Matthew

Two local teens, Seventeen-year-old Ethan Greene and sixteen-year-old Dominic Olivera, have been reported missing as of last night. These come during a string of disappearances plaguing the Idian Province. If anyone has any information regarding…

I put the newspaper down and stared at it for a while. People—teens, mostly—have been turning up missing lately, and search efforts have been widely unsuccessful; was this somehow tied to that 'Team Carbon' that guy warned me about?

There was a clinking noise behind me; Sabi had pulled a bauble off the shelf and was batting it around the aisle.

"Sabi, I told you not to touch anything," I said.

She wasn't listening, trying to find the next thing to play with.

I sighed. "Alright, let's get out of here."

After picking up after her, we left. We had nothing to do, so we were out walking the busy streets after the long drive yesterday. Despite expectations, Sabi didn't seem bothered by all the noise and activity, quickly acclimating to city living. I was just thankful that she listened when told to stay close and didn't bound into traffic.

We joined a group of people waiting at the pedestrian crossing. Honestly, I never thought I'd hear from the phantom member again, but it hadn't been a week since I first met him when I received a call. He seemed pretty strange, but discovering that mask answered many questions I had.

"Leo!"

Sabi stood on her hind legs, pawing at my pelvis to get my attention. No one was around anymore; the group was crossing the street, leaving us behind.

"Come on, let's get across!" I said and started jogging. Sabi, always ready to run, happily galloped beside me.

After a couple more blocks, we reached our apartment building. Through the front, up the elevator, and into our room.

It hadn't been a month since moving in, but nothing had changed during that time: no furniture, no decorum, just a functional space to sleep at night, not that I minded much anymore.

As for plans, I didn't really have any of those either. I knew I'd be going back to university in the fall, but as for the summer, I had nothing. Thinking about it, I couldn't remember a time when I had nothing to do for the three-month break; my parents always had me busy doing something, so this felt… rather strange, almost wrong. Perhaps I should get a part-time job.

Sabi darted past me, chasing a cotton ball as an improvised toy. Unless I found someone to care for her, I'd have to get a job primarily outdoors. I never was the outdoorsy type.

I booted up my laptop and sat on the mattress, checking the job postings nearby. Predictably, there weren't many openings besides office jobs in the city, but there was a groundskeeper listing on the complete other side.

The pay was decent, the early hours were fine by me, the job description wasn't offputting, and they even offered paid vacation, not that I'd be there long enough to need any.

I saved the listing and began building a resumé. This would be my first job application, so it had to be made from scratch. After a half-hour, it was looking pretty good, but I wanted some references. Since I hadn't had any jobs before this, I'd have to look elsewhere.

My first idea was to ask my parents, but that didn't seem right, then I thought of my professors at university; it was perfect! They should be there teaching right now. I wrote down where a few of them would be and grabbed my keys. "Sabi, we're leaving again."

She was at my side in a matter of moments, always eager for more time out of the box that was the apartment.

Fifteen minutes of driving through lunch-hour traffic later, we were walking up the parking garage stairs. My car still had a parking permit, so it shouldn't get towed.

I tracked the instructors down one by one; it didn't take much to convince them to be a referral for me.

My phone rang while I chased around campus. I didn't recognize the number, so I simply rejected it and got back to business.

The last person on my list was Professor Manchineel, who I was worried wouldn't be teaching today. Checking his schedule, I was lucky; he was in the biotech division today.

I peered in through the window in the door. The class was in session; students' heads hung over class materials under the professor's watchful eye. I'd have to come back later.

That was, until he met my gaze from his desk, promptly excusing himself and coming to greet me.

"You didn't have to interrupt class to talk to me," I said sheepishly.

The professor waved me off. "Bah, they don't need me in there to read textbooks. I also needed to know why you didn't take any summer classes."

"I got busy; had a little too much on my plate for more full-time student work," I said.

He looked down at Sabi—currently playing with her tail—and nodded. "I see; what brings you here now?" he asked.

"I just came to see if I could get you as a reference for a summer job application."

He looked offended. "You couldn't take classes, but you could get yourself a job?"

"It's only part-time! And I needed something to do with the spare time," I said, making the professor chuckle.

"I'm only pulling your leg; of course, I'll be a reference. Where are you applying, if I may ask?"

