Tearing the Heavens

by Cepel

A young soldier from a once great family is thrust into the future and ends up in an unfamiliar and bizarre world, where his presence can cause complications both ancient and modern. He inadvertently becomes a trainer through mere misunderstanding and sets off in a journey to discover his own self and where he stands in a world that isn't his own.

69. Opportunities

Reviews are messed up again and not showing up. Fanfiction pls.

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Riven arrived in Nacrene, infuriated and just barely keeping his temperament in check. The entire city was on alert as expected, and trainers were already being urged to retreat to the centers as a safety precaution. Police were out on the streets trying to desperately curb the influx of questions and subverted-although highly evident- distress. Nacrene was in a full blown panic. From what he'd seen in the surrounding routes as he flew over was that the trainers out on the roads hadn't gotten the memo yet.

Cities were a different story. There were so many colors swirling in his eyes that he had to focus to block them out while fighting the nausea and trying to ignore the swaying. He stared at the sky, fear and paranoia mixing in the air like someone had gotten several buckets of paint and threw it into the blue expanse.

Then let it drip into a nice, colored deluge of fuck.

Seeing it made him want to strangle someone, namely Sabine Fullon, who managed to royally fuck up everything. They were trying to keep both of the aforementioned things to a minimum and take care of things quietly but no, she just had to go and do something stupid.

And now he was behind the gym, snarling at Allen over the phone, all but demanding to know where she was.

"Prime…" Allen pleaded with a sigh. "I'm, uh, saying this with reasonable concern. That tone of voice is worrying the hell out of me."

"I just want to talk," Riven said with a barely contained curl of the lip. That tone could sand the paint off steel.

"I'm convinced our definitions of 'talk' are separated by entire dimensions, actually. Increasingly so."

Riven scoffed sardonically. "Already believing what she said? I don't go around slicing peoples' throats open just because they did something stupid. I would settle for a gigantic punch to the mouth, followed by thirty minutes of ridicule, then a light sprinkle of urine."

"I'm glad you're able to restrain yourself. And that's not what I meant," Allen replied evenly. "All I'm saying is that… well, you sound livid. I get it too- damn, I didn't expect this either. This is going to be hard to fix, hell, I don't think we can fix this. Needless to say, Yates is as snappy as you are. Tensions are running high at the moment, I don't need you going around turning the streets red. Where are you right now?"

Riven's lip did curl this time, sitting down on a log to stare down the Nacrene gym wall with a burning hatred.

"Nacrene. Considering the most important cities in the region are where I'm not, she's probably somewhere in central Unova, and I'm at the region's ass end. If only I had a convenient teleportation device. Oh wait, I do, except I can't use that either. Fuck."

"Pokemon biology isn't all that it's cranked up to be, huh?" Allen hummed, thinking. "Traveling on bird… it'd take you a while to get back. Assuming I did tell you where we're keeping her, how would you get to her by then? Technically she didn't break any rules, so we can't detain her… not for very long at least. And so far, she hasn't said a thing. Doesn't trust us."

"It'll be hard to find someone that does after this, Allen."

The operative let out a depreciating laugh. "I know right? What a day to be alive. Makes that time I got a hole blasted in me feel like a birthday. Also, I don't approve of torture to get information, and scaring her won't do anything but tell you whatever to make you stop."

"I know that too," Riven admitted sourly. He went quiet, pinching the bridge of his nose to stem the headache and dread of the future. "The UFOs won't be able to talk to me. Not to Prime. At least they shouldn't or they'd be idiots to do so. And Nathan the Kalosian trainer has no business or legal sway to question someone without getting thrown in jail. That bitch tied my hands, and soon the entire League. And she didn't even mean to do it. That's the worst part."

"Unfortunately," Allen said soberly. "Plasmas are already rallying on the net from outrage, and she publically called out the Sayres. Fanatics tend not to like that sort of thing, violent ones less so." He took a moment to collect himself. "Listen… no one's going to turn you in… but if things get worse, and they already are, the League can't rely on you or vice versa. We can turn a blind eye because you protected a public figure, moral affiliations not withstanding. We're not the police who give into public pressure. With the footage though, if someone sees you swinging those things around, that might cause pro-"

"I know what it damn means." Riven snapped. "Shit, sorry. I know… I know I can't use Efrain without being discovered and causing a lot of unwanted attention." He groaned. "Allen, how many badges do I need in order to legally kill someone if I get attacked first? Theoretically, hypothetically. If—that were to happen. Theoretically."

"I don't like where this is going."

"And neither do I, but what choice do I have? How many?"

"I swear I've had this conversation with another crazy trainer before. Going down unpleasant memory lane here..."

"Yeah that one pregnant girl, I know. Allen has terrible, terrible nightmares at night of a teenage girl with no sense of shame. She was a handful."

"And you're not?" Allen shot back dryly. "From what I recall, she doesn't get herself mixed up in regional emergencies, let alone be the cause of one source of peoples' paranoia. She's also not a raging psychopath."

"Elesa was about to get a bullet lodged into her brain, I had to do something. I'll also have you know I'm not a raging psychopath, I only occasionally commit murder when absolutely necessary. There's a difference and murder isn't always convenient, as you see today. You're just informing a citizen of their rights and all that."

Allen didn't believe him for a second.

"You're a foreigner, and not even a citizen, so I doubt that. Regardless, it's four for lethal force in self defense and self defense only, so don't think you can get away with effortlessly slaying five people and claiming it was just defending yourself. That wouldn't fly a centimeter in court. I've seen you fight. If you want to get actively involved, you'd need six or higher. Eight if you want some say into UFO cases and official cases, and that's if you're Unovan born or a trainee operative like Lucia's brother. Foreigners get background checks, and you don't have a background in this world. Literally. Blank page comes up and that instantly crosses you out, only people with blank pages are criminals and people dangerous and resourceful enough to eliminate any traces that they ever existed; QED—there is never a good reason for not having a record. This day and age that's pretty hard to do without some shady connections. I don't have to tell you that, though. The police in Hoenn were pretty stupid to have gone after you like that. Sometimes fervor can push people to do incredibly stupid things."

Riven more or less nodded his head, even if the operative couldn't see it. Allen cleared his throat, wishing for some water. And probably something stronger.

"Still, once she gets out of detainment, she'll disappear into some hole and pull it in after her. I don't know about you but it's already starting to snow up north. I wouldn't advise trying to rush the gyms in the training climate to come, especially with weeks worth of travel time because you can't fly when there's a blizzard, you'll fall right out of the sky. Winter is dangerous enough as it is, so I'm really warning you here, getting that many badges is impossible for someone that can't teleport. Not to mention intraregional teleportation is a bit illegal. And after this, you can't afford to go illegally. Lay off this time, we'll get her to talk if we can stall and press her enough. At the rate the Plasma fervor is going, we can use that against her, since she's pretty much the head now. Just wait it out for once, stop being a stubborn twit."

As much as Riven hated the downsides of being a dark type, he never hated the disadvantage of not being able to teleport more than he did at the moment. Being idle was arguably much worse, especially when the region devolved into a shit spiral while doing so.

Most of the late gym circuit gyms were located far north, in Opelucid and Icirrus—places that would be covered in snow and ice, thus impeding passage. Emile wouldn't make it. Dragons definitely wouldn't. He'd come down like a meteor if he tried.

It was a natural progression halter, a giant wall of snow and cold that all but halted any progress for any trainer that wasn't either the most stubborn thorn in the side or was Zubat-shit crazy. While he was both, getting the eight badges to even get a shot at legally interrogating Sabine… Assuming he did get the badges, how would he interrogate her? He wasn't a cop, so the nonviolent approach wasn't feasible at all. Nor was storming her hideout, murdering everyone, and aggressively interrogating her either—not to mention that something like that would be… pretty bad. In fact, it'd be a surefire way to screw up things even further, not that he wanted that. Life was hard as is. Allen was also right, a little fact which made his blood boil, rapidly cool with the power of reason, and commence vaporizing again.

"Uh… Prime? You didn't hang up, did you?"

"Yes," Riven deadpanned. "Where is she now?" He sounded less angry and quite a bit more disappointed. Yes, the wonderfulness of reality.

"She's being held in Castelia," Allen stated, with less apprehension and far more confidence. Riven deduced it was because Allen knew that he couldn't reach her in time. That also pissed him off. He liked Allen, he did. Good man. But he didn't like that Allen was a crafty son of a bitch, despite the mothering attitude and all. Dealing with one blonde asshole on the other side of the law was enough. "What are you going to do now?"

