Satori in Kalos

Chapter 16
Psychic 1

The snowfall had a way of making everything still. The wooden little buildings now had roofs of white, icicles dripped from their gutters and rings of smoke spat from their chimneys. The outdoor tables of the cafe were put into storage, benches sat unused and even the gym halved its hours. Laverre was already a quiet town, but it had fallen into a beautiful, peaceful silence.

"Muahahahahahaha!"

Cirno lifted a giant snowball almost big as her torso over her head and heaved it at Daiyousei. The poor fairy didn't stand a chance, the sheer size of it caught her like a deer in headlights. The force of the impact knocked her into the snow.

"Ha ha, I am the strongest!"

"Not for long," Rumia shouted and popped out of the bushes, firing a barrage at Cirno. But she expertly dodged and initiated her counterattack.

Daiyousei, on the other hand, walked over to the wall that Satori and Delphox were resting on and sat down. A wall Cirno had dubbed "the losers' wall." Satori hadn't lasted more than a minute before Cirno pelted her with a snowball upside her face, and Delphox wasn't very suited for snow.

"Heheh..." Dai shrugged. "I guess I lost."

Satori nodded, and adjusted her scarf. It was something Valerie had told her to buy. It was warm, so Satori liked it, and apparently it was also fashionable. "So did I."

"No one can ever beat Cirno in the winter. She's in her...well, she's an ice fairy you know. In her element."

"Ah." Satori and Daiyousei watched the snowball fight continue. Cirno had somehow gotten everyone—and their pokemon—caught up in it. Even Satori's Wobbuffet, who had somehow not yet been eliminated. She suspected no one wanted to try to find out if he would fire back any snowball thrown at him.

"D-Don't be nervous," Daiyousei said while twisting her index fingers around each other. She was clearly the nervous one. "You'll beat Val... you're way stronger than before."

Satori sighed. "Thanks, but I don't feel that much stronger."

She had done her best to train in her month she had off. In that time, autumn had departed and the first snowfall of winter had arrived. And then the second and third snowfalls also arrived.

All things considered, if she had to burn a month, Laverre was the place to do it. It was more peaceful than Vaniville ever was, and the people were really nice to her. Well, that part was probably because she was a famous hero.

"You... have a strategy, right? I-I mean, I know I've taught you some things but... well, I mean, you gotta...err..."

"Why are you so nervous?"

"E-eh?" Daiyousei's face went red. "I, ah, er—"

Satori sighed and gave Daiyousei a pat on the head before she realized what she was doing. Her instinct just kicked in. Daiyousei blushed and looked away, but before the situation became even more awkward Calem walked over with snow dripping down his coat.

"Who got you?"

"Cirno, my god." Calem tried to brush the snow off his jacket. "How is she so damn good at this? I was the king of snowball fights back home."

Daiyousei smiled, and Calem leaned against the wall next to Satori. Now there were three losers. Well, four including Delphox, who was keeping the losers' wall warm for everyone. They watched the fight progress, it was still pretty chaotic. There were snow forts and walls for cover, as well as the usual buildings and structures provided by Laverre City itself.

"Hey Satori," Calem said. "Can I note an observation?"

Satori already heard it from his thoughts. "Something about my pokemon?"

"Yeah. They seem—" He hesitated. "Sorry if it's a touchy subject. But ever since, you know, they seem a lot tougher. Hardcore. All of them except Wobbuffet, but even recently he seems a bit sharper."

A rogue snowball smacked into the side of the wall. "You're right," Satori said after glaring at the thrower, Mystia. "Yveltal's rampage changed things between us. Ah—no, we're as close as ever, but there is a general worry of how serious things can get. I think that bleeds into their training, and how they fight." Satori looked over at Wobbuffet who was still in the snowball fight, mostly minding his own business. "As for Wobbs, I'm just training him extra hard. His low mobility means he doesn't get as much outdoor time as the others."

Calem nodded. "Better than a slowpoke. I hear those are absolute nightmares to train. Or a Snorlax... I don't even want to imagine. The word 'snore' is right in the name."

Satori had thought pretty hard about how to beat Valerie. She didn't want to blow another month, especially now that Calem had already beaten the gym. He had failed the first time like Satori, but instead of retrying a week later he held off. Satori was going to be there a month anyways, it was a smart move. But a week prior he had challenged Valerie and won, which meant Satori was now holding him back.

