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Chapter 1: Crossroads of Destiny
Arrival at Gearen City
~~~~~~~(I)~~~~~~~
When the flying Pokémon finally dropped him, Will's knees nearly gave out underneath him. For the longest moment he just struggled, struggled to breathe, struggled to stay calm, struggled to stay rational and even think. So much had happened, so fast, his mind had yet to keep pace with his body. As he coughed and wheezed, fighting to get the clean air through his parched throat, the Pokémon flapped its wings again, and hopped in front of him. Its body radiated a heat not unlike that of the flames he'd just escaped, and its feathers glistered faintly in the falling rain.
Rain?
Will looked up at the sky. The air was calm. Nobody had come after him.
He'd escaped. Or rather, someone had saved him.
The distinct humming of an engine drew closer, and Will glanced over his shoulder. A jet streaked across the water towards the pier at breakneck speed. At the last moment, it banked and cut the throttle, coming to an unsteady halt right next to a nearby hangar. A woman hopped out, her long red hair trailing after her as she strode towards him.
Rain was pouring down and she wore nothing but a red dress and what looked to be heels, but none of that seemed to bother her. She hurried towards him, worry clouding her face, and the Pokémon hopped aside to let her pass.
"Oh dear…oh thank goodness…I was able to save at least one person. Are you hurt?" She brushed past her Pokemon and checked him over, her expression laced with a motherly concern. She was tall, easily several inches taller than him. Her hair smelled like crushed pine needles and shampoo.
"Mom," Will croaked. He cleared his throat, then tried again. "They took my mom, and the rest."
"Your mother…what happened there?" She asked.
"There was an attack. They'd infiltrated the ship, and wanted to take it over," Will replied, trying to be as concise as he could. "They had these strange Pokémon that abducted the passengers and I…my mother tried to fight their leaders. I…" he tried to get the words out, but they wouldn't come. He couldn't admit it. Wouldn't admit it. She had to be out there, somewhere. "She told me…"
Keep up hope. Through new friends, new opportunities, new love.
The woman didn't press him. She waited patiently as he wrestled with himself.
"She told me to escape," Will eventually settled for. His eyes burned, and this time it wasn't because of the smoke. "To live."
"Which is where my Talonflame found you, I imagine," the woman said, her brow furrowing. She reached for his face and wiped the ash from his cheek with a slender finger. "That sounds harrowing. I'm so sorry you went through that. I was on my way to East Gearen from Terajuma when I picked up a distress call."
Talonflame pecked at his wing, then craned his head around. He made a faint cawing sound, then turned his attention back to the woman,
"We made our way to that location as fast as possible," she continued. "And…well…"
"They're still out there," Will blurted out. "The other people. Their leaders…they were talking about taking us back to their HQ."
"It could be," she replied, her expression pensive as she peered at the sea. "That sounds very plausible, actually…Oh! Where are my manners, I didn't even properly introduce myself!" She flashed him a warm, genuine smile. "My name is Tesla. Tesla Von Brandt. I'm from the tropical island of Aevium, that being Terajuma island. It's my pleasure to meet you! What's your name?"
"I… Will. Thank you for saving me."
"No need to thank me, Will. Now, about your mother…I think you're very right that she's still alive. It looks like the group that attacked you was the Xen Organization. We call them Team Xen – "
Will exhaled a sigh of relief. Hearing someone else confirm it for him was infinitely more reassuring.
" – a criminal organization that seemed to have just popped up in Aevium out of nowhere. They're usually known to be somewhat incompetent, or at least, rarely active," Tesla continued. "That's what makes this so confusing. I believe this is their first actual attack?"
Will didn't know about any of that. But now that he knew his mother still had a chance, the weight that had been pressing down on his mind faded somewhat, and he was starting to put things together. Crescent…his mother's familiarity with the enemy…Xen's claim that they were after mom in particular – they had a history together, that much was certain.
"This…means that you're all alone now, aren't you?" Tesla suddenly said. "If you don't mind me asking, what do you plan to do now?"
What wasn't important. He knew what he had to do. The real question was, how was he ever going to achieve that? "Gearen Lab," he replied. "I'm…supposed to meet up with Amanda there."
His answer seemed to come as a relief to Tesla as well. "That's a wonderful idea," she said, nodding. "You may be able to get your own Pokémon from there. You'll need one if you're going to be traveling around Aevium."
I'm going to need one alright, Will thought. That had to be the how. He had to become a Pokemon trainer strong enough to find and save his mother and the rest. Team Xen would be looking for him in the meantime. He had to be able to defend himself, if only for his mother's sake.
"I think I'm going to the wreck site, to see if I can find more survivors," Tesla declared. As she climbed back on her Talonflame, she met Will's eyes again. "I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Things will work out eventually, if you're patient. We'll see each other again soon, Will. Clear the way, pretty please?"
Quickly, Will stepped aside to give the pair some room.
"Full speed ahead Talonflame! Tailwind!"
Talonflame screeched, and flapped his wings with enough force that Will nearly tumbled backwards into the sea. The fiery Pokémon went from zero to extremely-freaking-quick in seconds, and soon the pair had disappeared again.
"Good luck, miss Tesla," Will muttered.
That was it then. Stuck on his own in an unfamiliar land with a trainer ID in his left pocket, a ragged hole in place of a right pocket and what felt like an inch of ashes plastered across his face.
When it rained, it poured.
"Nowhere left to go but up," Will said to nobody in particular. He turned his back to the stormy seas and started hiking towards the city.
Oceana Pier seemed sparsely populated for its size. Row after row of dockyards dotted its outer layer, many of them with their own warehouse containing who-knew-what, but only a handful were in use. Will spotted the occasional person hanging out, focused on doing their own thing without paying much attention to their surroundings. A girl feeding a small flock of Pokemon in a small, decrepit park, a shady-looking guy impatiently eyeing his watch, a pair of hooded men, quietly hissing at each other in a heated discussion…
Will tried his best not to attract any attention. Team Xen…they'd stowed away on the ship before it ever set off for Aevium. Why had they been after his mother? Why did they feel the need to abduct every single passenger on the ship as well? And that girl – Crescent, he presumed. How was she connected to this?
His thoughts felt loose and scattered; he felt like he'd been thrown into a puzzle with less than half of the pieces he needed to complete it.
He took a deep breath and tried to force those questions out of his mind. First things first. Find Gearen city. Find Amanda. Get his first Pokémon.
Finally, after more than fifteen minutes of walking, the dockyards seemed to come to an end. All the different roads tapered off and finally came together in one, single walkway, which led to a terminal of sorts nestled between several apartment buildings.
A large sign had been bolted to the floor a couple of meters in front
Gearen City.
Amanda had told him to ignore the signs, but this seemed pretty straightforward.
With nowhere else to go, Will decided to risk it and entered the terminal. Anything was better than standing around getting soaked by the rain.
Right away he knew he'd made a good call. Whereas the dockyards had been dark and dreary, the interior of the terminal was anything but. Large tables covered with an array of bright flowers decorated the corners and the two workers sitting at the counters actually seemed friendly.
"Welcome," the woman on the left when she saw him enter.
"Uh, hi," Will awkwardly replied. "Do you need my ID?"
She shook her head. "Not needed! Your trainer ID was scanned the moment you entered this terminal. The wonders of modern technology!"
Yeah, sure. That wasn't disconcerting at all. "Gearen Lab?"
"Right, so you want to start off heading that way…"
Unfortunately, the terminal was like an oasis in the desert. The moment Will made it out the other side, he was flung in the depressing, cold arms of Gearen City.
