Current music: 1845 - The High Kings

In the weeks, months, and years to come, Alicia would never fully understand how it had been so easy for Kaz to convince the others that the story he'd told them wasn't utterly ridiculous. It's remarkable how convincing the Lucario could be when he tried.

At first, Kaz had been laughed out of the room - he'd literally left the living room when Raine began guffawing at how gullible he must have been to believe in such a thing. But when he'd returned eventually, evidently having collected himself a bit, he still seemed surprisingly earnest about the Golden Beacon.

Donatello was the first to give himself over to the idea that maybe, just maybe, Kaz was correct. At a minimum, the Golden Beacon was worth pursuing, even if it wasn't guaranteed to exist - that's what the Combusken wanted the others to believe.

"But I don't get it," Alicia insisted that afternoon to Donatello. "Prove that it exists."

"I can't prove it," Donatello admitted. "I don't think I'll ever be able to meet your burden of proof."

"Then why should I listen to you?" the Zoroark shot back.

"Look at it this way," the Combusken replied. "In any risk assessment, there are two variables. These are the chances of something going wrong, and the degree to which 'something going wrong' would be catastrophic."

"Makes sense," Alicia muttered, because it did. She hadnt fully prepared herself for what Donatello would say next.

"In this case, the chance of the Golden Beacon being real is undetermined. It might be fifty-fifty - ".

"I reject that notion," Alicia snapped. "We can't determine that it is an even chance."

"Well, I don't know what's more likely either," Donatello responded simply. "All I know is that the second portion of the risk assessment, the level of catastrophe if the Golden Beacon exists and falls into the wrong hands, is through the roof. We should take that into account as well."

"That's great," Alicia muttered. "That's just great. You're asking me to believe that this is real, and that we need to go on a grand quest to chase it down. And maybe, just maybe, it'll all be futile."

"Nothing is guaranteed," Donatello asserted. But he did not understand; this made Alicia feel worse, not better, about this.

"Look, Donatello" the Zoroark replied, weighing her words carefully. "I don't know where Kaz got this idea about the Golden Beacon that can revive the dead. I really don't. But if it isn't just a giant hoax made up by people afraid of the dark, I'll eat the avalanche beacon that saved Kaz's life."

"You know," Raine butted in, having apparently overheard this whole conversation, "that just proves his point."

Alicia's jaw dropped. "Why so?"

"Because," the Absol responded, "he has no reason to lie. Kaz might be many things, but he isn't a liar."

"He might not be a liar," Alicia retorted, "but that doesn't mean he isn't a lunatic. To assert that this Golden Beacon is out there somewhere might well be absolute lunacy. Indeed, there's no 'might' about it."

"Well, there are three options," Donatello asserted. "He could be lying, he could be a lunatic, or he could be right - the lord, if you will."

"Lord? Lord over what?" the Zoroark wondered aloud.

"I just needed another L-word to describe him," the Combusken admitted. "In any case, based on all the research I've done, Mystery Dungeons are indeed real, even if they exist in a different reality than we do."

Alicia frowned. "There's one reality, Donatello. That's just a fact."

"Not necessarily," Donatello replied. "Have you heard of the multiverse theory? There's at least some truth to it."

There were footsteps in the hall, and the trio fell silent. Each of them knew whom these footfalls belonged to - it was hard to keep secrets in a condo with just four Pokémon.

We shouldn't act too suspicious, Alicia thought. Otherwise, he'll know we've been talking about him, without him. And he won't be pleased - who could blame him?

"Hello" Kaz muttered, stepping into the living room yet again. "I heard you guys talking about something."

There was a sheepish smile on the Lucario's face, as though he'd just gotten caught stealing from the cookie jar. That's all Alicia needed to know - it was time to fess up.

"We were talking about how ludicrous your theory is," the Zoroark admitted. "And I wouldn't expect you to lie to me, but - ".

"Why would I lie to you?" Kaz enquired. "If I can't trust you, I can't trust anyone - you gave me life, after all."

Maybe he's trying to manipulate me. But no, wouldn't it work in the opposite direction?

"You might not be lying," Alicia pointed out. "Maybe you're just honestly mistaken - that's hardly deception, is it?"

"Quite frankly, I would be pretty crazy if I believed that, and it wasn't true," Kaz said. "I'll admit it."

"Think of Donatello's risk assessment, Alicia," Raine interjected.

Alicia swiveled around to face the Absol. "Since when do you believe Kaz?"

"I'm not saying I believe him. I'm saying that we might have to trust him, because it's better to be safe than sorry. We can head to the library, maybe research Mystery Dungeons while we're there."

Kaz frowned. "There are no libraries in this resort town. I've checked the Internet - there aren't any."

"How do you know that?" Raine enquired.

