Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)
Season 1, Episode 10, Chapter 2
[~][~]
"Sorry about earlier," Janet said, setting her gas mask down on the table, "I've had a stressful past few months, and I guess…" She paused, placing her hand on her face, "Sorry."
"You don't need to keep apologizing, Janet," Elizabeth replied.
Janet opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself. The raven-haired woman let out a sigh as she stared down at the table. For an agonizingly long moment, silence reigned in the room. The whole experience seemed to stretch on endlessly…
...only for Zorua to break the spell with a yip.
"Heh. Where are my manners?" Janet said with a laugh as she got up from the table, "I bring a beautiful girl home and I don't even have the decency to ask her if she wants anything to eat."
"Janet!" Elizabeth shouted, burying her reddening face in her hands, "That's not funny!"
"It is to me," Janet retorted, smirking as she unlocked the cabinet over her sink, "How old are you?"
"Old enough to drink, if that's what you're asking," the verdette replied, nonplussed, "I don't drink, though."
"Why, if I might ask?" she asked, pulling out a handful of bottles, "I thought everyone your age fancied themselves connoisseurs of alcohol."
"Keh, I wonder what that says about your teenage years, Janet," Elizabeth wondered out loud.
"That doesn't answer the question, Elizabeth," Janet said as she turned to face her guest, a smile on her face.
Elizabeth didn't reply, merely staring down at her hands as she remained silent.
"Uhh…" Janet stuttered out, her good mood faltering, "D-did I ask a bad question?"
"No, not really," Elizabeth hesitantly replied, her eyes seemingly shifting from their usual maroon to a shade of green that left before it fully registered, "I've just seen what the bottle can do to better men than me, and I don't want to make that mistake."
"O-oh… Fair enough," the older woman dumbly said, turning back to the cabinet, "I think I have a few soft drinks in the house — unless you'd prefer water?"
"What do you have, if you don't mind me asking?" the verdette calmly queried.
"Let me check," Janet replied, rooting around in the cabinet, "Yes, I'm disorganized. I'm not used to having guests." She paused as her hand found an unfamiliar bottle. Flummoxed, the twin-tailed woman pulled it out of the cabinet and read its name in confusion. "'Ginger beer.' When did I buy this?"
"You don't remember?" Elizabeth asked back as she rose from the table and walked over to Janet, "Do you at least know how old it is?"
"I don't know," she replied, turning the bottle over in her hands, "It's unopened, at the very least."
"I've had ginger beer once before," the verdette said, holding out her hands for the bottle, "maybe I'll have that."
"I guess I'd be a bad host if I didn't also have a glass," Janet said, handing the bottle to her guest before moving to grab a pair of glasses.
"You don't need to do that for my sake, Janet," Elizabeth protested.
"And here I thought 'Don't serve anything you wouldn't eat yourself' was a rule of good hospitality," Janet replied with a smirk, "besides, it's no trouble for me to have just one glass."
"If you say so," the verdette said after a moment of indecision, "I'll go set this down then."
"Take your time, Elizabeth. There's no need to hurry," Janet waved her off, turning instead to the quandary of what glassware she was supposed to use.
Sure, using champagne glasses might seem a little ill-suited for a soft drink, but they were small enough that she could carry both in one hand. It was too bad that she lost that tray, otherwise— Wait, was that it? It was. How annoying.
Janet sighed as she cleared the bread wrappers off the tray and pulled down a pair of the larger glasses. What was that, twelve loaves worth of bread ends? Well, that's another thing to put on her never-ending list of chores. Ok, what's next? Ice? Yes, ice and some bowls for the Pokémon.
She still had the ball on her right?
Quickly moving through the last few tasks, Janet hurried back to the table, her tray now laden with a pair of ice-filled glasses and a brace of bowls filled with water.
"Sorry I took so long," Janet apologized, hastily setting out the cups and bowls. Zorua yipped in gratitude and began lapping away at her food.
"Again, no need to apologize," Elizabeth reassured her, "Though, why two bowls? I get that one's for Zorua, but who's the second one for?"
"Let me show you," Janet replied, a grin splitting her face as she pulled out a Pokéball, "Meet Spettro."
The ball split open, depositing a small, green creature onto the table. The newly-revealed Sewaddle chirped in joy as she scuttled over to the unoccupied bowl.
"Spettro? Why is she called 'Spectre'?" Elizabeth asked.
"She tends to up and vanish the second you look away," Janet explained, "My mother named her, if you wanted to know."
"That's actually kinda cute," Elizabeth said. Janet smiled and nodded in agreement; Spettro was rather cute, after all.
"You know," Janet began, "My mom wanted me to find a home for Spettro here."
Elizabeth looked at the older woman in confusion before realization struck.
"Don't tell me you're considering me…" Elizabeth murmured, shrinking into herself, "It's bad enough my current team has to deal with me. I don't want to make another suffer."
"Really, Elizabeth?" Janet deadpanned, "I may have only known you for a week, but you're not that bad."
"You've only known me for a week." What Elizabeth meant by that, Janet didn't know, and the look of shame on Elizabeth's face told her not to press further.
"Fine, fine," Janet muttered, pinching her nose, "Just humor me. Take Spettro with you for now, and if you really feel like she can't stand you, give her back to me before you leave town."
"Fine," Elizabeth whispered, defeated.
"I can't hear you."
"Fine! I'll humor you," Elizabeth repeated, louder this time, "It's not going to work out, I can already tell you that."
"If that's settled for now," Janet sighed, cracking open the bottle and filling the two glasses to about halfway, "On three?"
"Do you want to count, or should I?" Elizabeth queried, picking up her glass.
"Why not together?"
"Eh, why not?"
""One… Two… Three!"" With that, both women downed their glasses and immediately began coughing.
"Ahhh! What the hell was that?" the verdette snapped.
