Pokémon The Alchemist

[MikaelBrigman]

Right, no author's notes. I mean, this is a forum, I'm allowed to have them... Well, I'm not going to use them too much.
I'm going to start catching up with the current publishing rate I have for this story, as it's already up to Chapter 8 on FFnet and Ao3. If I have the math right, updates will sync up the Sunday after this coming one as Chapter 10 comes out. To copy-paste from the Ao3 summary:
"A single soul is torn from one world and placed into another. The endless cycle is turning once again. The year, 2011. Two years after the Heavens Shattered. The world is no longer what he expected. (Massive Pokémon AU, drawing influence from Evangelion, Power Rangers, A Certain Magical Index, and many others. Not crack, I swear)
In-progress. It's essentially a Pokemon Sentai Show AU, with all sorts of references and a lot more angst than there ought to be. Main character guy is annoying, I know. I'm trying not to use author's notes for this one so I actually establish things as canon without directly informing the reader, which is lazy unless absolutely necessary. I'm also writing with a buffer now, so no month-long inbetweens unless I like, break all ten of my fingers at once. I'm cool with hate mail as it helps me get a feel for what my readers want. All ideas that I didn't steal are free to be used with credit."
The first post will be short, so I may just upload it and Chapter Two together.
There are untagged depictions of physical harm and pain that may be triggering to some, so please keep that in mind.
Uh, aside from that, enjoy the show.

 

[MikaelBrigman]

Opening remarks from FFnet and AO3, this chapter is what used to be a placeholder for a prologue. I have received extensive, unanimous and helpful feedback that it was shit and I should drop it. When the final chapters go up in May or so, I'll replace this with an actual prologue with actual foreshadowing and actual meaning rather than useless blurbs. Thank you for your time, I hope this note hasn't wasted too much of it.

There is a boy sleeping in an abandoned house, his body broken and his memories mismatched. There is a girl that molds the Earth around her while she remains still and watches life go by. There is a man that will do anything it takes to bring back the world he once knew and Mend what was Shattered.

Which one of them can change the world?

The Alchemist.

 

[MikaelBrigman]

In a dark, dusty room, a young man stirred. At least, as much as he could when it seemed like his skin was trying to tear itself free of his muscles. A thousand cuts laced his body, beginning to drip red from the sudden movement. He cried out in pain, and his eyes shot open. A flurry of white hair flew from his eyes, spotted with red. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes as he tried to push himself into a sitting position.

The floor he had found himself on was dirty and covered in nails, though it still resembled his bedroom.

"Where…" he tried to say, though his lips cracked. "Where am I?"

There was no bed, no doors, no curtains, only a ratty blanket and faint moonlight seeping through a cracked window. Some sort of dog barked in the distance, and he could hear the whirring of wheels on asphalt.

He grasped at the blanket, sharply inhaling when it rubbed against his skin. Slowly but surely, a deep crimson began to seep into it as he began to stand. It was at this point, to the least of his concern, that thanks to gravity he realized he was naked. He stumbled over to the door, wincing as he stepped on the edge of a nail, though luckily a smooth side, and wrapped the blanket around his waist. With every step he took into the next room, an attic next to a staircase, his skin itched more and more, like it was covered in sandpaper. The carpet had long since been stripped, making each step down an unpleasant exercise in avoiding splinters.

At the base of the staircase, he saw a variety of doorways but chose to follow the corridor with a window at the other end.

His vision had long since gone blurry, though he was fairly certain the chill that was blowing across his skin was due to the snow falling outside. The door beside the broken window as barely hanging on its hinges, letting a bit of ice seep onto the floor. As such, because he didn't notice this, he slipped and fell into the door, breaking it free of the wall and sending him sprawling onto the porch and furth down the steps and onto a sidewalk.

"God damn it," He sobbed, near silently. He rolled off of his side to look at the sky. "This is total bullshit…"

Freezing snow stung his face, though it gave him some strange relief. His tears burned hot in contrast, blurring his vision further.

"What did I do to deserve this? God?" His breathing was heavy as he looked into the starry sky. The lights all seemed to blend together, forming swirling shapes in his eyes.

He couldn't even move as the sound of footsteps nearby grew closer, suddenly stopped, then accelerated and became louder.

A blob of sky-blue and bright gold appeared above him, and the light of the stars seemed to form a halo around its top.

"...Are you an angel?" He slurred out, nearly incomprehensible through the soreness of his throat and the dryness of his mouth.

The blob grew closer to him, and he heard someone yell out as he became limp in their arms.

Over the next few hours, he was barely conscious, his eyes half-lidded as the blob carried him somewhere else, and thought he heard them speaking with someone else. At one point, the lights in the sky faded away and were replaced by a much closer white ceiling and beige walls. The blobs carrying him grew more visible, and he could nearly see splotches of green, though he was still bleary-eyed.

From soft arms, he found himself placed on a soft mattress, and felt the stinging of… some kind of antiseptic across his body. There was a pink blob beside him, and then a faint trill with a tone of worry.

"What kind of bird are you supposed to be…" he murmured, weakly trying to reach out towards the blob, which moved away with a speed he didn't expect. His arm would have flopped weakly onto the bed sheet, but the blob moved towards him again, something grasped his arm, and a cool bandage began wrapping around it, and similarly were his other limbs enveloped. For a few moments, it felt as if he was floating on air, and that he was being submerged in a fountain of youth. But soon enough, the pressure of his body on the mattress returned, and the pain on his skin had faded to a mild, but manageable ache, as if it were a weak sunburn.

He managed to fall asleep for a period of time, how long, he didn't know exactly, but it could have been two minutes and he wouldn't have cared, because at the very least it offered an escape from the confusing situation he found himself in, and gave him a moment to think.

In his mind's eye, he floated in darkness, metaphorically tapping his finger to his chin and trying to put his thought process into silent words.

"You know, I'm really glad I came up with a plan for if I ever ended up in some strange situation like this. I'll work through this logically. One, I woke up in something that looked like my house, but wasn't my house. Could be a dream. Two, the pain, which I don't think could be dreamed without me waking up. Am I in a computer program? No, I don't remember anything like that. Did I get Isekai'd? Sent to another world? Up for analysis. Could be a hallucination or I'm in a coma, which would explain why I can't wake up. Counterpoint, I don't remember anything. I'll work with the idea I got Isekai'd. If so, shit. If not, still shit, because that means I'm in some weird situation where I can't escape naturally. Three, ask for context without looking like a weirdo. I shouldn't tell people that I think this is a dream or a fantasy."

And with that, he opened his eyes, and saw the pink blob take a more definite form. He looked down at its very lifelike, but bulbous blue eyes, the winglike ears, and the antennae pointing downwards towards its large, cream-colored torso and stubby arms that seemed to be shaded pink like a jacket before shutting his eyes and beginning to panic.

"That's an Audino. That's a Pokémon. What the hell."

And then he opened his eyes again, looked at the Pokémon, who cheerily trilled at him, and then started staring off into space.

"This is the most cliche shit ever. Am I a self-insert? Self-insert of who? What's my name? Oh shit, what's my name? Is this all in my mind? What's an Eva? Is that some sort of Freudian thing? Oh hell, does that bus run through here? I mean, I'd like to go home now, but… Oh God, where's home?"

He blinked, returning to slight attention.

"Why can I remember Pokémon and… that... but nothing about myself? I mean…"

He tried to remember who he was. He ran through his life story. Weird family situation, probably being bullied in middle school, becoming unable to connect with people because of someone he couldn't remember the name of…

"Ah, damn, I could be anyone! This doesn't help at all!"

He writhed slightly, tugging at his hair, which gave him a clue.

"I don't have white hair. But I have white hair. What the hell?"

He looked at the Pokémon, tried not to think too hard about it, and tried to ask for a mirror. Unfortunately, it came out more like, "Cam I hamve a mirwo?"

It tilted its head at him, trilling again with a tone of confusion.

"I think I need some chapstick," he tried to say.

It didn't understand that either, but luckily attracted the attention of someone outside the room.

At that point, he wondered if his initial guess at an angel didn't sound too incorrect.

The girl seemed about his age, cloaked in a sky-blue and tan, rather than a black and white, nun's habit. Her eyes were a brilliant green, and her hair was bright gold. She had a glass of water in her hands, which she quickly brought to his lips. He managed to get a grip on the base and drank it all down, only realizing how thirsty he was at the moment.

"Thank you," he half-rasped out, before totally regaining his voice. "I thought I was gonna die."

"Then I'm glad I found you," she said, smiling as wide as the Audino. "You're in quite the state."

"You're telling me," he replied, shaking his head, inadvertently throwing his hair around. "Where am I?"

"This is a Church of Helix, in Swellowtail City."

He racked his head for a moment, lining up his bedroom and the equivalent place he woke up.

"How close is that to Unova?"

"I'd say… a good few regions away, but it's still on the same continent."

So the Pokémon world corresponds to the real world, he thought to himself. Interesting.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you end up so injured?"

"I wish I could tell you. Can't remember most of it."

She clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh, that's terrible! I'm sorry…"

"What? No, it's fine, don't worry about it. Roll with the punches, that's what… someone... always said." He flashed a small smile, though he was sure it was obscured by the bandages covering the rest of his face. "Say, do you have internet access around here? I'd like to look some things up."

"I think one of the other priests has a Holo Caster, I will ask. Don't move, please!" She scurried out of the room, gesturing for him to relax.

"Holo Caster… I think those were a thing in Pokémon X and Y."

A few minutes later, she returned, clutching a blue, playing-card-sized machine in her hands, before quickly placing it in his hands and sitting down.

He held it up in curiosity, surprised that he could see right through it in some places before he tapped it with his other hand.

The girl was watching him as he did so, though his attention was placed on the front page of the browser.

"So it's not called the world wide web… GTS, yeah, that does make sense," he muttered looking around the page. It was a search engine with recent news alongside it, but he decided what he really needed to do was establish a timeline.

The date read December 29th, 2011, which didn't really help much, but it was a good starting point. He started by looking up, or at least managing to, Team Rocket, using the small keyboard that appeared on the transparent plastic. That gave him results from 2006 about their collapse, and then some about a return in 2009. He presumed that was the link to Red and Blue and Gold and Silver respectively. Then he looked up Team Aqua and Team Magma, and found results from 2006 as well, though very little afterward. Humanitarian efforts seemed to be all that was left of those teams, which made him feel a little bit hopeful.

Then he looked up Team Galactic, and that sense of hope all but disappeared.

The words, bolded, read, DUE TO THE UNITED REGIONS' COUNCIL'S DECISION TO CLASSIFY THE SHATTERED HEAVENS INCIDENT AS A CK-CLASS REALITY RECONFIGURATION SCENARIO, ALL RELATED INFORMATION MUST BE FOUND THROUGH OFFICIATED REGIONAL CHANNELS. PLEASE SPEAK TO YOUR LOCAL LEAGUE REPRESENTATIVES IF YOU WISH TO ACCESS THIS INFORMATION.

"What the hell is a Shattered Heavens incident? And since when can the government block internet searches, what is this, 1984?" He looked over to the nun, who was pressing her fingers together.

"Um… I understand you may be confused, but please don't swear... This is a church, after all."

"Oh. Right, sorry about that. So… uh, what was your name?"

"Ariel."

"Right, Ariel… What's the Shattered Heavens Incident?"

She pulled at a frill on her sleeve, looking down in thought. "...In 2009, there was… A very terrible event. A group of people tried to seize the power of various Legendary Pokémon, including the lords of Time and Space, Dialga and Palkia. I do not know much else, but there was a man who rose up against them, called the Aura Guardian, and fought them back. Afterward… I hesitate to speak of it, but various anomalies have begun appearing all over the world. It was a dark time, the year afterward. Many cities were destroyed, lives were lost. There was much confusion, and much anger. My home sect in Kalos was destroyed during the attack of one of those Anomalies."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Internally, he questioned it. Anomalies? So... Ultra Beasts, he thought. The hell?

"It's alright. They've actually managed to start repairs, and it will be completed in a few weeks!"

"That's good," he said, offering a smile. "Are there still these, uh, anomalies around?"

"Well, yes, but they're being dealt with much better than they were back then. Do you really not remember any of this?"

"No, not at all, sorry. That being said…"

He started doing some quick mental calculations.

"By the sound of it, the plot's gone entirely off the rails. Meaning I don't have to insert myself in that plot. If I wasn't inserted to be a hero, I might as well find somewhere to live comfortably. Kalos was the easiest region according to thirty-year-olds on the internet with too much time on their hands, so I should probably…"

"I think I'm actually from Kalos too."

"They wouldn't buy me saying I'm from Alola, nowhere near tan enough for that, I'm fairly certain."

"What a coincidence!"

"Don't lampshade it don't lampshade it don't lampshade it-"

"That means I can take you there when you're healed!"

He quirked an eyebrow. "I think you're underestimating how long it'll take me to heal."

"Well, it will only be a few days, won't it?"

"What kind of accelerated healing bullshit are these people on- Wait, it's a video game or something, logic doesn't apply."

"I'll take a shot in the dark and say probably not. Have any painkillers?"

"I think we have some old medicine in a cupboard somewhere, I'll take a look. Don't take too many at once though. Audino, could you please help me out?"

The pink Pokémon trilled as Ariel stood and followed her out of the room, leaving him on his own.

---

The church got in contact with a local Nurse Joy, who quickly brought over some other, more modern medicines.

None of which worked. At least, not as well as they were supposed to. He put that up to more chemicals being listed than he expected, none of which he recognized, and that they attempted to treat him with a Potion, which acted more like a face full of Lysol.

He did enjoy his conversations with Ariel, though. She would recommend nicknames, on account of him not having a name of his own, and one day, they went something like this:

"Snow White?"

"I'm not a bishounen or anywhere pretty enough to fit the connotations."

"What's a bishounen?"

"A pretty boy, basically. So the opposite of me."

"I don't know about that, you're plenty pretty."

He gave her a weird look, at which point she lit up red and bowed her head, the flap of her habit falling over her face. She stuttered, "I mean…"

"No big deal, Ariel." He shrugged, ignoring a slight ache in his shoulders. "I mean, I don't know how you'd come to that conclusion with all these bandages, but thank you."

A low-pitched whine seemed to be emitting directly from her hidden face.

"Oh, wait, yeah, you're pretty too. Is that what I'm supposed to say? How do compliments work again?"

At which point she shot out of the room, leaving him alone with Audino, who had just brought in a set of tea for the two of them.

"She doesn't get out much, does she?"

The Pokémon tilted its head, as if translating, before nodding slightly and handing him one of the cups.

---

The next day, before Ariel came for her usual visit, one of the older priests stopped by, a hunched-over, stern, but understanding woman.

"I'm not very informed on the Church of Helix, but is there a reason for, well, the prudishness?"

"You speak of Ariel, do you not?"

"Yeah, but like, not in a weird way. I'm definitely not in the situation to be flirting. That'd be weird. And especially not in a church."

"Hmm," the woman chuckled at his ramblings. "Ariel was raised in the church, though most only take their vows of celibacy upon completion of their journeys. Due to recent events, such journeys and pilgrimages have been made… difficult."

"The Shattered Heavens Incident."

"As they call the calamity, yes."

"Has the Gym Challenge been put on hold?"

"I believe it was this year, but I have heard whispers of its return next year. Trainer Schools will be reopening their doors as well."

"That's good- Wait, when does that start?"

"Soon after the Winter Solstice holiday is over. Early January."

"And when will Ariel be returning to Kalos?"

"Before then, I believe."

"That's awfully coincidental. Someone upstairs really wants me to go to Kalos."

"I trust you'll be re-enrolling? They've delayed Trainer Licensing as well, but you may be able to transfer into a certification program, by the look of it."

"What does that mean? I'm not that old. Probably."

"Well, you look below even young Ariel's age, young man. I'd say seventeen, maybe sixteen. I don't see any facial hair."

"I'm a late bloomer, okay?" He said, before pausing, screwing his eyes up in thought, then sighing. "Dam- Darn. I think I nearly remembered something there. That sounds about right, though. I thought trainers started at ten?"

"Oh, sonny, you've forgotten more than you realize. The starting age has been sixteen for the last few decades."

That doesn't add up, he thought. Well, he was already sitting in the church of an ascended meme after some sort of world-ending event in Pokémon of all things; a slight age discrepancy wasn't the worst thing he'd heard of.

"Why's that?" He had to ask.

The elderly priestess shook their head, looking far-away for just a moment, before hobbling out of the room without a word.

"Well… that's a bit weird." Near immediately after, he picked up the holo caster left on his bedside.

"Why is the starting trainer age sixteen instead of ten?" He thought as he typed it in, then clicked on the first result.

https gts bulbapedia bulbagarden net/Pokémon_Trainer/

The starting age for trainers across the world has been a topic of debate for decades. Long ago, the journey was seen as a coming-of-age ritual, and upon completion a child would receive a name beyond that of their families. However, as the world developed, determining the cut-off became a topic of debate. After the first industrial revolution and the invention of primitive healing items, such as Potions, and other aids, such as Escape Ropes, many determined that ten years old would be appropriate. By this time, the tradition of naming upon completion of the journey. For the history of naming schema of this sort, click here. However, after the Great War, which took place from 1959 to 1965, there was a large amount of controversy. This was due to the drafting of anyone with a trainer license, including those as young as ten years old. Many regions then changed the minimum age to sixteen, and some to eighteen. For a list of these nations, see here. This was agreed upon by most, with the notable exception of those who were of age during the War.

However, after the events of the Shattered Heavens Incident, [REDACTED], and the UR Council determined to place a hold on Trainer Licensing until the world was put back on track. Luckily, as of 2012, Trainer Schools will be reopening, and though students will be sorted into the next numerical grade rather than by their age, few will miss the opportunity to be licensed.

Need more help? See our disambiguation page...

He cleared out the browser and put the device down.

This still doesn't make sense to me, he thought. War? In Pokémon?

At which point Ariel walked in, holding a pair of steaming cups.

"Good morning!"

---

That night, the boy dreamt for the first time.

There are few things you can learn and remember forever afterward without review. The only reason he was able to do so in this case was that it burned itself into his memory like a red-hot brand.

The small bedroom they set him up in was dim. The curtained windows outside let in no light, the door wasn't leaking any in, and the lamp was off.

It gave him the sense that he was seeing in a way that he shouldn't have and that he'd entered a space he was not meant to enter.

Even so, he tried to move from his cloth-and-pillow tomb, only to find that every inch of his body was still asleep like he had become the very concept of television static.

From the corners of the rooms, shadows cast by a million invisible stars began to drip sideways. They lashed out, melded together, flowed like a crashing tsunami on the edge of everything that he could see. The shadows moved up, down, left, right, out, in, and he started losing trust in his vision.
The living darkness pixelated, while floating off the walls and through the air, and began vibrating in blocky grey-scale.

I am the missing number.

A gaping maw opened inside the depths of darkness, turning a bright bloody red. The inside was the endless infinity of space, of every star in the sky. It had as many teeth as there were grains of sand.

I am every integer of time and space that lies in the negatives.

Seven claws formed themselves from the ink, lancing out, piercing the air with a thunder crack. One rose above the others, above the maw, and arched itself towards the frozen boy.

I am the death, and I am the life, and I am the loss; Of every soul that exists.

The ink pulsed in the unmoving air, spiking outwards and inwards with a brilliant concavity.

I am where all souls form, and I am where they return.

Red eyes burned into existence, piercing through him with their light. They widened to near globes, before sharpening. Lines grew from the seventh claw, the being's spine, as it tore into reality.

My reign is of the borders of every mind and every plane, such as this one, and the one from which I have brought you from.

Golden feathers spiraled from its forehead, as twelve withered wings appeared, six on its back, and one on each claw.
For I am MissingNo. And you, child, are my avatar.

He tried to hide away from the abomination that he couldn't comprehend but found its beady eyes and gaping maw pressed against his face no matter where he looked. The air, if he had any left inside him, was sucked from his lungs.

I am not bound by the rules of this world. Your body has been torn to atoms and molecules and rebuilt by my will across realities. Xerneas may control life, Yveltal may control death, but I control you. It shall do you well to remember. Your duty here is of my will. Already, though your new form is imperfect, you have begun doing my bidding. Do not fear, for I will make you more than you could ever be.

MissingNo's head rose impossibly high into the sky, never touching the ceiling, but never seeming to stop, just going on and on into a constricted infinity.

Run along to Kalos. For that is my command. You are my player, just as many have been yours. You will soon learn what it is like to be on the other side of the screen.

His vision was once again filled with static.

He jumped from his bed with a shout, sweat-soaked into his bandages and his bandages rubbing uncomfortably against his skin.
All he could do was sit up and hold an arm across his chest and try to keep breathing.

"What a goddamned nightmare… What kind of… thing... names itself after a glitch? Was that Darkrai? Have I already pissed off a demigod?"

His thoughts were interrupted by a light turning on outside and knocking at the door. His heart rate spiked, and it seemed like it would leap out of his chest.

"Are you alright?" Ariel called. "I heard you shout a minute ago, and I'm a light sleeper, so…"

"Just a… nothing, don't worry about it."

"Are you sure? Did you have a nightmare?"

"You could call it that," he sighed, rubbing his ribs. "Go back to sleep. I'm fine.

---

"You know, since we're both Kalosian (probably), we could go with a name from around there," he offered the next day. They still needed to call him something, after all, and there wasn't much small talk to make, considering how few memories he had and how much experience she had with people her own age.

"Oh! That does seem like a good idea." Ariel put down her cup of tea and tented her fingers without interlocking them. "Your eyes are pinkish, so we could call you Rose!"

"I still have some of my dignity," he said, physically recoiling from the suggestion, not registering the reasoning behind it. "Unless it's like a metaphor or something, no flowers."

"Oh…"

"Good one, though," he said quickly.

"Thank you!" She perked up. "Um… How much of the Kalosian dialects do you remember?"

"You mean French?"

"...That's quite old-fashioned of you, it hasn't been called France for nearly… What was it, 19… 60? 65?"

"Right. Guess they lost that war too…" He muttered. "Well, I'm always up for a pretentious foreign name. Give me your best shot."

"Your eyes are more red than pink, now that I look closer…" She leaned towards him, her face entirely too close in a way she definitely wasn't aware of. "Why are your bandages turning red?"

"I don't think I have a nosebleed…" That would be stupid. Even if he was a teenage boy.

"It's your cheeks…. Oh, no! Do you have a fever too?" She pressed a hand to his forehead, though obviously didn't feel any warmth.

"Thank God or Helix or whoever that there are people just as oblivious as I am."

"No, see, Ariel, when people get older, they start going through some changes in which- You know what? It'll be funnier if you find yourself."

"I think… Rouge?"

"Like, the Bat?"

"Pardon?" She tilted her head, looking at him, which from that close, was probably very bad for the blood pressure.

"Eh… what does that mean?"

"Red."

"I think the red eyes are the least noticeable thing about me- Wait, I have red eyes?"

"Yes, you're… what's the word? I don't wish to offend. Al… Albin…"

"Albino?"

"I believe that's it, yes, thank you!"

"Don't worry about it. But if you're thinking of some variation of Alby, I'll have to pass."

"Right… Well, Blanche means white…"

"Blanche… Blanche, Blanche, Blanche… yeah, that's pretentious enough for me."

"Alright then. Blanche," she added his name on second thought, trying it out. It didn't sound half-bad.

"I think that'll be good for now. Thank you."

"And now, my name is Blanche. If I were shorter, I could make my last name 'Dwarf', but alas, the universe doesn't appreciate my sense of humor."

---

Blanche never felt the snow on his skin, but he did spend some time outside with an umbrella, and so he got to see his hometown in the Pokémon world.

He'd lived in the capital of his state, but it was more of a small town pretending to be a big city than anything else. And boy, now that it was a region of its own, it was more than he ever expected.

Ariel had taken him to see the sights before they left for Kalos, making for an odd-looking combo. A nun clad in sky-blue and tan and an albino wrapped in ratty clothes and bandages. They got some aside looks, but that was from the people that didn't greet Ariel.

She seemed to be well-known around town. A few waitresses on patios, a couple of passersby, and a decent amount of young hoodlums that dressed like Scraggy. That they had a few of that species of Pokémon in tow was not lost on him.

"Someone's popular," he said off-handedly.

She waved him off, flashing a smile. "Who, me? Don't be silly."

"You don't have to be modest, it's good to have friends. Wish I had some."

"...Are we not friends?" She asked, and he got the impression that those puppy-dog eyes would be able to sway even the most card-carrying of villains.

"I mean, yes! But, uh, I don't remember having any."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she replied, frowning and looking off into the distance. "It's good to have friends, isn't it?"
"Of course," he said, a bit puzzled by the question.

"Is friendship a distraction from our duties in life? Is it allowed in the eyes of the Lord?" She shook her head. "I apologize, I was lost in thought."

"No worries. What kind of duties do you mean?"

"Well… If I were to spend more of my time out and about when it was unnecessary, I wouldn't be able to spend that time in service to the Lord."

"That's…"

"That's a little dumb."

"Ariel, how old are you? Out of nowhere, I know, but just bear with me."

She tilted her head at him. "I'll be turning seventeen next year."

"So you're free."

"Excuse me?"

"You're young- We're young." He ran a hand through his hair, before tousling it again. "Having friends is good. Making friends is better. But spending time with the people you care about, and the people that care about you- That's not a distraction, and you should take the time to do that."

"...I see."

"I'm sorry about that, I have a tendency to talk pseudo-philosophical. I think. Also, I've been told I talk too much. Call me a Large Ham, I guess."

"What?"

"Nevermind. My point is that you're allowed to have friends. I don't think a good god of any sort would want you to isolate yourself like that."

"Oh, right… You don't follow Lord Helix, do you?" She asked, like the question itself would cause her to be smitten by lightning.

"There are so many layers to the real answer to that question that I might as well not answer."

"I couldn't tell you if I tried."

"Of course, your memory. I apologize, you have a lot of wisdom, that much I can see… it makes me forget that you've forgotten who you are."

"Literally, don't apologize to me. Ever. Or feel bad on my behalf." Blanche looked off into the far-away forests, covered in snow for the first time that he'd ever seen. "I…"

I don't deserve it, he thought with nary a pang of guilt.

"I appreciate the thought, but you really don't have to worry about that sort of thing. Really," he said, suddenly realizing that he'd walked ahead of her, leaving her out in the falling snow and uncovered by the umbrella. Already, light fluff was beginning to pile onto her habit.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

She giggled in response, likely at the obvious irony. "I'm not allowed to apologize to you, but all you do is…" She stopped, as he placed a hand on her head, an easy feat due to the slight height disparity, and swept off the snow.

Blanche, being the idiot that he was, couldn't tell that the heat in her cheeks would have melted the pile anyway, and for that matter, any other snow that fell too close.

"Oh. I forgot I was tall." He pulled back his right hand, the other holding their shield above them, holding it against the air and trying to get a sense of scale. His chin was at her eye level, so that could've just been his absurdly long arms. "...Did I shrink?" He wondered aloud as he flexed his bandaged fingers, and ignored the twinge of pain and ever-present burn.

Ariel seemed to recover somewhat, as could tell any outside observer and shook her head frantically. "Well… I… I'm glad we could talk like this."

"And I'm glad you could show me around my… around here. I owe you one and a few more."

"You're welcome, but please don't get the impression you owe me anything. All I do is in His Name."

"Man, Helix really is just Jesus around here, huh? Or wouldn't that be the Pigeot?"

"That gets me thinking. What's the deal with Bird Jesus?"

---

And soon after that, they began their journey to Kalos.

Ariel said her goodbyes and deepest thanks to the Helixians of the local church, while Blanche did the same to a lesser degree for the shelter.

The airport was a good distance away, but it seemed that this version of the town had a MagLev train station headed north.

Said MagLev was supposedly able to make the traversal to Unova in less than two hours, after which they would take a flight from the city of Misaltron, the central airport of the Americas, and head to Lumiose-3 in Kalos.

There were quite a few things about that order of events as he thought it over while Ariel nodded off next to him on the train, and to be completely fair, Audino's humming was very soothing.

First of all, since when did his backwater hometown have a MagLev? Hell, the public transportation barely worked half the time. But he could put that up to the fact he was in a fantasy world that happened to mostly match his home's geography, and that the laws of physics didn't seem to apply in most cases anymore.

Second, since when in the hell was it called Lumiose-3? When did they build the third one? Why were there three of them?

Third, was he allowed to move with Ariel leaning on his shoulder like that?

Blanche was pretty sure there was an actual rule about that. He glanced to his side, brow slightly furrowed, as the nun snored. Audino was giving him a blank, nothing-behind-the-eyes smile, which he couldn't begin to comprehend. It was a sign of trust, he assumed. Misplaced for sure, in his opinion, but he had absolutely zero intentions of violating that trust. Because that would be bad. Obviously.

And the MagLev continued near-silently roaring down the American countryside. He looked out the opposite window, thankfully unblocked by other passengers, and watched the grassy plains pass his by.

"To paraphrase… This world of ours is widely inhabited by creatures we call Pokémon."

Miltank were grazing somewhere in the distance, the cow-like Pokémon sticking out against the green with their fat pink bodies and hood-like black fur. As they passed through a forest, monkeys with red, blue, and green fur were swinging through the trees, and for the slightest sliver of a second, he could swear he saw a flash of lime-green and a pink flower.

They passed by a lake, which one he couldn't tell, and it seemed that Wingull, little white seagulls striped with blue, were just as bountiful as he expected. A geyser rose far off a few hundred feet into the air, with a red speck flying even further above.

Another passenger, a dark-skinned countryman with quite a few gray hairs, whistled. "Those Magikarp sure have been jumping high lately."

He exclaimed, "That's a Magikarp?"

---

Their MagLev got off right near Misaltron, meaning the trip to the airport couldn't even be considered a hike. Ariel was still a bit sleepy, but she bought some sort of coffee made from Chesto berries at a kiosk before they got on the flight.

Again, they were quite the pair. Well, trio, since Audino preferred to stay out of their Pokeball and by Ariel's side. A nun and albino, you've heard it before.

No TSA, not exactly, because if there was, he would have a lot more questions. Not even metal detectors, no use considering everything with a pulse could be considered a living weapon. But there were a good few police officers with cyan hair walking around. As you do.

They boarded the flight pretty easily, Ariel's convent having scraped together enough donations and offering so that they could both get tickets. Obviously.

A voice sang over the flight's PA, "Hello, everyone, this is your captain, the wondrous Skyla!"

Blanche, who'd just opened a water bottle, just barely avoided a spit take.

Is this what they call a character shout-out? He asked mentally, wondering about the timeline.

"Please strap in, and though we won't be opening any windows, we've gotta be safe!"

"Obviously," he muttered, having already done so. He was sitting across from Audino, while Ariel was sitting to their left. He guessed that she was fairly embarrassed after waking up when the train stopped, but it also meant that he was sat next to the window. Machamp, with their four muscular gray arms, loaded cargo off of trolleys and into the cargo hold, though neither of them had anything larger than a carry-on.

The plane's interior seemed larger than life. He considered that he might have shrunk for the second time, but he wasn't sure that the ratio of wings to the body would work.

"I'd like to reassure all of our fliers that though your flight today may run on Infinity Energy, it will be perfectly safe! And for that matter, even safer than the flights you could take on our older models, such as the Bronzong 747, Fieseler Torchic, and…" The intercom was suddenly cut off, and a few moments later, it came back on. "I have been reminded that I am not to go into aviation history at the drop of a hat! Deepest apologies! Now, please, enjoy your flight."

What a character, he thought. Could I get her autograph?

Soon enough, the plane took off, firefly-like Volbeat blinking clearly even in the mid-noon brightness. They flew out over the ocean, and…

Think about it like this. In the world Blanche was from, there were whole patches of garbage floating in the ocean. That crisp, clean ocean water you always saw in photos only existed in tourist spots because those were the only places people gave enough of a damn to keep clean.

Somehow, it was like that everywhere off the coast of Unova.

Even from a couple dozen thousand feet up, he could see deep into the ocean, see the sandbars rise and fall as they ascended. The way the sunlight reflected, how the currents flowed like a painting; It was picturesque, really. He saw whales swimming along the currents, guessing them to be Waillord from the blocky, yet ovaloid silhouettes. He could almost smell the sea air, even with the air pressure decimating his senses. No one else seemed to be affected, so he toughed it out without complaining. Out loud, at least.

"How do they keep the water so clean? I thought Unova had a big issue with pollution," he asked Ariel, guessing from his knowledge about New York's river Hudson.

"Oh… I don't think I could tell you but I believe… Have you ever heard of Shaymin?"

"Mythical Pokémon, right? Green hedgehog with a pink flower- wait a minute."

"That's right, it was a myth, but around three years ago, before the Shattered Heavens Incident. A trainer had discovered a Shaymin and befriended them, and brought them to Castelia City, Unova's central port. I remember reading a bit of the news back then, but… I'm sorry, I don't remember much else."

"Trust me, my memory's much worse," he joked.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

"We've been over this!" He brought his fingers to his forehead, shaking it slightly. "I'm allowed to joke about my own misfortune, so don't apologize for bringing it up."

"Well… I would really hate to be rude."

"It's fine. So, what about other Mythical Pokémon? You know, Victini, Manaphy, Darkrai…"

"Hoopa?"

"Yeah, those guys."

"Well, they're myths. Children's tales. Darkrai is just a ghost story. Victini is a metaphor for victory. And supposedly, there's a castle in the sea that only the Prince, Manaphy, can enter. But those are just stories."

There's a sort of irony here, he recognized, but I stick out enough without mentioning that.

"How about that?"

"Where did you hear about those?"

"I read a book or two," he said while shrugging, making it up on the spot.

Around sunset, their plane began its descent as it entered the airspace of the Kalos region. Right on the coast of mainland Europe and shaped like France, which is to say, like itself, it was home to much more geographical and biological diversity. Mountains, deserts, rivers, lakes; Quite a few of which weren't supposed to be found within the European Plains.

The plane continued further inland, making him slightly anxious as the plane began passing over the suburbs of Kalos. A tower of gleaming metal and glass towered over the land and the few skyscrapers that surrounded it.

"We're getting really close to the city, aren't we?" He asked, grip tightening around the armrests.

"Well, of course," she looked at him quizzically, "That's where the airport is."

"Inside the city limits?" He asked, involuntarily gritting his teeth as the streets below just barely came into view.

"That's where the city is… I'm sorry, I know you're asking me a question, but I don't understand how to answer."

"It's fine," he resolved, glancing out the window.

The metropolis was an architectural marvel, that much he was certain of. The tower was the centerpiece and everything else folded out from there. There were at least two dozen walkways that led into the open plaza thick with people going about their day. Trams ran in between buildings above the streets, gliding along like paper in the wind. Flashing lights covered buildings on all sides. In many other plazas throughout the expansive city, fields were open, rectangular, and painted with the boundary lines of battle arenas.

He rubbed his eyes as the seatbelt light audibly blinked on overhead, and he tensed up as he awaited the landing.

Luckily, nothing bad happened, which didn't necessarily reassure him. It led to Ariel herding him out of the airport while he kept shivering.

