"So it's true?"
"As much as we are able to confirm," Steven spoke solemnly in the video meeting where the Champions of the PWL had come together to discuss a matter of grave importance, one that was held shortly after Champion Alder had woke up from his coma and immediately tried to pull whatever was left of his region back together. "They claim to come from the regions known as Paldea and Galar respectively, and that their regions came together to create the Paldea-Galar Union two centuries ago."
There was a tense period of silence that followed until Cynthia broke it.
"I'm not entirely against the idea of welcoming them, but the attitude that they had displayed thus far gave me the impression that they are not here to make friends."
"Yes, especially after they freely admitted that they are aware of the PWL's existence since two centuries ago and had been spying on us without us the wiser. That is a grave cause of concern. We know close to nothing about them but yet they seem to know everything there is to know about us. Our satellites were unable to reach the area of this planet which they claim to be from, yet theirs could reach ours while remaining undetected. We are behind them in terms of nearly everything; technology, military power and most importantly, knowledge."
To the Champions, there's nothing more fearsome than an enemy who knows everything about you without you knowing anything about them in return. An unknown alliance of two foreign regions who very clearly displayed the capabilities to easily send out a trainer who could stop a calamity brought about by Legendary pokemon would incite fear for anyone not on their side. It's true that Unova might have already perished if it wasn't for their assistance, but the arguably hostile attitude displayed by the Paldea-Galar representatives gave the PWL Champions a lot of room for doubt about any hopes in forming a working relationship with them.
The optimist in Steven would chalk their behaviour to the possible cultural differences between their regions but the realist in him denied that thought. The PWL is too reactive in the diplomatic relations relating to the two new regions that sprouted out from practically nowhere. Paldea and Galar were the first to initiate contact with them while the PWL had no means to initiate contact with the other party, resulting in Paldea and Galar having the initiative to hold talks whenever is convenient for them but not vice versa. The two foreign regions already knew everything there is to know about their history and even the current political landscape of the PWL, yet the PWL barely knew anything about the two regions beyond what had transpired at the Battle of Castelia and the names of their current Champions. The Paldea-Galar Union are aware of every single species of Legendary and Mythical pokemon that made their homes in the PWL while the PWL do not have a single clue regarding what their Legendary and Mythical pokemon might be or the kind of power they wield.
The mismatch of information and knowledge is too huge for the PWL to be able to take any initiative in the discussions. The Paldea-Galar Union had demanded compensation for the assistance they offered during the Battle of Castelia for stopping Kyurem and Reshiram, citing the fact that Unova might have been eradicated if it wasn't for their intervention. They accused the PWL for being so incapable that it forced their hand to intervene or risk the entire world being destroyed by the fury of Unova's Legendary Dragons.
What made it so frustrating was that the PWL cannot refute the point made by the Paldea-Galar Union. If it wasn't for them sending over that unknown trainer things would have really gotten out of hand and Ghetsis might have really achieved his vision of ruling over Unova.
"What are their demands?"
"Compensation and unfair trade deals with the PWL," Steven relayed what he learnt to his fellow Champions. For some unknown reason the Paldea-Galar Union had decided that Steven would be their chosen messenger to relay any of their demands or propositions to the PWL. How the Paldea-Galar Union managed to contact him through his personal number while he couldn't do the same to them despite the best efforts of Hoenn's best IT specialists, Steven had no idea. All he knew was that this was a show of technical superiority by Paldea and Galar.
If their intervention at Unova was a display of strength to prove that their combined military might is very likely superior to the combined union of the PWL's own, the manner in which they can contact Steven at any time of the day without them being able to do the same is a flex to remind them that the two new regions surpassed the PWL by far in terms of technological development. Nobody had succeeded in venturing beyond the territories that made up the PWL, yet the Paldea-Galar Union managed to send in reinforcements from their regions to the PWL and it arrived swift enough to aid them in battle. If the PWL were to come to war with the Paldea-Galar Union they would already be at a disadvantage in terms of how they could utilise their military deployment. They would all be sitting psyducks.
There's really too little anybody knows about the Paldea-Galar Union and it unnerved him. He's not alone. The entire upper brass of the PWL are unnerved the more they learnt about their two new neighbours.
There's also the issue of how the Paldea-Galar Union were able to seemingly learn the PWL's classified and confidential secrets almost in real time. This is no longer something that can be chalked up to them having better satellites that are able to observe them from space while remaining undetected. Were their IT security systems compromised and were already hacked into by the Paldea-Galar Union a long time ago without them in the know? Did they plant spies within the PWL? Or did they have unknown species of pokemon with unknown abilities that are able to assist them with subterfuge and espionage work even from afar?
