Main Hall - Cotton Down Lounge

[Seren]

Don't mind me," she said before clearing her throat, trying to get that stuffy dullness out of her voice. She sniffled deeply as she placed her glasses back over her eyes. "Marshadow tore into our psyches a little bit. But he'll be helping us from now on."

So Odette had succeeded in recruiting her latest mythic, too. It seemed to have cost a lot more than Kimiko's own visit to cresselia that morning, but she supposed that make some amount of sense for a ghost-type. Still, that didn't answer just what happened, but... something told her she shouldn't ask. At least, not right now.

She was mildly surprised Odette let her champion status slip so casually like that, given how secret she had been with it earlier. Given the context of her crying, Kimiko thought maybe she was just playing it off as a figure of speech. But on the other hand, given the context of specializing on ghost-types, maybe she’d just had a slip of the tongue. She was in kind of a rough state.

Kimiko decided not to mention that either, regardless. “Violet and I were able to convince Cresselia to help us earlier this morning, too,” she said instead, hoping the change in topic might help take Odette’s mind off... whatever marshadow did to her.

With a sigh, she rolled her eyes. "̶I̶'̷m̶ ̷a̵l̸s̸o̴ ̴f̵i̶n̶e̷.̴ ̴M̵a̵r̸s̷h̶a̵d̵o̷w̶ ̷l̶i̴k̵e̷s̴ ̸s̸o̴u̶l̷s̶ ̵t̴o̷u̷c̵h̸e̴d̵ ̵b̵y̶ ̸d̶e̴a̸t̶h̶,̴ ̸a̷n̴d̷ ̸t̴h̷a̷t̶'̴s̷ ̶w̸h̴a̶t̷ ̶i̷t̸ ̶g̶o̶t̶.̸ ̸N̴o̶w̴ ̵i̵t̵'̴s̷ ̶h̸e̴l̵p̴i̶n̵g̷,̶ ̶s̸o̵ ̷w̴e̷'̶r̵e̸ ̸g̸o̶o̴d̵.̷"̷

Olivia was not satisfied with this response, tail swishing and mind burning with questions. She’d already talked back to cresselia today, why not up her game? Besides, if her human saw her having a friendly conversation, maybe she’d be less scared of Odile, too!

“Are you certain?” She asked. “I can’t imagine there is much that would make a god cry!”

But then Enora appeared, to which Olivia trilled a greeting, and that was the end of the espeon’s inquiries, as the sylveon immediately tried to get everyone back on track.

She then eyed Kimiko. "Thanks for playing lookout. We shouldn't be in there too long, hopefully. But if you see anything even remotely weird, you let us know. Better safe than sorry."

“Of course,” Kimiko replied. “Gotta make myself useful somehow.”

While we're in there, we want to look for anything it looks like this might open. Clink gave it to me earlier, but it didn't say what it would open."

“Drinks sound good to me,” she added, turning to Mitch. She wasn’t really a big drinker to begin with, but after the week everyone had, she figured they all could stand to unwind a bit.

But then he continued speaking. He hadn’t mentioned anything about that key when she’d asked him how the talk with Clink had gone! She was aware of the frustration building, and this time she didn't think Odile's proximity was the cause (although perhaps that could still be an influence....) Was it because she wasn’t in on the break in squad? What did that matter, though? They were all supposed to be working together; the whole reason she'd come to talk to him was to get his information to pass along to the rest of the trainers! Why would he have not mentioned it??

She bit her tongue instead of snapping at him, though; there would be time for questions afterwards, and he did mention it now. And it sounded like Mitch suspected the key might open something in Xavian's room? Or... perhaps Orzo's? She had her own suspicion about what the key might be for, of course, but she figured she'd wait until the results of the investigation.

The lounge doors were just ahead. If anyone was going to help, they were running out of time to do so...

A sound distracted her anyway, and she looked up to see another party approaching. Steven, their host, and all their Pokémon - Orzo included. Perfect! Now Steven just had to bring him to Gen, and they could get started...

Steven had a somewhat manic expression on his face, though. He clearly wasn’t happy about something. Again, she wondered if something happened between him and Odette…? No, wait, she had said she'd been crying because of Marshadow… It seemed maybe Steven wasn't interested in joining them for this lunch, despite his words to the contrary, and Kimiko couldn’t blame him. In his shoes, she wouldn’t particularly feel comfortable sharing a casual meal with Orzo right now, either. Maybe she could convince him to stay and talk for a while instead? It would give her something to actually do while waiting for the team to finish the job...

Besides, she’d feel a lot less uneasy about being the only person on standby with someone else there to help if she needed it, and who better to have by her side than a champion?

Suddenly she began to panic, wondering why they all had met up directly in front of their target. They’d have been better off waiting out in the hall or something, somewhere that Xavian wouldn't think looked so suspicious... Then again, maybe they could play it off as just meeting up to discuss their situation? Think fast, she told herself.

She quickly snatched a book from the shelf - something about Hoenn legends that she recognized from her previous research into the Golden King - and then turned to address the newcomers as they approached. Time to put her acting skills to work. “Good afternoon, Mr. Montorzi!" she said brightly, putting as much cheer into her voice as she could muster without sounding so obviously faked. "I hear Gen’s treating you to a special lunch! You deserve a break from this mess we’ve all been roped into. It must be very difficult for you most of all!" Then a nod at his pokemon. "And Clink, Orzo, I’m glad to see you both up and about! I hope you’re feeling better.”

She turned to Steven, a pointed look in her eye. She decided to keep it formal, though she'd met him once already. “And Mr. Stone! I’m glad you’re here too! Very good timing! You’re from Hoenn even in your universe, correct?” She gestured vaguely at the party behind her. “We we’re just discussing some options for moving forward, and I was hoping you could provide us your insight on a few things!” She waved the book she'd picked up at him. "Is this a good time? It's kind of important... but I guess I don't really need to tell you that, do I?"

It was vague, sure, but she hoped it sounded important enough to get him off the hook. And maybe if she were lucky, they really could discuss a plan. For now, though, she'd settle for just convincing him to stay for a while.

 

[Sinderella]

"Great. Sounds like a plan. And then drinks after, right?"

Odette stifled a bitter laugh. "Plenty of drinks after," she agreed.

Kimiko decided not to mention that either, regardless. “Violet and I were able to convince Cresselia to help us earlier this morning, too,” she said instead, hoping the change in topic might help take Odette’s mind off... whatever marshadow did to her.

But, that was good news. It seemed like everyone was helping get all the mythicals on their side for...whatever was gunning for them now. That offered at least a little peace of mind.

“Are you certain?” She asked. “I can’t imagine there is much that would make a god cry!”

But then Enora appeared, to which Olivia trilled a greeting, and that was the end of the espeon’s inquiries, as the sylveon immediately tried to get everyone back on track.

Gods DAMN this fucking Espeon was persistent. Did she think this was gonna end well, pestering the literal God of Wrath like this? Why couldn't this Espeon be as airheaded as the other one that hung around Wes.

Odile inhaled a sharp breath, as if she were bracing to give a violent tongue lashing.


Her exhale was shaky though, and all tension left her shoulders as she breathed out.

"̵N̷o̷.̴ ̶T̴h̵e̸r̷e̷ ̵i̸s̴n̸'̵t̴.̴ ̴A̵n̸d̶ ̸I̸ ̶d̵o̷n̴'̸t̵ ̴w̵a̵n̶n̸a̶ ̵t̷a̵l̶k̸ ̸a̵b̶o̴u̶t̸ ̷i̴t̷ ̶r̸i̷g̷h̸t̶ ̶n̶o̷w̸.̷"̶

Enora's appearance thankfully ended the conversation before it could struggle on much longer.

Mightyena accepted Odette's head-pat with a wag, then licked at the tainer's hand, if she wasn't going to get close enough for Mightyena to reach her face. Then she sat down right where she was, with every apparent intention to stay there.

She did briefly glance back at Mightyena, and she felt herself smirk again. What a sweet 'mon, honestly. Being in the presence of both her partners, this Pokemon she barely knew so willing to stand next to her to make sure all was well, and some familiar faces she'd come to enjoy made her feel...a lot better. Perfect timing, honestly.

"While we're in there, we want to look for anything it looks like this might open. Clink gave it to me earlier, but it didn't say what it would open." He tucked the key back into his pocket before he dropped the damn thing. "Mightyena says Clink said some interesting shit, too. Like Orzo was going out for a late-night stroll and Clink decided to follow, and that's when they ran into that chick with the Roselia. The roselia's the one that got Clink, but it don't think on purpose. It thinks the roselia meant to hit something else."

She didn't have much time to dwell on that, because Nate...had a key? From Clink? Well, that was fucking convenient wasn't it? And when the hell had they spoken to Clink? She supposed it didn't matter, because Nate had some very juicy information to offer.

"So maybe Clink certainly got caught in the crossfire...but Orzo...?" she mused.

"Yes, I'm sure the dinner will be wonderful," said Steven, slightly louder than his usual speaking voice. He hoped Odette or Kimiko or hell, even Wes would overhear his conversation with Xavian and realize he'd been roped into more than he bargained for. "Gen has told me all about his culinary skills, so I'm not sure which dish I'm most looking forward to--"

She turned to Steven, a pointed look in her eye. She decided to keep it formal, though she'd met him once already. “And Mr. Stone! I’m glad you’re here too! Very good timing! You’re from Hoenn even in your universe, correct?” She gestured vaguely at the party behind her. “We we’re just discussing some options for moving forward, and I was hoping you could provide us your insight on a few things!” She waved the book she'd picked up at him. "Is this a good time? It's kind of important... but I guess I don't really need to tell you that, do I?"

