Void and veil- 25- report
"Speech"
'Mental speech/Pokemon'
"So let me see if I have this straight," The Commissioner paused her writing, "You heard something outside your room and called your friend, Mr. Arc, whom they were also looking for, might I add. You proceeded to get yourselves kidnapped, taken through an underground, previously unknown passage to a fully functioning train station, whereupon you were taken to the front car, under guard by the Triad. Until the train came under attack, causing them to leave, while you attempted an escape, correct?"
Both sisters nodded, and I'll admit I'm a little annoyed that those lunatics wanted me as well now.
But that was far from my primary concern. I'm losing time, and the sheer amount of confirmation the league wanted was ridiculous: descriptions, paths taken, a rough timetable, and a detailed retelling of every word the girls had heard... or at the very least, what they were willing to admit to hearing.
A lot of it had been going through a list of descriptions and IDs, trying to identify individuals.
I understand it, mind you, that doesn't mean I'm happy about it.
Regardless, hearing this past hour summed up in a couple of seconds almost had me spasming.
Gran looked pale and ready to have a heart attack as she spoke, "Your positive," She asked unsteadily.
Fiona fidgeted under everyone's gaze, "I- I heard them say Jericho was the other one they were looking for."
Sonia squeaked, doing an excellent impression of Meinfoo.
But Fiona's voice had been measured, careful, and that was enough for several people to turn to Lucario for confirmation.
The Lucario's aura blazed momentarily so the other humans present could understand him, 'She's not lying, just afraid, for him.'
Fiona winced, even as Gran looked simultaneously ready to blow a gasket at the fact that I was now a target, while appearing to also be empathetic to the poor girl's concern.
How she was managing that was anyone's guess, I thought she was having a stroke for a second there.
Still, that was nothing compared to Sonia who was once more latched onto me, and physically shaking.
Yeah, I don't like that, "Chill, I'm fine, they came off worse than me."
Gran was not happy with my own disregard, "THAT'S NOT THE POI-"
"Maggy!" The elder Jenny put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head.
Gran's jaw tensed, but she remained quiet.
"Yes, now young man according to these young ladies you assisted them during their escape, and were present on this train prior to that. A train, might I add, that is now filled with corpses, care to fill in the gaps, before we get to your daring escape?" Rose took over, and to be fair, the man seemed both genuinely interested if not concerned and rather serious.
I shrugged in a faux nonchalantness, "Sure, what do you want to know?"
"Let's start with what you did after the phone call," The commissioner nodded for me to continue.
I grunted in confirmation before answering, "Right, you know Zoey's call woke me, Hatenna, and Mienfoo, up-"
'Actually,' Lucario twitched, as his mate back handed his leg. He ignored her, 'WHY exactly is my daughter with you?'
Said mate sighed, 'I tried, human,' She shrugged in my direction and winked at her daughter.
Mustard chuckled amused, but continued watching, and I honestly had to wonder if he had understood her.
Others present, however, were far more curious of the Lucario's words.
I sighed, really? Right now? How I'm I going to do this?
Turns out I didn't have to do anything.
'Daaad, he's my new teacher, you know what he can do,' Said daughter answered, clearly not using her aura
Lucario frowned, but nodded, 'We'll talk about this later.'
"Daughter?" The commissioner asked, brow scrunching up.
Mustard waved her off, "It's fine, Lucario will see justice done, blood or not, the same you'd do with another Jenny. To be completely honest, this whole situation is unconventional, most of our officials are still dealing with the fallout and our new prisoners, we're low on man and Mon power. The children's reports need to be compiled as soon as possible, and we're simply the closest and highest-ranking officials that are currently available."
He paused waving a hand out to the Chairman, "Besides this is why we have a neutral party present, to confirm everything."
The Draco simply nodded, but otherwise did nothing, hell, he'd only spoken once during Zoey and Fiona report.
Rose nodded back in agreement himself, obviously tired.
"Correct," The chairman sighed out, "Now if you would continue, young man, we still have much to do after this."
I obliged, "Right, so, umm, we were woken up and decided to see what was happening, Joy and Jenny weren't answering. But while we were on the way to their room I received several calls, that's around the time I noticed-"
The sound of writing filled the air, even as the commissioner interrupted asking for clarification, "Can you tell us who called you, and why?"
I obliged, "Er, yeah, Fiona's mum called first asking if I'd seen the girl's, I hadn't at the time, and I couldn't get any answers from her afterward, she... she wasn't dealing with the... um, situation very well."
