Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)
Season 1, Episode 8, Chapter 4
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"Oh! Elizabeth! It's so good to see you're okay!" Elizabeth flinched as her mother swept her into a hug. Her talk with Versus had only taken the better part of two hours, but the rest of her stay at the hospital had flown by in comparison. The verdette had been in a pretty good mood up until this point.
Somehow, just laying eyes on her parents had caused that beast of rage and loathing to rear its ugly head again.
"What are you two waiting for?" Elizabeth's father said, "Come on, let's get in the car."
"Of course, dear," her mother replied with a smile. Taking her hand, the two walked towards the limo, where a man opened the door for them and granted them entry. As they neared, Elizabeth frowned as she didn't recognize the driver.
"Oh, Elizabeth!" her mother exclaimed in shock, "Where'd you get this scar? And why did you tan your skin again? Haven't I told you not to do that?"
"The Gallade slashed me across the face, Mother," Elizabeth answered slowly, looking out the window, "As for the tan? People kept saying I looked like you." As her mother gasped, she couldn't help but let out a small smile.
"Elizabeth!" her father snapped. "Apologize to your mother immediately!"
When Elizabeth elected to say nothing, her father only grew angrier. Seeing that filled her with satisfaction.
"I know you had that scar when you were checked into the hospital, young lady," he revealed, "So tell me, where did you get it!"
"I heal quickly, Father," Elizabeth stated, keeping her voice almost monotone, "I have for the past nine years."
"Elizabeth!"
The verdette sighed, "Sir? Stop the car, please."
The car stopped immediately, pulling next to the curb and allowing the heiress to climb out, much to the shock of her parents.
"Elizabeth!" her father snapped. "Get back in the car this instant!"
"No."
"Elizabeth," Mrs. Colette said, using a much softer tone than her husband, "please get back in the car. We were considering reinstating your allowance."
"I would have refused," Elizabeth interjected, struggling to keep her voice level despite the boiling rage she felt. She knew what they were doing. They were trying to butter her up again, make her feel welcome while pulling her into their shallow lifestyle. It would last for a time, and she'd feel like she was happy, only for them to rip it away and go back to normal. She wasn't about to let that happen again, not when she had something much more important to strive for.
"Let me talk to her, honey," her father said, opening the door, only for Elizabeth to slam it closed in his face. He was lucky his hands were free, given the sizable dent in the metal she produced.
"Enough with the charade," she declared, her steely tone belying her growing rage, "This trick you're pulling? This whole song and dance you've been doing my whole life? It's over. I am done letting you dictate how my life will go. You don't have control anymore."
Elizabeth walked away, shaking her throbbing hand as she went. The roiling mass in her chest had kicked itself up into a hurricane. Behind her, she heard her father get out of the car, likely furious, but she didn't seem to care in the slightest.
"Elizabeth! Get back here! That is not behavior fitting of the heiress to the Colette estate!"
Elizabeth stopped but didn't turn around. "I don't care. Disown me, have another child, I don't care anymore. Do what you what."
"Where are you going to go, then?" her father shot back, half expecting, half hoping she would turn around. Instead, all she did was continue to walk away.
"If you had been paying any attention to what I had been doing, you would have known about my entry into the local PWE league. Donatello Versus has personally arranged my first match," Elizabeth allowed herself to smile. "If you'll excuse me, I have a bus to catch."
Try as he might, it was hard for Saito to fall asleep that night. Wikstrom's advice on his fracturing relationship with Tanuki struck him to his core, and it was hard for him to find the peace of mind to drift off finally. Eventually, his body just got tired enough to where a restless sleep came in on its own. He and Louise awoke at dawn, and after preparing themselves and packing their supplies, they bid the Battle Chateau farewell and set off again for Connecting Cave.
"How much further are we?" Saito asked Louise as they sat underneath a large tree, granting them shelter from the sweltering noon sun. Their Pokémon were about, training by themselves or merely resting on the tree.
"Just a few hours," Louise revealed as she ate her sandwich. Gulping it down, she turned her head to look at Saito. "How are you holding up?"
"Well, all things considered," Saito sighed.
"Still thinking about what Wikstrom said?"
"Yeah, as much as I don't want to," he sighed again, "Still, at least I know about it."
"Yes, that is true," Louise smiled and nodded, "Lord Thyméo certainly deserves the respect afforded by his station."
