Disclaimer: Pokémon is still owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

Chapter 17: The Longest Day

Birch lightly tapped the pen he had been using to write down occasional comments earlier in the day against the table. The first hour of discussion on what needed to be done in order to protect against the ongoing Pokémon attacks had been surprisingly fruitful, with common sense ideas to protect some of the more at risk locations: schools and daycares; hospitals, the like.

In retrospect, it had all gone downhill once the representative of the Centrists had come in. Birch hadn't been certain only opposition politicians and various representatives from at-risk branches had been there for a round table discussion, even if it was on a Saturday, but after fifteen minutes of increasingly tetchy and unsupported nonsense, he had concluded that it had been for the better.

That had been an hour and a half back.

"It beggars belief that you're insisting on bringing impressionable children into contact with Pokémon they are prohibited to train," the man said, and Birch lightly dashed a tally onto the bottom of his sheet, next to his shorthand for the prohibited Pokémon argument that had come up over a half-dozen times now in some form.

"And it beggars belief that you insist on thinking they will not head elsewhere," came the counterargument from one of the staunchest allies the scientific community had in the halls of the parliamentary buildings. Carmen Russet was a delightful woman; adamant at keeping science untainted by ideological motives, even if they aligned with her own views. That wasn't the case here, and it showed in her agitation. "The Hoenn Institute for Trainers put out a release last month, mister Herald, and new Trainers starting in Hoenn are down by nine per cent compared to the first quarter of last year. The amount of Hoenn-born starting in another region is up by an estimated twenty-three per cent."

"That is of no conse—" the Centrist politician started to reply, but then the lights went off suddenly. A moment later, an explosion rocked the building, and Birch shot to his feet. "What's going on?!"

Nobody knew the answer for that, but someone quickly sent out an oddish for an indoor Sunny Day. It cast an eerie light; and most of the dozen people in the room jumped when one of the doors slammed open. 'The building is under attack," a black-clad security agent barked. "Follow us."

Various questions were shouted, but none were answered. Birch was the third out of the room, and as he had expected, the rest of the building was cast in darkness as well. Two more agents were holding electric torches to show an eerily dark and empty hallway: there weren't many people in the building, presumably. "Who is attacking us?" Herald demanded as he exited the room.

"Pokémon, sir," came the answer. "They attacked out of nowhere. We assume Ghosts have taken the electricity system offline."

Birch ignored Herald's comment as he walked to the front of the group. "What do you need from us?" he asked.

"If you have Pokémon that can scout up ahead, that would be great," was the reply from the leader of the security forces. A flash announced the presence of a machamp. "Reports involve both Dark and Ghost-types. Darks are often ambush predators."

Scouting was possible with the Pokémon Birch had on him, and his trusty crobat came out, and so did a gliscor from one of the politicians. A quick check revealed it to be Russet's, surprisingly. It wasn't the kind of Pokémon he had expected of her. "Gliscor will cover the area around us, Professor," she stated in response to a question Birch hadn't even thought of. "Direct routes outside will give opportunities to sneak up from a side."

That caused an unwelcome shudder to pass through the group, and several others primed their pokéballs. Birch, for his part, did the same for the sceptile on his belt. "Alright, let's move."

Movement was slow and deliberate. Crobat flitted to and fro in the darkness; swishes his only tell. The machamp occasionally threw out a Foresight across the hallways to scout for hidden Pokémon that might have slipped by crobat, but nothing appeared.

It was eerie. They had started deep inside in a windowless room, and without the hum of appliances – air circulation systems, lights, even lifts – the only sounds were their own footsteps and whatever thuds or swooshes the Pokémon made. Squeaks of shoes on the floor echoed far into the distance, but they didn't cause anything but paranoia as everyone waited for Ghosts or Dark-types to find them.

Slowly, sounds from outside started filtering in. A crash here; glass shattering there… It was enough to unnerve everyone in the group, even before something audibly blew up in the distance.

"They're feral. I knew it!" Herald hissed as they turned the corner into a larger hallway; a sign on the wall giving the direction towards the main exit, but security led them in the opposite direction. "This is what you enable."