Twitching with fury at the circumstances and feeling like he wanted to emit a tribal scream that could give a dragon a run for its money, he pointedly stomped his way over to the front of Lenora's gym, eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'm going to get those badges, Allen. I heard sweeping gyms with a perfect record and little effort makes you a serious badass. Enough to give you some clout anywhere. Sweet deal."

Riven heard what sounded like a face hitting a desk.

"For fuck's- Why? Didn't I just tell you that was a bad idea? Let me reiterate here: it's a bad idea you stubborn bastard. Blizzards kill people. INCLUDING people who are half pokemon!"

"Snow isn't going to stop me. Didn't stop me half a million years ago, won't now."

Allen almost yelled in frustration. God, this fucking guy.

"Prime, you're just going to get into more trouble than it's worth."

"Yeah? Well, sitting on my toes would just let it find me, and in a much less advantageous position, I've learned. Let's see if the law isn't as incompetent as all of Unova believes you to be," Riven added snidely. "Wish me luck."

"I hope one of the gym leaders floors you."

"I doubt it and thank you for the uplifting words. Call me in case you find anything," Riven ended the call with a satisfied smirk. Eyeing the pokeball symbol atop the gym's entrance with more irritation than determination, he started forward.

He strode into Lenora's gym, didn't say a word as he released Aine, and single handedly swept the gym. The gym trainers didn't even bother asking him those inane trivia questions either. After he curbstomped the first cocky gym trainer, the others practically led him to Lenora rather than waste his time. Maybe it was because he had a fire pokemon in a gym full of books and wood. Lenora seemed to have a small heart attack every time one of Aine's attacks went awry, and breathed a sigh of relief when he took the badge and left.

When he entered the pokemon center, there were already trainers talking in there, scared out of their wits. Some spoke about Sayre followers, and with every mention of the name, several trainers seemed to shudder, as if Sayre was a demon to be feared. For all intents and purposes, he might have been. Him and his Garchomp.

The kid was never part of the cult, but an image was worth a thousand words, or more in this case. And those crazed followers of his definitely made his out to be some kind of demented messiah of sorts.

They were scared, and they had every right to be. First, a cult of crazy fanatics. And now a merc with no visible loyalties and obligations, viciously cutting through people like it was another Tuesday.

No matter what the underlying cause or story, seeing someone savagely rip others apart didn't register happy, cozy feelings of warmth, friendliness, and camaraderie. Riven carefully took off Efrain's pokeball from his belt, placing it into his trainer bag instead. Should the pokeball release the ghost by some freak accident… bad things would ensue indeed.

Damn Unova and their exclusivity. Doublades were extremely noticeable. Maybe he could convince someone that there was another trainer with them. Shiny Doublades, though? Good luck. There was no level of bullshit that could possibly convince someone that there was another of those. Too distinctive.

What could turn a trainer's mouth into a frothing, spazzing mess would render them screaming, horrified wrecks now.

Prime wasn't reliable anymore, at least, not in public. He hadn't even had the time to perfect sacred sword either. He'd trained in the forest, away from Juniper's eye, but it wasn't enough. The blades still didn't have the strength he needed, and while they lasted longer, they continued shattering after just a few strikes.

Now, he'd have to rely on his prowess as a trainer, and trainers didn't kill anyone unless absolutely necessary. That meant he was limited to nonlethal tactics, which placed another set of restrictions on him, apart from not being to use his Nightmare abilities. Quite a drag, to be frank.

Away from prying eyes, he could unleash hell as Prime, even though realistically he knew that those situations wouldn't happen too often. If they did, well then he'd have to count his blessings and find a religion to pray to when karma came knocking. So basically, he needed to collect at least four badges so officials wouldn't breathe down his neck in case someone had a death wish.

Riven nodded to himself with a resigned dip of the head. Wonderful stuff.

Nearing Castelia, he was spotted by a patrol and instantly had three Braviarys surrounding him. Rangers.

When he touched down, the lead ranger fixed him with a scowl, shaking his head. He was a grizzled looking man, with stubble and more than a few battle scars on his face and arms. Serious ones, from battles associated usually with those of the to-the-death variety. Not the type of guy typically seen on the main routes where mostly younger trainers traveled.

Rangers were incredibly understaffed here too, huh? That was comforting for the safety of the region. Completely.

After spinning a grand tale weaved of copious amounts of bullshit, claiming to be the son of wealthy owners of Kalos' biggest biotech corporation, a shitty smirk, and an empty threat of a lawsuit using lawyers that could (supposedly) siphon the piss out of the biggest names in the business, Riven managed to escape a ticket. Ceruline Industries was certainly the largest and most totally legit corporation. Yes, he'd run with that. Rangers really didn't like to get involved with that kind of thing, so ideally they wouldn't question it.

Hah.

By the time the rangers realize he'd pulled the Mareep wool over their eyes, he'd be long gone. Sucked to be them. Emile even laughed about it. That's how he knew it was good, that bird was like an old lady with how often he bitched about things.

Flying low and under the cover of night when he could, using the less patrolled portions of the route to cover his flight, he arrived in Castelia within a few days, entering the city near midnight. Flying sped things up despite being forced to walk or run by daylight when the rangers were out. By then most of the businesses had closed and little to no one was found on the street, which was incredibly odd since the last time he'd been here the streets weren't nearly as empty. Even the beggars made themselves scarce. Weren't the UFOs supposed to be patrolling?

Silent streets were eerie, a by-product notion of living in a modern city perhaps. Just didn't feel right. That's how he knew he'd gotten used to this world; it felt less normal without the people than with them.

As he neared the pokemon center in central Castelia, he stopped at an empty intersection, noting that there was someone watching him. Taking one step, then two, Riven scanned the darkened buildings with his eyes, making out faint outlines of people hidden around corners.

If they were trying to be sneaky, they weren't very good at it.

Slowly, four uniformed grunts emerged from the dark alleyways, pokemon in tow. They wore black vests with militaristic berets bearing a white cross on the rim, face covered by a mask. On their vests was a blue P framed by a shield; the mark of Team Plasma. Not the peaceful protestors that had taken the original light blue uniform of the original Team, but the one led by Ghetsis that had almost destroyed Unova using a legendary dragon, no less.

And just about a week ago they were promoting nonviolence. That spoke of how quick things could change. One step forward, five steps back.

They approached slowly, releasing more pokemon as they closed in on him. Another deliberate glance around as Riven turned around briefly, gauging the pokemon around.

Liepard, Unfezant, Musharna, Gigalith, Sawk, Scrafty, Klinklang, Elektross, Golurk, Heatmor. Not playing are they?

Bringing out Efrain and scaring them shitless was a viable, and oddly satisfying option, but a good old-fashioned four on one didn't sound so bad.

"Surrender your pokemon and we'll let you go without getting hurt… Too much," one of them spoke up. "You're probably one of them, definitely look the type, monster. Come to kill some more people, did you? We're not going to let you abuse pokemon to do that; it ends here."

Riven started clapping, chuckling with odd amusement at the accusation, spinning in a circle to taunt them. "Sayre? Please. And yet you want to hurt me if I don't give my pokemon to you? Well now, who's the hypocrite here? You're just like the Sayres! You both want to take pokemon away from their trainers, only your lot lets the trainer live with the pain. You think you're better? I guess grunts really are that stupid. No wonder your protests amounted to a bundle of shit. Why listen to hypocrites, right?"

Wasn't that golden? A liar lecturing a bunch of people about hypocrisy. At least he was an honest liar.

"Why you- Is that something someone who's outnumbered should be saying?" Another said. "Scrafty, Sawk! Take him down before he brings out his pokemon! Double kick! Brick Break!"

Trainer first? Oh shit, they're actually serious, Riven swallowed as he sidestepped a glowing fist, then going low and sliding beneath the Sawk as it flew into the air, kicks aimed for his head. He got to his feet and immediately dipped back into a forward roll, turning his body backwards to come upright as the Scrafty's attention returned to him. Another glowing fist collided into the floor hard enough to create a crater in the concrete, spreading cracks along the floor as bits and pieces of ground rained into the air. In the explosion of dust, Riven threw several objects into the air high above, hidden in the darkness and dust.

Unfazed and looking like he'd just come back from a good run, Riven dusted off his clothes and hair, grinning casually as the grunts stared in disbelief that a trainer of all things had just outmaneuvered two fighting pokemon. Funny thing. Fighting pokemon had natural instincts, sure, but did they really know combat? Most of their trainers didn't, so they didn't either. Instincts got you far, though they weren't everything. You could be predisposed to being a good fighter, that didn't necessarily make you good enough to fight someone with years of experience. Most fighting pokemon had the general idea of what to do, they just lacked the specifics. And while he couldn't exactly fight the two pokemon without revealing that he wasn't normal, he could run circles around them. Their movements were sloppy and unrefined, and much slower than Baron or Aine's.