"Didn't you tell me that he felt the entire nobility institution was demeaning?" Derflinger spoke up.
"Yes, he did. But he carried himself in such a way, not to mention all that he's accomplished, that I could respect his opinion," Louise clarified with an outstretched finger. "Had someone like Princess Allie or some random shopkeeper told me that, I would have dismissed it outright."
"At least you admit it," Derflinger chuckled, but Louise shook her head.
"I'm not blind to the faults of the nobility, Derflinger. Especially not anymore. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to abandon it outright." A noticeable edge was in Louise's voice, and as he wiped away some drool from the corner of his mouth, Saito decided it was time to intervene before it got too heated.
"Well, I say that we should get some training in before moving on again. Training is a lot easier in the open air than inside a cave," he said as he rose to his feet. Taking the cue, Louise and Derflinger rose as well, Louise taking the time to stretch.
"Is cave-diving that bad?" Louise questioned while agreeing with the logic.
"It can be." Derflinger nodded, "When we get in there, stay close to one another. And keep those flashlight things on at all times. The last thing we need is for one of us to trip and fall."
"Don't need to remind me twice," Saito stated as he began to walk off, waving back to Louise as he gathered his Pokémon around him. "Be back in a bit!"
"Got it!" Louise yelled back as she gathered her Pokémon as well. Seeing that Derflinger was still with her, she groaned while pulling out an assortment of supplies. "If you're going to stay here, please don't…be yourself."
Derflinger paused and tilted his body to the side. "What does that mean?"
"You know what it means."
Saito and Tanuki sat calmly across from each other, Saito on the grass and Tanuki on a rock. Their eyes were level, and they stared intensely into the other. Silence surrounded both of them as they tried to probe deeply into the other's mind. Occasionally, Tanuki would let out pulses of aura, allowing his feelings to expand outward and grant Saito a brief window into the canine's soul. At first, the sensations had been confusing and difficult to read, but he was getting the hang of it by now.
Shame was the most significant emotion he was feeling from Tanuki. The Riolu was ashamed at feeling even a little bit superior to Saito. Likewise, Saito couldn't help but feel a twinge of betrayal, but thankfully not much. Deeper down, despite Tanuki's attempts to defeat it, the boy could also feel the root of his feelings. From what he could tell, Tanuki felt that Saito's decisions were distant from the actual fight. Since it was Tanuki who was fighting, he thought that trying to sit back and let Saito decide was foolhardy, at best.
Therein lay the problem. Simply put, Tanuki sometimes felt Saito didn't know what he was talking about, and given his already wild nature, it made him think that it was best to act first rather than wait for a potentially incorrect command.
"I think I see now," Saito stated while nodding. He could see that Tanuki's shame was still across his snout, and with a smile, Saito patted the Riolu's head. "Don't worry. We'll get past this. But changes will have to be made."
Tanuki perked up at this, tilting his head to the side, and Saito couldn't help but chuckle at the cute sight.
"From now on, buddy, we're going to work on training together. You teach me how to fight, and I'll teach you how what goes through my head. Okay?" Saito stuck out his hand, and after a moment, Tanuki smiled, grasped it with his paw, and shook it.
From across the small field, Louise watched Saito train with his Pokémon. Ronin and Tanuki were taking the time to help Saito with his training, while Maindo continued to try and rile Tengu to no avail. It was honestly an amusing sight to here, albeit one that was a little concerning. Humans were weaker than Pokémon in nearly every aspect, so Saito training directly with his Pokémon put him in greater danger. Still, she was confident that Ronin and Tanuki would be able to hold themselves back enough to avoid that.
Which brought her to where she was now. Just like Saito was working on improving his combat abilities in the wake of Team Flare, it was time for her to do the same.
"Fireball!" she cast, creating a small explosion that broke off a chunk of rock. The bits scattered, flying a short radius from the foundation and joining other pieces of rock from her previous blasts.
"Little bit off center," Derflinger observed from a safe distance. For once, rather than chafe at the sword's comments, Louise nodded. As much as he annoyed her, he was the person with the most knowledge about her Void magic, and if she wanted to improve what she could do, he was her best bet to do so.
"I noticed," she shook her head and cast again, causing another small explosion to ring out. This one shattered the rock completely, causing it to crumble into dust.
