Eric was your ordinary trainer, hailing from Courmaline City. At ten years old, he headed to Professor Sycamore's lab to begin his journey. Choosing a Chespin, Eric rapidly began to tackle gyms and work hard to achieve his dream of toppling the Kalos champion. It had been a hard year, his birthday coming along right after he lost in the first round of the Kalos League.
Now eleven, the young trainer was once again making his rounds through Kalos. Once again, Eric is collecting the eight badges necessary to enter into the Pokémon League and try and punch his ticket. His now Quilladin walked beside him as he scanned the dark forest around the middle of Route 17. Hurrying his pace along the route, Eric felt a need to get away from the oddly oppressive atmosphere that surrounded the forest.
The day was muggy. A thick fog had moved into the area, shrouding the forest in a thick veil of moisture and cloud. On top of the brutal heat and humidity of the summer, isolated storms had been decimating the region. From the uneven levels of moisture in the air on top of rapidly fluctuating air temperatures, fog had become more and more common in northeastern Kalos.
Eric, already wanting to get out of the fog, lowered the bill of his hat and quickened his pace even more. The quilladin next to him dutifully keeping pace and watch. To the pokémon, this forest in particular made him quite uncomfortable. Knowing his trainer must share his feelings of discomfort, quilladin tried to swallow its own fear to make Eric feel better.
That was, until four figures approached from the forest.
"Quill!" The somewhat large grass type quickly got between the figures and his trainee.
"Quilladin? What's wrong?" Eric asked timidly, following quilladin's gaze.
Through the fog, the four shadows slowly approached the pair. Upon the realization that the shadows were indeed moving, Eric's eyes widened and his breathing quickened. Coming closer to him, he could see that the shadows were humanoid but much larger. The quilladin held his ground, his eyes analyzing the shadows with grim determination.
"Hallo?" One of the shadows spoke.
"H-hello?" The young boy responded, his voice shaky.
"Sweet, we found a traveler! Now we can ask for directions outta here." Another shadow, rather loudly, exclaimed.
Eric watched in amazement as four adults seemed to materialize from the fog in front of him. Taking a closer look, he couldn't help but notice that all four of them were dressed strangely. Two of them seemed to be soldiers, one seemed to be a scientist, and the other... Eric couldn't tell if he was wearing a biker jacket or a soldier's trench coat. The soldiers were wearing uniforms Eric did not recognize. While the scientist didn't look like any scientist Eric had ever seen. On top of these observations, one man in an intricate uniform with a "sword!?" sheathed on his hip appeared to be from the Kanto region. While the scientist looked from western Unova and the trench coat wearing man from eastern Unova. The other soldier looked to be from northern Galar.
On top of all that, they seemed rather intimidating.
"Aw what the hell, a child?" The Galarian spoke with a strange accent.
"Children leaving at the age of ten to become trainers is quite normal in Kalos and other regions, Nikolai." The Kanto man spoke up, causing the Galarian "Nikolai" to quiet down.
"Quiet!" The scientist spoke with an even stranger accent, before taking a step towards Eric. "Hello, misterrr..." the scientist trailed off.
"Gustan. And you are?" The trainer replied with a nervous smile.
"Ah! Where are my manners? Mein name is Edward Richtofen. And this over here are my friends named Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo." Richtofen gestured to each man as he said their respective names. Eric was then surprised to see a fletchling appear from within Richtofen's carry bag. "And this is fletchling." Eric smiled as the pokémon made a happy chirp.
"Nice to meet all of you." Eric looked to all of the men present. "Now, what do you guys need?" Eric decided to get straight to the point.
"Ah, well. We got a little bit lost. Could you point us to the nearest town?" Richtofen asked the young trainer, who wore a look of understanding.
"Or anywhere with a bed, that is." Dempsey spoke up, a disgruntled tone in his voice.
