Savoir-faire – To Know and To Do

XII: Découvrir – To Discover

Day 16 (am): It took a while, but I have brutally taught Donar the meaning of violence in the Pokémon world. Hopefully, he shall learn.

"I always have doubts," I told my partner Lucario as I began to ready evening ablutions. "Especially with taking a research assistant. And now I find myself with the same issues concerning the boy."

Let him walk his own path. Although, that was a nice move, to guide him into a plan.

"Most of the heavy lifting was done by Darkrai and you," I answered, having already changed and prepared to turn off the lighting. "Darkrai?"

I am here.

"Do you require a place to sleep?"

I shall be fine, provided that my Bad Dreams does not adversely affect you.

"I have my ways." I turned to the ghostly trio. "If I hear a single complaint regarding hauntings, we will have words. Bonne nuit, Liz, Altair, Crystal, Aegis, Jelly, Darkrai."

It would be easier if I had a Pokéball.

"I refuse," I answered, and that was that.

Perhaps I had exaggerated. The extent to Bad Dreams could reach over cities, according to the relevant information I derived before I had left Camphrier Town. It could also be limited. By placing myself between Darkrai and the rest of my companions, I shielded them.

So I fell asleep with the knowledge to expect a bad dream.

It started at Geosenge, of course. Tunnels dug into the earth, deep under the sleepy town best known for the burning of Jeanne d'Arc, where her Sylveon perished with her. A constant repetitive beat echoed my running footsteps, merged with multiple layers of instruments that made it disturbing and discordant, echoes of a single song being played over and over again on different instruments at different speeds.

Beside me, Delphi screeched, glowing white with power, bright and great as a million-watt light bulb, especially after our defeat of the traitoress Malva.

I heard the pattering of footsteps, and I laughed.

"Well, Altair?" I heard my own voice, feminine and pitched low.

Both wings have been evacuated and cleaned, Altair nodded. I had no need to be present, not with Mme Drasna on hand.

"I got it," I nodded. "Shall we, then?"

Yes.

"Delphi, let us," I ordered, turning on one foot to set off at a brisk jog. I must have turned many corners of darkened hallway before I came across the grunts of Team Flare. They posed, then they let out their Pokémon, howling for blood and an ideology that was never real. None of it was real, but an elaborate masquerade, after all.

"Go, Liepard!" they released the purple-and-mustard feline Pokémon,

"Altair, Swords Dance!" I ordered.

"Fake Out!" the female Trainer with the Liepard called as the purple and yellow leopard leapt forth to stop Altair.

"Good," I praised with the sure certainty that Altair was already awaiting the next order. "Aura Sphere!"

A glowing ball of light was shoved up its nose. This probably had the effect of breaking cartilage, since I heard a crack of bone and the Liepard flew off into the distance.

"Bisharp!" the Trainer now called, releasing a living menace of blades. I just snapped my fingers. The skylights overhead crashed, a curtain of glass descending with the speed, colouration and claws of a Flygon.

"Delphi, Future Sight," I ordered as Vega growled. "Vega, these Flare administrators. You're the fastest one here. Well?"

The dragon grunted in acknowledgement, a sphere of light charged within its maw.

"We're counting on you," I nodded. "Dragon Claw at close quarters. Earth Power at far quarters. Anything in between is up to you, as long as you don't use Hyper Beam or Sandstorm. Altair, Delphi. The Legendary Pokémon still needs to be freed."

The Delphox and Lucario murmured in acknowledgement, running as we took off for the next room.

Soon, we arrived at a circular vault, wires trailing from the ceiling sparking and showering us in stray bursts of heat and light, and there six Flare grunts took us on at once, falling prey to the various Future Sight attacks Delphi had long readied.

"Found them," I breathed a sigh, approaching the platforms where the sleeping forms of the two Pokémon were. "I'm going to let you two out, alright? It's over."

I stepped back. "Altair."

Understood. He broke a steel cable.

Sparks scattered over the metal casing, and yet the Lucario did not flinch. Not as the tree shook, not as the egg began to crack. Not as pink and white light merged with red and black. Not as the branches of the tree began to shake, as the trunk splayed out into spindly legs. As the eggshell cracked, wings spread, and a beak formed to cry out.

As auras mixed, then he flinched.

Both Legendary Pokémon, began to scream, the walls shaking with their mirth and something larger and undefinable. The horns of the cervine Pokémon grew larger, the jewels upon it glowing with the colours of a rainbow that it swung as Delphi used his wand to defend me.

I screamed as my first Pokémon, the one that started this all, was beheaded in an instant.

The other, aquiline Pokémon, bellowed, the dark red aura flying out to strike that Altair and I dodged.

"Everyone!" I screamed, unleashing three more Pokéballs.

Sealeo began to attack the Pokémon of Destruction with Ice Ball and Icy Wind. Deneb stood as my defence, and Banette was laughing at the ensuing carnage.

"Use Phantom Force!" I hollered at him, to which he complied. I then raised my arm. "Deneb!"

The Venusaur bellowed in answer.

"We're going to have to chase the Legendary Pokémon away from this town," I called. "Understood? Altair, Sealeo and you, double team the other with ice and fists. Banette, you're weak to darkness, you're going to support Deneb with Will-O-Wisp."

"Ne, ne!" the Marionette's mouth unzipped to show its teeth in a sharp grin.

The Venusaur cried out again, but there was no time, not since one of my Pokémon, no, my first Pokémon, had died, and then now... now I had a town to protect. I had a region to safeguard.

I raised my arm, and around my left wrist, I saw the jewel upon it begin to glow. "Evolve, Deneb! Venoshock!"

The flower on the back of the Venusaur expanded, glowing purple before it spat a mass of poisonous smog at the cervine demonic monster glowed with a pearlescent light before it jumped, lightning-fast, and then a pink Moonblast knocked Deneb back before it charged. The Venusaur bellowed as the flower upon its head was gored through, and the Banette was little better, the ghostly fire it used barely scratching at the true monster, the one shrouded in pink and waving its horns and then it attacked me.

I screamed as the pink blast nearly got to me, but Deneb had tanked most of it. My Venusaur was suffering, because this Pokémon didn't understand-

Sealeo backed slightly, its breath whistling.

"Icy Wind!" I called to the seal, who blew a spiralling gale that enveloped both shadowed, legendary monsters.

The horned one growled, as it lowered the proud arrangement of horns that glowed with the colours of the rainbow. I recognised the move as Megahorn. It was going to hit Deneb.

My Venusaur charged a Solarbeam, aware that this was going to be its last attack. Aware that it was defending its trainer to the last. He was going to die.

My Venusaur bellowed in defiance, but could not move within the vortex created by the Solar Beam it was about to fire. Around it was the mangled remnants of some of the Flares' Pokémon, Delphi amongst them.

"Deneb!" I screamed, swinging out. I stumbled, landing in front of the charging Pokémon. The horn stabbed through my spine and came out in the other end.

I looked straight, into Deneb's dying face where the pointed end of the horn had breached his skull. "Fire!"