He didn't seem to mind, but it hurt a little. She had to win tomorrow. And luckily she had an ace in the hole, or at least she thought she did. Wobbuffet was very much a guessing game—will your opponent hit you, blast you, poison you or kill you? Since Satori could read minds though, it wasn't at all a guessing game.

But the trick was Wobbuffet had to be able to take it. Which he wasn't, or at least he wasn't a month ago. Valerie had knocked him down in one hit. Satori had done her best to fix that, but there was an argument to be made for simply being stronger.

"Awww dammit!" Rin shouted from across the park. She had managed to dodge Cirno's barrage only to be double teamed by Satori's Pikachu and Calem's Absol. Their alliance lasted only a brief moment before turning on each other, not even letting Rin get out of the way of the crossfire.

She was covered in snow by the time she made it over to the wall.

"All three of us got eliminated then," she said after looking at Calem and Satori. "We're a disgrace to the party."

"D-Don't feel bad..." Daiyousei said quietly.

Rin squeezed between Dai and Satori and put her head in Satori's lap. Snow, snow. Satori sighed and brushed the snow out of Rin's hair. "So," Rin said. "What are we talking about?"

"The gym," Calem said. "Satori's challenging again tomorrow."

"Yup, yup." Rin turned her head up to look at Satori. Satori, just say what's on your mind. I know that look of yours.

Damn Rin, she and Satori have known each other way too long. Satori read other people, people weren't supposed to be able to read her!

But she was right, of course. Satori had idly thought about it ever since she was hospitalized, but she couldn't quite figure out how to bring it up. Maybe it's best not to wait for the opportune moment, and just do it. So Satori reached into her bag and pulled out the stone she had received what felt like a lifetime ago. The Absolite.

"You still have that?" Calem asked once he saw it. "I thought for sure you would have lost it in the attack."

"It was one of the few things that didn't get smashed. Someone had collected my belongings for me, they were just... useless. For the most part." Satori turned the stone over in her hand, and then outstretched it to Calem. "Here. I want you to have it."

"Really? But what about all that stuff with mega evolution and its potential dangers?"

Satori looked down. "I think maybe it would be a good thing for you to have. I don't... I don't know if it would have changed anything, but maybe if you had had it earlier—maybe if during the attack your Absol was stronger... I don't know. I want you to have it though."

Calem didn't take it immediately, but slowly nodded once he processed Satori's words. "Thank you." He took the stone, and looked it over before putting it in his pocket.

"Aya's right," Rin said, her head still in Satori's lap. "You two are lovebirds."

"What? No we aren't!" Satori shoved Rin off of her onto the ground.

"O-Ouch..."

And the group laughed, and the snowball fight continued, and its inevitable winner Cirno was crowned the queen of winter for the fifth year in a row. According to her, when Rumia won six years ago it was a total fluke and would totally never happen again.

Everyone headed over to the restaurant for dinner once it was over. Cirno's prize for winning was, of course, making everyone else pay for her dinner. When they split it however-many ways though it was hardly a big deal. It was a good way to spend the day before Satori's next challenge. Better to relax before an exam than stress out about it all night, studying in futility.

So the next morning Satori was well rested and ready to take on Valerie.

"Don't think that I shall go easy on you," Valerie said with one of those smiles. "If you lose here I get another whole month to play with you."

Or maybe not.

Sylveon will be first, I think. Valerie grabbed one of the pokeballs on her roster, and held it in her hands while she awaited Satori to choose her own. Of course she was going to open with that, it was the only Pokemon Satori wished she hadn't.

"Go, Delphox!" Satori shouted and tossed out the pokeball. Sylveon was Valerie's strongest pokemon, pitting her Wobbuffet against it would at best end in a tie. So Satori would counter with her best.

Delphox and Sylveon danced around the stage, beams and waves of fire flying every which way. Satori thought of it as what a fair fight might look like. There was no type advantage to be had on either side, so it was about skill and precision. Despite Satori and her ability though, Sylveon was just too nimble. Between Satori reading its thoughts and relaying them to Delphox there was a slight delay, and Sylveon took advantage of it.

I'm sorry, master. I'm exhausted...

Satori smiled and recalled Delphox. Sylveon was in rough shape too, it would probably go down with only one or two more hits.

"Go, Pikachu!"

Pikachu could keep up with Sylveon's speed better than Delphox could, and Satori's prediction was right. One thunderbolt and Sylveon was down for the count. Valerie recalled her fainted Sylveon and Satori recalled the Pikachu.

