Birch jumped back, watching the monitor begin to beep uncontrollably as Steven's heart rate spiked. His stomach seemed to relocate somewhere near his feet and he rushed over to touch Steven's forehead. His skin was cold and he was sweating considerably, breathing hard, as if he had been experiencing a nightmare.

The professor shook him, starting to panic himself. They hadn't tested this before, he had no idea if Steven could be at risk. Releasing the restraints on Steven's arms and legs, Birch shut down the machine, hands clammy and sweaty.

After a few more panic filled minutes, Steven woke up in a scream, startling everyone in the room.

"Steven! Are you all right?" Birch called out, heaving a large sigh after having just experienced a tiny heart attack. His heart nearly burst out of his chest from how worried he was.

Steven was sitting straight up, sweat pouring down his face. His eyes remained distant and unresponsive. Shaking and with the help of Birch, he stood up, still in a dazed, catatonic state. All he could hear was muffled noise. Birch waved a hand in front of his face, and Steven came to, becoming more aware of his surroundings; he was now back inside the lab, not out in the dark of night, hands stained with blood.

He stumbled into the bathroom with a drunken waltz from the nausea, shedding his suit, and splashed his face with cold water, trying to erase the images in his mind. They had been burned into his head, etched like an ancient carving on a stone slab. He could still see the dark liquid covering his hands, feel the warmth of it on his palms. They weren't his hands, but it- it felt so real. What scared him the most was the terrifying feeling of relief that came with every life that knife ended.

"H-how could he do that?" Steven stammered, wanting to believe everything had been an illusion, a trick from an unhealthy mind. Wiping his forehead with a towel, he stared into the mirror for longer than a few minutes, then dressed himself again, attempting to calm his upset mind with a breathing technique.

Slowly. In and out…

Coming back out to the main area thirty minutes later, legs still feeling like leaves in the wind, Steven saw a disoriented Riven getting up from the machine, holding his head.

"My head feels hazy," he groaned. "Is this normal? It feels like I've been hit in the head with a wooden board."

"I suppose it's the sedative," Birch said plainly, having no honest idea if that was the case or not. Riven didn't press the matter as he was helping him out of the restraints. Which was good, since the only thing a scientist hated more than shoddy lab work was not being able to answer critical questions. "Did you feel anything else?"

Riven nearly fell over, holding onto Birch for support. "Ngh… Not really. It just felt like I slept for a while… shit, my head," he complained. "How long were we in there for?"

"About forty minutes," Birch replied, checking Riven's physical state, finding nothing out of place.

Riven saw a figure approach in his peripheral vision and turned, then pointed a finger. "There's S-"

The professor was already examining his friend before Riven could even finish the sentence.

"Steven! Are you okay? Does your head hurt? What did you see? Did it work?" Birch shot out question after question, inquisitive and distressed at the same time. He grabbed Steven's face, flashing a small handheld light into the man's eyes. "Dilated pupils… skin is cold…" The professor took out a plastic stick. "Say ahhhhh."

Steven lifted a hand, smiling weakly. "There's no need for a surprise medical examination. I'm fine, Birch. Thank you for your concern. I'm just a little… rattled." A little. Right. His nerves were practically set on fire. Even now, Steven hid a shaking fist in his pant pocket.

"Did it work then?" Birch asked, eyes shimmering.

"I wish it didn't," Steven added quietly, leaving Birch confused. Walked over to Riven, and stared at him, gaze sorrowful. The young man peered up at him, expectant. "I-I don't- It didn't happen… did it?" Steven stumbled over the words, knowing full well that he was only trying to mask the fact that it did. But accepting something that horrible was… difficult.

"I could tell you it's true, but I wouldn't know what you saw, or if you would even believe it. You probably don't want to. I can understand that. I wouldn't want to either, if I was in your place." The young man breathed in deep. "But I have a general idea. I wake up like that sometimes too. And sometimes… I have panic episodes that last for days." Riven admitted solemnly, but not without sympathy. "What did you see?"

Steven recalled memories that weren't his, still fresh in his mind. "At first, I saw your parents. You were eavesdropping on them. You had such small hands. And you were royalty. Apparently?" Riven as royalty? It made Steven's mind want to cave in on itself. In the stories, a prince was always seen as cultured, mannered, and graceful. Riven was the complete antithesis of that; he was brash, cold, and not at all friendly nor sociable.

"I was?" A huff. "I was just a kid who happened to be born a Cerul, with two eyes that didn't quite match. Didn't feel like royalty." Riven stared at the ceiling, frowning. "And that memory… I forgot it still exists. I'm surprised you saw that. Guess I don't know what my mind is truly thinking about."

Steven gave him a small smile. "Your parents loved you."

"It's easy to say it. It's quite another to show it. And I don't remember feeling… loved," Riven said, calm turning into bitterness. "Father was never there. My mother… she never had any time. They put me in as many lessons as possible. Probably so they wouldn't have to deal with me. That's why I always went off exploring by myself."

Steven understood perfectly, feeling the same way for a long time when he was his age. His father was always on business trips. He never really knew his mother that well. In a way, training was his escape from all of that.

"I suppose you witnessed what came next." Riven eyed him. There's no way he didn't see that.

"The Rose clan… they…" Steven paused. And shivered.

The black-haired boy lifted part of his hair, revealing the skin under his right eye, a thin pink scar stretching down his face. Someone had to look closely just to see it. Birch had mentioned it previously, but Steven thought nothing of it, until now.

"Your scar- the one you marked yourself with," Steven shuddered, a sinking feeling welling up inside. "I felt it. Everything. To say the machine allows you to relive memories in vivid detail doesn't do it justice. It tells you things you shouldn't have any possible way of knowing."

Birch and other white coats gasped. "Y-you actually felt it? I only imagined it would be just seeing but- everything?"