A normal person would have a hard time keeping up physically, but he wasn't normal.

Heightened reflexes were useful anywhere, and didn't exactly give anything away. Was it cheating because he was half pokemon? Maybe. But he was a dark type and the grunts had no way of knowing that. For all they knew, he was just an immense badass. Psychological pressure. That was good. People got a lot more apprehensive when they knew they were fighting someone so irredeemably awesome, as Will would put it.

Even if that image was just a thinly held lie. Especially if it was a lie. Four on one was hard normally, so he kind of hoped this didn't go too south.

Cocking his head back, and putting his hands into his pockets, Riven cackled with fake arrogance. "So I'm outnumbered, huh? Interesting, because from where I'm standing, I think you have it much the opposite. You claim to have more pokemon, but-"

Flashes of light followed as his pokeballs came down, releasing Baron, Haona, Aine, and Boagrius. A ball of radiant light like the sun shot into the sky, briefly turning the intersection into day as sunny day took effect. Flames rose around Aine while psychic power enveloped Baron, with Haona's horn growing into a large green sickle that could rend flesh from bone as whirlwinds kicked up behind her, produced by the powerful wingbeats of Emile.

The air, fire and light around Riven made him feel really damn cool. A longcoat for added effect would have been nice. Alas, it was not to be so.

The Scrafty and Sawk backed up warily, joining their trainers.

They wanted to take away his team? He always did tell Gale what he'd do to people who thought they could. Letting some steam out never hurt anyone. Heh, well. That wasn't always true. Knives emerged from his pockets, gleaming in the bright green light coming to his right.

Six more Plasmas emerged from the shadows, followed by even more flashes of light. All it did was make Riven's smile widen, he needed to vent some steam, after all. Healthy, wasn't it? Not let your emotions bottle up? Well...

"-Let's test that theory, shall we? Boagrius, fire."

The intersection exploded.

---

Sweat poured off Gale's forehead, almost sizzling as the heat of Quil's flames passed her by, parted by a flick of the wrist, a rising wave of air coming to meet it midway. Vizi angled her descent, wreathed in blue flames as flare blitz turned her into a falling meteor to intercept the next volume of fire. She spun, her wings creating a funnel of superheated air, diffusing the fireblast to mix with her own flames. Gale focused, concentrating hard on the air molecules and willing them to move.

The winds picked up, forming a twister of searing flames. With a yell, wind bent to her will, unleashing it back towards Will and his team. Seren scampered out of the infernal storm. Will, however, stood in place, smiling.

"Rock tomb!"

Quil roared, feet slamming into the ground, mane flaring, boulders rising to collide with the firestorm. Heat and wind crashed against the rock with howls and roars, tearing the rock to pieces and continuing its advance.

"Oh shit," Will swore. "Casca, hydro pump!"

The scattered remains of Gale's attack was put out in a hiss of vapor as a torrent of water shot out, even blasting Vizi into a nearby wall and putting out the flames around her too for an added bonus.

Gale wasn't done though.

"Yukiko, ice beam! Slow down Seren!"

The ghost appeared behind her, a beam of frost forming at the tip of her mouth. She aimed it at the floor first, creating a frozen path of icicles along the ground to cut off Seren's escape before aiming upward in Will's direction. He shot a flamethrower out of his palm, which clashed with the ice beam and exploded into a cloud of steam and icy dust. Using the distraction, Kyne flew forward like a bolt of light, wings leaving glowing trails as he sped through the air. Yukiko's presence and the cold from the ice chilled the immediate area, drastically lowering the temperature of the molecules in the air.

In that one moment, Gale could feel two streams of wind coming together at different temperatures, both identical and yet completely different from one another. She'd studied aerodynamics and wind to get a better feel for what she could actually do, and this came to her a few days ago, leaving her eager to try it. Weeks ago, she hadn't been able to discern the fluctuations in the air, let alone call on the wind itself. And now, she could feel slight differences and how each could affect the air currents she commanded.

Wind wasn't just about cutting or blowing in a direction. It was about pressure, temperature and contrast. Each current, each wave demanded careful attention, balancing multiple conditions in order to control, no matter how fast or gentle the winds were. Will was surprisingly thorough about how to handle fire, and how similar it was to wind. A lot of their earlier training had been minute applications, teaching her how to notice her element first, something that frustrated her at first. Despite being a pretty wacky guy, Will was surprisingly earnest with his teaching. He emphasized connecting with the element, something that Riven really didn't focus on. Almost like he wanted to shun his. Maybe it was because his wasn't elemental, and wasn't meant for training? She didn't know.

Between the searing heat and the freezing cold in the large training arena created by the previous attacks, a new current had formed. Pressure rose and fell within the space of two extremes, causing rapid changes in the arena's atmosphere as a new current formed. With a grin, she seized that current, straining with pain at how difficult it was to take hold of something so damn fast, lifting it and propelling Kyne through it. The bird let out a cry of exhilaration as the jetstream further increased his speed. Casca used another hydro pump to try and shoot Kyne out of the sky, but was astonished to see her water blown back into a useless spray when paired against hundred mile per hour winds. When Kyne collided against her, she was smashed into the wall with a crunch, barely able to perceive the Swellow's newfound speed.

Will barely held his stance when the jetstream broke apart as pressure and temperature stabilized. It'd felt like he got thrown into a wind tunnel on full blast. He had to hold onto Quil just to stay on his feet. Seren was lifted off his feet and almost thrown against the wall, had the fox not used quick attack and a volt charge to speed out of the headwinds.

Kyne stumbled out somewhat dizzy, having gotten used to the recoil from brave bird. This time was definitely worse when pain erupted from his side as the exhilaration wore off. One of his wings was bent.

Gale returned him instantly.

Will turned around and waved his arms, calling off the spar. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Gale what the hell was that?"

The girl couldn't even answer him as she took a seat on the floor, feeling her head going light. She laid down to keep her dinner from exiting her stomach. Gray eyes stared up as red ones looked down at her, joined by brown and black when Quil and Seren made their way over. Yukiko also hummed in concern, hovering safely above them. Evie-who'd been watching from the sidelines- sniffed her and helped her to her feet, letting her trainer use her back as a support when she stumbled again.

"I… I felt the change, Will! I made a jetstream!" Gale gushed excitedly. "Holy crap! I could feel the speed and the power and the… god. I wish I could fly myself. When the heat and the cold came together… it just blended-you know? Like-"

"-Like it fits?" Will responded with a cheeky grin. "Now you're starting to ease into it. First time I got near Mt. Chimney after this happened and I could feel the lava moving under me… shit, Gale. I felt amazing, like I was the heart of the volcano. And when I used my first flare blitz, man. I figured, I must be a complete badass. Now then, then we were cooking with gas. So, how did it feel fighting with your pokemon? Awesome, isn't it?"

Gale blinked, taking a rag that Will held out to her. Her black uniform was damp with sweat and clung to her uncomfortably, while Will looked perfectly fine. "It was… interesting," she said after a minute. "Hmmmm, things just synched. I was actually in the fight and I-I felt like I was a commander charging into battle with them. I'm only still settling down."

She held out a hand, and Will nodded when he saw her trembling. A good kind of tremble. She also didn't want to squeal.

"Now you see why our favorite crazy fuck likes it so much. It's either addicting, or we're secretly addicted to violence, not sure which one."

Gale frowned. "I'd like to think I'm not too violent… Spending time with Riven changes your outlook on things. Seeing him gut a Minccino didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. I hope he's alright with everything going on lately. Actually, I'm scared he's probably already murdered someone because they tried to mess with him."

Will could see that happening. Their funeral. "Did you call him? After that Plasma girl… you know, went and ruined everything? Whole region hates us now. Lucia let out so many curses I thought she swallowed a Grimer."

Gale winced and let herself sigh. "No… I figured I'd let him sort it out. He was in Nuvema, so I don't expect him to get into much trouble? Then again-"

Will started laughing, clapping his knee at the joke. "Right—like we both believe that. You're kind of right, though. He won't be able to do much, probably just needs to find something to do meanwhile. Visit a red light district maybe…"

Gale gave him a dirty look. Castelia did have one, but no respectable person went there. Not that Riven was in any form a respectable person. He did have standards.

Well… she hoped he did.

"He wouldn't," Gale replied confidently. Her confidence pretty much dissolved once she actually thought about the lengths at which Riven would go to get information. Though seduction usually worked in the opposite way and well… that wasn't his forte. Like, at all.

"Of course he wouldn't," Will scoffed. "He doesn't believe in de-stressing without beating something up. Really needs to find himself a girl soon." He coughed unusually loudly. "Anyway, I'm going to go shower. I'm all sweaty and stuff."