Next out came Mawile.

Satori summoned Wobbuffet.

"Oh?" Valerie raised an eyebrow. "I see, you didn't want to pit him against Sylveon. You chose favorable circumstances, but are you really willing to play a guessing game?"

Valerie had managed, in the preceding month, to figure out Satori was a youkai. She had not figured out the specifics though, mainly the mind-reading part, and Satori was not going to give away that advantage any time soon.

The guessing game was not a guessing game at all. And as long as Wobbuffet could take the hit—

"Mawile, attack."

The Mawile ran up, a strange feat considering its shape, and its massive maw opened wide to bite Wobbuffet. But Satori had seen it coming, and of course responded.

"Counter!"

Mawile was smacked across the stage, but it wasn't unconscious. That was unfortunate, Wobbuffet could only take a few hits before he would faint. Valerie instructed Mawile to use another physical attack—trying to play on a level higher than the enemy. But Satori could read her thought process, and the answer was known to her.

This time Mawile fainted, and Wobbuffet remained victorious. It, however, was close to its demise. Which meant that there was only one move Satori should use.

Mr. Mime, Valerie's next pokemon, was not something to be taken lightly either. But Satori just had to wait for it to attack. Valerie was not foolish, her first moves were status-affecting things, nothing that would trigger Wobbuffet's double-suicide move Destiny Bond.

But eventually it did come, and with it, Satori's victory. She did feel bad about letting Wobbuffet get beat up though, maybe she shouldn't do that in the future. She'd have to ask him how he feels about it.

"Well well well, this is certainly interesting."

Satori looked up from her fainted Wobbuffet to Valerie, who was smiling awfully wide for someone who just lost. "What is...?"

"You were quite aware of exactly when your Wobbuffet needed to use what move. So aware, I might think you somehow knew the future. Or perhaps it's something else. I wonder what that eye around your neck really sees, Satori maiden."

Valerie's tone gave Satori the chills. But then Valerie pulled out Satori's reward and badge and gave her congratulations. They made plans to get dinner before Satori moved onto the next town—they were on that good terms with each other—but Satori was a bit distracted.

She had given quite a bit away in that battle. More than she intended.

It was a few days before she and Calem were ready to leave Laverre. Because of the weather, the routes became that much more dangerous, and above all else it was cold. Satori's journey couldn't have been timed worse to end up in the mountain region in the middle of winter.

She could even see her breath in front of her. Satori never really liked the cold, but at least she had the money to buy several layers of clothing and a large fur coat. The route to Dendemill was only half a day's walk, but it felt a lot longer.

Calem, on the other hand, was far too happy for his own good. He was beaming as he held up the Dendemill Town guidebook. "So there's a bunch of really neat windmills," he said, "and of course the Frost Cavern we gotta visit."

"It's snowing," Satori said and brushed some frost off her bangs. "No way the windmills are turning."

"True," he said. "But I still want to see them. Dendemill is supposedly a great place to visit year round, the caverns look magnificent during the winter and spring, and the windmills are all turning during the summer and fall."

"So we're sightseeing. This is what we've become," Satori said.

Rin wrapped her arms around Satori's midsection. "Aww, don't be like that Satori~" She pulled out a camera and snapped a quick picture of them both. "I wanna take some awesome pics with this."

"But it's cold."

"The great hero of Kalos, defeated by a little cold weather?" Calem asked with a smirk.

Satori rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to fall for that," she said. Then Rin made big bug eyes and quivered her lip. Satori sighed. "...alright, fine."

When they reached the windmills, Satori had to admit they were pretty neat. They were big and authentic-looking, although she doubted their actual utility. Considering Kalos drew its power from the power plant which Satori was very familiar with, the mills couldn't be for anything but show.

But that didn't stop them from doing it well. Rin waved over a passerby and gave him the camera. "Yo, take a picture of us," she said.

The man shrugged and snapped the photo. He gave Satori a look after he lowered the camera. "Hey, aren't you Satori?"

She nodded.

"I, uh." The man scratched the back of his neck and cracked a smile. "Could I shake your hand?"

Satori nodded and held out her hand. This had happened a couple of times since her interview. According to Valerie, it had made her more "approachable."

The man shook it and returned the camera. "Thank you," he said with a smile before walking away.

They had spent another ten or so minutes hanging out by the windmills when Satori had had enough. But scanning the thoughts of her companions, they were still enjoying the sights. She decided to give them another ten minutes before she said something.

