Savoir-faire – To Know and To Do
Edited: 5 May 2014
XI: Achever – To Achieve
Day 15: Unforeseen complications led to Donar walking into a herd of Whismur – and probably disrupting an illegal mining operation that I shall begin enquiries of once we reach a town – and thus we spent two days in the Connecting Cave. When we finally got out, a surprise greeted us in the form of Bagons falling from the sky.
"How miraculous," I commented. "That Bagon completely missed your head."
"I don't feel lucky at all!" Donar yelled at me, cradling the Dragon-type Pokémon close, one hand under its skull. "Its skull... there's blood!"
A thin trickle of blood dropped from the grazed calves and its broken claw. I leaned over and checked. "Broken... wrist... probably a broken leg as well." I looked up.
"Who the hell would have thrown it down?" Donar exclaimed.
"It jumped."
"It... jumped?" Donar echoed dumbly.
"From the beginning of their discovery in the Hoenn region, Bagon have long been held as a living testament to the power of wishes and dreams," I explained as I pulled out the first-aid kit. "Where most Pokémon simply battle to evolve, Bagon must fight for their wings, a fight they carry forth by jumping off cliffs, to will them to grow and hardening their body to survive the sharp descent. Usually they can survive without much damage, but the risk of a broken neck still exists. Those who survive will try again, and again, until they form their Shelgon cocoons and their wings begin to grow. Open its mouth, I'm going to give him a Berry before we carry him down. Darkrai, Altair. The tarp in my bag."
Slowly, Altair pulled out the tarp, folding it over to make a resting place as Donar laid the small Dragon-type Pokémon down upon it. I muttered a curse, using a nylon rope and one of my tent poles to improvise a splint as I gave the whimpering blue Pokémon a dried Oran Berry. "Bagon. If you understand, we're going to get you aid."
"Doctor, can't you do anything?" Donar asked in panic.
"That Oran Berry would give it a temporary alleviation from pain," I shook my head. "Long-term care would require a Pokémon Centre. Take the far corner. Altair, Darkrai, take one corner. Between the four of us, we should be able to slowly bring the Bagon down to Ambrette Town."
"Y- Yes!"
I could remember the panic and the frustration at slowly guiding the Pokémon down, wondering why would anyone hurt a Bagon. Even experienced Trainers would have known that any nearby Salamence would have burned them alive. And that wound...
Between all four of us, each carrying a corner of the tarp, we brought the Bagon down and made for the Pokémon Centre. There, I spotted two familiar off-white uniforms headed for us.
"Donar, we've-"
"Sina, Dexio, I suppose you've forgotten to deliver the Coastal Kalos update once more," I snarled. "Get out of the way."
"Dr du Bois?!" Professor Sycamore's assistants immediately dashed to the far end of the Pokémon Centre.
"Again?" Nurse Joy sighed as we brought in the Bagon, even forgetting to comment on the Darkrai. "Emergency, Bagon descent casualty!"
"The Bagon broke a femur on descent from the cliffs above the Connecting Cave," Dr du Bois informed the approaching doctor as several Wigglytuff lifted the Bagon onto a rolling stretcher and away from the tarp.
"Well, I suppose wild Bagon always do this, but... it's a danger to cliff-goers," Nurse Joy whispered.
"Why... why would a Bagon choose to jump down a cliff, Nurse Joy?" Donar echoed, still lost.
"A Bagon's transformation into a Salamence is not a natural evolution which occurs through the ageing process," Nurse Joy explained. "Instead, it is a power to be grasped after intense training and determination. It might be rather cold, but the moment we release the Bagon, it will climb back up the cliff and proceed to repeat the process."
"For their dream..." Donar echoed.
"Bagon have no shortage of willpower," I interjected. "It is certainly true that few other Pokémon fight harder for their goals. But, this time, that Bagon was not at fault."
"What?" Nurse Joy blinked.
"I believe Officer Jenny will be visiting soon," I answered. "After all, reporting gunshot wounds is also a duty of a Pokémon Centre. Donar."
"Doctor?" Donar snapped out of whatever train of thought had launched itself at him now.
"Sina, Dexio," I summoned both assistants. "You will give Donar what he needs that the two of you forgot to give. I shall be at the Hotel Ambrette, since this town's Pokémon Centre is full. Again. Donar, you will come to the Hotel Ambrette for your room key later. Am I clear? Darkrai, stay with the boy. I have to handle some things."
"R- Right!" Sina and Dexio trembled in fear as I left. In a heartbeat, Altair was at my side, dragging the bloody tarp behind us as we marched across town to the Hotel Ambrette.
"Bienvenue-" the concierge cut off, staring at the bloody tarp behind us.
"Carried a Bagon down," I gave my explanation in one word, and received an understanding nod. "Two rooms under du Bois."
"R- Right!' she nodded quickly, producing the keys. "Erm, 201 and 202 have a Jack and Jill bathroom."
"We shall manage," I answered. The Sycamore Laboratory might be inclined for us to stay at the Pokémon Centre, but then having a private room meant not needing to camp out at the Pokémon Centre. "Speaking of the Bagon, accidents are very common, are they not?"
"Well, they are!" the concierge frowned. "But, recently they've been increasing in numbers. I mean, usually the wild Bagon can settle themselves, but I've heard that more and more hikers rush in with injured Bagon at their heels. Why?"
"Pokémon specialities in Bagon are so rare," I faked a frown and a sigh. "Research is so difficult to get because Trainers of Salamence are not often willing to talk."
"You're a researcher?" the concierge exclaimed. "I'm very sorry, Doctor!"
"It's fine," I shook my head.
"No," the girl frowned. "It's just that the Fossil Laboratory's staff don't come very often, not since Gary Oak came here. I heard that he was a famous Pokémon Trainer back in Kanto!"
"I see..." I neutrally replied, rather than remark on Professor Oak's reformed grandson. "M. Oak has taken an interest in the Glittering Cave's fossils, I suppose. He would be happy. There must be a lot of fossils."
"What do you mean?" the girl suddenly said. "The news went out last night! All the Fossils in the lab had been stolen!"
"Gary must have taken them home with him," I commented.
"What do you mean?!" the concierge exclaimed. "Dr Oak is the most panicked of all of the scientists! They're almost drunk every night! Dr Oak keeps crying!"
"Monsieur Oak," I corrected. "Interesting..."
Altair followed behind me as we climbed the stairs. What is?
