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The Dark Type	By : Manifest Destiny Category: Pokemon > General Views: 36315 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Pokemon is copy write by GameFreak, INC. and Nintendo. I make no money from this story, nor do I seek any.

Chapter List
- 23
- 24
- 25
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Chapter 24: The Best of Intentions
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Alone.
I’m alone and he’s gone now.
He never woke me up.
What do I do now? How can I go on?
Why did things end up this way? I only wanted—
Rikalia’s eyes snapped open as she awoke with a start. She was falling. She nearly landed face-first onto a floor she didn’t recognize before a pair of human hands caught her.
“Whoa there, Rika. I got you.”
The Sneasel felt a wave of relief wash over her at the sound of his voice. She wasn’t alone.
Her human trainer lifted her back up onto the seat next to him, where she had been asleep moments ago. She turned around to look at him, but was surprised at the face she saw. Rikalia got up and stood on Iruni’s lap cautiously reached out and touched his face.
“What’s the matter?” asked Iruni.
“Where did your hair go?” she finally asked, running her claws gently over his scalp.
Iruni’s hair was now far shorter than Rikalia had ever seen it. Formerly long enough to touch the human’s shoulders, now it was hardly a few inches long in places and trimmed very short in others. His head wound, while still covered in bandages, was now in plain view. Rikalia could hardly recognize him at first glance but as she stared past the dark sunglasses he wore and into his eyes she knew it was the same human who had found her all those months ago in the snow.
“Your ears look funny,” said Rikalia. She saw Iruni’s face light up and he chuckled slightly. He put on a warm smile.
“It figures that the first thing I hear you say in such a long time is something like that.” Iruni smiled wider, lightly stroking her feathered ear. “Hi, Rikalia.”
“Did you understand what I said?” she asked, her eyes wide and hopeful. “Can you understand me right now?”
Iruni nodded, “Yes, I can. I think it’s—”
Rikalia cut him off, throwing her arms around his chest and burying her face into his neck. She hugged him tightly, gripping his back with her claws simply on instinct. She shut her eyes, nuzzling her human and leaning her body into his. Tears broke free from her closed eyes and fell onto Iruni’s shoulder, but these were far from tears of sadness or anger. They were out of danger now and he could hear her words, how could she be sad?
“I’m so glad,” she said, knowing he could hear her. “I was afraid. I thought we lost what we had.”
Iruni comforted her, hugging her back and continuing to stroking her head.
“That won’t ever happen, no matter how your words sound to me.”
Pushing off of him reluctantly, Rikalia wiped her face with her paws. She began to take in her surroundings for the first time since waking up and once again found herself in a brand new place. Fear began to swell up in her chest for a brief moment; had Iruni put her in her Poké Ball again? How long had she been locked away this time?
Her fears and suspicions left her momentarily as something sped by the window to her left. It was a flash of green, lasting only a moment, but she definitely saw it. Curiosity stole her attention away from her human and she walked over the empty seat next to them and cautiously crept up to the windowsill. At first she only saw blue sky and clouds outside the window but soon another streak of green appeared. It was the top of a very tall tree.
Rikalia looked down and soon realized it wasn’t the trees that were moving at incredible speeds, but her. Or rather, the thing she was inside of. A white and silver tube that appeared to be hovering over metal rails was rocketing forward faster than Rikalia thought possible. The track that the train ran on was elevated above a thick forest, but occasionally roads and clearings zipped on by beneath them. Even with her keen eyesight the Sneasel had difficulty keeping track of the objects that sped on by.
Iruni chuckled slightly behind her, seemingly amused at her reaction. The noise made her snap back to the moment at hand and Rikalia remembered her suspicions. Everything she experienced since waking up pointed to something she didn’t want to believe.
Her human trainer suddenly looked different, she was in a different place again, he could somehow understand her again, and they were going someplace and she didn’t know where or why; she didn’t want to think it. But as she did, her fur bristled and she dug her claws into the plastic of the windowsill. She slowly looked back at him, one red eye piercing his dark sunglasses and shattering his previously cheery mood. Iruni immediately stopped laughing once Rikalia glared at him and his smile faded to a look of worry and concern, but that alone wasn’t enough to calm her down.
She turned back around and looked him in the eyes, scowling as she did. She kept her head low and crossed her arms in front of her chest defensively. Rikalia even found herself letting slip a low growl at her trainer.
He looked shocked and a little hurt.
So was she.
“Where…” she had trouble finding what she wanted to say first. Rikalia let her voice rise as she spun her accusations. “Where am I? What is this thing that can go so fast and where is it taking us? Why did you cut off your hair? What day is it even? Did you put me in my Poké Ball again while I was asleep? How long did you keep me in there this time?”
“Rika!” Iruni said, in a hushed voice. He held his hands up, a thin effort to calm her down. “Please, you don’t need to yell. There are other people riding in this car.”
“I don’t care about them, I care about us!”
The two stared each other down for a tense moment before either said anything else.
“I…” Rikalia started, shivering. “I don’t know— Just tell me.” She broke their locked gaze finally, staring over at the passenger’s seat in front of her. “No lies, no tricks. Just tell me the truth and I’ll believe you.”
“You really think I did that to you again?” Iruni finally asked her. “Did I lose your trust?”
“Think about it,” she pleaded. “Can’t you see how this all looks to me? It’s like I’m being thrown around, missing everything important, like I don’t matter anymore! Now tell me! Please.”
“I’m sorry,” said Iruni. He sighed hard and leaned back into his seat. “I’ve gone and messed things up, I guess. I didn’t think you would react this way,” he looked over at her, taking off his glasses and looking her right in the eyes.
“I didn’t lock you in stasis again, Rika. I promise.”
Rikalia could tell it was causing him pain to keep his eyes open in the direct sunlight that streamed in through the window. He had explained the night before how his eyes needed to adjust back to regular conditions. She gently reached up and pushed the darkened glasses back onto his face.
“Alright… Don’t ruin your eyes…” she let herself forgive him a little.
“I can prove it, I think,” Iruni said, standing up. Rikalia watched him rummage through his luggage that was stored above their seats. He sat back down and showed her the Pokédex he was given as being part of Project Cartographer.
“Yes, here. Do you remember the things I taught about how to read?” he asked her.
She did, but Rikalia also remembered why she never went out of her way to read anything by humans. Their written language seemed so simplistic, it just bored her. A word written the same way always meant the same thing. She knew she could carve much more interesting words with her claws than anything she’s seen a human write.
“See here?” he pointed at the screen and left his finger just underneath what he wanted her to see:
[No. 215: Sneasel (♀)]
[Name: “Rikalia”]
[Level: 21]
[Nature: Serious]
[Ability: Keen Eye]
[Active Time: 11:46:10]
[Moves: (Tap to View)]
[Notes: (Tap to View)]
“See?” Iruni said, highlighting the [Active Time] tracker that constantly ticked upwards a second at a time. “It’s the next morning since I let you out in the hotel. I didn’t put you in stasis, or even recall you. I carried you the whole way. The nurses at the center in Goldenrod said that fatigue might be a side-effect of being locked in stasis for as long as you were.”
Rikalia took the device from his hands and stared at the screen. She had heard the words he said and understood what they meant, but something in the back of her mind still seemed to bother her. She looked at the time and glanced out the window of the train, guessing the time of day was what it should be. The date that was displayed on the screen was farther ahead than it should be, but she expected that to be the case from being shut in stasis. The suspicious Sneasel looked throughout the many different pages and readouts the Pokédex had to offer and didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, save for a new Pokémon she didn’t recognize. As far as she could tell, everything that she could see and everything she had been told checked out.
If that was the case, why did she still feel like Iruni was hiding something from her? Why did she desperately feel the need to find out?
“Okay,” Rikalia finally relented, giving back the Pokédex. She didn’t look at him. “I believe you.”
A tense moment persisted until Iruni spoke again. “Do you?”
“I can’t see any reason to think you’re lying about this, so I guess so.”
“What do you mean, ‘you guess’?” asked Iruni.
She glared at him. “Because guessing is all I can do, apparently. I thought that we’d pick up where we left off and continue with our lives. Now here I am, being taken someplace I don’t know and I don’t know why. You went and changed how you look and I don’t know why. You haven’t even released Kar, Kreen, or Atanya yet,” she pointed a claw at the Pokédex still in Iruni’s hand, “and you even have a new Pokémon I don’t even know about! Who even is Draypeeon?”