"Yes. Pain and other things…" Steven confirmed, the hair at the back of his neck rising. Unconsciously, he ran two fingers under his own eye, recalling with perfect detail how cold metal felt on his cheek, followed by the stinging pain of being cut, both physically and emotionally.

Birch blanched, making a mental note of testing the machine further, just to see if the experience could be toned down to a less realistic level. Traumatic pasts would definitely be something to watch out for, given how strongly Steven reacted.

"What else did you see?" Riven asked.

"Nimva Plains," Steven swallowed, a lump forming in his throat. Riven glanced towards the floor, expression unreadable, bobbing his head slightly.

"Can I talk to you in private?" Steven asked.

Birch looked positively betrayed.

Sorry, Steven apologized with a look, I'll tell you later. Heading down a hallway and into an empty store room, he steeled his face, looking into eyes that once held life, hope. "You were happy once."

"Once," Riven replied calmly. It was never a sort of true happiness, like what some trainers said they felt when they won a badge, or when their pokemon evolved. That was a pure happiness, shining like a bright light; a sun to give warmth and radiance, promoting growth and life. No. The happiness- if one could call it that- was more or less mutual reassurance that the people he fought with were there stuck with him, in a crumbling, war-torn world. And that feeling shrunk with each death- and there were lots of those."War changes you. You saw Nimva. You know what it's like. You felt it too."

"Like someone rent a hole in you and tore out what was left," Steven said quietly, a hand gliding over his chest.

Riven nodded, slow and painful. An uncomfortable silence permeated the air, like a desert wind at night. Both of them stood awkwardly in place for a full, noiseless minute, wondering what to say.

"When was the first time you- you know… ended someone's life?" Steven started, breaking the silence.

"Thirteen." Riven grimaced. "A few guys tried to sneak into our camp, cause as much damage as possible and maybe even assassinate the general. I couldn't sleep from tending to some wounded with the healers, so I saw one of the bastards come into our tent. He was going to kill one of ours so I got up and buried my knife into his spine while his back was turned. Then we alerted the entire camp."

"Did you find it… satisfying?" Steven ushered out, voice barely above a whisper. He wasn't comfortable asking that. After all, who would be?

Riven shook his head, a small chuckle escaping from him. "Not even in the slightest. I was unresponsive for a few days. The general said that was a good thing. He said that if no one expressed panic on their first kill, something was wrong. Really wrong." Riven shrugged. "I got numb to the feeling… eventually. Then the numbness turned into… well. Something it shouldn't have. I realize that now, but I didn't at the time." He lingered on those thoughts for a few seconds before asking, "How long has the world been warless?"

"The last war was the Kalosian war of Kings, three thousand years ago. If I remember correctly anyway. I learned about it when I visited the region some time ago. On other business. Involving certain stones of certain importance."

Riven scoffed. Rock obsessed recluse."I figured as much," he said dryly. "People have never experienced a war in their lifetimes. I've never-" He shut his mouth closed, grumbling.

Steven eyed him, brain getting immediately to work as he drew different conclusions together, gathering tidbits of scattered information from memories and conversation, as well as other things. He arranged them like a child would a jigsaw puzzle.

Riven was a soldier in peacetime… which was and probably continued to be- a jarring experience, especially at the age Riven had been "enlisted". He had started training with the army at eleven, killed at thirteen, then by fifteen, he was battling on the frontlines. And that wasn't counting the combat lessons he'd received prior to that, from the age of four to seven. Or the amount of constant battles and skirmishes in the three years that followed that, up until about roughly a year and a half ago, if he retraced Riven's relative age with how long ago he'd signed up as a trainer.

That, by all accounts, classified him as a child soldier, which meant that coming here wasn't just a punch in the gut- it was like getting slugged in the face by a Machamp, then body slammed by a Snorlax. The poor boy probably couldn't hold a job to save his life. He didn't know what a regular life was. Normally, mercenaries had militant backgrounds in Unova or Kanto, heck- even Orre. None of them could make special forces at nineteen, given the bare minimum age of eighteen to enlist regularly. They could at least somewhat function in society. But child soldiers… Many of those from Orre did start out that way. The end result was never pretty.

Maybe it was one small blessing that Birch had hastily set Riven on the trainer's path, for both Riven and everyone else he encountered. If an unsavory group had reached out to him instead... it would have been bad news. Very bad.

"Never lived out of one," the former champion finished.

"Yeah."

That brought up another important point. "Why isn't there a record of this?" Steven asked, shifting the tone of the conversation abruptly.

Riven scrunched his face in confusion.

"The war, I meant. Surely someone must have written accounts of battles down, or have some kind of story passed down through generations. Every war that's been fought in recorded history has something of the like. Every single one. The Kalosian war, as well as the Unovan, Kanton, and Johton wars were all recorded, if some more detailed than others. The historical portrayals vary but- the point is that there was someone who wrote it down. Even the war that took place near Rota was documented in the palace castle library. If you dig deep enough, you can also find records of the battles during the Iron and Bronze ages. But this one… There's no evidence that it even existed. It's hard to believe it's true, not even considering how long your memory says it went on for, further making it harder to believe. One thousand years is a very long time." Steven paced around the room, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what Riven was holding out.

A curved knife, light reflecting off its black metallic surface, its blade kept in perfect condition due to meticulous cleaning.

"That's-"

"A promise. Which makes two of them now." Riven gripped the blade handle tightly, holding it up against the light, then sheathed it. "You know who it belonged to, right?"

Steven didn't even bother to nod, still remembering things he'd never wished he'd seen. "That's Yanine's knife- you used it to-" He fell silent, picturing the same black steel tearing out a man's larynx with a merciless swipe, feeling a little sick.

"Saw that too, huh?"

"Unfortunately I did. They were prisoners. Unarmed." He didn't kill those soldiers, he murdered them. Boys, by what he'd seen, no older than he was at the time. And he executed them in cold blood. With not even the slightest bit of remorse.