I stole a look towards Fiona and her mother, who was still busy fussing over her daughter.
"Anyway," I continued, "After that Gran called me, telling me to lock up and stay put, but, err, well, it was a little late for that."
I pointedly avoided Gran's eyes, even as Sonia practically crushed me, willing me to remain by her side.
Not mentioning that I'd asked HOW the guards had died was more a test to see what I could get a way with, though I also, REALLY didn't want to bring that up with their family present.
Lucario didn't move a muscle, I honestly couldn't get a read on him, but I THINK that's a good thing.
Clearing my throat I kept going, but far more carefully, this is where things got... complicated.
"So, while I was on the phone, we found out where the girls were-" my explanation was cut off again.
"You saw them?" The commissioner asked curiously.
"I, sort of, Hatty... kind of just knew where they were?" It was the truth, but I was also withholding information as well.
'That's right,' Hatty confirmed, speaking aloud directly to the Lucario, who nodded in confirmation when several looks came his way.
Wait a minute, I heard that.
I froze.
And Mei had her aura off earlier, didn't she, wait had she even used her aura since we got back?
Then I felt shock through our more familiar bond, confirming Hatty had heard that thought.
"Interesting," Rose raised a brow.
"Jerry?" Sonia questioned, feeling me tense.
"S-sorry, I just- I don't know how she did that," Again, it was the truth, on both accounts, I'll have to deal with it later, whatever IT was.
"Hmm," Gran got the room's attention, "It's not uncommon for powerful psychics to catch glimpses of the past or future, is how the move Future Sight works.Of course if she had a strong enough bond she might have been able to locate their psychic signature as well."
Clairvoyance, of fucking course, no wonder Gran's still Galar's top Pokemon Professor.
'Cool!' Mei exclaimed.
"Does she know Future Sight, Mr. Arc?" The Jenny asked.
"Err, apparently?" I mean, evidence says so, but we've never actually TRIED the move.
That got some questioning looks.
I shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you, she knew where they were, but we've never tried the move before."
"Something to test later then," Gran nodded.
"A powerful little thing isn't she!?" The chairman excitedly exclaimed, seemingly impressed.
"Moving on, Mr. Arc" The graying Jenny waved me on.
"Right, so we found the entrance to an underground escape tunnel, Mei's aura saw through the disguise, it was sort of blended into the floor," I nodded at the proud fighting type, as she grinned.
"You're sure?" The Draco spoke up, for the third time that night, once in greeting, and the second? To confirm that the girls had indeed been taken through a tunnel earlier, I hadn't thought anything of it before, but now?
I frowned, "I am, as far as I'm a where we all did, why do you keep asking that?"
Jack had mentioned seeing the Grimm in the tunnels so he HAD to have come down them as well, with Mama Jenny.
Speaking of, "Aye, I can confirm it, we took the same route, right Jen?"
Jack turned to Zoey's mother, who nodded in confirmation, "Yes."
Many heads turned toward the Lucario again.
'Truth,' He nodded.
Jenny sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Because this mystery tunnel of yours is missing, it's why reinforcements took so long to get to you."
"Wha'?" Was my rather dumb response, followed by several others
'Dad! There was!'
"That's impossible!"
"Oh, what the fuck!"
"No way!"
"Hmm."
Okay, so Fiona was more curious than dismissive.
"We believe you," Mustard indicated the Lucario, "But there's no trace of any tunnel, or entrance for that matter."
"Curious," Rose stroked his chin hair.
"Dammit, we'll go over it later, please continue," The leading Jenny scribbled something down as she spoke.
It had to have been AFTER Mama Jenny and Jack got down there, after they saw the Grimm, DAMMIT!
I shook my head, "I- yeah, sure. We chased after them, until we ran head first into a wall anyway, some kind of false wall that acted like a door, Mei opened it, and we continued-"
"How?" Rose chimed in again.
"I don't know, ask HER," All these interruptions were starting to get on my nerves.
'Oh, the switch was inside, all I had to do was flip it with an Aura burst,' Mei grinned, jumping up on the seat next to me and Sonia, no longer sitting.
I looked at her, but made no motion to show I understood her, still it was good to know.
Mienshao giggled at her daughter's enthusiasm, even as the father spiked his aura and repeated her message.
"I... see," The commissioner frowned, but made a note.
"You ran into it?" Gran questioned, as concern flashed over her features again.
I shrugged, "Like I said, we ran into a wall."
She took a deep breath, "And that's where all the blood came from?"