Too many unknowns.
"If all attempts at peace talks fail, we might have to prepare for war. An international war," Lance verbalised the thought on everyone's minds should any form of peaceful and friendly negotiations fail with their new neighbours. It certainly didn't help that Unova had only just recently been through one and is still in the midst of recovery and cleanup, and the Indigo is still recovering from their own civil unrest a year ago as well. For the PWL, this is the worst period of time to be embroiled in war. Latios and Latias were sighted to be assisting the trainer from the Paldea-Galar Union, so they would also have to work with the worst assumption that the Paldea-Galar Union might have already stolen the Eon duo from them. Who knows if they had done the same to any other legendary or mythical pokemon from the other regions.
"Their demands for compensation are too unreasonable, we will have to decline or if that somehow proves impossible, drive a bargain with them," Diantha reminded the Champions but Steven wasn't really paying full attention at this point. He's still very miffed and displeased by the inactions of the other regions when it comes to tackling the prophecy problem. Flannery nearly died at Unova. He nearly lost two very valuable and powerful Pillars while the other regions barely contributed anything to the cause. Honestly, he's quite disheartened at the PWL and equally disillusioned by their numerous promises that ultimately proved to be empty ones. Him and Wallace both. It's been that way since their first meeting at Olivine where the interpol was officially established.
Hoenn's trust in the PWL had already been dented. While it's true that Hoenn is a member of the PWL and that Hoenn should work together with the other members for their shared interests, he's the Champion of Hoenn first and foremost. If the very first world war were to break out due to the emergence of the Paldea-Galar Union and the other regions are still not willing to make any sincere contributions he will have to think of an alternative solution. If it ever comes to that point he will not hesitate nor will he dismiss any suggestions, even if they are to paint him in a bad light.
Including the possibility of switching alliances
The good news is that Hoenn holds several advantages over the other regions. They are politically stable, they are rich in resources, the average quality of their trainers are considerably better when compared to international PWL standards. They are also currently the sole point of contact that the PWL relies on to have any form of discussions with the newly emerged Paldea-Galar Union, which also meant that as long as this arrangement remains, no matter what Steven claims, no matter how ridiculous it sounded, the PWL will have to take his words as the truth when it comes to this matter because they have no other means to verify the truth. If worse comes to worst and that the other regions really cannot be trusted, he always has the option of feeding them false information and subsequently switching sides.
Of course, he's hoping that things wouldn't turn out that way because that would be his very last resort in the event that the worst were to happen. He honestly has no idea what to really expect from the Paldea-Galar Union at this point. He has no idea what the other regions are really thinking and if they are planning to cooperate and deal with this diplomatic exchange that could either turn out to be an opportunity or a crisis. He cannot control what the other regions will do but he can prepare his region and people for the worst while hoping for the best. He's no longer going to wait and hope that the other Champions will understand that all seven regions really need to cooperate and stop holding back with their efforts to thwart the prophecy. He had already lost faith in some of them, some more than others.
So, he will take things into his own hands. Wallace shared the same views too ever since the Indigo One Day War ended and their fears partially came through when they learnt of the lack of support the interpol received during their operations at Unova, and even more so after hearing the reports from Flannery and Norman after they had seen what is going on there with their own eyes. This was why Steven had ordered Velda's return after the Battle of Castelia ended, it was to show their stance and displeasure to the PWL by retracting their region's representative in that international organisation. Wallace and Steven had already started making plans a year back and had been secretly arming Hoenn to the teeth in preparation for a possible war. Strictly speaking, they are not as reliant on the PWL for their region's interests as compared to the other regions.
However, Hoenn had historically possessed a considerably smaller population when compared to the other regions. They are the smallest region be it in terms of population or land mass. This was why they always had a heavy focus on quality over quantity since it's the only way they could get around this problem. The other solution if wartime measures were to officially be put in place was mandatory conscription of their trainers and to draft them into the military. Hoennians are not strangers to such an arrangement since such a hard handed measure had been implemented a handful of times over the long course of their history, where things were dire enough that it had threatened the region's independence and continuity. In fact, the Magma-Aqua crisis that emerged after the Lilycove Invasion had almost resulted in the implementation of the harshest wartime measures. Fortunately, such crises were usually resolved quickly and the implementation of such measures never lasted beyond two weeks whenever it happened.
The virtual meeting eventually ended and Steven was quick to exit it. He looked to his left where his predecessor was sitting silently and had been secretly listening in onto the meeting where he wouldn't be seen.
"I have my own opinions on this matter but I want to hear yours first."