"I'm fine, really, I just…" Wasn't there something he was forgetting? Planes and cities… those didn't mix, he was sure. "It's just nerves, don't worry about it," he told her while tugging at his collar.

The outskirts of the city were laid out before them. They stood at the peak of a small hill, a plaza in front of the airport that had paths branching out on either side and many stairs that led to the ground floor of the city. The sunset would have looked much more poetic if it didn't inspire so much dread inside him. Where would he go? Hell, where would either of them go? They were both teenagers without ID in the middle of a sprawling city, and-

Somewhere in his mental processes, a mirror of himself slammed a paper fan into his skull. Get a hold of yourself!, it yelled. You're playing a video game, but for real! Kids go on adventures at ten years old here, you'll be fine!

Sixteen, he reminded himself, and he wasn't even sure if he was that.

The shadows the two of them cast were long and stretched across the concrete blocks. Audino appeared from their Pokéball, increasing their number to three.

"So, what's the plan now?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"I intend on finding a train station and traveling to…" As she spoke, a monorail screeched into the station just ahead. Red lights blinked off and were replaced with green. "...to reunite with my home sect. What are your plans?"

What were his plans? Goddammit, why didn't he think this through? He said he was from Kalos because it would be easy, but he didn't even have a Pokémon! The city was bigger than New York or any other city he'd ever seen- Was that normal? It had enormous walls surrounding it well into the distance, and he couldn't think of a single city like that!

Okay, think, dipshit, think! Get a Pokémon.

Where the hell was he supposed to do that? It's not like one would just fall out of the sky! The MissingNo thing was just a dream, he wasn't a protagonist, how was he supposed to get one? Ask for a starter Pokémon from the regional Professor?

It was his best bet, really.

"Don't worry about it. I'll… look you up, I think the term is, if I'm in a jam."

The girl bowed to him and the flap of her habit fluttered for a moment. "Very well. I wish you the best, Blanche."

"Same to you. I owe you one. More than one. Definitely a few at least." He facepalmed as he was sure his face was turning red. "What I'm trying to say is, thank you. I don't know where I'd be if you hadn't picked me up out of the snow when you did."

"Perhaps there's another world where I didn't, but you don't need to worry about it!" She flashed a smile that would have melted even the coldest Ice-types. "You're here now, and that's what matters."

He closed his eyes, absorbing her words, before smiling thinly. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Ariel. See you around." He asked himself if nuns were allowed to shake hands with outsiders. So, in his endless charisma and social understanding, he offered her a thumbs up.

She gave him a hearty laugh in response, responding with one of her own. "You're welcome. I hope we'll meet again someday."

The green lights above the rail station blinked and turned yellow, and a speaker blared that the car would be leaving soon.

"Come, Audino, I believe we should arrive before darkness falls."

He watched as the pair walked down the elevated path towards the station. Ariel turned slightly to wave at him before the doors slid shut.

Blanche stood there beneath the setting sun, soaking in the tinged light.

"Shit."

---

It took him only a few minutes to find a city map, and then a few more to wait for the tourists using it to leave. He was somewhere on the west side of the city, on the outskirts of the near-fractal-shaped map. Lines crisscrossed in and out of themselves, six layers were displayed on the board, labels took up as much space as empty space.

It took him fifteen minutes to find the Sycamore Pokémon Lab, as it was nestled in-between a smattering of cafes right off of one of the main roads leading south. Luckily, it was part one of the concentric rings of the city rather than a free-standing block, meaning he could find his way from anywhere in the circle if he kept an eye out.

The city was truly massive. From overhead, most cities seem to be the archetypical urban sprawl, but the view from the plane hadn't made it clear how layered the city was. Walkways and parkways swerved around each other, going from level to level. And as he walked, he was surprised that streetlights from a hundred feet above his head still cast a shadow upon him. As the sun set, darkness was only found in the furthest corners of his vision. Six layers of paths, roads, and supports; Really, it could be called the metropocalypse.

On one hand, he would have arrived at the lab quicker if he'd taken the monorail. On the other, he was still trying to get a feel for the city.

On both hands, it was entirely pointless, as when he arrived at the lab, he learned that it was only open until five in the evening. And at that latitude, beneath the dimming sky, it was clear that he was too late.

He sighed at his misfortune, before leaning back on the wall. What was he supposed to do now? He was effectively homeless, had a few coins of a currency he barely understood (A Pokédollar was around one cent, right?), and he didn't know anything else.

What's the plan now? He thought, scraping the bottom of the mental barrel. Prism Tower was a pretty major landmark, but it was also a Gym, so he'd probably get kicked out if he tried to talk to the Gym Leader without battling.

A high-pitched whine began blaring through the city, though his train of thought continued on unimpeded.

Could he get a hotel room? In such a huge city with spare change in his pocket? Not a chance. An overnight cafe, or whatever they were called? Maybe, and given he only had a small duffel, he probably wouldn't get robbed.

He became more aware of the warbling in the air, craning his neck towards the source of the sound.

"Probably a fire truck or something," he assumed.

Then he heard screaming. Not the kind that horns make, but the piercing, dreadful screams of people. He froze, before stumbling away from the wall and walking back into the street.

There. A few hundred feet away, the air seemed to be cracked. A portal of white and blue light had opened in the air above the street, beneath an overpass.

Something had descended from the portal, a jellyfish-like Pokémon with cloth-like tendrils. It had a hazy aura surrounding it, flickering blue and orange.

People were running away as fast as they could, parents grabbing their children and returning their Litleo or whatever Pokémon they kept as pets. A Gogoat, a towering ram with leafy fur, bucked a boy with orange hair and threw him to the ground before running into a lamppost and breaking it clean off the base. Blanche froze to the spot that he stood in the center of the road.

"An Ultra Beast? In Kalos? What was it called… a Nihilego, that's it!" He clenched his fist as the otherworldly Pokémon began advancing on the orange-haired boy, who was scrambling away on the ground. And still, his legs refused to move. "Why can't I move?" His legs shuddered, but refused to obey his commands. To run, he was sure he wanted to.

Which direction?

I'm not a hero, he thought. It's not my responsibility. Someone else will help.

Bystander Syndrome. The common result of an emergency in a highly-populated area is that no one will help. After all, someone else will come along who's better equipped to solve the problem. But in tragic cases, this is not always true.

And Blanche knew this. He was completely aware of Bystander Syndrome. He hated it. He hated people that fell victim to it. So naturally, in the moment that the Ultra Beast took hold of the terrified boy, he hated himself.

What am I doing? WHY CAN'T I MOVE?

Because I'm weak.

So what?

I can't help.

I can try. It's not like I'm worth much here anyway.

But I will feel pain.

And so will they, if I don't MOVE.

He shot to the side, lightning crackling through his veins as he ran towards the downed streetlamp. It wasn't tied to any external wires, and the internal ones had been sheared straight through by the Gogoat's horns. Using every bit of strength in his arms, he lugged it from the ground, pulling his wounds open on his arms and back.

The Nihilego wrapped its tendrils around the catatonic boy's face, pulling him from the ground even as he tried to push himself away.

"Hey!" He shouted, running towards the Pokémon as he lugged the pole onto his back. Muscles along his spine strained themselves, and red began leaking into his bandages from his arms and sides. "Here! Look here, you bastard!"

The monster didn't halt in its advance, seemingly ignorant to his presence as it began drawing the boy from the ground and into itself.

Blanche thrust his legs forward, and his calves began to burn. Fifty feet. Forty. Twenty. Ten. Five. He cracked the metal pole across the Ultra Beast's head, sending it a few feet to the side and loosening its grasp on the boy. The haze around it wavered, and its tendrils waved around through the air, trying to sense something. It turned towards him, and its head, the transparent globe, tilted in what he assumed was confusion before he slammed the bent pole diagonally downwards. It made no sound, though it simply floated away from him with its tendrils limp.

The boy on the ground didn't move, his orange hair soaked in sweat. Blanche dragged the lamppost along the ground until he stood between the monster and the unmoving boy. A wicked grin tore itself from his lips and his pupils grew larger, even as he struggled.

"I'm not a badass. I'm most certainly normal. But, if you put the two together, you know what you get?" He raised the pole, arms throbbing with exertion. "The guy who's going to kick your ass." He lunged forward, turning his forward momentum into upward velocity for the pole behind him, and then worked with gravity to slam it into the Rock-type Ultra Beast. The tip of the post shattered, scattering glass shards around the Pokémon as it slowly descended to the ground.

He whacked it again, more weakly, and the pole fell from his hands. Wiping his bloodied hands on his shirt, he watched with mild interest as the haze surrounding the Nililego began expanding, lashes of orange and blue lancing outward from its body.

"Oh. That's probably not good..."

He wasn't able to finish his sentence, as the ensuing explosion blasted him dozens of feet away, and as his body met pavement, his mind met darkness.

 

[MikaelBrigman]

When he awoke, he didn't feel the sweat that had pooled in his bandages overnight, but rather, a cool, soft sensation.

It took him a moment to remember that he wouldn't have to wrap his own bandages after being knocked unconscious.

The room he lay in was sterile and without windows. The walls were a baby blue that he could have easily mistaken for white. His bed was pressed against the wall with his feet facing towards the plain wooden door, and should he have stood up, he could have touched either wall by simply holding his arms out.

A machine beeped next to him, and his eyes screwed up in confusion as he looked over the bottles of medicine (and were those Potions?) on the nightstand. Acetaminophen was the only one he recognized, a pain reliever. It certainly explained why his skin didn't burn when he sat up. Tubes were taped onto his arms and led into a bag hanging from a pole, an IV drip. Or EV drip, all possibilities considered. He wasn't in any urgent hurry so he chose to leave them there. And as if some great will was rewarding him for his patience, a nurse entered the room soon-after. The pink hair was a dead giveaway as to her identity, but her clothes were different that he'd expected. A bit closer cut, faded pink, and lacking in the frilly aesthetic he'd come to expect from a Nurse Joy.

"Good morning! Are you feeling alright?"

"The painkillers are doing their job, thanks."

"Fantastic, now, please don't move while I do some check-ups…"

He sat still as she fiddled with the tubes, scratched out something on a notepad, and swept away most of the pill bottles.

"I hope you don't mind, but we had to try multiple different medicines. Ms. Sycamore figured you were an Esper after her analysis, but what we had in stock had no effect."

"I should probably start carrying around one of those medical cards," he mused, "Most don't seem to work on me, and I'd rather not get overdosed by accident."

The nurse laughed softly as she removed the tubes from his arm with a discomforting slick movement. After she padded it with rubbing alcohol, she wrapped a short bandage back around his hand and forearm. "We'll get you out of here soon. It didn't seem like you were too hurt, but you have strained muscles in your arms and back, so please be careful. I'll have you out of here soon."

"Thank you, Nurse…" He trailed off as if he didn't know her name, acting an idiot, before adding, "Pfft, just kidding. Thank you, Nurse Joy."

"No worries!" She smiled at him, leaving the room momentarily only to return with a cane. "Let's get you up, if you can stand."

It jolted him slightly, but he did manage to push off the blankets and get himself to the side. She moved to lift him up by putting a hand on his shoulder, but he shook his head. "I've got it," he struggled out before he pressed his weight on the cane and stood up. He was a bit taller than the nurse, but he wasn't quite tall enough to bang his head on the doorframe. "Where are we headed?"

"Well, I believe the Sycamores would like to speak with you, but if you can't make it right now, that's alright!"

"No time like the present," he grumbled as his ankles ached. Damn it, he might have had white hair, but he wasn't that old.

They got out into the hallway, a wider and taller affair which stretched fifty or so feet in either direction, one end leading into a lobby, another into a wall. Of course, the former was their destination. From there, it was like a catacomb. Hallways lead into lobbies, which led into elevators, which led into airlocks (seriously?), which led into hallways, and all over again, until five minutes later, they'd arrived outside of an office labeled with a singular 'Sycamore', imprinted on a spalted nameplate and a code which he figured was the room number.

He thanked the Nurse and opened the door as she continued with her, likely much more important business.

The room was nearly pitch black, only illuminated by a white bar of light that ran along the far wall. It was broken at the center of the room by a figure seated behind a minuscule desk, compared to the rest of the room.

Now, as he walked in, he expected to hear something about scenarios playing out, and the figure to be seated in a way not unlike the infamous Gendo Ikari. It was either that or… well, it could have been the Pokémon Lab, except he knew that it wasn't supposed to look anything like this, and he'd already been there. Did Professor Sycamore get relocated to wherever the hell he was?

All of his expectations were broken, as the girl playing games on her phone squeaked and fell out of her chair.

The lights clicked on, as if by a motion sensor, and he found that the room wasn't quite as empty as he thought. Pressed against the walls were tables covered in paper, office appliances, and various strange apparatuses.

A swivel chair was laid on its side next to the desk, the wheels still rolling with a weak whine, as the girl that had fallen groaned.

He blinked "...Is now a bad time?" He asked, hand on the doorframe and just barely leaning into the room. Then he realized he was being an idiot, and hobbled in to help whoever had fallen stand up.

She was dressed in a lab coat, a lavender dress shirt, and black slacks. Her shining black hair hung around her back as she pawed around the floor looking for her glasses.

Blanche suddenly remembered that ogling girls could wait, and at the same time noticed he was halfway to stepping on said glasses. He readjusted and crouched down to pick them up, ignoring the pain as she handed them to her.

"Ah… thank you," she sighed as she covered her pale-purple eyes with the half-moon glasses. She glanced at him, froze, and started stuttering. "I… I mean, well, yes, thank you, um, did you need something?"

"Nurse Joy said you wanted to talk to me," he said as he helped her to her feet.

He was already picking up the chair as she answered, "Ah, I did, yes, I should thank her, um…" She trailed off, before suddenly saying, "I'm Aveline Sycamore! It's nice to meet you!"

Great rehearsal, he thought, before nodding. "Same to you. I don't really have a name, but… Actually, my name is Blanche, yes."

"I see…. I did have some questions- That is, if you don't mind! Um… please?" She pressed the tips of her fingers together while looking at her shoes.

Luckily, Blanche, being the paragon of infinite wisdom about women, determined that she was just awkward and it wasn't because of some other, ridiculous reason. "Sure, I don't mind at all. I actually have some questions of my own, so I'm sure we can work something out."

"Right… I mean, thank you! You can… take a seat, if you want, um…" she whipped her head around, before dashing to one of the side tables, yanking out the chair tucked into it, and holding it opposite of her own seat, across the desk. She looked at him for a few seconds, probably wondering why he wasn't sitting down, before pulling her hands away like they were on fire and running back to where she'd been sitting when he walked in.

Yep, he thought, definitely awkward. He sat down slowly and leaned his walking stick against the desk.

"So… um, what did you have questions about?"

"You asked me to be here, I think you should go first," he replied. Jerk.

"Oh, I know. I mean, you're right! Um… well, I wanted to ask you if you were an Esper. Or an Aura-user. Either, that's what I mean!"

Poor girl, he sighed mentally. "No, I don't have psychic powers or aura. Do those mean the same thing?"

"Um, yes… If you don't mind, I just recalled I have a machine that can detect Aura, so if I could…"

"If it doesn't irradiate me, I'm all good."

The girl shot out of her seat, skittered across the room, and pulled a headset from where it was plugged into a mechanical mannequin. She power-walked back behind her desk before sliding the red and blue visor over her glasses.

"That's…" She pulled it off, staring at him blankly. "You'd… you don't have any Aura. But that's not…" She fiddled with a dial on the side before putting it back on. "This is… perhaps it's broken, I'm sorry…"

"Hey, what's that supposed to do, Miss Sycamore?"

"Um, you don't have to call me Miss, I'm not… I'm young! This is an Aura Reader. It was developed by Professor Krane, head of the Aura Research department of the United Regions. It can see the Aura and life energy of living things, it's very cool! I mean, interesting!"

"That does sound cool," he agreed. The Aura Reader totally wasn't a scouter from Dragon Ball, no, not at all. Aura Research sounded strange, but he already had a pretty good idea of what the United Regions was. "So, is it busted? Why don't I try it, see if it works for you?"

"Um, I'm not sure that's a good idea… you might strain your eyes."

"Ah. Well, you're the doctor here, not me. Call it a lucky guess, but I'm fairly certain I don't have Aura, so I don't think you have to check."

"No, this is important!" She insisted, before shrinking back. "What I meant to say was that you don't have to wear it. You were knocked out in a fight last night, and there could be all kinds of side effects you don't know about yet… I'll just…" She fiddled with another dial on the headset, before clicking a button and pulling away a small earpiece. She pointed the visor at herself and held the earphone up, before cringing back suddenly. "...I believe it works. I would like further testing, but it is… I don't mean to be rude! But it is strange that the Reader isn't picking up your AIAM fields."

"And those are…?"

"I apologize, AIAM stands for An Involuntary Aural Movement. All humans and Pokémon generate fields, though some are stronger than others. Ultra Beasts have some sort of energy field, but it's visible to the naked eye and can't be picked up by the Reader.

He recalled the blue and orange haze that surrounded Nihilego. "I see. And what exactly do they do?"

"Well… the fields are made of life energy. Pokémon moves only work because of them. And humans would be much worse off if you didn't have any to protect you. And I mean 'you' as in the general you, not excluding myself!"

"Right. So, I'm the only one without superpowers," he sighed, "Add it to the list of the bullshit I've had to deal with for the last few weeks."

"Last few weeks? I mean- I didn't wish to pry, let's move on! I… actually took a look at the cameras, the feeds, and I wanted to know why you were at dad's, I mean, the Professor's lab so late."

That made him raise an eyebrow, but he answered, "I heard Professor Sycamore was a very generous man. I actually only arrived in the city… last night, I think."

"Right, right… You weren't, um, planning on breaking in, were you?"

"What? No, of course not!"

"I'm sorry!" She shrank back in her seat, striking him with that feeling one got after punishing a dog for biting them.

"It's fine," he said as quickly as the thought occurred to him. "I was just disappointed he wasn't there, that's why I was hanging around. I… didn't actually have much of a plan other than that. I suppose I could have found a Pokémon Center, but I don't know if they'd let me sleep overnight if I wasn't seriously injured."

"I think they would have… but thank you for telling me. I think you should speak with the Professor when he arrives."

"When will that be?"

"Around one p.m., maybe?"

"And what time is it now?"

"It's, um," she checked her phone, which he realized was in fact, a small tablet displaying the video feed she had mentioned, "A little after eleven."

"Right- Hey, can I see that?" He leaned over the desk and pointed at the screen.

She put the tablet on the table between them and swiveled it around as she pressed play.

The video was low quality, but he could make out the relevant details. The Nihilego floating, him running towards it with a pole, and that orange-haired boy-

"Oh, shit, what happened to him? Did he get hit too?"

"Esper Geranium recovered him, he was only scratched a little," she offered.

"And that is…?"

"One of FLARE's field employees," she replied sheepishly.

"Pause." She did. "FLARE? As in, Team Flare?"

He thought, no way, Professor Sycamore's daughter was working for Team Flare? Those are the Bad Guys!

It was the most soap-opera thing he could think of.

"No, just FLARE."

The capital letters were also hurting his head.

"And I'm guessing," he remembered that the evil team had owned a hideout beneath Lumiose in X and Y, "That we are in one of their bases?"

"The largest, yes."

"So, evil team or paramilitary? Because I don't think that Nurse Joy would work for the former, and this seems to be a pretty organized place."

"...You could say it's paramilitary. The United Regions provides much of the funding in exchange for Team Flare dealing with the Anomalies around the world."

"Anomalies like Ultra Beasts?"

"Well, Ultra Beasts, Shadow Pokémon, rogue Dynamax Pokémon, rogue Espers…"

So, he counted off mentally, that's Gen 7, side-game Gen 3, Gen 8, and what were probably Dark Magical Girls, all in one timeline. He wondered, half-praying, what kind of deity would create a world like that.

Because he had to admit, it was pretty ****ing awesome.

"Huh," he said, face blank, before continuing the video.

It was just about how he remembered it, with the Nihilego floating away from him after being hit, but he realized from the new angle that it never looked directly at him, but rather at the pole. "Something's up with that. Is it blind?"

"The current hypothesis is that UB-Symbiont sense their surroundings with their energy fields, but lack all senses except touch."

"Looks like to me that it couldn't sense me," he said.

"It's very possible…"

The video feed cut out as a crackling field of energy expanded in a sphere, catching the camera in the blast.

"Electromagnetic?" He guessed at the field. "Did it blow itself up, or…"

"We have recovered it as well, and it was dealt with accordingly."

He felt a small tingle in the back of his head, something mixed with foreboding, but ignored it. "So… that happened. What now?"

"Well, um, the way I see it…" She pushed herself back and the wheels squealed beneath her. "...If you've recovered enough to walk, I suppose you could just leave… but I would like for you to stay here. To further study the conditions of your AIAM fields, that's what I meant!"

He laughed at the slip, knowing that was the only possible reason. "I suppose I'll do that. You said the Professor will be here soon, anyway, so I might as well stick around."

"Really? Thank you! I'm sure you'll make a great test subject!" She slammed her fist into her palm, before freezing with a thousand-yard stare. "Wait, I mean-"

When she stopped stuttering a minute later, she showed him out of her shared office and back into the catacombs that made up, as he saw on a sign they passed, FLARE HQ. They took an elevator rather than the stairs, and so the height difference was only awkward for a little less than two minutes.

The Aura Lab, as he read outside the door, was actually connected to the airlock he'd walked through earlier. After it sealed, the air pressure increased, then decreased sharply, pulling away loose dust and hair from their clothes. It wasn't painful, but being forced to exhale wasn't exactly comfortable.

Inside, it was much cleaner than the Sycamores' office. Pearly white tiling and dull gray walls, it was basically what he expected from a lab. Red, green, and blue wires ran along the floor, taped or pressed down with a pad. Seven large tubes rested against the wall to his left, topped with red but empty, though one of them was dimmed and opaque. On his right, screens covered the wall, blinking and showing flat biometric graphs. Against the far wall, a window slanted outwards, and he noticed it was slightly concave. It too was dim, but it seemed that there were lights somewhere below the lip.

They weren't the only ones in the lab, as an older boy was typing at a keyboard with a much-clunkier Aura Reader flattening most of his spiky red hair. His undershirt was black, his track pants were blue, and Blanche was no fashion expert, but that yellow vest did not at all go well with either of those. He looked up, so to speak, and took off the headset as the airlock sealed once again.

"Good morning, doc," the boy nodded, eyes flicking over to Blanche. "Good morning, eh, did I forget your name or have we just not met? You'd think I'd remember names better, but apparently not."

Blanche had a few names for the boy rolling around in his head. None of them were insults, it was just that the boy looked enough like a generic fighting manga or anime protagonist for it to be a toss-up.

"I don't think we have. I'm Blanche. That's my name, I mean, it's pretty clear that everything about me is blanche." From the top of his head to the tips of his toes, this was true. "It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Michael, no weird Kalosian dialects apply. I'm from Orre, so, you know. Same to you."

The thoughts clicked together in his head as he placed Michael as the protagonist from Pokémon XD, fitting him right next to Shadow Pokémon and Aura Readers, and really, how hadn't he realized that before? He was careful not to let it show, however, because it would look strange if he knew the personal history of someone he just met but not his own name.

"So, did you guys need something? Happy to help," The boy said, pushing himself away from the table and turning towards them.

"Uh, yes, my personal Aura Reader, the one in my office, doesn't pick up anything from him, so…" she pressed her fingertips together, and from Michael's sigh, it was clear that this wasn't a strange occurrence.

"So, is it broken? You could have called me and I would have come up."

"No, it worked on me… would you mind running him through the full-body scanner?"

"Huh?" Michael's eyes darted to a tube that Blanche just realized was against the front wall, nestled in the corner and connecting to the computers. A seam separated the outward-facing corner, and he guessed it would slide open. "Yeah, alright. Let me close out the battle simulator first."

Is that mother-****ing Pokémon Battlegrounds? Blanche internally yelled as the window on the top screen closed, a pop-up declaring the VR simulation had stopped running. Michael's Reader must have doubled as a headset.

I'm not even mad, I'm just…

He couldn't find the words, not even in his own head. Michael minimized .com and started running another program. The tube in the corned slid open with a snap.

"Okay, just step in there, if you don't mind," he enunciated lightly as he began typing up a new profile. "We don't use this thing very often, aside from Geranium and that Unovan chick, so I don't think it'll have broken since the last test."

Blanche ducked his head as he entered, and the upper half of his vision was obscured by the red top. "How do you get Pokémon in this thing? It's tiny."

"You're a pretty tall guy," Michael replied, typing faster, "Correct units or metric?"

"The former."

"Alright, in that case, you're six foot even."

He thought with a hint of amusement, that in fact, he did shrink as he'd noted with Ariel. He hoped she had gotten home safe as the data continued streaming in.

"One-ninety L-B-S," Michael enunciated, "Eye color, red, hair color, white- What's the story behind that?"

"Wish I could tell you. Not hair bleach though, I'm pretty sure."

"Alright, running Aura Scan…"

The glass ran with blue and red blocks swirling around him. And as if blasted through a horn, there was a resounding…

Nothing.

"I think it's still loading," Michael said.

Then thirty seconds passed, and the blocks continued swirling.

"...Maybe the GPU needs to cool down?"

After a full minute, Michael gave up and shut down the diagnostics program.

"I'm going to make an educated guess that if two machines give the same output, which is to say, none at all, then the issue is with the changing variable. Blanche, do you have any idea why you don't have aura? Because as far as I can tell, you're walking and talking but I haven't met a robot that passes the Turing Test, so your aura is either so weak that we literally can't pick it up, or you don't got none at all. Neither of those should be possible, because I've seen Ratata with more aura than you."

"Maybe it was top percentage?"

"You know, I have a friend of a friend of a friend who doesn't shut up about his Ratata. He's been at it for three years, and he's still talking about it. I hear about it all the time on the GTS. But I realize now that it makes sense that you're covered in bandages, because I can't imagine how screwed we'd all be without aura to protect us from Pokémon. Hey, doc, this answer your question?"

Sycamore perked up, and stammered, "Ah, it does, thank you. Um, could you please send the results to Clemont? I think he'd be interested…"

"He still wants to build something with an Infinity Battery that won't blow up when whoever's wearing it gets a little bit emotional?" Michael asked rhetorically as he opened up an email window and began typing. "Hey, Blanche, you know what an Infinity Battery is?"

"Something with Infinity Energy, right?"

"Yep. It's created by Mega Evolution spontaneously, but around six years ago, Devon Corp. over in Hoenn, I think, found a way to harness it more consistently. But here's the thing, right? Infinity Energy is really, really similar to aura. If you keep it centralized in an AIAM field for too long, it'll fizzle out because the energy will cross-contaminate and become dangerously unstable. They turn themselves off automatically like a breaker switch."

"Don't cross the streams."

"Something like that. So basically, they're fantastic for power production when they're not near any people or Pokémon, but if they get diffused, they break."

"I think I get it."

"And see, Clemont, one of the best engineers in this region, has a thing about making machines that run on them. It's like an obsession. You know what the problem is?"

"What?"

"He keeps them in his bag literally all of the time. They break if he turns them on for five minutes, usually less, more often when it's funny. He wants to make power armor with the worst power source he could choose."

"Well, it sounds safer than nuclear power."

"What's that mean?"

"What do you mean, what? Haven't you ever heard about Hiroshima or Nagasaki? Chernobyl?"

"I think Chernobyl's a treasure hunter or something," he shrugged, "I've never heard of that before. Are you thinking of Blast Burn thermal energy?"

Blanche ran a hand down his face, a little dumbstruck. "...Never mind."

"Well, whatever. Clemont replied to me, said he'd be here in few."

Before Clemont arrived, however, the elder Sycamore arrived. His hair was a rich black and curled to perfection, and he had just enough scruff on his face via his sideburns to not look too much like a pretty boy. Regarding his frock (lab) coat, rolled up sleeves, and expensive-looking belt that separated his black dress shirt and slacks, well, it didn't change Blanche's impression very much.

"Good morning!" He called as he swept into the lab. "I got your message on my way in. I wasn't up late drinking last night, Aveline, I promise." The professor turned to the two boys, one standing and the other turning away from the keyboard. "And good morning to you too, Michael and… blondie. I don't believe we've met. Might I have your name?"

"You can call me Blanche, sir. You'd be Professor Sycamore, then?"

"In fact, I am! Small world, isn't it? So many people, and yet, I am the only one who goes by the name Augustine Sycamore. What would we do without these natural wonders?"

His daughter coughed, red in the face. Blanche guessed it was because parents were just like that sometimes, as in, incredibly embarrassing. Not that he could remember exactly how or when, he just had a feeling. "Um, dad, he actually had some questions for you…"

"Oh? Then I'd be happy to oblige!" The professor held his arms out in a way that could be called heretically messianic. "What can I help you with?"

"I was under the impression you could help me out. I really should have thought it through more, but you were the only person I could name from Kalos other than Diantha, and I couldn't exactly ask a movie star." Or the few other people he also knew of, but the more desperate he sounded and the less strange, the better.

"In that case, why did you come to Kalos?"

Why had he? Because it would be easy? Clearly that didn't apply anymore, considering the last eighteen or so hours, and it wouldn't make sense to anyone else. Think, think, think- Actually? Tell a little bit of the truth.

"I have amnesia." He shrugged, trying to keep his face relaxed. "I'm pretty sure I'm from around here though."

Michael stopped typing for a split second, just long enough for the silence to be audible, before continuing.

"That's very unfortunate. Well, what can I do for you, young man?" Sycamore's bravado visibly decreased, as he placed his hands in his pockets and stopped throwing his chest out like a bird. Or, in the local dialect, like a Flying-type.

"Well… I heard that the Pokémon League conference was happening this year," he half-muttered. "And I think that if I traveled around I might recognize something," he lied through his teeth. "And well, I don't have my own Pokémon, so…"

"I see. How old are you, Mr….?"

"I don't have a last name. Because, y'know, Blanche is a nickname someone gave me while they were helping me out. While I was there, well, they guessed I was around sixteen, maybe seventeen."

"Hm… that is unfortunate. One, you're not old enough for a license under the UR's restrictions, which wouldn't stop you from taking care of a Pokémon, but it means you can't take on the Gym Challenge this year. Two, even if you could, you would need to attend Trainer School beforehand. It's not 1998 anymore, kids can't just run around the region without knowing how to set up camp or what kinds of equipment they need to fit their Pokémon's needs."

"Right…"

Damn it.

Blanche quickly lost himself in thought. Most of it was his Ego swearing at his misfortune, a good amount of it was his Id telling him he should have expected the worst, and a small amount of it was his Superego just wanting him to cool off and lay down somewhere in the sun.

Trainer School? So like, high school? Why the hell would he go to school when he could be out there, catching Pokémon and having the time of his life?

But he could starve himself to death in the wilderness. When he thought about it, he knew how to camp, but he knew nothing about the flora and fauna in their natural habitat. Knowing movesets wouldn't help him if a bear or an Ursarang ate all of his food. If he did catch a Pokémon, he would have no clue how to take care of it. It couldn't just be like feeding a dog or a cat, that would be too convenient. Some Pokémon were piles of rocks, some were psychic ducks.

Why not become a janitor or something? Wouldn't be too terrible, if this place was a fully-equipped headquarters, they might have some spare beds.

Then he remembered that he was in the Pokémon world, and as necessary as blue-collar work is, it would comparatively be boring as shit. They also probably had Pokémon that cleaned the floors for them.

"I think I need to go… sit down, or something." Blanche began to walk off, his cane tapping exactly once before Professor Sycamore held out a hand.

"Now, I know you might feel a little lost, and I know that you kids grew up hearing that you could go on your journey the year you turned sixteen, but you do have to make up for lost time. Last I checked, no Trainer Schools have had plans to open before later this January. You'll probably be in years premiére or terminale. The last two years, I mean. That's… junior and senior year in Unova, I believe."

"Sir, I don't know anything. I don't have a chance of catching up now."

"That's a quitter's attitude! Trust me, you'll enjoy it. Maybe Aveline can tutor you!" Sycamore clapped a hand on his shoulder and smiled, holding a thumbs-up between them.

He glanced back to see the shy girl red in the face and stuttering, and sighed. "I don't think that would go so well, even if she's a professor. The material's probably changed since she was in school anyway."

"Um… are you calling me old?"

"No!" He responded quickly, jerking away to wave his arm in surrender. "I just thought… Well, what's your Ph.D.?"

"Energy and Power Engineering, Kanto Pokémon Tech," she recited. "With a minor in Applied Biological Sciences.

That would explain her olive skin. Kanto was based on a place in Japan, and she was probably from there originally. "So you've got to be at least twenty- Hey, wait a minute."

"I'm actually… a little under seventeen?" She corrected him, becoming sheepish.

Bull. ****ing. Shit.

"Okay, Professor Sycamore," he turned to the older one, "How old are you?"

"I can already see what you're thinking... And in fact, I am still an eligible bachelor! Not thirty yet!" The man let loose a glorious laugh, before calming quickly and responding, "But yes, I did adopt Aveline. I wasn't that much of a player at your age."

Blanche gagged at the implication and folded over his cane like a flag in the wind. "...Right. You know what? I think I need that seat right about now. "Back on topic, even if I wanted to go to school, wouldn't I need an address?"

"You could stay here," the male professor offered, "I go way back with the boss, so I doubt anyone would give you trouble. I'm sure we have temporary housing in this bunker somewhere."

"Professor, nepotism is like, bad, and stuff."

Michael decided to add his own thoughts, as he said, "You did technically do our job when you knocked out the UB. I think you could spin that into us owing you."

"Are you trying to convince me to blackmail a paramilitary organization?"

"Is it working?"

As he recalled he didn't have any alternative plans, he said, "...Yes."

"Welp, there you go." Michael soon turned his attention back to the computer and reopened the Smogon window in his GTS browser.

"Hey, Michael, print our friend Blanche here some paperwork."

"Paperwork?" Michael asked, disgusted. "What are you, some kind of monster?"

"That'd be the school system," he clapped him on the shoulder again as the printer in the corner blinked on and started shuddering. Violently. "Good talk, team! Oh, and while you're at it, Michael, can you check my emails?"

"No. You have your own office, go there."

Sycamore scratched the back of his head and laughed, considerably embarrassed. "Well, if that's everything, I'll take my leave." The airlock door slid open, and Sycamore stepped inside. "Good luck with everything, Blanche!" And with that, it sealed behind them, leaving only the three of them and the tapping of keys to occupy the room.

Soon after that, a weedy, out-of-shape blond in a sky-blue jumpsuit arrived, slightly out of breath. Blanche couldn't see his eyes behind the glasses, which were constantly reflecting a glare no matter where they were.

His white backpack was weighed down and clanked with each step. As the boy entered, a huge, glove-like hand exited, gripping onto the metal coat rack as the bag's straps bisected themselves. Defying what he knew about levers and fulcrums, the bag pulled itself towards the hand until it was at rest on the rack with nary a creak.

"Greetings, everyone!" The boy called as he stretched his shoulders, wringing them out. "Today is a great day for science, isn't it?"

"As is every day, Clemont," Michael said, not even pausing to speak. "As is every day."

