Chapter 8: Professors and Assistants
"When fate throws a dagger at you, there are two ways to catch it;
By the blade, or by the hilt."
~ Chinese Proverb
AN: So I wanna apologize for the delay; I meant to have this up on Monday. But I had forgotten that my teachers had voted to cancel all our regular classes and replace them with 8-3 lab class. (Admittedly we really did need to get the decking on that roof, but still). Anyway, that, combined with the nerve-wracking approach of finals, equaled chapter delay. And I'll be up front with you right now, there's a chance I won't be posting again until after finals are done, which is about two weeks away. As an apology, I'll be posting chapter 9 alongside this one.
After Looker's call, Darius and Michael split up. The younger of the pair set out to ask various townsfolk about the legends of the Pokémon known as Yevtal and Xerneas. Darius however waited until he was on Ryuushi's back on his way to Coumarine before he reactivated his communicator.
"You're lucky Looker's not in the office." Johnny said by way of greeting. "You know I can't give you anything relating to the case, right?"
"I know Johnny, I know." Darius replied, grinning. "This is something else. Maybe."
"Knowing you, it probably isn't. What do you need?"
"What can you tell me about an agent codenamed Archangel?" Darius paused. "He's probably a new recruit, works with an Agent Watcher and Agent Tower." Darius could hear the faint clicking of a keyboard as Johnny ran his search.
"You're right on that; kid hasn't even had a case yet. Name Michael Briggs, 19 years old, hails from Unova. Slated to be assigned to Agents Watcher and Tower for field training. Paperwork hasn't even finalized though, how'd you know?"
"Does the file say where he is?" Darius asked, avoiding Johnny's question. He was almost positive his earlier conclusion was correct, but he had to be sure. A few more clicks were his immediate response.
"Still in the training academy. Why, you think he isn't anymore?"
"No, I'm sure the data's right. I just needed to make sure." Johnny was silent for a moment. When he spoke, it wasn't in his usual teasing tone.
"Darius, I know you play things close to your chest, but if this is something that might threaten another agent-"
"He should be fine." Darius cut in before Johnny could continue. "I'm almost positive it happened a few weeks ago, so if he didn't react then, then he'll be okay. I just need you to warn me if he comes to Kalos."
"Alright buddy." Johnny finally sighed after a minute of silence over the line. "I'll keep tabs on the kid. But in return, you don't hide things, okay? Even if Looker's being snappy, you report in." He barked out a sharp laugh. "Arceus knows, you only sound that serious when things are about to blow up in our faces."
"They very well might." Darius sighed, spotting Coumarine City on the horizon. "I may have a lead on their leader and their plans. And before you ask, I can't send him to you and Looker. Believe me though when I tell you that Team Flare is much more dangerous than we've been assuming." No-one had that kind of chill coming off their spirit without witnessing a terrible tragedy. "I'm almost to Coumarine; I'll report in when I have more data." And with that he hung up.
Back in the temporary office in Lumiose, Johnny stared at the buzzing communicator.
"I wonder if he knows that those guys are in Coumarine too." Johnny mused, frowning before he shook his head and raised up a grin. "Oh well, he'll find out soon enough!"
"Who'll find out what?" Looker demanded, throwing the door open with a suspicious scowl at his grinning subordinate.
Michael sighed in relief as he finally spotted the edge of Coumarine City. It hadn't been nearly as long a distance as travelling from Genosage to Shalour, but it was still quite a haul. At least the delay hadn't been without its rewards, the teen mused as he looked down at the Pokeballs on his belt. Broga had evolved into a frogadier, and Michael suspected Thanau was close to evolution too. Cysgod had also proved to be a capable fighter as well, eager as she was to help out, even if she did always snatch Michael's hat after a battle.
Darius wasn't too hard to find. Michael recalled the other agent saying something about the docks before, so that was the first place he searched. Even then though, he was somewhat surprised to find his blue-haired fellow perched atop a small lighthouse at the end of one of the piers. A large Altaria had perched on the railing of one of the docked boats, and Michael assumed it to be Darius's third Pokémon, Ryuushi.
"What is with you and perching?" Michael asked, leaning on the lighthouse and staring out at the sparkling sea. Darius was out of his sight, but he could hear the other agent shifting slightly.
"Dunno. Just like perching. Maybe I was a flying-type in a past life?" The two young officers stared out at the ocean, watching it reflect the light of the sinking sun. After several minutes of that, Darius sighed and rose to his feet, standing on that precarious edge, perfectly at ease.
"I'll hang around here until tomorrow afternoon." Darius informed Michael, stretching his arms over his head. "After that I'll head to Luminose to check the museums for detail on the legends of the two Pokémon you mentioned. What are you going to do?"
Michael shrugged, part of his brain wondering how Darius had even gotten on top of the lighthouse, and how he planned to get down. "I'll probably head out tomorrow morning; if you're flying that should get us to Lumiose about the same time. You check museums, I'll see if Professor Sycamore knows anything."
"You know Professor Sycamore?" Darius asked in mild surprise. Michael shrugged, glancing up at him and then looking back down at the ocean.
"I was trying to catch a Pokémon down on Route 4, but I didn't have any Pokémon on hand except Amersu, and she wouldn't even make eye-contact, much less come out of the Pokeball. Sycamore showed up and somehow ended up giving me Thanau and Broga, along with a Pokedex." Michael pulled out the red device to show the other officer. "I thought it was suspicious, but he seemed to think it was all perfectly normal."