"It's cold. Can we go?"

Calem just nodded. "Sure."

The town had a complicated layout. It wasn't as bad as Lumiose, but there were roads on multiple levels and stairs. It was hard to navigate without knowing where the stairs would be located, and the maps were only mildly useful.

They ended up passing by the gate to the route that led to Anistar City. Satori pouted a little bit as they passed it by on their way to the Frost Cavern.

"Fun fact," Calem said. "During the winter the pass is actually snowed over, so people can only travel by Mamoswine."

Satori grumbled. "Kind of like the Rhyhorns?"

"Exactly." Calem checked the map, and led the group through the city. Eventually they reached the edge. "So, it's about a half an hour hike from here."

The hike was kind of nice. Satori was healed by now from her fight with Yveltal so it was no trouble, but she still tried to take it easy. As a youkai, she naturally healed a lot faster than the average person. But it wasn't instantaneous.

She wouldn't admit it, but Satori was glad she came when they arrived at the cavern. Despite the cold, it was a sight to see. The snow-capped mountain glistened in the afternoon sunlight.

Rin pulled out her camera again. "Everyone say cheese!"

A few photographs later, and Calem insisted they go inside. It would be silly not to, and they all walked down the pathway towards the entrance. The mountain's size was deceptively big and the road was longer than Satori suspected.

There were a few people around the entrance and several more inside. The illusion was broken a little bit among the tourists and signs that said "no running," but it was still a great experience.

Hey, is that her?

Satori heard the thoughts, naturally, long before anyone said anything. A group of three girls were whispering to each other on the other side of the cavern and looking in Satori's direction. She had decided she was just going to go with the celebrity thing. With Yveltal in her roster, Satori had a feeling that label would never really leave her.

"Hey, aren't you Satori?" One of them finally asked out loud.

"I am," Satori said and tried to put on a smile.

"Can we get a picture with you?"

"Of course." The three girls took positions around Satori, and Calem took their camera to snap the picture. The girls grabbed their camera back and took a few steps to the side. But they still kept focusing on Satori.

She was just going to have to deal with stuff like that from now on.

Despite the tourism attractions though, Dendemill Town did not have a gym. So after only spending a few days there, Satori and Calem really had no more reason to stay. In fact, the only reason they stayed that long was because Satori wouldn't leave until a day that was at least mildly warm.

Before they left the city, Calem said they had to pick up some meat from the butcher. Satori didn't need to ask why—mind reader—but she did anyways for Rin's sake.

"For the Mamoswine," Calem answered. "If we feed them then they'll take us to the other side of the pass."

"They're wild?" Rin asked. Calem nodded.

"Don't worry, they're nice. Or, well, that's what everyone says." Calem shrugged. Satori wasn't worried at all about them being wild, and followed in silence to the butcher. She bought some of the higher quality stuff because she could. It's not like she threw it in her friends' faces or anything, but it felt good to be able to purchase things without worrying about the price.

Everyone else picked up a piece of meat or two, and they made their way to the edge of Dendemill. It wasn't more than five minutes away where they found a herd of Mamoswine milling about. When they saw Satori's group approaching, they trotted over.

Satori held out one of the slabs of meat to one of the Mamoswine. "Here."

The Mamoswine leaned over and grabbed the meat in its mouth, eating it right there. Mmm, this good one.

"Only the best," Satori said. Her companions followed her lead with their own Mamoswine, and once the pokemon finished eating it was time to go. Satori saw why they were necessary, the pass looked incredibly dangerous. The snow was piled eight feet high at least.

The Mamoswine plowed through the snow cover with no trouble at all. The group spread out a little bit, so Satori couldn't really talk with anyone except her ride.

"Why do you ferry people like this?" Satori asked. She tried to speak softly in case her voice carried.

Meat scarce during winter. We ferry peoples, they give us delicious meats! Yums.

That answers that. The life of the Mamoswine was rather dull. Apparently the most interesting thing they did was hang out with the Abomasnow that lived in the caverns. He was doing fine, apparently, not that Satori had asked. Bored, she pulled out Yveltal's ultra ball and stared at it. Her life used to be simple, too.

She didn't regret it though. Well, the brushes with death she could do without, but besides that, it was worth it.

The Mamoswines reached the end of the pass after a few hours and bid their travelers goodbye as they returned to the mountain.