"Why yes, if you follow the path this way." Eric pointed down to where he had come from. "Then it will take you to Dendemille Town. It's about five hours walk from here." Eric waited a second to allow all four men to talk slightly. After a couple minutes, the group turned and gave the boy a nod.
"We thank you for giving us directions." Takeo smiled and shook the boys hand, before turning and beginning to walk down the path, Dempsey and Nikolai joining him.
"Once again, thank you for your time! Good luck with your journey!" Richtofen waved goodbye as he went to catch up with the group.
Now left alone, Eric turned to the now perplexed quilladin.
"Huh. What a strange group."
Two Hours Later... Route 17...
"It's been so long since I've seen one."
A large building loomed next to the path. Outside the front, a few picnic tables allowed for weary travelers to sit down and rest. To the right of the building, portable toilets provided a convenient means to use the bathroom while traveling in a hurry. Glancing behind the large red building, a small field of some sorts could be found. Atop the main entrance to the rather large building, a circular symbol with a red top and white bottom with a white circle in the middle lay displayed.
"What kind of building is this, Takeo?" Nikolai asked, somewhat awestruck by the large building in the middle of nowhere.
"It's called a 'Pokémon Center.' In short, it acts as a rest stop for travelers and a pokémon hospital as well. If your pokémon are tired or injured, you simply take them to a Nurse Joy and she'll fix them right away. They, usually, also come with shops so you can buy more supplies." Takeo explained dutifully, Nikolai nodding along as he observed the building.
"How very interesting und convenient!" Richtofen exclaimed, fletchling chirping in agreement from his shoulder.
"Well, what are we all doing out here?" Dempsey rhetorically stated before looking to the group, gesturing to the door. "Let's go inside."
The group walked to the front door of the building, the sliding door automatically opening as they came near. Stepping inside the air conditioned building, the quartet simply took a moment to admire the inside of the building. The interior was simple yet efficient for a medical setting. To the right, a small shop with a clerk dutifully standing at the cash register. Down the main lobby from the doorway, sat a large desk with a pink haired woman wearing a nurse's outfit. Seeing the nurse, Richtofen perked up and walked over to the big desk.
"Hello! Welcome to the Pokémon Center located on Route 17! My name is Nurse Joy! How may I assist you or your pokémon today, sir?" The Nurse Joy happily greeted Richtofen, who politely smiled in response.
"Hallo Nurse Joy. I was wondering if you could check out this fletchling I came across while exploring the forest. He seems fine, but while I'm a doctor myself I specialize in more human medicine. Thus I would like a few tips or guides for taking care of a pokémon." Richtofen explained as Nurse Joy nodded along, glancing at the fletchling a few times before returning her attention to the man.
"I see! You can just give him to me in his pokéball and I can give him a full examination! As fo-" Nurse Joy stopped explaining when Richtofen put his right hand up, confusion visible on his face.
"Forgive me for my ignorance, Nurse Joy. But, what is this pokéball you speak of?" Richtofen knew he made a mistake when a look of bewilderment crossed Nurse Joy's face.
"Oh! Well, a pokéball is a sort of capture device for pokémon. You put your pokémon inside the pokéball, which compresses down into an easy to carry sphere. The pokémon is kept alive and comfortable, when you want to bring your pokémon out, you simply hit a small button on the front which opens the ball and allows for your pokémon to come outside. You also use pokéballs to capture wild pokémon so they can become apart of your party." Richtofen listened intently to Nurse Joy's explanation.
"I see, so it's a convenient capture and transport device. How fascinating!" Richtofen thought aloud, much to Nurse Joy's further bewilderment.
"Forgive me, sir. But, how do you have a fletchling on your shoulder but not know what a pokéball is?" Nurse Joy asked tentatively.
At her question, Dempsey stepped out from behind Richtofen. Moving to Richtofen's right side, Dempsey leaned somewhat on the desk.
