Chapter 35: Familiar Paths, Familiar Woes
As day arose in Alaria City, Hibiki had returned to the Pokemon Center to collect Curoine as she had promised. Before she did, she decided to let Melody talk with her while she sat in a chair in the room and caught a bit more sleep. "So… you're going to be our new Team Member?" Melody asked as she sat next to Curoine.
"Apparently I am, though I didn't expect a Meloetta to also be on this team." Curoine said.
"Trust me I've got that every time so far. How did you even get so injured in the first place? I mean, I know who attacked you, but what exactly happened?" Melody questioned.
"Ok, so I'm not taking too much time, I'll give you a condensed version. Basically, me and a few of my friends were playing in the forest southwest of the city before night fell when four of those people attacked us. I fought who I could, but they were using some very strong Pokemon and I wasn't able to take care of all of them. My friends were slowly getting captured, but not before one of them distracted them to make sure I could run for it. Of course I felt bad leaving them there, but what else could I do?" Curoine explained.
"And you ran towards the city and just chose an abandoned building to hide in hoping they wouldn't find you. Arceus that sounds awful, you have my condolences." Melody said.
"Appreciated." Curoine said, looking down sheepishly. The two were silent as Melody thought about what to say as she recalled something.
"Mind if I ask you something about Hibiki?" Melody asked. Curoine simply nodded as she waited for the question to be asked. "When she was talking to you last night, did she seem off at all?" Melody inquired.
"Well, I don't know her at all other than she's a nice trainer, so you're going to have to be a bit more specific." Curoine responded.
"Fair enough, what I wanted to get across was, did she seem like she was a bit hesitant in taking you in?" Melody clarified. Curoine stayed quiet as she thought about the question, trying to remember anything she could.
"I do recall one thing, this look in her eyes. It might just be my rattled mind tricking me at the time, but it looked like she was sad about something." Curoine told Melody. Melody nodded and let that thought sit in her mind as Curoine hopped off the bed, walking over to where Hibiki was sleeping. "Think she'll mind if I hop in her lap?" Curoine asked.
"Go ahead, she likes to pet her Pokemon when she can… even if it is mostly me now considering the rest are starting to grow, so get them in while you can." Melody told Curoine with a small smile. Curoine giggled at that before hopping into Hibiki's lap and sitting there for a few moments before Hibiki started to subconsciously pat her.
"This feels nice." Curoine said happily. Melody giggled as she floated over and ruffled through Hibiki's bag before getting out her phone and taking a picture. After a few minutes of waiting around, Hibiki eventually woke up and rubbed her eyes as she put a hand on what she thought was her lap. After realizing she felt something fuzzy, she looked down to see Curoine staring up at her with a smile.
"...I'm not complaining about this, this feels weirdly nice." Hibiki said as she ruffled Curoine's hair. Curoine let out a happy cry as HIbiki pat her on the head a bit more before setting Curoine on the floor and getting up from the chair. "Thank you for talking to her Melody, I was very tired after last night." Hibiki told her partner as she cracked her back.
"You're very welcome, I'll tell you what she told me as we travel. Now then shall we?" Melody said as she started to float around Hibiki.
"Not yet, I feel like giving her a name if she's open to the idea." Hibiki said. Curoine happily cried out, making Hibiki give a smile as she put a hand to her chin and thought about a name for her new team member. "How about Eclipse?" Hibiki questioned. Curoine thought about the name for a moment before letting out a happy cry in agreement.
"She loves it." Melody told her.
"I can tell she does, now then, let's get you registered for me and head out." Hibiki said, kneeling down and holding out her fist to Eclipse. She gave Hibiki a small fist bump before the three left the room, Melody turning invisible, heading out to the lobby of the Pokemon Center. When they arrived, Nurse Joy smiled as she waved to Hibiki as they left. "Oh right, I almost forgot." Hibiki remembered. She quickly got out an Ultra Ball and held it out to Eclipse, who pressed the button and was sucked into it, the ball shaking a bit as the capture was confirmed. As the ball clicked, Melody noticed that Hibiki seemed to tense up for a bit as she looked at the Pokeball for a moment.
"Ok, I'm definitely going to talk with her when I can." Melody thought to herself. Hibiki snapped out of the small trance she was in and put Eclipse's ball away before heading back to the hotel so they could depart.