Rikalia covered her eyes with her white-furred paws, doing her best to stop herself from bursting into tears of frustration. She took a few heavy breaths, clenching her clawed fists.
“I just…” she continued. “I feel like I’ve skipped forward in time and missed so much of my own life. Does that make sense?”
“Y-Yeah,” Iruni’s words seemed to catch in his own throat. “I didn’t think that— I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do to take back what I’ve done, but I can at least try and gain back your trust. So, you obviously have questions. Ask and I’ll answer them. I want you to be at ease with all this.”
Rikalia eyed him warily; something in his words caught her attention. “Why’d you react that way?”
“What way?”
“Don’t,” she warned.
Thankfully Iruni understood right away. “I didn’t realize you would take what I did—and what’s happened to me without you—this way. I never wanted you to feel that way, Rika. I really feel bad about this and I’ll do whatever I can to fix it.”
She listened to his words and his voice, discerning their intent and credibility. She could find no fault in them, which began to relieve her somewhat.
“Alright. What about this thing? Where is it taking us?”
“This is the Magnet Train,” Iruni began a basic explanation of how the vehicle they were in could reach incredible speeds and travel distances remarkably fast. “It was made to help connect the Johto and Kanto regions, and it connects each of the regions’ largest cities; Goldenrod and Saffron.”
“Saffron. I know that name, right?” Rikalia asked.
“Yep. That’s where Kate lives right now. We’re going to see her, and hopefully stay at her place while we’re in town.”
“Does she know we’re coming?” Rikalia thought to ask.
“No, not yet. I figured I’d surprise her.”
“Does she at least know you’re alright? That we all are?”
“No,” Iruni paused. “I… I just hopped on the first train there without thinking about it.”
Rikalia stared at him, words failing her for a moment.
“Iruni, what happened?” she grabbed one of his hands and gripped it. “I mean it; what happened to you? You’re acting like— like you’re running scared from something.”
“I am scared,” said Iruni. “Last night, after you fell asleep…” he paused. “I started to panic. About everything that happened to us and how to deal with it, it all came crashing down on top of me and I ran to the nearest place I could find help.”
“Why not go home to your father?” asked Rikalia. She had a vague idea on how far away Saffron was from Johto and she couldn’t just accept that it was actually the closest or that distance was even the reason for the choice in destination. “Going back home would be closer than going to where Kate is, wouldn’t it? What else is in Saffron that you are ignoring the rest of the team just to get there so soon?”
She could see that her constant barrage of questions was wearing on Iruni, but Rikalia couldn’t yet shake all of her suspicions.
“It’s a little…” he stalled. “I don’t know. Childish? Embarrassing? I don’t know.”
“Tell me, please.”
“Well, it’s the Gym Leader in Saffron. Sabrina, I think her name is,” Iruni explained. “I didn’t tell you this yet, but yesterday the Pokémon League announced that the Kanto and Johto gym circuits are being combined into one big one.” He went on and described the reasons for the merger to Rikalia as well as mentioning something that happened in a forest called Ilex.
“Anyway, we’re going to Saffron because I… we, need a good thing to happen right now.”
“What makes Saffron’s Gym so appealing?” asked Rikalia.
“It specializes in Psychic types, so I figured it would be an easy win if we’re going for our second ever badge,” Iruni said with a shrug.
There it was. The uncertainty in his voice betrayed him. The reasons that Iruni told her made sense, but not for him. Rikalia had never known Iruni to handle his Pokémon battling career that way. To take an easy win over the one that would make the most sense, there were likely many more gyms in their home region they could go and challenge, but Iruni sought out this one specifically. Why, because he said he “panicked”?
“Oh, okay. I get it!” Rikalia knew that he would only continue to back up his claims if she pressed any further, so letting him think she believed his half-hearted excuse would have to do for now. “So, why haven’t you at least let everyone else out of their Poké Balls yet?” She saw him relax his shoulders and lean back in his seat in relief as she changed the subject. She knew he was lying about his reasons for going to this Gym Leader.
“I don’t really have a good excuse for that,” he admitted. “I honestly feel bad about it but I really needed to get moving as soon as I could. I definitely will once we get to Saffron City. Oh yeah, you haven’t had any breakfast yet,” he said as he stood up and began looking through his luggage overhead.
As he did, the train took a turn and caused Iruni to sway slightly, leaning against a seat to keep his balance. This knocked Rikalia’s Umbra Ball off of his belt and it fell onto the now vacant seat next to her. Iruni didn’t seem to notice and kept looking for whatever else that lay hidden in the backpack above. The gray Poké Ball bounced on the cushion of the seat and almost hit her, but Rikalia swatted it away with a quick slap of her paw. The sphere bounced against Iruni’s thigh and caught his attention.
He saw how she was growling at the inanimate capture device that now rested on the seat. Iruni bent over and picked up the Umbra Ball and sat back down in his seat. A concerned face stared at the Sneasel from behind the dark sunglasses.
“Are you afraid of this?” he asked, letting the Poké Ball rest in his palm.
Rikalia stared at it for a moment before looking up at him. “No, not really. I just hate what it can do to me… It can control me and I hate that. I’ve always hated it. I hate that I need to be tied to it to be your Pokémon.”
“I know, but it has its uses—”
“I already know what it does!” Rikalia snapped. “I just… hate having my life not in my own control. I mean, even without the Poké Ball, you let me choose if I wanted to stay with you. Can’t that be enough?”
Rikalia sat down in her seat with her back to her human and stared out the window, feeling exhausted from the conversation. She felt Iruni’s hand gently stroke her head and she debated with herself whether or not to bat his hand away from her. She decided to let him continue petting her; he did often stroke her feathered-ear, her favorite spot to have touched.
“I don’t know if I can do what you’re suggesting, but if it will make you feel any better, you can have it,” Iruni said after a little while.
She cocked her head in confusion and looked behind her, unsure of what he meant.
Iruni held out the Umbra Ball in his hand—it was in its compact, smaller form—and he had a sympathetic look on his face.
“What?” she asked him.
“If you want,” Iruni continued, “you can have it. I don’t think ‘releasing’ you would be smart, but I can let you decide when I can use it on you. I don’t know if it’ll make you feel better but I thought I’d at least ask.”
Rikalia turned around and took the miniature Poké Ball from Iruni’s hand carefully. On the surface she could see the two striking claw marks she left on it. Running a digit over the surface she accidentally tapped the activation button, causing it to expand to its full size. Though she was startled, she didn’t drop it. An experimental tap of the dark red switch made it revert back to its smaller state and she relaxed.
Maybe she could control it.
“Will you…” she started, looking up at her human companion. “Will you teach me about it? How it works and everything?”
“Of course I will,” he said, smiling. “We can even get you something to be able to carry it around easily if you really want to hold onto it from now on, but we can figure that out once we get into the city. How about that?”
She looked from him to down to the Poké Ball in her paws for a few moments. She felt some suspicion towards him still, those feelings weren’t completely gone. But this, this gesture really meant a lot to her.
“That sounds… good.”
Rikalia sat next to Iruni and leaned against his side, still gripping her Umbra Ball in one paw.
“So how can you understand me again?” she finally asked. She was beginning to run out of questions to ask him. “I’m not complaining, I just want to know in case it happens again.”
“That’s actually something that I can answer pretty easily,” Iruni said with a chuckle. “Because I had you recalled for so long, and in turn being cut off from your Dark Pulses, I guess I lost the ability to understand your words for a little while. A few hours after you fell asleep I began feeling them—your pulses—again. I figured I’d understand you again, but not this soon.”
“How long were you still up after I feel asleep?” she lifted her head up to look at him. “What were you doing?”
“Oh, just— I was writing some notes down in my Pokédex for a while. I had trouble falling asleep. Actually, once I started feeling your pulses again I fell asleep right away.”
“If being in my ball made you stop understanding me, then I’m never going into this thing again,” she said, defiantly. “Unless I have to.”
“Right. Unless you have to.”
—————
Iruni’s mind swam in a panic. He imagined a set of eyes following his every move as he walked out of the Magnet Train station and into Saffron City. He had no real idea if Celebi was watching him right at that moment or if she even could with being so far away from where they met in Goldenrod City, but he felt as if he was skipping out on some important obligation by running for help all the way in Kanto. His idea had to work.