"Y-yes, I agree. In fact, I, um, think I have something for you to study." Sycamore gestured to Blanche stiffly using a closed fist. "Uh… this boy, here, doesn't have an AIAM field. And I know that since Infinity Batteries shut down around AIAM fields, I figured you would like to speak with him. If you're still working with Infinity Energy, that is!"

"That's very thoughtful of you. Did you double-check?"

"They ran it on Sycamore's personal reader, the lab's chamber, and mine." Michael tapped the side of his headset. "I looked before I used the computer, but every scan turned up a negative result. None whatsoever."

"I see…" Clemont readjusted his glasses, showing his blue eyes for a split second before the glare intensified. "There will be… so… much… SCIENCE!" The boy threw his arm in the air and whooped. "So, because I'm a scientist, I just want to ask you a few questions."

"Okay, ask away."

"When did you first discover your lack of the field? If it was suddenly nullified, then we can study the surrounding conditions and attempt to replicate it."

"Well, I'd say it was when I woke up. An educated guess." He pulled back one of the many bandages, specifically the one on his wrist, and let it snap back down. "These sorts of injuries don't happen to most people because of aura, or so I've heard. Also, multiple Nurse Joys have told me that a lot of medicine doesn't work on me."

"I see… Professor, hasn't it been theorized that many effects of Potions wouldn't work on a living being without an AIAM field?"

She hesitated before responding, "It has. There hasn't been any proof of a lack of effect on fauna, but many plants don't respond at all to Potions and other medicines."

"Fascinating. It was… Oh, I should introduce myself! I'm Clemont!"

"I heard. I'm Blanche. It's a nickname, I have amnesia of the laser-guided sort. Really unfortunate, don't bother taking time out of your day to pity me."

The glare subsided in Clemont's glasses, showing the boy's simple reaction of a blink. "...Perhaps AIAM fields can be tied to memory as well? A tree doesn't have a field, but a Trevanant does, and you can only train the latter… I'll have to research that later! Now, about your lack of field… How much would you take to stand in a room with an Infinity Battery for a few hours?"

"What?"

"I'm trying to find a way to make Infinity Energy more applicable in the field. FLARE needs that sort of firepower to deal with any sorts of threats."
Oh, yeah. Clemont works for the evil team too. What a world, what a world, he thought.

"And Infinity Batteries have circuit breakers built into them, miniature Aura Readers that can shut off the battery when the two energies begin diffusing, so there's no risk. It'll just be incredibly boring. But! It's a small price to pay! For the future is now, thanks to-"

"Don't finish that sentence," Michael cut him off, "I don't want something to explode."

"Ah…" Clemont slumped slightly. "That is a trend. But, Blanche, I believe I can compensate you considerably!"

"I kind of owe FLARE," he admitted. "What does healthcare cost around here?"

"...It's subsidized by the government, so I don't think you owe them that much. Maybe 4,000 if it was full treatment."

Blanche did the math, figured that Pokédollars were based on Japanese yen, and kinda-sorta equated one yen to a cent. $40? So like, a bit above minimum wage.

"Alright, sure. What do you need me to do?"

"Just follow me! I have the feeling that this is the start of a beautiful friendship!"

Between a cripple and another genius? Yeah, sure, pull the other one, he thought.

---

He stood in a perfectly cubic room of concrete walls and floors. The ceiling was broken in its monotony by a single lamp. The floor was bare except for a simple metal table. On the table was a squat cylinder, shorter than it was wide.

The door behind him slid shut with a hiss, and one portion of the wall faded out to show glass, behind which was Clemont and Aveline, who had come along to supervise. Both owned a keycard to the deeper, sealed room, but the latter was higher ranked than the other.

"Alright. The room might seem unnecessarily big, and it is. One hundred cubic feet will fit most Pokémon, and the concrete is reinforced. We use it to identify auras and some employees here use it to train."

"We couldn't have done this in the Aura Lab?" Blanche asked, not out of any sense of snark, but rather confusion.

"The average range of a human's AIAM field is around two feet in diameter. For Espers, that number grows exponentially. For Pokémon, the lower range is six inches for small Bug-types to more than fifty feet, though it is difficult to get Waillord in here in the first place. The extra space is to account for movement and margin of error."

"That makes sense, but how did you get the Battery in here before we arrived?"

"I dropped it off after I got the Professor's message. Getting it from the backup generator station to here by hand was a nightmare."

"Right… And you're sure this thing's not going to blow up in my face?"

"Even if it breaks, there is no chance of that. Unless you tried really hard to, but I don't think you're a moron."

"Don't overestimate me," he replied, "So, I just lay down next to the table until it breaks?"

"Make sure it's running first, but yes."

Blanche took thirty seconds to reach the isolated table, and when he twisted the disc on top to turn it on, it began glowing white and faintly whirring. An LED of some kind outlined an outlet, though he didn't recognize the small shape.

"It's on! Now, we wait."

And then they did. After a minute, there wasn't a flip of a breaker, and Clemont didn't seem too surprised. After two, he seemed to be a little anxious, but the battery kept on keeping on. After three, he said over the intercom, "The mode breakage time is five minutes, but they've been observed to continue working for one or two hours."

When five minutes passed, Clemont held out a thumbs-up, and Blanche started staring off into space, leaning against the table.

When ten minutes passed, he laid down to take a nap. The concrete was cool and uncomfortable, but it felt soothing in an odd way.

When twenty minutes had passed, he was starting to feel drowsy.

When an hour had passed, he was already half-asleep, fading in and out of consciousness far too often to keep track of time.

When a few hours had passed, he jolted as Clemont suddenly buzzed, "I think that's enough for today. It's a little late for lunch, but the Professor got you a sandwich from the cafeteria."

"Huh-buh-wha?"

"Get some food. It's on me."

Blanche rolled over a few times before finally pushing himself to his feet, stumbling over his cane. The battery was still glowing, and wasn't showing the slightest sign of slowing down.

"Where does all that energy go? It's a generator too, isn't it?"

"Sort of. Do you know what a perpetual motion machine is?"

"Does it move perpetually?"

"Yes, but it also can be used to create force and therefore kinetic energy. The battery is similar, using a loop of Infinity Energy to generate electrical energy."

"That… doesn't that break a few laws of physics? Conservation of mass and all of that?"

In his sleepy stupor, he had evidently forgotten he was in a world when big dragons could lose to tiny pixies because of arbitrarily typed energies.

"Well, yes," Clemont replied, "But the future is now! Thanks to-" Rather than the battery exploding, it turned out to be the intercom, as it cut out before the boy could finish his sentence.

"Should I turn the battery off?"

Clemont, finding that his microphone wasn't working, just nodded at him through the window.

---

Blanche, for the moment, figured out his living situation for the week before Trainer School topside would begin. He stayed in what could be called the nurse's office, having taped a sign to the door to ask people not to barge in. Nurse Joy gave him a medical kit with bandages and compression shorts, explaining how often he'd have to reapply and wash the coverings. He'd heard most of it before coming to Kalos, but he thanked her anyway.

During the day, he would have his aura scanned in the lab, just to make sure, and the test would turn up negative. He would then spend a few hours in the battery chamber studying the basics of Pokémon care and biology, as he understood most of the math and language, while the younger Professor Sycamore would attempt to tutor him over the intercom, and Clemont would record the absolute lack of data. For some reason, this only seemed to excite the boy.

Strangely, UBs, Shadow Pokémon, and Espers were not covered in his textbooks, but they'd only been written before 2009, the year the Heavens Shattered late in August. One of his books that briefly mentioned Orre touched on a crime syndicate's treatment of Pokémon, which he only understood meant the creation of Shadow Pokémon because Michael pointed it out to him when asked. He still thought it was important, given that there was a huge organization established to fight them, but yet, the school didn't bother sending him the pamphlet after he sent the paperwork, which in fact, he could fill out with his FLARE ID.

Funnily enough, he was deemed an employee, though he was also technically a resident there, and given a branded Holo Caster and a keycard of his own that accessed… the turnstiles in the city's monorail stations. FLARE seemed to have the same authorities as the police, which really should have made him worry more, but Lumiose-3 didn't seem too dystopian.

That actually raised a question, which he asked Clemont when he was bored out of his mind scanning the same passage about the difference between the effects of a Paralyze Heal and a Pecha Berry.

"Hey, Clemont, why is the city called Lumiose-3? Is it, like, a legacy thing?"

Clemont responded in short order. "Most people call it Lumiose, because it was still called that before 2010. Most people evacuated, but when the Heavens Shattered, the entire city was destroyed by a battle between Legendary Pokémon."

It was Kalos, so he guessed the Pokémon mentioned were Xerneas and Yveltal, though weren't they supposed to be a tree and cocoon before the climax of the games?

"After that, they rebuilt it about the same as before, but Prism Tower was still in reconstruction when an Ultra Beast, this massive robot covered in ice, destroyed it. It's actually an interesting story. Not because of the Aura Guardian showing up and fighting the Ultra Beast back, but because of Lysandre, FLARE's president or commander, depending on who you ask."

"Why's that?"

"It's in the mission statement on the pamphlets, if you've ever read one. He had a vision of a fortress city that was strong enough to defend itself in this world of strength, and so demanded the construction of Lumiose-3. People started moving here when it proved to be safe from Anomalies. FLARE has a system. The League handles everything but those. We just do the logistics and research. Most people only "know" that an Ultra Beast is a Pokémon from another continent that can teleport."

"Shouldn't people know about things like that? There's a search filter blocking off the Shattered Heavens incident."

"That was the United Regions, don't get it wrong. And even then, it could be a lot worse."

"Well, a lesser evil is still an evil, isn't it?"

"It would also be very bad if people got the wrong idea and started using it to support or condemn Helix or Arceus or even science itself."

"Ah, so misinformation is the issue."

"Essentially."

"...That's not right, though. Didn't people die? It was like the apocalypse, wasn't it?"

"Well, yes, but... I'm not sure, actually. I forget sometimes, but I'll look it up later."

Blanche felt an itch in the back of his head, like a golden crown of red light and spines were pressing into his skull, but the pain vanished as quickly as it had come.

"Are you alright?" Clemont asked as he doubled over holding his head. "I'm sorry! If you lost your home or something similar, I didn't mean to offend."

"No, it's fine, just… headache." He quickly added, "Unrelated, not a battery thing. Back to hitting the books, I guess."

---

On Saturday afternoon, the eighth of January 2012, Blanche received a very ominous text from Aveline Sycamore through the FLARE directory. It said only one word. "COME."

A second later, the young Professor added that her keyboard had glitched out and clarified the room number, which wasn't one he recognized.

He shrugged off any misgivings, figuring that he probably wouldn't get kidnapped or anything, and left his makeshift desk in his makeshift bedroom. His legs had healed from the strain for the most part, but he still kept the collapsible cane in his bag just in case. Most bags in that world, as he may have joked before he'd arrived, were bigger on the inside, thanks to some reality-warping courtesy of small, much more stable Infinity Batteries.

The walk was longer than the walk to either of the labs, or anything else inside the underground complex. Even with its size, there was always someone else in sight or hearing range, the sounds of footsteps near everpresent. FLARE employees, or grunts, as he automatically assigned them, were mostly dressed in orange button-ups, black-slacks, and snazzy ties, but there were enough exceptions that he figured it wasn't the uniform.

After descending four staircases, he really had to wonder how deep the thing went, but he followed the map that the Professor had grafted a path onto and sent to him. From the bottom of the steps, he traced along the wall of a corridor before finding his query.

The room was pitch-black, the door cool and made of metal. The artificial light seeped in and showed rough-shod concrete.

"You guys better not be making out in here," he called into the darkness, more to mess with the shyer Sycamore than anything else.

There were two distinct voices in the darkness, and in a few moments, the lights turned on to show Clemont and Aveline in the workshop, much too far apart. Clemont was waving his arms above his head and red in the face, while Sycamore looked the same and was staring at her shoes.

"...I was joking, you know."

"We were waiting for you! It's nothing like that!" Clemont shouted, before groaning, "You're acting like Bonnie…"

Clemont did mention that he had a sister at some point in the past few days, so that got a snicker out of him. Bonnie and Clemont replaced Brock at some point in the series, mainly with the gimmick of Bonnie proposing to every girl the two came across in Clemont's stead. But after meeting the boy, that seemed much less… relevant wouldn't be the word.

"I-I-I'm a professional!" Sycamore shouted after gathering the courage. For a brief moment, it seemed like steam was pouring out of her ears, but that might have been the many junk machines hissing behind her.

"So, what did you two need?" He asked after closing the door behind him.

"Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, but I suppose there's no point in hiding it." Clemont sighed, slumping slightly as the light glared from his glasses. He walked over to a tall, tarped object, and slowly took said tarp away.

The object was a black mechanical mannequin. Wrapped around it was a series of tubes and straps, centered around the chest. An Infinity Batter protruded from the chest, only two inches, in front of where the heart would be aind in the center of the ribs. The strapping was uneven, but it seemed secure as anything. As he walked around the back, he found a series of overlapping plates running down the spine that widened near the base of the neck. Black tubes and bracings ran down the arms and legs, looser at the joints. At the hands, they came into armored silver-gray gauntlets, and at the legs, around the lower calves they "solidified" into boots. Beneath the soles, it seemed like they were held up by springlocks. It seemed more like a prototype than something worth showing off.

"...What am I looking at?"

"This… is my machine. My magnum opus. In fiction, there are many like it, but this one is mine. The battery at the center of this armor has been modified to create a field of Infinity Energy when activated. It coats itself in the field, adding a layer of protection to the wearer that can match many Pokémon or other, previously developed armor. The field can also be used offensively. This is a very unstable machine. Like normal Infinity Batteries, it will not function correctly when it is in close contact with an AIAM field when activated for an extended period of time. This makes it essentially useless to anyone with aura. When the field is concentrated using an uplink to the lab, it will act similarly to a Typeless move." Clemont snapped out of lecture mode with his glasses on full blast. He twisted the Infinity Battery once in both directions, and everything except for the core disappeared. "You may think it is stored in hammerspace, when in fact, using the power of science, this Battery is linked to the armor which is now stored in the Lab, and it will answer your call." He held out the cylindrical disk, almost a six-inch cube.

"Are you making me a Power Ranger?"

"A what? No." Clemont shook it at him. "Take it. This is your compensation. I'd rather someone courageous like you have it than let it gather dust here."

"...I'm not courageous, Clemont. I'm just some guy."

"And I thought I didn't have any confidence. Get real! You've helped someone before, and you'll need protection for when you try to help someone again. It's my way of paying you back, so just take it."

Blanche knew he didn't deserve it. He got what FLARE owed him and then some. If they'd kicked him out, he wouldn't have told them they were wrong to do it. If it was someone else… maybe. But it was him, so he didn't care.

He took the Battery, assigned it the role of "morpher", more as a private joke than anything else, and nodded. "Thank you. I mean it. No sarcasm intended."

"Of course." Clemont smiled, a clever edge to his lips. "There is one person who can use this machine in this world. That person is standing right in front of me. That person needs protection even though his courage drives him. And because it will shield you, I will call it; CLEMONTIC GEAR: SHIELD!"

 

[MikaelBrigman]

In the outer limits of Lumiose-3, in the sectors where the towers drop away and are replaced by suburbs, there was a church. The building was old, but not decrepit, made of rough stone and stained glass. Rather than a cross on its highest point, there was a helix that curved in on itself. The church was not visited often by those outside of its denomination. However, it was a historic site, one of the few remaining of what was once simply known as Lumiose City.

It had caught Blanche's eye when he bought a tour guide. It was familiar to him, a comfort despite the pain of forgetting. The boy sat on a pew in an empty church and clasped his hands.

"Hey, God. I know this is a church of Helix, but I figured it's close enough. If you're mad about that and I'm wrong, well, I hope you can forgive me."

He sighed, shaking his head.

"I don't remember most of your rules. I know that I should be kind to people. I'm going to do my best in that regard. So if I screw anything up, I'm sorry."

He asked, brow furrowing unconsciously, "Your whole thing is forgiving people, isn't it? I'm sorry that I can't remember what you'd want me to do, but most of the stuff about this world. Is that what you want me to do? Use what I know to do something? None of it applies."

He paused, not knowing what else to say.

"...I think I'm supposed to ask for support next, right? I could use some guidance. I'm starting a new school tomorrow, which isn't something I thought I'd be saying when I first got here. Please give me the strength to be kind to people, even if they hurt me. Please let me learn everything I can. Please let me break through this wall in my memories that holds me back."

Blanche raised his head, whispering, "And yea, for I may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil…" He trailed off, the words slipping back into his subconscious as soon as he became aware of them. "...Amen."

---

A certain Trainer School in Lumiose-3 did not have a uniform policy, though it had a dress code that Blanche had already been following. Rubber engineer boots that FLARE had in his size, slightly baggy jeans, an old belt, a red tee, and a silver-gray jacket. Almost as an afterthought, he asked Clemont for gloves and a scarf. Though they wouldn't cover his bandaged face or his mop of white hair, it would be considerably more comfortable against the wind. He didn't want to look too much like the Invisible Man, so just accepted that he couldn't completely cover up.

"And, um, remember to take notes! They're very important!" That would be the female professor, taking the older Sycamore's joke about tutoring him a bit too seriously. "I can look you over for them- I mean, look over them for you!"

"Right, thank you." Blanche secured a satchel to his back and double-checked that his Holo Caster was in his pocket.

The two were standing in FLARE's main lobby, more like a train station than anything else, though there were only the stairways and elevators for transportation. Employees hadn't quite arrived for the nine-to-five grind yet, but the ginger receptionists (Yes, multiple of them) were already working at their desks. Because of the monotony of the room, he noticed when a familiar-looking girl entered; With dirty-blonde hair tied into a ponytail, dressed in stockings, a red skirt, a long and a black vest underneath, she stood out against the clinical buzz of the underground. Much like the outdoor air, she seemed… cold, almost. Frigid, but so cold that it felt like a burn. She walked past one of the turnstiles, the receptionist closest seeming to recognize her.

If the Professor noticed him staring, she didn't comment on it. "And… I know you have the Shield now, but you shouldn't try to fight any Anomalies... It won't give you the same abilities as an Esper, despite what, um, Clemont may have made you think. It's primary function is to protect you. Let Geranium handle it. Ah, I mean, the Anomaly!"

He could have asked who Geranium was, but he didn't see the point. It sounded like a codename, even if the Professor's last name was a sort of plant as well. And as such, he didn't bother mentioning it again.

"Alright. I won't bite anything that doesn't bite me first. Anything else?"

"Um… maybe… don't get in any fights? Please? It would reflect badly on FLARE."

He noticed the dirty-blonde girl walk out again as he answered, "No, yeah, I get that. I'll try not to, though it's probably hard to get mugged with all of these layers."

"I mean… There are rogue Espers running around too. Most of them are unaffiliated, but some are in gangs and mafias and all sorts of bad groups, so… just be careful?"

"I'll try my best. Thanks for the map, too, have a nice day at work."

---

He swung his bag back over his shoulder as he climbed the last step upwards. Winter air blew over his face as he returned to the streets of Lumiose-3. FLARE had five entryways across the city, the one that he had just emerged from being located on the edge of Jauna Plaza, a locale surrounded by skyscrapers with a roundabout and at its center, a small, elevated park. Paths crossed over the streets, which would soon be bustling with people and Pokémon. Gogoat were already walking through the streets, signs laid over their backs offering rides.

The girl he saw earlier was already half-way up the street, headed north towards Hibernal Avenue. Shaking off the familiar feeling, he pulled the map up on his Holo Caster, opting for a two-dimensional display rather than a hologram. It had him following the same route, and not seeing any harm in it, he went along with it. The city wasn't cloaked in snow, though tiny flakes fell lightly as he walked.

Another girl, dwarfed by a shockingly hot-pink parka, tackled the other girl at at least forty miles an hour, but she didn't budge, only stopping with an aside glance.

He didn't catch much of the conversation, mainly because it was more interesting to look at all the advertisements posted outside of shops and stalls. Whipping his head around and acting incredibly out of place, as well as unknowingly catching up to them, it's a wonder he didn't realize how strange he looked.

"...I think that guy is following us…" The second girl glanced back at him, and the whisper carried just barely.

He buried his face in his Holo Caster, red in what was visible of his face (and not just because of the wind), and focused his attention on the map. I'm not! He shouted mentally, in heavy anguish. The problem was that it was a no-win scenario. If he told them he wasn't, then it would seem like he was eavesdropping, but if they had no clue, they'd probably get super creeped out. And that would be bad, because people feeling bad is bad. Obviously.

So he just had to stick it out and hope they split off from his route sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, they didn't. At any point. He would've dropped back, just to compromise between his two options, but it was the first day of school and he really didn't want to be late. A very obvious reason for their shared path simply didn't occur to him.

So naturally, when he crossed the threshold to the Trainer School's campus, he didn't have a chance to explain himself when the girl in pink whipped around, hood flying off, and pointed at him. "You!"

"Me," he sighed. "I wasn't following you guys, I'm sorry if I freaked you out, I get it, but I go here too."

"There's no way you're zoned for here! Serena just had to pick something up at FLARE, and you were already following her when I met back up with her. There are tons of other schools in this city, and the chance that you go to this one is basically zero, so, yeah. Get out of here, mummy," the tan, maybe middle-eastern girl snapped and pointed past him, back out the gate.

"No, I really do go here. I've got my copy of the paperwork somewhere…"

A gear clicked into place in his head, and he froze while opening the bag. Serena? That was supposed to be the rival in X and Y, but… her clothes all matched up perfectly, even the default ponytail, but her disposition, the figurative aura around her… it was cold like a rock left out in the snow. Even as she watched her friend yell at him, her face was completely blank. And if that was Serena… The girl yelling at him had to be... Shauna? That number of ponytails was ridiculous, and he couldn't think of any other characters that had four of them curving every which way, with bangs, and that much hair. Those traits separately, maybe there were a few others, but he couldn't put a name to them.

It was odd, he realized, seeing people that looked exactly the same as polygonal three-dimensional models, despite the discrepancy.

"Hey, are you listening? I said scram! I'm not letting some creep ruin my last year of school, especially after I've been waiting for two more than I should've!"

"Sorry, I zoned out. And I'm not a creep, I was just… Well, you know how it is! If I said something I would look even weirder, and I walked off, I'd get lost. It's the most direct route, so sorry about that." He shrugged, hoping that it would be sufficient. What to do now… The paperwork didn't say anything about classes or room numbers, so his best bet would be to find the largest crowd of people, which would likely be looking at a board for assignments. "Again, I do go here, so can I go find what class I'm in? I don't want to start any issues either, I'm just… trying to figure some stuff out."

"What stuff, creep?"

"Don't call me a creep, it's rude." The girl raised her eyebrow, about to retort, but he continued, "I have amnesia. You probably don't care, and you really don't have to, but I'm trying to learn what I can."

"Pfft. Alright, sure. I've got my eye on you, mummy." She pointed two fingers at her eyes, then at him, then started walking backwards, before grabbing a bystander's arm and running off.

The bystander was not Serena, but some orange-haired kid who had been gawking at him for a moment before. Whatever that was about, he wasn't sure.

"...I do really live at FLARE though, I hope you understand," he said to Serena. The girl was nearly as tall as him, not making him feel short per say, but more on even ground. She had been watching the exchange with the same, flat look the entire time.

"Of course. You were talking with the Professor."

"Ah, you noticed that? Well… why didn't you say anything?"

"I felt no desperate need. Goodbye." The stoic girl turned and walked further into the courtyard, towards the crowd around a set of poster boards.

He stood there, more than a little confused, before continuing as well. Something is wrong here, he noted, but then again, so is everything else. How bad could Heaven itself shattering be?

---

Blanche found his name after a little searching. Because the year groups had been sorted without account for current age, picking up right where everyone else had left off, he was placed into the oldest, graduating year, as he wrote that he was turning seventeen that year on his paperwork. By most standards, he would have been able to get his Trainer's License already, but most certifiers required graduation from Trainer School. The many exceptions were simply not allowed to participate in the Gym Challenge, those known as Youngsters and Lasses among them.

The problem with classes, he realized, is that because nearly everyone in the Pokémon World was the leader of their own story, everyone has their own little quirks that make games of "spot the main character" absolute nightmares. There was a kid dressed like a greaser, shades and all, a kid wearing an actual karate robe and headband, a kid dressed like a spirit medium, and a kid whose hair was shaved on the sides and stuck up in three different directions. Serena was already there as well, sitting in the classic seat at the exact middle of the class.

He took note of that because there were exactly three seats that made someone the main character: The center, either front row or exact, or the second from the back by the window. And, playing a joke on the universe and/or that part of his brain that visited him in his nightmares, he sat down at the third sort of desk.

Class started soon after that, with the teacher filing in along with the last of the students. She was a very, very short girl, barely coming up behind the teacher's podium and poking her head over. She introduced herself as Miss Komoe (which seemed like a weird name to him but he was literally just called white in French), and shouted at a very high pitch that calling her a twelve-year-old would result in a detention.

"Everyone's a character," he mumbled as she began calling attendance by seat number.

The names in front of him passed quickly, but he made sure to at least memorize them. He realized that he was in seat number four as she called it, which was probably a bad omen or something, and jumped from his desk. "Uh… You all can call me Blanche, I have amnesia, so please be patient if I ask any stupid questions. And don't let the bandages freak you out, I'm not a Cofagrigus."

That got a few laughs, and he sent out a quick prayer that he managed to not embarrass himself.

The stand-out boy in leather introduced himself as Gin, slouching when he stood up but smiling like he knew something that no one else did. Serena was simple, only saying her name and stating her desire to learn. The large boy with the weird hair said his name was Tierno, which Blanche really should have seen coming, but didn't. What were the odds that three of the original main characters attended the same school, especially if the main plot wasn't happening anymore?

Miss Komoe started writing rules about lab safety on the board, explaining that she was their homeroom teacher as well as their chemistry teacher, and that they were mostly going to review in their first few weeks of classes. Most people were too busy trying to get back on their feet to study when the League was just barely holding everything together.

He took a lot of notes, fascinated by the rules he hadn't heard before. There were more than a few about non-corporeal Pokémon near open flames, which Pokémon would be allowed in the campus lab, what kind of Trainer gear did and didn't qualify as safe, and a reminder that nothing that they would be testing in the lab would make them stronger Espers, "So don't drink it!"

After putting away their notes, the class broke into whispers about what they did over the last two years, as teenagers are subject to doing.

"Yo," said Gin something-something, leaning over from his desk. His eyes were obscured by his sharp sunglasses, which he was still wearing inside for the style-points, or something like that.

"Huh?" Blanche replied, painting the very picture of eloquence, and demonstrating to the world the beauty of a response that makes you look like an idiot.

"What's the deal with the bandages? You get 'em in a fight?"

"Ah… not exactly. Woke up with them."

"Metal. So you got in a fight and beat the other guys so bad that you got memory loss? That's kind of badass."

And you're kind of an idiot, he thought, but at least someone's talking to me.

"I don't think it happened exactly like that, but thanks for the cover story."

"No prob, man. Hey, you wanna know my theory about Homeroom?"

He figured that he meant the teacher, and felt a sense of dread, but answered, "You know what, sure, what is it?"

"She actually is a twelve-year-old."

Gin's face was then moved a foot to the side by a piece of chalk coming from right next to the door at Mach Two.

"I heard that!" The teacher squeaked. "Detention, young man!"

"Agh! Man, I thought she left. And the first day back? Seriously lame…"

---

The rest of the day went about the same, only with language, math, and some fascinating history.

Blanche got the impression that Pokémon Care was more of a fine art, something people would probably do anyway, but still a required course. Most of it was notetaking, with the practical aspects being postponed until the weather was clearer. Which was, truthfully, very unfortunate. His classmate in the karate robe, or the karate kid as Blanche referred to him in his head, complained aloud that his Sawk and Throh were itching for a spar.

Other than that, the first day continued without incident. At the final bell's ring, well, that was when it started to go sideways.

The boy with the three-leaf and shaved on the sides hair, Tierno came over to him, confusedly looking at his Holo Caster. The machine was completely dwarfed in his hands, and considering the boy wasn't wearing gloves, that was impressive. He wasn't wearing any winter gear, actually, seeming completely comfortable in an XXL black tee (With an ice-cream cone on it? Oh, that's a Vanillite) and loose cargo shorts.
"Hey! Sorry to bother you, but my friend Trevs is looking for someone that looks like you. He's pretty shy, though, so do you mind if we boogie on down to his class?"

Am I being hit on? He thought, then immediately dismissed it. There was no way someone would hit on him, of all people. And especially not a supposed deuteragonist.

"Yeah, sure, why not. I'm sure I did something wrong."

"Really? I hope not! That would be bad. And Trevs isn't the confrontational type of guy, so you've got nothing to worry about!" The boy gave him a thumbs-up, which was a bit terrifying given his fist was half the size of Blanche's face. And as far as he could tell, it was almost entirely muscle.

"Might as well meet all the main characters," he muttered inaudibly. Tierno led him out of the classroom, matching his pace evenly. The boy was taller than he was, and Blanche was six-foot-something. Truly, a presence to behold.

The other class was nearly empty already, and only presented an orange-haired boy scribbling in a notepad on his desk, which was already stacked high with textbooks.

"Hey, Trevs! Is this the guy you were looking for?"

The boy, Trevs, or Trevor as he assumed, looked up, looked at him, and just about shot out of his desk. In a moment, before he could blink, the boy had jumped across at least two desks (Quite an accomplishment for such a short person) only to throw himself at Blanche's feet, forehead nearly scraping the ground.
"I owe you my life, thank you!"
"Wha… huh?" He was wondering if he'd met him at some point, but he put the sense of recognition up to all of the people that worked at FLARE.

"You're the Esper that defeated that weird Pokémon, aren't you? I thought I was going to die!"

Weird Pokémon… Nihilego?

"Oh, shitttttt," he realized. "Um… yeah, basically. I'm not an Esper though."

"So… you don't work for FLARE?"

"...Let me get back to you on that, I'm not sure. It was a mutually beneficial thing."

"Then I appreciate your saving of myself more!" The boy's hair was flattening against the floor, which meant whatever spray he used to keep it in that swirl shape wasn't strong enough. "Truly, I am in your debt. Ask of me anything, and I will make it happen!" The door to the classroom slid open, just before Trevor said, "Homework, notes, anything!"

"Hey!" Shauna shouted, "Are you bullying him?"

"Oh my God. No!"

Given that one of her friends was prostrate before the creep from that morning, Shauna didn't have much reason to believe him. "Ooh, I'm going to-"
"Shauna! It's fine! He saved my life, I owe him!" Trevor jumped up, waving his hands in the air, though they didn't come much higher than Blanche's head.

"Don't say it like that! I'm not calling in some life debt to beat you up; There is no life debt, and just to be clear, I wouldn't do that anyway!"

The air around Shauna seemed to stop crackling, which was a good sign, even if he was probably just imagining it.

"Pfft, yeah, whatever. Trevor, this guy's a creep, you don't have to worry about owing him."
"I didn't mean that either, and I resemble that remark. Resent. Shit," he sighed, turning the boy, who was now on equal footing. "Listen, you don't owe me anything. I couldn't exactly leave some guy to get his brain eaten or whatever those things do. And I mean, for someone like me, there's no point in worrying about risk or self-preservation. So it doesn't matter." He noticed his Holo Caster buzzing in his pocket, but continued on, turning to Shauna. "And you know what, ponytails? I didn't do anything wrong, it was a misunderstanding. I'm trying my best, so just leave me be."

"Well… Fine." She turned to whisper to her friend, but it came out as raspier at the same volume. "Trevor, blink twice if you need help!"

"You know what, I'm out. Trevor, if you don't mind me calling you that, I appreciate the offer, but I have a lot of things to do on my own. Learn on my own. If I need help, I'll ask. That's more than what you owe me." Blanche waved over his shoulder as he headed towards the door. Tierno had been standing only a few feet away from him, but he saw that the large boy was still smiling. "So, what Trainer School did you go to before this one? We all went to the small one in Aquacorde, before it got destroyed."

"Sorry to hear that," he offered on his way out. That would explain why all of them were going to school in Lumiose. "I don't remember. Amnesia, if you recall, of the laser-guided sort. Really annoying sometimes. You know how you walk into a room and then forget why you went in there? It's like that, but for nearly everything not directly related to Pokémon battles." He clapped Tierno on the shoulder. "You're both cool guys. We can hang out sometime, but I have a lot to catch up on."

"Hey, no problem!" Tierno thumped a free hand on his chest. "It's always good to have more friends."

"Even if they're a creep?"

"Shauna…" Trevor nearly whispered.

"Can you leave me alone? I just walked on the same path as you. Is there some misconception you have about me that I can clear up? Because from what I can tell, bottling up negative feelings only distorts them and makes them worse." Blanche absent-mindedly pulled out his Holo Caster, having found an opportunity to check. Huh, text from the Professor. "If we have issues, it was unintentional on my part. I don't think you're an idiot, so I'd like to figure out your thought process."

"Mind your own business!"

"I'm not playing games. I've been in this world for a month as far as I can tell. If you want to play games of cat and mouse trying to catch me out, that's too bad."

The Professor's text alarmed him. It said something about reports of an Anomaly appearing in the alleys, and that if he came across them, not to engage.

So naturally, it felt more like a hot blade cutting through his chest than the lifting of responsibility.

"Just got a text from the Professor, not that you all know her. If any of you see something strange in the streets, call FLARE." He looked out the window, just to check. Huh, wonder why Serena was leaving without her friends?

No one ever said Blanche was smart, exactly.
"So I should call them right now? Professor Sycamore's a man!"

"There are two, y'know. And also, your haircut is probably the strangest thing I've seen today, and that's saying something."

"Says the mummy."

"Says the… wait, I can't say that. Skinny, I guess."

"What did you just… I'm not small!"

"Well, obviously. You're hardly short."

"That's not what I meant! See, only a creep would say something like that!"

"Like what?"

"Agh!" The girl doubled over, scratching wildly at her hair. "You're an idiot, a creep, and a pervert!"

Blanche sighed and shook his head. "I plead not guilty to whatever that means. But seriously, you all be on the lookout. For safety and things like that."

"Pfft, fine," Shauna nearly audibly rolled her eyes a few moments later. "Hey, Tierny, do you know where Serena is? She said she'd meet us here when she finished speaking to the teachers."

"Why was she doing that?"

"Dunno. You know how she is."

Blanche called over his shoulder as he finally managed to get a foot out the door, "I think she left a few minutes ago, I saw her leaving from the front gate."

"You are so not helping your case, mummy."

"Just trying to be helpful…"

---

Blanche decided to take one of the MagLev trains to explore more around the city, and possibly, to treat himself. Familiarizing himself with the area could only help in the long run, and he had a bit of pocket change from FLARE. Clemont had insisted on him taking at least a little bit of actual pay.

As the car glided over the upper layers of the city, above many paths and the roofs of shorter buildings, he pressed his head against the window and sighed.

He knew that somewhere in Lumiose-3, there was a rogue Esper or Ultra Beast or something causing chaos, and he… wasn't doing anything about it. The shield didn't make him stronger, it put him on even ground with other normal people.

The MagLev flew towards the Rouge Plaza, as a whine came through the speaker.