The architecture was much the same as the pier, but with dark, aging apartment buildings instead of warehouses. Grafiti clung to the walls, total gibberish. Garbage piles all over. If he had to describe this place in one word, it would be decay. The hustle and bustle of the city…
Will struggled to recall the directions to the lab. Amanda said something about not following the signs and a pair of skyscrapers…he didn't see a lot of skyscrapers, but the heavy rain made it difficult to see much of the city's skyline at all. Thankfully the lady in the terminal had been a bit more clear. The lab was actually supposed to be a straight shot from the terminal, a fifteen-minute walk to a large intersection.
He kept his gaze low as he crossed through the city. His thoughts kept going back to the Oceana, and his mother's last words. Had she known this might have happened? If so, why didn't she take more Pokemon with her?
And Crescent…who was she, really? What was her role in all this?
Do you know who I am?
He really wished he did.
Considering her Pokemon had sent that big guy running scared, she might have made it out. It had teleported him away, it could have done the same with her.
Why him though? If Xen wanted his mother, why had the two been so adamant on getting him out?
His feet carried him through the streets. Before he knew it, he stood in front of a large building at a dead end of sorts. It was larger than most apartment complexes. Wider too. Large, neon letters adorned the top of the door.
GEAREN LABORATORY
Eager to get out of the rain, Will stepped inside.
A familiar-looking woman stood not three meters away from him, impatiently staring at her watch. She looked up at his entry.
Amanda the League Scout.
"You must be Will!" Amanda said. She crossed her arms across her chest, clearly not amused. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for…" Her voice trailed off as she took a closer look at him. Her stern expression slowly morphed into surprise. "Wait, you look like shi—err, terrible, what happened to you?"
"The uh, the ship was attacked. By Team Xen," Will replied, not at all eager to have to explain all over again. "They brought explosives onboard, and set them off. I…I think they took the others."
"Well damn," she exclaimed, wincing. "Jan? Jan! Get your ass out here now! Will, how did you even escape?"
He pulled his shoulder up in a half-shrug. "Miss von Brandt saved me. She's looking for survivors."
"You're coming with me right now," Amanda said. "JAN!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming." a man all the way back in the lab shouted back. He looked a lot like Amanda; same clothes, same skin tone, same expression of shock and disbelief when he saw what the storm had dragged in. "What's going on? What happened?"
Amanda quickly brought him up to speed regarding the attack. When he heard that Team Xen was involved, his expression darkened, and he cursed under his breath.
"We do NOT need this right now. Alright, Amanda, I…wait, what's with the hat? I thought that wasn't for you?"
"Oh, uh, yeah," Amanda awkwardly replied. "Yeah it's new. I'm…trying something new. Decided to change my looks is all. Got you pretty stunned, eh?"
"Right," Jan replied, "Okay. Will, was it? I'm Amanda's brother. Listen, we're going to take you to a doctor immediately, just to be safe. You might have gotten hurt back there, even if you didn't notice it at the time."
"Wait, I – "
"And you Amanda! You should have done that the second you heard what happened instead of calling me." Jan shook his head. "You've been slacking off a lot lately."
Amanda raised her palms in defense. "Come on, you know I'm not good at paperwork! Besides, Will isn't exactly bleeding to death over here, and you needed to hear what happened as soon as possible."
"Yeah, I guess," Jan conceded. "I've got a lot to take care of. Amanda will find someone to check you out, make sure you're alright. In the meantime – "
"Actually, is it possible to meet my starter Pokémon first?" Will chimed in. "It's…it's important that I can start training as soon as possible."
Jan looked a bit puzzled at that. He looked over at Amanda, who shrugged. "Yeah, that should be possible. I'm not gonna pry, but East Gearen can be a rough place. You really don't want to get caught in a bad spot out here."
"I understand," Will replied.
"Settled then!" Amanda piped up. "Alright Will, this way!"
"It was nice meeting you, good luck," Jan said as he departed. "And Amanda! Pick up your phone when I call! I've been trying to reach you for four weeks now!"
Amanda simply ignored her brother as she strolled right past the counter and through the door in the back. Will watched the man leave, absentmindedly running a hand through his hair. The rain should have washed off the worst of the grime and the ash. He hoped he didn't smell too bad; most Pokémon had pretty sharp senses, after all.
He walked towards the door Amanda just vanished through. It slid open without a sound as he approached -
- only for someone else to come running through and slam headfirst into him. The impact knocked the wind out of him, but the other person was smaller and lighter than him, so she nearly bounced back against the doorframe in turn.
"Owie…sorry, sorry!" The girl cried out, nearly dropping her book in the process. "I'm in a rush, please excuse me!"
"Sorry, wasn't paying attention," Will mumbled back. He caught a glimpse of light blonde hair and a white shirt before the girl hightailed it out of there, her ponytail dancing back and forth as she ran past the front desk and towards the exit.
Well. At least he wasn't the only one in a hurry.
He successfully passed through the door this time and followed Amanda. It led him into a large office of sorts, with black tiles lining the floor, the walls and the ceiling. The room opened up to the left and the right, with a reception-like area nestled in-between the two walls there. A blond-haired man sat with his back to the door, too deep in his conversation with someone on a huge television screen to notice that he had visitors.
Will glanced at the redhead on the screen, who too seemed too preoccupied to notice their conversation was no longer private. "And above all else, make sure she's there for the pickup," she sternly said.
"I assure you that things have already been set in motion," the blond man replied.
Amanda looked back and forth between the two, then cleared her throat. "Professor Jenner? I've brought the new trainer, as requested."
The professor gasped and nearly fell over his chair. His hands fumbled with a remote, and the redheaded woman suddenly disappeared from the screen, replaced by some math stuff and a large, digital butterfly amidst said math stuff.
"O-Oh, Amanda, I…I didn't think you'd get here so soon," Jenner stammered.
Professor Jenner didn't seem like a social butterfly to Will. He was sure they'd get along.
"So soon? We're technically late, Professor," Amanda said, bemused.
"Right, in any case, welcome to my laboratory, Will!" Professor Jenner said. "I…young man, are you alright? You look like you've taken a nasty tumble."
"Yeah," Will replied. "I did…among other things."
"The S.S. Oceana was attacked, Professor," Amanda explained, quickly bringing Jenner up to speed about recent events, for which Will was very grateful. He didn't have it in him to keep explaining something he hadn't even processed himself yet.
Frowning, Jenner sat back down in his chair. "You smell like smoke, if you don't mind me saying. Were you in a fire? I might not be that kind of doctor, but it looks like you need to get yourself checked at, if anything."
"Later professor. First, we're going to get Will his starter Pokémon," Amanda said. "Will, Professor Jenner is the lead scientist here at Gearen Lab. Come on – "
"Yes, I was hired by Jan and Zumi. We – "
"Professor, starter first, lengthy introduction after medical checkup," Amanda reaffirmed.
"Ah, of course. I will not keep you. I hope you are ready, Will. This is not a choice to be taken lightly."
He…made it sound so ominous.
Amanda turned to Will with a grin. "Oh man, this is the best part! Let's go!"
She practically bounded up the escalator to the left, and Will hurried to keep pace. When he followed her up to the next floor, however, it began to dawn on him what the professor meant.
The entire first floor was like a dedicated playground for tiny Pokémon. Almost two dozen of the little critters ran, swam, crept or rolled across an area of about twenty by thirty meters. It was roughly divided into three artificial sections; a forested area with bushes and little trees, a swimming area with rocks and plenty of shelter, and even an area simulating a volcanic crater, complete with an artificial heating system and lights.
There were so many of them. Will counted eight different Pokémon per area, each corresponding with the three basic elements of grass, water and fire. How was he supposed to pick one? He barely even knew them!
"Come on, don't be intimidated! Take a walk, join these little fellows!" Amanda said.
"I don't know a lot about Pokémon," he admitted as he climbed over the barrier.
"Don't need to. There's plenty of people who can help you, but learning for yourself is the most fun."