I unlocked my own room, and then locked it after Altair had dragged the tarp in. "The Bagon with a gunshot wound. The theft of fossils in the Glittering Cave. The supposed crowd of Whismur was a sign. These two cases are linked."
What should we do?
I thought back to the Bagon, the creature that jumped off of cliffs in a pipe dream to reach the skies. It is said, that the iron crest on a Bagon's head exists to hold it down and keep it looking forward, for they would otherwise constantly watch the sky. The red wings of a Salamence was the courage of their heart and the will to leave the ground behind.
"What would you say if," I turned around, "we were to act here, in Ambrette Town?"
It sounds dangerous. Altair inclined his head. I would not mind. It would certainly be a welcome change from our daily monotony. That would be good.
"I knew you had a Lucario's sense of justice there," I remarked, having set down my backpack. I took the tarp, dragging it to the bathroom, where I then proceeded to place it under the cold running water of the shower-head.
So where do we begin?
As I watched, the reddish-brown colour washed off of the khaki, mixing with the water to course across white tiles to the drain. "Reconnaissance before the action. Two agents. One of us goes into the cave and search for clues. That should be you."
I?
"You have night vision and a better sense of smell, you can detect geological irregularities better," I answered. "We can think of a guise to get you in later. I will search the cliffs with help from the ghostly trio and Liz. If I am right, then someone is going to steal the restoration machine from the Fossil Lab."
The aim?
"Old Amber. Helix, Dome," I counted. "Root, Claw, Skull, Armour, Cover, Plume, Jaw and Sail. It's obvious. Now I'm going to have to get you into the caves."
I will go inform the boy, Altair nodded. By now I have mastered enough social norms, and I should be able to get us through with the boy acting in your place. If you are to have any chance, then you must set out now.
I looked at him. "With that look?"
Acting human or Trained is not hard at all. Just act like you own the place.
I thought it over. "That works. You can try. I'm going to get to the cliffs. And, Altair... take the room keys along. He's going to need it to put his stuff down."
Bad things comes in threes. I have no idea who spoke those words of wisdom, but they sure as hell seem true enough. First I found out that Sina and Dexio had forgotten to update my PokéDex, and they had taken another route to cut me off, knowing that Dr du Bois was headed to Ambrette. Next, a Bagon nearly brained me, and it was injured, so I had to help out with taking it down a set of cliffs teeming with wild Pokémon to Ambrette Town. Third, Nurse Joy reported that Dr du Bois's words were true, and I had no idea what she meant until Nurse Joy showed me the bullet wound.
The Bagon lay on a table with one of the Centre's machines hanging over it, separated from the public by a glass window and solid doors. I refused to think of it as an operating table, because that would be just sad. There was a bloody patch around a small hole nearly the size of a coin in the Bagon's thigh. Its head was intact, at least.
"It's a gunshot wound," Nurse Joy whispered when she came out. "Thank you for bringing him down in time, we could save the leg."
"How can anyone..." I whispered. "How can anyone do this to a Pokémon?"
"No... the worst should be, how did we miss it at first?" Nurse Joy shook her head. "Is that your Pokémon?"
"It's a wild one," I answered, almost automatically. "I just... I just can't imagine it. In search of a dream..."
I must have found myself at a crossroads then, at that place and time. That there were people so cruel to Pokémon was reality when Team Rocket was around, as Mom had mentioned when drunk. True, abuse cases and the like had featured in the news, but there had always been a sort of kind little bubble that had shielded the awful truth from me and other Trainers like me. That humans could bear to do such things...
Unexpectedly, what had saved me from turning to a dark path of thought was Altair. You read that right. The most vicious Lucario I had ever met, Altair, the Lucario who broke Elmo's bones just a few days ago. It came in the form of a literally mental wake-up call.
Your key, Altair threw the keys at me, the tag hitting my nose.
"Thanks," I growled around my aching nose.
And, you and I are required to go to the Glittering Cave, Altair started. All of us.
"Huh?" I echoed. "Why?"
She has established that fossils were stolen from the laboratory before we came here, the Lucario reported. She theorises that the case of the injured Bagon and the theft are linked. So, all three of us are to enter the cave to search for evidence.
Evidence? Darkrai asked, extremely curious. He'd been curious ever since a terrified Sina and Dexio got around to explaining the PokéDex system to him. It was almost endearing.
"Wait," I held up a hand. "Then Dr du Bois?"
She is headed for the Ambrette Cliffs once more with the ghosts to search for evidence. She believes that Pokémon poaching may have been taking place in line with the thefts.
"Hang on, that's dangerous!" I protested. "Dr du Bois is doing this?! The cold-blooded Dr du Bois is doing this?!"
Perhaps one day you will realise that she constantly wears a mask, Altair replied, a touch frostily. That many people must wear a mask for their own safety.
"We can call Daisy, right?" I waved a hand. "Right?"
There is no time, Altair informed me. And only Trainers can access the Glittering Cave. So, if you please.
Kalos Route 9, also known as Spikes Passage, truly lived up to its name. It was more or less a cliff face, carved by retired Rhyhorn racers with nothing better to do. A retired racer, complete with saddle, was the only way to clamber through the unsteady, Pokémon-infested Passage and not dash any body parts against the rocks. Darkrai had it easy; he just floated above the spikes. Altair simply stood on the Rhyhorn, behind me, as the Rhyhorn clambered and smashed rock obstacles with its Tackle, sending a few stray shards to cut my face and hands every now and then. It was no picnic; a Helioptile shocked us once. We stepped on a Hippopotas, and a Sandile tried to eat us. Darkrai put them to sleep.
"Thanks!" I shouted to Darkrai as we left the dozing Sandile. We finally made it into the Glittering Cave, where a Ranger relieved us of the reins to the Rhyhorn, giving Darkrai odd looks that the Pokémon ignored. Patches of light lit the way in as we entered. I gingerly touched one, the emerald light cool to my hand and slightly slimy.
The famous Luminous Moss, Altair shook his head, kneeling down to check the soil with a brush of his paw. Let us go deeper.
"I can't see," I said through gritted teeth, glaring at the glowing ice-blue of Darkrai's one visible eye and Altair's silhouette on the cave walls.
You have a torch, do you not?
"I..." I did. I felt foolish as I rummaged through my bag, clicking it on as I pulled it out, to be greeted by a wide pair of jaws once the pale beam came out. "AHHHH!"
The jaws opened. They closed. Or, they tried to close, but then Altair punched it. Yes, he punched it.