She couldn't finish the thought before Steven's voice hit her ears. She whipped her head around to see just what was going on, only to be met with the sight of Steven leading Xavian, Orzo, and Clink out into the lounge, yapping up a storm. Fantastic, so it seemed that the distraction was--

Oh. That look wasn't lost on her. Those pleading "get me out of here" eyes. She felt a sudden pang of guilt, as all she'd wanted him to do was get Xavian, Orzo, and Clink to go to Dragons Maw, not rope himself into going with them. Fuck, fuck, fuck, she needed to--

Nope. She didn't. Her parallel was on it. Rushing over in the nick of time to intercept Steven and pull him out of that scenario. Thank the actual fucking gods.

As she managed to pull him away, and as the suspect trio left the lounge, she turned to look between both Wes and Nate and their Pokemon partners, before exchanging looks with Odile and Enora. When it looked to her everyone was ready to go, she nodded toward the door.

"Let's move."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven was about three paces from the door when Kimiko stepped out from the group and headed their way. She gave Xavian a polite greeting, maybe a little too saccharine but Steven was in no place to judge. (It was a wonder he hadn't blown it yet with his own rambling.)

She had a book in her hand, and after greeting Clink and Orzo, too, she put herself as squarely between himself and the lounge doors without completely blocking the exit. When she spoke, Steven was so relieved he could have hugged her right there.

She turned to Steven, a pointed look in her eye. She decided to keep it formal, though she'd met him once already. “And Mr. Stone! I’m glad you’re here too! Very good timing! You’re from Hoenn even in your universe, correct?” She gestured vaguely at the party behind her. “We we’re just discussing some options for moving forward, and I was hoping you could provide us your insight on a few things!” She waved the book she'd picked up at him. "Is this a good time? It's kind of important... but I guess I don't really need to tell you that, do I?"

"Ah, Miss Kimiko, it's no problem. If it's important I'm happy to help." Emphasis on happy, he thought to himself. He was so thrilled he hardly. noticed she'd called him "mister."

He turned to Xavian, the apologetic look on his face more sincere than their host would hopefully ever know.


"My apologies, Mr. Montorzi. I don't want to hold you up. Please, go on ahead to the Dragons' Maw without me. Aggron and I will join you later once we're finished here."

He really didn't want to have to face Xavian again, actually, but that was unlikely at best, and Aggron had been chatting away with Clink the entire time. Maybe, after all this break-in nonsense was over, and he had time to clear his head and actually prepare himself, he would go. But certainly not before.

He watched as Aggron said goodbye to Clink, then turned to Kimiko and her book. He scanned the title and gave the nearby couches a lingering look.


"Now, what was it you'd like to discuss about Hoenn Legendaries?"

Out of view of Xavian and his pokemon, Steven mouthed, 'thank you,' so that only Kimiko would see.

 

[Seren]

"Now, what was it you'd like to discuss about Hoenn Legendaries?"

Out of view of Xavian and his pokemon, Steven mouthed, 'thank you,' so that only Kimiko would see.

Noticing the way Steven gazed towards the nearby couch, Kimiko gestured over to one (one that had a good view of both Xavian's room and the lounge's entrance) and headed towards it, with Steven and Aggron in tow. As soon as she sat down, Olivia climbed up into her lap and curled up comfortably, the espeon's eyes shifting between Aggron and Steven, full of curiosity.

"You're welcome. Looked like you could use an escape route," Kimiko replied once Xavian left and the break-in party moved towards his room. It was odd to her that Steven offered to join him for the meal later, given his somewhat pained expression... she had thought he didn't want to be there at all. Maybe she'd been mistaken? She hoped she hadn't pulled him away for nothing... but no, he did thank her for it.

"Anyway," she continued, setting the book down between them and stroking Olivia's fur, "I don't actually have anything to discuss about legends, and frankly I kind of want to keep it that way at the moment. I wouldn't mind the company though, if you have the time. I volunteered to play lookout while they investigate the room, and we didn't get a chance to talk much while looking for Shaymin." She looked away briefly, watching the spot where the others had vanished on their excursion. There was a part of her that kept expecting them to come running back out while being chased by a hoopa or something, but no... Orzo had gone to Gen's lunch, too. She'd seen him herself. Stop being so damn paranoid, they'll be fine. It's not like he's set traps for them.

Now, as she sat with Steven in relative silence, she felt somewhat awkward. Normally silences didn't bother her, but she'd been the once to convince Steven to hang back, so... now what?

"So... you weren't at our meeting last night," she started. "I heard you were in the infirmary with Wallace. How's he doing?"

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"You're welcome. Looked like you could use an escape route," Kimiko replied once Xavian left and the break-in party moved towards his room.

Steven plopped down on the couch Kimiko had picked out, elbows on his knees and head in his hands. He sat like that for a moment before letting out a heavy breath, and dragging his hands through the mess of his hair.

Aggron settled down next to the armrest at Steven's side and rested his chin atop it. From there he could keep an eye on Steven but also study the rather curious Espeon in Kimiko's lap as well.

At this point, Steven's bangs had flipped back to their rightful place, and he suddenly sat back, slumping against the backrest, head upturned. One hand flopped weakly over Aggon's snout, the other limply upturned on the cushion next to him.


"Do you think he bought it?" he asked Kimiko, even though his gaze was still aimed at the ceiling. The exhaustion was clear in his voice, and Aggron gave a quiet whine, flipping his snout to gently jostle his trainer's hand.

Steven let his head roll to face Kimiko, but didn't mover otherwise. He was tired of putting up pretenses. He was tired, he was drained, and he wasn't going to bother hiding it any more.

"Thank you, by the way. Odette asked me to... distract Xavian. Convince him to go to this lunch or dinner or whatever it was so he'd leave the room. I never expected him to ask me to go with him."

He paused, drawing in another deep breath and staring back at the ceiling. "I couldn't think of a good reason to not go, so. I had to play along."

Aggron rumbled a low note of worry, and Steven lifted his hand from Aggron's snout and draped it over his eyes. "There was no way I could have kept that charade up for however many hours it would have been at the restaurant. I don't know why I said I'd join him later. Maybe to keep up the pretense?"

He sighed again and shook his head. "I'm not cut out for this kind of thing."

He let his hand slide from his face and began to absentmindedly rub along Aggron's jawline, gaze turning back to Kimiko. The look in his eyes was sincere. "You saved me from that, so believe me, I mean it. Thank you.

"Anyway," she continued, setting the book down between them and stroking Olivia's fur, "I don't actually have anything to discuss about legends, and frankly I kind of want to keep it that way at the moment. I wouldn't mind the company though, if you have the time. I volunteered to play lookout while they investigate the room, and we didn't get a chance to talk much while looking for Shaymin."

Steven gave a weak chuckle. "I figured as much. And truthfully, some idle chit chat is probably what I need right about now. This festival, I swear..."

He trailed off, not sure what to really say after that. They all were caught in the middle of this mess. Everyone, even--

"So... you weren't at our meeting last night," she started. "I heard you were in the infirmary with Wallace. How's he doing?"

Steven visibly tensed at the mention of Wallace's name. "Ah, yes, Blue mentioned something about a meeting. I suppose that's what I get for rushing off at the end of the day like that."

Gods he was painfully out of the loop.


"But Wallace. He's... alright. Nurse Joy said he's recovering." The sight of him and Victoria in their room flashed through his mind, and his hand clenched against the couch cushion. "He should be okay in time."

He lapsed into silence again. He knew he was being poor company right now, but everything from the last few days felt like it was weighing down upon him in that moment. Clink, Wallace, even the missing trainers, Reena, Hayes, the others. Even Irene. What was supposed to be a relaxing festival had turned into a nightmare for everyone. He wanted it to stop.

"I hope they find something," he finally murmured. "So we can put an end to this once and for all."

 

[Seren]

"Do you think he bought it?" he asked Kimiko, even though his gaze was still aimed at the ceiling. The exhaustion was clear in his voice, and Aggron gave a quiet whine, flipping his snout to gently jostle his trainer's hand.

Steven let his head roll to face Kimiko, but didn't mover otherwise. He was tired of putting up pretenses. He was tired, he was drained, and he wasn't going to bother hiding it any more.

Gods, Steven looked exhausted. It was unusual to see a champion so worn down like this. The Steven she remembered seeing in magazines and such looked far more confident... the way this Steven had, in fact, earlier on in this trip. On the other hand... she remembered what Kirsten once said to her, that even champions are just people at the end of the day. Their bad days aren't often publicized to maintain their image, but behind the scenes... she had been (and still was) dealing with a lot at the time, too, and they weren't immune to the stress that came along with it.

"I don't think he'd have gone if he didn't buy it," Kimiko replied. "Especially taking both Clink and Orzo. What reason could he possibly have for him to suspect he's being led on?" She hoped her voice didn't betray her own doubts, as though she were speaking to reassure herself just as much as Steven.

Olivia must have once again sensed her discomfort; her attention left the other human and his large steely friend, instead opting to lick at her human's fingers as she continued to stroke the espeon absentmindedly.

He let his hand slide from his face and began to absentmindedly rub along Aggron's jawline, gaze turning back to Kimiko. The look in his eyes was sincere. "You saved me from that, so believe me, I mean it. Thank you.

"Don't mention it," she said, waving him off with a shrug. "My reasons weren't entirely selfless. Besides, this sneaking around and deceit thing isn't my strong point, either. I can't blame you for not wanting to sit through an entire meal with that gnawing at you the entire time."

"I hope they find something," he finally murmured. "So we can put an end to this once and for all."

Steven looked somehow even more wiped out after her inquiry than he had only moments ago. Perhaps she shouldn't have asked... still, news that Wallace would recover was good.

"I hope so, too. We're running out of time. Honestly I'm kind of surprised more of us haven't been abducted yet. Anyway, we do know there's a good chance we're on to something with this plan." She pulled out her 'dex and scrolled through her messages to the group chat; Steven was out of the loop, as he said, so he probably hadn't seen what Gladion reported about Hazel's findings. She held it out to him, so he could read it for himself.

"Not sure what the box is about," Kimiko said as Steven read over the message. "And I'm hesitant to put too much thought into Orzo lying to Xavian about where he'd been. Surely Xavian knows Orzo goes into his little pocket dimension or whatever when he rests, so he might just refer to that as 'his room'. But the paining is the interesting thing... that all but confirms that Orzo is involved, whether willingly or not."

