"Pokémon Speech"
[Voice through a device]
{Notifications or Messages}
Andría closed her eyes as the wind blew through her hair. The comforting smoothness of Hubert's scales under her hands and his soft rumbling of a pur made her smile. She rubbed the dragon Pokemon's neck and he gave a chuff, diving toward the familiar gates to Sycamore Labs.
They sped downward as a blur of red and teal. Andría clutched him tighter, laughing at the rapidly approaching ground. Then Hubert pulled up with a strong flap. Dust and dirt burst away in a cloud. They hovered there, just a couple inches from the ground, and Andría carefully slid off.
Antoine immediately joined her, ball popping open once she touched down. He nodded to the dragon-type as their Trainer turned to pat the dragon's shoulder. "Thanks, Hubert." She pulled his ball out with a smile. "Return."
Walking into the lab wiped the smile from her face.
Everyone was tense. Some of the lab assistants were frantically running from one office to another with arms full of papers. Others were short with each other as they spoke. Pokémon were trailing behind their partners with twitching ears and tails. Even the usually bright Dexio, stepping off the main elevator with Espeon trailing behind him with a lashing tail, had a strained smile as he approached her.
She hadn't even noticed the tension in her shoulders until the familiar warmth of Calm Mind rippled through her. Dexio's smile softened into something more genuine once he was close enough to hug her. Espeon walked close to rub soothing comfort into his own Trainer. "It's good to see ya, Champ. How've you been?"
"I've been alright, if a little worried," Andría answered. Her hand clasped around her pendant and she leaned into the paw on her arm. "Professor Sycamore… he sounded pretty tense on our last HoloCall."
Dexio sighed and led her to the opening elevator. "Sina's been trying to get him to take a break but… we had a breakthrough last night. You know those energy surges a little southeast of Détourner Way?" He carded a hand through his hair as the elevator chimed its arrival. "We finally found a match."
A pit settled in her stomach as the doors closed. She hadn't seen that expression in almost two years.
Upstairs, the pit grew when she stepped off of the elevator. If she thought the main floor was bad… Researchers and interns darted across the room with papers. Others spoke in short, clipped tones to one another or into a Holo-Caster without so much as a glance up from whatever they worked on. Pokémon around them whined and huddled close to their trainers.
Andría jolted when a paw settled on her back. Soft, Psychic pink rippled through her. Oh. The Trainer grabbed her pendant and took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. Then another. Okay, let's try this again.
Gold glittered across her pendant as she weaved her way through everyone, focused on how Antoine described Calm Mind, the pit in her stomach shrinking with each brush of contact. People and Pokémon alike sighed. Tension trickled from shoulders and brows. Everyone was calm by the time she reached the Professor, who looked visibly relieved despite the deep circles under his eyes.
"Thank you for that." Sycamore pulled her into a side hug before he turned back to his tablet. "Everyone's been on edge since last night's breakthrough."
Andría swallowed the lump in her throat at his tone. "Does this have anything to do with the power spikes around Détourner Way?"
"So you've noticed it too." He turned to the panel at his side. Typing summoned a Holo-Map of Route 22 appeared. Focused around an abandoned cave pocket was a circle of red. "We've been trying to decipher its source for the last few days."
"And last night…?"
He clicked two buttons. "We were able to cross-reference the readings we have of Kalos' legendaries and…" The map slid over to show an incomplete reading of the Mischief Pokemon.
"Hoopa," Andría gasped. Lucario growled under his breath. "How long have they been missing?"
Sycamore's expression turned grim. "The last recorded sighting of them is right before the Flare Incident."
Andría tensed, eyes slowly widening. That- they've been gone that long? "That was two years ago! How could no one have noticed? Sure, they're pretty reclusive but…"
"It's not anyone's fault." A hand gently squeezed her shoulder. The smile he gave her was more grimace than reassuring but she relaxed anyway. "Hoopa must've been frightened and portaled away from the power clash."
The champion crossed her arms. "Do we know where they went?"
"No," Sycamore sighed and turned back to his panel. The hologram disappeared as he typed. "We've been searching and calling all night."
"We should check it out," Antoine mused. He pawed at the display to reopen the map and pointed at the center of the red circle. "Something more is wrong here."
"You think there's more to this?" An affirmative hum. Andría frowned. "Well…"
"If you can get close and record what you find, that would help a lot."
The Champion gave him a short nod. "I'll go then."
Andría waved at other Trainers as she walked through Détourner Way. Most of them recognized her so no battles today. Unfortunately. It'd been too long since her team was able to let loose. She'd have to ask Calem for a battle when she got back.
Something in her bag beeped. Andría grumbled until she found the chirping Holo-Caster and answered.
[Hey!] Shauna waved on the display. Calem called his own greeting from somewhere behind her. [How's the professor?]
"He's stressed. The entire lab is." Andría frowned. How could she word this… She hadn't realized she stopped walking until Lucario turned to her. He just nodded. Andría swallowed the lump in her throat. "Hoopa disappeared after the- after the Team Flare Incident." She powered through Shauna's worried frown. "Sycamore hasn't been able to detect them for a while. Normally that wouldn't be something to worry about. But with the surges I told you about…"
Andría jumped when Antoine set a paw on her shoulder. Arceus she had to stop getting distracted like that. She patted his paw and finally looked at her partners.
