I think I can say that this chapter is the end of my arc, I hope you enjoyed it and that I didn't lose you too much ^^'.
I don't think you're reading this fiction to follow the stories of Teams Aqua and Magma, and I myself had originally planned to just use them as elements of danger without developing them further. In fact, at first I even thought of saying that Ash had never met them and that this was their first attempt to awaken Groudon and Kyogre, but in the end I abandoned that idea, thinking it would be too much for the reader, and tried to find something plausible in the continuity of the anime to explain their return.
Of course, the central theme remains the relationship between Ash and Serena, and the villains will be there to reinforce that. In any case, as I said in my previous comment, fanfic is there to fill a need...which is why I think some fanfic writers have a harder time with their works, because they no longer find their audience, even though they write beautifully and their stories are still as good or better than before. On the other hand, you can have average writing (Hi! But I hope it's not horrible either) and still manage to attract people because you've written about the right stuff (popular couples are a safe bet, I'd say x)).
I don't know if we can say it's sad or unfair, maybe just the law of the market, which in the end doesn't question your writing talents in any way ^^.
Enjoy églantines
Apartment 13. A dwelling known to the children of Mauville as the lair of a terrible monster. Rumor had it that if you wandered nearby at night, you would hear growls and sometimes even screams, demanding revenge on anyone who would listen. Worst of all, no one wanted to believe them. Neither the kindly grandfather who usually lived there, nor the adults who just sighed wearily at the stories.
But this morning, the monster's growl was still clearly audible. And the children, who had to pass by the cursed apartment to get to the residence elevator, walked along the opposite wall, praying that they wouldn't be swallowed. However, they had little to fear. The famous monster that had frightened them was sleeping peacefully, his mouth wide open and a slight trickle of drool running down his keyboard.
"Tric," the electric pokemon growled, tugging at his master's suit.
A guttural growl answered him as the old man lifted his head, his eyes half-open and the keystrokes printed in red on his cheek.
"What time is it?" the leader asked in a still sleepy voice.
Manectric hurried to return the clock to his master. Wattson glanced at it as he stretched his arms.
"I could have slept a little longer," he remarked.
The pokemon growled, reminding its trainer of his duty.
"Oh, you know, one day more, one day less. If the trainers really want their badges, they can wait. Besides... I'd rather you rest a little longer before you fight again."
The blue-clad monster returned to put the alarm clock on the table. He'd gotten the message: no gym fights today either.
"C'mon, I've got to get breakfast ready," the old man self-motivated.
He wouldn't have to bother this morning. Jam, coffee, bread, orange juice, everything was already on the table.
"You got up early to prepare all this," Wattson remarked.
Truth be told, from the moment the old man had fallen asleep, the young girl had written off her night's sleep. Wattson snored so loudly that the walls shook, so much so that at first she thought a monster had taken over the apartment.
"You've got a funny look on your face," the old man remarked.
"Mel," the pokemon nodded, his bowl of milk between his paws.
She would have liked her fiery friend to teach her the secret of sleeping with a herd of donphans right next door. But out of respect for the master of the house, Serena only replied with a timid: "I'm fine." Wattson sat down in his place and noticed some broken porcelain on the floor, just below the fire type's chair. He guessed that the monster had misfired a bit before he could grab the bowl properly.
"By the way, Charmeleon needs you to explain to him that he can't come into my room without permission."
"Charme?" the shapeshifter didn't understand.
"I'm not mad at you, Charmeleon, I just don't want you to do it again."
The pokemon shook his head to make it clear that he hadn't done anything.
"Charmand... Charmeleon, it's not good to lie," the girl corrected him.
Ash put down his bowl and stood up abruptly in his chair. He hadn't done anything, so why was he being accused? Besides, Serena should know he wasn't a liar!
"Mel! Charme!" he shouted in his defense.
The pokemon's flame had become more intense. Serena suddenly found it hard to doubt her pokemon's sincerity.
"Are you really sure that..."
Serena paused, searching for the right phrase to avoid offending the old man.
"I wasn't dreaming. And I'm not senile enough to be making things up," Wattson said.