That Bulbasaur would be a great help now, Altair commented as the jaws closed and the Pokémon ran, whimpering.
"W- What was that?" I whimpered, trying to steady my breath and failing. "What was that?"
Mawile, the Deceiver Pokémon, a low snort came from his snout. Hurry.
With shaking hands, I opened my PokéDex and searched for Mawile. Attached to its head is a huge set of jaws formed by horns. It can chew through iron beams.
"Bulbasaur, I need you!" I called, releasing him. My Bulbasaur greeted me with a low croak, before putting itself next to me. "Erm, why do I need you?"
It can see in the dark, unlike you, Altair explained, although I must have hallucinated the condescension. And, this is a cave. Filled with Rock-type Pokémon, by all accounts.
Very true, Darkrai commented. "Shall we?
"Bulba," Bulbasaur growled.
"Thanks, Bulbasaur," I knelt down to rub his bulb. "I know you must hate dark places, sorry."
"Bulba," it echoed, somewhat softer in assurance, before it tugged me along and we continued walking.
Our footsteps, or rather, mine alone, echoed throughout the eerily lit cave that smelt of damp earth.
Altair stopped for a brief moment, testing the moss with one paw. He sniffed. She is right.
"About?" I asked.
I do not imagine that most miners would choose to smoke, not with the proximity of Onix in this cave.
"There are Onix here," I echoed. "Of course there are Onix here, and then Dr du Bois forgot to mention that little titbit. If I get eaten by a giant rock snake, I will haunt Dr du Bois for the rest of eternity."
I imagine you shall, Altair commented dryly. The end of the cave is our target. Darkrai, are there others?
Not currently, the other relayed. What are we searching for?
The smell of alcohol, human cigarettes, digging equipment, disturbed soil, Altair listed as we entered a larger, more spacious mine shaft. Abandoned trolleys occupied the far end, tracks leading from there towards a way to our right. Test the walls if you must. We must prove that there was a human presence here.
Gingerly, I tapped the walls, merely feeling a hard sort of feeling and barely any echo. Bulbasaur joined me, using its Vine Whips to check. The rocks made thuds, solid and reassuring and hardly indicative of a tunnel, or anything like Secret Power.
"What was I thinking?" I muttered, pounding ineffectually and self-conscious that I was taking orders from a madwoman via her talking Lucario. "Bulbasaur... today I saw an injured Pokémon."
"Bulba?"
"It wasn't from a battle injury," I whispered. "That Bagon... it wanted to fly. It wanted to fly, and it tried to jump off of a cliff multiple times to achieve that dream. And, it's wounds... it was from a gun. It was us humans who crippled that Pokémon, and I could only feel anger."
"Bulba bulba?"
"Anger towards those people who dared to hurt an innocent Pokémon," I whispered. "Before I started with my own Pokémon, I didn't think much of it. But that Bagon... it wanted to fly. And now, with that leg... I don't know whether it can."
The ends of that Vine Whip slapped me. I looked down, my Bulbasaur giving me a considering look. "Bulba bulba. Bulba bul bul ba! Bulba!"
Then quit whining, Altair translated. Find them, beat them. Voilà.
I stared down at it, the Bulbasaur that was a crazy maniac waiting to happen. I grinned. "I needed that."
"Bulba." The sarcastic little shit somehow managed to communicate his depreciation right through.
My hand brushed a patch of moss, which was lingering right next to a hole dug out of the cave wall. I had no idea what a fossil was supposed to look like, but I imagined that the regular-shaped hole was a fossil directly dug out of the wall. Frowning, I felt the hole, and my hand came out with red soil. I rubbed it, and felt it, and I realised that there was something very wrong. But what?
Finally, we get somewhere, Altair mentally communicated. The footprint of a Lairon.
This cave, and the cliffs, are mostly limestone, Dr du Bois supplied in my mind. Limestone is composed of the dead skeletons of marine organisms, and it is vulnerable to water erosion... steady diet of haematite, iron ore... the only population of Lairon in Kalos is at Victory Road.
"Lairon don't naturally exist here," I spoke, nearly excited. "One of the diggers?"
At this, Altair gave me a look, but Darkrai beat him to answer me. Steel-type Pokémon, I know from experience, are not oft used in mining. They are too temperamental.
I opened my PokéDex. Lairon, the Iron Armour Pokémon. Lairon feeds on iron contained in rocks and water. It makes its nest on mountains where iron ore is buried. As a result, the Pokémon often clashes with humans mining the iron ore.
I rubbed the red soil between my fingers. "Altair, is this iron ore?"
Your Bulbasaur can tell.
I knelt down to be level with Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, can you tell if this is iron ore?"
"Bulba!" Bulbasaur licked the soil off of my hand, its tongue rolling around, before it solemnly nodded.
A Lairon would not have left iron ore. Altair affirmed. Not without a Trainer.
I also cannot imagine one of the scientists bringing a Pokémon that would eat their samples, Darkrai suggested.
"Now, the best way is if we can find a passage," I leaned back as I spoke.
"Bulba!"
As I toppled back, I realised that Bulbasaur's eyes were wide with concern. Then I realised that its Vine Whips were the reason for my continued existence. Lucario and Darkrai worked together, yanking hard enough to send me flying out of the hole to hit the wall, getting a face of Luminous Moss in the bargain.
Congratulations, Altair's sardonic mental voice supplied. It looks like you have found it.
Having been a Trainer, I generally packed light when going anywhere. In fact, more than once I had left the Sycamore Laboratory directly to camp out on Mélancolie Path with nothing more than a knife, a fishing rod, and my Pokémon. More than once, a meal of Basculin caught from the stream and cooked by Flamethrower had sufficed, since I gave the blood to the ghostly trio and then we made a feast of the fish between the remaining. Liz had trail mix; even I was disinclined to make a Floette turn omnivorous. Thus, I had run to the Ambrette Cliffs with nothing more than my Holo Caster, my wallet, PokéDex and a set of keys, along with a pocket knife and my Pokémon sans Altair.
I released the ghostly trio once I had ascended level to the cliffs. "Listen up. We're going to be searching for poachers in the region."
Aegis clattered, Jelly burbled at me in great offence, and Crystal hissed. It sounded like a steam kettle.
