∑ Volume One: A Rose By Any Other Name ∑
Chapter One: Khan
"From now on I swear I'll never run away and leave my friends behind again. No more excuses." - Ash, Challenge of the Samurai
My name is Professor Khan Buckeye. My friends call me Khan.
It's not the one I was born with. I've been picking up and dropping names all my life. Khan. Dracen. Professor. Not that any of it matters. A rose by any other name, right?
I'm leaving this message in case I don't make it back to the Academy. If Asa's Gem really works the way he's promised, it should be recording my thoughts onto the scrolls I had set up in my office. Here's hoping I won't need them. I'd prefer if I was able to tell this story in person. But better safe than sorry, right?
Gods, I'm even thinking in clichés. Taking care of young ones will do that to you. The Pokémon who come to my Academy like to think they're coming in as adults. They never are.
…
I called my staff into my office.
Gloria and Matty, Glameow and Loudred, my personal assistants. Mach the Breloom, Scout Leader and go-to for one-Pokémon speed-missions. Ross the Ampharos, regional operator, who gathers information from Treasure Hunter Teams to keep our maps of Itori up-to-date. Tina the Snorlax, counsellor and day-to-day operator. Elexi the Gardevoir, diplomat. Cherry the Cherrim, head chef. They lined themselves up in a clean formation, held themselves upright, shoulder back, calm and stoic, soldiers stood to attention. I could tell they were twitching on the inside.
"As you all know," I said, "Tobias and Alex of Team Goldenrod left for Tenrai on a high-risk mission two weeks ago."
I watched their reactions. Gloria and Matty, eyes a little wider, attention drawn. Mach, irritated. Ross, blasé. Cherry, fidgeting, keeping her eyes on the ground. Tina, face heavy with concern. Only Elexi seemed utterly unmoved. That's always been the way with her. I checked the sundial.
"Thirty-two minutes ago we received word that a thick cloud of smoke was rising from the south, where the Tenraian shore would be. You can probably all see it in the distance, too."
"And those weird lights in the sky," Cherry said in her nervous, overcast voice.
"Cora's flown out along the shore, she says the smoke is rising from Goldenrod Tower."
"GOLDEN… ROD…" Matty said, piecing it together. Gloria subtly shook her head and smiled.
"Six minutes ago," I said, stepping back to direct my attention to a pile of smoothed-out pages on my desk, "I received this in the Pelipper Post Box."
I waved to Ross. He held up the last page for everyone to see.
Draco Meteors are falling across the city. Pokémon are screaming. Even the guardsmon are running. Something is coming out of the water.
Malik has summoned a God.
Tobias' words hung in the air.
Even Elexi looked stirred. Not frightened, just… stirred.
"Tobias and Alex are in mortal danger," I said, "along with the citizens remaining in Karma City and the wild Pokémon in all the surrounding areas. We are in danger. All of us."
"So shouldn't we prioritise protecting all of us instead of just two students?" Ross set the paper back down on my desk on top of the rest. Tobias' words were… how would you say it? Glaring up at me.
Malik has summoned a God.
"Four," I said, meeting the Ampharos' eye.
"Hn?"
"Four students. Toto and Torch are there as well." I sent them personally. No, don't tell them that.
Ross shrugged.
"We can't just leave them there!" Tina said, looking shocked and appalled. "They're our students, we have a responsibility to them!"
"We have a responsibility to the Pokémon here!" Ross retorted. "There are hundreds of us, thousands in the clifflands altogether. We can't spare the eight strongest Pokémon in the Academy just for them. I'm sorry Khan, but we can't."
Ross stood firm. Gloria looked saddened, Matty uncomfortable. Tina was all concern, fret for their wellbeing. Mach was antsy, hopping from foot to foot. He probably wouldn't care what we did, so long as we did something. Elexi looked melancholy.
"Tobias would want us to put him first," she said, "you know that. Alex too."
You don't know what Tobias wants, I thought. You barely even know him. And you don't know Alex at all.
"Alex is a human."
It took us all a second to register Cherry's voice.