I pointed toward the east side of the city. "Some smaller business that needed a groundskeeper. Not ideal, personally, but I wanted something outside for Sabi," I said.

The professor said nothing and handed me his business card for the university.

I stowed the card away. "Thank you, professor," I said, turning to leave.

A hand on my shoulder stopped me. "You know, Matthew, I could've recommended some jobs closer to your field of study; you could've even started today," he said.

I couldn't respond; all my attention focused on his hand, specifically the ring around his finger with a signet of shiny, jet-black material. I heard the phantom member's warning echoing in my head; it couldn't be, right?

Turning around to face him, his gruff appearance seemed suddenly menacing, his stare hinting maliciousness. I had to have been hallucinating.

"Uh, yeah, but that's okay; there's always next time," I said, trying not to stutter.

The stare held for a moment, and then it was all gone in the blink of an eye; he was the professor I'd always known once again.

"I want nothing but the best for my star student," he said, waving goodbye. "Have a good day, Matthew."

I didn't stick around, walking away from that situation like a student late for class.

What was that? Surely, that wasn't what I was warned about; that guy was wearing a necklace, and the professor was wearing a ring, though the adorning material looked identical. Was it some kind of hierarchy?

I wanted to call the phantom member and learn more, but decided against it.

"Well, we got what we were here for; let's go home," I told Sabi, who fell into step beside me.

While we were driving, my phone rang again. As a responsible driver, I didn't take my eyes off the road; no matter who it was, it certainly wasn't worth my and Sabi's lives.

I pulled into the parking lot of our apartments and grabbed my phone even before putting the car into park. It was the same unknown one that called earlier while we were tracking down professors.

Ugh, what a day it'd been, and it was only two in the afternoon. Ever since I drove to Ferta and treated that guy again just yesterday, things were suddenly weird beyond comprehension. The pokémon professor could be linked to a criminal organization somehow, my phone was blowing up from an unknown number… What was going to happen next? It was like I'd somehow opened a Pandora's box; my head was spinning.

I grunted as I felt sharp pinpricks on my thigh. Sabi was now in my lap, climbing up my chest and looking at me with big eyes. She was bored, or maybe she sensed my stress.

"Ouch. Claws, Sabi," I complained and picked her up. Whatever the case, she had energy that needed to be released, or she'd tear down the whole building. The job application would need to wait.

I sighed. "Alright, let's go back to Uni."

Resigned to my pokémon's needs, I threw the car in reverse and started back for University. Traffic had thinned out, but it was never what I'd consider 'good.' It stunk that it took almost ten minutes to drive fifteen city blocks.

Instead of parking underground, I opted to park in the overflow, a parking garage nearby.

"Don't run out of the park area, or we're going back home," I warned Sabi. She was brimming with energy; if she were a tea kettle, she'd be whistling.

We made it to the park without incident, and the little cub shot off as soon as she felt grass under her paws. She started by doing laps around the whole perimeter, then began to prance around by the other visitors.

"That one yours, mate?" I heard from behind me. It was a trainer with a Deino at his side. Judging by his bright attire and partner, he was likely from Unova.

I nodded. "She's quite the handful."

"I'll say, I'd never known anyone willing to take up the task; they're pretty tough customers," he said, extending a hand. "Charles, and you are?"

"Matthew," I said, accepting the handshake.

"How far are you in training her, Matthew?" he asked, to which I shook my head.

"You're mistaken; I'm no trainer; I'm a med student."

Charles broke down laughing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just silly. How do you find time for a pokémon like her if you're a med student?"

I shook my head again. "I don't; it's been impossible to balance the two. I was hoping I could get her to settle into a more domestic lifestyle so I could finish up my time at school and keep her happy."

Charles' look wasn't very encouraging. "I'll tell you now, that's never going to happen. Litleo are as wild as they come. You don't adopt one by accident."

I didn't comment, looking over at Sabi to see her stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the Deino in my company.

Uh oh, I knew that look.

Charles and I watched as she bounded over and conversed with the Deino. From her demeanor, she wanted a fight. Whatever she said, the previously docile pokémon was now riled up and ready to go at it.

"Ha, you got yourself quite the little troublemaker, mate; little Ashy here doesn't anger easily," Charles said. "What do you say? Up for a battle?"