The look she gave was begging for me to say yes.
I caught the Lucario from the corner of my eye...
If I lie now they'll, probably, ask more questions, and for as much as I don't want to concern them, that wasn't an option, the void and veil MUST remain unknown, "Not... exactly, it's not all mine either."
Sonia's grip tightened with a gasp, if that was even possible. But Gran, she looked defeated and squeezed her eyes closed, falling back in her seat.
"Gran!" I was stopped from getting up as Sonia held me to herself, crying.
I grit my teeth, even as several sympathetic, or in the mother's and even some of the silent guards cases, looks of gratitude greeted me.
I was thankful that the Pokemon didn't seem bothered in the least, Mienshao even rolling her eyes, 'Humans.'
"Maggy?" Mustard had partly caught her and lowered her into the seat.
Gran shook her head, taking in a shuddering breath.
Rose shook his head sadly, genuinely.
Hell, even Oleana had looked up from her clipboard with a genuine frown of concern.
Though the Draco was evaluating me, I could feel his energy in the air.
The mothers present were now eyeing the blood on their daughters, pale faced.
Even as the elder Jenny sighed deeply, with sympathy, before softly speaking, "Can you continue Mags?"
Seconds passed, then, "I need to know."
"Please continue," The officer nodded at me.
I took a breath, tearing my gaze away from my eldest family member, "When we passed the wall, we heard a train whistle, it was pulling out of the station when we arrived, but with Hatenna and Mienfoos help we managed to get aboard the final carriage."
"I see, and how exactly DID you get on board? For that matter, how did you get there in time? Recent reports put the Triad at above average human ability," Now she's asking the harder questions, she looked up from her paperwork.
Dammit, this was difficult, I'm tired, and I'm upset, at this point I'm willing to throw my status as an Adept on the table, to avoid them going deeper. Hell, my wounds NEEDED treatment at this point, maybe I should just tell them?
No.
No, not yet, I'll get away with what I can for now. If Rose knows I'm an Adept it'll cause even more trouble for Gran, and me, for that matter.
"Hatenna put a barrier around me, lightening me," It was true if only for the last jump, "I'm faster in a barrier, because of that, I could keep up, I could also jump further, but, not far enough, apparently."
I gestured to Mei, "Meinfoo made up the difference in distance and pulled us onto the train."
...
The silence was deafening, but no one turned to the Lucario whose eyes had narrowed, though his mate simply smirked.
They knew what I was.
...
"Boiling blood kid, I ain't heard of shit like that since the specialists back in the war," Jack broke the silence with a chuckle, "Rare for a bloke to have a pokemon reinforce themself, risky too."
What?
"And you're not hurt?" Rose inquired with a curious look.
Careful, "I promise that, other than my nose, I wasn't injured during all of this"
He turned to the Lucario, for some reason.
...
'Truth,' He finally spoke.
Rose gave a questioning look at his hesitation.
The Lucario sighed, 'He IS telling the truth, to his own knowledge.'
The Lucario glanced briefly at my shirt, oh shit, he can see my wounds like before, his aura.
'But,' My heart jumped to my throat as he continued, 'His aura is weak right now, though untainted, he's not at risk of energy poisoning,' The Lucario finished.
Wait, what?
The chairman hummed in acknowledgement, seemingly having his question answered.
I, however, was very confused, Energy poisoning, what the fuck is that?
...
Oh, right.
"Energy poisoning?" I asked the Lucario aloud.
'Too much typed energy can overload a human's neutral energy,' The Lucario stated, folding his arms, but glancing at my chest again.
Ah, that makes sense, humans here might be tougher, but Pokemon can still kill them, their resistant, not immune.
Then again, as a forced Adept I don't actually have neutral energy anymore, according to Fiona.
Wait, is that why becoming a forced Adept is so dangerous? Does that mean I'm a Psychic type now?
"You're a lucky boy," Rose nodded at me, unknowing of my own thoughts on the matter.
"Y-you'll still need a check-up Jericho," Mama Joy of all people spoke up.
Sonia stiffened, oh fuck berries.
"T-that's right, you haven't been seen by a doctor!" Sonia stuttered.
"WHAT!" Gran yelled panicked, "Why not!"
She looked at the adults that had been with me, who all looked sheepish, except for Jack who was trying to whistle, again.
Well, this has gone downhill.
"I refused," I spoke up, "Without a guardian's consent they can't make me, you know how I feel about hospitals, Gran."