Right off the bet, Will felt drawn to the craggy area of the Fire starters. If he wanted to take the fight to Team Xen and save his mother, he'd need a lot of…well, firepower.
He wasn't going to hurt anyone, but he guessed that the threat of being burned to a crisp was much more intimidating than the threat of being watered to a wet. It sure worked on him.
"Interested in a fire starter then?" Amanda said. "Nice choice! They can be hard to raise, though. Let's see what we have…"
As Amanda called out the names of the Pokémon Will wandered by, he noticed that he was being stalked. A small, chick Pokémon with stubby yellow wings was trailing behind him, its body covered with fluffy, orange feathers.
When he turned towards the little thing to take a closer look, the starter realized the gig was up. Apparently, the end of its sneaking mission signified the start of its frontal assault. It chirped with malicious intent and bounded towards him.
"Yep, that's our Torchic," Amanda said. "She's a feisty one. Watch out for her – "
Will knelt down to let the Torchic sniff at his hand, and the little thing took that personally. She snapped at his fingers, her sharp beak easily slicing through the skin on his palm.
"- beak. Ouch, yeah, she does that," Amanda said, wincing. "She's a fighter. Makes sense, considering what she evolves into. Been picked twice and brought back both times. A shame, really."
A fighter?
Carefully, Will reached out for the Torchic again. She lifted a threatening little claw, and he froze in mid-air.
She lowered it again.
He inched a bit closer.
She raised it again.
A fighter…
"Amanda, can I take this Torchic?"
"Of course you can, it's your choice. You sure you don't want to take a look at the others? She might be very difficult to work with."
And stay crippled by indecision for the next decade? "Choice made."
"Hell yeah, and a nice one at that," Amanda laughed. "Here, you're gonna need a couple of these. You know how to use them?"
She rolled a couple of Poke balls across the floor.
Not at all. Will scooped one of the capture devices off the ground. But when has that ever stopped me? He pressed the button and the tiny device grew back to its original size.
The Torchic stared at him with dark, large eyes, as if daring him to pick her up. Had he not valued his fingers so much, he would have.
"Capturing a Pokémon is usually a matter of proving your worth to them. If they don't want to be captured, they won't, unless you've severely weakened them. In that case, actually working with them is going to be a pain," Amanda explained. "Try it."
"How about it?" Will said, lowering the ball to Torchic's level.
Little Torchic glared at the ball, then back at him. She lunged for his fingers again, but Will was faster on the draw this time. He quickly maneuvered the ball in front of the Pokémon and bopped her on the head with it.
A flash of crimson light enveloped the Torchic. In the span of perhaps half a second, her form disappeared inside of the ball, which began shaking rapidly. After a short moment, the shaking ceased.
"Nice job!" Amanda said.
It was, wasn't it? Will was certain this was just the easy part, but that didn't change the fact that he now had a partner to work with. He'd seen mom and Sylveon together, he knew how dependable and loyal Pokémon could be if you treated them right.
At the very least, he wasn't defenseless anymore in case Team Xen had somehow tracked him down to Gearen.
"So what now?" He asked the league scout, before releasing Torchic from her Poke ball again. In another flash of bright light, his new starter Pokémon reappeared on the ground again, seemingly unfazed by what just happened to her.
"Now? We're gonna ask a doctor to give you a clean bill of health just in case. You did just narrowly escape what I can only call a major terror attack," Amanda explained. "After that, it's really up to you. This city does have its own gym. If you want to get stronger, that's a good milestone to train for."
That didn't actually sound half bad. Getting to know the city sounded like a good idea. Plenty of opportunities to train and get stronger. In the meantime, he might be able to find out more about Team Xen.
"What do you think?" He asked the Torchic, kneeling down in front of her again. "Do you want to start training soon?"
She snapped at his fingers again.
The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur. After the adrenaline-fueled escape from the S.S. Oceana, the exhaustion was finally starting to catch up with him. He met up with Professor Jenner and one of his colleagues from the front desk for a quick medical checkup in one of the side rooms. Along the way, Professor Jenner talked to him about…well, a lot of things. Strange color patterns in Pokémon being more occurring in Aevium, the important locations around Gearen to visit, important locations around Gearen to stay far away from…
The nurse shone a bright light in Will's eyes, then asked him to follow her finger.
"Smoke inhalation is a silent killer," she said, then out of nowhere she jammed a needle into one of his fingers. "From what I can tell, you were very lucky. I haven't detected any damage to your lungs…any longer though and you might have had serious health complications."
Will, already not a big fan of needles, wrestled down the urge to leap away from the chair.
After getting his "meh, good enough" bill of health, Jenner showed him a place where he could wash his clothes and grab a quick shower.
"Once you're ready, please find me in my office again," Jenner told him. "I…might need your assistance with something. I promise I'll make it worth your while."
In all honesty, Will didn't need much incentive to help the man; the people here had been hospitable enough already. But, he was tired and didn't feel like saying more than he absolutely needed to. He merely nodded, thanked Jenner for his help, then wandered into the little guest room they'd offered him for the day and plonked down on the bed.
Torchic, who hadn't done much beyond hungering for human flesh, didn't feel like resting yet. She skulked around the room, searching every nook and cranny for…whatever it was that she wanted.
"I'll think of a good name for you later," Will mumbled. He eyed the washing machine in the corner. The damage on his green jacket and brown jeans was superficial, but it was there. It wouldn't hinder him on his travels, but he didn't look forward to having to explain why his clothes were filled with burn marks a million times. Better just to get them repaired somewhere. Less of a hassle.
Still, when he finally pulled his clothes out of the washing machine, they were dry, soft and, most importantly, smoke-free.
"Time to visit Jenner again," he informed Torchic. "You ready?"
The fire starter bounded towards the door, then started hopping up and down.
Will took that as a yes.
The two of them made their way back to Jenner's lab. The man was engrossed in his work, muttering to himself as he flickered through page after page on his desk.
"Professor," Will politely greeted him.
"Ah, there you are," Jenner replied, sparing him a quick glance. "Good. Now that you're all set, you can – "
Someone else came walking around the corner, his gaze focused on the datapad he held in his hands. He looked to be about Will's age, albeit much better dressed. His gray coat looked immaculately ironed, and he even wore black gloves that matched with his clothes. A red scarf was wrapped around his neck.
"Oh, Professor, I've finally analyzed all the data collected from Amethyst Cave. So with that, I'm going to clock out for the day." The boy glanced aside, noticing that he wasn't alone. "Oh…who is this?"
"A new trainer, Will," Jenner explained. "Will, this is my assistant, Ren."
"A new trainer eh?" Ren said, offering a hand. "You look kinda tough…how about we do a quick battle? I promise I'll go a little easy on ya."
"Torchic? You up for a fight?" Will asked as he shook Ren's hand, though he was certain he already knew the answer.
Torchic raked the ground with her claws, her coal-black eyes burning focused at Ren's legs.
"Great!" Ren said, sending out his own Pokémon. "Let's go!"
He had one of those starter-Pokemon too. A Water-type, if Will wasn't mistaken. A quadrupedal creature with light-blue skin, white hands and large, yellow eyes.
"Froakie, let's start with a Bubble attack!" Ren ordered.
His starter backflipped into the air, and a mane of white bubbles rose up around its neck. Lightning-quick, it plucked a handful of those bubbles with its hands and lobbed them at Torchic with alarming speed.
Torchic was no slouch either. It knew that the incoming projectiles were bad news and leapt out of the way just in time. The bubbles smashed into the ground and detonated like fireworks. Droplets of water scattered in all directions, mixed in with shards of rock.
"Please, you two, watch the damage," Jenner urged them.
A bad matchup already. Torchic couldn't afford to get hit by a Water-type attack.