"I'm not optimistic. Only Lance and Alder seemed willing to try contributing but their regions are still licking their own wounds. Alola is… Alola. Cynthia seemed reluctant to provide any additional help beyond hunting down the Galactic remnants that fled her region. Diantha… hah," Wallace cannot help but release a frustrated sigh at the mention of the Kalos Champion. "I don't know about you but I'm quite fed up with Diantha."
"I'm also very displeased by her inaction. The only time Kalos provided assistance was the One Day War and that was because Siebold and Valerie happened to be already there. Even so, it was clear that she had instructed them to not help beyond the bare minimum. Thankfully, Siebold didn't listen or what happened at the Battle of Olivine might have taken a different turn."
Steven briefly recalled his experience at the Battle of Olivine and how he had battled alongside that Kalosian Elite Four. Siebold is a respectable man but the Champion he works under? That's debatable.
Steven has to think further and deeper as the Champion of the region. The Lilycove Invasion, the Indigo One Day War, the Plasma Crusade; three large scale conflicts that almost or had already broken out into full blown war on a near yearly basis one after the other must be a sign that something is coming. It's good that Hoenn had possibly averted one crisis, but who's to say that something similar won't happen to their homeland again?
Steven frowned a little at the reminder of his experience at Olivine where he was forced to do battle against Legendary pokemon. He is a Champion, someone who stood at the pinnacle of trainers, and yet he would never forget that sense of fear and powerlessness in the face of absolute might from Zapmolcuno. Even he felt like a puny bug in the face of beings that had walked this planet since the dawn of time and it was a terrifying realisation to come to, that even the strongest trainer in the region amounted to nothing in front of legends. If Groudon or Kyogre were to really awaken in the near future how would Hoenn stop them? Realistically speaking, if even Champions are nothing but mere inconveniences in the face of mighty legends, what can they really do?
This is something that he has to take into account as Hoenn's Champion in light of recent events. He has to find a way to allow himself to stand on equal footing as the creatures who were said to have a hand in creating this world. The Unova war showed another possibility, that it is possible for trainers to go toe-to-toe with pokemon that are the equivalent of gods. That unknown trainer from the Paldea-Galar Union was proof of that, the other unknown trainer who had stolen their Eon duo had also proved that legends can be persuaded to fight under a trainer. There were fabled historical figures like Ishikawa Katsuo who was said to have commanded Moltres to fight his battles, the Twin Heroes who were said to have once commanded Zekrom and Reshiram, and several others who were said to have achieved similar impossible feats.
Steven used to believe such tales to be exaggerated myths but recent developments had convinced him that it is indeed possible for humans to grasp onto the power of legends. Hoenn needs to be able to harness such a power sooner rather than later. Even if Hoenn is unable to produce a trainer that is the modern equivalent of Ishikawa Katsuo he has to find a way for Hoenn to have the means to stop even legendary pokemon in their tracks. The existence of the Plasma Frigate showed that the power of legends can be harnessed through technology, and the invention of master balls were proof that even legends can be forcefully subdued.
He has to find a way for Hoenn to be able to stand against legendary pokemon as soon as possible, by hook or by crook. He himself needs to polish his skills even further such that he stands a fighting chance to at the very least, inflict a lasting injury on legendary threats should the worst happen. If Volkner of Sunyshore managed to hurt a legendary pokemon, there's no reason why he couldn't do the same as the Champion of Hoenn.
This is his duty as Champion. This is the burden he had promised to shoulder the moment he was sworn into this position.
"You are the Champion now. What's your plan?"
"I was thinking that we could start prepping our civilian trainers using that plan we hashed out the other day. If all goes well and no war breaks out, it would just be another tourism marketing gimmick. If war does break out, at least our trainers would be better prepared on a national level. No matter how I think about it, there's no harm in pushing this plan into motion now."
Wallace nodded his head in understanding and agreement. They can no longer afford to wait and rely on the PWL when they do not seem to share and understand the urgency Hoenn felt. What happened to Indigo and Unova was a reflection of what could have happened to Hoenn if they had not resolved the Magma-Aqua crisis in time. They were lucky that it was resolved as quickly as it did. The Lilycove Invasion could have easily sparked a nationwide civil war like what it did at Indigo or incited a calamity through awakening of their region's slumbering legends like it did at Unova. Maxie had nearly succeeded in awakening Groudon if it wasn't for Norman stopping him in time. It was why they viewed the prophecy as a matter of grave importance.
Sadly, only Indigo and Unova seemed to share their views. Unfortunately, they only did so after the unfortunate events that happened on their own soil that garnered international attention. Sinnoh, Kalos, and Alola were all relatively unaffected thus far but if it takes a crisis of a similar scale and consequence to get them to finally understand the severity of the prophecy problem, it would probably be too late then.
