Chapter Seventy: A Neighbourly Chat

"Your battle back in Saffron, I had never seen anything quite like it. The way you set up all those moves, paving the way for Pidgeotto's final assault, it was… breathtaking, there is no other adjective for it!"

"Well, it was wrong, wasn't it, in the end? I won the battle but failed the test. So that really took the joy out of things."

Alistair did not respond to this. Part of Alaska felt guilty, remembering what her old neighbour had done to save her, knowing that he was simply trying to distract her. But Alaska didn't want or need reminding about what had gone down in Sabrina's gym. She shut her eyes, slowly breathing in and out for a minute. She grabbed hold of those thoughts, those memories, everything that had happened, and she pushed them away to the back of the head, back with all the other bad things she didn't want to remember.

Alaska breathed out and opened her eyes, feeling clear once more.

"Again."

"Pidgeeey!"

"Nidooo!"

Alaska stepped backwards, and Paige and Nadia charged for each other again. Aerial Ace collided with Poison Jab, soft and rich purples brushing against each other. Paige became unbalanced and swerved to the right, allowing Nadia to jump back up and score a second strike against her breast.

Paige is faster, but Nadia puts more strength into her attacks, Alaska thought. Her mind was racing with analysis, her eyes darting around taking in every detail. She watched as Paige soared around a potted tree, briefly flying out over the roof, before turning and rocketing back forwards. She shone white for a moment, and Nadia's strength was not enough to stop the Quick Attack from knocking her backwards.

"Nido!" Nadia snarled as she rolled back onto her feet and quickly blasted an Ice Beam, but Paige dropped down so that the attack struck a plant box, coating two sides in thick blue ice.

"Careful!" Alaska hissed, stepping quickly between the two. "We may be allowed to train here, but let's try not to destroy anything, okay?" God knows they would have a field day with that, she thought bitterly, but resisted the urge to say it aloud. Paige and Nadia nodded, the latter with the air of reluctance, and Alaska stepped back to let them continue.

"Funny; from what everyone has said of you, I thought you would have loved the opportunity to destroy something like this."

Oh, how I would love to burn this house to the ground, Alaska thought, but she held her tongue. "Occasionally, but doing in a rooftop vegetable garden doesn't give you the same rush as taking out half of Kanto's power." Alistair chuckled for a moment, and then quickly began wheezing. Alaska turned away from the battle and lunged for the jug of water, but before she could pour Alistair was waving his hands.

"I am fine, please do not worry about me," he coughed. Alaska stared uncertainly at him, but the coughing quickly died down and Alistair sank back into his chair, sighing with his eyes shut.

"I am going to pour it anyway." Alistair merely grunted, and the rooftop fell silent as Alaska filled a glass, the soft tinkling of cascading water a pleasant break from the sounds of battle.

"Sit, have some with me," Alistair said as the glass was thrust into his hands.

"I should really keep battling –"

"You mean distracting yourself?" Alaska glared at her neighbour, but Alistair opened a tired eye and smirked. "Don't think I don't know your game! Sit and have some water, it will do better for your health than barking orders at those tired creatures." Alaska knew there would be no arguing, especially not when she knew he was right, so she signaled for Paige and Nadia to join them and collapsed into a seat herself.

As she poured herself a drink, Alaska stared around the garden, remembering the conversation she had had the last time she was here; it had been powerful and emotive, and she had walked away from her meeting with her mystery man thinking that all her problems had solved. It was strange to think she had been naïve then despite all that had happened already, yet each day that passed her innocence was broken just a bit more and her old view of humanity faded even further into darkness. After everything that had been thrown at her at breakfast, all the secrets revealed and lies finally exposed… it was too much to process. Alaska felt like she was deflating as the chat came back to her, her initial rage disappearing to be replaced with an almighty and overwhelming feeling of defeat.