The girl's eyes darted between the leader and his friend. The old man rubbed his beard, understanding the embarrassment he was causing Serena.
"It's good to have faith in your pokemons. But as a trainer, you have to know how to hold back."
Serena didn't know who to believe. She looked into the reptile's eyes and asked:
"You really didn't do anything?"
Ash quickly turned his head away, too unsettled by the look she gave him. He was lucky that the new color of his scales hid the change in hue. But if the girl had touched them, she would have noticed a sudden change in temperature.
"So it really was you!" the coordinator misunderstood.
Ash would have liked to answer, but that would have meant exposing himself to his trainer's gaze once again. And that was something he could not do at the moment... But why? Serena was his friend, he wouldn't be afraid to look at her. Ash shook his head, ready to proclaim his innocence...but her crossed arms and stern face made it clear that his chance was gone.
"Char," he sighed.
Wattson had finished his biscotti and coffee and was anxious to know if Mauville wasn't suffering too much from the waiters' recent slowdown. He turned on the television and fumbled for the remote hidden under the cushions.
"Here's the long-awaited finale!"
Even without looking, Wattson could tell he was on the Direct Concours channel, especially with Vivian Meridian's distinctive voice. He wasn't really surprised that it was the first channel to appear, considering he had a young coordinator living under his roof. She must have found something to do while he racked his brain trying to decipher data packets.
"Mel!"
The pokemon's cry startled the leader. Charmeleon was pointing at the TV with one of his claws, tugging at his trainer's dress.
"May?" the young girl exclaimed, approaching the small screen at full speed.
Serena's friend was in the middle of a fight with Glaceon. Wattson grinned and set the remote down on the sofa.
"Do you know her?"
Serena had already stopped listening, captivated by the battle. The coordinator was facing off against a Typhlosion, while her own pokemon was an Ice-type. Even though Serena knew that type advantage was no guarantee of victory, she couldn't help but worry about May. Throughout the battle, the Kalosian never took her eyes off the blue pokemon as it leapt gracefully, each time leaving a white trail as it soared above the flames.
"Look out!" yelled Serena.
A Fire Blast was hurtling toward the fresh snow pokemon. But it didn't panic, opening its mouth to create a powerful Ice Beam. Serena was stunned, as were most of the contestants, to see that the flames were now trapped in ice turrets. They continued to burn in their caskets, casting a ghostly glow across the field, sublimating Glaceon's blue coat. May and her pokemon weren't done yet, as the columns shattered and shards of ice with a heart of flame surrounded Glaceon. The two long dangling flaps that fell on either side of his face flew through the whimsical snowstorm.
Glaceon's form melted into the ice, making him indistinguishable from Typhlosion. The fire pokemon, transfixed by the spectacle, failed to hear his trainer's command and was frozen in place, unable to continue. The commentator regained her senses and announced May's victory to the cheers of an enchanted audience.
"She won," Serena breathed as she collapsed on the sofa.
"And her performance was amazing. To think I met her when she was just a beginner, it doesn't make me any younger," the old man sighed.
"Mel," Ash agreed with crossed arms.
Wattson raised an eyebrow. As far as he knew, Charmeleon hadn't known May in her early days.
"Let's try to contact her," Serena suggested to her pokemon.
Ash nodded, wanting to congratulate his old friend as well. Serena suspected that May would inevitably pass through the Pokemon Center. So she asked Mossdeep's nurse to relay the message. Less than an hour later, May called back at Wattson's, delighted to see the Kalosian again. But she was soon disheartened to see Serena's exhausted face and especially the long white band around the girl's neck.
"What happened to you?"
Serena thought she heard her mother. She did her best to calm May down with euphemisms. The Hoenn native nervously tapped her finger on her arm, making it clear that she didn't believe a word the young coordinator was saying.
"Your last attack was amazing. I didn't think it was possible to combine fire and ice like that," Serena remarked, trying to shake off the suspicion hanging over her.
