James held a classroom door open as the group bustled in, Hillevi slung over one shoulder, and checked the hall before following.

"What the bloody hell?" Harry demanded once Ron uncovered his mouth.

"Sorry, mate, but we need to do some damage control fast."

Hillevi squeaked as she was plopped down, hugging Cloudjumper close as James murmured softly to a shaken Andi.

"What are you talking about? What damage control?"

"You know…" Ron tried, gaze shifting. "The whole…thing."

"What thing?" Harry prompted, brow furrowing.

"The whole…talking thing." Neville answered evasively.

Seeing where this was going, the Valhallan shushed her Pokemon and passed them onto James, stepping up.

"Mind if I take over?"

The others happily gave up the floor, and Hillevi turned to Harry, shoulders slumping with a sigh.

"Harry, what you did to Draco's Ekans was Speaking, one of the ancient arts. Dexter?"

The Rotom Pokedex popped up, already turning to project a video on the wall.

Everyone watched as Ekans lunged, prompting Harry to whip around and hiss some strange, gargled word before being struck without fangs.

Said boy looked shaken at this, as if not trusting his own eyes.

"That…That didn't…"

"It did." James affirmed.

"And it could be really, really bad." Neville added.

"What do you mean? So I hissed at Ekans. What's the big deal? You talk to Flora all the time."

"Talking and Speaking aren't the same thing." Hillevi explained gently.

"You're like me, Harry." Luna voiced, smiling serenely. "Different, strange, a freak of nature, a potential god who will bring ruin upon the world. We should start a club and cackle maniacally to start. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Patting the half-Veela's hair comfortingly, Hillevi retook control of the conversation.

"What do you know about Jack Kenway, Harry?"

"Not much, even though everyone keeps referencing him. He's a Pokemon Tracker, and also fought in the Johto-Kanto civil war. Remus said that he rediscovered the Art of Speaking and is its current master."

"Basically, that's all true." The Valhallan agreed. "Jack was the leader of the Sons of Johto during the three years of war, and went missing on a trip to the Whirlwind Islands halfway through. Until then, the Sons were not operating on Kanto soil, and were driven back the six months he was gone. Kanto thought the revolution would be put down, and even captured Jack's parents, Lord Kent and Marie Kenway, holding them on Sevii Island as leverage against his brother, Jonas. Three days after, Jack reappeared and led a raid on Sevii Island, taking the whole island, prison and all."

Hillevi pressed a button on Dexter's face, and a new video appeared, the title sending a chill down the students' spines.

The Beginning of the End.

"Oroku Koga of the Elite Four held a rally in Fuchsia City a week later, and Jack showed what a Master of Speaking can do."

A crowd of Kantoans filled the main square of Fuchsia City, facing a stage where the ninja grandmaster and Element Wielder, Koga, was giving an impassioned speech assuring them of plans to recapture Sevii and end the rebellion.

There was a sense of unease among the people before they registered a foreign figure in their midst, parting to reveal a man in a long brown coat, the red hood pulled low over his face.

Koga signaled to the rooftop guards, shaking his head sadly.

"Jack Kenway. Very brave of you to come here. Or very foolish."

"By the end of the day, we'll find out who the fool is, lad."

Jack paused as he reached up, showing empty palms.

"Koga, tell your dogs to hold off just a moment. I want to lower my hood. That is all."

A slight nod, and three men in business suits backed away, allowing the man to remove his hood to reveal blond hair and a neatly-trimmed circle beard with a chuckle.

"Was that so hard?"

A man in the crowd, bolstered by what seemed like safety in numbers, swung his arm back to hurl a glass bottle-

Icy blue-gray eyes locked onto him, and the bottle was slowly lowered.

"Now, that's just rude there." Jack voiced calmly, lowering his own hands. "With all the talk I hear about how noble and grand Kanto is, I wouldn't expect any of you to be acting like savages. And yet here you are, ready to attack an unarmed man. Very Johto-ish."

"You'll have enough time to talk when you're on trial, Kenway." Koga voiced, drawing his attention back.

"Oh, is there finally going to be a trial? I've been wanting one."

The Pokemon Tracker lazily walked towards the stage, as if unconcerned with all the guards watching his every move.

"Not mine, of course. But yours."

Jack looked up at the Elite Four member, smile falling away.

"How many have died because you, the master of patience and calculation, let his finger slip on the trigger?"

"That was a mistake." Koga admitted, visibly pained. "One that will haunt me till my dying day."

"I gave you a way to correct that mistake."

"By giving you everything." The ninja retorted, expression hardening into a glare at the reminder.

"By freeing Johto. By standing with us and working to make a peaceful transition so that one day, our regions could stand together like brothers. You and your kind, though, wanted everything, and refused us our basic right to live."

