"Gabe," Ray mumbled. It was way too early in the morning to be waking up. "Stop poking me."
Gabe squawked shrilly in response, and the touching started moving down from Ray's chest to his waist. Ray turned and sat up in his sleeping bag, confused. "Wha—"
Squawk! It wasn't Gabe. A little bird was standing by his legs, and when it saw Ray sitting up it squeaked excitedly, jumping on his lap and hopping up and down.
Ray picked it up and held it in his hands, and it beamed at him. Even he had to admit it was insanely cute. And it wasn't really a bird—it was feathery, sure, but the wings were more like arms. The feathers were yellow on the body, blue at the ends of the arms, and red by the neck and tail. The tail itself had one big, blue, diamond-shaped feather. Ray glanced over to his bag and saw the egg—broken and empty.
So it hatched! Ray got up and went over to get his Pokédex, and the little not-quite-bird followed him, waving its feathery arms in the air. It peered at Gabe and Stanley, but never left Ray's side.
The Pokédex had little information, save that the species, Archen, was supposedly extinct. The pictures shown were just of fossils, so it was possible Ray had the only living member of the species. But he doubted it.
The Archen squawked again, demanding attention. Ray sat down in front of it, entertaining it by holding its tiny claws and shaking its arms. He had to think of a good name for it.
Hawken? No, it wasn't even a bird. Squawks? He'd probably regret that one later on. Flayer? No, didn't sound right.
Eventually, though, Ray decided on a name: Archie. It was perfect. Ray yawned, satisfied with his choice, and Archie mimicked him by opening wide and giving a weird yawnlike cry. It made Ray chuckle, and Archie squawked gleefully.
"Wake up, Gabe!" Ray said in high spirits. It was probably Archie's excitement rubbing off on him. "It's time to get going!"
Chargestone Cave made the hair on the back of Ray's neck stand up, but probably only because of the place's unusual electrostatic properties. Spolt wandered from rock to sparking rock, enjoying the energy they radiated, but Felsin and Archie stayed by Ray's side. Dax and Terral had opted out of the excursion, and were resting in their balls.
Squawk! Archie's cry echoed throughout the huge, cavernous passageway. Floating rocks big and small littered the place, but all the ones in the way had been moved already. Those rocks were the only source of light in the cave.
"So is this the path through?" Gabe asked. They were walking on a paler, worn path on the cave floor.
"Probably," Stanley said.
"What's wrong?" Ray murmured. Felsin was hugging his side, even as he walked. "Are you scared?"
Felsin's timid reply echoed back and forth. He was too big to be hiding the way he was, but he tried anyway.
"It's okay," Ray assured his Armaldo. "Nothing here's gonna hurt you." Maybe Felsin needed to see his reflection, to realize how much he had changed. He could walk on land now, and take on anything.
As they walked on through the cave, Ray found he was right. There weren't any Pokémon at all.
"Why do you think it's like this?" Gabe asked when Ray brought it up. "Like that other cave."
"Wouldn't be surprised if it had to do with convergence," Stanley said, saying the word with disapproval.
"Wow, that took longer than I thought," Ray said as everyone emerged on the other side of Chargestone Cave. It had taken them almost two hours to get through, and that was without any harassment from wild Pokémon. Felsin finally left Ray's side, and went over to walk with Spolt and Archie. Despite being smaller than the other two, the Archen somehow managed to keep pace.
"Well, there's Mistralton," Stanley said, pointing. The cave practically ended right where the city began, with only a little field separating the two. "You know, Ray, you should get Archie in a ball before we hit the city."
"Oh, yeah," Ray said. He had totally forgotten that Archie was technically wild. He fished a brand new Poké Ball from his bag, held it in his palm, and knelt down in front of Archie.
"Archie, this is gonna be your ball," he told it. Archie glanced at Felsin, before nosing the ball curiously and hitting the button. The ball clicked open, enveloping it in light and then capturing it. Something inside the ball clicked, without the usual wiggling that meant a struggle was taking place. As soon as the ball settled, Ray hit the button again and freed Archie, letting it inspect the ball a second time. Archie squawked, puzzled.
"Well, that was easy," Stanley observed.
"Let's go to the Gym!" Gabe urged. He pulled out the map. "It's over—"
"Actually," Ray interrupted, clipping Archie's ball to his belt, "we should go see the Horizon guy first."
"Well... fine," Gabe mumbled, putting away the map. He let out his Growlithe, walking alongside it. Ray couldn't help but think Gabe was irritated about something, but he didn't know what. And when he asked about things like that, they usually just got worse.