Visibly agitated by the near miss, Torchic retaliated with an elemental attack of its own. She blasted her foe with a pair of spherical flames, but it rolled out of her line of fire and leapt at the wall. Much to Will's surprise, the Froakie was able to cling to the wall by the tips of its limbs.
Not good. It could take the high ground whenever it pleased?
"Good Froakie! Keep your distance!" Ren called.
His starter, Froakie, leapt from the wall and fired off another barrage of bubbles.
Torchic was able to dodge them again, but when they popped they did so with greater force than before, and Torchic stumbled and nearly lost her footing.
"Stay focused, don't pursue him!" Will ordered.
That Froakie was fast and nimble. It would wear Torchic down with attacks from range. He couldn't allow that to happen, he had to change the flow of the battle.
Ren wanted to keep his Pokemon at a distance. They had the advantage there. Logically, that had to mean it had the disadvantage at close range. That was the key. If he could force Froakie into close combat, Torchic could take it out.
Froakie climbed higher, moving closer towards the ceiling, even further out of Torchic's range. She fired off another bolt of fire, but the Froakie simply climbed higher and avoided the worst of it.
"Good! Keep at it!" Ren said.
The ceiling…
"Shoot those bubbles out of the air," Will said, slowly working out a plan. The ceiling was made of the same material as the floor. Stones that cracked and crumbled when damaged.
Froakie had fully taken to the ceiling now. It clung there with its hind legs, preparing another bubble attack with his hands.
"Torchic, you have to get closer," Will ordered. "Get underneath him."
She shot him a look that he could inly interpret as annoyance, but she did obey him. She moved deceptively fast on her little feet, propelling her forwards just fast enough to escape the worst of Froakie's next attack. Shards of stone buffeted her feather coat and she nearly stumbled again, but she kept at it.
"Fire in a circle around him! Don't hold back!" Will shouted.
Torchic didn't hesitate. She inhaled sharply, then spat a barrage of six searing bolts straight up. Froakie tried to move out of the way, but the expanding flames impacted around it, sending fragments of stone in every direction. Froakie lost its grip and plummeted to the ground. It was sharp, and spun in midair to control its descent, but it was still a little guy and gravity was a harsh mistress.
"Nail him before he lands!" Will ordered.
Torchic didn't need to be told twice. She bounded towards the plummeting Froakie and, an instant before it could hit the ground and get away, it came within reach of Torchic's waiting claws.
One good swipe with her knife-like feet was all it took. Her kick sent Froakie skidding across the ground, where it wasn't able to get up on its own again.
"Tch, damnit," Ren muttered. "You did well Froakie, that's enough." He recalled his fallen starter, sighed, then nodded. Wow, you are very strong for a beginner. I'm not actually that experienced myself either. I mainly borrow the Professor's Pokémon when an assignment becomes risky. Guess I need to start training."
"It was close," Will said.
"Well, it was nice meeting you Will. I'll see you around!"
With that, Ren took off. It took a special kind of persona to lose graciously, casually wander off and still look like the coolest dude.
Will poked his thumb through one of the holes in his jacket. "Professor?"
"Yes, right, I actually have a favor to ask of you. I have a daughter, her name is Melia. She's off doing research at Route 1. Now, I'm confident in her ability to defend herself from wild Pokemon and the average trainer but…I'd still feel more confident if she had someone by her side. Could you pay her a visit?"
A daughter?
"I think I might have bumped into her before," Will said, but Jenner didn't seem to hear him. The Professor fished for something in his bag, before pulling out some sort of electronic device. "As part of our agreement. This is a Pokedex; it automatically synchronizes with your Poke Balls and stores relevant data. Take this Cybernav as well; it should come in handy for navigating."
Melia, Route 1, protection. "Understood," Will replied, gratefully taking the two devices the Professor offered.
"Don't forget to get your Pokemon checked up before you go, just in case. Good luck on your way." Jenner shifted his attention back to his papers and Will took his leave.
With how welcoming and hospitable Gearen lab had been, Will didn't expect much trouble in the rest of the city, bleary as it looked. He quickly found out however that things couldn't be much farther from the truth.
Gearen City was a mess. The apartment blocks and houses of the city looked dark and depressing, made worse by the constant downpour of rain. Their windows were stained with a perpetual grime and dust couldn't be washed away and dark alleys stretched out forever. Some people lounged in the thrash. Others sat behind shady shacks, selling whatever kind of crap.
Will made it back to the major intersection before the lab and headed left, towards the East. He kept his head on a swivel, constantly looking over his shoulder to see if someone were following him, never letting his guard down.
"Hey!" A man with black hair and a gray suit called out to him, before quickly closing the distance. "What's someone pretty like you doing in somewhere pretty like here/"
Wordlessly, Will reached for Torchic's ball.
The guy mimicked his movement, reaching for his own Pokemon with a creepy grin.
Will didn't want to do this, but the bastard wasn't backing down. He pulled the Poke Ball forth and called Torchic out, seconds before the other guy unleashed his own Pokemon.
His was a long-bodied creature covered in brown and yellow fur, sporting a short snout with a nasty set of teeth. "Yungoos, go!"
The rain would be a disadvantage, but Torchic wouldn't have to rely on her fire to win this one. As the Yungoos darted towards her, teeth bared. It was fast and slippery, but that didn't automatically translate to flexibility
"Keep your distance, don't let it bite you," Will instructed, eying his Pokedex for a quick second. It told him that the Yungoos was a Normal-type. Its skin wouldn't hold up to sharp claws and teeth, nor did it have any protection or insulation from heat other than the rain.
They could do this.
Torchic hopped backwards as the Yungoos lunged for her, barely moving out of range. As the critter gnashed its teeth and moved in for a third strike, Torchic raised a claw and lashed out at her foe, raking the side of its face as it narrowly missed again.
Will glanced up at the other trainer, watching to see if he wasn't getting any funny ideas in the meantime. But he seemed to be fully focused on the fight, yelling his own instructions.
Torchic was fast. And as the fight went on, it seemed as if she was only getting faster. She hopped and jumped in circles around her foe, who constantly had to spin on its feet to keep her in its eyes.
"Mix in an Ember, don't let up," Will called.
Torchic leapt backwards just as the Yungoos tried to slam its tail against her head. She opened her mouth and two spherical blasts of fire arced through the air. The Yungoos rolled to its side, dodging the first blast, but the second slammed into one of its legs. It cried out in pain, spasming on the wet concrete as smoke rose from its paw.
"Now, get him while he's down," Will ordered.
Torchic didn't hesitate. She closed the distance in a heartbeat and raked her claws across the Yungoos' face again. Droplets of blood mixed with the rain.
The other guy cursed swore as he recalled his Pokémon and stood down.
Will hadn't realized that he'd been holding his breath, and he exhaled. He leveled a glare at the trainer and held out his hand expectedly.
The prize money wasn't much, but it should be enough to buy a good quality backpack to carry his equipment. If he was going to travel Aevium, he wasn't going to do that with just one functioning pocket.
Further east in Gearen, the city seemed to liven up somewhat. An actual shopping district – though a lot of the shops had been foreclosed, with boarded up windows – and a collection of signs that said Gearen's park was to the north, the west and also the east. A massive hotel towered over all the buildings, much nicer and better maintained than the other buildings, which meant that Gearen did have a population of rich or influential people living there.
According to his map, Gearen had a small shopping district and a Gym in the same direction. The Gym happened to be just a few hundred meters away from his current position, too.
Deciding that it might be a good idea to scout out the gym, see what type it specialized in, Will settled for a bit of a detour. The Gym turned out to be hard to miss; it was one of the few buildings with a distinct style and identity to it. Its entrance was somewhat like the entrance to a concert hall. Since it was bolted onto a house and didn't visibly lead anywhere, Will assumed that the gym had to be underground. Then the leader lived in the house next to it?
