The enclosure was dark. It would be more accurate to call it a room, or even a cell, but considering the current inhabitants, it couldn't be considered much of anything.
Dragon-types, globally, were revered for their strength, but that wasn't the whole story. There was a great wisdom that resided in dragons, though not a conventional one. They were beasts, but they were intelligent beasts that once ruled the world, and according to some, still did. Strength ruled their social structures, but it was only mindless in the case of their youth. Like many Pokémon did, regardless of species, they gained a strange sapience as they aged.
These factors allowed a particular Garchomp, head bowed in defeat and curled into himself, to recognize how utterly screwed they were.
He couldn't be quite sure of Tyranitar's state, but hopefully she would gain the same insight that he had.
He could smell humans nearby, though he couldn't raise the urge to tear them apart for encroaching on his territory. He had nearly murdered his handlers, and though he disliked that damned energy that coursed through him empowering all of his worst aspects and turning him into that mindless beast so many thought they were and stealing away all their chances at glory…
He didn't want to kill them, even as they watched from the other room, believing that it was only the Pokémon under observation. Humans, regardless of what they may have once been, weren't Pokémon. There would always be a divide between the two, and feats that one could achieve that the other could never hope to.
Garchomp felt shame, and worse, he felt defeat. He had been sent away to lick his wounds when he had looked into the deep abyss that was the ground beneath him.
He felt that the Earth was why he couldn't gather any strength. Even then, in a dark room shared by a Tyranitar that could hardly move, he felt the Earth pulse beneath them like a heartbeat.
If he became a beast again, he had no doubt that they would be put down. Humans feared guillotines in the same way Pokémon feared pile drivers. It didn't matter how strong you were; if you were beneath its blade, you were going to die.
The humans must have known that as well. They would not let them play their little games for the Magnezones and the glassy machines any longer. They would not let them back into the wild, either. They had spent too long in captivity. Once domesticated, Pokémon could never go home. They all knew that. They became irreparably changed.
Garchomp saw their future. Their scales would be stripped from their bodies, fashioned into accessories, armor, materials for the machines that could pierce the toughest hides. Their skeletons would be preserved for the humans to gaze upon, the wonder at, to gawk at the weakness of the species that had once ruled the Earth.
But their wisdom would be lost. That's all dragons were to most humans. Not gods. Never gods, and they never would be again.
A faint commotion reached the hollows of his ears, traveling through the concrete in short vibrations. It was quiet compared to the pounding pulse of the Earth itself.
"I have the licenses. I have the ability. I have the backing of…" traveled faintly, though not weakly.
Humans were always strange, speaking in words and never intent. The new human's will was obviously greater than the observers'. None of them seemed to notice that, relying on games rather than the strength of their bodies and souls.
A hole in the wall slid open, one that Garchomp had been aware of but ignored.
The human smelled of a typical adolescent, though less so than others. A spartan, then. Their hair was a deep purple, though their face was cold like a stone.
"You have two choices," the boy said. "Sit here until you die, or come with me and find something better than a stage set for children. As long as I have a use for you, you'll have a purpose."
Garchomp raised its head slightly. The human's words matched his intent. A rarity. He growled at Tyranitar, quickly informing them they didn't have a better option.
The researcher behind the boy took a step back in fear. The boy himself merely crossed his arms.
"You don't get to discuss it. If you actually want to be strong, you know the answer."
Garchomp was beginning to like this human.
The Lights in the Sky Are Thunderbolts - VI - One Week
Despite being a teenage boy, Hilbert didn't really enjoy sleeping all that much. He used to, but he felt he had gotten more than his fill over the years and didn't like sitting still for long. He didn't think there was anything wrong with him, it was just his way.
First thing in the morning, he checked out of the motel and headed back to the GTS terminal to check for replies on his post. Still nothing. With a sigh of relief, he immediately headed for the city's eastern exit.
While he briefly felt disappointed that nothing was happening, he quickly squashed the feeling. It was good that he didn't need to save anybody… but at the same time, it made him question why he had come to Sinnoh in the first place.
He remembered the previous few days and found his answer. The lake, the Mega Evolved Pokémon. If he hadn't been there, what would have happened?
Watching that Magnezone die, hearing its soul leave its body never to return… it wasn't something he wanted to repeat.