He was soundly ignored, even by nominal allies, and it was three turns later that crobat flew down, landing on the ground by Birch's feet. It stopped the group immediately, and vague thumping sounds could immediately be heard in the background. "How many?" the Professor asked softly, keeping track of the amount of times crobat's wing tapped the nearby wall as he listened to the sounds; ending up at seven. "And they're… Trying to enter something?"

"Who cares if they're trying to enter. They're animals!"

"Sounds like canines," one of the security guards that hadn't spoken up yet said; voice betraying that he was younger than the others. "Same sound my brother's herdier makes when she really wants something in the kitchen cabinet."

"There's something they want," the senior guard said, concurring. "Inside a closed room. And –" he added, stopped by a loud, echoing crack, followed by howling – mightyena howling. "And they just got it." He turned to the group, aiming his light at the ground so people weren't blinded. "The exit is nearby, but there's a pack of feral Pokémon. We will distract them. Once we have, you run outside. If you have fighting-capable Pokémon, prime the pokéballs. The situation is likely hostile."

Outside meant that Birch could use steelix at least. He looked around at the other scientists who had joined him. "Mary, John," he addressed his two direct subordinates. "You go out first. If there are Ghosts waiting, throw a Safeguard up. If anyone else has Pokémon that can do that, speak up now." It remained silent. "Nobody?"

"Got a chimecho," the teacher union representative said in a typical Dewford drawl. "Not doing that." The sound of a pokéball being enlarged was uncomfortably loud, and in the dim light, Birch made out yellow markings on the capsule. "Dino and I will do physical protection."

Nobody else came forward, though Birch expected several others to be capable of fighting. "Okay," the lead guard said as he tapped a ball on his belt. Birch didn't catch the Pokémon that appeared because he had to close his eyes from the bright light. When he reopened them, he saw something grow upwards into the shape of a machamp. "Ditto, machamp, keep them occupied as much as you can."

As one, the group broke into a half-run, abandoning stealth. It caused the pack of mightyena to appear from outside the room they were in, and Birch had enough time to commit a snapshot of the canines to memory, but then eight arms started to mow down seven Dark-types, and the humans moved past.

Dragonair and vivilion's Safeguard was the only thing that saved the group from what looked like a set of Confuse Ray attacks acting in concert, and when Birch cast a rapid look around, he caught sight of at least five Ghost-types before his own steelix and a large venusaur took up defensive posture. Sceptile came out on his own, and several other Pokémon also appeared.

And then a conflagration sprung up all around them.

~~§~~§~~

"He's safe," Danny said as he ended the call on his Pokénav, feeling a sudden need to sit down. He obliged, relieved. "Smoke inhalation, but safe."

Some tension visibly left Max's body as well, even as he turned the radio back up to audible for both of them. "I know they said that there weren't any..."

"I know," Danny finished softly. He'd feared the same; that the news was somehow wrong in all the chaos. "Apparently, they got caught in the fire some chandelure caused at one of the exits, but they had enough tricks to keep the fire from overwhelming them." The news station signalled a bulletin, but after a moment, it became clear it was just a repeat, and Danny tuned it out. "Did they say anything about how many Pokémon were involved?"

Max shook his head. "Only the types. There's a conference in… Fifteen." The teenager scoffed. "Bet it'll be all about how evil Dark and Ghost-types are. Like all the others. They'll probably add Psychic-types in too."

Danny agreed, but didn't say anything, instead listening to the radio and idly finishing his almost stale lunch. There wasn't anything he hadn't already heard before or from the Pallet Town Laboratory, but every moment felt important to listen to. Maybe things became clearer or there was something he had missed or…

Spritzee pecked him on the cheek; lightly, knocking him out of his thoughts and asking a question by chattering. "Yeah… Thanks 'bout that. Was kinda zoning out." He sighed deeply before looking at Max, and the anger wasn't surprising to see. "I wish we could talk with home."

"Uhuh," Max agreed softly. "It's not like I forgot them, but… It's harder to remember details. The small things, you know? Like some things your growlithe does, or Dad's slaking. Stuff I'd remember easily if we'd just talk because our parents mention them. I hate it."

The venomous tone, Danny had heard before. But for the first time, he realised he could understand more than just a bit where Max was coming from. "Yeah… There's a lot of things like that… But I just want to talk to my family. The letters we sneak aren't enough."

