Returning to Hearthome after weeks of vacation in Unova region was a pleasant change. Hearthome was a busy city, but the place paled in comparison to that of many of Unova's towns and cities. The population was twice as large, and that meant long queue lines. People tended to be ruder there as well as she had learnt whilst walking through Castelia's crowded streets. What had she learned? The hustle and bustle of city life wasn't for her.
However, something wasn't quite right. It was peaceful, yes, but it was oddly calm. The local birds were quiet, and the local townsfolk were nowhere to be seen. Not a single soul. How odd. She headed directly for the gym. If anyone could explain what was going on around here it would be her students.
Opening the door, she was immediately greeted by two of her students, ace trainers Allen and Catherine. Smiles broke across their faces the moment their eyes met. "Fantina! You're back!" Catherine said, running up to her, throwing her arms around her mentor's waist.
Fantina was taken by surprise. She didn't consider herself to be a huggable person, and it wasn't as if she had been absent for too long. It was almost as if she had been away for months. "It's good to see you both. What has happened? Why is the town so quiet?" she said, pulling away from her student.
The trainers exchanged glances, prompting Fantina to raise an eyebrow. Allen was the one to answer, turning back to face her. "It's the spirits, Fantina. They've been acting strangely over the past couple of weeks. They're calling at night. It's like they're afraid of something. I've never seen them act this way before."
Fantina frowned. The spirits of the ancestors only chorused together when there was a disturbance between the spirit and the real world. What could possibly be disrupting them? Giratina was trapped in the Distortion World, and the Regigigas had been defeated. There were no more seals to be concerned with. Right? "When did this start?"
"The day after you left, Fantina," Catherine said. "It started with a few spirits whispering and chanting then the numbers grew with each passing day. They're afraid of something, but I can't say what it is. What could possibly worry the dead?"
Good question. Fantina didn't know the answer to that. She'd have to contact a ghost master for extra information, and closest one was Agatha, but she had no idea where the old lady was. Agatha probably didn't even want to be found, let alone bothered by such things. The woman had disappeared without a trace. Other ghost-type masters were hard to contact – the timezones of Unova, Kalos, and Hoenn were different. Unova and Kalos were both ten hours behind, and Hoenn was seven hours in front.
"I don't have the answer to that question."
"You might want to start at the Lost Tower. About an hour ago, we heard a scream. Sounded bad, but we weren't allowed to investigate. The police have it sealed off," Allen pointed out. "You'll be allowed access however, but I wouldn't advise it. It could be dangerous."
"I'm the gym leader of this city. I have to investigate and assure the people here we are in no danger."
Months had passed since the Galactic threat, but people were on edge still, fearing another attack. She couldn't blame them – what Galactic had done still unsettled her to this day. Thankfully, they had disbanded, but that didn't mean they were still safe yet. Many of the grunts were still in the region on the run from the police. Perhaps one of them disturbed the spirits in the tower as a prank.
"We're going to come with you," Catherine said.
Fantina shook her head. "No. Both of you will stay and carry on with your studies. I want you to both show me later in the week just how much stronger you have become." The students didn't argue. They knew better than to question her orders. Hanging their heads, the two ace trainers nodded and returned to their posts. With the trainers gone, Fantina exited the gym, determined to investigate the happenings at the Lost Tower.
Fortunately, it was just a short walk from the gym to the tower. Police tape blocked off the entrance, and she noticed a few bloody prints on the ground just before the door. Raising an eyebrow, she quickened her pace.
"Excuse me madam, but I'm going to have to ask you to step away. Only authorized personal are allowed through," a deep male voice said from behind.
She turned around and narrowed her eyes. "I am Fantina, the gym leader here."
The man's hazel eyes widened. "Oh! I'm sorry! I'm new around here."
Naturally otherwise he would've known. She approached him. "What's going on here?"
"There was an attack in the early hours of today, Fantina. A bystander caught a glimpse of two young people entering the building. A boy and a girl to be precise. Only one of them exited, but we haven't caught sight of the other one yet. The boy," the policeman reported. She studied him closely. He had boyish features and a slight crook on the bridge of his nose. His hair was hidden beneath the cap, but she did spot a strand of black hair poking through. Young. A recruit.
"Where is the rest of the force?"
He tilted his head towards the tower. "Inside. I've been said to stay outside and warn citizens to stay away until the investigation has been cleared. You can step inside if you wish – it'll be a lot easier to make sense of this now that you are here." He walked over to the tape and pulled it back slightly just far enough to allow her through. She thanked him and walked through.