How could anyone do something like that? Maybe his mental state should be evaluated. If he's- no, wait. You're thinking about this incorrectly. That wasn't just war. It was total war, Steven realized, grimacing. He'd read history books, he knew what total war entailed, and what effect it had on the people and landscape around it. My god. To think- one thousand years of that...

"I had to," Riven replied harshly. It didn't feel like a reason. It felt like an excuse. But that didn't make it any less true.

"For your obligation as a soldier?" Steven questioned, skeptical. "I can't possibly believe that."

"I had to... for my sanity," Riven admitted.

The sharply dressed man raised a brow.

"I'd seen soldiers go crazy before. Some broke, others went on a rampage. The ones that went insane had to be taken care of. I didn't know why, I still don't. They never wanted to tell us why. But I- it just- it hurt. I wanted to make it stop."

"Did it?"

"No. But it helped. It was enough."

"Do you genuinely believe that?"

"It's what I tell myself. As long as I can believe that, I'm fine."

Steven sighed, not sure where to go next. "Riven."

"Yeah?"

"You don't… hate pokemon?"

"No. Why would I?"

"The Arcanines killed your friends too."

Riven appeared thoughtful for a second, glancing over the words, then licked his lips.

"They didn't have a choice. Pokemon were just weapons to most people back then. We all knew it. Instruments of war- sad as it is to say. Those Arcanine, Mightyena, Rapidash, Ponyta, and the rest of the pokemon used in that war… They were born and raised to kill. It wasn't their fault. When you get stabbed, you don't blame the sword. Or the arrow that just sank its tip into your leg. You can't. It was like that with pokemon. Most people didn't bother befriending them. The ones that did… you saw Kasaic. It was just more pain- wasn't worth it."

Steven nodded, understanding. "Something bothered me though. It still is, kind of." Closing his eyes, he recalled a vague whisper he'd "heard" during one of the fragments. "You- your memory-said that a blast burn destroyed the city. But Arcanines can't learn that move, and I didn't see any pokemon there that could."

The younger trainer remained stoic for a few seconds, before his mouth opened and flashed a savage grin, canines flaring, more snarl than smile. "Who said a pokemon destroyed it?"

Steven furrowed his brows in confusion."You mean-" Riven grinned again, this time in a dark and morbid kind of way. "No… A-are you saying what I think you're saying?" Steven stammered, genuinely shocked. "But you fought with spears, swords, and arrows. The Rosan army did too, only they had more pokemon! You can't be serious. Only a pokemon can use blast burn."

Riven shrugged. "Yes, we fought with mightyenas, and conventional weapons. Hopeless soldiers without a home, fighting a war we couldn't possibly win. No giant mutts who could spit fire, or horses that left cinders where they stepped. No fire, no abilities, nothing. That's why we lost after the main army got wiped out during Altea's destruction." Let out a dark laugh. "But the Rose army… That's a different story."

Steven was rendered speechless, brain trying to wrap itself around that notion of impossibility that Riven was implying. "But that's- that's impossible."

"Is it, Steven? That's why I came here. Not to show you my memories, but they certainly will help make everything make sense- if even just a little. Everyone says it's impossible, only it's not… I know it's not, and I can show you that it isn't. Trust me."

Steven blinked. His mouth fell open.

Riven chuckled wryly, finally glad he wasn't the clueless one now. "Let's go find Will."

"T-that boy is? He?"

The black-haired boy flashed another savage grin. "Come, and bring some duct tape too, you might need it to reattach your jaw."

Dumbfounded, Steven followed Riven upstairs.

Both of them were welcomed with smoke and the smell of something burning.

"Is something on fire?" Steven asked the desk attendant, scrunching his nose. The smoke detectors were going off fiercely, blaring and flashing. Scientists scrambled.

The man at the front desk nodded furiously, barking orders at someone over the phone. "What do you mean we don't have a fire extinguisher in the there? I don't care if he's a damn trainer! Tell him to get that blasted Quilava back in its pokeball! He set half the furniture in the Rec room on fire! This is exactly why Lund doesn't allow fire types inside! Fuck!"

"Shit. Not again." Riven let out a string of mental curses as he heard the words quilava and fire. Doesn't that little bastard ever learn summoning Quil anywhere that isn't a barren wasteland is a terrible idea? Or maybe…

"What do you mean again?" Steven stared. "This has happened before?"

"Ah, well… let's just say Will's starter is, uh, volatile," Riven said sheepishly, and coughed. "Swear Quil should have been a Voltorb… Let's go see if the menace hasn't done any more collateral damage."

Steven and Riven ran to the Rec room, covering their noses to avoid smelling in that awful scent of burning something.

"Ilan, water gun! Douse the flames!" Lucia ordered. Her Poliwrath blasted water forward at the smoldering pieces of now charred black furniture. When the smoke cleared, Lucia saw two men standing beside each other, looking like they had just climbed out of a pool. The former wore a very irritated scowl, while the latter had a friendly smile on his face.

Lucia rushed over to Steven, apologizing profusely, then freaked out about ruining the almost immaculately pressed suit he wore. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to ruin your suit I-"

Steven put a hand on her shoulder, still dripping. She flushed. "It's okay. This isn't the first time I've been drenched from head to toe. I was a trainer once too, you know. It was actually quite refreshing."

"I don't agree," Riven added dryly. "And you're redder than a tamato," he pointed to Lucia, half-smirking.

"No. No, I'm not," she denied, quickly turning around. Oh god, I'm flushing around the champion! Breathe, Lucia! Breathe!

Steven chuckled. "Anyway, where is your brother? Riven informed me that things arguably tend to… spontaneously combust when he's around. Is this true?"

