Haona was unfocused as she prowled ahead for any threats in the darkened underground expanse of New Mauville; the entrance of which was located a few miles away from the city itself. The manmade cavern-which could be called a cavern given its rundown state- was home to electric pokemon, the most common being Magnemite and their evolutions. No humans came around here much, and the ones that did tended to regret it by way of third degree electrical burns, if they emerged at all.
The generators inside provided power due to the electrical discharges and bouts the inhabitants within produced, which fed power to the city itself at virtually no cost and for practically no maintenance or hassle.
Essentially, there was a metric ton of reasons why it was relatively pointless to venture down there. Except, given who her trainer was, it was no surprise she found herself here doing something illogical… like heading into a Magneton nest full of wires and electronics that were fully functional.
Magnemite and Magneton that dwelled near the surface attacked them repeatedly, either to defend their home or for some other unknown reasons. By themselves they were really just pushovers, but in large groups their lethality increased immensely. This lethality and accumulating death count of several unfortunate trainers and their teams were two very large reasons why the rangers had posted a sign to warn everyone not to go in.
Sure, a trainer's pokemon could be strong and do it. But dodging a single lightning bolt was hard enough. Dozens of them from multiple angles was almost impossible, she wasn't a Jolteon.
Even in retreat around the corner as lightning turned a rotting table into splintered fragments of charred wood, Haona's mind was elsewhere, rather than focused on the deadly bolts of electricity being hurled at her. Something troubled her greatly, interfering with her ability to attack. Even her mega horn waned in strength and her razor winds were sloppily and poorly aimed. That only served to make the encounters with the floating metal magnets that much more irritating.
Haona breathed, drawing attention to it.
Specifically, her mind was on her trainer's sudden reappearance. He'd been gone for three years since that letter, when Gale had released them all, happily explaining to them that he'd come back soon. The human girl had been ecstatic, enthusiastically showing them the strange little bird Riven had sent her. A Fletchling from a distant land. But that wasn't important. She and the others only thought about reuniting with their trainer, who'd been wronged by what seemed like circumstances out of his control. They held onto that hope.
The hope that they'd see him again soon.
Soon turned into weeks, then months, and finally, years. Gale's gentle smile slipped, and her mood became somber, according to Baron. The feeling was bitter, and Haona spent even more time hunting and going off on her own. It'd become a habit of hers since; going off on her own to save the others from her worries. They had their own to tend to.
The days were longer than they'd ever felt before. Hours seemed like days as she stalked the rolling hills and grasses of the plains. Every successful hunt was filled with a tiny hope that she'd return to Gale's home and her trainer would be sitting at the table to welcome her back and ruffle her fur like he always did. The gesture used to irritate her until she found missing it longingly more and more as time passed.
But eventually that hope disappeared too. Cynicism began to take root and slowly she would hear a little voice in her head whispering to her that he'd never come back. That he'd left her too. It frightened her, to be left alone again. Solitude was cherished- like her hunts and leisure walks- but that void of loneliness was always there, just out of reach, waiting for her. Gale and the others kept it at bay, but it wasn't completely gone. Not like when he was here.
Her pillar of support. Her savior. Her trainer.
While the others kept telling her that he would never do something like that, she wasn't so sure.
After all, did they really know their trainer? He hardly spoke, and Baron was unable to read his mind. He always wore the same expression, shifting it only when there was something to be concerned about, or when he talked to others. Then there was that feeling of… otherness to him. Something she couldn't describe in any other way other than to compare it to herself. Maybe it was what drew her to the man, and what put Baron on edge.
The black jewel he'd given her on the ship dangled from her neck, secured under the fur of her chest as she walked. In a sense, it kept her sane. She protected it, cherished it, and would often look at it for hours under the shade of a tree.
Now he'd returned. One day he wasn't there and the next he was, as if he'd never left. After all this time he had returned with another teammate and that strange sense of "other" stronger than before. It made her spine tingle and not in a way that made her feel comfortable.
At first, she felt like screaming at him, but despite trying so hard to find a reason to be angry with him, nothing came to her. Truthfully, there was nothing she could say. His sudden reappearance caused a flood of emotions to overwhelm her sense and reasoning. She'd never been so uncertain. She didn't know how to react. Instead, she thrust her face into his stomach, yielding to the desire to be with her human trainer again. Was this how trained pokemon felt when they were separated from their trainers? If so, why?
They were just humans. And yet, they demanded a certain respect and admiration she couldn't put her paw on.
Why did feelings have to be so hard? Being wild was relatively easy in comparison. Kill or be killed. Eat. Sleep. Survive. Simple and easy to follow. Unfortunately, now that she had a trainer for this whole time, it was impossible to go back. The thought of returning to the wild was enticing, but something inside kept hauling her back, and it wasn't the food. Everything about training and the atmosphere it created felt like a lock and key. They fit. Worries just seemed to fall away in the heat of battle, the pride of winning swelling as their trainer congratulated a job well done. Every meal shared was a celebration of victory and training sessions were met with eagerness and the drive, the burning passion to exceed expectations.
All for shiny little pieces of metal so valued to the humans. It seemed so insignificant in retrospect… but to them it was everything. And so it was everything to the pokemon as well.
While Gale used them to battle trainers with pokemon suitable for their own levels, it wasn't the same as having Riven do it. By no means did Haona consider the human girl a bad trainer, she just didn't feel like her trainer. She loved the girl and gave her respect; things just weren't the same. That's all there was to it.
Now… maybe all she had to do was adjust to his presence now. Maybe it really was that simple. As simple as an attack?
Approaching quickly, a group of Magneton came into view, sparking in the darkness.
A pale green sickle extended outward from her horn, slicing into the metal hide of one as she fluidly weaved between several thunderbolts, felling it in one blow despite the type difference. She looked down at it, amazed at how easy it lost consciousness, for all the work involved to get to that one result.
Red eyes peered into the dark, seeing another swarm appear. Haona backed off and braced as a Blaziken leapt from behind her, followed by the heat of erupting flames. She shook her head, remembering what Riven had told her once in Forina. It hardly made sense then, but now she understood.
Nothing is ever simple, there's always something more, lying under the surface.
Aine jumped out from behind Haona, kicking and punching blasts of searing fire down the narrow corridor. The flames were larger and more intense than usual, responding to her emotions as she did. Every kick vented her frustrations and every punch released pent up stress, converting those feelings into heat and light that flowed down the corridors of the subterranean facility, scorching and consuming anything even remotely flammable. Any unlucky Magneton and Magnemite fell easily to the attacks, the steel coating their bodies beginning to melt and loose its shape, glowing red from the heat.