It wasn't cold inside, yet she felt a chill race down her spine. An uneasy atmosphere. Glancing down at the ground, she noticed there were a few more bloody patches. Each one had a circle around it marked by the detectives for further examination. She turned her head to the headstones. Fortunately, they appeared to be untouched. Relieved, she continued following the prints.
As she drew closer to the stairs leading up, she heard voices from the floor above.
"…I've never seen anything quite like it in all my years working for Sinnoh Police Force…"
"…what do you think he was trying to do?"
"…tried to rob a grave it seems. Probably thought he'd find gold."
"…looks like he got a little more than bargained for."
That was all Fantina needed to hear. Someone had tried to dig up a grave. A former Galactic member. She knew the police weren't doing enough to protect the region from crime. Now look at what had happened. She hurried up the stairs up onto the second floor and spotted two officers crouched next to an open coffin. On the ground between them was a body of a young male missing an arm. The body was also covered in various cuts from the face all the way down to his feet.
"Fantina," one of the officers said, lifting his head up to look at her. "Glad you've arrived. We've got a bit of a situation on our hands here." He gestured down at the body. "We found him all cut up and missing an arm. Must've encountered a wild pokémon and got into a bit of a fight. Don't see how else he would've lost an arm like that."
She moved forward, closing the distance between herself the corpse. The closer she drew, the stronger the stench of decay and blood became. Her stomach churned. What a horrible odour, she thought. But she was a gym leader and she had to pretend she wasn't bothered by it. She glanced down at the body and couldn't stop a gasp leaving her throat. From a distance, it didn't appear to be too awful, but up close? It was like a scene cut directly from a movie.
The eyes had been plucked out. Three claw marks ran down the centre of the face, so deep she could even see parts of the skull. The skin around the jaw had been pulled back revealing two rows of missing teeth. The tongue itself was even missing. What sort of a creature had done this? She brought a hand over her mouth, disturbed.
"We don't know the victim's name yet, but we do know he served Team Galactic," the second officer, a large brutish man, spoke. "We found the team symbol in one of his pockets. They might have been freaks, but even they didn't deserve this," he added. He glanced down at the boy and shook his head.
The other officer, a male with shoulder-length ginger hair, gazed up. "What are we supposed to do, Fantina? The townsfolk are panicking. They heard a scream and swore it sounded like something from one of those cult horror movies. I'd say a pokémon was responsible – no way would a human've done this."
"But what sort of pokémon would do this? Pokémon run away from people and no one is stupid enough to approach a wild pokémon without one of their own. Besides, Hearthome is a peaceful town. Things like this just don't happen here," the other man replied. He too looked up at Fatina. "People are going to ask questions. The media are already spinning a wild tale. Anything to help fill up their bank accounts."
"Then we say nothing," the second officer said.
"Clearly something happened. We can't pretend nothing did. People will panic."
Fantina raised her arms, calling for silence from both men. "We say it was a suicide."
"That's even worse, Fantina."
"If we tell people that a wild pokémon was behind this, people are going to be afraid of them," Fantina replied heatedly. "We don't want to encourage new criminal organizations to step forwards and capture pokémon. If it's not a pokémon, the public will believe there's a serial killer on the loose. That'll just add further panic to a community still recovering."
She wasn't exactly sure what the best course of action was to take. No matter what was said, the media would find some way to twist their words and sensationalize a story ultimately spreading more fear across the region. Now, all she could think of was to say it was a suicide until they unearthed more information.
"People are going to talk."
"And it's your job to ensure this doesn't fall into the wrong hands," she replied, gesturing down at the body. "Cover it up and take the body to my gym. I'm going to examine the markings further in my own time." Perhaps the ancestors could provide some help. A trip to the Spirit World might reveal more answers that could not be found here.
"But-"
Fantina shook her head. "I've given you an order, and as officers of Hearthome, you are to obey me."
The two officers exchanged glances then nodded. The male with the ginger hair brought a hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it. "Understood, Fantina. You just must understand we're all worried. We've never seen anything like this before – what if a pokémon was behind it? What if there's something more to this place than what we already assumed?"
Fair point. Not much was really known about the Lost Tower aside from it being home to a battle that had taken place a long time ago. What if some special pokémon was buried within these walls somewhere, and has now reawakened to protect its home? The boy had obviously been trying to rob the grave. Perhaps he had disturbed the resting place of an ancient spirit?
"I need to contact an expert on this. Remember, do not allow any unauthorized personnel within this tower, or we will be facing a battle that we may not win. Is that understood?" she demanded, shifting her gaze from officer to officer, waiting for a response. They both nodded. "Good. I'm glad this is sorted. Carry on."