Lucia shot a heated look at Riven, who was staring off into a corner of the room, silently snickering. Looked back up at Steven, and flushed even further. "I'm sorry about him, this always happened back home. I can pay for it-" She took out her wallet, but Steven stopped her. She turned beet red again.

"There's no need. I'll pay for it. I'm sure Lund won't get too terribly upset with me," he stated kindly, keen eyes noticing the fact that there was no Quilava in the room at all. Only a scared boy in the corner huddled next to Gale, shaking and pale as paper. Riven noticed that Steven had noticed it too, waiting to see how the "former champion" would handle this.

All Steven did was give another irritatingly charming champion smile and Lucia was instantly pacified. Riven threw his hands up. Damn champions and their people skills.

"Fire types are dangerous, especially indoors. Take good care with them," Steven advised gently, standing in front of Gale and the boy.

Will stood up, panicking and extremely apologetic. "S-sorry! I keep telling Quil not to get too excited, but he just sees fire and he gets happy and then things go BOOM- I mean, fire is cool and all but it's hard to get him to stop and it's not okay- I'm sorry!" Will stopped rambling as Steven started giggling.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, still trying to stifle giggles. "I needed that laugh after what I've seen today. Hah."

Lucia's eyes narrowed at Riven, whose eyes locked with hers, telling her things words couldn't. You son of a bitch. A person could tell a lot from a person's eyes. Being a trainer for some time, she learned how to read them and what they said. What Steven saw today. What did you show him Riven? That's why you took so long, you weavile.

He looked away, flicking his gaze elsewhere, ghost of a smirk on his face. He was enjoying this, that fucker.

"But," Steven said calmly, steadying himself, "I can't help but notice there isn't a Quilava in the room. And your backpack is on the other side of the room. What really caused that fire? It's not nice to blame things on your pokemon."

Will, Gale, and Lucia froze.

"I-I returned him," Will blurted out, trying to cover it up as best he could. But there was no fooling Steven. Champions didn't just have strong pokemon, they had keen eyes and a brain that could strategize and analyze with the best of them. That's what made them champions.

Steven knelt down beside Will, placing a comforting, albeit wet, hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. Riven told me that well… you can do things." He waggled a hand, then reprimanded himself at how awkward that came out, and how it looked. "I know it's a secret, so I'm going to ask all of you to come downstairs. But first, can you show me very quickly? No one will see right now."

Will looked up at Riven, who only nodded briskly. It's okay, Will.

The younger trainer nodded, red eyes slightly intimidated and extremely unsure of himself. He flexed a finger, and fire shot out, singeing a few strands of Steven's hair and part of the ceiling, leaving a blackened spot on the white surface. "S-sorry."

The former champion remained kneeled, mouth a thin line. Standing up at once, he turned to Riven, and swallowed harder than he had ever done before. "We're going to have one lengthy conversation. All of us," he gestured to the others.

"But I-" Riven protested. He caught the nasty looks the other three were giving him, and relented.

"They're your friends. You need to stop hiding things from them." Pulled away from Riven's ear, then came back. "And I think I need that duct tape now," Steven said, waving for them to follow him. Something came over him, winning out surprise and reluctant, skeptical acceptance, pushing his mood through the roof and into the clouds.

The verge of discovery. That's what it was.

I have a feeling… things are going to get much more complicated from now on, Steven smiled, his adventurous side brimming with eagerness, something he hadn't felt since he last heard about mega evolution. How exciting.

So that sphere is an evolution stone, Steven realized, taking a sip of some hot chocolate Birch had made for everyone. They were sitting at a table in the underground lab; just the trainers, Steven, and the professor.

Setting the mug down, he straightened. His suit had dried by now, but it didn't feel as comfortable as when he first put it on. "You said you found a red sphere in the desert ruins? Just like the blue one Riven gave to me? With the same markings?"

Will nodded, wiping a chocolate stain off his upper lip with a sleeve. "Yeah. Meanwhile me and idiot here were stuck in the desert half-dead, some Claydols saved us from getting eaten by Cacturne."

"Idiot? You were the one who got yourself stuck in quicksand!" Riven growled. "And don't forget my preparations are the entire reason why you're not dead."

"Lies."

"Ungrateful prick."

"Yeah well you're stupid."

Riven chucked a piece of bread at his face. "You little sh-"

Lucia coughed, holding out a pokeball. "You want to get drenched by highly pressurized water? Again?"

The black-haired trainer crossed his arms, hmphing. Gale giggled at the two boys' interactions. They were constantly at each others' throats, it was kind of funny. And cute.

Steven kept his attention locked on Will. "Please continue, Will. Ignore Riven for the time being. He can be difficult to deal with. Tell me everything you can remember."

Will snorted. "Okay then. Well, we got taken to the ruins in the desert. There was water there. I woke up first, Riven woke up later."

"The Regirock ruins? Or the other ruins in the desert? There's quite a few."

"I don't know. But it looked like a temple. Kinda? I don't know. It had carvings of god and other things- and rooms, lots of rooms."

Depictions of Arceus… interesting. Perhaps it was a temple to some sort of ancient Arcean divinity? It seemed as if the worship of Arceus went back further than the world believed. Fascinating. Steven nodded.

"When Riven woke up, the Claydols spoke through me to talk to him. It was really weird, I could feel my mouth move, hear what I was saying, but I couldn't see anything. I know psychics are weird but I've never heard of them doing that."

Steven's eyes widened. Telepathic takeover. That's troublesome. Pokemon didn't do that to humans. Many psychics were strictly opposed to that, for reasons only they knew about, and didn't wish to elaborate. Even his Metagross didn't speak of it. To think an ancient pokemon like Claydol would resort to measures that drastic was unnerving. "Why didn't they just communicate telepathically with him?"

"They said they couldn't. It wasn't allowed. Didn't have the power or something or other." Will shrugged. "I don't freaking know, they kept saying really confusing things."