Her strength had grown twofold in short time, as a result of day long training sessions with Baron. At first glance, it only seemed like they trained to keep top form and keep to their fighting nature. Not wrong by any means, but that wasn't the primary reason.
Training kept both Baron and her occupied on something else, allowing them to temporarily shove their preoccupations and grievances aside. During those sessions, only the fight mattered; the impacts of skin and muscle on each other, and the anticipation of the opponent's next move. As with all things done in repetition, however, that seemed to falter eventually too.
Riven had always trained with them, not explicitly involved because he was a fragile human prone to breaking like a twig, but often as a guiding voice. Sending them on runs, drills, hand to hand combat and tactics. He also made them practice their basics over and over to the point of frustration, instructing them that one could learn all the fancy moves in the world, but if no one knew their basics, they'd be lost.
Yeah, a guide.
That's what her trainer appeared to be to her. A beacon at the end of the tunnel, leading her towards the light—towards strength, happiness, and purpose. That's what being under a trainer's lead was all about.
She pushed herself so hard in order to improve for her trainer and for herself. As a Torchic, she'd been the smallest, and often the one most overlooked in Birch's lab. She tried to prove herself constantly, spending hours trying to control her inner flame, constantly berated by the Mudkip next to her tank. Veer was her voice of support, and she thanked him for that.
But she wanted a trainer. One she hoped could lead her to the finals of those fierce battles Birch had always played on the monitors overhead in the lab. When the day finally came, when she saw her trainer- an unfriendly and rather rough looking male with unkempt black hair and unfriendly eyes- she felt a rise of pride swell within her as their eyes locked and with an uneasy finger, chose her.
The following struggle with the Scyther helped to solidify that. And after her first gym battle… the feeling was astounding, liberating even. Not once did he doubt her ability, only putting her through more rigorous training. Her power had grown steadily, and her flames hotter still. This was a human's guidance, allowing pokemon to reach potentials few in the wild could possibly match.
As she felt her body getting ready to evolve into the form her mother had, Riven had left because of complicated human issues. She never understood them, and hardly cared for them, but Gale told them all that it wasn't simple at all, and that he did it to protect them.
She got that. So she trained harder, both to keep her mind off his absence, and to make sure she would be able to show him how strong she'd gotten when he returned. Eagerly waiting for that day, Aine held back her evolution, saving it for the inevitable return.
Evolution got in the way, though. The need to evolve came so often that she couldn't spar for more than an hour before the surging energy moved through her body, working to shift her organs, muscles, and tissues. Her inner fire flared like a star, and every time it was held back, it felt like she'd snuffed out a warm campfire. The thought was saddening, but it wasn't time yet, she used to think.
When she couldn't take the sheer annoyance it caused anymore, she let the evolution run its course. She'd have waited ten more years for her trainer, but her patience was running a little thin. Her legs were far stronger, and her body was more powerful than ever. Kicks and punches could sear through fully grown trees and smash concrete, her feet packing enough force to scale buildings in a meager jump.
Having this power was amazing, but it also made her strangely pensive.
The day she evolved she looked towards the orange light of the horizon, wondering where her trainer was. And if he'd be happy that she'd chosen to evolve without him, or angry that she didn't wait.
When he came back, she was ecstatic, like Gale. She showed off her new form to him, excitement to go back on the journey with him and the others enveloping her like the summer sun. That lowly flame of expectation sparked to life once again. Not once did she lose hope.
He was happy about it too, praising her evolution. But there was something else to it in his eyes, melancholy and guilt. In a way, that felt worse than her trainer being angry about her evolution. She didn't want to see him sad. Baron always said that Riven was hardly ever happy, and beneath that exterior was a lot of pain. They never asked about it, but it was there. And yet still he pushed on for them. Doing so in return was their duty as pokemon, as his team.
This is my place. This is where I belong.
Reality came to as the sound of teleports could be heard. A green figure appeared in blurred streaks of motion between the dying flames while a warm glow of sunlight flowed into her feathered mane behind her. Psychic energy tore through the air into the horde of Magneton, assaulting them with spiraling pink blades sharper than steel itself. Balls of fire assisted, spreading splashing flames onto the Magneton like liquid fire.
Blue eyes stared at the sight of the flickering embers in front of her as she held out a clawed hand, the faint glow of flames rising from within them.
I'm glad… But why didn't you come sooner?
Baron and Boagrius jumped into the fray, driving back the horde where Aine and Haona had fallen behind, in case there were any threats behind them. The dark and fire types seemed distracted by something, which in turn butted into Baron's focus.
He grit his teeth as he psychokinetically flung a piece of concrete in front of a thunder, causing it to explode in a shower of dust and debris. A fire typed weather ball flew past his head, smashing right across the Magneton's face, melting some of the steel off its face.
Baron thanked the obnoxious Castform as he bellowed down the corridor, his booming voice echoing across the walls as he rained more weather balls in his sun form. Charging up, he spat another fireball into the dispersing crowd of electric types and a large explosion of fire rocked the foundation of the walls.
The wild pokemon flew away in a frenzy, finally deciding it wasn't worth it.
Scanning for any leftover threats, Baron calmed his heart rate, and breathed.
Aine and Haona's conflicted states burrowed under his skin like a splinter, and he found himself thinking about the exact thing. One of the drawbacks of being a psychic, he guessed. Boagrius didn't appear to care, he was too busy taunting the Magneton to give a fifth of a damn. As usual. The other two were far less carefree.
They're thinking about Riven's return huh?
He managed to usher out a weary sigh.
Oh sure, he'd thought about it plenty himself. But he'd grown the fastest out of all of them, matured the fastest. And being psychic, well, that made him naturally more connected with humans. He'd spoken to Gale numerous times about the intricacies of human interaction and laws, learning them, studying them, mostly to grasp how deep in the metaphorical swamp his trainer had fallen.
Which was pretty damn deep, from what the human girl recalled.
His teammates didn't really understand that as well. Human laws were unimportant to them, and there was nothing wrong with that. Most trained pokemon just didn't have to deal with things like this. Death of a team member or of a trainer wasn't unheard of, and devastated the ones involved, but what about this?
This thing in the middle that was neither loss nor abandonment?
In a way it was worse, because there was no air of finality. What ifs and maybes plagued his thoughts and dreams, causing him to hesitate when he should have stepped sound. Worried he was, but twirling his green thumbs all day wasn't going to necessarily bring Riven back any faster, or magically help them grow stronger.
Boagrius seemed to agree, and they acted as the peptalkers to the others, encouraging them to stay lively and avoid slacking, because that's what Riven would want. He tried to lead, he really did.