Turning her back, she made her way back down the stairs. There were many mysterious still waiting to be discovered in the world, but never had she thought the Lost Tower would be one of them. What other secrets was the place hiding? What sort of creature would attack a human like that and rip the flesh apart as if it were a ragdoll? An unsettling coldness washed over her. Who else would fall victim?
"Something doesn't quite add up," Steven said. He was sitting on the sofa busy flipping through pages of notes. Steven hadn't been able to pull himself away from his notes ever since the Regigigas incident. "We're missing something, but I don't know what it could possibly be." He removed the papers of his lap and laid them out on the table.
Cynthia entered the room with two mugs of coffee. She laid the green mug on the table next to the papers and gave the other blue one to Steven. For hours now he had been sitting here in the lounge examining notes. It was becoming a bit of an unhealthy obsession. Sometimes she'd find him awake at midnight writing down notes and examining her grandmother's research.
"You need to take a break, Steven. You've been at this for weeks," she said, planting herself down next to him.
He sat back in his chair, drawing in a deep breath. "Giratina… Regigigas… What other pokémon are waiting to be discovered? That poor girl gave her life so we could survive." Cheryl. An ancestor of the druids. The girl had sacrificed her blood to seal the beast back within its cage saving the world from destruction. "Giratina was the first seal. Three more were unlocked in the forms of Registeel, Regice and Regirock which opened the gate to Regigigas. Four seals broken."
"And that was the last. The druids only mentioned there were four."
He turned to her, brows furrowed. "But what if there are more?"
"The druids would've made note of it."
"There could be more of their writings in places we haven't explored yet."
"But they only mentioned four seals, and you've already mentioned them," she countered. She loved researching into mythology and unearthing mysteries as well, but Steven needed a break. For weeks now he had persisted with his theories but hadn't been to discover anything new. It was draining him both mentally and physically. "I'll have Byron look into it a bit more. He knows all the caves in the region, and he has the resources. If there are more writings, he'll find them."
Steven brought a hand to his forehead. "I'm sorry. You must be tired of listening to my theories, but I can't ignore this feeling there's something still waiting to be discovered. Four seals have been broken… What if there are more? What if the writings weren't just limited to caves?"
"You're saying these seals can be found anywhere? Old ruins and the like?"
He nodded. "There's a large world out there just waiting to be explored. We think we know everything there is to the world, but we're always finding something new. Did you know there are fairy-type pokémon in Kalos?" Cynthia didn't say anything. That was news to her. "I was surprised too. I just don't think we should be complacent and act as if there are no more seals." He sighed again.
"There has to be someone out there that knows something."
He gestured down at the papers then shook his head. "I think this is all the information we have, Cynthia." He turned to face her again. "We're making a new discovery here, and unfortunately, we have limited source material to work with. We need to talk to more people and read more books. Someone or something must have information. Something that can give us more clues and help us make sense of this."
"Maybe we should be looking into the legendary pokémon that we already know about," Cynthia suggested, twirling a lock of hair around a finger. "Books can help, but these other seals were related to unique one-of-a-kind pokémon. What if the clue is right in front of us, but we haven't looked hard enough?"
He tilted his head to the side, thoughtful. Rubbing his chin, he said, "That could work. Professor Rowan might be able lend a hand here, and I could contact Birch in Hoenn. With their knowledge combined, we might just be able to put all the pieces together." He stood up abruptly, enthusiastic. "I'm going to head back to Hoenn. You should come with me, Cynthia."
It had been years she had visited the region. A Champion was free to explore their homeland, but they weren't allowed to visit neighbouring islands. That no longer applied to her – at least, not for the time being. Dawn was surrounded by experienced trainers and was a powerful tone in her right. She would be fine for a couple of weeks. Besides, visiting Hoenn would be a nice change from Sinnoh's diverse climate.
"All right. I'll come."
"You can bring your sister as well."
She nodded. "That would be a good idea. She's never been to Hoenn, and it'll keep her mind distracted from past events." Mainly revolving around the loss of Carolina and the chaos the Galactic grunts had unleashed upon the region awhile back. The poor girl tried to brave and pretend she was unaffected by it, but sometimes Cynthia caught her crying in her room at night when she thought no one was listening in. A vacation would do her well. It would do them both well.
"Then I'll book at once."
She could only hope she wasn't making a big mistake.
Things had calmed down relatively quickly after the Regigigas incident. It was almost as if the entire event hadn't happened at all. She was back at the league carrying out business as per usual – sitting in the lounge and watching television with the boys of the elite four. Bertha was making lunch. It was still holiday season for the league as the doors weren't due to open until mid next week. It would also be the same day Bertha announced her replacement.