"I went online last week, just to watch an interview with Dad. From after we ended so high in Kalos." Max laughed, but it was hollow. "Jirachi, that feels so long ago. And it felt good to just hear Dad talk. It felt normal."

For a moment, Danny felt envious, but then he realised how stupid that was. "Wish I'd thought of that," he told Max, smiling weakly. "Maybe it'll make me feel better to see and hear Uncle."

He wasn't expecting the shake. "It didn't afterwards. Dunno why, but it felt all the worse for it." Max took his glasses off, cleaning them on his shirt. "What's that saying? Damned if you do, and damned if you don't?"

Danny didn't know – Max was the one who was better at stuff like that – and he didn't reply, instead leaning forward to turn the radio up a bit. The press conference was about to go live, and he didn't want to miss a word of it.

"Thank you," the Mauville police chief said. Danny remembered him: a serious man, devoted to his job. "Earlier today, Dark and Ghost-types attacked several locations in our city, for reasons unknown. They were the parliament building; a derelict building scheduled for destruction; a small police station, and a bank. Other Pokémon also ran rampant through the streets, attacking everything that moved with fang and claw, fire and electricity.

"Currently, our hospitals are overflowing with people. Most will recover. Some will not. I ask that the media does not report on the identities of the recently deceased until we release them, so that we can contact the family first, and that we now have a moment of silence for those who did not survive."

The minute passed, as silent there as in the Johto wilderness. "Thank you. As a part of our ongoing training, my force was prepared for the eventuality of this happening. Though we are not perfect, it is my sincere belief that our presence was instrumental in forcing the affected Pokémon out of their psychosis, allowing them to be rounded up. Those uncaught have been captured; those caught have been taken into custody with their Trainers notified. We will discuss what to do with the caught Pokémon later this week, once all tempers have died down, and once we have the manpower to actually do so and not hinder recovery.

"It is possible that some of you noticed something leading up to the attack. As ever, if you feel there is something unusual that happened, please contact the Mauville police. Any information you have, no matter how small or insignificant you think it might be, can be the crucial piece of the puzzle that will allow us to finally end the atrocities that are plaguing Hoenn. So please, for all our sakes, don't sit on something that you think will not matter. Thank you."

The rest of the conference was just a regular question and answer session with the standard set of questions. Nobody knew who did it, nobody had claimed any responsibility… The chief did say that he was against any further restrictions on Dark and Ghost-types, which brightened the teenager's mood a tiny bit until Max pointed out that he could be overruled by the government – which would probably happen.

At least his uncle was okay, but that was about the end of it, Danny knew, and that made his stomach ache in horror.

~~§~~§~~

Phoebe thanked the stars and the beyond that Drake was in Mauville, because she had no intention of spending the night in her home off of Route 118. It was probably swarming with reporters already, and after the shouting match she had had with some or another politician… They'd be all over her.

Praise giratina that mismagius was capable of extending Phantom Force to a street or two away, even if that alternate dimension she passed through was thoroughly unpleasant. It had caused the reporters to lose her; twice over, and then she was able to spot the distinctive sailboat from atop the building her Ghost had deposited her on.

"Figured you'd come here; like a moth to a flame you are," her colleague said as she walked up the plank. She only saw him as she stepped onto the deck, and somehow, she wasn't surprised he was here. He had a habit of turning up exactly where he needed to. "The normal from all the Ghosts?"

She shook her head as they went deeper in, hearing a shout behind her to raise the anchor. "Couldn't even get to them. All taken into custody, and they didn't want anyone to come close. Most of them were wild Pokémon too." Phoebe clenched her fist. "Wish I could just find out what was happening to them, but no, our exalted politicians and police force say that nobody should talk to these Pokémon and that Psychic-types using telepathy as an intermediary aren't to be believed because we cannot guarantee the quality of the translation. Argh!"

"That came from the heart alright," a familiar voice broke in, and the two current Elite Four members saw Drake come out of a nearby room, closing the door behind him. The limited light didn't make him look all that great, she felt. "Your rant was broadcast, by the way."

Just what she needed to hear. "So I'm going to have to grovel again to some lickspit politicians," she said, rolling her eyes as she followed Drake.

