∆ Volume One: Horizon Light ∆

Chapter One: Alex

"And if the river's too wide, I'll get through it

And if the mountain's too high, that won't stop this dream of mine

I'm on my way, I've got a plan

I'm making my way any way that I can!"

- Making My Way (Any Way That I Can), Billie Piper

My name is Tobias. I'm a treasure hunter of the Atlanta Academy in Emerald Town. I'm a Squirtle, unevolved by choice. I'm the leader of Team Goldenrod, copper rank. It's my job to know where it's safe to travel, which treasures to take and which to leave, how to handle difficult clients. In any situation involving the team, I'm the one who needs to take charge.

I don't know what to do about Alex. He's been obsessing over the recorder ever since we got home from the city. Sometimes he goes a few days without looking, but sometimes he's sat there for hours, watching it all over and over and over again. It's not right. It's not healthy. The point of writing everything down in the book was so he never had to look at the recording again, never have to see it all playing out so brutally, but I guess he never stuck to that idea.

The recorder is a gemstone that allows him to watch his own memories as if they're happening right in front of him. Alex suffered amnesia after a blow to the head during the war, and he was given this gem as a sort of compensation for his lost memories. He woke up not even know who he was. Or who I was. It was a lifesaver at first. But lately it's been consuming him.

The biggest problem is what happens to him on missions. He'll be fine for the first few hours, then suddenly he'll start teetering. Twice now he's been on full health and was taken out by a single hit. I can't plan for us to work together to defeat other Pokémon anymore, it's just too risky. These days I plan for a way to protect him.

I know he's trying his absolute best, but his mind keeps wandering or he keeps making very simple mistakes, then he admonishes himself to the point where he's too deflated to really do anything else during the mission. I see the flame at the end of his tail stutter sometimes. That can be a sign of ill health, mood, or both. I've been reading up on Charmander biology.

Take yesterday for instance. Tonio asked us to pick up some Rare Fruit from Summer Cave, in exchange for a few free meals. We didn't really need them, teams can always eat at the Academy Diner, but to be honest, I don't like that we're the only non-beginners there. Most Pokémon at Copper or above pay for all their own food. It's embarrassing. And aside from that, everyone in the Academy knows we used to be bronze.

We were exploring the red region of the caves. I'd just knocked out a wild Noibat, but she'd managed to beam me with a Supersonic before she'd dropped. An Onix emerged from the ground, Alex dodged just in time. The Onix was inches away and her guard was down, Alex's Metal Claw could have cut right through her. But instead, for some reason, he used Flamethrower. The Onix only winced before tackling him to the ground. She straightened up and hovered over him, blue energy was sucked in from the air into her mouth, it took the shape of a wide-winged, two-legged and two-armed dragon, snapping at the air with its small sharp teeth. Alex is fast. He could have gotten out of the way. But he just lay there, staring wide-eyed.

Fear snapped me out of my confusion. I ran between them and held up my hand and unleashed Brine. The glowing blue dragon battled against the current, but faltered, and water smacked into the Onix's face. She gave a strangled cry and toppled to the ground. I offered Alex my hand. It took him a second to even register me.

"Is your hand okay?" he asked as I pulled him up.

I've been trying not to use my left hand. Asa's other gem's been lodged inside ever since the mission at Stormfell Tombs, and it can be pretty painful if I use it to much. I didn't ask him to remove it though. It's an anti-magic gem, who knows when that might come in handy?

I had to take Alex home. We didn't get Tonio his fruit, but to be honest, it was a pity mission. We've been getting a few of those lately. At Copper, even though we're handled far more, we haven't been allowed to take any missions above C-rank. For a while we were stuck traipsing around Oran Berry Cave, Lime-Green Wetlands, and Rustic Plains for weeks on end. But honestly, I think the fresh start was good for us. It was actually a pretty clever move on his part. Sometimes it even feels like we're a normal treasure hunting team.