"That was fun," said Rin.

"Ha, yeah." Calem adjusted his coat. "The rest of the route isn't too much trouble."

The snow gradually thinned out and green grass became visible under the pack. A short while later Rin made out the city in the distance. When she told the others, Calem took a look at his Holo Caster to check the time.

"Hmm. We might make it before eight if we hurry."

"What's before eight?" Rin asked.

"The sundial," Satori answered. Calem was pretty excited for it.

"Yeah," he affirmed. "At sunset supposedly the sun reflects off the sundial. It's really beautiful, according to the people I talked to."

Rin smiled and pulled out her camera to snap a photo of the city. They could actually make out the sundial from where they were, although it was little more than a speck.

"Wait," said Satori. Calem was anxious since he wanted to see the sundial, but Satori had a bad feeling. "Does something seem off?"

"Uhh, not really."

Satori turned behind her. It was just her, Calem and Rin. No one else.

No one else at all.

"S-Sorry, I guess I'm just on edge for some reason."

Calem shrugged and continued on, although Rin was a little worried for her master. Satori told her not to worry and they made their way to Anistar.

Anistar City was by all means a city, but Satori actually found it quite agreeable. There weren't many people on the streets and the ocean breeze felt nice. It was still cold though and she had to wrap her scarf around her mouth.

Calem led them towards the north part of the city where the sundial was. Satori's expression turned sour as she saw a lot of people heading in the same direction, but she kept her mouth shut. Despite the crowd, it wasn't very packed. The sundial was huge, and the area around it even larger. Everyone easily found an empty spot to observe the impressive display from.

The sundial was formed of a bunch of concentric disks that spun around each other in a sphere. Satori couldn't figure out the actual mechanism behind it, but it certainly looked impressive. What was really stunning though wasn't that, but the massive crystal behind it. The beauty came from the sunlight being refracted through it and reflecting on the dials.

It only lasted until the end of sunset so after the show was over and Rin took a spattering of photographs they left.

That was pretty neat, Delphox said. Did you see how the disks were moving, master?

Satori shook her head.

It was telekinesis. An ability that psychic type pokemon like myself can do, although I didn't actually see any there.

Then how did you know?

Sensed it. I can sense psychic abilities like that. There's a lot of strange things in this world, master.

"So, I'll see you guys tomorrow then," Calem said interrupting the silent conversation. They had made it to the Pokecenter to check into some rooms. Satori only just realized she had an option of what inn to stay at now, but the rooms provided by the Pokecenter were familiar.

Once Satori and Rin were in their room, Rin wrapped her arms around Wobbufett and rocked back and fourth with it. Satori watched with a smile on her face. Wobbufett was enjoying it for various reasons too, which Satori tried to ignore.

Satori plugged in some headphones to her Holo Caster and listened to her messages. They had stopped coming in from her... fans... so frequently, but she still had a few each day to go through. There were also a number of images floating around the internet of her, including the photos Rin took.

After a little digging, she came across something more startling.

"You have a blog?"

Rin looked up from Wobbufett. "Yup. It's super popular, people love photos of you. I'm also talking with Aya a lot, she's crazy amazing."

"Why is it called Rin's Den of Pleasure?"

Rin coughed. "Er, uh, I created it awhile ago..."

The night passed by in due time, and the two girls went to bed. In the morning, Satori decided she actually would rent that room in a larger hotel. At least to try it out and see how much more comfortable it was. But for now, she would head to the gym.

The gym turned out to be rather simplistic on the outside. It was a large building, but not overly large and not embellished in any real way. The roof was purple though, which Satori liked. It matched her hair.

When she walked in, all she found was a single room. No other doors, but there was a man standing next to the statues. She tilted her head but he just gestured for her to walk forward.

Satori shrugged and walked. When she got between the two statues, the walls suddenly blasted away and the floor disintegrated beneath her feet. She was met with a massive night sky and stood above a spinning planet below.

There were a series of glowing platforms that formed a maze around the planet. They seemed to be almost made of light, if such a thing were possible. Satori didn't know what to do except walk forward. After shaking her head to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, that is.

She walked over a narrow pathway to an adjacent platform, where a kid a year older than her sat cross-legged. He was wearing weird robes and had his eyes closed.

"Welcome to the Anistar gym, traveler." He said. "Here you will learn your senses cannot be trusted as much as you may think. That a Pokemon battle takes place on many levels, and if you cannot master them all, those who have will easily overpower you." I sound cool, right? She doesn't look very impressed, did I not pull it off? I practiced for like two hours last night doing this right.

