Hopefully, this chapter will be a bit more streamlined and easy to digest. There's not as much going on in this one, so let's see how it goes.
-:-
CHAPTER 3: Opening Moves on Fate's Board
-:-
The dark clouds that covered the sky over Route 29 into Cherrygrove City and New Bark Town cast ominous shadows over the cliff-laden road, and rumbles of thunder could be heard approaching.
Beneath the cover provided by the thick trees just off the main path, Jessie, James, Meowth and Pierce were meeting to finalize their plans. James was holding in his hands a rectangular black tablet computer with ten buttons, a plus-shaped control pad and two thumb pads surrounding its screen; on its back and just below the bottom-left corner of its screen was the stylized script 'R' logo of Team Rocket. Meanwhile, in Jessie's hand was a heavy briefcase.
"As you were made aware of," Pierce instructed, "the energy signature associated with Meteonite was detected just south of our current position. Your mission is to find the source of that signal and recover the Meteonite piece. At that point, contact me for extraction."
"So we're doing all the work and you're just going to sit around and wait to get us out," Jessie complained, sighing. "Good to know."
"You might think you need me, but the boss thinks otherwise. Besides, I have my own job to do."
"What? Where would you be going?" Meowth wondered.
"There have been reports of unusual activity in Cherrygrove City that I've been ordered to investigate, so if there are no further questions about your mission, I will be going."
Pierce turned sharply, causing the tails of his trench coat to flap up behind him. As he walked off, fallen twigs and leaves cracked beneath his heavy boots.
"Jessie, I've got a bad feeling about this," James whimpered. "We're not cut out for this. Team Aqua, Team Magma, Team Galactic, Hunter J… Polaris is bigger and stronger than they all were."
"Oh, be quiet!" his hot-tempered female companion snapped back. "The boss wouldn't have selected us for this mission if he didn't trust us to get it done."
"And in addition, the good old fluffy-headed doctor said we were picked because we did a good job taking out those liberation knight guys in Unova. That means we've got some skills, you two, even if we don't know them all yet! Now…" Snatching the computer out of James's hands, Meowth touched the screen with his paw. "We have to find out where that chunk of space rock is."
After displaying the stylized script 'R' logo, the screen displayed a menu of several options. Meowth touched one of them, activating a radar system with the map of Route 29 loaded into it. As the system scanned the route, it returned a faint signal coming from very near the entrance of Cherrygrove City.
"There we go, it looks like it's in the west of Route 29," James observed. "Let's get moving."
-:-
The humble yet busy streets of New Bark Town gradually disappeared behind Matt, Olivia, Nekou and Bunny as they headed west into Route 29, giving way to a curving, cliff-laden road framed by long blades of fragrant grass. Off in the distance on all sides, tall trees provided boundary lines appropriate to the concept of a road through the woods.
"I'm not liking the looks of this weather," Matt said, his eyes locked on the rumbling sky overhead. "Do you guys think we should have stayed in New Bark Town until this storm passes? Sure looks like one's coming."
"What's the matter, afraid of a little thunder?" Nekou was so preoccupied with taking another bite off the croissant in her hand that she didn't notice Matt shrink back slightly from her remark. "There's nothing for us to be afraid of if there's a storm. That's why we were given trees."
"Olivia, don't you think we should try to get some training in?" suggested Bunny. "Violet City will come up faster than you expect. I think it would be a good idea to start getting Minccino, Roselia and Oshawott up to speed now."
Olivia was walking slightly ahead of the others, but she stopped and turned after listening to Bunny's proposal. "That sounds pretty good, actually. Can one of you help me out?"
"You two stand aside," Nekou bossed Matt and Bunny, stepping past them with her mobile arm out. "I'll be glad to help you train, Olivia. I've got just the Pokémon you need to see right now. Zorua, prepare yourself!"
Having reached into her blouse and produced a Poké Ball, Nekou opened it to free her Zorua. The black-and-red fox Pokémon shook herself off after entering the fresh air, then looked up at Olivia and barked.
"You're going to use Zorua?" Bunny questioned.
"Yeah, so? She's ready for something resembling a real battle, and besides, getting her some training too means this is a win-win for both me and Olivia." Facing forward again, Nekou said to Olivia, "Use Oshawott. He's the one who needs the training, if he's to catch up to Minccino and Roselia."
"Do I have to?" Olivia sighed. "Fine, I guess we'll see how it goes. Oshawott, let's play!"
Almost immediately upon materializing, Oshawott proudly held up his shell, only flinching slightly when he realized that Zorua was staring at him. He realized that this would be his first chance to prove himself to his trainer, so he intended to make the best of it.
"Okay, Olivia, we can't even have a practice battle if you don't know what moves Oshawott has. I think the Pokédex should be able to tell you about that."
"Really?" Fumbling out her Pokédex, Olivia activated it and scanned Oshawott.
"Oshawott, the sea otter Pokémon. Type is Water. It fights using the scalchop on its stomach. In response to an attack, it retaliates immediately by slashing. The scalchop on its stomach is made from the same element as claws. It detaches the scalchop for use as a blade."
"Wait, that's not what I wanted…" Visibly flustered, Olivia clicked through several more screens until she finally arrived at what she wanted. "So Oshawott's beginning moves are Water Gun and Tackle. Okay…"
"You'll do fine, Olivia, just don't lose your nerve!" Matt called out from the sidelines, where he was standing alongside Bunny and watching the training.
"Don't break my concentration!" both Olivia and Nekou snapped at exactly the same time, prompting all four to laugh.
"Now, Olivia, I'll let you attack first," Nekou instructed. "Just try to get Oshawott to land a hit first."
" Okay then… Oshawott, use Water Gun on Zorua!"
"Zorua, get ready! Brace yourself!"
After taking a deep breath, Oshawott expelled a steady stream of water from his mouth. Zorua made no significant effort to evade the wave, instead choosing to simply plant her feet firmly into the ground.
The attack's impact range was split between Zorua's legs and the ground, and the force from below her feet threw Zorua into the air.
Nekou was ready with an improvised tactic, though. "It's fine, Zorua. Go for Dig!"
Shaking off the small amount of injury she'd received – which amounted to little more than being shaken up at most – Zorua barked and flipped over in the air, drilling downward until she disappeared beneath the ground.
"Now, Olivia, don't panic just yet," Nekou gently advised, noting that both her opponent and the girl's Oshawott seemed surprised by Zorua's move. "I know you're good at straight, all-out attacking, but from watching you beat that caped guy before, I know you can be pretty analytic too. Just try to calm down and assess the situation. What would be a good way to get me now?"
Olivia stared at the space between herself and Nekou and squinted in an attempt to increase her focus. She took stock of what was present – she was there herself, and directly opposite her was Nekou. Between the two of them stood Oshawott, waiting for a direction on what to do, and a hole where Zorua had punctured the earth to get underground. These factors were the tools she had to work with, Olivia realized.
Herself, Nekou, Oshawott, the hole leading to Zorua's tunnel; Olivia ran through all of the available factors again in her mind, and something suddenly hit her. "Oshawott, fire Water Gun into the hole!"