"And like a greedy child, you continue to demand more while twisting my words and making me look like the villain."

Jack let out a bark of laughter.

"The rallying cry of the guilty! I didn't mean it! Stop being so mean! Don't repeat my words back to me! We all do horrible things, Koga, but we own up to them and accept them. Take me. I own up to the fact that before the end of the day, you'll be dead."

This was all the guards needed to hear, and the air filled with Beedrill and Venomoth, already diving for the Johtoan.

"Stop."

The Pokemon paused for a moment at that, but pushed on.

"I-Said-STOP."

A ripple of raw energy emanated from Jack, and he glanced at each insectoid Pokemon, barking out a strange buzzy sound.

Then, to everyone's surprise, the Beedrill and Venomoth turned on their trainers, driving them back.

The crowd began to panic, but Koga stood firm as the Jack walked forward, expression neutral despite the growing chaos.

"Elite Guard!"

Armed soldiers swarmed the square from nearby buildings, all manner of great Pokemon appearing around them, as Koga released his own Venomoth and Ariados.

"How did you do that?"

"How did you learn to emit poison like your Pokemon do?" Jack countered. "You are not the only master of an ancient art."

Raising his hand, the man revealed a simple J tattooed on the inside of that wrist and, with utter disdain, created a fist.

The Elite Guard began to fall, their Pokemon roaring, from a barrage of barbs and needles from behind, and men and women in the crowd pulled on colored hoods, prompting a new frenzy.

Jack smirked as the Sons of Johto marched towards him, forcing the guards and their Pokemon to retreat.

"It never had to end this way." He said sternly as a Donphan stomped over, pausing at his side.

Patting the Pokemon's head, he flicked both wrists and grabbed the escrima sticks that were dropped from within his sleeves, one of which fired off a brown and green ball to release a Tyranitar.

The near-Legendary Pokemon threw his head back with a roar, shaking the very buildings.

"Mumak." He said, gesturing to the Armor Pokemon.

"Azog."

The large green beast nodded sharply.

"Jack."

The leader of Johto's rebellion pulled up his hood once more, tugging until an executioner's mask covered his face.

"For our brothers and sisters. For the parents whose children were robbed from them, and the sons and daughters you made orphans. For Johto herself. Oroku Koga, I, Jack Kenway, Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Kenway, Regent of the Ancient and Noble House of Ironside, find you guilty, and grant you a warrior's death. Prepare."

Dexter cut off the video as both sides clashed, plunging the room into grim silence.

"Oroku Koga died that day." Hillevi voiced, calm and tired. "The Sons of Johto began to raid Kanto, destroying gyms and government buildings. No civilians were harmed, but government officials who refused to surrender were killed. The war ended when Lance Blackthorn challenged Jack to a battle, and Kenway won. He declared Johto free, and then blew up the Kanto Pokemon League and their Victory Road."

Harry was a touch pale, likely replaying the last moments of that video over again, and she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"To outsiders, it seems like the Speaker can brainwash Pokemon. The only known Speakers have been Sons of Johto, and so others fear the art."

"It's like having a conversation." Harry whispered, stumbling back onto a chair James slid closer. "Ekans and I just talked…I didn't force him to do anything. I asked him to stop, and he said no."

"But people don't know that, Harry." Neville voiced, Flora like a guard at his side. "All they saw was you hissing a word, and Ekans shutting his mouth."

"I'm not like them." The Potter asserted. "I'm not."

"We know that, mate." Ron assured. "But the rest of the school doesn't."

"It's worse than that." Ginny admitted gently. "With Edgecombe petrified right after you did that…"

"There's no way someone could say I did that!" Harry nearly shouted, standing abruptly. "I wasn't even near her! How could I-?"

"Command some secret monster to roam the school and attack a student that you had a fight with?" Luna interjected. "How indeed?"

"…They're going to say I'm the one doing this, aren't they?"

"Or me." Hillevi pointed out, a sheepish smile in place. "Considering I threatened to kill Draco right then, too."

"The point is, you both need to lay low." James voiced, giving both Harry and Hillevi a piercing look. "No drawing attention to yourselves."

"Of course, there is another option." Luna pointed out.

"And that is?" Harry wondered.

"Catch the Heir red-headed."

"Handed." Neville corrected.

"Same difference."

"Luna's right." Hillevi agreed, straightening as Cloudjumper landed on her back.

"Figuring out who the Heir is and stopping whatever Pokemon he's using to petrify people is probably the only way." Harry decided, nodding along.

"We're right behind ya." Ron assured, clapping his friend's shoulder.

"And if you are the Heir, then we will be your League of Evil!" The half-Veela declared happily.

Even James turned to pin her with a look, and Luna shrugged, scuffing her toe on the ground.

"Or not, doesn't really matter…Don't really want to be evil…But I do like the capes…"