A mega Glalie would be an awesome sight to behold if Riven and Gale weren't shivering down to their bones, complete with enough teeth chattering to write a song to.
Combined, Isole and Yuvir had stripped the surrounding area of heat, freezing the stream of water at the surface into a sight rarely seen in Hoenn. Blades of grass were lined with frost and wild Zigzagoons scurried about to avoid the cold. Each breath taken in the frigid temperatures around Isole was marked by frosty puffs of air. The rest of the route seemed relatively fine in comparison, so the effective radius of the glacial death circle was fairly easy to locate. Standing in the death circle? Not easy.
Will beamed after seeing the Glalie evolve, no doubt trying to imagine if he could do that to Quil as well. Whether Typhlosions mega evolved or not, it was highly likely Will didn't give a Rattata's ass. All Riven could see in Will's glazed expression was the image of a Typhlosion turning into something even more fiery, insane, and prone to committing arson. Just the thought of Quil getting worse with his pyromania was enough to brown some pants.
Holy shit it was cold, though. A fire would be fantastic, considering Riven couldn't feel his thumbs or his ears. Gale faired about as well as he was, uselessly trying to breathe on her fingers to try and heat them.
Isole took a step, the motion shaking frost loose from her skin and hair. She held out a hand and curled her fingers inward, pushing out with the flat of her palm. Riven recognized that move as icicle spear, and normally it would fire off a spear of ice larger than a human torso, perfect for turning small pokemon and people into oversized skewers. This time though, nothing came from her palm except for diminutive puffs of frost. She shrugged her shoulders and sighed, as if saying, see?
Huh, guess you really can't use your powers when you do that, Riven mused. Either fight yourself, or your pokemon do while you sit uselessly and try not to get killed.
Of course, that wasn't necessarily a huge drawback. The massive power of mega evolution was nothing to sneer at, but neither was having a pokemon's abilities. No one ever expects dark pulses or icicle spears to come out of human hands. After using the power himself, Riven couldn't think of any form of self defense short of a trainer's own team that could be more effective. Being able to fight alongside pokemon, your own team, was something that not many trainers could say they've done. Pokemon battles were one thing, but out in the real world when things went down and hostilities flew, no one was going to sit there and let a trainer shout out commands.
Best way to disable a command structure? Kill the commander.
Seeing that Riven and Gale's teeth were chattering up a storm in the literally freezing temperatures, Will rushed over and lit a fire in the palm of his hands. The two older trainers huddled around the fire in an instant as Yuvir reverted back into his normal form. Isole briefly lit up in bluish white light as strands of translucent energy rushed back into her body and the chilled pocket of air began to recede. Gradually the heat returned to the area and the frozen portion of the stream began flowing again.
Isole returned Yuvir and met back up with the other three. She groaned and held her head, feeling tingles from all the energy she'd absorbed that was still swimming around in there. The feeling was strangely uncomfortable and made her more jittery than normal. "Well, there it is. Hope you're fine with that, you overgrown male Skitty. The cold was nice, now I'm going to die from Hoenn's weather, thanks. And I feel funny." She looked up at the crossing to see oblivious trainers walking above. "Hope nobody noticed."
"Just the Zigzagoon and the Carvannah in the water," Riven assured. From what his quivering self could see at least, at the time the only thing he could think of during the teeth chattering was how bloody cold it was. "So, uh, I noticed the failed icicle spear. You really can't use your abilities when mega evolving. I assume that's universal?"
"I'm fairly sure?" She said, not completely sure but fairly certain. "At least with elemental types it is. Even Nera can't do much more than sparks when she evolves her Charizard." Riven twitched but she ignored it. "It leaves us fairly open but it saves the trouble of getting a mega stone and a keystone. Also can't be stolen, so that's a plus. Now-" A pale finger pointed at Riven. "Why are you so interested? And don't give me any bullshit after what I just showed you. Hell, it was a secret in our world. Give me Tauros dung for an answer and I'll freeze your prick and yank it off."
The two males fought back a great urge to cringe.
Riven glumly exchanged looks with Will and Gale, both dipping their heads in acceptance, feeling somewhat excluded and therefore assumed they had no right to contest that. Especially not with threats to the manhood. He nodded back at them and turned to face Isole, breathing in deeply before scowling again. How many times did he have to explain himself? Well, guess there was no going around it. Besides, dropping bombshells was fairly fun.
He recounted the story in more or less general terms, and when he told Isole about the human keystone crystals, the look of horror on her face was all he needed to know to figure out that the people who made the spheres had fucked up massively.
"They were trying to harness the power… Bunch of idiots- Stupid human children! Messing with things they don't understand!" Isole growled, almost snarling. Her lips slowly fell into a grim line and her brows furrowed in slight horror. "Just like they are today. It's a small damn miracle they haven't found any of the spheres yet."
"Devon, Silph, and the like, right?" Riven said, sparing a passing glance at Gale, who nervously returned it. Steven, you better speak with your father quickly before he goes and ends a civilization on accident.
"Yes. They've been going around trying to find things related to mega evolution," she said sourly. "Recently they've gotten more aggressive about it and have interfered with our jobs at times. Dealing with officials is so much more annoying than other mercs. You can at least kill the other mercs. They also started bringing security teams packing some heavy pokemon after getting harassed by looters and another group that have been problematic for us." She bit her lip, just imagining the results. "If they find out about this… about us…"
Ice blue looked back at Riven with concern, then at Will, who swallowed. This boy, this trainer, wasn't just a normal human anymore. Even if he'd been a native born—not born on their dying wreck of a world battered by war and death and suffering—he held the power now. He was one of them now. Rose or not.
"Painful crystallization…" She looked away in disgust. "God, I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Do you have any idea what happened to the stupid people who made these spheres? You've known more about what these spheres do than Nera."
He blinked, then laughed nervously. "Ah, about that…"
"No grin or smart ass remark. You really don't know a thing," Isole concluded with a giant frown of her own. Crossed her arms, then blew out a breath of disappointment. "I guess it was to be expected though. They did go through some effort to hide them too. I mean, it's like one giant puzzle and we're just following the breadcrumbs."
She wasn't wrong. Not even in the slightest. Since the start, with the visions and the riddles from the Claydol, it had all felt like one twisted game of treasure hunter. Find this, get a key, discover something shitty, accidentally evolve…
Still didn't mean he knew anything concrete though. As for what happened, he could say a Mankey did it and it would be as plausible as anything anyone else could come up with given the amount of evidence they had to support their claims. Which was funnily enough, fucking nothing.
"Yeah, I really don't know anything about these spheres apart from the fact that they evolve people. As for the guys who created them… well, they just up and disappeared. Then left the spheres behind in obscure ruins with pictures of god, Claydol, and people burning in fire." He waggled a hand in the air. "You know, happy things. The only reason I even found the blue sphere was because I fell in a ravine caused by a cave in while I was exploring Granite Cave. The sphere might have remained there for a long ass time if I hadn't. Huge accidental finding."
"Accid-"Isole cut herself off after processing his slip. Ice blue could freeze every drop of water in the area as she heard him speak. "Accidentally." She threw a hand up. "Fuck's sake, I don't get it."
"Get what?"
"Why you're doing this? Why you're going through all this trouble for these spheres that almost got you killed multiple times?" She held out her hands, showing him a minimized pokeball. "Wouldn't you like an easier life after what you've been through? What has you so interested if you don't care?"