Again, her gaze drifted back towards the other end of the lounge. "There's gotta be something else in there more concrete that we can use as solid proof. And honestly, if anyone here can find it, I'm willing to bet on Odette."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"I don't think he'd have gone if he didn't buy it," Kimiko replied. "Especially taking both Clink and Orzo. What reason could he possibly have for him to suspect he's being led on?" She hoped her voice didn't betray her own doubts, as though she were speaking to reassure herself just as much as Steven.

Steven had to resist the urge to say the reason was him being a terrible liar. Instead he slowly nodded and said, "I hope you're right, for everyone's sake."

His gaze fell for a moment. "It's unfortunate. Our host seems like a genuine person. He definitely didn't intend for this festival to turn out how it did."

Steven looked to his partner, still resting his snout on the armrest. They'd both seen what happened to Clink firsthand, what that had done to Xavian, how concerned he had been. Orzo, though...

He nearly voiced his own doubts about Xavian's partner when Kimiko reminded him of what Odette shared before he knocked on Xavian's door.

"I hope so, too. We're running out of time. Honestly I'm kind of surprised more of us haven't been abducted yet. Anyway, we do know there's a good chance we're on to something with this plan." She pulled out her 'dex and scrolled through her messages to the group chat; Steven was out of the loop, as he said, so he probably hadn't seen what Gladion reported about Hazel's findings. She held it out to him, so he could read it for himself.

"The text from Gladion, that's right!" He sat upright with a start, causing Aggron to snort in surprise. Steven scanned the message again to refresh his memory.


The defaced painting, Orzo lying to Xavian. Steven's brow furrowed in thought. When he was at the room, both times, Clink and Xavian were inseparable. But Orzo... He was nowhere to be seen when Clink was ill, and earlier today he had hung back from the door.

Sure if he was still ailing from the poison that would make sense, but this morning at the roll call, he was present up front with Xavian but Clink hadn't been, even though the little Klefki was looking much better today after Shaymin's help. And what Shaymin had said about Orzo, how she felt about him, it stuck out in Steven's mind.

Something wasn't adding up...

"Not sure what the box is about," Kimiko said as Steven read over the message. "And I'm hesitant to put too much thought into Orzo lying to Xavian about where he'd been. Surely Xavian knows Orzo goes into his little pocket dimension or whatever when he rests, so he might just refer to that as 'his room'. But the paining is the interesting thing... that all but confirms that Orzo is involved, whether willingly or not."

"No, I wouldn't be too sure to write Orzo's behavior off," began Steven. "There's too many coincidences to brush that aside."

"Why lie to your trainer, your partner? Do you remember what Shaymin said when we saw her in the forest that day? She offered to heal Clink but was hesitant about Orzo. It can't be coincidence."

"The first day on the island, Clink and Orzo were inseparable, they were both at Xavian's side every time we saw them. Just now, though, that was the first time I'd seen them together since."

"This morning, Orzo was there but not Clink, and when I went to the room today, Orzo hung back when Xavian and Clink answered the door. It's like they're avoiding each other..."


"It could be nothing, but..."

A low growl built in the back of Aggron's throat.

"Something isn't right with Orzo."

Again, her gaze drifted back towards the other end of the lounge. "There's gotta be something else in there more concrete that we can use as solid proof. And honestly, if anyone here can find it, I'm willing to bet on Odette

Steven sat back with a small chuckle. "I'd bet on her, too. She's got the nose of a Stoutland when it comes to digging for what she's searching for.


"Goodness knows she's pried plenty out of me since we've been here."

"Sorry, I know this was supposed to be some idle conversation. Wallace has always told me I'm not the best at knowing how to take it easy."


He relaxed a little in his seat and looked down at the Espeon in Kimiko's lap. "Maybe let's get to know each other a little more. Care to tell me about your partner? Eevee forms aren't as popular in Hoenn, so I'm curious, how did you and Olivia come to meet?"

 

[Seren]

His gaze fell for a moment. "It's unfortunate. Our host seems like a genuine person. He definitely didn't intend for this festival to turn out how it did."

“Yeah, I’m starting to think so, too,” Kimiko admitted with a frown. “I was - understandably, I think - pretty suspicious early on. I think everyone was to some extent. But the recent developments with Clink getting poisoned and his responses to them seem genuine." She then looked back up at Steven with a wry smile. "Either that, or Xavian is a better actor than I am, and if I can be cocky for a moment, I’m pretty good" Then, thinking back to her rushed panic when Steven and Xavian approached them earlier, added, "Well, when I’m prepared anyway.

"Still, I don’t want to rule out the possibility that he’s playing us all, either. It’s easy to let emotion get in the way and cloud opinions, and we can’t afford that.”

Why lie to your trainer, your partner? Do you remember what Shaymin said when we saw her in the forest that day? She offered to heal Clink but was hesitant about Orzo. It can't be coincidence."

"The first day on the island, Clink and Orzo were inseparable, they were both at Xavian's side every time we saw them. Just now, though, that was the first time I'd seen them together since."

"This morning, Orzo was there but not Clink, and when I went to the room today, Orzo hung back when Xavian and Clink answered the door. It's like they're avoiding each other..."

"I'd just as easily believe 'his room' is a figure of speech referring to... wherever he does go when he uses those portals." She took a moment to consider Steven’s words, recalling Shaymin’s reluctance to talk about Orzo, and Mightyena recounting Clink's uncertainty as well. "Still, though... you're right, without proof, we shouldn't be writing anything off at this point."

Then another thought occurred to her. “There’s also that other theory floating around, the possibility that Orzo himself is being controlled by the Golden King, so maybe he really thought he was back in his room, when in reality he then got taken over once he was out of Xavian's sight and doesn’t even remember going into a portal. Also, Clink was at the morning meeting, just… very high up on a balcony. Mitch’s Mightyena talked to him. Regardless, it is kind of strange for Clink and Orzo to be avoiding each other… but Clink isn’t really sure what’s going on either, or so he claims, and Mightyena seemed to think he was genuine too.”

He relaxed a little in his seat and looked down at the Espeon in Kimiko's lap. "Maybe let's get to know each other a little more. Care to tell me about your partner? Eevee forms aren't as popular in Hoenn, so I'm curious, how did you and Olivia come to meet?"

Olivia perked up at the sound of her name, ear twitching curiously. She took that as her cue to stand up and inch closer to Steven, sniffing around his arm.

Meanwhile, the change in topic was a welcome one to Kimiko; they’d indeed been dealing with this situation far too long as it was. Talking about it further wouldn’t improve anyone’s mood. It was nice to be able to discuss something else, although she'd have to be careful to avoid the incidents that followed.

“A friend,” Kimiko replied simply, smiling down at her partner before elaborating. “They’re not common where I’m from either. I wanted an espeon since I was little. And... well, long story short, a friend of mine trains a flareon, and due to a prior, uh... let's call it an inconvenience, she felt like she owed me a favor. So she got in contact with a breeder and gave me an egg, that turned out to be a tiny eevee."

Her smile faded once again into a frown as she recalled the hatching. Don't think of him, don't think of him, don't... "It was a little chaotic, though. At the same time she was hatching, my boyfriend was being attacked by a wild pokemon. It broke his arm. I keep thinking, if only I'd been paying attention to him instead..." She shook her head, forcing her smile back on. No more negativity, either. "Anyways, Olivia and I bonded very quickly after that."

Kimiko cast her gaze over to Aggron, so far a (mostly) silent sentry beside his trainer. "What about you, then? I'm sure a champion has a fascinating story to tell about how he met his partner."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"Either that, or Xavian is a better actor than I am, and if I can be cocky for a moment, I’m pretty good" Then, thinking back to her rushed panic when Steven and Xavian approached them earlier, added, "Well, when I’m prepared anyway.

"Still, I don’t want to rule out the possibility that he’s playing us all, either. It’s easy to let emotion get in the way and cloud opinions, and we can’t afford that.”

Well, that got a laugh out of Steven. The tension seemed to melt from the room even if they were both still in the thick of it.


"The book you grabbed was a nice prop," he said, still laughing gently. "As much as I agree we need to remain vigilant, unless Mr. Montorzi is secretly a Pokestar Studios generational talent, he isn't our mastermind. And at that rate, well, I doubt there's much we can do other than shake our heads and laugh."


"I saw his face when we went to Clink's aid. He was genuinely afraid of losing his partner. I cannot imagine he's behind these attacks that target trainers and their beloved pokemon."

"If anything, whoever is doing this is angry and upset with everything Xavian and his festival stand for. Maybe even jealous of what Xavian has and believes in."

Steven's mind drifted back to his encounter with Irene. Her motivations for targeting those more fortunate than her. It drove her to do things she regretted. Whoever or whatever was doing this had no qualms about it.

“There’s also that other theory floating around, the possibility that Orzo himself is being controlled by the Golden King, so maybe he really thought he was back in his room, when in reality he then got taken over once he was out of Xavian's sight and doesn’t even remember going into a portal.

"That's an interesting theory," said Steven. "It would certainly explain Orzo's actions, and Clink's uncertainty. I wonder if this is the case, what we can do about it?"

He lapsed into silence as he thought more about it, but it was short lived as he felt a curious sniff against his hand.

Olivia perked up at the sound of her name, ear twitching curiously. She took that as her cue to stand up and inch closer to Steven, sniffing around his arm.

Steven smiled at the Espeon and turned his palm up for her to sniff further, happy to offer her a headscratch if she so desired. He could see why the Eon evolutions were so popular with trainers.

He listened intently to Kimiko's story, nodding along. It was heartening to hear Olivia was a dream come true for her. His smile was only interrupted when his eyes went wide at the part when Olivia's egg finally hatched, where it was quickly replaced by a frown as Kimiko expressed disappointment in herself.