"No," I said a little too quickly.

Charles looked at me with skepticism. "Have you ever had a battle before?" he asked.

"No," I repeated, knowing where this was going.

"Well, the Litleo sure wants one. Why not give it a go?" he asked.

"Because I'm not cut out for it," I said.

"How do you know if you don't try it? Who knows, you might have fun," he said with a smile.

I eyes him warily. "I can't see how watching pokémon get hurt could be fun, honestly," I said.

Charles shook his head. "You're looking at it the wrong way, mate. They were made to battle; it's fun for them. Otherwise, they wouldn't be running around looking for one."

I wanted to refute his logic, but there weren't any grounds; she did kind of just run up and ask for it.

"Alright," I said, conceited.

"Chin up! Supposed to be fun, remember?" he said, reaching into his pack for something. "Do you know her moves?"

"No, she just hatched a couple weeks ago; does she even have any besides Tackle?" I asked, trying to sound like I knew something about battling.

"Well, let's find out! Come on over here," Charles said.

I walked over, watching as he pulled out a pokédex and pointed it at Sabi. Before long, it read Litleo's pokédex entry aloud and displayed much other information about her.

"There they are: Tackle, Leer… Huh, that's it? You weren't lying when you said she was freshly hatched, were you? She doesn't even have any fire moves yet."

"That's why I don't think we should," I said.

"Relax, this is how they get stronger. We'll go easy."

I still wasn't feeling good about this, but the way Sabi looked, she wasn't going to leave without fighting something, so it might as well be the trainer willing to dial it down for her. "Alright."

I had to grab and restrain Sabi by the scruff, carrying her to the designated battle areas. Charles took one side, and we took the other.

"Take charge as her trainer, Matthew; let her understand that you're a team," Charles said.

"O-Okay?" I uttered, unsure what that entailed. Kneeling next to her, I got her attention. "Hey, so, I'm going to help you, so… do as I say?"

There was zero confidence to be found in my voice, but surprisingly, she nodded happily.

Charles whispered something to his Deino so we couldn't hear before backing out of the ring. "You might want to step back, mate; things can get wild."

I heeded, backing away a safe distance.

"Alright, Ashy, let them have the first move," he said.

Our opponents stood there, motionless but ready. I felt like a Stantler in headlights, but there were only two possible orders to give her, so I picked one.

"Sabi… Tackle," I said.

The response was immediate; she took off and threw herself quite enthusiastically at the opposition. The attack itself didn't look like it did much, but I was amazed at her unquestioning obedience to a rookie trainer.

"See? They understand this stuff at an instinctual level," Charles called. "Humans have been training pokémon for thousands of years! So do her a favor and stop giving her orders like she's a lil' tot!"

I was going to retort that she was one of those, but Sabi's position caught my attention. Even after landing the attack, she remained awkwardly close to the Deino; she clearly didn't know where she should be right now. "Sabi, get back here!" I called.

"Help her out, Ashy; Roar!"

The Deino unleashed a beastial roar. The force was too great, and Sabi was swept away, landing at my feet.

"Are you okay, Sabi?" I asked, slightly worried.

She said nothing, shaking herself off, getting back to her feet, and glaring at our enemies.

"She's fine, mate. Pokémon are made of stronger stuff; she can take far more punishment than you or I can!"

Yes, I knew that, but that knowledge didn't stop me from worrying, regardless.

I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I was a little busy at the moment; I'd call them back later.

Charles and Ashy stood unmoving on the other side of the arena, waiting for us. I was glad Charles wasn't a trainer who chased an easy win.

"Sabi, leer."

She didn't move to get close; this time, she stood still and stared. I wondered if she'd heard me before I noticed Ashy fidget slightly; something must've happened.

"I'd always wondered how pokémon could react to moves like those if they couldn't see," Charles mused before pointing a finger at us. "But no matter! Ashy, Dragon Pulse!"

Before I knew it, a beam of purple energy burst from the pokémon's maw. The attack, however, missed to Sabi's right. I was quaking in my boots from the show of power; that could've easily killed someone, but Sabi wasn't deterred in the slightest!

She certainly had spirit.

"Hmm, try that again, Ashy, but sweep it to the right about fifteen degrees."