"I wouldn't be certain of that," the Dragon Master replied gravely as he led them to the room at the back of the ship. A radio jingle echoed through the corridor as they approached. "Just after you left, that politician you engaged with essentially called you unfit to be an Elite Four member."

"It wasn't the wisest thing you ever did," Sidney agreed as they entered the room.

Phoebe turned on them, feeling fury ignite inside. "Don't you dare condescend me for doing what was right,"

Neither of the men appeared affected. "It came from the heart of hearts; truthful and accurate both, but do you think someone like that politician cares? He was looking for a reaction, Phoebe," the Dark-type specialist said, and it was his use of her name that caught her attention. He rarely did so. "I know you're uncaring of politics, disliking it to the point that its mere mention caused you to walk out of rooms a few years ago, but whispers around Mauville are that this man, this Raphael, is a rising star in the Centrists. His word carries weight." He stepped forward, taking her hand in his, and she shuddered at how cold his fingers felt. "I do not want to lose my closest friend and ally in the Elite Four. Not when we are so desperately needed." Then, to Drake. "Tell her."

A trace of fear dispelled the remaining fury. What was she missing? What was she going to be told now? "Drake?"

The seventy-something year old sat down heavily, and even in full light, Phoebe felt he looked terrible. "Sit down," he ordered as he turned the radio's volume down. "And tell me what you know of what prompted the flight of a Gym Leader and two prominent young Trainers."

She dug through her memory, but all she could think of was the official story, which always felt a little bit off. "Just what was said, but… Even having met everyone, it just seems like they weren't the kind to engage in wanton destruction, and the G-men don't do working with underage Trainers."

"And yet, it is all true," was Drake's reaction, and the laugh afterwards was pure him. "Of a kind. Didn't you ever wonder how they made their way to Kanto? Or did you just assume Reginald's dragons took them there? Ah," he added a moment later. "The second one. Well, I can tell you they didn't. Perfect guests on my ship they were."

She pleaded wordlessly with Sidney, who had sat down at the side of the table, and he gave her one of his flasks. She chugged a bit of it back carefully, finding it was regular tomato juice. "Really, Sidney? Of all the times, now you're not drinking?" she said as she shoved it back. "And what exactly was meant with 'true of a kind'?"

"The act that they were accused of, they did, except the facility was illegal and the experiments therein torturous," Drake replied softly. "Likewise, they are affiliated with the G-men, but they weren't at the time. From what Reginald told me, it was he who offered the same opposition as you did of not working with underage Trainers, but he was convinced otherwise. To success in Kalos."

"Speaking of the Dragon," Sidney chimed in from the side, "Drake only told me an hour ago that Reginald has an interesting opinion; one so volatile it is best sat on until the right time on account of splitting the region down the middle, or perhaps along the side." The lanky Trainer leant backwards, stretching, then moved back. "And you played a part in this, meeting with that Pokémon in a place now off-limits. The legendary Ninetales of Mt. Pyre. What did it tell you to cause you to share his identity with the Gym Leaders?"

Oh, Phoebe remembered that vividly. And the terror when she was frozen helplessly; and none of her Pokémon able to react. "Something about a Dragon soon leaving, and that sharing information to those not yet in the know was going to be required. In their home," she added as an afterthought.

"Reginald told Tate in October that he suspected something," Drake resumed talking. "That there's inside collaboration. He told me when he fled, and the last missive I got from him, from Kalos, is that more people are coming to that conclusion." The old Pokémon Trainer grinned. "Drink, my dear?"

Inside collaboration? And they were dis… "Why didn't you go to the police with this? Or the politicians?" she said, feeling her voice rise in pitch. "This is insane! People are dying!"

"Claims without proof / they just go poof," Sidney quoted sing-song. "None of us can make the claim without being maligned; a courtesy extended to us due our position and government hostility."

"And audacious claims require extensive proof," Drake added, explaining why Sidney quoted a song from years back in one statement. "Until recently, there was no proof that wasn't circumstantial. But consider this, Phoebe. The facility that was destroyed had a machine that emitted an aura to send Psychic-type Pokémon berserk, and coincidentally, Psychic Pokémon were the last of the three types to start experiencing this mass psychosis." Drake broke into a cough, seemingly nearly spitting up phlegm. "Are you convinced yet?"

She was, and that terrified her.