"Sweaty, you? Look at me, my shirt is practically spandex!" Gale complained. She pulled the hem of it and cringed from how it clung to her. Will could shrug off heat like it was just another summer day, but she wasn't resistant to it at all, and his training involved lots and lots of fire.

Convection sucked.

"Not going to," Will refused. "Riven wouldn't let me. He told me that if I touch you, I won't have hands. Scurry."

"Wait… Are you serious?" Gale was oddly interested, which made Will even more enticed to poke fun.

"Nope. Actually, I don't know. Maybe? I'm just doing it to get a rise out of you. Fuel the fire, as it were."

He cackled. Seren mimicked him.

"Ass," she huffed. "I thought we had a deal?"

"Hey," Will shot back with two fingers. "Someone has to be a substitute for some ribbing, and you're my disciple, so you're the ideal target." He took a sniff. "Yuck. Now go shower too, you don't smell like girl right now. Get Kyne checked too, his wing is at a ninety degree angle. No training for the next few days, you're already missing Emile and Kyne's out until his wing gets fixed. That only leaves you with three usable pokemon and Yukiko melts if Quil so much as sneezes on her. By the way, you hungry? Because I'm hungry."

Gale hid her joy at not having to train her brains out. A break was nice. Not that she'd let her supposed "master" know.

"Starving, actually. Do they give trainees salaries?"

"Yes they do, and you're still broke, right?"

Gale nodded miserably. She'd been living off the center food and board- they didn't charge for rent costs, thank god- so she held onto whatever meager funds she could get. And there weren't many trainers you could realistically battle in Black City. Fines for property damage were enormous here, given the overall look of the place.

"Alright, well, meet me in that one restaurant on Ninth. The one with the really good tacos? Yeah, that one. Think it's still open."

"Aren't you supposed to be eating healthy?"

"Once won't hurt, and I've been craving them for a long while. Protein shakes get old fast. See you there though, don't leave me hanging or I'll make you do more focus training. I know you hate it."

"Please no," she pleaded. "My wise master, I'll die, save me!"

Gale threw herself to the floor dramatically.

"Your sins are absolved," he said, motioning for her to rise. "Later!"

Will returned his pokemon and walked off. Nearing the door, the training area's simulation dissolved back into the white room it once was, leaving Gale in the center with what was left of her team. Black City's UFO training center was pretty amazing. It could simulate environments that honestly felt as real as the air she breathed, and any damage sustained was completely erased upon a reset. Since UFO trained pokemon were incredibly strong, they couldn't use traditional training arenas because of exponentially high repair costs, so this was invented instead. Solved everyone's problems.

They'd usually train late at night so no one could see their spars and sessions. Saved them quite a few heart attacks after Yukiko's ice beam missed and froze half a building over, not to mention that time when she blew Will off the building—and that wasn't even getting into the number of times he nearly set her ablaze. Still occasionally did it too.

When she made it back to the center and cleaned up, she met Will at the restaurant, flipping through the news feed as they ate. She frowned when she saw the current state of affairs. Lucia had given them more in-depth information about everything since the broadcast, and none of it was uplifting in the slightest sense of the word. Most of it was about the same as what the news and the tabloids were saying, if a fair bit more detailed.

Since it broadcasted, record numbers of trainers and non-trainers had joined the Plasma ranks after the UFOs refused to release a statement about the Nimbasa incident. When they did, including the details of what actually happened to Elesa's Zebstrika, people exploded. Public outrage and some rioting occurred, although the UFOs and local police halted that fairly quickly.

She felt bad for Elesa, who looked worse every time she was asked a question about Lancer. Her television appearances were becoming fewer and last she heard, the gym leader was ill. Pokemon thefts rose nearly sixty percent in the last few days, and there were reports of murders already happening.

The Sayres really hadn't liked getting called out, and were fighting back. They hadn't said anything due to UFOs keeping the news stations locked down tight with security, but that didn't stop them from issuing online threats.

As for the deaths… Some of the bodies had messages written on them, taunting the police and the Plasmas alike. While not released to the public, there were already reports of fighting occurring between them and the Plasmas. None of which ended well for either sides involved.

And this was just in the span of a few days.

Currently, Lucia was assigned to Aspertia for the time being because of the emergency, and already some trainers had their pokemon stolen. Starters too. One trainer even turned up dead, an ace trainer that was returning to visit family. No doubt there'd be more in the coming days or weeks.

Nothing but horrible news. Just reading the headlines made her gut churn. She stared outside at the dimly lit streets of Black City and sighed. Will finished chewing a mouthful and snapped a finger to get her back down to earth again.

"Worried about everything, huh?"

"Aren't you? There's a lot of vulnerable trainers out there, and law enforcement is going to have an extremely hard time. Hard to think that there are some people out there getting mugged or killed right now. I don't envy the UFOs or the police."

Will shrugged, stuffing his face again. "Truthfully, situation's fucked. No other way to put it. We just gotta deal with it. Somehow."

"You're awfully calm. I'd say you look happy too, did they give you your license yet?" Gale asked. Will had been looking forward to it for a while.

Red eyes danced with glee as a wide grin spread across Will's face. "Better, Yates kind of gave me special permission to put a unit together. For combat situations!"

Gale made a face, a fair bit lost. "Unit? What kind of unit?"

He glanced around and whispered closely, "A special unit for people with special traits, like me. I'm not going to lead it, obviously, but I will be a big part of it."

"What? Seriously?"

"Seriously," he confirmed proudly. "Not even joking."

She paused to think about it. How would that work out in the field, considering that shooting fire out of your hands wasn't exactly the most stealthy of abilities. If it wasn't the light or sound that gave it away, the screaming probably would.

"That's great… I guess? Does that mean you're an operative now?" She decided against clapping until he confirmed it. So she settled for an unenthusiastic woohoo instead.

"Err… that I don't know yet, but it's a start! Oh, and, uh… there's just… one tiny little, incy wincy thing. This is kinda why I wanted you to come talk with me. And well…"

Will twiddled his thumbs nervously.

"What?" Gale didn't like the sound of his voice. "Stop stalling! Just say it."

"You kinda, how do I say this without-nevermind, here goes." He prepared himself with a huge inhalation of air. "You got kind of strong-armed into it, you're in the unit by default, so welcome to the force? Happy birthday…? Hah-hah?" Will let go out the breath and held out his hands, like he was delivering a shitty sales pitch. "You're going to love it…?"

She went very, very quiet, mouth gaping. Will silently counted in his head. Took about three seconds.

"What the hell, Will! I never asked for this! Nobody but you, Riven, Amy, and Seab know that I can do… things! Did you tell Yates? You shit! What happened to giving permission?"

"Shhhhh… keep it down." Will glanced around warily. "Yates wondered… after you recovered so quick and well… he does have some clout. So I kind of told him…ish?" The brunette's gaze was frigid enough to give him the chills. "Uh- he didn't look surprised. Actually more interested, if I remember correctly. When I mentioned what you could do and what your typing was, his eyebrows rose. They pretty much never do that, Yates could sit on a rooftop and I'd mistake him for a gargoyle. He said he had some ideas that could work with you and only you alone. Then I told him about our lessons, and that Riven kind of trained you in combat and things just fell from there. Gale, you don't understand, he looked at me. I got scared."

Gale let out a snap that wouldn't be out of place for Riven, but definitely for her. She viciously bit into her taco. Will could feel a breeze picking up.

"I hate you."

The trainee seemed to shrink in on himself as the girl's look of hatred pierced his soul. "Okay, fair enough, but it's not that bad." At her face, he stopped her before she exploded again. "The job has benefits, a salary, and gives you permissions that most foreigners can't get in Unova. You have six badges, which is more than Rivy does, so that's a plus too. It'd be useful for you for the few months we're going to be stuck here so you won't get held down by petty shit like laws if you get in trouble."

"Stop tempting me," she muttered, and relented quickly. Was this bribery? "Okay, whatever. If it means we don't have to practice so late, that's fine too. Those benefits do sound nice... And Yates scares me too. Just the way he stares send shivers down my spine, and I don't even work for him."

Will put a hand on his chest as if he'd dodged a bullet. "Yeah, he'd make a hardass out of anyone. Anyway, I'd try and get Riven to join in but…"

"That'd be a horrible idea," Gale concluded immediately. "He doesn't like using his abilities much. Stresses him out. Among other things. His work is… messy." With how he handled people trying to kill him… yeah, best not to do that. She'd gotten used to the fact that Riven was very, very okay with killing people, and during the attack on Nimbasa she knew he did take some people out; it just came as a shock to see him actually do it on screen. That part didn't sit well with her and her stomach either, but it wasn't her place to denounce that. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and because of that, Unova still had their idol.