"Has anyone ever told you you're an old soul?" Alistair said, snapping her out of her thoughts. Alaska shook her head and the scientist smiled. "I have always thought that about you. Even when you were a little girl, I use to tell your parents that you were far too wise for someone of your age. You always saw things differently, you always spoke up when other kids were not even paying attention, you always managed to command attention by doing very little." He turned and smiled softly at her, but there was sadness in his eyes, and Alaska suddenly felt a bit colder. "What happened to that little girl?"

"This happened," she replied quietly and said nothing more. Alistair merely nodded and slowly refilled his glass, eyes transfixed on the pouring water.

"I have read your blogs while I have been bedridden. All the things that's have happened to you… I cannot even fathom. It is like all my worst fears come true."

"I am sorry that Mitchell got caught up in some of my problems, I never asked for that."

"You never asked for any of this," Alistair replied kindly. "Do not worry; I don't blame you in any way. If anything, so much of this is my fault. If I had not built those bloody machines…" A sob escaped his lips, and suddenly Alistair was weeping, hands clutched to his face. Alaska was taken aback, having never experienced an adult break down before her, certainly not someone she hardly knew. She looked blankly at Paige and Nadia; the former shrugged her wings, while the latter stared at Alistair with a mixture of horror and disgust. Alaska turned back to him and reached out, patting him on the shoulder.

"You cannot blame yourself, you had no idea what you were making and you had no choice in it anyway!"

"I know, I know, I have told myself that every night this past week, but that still does not dull the fact that someone I invented could have killed you… could have killed my son…" He continued to weep, and Alaska knew there was nothing she could do but let him get it out. She knew that was how she felt sometimes, so she sat back and let his tears flow undisturbed.

As she did, the memories continued to surface of that stormy night. Everything over the past months had happened so quickly and so rapidly that they were beginning to blur into one long nightmare, but Alaska could easily recall that night; the pain of abandoning Darwin, her own tears as they mingled with the rain on her face, the heated words she and her shadowed watcher had exchanged. It was that night she had decided to face the gyms and become the best trainer and person she could possibly be in order to defeat Gideon and Buzz, yet that dream had only lasted a few days. Now she was tasked with defeating an enemy far stronger than herself, while another lived in the shadows waiting to pounce, and her dreams of league championship were tarnished, the battle with Sabrina likely to have sent ripples of repercussions further down the last of her journey. All those promises she had made to herself, ruined…

"That girl disappeared a long time ago," Alaska said suddenly, and Alistair looked up, eyes red and puffy but quickly attentive. The cynical side of her brain wondered if it had been a trick, showing his own emotions to get her to show hers. But Alaska could see the hurt in his face, and remembered their talk from the tunnel, and knew his pain was genuine.

"I started this journey because I wanted to prove that you didn't need a Charmander or Squirtle or Bulbasaur to defeat the League," she began. "That was the main reason why I left home – well, that and because home was becoming quite unbearable. Dad being unemployed and the house falling apart wasn't the best environment to grow up in, but it was the reality show that actually gave me something to strive for and gave me a reason to leave. I wanted to travel around, get some money, make my point, maybe win in the end, but I wanted to live life and prove something to myself.

"But then the robots appeared, I met Gideon, and I learned that basically nothing in my life since I signed up for this challenge has actually been in my control. So I couldn't afford to be inquisitive or attentive or funny anymore, not when every day I seem to be fighting for my life or for Sandy's or in order to save the world. I have left this journey take control of me rather than taking control of it myself, and it is just really difficult to accept that everything I do now will be out of my hands."

A moment passed. Paige and Nadia sat quietly by her feet, and Alaska appreciated their comfort, though their presence did little to numb the pain she felt. She had held her feeling and these memories back for a reason, because all she had been through was too much to bare thinking about. Alistair coughed quietly and took another sip of water, his eyes still focused on her but without the warmth they have possessed earlier.

"If I may ask, is that why you were willing to die when that brutish man attacked you?" The question was barely whispered, yet it resonated all around Alaska. She paused, letting in sink in, before slowly nodding.

