The next morning, Celeste got up early. She brushed her hair and tied it into a bun then intently studied her face in the mirror. She couldn't believe how similar she looked to Volo. Although, it was no surprise. She was always told that she and Cynthia looked like sisters. She hoped to see the merchant again; surely if anyone would help her, it would be him.
After grabbing breakfast, she walked into the Galaxy Headquarters to greet Professor Laventon.
"Hi Celeste! Are you ready for today?" he grinned, "If you have the time, some townspeople have a couple of tasks for the Corps. They're pretty wary of outsiders but maybe you can help them out? I'm sure they'll trust you more afterwards. After all, the Corps are pretty new as well. We all had to earn their respect."
She glanced at the blackboard behind him and read the different requests: "Mothers are warning of Drifloon playing with their children. Contact Miki for more details." "Ask Clarissa about Zubat." "WARNING: Bidoofs keep sneaking into the village. Looking for a member of the Security Corps to KEEP THEM OUT!" She couldn't help but roll her eyes. These are the Pokemon that the villagers have a problem with? They could easily beat them up with their bare hands- not that these Pokemon are known for being dangerous anyway. Just nuisances.
"Hi!" she heard a high pitched voice squeak from behind her.
"You're the new member of the Corps, right? The one that fell out of the sky?" Celeste turned around and a black haired woman giggled, "I'm Radisa. It's nice to meet you!"
"Hi," Celeste responded, "Yes I am! Can I help you with something?"
"Yes. You see, I enjoy cucumbers. Really, really enjoy cucumbers. Behind my house there is a large plot of land on which I grow my own pickles."
"Okay," Celeste thought for a moment, not sure what this woman meant by really liking cucumbers.
"Now, to make cucumbers, one must ferment pickles. And I have many jars for this. Unfortunately, the jars are quite big and I can't find a good way to cover them. Stones would be ideal but they're just so heavy… But I heard of a Pokemon called Geodude. Have you heard of it? It's like a rock with arms. I was wondering, if… maybe… you could catch one and help me ferment my pickles?"
Celeste tried her best not to scoff. Is this her new life? Running menial tasks for people who keep gossiping about her behind her back? Catching low level Pokemon for them? She wondered what she did while in Sinnoh to deserve this. She agreed to the request and continued exploring the headquarters.
She overheard screams and shouts from two floors above her and ran into Commander Kamado's office. There, two strangers were in a heated argument while the commander sighed.
"And what will you do about the Kleavor?" a man with blond hair dyed blue turned to the commander, "Sure, his ancestor was blessed by Almighty Sinnoh but he is wreaking havoc all around!"
"That is true, Adaman," Kamado muttered, stroking his chin.
"Time wasted is lost."
"Well, what are we supposed to do about it? Kleavor is a lord of the Pearl Clan."
"Yeah Irida," the man turned to the blonde woman to his side and glared at her, "What are we supposed to do about it when Kleavor is a lord of the Pearl Clan?"
"We are also concerned," the woman huffed and folded her arms, "But we would never send one of our own to fight a lord of the Diamond Clan. Not like we want to go back to how we used to be… the endless wars… suffering… We don't know why Lord Kleavor is acting the way he is."
"Look who's here," Commander Kamado grumbled, glaring directly at Celeste.
"Uhh… hi?" she said awkwardly.
"Sit down. Irida, Adaman, this is Celeste. The, er, newest member of the Survey Corps."
The man immediately grinned, "Ah! Mai told me all about you. You have gained Lord Wyrdeer's approval. Please, it is so nice to meet you. I'm Adaman, the leader of the Diamond Clan."
"Wait, are you the one who came from the space-time rifts? Oh my gods… The townspeople are saying a lot about you… Er, I'm Irida, Leader of the Pearl Clan," the woman gasped.
"Hi, I'm Celeste. Not a leader of anything. And this is Froslass," Celeste shook their hands.
"You know… I've been thinking a lot about this problem of ours… And I think that Celeste should be sent to take care of it," Kamado cleared his throat.
"Her? This stranger with no experience?" Irida frowned.
"Says the leader with no experience," Amadan sneered.
"Believe me, I have plenty of experience," Celeste said defensively.