"A Bagon was shot," I explained. "And the fossils at the Fossil Lab were stolen. If I am right, the next target would be the restorations machines, but I need evidence to present to Officer Jenny. Otherwise they're just going to be stuck with mere poaching charges. Crystal, you take to the air, be careful not to draw too much attention. You'll be our spotter, use Flamethrower as a flare if any of us find something and give a signal. Jelly, you take the sea point, interrogate as many Pokémon as possible regarding strange activity. Hot and cold pockets, vibrations, funny-tasting water, water that is too clear to be seawater or from any underground spring. Aegis, Liz, with me."
Jelly burbled, and I patted her head in apology before she headed for the cliff faces. Crystal hissed, but rose obligingly towards the skies. Aegis clanked, and a tassel wrapped around my arm in support as we started our search. We must have looked like an unusual trio; a female Trainer in red and black, an Aegislash tagging along, and a Floette guiding the way.
"Why shoot a Bagon?" I muttered to myself. "Bagon can evolve to Shelgon, and Shelgon to Salamence – there is no point in injuring a rare and valuable Pokémon like Bagon. Not unless there was something far more valuable at stake."
I watched the cliffs now. "Ambrette Town has always fallen in military significance. Unlike the other major coastal settlements of Cyllage, Shalour and Coumarine, Ambrette is naturally protected by its cliffs from coastal invasion. It was only during the past decade or so, when fossils were discovered, that Ambrette Town began to develop. Trainers began to flock here when the Fossil Lab was built, because the creation of the Spikes Passage meant access to the Glittering Cave, which meant access to Fossils and the restoration machines. Thus, access to Fossil Pokémon."
Slowly, I climbed up the cliff I had found, ignoring the wordless clatter of my – quite literal – sword and shield. "If I am right, then both the fossils at the Glittering Cave and the Lab must have been stolen. Fossils by themselves have no value; Ambrette Aquarium sells Kabuto fossils as souvenirs. But, they are valuable in another sense... with the machine. The Ranger at the entrance of the Glittering Cave would have noticed if too many fossils were stolen through the Spikes Passage; even the Rangers are not that obtuse. Though, if there was another way?"
At the approximate spot around the Spikes Passage, Jelly flew back to me, burbling and gesturing. I took it to mean that some of the sea-dwelling Pokémon were complaining...
Jelly blew a small spout of water out of her mouth, to the ground. She made a noise like a kettle, and motioned to the water on the ground which was flowing back to a pool set in the rock, too blue to be anything but over-saturated in calcium ions.
… about the underground stream.
"The water tastes funny?" I asked her. "I told you so," I commented upon her nod. "Jelly, I need you to dive to check if there is a cave around this spring."
My Jellicent burbled in complaint, but sank easily into the water anyway. Soon enough, she resurfaced, blowing a spout of water with enough force to wash off part of the limestone from the cliff.
"There," I murmured in satisfaction, having located the rather small entrance partially hidden by the spring and a rather artful arrangement of rocks. "Liz, Flash."
My Floette glowed, her light shining into the cave-
"Argh!"
-and onto the face of Donar, Altair and Darkrai, who shielded their faces. I peered down and spotted Bulbasaur.
"I am right," I said to no one but myself. "Go for broke..."
"Doctor?" Donar murmured.
"Liz, down," I called. "Altair, Darkrai, Donar. I see you must have finally managed to locate the other entrance."
You were right, Altair relayed. I found signs of the Lairon. The boy actually remembered your onslaught of information long enough to notice the iron ore present within the cave. We found the connecting passage and walked along it until we reached a set of tracks, and we followed them into this cave.
"No miner is stupid enough to use a Lairon for mining, not when Machoke can do the same job without risk to the ores being mined," I replied primly. "With that said, we shall thus report to Officer Jenny and then expose the operation. Quickly, before the sun sets."
"What happens... when the sun sets?" Donar gasped as we all broke out into a run, skidding down the cliffs.
"Ars longa, vita brevis," I answered, pulling out my Holo Caster and preparing the camera function. "The greatest heist in the history of Kalos... or, it would have been. Now, lead me through. We're going to surprise that Ranger outside."
There was no way everyone could have fitted on a Rhyhorn – not even the heavyset Pokémon had that capacity. Dr du Bois actually recalled all her Pokémon save for Aegis into their Pokéballs quickly, berating the cringing female Ranger for having neglected the fossils within the Glittering Cave with vitriol such as ignorant, dumb and slow-witted. She took the reins of the Rhyhorn, apologising to the Rhyhorn gently as she shoved them at me.
"Well?" Dr du Bois snapped, a hand. "Get on!"
I stared at her, and the Rhyhorn. "But-"
"You take the Rhyhorn past with Darkrai," she ordered. "I'll meet you at the gate. Aegis, Shadow Sneak me."
She actually sank into her own shadow, disappearing with the Aegislash. I stared at the spot where Dr du Bois had been before I slung myself over the Rhyhorn, patting it on the armoured back before it started its slow crawl.
Overhead, Darkrai floated. Please explain. Why do we not stop the evildoers immediately?
"What?" I gasped, trying to hold onto the Rhyhorn. "It's... not done. We need Officer Jenny to arrest the bad guys."
Would it not be more expedient to immediately move to stop the... bad guys, as you call them? Darkrai questioned. Otherwise, we may be too late to return. They would have left with the resurrected brethren.
"Cloned," I corrected. "Or... whatever. Mad science aside, Dr du Bois and I are only two Trainers, with nine Pokémon between us if we include you. We don't know how many are involved. Best to find backup."
Ah. That explanation made more sense than any other answer that I may have gotten.
"Other answers?" I asked.
This is hardly my first foray into the human world, Darkrai archly replied. I have met many humans. None of them stand out as much as the one you address as Doctor.
"Yeah, she stands out," I nodded jokingly. "If she's going to Officer Jenny, though, then her heart might be in the right place. For that Bagon, and for everyone."
Is that why you follow her? Because she is to be emulated?
"Huh?" I blinked. "She's following me for some sort of Trainer study. I'm not quite sure what for, but this is exciting!"
Finally, in a long time since forever, we reached the end of the Spikes Passage between Dark Voids fired by Darkrai towards unsuspecting Pokémon that lay in wait. As we passed, I started to avoid Hippopotas – bloody Sand Stream and everything slowed me down – and I was getting sand in embarrassing places when we finally reached the gate.
"I'm sorry for the trouble," I whispered to the Rhyhorn, leaving it by its water trough. It gave me a growl of farewell as I ran with Darkrai trailing behind.
Dr du Bois was already waiting there, her Aegislash spinning in the air and screeching. "Yes, fine, I'll give you some Iron when we're done- oh, you're here."