"Well, Nurse Joy, we're not too familiar with how a lot of things work in this modern age. Ya see, we all just came from the mountain range up north." Dempsey explained smoothly, the Nurse Joy oblivious to his lie. "We're all from different backgrounds, as you can see. But, one thing brought us together. Ya see, maybe around twelve years ago, when we were all at a school together we got the attention of some nasty people." Nurse Joy's eyes widened while Dempsey nodded grimly. "We knew our families weren't safe, so we all went on the run. After fleeing through the cou- region, we managed to escape into the mountains. Once we were in the mountains we did all we could to survive. And we got pretty damn good at it." Understanding began to dawn on Nurse Joy's face as Dempsey continued. "Just recently, that group no longer posed a threat. So, we all came back down. However, our isolation for the past decade has led to us forgetting a lot and being ignorant to innovations and modern technology." Nurse Joy 'ohh'd' in understanding, her eyes watering at the somewhat somber tale.
"I see, I'm so sorry that happened to you four." Nurse Joy offered her condolences before turning back to Richtofen. "Well, sir. I'll give all of you a few pokéballs for free, so you can get a chance to make some friends for the road. As for your fletchling..." Nurse Joy reached into a cupboard below her and pulled out a pokéball. Ensuring the condition of the ball, Nurse Joy handed it to Richtofen. "Now. All you need to do is simply tap it against fletchling." The nurse kindly explained.
Richtofen took the red and white ball in his hands, inspecting it. After a brief look and feel, Richtofen turned to the fletchling on his shoulder.
"Well? Would you like to stay with me?" At Richtofen's question, fletchling hopped down from his shoulder and tapped his beak against the white button.
In a flash, a red beam captured the small bird and absorbed it into the pokéball. The ball shook for a few seconds, before an audible clicking noise was heard. Once the clicking noise sounded, the shaking stopped. Richtofen then inspected the ball in his hand, looking at the device with wonder. It was similar to when he teleported that walnut in that lab all that time ago. The wonder he felt and awe at such science left him breathless.
"Damn that's pretty freaky, huh?" Dempsey laughed as Nurse Joy simply chuckled behind her hand.
"Well, if you could just hand me fletchling there and I can get him all checked up and fixed up if he needs it!" Nurse Joy politely states to Richtofen, who snapped out of his thoughts before handing her the pokéball containing fletchling.
"Thank you very much!" Nurse Joy turned around and clapped her hands.
At the clap, a large pink and fluffy pokémon with a nurse's hat walked out the back with a metal cart. Seeing the lone pokéball, the large pokémon shrugged and put the pokéball on the cart before walking into the back room. Once out of sight, the Nurse Joy turned back to Richtofen.
"Thank you very much! I'll let you know when he's done. For now, we have a room with four beds available upstairs!" Nurse Joy explained, handing Richtofen a few keys.
"Thank you, Nurse Joy." Richtofen nodded before turning towards the group, handing out the keys.
Once the keys were distributed, the group began to make their way up the stairs.
"Oh! Before I forget!" Nurse Joy walked up to the group, a dozen pokéballs in her arms. "Take these guys, so you can get a pokémon for yourself!" The nurse stated as each member of the quartet took three pokéballs out of her arms.
"Thank you very much, nurse." Takeo bowed slightly before Nurse Joy kindly laughed him off and turned back to her work station.
Once the group entered the room and closed the door, they all settled in. Takeo quickly gave his pokéballs to the other members of the group, stating that he didn't feel worthy to catch any more pokémon. The rest of the group put the pokéballs in their traveling gear before each claiming a bed.
"So, we all are mountain men? Deeffinitely not suspicious foorrrr sureeee." Nikolai flatly told Dempsey, who sighed.
"It's the best I could come up with. After all we need a good cover story that we all can repeat with consistency amongst all of us. So yeah, we're all mountain men." Dempsey responded as Richtofen and Takeo nodded along, Nikolai putting his head in his hands.
"Da, I just think it's very stupid." Nikolai made his opinion known before turning to his gear.