Hoenn would have to rely on herself to defend her people, her land, her sovereignty and freedom.
"I will get this plan implemented as soon as possible and hopefully we can roll it out within a month. We will have to get President Foster up to speed too. This will be much easier if we have his support."
"I believe he will be very supportive after hearing what we have to say."
"How's the search for Kyogre going?" Steven asked Wallace since they were already on the topic of prepping their region for the worst case scenario. They had located Groundon's resting place to be at Mt Chimney during the cleanup operation after the Lilycove Invasion and had been keeping a close watch on it ever since, but the whereabouts of Groudon's counterpart was still unknown. Wallace had volunteered to conduct the search with the help of a few trusted League trainers and he is indeed the best candidate for the job as former Champion and also as a Water Master.
"We have narrowed our search to the eastern waters of our region, Kyogre should be situated somewhere around the waters where Mossdeep, Sootopolis, and Ever Grande is at. The problem lies in the difficulty of getting enough people who are both capable of diving into the deepest part of the sea and who can also be trusted. We don't have enough Water Specialists whose team specialises in deep sea diving to conduct a thorough enough search."
"I will ask my father if he is able to speed up the production of the Submarine Explorer 1. Our search will certainly be much faster if we are able to create a submarine that is able to reach the deepest parts of our sea."
"And what about our Plan B?"
"I will talk to the Draconids," Steven sighed tiredly, already feeling the onset of a migraine at the thought of conversing with the last of the remaining noble families of Hoenn that stood as the equal to his family and the Veras. Well, the Draconids are technically a tribe rather than a family, but he's not going to sweat the details at this point.
What made dealing with the Draconids so challenging is that the tribe is very traditional in their ways and their traditions do not necessarily mesh well with modern society. The fact that most Hoennians had the misconception that only two ancient noble families still exist instead of three is already saying a lot about the Draconids' way of life.
He might as well pull Vance along to accompany him in his visit to the Draconid Tribe at the Meteor Falls while he's at it. Historically speaking, the Draconids had a better relationship with the Veras as compared to the Stones due to their similar philosophy regarding pokemon, so they would probably be more willing to talk with him if Vance were to tag along. Surely a viable solution would come out from the meeting of the heirs of the last three noble families of Hoenn.
Prepare for the worst and hope for the best, that's really all he can do now.
Saying goodbyes has never been easy, but all good things eventually have to come to an end.
All of my belongings were packed and a ship bound to Hoenn has been found. Hoenn had sent a handful of ships over to Unova at the earliest opportunity in order to pick up our fellow countrymen who happened to be in Unova at the wrong time. Strangely enough, while the lack of globalisation in the world made it such that no regions had the practice of putting ambassadors in the other regions, the member regions of the PWL do have embassies in every other member region.
Most Hoennians in Unova had fled to the Hoenn Embassy for protection and thankfully, every fellow countrymen who had seeked protection there were alright thanks to the efforts of the Hoenn trainers stationed at the embassy. Last I heard the embassy was still trying to account if there were any missing Hoennians who might be in Unova but did not make their way to the embassy, but those people are only a small handful and are generally Hoennians who had already lived in Unova for a number of years.
Norman and Flannery took charge of the situation with the embassy staff assisting them. Most of the Hoennians felt assured by the presence of our Gym Leaders and they were also aware that they had played a part in the defence battle at Castelia. There was a sense of collective pride that I could feel from my fellow Hoennians for what our Gym Leaders had contributed in this legendary battle, especially when we were gathered at the site to board the ships to bring us back home.
The number of Hoennians heading back home filled up five full large ships in total. While such numbers might not seem to be much if you were to take Unova's landmass into consideration, many Hoennians had already started avoiding travelling to Unova since about half a year back when signs of Unova's instability started to show itself and even our government had been warning us to refrain from travelling to Unova since then. I honestly didn't expect so many Hoennians to be in Unova since this region was already so politically and socially unstable months before this war happened.
From what I was let in on these ships are military ships belonging to the Hoenn League that were originally tasked to patrol the borders of our naval territory. They were redirected to Unova at the earliest opportunity when there were signs of trouble brewing and it was why they managed to arrive at Unova so soon after things had died down. I'm not too sure if I'm reading too much into things, but I believed that Steven probably wanted to convey a message to the world when he sent in our military to extract our countrymen when he could have redirected commercial ships that were in the vicinity to Unova.
Personally, I'm just surprised that the ships managed to arrive so soon after the end of the Battle of Castelia. If the ships really were at Hoenn before being suddenly redirected to Unova when shit suddenly went down, these ships must be very fast to reach us so soon.