Seeing Oshawott excitedly jumping toward Zorua's burrow on Olivia's command made Nekou smile. It meant that the lesson she was trying to teach the younger girl was getting through, a meaning that wasn't lost on Matt and Bunny, who were both enthralled themselves.
With the force of Oshawott's Water Gun pushing her, Zorua burst up out of the ground. She was just a little too far away from Oshawott to attack him directly, so Nekou was forced to come up with an alternate tactic.
"Zorua, use Snarl!"
"Zorooooo!" Zorua cried, her shrill voice causing Oshawott to hold his ears and shudder in pain. He felt his muscles weakening as well, a side effect of the attack Zorua was leveling against him.
Understanding that she couldn't let this go on, Olivia raised her hand and called out, "Stop Zorua using Tackle, Oshawott!"
"Show Oshawott your Foul Play!"
Oshawott and Zorua ran at each other, both beginning to become tired from their exchanging blows. Zorua was glowing with a black light, so when the two Pokémon collided with each other, a shower of luminescent black sparks showered out. A few seconds later, Oshawott and Zorua were pushed apart by their own strength.
"That's enough," Nekou declared, seeing the two Pokémon breathing heavily. "We don't want to overextend our Pokémon, otherwise we'll do more harm than good."
"How was I?" Olivia asked, somewhat demandingly. "Did I do well?"
"I'd say you did," complimented her training partner. "You more than satisfied my expectations. Of course, a lot of credit has to go to Oshawott too."
"I guess. I can't say he did badly…"
"Oshawott…" uttered the Water-type Pokémon, relieved that Olivia was pleased with his performance even somewhat.
"That was some good work, Olivia," Matt complimented as he and Bunny made their way over to the others.
"I think you're already starting to bond with Oshawott, you know," Bunny added, smiling. "Maybe you two really were made for each other."
"Don't get the wrong idea!" fumed Olivia, her face turning red. Matt couldn't help but chuckle under his breath, but she failed to notice his subtle action and quickly calmed down. "So, now what?"
"Let's keep going," he proposed. "Maybe we can get right to Cherrygrove City, before a storm blows in if we're lucky."
Nekou, Olivia and Bunny all nodded in agreement with Matt's suggestion, so with Oshawott and Zorua walking alongside them, they resumed their westward trek down the cliff-laden road.
Little did they realize they were being watched. At least a dozen pairs of yellow eyes glistened in the darkness within the foliage just off the main road, carefully observing the movements of the new invaders in their territory. Behind them, a single pair of larger, triangular white eyes watched as well.
-:-
Jessie, James and Meowth had moved south, just as Pierce had directed them, and now had a makeshift encampment set up in the woods just off of Route 29.
While Jessie was busy spying on the small house they could see from their hideout, James was using his black tablet computer to survey data being collected from both Jessie's high-tech binoculars and the satellite dish held by her Wobbuffet. Meowth, meanwhile, had headphones specially designed for his head by Dr. Zager on.
"There's no mistaking it, the Meteonite shard is inside that house," observed James as he used his finger to slide through the data on his screen. "It's where the readings are strongest."
"What else is there to do, then?" Jessie asked rhetorically. "Break in, collect the rock, get out of there, and profit when the boss rewards us!"
"That's right!" both James and Meowth exclaimed.
Wobbuffet shared their enthusiasm, but he cried out his name far too loudly, prompting Jessie to abruptly shush him. The quartet then turned back to the house, and Meowth's expression darkened slightly.
"We gotta watch out for that old man who's living there, though," the cat Pokémon explained. "He looks like he's got a lot of treasure on him, but that Pokémon with him ain't something we want to cross. He might come back at any time."
"Let's just hold back for now," Jessie suggested. "An opening might appear so we can swoop in and grab it."
-:-
"So what do we do now?" Olivia wondered, directing her complaints at anyone who would listen. "Surely traveling is more exciting than this."
"Well, Olivia, most trainers who start out tend to try catching a Pokémon right away," Matt explained, before gently and carefully adding, "but you've got three already. I don't think it's a great idea to get more before you can at least get used to Oshawott."
"Aw, seriously? I could find one I want to capture at any time, you know!"
Amused by Olivia's reckless enthusiasm, Nekou smiled, a soft laugh escaping her lips. When Matt saw her expression, he instinctively prepared himself for her to provoke Olivia further, in turn leading to an even bigger disagreement. He was accordingly surprised, then, when that was not what Nekou did.
"You know, Olivia, for once he has a point," she advised. "You have plenty of time before your first Gym battle, so there's no need to rush to catch more Pokémon."
"Oh, fine," Olivia responded, pouting.
Nekou's relatively cheery mood abruptly disappeared, giving her three companions pause. She stopped speaking and began wearily looking around, sniffing at the air while doing so.
"Nekou, what's wrong?" Matt asked.
"Something's not right, I can sense it," she replied, continuing to crinkle her nose in an attempt to identify the scent. "We're being watched."
In a single sudden, incredibly fast motion, Nekou pulled a switchblade from the inside of her blouse with her right hand; she used it to cut the sling restraining her left arm, leaving it to fall away as her arm was freed.
Dumbfounded by what she was seeing, especially when Nekou moved her left arm freely without pain, Bunny stammered, "You were still injured just yesterday! How are you moving like that already?!"
"How I'm moving is not important right now. Get ready," Nekou warned, brandishing her switchblade in a battle-ready stance. As if a switch had been thrown, Nekou's personality was now completely serious. "Something's watching us…"
Almost on cue, a nearby bush started rustling, causing Matt, Olivia and Bunny to jump nervously. Nekou, meanwhile, simply tensed up in preparation for combat, expecting a threat to come jumping out of the brush at any moment. Her instincts weren't without merit, either, as mere seconds later something did indeed emerge.
However, what appeared was not the fearsome monster they were expecting; in fact, it was vastly different. The small, tan-bodied canine Pokémon looked up at them with wide eyes, twitching the large ears that rose up from behind the shock of light-colored fur covering his face.
"That Pokémon is adorable!" Olivia exclaimed excitedly, clasping her hands together and speaking loudly.
"It's Lillipup, a Pokémon from Unova," Nekou informed the others. "Olivia, you should scan it."
On Nekou's encouragement, Olivia took out her Pokédex and scanned Lillipup as he stared apprehensively at them.
"Lillipup, the puppy Pokémon. Type is Normal. It is a brave Pokémon, but it also has the intelligence to judge an enemy's strength and avoid battles."
"I don't want to underestimate it, but…" Bunny shifted uncomfortably before finishing, "…this was what we were supposed to be afraid of?"
Lillipup barked weakly and began slowly moving toward the group, making his injured right hind leg become apparent.
"It's hurt!" Matt exclaimed, putting words to what all of them were feeling. While he was the one to verbalize their thoughts, though, it was Olivia putting those emotions to action, rushing over to the injured Pokémon.
"It's okay, Lillipup, there's nothing to be afraid of." As she tried to speak soothingly to Lillipup, Olivia could feel a light coating of blood stuck onto the blue fur on his back. "I think something might have attacked it," she nervously said to her friends, looking for guidance on what to do.