She couldn't deny that those actions backfired horribly, though.

"Yeah, I know. Yates didn't ask about his whereabouts, so I think he came to the same conclusion. Also, he doesn't trust Riven too much, said that he's 'good at letting others deceive themselves'. Makes him dangerous, supposedly."

"Speaking of which, Amy asked me where he was. Seab was a bit concerned too," Gale mentioned. "Still in Nuvema? Or did he decide to migrate already after getting bored out of his mind?"

Will shrugged. "Eh, probably the first. I won't dismiss the possibility of the broadcast pissing him off and making him go find someone's face to cave in. Who's face that'd be I've no honest clue. Hopefully a shitty pokemon smuggler that deserves it."

"You… don't really think he'd do that, do you?" She grimaced, picturing that very image. Riven justice tirades weren't completely out of the question. "Doesn't seem practical, since he has nothing to go on."

"Maybe, maybe not. Maybe he's taking it easy at the prof's place. And it's late, so I doubt he's gotten himself into something. At least not right now."

They both nodded.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Another taco?"

"Sure."

---

A body flew through the center doors in a shower of glass, smashing into the holographic display screen behind the sole Nurse Joy, who just barely ducked out of the way with a shriek.

A Blaziken followed after the Sawk with a warcry and a flaming fist, jumping over the counter to smash the fighting type's face in, which resulted in a scorched countertop and roof. Then a blast was heard outside as a dark pulse howled through the air, launching a Golurk into the side of a nearby establishment with a rising wave composed of chunks of concrete swiftly following it.

Cuts of psychic energy cleaved into the pavement, coming from a flashing green figure as it fought off a several pokemon; its figure was barely seen as it teleported around the street in between blinks. A Crygonal fired icy spears at the Gallade, trying to catch it off-guard, only to be blitzed into a wall by a sickle shaped megahorn, then blown up by a fire based weather ball. An Elektross tried to aim a thunder at some sort of bird in the sky, but was quickly shredded by the Absol's razor winds when it turned around. Air cutters rained down on the eel until it was an unconscious bloody paste.

The glass of the walls shattered moments later as a boom echoed throughout, forcing trainers and Joy to cover their ears from the hyper voice coming from a… Castform?

…

What.

They were then introduced to an older, black-haired trainer as he came into view, viciously punching a Plasma grunt in the throat, kneeing him in the groin, then driving his elbow into the guy's head, knocking him cold. Two more rushed him, landing several punches on him while the other tried restraining him.

A female one, from the pained yelp as he twisted her arm back and kicked the other one away. He pushed her back, elbowed her in the right breast as hard as he could, turned and sent an explosive uppercut into the ribs. Hooking an arm over her head, he used the weight of his body to flip her into the air and slam her into the floor, sending both to the ground. She barely managed a strangled gasp as she hit the pavement with a thump.

Recovering, he stood up, blocked two punches from the male grunt, stomped on his heel, landed a chop on his neck, then kicked him in the stomach as hard as he could, sending the grunt to the floor in a painful heap.

He then drove his foot into the downed grunt's face, breaking his nose with a crunch and kicking him again for good measure.

Then a Throh grabbed the trainer from behind and turned him over. He tried to swing a knife into the Throh's leg, but it barely skimmed the skin when it headbutted him in the mouth hard enough to make him see galaxies, and seismic tossed him into the center's PC system, smashing it inward with a body sized dent. Which the guy bounced off of.

From the outside.

And to the utter disbelief of everyone, the trainer got up with a single groan. Half his face was swollen, his lip was busted open, and also bleeding from the scalp onto the floor. And only smiled, took out more knives, and charged at the very same pokemon that had thrown him across the center.

The Throh was ready to toss him again, shifting its stance and instantly refocusing when the human faked and turned back around as a Blaziken leapt over the counter suddenly, breaking its interest in the trainer to prioritize the greater threat.

All the while the trainer was grinning ear to ear, "blitz!" He yelled, seemingly getting into position.

The Throh was thrown off and caught completely off guard when a Gallade teleported in front of it, and using both fists, discharged a weak but disorienting blast of electricity that dimmed the lights and pushed the Throh back several meters. It tried to use reversal on the Gallade's next move, but caught air as it teleported away instead.

Did the trainer stop there? Oh no. His Blaziken picked him up into its arms and flung him as hard as possible back into the fight, orienting himself feet first toward the Throh with enough force to send it stumbling. He flipped off the pokemon deftly and shook out his legs, chuckling like a mad man. And taunted it with a finger.

That was just bad manners at that point.

The confusion worked, however, as his Blaziken used the countertop to launch itself through the air, cracking it from the sheer force her powerful feet exerted.

The flying, momentum packed knee struck the stunned Throh in the face, bouncing off it like a springboard and heading back into close range to unleash flaming punches to the sternum, liver, and neck. In a final assault, it spun on a heel and landed a literally explosive kick to the midsection, lifting the Throh several meters into the air from the sheer force.

Jumping into the air until she reached the apex of her jump, an explosion of fire came from her feet and propelled her downward, accelerating as gravity worked. Spinning in mid-air, a downward axe kick slammed the Throh into the ground. The fire type stood by the seemingly unconscious Throh, eyes widening in surprise as it grabbed a leg, pulled her down and grappled her into a hold. Rising to its feet and restricting the use of the Blaziken's legs, the Throh slammed her into the same crater repeatedly, leaving her dazed from the hits, with each slam reducing her ability to fight back.

The Blaziken's trainer threw several knives at the fighting type, but they hardly seemed to do anything.

When her struggling lessened, the Throh changed holds, spinning in circles to launch the fire type directly back at her trainer.

They both hit the wall with a loud thud.

The Throh then felt its arms and legs fail it as it flailed uselessly in the air, suspended by a psychic force. It once again found itself in the air, upside down and catching a glimpse of a smug looking Gallade, waving goodbye as it pointed out the approaching raptor of prey with a green finger. Said bird's wings were glowing.

A Pidgeot came down, slashing downwards with an aerial ace, opening a vertical slice along the Throh's chest and back, sending it crashing into the pokemon center's outside wall with the force of a small explosive. Right next to the tangled trainer and his Blaziken. The unconscious pokemon left a blood trail as it slid down and fell onto the concrete below.

The bird got pelted by a rock the size of a small car directly after and brought down to earth.

Black-haired trainer recovered, cursed multiple times, ordered it to use roost and directed his attention to the Castform that had just earlier shattered several windows. Sunlight began to pour into its small orange body from the bright ball of light outside and once it was sufficiently charged, fired a solarbeam at a Gigalith that had uprooted half the street into stalagmites and destroyed probably thousands more dollars of infrastructure in the process.

If the pavement wasn't completely gone at this point, the solarbeam made sure of it. Screams came from the center, turning the trainer around.

Two of the grunts had made their way to the center instead. One of which was then given sudden face to desk treatment and the other to the trainer's right received a slash on the face that would scar horribly, followed by a spinning kick that could leave someone dizzy into next week and leave more than a few teeth loose.

Visible beyond the doorway, pillars of ice shone in the light of the background, covering lampposts, street signs, and traffic lights, while also encasing the side of the building in sheets of thick, glistening ice. A Druddigon and a Musharna tried to escape, but were helplessly caught in the beam and frozen to their spots.

Everyone visibly winced as the Gigalith was carried helplessly through the air by a green beam and smashed through the ice monument and out the other side with an unbelievably loud crash. If the entire block hadn't been awake since the initial explosion, it would be now.

Suddenly, a Liepard who'd been hiding beneath a table snarled and jumped the human trainer after he got done making ground beef out of a third grunt's face, flooring him.

It was then that the center trainers decided to snap out of their shock as a young Blitzle appeared from a pokeball that managed to roll off its trainer's belt and paralyzed the Liepard in time to prevent it from munching on its trainer's neck. Feeling the Liepard's weight slacken, he punched the feline in the mouth, knocking a fang out of its mouth.

"Riddick! Hi jump kick! Get that Liepard off him!" A girl in a staggering amount of blue, yelled. "Duva, dig and get any stragglers!"

A Scrafty flew and sent the feline crashing into a table while an Excadrill burrowed into the ground and rose up to uppercut a Heatmor that was giving the Gallade some trouble.

Who, while noteworthy yet incredibly foolish, was trying to fight several pokemon at once and having limited success doing so, landing a few hits but receiving more than he dealt. His teleports were starting to slow down.

