"That's not possible. Ask the analysts to scan again."
"They already did. Thrice. The readings are correct."
"If there were a Psychic individual this powerful operating within the Kanto region, we would have known by now. A slip-up, an accident, rumours, something. It's impossible that they went under the radar all this time."
"Could be they just arrived on the continent not too long ago."
"Even the other Leagues had no record of a Psychic of this calibre. Where could they have been hiding this man? Any leads on his identity?"
"None. Face was shrouded by that black shadow during the entire time we saw him within the storm, and Brock only managed a brief conversation before he had to focus on the Thunderhawk. Even then, the trainer's voice was distorted. We are not even sure if it's a guy. No luck finding out where he went after the fight either. Once the storm retreated, the man was gone."
"... Could Sabrina replicate what he did?"
"Probably? Would take a shit ton of resources and prep work, but I would bet she could pull it off."
"It's Sabrina. Are you telling me that the mutant freak of Saffron — hailed as the strongest Psychic in human history and who had once single-handedly fought off the Phoenix of the Arctic Harem in her teens — can't replicate what this nobody did?"
"Well, for one, Articuno has always been considered the weakest of the Calamities — publically, anyway — so I'm not sure if Sabrina's feat is comparable to what our John Doe achieved two weeks ago. And second, this 'nobody' was using a pseudo-Celestial phenomenon to empower his abilities, so I'm not even sure if we can really attribute his achievements to solely his own psychic prowess."
"Even if the false Sun was fuelling his powers, the level of psychic manipulation he pulled off cannot be mistaken for that of an amateur. I have seen Psychics fight before. Those tricks he was pulling off were not normal under any capacity."
"Well… For what it's worth, I would still place Sabrina's capabilities over his, even after seeing what he did. Considering her growth over the last few years, that mutant hardly needs a stolen sun to fight off even Legendaries at this point."
"About that… the 'black sun' he used… it can't really be–"
"Our Ace Specialists already confirmed it. It's one of the Sun Crow's. Although how he managed to steal that or soak it with so much Distortion is a mystery that is going to haunt our guys at the Bureau for months..."
"When could he have managed that? What is our Intelligence Department doing, if they didn't notice one of the ten Suns over the Sveii Isles going missing?"
"Blaine already personally went over and investigated the situation last week. One of the suns turned out to be an illusion; Fae-made too, which explains how it managed to fool our long-range scanners."
"... Are you implying our John Doe has connections to the Fairy Courts as well?"
"Doubt it. Moltres would never mistake one of her Suns for a fake, so we must assume she's the one who bought the illusion from the Fae to hide the stolen piece; most likely through her Arctic brother's connection."
"But that still leaves her with a tenth of her powers missing. If it was stolen, why won't she just rampage after the thief rather than purchase a fake? Unless… Did she give it away willingly?"
"That's the current consensus of our Intel Department, which comes with its own host of worrisome implications… But the good news is that the missing Sun would explain the reduction in droughts over the Indigo Continent recently, so our weather teams can stop worrying about further developments originating from a certain pair in the Hoenn region."
"Don't even joke about that. The last thing we need is those two world-ending catastrophes getting involved in any capacity."
"I wouldn't blame the oversight on the Department, by the way. This entire situation is rather unprecedented. There was a heat energy spike detected around the Sveii Isles about two months back; Lasted only a few hours. I'm guessing that's when our John Doe might have gone and stolen his sun."
"And the Sun Crow hasn't acted aggressively since? At all?"
"No response, which is atypical for a Legendary… But that three-legged bitch has always been the weirdest out of the bird siblings. Maybe it just doesn't care?"
"Maybe doesn't cut it. We are looking at an unknown trainer with the power to go toe-to-toe with a Legendary and who has a corrupted Sun in his back pocket. We don't know who he is, his current location, or even his motives. Who knows what that monster might be doing right now?"
Chapter 3: Brain Dining Adventures
The journey lasted barely a minute, yet as always, it felt like an eternity. When I emerged on the other side, my mind screamed in horrified confusion as it tried and failed to comprehend what it had just seen and been through. I was used to the sensation, however, so it only took a moment to slap myself back into reality. Once I calmed down, I took stock of my surroundings.
The cliffs of the mountain were to my left, and before me stretched a wide and empty incline that led straight up to the summit. The heavy vegetation of the forest was absent here, leaving only dirt paths and rocky crags.
My right opened up to a glorious view of the misty forest below. The sun was rapidly setting, darkening the already grey skies into utter blackness. Far to the north, I could see the hints of human civilisation, specks of light that shine like stars against the murky background of the primevial forest.