"Ugh…," she groaned and rubbed her forehead in frustration.
'I'll get another one,' Espirit noted as she began psychically searching for the right object for her trainer to practice on, and Louise nodded.
"Thank you, Espirit," Louise smiled at the Kirlia then sat down, holding out her wand and studying it intensely. Thinking back, what she was doing was kind of funny. Back home, the last thing Louise would be doing would be practicing on making her explosions better, instead focusing on casting actual spells. But now, here she was trying to make her blasts more controllable and efficient.
It was a combination of multiple things as to why she was changing her approach. Her time in Kalos, as with many other things, has caused her to look at her views a more differently. Knowing now that she was a Void Mage, Louise didn't see her explosions as proof of her failure as a mage. Instead, she saw them as proof of what she could do. The Mega-Beedrill encounter cemented that. Coupled with her own experience at the daycare, and how useful her explosions were at halting Team Flare's plans, Louise had decided that she should follow Saito's footsteps and work on improving her magic.
"Are you certain that you don't remember any actual Void spells?" she asked Derflinger as Espirit came back with a large, thick log.
"Sorry, but no," Derflinger replied with a check of his body, the sound of metal clattering announcing it, "Last time I heard an actual Void spell was about six thousand years ago. Even if I had heard one, I doubt I would have remembered the actual words because those spells were so bloody long. It's why Brimir had four familiars. It took over a minute to finish the chanting. There was no way I was going to memorize them."
"I figured," Louise sighed as she stood up and stretched. "Any chance that there is something that does have the spells in them?"
"Hmm, let's see…" Derflinger hummed to himself, "I think he kept most of his spells inside a book of some kind… a prayer book if I remember right."
"The Founder's Prayer Book? That's one of the holy artifacts of Tristain," Louise noted, wondering just why no one had ever read a Void spell in one of its pages. After a moment, the answer came to her. "Derflinger, how likely is it that he enchanted it?"
"Knowing him, very likely. Probably did it so that only a Void mage could read its contents, he was always a touch paranoid like that, but I don't know when Brimir did. Either after I got to Kalos, or when I was still with him but…"
"You forgot, right?" she asked, and Derflinger nodded. Nodding to herself, Louise focused on the log, aiming for its center mass. She wanted to punch a hole clean through its center, without breaking it into tiny flakes. She cast again, the log completely disintegrating from the force of her spell, and she kicked the dirt in frustration.
"You're putting way too much into it," the Honedge advised, "You need to focus on control first and foremost; you can have all the power in the world but without control or restraint, you will simply end up destroying yourself. Once you mastered control, then you can focus on powering it up."
Louise calmed herself down, then nodded. "Yeah, okay."
For the next hour, the process repeated itself. Saito would practice sparring and issuing orders with his Pokémon while Louise worked on her spells with hers. She managed to make some progress in her control, moving from completely shattering her targets in a single blow to merely lopping off chunks of it at a time, but it wasn't what she was hoping to achieve. Still, they had to continue on their way, and so the two trainers set off once more.
They hiked across Rivière Walk for several hours, occasionally sending out Aile to search among the berry trees and bushes they passed. The Fletchling was more than willing to partake in the endeavor, and the stains that marked her beak was more than enough evidence to that. The group only stopped once they finally reached the mouth of Connecting Cave, the sunlight stretching inside and illuminating its entryway.
"Here," Louise said as she handed Saito his cave-diving equipment.
"Thanks," Saito replied as she attached the equipment to his person. Then, the two of them inspected each other while releasing Espirit, Tanuki, and Maindo. Their extrasensory abilities would make traversing the cave that much more comfortable, not to mention safer. Seeing how they were ready. The two nodded at each other, then tentatively stepped into the black abyss.
"You guys be careful. While I can see just fine, I doubt any of you have night vision like mine," Derflinger warned as he hovered next to Saito and Louise. Indeed, with the exception of the Ghost-type, the group of them could only see about ten meters in any direction. Any further than that and the cave descended into darkness.
"Watch your step," Saito stated as they continued their way through the cave, making sure their steps were sound. Louise nodded and paused a moment to pull out her Pokédex.
"Let's see here," Louise hummed to herself as she activated her device's map function. An image of Connecting Cave, along with all of its intricate caverns and passageways, illuminated the screen, and the group huddled around her to see it. "Okay, looks like we are right…here." She pointed at their approximate location, not too far from the cave entrance.