May hesitated to answer, but finally said with a frown:
"I have to admit that the basic idea wasn't mine. A friend taught me how to make that kind of combination. In fact, Ash may have told you about her, since they traveled together for a while. Dawn, doesn't this ring a bell?"
The girl pouted; Ash hadn't told her much about his previous travels and especially not about...
"They were just friends," May clarified.
"I wasn't worried!" exclaimed Serena.
"If you say so," the coordinator scoffed. "And Charmander, how is he?"
Serena smiled and hugged the reptile, who was desperately trying to get down to screen level. The trainer almost let go of the monster, surprised by his new weight.
"Has he evolved yet?" May gasped.
Serena exhaled in exhaustion as she set her pokemon down again.
"Yes, but I would have preferred him not to put himself in danger," the trainer explained.
"A bit like with the pokemon hunter."
Maybe May had just found a way to make the girl talk. But Serena didn't answer, just stared into space.
"Serena?"
The overpowering attack, the pokeball that hadn't worked, the fact that she hadn't been able to protect him properly...
"Serena!" May called again.
The coordinator gasped. As if she'd just remembered that she was in the middle of a call.
"Do you think we'll be able to face each other?" Serena asked. "Since you're on the other side of the region, I don't know if..."
"I'm not going to let you win your ribbons that easily," the girl from Hoenn joked. "Though it's true that it will take me a while to get to you. But you should familiarize yourself with the competitions so I can take you on at your best," she finished with a wink.
Serena wasn't sure if she could give May a decent fight. Especially since she hadn't won any ribbons yet.
"Charme!" the fire type enthused.
Always the optimist. But it reminded Serena of the promise she'd made to Lisia.
"I don't intend to lose," Serena warned.
The call was over, and Serena sank back into her chair, holding her head. How was she going to parry May's combinations?
Ash could not understand what her friend was doing. The young girl had been staring at a blank piece of paper for several hours. From time to time she would pick up a colored pencil, but soon she would put it down with a grunt of despair. The shapeshifter began to think that his friend had received too many electric shocks.
"Leon?" the fake-pokemon asked in an uncertain voice.
"I've got it!" Serena shouted suddenly, rising from her chair.
She grabbed a red pencil and began to scribble on the paper in all directions, under Ash's cautious gaze. When she was done, the young girl smiled a little. She made a few head movements as if to congratulate herself.
"Ta-dam!" she said proudly.
Ash stared at the strange fresco without understanding. All he could see was a mixture of red and orange with what he guessed to be a misshapen charmeleon surrounded by yellow zigzags.
"You will be a sensation if you can master this combination."
He wanted to believe her, but he still needed to understand what was being drawn.
"I hope we can do it before the Verdanturf contest."
Get to what? The false-pokemon concentrated intensely, hoping to decipher this mass of color.
"What's wrong?" Serena asked.
"Char," Ash lied with a forced smile.
The young girl blinked. The flame on the lizard's tail had diminished, and he was careful not to meet her gaze.
"So... you feel ready to learn Hydro Pump?"
"MEL?!"
Ash realized too late the trap she had set for him. Serena looked back at her drawing with a sigh of despair.
"Am I such a bad drawer?"
Ash wouldn't go that far. After all, he'd still managed to recognize a charmeleon. The coordinator went back to her drawing and explained, pointing to the different parts:
"This is you. I thought you could use your Fire Spin attack to encircle our enemy. Then you would make contact and impregnate your Thunder Punch with the flames you threw before. You know, like what you did against Ali. I think it'll be a powerful and beautiful combination," she finished, placing the sheet in her lap.
Ash nodded, the idea sounded good. But could he do it? Especially since his Thunder Punch attack...
"Wattson told me that his residence has private grounds. We can go there and practice."
"Cha..."
The fire monster didn't seem very motivated.
"Sorry, it's true that you must still be tired. We'll start as soon as you've regained your strength," the girl suggested.
The pokemon nodded and looked down at his hands. Serena sensed that he was uncomfortable. Maybe he didn't like her idea, but didn't want to tell her for fear of offending her. The girl slipped on her coat and pulled her hat back on her head before offering:
"Would you like to go into town? We'll do some shopping while we're there."