She would not receive it, as Nekou suddenly snapped her head back up toward the underbrush and called out, "Zorua, use Incinerate now!"
Having remained next to her trainer the entire time, Zorua was in perfect position to release a thin jet of fire aimed at the as-yet-unknown threat, hitting it with enough force to cause a small explosion.
"Pawnia!" a high-pitched voice shrilled upon impact.
From the cloud of smoke a Pokémon fell. She had a humanoid body colored primarily red and gray, with two hooks protruding from her torso. Her arms each ended in a sharp knife blade, and another blade stuck out from her helmet between her two yellow eyes.
The blast generated by the collision of Zorua's Incinerate and the Pokémon was so close to Olivia that she was knocked over by its force. Screaming, she picked up the injured Lillipup in her arms and fled behind Nekou and Matt.
"What's that thing?!" she screeched in fear.
Before anyone could answer, a second Pokémon identical to the first jumped from a nearby tree and attempted to cut Nekou with his knife arms, but she dispelled the assault by swinging her switchblade to knock him away. She then identified him by speaking the Pokémon's name while Olivia fumbled for her Pokédex.
"Pawniard. Another Unova Pokémon…"
"Pawniard, the Sharp Blade Pokémon. Type is Dark/Steel. Even if it gets injured, it doesn't care. It attacks its prey in a group, using the blades all over its body."
"A group?!" Olivia nervously breathed. "Does that mean there are even more of them?"
She received an answer to her question almost immediately. Repeating their species name like a chant, more Pawniard emerged from the bushes until their ranks numbered a total of twelve. They were then joined by a thirteenth Pokémon, one that resembled a taller, more mature Pawniard whose body had grown to have sharp blades for ankles and feet, arms with retractable blades in them, and a golden axe blade bisecting her head from between her white, triangular eyes.
"Shit, a Bisharp!" Nekou spat, her worst fears realized.
As it had never left her hands, Olivia was able to quickly scan the Bisharp with her Pokédex.
"Bisharp, the Sword Blade Pokémon. Type is Dark/Steel. Evolved form of Pawniard. A scary Pokémon that will take the injured, immobile prey that battled a group of Pawniard and portion it out."
"I don't like that thing," Olivia whimpered while shivering nervously.
"You're not wrong to feel that way," Nekou said to support the younger girl. "I've seen what these Pokémon can do. Marie, prepare yourself for battle! Join Zorua!"
"Balin, come out! I need your help!"
Marie jumped down from Nekou's back to stand alongside Zorua, and joining the two of them was Bunny's Ninetales, Balin, who appeared in a flash of light from his Poké Ball. Almost immediately upon materializing, he growled at the pack of Pawniard and their Bisharp leader, correctly picking up on the threat they posed.
The Bisharp cried out, thrusting her right arm forward. Accordingly following her orders, three Pawniard lunged forward at Bunny, Olivia and Nekou, all baring the knives on their arms.
"Zorua, get out of the way so Marie can use Low Sweep!"
"Balin, Flame Burst now!"
Nekou's Zorua barely managed to get out of the way of two of the charging Pawniard before they could cut her, opening up space for Marie to come in and trip one by undercutting his legs. The second Pawniard, however, reached Nekou, forcing her to parry its blow with her switchblade and send him barreling off several feet away.
Finally, Balin suffered a small gash on his cheek when the Pawniard that attacked him slipped through, but he managed to strike back swiftly by spitting out an explosive fireball.
Just as the third Pawniard was driven back, a rumble of thunder passed through Route 29 and a light but steady rain began to fall.
"Sharrr!" the Bisharp roared in anger, refusing to let her prey defeat her. Responding to her rage, seven more of the Pawniard lined up in preparation to attack Bunny, Nekou and Olivia, while the final two teamed up with their leader and set their sights on Matt.
"Zorua, Marie, get ready!" Nekou shouted, feeling her muscles tensing as the situation spun out of control.
Matt couldn't focus on the attack that commenced against his companions, however, as the Bisharp rushed him as well. He hastily raised up his arms to protect himself, resulting in a loud crashing sound when Bisharp's steel blades hit the metal of his prosthetic limbs. While the Dark-and-Steel-type Pokémon stepped back, puzzled that her attack failed to significantly injure him, Matt tried to fight back by grabbing her arms and shoving her away.
However, her two bodyguards were more than ready to take up the slack. One of her two Pawniard crossed his arms and charged up purple light to create a Psycho Cut, while the other used his own power to pull up a cluster of small rocks. They both used their attacks together, hitting the ground right in front of Matt; this resulted in him stumbling backward and falling down.
Hastily, he took a Poké Ball from his bag. This Poké Ball was a special type – it was colored in varying shades of blue in a wave pattern. Matt threw this Dive Ball with a flick of his wrist and called out to the Pokémon inside.
"Patrick, make your mark!"
A tall, bulky toad Pokémon materialized from Matt's Dive Ball. His blue body had a number of black-and-cream-colored bumps on it, matching the colors adorning his front.
Flexing his body, which in turn caused the bumps to vibrate slightly, he gurgled, "Seismitoad…"
"I know this is sudden for your first battle with me, Patrick, but I need your help! Use Scald!"
Patrick moved his lazy red eyes to the two Pawniard and the Bisharp, and after glaring at them for a short while, he spit a stream of boiling water at them. Moving to protect their mistress, the two Pawniard attempted to deflect the Scald with cutting moves, but failed and were thrown back. One of them – the one who had used Psycho Cut – collided with one of the hooks protruding from Bisharp's torso, visibly cutting his helmet.
Enraged even further by her minions' failure, Bisharp snarled viciously and discharged a stream of electricity from the axe blade in her head; this Thunder Wave failed, however, when Patrick stood in the way to block it from hitting Matt, as his part-Ground type nullified electricity. She then aligned her arms and formed a vortex of dark energy between her claws, loosing a Dark Pulse that managed to hurt Patrick enough to force him to close his eyes and groan.
"Don't take that!" Matt shouted while stumbling back to his feet. "Go for a knockout! Drain Punch!"
Patrick clenched the three fingers on his right hand to form a fist, which then took on a shining, crackling glow. He threw his hulking body in Bisharp's direction, intending to hit her with a punch that would surely knock her out instantly, however, the struggle would not be resolved that easily. Shaking off their own injuries, the two Pawniard once again leapt to their leader's defense, attempting to hold Patrick back with resistance formed from their respective Psycho Cut and Metal Claw.
Their attempt failed to stop Patrick's Drain Punch, but they did succeed in redirecting it away from Bisharp by taking the hit themselves. Frames of light in the same greenish color as the glow of Drain Punch broke away from the two Pawniard and were absorbed by the Seismitoad, restoring some of his health.
From the frustration steadily building inside of him, Matt was forced to grit his teeth. The two Pawniard were most likely down for good, but they had successfully guarded Bisharp for as long as possible, and without taking her down, the other seven Pawniard would be nearly impossible to easily dispel.
"Oh no!" he suddenly thought, the realization that he'd forgotten completely about Olivia, Nekou and Bunny and their own fight crashing violently into his mind.