Gran was back on her feet, "Absolutely not! We-"
"We'll finish the interview first," The commissioner cut her off.
Gran's head snapped to her.
The old Jenny raised a hand, "You heard him, he's not injured," She turned to me, "Are you in any pain?"
That I CAN answer, "No, Ma'am."
Lucario stilled, his eyes dilating, for all of a second, before he blinked and looked the same as ever.
Right, if he can actually see my injuries, the bite from the Watchog, the scars on my arms, my burned neck, and then finally the Grimm's tooth marks, I should be in massive amounts of pain.
"Irrelevant, you don't always know when you're injured, call a doctor, now!" Gran demanded, none of them noticing the exchange for their arguing.
I feel like we've been here before, and I'm out of options now Gran knows, I sighed "Look Gran," I interrupted, "I don't like Hospitals, BUT, I promise to get a check-up, AFTER we're done."
Gran's face was tight, and spirits above, I'm so glad I haven't given her a heart attack yet.
"The moment we're done," She demanded.
I nodded, then turned to the older Joy, "You said you'd give me a check-up, and frankly, you and Joy are the only ones I trust to do it."
"If I can help," The mother gave a thankful smile, her gratitude evident as she held a pale Fiona.
I gave my friend a sad smile, but Fiona's concern was palpable, she understood the repercussions.
I'll have to tell them I am an Adept, as for my injuries, well, that 'Mightyena' from the tunnel is... technically, responsible.
Thank Giratina that patient confidentiality is a thing in this world as well.
Regardless, I- I couldn't keep going like this I'm 70 present sure my body is failing, but I can't feel it, and Fiona hasn't had the chance to check.
Still, I did damage to myself just getting to the train, then more fighting in the first carriage I got into, so what other damage have I accumulated while numbed?
It was... concerning, I can't go after the Grimm, not in this state.
If I fall, it goes free, I couldn't let that happen.
'Teacher?' Mei asked casually, but I couldn't respond.
Worry, I felt worry that wasn't my own.
'We're out of options, short of running for it and going rogue, there's nothing I can do,' I informed the worrying imp on my head, the less said about my wounds in such a situation the better.
Purrloin was confused, but defensive. For now she was content to remain sat on my lap, watching the others.
Gran's jaw tightened, "Very well, but not a moment later."
I nodded.
"Good," Rose of all people stated, "Please continue young man, what happened on that train," He asked in continuation.
"At first? We waited, we were tired," I still am.
"How long?" She queried, making more notes.
"I'm not sure, it was loud and dark, so I couldn't say, maybe ten minutes, roughly?" My answer was half-hearted because I really didn't know, it wasn't my concern at the time.
As she wrote, I continued, "Anyway we entered the rear carriage," The fact that I was talking about the second time we entered is irrelevant.
"Which is where we found Purrloin here," I patted the little cat's head, much to her joy.
The commissioner paused, but I continued knowing where this was going, "The grunts were trying to grab her from where she was hidden, and they were being extremely aggressive about it, short of calling any Pokemon anyway, they wanted blood."
That got the attention of several people, all of whom looked perplexed.
It was Jenny that first addressed the Pokemon on my lap, "Can you confirm this?"
Said Pokemon looked unsure for a moment before she scoffed and turned her head, only then did she speak, 'Of course I can, Master saved me from those monsters."
Huh, well, that's... whatever, I'll deal with that later. Though I really wish she hadn't mentioned monsters, hopefully they think she means Team Plasma.
I need a second...
Lucario blinked a second even as he garnered several looks, 'She's telling the truth, to quote, 'Master saved me from those monsters' unquote.'
"Master?" Rose inquired, thankfully focused on the wrong thing, looking somewhat amused.
Lucario's face flattened in exasperation as he waved a paw towards me.
"To be fair, I only got her to come with me AFTER the carriage exploded," Accurate, also misleading, yeah, that should work.
"Exploded!?" Sonia practically screamed next to my ear.
Side note, my ear was now ringing.
Henrietta was NOT happy, hissing, 'BE QUIET!'
"Easy, I'm right here," I winced rubbing my ear, great now I can hear her when she isn't broadcasting her thoughts.
Hatenna's regret hit me like a truck over our link, even as I reached up and patted her head.
"S-Sorry, are you okay?" Sonia sniffed, and by Mew I couldn't stay mad at that.
"My ear's fine, Sonia, and yes exploded... along with the grunts," I grunted out in confirmation.
"Did you see what caused it?" The Jenny asked, her face tightening seriously.
...