The Lucario shrugged. "I guess this is just a ski bum town. Would you expect any libraries here? There's not much thought that happens other than how amazing the powder is."

Alicia couldn't help but snort. "I guess you've got a point there, Kaz."

"So, where's the nearest library?" Raine asked. "Would we have to go to Coronet City? Isn't that about two days' trek away?"

Donatello nodded, scrolling on his smartphone. "Based on a cursory Internet search, that is exactly where we would need to go. And we can't travel by train."

"Why not?" Raine snapped. "Wouldn't train travel be the easiest way to get there?"

"Just because it's the easiest way," Donatello muttered, "doesn't mean it's the best way. There have been a lot of train delays lately, and they're shutting down the airports soon."

There was a simultaneous gasp from the other three members of the "Avalanche Buddies."

"How do you know?" Kaz exclaimed, springing to his feet. "How do you know?"

"Just look at PokéTube. It's like the first item on the news feed."

Alicia couldn't believe it. She wanted to call Donatello a liar, not because she disliked the guy, but because she didn't want him to be right. And yet…

Sure enough, a quick glance at PokéTube produced the following headline: BREAKING NEWS: ALL AIR AND TRAIN TRAVEL WITHIN SINNOH HAS BEEN CEASED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. MORE DETAILS TO COME SHORTLY.

"I don't get it," Raine muttered. "Why the hell would they ever do that?"

Alicia stared at the screen of her smartphone, scarcely able to believe what her eyes were telling her. None of it made sense.

"So I guess we're stuck here," Kaz muttered. "Unless we decide to head out on foot, but then it'll probably be a mob scene. Everyone will want to escape."

"Wait a minute," Alicia mouthed, fully processing this for the first time. "They're going to strand us here? But it's not like it was the other day - there's no blizzard dumping several feet of snow on us!"

"Weather is not within anyone's control but Arceus'" Donatello pointed out. "There's no use blaming the government."

"I am not promoting a conspiracy theory here, Donatello," Alicia insisted. "I just…I just thought we'd be able to leave town by January 6, because that's the day our lease ends."

"Well, look at it this way," Raine muttered. "If they ground all the flights and trains, the owners of this place won't be able to enforce the lease. We'll be off the hook - besides, I'm sure they understand."

"True" the Zoroark mumbled. Still, it just sounded so wrong to renege on a promise like that, even if it wasn't her choice.

"I don't know about you ladies," Kaz said, "but I don't feel like getting stuck here when shit hits the fan. And it will hit the fan."

"What makes you say that?" Raine asked the Lucario.

"Well," Kaz explained, "imagine the panic buying that's going to ensue. It'll make the initial wave of Christmas shopping look like a yard sale. A literal yard sale, not the skiing type." (Kaz grimaced while using the words yard sale, and it wasn't hard to guess why.)

"So you propose embarking upon a quest?" Donatello enquired rhetorically.

Kaz sighed, glancing at the fireplace. There were no flames crackling on the hearth, though Donatello could easily have produced them given his typing. The lack of a fire made the condo feel big and cold, not cozy like it should have felt.

"Look," Kaz said eventually. "I think we should at least get ready for a journey. A quest, if you insist on calling it that."

"To find this Golden Beacon of yours?" Raine muttered.

The Lucario frowned. "I thought you believed in it."

"Whatever," the Absol responded. "Anyway, that's the reason, isn't it?"

"Partially" Kaz replied. "I'm also getting a bit restless. Cabin fever is going to set in pretty soon - I don't see how any Fighting-type can stand being cooped up in this town for weeks on end."

"The alternative," Alicia reminded the Lucario, "is trekking through the snowy wilderness for who knows how long, searching for an artifact that may or may not be mythical, all in pursuit of bringing Pokémon back from the dead."

"I never said we'd use the artifact," Kaz objected. "We'd just make sure nobody else could. Maybe we'd destroy it."

Something told Alicia, however, that it wasn't that simple. Something so powerful as to revive the deceased wouldn't just let itself crumble. And if it did, then Arceus, or whoever had invented it, clearly didn't have much foresight.

Raine sighed. "We have no choice. If there's any chance, even one in a million, that some skeletal army gets raised, we have to prevent it from happening."

"I concur with Raine," Donatello asserted. "At least one element of the risk assessment is unacceptably high."

"Then it's settled!" Kaz exclaimed, clapping his paws together. "We'll gather all the essentials in the village over the next few days. And then, when we are ready, we will depart."

What about me? Alicia wondered. I didn't agree to this.

The Zoroark knew all too well that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. In other words, even if someone thinks they're doing the right thing, that doesn't mean they aren't accidentally making the situation worse.

But it was three against one. Kaz seemed enthusiastic about the prospect - at a minimum, he felt some obligation to do it, and maybe that was the same thing. Donatello and Raine had evidently elected to go along with whatever Kaz proposed, because "rationality" had led them to that position.