Satori's illusion was utterly broken by this guy's thoughts. She was sure anyone else would be impressed, but like most things they just didn't have the same impact on her.

"You see, traveler, I can read your mind!"

The boy smirked.

Satori rolled her eyes. "Prove it."

"If you insist," he said. "Imagine a shape in your mind, like a square but not a square. Now imagine another shape inside that shape. Visualize it in your mind, and I shall see it with my third eye." The boy had made arm gestures while he said this, first making a vague triangle and then a circle with his hands. It was a clever trick, banking on subliminal suggestion and the fact that people didn't really know that many shapes. Similar to how telling someone to think of a color starting with the letter "O" will always return "orange."

But still a trick Satori easily figured out by actually reading his thoughts.

"Okay, I have 'visualized' it," Satori said.

"Aha, you see, I have seen, and what I have seen from the depths of your consciousness is a circle inside of a square. I am correct, am I not?"

"No, I was thinking of a sphere inside of a tesseract. Fun trick though, your older sister teach you that?"

The boy stuttered. "H-How did you—"

"Know that? The same way I know your pokemon is an Exeggutor nicknamed Eggy. But you're nervous, because it doesn't really fit in with this gym's ambiance, so you hesitate to battle."

"I... wait, how—"

"I actually can read minds." Satori smirked and pulled out a pokeball.

Satori won the battle, although it wasn't the curb stomp she was hoping for. Still, the kid was shocked when she went all out on "all the levels of play" or whatever it was he had said.

As Satori wandered around the still-wondrous gym, she battled a few others. The lesson to be learned from this gym was that of illusions and tricks. All of Satori's opponents tried to deceive her or her pokemon in some way. Psychic pokemon creating duplicates of themselves was a popular one, but there were other illusions. Satori saw through all of them, not because she had particularly good senses, but because her opponents always had thoughts like "the one on the left is the real one."

Anyways, if the gym leader employed tactics like this Satori wasn't too worried. Still, she would spend a few days battling the people inside the gym to make sure she was ready. Calem, on the other hand, was having trouble.

"It's all fake," Satori explained. She and Calem were sitting in a cafe, Rin off playing somewhere else.

"Fake?"

"Illusions. Tricks. Traps. They try to get into your head and trick you into thinking in such a way so you make mistakes." Satori sipped her tea. "Basically, just ignore everything they say."

"That's easier said than done. You went in the gym, right? How do you explain that one?"

"Can't, sorry." No one Satori had battled had known either, or at the very least they hadn't thought about it in her presence. "I think it's more than just smoke and mirrors, but it's still an illusion of some kind. It's pretty impressive though, it might be better to let this one go."

Calem didn't seemed convinced, but before he could voice it someone interrupted them. Satori assumed it was just another fan of hers at first, but when she got a look it didn't seem like that. Instead of the woman's features, Satori's eyes were drawn to the massive scythe she held across her shoulder.

"Uhhhh..." Calem said.

"Can we...help you?" Satori asked.

The woman held a faint smile on her face. "I'm Komachi, the—"

"Head detective of the KPD. You visited me in the hospital. Did you need something?"

"Sorta. Can I sit?"

Satori scooted over in the booth to make room for Komachi. She leaned the scythe against the wall and sat down before waving over a waitress. She hadn't said anything until she was brought a cup of tea, but her mind was racing. Satori stared in awe at her. She seemed so relaxed, but her thoughts were completely focused on her detective work.

Komachi looked over. "Something on my face?"

Satori blushed and shook her head. "It's, uh, ah—"

"Oh right, you're the mind-reader. I guess that simplifies things." Komachi blew on her tea and took a sip. She blew on it some more. "Important bit is we think Team Flare is going to move soon. Or maybe it's more accurate to say they already have, and the fallout is imminent."

"Does this actually involve me?" Satori asked.

"Naturally." Komachi slouched in her cushioned seat. "To be honest, we're not—"

"You're not sure how I'm related, but you just want to cover your bases."

Komachi laughed. "Caught me. We have suitable reason to be worried, so I thought I'd give you the heads up." She took a few glances around the cafe. "We should meet somewhere more private and go over the details. I know you probably read 'em off my mind just now, but I'd like to be sure."