"If we're dealing with a threat of legendary proportions," the Cherrim said, "we may need him. What if he ends up being our only shot?"
If she'd been in her Sunshine form, she would have been the first to jump to their defence. Bright, loving, enthusiastic. But in her overcast form she was more calculating than that. She always wonders why I chose her to be one of the elites. It's those two qualities combined.
"There's another human as well," I said. "Mikey. A Grovyle."
Elexi's eyebrows raised.
"You're… sure about that?" she said, trying not to betray the surprise in her voice.
"Oh I'm quite certain."
I'd only read the last few pages, but I can read between the lines.
"Cherry might be right," Gloria said.
"WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THAT BASTARD GETS HIS FILTHY HANDS ON THEM?!"
"We're not going to find out," I said. "We're heading down there tonight. We're going to find them, and we're going to do what we can for Karma City."
There was a digestive pause. This had come entirely out of left field, and I understand their consternation. If I'd told them we'd be leaving on an actual, active mission in the next few weeks it would have been a surprise. But I was wasting no time. This was happening the moment our meeting adjourned.
I continued: "Two of us will need to remain here to take care of the Academy, keep it safe."
Tina took a deep breath, stepped forward.
"I'm by far the slowest Pokémon here," she said, "leave me behind."
"And I'm not much of a fighter…" Cherry murmured.
"But you're both respected and well-loved in this Academy. I know this will be a knew experience for both of you. But yes, I think you're both the right Pokémon for the job. Ross, Mach, Gloria, Matty, Elexi."
The others stood to attention.
"Are you ready for your next mission?"
We made it to the southern coast in a day and a half. We'd moved swiftly, our shrouds camouflaging us against the night, never stopping, pausing only briefly during the night to sleep. It was everyone else's first field mission in more than a year (aside from the incident in a certain forest). It showed. We weren't moving as fast as we should've been. Which was frustrating considering how light I'd decided to travel. In my items bag were two Lum Berries, twenty Oran Berries, bandages, healing paste, and plenty of food. Finally, kept in two small locked boxes, were the Persim Band and the X-Ray Specs. I've never been one for superstition, but I never leave for a mission without my good-luck charms, even if they were only replacements bought at the Kecleon Store.
We arrived at Kori-Kori beach at Hoothoot's hour. The sun had just set, and multi-coloured night lights coloured brown sand and black waves. A Midnight Lycanroc sat napping against a palm tree. A Vulcan Diglett and a Goldie Dugtrio shuffled on by, the younger one chattering away while the elder, presumably his mother (mothers?) listened with patient ears. A Pallosand hid deep down in the sand, and only the occasional peak from their beady blink eyes gave them away. A pillar of smoke rose on the horizon.
We made our way to Paradise Inn, swallowed the hot food they brought us in an undignified amount of bites, asked them seven times to accept payment for the food, then finally gave up trying and let them show us to our rooms, where we collapsed into bed. Maybe an hour later I heard a knock at the door. I wanted to cry. No wait don't put that in.
"Yes?" I groaned.
"You asked for a sand shower, sir?" came a sheepish voice from behind the door.
Oh right, I'd asked for a sand shower. The Grubbin (sweet girl, bless her soul) guided me to the shower room, sand and water placed precariously next to one another, and left me in peace. I closed the door, hooked my claw through a hole in the chain, pulled. Warm sand washed over me, soft as a Meowstic's fur, rough as a Cyclizar's scales, soothing me and scraping the dirt off at the same time (oh Gods, please don't let that show up on the scroll). I watched the sand trickle away into a little hole in the ground, then closed my eyes as I let it poured onto my face.
A knock at the door. Your moment of peace is up, Prof. I pulled the chain again and poked my head out of the door. Sand scattered across Mach's feet as he hopped between them.
"Someone at the café is asking to see you," he said quickly but quietly, in case someone overheard, "says it's urgent, says it's about a Legendary Pokémon."
"Our Legendary Pokémon?"
Then I thought, what a ridiculous thing to say, of course it's our Legendary Pokémon, who's else would it be? Mach didn't even give me an answer, just an impatient wave before zooming off down the corridor. I let out a sigh. Even the best students sometimes never learn.
