Author's replies:
Fanfic deleted my notes for some reason so i'll redo the replies here
Haziq: Krookodile will appear later on, i'll explain what happened to it.
Didi: Not quite but you are on the right track.
Hutakata: No, Minato will not do that side quest. As for Ghetsis, he got very lucky in the fic for many, many reasons.
Janson Wu: I saw the leaks and wow, they are crazy.
Morning light streamed into her quiet apartment, bathing the room in a dream like white as she woke from her peaceful slumber. From the next room, a sweet smell of freshly brewed tea stirred her awake when her partner cooked up a light breakfast. The familiar sound of plates being arranged on the dining room table soothed her wandering mind. Checking the time on her phone, it read an early six in the morning. Yawning to herself, she disliked waking up so early in the morning, but it would give her just enough to drive to work.
Dressing in her usual attire, she grabbed her materials from the table, kissing her spouse goodbye. Their building was situated in a large complex where several apartments shared a communal parking garage, and so she started her vehicle, driving across the vast city. Outside, despite the early morning, she cursed as she found herself gridlocked in the usual morning commute. Everyday, hundreds of people rushed back and forth from home to office, office to home, in this massive traffic jam with no end in sight. Sighing, she turned on the music in her car of her favorite pop song, one she had been personally given by one of her best friends.
From her car window, she stopped at a busy intersection to see hundreds of students, salarymen, and other people hurriedly cross a crowded intersection, their faces holding all sorts of expressions. Some were exhausted, others excited, as society reset its clock from the day before. Today would be just another day. However as she continued to stare, she blinked as a slow confusion began to fill her mind.
Just as people commuted everyday, today was the same, so why was she concerned? Her eyes focused on the gaps between the pedestrians, like something was missing. An incomplete puzzle piece that made up the world where one could not imagine living without. An unmistakable truth, one that could not be refuted.
Where were the pokemon?
White opened her eyes to her hotel room from a strange dream of another world.
"What's this? You want to go here?" Elizabeth the second, also known as the odd blue Zorua, showed Minato a flyer. On it were a group of dancing pokemon dressed in all sorts of fancy, tailored made clothing, with big text at the top: the pokemon musical.
"Zoru!" It perked up, doing a little dance, spinning in a circle to show off its charm.
"Awww it's so cute when it does that." Bianca fought the urge to pick up the small fluffy creature again, between her and White snuggling it every chance they could.
"Zorua!" It shuddered, not wanting another cuddle session.
"You guys want to visit the Nimbasa theatre with me?" Minato asked the others, all of them sitting around a breakfast table. It was around nine in the morning in the hotel's cafe, full of eager trainers. Among them, some showing off their newly earned badges, pinning them to their coats. Life in the pokemon world carried on as usual.
"Mmmm, I wanna scout out the Gym first." White said in between bites of her scrambled eggs, feeding some to Gigi. Claudia had her own plate on the side, as she helped feed Stacy who woofed down monstrous portions.
"Aren't they closed for maintenance today?" Cheren checked his laptop for news, his Servine watched him type away.
"A shame really. I was looking forward to being the first too. What did they say again? Was it a roller coaster malfunction?" Nimbasa's Gym was famous for its wild rides before a trainer could face its leader, Elesa.
"Something like that. Apparently a challenger got stuck and had to be recused." Bianca recalled the article, where a poor guy had one hell of a time hanging upside down before emergency services came to bail him out.
"With maintenance taking place, we can only wait till they give us the green light again." Cheren closed his laptop, "So I suggest everyone take this extra time to prepare." Once again, for the raven haired boy, he was too diligent in his pursuits, to where he would devote almost every minute of his day to get stronger. And with the recent events swirling in his mind? He definitely needed the power to protect himself.
"Then wanna come with me to scout out the Gym anyways? We can ask other challengers how to solve that Gym puzzle beforehand?" White had a plan, because other than the Gym being filled with questionable rides, they also forced trainers to take part in a maze-like puzzle before they could reach their reward of challenging Elesa on the other side.
"Not at the moment, no. I'll join you once I'm done running an errand in the city." He took out Pidove's pokeball before saying goodbye to the group.
"I know you're heading to the Musical for now Mina, so what about you Bianca?"