The Legendary Pokémon tried to move, but I held it down. Venerated Pokémon or even infamous companion of Jeanne d'Arc, it could barely do anything but dig its heels and tug, and compared to holding onto a dying Venusaur for support, the cervine Pokémon was going to stay.

"I..." I began to cry. "Banette. Can you create a Destiny Bond between people?"

It nodded solemnly. A zip pulled across its face in a broad, jagged grin that belied its panic.

The deer screamed, trying to rip its horns out, but the many points it held proved to be its downfall. Especially as I clung onto them in my stomach, in my stained hands.

"Why did our comrades die?" I whispered. "I don't want this. All of this... Delphi and Deneb-"

Across the room, the bird was glowing a reddish-black. It threw a glowing red wing out, Sealeo throwing herself in Altair's path, tackling the Lucario off course but taking the brunt of the attack. Her empty eyes greeted me as the thick, fatty body slapped the floor.

"Altair," I gasped. "Step back. Get Vega. Use Rock Tomb."

What are you thinking?

Deneb cried, too tired to do anything but watch. The deer-like Pokémon, perhaps sensing death or the Banette's power in linking destinies, began to cry.

"For every wish these Pokémon granted, an additional curse was inflicted," I gasped. "Altair... go! This is our best chance!"

Your spine-! Your body-!

"When you get back..." I whispered. "If they're still alive, Flash Cannon. Flash Cannon everything. Steel is the only way to kill the immortal. Now!"

The bird-like Pokémon screamed at the deer and I, trying to move if not for that one of its wings had broken under one particularly vicious attack.

"I gave you fair warning," I growled as Altair hurriedly left. "I... do you think yourselves as gods to rain judgement upon humans? Just because you rule life and death? You lost responsibility the day we gained free will."

It screamed some more, a low, musical cry of rage.

I saw the ghostly chains of fate intertwine in Banette's hands, and I fell down, leaning against the wall, half-dangling between Deneb's corpse, the horns, and the wall. I could see the bird Pokémon try to attack, move, do something, but I guessed that its bones were broken since it could barely do more than lift its head and bellow in impotent rage. Blood spattered on the ground; Altair must have drawn blood, and since arteries composed a major part of a bird's wings-

"I'm sorry our time is so short," I whispered as I patted its head. "Thanks, Banette."

Altair entered the room again, perched on Vega's back just as the bird managed to get off an attack to me. As I saw the Oblivion Wing approach, I reflected, how ironic that the immortal shall die with me.

A second chain fell, and my Banette embraced me. For once in my life, it was smiling, really and truly smiling. I held it close, like a doll. Just a girl, prepared to fall asleep with her favourite doll, knowing that she might never wake again.

"Banette love their Trainers," I whispered towards her. "Banette bear a grudge, not for being discarded or how they are created, but love their Trainers so much to despise anyone who stands between their Trainer and the goal. They will not be alive... to enjoy this."

The horned one screamed, along with the cries of the winged one. An Oblivion Wing shot at me, a Moonblast found its mark directly overhead. I laughed as I raised my head to stare into crossed eyes and slanted pupils in front of me.

"My name is Marguerite Linden du Bois," I spat into the faces of the Legendary Pokémon who had plagued Kalos since time immemorial, the pain incredible. "I am the latest of the Kalos Champions, the princess abandoned by her people. If you wish to stop me, try, if you can go beyond my despair. Begone!"

I awoke. Ten years later, the physical symptoms were readily apparent; rocketing heartbeat, cold sweat, quick breathing. And fear that was banished.

The sun shone outside, carrying with it a hint of brine. Crystal hung suspended overhead, still cooing and clinking.

I sat up slowly, watching Jelly hang from the windowsill sleeping, Altair meditating on her head, and Aegis practising his shield-use. Liz was perched on Jelly, just enjoying the sunlight, with Darkrai. The Pitch-Black Pokémon turned to me. Did you sleep well?

I yawned. "We have proven a viable sleeping arrangement. Now, what time is it? I would like breakfast, and quickly. Altair, how are your wounds?"

They have closed. We will not require the Pokémon Centre.

I nodded, almost to myself as I rose, stretching. "We need to visit that Bagon and inform him that justice was done. I would also imagine that Officer Jenny shall be wandering about soon."

I knocked on the adjoining door. Silence answered, hence I pushed it open. I stepped into the empty bathroom, locked the opposite door, and then performed my own morning ablutions. Halfway through my shower there was an insistent knocking on the door, which interrupted any chance at morning reflection. I stepped out of the shower stall, wrapping a towel around myself before I opened it to a blushing face.

"D- Dr du Bois!" Donar sputtered, looking away or at least trying to look anywhere but at me. "I'm sorry, I- erm..."

"Bonjour," I answered him before I closed the door and finished my shower and left. After a moment, I stepped out fully dressed, and I got my Holo Caster to begin writing, marking every bit of information I should not be able to know to be resigned. My Holo Caster beeped incessantly as I typed, so I quieted it.

What is that? Darkrai was staring at my Holo Caster.

"A Holo Caster," I automatically answered. "It's a form of data interface by which humans can manipulate data to serve their needs."

I do not quite comprehend.

I paused for a moment, shelving away the memories that could only be eliminated by drowning in work, and got to lecturing. It was very therapeutic, to focus on an aspect of life further removed from my own "How much do you know about human recording? Books, writing, all of that?"

I know that humans have short memories, hence they record. The other purposes of human records eludes me.

"That's... one way of expressing things," I decided. "Perhaps, humans do not have short memories as much as... a lot of information, too much for memory alone. For example... scents. Wild Pokémon have their own methods of outlining an individual by fur colour, scent, markings, etcetera, yes?"

Yes.

"Well, humans have height, weight, eye and skin colour, etcetera, and on a journey each individual human is guaranteed to meet at least a thousand other people," I diplomatically replied. "And then in history, we have keeping historical records, dissemination of knowledge through the media, the formation of legal systems etcetera. There is no way to remember everything except via recording. For example... here,"

I produced my PokéDex. "This device scans every Pokémon in its presence and provides a brief summary of its existence as representative of its species. For example..."

"Darkrai, the Pitch-Black Pokémon," it beeped as the mechanical voice read it out. "It chases people and Pokémon from its territory by causing them to experience deep, nightmarish slumbers."

"Originally, Pokémon records were kept in books as well," I raised my hands to indicate the dimensions of such editions. "Digitisation of information allows humans to collate the sum entirety of our knowledge, and technology has extended the reach of mankind to possibly the stars, no, perhaps more. So, in a tiny device like this PokéDex, people can actually collate the sum dimensions, features and habitats of all known Pokémon they encounter, usually specific to a human-defined region, although my edition is the National PokéDex."

So this device allows humans to identify which Pokémon are native to which region or habitat, Darkrai supplied.

"Yes," I nodded. "Amongst many. On a more general sense, the evolution of writing also allows for the storage and distribution of information. For example; why are the Fletchling localised around Santalune?"