After heading back to the hotel room and packing up, the group headed out of Alaria City towards Symphonic Town. As they walked, Hibiki looked around and saw various trainers heading towards Alaria City, hearing some talking about how they're more than eager to get their challenge done. "I never understand why some people wait til the last month to get their gym challenge done." Hibiki wondered aloud.
"Well, people do have actual lives if they aren't a full time Pokemon Trailer." Cherry pointed out.
"True enough." Hibiki said.
"I never got the appeal of the gym challenge personally. Before you ask, yes I was a Pokemon Trainer, but this whole challenge always felt a bit weird to me." Sigma told Hibiki, a bit curious how she would respond.
"Weirdly, I can totally understand that." Hibiki responded.
"Huh, thought you would have asked why I felt like that." Sigma said.
"Not really honestly, the two of us completely understand why people don't want to become champions or even attempt the gym challenge. It's a lot to go through with all the traveling, gathering new teams, and the various challenges." Echo commented, flipping through a stack of papers. Sigma simply nodded as Hibiki paused, thinking about the comment that Sigma had just told her.
"Now that you mention it, why did you make that comment?" Hibiki asked.
"Honestly, I was just curious about your opinion. If I came off like I was judging you, sorry about that." Sigma said, rubbing the back of his head.
"It's fine." Hibiki told Sigma. Sigma was going to say something else before Echo caught their attention by nearly tripping over herself, dropping the folder on the grass. "Ok Echo, maybe you should stop reading those papers." Hibiki said as she walked over and grabbed the folder, handing it to Cherry.
"You're probably right, but I can't stop thinking about them." Echo said as she made everything was ok.
"What are these even about?" Cherry questioned as she opened them herself.
"File from the IPP, specifically, what they have on the Surge and our grandmother's death." Echo responded.
"How did you get a hold of those?" Sigma asked.
"Allegro got them for me at my request." Echo said. Hibiki was going to say something, but paused as she thought about why Echo had requested for those papers.
"Just try not to think about them too much, don't want you falling flat on your face after all." Hibiki told Echo in a half teasing voice. Echo simply rolled her eyes at that comment and the group continued on, talking about various things that they did in Alaria City. After walking for a good bit longer, they eventually arrived at Symphonic Town as the sun was reaching its peak. "Man, was it always that long of a walk?" Hibiki asked, panting a bit.
"We haven't walked that much." Echo pointed out.
"Maybe it's just me not feeling the best. Nothing wrong with me, just got this weird feeling that I can't exactly shake." Hibiki said, rubbing the back of her head.
"Oh I know exactly what you're talking about and I hate that feeling." Cherry commented. As Hibiki was about to comment, she heard someone walking up behind them and turned to see Sonata walking up to the group.
"Hey there you two, good to see you're in town." Sonata told the two in a cheery voice.
"Sonata, it's good to see you again." Hibiki said as she walked up and hugged Sonata, who returned the hug.
"I take it that this is the gym leader of the town?" Sigma asked.
"Yep, you must be a friend that these three made along their journey. I'm Sonata, it's a pleasure to meet you." Sonata said, hold out a hand to Sigma. The two shook hands as the group walked along to the hotel Hibiki and co were going to be staying at for the day. "So I take it you're going to be checking the town out?" Sonata questioned.
"Yeah, though I think Echo might be staying at the hotel to do some research on things." Hibiki responded.
"Actually, I was going to head out and just get some stuff… before doing exactly what you said." Echo commented, sheepishly looking away.
"I was just going to look around and see the city even if there isn't a lot to do here." Sigma said.
"It is a lovely place, I do hope you enjoy your time here." Sonata told Sigma.
"As for me, I will be heading to watch a show that is going on in the theater. What are you going to be doing Hibiki?" Cherry said.
"Me? I honestly don't know yet, might hang out in the hotel room for a bit before deciding on what to do." Hibiki responded.
"Hope you guys have fun, I have to get back to the gym. It's been busy lately and I've heard that more than a few challengers are looking to go after you two when the League starts up." Sonata told the group.
"Wish you the best Sonata, it was good seeing you again." Hibiki said. Sonata waved goodbye before walking away, leaving the others to check into their room and get settled in for the rest of the day.