Then again, Alicia thought bitterly, not every decision is a rational one.

Although Kaz had been the one to present his theory to the others, Donatello felt somewhat validated the following day. Of course, there wasn't much time to focus on having been right when there was so much preparation that still needed to be done.

On Christmas Day, the group had to purchase their own presents. They went to a supermarket located in the village, perhaps the only one to sell food that wasn't a sit-down restaurant.

"It's not that crowded yet" Raine muttered, rolling her eyes. "Maybe the news of all forms of transportation being halted is a hoax."

"Who would benefit from such a hoax, Raine?" Kaz pointed out.

"I dunno. Maybe it's a conspiracy invented to…".

"Probably isn't," Donatello muttered. "If there's going to be a blizzard, then it makes sense to stop the flights. Maybe they can't operate safely."

Then again, it was another bluebird day in the Coronet Range. If a blizzard was forthcoming, it certainly didn't look that way at first glance, or even fourth glance.

(On the way to the market, the quartet had passed the train station that they'd arrived at the other day. It had been cordoned off with yellow CAUTION tape, so if a hoax was indeed responsible, it was certainly an elaborate one.)

"Well, for a journey like the one we'll undertake, we need four tents," Kaz said casually.

"That makes sense," Donatello replied. "I prefer to sleep alone; I don't want to roll over and wake someone else up."

"Precisely," the Lucario asserted. "Everybody wins that way. Isn't that right?"

Neither of the girls objected.

"Okay, so we'll get those. We'll also need to stock up on berries, apples, and Escape Orbs."

Raine's jaw dropped, a sign that she was flabbergasted at Kaz's words.

"What's wrong, Raine?" Alicia asked the Absol with a slight nudge.

The Absol snorted without humor. "Are you supposing we'll have to go through a Mystery Dungeon?"

"Not just a Mystery Dungeon," Kaz asserted. "There could be a lot of them; it depends on how the ley lines have intersected beneath the planet's surface. In fact, I'm sure that the artifact is hidden in one."

"How sure are you?" Raine asked caustically. "You'd better be pretty damn sure, because Mystery Dungeons sound pretty spooky."

"I'm ninety-nine percent sure," the Lucario replied. "Okay, maybe eighty-five percent sure. But it's only logical, isn't it, to hide something so valuable where it's hard to find?"

There was no good argument against that; at least, none that jumped out at Donatello. And if he couldn't think of anything wise to say, that meant something, didn't it?

"So we'll need Oran berries in case we get hurt," Donatello said softly.

"I'm afraid it's not a matter of if," Kaz asserted sheepishly. "It's a matter of when. One does not simply enter a Mystery Dungeon, then leave it completely uninjured. That's not how it works."

Donatello shivered at the thought of ending up as a bloodied heap on the floor of a forest maze, or whatever form the dungeon might take. He tried to picture that out of morbid curiosity, then decided he'd rather not.

"Okay. Oran berries, then apples. If we get hungry, it'll be a lot harder to fight effectively. And if we can't fight effectively…". The Combusken trailed off, because there wasn't much for the others to imagine in that regard.

"Yep," Kaz said. "And then we'll need Escape Orbs, too. If we're in a dungeon and want to leave, or if we desperately need to leave for whatever reason, we just crush the orb, and it'll warp us out of there. Pretty neat, huh?"

"I guess it is," Raine muttered.

"And then," the Lucario continued, "there are plenty of other items one might bring. A set of beacons might come in handy in case we end up on a snowy slope - ".

"You think another avalanche might happen?" Alicia responded, her voice quivering.

"It's a possibility," Kaz said, scratching his nose with one of his paw spikes. This time he actually drew a trace amount of blood, but didn't seem to notice.

"How much of a possibility, though?" Donatello enquired, feeling weak-kneed all of a sudden. He didn't think he'd ever forget the fear he'd experienced as he tumbled down the mountain at a rapid pace, white stuff flying all around him.

"Statistically unlikely, perhaps," the Lucario admitted, "but it's still something we need to be prepared for. It's just like you said about the risk assessment, Donatello - something might not be very likely…".

" - but if a failure would be terrible, catastrophic even, you must guard against it," the Combusken finished. "Yes, that is how it goes."

"We can't let the backpacks get too heavy, though," Raine mumbled. "We'll have to schlep them pretty far."

"Oh, I'm aware of that," Kaz replied. "That's why we're only bringing the essentials. Maybe we could each have a luxury item like they do on that TV show - ".

"What TV show are you talking about, Kaz?" Alicia replied.

"The one where they vote each other off the island. Everyone gets to bring a comfort item that doesn't directly help them in the game - you know, like a photo, or a copy of the Book of Arceus. Anyway, why are we talking about reality TV?"

Raine gritted her fangs. "Because you brought it up, maybe?"