Satori nodded. The details she had gotten were a bit scattered and the implications of what she read weren't entirely clear to her. What she did get though was a massive surge of fear at the thought of a single name.

Flandre.

Although she had no idea who this person was, Satori thought it was an important name to remember. Komachi didn't have much more to say and continued to drink her tea, her eyes closed and thinking more about her case.

Satori turned her head back to Calem to find his mouth agape.

Mind-reader?

Oh crap. Komachi had let that one slip. Satori cleared her throat.

"Calem, er." Satori tried to find the words. "Can I, uh, talk to you outside? In private?"

He nodded, and they both left Komachi in the booth. She didn't seem offended in any way, and judging by her thoughts didn't even pay much attention to them. It was all connections and deductions in her mind. Satori left some money on the counter for the bill.

They found an empty area down by the waterfront where they could talk alone. Satori took a deep breath and grasped the railing, looking out at ocean.

"Mind-reader," Calem said. "So you really are..."

Satori slowly nodded. "Yes. I'm a youkai. Orin is too, and Okuu, obviously. I know you've had your suspicions..."

"Mind-reader." Calem said again.

Satori paused. She couldn't bring herself to look back at Calem. "Yeah. I-I'm sorry for keeping it from you."

She wasn't sure what to expect. The first time this had happened, Calem had wanted to split ways. She had pushed the reset button on that, but wasn't going to do it a second time. Braixen had berated her for it, and had been right. She shouldn't take this decision away from him.

Would he attack her? Get angry? Or just walk away?

Calem grasped the railing and let out a sigh. The waves hit the side of the cliff in a slow rhythm. "You've been reading my mind."

"It's passive, I can't turn it off." Satori said. She let go of the railing and fiddled with the tendrils of her Third Eye.

"Are you trying to make me sympathetic?"

Satori shook her head. "This Third Eye of mine is part of who I am. I don't feel bad about using my abilities, and I have no desire to change it or remove it. If I could control when it worked, while I would use it less, I would still use it."

Even now her ability worked, and she could see the mental back and fourth Calem was having with himself. It surprised her that he was even considering the notion of forgiving her. Of sticking with her. But just because he's thinking about it doesn't mean that's his decision.

The silence lasted for minutes. Satori didn't do anything except watch the never-ending ocean waves.

"Hell, Satori." He finally said. Satori turned away from the railing and looked at him. "You already know what I'm going to say, don't you?"

"Yes, but please say it anyways."

Calem sighed. "We've been traveling together for close to a year now, and you've always pissed me off. Now I know why. You've always said aloud all the things we were thinking, things we didn't want said."

He took a deep breath. Satori knew what he was going to say next, and she didn't dare make a move lest she break the spell.

"But we're on this journey together, and I may not like you but...damn, Satori, you're like my sister. I love you like a sister. Youkai be damned."

Satori's legs started to tremble, and she had to crouch down. Tears came to her eyes as she brought her hands to her face.

"Satori?" Calem asked with concern. He knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I... I..." Satori sobbed, and wrapped her arms around Calem. He froze for a moment, but then returned the hug. "I-I thought you were going to—"

She couldn't say it, she didn't want to say it. She just held on to him.

They stayed like that for awhile.

Calem helped her up, and smiled when he saw how red her face was. "Come on, let's go back. It's freezing out here."

Satori nodded, and took his hand.

That night Satori played with her Pokemon with a smile on her face.

But her happiness was marred. She had erased part of his memory, that had still happened, once upon a time. Satori didn't know if she could ever tell him, and by no means was willing to push her luck. But even with all of that, Satori was happy. She had even slept in, and her good mood stretched onto the next day.

So she thought she'd challenge the gym.

She had spent a little while in the gym challenging the self-proclaimed "psychics" but not nearly as long as she spent in Valerie's. Satori tried not to underestimate the leader, if anyone in this psychic gym was actually psychic, it would be the leader.

Leader Olympia took a step back as Satori approached the arena.

"You—child." She brought her hands up to her temple. "Your power is exceptional. Either you are extraordinarily gifted or you are inhuman."

Satori froze. The leader just knowing that was proof enough, unless she was just that good of an actor. But she wasn't, of course, because Satori knew. Or...at least she thought she knew. Olympia's thoughts were muddled by an almost static-like sound. It wasn't like the thoughts of her pokemon in pokeballs. It was more like a bad phone connection.

"It's localized on that Eye." Olympia made eye contact with Satori's Third Eye. "Who are you?"