"'Beartic Growler' apparently," Janet replied between coughs, reading off the label, "Ow."
"I echo that sentiment."
Louise stared out across the open water, holding a slightly melted chocolate bar in hand. She could hear the waves crashing against the sand and beach, smell the salt in the air. Behind her, the Pokémon continued their training – Espirit even managing to coerce Maindo into joining them – and above the water she saw Aile flying around as she normally did. Louise smiled, happy that her Pokémon managed to overcome her momentary speedbump.
'Or flying-bump? Turbulence? Whatever the flying equivalent is,' Louise ruminated while talking a bite out of her chocolate. Savoring the taste, she almost didn't hear a rustling sound coming from the rocks adjacent to her. Turning her head to face them, she couldn't see a thing and so chalked it up to nothing. She pulled out her Pokédex and opened the map. They were only a few hours away from the city, likely arriving sometime between 3 and 4 PM. That was acceptable to her, but if she was being honest with herself, they likely wouldn't attempt the Gym Challenge for at least a day or two. There were still more preparations to be made.
Another rustling sound, one akin to rough scales grinding against rock. Louise shot her head towards the rocks but again saw nothing. Narrowing her eyes, she took another bite from her bar and slowly turned back to her Pokédex. She looked out and found Auspice laying sprawled across the sand, soaking in the Sun's rays, and so Louise scanned her latest Pokémon.
"Absol, the Disaster Pokémon. Absols have been known throughout history for their ability to precognitively sense disasters, which also led to people misattributing those disasters to them. Research has determined that an Absol's horn is highly sensitive, able to pick up the slightest changes in the earth and atmosphere."
Louise hummed to herself. The information was interesting, but something she already knew. How she and Auspice first met – even if not in person – convinced her as such. What it didn't tell her was how Auspice could detect purely human disasters, but she chalked that up to Auspice simply being an observant and proactive individual. One who was also very calm, collected, and didn't take excuses. She reminded Louise of her mother at times, and part of her wondered what their meeting would be like.
Sadness quickly coursed through Louise's mind, causing her to frown. Espirit quickly perked up, sensing her trainer's sadness, but Louise waved her off. Nodding back at her, Espirit continued practicing her psychic abilities, focusing on slicing rocks apart with Magical Leaf or crushing them with Confusion. Aile was also practicing her moves, utilizing her newly learned Steel Wing to destroy chunks of rock on low swoops. Knowing that she was at a disadvantage in the upcoming battle, Brennaraki was focusing on mastering the two moves she needed to succeed, Solar Beam and Sunny Day. Scrunching her eyes tightly, Brennaraki felt the solar energy being absorbed by her fur, slowly reaching a tipping point. When it finally felt like she was about to burst, Brennaraki opened her eyes and mouth and fired a bright-green beam of concentrated solar energy into the water.
"Good job, Brennaraki!" Louise cheered as she shielded her face from the falling water droplets. The Fennekin beamed at the praise, and Louise smiled at her starter. "Keep working on it. Try to absorb more solar energy before firing, and don't forget to work on Sunny Day."
Brennaraki yipped and nodded before concentrating once again. This time, she felt a fiery heat build in her gut, and she released that heat into a concentrated ball high into the air. Instead of exploding, it instead released a hanging cloud of light that baked the ground below. Brennaraki and Aile – now a Flying/Fire-type – sighed contently at the added heat while the others merely sweated and moved away.
'Geez, do it away from us next time!' Maindo complained as he teleported to the far side of the sandy clearing. Brennaraki sheepishly smiled then moved farther out to avoid getting the other caught up in her training.
Louise smiled and shook her head before looking over Auspice's moves. The Absol knew many, but the ones that caught her eye were Swords Dance, Night Slash, Slash, and Detect. These, among others, would clearly be useful in the upcoming battle.
When yet another rustling noise sounded from the rocks, this time much more closely, Louise shot up to her feet in alarm. Something was there, but she still couldn't see it. Straining her eyes, Louise let her arm drop to the side, still clutching the chocolate bar in hand. She heard nothing, remaining fixated on the rocks, only for a brown blur to shoot out from her side, snatch the half-eaten chocolate bar right out of her hand, and run away across the beach. Louise looked at her hand in shock before looking towards the thief.
"Wh… SHOGUN!" Louise yelled as Shogun stared out at her victoriously, her chocolate bar handing out of his mouth. The look on his face told Louise everything she needed to know, and she pointed at him. "Don't you dare…!"
Shogun looked at her for a few more moments before happily tiling his head up, causing the chocolate bar to fall back into his throat. He chewed, savoring the sweet taste, before swallowing and looking back triumphantly towards a flabbergasted Louise. The noblewoman looked back at him in shock, slowly building to fury, before she began to hear Saito's laughter coming in from behind a large rock.
"SAITO!" Louise yelled, immediately figuring that he was the cause behind this apparent prank. Saito, still laughing, walked out from behind his cover and smiled without regret.
"Present," he said, and Louise huffed and crossed her arms, tapping her foot as she silently demanded an explanation. "Oh, come on, it was funny."
"It wasn't to me…" Louise muttered. To be honest with herself, she did find it kind of funny, but her pride refused to let her admit it. Saito chuckled at her rebuttal before motioning towards her.
"Come on," he beckoned, "we gotta do some training of our own."
Louise couldn't help but groan as she reluctantly walked towards her friend. "P.E. Yay…"
At least she finally got proper workout clothes this time.
"Yes, yes. Thank you for telling me that. See you this afternoon, Diego," Janet said, hanging up her phone and stepping away from the lamppost she had been leaning against, "Well, that was better than I feared."
"How so?" Elizabeth asked, Spettro squeaking in agreement.
"Diego decided to take some initiative, for once in his life, and had Eevee and Machamp moved over to the arena," Janet explained, "They should be there when we arrive."