To her surprise, the pokemon declined. Serena knelt down, trying to understand what was happening to him. But the reptile nudged her gently and motioned for her to leave without him.
"Are you sure?"
The pokemon nodded shyly. Serena felt a pang of regret, but eventually left the apartment, leaving her monster behind.
Serena's legs began to hurt. She had been standing in line for quite a while now and hadn't made much progress.
"So that's one million five hundred thousand pokedollars and... one million five hundred thousand? Excuse me a moment..." said the cashier, calming the poor customer who had only bought a soda pop.
The people waiting in the back raised their eyes to the sky or frowned at their watches. It had to be said that since this morning, mistakes like this had been happening all over the city. Traffic lights that didn't work, billboards that didn't display the correct information, cash registers that ran slowly... all of this was getting on Mauville population's nerves.
"Why does it always have to be me?" complained one of Serena's neighbors in line.
Oddly enough, the young girl was asking herself the same question. What's more, her basket was beginning to weigh heavily on her arm. Yet she hadn't taken much: bandages, potions, food, sewing supplies, and a few cosmetics and other items she considered essential.
"Cham!" her pokemon exclaimed.
He had fun doing tricks on the shopping carts of the people behind, causing grimaces and complaints in the line, while the two electric rabbits applauded, impressed by the performance.
"Watch ou..."
Too late, the monster had slipped and fallen headfirst into a pyramid of cans. If this had been a game of Coconut Shy, the pokemon would have been a hit, but the stares of the employees and the sighs of annoyance from the other customers meant that the monster would not get his grand prize. So Serena was forced to give up her seat to apologize and make amends for the panda's mistakes.
"Panch..." he apologized for the umpteenth time and handed Braixen a box.
"Don't worry so much," the young girl reassured him.
And indeed, Serena wasn't at all bothered by this little nonsense, especially when she remembered all the problems and worries her fire reptile had caused her.
"He's exhausting," she complained.
On tiptoe, her arm stretched to the limit, Serena suddenly felt a sharp pain tear through her leg. She flailed her arms in the air, the aluminum can still in her hand, before finally losing her balance.
"Sylv..." the pokemon huffed after wrapping her ribbons around her trainer's waist and preventing her from breaking Pancham's record.
"Braix," the vixen growled softly, her arms crossed.
Serena stared at the colored labels for a moment. Was the mere thought of the salamander enough to get her into trouble? The young girl sat up, feeling a kind of diffuse burning in her thigh and calf. She carefully placed her tin can on the pile. Even though he always got her into trouble... she preferred it when he was with her.
Her work done, the ordeal of the line over, all that remained was to return to Wattson.
"Plus!" exclaimed the rabbit, pointing to an ice cream shop.
His eyes were shining and his voice was full of excitement. Serena pretended to think under the worried look of the little pokemon.
"Do you want some?" she asked the rest of her team.
It was a real outburst of joy, and even Braixen couldn't help but let out an exclamation of satisfaction. Serena refrained from laughing. After all, her friends were entitled to a little fun after what they'd been through at the power plant. As she watched them feast, Serena couldn't help but regret that this Charmeleon glutton couldn't enjoy it.
"Braix?"
Serena noticed her ice cream melting on her fingers. She quickly pushed it aside to keep it from staining her clothes.
"Why did he want to stay at Wattson's so badly?" the young girl sighed.
An idea suddenly struck her. She quickly finished her ice cream and hurried her pokemons back to the leader. Why didn't I think of this before! She stormed into the apartment and called out to her fiery friend. But there was no answer.
"You're already back from..."
"Where is he?" she shouted.
"Who?" the leader did not understand, crushed by the girl's gaze.
"Charman... Charmeleon!" she corrected herself at the last moment.
"It seems to me that he's gone out," the old man thought, remembering that he had heard a door slam shortly after the girl had left the apartment.
"And you didn't stop him?" the trainer snapped.
"You know he's a charmeleon now, he can walk around on his own."
"You don't understand, it's..."