As he approached the mountain range, Mount Coronet's peaks only became more imposing. From a distance, one sort of lost the impression of just how vast they were. If the small mountain that separated Oreburgh and Jubilife was a pebble, the rest of the range was a marble pillar. If he began climbing that day, he would quickly find himself above Jubilife's skyscrapers and still have a long way to go.
The entrance was demarcated by a concrete tunnel, well lit by heavy industrial torches. It could fit a small Wailord, if need be. He watched as maintenance workers clad in hard hats and high-vis vests walked by. He waved, but they didn't seem to notice. It didn't hurt to be polite, he thought, before shrugging walking off into the underbrush that surrounded the trail.
The wild Pokémon populations were low near the trail, if only because they were routinely driven off. Culling a dangerous feral population was necessary when a city as large as Jubilife was nearby.
He found a small cliff face not far off, littered with shattered boulders and pebbles. There were puddles, roots, scorch marks, and a million other tells that it had been used as a training area. Luckily, it wasn't in use when he arrived.
His heart pulsed.
Golett formed, pulling together bits of glass, charred rocks, and upended roots and they created a body from the beaten ground around them. Bits of Steel-types became armor around their body, repurposed for a new being.
He felt his heart pulse again, and Golett's faint glow faded. The golem standing before him was multi-colored, the result of being an amalgamation of the efforts made at the training ground.
Hilbert knelt in front of the shell and tapped the ground. Flint gathered around his finger and sharpened to a tip finer than a scalpel. He focused his spiritual energy into his finger, and felt the golem's Type Energy intensify with each stroke. The symbols' origins were unknown to him, but their meaning couldn't be understood by anyone except someone like him.
He completed the final character, something like a 'T,' before palming the spiral that Golett had carved in its chest. The commands he had for the automaton came to the front of his mind, the only thing he could think of.
"Singularity."
All things considered, the mountain path to Oreburgh City wasn't too far. It could be traversed by foot in a day or two, though the majority of the traffic was trucks loaded up with coal headed out of the city, and empty ones returning.
Hilbert was actually enjoying himself, which he supposed was odd when he was surrounded by concrete and thousands of tons of earth on all sides, and natural light quickly became a rarity. He was in his element, and he made a game out of guessing the makes and models of cars with Golett before he saw them.
At what he supposed was a halfway point, there was a combination truck stop, maintenance base, and restaurant built into the tunnel's wall. A massive parking garage spiraled up and around the area, and it was difficult to get through on foot.
It had the look of an old Unovan diner, if Hilbert was being completely honest. It was cramped to accommodate the traffic, but spacious enough for waitresses and, if he was seeing correctly, a few Machop to skate by. The seats were benches of bright red leather, and the walls and windows were plastered with neon signs. Near the center, a green-clad desperado was rapidly plucking a harp, while a Kricketune next to him was buzzing out a fast, upbeat tune like a violinist.
Hilbert slid into a smaller booth near the door, not wanting to take up too much space. He released Sinistea in a muted blast of light, and the possessed tea cup appeared opposite him, as if held by an invisible companion.
Almost immediately, a woman with an impossibly curly perm skated up, chewing gum. "Mornin'. What can I get 'cha, darlin'?"
"A Kecleon Cola for me, and…" he looked over at Sinistea, considering. "This'll sound weird, but can I get a shot of soda concentrate? They like drinking the pure stuff, and I don't mind paying extra."
"I'll talk with my manager'," she said, scribbling on a notepad. "I'll be back with ya shortly, darlin'."
While she skated away, Hilbert pulled out his Pokédex and started recording a new audio entry.
"I'm performing a test of Sinistea's possession ability in relation to the tea cup's contents. In the same way a Rotom's TE changes when possessing different electronics, I want to see if a change in liquid can cause a similar change in Sinistea."
The Ghost-type looked up at him, tilting the cup sideways. He got the distinct impression they were like the kid sibling that wandered into their older brother's frat party by accident.
"And also because they're a very good boy and or girl, they deserve a treat," Hilbert added.
Sinistea's design shifted into a brilliantly wide smile.
"So far, alcohol seems to cause its ability to change to Own Tempo, and add a confusion effect to their life-draining attributes. When I say change, I mean from the normal kind of Sinistea, which possess, y'know, tea."
The waitress returned, carrying a tall, bell-shaped glass of soda as well as a smaller shot of inky liquid on a tray.