"I don't want to live a life that I have no control over. What is the point of that? I may have been born to fill some role in history, and I seem to be destined to fight in some glorious battle, but that isn't what I want. What I want is to just battle and do my best at the League, yet that is never going to happen, so why carry on?" More silence followed. Letting her words linger without response made Alaska feel awkward; why exactly was she spilling her soul like this? Maybe seeing her neighbour so distraught and broken made her feel the need to reciprocate to lessen his embarrassment of weeping before a child. Or maybe Alistair's tears had merely torn down the barriers of age between them; for once, there was someone wanting answers from her that was actually on her level.

"You have been through a lot, my dear, too much for any one person to go through. But I do not think that dying is the right answer. What will happen to Sandy and your Pokémon, your family, all of us if you die?"

"And what happens to me if I keep going? I asked for death in that basement knowing that it would either happen then or drag on until the very end, and I just don't think I can really last the rest of this stupid conflict. And it seems I literally have no choice about doing this, thanks to the League and that bloody ghost."

She isn't the only one that predicted this though, Alaska reminded herself, casting her gaze down to Paige. She was suddenly back in that tent in Lavender Town, a series of cards being placed before her, the old woman with the perfect face sitting smiling across from her: And she shall be a Pidgeot by the time you ride her into your final battle. Did this woman also see a future where Alaska and Paige rode into war together? Just how set in stone was her future? She felt angry just remembering everything she had been told earlier, and the spiteful, vicious side of her still wanted to attack. Yet, and it annoyed her how mature this seemed, doing that would do little to change the future or fix anything that had already happened. Her fate had been dished out, and now Alaska had to work out what to do with it.

"Sabrina thinks I am scared on the unknown. We spoke for some time and with some ferocity after I woke up in her gym, and she told me all about how she thinks the future scares me because I cannot control it. Part of me thinks she may be right, and I probably would have accepted her lesson had I not been further controlled. The way I was used and manipulated, my gym battle being turned into some test where I needed to prove myself, only confirmed my thoughts about the League. Breakfast this morning was just the cherry on top confirming every dread and fear and concern I have about my life."

"So is that why Sabrina battled you that way?" Alistair asked. "I got the impression there was some sort of lesson being imparted, but it all seemed a bit jumbled up if I do say so myself. Do you know exactly what she wanted you to learn?"

"Honestly… not really." Alaska had dwelled on this a lot over the past twenty four hours: the anger and disappointment in Sabrina's voice, the way her supposed allies had nearly shunned her, and the final words from their conversation last week: Then you will never be able to defeat them, our Champion will die and Kanto shall fall alongside him. She had felt proud at the time, rebelling against the constraints of the League and the situation she was in, making a point that no one told her what to do. When she had done this weeks ago, Alaska had felt happy afterwards, proud that she had prevented herself from becoming a further pawn in a game she wanted no part in. But yesterday, after all was said and done, she simply felt empty. As soon as the joy of battle had ended, Alaska felt as though she had done something terribly wrong, botched an opportunity that may never come again. There definitely was a reason why she had done what she had, but at the same time, there was clearly a lesson Sabrina was trying to impart on her; Alaska thought she had worked it all out, but it had quickly become clear she had behaved terribly.

She and Alistair sat in silence, both dwelling in their own thoughts. Paige sat dozily by her trainer's feet, while Nadia was beadily staring around as though attackers were waiting for them at every corner. Alaska looked at the two in her contemplation and wondered what they made of the situation, what they would say to her if they could talk.

"I wish I could give you advice, Alaska, but I am afraid I have nothing to give." Alaska could hear the sadness in Alistair's voice, and knew it pained him to be unable to help her, the memories of his role in her nightmare likely resting on his mind. "There is a difference between being intelligent and being wise. Intelligent people are capable of analysing situations and answering problems in whatever area they are most intelligent in, whereas wise men and women simply know the best thing to say no matter what the problem is. I am so sorry Alaska; it is actually painful to see someone in a situation like this but be perfectly incapable of helping them through it."