"Oh, that's one less trip, I guess," the verdette replied, idly stroking the Sewaddle. The Pokémon had admittedly begun to grow on her, although she still wasn't quite certain she was a good fit for her.
"It gets better," Janet continued, "Raven is one hundred percent injury-free and, barring a flare-up of her chronic case of the stupids, she will be able to perform tonight."
"And Erina?" Elizabeth asked, voicing the question Zorua no doubt had on her mind.
"That's trickier," Janet admitted, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly, "While she's technically in the same boat as Raven, I'm worried her concussion might affect her performance. I will probably go see if any of the locals will be able to sub in on such short notice."
"Well, good luck, I guess," Elizabeth said as she walked away, "I'm sure you need it more than I do."
Janet frowned at that but didn't say anything as the verdette walked off. As much as she wanted to break Elizabeth out of her funk, she needed to make sure tonight's match went smoothly. With a dejected sigh, she pulled out her cellphone, only to pause as something caught her eye.
"What the hell...?" she muttered, hastily putting on her gas mask as she stormed into a nearby plaza.
According to Cyllage's event schedule, the stage in this plaza should have been empty. Seemingly in defiance of the city's bureaucracy, a group of people was at the stage, hurrying to get it set up. On almost any other day, Janet would have ignored them and kept walking, but her arena had an event today, and one she held a personal stake in at that. She was getting to the bottom of this.
Her course set, Janet stormed toward the nearest tech with a single-minded ire.
"Hey!" she shouted once she was within grappling distance, the filters on her mask distorting the cry into something terrifying, "What's all this, then?"
Unaware of Janet's approach, the tech all but jumped out of her skin at the loud sound. "W-what?" the tech sputtered out, backing herself up against a nearby crate.
"What. Is. Going On." Janet repeated, more forcefully.
"A-a c-concert."
"A concert?! I already–" Janet paused, taking a moment to calm down, maybe she was overreacting a little, "I keep a close eye on Cyllage's event schedule, yet I saw no mention of this until I physically came here. Explain."
"I-it was a k-kinda spur of the moment th-thing," the tech stammered out, "b-but I assure you that a-all our permits are in order."
"Sure they are," Janet drawled, "Who's in charge here?"
"I am, miss," a young voice said.
Turning to face the newcomer, Janet saw a young girl perched on another crate. Looking down at the girl's dress, a monochrome thing obviously styled after a fairy, she frowned.
"I want to talk to the manager, not the idol," Janet clarified.
"He… He quit a couple days ago," the girl hesitantly said, "Something about him not being able to work with my image."
"I guess that makes sense," Janet scoffed, "You didn't think to check if there were any events happening on the same day."
The girl's face slowly morphed into an expression of realization as she jumped off the crate and ran over to Janet. "You had a concert today too, didn't you? I'm so sorry!" she cried, distraught.
Janet exhaled sharply, her mask translating the noise into a menacing rattle. The tech flinched away, but the idol dropped her hand to the Pokéball at her waist. Interesting.
"It's no worry," Janet carefully said as she turned and left, "Just be sure to do more research next time."
"Oh!" the idol suddenly said, "My show's at five, you won't miss it, will you?"
"I'm a busy woman, don't count on it."
After nearly an hour of running, curling, doing push-ups and sit-ups, and things she didn't even have names for, Louise collapsed in an exhausted heap onto the soft and warm sand. It might as well have been a fluffy down mattress for all her body cared, and she breathed heavily. Sweat glistened off her skin, and her eyes were wound shut.
"You did better that time," Saito declared, sitting down next to her. He was similarly exhausted, although not to Louise's extent. "Improved your kilometer time by almost a minute, even."
"Yay…" Louise droned, her eyes still closed. She felt a cool breeze wash over her, cooling her slightly, and after a few moments she opened her eyes. Saito offered a hand and she took it. Sitting up straight, she crossed her legs and stared out over the sea silently.
"I'm going to get changed. After that, fancy a quick spar before we head on out?" Saito asked.
"Sure," Louise nodded, not turning her head to regard her friend. Saito nodded back then walked away, the sand softly crunching under his foot. Only when Louise could no longer hear him did she turn around to scan the area. She found no one, not even her Pokémon, and only now did she feel comfortable enough to pull her workout bag off her back and open it. Pulling out her clothes, she found a small nook nestled between some rocks and went inside to gain some more privacy.
She began to change, and Louise couldn't help but notice a rather new development for herself. A layer of muscle was beginning to form across her diminutive body, courtesy of all the hiking and physical exercises Saito forced her into on a semi-daily basis. The layer was small, especially compared to some others she had seen during her travels, but it was still there. She felt across her bicep, giving it a soft squeeze before moving on.
As she continued to change, more of her added musculature became clear to Louise, and her thoughts drifted back. At one point in her life, not even a few months prior, she could have found the sight to be shameful. After all, she was a noblewoman. Magic was supposed to be her forte, not physical labor. That was for the commoners, and she was supposed to be better than that. Yet now, after spending a few months in Kalos, her opinion had begun to change. Louise no longer felt that her muscles were a source of shame. Instead, she viewed them with pride for they, unlike so much else in her life, were fully gained and earned by herself. She had worked hard to gain them, much as she did to learn magical theory or learn the skills of being a Pokémon Trainer. Yet, although most of her attention was focused on being a trainer, she couldn't help but feel that an equal measure of the gains belonged to her Pokémon. While she learned new strategies and tactics, they learned new abilities, new moves, some even managing to evolve. Part of her felt it was uneven, slanted towards their end, but she also knew they'd be the first to disagree.
Still, she knew that for as much of the strides towards Pokémon Training were shared between her and her team, the entirety of her gains physically was all her own. Louise was proud of that, and although she didn't see herself becoming a body-builder, she wouldn't mind continuing to work on improving herself. Even if she hated it after doing so.
"Louise, you ready?" Saito called out from somewhere the noble couldn't see.
