended theatrically.
"...Yeah, alright. How are we getting to the coast?"
"FLARE operatives are setting up the operation. The plan is to…"
Blanche wasn't quite sure what dropping them out of the sky was supposed to do, but apparently, that was how they had to get west as quickly as possible.
The Professor's Garchomp was a magnificent beast for sure. Deep purple scales, wings that despite their size easily lifted it into the air, and a razor-sharp focus that kept them balanced on its back.
"The Anomaly is accelerating! You can't- You won't have much time to stop if before it makes landfall. You mustn't let it pass into Lumiose-3, understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," Blanche said back into his helmet. He and Serena had morphed first and then showed Shauna how to activate her device. She had shrieked in surprise when her body was wrapped in a white glow, then her clothes were replaced by yellow spandex. Half of her ponytails were pressed beneath her helmet, though the other two bounced around the bend and curved around her back.
"Doc, use team chat," Michael's voice carried from somewhere out of frame. Aveline shrank and turned red, quickly tapping another button. Serena's and Shauna's perspectives popped up in the UI.
"Um, so the Anomaly is accelerating…"
"It will be incapacitated shortly," Serena said, sitting in front of him.
"I'll do my best!" Shauna shouted, the arm around his chest forming a thumbs-up, likely unconsciously.
Garchomp was big, but it wasn't that big. And it certainly didn't have a saddle for three people.
"Great! Drop-off point in five seconds."
"You didn't think to say that-"
Garchomp did a corkscrew in its flight path, throwing them from its back without a thought.
Freefall is certainly an experience. It was literally walking on air, only vertically, and nearly straight down. Of course, it was part of the plan, but he needed time to mentally prepare himself.
Then he remembered that they didn't have parachutes.
Shauna was somewhere above him, flapping about in the wind and yelling in garbled cries. Serena was already far below and like a pin dropping perfectly on its tip, she pierced through the wind.
"You know, not all of us can tank a fall from orbit!"
"It's not that high…" Aveline said sheepishly. "And about those flowers…"
"Not right now, sorry. Shauna, can you fly on electromagnetic fields?"
She answered, incredibly helpfully, by continuing to yell incoherently.
The ground was approaching fast, and for some reason, he didn't feel too threatened in the face of everything he'd seen in the last month.
"Serena, can you…"
The girl rose up, widening out in the wind in almost perfect skydiving form, gliding to the side and directly below him.
"This may hurt."
She flew into him, catching the wind in a suddenly appearing pair of flaps in the suit, and then catching him in her arms.
If he wasn't already in an utterly ridiculous situation, he may have objected to being princess-carried. It jostled him, but it didn't hurt too much.
"Now, Shauna, drop."
"What? Oh, Goddamnit."
Shauna sank like a stone, or Serena became much more air resistant, as the second girl dropped directly on top of him like a fat guy at a belly flop contest. It wasn't the most accurate comparison, because he wouldn't call a girl fat unless he had a death wish, but it certainly felt that way.
She slowly stopped yelling, her yellow helmet turning towards Serena's. "Oh. Where's Mummy?"
"Ow…"
"Eek! Oh, this is just great. You better not be getting any ideas."
Serena dropped towards the ground, their free fall jolting to a slowing descent. He saw the earth rising past them, and he was absolutely positive there hadn't been one there before.
A minute later, Serena slid to a stop, having created a torn through her own mountain, near a set-up of tents and vans. FLARE grunts moved around huge cables and technicians lined the place.
A portly man walked up to Serena, as Blanche was lying on the ground curled up in pain, and Shauna on her hands and knees trying not to throw up in her helmet.
"Oh, wow, real FLARE Rangers. It's an honor to work with you!" He shook Serena's hand vigorously and the girl responded with a nod. "Tell your boss I'm thankful for his investments in my power plant, but for now, the connections you requested are all up and running."
"Thank you." Her voice was much clearer, given they weren't about to go splat anytime soon.
"No problem, just tell any of my employees when you're ready and…" The businessman looked over her shoulder. "...Are your teammates alright?"
"My stomach," Shauna groaned, the filter not hiding any of her discomfort.
Blanche did the same. "My crotch…"
"S-shut up, Mummy…"
"It's Amaranth right now, Rue..."
"Why don't I get," she hiccuped, "A longer codename?"
Serena turned back towards the owner of the power plant. "They're fine."