"I- Hmmm…" Riven let the words die in his mouth. Why was a question he'd been asking himself since he first realized where he was. Was it because it was something to do? Because man needed to know? Did he want to know? Maybe to know of what happened to that society that was dead and dust because it mirrored his own?
"You think it'll lead you to answers about what happened in the past. To how you got here," Isole said sharply, seeing right through him. "Still chasing after ghosts, I see. Some things don't change, even after three years. Forget about that, Riven. Stop dwelling in the past, it's over with. Gone. There's no point. It's useless. You're just wasting your time."
"So you just gave up and accepted things as they are? Just like a Raksa would." He placed both his hands on his cheeks, mimicking a distressing woman. "Let's let everything go to shit, as long as it doesn't affect me! Oh my! That was unfortunate! What a tragedy!"
"What I was back then doesn't matter anymore!" Isole shouted, ice blue eyes angry. "Searching for traces of our world is pointless because there's no past to look back to! You'd be looking at something that doesn't physically exist anymore!"
"Physically… what does that mean?" Gale asked instead.
The older woman gave an exasperated sigh, the anger dripping off her like water. Heading over to a nearby tree stump, she sat down, away from the blasted sun and the heat. "Riven… remember that psychic you wanted to know about so badly?"
"Yeah." He wiggled his fingers in the air, drawing up frustrating memories of trying to haggle with a certain Rosan bitch. "The one Nera never disclosed any information about and ran me in circles for six damn months? Fucking hell that was a waste of time. So are you going to actually tell me?"
"Yes."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Positive?"
"Yes, Riven."
"Affirmative?"
"Riven."
"Are you one hundred percent sure?"
She started flexing her fingers, the icicles sending a very clear message.
"Hmmmm." He squinted at her. "Sounds a little too good to be true. My bullshit censors aren't tingling too hard though, so I half believe you."
"God, this is why you're bad with people, Riven." She turned to face Gale. "How do you put up with his crap? I just worked with him, I didn't have to actually listen to him."
The brunette grinned. "I think of it as training for my self control. I heard alcohol works wonders though." She broke into giggles.
Riven made a sound that was a mix of sputter, a whine, and a growl.
"Hah! She has a sense of humor, I like that," Isole sneered. "Anyway, I don't see why I wouldn't tell you now, considering you're not necessarily a major threat to us right now." A smirk spread on her lips. "You're dangerous, sure, but you remind me more of a lost Natu with an attention deficit, always trying to find something to do and can't sit still to save your life. Leave him alone for one hour and he starts inspecting his knives for nicks."
"Blade care is important," Riven stated matter-of-factly, unabashed. He sucked in a large breath, finding psychics to be royal pains in the ass. "Tell me about it then. I hope it's not an Alakazam. Because if so I'm going to try my hardest not to not stab it, I already got blown through a window, an entire wall, and hit with a flying table at the same time because of one. Tables hurt, especially when they get flung into your face."
Isole turned back at Gale, who only smiled back. Will grinned from ear to ear, knowing full well who they were dealing with.
"I'm not even going to ask why you're getting thrown out of buildings, I'll just assume it's another one of your masochistic hobbies."
Riven shot her a dirty look.
Isole shook her head, straightening her posture as she steeled her expression. "It's not an Alakazam. It's a Celebi."
Shocked realization spread among Gale and Will, while Riven looked like he'd just won a bet.
"Psychic legendary," he bit out. "The best of both worlds."
"Yes, well- it's a very old one too, one that's been here since before the Kalosian war three thousand years ago, so it's fucking ancient, basically," Isole said, eyeing a blade of grass with the intensity of a star. "Nera found it in a forest in Johto a year before we discovered dark boy here. It reacted to her and talked to her. Not English or French or any language of this world, Riven. Rosan." She placed extra emphasis on the word, drawing it out. All of the past clans' languages should be dead except for the few that came back through time. That a Celebi of all things knew it was a bit perturbing. "It also knew who and what she and all of us were and it started crying. For us. Not at us."
"Crying," he repeated in disbelief. An index finger scratched the side of his head. "What. That isn't supposed to happen. No-that… that doesn't even make sense."
"I thought the legendaries didn't care about humans?" Will asked, raising a brow. Gale nodded, drawing the same conclusion.
"That's what we assumed too. We didn't know why a pokemon like Celebi would do that, or even reveal itself willingly. Even now I'm not quite sure what it has to gain by helping us."
"Celebi are rumored to travel back in time," Gale chimed in, shrugging as Riven looked at her, rather impressed despite himself. "Maybe it got curious and wanted to show you the way back?"
"Yeah, Celebi can time travel. But go back? Hah, that's a good joke," Isole snorted, laughing at the irony. "Even if we could go back, even if we could try and find anything relating to our past in history, we'd never stop searching. Silly little humans, endless wanderers of time, delving into the past to look for answers they cannot find."
"Let me guess. Another psychic riddle?" Riven almost gagged.
"Obviously," Isole said, nails digging into her skin. She cleared her throat, forcing waves of annoyance down with a restrained growl. "You remember the roar, don't you?"
Riven was silent for a short moment. He could hear it in his dreams and on long walks of reflection, having heard it thousands of times already, viewing it as a blessing and a curse. Yes, he remembered the roar that tore the heavens apart. Anyone who'd ever heard it probably could.
"I couldn't possibly forget it." He glanced up at the sky, scowling. "The Legendaries," he began grimly, knowing that somehow Arceus and his merry little flock of pseudo gods were to blame. The drawings and etchings found in the ruins and sphere locations only served to heighten that feeling. Pictures of mankind burning in flames simply emanated positivity and hopes for the future. The future being particularly fluid at the current moment.
"Yes, the Legendaries," she repeated solemnly. "God- how do I say this?" A moment of pause and she collected her thoughts. "Celebi took us back. To our time, briefly."
Her words cut like a knife as utter, genuine shock spread across Riven's face, his eyes wide. "What did you see?" He demanded, getting closer to her. "Was there-"
"Nothing," Isole said, a hollowness in her voice. "There was nothing there but pokemon and forests. Riven, the grand Noltan forest was alive. I actually saw it."
The grand Noltan forest—a rainforest that covered nearly a quarter of the lands to the west, not too far from Riven's home. The size of it completely dwarfed Fortree and its own, kind of like comparing Lumiose to something like Petalburg. Once home to hundreds if not thousands of species of pokemon, along with the Grass Clan, it was destroyed by the Roses even before Riven was born. The forest being intact was something of an impossibility.
"Did the Celebi get the date right? And did you get the location right?" Riven asked skeptically. "That forest was ashes before both us were born. Technically I should be older than you, and I've been to where it was supposed to be, I'd know."
"Age doesn't matter when it comes to time travel, Riven. Missing a huge fucking forest is hard when it covers everything for miles," she huffed. "We went everywhere. North, east, west... Even where Altea was supposed to be, dammit. And we found nothing. Nothing but plains, snow, and forests. It's like humans never stepped foot in the world—everything felt so… lonely."
"That doesn't make any sense…" Riven said, running a hand through his hair and starting to pace. "How far back?"
Isole paused and saddened, as if it depressed her also. "Six hundred thousand. Roughly."
Not only was Riven struggling to hold his jaw in place, but Gale and Will were too, only managing strangled noises and babbles.
"Then we went back further, and then forward ten thousand more. Nothing. When we did see people, they were… primitive. And not like us. The Celebi told us it was one hundred thousand years after that point in time and not a year before."
"Our ancestors," Gale gasped. "But not yours."