"Minty, help out that Gallade!" A tall guy with messy hair and a guitar ordered, releasing a Vanilluxe. Who then proceeded to freeze even more of the street. Seeing an Absol get pelted by a leaf storm, and noting how pretty it was, he took out another pokeball. "Tas, go help that beautiful creature! Its beauty can't be tarnished!"

A Darmanitan nodded happily, hobbled out of the center and took off like a fireball to slam into the Serperior. Fire engulfed the street.

The trainer rushed out to fight again. Even after all that. Half the center was dumbstruck.

In the span of a few minutes, a majority of the center lay broken, with several pokemon unconscious inside it, blood and dust was everywhere, and there were about ten Plasma grunts out cold on the ground, sporting various slash wounds and bruises.

And one trainer standing over the last grunt with a bloody fist and a far too pleased look on his face, like he'd been looking forward to that for a while. Under his legs, a small Blitzle whinnied with a high pitched battle cry as well, mane sparking with electricity as the grunt behind them fell paralyzed to the floor.

It looked like the aftermath of a bar fight, only with super powered monsters.

Nurse Joy came out from beside the counter, too shocked to even speak or where to start. Her center had been trashed out of nowhere and now there was an utter mess of vital fluids, glass, and bodies littered everywhere. In all her years she'd seen horrifying injuries, but a brutal street fight unfolding right before her very eyes was definitely a first. It was also the first time she'd seen a trainer rush toward a Throh, instead of away from one.

The sheer insanity of it all was eating at her brain.

"What is the meaning of this!?" She demanded as the black-haired trainer stepped into the doorway… or what was left of it. Blood trailed down his right eye, his nose, and down his neck, but all he could do was squint and give them a glazed look. His back cracked in multiple places as he stretched, groaning.

"How… how many Zubats does it take to get to the moon?" He asked, spitting a glob of blood outside with a wobble. "Was it… sixty? Fifty-six?" He sat down on a nearby scorched couch and blinked rapidly, having trouble focusing.

Nurse Joy paled. "Oh my gosh, he's delirious. I-I'll just… please don't go anywhere! I'll go get the first aid kit and an ambulance. Tori, can you help me get the pokemon into the healing machines, starting with-" She frantically waved a hand at Riven. "H-his first. Stanton, Jacine, Felix, get all the pokemon back in their balls, and be careful! Check if they're alive first!"

Several trainers got up and listened as the Nurse hurried into the room behind her, bringing out a box of medical supplies. She sat Riven down and shined a small light into his eyes, noting the dilated pupils and immediately called an ambulance.

Attending to his wounds and instructing Riven to hold an ice pack to his head, Joy's panic died as things settled.

"Are you okay?" The girl in blue, Tori, asked. She took the wet rag from her Scrafty and started cleaning the blood off him. "You got thrown into a PC and we were so shocked that… well, how are you still conscious? My gosh, a pokemon threw you! A pokemon!"

"Don't worry… Happens all the time," Riven said with a light-hearted laugh. "Ten on one isn't so bad. Didn't… think that six more would pop up. Fun though, aha." He groaned as he tilted his head back. "My body hurts. A lot. And Nurse… uh… Joy, right? Or is it June…? Sorry about the… what was it again?"

He fell asleep as adrenaline died down and his body refused to stay awake.

"Dang that was crazy! One hell of a punch he's got. And who kicks a fighting pokemon in the face?! Talk about doing things yourself! Maybe I should write a song about 'im," Felix said, chuckling. Pulling out his guitar and strumming a beat, he sang, "There once was a trainer who destroyed a PC…"

Tori scowled at him. "People could have died and you're just making fun of this? How is this funny? He could have suffered brain damage or something! Look at him."

She shook Riven, whose head just bobbled.

The guitarist shrugged. "Tough times, blueberry. You've seen the news, stuff like this is happening everywhere, and everything being all gloom and doom is a lil borin' don't you think? Besides, nobody's dead right?"

He took a curious glance around and didn't feel too sure about that.

"I hope not!" The girl fired back. "I just hope this is the end of it… Right in the middle of a big city too… I don't want another repeat of this kind of thing again."

"Sounds like a bad training story? We've all got 'em."

"I'd honestly rather not say," she said, dejected. "Everything was so sudden and it just reminded me of things. The way he fights… it-it looked like he was having fun! And he was smiling! Doesn't that scare you? It scared me. You don't think he can be… one of them?"

She gasped, backing away. Felix shook his head.

"Don't think so, otherwise he'd have killed their pokemon. Maybe just gets off of fighting a lil' too much? One of those eccentric trainers. Know some people like that, fight with their pokemon like a bunch of nuts, totally crazy, I'll tell ya. Some of those beatdowns were brutal, man. And yeah… it does kinda scare me, though I got numb to it. Violence ain't nothin' new, miss. Lost a Leavanny, myself. I wrote a song about her too."

"I… I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

Felix shook his head. "Hey, no worries. Happened a while ago and the guy got arrested and is gonna spend the rest of his days in a cell, so I'm good. Our sleeping friend here's the real issue." He prodded Riven with the end of his guitar. "Waitin' game now."

They waited in silence and turned their focus outside thirty minutes later as sirens rang and operatives and paramedics walked in. Naturally, the UFOs simply walking into the center instead of the usual police put everyone on edge, wasn't often they appeared like that.

"What exactly happened here?" One of the operatives asked, taken back by the destroyed PC, smashed screen, nonexistent doors, shattered windows, blood-stained crater in the wall, a table with a bloody faceprint on it, and the half frozen wasteland that was the street outside. Plasma uniforms said quite a lot, but damn this looked like quite a scene. "Did a bar fight spill out onto the street?"

"Told you it looked like a bar fight," Felix said, elbowing Tori.

"Quiet!" She scolded.

"Nurse Joy claimed someone got attacked, though I'm having a hard time believing it. Who's the one that got attacked?"

Everyone all but pointed at Riven, who'd woken up and was marginally more coherent than before. "Good morning?" He groaned with a slight smile.

The operative winced when he saw his abused face. Ouch. "Feeling alright there?"

"Oh yeah," Riven nodded weakly. "Like garbage, if my mouth and half my face is anything to go by. That bad? You winced."

The UFO confirmed it with a light chuckle. "Like a Beedrill stung you."

"Shit," Riven muttered, feeling the swelling with a hand.

"Language," Tori chided under her breath.

Riven fixed her a drunken glare, or in this case, someone who'd just gotten the sense smacked out of them. "Who the hell are you? And wait, what are UFOs doing here?" He asked innocently, looking the operative up and down. "Aren't you supposed to be… doing things? Super secret operative things? I swear this is the police's job."

"Sorry to disappoint you then. We're just here to clean up your mess, apparently," the official replied coolly. "And a most colorful mess it is. It's alright, we don't have to sleep."

Riven just remembered it was nighttime.

"Oh fuck, what time is it? Is it still midnight? How long have I-"

"Please tone down the swearing," the girl insisted and pointed to the clock in the less destroyed part of the center. She exchanged a look with the lead operative. "It's been about forty minutes since the brawl, and he couldn't even form coherent sentences for a bit. Maybe vulgarity is all he knows. Certainly seems like it."

Riven looked at her again and scowled.

"I just got into a fight and you're worried about my use of language? Fuck off please. What happened to me again?" Riven inquired. "Got a little to into it and I'm kind of in a haze right now. Did I get punched?"

"Several times, but what made you stupid was something else. Close, though no cigar, friend. Got headbutted by a Throh, then launched into the PC. Exhibit A," Felix added, directing everyone to the bent computer. "Somehow you shrugged it off like a trooper and had your Blaziken catapult you into its face. Then it threw your Blaziken back at you. Crazy stuff. Water?"

"Please."

He held out a cup of water from the cooler, which Riven drank like it was the nectar of the gods.

"Oh," Riven said meagerly. "Damn."

"Adrenaline's a hell of a drug, huh?" Felix joked lightly. "Had fun?"

"You've no idea," Riven said through a barely contained smile.

The operative listening had to sigh as he directed two others with a finger to start cleaning up the mess, releasing psychics to lift most of the debris off the floor. He muttered something about blood knights and idiocy. Paramedics came and revised Riven, declaring him fine enough to do without a hospital visit. That was a first.

"So, any idea why the Plasmas attacked you?" The UFO questioned. "Do anything to antagonize them?"

"Besides walking after a long day on the route?" Riven answered, shaking his head. "I mean, I might've pissed on their egos a bit. That was after they surrounded me though. Thought I was a Sayre, apparently I look the type."

"Friend, you suplexed one of them into the ground," Felix added unhelpfully. "Elbowed her tit too. Now I'm no expert on female anatomy much as I wish I was, but I heard that hurts."