"I..." I shook myself, my toes wiggling. Sand, urk.
"Return, Aegis," Dr du Bois commanded, holding its Pokéball as red light enveloped him. "This is only the start, Aegis. Altair, I choose you."
The Lucario appeared from the Pokéball, clearly raring to go. Shall we begin?
Compared to most of the town, the Ambrette police post looked rather newer, a building of steel and concrete compared to the wood and corrugated roofs that made the Ambrette skyline. A familiar sight of Officer Jenny, blue hair and cap and all, was stationed at the reception counter, and she stood up as we entered. "Bienvenue au poste de police de Roche-sur-Gliffe. Comment puis-je vous aider?"
"Est-ce que vous parlez anglais? Le garçon ne comprend pas le français," Dr du Bois answered her promptly.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Officer Jenny corrected herself, now in something I could comprehend. "How may I help you?"
"Today we reported a case of a Bagon shooting," Dr du Bois spoke. "Just afterwards, I heard about the theft of several fossils from the Ambrette Fossil Lab. I have reason to believe these two cases to be related."
Officer Jenny's posture straightened, and the woman herself looked alarmed. "That is a very serious-"
"We have photographic evidence of this connecting passage between the Glittering Cave and beyond the Ambrette cliffs, at the very edge of the Muraille Coast," she elaborated, producing the relevant images on her Holo Caster. "Furthermore, I would like to draw your attention towards the Bagon today."
"The Bagon?" Officer Jenny echoed. "That was shot? A horrible crime. A boy and a woman brought it in, right?"
"Exactly, we brought it in," Dr du Bois nodded. "A rare and valuable Pokémon like Bagon can command nearly any price on the black markets if caught and raised properly, and if evolved, a Salamence would command far higher prices. There is no point to shooting it. Not unless there was something far more valuable at stake. Where do Bagon live? At the Ambrette cliffs. Wild Bagon are common at those cliffs."
"What kind of idiot would shoot a Dragon-type Pokémon?" Officer Jenny nodded. "Please, continue."
"The theft of the Fossils at the Fossil Lab is, again, notable," Dr du Bois continued. "Fossils by themselves have no worth. A Bagon is more valuable intact than shot. With that said, the two incidents are marked by the apparent lack of individual value to our mysterious thieves, hence both could assume a relation due to being an outlier in the motives of most criminals. The concierge at the Hotel Ambrette mentioned that Bagon jumps had tripled for some reason. Could it be, that the Bagon themselves were evacuating the mountains? Either way, all incidents point to there being a presence in the mountains. Hence, I went there with four Pokémon to search, and I sent my student into the Glittering Cave, thus uncovering this passage."
"This... if these two incidents are related..." Officer Jenny frown, a furrow line appearing on her soft features. "So who are the thieves? What are they after? Who are you?"
"I am Dr du Bois, anthro-Pokémon specialist regarding the Pokémon's impact on human society, affiliated with the Sycamore Research Laboratory in Lumiose City. This is Donar Oak, the Trainer serving as my case study," Dr du Bois frowned. "Were you listening to a single word I was saying, Officer?"
"I was," Officer Jenny nodded. "But... the Fossil Labs gives them away for free. A Bagon shooting and the fossil theft holds links... are you trying to tell me that these two incidents are linked?"
"I am telling you this now, because the greatest heist in Kalos history will take place soon," Dr du Bois snapped back. "The fossils are useless... without a restoration machine."
Officer Jenny nodded. "I'll go inform the staff at the Fossil Lab immediately."
"If you please."
I watched Officer Jenny run out, leaving the two of us in the lobby.
"Budget cuts have taken their toll upon Ambrette Town," Dr du Bois observed. "So it seems. Well, if Gary Oak is there, our thieves would probably take the restoration machine over his dead body. It is time for dinner."
"Doctor, what about the rest of the thieves?" I protested. "They're still running around, and Officer Jenny is the only officer here!"
"We have done our civic responsibility as citizens of Kalos," Dr du Bois shrugged, calm, uncaring and cold once more.
"What about the thieves?!" I shouted back.
"Gary Oak is there," Dr du Bois replied. "I hope you have heard of Professor Oak's grandson."
I flushed. The world had heard of Gary Oak, and the revival of the first Aerodactyl. That reminder also gave me a thought. "What if they're after the Aerodactyl?"
"Of course they're after the Aerodactyl, you silly fool," Dr du Bois muttered. "More than one, if they're lucky. Controlling the Kalos supply means being able to flood the market with fossil Pokémon. They might be able to run Alto Mare out of business."
"Pokémon aren't commodities!" I shouted at her. "Knowing that such horrors are going to happen, that people can be so horrible to one living Pokémon and steal the bones of dead Pokémon to resurrect and sell them – can you stand by and do nothing?"
"I am hungry," Dr du Bois answered. "When we get there, the Lab personnel shall have been informed, and then we can take a wild guess at the thieves coming to steal the device under their noses. For now, we refill our stomachs, we plan, and we wait."
"They're going to steal it!"
Carefully, Dr du Bois eyed me, such that I could stare into the green depth of her pitiless eyes. "You may do as you wish," she spoke, a cold and awful truth. "But eat with me, at least, and listen. I would not like to bring your corpse back to your parents."
List of things to get in Cyllage: Portable stove. Possibly a short-wave radio set. And a laptop. So I browsed over my possible shopping options as Donar called out his Fletchling as we stood at the gates of the Glittering Cave.
"Fletchling, I need you to watch from the air if people enter this building," Donar instructed, background noise within my Holo Caster. "From any direction. If they try to exit, you have permission to stop them."
The Tiny Robin Pokémon chirped in alarm.
"Use that speed," Donar said. "Hit them in the face. We are doing this for the sake of the fossil Pokémon inside. Alright?"
"Might get confusing," I commented once the background noise faded. "If there are two of the same Pokémon."
"Not to me," Donar answered. "Dr du Bois... so, I'll run in and then ask about fossils, right?"
I glared at the Holo Caster. How Donar had gotten to the roof was narrated simply with three words: Altair, Extreme Speed. "Repeat after me. I am not holding the idiot ball."
"Erm... I am not holding the idiot ball?"
"Yes," I nodded. "Why set yourself up to be held hostage? People who enter the Lab through the Ambrette Town entrance are asking to be shot. And killed. Your job is to incapacitate Flyers. Using the three Pokémon you have, I judge that your Frogadier could do fine, and Darkrai would manage to hold up the precious few up within the lab. Ready?"