Riven fell on the floor like a brick, a bomb of realization assaulting his mind as his he sat down as hard as he could. The other two followed suit, equally as confounded. "More than half a million years…? But… I-how? How did this happen? What happened to us, our people? The clans- the everything?"
"I don't know," Isole admitted dejectedly. She bit her lip, sighing. "It's as if someone erased us from every moment in history, literally. Then decided to plant us back in. Hah, it's almost hilarious. Just like those science fiction novels about time travel, only this time it's real. And we're the ass of the cosmic joke."
Riven swallowed tensely, running his hands through his hair repeatedly. He stood up, blinking furiously. Gale tried to stop him as he turned to leave but Isole held her back with a squeeze of the hand.
"Let him get some air and think about it. Goodness knows I needed it when I found out. And I saw it too."
"Didn't he get over it already though?" Will asked, watching Riven stumble his way into part of the forest. "He's been here for years."
"The thought of going back was always on his mind, though. Forgetting might be easy for some people, like those that came here young, but not for him. He witnessed a lot of terrible things when he was young, and he became a soldier at an age most people would find horrifying here. War does things to child soldiers. Some snap, others can never live life outside of battle. Riven isn't any different, but for the Remnants it was even worse."
She formed a tiny sculpture of ice on the tree stump, showing them the insignia.
"Fighting the war was all they lived for. And I guess he always felt conflicted about that, he just didn't know it for sure until now."
"Why?"
"Because it was all for nothing. One thing is getting sent forward in time and have everything you were aspiring to do in the past be worth nothing, but another is finding out that it really didn't make a difference at all. All that suffering just to get wiped clean like that? Means the war didn't matter. The people he lost didn't matter, and there's nothing he or anyone can do about it. That's… hard to swallow. We were all from that place, and we all lost something we cared about. Nera still has trouble accepting it. And so do I. I can still remember what my parents looked like. I miss it sometimes, you know?"
A forced smile.
"Anyway, just let him get it out of his system. He's far better off than I thought someone of his upbringing would be. Must be the twisted sense of humor, his way of coping. Hides his pain well, but it's there. He lost his purpose, but-" She looked at both of them with a wide grin. "-I think he's starting to find it again, partly thanks to you two. If he'd stayed with us, it'd have gotten worse, I know that for sure. I'm glad we let him go. His kind weren't exactly the most… stable."
She thought back to the utter mess he left of Kai's house.
"Dark types are dangerous aren't they?" Will figured, swallowing. Gale gave him a pointed look but it fell apart quickly.
"We all are," Isole replied. "Mental and supernatural types like him are extremely powerful, but are prone to instability. As for us, we have to hold back or people die, as you saw. Below freezing temperatures and air hot enough to burn the insides of your lungs when you breathe is nothing to laugh at. And there's the thing you three came here to tell me about. Too much energy at once will kill you. Crystallization is what awaits for idiots who take too much I guess. Terrible way to die."
She sat up and stretched, groaning from the heat. Twisting her body to crack her aching spine, she gestured upward with her right hand. "Enough with this though, since you're Riven's companions and he's out dealing with his own thoughts, I want to know more about you two. It'll be a while before he comes back, I assume, so we have some time to kill before that."
Will shot to his feet at once while Gale raised a hand meekly, getting an idea for a problem that had been rather difficult for her to try and figure out as of late.
"Yes, Gale?"
"Um, since you're an ice specialist, can you help me with something? If it's not too much to ask?"
Isole smiled again, knowing that if Cormac saw her so cheery he'd have a fit. Not that it mattered, since these kids weren't involved at all in their affairs, she could afford to be friendlier, which was refreshing for a change. "Sure. What is it?"
"It's about my Froslass. She's a bit clingy. And well- you know, I can't stand the cold as well as you can. She really liked snuggling up to me." Gale motioned to her chest with a tinge of embarrassment on her cheeks.
Isole nodded as she looked at the area. "I can see why she liked it. Spoiled her as a Snorunt, huh?" She snorted with a step in her voice. "This'll be fun."
Riven wandered through the woods, his mind a blaring mess of information and what it entailed for the future. To say he expected to ever be able go back would be untrue. Time travel was usually reserved for legendary pokemon or human based shenanigans, both of which were out of his reach. He prepared for one of life's dick punches and instead got kicked in the mouth then thrown in a pit of icy water; he didn't expect something like this to happen. There was no point in suspecting Isole of lying either. No one could fake the expressions on their face that well, even for a mercenary like her.
He clapped a hand to his forehead as he walked among the trees. There seemed to be a pit in his stomach, making him uneasy. A multitude of questions regarding time travel gave him a migraine. If what Isole was saying was true, and humans somehow got wiped clean, then how was he here now? How were any of the old humans here? From what he understood, his birth should have never happened at all.
No Riven, no Isole, no redheaded fire bitch and the douche twins. Time travel and screwing with time and events in the past always had a variety of "what ifs" attached to them. What-ifs that sounded like a bunch of kids sitting on a porch pondering the intricacies of life because they had nothing better to do. And now here he was thinking about them in a forest full of pokemon.
"Am I real?" He muttered, stupidly pinching himself. Spotting a Furret that was busy stuffing its cheeks with berries, he crouched down in front of it. Shooting an accusatory finger at it, it dropped the berry in its paws."Am I real?"
It gave the berries in its cheeks another slow munch.
"Speak, furry creature."
The ferret decided that it was best to be away from crazy humans and slowly backed away, scooping up its berries with a bushy tail and scurrying into a nearby bush.
Riven raised his arms in incredulousness. Tsk. Of course I am, I have to be. After all, the heat of the sun on his skin and the sweat running down his back was real and uncomfortable enough—and that Furret running away from him. Fucking time shenanigans, always with the metaphysical. Why can't something ever be simple? No, it has to be more convoluted than a psychic's idea of a fortune cookie. I need to ask Isole, the questions are killing me.
He glanced up and around in every direction, not realizing he'd been walking through the forest and tall grass for a considerable amount of time. Huh. But where did I come from? Turning his head, every part of the forest looked the same. Nothing but trees, grass, and Seedot. Well no shit, it's a bloody forest, what else would there be? Somehow, he'd gotten so absorbed in his thoughts about how time travel was utter Tauros shit that he'd gone and made himself thoroughly lost.
Having a ranger conveniently show up would be great right now. When none came, he switched to plan B. Maybe I walked here in a straight line? Fuck.
He then proceeded to track himself.
When he finally got back to the location near the river and much after nightfall, he was treated to a horrifying sight.
That sight being a mercenary known for freezing people solid having fun with an equally infuriating girl whose idea of a joke meant giving people trauma.
Isole was laughing happily alongside Gale and Yukiko, playing with powdered snow the two ice types had made. The Froslass nuzzled Isole, who hardly flinched at the cold. The fact that she was genuinely laughing made his skin crawl. The scene might as well have been a nightmare created solely for testing his mental health.
At least Will reclined against the sleeping form of Quil, quietly snoring the hours away, was enough to calm his nerves down. He sat down and watched them continue to play and practice with their ice types, admitting that Isole's habit of sculpture making was quite impressive when she and Yuvir helped Gale and Yukiko make a life size model of a Swellow. It didn't take long for it to start melting with the humidity of the route, but it was beautiful nonetheless.
Riven waited at the foot of the tree stump adjacent to Will, nearly dozing off himself. He cracked open a sleepy eye when Isole sat down next to him, looking far livelier than she usually ever did.