In reality, he couldn’t really place why he felt so afraid of the time-traveling Pokémon that had recently—or perhaps not—involved herself in his life. He had no idea if she were particularly strong or threatening, or what the extent of her powers over time were.
That was it, he decided; Iruni didn’t know anything about Celebi, and now that she had shown herself to him and because the scope of what she could be asking of him was so unknown, he could only be scared. He was afraid of what his life could become if he got involved with Celebi.
After all, look at what happened to Coralis. Just by accident.
Now here he was, running scared; running to the nearest glimmer of hope he could find.
“Sabrina, right?”
The voice came from above Iruni’s head, from the Sneasel who was sitting astride his shoulders. She rested her head on one of her arms, which was atop Iruni’s own head and clutched her Umbra Ball in her paw.
If Rikalia had said anything beforehand, Iruni didn’t hear it. He panicked and hoped he could hop into the conversation without seeming lost.
“Yeah, her.”
“What’s so special about her that we went to just her right away?” Rikalia peered down at Iruni from above him. “I bet there’s plenty of easy Gym Leaders we could go beat right now.”
Why is she being so questioning still?
“Well, like I said, I haven’t seen Kate in a while, and she needs to know we’re okay.”
“Yeah,” Rikalia agreed with heavy insistence. “She does.”
“Anyway,” Iruni said, stopping off at a small grassy area outside the train station. He began pulling out every Poké Ball he owned, save for the new Drapion, and prepared to release them. “I think it’s time everyone else got a chance to stretch their legs for a bit.”
Pressing and holding the three buttons on the Poké Balls in his hands unlocked them from their suspended animation modes and released the creatures inside out onto the grass in front of Iruni. A Houndour, Chikorita, and Pidgey pooled together from flashes of light and took in their new surroundings. Iruni breathed a sigh of relief seeing them again. He had been told they wouldn’t suffer any long-term effects from being in stasis for as long as they were, but seeing them alive and well in front of him took a weight off of his shoulders.
A real weight then leaped from his shoulders and down to the ground, running up to her fellow companions. Rikalia eagerly hugged Karros around his neck and even greeted Atanya and Kreen warmly, despite being much newer additions. Iruni smiled, sitting on the ground among his Pokémon and giving them some much overdue attention.
“Everyone, welcome to Saffron City. Or in Karros’ case, welcome back.” Iruni patted his Houndour’s head to quiet the momentary unease he saw flash in his eyes. Karros calmed down quickly at his trainer’s reassuring touch.
“Hey, that’s right,” Rikalia spoke up. “Karros said he was from here once.”
“Really?” Iruni stood up and looked around the city, trying to get his bearings. “Yeah, Route 7 is just down this road and then you make a right.”
At a worried whine from Karros, Iruni knelt back down to his first Pokémon and pet him comfortingly.
“Don’t worry, Kar. I’m not in a hurry to go back there either. We won’t go that way if you don’t want to,” said Iruni.
Impatient noises coming from his right pointed toward his Chikorita, Atanya. She eagerly held the leaf that grew from her head high into the air, trying to grab her trainer’s attention while still keeping a small amount of respect for her senior teammate’s time with him.
“You don’t need to ‘raise your leaf’ Atanya, you can talk to me whenever,” said Iruni. “What’s up?”
Rikalia quickly took the hint and relayed the concerns of her Grass type comrade. “Atanya wants to know why we’re so far away from where we were last.” At Atanya’s insistence, she added, “She says the air tastes different.”
Iruni took a moment as he looked over to his Chikorita and Sneasel, who both had expectant looks across their faces. Kreen, his Pidgey, seemed less interested in the reasons behind their cross-region trip to focus on the flock of Pidgeotto that flew above.
“Okay, I figured I would have to explain this at least one more time today so let’s all go to Kate’s place, and we’ll all get caught up. How’s that?” he asked. No one objected, so the group made their way to Iruni’s sister’s apartment.
Karros walked on the ground beside him, as did Atanya—after some arguments with Rikalia about who would be held by Iruni as he walked. Atanya relented but didn’t stop herself from extending a vine from the buds around her neck to wrap around Iruni’s free hand. Kreen perched on Iruni’s right shoulder, keeping a watchful eye on the skies and tweeting at any passing bird Pokémon. Iruni held Rikalia close to his chest, her arms clutching his forearm, letting her feet fall free in front of him. She assured she was comfortable and urged him to worry about getting to his sister’s apartment.
As the group walked through the streets of Saffron City, they gathered quite a bit of attention. It was apparently rare to see a Pokémon trainer out with all of their Pokémon at once, especially when they weren’t training out in the wilds. Bringing so many Johto native Pokémon with him made quite the impression with passersby. Many people stopped to greet the traveling trainer and to see his batch of foreign Pokémon, asking whether he was planning to battle Sabrina for her badge, or to even battle them right there on the sidewalk.
“Sorry, but I’m in a bit of a hurry,” he had to say to the few battle requests he received.
In the minutes and blocks it took to get to his sister’s apartment building Iruni ran through a few scenarios in his head about how he was planning to proceed with his secret agenda. He had a plan, but it hinged on one extremely important and wildly unpredictable variable: the mood of a characteristically uncooperative Espeon.
One thing he didn’t plan for was the reaction he would get from his sister as he showed up at her door after nearly two months of going missing.
After the door had been opened and the look of shock went away on Katelyn Thomas’s face, anger welled up and spilled out in the form of a swift slap to Iruni’s face.
“You… Asshole!”
The slap sent his special sunglasses—and the Pidgey resting on his shoulder—flying from their previous positions.
“Where. Have. You. Been, Bartholomew!?” Kate fought back tears to maintain her angry demeanor. “I’ve tried calling, Dad has called, we’ve looked for you, we’ve called others to look for you, but no one could figure out where you were!”
“I’m sorry,” Iruni said, eyes straining in the light in the hallway. He bent down, picking up his sunglasses, letting Rikalia onto the floor, and made sure Kreen was alright—the Pidgey recovered from the sudden jostling of his perch and waited on the floor. “Things… got out of hand. Can I come in? I’ll explain everything.”
Kate took a long, hard look at her brother and took a deep breath. “You do look awful. Come here,” she said, wiping her eyes. Kate pulled him into a hug, holding Iruni close. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Iruni and his Pokémon followed Katelyn into her apartment and gathered in her living room. Immediately, Iruni was greeted by Azula, Kate’s Dratini, almost being pushed to the floor demanding a “hug” of her own. Ruby and Tom, Kate’s Espeon and Glaceon, were nowhere to be seen for the moment. After a few minutes of his sister getting reacquainted with the Pokémon she knew, as well as meeting the ones she hadn’t, Iruni began explaining the events that caused him to lose contact with the rest of the world for a month and a half.
The last time Iruni had contacted his sister was just as he had gotten settled in Blackthorn City, before he had taken up the job of being one of three Cartographers for Professor Elm. He explained a rough overview of his job as well as the potential risks of the changes to Pokémon habitats.
“Ilex Forest is still all over the news,” Kate said. “Don’t tell me you were caught up in that somehow.”
“No, we actually missed it entirely,” Iruni said.
He told her that just after he had defeated Falkner in Violet City, he had met misfortune, or perhaps a stroke of luck, at the Ruins of Alph. Iruni described the weeks spent lost in the dark and the eventual moment of freedom where he dug through a collapsed tunnel and out into open air.
“I was watching Champion Lance’s newscast yesterday, and it cut out when someone barged in and started yelling…” Kate said, putting the pieces together. “Oh my god…”
“Yeah…”
Iruni and his sister sat in a tense silence for a few moments. Without saying a word, they hugged again, letting go of their respective angers and fears.
“I thought I was gonna die down there,” said Iruni. “I really did.”
“Shut up.” Kate tightened her embrace. “You’re safe. Don’t worry about what could’ve happened.”
As they split apart, and Rikalia joined them by jumping to Iruni’s lap, Kate decided to change the subject.
“So why did you come here instead of calling first? Did you even call Dad and tell him you were okay?” she asked.