"It does," a girl in the back confirmed. Redhead, green eyes. Her name was Jacine or something. At the strange looks, she shamelessly admitted, "boy did it to me on a route once. We had a really good time in the bushes."

There was a silence that stretched out for far too long.

"Uh, well… the Throh was hers," Riven replied, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "So to be fair, the dirty tactics balanced out."

"Trainers don't usually fight, though. Did I mention your Blaziken is a badass? Hoenn pokemon are so cool!" Felix said excitedly, crossing his arms. "Looks like you got some experience taking names there, though. Do this often?"

"What? Getting thrown into PCs? I sure hope not. I just got into a lot of fights when I was younger… Like a million years ago, you know," Riven said, waving a hand. He elbowed Yanine there once, he remembered. Didn't end well. "I guess old habits die really, really hard."

"Plasmas were trying to take your pokemon then?" The UFO asked tiredly, rubbing his eyes. Not enough coffee, probably.

"Tried being the definitive term. But yeah, they were. This happening a lot or is it just my bad luck? And I just need to know this, I'm not getting arrested, am I?"

"Well, no one's dead, so no." The operative said with obvious discomfort. "As for your other question… as of late, pokemon theft skyrocketed, though I wouldn't rule out your luck just yet. At least it was just Plasma and not the alternative, then there probably would be dead, a lengthy investigation, and a citywide lockdown. And no sleep for a few more days, as if we're not getting run raw as it is. Thank god we lucked out tonight. Get some sleep, kids. We'll take care of the center, and Nurse Joy, I'm so sorry. You should probably go home too. We'll be here all morning, unfortunately."

Poor guy hated his life.

The nurse shook her head sternly. "No, I'm an adult here too, and this is my center. I won't be leaving it now when there are still wounded."

He frowned. "Well, I won't stop you, but it does get cold with the doors open. Supposed to hit the low forties today, so wear a coat. The rest of you trainers should definitely get some rest. Especially you," the official said, gesturing to Riven. "Way too late for this… Demarte, Stiegler. Let's hurry this up."

"You good to get up then?" Felix asked, turning back to Riven. "Just don't slug me. Blueberry here is Tori, I think."

"Don't call me blueberry," the girl chided. The Scrafty beside her was looking at Riven oddly, tilting its head. Made some weird hissing sound then slowly turned back around. "No, Riddick, his face isn't always like that." Discerning the facial expressions of a Scrafty must have been quite a skill, they always looked mildly drunk.

"So you're Tori, who doesn't like it when people swear. That's a new one," Riven muttered. "Trainers swear all the time, you should try it." Can dislodge the stick up your ass.

"No, I won't, thank you." She glared at him, and managed a hiss. "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"No, I don't. Mainly because she's dead," Riven said airily, drawing a look of horror from Tori and making Felix wince. Even Nurse Joy heard and couldn't hide her twitch. "Died in a fire when I was seven. Along with my dad. I've been an orphan since. Thanks for asking though."

"I-I'm s-sorry," she said quickly, guilt eating her alive. Watching her fret was strangely amusing. "I didn't think that…" Tori trailed off weakly, feeling horrible for saying that.

Riven more or less shrugged. "Good, so now you can stop telling me what to do. I've lived through a hell of a bunch of things that fully give me the right to utter curses whenever I want. But if it kills you, I'll limit the swears to a fuck every few sentences."

He could tell the girl didn't like him when her brows furrowed at the abrasiveness of his response. No matter. She wore a lot of blue like Seab did, but seemed more pushy than he liked. "I still feel terrible for what I said earlier, but that doesn't mean you have to be so rude about it. Jerk."She threw the bloody rag at Riven, who caught it and threw it aside. "Come on Riddick, let's go to sleep."

She got up and stormed off, her silent Scrafty giving them a nod to excuse himself before following after her.

"Hmph." Riven picked himself up, still holding the ice pack to his head. "Friend of yours?"

"Nah, not really. I'd tear my hair out traveling with someone like that. I only know her name 'cause Joy called it out while you were concussed there. Otherwise I don't know her any more than you do. I'm Felix. Howdy."

Riven shook his hand. "Nathan. Your accent is pretty distinctive."

"Hah, so's yours. Never heard one quite like it, but my hometown is good 'ol Driftveil. Lot of folks there talk like this, and it puts other people off. Though I don't mind 'em. Since you're fine now, I'm gonna head on over and get some sleep then. You best do that too. Joy has your pokeballs if you're wonderin'."

With a wave, Felix went off in the same direction blueberry had gone.

He caught Nurse Joy trying to calm herself with some tea, and she nearly jumped when he stood behind her.

"Oh! It's you!" She said, jumping. Riven apologized. "I'm a little shaken from everything, I'm sorry. I don't expect fights to break out on the late shift and destroy the center. Other than that, are you feeling fine?"

"More or less. Head still hurts a bit and my face is still pretty swollen but thanks for the first aid, and the ice pack. I just wanted to know if you had rooms available? Sleep sounds amazing right now. Walking across town would suck and I don't really have it in me to fight off more goons."

"Certainly." She headed over to the main desk and tried her best to ignore the burn marks. "Trainer ID please."

Handing it to her, Joy paused and looked at him. "Nathan… Oh, someone was looking for you a few days ago. A friend of yours, I think."

"Me?"

He pointed to himself to make sure she really did mean him. That was wrong in and of itself. He hardly had friends that didn't want to kill him or use him in some way.

"Yes."

"Was it a girl?"

"Uh, no. Male, actually."

Warning signs.

"Did he have black or blue hair?"

"No."

Oh, great. Riven grimaced sourly. "Was he blonde? Wearing a hat? Kinda tall? Blue eyes?"

"Yes, very blue eyes," Joy confirmed. "He left a phone number down and asked me to watch for a 'Nathan', said he was worried about you and that you have a tendency to get into trouble. Mentioned you have black hair and frown a lot. I honestly believe him now! He said to call him back as soon as possible."

"Fuck," Riven grumbled under his breath. "He has an... interesting job. What's the number?"

"Here, he left this note. And your room is 3015. On the third floor, middle of the hallway. No one's occupying it at the moment, but I'll notify you if someone wants to share with you, if you don't mind, that is."

"Sounds good," Riven said, and excused himself. "Oh, and sorry for the place. I didn't want to take it inside but...I'm sorry, again."

Joy smiled brightly, hiding her exhaustion behind practiced enthusiasm. "I feel sorry for it too."

That made Riven crack a grin.

Once in his room, he released his team, enjoying a full room to himself. He didn't mind Gale being with him, but having his own space felt nice for a change. They earned their congratulatory praises and headscratches, followed by a bath to get parts of the street that had clung to them, mostly dust. Haona's fur was grey from the concrete.

Once out of the shower, he dialed the number, waiting as the phone rang. Call went to voicemail after eight rings, and he called again. And again. Tesla picked up a few rings into the third time, yawning loudly. "Lord, do you sleep?" He reprimanded grumpily. "Caught me in the middle of a very relaxing sleep, and I can safely say I nearly electrocuted the phone. What?"

Riven peered at the note and snorted. "Note does say as soon as possible. Kind of worked against you there. And buddy, you wanted me to call you. What do you want? How did you know I'd come to Castelia so soon?"

"Actually that message is about three weeks old, Nurse Joys have incredible memories. Must be a prerequisite with all the kids they deal with. Anyway, the city is located in central Unova, and if you want to get anywhere, you need to go through Castelia first, unless the pokemon you used to fly over has untold amounts of stamina, which is doubtful. Logically speaking, you'd have to come to Castelia some time. Efficiency dictates that you'd choose the pokemon center most centralized and closest to every major establishment or route. I only guessed from there, nothing special."

"Right. So I'm assuming you didn't order ten Plasma grunts to attack me upon arriving?" Riven asked, slightly accusingly. "All day out on the route just to get into a tussle with a bunch of grunts, not my idea of a welcoming party."

"What? That I had nothing to do with." Tesla denied, surprised. "Ten at once? My. Did you find them difficult to deal with?"

"No. Though I got thrown into a PC."

"That's it-"

"And most of the street got destroyed," Riven added.

"Yes, I should have guessed fights involving you wouldn't be complete without immense proprietary damage." Tesla retorted dryly, though not without bemusement. "You have very interesting hostile encounters."

"Hearing you say that is quite ironic, Mr. Ally." Riven pointed out. "What did you want to talk about that was so urgent? Not a pointless check up designed to waste my time? Was about to sleep myself."

"That depends on your definition of wasting. I just wanted you to get my contact number in case I have information for you. I didn't think you'd call in the middle of the night. Couldn't wait until morning?"

"I work fast. Why didn't you give it to me before?"