"Ummm" The blonde tried to avoid the topic but ultimately answered honestly, as she held onto her Oshawott, "Maybe not today White…I'm curious about the theatre too." Her voice had a mixture of hesitation and curiosity, she really did want to see a spectacle, yet was nervous about the next Gym.
"Osha, osha!"
"Do you mind if I tag along?" She asked Minato.
"Sure, I don't mind."
Nimbasa city, also known as Unova's crown jewel when it comes to live entertainment. Every year, thousands of tourists from around the world come to experience its unique form of Broadway, where the Pokemon Musical lay at its heart. If Castelia served as the beating heart of the region's economic hub, then Nimbasa was what drew people to experience its wild spectacles.
The entertainment theatre towered above the other structures in the area, surrounded by an equally impressive shopping district where famous brands lined the streets. Luxury shops dotted the vast expanse, each promising the best accessories to make a trainer's pokemon shine in the spotlight, giving both fame and fortune. When the theatre first opened, they handed out complimentary items to draw people into signing up their pokemon to perform, however now things were different, as many businesses started to notice the success of the musicals, thus started to create their own branded items, resulting in this vast shopping outlet. Minato browsed the selections, noting the numerous pokemon he'd seen on TV perform.
"Oh my gosh! Is that Amy the Frillish?" Bianca begged for an autograph, "I loved your shows growing up! They brought me so much joy when I was down!" Amy's trainer's trainer turned with her pokemon.
"Thank you! I'm so happy to meet another fan!" She led Bianca around the shops, introducing her to more of the area.
Meanwhile, Minato was led by Zorua who bounced between items, as if it were judging their worth. "Zor, zorua!" Arriving at a famous Kalosian store, it pointed to a tiny blue hat, one the veteran was amused to find. He asked the staff to let his pokemon try on the accesstory, only to confirm his suspicions, the hat was an almost one to one creation of Elizebth's, albeit fit for a tinier frame.
"This hat, it feels like it was made for your Zorua, sir." The staff member commented. For reasons unknown, the tiny blue accessory fit the fox like a glove.
"Very interesting…" Minato narrowed his eyes, but at the end of the day, it was just a tiny hat. Thinking this would be a good occasion to check his other pokemon's preferences, he released both Deino and Woobat, and told them to look around.
"Woobat woo!" The bat landed on a pink bow and Deino pulled a fake white gun holster.
"Huh…." He put the holster on Deino, grabbing a red, white, and black color pin, placing it on the dragon cub.
Deino wagged its tail, Minato held in the urge to laugh, it resembled him back in his highschool days.
"Deino, de?" His pokemon tilted its head before attempting to bite him again. Ok, maybe he was less aggressive back in the day. Once everyone was satisfied, he rang up his purchases which was much more expensive than he expected, in fact, it would have been way over his budget…if it weren't for Blake's legal money laundering.
Minato smiled a sly smile, he had to thank his generous boss later. That boy was truly a saint in disguise.
Zorua morphed into a mirror image of Minato wearing a mischievous grin, gazing back at its deadpanned counterpart. "Zorua!"
"No transforming into me or Elizabeth on stage you hear me?" its trainer strictly warned, watching his mirror image nod, before it proceeded to poof once more into a strange version of himself. This time, he sported a dark shirt, pink pants, with large headphones that resembled instinct like antennas, complete with a pure white cape.
Minato sighed, just what was Elizabeth teaching this creature in the Velvet room? "No putting me in strange cosplays…" He saw Zorua pout, giggling like a funny joke just flew over his head before reverting back to its original, fox form.
"Minato? Oh, were there two of you just now?" Bianca came over, holding Oshawott who was now wearing a cute suit and bowtie.
"Lizzy likes to play practical jokes once in a while." Elizabeth the second agreed, it was much easier to give it a nickname because it's true name was a mouthful. Since he already referred to Elizabeth by Liz, Lizzy seemed appropriate for the creature.
"I kinda liked that white cape it gave you, maybe you should try one on for real sometime." The blonde teased.
"Maybe I will. But since only our pokemon are performing today, let's save that for another time." He hopes White never drags him to PokeStar Studios, or he really might have to dress like that. Trainers who were capable battlers were often invited to star in roles, and with his looks? They would bury him in requests.
"Osha osha!" Oshawott squeaked, excited at starring in the next show, they were selected by a keen panel of judges, passing several auditions. All in all, this would be a big moment for these little creatures, where their show would be aired live across Unova.