"So we sleeping here or what? We walked a few hours to get here, and we gotta wait for your bird's checkup or whatever. So we could either sleep now and get to Dendemille Town tomorrow. Or we could head out and get to Dendemille Town later, but we'll be at the town but all the beds may be full." The group looked at each other after Dempsey posed his question.
"I think we could keep walking. After all, it's about a two day walk to Lumiose City from Dendemille Town. Once we get there, we can get to an airport and make it to Kanto. Once there, I can reunite with my family and we can figure out what to do." Takeo explained his point, the group nodding along.
"We could probably do that. Better to not waste anytime for our goal." Nikolai voiced his agreement.
"Ja, it's best that we keep going."
"Alright, but I'm taking a nap until your bird is done, Doc." Dempsey voice his agreement before laying down on his bed.
The rest of the group simply looked at each other and shrugged, before leaving the room.
Lumiose City... Present Day...
The skies were clear and the summer temperature beat down on the concrete metropolis known as Lumiose City. The capital of Kalos, the historic and large city's larger than life skyscrapers and cozy cafes provide a unique blend of modernism and old class elegance. There is a certain pride amongst Kalosians who live in the city, a pride that can sometimes lead to arrogance. One of the major capitals of the world, with an antiquated view of a more romantic era in Kalos history.
In one of the numerous apartment buildings within the city, slept a young woman. Her hair was a brilliant honey-blonde and her figure was near a perfect hourglass shape. Her profession is that of a pokémon performer, a trainer who uses their pokémon for more theatrical showcases than actual battles. Her apartment was messy, clothes strewn about haphazardly. Her kitchen was cleaned, yet somewhat unorganized. In her living room, spacious as it was, lay numerous bowls along with pokémon food.
Waking up, the young woman cracked her eyes open, revealing brilliant light blue eyes. Slowly sitting up, the woman rubbed her eyes and looked around the room. A seemingly endless void of guilt amongst other feelings hit her. Unfortunately, it would be one of those days.
This woman is named Serena Yvonne.
Getting up from the bed, Serena ran through her morning routine. She prepared a shower, brushing her teeth in the meanwhile to allow the water to reach and agreeable temperature. After a short shower, she dried herself off before blow-drying her hair to a more manageable level. After around five minutes of combing and styling, Serena applied a small layer of makeup, having grown accustomed to doing so in her days of nonstop performances.
Nowadays, however, she's taken to a more reclusive lifestyle. Her social life being reduced to one of a somewhat self-imposed exile. Her only friends that she still sees often, Bonnie and Clemont, have tried to get her to interact with other people but she rejects their offer every time. Her heart had been consumed by guilt, and her mind a deep depression. From this grief, an almost otherworldly obsession began over a certain boy.
A boy who had been missing for twelve years, and has been presumed dead for ten.
She still remembers the funeral, a rather sordid affair with many attendants. Almost nobody blamed her for what happened, how could they? They weren't there, but from what Professor Sonia explained, they wouldn't have been much help either. Speaking of whom, Professor Sonia and Serena had a particularly nasty 'disagreement' following the funeral service, leading to the two never speaking since. Delia Ketchum had done her best to make Serena feel better, but nothing seemed to drag the girl out of her depression.
Brushing past her released pokémon, Serena entered a dark room in her somewhat spacious apartment. Flicking on the lights, revealed numerous white boards and tack boards. Strung all throughout on the boards and on tables lay various pictures and newspapers all related to the incident. On top of that, lay pictures of various locations that peaked Serena's interest.
See, Serena had stumbled upon something. Something that completely changed her view on the situation ever since. It all started a few years ago...
Lumiose City... Three Years Ago...
Serena walked along the streets of the Kalosian capital. Looking around, with coffee in her hand, she observed the numerous older buildings associated with the inner districts of the city. Moving along a certain alley, Serena arrived on a particular street. A street void of any humans or pokémon, a feeling of emptiness very present in the air. Serena had stumbled upon this road a few days ago and had decided to investigate the seemingly abandoned and forgotten city block herself. Serena had lived in Lumiose since she was fifteen and she had never heard of a road or a district containing buildings like this.