"Not allowed? What do you mean not allowed?" Steven asked. "How is it not allowed?"

"Beats me, all the psychics do is talk in riddles. It's really annoying," Will replied, eyeing Seren as he was busy lapping up Will's chocolate. The fox looked up at him with eyes potent enough to render the hardest of trainers into swooning messes. Will had to look away before his manliness evaporated and his train of thought got derailed."It was just nonsense to me. Even Riven was confused. They called him evil, among other insults. They were talking an awful lot of shit about him. They really didn't like him."

Steven whispered a curious "huh" under his breath.

Lucia nudged him in the side. "Forgive his language," she apologized.

"It's fine. I've seen trainers with far more colorful language than both Riven and Will. They're pretty tame with their swearing, actually. Challengers have the worst mouths imaginable, hah. They make Drake look like an innocent angel by comparison. Anyway, we're getting sidetracked again. Where were we?"

"Psychics love trashtalking?" Will remarked sharply.

"Let's skip the trash talking then. Did they say anything important?"

"They said something about Riven being an anomaly. What is that?"

"It's another word for error," Gale put in.

Steven nodded. "Correct."

"Oh, they also said he wasn't where he belonged. Then Riven started shouting things about legendaries, the future, and other things. And I heard a lot of curse words after that," Will grinned. Riven snorted. "But after that, we wandered around the temple a bit. Then we came to this large room with lines going up the walls. There was some kind of circle carving in the middle. As soon as Riven stepped inside, the entire room lit up blue!"

The blue lights Wattson saw. So it was them. Interesting.

"Then the center opened up, bringing out some kind of metal spear thing. The red sphere was in the middle."

"Genius here decided to touch it," Riven commented sardonically. "Rule number one about old shit in ruins; if it glows, it's probably not a good idea to touch it. You violated that rule and look where that got you."

"Shut up," Will hissed, then continued, ignoring a smirking Riven. "After I touched it, fire came up around me. It felt like I was actually getting burned alive, but I came out of it fine, just warm. Really warm. Ever since then I can do this-" He held a hand out and a blast of fire launched upward, startling Seren and Birch, who knocked his knees on the table and fell over. Steven dodged out of the way before it hit him in the face, singed his eyebrows, and gave him second-degree burns.

"Sorry!" Will flinched. "I- I can't control it yet. T-that's how I burned the couches in the Rec room." The boy looked downcast again.

"You can't?" Steven wondered, trying to get as much details as he could.

"No. Not really. I mean- the fire comes out, I just can't control where it goes or how strong the flame gets. I really have no idea how to even do that. And when I use it too much, something inside gets really hot, like I'm burning inside." He felt like that after those thugs tried assaulting Lucia. A burning hot fire inside, as if someone shoved boiling rocks into his chest.

Blazikens and Infernapes have their fire sacs located near their stomachs. They have the most humanoid form of all the fire types, maybe it's the same in him? Steven speculated. "Is it located in this region?" He pointed to where his stomach was.

Will looked confused. "But it feels like my chest is burning."

"I suppose it's the same as heartburn. It seems like whatever that sphere did to you, you've developed some fire sacs. That's what produces the flame. Going by that rationale, I'd also wager that the linings of your throat and the insides of your body are fairly fire resistant. However, I would only be guessing. Birch can tell you more. Professor? Would you?"

"Ah, yes." He sat up straight, clearing his throat. "If you did take on a fire type's attributes, then it's highly possible that your pores can exhale flame, and fire doesn't even faze your skin, does it?"

"I put my hand over a candle flame at home when no one was watching. I didn't even get burned. It just felt… warm."

"Yes, yes. This is truly amazing! I must test this." Birch stood up, left for a minute, then came back, lighter in hand. He was wearing a grin that could definitely make anyone turn 180 degrees in the other direction, and run. Evil scientist scary.

Will looked at him. "What. Are. You. Doing?"

Birch laughed. "Don't mind me, haha! It's all for the sake of science!"

"That's what I'm worried about," Will said snidely.

"For once I agree," Riven added.

"Now hold still." The jolly professor held the lighter flame up and held a section of Will's hair up to the flame. There was no characteristically dreadful odor of burnt hair. It was wholly intact. "Amazing! Even your hair is fireproof! Now tell me, do you have a stronger than average aversion to bathing?"

Riven reacquainted his forehead with the table. Gale resisted the urge to.

Will gave Birch a look of disgust. "What? Hell no! Sure, I like the water much hotter than before but I don't skip showers when I actually have a shower I can use! What the hell kind of question is that?"

"Birch, I don't think asking him questions about his hygiene are in the best interests of science at the moment," Steven reminded the professor, carefully confiscating the lighter from him before he did anything else to aggravate the boy with.

"Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away."

"A little?" Riven commented off-handedly.

The professor broke into a rueful laugh.

"Still. To think this sphere caused such a radical change in his body… It's far more important than we realized," the former champion concluded.

"What about the blue sphere?" Gale asked. "Riven said he gave it to you, right? Did you find out anything about it?"

"A thing or two. I'm glad you asked Ms. Gale," Steven smiled.

"Just call me Gale."

"Of course. Well, I found out the sphere dates back to roughly twenty thousand years ago." He eyed Riven, who seemed relatively unimpressed. "Another peculiar finding is its connection with the desert ruins near Mauville. Many of the artifacts found in them date back to almost the same exact time period. Plus or minus around 100 years or so."

"That's not exact," Riven said plainly.

Steven pulled out a phone, bringing up a picture of a stone slab and the markings on the sphere.

"I think you're missing the point," Gale corrected. Looked at the photo, then gaped. "The symbols. They're the same. But Dewford and the Desert are so far apart! That's-"

"Not possible? Wallace said the same thing. However, I've seen enough impossibilities within the past year that I'm starting to raise my standards on what's impossible or not." He flicked a quick glance at Riven, who remained perfectly neutral, that is until his previous statement clicked in the trainer's mind.