"Are you ready Lizzy?" Minato patted the fox, who gave a positive chirp. "Alright, have fun on stage." Just as he guided his attendant back in Iwatodai, he would help this little fella experience the world. Truly, the time he took Elizabeth out of the Velvet room was his happiest.
"Zouuuuura!"
Lights, cameras, action! At first there was darkness, then the curtains rose to a row of finely dressed pokemon. A Patrat covered in drizzling jewels, a Gothorita in lolita dress, Bianca's gentlemanly Oshawott, and finally Lizzy appeared in its wispy, white form to the world. At first people were stunned by its strange appearance, yet many chalked it up to stage makeup as there were cases of pokemon getting an extravagant makeover before dances.
However, there were still a few scholars among the audience who were alarmed at this particular Zorua, of which news would soon spread of the reappearance of a once extinct species in the academic community. News that would also reach Professor Juniper.
Seated in the crowd, Bianca cheered for her Oshawott, while Minato simply gave a soft smile. Memories of a forgotten time soothed his mind. The audience held up glow sticks, swaying them in the ethereal darkness as the group of stars danced on stage, sheltered in the warm theatre. Meanwhile in the outside world, a heavy storm brewed, pulling the entire city of Nimbasa into a fierce storm as a sudden force of thunder drowned out the joy of the crowd.
"Ah! The lights!" A woman yelled, mistakenly elbowing a man in the darkness when the stage lights flashed, scaring the audience.
Another sound of thunder brewed outside, silencing through the previous fanfare. This time, the stage dimmed completely, blanketing the entire building in a pitch blackness. The music cut, the pokemon stopped their act, and the staff tensed.
"What's happening?" Whispers traveled across the building.
"Don't they have backup generators?"
"Oshawott! Are you ok?" Bianca shouted for her pokemon, it answered back in the dark. She forced her way through the confused crowd, making it to the stage along with Minato. Meanwhile, noises of hollowing rain and thunder echoed across the theatre, shaking the people inside.
"Someone check the weather, didn't it say it'd be sunny all day today?" Minato heard a researcher say. Before he headed out the hotel, he remembered the morning news saying there would be no storms today.
"You're joking, how can they miss such obvious signs of pouring rain outside?"
"Whatever, the performance is ruined now. Let's go home before it gets worse," A group of teenagers sighed, heading for the entrance before running back inside. Multiple grumpy voices shaking at the pouring rain.
Minato retrieved Lizzy, who appeared sad that its spotlight was cut short, he comforted the small fox. "There, there, we'll finish this another time, ok?"
"Zorua…" it pouted childishly, like it expected more than a bit of consoling.
He thought for a moment, staring into its adorable yellow eyes. It materialized a tiny white cape in its paws, like blackmail, its puppy eyes held him captive. The bluenette held a staring contest with his little attendant before finally giving in.
"Fine…I'll put on the cape one day."
"Zorua!"
Just as the two finished bargaining with each other, Minato received a call on his police phone.
Hours earlier, before the storm.
White paid her fare with Claudia following behind, entering the vast amusement park that also housed the Nimbasa Gym. She planned to collect some intel on the latest challengers to have her best shot to conquer the electric Gym. Despite her book knowledge and internet videos, it was still better to scout out new strategies that have surfaced in the time between the start of her journey and now. Pokemon battling was a fast science and so something that worked one day could be considered obligate the next. It was like finding a critical backdoor to a program before the engineers patched it up, you had to get in before anyone else could leak the discovery. Gym leaders weren't slow and frequently altered their strategies for this reason.
Walking past the Gym under construction, she saw workers diligently loading and unloading new roller coaster parts, no doubt in replacing the malfunctioning components. Numerous trainers were observing on the sidelines, waiting for the work to finish, no doubt some of them were there to exchange info.
"This should do." She was about to head into the jungle of people when something caught her eye. Blinking, just out of her peripheral vision, she spotted movement across the sky. While balloons hovered about the park, so did other flying pokemon, however this little spec felt different.
"What's that?" Clouds obscured the dot, but she focused on the object. It appeared foreign somehow, like it wasn't a plane nor a flying pokemon. If anything, it resembled the shape of a human sitting atop a cloud. Curious, she scanned the amusement park for any places that were higher in evaluation for her to take a better look.