"Get well soon," Looker told me as I said my farewells to my colleagues in the interpol. I am no longer an interpol member, not after Wallace and Steven had given me the direct order to pull out from the group in their capacity as Hoenn Champions the moment they had ascertained our survival. My family had also ceased their support to the interpol with my exit from it. I am also no longer operationally ready until I am able to fully control my new abilities that I have devoured from Emil. Until then, I am a walking hazard to everyone around me. I do not want my abilities to accidentally hurt my colleagues out in the field simply because I cannot control when and where they take effect.
"We'll go find you when our work brings us to Hoenn," Skye promised and I happily agreed. Hugh looked a little down at seeing me go, probably because we were the closest in physical age. Shannon seemed pretty excited at the future prospect of visiting my family's farm and seeing all the rare pokemon there that cannot usually be found in Unova. Nova expressed interest in exploring the ancient ruins I spoke about, the one in the middle of Hoenn's desert where I found Snap and the fossil Lily was revived from. Volkner was being annoying like always until Jasmine kept him in line and Akamu and Mary offered to show me around Alola when I eventually travel to their home region in the future.
I wasn't expecting Jayce to show up though.
"Remember that you still owe me a lapras," he reminded me the moment we had a chance to converse in private, effectively ruining the atmosphere in an instant.
"Have fun with the cleanup," I reminded him about the mess that he will have to clean up due to him being a Dandolos. The war with Team Plasma might have been won, but it will not come to an official close until the Unova League finishes with disposing of all of the Plasma remnants that had made their getaway and that is another can of worms that I'm sure nobody would want to touch within a ten foot pole. If he ruins my mood I get to ruin his mood too.
"Ah, back to my old job as an exterminator again. Good old times," he drawled somewhat dramatically. A few more quips were thrown between us until I had to get onboard. I stayed on deck and watched as the ship finally departed from Unova, staying there until Unova could not be seen on the horizon.
"Ms Velda."
"I'm not sleepy yet. I think I will stay here on deck for a while. Go and rest, Sebastian, you had a long day," I told him and when it seemed like he wanted to stay with me too, I continued. "I have Rena here and this is a military ship. I will be fine."
"As you wish," Sebastian bowed and left. I continued to stroll on the deck without a clear purpose in mind. There were places that civilians like me are not allowed to trespass, obviously, and the sailors belonging to Hoenn Naval Forces had very helpfully pasted clear and obvious signs which places should be out of bounds to non-authorised personnels.
I'm not the only civilian on deck. I saw many others as well. I see couples leaning against the railings observing the clear blue sea together, I see families and children frolicking with their pokemon on deck, I see navy sailors patrolling the deck with their pokemon and interacting with the civilians and doing their best to address any queries or worries they might have.
I'm a little afraid of being on the ship with so many strangers, to be perfectly honest, because of the very real possibility of Emil's ability within me suddenly going crazy at the most unexpected times. However, Steven made it very clear that I am to leave Unova immediately on this military vessel as it's no longer safe for me to be left alone at Unova, nor is it possible for me to get further special arrangements to somehow get another ship to just ferry me alone when Unova is almost on a complete lockdown now. The best arrangement that I could be given is to have my living quarters assigned to the most remote part of the ship and have a "containment" area to quarantine me from the rest of the passengers to minimise the damage if the worst were to happ.
More importantly, the fact that Emil's ability within me does not have frequent uncontrollable outbursts and that the incense that Dr Lott gave me is able to suppress all abilities was probably why the authorities gave the go ahead to put me on the same ship as so many passengers.
"Mummy! A purple eevee!"
"It's an espeon, and don't point at pokemon like that. Some may not like it," the mother of the young boy who pointed excitedly at Rena corrected her son and subtly pushed away the offending finger he was pointing at Rena. The woman mouthed a silent apology at me for her son's rude behaviour and I shook my head in understanding, telling her that it's alright. Espeons are a rather rare species of pokemon to come across and appearances of rare pokemon tend to excite young children.
"Purple eevee?"
"Purple eevee!"
Unfortunately, the young boy's exclamation had caught the attention of more children and they started to crowd around us in excitement. Rena clearly is not a fan of excitable children, hissing at them in irritation before quickly levitating herself in the air with her psychic powers so that she remained out of their reach.
'Need me to recall you back to your pokeball?'
'It's fine, mistress. I will remain here by your side, but if the pranksters can get these rude kids to go away that would be great.'
Unleashing my ghosts on little kids would be overkill, so I guess trying to persuade them to leave Rena alone would be the best option to deal with those kids for now.
"You are scaring my pokemon," I patiently reminded the children and Rena insisted through our telepathy that she's not scared of them, merely annoyed.
"What is that pokemon?"