"If you say so…"
After a few minutes, they recovered enough to get to their feet, and Michael directed them to their point of defense, directing Serena to raise a pillar for them to stand on out of the ground.
And then she did, reminding Blanche that main character powers were absolutely a force to be reckoned with.
Serena then pulled the vial of Aural Sap out of a compartment in the crook of her neck.
"There's a button on your temple that will open your mouth."
Shauna pressed the button and the black visor slid upwards, separating from her jaw.
"So what, I drink it?"
"Physical exposure would yield a temporary result, but your body retains the power if you absorb it completely," Augustine said smoothly, leaning over his daughter's shoulder. "The taste is a bit…"
Shauna drank the whole vial down in one gulp, then very nearly threw it back up. "Agh! It tastes like gasoline!"
"No shit? Give it here," Blanche said.
"...Or so I've heard. Oh, you already drank it. Right," Aveline said at the same time.
Shauna wiped her mouth with the back of her gloved hand, almost audibly glaring at Blanche. "Yeah, right! Like I'd let you touch something my lips have."
"For God's sake, you know I didn't mean it like that."
"Which god? Legendary worship is so weird nowadays."
A glimmer appeared on the distant horizon, glowing like a star in the red skies.
Aveline coughed into her hand, bringing their attention to her window.
"The Anomaly will be making landfall soon. FLARE Rangers, start the operation!" Aveline's energy easily carried through the interface, and it was only right for him to reciprocate.
Blanche gave one last exasperated sigh and threw out his hand, soon gathering his resolve and calling, "Clemontic Gear Access: BURST!"
AIAM FIELD PATTERN: BLUE
Designation: CGI BURST
Artificial Teleport Request Inbound
FLARE Designation: Amaranth
"Access granted!" Aveline's hands flew across the keyboard, running LADY's teleportation program.
"BFG on its way!" Michael yelled as Clemont slammed another, different big red button that acted as the confirmation switch.
From its resting place on a shelf above the seven tubes in the lab, the launcher's seams glowed a blue-green, before it disappeared in a blast of light.
Blanche hefted the cylinder onto his shoulder as it appeared, wrapped around his arm. The glimmer on the horizon grew stronger and the sky grew darker. Teal metal and pure energy blasted straight towards them.
"Connection needed," he said, the safety refusing to click off.
Serena leaned off of the top of the pillar, and in seconds, the cable that stretched from Kalos's power plant all the way to its northern coast was held up by a fist of stone. It slotted the cable, almost as thick as his torso and definitely much more tensile, into the back of the gun, weighing down his back.
He easily adjusted, supporting its weight with his knees as it loudly whirred next to his ear.
"Remember! Each shot, um, is taken directly from Kalos's power supply, so please be conservative with your shots!"
"Not planning on having Celesteela say hello to my little friend, but understood."
"What does that even mean?" Shauna stamped her foot, wildly shaking her hands in front of her. Not that Blanche could see, but her video feed certainly helped.
"Well, you know, it's like the movie where the guy has a machine gun and goes," he would have continued to poorly describe something he barely remembered, but they were once again interrupted.
"Closing in!"
Blanche started actually doing his job, what a shocker, and raised the Burst Cannon towards Celesteela.
"Rue, bend the electromagnetic waves around the beam and aim it at Celesteela."
"Who abdicated and made you king?"
"Jesus Christ, just do it."
"I don't think I've heard of that one…" Nonetheless, she raised her hands, pointing them just about where he was aiming. "I've played one of Trevor's VR games, this should be easy."
Aveline stopped typing, focusing on the screens above. "Geranium, you'll need to protect and support. If they need a better angle, you know what to do."
"Of course."
"On me?" Blanche asked.
"Um… alright?"
"Thanks. One…"
The three parts of Celesteela became more clear as it approached, the two pillars around it somehow supporting it in the air even as they were detached.
"Two…"
The air around him became staticky, faintly smelling of ozone. Tiny sparks lit up a trail towards the scale. Shauna's body seized up, but she stood still.
"Three!"
His finger clenched on the trigger.
An enhanced video feed from a distant vantage point fed into the FLARE headquarters, tracking UB-Blast as it traveled through the skies.
"That's not good," Clemont said nervously, his eyes watching as the pillars surrounding it suddenly changed directions, the ends spewing energy stopping entirely. "LADY, bring up the infrared feed!"