Being a leader was tough though. Individuals had different emotions and thoughts, and being psychic, he was aware of all of them. They were also impossible to satisfy. At least all of them put together. One problem was fixed and others arose, such was the complicated nature of both people and pokemon. Baron was a fighter, a battler. Not a trainer. Trying to keep everyone together was harder than he'd ever imagined and he praised Gale for keeping it together, no matter how guilty the girl felt about everything. There were no tears of sadness from her either, or from stress, even if her back was as stiff as an oak tree. She was resilient, however tired. She'd even taken up a team of her own after a while.
Because of that, he'd grown slightly resentful of his trainer for putting her in that position, and similarly—himself.
The feeling had all but vanished when Riven came back, but some of it was still there. Not for him-he was relieved, really- but for Gale. The girl had been given an incredible burden for a non-trainer, as well as putting up with their antics for all this time. She'd been there when he hadn't.
He just hoped his trainer would see that, that's all.
Riven and Gale walked slowly through the underground facility, careful not to disturb some of the damaged walls and objects strewn about. Exposed wires cracked and sparked on the floor, some even submerged in a puddle of murky water. When the Mauville officials and rangers warned people not to come here, they meant it.
One of Efrain's blades hovered in the air, its twin in Riven's right hand in case they got blindsided by any pokemon and didn't have a chance to defend themselves. Evie trotted beside them as well, though it was doubtful she'd enjoy biting into metal.
Ahead, the sounds of battle could be heard as Riven's team secured the way.
Squinting, Riven could see crimson eyes peer back at him briefly, before turning away quickly and returning to the fight. He pursed his lips at his Absol's behavior, and turned to Gale, who attached a flashlight on her pokebelt to see in the dark. Naturally, he didn't need it, but the light was welcome. At least for confirming that those red eyes had belonged to Haona and not some sort of malicious pokemon lurking about.
"Is Haona acting strange?" Riven asked suddenly.
"Why do you ask that?" Gale replied, stepping over a wire with a hop.
"She's been hesitant to look at me since I released her. Aine doesn't seem as focused either," Riven noted. "I know when they're worried about something. Especially Aine. She's hardly ever distracted."
Gale shuffled her feet, ignoring the question to continue walking.
You too, huh. Riven grimaced and stopped, the echoing of his footsteps falling silent. Gale turned around and gave him a questioning look, to which he just shook his head and sighed. "I know you said you're fine, but you're not yourself either. And neither are they. You've been trying to cheer me up, and I appreciate that, but I'm not blind nor sensitive."
She regarded that with more than a little discomfort, but conceded. Agreeing somberly, Gale crossed her arms and exhaled slowly. "Riven… I meant what I said, it's just-people, even pokemon, can't just forget three years of no contact. I know I can't. I've been trying to hide it but-"
The young man accepted that silently, raising a finger to get her to stop. "Can you call out to Baron? IF this is how you feel about this, then I don't doubt they feel the same way."
Slightly surprised, Gale did as requested, reaching for that strange connection that psychics established with others, oddly there and not there. The connection was more one-sided than anything, and she just assumed he could hear her. Her assumption was correct when Baron responded moments later, inquiring what the situation was.
Gale didn't speak. She let her emotions speak instead. The psychic reciprocated with the sound of an odd chime in her mind and relayed the message to the others. Within a few minutes, Riven's team returned together through the darkness, fur and feathers singed from the electricity.
They came into view of Gale's flashlight, two feet away from the human trainers.
Baron's locked with Riven's, and the psychic gave him a signal as his horn flashed a dull pink.
His team faced him, partly in confusion and uneasiness. Gale backed away to give them some space, feeling the tension from there.
Riven collected his thoughts and steeled his nerves, not quite knowing where to even start, or how to put anything into words. "Listen to me," he began, tone shaky. "I know… I know it's difficult to accept me being back. And… I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't here for so long." He glanced toward the side, at Gale. "I mean that to everyone. I know you were all just trying to make me feel better about it but… it's bothering you and I get it. Tell me the truth, scream at me, throw fire at me, but don't hold it in. I can take it."
He stood his ground, waiting.
At first there was silence, but then, his Absol slowly stepped up. Riven knelt down to face her. Crimson eyes expressed a longing and a deep loneliness as they looked up at him, sadness coloring her voice as she spoke, "thought… I thought you left us. I almost gave up. I thought you'd never come back… I didn't know what to do. I just wanted you back again, to save me from that lonely space."
Riven swallowed, holding it in as Aine stepped forward this time.
She spoke with more conviction, but her tone was of confusion, of something she couldn't comprehend. "Why?" She asked. "Why didn't you come sooner? I thought you'd get mad at me for evolving… and after a while, I started to think that you left us for not being good enough. So we trained so hard. And I evolved anyway. I'm sorry you didn't get to see me evolve… I-"
I just wanted to make you proud.
Riven didn't have to hear Aine say it to understood what she meant, her expression said it all. A proud and fierce Blaziken that once was a lovable and energetic little Torchic looking so miserable felt like someone had lashed at his soul with whips of ice, each word bringing more pain than the last. Still, he waited.
Boagrius floated over, reverting back to his normal, grey form. "Trainer human. Baron is tired, so I will speak for him," he said, tone uncharacteristically soft. "Whilst you were gone, we tried to lead everyone else back into shape. But… it was difficult. We tried, we really did. If you had the chance, why didn't you say something, even if it was just to ease our nerves?"
"I didn't know how," Riven admitted soberly. "To be honest, I've never been a leader in my life. All I did was follow orders and go from task to task. In the beginning, when I started training, when I met all of you- that's all it was. Something to do. I didn't think about all of you as something more, just a means to an end, I guess. But after that letter I wrote in Kalos, and the people I got mixed up with, I couldn't stop thinking about how you were all doing."
He paused, a bitter smile on his face.
"I didn't know how I could face all of you again. A selfish part of me thought it'd be best to just avoid it, to abandon the lifestyle completely. But…" He looked back at Gale. "I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried. I wasn't content there. I was miserable, and I knew exactly why. My comrades weren't there, the ones I do care about. There were just enemies, and that's no way to live. It took me a long time to get the courage to come back, and even then, I didn't know if you'd ever forgive me. And for that I'm sorry. That I was an irresponsible asshole."
The male trainer hung his head low, staring down at the floor. There was a long, stretched out silence.