Yeah, she already got her ass beat by an alpha Lopunny, I say she experienced it all, Froslass giggled.
"It doesn't take time to be a good leader," Irida snapped at Amadan, "Rather embracing all the space of Hisui without fear."
"Okay, so we should give her a chance," Adaman shrugged, "I don't understand why you have to turn everything into an argument." He smiled reassuringly at Celeste then turned to the commander, "I'm excited. I'll get to see what you folks are up to, putting Pokemon in balls and all. But Mai did speak very highly of Celeste, I'd give her a chance."
"I don't like it," Irida muttered, "Almighty Sinnoh made Hisui grand so that Pokemon and man can live free, amongst each other."
"The PokeBalls aren't to control Pokemon," Kamado rolled his eyes, "They are so that we can live together."
Celeste and Froslass glanced at each other. They decided not to say anything for the sake of keeping peace amongst themselves and the two leaders.
"Celeste, this is your new mission. To calm down Lord Kleavor. Good luck," the commander said and left the room.
Celeste stood up and stared at the two strangers, "So… How do I calm down Lord Kleavor?"
"He is a descendant of Great Kleavor, one of the Pokemon that helped the hero blessed by Almighty Arceus. He is stronger than any other Pokemon you've met in Hisui," Irida stated.
"But we trust you!" Adaman grinned, "Don't overthink it! We have our full faith in you. Now, I have to go. Glaceon has a grooming appointment today."
"Oh, I need to clean out Lefeon's ears. Bye-bye Celeste, it was nice meeting you!" Irida smiled and the two left.
"Thanks for the advice," Celeste muttered.
They're right, Froslass warned, Lord Kleavor will be quite powerful. You won't be able to catch him and even I wouldn't be able to defeat him.
"The fuck is a Kleavor?"
The final form of Scyther. Bug-rock dual type. Oshawott would have a good chance against him… if you trained him. A lot. Maybe hold off on taking the quest for now? You can help the villagers with their tasks in the meantime.
"Great," Celeste slumped back into the chair, "So basically I either have to challenge very powerful Pokemon or very weak ones. No in between."
You're whining way too much. Let's go find a geodude for that lady.
"I heard you were sent to calm down Lord Kleavor," an emotionless voice echoed throughout the room. Celeste and Froslass turned their heads to the door frame.
There stood Captain Cyllene, bearing her daily angry glare. She walked up to the girl and her Pokemon.
"The Lord and Lady Pokemon are extremely powerful. I don't believe that you'll be able to beat Him," she said.
"Oh. Okay," Celeste said, thinking, Thanks for the confidence.
"It is not only that they are so powerful; they're basically invincible. Various members of the Survey Corps have already tried everything: PokeBalls, battles, rocks, rotten acorns, berries… nothing has worked. Of course, do not tell Irida about some of these methods. She is a bit… sensitive. Plus, we- the Galaxy Team- are also outsiders to this region. Most of us recently immigrated and believe me, the Hisuian people are very wary of outsiders."
"So I keep hearing."
"We need to do our best to keep both the Diamond and Pearl Clans happy. Do not do anything that will insult either one or show a preference for one. The two recently ended a very long and bloody war and it would not be good if the Galaxy Team got involved… I am sure that they will ultimately blame us anyway. Unfortunately, Kleavor is not the only Lord to be driven to madness. The Diamond Clan has this issue as well, but Adaman is too proud to admit it. When calming such a powerful Pokemon, do what is needed, but I strongly suggest not letting the leaders know the extent to which you went."
"Okay," Celeste raised an eyebrow, thinking of a plan to calm down this Kleavor. Sure, Oshawott would be perfect but Froslass is incredibly strong. She could attack with Froslass and either battle until the opponent faints or try catching it. Yes, the Galaxy Team tried catching it but their balls are crappy anyway. If only she had her bag from Sinnoh…
"I do want to be perfectly clear. I feel incredibly guilty for putting you in such a dangerous situation with your first task… I did not expect an alpha Lopunny there, yet there it was. You handled the situation well. The Kleavor will be much, much more difficult. You do not have to take this mission if you do not feel comfortable with it.