Hilbert paused the recording for a moment. "Thank you, I appreciate it.
Sinistea warbled, vibrating the surface of the tea.
The waitress smiled. "You're welcome. Any food for y'all?"
He glanced at the menu again. "Can I get a mint shake and a Paldean sub sandwich, please?"
"No problem, darlin'," she replied, skating off while still writing.
Hilbert raised the Pokédex again and continued recording. "Alright, I'm testing Kecleon Cola concentrate now." With his other hand, he poured the shot glass into Sinistea. Curiously, the surface didn't change in elevation, and was quickly darkened by the pure soda.
Sinistea warbled with delight, in the same way obnoxious judges did on cooking shows, though less forced.
He honed in on their spirit, pushing away the sheer density inside the restaurant. If it wasn't haunted yet, it would only take a few more years for it to gain some kind of spiritual presence.
Sinistea's TE shifted from ghostly violet and poisonous purple to a pinkish shade like cotton candy.
Hilbert's eyebrows shot upwards. "Cola causes a shift from Poison TE to Fairy. How about that?" he said, muttering the last few words. "Is that permanent?" he asked.
Sinistea shook slightly, and already, he saw the modified TE shrink slightly.
"The changes aren't permanent, but this could be very useful," Hilbert said, his mind already running wild. "Maybe solid blocks of drink concentrate to hold and use during battles? They used to do that when shipping tea, I think. Even a temporary shift could mitigate their weakness to Dark TE."
The waitress returned with their food and drink. Hilbert thanked her, though he was still lost in thought. He poured a bit of his shake into Sinistea before taking a bit of his sandwich. Even if he wasn't expecting an effect, it would be rude not to share.
He then stopped chewing, as he saw Sinistea's surface shift to a minty green and their spiritual energy shift to an icy blue.
"Note to self," Hilbert said, continuing to eat, "Pick up an Ice-type spirit to carry ice cream for us."
His heart pulsed, and Golett made sure to let him know that they were annoyed at being treated like a secretary.
How exactly Hilbert got to sleep in the middle of the traffic-filled is unimportant. It most certainly did not involve waiting until no one was looking, willing a hole into the wall, and crawling inside before sealing it up tight. Nope. Entirely unimportant.
He arrived in Oreburgh the next afternoon and breathed in the air. He felt small particles of coal flow through his lungs and back out as he exhaled. Even if he hadn't taken a glance at a travel guide beforehand, he would have known that it was a mining town.
And a mining town it was, with pillars of gravel, coal, and clay piled everywhere he looked, hidden between ramps, towers, and the houses of the workers. Great stores of oil and gases stood erect, towering above the buildings nearby. Everything seemed to be built of stone, and everything that wasn't was coated in a coarse, if thin layer of dust.
But strangely, it didn't seem like the kind of town that burned that coal for power. Water flowed down the surrounding hills and mountains and turned gears and turbines, running ramped with sheer mechanical energy and he almost doubted that electrical power had ever been used. On each street corner, Machop turned turnstiles, slowly spinning up power but doing so stubbornly. The roads were small, cluttered with work trucks and sparing little space for anyone else. But there wasn't anyone else, was there? No, everyone seemed to have a purpose, every little thing. It was a valley town, and they didn't have the space to sprawl outwards, to discover something different.
Hilbert wasn't sure if that was wrong or not. Some things needed to stay the same, didn't they? He thought that ideals were always important to aspire to, and that limits were just walls that got in the way. But when he pushed out his spirit, feeling for the town, he found less discontent than he found in Jubilife. It was as much as he had found in Nuvema town, for the short period he'd been able to look.
He found a museum on the far side of town. He managed to avoid being crushed by heavy tankers and workers moving to and from work sites, and was rewarded by a stone building that may have once been called ornate, but had been dulled to look like it was a natural part of the mountain range. It also turned out to be a public library, meaning he could hop on an available terminal while most of the town's residents were at work. He wanted to take a look at local news before he asked if there were any problems.
Topic - Sinnoh - News - Oreburgh - Earthquakes?
FiveForFightingTypes (Original Poster): Does anyone know why there have been so many earthquakes recently? I've talked with my boss and he doesn't know either. Granted, we're transport, but is there something shady going on? We never used to have earthquakes, and they've been getting more and more frequent lately. It started before the Mecha Tyranitar crews passed through to Jubilife (I saw something about the Pokémon going wild IIRC, but I haven't looked it up) so I don't think it's that. If the earthquakes keep up, we won't be able to drive safely.