Walking slowly along, Serena arrived at a large building. The building looked decrepit and abandoned, numerous holes in the ceiling visible through the missing front doors, and the broken glass wall overhead. Strangely enough, the abandoned building gave off a feeling of ambiguity. It almost felt like the building was almost acting unassuming, deterring people from its inside. It didn't take long for Serena to realize it was an old theater.
Taking a deep breath, and deciding to release her Delphox, they both walked into the building. Almost immediately a dark presence almost made both turn and run. However, Serena also felt a small pull, a need to enter and investigate this building. Walking inside, Serena observed the numerous bits and pieces of rubble and debris. The lobby of the theater was large, two staircases on either side of the room led to an upper floor that presumably led to upper balconies and the projector room. To the right, a small concession stand. To her left, a destroyed a boarded up room, probably a bathroom. Although, the room was shrouded in an almost unnatural darkness. In the middle of the lobby, in a small room past the space between the two staircases sits a massive set of double doors, with the remains of a ticket booth in front of them.
Along the banner of the balconies and on the floor, lay ruined flags containing a strange symbol. The symbol was numerous black lines in a certain arrangement in a white circle. While not knowing what it meant, Serena couldn't help but shiver looking at it. Tentatively stepping forward, a strange feeling of dread slowly began to take over the young woman. Her delphox, ever the loyal companion, kept by Serena's side.
Thinking to herself for a few minutes, Serena decided to investigate the upstairs area. Carefully, she began to climb the old and creaking staircase on the right side, avoiding touching anything she didn't have to. Delphox stayed behind her, keeping a close eye on their surroundings. Once at the top of the staircase, Serena looked both directions. The left upper wing of the theater seemed to be near complete destruction, the path blocked off by a closed boarded up door. Meanwhile, the right upper wing doorway was wide open, revealing a mostly intact room.
Her decision made for her, Serena walked through the open doorway. Entering this smaller lobby, which seemed to lead both to the projector room and the upper seating, Serena looked to the theater balcony. Walking up to the intact railing, Serena was finally able to view the main theater room.
Large and decrepit, covered in debris and grime. Numerous seats line the lower floor of the theater while some of the upper decks had collapsed onto the ground floor. The path between the seats leading to the stage surprisingly lay completely clear. Looking to the stage a set piece could be observe in a state of half completion. The screen was pulled down with no video to display, the projector presumably shut off. To the left of the stage, lay some large device with that same symbol engraved on the front. A creepy liminality seemed to possess the room.
Now, more than ever, Serena felt like she was not supposed to be here. That, somehow, she was seeing something that nobody was meant to see. Looking to her left from the railing, she was disgruntled to see her path blocked by fallen debris from the ceiling. Turning around, she quickly made her way back through the room and through another doorway. She found herself in a small room that served as a connection between a side spiral staircase and the central-right upper balcony. At this point, Delphox had made her discomfort known.
"Del! Delphox!" Delphox exclaimed to her trainer as she looked around anxiously.
"I know... Delphox. But, I have this feeling. Something is pulling m-" Serena stopped talking as something interesting found her view.
Approaching the far right wall of the small room, Serena was shocked to see...
"Portraits?"
There were five portraits in total. One large portrait of an older man in a gray uniform with the same symbol on the flags and machine that was larger than the rest sat on the far wall to the right of the spiral staircase. On the wall adjacent to the larger portrait, sat four more. One depicted what appeared to be a Kanto man wearing a strange uniform. Another depicted an angry looking man wearing a green uniform. A third portrait displayed a strange man wearing a winter uniform, his face twisted into one of displeasure. Interestingly, the closest portrait was completely blank.
"Strange." Serena thought aloud as she scanned the hanging portraits. "I don't recognize any of those military uniforms, maybe I'll ask my dad." Serena racked her brain looking for all the knowledge she gained from her military father about the armed forces of the world. Shrugging, Serena turned to Delphox.