"Right, and we need to get…here." Saito pointed at the cave exit on the southwest side. He frowned, seeing that the trek would involve passing through some narrow corridors, as well as one trek along a ledge. "We'll need to be careful here. Don't want to fall along that ledge."
'Don't worry. Maindo and I will make sure the two of you don't fall,' Espirit stated, and Maindo nodded with a huff. Tanuki, in turn, flashed a thumbs up as his eyes briefly flashed blue, and Saito nodded. He then reached into his backpack and pulled out a can of repel, handing it to Louise.
"Here," he said as Louise took the can and lightly sprayed herself. The Pokémon around her winced as they took a few steps back, and the rose-crown smiled apologetically.
"Sorry," she apologized to her Pokémon then put away her Pokédex. "Tanuki, do you think you can lead the way?"
"Yeah, just follow me!" he barked before confidently strutting forward, his eyes shining a faint blue. Pulses of aura illuminated the cave, and Tanuki sniffed the air along a series of corridors. A faint smell of salt drifted from one, and Tanuki yipped and walked forward towards it.
"Let's go, everyone!" Derflinger called out as he hovered after the Riolu, Saito, and Louise not far behind. "The sooner we get out of this cave, the better!"
"Agreed," Louise stated. As the group continued down the corridor, a loud cry echoed across the cave. A large, fluffy bat-like creature then flew into view. It hovered in front of them in curiosity, and the two trainers took the chance to scan it with their Pokédexes.
"Woobat, the Bat Pokémon," the devices stated. "Woobats, like their distant Zubat cousins, are devoid of eyes. They navigate their natural environments by emitting ultrasonic waves from their nostrils; a process called echolocation. They can also use their nostrils to cling to walls and sleep."
"Hmm, a Flying/Psychic-type," Louise observed as she read the details. "Saito, you want to have a go at it?"
"Hmm, no I don't think so. I only have one more space left on my team after the egg hatches, and I don't want to catch anything else until I know what the egg hatches into." He thrust his thumb towards the egg in question, securely held inside his backpack, and Louise nodded.
"Fair enough."
Its curiosity satiated, the Woobat flew off towards a nearby stalactite. As the Pokédex described, it latched onto its rocky surface with its nose like a suction cup, then drifted off to sleep. They couldn't help but notice a heart-shaped indentation next to it. They must have woken it up.
"We should be quiet. Don't want to wake up anyone else. They probably won't be so forgiving," Derflinger suggested, and his party all nodded. Maindo then noticed how the other Pokémon were all staring at him accusingly.
'Really? You honestly think I would pull something in here?' he asked, slightly offended.
'Yes,' Espirit answered immediately. Maindo grumbled about not being psychotic before walking away just as the group continued their trek.
As they descended further and further into the cave, they began to notice a marked change in the scenery. The landscape got rougher and more jagged, bits of rock and stone laid strewn across the ground, and noticeable chunks were missing altogether. Eventually, they came across a large mound of boulders, blocking off one of the available paths.
"This must have been the cave-in," Louise noted with a hum. The boulders were huge, each one taller than she was.
"Did that report say what caused it?" Saito asked, and Louise shrugged her shoulders.
"Investigators are still looking into it," Louise explained, "From what they can tell, possibly wildcat miners looking for fossils or Mega-Stones. One of them set off an explosive, which weakened the structural integrity of the cave and caused a cave-in. Luckily no one was injured."
"I hope they catch them," Saito scowled, knowing just how reckless using explosives were in a cave, and Louise nodded in agreement.
"Same here," a man suddenly announced himself, causing Saito and the others to jump in surprise and turn around sharply. They saw a young dark-skinned man wearing rock-climbing equipment inspecting the cave-in, a clipboard in his hand and a flashlight atop his hard hat. He turned and smiled at them, then went back to his work.
"Arceus, he scared the crap out of me…" Saito whispered while Louise shook herself out of her stupor.
"Hello, sir. I hope we aren't disturbing anything?" she asked, and the man shook his head.
"Not at all. Just doing some inspection work for the foreman while I'm here. Making sure there's no danger of another cave-in. The last thing anyone needs is for the ceiling to collapse while workers are moving the rocks out of the way."
"Yeah, that would be bad," Saito declared and offered out his hand, "I'm Saito, and this is Louise."