The girl lowered her head, trying to calm the tremors that ran through her:
"He's run away before," she finally explained.
Wattson crossed his arms, surprised that the girl could believe his pokemon had run away.
"Do you really think he'd leave you after risking his life for you at the power plant?" the inventor asked with a mocking smile.
The young girl brought her hand close to her ribbon, she hadn't forgotten, but...
"He would have done it for anyone."
"That may be true," the leader conceded. "But you know, I have a feeling he never would have had the strength to evolve if it weren't for you."
"Then why did he leave?" the young girl murmured.
The front door creaked. The fire reptile didn't immediately understand why the trainer was looking at him as if she had just discovered a legendary pokemon.
"Charme?" Ash tried to get her to respond.
"You weren't... well... what were you doing?" she stammered.
The monster scratched his cheek and looked away.
"You'll hurt his feelings if you don't trust him more," Wattson sneered.
Ash closed his eyes, concentrating on the tingling sensation that ran through his hands. Breathing slowly, he did not move until small arcs of electricity formed between his claws. This was the moment. The fake pokemon punched the air as he exhaled.
"Missed again," Plusle sighed.
Ash looked at his hand. He had tried to train on his own while Serena had been shopping, but he hadn't gotten anywhere. Too frustrated to sleep, he'd finally returned to the residence's battlefield to continue his training. Only that after several hours there was no progress to be seen.
Minun yawned, revealing his sharp little fangs. Ash was ashamed of it, but he'd woken the electrical types in the middle of the night to ask for their help.
"It would have been easier if you'd told her you were having trouble with Thunder Punch," Minun remarked.
Ash lowered his head. He was tired of never being able to make decent attacks. And Serena seemed to be so keen on this combination that he didn't have the heart to disappoint her. Even if it meant sacrificing his sleep and, unfortunately, that of the two rabbits.
"We'll show you how it's done. Watch us closely," Plusle suggested.
Ash nodded. Like Braixen, the use of attacks came naturally to the brothers, so they were unable to give the reptile any tips or advice.
"Charmeleon, concentrate," Minun reminded him, who just wanted to go back to sleep.
"I am concentrating," the fake monster complained, "and by the way, my name is Ash. "
"A name? That's a human habit," the blue-cheeked pokemon said.
"That's because I am one."
Minun burst out laughing at this remark. He held his stomach and rolled around on the floor in front of his brother's embarrassed eyes.
"How can you say that so seriously?" the monster laughed.
"But I'm not kidding, I've been transformed and..." grumbled Ash.
"I get it," Minun cut in. "Now hurry up and learn how to use Thunder Punch so we can go to bed."
Ash could feel that he would only look like a fool if he insisted. He smacked his cheeks, the most important thing was to train, even if it meant staying up all night and all day tomorrow. But that wasn't exactly what his teachers had planned. Plusle, realizing that all his attempts were failing, suggested:
"Try to remember what you felt at the power plant and reproduce it."
Ash scratched his temple. The battle with Magnet had been so confusing that he remembered very little. Except perhaps... The reptile whipped his tail across the ground. The memory of Serena blocking with her body to protect him electrified his mind. How could you take such a risk? fumed Ash. The shapeshifter felt the air around him vibrate. He looked down to see his fists covered in lightning bolts. After a few seconds, they vanished without a trace.
If the two brothers were disappointed that the lightning had not lasted longer, another person could barely contain an exclamation of pride. Serena had been watching her friend through the door for some time. Maybe she should have stopped him earlier to tell him that she'd find something else and that he didn't have to go to all this trouble. But she couldn't interrupt him, because seeing her pokemon make such an effort made her...
"Braix..." whispered the pokemon who had had enough of playing the flowerpot.
Serena smiled, her cheek resting on the edge of the door, unable to take her eyes off the monster moving across the field. She was so mesmerized that she paid no attention to what the vixen might be thinking.
"He's really amazing," the young girl whispered.
Braixen rolled her eyes. Her trainer had woken her up in the middle of the night to help her find the fugitive, and now she was standing there motionless. At the same time, the vixen suspected that despite all the threats Serena had made, she would give up as soon as she met the eyes of her fake pokemon. And she had, to the point where Braixen wondered if she hadn't acquired divinatory powers.