I sighed and rubbed my temple to buy sometime, while I thought about how to word this.
"I'll tell you what I saw; the carriage exploding, along with those grunts. After that, I focused on Purrloin who was up on the baggage rack out of the way, I managed to get her down, around the same time we left the tunnel, actually. And then?" I sighed again.
"That's when everything went to the distortion world, explosions everywhere and lots of bodies. It was chaotic, but every carriage other than the front one was filled with corpses, mangled ones at that. The rear carriage was the only one I saw living people in. I didn't see anyone else either, the only people I saw on that train were me, my team, the girls, and Team Plasma," My explanation would have to do, it WAS accurate, and I hadn't lied once, technically.
Skirting the truth was dangerous but unfortunately necessary in this situation. At the very least, Lucario hadn't called me out, though that might have more to do with my minimal energy reserves at the moment. That, or he could read my intent to protect those present. Maybe both?
Whatever the reason was, it was working right now, even as my interrogators turned to Jackal like Pokemon.
'He isn't lying,' He admitted, it's telling that that's ALL he ever confirmed.
I continued unprompted, "After that there was only one carriage left, and even I'm not stupid enough to try to fight the Triad, we planned on going over the top of the final carriage and stopping the engine, damaging it or disconnecting it."
"Pragmatic," The gray haired Jenny commented.
I scoffed, "Yeah, well, as soon as we got up to the roof, the Triad left the carriage, and we had to move fast. See, we were trying to separate the Triad from the rest of the train while we had the chance, and with Meinfoos Aura Sphere, we succeeded. With the coupling broken the Triad released several Bisharp and tried to double back, but Hatenna hit them all with an overpowered disarming voice, unfortunately it barely fazed them, but it did buy enough time for Meinfoo to damage the track with another Aura Sphere. From there the uncoupled carriages derailed along with the Triad, and that's about where we met back up."
I gestured toward the girl's and where they'd left off for their own report.
Fiona didn't flinch at the attention, she squared her shoulders and spoke, "I bit them when they tried putting that gag back on, and Jenny took the opening to start kicking at them, we had to get out, without the Shadows we had a chance."
Her mother rubbed her shoulder as she kept going, "It was chaotic, and I don't remember much, I just fought. But I know I got one of them because he backed off, and told some of them to get the 'bosses' back. Then everything shook and the sound of what must have been train carts derailing, reached us."
"We took advantage of that, and they were forced to deal with us instead, the next thing I remember, clearly, is an Aura Sphere striking one of the guards... I-It was quiet after that, Jerry was there, and the guards were dead," She explained, even as Zoey nodded along.
Both mothers were obviously upset that they had had to go through that, and were holding them both, tight.
"That explains why only two of them left the carriage," I stated.
Gran couldn't go any paler at this point, only speaking two words, "What, happened?"
I shrugged, there was no getting around this part, "Threw 'em off the train."
My simple answer got a guff of laughter from the old man, whom Mama Jenny then proceeded to whack upside the head.
"Ouch."
Gran let out a shaky breath of air, and put her head in her hands.
The Commissioner gave her a side glance, checking on her, as she continued writing, "I'm sure their among the prisoners Maggy," She paused to look at me, "You did what you had to do young man."
I shrugged, tiredly, "Maybe, but it doesn't matter. As soon as we entered the final carriage, we couldn't risk them releasing their Pokemon, and using the chaos to our advantage we... neutralized the enemy."
That brought most of the humans present in the room, up short.
But, if anything, the silent Draco's energy spiked, and I had to bite back a shiver.
"No, no, no, no," I could hear Sonia begging behind me, rocking in her seat, even as she held me to her.
Rose frowned, and he looked genuinely sad at the information.
Mustard, thankfully, also, only gave me a sad smile.
'Oh, that's why they were concerned about the blood,' Mei's mother shook her head bemusedly, 'You humans should just be glad it wasn't more of HIS blood, honestly.'
It wasn't something I could lie about, even if there wasn't a Lucario in the room. Several of the bodies had knife wounds, and I had a bloody knife... Well, it had since been put into the evidence locker, but my point stands. The bodies weren't near mutilated enough to cover for the damage I'd inflicted, like the one I had basically exploded.
I do wonder what had happened to the Pokemon though.
Best not to push my luck in asking.
The Commissioner placed her pen down for a moment and rubbed her eyes, "And how did you... neutralize them?"
"I always carry a survival knife on me, after mine and Sonia's survival training back home, it seemed like a good idea," Again, not lying. It had, however, taken a while to be good enough at alchemy to actually make one.