Echo sighed as she browsed the various books of the local bookstore, grabbing a few that caught her eye. After they had checked into the hotel, the others had all gone to do what they had said they were going to do after getting settled in. Cherry had gone off to the concert hall to go see a play she wanted to see, Sigma was in another part of the town, and Hibiki was back in the hotel. "Do wish I could relax, but I feel like I'm on to something with the case. Still, it is nice to just get out and be myself for a bit." Echo said to herself.
"Sounds like you got a lot on your plate." A voice said beside her. Echo simply nodded before she realized that she recognized that voice and turned to see Beat leaning on the bookshelf next to her.
"Beat?" Echo asked, a bit surprised to see him here.
"In the flesh, how is one of my little stars doing?" Beat said.
"I don't recall ever giving you permission to call us that." Echo said as she turned to leave. That comment caught Beat a bit off guard and he stumbled a bit before following Echo.
"Fair enough." Beat said sheepishly.
"To answer your question though, I am doing fine. The same goes for my sister. What are you even doing here anyway?" Echo answered.
"Felt like checking in on you two, see how you were doing. Any progress in catching them yet?" Beat questioned as Echo paid for her stuff.
"Sadly, very little progress in that department. Though I might be making progress in another department that may involve them." Echo explained. Beat simply nodded as the two of them left the store and Echo led them to a part of town that was quieter.
"What would that be?" Beat finally asked after staying silent while walking.
"Well… you know about the Surge right?" Echo said.
"I did my research about it. You think they were the ones that caused it and killed your grandmother?" Beat responded. Echo was a bit surprised to hear him mention her grandmother, earning a small smile from him. "It's obvious that you would look into that too." Beat told Echo.
"I suppose that does make sense. Anyway, you're correct in your assumption, but I am also not very confident with how much I have to go on, which is basically just assumptions at this point." Echo told Beat.
"I take it you're talking basic stuff?" Beat asked.
"Yeah, just trying to theorize about how exactly they might have done the whole job. Also have other things to worry about like that weird Pokemon I saw Sly ride off on." Echo said.
"I heard about that from Cherry. Did it look like this?" Beat asked as he got out a picture of the Pokemon in question.
"Yes that ooooooooo- how did you get that?" Echo responded as she was a bit surprised at the image of what she remembered of the pokemon.
"I did some digging of my own after Cherry asked me to look into this. I take it you were trying to look into Pokemon of the modern age for this thing?" Beat questioned.
"Yes I was, is this some kind of fossil response?" Echo inquired, examining the pokemon closer.
"Not that ancient, but it is a Pokemon that was thought to be extinct. It's called Basculegion, an evolution of Basculin that originated in the Ancient Sinnoh Region, when it was called Hisui. Everyone assumed that these had simply gone extinct as time went on, but some did survive to the modern day and have been taken in by specialists to ensure they don't go extinct." Beat explained.
"Must have taken some work to get this thing and that shows how big they are, potentially everywhere in the world. …everywhere in the world?..." Echo said, trailing off as she began to think of things.
"Sounds like you have some ideas cooking in your brain." Beat commented, a small smile forming on his face.
"I think I do. Mind humoring me for a second?" Echo asked. Beat simply held his hand out, signaling for her to go on as Echo nodded. "I think I'm going to go back to the theory I've had so far and say that Neo Cypher didn't directly cause the Surge, at least for now. Cause now that I'm thinking about it, unless they somehow managed to find a way to perfectly cause an EMP effect with the EM Field around the region without causing major damage, it's impossible they could have done it." Echo began to think aloud.
"See I don't get why people think it was something else given, you know, sky turned weird at about the same time." Beat commented.
"I brushed over that detail myself, though I always figured that was related in some way." Echo admitted as she went over things in her head. There was a moment of silence as Echo muttered some things to herself, playing out scenarios in her head as Beat patiently waited for her to say something again. "Even if they predicted it, in order for someone to actually have killed her, they would have to either be a quick responder and somehow get on the crashed Plateau or have been on the Plateau before it crashed. But if it was someone who was already on the Plateau…" Echo murmured.
"Then it would have to be someone who could get past the security check easily." Beat finished.