I do not know.

"So to answer that, we go to Kalosian history," I then flicked the Holo Caster browser to Bulbapedia. "And look, Santalune Forest was used in the Dynasties Era for hunting, which also included the specialised art of falconry. It notes here that humans have been known to do things like transport whole populations of passage Fletchling for use in falconry, and thus resulting in the half-wild domestication of the Fletchling population. Hence, the localisation of the Fletchling line around Santalune Forest is not, in fact, natural, but a human effort."

I then switched my Holo Caster back to its word processing program. "Of course, records also reveal more than just the facts of our ancestors; they allow us to transmit knowledge, that in the candle-flame of a human lifetime we have collated, published and handed down knowledge to the next generation in exact format to ensure no ambiguity in presentation of the facts."

This lies beyond our comprehension, Darkrai answered. Man is mortal, and doomed to death and failure and loss. Why do you not despair?

"Are you talking about us as a race, or on an individual basis?" I asked.

As a race.

"I don't have a satisfactory answer to that. I can only suppose... for most humans, they ascribe to their lives a meaning from a higher power, usually Arceus. That life drives them to greater heights, to let them pursue much more. A human life could thus be said to be much more than mere survival. And even if we are gone... we have left a remnant. Human civilisation is the sum total of everything our ancestors accumulated, hence it is not a lone effort."

I do not know...

It should be strange, to be explaining to a Pokémon such things. I did not reflect much on the strangeness of such, more than curse why had no one developed such lines of thought before. Doubtlessly because in the pre-Revolution era, intellectuals were subject to summary execution. "You know these truths, Darkrai. Perhaps not consciously, but you do know."

I have spent much of my life upon Newmoon Island. I know of another of my kind within a small town in my home region, and yet... I do not know where it is. The woman I followed to the girl before I met you, she came to my island for some reason. I had hoped to shadow her long enough to arrive upon the main region undetected, but...

"Cynthia went to Newmoon Island?" I murmured. "Shocking. Continue."

I believed her to be searching for Cresselia, rather than I, and yet I followed her nightmares, and her, across an ocean. I was far away from home before I could latch on to the next... host. Thus I ended up in this region.

"Your kind are primarily attracted to nightmares, so Cynthia and Iris must have had nightmares..." I shook my head. Of course they had had nightmares. "Cynthia would have guaranteed your return to your home."

There is nothing awaiting me.

I paused to consider all of the implications of his words and the questions I could provoke. You are a Pokémon. Why would human knowledge matter to you? You would live forever; why care about these matters when in the end you would not change your fate? "Are you the only Darkrai upon Newmoon Island?"

I was never lonely. Yes, there are others of my kind. Yes, they exist upon Newmoon Island, bringing the scourge of nightmares once as the moon wanes. So it is us, and our way.

"You don't want that life for yourself," I guessed. "Forgive me if I state this, but that is a very... human thought."

I have come to realise that... perhaps, I am not typical of my kind. That I have been changed by humans, by you.

"Thank you," I frowned. "I am... not very sure. You are clearly capable of independent thought, no matter how incoherent, like Altair is."

Darkrai considered my meditating Lucario. The Lucario?

"Neither of you are typical of your species," I answered simply. "As for your situation... A Pokéball is not the answer I wish to resort to. If you are to continue to follow the boy and I, then there are consequences. Your presence shall be remarked upon. It shall be noticed. You will be alone, the only one of your kind within this region. And the knowledge I shall teach will change you, isolate you further. You will be neither human nor Pokémon, a Pokémon bearing the knowledge and mindset of both worlds. I will not cover knowledge; it will be stark and ugly truths that you may uncover, and most of the time those truths might scar you more than motivate you. Despite all of this, you would still embrace my offer?"

At this, Darkrai met my eyes, his own icy blue glowing. You have the effrontery to dictate at me the consequences already readily apparent,he thought at me. We are what we are. We were supposed to be cruel, cunning, heartless, and terrible. But this much I can tell you – the face pressed even closer, so that I was staring into the pitiless depths of his eyes – we never burned and tortured and ripped one another apart and called it morality. I will learn your knowledge. I will accept your methods. I do not care for morality either way, just a way to escape this foolishness.

"This absurdity... perhaps we have the same goal," I smiled, offering my hand. "Then you are a partner, and I must find another companion. Welcome to the party."

You wouldn't realise it, being in proximity to Dr du Bois, but she was a performer at heart. Perhaps her unusual introduction using a Chandelure to scare us should have been a hint, but it took a while before I realised that she was... well, maybe harbouring a secret desire to enter the Contest scene. If the Kalos region ever held Contests, she'd probably win. She did win in dragging my Pokémon and I out to the beach, that was a point.

Nearby, a group of Trainers stared, gaping, as a whole troupe of Ghost-type Pokémon made its way to the beach. I tried to linger behind, but Fletchinder pecked me in reminder, and I was then grabbed by the arm and forced to frog-march alongside the figure swathed in a black towel-robe towards the beach. The now-clean tarp had been laid out as an impromptu blanket, my Bulbasaur misappropriated as a weight by a grinning Jelly, who then proceeded to unleash a Hydro Pump at me, grinning. As I coughed and sputtered salty water, I could hear Darkrai sniggering. That's right, Darkrai.

"There is a game to play," Dr du Bois declared with complete seriousness to my Pokémon, the traitors. "Volleyball!"

I stripped off my shirt and hat, laying it out on the branch of a nearby tree to watch.

"Are you alright?" it was one of the starers, a rather pretty girl with hair like a Whimsicott and a grin to match the pranksters. "I'm Sophie. Those jokers-" she indicated the staring pack of wolf-men obsessed with Dr du Bois's thighs "-and I work at the Fossil Lab."

"Donar Oak," I groaned. "The mad woman is Dr du Bois. She's a sadist, prone to ordering people around, and nasty in general."

"She sounds terrible," Sophie agreed with me, eyeing Dr du Bois laid out on the ocean surface.

I blinked, before I turned my head. Yes, she was lying on that pink menace of a Jellicent, sunbathing, the paleness of her skin in contrast with the coral of that Jellicent and the black of her two-piece swimsuit. On one of the rocks nearby, a black robe hung, seemingly unwatched. I say seemingly, because I find it unbelievable that she didn't put any of her minions on the case.

"Is that a Jellicent?" one of the guys, this one wearing a towel draped over his shoulders and a tiny brief-like swimsuit squinted. "I thought they were native to Unova!"

With a groan, Dr du Bois sat up. "I've been to Unova. Quite close to Undella Bay."

"It looks strong," the guy offered. "I'm Pierce. How 'bout a Pokémon battle?"

"You really don't want to," I hurriedly intervened. "She's crazy and vicious. Really."

Dr du Bois looked down to her own Jellicent. "Your opinion?"

It burbled at her.

"I thought so," she nodded to Pierce. "Very well."

"Go, Accelgor!" Pierce released the Pokémon. It looked like a ninja with a giant pink head and dressed in black bandages. It glared as it landed safely upon the sand, the expression made all the more intimidating by the green and black markings it bore upon its face.