We're celebrities of a kind these days. Everyone in Emerald Town has read Alex's memoirs. We've had a lot of attention, some good, some bad. The mailbox is crammed with mission requests, but sadly due to our rank we've had to turn most of them down. But he says it was a cathartic experience for him. That got me thinking.

This book will be the telling of my own story. I'll be writing in it after our missions, or during if we have some down-time. Not sure what I'll call it yet. I guess it's kind of a "sequel" to Alex's. Or, hey, maybe you're reading this first. Alex's story could be the "prequel". Honestly, I don't really mind. I enjoy writing more than I expected. Alex joked that it's because it makes me feel smart. But I don't know, I think he's onto something. I mean, smart's all I have, right?

The light on the horizon doesn't blink. I keep staring at it, I don't really know why. Maybe I'm just hoping it will die by itself. But even if it did, would that stop me from wondering? Gods, I'm just as bad as Alex! He's distracted during missions, I'm distracted at home. It's hard to find a time when we're both-

I can't think. That stupid light won't let me concentrate. I'm going back inside.

I was doing my stretches in our small home built into the cliff on Oran Berry Beach. There hasn't been a lot of room since that part of the wall caved in (luckily we weren't inside!) It was the part with the mural I scratched out years ago. Good riddance.

We put the straw beds in the new centre of the floor. We had to get fresh ones from Wheatfield Farm after the mini-waterfall burst and flooded the place. Luckily we were able to patch it back up with wood, and the pool is still there. And now it has a fancy diamond-shaped exit, too!

It took ages to dry out the rug. I bough it from a travelling salesmon ages ago, it's a depiction of the God of the Cycle, Zygarde, in their full form, against a background of green and black diamonds. I think he made it specifically to peddle to the religious members of Emerald Town. I'm not particularly faithful myself but I have to admit I see the appeal. There's just something about it that makes you feel stronger, almost like a little bit of their power is your own.

Alex brought in the Pelipper mail. There were bags under his eyes again, although he was probably pretending they weren't there. How now wears the Chariz-Fang on a black string tied to his right wrist, the way Fortis showed him. You know, it's funny, every time one of us brings in the mail, some naive part of me is hoping for a letter from him, or from Harriet. But it's been almost a year now. We both know they're not coming back.

"Almost done?" Alex asked as I straightened up.

"Ready to roll," I said. I tilted my head. (I think that's a habit I picked up from him, actually.) "Did you sleep all right last night?"

"Yeah," he said, yawning, "you?"

"No, me neither."

"Sorry," he said, rubbing his eyes. "I just kept thinking about the mission at Summer Cave…"

"Anything interesting?" I said, nodding to the mail.

"Three of your nerd magazines…"

"Not nerd magazines."

"… and another request for an A-rank Dungeon."

I sighed. "All right, let's take it to the bulletin."

"We'll get there," he said with a reassuring smile, "we've gotten all the way to copper rank in only nine months. Gold's just another few missions away."

His smile caught on my face. His optimism really was infectious. "Never change, Alex."

"I think that might be asking a lot from me."

It was a sunny day in the Itoran clifflands. The sun was bright, the clouds were white and few. A Cherrim in Sunshine Form was skipping through the grass. It was warm as summer in late autumn. The Krabby would be here tonight, I could feel it.

I looked to the horizon again on our way out. I couldn't help it. It was fainter now, in the daylight, and more… tired. But it was there.

"Tobias?"

I startled. Alex was already some ways down the beach, I jogged to catch up with him.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Nothing!" I said. "I'm okay. Everything's fine!"

I smiled at him. But Alex is smarter than that.

A smooth dirt road leads from the oran berry cliffs to the cobblestone paths of Emerald Town. First on our left stands the Atlanta Academy, a four-story wood-and-canvas building, blue patterned with red crescents along the corners of each roof and red triangles in rows of three along the walls, lined with ashy grey. Smooth grey stone steps led up to the entrance, where a staff member stands guard at all times. We waved to Ross the Ampharos, he gave us a bright smile and waved back.