As instructed, another purple beam impacted the same spot but began to move closer to Sabi!

I waited for her to move, but she didn't; it was like she was glued to the spot… what was she doing?

"Jump, Sabi!" I yelled suddenly, startling myself.

The command came very late, but she was able to respond in time, jumping over the beam as it passed beneath her.

I sighed in relief. Why was she standing there, ready to take it when it was easily avoidable? "Sabi, what was that?"

Charles was ready to answer in her stead. "They're strong, they're tough, but they're not the best at knowing what to do next; that's what we're for! A pokémon alone doesn't stand a chance against one with a trainer behind them! Together, they can be a force to be reckoned with!"

His explanation helped things make sense. I had a come-to-reality moment; I was going to college and thought I was learning everything there was to know about these creatures. It turns out there was bountiful knowledge behind this more or less simpler concept in battling that I'd been shown a glimpse of.

"Did I break your mind, mate? Ready for battle?"

Right, there would be time for analysis later. "We can't hit him from back here. Sabi, get close and tackle him!"

She took off and rammed into the Deino again. This time, Ashy was taken off his feet and fell sideways; was he not ready for it? It was like he was somehow weaker than before.

"Get up, Ashy, and use Fire Fang straight ahead," Charles ordered.

Immediately, Ashy lashed out with flame-licked fangs, chomping down on Sabi's flank. The attack looked vicious, but Ashy didn't appear to put much force into it.

Sabi squeaked and tried to break free, which she managed… or was allowed, rather.

I was worried about a potential injury, but she seemed okay, so I pushed through it to give another order. "Tackle again, Sabi!"

Again, she bashed into Ashy and took him down again. I was about to praise her before…

"Grab her, Ashy."

Ashy found her scruff and hoisted her up.

"Dragon Tail."

Sabi was dropped and knocked away like a baseball, tumbling across the ground and ending up at my feet again.

"Are you okay, Sabi?" I asked. My worry returned when she had some difficulty standing, but she nodded.

I reached down to pet her but pulled away from her head quickly. Her red mane was hot, so hot that it was creating heat haze!

"We should call it off. I think she might be overexerting herself," I called to Charles.

Then, without warning, something red shot from Sabi and impacted Ashy. Like her tackles, it didn't seem to do much. Ashy began thrashing around, trying to find and bite what attacked him.

"What was that?" I asked.

Charles pulled out his pokédex and pointed it at Sabi again. "Well, well, your training is paying off; she learned Ember!"

"Ember?" I asked.

"Typically the first fire move fire-types learn." He dropped his hands to his hips. "I think you're right; this battle isn't much, but it's pushed her hard enough to learn a new move."

"Hmm," I mused. "Sabi, sit."

She seemed happy for the order for rest; she sat on her haunches and began panting hard.

Strange, even a simple battle drained her energy more than running laps for ten minutes straight. Maybe I needed to take a battling course to understand this side of pokémon more.

"Yeah, I'd say she's done," Charles said, crossing the field. Ashy the Deino following behind. "How about you? How do you feel?" he asked me.

"It doesn't really matter how I feel; I wasn't the one fighting," I said.

"Mmm, I disagree. A trainer gets a workout, too. Not physical, but mental and even emotional sometimes."

I looked at him suspiciously, having my doubts.

"You can look at me like that all you want, mate, but it's true. Being a trainer isn't easy, and everyone realizes this early in their careers," he said.

I wasn't convinced. No distress a human could feel could relate to pokémon taking a beating in battle, but I said nothing. Charles seemed to stand behind his words confidently as the trainer I wasn't, nor planned to be.

Checking the time, it was three-thirty. We'd only been here for a half-hour, but Sabi was ready for some rest; this was infinitely more efficient than the stuff at home.

Charles agreed with me. "Well, if we're done here, I'm going to see if I can find another battle. See you around, Matthew; perhaps we'll spar again someday," he said before walking off to mingle with other trainers.

I stood there dumbfounded. I didn't feel any particular connection with him, but he did just up and leave when he got bored. Was that normal in a trainer's etiquette?

I saw Sabi still panting, looking like she needed some water. I led her to a water fountain that accommodated pokémon like her; a little bowl with a continuous flow stood at the bottom while a more human spout was on top.