"No trainer should feel guilty about welcoming their new partner into the world," he said. "If you had left her to aid your boyfriend, who's to say the wild pokemon wouldn't have gone after Olivia instead?"


He shook his head, but his tone was gentle. "You're only one person. You can't protect everyone."


Aggron rumbled something back at him, and Steven let a thin smile slip through. Of course, he knew it was much as Aggron did. Hypocrite, but what else was new?

They'd learned that lesson the hard way... There was a whole island's worth of trainers who wanted to protect the ones they care about most. This wasn't a problem any of them could tackle alone.

Kimiko cast her gaze over to Aggron, so far a (mostly) silent sentry beside his trainer. "What about you, then? I'm sure a champion has a fascinating story to tell about how he met his partner."

Aggron's gaze quickly turned smug as Kimiko asked about him. Steven knew the big steel type loved it every time he had to tell the tale of how fancy celebrity Steven Stone wouldn't have made it without being saved from the bottom of a cave by a humble, little Aron.

Steven at least hoped Kimiko would feel better knowing the first time he met Aggron wasn't too different than when she met Olivia.


"Funny you should mention a broken arm..." he began. "That may have been the way Aggron found me in Granite Cave, back when he was an Aron and I was a much younger boy."

"I hadn't known at the time, but he'd been left there by his former trainer. It's really quite fortunate though, because he wasn't skittish about coming right up to me after I fell. Otherwise, well, things might have turned out a bit different. I was in no condition to get myself out of that cave, that's for sure."

Aggron rumbled in agreement, shifting to playfully bump Steven's shoulder with his snout. You're so lucky to have met me.


"I owe Aggron an awful lot," Steven said, used to his partner's song and dance when it came to this particular story. He reached up to give Aggron an affectionate rub under the chin, and decided next time he'd tell the story about how Aggron kept falling into Trapinch pits in the desert when he was an Aron. "We might not have met out partners in the most idyllic circumstances, but it doesn't diminish our bond with them whatsoever."

"Whether or not anyone here cares to admit it, they share that same bond with their own partner, I'm sure of it."

 

[Seren]

"I saw his face when we went to Clink's aid. He was genuinely afraid of losing his partner. I cannot imagine he's behind these attacks that target trainers and their beloved pokemon."

"If anything, whoever is doing this is angry and upset with everything Xavian and his festival stand for. Maybe even jealous of what Xavian has and believes in."

Kimiko was about to argue; just because Xavian wasn't the mastermind didn't mean he wasn't in on it. But then Steven continued, and she realized that he had seen Xavian at his weakest point. By that experience, she decided to trust Steven's judgment. "That's a good point," she conceded. "It's a pretty elaborate setup to maintain if he really is in on it. This whole thing does make more sense when you look at it from the Golden King perspective. But that just feels too... obvious now. Maybe I'm just paranoid."

Then again... if the thing really was angry or jealous of Xavian, why take it out on him, personally? What better way to torment the man who set up the festival than by harassing the innocents brought along for the ride? That was a... familiar tactic.

"That's an interesting theory," said Steven. "It would certainly explain Orzo's actions, and Clink's uncertainty. I wonder if this is the case, what we can do about it?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," she replied. "I mean, I have a fair bit of experience with ghostly possessions due to the situation back home, and I'm sure Odette knows a thing or two about that, too. So there's a couple of tricks we could attempt if it comes to a head. And if I'm not mistaken, hoopa are part ghost." She shivered at that thought, a fact that hadn't really been on her mind. That certainly wasn't helping the unease she felt about Orzo...

"But that's assuming that's what this case is. It's just as likely to be something psychic. Mind control or whatever. I assume another psychic could do something about that... although given hoopa is a mythical, either case might require more than one pokemon assisting each other."

"Funny you should mention a broken arm..." he began. "That may have been the way Aggron found me in Granite Cave, back when he was an Aron and I was a much younger boy."

"I hadn't known at the time, but he'd been left there by his former trainer. It's really quite fortunate though, because he wasn't skittish about coming right up to me after I fell. Otherwise, well, things might have turned out a bit different. I was in no condition to get myself out of that cave, that's for sure."

"I owe Aggron an awful lot," Steven said, used to his partner's song and dance when it came to this particular story. He reached up to give Aggron an affectionate rub under the chin, and decided next time he'd tell the story about how Aggron kept falling into Trapinch pits in the desert when he was an Aron. "We might not have met out partners in the most idyllic circumstances, but it doesn't diminish our bond with them whatsoever."

As Steven told his story, Kimiko watched Aggron. "You're lucky he was around, then," she said, addressing Steven. Then, to Aggron, "And you must feel the same. I can't imagine it's fun when a trainer and their partner split up, regardless of whether it was a messy or mutual breakup or not. And now look, you're part of a champion team! I wish we had time to see how strong you really are."

The more Steven spoke, the more he reminded her of Kirsten. Both powerful, intelligent, confident champions, but behind the scenes, both were very down-to-earth, easy to talk to... and not nearly as unshakable as they looked on TV. And they always seemed to know what to say. Something about that made her feel more at ease, and she found herself smiling despite everything.

"Oh, not at all!" she said as Olivia turned back to her and nuzzled her head into her human's shoulder, and Kimiko gave her espeon a one-armed hug. "In fact, the days after Olivia hatched weren't any easier, and that only helped us bond quicker, I think. Friends forged in fire, or something like that, y'know?"

"Whether or not anyone here cares to admit it, they share that same bond with their own partner, I'm sure of it."

She nodded in agreement, thinking back to everyone she'd met so far. "You know, despite everything that's happened, I don't doubt that in the least. Odette and her team, Wes and his eevees, Mitch and Mightyena... hell, even that crazy assassin Wes had his own eevees defending him like their lives depended on it. Whoever made up the guest list for this thing really knew what they were doing. Well, at least, in that department."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Kimiko was about to argue; just because Xavian wasn't the mastermind didn't mean he wasn't in on it. But then Steven continued, and she realized that he had seen Xavian at his weakest point. By that experience, she decided to trust Steven's judgment. "That's a good point," she conceded. "It's a pretty elaborate setup to maintain if he really is in on it. This whole thing does make more sense when you look at it from the Golden King perspective. But that just feels too... obvious now. Maybe I'm just paranoid."

"If it was that obvious, wouldn't we have been able to figure out who was doing this sooner?" said Steven, musing out loud as his gaze drifted to a corner of the room in thought. His tone wasn't accusatory or denigrating; it was like he was turning the ideas over in his own head as he spoke. "Sometimes the solution might feel simple, when in reality it never was. And honestly, it doesn't hurt to be cautious, especially when dealing with a foe that's as powerful as this one is."

Aggron gave a snort, recognizing that far off look in his trainer's eyes when Steven got lost in his own thoughts, and Steven snapped from his musings with a start. He cleared his throat and gave Kimiko an apologetic look.


"Ah, I'm sorry, I've gotten on a bit of a soapbox, haven't I? Either way, it's all hindsight at this point. We can't go back in time and change what happened. All we can do is keep pressing forward and try to put a stop to it."

He hazarded a glance over toward the hallway that lead to Xavian's quarters. He wasn't entirely sure how long Kimiko and he had been chatting, but the sooner they were out of there, the better, in his humble opinion. Then again, it would be even more frustrating if they came back empty-handed and no closer to confirming what Orzo's role was in all this...

"Your guess is as good as mine," she replied. "I mean, I have a fair bit of experience with ghostly possessions due to the situation back home, and I'm sure Odette knows a thing or two about that, too. So there's a couple of tricks we could attempt if it comes to a head. And if I'm not mistaken, hoopa are part ghost." She shivered at that thought, a fact that hadn't really been on her mind. That certainly wasn't helping the unease she felt about Orzo...

"Ghostly possession experience?" Involuntarily, the hair stood up on the back of Steven's neck. Kimiko had been possessed before? And what did she mean by "a fair bit"? He'd arrived at the league after Phoebe had her powers (mostly) under control, but he'd heard the stories from Glacia. It wasn't his place to share them, but if there was someone else out there who was as much of a magnet for the spirits as Phoebe, perhaps it was worth asking... "I don't mean to pry, but is that something that happens to you... often?"


"I... It's happened to me only once, and it's not something I'm eager to repeat..."

"But that's assuming that's what this case is. It's just as likely to be something psychic. Mind control or whatever. I assume another psychic could do something about that... although given hoopa is a mythical, either case might require more than one pokemon assisting each other."

"Hm, is that something Olivia specializes in? Are you able to speak with her telepathically? I admit, I don't know much about mind control, mental messaging, and thought projection as it relates to psychic types. The two psychics on my team aren't as familiar with those kinds of powers. Metagross's strength lies in telekinesis, and Claydol with teleportation. Or maybe one of the other Espeons here might be more proficient, at least enough to team up with if needed."

Steven's brown furrowed further. "There are an awful lot of psychics here, now that I think about it. And most, if not all of them are still with us. Perhaps that will be our culprit's critical error in leaving so many psychics around to oppose them. Or else they deliberately avoided psychic types so they could avoid pokemon who could fight back with their natural type affinity?"

Depending on what the others found in Xavian's room, maybe it would be time to rally all of the trainers together to prepare. For what, he had no idea, but whatever it was it was going to take everything they had.

As Steven told his story, Kimiko watched Aggron. "You're lucky he was around, then," she said, addressing Steven. Then, to Aggron, "And you must feel the same. I can't imagine it's fun when a trainer and their partner split up, regardless of whether it was a messy or mutual breakup or not. And now look, you're part of a champion team! I wish we had time to see how strong you really are."

Aggron tipped his snout toward Kimiko and gave a satisfied huff. "I don't think about my old trainer any more. Garrett was no good. And definitely no good if he couldn't figure out how strong I was. He picked another Aron he'd caught and dumped me, but I don't see that Aggron in the Champion's team. So yeah, I'm done thinking about him because I got the last laugh. Steven's way better. Turns out I know how to pick 'em better than Garrett ever did."