Until a firm hand gripped his shoulder. Baron stood next to him, smiling. "And I'm the worrywart? It's because of you that we got this strong. It's because of you that I'm a Gallade now, that I have this power. Trainers bring us together, remember? Otherwise we'd still be in the wild fighting to survive, thinking that's all that matters in the world. Aine would still be stuck in that lab, watching battles she'd wish she could be in. You gave us something more to look forward to, even if you get into the craziest situations. We wouldn't ever blame you, we'd follow you anywhere."
He faced the others, the horn in his chest glowing vividly, confirming the rising positivity in the others.
"That's what matters, right?"
Haona, Aine, and Boagrius's faces lifted, revealing warm grins as the words hit home. Even Gale smiled as she witnessed the bond between trainer and pokemon.
"Oh and leading everyone else is a pain in my ass. I'd rather have someone else do it for me," Baron added wryly.
"Heh. You little shit," Riven chuckled heartily. Reinvigorated, he stood up and nodded at Baron, who stepped back.
The psychic's expression then turned mischievous before saying, "and… you still need to get punished for being so irresponsible."
"Oh really? Coming from the one who left an egg while I was gone? Lecherous bastard."
The psychic sputtered stupidly.
"Although yeah, I guess that's fair," Riven smirked. "Well, I don't usually agree to this, but you have the permission to jump me. Just this once though." His attention turned to his Absol, who looked more than eager to take him up on the offer. "I presume you want the first shot, White Queen?"
"Promise you won't leave again," she said, returning to her usual self. "Or else."
"I promise. Come at me."
Two seconds later and he was already on the floor with the rest of his team piled on top of him.
Gale giggled as she watched Riven complain and struggle like a Magikarp out of water against their weight, before finally picking himself into a crouch, surrounded by his pokemon. The trainer dog pile, classic male trainer move.
Ruffling Haona's head fur, Riven let out a huge sigh of relief. "Damn, that was hard for me. Feelings are hard to deal with, you know? It's not manly," he said, pointing at the human girl off towards the wall.
Gale snorted something under her breath.
"Still, I'm not leaving again," Riven said, with a tone of finality. "Not now, not ever. I mean that. No one is going to take you away from me, not a group of scumbags, mercenaries, or trainers. I'll tear them apart limb by limb if they try. I don't care if I have to fight the world to do it either."
In the corner of his eye, he saw Gale flinch. Ignoring it for now, he stood up. "Now that this is done with though, you all need to go clear the way again. I can hear the Magneton sparking from here. Feeling time is over! Get back to work!"
His pokemon snorted and went back up ahead in the darkness, their moods much livelier than before. Gale pushed off from the wall she was reclining on, heading back over to Riven's left.
"So, now that we're alone, would you kindly inform me of what you wanted to talk about that couldn't be said in front of them?" He said sharply, glancing to the side.
"Was it that noticeable?" She asked, disappointed.
"Tsk, you flinched. I've been dealing with snakes and scoundrels for a few years now, you're going to have to try a lot better than that to get past me." She grumbled as he scoffed. "Let's keep walking, we don't want to get left behind. Tell me on the way."
Gale gripped the bridge of her nose, falling into synchronous stride with him. "I don't want to talk about it here," she said.
I hope to hell this isn't what I think it is, he thought, not quite trying to roll his eyes."Is it sensitive, by any chance?"
She gave him an incredulous look, but swallowed whatever she was about to say. Straightening out, Gale waved a hand mildly. "Not in the way you're thinking."
"What way am I thinking?"
Her glare was flatter than a two dimensional line. "I'm not going to answer that. We'll talk somewhere that isn't going to get us killed at a moment's notice."
"Understandable," Riven shrugged.
"What do you expect to find here, anyway?"
"This place used to be a research facility for 'power' right? Well, I assume they must have left some files in the deeper levels. It was a while ago so I assume they still used paper copies. Otherwise I wouldn't be here investigating."
"You know Wattson shut this place down because it was threatening wild pokemons' natural habitat, right?"
"Was that in the reports?"
"Yes," Gale confirmed.
"Psh," Riven sneered. "I assume you didn't hear anything about an incident in Kalos three years ago, shortly after you got that letter?"
Gale thought about it, glancing upwards. "There was a report that there'd been some kind of demolition gone awry and part of Lumiose got damaged in the explosion but that was it. Why?"
"Heh, reports," Riven sneered again. "They only tell you innocuous things. Never the real good stuff like oh, shit-went-down-ten-degrees-of-completely-fucked and then some."
"Did something happen over there?"
Riven glanced at her, face blank.
"How bad?"
"Pretty bad. Funny part was, the guys behind it were those assholes that caused everything at the Dragon Festival. And they made off with an artifact that has to do with the sphere I found. While destroying most of Centrico. They took advantage of a trainer that just lost his pokemon. Brought a mega evolved Tyranitar into city limits and blew everything to hell. The Elite four had to be called in to quell it."
"And we didn't hear about it?!" Gale stammered.
"Told you, the reports are just there not to cause any panic, or to save face and avoid most of it. Wouldn't want it to get out that trainers are responsible for these things, then the Sinnoh paranoia comes back full force. Which, as you know, would be awfully shitty for everyone."
"Is that what you're here about then? The spheres and all? You think they found one here?"
"Not exactly," he corrected. "How do I put this? It's possible mega evolution and what happened to Will may be linked somehow, in a deeper more fundamental way."
"I'd sit down if there wasn't exposed wires everywhere," Gale mentioned blankly. "Assuming it is true, how did you find out?"
Riven scratched his cheek. "Ever hear of the Tower of Mastery?"
"It's that famous tower in Kalos where the first mega evolution was found?" Gale recalled, pointing a finger in the air. "Am I right?"
"Yeah. Well, there was a room underground there that had the same markings and glyphs that I saw when I first touched the azure sphere. Figured the sphere could do something and when used on the door… let's just say these people twenty thousand years ago were up to some fairly frightening things."
Continuing to walk through the darkened passage, Gale swallowed. "Like?"
"Apparently whatever they were doing turned people into giant keystones. Failed experimentation, probably. Not natural ones either. They give off huge amounts of energy, even causing one of the pokemon present to evolve without its trainer."
"They were trying to use mega evolution as a way to evolve humans?" Gale gasped, slightly horrified. "And it backfired."
"Must have been an early test and such. Will is living proof that they succeeded."
Which ultimately was the problem and what concerned him the most. They had succeeded, and went through all the trouble of making them into keys in remote locations so no one could access them. He'd only gotten to the azure sphere from a cave in presumably opening a way into the deeper portions of Granite Cave. Still, why weren't there more super powered human pokemon hybrids running around? Apart from himself, which also happened to be a completely different matter he couldn't explain, much less tell Gale.