The closer he got to the Gym entrance, the clearer it became that something was going on. His comparison to a concert seemed right on the money; it sounded like someone was playing a rock song on industrial speakers, and people weren't happy about it.
"Wait, WAIT! THE BEST PART OF THE SONG IS ABOUT TO COME ON!" A female voice yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Veronica?! How many times do I have to tell you to not blast music like this?!" Another woman shouted back.
"Ugh…Mom?! Can't you wait three seconds? The beat is about to drop!"
"NO!" The second voice retorted sharply. "I've had it. Your incessant annoyance is too much for me! The neighbors are complaining, the police have come and warned us!"
"WHO CARES! EAT THE POLICE!"
The music suddenly cut off.
"I SAID ENOUGH!"
"No, stop! H-Hey, why are you looking at me like th-that? Cool it!"
"Veronica, I said I've had ENOUGH!"
"Noooo!"
And then someone's body burst from the building's ceiling, sailed through the rain-filled sky and smacked onto the pavement below.
Alarmed, Will sped to her side, expecting screams, broken bones, internal bleeding –
The girl had landed face down on the ground. Her long, purple hair reached all the way down to the bottom of her black tank top. She didn't scream or wail in pain. She simply lay there, as if she had already accepted her fate.
"Hey, are you alright?" Will called out, kneeling next to the girl.
"Ouchie…Ouch…it looks like that wretched wench has defiled things once again…" The girl, Veronica he presumed, spoke through gritted teeth. "She's gone too far this time…I've been fatally wounded…"
Torchic approached the girl's outspread hand. Will quickly recalled her back to her Poke Ball before she could start scavenging.
"This is…" Veronica coughed. "The end for me….I need you…to do me a favor..."
Will placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
She got the message. "There's this store in the shopping district called "The Berry Emporium". Totally kickass place, by the way…their Pecha berries are so sweet…so nice…if only I could have one last bite…"
Will cocked an eyebrow. Her last dying wish was for a Pecha berry?
"I need to taste a Pecha Berry one last time before I go…please…"
Well…he still had to buy himself a solid backpack, so…why not?
Will left the dying Veronica lying in the rain and headed towards the Berry Emporium. Gearen City had a couple of signs with directions glued to walls and poles scattered around, but half of those signs were vandalized and the other half weren't exactly trustworthy. But with the map application in his Cybernav, he was able to navigate his way to the Emporium without too much trouble. He ran across a woman leaning against another shop on his way there however, and she was glaring at him like he owed her money.
The last time he wandered past someone giving him the stink-eye, things didn't go too well. Will felt his body tense up as he met her eyes, searching for any signs that she might be another undercover Xen member.
"Where did you get those clothes?" She demanded as she pushed herself off the wall and skulked towards him. "You look like you crawled out of a dumpster."
Memories of searing heat and choking ashes dragged themselves to the front of Will's mind. His temper flared. Seeing how the woman already snatched her Poke Ball from within her dress, he didn't bother replying to her insult, wordlessly sending Torchic out.
The woman's Woobat wasn't much of a threat; it obviously wasn't very suited to the rain, and any methods of attacking meant getting close and personal with Torchic, which was a bad idea even at the best of times.
Torchic, ready to maul at close range and from a distance, didn't have that problem. She shot the Woobat out of the sky with several well-placed Ember blasts, ready for another round.
Said other round consisted of a bout with an Azurill – a water type. With the constant downpour, it was the worst matchup possible, and Torchic barely managed to evade a rain-boosted Water Gun. The orb of water sailed past the Fire-type with nary an inch to spare, kept going and impacted on a wall a few meters behind her. Several of the bricks cracked under the impact.
Will told Torchic to get close and personal, making it harder for the Azurill to line up another shot. Just like with Ren's Froakie, the Water-type wasn't able to fend off its foe at close range, and a quick one-two combination of Torchic's razor-sharp claws and its hardy beak did the job.
"Damnit, Azurill, come back!" The woman called, opting to withdraw her Pokémon before it could get seriously hurt. She ran her eyes across Will's body, as if reevaluating him. She nodded. "Alright, alright, not bad. You cool. Me and you should hang out sometime, ye?"
Will blinked in surprise. She was pretty, and she probably knew more about Gearen than him. She did seem a bit…intimidating perhaps. Maybe one day?
He nodded at her, before deciding that he'd better get a move on. He had a dying wish to fulfill by buying a berry known for curing poisons, after all.
The Berry Emporium was like a candy shop, but with berries. Its aisles displayed every color of the spectrum, as well as drinks and salads. Its air was much more welcoming than that of the rest of the city.
"Welcome! How may we help you?" One of the clerks asked.
"I need a Pecha Berry to fulfill someone's dying wish," Will told her.
The clerk's expression darkened. "Excuse me…did you just say you needed it for someone who is dying?"
Will nodded.
"A girl?"
Another nod.
Her expression turned mighty suspicious. "And who is this girl? Do you have a name?"
"Veronica, I believe. Why?"
"Veronica," the clerk hissed. "Oh that tears it! I refuse to deal with this any longer. Wait. Right. Here."
With those words, she spun around and marched into the back of the shop. Not even a minute later she came with a small package, which she placed on the counter. "Here. Give this to Veronica. It's what she asked for."
Will obtained the…Pecha Berry? "Is this…?"
"It's a special berry I've prepared for our dear, dying friend," the clerk said. "When you give this to her, tell her that I'm sick and tired of her persuading gullible tourists into doing these ridiculous favors! Especially since I have to deal with them!"
…gullible?
…so Veronica wasn't dying?
…he needed time to reflect on that. Fortunately, it was another mile back to the house where he found Veronica, so he'd have enough time to think.
On his way back, he paid a visit to a general clothing shop to buy a sturdy-looking backpack. He went for a dark green version, to better blend in with his surroundings in case he had to camp out in the wild. It came with a solid hip belt, so he could carry quite a bit of crap if it came down to it.
Heck, it was big enough that he could carry Torchic if he ever needed to.
With the last of his money, he bought a couple of potions, some Poke food and four new Poke balls.
There, all set, he thought.
Once back at the strange household where he found Veronica's strangely-unbroken body, he shot a glance at the mailbox standing outside.
Veronica and Chasity's house.
Judging by that discussion earlier, Veronica and her mother might have a bit of a strained relationship.
"Heya," Will said.
"You…got me a Pecha Berry?" Veronica weakly asked.
"Yep."
"That…that's a Pecha Berry from the Emporium! So delectable, so tasty, so exquisite. The taste is unimaginable."
Veronica was on her feet in a literal second, her eyes focused and hungry. "Hand it over. Now."
Will recognized that look. Torchic had looked the exact same when she first laid eyes on him. Since he was attached to his fingers and wanted to stay attached to his fingers, he did as she asked.
Veronica gratefully took the Berry and chomped down without a moment's hesitation.
"Cronch, monch...so tasty…thank yo – "
Her eyes widened, and her face slowly turned red. "H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-HOOOOTT!" She cried out, visibly dying on the inside as she waved her hands in a desperate bid to cool off. Had it not been raining, Will might have seen flames bursting from her mouth. She hopped around, groaning and spitting, before finally and dramatically slumping down against her front door.
She uttered an explosive sigh, then coughed a couple of times.
Will could relate.
"That berry you gave me…it was filled with…wasa…wasaha…" Veronica broke down laughing, unable to finish her sentence. She clutched her stomach as she laughed and kicked with her boots. It was such a silly sight that Will couldn't help but grin as well. That was one way to teach someone a lesson.
"I can't believe I fell for that!" Veronica said, still giggling. "Were you the one who put that wasabi in that berry?"
"All me," Will said, offering the girl a hand. She took it, and he hauled her back to her feet.