"Passengers, we apologize for the delay, but the track is being switched due to a FLARE operation in the close vicinity. We thank you for the patronage and we will be reaching an alternate location as quickly as possible."

That would be it. Of course.

He looked out to the right of the train. Flashes of light gleamed from between billboards, and he heard the distant rumbling of earth.

His Holo Caster buzzed in his pocket, and he spared it a glance.

It was another text from the younger Professor, and without the overly formal syntax, it was basically, "Clemont's tracker on your Gear is displaying your coordinates. Geranium's opponent is not well suited to her strengths. I would never ask you to interfere, but be warned."

Disturbingly so, his face nearly split in half with a grin. He quickly typed back, "What's my morphing call?"

"I do not understand," was the exact response.

He sent off a few texts, as he got up and went to open the door to the next car.

"How does the Shield work?"
"The frame and design of the shield will replace your clothes, as well as nearby items. This is done with Infinity Energy."

The wind whipped at his hair, nearly tearing the bandage across his forehead free, but he grinned nonetheless. He hopped up the ladder, holding his bag tight as he brought himself low on the roof of the car. The gravity pulling him down was stronger than the air pushing him back, so he managed to stay on his two feet.

Something was flying in the air above the plaza, the ground overgrown with thorns and earth jutting out at rough angles. A figure covered in black danced along the fissures, the ground answering their call and shooting upwards.

"Do the boots have springs?"

"Yes, but…" He had only read the first part of the text before opening the door.

And so, as he ran calculations of trajectory in his head, charged up his Infinity Battery, and saw the building coming up on his left, he made his choice.

"Clemontic Gear," he shouted as he jumped from the roof of the car, "Access: SHIELD!"

---

In a lab beneath the city of Lumiose, in a room filled with tubes, computers, and people, words flashed on a central screen.

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: BLUE

Designation: CGI

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

"Activation C-confirmed! Access granted!"

Clemont slammed his fist into a button, and the second dimmed tube in the room, the ridges of the cylinder flashed with blue-green light. "On the way!"

Aveline Sycamore shouted into the headpiece. "Geranium, help is coming, keep it up, please!"

"Of course," the Esper replied from the other side of the line. "I will continue for as long as is necessary."

"Alright! E-everyone! Set designation of FLARE Ranger 02 to Amaranth!"

---

As he fell from the sky towards the Rouge Plaza, Blanche wondered what exactly he was getting himself into.

If he kept falling right there, well, that would just be too bad. And so he did, but the wind no longer blew in his hair. His vision had taken on a gray tint, and his clothes suddenly felt more like a second skin.

He plummeted towards the winged speck, growing closer and closer, as he quickly realized it was a person as well. Instinctually, he threw his legs out from under them. Covered, quite literally, head-to-toe in pink and red spandex, he landed boots-first into the surprised Anomaly.

"Agh! The heck? Another one?" The boy's voice was incredibly nasally and whiny at the same time. His hair was like what one would imagine a neon sky would look like, in all the worst ways. Massive moth wings protruded from his back and wisped with aura as they ended the freefall.

Blanche realized how unfortunate it was that he had let his legs get caught by a flying opponent before they threw him fifty-feet downwards, straight into the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the earth had come up to meet him. It curved around him instead of bashing his skull in, and he simply tumbled down the ramp as it decreased its angle. He came to a rest at the feet of the figure and black.

They were similarly wearing spandex with significantly less armor, which for some reason had a skirt around the waist, and a helmet that obscured their face, but not the dirty-blonde hair falling down their back. The visor of the helmet was pitch black to him, and he imagined it was the same the other way around.

"Greetings," she said to him, her voice digitizing slightly.

"...Have we met?" He asked as he stood up.

"Duck."

Rather than asking, "Where?" like an idiot, he simply dropped into a crouch as a spear of purplish spikes shot by his head.

"Argh! You darn FLARE Espers! You're too tough!" The brat in the air seemed to be incapable of swearing, as far as Blanche could tell. "And why are you wearing pink? You sound like a man!"

"Real men wear pink," he offered, standing up once again.

Goddamn it, he thought, I'm wearing pink. I'm going to find Clemont and… Well, I'm not dead, so I can't complain too much. On second thought, I'm the Pink Ranger?

"I'm Underwood, the best criminal this city has ever seen!" The boy let out a very terrible and super scary and this-totally-isn't-a-lie supervillain laugh. "You'll never stop me, coppers!"

Blanche gestured to the boy with his thumb and turned to the Esper in black. "If we haven't met, I'm-"

"Your codename has been designated Amaranth."

"Oh. So this is a wild guess, but then you'd be the Geranium I've heard so much about."

"Hey, don't ignore me! I'm a criminal mastermind, pay me some respect!" The boy continued flitting around in the air, waving his arms.

"Indeed."

"Why are we named after flowers and not colors?"

"I am unsure."

"Same. Hey, why are we fighting a ten-year-old? Actually," he turned back to the clearly Bug-type Esper. "Hey! Why aren't you doing your homework?"

"I'm a criminal mastermind, I don't need to do my homework! What are you, my mom?"

"You know, Geranium, I thought I'd get in an actual fight today." Though Blanche's face was hidden, he hoped his helmet conveyed his frown. "I'm actually a little disappointed."

"A blood knight, I see."
"Eh… Not usually, from what I remember. Must be the hormones."

"It is possible."

"How did this place get so torn up? He's just some kid."

"AIAM fields wielded poorly can be very destructive."

"I mean, they're the closest thing you guys have to nuclear energy, so I don't doubt it."

"Stop ignoring me! I'll show you who needs to do their homework! Horn…"

"Dodge," Geranium told him.

"Drill…"

"This kid watches too much television," he murmured as sickly luminescent green stingers folded out of the boy's arms and into a cone in front of him.

"Breaaaaaaaaker!"

Blanche jumped to the side but couldn't stop the projectile, which he assumed could only move straight, from bending to the side half-way to the ground and zeroing in on him.

The boy slid to a stop as the sickly green drill faded away. "My special move, Horn Drill, is the best! There's no way some pinky could stop it!"

He wanted to think of a witty retort, he really did, but the fact that the drill's impact, despite only catching his shoulder, had thrown him twenty feet across the torn-up field really took the wind out of his sails.

"I've stolen from FLARE itself!" The boy reached into his pocket and withdrew a vial. It was filled with a strange, luminescent liquid that refracted light like a prism. "With this sweet Aural Sap, I'll be the strongest thief in Kalos, no, the whole world!"

In the bottom right of his tinted vision, a window appeared. The younger Professor was sitting in the FLARE lab, frantically typing at the monitor as people milled behind her. "Amaranth, are you alright?"

"Not as dead as I thought I'd be," he groaned as he stood up."

"The current goal, object, I mean, objective..." the girl stumbled over her words. From over her shoulder, Augustine Sycamore appeared and leaned into the camera.

"The current objective is to recover the Aural Sap and disable the Anomaly! Michael, send the data now!"
A box appeared in his upper right periphery, running a scan. A faint blue outline surrounded the gloating rogue Esper, data popping up around it and running around the visor's interface.

"The Anomaly's AIAM field is inclined towards the Bug-type, with a secondary Flying-type!"

Underwood leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding the stalagmite that shot upwards from beneath his feet.

"What type is Geranium?"

"Primarily Earth, Rock, and Steel. Takes after her mother's profession; Quite the wonderful woman, might I add," Professor Sycamore said, wistfully.

"Dad!"

"Right, right, we're being serious right now. Blanche, your artificial field doesn't have a type, nor offensive capabilities."

"Shit."

"Um… I did say you shouldn't jump into any fights… not to be rude or anything, I just! Um…"

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine. So, Bug and Flying. We're going to need a bigger magnifying glass."

At the moment, Underwood and Geranium were at a standstill, with the criminal being too busy gloating to realize that running would be a more effective option, given he was probably ten, and Geranium's mountains being too easy to dodge.

He ran the calculations in his head. Fire, electricity, ice, rocks… rocks! But the speed issue…

"Geranium," he spoke, hoping to reach her through the headset. "How well can you control small amounts of earth? Say, a solid slab."

"It varies according to weight and range," she replied in a steady monotone.

"You know how bugs can't fly in a storm?" He asked, smiling and cracking his knuckles. "Can you control sand?"

"Yes."

"Well, make it rain."

Geranium paused in sending rock slides towards the sky, dropping lower to the ground and placing gloved palms on the torn earth.

"Hah! Giving up? I knew FLARE was all talk, you Espers have sold out! All the power in the world, and you're just giving it away?"

"I am giving it for someone that no one can name," Geranium said, as dust began vibrating and lifting from the ground around her. "He would have done as I do now, and so I must. There is nothing for me other than this."

Blanche snapped his fingers and pointed at the blindly-laughing Esper. "Hey, I think I have a name for this move. Y'know, when moths eat my clothes, they smell all musty. So here's my revenge, let's get DUSTY!"

That was so dumb, he thought.

A wave of sand and gravel shot towards the sky in a wave, enveloping Underwood even as he tried to fly upwards and escape. It settled on his aural wings, sticking and conglomerating as he was trapped in a sandstorm. His wings sputtered, but he soon found that the solid earth forming on his wings was beginning to weigh him down. He shot upwards one more time, before falling down to the ground with a simple thump.

Blanche walked up to him and was relieved when the rogue was only unconscious and not a splat after falling five stories. In his left hand was the vial he'd been flashing earlier, still sealed. "Man, he really is ten. That's kind of messed up. Hey, Professors, can we call CPS or something? There's really no reason for this kid to be up to this sort of thing."

"I'm sure the higher-ups will have it looked into. Lumiose-3 PD and FLARE agents are being dispatched as we speak. Good work, both of you."

"Nah, not really," Blanche responded, ignoring the aching in his limbs and the dulled burning of his skin. He couldn't show that it hurt, he wouldn't. What would it accomplish? "I do have a question, though."

"If it's about Aural Sap, that's classified information."

"What? Well, it wasn't that, not right now, anyway. I just wanted to know why I'm pink. Because… Hey, Clemont, you hear me? I better be looking fashionable, because it's definitely not my color."

He could swear he heard a pebble fall as the people "bridge" failed to respond.

"What, you think just because I'm a guy that I hate pink? I think it's pretty nice, but it clashes with a lot of the colors I prefer to wear. I'm more about the blues and greens, it kind of sucks that I'm stuck with an autumnal complexion now."

"...That wasn't the answer I was expecting, but it's an answer I wholeheartedly agree with. You're a real character, aren't you?"

He couldn't even begin to explain how ironic that statement was.

The boy at his feet snickered, alerting Blanche. "You may have taken my Sap, but you'll never take my freedom!"

Underwood began glowing white, at which point Blanche began swearing a mile a minute and tried to figure out a way to protect the vial in his hand.

Do I just toss it? It seems pretty valuable, he yelled inside his head as he started running.

Geranium had been standing still as he ran past. He didn't have time to shout for her to run before a wave of earth crashed onto the Esper.

A ton of dust plumed into the air as he stumbled. A rumble later, and the small hill washed away like a sand dune in the wind, revealing Underwood to be much worse for wear and without a doubt, fully unconscious.

"I will return the Aural Sap." Geranium held out an open palm, almost mechanically.

Blanche quickly walked back to her and placed the vial, thankfully unharmed, in her hand. "Right. So… you do this sort of thing often?"

"Yes."

She then elaborated by saying absolutely nothing.

"Well…" A thought had been scratching at the back of his head for the whole day. "Now, no spoilers, but is it safe to stop going by codenames?"

"Lumiose-3 CCTVs do not have high-quality microphones. However, you should refrain from removing your helmet."

"Right. You'd be Serena, if I'm guessing right?"

"Yes."

"That's…" That's complete bullshit, he acknowledged in his head. Law of Conservation of Detail, the Heroes Do Everything, the Unreveal… If his life was a show or book, the audience would've probably known way before he did. The world seemed to truly be built out of tropes, and that thought made him cry inside.

Because from what he could tell, Darker and Edgier also applied.

"...I see. Again, nice to meet you," he struggled out. "Well, I don't remember if we've been properly introduced."

"It's inconsequential."

"Eh…" Blanche scratched the visor where it covered his cheek, to no effect, but in essence he was trying to scrub off the awkwardness from his windshield wipers.

FLARE employees in what looked like SWAT uniforms arrived a few moments later, having finally blasted away the rubble that covered their Rouge Plaza entrance.

A few minutes later, he stood apart from the clean-up crew and Serena and spoke into the headset. "Hey, couldn't you have had Geranium, like, melt the rubble if it was blocking you off?"

"Well, I mean…" Aveline Sycamore trailed off, visibly shrinking in his periphery window. It seemed like it had calmed down in the FLARE lab for the most part. "You two were having a conversation, and I didn't want to interrupt…"

"You should have said something, they were using TNT or something."

"Voltorb, actually, but… You're right, I'm sorry." The peaks of the Professor's hair drooped, which would have made him laugh if it didn't strike him like puppy-dog eyes.

"Actually, don't worry about it!" He quickly added, "It wasn't too inconvenient, I'm sure!"

"If you say so…"

Change the topic, change the topic!

"Well, I'm beat. Weird day, huh? Anyway, can we order Hibachi? Or whatever it's called, fried rice and vegetables. It's just about… well, only a little before five. I'm sure we'll all be hungry in an hour."

"...That doesn't sound too bad. I miss Japan, even if I only lived there for a little bit."

"Mission success!"

"E-excuse me?"

"Don't worry about it, boss lady! Man, I love my job!"

---

As Blanche entered the small bathroom attached to his hospital room and began unraveling from the day, he sighed as he pulled away red.

He turned on some music on his Holo Caster and dropped it on the counter. As a song by Unovan Goalroll began playing, soft rock and an obvious analog to something he couldn't name, he removed his bandages and underclothes and put them in the hamper.

He rested his arms on it for a minute, trying to ignore the liquid already beginning to travel down his sides.

"I'm such a goddamn liar."

The sides of his arms had turned a faint greenish-blue, beneath the skin. No new cuts, as far as he could tell, but from the trickle, some had been torn open from the fight with Underwood. His ribs were still aching, but the bleeding didn't seem too intense. He didn't feel dizzy yet, that was a good sign.

He stepped into the shower, and soon enough the sweat and grime that had seeped into his skin were washed away, the cool water trailing a pinkish hue.

"Not to be…" He murmured as water ran through the grooves in his skin. "Overly… Dramatic…"

---

Blanche redressed and chose to save his angsting for later. He couldn't exactly celebrate in a bad mood, so he put it off instead of addressing it. Y'know, like an idiot.

Michael was reviewing some sort of statistics, showing off some numbers to Clemont in the lab, who seemed more preoccupied with his little sister running around the room.

"Oh, hey, Blanche! Good job today!" Clemont waved him over. "I'm glad your Battery didn't break, did the armor work well?"

"Yes," he said, not bothering to explain. "Is this who you've been complaining about?"

The blonde little girl bounded up to him, a tiny orange mouse Pokémon barely managing to stay on her head. "Wow, you're tall! And yeah, I'm Bonnie! Clemont's my stupid big brother!"

"Bonnie!"

"It's true!" She pulled down her eyelid and stuck out her tongue at Clemont, the Dedenne on her head doing the same thing. "You're always working! That's why you need me to help you find a life partner!"

Blanche pfft'ed and looked away, laughing at Clemont reacting like he'd been shot through the heart.

"I don't need help!"

Bonnie ignored her big brother and turned back to him. "Mr. Blanche, my brother is completely hopeless with romance, isn't he?"

"I plead the fifth."

Neither of them seemed to understand what he meant, but Michael scoffed at the computer, pulling up the Battlegrounds simulation and returning to his "work".

"He told me about the armor he made for you, are you two friends?"

The airlock hissed open, revealing Serena, but Blanche answered anyway to be polite. "I mean, yeah, we're colleagues."

"Colleagues? Is that a kind of vegetable?"

"Coworkers, Bonnie," Clemont said, shaking his head.

"Oh! Kind of like how you're coworkers with the Professor?"

Clemont, for some reason, turned a much deeper shade of red. "We are just coworkers! Get that out of your head! This is why I don't let you come with me to work!"

Bonnie ignored her brother again, spinning around to Blanche and whispering with the appropriate gesture, "See what I mean?"

"Indeed, I do."

"Blanche, you're not helping!"

"So, you'd be willing to help him?"

He decided to indulge her and said, "Sure, why not?"

She grabbed his hand and kneeled like a knight, "Please take care of my brother!"

Evidently, that proved too much for Michael, who contrarily took off his headset in a calm manner, then fell out of his seat in a raucous laughing fit.

"Bonnie!" Clemont shouted, even as he was drowned out by both of the other boys' laughter.

"I'm flattered, really," Blanche said, holding his ribs in both a bow and to keep himself from laughing too hard and hurting his ribs again. "But I'm not really good enough for that sort of thing, and I don't think I like guys. Thanks for the offer."

Bonnie was lifted like a dog by its scruff, a clawed appendage shooting out of Clemont's backpack. That didn't stop her from asking, "What? But why?"

"Bonnie doesn't really… get the difference," Clemont said, spinning the girl around with her Dedenne holding onto her for dear life. "Ignore her."

"Eh, there's not much of a difference," Blanche shrugged, managing to stop laughing at the engineer's expense. "No big deal."

Soon after that, the two professors arrived, carrying armloads of bagged takeout.

"Whew, there's a lot of traffic topside," Augustine said as he placed his share on a spare table. "Most of FLARE's employee's have gone home for the day or are out doing repairs. Luckily, we're white collar! Well, most of us." He clapped as Aveline set the other bags down behind him. "You two did great today! Great thinking with your AIAM fields, Serena! You get that brain from your mother, I'm sure!"

"Dad…" the younger Sycamore groaned.

"Just make sure you tell her I said that, alright?"

"Dad!"

Serena just nodded, pulling a seat over from the cluttered side tables. Blanche, Clemont, and Bonnie quickly did the same, though Michael just disconnected and pushed himself over on his swivel chair.

What happened to make her so cold, he wondered. Most people would take someone hitting on their mom with offense, but she just… didn't.

"Kidding, kidding!" Sycamore waved off his daughter's embarrassment and popped open the lid of one of the boxes. The smell of sesame, meats, and onions wafted through the lab.

"Makes you wonder why we have an airlock," Michael said, taking a paper plate and scraping a portion of rice and teriyaki.

"Who's ever heard of security, anyway?" Clemont joked. "I mean, it's not like anyone is going to be sneaking in through a takeout box."

"Just don't spill anything on the computer."

Blanche looked at the Hibachi with a bit of confusion. Wouldn't it have to be made of Pokémon? It was probably beef, meaning… Miltank? Were those sentient?

"Hey, completely unrelated, which Pokémon are and aren't sapient?"

Aveline Sycamore perked up slightly, answering, "Well, it depends. I mean, obviously, oh, I'm not trying to be rude! But most Water-types and Bug-types aren't."

"So is this… fish meat?" He poked at the cube-sliced meat with his plastic fork.

"I think so… the Professor ordered it…"

That was good enough of an answer for him to start digging in like everyone else.

Said man clapped his hands after a few minutes. "So, how was everyone's first day of school?"

Bonnie nearly jumped out of her seat, listing all the different things she'd done, like art class and language and math being too easy and science and history being boring with all the censorship and would have gone on to other things if Clemont hadn't put his hand on her head like the snooze button on an alarm clock.

"Half of us don't go to school, Professor," Michael said. "I graduated early, got my apprenticeship with Professor Krane in 2009."

"Ah, that I know all too well. I haven't been there since I stopped by to pick you up! How is your mother, by the way?"

Michael's glare probably could have cut through any armor, even Blanche's. The Professor held up his hands in mock surrender, "Kidding!"

Aveline was holding her head in her hands, trying to shield her red-hot face.

"I had to graduate early to be a Gym Leader," Clemont added, removing his hand to avoid his sister trying to vibrate it off. He scratched his face, awkwardly adding, "But, well, I retired early too, after the second time Prism Tower got destroyed."

So he was still a Gym Leader at some point? That… made a bit of sense.

"How does that work?" Blanche asked. "Is it like an Advanced Placement test?"

"Something like that. I think they just wanted me out of the chemistry lab as soon as possible."

Michael made a sound resembling both a snort and a laugh. "I believe it."

"Well, that's all good. So, Serena, Blanche, what about you two? Make any friends?"

Serena nodded, her expression not changing as she ate another forkful of rice.

Blanche looked away as he became acutely aware he was the center of attention. "Well… I don't think I made any enemies… Actually, scratch that, I did. Wasn't my fault, by the way."

"As they say, if you don't make any enemies, you're doing something wrong!" The Professor said with entirely too much energy, opening the lid on a container of miso soup.

"Uh… Maybe that's true, but I'd rather not. Thanks for the food, by the way."

"No problem. You both did great today."

In regards to myself, he reminded himself in the deepest recesses of his mind, that couldn't be much further from the truth.

 

[MikaelBrigman]

"Eyes are feeling heavy but they never seem to close."

The underground hospital wing was dark, with only the buzz of overhead lights to keep the hallways dim. All rooms at the moment were empty, except for one.

"The fan blades on the ceiling spin but the air is never cold."

Blanche alone lay sprawled across his bed, resting his tired body and his tired heart. His eyes were transfixed on the roof, though he saw past them into nothingness.

"And even though you're next to me, I still feel so alone."

His Holo Caster rested in the crook of his arm, playing music quietly. The prominent violin was easier on his ears than the slamming of guitar chords.

"I just can't give you anything for you to call your own."

His eyes were red as always, though it had spread to his sclera. His hair was matted against his face, and his cheeks glistened with a dried sheen. His thoughts swirled as if he was speaking them aloud.

"And I can feel you breathing."

"I have no aura. I'm bandaged and bloodied by the most normal things. I'm fragile. I'm weak. And by all definitions, I'm not alive. Not that I ever was in the first place."

"And it's keeping me awake."

"The people here… why do they treat me like this? Do I deserve it? I'm just… me. Can I stay here? Can I take advantage of all of this kindness? I can't do that. It wouldn't be right. They're all so kind. Why am I here? I didn't want to be a hero. I wanted the easy way out, and I stuck myself on this path. This place isn't my home. I don't have a home."

"Can you feel it beating?"

Once a normal suburban house, he thought, now a dilapidated shack, likely on its way to being demolished. His hometown was completely unrecognizable. Vaniville, along with most of southern Kalos, was completely destroyed by an Ultra Beast. Lumiose-3 was a sprawling battleground of possibilities, both good and bad, and he'd tricked himself into becoming one of the combatants.

"My heart's sinking like a weight."

"I'm not a hero. I haven't done anything. I was dead weight. I need a machine just to be on equal footing. There's a hole in this world, and I have no hope of filling it in. Not when I have a pit just like it in my soul."

"Something I've been keeping locked away behind my lips."

"They thank me and say they owe me, but I just have to say no. Why would I say anything else? It's not like there's anything else I'm here for. Purpose? Who needs to hear about mine? Pity? Why should I ask for it? Pain? So what if I feel it?"

"I can feel it breaking free with each and every kiss."

"Who would give a damn if I left? They don't need me here, they made that much clear. They don't want me here, the Battery would have been junk anyway. They don't care, they don't need to. I don't need them to."

"I couldn't bear to hurt you but it's all so different now."

"A Pokémon? A friend? A partner? Why did I even bother asking? No person would want me around, least of all a monster that runs on friendship."

"Things that I was sure of, they have filled me up with doubt."

"Aura? AIAM fields? Since when were those real? If it weren't for all of this damn burning and itching and searing and bruising and cutting and everything, I'd think I was still dreaming."

"And I can feel you breathing."

"No, I've always been dreaming. And they're just dreams. Dreaming of a different past, one I could remember. Dreaming of a future with people, people I can connect with."

"And it's keeping me awake."

"And neither of those dreams are coming true anytime soon."

"Can you feel it beating?"

"God can't reach me here. I'm stuck here with no chance of advancing."

"My heart's sinking like a weight."

"Is this why grunts join evil teams? Because they feel stuck? Because they want to do something but they just can't?"

"I can feel you breathing."

"I don't want to be like that. I don't want to go that far off the deep end. I can't let myself become that kind of person, not… not again?"

"It's keeping me awake."

"Who am I? Am I a Trainer now? One of the main characters is missing, am I replacing him? Or am I just a background character, not even named? Did FLARE just pity me or are they trying to recruit me to destroy the world? Who am I on this side of the screen?"

"Could you stop my heart? It's always beating."

"I need… I need to find that out for myself. Isn't that the point of the Journey? I need to find out who I am. Who I was. Who I can be. I need to get stronger. Even if I don't have aura, I need to get stronger, I need to protect myself, and if I had any loved ones, I would need to protect them too. But I can't do any of that by just sitting here."

"Sinking like a weight."

---

Beyond the walled city of Lumiose-3, the environment was incredibly diverse. Suburbs existed outside the ring of skyscrapers that most considered to bind the city. To the west, there was a desert. To the north, there were rocky hills. To the east, there were wetlands and rivers. To the southwest, there were historic buildings and rolling plains.

And to the southeast, there was a visible trail of destruction. It was carved from the southern coast through the forest, through the flower fields, through everything there once was. A cone of ruined terrain made what occurred clear, even if nature had partially healed.

The wind whipped through Blanche's hair as the sun hung above his head. The pain from the day before had not subsided. If he walked carefully, his sides wouldn't throb so badly.

He walked along a handrail on one of the highest paths in the city, just looking out at it all. He wasn't intending to jump, of course. That would be stupid, and there wasn't a point.

As he walked he passed by plenty of people, all with their own purposes and reasons, privy only to themselves, and sometimes not even then. They belonged in that world. A posh lady walked with their Furfrou, clutching her scarf tight. A pair of kids ran past, holding their Pichu and Azumarill into the air, showing them the heights. A Zororak walked past on its hind legs, black fur ruffling and red mane blowing in the wind. Blanche barely spared that last one a second look.

A map could only help so much, after all. If he was going to leave, he needed to find a path outward, a path forward.

Snow did not fall the night before, nor did it earlier that morning. A cover of gray clouds hung low from the sky as far as the eye could see.

He came across a platform that overlooked one of the MagLev stops, along with two stations of viewing binoculars. A ramp with levels dropped towards the ground, swirling around a support pillar.

The train station was bustling with people actually going to where they were supposed to. See, because even if he was busy angsting, for everyone else, it was Tuesday.

He stared off into space for a good few minutes. Those few minutes soon slipped into an hour. A world of possibilities, and he didn't have a clue where to go.

In the crowds below, there was a flash of sky-blue and tan cloth. It went mostly unnoticed, and he assumed that the blonde hair beneath was a trick of the light. When he saw an Audino following the person, bouncing along through the crowd, his eyes widened and he felt alertness strike his body like a gong.

He turned on his heel and started running down the ramp, apologizing to the people he scuffled past, until he arrived on the busy station platform. Wildy whipping his head around, he saw Audino and its Trainer once again.

"Hey, Ariel!"

Audino perked up, its bell-like ears twitching and its head turning at an uncanny degree.

The person it was following didn't stop. They were walking like a zombie, barely managing each step.

Audino trilled as Blanche approached and gave a small wave. It tugged at its Trainer's habit, making them pause.

"Hm…"

"Ariel?" Blanche circled around, brow non-visibly furrowed in confusion. "Oh, damn, are you alright?"

The girl's green eyes were puffy, and her hair disheveled beneath the veil. "Blanche?"

"Yeah, that's me, what are you doing here?" He asked, concern bleeding through into his voice. Did something go wrong? His backup plan was to go to her, not the other way around.

"I… I did something I shouldn't have…" Ariel tried to say, before her voice cracked and she lost her composure. Her expression tightened as she tried to hold back a sob. "Oh, Lord Helix, please forgive me…"

Blanche caught the girl as her stance shuddered, keeping her on her feet. "Hey, listen, are you okay?"

"Can I be honest?" She looked up at him, her voice cracking again.

"Of course!" He nearly shouted, panicking internally but trying to convince himself he could help.

"No…"

He managed to keep Ariel on her feet long enough to get her to a bench before she collapsed. Audino immediately jumped on as well, trailing its antennae around her and singing softly.

"Do you feel like talking about what happened?" Blanche offered.

"My sisters in Helix… they don't want me anymore." Her head fell into her hands as she choked out her words. "I… I don't know what happened. I was so happy to be back, I talked with the sisters and oriented myself in the new church… I don't know how it happened! I just remember the red and orange and heat. But now, I… I can't go back."

Blanche reached out for her shoulder to reassure her, but hesitated. His hand was halfway there, why couldn't he move?

"What do I do? My Lord has deemed me unworthy of grace… What else is there for me? Is this a step in Helix's plan? What is my purpose if I do not live for Him?"

Purpose?

His hand began lowering to his side. "Purpose…"

"I'm lost now, Blanche... I don't know where to go! Everything I've ever known… it's lost to me now. How do I keep going? Where do I go?"

You're asking the wrong amnesiac, he thought.

"Forward."

The words slipped from his lips before he was aware he was saying them. He immediately clapped a hand over his mouth, because since when in hell did he know anything about…

Purpose.

"Even if you have nothing, and you have no sense of direction, you can still go forward. Up, down, left, right, you can go anywhere, do anything… you belong in this world as much as anybody else."

Why the hell was he saying these things? He didn't have the right.

"We embark on a winding spiral path, becoming better than the people we were before."

No, stop it! Stop it, before I believe it too! Blanche felt like his head was about to be split open by a rod of gilded shadows.

"Isn't that what a double helix is? The hopes of the past, the dreams of the future? You've had hopes, haven't you? You've had dreams. Life… It's about finding your dreams and fulfilling them the best you can.

Be born, find purpose, do your best, and die.

Why was he trying to do all of that in less than a month?

"Helix is a benevolent god, isn't he? Maybe he'd want you to find your purpose. When you really want something, all the world conspires to make your dream come true."

"I don't have any dreams, Blanche… I've always wanted to serve the Lord, it's how I was raised."

Blanche leaned back against the bench, closed his eyes, and sighed. "I wish I remembered more about religion than whatever I read in some book. I can't offer any solutions right now, I'll be honest. But really and truly, I believe that if you want a purpose, it will come to you, because you're a good person, Ariel. You're kind and generous and everything good in the world, even if you make mistakes. Even if you're lost and you think you're useless, you're not, because you have value as a living thing."

And really, he thought, that's the difference between you and me.

He became aware that at some point, he'd wrapped Ariel in a hug, pulling her tight against his chest. He felt her shivering sobs as she still tried to hold back her tears.

"Are you going to be safe here in the city?"

"I don't know… I just couldn't think of anywhere else to go. There's something strange about this city. It has gravity of its own. Now that I'm here… I don't know."

Blanche patted her shoulder. "I think I know someone that can help you with that.

He texted Professor Sycamore with his free hand, asking him to come to the north-most MagLev station off of Autumnal Avenue, as it was somewhat important. It was possible for him to get Ariel to the nearest plaza, but she seemed too tired to even walk, like she'd been awoken too early. Audino's humming had quickly put the girl into a half-sleep, occasionally broken by a hacked sob.

Augustine arrived after around twenty minutes, quickly spotting the pair. An albino and a nun, play it again, Sam.

"What seems to be the problem? Why you're not in school can wait."

I felt like shit and I didn't want to snap at anyone, he thought.

"I was playing hooky. My friend here is… was a nun? But she can't go back to her home church, and she's sort of lost."

"Did you know her before you forgot who you were?"

Blanche had to suppress a glare. "Professor, I get where you're coming from, but don't use science goggles right now, I'm not in the mood. Do you know any tolerant Helixian convents inside Lumiose-3?"

Augustine shook his head. "None that I can think of, I'm afraid. There are more than a few shrines to Mythical Pokémon on the outskirts, but…"

"That's like telling a Christian to start worshipping Pagan gods, Professor." Blanche bit his tongue, internally seething as the meanings of those words slipped away as quickly as they came to mind.

Augustine blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I… I don't know either, sir. Just tell me if there's somewhere she can stay. She helped me when I first woke up. I basically owe her and her Audino my life. If there's anything I can do, I'll do it."

"Well…" The Professor rubbed his chin. "Is she… No, she couldn't be an Esper, she wouldn't have been able to join the church in the first place. FLARE does subsidize room and board in the city, but I can't see a reason they'd employ her. Perhaps she could get an apprenticeship in a Pokémon Center?"

"Her hair's not nearly pink enough for that occupation."

"Well, that sort of thinking is a bit stereotypical, isn't it? Sure, the majority of nurses happen to be able to tie their lineage to the Joy family, but… That's not important right now!" The man declared. "Are you looking for something more permanent?"

"For the foreseeable future. How much is the rent in Lumiose-3?" According to Clemont, FLARE paid around 4,000,000 a year on average, which Blanche figured was around 40,000… USD, that's right.

"When FLARE alleviates the costs…" The Professor stopped speaking abruptly.

Blanche was worried by the glint that appeared in the man's eye and the slight smirk.

"Actually… Yes, I think I know somebody that can help you. I was actually already talking to them about a favor, and with FLARE's aid… I'll knock out two Flying-types with one stone! Fantastic!"

"Care to share your thoughts with the class, Professor?" He asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Ah, ah, ah. That would be telling. Why don't we get your friend to the lab in the meantime?"

Ariel's grip on his jacket suddenly tightened. "No… I'm not an abomination of the Anti-Helix, I'm not!"

Anti-Helix? So, the Anti-Spiral and Satan rolled into one? Fun, he thought.

"He meant FLARE in general." He added, trying to calm her down. Whatever had happened wasn't his business unless she chose to entrust the information to him. "There's a nurse's office there, the beds are really comfortable, and I think you could use a nap."

"If you say so…" She hiccuped as he helped her to her feet and Audino hopped off the bench.

The Professor pulled a handkerchief from inside his lab coat, flourishing it in front of the girl. Which is to say, of course, he handed it to Ariel. "Here, use this if you need it. I'll show you to the Magenta Plaza entrance, since it's the second closest and Rouge is still being repaired."

---

Ariel had fallen into a deep sleep the minute they'd arrived at the FLARE medical wing. She must have used all of her energy just to get here, Blanche thought.

He leaned against the wall in the dim room as Sycamore stood in the doorway. "What's your idea, Professor?"

"It's actually a solution to a problem I've been having with some Pokémon I've been taking care of. They're quite scared of Aveline, and I've been talking with an old friend of mine to see if they can take care of them. And even with the FLARE support she already gets, it would be a little too much strain. But if that support were doubled… I could wrap that all up and finally get to analyzing Clemont's design for a wave-motion gun!"

Blanche sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "Yeah, alright. How are you going to double the support, though? Send a requisition form that'll get filed in three months?"

"Ah, not quite. In the capacity that I take care of those three, I'm not acting as a FLARE employee. I would ask the UR, but they are as bureaucratic as you'd think. I'm holding onto the Pokémon until next year, so I need to find a solution quickly."

"And… what does this have to do with anything?" His patience was wearing thin.

"Well, my friend- A magnificent woman, you'll adore her- Is already taking care of a FLARE employee, along with three other children and three or so Pokémon. If she were to have another employee living with her…"

"Oh. I see… Wait, how the hell do you fit seven people and six, no, seven Pokémon in a single house?"

"It's one of those row houses. They have them in Unova and western Orre."

