Black, sooty soil under Flareon Light's feet discolored the white fur on his paws as he stepped on it. The pure blue sky soothed his eyes. A hazy heat weighed down on his back.
When Light looked down from the sky, something white and large appeared very close to him. He couldn't tell what it was at first, but the white wings of Reshiram unfurled over his body and blotched out the sky with a shadow.
"Yes. Good, very good," Reshiram smiled. "Yes, we were made for each other."
Light swung his tail, using the move Swift to send stars at Reshiram's exposed chest. The golden stars didn't interact with its body at all, passing through it like a ghost. What's more, he detected no drain on his body, as if he didn't use the move at all.
"You will try to keep people from dying, and they will die. You'll try to help those in dire need, and they'll suffer. You'll try to figure out who you are, but I won't let you. But if you become my Scion and deliver my justice to the world, you'll finally know exactly who you are."
Light had no choice but to pay attention to what Reshiram was saying. It didn't have anything but idle threats and possibilities.
"Oh, but you don't seem to want to know," Reshiram said. "Your real name. That alone isn't satisfying enough, is it?"
"How do you know about that?" Light asked.
"You told me. I do not know anything you don't wish to tell me."
"I'm not trying to tell you anything."
"You and I are beings of honesty. So when you told me that you didn't want to know your 'real' name, I'm surprised by your lack of it. You and I hate lies. But now that you have the truth, you avert your eyes. You're denying your core, and for what?"
"It's just a name," he argued.
"And you wish it was something more?" Reshiram asked. "You want to know who your parents really were so you can feel satisfied knowing that name?"
"What's it to you?"
"Honesty. I will create a world of white where evil is see-through. And I can start with your parents."
"What do you mean?" Light asked.
"Would you like to find out?"
Light's gaze gave a silent answer.
"A being of honesty after all."
An Eevee sat in a small classroom, in use for art. She was drawing on a paper on the floor, and focused on creating a grassy plain and blue sky while smiling.
A Mawile, her art teacher, came up and watched her from behind. When her shadow went over her paw, Eevee turned around and smiled at her. She frowned back.
"Holding your pencil wrong again, Rosemary," Mawile said.
Eevee's smile faded while Mawile walked away.
Later in the class, Mawile showed one of the student's drawings; one of a shining bird that looked like Eevee could reach out and touch it.
Her teacher talked about the student's talent, and Rosemary remembered it as the last time she drew. She'd never have her classmate's talent.
Rosemary tore herself up trying to find her natural talent. No one ever gave her that look she longed for the way Mawile did for that student. She didn't find any talent. Like most people, she was born average.
Shaky with worry, Rosemary started to study genetics. Recent developments promised that she could try and give herself something special that made her different. She passed school with poor grades and spent years of hyper focus on how to make herself anything she wanted to be. In a way, it wasn't any different from what most other people do.
Sixteen years later, the Eevee walked across a lit wooden platform to the Ninetales holding her college diploma. After a quick bow to her, she heard a single cheer rise over the rest.
Her sister, Charlotte, of course, was the Eevee clapping her paws and screaming at the top of her lungs in the front seats in the auditorium. Rosemary sat back down next to her and hushed her with a small, sharp gesture.
After graduation day finished, the students were all surrounded by their families around the campus. Rosemary only had Charlotte, so they walked down by themselves to leave.
Their footsteps echoed on white tiles. Rosemary figured Charlotte felt as tired as she, so she didn't try to start any kind of stressful conversation about work. She walked with her, taking everything in side by side.
As they were turning on the hallway leading to the glass doors leading outside, a Lucario blocked the exit. She wore a scarf with a symbol of two white wings with five-fingered hands: Lugia's wings, and the symbol of the Nightlight Association.
Rosemary quieted, and let her sister take the lead.
"Hello," Eevee Charlotte greeted.
"Hi," Lucario said in a high voice. "It's lovely to meet you two."
"Meet us? Oh, uhm, are you someone's..."
"No, no, I'm not a parent," Lucario laughed. "I'm a member of the Nightlight Association. I've been wanting to talk to you both, but my schedule prevented me from coming till now."
Rosemary and Charlotte exchanged glances.
"I was following your work individually after the science fair sophomore year," Lucario explained. "We were very impressed with both of your work. So, I came personally to offer you both development positions."
They almost went that same night, but Rosemary and Charlotte chose the sane option: going up and getting some rest before they did anything stupid.
For the most part, the Valorian government funded the Nightlight Association. For scientists, it had the most opportunities in the country. They were invited to the black steel tower that sat in the dead center of the city, eclipsing every other skyscraper in height and width. Primarily, the Nightlight Association conducted law enforcement, but breakthrough research got the second largest slice of the pie.
Rosemary and Charlotte took a carriage to the building early the following morning. They didn't have enough sleep to talk very much, but the excitement and adrenaline crept under the surface of Rosemary's skin, ready to burst.
When the doors opened, a cold chill from the skyscraper's morning shadow had Rosemary trembling. They entered the first floor through a massive set of sliding glass doors, egging each other on with smiles and glances.