"I just wonder what the hell happened to them." Riven continued. Or to me. "They were stretched across the globe and even with all these archaeological findings, we still have no idea how they vanished. The only clue I have is that Claydol played a role and since then I've been going around looking for answers, investigating things relating to mega evolution. Unfortunately there isn't much to go on as it is. I'm also not an official archaeologist, so I've had to sneak or bullshit my way through. Not fun."
"There has been an emergence of mega stones around here lately," Gale noted. "Coincidence?"
"Doubt it. Mega evolution wasn't made known to the public trainer base until a few years ago, I'm not surprised it took this long, really. You need to either be an elite trainer, be under the tutelage of a professor, be a gym leader, or be one powerful criminal to get a hold of one. They don't issue them out like candy."
"That's true. Wait." She held him back, glaring fiercely at him. "Is that why you came back now? Because of this? No other reason?"
Seeing how she'd interpret it that way, Riven shook his head slowly. "I've known there were rumors of mega evolution here in Kalos. Since I saw a mega Blaziken at the tower, I never doubted it'd have a presence in Hoenn. What I said to my team was true. I'm not here just for interests, Gale. If I'm here, might as well though, right?"
"Argh. Efficiency," she said, rolling her eyes. A moment's pause later, and her tone changed oddly higher in pitch. "Riven."
He stiffened, recognizing that voice instantly. "You want something, don't you?"
She frowned. "I want you to be honest with me when we talk later, okay? It's serious. If you can promise your pokemon something, can you do the same for me?"
Riven straightened, then nodded. "I owe you a lot. Of course. Only one issue though."
"Hmm?"
"You don't want to go to another bar, right?"
"After that jackass? Definite no," she assured, picking up her pace.
Riven fought an overwhelming impulse to praise god and possibly the sun, then followed after her.
"There's a coffee shop near the pokemon center in Mauville," she mentioned, turning around and backpedaling. "They have some really good milkshakes if you're interested." A grin broke out on the girl's face, letting the sweet persuasion of sugar work its magic on a certain sweet-toothed individual.
Riven felt like objecting, but conceded. "How good?"
"Really good."
"Alright, but I'm going to let you know I take my sugary drinks very seriously," he warned sternly, the subject of the conversation making it more ridiculous than severe.
Gale held in her laugh with a fist, muffled giggles being the only thing that could be heard. "Kalos turned you into a foodie!"
"I deny this completely."
"It's true! Haha!"
Turning a little red, Riven sighed and urged them to continue onwards, prompting another laugh from the girl.
They came to a large chasm in the middle of the floor, stretching down for several floors into a dark pit below. Although New Mauville's upper floors remained in generally functional condition, the area around this location was far worse off, with charred impacts of lightning bolts being evident along the walls, as well as blasted debris scattered around. The large hole was abnormal though. The size and dimensions of it suggested it wasn't a regular cave in, but an explosion of sorts.
Now it made sense why most trainers didn't bother to go any deeper. Gale's flying types could cross, but flying in such a confined space with birds extremely susceptible to electric attacks was equivalent to being sitting Psyducks. Or target practice for the Magneton. If they even got touched by a paralyze wave, that meant death for both pokemon and rider. Hence, the lack of skeletons and the presence of several Ghastly and Haunter roaming the area.
Standing at the edge of the pit, Riven leaned forward and wrinkled his nose. If he had an escape rope, he could try to get Baron down there and then have Aine fling the rope so he could tie it to a structural support. Zipline worked, but that was even slower than flying, mainly because they didn't have anything to zipline with.
Efrain's shadow sneak was out of the question too, since neither of them could really see what was down there and appearing unprepared was a rather stupid thing to do. That only left one option.
"We're going to have to fly down there, aren't we?" Gale guessed correctly, groaning. "That's a death trap waiting to happen."
"Agreed, but there aren't any alternatives."
"You don't know that. Baron could teleport us?" She suggested.
"He can't teleport me, remember? You'd have to send Emile up for me and that'd defeat the purpose of teleporting. Efrain can't shadow sneak down there. Doesn't change the fact that it's going to suck going down there no matter what way we take. If the Magneton come back while we're flying... it could be bad."
"Or instead of your insane, death defying plans, Baron could teleport me down there and I can signal you with my flashlight so you know where we are. Then Aine can grab you like a princess and use the wall to angle her jump down here. Easy, and no one has to run the risk of dying." Gale raised an eyebrow as Riven tried to object to that. "Blazikens can jump story high buildings. Her legs can handle it."
"But-"
"I've already seen you scream your lungs out when we met, getting carried by her isn't going to make any difference," Gale mused.
Riven grunted in obvious discomfort. "Fine, I don't like it, but… sure."
Returning Haona, Boagrius, and Evie, they carried out the plan smoothly. Baron took a couple of seconds to teleport down there with Gale in tow, as Riven and Aine waited at the top for the signal. When a light shone at the bottom, Aine picked her trainer up and launched herself towards the wall, kicking off of it with enough force to crack the concrete. She aimed her rebound at the light, flipping in midair to direct herself feet first.
When her clawed feet hit the ground, a loud resounding smash could be heard as she made contact, echoing like a bomb further inward. She landed with so much force the ground beneath her was cracked and broken.
Aine brushed her feet off, the jump being rather easy for her fully evolved form. It was Riven that was broody as she put him down gently. He muttered a mix of curse words and things about feeling stripped of something. Probably his dignity.
Gale smiled cheerily at him. "Was that hard?"
"Quiet," he warned, waving a hand as Baron tensed in turn. Lowering into a crouch to reduce body image, he gestured Gale to turn off the light. It shut off with a click, leaving the trainers and their pokemon rooted in place, not daring to even breathe.
In the darkness ahead, red eyes glowed.
Electricity sparkled in a wave at the soles of their feet, rippling like water around them, bathing the area in a charged electromagnetic field. Electric terrain, capable of increasing the lethality and power of electric type moves by a significant margin, provided the user was standing on the ground. Normally, in an open area, that meant a certain radius along the floor. But down here… everything was a surface. The charges spread along the four corners of the corridors and on uneven surfaces, making everything a potential boost.
Then light flooded their retinas as a line of snarling yellow and blue dog pokemon lit up in a storm of sparks, the electricity from the other pokemon being absorbed and redistributed among each member.
Riven and Gale's stomaches relocated somewhere near the ground as they realized what exactly they were doing.
"Manectric," Gale whispered, eyes wide. "They're in a… formation? Wild pokemon can do that?"
"They've been fighting off invaders for years, probably. In history, what happens to places that get attacked frequently? What do the inhabitants do?"
"They get really good at fighting back."