She held out a Pecha berry. "All better?"
He groggily stared at it for a moment before graciously taking it and biting a chunk out of it, sweet juices filling his mouth as the sweetness brought him out of his sleep drunken state.
"Gale told me you like them. She tired herself out and went to rest. Said goodnight too. Nice girl. Her Froslass is so sweet! I kinda want to steal her. That spoiled little ghost likes chests far too much to be healthy."
"Nothing wrong with that…" Riven muttered through bites. "I mean, uh, that's terrible. Bad ghost."
Isole held in a grin while she rolled her eyes. "So, now that your mind isn't scrambled egg-" She noticed him staring blankly into the distance, chewing like a Miltank. "-isn't as scrambled, I guess you have some questions?"
"Why are we still alive?" He ushered out instantly. "Erasing someone's ancestor means they'll never be born right? So technically neither of us should be alive. And I'm wondering why the hell I'm still sitting here, eating this berry."
"Hit it right on the head, huh? Sorry to disappoint you, but time is-"
"Confusing? Nonsensical? Bullshit?" He finished, yanking a blade of grass off the ground and chucking it into the air uselessly.
"Strange," she said, not sure if there was a word to properly describe the dilemmas of time travel and screwing with timelines. "Whatever happened, whatever those Legendaries did… I don't know. The Celebi told us that the strain of opening time simultaneously at every point in time before that moment was too great, even for Him. I'm guessing not even the Legendaries who govern over time and space could control that all at once. Somehow, we ended up in the future we shouldn't exist in. Technically, our futures don't coincide with time as the psychics see it. Something along those lines. All I can figure is that it'd give scientists aneurysms."
Which explained why future sight didn't work on any of the people from the old world. There was no future for them. In theory. In other words, they were an utter impossibility. How about that, it was almost sweet on the Universes' part.
"Looks like physics can go screw itself after all. Plus one for space magic. That's a recurring theme, isn't it? Laughing at science?" Riven chuckled at the irony. "So even gods make mistakes? That's refreshing. If they make mistakes, then why are they gods? We're walking mistakes, what took them so long?"
"We might be mistakes, sure, but-"She took a bite out of a berry herself. "This is our world now, and I'm not one for getting erased again. Which is why it's important we find those spheres. To prevent humanity from pissing off the legendaries again. Damn it, I want to live."
A large, dispassionate groan.
"Celebi fed you some senseless warnings of doom and peril, didn't it? The-world-is-going-to-end-because-of-this variety? Did it stress the importance of it before it's too late too?"
"They're quite predictable, aren't they?"
"What else would psychics do to pass the time? Reading peoples' minds eliminates part of the mystery, must be boring. Wonder if that's why they defecate themselves whenever we get near them."
They both snorted.
Riven gave her a sidelong glance. "By the way, Isole, Will seems to have taken a liking to you."
She glared daggers at him, but even in the dim light his eyes could see she was flustered. "He's too young for me, idiot. I'm almost double his age, I can't date him. And our lifestyles clash. Don't tell me you're getting ideas about it. I didn't realize you were one for petty things like this."
"I'm not, it just gives me material to give him and you shit for," he chuckled darkly. "Little shit will get his comeuppance, just you wait."
"Should have known," she muttered.
"Still, age isn't a problem with us, right? Nera still looks like she's in her twenties. You don't look much older either. We live a lot longer, don't we? When war isn't cutting our years down at least. Ten years is nothing if what you told me in Kalos is true."
Isole grimaced and joined Riven in staring off into space. "I mean… yeah but- He's barely grown," she said, fixing her gaze on Will's face. "It feels wrong."
"Wait a few years. You also don't want to date normal people either," Riven mentioned idly. "Because you're afraid you'll outlive them and it'll hurt watching them die of old age. Poor thing. So cold yet so fr—god damn fuck!"
She hmphed snidely as he ripped her hand away from his forearm, where she nearly gave him frostbite. He grumbled, rubbing some heat into the abused skin."Will's like us though, so it's not much of a problem. Fire and ice. Have to admit, that's a strange combination." He promptly backed away to make sure she couldn't grab him again.
"There is no combination, dick. You're just trying to get a reaction out of me. It's not going to work." He chuckled and let the conversation die as they sat in silence. "So what will you do now?" Isole inquired, nudging him so he could open his eyes. "Plan hasn't changed?"
He let out a heavy breath. "Don't see what else I'd be doing. Gym circuit seems pointless with all these extra things popping up. Besides, there are some people who've pissed me off in the past that are looking for the exact same things, and they aren't your little group. I'm not going to let them get a hold of these spheres. They're brewing up something big, I can feel it. Tracking them has gotten absolutely nowhere either, they hide well and cover their tracks."
A pale blue brow furrowed with concern. "We are talking about the same group right?"
"If it's a band of mercs with a nasty reputation for brutal efficiency and methods, then yes, them. Criminals are afraid of them."
"They're also afraid of Prime coming to cut their limbs off, Riven." He scoffed as she slid a knifed hand across her forearm. "We've tussled with them. They're much better funded and have way more people than we do, unfortunately. Beat us to some artifacts and such, even bounties. Thinking about them pisses me off. If those guys are involved in this, there's going to be a bit of a problem."
"How many times?"
"At least on six different occasions. Know who they are?"
Riven debated whether to tell her how much he knew about Singularity and the merc group that was working for it. Even in Kalos three years back during the Lumiose incident, he'd kept the information under wraps, chalking it up to the perpetrators being random terrorist dickbags. Nera wasn't breathing down his spine though, so he could do it, but doing so would just lead Isole to ask more questions than answers, and he really wasn't looking for more questions. Giving them the miniscule amount of information he had on them-mostly names and reputations- wouldn't help them much.
So tell the truth then, just not all of it.
He rubbed his chin with his hand, feigning ignorance. "Don't know anything specific, I just know about as much as you do, given their assets from when they've screwed me over. What about you? Can you tell me what their tactics are, from what you've seen? For research purposes, obviously."
That guy who paralyzed me in Kalos hinted that something would happen soon. It's been three years and nothing's happened—and I don't think he was messing with me. I want to be prepared, not like last time.
"Always prepared for conflict, classic Riven," she teased harmlessly. "One of these days you're not going to escape unscathed, you know."
"When have I not?" He answered with a cockiness he didn't feel. You've seen my back. "Knowing the enemy is half the battle, and I hate how I don't know much at all about these people or who they work for, all I know is that they're going to strike soon, and it won't be pleasant."
"Riven, just be careful," she warned.
"Nice for you to care, but I'm good."
"Not for you," Isole said, gesturing to Will and Gale, "them. You need to let them know what kind of danger they'd be in if they followed you. I've taken a liking to them both, they're good kids."
"Will's the kid. Older kid now, but still a kid to me. Gale's like a year younger than me though. And that's the problem, Isole. They want to come with me."
"And you're not going to stop them?"
He faltered, his mouth becoming a thin line.
"You haven't told them what you're planning to do. Riven," she said again, this time gravely serious. "This isn't a game. They can die, and these guys… they will kill those in their way. These aren't the teams the regions are used to. You and I have both seen how they operate. You need to make them understand that."
"I've tried. And they're not incompetent."
"So then leave them behind."
"I can't. I did that for three years, I can't do it again. I promised them." Jaw clenched, he remembered Yanine and Nemos. " Just like I promised the others I'd keep going, even if it broke me inside. If I broke that, what would be the point of staying alive, I've already lost everything."