“I— We needed to get away from things back in Johto. The Cartographer work and my ordeal in the ruins really put a toll on all of us. I figured I’d take advantage of the new gym circuit they implemented and grab an easy Kanto badge. And see you guys,” Iruni added. He looked around the apartment, pretending not to notice his sister’s skeptical look. “Where’s Ruby and Tom?” he asked.
“They’re back in my bedroom, caring for the little one,” she said.
“They’re doing what?” Iruni asked.
“Oh!” Kate jumped up, urging Iruni to do the same. “That’s right, I never did tell you!”
Iruni, Rikalia, and the rest of the Pokémon followed Kate back to the single bedroom of the apartment, which had the door shut. She asked everyone to be as quiet as possible as they did so. Kate opened the door as silently as she could, showing the group the cause for such care.
Ruby and Tom were lying in a large plush Pokémon bed on the floor in the corner of the room. Tom immediately stood up and took notice at their visitors, but calmed down right away. Ruby continued to lie on her side, looking absolutely exhausted, and nursing a newborn Eevee.
‘I thought I told you, no surprise visits.’ Ruby opened a single eye to greet the group. She relayed a similar message vocally to Rikalia and Karros, though with a noticeable hint of kindness.
“Someone was pregnant for a while and didn’t tell me,” Kate whispered. She carefully knelt down near the happy family of Eeveelutions and their newborn and gently stroked the brown fur of the new arrival. “Everyone, meet Molly.”
—————
After everyone took their own turn acquainting themselves with the newborn Eevee, the group all returned to the living room.
“So, I’m not the only one with a surprise new Pokémon,” Kate said. She pointed to the fifth Poké Ball attached to Iruni’s belt. “Who’s that in the Friend Ball there?”
“I was… given a Drapion yesterday.” Iruni pulled the green Poké Ball off of his belt and held it out for everyone to see. “I don’t really know what to think about him yet.”
“A Drapion? God, how big is he?” asked Kate.
“I don’t know. I haven’t even let him out yet.” Iruni immediately felt the glares of confusion from every set of eyes in the room. “I’m sorry, I’ve just been through a lot and I wanted to get here as soon as possible. Want me to let him out right here?”
“Sure, let’s just make some room.”
Iruni and Kate went about moving some of the lighter pieces of furniture in the room to make way for the impending arrival. As they did, the bedroom door opened with a push of telekinetic energy and Ruby and Tom came out to see what all the commotion was for.
‘She’s just gotten to sleep, and that means I get a few precious minutes of peace and quiet. What are you doing?’ Ruby asked.
“Iruni’s got some trainer responsibilities he has to attend to,” Kate explained.
“Har har,” Iruni said mockingly.
Iruni’s and Kate’s Pokémon moved to the edge of the room and prepared for the release of Iruni’s new Pokémon. A tap of the Friend Ball’s button sent out a bright flash of light that coalesced into a large, hulking insect-like beast. It was huge, large even for a Drapion. Long arms that ended in pincers hung down to the floor, bracing its long upper body. Its four legs and tail were strong and menacing, as was its face. Terrifying fangs seemed to spill out of its mouth. Its eyes stared down at its audience as it scanned the small room it found itself in.
“He’s a… big guy, that’s for sure,” Kate said.
“Did I mention that he was apparently caught in Ilex during that bad attack?” Iruni asked.
‘I swear if you just let loose a killer bug in our home with my newborn daughter in the next room I will literally make sure you never have another thought again,’ Ruby warned.
Tom took a defensive stance between his mate and the newcomer, shrouding himself in chilly air and freezing the floor beneath him.
“Guys, chill out,” Iruni said. “No Tom, not literally. He’s just getting a good look at all of us. Right, big guy?”
Iruni took initiative and stepped forward, only coming just short of the Drapion’s height. To his surprise, the Drapion lowered itself and to be even with Iruni, eyes widening getting a better look at the human who came close to him.
“Iruni, be careful!” Rikalia said in a harsh whisper.
“He’s doing fine,” said Iruni. He brought a hand up and gently patted the Drapion’s head, being mindful of the potentially poisonous barbs on its head. “He’s not acting aggressive hurk—!”
The Drapion lurched forward and wrapped Iruni up in its arms, bringing him into a surprisingly affectionate and nearly suffocating hug. It growled affectionately as it accepted the panicked adoration of his new trainer. Iruni quickly waved off the many attempts to free him from his sister and the other Pokémon in the room.
“I’m fine! I’m fine! There, there, it’s okay. Please let me go!” Iruni pleaded. “You’re okay, Drapion.”
Finally letting Iruni out of his grip, the Drapion then took to greeting everyone else in the room. It seemed he didn’t know very much about interacting with humans, opting to just grunting and grinning at Katelyn before interacting with the Pokémon next. When he tried going near Ruby and Tom, the latter growled defensively, sending ice crystals flying into the air. The Drapion recoiled and almost seemed to cower in response.
“Tom, easy,” Iruni said. “He’s just being friendly. He was caught in a Friend Ball, so he’s lost a lot of his natural aggression.”
“But he was given to you, right? He should have imprinted on his original trainer.” Kate noted, comforting her Glaceon. “I wonder why he didn’t?”
“I guess he never let it out of its ball since catching it,” Iruni wondered.
The Drapion made its way around the room, greeting and getting to know the rest of the Pokémon there. Rikalia seemed to be showing off her claws at the Drapion when he turned to see her, a budding rivalry being formed. The Drapion seemed to chuckle at her displays of bravado.
‘Hey, Ruby? Can I talk to you in private?’ Iruni asked, hoping he caught the Espeon’s train of thought. He counted on the fact that everyone else would remain too preoccupied with the Drapion to notice their psychic exchange.
‘You already are, so go ahead,’ Ruby responded. ‘What kind of stunt are you trying to pull anyway? You seem tense; and not because of your hug-monster over there.’
‘That’s putting it lightly, but no matter what happens for right now, can you just please not ask any more questions? I swear I’ll never ask anything of you ever again. I mean it.’ If he could, Iruni would be on his knees begging.
‘You’re… really messed up right now aren’t you?’
‘You have no idea.’
‘Alright, fine. I’ll play along. What do you need?’
‘I managed to catch your attention pretty easily because we’ve known each other for a long time, but I need to be able to mentally speak with someone who I’ve never met before. The good news is they’re a Psychic master and all that, so that’s not an issue. But I’m probably terrible at it. All I know is just from talking to you over the years.’
‘What, are you trying to talk to Sabrina about some top-secret mission you’re on?’
‘Yes, actually.’
‘Oh. You’re not kidding.’ Ruby walked over next to Iruni, after assuring her mate she was safe. She pretended to finally accept a greeting from the Drapion, rubbing a large claw with the fur of her face. ‘How long do we have?’
‘I’d like to meet with her today, this afternoon if we can. I need to catch her as soon as possible.’
‘Fun. Okay, rookie; Psychic Communication 101 starts now. You will be graded on your performance.’
—————
These next few minutes might make or break me, Iruni thought. I have to somehow get in touch with her without Rika figuring it out…
He kept his hopes high however; ever since entering Saffron City’s Pokémon Gym, Iruni could feel a slight mental buzz, different from Rikalia’s Dark Pulse, persisting in the air. The large number of trainers and their Psychic type Pokémon that were in the building were saturating the immediate area with psychic energy. With Ruby’s tips, and the fact that he could feel the faint telepathic static helped bolster his resolve.
Iruni and Rikalia waited outside the gym’s main battle arena, which had its doors closed, sitting in a pair of chairs in the lobby. Iruni found it surprisingly painless to register for a battle with a Gym Leader from another region. The changes to the structure of the Pokémon League’s gym challenge went into effect remarkably smoothly. As he set up an appointment for his battle he simply had to add how many of the sixteen available badges he had already owned. The leader would then prepare a team for him to battle against.
As the act of actually battling a Gym Leader came to mind, Iruni began to run through some battle options in his head. Early on he decided to not use the Drapion—who he also made a note to find a name for him soon. Even though he was immediately friendly and docile Iruni had no idea how he would be in a battle after only spending a few minutes with him.
His answer came quickly from the Sneasel sitting to his left.
“So, you’re going to let me battle today, right?” asked Rikalia eagerly.
A little surprised at her insistence, Iruni shrugged.
“You really want to?” he asked. “I’d understand if you weren’t feeling up to it.”