He turned in just enough time to see one of the seven Pawniard leap past Olivia's Oshawott's Water Gun and slash her on the cheek, while another one was knocked to the ground by Nekou's Zorua's Incinerate. The swarm of Pokémon had broken through the initial line of defense presented by Matt's allies, and now were splitting them up with their relentless attacking.
With the shivering, injured Lillipup still in her arms, Olivia attempted to flee in Matt's direction. Tears were running down her face, which was contorted into a look of nightmarish torment.
"This wasn't supposed to happen… make it stop…" she was mumbling hysterically to herself. "Make it stop, make it stop!"
Right after she passed by Matt, however, Olivia's luck ran out. Bisharp – who had renewed her hand-to-hand struggle with Patrick – spotted the girl trying to escape. She first pushed her opponent away by striking him harshly with her hand – an Assurance attack that was made more potent by their previous combat – then directed a Thunder Wave in Olivia's direction.
The electric pulse fired from Bisharp's helmet did not hit Olivia, but it came close enough to her feet that it made her trip and fall. She rolled over and hastily stood back up, clutching Lillipup all the while, only to find herself being menacingly approached by Bisharp and the remaining Pawniard.
Olivia slowly backed up, while the others decided to do what they could to protect her.
"Patrick, attack the Pawniard with Scald!"
"Marie, herd them together using Low Sweep, then Zorua, you fuck them up with Incinerate!"
"Balin, once they're all together, take all those Pawniard out with Flame Burst!"
Marie was the first to act, swiftly running in a circle around the cluster of seven Pawniard to hit them in their legs, thus pushing them closer together. Once they were collected, Patrick washed a blast of hot water over them, which Oshawott complimented by using his Water Gun again. This was closely followed by Zorua exhaling a small stream of flames, and finally Balin choking up a huge fireball that exploded on impact, consuming all the Pawniard and leaving them to faint.
"Well, we got the foot soldiers," Bunny said in relief. "Now for the commander."
Either ignorant of or completely uncaring about the defeat of her followers, Bisharp was still slowly approaching Olivia, who had backed herself onto one of the taller cliffs on Route 29. With rain, tears and blood dripping down her face, she took a slow, deep breath, her head trembling and moving backward bit by bit, causing her to stare down her nose at Bisharp.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, you monster?!" she screamed, all her pent-up fear and frustration coming up at once.
Bisharp paused her advance and slowly raised her right arm. The iron blades protruding from that arm lengthened, then took on a bright metallic sheen as light from the air nearby flowed into it.
"Stop it!" Quickly recognizing that his plea was useless and that Bisharp would not cease preparing her Metal Claw, Matt turned to Patrick and ordered, "Take Bisharp out with Drain Punch before this gets worse!"
The lumbering toad pulled himself back up onto his feet, then pulled back his first and moved in toward his foe.
What happened next, however, caught everyone – Matt's group, Bisharp and Patrick – unprepared.
With the power for her Metal Claw fully charged, Bisharp lifted her arm even higher and took one last step toward Olivia. Accordingly, Olivia stepped slightly backward to try and stay away from the terrifying Pokémon – and as soon as she did, her foot came down on a spot halfway over the rain-soaked cliff. Her footing vanished almost instantly, leaving her to helplessly struggle to hold herself up using only her legs as she teetered on the land's edge.
For Matt, time seemed to slow to a halt. Patrick's Drain Punch was no longer going to make any difference; whether or not Bisharp was knocked out almost did not matter. He started to rush to Olivia with his arm outstretched, and behind him, Nekou and Bunny also were moving forward in a panic, but it was all for naught. After what seemed like an endless ordeal that in actuality was less than thirty seconds, Olivia's balance completely gave way and she slipped over the cliff, screaming at the top of her lungs as she disappeared from sight.
Matt, Nekou and Bunny all froze. For the latter, her thoughts were primarily on Olivia's safety. Bunny had faith that Olivia would come out of this incident relatively fine; it was obvious that things were bad, but she hoped that it wouldn't come out as a full-fledged disaster.
Nekou handled it significantly more poorly. Even though she had only known Olivia for a little over a week, Nekou was already developing both sisterly and maternal instincts toward the girl, and an aggressive creature causing Olivia direct harm deeply violated those bonds. She flew into a screaming rage, viciously rushing Bisharp with her switchblade; however, she was unable to inflict much damage due to Bisharp fighting back.
"You fucker!" she cursed the Dark-and-Steel-type Pokémon during her assault. "You're fucking answering to me for hurting her!"
Matt's paralysis was entirely mental, caused by the deluge of crushing thoughts that hit him instantaneously upon Olivia falling.
"You failure!" the one even slightly clear voice screamed at him through the chaos in his head. "All you had to do was protect her and make her dream come true, and you couldn't even manage that! Now you let another one die!"
Extending his arms straight out in front of him, Matt finally broke his silence by snarling, "Destroy Bisharp with Drain Punch NOW!" As he issued this order, Matt's hands were trembling as if slowly gripping something until he spread his arms at the end of the sentence.
Bisharp barely had time to turn herself around before she realized Patrick was already within very close range. Now the tables were turned, and she was the one backing up.
Being caught off-guard by Patrick's movements was what did in Bisharp in the end. With nowhere to escape to, she received a devastating blow right to her torso, delivered with such force that she was thrown off the cliff and far into the distance, disappearing into the thick trees beyond the well-traversed road. Sensing their leader's distress, the horde of Pawniard immediately jumped up from their own injuries and pursued her, vanishing from sight as well.
Matt couldn't care less about the wild Pokémon. Stumbling past Nekou, who was breathing deeply as a result of directly fighting Bisharp, he threw himself onto the ground and looked over the cliff.
Nothing beyond a canopy of trees was visible below.
"Olivia!" he screamed downward, the color running from his face as his heartbeat became shallow. "OLIVIA!"
"If she's hurt down there, she's not going to be able to answer you," Nekou flatly stated.
"Then if she can't call up to me to let me know she's okay…" Though Nekou and Bunny could not see his face as he rose back up to his full height and therefore could not see the empty look in his uncovered eye, they could tell by his body language that he was about to call for something irrational. "…I'll go down there myself!"
The instant Matt made to jump over the cliff, however, a powerful grip on his right shoulder stopped him. He gasped, having not expected such an abrupt interruption, then turned around to see Nekou casting an icy pout in his direction.
"Don't be an idiot," she said, pulling her arm back. "Even with your body, if you jump over that cliff and hit branches on your way down, you'll only end up hurting yourself. The road crosses that area further down, so we should follow it."
"If that fall would bang me up, though, think of what it would do to Olivia!"
Matt shifted his panicked glare to Bunny, making her shift uncomfortably. She thought that both he and Nekou had made good points, but her own thoughts guided her in the direction of caution, so she answered the silent question by saying, "Take the road, but let's hurry."
Without another word, Matt pulled the brim of his hat down slightly to cover his eyes and started walking in the direction of the cleared path again. Patrick and Oshawott followed him, while Balin, Zorua and Marie all stayed with Bunny and Nekou, who walked with each other.
"Do you really think this is the best course of action, though?" Bunny questioned, a feeling of nervousness overtaking her.