He huffed again, this time laughing at his own joke, and made a show of nuzzling his cheek through Steven's hair like an oversized noogie.

When Kimiko didn't reply back right away, Aggron flicked his gaze down at Olivia. "Your trainer, she can't understand me, can she? It's alright, Steven can't either, but he knows what I'm saying anyway."


Suddenly, Aggron's expression grew serious, a low growl forming in his throat. "And who knows, if we ever get to rumble with this bad guy, you might get to see how strong I am." His tail thumped against the floor and he nodded sharply, letting the light glint off his horns. "I can't wait to pummel this guy into dust for what he did to me, to my trainer, to Shaymin's forest, to everyone."

 

[Seren]

"Ghostly possession experience?" Involuntarily, the hair stood up on the back of Steven's neck. Kimiko had been possessed before? And what did she mean by "a fair bit"? He'd arrived at the league after Phoebe had her powers (mostly) under control, but he'd heard the stories from Glacia. It wasn't his place to share them, but if there was someone else out there who was as much of a magnet for the spirits as Phoebe, perhaps it was worth asking... "I don't mean to pry, but is that something that happens to you... often?"

"Oh, no, not me!" Kimiko replied, somewhat startled, then as she spoke her gaze drifted down at the floor. "I'm sorry, I... I meant just that, well, the region I live in is dealing with a bit of a ghost problem at home. We think there's someone pulling the strings behind the scenes that's causing the ghosts to act out, because they never were a region-wide threat before, but we don't know who. What we do know is that trainers were going missing at an increasingly alarming rate, and it turns out that's because the ghosts have started possessing them and leading them off somewhere."

As usual, Olivia detected the shift in tone and emotion in her human, and began to purr to calm her down. Kimiko resumed petting her, but continued speaking. "We haven't found any of them. But we have managed to stop a few of them. That's all I meant. The catch is recognizing when someone is being possessed. It wasn't hard at first, but once the ghosts realized we were on to them... well, they've gotten better at acting normal. It's still tricky to forcibly remove them, but there's a couple things we do when we need to."

She turned back to face Steven. "Anyway, I'm sorry. I've never been personally possessed before... that I know of, anyway," she added, as though she'd never considered it before. "I mean... there's usually signs. Exhaustion, generally feeling just... drained, unexplained injuries... gaps in memory, however slight, that sort of thing."

And then, the last thing he'd said finally registered to her, and she spoke without stopping to think whether she should. "Wait, you... you've been possessed before?"

"Hm, is that something Olivia specializes in? Are you able to speak with her telepathically? I admit, I don't know much about mind control, mental messaging, and thought projection as it relates to psychic types. The two psychics on my team aren't as familiar with those kinds of powers. Metagross's strength lies in telekinesis, and Claydol with teleportation. Or maybe one of the other Espeons here might be more proficient, at least enough to team up with if needed."

Steven's brown furrowed further. "There are an awful lot of psychics here, now that I think about it. And most, if not all of them are still with us. Perhaps that will be our culprit's critical error in leaving so many psychics around to oppose them. Or else they deliberately avoided psychic types so they could avoid pokemon who could fight back with their natural type affinity?"

"I'm afraid not," Kimiko answered. "I mean, I've learned to pretty much understand what she means just from tone and body language, that sort of thing. And she can send me mental images and feelings. But we can't speak directly. That's not actually a common skill where I come from in general, either. There are a select few species that can verbalize words - if you don't count pokemon-possessed humans, anyway."

She shook her head as she continued. "And I don't think she's capable of mind control, either. I'm not sure. We've never really tried. I know she can control others' bodies, which can be handy in a fight, but..."

The thought of combat with a mythical didn't sit well with her. Normally, she might have been excited, but not when there was so much on the line. She had enough high stakes battles with the ghost problem back home. "You know, if our culprit is a hoopa, both of its forms have a type advantage against psychics, so that might be another reason it's left most of them alone. It thinks it can handle them in a fight if it needs to, so it isn't as concerned with them as it might be with others." Which meant that she and Olivia were lower priority targets. Not that the thought comforted her very much. "Either way, Olivia has techniques that she can fight back with. She's gotten very good with shadow ball while fighting ghosts at home, and we've been working on dazzling gleam for a little bit."

When Kimiko didn't reply back right away, Aggron flicked his gaze down at Olivia. "Your trainer, she can't understand me, can she? It's alright, Steven can't either, but he knows what I'm saying anyway."

Kimiko smiled back at Aggron as he rumbled at her; she couldn't understand him, but she'd come a long way in learning to read other pokemon, and she could tell that Aggron was both very proud and very fond of Steven, and she didn't need to understand his words when Aggron rubbed against Steven's hair with obvious affection, the way Olivia often did for her.

Meanwhile, Olivia turned her attention over to Aggron when she was addressed, and responded in between purrs. "No, she's never been able to talk to me. But she's pretty good at understanding anyway! Oh, but you can't send pictures to her head, can you?" She cocked her head to the side, a thought occurring to her. "Actually, no one else on the team can do that either, and she understands all of them just fine, too! She always tries very hard to make sure we're heard and understood."

Suddenly, Aggron's expression grew serious, a low growl forming in his throat. "And who knows, if we ever get to rumble with this bad guy, you might get to see how strong I am." His tail thumped against the floor and he nodded sharply, letting the light glint off his horns. "I can't wait to pummel this guy into dust for what he did to me, to my trainer, to Shaymin's forest, to everyone."

The snarl drew Kimiko's attention back to the massive steel-type with some concern, but Olivia responded with an excited swish of the tail and the expression she usually had when she wanted to fight, so she relaxed back against the cushion again. Strange, Olivia hadn't been too interested in battling Blue's Charizard back on the boat, but... well, perhaps now that a vacation wasn't in the cards, her espeon had decided she wanted to test herself against a different champion.

"Oh yes!" Olivia responded, not bothering to correct Kimiko's guess It's not like she was wrong, anyway... just not what the pokemon were talking about at the moment. "He's gonna be sorry for ruining my vacation! My human had been looking forward to this. She really needs a stress-free break. Oh, and we can't let him keep hurting the others, either." Her head turned to stare down the lounge. It sure felt like Enora and Neo and Mightyena had been in there for a while... she really hoped they were doing okay. And that they'd hurry up and find proof. They all really needed to end this soon...

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"Oh, no, not me!" Kimiko replied, somewhat startled, then as she spoke her gaze drifted down at the floor. "I'm sorry, I... I meant just that, well, the region I live in is dealing with a bit of a ghost problem at home. [...]

She turned back to face Steven. "Anyway, I'm sorry. I've never been personally possessed before... that I know of, anyway," she added, as though she'd never considered it before. "I mean... there's usually signs. Exhaustion, generally feeling just... drained, unexplained injuries... gaps in memory, however slight, that sort of thing."

And then, the last thing he'd said finally registered to her, and she spoke without stopping to think whether she should. "Wait, you... you've been possessed before?"

"Oh!" Steven echoed, equally as surprised that he'd jumped to such a conclusion. "I just thought... from the way you had phrased it..."

He felt a little sheepish for the question, but when Kimiko began to explain the real reason behind her experience with ghosts, Steven's embarrassment quickly turned to concern.


"That's disconcerting, to say the least. Missing trainers being possessed by ghosts, and you think someone is doing this on purpose? I'm sorry that your home region is in such turmoil. And then you come here expecting a break from it, and it starts happening all over again. Forgive me for bringing up such unpleasant memories for you."

Though, the way Kimiko blurted out her last question made Steven realize he wasn't going to get out of the subject so easily himself.


"Ah yes, well, it was just the one time a while ago, during my League challenge. The battle had gotten a little out of hand and ultimately it was an accident. Well, not an accident by the ghost pokemon, they certainly meant to do it. But the trainer, she hadn't meant it."

He scratched the side of his cheek as Aggron rumbled lowly, anxiously--Aggron had already been knocked out when it happened. It didn't sound good, the way he'd explained it. Then again being possessed by angry ghosts probably wasn't good overall, anyway.


"It sounds a lot like the signs you mentioned, though what happened to me was very short-lived. The battle ended and there were other League trainers there to ward off the spirits." He conveniently left out the part where a Froslass reached through his chest and physically pulled the ghosts out. "But I experienced hallucinations. Saw and heard things that weren't really there. It was like my mind was slowly being dragged away from consciousness. I don't remember much else."

Steven realized how grim it all sounded, and he tried to offer Kimiko a lopsided grin to lighten the mood. He'd come out the other side fine. He hoped the same could be said for everyone who had vanished here, and in Kimiko's reality.


"There haven't been any ill effects, though. At least, none that I can tell. Except maybe that those same ghosts now have taken a fancy to me and like to play too many pranks... They know I'm a little bit jumpy around them, as understandable as that is."

You know, if our culprit is a hoopa, both of its forms have a type advantage against psychics, so that might be another reason it's left most of them alone. It thinks it can handle them in a fight if it needs to, so it isn't as concerned with them as it might be with others." Which meant that she and Olivia were lower priority targets. Not that the thought comforted her very much. "Either way, Olivia has techniques that she can fight back with. She's gotten very good with shadow ball while fighting ghosts at home, and we've been working on dazzling gleam for a little bit."

"Ah, you're right, the type advantage goes both ways. It could be either case; avoiding advantaged opponents, or leaving weak opponents until the end. Then again, we were suspecting psychic types early in the investigation. Having so many around served as good cover for longer than I'd like to admit."


He shook his head. "I don't like how they've been able to pick their targets to meticulously this entire time, and then cover their tracks just as effectively. Even when we've been able to confront them, they've been able to slip away. They're not only strong, they're clever, too. A bad combination for any foe."

--------

Meanwhile, Olivia turned her attention over to Aggron when she was addressed, and responded in between purrs. "No, she's never been able to talk to me. But she's pretty good at understanding anyway! Oh, but you can't send pictures to her head, can you?" She cocked her head to the side, a thought occurring to her. "Actually, no one else on the team can do that either, and she understands all of them just fine, too! She always tries very hard to make sure we're heard and understood."