"You told Wallace?" he pounced, bristling. "Why?"

"How couldn't I? He burst into my office without telling me. I happened to have the sphere sitting out on my desk when he did. And trust me, once Wallace sees something pretty, he just has to touch it." Steven sighed heavily. "It's been driving the Devon janitors crazy every time he goes on one of his artistic charades all over the main lobby."

Birch laughed loudly. "It's true! That Wallace. Although he's a champion, he's like a Skitty with a ball of yarn when it comes to things that glimmer. All champs have their quirks I guess, right Steven?"

"He's a recluse obsessed with rocks," Riven pointed out bluntly. "Doesn't sound like a quirk to me."

Steven sighed once again.

"And you'd be the most cynical champion to ever exist if you ever do become one. And no one would probably ever challenge you because you'd glare at them until they'd run away!" Gale chided.

"Then I'd never lose," he replied sardonically. "Good idea."

Gale blew out a frustrated breath, picking up Seren to occupy herself instead. At least the fox was friendly. "Asshole…"

"If you really want results, rub your chest over his face, that'll shut him up real quick," Will snickered evilly. "He loves bo-" Lucia clamped a hand over his mouth and flicked him in the forehead.

"Shenanigans aside, is that all you were able to learn about the sphere?" Lucia asked, still holding Will's mouth shut. His skin was incredibly warm, like hugging a furnace, which was making her uncomfortable with the transfer of body heat.

"Well… it seems like the sphere lost a significant portion of its stored energy when it was activated it in the ruins. It had an effect on an Eevee, implying it is some kind of evolution stone, but it couldn't go all the way past the energy threshold required, I presume. But apart from that, which I'm sure you all must have guessed by now, nothing new. Sadly. I'm sorry I don't have more. However, I would like to study it more, now that I know what kind of effects it can induce in a person. This has been incredibly insightful." Steven peered at the clock, reading two minutes until twelve A.M. "It's pretty late, you four should go get some rest. I'm incredibly spent myself. I think I'm going to go get some sleep."

If I can, that is.

"Wait," Lucia pleaded.

"Yes?"

"Is there any kind of way Will could get rid of it?"

"I don't think I can answer that for sure, Lucia. If the sphere was consumed upon your brother's transformation, and it's similar to a pokemon's evolution… it may just mean the process is irreversible. The best he can do now is try and control it. We'll keep this a secret. Between us and only us, don't worry," Steven assured. " With all the teams running amuck in recent years, we've no idea if there could be people out there who might want to use him for the wrong reasons. But for now, it's best for you all to continue on your journey. I'll contact you if I find anything, okay?"

Lucia nodded, exchanging phone numbers. She'd be ecstatic about getting the former champion's number normally, but after hearing that Will's "change" was most likely irreversible, she didn't feel at all happy.

Steven waved good bye. "Good night, Will, Lucia, Gale, and you too, Riven. Keep me updated if anything occurs!" The silver haired man vanished from sight, followed by Birch, who excused himself with a happy laugh and a smile, but not before carrying Riven off to the side to give him some sort of advice.

He came back looking extremely confused.

"Well, we should go to the center," Lucia suggested.

"I agree, I'm exhausted," Gale yawned, placing a napping Seren into Will's arms. "And a little hungry too."

"Maybe they still have Pignite bacon!" Will beamed, drooling. "Bacon, bacon!"

Steven Stone sat in a hotel room with Birch, mind heavy with thoughts.

"Humans having typings… wow! With pokemon like abilities… this could be a scientific breakthrough for humanity!" Birch grinned. "Isn't it fascinating?"

Steven eyed him, not quite in agreement with the jolly professor. "Fascinating yes, but it worries me."

"Why is that?"

"Think about it, Birch. If what Riven said was true about blast burns, imagine what kind of destruction someone that has come into contact with the spheres can do. I'm not too worried about Will, he's a good kid, I highly doubt he'd do anything that drastic. But other people? Adults? I'm not to sure about that."

The professor's grin fell, and looked down at the table, brows furrowing in thought.

Human evolution. What a scary concept. And the fact that it was artificially created to boot- made it all the more frightening. Separating the illusions of superheroes in the media and the fiction stories that authors wrote about humans with pokemon powers, the implications of such a thing existing were disastrous.

Human history was riddled with strife; over land, politics, feuds, but most importantly, over power. Even now in Kalos, mines were being torn open by hopeful trainers lusting after the power of mega stones. The demand for pokemon that could mega evolve had driven breeders into a frenzy, quickly adding those species to their priority lists. Poaching had also increased two-fold, just to keep up with the demand, especially in Hoenn.

All for a very finite and limited resource. But if a human could evolve and take on the aspects of a pokemon… the rich and powerful would flock to it just like they had the mega stones; they were people who shouldn't be given such kind of abilities. Power changes people, and that wasn't just a saying a rational thinker came up with. It was wholly true. From the Johtoan and Kanton emperors of old, to the conquerors of the eastern regions, the world had grown from conflict and struggles over power.

"With this…" Steven crossed his arms, "the world can descend into utter chaos. If someone with an unstable mind were to come into contact with one, then become sufficiently proficient in using such abilities, how could anyone stop them? That's not even counting if they have pokemon either, which could make things even worse. If a team got their hands on one… or learned how to make several, we may just have another crisis on our hands, equal to or worse than the Magmas and Aquas. The same goes for the other regional governments. Unova, Kalos, Johto, and Kanto still have a military presence in case anything ever happens, if each of the soldiers was given one of these, a war may just emerge over who will get what."

"It could rattle the very foundation of our society," Birch concluded, surprised at how much thought Steven was putting into this. "I wouldn't put it above human nature either. Power does bring about the worst in people. In more ways than one."