"Yeah, I do. Olivia's tough. A little fall might rough her up a bit, but she will get back up and move forward. I know she can do it."
-:-
Unfortunately, Nekou was only half right.
At the bottom of the cliff, below the cover of the trees that had obscured Matt's view from above, Olivia lay on the ground, broken in more ways than one. Lillipup, who had suffered no further injuries thanks to her intervention, worriedly sniffed at her face, but she was so detached from reality that she didn't even notice.
"This is all you can do," a voice in her head told her. "Do you still wonder why he abandoned you?"
"No, I understand now…" she answered, barely aware of the fact she was speaking to a disembodied voice in her head. "Day one and look at me already…"
In the fall, the curls of hair she had on the sides of her head had come undone, leaving it to drape down to her back at its full length as it draped her prone body. Olivia shuddered as she hopelessly tried to move, but with her left leg snapped completely around at an unnatural angle, there was no way she could possibly walk. A slow but steady stream of blood was trickling out of her broken leg, mixing with the rain flowing across the rocks.
Water was streaming down her face now, but she continued to not be bothered by it. "Dad," she whispered as her vision began to become clouded, "I messed up. Don't be mad at me…"
A slight, accepting smile appeared on Olivia's face just as she closed her eyes and blacked out.
Mere seconds later, the sound of footsteps indicated the presence of someone else in the area. A golden-bodied, reptilian Pokémon with blade-like tusks protruding from her mouth stomped into the vicinity, followed by her trainer, an elderly man wearing round spectacles and a heavy brown coat.
The man did not notice Olivia lying unconscious on the ground at first, but when his Pokémon alerted him to her, he walked over on his cane and leaned down to examine her. Recognizing her injures, he motioned to his Pokémon to help carry her somewhere.
-:-
It took Matt, Nekou and Bunny well over an hour to work their way down the road to the area where Olivia had fallen. Part of it was due to the fact that the path actually looped back a significant distance to circumvent the cliff, but the weather had worsened significantly as well. By the time they finally reached the area at the bottom of the cliff, the rain had forced Bunny to recall Balin, while Zorua and Marie each rode on one of Nekou's shoulders. Matt, meanwhile, had sent out a Pokémon whose light, child-like body was contained within a simple form of green jelly that granted her arms and ears. She was floating above her trainer and his allies, using her Magic Guard ability to shield them from the rain.
"Reuniclus, do you see Olivia anywhere?" When the Pokémon responded by shaking her head, Matt cupped his hands around his mouth and called out into the distance, "Olivia, where are you? I know you're okay! You have to be!"
"Osha!" Oshawott cried, mimicking Matt's actions as he walked along.
"This should be about where she fell," Nekou pondered, "so where is she?"
"I can't imagine that she simply got up and walked off," added Bunny, "not after a fall like that."
After that, the conversation between the three died out, and they went back to calling out in differing directions in the hope that Olivia would hear them while they walked. All they managed to garner for their efforts was an assortment of Pokémon, though, things like Pidgey, Sentret, Rattata and even the odd Shinx and Exeggcute. It seemed like most of the Pokémon the group passed were in hiding, likely from the Pawniard gang.
None of the three were aware of how much time had passed or how far they had walked. They simply were so focused on finding Olivia that they didn't care to notice. They were beginning to become fearful of what might have happened to her when Bunny spotted something.
"Matt, Nekou, look over there!"
Following the direction in which Bunny was pointing, Matt and Nekou could see a house a short distance down the road.
"The lights are on, so someone must be home," Nekou mumbled sarcastically. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yeah," Matt answered, "whoever's in there might have seen Olivia. Let's hurry! Reuniclus, return!"
With a quick movement, Matt pointed a Poké Ball up at Reuniclus, drawing her back inside using the sphere's red laser. As soon as she disappeared, the rain was able to pour down on the group unchecked, so they ran for the house as fast as they could.
As soon as they were at the house, they went up to the front door and Matt rang the doorbell. There was a certain amount of disconnect in the design of the dwelling; for example, while the door was simply a plain, heavy piece of wood, the doorbell's button was surrounded by an intricately-shaped, gold-plated frame. Another example was reflected in the windows, which had twisted, empty iron flower rows hanging off of actual windows that were quite modern and stately.
"I'm coming, just hold your horses there for a minute!" a voice shouted from behind the door. A shuffling sound could be heard, followed by some kind of banging on the door as whoever was there tried to unlock it.
Once the door finally opened, the occupant of the house came into view. It was the same elderly gentleman who had picked up Olivia earlier, though he had dispensed with his heavy brown coat. He had a very plain appearance, being simply dressed in a sky-blue dress shirt and black trousers; his main distinguishing characteristics were his glasses, his thick white beard that filled out his otherwise thin face, and his double helix-printed necktie.
"More guests?" he sighed. "What a bother, having one unexpected visitor is enough for a single night. What can I help you with?"
"We're looking for a girl, sir," Matt replied with a hint of desperation. "She got lost on Route 29 earlier and we haven't been able to track her down."
"Oh, do you mean Olivia? I picked her up after I found her. She's right inside."
"That's such a relief… okay, you guys, come o…"
"Holy shit!" Matt's sentence got cut off when Nekou, having suddenly realized something, shoved him out of the way to face the old man directly. "I know who you are! I can't believe I get to meet you!"
"Who is he, then?" Matt growled, picking himself off the wet ground and squeezing the water out of his hat.
"He does look kind of familiar…" Bunny commented.
"Why, this is only the most famous scientist in the fucking history of science itself!" Nekou excitedly explained. "Meet Doctor Dante Fantomos, the man whose work made modern science itself possible!"
"Wait, you're Dante Fantomos?" Matt recognized the name once he heard it, and could only stare with wide eyes at Dante once he realized what it meant. "I didn't even know you were still alive!"
"I'm flattered to have fooled you, then," Dante remarked, playing off Matt's accidentally insensitive comment with a bit of sarcasm. "Come in out of the rain. I'll prepare some tea."
Stepping away from the door, Dante ushered his guests inside. After peering outside and looking around in suspicion, he then closed it.
Back in the bushes, Jessie, James and Meowth all shared a sigh of relief that they hadn't been caught. Wobbuffet, meanwhile, simply stood still and stared ahead while holding onto the satellite. All four of them were hiding under a tarp they had put up from their supplies to shield themselves from the rain.
"That was too close. I don't want to fight that old man."
"You're telling me, Jessie," an overly dramatic James complained. "What do we do now?"
"I'm gonna call Pierce," Meowth announced, taking the R-Pad computer into his paws again. "We ain't getting that rock from him if we just go for it."
-:-
After ushering his guests into the foyer of his house so they could dry off, Dante guided them through a corridor toward his study.
Matt took a moment to think about just how strange a day it had been as he walked behind Dante but in front of Nekou, Bunny and the Pokémon. Everything had started with Professor Elm's disappearance and the meeting with Professor Juniper, then they had run into Renzo and heard his ranting. After that, they moved into Route 29, were attacked by a group of bloodthirsty wild Pokémon, and finally were separated from Olivia. Yet, he still couldn't believe that he was now about to sit down for tea with one of the most important scientists in history, a man who he had long believed to have died years earlier.
