The next day starts bright and early as I drag myself out of bed to head towards the Explorers Lounge. "Hurry it up, Slowpoke!" Skitty teases when I fall behind the group again. I thought sleep would help, but my mind is still tangled up over the whole Dragalge encounter.
I'm vaguely aware of Skitty and Noibat's conversation. He's been nervously chattering about dreams of being an explorer but being held back by his own fear of weakness. He must be braver than he thinks though, so have survived such a dangerous encounter and still be itching to dive in for more.
As we enter the Lounge, a hush falls over the other teams. "Did they really do it?" "I heard they just disappeared!" "Is it really ok…?" Whispers reach my ears, and I feel self-conscious all over again. I don't belong here, sullying good-natured explorations with my weird human tech and impulse-based reactions.
Before I can dwell on it too long, Lurantis glides in. "Good morning my lovelies! Now, you may have heard about a team of powerful pokemon that have been on the attack." More hushed voices, I hear shock, anger, and one misplaced query about what's for lunch. "This morning I have some important updates about this team!" She proclaims.
A pause for dramatic effect, "first the bad news. It appears the three outlaws have split up to try evading capture! Little do they know we will not rest until they are all brought to justice!" Lurantis sure is fired up this morning. "There have been no reported sightings of Serperior yet, but if we stay vigilant, he shouldn't be hard to miss." But where to even begin looking? "There has, however, been an encounter with Rotom! A witness report says she was spotted heading towards Garbodor's Junkyard, and was behaving erratically." Why would Rotom seek refuge…in a junkyard? I'm surprised to find myself concerned about her well-being.
Argh, why do I even care? They're supposed to be outlaws.
"Which brings me to our most important update—Dragalge has been captured by our one and only Team Starburst!" Some half-hearted claps come our way. I don't think the rest of the Center is as invested in the theatrics as Lurantis. "Dragalge was caught most masterfully by Gwen, who heroically wielded a piece of human technology to win the battle!" "HUH!?" I'm as shocked as everyone else; I never considered that Lurantis would—or wouldn't—mention human things to the rest of the Center. "But how did Gwen acquire such an artifact? Well, for no other reason than that she herself was a human!" "WHAT!?" I'm suddenly flocked by pokemon with questions, demanding answers, asking for autographs. I'm pretty sure Scolipede fainted.
"Quiet, quiet!" Lurantis regains our attention. "Yes, Gwen was a human, but she has regrettably lost her memories—this is still the case, correct?" I nod embarrassedly. "But, thanks to our Head of Intelligence, we have a few more answers about the nature of Dragalge's capture, and how this may help us with the remaining outlaws."
Sigilyph floats to the stage, holding the ball that may or may not have vaporized Dragalge. I'm feeling queasy again. "Based on my research and analysis, I've found the most likely identity to this marvelous piece of technology" he says, excitedly. "This appears to be a capture and containment device humans created for pokemon—with it, they can condense a pokemon into its energy, and release them again at a later time."
Relief floods through me.
Dragalge is…not dead. They're not dead! My eyes start watering. All the guilt and worry is gone, I can't believe it!
Meanwhile, the rest of the Center sounds concerned. "Condensed into its…energy? Why would they wanna do that?" "Do you think it'd hurt?" "But how could a whole pokemon fit in there?" "It's just their energy, stupid" "are we gonna let them out again?"
"Hush now," Sigilyph continues, "Thank you. Now, Master Lurantis has let me know Gwen possesses more of these balls—this could be the secret to capturing Rotom and Serperior, who, based on reports and Dragalge's encounter, sound to be terrifying and powerful opponents."
Now that seems a little harsh. Dragalge was a little spaced out and creepy, but I wouldn't call them "terrifying." The only other report is about Rotom being 'erratic.' And if these are the most powerful foes the Center has faced…well then that's not terribly impressive, is it?
"That's right!" Lurantis returns to the spotlight, "because of this, while the rest of you continue your regular duties and try to gather information about Serperior, Team Starburst will investigate the lead on Rotom! We wish you every success, now then! Off to work, all of you! And Sigilyph? Kindly return that to the Artifacts Wing, if you please."
As we leave the Lounge, I see Phantump tumbling over to us, Audino close behind.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Phantump says hugging me tightly. "Let her breath, dear!" Audino cuts in. "Thank you so much, we're so grateful for you risking yourselves to catch those criminals. Oh! And I see you have a new member!" She says, noticing Noibat. "Not a problem ma'am," Skitty says proudly, "you have nothing to fear, team Starburst is on the case!" Phantump springs to attention "Team…Starburst? I love that name! How did you come up with it?" "It was Gwen's idea!" Skitty says, wrapping her tail around me and using it to muss up my fur as I let out an exacerbated laugh. "Wow, well…Gwen…it looks like you have a great set of friends in team Starburst! It looks soooo fun!" Phantump exclaims. Something about his affect seems a little different, but I can't put my finger on it. "Come now, we should leave them to it," Audino says, taking his hand, "thank you again, explorers!"
As they leave, we're back to considering our plans. "Wow, I never thought a bunch of newbies like us would be catching so many criminals!" Skitty says, incredulous. "It's so exciting!" "I-I'm a little nervous" Noibat chimes in. He's gone a slightly funny color. "I…I thought exploring would be more…more exploring? But we're going to try and catch Rotom? So soon?" "We need to act on the lead quickly, before she goes elsewhere" I say, despite somewhat agreeing with him—it's all happened so fast! But…I do also want to ask her some questions, things I didn't get to think of in the heat of our battle with Dragalge. "Yes, we have to go and find Rotom!" I say, resolute.
I need this meeting to happen, I need answers. Because the more I think about how I've felt…what I've instinctively known…it makes me worried about who I was…the kind of person I am.
Because these three vicious, powerful criminals?
I think I knew them once before.