"Sounds like a full house."

"It's bigger on the inside, I assure you. Let me just give her a call, and I'll take you all over in a few hours."

"Just like that?"

The Professor raised an eyebrow. "Just like what?"

"I mean… who just fosters kids for no reason so easily? That doesn't make sense."

"There is a reason, however. And even if there weren't, it would still be perfectly justified. Your friend is a nun, and you're a good kid."

Blanche blinked. "What?"

"Again, what do you mean?"

"I'm not… I'm just some guy, Professor. I agree with you on the first part, Ariel's one of the nicest people I've ever met, but I'm pretty average."
"That's rather ironic, considering you're an Esper."

"I'm not an Esper, sir, I'm a weakling that can only sometimes be like everyone else."

"Blanche, I hope you don't mind me calling you that… Is this why you were skipping school? Are you being bullied?"

"No! I mean, who would even take the time of day? But… Well, I don't really deserve to stay here. I barely did anything yesterday, you said as much yourself."

"What?" The Professor actually seemed offended. "I would never."

"God, this will sound like whining, but yeah, you did. You just went on and on about how Serena's so smart when I came up with the idea to-"

"Blanche, can you see out of the back of your head?"

"If I could, I'd be looking at the plaster," he spat.

"That's what it's like for Espers. They have to think in extra dimensions, like they have an extra sense. Serena listened to your idea, she's definitely grateful, even if she's not good at showing it. To you, it's magic. To her, it's like she has to use muscles that she doesn't have. Of course, weighing down Underwood's wings was a good idea. But if you want recognition for just that, you don't understand how FLARE works. I said you both did good. And for someone who doesn't have any memories or formal education, you sure know a thing or two about physics. I could point that out, I could say it's strange, but you don't want that. Do you or do you not want pity? If you don't, that's fine. If you do, then you're just like anyone else."

"What?"

"Emotions don't make you weak, Blanche. They make you stronger, if anything else. The power of friendship has been observed to make Espers stronger. There's no room for cynicism here. There's a difference between wanting pity and needing it. Compassion is natural to desire. But for some reason, I see you deny that you need it. What's the issue there, hm?"

"Sir…"

"Maybe the reason you don't have an AIAM field is that your desires are so weak that it simply doesn't generate. Maybe it's not because of your memory loss or whatever happened to you, but it's because you refuse to accept the strength that kindness gives you."

"I'm… pretty sure it's not that."

"Then what is it? Drop the sarcasm for one minute and think!" The Professor pointed a finger at him, and though his voice became no louder, it seemed to reverberate in his ears. "If you don't have a clue about something, then you need to look. That's how we scientists do it. You're far from average. If Professor Krane ever checks his email inbox, he'll be here to meet you faster than you can say, "Metagross, Mega-Evolve!" I don't know what your issue is, because ultimately, it doesn't matter what I know. I'm a Pokémon Professor, not a people professor."

"Could've fooled me."

"The flamboyant idiot facade works on a surface level. Plus, it keeps the UR on my back and off of the people who are actually getting work done. And really, it's quite funny to see how people react. But my point is, Blanche, that you need an attitude adjustment. You're not useless, and as soon as Clemont clears the high from something he built actually working, you're going to be much more so. You only hold yourself back when you think like that."

"..."

"I'm going to the lab, alright? Just… think for a while. I'm not your parent, so I won't tell you what to do. I'll be back here in a few hours to take you both there. Let your friend get some rest. I bet you could use some too."

Blanche could only stare into space as Augustine left and the room became much dimmer.

Maybe, he thought even as he tried to quell the idea, he's right.

---

Ariel was still a bit sleepy when the Professor returned, but she'd woken up just from the sound of the door opening. Audino was still humming, but it had quieted to the point where he had to focus to hear it.

It was later in the afternoon as the Professor led them from Jauna Plaza towards Hibernal Avenue and took them a few streets parallel and to the east of the main street. They were lined with all kinds of shops and stalls. People and their Pokémon seemed to be trickling through the neighborhood from school already.

"The neighborhood is called Little Kanto," the Professor explained. "It's still in the city proper, but it's more natural, hence the name. Not as natural as say, Johto, but you likely understand. She actually is from Kanto, but she had moved to Vaniville Town down south before the Heavens Shattered."

"How do you know her, then?"

"Ah, well, it's an interesting story. I'll tell you when you're older, but the sum of it involved a metric ton of Mareep fur, a blackout in Goldenrod City, and a hungry Rhyhorn."

"...Actually, never mind."

The house was separated from the other row houses by a pair of narrow divots, barely large enough to hold trash cans, though for some reason it still had side windows. The bricks were a muddy brown, sectioned with tan plaster. The roof was a dulled red, held up by three rows of windows and a distinct gray foundation. The yard was small, nearly non-existent, and shared between the neighboring houses. The separations were only clear by the paths that led to the divots in the wall.

A bushy tree shaded a napping Rhyhorn from the sun, which awoke as Sycamore swung open the creaky metal gate.

It rumbled, standing from the slate it was napping on. The minerals in its rocky body glinted in the sunlight as it shook its head and seemed to sniff the air.

Its, ahem, stony gaze turned to him growled at such a low pitch he thought it could have been a rockslide.

"Ah, crap," Blanche held his arms in front of him and braced for impact. He heard it moving towards him, but he didn't feel the impact.

"Rhyhorn, down!" Sycamore yelled before the Pokémon revealed that it was in fact, trying to tackle the older man instead. "No! Not my lab coat!"

At the cost of the Professor's fortune, Blanche would not have to take any additional pain reliever that night.

"Who on Earth…" A voice said as the elevated door opened. A mature-looking woman in a black tank top leaned out and blinked at the Professor currently being attacked in her front yard.

"Ah!" Sycamore squealed before his voice dropped an octave. "Afternoon, Grace."

Blanche couldn't help but scoff before the world dropped in around him and some thoughts finally snapped into place.

Grace was the player character's mother in the game, which made the fact she didn't look much older than Sycamore a little creepy, but that was probably because, in fiction-land, no one looks their age.

"Ah. Rhyhorn, down!" The woman commanded and her Pokémon obeyed, crawling off of the Professor and going back to sleep under the tree. "Right, why don't you all come inside?"

"I see Rhyhorn hasn't gotten out of shape since you retired," Sycamore said, shaking his lapels to get the dirt off as they entered what could literally be a set for television. The most living-room living-room he'd ever seen, or that he could remember seeing. There was an attached kitchen, a huge dining table, and obviously, a staircase across the room.

"You clearly have. With all the talk about your stamina and agility, you should have been able to dodge."

Blanche gagged, though he covered it as a cough. Ariel and Audino tilted their heads in unison, the confusion clear on the former's face, and the same nothing-behind-the-eyes on the latter's. Blanche decided that he would devote the entire rest of his life to making sure she would never need to know.

"Eh… It simply didn't occur to me."

"Why is dodging a subroutine? It's not that complex, Augustine."

Where have I seen this one before, he wondered.

"Are these the two you talked to me about?"

"Two, Professor?" Blanche prodded.

"Well… yes, what did you expect?"

"Ariel to live here and I would keep living inside the headquarters."

"That's not how it works. There would be a lot more fraud if people could just say they lived somewhere, get the money, then live somewhere else for free."

"Oh. Shiiiiii- I mean, yeah, that makes sense."

"So, you'd be Blanche?" The woman cupped her chin, taking a closer look. "And you're Ariel?" She asked as she turned to the nun.

"Yep."

"Yes, Madame."

"Ah, I mean, yes ma'am." He was trying to avoid gratuitous French-Kalosian because it made him feel pretentious just listening to people sprinkle the words into what he understood as English.

"Hm… From what I've gotten out of the kids, you seem to be a pretty good kid. Shauna did say some strange things."

"Aren't they leaving school right about now?"

"Well, Serena mentioned you when I asked how her day was yesterday with only a little bit of prodding, and Trevor and Tierno started arguing about something you did or didn't do with Shauna."

"I didn't do anything, I hope you believe me when I say that."

"It took a while, but Serena clarified it for me. I completely understand how that was an awkward situation."

"It happens," he shrugged.

"And Ariel… Obviously, you're a nun, so you're trustworthy. Your partner is an Audino, right? They're a pretty cute little blob, I have to say."

The blonde's expression brightened into an actual smile, and she said, "Thank you! I believe your Rhyhorn is as beautiful as yourself."

"Aw, you're so precious!" Grace pulled Ariel into a hug, laughing out, "I'm keeping you for sure!"

Blanche was briefly hit with that wave of emotion that accompanied cute girls doing cute things but managed to recover before Audino could give him that look that always made him self-conscious. Well, more than usual.

The Professor coughed into his fist. "Well, I also have the three Pokémon I asked you about. They're all still very small, I'll be paying for their food and everything. I'm sure they'll acclimate quickly, just make sure the kids don't train them. They're supposed to be starter Pokémon, after all."

Puzzle pieces in his brain finally clicked into place as the Professor pulled a clip of three Pokéballs from inside his coat.

"Now, Blanche, Ariel, these are very rare Pokémon. It was only through a friend of mine that I managed to obtain the set. Traditionally, the three most distinguished students in a year would receive one of these Pokémon each, however, they've become much rarer in recent years. You can befriend them, but you will not be their Trainers, nor will the others. Is that alright?"

"Well, it's not like I deserve to be a Trainer, so that's fine by me."

"Um… yes, sir."

"Very well!" The Professor pulled the first Pokéball from his belt. "First, the Grass-type Spiny Nut Pokémon, Chespin!"

A bipedal porcupine appeared in a blast of light. Blanche had never directly seen a Pokéball in action, only having noticed its effects in his periphery. Watching it directly was strange. The caps separated, and inside was only a sphere of white light. It spiraled out and bounced onto the floor, before reforming into the Pokémon's shape and fading.

Chespin's head was covered in grassy green spines, looking more like rabbit ears than anything else. Its body and face were covered in caramel fur, accented by a pink button nose and brown on its arms and in a triangle on its forehead. It was larger than he expected, coming up to his calves at around a foot tall.

"Chespin's a little prickly if you get too close to him or the others, but he'll open up eventually, I'm sure."

"And next, we have the Fire-type Fox Pokémon, Fennekin!"

A yellow-furred fox appeared on the floor. Its bushy tail and the puffs in its ears were a bright orange-red, along with its eyes. It looked around the room, sniffing, before it bowed its head to them.

Blanche didn't mean disrespect, but he couldn't resist saying, "Chrome is better."

The Professor blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I don't know either, forget about it."

"Lastly, we have the Water-type Bubble Frog Pokémon, Froakie!"

An aqua-blue frog appeared on its hind feet. Its front hands looked like the gloves of a gentleman thief. A similarly white bubbly puff wrapped around its neck, swaying slightly. Two cotton-like puffs looked like binoculars in front of its eyes, bisected by a deep blue stripe running down its back.

"Make sure you keep an eye on this one! If she gets the sense there's something she wants, she's going to try and take it," Sycamore warned jokingly.

The three Pokémon noted each other's presence before scattering to the wind. Chespin waddled over to Audino and tried to shake its hand. Fennekin jumped from the floor straight onto the Professor's head, before turning to look around the room. Froakie tilted its head, looking at the stairs at the far end of the room. Its eyes gleamed, almost like Clemont's goggles.

"Froakie, no!" The Professor's hand shot out, but to no avail.

If the Pokémon could speak, it likely would have said, "Froakie, yes," as it took off like a rocket and bounced up the stairway, jumping from the first step to the handrail to the wall and further from there.

"Ah…" The Professor withdrew his arm, grinning awkwardly. "I suppose I should return her."

"Don't bother," Blanche said, already turning. "You all relax, I'll get them."

As he walked up the stairs, his eyes traced over the quickly popping trail of bubbles. In the back of his mind, he acknowledged that the door opened, but he chose to try and catch the rogue frog Pokémon first.

The trail led further into the new corridor rather than up the stairs, so he walked past a couple of doors before coming one that was ajar.

His first thought was cake, as he leaned into the bedroom. The walls were a pasty yellow, the furniture made of birch, and the rug and bed a bright, suffocating pink. He just barely managed to glimpse Froakie running under the bed.

He sighed and got onto all fours to look under. Froakie was doing something, but with the low light, he couldn't tell. He clicked his tongue a few times, unsure of exactly how to catch a frog.

Because of that, he didn't hear the many footfalls coming up the stairs.

"Froakie, here, girl." He pushed himself under the bed far enough for the frame to reach his lower back, doing half of a pushup to maneuver right.

"Ribiribiribi…" It… cooed? A page turned somewhere in front of Froakie, though it had its back to him.

"Gotcha!" He said, clasping the small frog in his hands.

"Gotcha!" Yelled someone else, as they yanked Blanche out from under the bed from his ankles.

"RIBIRIBIRIBI!"

Blanche's vision was partially obscured by the angle and his shirt falling over his face, his neck was at a pretty uncomfortable angle.

How a girl not much taller than five feet managed to hold him like that and not look silly was unknown to him. That was a lie, actually. It was because the look of absolute rage in Shauna's eyes only made him think of fear.

Froakie was struggling in his hands, but wouldn't let go of the book it was reading.

"...Is that Twilight?" He asked the frog, before he was dropped slightly and he learned of completely new nerves in his neck.

"Mummy…" Shauna growled.

Fully aware of how ridiculous he looked and that he was about to start bleeding into the carpet, he didn't snark, and instead said a very simple sentence. "I can explain."

This is known to have a similar effect to telling someone angry to calm down. Which is to say…

"YOU-"

God help me, he sighed mentally.

---

Blanche worked out a crick in his neck as he sat at a dining table with the five other teenagers. Ariel had properly introduced herself to them, and from what he pieced together, had mentioned he went upstairs to obvious consequences.

"Again, it's not my fault," he responded as Shauna complained again.

"You should have gotten someone that wasn't you to get Froakie!" She yelled, holding the struggling frog in her arms like a teddy bear.

She actually believed his reason for being there, but that was after his story had been confirmed by Ariel, Grace, and Sycamore, who'd left soon afterwards. It was just that Blanche was Blanche, a crime to be punished cruelly and unusually. Naturally.

"That would have been rude. And lazy. She probably would have run out by the time I got Ariel or Mrs. Grace."

"Whatever! You just wanted an excuse to go in my room!"

"Again, I didn't know it was your room. Also, do you really read Twilight?" He'd scanned the pages and saw familiar names, but not the actual cover. "Like, with the GTS being so crazy, that takes guts and stuff. Respect."

The tan girl turned a brick-red in the face. "Well, uh…"

"She keeps her appropriate books on the bookshelf," Serena said, blank-faced and cutting the core out of an apple. She tossed it to Chespin, who hopped into the air to catch it in its almond-shaped mouth.

"Serena! You can't say that to a creep like him!"

"I agree, I don't think I wanted to know that. Except for the creep part, I mean, it's just a series of very unfortunate coincidences."

"I don't understand," Ariel said, tilting her head. Tierno seemed really impressed at the fact that nuns were actually real, and in fact, Blanche once felt the same.

"And you never will, Ariel. Don't think about it too hard, for your own sake."

"...If you say so."

Grace returned from wherever she'd been upstairs, walked over to the table, and clapped her hands. "So! Now that we have guests, I think it would be completely fair to redivide chores! What do you all say?"

Shauna groaned, and Trevor looked reluctant. Blanche shrugged because it wasn't like he was doing much else with his time.

"I can cook," he said simply. "Probably," he added. He hadn't forgotten how to do math or sketch with a pencil, so even if cooking was an art or a science, he'd probably manage. "And whatever else is needed, of course."

"I can feed the Pokémon," Ariel offered.

"I'll do laundry so the pervert can keep his hands off my underwear," Shauna said.

"Okay, that's just uncalled for," Blanche replied dryly.

"You shouldn't say things like that!" Ariel said, flushing slightly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…"

"Like I'd want to wash frisbees on a string."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Um," Trevor interrupted what would soon become a one-sided shouting match, "I'll sweep and clean the floors. I think the vacuum would scare the Pokémon right now."

"I'll do the trash after I get home from the dance studio, I swear." Tierno was a dancer, Blanche remembered, it likely took a lot of time and effort.

Serena looked at her mother dully. "I believe there aren't any additional duties."

"Well, just help if they need it. Can I trust you all to get that all done?" The woman's gray jumpsuit tied around her waist flapped ominously.

Soon enough, she was met by a chorus of "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. You're all free for the night. Blanche, Ariel, there's a guest room on the third floor with two beds, so you and Audino can get settled in."

"Hold on!" Shauna shouted, slamming her hands on the table. "The same room? Mrs. Grace, you can't do that! He's a pervert and she's a girl!"

"She's a nun," Blanche added. "Also, I'm not. For the fifteenth time."

"You shouldn't insult a guest," Serena said distantly.

"Well, I know, but…"

"I actually agree with Shauna, though." He looked over to what was essentially the dorm mother. "That would be weird."

The woman facepalmed, laughing slightly. "I thought you two were siblings for a second, with how you came in a pair. That's my bad. The hair might be close, but it doesn't match. Right, there are actually a few empty guest rooms. They built this place with larger Pokémon in mind, but someone put up more walls at some point. We'll have to get you two some new clothes, but for now, welcome!"

"Thank you."

"Yes, thank you!"

"Aw, it's no problem. But to make sure, do you two know about the open door rule?"

"I'm guessing it involves open doors?"

"Yes! There will be no hanky-panky in my household!"

Blanche gagged and laughed at the same time, never a good combination.

"Hanky… panky?" Ariel tilted her head. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

Shauna jumped in and said, "See, when a girl and a girl, or when a boy and a girl, or… actually, it might just be quicker to skip to the end of the list. When two people like each other very much, weird, flowery music starts playing, and then they…"

"Shauna," Blanche said, glaring at the jumpy girl. "Serious business. Stop talking. And also, I'd like to make a point; How are you going to say things like that and then call me a pervert?"

"See, you're a teenage boy, it's different."

Trevor and Tierno seemed too tired to be offended, and they'd likely heard it before.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Blanche spoke with a higher pitch, mocking the girl, before dropping his voice to normal and looking at her dryly. "Pervert."

"Mummy!"

"Ponytails."

"Er… Color contacts!"

"Real eye color, fun fact."

"Bleach-blond!"

"Still real."

"Lame hair!"

"The hell did you say about my hair?" He slammed a fist on the table, making Fennekin poke its head up from Trevor's lap and look around for the disturbance before he laughed and relaxed. "Nah, I still don't care. Washboard."

Lightning seemed to crackle around her for a split second as she shot out of her chair. "Hey! That's just mean!"

"...Are you kidding? You making fun of the fact I get beat up every week isn't being mean but what I say is?"

"I was joking! Well, for most of the stuff."

"You know I can't help that, right? As much as you can't help being who you are. It's just as unfair. And you know what? Making fun of people for something they can't change ain't right. I'm just giving as good as I get."

"But… there's no way you actually need to wear all of that! It's decorative, isn't it?"

He placed his forehead on the table and pointed at what he guessed was a splotch of blood on his bandages. "Working at FLARE makes this more manageable. I'll probably keep the bandages on after I'm done healing anyway. It's not like anyone wants to see what's under them anyway."

"I'm… I'm going to bed. Good night, everyone." Shauna quickly ran up the stairs, before reappearing a second later to point at Blanche. "And stay out of my room!"

"Nothing worth seeing in there," he said as she disappeared again. He became aware that Tierno, Trevor, and Ariel were staring at him, while Serena had walked off and gotten something to drink. "What?"

"That… that was a little far, B-meister," Tierno said.

"What? She was insulting me! I'm not going to let someone say things like that about me! That's how rumors get started"

"Shauna's not really the type to start rumors," Trevor said weakly.

"That's not the point!"

"Listen, B-meister, I see where you're coming from," Tierno shrugged, "Shauna's… a little energetic. She doesn't think things all the way through sometimes. It's kind of a game. Imagine two Pokémon practice-battling, but one of them actually hits the other one real bad."

"But I didn't start it!"

"I'm not saying you did," Tierno offered. "You don't have to apologize, even if I'd rather us all be friends. I'm just letting you know."

"I've had a long day, man." He pushed back the chair and stood up. "I think I just… I'm going to get some rest. Good night, everyone. Gera- Serena, please help Ariel get to bed, I'm turning in early."

The stoic girl nodded and he retreated to the steps.

"Blanche…" Ariel's voice carried easily through the distance. Audino trilled sadly, sensing the emotions of its Trainer.

"Sorry you had to see me like that," he replied, looking anywhere but back towards her as he went to find his room.

 

[Negrek]

Welcome to the forums! I'll admit I'm only familiar with around half the canons you say are influencing this story, but a gigantic crossover sounds like a lot of fun, and it's always great to see a fic that tries something a bit different. I figured I'd take a look at the first three chapters here.

I was a little unclear on whether or not to read the prologue. Your author's note suggested that it might be best to skip it, but then also possibly not, and you also chose to post it instead of simply starting at the second chapter, so in the end I decided to read it. I do agree with you that the story is much stronger from the second chapter, and on balance the prologue is probably skippable. I can see what you were going for with it, and it does, I think, give a good sense of the tone/genre of your fic. Unfortunately I think those really brief flashes of images, rapidly cutting from one subject to the next, work a lot better in a visual medium than in text, and the prologue comes across as more confusing to me than anything. And it doesn't give a good idea of what your fic will be like stylistically; someone who enjoys the style of the prologue is going to be disappointed to find that the rest of the fic isn't that way, whereas someone who doesn't like the prologue actually might enjoy what comes after just fine.

These are my impressions after reading the prologue: there's some kind of global catastrophe involving Arceus and the ultra beasts. Zygarde is involved somehow. There are people fighting back against Arceus etc. There are people with pokémon/elemental powers. There are giant mecha. It does feel a lot like what I've osmosed of Evangelion!

While I do think the disjointed nature of the prologue makes it hard to really follow what's happening, I do think that you have a sense for striking images, and especially of the alien/horrifying. The real standout scene for me so far has been Blanche's meeting with Missingno., with the beast itself feeling appropriately alien while at the same time recognizable as what it is. It felt like you were really lavishing attention on Missingno.--it honestly feels like it's gotten the most description out of anything Blanche has encountered in the pokéworld thus far, and I think it works great. Though I'll admit some bias as I'm a huge fan of glitch pokémon and always excited to see them appear in fics!

In general, I enjoy the fusion of the pokémon world with a more space anime/horror tone. Hugely dangerous gods/monsters/extraterrestrial beasts and the way that humans develop to fight against them is a fun direction to take pokémon, and I enjoy a good story that leans more into those sorts of darker sci-fi aspects of the canon and brings along some spectacular action sequences. Worldbuilding's going to be important to a story like this, blending a bunch of disparate elements, and I think you've done a solid job of it so far. The world here feels both reasonably close to the one we see in the games and anime and at the same time distinct and even larger than life than the canon already is. I do wonder when we're going to see those big mechs and pokémon powers hinted at by the prologue! Although Blanche is, of course, rather unpowered for the moment... It's interesting that pokéworld humans are explicitly aura-empowered whereas Blanche is not. Hasn't been more than a minor inconvenience for him thus far, but I'm curious to see what the ramifications will be later on. And I'm sure that at some point the truth of his origin's going to come out, which I can only imagine going poorly for him! I look forward to learning more about the world, and especially creatures like the ultra beasts and Arceus, as the story goes on.

I've had some trouble getting a handle on Blanche's character thus far. My first impression was that he was supposed to be a pretty smart, calculating person, using his knowledge of the games to either help him get out of the pokéworld or rise to prominence within it. This was based on his initial assessment of where he was in the world, what had happened, and what he ought to do next. But then later he lands in Kalos apparently without having considered what he's actually going to do there beyond those very first few moments, so calm and cunning wouldn't really seem to be it. We get some flashes of indignation and a desire to help when he attacks the nihilego, but then later he's invited to join FLARE, which he himself lampshades as being a paramilitary organization and quite possibly "evil," and his response is just, "eh, sure, I guess." All in all he's really just kind of been wandering around, having things happen to him and not doing much in response. He wants to become a pokémon trainer, but why? Because it seems fun? Because he wants to win big and get the glory? I don't really know. At times he seems almost ludicrously uninterested in what's happening to him. It apparently takes him multiple days to realize he's become albino, although he naturally notices right away that his hair's gone white--that didn't make him want to try to find a mirror or other reflective surface to see if anything else had changed? (I guess he requests one once, fails to get one, and makes no further attempts?)

In general Blanche doesn't really seem to have much in the way of opinions on what's happening to him. I don't get a sense of what he wants here. He doesn't seem to care much about getting his memory back--although I don't really understand how that works, he doesn't remember his name or backstory but knows about the pokémon games and recognizes his alt-universe house? He doesn't appear to want to return to his own world. He doesn't seem to have anything he's particularly dying to do here in the pokéworld. Even after Missingno. shows up and announces that he's its pawn in this world, he doesn't really react much. Immediately writes it off as a nightmare, I guess? It was odd to me to have that scene happen and then the only echo of it to be Blanche thinking that it was just a dream when confronted with the nihilego and, later, some pain that he I guess doesn't connect with that experience? But what does he think about all of that? Is he afraid Missingno. might be real after all? Is he resentful of playing pawn for some weird entity? Cocky/overconfident and not worried at all? In general, what makes characters interesting is how they interact with the world around them, the unique perspective they bring to the story. Blanche so far has been deeply passive, and I feel like I don't really know what he actually thinks about most things, which makes it hard for me to become very invested in what happens to be. Early on, he decides "whew, I'm not a protagonist." So... what is he? Or what does he want to be? The tension between that and what he has to become as a consequence of the story is going to be what's driving his development and a primary point of interest for his character.

The other characters have similar problems. Ariel is the only one so far who feels like she's going to be an important character, but although there's been a relatively large amount of focus on her, she doesn't have much of a personality to distinguish her from a generic shy anime girl. It isn't clear to me what Blanche really sees in her. Like, she's nice in a general sort of way. She's pretty? This is harder to reinforce when all you have is text. I didn't really feel any chemistry between the two of them, which made their awkward flirting a bit difficult for me to get through. And Ariel's probably the most fleshed-out of the secondary characters so far! Once again, I think what would help here would be to give a better sense of what drives her, what she really thinks about the world around her--why did she end up as a nun? What does her faith mean to her? Does she chafe at the restrictiveness of her order, or does she welcome rules that help her organize and understand her world? I think this will also make Blanche's interactions with Ariel more interesting, and give a better sense of what he actually likes (and doesn't!) about her. Up until now their relationship has felt a bit "he was a boy/she was a girl/could I make it any more obvious" to me.

In general, what I think would really help is for Blanche to have at least one other strong character to play off of. Up until now, the characters we've met have been pretty common anime archetypes, either comic relief or shy teenage girl (or bit part). We know even less about them than we do about Blanche, and they don't really do a lot to push him or force him to put some real skin in the game. A character that could wind him up and shove him out of his going-with-the-flow comfort zone, provoke him into doing or wanting something, would be a great way to bring out his personality! Based on genre conventions, I'd expect some sort of rival might fulfill this role--maybe Blanche will meet someone at school who fits the bill? Some bolder and more dynamic characters is my #1 want at this point in the story.

I was also a little surprised at how generally blase and clinical people were in describing the Shattered Heavens Incident. This isn't something they would have read about in a book, but something they all lived through! And random ultra beasts are apparently still popping up and trying to eat people. These are events I'd expect characters to have strong emotional attachments to and opinions about.

All in all, your writing itself is pretty tight! It's obvious you've put a lot of care into editing this and combing for typos and such. All in all your mechanics are pretty solid, with the exception of dialogue punctuation. You get it right the majority of the time, but now and again--maybe specifically for dialogue not ending in a period?--you have some problems. For example, here:

"Right. Guess they lost that war too…" He muttered.

"He muttered" is describing how the preceding dialogue was spoken, so it shouldn't be capitalized.

"...Are we not friends?" She asked, and he got the impression that those puppy-dog eyes would be able to sway even the most card-carrying of villains.

Here, "she asked" is referring to the preceding dialogue and shouldn't be capitalized.

"We're getting really close to the city, aren't we?" He asked, grip tightening around the armrests.
And finally here, "he asked" shouldn't be capitalized.

"That'd be the school system," he clapped him on the shoulder again as the printer in the corner blinked on and started shuddering.

And then here, "he clapped him on the shoulder" doesn't have anything to do with the spoken dialogue, so there should be a period after "school system" and "he" should be capitalized.

Some additional comments on style and individual lines are under the spoiler.

Spoiler: line-by-lines

A flurry of white hair flew from his eyes, spotted with red.

Hair flew from his eyes? Maybe you're trying to describe his hair kind of falling aside, revealing/getting out of his eyes?

His vision had long since gone blurry, though he was fairly certain the chill that was blowing across his skin was due to the snow falling outside.

Kind of an odd way to phrase this--obviously the snow falling outside isn't causing the chill because it's outside, and he's not! I think what you're trying to get across is the snow makes him realize that it's winter, and that's why he's cold; something phrased a little more like that would work better, I think.

The blobs carrying him grew more visible, and he could nearly see splotches of green, though he was still bleary-eyed.

Hmm, he could "nearly" see splotches of green, so he couldn't actually see them--what was he seeing instead, then?

"How close is that to Unova?"

"I'd say… a good few regions away, but it's still on the same continent."

So the Pokémon world corresponds to the real world, he thought to himself. Interesting.

Kind of confused how he figured that out based on what he knows thus far? Unova being on the same continent as him wouldn't seem to me to say all that much about the world's geography. Who knows if there's even the same number of continents!

By this time, the tradition of naming upon completion of the journey.

You're missing some words here.

Even so, he tried to move from his cloth-and-pillow tomb, only to find that every inch of his body was still asleep like he had become the very concept of television static.

I quite liked this description of Blanche's full-body pins and needles, though!

He jumped from his bed with a shout, sweat-soaked into his bandages and his bandages rubbing uncomfortably against his skin.
All he could do was sit up and hold an arm across his chest and try to keep breathing.

Missing a break between these paragraphs. I'm also confused because in the first sentence Blanche jumps up, while in the second the best he could do was sit up. Finally, "sweat-soaked into his bandages" is kind of strange phrasing; simply "sweat-soaked" would work, or "bandages sweat-soaked," but the way you've combined the concepts here reads odd.

Soon enough, the plane took off, firefly-like Volbeat blinking clearly even in the mid-noon brightness.

I'm confused as to how volbeat got involved here.

A tower of gleaming metal and glass towered over the land and the few skyscrapers that surrounded it.

"The tower towered" is a little clumsy.

- Blanche's moment feeling uncomfortable about cities and planes makes me wonder whether he was isekai'd by 9/11, although the timing would seem to be odd for that.

He was somewhere on the west side of the city, on the outskirts of the near-fractal-shaped map. Lines crisscrossed in and out of themselves, six layers were displayed on the board, labels took up as much space as empty space.

I'm not sure what you mean by "labels took up as much space as empty space."

- I was really surprised the nuns didn't give Blanche at least enough money to grab a meal or something. Did nobody check on whether he had everything he needed or would be okay after getting off the plane?

He shot to the side, lightning crackling through his veins as he ran towards the downed streetlamp.

Given the genre, I'm not sure whether you mean literal lightning here or not, heh. I was also confused whether Blanche is supposed to have super strength in this scene; I don't think someone with human-level strength would be able to wield a snapped-off lamppost as you described--more than the weight, it would just be super cumbersome.

The Nihilego wrapped its tendrils around the catatonic boy's face, pulling him from the ground even as he tried to push himself away.

Think you want a different word than "catatonic." A catatonic person wouldn't struggle.

- I was surprised when Blanche didn't react to being called an Esper. Clearly he knows what that is, but it's not something he'd expect to find in the pokémon world, is it?

The United Regions provides much of the funding in exchange for Team Flare dealing with the Anomalies around the world.

Hmm, but Aveline just claimed FLARE isn't "Team Flare," right? Perhaps this is an editing slip?

- The pokémon is "rattata."

When ten minutes passed, he laid down to take a nap.

*lay down

All in all, I'm seeing a lot to like in this fic's worldbuilding and in the promise of some intense fights against strange and deadly forces. I only wish we'd gotten to see more so far! Blanche's encounters with alien forces have been my favorite parts so far; comparitively, in Chapter 2 especially, him hanging around FLARE's base, getting scanned a lot, and waiting around to see whether a battery will fail in his presence are a lot less interesting. But I have the feeling that once things start to roll, the big fights are going to be a lot of fun, and I'm really curious to see what the whole situation with FLARE will end up being. Perhaps they're helping defend the world against annihilation by monstrous forces, but I imagine there's something big in it for them! This is an ambitious fic, and I wish you the best of luck seeing it through. Thanks for sharing it!

 

[MikaelBrigman]

Welcome to the forums! I'll admit I'm only familiar with around half the canons you say are influencing this story, but a gigantic crossover sounds like a lot of fun, and it's always great to see a fic that tries something a bit different. I figured I'd take a look at the first three chapters here.

I was a little unclear on whether or not to read the prologue. Your author's note suggested that it might be best to skip it, but then also possibly not, and you also chose to post it instead of simply starting at the second chapter, so in the end I decided to read it. I do agree with you that the story is much stronger from the second chapter, and on balance the prologue is probably skippable. I can see what you were going for with it, and it does, I think, give a good sense of the tone/genre of your fic. Unfortunately I think those really brief flashes of images, rapidly cutting from one subject to the next, work a lot better in a visual medium than in text, and the prologue comes across as more confusing to me than anything. And it doesn't give a good idea of what your fic will be like stylistically; someone who enjoys the style of the prologue is going to be disappointed to find that the rest of the fic isn't that way, whereas someone who doesn't like the prologue actually might enjoy what comes after just fine.

These are my impressions after reading the prologue: there's some kind of global catastrophe involving Arceus and the ultra beasts. Zygarde is involved somehow. There are people fighting back against Arceus etc. There are people with pokémon/elemental powers. There are giant mecha. It does feel a lot like what I've osmosed of Evangelion!

While I do think the disjointed nature of the prologue makes it hard to really follow what's happening, I do think that you have a sense for striking images, and especially of the alien/horrifying. The real standout scene for me so far has been Blanche's meeting with Missingno., with the beast itself feeling appropriately alien while at the same time recognizable as what it is. It felt like you were really lavishing attention on Missingno.--it honestly feels like it's gotten the most description out of anything Blanche has encountered in the pokéworld thus far, and I think it works great. Though I'll admit some bias as I'm a huge fan of glitch pokémon and always excited to see them appear in fics!

In general, I enjoy the fusion of the pokémon world with a more space anime/horror tone. Hugely dangerous gods/monsters/extraterrestrial beasts and the way that humans develop to fight against them is a fun direction to take pokémon, and I enjoy a good story that leans more into those sorts of darker sci-fi aspects of the canon and brings along some spectacular action sequences. Worldbuilding's going to be important to a story like this, blending a bunch of disparate elements, and I think you've done a solid job of it so far. The world here feels both reasonably close to the one we see in the games and anime and at the same time distinct and even larger than life than the canon already is. I do wonder when we're going to see those big mechs and pokémon powers hinted at by the prologue! Although Blanche is, of course, rather unpowered for the moment... It's interesting that pokéworld humans are explicitly aura-empowered whereas Blanche is not. Hasn't been more than a minor inconvenience for him thus far, but I'm curious to see what the ramifications will be later on. And I'm sure that at some point the truth of his origin's going to come out, which I can only imagine going poorly for him! I look forward to learning more about the world, and especially creatures like the ultra beasts and Arceus, as the story goes on.