“Are you kidding?” Rikalia stood up on her seat and flexed the claws on her right paw; her left held onto her Umbra Ball. “I haven’t gotten to really do anything in…” her mood soured a bit. “How long was it again?” Her voice had a slight accusatory tone in it that Iruni was sure that she let him pick up on.
“More than five weeks since Violet City,” Iruni said.
“I meant—” Rikalia stopped herself. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay.” Iruni patted his Sneasel’s head lovingly. “I thought you meant just Pokémon battles. You were in stasis for four weeks, if that’s what you meant.”
“Four weeks…” Rikalia murmured. She tightened her grip on her Poké Ball.
“What about that?” Iruni asked, pointing to the very item she was holding. “Are you going to hold it in battle? Or do you want me to hold onto it?”
“I’ll hold it. I can win with one arm,” Rikalia said defiantly.
“That’s what I like to hear,” Iruni said.
‘At least the battle will be the easiest part of today.’
“I would suggest you keep such boisterous thoughts to yourself,” said a voice in front of the two. “I never mean to intrude, but you were practically screaming your thoughts into the air.”
Caught off guard, Iruni quickly looked up from his Pokémon to see a tall woman with medium length black hair. Her face was framed by the dark locks and her expression looked annoyed and unimpressed. She wore very casual clothes fitting the late spring weather; a sleeveless blouse and light khaki pants with a simple black belt. Around her wrists were large green bracelets that glowed with a mysterious ambient energy.
‘Yes!’ Iruni thought as loud as he could. ‘Sabrina, please, I need your help. If you can hear my thoughts, show me a sign; please cross your arms after shaking my hand and tap your left index finger twice. I need to be as discreet as possible. Please, there’s no one else I can turn to!’
“Ha ha, Sorry,” Iruni said aloud as he stood. He wore a bright smile and held out his hand to shake the leader’s. “I’m getting ahead of myself.”
‘Please?’ Iruni tried again. If Sabrina picked up on his stray thoughts then she surely could hear him now.
The Gym Leader’s stoic expression quickly betrayed a slight bit of concern as she did in fact shake Iruni’s hand, then crossed her arms and tapped her finger.
‘What is the matter? Are you being watched? Can we not speak even in front of your Pokémon there?’
‘I’m doing by best to be as careful as possible. The fewer that know anything about this the better, but I can’t handle this “situation” on my own.’ Iruni sent the plea as fast as he could. He didn’t want Rikalia getting suspicious at any strange silences between the Gym Leader and himself.
“I see,” Sabrina said. “I suppose I can forgive the audacity of a young trainer. Shall we proceed to the battleground for our match?”
Through a set of double doors they walked into the main auditorium of the Saffron City gym, which was surprisingly plain and simple. The lights were brightened as they walked into the arena, revealing only a small podium at opposite sides of the battlefield for each trainer as well as a small raised chair for the referee, who waited for them in the center of the ring, to sit and judge the match. The walls were a dull gray, darkening as they reached the floor and a machine similar to the ones found in Pokémon Centers used to heal and revitalize Pokémon sat against the far wall. Iruni’s previous gym match had spectators seated around the battle arena as well as cameras to broadcast the battles across the region. When he asked about the difference, Iruni learned it was the leader’s personal preference to keep her gym clear of such noise and distractions.
“My disciples and I spend time here to hone our abilities along with our Psychic Pokémon. Such things do not help our training, so we do without them. Our rivals next door, however…” she trailed off, a tone of distaste lingering in her words as she described the loud and apparently aggravating Fighting Dojo that sat just next to the Saffron Gym. “They insist on trying to contend for the status of being this city’s Pokémon Gym and go about it in all the wrong ways.”
‘Why have you come directly to me, young trainer?’ Sabrina asked mentally. ‘I sense there is something you need to know.’
In another time, the conversation would likely catch Iruni’s interest and further push him toward his own lofty and far off goals, but Iruni had to press his opportunity now to seek help with the more immediate issue at hand.
‘Listen, I might be overstepping my boundaries, but I’m a part of Project Cartographer and well, I have access to certain information. Are you still the current caretaker of the Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo?’ Iruni asked.
“So, my attendant informs me that you are from Johto, taking advantage of our new regulations.” Sabrina’s betrayed none of the surprise her mind transmitted over their unsteady mental link. ‘That is very sensitive—as well as personal—information you have. I would like to omit any details and merely confirm your statement. I did recognize your name as one of the Cartographers but I did not expect this topic to be relevant to one like you.’ She continued her vocal explanation of how the impending battle would be handled. “You have previously defeated Falkner and obtained his Zephyr Badge, so for the battle for your second badge, it will be a simple one-on-one bout. Is this agreeable?”
“That sounds great,” Iruni said. ‘I don’t need to know anything about Mewtwo really, you’re just the only one I could find that would know anything about another Psychic type Legendary Pokémon. I’ve… become “involved” I guess you’d say with Celebi.’
“Ile— ” Sabrina almost slipped from maintaining her dual conversation, but righted herself just as quickly. “That is, I’ll let you choose your Pokémon while I choose mine.” The Gym Leader turned her back and began to walk to the far side of the battleground while continuing to converse telepathically. ‘Ilex Forest’s guardian? The one said to travel throughout time?’
Iruni and Rikalia took their place at their designated end of the room. Iruni knelt down next to her and patted her head.
“So, you said you wanted to battle today, right? You okay with being my one choice?” he asked. ‘Yes, that’s right. I bet you can see why I’m being careful.’
“Absolutely!” Rikalia cheered. The excited Sneasel leapt from her trainer’s side to the battlefield. “I can’t wait.”
“Attention Challenger Iruni Thomas,” the referee spoke up as he approached the challenger’s side of the arena. “I should remind you that the use of Poké Balls in official matches is prohibited.” He was clearly talking about the Umbra Ball that Rikalia had gripped in her paw.
“But I still want to hold onto it,” Rikalia protested. “Tell him I’m not gonna use it, I just want to keep it.”
“Rika…” Iruni started, but relented. He sighed, and turned and faced the referee. “She wants to keep holding onto it. She won’t be using it to battle her opponent or anything.”
“Well,” the referee pondered the situation for a moment. “Vanity items and personal accessories are permitted, however not recommended for Gym Matches, and usually tend to be worn in some capacity. Leader Sabrina?” he called over to the opposite end of the gymnasium to ask for her opinions on the matter. She simply nodded and levitated a Poké Ball from a case of many like-colored spheres into her hand, clearly her choice for the battle.
“Alright then,” the referee said. “Use of the item in question in any fashion during the battle will result in an automatic disqualification and loss. I also recommend that in the future you and your Pokémon find some way to safely secure any personal items so as to not interfere with any future Pokémon battles.”
“We were supposed to…” Rikalia grumbled.
“Right,” he apologetically patted her head and offered an apologetic smile. “Thank you,” Iruni said to the referee, who nodded and made his way to his post to judge the match. Moving to his designated place to stand, Iruni wished his Pokémon luck and brought his gaze to the calm looking Gym Leader.
‘Celebi has been interfering in my life for… I don’t know how long, but she appeared to me last night and asked for my help.’ Iruni explained to Sabrina.
“I hope you are ready for this,” Sabrina said. Gently letting her Poké Ball fall to the floor in front of her, a bright flash heralded the arrival of the opponent Rikalia would soon face.
‘Help with what?’ Sabrina asked.
The Pokémon never touched the floor, instead holding an elevated position in the air. Its blue legs were folded and its feet aligned and were pressed together. Its hands mimicked a similar position, blue palms touching one another. The Pokémon’s large head had round, swirled ears and wide eyes, which it kept closed.
“I will say,” Sabrina said, “our neighbors do sometimes have common ground with us.”
‘Shit.’ Iruni didn’t care whether or not Sabrina had heard his mental curse, he meant it all the same.
Choosing Meditite, a dual type Fighting and Psychic Pokémon was a move that Iruni hadn’t anticipated. His perceived advantage of choosing a Dark type Pokémon to battle now has been turned against him two-fold. Rikalia would be at a severe disadvantage if she took any clean hits from her opponent.
“Rika!” Iruni called. “Focus on speed in this fight! Dodge anything it throws at you if you can. It’ll hit hard!”
‘Celebi wants me to help her bring someone back to their original place in time. She took them from the past and can’t get them back without help somehow.’