I made an immediate move for my PokéDex. Accelgor, the Shell Out Pokémon. When its body dries out, it weakens. So, to prevent dehydration, it wraps itself in many layers of thin membrane.

"Is that so?" Dr du Bois murmured. "Will you use only that Accelgor?"

"Let's try," Pierce smirked. "Accelgor, go, Double Team!"

"Jelly," Dr du Bois answered. "Trick salting."

"Blu, blu-blu," it burbled, before the boundaries of the field expanded, glowing with light that trapped both Trainers and Pokémon.

"This..." Pierce gaped.

"Jelly, Brine," Dr du Bois ordered, barely flinching.

"Accelgor, Giga Drain- Accelgor!" Pierce yelled as the pink menace suddenly reappeared to throw a barrage of water towards the ninja-like Pokémon.

"I applaud your decision to use Grass-type moves against my Water-type Jellicent," Dr du Bois pronounced, still perched on top of Jelly. "Toxic."

Accelgor was drenched in a purple liquid this time. Coughing, Pierce covered his nose. "Accelgor, don't breathe it in!"

"Use Recover, Jelly," Dr du Bois indicated, as the Jellicent glowed.

"Pierce, don't be stupid!" Sophie called from the sidelines.

It continued for that moment; Jelly dancing and recovering while the Accelgor hit, tried to hit, and eventually succumbed to the Toxic.

"Accelgor, are you with me?" Pierce finally asked the Pokémon, who gave an affirmative nod. "Good, Focus Blast!"

"Are you an idiot?" Dr du Bois dismissed as the chi blast Accelgor charged simply passed through the pink menace. "More than that, look at your Pokémon."

Pierce looked down at last, to see that Accelgor keel over. "Accelgor! What's wrong?"

"Accelgor has fainted," Dr du Bois declared. As she spoke, she was stringing a fishing line. "Jelly wins. The membranous coverings of an Accelgor are currently disrupted by an excess of salt water. Furthermore, the Toxic attack would slowly eat through the membrane in time. When that happens... who knows what would happen. Leave the winner's purse, and go to the Pokémon Centre."

"Somehow this cheeses me off..." Pierce growled. "Why didn't Focus Blast work?"

"What kind of idiot are you, Pierce?" Sophie called. "It's a Water/Ghost type Pokémon! Normal- and Fighting-type moves don't work on it! Anyway, hurry up and take her to a Pokémon Centre!"

"Fine," Pierce handed over his loss carefully. "Sophie, I'll be taking Accelgor to the Pokémon Centre."

"That Jellicent is hideously strong..." Sophie kept staring at it as it floated back out towards the sea. "Battle me!"

"You just saw her dominate that Accelgor, and now you want to battle?!" I exclaimed. "What if your Pokémon gets poisoned?"

"That won't happen," Sophie smiled. "Go, Escavelier!"

"I see," Dr du Bois pronounced as the large helmet-like Pokémon with attached red-and-white jousting swirls appeared from the Pokéball. As she spoke, the fishing line started twitching. "Unlike Accelgor, which is a pure Bug-type, speed and offensively oriented Pokémon, Escavelier is a slow and defensive Pokémon even though its physical attack is high. So the Trick Room and Toxic strategy won't work. If I am right... you owned the Shelmet that became that boy's Accelgor."

I pulled up my PokéDex to look. Escavelier, the Cavalry Pokémon. These Pokémon evolve by wearing the shell covering of a Shelmet. The steel armour protects their whole body.

"Yes," Sophie fiercely answered, with a Trainer's smirk as her Escavelier burbled in reply. "Pierce is as direct as they come, that's why Accelgor can't match up to your strategy. Escavelier won't be weak!"

Dr du Bois clicked her tongue, hoisting up a small blue Pokémon with large claws, grabbing it by the body to hold up its fainted form. "Donar, this is a Water-type Pokémon native to the Kalos region, Clauncher."

"Clauncher?" I echoed, looking up the entry. Clauncher, the Water Gun Pokémon. Through controlled expulsions of internal gas, it can expel water like a pistol shot. At close distances, it can shatter rock.

"Jelly, Scald," Dr du Bois then ordered, the comment having caught Sophie off-guard.

In answer, the pink menace shot a stream of steaming clouds towards the Escavelier, the armoured Pokémon bellowing in alarm as it was pushed off-course with the stream.

"Escavelier, Iron Defence!" Sophie quickly called.

"Ca!" the Pokémon answered, its armour shimmering as it strengthened in the face of the hot water.

"In Kalos, the hard shell of the Clauncher line protects its soft body," Dr du Bois began with the sort of half-dreamy face that was so eerie that opposing Trainers must have crapped their pants before. "So, to cook it, the original way is to boil a pot of water, and add salt and flavourings to the water. The Clauncher and its like is then immersed head-first into the boiling water, and the pot is closed. The Clauncher struggles, but slowly, within the same hard shell that protects its soft body, the Clauncher is cooked alive by the hot, boiling water."

"Escavelier!" Sophie screamed as the stream let up, the armoured knight-like Pokémon tottering about. "Are you alright? Say that you're alright!"

"Escavelier are bugs contained in a suit of armour," Dr du Bois commented darkly. "It's so befitting, is it not? That a Pokémon as armoured as the Clauncher line be boiled alive."

"Escavelier!" Sophie rushed to pick up her Pokémon. "Ouch!" She dropped it a heartbeat later, blowing on her fingers. The water had rendered the Pokémon too hot for her to touch.

I grabbed a towel from my bag, offering it to her. "Use this. We need to get Escavelier to the Pokémon Centre!"

"She's... she's a monster," Sophie gasped as we ran up the steps that would lead to the Ambrette Pokémon Centre, Escavelier bundled into the towel and moaning. "A monster..."

"Sophie, what is it?" Pierce called from the counter, Accelgor presumably having been taken by Nurse Joy's Wigglytuff.

"Oh, this is-" From the reception counter, Nurse Joy squinted at the Cavalry Pokémon. "A burn!"

"That Jellicent..." Sophie related. Pierce shuddered.

"Will Escavelier be fine?" Sophie frantically asked Nurse Joy as the armoured Pokémon was taken away.

"It'll be fine," Nurse Joy quickly assured. "May I ask... did you two trade a Shelmet and Karrablast to evolve your Pokémon?"

"Yes," Pierce nodded. "I traded my Karrablast for her Shelmet. Is that a problem?"

"No wonder they have such good bonds," Nurse Joy commented. "I thought they came from a Double Battle..."

"No, they were defeated one by one by the same Pokémon, a Jellicent," Sophie insisted. "This is cruel... Escavelier was almost boiled alive!"

"Accelgor was poisoned!" Pierce insisted.

"Well..." Nurse Joy chuckled. "It sounds like the two of you just left a very terrifying Trainer..."

"She was!" Sophie vigorously nodded.

