"Please see to it that your staff is prepared for anything…unseemly in these upcoming weeks."
Candice chewed on her sparkly-blue ink pen, her crossed leg bouncing, as she watched her staff file in one-by-one into her office.
There were only six ace trainers total. Quietly, they sat wherever it was possible. It was not often she had all of them meet her in her office like this.
Anton and Alicia, her most experienced duo, sat on the bright blue couch directly in front of her desk. Isaiah and Sergio sat perched on the windowsill behind them, giving the other two matching blue armchairs to Brenna and Savannah. Candice's eyes flicked to each of her employees.
"So," she drawled, setting her pen down and rolling her shoulders back. She pressed her hands between her thighs. "I bet you all heard the news about what happened this morning, yeah?"
The silence in the room was palpable. She watched as some of them shifted in their seats. Her eyes remained on Brenna as she absentmindedly picked at her nails, intently focused on the white fur carpet.
After a couple of minutes, Candice sighed. "I know, I know, it's pretty unsettling, I get it." She relaxed her shoulders, slumping so that her cheek rested in the palm of her hand. She was never one for professionalism, especially in front of her staff. "This is, like, what? The fourth murder in two months? It's getting a little too much, that's for sure."
She reached into her desk and pulled out her bright pink notebook. Flipping it open with one hand, she settled on a page with freshly written notes. When she opened her mouth to continue, Sergio, with his thick, northern Sinnohian accent, spoke.
"Do you think it is that," his nose wrinkled, "'Team Galactic's' doing?"
Isaiah leveled him with a nasty look. Sergio, blissfully unaware, held Candice's eyes. Everyone in the room was now looking at her with rapt attention. Brenna began to pick at her nail beds so harshly they began to bleed. Her dark black hair shone under the room's fluorescent lights.
"Do you want my opinion, or do you want the League's?" They remained quiet as Candice glanced at her notes. "According to the League, no, it isn't Team Galactic's fault. They haven't been able to prove if these murders have been committed by them or by someone else altogether. For all they know, we could just have a serial killer on our hands."
"Miss Candice, you must have brought us in here to talk about something other than them, correct?" Alicia's voice was soft, just like the snow that was dusting Snowpoint City in a thin layer while they spoke. Her lips were pulled into a thin line.
Candice tucked her long bangs behind her ear as her eyes remained locked onto her notes. "Yeah, I did. The League called me earlier. They told me that, for the time being as they and the International Police investigate, we need to make sure we keep Snowpoint City, Route 217, and Route 216 under a more watchful eye than normal."
Reading directly from her notes now, she continues, "Alicia and Anton, outside of normal gym hours, you two will be in-charge of keeping an eye on Lake Acuity," they give a short nod. "Isaiah and Brenna, I want you two to take Route 216, and then Sergio and Savannah, you'll both take Route 217. I'll do my rounds in Snowpoint. We'll take turns rotating with Snowpoint Police, but the League insisted that we at least do a couple hours of patrol every day alongside them," she paused. "It sounded like they're worried that the police might be working with whoever's involved with the murders, but they don't really know, I guess?"
Upon looking up, she was met with shocked faces. Candice chewed at her bottom lip. She already felt guilty about making them work overtime, but now she had to go ahead and scare them, too?
C'mon, Candice.
"Don't worry about it too much, guys. I promise, nothing will happen as long as I'm here–"
The door to her office slammed open. At once, Anton and Alicia were on their feet, pokeballs drawn. Candice jumped so hard the page in her notebook she held in her hands ripped loudly.
"Gym Leader Candice!"
Heart racing, she stood. Addressing her was a Snowpoint police officer. He was holding a radio in his hand. "I just received a call from someone on Route 217. They found a body in the snow, and there's blood."
Candice paled. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Sergio and Savannah hurried to grab their heavy coats they had taken off upon entering.
"Thank you, could you lead myself, Sergio, and Savannah to where they said the body was?" The officer nodded. Candice turned to the rest of her staff. "I want the rest of you guys to stay here. Close down the gym for the time being. Alicia, remain on standby to call the League if needed, okay?"
With that, she rushed to put on her own coat, ensuring the pokeballs around her waist were secure.
As they jogged to Route 217, Candice tried to calm her racing heart.
They were trained for these scenarios. They had done this plenty of times before. It was probably just another random pokemon attack or a skiing accident. After all, they're more frequent in the mountains where they were. It's not like they found a body in the middle of Jubilife City's redlight district.
Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead.
Warmth.
He was surrounded by a soft warmth.
In his haze, he knew he was being held by someone. He felt their chest inhale and exhale as he pressed further away from the cold and into the source of the warmth.
He could not remember what had happened. He racked his brain, a dull ache in the back of his head causing him to wince.
He remembered that Lucas was with him. So, maybe the warmth was Lucas? That would make sense.
But where were they? Why did his head ache? Why did his body hurt?
Distantly, he heard a voice. A voice that was not Lucas's.
"Barry, we have to go–"
Palkia.
Barry's eyes shot open. He was surrounded by white and red and white and red and white–
He screamed.
The voice stopped speaking. Something made a startled cry, and he was violently shoved into something cold.
"Magmar! Be careful!" It was a man's voice, but it was not a voice Barry recognized.
Barry felt his entire body become wracked with shivers. He was cold, and something wet was soaking into his jeans. He propped himself onto his hands, which also quickly became wet and cold.
He looked up, finally seeing.
Endless amounts of white snow surrounded him. Distantly, it seemed familiar, like he had been there before.
An ace trainer with a mop of black hair was standing close by, a magmar hiding behind him, clutching at his snow pants with its long claws. Barry watched as its tail, a burning red and yellow flame at its tip, flicked back-and-forth quickly.