"That answers several questions," Jenny noted.
Gran just sat there, glassy eyed.
It was disturbing.
"And you two? I'm assuming that's not your blood?" The old Jenny stared at the two younger siblings, in their family.
"N-no, we, we had to protect ourselves," Zoey huddled up to her mother.
I heard Mama Joy gasp at her daughter who was still covered in blood.
"Look," I paused, my chest was starting to regained feeling, barely, but it's still not good.
Shit, it burned.
"Look Ma'am, after that, we just sat around and waited, until Jenny and Jack showed up, anyway. That's about it," I insisted nervously.
She sighed, but nodded and looked to Mama Jenny and Jack.
"-Then reinforcements arrived around 0600, and we got transportation back to the city, that about wraps it up," Jack nodded, as he gave his oral report.
"Not that I envy 'em, stuck dealing with those shutterbugs," He added with a chuckle.
Thankfully it hadn't been nearly as long this time, he knew what information was needed and what was unnecessary.
Jenny ignored him and simply hummed as she wrote, then frowned, "Does anyone know what happened to the train engineer?"
"I assumed the kid got to 'em," Jack raised a brow in my direction.
I shook my head, "They were missing before I got to the girls, I never made it to the engine proper."
The commissioner pinched the bridge of her nose, "Brilliant, something else to look into."
"Speaking of shutterbugs, how in Mew's name did those morons find out about this?" I was curious, also annoyed.
The chairman was the one to answer, "They got an anonymous tip, apparently. We're looking into it," His face the picture of irritation at not knowing.
"Having said that, I believe it's time to wrap this up, yes? We all have other things to be doing right now," He sighed reluctantly, tiredly.
The commissioner nodded at him sharply, "Yes, I suppose you're correct. Jenny, Jack, I expect written reports on my desk by the end of the day."
Mama Jenny nodded seriously.
"Yeah, yeah," Jack waved off.
The woman twitched, but packed her belongings.
She paused.
"Maggy, I can buy you half an hour," She nodded toward Gran, who shakily returned it.
"You've been through a lot children, and you have my word we will NOT allow something like this to happen again," Rose stated, no demand, he wasn't happy that Galarian citizens had been hurt.
Say what you want, the man MEANS well, that doesn't mean he's going about it the RIGHT way, however.
"What about the school? There's more than a weak left," I had to ask because if we were leaving, my timetable had gone from hours to possible minutes.
The Draco spoke up reminding me of his existence, "You are still welcome here," It wasn't directed at me, but the chairman of the Galar league.
"Thank you," He nodded, "However, given everything that has happened, I feel it appropriate to inform you that given the... circumstances, many families are already leaving, we can't keep them here if it puts them in danger. For now, it's no longer mandatory, and those that remain will be folded into a single class."
The Draco nodded.
"Mustard, are you coming?" Rose asked, now at the door.
"Oh, yes, in a moment, I'll be there on time," He chuckled.
"Good, make sure Maggy is there," The commissioner interrupted, smiling for the first time, at Mustard specifically.
"Of course, of course," He waved her off.
"Jenny's, stay with the family," She pointed at the guards then the girls, receiving several nods.
She then followed Rose and his assistant (read pet), out of the door, mostly pushing them along, "Come on, come on."
The Draco, however, had remained put, as had the guards.
It was silent for a second, no one moved.
Then.
"Ra'ed, get the door," Mustard requested.
The Draco nodded, gently closing the now vacant door with a click, and standing in front of it.
"Mustard we don't have time for your paranoia, Jericho needs a hospital," Gran sighed hobbling towards me, uncertainly.
...
Mustard just stared at me, as did the Draco, his energy prodding at me again.
Yeah, that figures.
...
I sighed, I guess we're doing this with spectators then, at least Rose was gone, that WAS my main concern.
"That's a bad idea, unless you want me in Macro cosmos," My reply had Gran pause, confused.
"I thought so," The current champion sighed.
The Draco nodded, "Psychic?"
I sighed, but reluctantly nodded.
Slap!
I turned at the noise, the old man had implemented an impressive facepalm, "Of bloody course."
Zoey was biting her lip, and Fiona had gone rigid.
"What? what's going on?" Sonia asked, squishing me with her grip.
"Sonia, stop, my wounds," I wheezed out, no longer pretending, and no longer as numb.
"Wounds?" She squeaked, immediately releasing me.
I grunted.
"Kid you said you were fine," Mama Jenny looked like she was kicking herself.