"No, no pictures, but I think Metagross can do stuff like that. Or something similar, maybe? It sounds like your trainer is a lot like Steven. That's good. Though, I always said he can understand us so well because he's got rocks in his head. We're like-minded that way."

Aggron tossed his head and rumbled a hearty laugh at his trainer's expense. Then he settled back against the armrest with a soft clanking of armor plates.

"Oh yes!" Olivia responded, not bothering to correct Kimiko's guess It's not like she was wrong, anyway... just not what the pokemon were talking about at the moment. "He's gonna be sorry for ruining my vacation! My human had been looking forward to this. She really needs a stress-free break. Oh, and we can't let him keep hurting the others, either."

"Funny enough, it sounds even more like your trainer is a lot like Steven. He also needs a good vacation. I nap a lot, but he works all the time. Usually League stuff, but sometimes he's working so hard he just falls asleep at his desk."

Aggron's gaze flicked from Kimiko back to Steven. They were getting along alright, it seemed. Steven wasn't hard to get along with, it was more like he didn't get out enough for people to actually get along with him. He had good friends, regardless, and as long as they were nice to Steven, Aggron liked them. Well, most of them. One of them was more obnoxious than the rest...


"That prissy water-type trainer he calls a best friend even packed his suitcase like it was gonna be a nice relaxing trip. And then it wasn't. Yeah, I'll make this guy pay for ruining everyone's vacation, too."

 

[Seren]

"That's disconcerting, to say the least. Missing trainers being possessed by ghosts, and you think someone is doing this on purpose? I'm sorry that your home region is in such turmoil. And then you come here expecting a break from it, and it starts happening all over again. Forgive me for bringing up such unpleasant memories for you."

Kimiko smiled in an attempt to brush it off. "Oh, it's fine... seems like every region has its turn dealing with some form of insanity or another. If your Hoenn is anything like the one where I'm from, well... there was an incident there a while ago involving some legends fighting each other, so you know how it is."

"Now, that all said, I certainly had hoped for a break. But don't worry about it. It's nor your fault we all took a trip to Friendship Hell Island any more than it's your fault the ghosts back home are attacking people. It's... not something I can easily forget."

"Ah yes, well, it was just the one time a while ago, during my League challenge. The battle had gotten a little out of hand and ultimately it was an accident. Well, not an accident by the ghost pokemon, they certainly meant to do it. But the trainer, she hadn't meant it."

She shot him a surprised glance. "During your league challenge? What was your opponent playing at?" she asked in disbelief, hoping to coax the story out of the champion. Steven made it sound like the ghost possessed him without a trainer's order, although then, why would a trained ghost go and do that, during a league battle, on top of it?

"I definitely know the feeling of being jumpy around ghosts, though," she added with a shiver. "For now-obvious reasons. Ironically enough, I have two ghosts on my team, too. And my boyfriend had one. Being around them all the time hasn't really helped."

He shook his head. "I don't like how they've been able to pick their targets to meticulously this entire time, and then cover their tracks just as effectively. Even when we've been able to confront them, they've been able to slip away. They're not only strong, they're clever, too. A bad combination for any foe."

"You'll get no argument from me there," she said with a sigh. "We'll need to find a way to incapacitate it somehow if it comes down to a confrontation. Olivia's my team's main offense, so she won't be much help there."

Olivia trilled harshly at that, objecting to the statement. Kimiko frowned down at her. "I didn't say you wouldn't be helpful," she chided.

"Anyway," Kimiko said, turning back to Steven. "During last night's meeting, Coleane mentioned an item called a prison bottle that the hoopa of her world uses to transform itself. But the name implies it also could be used as a restraint. So I was talking to Mitch this morning, and sine I knew he was going in there, I asked him to keep an eye out for it. If Orzo really is our culprit, we don't want him to be able to transform into a more powerful form." He'd be far easier to fight, in that case, she thought as she looked down at Olivia. Ghost attacks would hurt him a lot, mythic or not. "If we're lucky, they'll find one and we'll be able to use it somehow to trap Orzo inside. How we'll get home is another matter, but... one step at a time."

"No, no pictures, but I think Metagross can do stuff like that. Or something similar, maybe? It sounds like your trainer is a lot like Steven. That's good. Though, I always said he can understand us so well because he's got rocks in his head. We're like-minded that way."

Aggron tossed his head and rumbled a hearty laugh at his trainer's expense. Then he settled back against the armrest with a soft clanking of armor plates.

Olivia tilted her head curiously at Aggron. He was laughing at something he said. She didn't get it. Maybe it was a rock-type thing. It did make her wonder, though... was she and her human like-minded? She supposed they had to be in some way, or they wouldn't work so well together.

"You and your trainer look strong! If my human is like him, that's good! She can make me strong like he did for you!"

"Funny enough, it sounds even more like your trainer is a lot like Steven. He also needs a good vacation. I nap a lot, but he works all the time. Usually League stuff, but sometimes he's working so hard he just falls asleep at his desk."

Again, her tail swished in the air. "I think everyone can use a real vacation. This island is so heavy with gloom in the air. Everyone's so depressed! I don't like it. But you, you're on a champion's team! Is that fun? You make it sound like league work is a lot of not-battling."

She liked Aggron's attitude, though. He was very protective of his trainer, just the same way she was with hers. And hadn't Steven been attacked once already? What would she do if Kimiko had been attacked? She wasn't sure, but she figured Aggron had more reason than most to want to fight this guy. "We'll take him down together, and after that, we should battle, too!"

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Kimiko smiled in an attempt to brush it off. "Oh, it's fine... seems like every region has its turn dealing with some form of insanity or another. If your Hoenn is anything like the one where I'm from, well... there was an incident there a while ago involving some legends fighting each other, so you know how it is."

Steven's eyes went wide at what Kimiko said. Her Hoenn had been involved in a battle between Legendaries? Kyogre and Groudon had awoken and fought? The scenes of the ancient murals had come to pass in modern times?


"No," he said, "Nothing like that has happened in the Hoenn I'm from. We know of the Legendary pokemon, there's murals depicting their clash, and Wallace is guardian of the Cave of Origin and its lore, a keeper of the history of the region's creation. But Kyogre and Groudon are just that... Legends."

And then a feeling crept up Steven's spine, the feeling that somewhere, somehow, he knew what Kimiko was talking about. That he'd seen the torrential rain and flooding, the searing heat and droughts. He knew he hadn't-- Hoenn was peaceful, maybe a little unrest, nothing extreme like Kanto had seen-- but in the back of his mind, some part of him felt like he had.


"I can't imagine the destruction they would have caused," he said quietly, trying to bury his unease. "It sounds like your Hoenn and her people survived, though, from the way you've described it. That's fortunate."

She shot him a surprised glance. "During your league challenge? What was your opponent playing at?" she asked in disbelief, hoping to coax the story out of the champion. Steven made it sound like the ghost possessed him without a trainer's order, although then, why would a trained ghost go and do that, during a league battle, on top of it?

All Steven could do was give a nervous laugh. Yeah, he definitely made it seem bad. He was the Champion, he shouldn't be making it seem like his League was in shambles. "It wasn't on purpose," he tried to explain. "Phoebe is a powerful trainer with a special affinity for ghosts and spirits. At the time, she was still working on controlling her powers. In the heat of our match, emotions were running high and, well, the ghosts feed on those emotions and took over."

He laughed again behind a lopsided grin.

"She felt awful about what happened, and I know it wasn't malicious. I wasn't angry with her. Training carries an inherent risk, we both knew that going in. I've come to know her and her ghosts a lot better since then. She's grown more comfortable with her affinity, and the ghosts love her very much, but uh, they don't like to lose."


"I can understand their sentiment," he said leaning back and patting Aggron on the side of the neck. "When you're battling at such a high level, no one likes to lose."

Aggron rumbled heartily in agreement.

"Anyway," Kimiko said, turning back to Steven. "During last night's meeting, Coleane mentioned an item called a prison bottle that the hoopa of her world uses to transform itself. But the name implies it also could be used as a restraint. So I was talking to Mitch this morning, and sine I knew he was going in there, I asked him to keep an eye out for it. If Orzo really is our culprit, we don't want him to be able to transform into a more powerful form."

"A prison bottle?" Steven repeated. "I don't like the sound of that. What kind of transformation requires an item with a name like that?"

"If we're lucky, they'll find one and we'll be able to use it somehow to trap Orzo inside. How we'll get home is another matter, but... one step at a time."

Then, Steven's jaw fell slack, and some of the color drained from his face. "Gods, I hadn't even considered that. If Orzo is our culprit, how will we get back to our own dimensions?"

He remembered Wallace's haunted expression at finding out he was in a reality that wasn't his own. If the whole island became stranded in a time and place far from their own... Xavian had said only Orzo was the one would could send them home.


"I suddenly hope we're very, very wrong about Orzo..."

--------

"You and your trainer look strong! If my human is like him, that's good! She can make me strong like he did for you!"

Aggron huffed another laugh and looked down at the little Espeon. "You're already plenty strong, you just need some help to reach your full potential. That's where our trainers come in. If you love and respect them, you'll bring out the best in each other. Not all trainers deserve our love and respect, though. It's all about being...what's the word..."


Aggron paused, trying to come up with the fancy words he'd heard in some of Steven's important meetings.

He rapped a claw against the side of his helm as it came to him. "Mutually beneficial, that's it! Yeah, it's all about teamwork. You're strong, but your trainer makes you stronger, and then you can protect and fight for them." He finished with a toothy grin.

Again, her tail swished in the air. "I think everyone can use a real vacation. This island is so heavy with gloom in the air. Everyone's so depressed! I don't like it. But you, you're on a champion's team! Is that fun? You make it sound like league work is a lot of not-battling."

"It's fun being the strongest," Aggron said simply. "We get to battle strong opponents, which means it's never boring. But yeah it's not all battles all the time. My trainer's not... He's not big into fighting. He enjoys battling, but he enjoys other things, too."