"Hey dude, my name is Dalton." Barry's eyes shot up to the man. He was shivering slightly, and he was gently trying to pry the pokemon's claws off of his legs. "I called the gym, they should be here pretty soon. I honestly thought you were dead at first, there was a lot of blood and you seemed pretty banged up–"
Blood?
While Dalton was still rambling, Barry looked down at himself. Sure enough, there were patches of red all over his body. He felt a warm liquid trickle down the side of his temple, running along his jaw. And, just like that, the pain caught up with him. He felt like he could vomit.
"Fuck," he breathed out. The man stopped speaking and quickly bent down to Barry's level. He went to grab his shoulder, but Barry quickly shoved it away. Dalton's eyes widened. The magmar let out a little growl at the sight.
"Hey man, it's okay. Help's coming pretty soon. What happened, though? Were you attacked by a pokemon? It looks like it."
Barry ignored him.
Pokemon–my pokemon!
Barry's hand shot to his hips, and the relief he felt when he counted all six minimized pokeballs securely clicked onto his trainer belt almost made him double over. His shoulders relaxed. The man stared, dark brown bushy eyebrows pinched.
He still had his pokemon. That's good. But he still felt like he was missing something important. He thought back to as far as he could. He was with Lucas, all of their pokemon had fainted, and–
Lucas.
Oh, shit. Lucas!
Barry lunged towards Dalton. The man let out a shout as Barry gripped his shoulders with his hands, his weight being supported by the man entirely. His legs shook as Dalton rose quickly, forcing them both to stand. Barry distantly realized he was taller.
The magmar let out a shout of its own. It looked towards its trainer, prepared to step in at a single command.
"Was there a guy with me, too?" He was shouting. Lucas always told him he was too loud sometimes, but right now he could care less. "He's a little shorter than me with dark hair. Do you know where he is? Where is he?"
Dalton stammered. "I–no, I didn't, uh, see anyone else. It was just you, but–hey man, could you let go of me? You're pretty badly hurt, why don't you sit down and let my magmar keep you warm, okay?"
Barry pushed Dalton away a little as he stood on his own. He stumbled a couple of steps backwards, and Dalton went to steady him, but Barry shoved his hands off of him. He was beginning to shiver violently.
"Lucas! Lucas!" Barry yelled. Dalton attempted to grab his shoulder this time, but Barry pushed him away, rambling to himself. "Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. He's dead, oh fuck, he can't be dead. He has to be around here, too, we were literally just next to each other. How did he…?"
Distantly, he could feel Lucas's phantom touch on his arm, tugging at him.
No. He can't be gone.
Dalton stared. He opened his mouth, but Barry turned to him quickly, interrupting him. "Where is he? I know you saw him, he has to be somewhere. Don't make me fine you, I know you know exactly what the Champion of Sinnoh looks like, c'mon!"
Barry grabbed Dalton's shoulders, shaking him, and the magmar cried out loudly. Flames wisping around its nostrils, it sucked in a breath to blow at Barry while Dalton tried to push him off–
–and Barry was pulled backwards harshly into the snow as two others stood in-between him and Dalton.
Barry looked up, stunned, from where he was laying in the snow.
A familiar face stared back at him, and he smelled the familiar scent of her perfume. Her hazel eyes were narrowed, and gloved hands rested on her hips. Loose jet black hair alongside two braided pigtails poked out from around her face from underneath her coat's hood.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, voice low.
"Candice?" He was so, so confused.
She ignored him. "You're bleeding. I don't know what you were thinking, attacking someone who's obviously trying to help you, especially in the state you're in right now. You look like you can barely even stand!" She motioned at the other two men with her to help him up.
As they reached down to grab him, he pushed them away, slowly coming to a stand himself.
"Candice, I don't know what's going on, but Lucas is gone. He was just with me. He might be in the snow somewhere. Are we near Snowpoint? We were just on Mt. Coronet, I don't know how we got all the way here," he was rambling. He knew he was rambling.
Candice stared at him like he had grown a second head. "I don't know who this 'Lucas' person is. You were climbing Mt. Coronet? I'm not sure if I believe you, you're in jeans and a jacket, no offense." She turned towards a woman he had never met who was standing next to her. She had been watching the scene go down quietly. "Can you call up the gym and let them know that it's nothing to worry about, just another pokemon attack, probably?" The woman nodded, walking a couple of feet away with a radio in hand.
Barry felt a flash of hot anger rush through him. "What do you mean, you 'don't know who Lucas is?'" He felt delirious. The pain and the cold were beginning to get to him. "He's your fuckin' boss, Candice! The Champion? Doesn't that ring a chimecho?"
Everyone was staring at him now. The woman with the radio even stopped talking to see what was going on. Candice's face was tinted red.
"The Champion is not a man. The Champion has been Champion Cynthia for years now," she spoke slowly, carefully. Her hands were fisted at her sides. "You must be concussed because what you're saying doesn't make any sense. I have never met you before in my entire life. Now, we're going to escort you to Snowpoint City Hospital, and then, afterwards, we can help you find your friend."
He felt two hands grab at both of his arms. The two men that were with Candice were now standing on each side of him, holding him up. He started to struggle.
"Hey, don't touch me! Don't you know there's a fine for touching the Tower Tycoon!? Don't you know who I am!?"
The two men grunted but mostly ignored him. Forcing him to walk, they bid a farewell to Dalton and his magmar as they made the long trek back to Snowpoint City. The other woman who Barry had not recognized stayed behind with Dalton, asking him if he had found anyone else with Barry.
Candice wondered if finding a dead man would have been better than this.
A/N:
Hey all! Just to let you know, but I am cross-posting this story between here and on AO3.
I intend to have weekly or bi-weekly updates to this story, but my job is hectic, so it could go from consistent to irregular very quickly.
Thank you so much for your support!