The plaza's walls, ceiling, and floors were made of sleek, black metal tiles. A variety of species typed away at flat keyboards on black tables while staring at panels. The Lucario from last night waited near a colossal, cylindrical elevator in the back of the plaza. It ran up and down the building's spine.
"Hey!" Lucario greeted. "Right this way."
Lucario opened the elevator doors with a panel on the side of the wall. Somehow, the elevator got bigger on the inside. The Nightlight Emblem of Lugia's wings laid on the gray, carpeted floor. After stepping in, Rosemary watched Lucario work with the panel again to close the elevator doors and send them up.
The ride felt longer than Rosemary expected.
"Alright, Charlotte. This is your stop," Lucario said.
"My stop?" Eevee Charlotte asked.
"You both study different things, don't you? Biological engineering and genetics. We have whole different departments for each."
Charlotte and Rosemary gave each other an understanding nod. Charlotte cupped her head and kissed her on the forehead before moving out.
Rosemary watched Charlotte walk down the metallic hallways next to a Chestnaught until the doors closed.
The longer ride up disturbed Rosemary a bit. The higher the floors went, the higher the impact the jobs tended to have. Her nerves turned into sweat when the elevator stopped on a floor in the top row of buttons on the panel.
The elevator doors opened to a huge, wide-open space. Glass windows replaced the walls of the building on the whole empty floor.
In the center, a small Dragonite and average-sized Haxorus turned their attention to them. Smiles blossomed on their faces as they walked closer and met them halfway.
"Rosemary," Haxorus greeted, "Rosemary Evergreen. A pleasure to meet you."
"Some people for you to meet," Lucario said. "Gareth and Lancelot Acuity."
Rosemary tucked a small noise in her chest as dots started to connect together.
"A-acuity?" Rosemary asked. "L-like…"
"Yes," Lucario said, "you see, our job offer is for you to study and work with the Acuitan blessing, one of the most complex genes a pokemon can have on the planet. It's a secret project called 'Olympus', with the goal of potentially improving the lifestyles of those living with the Acuitan blessings, especially dealing with hormones."
"Oh, uhm… Aren't there more… qualified pokemon for you to look for? I mean, I don't even have work experience."
"Most of them quit, all of them failed. I noticed during your projects that you have the most focus dealing with how genes are passed down from parent to child. The worst that could happen would be failure and a reputation for taking on the job."
"Alright… But then, what is the end goal here?"
"Genetic improvement," Dragonite Lancelot interjected, "to help stabilize our genes for the world's general benefit. You have free reign of what that means."
It seemed too good to be true. When Rosemary thought of work after high school, freedom and passion weren't subjects at all. She felt strong. Powerful.
Naturally, she took the challenge.
The Haxorus, Gareth, never seemed to be around very much. Over the months, Rosemary started to get very familiar with Dragonite Lancelot. He worked as Overlord rank, and mostly dealt with law enforcement. He seemed to be in her lab whenever he wasn't working.
Although Rosemary rarely needed him for tests, he brought encouragement. After a few weeks, he began to make lunch for her when he noticed she forgot most of the time. Then the small, exquisite boxes started to have flowers inside as the price tag behind the meals grew.
Rosemary and Charlotte moved into the Nightlight tower's living quarters with an addicting view of the city every night. On some nights, Rosemary shared the view with Lancelot.
Although Dragonites were a big species, he had a tiny height ratio. Most people called him the 'tiny dragon', but Rosemary didn't know if he liked that or not. She left the phrase alone, focusing on his fascinating white eyes.
In the middle of daytime, Rosemary started to evolve. She happened to be in the lab, surrounded by machines with Lancelot paying a usual visit. She could feel she was becoming an Espeon, and let the change happen.
After the blue glow and Rosemary settled, the pink flowers in her lunch and vases around her room turned red. She never imagined it, but Lancelot talked a good game. She was special, particularly, to him.
Rosemary and Lancelot were married two years after she first came to the building. Charlotte, now a Leafeon, cheered and supported her the loudest.
Breakthroughs in Rosemary's research came slow, but the promise, potential, and consistency of them flooded her with funding and giant paychecks. With how little she spent and how much she made, she became rich by almost any standard.
After some time, Rosemary realized they never had a serious conversation about having kids someday. She voiced it to Lancelot.
Night fell, and the dazzling lights from buildings outside tired out Espeon Rosemary's eyes. She approached Dragonite Lancelot from behind, brushing his back with her tail.
"I've been thinking about something," said Rosemary.
"Me too," he replied.
"Are you... thinking what I'm thinking?" Rosemary asked with a smile.
"Yes," Lancelot nodded, "and a little more."
"Oh…"
Lancelot turned to her with a different expression on his face. Rosemary paused in her tracks.
"What is it?" Rosemary asked.
"Well, I've been thinking. And I think we should pass down the blessing, if we were to..."
Rosemary didn't expect this. She continued to stare up at his face.