I've had some trouble getting a handle on Blanche's character thus far. My first impression was that he was supposed to be a pretty smart, calculating person, using his knowledge of the games to either help him get out of the pokéworld or rise to prominence within it. This was based on his initial assessment of where he was in the world, what had happened, and what he ought to do next. But then later he lands in Kalos apparently without having considered what he's actually going to do there beyond those very first few moments, so calm and cunning wouldn't really seem to be it. We get some flashes of indignation and a desire to help when he attacks the nihilego, but then later he's invited to join FLARE, which he himself lampshades as being a paramilitary organization and quite possibly "evil," and his response is just, "eh, sure, I guess." All in all he's really just kind of been wandering around, having things happen to him and not doing much in response. He wants to become a pokémon trainer, but why? Because it seems fun? Because he wants to win big and get the glory? I don't really know. At times he seems almost ludicrously uninterested in what's happening to him. It apparently takes him multiple days to realize he's become albino, although he naturally notices right away that his hair's gone white--that didn't make him want to try to find a mirror or other reflective surface to see if anything else had changed? (I guess he requests one once, fails to get one, and makes no further attempts?)

In general Blanche doesn't really seem to have much in the way of opinions on what's happening to him. I don't get a sense of what he wants here. He doesn't seem to care much about getting his memory back--although I don't really understand how that works, he doesn't remember his name or backstory but knows about the pokémon games and recognizes his alt-universe house? He doesn't appear to want to return to his own world. He doesn't seem to have anything he's particularly dying to do here in the pokéworld. Even after Missingno. shows up and announces that he's its pawn in this world, he doesn't really react much. Immediately writes it off as a nightmare, I guess? It was odd to me to have that scene happen and then the only echo of it to be Blanche thinking that it was just a dream when confronted with the nihilego and, later, some pain that he I guess doesn't connect with that experience? But what does he think about all of that? Is he afraid Missingno. might be real after all? Is he resentful of playing pawn for some weird entity? Cocky/overconfident and not worried at all? In general, what makes characters interesting is how they interact with the world around them, the unique perspective they bring to the story. Blanche so far has been deeply passive, and I feel like I don't really know what he actually thinks about most things, which makes it hard for me to become very invested in what happens to be. Early on, he decides "whew, I'm not a protagonist." So... what is he? Or what does he want to be? The tension between that and what he has to become as a consequence of the story is going to be what's driving his development and a primary point of interest for his character.

The other characters have similar problems. Ariel is the only one so far who feels like she's going to be an important character, but although there's been a relatively large amount of focus on her, she doesn't have much of a personality to distinguish her from a generic shy anime girl. It isn't clear to me what Blanche really sees in her. Like, she's nice in a general sort of way. She's pretty? This is harder to reinforce when all you have is text. I didn't really feel any chemistry between the two of them, which made their awkward flirting a bit difficult for me to get through. And Ariel's probably the most fleshed-out of the secondary characters so far! Once again, I think what would help here would be to give a better sense of what drives her, what she really thinks about the world around her--why did she end up as a nun? What does her faith mean to her? Does she chafe at the restrictiveness of her order, or does she welcome rules that help her organize and understand her world? I think this will also make Blanche's interactions with Ariel more interesting, and give a better sense of what he actually likes (and doesn't!) about her. Up until now their relationship has felt a bit "he was a boy/she was a girl/could I make it any more obvious" to me.

In general, what I think would really help is for Blanche to have at least one other strong character to play off of. Up until now, the characters we've met have been pretty common anime archetypes, either comic relief or shy teenage girl (or bit part). We know even less about them than we do about Blanche, and they don't really do a lot to push him or force him to put some real skin in the game. A character that could wind him up and shove him out of his going-with-the-flow comfort zone, provoke him into doing or wanting something, would be a great way to bring out his personality! Based on genre conventions, I'd expect some sort of rival might fulfill this role--maybe Blanche will meet someone at school who fits the bill? Some bolder and more dynamic characters is my #1 want at this point in the story.

I was also a little surprised at how generally blase and clinical people were in describing the Shattered Heavens Incident. This isn't something they would have read about in a book, but something they all lived through! And random ultra beasts are apparently still popping up and trying to eat people. These are events I'd expect characters to have strong emotional attachments to and opinions about.

All in all, your writing itself is pretty tight! It's obvious you've put a lot of care into editing this and combing for typos and such. All in all your mechanics are pretty solid, with the exception of dialogue punctuation. You get it right the majority of the time, but now and again--maybe specifically for dialogue not ending in a period?--you have some problems. For example, here:


"He muttered" is describing how the preceding dialogue was spoken, so it shouldn't be capitalized.


Here, "she asked" is referring to the preceding dialogue and shouldn't be capitalized.

Thank you for feedback, I've gotten a lot about the prologue and it's definitely my least favorite part of the story. It's clunky and non-descriptive but it sets a lot of things in place for the rest of the story, and I'm not sure about cutting it entirely. Ariel is sort of a girl-next-door archetype and I will develop her more in the future, but at her heart she's a good person. I guess a big focus of the story is deconstructing those anime archetypes and where they lead to, but it's by no means perfect and I'm well aware.
Blanche's characterization is really fun, because he's simultaneously one of the most unlikable people you'd ever meet along with a train wreck you almost can't look away from. He can think for sure, but he's also like, sixteen, and occasionally brain power gets cancelled out by testosterone.
I'm glad you like the story so far, there are definitely stronger characters down the line, and the established ones so far will get their development. After all, it's not deconstruction without the full model being present first.

 

[MikaelBrigman]

Blanche may not have been the last to bed, but he was most certainly the last to fall asleep.

His bedroom was larger than his makeshift one inside of FLARE headquarters. The walls were tan, patterned with brown stripes, and the carpet was a shaggy silvery gray. He guessed that the bedsheets were in the closet and was quickly proven correct. The comforter was black on one side with a stitched quilt on the other. His annoyance with the fitted sheet continuously popping off the opposite corner as he put it on distracted him for a few minutes.

He usually showered in the morning, but always rewrapped his bandages before going to bed. Significantly less red on them then the day before, which gave him… well, peace wouldn't be the right word. An armistice in his mind, perhaps. He slept in black shorts and a stretched-out old t-shirt, because his "underclothes" stifled him enough.

It was a quirk with his sleep habits that led him to being the first to rise. When he went to bed later in the evening, more often than not he would wake up earlier. It was as if his body counted it as a nap rather than a good night's sleep; Which it rarely was, it made him groggy.

He stumbled into the kitchen sometime before six-thirty, before the sun had time to even think about rising. Being unable to think of anything else except food, caffeine, apologizing for being unable to pick up on social cues, and food, he went straight to the refrigerator.

Fun, probably obvious fact; When you have to feed four teenagers, you keep your fridge pretty well stocked. Counting out Tierno's labeled protein shakes and the leftovers from the night before, there were plenty of ingredients to work with. Eggs (Weren't Pokémon eggs supposed to be larger than that?), milk, berries and vegetables. He could certainly work with that.

"Where can a guy get a pink frilly apron around here?" He muttered, "I have to color coordinate."

The pantry held the oil, the cabinet held the skillet, and a covered dish held the butter. With that, he started trying to make something passable.

Cooking for seven. Considering he usually didn't eat breakfast, just the ingredients looked like a lot of food to him.

Cooking oil in one pan, butter in the other. Tons of chopped onions, Belleper berries, and slices of meat sauteed with a delicious sizzle, wafting with rich smells and acidic undertones. Beaten eggs and milk leveled out in the pan and grew fluffy and solid.

After a minute or two, he scooped the first omelet onto a plate, dropped some shredded cheese on it, and added a generous helping of browned vegetables.

A slurring voice greeted him as he turned. Shauna said, "Morning, Ms. Grace," eyelids still drooping and hair sticking out in nearly every direction. She was dressed in bright pink pajamas patterned with black bow ties, establishing something of a theme.

Ah, he thought, this could get awkward.

Blanche wondered if there was anything he could say to smooth out the mountains of molehills that were their miscommunications, but he realized that the food would start burning by the time he thought of something.

He folded the egg over with a spatula and held it out to her. "Omelet?"

She looked up at him, blinked, and took the plate without saying a word.

"Not a morning person?" He guessed aloud as he started the next batch and lowered the filling's pan to a simmer.

"Not a you person." Blanche, despite not having eyes in the back of his head, practically saw her duck her head in embarrassment. "I mean, um. Forget I said that."

Blanche sighed, easily accepting it. "Yeah, I get it. I'd be pretty pissed at me too for acting like that."

A few minutes later, Trevor arrived, fully dressed and hair fully gelled into its helmet-like shape.

"You cook?" He asked, a little taken aback as Blanche handed him a plate.

Blanche, for his credit, didn't call the boy an idiot, but gave him a look that implied it.

"I said I can cook. Therefore, I can cook. I don't really have anything important to lie about, least of all that."

"I understand that, but I figured you would wait for help or something… Is prepping food with your bandages really safe?"

Blanche held up his hands, dwarfed in huge red oven mitts, and turned to answer. "I change them after I shower," he said, "Mostly so I don't smell like dog, eh, Rockruff breath every day."

"The heck is a Rockruff?" Shauna asked, before swigging down a huge cup of water.

"A Rock-type dog Pokémon native to the Alola region located in the western hemisphere as well as the Pacific Ocean," Serena answered, coming through the front door.

They all stopped what they were doing to stare at the girl as she released the trio of starter Pokémon into the house once again.

"It's like… not even seven," Blanche said. "Were you pulling a Professor Sycamore, or just shooting the breeze?"

"I have no need to strike the air, as it provides no leverage to my abilities in combat." She spoke evenly, as if she wasn't trying to be funny by taking things too literally.

"FLARE?" Shauna said more than asked.

"I believe that checking in before the morning rush would be beneficial in preventing future misunderstandings."

"Ah, should I do that too?" He asked absentmindedly.

"Is it her job to tell you, Mummy?" Shauna said, pointing at him with her fork.

"I'm just asking," he breathed in surrender, before his voice returned to normal. "Oh, by the way, Ponytails, I laced your omelet with laxatives."

Trevor said something about old habits and Die Hard while he nodded with his eyes closed, but Blanche couldn't quite pick up on it.

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh," he barked while twirling his hypothetical mustache, "But I would! Mwahaha-" And then, with a new arrival, he said, "Oh, good morning, Ariel."

The blonde wore a long sky-blue nightdress with white trim, stepping down the stairs with Audino on her heels. "Good morning," she said, blinking at the brighter lights in the living room.

A joke about her hair sticking to her face like a halo died on his lips, mainly because he hadn't actually seen it before. It'd been implied through the now-absent habit, but he could see that her hair was short cut and straight.

"Hey, um… you're not forgetting anything are you?" He scratched his head, trying to get her to remember and signaling his own awkwardness.

Ariel shook her head, bangs hanging low enough that she must have noticed. "The habit is to be worn by… accepted members of the church. Ms. Grace provided me storage for my old clothes for when I prove myself to my Lord once again. She said she would take me to find more casual clothes to fit in with you."

"Ah, I see." At least someone around here can hold onto their past, he thought. "I made some food if you want some."

"You should try it," Shauna agreed, "It's edible, but surprisingly, it's good!"

"Well, I suppose…"

After the four had sat down, Blanche was left wondering where Tierno was.

Naturally, someone else with more plot-relevance must have been doing the same thing, as the large boy came through the door just as he finished the second-to-last omelet. Tierno was wearing some sort of workout garb, a black tank top and shorts. The boy was bright red and was breathing heavily.

"Morning, everyone! Back from my run!"

Blanche stepped back as the massive boy dodged around him, opened the fridge and pulled out a quart of protein shake. Being a person trying his best to ignore his expectations of normalcy, he was surprised when Tierno drank half the thing in one go before leaning back.

"Ah… There's nothing like the winter breeze to keep you cozy during a warm-up, right?" Tierno slapped a hand on his chest, his muscles rippling in response.

Blanche was the slightest bit intimidated, naturally, so he gestured with a full plate to Tierno then placed it at an empty spot at the table.

"Breakfast? Dude, you're the coolest!" Tierno wrapped him in a massive bear hug, lifting him at least a foot off the ground, but the boy seemed to know his strength well enough to merely force all the oxygen from his body and not crack his ribs.

"No…" He struggled to wheeze, "Problem…"

---

Blanche settled into his routine by the following weekend. He would: Make breakfast, shower, rewrap his bandages (Quite a long process when you had to completely dry yourself first), go to school, do his best to understand the suddenly-much-more-practical physics class along with chemistry and the usual suspects that gave him trouble, get yelled at by Shauna for daring to breathe the same air as Serena, walk home while still getting yelled at, do his homework, make dinner, and rewrap his bandages for the night.

He sat at the bar of a rowdy cantina, sipping a Diet Cokleon (A stupid name for a soda, but again, he was literally just called white in French), and sent the Professor a text to see what time she wanted him to stop by FLARE on Saturday for the standard briefing and updates.

Gin, the blunt greaser that sat next to him, naturally wanted to celebrate the end of the first week of school, and so invited all of the guys to his favorite restaurant. And because everyone is a main character and/or had nothing better to do on a Friday night, that was how the hole-in-the-wall had to accommodate around thirty teenage boys. Of course, Tierno had asked if Trevor could come, and the idea spread like an infection to his class as well.

Trevor, being Trevor, had sat down at a small corner of the bar and had just finished his fifth glass of water. Blanche supposed the bartender was too cute for the boy to say no to. The fact that he was also on his fifth glass of soda as he sat next to the boy was irrelevant in his eyes.

Parties were not his thing. To watch, maybe, but to be one of the people jumping on top of a table to proclaim his love for "the boys" didn't appeal to him in practice.

"Where are these guys' parents?" He muttered, watching Gin try to keep his balance as Tierno lifted the table and spun it like a pizza. He looked into his glass and turned to one of the bartenders, an older man with hair just as white as his but a stonier look. It was probably unrelated, as crazy hair colors seemed to be something of a theme. "Hey, Doc," he asked by using the title the man introduced himself with. "Are these hard al- Alc- Alacha- Dammit."

Once again, for the third or so time that night, he found himself totally unable to say the name of the happy juice, the after-five-o'clock, the tall boys, if you will.

"We don't serve stronger drinks to teenagers," the cool man said, somehow managing to sound enigmatic. The other bartenders visibly swooned, which Blanche would have found funny if he could hear himself think.

"Destruction of property?" He asked as Tierno dropped the table and sent it rolling across the floor with a dull clang.

"We used to see a lot of Espers at night. Now it's difficult to tell who has powers and who doesn't."

A splash of water came from the floor, stopping the table before swirling off down a drainage grate. The boys cheered, lifting up the table once again, neither being worse for wear.

"It's common? Sounds dangerous."

Some idiot had started playing a jazzy disco song, and the karate kid from class let out his Sawk and Throh, to many shouts of encouragement.

"Everybody was kung-fu fighting..."

"Oh my God," Blanche groaned.

The blue Pokémon in a nearly identical robe to its trainer jumped onto a table, as its wider red counterpart took a receiving stance a few meters away.

"Those cats were fast as lightning…"

In a blur, Sawk jumped from the table, leading with a heel kick.

Throh caught its foot in one hand, whipping the taller Pokémon around and threw it into the opposite wall. It didn't leave even a scratch.

"In fact it was a little bit frightening…"

"Reinforced walls?" He asked the bartender, voice barely carrying over the cheering.

"A time ago, two Espers got in a fight for the fifth time that week and broke out into the street. The owner decided to make a long-term investment."

"But they fought with expert timing…"

Sawk recovered from the throw and somersaulted to its feet, assuming its own defensive stance as Throh picked up the table it previously stood on and raised it over its head.

"Most Espers are weak, from what I have seen. Of course, they wouldn't come here if they weren't looking for something."

"They were funky China Mons, from funky Chinatown…"

If the bartender had glasses, Blanche had the feeling he would have adjusted them. "Their Pokémon are often stronger than them, but it doesn't stop them from trying to show off."

The table, again, didn't dent, and the wall, again, didn't get scratched as one impacted the other with an enormous bang.

"They were chopping them up, they were chopping them down…"

"Do you have the numbers on that?" He half-shouted as Gin jumped over two tables to yank Throh's robe over its head, blocking its eyesight. The leather-clad boy dodged as Sawk Hi-Jump Kicked through the air, landing a direct hit on Throh's forehead.

"From what I've seen, one in ten people."

"One in ten?"

"It's an ancient Chinese art, and everybody knew their part…"

Somewhere in the mob of teenage boy hormones, someone released a Mienshao from their Pokéball. The bipedal weasel grabbed Sawk with its whip-like sleeves and tripped them to the ground.

"The data is likely skewed in either direction. Three of the five top Gym Challengers this year have mentioned an affinity with aura."

Oh, right, the Gym Challenge is still happening, even if I have to wait a year, he thought.

"From a fainting to a slip and kicking from the hip…"

"That's… A lot."

"There are three kinds of falsehoods in this world," the bartender said, polishing a glass. "Lies, damned lies, and statistics. It's unlikely that a true measure of how many people are Espers will be found in the future. Religious reasons, societal expectations, or otherwise, some choose to not speak of what they can do. Discarded potential is what it is. People are afraid of their potential, whether it be achieving it or not, and have been long before the Heavens Shattered."

Blanche put his cup down, staring at the bartender with a mute pause.

"Psychology is my day-job," the frosty man said, before walking off to serve someone at the other end of the bar.

"...Therapists are real?" He said to no one in particular.

The song finished soon enough, and the karate kid's Sawk and Throh sat down for a drink with their Trainer and Mienshao's.

Then some other idiot decided it was his turn on the jukebox.

"We're no strangers to love…"

"God damn it."

---

On Monday afternoon, Blanche sat at his desk. Rather than calculating the air-speed velocity of a European unladen Swellow compared to an African Mandibuzz, he found himself absent-mindedly watching the other people in his class.

Gin was scribbling on his paper, writing about how Frontier Brain Barry said that the only speeds that mattered were "too slow" and "too fast", and that because Mandibuzz looked cooler, it meant it was faster.

Tierno was across the room, but he could see the boy scratch his head with his pencil. Moments after, he could swear he saw a lightbulb flash above his head before he started writing again.

Serena, as always, was a mystery. From what he could tell, she was probably the smartest person in the class. Even if Gin always turned in his quizzes first to obvious results, she wasn't far behind. He'd never seen a dash of the red pen that the Physics teacher seemed oh-so-fond-of on her papers.

He could understand that she was the main character, and that granted her either unreasonable levels of stupidity or intelligence, assuming the latter, but nothing of what he knew of her made her out to be a savant.

Not in this world at least, but of what he knew of its fictionalized version. In the games, from what he could remember, she wasn't Shauna levels of energetic, but she wasn't so… cold. She'd been warm in her speech, patient, willing to explain things.

In the anime, she'd been very different, much more peppy and affectionate. And fanservicey, but anime is strange like that.

And given that this world was neither, perhaps he should have expected her to be so different. But everyone else was nearly the same? Sure, there were two Professors, but the older one seemed more or less the same, only with a little more philandery. An apocalypse occurring two years before his arrival granted it some leeway, things were bound to be shaken up, but people didn't just change on a dime, did they?

And more worrying was that nightmare he'd had. The details were branded into his mind, but only because he'd agreed with that dark portion of himself. He was going to Kalos, so it wasn't completely irrelevant. That talk about Xerneas and Yveltal… he'd learned about them from Ariel beforehand, hadn't he?

Life and death were an odd motif, considering that no one had died, as far as he could tell. It was the Pokémon world, yes, no one died violently with blood and gore, the likely exception going to be himself, but that didn't count. Where did all of those people go? Where did…

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the bell ringing. Seconds later, Shauna slammed the door open and ran over to Serena, talking excitedly while pumping her fists in the air.

That was one of the constants. A peppy girl to counter the more reserved. Another reason he didn't fit in with all of them. He wasn't a main character, he didn't have any of the necessary traits. Personality traits, mind you, white hair and red eyes generally signifies villanly. Real lucky for him.

He didn't fit into an archetype. Shauna was a genki girl, whatever that meant, Serena was a Rei Ayanami expy for whatever reason, Trevor was the shy smart guy, Tierno was the goofy big guy, Calem…

No, that's right. There were supposed to be five of them. A pair of male and female rivals. He hadn't forgotten, but there was so little to make him remember.

He slid the worksheet into his bag, knowing he'd had to finish it for homework but getting up for lunch anyway. He needed time to think about what his next move was.

---

The intent was nothing malicious, but it took time for Blanche to get an opportunity. Shauna seeing him do anything even slightly suspicious would make her get the wrong idea. Was he being manipulative by thinking in that direction? He didn't think so, he wasn't really working with an end goal in mind.

On Friday afternoon, having taken a whole week to think of what he was going to say, he left the room as soon as the bell rang, leaving just as Shauna entered. Tierno left not long after, and as he learned, the four usually ate lunch in pairs rather than all together.

Tierno was just about to start talking to Trevor when he interrupted halfway from the door.

"Hey, T-men, can I talk to both of you? I'll buy you something from the vending machine."

Trevor didn't seem to like the idea of talking very much, and seemed to wilter from the attention Blanche had directed towards him with his entrance.

Tierno gave him a big grin, flashing a thumbs-up and following him.

"What do you guys want?" Blanche asked a few minutes later, slotting a few hundred-Pokédollar coins into a drink machine.

"Sparkling water, if you don't mind."

"Can I have an Electroade?"

Two cans and a wide bottle clanked into the dispenser area. Blanche tossed the can of angry water to Trevor and the sports drink to Tierno, before cracking open a Dr. Pepper. Strangely, that drink's name wasn't changed. Maybe because it was already named after a plant and worked with the theme.

Blanche burned his throat with a long drink before gesturing wildly with the can. "Okay, so, you guys know how I have amnesia?"

"Of course, I wouldn't forget that, it would be rude!" Trevor seemed a little offended, strangely.

"Yeah," Tierno added, draining half of his bottle in one swig.

"I need you guys to fill in some holes in my memory. The GTS is great and all, but the little I can get is vague and the rest is blocked by United Regions search filters. Don't get offended when I ask you this, alright?"

"I'll try," Trevor said hesitantly.

Tierno nodded, crossing his arms and tapping the side of his bottle.

"Do either of you know anyone who died when the Heavens Shattered?"

Rather than the temperature dropping, which he fully expected, the two other boys blinked and shared a look before looking back at him.

"Not personally, I mean, I'm sure it happened, but…" Trevor didn't seem to know how to answer.

"No, it's about the same."

"That's… Do you know if anyone died at all?" That was blocked information too. The consensus was that it was terrible, lots of property damage, but no deaths listed. Many, many injuries, but nothing on that front.

"Well… I haven't heard of anyone that did, no."

"No."

"How the hell…"

It doesn't make any sense, he thought. There was a demigod of death! An actual force called Yveltal. And no one had died? Even so, if people had been injured, that implied that at least one person was injured badly enough to succumb.

"Okay," he said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Does the name Calem mean anything to either of you?"

Again, that look of confusion.

"I don't think so."

"No, not at all," Tierno answered, shaking his head.

Dread was beginning to creep up his spine, his eyes widening and his speech becoming more frantic.

"What? You know, stupid red hat, black hair, gray eyes, blue jacket, black pants, combat boots? Calem? Pokémon Trainer? Vaniville Town?"

Tierno snapped his fingers, looking over to Trevor. "Oh, yeah. Trevs, remember when Serena wouldn't leave her room for months back then?"

"Yes, I think so."

"What was the name she'd say?"

"Um… Cam or something, I can't remember."

"Yeah, me neither." Tierno turned back to Blanche, shaking his head. "Sorry, man, I don't think we can help you."

"What the… what do you mean, you can't remember?"

"Hey, calm down, B-meister." Tierno clapped a hand across his chest, laughing. "It's nothing serious."

"He was your friend, wasn't he? It was the five of you!"

"Huh? I think you've got something wrong, are you feeling alright? It's always been us four, even before we had to move here," Tierno scratched his cheek, unsure of what to say.

Blanche faltered, the realization sinking in. They didn't remember Calem. "What the hell… Wait, you mentioned Serena. Was she always like that?"

"Like… what?"

"What do you mean, like what? Cold and distant? She doesn't smile, Tierno! That's not how it's supposed to be! I've seen it, I know she doesn't!"

"Hey, maybe that's part of your memories coming back! Maybe you knew her before the Heavens Shattered."

Shattered Heavens Incident… No one can remember anything. Remember. Memories. AIAM fields.

"...Perhaps AIAM fields can be tied to memories as well."

Clemont's words echoed in his mind like the ricochet of a bullet.

Espers became more prevalent after the Heavens Shattered. Blanche had no aura, no memories.

Serena had a massive amount of aura. She had three primary types, after all.

Maybe it was just a spur-of-the-moment hypothesis, maybe it wasn't.

"I… I need to sit down." Blanche clatted onto a nearby bench, discarding his cans and rubbing his temples. "Shit. Oh, shit. Why do you all live with Ms. Grace? Don't any of you have parents?"

Trevor and Tierno shared a look again.

"No, not that I can remember," he said calmly. Not as if he was repressing a memory, but as if he'd never known at all.

"Do you need to go to the nurse's office, B-meister? Maybe head home early and get some rest?"

"No, no, none of that," Blanche waved off Tierno's concerns, still clutching his face. "You guys just… head back to class. Forget I said anything. I think my mind's just screwy today."

"...If you say so." Tierno fished an unopened water bottle out of one of his pockets. He left it on the bench next to him before he and Trevor went back to class.

Blanche pushed his face further into his hands, lightning running through his veins like a tesla coil, directionless and sharp.

"God damn it all."

---

FLARE was like any other civil service, open nine-to-five even on weekends. There was still a graveyard shift, and allegedly a bunking area for grunts though he'd never visited. Though clearly some of its employees had nothing better to do on a Friday night, as he saw Michael and Aveline playing some sort of really complicated card game when he arrived at the lab after school.

"...I place a card face down and end my… Oh, um, good afternoon!"

The young Professor placed her hand face down and stood as Michael sighed, pushing his swivel chair away from the central table. From the number of cards in the discard pile, he inferred that the spiky-haired boy was losing handily.

"Afternoon," he replied, whipping off his silver jacket. Even in late January, he felt like he was burning up. Almost unconsciously, he started pacing around the center. "Don't get up, but to be honest, I'm kind of freaking out right now."

Aveline stood up anyway, before slowly sitting back down and turning red.

"How many people died when the Heavens Shattered?"

"What? Well, um… It's likely that some did-"

"Even if you can't remember? Is that what you're about to say?" Blanche's arm tensed as he cupped his chin and tapped rapidly. "No one remembers, but that doesn't make any sense. The world friggin' ended! It just barely got undone, didn't it? So many people got injured, but miraculously, not one died? How the hell does that happen?"

"Aura…?" The Professor offered, trying to keep her eyes on him as he circled around them.

"Aura's not enough! Aura would stop people from getting injured, which it probably did, but enough got injured that absolutely no one dying is impossible! Something is wrong, I know it. These people don't remember their parents, their family members, or their friends. Michael, I know you have a mom, but do you remember your dad?"

"I do, in fact. He was a real jerk, but it's not relevant to whatever your point is."

It took the wind out of his sails, but he felt so numb that he continued on regardless. "Right, Aveline. Why did Augustine need to adopt you?" Titles went discarded as his thought processes sped up to a mile a minute.

"Because, um…" Aveline pressed the tips of her fingers together. "I was on my own."

Blanche slammed his hands on the table, barely registering the tingling in his hands anymore. "That's just it! That's it, isn't it? Why are so many people on their own now? Why do I know more kids that work here than adults? It's a goddamn paramilitary operation! What happened? What went wrong?"

"I… I don't think that's what happened to me," Aveline said, stuttering through her words.

"How the hell would you know?" Blanche yelled, his breath shortening to split-second puffs. "No one knows what happened! I can't look it up on the GTS, no one seems to have a clue, and I don't know anything to help me deal with this! This world doesn't make any damn sense to me!"

"Hey, cut that out. The doc didn't do anything wrong. You need to take a chill pill."

"So helpful, Michael, thank you for telling me that and let me just calm down- No! It's not her fault, I know that, but I can't wrap my head around it. People just don't wake up and forget things like this, not on this massive of a scale. It just doesn't happen!"

"And how would you know that?" Michael stood up, rolling the chair away and walking towards Blanche. "Because for someone that's only "been in this world" for a month, you seem to have a very good idea of how things work."

"You think I know? I wish I did! This Esper shit, this Shattered Heavens stuff, FLARE not being an evil team, it's all brand-new to me."

"Blanche, listen to me. You're acting illogically. You're having a panic attack."

"You're damn right I'm attacking my panic. I want to know exactly what's up around here, because no one can tell me! There has to be someone somewhere that remembers, but I look up death numbers and it just shows me the number four as if it's some kind of stupid goddamn sybolism before I get to the information block."

"It's an Anomaly…" Aveline said meekly, cutting through him before he could continue.

"What?"

"It's… it's a higher level, I can't tell you."

"What the hell do you mean?" He shouted as best he could, the air barely coming out of his lungs. He vaguely registered Michael grabbing onto him to keep him from pitching forward. "There are people who don't even know if they had parents, how is that any way to treat them? You're FLARE, aren't you? You're for the people!"

"I can't tell you! I'm sorry, Blanche, but I can't! I don't know! It's an Anomaly so far beyond what FLARE can deal with that there's no point in telling people."

"So what are you saying? What is there that the organization that "will make all right in the world" can't beat?"

"The spirit."

A pen rolled off the side of the table, causing a small plink as it dropped on the floor.

"I don't understand."

"The spirit. Aether. Willpower. Call it anything, but that is what FLARE can't defeat. The Aura Guardian used the willpower of all people and Pokémon to Mend the Heavens. He broke through the darkness of that day and forged a new world from the one that had been broken."

"What kind of idealistic bullshit is that?"

"That's the truth! Whatever world you forgot, that's not the one you're in anymore! This is the world of spirit everyone wished for when it was reconfigured. A world of strength, if you will. Some live with it, some work to improve their lives, some battle to make it better. It's the enduring drive that keeps life… alive. I've been researching it for the last two years, it's why I'm a Professor."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"One of the primary drives of sapient life is to avoid pain. It's not cowardice, don't misunderstand! It's just a simple fact. But still, it's only a hypothesis..."

"Feel like sharing with the class?"

"When the Heavens Mended, many chose to forget who they lost, even if they did not know they had a choice. The collective unconscious, so to speak, granted their wishes as the willpower of people and Pokémon remade the world. A haze of aura covers this world now. I… I don't think it's the residue of GIRATINA's aura. The AIAM fields of all life, people and Pokémon, overlay and diffuse among themselves, reinforcing and compounding what drives them. However, there are quirks in this massive field. Anomalies, if you will."

Blanche breathed heavily, Michael's grip having loosened as it became clear he wasn't going to break down then and there.

"...Do you remember? Do you remember the people that were lost?"

"I don't. I never knew them." The Professor clenched the folds of her lab coat in her lap. "But there are those that do."

A few minutes passed, the stalemate clear. Blanche looked through both of them at a loss for words.

"My God," he gasped, crumpling to his knees. His vision blurred, the high crashing down upon him. "I'm… I'm sorry. I don't know what I was doing. I'm just so confused, but… No, that's not an excuse. I shouldn't have lashed out, I'm sorry. It's neither of your faults."

"If I was in your situation, I'd probably be worse off," Michael shrugged, helping him to his feet.

"You're more than I am. Both of you. You deserve more than someone like me throwing a tantrum." His gaze was directed at the floor, though his eyes were hidden by his scattered locks.

Michael wrapped Blanche's arm around his neck, getting the boy into a slumped posture. "Let's get you home. I think you need a rest."

"I need to be better… God, I'm so sorry, Aveline. You didn't deserve that, no one does."

"It's fine…"

"It's not. You shouldn't tolerate people who act like me. It's not healthy."

"I… I think you're stressed, maybe. People act differently when they're stressed."

"I need to be better than that. Sorry for interrupting your game." He pushed himself off of Michael, stumbling towards the airlock. "I'm going to head home. I hope you can forgive me, but I understand if you don't."

"If you've forgotten, forgiveness is often decided by a one-v-one in this world," Michael commented.

He laughed bitterly. "Of course, how could I? That's not a fight I'm likely to win either way. I'm leaving. You guys have a nice weekend."

---

In the winter evening, the waxing moon began rising above Lumiose-3 as if approaching the top of Prism Tower.

Blanche tossed Rhyhorn a cool rock he found on the sidewalk before easing into the house. He'd told Tierno that he had to stop by FLARE and not to wait up, reminding him everything was fine in the same breath.

"Ariel…" He was at a loss for words, his bag slipping from his fingers.

"Yes?" The blonde turned to him from the stove where a kettle was steaming with a quiet hiss. Audino's head appeared from behind the table, poking its head around the side and giving him the same look as usual. Fennekin appeared on top of it, followed by Froakie, and then Chespin, who seemed to be watching out for the other three.

"Why… Why are you wearing a maid dress." He couldn't even put his thoughts together well enough to make the question clear.

He wasn't a character in some book or show, was he? His nose wouldn't start bleeding or anything, would it? Though, it was the Pokémon world… but he didn't have the same sort of body that everyone else did.

Ariel was wearing a long sky-blue dress with an incredibly frilly white apron. Along with the bonnet, of course, because that was just fantastic for the blood pressure.

"Oh, well… Trevor said you didn't look so good at school, so I thought I'd make you some herbal tea!" She tented her fingers in front of her chest, smiling brightly. "It should be done brewing soon, but I also tried making sourdough earlier if you'd like some."

This girl is going to be the death of me, he realized. What a way to go.

"Yeah, I think I will…" He mumbled, quickly picking up his bag. "So, did you, uh, pick that outfit out on your own?"

"Hm? Well, Ms. Grace had reminded me it was traditional domestic wear in Kalos while we bought clothes."

"I see." Naturally. The archetype was French after all. Ariel seemed to slot into a lot of those, weirdly.

"And Trevor is truly one of Helix's boons, he suggested it might make you feel better as well. Though I don't understand why…"

"Yeah, that's pretty weird! Ahahaha… don't think too hard about it. I'll… thank him," as in, murder him, "Later."

"As long as it makes you feel better, I'm fine with it."

Yep, this girl is going to kill me, he reaffirmed mentally.

As Ariel put on oven mitts and pulled a tray out of the oven, he asked, "Where is everyone, anyway?"

"Ms. Grace had to step out for the evening, I believe she's having a "night out" with her friends."

Truly, the most responsible adult in the Pokémon world.

Ariel placed the warmed tray on the empty side of the stovetop, peeling back the aluminum foil that covered the loaf. Almost immediately, the air became that much fuller and richer, sweeter and saltier.

"And everyone else is…"

"Serena, Shauna, and Tierno are still not home yet, but Trevor is playing the video games upstairs."