"You are not the one that needs to apologise," Alaska replied quietly, but as the words passed her lips, she wondered, as she had often this past week, who really was to blame for the chaos she found herself in; Buzz and Gideon for playing the antagonists in this war, the League and the International Police for being supporting players only from afar, or did the protagonist herself need to answer for all that had happened?

"Mr Melton, the doctor has arrived for you." Alaska nearly jumped out of her seat, the sudden third voice sending a jolt through her body. She turned fretfully to find Amelia the maid standing awkwardly between two plant boxes. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you. You are both just so lost in thought, and –"

"It's fine, don't worry," Alaska replied, smiling to cover up her embarrassment. Amelia smiled timidly before turning her neon-like eyes towards Alistair, who was awkwardly rising from his chair.

"You would think the brute would come and see me, I am the one with the darn gunshot wound after all." His voice was rough and angry, but when he looked up, Alaska saw a tired smile on his face. "Can't take things too seriously now, can we dear? If this wound has taught me anything, it is that life is far too short for getting worked up over the little things. I hope you keep that in mind."

"I will try to; it sounds rather wise to me."

"Huh – your right! I suppose I am not quite so intelligent after all." Alistair and Alaska laughed, and he gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder before wobbling off through the plant boxes. Alaska turned and watched him leave, feeling somewhat at peace with herself even though all these questions and all these burdens still weighed heavily on her mind; the simple pleasure of airing them had relieved some of her burden, if it had done nothing to solve any of the problems. With a sigh, she finished the last of her water while Amelia picked up the jug.

"Mrs Athlew wants to finish her conversation with you," the maid said. Alaska groaned in response: she was too tired and too defeated to face them again. "Shall I pass that message on?"

"If you want, it is much cleaner than anything I would actually say at this point." Amelia smirked for a moment before gathering herself. Alaska smiled, and suddenly remembered something else from the last time she was here. "Did I ever thank you for your advice, the last time we were both up here? It helped me considerably win that battle against Alexis."

"No, you did not, but you are very welcome," Amelia replied, smiling before turning to head off. She only walked a few steps though before pausing and turning and back to Alaska. "If I remember correctly, my advice pertained more towards Gideon than it did towards Alexis."

"It did, but as you may have noticed, I do not exactly follow the traditional ways of doing things."

"And I am not scolding you for that, but perhaps you forgot the real meaning after you used it to win the match." Alaska turned to face her, eyebrow raised, and Amelia coughed nervously before stretching to full height. "You see, I feel it may pertain to your current predicament. They may not want you to fight your own way anymore, but you can still decide what happens next." Amelia was smiling so kindly that Alaska could not bear being rude, but her words were yet another reminder of the cruelty of her circumstances.

"Thank you for your help, but I don't think you quite understand the full story here –"

"The prophecy? Oh yes, I know all about that. We could hear your, um… discussion, shall I call it, all through the house this morning. From what I understand, there is simply going to be a war, but they do not know when."

"True… but your point is?" Alaska asked with narrowed eyebrows.

"Well, why does the other side have to decide when that day comes? It is your destiny, after all; why not take some control. Take it from a maid that you probably have a lot more freedom than you probably realise." Amelia smiled warmly, and she walked off before Alaska could respond. The trainer simply sat there in silence, alone in the expansive rooftop garden, letting those words swirl around with everything else that was bubbling away inside her mind. As they settled into her membrane, a number of different thoughts and ideas struck Alaska. She had been looking for answers for the past week, wondering what to make of everything what to do next. And now, it was as though a switch had been thrown, casting a new light over the ever jumbled up puzzle that made up her life. Everything shone under a different point of view, and for the first time since she had fallen asleep in her tent last week, Alaska had a feeling as though things were going to work out.

"Pidge Pidgey Pidge Otto?" Paige chirped by her feet, staring quizzically up at her trainer. Alaska looked down, catching the intrigued looks of her Pokémon, and she managed to crack a smile at them.

"What next, my dear? Control… that's what comes next."