Steven tapped a frustrated finger on the table. "But how? That question can't seem to get out of my head. I need to know."

"So do I," Birch shrugged, having visited this topic before. "A machine of sorts? That's the only thing that makes sense…"

"I've said this already but, for all of our technology, we've never been able to replicate a simple evolution stone, but a society over twenty millenniums ago did?" Steven ran a hand through his hair, taking in a deep breath. " I'm going to go get some air."

"Okay, I'll be heading out now then. Good night, Steven. Thanks for the tea."

"Good night." He sighed and stood up, going out to the balcony of his hotel room suite. The steady, nightly breeze drummed against his skin and ruffled his hair. Staring out at the high-rise buildings of the LaRoussian landscape, Steven caught a long, flowing figure winding in the sky, far above, a distant roar among the sound of a sleeping city. He held up a pin, a brilliant stone carved into its center, shining brightly against the dark.

"What time is it?" Will asked, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. Nez stood beside him, polishing his leaf with some help from Ilan. Seren appeared from his bag, bushy fur emerging from it, yipping loudly.

"It's nine-thirty," Lucia responded, yawning. "We woke up late."

"Except him," Will said, pointing to the sleeping form of Riven. He was out like a rock. "Someone wake him up. Lucia, wake him up."

"Why me?"

"Uh, you're the big sister?"

"I'm not doing it," she said. "Nurse Joy would scream at me if I woke him up with water, and I don't think I want to touch him."

"I don't want to touch him either," Will replied. "He punched me last time."

Both of them looked at Gale, who had just gotten out of the bathroom. She blinked. "You want me to wake him up?"

The siblings nodded, and stepped back.

Gale shook her head and went over to him, nudging him slightly. Nothing. Then she judged him harder, but was surprised when she was forcefully pulled into the bed beside him; her arm hurt from the force, but she ignored it. Laying flat on her back, startled gray eyes looked up into brown and… red? His expression was hateful and unfriendly, but softened after a few seconds. Blinking, Riven let her go, rubbing vigorously at his right eye. It was blue now. Weird.

"Sorry. Reflex," Riven said, moving off of Gale, who looked fairly startled.

"So they do like each other, ho ho ho," Will teased. "Riven did that on purpose, heh-heh."

"Shut up." Gale and Riven shot back.

The brunette got off the bed, rubbing her arm. "There, you two scared Skitty." She said to Lucia and Will. "He isn't that scary."

Will scoffed loudly. "Hey, he didn't punch you in the face. Although, since it's you, I'm pretty sure he'd rather touch your bo-" Lucia smacked him, then hauled him into the restroom.

"Go clean up. Riven, you too. Your hair is a mess." It was sticking out in all sorts of places, he looked like he had just emerged from a tornado.

He shrugged and nodded dimly, rubbing his eye again. "By the way, Gale, is that Pecha?" The question came out of the blue.

"What?"

He held a strand of hair and pointed to it.

"Oh. Yeah, why?"

"I could smell it." He paused, appearing strained to think of what to say. "You smell… nice."

She went still, startled by the highly unusual comment. Then elbowed Lucia slightly, whispering, "Is that Riven, or an imposter?"

"I'm starting to wonder that myself," Lucia whispered back, equally as stunned. She went over to Riven, grabbing his face. "He looks normal. Maybe a ghost possessed him? It's really hard to tell sometimes…"

He removed her hand from his face, scowling. "I'm not possessed by anything."

"But… you gave me a compliment. That's… I don't even know what to say to that. Thanks?" Gale said, turning pink. She poked him in the stomach."What's with the sudden compliments? Did you grow a heart? Or did it defrost?" She retracted the blinds and looked skyward to see if there were any flying Grumpigs up there. None whatsoever. She pinched herself just to make sure she wasn't in some sort of weird dream.

Riven sighed. "I'm trying to be more sociable," he explained, a blank look on his face. "And Birch said to give girls compliments. Starting with the pretty ones."

"He would," Lucia chuckled.

Gale exchanged a knowing glance with her, flushing momentarily, and held back giggles. "Well, it's a start. Why don't you give Lucia one too?" she suggested, smirking.

"Do you want me to smell her too?" He asked, as if it was nothing.

"N-no, that's okay." Lucia waved her hands, telling him no. He still went over, grabbed her hair, and sniffed it. She froze.

"You smell good too. Like Oran berries."

Lucia flushed.

Gale snickered, turning to Riven. "By the way, remind me to buy a prodding stick to wake you up next time. Your grip really hurts you know." She showed him her arm, skin red from where he had grabbed her. He winced but she shrugged it off. "It's no big deal. Now turn around, we need to change. Peek and Lucia will hydro pump you across the city."

Riven snorted, then banged on the restroom door, turning around as the girls undressed."Will, hurry the fuck up."

"I'm removing feces from my body via toilet! Let me do my business in peace!"

After breakfast, the group decided to explore LaRousse and enjoy the city, taking it easy from battles.

They stopped at the large fountain in the middle of Central Park, adorned with glass sculptures of water pokemon, the water shooting up through their crystalline mouths. Trainers sat around the fountain with their teams out. There was a lot of baby pokemon running around; mostly Poochyenas, Plusles, Minuns, and other assorted smaller creatures. Will released Seren to go play with them, which he did with gusto, running around like a furry brown comet.

Riven and Lucia released their teams too, so their pokemon could get some exercise and stretch their legs. Even Gale let Emile and Kyne out. Riven was surprised when he saw Lucia's full team, having only seen her Sceptile, Braviary, and blasted Poliwrath. A strange looking pokemon with what seemed like a wrapped up body and a black star on its forehead appeared. Then another, even stranger looking pokemon appeared, completely purple and wore what looked similar to a witch's hat. The third was a large yellow thing.