"I'm coming!" Louise called out as she hastily put on the last of her clothing. She walked out, carefully placing the workout gear into her bag. Even after tightening the top, she could still smell the sweat. The first thing she was going to do once they got to Cyllage was take a shower and wash her clothes.
"Alright, I'm here," Louise said as she rejoined her party. Saito was waiting for her, Shogun waiting excitedly by his side.
"I figure it might be good for us to do a spar with our newest Pokémon," Saito suggested. Louise quickly thought it over and found that the idea made sense. They only had both Shogun and Auspice for barely a day, and in just a few more they'd be up against their first Gym Leader. Although both Pokémon clearly showed their capabilities during the heist, that was them operating on their own. How'd they operate under their direction was another question entirely.
"Sounds good to me," Louise replied with a nod of her head. "Auspice, can you come here, please?"
Auspice nodded before walking over to her, looking almost regal as she did. Standing by her side, the other Pokémon quickly found perches for themselves that were far enough away to be safe yet close enough to jump in just in case something went wrong.
"Standard spar rules, right?" Derflinger asked while hovering over everyone. Both trainers nodded, and Derflinger nodded back. "You guys know the drill, and let's not go overboard. First one to five hits wins."
Saito and Louise nodded, understanding the rules. Auspice nodded as well, but Shogun tilted his head slightly in confusion. A fight having rules? It made no sense to him. For that matter, why was his alpha and whom Shogun assumed to be his mate fighting against each other?
Derflinger, apparently seeing the confusion, called down to him, "Think of it as a play fight, dino!"
'Oh! Me see!' Shogun replied, shaking his body from side to side. That made sense to him, and with his body still shaking he crouched down low, facing towards Auspice. The two sides regarded each other for a moment, and the air seemed to go still.
"Auspice, Night Slash!"
"Shogun, Bide!"
Both trainers shouted their orders. Auspice bounded forward, swinging her head-blade towards Shogun. The blade itself was covered in a dark purple aura, and a quick slice hit Shogun across the face just as a white glow basked over him. The Tyrunt recoiled from the attack, but then quickly shot the stored energy from his maw. The attack struck, Auspice not expecting the Bide to retaliate so quickly. Neither had Louise for that matter.
"One to one!" Derflinger announced, but neither trainer paid much heed.
"Wasn't that supposed to take longer?" she asked, genuinely curious. Louise distinctly remembered Bide taking at least a few attacks to fully charge.
"I had Tengu work with Shogun to both teach him Bide as well as get it firing off faster," he admitted. "Not as strong, but—"
"No, no, I see the use. Good thinking," Louise cut him off before thrusting her had forward. "Auspice, use Quick Attack!"
The Absol disappeared into a blur, striking Shogun across the side and sending him skidding across the sand. Angered, he ran forward to face the Absol head on.
"Use Quick Attack again!" Louise ordered, hoping to end the spar quickly. As Auspice blurred towards Shogun, Saito thrust his arm forward.
"Jump up and use Stomp!" Saito ordered. Shogun jumped up, just barely passing over Absol, and then quickly descended onto her back. Auspice cried out in pain from the stomp, and Saito then ordered Shogun to use Bite. Shogun complied, biting down on the back of her neck with his powerful jaws. He began to thrash from side to side, Auspice struggling to get herself free.
"Double Team!" Louise ordered. Suddenly, Auspice split into several copies of herself, causing Shogun to leap back in surprise. Now freed, Auspice quickly retaliated with Slash, slicing her head-blade against Shogun's snout. He recoiled, stepping back a few paces, then snarled.
"Tied again; three on three!" Derflinger added, keeping his eyes focused on Shogun. He trusted the Absol completely, but the instinct-driven Tyrunt was a different matter. There was no telling what he might do when pushed to his limit, and he prepared to intervene at a moment's notice.
"Let's end this quickly; Auspice, use Feint!" Louise ordered. Auspice's body glowed purple as she ran towards Shogun.
"Use Bite!" Saito ordered. Shogun snarled as he ran towards Auspice with an open maw, only for Auspice to suddenly jump to the side and strike his side. Shogun fell to the ground then quickly shot to his feet, fully enraged. This play-fight was not going the way he wanted. He was supposed to easily beat Auspice, showing his alpha how strong he really was, make him proud. But at this rate, Auspice was going to win, and he didn't want to disappoint Saito. He looked around, trying to discern a way to win, when his eyes settled on a proud-looking Louise.
Instinct fell over him, and his eyes narrowed into slits as he turned to face her. Auspice immediately understood exactly what thought was running through his head, but before Shogun could even take a step, Derflinger surprised everyone by flying down and striking Shogun across the head, burying him in the sand.
"Fight's over!" he announced, staring Shogun down. Saito and Louise were confused, even more once Auspice bounded in front of Louise, keeping herself between her trainer and a recovering Shogun.
"What happened?" Saito asked, confused and a little alarmed. Derflinger looked at him, his gaze not angry but merely understanding.
"I was afraid of this," he said as Shogun regained complete control of himself. At once, a sense of unyielding shame coursed through him, and he backed away from everyone. Louise looked at both, her gaze dancing between Shogun, Auspice, and Derflinger, and then she understood. A sense of horror began to dawn on her, and she gasped.
"Was he…?" she tentatively asked, and Derflinger nodded. Saito understood then, too, and he looked livid.
"Shogun!" he shouted, causing the Tyrunt to shrink into himself more. He had almost made a colossal mistake, and the looks the others were giving him weren't kind.
"Why would he do that?" Louise asked.
"I've seen it happen before," Derflinger revealed. "The more instinctive a Pokémon is, the more dangerous they can be. Sometimes, they can lose control. He was operating on instinct back at the museum, and I was worried he might fall into that during the spar. Turns out I was right."