I dusted myself off and headed to the café. Mach had gathered the others and they sat paired off, sitting "inconspicuously" with their drinks. (Non-alcoholic, of course, they're on a mission.)
The café was almost empty, except for a yawning Drampa cleaning a glass. Matty's booming laugh made him jump and almost drop it to the ground. At the only other occupied table, a Haunter pointed behind a Shuppet. She turned around and they both greeted me, big star-struck smiles on their faces. I stopped, smiled and waved.
It's exhausting. I hope this never leaves you and me, scroll, but it is. Everywhere I go the same smile, the same wave. Endless affection to perfect strangers who think they know me even though I don't know them. Except they do know me, don't they? I've made sure of that.
But they're kids. And I've just made their day. One kind gesture leads to another, leads to another. So I stop. And I smile. And I wave. Always. Then at the bar, I saw him. There was a moment of vague recognition, followed by sudden clarity.
"Piplup."
"Piplup the Great", as he liked to call himself, looked up at me with heavy eyes.
"Professor," he said, raising his cup as if it weighed five stone.
He glanced back at the others. They all pretended not to notice. This cocky, arrogant show-off had dragged himself with muddy flippers and matted feathers to a cheap beach lodge, where he sat drinking something from a hollowed-out pineapple. He waited for me to sit down. I slid into the stool next to him. I would have offered to buy him a drink, but Gabriel always refuses to take my money, or my staff's money, out of respect. I raised a claw, and the Drampa brought me my usual without a word, then ducked under the bar to start sweeping the floor, leaving us the small bit of privacy we could afford. I glanced back at the Haunter and Shuppet to make sure they weren't looking. They weren't. Piplup took a sip.
"How are you—" I began.
"Terrible."
He gave me a wry smile, glanced behind him again.
"Mach tells me you have something important to say."
"Hah. I doubt you're going to believe me."
He's playing a game now. He told Mach, who he could have told just as easily. He's drawing it out so he can soak up more of the—
"You think I'm looking for attention."
I blinked.
"I know what you all think of me. I do. That I'm some washed-up loser trying to suck my heritage dry to make myself seem more important. You were all right, if that makes you feel better."
I raised my eyebrows. "I've never thought-"
"Don't lie to me, Professor, please. I'm trying to tell you something important."
I motioned for him to continue.
"I was returning home to visit my family. I was taking the Willard Winchester Wailord service along with a few other Islanders. Along the way we swapped stories. All five of them told me they were leaving Itori for good. They said there were bad omens in the air and that it was no longer safe.
"Two Wailmer travelled alongside us to guard the seas while two Swellow took the skies. They assured us even in late autumn this would be more than enough, but we were hit by terrible storms. Lightning that blinded the eyes, thunder as though the sky was splitting in two. The waves grew taller than trees and the wind turned us about like a leaf along a river. The wild Pokémon were savage. We were assailed from all sides from the moment we were too far out to return to shore. Tentacruel lights surrounded us, Sharpedo fangs snapped at us, gigantic tendrils waved through the water beneath us.
"We finally set eyes on the Isle of Legends only to see it shadowed by a great black cloud. A thunderstorm covered the entire island. We pushed onwards but soon we were making no movement at all, only fighting against the waves. Then we saw that Pokémon in the sky…"
His voice trailed off. He took another sip and his whole body sagged.
"Wait," I said, "this all happened on the Isle of Legends?"
"Correct."
"Not Tenrai?"
It was his turn to look surprised.
"What's happening in Tenrai?"
I looked over my shoulder to the Haunter and Shuppet. The two ghost-types began started animatedly, as if they'd been mid-conversation the whole time.
"So told her I didn't even own a banana costume," the latter declared loudly, "and I don't even leave fingerprints."
The Haunter looked down at his hands and frowned. "Do I?"
I turned back to Piplup. It was time to switch on negotiation mode.
"Something very serious, and it may be related to what happened to you. What kind of Pokémon was this?"
Piplup lifted up his collar feathers. A patch of exposed skin, blood vessels underneath raised pink-ish red, straining against the skin.