"I was but I forgot. I thought jumping off a building would be an interesting exit. And it worked. I was outside Nimbasa when I realized I forgot to give you my contact number. Almost got stopped by rangers. Hydreigons can be a bit worrisome to see flying overhead."

"No shit." Riven shook his head, holding in a chuckle. "Did you really plan to jump off the building or was it something you just wanted to do in your life?"

"I reserve the right to remain silent?"

There was a snort.

"Whatever you say. So, do you have anything interesting or should I hang up now? Boss tell you anything?"

"We can't talk with our boss directly with the communications ban," Tesla said. "However, we did get wind of an operation the Sayres are planning."

"What sort of operation?"

"I don't know the details, and that's currently what I'm investigating, since the little group is very inclusive. I can't narrow down a large city or event, since I've heard many different mentions. Children are so unpredictable. I'd advise to keep your eye open."

"Already am. If you get anything, will you tell me in time or expect me to scramble there and pull a miracle out of my ass? I'm not god, you know."

"Depending how soon I find out, possibly one or the other and in some cases, both. Remember, neither of us wants them to get their way. I'll do what I can, but apart from that, I don't have anything for you yet, I'm afraid."

"Worth a shot, I guess." He was about to hang up when Tesla stopped him. "What?"

"How is your friend doing? The girl? Gale?"

"Why the sudden interest?"

"I've never observed an artificial Origin in action before. The one used back in Nimbasa was only a temporary test subject, and he was far too sure of himself to be of any use. Your friend seems a lot more receptive of what kind of power she's been given."

Riven sighed, deciding whether to tell the truth or lie. Tesla was an enemy, but he was also the one that went against his own organization to save Gale's life. Besides, the information was generally harmless. "She's reacting well to it. I haven't heard from her in several days, but she sounded excited with every update. Wind is a lot scarier than I imagined it to be."

"So she understands what it was she was missing all this time?"

"She always enjoyed flying, so I don't know if that's true. Haven't asked her, though I think the answer to that would probably be yes."

"And you? How does it feel for you, with all this… negativity?"

"Let me ask you something, Tesla. If you could see and feel the pain of others, their worries, their fear, their pain—would you be happy?"

There was a short silence. "I presume not."

"Then no, I don't. What makes me feel good isn't a good thing."

"Ah, that is quite a shame. Thank you for the update, however. I'd like to see your friend grow more, that would make me very proud."

"Right. Night Tesla," Riven said, hanging up. Why the interest in Gale? He shook his head again, sliding into bed thinking about it. Tomorrow I'll battle Burgh, and then I'll call her. Hope Will hasn't done anything insane to her yet. He cleared his mind, settling next to Omy and a curled up white fluffball with a horn. The Blitzle was using Haona as a pillow. Aine and Baron were equally as worn out, and slept on their own beds, snoring quietly. Boagrius' cloudy form expanded and contracted, resting just fine on the countertop.

Sighing in content as he sunk into the mattress, his body gave in moments later to the comforts of sleep.

---

Oddly enough, the Castelia gym had a Hoenn native as a secretary. Called himself Kev. Really interesting, given the xenophobia. Riven greeted him and even exchanged some banter while waiting for his battle.

Good guy, if a little sarcastic.

Burgh hadn't provided much of a challenge, again thanks to Haona's ice beam and Aine's fire attacks. Burgh also made him wear a butler suit during the battle, complete with a nice hat. A very nice hat.

While he didn't publicly say anything during their battle, Burgh brought him to the back to thank him again for what he did for Elesa, ignoring the swollen face with some difficulty. He didn't even think about asking how he got the bruises either.

Must have seen the morning news and figured. Still made Riven laugh. Crazy drunks, right. They stuck with the bar fight story after all, that operative did have a sense of humor.

"Elesa doing… well, better?" Riven asked awkwardly, figuring fine wasn't the best word. "Since they went public?" He didn't mean to pry but…

Burgh shook his head, frowning sadly. "No, she's not. She just needs some time away, might need someone to take her place as gym leader for a while she goes on a vacation. To de-stress."

"Coming with her?" Riven asked, raising a knowing brow. "Do certain, de-stressing activities?"

Burgh grinned bashfully. "No, sadly. As much as I want to, I have a gym to run and I've kind of left it to Kev a few more times than I should've."

"Interesting that you got a Hoenn foreigner to be your secretary. How'd that happen?"

"Some crazy girl came in covered in honey, cursed like a sailor lost at sea, made a bet, wore a god-forsaken towel to my fight, and battled for the job. It was so unique I hired him. Although it seemed like she was the reason Lenora fired him."

"Sounds like a handful," Riven mused, getting the feeling that he'd heard this somewhere before.

"She was, but she did give me a very capable secretary who knows a bit about battling, at least." Burgh placed his hands on Riven's shoulders, eyeing him sternly. "Now, I have a small- no, giant request to make of you."

Riven eyed him back, lost. "Uh, okay?"

"There's this thing," Burgh said, still holding onto him.

"Thing," Riven repeated.

"Yes," Burgh confirmed. "Thing. A very special thing. Usually Elesa's thing. Like the usual things Elesa does, with the fancy costumes and the cool theatrics and the showbiz. All that good stuff, you follow?"

The trainer nodded, strangely getting a bad feeling. "Thing, yes I got it."

"Well, Elesa usually hosts this and it's done every four years as a huge public spectacle in which trainers can challenge Unova's gym leaders with their original teams to test their mettle. Only, Elesa is going to be on an impromptu vacay, so she can't do it this time. And we haven't been able to find any replacements Elesa likes. Since you appeared, and she's really fond of you…"

Riven paled. Oh no.

Burgh laughed. "You also got this way about you, with the scowl, the silence, the methodical approaches to battling, and intimidating presence—you kind of resemble Elesa! And your pokemon are strong enough, who cares about badge qualifications! With that suited and booted look you got, I think I can make an image for you that works! Young strength combined with a mafia kind of approach, like the olden days! And you're Kalosian, people love that stuff! Should get their mind off whatever's happening now, hopefully, increase positivity!"

"You want me," Riven pointed at himself with a shaky finger, "to co-host a huge fucking tournament? For the entire region?! What the fuck? That's insane!"

"Sure you can! If you can carry out a UFO raid, you can do this," Burgh said with a glittering smile. "I'll help with the planning, I mean, not like I don't do that every time we host it, but I'll put in extra effort this time! It can help Omy get lots of experience quickly too! And I'll have you know, that you'll be getting the exact same benefits Elesa does. Including money."

Burgh winked and nudged him a little. He wasn't even subtle about it, he was blatantly trying to convince him… and it was working. Like bloody magic.

Riven's voice cracked. He hadn't guessed how much Elesa got paid, but holy... His brain said no but his wallet said yes. Very loudly. "I'll have to respectfully decline."

Burgh smiled, a dangerous glint in his eyes as he began to outline the other perks.

Thirty minutes later Riven found himself signing papers and cursed himself, yet kept writing. He did have nothing to do, and Unova tournament host did sound like a good cover. In case anything happened, he was legally allowed to whoop various kinds of ass.

Of course this was what he told himself to forget about the part where he was just persuaded solely on the benefits alone. His own place sounded way too good… and in a Nimbasan condo. God, Burgh. Damn you.

Almost too good to be true.

And it was, because after Riven had signed the last page, Burgh suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, Elesa's vacation starts in four days. So we kind of need someone to take over her gym for a while. Until the Challenger Rush starts in a month. It got pushed back a week because of this, but that shouldn't be a problem, right? I mean, we need to give you a crash course on what it's like to be a gym leader! Even when you're not!"

Burgh held out the paper, pointing out the fine print at the bottom. "I already got a super hyped up name for you, too! Ahem." He cleared his throat and flicked his hair, putting on his best newscaster voice. "Hello, leader Nathan, the Kalosian shadow of Lumiose!"

Riven sat back down.

"Oh god."

---

This was late. Very late given the time frame I planned this to be out on. Except my internet decided to be exceptionally garbage for two weeks with frequent disconnects slow speeds and other general irritating problems. Had to switch providers and get a better service. Good riddance.

Also had to remove all the furniture off the carpets so they could be replaced, which was a good weekend without being able to use any kind of electronic. Then I had to move everything back.

Jesus.

I wrote the battle scene listening to electro swing music. Just fit. Was going to write a huge author tract about why everything keeps going wrong and nothing seems to ever go right but this chapter is long enough as it is. All I'm going to say is go watch a film analysis of the Joker in the Dark Knight. Should be eye opening. As well as the one about Nightcrawler from Lessons from the Screenplay on YT. They're both from the same channel and can highlight what I wanted to say in a more concise fashion. With less swear words.

Enjoy the chapter!