“Both Pokémon are now present on the battlefield. Trainers, are you ready?” the referee asked. At both Iruni’s and Sabrina’s affirmative he signaled the start of the match.
“Begin!”
‘I have very little knowledge of any myths regarding Celebi. Did… “she?” mention exactly how you could help her?’
Rikalia broke into a sprint toward her enemy, keeping her head low and arms raised in front of her. She circled the floating Meditite that seemingly refused to acknowledge her presence a few times before retreating to her side of the arena.
‘I don’t know and neither does she, apparently. She just told me that I’m there—in the future, mind you—when she finally confronts her friend and she’s going to figure out some way to help him before that happens.’
“Iruni!”
His attention snapped down in front of him to an impatient Rikalia.
“What. Do. I. Do?” she said slowly. “It doesn’t have any openings, and it won’t move! I keep getting close and it won’t even open its eyes. The leader isn’t even doing anything either!”
“Sorry, Rika. I was thinking on it,” he lied. “She’s probably giving it commands telepathically. Just… try and hit it hard and end the match as fast as you can.”
“Oh of course,” she said, turning back to her opponent. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Readying the claws on her right paw, Rikalia ran off toward the Meditite that was still floating silently in the air.
‘As luck, or perhaps even fate would have it, I believe a colleague of mine is at least somewhat versed in these matters. He can be trusted with sensitive information. I’ll contact him to see if he’s willing to talk to you, and if so, I can give you his address,’ offered Sabrina.
Rikalia swiped her claws down at the Meditite’s head but they never reached their mark. With lightning fast reflexes the Psychic Pokémon’s eyes snapped open and caught Rikalia’s paw mid-strike. What happened next was punishing and cruel; without her left arm being free to block the incoming attack or to free herself from the Meditite’s grip, Rikalia’s stomach was woefully unguarded from the incoming Focus Punch, which the Meditite had been preparing throughout the fight.
For the first time during the battle the Meditite’s feet landed on the floor of the battlefield, bracing itself as it reared back its clenched fist. The punch connected square in the panicking Sneasel’s chest, knocking the wind out of her lungs and sending her body skidding back toward her trainer.
‘That sounds great!’ Iruni said to Sabrina. ‘Really, I can’t thank you enough. This has been weighing on me a lot lately.’
‘You are truly untrained in the ways of mental communication…’ Sabrina said, disappointed. She closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘You cannot even pay attention to the battle in front of you while speaking with me.’
A flash of fear and worry shot through Iruni and the only thing he saw on the battlefield was the Leader’s Meditite silently levitating in the air with a calm expression on its face and Rikalia’s Umbra Ball lying on the floor with Rikalia nowhere to be seen.
“The challenger’s Pokémon is unable to battle! The victor is Leader Sabrina!” the referee called out.
Iruni stared on, almost unable to move.
I’ve made a mistake.
—————
Katelyn Thomas climbed the stairs up to her third floor apartment after attending her mid-afternoon class at Saffron University. She expected to be welcomed home by an excited younger brother and an over-embellished retelling of how he won his second ever Gym Badge against Sabrina. Her expectations fell far short however, as she walked down the hallway her apartment was on she felt the ever familiar touch of her Espeon’s mind reach out and contact her. Ruby would usually wait until Kate was inside the door before talking to her, to help maintain the illusion of speaking as humans do, but this time was an apparent exception.
‘Oh good you’re home!’ Ruby said in a cruel sort of excitement. ‘Guess who managed to mess up and throw away a sure thing?’
‘Oh what did he do?’ Kate asked, but she didn’t get a response.
She pulled out her keys and picked up her pace in a hurried walk to her door. Stepping inside, she instantly noticed the sullen and questionably soaking wet face of her brother sitting in a chair at the small dinner table she had next to her kitchen area. A mostly gray Poké Ball sat on the table in front of him. Ruby was sitting on the table, smugly looking to Kate as she walked over.
‘May I present to you the upset of the century! A Dark type trainer who lost to the Psychic Gym Leader of Saffron City!’
“Ruby hush,” Kate scolded. “You’re not helping.” She sat down in the other chair at the table and sighed as she looked over her brother. “Do I even want to know why you’re all wet?”
Iruni’s face lit up momentarily, a mocking grin began to spread across his face. “Here, watch this.”
He stood up from the table and walked over to the sliding glass door that led to the small outdoor balcony that hung off the side of the apartment building. He pulled the door open gently and stuck his head outside briefly.
“Rika, are you ready to come inside?”
Before he could finish his sentence, a pair snowballs flew and hit Iruni’s face. Without wiping the fluffy white snow from himself, Iruni slowly pulled the door closed and sat back down, sending the frozen water down his chest and pants.
“She’s getting better with her aim,” he said.
‘Her form is so much better too.’
“What happened?” asked Kate, handing him a small hand towel.
Iruni didn’t use it, leaving the towel sit on the table. He gave a heavy sigh, letting his head fall down onto the hard surface of the table.
“Well, we lost. You got that much, right?”
“Yeah…” said Kate. “Why is Rikalia so pissed off? Did you throw the match?”
“I may as well have…” Iruni said, sitting back up. He finally took the towel and wiped his face and head, drying himself as much as he cared to. “I’m such a shitty trainer.”
“Since when? You’ve never neglected your Pokémon before. What happened in that battle?”
“I was so preoccupied with…” he lowered his voice, perhaps afraid of certain Sneasel overhearing him, “meeting Sabrina that I didn’t pay attention in battle and Rikalia got hurt. She lost hard to Sabrina’s Meditite.” Iruni shook his head. “I needed Sabrina’s advice on something… personal. I didn’t want anyone else to know I was talking about it, so I spoke with her mentally, telepathically, so Rika wouldn’t know. But I didn’t give her the attention she needed in the battle.”
‘He had me help out with that, actually. Swore myself to secrecy as a favor.’ Ruby added. ‘I’ve since changed my position on that.’
“You used a gym battle as an excuse to just have a chat? Why are you being so secretive? It’s not something Lance put you up to, is it?” asked Kate.
“No it’s—” Iruni stopped. “Why do you think Lance has anything to do with this?”
Katelyn smiled, putting a hand on her brother’s shoulder. “You’d be surprised at what I know, or at what Dad knows.”
Iruni stared on with a blank expression on his face.
“Look,” Kate said, “We’re not spying on you or anything, but Dad and I are more in-the-know than your typical civilians. You are too now, aren’t you?”
“I… don’t really know what to say.”
She laughed, “I can tell. But what I can’t tell is what’s gotten under your skin. What’s so secret that you can’t tell me, or your Pokémon, but you can go ask one of my professors?”
“I didn’t know Sabrina taught at the University,” Iruni said.
“Add it to the list,” Kate said dismissively. “Now what’s going on?”
‘I can keep this non-vocal if you want, you know,’ Ruby spoke up. ‘We can help out too. You don’t need to tackle anything on your own.’
Kate wore a concerned face as she looked at her brother. Iruni seemed to ponder the offer for a moment, but ultimately he shook his head.
“I’m sorry, but I’m too afraid of involving anyone else I care about in this, not without knowing more,” he stood up. “I really appreciate all of the offers to help, but I reached out to Sabrina for a reason, and she may have a lead for me to seek some actual answers. If things go south and I need your help, I’ll call you. I promise. But I’m doing my best to keep… casualties to a minimum. I don’t want anyone getting hurt in this.”
“You’re scaring me,” Kate said, standing to meet her brother’s troubled gaze. “More than that, you’re alienating your Pokémon and they’re starting to suffer for it. You and Rika are so close, don’t risk that by shutting her out. Tell her about this, and try and make up for what happened today.”
He sighed, admitting defeat. “I will. Tomorrow.”
—————
The setting of the sun and the arrival of the moon did nothing to abate Rikalia’s anger. The Sneasel sat outside on the small balcony that was attached to Kate’s apartment. The late-May air was still warm from the heat of the day, leaving a pleasant atmosphere for such an irritated and hurt Pokémon.
She hadn’t said a word to anyone yet. She didn’t have the words. Karros and Atanya had attempted to comfort her, but she shrugged off their kindness. She needed to be angry right now; it was the only thing that made sense to her. From what she could hear inside, everyone had gone to bed for the night. She didn’t think she could face anyone right now. Rikalia felt as if she were on the verge of tearing something to shreds with all her might.