"An electric-type," he said dully.
"What did they look like?"
"I only remember seeing a bolt of lightning headed towards us, and waking up in the healer's tent here half-alive. The others made it back as well, thank the… never mind."
An electric God. A dragon God. What was the connection? I racked my brains for—
"Is it something to do with the smoke?"
"Hm?"
"The smoke. It's been popping up all over the horizon. Great big clouds of it." Another drink. "Swim out for a couple of miles, you'll see it."
I held up my claws. "Not that kind of shark, unfortunately."
Piplup chuckled, finished his drink, set it down.
"Don't worry, I know a Pokémon for that."
"You do?"
"Do you think I swam over a hundred miles back to Itori all by myself? Please, the other kinds of sharks would have swallowed me whole. No, I know a better way to travel shore-to-shore. Follow me."
In the shallow dark of Misdreavus' hour, Piplup led us to a string of lagoons under a jagged, maw-like cliff. Soft sand particles swirled around our feet as we dragged them through the water, the sand sucking at our ankles. I glanced back over my shoulder to make sure everyone was making it through okay. Matty and Ross were holding Elexi's hands as she walked. Her legs were so thin they probably would have sunk right into the ground.
We stopped at a yawning mouth in the cave wall, crystal-clear water trickling into the inky ocean. Something had been carved into a wall, a long thin tube with three holes.
Piplup looked up at me.
"This is Lapis Lazuli's den," he said. "She's a Ferrier. My saviour Aquamarine told me about her. And yes, apparently they are all named after precious gemstones."
"And she's going to carry us…" Ross gazed out over the ocean. The waves looked vicious, the sky a dark-grey threat.
"It's a much shorter trip than the Isle of Legends, I can tell you that."
Gloria leaned in and said in a low voice: "We're definitely trusting this random Pokémon?"
"No," I said, "we're trusting this one."
I looked to Piplup. I expected him to puff up his feathers with pride, say something boastful, something self-aggrandising. He just looked grateful. A little afraid.
He put his beak to the carved flute and blew. A high-pitched melody rang through the cliffs, skipped over the waves like stones. I found myself looking out at the horizon, wondering how far it would carry. A cyan-coloured glow shone from the gap in the wall. Waves turned, and a shape emerged. Blue skin. Golden streaks running through her body like marble. Golden eyes.
She looked to Piplup first. He placed his flippers together, crossed just above the tips, bowed his head. The Lapras bowed hers in return. I copied them.
"My name is Khan Buckeye," I said, "these are my teammates. Our friend here tells us you provide passage to Tenrai."
The Transport Pokémon moved her eyes over us.
"All seven of you?"
"Not me," said Piplup, "I believe I've hit by adventure quota for at least the next year."
"In all honestly, you weren't my greatest concern. I have only so much room to carry Pokémon, and the greater my burden, the longer it will take. How much do the rest of you weigh all together?"
An awkward pause.
"LIKE… TWELVE POUNDS?" Matty ventured.
The Lapras remained patient. "I must warn you of the risks. The autumn sea is brutal the begin with, and winter is coming. As well as all that smoke along the shore…"
"We're well aware of the risks," I said. "Ma'am, we're experienced travellers, there'll be very little we haven't handled before."
She looked at our scarves. Blue, patterned with red crescents. The Atlanta pattern.
"Treasure Hunters," she said.
"Correct."
"I carried two Treasure Hunters on my back not two weeks ago, a—"
"A Squirtle and a Charmander?"
Bingo.
"We're looking for them. They're in danger, mortal danger, and so is everyone else in that region. Please, I know this is a burden, but—"
"I am a Lapras. It is not my burden I concern myself with. But I need to know I am not leading a people to their deaths. I need to know you will all make it through the storm."
The sea raged. It sprayed angry white foam in our faces, dashing against the rocks, rising up in big curving waves then crashing back down. The wind howled through the cliffs. In the distance, lighting flashed.
"I've lived through worse."