I estimated I had less than an hour before night fully settled. My senses told me the cave was not far, and to my surprise, I sensed more psychic signatures residing in that hovel than I had initially expected. Between those clusters of sentient thoughts, the beast's presence was clear to perceive. It flares proudly among them like a feral king, its strength raw and mighty, easily dwarfing the others near it.
I could not sense the thoughts of my companion nearby, but I could still feel her presence faintly. The thought of no longer having her protection here with me was both terrifying and liberating. It has been a while since we had separated ourselves like this. There would always be a mental link connecting the both of us that informed the other that they were still alive, but we rarely left the company of each other.
I began walking up the path towards the cave. The beast soon smelled my presence. There was confusion in its thoughts, which was understandable considering that it should have sensed me long before I got this close to its lair. I had seemly just appeared out of thin air right onto its doorstep. The confusion didn't last long, however, and was soon replaced by an overwhelming bestial fury that left me impressed. But aside from its anger, there was also an overpowering sense of…
Ah, so that's how it was. This may be a little harder than I expected.
I continued on my path, undeterred by this new insight but admittedly a little more worried about my odds. I was no ranger, and even if I was, I had no beast of my own to call upon. A fight was out of the question, as my fist could no more hurt the beast than a pebble could harm a mountain. Stealth was also not an option either, as there was no way I could sneak into the cave without notifying the beast's sharp senses.
Right from the start, there was only one way.
Psychic abilities were uncommon among humans, but not unheard of. However, they were generally far weaker than the overwhelming prowess that psychic-type beasts could bring to bear and were rather useless in direct conflict. Against a feral monster like this, whose mind was a cocktail of bestial hate and rage, a human attempting to attack it psychically would be suicidal.
While my abilities were quite a notch above the standard baseline, this was still a task that would be extremely difficult to pull off, especially this close to the beast's lair.
A horrifying roar sounded off from the top of the mountain, so loud that I was sure my companion down in the forest below would have heard it. I sensed it rushed out of its cave to meet me in the open, evidently not willing to let me approach any closer to its lair. My heart pounded, adrenaline flooded my veins, and I couldn't help but let out a laugh when I felt the ground tremble as it came closer.
At the top of the path, I saw the monstrous form of the ursine creature come into view. On all four, it was still twice the height of a man and more than three times as wide. Its hairy limbs were as thick as tree trunks, nearly bursting with muscles, and at their ends were a set of ivory claws, each as long as my forearm. Covering its thick hide was a mat of brown fur, caked with blood and littered with large, jagged scars and spots of burnt patches. It stopped upon seeing me, bloodshot eyes looking at me warily, betraying a deep intelligence beneath the snarling mass of hate and flesh.
Despite the danger, I couldn't help but be in awe of the creature. This was my first time meeting face-to-face with an Ursaring. While I may have never encountered one before — as the beasts weren't native to my region and I have never had the pleasure of seeing a trained one in person — there were plenty of rumours and stories surrounding the creature.
Johto's forests were littered with monsters of all kinds, but even then, the Ursaring stood out. The beast reigned as an apex predator, built to hunt and take down even the most dangerous of prey. Its hide, layered over a dense accumulation of fat, gave it immunity to all but the most intense of elemental attacks. Possessing muscles akin to steel cords, the creature's body was made arduously resilient to physical damage, while simultaneously having a monstrous strength and surprising speed for a creature of its size. To top it off, the Ursaring's claws and fangs could rend through all but the toughest of armour. Moreover, its sense of smell was a hundred times sharper than most other beasts, letting it hunt down prey across impressive distances.
I am glad to see the stories surrounding the beast did not exaggerate. It snarled furiously as I smiled at it, spreading my arms wide open as an open invitation to attack. The beast growled louder, exposing vicious fangs, but did not approach. I was too open, too exposed, and seemingly too defenceless. Its instincts were telling it that there was a trap, and it was hesitant to advance.
That was my intent, however. The beast was intelligent, and I needed to stall it for as long as I could while my telepathic senses probed its mind for weaknesses. The moment it had came into view, I had immediately began psychically analysing it. I had no weapons, traps, or anything that could defend me if it chose to attack. Whether or not I lived to see the end of today would depend on how quickly I could seize its mind and render it unconscious with my powers.
Its anger would be easy to control. I had some experience in manipulating the mind, and while the sheer bestial rage of this monster would be harder to subdue than a human's anger, the task was not beyond me. However, beneath its maddening fury, there was an even stronger emotion that left me much more worried about my chances. This close to the cave now, I could confirm what those weaker psychic signatures I detected earlier were.
Two baby Ursas, undoubtedly its offspring. The Ursaring was an extremely protective beast when it came to its young. The feral anger alone I could handle, even if it would be difficult. But combined with this overwhelming protectiveness of a mother?