"From what I've heard from Professor Rowan, he's just like that. Always has been, apparently." Darius shrugged and tapped a finger against one of the Pokeballs on his belt. Ryuushi chirruped and took off, quickly rising up towards the clouds.
"I'm going to find something for dinner. See you in the hotel. Or in Lumiose." And with that, the teen vanished in a psychic flare of purple light. Michael just shook his head, turning away from the ocean and striding down the pier.
The next morning, Michael found himself blinking in bemusement as the strange purple-haired lady in white, who had introduced herself as Sine, dragged him by the arm through Coumarine City. He'd been just about to board the Monorail to get to the upper part of the city when he'd accidentally bumped shoulders with the strangely dressed woman. She'd introduced herself as Sine, and Michael had introduced himself as Ark. Most of the people he'd met in Kalos, excluding Darius, he'd introduced himself to as Ark, and he didn't want questions cropping up if he suddenly started using his own name again. But in this case, perhaps that would have been the better plan, seeing as once Sine heard his 'name' and seen the Pokeballs on his belt, she'd promptly began dragging him out of the station, all the way back to the hotel.
"I found him professor!" Sine shouted triumphantly as she threw open the door and dragged the thoroughly confused Archangel through. The first person he noticed was Professor Sycamore, seated at one of the small lounge tables with a large laptop occupying the surface before him. To his right was a blonde man who, like Sine, was wearing an almost blindingly white suit. On the professor's other side, a younger man with dark blue hair that looked almost black. He was staring down at a red device in his hands, fiddling with controls that were out of Archangel's view. Grey eyes only looked up when the slim raven-haired girl to his left elbowed him in the side, gesturing with her head towards the newcomers.
"This is wonderful!" Sycamore declared when he'd seen just who Sine had found. "Ark! I've been having such a hard time contacting you! I'm thinking we probably should have figured that out before, but that's all in the past now." He shrugged and grinned before glancing around at the people gathered around his table.
"Ah, let me introduce you to everyone." He said. "You've met Sine, obviously, and this gentleman beside me is Dexio. They're my research assistants. And these two are Lucas and Dawn; they're assistants to a fellow professor of mine who specializes in researching evolution. They're here helping me research Mega Evolution. Everyone, this is Ark; one of my Pokedex holders."
"I apologize for the confusion." Archangel replied, trying to calm himself. He'd had a moment of panic after seeing the professor, thinking the man had discovered something about Ark. Or possibly realized that he'd handed a powerful high-tech device and Pokémon to a complete stranger and decided to take them back.
"Its water under the bridge my dear boy!" Sycamore declared, flapping a hand in a shooing gesture. "Tell me, how are your Pokémon doing? May I see them?"
Archangel took one more deep breath to calm himself before Michael reached to his belt, removing three Pokeballs and releasing the Pokémon contained within.
"Ah, you've managed to evolve froakie I see!" Sycamore exclaimed in delight, rising from his chair and circling around the table to kneel down beside Broga.
"Your Absol's fur is beautiful." Dawn commented, following the professor and kneeling beside Cysgod to stroke the Absol's gleaming white flank.
"An acquaintance of mine cooked up a batch of something he called Poffins last night for his own Pokémon, and he ended up feeding my team as well. Said they were good for fur and skin." It had certainly been amusing to see Darius running about the hotel's kitchen, fleeing drooling Pokémon as he stirred the batter in an enormous bowl.
"Oh, it's been ages since I've had a Poffin!" Dawn exclaimed, sighing in bliss.
"People can eat them too?" Michael asked in surprise. He'd thought they were like Pokepuffs, tailored specifically for Pokémon consumption. It was Lucas who answered, still sitting behind the table.
"If you have the right recipe and the right chef, yeah."
"Your charmeleon looks like he's almost ready to evolve." Sycamore commented, having been paying no attention to their conversation. "So what have you been doing as a trainer? Are you challenging gyms? Filling the Pokedex? Making memories?" Sycamore grinned up at Michael from his spot on the floor, tilting his head in curiosity. Michael hesitated; he didn't know how to answer that. Or maybe he did.
"I'm actually trying to figure out what this group calling themselves Team Flare are up to." Archangel said, frowning slightly to imply confusion; as though he didn't have any idea what their ultimate agenda was.
"Oh Arceus he has the look." Lucas exclaimed, rolling his eyes and ignoring the glare Dawn shot at him. Archangel frowned, but he didn't bother to ask.
"It was good to see you again professor, but I need to meet someone in Lumiose this afternoon, and if I want to make it there on time, I'm going to have to leave town soon." Sycamore glanced up, looking slightly disappointed, but nodded anyway.
"Good luck." Dexio piped up, finally speaking. "Something's been up with the Power Plant lately; Lumiose isn't getting as much power as it used to, so things keep shutting down. It's been getting steadily worse, but they haven't had to do anything drastic like shutting down the city to deal with it yet."
Michael nodded, accepting the info before he turned away. It was getting late in the morning, and he'd have to hurry if he wanted to get to Lumiose with enough time to talk with the professor about the legendary Pokémon.
He paused in the doorway of the hotel, grabbing onto that thought. And then promptly brought his palm to his forehead. Turning around, he quickly strode back to where Professor Sycamore had settled down behind his computer once more.
"Professor, I was actually meaning to ask you; do you know anything about the legendary Pokémon here in Kalos?"
AN: If you see any typos, feel free to point them out. Most chapters I write without any reference material (not even my game usually), so all spelling is from memory. I know that in the original draft, for some reason I wrote 'Luminose' every time instead of 'Lumiose', which I think is the proper spelling, so I'll apologize if I missed any.