"What's her problem, anyway?" Pierce commented. "Donar, how did you end up travelling with her?!"

"She's... very pragmatic," I answered. "I think she just likes to finish battles as quickly as possible."

"She was talking about cooking Clauncher..." Sophie shuddered. "While ordering her Jellicent to use Scald on Escavelier... it was terrifying. I thought... I thought she wanted to eat my Escavelier..."

"Oh, you're the boy with the Bagon, right?" Nurse Joy suddenly started. "Bagon just woke up."

"It did?" I exclaimed. "Can I see him?"

"Sure," Nurse Joy led us from the reception counter to a hallways of doors, then choosing one door. "Here."

Till today, I had no idea what a Pokémon Centre room for Pokémon was supposed to resemble. There were padded baskets of sorts, arranged like bunk beds around. Most of the baskets were of different sizes, with the larger ones arranged below. Tiny steps on either side of the baskets completed the arrangement.

"Thanks to the doctor's first aid, Bagon could be moved to the general ward after twelve hours," Nurse Joy chattered as she approached one of the lower baskets. "This basket is for younger and smaller Pokémon like Drifloon and that Bagon."

"That Bagon was young?" I blinked.

"Well..." Nurse Joy paused to recall. "About a year old, actually. Pokémon might be born ready to fight, but young Bagon are quite solitary, since Salamence parents aren't known to parent much."

We approached the basket. "Ba," the Bagon wrapped in a warm-looking blanket within reported. Its head, armoured plate and all, was wrapped in bandages.

"It's a bit risky for this Bagon," Nurse Joy frowned. "That doctor said that it has the Sheer Force ability, so maybe that's why it actually got injured."

"Ability?" I asked. "Is that important?"

"Some Pokémon can have a different ability," Nurse Joy explained. "For example, in the case of Bagon, most Bagon have the ability Rock Head, which protects their head and also prevents them from taking recoil damage in battle. But, this Bagon has the ability Sheer Force. It gives certain moves more power, but without secondary effects activating."

"So it hits hard?" Pierce commented. "That's great!"

"Bagon with Sheer Force usually don't develop the same hardness of their companions," Nurse Joy sadly related. "So, when they do their cliff jumping... the chance of their skull splitting on impact is actually very high."

"That's dangerous," Sophie said.

"Precisely," Nurse Joy answered. "And tomorrow, we'll have to release him. When we do, he'll climb the mountains, and then, he will jump again... and who knows if he would return."

I reached a hand out to Bagon. "Hi. You nearly hit me on your jump down."

"Ba, Bagon," it replied, before accepting my hand as I petted it.

"It likes you," Nurse Joy commented. "Well, will you be seeing him off tomorrow?"

"I will," I nodded. "Bagon... you'll fly one day. Definitely."

"Ba, Bagon!" it cheered.

"It looks quite cute," Sophie commented.

"True," Pierce was eyeing the Bagon. "Sheer Force, huh... that's a rare ability. This Bagon would be very popular in battling circles."

"Ba..." the Bagon yawned, and rather pitifully at that.

"... see you, then," I nodded to Nurse Joy as the four of us left it alone.

When did Dr du Bois actually drop in with that information? I wondered, but I couldn't remember.

"Ahh!" I started. "The Clauncher!"

I had not known Dr du Bois much. However, I had the feeling that she might actually go through with eating the Clauncher. And she actually might boil it alive.

Dr du Bois was exactly where we had left her; sunbathing on top of her Jellicent, except that somewhere along the line Liz and Altair were perched on the rocks. Aegis and Crystal were playing chase with Fletchinder, and Frogadier and Jelly were splashing near the coast, though Frogadier stayed further from the tide line than the pink menace. Altair and Darkrai were tending to a pot set over a camp-fire, somehow hot enough that steam was floating off the surface. I had a suspicion...

"Please tell me you haven't cooked that Clauncher," I automatically asked in concern. Dr du Bois might be cruel, but cooking a wild Clauncher was just cruel and unusual.

This? Darkrai lifted the blue relative of a Krabby by its tail, preventing the pincer claw, or the Water Pulses that the Pokémon was feebly firing, from injuring any of us. She promises to teach me a new method of human food preparation.

"Wait," I breathed. "I thought... that babble you spouted at Sophie, the Escavelier... that was real?"

Dr du Bois turned to consider me with lazy eyes. "Hmm? Oh, yes, of course it was."

"I thought you were psyching her out!" I yelled in shock.

"I was," Dr du Bois shrugged. "The fact remains that Clauncher are eaten boiled alive is real. A dangerous pastime, but no less true. The coasts of Kalos will offer many more before the loss of one is remarked upon. I have hardly ever needed to twist the truth."

"You're really going to boil it alive?!" I shouted, appalled. The Clauncher was struggling in Darkrai's claw. "You're going to... cook it here?"

"Is there a problem?" Dr du Bois commented. "Pokémon eat other Pokémon. Humans eat Pokémon. In the world of Pokémon, this is the ecological system of the world. This food chain is balance."

"It's horrible!" I swallowed. "There must be another way!"

"...knock it out before stewing," Dr du Bois relented.

"Or don't eat it," I retorted.

"Why should I not?" Dr du Bois asked.

"How would you feel if you were the one being boiled alive?" I said.

"How I would feel may or may not be comparable to how a different life form feels," Dr du Bois actually retaliated. "Similarly, using excessively graphic descriptions with misleading vividness to evoke a negative reaction is a logical fallacy. To equate lobsters to humans, to project our emotions and reasoning capabilities onto a large crustacean is a fallacy; a fabrication, based not on reality, but on ignorance, delusion, and deception."

"It's a Pokémon," I whispered as it struggled there, somehow aware of its imminent and painful demise but unable to escape.

"Mmm," Dr du Bois cocked her head, and accepted the Clauncher from Darkrai.

"Altair, stop her," I pleaded with the Lucario.

He did not answer.

"Darkrai!" I then turned to the Pitch-Black Pokémon. "That's just wrong!"

I have eaten other Pokémon as well, Darkrai flatly answered. Eating is part of the cycle of life. Are you saying that I am wrong?

Of Dr du Bois's own Pokémon, Liz was floating by the side, clearly avidly paying attention; the Ghost-type Pokémon looked unconcerned. Frogadier looked at me calmly, waiting; Fletchinder was avidly staring at the Clauncher, and Bulbasaur looked indifferent.

"Bulba?" it blinked.

"Dr du Bois, there are other options," I whispered.

"But it is food," she answered, confused. "Open the pot. Shall we begin?"

I saw her hand lower, with the Clauncher's struggling form still within her grasp. I saw Sophie's hands, scorched from contact with boiling hot seawater. I saw, as I had then in her face, a desperate, fervent desire that recognised the significance of that injury and death, while in no way feeling any sympathy for the loss.

The hot water steamed as I tipped it over. It went into the sand, the dry wood surrounded by aluminium foil, the flames. The camp-fire crackled and popped, the steam scorching hot, burning my hands. I hissed as I drew them back, looking into the wooden expression of Dr Marguerite Linden du Bois. She had yet to let go of the pathetically wriggling Clauncher.