"You're almost there," Serena murmured.
The vixen sighed; her friend shouldn't have to endure sleepless night after sleepless night.
Ash didn't return to Wattson's apartment until morning. The exhausted rabbits had gone to bed before him. That was to be expected after all the energy they'd spent helping him. He watched his hand and concentrated until it was surrounded by lightning. He quickly stopped his attack and happily opened the apartment door.
The first thing he smelled was a sweet aroma before he noticed the assortment of pokepuffs on the table and Serena sitting next to them. When had she gotten up to prepare all this, and more importantly, why?
"Thank you," she said simply.
Ash suddenly noticed the dark circles under his friend's eyes. Don't tell him...
"Charme, melchar?" the monster asked, pointing at her.
"Just a craving," she said, feigning ignorance.
The bike path was a shadow of its former self. It had welcomed hundreds of trainers every day, but now it was deserted, a ghost road littered with debris and potholes. Certainly not a good place to take a stroll. And yet, a violet-haired woman was walking in the middle of the ruined field. She didn't stop until she spotted a chubby man sitting against a partially smashed railing.
"How was the road?" he asked.
The mechanic shoved her hands into the pockets of her overalls and checked that the security cameras were all off.
"Winding," she finally replied.
The man burst out laughing before standing up and dusting off his green jumpsuit.
"I hope this didn't keep you from completing your mission. Unless our dear Adele was reluctant to stop being the senile old man's pet," he said, squinting.
The woman pulled a small device from her pocket and tossed it to her sidekick. However, she had used so much force that the object struck the man on the forehead. He had no time to complain as he rushed to catch the object before it fell to the ground.
"You're crazy!" he complained.
"Coming from someone who narrowly missed killing the gym leader and got us into a lot of trouble, that's a mild punishment. Don't you think so, Tabi?" she pressed the bandit's first name.
'Tabi' had had enough of this fake name. Besides, it wasn't his fault that the old man had returned earlier than expected. He'd been quietly carrying out his mission when all his screens turned red.
"I wasn't going to let that old man ruin everything when there was only an hour left to download. No thanks for that."
"Well, all you had to do was be faster," Adele said wearily.
"It's not a little A.I. this thing!"
"I thought you were bragging about being the best IT guy in the world. Besides, we wouldn't have had to do all this if you'd been able to build one."
His colleague had some good ones. Of course, he could build one just as good, if not better. But that would take time, years, and Maxie didn't seem too keen on waiting. The man looked up and to the right, remembering his boss's grimace when he'd told him that the A.I. theft operation would take several months. Fortunately, the mission had been a success, otherwise he would have lost the respect of his leader.
Tabi noticed his colleague's glazed eyes trying to pierce his thoughts. He didn't like it when she did that, even less when he thought she was saying: 'respect for you? But you're dreaming, poor thing'. Anyway, the plan was a success. At least if she had done her job properly. Tabi finally decided to press the button on the machine Adele had thrown at him. He waited a few seconds until the noise died down and he could hear Wattson's familiar voice. And most importantly, the old man was talking to the league directors and other gym leaders about their next plans to stop the infamous Team Magma.
"How stupid of him to centralize all the leaders' communication through his own network."
"Not so stupid, considering the trouble we went through to hack it," Adele says in a jaded tone.
"You really liked this old guy. And in the end, it wasn't all that complicated with my virus."
"As long as you can access the data center hidden in the depths of New Mauville," Adele reminded.
"Jolti!" growled the pokemon, getting out of his pokeball and pointing at Tabi with his tiny paw.
"I told you not to go out without permission," the woman sighed.
Nevertheless, she stroked his head, fully understanding the little monster's anger. It was thanks to him that the virus had been planted in the servers, but Tabi gave him no credit. Worse, the admin had blown the whole thing up without even bothering to find out if Joltik was still in the room.
"That's all right," defended the man who could see exactly what he was being accused of. "Anyway, I couldn't know which room he was in before your pokemon was infiltrated. So no risk there."