KIARFoundation: Yeah, yeah, I heard about that. Tell your mom to stop falling down, 'kay?
MaCampione!: I work in the upper mines. I've heard about some of the lower supports randomly collapsing. They haven't determined the causes yet, but I hear it's as far down as the Underground network, and that's real deep.
Hilbert looked up how deep the Underground was, and what it was, because he hadn't heard it before. Luckily, he hadn't ended up on TVtropes for hours like he had many times in his youth, but merely spent half an hour looking at maps and depth charts. The estimated maximum depth was between five to eight kilometers, which was about three to five miles, if Hilbert had his math right, though it hadn't been dug straight down.
There were some theories that it had never been dug at all, and that it had existed before humans.
When he felt Sinnoh's spirit beneath him, a being of earth that he could barely comprehend… he didn't discount the possibility.
As he should have expected, the thread ended up going nowhere, with people posting reminders to see when someone else found the solution or saying they had the same problem. Hilbert sighed and moved onto the next topic.
Topic - Sinnoh - News - Oreburgh - Evolution Stone Tournament
MuddiestWaters (Original Poster): Any trainers nearby that'll spice up this one? It's usually just average trainers that don't want to wait in the queue for gym battles, since the finalists go up against Roark and can count the battle as a Gym Challenge. The prizes are the same as usual, Grade 4-3, Purity 4-3, you know how it goes. High-end for sure, but only for the average person. Most serious trainers will only settle for G2P2 or higher, so we don't get many of them.
TheAllSeeingXatu: Jubilife is sending Hilbert Kuroiwa your way. He said he's a Ground-type specialist, so probably playing to his strengths. He got disqualified from the Pokétch Company tournament for ripping up the arena.
xXx_DragonSlayer_xXx: Lol. TheAllSeeingXatu, don't stalk random kids.
TheAllSeeingXatu: My hunches are rarely wrong. If you want spice, he's it.
Hilbert flushed. Had he really done that bad? He considered replying on the thread, but only his screen name was visible on his account and he didn't want to give away his identity so soon.
That being said, if they expected him… it would be sort of rude not to at least try, right? Plus, it would help kill time if there weren't any spiritual anomalies in the city. And if he got an evolution stone, he could experiment with his abilities a little more and see exactly how far he could push them.
He went to the registration page. The next tournament wouldn't be for another few days, since it used the same weekly format at the Pokétch Company tournament. The whole thing reminded him of those social sim games he'd caught Cheren playing a few times, where you would raise your level or whatever then put your skills to the test at the end of each week. It seemed like it had been set up that way deliberately, and the lack of disclaimers about officially registering his Pokémon gave him pause.
He found the Oreburgh gym's official website in a few minutes, and the information was listed there. Both were sponsored, or at least, approved by the league, so it wasn't likely that it had been an oversight…
He shrugged it off, seeing that if he could use Golett, he wouldn't have a problem.
The reason the loophole existed was actually that members of the Ranger Corps would sometimes challenge gyms with their partners, which due to their principles, were not caught with Pokéballs. Sinnoh always had better relations with the Ranger Union regions than its contemporaries, mainly because they had been late to the whole "industrial revolution" deal and Pokéballs had been more on Johto's side of Sinjohan development. There were also certain essays (recorded for posterity in the acclaimed Canalave library, no less) which testified to Sinnoh's past of much closer relations between humans and Pokémon, though some were much more controversial than others.
Hilbert was ignorant of all of this, because it was only vaguely related to rocks and he couldn't be much bothered to care about the topics at hand. He dealt in spiritual issues, not political ones, and ideally, dealing with the former would resolve the latter.
Topic - Sinnoh - News - Oreburgh - Any Hauntings?
SoulReaperBlack (Original Poster): I'm a spiritualist passing through. If anyone's having trouble with ghosts, Ghost-types, or anything similar, let me know and I can help deal with them. I read about the earthquakes, so I'll look into that. More info in my profile.
It didn't take too long for him to get a reply.
KIARFoundation: Yeah, good luck with that.
AN:
Trivia bit, in the original version, Tyranitar and Garchomp joined Hilbert after being on the receiving end of a Giga Drill Break. Short chapter, will try to make up for it with side-stories.