"Right." He didn't bother pointing out the weird phrasing.

The hiss on the tea kettle suddenly intensified, and surprised for only a second, Ariel lifted it off the stove and onto a ceramic plate at the center of the table.

"Ariel…" He began, murmuring while staring into the cup she handed him. "How do I get people to forgive me?"

"Hm?"

"I mean… I get angry sometimes, y'know? It's unfair to the people around me, they deserve better. You're a good person, so I thought I'd ask you." He took a bite out of a slice of bread. It was airy but still filling, he could already taste it.

"That's… well, it's not as simple as an action, especially if it's only taken for forgiveness. It's a process."

"I see."

"For those who forgive others and seek forgiveness for their own transgressions will find forgiveness in Helix."

Another reason he'd asked her for advice about goodwill.

"Ariel, I'm probably not going to whatever pearly gates exist in this world in the first place. No one else has done anything bad to me, so I can't forgive them. That just makes it worse when I snap at them, because they don't deserve it."

"Of course, no one deserves unkindness, but you do not intend it, do you?"

"What? I mean… In the moment, maybe. It gets kind of hazy if I don't try to keep cool. I want to stop getting mad, it's not like it'll make me stronger or give me power."

"Everyone gets mad, Blanche. It's natural. It's one of the emotions that the Lord gave us."

"You don't get mad," he pointed out.

"I do, but the Lord also asks that we do not strike out against others when overcome by unrighteous emotion. It's something that must be controlled and used carefully."

"Obviously. Hurting people is bad, I know. I'll try to keep a handle on it in the future, but it's a little late now."

"Well, to put it simply, if you make the effort to become better, then forgiveness will follow."

He sipped the bitter, yet balanced tea, lost in thought. "...I don't get it."

"You can't demand forgiveness while not changing. If the one you have wronged sees that you have changed and made an effort to become better, then the actual words of forgiveness become unnecessary. If it is clear you won't do it again, then you will be forgiven for your actions."

"I don't think it's that clear cut."

"There is no other alternative, is there? All roads ultimately lead to improvement of the self, even if it takes time. You are aware of what you have done wrong, and as such, you are already improving."

"I don't think I am."

Ariel shook her head, smiling thinly. "You don't give yourself enough credit. For example, you don't swear as much as you used to."

"Not where you can see it," he said, looking away and scoffing.

"That very well may be… but you have changed. You carry yourself differently. You're more comfortable in your skin, less guarded."

"It's hard to be on guard all the time in a ridiculous place like this."

"But still, that is a change. I believe you're in a better place than most of the people that came to the church asking for forgiveness. You're trying to fix the problem before it becomes dominant in your life."

"Agan, Ariel, you're giving me too much credit."

"No, I'm not. I believe in you!"

"I see…"

He wiped his mouth with a napkin, looking away towards Audino. They, along with the three starter Pokémon, had retreated behind the kitchen bar that separated the living room and the kitchenette. All four heads poked over the top, and Audino, as always, was giving him the look. Somewhere outside, a metal gate creaked.

"Thank you. You're a great baker."

"I'm glad to hear you think so! Ms. Grace said much of the same."

The front door opened, revealing Shauna leading Serena inside, tossing a Rubix cube in her hand. "Hey, we're home- Ariel! Why are you wearing that?"

Shauna then saw Blanche sitting at the table, giving the boy no time to prepare as two unrelated dots connected in her head.

"You…"

"Why is your nose bleeding?" Blanche asked, rising from his seat with the nervous instincts of a prey animal.

"It's not!"

"Uh… yeah, it is."

Indeed, in accordance with the laws of fiction-land, a trickle of blood was tracing down her upper lip.

"No, it's not! And why are you looking at my face anyway, creep?"

"Your eyes are up there?" He offered, stepping back towards the stairs and holding his hands up.

His back made contact with the bar as she turned a brighter red and threw the cube at him somewhere between Mach One and Two.

He ducked, just in time for it to bean Fennekin on the forehead, causing the Fire-type to begin yipping and spew an ember back at her.

"Ah, my shirt!"

"It was Trevor's idea!" He shouted back as he ran towards the stairs.

"Get back here!"

He made an educated guess even if he wouldn't dare look back, if only to be snarky. "Put a shirt on!"

"What-" She stopped, before shrieking. "Don't look at me, you-"

Blanche was already up the stairs, in his room, and shaking the static out of his hair by the time she stopped shouting.

If only because he had narrowly avoided his death, he laughed to himself, remembering exactly what kind of world he was in. Though a chunk of lead had settled in his stomach, it felt like it was already starting to be scraped away.

---

At the north pole of a world once swallowed in darkness, glaciers and mountains of ice covered what little land there was. Deep beneath the ice, beneath the miles and miles of frost and earth, a cave system preserved ancient structures and the Pokémon of a time long past. Cloaked in pitch black, a chasm of fossils and statues waited.

Like a spiderweb, the lightless air cracked and bent inwards and outwards, bringing light to the massive frozen beasts.

In the dim light, two teal pillars appeared, creeping out of the hole in reality. The metal surfaces reflected the light of the wormhole as a bottle-like mass floated forth, supported by nothing.

The wormhole closed behind it, leaving the abyss of frost once again in darkness.

With a violent whir, the two pillars began glowing white-hot, filling the cavern with a light almost like that of the sun.

The ice above, compacted over hundreds of thousands of years, began dripping away under the heat of the pillars as they revolved around the object at the center. A warbling thunder broke stalactites from the ceiling, sending them crashing to the lowest layers of the Earth's crust as the beast began tunneling upwards.

 

[MikaelBrigman]

The weekend, in places that don't have an insane work culture, is generally a time to relax, kick back, and to get straight to the point, socialize.

Blanche, if one has not noticed, is something of an outlier, and therefore, a loser. As such, he planned to sleep, reread his textbooks, and try to find something good on TV or die trying.

That is how he would describe his plans at least. In reality, he was going to sulk, mope, and many other words that substitute wangst.

Unfortunately for our bandage babe in chief, staring at the ceiling and thinking about how much work he wasn't doing gave other people the impression that he was bored.

"Excuse me, Blanche." Trevor appeared at his side, hovering over the living room couch.

"Yo," he replied. He was kicked back on the end, arms behind his head and really wishing he had a bit of straw to chew on.

"I think I'm going to go down to Estival Avenue later. There's a lot of hobby cafes, but I like the card shops. Do you play any card games?"

"No. Have fun though."

A few moments passed, Blanche blinking and quickly realizing he was once again being an asshole without thinking about it.

"Oh, I mean, yeah, let's go."

Everyone else was already out. Tierno was putting some time in at the dance studio (Which Blanche made a mental note of to visit sometime), and Shauna had dragged Serena and Ariel out to do something. Mrs. Grace was standing on top of Rhyhorn outside, along with Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie as they left, and if he could believe his ears, she was counting somewhere in the triple-digits and the rocky Pokémon did another push-up.

"Sorry about that, by the way. I'm not really good at thinking before I speak," he admitted to Trevor on the way to the station.

"I've been friends with Shauna for seventeen years, it's really not a problem."

"Ah, yeah… Are we that similar?"

"In some ways. Not that that's a bad thing! You're both very… intentional," the short boy resolved, rolling his hands in front of him as he walked. "Like Dragon-types, if you understand."

"Uh-huh, yep, yeah, no, I don't have a clue."

"Well, let me think…" Trevor's awkwardness seemed to drop away as he focused inwards instead of outwards. "In Kalos, we don't have the most archetypal examples, Goodra are really friendly in fact, and Zygarde is… well, I can't remember exactly. In the Japanese mainland regions, Dragon-types are incredibly fierce and are used heavily by leadership as symbols. A champion of Kanto has the title of Dragon Tamer, despite using more Flying-types than Dragon-types. A League Champion is said to be someone that has enough strength to conquer the heavens, and given that before 1960 or so many regions still worshipped pseudo-Legendaries as avatars rather than viewing them scientifically as they do now…"

Blanche blinked at the boy, looking down at him with a fixed, questioning gaze.

"I mean, um, I apologize for rambling."

"No, no, it's very educational, I'm just still trying to get caught up with all of the lore around here."

"Lore?"

"Don't worry about it."

Their destination being Estival Avenue didn't narrow the search down in the slightest. It was wider than most highways and just as busy even without cars, but Trevor seemed to know where he was going.

On the corner of a busier block, a popcorn-walled shop had a sign with spiky red letters above, spelling out "GAME", and in an odd way, it was familiar, but only gave him the sense that it should be familiar. He couldn't put a finger on it.

"The employees here mostly sell Duel Monsters merchandise, but if you're interested in something else they might have it."

"Right… Duel Monsters."

Duel Monsters.

That's what the card game was called in the Yugioh universe. It could just mean that the name had simply changed, but it could also mean…

And as a boy just as short as Trevor popped around the counter to talk to the old man in charge, with spiky reddish-brown and blond hair, Blanche became the most articulate person alive, gracing the world with his revelation.

"Oh, shit."

Clearly. The narrator would never lie or exaggerate anything.

"Blanche?"

"All this shit is twice as weird. My head hurts when I remember stuff, it's like a wall or something." He waved off the other boy as they approached the counter. "Don't worry about it."

"Ah, Trevor," greeted the old man with a scratchy voice, "Brought another friend?" The squat man wore a dress shirt, overalls, and an orange-head wrap.

"Yes, I didn't know what sorts of games he liked, so I thought to bring him here, Mr. Moto."

"Now that's brand loyalty!" Moto gave a hearty laugh, slapping the glass counter, bringing his attention to the cards inside the display.

Blanche didn't recognize any of them, because duh, amnesia, but they didn't feel familiar in the slightest. The formatting was different, and even when he thought he recognized one, it had a different name.

Red-Eyes Black Salamence? A card called Time Wizard with something similar to Celebi dressed like a magician? Change of Heart with a two-faced Morpeko?

"My day just got weirder. Which I think is saying something, really."

"Did something catch your attention, young man?" Moto sidled to where he was looking. "Now, do you already have a deck or are you looking to buy? Synergy is very important, but building a deck yourself can also make for some interesting strategies."

He thought about denying the idea completely because he had better things to do, but he remembered that he, in fact, didn't, and so he asked, "How much does a starter deck cost?"

"Around 2,000 , but the more complex and rare you get, the more expensive."

"Right. What've you got?"

"Well, just step over here, and I'll show you something much better than what the manufacturers put out…"

Blanche ended up with a deck based around the Heroic archetype of Ground and Steel-types, though they were called the Earth Attribute. It was much newer than the older decks, but the current gimmick was called Xyz Summoning, which was too ironic for him to pass up. He'd look up the rules for a refresher later, and he probably wouldn't be able to win against Trevor anytime soon, but the box felt good in his hands.

At least he wouldn't have to deal with the later gimmicks, not that he could remember what those were.

Trevor fidgeted with the booster pack he got as they walked back down the street, neither of them really sure what to say.

"Thanks for showing me that place," he settled on.

"Um, of course, we're friends after all."

It would have been rude to question it, so Blanche was unable to make himself feel like shit by denying Trevor would want to be friends with him.

"Well, thanks anyway."

They passed a flower shop, one of the many open stores that lined Estival Avenue.

"Hey, don't flowers have like, meaning or something? I should buy some Amaranths, that would be funny."

"I think so. You'd be better off asking Serena, she's quite knowledgeable."

"If Shauna doesn't bite my head off, I just might."

Trevor's voice dropped to nearly a whisper, though his tone didn't change. "I don't think Shauna hates you. And I don't think you hate Shauna."

"I don't hate anyone," he shrugged. "Not in a heroic way, hating people just wastes my time. She's not a bad person, she's just annoying."

"She says the same about you."

He recoiled in shock. "Girls talk about me? Ew."

Our hero, everyone. A teenage boy with a lingering belief that cooties are an actual disease. Well, not really.

Trevor sighed. "Not like that. I don't want to gossip about either of my friends. If you two have UST to work out, I'm not getting involved."

Blanche squawked with indignation. "There's not- Where did you even get that idea?"

"Well, Blanche, how should I put this… When two people go red in the face at the very mention of someone else, it generally implies- And don't deny it, a good amount of your face is visible- that there's something more than just annoyance."

"I'm not," he huffed, pausing to think, "I was embarrassed, okay?"

"..."

"Not because of that! Because of how I treated her. I know it wasn't nice, I'm working on it. Doing bad things makes me feel bad, I know, shock and awe."

"Not anything else?"

"No! Is this the same reason you told Ariel to wear a maid dress? You knew she'd get on my case about it."

"Well, I thought you'd both appreciate it."

"Well… Yeah, Ariel didn't seem to mind."

"I'm not talking about Ariel."

Blanche paused in his steps, looking at the other boy. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you don't get it, you might need to loosen your head wraps to get some blood flow to your brain." Trevor sighed, the diminutive boy slouching even lower. "It's not my place to tell anyway."

"I can't exactly ask about that sort of thing, it's rude."

"It's not."

"Okay, you got me there, but if I ask, there's going to be a problem."

"Not as much as you might think."

"Now I'm actually confused."

"I think that's something I can't help you with. Moving on, do you need any help studying?"

"Hey, I… Well, actually, I'm having some trouble with the velocity of an Ember question from my Physics class…"

---

"Dream on, dream on, dream on. Dream until your dreams come true…"

Monday afternoon, Blanche clicked off the music as he exited the elevator that led into FLARE.

Because Blanche, regarding the idea of talking to people, was not an expert in any sense of the word, he was on his way to ask someone more knowledgeable than him.

Augustine Sycamore, naturally, was the best choice. There was probably irony in that intent, but he didn't pick up on it. Luckily for him, he always managed to get to the lab when people other than Michael were also present.

As such, the older Professor was there to greet him, looking up from scattered blueprints spread out by Clemont. Another one of the seven tubes along the wall had dimmed, bringing the total to three.

"Hey, good afternoon!"

Michael, as always, was rapidly clicking through boxes on the screen with his visor low over his face.

"Afternoon, Blanche," Clemont added, pushing up his glasses. "What brings you here?"

"I had to ask the Professor about something… What's that?" He loomed over the table, trying to comprehend the sketches.

"I'm working on a new Clemontic Gear for our Espers to use in the field. Because we only have three, I'm trying to think of which Gear we should build. The higher-ups don't want us to overextend resources."

"Don't we literally fight demigods? Seems like that would be a priority. And since when are there three Rangers around here?"

"Demigod's a strong word for Anomalies. And you're right, I misspoke. We only have two FLARE Rangers in Kalos. The point is, we're trying to narrow it down." Clemont spread his hands, laying the paper flat again. "Two projectile weapons, a spear, or more armor. FLARE uses a lot of Infinity Energy to transport them, so the lower the number, the less likely we are to overload LADY."

"Who?"

"That's the computer's name."

"Of course it is." Blanche pinched the bridge of his nose. "Since when?"

"It got mad when we kept calling it a computer."

"It's an A.I.?"

"No, but the digital assistant gets snappy with Michael."

"I just tried to open two tabs in Chrome, stop bringing that up."

"You nearly brought down the whole thing and burned through all the RAM, Michael."

"As fascinating as this conversation is," Blanche reeled their attention back in, "I don't want to get my ass kicked next time there's some Anomaly popping out of nowhere."

"Ah, right, of course." Clemont pointed at a diagram of a blocky pistol and equations. "We don't use guns, but this should work once it's out of testing. FLARE is the only organization with access to Aural Shells, but they are still volatile."

"Again, what?"

Clemont shared a look with the Professor. "Has Aveline not told you?"

"Um…"

Michael didn't say anything, but he was clearly listening.

"I probably just forgot, that's my mistake."

"Ah. Well, the future is now, thanks to-"

"Not next to my computer!" Michael yelled, jumping up to shield the screen.

A dot showed up in the corner, starting to roll text with a lot of exclamation points that Blanche was a little scared to read.

"Ahem," Clemont coughed, looking in the exact opposite direction. "Aural Shells can invert AIAM fields and essentially undo them completely. Even a small amount of the refined Shell making contact with a field can weaken it."

Seriously?

"...That's really something. Isn't that like, uh, a chemical weapon though?"

"No, we're still working on refining it into small enough amounts to use as projectiles. We're working with a liquid model that when surrounded with a rubber-like compound, has both its properties shielded and preserved until the exterior is broken."

"So… It's like a paintball?"

"You could say that. Lethality isn't the intention, of course."

"Aural Sap, Aural Shells. One's a buff, one's a debuff." Blanche crossed his arms. "Right. What else is there?"

Clemont drew his attention to a much bulkier design. From the written scale, it looked like it was four feet long, a sixth of that wide. All kinds of batteries and rails pointing to one end, with a cable leading out the back. It had its own separate sheet, but the design there didn't seem too complex.

"What am I looking at?"

"This, I call Clemontic Gear BURST." Clemont's grin became crooked and damn near infectious. "I have a prototype, but the problem is power. It's an electromagnetic railgun, but the problem right now is that its sights are inaccurate and the beam it creates is inconsistent. If we had an Electric-type Esper, we'd be able to intensify its range. We've even got an extra suit, but as it stands, no dice. Also, it doesn't shoot anything."

"So it's a Tesla coil gun?"

"Essentially."

"Well, wouldn't an Electric-type Pokémon work? And not that I don't appreciate you all letting me do something with my life, but why are we fighting instead? Pokémon are a lot less squishy."

"They're also a lot less smart, not to generalize. I wouldn't trust a Magnemite to aim correctly instead of just eating the batteries."

"Psychic-Electric-types anywhere?"

"Not the point. Also, Espers have to be good for something. For now, the BURST is going to sit in my workshop," Clemont sighed.

"Unfortunate. I just remembered, I actually came here to talk to the Professor, if I may."

"Ask away!" Sycamore smiled, putting himself on display like he was God's gift to mankind.

Blanche glanced at Michael, who didn't seem to be listening, as the virtual match was getting a lot more intense.

"So, I might have, uh, yelled at someone. I don't think they deserved it, so what do I do to apologize?"

Sycamore cupped his chin, closing his eyes in thought. A single opened, his expression becoming sly. "Was it a girl?"

"Yeah, that's why I asked you," he said. "Is that important?"

"Well… I'll tell you when you're older since you probably didn't know before you lost your memories, but you see; In Kalos, if you want to make out- Ahem, make up with someone, you buy them some flowers. If you want her to forgive you, I'd say some White Lilies. It's not the color or breed that matters, it's how she feels, understand?"

"Uh-huh," he answered hesitantly.

"Presentation. Is. Key!" The Professor took a step onto a chair, pointing at the tiled ceiling but assuming a much more heroic disposition. "You have to make her feel like a queen, no, a GODDESS! Understand?"

Blanche's face was dull, but internally, he was complaining about how out of his depth he was.

"Yeah. Alright. Back to reviewing weapons of mass ass-kicking. I think that the Aural Shell thing will definitely be useful for leveling the playing field…"

---

After school on Tuesday, after telling Tierno that he had some errands to run after school, Blanche went to buy flowers.

He purchased flowers.

He then went to go talk to a girl and-

"Holy shit, why didn't I think this through?"

Ah, there it is. Unfortunately for him, he was already halfway through the airlock, and she would know someone had tried to come in.

Aveline Sycamore was standing over a microscope-like device against the left wall, though what she was examining was hidden by her lab coat. She looked up just as he instinctually held the bouquet behind his back.

"...Ah, good afternoon," she said after a few moments of mutual staring.

"Hey."

Another few moments of silence.

"...Do you need any…"

Blanche closed his eyes, pulled his sanity taut enough that it might snap, and whipped the flowers out in front of him.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you the other day!"

Another few moments.

"...Flowers?" She said faintly.

"Well, they mean, uh, forgiveness, and even though you don't have a reason to, um, listen, you know I'm not good with talking about my feelings or talking in general. I'm a teenage boy and all that, even if that doesn't excuse it. Just take the flowers. I think you're like, super smart and cool and awesome, and you really didn't deserve what I said to you."

The younger professor stumbled back, her glasses sliding down her nose. "...Um, well, I don't really know what to say…"

"Just take them, alright? It doesn't mean anything, so it's not weird. I mean, it does mean something, but it doesn't mean mean something, you get it?"

"...Not really."

"I feel stupid enough, alright?" He wasn't embarrassed, not at all. His voice's pitch doubling was completely coincidental. "You can throw 'em away later if you want, but I'm just going to look more stupid walking home with flowers when it's not even February yet. Wait, no, not as in Valentine's Day, I mean, uh…" He looked around wildly for some kind of vase. He pulled a beaker from a shelf, ripped the flowers from the plastic wrap, and dropped them inside. A hose was pulled over from the emergency shower, and the beaker was quickly filled halfway.

The Professor was silent the whole time, the red of her face likely being from anger and annoyance.

No one ever said that Blanche was smart, exactly.

"So just," he struggled out, turning towards the airlock while entirely too tense for the situation. He looked for his next words, and upon not finding any, said, "Yeah," as if it were the conclusion to a groundbreaking thesis.

"...No one has given me flowers before…"

"Don't make it weird! I'm apologizing, alright? You don't have to accept it, but-" Blanche's cry was downright incoherent. "You know what? I'm going. Sorry again. It's not a weird courtship thing, even if you are like really pretty, holy shit, why can't I think straight today, goddammit! I'm leaving now, don't read into it," he slammed the button on the airlock and threw himself inside, "Adieu... Goddamnit, now I'm being pretentious too! Mother-"

And then the airlock slid shut.

---

Blanche is a teenage boy. This revelation may lead to shock and awe across the world. Teenage boys have a miraculous ability to get along even when it seems that their personalities inherently contradict. Some say this is because boys are generally too stupid to think of gossip to spread or rumors to take into account.

Regardless, there was some sort of glue tieing the boys of a certain class of year terminale students at a certain Trainer school.

"I play the spell card, Wrath of Reshiram, which does 800 points of direct damage to your Life Points!"

A wisp of flame popped over the desk, hazy and tinged purple.

"Agh!"

The tomboyish spirit medium, Lenore, spectated the match being played and waved her hands around to make the game a little more… three-dimensional. Perhaps adding a little depth. Maybe even making it a mystical experience.

She was a low-tier Esper that could create weak illusions. What her primary type was is a total mystery.

"Wait, so all three of you are Espers?" Blanche said, watching the tiny armored Pokémon fight on the desk.

A Dark Magician Gallade swiped a scepter at a Catapult Tirtuga, both standing not even an inch tall and hovering above their respective cards.

"Yeah dude, totally," Gin replied, slapping a card face-down as his turn ended. The karate kid across from him, LaRusso, drew another card.

Blanche had realized they'd not all been properly introduced, despite the three being a definite power trio, and decided to watch them play a card game instead of reviewing his notes.

"I'm a Black Belt," LaRusso said, "It's likely obvious what my typing is. Very mundane, but I can match my Sawk and Throh in spars thanks to my aura."

"Man, don't say that! It's still super cool," Gin reassured him, "I mean, I can fight smarter than you, but you fight a ton harder."

LaRusso played another Monster Card, called Golett, Soldier of Stone, and another card face-down.

"You guys get in a lot of fights?"

"I tell them not to," Lenore sighed, pushing her shawl out of her face. The illusions dimmed for a second, but reappeared as she returned her attention. "They hang out in that bar way too often."

"It's not a bar, it's a cantina, even if it's above-ground. And we don't even throw people through the walls anymore."

"Bartender said they were reinforced," Blanche added after connecting the dots.

"Really? Man, that explains so much." Gin sighed and drew a card, before looking across the field. "...Alright, then. I attack your Golett with Dark Magician Gallade!"

"You activated my Trap Card, Magic Cylinder."

"What?"

The illusory Gallade shot a purple fireball at the armored Golett, but it didn't meet its target. Twin barrels, the size of pencil sharpeners, appeared in the air. One sucked in the blast, and the other shot it back out towards Gin's face. It didn't harm him, but he still jumped back.

"My turn, Gin."

"Aw, man…"

"I use the Spell Card, Ego Boost, to increase my Golett, Soldier of Stone's Attack Points by 1000 until your next End Phase."

"Still not strong enough to beat my Gallade."

"And then I equip it with Ceal, Shooting Star Bow, which decreases its attack by 1000 but allows me to attack you directly."

"What? But that just negates the buff," Gin took a second and did some math. "Oh, damn it."

"That's right. That gives me just enough power to bring your Life Points to zero."

"Man…" Gin swept up his cards as a tiny pin of light was stuck onto his head by Lenore. "I can't wait for today to be over, I'm gonna sleep all weekend. What are you guys going to do?"

"I've got a killer headache," Blanche admitted, "So I'd probably do the same thing if I didn't have to talk to some people."

"Work?"

"Not quite. One of my coworkers might know something about my past, so I've got to talk to her about that. I've been working up the courage."

"Don't talk to girls, man," Gin sighed, clapping him on the shoulder. "They're crazy. Just look at Lenore."

"You won't have enough of a spirit for me to medium if you keep talking like that."

"See? Basically, don't take it too seriously. Just think of it like talking to one of the guys. It works the other way around too. Just look at Lenore."

"Your funeral will be closed casket, I'm telling you now."

"See? We get along just fine. If it's not like, weird and icky, you'll be fine."

"I'm getting the impression you're not the person I should ask about women."

"Well, it's not like you can ask an actual girl for help. Just look at-"

"The joke stopped being funny five lines ago."

"See? Basically one of the guys."

"Yeah, alright," Blanche sighed non-committally. "Enlightening."

---

"LADY is showing a high-velocity object approaching from the North Pole." Michael's keystrokes accelerated as he sent out the alert. "Satellite's picking up a UFO the size of a jet plane. Should we call the Hoenn Champion and ask for aerial assistance with Rayquaza?"

"Let's, um, cross-reference satellite images with known species of Pokémon before sending Amaranth and Geranium in. If there is an Anomaly, it would be better for FLARE to handle this." Aveline answered over the phone

"What exactly could those two do? Clemont's prototypes aren't ready." Michael ran the computer's Pokedex recognition program. If there were any Pokémon that matched whatever it was that was approaching Kalos, it would find out which soon enough.

"Total lack of AIAM field," he said after he overlaid FLARE's dedicated satellite, RKS-2's, Aura Reader map. "Nearing Mach One. No jet streams nearby."

"Triangulate its destination, please."

"Lumiose-3. It'll make landfall in less than four hours on the coast of Shalour, with a wide margin of error. It's not a Pokémon."

"Check against the Aether Foundation's database! I'm on the way, call the others!"

Michael's hand hovered over the big red button that had been bought exclusively to be dramatic.

"Alright!"

He slammed his hand down onto it. The screen flashed red as an alert was sent out to all needed on deck. The Professors, Clemont, and the two FLARE Rangers would be redirected soon enough.

"That idiot better not break down again during the battle."

---

Friday the 29th. Only a little less than a month had passed since Blanche first woke up. In that time, he'd seen some pretty crazy things. That afternoon, it was time for him to do one of those things. Hopefully, with a little more restraint.

"Serena, I need to talk to you. It'll be less complicated if it's without people around." He was struggling to keep a straight face because he thought that if he looked anything remotely like another lovestruck (hormonal) teenager, then the rumors would be about ten times worse.

She closed the textbook on her desk before looking up at him, her lips in a thin straight line. "Is there a complication at FLARE?"

"No, well, sort of. Again, really complicated. The roof is the place to talk, isn't it?"

"Very well."

The view from the top of the school wasn't particularly impressive. The schoolyards and shorter buildings nearby provided some breathing room, but those quickly fell away into massive blocks and skyscrapers centered around Prism Tower. The wind chilled his face that day, cutting through his bandages like they were wet paper.

The sun was low in the sky, much more than it would have been any other time of year. He faced towards the west, towards Prism Tower, towards the fading orange and yellow in the sky.

She followed behind him, though she stopped halfway to the railing, while he stood much closer.

Oh, Christ, this is going to be framed like a revelation from God, isn't it? Blanche thought, wincing at the idea of appearing even slightly messianic.

"Is this sun the same sun that I've always known?"

She didn't answer for a few seconds. "Perhaps," she said. Serena didn't sound confused, she didn't sound like anything.

"I think I remember it." He looked up at the top of Prism Tower, the gleaming wired beacon that seemed to glow in the setting sun. "I can't remember my own name or my family or any of my friends, but I know the exact map of the Kalos region, the names of nearly every Pokémon, and the type chart like the back of my hand. I also... remember a lot of things that no one else does."

"I see."

"Are you like that too, Serena? Do you have memories that you can't explain? Memories of things that don't exist anymore?"

She was silent.

There was a terse minute on the rooftop, neither of them speaking. The wind continued biting at him like a pack of dogs. His hair flew about, the catch of his head wraps nearly coming free.

Red reflected red as he continued looking outwards. "I'm not trying to be philosophical or spiritual. There's something wrong in this Earth, and I don't understand most of it."

"You still live on it."

"Maybe. I don't think I used to. Maybe I did. I have dreams. Not of the life goal sort, I don't have those anymore. Maybe a better word would be visions. People I haven't met are familiar to me, and when I meet them I remember something like a game. But games aren't real, they're games. The people in them, the world they live in, they're artificial and static. Was this world once like that, Serena?"

Another minute of silence. "I don't know."

"You're a smart person. Smarter than I am. You're definitely smart enough to be a Professor like Aveline. But see, Aveline told me that some people remember things that no one else does. She thinks that people with enough aura haven't forgotten. Do you think the same?"

"What are you asking me?"

"People don't talk about what hurts them unless it's with people that hurt the same way. People with trauma often seek out others with similar circumstances. It's the same with personalities, with passions. Ultimately, people group themselves by what everyone in said group can relate to. Hence, people don't talk about the pain that they alone feel. Serena, I think I know what your pain is, even if my pain is the opposite."

"You don't."

"You're probably right about that."

Another minute followed.

"I'm going to feel like such an asshole for this, but I really do think it's necessary. Does the name Calem mean anything to you?"

The wind grew fiercer, the sky itself screaming in his ears.

"How do you know… that name?" As she asked, her voice was perfectly flat.

"I know a lot of things. Things I shouldn't. Things no one else does. But for all of that," he laughed dryly, "I still don't know how to talk to people."

"Who are you?"

"I'm no one, really. My history's written out on every sheet of printer paper. I want to know the history of this world because that matters more than me. There's something wrong here, Serena, and I think you know this. Trevor and Tierno don't know the person behind that name, other than you saying it a long time ago. I'm guessing Shauna is the same."

"She… no one remembers," she managed to whisper, her voice becoming gravelly.

"That's what makes us Anomalies, isn't it? I'm not even a human by most standards. You're a human that's gone even further beyond and developed the ability to physically change the world. I think some people call that alchemy, but other people call that a blessing of God."

"What are you, then, if not a human?"

Blanche shrugged. "I don't think I'm a Pokémon. I had a dream where some crazy demonic thing called me an avatar. Maybe the few memories I do have are fake. Maybe I knew you all once upon a time, and my brain got scrambled up with some video game terminology. Am I from this world? Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know. Hence, I'm no one. I'm as blank as my name."

Another minute passed.

"...Are you Calem?"

"I honestly don't know. Probably not. What happened to him?"

"He…"

The door to the rooftop slammed open as he heard Serena fall to her knees. He turned, red eyes reflecting a fading orange and looked at Shauna.

"Mummy! What did you do to her?"

"You wouldn't understand, Shauna. Do you remember Calem?"

"Who?"

"Serena locked herself in her room after the Heavens Shattered, Tierno told me as much. And she said a name. Did you ever listen to her? Did you listen when your friend cried out in pain? Or did you ignore her until she became cold and silent?"

"Mind your own business! You're not her friend either."

"I don't deserve friends, if you haven't been paying attention. Take something seriously for once. People died, Shauna. You can't remember it, but she can, I can! I know it seems like no one gets hurt in fantasy land, but they do, even if you can't see it."

"You jerk! You're hurting her right now!"

Serena was still, hands barely holding her up as she shook silently.

"It's unavoidable. I'm trying to figure out this world, I'm trying to do something about it. She's suffering because no one knows what she's gone through, no one remembers her best friend, your best friend. What did you do when she cried out for him? Tell me!"

Shauna ran past Serena, jumping onto his and slamming him into the metal fence with a clattering ring.

"Shut up! What could I do? She wouldn't tell us what was hurting her, we all thought Darkrai had visited her or something!"

"Did you ask?"

"Yes! Of course I did! She's my best friend, I know her better than anyone else!"

"You don't. I have memories of a world that doesn't exist anymore, and so does she. You, Ponytails, do not."

She pushed him back again, causing him to trip and slump slightly.

"I can't help that! She asked for days and days, had we seen someone named Calem. And we didn't, okay? I've never known anyone like that! People don't forget people they care about."

"Without outside interference. It's not your fault you don't remember. But she does, and she's in pain."

"How do you know? Does that hurt you too or do you want her to think that?"

"Of course I'm in pain. But no one gives a damn about that, especially not you, because at the end of the day, I'm a God-damn side character who can't even take control of his own life!" He pushed her back and jabbed a finger in her face. "Instead of focusing on me, maybe you should focus on the people that actually matter and not your stupid, annoying, petty grudge."

Two ringtones went off at once. Emergency alerts, blaring sounds. Blanche checked his Holo Caster only for it to be slapped out of his hands.

He bent over and calmly picked it up, side-eyeing Shauna."I can't hit you back. That's not fair and you know it. This message is from FLARE." He walked around Shauna, offering Serena a hand. "Serena, we have to go."

She looked up at him, expression dull but her eyes red. "...But…"

"We can talk about him later. I'm sorry for ripping off the bandage so quickly, but we have work to do."

"Hey!"

"Shauna, get the hell out of here." He wrapped Serena's arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a shaky stance. "You can hate me all you want. I'm not a hero, but the actual hero has work to do. If you can't fight, you can't help. I'm sure you really are Serena's best friend, because you're a good person even if you really piss me off. Most people are like that, actually. But we have to go."

"I'm coming with you!"

"No, you're not. You're not an Esper."

"Neither are you! Why else would you need all those bandages?"

"Somehow, not having any aura is more helpful than having a little. And so, they need us and not you.."

Shauna clenched her fists, clearly restraining herself. "...I do have aura."

"Oh, of course you do. Thanks for signing up at FLARE, by the way. You're really useful out in the field," he spat, once again stopped from approaching the door.

"I didn't want to, okay? I just wanted to live normally, even if Serena didn't! Is that so bad, Mummy? You can't expect everyone to join just because they could if they wanted to. I wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer, graduate Trainer School without any problems, and then the four of us would go on a journey together, but you screwed all of that up! You're going to take them away from me, I don't want that!"

"...What in the blue hell are you even talking about?"

"I'm afraid, alright? I admit it!" She stumbled forwards, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. "I'm afraid of our group splitting apart and leaving me behind! Serena's the best in simulated battles, Trevor's the smartest person in my class, Tierno could probably wrestle a Dragon-type if he wanted to, but I'm just me! If they all fall in with other groups, make other friends, I'll be left on my own, and I don't want that!"

She grabbed Serena's other arms, making her steady on both sides.

"There, are you happy, Mummy? Is that good enough for you? Are you proud of yourself now?"

"No." He started the six-legged race for the nearest FLARE entrance. "But I just realized that we're very alike."