The waves only got worse once the shore disappeared. Gloria's tail was wrapped around one arm, the tight in Ross' hand. The Ampharos aimed his orb ahead of us, lighting the way. We rode the waves up, up, up, down, down, down. Every sudden jerk or wild turn, all six of us were tugged back at once, but we held tight to one another. The rain pelted down on us. My eyes burned. Tobias and Alex went through this as well. How in the world did they survive?
A monster of a tidal wave reared its black, white, and blue head at us. A high, powerful melody cut through the roar of the ocean, and dazzling orbs of water shone around us. Sparkling Aria blasted right through it, a heavy spray of water battering us as we charged through. A lighting strike, a thunder roar. Too close for comfort. Sharpedo turned under the water. One of them leapt out, caught in a flash of lightning behind him; he was nothing more than an angular black shape and a row of sharp white teeth. Mach's Energy Ball exploded against his chin, blasting him back into the water.
"Veluza beneath us," Lapis called through the din.
Ross steadily moved the flashlight, until it was just far enough away—
We were tossed aside as the Jettison Pokémon's head emerged from the water. Ross' light shone up at the clouds. There was a second of complete silence. Then Thunder came crashing down, making the sky flash yellow, white, yellow, white, yellow. A direct hit. The Veluza sunk like a capsized ship.
Red lights. They blinked on all around us, hemming us in. A dozen, maybe more.
"Let go," Elexi said softly. Matty released his hand.
Elexi placed her palms together and bowed her head. Her eyes gave off a blinding white light, edged with green. Her dress flickered like a cape, wind rushed around her, making the rest of us cringe away. The Tentacool and Tentacruel lifted their heads out of the sea, then suddenly they were all rising to the sky, glowing an eery bright green. Then they went flying in all directions. In the far distance we heard the splashes as they hit the water. Lapis Lazuli pushed on.
There was a strange, empty few moments where nothing happening. Just us and the waves, up, up, up, down, down, down. Something felt wrong.
Then that something lashed out at us from under the surface, a great unnatural whip-like wave of water from below. It tossed us all up into the air before we splashed down, scattered, into the black sea. I felt my skin shrivel in the deathly-cold ocean. A wave washed over my back, almost pushed me under. I could see the shape of Lapis Lazuli, head lowered. Shapes moving around, below, no idea who or what or where—
Light. Ross' light. I swam furiously. I may not be that kind of shark, but I've trained myself to adapt to every kind of environment imaginable. I'm a Treasure Hunter, after all.
Something was shifting beneath the water. At first I thought it was seaweed, but it moved with an unmistakable lifelike quality. Several metres long with a trailing end that looked like giant ferns.
Gigantic tendrils waved through the water beneath us.
Up ahead I could just about make out four shapes, an another two being lifted through the air by a white glow onto the Lapras' back. I called out to them but the sound of water breaking drowned me out. I felt something snap around my waist and yank me back down under. Then I was being lifted up by a white light, then dragged back down, lifted up, dragged back down. Finally the tendril tossed me aside and Ross' light was out of sight and water filled my head.
I broke the surface agin and spat out the brine. Up above me she loomed, a Dragalge at least ten feet tall from head-to-waist alone. Ruby-red eyes gazed down at me with no remorse. I could hardly see anything else in the dark and took late I noticed the dark-purple Sludge Bombs headed towards me, the size of rocks. I ducked under the water. Dragon Rush formed around me and four glowing hooves kicked at the waves. Evidently Rushmore (yes, I named him. What are you going to do, sue me?) was a much better swimmer than me. But not better than the Dragalge. We dodged the first tendril that reached out at us, and the second, but the third wrapped around Rushmore's neck and we were lifted into the air. The Dragalge (Drag Queen, as I have named her) turned blue at the mouth; I knew a Dragon Pulse was coming, and there was no way I could escape.
Then the moon itself came crashing down on the Giant's head. I looked to my right and there was Elexi readying another in her hands. Drag Queen lashed her tail and a whip of water tossed them aside, right into the path of an oncoming tidal wave. Lapis Lazuli summoned another Sparkling Aria to part the waves before them. I twisted free back into the water, following the red light. A wave struck me and I went under. Rushmore and I battled hard against the current, and just when I was sure I would lose consciousness for the final time, we broke the surface.