He smiled fondly and glanced down at Steven. "We travel a lot, go exploring, meet all kinds of interesting people and see interesting places and eat interesting food. Not too different from being not-Champion I guess? We get recognized a lot, though. I don't mind it, but Steven does sometimes."

"And yeah there's the boring stuff like meetings and paperwork and Gym inspections, but that's his problem," he said, grating another laugh. "It's work, but it beats the alternative, and that doesn't have any pokemon training or battling or adventuring, and I don't think Steven would like that."

 

[Seren]

"I can't imagine the destruction they would have caused," he said quietly, trying to bury his unease. "It sounds like your Hoenn and her people survived, though, from the way you've described it. That's fortunate."

That was curious. Kimiko watched Steven as he spoke, wondering what his universe was really like. "It sounds like your Hoenn resembles the one I know quite a bit, except that the clash hasn't happened. I don't know all the details, but in my world, they're not just legends. Kyogre and groudon were awakened and fought and were stopped finally by rayquaza. Maybe it's still going to happen and just hasn't yet?" That was possible, right? If they could be pulled from the multiverse into one place, wouldn't it stand to reason that they could have come from any point in time, too?

Then suddenly, she wondered if she shouldn't have said anything. Steven had enough to worry about, both here and in his own world. "A-anyway, yeah, Hoenn was fine! Bit of rough weather for a while, and Sootopolis took some damage, but nothing huge."

"She felt awful about what happened, and I know it wasn't malicious. I wasn't angry with her. Training carries an inherent risk, we both knew that going in. I've come to know her and her ghosts a lot better since then. She's grown more comfortable with her affinity, and the ghosts love her very much, but uh, they don't like to lose."

The explanation only served to confuse her further. Steven had been the one possessed, and it wasn't intentional on Phoebe's part, but he also said earlier that the ghost did it on purpose? It didn't make much sense to Kimiko, but she didn't press it. It couldn't be something Steven enjoyed talking about, accident or not. She certainly wouldn't want to discuss anything she'd been through.

"No, ghosts really don't like to lose," she said instead. "The wild ones don't take kindly to that, nor do my two. Hell, I don't like to lose, either. High stakes or not. Especially battles that I should have won." Like against Seb and Zack. Sure, it was a practice battle, but Olivia was stronger than he had been, even after evolving. She underestimated them. Stupid mistake. What if she made some kind of absurd mistake like that when it really mattered? Not that she underestimated the Golden King, but...

A nudge on her shoulder startled her and she flinched in surprise, only then realizing she had zoned out. She flashed an embarrassed grin at Steven. "Um, sorry... I don't take losing well, either."

Then, Steven's jaw fell slack, and some of the color drained from his face. "Gods, I hadn't even considered that. If Orzo is our culprit, how will we get back to our own dimensions?"

"I don't know," she replied in reference to the prison bottle. "But it really can't be good. My mind keeps linking it to the possession theory from earlier. Like, what if Orzo and the Golden King were two different entities, but somehow Orzo came into possession of the prison bottle that held the Golden King and opened it for some reason, and now he's being controlled without realizing it? Or maybe while realizing it?"

Her fingers stiffened a bit in Olivia's fur as she considered their predicament again. "I've been thinking about how to get home... and it kind of depends on whether or not Orzo is involved willingly or not. We'll need to find a way to either convince him to help us, either willingly or forcefully, or... well, I suppose we could try to mind control him. We do have quite a lot of psychics here, after all. Even ones who really don't know how, like Olivia here... I'm sure if we had enough of them working together, well... every little bit would help. And that Noro kid had an alakazam. They're no pushovers."

He rapped a claw against the side of his helm as it came to him. "Mutually beneficial, that's it! Yeah, it's all about teamwork. You're strong, but your trainer makes you stronger, and then you can protect and fight for them." He finished with a toothy grin.

"Not strong enough," Olivia said without thinking, then flinched when she realized her mistake. She considered trying to change the subject, but it was clear Aggron didn't miss her words and probably would try to argue it. Her voice was quiet when she spoke again; loud enough to be heard, but all the excitement was gone. "I couldn't protect her when she was kidnapped," she elaborated. "And then I was used against her. I couldn't help her. Stupid ghosts. I wanna be stronger so she'll never get taken away again."

"It's fun being the strongest," Aggron said simply. "We get to battle strong opponents, which means it's never boring. But yeah it's not all battles all the time. My trainer's not... He's not big into fighting. He enjoys battling, but he enjoys other things, too."

He smiled fondly and glanced down at Steven. "We travel a lot, go exploring, meet all kinds of interesting people and see interesting places and eat interesting food. Not too different from being not-Champion I guess? We get recognized a lot, though. I don't mind it, but Steven does sometimes."

But then the subject jumped back to battling and the espeon's spark returned. "That sounds a lot like what we do! We travel a lot and see a lot of cool places and have lots of battles!" It was a little strange that battling wasn't high on Aggron's human's priority list. And he was still champion! Why? How? "Wow, you must be even stronger than you look!" she trilled. "I've decided I'm gonna battle you someday! I wanna be a champion, too! Being strong sounds really fun!" And then she could make sure her human never had to deal with ghosts or kidnappings or stupid fake island vacations ever again.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"It sounds like your Hoenn resembles the one I know quite a bit, except that the clash hasn't happened. I don't know all the details, but in my world, they're not just legends. Kyogre and groudon were awakened and fought and were stopped finally by rayquaza. Maybe it's still going to happen and just hasn't yet?" [...] Then suddenly, she wondered if she shouldn't have said anything. Steven had enough to worry about, both here and in his own world. "A-anyway, yeah, Hoenn was fine! Bit of rough weather for a while, and Sootopolis took some damage, but nothing huge."

Steven's eyebrows shot up and he made a slight choking noise in the back of his throat. "R-rayquaza too?! By the gods, the Sootopolitan record-keepers haven't even sighted the legendary dragon at the Sky Pillar since the beginning of their logs, and you're saying it showed up to stop a clash between Kyogre and Groudon in our modern age?"

He sat back against the couch cushions and let his gaze drift off into space. Kimiko had said something about it not having happened yet in his timeline compared to hers? Surely nothing was locked into any kind of certainty; Hoenn wasn't fated to seeing these Legendaries awake and rampage across the region, was it? Was her even telling him this changing the timeline for his reality?


Steven ran a shaky hand through his hair, stare still distant. "What a relief to hear nothing horrible befell your Hoenn from all that." He was being honest, but he knew his voice was belying his nervousness of his own situation, the fate of his own region. Would the Hoenn of his reality be so fortunate? This wasn't what he needed to be worrying about right now, but he couldn't help it. Vaguely he wondered if he had his own counterpart in Kimiko's world, and if he was involved in all this. Maybe it was after his time, if he even existed at all. There was no telling how alike or dissimilar their worlds would be, or had been.

No, right now the first priority was getting home from this dimension intact. He couldn't afford to be distracted with this Golden King on the loose. In reality, no place or time was safe if they had Orzo's dimension hopping powers at their disposal...

"I don't know," she replied in reference to the prison bottle. "But it really can't be good. My mind keeps linking it to the possession theory from earlier. Like, what if Orzo and the Golden King were two different entities, but somehow Orzo came into possession of the prison bottle that held the Golden King and opened it for some reason, and now he's being controlled without realizing it? Or maybe while realizing it?" [...] Her fingers stiffened a bit in Olivia's fur as she considered their predicament again. "I've been thinking about how to get home... and it kind of depends on whether or not Orzo is involved willingly or not. We'll need to find a way to either convince him to help us, either willingly or forcefully, or... well, I suppose we could try to mind control him. We do have quite a lot of psychics here, after all. Even ones who really don't know how, like Olivia here... I'm sure if we had enough of them working together, well... every little bit would help. And that Noro kid had an alakazam. They're no pushovers."

Speaking of... "This prison bottle is making me more and more nervous," said Steven. "Aren't prisons typically used to keep things contained that shouldn't be left unchecked? Maybe we need to ask some of the Mythicals who are on the island with us about this bottle and what to do with it if we do find it."


"Maybe... Maybe that will be our best bet to either save or stop Orzo if it turns out he is the one responsible."

"No, ghosts really don't like to lose," she said instead. "The wild ones don't take kindly to that, nor do my two. Hell, I don't like to lose, either. High stakes or not. Especially battles that I should have won." [...] A nudge on her shoulder startled her and she flinched in surprise, only then realizing she had zoned out. She flashed an embarrassed grin at Steven. "Um, sorry... I don't take losing well, either."

That got a light chuckle from Steven, despite everything. "I don't imagine there are many trainers or pokemon who enjoy losing. And hindsight, well, that's a tough one. Things always look so transparent when you already know the outcome of something."

He caught sight of the way Kimiko's brow furrowed and she scowled into her lap. He wasn't sure what exactly she was thinking about, but if it was anything like the sting of what happened to him and Aggron at the arena, he knew what she was going through at the moment.


His expression grew serious, but more earnest than anything else. "The only true loss is one where you have learned nothing. Even in defeat, there's always a way to grow and move forward. No matter what you and Olivia have been through, so long as you keep improving, you'll find ways to achieve victory in the end."

They'd taken enough losses on this island. It was time to put together a winning streak, and believing in themselves was the first step.

"Let's see what we learn from this endeavor in Xavian's room."

------

"Not strong enough," Olivia said without thinking, then flinched when she realized her mistake. She considered trying to change the subject, but it was clear Aggron didn't miss her words and probably would try to argue it. Her voice was quiet when she spoke again; loud enough to be heard, but all the excitement was gone. "I couldn't protect her when she was kidnapped," she elaborated. "And then I was used against her. I couldn't help her. Stupid ghosts. I wanna be stronger so she'll never get taken away again."

Aggron was momentarily taken aback at Olivia's sudden change in demeanor. The bubbly, upbeat Espeon was gone, replaced with a downtrodden one who seemed to shrink in on herself. He didn't like that change.