"To be frank with you, because I am sure that Commander Kamado forgot to tell you this detail: nearly all Survey Corps members that went after the Kleavor either died slow and painful deaths or were so horribly disfigured that they will never live their life normally again. You will be put in extreme danger. Do you understand this?"
"Yes."
"And do you still want to go through with this?"
Maybe you should think this through, Froslass piped up, She's not wrong.
"Hey, I was put here to catch all Pokemon, no? Might as well go forth with this," Celeste shrugged.
"Very well," Cyllene's face darkened, "The Pearl and Diamond Clans both have their own ideas about who Almighty Sinnoh is. They worship Pokemon that they believe support their version of Almighty Sinnoh. During holidays, they leave gifts and offerings in special areas designated for the Nobles- these are called the Nobles' Seats. Lord Kleavor is located in Heartwood and is guarded by Warden Lian. Once you get there, I strongly suggest laying out the area for camp. That way either Rei or Akari can easily find you and set up a post for our team."
"Okay. Do you have any idea about how I can calm Him down? Because I was thinking of just battling Him-"
"Do not just battle Him," Cyllene snapped, "Lord Kleavor is already incredibly powerful. I strongly suspect that these space-time distortions that you fell out of drove him mad. He, like all the other holy Pokemon, is in a frenzy and cannot be treated as regular. No, you must deal with him another way. I would strongly suggest coming up with a plan with Warden Lian. Perhaps you can quell him with his favorite food? You gained Lord Wyrdeer's confidence, surely you can find something that will allow Lord Kleavor to trust you."
Celeste thanked Cyllene and walked out of the building. She was greeted by a warm breeze and a man calling out her name.
"Hey! You're Celeste, yes?!" a man standing in front of a building to the right of The Wallflower called out.
"Yes I am," Celeste forced a smile, "Do you need some Pokemon to be driven away?"
"Pokemon?" the man frowned, "No, I want nothing to do with those creatures. Hell, I'm the owner of Craftworks, Jubilife Village's leading supplier of crafts and all crafting materials. I can catch any strange Pokemon myself, thank you very much."
"Okay… so what do you want?"
"I need someone to craft a very special recipe that I recently came up with. Unfortunately, that professor's assistants are quite incompetent. Rei is terrible at building and Akari fumbled through the recipe. Tell me, do you have any crafting experience?"
"Yes!" Celeste's eyes lit up. She was always good at building. Even when she was stuck in the Distortion World, she easily figured out her father's puzzling machinery to get back home.
"Great, I have high hopes for you. The Survey Corps has been quite disappointing, truth be told, but you seem like someone who knows what she's doing. Now, here's the recipe," the man handed Celeste a folded piece of paper. She opened it and carefully studied the blueprint:
Pokeshi Doll - use three logs of wood. Doll stands at 6 units tall and weighs five pounds.
"Well?" the man couldn't contain his excitement, "What do you think?"
"It's… nice," Celeste tried her best not to look disappointed. She expected an actual machine or something craftier than just a wooden doll.
"I'd love to see how the product looks. The name is Anvin, by the way."
"Nice to meet you."
Celeste and Froslass walked around the village greeting different villagers and getting to know them. Although they were suspicious of the two, they shared their worries and the mysterious phone kept track of the different tasks that they wanted done: Beauregard the guardian of Galaxy Hall wanted a Wurmple, Dorian the south gate guardian wanted a tall Buizel, Dagero the photographer wanted to see a Buneary, Pesselle the nurse wanted 100 leeks, Andra the villager wanted five oran berries… There was a lot, but Celeste figured that she could complete the tasks easily before setting out to fight Kleavor.
She turned to the east gate, ready to set out for the Obsidian Fieldlands.
"Are you ready to go out into the wilderness again?" one of the guards asked her.
"Here, let's walk you out to the camp," the other offered.
As the group walked to the Fieldlands Camp, Celeste turned to Froslass, "Why do they have to walk me everywhere?"
Maybe to protect you from wild Pokemon attacks. Does it matter? You're safer with them, Froslass shrugged.
"They fight against the Pokemon with spears. That might work on Bidoof but I doubt it would do much against, I don't know, a Garchomp," she whispered.
Strength in numbers? I know that if I still lived in the wild, I would never attack men that walk in groups. I'd isolate one first then eat-
"Then eat him. I know. I'm just saying, this is all very suspicious. I can't even walk back to Jubilife by myself."