"Hmmm… this is making me think more than I expected. Thank you for this burst of inspiration, Beat." Echo said, smiling at the man.
"Eh, don't mention it, I'm just around to make sure you all are on the right track." Beat responded.
"That is appreciated. I'll be seeing you as I have to get to thinking and theorizing." Echo said as she began to walk away. When she passed Beat, he put a hand on her shoulder, which told her that she needed to stop.
"Listen to me, that Meloetta your sister has may be the one that they're after, but it also might be a red herring." Beat whispered.
"Huh?" Echo asked, a bit perplexed.
"It's just a hunch I have, but it's one that could work to our advantage." Beat elaborated. Before Echo could ask anything else, Beat patted her on the shoulder and began to walk off. Echo was going to go after him, but figured it would probably be best to leave it be for now before walking to the hotel room.
"That is a bold claim that he made, but why would he say that?" Echo thought to herself. She shook that thought off for now before refocusing on her theories that she was crafting in her head. When she eventually got back to her hotel room and entered the room, she found that Hibiki wasn't there and that there was a note on the bed.
"Went out for a walk and to train my team, be back later."
"At least she left a note this time." Echo said to herself. With the new space, she grabbed the file that was on her laptop and started to look through it again, getting ready to make a few calls to the IPP if needed.
Outside the city…
Hibiki sighed as she paced outside of the city, looking up at the afternoon sky as Melody watched her. "Something on your mind? Oh who am I kidding, you always have something on your mind." Melody said.
"Think the question you're looking for is 'What exactly is making you antsy at this moment?' …No, still too vague on that one." Hibiki commented, chuckling a bit at that. Melody giggled a bit before floating in front of Hibiki, causing her to stop walking.
"Is this about Eclipse?" Melody asked.
"Kind of, more about me thinking I don't feel good enough. Yes, I do sound like a broken record, but something about this one is really getting to me." Hibiki responded.
"Figured that was the case, what is it specifically?" Melody questioned. Hibiki sighed and sat on the grass as she gathered her thoughts, thinking about how to best explain her feelings to Melody.
"Ok… so before I say any of this, I want you to imagine yourself in my shoes for a bit. A girl who has lost her grandmother in the worst crisis of the region, is a bit insecure of herself because of it, though I have been getting better, and is partially as far as she is because of a mythical Pokemon that came to her, no offense." Hibiki explained.
"None taken, and when you put it like that, god your life has been a thing so far." Melody said, sighing as she imagined it.
"Yes it has and I somehow keep thinking that bringing it up will make it better. God, I have a weird thought process." Hibiki said, shaking her head a tad. Melody floated over and gave Hibiki a pat on the shoulder before sitting in her lap as she looked up at the sky. "Anyway, to explain how I'm feeling right now, it just feels wrong that I'm taking the potential kid of my grandmother's Prekari." Hibiki properly explained.
"Your grandmother's Prekari? Oh right, only her Gardevoir perished, what happened to the rest of her team and the other Pokemon she kept aside from Cresellia?" Melody asked.
"What happened with every trainer death, all of them were released into the wild. That being said, her main team does stay around and patrol the region with special protections around them to prevent them from being captured without their consent." Hibiki responded.
"Huh, interesting fact. Either way, I definitely can imagine how you feel about that now that I know more about the full context." Melody said.
"Makes a bit more sense now huh? I don't know honestly, it might just be me overreacting to this, but I think I'm also just fed up with this whole journey so far, at least how it's played out anyway." Hibiki sighed, rubbing the back of her head.
"Yeah, I can imagine how you feel. A journey that you've been looking forward to for god knows how long to see if you're as good as you think you are, only for it to be interrupted by this big bad team chasing after you. Sorry about that by the way." Melody said.
"Ah, it's fine. Knowing me, I would have landed in this exact scenario without you and I still would be having the same woes I am now." Hibiki said, ruffling Melody's hair a little. Melody laughed at that, knowing how true that statement was, before she looked up at Hibiki with a soft smile. "Still am glad I made that choice to watch over though, don't even get me wrong. I honestly think this trip would have been more boring without you." Hibiki commented.
"You like me that much?" Melody questioned.
"Yes I do, not only have you been a great friend, but I would be lying if I said that having my favorite Pokemon by my side hasn't kept me calm." Hibiki said.