"No, I said I wasn't hurt during all of THIS, besides my nose, anyway," I shook my head eyeing the guards. Police or not they were with the League proper, NOT the chairman's version of the league.
It's confusing sometimes that the chairman of the league, in Galar, doesn't really support the league, but his own version of it.
Regardless the Jenny's present were the girl's family, I'd have to trust in that.
"Your hurt?" Gran whispered under her breath.
"Hang on, shouldn't you have known about that?" Jack looked toward the Lucario.
The Lucario nodded, 'I did, and it had nothing to do with the situation, I was asked to determine the truth, nothing more. These children are victims, NOT culprits, I will NOT mind-meld with them. I follow the will of Aura not human law, and human law is not moral in this instance."
The Jackal-like Pokemon slowly got more heated, until his mate rubbed up against him.
'Ewww,' Mei groaned.
I guess somethings are universal, no one wants to see their parents being all lovey-dovey.
"He already knew I was an Adept anyway," I pulled the metaphorical pin on that grenade, trying to distract them from my injuries.
Several heads snapped toward me, alongside several exclamations. Enough that I couldn't keep track of them all.
Tellingly, the guards present tensed slightly, but didn't make ready for a fight, it was more shock and ingrained response.
"T-thats impossible, we don't have any interbreeding in our family," The old professor stammered out, shocked, surprised... scared.
"It's not from a bloodline, Gran," I winced as my wounds began to actively hurt. Then repeated what Fiona and Lucario had told me days ago, "I'm a foundling of the Psychic clan, it was an accident, my neutral energy was overwritten."
"How is that possible?" Mustard frowned.
"It is possible," The Draco sighed out showing the most emotion I'd seen from him thus far, "Ancient records in Sinnoh indicate that's how a number of old hybrid clans began, but the ritual is old, and dangerous."
Gran shot a look at him, then me.
Sonia just looked confused.
"So I've been told," I gestured to the Lucario, then to Hatty, "But like I said it was an accident, me and Hatenna were just trying to communicate and then, it just sort of happened."
I shrugged.
Gran held my shoulders and eyed Hatty warily, as she slumped on my head, "Is that how you were hurt?"
"No! No, that happened a while ago, this is more recent," I had to do this right, "Jack?"
"Yeah, lad?" He was lost in thought, the response was automatic.
"You said, you saw a Mightyena in the tunnels, was it... larger than normal, the size of an Alpha?" I inquired, it had to be the Grimm, and more than that it had just had a feast.
He frowned, focusing again, "Now that you mention it, yeah."
The Lucario immediately noticed something was up, I was talking around things again.
"Figures, that's why I'm hurt, damn thing's a man eater," Or soul eater anyway.
"Thats- Alphas are really rare," Mama Joy commented aghast.
The old man smiled smugly, "You fought it," It was a statement, not a question.
'Hatty, I need a link to Lucario,' I pushed mentally.
"I told you it's a man eater, it made it to the morgue yesterday, while we were visiting," I told them.
Hatenna's link pulled, and I felt the Lucario's powerful mind on the other side, 'Don't react, listen. Yes, I'm not telling the WHOLE truth and I KNOW you can feel it. I'm trying to protect them, the knowledge is cursed, like a ghost type would do, if I told you, WE would be in more danger.'
The Lucario's jaw tightened in the corner of my eye, his gaze turning to his daughter.
Mama Jenny went ridged, "Wait that's when-"
"Yeah," I confirmed out loud for both.
"Arceus," Zoey's mother groaned looking at her daughter and her sister, "You two knew about this, didn't you?"
Zoey kind of tried to curl into a ball, then stopped and forced herself to straighten, she nodded.
"We went to go see Auntie Saline, and it- it was there, it just, Jericho handled it, we couldn't tell anyone, WE COULDN'T, what if Rose found out!?" Fiona in a rare display, sniffed upset, now leaning into her mother's side.
She wasn't wrong, and the entire thing HAD upset her.
"That's why you've been acting so odd," Sonia concluded, upset and concerned, eyeing me with watery eyes.
Gran's face was tight with horror at the thought, "Thank you," Was all she said to Fiona.
"Bloody worlds," Jack cursed aloud, "Well no wonder those idiots on the train couldn't stop you," He nodded at me, no fear, only respect.
"You don't look hurt, you said- you said that you weren't in pain," Fiona's mother commented.
"Super potion, found it on the train," I commented.
"How, bad?" Mama Joy asked.