Across the road was the Marowak Daycare, ran by Soledad and Milana, Loner and Dancer Marowak, respectively. Most of the houses and Academy dorms were lined up on the south-east side, furthest from the road coming into town, furthest from what's to the north.

Mojca's Dojo sits just down the road. We could hear Mojca the Venomoth barking like a Pokémon twice her size, and the sounds of Pokémon throwing attacks at each other. A Tailwind roared, and a battle cry rose into the air.

Town Square was busy as ever. Pokémon in treasure hunters' scarves rushed from place to place, while the civilians and shopkeepers carried on at a lazy pace. A few Pokémon swam in or sat on the edge of the fountain, an atlantic lava stone carving of one of the town gods - Xerneas, the God of Life, front legs lifted to the sky, head held proudly in the air, a Mankey hanging off their horns being yelled at by her mother (not in fact a feature intended by the artist).

To the north-west lies everything a treasure hunter could need: the Kecleon Brothers' store, Kangaskhan and her daughter's Kangaskhan's storage facility, Kangaskhan storage; Goodra's bank, and Falink's Move Linking. There was also Gerda the Gurdurr, she and her Pokémon build homes for any newcomers or expanding families, although they're usually made for additional members to treasure hunting teams. We've never formally met.

To the north-east are the shopkeepers! The Taillow at Tonio's Tea Tables (they call dinner "tea" down the coast) cooks rare dishes from recipes found all over Itori. At Riolu's Ring, Xavier provides one-on-one training on a small battlefield dug into the grass behind the stalls. I've been going to him a lot recently at times when Alex has been too dizzy to move.

Emma the Chikorita hands out flowers to anyone she sees. 100% free, too. No one knows why. But does there have to be a reason?

Her best "customer" has to be Marcellina, an orange flower Florges, and the town's mechanics. We can never afford anything she makes, but I see Professor Buckeye down at her shop sometimes, frowning at the prices. Alex once joked that even the greatest treasure hunter in the World couldn't afford her gear. Then again, money's been pretty tight since we opened the sister location up north.

Then there's Hage, the Shiinotic. To be honest, I don't really know what Hage sells. They claim to be a magic-wielder, but as someone who's been up close and personal with actual magic, I can't say I buy it.

Alex likes to drop by every now and again, though. He hands Hage a small item, like a tiny apple or a 5 Poké coin, Hage drops it in the cauldron and colourful sparks fly. Then they proudly declare that Alex's "mana" has increased. His mana has been increasing for ten months. I don't see what it's done for him so far. The first few times it happened it seemed like nothing was happening, then after about 6 or so hits I started to notice tendrils glowing through his body, like his nervous system lighting up. The more he gives to Hage the brighter they became. Eventually people started to stop and stare. I don't think many Pokémon haven gotten that far, to be honest.

We left the mission pinned to the bulletin. Desiree the Tsareena, who runs the boards, gave us a smile, one of those smiles that says: "Aw, you're going through a rough time, that sucks, but it's your own fault so I'd better not hear you bitching about it." I know it does because she said that to us the other day.

Not everyone thinks we're heroes. A lot of Pokémon, especially those close to the Professor, were furious with the fact that we put his life in danger by dragging him into Ruby Forest.

And if they weren't ticked off about that, they were royally pissed when the Academy became a political target. We joined a war, on the side of the ruling Queen of Itori. That might not have been a disaster, after all we could have tucked our scarves and badges away and hardly anyone would have known that it was us. We were only bronze rank, after all.

But Professor Buckeye had been there to protect us. And everyone in Itori knows who he is. Since then, the Academy has been "officially" affiliated with the Skarsgards, when for the prior thirteen years since its inception it'd been completely independent.

We carried on north past the orchestra and the gallery, to the secluded spot north of the hotsprings and among the apricot trees, shades of fire in the late autumn. The only thing sound was the whisper of the wind through the leaves. There was only one other Pokémon there, and he just so happened to be the mayor, Mortimer, no last name. Formerly-wild Pokémon usually don't.