"Oh yeah, I do remember you bringing that up during our travels. If you don't mind me asking, how did you come to find my species as your favorite? General stories from people or some… other ways on the internet?" Melody responded, thinking carefully about her word choice.
"Mainly stories that my grandmother told me, it's part of where my love music came from. She told me various myths and legends about how Meloetta in general were revered as goddesses of song and music in some parts of the world. Ones about how gentle they were, helping both people and pokemon who needed help." Hibiki elaborated, her eyes filling with a happy nostalgia.
"I take it that you turned to those stories when she… you know." Melody commented, not feeling comfortable.
"Yeah, they were the one thing that honestly brought me true comfort, and a ting of pain, after she died. That being said, it was during this time that I honestly grew to love your kind more. Heck, I even managed to see one and interacted with one during that time." Hibiki said. As she said that last part, Melody cocked her head in curiosity as she tried to recall something.
"You meet another Meloetta during that time?" Melody asked.
"Yeah, I did. Sorry about not bringing it up before, I just never got around to talking about it." Hibiki told Melody, rubbing the back of her head.
"That's fine, though I am curious if you remember what they look like. While most Meloetta do look the same, the ones that live in villages like me usually have some identifying characteristic about them." Melody inquired. Hibiki thought for a moment before snapping her fingers and grabbing her backpack, ruffling through it as she looked for something.
"I actually did convince them to let me draw them and I have that drawing in my sketchbook. It's been a few years, but it should still be good quality. Well… as good of quality it can be for something I drew I think five years ago at this point." Hibiki said. As Melody thought back to around that time, Hibiki found her sketch book and pulled it out of her backpack, flipping to the page that had the Meloetta drawing.
"Wow, that looks like it's seen better days." Melody commented, noting how worn the sketch book looked.
"You're telling me, I've been meaning to make a new one. Ok, does this look like any of the Meloetta you know?" Hibiki asked, showing the page to Melody. The page in question had a relatively crude drawing of a Meloetta with a slight longer dress the seemed to flow behind them, a purple stripe with a green star where Melody's stripe was, a green scarf around her neck, purple and blue hair tied in a ponytail with a red ribbon, dark blue eyes, and a red wing shaped mask over her left eye. As Melody examined the drawing, her face turned from one of curiosity to thinking before she became shocked as she recognized exactly who it was she was looking at.
"Yes it does… and I swear that whatever god or Pokemon that is in charge of fate has a very sick sense of humor." Melody told Hibiki, a hint of shock in her voice.
"You recognize them? Oh god, are they one of your family members?" Hibiki questioned, slightly shaking her head at the thought.
"That would be my younger sister, Viola, that you drew." Melody responded. Hibiki simply sighed as she pinched her nose, kind of shaking her head at the whole situation.
"I'm with you on your comment, I would swear the gods of fate are just having a go with the two of us." Hibiki commented.
"And I just met my mother yesterday, who told me Viola is missing." Viola said.
"She did?" Hibiki asked.
"Oh right, forgot to let you know cause you were prepping for the gym battle. Yeah that did happen while you were sleeping." Melody responded. Hibiki stayed silent as she put a hand to her chin, letting that information sit in her mind for a moment as she thought of various things.
"I have questions that I want answered, but I think the first one is this. Did your mother ever meet my grandmother?" Hibiki asked
"Yes she did, was saved by her in fact. Which makes me wonder just how long this apparent tie between our families has been going." Melody questioned.
"That is something to answer another time. Supposed I should also ask this, does Viola have a habit of leaving your little village to explore?" Hibiki questioned.
"Less a habit and more an obsession of it, it's one of her favorite pastimes. Not like we haven't tried to stop her, but she's gotten so good at weaseling her way out that we just let doing it. Well, that's what mom ordered anyway." Melody responded. Hibiki nodded in understanding as she thought about what else to ask Melody.
"So, probably a pretty obvious question for me to ask. Why does your sister look so different from normal Meloetta?" Hibiki questioned.
"Ah, the question I was waiting for. Well, I suppose I should start with asking another question. What do you know about Pokemon births?" Melody responded.
"Well… not a lot admittedly. I only really know what the average trainer would know." Hibiki said.