"Hey Delphox, do you think we should take these portraits with us?"
"Del! Del!" At Serena's question, Delphox took a step back with a shocked look. Rapidly shaking her head and raising her paws into an 'X' pattern.
"Okay! Okay. Noted." Serena raised her hands placatingly.
"Let's keep going."
Serena and Delphox found a doorway to the left of the room and walked down a staircase. Exiting the tight staircase revealed a large room with two staircases on either side. It appeared to be a room that allowed for guests to get to the balconies and the upper deck of seating. While it provided a stairway to the lower decks and the lower portion of the theater. Finding nothing of note, Serena went through a pair of double doors at the bottom level of the room that led to the dressing room. Walking into the dark room, Serena turned to her left. Only to be met with a humanoid figure.
"AHHH!!!" Serena screamed as Delphox rapidly stepped in front of her trainer.
Once both got over their shock, they both collectively sighed at the mannequin that stood before them. Realizing their fear, they both stood closer to one another as they calmed down. Once calm, they turned their attention back to the dressing room. Serena moved towards the lockers that housed the performer's clothes and belongings, while Delphox moved towards the mannequins and large chests. Opening the lockers, Serena was not surprised to see nothing there. Delphox, looking around the mannequins, found nothing as well. Both reconvened at the stage entrance empty handed.
Once on the stage, Serena stepped out onto stage center. Looking out towards the theater, her unease returned full force. She was used to being on a stage in front a full and excited crowd. Now, with not a living soul present and the only sound being that of her and Delphox's breathing, Serena was simply unnerved. Glancing up to the balcony where she once was, Serena was half expecting to see some strange creature. But nothing was there.
Walking to the other side of the stage, Serena found a large electrical box with the switch flicked to the 'On' position. That would explain the flickering lights and the occasional electrical buzz. Finding nothing of note, Serena continued to explore the stage.
"Delphox." Serena turned to her loyal pokémon.
Delphox was standing in front of the large machine, her paw underneath her long jaw. Her eyes were narrowed in thought. Serena approached her and looked at the machine as well. Walking around the large, cylindrical, device Serena couldn't find anyway to control it. Figuring the unlikelihood that the machine would even work, Serena simply gestured for Delphox to drop it. Both of them then turned their attention to the large double doors in the back of the room, behind all of the seats.
"Well... that goes back to the main lobby. I think?" Serena looked at Delphox, who shared her befuddlement. "I... honestly don't know what to make of this."
"Del Delphox?" Delphox offered her theory of abandoned and forgotten to Serena, who simply shook her head in response.
"I don't think that's just the case here. This theater, I never heard of this place at all. I'm sure that an old theater like this would either be famous for horror or torn down. This place almost feels unreal, like it's not meant to be here." Serena explained as they both began walking down the center aisle to the double doors.
"Delllll..." Delphox agreed reluctantly, uneasiness clear in her voice.
"Let's try and get into the projector room. Maybe we'll find something there?" Serena suggested, Delphox slowly nodding.
They both, quickly, made their way back to the debris blocking their path on the upper balcony. After making sure the debris wouldn't compromise the structural integrity of the whole balcony, Delphox used a scratch attack to destroy the wooden debris pile. Once clear, Serena stuck out her foot and pressed on the balcony that stood before them and the projector room door. Satisfied that it wouldn't collapse, Serena made her way over and reached the door.
"Will you open?" Serena thought aloud as she reached for the door handle.
Turning the handle, the door made a loud *clack* and creaked open. Observing the compact and intact room inside, Serena entered the room. Shortly after, Delphox followed her inside. Once inside, they immediately noticed something different. In the room lay multiple film reels, as to be expected, but there was also more. Along the wall, lay empty beakers and other equipment on a large wooden table. To the left and right of the table stand two blackboards.