"Not everything. You care for them," she said. "That's enough."
"Of course I do, they're my comrades," he said, glancing away. "How could I not?"
Isole balled her hands into fists as her blood seemed to heat up in her veins. "Don't do that to them. They're not soldiers, Riven. Not like the others. They're not used to death and killing. They don't belong where we do. Even if they can fight, they won't survive against these people. They're your friends. You have to make them stop, for their own good."
"Try to tell them that. They won't listen." His expression saddened, and Isole could see the pain of loss. "Still, if these assholes dare touch them, they'll wish they didn't give me a reason to come after them. And if they kill them, I will make it my life's mission to murder whoever is responsible. Maybe that'll give me a purpose again. I'm barely holding on as it is."
Isole looked away, offering him another berry. He took it without hesitation. "You're not the only one." She sighed in defeat, glancing one last time at the sleeping forms of Riven's companions. "Since there's no other way around it… take care of that girl, okay?"
"She can take care of herself just fine now, I think. And don't worry, I'll look after your future husband too. He has a dangerous habit of destroying things wherever he goes."
"I wonder who he learned that from?" She remarked wryly. "And he's not my future anything." She clarified with a very cold punch. He shrieked and she chuckled, wondering if in a perfect world, every worry could just melt away.
But this was reality.
And reality was just depressing.
"This is Hoenn channel 7 breaking news reporting the scene in Mossdeep City, where another trainer protest has begun as a result of last month's explosions, explosions allegedly started by visiting trainers in the area. A young trainer's Dragonair reportedly missed a fire blast which ignited a fuel tank and caused a massive-"
Another one?
Riven turned his attention away from the television, shoveling more cereal into his mouth. The other trainers and his traveling companions did the same, grimacing at all the supposedly trainer related incidents lately. Nurse Joy frowned, shaking her head. There was a report of property damage caused by battles every week, and they were occurring with increasing frequency. Some cities were already growing hostile towards trainers.
Thankfully Slateport didn't harbor the same feelings. After Isole told Riven everything she knew about Tesla and the rest of the mercenaries, Will insisted that they travel back to Slateport for a mix of leisure and training on the beach. Riven was reluctant, but there were no leads to follow and he needed to unwind, even if it was training so hard he couldn't move the next day.
Actually staying in the port city for more than a few days was refreshing and Gale was glad she didn't have to push Emile and Kyne so hard to fly everywhere. Riven even got the chance to fly on Rika, which he then regret deeply when she nosedived at top speed close enough to the water that he could practically kiss a Sharpedo.
Not quite as bad as Gale scaring him shitless, but still pretty frightening.
Finishing breakfast, Riven was about to start walking north to the next route when Will nudged him in the side, directing him south instead, to the beach. Blinking, Riven scowled.
"Don't tell me," he said, burning holes into Will's eyes. The look seemed to bounce right off as red eyes danced with glee.
"Nope. We're going to train at the beach today."
"No, I don't like it."
"Come on, it'll be fun. Besides-" Will waggled his eyebrows. "-Gale bought a swimsuit."
"I'll definitely pass," Riven deadpanned, starting back north. His victory over the human lighter was short lived when he commanded Rika to pick Riven up and haul him over to the beach, laughing maniacally all the while. He was unceremoniously dumped face first into the sand.
He gave Will some choice words that prompted nearby mothers to cover their children's ears, but nonetheless went along with the change of location. Gale touched down soon after, not wearing a swimsuit, just as Riven had expected she wouldn't. They were here to train, not get a sun tan.
Choosing a relatively isolated part of the beach, away from the hordes of people next to the lemonade refreshment house, they brought out their pokemon.
Riven was about to suggest training with Will's team until he finally saw Seren emerge out of his pokeball, ceasing all movement to simply stare.
"Will."
"Yeah?"
Riven brought out Charles, pulling up an image of Jolteon. He alternated his gaze between Seren and the image on screen, his eyelids narrowing further with each passing glance. Yellow. Blue. Yellow. Blue. Yellow. Blue. Craning his neck towards the side, he pointed at the electric fox, his upper lip twitching vigorously.
"That Jolteon is blue, Will. Blue."
Seren sparked happily, panting in the heat. He cocked his head and let out a tiny whine.
Will glared at Riven, and with utter seriousness and a severity of voice that could grate steel, said, "he goes fast."
Riven was silent.
"Gale it is."
She was more than happy to practice with him instead, having a practice bout with Baron and Aine to let them get used to fighting flying types. Haona worked with Yukiko to help refine the ghost's ice beam, forming long stretches of iced over sand and turning the water at the shore into slosh.
Some distance away, Will sat in meditation with Quil beside him, taking in steady breaths while Seren used Rika as an electric punching bag behind him, the sparks uselessly fizzling out as soon as they touched the dragon. Casca seemed content to practice with Boagrius, his rain dance boosting the power of her surf's. Will in particular had gained far more muscle tone than he had previously, no doubt from the training he was doing at Mt. Pyre, as well as taking Riven's approach with practicing with his pokemon.
Something he was doing now. Riven practiced his blade work with Efrain, going over basic stances and such over and over, mixing several of Efrain's moves and how they functioned with the different blade strategies he'd created over the past three years.
Even with sweat pouring down his face, progression just wasn't there. He'd already mastered the forms, mastered the techniques. He needed to try something new. Gale had a creative mind, having already combined Baron, Aine, Haona, and Boagrius' techniques to form combination attacks—impressive martial displays and flurries of fiery winds and cuts.
What could he do? With Efrain's power? Hands gripping the handles of the swords, he whispered in his mind, Efrain, let's try that again.
Slits looked up at him, as if asking if he was sure. A firm squeeze of the handles gave him the signal.
I will try, prince.
"That's all I ask."
Yellow eyes closed and Efrain reached into the world.
Being a ghost was strange. The sense of living was gone from Efrain's body, which was nothing more than a metal vessel that acted like a body but had no nerves or skin with which to feel, yet he could. He could very well feel the burning agony of Aine's flames, and Haona's impeccably sharp night slashes. As a ghost, he was an anomaly in the world, knowing that he drew the strange power of ghosts from a realm parallel to this one, the realm of the fallen one.
Attempting to use the move the prince wanted him to use was akin to picking up a bow after a lifetime of blade training and being told to hit a target two hundred paces away—a completely and irreverently different process. Also a substantially difficult one. The power with which he drew from flowed to him naturally, as if from within the very steel he inhabited.
But this, the energy of life, was different.
Life energy, ki as his trainer had informed him, clung to everything in the physical world, surging and coursing through the water, the sand, and the very bones of the dark prince and his companions—the Earth vibrated with it, giving a slight hum to the nonexistent ears of the dead. Efrain long figured out that the living were unable to see this invisible energy, using it but a select few times. However, ghosts and those attuned with that energy could sense its presence and shape it into weapons and blasts that were extremely damaging to the body—the energy of life used against itself. Naturally, the fighting types adjusted rather quickly and were attuned to it, but just like life and death were separate, the energy did not call to ghosts and could only be observed, at least on the surface. It was possible to use that as well—given what his trainer wanted him to learn at the current moment- but it seemed to repel away whenever he chose to grasp it.
A lesser man would have given up on such a stubborn resource, but in life he was no lesser man. He willed it up from the ground, white light rising in streams to coalesce and coat the steel that was his body to form a shimmering, if unstable, silhouette of white blades. The sensation of holding on to something this repulsive to his being was like rubbing two Magnemite together with the same ends facing each other and the longer he held it the more strain it put on him, despite not having a body or mind made of flesh. His trainer's grip was tight as the energy shined and spiraled around his hands and into Efrain, the strange sense of the living feeling more alien than death.