"Hahahaha, man, you got me good dude! Putting wasabi in that berry was priceless. There was honestly no way I'd turn down free food! I'm such a fuckin idiot. Hahaha! Ah…anyway, you probably heard my mom call me Veronica back there, but I would politely ask you to call me Venam, or I will have to murder you. Veronica is such a prissy name. I hate it. I don't wanna be called that. Venam is tough and scary."
Will stared at her with wide eyes. "I think you and I are going to be great friends, Venam," he told her. "I'm Will."
She grinned. "Right, introductions. I'm Venam! Gym Leader of East Gearen City. You should come meet my friends, they're cool people. In fact, I'm meeting them right now, at the abandoned sewers. It's just south of my house. You better show up or I'll have you buy me more food and I assure you that your wallet won't be happy with that!"
"Actually," Will said before Venam could split, "I'm looking for Route 1? I'm supposed to find someone there."
Venam scoffed at that. "Route 1? That's only accessible by train, my dude. And the train's been dead for half a week now."
That was odd. Melia left just a couple of hours ago; he'd seen her leave. Wouldn't someone like Jenner know that? "Other routes?"
Venam shook her head wildly and the pink flowers clasps in her hair trembled dangerously. "Nope. Tell ya what, the power generator for the station's down there too. Come hang out with me, and we'll have a look, see if we can't get that shit operating again.".
Will supposed that made sense. "Sure, why not. I'll grab a few things in preparation."
"Cool, I'll see you there!"
Venam took off again.
Wondering just what he'd be getting himself involved in, Will sent Torchic out again and inspected her for injuries. He didn't spot any obvious injuries and she seemed chipper enough.
"Here, a quick bite," he told her, giving her a handful of kibble to wolf down. He still had to settle for a good nickname, but he just couldn't think of one. "Sorry girl, I know you want to walk, but the rain…"
He reached down to pet her again. She opened her beak, as if ready to pounce, and he froze.
She closed her beak.
He moved a bit closer.
She opened her beak again.
Slowly, ever so slowly, he reached out for the top of her head.
Lightning-fast, she jabbed at his hand, and he pulled back on reflex.
"Alright, your boundaries," he said, before recalling her again.
With Torchic as strong and fit as ever, Will began navigating his way towards the sewers. Being the daughter of a scientist, it was reasonable to assume that Melia wasn't stupid. If the trains were out, she wouldn't try to head to Route 1 on foot. With some luck, Venam wasn't mistaken about the generator. They might even be able to do something about the situation if the problem really was on that end.
It took him a minute or twenty to reach the sewer entrance. Once there he saw that…
…Venam had died again. This time, it seemed like it was Ren who had found her dying body.
"Please, Ren," Venam choked out her last words. "That poor old, wretched, disgusting woman has done it again…"
Will felt a stab of discomfort, hearing her talk about her mother like that.
I'll hold them off as long as necessary.
He pushed the memory away from him. He didn't know Venam, didn't know her circumstances. He didn't want to judge her.
"I've been fatally wounded," Venam continued. "This time for real…I cannot continue. All I ever – " She coughed violently. It sounded convincing, too. "- wanted was a berry from the Emporium…Ren…please, this is my last request. I need the succulent, beautiful, EMPOWERING taste of an Oran Berry. Please…just do it for me?"
Will could practically hear Ren rolling his eyes. "Nice try, Venam. It's not working. Cut it out."
"PLEASE."
"Honestly, just get up, Venam. Or should I say, Veronica…"
Will blinked once and Venam stood four millimeters away from Ren's face, her expression thunderous. "DON'T CALL ME VERONICA!" She snarled.
"Yeah, yeah. Just open the door," a very nonplussed Ren replied.
Venam pouted at that. "Ren, you're horrible. You wouldn't grant a dying girl's wish?"
"You're a girl? You had me fooled," Ren scoffed. "I thought you were just a feral Primeape with no direction."
Damn. Ren just went and straight up murdered Venam. Maybe someone ought to get her that Oran Berry after all…
Venam worked her jaw. Her eyes darted aside and lingered on Will. "Oh nice going Ren. You're embarrassing me in front of my new friend! Will, can you believe this guy?"
Ren turned around at that. "Oh! Will's the one you were speaking about?"
"Uh, yeah. They blasted me away with a Pecha Berry filled with wasabi. So of course we're friends now! Anyway, it sounds like you two already met so I'm just going to do my thing."
Venam kicked against the door, fumbled with a little keycard and then kicked the door again. It slid upwards with a loud, mechanical whirring, creating an opening large enough for four people to pass through side by side.
"Presto!" Venam declared. "Let'sa go go go!"
Without a second thought, Venam darted inside of the sewers, leaving the two guys on their own.
"You know what, this works out for everybody," Ren said. "I beg your pardon, but I overheard you and the Professor talking. You're supposed to look for Melia on Route 1, towards the Goldenwood forest? Don't waste your time, she's not there right now."
Well, at least he'd been right about that.
"There's an old power grid that the city still uses despite the actual sewer system being abandoned," Ren continued. "Recently it was shut down by an unknown source. Melia decided she wanted to see if she could fix it herself. Professor Jenner is good with machines, so I bet he's taught her a good few things. Anyway, we shouldn't keep the ladies waitin'. Let's go."
Together with Ren, he entered the sewers.
"Welcome to the abandoned sewers," Ren said as they walked into an entry room with a large staircase leading down. "You'll find out pretty quickly that the name is misleading. This is a place where a ton of trainers come to train their Pokémon. Heh, believe it or not, I may need some help getting through this place myself. Don't worry though, I'll carry us through. They'll be quivering in fear in no time!"
Will stared at the guy, not sure if he might have misjudged Ren when they first met.
Ren saw him staring. "Th-That was a joke by the way. I'm not actually that conceited."
That made a lot more sense.
Ren awkwardly scratched his neck. "Uh yeah, c'mon. Let's go."
And damnit if Ren wasn't right about the name being misleading. The literal second they descended the stairs, they came across their first person standing around there. She was a brown-haired girl with an enthusiastic expression who waved them over the moment she saw them.
"New friends of Venam? Exciting!" She exclaimed, but Ren cut her off.
"Luca, we're just trying to get to the grid. Could ya quiet it down a bit?"
"Nope!" Enthusiastic Luca retorted. "Time to battle!"
It was good to see that everybody had their priorities straight there…
As it turned out, Luca wasn't actually that good of a battler, and Ren had added another Pokemon to his team. Together, Torchic and his Growlithe made short work of Luca's two Pokemon.
"Darn, I lost," Luca said, completely unbothered by her defeat. "Oh well! Say hi to Venam for me!
The two guys exchanged a quick look, then set about for their search.
It didn't come as a surprise to Will that the sewers stank. A combination of urine, feces, vomit and other, even worse things all pooled together into one killer combo that was difficult to ignore. Under normal circumstances, people could get used to bad smells through simple acclimatization. Here however, Will didn't bother. He simply breathed through his mouth and hoped that the remaining soot in his lungs would filter out the stench.
"So, where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?" Ren said as they navigated the dark, dripping tunnels.
"The S.S. Oceana," Will replied.
"The S.S….oh, oh. I'm, uh, I'm sorry, I didn't know," Ren stammered.
But Will shook his head. "That's ok. I'm still trying to process it all. I'd rather not go into detail."
"No, that's completely understandable," Ren said. "Didn't mean to push, I just – whoah, look out!"
Out of the darkness, a pair of dark, slender forms sprinted towards them. Before Will knew it, a canine Pokémon had latched onto his leg and started ripping into his calf.
Alarmed, Will stumbled backwards, trying to kick the Pokémon off before it could slice through the fabric and start doing damage. "Torchic!" He cried out, finding and seizing his Poke ball with his right hand. "Go!"
Once released, Torchic wasted no time in identifying the biggest threat – the Pokémon barking and growling at Ren – and went after it.