Drag Queen had enveloped Lapis Lazuli in all her limps and was trying to drag her and my friends down to their deaths. But she'd made a crucial mistake: she'd gotten too close to a team of Rainbow-Rank Treasure Hunters.
Ross spread his arms and a Thunder Wave as wide as the Giant's face washed over her. The tendrils still clung hard but they were trembling violently. Mach brought his arm back and leapt up onto Lapis Lazuli's head and kicked off; Dynamic Punch clocked the giant in the cheek and her head so hard I swear I heard her skull rattle. Her eyes drooped and her head lolled. She raised a tendril ready to strike, and it ended up slapping her in the face.
"KHAN! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
"I see him!"
Gloria's eyes became glass mirrors. Thunder strikes and shining moons and hoofed dragons flashed in them before blue light travelled from her eyes across her body. She slammed her paws down on Lapis Lazuli's back and Assist became a wave that rose up beneath me. Rushmore and I rode the black water high up in the air, white foam gushing around us. Drag Queen came to sense just in time to see Dragon Rush's horns lower before they drove up under her chin, tossing her into the water. I flipped backwards and landed on a hard, spiny surface. Lapis Lazuli was holding steady on the waves. We moved aside as Matty stepped up to the edge. He leaned back and took in a deep breath as Drag Queen's head emerged. On a creature this size, this would have seemed an impossible ask. But not for my students.
"AND STAY OUT!" Matty roared. The shock waves cut through the water waves and the Dragalge went flailing through the air, splashing down somewhere far away. Before she could pull herself back up again, Lapis Lazuli summoned Surf to carry us far away, fast.
"Are you all right?" I asked.
"I'm alive," she said, a little breathlessly, "I thank you all."
"Don't thank us," said Elexi, "you're the reason we're here in the first place."
Except that's not entirely true, is it? I'm the reason. I don't take pride in that.
We collapsed onto the shore. The sun was high up in the sky. The Cherrim's hour. It had taken half a day.
We offered our new friend food, money; she declined them all as expected, but it would've been dishonourable not to offer. We rested for thirty minutes on the shore beneath the autumn woods. Then we picked each other up and kept walking.
We passed through the Berrybush Brambles (disappointingly rather lacking in berries), past a suspiciously creepy mansion, onto Rumble Jungle. Ross, Mach and I had been there before on a mission, back when the Academy operated in teams of three. We expected the usual, an unsuccessful attempt at stealthily passing through, followed by discovery at the worst possible time, followed by a fierce battle. Maybe some wise-cracks as we were reunited with our old friends. Maybe a life lesson or two.
But there was nothing. It was deathly quiet. Not the kind of quiet that makes your hackles raise and your heart race as you brace for an ambush. The kind that makes your heart race as you wonder what happened to the ambushers.
A few small prey Pokémon scuttled about. They turned and ran the moment they heard us. We found ourselves by a bank lined by browning douglas firs. The Fortune River was running much lower than before. The exposed land was wide enough for a Steelix to lie across comfortably. Somehow the sound it made was… sadder. Echoing. Empty. Less like an ominous rush over water, hundreds of metres deep, hiding Gods only knew what beneath. Now it was just… a river.
"ANYONE FEEL LIKE A SWIM?" Matty's voice cut through the quiet.
"You're kidding, right?" said Gloria.
"I WANT TO WASH THE SALT OFF!"
"Keep your voice down," Ross hissed, "you're going to attract attention."
"From who?" said Mach.
Silence answered.
The noise picked up as we approached the city. Black smoke clouded the white hornbeams under a bone-coloured sky. It looked like something from a picture book. Meant to scare children. We reached the top of the hill. Smoke rose from houses with no roofs, trails of fire spread across the city like a Galvantula's web, as stringed lights and paper lanterns burned to nothing. A scattering of broken wood bobbed uselessly at the harbour, where a proud armada of ships had once stood. There was a gaping hole in the ground. The earth for a quarter-mile all around was charred black earth. Malik's Pokémon were crawling across the city, ripping it to pieces with every step they took.