"Ok, then to keep this short and so I don't make this more complicated than it needs to be, I'll give the simple version. Basically, you know how all normal Pokemon are hatched from eggs and can have a chance to be a 'shiny' like me? Well, there is also a chance that some pokemon are born with mutations that completely change how they look and potentially have a different type." Melody explained.
"Huh, that sounds cool, but what exactly do you mean by looking different? Like regional variants and the like?" Hibiki asked.
"Kind of, though it's more universal than regional variants. As an example, think of any Ralts egg being hatched and it having a chance of being an electric type different from the variant here or a unique water type." Melody elaborated. Hibiki nodded in understanding as she looked at her drawing again before thinking about something.
"Ok, so aside from getting into the specifics of exactly how you procreate, especially because I didn't think that was possible, I have one more question about your sister. Is it possible that she might be the one that Neo Cypher is after?" HIbiki questioned. Melody opened her mouth to say no, but quickly went wide eyed as she put her hands to her lips as she considered the possibility. "You seriously never thought about that scenario?" Hibiki asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, mainly because I thought it was actually me. Either one of us could be the key that they're looking for and that possibility is not sitting well with me right now." Viola said, seeming to be in a bit of a panic.
"True enough, but do we think they know that?" Hibiki commented.
"...You make an excellent point there. Thing is that we just don't know where Viola is right now, else we would be golden aside from them still coming after us." Melody said. Hibiki nodded and proceeded to stand up, stretching as she grabbed the Pokeballs that had her team members.
"Either way, the best thing we can do is train everyone so they can be ready to fight if needed." Hibiki commented. Melody nodded in agreement as Hibiki threw up the four Pokeballs and called out all of her team. As they all appeared and looked around, Eclipse gulped a little as she saw the more experienced members of her team before calming down as they all gave her a warm smile. "Ok then, let's get to training you all. We have a new team member and I would prefer having her in the loop of how we train." Hibiki told her team. Melody signed for a moment before smiling as she went to join the others, Hibiki giving instructions to them as they split off into groups.
"Stay safe Viola, do your best to hide. We'll find you eventually." Melody thought as she floated over to Eclipse and began to help her train.
North of Alaria City…
"So the plan didn't work? Suppose I shouldn't be surprised given who that Meloetta is partnered with at the moment." S asked over the phone as he walked along a hidden path, no other trainers or Pokemon around him.
"Apologies Lord S, I underestimated their abilities and didn't account for the champion to be with them." a male voice said over the phone.
"No need to apologize Brain, it was a bit of a long shot anyway and given reports, probably for the best that they caught those two. That being said, the fact that Professor Michael is here has possibly thrown a wrench in the works." S told Brain.
"You're telling me, I was hoping to not see that guy again. Still, we do have some advantages over him." Brain said, being purposefully vague.
"Speaking of, did you get 003 for me?" S questioned.
"Yes sir, I have her with me. Do you want me to deliver her to you right now?" Brain responded.
"No, stick to the plan we talked about. Whatever the result is, join me at the Resort and we'll proceed from there." S ordered.
"Roger, and the others?" Brain said.
"Strong and Sly are regrouping back at home base with what grunts they have. As for Intel, they are staying undercover until I give her the go ahead to return." S explained.
"Understood, I will be waiting for them in the planned spot." Brain responded.
"By the way, what happened to those three that tried to run away? The group of Wind and his two friends." S inquired.
"Ah, sadly it seems they have left the region. We do have some low rank grunts tracking them down, but it may be for naught." Brain said.
"In that case, just forget about them. If we fail here, we lose the backbone of our research anyway. Also, just in case our plans fail, begin the preparations for… that." S ordered. Brain was silent before gasping as he remembered what project Lord S was talking about.
"Are you positive about that my lord? You know as well as I do that once we start the process of that, we can't stop. On top of that, it's very possible that it could very well blow up in our face and potentially kill us." Brain responded, his voice a tad stressed.
"I'm positive, Brain." S told Brain.
"Okay Lord S, I will see to it after we meet up. Til then my lord" Brain said before hanging up the phone. S sighed as he crushed the throw away phone in his hand and tossed the rains to the side.
"It will all work out, even if we do have to go nuclear in the end." S thought as he continued to walk.