Riven nodded, pulling Efrain slowly out of his sheathes. "Electric terrain and lightningrod. Their attacks won't just hurt, they'll fry us if not outright murder us."
"Just like what Seab did at the festival, except against us. And we're not dragons..." Gale reminded, reaching for Evie's pokeball while taking Haona and Boagrius' own from Riven's belt. "As soon as we release our pokemon they'll attack won't they?"
"Seems they're used to it," Riven grunted. "We have to break through."
"And then what?"
"Run. Or incapacitate them all. I'm not too confident we can outrun Manectric thought. We might have to fight them down, most likely. At least if they all have lightningrod, none of them have static."
"Baron and Aine can hit them without getting paralyzed," Gale concluded, positioning herself as well. "Not exactly a good trade off for death from one shock."
"Yeah, but it's all we got. Ready?"
With a grunt from the girl, they charged forward, pokeballs and lightning flaring.
Haona jumped out of her ball, analyzing the situation in mere moments before a frigid beam shot out from her mouth, aiming its direction around the corridor. As the ice beam hit the walls, ice began to form and protrude inwards, creating a makeshift wall of ice, which she then reinforced further.
Lightning bolts impacted the wall, with chunks and shards of ice breaking loose with each hit. Gale and Riven released all the pokemon they could, readying themselves. Gale didn't even question it when she saw Efrain's blades in his hands, or that he could even use swords. Who knew what skills he picked up in Kalos?
To Riven's surprise, Gale took control of his pokemon instead. "Haona, good job," she praised. "That'll hold them for a while. Aine, work with her to do flaring wind. Baron, there's a lot of ice that's going to be shook loose soon. Use the debris to your advantage! Bo, get some sunlight in here, that'll help us see better. And Evie, if they come close make sure to fight them back."
"Don't forget to swords dance beforehand," Riven added, going through the movements himself with Efrain. He glanced towards Gale, pleasantly surprised. "Good instructions. I'm impressed."
She scoffed. "You're easily impressed."
"And you're getting fairly cocky there. Trainer attitude is getting to you I see," he chuckled. "Let's see how well you do almost getting killed. It's pretty fun."
"Says you," she grinned, strangely giddy.
"Heh. Here they come."
A powerful blast of electricity blew open a gaping hole in the ice wall, sending spears of dangerously pointed icicles flying their way. The frozen spears stopped in the middle of their trajectory, hoisted up by psychokinetic force, turning and facing in the other direction. Baron's eyes were blue with focus, reverting to their natural crimson as he thrust his hand forward, lancing the suspended icicles back.
A wave of howling cries came from the injured Manectrics, and a synchronized onslaught of arcing thunderbolts raced towards them. At the same time, warm light emerged from a small ball of light at the top of the corridor, acting as a makeshift sun underground.
Aine felt the sunny day feed into her flames and fill her with power as her internal temperature rose, converting that flare into powerful, spinning kicks of fire—mixing with a razor wind from the Absol beside her. The fiery wind blades collided with the electricity, exploding violently in a burst of light and heat. Spare bits of debris and wood incinerated on contact, with the force of the shockwave sending both parties backwards.
"Quick, break their formation!" Riven ordered, flipping a blade in reverse and hurling it like a javelin. A clanging sound could be heard as it hit the wall to the left of the Manectric pack. "Aine. Baron. Get close and personal, Manectric are special attackers, they're not durable. Hit them hard, hit them fast!"
The two fighters nodded, their muscles poised and ready. Aine took off like a rocket, fire trailing behind her in lines where she passed. Baron was gone in an instant, teleporting in front of one of the dogs and aiming a fist into its jaw. Soon enough, their phalanx was broken with flames and psychic blades, devolving into a mad struggle of attacks as they battled. Haona played support, keeping the Manectric off Aine or Baron with razor winds and long ranged ice beams.
Then the electric pokemon did something unexpected. Instead of attacking the Gallade or the Blaziken, three charged forth, their bodies wreathed in electricity—a volt tackle. Aimed directly at the trainers.
"W-what?" Gale stammered, rolling out of the way as one careened at her. Riven followed suit, weaving through the other two.
Riven tsked loudly, before smiling viciously. "Ho, ho, ho. Smart too. They must just be aberrants." Placing both hands on Efrain's hilt, he moved closer to Gale, seeing as how she was unarmed. Evie snarled back at the attackers, frost clinging to her fangs as she did.
"Aberrants?"
"Yeah, wild pokemon with above average intelligence and a level far above the norm. Also incredibly aggressive," he stated. "Usually found in the deep wild."
"We're technically in the deep wild here," Gale pointed out, seeing the contradiction.
"Hah. Yeah."
The Manectric trio changed up their strategy, with two charging forward and one staying behind, hurling lightning bolts.
Evie crashed into one as it tried aiming for Gale, rolling into a nearby wall, tearing and scratching at its hide with fang and claw.
The second came at Riven, who fell into stance once again and waited. Purple shadows condensed around Efrain, forming a jagged aura of shadowy energy around the blade as the attack took hold. Riven swung down and wasn't surprised as the Manectric tapped the floor for a brief moment and darted to the side, impossibly fast for its species.
Of course that wouldn't work, Riven scolded himself mentally. Aberrants aren't stupid.
It charged once more, biting with electrified fangs. Riven lifted the blade up, holding the dog back as it pounced him down.
Efrain's yellow eye opened up, glaring into the Manectric's own.
You really should stop, he warned, disembodied voice deep and menacing. Your little sparks tickle.
The pokemon's eyes widened as Riven let go of Efrain, the ghost beginning to move on its own accord. He began to spin rapidly at the dog, who figured it was probably not a good idea to try and fight that. Choosing to run, it coated itself in electricity, hopping back with its teammate.
Right next to a shadow casted by the sunny day overhead.
Efrain disappeared into a formless shadow, appearing underneath the Manectric as its own shadow began to shift and move irregularly.
All your speed won't help you now, Riven thought viciously, as Efrain's form emerged upwards like a spinning saw. Gyro ball powers up the slower the user is compared to their opponent. You might be fast, but tactics win the battle.
The Manectric playing support in the back recoiled away from Efrain, horrified as the ghost sliced its packmate into pieces from below, spraying blood and other body parts in different directions.
Crimson blades stained with dripping blood, Efrain cackled demonically. Gale felt a shiver as she heard the ghost cackle in delight, savoring the kill. Riven appeared equally as thrilled, in a gruesome, terrifying way. Although, Evie wasn't too different.
The Mightyena had managed to rip its opponent's throat out with icy fangs after covering the Manectric in frostbitten wounds in its extremities, taking painful shocks along her body. Evie trotted over to Gale, limping but still strong. The skin on the affected regions was blistered and burnt, not life threatening given the power of the attacks, but second degree at most.