Hot bile rose to my throat. The others were staring down in horror, too. But I don't think they really understood what they were seeing. Because these weren't soldiers in Karma City armour. They weren't rabid wild Pokémon let loose on the city. They were bronze Pokémon. And there were dozens of them. A silver Eelektrik lay on her side beside one of the roofless houses, mouth yawning open, eyes screwed up in fear.
All I saw was a flash of purple and black. I turned around and saw Gloria's Shadow Ball had cut through a silver attack, flecks of the stuff hardened on the floor. A bronze Golduck stood there, forming another ball between its hands. Matty's Roar shook the grass and the leaves, and sent the statue tumbling down the hill, crashing into trees, snapping off branches. We crept through the bushes, moving as fast as we dared. The smash of shattering glass came from one of the houses to our left. Dust clouded our vision as a back wall collapsed. I forced my eyes away. A dead body was hanging through one of the windows.
We found the spot Tobias had described in his last page. A small clearing underneath a shade of green blue spruce pines. I looked around, turned in a circle. Nothing. Waves lapped against the low cliff. A broken pieces of wood knocked against the earth. I wondered if he was hiding in the water. I pushed the branches away and submerged myself. I opened my eyes (I really was a shark now) and looked around. Bits of wood, stones, murky blue water. No Tobias. No Evie, no Mikey. No golden Alex.
I heard our signal. I brought myself out of the water. The faces on all of my teammates were sombre. Sombre was the worst thing you could be in this sort of situation. Elexi was looking up at the tallest tree in the clearing. From one branch, hanging near the back, almost completely hidden by the leaves, was a golden scarf. My heart hammered in the red of my chest.
The edge of the scarf looked like it was pointing down at something. Matty got down on his hands and knees. His ears pulsed, and sound waves found their way into the earth. His whole body vibrated.
"HOLLOW," he said.
Gloria dug down. Meanwhile, I snapped the branch away with Brick Break, untied Tobias' scarf. We followed Gloria into a dark, dank tunnel. Elexi looked around distastefully. Ross frowned as he ducked his head, wrinkling his nose at the roots sticking through the earth. Mach looked quite at home. Matty's ears brushed the roof of the tunnel, scattered earth and worms on top of him and Gloria.
"For the love of—"
"SON OF A BITCH!"
Mach put his hands on his stomach and laughed.
"Would you stop?!" I snapped.
A tense pause. I took a deep breath.
"I apologise. That was unnecessary."
"Hey, no problem," Gloria said.
"WE'LL TRY TO KEEP IT DOWN," Matty added.
Elexi placed a comforting hand on my arm. "You're under a lot of stress," she said softly.
EI just brushed her away, as if she was the one making a big deal out of nothing. I am their leader. I can't let them know I'm feeling any kind of stress. It's my responsibility to be in control.
Torchlight. I held up a claw.
A small scout came waddling out. A Skwovet, dressed in a black, red, and blue tunic. She stared at us with wide eyes. I opened my mouth to say "don't be frightened, we're here to help you", the classic Treasure Hunter's line.
But the Skwovet's face broke into a smile.
"Oh, thank God."
…
"Professor!"
He'd never really gotten into the habit of calling me "Khan". Tobias came running and jumped up into my arms. He hid his sobs behind my chest. I held him tight for a moment. Then I let him down and handed him his scarf.
"I- We found- Alex—"
"I read your notes," I told him, "the last few pages, at least. I know what happened to Alex, I know what happened to the Archon."
Tobias' huge, child-like purple eyes swam as he peered up at me. I placed a claw on his shoulder.
"Rest, Tobias. I'm afraid that's an order."
The Squirtle's face sagged. He wanted to be useful, I understand that, but he's no good to anyone unless he's rested. A Rillaboom came and placed a hand at the back of his shell and guided him down the tunnel. A Wartortle slipped past them.
"Professor Buckeye?"
I extended a claw. "My friends call me Khan."
He shook. "Name's Wyatt. I grew up with Tobias. I've heard a lot about you! Let me show you around."