"Komeiji Satori."

"Satori?" Olympia winced. "Of course. That's what you are, this psychic prowess could only belong to a youkai of such a type." She smiled. "I've always wanted to meet one of you. Tell me, is my defense working in the slightest?"

Ah, that's what she was doing. Satori had noted she looked a little in pain, like she had a headache that wouldn't quite go away. "Somewhat," she responded honestly. Her ability was long since out of the bag, and there was no one else in earshot anyways. "If it hurts you then you should stop. It's not worth it."

Olympia nodded, and stood up a bit straighter. Her thoughts became a bit more clear than they were a moment ago. I fear that this battle is going to be tougher for me than usual. And yet with this ability you may not have as strong pokemon as other trainers of your peer do. I wonder...

Satori didn't really want to interrupt Olympia's stream of thought. Yveltal had told Satori resisting her Eye was like flying into a hurricane. If Yveltal had said that, then Satori couldn't imagine what it was like for a human. But she wasn't at all surprised, the satoriwas a youkai of mind-reading. Her entire being encompassed the essence of mind-reading. That is what she was. A perfect manifestation of the ability.

Even if others of her kind were not willing to admit it.

Of course, Satori, the Yveltal girl. To think that she was really youkai all along. Olympia closed her eyes. Her future, her fate, what could it possibly be?

Whatever Olympia was doing now, Satori couldn't read it. Her thoughts went blank, and the only thoughts Satori had left were her own.

"Oh my, child—" Olympia interrupted herself. Her thoughts were back. "No, not child. But the truth remains the same, your fate is so twisted. Being pulled from many different angles, there are too many manipulations of your future. I cannot possibly see what is in store for you." Olympia pulled out a pokeball. "So the battle to decide your fate must begin."

Satori wondered if she had read the future, in that brief interim of thoughtlessness. But she had to draw her roster before she could wonder any more. If Delphox was right, Olympia's psychic pokemon would not only be aware Satori was reading their thoughts, but would be able to hear hers as well.

First out was Sigilyph, so Satori naturally countered with the type-advantageous Pikachu. The Sigilyph's opening move was to create screens of light over the stage, bouncing around its image like a hall of mirrors. It was impossible for Satori to follow what was happening onstage using her eyes.

So she used her Eye.

Her ability to read minds was not able to locate the source just from that. However, she could still read the thoughts. And, as it turns out in tactical situations like this, pokemon had a tendency of planning what they were going to do just as much as the trainers did. When pokemon devised traps, they couldn't help but think about the solution.

And the type-weak Sigilyph didn't last more than one dead-on thunderbolt.

Next out of Olympia's pocket was Meowstic. Satori smiled at the little game of cat-and-mouse. But to her surprise, the Meowstic and Olympia exchanged thoughts. They planned their moves similar to how Satori can communicate with her Delphox.

"I can hear you two, you know," Satori couldn't help but say out loud.

Taunting aside it was not as trivial as Sigilyph had been. Olympia quickly upped her game. The purpose of this gym is to teach trainers not to trust their senses. That lesson is unteachable to you here, so now I'm going to just try to win.

Her actions backed up her words, and Pikachu fell to the Meowstic. Olympia put her faith in the tricks that relied on randomness more than explicit deceit. Nothing Satori could do about that, so she recalled Pikachu and sent out Absol.

She was ready for this gym. Electricity beat flying, dark beats psychic. And she even overpowered or circumvented the psychic tricks Olympia normally could throw.

Absol beat the Meowstic with nothing more than regular tactics, and the Slowking was a non-issue. It was indisputably Satori's victory. She took her prize money and Psychic badge out of Olympia's hands.

"Well done, satori." Olympia was smiling, but did look exhausted. "I would offer you a spot in my gym, but there are so many strings of fate dragging you around I'm afraid one more might break you."

Satori wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she just nodded and exited the gym. Calem was outside waiting for her. He was excited.

"Let's battle," he said with a smile, holding out a pokeball.

Satori sighed. "Can I at least go to the Pokemon Center first?"

"Obviously. What sort of—"

Both of them got a ring on their Holo-Caster at the same time. That was unusual in of itself, so they both decided to answer. What they saw was the holographic form of Lysandre.

"Pokemon trainers, I come to you by Holo Caster to make an important announcement. Listen well. Team Flare will revive the ultimate weapon and silence everyone who isn't in our group. That's all. Have a nice day."