She needed no instruction; she lapped down the water greedily before dropping to her stomach.

I was having a drink myself when my phone vibrated in my pocket again; it was that number again… the fourth time today! Whoever it was really wanted to talk to me, but I didn't really want to talk to them, so I ignored it. They'd leave a voicemail if it were truly important.

I was ready to go, but Sabi still seemed exhausted, so I called her back into her pokéball. I'd have to talk to her about her use of anything fire related soon, lest she sets something ablaze.

One more commute through the city later, and we were back home. Sabi rematerialized sound asleep, and I sat down and began pounding away on my laptop.

There wasn't much left to do on the computer; I added my references, gave the document one last look-over, and sent it off.

I sighed contentedly and put my hands behind my head, reclining the best I could with nothing resting against my back. All my tasks somehow managed to get done today; I didn't even need to cook since we still had leftovers from the goulash my mother brought over Friday night.

I sighed again, but this time out of emotion. I hadn't heard much from my parents recently, especially not since I told them I took the summer off. The feeling that those two things were related was hard to shake; my family was full of busy people, but at least Brittney still had time for me.

My phone rang; I hoped it was my father, but expected it to be whoever it was annoying me again. To my delight, it was my father.

I answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello?" came the voice from the other end. My breath hitched; that was not my father's voice.

"I'm looking for Matthew Merzehl?" the much-too-young voice asked; they were talking like everything was normal and we were on some business call.

I was not playing into that. "What did you do with my father?" I asked tensely.

"What?" they asked with genuine confusion. "Oh! No, nothing's wrong with him; I spoofed his number so you'd pick up. I've been trying to call you all day."

A vast range of emotions ran through me, none making me want to talk to this guy any longer. "Yeah, well, kind of makes me not want to talk to you, so goodbye."

"Wait!" they yelled. "I need to know, did you meet with a member of the Phantom Four in Ferta yesterday?"

"Oh, now you're stalking me?" I challenged.

"It wasn't me, it was someone from the Network that—" he sighed. "Listen, I'm not interested in you; I need to find out where that guy went, and by how you interacted with him, you two have connections somehow."

My skepticism of this person remained high, but a twinge of curiosity led me to continue engaging. "Say you're right; what makes you think I'd tell you?"

"Because you want to figure out why the pokémon have been going missing, don't you? We know why and where they're going. If you want to help fix this problem, we need to know where that guy went."

"He has nothing to do with that anymore, so going after him won't get you anywhere," I said.

"We're not after him."

"Then what do you want with him?"

"Look, I can't tell you much over the phone; my boss wants you to come to Ferta tomorrow, a small town near Brixton."

"As much as I like car rides, that's like a ten-hour drive one way, so I'll have to pass," I said.

"We'll pay for a plane ticket. Business class, both ways."

I looked at my phone like it was some alien object. They really wanted this. "Why?"

"Because let me ask you now: can I have the means of communication you have with him?" they asked.

"No," I said without thought.

"Okay, glad that's settled. We'd like to have you over to discuss more, so what do you say?"

I thought for a minute, and they gave me some time. Traveling to a different province to meet a complete stranger was obviously a bad idea, but a surprisingly large part of me was amenable.

"Tell me, where are they keeping the pokémon?"

"I can't tell you, but I can tell you that that guy was telling you the truth yesterday." They didn't say it explicitly but were clear in their implications.

That's all I needed to hear. "I'll do it."

"Great, we'll send you the ticket. The flight will be early, so be ready," they said and hung up.

What was going on? No one would ever agree to such a thing, was I just bored? No, more like hungry for more answers.

I scooped up Sabi and took her to the mattress. After a day like today, I needed some rest.

It was nine A.M, and I was boarding a plane from Ekhol to Brixton. My family and I wouldn't fly often, but when we did, it was in business class.

I'd never flown with this airline before, but it had most of the perks I was used to: peace and quiet, comfortable seats with plenty of legroom, and in-flight entertainment via a pull-out terminal, which I stored away for more space. I had to leave Sabi in her pokéball, but it was probably for the best; who knew how she'd react at thirty-thousand feet?

We landed three hours later, and the first thing I did was call for a taxi. Whoever I spoke to yesterday also gave me an address with the ticket, so I told the driver, and off we went.