The cavern was literally crawling with kids. A pile of food was perched on a rock against the wall, lined with sharp branches to keep the little ones' hands off them. The Rillaboom was handing out a skin of water, pulling it back from the kids who tried to take more than their share, holding up an apologetic hand as they whined. A Cinderace came through another entrance, sweat matting his fur, carrying a thin bundle of straw. An Inteleon took them and worked frantically to make more beds. There were a dozen or so lined up against wall, all filled. Tobias lay in his shell on the ground.
Alex was hidden under a stained, torn sheet. He was almost entirely covered, except for the upward curve of his tail, where there was a small pocket at the tip where a fire should have been burning. It was oddly reassuring. Wyatt picked up their items bag and handed it to me. It was just the right size to fit into mine, now almost empty.
"Take a look inside," the Wartortle said quietly.
I flipped open the latch. It was empty, except for a small blue fang. Sapphire. I touched my claw against it. I felt energy radiating. I flipped the latch shut and hid Alex's fang away.
Then I saw them in the corner, pretending not to see me. My heart banged against the red of my chest. It was them. All evolved, and all without that arrogant, self-assured air that I once mistook for confidence. Takahashi. Jane. Enid. Formally known as "Team Tenacious". At least they weren't still wearing their scarves.
My teammates were glaring at them, all except Elexi, who walked through the cavern gracefully. A Ralts wandered over and gazed up at her, mouth hanging open in awe. Elexi paused for a moment to humour her.
"Hello," she said softly, "what's your name?"
"Ava," came a whisper.
"Ava, that's a pretty name!"
The Ralts blushed.
"How are you feeling, Ava?"
"… Bad."
"Yes, I can imagine. But hey, look around you."
Ava complied.
"The Pokémon here need you right now, okay. They need you to be strong. Brave. Someday you might be the only one they can count on." She placed a hand on her. The Ralts looked surprised. Elexi's voice dropped an octave. "We're tough Pokémon. It takes more than this to drag us down."
"Professor!" came two voices at once.
Toto and Torch came trotting over. I thanked them sincerely for their help. Wyatt introduced me to their other friends: Evie, who looked up briefly to nod, before she turned her attention back to Mikey, splayed out on the ground, his stomach rising and falling slowly; Cynnamon, a sparky young Cyndaquil, who had bags under her eyes yet still held her head high; surprisingly, Spencer Finley, who despite the weariness in his voice greeted me with the utmost formality.
A Cream Meowth, wonderfully named Cream. The Scratch Cat Pokémon looked up at me strangely as I thanked her. I walked past, but my eyes lingered on her. She looked oddly familiar. A Pikachu stood as I approached.
"This is Ken," Wyatt said simply.
I smiled. "Ken. Nice name." I extended a claw. "Thank you for helping my friends, Ken."
He didn't accept. "You should be thanking my father as well," he said.
He nodded to the Raichu tucked away in the corner.
I blinked. "Takahashi's your father?"
"When Goldenrod Tower collapsed, my father, my aunt Jane, and my aunt Enid rescued your friends from the Archon's Pokémon. They risked their lives to be here. My mother is still missing!"
"We can't leave," added Cream, "because if they see anyone who broke into Goldenrod Tower they'll be killed on this spot."
Takahashi's son looked me up and down. "You sure took your sweet time getting here."
"Ken!" Wyatt scolded.
I stepped around him. I approached the three outlaws.
I'll be honest with you, scroll. I do not like these Pokémon. No. You know what? I hate them, I can't help it. They disgraced our name, they made me look like a fool. But worst of all they did to Tobias. After he had already been through so much trauma they took him in, chewed him up, and spat him back out. A fresh start, a new name, a purpose, all ripped away from him by these three. But then they saved his life.
They looked up at me, half-afraid, half-defiant. I extended a claw to Takahashi. An uncertain pause. The Raichu reached up, I shook his paw, Jane's hand, Enid's… robe?
"Thank you for saving my friends."
Then I left them. After a moment, I heard his voice behind me: "Professor?"
I stopped.
"It was our honour."
I kept walking, grief burning inside the red part of my chest. But I didn't look back.