"You are not cooking this Clauncher," I flatly replied. "None of you are eating this Clauncher, period."

Handing the Clauncher to Altair, Dr du Bois turned her back, walking back towards Ambrette Town. She had neglected to take her robe along, so a woman in a black bikini drew some odd looks in the midday sun.

Silently, Altair dropped the Water Gun Pokémon. The Water-type, perhaps sensing freedom at hand, scuttled, trying to reach for the waves before a stray Wingull swooped down and caught it. Soaring high above, the Wingull cawed, making off with its prey.

Such a waste, Darkrai murmured, floating towards the laid-out tarp. It would have been reborn once the bones were flung into the mother ocean. Now you have simply given away our dinner.

As I saw him go, I spotted the blue speck of a Clauncher dashed against the rocky cliffs, the joyous cries of the Wingull as they swooped down upon its carcass echoing across the beach.

A problem that has plagued me all my life was with regards to impulses. As a child I found my temper was barely helped by moving across regions in Maman's pursuit of Rhyhorn racing, and Grace Linden was hardly in any mood to settle down until her imminent divorce from my father, the late diagnostician Dr Hugo du Bois. I often found myself falling to new impulses, and from the ways that all of my plans usually went, those impulses had saved my life. Years of Pokémon battles had refined them with knowledge, and had also contributed to my eventual decision to enter the medical faculty as Daisy Linden. Upon the creation of Marguerite Linden du Bois, I had changed to the social sciences on a whimsy. She had been an accident, an impulse creation, a new identity... and what I had been looking for. Professor Sycamore, Augustine, knew, but had said nothing. I had information to wreck his standing in the world, after all.

Either way, most of my revenges were also petty impulses, but in some cases, I wanted Donar to remember it. I wanted to make such a lasting impact that he would think thrice of offending me. What if I had had less scruples? I would have called Augustine for a new test subject already, and Donar's body would have been feeding the sea-dwelling Pokémon.

So I walked into the hotel and ordered room , the speciality of the day, and advance orders. I waited at the restaurant, where my Pokémon greeted me, having packed up my things. For those wondering about the efficiency of my camp, I would say that teaching Pokémon how to set up and dismantle shelter was some of the most precise things I had taught them. Aside from unlocking doors.

Donar was uncomfortably trying not to meet my eyes; not an easy feat, especially in a rather empty restaurant. The bouillabaisse was served, with the boy picking at the food. "Erm..."

The Pokémon was seated at the same table, as was all of us. The concierge had given in after a bribe. I dipped a sliced baguette into the plate in front of me, sprinkling on some of the shredded cheese before handing it over to Darkrai for a taste, and preparing another for Altair. "Hmm?"

"I... I'm sorry, doctor,"Donar confessed. "For... what I did. That was immature."

"It was my fault, too," I gave in. "I should have killed it, lest I offended your squeamish sensibilities. Take the soup before it gets cold. You'll need strength."

Donar shuddered, before starting on the soup.

This is an unusual dish, Darkrai sighed halfway through crunching. Indeed, the flavour of spices and fish contrast with this unusual crispiness. What does it consist of?

"A stock of Magikarp bones boiled in seawater, mixed with the flesh of a Shellder, chopped potatoes, egg yolk, garlic, Oran oil, pistils of the Maranga flower, salt and Tamato slices," I listed, watching peripherally as Donar's face slowly turned green. "Since someone disrupted the feast of cooked Clauncher, tomorrow we shall have the local speciality of Clauncher bisque, where the imps are sautéed lightly in their shells before being simmered with wine and aromatic ingredients, strained and then added with cream. After all, we must always cook the bottom feeders well first. Oh, and perhaps if there is time, I would have the concierge rough up a cooked Clauncher."

Donar now looked fully ill, as if he expected to vomit up the soup.

"People used to eat Bunnelby in the Kalosian Revolution era," I mused. "I wonder if I can get one for roasting. But you won't eat it, would you, Donar? Because that would be hypocritical of you."

"Thanks for the meal," Donar stood up, and left without a word.

This is revenge, is it? Altair tapped onto the entire point why I was now splurging on room service.

"The boy needs to learn," I shrugged. "That this world is not as kind as he chooses to believe."

"People sell it," I told Fletchinder. "People actually sell Fletchinder like you to be... cooked."

It chirped, half in confusion and half wondering. Frogadier gave a croak of understanding, having touched just the bread and water carafe. I had set Bulbasaur in the shower, and was currently brushing his scales after having rinsed out my own mouth.

"The fact isn't in the... eating," I swallowed. "It's that people actually turn this into a business."

"Fle, fle," Fletchinder chirruped in agreement.

"Eating a sentient being has got to have limits." I groaned, trying not to remember the warm bouillabaisse in my mouth. Or the menu over the subsequent days. Or Dr du Bois and her ghostly retinue currently feasting on the remains of innocent Pokémon.

Dr du Bois, needless to say, really gave me the creeps.

I left the hotel room with my Pokémon, without a word to the lady at the concierge. Dr du Bois was probably still in the restaurant, so I considered as I walked down the beach in the hot sun. I did not see Pierce or Sophie around; they'd probably left.

Somehow, my feet had taken me to the Ambrette Fossil Lab. I stood outside, blinking at the peeling painted exterior and at the rather plain construction. If it weren't because we conducted something like an anti-crime heist here, I think the only reason I'd approach it was to get a Fossil Pokémon.

"Oh, you're..." I turned around to see Officer Jenny. "You brought in the injured Bagon."

"Yes, Officer Jenny," I greeted. "Donar Oak."

"Bonjour, Mr Oak," Officer Jenny tersely answered. "Did you need something?"

"Erm..." I swallowed. "Just... wondering about the Fossil Pokémon."

"Well, at least someone might actually be interested in that," Officer Jenny sighed. "Most of them seem fascinated by Gary Oak. And the Darkrai, the entire town was buzzing with the Darkrai. Come in, then."

With Bulbasaur whining beside me, I walked into the lab. Stainless steel shelves holding rocks, bones and stuff I would need a geological degree or Dr du Bois to explain were displayed in the main foyer, and that was when I came face to face with Gary Oak, aged from his Trainer days and in a lab coat.

"M. Oak," Officer Jenny greeted. "I'm here to return the evidence that those thieves were after last night. Thankfully they were caught red-handed, although the fact that there's a Darkrai flying around is... rather suspicious."

"Oh, no prob," Gary replied, accepting something stuck in a paper bag. "And this boy is..."

"Donar Oak," Officer Jenny introduced us. "He was with the woman who reported the link between an injured Bagon and the thefts of fossils from the laboratory."

"Dr du Bois did all the work," I protested.

"Anyway, I'll just leave the two of you to stay and chat," Officer Jenny lifted her hat. "Au revoir!"

"Du Bois... Marguerite du Bois?" Gary commented as Officer Jenny left. "Huh. Think I've met her before."