"I'm not exactly comfortable with this," Donar's voice shook. "There are easier ways than this, right?"
As he spoke, all of the lights shone brightly from the windows, magnesium-white glare whiting out the stars overhead, so it seemed.
I activated the circuit breaker I held. The glare shorted out, leaving sparks dancing in the wake of complete darkness, before the screams began.
Beside me, a guard snored, long having been knocked out by one of the thieves long before the plan had even been put into motion.
"Smartest things I had ever done," I mumbled as a particularly loud cry rang out from within, the corrugated metal walls barely holding back the cries for Maman. There was a particularly loud crash and then, the bellow of the dreaded beast.
I held up my Holo Caster. "Donar, we have an Aerodactyl alert. Tell Altair to standby."
"Y- Yes!" Donar sounded more panicked. "T- There was a gun, and Altair... Altair broke the guy's spleen!"
"I hope not literally," I murmured. "Blood evidence is so hard to clean off of his fur. How many?"
"Erm, Fletchling just came back, there was a Lairon, like you said, and the- a Crobat, shit! Fletchling, dodge! Wait, get back! Holy- Altair shot it down!"
A moment of static, before the screams died off. A heartbeat later, Donar's voice came back on, shaky. "A Frogadier nearly got me... Frogadier got it with a Water Pulse..."
Beside me, the guard was stirring. I unleashed Liz once more. Under the lull of Liz's Aromatherapy, the guard fell back into enchanted sleep once more.
"Thank you." I recalled Liz, and then I let out Aegis. Under my direction, Aegis used Shadow Sneak to guide me through the pitch-dark halls of the Fossil Lab to reach the roof, where Darkrai loomed. He held a sleeping man, whose face was contorted in nightmares.
"Tie him to the spotlight," I called to Altair. "How were you, Darkrai?"
It is... satisfying. Many thanks.
Between the two of us, we managed to tie the criminal, who stirred only briefly before he went back under the spell of the Dark Void. I then switched the spotlight on, artfully tugged the man to contort his shape better, and then, the others returned.
"Good work," I nodded. "Recall Fletchling."
Donar recalled Fletchling, and then Altair looped a paw around his waist and the Lucario and Trainer leapt off, disappearing on the way down. Aegis used Shadow Sneak to take me away as I saw Darkrai disappear, and I smirked to myself when I landed on dry cliff-side land once more, watching the cloudy skies over the sea.
Hours ago, we had started on the pâte course as I used the shakers, bottles, menu and her napkin to demonstrate my plan.
"If I was a thief looking to steal the fossil machine, I would flee towards the direction no one would expect," I started to explain. "Altair, you mentioned that there was a Lairon?"
One of the Aron line, definitely. I found a Lairon footprint, but only one.
"This is a construction of the Ambrette Lab and the cave," Dr du Bois used a plate for the Lab, and a napkin for the cave, with a menu laid out across to show the Spikes Passage. "Given that at least one Lairon is confirmed, and that so far our mystery would keep themselves secret until after the heist, we could probably hypothesise that our thieves would be exiting through the Glittering Cave. The Ranger and the neighbouring hikers would have retired for the night, hence they could get through the Glittering Cave and past the Spikes Passage using that Lairon."
"Is that... possible?" Donar asked. "I mean... a Lairon has got to be pretty heavy."
"Not that far off from a Rhyhorn," I dismissed. "Usually the Fossil Lab would be empty save for a few, so either they would steal the whole machine and rebuild it somewhere else, or they would take over the Laboratory for however long it takes to revive the Fossils and store the Pokémon away. Given the specs of the Ambrette restoration machine, though, I am inclined towards the latter. At the speed of restoration, it would not take long at all, especially if the few scientists on night duty are press-ganged into service."
"But Gary Oak is there," Donar pointed out.
"Gary Oak is one man," I shrugged. "They have guns. From there, I would assume that they must reach the ocean, where presumably a boat awaits to take them, and a lot of fossil Pokémon, away. As for the Bagon, it was shot because of an accident. Although I do not feel quite sure about the Kalosian Sûreté, I presume that a ballistics test would reveal who shot that Bagon. He's not going to go away for a very long time."
"So, the plan?" Donar asked.
"Using him," I pointed to Darkrai, who had loomed as a shadow.
Me?
"I will throw the circuit breaker attached to the laboratory the moment any restoration machine is activated," I explained. "Darkrai shall be the main force to infiltrate the building and take down our thieves in the resulting darkness. Donar, Altair and you shall be on hand to take down flyers; Flying Pokémon and Smoke Balls are unfortunately common associates with such heists."
Thus the plan had unfolded, with nearly every factor, even Donar supposedly freezing up out of fright accounted for, and the result was present in the whine of sirens and men being unloaded out of the Ambrette Fossil Lab and towards the waiting cruisers from neighbouring towns.
Over the cliffs and upon the cloud-line, shone a spotlight amidst the ring of emergency sirens, arranged to show a vaguely human face and a single, visible eye.
The more I had listened to Dr du Bois's plan, I was realising that it was a lot more violent than anyone should have intended.
"Fletchling, I need you to watch from the air if people enter this building," I instructed my only flight-capable Pokémon. "From any direction. If they try to exit, you have permission to stop them."
The Tiny Robin Pokémon chirped in alarm.
"Use that speed," I answered. "Hit them in the face. We are doing this for the sake of the fossil Pokémon inside. Alright?"
"Might get confusing," Dr du Bois's voice commented from my Holo Caster once Fletchling took to the skies. "If there are two of the same Pokémon."
"Not to me," I replied. "Dr du Bois... so, I'll run in and then ask about fossils, right?"
"Repeat after me. I am not holding the idiot ball."
"Erm... I am not holding the idiot ball?"
"Yes," her voice drifted, a crisp tone like the one that had laid out the plan that involved Altair bringing me to the roof via high jump. "Why set yourself up to be held hostage? People who enter the Lab through the Ambrette Town entrance are asking to be shot. And killed. Your job is to incapacitate Flyers. Using the three Pokémon you have, I judge that your Frogadier could do fine, and Darkrai would manage to hold up the precious few up within the lab. Ready?"
"I'm not exactly comfortable with this," my voice shook. "There are easier ways than this, right?"
From the roof, I could see from the windows below, all of the lights glaring with a stark white that seemed to blink out the stars.
At the same time, they blacked out right as the first screams began.
"Mamma mia!"