Cautiously approaching the desk, Serena idly noted the numerous papers and documents piled on the desk. Towards the back of the desktop laid a gold plaque. Leaning forward, Serena observed the name on the plaque.
"Ludwig Maxis?" Serena questioned.
Reaching out slowly, Serena ran her hand down the empty glassware. Removing her hand and looking at it, she found not a speck of dust. It was a strange observation that she had while exploring. As abandoned and destroyed the theater was, there wasn't any dust nor cobwebs.
"It's like life itself can't exist here. Almost like it's frozen in time." Serena looked to the blackboards.
Written on the blackboard to the left were numerous math equations and chemical equations. Scribbled along the equations lay multiple notes. The equations made no sense to her whatsoever. Deciding to show someone who may know later, Serena pulled out her phone and took a picture of the blackboard. Delphox stood behind her trainer, watching Serena investigate.
Looking to the blackboard to the right, Serena found a large block of text written on the board. Leaning in, she realized she could not read the language. Creepily, the letters shifted in a way that allowed her to do so. This caused Serena and Delphox to step backwards, eyes widening in shock. Leaning forward, Serena read:
"Entry 741021. Perhaps the station will hold the key to the real goals of Group 935. I still do not trust my unconventional allies, but they are of great use to me. But, I digress. Who would have thought the MDT was capable of time travel? How many stations does this group have? Where did that little girl disappear to? Only time will tell what new questions await us in this... theater of the damned."
Serena simply stepped back from the blackboard once she finished reading, her face one of pure confusion. Serena turned to Delphox, who shrugged. Delphox's confusion was as great as her trainer's. Serena sighed and took another picture with her phone. Taking the documents on the table, she stuffed them in her purse.
Deciding that they had enough of the dread and unease, Serena and Delphox quickly began to exit the room. While they were exiting the room, however, Serena tripped. In a desperate attempt to not fall, she accidentally kicked the projector. Once she realized what she did, there were a few beats of silence.
*WHRRRRRRRR*
The projector roared to life and began to play a film reel onto the screen. Looking at the screen, Serena and Delphox were horrified to see a photo of what appeared to be soldiers with glowing eyes. The video then began to zoom in on the group of soldiers, showing pale skin and ghastly appearances. Some of the soldiers had pieces of their face missing while others uniforms were in tatters. The camera zoomed into the faces of the soldiers, the glowing eyes ever prominent.
"The test subjects have been undergoing treatment for five days with very little progress. I have been assured that, given time, the programming will take hold." The audio played from the aged speakers accompanied by a lot of static.
Serena and Delphox, in a panic, took whatever film reels they could before making their quick escape. The theater was empty, but the fear of attracting attention was there. Running for the exit, Serena made a split second decision to run back to the portraits. Hastily, Serena took pictures of every portrait before sprinting back to the main lobby. Delphox stood in wait with film reels in her arms, crying out in blind panic and calling out for Serena to escape with her. Once Serena appeared from the top of the stairs, Delphox nodded her head rapidly in a gesture to run.
After a few seconds, Delphox and Serena sprinted out of the main entrance to the theater. Looking back towards the building and then to each other, they both nodded before running back through the alley they had found.
After what seemed like minutes, they re-emerged onto the busy streets of Kalos. Their frazzled looks attracted the attention of a few people, but they were largely unnoticed. Serena and Delphox began a long jog back to Serena's apartment, panic on their faces.
Once back in her apartment, Serena went to a spare bedroom and dumped all of the collected documents while Delphox put the film reels down in a random corner. Leaving the room and entering the living room, they both tried to calm down. Their heavy breathing filled the apartment with noice. Pancham and Sylveon, who had decided to stay home that day, looked at the two curiously. Looking at the spare bedroom door, Serena put a hand on her chin.
"What does this mean?"
Lumiose City... Present Day...
Ever since that day, the theater along with the city block Serena and Delphox had found had disappeared. The day after their encounter, they had returned to alley with Clemont in tow, only for that alley to lead to another busy street. It had took a lot of explanation to convince Clemont and Bonnie, who was visiting from her journeys, that she wasn't crazy and that the theater was real. Luckily, she had her documents and pictures as proof.