"True. My bad. Anyway, as soon as we reach Coronet City, we'd be wise to find a guild of adventurers. There are quite a few of them, and they offer teams like us support in order to finance their expeditions. If we join, then we'll each get our badges, scarves, and a team name."

The Absol rolled her eyes. "That all sounds so cringe - do teams really need all those things?"

"It's rather like a nation-state, isn't it?" Donatello conjectured. "In order to be seen as legitimate, a state must convince its subjects that they are all one group, which is usually done with symbols like a flag, a national emblem, and what have you…".

"I get it" Alicia muttered. "Don, we should really get out of this aisle. Not only are we blocking the way, but we're making quite a scene as well."

The Combusken gulped as he realized that the Zoroark was correct. More and more Pokémon were arriving to shop, and he wondered if the group's hypothesis about "panic buying" would end up being true after all.

"Let's just buy our shit, then get out," Kaz said with a smirk.

Upon reaching the check-out counter, the quartet were informed that the items they'd purchased added up to over a thousand Poké, an incredible sum to be sure. But Kaz just waved it off like it was nothing!

"Kaz, that's a lot of money," Raine muttered. "Are you sure we need all of this gear?"

The Lucario waved his paw in the air with a motion akin to standing on a bridge and just throwing all that money away.

"You worry too much, Raine. Believe me, if any of this stuff ends up saving our lives, you'll be singing a different tune."

"But how do we afford this shit when we haven't collected any rewards yet?" the Absol responded, a hint of venom in her voice.

"Again, Raine, I've got us covered. Don't be so worried about the money, okay?"

With how casually he mentions being able to cover these expenses, maybe he knows something we don't. Like maybe he knows how to mine coin or whatever it's called. But if it's THAT easy, why aren't more Pokémon doing it?

As Kaz confirmed the price with the Empoleon behind the counter, Donatello took notice of the flippant manner in which Kaz handed the cashier his credit card. He was like one of those teenagers who gets their first credit card and whips it out for every purchase, not fully understanding that it represents real money.

Another thing worth noting: The Empoleon gasped as soon as he saw the credit card.

"Don't mention it" Donatello thought he heard Kaz whisper.

Okay, he's definitely hiding something from us, the Combusken thought bitterly. And it's kinda odd, because most Pokémon like me aren't so socially aware. But it cuts both ways - sometimes I notice things others don't.

"If you say so," the Empoleon responded. "I just hope you don't spend beyond your budget. Just looking out for you, Mr. Lucario - ".

"Just call me Kaz."

The Empoleon's pupils dilated, but he didn't say anything else. Kaz and Alicia gathered up the purchased items and motioned for Donatello and Raine to follow them out of the store.

Once back in the cold mountain air, the Lucario turned to face his companions, narrowing his eyes to prove that he meant business.

"We'll have to check our gear again tomorrow," Kaz told the other three. "I want to make sure everything is in top shape before we head out, because to say a lot is riding on that is putting it mildly."

"No shit" Raine muttered. "This can't become a wild Swanna chase - we have to at least find some guidance."

"And we will have it," Kaz insisted. "Remember, Coronet City's bound to have tons of guilds. We'll just have to choose the right guild."

And then Donatello recalled something else. It was probably insignificant, maybe even irrelevant, but it was still a concern he had. He didn't want any reservations to remain intact.

If I don't confront him about this now, the Combusken thought bitterly, I may not have another chance. I want to at least address this.

"Kaz?" Donatello piped up.

"What is it, Don?" the Lucario snapped back at the Combusken. "We've got to save our air for hauling this stuff back and packing it up."

"When you showed the cashier your credit card," Donatello continued, "he gasped. Is there any reason he'd freak out like that?"

"Don't worry about it" Kaz insisted, speaking too quickly to be genuine. It sounded almost as though there was something to worry about.

"But I don't know if I can trust you otherwise. If you can't admit the truth about the small things, then what about the big things?"

The Lucario appeared to weigh the question carefully before he replied. When his answer came, it was through gritted fangs.

"This…conversation. It's over. There are some things you just don't need to know right away, or ever. And this is one of them."

Naturally, that only made Donatello want to know the truth even more fervently. That would have to wait, but it didn't stop his mind from speeding a mile a second.

Still, if Kaz is hiding something from us, that can hardly be good news for our team spirit. Hopefully he comes clean soon.

"Come clean?" If he's a criminal, or if I even think he might have broken the law, why should I stay with him?

The Golden Beacon. We have to find it. I can ditch Kaz afterwards, but for now we have a common goal.

But what if it's all for nothing?

Kaz is indeed hiding something. Don't worry; the characters' backstories will be revealed eventually, just not yet.

Thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you guys next time (which will be a bit longer than the wait for this chapter was.) Stay safe, everyone!