Adele rolled her eyes. Tabi really was the worst possible teammate. Even a little girl from nowhere had made her job easier than her own 'ally'.
"Actually, Tabi. I understand about hacking the communication, but why did Maxie want to copy the A.I. data?"
"That's always useful. And stop calling me Tabi, we're not in the factory anymore."
"So you don't know," she sighed. "And you started it, so I'm just being polite."
The man crossed his arms sulkily. He hadn't appreciated his colleague's first remark, or the second, for that matter.
"What I do know, my dear Adele, is that any help is welcome when it comes to awakening and controlling a legendary," he replied.
He pulled several memory disks out of his pocket and showed them to the woman as if they were trophies.
"Tell me Tabi... why did you join Maxie?"
The man turned his head away and scratched his cheek before answering:
"Unlike you, I wasn't part of the first team he built. I met him when he was just a nondescript guy, a little cold but damn smart. But you see the intelligence of the guy who plans everything."
"With a certain benevolence towards his subordinates."
"I was his assistant, not his subordinate! But yeah, I felt good working with him, and then one day..."
"He told you that he was rebuilding the team and was counting on your help."
"Enough to make me Admin, anyway."
The mechanic lowered her head, seemingly replaying the elements that were bothering her.
"Are you dreaming?" Tabi asked, waving his hand under the woman's nose.
"You know, I was part of the former Team Magma, and I was just a grunt then. I admired him. He was a man who seemed cold, even calculating. But when his subordinates were in danger, no matter how low in the hierarchy, he always answered the call. But I..."
"Spit it out."
"He had ideals. And the Admins of that time all had those ideals in common. While we..."
"It's true, I don't give a damn about his story of expanding the land... But that doesn't change my loyalty," Tabi replied.
"Exactly. We, the current Admins, were not appointed because of our ideals, but because we admire him. Don't you see that?"
"What's next? What does it matter?"
The woman lowered her head. Yes, it didn't change the fact that she would follow him all the way, but...
"Don't you find his gaze... distant?"
This time, Tabi didn't answer. He just watched the gray stripes running down his suit.
"I'm just glad to be able to leave this factory and all the idiots who work there behind for good."
"Personally, I liked them. By the way, I have to give my letter of resignation," Adele remarked, taking an envelope out of her pocket.
Tabi snatched it from her and began to read the note with a mocking sneer. The woman gave him her famous murderous look, the one that always reminded him that no matter how superior he was to her, she would always have the upper hand. Docilely, he handed the paper back to her, muttering to himself:
"I'm glad I don't have to write one and..."
Tabi froze. He had the feeling of suffocating, of being crushed by an invisible pressure. And judging by the expression on his partner's face, he couldn't be the only one feeling it. At the same time, they turned to see a pokemon not far away, laughing in its paws.
"Is that you, Charmeleon? Aren't you supposed to be with Serena?" the woman swallowed.
The pokemon moved towards her. The debris didn't hinder its progress, it seemed to float above them.
"Don't come any closer!" shouted Adele.
The man gasped, it was the first time he'd seen her really lose her temper. The reptile heard him and stopped, standing among the pieces of concrete and glass that lay like corpses on the winding track.
"Flamethrower!" the woman yelled to the houndoom she had just called.
The reptile's silhouette disappeared in the flames. The two Admins exchanged glances, disbelieving that they'd been able to get rid of the monster so easily.
"Hurry up and hand in your resignation, then we'll be on our way," Tabi said with a trembling voice.
The fire monster was still there. But it was watching them from above, surrounded by a pink light. Scales suddenly turned into hair, thick legs into thin limbs and rough features into smooth ones.
So I was worried for nothing. These humans have no chance of waking them.
Mew continued to watch the small creatures struggling on the ground. How could he be sure, knowing the abilities of this species? After all, it was thanks to some of them that he had changed. Although... in this case, it wasn't quite the same.
"It's not up to humans to wake them up," he corrected himself.
The pokemon chuckled, as if laughing at his own stupidity.