Saito and Louise both looked at Shogun, the Tyrunt flinching from their gaze. Saito glared for a little longer before sighing and rubbing the back of his head. He tried to think on what to do, but before he could do anything, Louise steeled herself and walked past Auspice and towards Shogun. Saito was shocked, but immediately understood what Louise was doing once she knelt in front of the ashamed Shogun.
"Shogun," she began, "Shogun, look at me."
He did, and Louise could see the shame in his eyes. Part of her was angry that he would even consider such a thing, but at the same time considered the Pokémon before her. He clearly hated himself for what he almost did, and from what Derflinger had revealed, it wasn't really his fault. He was a revived fossil Pokémon, barely a day old. Him operating mostly on instinct was to be expected. Better to find that out now than in an actual battle.
"Hey, hey," she said, rubbing her hand across his rough scales. "I'm not hurt, and I know you would never hurt me."
"Louise is right," Saito joined in, kneeling next to her and rubbing his hand across Shogun's back. "I'm sorry I yelled. I shouldn't have done that; it wasn't your fault, Shogun."
Shogun growled softly, and without needing translation, both trainers understood what was said.
"I forgive you, Shogun," Louise silently spoke, rubbing her hand across the Tyrunt's snout.
"Same here," Saito added, "just don't do it again. To her or anyone else, got it?"
Shogun nodded, rubbing his head against their hands. They stayed like this for a few moments before Louise felt a vibration in her pocket. Reaching around, she pulled out her Pokédex to see an email from Professor Sycamore. She opened it, feeling everyone's gazes fall upon her, and they waited anxiously.
"Well? What is it?" Saito asked as Louise closed the device and looked towards him.
"I have a package waiting for me at the Cyllage Pokémon Center," Louise revealed. "Delivered by some woman named Athena. Don't know what it is, the message didn't say."
"Huh," Saito hummed while rubbing his hand across his chin. He then shrugged. "Well, that's an invitation as any to get a move on."
Louise nodded, then began to return her Pokémon to their Luxury Balls. Saito did the same for his, and before long the two began to walk back down the route towards Cyllage.
"By the way, what's the game plan?" Saito asked.
"Right now, planning on getting there, training for a few more days, then challenging him," she revealed.
"Taking my advice, are you?" Saito asked with a cocky grin.
"The last Gym Leader I fought was Viola, who had only Bug-types when both of my Pokémon were strong against them. I got pulverized. This Gym Leader is Rock-type, which none of my Pokémon are effective against and, in fact, half are weaker. I'm not going to make that mistake again."
"Good, that means you're learning."
"Don't patronize me," Louise joked, and Saito laughed.
The rest of the hike was uneventful, with the lone exception of a wild Pokémon encounter with a Drifloon that tried to make off with Louise. Apparently, it thought she was a small child and tried to play with her. Louise didn't appreciate that comparison, although Saito silently found it hilarious. Derflinger was much more open about his amusement, much to her consternation. Still, once the trio found themselves at the entrance to Cyllage City, after days of hiking and numerous other encounters, they let out a sigh of relief.
"Finally," Saito remarked. "Felt like it's been forever since we've set off for Cyllage or even challenged a Gym Leader."
"I know what you mean," Louise remarked, then shuffled her bag across her back. While Saito continued to take in the sights of the city, Louise pressed on. She only noticed she had left Saito behind when she was a fair distance from him, and with an annoyed huff she turned around and beckoned him forward.
"Hurry up, Saito!" Louise called back at him, "I don't want to keep Professor Sycamore's courier waiting any longer than we have to."
"Louise, there's no need to worry," Saito reassured her.
"Saito, some of us actually value punctuality," the rosecrown retorted.
"Oh! She got you there!" Derflinger cut in.
Saito just smiled and shook his head. "Well, if you're so worried about being late—" the boy paused, his eyes drawn to a nearby poster. "I don't know if I've said this before, but this 'Duchess of Roses' person seems familiar."
"Who?" Louise asked, walking over to see what Saito was looking at, "Oh. Didn't you say you followed PWE? You've probably seen her before, then."
"But this is her exposition match, apparently," Saito countered, "The whole point is that we haven't seen her before."
"It doesn't matter Saito," the rosecrown pleaded, "Let's get moving already!"
"Fine, fine. I'm going, I'm—" a white blur whizzed past Saito, cutting off what he was about to say, "What was that?"
Seemingly noticing their attention, the blur collected itself into a large, floating snowflake and began leering at them, chunks of ice drooling out of its mouth.
"Oh, I think that's a Cryogonal," Derflinger helpfully added, "I've heard that a number congregated around the husk of the First Dragon, but I've never actually seen one in person before."
"That's cool," Saito said, prompting a snicker from Tanuki as he pulled out his Pokédex, "I wonder what this says about you."
"If you two are going to waste time gawking at random people's Pokémon, I'm just going to go on ahead," Louise said, walking off.
"Okay," Saito replied as he scanned the Pokémon in front of him.
"Cryogonal, The Crystallizing Pokémon" the device chirped, "They are born in snow clouds. They use chains made of ice crystals to capture prey." Saito hummed to himself appreciatingly, but the Cryogonal, now seemingly annoyed by the attention being given to it, turned and flew off.
"Huh," Derflinger muttered as the icy Pokémon disappeared.
"'Huh', indeed," Saito concurred, tucking his Pokédex into his pocket, "We probably should get moving, though. Let's not annoy Louise any more than we already have."
Cyllage City's Pokémon Center was bustling with activity as Saito entered. While the level of activity was not unusual for a Pokémon Center, especially one in a city as large as Cyllage, Saito couldn't help but feel as though he came in the middle of rush hour.
"Derf," he began, "do you see Louise anywhere?"
"Nope. Even with her rather distinctive hair, this place is too crowded and she's too short," the Honedge replied.
"Don't let her hear you say that, Derf."