In front of him stood the Emerald Monument. On a tall three-tiered plinth stood a rectangular block of basalt stone, topped by a five-point emerald star, much like the yellow star on our badges. On the block was a golden plaque, where the names of the legendary rank treasure hunters were carved. So far there were six.

Professor Khan Buckeye, Professor Atlanta, Professor Paige, Elexi, Kara Tea, Baylee Nicholson.

Mayor Mortimer had his back to us. His cane was shaking slightly. He'd been getting weaker for a while now. But he was our mayor, and we treated him with unwavering respect.

"Hey what's up Mayor M?" said Alex. I ran a hand down my face.

Mayor Mortimer slowly turned around, his cane clacking against the stone path. He smiled.

"Alex. Tobias. A pleasure to see you again. How are you today?"

"Still a little dizzy every now and again," Alex said, "but I'm getting there!"

The Mayor nodded. "And Tobias?"

"Oh, I'm doing very well, thank you."

He considered me for a moment. Then he looked up at the sky.

"… Something interesting happening up there?" Alex asked.

Mayor Mortimer looked back down at us.

"Well, I shall leave the two of you in peace. I must find a quiet place to sit down, and organise our affairs in time for tomorrow morning. Good day to you both."

"Good day, Mr. Mayor," I said, and we stepped aside to make way for him.

He got a few paces past us, then stopped.

"I've seen the light on the horizon. It does not blink, does it? I hope it doesn't mean trouble."

And then he left.

We stood in silence for a moment. For some reason the wind howling in the leaves sounded louder.

"What was that about?" Alex asked.

I knew he'd seen me staring at it. I mean, how could he not have? He'd tried to ask me about it, but I'd always managed to change the subject.

"Tobias?"

I walked up to the Emerald Monument. I read over all six of the names for about the 100th time. Actually that's probably an understatement.

"Tobias, are you ignoring me?"

"You know, maybe you're right," I said.

"About what?"

I smiled over my shoulder. "We'll be at gold rank in no time! I'm sure of it!"

But Alex didn't look reassured like I'd hoped. He looked almost afraid.

The wind was howling. It pulled a leaf from a tree above our heads and it fluttered down between us. Bright red.

"Alex?"

Alex's eyes had gone spacey again.

"Alex."

No response.

I put my hand on his arm. "Alex."

He jolted awake, and looked all around him. He blinked at me as if he'd just remembered I was there.

"It's still happening, isn't it?" I said.

He pulled his arm away. "Well look who's suddenly paying attention."

I stared at him. He shook his head.

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for, I'm just…"

"I really think you need to see someone about this."

"No, no, it's fine," he said, frowning and rubbing his eyes, "I'll just knock myself out again tonight with a sleep seed. That always seems to work."

I wasn't happy with that answer. I opened my mouth to say something else but a shrill cry came out as a hand touched my shoulder.

I whirled around and Elexi, the Professor's right-hand Gardevoir, was standing there.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," she said softly. She always sounded so serene. As if she could frighten anyone!

"It's okay, he's used to it," Alex said with a grin, and suddenly we were back to our jovial selves.

"What my subordinate means to say it, "What can we do for you?"" I said.

"You're wanted at the Academy," said the Gardevoir, "the Professor asked for you personally."

"Oh! Oh, right, okay. Thank you, Elexi."

She smiled. "Anytime."

Alex and I took off at a brisk walk down the path. Elexi stayed behind at the Emerald Monument. Probably pretty nostalgic for her. It was six years ago now when her name was carved there, I remember reading in Volume 1. of the Atlanta Academy Journals.

He'd want to see us in his office. He knew where we lived but I was aware he couldn't visit us himself; rumours of favouritism were bad enough as they were. Back to the Academy it was then.

The apricot trees carried on for ages. We walked in silence, as the wind blew ruby-red leaves down on our heads.