The man smiled and took Saito's hand into his own. "Grant. It's a pleasure to meet both of you." Grant stepped back and looked over the rock pile, ceiling, walls, and floors one more time, looking for cracks and structural weakness. As he did, he checked off a few boxes on his clipboard, then nodded.
"Onix, you're good. It's perfectly safe here." Before Louise could ask who Grant was talking to, the pile of boulders began to move with a load grind. She prepared to get herself, Saito, and Grant to safety, only for the stones to uncoil themselves and turn to face her with a massive snake-like head, a rocky horn on its top. While Louise gaped at the creature, Saito took out his Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon.
"Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. Onixes are Pokémon found deep beneath the Earth's crust. They eat rocks and other minerals to survive, and only occasionally come to surface to breed," the Pokédex revealed.
"Wow, so that's an Onix," Saito declared as the rock snake looked him over, "I've never seen one this close before."
"Yes," Grant smiled. "Onix has been with me for many years now. She's been a great friend." He then turned to face Saito and Louise, eyeing the Pokédex curiously. "So, I couldn't help but notice the two of you have Pokédexes. You two taking on the Gyms?"
"We are, actually," Louise said as she shook herself out of her stupor. "We were supposed to go straight to Cyllage, but…you know."
"Yeah," Grant sighed and threw back his head. "My time has been taken up by this lately. Even if you had arrived, I wouldn't have been able to accept a challenge from the two of you anyway."
"I can ima—" Saito paused then turned to face Grant, "…Come again?"
Grant cocked his head at Saito, seeing that Louise was just as confused as her friend. His eyes then lit up in understanding, then laughed.
"I'm the Gym Leader of Cyllage City, actually," he revealed, "My Gym's been closed for the past week, dealing with the cave-in. Luckily, things should be cleared up pretty soon, probably within the next few days. Then I can get back to accepting challenges."
"Oh…I see," Louise nodded, slightly disappointed that she wouldn't be able to challenge him right away but understanding all the same, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Grant."
"You too, Louise," Grant smiled, then a thought came to him. "Say, where exactly are you two going?"
"We're going to Ambrette Town. The plan was to head there then head up north to face you, I suppose," Saito explained, and Grant chuckled.
"What a coincidence, I was actually about to head there myself," Grant stated then pulled out a yellow crystal, holding a large insect in its center, "While I was helping with the cave in, I managed to find this piece of amber in a pile of rocks. Apparently, the explosion had dislodged it from its resting place, allowing me to find it."
"Ooh," Louise and Saito looked deeply into the fossil as Grant carefully handed it over for them to look closer.
"There's a fossil museum in Ambrette Town. Foremost geology institute in the region. Even have a Fossil Restoration Device in there."
"A what?" Louise asked.
"A device developed in Oreburgh City that, among other things, allows for genetic information to be sequenced from fossils," Grant clarified, catching everyone's attention immediately, "With advancements in cloning technology from Dr. Fuji in the Kanto region, people were able to bring fossils back to life. I'm hoping that this amber will have enough DNA to do just that."
"Wow…" Saito stared, amazed at what the gem held within. "I remember when they first announced it. I was only seven when they showed the first Omanyte and Kabuto to the world. What do you think's in here?"
"Don't know," Grant said as he took the amber back from Saito's hands, "But, that's half the fun. Could be an Aerodactyl, maybe a Cranidos. Whatever happens, though, it will be welcome in my gym."
"That's good," Louise smiled, appreciating that he had a similar viewpoint to hers. She and Saito prepared to bid farewell, only for Grant's eyes to light up as an idea came into his head.
"If you two want, I can give you a lift on Onix," Grant suddenly offered, causing Saito and Louise recoil in slight shock.
"No, we couldn't," Louise started, not wanting to be a burden, but the gym leader waved off her concern.
"Nonsense. There's no reason not to. We're all going the same way, and there's more than enough room on Onix. Isn't that right, girl?" Grant asked his Pokémon while rubbing the side of her body, and the rock snake grunted in agreement.
Saito and Louise looked at each other, wondering what to do. On the one hand, they honestly did not want to be a burden on anyone, but what Grant was saying made sense. They were all going to the same place, and traveling by Onix would be faster than walking. Finally, with an accepting nod, Saito turned to smile at the gym leader.