~~§~~§~~

He caught her as she closed the Gym for the day, having waited on the closest bench and listening to the events going on in Hoenn. Seven fatalities, plenty of injured including Birch senior, and the incessant bleating of sheep who wanted more restrictions that wouldn't work. They never had, they never would: any cursory study of history would prove that, but Gary knew full-well that studying history wasn't done. "Sabrina?"

The Saffron Gym Leader turned around. "Gary Oak. What brings you to Saffron?" she asked, her voice carrying effortlessly.

"Questions about psychic powers," Gary replied as he reached the entrance.

The Gym Leader's violet gaze went straight into his soul, but he held it. "Very well," she said, and the door behind her clicked open without visible help. "Follow me."

He was fine with doing it just inside of the Gym, but Sabrina brought him to a room just off the entrance, with various tools used to test human psychics lying around. The table and chairs were the more important things anyway, and a psionic sweep threw half a dozen small items onto the floor, where they bounced and chimed. "Didn't need to bring me here."

"I did. You wish to discuss the Maple boy," Sabrina said in that unnervingly flat tone of hers. She smirked – that was his thing! – when his surprise bled through. "It is a misunderstanding that there are only active powers. Many people possess affinity towards Psychic-types. It also comes with surrounding oneself with Pokémon of one type for a very long time, but not all types. You can probably guess which types."

The hint at his in-ear hadn't gone unnoticed. "Psychic, Dark, Ghost then."

"And Dragon and Fairy, but they are irrelevant here," the green-haired Gym Leader added. "Without it, you can train these Pokémon all you like, but results in battle will be suboptimal. There will not be a click, as I heard someone call it last week."

"This isn't explaining how you knew."

"Indeed," Sabrina allowed. "In my training, I've gained the ability to sense that affinity. It requires concentration, and more if it is weaker. It was very easy to pinpoint Maple's back when I visited your lab last December."

"Why didn't you ask me about it then? Or him, even?"

"Because normally, affinity does nothing, even when it is that strong. It can warp itself into active psionic powers, but it is uncommon," Sabrina stated. "I'm assuming this has now happened and that they're not in a position to come here right now?"

Finally, something she hadn't anticipated. "No," Gary said, and the reward was just a small chink in the facial mask. "It's weirder than that. Honestly, if he developed that, he'd need no help from you. Not with four Psychic-types on his team." He realised it came out a bit harsh, but Sabrina didn't appear offended. "Somehow, he's managing to sense Pokémon. Dark-types and Ghost-types; the former more easily than the latter. I was hoping you had run into something like that."

He wasn't expecting the puzzled look. "That is… I have heard of this, seen it even, but it was only in Pokémon," the Gym Leader replied, and the lack of flat emotionless words was strange to Gary's ears. He'd only ever heard her be stoic, even on the few televised appearances she made. "I… You will need to supply more information that is not public. An encounter with yveltal does not explain this."

Gary thanked his foresight in asking Ash for information. "In order: he bonded with the Millennium jirachi; bonded with a young ralts, intending on making him his starter; had an adventure with a deoxys; and finally the kirlia he had intended to start with died in his arms after being poached and experimented on." He made to sweep some imaginary dust off his shoulder, but froze at the pained expression. "The kirlia?"

"The kirlia," Sabrina confirmed. "Your use of 'bonded' is correct. Such a loss at that age can be crippling. And yet it might be the cause of your current problem."

"How so?"

"Having good experiences with Psychic-types at pre-Trainer ages indicates affinity, but nothing more. My best guess is that the conflux of kirlia and yveltal is causing this." Sabrina's words were soft, but back to emotionless. "I don't know details or technicalities, but my intuition is pointing towards this as the cause."

"And he himself?"

"Will be fine. Pokémon are always affected, but they learn to deal with it," Sabrina replied. "And he has proven very adaptable in the past. He will do so again," she finished, just as Gary's mind thought of something. "Speak your mind."

"Could something geared towards hindering Psychic Pokémon be used to hinder him?"

The Gym Leader studied Gary for a while. "To ask the question is to answer it, Gary Oak. You would not have asked otherwise."

That, Gary had to admit, was true.