Glowing white swords replaced Efrain's blades, longer and thicker than before—virtually weightless but shining with a radiance that reminded Riven of the sun. Their image crackled and distorted as the ghost struggled to keep their shape intact.
I cannot hold onto this for much longer, prince, the power is slipping.
Nodding, Riven readied himself and swung-
Two white swords cleaved forth into the air, producing a small shockwave of force that only managed to cut a millimeter into the mound of sand Riven had built up to test as a target. Disregarding that, Riven advanced and swung once more, hoping the move would work, testing out the durability of the blades themselves.
The mound of sand was cut into three pieces as a horizontal slash with both blades made contact with it. A frustrated snarl came out of the trainer as the white swords shattered to pieces on contact, only the steel of Efrain's blades managing to cut through.
Riven and Efrain both stared, hissing at the disturbed mound of sand, one from a human mouth, and the other from the vibration of steel. Another failed attempt.
Sacred Sword was supposed to be one the most powerful moves a Doublade could learn, and immediately Riven had set out to trying to bring out the potential in Efrain, seeing as how a fighting type move like that could cut through virtually anything metallic. After his run in with that Bisharp, he wanted to make sure that he had an answer to that metal body. Relying on it to let him get another cut on its other eye would be a good way to get his ass kicked, and there was no telling if he'd encounter something else which featured rocky or metallic hides.
Still, even after three years, he couldn't get it right. No amount of training, meditation, or techniques had improved Efrain's ability to gather the necessary ki to give the blades strength. He could shape them, aye, but the ethereal blades themselves broke like glass against material even a flimsy knife wouldn't struggle against.
Riven kicked up some sand with a foot, growling at the mound.
Gale came over, eyeing him strangely as he continued to growl at an inanimate object. Hands wrapped tightly, she was sweating profusely from practicing with Baron, who'd broken away from the practice battle with Gale's birds to continue her training. "What move are you trying to learn?" She asked, having seen a bright white glow a minute ago.
"Sacred Sword," he answered curtly. "Efrain, again."
The same process followed as glowing white swords shattered like powder.
Scowling deeply, Riven annihilated the mound with a shadow claw, blowing sand upwards from the blast. "Three damn years and I still can't get it right. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, neither does Efrain. I know learning it wouldn't be easy for a ghost, but I didn't imagine it'd be this much of a pain in the dick."
Letting go of Efrain so the ghost could collect himself, Riven noticed how red in the face Gale was. Her skin shined from the sweat. "Ignoring my shitty skills as a trainer, practice is going well? You're dripping."
"Yeah, just tiring as usual," she affirmed, fanning herself lightly. "He has me working on counters and kicks."
"Good. Countering and striking back expends less energy. You don't get tired as quickly." His eyes bulged open as he saw Aine get blown into the water face first like a ragdoll by a gust. After the shock wore off, he couldn't help but snort. "I see you're trying to get Baron and Aine used to fighting at a disadvantage? It's not fun."
"Of course you'd know," she laughed mockingly. He shrugged and she cocked her head in confusion."Not going to train with Will? He does have a lot of varied types on his team. Good pract-" Her face lit up like a star. "Oh! That reminds me! Lucia told me Seren evolved. I haven't seen him yet, how much has he grown?"
Riven looked towards Will's general direction, cringing.
"What's with that horrible face?"
"Just… just call out to him, you'll see." His palm met his forehead hard enough to leave a red handprint on his skin.
"Ah-huh," Gale said suspiciously. She cupped her hands over her mouth and called out to the fox. "Seren!"
The Eon, which had moved on from blasting Rika with ineffective bolts of lightning to running in place a thousand times, completely stopped, ears standing straight up while its eyes darted around in search of the voice. When he finally caught sight of her, he shot forward like a tiny, furry meteor, the whirlwind of sand he left behind showering Will and Quil. The yellow blur of electricity came rushing over to Gale, somehow slowing down enough to become visible.
Gale just managed to catch the electric fox as it knocked her down and snuggled in close. She held Seren away when his electric spines started leaving her skin tingly and numb but the Jolteon was undeterred, joyfully licking her face in her arms.
"It's nice to see you too!" She said, laughing. "You got so big! And… blue. Wait. He's blue. Why is he blue?"
Riven half-snorted. "His trainer wears a cape and grew his hair out so the wind could blow it dramatically. You tell me."
Gale smiled widely, scratching Seren behind the ears despite being painted completely blue. Shaking sand out of his hair, Will called out to him, and the fox scurried back to its trainer like a bolt of lightning. "That little fox shows me energy than you have in your entire life," she said. "Even if he's... painted oddly."
"Hmph. And to think that boundless ball of energy used to sleep so much."
"He's still cute," Gale grinned. "Even though I can't hold him in my arms anymore."
"You spoil your baby pokemon too much."
"I'd like to see you raise a baby pokemon," she chastised with her hands on her hips. "Going to have to since Baron decided to be a horndoom. Someone has to be the adult, and since Mr. Cerul is the trainer, he has to pick up the slack."
Riven blanched, losing all color in his face despite the sun desperately trying to give him some. Kids. He hated kids. Baby pokemon didn't cry as much but… come to think of it, he didn't really ever see baby pokemon. Maybe they were less annoying than human children.
A flash of fire caught Gale's attention, seeing Will and Quil start on a routine of what looked like an elaborate exercise of fire punches and flamethrowers. He broke away from the Typhlosion, spinning and twirling with his flames as the style changed.
"Will's hard at work," she said idly. "I didn't see him when you two were fighting but he must have been good to drive the invincible man back."
"I'm not invincible, else I'd always win." He frowned. "But yeah. He mixed in Sword's Dance with some kind of spinning, dancing style? Surprised the hell out of me too. Pretty hard to follow when a kick going towards your face suddenly hits you in the ankle."
They watched him practice for another minute before Gale started fidgeting. The brunette bit her lip, raised a finger to get Riven's attention but put it down as quickly as she put it up. Should she ask him? Maybe he'd say no…
"Spit it out," he demanded, noting the incessant tapping of her right foot. "You're fidgeting again. Just bloody ask already, I won't melt you with a glare. People would be piles of goo by now if I could do that."
She contemplated the decision, still unsure whether to say it or not. He crossed his arms and tapped two fingers in impatience, egging her to be out with it.
Okay then, let's just see what he says.
"Can you train me? For now, I mean. Baron is sort of busy and you taught him so I thought maybe- Maybe you could help me?" She shrunk in on herself, feeling very small as his eyes narrowed, scanning her body. Not lecherously, more in a is-it-sturdy-and-will-I-break-it kind of way. His gaze settled on her upper body, then her legs, and finally, at her face. By this time, she was sweating bullets.
"No," he answered simply, and went over to go rebuild the sand mound.
"B-but why not?" Gale sputtered, following him. "Please?"
Hands full of sand and crouched low to the ground, he peered up at her as if she was insane. "No."
"Can you at least tell me why?" She cried. "Just saying no doesn't help!"
He set sand down and exhaled through his nose. "I'm not going to train you. Not with that body. And I don't mean it that way. How I was taught isn't at all like Baron's instruction. Train with me and I will hurt you. I don't want you to hate me, Gale."