I'd never been to Brixton before. Somehow, it seemed busier than Ekhol, which was bizarre to me because it didn't have any college campuses within its limits; it was a purely commercial city. Regardless, I sat comfortably in the back and watched the window, glad I didn't need to drive through this mess.

The scenery eventually changed from busy city to quiet suburb, which was apparently where my destination was because we pulled over. I paid for the trip, and he drove off.

From what I could make of it, it was a small, peaceful town. Quaint little houses, people tending to their gardens, and a kid playing fetch with his Growlithe. It reminded me much of my parent's neighborhood, just less… affluent.

I thought I'd been given the wrong address for a moment because it led me to an ancient house, one that one would see in classic vampire movies, but checking again, this seemed to be the place.

Approaching the front door, I found it didn't even have a doorbell, just an aged brass knocker. I took it, bashed it against the metal plate, and waited.

The door opened to the head of a man. He was tall, and certainly of the age of retirement. The hair on his face and doming his head were in the process of bleaching, hiding the sagging skin of his cheeks and giving him a wild look in my opinion. He definitely wasn't who I spoke to on the phone.

"Sorry, I must have the wrong address," I said, turning around.

The man stopped me. "No, no, you have the right place; please come in," the man insisted.

I expected to see a gothic-era house within, but it turned out to be surprisingly cozy.

He sat me in the common area. "How was your trip? I heard you came from south Idian," he said, sitting in an armchair across from me.

"Correct, and the trip was fine." I looked around the nice, open room. "I have to say, you have a nice place here."

He smiled. "I get that a lot." He extended a hand. "My name is Smith; how may I refer to you?"

I accepted the firm handshake. "Matthew. I'm also wondering who I talked to on the phone?"

Smith shook his head. "That's not important right now. I was the one who wanted to talk to you, and they were only the person who knew how to arrange that," he explained.

"Okay?" Where this conversation was going was ambiguous.

He pulled out a piece of paper; on it was a zoomed-in picture of the face of the guy I'd met two days ago. "Do you recognize this man?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Do you have contact with him?"

I felt like I was being interrogated. I nodded.

"How long have you known him?"

I held a hand up to stop him. "Hold on here, I just flew like a thousand miles to get here. Before I answer any more of your questions, I have some of my own."

He seemed a little taken aback, but nodded. "Very well, what do you have for me?"

"Why are you so interested in that guy?"

"His name is Quinn Morrison; to answer that one, I need to know if he told you anything about an organization called Team Carbon."

"A little," I said.

"Well, I hope you've heard enough to know they aren't good people. I trust you're aware of the Phantom Four? They're all over the news."

I nodded. "I'm familiar, and I know he was one of them."

"Perfect. The reason we need him is because as a member of that 'terrorist group,' he was an insider of Carbon's inner workings, but has since, shall we say, reconsidered his career choices."

He produced a cell phone, scrolling through it until he found what he was looking for, showing it to me.

On the screen was another photo, this one of a building with some smoke billowing out of it. The building itself was about as interesting as the smoke; it was like a big box with the fact that it had no windows.

"This funny place is in Idian, somewhere around Venu City, I believe. In it is a storehouse, hiding hundreds of stolen pokémon for Team Carbon's use, pokémon that he helped steal from a pokécenter just days prior."

"Wait," I said. "I thought the guy on the phone said you didn't want to bring him in."

"We dont; let me finish. Around a month ago, Quinn seemed to have defected and pulled off an inside job before vanishing, a sadly unsuccessful attempt to free the pokémon within. Seeing that it's a good bet that he isn't under the umbrella anymore, I want to recruit him."

"Recruit him for what? You're not in the bad business too, are you?"

"No," Smith said, frowning. "Do you need something to drink, son? You seem tense." Smith asked.

I promptly streaked a hand through my hair, it came back sweaty. "Yeah, could I get some water?"

"Of course," he said, turning behind him. "Sickle!"

Fast footfalls from down the hall emerged into the room, revealing a Scyther.

"Scyther?" It asked Smith.

"A glass of water for the guest, please."

It nodded and retreated to the kitchen; how it was going to fix a glass of water with no hands was something I honestly wanted to witness.

"I won't tell you specifics, but I will say that we're a small team trying to dismantle this threat. We've had little success thus far, but having Quinn on our side could help us do some real damage."