"Olivia!" Dante called out as he reached the doorway of the study. "I've got someone here to see you!"
The study was a large room, dimly lit using candles and a fireplace. A border of brown wood reached three feet up the walls, and where it cut off, cream-colored wallpaper patterned with curved white lines picked up. Four dark bookcases towered from floor to ceiling against the wall opposite the fireplace, and as the four stepped into the room, their feet pushed down into the plush, pale yellow carpet.
A long coffee table sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by three red couches. Olivia was sitting on the one facing the fireplace, reading a book with a dejected expression of boredom. Lillipup, his leg and body bandaged, sat next to her.
"Olivia!" Matt exclaimed, both pleased and horrified at what he saw. Olivia, changed into hospital scrubs, had her left leg propped up on the couch in a thick cast. He felt at once both happy that she was alive and guilty for letting her get injured.
"You're lucky I found her out there, Matt Chiaki," Dante said. He started walking to a tea cabinet in the corner of the room, his cane leaving small circles in the carpet with each step. "She might have bled out and died or developed an infection."
"I owe you some thanks, then, Dr. Fantomos… wait, how do you know my name?"
Reaching the tea cabinet, Dante simply laughed and waved his hand at Matt. "In due time, my friend. Please, make yourselves at home. Everything will become clear."
"How are you doing, Olivia?" Nekou sincerely asked the girl, flopping down on the couch next to her. Zorua and Marie popped out from beneath Nekou's hair to see Olivia, and Oshawott jumped up onto his trainer's lap as well, attempting to soothe her.
"Hey, you guys, Zorua, Marie... and Oshawott too…" Olivia's voice was the voice of a broken human being. Her thoughts were haunting her – if this was how her first day as an official trainer would be, Olivia was unsure if she could face the future and whatever challenges lie ahead. It just all felt like far too much.
"Olivia, please..." In an attempt to further prove her sincerity, Bunny put her hand on Olivia's shoulder. "Don't give up yet. Things will only get better from here. This was just an accident."
"If you say so…" Olivia sniffed.
Perhaps unconsciously, Matt was detaching himself from the others, instead opting to examine the pair of framed pictures adorning the mantle of Dante's fireplace. The photograph on the left was a black-and-white image of a much younger Dante; he had no cane then, his hair was jet-black and slicked back, and his beard was significantly thinner and neater. At the time of the picture he was wearing a white lab coat and extremely thick glasses.
"Aye, pretty impressive, eh?" the elderly doctor said over his shoulder while preparing the tea. "That one you're looking at now, that was the photo of me that ran in all the papers back when I first published my documentation of the structure of DNA, fifty-five years ago. One of the proudest moments of my life, I say."
"I sure can understand that. Six years ago, I had the opportunity to finish the life work of my grandfather, the great archeologist Sutter Chiaki, by finding the lost Golden City of La Ciudad Dorada. I lost a lot pursuing that goal, but in the end, finding it made me feel good because it validated what my grandfather stood for."
Once he finished speaking, Matt shifted his gaze to the second photo, the one on the right. It was monochrome like the first and appeared to be from around the same time period, but Dante was not alone in it. Alongside him was a woman who had her hair done up in a beehive style, and between them, a young girl with long black hair and a summer dress sat on a chair.
Matt was intrigued by the picture, and rubbed his chin while looking closely at it for a moment before turning around. "Dr. Fantomos, forgive me if I shouldn't ask this, but what's the other picture of?"
Dante, who by this time was just putting the completed tea serving on the table before Olivia, Nekou and Bunny, could only sigh. He sat down on the couch at the head of the table, picked up one of the teacups, and said, "That… that is the other proudest moment of my life thus far. In that photograph with me are my late wife, Clara, and our daughter, Amina."
"Where does Amina live now?" inquired Bunny, who had actually begun getting drawn into the conversation herself.
"My heart," Dante sadly replied. "Amina died of an illness when she was just fourteen years of age, despite my best efforts to cure her."
Immediately realizing that he'd made Dante go down the path that led to talking about this, Matt gasped and said, "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have…"
"Don't you worry about it. I've taken steps to make sure her memory is preserved." Indeed, by the way Dante was speaking, Matt could tell he was not terribly disturbed by discussing these things. "Now, Matt, why don't you join us for some tea? Olivia was telling me earlier about some of the rare Pokémon you have seen, such as Heatran and Dialga."
"Well, I can tell you about Heatran, anyway," Matt spiritlessly spoke while putting himself down on the seat facing Dante's. "I don't remember much about meeting Dialga."
Dante's eyes widened when he heard Matt's claim, which was something he couldn't understand. "How do you not remember an occasion as momentous as meeting Dialga?"
"I'll get to that. First, let me tell you about Heatran. She was at the center of what happened in La Ciudad Dorada. The count of the kingdom was planning to seize control by killing his parents and sister and earning the right to the throne by making the people feel gratitude toward him, so he obtained a Magma Stone somewhere and used it to force Heatran to create a drought. He then contacted me and my so-called ex-girlfriend Cassy to go there and complete my grandfather's work to save the city. We fell for his trap... well, at least I did, because Cassy was actually in on it. We found the lost Golden City, but the count appeared and set Heatran on us while he took control of the Golden City's power. Thankfully, though, we managed to defeat Heatran and I captured her, and she went a long way to finally stopping him. I still have her with me today, and she is one of my most trusted Pokémon. On the other hand, though, that was also when Eleanor died…"
"Eleanor?" Dante questioned, blinking from behind his glasses.
Matt sighed. Unlike Dante and the story of Clara and Amina, he didn't feel so comfortable with recounting the fate of Eleanor. Against his better judgment, however, he closed his visible eye and told the story.
"Eleanor Laplace was a young woman I met in La Ciudad Dorada after being invited there by the villainous Count Fernando the Eighth. She was only on a vacation… so she was entirely innocent and never should have gotten caught up in what happened there. Needless to say, she ended up working with me, and during the final battle against Fernando she perished for my own cowardice." Opening his eye, Matt glared at Dante, who had a rather dramatic backdrop for himself with the rain battering the window behind his chair. "Sure, we found the Golden City. But I was never the same person after I left La Ciudad Dorada. That was where my life started to change."
Just talking about La Ciudad Dorada and the death of Eleanor Laplace brought memories flooding back to Matt. He could still see everything as if it had just happened, including Eleanor getting ahead of him while trying to encourage him to be more positive. Horribly, she walked into a palace tower that collapsed seconds later, right before Matt's eyes. He watched her last moments and sudden end, an image that was ingrained in his consciousness along with the knowledge that her last thoughts were mainly centered on trying to help him.
This time, it was Dante's turn to sigh. "You may be unable to accept this, but I can truly sympathize with the feeling of losing someone and feeling like you did nothing to help. I already told you about Amina's terminal illness and my failure to find a cure and save her, but Clara died as the result of religious extremists deciding they didn't like the idea of what my discovery could mean and bombing our home. They didn't like the idea of the building blocks of life being known to the minds of mankind."