"Hey, uh, don't think like that," he began, trying to cheer her up, but paused as he realized that he wasn't too far removed from that very same mindset. That, and as Olivia continued, he felt his own scowl deepen at what she'd been put through, what her trainer had been put through.

He waited for her to finish, his own voice low when he finally did speak. "Look, as much as I wanted to believe strength was the only way to stop bad things from happening, turns out I was wrong. I'm sorry for what happened to you. Getting stronger will help, but don't blame yourself like that. Bad people who want to do bad things can be just as strong as us. I hate to admit it, but I'm not invincible. But the bad guys aren't either. Just gotta keep fighting for what you believe in. As long as you come out the other side, you can always keep fighting."

But then the subject jumped back to battling and the espeon's spark returned. "That sounds a lot like what we do! We travel a lot and see a lot of cool places and have lots of battles!" It was a little strange that battling wasn't high on Aggron's human's priority list. And he was still champion! Why? How? "Wow, you must be even stronger than you look!" she trilled. "I've decided I'm gonna battle you someday! I wanna be a champion, too! Being strong sounds really fun!" And then she could make sure her human never had to deal with ghosts or kidnappings or stupid fake island vacations ever again.

"Heh, sounds like you're on the right path to be a Champion," said Aggron, his smile returning as Olivia's energy came back, and the sad Olivia was buried away again. That was better. The little furball's optimism was contagious. "You might be small, but you've got a lot of spunk. That's good. Keep that going and you'll do great."

"Not gonna lie," he added, "We could battle each other, but I kinda want to battle with you, instead. Y'know, like on the same team? They do double battles at one of the Gyms in Hoenn, and I've seen psychic types do some pretty amazing things when they work together with other types."

He grinned widely, remembering what Metagross was able to do against the psychic twins even when they were just a Metang. "It'd be like making up for each other's weaknesses, y'know? If we can do that, this bad guy will never know what hit him."

 

[Seren]

Steven's eyebrows shot up and he made a slight choking noise in the back of his throat. "R-rayquaza too?! By the gods, the Sootopolitan record-keepers haven't even sighted the legendary dragon at the Sky Pillar since the beginning of their logs, and you're saying it showed up to stop a clash between Kyogre and Groudon in our modern age?"

Oh god, she really shouldn't have said anything. The quiet panic was evident in Steven's voice, despite his attempts to cover it up. She reached a hand up and began to twirl a lock of hair around her finger. "Oh, um. Yeah, it..." What did she even say now? I'm sure it won't happen in your world? Cause Steven would totally buy that. But she wasn't sure how to ease his worry, now that she's planted the seed in his head. "It wasn't... really that big of a deal. I mean, it was, but... it was taken care of pretty quickly, all things considered!"

Speaking of... "This prison bottle is making me more and more nervous," said Steven. "Aren't prisons typically used to keep things contained that shouldn't be left unchecked? Maybe we need to ask some of the Mythicals who are on the island with us about this bottle and what to do with it if we do find it."

Thankfully, Steven was worried about something else, too. Kimiko quickly latched on to the secondary subject. "Yeah, they are. I'm... not sure if any of the mythicals would know much about it, though. I guess we could ask Jirachi? They're the one who mentioned the Golden King to begin with, so they're probably our best bet if we're hoping for more information."

His expression grew serious, but more earnest than anything else. "The only true loss is one where you have learned nothing. Even in defeat, there's always a way to grow and move forward. No matter what you and Olivia have been through, so long as you keep improving, you'll find ways to achieve victory in the end."

Kimiko rolled her eyes playfully, smiling at Steven now. "I'm slowly building a support network of champions to give me pep talks, so that's helping, too," she replied with a laugh. "You're right, of course. I've... run away from my problems before. When I went to see Cresselia this morning," - gods, that was this morning? It felt so much longer... - "...she asked if I would get off the island if I could. No one else, just me and Olivia, taking a quick and easy escape. I told her the truth. I'd consider it, and I'd hate myself for doing so. It's a hard habit to break. But like you say, the only way forward is forward."

"Look, as much as I wanted to believe strength was the only way to stop bad things from happening, turns out I was wrong. I'm sorry for what happened to you. Getting stronger will help, but don't blame yourself like that. Bad people who want to do bad things can be just as strong as us. I hate to admit it, but I'm not invincible. But the bad guys aren't either. Just gotta keep fighting for what you believe in. As long as you come out the other side, you can always keep fighting."

Olivia didn't reply when Aggron tried to console her, opting simply to stare up at his face as he spoke. His voice was quiet, soft... quite unexpected from such a rugged-looking behemoth. She knew he was right, and nodded back at him, full of determination. Yes, the bad guys weren't invincible. They'd gotten out of that horrible situation in the end. They were fighting back against the wild ghosts. And here, they were fighting back against the Golden King. And they would win.

"Not gonna lie," he added, "We could battle each other, but I kinda want to battle with you, instead. Y'know, like on the same team? They do double battles at one of the Gyms in Hoenn, and I've seen psychic types do some pretty amazing things when they work together with other types."

He grinned widely, remembering what Metagross was able to do against the psychic twins even when they were just a Metang. "It'd be like making up for each other's weaknesses, y'know? If we can do that, this bad guy will never know what hit him."

"Ooooh, that sounds like fun!" Olivia finally said, excitement back in full force. "My human does a lot of double battles with her mate! I'm usually the one softening up the enemies, though," she added smugly. "I bet we'd be a good team! I'm small and fast, and you're big and strong!"

Then, suddenly, Olivia was on alert, her ears perked upright and her head shot in the direction of Xavian's room.

The rapid movement startled Kimiko and set her anxiety spiking. She stroked the espeon, both to relax her as well as to calm herself. "What's up, Olivia?"

"Espii!" Olivia whined, her eyes locked on that same spot.

Kimiko felt the familiar sensation of her espeon's feelings flooding into her, and the visions that accompanied them. It took her a moment to figure out what Olivia was trying to tell her, but she turned to Steven the moment she did. "There's another presence in the room with them," she told him, trying to keep her voice steady. "A very weak psychic aura. She doesn't think it's Orzo. We've picked up his aura before, and it's much more powerful, so... I don't think we have to worry?" She cast a worried glance towards the end of the lounge, trying to convince herself everything was okay. Maybe Mitch just had a second pokemon with him that she hadn't seen yet. And Odette would let her know if they needed backup... right?

She found herself again hoping they'd finish up quickly. Of course, they'd still need to inspect as much of the room as time would allow for, so she wouldn't start spamming their inbox yet. She wasn't there to rush them. Kimiko was relieved that so far, no one had bothered to come into the lounge; playing lookout was easy when nothing was going on, but the waiting game was never something she enjoyed regardless.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"Ooooh, that sounds like fun!" Olivia finally said, excitement back in full force. "My human does a lot of double battles with her mate! I'm usually the one softening up the enemies, though," she added smugly. "I bet we'd be a good team! I'm small and fast, and you're big and strong!"

Then, suddenly, Olivia was on alert, her ears perked upright and her head shot in the direction of Xavian's room.

"Heh, I can't say I've battled with too many small teammates before. Fast, though, plenty of my teammates are fast. Always good for causing headaches for our opponent."


Then, mid-conversation, Olivia's head snapped right at the hallway going back to Xavian's room, and Aggron let out a snort of surprise. Her bubbly demeanor suddenly became all business, and that set Aggron on high alert, too. He was used to psychics sensing things others couldn't. Olivia's reaction could only mean one thing... And it probably wasn't good.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

------

Kimiko felt the familiar sensation of her espeon's feelings flooding into her, and the visions that accompanied them. It took her a moment to figure out what Olivia was trying to tell her, but she turned to Steven the moment she did. "There's another presence in the room with them," she told him, trying to keep her voice steady.

"What!?" Steven shot forward in his seat, having enough sense to keep from making a scene. Whatever he'd expected Kimiko to say, it certainly wasn't that. His earlier worry was replaced with an injection of sheer panic. Someone or something else was in Xavian's room? Had they been discovered? No one had come through the lounge while they were here, but there was also the backdoor out of the hallway...

"Is it--?"

"A very weak psychic aura. She doesn't think it's Orzo. We've picked up his aura before, and it's much more powerful, so... I don't think we have to worry?" She cast a worried glance towards the end of the lounge, trying to convince herself everything was okay.

It wasn't Orzo, thank the gods. But Kimiko, despite her words, still seemed on edge. Steven couldn't blame her. There wasn't supposed to be anyone else in Xavian's quarters right now, and the last thing any of them wanted was an unexpected surprise while snooping around their host's private and very off-limits room.

Steven glanced at his watch. "It hasn't been that long," he said, mirroring Kimiko's gaze toward the hallway door, "but should we head back there? To make sure everything's okay?"

He turned to face Kimiko for her thoughts on the matter, but before either of them could speak again, the tell-tale sound of a door opening could be heard from across the lounge. All eyes turned to the source of the noise.

He wasn't sure if it it was his frazzled nerves, but Steven was already halfway out of his seat, Aggron bristling by his side, when he saw who it was.

 

[Sinderella]

He turned to face Kimiko for her thoughts on the matter, but before either of them could speak again, the tell-tale sound of a door opening could be heard from across the lounge. All eyes turned to the source of the noise.

He wasn't sure if it it was his frazzled nerves, but Steven was already halfway out of his seat, Aggron bristling by his side, when he saw who it was.

Odette was the first one to step out, followed by Odile and Enora. She poked her head out into the lounge, and took a cautious look around before her gaze landed on Steven. When their eyes met, all she could really do was frown for him. She shook her head once, before motioning the others behind her that the coast was clear, and they fanned out the door and back toward the sitting area behind that bookshelf.

When she was close enough to talk in a whisper, she eyed Steven again, then Kimiko.

“We are so lucky we got in there,” she said simply, before flashing her phone screen, where she’d pulled up the picture of the bottle.