“He just stood there…” she grumbled to herself, chewing her claws. She bit and tore at her scythe-like talons in frustration, chipping away at their length and sharpness but never being truly satisfied at their condition. Her paws would bleed every now and again when she bit too close to her flesh, but she fought through the momentary stings of pain and continued biting.
“You’ll end up really hurting yourself if you keep that up,” came a concerned voice from behind her.
Rikalia didn’t turn around, keeping a claw between her teeth, but she knew who had come outside to see her.
Ruby, the ever nosy and confident Espeon, closed the sliding door to the balcony with telekinesis as silently as she had opened it. She sat down next to the troubled Sneasel but kept her distance. She stared out at the city, idly trying to find what piece of scenery Rikalia may have been looking at during that moment.
“Shouldn’t you be taking care of Molly?” Rikalia accused, hoping Ruby would leave.
“It’s late, she’s asleep. Plus, you look like you need some care and you won’t let Iruni talk to you. I can’t read your mind,” said Ruby, stating the obvious, “no one can. So if you want to get something off of your little chest, you need to talk about it, sweetheart.”
Rikalia bit down on her claw again, harder this time, unable to respond. She shivered, but not from any cool breeze.
“I know you’ve lost Pokémon battles before, so it can’t be that.” Ruby was a head taller than Rikalia while they were both sitting down, she could clearly peer over the shorter one’s shoulder and see her troubled face. “I know you just went through a terrible ordeal in those ruins, so right now I bet you feel pretty fragile, don’t you?”
The Sneasel closed her eyes, trying to fight back the tears.
“At least know that he went through those things too,” said Ruby. “Iruni has a lot on his mind, so I’m sure whatever happened today was just some side effects from that—”
“You don’t get it!” Rikalia finally snapped. She gripped her head with her paws, almost hiding from the words she was about to say.
“I love him…”
Rikalia sobbed into her paws for a tense few moments before Ruby moved closer to her. At the motion, the Sneasel flung her arms around Ruby’s neck, hugging her with what strength she had in her.
“I love him, and he just… stood there and watched me get beaten. I saw him, staring off at that Gym Leader,” the venom in her words hung in the air. “That woman. Since those ruins he’s been… different. I thought… that maybe… we would… I don’t know. But then I wake up, and we rushed to get here, just to see this Sabrina and he was just focused on her…”
“Oh sweetheart, no.” Ruby said hurriedly. “Put whatever thoughts you have about that away. He’s not interested in her like that.”
“How do you know?” Rikalia pushed herself away to look Ruby in the eye. The caring Espeon nuzzled her and began licking away her tears.
“Because,” she hesitated. “He didn’t come here to just battle her, he also needed to talk to her. Privately.”
“But how do you know?!” Rikalia pleaded.
“If I tell you what I know, promise you won’t be as mad at me as you are at the knucklehead asleep in the living room?” Ruby asked, trying to lighten her mood.
“Ruby, please!” Rikalia begged. “I don’t care about any of that, just… tell me.”
“Alright, so…” the Espeon looked around and sighed, defeated. “He didn’t come to Saffron just because of Sabrina, he needed to see me too. I had promised to keep this a secret from you, but he said there was something he had to do, and he needed my help to do it.”
Rikalia looked up at her with disbelief on her face.
“While he was showing off your new Drapion buddy, your faithful trainer frantically got my attention and practically begged me to rapidly train him how to psychically—as in mentally—communicate with other humans. He had to discuss something in secret with Sabrina, the Gym Leader you seem to think you’re in competition with.” Ruby closed her eyes, expecting a paw full of claws hitting her in the face, but no such strike connected with her. When she opened her eyes she was met with a very close view of Rikalia’s face, who had silently stood up to the now startled Espeon.
“What did you just say?” Rikalia asked in a low voice.
“Look, he wouldn’t tell me why, or what he was doing, just that he needed to talk to Sabrina—it had to be her, by the way—about something very important. Something only Sabrina could help him with. He said it was to protect you and everyone else. Even Kate and I. That’s all I know.”
“Ruby…” Rikalia slowly raised up a pair of bloody claws to the Espeon.
“Hey! I told you the truth, so I don’t think any sort of violent response is very appropriate. I’m a mother now.” Ruby said cautiously. “Besides, do you really think you can take me on?”
“Don’t. Tempt. Me.” Rikalia growled.
“Well, what do you want me to do about it? I don’t know any more than you do right now. You’d have to ask Iruni.”
“I can’t ask him! He’ll lie! He’s been lying to my face about something ever since we got out of those ruins, I know it! I can tell!” Rikalia turned and gripped the railing of the balcony with her claws. “Protecting me by lying to me? What an idiot…”
“Hey, you’ve known he’s an idiot this whole time but you stuck around anyway,” Ruby teased. “Look, either he’s going to tell you once he figures out what he needs to, or you have to confront him about it.”
Rikalia shook with anger and frustration. At worst, her fears would be confirmed, or she would make herself look like a fool.
“Wait a minute,” Rikalia said, turning back to ruby. “Can you read?”
“Read? What, human writing? No, I’ve never needed to,” said Ruby. “I don’t know too many Pokémon that do.”
“Exactly,” Rikalia said. “But I can. It’s super easy to read what humans write.”
“Okay, honey, I’m very proud of you, but where is this going?”
“Iruni said he was writing things down in his Pokédex last night, but he wouldn’t tell me what. I bet he’s got something written about what he’s hiding in there.”
Ruby let out a long sigh of contempt, eying the scheming Sneasel warily.
“You know,” the Psychic type said, “I’m probably the last Pokémon to scold anyone on this, but humans value their privacy very highly. If you go and break his trust like this, he might not forgive you very easily. Do as I say, not as I do.”
“Duly noted,” Rikalia said, dismissing the warning.
If he’s upset at me for this, Rikalia thought as she slid the door to the apartment open quietly, he’ll just need to get over it.
In the dark apartment, the Sneasel’s eyes could clearly make out the layout of the room before her. Tom, who had been dozing off on a chair lifted his head and looked at her as she passed by. Rikalia did her best to plead to him to stay quiet without making a sound, holding one of her bitten and raw claws up to her mouth. A lazy look to Ruby and a nod from her was all Tom needed to cooperate.
Rikalia crept through the kitchen to the living room, where she knew Iruni to be sleeping. He was lying on the couch, back turned away from the rest of the room, fast asleep on his side. She scanned his immediate surroundings to see if his Pokédex was close by. Luckily, it was lying on the floor just in front of the couch. She quietly snatched it up off of the floor, hoping that he wouldn’t wake in the middle of night and try and find it.
She soon returned to the balcony with Ruby and shut the door behind her.
“Got it,” Rikalia said, determined. A few moments of trying to access the device soon renewed her frustration however. “Why won’t it work?”
“What’s wrong with it?” Ruby asked. She couldn’t read anything on the screen, but there were blank spaces and a keypad to be typed on.
“It’s asking for a… ‘password’. What’s that?” asked Rikalia.
“It’s like a key to a lock. You need to put in whatever word or number he chose to use that thing.”
“Why would he need to lock away whatever is in here? Is he that paranoid?” Rikalia grumbled.
“It’s a common thing for humans to do, you know. Privacy,” Ruby reminded her.
“I know,” Rikalia spat. “Sorry, I’m just… so close.”
“What do you think he’d use as a password?” asked Ruby. “People tend to use something they’ll always remember or something important to them.”
“It wants numbers, but I see little letters under most of them… but there’s multiples?” Rikalia stared at the keypad and tried making sense of the system. Not only would she need to figure out if the password was a “word”, but also how to enter that word in this strange number form. She began to take back her initial distaste for how humans wrote things down; they had her kind beat when writing things in code.
“So,” Rikalia thought out loud. “These numbers count as any of the letters underneath them, I guess.”
She sat back against the door and tapped out a few words she guessed that might be right. She tried his name, his full name, last name, Kate’s, but nothing worked.
…something important to them. Rikalia remembered Ruby’s words of explanation about humans and their passwords and had an idea. She felt almost childish and embarrassed to be so hopeful that her idea was the correct one, but she tried it anyway.