Nekou, Bunny and Olivia had been drinking their tea and listening to the conversation as it went back and forth between Matt and Dante. All three were engrossed by it, even Nekou, who otherwise would have been talking about how much she was enjoying the tea Dante had prepared. Bunny, on the other hand, decided to say something.
"Is that why you've kept out of the public eye for so long? And if it is, why resurface now?"
"To your first question, yes. I decided to dedicate myself to studying everything I could and perfecting my theories on DNA. Unfortunately, my work attracted a bit of an odd crowd… is it true that, from what I understand, you had a run-in with a cult called Polaris in Whitegold City?"
"How do you…" The realization hit Nekou relatively fast, interrupting her original sentence. "Oh, that's right, it was on the news. You and the rest of the world got to see me kick their asses."
"Polaris is no laughing matter," Dante warned. "They were attracted to me because of the potential applications of my work. I didn't see eye-to-eye with them, though. They believe that DNA is the key to unlocking something profound in our world, and they're really serious about that, so I would strongly advise you to not get involved with them."
"You know," Matt groaned, "I've seen so much fucked up shit in my life already that they sound tame by comparison. I have no reason to concern myself with the dealings of a cult like that. All I'm after is the truth behind the fates of Eleanor and others."
"I see. Well, let me answer your second question, Bunny… actually, wait, I'll show you what I've been working on in a moment. I forgot to find out about what happened with you and Dialga, Matt."
"I told you, I don't remember much." Punctuating his response with another sigh, Matt continued, "I don't remember much because, from what others have reminded me, I used to have a split personality contained within me."
Olivia was the only one of Matt's audience that did not react in surprise to this news. Nekou, Bunny and Dante all gasped and looked at him in varying degrees of shock, but none of them spoke, allowing Matt to go on.
"People who knew what happened when my other personality appeared told me that his name was Janus, and he was violent, cruel and consumed by unchecked ambition. He was born of my attempts to rid myself of the pain caused by my sister and I being abused by our parents, and would appear in moments with enough stress to trigger it. The reason why I am telling you this is because for the majority of the time I was around Dialga, Janus was in control."
"He kidnapped me from my mom and dad and took me aboard Team Galactic's UFO," Olivia added. "My dad beat him, but he accidentally spilled this nasty red stuff on me."
"Once I snapped back into reality, I volunteered to stay behind on the exploding aircraft so Rich and Olivia could escape with my sister. That is why I have this body now." To show what he meant, Matt rolled up his sleeves, then removed his light-blue silk gloves, revealing that his hands were visibly made of metal. He then made a blade emerge from his right wrist, proving that the rest of both arms was also artificial. "That's not all. My left leg is cybernetic too, and I have some internalized modifications so my body doesn't rip itself apart. All of this was made necessary by being trapped in the exploding UFO. During the extensive procedures I had to undergo, by my own request I had Janus removed from my subconscious. That's why I don't remember Dialga much – a lot of memories of things that happened while he was in control have disappeared for me."
"I'd like to take you apart," Nekou wryly commented at the exact moment Matt finished speaking. "Your insides sound fascinating."
The mood in the room immediately changed – Dante visibly had to lower his head and fight off a chuckle, while Olivia fell back against Bunny's shoulder in a laughing fit. Bunny herself, meanwhile, put her hand against her face.
Matt could only stare at Nekou in complete exasperation as she stared back with a troublesome smirk on her face. "I was trying to tell Dr. Fantomos a story, you know. Did you have to do that?"
"I was bored," Nekou immediately snarked back without skipping a beat. "And if my brain was bored, his surely was too."
"Now, now, I got the gist of it, don't worry." Rising slowly from his seat, Dante looked down at Bunny and Olivia. At his full height he actually was rather tall, so they had to look up at him. "Allow me to show you what I've been working on now."
While his guests watched, Dante made his way to the other side of the room, where he picked up a cube-shaped case. He then carefully brought it back and set it on the table before opening it, revealing a small piece of rock covered in burn marks. Matt, Bunny and Nekou all looked at it with great curiosity.
"This is a fragment that fell from one of the meteors ahead of Persephone-2213 as it approaches Earth," Dante explained. "It is made of what is called Meteonite, a recently-discovered element that still has much mystery surrounding it."
"Meteonite," Nekou repeated, lowering her eyelids until her eyes were half-closed and staring coldly at the rock.
"Yes. I was asked by the Angel Corporation to study this Meteonite and try to determine some of its properties, because we have reason to believe that its resonance has some kind of effect on Pokémon. Olivia told me about the pack of wild Pawniard and the Bisharp that attacked you earlier today, and I think that my research on the Meteonite may have triggered their violent rampage, so please accept my apology for that."
"I'm not concerned about that anymore besides how it affects Olivia," Matt responded. He then turned his view halfway toward the girl. "Olivia, how are you doing? You're still looking forward to your first badge, right?"
"I don't want to talk about it. I want to go to bed."
Matt, Nekou and Bunny were all confused by Olivia's demand, and looked at her before turning to Dante. Understanding their unspoken question, he said, "I already told Olivia that once her friends caught up to her, you could all stay here for the night. My home is your home, as they say. The spare rooms are just upstairs."
"Come on, Olivia, I'll go with you."
Olivia nodded her acquiescence to Bunny's idea, so the older of the two young women rose to her feet and scooped up her younger friend in her arms. Once Dante pointed in the direction of the staircase, they left the room with Oshawott and Lillipup following them.
"So…" As he spoke, Dante closed the case containing the Meteonite. "Matt, you are someone who is seeking truth, is that correct?"
"Right. What I'm after is the truth behind the deaths of Eleanor and a couple of other people that didn't have to die. Everything has a deeper truth behind it, and I will discover it. For that reason, I'm looking for the Legendary Pokémon Reshiram, whose flames are said to burn to reveal the truth."
"I see. As men of science, that pursuit of the truth makes us similar."
"Don't forget me, I'm a woman of science," Nekou piped up, before slyly adding, "Just because my science is a lot madder doesn't disqualify me."
Dante chuckled, but did not speak again until he laid out a large map of the Johto Region on the table before Matt and Nekou. "If you're pursuing the truth of Reshiram, you will be looking for a lost item known as the Light Stone. They say that the Light Stone only appears before an individual who has put in overwhelming effort into finding the truth, so you should go through the longest path through Johto."
Putting his finger on the map at Cherrygrove City, right next to their current location, Dante traced the trail up north, slightly west, and south around a loop. He then elaborated, "Go from Cherrygrove City north to Violet City. From there, move into the loop that will take you south to Union Cave and Azalea Town, then north through Goldenrod City and eventually back to Violet City."
"Thanks, I guess, Dr. Fantomos."
Dante repaid Matt's gratitude with a dark expression. "Let me warn you of one thing, though, Matt Chiaki. As men of science we both pursue truth, but what you must recognize is that truth is a beast that cannot be tamed. If you decide to pursue it, you must be fully prepared to find that the truth is far more terrible than you ever thought it could be."
Nekou did not have much of a visible reaction to Dante's warning, but Matt noticeably shrunk back and tensed up. He didn't need any reminders of how difficult or risky his goal was, and even though Dante meant well, the comments he'd made only served to unnerve Matt even further.