"I would never-"
He cut her off with a hand. "Yeah, that's what I said too. Except when someone spends hours beating you into the ground and making you taste dirt and mud while he shoves his foot into your side, all the while mocking you, you start to develop some feelings for that person. And very, very choice words."
She shook her head. "I don't care. I want to learn. Even if you beat me into the ground. I won't hate you either, just… please. I…" She glanced away. "I overheard what you and Isole said. That group that caused the Dragon Festival to go the way it did, is that really why you came back to Hoenn?"
"That's not true. I legitimately came back for my pokemon and you. They just happened to coincide." Her face burned at that single word. Riven paused for a moment before continuing to build the sand mound. "I had a feeling you'd be listening. Breathing was off. Your fake-sleeping needs work. She was right though. I don't want you or the others to do something reckless for the sake of following me. These mercs are dangerous, and the people they work for even more so. It's not your fight, best not get involved."
"Didn't we already tell you? We're your friends, we'd follow you anywhere. And if their plans come to work out, it will be our fight," Gale pointed out crossly. "That's why I want to learn how to defend myself, so that when that time comes, I won't have to rely on others to protect me. Do you know how useless I felt at the Dragon Festival?"
Riven said nothing about that, knowing how it felt to watch from the sidelines as the world broke in front of him. "So you want to learn how to fight people. In a non-trainer environment, I assume."
"Yes." Completely serious, she inclined her head. "Please. I don't want to be a burden. Will can fight with his fire, I can't. And if you did it half a million years ago, then I can do it too."
He pursed his lips, wondering if he was going to regret this in the future. "Is there anything I can say to turn you away from this?"
"No," she said sharply. "I'll just pester you until you finally teach me."
"We wouldn't want that, then. I get grumpy when people pester me. Fine. We might as well start now." His eyes turned cold and harsh, donning an expression Gale had only seen twice before. A strange shiver went down her spine. "Get ready and find something to bite on."
Let's see if you still have that attitude after we're done.
Baron, Haona, Yukiko, Emile, Vizi, and Kyne watched in stricken horror as Riven carried Gale over and placed her gently on the ground in front of them. His lip was busted open and dried blood ran down his mouth. Gale's injuries were far worse in comparison; there was bruising along her arms, ribs, and face, with cuts and marks indicative of being gripped far too hard. Her body was battered and beaten, and her mouth was lined with wiped blood. She writhed in pain on the ground, whimpering.
Riven gestured to Baron, who apprehensively walked over to stand above the injured girl. "Use Heal Pulse on her the best you can."
His Gallade held his arm tightly, Did you do this?
Riven ignored him, directing the psychic to focus on the girl.
His other pokemon were understandably horrified, while Gale's were brimming with anger. Riven didn't flinch at the pressure, undoing the wraps on his knuckles then flexing his fingers. Training was training. He'd warned her about what could happen. "She wanted me to train her." He said, carrying his voice so the others could hear. "Like I was trained. No holding back. Female, friend, and companion or not. "
Baron and Aine felt a pit in their stomachs form, flinching from just imagining it. He'd put them through the training too, back in Forina. Even though they were being attacked by a human, the training was brutal on them, giving each their own share of bruises and cuts.
However, they were pokemon. Not humans.
There was a fundamental difference between pokemon and human, though—and with how injured Gale was, that couldn't be more evident. They'd taken harder hits before, shrugging them off with a grunt and a clenching of the teeth. The same move against a human would probably have killed them instead, or shattered so many bones and crushed enough organs that they'd be in serious trouble if they did get hit with it. Durability was not a human's strong suit. In fact, nothing short of leadership and tactics was. Humans were exceptionally fragile physically.
But their trainer was different. He'd always felt that way, less like the trainers they'd seen so much, but something more intimidating, more feral. More of a pokemon. Which he was, technically. Since the beginning with those Mightyena they knew he wasn't like that rest, and that was part of why they followed him. Seeing Gale like this, who'd given them the care and gentle touch their own trainer often lacked, felt terrible though.
Riven, in contrast, stood there, his face unreadable.
Kneeling down in front of her, Baron hovered his arms over her prone body—hands glowing a warm pink when the characteristic ring of energy wrapped around his wrists. Healing waves descended into her body, enveloping her in a comforting pink glow. Slowly, her wounds began to disappear and bruises cleared up, leaving healthy skin behind as if nothing had happened. When he was done and on the verge of passing out, Baron nodded at his trainer, signaling that she was in better condition, not necessarily good, considering she just got beaten into the floor.
Gale woke up a few minutes later, throat parched and unable to swallow properly. She sat up, grunting in pain as her ribs and midsection seemed to burn. Her jaw felt like it would come off when she rubbed it.
She blinked as a water bottle was held out in front of her by her mentor, still wearing that spine-chilling expression of cold indifference. It softened slightly after he bobbed the bottle in the air, insisting.
"Drink, your throat must be dry."
The water bottle was gone in seconds. Riven helped her up with an arm, testing to see if she could walk. She wobbled on her feet for a bit but found her footing and thanked him.
"My whole body hurts… How did I get knocked out?"
"I kicked you in the jaw," he said impassively, ignoring the murderous gazes of her pokemon. "I warned you."
"Is that why it feels so sensitive? Did you break my jaw?"
"I heard a crack. Then you fell."
She couldn't distinctly remember it, but she guessed it must have hit with the power of a sledgehammer. To think that this was what real fighting was like, what the Remnants trained to do to their opponents. True combat training; vicious, deadly, and frighteningly methodical.
"It was broken," Baron confirmed, his arms crossed. "Did you really ask him to train you?"
"Yeah, I did…" She kneaded her ribs, whining softly from the jarring pain. "There are some people out there biding their time to do terrible things. I don't want to be another casualty. I want to protect my team too. If that means breaking my arms or getting so beat up I can't move, I don't care. I know what happened in Sinnoh, and I don't want to be the weakest link, of my team or my party. I don't have fire or special abilities, but I can at least do this."
Her tone was resolute and brimming with a trainer's confidence.
Baron and Haona exchanged glances, a light smile on their faces. "Now you're starting to sound like him."
Gale returned the gesture, which fell apart as she complained about her ribs again. Will came over with his pokemon, wincing when he caught a glimpse of Gale and Riven, who both looked like they'd gotten dragged through a cave and starved for days. "You look like shit. But Gale looks worse. What did you do?" He asked Riven. "Did you kiss her?"
"With armbars, punches and a lot of kicks," Riven returned stoically, undaunted by the loaded question. "She wanted me to train her, so I did. This is the result. I wasn't joking."
Will winced even harder this time, blanching white. "Seriously?"
"Yes. I tried to stop her, she didn't listen."
The youngest trainer turned to the brunette. "God damn, Gale, his punches fucking hurt. Are you nuts? His idea of training scares me, and I light my clothes on fire all the time."
Gale smiled weakly, pointing towards her floating ribs. "I learned that, Will. Several times. If Baron didn't heal me-" She waved at the Gallade in thanks. "-I would have had to go to the hospital, I think. Riven, was it like this every day for you?"
"My instructor broke my arms the first day," he stated simply enough to leave the others gawking. "And my ribs several times in later practices. There wasn't a day in my training that I didn't have bruises at some point. I hated the bastard, but he was a good mentor. Taught me not to have rage blind me in a fight, no matter how much you want to rip the other guy's throat out with your own hands. Let anger do the thinking for you and you die, simple as that. Might as well let it simmer while focusing entirely on killing the other guy first."