Maybe they just don't trust you enough? That's why you're doing these tasks, right? So the villagers will trust you.
Celeste had a feeling that there was more going on but she decided to drop the subject. Thankfully at the base camp, a familiar blond face was waiting for her.
"Volo!" she smiled, "How are you?"
"Oh, hi there Celeste! I should really be asking you that! Tell me, did you find any more clues as to how to get back home?" Volo grinned, his white teeth shining under the sunlight.
"Unfortunately no. I was actually wondering if I could ask you about that."
"Sure. Shoot, what's your question?"
"What can you tell me about time and space travel?"
"Ho ho, I'm glad you asked," Volo clapped his hands in excitement, "This is actually a new topic I'm researching; the myths and legends of Hisui. You see, there are two main groups of Hisui: the Diamond Clan and the Pearl Clan. The two have different theories about who Almighty Sinnoh- the ultimate Creator- is. The Diamond Clan believes that Almighty Sinnoh is the Lord of Time. By creating and controlling time, He was able to encourage the creation of life. The Pearl Clan believes that Almighty Sinnoh is the Lord of Space. By creating space, He was able to create life.
"I know that I just started researching the topic, but I think that both of them are correct. After all, both time and space were needed to create the universe. But I am still in the process of researching. How about this, once I find out anything substantial, I'll get back to you? I know that it's hard being a newcomer, especially here."
"Thank you! I'd really appreciate it," Celeste smiled.
"Now, I actually wanted to give you some advice. Although, I'm sure that you already figured this out. Did you see the crystal formations? The colorful ones, above the ground?"
"Truth be told, I didn't notice that much. I've been busy working on my missions," Celeste admitted.
"Ah, that's okay! But you can ask your Pokemon to break those crystals to collect various crafting materials. In fact, you should use as many of Hisui's resources as you can. Tell me, did the Galaxy Team show you how to make PokeBalls?"
"No."
"What?!" Volo gasped in shock, "Well. No worries. Here, I have an extra crafting kit so that you can craft anywhere and not have to return to that village just to make a potion or revive. Oh! And here is the recipe for a PokeBall."
She took a small box out of his hands. On top of it was a small sheet of paper with the written instructions: Ingredients: Apricorn, Tumblestone. Using the form supplied in the kit, melt the tumblestone and apricorn together. Wait an hour for it to dry. To use: throw the dried PokeBall at an incoming Pokemon. Disclaimer: Creators of this product are not responsible for any damages, injuries, or deaths caused by the creation of this product. This is not a toy. Do not use on human beings. Wash hands after each use. Always make sure to check your surroundings for attacking Pokemon.
Celeste was dumbfounded. There was no way that PokeBalls were literally just a rock and a fruit. How the hell do they catch Pokemon then?
"Now, I have to head back and find more merchandise. After all, a great merchant never rests. It was nice seeing you again," Volo said warmly.
"Thank you so much. Seriously, I really appreciate this," Celeste looked at the box.
After Volo left, she walked down a beaten down path and passed a couple of grazing Bidoofs. She looked back at the phone to check the tasks that the villagers wanted her to complete.
"Okay, so the farmers wanted a ground type to help with the fields. And the guy in front of the Galaxy Building wanted a Wurmple. For some reason," she scrolled down on the screen, reading the different tasks to Froslass.
That was really nice of Volo, Froslass suddenly said.
"Yeah. It was. But are you surprised? I mean, mom constantly helps random travelers for no reason," Celeste shrugged.
I don't like that he was waiting for you though.
"You think he knows something that he didn't tell us?" she gasped, "Maybe he figured out that we're probably related?"
Maybe… I overheard one of the guards saying that you and him look very alike. A little too alike. I guess it would be kind of weird to go up to a complete stranger and propose that you both might be related. Why didn't you tell him about Arceus?
"The butterfly effect. I don't want to mess everything up by pointing out that both the Diamond and Pearl Clans are wrong. Plus Cyllene said not to piss them off. Maybe it's for the best that they don't know?"
I guess. It seems like Volo is getting close to the truth.
"Hopefully he finds out why I was sent here then."