The technicians in the lab watched in dreadful anticipation as the feed switched over. One of the pillars' ends was a bright red, the other a deep purple.
"It's heating and cooling the air? Full radiation overlay."
One showed a field that bent inwards, another that bent outwards.
"Oh, crap- Professor! Tell them not to-"
A dozen megawatts took the form of a solid beam of energy, blasting towards Celesteela and scorching the air it touched.
Shauna reeled her arms back in front of her, and the beam bent upwards. She forced her hands out and sent the beam towards the Anomaly.
The beam missed by a meter. It was sucked in by one of Celesteela's pillars, momentarily disappearing completely and leaving the sky dark.
"Energy cannot be created or destroyed…"
"It's a Magic Cylinder!" Aveline shouted frantically.
"Shit! BRACE!"
From the other pillar, a blast that struck tenfold exploded, turning night into day and hiding the full moon as it rose.
The air around him was burning. He couldn't even move to shield his face. But in front of him…
Serena was taking the brunt of the blast. What little of the pillar she could bring up was being atomized on impact. He smelled smoke as it was shoved in his helmet.
There was no oxygen to breathe, but he cried out, "Serena!"
"Take… the… shot," she struggled out, holding herself spread eagle against the blast. "My AIAM field… will not hold it… for long."
"Shauna," he wheezed.
"Serena!"
"Help him… Help him!"
Shocked into movement, Shauna held up her arms against the white.
"Bend it around!" He couldn't breathe. He would pass out in less than a minute. "Whatever you have, use it! I know we don't like each other," he said in that moment of desperation, "But I'll put my faith in you! I believe in you! Save Serena and save yourself! BLAST!"
A current of blue-green light traced along the new beam as it sliced through the first. Like a sea before a rod, it split in two.
Somewhere in the white void of energy, in his delirium, Blanche saw something. A skeleton of ink. Burning red eyes. A golden feathered crown.
You have exceeded my expectations, my avatar. But perhaps, you require my boon. An insect such as yourself makes such things necessary.
A gaping darkness swallowed the world around him, and all he could see was black.
AIAM FIELD PATTERN: ERROR. MISSING NUMBER.
Designation: ERROR. MISSING NUMBER.
FLARE Designation: ERROR. MISSING NUMBER.
Aveline looked up at the screen, her hand covering her mouth. "What on Earth?"
His vision returned when he took his first breath. Spotty, but slowly fading back in.
Just off the coast, a plume of water was receding, and he could see teal metal bob up and down at the surface.
The Clemontic Gear had fallen to the wayside, clattering down the side of the pillar before it was recalled in a blast of light.
Serena's clothes were still smoking, the black a charcoal-like gray in some areas on its front. Her hair that was unprotected by her helmet was entirely gone. He touched it with a gloved hand and still felt the heat. He pulled it off of her, trying his best to keep it from breaking and melting to her skin, and kneeled to hold her up.
Her skin was tinged red, as well as her eyes. Her face was blank as always but body was shaking.
"...Did I do good, Calem? Is this what you would do?" She asked, staring somewhere past him.
"You did good, Serena. I'm not Calem. I don't have to be him to tell you that."
"You're not?" She said, distantly. "Then… what do I do?"
"Smile, Serena." He pulled his own helmet off with one hand, dropping it behind him. "You've got a lot of people that care about you." His bandages fell away from his face like leaves, curled and tattered. His own smile was bitter, but it meant something. He didn't know what, but it did.
"I do…" She said, her voice filled with something. Gratitude, realization, wonder, it all fell together into a single, questioning phrase.
"You do. And you've done them all proud. Even me," he chuckled, "And I'm a huge asshole."
"Don't say that, Calem," she murmured, her eyes half-lidded. "You've always wanted me to…"
A silent few minutes passed on top of that pillar. The full moon hung above them, making light a certainty once again.
Shauna stood behind them. Her hand was mere inches away from his shoulder. But at the last second, she stopped and turned away.
"Yeah, I know," he said. "Let's get you home. Shauna?"
"Uh… yeah?" She stammered out, pretending that she wasn't listening.
"You alright?"
He expected the words, why do you care?, to come sailing out of her mouth.
"Yeah," she said meekly. "Thank you."
"You can thank Serena by getting her to bed. She's the one that deserves it. It's been a long day."
A cacophony became clear from over the headset, more than a dozen voices laughing and cheering together as one.
"...Yeah. It has."