Fury is the reckless manifestation of one's impulsive will. It was instinctive, and as such can be easier to disperse. The mind does not hold on tightly to rage if it can be convinced the target is not worth its anger. But protectiveness? When there is something precious to defend, the will manifests more brilliantly. This applies to both man and beast. It is much harder to smother out the dogged instinct to protect something worth more than one's life.
The beast hadn't moved, but it was growing increasingly agitated and would strike soon. I needed to attack it first. Right now, its mind was vulnerable, unaware of my constant probing. If I could hit it hard and fast enough on the first blow, it might be enough to paralyse the beast entirely.
There were several weak points in its psyche, as I expected. The beast's physical form may be imposing, but it had not evolved in a way that protected its mind.
The process of attacking psychically is rather straightforward. In its simplest form, the assailant manifests their will in the subject's mind to override their control over themselves. If successful, the attacker could do several things, including mentally subduing the target by putting them to sleep.
Such a thing was no easy feat. Merely manifesting your will outside your mind was already difficult, but to also put your will into another and strive to dominate them when they have the advantage of being in their own psyche?
A troublesome task, to be sure. Still, as I had mentioned, this wasn't the first time I had to perform such an assault. My will had already formed itself in the Ursaring's mind without the beast noticing. All that was left was to cut it apart piece by piece until I could reach into the core of its psyche — its ego. It will no doubt attempt to push me out, but I had a few tricks for dealing with that.
Knowing that I was running out of time, I split my will in two. One half I would use to continue observing the Ursaring's brain activity, the other I moulded into a dagger; a mental projection in my mind's eye. The beast snarled once more as it finally grew tired of waiting and prepared to charge. I was out of time. Steeling myself, I plunged the psychic weapon straight into the most vulnerable point in the beast's psyche that I had found.
The Ursaring flinched and roared in confused panic as I dug deeper into its mind. My mental dragger stabbed again and again, carving away pieces of its sanity as the beast's roars of panic turned into pain. A flood of adrenaline and rage poured into its mind, drowning its mental landscape with the red haze of fury in an attempt to drive out the foreign influence.
But I was prepared for it. Splitting my will again, I weave a third fragment of my psyche to forcefully eat away at the rage, turning what would have been a furious tide into a trickle. My dagger continued chipping away at its ego, before soon reaching the core of its mind.
Images of another life bled into my head as its memories were torn open for me to see. The taste of raw flesh and hot blood as razor-fanged teeth tore open the flank of a struggling Stantler, the smell of clear water near the dawn of springtime, the warmth of the sun rays around me as I sleepily bathed in it next to the river.
The third fragment weaved these recollections around the beast's psyche, preventing thoughts of its young from triggering a wave of overwhelming protectiveness that would surely undo my efforts. My mental blade carefully sliced around the treasured memories of its two darling Ursas, as even a simple nudge against it would undoubtedly send its current fragile mental state into a frenzy.
The Ursaring stood in a daze now, its mind smothered by a blanket of calming memories, ignorant of the blade that kept chipping ever deeper towards its core. My mind was strained, but the stress was still well within acceptable limits. The attack was going well, despite my earlier worries.
But alas, misfortune struck me once again. I was careful with the thoughts and the dagger, but even I couldn't account for every bad memory within the beast's mind. Mere moments away from reaching its central ego, my dagger stumbled upon a recollection that the Ursaring had kept deep within its mind. I couldn't remember what it was exactly, but the mere sensation of it was enough for me to know I had fucked up.
My dagger struck the blackened piece, and the repressed memories that the Ursaring tried so hard to forget burst open like an overpressured sac of slimy oil. The wrongness of it, the madness within it… a texture so familiar I would have recognised it even in my sleep.
Distortion.
The Three Birds of Calamities
Like all other regions, Kanto is plagued by its fair share of Legendaries that regularly assault the various human settlements and Green Zones that dot across their 'territories'. The most pressing of those come from a trio of Legendary Avians that are often referred to as the Three Birds of Calamities.
Colloquially named Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno, the three Legendary birds take turns targeting a random human settlement within their zone of control once every four months. Zapdos oversee Central Kanto, Moltres to the South, and Articuno to the West. Each of these 'attacks' operates differently depending on which of the Legendary is assaulting the settlement, with casualty rates and asset damages differing wildly between the Avians.
Zapdos — the Thunderhawk — is considered the worst of the trio, with civilian casualties often reaching within the tens or even hundreds of thousands. Articuno — the Arctic Phoenix — is considered the weakest, but also paradoxically the most feared for what it does to its victims. Moltres — the Sun Crow — is by far the most preferred of the trio, being known for its restraint in causing civilian casualties and often cited as having a twisted sense of 'honour' in its selection of targets.
AN
Thanks for reading. Next chapter will be up next Friday.