"An espeon, it evolves from an eevee."
"Cool! What type is it?"
"Psychic."
"Is it strong?"
"Every pokemon can be strong if you know how to train them."
"I want to touch it! It's your pokemon, right? Get it to come down! Get it to come down!"
I frowned. I really disliked the way the little brats are ordering me to order Rena about. Really makes me wonder how their parents raised them and I'm glad my parents didn't raise Vance and I to be like them.
"No. If my espeon doesn't want to be touched by you, we respect her decision."
"You are its trainer! It has to listen to you! Get it to come down!"
The children began to make a scene, the din loud enough to start giving me a headache. For a moment I truly entertained the thought of setting my ghosts loose to scare them all away. That thought is getting more and more tempting as the seconds ticked by.
"You don't want to. They are all very scary," I told them in an exaggerated tone but the children clearly don't believe me. I have no idea if my parents would ever give me a younger sibling but if this is how rowdy my younger sibling is going to behave I might just decide to throw him or her out of the house and commit homicide. They have no sense of personal space and are just plain loud and rude.
Where are their parents anyway? Can they do something about their children?
One of the sailors noticed my plight and started to assist by directing the children back to their parents. Fortunately, the children are easily distracted and they soon left me alone to go play with the pelippers the ship raised to help scout ahead for their seafaring journeys. These pelippers were also fortunately very used to human contact and did not mind playing with the children.
My pokemon are generally friendly and nice, but they do not necessarily have the patience to entertain rowdy children and they definitely are not good playmates except for maybe Flamel, Fuzzy and Joy. My battle hungry ones definitely could not be trusted to be anywhere near children.
"Thanks for the help."
"Just doing my job," the naval officer replied in a somewhat emotionless and aloof voice. I do know a little about military ranks and their corresponding insignias thanks to Vance's stint in ACE. The officer in front of me may be young, probably just a few years my senior, but the rank on his uniform definitely outstrips the other sailors that I saw on the ship thus far.
He looks just like the typical Hoennian and he's honestly not bad looking. His hair is a dark shade with a small unusual tinge of dark navy blue, his skin is a tad bit more tanned than the average Hoennian and his eyes are of an olive green.
He took a look at Rena who was still levitating above me and probably will not land until she's certain that the rowdy children are truly gone.
"Very well trained," he praised before looking back down, more specifically at the shadows at my feet. He could definitely tell that I have many ghosts hiding in my shadow, "and very unbelievably accomplished for your age to be able to keep so many of those in line. Who's your mentor? Phoebe?"
"I don't have an official mentor, but I picked things up here and there from various other accomplished trainers on my journey."
"Will I have to worry about them making a scene on the ship?"
"They won't," I promised solemnly. I cannot fault him for his question because it is a legitimate concern when there are so many people, especially civilians, onboard on this ship for weeks on end. The civilians on this ship are his responsibility as a member of the military.
Ghosts are feared for a reason.
"Good. I should have learnt about a trainer so skilled at your age but I didn't. You are not usually in Hoenn?"
"Might be because I left Hoenn for work shortly after my conference."
"I see," he nodded in understanding. He looked up at the sky and I spotted a skarmory making a descent towards us until it landed in front of the navy officer, gently nuzzling its beak against the officer's outstretched hand in a display of affection.
"Have you thought about serving in the Hoenn forces? You look like you could excel there."
"Nope, but I served in the LSDF for a short while, it was kind of like an internship." I admitted. Why is everyone always asking me to consider serving in the military?
"Smart," the officer gave me an unexpected reply that really took me aback. "The military is a bad place to be in. If you have other options, go for it."
"... What did the navy do to you?"
"Everything. Thankfully, this is my last tour before my resignation. Hate this place."
I cannot help but giggle into my hand at this unexpected turn in our conversation.
"Are you sure you should be telling a civilian that?"
"You clearly are not a normal civilian. All of the passengers on this ship here," he did a subtle sweeping gesture with a slight jerk of his chin, "are on this ship precisely because they have some sort of backing or status. To put it simply, every passenger here is a VIP that the League has to take special care of."
Wow, I didn't know that, but it certainly kind of explained why those kids were so rowdy and spoiled.
"You have a swampert?"
"How did you know?" I asked in surprise. I haven't released Bigblue from his pokeball ever since I boarded this ship.
"You have a small patch of dried up slime coating on your left shoulder, the kind that you can only find from the slime coating a swampert's skin. You probably had gotten some of it there without you knowing when you last interacted with your swampert, probably just before boarding the ship."
I looked at my left shoulder. True enough, some dried slime had rubbed off on my shoulder. Bigblue's skin is slimy to the touch, it's a trait that can be found in all swamperts or amphibious pokemon in general.