There was an observation tower that was already full so that was out of the picture, then there were the tall roller coasters which would help her reach her desired height, but they would descend just as quickly, so she wouldn't get a good look.
This shape in the sky moved, gradually toward the park, making her wonder if it was some special pokemon no one has ever heard of, maybe she could get some data on it from her pokedex and ask Juniper for it later. Best case scenario, she'll one up Cheren and get to catch one, one day herself.
"Yamask ya." Claudia pointed toward a slower ride White hadn't considered. The ferris wheel was a slow moving ride that would give her a good view of the sky.
"Wow, thanks Claudia. I guess I always think of going on extreme rides first." The down side was she likely had to share a cart with someone as just as all the other rides in the park, they were operating at full capacity. Feeling a bit annoyed she won't keep her finding to herself, White awaited her turn before being shown to a wheel cart with a man inside. They both waited for the staff to secure the door before the wheel started to spin, lifting them off the ground.
Not wanting the ride to be awkward, she was the first to break the ice "Yo, how's…" when she stopped, realizing who she had ended up with.
"Your Yamask, it tells a heartwarming tale." Green hair flowed down his back, his face partially obscured by the brim of his dark hat, N sat opposite of her, speaking to Claudia.
"Hey…"
"Yes?"
"Aren't you the weirdo that ran off last time?"
N held his poker face, he really didn't want to be reminded of that night. Since then he's grown as a person, he'd hope she'd forgotten about his little screw up. However, to his chagrin, White had a killer memory.
"My…apologies." He awkwardly cleared his throat like he was choking on his words from the past.
"Zor…ua…" His Zorua also whimpered, cuddled in his arms like seeing the girl reminded it of something horrible.
"Oh uhhh…um I guess you had some stuff to take care of, right…?" She wanted to leave this suffocating ride where neither of them were able to voice a single word correctly. Their previous encounter had left so many questions, ones they were both better off not answering. God, why did she have to end up with him of all people?
N shook his head up and down, "H-how about we introduce ourselves? And forget about last time?" It was imperative he didn't upset this girl, or Minato would be coming for him and the rest of Team Plasma.
She laughed nervously, "yep, yep. We should, sooooo what's name, stranger?" White put on a very fake smile, her acting skills were terrible. Thankfully N carried the conversation.
"Most who know me refer to me as N, what should I call you…?"
"White…"
No matter, he could be pulling her leg right now by giving such a bizarre name, then again this guy felt way too awkward to lie right now. Whatever, she would just have to push through and finish this ride so they can both go their separate ways. Little did she know, if this had been her original journey, N would have been much more confident in his approach.
She stared out the window, focusing all her attention on the spec in the sky from before, the clouds outside were starting to gather and dim, covering the vast blue outside in a dull layer of monochrome, making it harder to see. She cursed her luck.
"Were you here to take a better look at that as well?" N peered from his window, finally relaxing. His blue eyes locked onto the growing shape in the distance, of which he saw the other mimic his actions.
"You too? I saw it flying in the sky, but it didn't seem like a flying type." White pointed to the now human shaped object when drops of rain started to come down from the sky. From the ferris wheel, the two saw people and pokemon on the ground rush for cover in the rain.
Thundurus, N thought frowning to himself. He was planning to ride the wheel for a better look before ordering Team Plasma to stop it from meeting its counterpart. The last time the two fought, Castelia was launched into a sudden, life threatening downpour that almost took several pokemon's lives. Yet, he miscalculated the legendary's approach, resulting in him still being on the wheel when he was supposed to be giving orders on the ground. Of course, he considered an option to ride a flying type near the twin legends, but that involved getting caught in their fight, which the greenette assumed no doubt would kill him and his friends.
Lighting began to strike, creating widespread panic when park staff began rushing everyone to safety. White felt their cart rock back and forth within the fierce winds of Tornadus, threatening to dislodge the structure altogether. This was bad, really bad. Then, one more strike of lightning flashed, grinding the already slow ride to a halt, locking their cart on the highest peak.
With a forward rock, then a recoil, White and N found themselves stuck with their pokemon, trapped inside.
"You're kidding?! It stopped here of all places?" She didn't have a pokemon that could help them get down because her attempts would either be blown away by the strong winds, or struck by the deadly lightning.
"That it did." N acknowledged matter of factly, crossing his arms in frustration.