"Guys, just from approaching their last location," she trailed off with a shiver and swallowed to keep her lunch. Deep breaths. Pendant clutched in a white-knuckled grip, she finally whispered, "There are echoes of corruption in the air."
Calem cursed and for once, Shauna was too shocked to scold him. Her frown deepened as she took Andría in. [Choupette, do you want us to come with you,] she whispered. It was barely loud enough for the mic to pick up.
That made Calem freeze and refocus on the display. She knew he saw her expression was near stone-blank and shoulders shaking. It was only Antoine's Calm Mind from earlier that kept her words steady. She hadn't been this scared in a while. Before he could say anything, Andría shook her head.
"If I can get a good reading on it, maybe we can track the signal to wherever they're trapped."
Calem watched her with an intense look on his face. Shauna glanced between the two of them. He sighed. [Just please be careful. We don't know what's on the other side of that.] His eyes narrowed, [If you get stuck, we'll come after you.]
Andría gave them a wan smile. "I wouldn't expect any different."
She turned on her location sharing and then waved the call away. A terrible, familiar cold blanketed her. Her chest ached and her hand was tingling as she shook it awake. There was an ache in her chest, just as horribly familiar as the cold. Something big was about to happen and she couldn't stop it.
"Do not dwell on it." Antoine was walking a bit ahead of her, but his voice was clear. "We will find them, Andría. Wherever they are." He glanced over his shoulder at her. "We will save them."
A bright smile came to her face easily. They both knew it was hollow.
Andría turned and threw a ball to the river bank. "Why don't we Surf to look for clues, Amaya?"
A beautiful, shiny Milotic* appeared in the water with a cry. She let water swirl around her as Andría climbed onto the serpent's back. The current surged into a torrent that hid her from view until it settled just above Andría's knees. Once the Trainer's arms were secured around Amaya's neck, Antoine seated behind her with a firm grip around her waist, and the serpent set off.
Their ride down the river was silent, not a single pokémon in sight. Logically, Andría knew the energy flares had to have some effect on them. She hadn't expected them to outright leave. Even the Magikarp, the most stubbornly obtuse water types she'd ever met, had vacated.
"I don't like this." Antoine hummed his assent.
They stopped when her Caster blared. Blood drained from her face when Andría saw where it was pointing. Surrounded by shining yellow flowers, the shadowed entrance to a well-known cave looked back. The one place rumored to swallow up travelers and never let them out. Not even pokémon dared to enter.
The Chamber of Emptiness.
A narrow hallway that led into a single, cave-dark room. Light never made it beyond the first foot in. Even if you walked in with a flashlight, or tried Flash inside. Nothing.
Amaya and Antoine returned after brief hugs once they were on solid ground. The Trainer shivered and shakily reached for her Caster. She double-checked the location sharing. Yup, still on. Setting it to record, she sent a quick text to everyone on her emergency list and walked in.
Her heart raced with every step. Pulse echoed in her aura reaching out. She didn't expect any sign of life but it was still unsettling to confirm. Even Terminus Cave was more lively than this. She stopped approximately in the middle of the room and scanned her surroundings. Neither her senses nor the Caster in her hand detected anything.
Her keystone blazed to life like a star.
"What?!"
Gold illuminated her pendant before extending into the room. A strong pulse followed it out and revealed something hiding.
Andría fumbled to send out an alert only to stumble at the object summoning itself. Her PokéDex floated out to hover just under the Caster. The two devices merged with a flare of gold. "What?"
{Sending Emergency Alert} ran across the screen of what looked kind of like a Rotom Phone. But instead of bright red, it was stark white with golden handles in the shape of Arceus' Wheel. {Alert Sent.}
Eyes wide, she grabbed the phone and watched in morbid fascination as another message came up.
{Please be careful, young Chosen.}
Power pulsed through the chamber. The trainer covered her face with a flare. Peeking through her fingers, she saw blue light swirl into a thin disc in front of her. Gold raced around its edge until the two ends met. The disc flashed one final time before the power settled. When Andría lowered her arm, she recognized the portal for what it was.
One of Hoopa's rings.
She reached out to touch it with Aura glowing around her fingertips. It rippled like water. Gold churned through blue until it merged into a soft spring green. The movement stopped.
Hurricane winds whistled through and swept the trainer off her feet. Andría frantically clawed at the ground. Tried to find something, anything to grab onto. Her fingers brushed a rock. She grabbed it, only for the rock to break.
"No!"
Eyes warming with tears, she held her purse tight to her chest. Magic consumed it - then her - in a bubble of gold.
*There will be story reasons for her shiny Milotic however... This baby was a very surprising Sword Wonder Trade. Honestly, idk if it was hacked, a legit misclick, or what. But I kid you not, I got a shiny female Milotic, lv 100 with a very obvious competitive setup. I mean- Recover, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam? With Marvel Scale on top of that? That poor trainer lost a gem of a mon... oh well. Her name is now Amaya and she's safely sitting in HOME.