"Thank you, Grant. We'd be more than happy to join you."
Grant clapped his hands together and smiled. "Great! Let me give my report to the foreman; then we can be on our way."
As it turned out, traveling with an experienced rock climber through a dark cave significantly shorten their travel time. What they expected to take half a day, at best, they managed to get out of Connecting Cave by sundown. Granted, it took them going over ledges and crevices and all sorts of other uncomfortable passageways, ones that they would have never considered otherwise, but with Grant helping them every step of the way, it was of no real issue.
That didn't mean Louise was keen to repeat the experience, but she was thankful nonetheless.
"Alright, boys! Let's get in there!" a large, mustached man named Mr. Stone barked at his workers, both human and Pokémon. Machamps, Conkledurrs, and Hariyamas walked into the cave, hoisting heavy equipment across their shoulders while their human coworkers shuffled in behind them. "Thanks, Grant. You saved my boys a lot of time."
"It's no problem at all," Grant said as he shook Mr. Stone's hand, "You guys stay safe, alright?"
"Don't worry. I ain't gonna let one of my boys get hurt." Mr. Stone nodded at the gym leader and the two trainers, then followed the rest of his men into the cave. Nodding at this, Grant hopped onto the back of his Onix, ushering Saito and Louise to join him.
"How soon should we get to Ambrette Town?" Louise asked as Grant pulled her up, Saito having climbed up himself.
"Not too long. About an hour or so," Grant answered then patted Onix's head, "Alright, girl. Let's get out of here."
Onix grunted in acceptance, then began to shift its body forward. Its stone body grounded against the dirt below, compacting it and shattering any rock that got in its way. Louise couldn't help but note how smooth everything was, but at the same time, it was rather slow. She guessed it was because they were still next to the cave entrance, and the path they were currently on was quite narrow.
"Okay, I think we're far enough now," Grant shouted as they rounded a corner, revealing that the route had indeed widened significantly, "Onix, use Rock Polish!"
Onix grunted, this its body shone and sharpened significantly. Her body became smooth to the touch, and a noticeable increase in speed occurred soon after. Dust clouds were forming behind them, and Louise internally groaned.
'Great, they can make themselves faster. Going to have to account for that now…' Louise thought while focusing on what was to come. With the gym closed for at least a few more days, that meant just going straight to Cyllage from Ambrette was no longer an option. That said, she and Saito had to do something to occupy themselves. The fossil museum that Grant had mentioned did seem fun. At the same time, Glittering Cave also looked like it could be an interesting detour. Much of the fossils the museum studied came from it.
But she could decide what she was going to do tomorrow. Right now, getting to Ambrette Town was the priority. As the town came closer to view, the city lights brightening the night sky, a sense of calm flowed into her. A quick look showed that much of what she was thinking was undoubtedly going through Saito's head while he cared for the egg. Derflinger's attention, however, was elsewhere. He was staring off into the mountains, and Louise followed his gaze, only to see nothing. With a shrug, she turned her attention back forward.
Had she continued to look for just a little while longer, she might have noticed a white shape following after them.
"Professor, wait!" A female voice called out to him. Professor Augustine Sycamore couldn't help but frown. Here he was, trying to buy some food for dinner when someone decides to single him out. What's worse is that he recognized the voice, and it didn't belong to anyone he'd like to see.
"What is it, Miss Colette?" he asked, resigning himself to the inevitable confrontation. Much to his surprise, Elizabeth flinched at the hostility evident in his tone.
The verdette looked at her feet for a moment before rallying herself and meeting Sycamore's eyes. "I know that I've— That I've done some awful things to you in the past, and— And I don't have any right to ask this of you but..." she trailed off, taking a breath before pressing on, "I have a favor— Two favors I want to ask of you."
"What do you want," he said at length while she awkwardly smiled, pleasantly surprised at her apparent change in character. Elizabeth looked relieved at his response and quickly pulled two objects–a Pokéball and a folded sheet of paper–from her bag.
"I'd like for you to hold on to this for me," she said, offering the Pokéball to the Professor, "I don't trust my parents with it, but it's not something I'd feel comfortable having on my person. There are too many bad memories attached to it."
Sycamore took the Pokéball, more than a little curious as to what it contained. "And the other favor?"
"Oh!" she said, hastily handing over the paper, "I'd like you to send this to Louise, it would mean a lot to me if you did. Also, I don't know how to contact her myself."