"Multiple deep puncture wounds down the right side of his body, from his shoulder down to his thigh, on his front and back, no organ damage. B-b-burns on his throat, two smaller puncture wounds left side, over the heart, no organ damage. Multiple scars on both forearms," Fiona rattled off unsteadily, even as her mother paled.
To be fair, almost everyone in the room had.
Even Jack, a combat veteran, raised a brow at me, and wasn't THAT concerning.
Hiss.
Purrloin wasn't pleased at Mama Joys rapid approach.
'Stay away from Master,' She demanded.
I sighed as Joy stopped.
"Easy Purrloin, she's just trying to help," I placed her next to my feet where she instantly clung onto my leg.
I didn't resist as Joy pulled out a pair of nursing scissors and cut away at my shirt.
I groaned, but pulled off my scarf showing my burn, "It's a button up, couldn't you have just torn it open?"
She opened the shirt and let out a strangled noise that I honestly couldn't place.
Looking down, I could see how much worse it was now the potion was fading, blood was saturating the badages now, to the extent that it was dripping down to my pants.
Jack let out an actual whistle this time, impressed, "Shit, son, you stormed a train in that condition?"
I grunted, trying to ignore the reactions around me
Trying.
Sonia looked a step away from a full-blown panic attack and was only avoiding it by how confused she appeared to be, not able to put together the fact her baby brother looked like he'd just left a war zone. While Gran looked to be in the throes of one, panting and staring wide-eyed at the bloody bandages.
"H-He needs an ER, NOW!" Joy yelled.
"Hang on kid, we got you," The captain had left her post next to the door and attempted to support me.
"NO! ROSE!" I retorted, I didn't have time for this, the Grimm was still loose, what I needed was a patch job, and then an opening.
"Easy, now" Mustard interrupted, "Take him to the Pokemon center, it won't matter if he's in the room with his Pokemon team, Champions orders."
"Y-yes, that," Joy pointed at the old Kantoian man.
"We'll sort the rest out later," He paused and brought out a Pokeball, pushing it into my hand, "Make sure 'Mei' gets seen would you?" He winked.
I nodded, surprised at the support.
'Wait a minu-' Lucario began, only to be cut off by his mate.
'Come on,' The Meinshao pulled on him, dragging him out the now open door, chuckling all the while.
While an also chuckling Mustard followed behind them.
Mei sagged in relief.
"I'll let them know you can't make it, Mags," The champion smiled sadly at the shaking woman.
She didn't respond.
"I can't just walk out there like this," I stressed, gesturing at my, now, uncovered wounds.
"Here, lad," The old man removed his coat, wrapping it around my shoulders and buttoning it up.
"Thanks," I relaxed slightly.
"No worries," He finished buttoning it up for me, "I fought Adept's in the war, you know, and alongside them. Glad a tough bastard like yourself is on our side."
I snorted.
"Alright, come on, let's go, let's go," The Captain made an effort to organize the chaos, as an officer assisted Gran and Sonia both out the door.
"Psion," The Draco, Ra'ed apparently, got my attention, "The Draco clan welcomes you as a guest."
I have no idea how to respond to that, so I winged it, "I am honored, and accept, Draco?"
He nodded and left.
The hell?
Jack snorted, pushing me toward the door, but thankfully respecting the fact I can walk, "Come on, lad."
A/N: So, Jericho manage to hold out long enough for Rose to find a better use of his time, and spoof a Lucario's aura scene, but not really. He just got lucky that in this instance that Lucario justice didn't truly line up with human law. More so the adults were rather biased in the childrens favor and trying not to stress them out TOO much, along with being exhausted themselves.
Unfortunately his body is at its limit, and he knows it, MAYBE he could have gotten away with it given time to heal, but all the aggravation has only made his wound worse at this point. He NEEDS medical aid, and considering whats happen the likely hood of him getting time with Fiona away from prying eyes is very low.
Not that it matters, the Draco had him figured out almost immediately, and Mustard is no slouch, the old martial artist has a LOT of experience with aura pokemon, and even some adepts (as you can see in canon). More so he knows when his friend Aka Lucario is acting off.
Luckily most league trainers and adept clans do NOT trust Rose given his policies on the league at large, and adepts.
As an aside, I've been having massive problems uploading on the site and app, I'll transfer something over and suddenly paragraphs are missing, or it uploads incorrectly. My likes and follows keep randomly jumping up and down as well, without any knew ones. So yeah, sorry if this doesn't upload correctly, please check your still liked/following if you are.