“7, 4, 5, 2, 5, 4, 2…” Rikalia said to herself as she typed the numbers in. She let out a short gasp in surprise as the Pokédex unlocked at her suggestion.
“Hey, you figured it out!” Ruby said, sitting close to Rikalia again. “Good job! I’m impressed. So, what was his password?”
Rikalia shrunk down and felt her face grow hot.
“I think it was… my name,” said the embarrassed Sneasel. She winced at the predictable response from Ruby.
“Aww,” gushed the Espeon. “Look at that, he does care. He’s got your name protecting all his little secrets.”
“Shut up.” Rikalia began going through the device’s many menus and screens, careful not to damage the seemingly delicate screen with her sharp claws. She had looked through it a few times, like this morning, but this time she didn’t have much idea what to look for. She had to replace it within a few hours as well, so she couldn’t take her time as much as she wished. The device served many purposes, an annoying one of these was that it would make a series of loud noises at the same time every morning—most mornings, anyway—which awoke anyone around it.
“Maybe he keeps a journal,” suggested Ruby. “It’s like a… record of personal thoughts.”
“He does one of those for his work, I think,” said Rikalia. “He talks into it and he says his words are sent off to Professor Elm.”
“I don’t think it would be like that if he’s keeping it private,” said the Espeon. “Are there any things in there like… notes or something like that?”
“A journal…” said Rikalia as she tapped the icon to the [Notes] icon. She forced away the momentary pangs of contempt and annoyance of reading plain human words, but she seemed to find what Ruby was describing. “It’s a bunch of blocks of text with some numbers before each block. I think he said they’re called ‘daytes’?”
“Those just say when he wrote them. You think those are what you need?” Ruby asked.
“I think so,” Rikalia said, counting backwards in her head. “This first one was done the day he came out of the ruins!”
“Sounds like we hit the jackpot,” Ruby urged. “If you think he’s hiding something, there’s probably where he hid it.”
Rikalia nodded and began to read through the entries:
[5/23/00
[Alright, so I guess the best way to start one of these is to just jump in.
[I can’t really tell what is real anymore. So much has happened, or at least I think it did. It’s all so impossible. I’m going to keep this private journal for a while, just to get these thoughts down somewhere. I’m scared. I’ve never faced anything like this. A Legendary Pokémon? What does she want from me? What could she even want from me? What could I even do? I just hope Cynthia is alright. She called herself, what? A ‘guardian angel’? Hell of a way to show it. Spying on and manipulating us.
[I guess… she did end up saving our lives, but how else am I supposed to take what happened? We almost starved to death.
[I saw Alice—and the guy who saved her gave me a Drapion. One more thing to the pile of stuff that doesn’t make sense. She looks awful. I feel bad for leaving her, but I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help her.
[Good news finally: I’ll be out of the hospital soon. They’re not keeping me overnight. Hooray… at least there’s something looking up. I guess I’m not as bad as I feel.
[
[
[I hope Rika isn’t too mad once I let her out. I know she hated the idea of being locked up in her ball. Now she’s been in there for weeks. Can I even tell her about what happened?]
As she finished the first entry, Rikalia found herself asking many questions. There were many things that she hadn’t been told of and she soon guessed why.
“Something must have happened while I was put in my ball…” she realized. “But who’s been watching us?”
Another journal entry was dated for early that morning, a few hours after the initial entry:
[5/24/00
[She was just here. Here, in front of me.
[After being down in those ruins, then that strange place in the snow, I wasn’t even sure if any of that even happened. But she just popped up, right in the hotel room like she had a damn room key!
[I can’t believe I’m being roped into something that’s way out of my league, AGAIN. Cartographer work is one thing, but this? What she’s done to Coralis—hell, even to me? Maybe even Rika?]
“What? Who did what to me?” Rikalia asked aloud. Ruby could only offer a concerned look. What could Iruni be talking about? Did something happen to her while she was in her Poké Ball, or sometime sooner?
[I don’t know how I’m going to handle this. Why didn’t I just say no? I don’t need to do this. Oh but she says I’ll end up helping her regardless so I guess this is the best course of action, isn’t it? I just I had some help.
[What do I do? Who could even help with this? It’s not like I can call for— Wait, maybe I can call for help. Maybe. Hopefully. Gotta check.]
“This last entry is from this morning too…” said Rikalia:
[5/24/00
[I really lucked out—I guess, relatively, or whatever. Can anything that happens to me be considered luck anymore? Thoughts for another time…
[Magnet train tickets were usually pretty pricey but thanks to the league changes we’re free to come and go at a nice discount. But I wouldn’t need to go to Kanto on a whim if I wasn’t being… what? Coerced into helping some time-traveling—]
“Huh?” Rikalia stared at the screen, confused. “Ruby, what does ‘time-traveling’ mean?” Rikalia knew the words when they were separate, but didn’t know what they meant together like they were.
“That means… something impossible. It means being able to move forward, or backward, in time and history. Why?”
“He talks about it in here…” Rikalia said as she continued to read.
[—some time-traveling little sprite? I guess I’m to blame. I could get help and keep her away from me if I really wanted to. But here I am, dropping practically everything just to find out anything I can about her. Well, it’s not just about Celebi, Coralis’ life is at stake too.]
“Celebi…?” Rikalia muttered.
Ruby’s fur stood on end at the mention of the name, but didn’t speak up.
[It’s almost funny. I’m not really scared for my own life, but I really don’t want my family or my Pokémon getting wrapped up in this. If what she said is true… god I don’t know what can happen if anything goes wrong. Rika, Kar, hell even my family could get pulled into this if I’m not careful. Rika might already be… I hope I’m wrong about that. Celebi’s not that cruel, right?]
“There it is again. What happened to me?” Rikalia frantically read on.
[Then that other thing she said about Rika and I. Could she really mean it like that? It’s not that I’m opposed to that kind of thing, I guess, but I don’t have that sort of thing on my mind right now. I have to focus on what’s at hand. I guess we’ll be in Saffron in a little while.
[I should probably wake up Rika. She’ll be surprised to be somewhere new again, I bet.]
The entries stopped there.
“For someone who cares enough about me to work behind by back to protect me from who-knows-what is going on, you’d think he’d actually tell me about all this stuff!” Rikalia growled. She stared at the glowing device in her paws in frustration, wishing more answers were hidden inside it somewhere. “I hate not knowing things…”
“So, now you know what he’s been up to,” Ruby said. “Do you feel better?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” She turned away and stared out at the city before her. “He’s… trying to keep me safe from something. Everyone. Karros, you, Katie. Is Celebi dangerous?”
“If what I’ve heard is true, it’s possible,” Ruby warned. “What’s he getting himself into?”
“I don’t know. He still pissed me off today,” Rikalia said. “But… I guess he had good intentions.”
“He must have,” Ruby nudged the Sharp Claw Pokémon’s head with her own affectionately. “He cares about all of us to try and handle this all on his own. He’ll come around soon.”
“He will. I’ll call him out on all this,” she said, gripping Iruni’s Pokédex. “Tomorrow.”
—————
[Cartographer Log: 5/25/00]
[Cartographer ID: A. J. Wingborne (79053)]
[Cartographer #2 (A.J. Wingborne): “Good morning, Professor.
C2: “I’m sorry I haven’t given a Log update in a while… or seen any new Pokémon recently.
C2: “I’m still in the hospital.
C2: “I don’t… they don’t think I’m well enough to leave.
C2: “I’m… I keep having nightmares. I keep thinking I hear things. I’m so… afraid.
C2: “I was never cut out for this. I was chosen poorly. I’m an awful trainer.
C2: “I don’t know if I can keep doing this work you have for me, but I know how important it is. I know more than anyone else.
C2: “But I can’t!
C2: {sobbing}
C2: “I’m, I’m, I’m—
C2: “I know I have no… right to do this, but I’m sending you… the contact information of… someone who could do my job much better.
C2: “I’ve talked about him before, his name’s Allan.
C2: “He’ll do a much better—
{Knocking}
C2: “Oh, Yes? Come in?”
Unknown #1: “Good morning, Alice Jane Wingborne. I’ve heard you were under some distress recently.”
C2: “Galian? Is that you?”
U1: “It is. I wondered if you might want some assistance.”
C2: “With what? Who are these people? Where are your other friends from Blackthorn?”]
—————
To Be Continued…
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The Dark Type