"Prying the door open now would be useless now..." For once, White dropped back into her seat, choosing to keep the door closed to protect them from the harsh forces of nature outside. A drop from this height would kill a human, no matter how tough they were.
"Yamask." Claudia comforted her granddaughter, hovering above her. White tried to reach her friends on her Xtrasciver, however her signal was so poor, the calls dropped one by one.
"Shit, what about your phone? Is it working?"
N shook his head, neither device would pick up.
"Zor, zorua?" His pokemon asked him as it curled up in a ball at the storm.
"We'll just have to wait for rescue or for this storm to pass, friend, I'm sorry I couldn't do more…" Deep down, he wondered how Minato would handle this situation.
"Zorua, zorua, ra?" It asked him something else, which White curiously watched them give a strange back and forth like N understood the little fox.
"Umm, not to be rude but, do you speak pokemon or something?"
N nodded, "Indeed. I'm able to understand all the voices of pokemon actually." Such a shame he almost misused this gift, he mused with a bit of melancholy.
"So when we came in, you said Claudia told you a heartwarming story…?"
Claudia smiled.
"Certainly a happy one, yes. One filled which ignited her hope." The greenette said softly, "She lived long ago, and despite her civilization perishing, she found herself trapped in a dark city in the earth. She couldn't tell why all her family had moved on except for her soul into the afterlife."
"That's…rather lonely." The rain outside poured, splashing against their window, the sky was now charcoal black as night. White sat, listening intently to the tale, sharing that cramped space with the green stranger.
"So she wondered about the ruins for ages. At first she lingered around her home where all her memories were buried, but as years passed, she started to forget her humanity. She saw others like her, yet they were all Yamask in that cold darkness." Wind howled outside, serving as echoes of a forgotten past, beating against the window glass.
"Did no one come to look for them…?"
"No, after the collapse of their city hundreds of years ago, their home would be left undisturbed for ages. Until you visited White. That day when she saw her face again, albeit in a form she did not expect, she was reminded of her former self and previous life." The King said mellow, touched by the reunion between a lost soul and her descendant. How once the spirit was human but transformed into a pokemon shocked him, but he bottled up his astonishment, choosing to put on a sad front. They say Yamask's evolution, Cofagrigus, is the result of the spirit forgetting it was once human, consumed by the despair of their new fate, the creature transforms into a monstrous golden coffin, literally to bury its past. As feral beings, all they knew now was to consume. The encounter with White literally saved Claduia's soul.
"I saw her picture on the walls…" White hugged Claudia, "She resembled me…" Thinking back to that drawing, the priestess outfit her ancestor wore only intrigued the girl more. How she lived so long ago, yet was refused a release into the afterlife. Where did souls even go after they die anyways?
"I see. I didn't mean to intrude on your familial matters, but I was told of your relative's pain."
"It's alright. If anything I wanna thank you for telling me her full story." She believed him because Honedge's rough translation had yielded a similar rough kaleidoscope of broken events, one where N was able to pick up the pieces and stitch together. "So you really can speak to pokemon huh? I bet that's a pretty broken ability to have in understanding them."
At this, N shook his head, "I believe some humans may be able to connect with pokemon on a similar level if not more, White. In the end we are only wandering souls that resonate with one another. We cannot exist independent of each other." Just as Yamask were spirits that walked this earth, N now believed there weren't that many differences between humans and pokemon. If one would perish and gain a new lease on life by converting to the other, then it was pointless to separate the two when they were so intertwined. It would be like trying to steal light from the sun, or eroding the soil that made up the earth, thus it was going against the natural law of nature itself.
His message was clear, humans and pokemon should be together.
Yet, as she took in his words, suddenly an image from her dream world flashed before her eyes. The sky outside brightened, lighting up the inside of the cart. N's words of coexistence contradicted the world she saw. A world where only humans roamed the planet, a peaceful world like their own but different. Sparks cracked, electricity surged, a bolt of light suddenly rushed towards them, drowning their surrounding space in a blanket of light.
Pouring rain pelted the city, beating down on the various venues and buildings as Minato sprinted through the rain. Having run out of the theatre, he made a b-line for the Nimbasa entertainment district, pressing his phone to his ear in an attempt to hear his next steps.
"Min, we need you to take a look at the sky and confirm our readings. The current storm you're stuck in isn't normal." Black's voice cut in and out between the rolling thunder and monstrous winds, leaving the bluenette to be the only one outside in the showers. Beneath him, the streets were starting to flood as the drainage system ceased to function at such a massive influx of water, causing the entirety of Nimbasa to slowly drown.