"It's seeming unlikely that my brothers will have children. Without an heir, Acuity fifty years from now seems uncertain."
"Well, that's simple enough," Rosemary said. "But, there's something else… Isn't there?"
"I want what's best for them... And I've lived with the Acuitan blessing all my life. I don't want them to have to go through what I did."
"It'd be our child, Lancelot. I can't experiment on-"
"It wouldn't be an experiment," he argued. "It'd be using your years of research for our child. I believe in you. You're smart, and you've thrown every amazing thing you are at this. You can do it."
Rosemary drank his energized blood so their child would have the Acuitan blessing. From early on, she knew it would be a boy Eevee.
She kept the egg in a large, steel incubator on the floor. Wires were attached to it, most for monitoring. She didn't have any nerves triggered by those ones.
Rosemary put everything she had and more into it. The proteins of the Acuitan gene were finicky, but her precision became sharper than a knife. Her son already felt like her heart went outside of her body. Tampering with it kept her awake at night and jumpy in the day.
After more development, she got more details; he had a smaller size ratio like his father, and a higher voice she couldn't wait to listen to. He'd boast very, very bright and long fur. Rosemary didn't know her family to know why that was the case, but she liked it. She liked everything about her son.
Lancelot came in and stayed as often as possible. Rosemary told him the details as they came.
One day, they just stood and stared at the incubator together. Rosemary had to wait and let the computer work, and there wasn't a better view anywhere.
"Rosemary, you're incredible," Lancelot said.
"He'll be the best son anyone could have," Rosemary said.
"He'll be happy and strong, won't he?"
"Well, that part will be up to us," she giggled.
"Heh, naturally. How's work with the Acuitan blessing going?"
"Oh, it's going very well. I've done everything out for the hormone levels to be normal. I'm just following the plan."
Lancelot passed her a smile. The burst of confidence from it kept her awake for two days straight.
The egg was halfway through the period it took to hatch when Rosemary took a different glance at its contents. The genes were coming along, so there was a lot more stability and predictable outcome.
Lancelot stood around near her when her face and heart dropped. He noticed and hugged her tightly, rubbing her arms.
"What is it?" he asked quietly.
"Well, uhm, the genes. I, uhm, unbalanced the hormones."
"What does that mean?"
"I-It's not life threatening or anything like that. But, uhm, the Acuitan blessing. It will be visible," Rosemary said. "He'll, well, may struggle with it. Like you did."
Lancelot backed off of Rosemary, staring up in the incubator at the egg.
"Honey, it won't be that bad," Rosemary said. "He's still-"
"Well, of course," Lancelot said, "but, he can't become king."
"Become king?" she asked. "You can't really tell what he wants to do with his life. He's not even just a baby yet. Besides, the goal was a son, right?"
"Right. A son or daughter that could also become king or queen."
Tears welled up in Rosemary's eyes. Lancelot bent his head down and saw.
"Hey," he said, "calm down. It's okay. You can't expect to get something like this right the first time."
"But what are we going to do when your father finds out?"
"He won't. We're leaving."
It was nighttime in the lab. Dragonite Lancelot finished pouring oil over the electronics while the Espeon Rosemary waited, clutching the egg in her paws until it was time to leave, switching to carrying it with a mobile incubator on her back.
Lancelot said they had to fake their own deaths to keep the secret of what they were doing. Having a child with the Acuitan blessing without asking already justified punishment under their laws, but tampering with it could be worse. They didn't plan to find out how bad it could be.
Rosemary cried waterfalls over two pokemon: Charlotte, and her son. Lancelot said she had to leave him behind somewhere, or keep him firmly under wraps to the point where it was like living in prison. He didn't want to take any risks with anyone finding out who he or his parents were.
Out on the streets, the sirens started when they were a few blocks away from the tower in the dead of night. Lancelot carried a basket Rosemary had made herself to leave the egg in at an orphanage's door. He had also agreed to take Rosemary to her school one last time. The Dragonite followed the Espeon down the hallways, into a dark classroom.
The floors were still riddled with paint like they always were. Lancelot waited for her by the door while she looked around.
Rosemary relived a few memories, but got interrupted by a picture.
A beautiful drawing of a shining bird overlooking the classroom from the wall above the chalkboard.
The windows to the cold, night air began to crack and fall apart as the Espeon's gem shined.
"H-honey?" Rosemary asked. "Could you stand a little further back?"
Flareon Light ended up back in the gray landscape from before. Reshiram was staring at him the same way before the vision started, but its head turned down.
"Your father is a manipulative bastard, isn't he?" Reshiram asked. "It's almost impressive. He managed all of that without caring for your mother in the slightest. He didn't even love her on accident, or you. In all my years, it's rare for me to see a lie as powerful and deep as his."
Light turned his head up. He stared back at Reshiram's blue eyes.
"But," Reshiram continued. "I am curious as to what will define their son. I sense many things for you to choose from, Light. Or, perhaps Angelo. Whichever you choose, don't disappoint me."