"I might, if only to see her reaction," Derflinger chuckled, "Anyway, I'd hazard a guess that she's either at the main desk or making her way over there."
"Well, let's—" Saito began as he prepared to step forward.
"Saito! Watch out!" Derflinger yelled. Before Saito could react, something barreled into him. Taken completely unawares, the two tumbled to the ground, Saito unfortunately ending up beneath the second party.
Surprised, and a bit dazed by the collision, Saito opened his eyes to see… Louise? No, this woman wasn't Louise, though there were certainly some similarities. Mostly lying with their similar hair colors. However, Saito was drawn to her eyes. Louise's eyes were unmistakably pink, to the point where Saito had initially thought she had some form of albinism but, from what little he could tell with her head roaming about as it was, this woman's were a bright violet. And she was apparently speaking to him.
"Hello. Hello. Are you even paying attention?" the woman babbled, "It's rude to ignore people, you know."
"Uhh… I—" Saito tried to answer, only for the woman to verbally steamroll his reply.
"It's rude to block people's path. I know without a doubt you saw me, you just thought your conversation with your Honedge – you should clean him by the way, he's looking rather rough – was more important than common courtesy," she continued, shifting her arms slightly, "You were standing there long enough to notice that someone was walking there, why didn't you move? You were blocking a door, you still should have moved even if you hadn't seen me. Hello. Hello. Are you even listening? It's rude to ignore people. You should pay more attention to your surroundings, it's discourteous not to. Was your conversation with your partner so important that you had to block the walkway? He looks like he's been rusting in a cave for years, why aren't you taking care of him? It's not polite to block doors, you know. What if someone wanted to get into this building, but couldn't because you were blocking the way? Hello. Hel—"
"Uhh, ma'am...?" Derflinger tried to cut in.
"Shut up. It's rude to interrupt," the woman snapped before slipping back into her earlier babbling without so much as a gap for Saito to interject.
Having already seen that talking to her wouldn't get her to stop, Saito turned to the only other option he could think of: shoving her off. Or, he would have, if he was able to move his arms. The woman had pinned Saito's arms beneath her when she fell on top of him, and, whether by accident or by design, she had landed in such a way that he couldn't move his arms at all.
"Stop squirming about!" the woman jabbered on, "You should have paid more attention. You brought this on yourself."
'Tauros shit," Saito thought as he tuned out her continuous monologue, focusing instead on finding a way out of the situation. Louise was still nowhere to be seen, Derf probably wasn't strong enough to drag her off, else he would have done it already, and Tanuki was just sitting there, chuckling to himself. Wait, Tanuki was there!
"Hey, Tanuki!" Saito pleaded, "It stopped being funny a while ago. Would you mind giving—"
"Hey, my glasses!" the woman suddenly exclaimed, sliding off Saito and spinning to her feet in an almost feline manner before tearing off, snatching a parcel and a pair of broken glasses off the ground as she went. The trio watched as she scampered off, appearing to forget their little conversation, and only once she finally exited his sight did Saito let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Tanuki, we're having another talk about appropriate times to laugh at others' misfortunes," Saito said as he righted himself, "but that's going to have to wait until later. You said we should check the front desk, Derf?"
"Yes," Derflinger idly replied, seemingly distracted.
"Something on your mind?" Saito asked.
"It's nothing," the Honedge hesitantly answered, "I'll tell you later."
"Okay, Derf, lead the way," Saito replied.
"Thank you for coming! Please consider visiting again," Nurse Joy said, "Could the next guest please step forward?"
Glad that it was finally her turn, Louise moved to the desk and, pushing past her growing sense of unease with the clan of identical people who apparently ran most of the major services in the region, took the next step towards achieving her short-term goal and maybe getting some more hot chocolate. "Hello? I was told that there was a package waiting here for me," the rosecrown said.
"Give me a moment," Joy replied, opening a tablet, "Would you mind giving me your name?"
"My name should be listed as 'Louise Vallèrie.'"
"Ah! Here you are," the nurse exclaimed, "Athena should have your package. She's…" Joy paused, glancing around the room, "There she is."
With a sigh, the nurse activated the intercom. "Athena, please make your way back to the mailroom. Athena to the mailroom please."
"I'm sorry for any inconvenience that might have caused you," she continued, "Athena's a bit like a cat: if she gets bored, she'll just wander off. Anyway, you know where the mailroom is, right?"
"Unfortunately, I don't," Louise admitted.
"Well, it's just over in that corner," Joy replied, pointing off to one side.
"Ah, thank you." Louise politely bowed, then made her way towards the mailroom.
Much like all the other Pokémon Centers Louise had visited in the past, Cyllage's mailroom was little more than an alcove set against the back wall. When she arrived, Louise was pleased to find a woman in the Center's uniform – telling not a Nurse Joy – already waiting behind the counter. Glad she wouldn't have to wait, the rosecrown approached the clerk.
"Hello," she politely began, "My name is Louise Vallière and I'm looking for Athena. I have been told that she is holding on to a package for me."
"Oh, it's you," the clerk replied, relief audible in her voice, "Maybe she'll finally calm down after this."
"Ma'am is she here?" Louise asked, worried by the deflection.
"She's right behind you," the clerk obligingly answered.
"Excuse—?" Louise began.
"Is someone looking for me?" a woman said at the same time, startling Louise.
"I'll leave you two to it," the clerk said as she slipped off, "Come see me when you're done, Athena. We've had a greater influx of trades than we were expecting today, and we need all hands on deck."
"I'll be there," Athena reassured her, "just give me a minute."
Still more than a little off-kilter, Louise tuned to face the courier, fully intending to just take her package and leave. However, the second she laid eyes on Athena, her mind all but froze in its tracks.
During her brief stint as one of Professor Sycamore's assistants, she had seen a visual record – or "documentary," as Dexio had called it – about a set of triplets in Unova who had been separated at birth and only ended up meeting each other by random chance. At the time, Louise hadn't really understood it, but now she could feel some empathy for the men.