Looking at those documents posted up in her "conspiracy room" as Bonnie had called it, Serena grit her teeth in frustration. The documents seemed to be of military origins but discussed things that didn't exist. The countries and people involved that the documents described never existed whatsoever. No matter how much research she put into the world's history, Serena couldn't find any mention of anything described. The theater itself, as Serena would come to find, had never existed in Lumiose City history.
However, there was one name that appeared that changed everything. A name that Serena knew existed in her world. A name that appeared in one solitary document which was a transcription of a scientist's diary entry. The diary entry detailed human test subjects he was receiving, Serena found this aspect of the documents particularly disturbing, in an almost unnatural glee. While discussing his "Japanese" subject, the scientist described an incident in which his prisoner fell into this country of "Japan" from the sky. The scientist had somewhat of an interest in it. But, that's not what the massive reveal of the document was. In the discussion of the test subject, the scientist mentioned that he had two names. The prisoner went by Takeo Misaki and was even acknowledged as such by this so called Japanese government.
But his other name, as the diary entry revealed... was Ash Ketchum.
Since that day, Serena had been working on her "conspiracy room" alongside her performances. When she wasn't practicing for showcases, she was researching and hypothesizing around the documents she found. Going to Clemont, who was ever so skeptical, he eventually relented under Serena's pressure and agreed to help her. Since then, he mainly sent her the locations of strange buildings and places. So far, all of them were a bust.
Sighing to herself, Serena left the room and shut the door behind her, locking the room with a special key she had made. Serena then prepared her pokémons' breakfast while checking her phone. There was nothing of note, only a few texts from family or her former traveling companions and miscellaneous social media alerts. After feeding her pokémon, Serena decided that she'd spend the day training. She wanted to get as much practice as possible for a performance in Courmaline City that takes place in a couple of months. The reason being that she won't be available for around a week after a few days from now. Bonnie was visiting and both her and Serena had made plans to investigate a potential lead on Ash in Kanto.
Serena didn't know why, but she felt hopeful about her trip. Maybe with Bonnie, they'd have some luck finding more information in Ash's home region. But that was for later. For now, Serena trained.
Route 17... In The Evening...
"Thank you for your patience! Fletchling is now all healed up and has a clean bill of health!" Nurse Joy happily exclaimed.
Richtofen smiled in response and fletchling happily jumped up and down on his shoulder. Richtofen thanked the woman and turned towards the rest of the group, who had packed their belongings. Glancing to fletchling's pokéball, Richtofen raised the question to the bird pokémon, who preferred to stay on his shoulder for the time being. Before their departure, the group said their own thanks to Nurse Joy before exiting the building.
"Well she's nice." Dempsey idly stated, the rest of the group getting ready for the walk to Dendemille Town.
"Yes, she is a very kind woman. I'm not surprised someone with her personality chose to be a medical worker." Nikolai commented as he tightened the strings on his travel bag.
"Hey Tak, are all people in this world nice like that?" Dempsey turned to Takeo, who was sitting on a boulder and sharpening his katana.
"No, there are evil groups that seek to harm this world. One notable example being a criminal organization called 'Team Rocket.' There were also numerous organizations that I stopped from unleashing unspeakable powers onto this world." Takeo explained as the three outsiders looked at each other.
"Well... shit. Let's just hope we don't get in any trouble. I'd like to enjoy some peace before getting thrown into another Charlie Foxtrot." Dempsey sighed as he hoisted his rucksack over his shoulder.
"Ja, let's." Richtofen got up and stretched lightly.
The group finished their preparations. Once securing their gear and ensuring that they're going the right direction, they began to walk. They made light conversation as they made their way towards Dendemille Town. Looking all around the forest, they couldn't help but admire the peace and calm around them.
Who knows, after all, how long that peace would last.