Crashes echoed, along with shattering wood, bent steel, and the constant gunfire that forced me to clap my hands over my ears. Darkrai was clearly enjoying himself there, and yet the sounds of violence somehow sickened me, somehow made me wish to run away and not look was a particularly loud crash and then, a loud, constant bellow like a metronome as the roof access doors fell apart.
I mean, fell apart. A single slash made their fate as I came face-to-face with a row of teeth, sharp and clearly meant to rip prey to bits. It roared. I screamed, scrambling back. Fletchling hurtled from the darkened skies, futilely trying to do her job.
"No, get back!" I yelled at her, brave little bird that she was before the purple-skinned monster backhanded her, and I caught her, seeing the Pokémon dive towards me, jaw wide.
I rolled, and the teeth chomped down on empty air. As I unsteadily got to my feet, I saw the clanking behemoth growl, and then the stocky, armoured form of one Pokémon I had seen just once on a Hoenn Championship match erupted, screaming.
A crack, and booth Pokémon fell down, whimpering. Altair's form hovered, clearly just finished with planting his elbow into some guy's spleen. Behind Altair, a human shape hung from one of the aircraft warning lights on the roof.
My Holo Caster pinged. "Donar, we have an Aerodactyl alert. Tell Altair to standby."
"Y- Yes!" I shouted. "T- There was a gun, and Altair... Altair broke the guy's spleen!"
"I hope not literally," was her reply. "Blood evidence is so hard to clean off of his fur. How many?"
"Erm, Fletchling just came back, there was a Lairon, like you said, and the- a Crobat, shit!" I yelled as the Crobat shot out of the empty doors like, well, a Zubat out of hell. "Fletchling, dodge! Wait, get back!" I suddenly changed tack as I spotted a familiar light shot towards the Crobat out of hell as it cried out, half its wings fried as it dropped with a piteous cry. "Holy- Altair shot it down!"
"Here I thought it must be Gary Oak, and it's just a hotshot Trainer," someone growled behind me. "Frogadier, sic him!"
The sudden weight drop caused me to stumble, falling onto my front, the foetid breath, cool and sticky bubbles popping as the Frogadier came up close and personal, and licked me.
"Geroff! Get off!" I wasn't ashamed of admitting that by that time, Dr du Bois had cured any and all instinct towards danger within my pre-teen head if it would only save my life. I fell down, paralysed as the Bubble Frog Pokémon began to tighten its grip around my throat. It was another Trainer's Pokémon, but at the moment all I could see was my own Pokémon beginning to strangle me.
Fletchling screeched, diving down for a Peck attack that got slapped to one side. The Frogadier tightened his hold, prepared to hunker down and strangle me slowly. I was going to expire on the roof of the Ambrette Fossil Lab, and what a way to go.
"Chinder!" Just like that, I wasn't going to die.
From above, a Pokémon dived, a new Pokémon having just left its evolutionary glow. The bird's plumage was orange and black on white, my Fletchling turned bigger, faster, fiery. My second Pokémon had evolved.
It spat an Ember towards the Frogadier, who merely spat a pulse of water at it. Some of the water trickled down my face. A laugh resounded, before a silver light that was Flash Cannon cut it off, and something like a gunshot echoed. "Fire can't stand up to water, boy! Kill him!"
My Pokéball burst open, and my own Frogadier landed on my back with a war cry, unleashing a volley of noise that nearly burst my eardrums. Most of the torrent, though, blasted the Frogadier off of me, with a crack as its skull collided with the roof railings before it toppled over the edge. The croaks of panic as the Pokémon fell down the two storeys was piteous, especially compared to its Trainer's screams as he faced the wrath of a cheesed-off Darkrai within the darkness once more. From the sheer volume of sound, he probably fell down about two flights of stairs.
"Thanks," I panted to my first Pokémon, scrambling to all fours and jabbing at my Holo Caster. "A Frogadier nearly killed me. Frogadier got it with a Water Pulse."
Only silence answered.
The violence and clanks were lessening, replaced gradually by the whine of sirens in the distance. Altair landed beside my prone form, almost cat-like in silence, before he looped an arm around my waist. Time to go.
"Frogadier, Fletchling!" I shouted, recalling my first Pokémon in time before I was dragged along at horrendous speeds with the Lucario, Fletchling squealing in alarm behind me.
We landed on solid ground, Dr du Bois standing opposite a satisfied-looking Darkrai. None of them looked mussed, bloody, or messed up like me.
"Good work," Dr du Bois nodded as Fletchling dived down behind me. "Recall Fletchling."
I had barely recalled my Pokémon before I was whizzing again, back to the Hotel Ambrette, and past where Dr du Bois had started talking to the concierge desk, loudly and in a way to garner attention. As an alibi, I gathered, but the speeds left me dizzy even before Altair dumped me onto the doormat.
You're heavy, the Lucario commented as I gasped for breath. Can you manage?
I crawled up to my feet, muttering a curse as I rummaged through my pocket for the key. I unlocked the door, leaning on the walls as I fell into my rather stark hotel room.
"You're a bastard," I snarled at the Lucario.
He responded by slamming my door shut.
I was shivering as I half-fell into the washroom and slammed the door shut. My blood was pounding in my ears, the fear coursing through me. The soft lighting, Spartan décor and the clean but nondescript smell of cleaner was of little comfort.
I looked to the mirror and stared at the ghost there. The ghost stared back. I continued staring at it, and it continued staring back. I had no idea how long that lasted, but it felt like the whole night long. The creature didn't blink, or move, or breathe. The only light came from the soft lighting overhead, bathing us in a warm caramel glow that did nothing to soften it. It stayed a ghastly white, devoid of life, with its black eyes staring at me intently.
I drew a breath, and the spell broke, tearing myself away from my reflection. To realise that this was real, the danger was very, very real and that I could have died was a sobering thought to me.
I called out my Pokémon, staring at all of them. The wings of Fletchinder was messed up, half of them lying in different directions and some of them orange as the flames they conjured. Frogadier just looked like someone had died.
"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur exclaimed in alarm at my state, Fletchling's ruffled wings and Frogadier's grim expression.
Well, not Fletchling. Fletchinder. The PokéDex says: The Ember Pokémon. The hotter the flame sac on its belly, the faster it can fly, but it takes some time to get the fire going.
I began to set out saucers of water from my bag with trembling hands. "I'm so sorry. Fletchinder, Frogadier, you're not hurt, right?"