"Uhh, hello?" Athena queried, breaking Louise out of her thoughts, "You are Louise Vallière, correct?"
"Yes, I am," Louise automatically responded, shaking her head to clear her mind. Sure, it wasn't quite the same, Athena was taller and obviously more mature physically than she was, but it was still uncanny.
Memories of her manor's portrait gallery rose to mind unbidden, one quickly pushing its way to the front.
"Why are there so many children in that painting, Father? I thought you were an only child."
"Well… You see, Louise—"
"They all died before it was painted. That's why they're all barefoot except for him."
"Why would you say something like that to your sister, Éléonore!?"
"Because it's true. Why should I keep that from her?"
"Hello. Hello. Are you okay?" Athena spoke up, pulling Louise out of her thoughts once more, "Do you want your package, or not?"
"Sorry, sorry," Louise hurriedly apologized, taking the parcel from the courier, "You look a lot like my sister."
She froze. Where had that come from? Sure, Athena looked a lot like Cattleya and probably wouldn't seem out of place in a family portrait, but why did she even say that out loud?
"I do?" Athena replied, a little surprised, "Nobody's ever said something like that to me before. What's she like?"
"W-well, she's very kind and gentle," Louise struggled to reply, taken off-guard by the question, "She really loves animals, and she has amassed quite the collection despite not being able to leave the house."
"Aww," Athena cooed, "I'd really love to meet her. It sounds like we have a lot in common."
"Yes, I'm sure you would," Louise agreed, slowly walking away, "Anyway, I have to go now. Maybe we could talk again sometime?"
Athena didn't respond, and Louise silently exhaled in relief as she got further and further away. Her short interaction with the courier had been unsettling enough and the rosecrown was not interested in talking to that Athena woman ever again. With any luck—
"Wait!" Athena exclaimed, spinning Louise around, "I just remembered why your name seemed so familiar!"
Louise flinched at the unexpected closeness. How had Athena managed to get so close so quickly?
"W-what do you mean?" Louise hesitantly asked.
"You were at the Kalos Daycare when Flare attacked it, weren't you?" the courier babbled, pushing closer to the smaller rosecrown, "What was it like? How did you manage to fend off so many of them for so long? You were heavily outnumbered, tactics alone couldn't have evened the field. What about those explosions? What was causing them? What about your friends, Mr. Hiraga and Miss Colette?"
"I-I," Louise stuttered out, slowly trying to back away from Athena.
"You were at that museum when Flare tried their heist, and there were explosions there too, so they were connected to you, weren't they?" Athena pressed on, her grip on Louise's shoulders tightening as an almost feral grin split her face, "Come on, come on. You can tell me. I won't bite. You don't have to be scared."
"U-uhh, Miss Athena, could you please give me some space?" Louise pleaded in distress as she felt her back hit the wall, "You're making me uncomfortable."
"Oh, sorry, sorry," Athena offhandedly replied, leaning in until her face was mere centimeters from Louise's, "Don't you have anything to say?"
"Hey! What are you doing!?" someone shouted from outside of Louise's vision.
"Eh?" Athena muttered in confusion as she stepped away from the younger rosecrown, "Oh, it's you. You! You broke my—"
"Yeah, I don't care," Saito cut in as he violently shoved Athena aside, causing her to fall over with a loud squawk, "Leave my friend alone."
"Hey!" she shouted in protest, but Saito ignored her as he moved to Louise's side.
"Let's get out of here, Louise," he said.
If Elizabeth were to give her younger self any piece of advice, "Don't expect costume changes to be quick affairs" would rank right behind "Don't wander off in places of death" in terms of urgency. As it was, the process of "becoming" the Duchess of Roses, so to speak, had been one of the most stressful experiences she'd had in a while. Though, if anything, the stillness let her just think in a way she hadn't been able to in a long time.
"Am I a bad person?"
The verdette blinked in confusion. Where had that come from? Sure, she had done some… less than stellar things in recent months, the breaking and entering charge that very nearly went on her record certainly attested to that, but she was trying to be better. Wasn't she?
Was she? Was she really?
Every decision she had made since she had first met the Little Rose had been motivated in some way or another by spite. Her decision to steal Brennaraki – might as well call it what it was – her half-hearted flirting with Hiraga (it wasn't her fault he was dense enough to fall for it), her half-cocked rematch with the Rose after that earned her a slash across her face, her decision to chase after the rosecrown, the list could honestly go on and on.
She had been cursed by a rose, but did that make her the Beauty or the Beast? The story had been told both ways, after all. Maybe that's why she picked her theme. It truly was "Beauty" and "Beast" mixed together in perfect dissonance. She was like a rosebush, after all: pretty on the outside, but jagged and snarled once one looked beneath her exterior.
How could anyone care for someone like her?
Simple. They didn't or were wasting their time thinking they could. Why would she be considered worthy of care, after all?
"Sorry for taking so long, ma'am," the makeup artist said, speaking for the first time since she started, "I'm going to need your help for the next bit."
"Sure," Elizabeth automatically replied, "What do you need?"
"Do you want to put on the scabbards yourself, or should I do it?"
"I'll do it if you don't mind," the verdette said, red becoming green.
"Okay," the makeup artist replied, handing over the two scabbards.
Acting on instinct, the verdette strapped on the belts. The swords were a little lighter and her waist a little thinner than what she remembered, but the task was simple enough, she remembered doing it hundreds of times, after all.
Taking a deep breath as green returned to red, Elizabeth took her hands off the swords at her sides and looked up at the clock. It read 4:42 PM, and she sighed to herself. Although her exhibition wouldn't be starting for a few more hours, she didn't want to be late.
Louise glanced nervously around the cafe, still not entirely convinced she had escaped the crazed woman.