Luckily, Ren came in clutch. His Growlithe tackled the Pokémon off and forced it to let go before things could get bloody. Will shot a grateful nod at Ren, then the two quickly switched positions to get behind their individual Pokémon.
"You and I are going to talk about target priorities," he told his little starter. "Keep your distance, hit him with an Ember"
As Torchic kept the Pokémon – his Dex identified it as a Poochyena, a Dark-type – he grabbed one of the Poke Balls Amanda had given him. He had to build up his team eventually, and this seemed like the ideal place to do so.
The Poochyena started to feel the heat. It barked a couple of times more, then spun around and tried to make a run for it.
Will gripped the ball and flung it after the fleeing Pokémon – and missed. The ball bounced off the far wall and rolled across the floor.
"Damnit," he muttered, then turned to the Poochyena Ren was battling. It was still in the middle of a standoff with his Growlithe – and thus, it wasn't moving.
Will pocketed another ball, took a moment to aim properly, then flung. His ball sailed straight and true and hit the Poochyena in its flank. Before it could even react to the impact, the ball caught it and dropped to the ground.
"Wow," Rem said, visibly holding back a grin. "Problems with aiming?"
"I, uh, don't wanna talk about that either," Will said sheepishly.
Ren chuckled, but the Poke Ball remained intact. One more Pokémon, caught!
"I only recently became a trainer. Guess I still need a lot of practice," Will explained as he picked up the newest addition to his team.
"Hey, don't worry about it. We've all been there."
Over the walkway, across the bridge, facing off against random bikers and technicians, Ren and him inadvertently got a lot of battling done. They stopped every now and then to inspect their Pokémon, making sure that they hadn't been poisoned by the occasional Poison-type Pokémon in the area, but other than that they made solid progress. Ren quickly treated their two starters with a healing spray, and they were good to go.
"What's this?" Ren said as they passed by an open door. "Do you think this is the place?"
"Dunno," Will replied. "Check it out?"
"Sure."
As it turned out, it was a generator room, but not the generator room they were looking for. Three massive machines had been stashed away there in a sharp triangular configuration. They reached all the way to the ceiling, which put them at twice the size of Will and Ren.
Those machines looked heavy and expensive. They also looked like they might explode if looked at the wrong way.
"So…I'm not good with machines," Will said. "Wanna press some buttons?"
"No…" Ren said as he scrutinized the generators in front of them. "Don't see Melia or Venam here. Let's make a mental note of this place and keep going."
"GOD, you guys took your sweet ass time getting here!" Venam yelled at them. "Tch. Whatever. This is where we're supposed to be. Come on!"
Without even bothering to wait for the rest, Venam darted inside of what looked like the generator room.
Ren sighed. "We didn't take long at all! Don't be so impatient!"
Will shrugged, then made his way towards the door…
…which promptly fell shut and locked itself behind Venam.
That's entirely fitting with the day I'm having…Will thought. Exhaustion started to weigh down on his mind again, but he brushed that aside. He still hadn't found Melia.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Ren exclaimed. "The power just flickered again, and at such a convenient time!" He placed his hand against the door, searching for any mechanism to get it open again. "Looks like they're locked in…and we're locked out. The generator should be somewhere around here. Lets…just reset it ourselves."
Back into the sewers they went. Luckily, it wasn't that far to the backup power room. They literally passed it by as they made their way inside, so it was just a matter of backtracking a hundred meters or so to find the generator room again.
"What do we have to do to reset the generator again…" Ren muttered to himself. "I think Melia told me once. It went something like…three plus one plus two is the solution to our generator resetting problems. That's…well, that's six together, but I only see three generators here…"
"Three plus one plus two…" Will repeated. Melia sounded like a real sharp girl. There was no way it was something as simple as the order of activation, was it?
The two of them searched the room up and down, left to right, for any loose pieces of instructions or clues as to how to operate the devices. They found an angry Ekans nestled between a bundle of cables, but nothing useful.
"Three plus one plus two…" Will said again. He frowned, then looked at Ren. "Wait a minute."
Ren looked like he was about one second removed from slamming his head against the wall. "It's the activation order, isn't it?"
Will wandered over to the rightmost machine, saw more buttons than a simple on-off switch and realized that it wasn't meant for him. "Let's try it. Right. Left. Middle."
Ren, being infinitely more versed in the art of computers, activated the three machines in the right order.
"GENERATOR RESET." A machinelike voice droned through the nearest intercom.
"It really was that simple…" Ren sighed. "Let's…let's just find Melia and Venam, shall we?"
They made their way back to the room where the door had literally closed in their faces to find that the door had opened again.
"If that hadn't worked, I don't know what I would have done," Ren said as they filed inside. "Venam are you – "
The two guys stopped in their tracks when they saw that Venam had, unfortunately, perished. Again.
"Please…" Venam weakly said, "That wretched old hag that lives deep within the concrete forest…she has fatally struck me once again…"
Another girl stood at the far end of the room, standing with her back to Venam. Will recognized her immediately; it was the same girl he'd briefly…ah, met back in the lab. She seemed too engrossed in her work to realize that Venam was dying right behind her.
Ren pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you seriously trying to swindle Melia right now? You know she won't fall for that!"
"A girl's gotta make her way through life somehow!" Venam shot back, getting back to her feet. "It's nothin' personal!"
"Venam," Melia said in a gentle, yet firm tone. "I'm trying to concentrate. Please keep it quiet on set!"
"Alright, alright, I guess I'm done with that bit…for now," Venam sighed. "I'm just soooo bored! You said you'd be done with this hours ago!"
Will frowned. Hours? Had it been that long?
"I know, I'm sorry. I just can't find the issue with this thing!" Melia replied, still struggling with the machine. "I'm trying my best to get things done, I promise!" She spared a glance over her shoulder at the pouting Venam and realized that she had an audience. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know you guys got here already!"
Melia seemed like a nice enough girl, with large, friendly eyes that glistered with curiosity. Her blond hair fell in curls at the left side of her face, which seemed a bit pale. Will thought she looked cute, if a bit plain. More importantly, she looked safe.
"I was so engrossed in my work that I guess I zoned out my surroundings," she explained. Her gray eyes lingered on Will, then widened. "Hey…haven't we met before? You seem really familiar."
"Did everyone meet Will before me?" Venam demanded before Will could do more than smile back.
"Ah, I remember now!" Melia then exclaimed. "I bumped into you back at the lab, Sorry, again."
"No, that might have been on me," Will replied. "I wasn't paying attention back then."
"So back on the generator issue?" Ren said. "What exactly is the problem?"
:Ah, that's what I'm confused about," Melia replied. "As of now, there seems to be nothing wrong. But as you can see, this thing is still going haywire. It's quite old, though." She turned back to the central console. "Maybe this ol' guy is just falling over, finally."
"Oh well, let's forget about it," Venam declared. "We should check on the results of our experiment!"
Melia looked at Venam again. "Uh, about that…When I got here, the bags of garbage we left here weren't here anymore. Looks like our experiment to see if garbage bags can actually turn into Garbodor in certain conditions is a failure."
Movement atop the main generator caught Will's eye. It appeared as if something was poking out of the top? "Guys?"
Ren saw it too. "Wait, Melia, look! Something's coming out of the generator!"
Melia gasped, then took a step back. "Wh-What is that?"
A freaking Pokémon popped out of the generator, screeching in surprise as it did. It was large and amorphous, with two large, unblinking eyes resting atop its strange body.
"Wait…" Melia said. "That's a Garbodor, and it's…its colors are different!"
"It happened again!" Ren exclaimed. "Melia, your – "
Before he could finish his sentence, two more Pokémon popped out of the sewage pipes that were lined around the room. They looked like smaller versions of the Garbodor, and they weren't friendly.