"Two pokemon are fighting in the sky you say?" The veteran questioned, craning his head upwards at the obsidian clouds, completely blanketing out the sun in an apocalyptic storm of the century.
"This is bad, very bad. When Thundurus and Tornadus meet, they battle each other but as a result they cause major damage to the areas around them." His friend checked his readings on the other side, multiple data screens blaring all at once. They could wait for the third legendary to show up to stop the two but they have no clue how long that would take.
"And the same thing happened in Castelia before?"
"Correct. We just want you to confirm and identify the two forms in the sky, but don't approach them as it's too dangerous even for you." He explained how Interpol will send backup, including their special forces to distract the two long enough for Landorus to arrive.
"About that…" Minato narrowed his eyes, phoning White and Cheren on his Xtransciver but no attempts would go through. He had no clue where those two were and that worried him dearly. He tailed the storm, arriving at its origins, the further he went in the worse the winds shredded against his skin, and electricity crackled beneath the earth. His eyes widened at the people trapped on the various amusement park rides as emergency services were paralyzed in their attempts at rescue.
"Oh no, you are not going to head out-"
"Do it." A second, sterner voice crackled to life on from the phone. Blake overroad whatever plan Black had in favour of his new test subject.
"Huh?! Those are two legendaries fighting up there! Not even champion Alder could take them down on his own!" In order to face a pokemon that powerful, they'd need at least their entire elite four combined.
Blake yanked the microphone from his subordinate, "I command you to stop them from damaging any more of that city Arisato! This is an order!"
"I gotcha boss." Minato found a secluded spot, pulled out his trusty evoker, pushed it against his temple and pulled the trigger. Blue glass broke, forming into the form of a red phoenix, Minato called forth Suzaku as he jumped onto its back. Summoning Honedge in his free hand, his persona rocketed into the sky with powerful wings.
Passing through layers upon layers of darkness, shooting up at hundreds of miles per second, the veteran's hair fluttered in the wind, bolts of lighting roaring from every direction as he braced for impact. Morphing Honedge into Yukari's bow, Suzaku pierced through the final barrier to the eye of the storm. A dark mass of swirling clouds charged with electricity shielded the fierce struggle from within and protected the outside world from the true might of Thundurus and Tornadus where no other could interfere.
Charging up his bow, the Messiah's eyes glowed an ethereal blue, wrapping the energy around him, distorting the flow of space and time. Aiming the bow, he slowly pulled back the string, a long trail of bright energy forming behind him stretching on for miles. An morning light graced his arrow, brighter than a thousand suns, gaining critical mass as it vibrated and clashed against the fabric of the world. Locking onto his targets, the angelic bow fired, zooming through space, tearing the clouds apart, breaking the sound barrier as it collided in an ear depthing explosion, ending the conflict in one bright, firework.
From the blast, both legendaries fainted in an instant, dropping towards the earth, only to be caught by their third and final counterpart. Landorus arrived in that heavenly flash, as the skies were quite literally cut in half, leaving a trail of scattering dark clouds across a vast, calm blue.
Minato faced the mighty pokemon atop his persona, locked in a fierce staring contest with Landorus. Neither moved from their spots. Frowning, the Messiah crossed his arms waiting when the ancient pokemon cracked, bowing to him in a sincere point of apology. Its brothen had caused enough trouble for everyone else.
At that, he also apologized back, "I'm sorry I had to make them experience that attack. I hope they can recover soon." Both the wind and thunder clowns were in a daze from barely avoiding death. It was a harsh lesson the bluenette dulled out.
The orange pokemon shook its head, giving a silent thumbs up, of which Minato responded back with his own. Truly, in that moment they began to understand each other, even if there was a language barrier, as Landorus's eye sparked with the same execution energy Mitsuru had whenever SEES did something stupid. Being frozen in blocks of ice for hours was a nightmare he wouldn't wish upon anyone…
Shedding a silent, sarcastic tear for the poor fools that were going to be disciplined for god knows how long, Minato bid them all farewell.