If a lowly spark attack could inflict second degree electrical burns, what could a thunder do?
She gasped when the last wild pokemon took advantage of the situation and headed directly at Riven, who didn't have a weapon anymore. There was no shadow near him to allow Efrain to get close enough either. The male trainer seemed to be less worried about dying, hesitating instead. He clenched his fists, bringing up his hands to shield his torso.
But the attack never hit him. Haona crashed sideways into the Aberrant Manectric, knocking it awry. The Absol fiercely pounced and turned it on its back, clawed feet pressuring down on the electric types ribcage. Dominating over it, the dark type made a sound that was a mix of a hiss and a growl, drawing in dark wisps of energy from the surroundings.
The dark pulse formed within a second, low powered but with lethal precision. It came out like a small beam of dark red energy, blasting a hole several inches wide through the Manectric's head and out the other side, staining the floor red. The Manectric quickly ceased its movements.
Gale swallowed, the sight surreal almost. Three years she'd been in the safety of the ranger cleared routes and gyms, in the breezy plains of Lavaridge. Away from the deadly world that was the wild.
But Riven hadn't. He'd spent the last three in the same wild, only the part of it that was human society, where one wrong move meant death. And he thrived. His pokemon resonated with that instantly, the practiced, controlled movements they often displayed turning into brutal bouts of strength and ferocity she'd only heard of between trainers and criminals.
A fight to the death.
She wasn't naïve. After all, she hunted too. She respected life. And when your own should be respected as well. She didn't like it, but she stomached it.
Ahead, Baron and Aine continued to fight against the remaining pack; red, orange, green, and white weaving amongst yellow flashes of electricity. They were strong, beating back the pokemon, but were beginning to tire.
Riven picked himself up, flicking the blood off Efrain with a motion. "Haona, thanks for the save. Help Baron and Aine." The Absol understood, taking off. "Gale, stay here. I'll have Boagrius weather ball support here. Feel free to command him as you like. You know their moveset better than I do right now."
Accepting, Gale nodded. "What are you going to do?"
"Help," he answered curtly.
About to ask how, she saw him vanish in a flash of darkness, leaving behind an after image in place. He appeared in the midst of the fray, right where the twin sword had been embedded.
"Oh, that's how."
Riven fought with his pokemon, dual blades in hand. With three of his team members, aid from Gale and Boagrius in the form of long range attacks, and added shadow sneak shenanigans, the pack had either been rendered unconscious, nearly dead, or deader than dead. Mostly the last one, cut to ribbons or burned being the most common.
Baron and Aine panted in exhaustion as they calmed down, covered in blood and electrical burns. Riven was slightly less out of breath, along with Haona, who'd joined the fight later. Gale caught up to them, opening her bag to reveal several potions inside. They wouldn't entirely suffice, but it'd help the wounds.
Applying the medicine to his pokemon, Riven exhaled deeply, his heart thrumming in his chest. A laugh escaped him, the same feeling as when he fought the Pangoro coming to him, albeit he did have to work substantially more for that particular kill. Granted, he did have magical pokemon swords and his team to smooth things over, as well as another trainer too.
Made things much easier. He wasn't near dead this time either. Miracle in itself.
"That was… gruesome," Gale mentioned, observing the aftermath with a strained expression.
"It's the wild," Riven shrugged, taking a long swig of water from a bottle in his bag. "I expected some wild pokemon but not Aberrants. That explains the death rates. They were less of a problem three years ago, but now rangers are being trained to be wary of them. In Kalos at least. Not sure how it works here."
"Huh." Gale blinked. "So that's what that alert on the pokedex system means."
"They have a system?"
"Yeah, it's meant to warn trainers of threats. They've ramped up precautions since you were last here." She took out her pokedex, which had changed to become incredibly thin holographic displays, no longer the larger but still slim model that Charles was. She read off the screen, "on a system of one through five, Aberrants are level fives, elite trainers and rangers only. Oh wow. You're not kidding, they're serious. Near towns and starter areas they're maximum priority. Enough to contact the Elite Four."
"Which is why we shouldn't ever underestimate them. If there's more of them around, and there probably is, we need to get what we came for and get out as fast as possible," Riven warned. "You trained my pokemon to become stronger than ever, but even they can't keep it up against Aberrants, especially on their home field advantage."
Gale nodded wordlessly as they continued on.
They fought groups of Magnezone and even more MAnectric, further exhausting their supplies. When they reached a secluded area in the deeper levels, they found a research lab strangely untouched by all the destruction outside. It was almost as if the wild pokemon didn't dare go near it. Inside they found files and research reports, neatly stacked in file cabinets and records.
Riven and Gale were both shocked to find that all of the paper copies were there, coated with dust from being untouched for decades.
Skimming through them, they became concerned at what they saw.
"They were researching evolutions here and applications for the energy produced from it." Gale squinted, shining her flashlight over the words. "It's called infinity energy. The energy produced from evolution and pokemon. They induced evolution into these pokemon to harness their power, choosing electric types for their output levels. Oh god. All behind the gym leader's back. The project wasn't even League sanctioned…"
"Secretive and illegal. What did I tell you?" His brows furrowed. "Forcing pokemon to evolve though... Made sense why Wattson shut it down, he'd never stand for it. Soon as he got wind of it they were as good as done."
Gale concurred, flipping through more pages as Riven stood guard. "And why there's so much evolved pokemon down here that are scared of this place. Fully evolved Magnezones and Manectrics are uncommon this close to civilization. To have so many in the vicinity… human's written all over it."
"Anything in there about mega evolution?"
Turning more pages and files, Gale shook her head. "Evolution, but not mega evolution. There's nothing in here about it. Must not have heard about it. The stones here have only emerged recently in the past five years. Maybe they were undiscovered here until now?"
Riven cursed, then asked her to look deeper to see if there was anything else they could find.
File upon file showed only research findings and energy readings, proceedings of experiments and such. Growing frustrated and strained from reading, Gale was about to shut it closed when she noticed a logo on the upper right hand corner of a research report on a certain experiment.
One that had caused a massive explosion of energy and killed fifteen researchers and several pokemon.
"Riven, look at this." She held up the paper, his eyes quickly scanning it. "The logo to the top right. Look familiar?"
He scowled deeply, almost growling. "Devon." The logo was outdated, and Devon's current one was different, but similar. Curling a lip, Riven smiled viciously in anticipation. "And there's the dirt. Looks like Steven owes us some answers. Well, more accurately, his father. I don't think even Steven knows what happened here."