"W-Wahh! Two more?" Venam yelled. "Wait a minute…there are three of them! I think…I think our experiment worked!"
"No way…"
The Garbodor squeezed itself out of the generator and landed in-between Melia and the console with a heavy, meaty THUMP.
"Whoa!" Melia yelped, quickly backpedaling. "This thing doesn't look friendly!"
Will didn't hesitate. He positioned himself in front of Melia and pulled his two occupied Poke Balls from his pocket. Ren did the same, and a second later they had four Pokémon standing between them and the new threat.
"Don't worry Melia!" Ren said. "Will and I got this!"
"Th-thank you!" Melia said, her face laced with concern. "Be careful!"
The Garbodor snarled and stomped closer, its large, beady eyes locking on Melia.
Adrenaline pumping through his body, Will's mind raced to process the situation. The garbage menace was large and bulky and would hit hard. Its smaller brethren could run interference, making them smaller threats, but dangerous nonetheless.
Still, one of those smaller guys couldn't do much damage in a short while. This Garbodor looked like it could shatter bones like they were matchsticks, and that was without taking its Poison attacks in account. Clearly, it was the bigger threat.
"Poochyena, Torchic, focus on the big guy!" Will called. Quick on your feet. Torchic, use Ember from a range. Don't get close!"
The Garbodor opened its gaping maw and spewed a filthy-looking substance across the floor, forcing the four smaller Pokemon to scatter.
"Growlithe, keep those Trubbish at a distance!" Ren ordered. "Froakie, you stay at range too."
Torchic and Froakie pelted the Garbodor with fire and fire respectively, and it raised a thick arm to protect its face.
"Poochyena, get him from behind!" Will called.
As the Garbodor shielded itself from the ranged attacks, Poochyena sprang at it from behind, sinking its teeth into its left leg.
The Garbodor rumbled and whirled around, lashing out at Poochyena, but the Dark-type Pokemon bounded away before it could hit, slinking back with practiced ease. Clearly, this wasn't its first tag-team battle.
"Torchic, hit him again with an Ember!"
"Growlithe, your turn, use Bite!" Ren ordered, catching on to Will's tactics.
Growlithe bounded forwards without hesitation. It leapt over the acidic goo the Pokémon had spewed before and ripped at the Garbodor's right leg, then quickly leapt away before the larger Pokemon could retaliate.
But the Trubbish his Growlithe had been holding back was now free to move, and it waddled right in the middle of the ongoing fight, swinging its arms wildly at Torchic.
"Torchic, watch out!" Will called.
The Fire-starter broke off her attack a heartbeat too late. The Trubbish clobbered her over her head with one of its limbs, the blow sending her rolling over the ground.
Will gritted his teeth and struggled to stay calm. Panic wouldn't help anyone. "Poochyena – "
A barrage of exploding bubbles pelted the Trubbish and it staggered backwards, crying out as it tried to shield its face from the attack.
Ren's Froakie clung to the ceiling. It scampered a few meters to the right and opened up on the Trubbish again, keeping it back.
"You're mine! Hah!" Venam shouted, before throwing a Poke Ball at the weakened Pokémon. Unlike a certain someone, she didn't miss.
"My bad," Ren said.
"It's okay. Torchic, you good?"
His Torchic rolled herself back to her feet, shook her head and then chirped in affirmation.
Relief washed over him. "Great, keep up the pressure!"
Tag-teamed by three different attackers, two of which kept biting it where it couldn't defend, the Garbodor's movements began to slow down. It grew more sluggish, each attack seeming to cost it more effort.
With Growlithe and Poochyena keeping it effectively pinned, it was unable to react fast enough when Torchic and Froakie combined their attack. Froakie's Bubbles exploded right in its face and the concussive force knocked its arm out of the way, leaving its face exposed.
Torchic, never one to ignore a weak spot, struck a critical blow with Ember. The bolts of searing fire slammed into Garbodor's head and it screamed, rolling back across the floor.
Will watched it intently, expecting it to leap right back to its feet, but it stayed on the ground, panting in exertion.
"I think we got it," Ren said, visibly relaxing. "Please don't attack people like that! If you want people's attention, you should be a little nicer!"
The Garbodor uttered a weak, almost melancholic little sound.
Will watched in amazement as the large, powerful Garbodor seemed to shrink in on itself under Ren's words. It actually looked like it was ashamed of itself. It casually climbed over the railing and cast itself into the sewer water below, followed by its unevolved companion.
Within seconds, the threat was gone,
Will looked at Ren in surprise. How had he known?
Melia sighed in relief. "Thank you two for helping me out there. That Garbodor totally took me by surprise."
"You two were awesome!" Venam yelled, her voice reverberating off the walls. "That powerful combination was just so…SO…AMAZING!"
"Yeah, and if you guys hadn't been strong enough, we always had this to fall back on!" Melia said, padding the top of a large, dark suitcase.
"Wow!" Venam said. "…what is it?"
A suitcase! Will thought, but he kept that to himself. He was sure the others could figure that out too.
"It's a briefcase, Venam," Melia said with the tone of a mother let down by the intelligence of her child.
Oh.
But then she smiled. "My dad gave it to me right before he left. I opened it earlier and it contains stuff like potions and things. But my dad also told me to enter a secret code if things got really bad. So if things got too dangerous, I would just enter that code. We'd be safe from harm!" Her smile faltered somewhat. "At least, I think so."
"Uh…okay?" Ren said, glancing at Will, who shrugged.
"Anyway, the generator seems to be working perfectly now!" Melia continued. "I can get onto my trip to Goldenwood Forest tomorrow. But first…I think I'll head back to Gearen Park and take more pictures for my album in the morning. Gotta go, see you guys later!"
Will watched her leave with the briefcase. What kind of stuff could Jenner have packed in there that could keep Melia safe? It had to be a very strong Pokémon or something, just in case.
"So what are you going to do now, Will?" Ren asked, his voice careful. "If you…want to get stronger, I hear Goldenwood – "
Venam, being Venam, didn't let him finish. "Wait just a moment! You COULD go to Goldenwood Forest…or you could go visit me at my Gym! I challenge you, Will!"
For a moment, Will didn't know what to say. A Gym Leader wanted to fight him? Him? "You…you'd want that?"
"Duh!"
"I don't even have experience."
"No shit? And your shoes are dirty from all the asses you've kicked!" Venam told him.
"Hah, look at the opportunities you've got, Will!" Ren said.
"Hell yeah! It's been too long since an actual good trainer showed up at my door. So don't make this boring for me. Kay? I'll be waiting for you tomorrow, first thing in the morning!"
She didn't bother waiting for his response. Instead, Venam stormed off on her own.
"Well, no use standing around," Ren said, He clasped Will's shoulder reassuringly. "Hey, I won't push. And if you want to talk about things, well, now you've got a couple of friends to do that with. See you upstairs!"
And with that, Ren headed towards the exit as well, leaving Will alone with his thoughts.
Keep up hope…through new friends, new opportunities, new love.
"Friends…" Will quietly said. "…I'd like that."
~~~~~~~(II)~~~~~~~
Author's Notes: since Rejuvenation is heavily story-focused, I will not be describing every trainer battle in extreme detail. There are hundreds of those throughout the game and I do not feel it is possible to make every single one of them unique/interesting or compelling. I plan on devoting the time and attention the important battles deserve, both to ease the writing process and to keep the fights in general from becoming stale.
Quality over quantity, so to speak.
Anyway, we've met part of the gang! I had a ton of fun writing Venam's interactions. Rejuvenation's development team did something unique by creating an extensive cast of actual characters that are each really likable (or amazingly hateable) in their own way. I cannot stress enough how genuine these characters act and feel, and I cannot wait to expand on their interactions and give them all their individual moments.
Huge thank you to the people who reviewed, followed and faved! You guys make all the difference for me when it comes to writing.