Blake pulled the data from their radar, which now flashed a big red error sign. Other than Interpol's work of tracking down Team Plasma, they had other jobs that involved maintaining order around Unova, which included dispersing unusual anomalies. The machine they had used gave similar readings to the battle trackers used in their arena where they could track a pokemon's vitality like his fight with Minato. However, here they were getting readings on two forces of nature which at peak was enough to cover the eternity of Nimbasa in a fierce thunderstorm.
Black cracked open the machine to check for any broken parts while his boss analyzed the sharp spikes in energy on a printed graph. Once he had commanded Minato to rush in and stop the fighting, he hadn't expected a foreign energy to surpass both legends like it was nothing but here was the evidence that their equipment couldn't even handle whatever that was. Either way, he grievously underestimated Minato's output which made him even more uneasy. The whole reason he sent him into that storm was to test his capabilities, although what Blake received in return was another problem and a new burden of covering up this monstrous energy reading from his superiors.
When Black made the call to Minato, Interpol was already working on a way to distract Thundurus and Tornadus so he had to find a way to explain his override of their normal plan. In fact, the superintendent expected the bluenette to either fail but do decent damage or back out, where he could bluff and blame it on Landorus, but it was too late now.
Just then, his phone rang. Blake cursed, knowing it was his adoptive father, also known as Interpol's one and only Police Chief.
N clenched his head in pain, his ears ringing as he awoke in the ferris wheel, Zorua pulling at his shirt. What happened after that bright flash, he thought as he shielded himself from the bright daylight outside. Before he blacked out, he remembered being stuck in a deadly storm with someone else…
Wait.
He turned around to find White unconscious on the floor, along with Claudia. He tried to shake her awake but immediately jolted back as a flicker of electricity jolted his hand. It hurt like hell.
Dazed and confused, he sat there wondering how they had survived at all. When he saw that bright flash, he could feel the metal of the cart heat up from the lightning and thought they were done for. Despite this, they had lived and currently he could barely hold himself together. Trying to clear his mind, he leaned against his window for support, his vision still hazy from the blast. He blinked, spotting movement in his daze, for a second he thought he saw himself peek out from a stand below as his cart slowly descended downwards.
"What…was that…?" He uttered, confused before blacking out once more. Perhaps he was so unstable that he started to hallucinate…a mirror image of himself outside.
He blacked out once more.
Somewhere in another world, in another time.
Yu Narukami sat around a transparent conference room, the glass paneled walls giving way to a see-through office below, housing hundreds of workers. Shadow Operative headquarters was not only for the few Persona users, but ordinary everyday people who were brought on to fight on the front lines against evil. Officer workers manned the desks with hundreds of flashing screens, displaying data of thousands of events in the world.
"It is with great haste that I have assembled all of you here today." Mitsuru, the head of operations announced to the board room. Yu scanned the meeting material, feeling the nervousness raise in the room. Today was starting off to be an…energetic day.
"Forgive my sudden invitations, however we have a grievous matter to discuss this morning." She darkened, displaying a series of news reports on the large conference screen. Pictures of people dropping dead, their eyes rolling back, as their bodies leaked a mysterious black liquid. "With the current chaos surrounding these high profile deaths on the rise, we have strong suspicion to believe the passing of these individuals have been unnatural to say the least."
"..." Yu remained silent, watching the other board members debate among themselves. During his youth, he had remembered what it was like to fight shadows, as sometimes the same ichor would leak from their wounds. The autopsy reports lifted from the police departments around Japan were unable to identify the black substance, furthermore they were at a loss for words at how any of these people could have died. Just what was going on?
Within another week, this new string of deaths would be dubbed as "mental shutdowns" by the mass media.
Author's note's:
We get a sneak peak at what's to come, this chapter is mostly setup for bigger moments later but I'm excited. N gets a confusing glimpse of his shadow and will likely chalk it up to his dazed hallucinations.
White has been having strange dreams.
Poor Lizzy got her show cancelled but Minato was able to stop the two clowns from drowning the city. Blake was mostly sending Minato out there to test how great his abilities and got a huge surprise, one he can't hide from his dad. Black is too much of a worry wart to send his childhood friend into a deadly tussle between the forces of nature and he doesn't realize just how powerful is. The more I write him, the more I picture him as a cross between a male fuuka and Futaba.
Side note: I know this chapter took longer than expected, I'll try to keep updates regular but I got caught up rushing a deadline for my portfolio and the workload was hellish. Thankfully I made it in time, just barely tho.