Being able to tell that I have an amphibious pokemon from the slime is one thing, but to accurately deduce that I have a swampert really shows just how knowledgeable this officer is.
"If it's not too much trouble, I might need to borrow your swampert every now and then for this journey. They are very accurate predictors of incoming storms. Been trying to request our headquarters to raise a swampert on our ship for this very purpose but those stingy old men…" The officer grumbled incoherently under his breath towards the end of his sentence. He seems to be the type that has issues with authority, or at least that was the vibe that I'm getting from him.
"That wouldn't be an issue. Bigblue would be happy to help," I readily agreed. Storms are the bane of every sea journey and it may make our journey a much bearable and safer one if we are able to predict their arrival in advance.
"Bigblue? What kind of name is that? Did you seriously name your swampert like that because it's big and blue?"
I gave him a glare. The smirk on his face told me that he's having fun poking at my horrible naming sense. He did have to leave shortly after to carry on with his usual duties and it was only after he left that I realised I still haven't got to know his name.
"Weird guy," I told Rena as we continued to explore the deck together. Wonder just what kind of job he would get after he leaves the military that he seems to hate so much. Why enlist in it if you hate it in the first place?
'And probably a skilled trainer. I sensed many powerful presences from the pokeballs strapped on his belt.'
"You can do that now?" I asked in surprise. I never knew Rena had the ability to do that.
'Not usually, but it was hard not to notice those presences with how clearly they could be felt. They must be very powerful pokemon.'
"If what our dear President Foster tried to do to us is any indication, it doesn't seem like the Hoenn League would easily let such a trainer in their ranks go. If he's that skilled, how did he successfully hand in his resignation?"
'Maybe he had backing?'
"Very likely, because the only other explanation would be that he's too powerful to be controlled like how Volkner was. Hmm, should I ask Wallace? Surely he would know about the existence of such a skilled trainer?"
'Or we can simply ask around. The ship's crew would know who he really is.'
Rena was right to guess that we could find out about the identity of that navy officer simply by asking around. He's the vice-captain of the ship and everyone calls him Zades. From what I heard through word of mouth, he's also apparently a very skilled and powerful Water Specialist.
Funnily enough, most of his colleagues seemed to have a very healthy dose of both fear and respect for him. Surprisingly, I also learnt that he's also one of Juan's apprentices, which would mean that he and Wallace have a senior-junior relationship with each other as fellow students of Juan.
Juan is a renowned pokemon trainer and coordinator. It's not a secret that Juan only ever took in five official apprentices but it's a fact that's not known by most. Wallace was simply his most well-known apprentice due to his accomplishments and also for following in his teacher's footsteps in becoming both a splendid trainer and coordinator. It's just that Wallace's accomplishments eclipsed over Juan's four other students such that many did not pay attention to them.
Wallace was Juan's third student. His first two students are famous coordinators and many people have actually seen them on TV before. Their names are Kamila and Gita. Both of them are very famous coordinators and well-liked by the public in Hoenn. They are judges for some of the region's most distinguished Pokemon Contests and had also performed on the world stage a few times before, taking part in international contests and while none of them clinched first place in any of such international competitions, they had brought glory to Hoenn by getting themselves a very good placing by consistently placing themselves in the top three for every single time they took part in it.
I never knew they were Juan's students. Like me, the majority of the Hoenn populace probably weren't aware either. These famous people are surprisingly low profile.
Juan took in two more students after Wallace. However, Juan trained them in the art of combat rather than grooming them to be coordinators. Zades is Juan's youngest apprentice.
"You didn't have to complain to my mentor just because I made fun of your swampert's nickname," a very unimpressed Zades looked down at me from where I was lounging about on a sunchair around an hour after our first meeting. I smiled up at him cheekily, feeling very smug about the fact that I managed to figure out who he is so soon after our initial meeting. I don't think he expected me to be so well connected to influential figures from Hoenn.
Elesa was right when she gave me her advice when we were making our trip to Unova. I need to learn how to utilise my own connections.
"Juan told me to tell you that you have to take very goooood care of me for the duration of the trip, or else he would kick you out of his house the next time you visit," I obnoxiously waved the phone in my hand, the screen displaying the recent conversation I had with Juan just about fifteen minutes ago. My words were purposefully said in an insufferable tone that had the corner of his mouth twitching in irritation. He clearly holds Juan in very high regards and their relationship with each other gave me the impression that they are more like father and son rather than teacher and student.