Sycamore couldn't help but feel a little suspicious of the second request. "Do you mind if I take a look?"
"Not at all," Elizabeth replied after a beat. Rather than seem offended by the suspicion, she appeared not only understanding but expectant.
Sycamore unfolded the paper, and he was surprised by what he saw. It was a promotional poster for Under World's upcoming exposition match: Diego Brando versus an as-of-yet unnamed new trainer. However, this one differed from the ones he had back at the lab in one significant way: Diego's opponent wasn't a white silhouette. In its place was an artist's rendition of Elizabeth as she looked during her first real match against Louise. The artist had taken some liberties, though. The verdette's scar–which hadn't even been visible at the time–had been massively exaggerated, and her expression contorted into such a rictus of hate and rage that the professor felt that he might burst into flames if he looked at her too long.
"You're Donatello Versus' new trainer?" he asked incredulously. That last thing he would have expected of her was joining the PWE. Although, judging by the performance of her Machamp, that seemed to be more up his alley.
"Well, yeah, I guess…" Elizabeth said, fidgeting nervously, "I'm more surprised about how quickly they got the posters up. We only finished hashing out my contract five hours ago. I'm a little annoyed that I've been cast as a heel, but what can you do."
Sycamore raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had watched a few matches now and then, it was a dirty pleasure of his, but he wondered how much Elizabeth knew. "I know that Diego has three Pokémon that he uses for his matches. Which one are you up against?"
"Silver Bullet," she replied.
This time Sycamore couldn't contain his surprise. "Really? For your first match?"
Elizabeth smiled. "Versus didn't think that Ferdinand was a good matchup for Machamp thematically, and we can both agree that Elphelt tends to get carried away. It wouldn't do for Machamp to end his first match with several broken bones."
Elizabeth looked like she was going to say something else when a bus drove past.
"OH! That's my bus!" she exclaimed, "Sorry for leaving so suddenly, Professor, but I need to be on that bus if I want to make it to Cyllage in time for the expo!" Before Sycamore could speak up, Elizabeth turned and ran off after the bus. It stopped, allowing her to step on board, then it drove off again.
Sycamore smiled, despite himself, as he watched the verdette runoff. Turning his attention back to the poster, he nodded then finished selecting what he was going to eat that day. His assistants would be returning today, and so he had to get enough for all of them. After he finally checked out, and once he finally started on dinner, he would let Louise and Saito know.
As he walked down the street, he took one last glance at the poster, only to arch his eyebrow in surprise. On the bottom corner of the poster was a message, and upon reading it, he smiled.
Hope to see you there!
[~][~]
Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Just a heads up, my family and I will be going on vacation next week, so don't expect another chapter until January. Some important things happened here as our heroes continue on their way to Ambrette Town. What will happen? Well, stay tuned for that.
Now, onto the Q&A:
keybladelight: Neither Louise nor Saito will be getting Legendary or Mythic Pokemon on their teams. As such, I will have to say no to the question as to whether or not Louise will be getting a Diancie.
Dragon Naruto: Glad to have you with us! Louise and Saito will be getting Mega-Evolutions eventually, but not for a while.
hunter407: Glad to see you back! I'm happy that you enjoyed the chapter, and how the characters have been changing due to their experiences. That's the benefit fo telling our own story using canon characters and not simply following a ridged canon path. As for Louise and Saito getting Z-Moves, that is a no. That is an Alolan thing, and they are in Kalos. Now, had Louise landed in Kalos she might have, but as she is in Kalos, Mega-Evolutions are more than enough.
Pacer287: Glad you enjoyed the chapter! I loved writing Wikstrom in this chapter, and I'm glad to see that he was so well received. As for Saito going back with Louise, you'll have to wait and see.
Truemmerphantom: Nope, you never can. Also, the voice in that documentary was Sir Richard Attenborough. Just FYI.
Guest: Yep, that was indeed a Mewtwo quote. We thought it fit this scene pretty well.
antgigi4: Lydandre's plan was actually the XY Anime plan, so you could say Zygarde. As for Legendary and Mythical Pokemon, they will appear eventually. As for movies, they already happened. We don't plan on retreading ground the anime or its works already depicted. This story is 100% original, in terms of the overall plot.
That's it for this chapter. We hope you all enjoy!