"Did she verbally eviscerate you?"

"Nah," Gary shook his head. "Probably not her, then. Donar Oak, eh?"

I shrugged.

"What's an up-and-coming Pokémon Trainer hanging around a Pokémon researcher for, then?" Gary wrinkled his nose, almost frowning. "Last I heard, Sycamore was still conducting his experiments in Lumiose City."

"Erm, she's doing a study on young Trainers or something like that," I answered.

Gary's face then fell. "Oh. That Dr du Bois."

We shared a look of shared pain. It seemed readily apparent that for some reason, she had intimidated him into submission.

"I think her field was in the arts, though," Gary commented. "Why is she exactly following a young Trainer around? Guess it's a holiday at the Sycamore Lab's expense."

"No," I shook my head. "I think she's serious."

"So, what are you here for?" Gary smirked, but changed the subject. "If it's a Fossil Pokémon, you're going to have to find a Fossil yourself."

"No," I shook my head. "I just... needed to get out for a bit, before we start for Cyllage City. Second badge."

"Ah," Gary nodded. "Doing a League run, then?"

"Trying."

"Well, the old man always said that a journey would show you a way," Gary nodded.

"I just..." I paused. "I can't understand her."

"You can't understand..." Gary cut off, staring at me. "You're ten."

"Thirteen," I corrected. "She... she's just unusual. It's... it's my first time in a strange region I've never seen, away from the Indigo continent, you know."

Gary knelt down to my level. He looked rather baffled, something in his eyes curious. "Erm... do any of your friends know that you're in Ambrette?"

"Serena's in the next town, getting her Braixen seen to," I answered. "Shauna might still be in Camphrier with her and Serena's dad, or she might be in Cyllage. I haven't seen Tierno or Trevor around since Camphrier Town. We started at the same time, but... Dr du Bois makes them uncomfortable, especially since our first impression was with her Chandelure haunting the Vaniville Pathway. Why?"

"She doesn't..." Gary paused. "...make you... uncomfortable?"

What? What?! "No! She's not like that! She's just... very mature and confident and she scares me. Today she tried to cook a Clauncher by boiling it alive, and I said not to, and... and then I upset the cooking water and then she went to order room service, all the seafood soups while elaborately detailing the Pokémon that goes into the food, and I- I can't get around that idea."

Gary looked down, nodding with sudden comprehension. "I think I get what you say. It's like you're faced with a Pidgey for a companion, but then you realise that other Pidgey get cooked into crispy fried drumsticks. Or worse."

I nodded, rubbing at my eyes that had decided to water for some reason.

"I... I'm sorry," Gary shook his head. "It's just... well, I know a few Trainers who decided to become vegetarian for that exact same reason. Or they create alternatives, or they just choose not to think about it. It's a harsh topic for any Trainer, especially when you begin to realise that in some cases, whatever steak you were eating could have become your partner in battle, right?"

I nodded.

"And she chose to cook a Clauncher in front of you, knowing this?" Gary asked.

"Yeah." I shrugged.

"Did the Sycamore Laboratory let her out alone like this?" Gary asked quietly.

"Professor Sycamore told me to call him if something went wrong," I answered, studying the floor. "But, Dr du Bois was right. If they could serve Pokémon so... so normally... maybe I'm the one who's wrong. Maybe this is just her- her way of educating me."

Gary Oak stood back up. "Are you going to meet Dr du Bois?"

"Not now," I shook my head. "I wanted... to ask. About fossil Pokémon. What makes them different, things like that. I'm not going to stay at the Hotel Ambrette like she is, still at the restaurant."

"I'd like to meet her," Gary smiled, a wan expression. "She's still at the Hotel Ambrette?"

I said yes, and then Gary flounced around. "Oh, right, the fossil Pokémon. I think Professor Martin can show you the two Pokémon we've found native to Kalos."

"Native to Kalos?" I followed him eagerly.

"Pokémon like Aerodactyl used to be thought of as native to the Indigo continental shelf," Gary explained. "Imagine our surprise when we found that nearly all known Pokémon fossils, including Old Amber, were found in the Kalos region, along with two newly discovered fossil Pokémon."

Leading to the end of a hallway, he slotted a key-card through a wall-mounted scanner. The door opened to reveal an enclosed valley, surrounded by possibly an extension of the cliffs and there, Gary led me in, closing the door behind me. "Look, here's one!"

Approaching us on unsteady legs was a quadruped, dinosaur-like Pokémon. It had a long neck and a short, stubby tail. Above its large, deep blue eyes are two billowing structures, yellow fading into pink towards the tips in an iridescent fashion. Its skin was a sky-blue, its belly white, with a single dark blue crystal on each side of its body. "Mara!"

I held out a hand, completely still as it huffed, a wave of cold air washing over me.

"The thieves last night, their aim was this, amongst many." Gary's voice took on a sheen of disgust. "This is Amaura, the Tundra Pokémon. So far, it's the only Rock/Ice dual-type Pokémon known in the National PokéDex."

Sensing nothing wrong, Amaura let me pet its head, its gentle blue eyes fluttering. "It's very nice," I commented.

"We believe that it lived long ago in a cold land without violent predators, since its temperament seems very even," Gary explained. "We've found the corpses of its evolution, Aurorus, trapped in ice at the deep end of the Glittering Cave. Right now, the prevalent theory was that these Pokémon were living without the threat of predators around the Sinnoh region, before continental drift brought violent prehistoric predators like the Aerodactyl and Tyrantrum into contact with the Aurorus population."

I sighed, my breath crystallising in the air in contact with Amaura as the Ice-type Pokémon cooed, the iridescent structures of its head shifting more to a green colour. "What happened to them?"

Gary hesitated. "They met that."

I turned around, seeing another Pokémon. Unlike Amaura, there was nothing nice about this one. Being a stony greyish-brown colour, with lighter grey on their bellies and lower jaw, its jaw looked intimidatingly huge with a ridged snout. Its back bent over in a peaked hump, ending in a short and pointed tail. Tiny forelimbs with only two white clawed digits contrasted with robust hind legs ending in three white claws and a grey rear claw. Spiky, white fluff surrounded its head like the petals of some demented flower.

It blinked large white eyes. Orange, triangular horns extend from above each eye and point backwards shifted as it opened a proportionally large jaw to roar and make to bite Amaura.

"No," Gary smacked the brownish carnivore on the snout, severely forbidding. "This is Tyrunt, the Royal Heir Pokémon. It's another Pokémon with a unique type combination, being classed as a Rock/Dragon dual-type. It's one of the few known Pokémon that are truly carnivorous, and we believe that it died out due to overfeeding. Well, that theory sort of holds water, but loses out when we realised that Ice-type Pokémon would not have been targeted by the Tyrunt."

"Because of the type disadvantage?" I asked.

"Yeah," Gary nodded. "Its body structure also means that a lot of food is needed to maintain him, hence the species and its evolution Tyrantrum theoretically could have died out of starvation due to some ice age related to the Amaura and Aurorus."