"Hey, Louise?" Derflinger inquired, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not… really," Louise slowly replied, "I'm still processing what happened, so I'd rather we don't speak about it right now."
"I can respect that," Saito added, "But promise you will talk to us once you've had time to process."
"I will, you should know that," the rosecrown indignantly shot back.
"You didn't tell your parents about your troubles at the academy," the Honedge countered.
"I told you that in confidence!" Louise shouted, a crimson flush flashing across her face, but Derflinger continued unabated.
"And I've seen what bottling up emotions can do to people," Derflinger jabbed, "Hell, I've even seen it recently. You remember Elizabeth?"
"What about that thief?" Louise mumbled.
"When she was fighting that Gallade, I got a glimpse into her mind," he began, "and while she's quite the odd duck for someone her age, her driving force is far more familiar."
"Derf, if you're going to talk about her, please just get to the point," Louise impatiently interjected.
"Fine," he said, "From what I saw, she just bottles up her emotions, that's probably why she was so hell-bent on getting a rematch."
"If you think I'm going to become her, you're mistaken," Louise asserted, "Now could we please just move on?"
Saito and Derflinger looked at each other for a moment then back at Louise. The noblewoman was resolute in her desire to move on from the sore subject, and so Saito sighed and waved his hand.
"Fine," Saito said, "Have you opened the package yet?"
"No, I haven't," Louise admitted, placing the parcel on the table, "Do you have a knife I could use to open this?"
"I'll do you one better!" Derflinger exclaimed, quickly slicing through the tape holding the box shut.
"... I guess that works too," Louise murmured as she opened the now unsealed box.
The first thing that caught her eye was her academy brooch. She had lent it to the professor at his request the last time she was in Lumiose, but she hadn't expected him to mail it back to her. Turning it over in her hands, Louise was surprised to find that the back of the brooch had been hollowed out and then filled with a strange, iridescent crystal. Confused, Louise set it aside, trusting that Sycamore had enclosed a letter or something else to explain things. Removing the only other object in the box, a folded piece of paper, Louise opened it under the assumption that that something was written inside. Halfway through, an envelope fell out.
"Saito, hold this for a second," Louise said, handing the paper over to him while she opened the letter.
Fortunately, the envelope wasn't sealed, but before she could read the letter, Saito suddenly exclaimed, "Now I know why she seemed so familiar!"
""Who?"" Louise and Derflinger said at the same time.
"The Duchess of Roses," Saito clarified, turning the now-unfolded poster to show his companions, "She's Elizabeth!"
"What!?" Louise exclaimed, snatching the poster out of Saito's hands, "'Hope to see you there'? And she had the audacity to sign it with a heart!? Who does she think she is? Kirche?"
Louise was fuming. Saito could almost see smoke rising from her ears, but he patted her shoulder to calm her down.
"Louise, calm down," he urged. After a few moments, and a few more steady breaths, and Louise did so. "Have you read the letter yet?"
"Fine, I will," she begrudgingly agreed, then began to read.
"'Louise,
'First off, sorry for the short notice, but Elizabeth wanted me to send something to you, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.
'The crystal in your brooch is a Keystone, and while I can't really go into detail here, suffice to say that it should prevent a repeat of the Beedrill incident from happening again.
'I've enclosed a pair of tickets to Elizabeth's show, my gift, not hers, and I'm going to request that you at least give her the benefit of the doubt. From what I've seen, she really is trying to change.
'There's more I want to tell you, but that's unfortunately going to have to wait until the next time we speak.
'Respectfully, Professor Augustine Sycamore'"
Louise, finished with the letter, placed it on the table and stared at it. Saito and Derflinger looked at her in turn, and a heavy silence permeated the air between them.
"Well?" Saito asked. "Do you want to go or…?"
"Honestly, I don't know," Louise admitted. "One the one hand, I still don't like her. But, I can't deny that at least she's appearing to try and make amends."
"The match doesn't start till ten," Saito pointed out. "It's only five o'clock now. We got more than enough time to make a decision."
Louise thought it over, then nodded. "Yeah, you're right. We got time, and it's not like we're challenging Grant today."
The two stood up, Louise pocketing the tickets, and headed towards the sliding automatic doors.
"So, what do you want to do for the next five hours?" Saito asked.
"First, going to take a shower," Louise answered as they left the building. "Then, I was thinking about trying out the bike track. I heard it's among the best in the entire—"
Louise was cut off as a large explosion rippled from the interior the city, sending a shockwave out. Saito, instinctively, dove at Louise, throwing the two of them onto the ground. He used his body as a shield as they felt the shockwave wash over them. In a daze, the two got to their feet, hearing sirens and people screaming as something fell from the air all around them. Steadying herself, Louise saw one of the objects land on the ground, and with no small amount of apprehension, she reached down to pick it up. Flipping it over, her heart stopped as she recognized the symbol.
A red, stitched-together flame.
"… Oh, you got to be shitting me!"
[~][~]
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the latest chapter of Outsiders! Yes, Flare is up to their old tricks again, and that last line was very much deliberate. Still, things are coming to a head, especially for the major Flare actions of this season.
Now, onto the Q&A:
KiroZen: Yeah, Maindo's attitude will bite him one day. It's what Derflinger was getting at, and Maindo moving past his current attitude is a major component of his character arc. As for the Chapter 21 and 19 references, yes they were deliberate. As for Chapter 12 reminding you of Lancer and Archer, that was a coincidence. I haven't seen any of the Fate series outside of Carnival Phantasm.
Celestia's Paladin: Yeah, had to get in as much of the appropriate Jurassic Park references as they were appropriate to the setting. As for the Gym Battle, as you can see things that will not happen for a few more chapters, both due to Louise's initial training concerns as well as, you know, Flare.
Kovaras: Not at all! I'm glad you liked that part of the chapter. It was a lot of fun for me to write.
That's all for now. See you guys next time!