Apart from being slightly shaken, Fletchling looked fine, so then I turned my attention to Frogadier, trying not to flinch as I held out my hand. "Hey. It's fine."
Frogadier looked miserable. "Ge, ge, Frogadier."
"It's all fine," I soothed. "It's fine. I'm fine... I think."
"Ge," he replied nonchalantly, turning his head away.
"Don't you do that to me. Tell me what's wrong," I reached out a hand to keep his head from moving. Now he had to face me.
Frogadier narrowed his lidded eyes and butted his head against my hand, effectively moving it. "Ge," he said in the closest thing to an actual growl I'd ever heard from
him.
I was a bit alarm. Short of Fletch- Fletchinder pecking me on the hands, Bulbasaur and Frogadier were some of the nicest Pokémon I had met, and they had barely given me any trouble. "Are you angry?"
After a bit of thinking, he bobbed his head. "At me?"
A shake.
"At Dr du Bois?" Another shake.
"Altair?" Yet another shake.
I couldn't very well ask who he was angry at, but I was running out of suspects. "Um… Are you angry at us?"
Frogadier grimly nodded. I tilted my head, puzzled by his behaviour. "So it's a Pokémon. Fletchling?"
The thought of him being angry at Fletchinder was laughable, but he was ignoring her… Frogadier just shook his head sharply, glaring at me. I smiled apologetically. He definitely wasn't mad at her. "Bulbasaur?"
"Frogadier," he grumbled with another shake of his head.
"Dr du Bois's Pokémon?" Another no.
I was beginning to get frustrated. "You're impossible. Who are you angry with?"
"Frogadier frog," Frogadier said in a tiny voice, butting his head against my leg. "...Ge."
He looked up at me with his usual blank expression.
"…You?" I moved beside him, unsure of how to take this answer. He was angry at himself? Why? I couldn't ask that, though, unless I wanted another hour of guessing.
"Frogadier frog," Frogadier mimed himself, then another self, and even stuck out his tongue for effect.
I shivered. Now I was getting the message. "You're not representative of your race, Frogadier. Yes... the Frogadier tried to kill me, but you saved me." I reached out and scratching him behind the head. He made a discontented sound but didn't pull away. "You saved me, Fletchinder and you both. Bulbasaur did good work too in the mines."
"Fletchinder!" she strutted her stuff.
"But, Dr du Bois has a point," I sighed. "If we have to give you a nickname... I'll just call you Frog, Bird, and Bulbizarre."
Bulbasaur slapped me with a Vine Whip. Fletchinder made an attempt to peck me. Frogadier just slapped his forehead with his palm, almost in exasperation.
"That's not right, no," I nodded. "Fletchinder... you've evolved. We should tell Dr du Bois, and celebrate. Then discuss some new names. And then sleep."
"Fletchinder!" she chirped.
Across the bathroom, the door slammed open to reveal Dr du Bois. She looked slightly messier; her hair was slightly mussed, and her shirt torn at the sleeve. Other than those two things, her green eyes bored at me, clearly bored.
"Dr du Bois!" I nearly jumped in fright.
"Congratulations on the evolution of your Fletchling into a Fletchinder," she flatly commented. "If you don't mind, I need water for Altair."
"What happened to him?" I faced her.
"A graze," her expression revealed nothing as she reached this sink and began filling a basin with hot water. "Not from a bullet – he skimmed his paws on the roof floor, apparently. I'm going to start first aid."
"Doctor..." I started. "I'm sorry."
Her motions slowed, if only for a second. "What for?"
"For screwing up," I sighed. "When you tried to stop me... it was for my own good. I'm not good at coordinating my Pokémon. I could barely think of a plan beyond charge in and challenge to a Pokémon battle. Today... a Frogadier nearly killed me. Not my own, but one."
"Are you planning to regularly throw yourself into danger?" she archly replied, still filling the basin and then walking out. I followed her into an equally bland hotel room, where Altair occupied the bed, laid out flat on his side. Darkrai hovered with Crystal above, the Ghost Pokémon's light illuminating the room far more. By the side, Aegis clanged as Liz hovered over Altair worryingly, spinning at dizzying speeds. Jelly hovered nearby, almost jumping for the water before Dr du Bois pushed past her towards Altair.
"You're getting slow," Dr du Bois remarked, first dabbing with a hot wet flannel on a bloody patch of skin.
It is nothing.
"Minor injuries, no one died, excellent job overall," Dr du Bois agreed with the air of someone who had long acclimatised to violence. "Donar came by to say bonsoir."
"Thank you," I bowed my head towards Dr du Bois.
Slowly, she considered. "What for?"
"Preventing me from making a stupid mistake." I nodded.
"In this mission, I hoped that by my case study, I could examine the forces that a Trainer's life is governed by," Dr du Bois explained. "The society, the weather, the Pokémon habitats, the history of any place. I have walked the path of a Trainer in three regions, but the Kalos region's path eludes me. Perhaps it is merely the illusion of familiarity, that people don't notice what is familiar to them. But, as a researcher, I require a mirror. A rookie Trainer, a blank slate who does not know what he ignores or is ignorant of-"
"Oi," I muttered, without heat.
"-and from there, that information shall be incredibly helpful to me," Dr du Bois ignored me. "Like I said. Future generations shall learn from your mistakes. A dead body, though, is inconvenient, especially when it comes attached with parents still alive and caring enough to make a lawsuit."
She then eyed me. "Sina and Dexio have received the same treatment. They froze up, like you. I believe that to be the reason they do not like me."
"Why didn't you stop me?" I rasped.
"All of you chose. All of you are Trainers, with the implication of responsibility towards yourselves and your Pokémon. Who am I to dictate what you can and cannot do?" Dr du Bois waved, having finished tending to Altair's wound and was now pulling out a small bottle of iodine. "You are alive, and in one piece. Perhaps this shall be a lesson to you."
"What do we do now?" I asked, lost.
"We prepare to sleep," she volunteered. "Tomorrow, we go to visit the Muraille Coast outside of Ambrette Town, to the beach. Perhaps we could drop by and visit the unfortunate Bagon we got into the Pokémon Centre. From there, I suppose there's exploring the town and preparing a training regimen for the Cyllage Gym. But sleep tonight, boy. You'll need it."
"Night, Dr du Bois," I walked back to my room via the bathroom, closing the door behind me. Then, I scooped up Frogadier and I hugged him, perhaps for the first time. At least, I knew it was the first time I hugged him and meant it.
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