"But Wattson does," Gale said, concern coming over her.
"He shut it down, that doesn't necessarily mean he was involved. That old man was a trainer once, and they wouldn't let whitecoats do what they want like this. Trainers are notorious for that. The fact it turned into a natural habitat for electric pokemon was just a coincidence that happened to work out. I'm keeping these documents, it's not like anyone is using them."
"Rustboro then?" Gale asked, tilting her head. She looked fairly disappointed. "You never slow down, do you?"
"The universe doesn't, and it's constantly trying to screw me over, I'm not about to let it catch up any time soon." He paused, remembering what he promised. "Ah, right. That issue you wanted to talk about. Besides, I think Steven won't be in if we went now."
"You know that?" She pounced. "How exactly?"
"I called Devon beforehand in case I needed Steven," Riven said bluntly, a hint of crafty amusement in his eyes.
"Planned this from the start after all," Gale huffed lightly. "Should have known. Amy's right. You are a sly dog. It's rubbing off on Baron, you know."
"Rub-I don't go around sleeping with women and leaving babies around," he said dryly, frowning.
"I don't know that," Gale teased, arching a brow. "Kalos has lots of pretty blondes, and Amy told me the way you looked at her when you first met. Are blondes your type, hmm?"
Riven grinded his teeth, stuffed the documents into his pack, and pointed towards the exit. "Going. Now. Stay here if you want to keep trying to get a reaction out of me for your amusement. Then the Magnezone and Manectric can turn you into a very satisfied corpse."
He turned on his heel and started walking back.
"You're deflecting," Gale called in sing-song, snickering. "You do it when you're nervous!"
"Nghh… I wish I had a pokeball for you," he said, rubbing his temples. Then stepped outside the door to see a horde of pokemon waiting outside for him. Freezing in place, he slid a hand behind his back to grab onto Efrain, mentally telling him to prepare.
Gale caught up to him, about to tease him further when he cupped a hand over her mouth, grabbed her, and launched himself into the nearest shadow.
After many uses of shadow sneak, general skulking around, and distractions with pebbles and strewn bits of rock and metal, they managed to get out in generally one piece, emerging through the back entrance of New Mauville. Sneaking past the pokemon was fairly exciting, and Riven enjoyed it a little too much. While harrowing, Gale admitted the experience instilled a strange sense of adventure within her. An incredibly satisfying feeling she felt eager to repeat.
Outside it was early morning as the sun rose above the horizon in the distance, the dew drops still present on the blades of grass outside. The air was crisp and fresh compared to the somewhat suffocating air inside. Both humans and pokemon took deep breaths, glad to be out.
The entire party was exhausted beyond belief, having been awake for quite some time, not including the battles inside. Overall though, it gave Riven's team plenty of experience, and he managed a glimpse into how his pokemon had improved over the past few years. Aine had grown incredibly strong, developing an intuitive sense for danger and crafty fighting from her sparring sessions with Baron.
The Gallade had become a well-rounded and versatile fighter as well, utilizing his psychic abilities and physical techniques with brutal efficiency. His speed had also significantly improved, being able to keep up with the Manectric without the use of teleports.
Haona had traded in defense for power and speed, preferring faster and stronger attacks, ambushing and cornering her opponents. It seemed that the frequent hunts she went on helped her in that regard, befitting the dark type. Being a physical attacker as well, her improvements were for the best, with ice beam and dark pulse acting like secondary surprise attacks than damage dealers.
Boagrius was the full on support, providing simulated weather effects to help Aine fight or improve his own attacks, the most notable was the combination between solarbeam and sunny day. Instant death rays were useful for uh… reasons.
While he specialized in special attacks, his attacks weren't on par with some of the other special attack based pokemon he'd seen, and that presented an issue.
Most of his pokemon consisted of up close and personal fighters, including Efrain, who held no qualms about slicing people and pokemon equally into itty bitty bits, providing he could get close enough. Ranged attacks were quite limited. They could fire off psycho cuts, night slashes, and blasts of fire well enough, but durable typings resisted their attacks. The Magnezone had tired Baron and Haona out from the sheer amount of blows it took to get them down.
He'd have to work on their endurance and stamina. They could deal damage quickly and efficiently, but in a more drawn out battle they'd wear out.
For now though, it was back to the center. Stumbling into the room after Gale flew them back, both trainers hit their respective beds and slept straight through the entire morning. Riven slept in longer, and Gale had to shove him awake. Their morning was the evening, and they headed out to the coffee shop Gale recommended. It was a twenty minute walk away from the center and had a large neon sign out front, promoting a new coffee brew.
The atmosphere was much nicer inside than in the bar. There were some guys that turned heads, but they eventually minded their own business. Pokemon larger than a hound weren't allowed inside, so Evie and Yukiko were the only ones allowed to be outside. Boagrius was in his pokeball for obvious safety reasons and for the general well-being of every object made of glass in the vicinity.
Apparently there'd been an incident with him once before. An expensive one too.
Gale went up to order, returning with two shakes. Her's was strawberry while Riven's was pecha. She slid it over to him, smiling widely.
He eyed it suspiciously before taking a sip, and waiting. "It's good."
"That's it?"
"Yeah, it's sweet. Tastes good," he said unenthusiastically, taking a longer sip. He was reading through the thick packet of files on the table with focused zeal.
"Why are you investigating this anyway?" Gale inquired suddenly. "Doesn't seem like something you'd do. So why do it, then?"
Riven lifted his gaze from the files, pursing his lips. "Apart from it being something to do, it's interesting. The past holds a lot of secrets we don't know about, and can help us get answers. What answers they are I'm not sure, but answers nonetheless." A vague statement, intentionally left to sound like something anyone would say. He was tired of having to do this, but what choice did he have?
"I guess," Gale frowned, poking at her shake. She seemed off about something, and more than a little conflicted.
"That face your making. Is this about what you wanted to tell me?" He asked. "Or is it about what we found down there?"
"Both… but mostly the first," she answered, glancing at his trainer bag for a second. "I guess they kind of… tie together."
"Huh? I don't follow."
She sighed. "They both have to do with you, and why you're doing all this."
"Gale, what are you-"
Her voice cut him off, snapping toward him like a whip. "If you say that the past can give us answers, then I'll believe it when you tell me everything." Her expression became serious, not an ounce of amusement or playfulness to it. She paused with a moment's hesitation before continuing. "Riven, tell me about the old clans. And the old world. Your world."
In his mind, Riven's thoughts came to a crashing halt.
She knows.
This took a hell of a lot longer to come out than I expected. Finals and everything just had my brain fried.