Will was incredulous, throwing out a mocking laugh. "Hold on. Hot-blooded Riven? What? Your face is permanently frowning or frozen on a glare. I can't see it."
"Well, surprise. I wasn't just hot-blooded. More like superheated," Riven corrected. "Beat it out of me though. It still comes out occasionally."
Will gulped, recalling the ferocity of their fight and what he did back in Lavaridge. "Err, definitely."
They headed back to the center after training, remaining in Slateport and repeating the process for a few weeks, going through ceaseless and extensive training. Riven and Will practiced with their abilities, much to the former's distaste, while Gale continued her training regimen. Their pokemon trained too, honing their abilities further.
They trained up until the announcement of a strange series of lights outside Driftveil City in Unova. Riven asked Nurse Joy to turn the volume up on the TV, and when the same glow he and Will had seen emerge in the desert ruins was shown, albeit a different color, a wave of concern spread over both of them. Even Gale, who knew as well, paled.
Someone had found another sphere. And it wasn't them.
Watching the pillar of pinkish-white light shoot hundreds of feet into the air, Riven shifted in his seat, facing Will.
"Hey Will. Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"How's your sister doing these days?" He said with a knowing smirk on his face.
Will's lips arched upward, chuckling mischievously. "I haven't seen her in a while, I think I'm starting to miss her. Maybe little brother can pay her a visit?"
Gale blinked, frowning at what the oldest trainer was implying. "Wait, are you seriously going to do this? You're going to Unova? Even though you just got here?"
Riven eyed her, as if what he was saying was obvious. "Someone found that sphere before we did, and it wasn't Nera. I have a sickening feeling I know who did, and that blonde-haired guy who paralyzed me owes me another round. This time I'm not alone."
"How are you so sure that this hidden group will stick around?"
He reclined in his seat, twirling darkness between his fingers. "When you get a new toy, what do you do with it?" He twined his fingers in thought. "What's the most attractive city in Unova? Where do people flock to there?"
"Castelia," Will answered, saying the first thing that came to mind. "It's the business center of the region, Lucia told me about it. Businessmen and trainers go there from different regions all over the world. The streets are always full."
No, that wasn't what he was looking for. Riven shook his head.
"Let me rephrase. What's a city in Unova that will definitely have cameras for the world to see? These guys don't think in one step, they look three, four, five into the future. In Lumiose they fucked us from so many angles we had no idea what happened. It took a massive cover-up and an intervention from me and Steven to prevent complete catastrophe, and even that wasn't enough. People still aren't over it, and they trust the Kalosian league even less. What's a location that could potentially send a region into disarray?"
"Oh shit." Will breathed. "That's… It's Nimbasa. There isn't a building there that doesn't have some kind of camera."
"Nimbasa… The entertainment capital of the entire world," Gale mused. "If that gets attacked, and trainers get blamed…"
"Then that would mean that Team Plasma would be right." Riven concluded, having studied up on the teams extensively in the past three years. "Trainers wouldn't be fit to have command over pokemon. Massive protests would break out. Unova already has problems with the leftover Plasma supporters and their protests too, right? I heard one of them got seriously out of hand when Sinnohan representatives visited—devolved into some serious violence. Should Nimbasa get attacked, and depending how bad it is, things could get just as bad as Sinnoh."
And if the officials and the UFOs were unaware, the state of affairs would be elevated further from shit creek to shit ocean.
"Nimbasa broadcasts to the entire world on air, especially Elesa's shows and… oh my god." Gale fought the urge to gasp, inhaling sharply. Suddenly all the small, disorganized protests that never seemed to go anywhere in Hoenn made a frightening amount of sense.
They were buildups, seeds of mistrust waiting to sprout. Several cities in the region were already starting to mistrust trainers, and the nasty looks multiplied over the years.
"Hoenn would see it. Every region would see it. They're trying to spread fear."
"Break the enemies' spirit and you don't have to fight," Riven muttered darkly. "One of the basic principles of war. I knew they were behind this."
Their methods were far too elaborate and they covered their tracks so as to make it seem like all these things they did were unrelated, flying under the radar with clever usage of misdirection to avoid official attention while they worked in the shadows—manipulating events to their liking, unlike the past teams.
The thing about tracking a clever target, though? It forced the hunter to be smarter, more cunning than its prey. Singularity and Charaph. Their overall goal was still a haze, but he was starting to get the idea.
"Hoenn's not the only target, they're focusing on the entire world. And they're disabling the largest threat to them first, trainers. They have the power to stop them, after all, they don't want another exceptionally powerful trainer to stroll in and destroy everything, that's why they hired mercs. I hate to admit it, but they know their tactics well."
He stood up, feeling strangely with purpose again.
"This should be interesting."
"Wait, Riven. Wait," Gale demanded. "You think just us three are going to be enough?"
"Nope. But that's why we have friends. Will, give your sister a call. I'll let Steven know. And Gale?"
She furrowed a brown brow, not looking forward to what crazy idea he'd come up with next. "Erm, yeah…?"
"Contact Seab and Amy. Tell them you have a quest for them. I'll go get things ready and-"
"It's the middle of winter in Unova," Gale pointed out irritably, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Unlike Hoenn, they actually have seasons there. Snow is everywhere right now. Might want to think about that after Isole nearly turned us into ice sculptures and before you start making plans. That's how stupid adventurers die."
Riven's momentum fell flat and died. "Fine. After we buy some winter clothes. Let's go already."
He walked out of the center, pulling out his holo caster to presumably notify Steven.
"So pushy when it comes to things," Will said to Gale with a humph. "Does he ever relax?"
"Relax isn't in his vocabulary. I feel bad for his kids, if he ever has any." Gale remarked and sighed softly, before turning her attention back to the television, a familiar dread preceding any feelings of excitement or adventurousness.
"-Reports of the hated Sayre cult have been increasing among the Unovan and Hoenn populace, with numerous trainers displaying 'suspicious and deplorable' behavior in the past few months. The Sinnohan Champion, Za-"
Gale turned and left, following Will out of the center, clipping on her pokebelt.
Hundreds of miles away, sitting on top of the Nimbasa City Ferris Wheel, a blonde-haired man licked a popsicle, counting the stars in the sky among the sea of darkness.
In his hands, a metallic piece of metal glowed white with etchings, calling to its brethren, ready to become whole again.
This is so late and I apologize. School has been whooping my ass with assignments and midterms. I had 3 midterms and 3 papers due last week, all on Tuesday and Wednesday while also writing a research paper too. I spent an entire week at the library AND took more shifts because lease signing season is up right now.
Anyway, I just wanted to talk about the nature of ice powers and how pokemon break reality.
Considering what happened (freezing most of the surrounding area from drawing energy away from things and freezing water vapor from the flipping air) an ice type would let out so much energy in doing that they'd practically explode. Now, they also need energy to produce this ice, and considering that infinity energy is called this for a reason, they use that as a power source. A power source that can freely convert energy to matter out of thin air, as we see gallons of water come out of a Lotad that I could drown with my piss.
The amount of energy that would require, even for a scrubby Lotad is mind boggling.
Where exactly this infinity energy comes from is unknown as it isn't really explained in the canon, either.
Nonetheless, it's the answer to all the impossible things pokemon can do. I mean, they outright ignore the conservation of mass and 2nd law of thermodynamics pretty damn hard. Naturally, this would apply to humans who've evolved as well, taking it a step further with mega-evolution, as they draw from the world first before tapping into this extra-dimensional infinity energy.
It's a pretty interesting concept, to be honest.