~~§~~§~~

Everyone they knew was okay: all the two people that they knew to be in Mauville. There had been a press conference in which Danny's Uncle had discussed what had happened inside the government building, while Wattson had explained what he had done to minimise the damage as best he could. The pain in his voice didn't escape Danny, though: the seven deaths weighed heavily on the jovial Gym Leader's mind.

And Max's, because that was who Max was.

Danny had asked xatu to take them to a nearby lake about a mile or three away from their camp, just to relax, but even though both of them were in the water… Max didn't really do much except float.

It wasn't like Danny felt like doing too much, but when even poliwhirl's frolicking didn't cause too much of a reaction, and the blue Pokémon was noticing… There was a limit. "You okay, Max?"

"When is it going to stop?" Max asked in return, not even moving. "And what are they going to do next? Ban people from training those types entirely?"

"The majority were wild Pokémon," Danny offered, but he knew it was hollow. Some politician had already floated some idea like that when Max was out of earshot. "You want to stop them, don't you?"

Max snorted, splashing a bit with one arm. "Yeah. I do..." He finally righted himself, and even though he was without his glasses, he got a pretty good glare off. "I don't know how people don't catch on to that it's not being done by the Pokémon. It just doesn't make sense. Phoebe's said stuff like it a few times. It's only certain types in some locations, and afterwards, nearly all of them are sorry. How do the smart people in the police or the government not get that!"

Danny quashed the annoyance that bubbled up in response to Max's undirected frustration. "I know…" he said, swimming up, stopping right next to his best friend. "But we're stuck here. We can't do anything about it."

"But I want to."

Danny couldn't help it, and he quickly averted his head to make Max not see the smile he got at the whining. "Well… If you figure out a way to get us into Hoenn, not thrown into a cell, figure out who did this, and stop them… Let me know."

The effect wasn't as he had hoped. "How are you so calm? Your uncle..."

"Would tell me that there is no sense in getting angry over something I can't control," Danny replied seriously, making sure to catch Max's eyes. "If you want to, that's fine, but… I just want to have some time tonight that I'm not thinking about that and instead having some fun. And I want my best friend for that."

A sigh told Danny that Max wasn't really happy with that, but at the same time, his arms went backwards. "Sure. I can do… that!"

What followed was a splash war the likes of which Danny hadn't seen in ages, and by the time all was said and done, he felt like there was water everywhere from the amount he'd been pelted with thanks to Max and poliwhirl. Even after getting back on land, he still felt like he was swimming a bit in his head. "Think you got water in my ear with that last bit, poliwhirl," Danny said, confirming the hypothesis in one go. His voice definitely didn't sound right. "Was fun, though."

"Would that work in a Pokémon battle?" Max asked as he grabbed a towel. "Get water in a Pokémon's ear, make them feel weird. Come out vulpix."

The fox Pokémon did come out, using a lot of hot air to help Max dry off. "Probably not. Why put water in someone's ear when you can just blast them with it," Danny opined as he grabbed his own towel. "Seems inefficient."

"But what if it's not a Water Gun. Use psychic powers to do it as a distraction, and then strike. Should even work on Dark-types," Max countered.

Okay, that made a lot more sense. Indirect attacks, something to deal with Dark-types… Trust Max to find a novel idea like that. "Still think you're probably better off to do do something more effective, but… It could work? Think the eyes are a better target."

"Deino and zweilous don't have eyes."

"And ears stuck behind fur," Danny reminded Max. "Speaking of that… You look like you need a haircut if it's that much in your eyes when getting wet."

"Yeah, and your dye's run a bit," Max said, and Danny groaned. "Can't see details, but… That doesn't look like it did before. Maybe shouldn't have gone under water so much."

"You're just saying that because I yanked you by the ankle like three times."

Max shrugged. "You're not lying."

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

She was belligerent, oppositional, and committing conduct unbefitting of an Elite Four member. In my opinion, this and the fact that she flagrantly violated the League Politics Act should lead to at least formal censure. If the Hoenn Pokémon League refuses to do so, I think it is high time that the cabinet took a better look at the latitude that they are giving this arm of the Hoenn government.

Raphael Paulson, on Hoenn Late Night, responding to his vocal disagreement with Phoebe of the Hoenn Elite Four.

Author's Note: Shorter than planned, but one scene at the end felt incredibly awkward and forced, so it got cut pretty late. Still a fairly eventful chapter.