I wanted more information on them, but not as much as wanting more on this organization. "Tell me more about Team Carbon," I said.

"Sure thing. Team Carbon, who you most certainly know better as Diamond Laboratories, is a criminal syndicate formed just years after the nation officially opened its borders; oh, what was it… fifty years ago? Thought to have been started by a former Team Rocket rookie that wanted to be more."

"Team Rocket…" I mused. "Aren't they from Kanto?"

"You're correct, they have strong ties back there, but where Team Rocket is more brutish and overt in their illegal acts, Carbon took a more subtle approach, growing itself quietly, even interacting with the public through Diamond Labs."

"Why?" I asked.

"No one can stop you if they don't know what you're doing. Like I said, they've been at this for longer than you've been alive, son; have you ever heard about them on the news? They take great care to keep their inner workings private." He threw his legs over the arm of the chair casually. "That's why we want to recruit Quinn; he's been on the inside, he knows things we don't."

"Back onto this Team Carbon, what kind of things do they do?" I asked.

"Well, they're into the whole 'stealing trainers' pokémon schtick just like their predecessor. They enlist street thugs for those things, usually people under eighteen. They've also found their own path and captured a large chunk of the wild pokémon population for various uses, mainly experimentation, to my knowledge. They can do that fairly safely, so they've sent people all over the nation to 'harvest' the wild pokémon."

"And you know about these things… how?"

"I used to work for 'em."

"Oh," I said. Honestly, I wasn't expecting that. "Tell me more about what they're doing with the pokémon."

"As I said, mostly experiments, but throw your concept of the word out the window; these aren't high school biology class-type things they're doing. They spare all morality and ethics with their work," he said grimly.

"They kill them?"

"Kill, maim… torture sometimes… You name it; good chance they've done it for 'science.' You don't want to know what they've got on their hands to produce their 'Dialectical Comprehension Unit.'"

"And you used to work for these guys?" I asked incredulously.

"Don't look at me like that, son, I ain't no pokémon butcher. I was a botanist under their Diamond Laboratories branch; those people are none the wiser about the monsters they toil for. I worked nearly my full thirty-five years there without knowing what was happening," he stated.

He brought a hand up and rubbed his forehead; his voice dropped to a mumble. "They don't tell you those things when you sign up… or never, ideally."

The Scyther returned, holding a tray suspended on the back of its bladelike arms with a rope. It set the tray with the water on the end table beside me.

"Thank you," I said, grabbing the glass and taking a drink. Smith also thanked the pokémon and dismissed it.

"And you're comfortable with telling me all this?" I asked.

"If it will help convince you to help us recruit Quinn Morrison, sure. Just know you will be killed if you're caught disseminating this information; it's part of their 'invisibility' tactics," he warned.

"And why not just inform the police about this?" I asked.

"They're real cozy with the nation's police," he said.

I was about to ask for more, but he stopped me. "Son, as much as I love playing twenty questions, could we get back to why you're here?"

I still wasn't satisfied, but Smith had been more than accomodating; I also had a feeling this wasn't the only time we would be talking. "Alright."

"Do you think we can bring him here to talk?"

I shook my head. "To be honest, not likely. He seemed dead set on hiking to Seren."

"To disappear?"

"Uh-huh."

Smith scowled at the floor. "Bah, he gets there; he's as good as gone; we need to get in touch with him, Matthew."

"Even if I were to give you his number, I doubt he'd answer; doesn't really strike me as the type to talk to people he doesn't know."

"That's the other reason why you're here. He seems to trust you; we want you to talk him into coming here.."

I finished my glass of water, stopping Smith before he could call back his Scyther.

"I'm not sure I want to get involved in this," I said.

"I hate to say it, Matthew, but this might be the most important thing you'll do for this nation. We're lucky Carbon has stuck to the shadows for this long, but if they decide to come out, I doubt there will be anything anyone can do." He folded his hands, gentlemanly, nothing but serious.

"This is a matter of our future; we can't afford to let this opportunity to slip through our fingers, it's too critical."

He extended a hand to shake. "So what do you say, son?"

I thought for a while. Smith was patient, but clearly wanted this badly.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone. "Prove it, show me something that says you're what you say you are."