"I just don't understand that… How does Marina get her own television show?" Aaron complained, grabbing the remote control off the table.
"She's popular with the young people," Lucian commented dryly, glancing up from his book. "That's why she gets a prime slot."
Marina, Lance's number one fan. Never had Dawn seen anyone so infatuated with a celebrity before in her life. The girl had it all – posters, stickers, merchandise… Talk about obsession. Lance had recently lost his position to a girl named Lyra, yet that didn't seem to deter his fans. It only made them more fanatical about him. She hoped fans around the Sinnoh region didn't become that crazy. The thought of seeing her face stuck to books and such was a little unnerving and creepy. "I hope people don't do that with me."
"Oh, I think you'll be fine," Flint said. "Cynthia never had crazy fans during her peak years. It seems to be a teenage girl thing. It's like when Volkner first took over the gym – all the girls lined up outside for hours, waiting to get a glimpse of him." He then frowned. "No one ever did that for me."
Lucian closed his book and placed it down on the table. "That's because the general public have no access to our training grounds. The only chance they get to meet us is when we retire."
"So you're saying you never get to leave this building as an elite four member?" Dawn said, surprised. What a dull and mundane life that would be.
He nodded. "It's one of the downsides of being an elite four member. It's the ultimate sacrifice, you see. Being an elite four member isn't only about being the most skilled in your profession – it's about mental training as well." He then looked at Flint. "Except not everyone follows the rules like they're supposed to."
"But what about your family and friends?"
"They have to come to us," he said. "Usually that only occurs once a year on Christmas Day. We're supposed to distance ourselves from the public. Training is all that matters when you're an elite four member. Our responsibilities are different from yours, Dawn," Lucian explained further.
Flint shrugged. "I can't help it – I get restless if I'm stuck in one place for too long. Besides, I had to help friend in need."
"I suppose that's what the exhibition match against Volkner was about them?" Lucian countered.
A smile spread across Flint's face. "He needed a wakeup call."
Lucian turned back to Dawn. "Once a trainer has been selected to join the elite four, he or she is never to reveal their skills before the public. We're not like gym leaders – we're above that." He then sighs. "It's unfortunate, it really is. Meeting our fans would be a pleasant experience, but rules are rules, and we can't break years of tradition."
"I say we vote on it. Get all the league representatives all in one place and cast a vote. Why should we have to remain within these walls when there is a vast world out there to explore and enjoy?" Flint said.
"But that's the point," Aaron said, hitting the 'off' button on the remote. "We're supposed to have this element of mystery about us. Yeah, people know us when we get selected to join the elite four, but they don't know our teams or our strategies. We're supposed to test trainers by surprising them. If we act like gym leaders, then we lose that advantage over our opponents."
A good argument. It was hard to argue against that. The ultimate sacrifice, as Lucian had pointed out earlier. She guessed that's why elite four members often had short stays because of the isolation. It would get boring after awhile. Dawn was about to ask another question when she felt her xtransceiver vibrate. Dropping a hand to her belt, she removed the item, answered the call and brought it to her right ear. "Hello, Dawn speaking."
"Dawn? Dawn! It's Fantina."
"Hi, Fantina. How are you?"
"You need to come to Hearthome at once."
So much for a warm greeting. Not even a hello, but then again, Fantina had an image to live up to. "What's the problem?"
"It's hard to put it into words, but there's been an attack at the Lost Tower. A former Galactic grunt was torn to shreds by a mysterious wild pokémon. I thought you might want to see it for yourself."
A murder? Here in Sinnoh? She hadn't heard about it on the news meaning Fantina and the cops in her city covered it up to avoid public panic. She wondered if Cyrus knew anything about it. He might not be the leader of the Galactic Corporation anymore, but many ex-grunts blamed him for the mess they were in.
"I'll be right on my way."
"Thank you."
Fantina hung up on the phone. Dawn turned to the boys. Her first real test as the current Champion of Sinnoh as Cynthia was taking the first two terms off. The Regigigas didn't count since that was a team effort. "We have a situation on our hands. A former Galactic grunt was murdered in the Lost Tower at Hearthome. Fantina doesn't know the exact cause behind it."
"I will come along if you don't mind," Lucian said.
"Isn't that breaking one of the rules of the elite four?" said Flint.
Lucian's expression remained stern. "This is a murder case. I might be able to put my knowledge to good use out there… Besides, the Champion will there escort me. I could say its league business."
Flint looked like he was going to argue back but decided against it at the last moment. He flopped down on the couch, hands resting on his lap. "We'll stay here then as usual. If we hear of anything on the news, we'll be sure to let you both know." He tilted his head. "Best of luck to you both."