-:-
Jessie, James and Meowth had quite a bit of space in their makeshift camp underneath the heavy tarp that shielded them from the rain. In fact, there was enough space for James and Meowth to prepare a pot of beef stew on a small hotplate while Jessie spoke to Pierce using the R-Pad.
"What are you saying, exactly?" Pierce could be heard questioning from wherever he was. "You can't get the Meteonite?"
"Pierce, it's currently in the possession of an old man who is keeping Matt Chiaki's little group at his home tonight," Jessie explained. "He's also got this powerful-looking Haxorus that we can't possibly defeat. Attacking him now would be foolish."
"Hmm... I agree. Listen, continue to monitor the situation for now. I have some business to finish
wrapping up here in Cherrygrove City. Over and out."
With Pierce gone, Jessie turned back to her teammates just in time for them to finish their cooking.
"Dinner's done!" James exclaimed, taking three spoons from their supplies and passing them out.
"Let's dig in!" Meowth added. "Before a big mission, a big meal does the trick!"
-:-
Much later that night, Matt was alone in the room he'd borrowed from Dante, sitting on the bed and reading by lamp light while wearing his light sleeping clothes. The novel in his hands was clearly aged, with some of its pages gnarled and yellowing at the edges. His silver flask, meanwhile, rested on the night table next to him, periodically being picked up to provide refreshment.
The pouring rain and occasional thunder put Matt on edge enough, so when his door creaked open, he jumped in a fit of nerves. However, he realized it was nothing to worry about when a slightly drunk Nekou stumbled in. She was quite a sight, wearing a faded yellow tank top that was one size too small for her and short shorts.
"What are you doing in here? Is that always how you dress at night?" Dropping that line of questioning when he saw the bottle in her hand, Matt instead asked, "You're drinking at this time of night?"
"Shut up," she countered, her voice slightly slurred. "The only thing on all twelve numbers of a clock is time to drink. I can't sleep."
"What I don't get is, I've seen you put away a dozen cans of beer without effort, but you haven't even finished one bottle tonight and you're clearly wasted. What is that?"
"It's not stuff I usually drink. I borrowed some vodka from the old man."
"You stole Dr. Fantomos's vodka, didn't you."
"I stole Dr. Fantomos's vodka, yeah," Nekou confessed, although she didn't seem all that remorseful about it. "What are you doing up this late?"
"I've got a good mind to ask you the same thing, why you're up so late getting drunk."
"Have as much a mind as you want, but just don't say it, because it's wrong to ask a lady why she drinks." Stepping closer to the bed, Nekou leaned over and scrunched up her face as she stared at the book Matt was reading. She could make out the drawing on the book's cover, which depicted an old man in sailor garb standing in a small boat and brandishing a harpoon directed at a giant, white Wailord. "Interesting choice of a bedtime story. I hadn't thought of you as the type."
"Consider what it's about, though. A man obsessed with getting vengeance against something that wronged him, requiring him to pursue a great white beast… especially since I learned about Reshiram's existence, I feel like I can identify with that. Of course, that's just the most superficial layer, but still."
As she listened to Matt's almost indifferent explanation of his interest in the book, Nekou's inebriated cheer vanished and was replaced with a cold disgust that grew with each word he spoke. Once he was done, she immediately responded, "You're looking at that story completely wrong if it's the captain who you identify with. I thought you were going to say that you identified with Ishmael, who quite frankly suits you more, but the captain? Did you even read to the end? I don't care if this is a spoiler to you or not, but the captain's obsession with his revenge gets all but one person on his ship killed! If you see yourself in him, what does that say about how you see us?"
"Well, obviously I don't want you or the others to die," Matt was now speaking in an empty, almost haunting voice, "but quite honestly, it would not bother me at all to fall in such a way for myself. Captain Ahab dies having successfully speared the whale that antagonized him for so long, and even if he did not kill the creature, he succeeded in accomplishing as much as he was capable of. I have two simple goals – I want to see Olivia up on her feet with a shot in the world, and I want to know the truth behind who provoked the events of the past six years. Once I accomplish those things, I simply have no concern for what awaits me next."
There was a beat of silence, but suddenly, Nekou delivered a backhanded slap across Matt's face, tears of anger welling up in her eyes. He just looked blankly at her and held his face as his book fell onto the bed.
"Do you even care about how your attitude could affect others? You say you want Olivia up on her feet, but how do you think it would make her feel to lose someone else she cares about and relies upon? How do you think Bunny would take losing someone she clearly considers a friend? And me… I have no home to go back to. If you go away, I don't know what would happen to me."
"I don't know if you can possibly understand all the things I've seen. Nobody deserves to have a harsh life like mine. I just feel tired… you can only rely on yourself for so long."
"You don't know the half of what I've seen, but anyway, nobody ever said that you had to rely only on yourself." Nekou suddenly climbed onto the bed and crawled on all fours toward Matt, sticking her face just inches away from his. He did not react at all. "Listen. I became your bodyguard, right? You know that you can rely on me when you need it."
"Thanks, I guess… I don't really know what I'm going to do right now."
-:-
The next morning, Matt, Bunny and Olivia gathered together with Dante in the foyer of his house. Dante, once again having donned his brown coat, had the case with the Meteonite shard sitting next to him.
"You lot are heading to Cherrygrove City, correct?" he asked.
"Right. The Battle Arcade is there," Matt explained, "and that is where I am going to begin my search for the truth."
"Please allow me to accompany you for a time, then," requested the doctor. "I need to deliver the Meteonite to an acquaintance of mine, the scientist who's called Mr. Pokémon, who lives on Route 30."
"Feel free to come along with us, Dr. Fantomos," Bunny agreed, making sure to glance to Matt and Olivia for confirmation first.
"Where's Nekou? We can't leave without her."
There was truth to what Olivia said – Nekou was nowhere to be seen. Matt coughed, then said, "She must have gotten so drunk last night she passed out. Let me go get her."
Matt turned away from the others and headed back up the staircase, then quickly walked toward the one spare room that still had its door pitched slightly open. When he entered, he found Nekou out cold, sprawled across her bed with the vodka bottle lying empty on the floor and a trail of drool dripping from her mouth, which was contorted into an expression of bizarre pleasure.
"Hey, wake up." When he got no response, Matt repeated himself but spoke a little louder; however, this failed too. He started to reach down to shake her, but he then spotted her earbud-style headphones in her ears and the cord to her music player. "Figures," he mumbled to himself, realizing she couldn't hear him. Instead of shaking her, he decided to simply remove the headphones from her ears.
That was where he went totally wrong, for as soon as he lifted one of the earbuds out, the music started blasting through the whole house.
"It's a cruel, cruel summer, leaving me here on my own… It's a cruel, cruel summer, now you're gone…"
"What the fuck are you doing…?" Drowsily smacking her hand against her side, Nekou finally found the music player and shut it off.
"Waking you up, obviously. You were sleeping with it that loud?"
"None of your business."
"Well, go get dressed. We're going to Cherrygrove City and Dr. Fantomos is coming with us."
END of CHAPTER 3