I looked as the Tyrunt grumbled, but accepted Gary's petting and the offer of a Sitrus Berry with Amaura. That magnificent Pokémon could have resurrected and returned... they were amazing. Incredible.

So why did they die, a tiny voice asked, a sudden thought. I banished it. It sounded like what Dr du Bois would say.

I left the lab with Gary Oak, smiling.

I kept my hand in with Pokémon battles, of course. Somewhere along the line, I had realised that Altair and Vega were not exactly emotionally stable. My suicidal stumble upon Crystal in the Mélancholie Path was a stroke of fortune that later led to a field trip to Unova, a sojourn around Parfum Palace and stumbling along Liz in Lumiose City's Magenta Market. However, I had a more unusual way of training. Or perhaps not so unusual. Games had been utilised by Trainers across the ages to train Pokémon, after all.

"Altair, spike!" I called. Altair bounced the volleyball, the projectile reaching the apex of its ascent before falling once more. "Darkrai, dive!"

Jelly shot a Water Spout up, interrupting Darkrai's diving smack to wall the volley, which was manipulated by Liz casting a Grass Knot. I smacked the ball straight, and Altair countered, or would have if Crystal had not chosen that time to manipulate her arms to smack the ball back, allowing Jelly an easy counter.

Aegis clashed as the ball touched the ground, and there were groans. I made a curse, picking it back up to check for marks, punctures, burns and associated damage. I kept waiting for the time when I had to hand the deflated skin back to the owner from whom I rented the ball and refund him. "Right, Team Red two-two. Ready?"

The Dark-type and Fighting-type Pokémon present gave looks to each other, counted Aegis's tasselled fingers displayed, got my meaning, and began planning. I knew there was a way for such Pokémon with violent inclinations to bond with each other.

Aegis threw the ball, which arced into a hit that caused Darkrai to leap, smacking it. Jelly blocked it with her own body, causing it to bounce, and I slapped it towards Crystal. Altair was ready though, using his paw to adjust the ball before smacking it back, and ending the tie.

"Dr du Bois!" Donar called, waving as he descended the stepped pathway that led from Ambrette Town to the coast. His Fletchinder hovered near his head, squawking. "Someone's here to meet you!"

Behind him, I spotted Gary Oak trying to, and failing, not to stare at me. Or, rather, slightly lower down. His head came back up, though, so I merely assumed that moment of human weakness as someone unused to Kalosian dress.

"Doctor, this is Gary Oak," Donar introduced. "Gary, this is Dr du Bois, I was talking about her to you."

"We've met," I cheerfully answered.

Gary's face scrunched up. "We have?"

"The Viridian Conference on Anthro-Pokémon Relations about three years ago, in which you were a keynote speaker for the Rowan Laboratory," I supplied. "Of course, I was a huge fan of how your Arcanine also managed to set fire to the displays."

Of course, I had also attended his talks on medicinal practices for the Rock-type, but there was no way he would remember.

"Oh, yeah," Gary nodded, blushing. "You were there?"

"I was your opposition," I gently replied.

Gary stopped, and then paled. "Oh. Right. About the possible impact of fossil Pokémon on the present ecosystem."

"I find that, while science can indeed perform miracles, the humanities explain why miracles might not be such a good idea," I demurred. "I do hope that Trainers would elect to learn from mistakes rather than be injured in the process, do you not? I imagine you are very acquainted with the tragedies of a Trainer."

Any will that Gary Oak had had was gone, cut down to size. "I am. In fact... I believe that there is another Trainer headed to Cyllage City. Perhaps he could follow all of you."

I looked to Donar. "Your decision?"

"That sounds great!" Donar answered with a sort of genuine cheer.

"Then I hope this Trainer shall be able to fend for himself," I concluded with grace, before grabbing my Holo Caster. "Beginning Trainers have a tendency to gravitate in groups, possibly a form of herd instinct that allows them strength in numbers traversing the routes of Kalos. Reference here the origin of criminal organisation formation via social learning theory."

"Huh?" Gary blinked. I ignored the two of them until they went away.

The older one thinks that you bear ill will to the boy, Altair communicated.

"Hmm," I noted. "Tell me something I don't know. Aside from that Canalave style is a pain to use on a Holo Caster."

Polyandry is common amongst the wild of my kind.

That discovery would have allowed me to one-up Professor Elm's status as the authority on Pokémon breeding patterns. "Well, that makes sense. A known seven-to-one male-female ratio would have made it such that females would be protected. Also more protection for the eggs. Although I believe that single-ratio pairings are more common, are they not?"

I do not understand, Darkrai cut in. How is this discussion relevant?

I blinked, considering Darkrai's perspective. "Darkrai... how do your kind reproduce?"

Reproduce? I was not referring to the diversion into the breeding practices of Lucario, Darkrai clarified. I was talking about the man, and the boy. Neither of them were looking for me, since I felt... my involvement has endangered you.

"I anticipated that Donar would talk to an adult," I answered. "An adult in Ambrette Town would know that Clauncher are listed under the Kalosian Code for Edibles as suitable for cooking. Either he would realise that there is no legal basis for his protest, or he would find someone conscientious enough to bring to me, at which I shall then proceed to argue with them, no matter who they are. He brought Gary Oak, who I know through the grapevine faced the death of a Raticate in Kanto and proceeded to give up Pokémon training after that death preyed on him throughout his Johto League run. Despite that right now Gary Oak believes me to be a form of child predator or perhaps placing the boy under psychological abuse of a sort, he wants to assign another Trainer to come with us under the guise of travelling in numbers. Presumably to gather evidence to bring before the Sûreté and Augustine."

I thought he could report to that officer. Jenny?

"Despite my questionable brain, I still hold tenure within the Sycamore Research Institute," I answered. "Gary Oak is passionate, but he is also an academic. He is well aware that to speak out so directly would ruin his research. For a boy he barely knows, he will try, but no further."

How eminently practical. Hovering to my eye level now that we were alone, Darkrai's eye stared towards the direction where Donar had left. One more variable to be introduced... I contemplated the data at hand. Perhaps either the self-control theory of crime or the social control theory could come into play. Also look into the extent that anthro-Pokémon socialisation could be limited by individual journeys.

Promising data all. No closer to discovering the root of the problem, the propagation of the Trainer system... especially for those who reach the top, the costs such a system has placed on us all.

Edit: he has not. His illusions persists. The subject is a naïve child yet; or perhaps... I am the one left out of touch with reality within my own head.

Delete last comment.

Note: The French word 'gendarmes' is used for a military police force. It is usually used to cover small towns and the countryside. There is the National Police, better known under the old name of the Sûreté Nationale. That covers towns and cities. Looking at the spread of cities, I believe that the Kalosian police would take a more urban approach as well, hence the police is referred to here as the Sûreté.

On a side note, French policemen are nicknamed as chickens, not as slang, but rather a homage that the Central Police Station was set up on a former bird market. This information was possibly played upon with the Mega Blaziken in the Pokémon animé.

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