Juan had also freely revealed to me that he's in the midst of persuading his youngest apprentice to consider taking up the mantle of Sootopolis Gym Leader so that Wallace can step down as a candidate. While Wallace will be stepping down from his position as Champion soon and he doesn't mind taking over Juan as the next Sootopolis Gym Leader, it honestly will be very hard for the Pillars to adjust to the new change in command when the former Champion is now working under the new one, especially if their opinion differs on certain issues. If there's a disagreement between Steven and Wallace, who should the other Pillars listen to? That's a very real problem that both parties have to take into account during the eventual handing and taking over of duties.
And so, Wallace is standing in as a temporary candidate until a better suited one can be found. Zades is one of the potential candidates- if not the best candidate- whom the Hoenn League wishes for to take over Juan's mantle but he's not very willing to do so. Juan and Wallace are having a real headache over that matter from what I was let in on.
"Petty."
"Yeah I'm petty. So what?" I unashamedly admitted without a care in the world.
"Childish."
"I'm only fourteen, I'm still a child. I'm still at the age where I can throw a public tantrum and nobody will bat an eye."
I could swear that Zades was so close to throwing me off the ship.
"Seriously though, what made you so resistant to the idea of becoming the next Gym Leader?" I asked in curiosity.
"You want that shitty position? I will happily put in a recommendation for you, Vera."
"Pfft, you and Volkner are so alike," I had to smother my laughter with my hand to prevent myself from attracting the attention of other passersby on the deck. Maybe that Hokage wannabe can give this kouhai some advice on how not to follow in his footsteps? Should I introduce them to each other?
Might be fun.
"You have connections to that man? He's quite a legendary figure among Gym Leaders."
"He's annoying, but he's indeed good at what he does. Why? Is he your idol? I could help you ask him for a few autographs."
"I don't know how annoying Volkner is, but I do know that you are hella annoying," Zade looked totally unimpressed at my offer and I obnoxiously waved the phone in my hand again, reminding him that I could always snitch on him to Juan behind his back and that he has only a few seconds to rephrase his words before I really do so. He looked like he's seriously contemplating the idea of snatching my phone from my hands and throwing it overboard and be done with me.
Our conversation was interrupted when a sailor ran up to him to give a verbal report.
"Sir, sightings of wild pokemon ahead in approximately three kilometres. We heavily suspect it to be crawdaunts."
"Not those hooligans again," Zades clicked his tongue in annoyance. He walked to the edge of the deck and threw a pokeball to release a pokemon that I didn't quite catch the sight of from where I was and… that was it. I didn't see any other follow up actions taken by him. He must be very confident that his pokemon can deal with the crawdaunt problem on its own.
"What's that pokemon?"
"Don't know," he blatantly lied with a straight face.
"Petty."
"Yeah I'm petty. So what?" He replied and I narrowed my eyes. Is he returning my words back to me?
Fine, I had that coming.
"Return back to your room," he told me in a more serious tone and I understood that this is no longer playful banter. "We have this covered, but we never know what dangers there are out here. I will get my men to tell everyone else to return back to their rooms as well."
"Yes sir!" I playfully answered with a mock salute before skipping away. I'm in a good mood after getting to know Zades better, mostly because I had the upper hand over him thanks to Juan. I also recognised that his words were not a suggestion, but a direct order to all passengers on the ship as the vice-captain of this military vessel.
So it's best to just heed his advice and head back to my room. It's about time I have my nap anyway, especially when Dr Lott had advised me to get used to having segmented sleep cycles because relying on the incense method is not going to be good for me in the long run if my body unfortunately built up resistance to the effects of the incense. Whether or not my body does build up resistance to the ability-negating incense still bears further investigation, but until we are able to obtain conclusive results practising segmented sleep is going to be the best remedy for me.
Come to think about it, Dr Lott should be on this ship somewhere. Sebastian told me that Dr Lott had agreed to my parents' request to be hired for his services. He will find ways for me to cope with the drastic changes in my life for having five new abilities forcefully implanted into my body. That also meant that the doctor will be following us and taking a trip to Hoenn as well. Wonder where he might be on this ship, I haven't spotted him thus far.
I should also give my parents a call before going to take a nap. I miss them already.
Character and pokemon list:
Velda Vera, Age: 14, Female, Pokemon Trainer
Pokemon on hand:
1) Rapidash (Flamel), male
2) Swampert (Bigblue), male
3) Banette (Dolly), female
4) Flygon (Snap), male
5) Absol (Kelsa), female
6) Charizard (Toothless), male
7) Cradily (Lily), female
8) Espeon (Rena), female
9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male
10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male
11) Clefairy (Joy), female
12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female
13) Pangoro (Hulk), male
14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
15) Scizor (Archer), male
16) Lapras (Chill), female
17) Gengar (Wacky), male