Their larger pokemon contrasted with the multitudes of more bite-sized ones. Some trainers were surprised, and gasped, mostly after seeing Marcus and the weird bug pokemon. Several flashes of light came from their phones, and murmurs followed. Riven stared at the two pokemon. "What the hell are they?"

Immediately after, something smacked him in the head. Lucia giggled a little. The strange pink headed pokemon turned its head and seemed to hmph. Riven narrowed his eyes at it, then sucked his teeth in disapproval after noticing some distinctive behavior he'd definitely seen before, from White Queen. "Oh god. It's a female with an attitude, isn't it?" He asked Lucia, still frowning. "Another White Queen. Splendid. As if one of her wasn't enough."

She covered her mouth with her hand, biting back laughs, and nodded. "That's Rain, an Accelgor" she said. "And that's Nari, my Mismagius. The big yellow and black one is Murphy, my Electivire."

"You named a bug, Rain? And Murphy? Really?" Riven gave her a flat look. "Even Will's name choices are better than… Murphy. Maximus Prime at least sounds remotely cool."

"Hey, don't criticize my name choices! Rain likes the… rain. Um, it keeps her hydrated. And Murphy likes the name too."

"Vire!" It agreed, touching Riven with one of its black tails, sending a tiny shock through him. The trainer glared at him, not even fazed by the action.

The ghost, however, seemed very reluctant to get near Riven, like she was wary. "Mis..." she whispered, floating close to Lucia. "Mag. Magius…"

Lucia stared at her pokemon strangely. "What do you mean he feels wrong?"

"Mag…"

"I guess ghosts don't like you either," Will's sister laughed. "She's warning you to keep your distance. Nari is usually a very sociable pokemon, if a little timid. She usually doesn't threaten to curse people upon first contact."

"Fantastic. I'm scary enough to scare the pokemon who seem to be made to scare people." Riven groaned, staring at the timid ghost. "I'm not going to hurt you, but I don't care if you keep your distance. Better for me. Ghosts are bad luck."

"No they're not," Lucia cut in, offended. "They're just misunderstood."

"Right," Riven remarked. "As if using things like curse and spite leave a huge window for misunderstanding…"

Suddenly, Boagrius shot in front of the group, loudly introducing himself. His cries hurt the ears of everyone in the immediate vicinity, prompting Riven to yell at him to keep it down. The Castform seemed to apologize and went back to introducing himself by way of flashy speech, hovering and circling above them.

Lucia looked stunned, as well as every other pokemon around. "That was quite an introduction speech. Does he always do that?"

"He's a drama king. Sometimes, it's worse. You should have heard him during Norman's fight. He was seriously considering wearing ear muffs because Boagrius was so loud. His Vigoroth was too stunned to move for a few minutes too. Boagrius made a battle speech, you see." He watched the gray cloud float away with Nari, who seemed a little more excitable with another floating creature around. "Must have been an epic, it lasted for about two minutes straight."

"Your pokemons' personalities don't match with yours at all," Lucia noted, watching his Combusken run around after Rika, then shift her attention to Quil. He had a smoking pile of burnt newspapers at his paws.

"Unfortunately. Baron is the one who isn't completely obnoxious. He used to be a perverted little shit that loved playing pranks, but he grew up I guess." The Gallade was currently talking to Roland, presumably about their fight. True male bonding, that.

The two girls and Riven stood there, watching their pokemon interact. It was surprising Emile let the other trainers touch his feathers. He looked a little uncomfortable, but it looked like he liked the praise. She had to laugh. Kyne just stood there stoically, like always, the ever calm one.

"So… Riven," Lucia began. "What did you show Steven?"

He gave her a sidelong glance, half-paying attention, more focused on Aine and Quil, who were now dangerously puffing fire at each other. "The truth," he said simply, shrugging.

"Define the truth."

"I came from the past, fought in a war, then god brought me here by complete accident to become a pokemon master and earn shiny metal pins by catching super powered creatures in spherical containers."

"I thought you showed him the truth."

"Okay… I can understand why that sounds unbelievable, let me try again." Riven breathed in deep. " I showed him that I grew up an orphan because my family was killed in front of my eyes so I embarked on an epic venture across land and sea while battling an evil army of murderous pyromaniacs to get to Hoenn under outrageously but nonetheless true- circumstances. Then I became an aspiring pokemon master to earn shiny metal pins by catching super powered creatures in spherical containers." He breathed out, and looked at irritated red eyes before giving her a sly smirk.

"Gale's right, you're a bonafide prickbag. I can't believe you," Lucia said, disgusted. Gale nodded, snickering.

Riven shrugged, sitting down at the rim of the fountain, next to Haona and Ilan, who both seemed content in mutual silence. He put a hand on her head, to which she peered up at him, as if saying, do you mind? He swiftly retired it from her head.

They stayed at the park for a few hours, enjoying the relaxation, letting the pokemon have fun. After returning their teams, they left to go see more of the city, walking along an open plaza. Gale, Will, and Lucia were chatting about something Riven could give less than two shits about when his holo caster buzzed.

Ignoring it, he let it ring, but it didn't stop. "What the fuck…"

The others turned around, watching him look at his caster. "What's wrong?"

"Someone keeps calling me," he replied. "As soon as it stops ringing it starts again." Pushed the call end button, muttering something about "fucking right off".

"Did you check the number?" Gale said. "It could just be a prank caller or a wrong number. That stuff happens all the time."

"Same number." It began buzzing again. "That makes it four calls. I think I'm going to pick up, it's starting to annoy me significantly."Riven pushed the answer button, holding the device up to his ear. "Hello?"

There was silence for a moment, when a distorted voice came through, deep and robotic.

"Hello, Riven. Or would you prefer the name… Gray?"

Sorry if this chapter was a little more slowpaced than others, the next one might prove to be a little more... interesting. By the way, the story has reached 50 favorites. You guys are awesome. As always, follow, favorite, and review at your own leisure. Thank you for reading.