The lobby of the Horizon Experimental Technologies headquarters building wasn't fancy like a big hotel's, but it was kept spotless. Nobody was there, except for a kind-looking young receptionist at a desk by the elevators. She typed on a computer and consulted a ledger simultaneously.
"Hi," Ray greeted her. "I—"
"He's ready for you now," she said, giving them nothing more than a moment's glance. "Twelfth floor."
"Okay... thanks," Ray mumbled, confused.
When Stanley and Gabe started to follow him to the elevators, the receptionist looked up again. "Wait," she called. "Him only. I'm sorry, but that's how it goes. We got chairs here, you can make yourselves comfortable." She grabbed a remote and turned on a flat-screen TV over by the chairs, before returning to her work. The chairs looked like they were stolen from a dentist's office or something.
Ray shrugged at his two friends, pushing the elevator call button. "I guess I'll see back soon," he said. When the elevator came, he stepped in and sent himself to the twelfth floor.
"I am so glad you came, Raymond," Pierre Hensef said, smiling. "You saved me a lot of trouble. Have a seat."
The twelfth floor was one huge room, with all of the light coming from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Pierre was sitting at a desk with his back to the morning sky, leaning forward with his arms crossed. There were only a few chairs lying around—the floor didn't seem too useful for a business skyscraper. Ray took a chair nervously.
"I kept this floor empty because the view is beautiful," Pierre said, glancing at the landscape behind him. "It's like a beautiful painting that—"
"Excuse me, but why do you want me here?" Ray said, hoping the interruption wasn't too offensive. Pierre made him even more nervous in person.
"—A painting that changes every day," Pierre finished, frowning. He stood up and paced behind his desk. "You're here because we need you."
"For what?"
"Convergence will happen tomorrow—we changed the date, waiting for you. We need you for this to happen."
"I don't—"
"We have done a plethora of tests on this new world. We've sent objects to it, you know. And before we figured out how to send people, we discovered we could take someone's mind and have it exist in both worlds—without the knowledge of either. That's you. Nimbasa was an accident, but now I don't regret it at all."
"Wait, so you need me for the convergence thing? I thought it was already happening!" Ray glanced back at the elevator, wondering how long it would take to come if he called it.
"It is!" Pierre insisted. "But it needs a little push. Tomorrow's the day the two worlds are closest. And you're going to help us bring them together."
Ray still didn't know if convergence was real. But he knew that he was getting out of here as soon as he could. "Uh... What are you gonna do?"
"Bring your two minds together. It might not end well for you, but convergence is the ultimate goal. You understand, yes?"
"No, not really," Ray muttered. "I don't want to do that, whatever you're doing."
Pierre laughed, turning from the window to glare at Ray. "But you have no choice in the matter!"
Ray stood up. "If you can send people over, then why not just send the people who want to go? You don't have to drag in people who don't want to!"
"It's for the good of everyone, Raymond. Sit down."
Ray didn't sit down. "No, I'm not doing this." He made for the elevator, punching the button.
Pierre reached inside his coat and produced a gun, which made Ray stop in his tracks. It was a little pistol, but it was the first time Ray had seen such a weapon—and it was pointed at him. Ray shivered.
"You're gonna shoot me?" he cried. He considered releasing Terral—Skarmory feathers were supposedly bulletproof—but it would take a few seconds, which was plenty of time to get shot.
Pierre laughed again. "No, Raymond." He closed one eye and pulled the trigger before Ray could react. "It's just a tranquilizer gun."
The dart traveled across the room and pierced Ray's shirt. He turned and fell on his rear, as the elevator pinged above him. The doors opened, but Ray was already too lethargic to get up. He tipped over onto the floor, shocked and somewhat scared, not bothering to pull the dart from his chest.
A beep from somewhere. Ray heard Pierre call for someone to come up and get him. The elevator closed, empty, as it was called by some other floor.
"I guess it ends the same, either way," Pierre said, standing over him.
"You... lied," Ray uttered. He couldn't get off the floor. He could barely move.
"I thought you were less naive than that," tutted Pierre. "Sometimes you have to lie to help everybody. If you survive this, you thank me when we're all working together. As Pokémon."
Ray tried to come up with a retort, but he could barely stay conscious. Eventually, he said, "What are you gonna do if it doesn't work?" The words came out slurred.
"You fool," Pierre muttered. "It will work. We have you." He kept on talking, but Ray couldn't tell what he was saying.
Ray faintly heard the elevator ping again, before he passed out.