---

"The Aether Foundation has confirmed that the Anomaly is designated as UB-Blast. Its recorded typing is Steel-Flying. It is currently approaching Lumiose-3 and will make landfall in a little more than three hours on the coast of Shalour City." Michael turned to the others in his chair.

Serena had recovered, standing on her own without help, with Shauna and Blanche on either side. The two professors stood nearby, Augustine with his arms crossed and Aveline standing at attention. Clemont had not yet arrived. Around them, uniformed FLARE technicians fiddled with the tech, making sure it was at one-hundred percent.

"Back to you, Professor."

"R-right!" She said, turning to Serena. "The Anomaly should be weak to Electric and Fire-type attacks, so use those if you can!"

Blanche raised his hand. "Do we have any of those?"

"In fact," Michael said, "We do. Ponytails' primary type is Electric, though her AIAM field is only slightly above average. What can you do?"

"Well, um, I can see electromagnetic waves if I try really hard. I think I can bend them, but…"

Michael took off his headset and slammed his face into the table, making them all jump in surprise.

"Michael?"

"Ignore that. Do we have authorization for Aural Sap?"

"Underwood stole the last vial that was gathered and lost it," Augustine said, shaking his head. "Lysandre keeps the rest under lock and key after they're finished processing. Making an Esper more powerful is a volatile process, it's just good sense."

"Wait, Serena, I gave it to you…" Blanche turned to the girl, quickly finding that she had pulled the vial of kaleidoscopic liquid from her bag.

"Serena, put that away. Why do you have that?" Sycamore sighed. "If you found it, you should have turned it in."

"Yes." Serena, as always, elaborated by saying nothing.

"Well, give it here," Shauna said, reaching out for it.

"Don't use it in the lab," the Professor chided. "It's volatile. Serena, I trust you to administer the Sap in the field."

"Yes, sir." The vial dropped back down into her bag.

"And Shauna, if anyone asks, you've always been an Esper of that level."

"Eh? Um, yes, sir."

"Professor," Blanche sighed, "Is this a cover-up?"

"What? No, of course not. I mean, why use the opportunity to use something that's registered as lost by the system to our advantage? That would just be ridiculous," the Professor ended theatrically.

"...Yeah, alright. How are we getting to the coast?"

"FLARE operatives are setting up the operation. The plan is to…"

---

Blanche wasn't quite sure what dropping them out of the sky was supposed to do, but apparently, that was how they had to get west as quickly as possible.

The Professor's Garchomp was a magnificent beast for sure. Deep purple scales, wings that despite their size easily lifted it into the air, and a razor-sharp focus that kept them balanced on its back.

"The Anomaly is accelerating! You can't- You won't have much time to stop if before it makes landfall. You mustn't let it pass into Lumiose-3, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Blanche said back into his helmet. He and Serena had morphed first and then showed Shauna how to activate her device. She had shrieked in surprise when her body was wrapped in a white glow, then her clothes were replaced by yellow spandex. Half of her ponytails were pressed beneath her helmet, though the other two bounced around the bend and curved around her back.

"Doc, use team chat," Michael's voice carried from somewhere out of frame. Aveline shrank and turned red, quickly tapping another button. Serena's and Shauna's perspectives popped up in the UI.

"Um, so the Anomaly is accelerating…"

"It will be incapacitated shortly," Serena said, sitting in front of him.

"I'll do my best!" Shauna shouted, the arm around his chest forming a thumbs-up, likely unconsciously.

Garchomp was big, but it wasn't that big. And it certainly didn't have a saddle for three people.

"Great! Drop-off point in five seconds."

"You didn't think to say that-"

Garchomp did a corkscrew in its flight path, throwing them from its back without a thought.

Freefall is certainly an experience. It was literally walking on air, only vertically, and nearly straight down. Of course, it was part of the plan, but he needed time to mentally prepare himself.

Then he remembered that they didn't have parachutes.

Shauna was somewhere above him, flapping about in the wind and yelling in garbled cries. Serena was already far below and like a pin dropping perfectly on its tip, she pierced through the wind.

"You know, not all of us can tank a fall from orbit!"

"It's not that high…" Aveline said sheepishly. "And about those flowers…"

"Not right now, sorry. Shauna, can you fly on electromagnetic fields?"

She answered, incredibly helpfully, by continuing to yell incoherently.

The ground was approaching fast, and for some reason, he didn't feel too threatened in the face of everything he'd seen in the last month.

"Serena, can you…"

The girl rose up, widening out in the wind in almost perfect skydiving form, gliding to the side and directly below him.

"This may hurt."

She flew into him, catching the wind in a suddenly appearing pair of flaps in the suit, and then catching him in her arms.

If he wasn't already in an utterly ridiculous situation, he may have objected to being princess-carried. It jostled him, but it didn't hurt too much.

"Now, Shauna, drop."

"What? Oh, Goddamnit."

Shauna sank like a stone, or Serena became much more air resistant, as the second girl dropped directly on top of him like a fat guy at a belly flop contest. It wasn't the most accurate comparison, because he wouldn't call a girl fat unless he had a death wish, but it certainly felt that way.

She slowly stopped yelling, her yellow helmet turning towards Serena's. "Oh. Where's Mummy?"

"Ow…"

"Eek! Oh, this is just great. You better not be getting any ideas."

Serena dropped towards the ground, their free fall jolting to a slowing descent. He saw the earth rising past them, and he was absolutely positive there hadn't been one there before.

A minute later, Serena slid to a stop, having created a torn through her own mountain, near a set-up of tents and vans. FLARE grunts moved around huge cables and technicians lined the place.

A portly man walked up to Serena, as Blanche was lying on the ground curled up in pain, and Shauna on her hands and knees trying not to throw up in her helmet.

"Oh, wow, real FLARE Rangers. It's an honor to work with you!" He shook Serena's hand vigorously and the girl responded with a nod. "Tell your boss I'm thankful for his investments in my power plant, but for now, the connections you requested are all up and running."

"Thank you." Her voice was much clearer, given they weren't about to go splat anytime soon.

"No problem, just tell any of my employees when you're ready and…" The businessman looked over her shoulder. "...Are your teammates alright?"

"My stomach," Shauna groaned, the filter not hiding any of her discomfort.

Blanche did the same. "My crotch…"

"S-shut up, Mummy…"

"It's Amaranth right now, Rue..."

"Why don't I get," she hiccuped, "A longer codename?"

Serena turned back towards the owner of the power plant. "They're fine."

"If you say so…"

After a few minutes, they recovered enough to get to their feet, and Michael directed them to their point of defense, directing Serena to raise a pillar for them to stand on out of the ground.

And then she did, reminding Blanche that main character powers were absolutely a force to be reckoned with.

Serena then pulled the vial of Aural Sap out of a compartment in the crook of her neck.

"There's a button on your temple that will open your mouth."

Shauna pressed the button and the black visor slid upwards, separating from her jaw.

"So what, I drink it?"

"Physical exposure would yield a temporary result, but your body retains the power if you absorb it completely," Augustine said smoothly, leaning over his daughter's shoulder. "The taste is a bit…"

Shauna drank the whole vial down in one gulp, then very nearly threw it back up. "Agh! It tastes like gasoline!"

"No shit? Give it here," Blanche said.

"...Or so I've heard. Oh, you already drank it. Right," Aveline said at the same time.

Shauna wiped her mouth with the back of her gloved hand, almost audibly glaring at Blanche. "Yeah, right! Like I'd let you touch something my lips have."

"For God's sake, you know I didn't mean it like that."

"Which god? Legendary worship is so weird nowadays."

A glimmer appeared on the distant horizon, glowing like a star in the red skies.

Aveline coughed into her hand, bringing their attention to her window.

"The Anomaly will be making landfall soon. FLARE Rangers, start the operation!" Aveline's energy easily carried through the interface, and it was only right for him to reciprocate.

Blanche gave one last exasperated sigh and threw out his hand, soon gathering his resolve and calling, "Clemontic Gear Access: BURST!"

---

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: BLUE

Designation: CGI BURST

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

FLARE Designation: Amaranth

"Access granted!" Aveline's hands flew across the keyboard, running LADY's teleportation program.

"BFG on its way!" Michael yelled as Clemont slammed another, different big red button that acted as the confirmation switch.

From its resting place on a shelf above the seven tubes in the lab, the launcher's seams glowed a blue-green, before it disappeared in a blast of light.

---

Blanche hefted the cylinder onto his shoulder as it appeared, wrapped around his arm. The glimmer on the horizon grew stronger and the sky grew darker. Teal metal and pure energy blasted straight towards them.

"Connection needed," he said, the safety refusing to click off.

Serena leaned off of the top of the pillar, and in seconds, the cable that stretched from Kalos's power plant all the way to its northern coast was held up by a fist of stone. It slotted the cable, almost as thick as his torso and definitely much more tensile, into the back of the gun, weighing down his back.

He easily adjusted, supporting its weight with his knees as it loudly whirred next to his ear.

"Remember! Each shot, um, is taken directly from Kalos's power supply, so please be conservative with your shots!"

"Not planning on having Celesteela say hello to my little friend, but understood."

"What does that even mean?" Shauna stamped her foot, wildly shaking her hands in front of her. Not that Blanche could see, but her video feed certainly helped.

"Well, you know, it's like the movie where the guy has a machine gun and goes," he would have continued to poorly describe something he barely remembered, but they were once again interrupted.

"Closing in!"

Blanche started actually doing his job, what a shocker, and raised the Burst Cannon towards Celesteela.

"Rue, bend the electromagnetic waves around the beam and aim it at Celesteela."

"Who abdicated and made you king?"

"Jesus Christ, just do it."

"I don't think I've heard of that one…" Nonetheless, she raised her hands, pointing them just about where he was aiming. "I've played one of Trevor's VR games, this should be easy."

Aveline stopped typing, focusing on the screens above. "Geranium, you'll need to protect and support. If they need a better angle, you know what to do."

"Of course."

"On me?" Blanche asked.

"Um… alright?"

"Thanks. One…"

The three parts of Celesteela became more clear as it approached, the two pillars around it somehow supporting it in the air even as they were detached.

"Two…"

The air around him became staticky, faintly smelling of ozone. Tiny sparks lit up a trail towards the scale. Shauna's body seized up, but she stood still.

"Three!"

His finger clenched on the trigger.

---

An enhanced video feed from a distant vantage point fed into the FLARE headquarters, tracking UB-Blast as it traveled through the skies.

"That's not good," Clemont said nervously, his eyes watching as the pillars surrounding it suddenly changed directions, the ends spewing energy stopping entirely. "LADY, bring up the infrared feed!"

The technicians in the lab watched in dreadful anticipation as the feed switched over. One of the pillars' ends was a bright red, the other a deep purple.

"It's heating and cooling the air? Full radiation overlay."

One showed a field that bent inwards, another that bent outwards.

"Oh, crap- Professor! Tell them not to-"

---

A dozen megawatts took the form of a solid beam of energy, blasting towards Celesteela and scorching the air it touched.

Shauna reeled her arms back in front of her, and the beam bent upwards. She forced her hands out and sent the beam towards the Anomaly.

The beam missed by a meter. It was sucked in by one of Celesteela's pillars, momentarily disappearing completely and leaving the sky dark.

"Energy cannot be created or destroyed…"

"It's a Magic Cylinder!" Aveline shouted frantically.

"Shit! BRACE!"

From the other pillar, a blast that struck tenfold exploded, turning night into day and hiding the full moon as it rose.

The air around him was burning. He couldn't even move to shield his face. But in front of him…

Serena was taking the brunt of the blast. What little of the pillar she could bring up was being atomized on impact. He smelled smoke as it was shoved in his helmet.

There was no oxygen to breathe, but he cried out, "Serena!"

"Take… the… shot," she struggled out, holding herself spread eagle against the blast. "My AIAM field… will not hold it… for long."

"Shauna," he wheezed.

"Serena!"

"Help him… Help him!"

Shocked into movement, Shauna held up her arms against the white.

"Bend it around!" He couldn't breathe. He would pass out in less than a minute. "Whatever you have, use it! I know we don't like each other," he said in that moment of desperation, "But I'll put my faith in you! I believe in you! Save Serena and save yourself! BLAST!"

A current of blue-green light traced along the new beam as it sliced through the first. Like a sea before a rod, it split in two.

Somewhere in the white void of energy, in his delirium, Blanche saw something. A skeleton of ink. Burning red eyes. A golden feathered crown.

You have exceeded my expectations, my avatar. But perhaps, you require my boon. An insect such as yourself makes such things necessary.

A gaping darkness swallowed the world around him, and all he could see was black.

---

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: ERROR. MISSING NUMBER.

Designation: ERROR. MISSING NUMBER.

FLARE Designation: ERROR. MISSING NUMBER.

Aveline looked up at the screen, her hand covering her mouth. "What on Earth?"

---

His vision returned when he took his first breath. Spotty, but slowly fading back in.

Just off the coast, a plume of water was receding, and he could see teal metal bob up and down at the surface.

The Clemontic Gear had fallen to the wayside, clattering down the side of the pillar before it was recalled in a blast of light.

Serena's clothes were still smoking, the black a charcoal-like gray in some areas on its front. Her hair that was unprotected by her helmet was entirely gone. He touched it with a gloved hand and still felt the heat. He pulled it off of her, trying his best to keep it from breaking and melting to her skin, and kneeled to hold her up.

Her skin was tinged red, as well as her eyes. Her face was blank as always but body was shaking.

"...Did I do good, Calem? Is this what you would do?" She asked, staring somewhere past him.

"You did good, Serena. I'm not Calem. I don't have to be him to tell you that."

"You're not?" She said, distantly. "Then… what do I do?"

"Smile, Serena." He pulled his own helmet off with one hand, dropping it behind him. "You've got a lot of people that care about you." His bandages fell away from his face like leaves, curled and tattered. His own smile was bitter, but it meant something. He didn't know what, but it did.

"I do…" She said, her voice filled with something. Gratitude, realization, wonder, it all fell together into a single, questioning phrase.

"You do. And you've done them all proud. Even me," he chuckled, "And I'm a huge asshole."

"Don't say that, Calem," she murmured, her eyes half-lidded. "You've always wanted me to…"

A silent few minutes passed on top of that pillar. The full moon hung above them, making light a certainty once again.

Shauna stood behind them. Her hand was mere inches away from his shoulder. But at the last second, she stopped and turned away.

"Yeah, I know," he said. "Let's get you home. Shauna?"

"Uh… yeah?" She stammered out, pretending that she wasn't listening.

"You alright?"

He expected the words, why do you care?, to come sailing out of her mouth.

"Yeah," she said meekly. "Thank you."

"You can thank Serena by getting her to bed. She's the one that deserves it. It's been a long day."

A cacophony became clear from over the headset, more than a dozen voices laughing and cheering together as one.

"...Yeah. It has."

 

[MikaelBrigman]

In the deepest bowels of FLARE-Lumiose, generally known as the FLARE headquarters, there is an office steeped in darkness and blackened walls.

Two murals counteract each other from the floor and ceiling. A royal blue four-legged beast of glass horns and luminescent tears stands proud, radiating life. From above, an arterial-feathered reaper cuts through lively fields with a beam of oblivion.

Three figures stood in this room, one behind a desk with his fingers steepled.

"Lysandre," he greeted, as his daughter shied away from speaking.

"Augustine," the figure with a mane of orange replied, "You have a report?"

"Yes. Aveline, if you would?"

"Um, right." The young Professor looked up from her shoes, the stress on her face hidden by the dimmed nature of the room. "LADY, um, I mean, LADY is…"

"The FLARE computer system. I am aware of what name it prefers."

"Oh, of course! I apologize, um, during the last battle with UB-Blast, LADY reported traces of an unknown AIAM field signature."

"As opposed to blue or green?"

"Um, yes sir. I don't believe it's an error. Of our two recent Rangers, one of them is primarily Electric-type, and one of them is unable to project an AIAM field."

"That would be Amaranth, would it not? Are you saying you hired a normal level Esper, Professor?" The man's glare was leveled at Sycamore, who grinned and shook his head.

"No! I mean, I'm sorry for interjecting; Amaranth does not have any aura whatsoever, not just unable to project it. Our field engineer discovered this allows Amaranth to keep higher power Infinity Batteries active and on his person."

"...I see. Does Amaranth have the ability to cancel out fields? Perhaps that is an Anomaly in and of itself."

"Um, no, sir. He simply has no aura, we've tested it extensively."

"I see. Has he had contact with Aural Shells or other derivatives?"

"No, not yet, though it's theorized that he would be able to make contact without adverse side effects."

"Keep your eye on him, then. What were the circumstances of the error?"

"I believe it was caused by an overlap in AIAM diffusion fields."

"Much like…?"

"Um, perhaps."

"I see. It is likely so." Lysandre closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. "Thank you for the report, Professors. You are dismissed."

"Of course, sir," Aveline squeaked, quickly moving for the door.

Augustine shot the orange-haired man with a pair of finger-guns as he walked backward. "Drinks tonight?"

Lysandre chuckled in a low tone, inclining his head. "As usual. Will you be inviting Diantha?"

"I've been your wingman for more than a decade, what's another night?"

"I don't have time for such things. My interest is purely aesthetic."
"Ha! You keep telling yourself that. Text me when you get out of here."

Lysandre was left alone in his dark office, lost in thought.

"Such a strange world we've been left with."

---

Months passed.

January faded into February with nary a blink. The weather stayed the same, though there were some warmer days. Those would come later, as for the first week, a cold front swept through the Kalosian plains from the south and covered the city in sleet and snow.

Serena's birthday happened to be on the 2nd, which would have been a school day had a certain Trainer School not been snowed in and the monorail system needed to be cleared.

It was a quiet affair. Blanche made a big breakfast with all sorts of foods, both because he had the free time and because strawberry-and-chocolate-chip pancakes were an occasion in and of themselves.

As it was, Fennekin and Froakie curled up by the fireplace, the former having started the crackling fire and the latter being a reptile, of a sort. Chespin had his back to the fire and watched the rest of them. The Grass-type had also managed to get himself a mug of hot chocolate, which was nearly half the size of his head.

Ariel and Audino were swaddled together in some blankets on the couch while Blanche just leaned against the cushions and stared into the fire.

Of course, in a seven-person household, they didn't have only one couch. The other one was L-shaped, pressed into the corner formed by the kitchenette counter. It wasn't far, given the room was maybe two Blanches-lying-down wide, and yes, that was his estimate. Shauna was leaning up against Serena, telling everyone the story about her first battle at FLARE again. Trevor and Tierno were adding details or asking questions whenever she left something out.

He couldn't blame her, and the fight against Celesteela had clearly had an impact on both of them. She'd healed from the burns remarkably quick, but Serena's hair was shorter, having been recut evenly by a stylist, and tied into a single neck-length ponytail rather than flowing down her back.

Shauna, meanwhile, hadn't called him a creep, pervert, or Mummy in days.

Which one was more surprising, he didn't know.

A pile of presents was laid out between them, the vast majority being from Shauna because as it turns out when one is suddenly given a month's salary and all needs are taken care of, they tend to splurge.

She turned out to have bought maybe a bit too much, as wrapping paper covered the floor about ten minutes later. But each time, she made the effort to smile, nearly shocking Shauna comatose before she bounced back with double the energy.

Tierno and Trevor pooled their money to buy her a really nice satchel, black with red trim and buckled straps.

Ariel wasn't quite sure what to get her but Blanche offered to pay for her, so she got Serena a dress that Blanche wasn't smart enough to describe, but she seemed to like it.

Compared to a dress, a hat was probably a lame gift. Red felt with a black band around the base and a lip that bent upwards. It looked familiar when he'd seen it in the store, so he bought it for her.

She put the hat on slowly, fitting it snugly over her head.

"It feels right. Thank you." She looked at him, and then he realized that she was looking through him. "I need to grab something. I will be back."

She disappeared from the room, with Shauna shooting him a glare but saying nothing. A minute later, she returned with a dusty red cylindrical cap.

"Can you wear this?"

He took the hat in his hands, focusing on it intently. It's Calem's hat, a part of him recognized. But it's also her birthday, he replied. A chunk of lead settled in his stomach, but he replied anyway.

"Yeah, alright."

Her smile reached her eyes, something he'd never seen before. He wished it was under better circumstances.

Just what have I gotten myself into? He sighed mentally.

To think he could replace someone just like that? There was something wrong there for both of them. More so than usual.

But a tiny part of himself, a part that he didn't recognize, said that it felt right.

---

Ariel joined Blanche's class the next week, with the cold front passing enough for schools to resume. She wore a long, sky-blue sundress with a tan cotton coat, a white ribbon around her waist, and white shoes accented with emerald green.

A faint thought occurred to him that she was overdressed but another reminded him that he was sitting right next to a greaser, a karate kid, and a spirit medium.

She sat across the room in the back-right corner. Given the distance from the board and lack of window view, it only made sense that the seat had been vacant.

It was Monday, the eighth day of the month, and as such, people started stressing about many different things. For Blanche, it was testing and trying to get Ariel caught up on what she missed. For everyone else…

Gin put it into words during lunch.

"Man, you guys got any plans for this weekend? I know I don't."

Blanche and LaRusso had gathered around Gin's desk as usual, most everyone else having vacated.

Lenore was trying to convince Ariel that she could totally sit with them, but she kept replying that she didn't want to impose.

"I don't think so. Why? Is there something special?"

"Man, don't make me say it, you know guys aren't supposed to get excited about it."

"What?"

LaRusso shook his head. "Heart Day. And Gin, it's totally fine if girls don't give you anything, you don't need to get worked up."

"I'm not worked up, dude. I'm totally awesome and I don't need no hangers-ons, you know what I'm sayin'?"

"It's called," Blanche nearly strangled himself with the words, "Heart Day? Not Valentine's Day?"

LaRusso gave him a weird look and asked, "Who's that? But yeah. Oh, you forgot that too. Right, so basically, it's a day when girls give chocolate to guys they care about, and then on Pi Day a month later, we buy them pie and sweets and things like that to pay them back."

"Pi… Day?" He whispered.

"Yes."

Blanche fell on the floor laughing his head off, right in the path of Ariel, who'd just been convinced that Gin and LaRusso wouldn't do anything stupid if she said hi.

"Ow, ow, ow, haha, ow, ow." He finally stood up, face entirely blank. "Ow. Okay, back to what we were talking about."

"Right. Serious business and all of that."

A silent minute passed, Ariel looking between the three standing boys and seeming vaguely worried, while Lenore sighed and shook her head.

Gin broke the silence with another sigh.

"...Man, I need to get laid."

Blanche tackled Gin, yelling and whispering, "Not in front of Ariel!"

"She can join if she wants, man, that's her choice, but I don't really…"

The greaser trailed off under the weight of Blanche's death glare, along with the boy's hands around his neck. It didn't stop him from fighting back, but anything he did say would probably trigger an adrenaline rush.

LaRusso, despite being the most physically suited to intervene, did nothing.

"I don't understand," Ariel said, looking between the two scuffling boys and the other girl.

Lenore pointed her finger upward. "Well, you see…"

A few seconds passed.

"See what?"

"Boys are stupid."

---

Naturally, that week ended on a Saturday night, with Blanche, Gin, and LaRusso having a drinking contest in a certain cantina.

Drinking soda, of course. The frosty bartender seemed to remember them. And somehow, Gin was not kicked out on sight. Was property damage not a criminal offense anymore? That'd be ridiculous, but the greaser still had a swagger in his step, so there must have been a factor he was missing.

"So," Gin said, wiping his lip and burping. "Girls."

"Oh my God," Blanche responded, burying his face in his open palm, concealing a reflexive scowl.

"Which one? That's pretty old-fashioned, man."

"You're literally dressed like it's still the fifties. And I'm allowed to act old, I have gray hair."

"Looks more white to me, but I get your drift. My point is…"

"You're not exactly an expert," LaRusso said, drinking water rather than empty calories. He'd ordered Blanche and Gin waters and asked the bartender to stop giving them soda after the ten-minute mark.

"Russ, you don't gotta point that out! I'm like the, uh, mentor, yeah, that's the word. We gotta teach the B-man the ways of manliness."

"I'm an appreciator of fine arts," Blanche said testily, swirling his mug, "But I'm really not in the right place to try dating. I mean, I don't even know myself. Wouldn't it be crazy if some girl showed up and claimed she's my long-lost childhood friend? I wouldn't even be able to tell and that sounds like way too much stress."

"Ah, I get your drift. Trust me, girls are crazy. I mean, me and Russ have known Lenore for years, we'd know."

"I'm abstaining from this talking point."

"Yeah, yeah. But hey, if you're not into girls, guys are totally an option. It really doesn't matter all that much."

Blanche coughed but shook his head. "Nah, that's not why. I'm just not in the right situation to consider dating."

"That's cool too. You don't even need a partner, to be honest. You always got friends, ya dig?"

"Huh." That was… surprisingly true, now that he thought about it. Wasn't Gin supposed to be a fifties greaser, ideals and all?

"But, as tomorrow is the 14th, the issue at hand is: Girls, and how to deal with them." Gin stuck his elbow into Blanche's side, smirking with his sunglasses sliding down his nose. "I think you might be having some trouble, yeah?"

He stared at the other boy as blankly as his name. "What?"

"You know…"

A minute passed, Gin's sunglasses eventually sliding off his face entirely, clinking onto the bar.

"I don't."

"Dude. No, seriously, dude. Dude."

"I am one, you're correct."

"Dude."

"What I think Gin is trying to say is," LaRusso interjected, fiddling with the back of his headband, "That you must be being facetious."

"I don't have problems with women. At least, not the kind that you're talking about. I'm not really sure if this one girl, Shauna, hates my guts or not."

"That'd be one."

"Yeah, but it's not like that."

"How do you know?"

"Because it's obvious?"

"Hey, maybe she's your old flame and she's just pissed you don't remember her."

"I think we're going off the deep end with the cliches…"

"And Ariel seems nice, are you guys, uh…" Gin started to ask but stopped at the glare.

"She can never find out about that kind of stuff. Ever. The world's terrible enough as it is."

"So you're a crusader, protector of the innocent?"

"That is not what the crusades were. Probably. Shit. But no, even if I, uh…"

"You what?"

"Ah, nothing, it's irrelevant. But do you guys ever hear about FLARE?"

"Well… yeah, man, they practically own the city." Gin rolled his eyes. "Kind of hard to miss."

"Really? I thought they just fought Espers and weird Pokemon…" An opportunity to ask someone with an outside perspective about his weird workplace wasn't an opportunity he was going to pass up.

"Well, they could be doing a better job," Gin said. "Me and Russ get in our fights sometimes, but the big problem around is the back-alley stuff that's less obvious. You know, trading drops of Aura Sacks or whatever they're called.

"Aural Sap," he corrected without thinking. LaRusso gave him a weird look, but Gin went on.

"Yeah, that, or they're stealing Pokémon, wagering unfair amounts of cash, whatever."

Blanche felt sick to his stomach, not just from the carbonation. "Really? That kind of thing happens here?"

"Of course it does, man. Like four million people live in this city, and then a ton more if you include Pokémon. Where people are, there are laws, and people to break 'em. You know, like me."

"Do you-"

"I mean getting into fights! Stealing Pokémon is lameo stuff, that's why me and Russ do our thing and…"

"Gin, we shouldn't talk about cape stuff here."

"My cape is awesome, thank you very much. It's not like they don't know who I am."

Blanche looked between the two of them listlessly. "I don't get it."

"Okay, how do I put this," Gin leaned into the back of his stool. "FLARE only has like, three Espers. There's a lot more than three out there."

"Right." Irony is sweet. No, wait, that's the aftertaste.

"It's like math and stuff. Some people are good, some people are bad. Not all the good people work for FLARE, and not all the bad people decide to tear up the middle of the city."

"So…"

"Me and' Russ, we're like, uh, vega- no, vigilantes, that's the word. Crime fighters."

"Gin…"

A crowd of suited men with black-out sunglasses had just walked through the door, and sat around the room.

"So what we do is we just knock 'em out, drop 'em off with the police or at the nearest FLARE entrance."

"Gin…"

A triad of ninjas had walked in, then one by one, disappeared into the rafters.

"It's pretty hard work, and it makes Lenore really mad when we show up for first aid in the middle of the night at her place, but helping people's totally worth it."

"Gin…"

A group of thugs had entered, wearing hoodies and bandanas as if dressed for a peaceful protest, and sat down, surrounding them at the bar.

LaRusso sighed, slipping a medical mask out of his pocket and onto his face. "Gin."

"Huh?" Gin looked behind him. "Oh. You guys moping about Heart Day too?"

There was a wide silence, broken when Blanche told LaRusso, "You know that doesn't cover your face, right?"

"Four million people in this city. Same-face syndrome is a real thing."

"Ah."

Then the silence continued.

"Before we get started," Gin sighed as he stood up, putting on his own mask. He slid off his jacket and revealed a muscular frame beneath a white tank top. "Anyone want to get out?"

---

The low buzzing of the streetlights kept the three of them company as they trudged off, Blanche trying his best to keep the other two on their feet.

"Man, I told you I can walk home," Gin complained dully, his jacket draped over his shoulders and his face smudged with red.

LaRusso was much the same, holding himself up on Blanche's shoulders as they walked.

Blanche felt that his spine was probably going to implode, but that really didn't matter in the long run.

"You guys are crazy, I'm just," he puffed, sweat starting to soak into his bandages, "Helping out. I mean, that had to be twenty guys, plus their Pokémon. Even I have more self-preservation instincts than that."

"Yeah, they totally shoulda known better."

"I'm talking about you."

"Next right," LaRusso said, wiping his split lip.

"Right. Is she going to kick my ass too when we get there?"

"If you want to convince people you fought too, then you can ask her to."

"Sorry," he murmured, only partially because he was out of breath.

"Man, I shoulda asked if you were cool with it. The bartender usually is."

"You're all crazy," Blanche replied, shaking his head as much as he could. "Everyone in this damn city."

"'Ey, crazy is the spice of life, ain't it? But hey, not everyone fights."

They turned the corner, nearly tangling their legs and toppling over, but they managed.

"Lenore's house is on the left, number six-one-six."

"Right. I should have helped, sorry."

"Man, don't apologize. If you can't fight, you're only risking yourself, and that wouldn't be right. Me and Russ, we got that responsibility, ya dig?"

"But…" Could he tell them? Being in FLARE was sort of a secret, and morphing in the middle of the bar would have exposed him as a Ranger.

"No buts, man. Everyone's got their reasons, no issue with it. Someone's gotta do it though."

"Here."

The apartment complex seemed less like something straight out of Full House and more New York style, grooved stone ridges and even a gargoyle-looking thing up on the roof's edge.

LaRusso pressed a button on an intercom outside.

"Who is it?" The medium's voice came through, crackling.

"You'll never guess who we ran into," Gin asked, the crooked grin on his face carrying into his tone.

"Geniévre, you stupid bastard, I just started watching something!"

Gin winced, looking over to LaRusso for help.

"Room for three more?"

"Russ, I swear, I'm sending both of you to Darkrai if you… wait, three?"

"We may have, uh, gotten our favorite mummy-man in on it."

"And you didn't invite me?" She yelled, her annoyance clear. "I always leave some time in my schedule to go crime-fighting with you guys, but you never invite me! But here you go again, showing up at ten in the evening, beaten-up and lugging around someone else!"

"...Sorry?" Blanche said.

"I'm not mad because of you, it's because of the two idiots who brought you." She paused, a gear clicking in the intercom. "Is it because I'm a girl? Oh, I swear, Darkrai's going to be the least of your worries, you-"

"Listen, it's not, but can you let us inside so we can get some bandages?"

"I left my extras at home," Blanche offered, trying to help the other boy's case.

"Always the first aid kit, always some snacks, never "Hey, Lenore, don't you have Banette: The Haunting on DVD? Can we come over and watch it?" I mean, it's not like you guys have anything else going on."

"We can watch it right now," Gin said quickly, either missing or ignoring the look of horror on LaRusso's face. "I mean, I'd love to. Hey, Blanche, do you like horror movies?" Gin's voice dropped to a whisper. "Please say yes."

"Uh… Yeah, man, like, totally," he said, stumbling through his words well enough to elicit a weak face-palm from Gin.

"So can we watch it right now and also get some first aid?"

The intercom crackled for a moment, only white noise coming through.

"...Fine," she huffed, "Door's unlocked."

---

"Hey, uh, Ms. Grace." Blanche held the Holo Caster close to his ear and away from Gin's yowling at antiseptic being furiously rubbed into his skin.

"Are you on your way home? Your curfew is in a few minutes."

"Actually, can I stay over at a friend's house?"

"Do Trevor or Serena know them?"

"Eh… maybe? Ariel has met them and Tierno was there for the class party a few weeks ago."

"Uhuh. Is it a girl?"

"What? No- well, yeah, but there are other guys."

"Are there doors that lock?"

"Maybe?"

"Come home."

"Aw, man…"

"I was your age once too. And it's Heart Day in a few hours." She clicked her tongue over the phone. "It might seem romantic, but it's a mood killer later on if it doesn't work out."

"I think we're talking about different things. We were going to watch a movie, not… that."

"You can watch it with them later, it's late and you don't have an overnight bag, do you?"

"Eh…"

"That's what I thought."

Blanche clicked the Holo Caster off, sighing. He still used it like a mobile phone rather than holding it out and talking to a hologram.

"Ms. Grace, the dorm mother, said I have to head home. You guys have fun."

Gin looked at him with the shock of a great betrayal on his face. "Wait, man, you can't-"

Lenore grabbed his face again, cracking his head against the back of the couch and covering his lips with an adhesive bandage. "Now, you're not complaining about my company, are you?" She looked up at him, much calmer. "Again, sorry they dragged you into this, get home safe."

Girls are scary, he thought, trying to not show fear.

"Right, thank you. I'll try to survive the next twenty-six hours."

---

The promised day came soon enough, Blanche waking up around ten after he finally crashed at one or two in the morning.

He woke up to a grainy, floaty smell wafting up through the house, with a rich, sweet scent accompanying it. Remember, Blanche is a teenage boy. Teenage boys, when exposed to food smells, seek out said food. He nearly tripped over two tiny bags outside his door, but he didn't give them a second thought.

He'd long since become used to seeing Ariel in a maid dress, as she seemed to prefer it when doing just about anything around the house. It didn't help the hormones, but given the date, he was trying to suppress those.

Ariel whirled around carrying two covered trays, three Fletching chirping on the open windowsill. She stopped when she saw him, giving him a bright smile. "Good morning! Did you…"

"Morning," he yawned, not noticing her trailing off and brushing a hand through his hair; at which point he realized that he hadn't rewrapped his bandages after taking them off the night before. "Ah."

The first thing he noticed was that his skin was rough, like canyons ran across his skin, though the ridges couldn't have been more than a few millimeters deep. He was surprised to see that his hand came away completely dry. He looked from his hand to Ariel, who…

"Is it hot in the kitchen?"

"What?" She replied, her face dusted with pink, obviously from the heat drifting from the opened oven. "Um, sort of… Your bandages…"

"I forgot them, I know, sorry to bother you," he said, waving her off and turning.

"I don't mind!" She spoke, pulling him back with her words. "It's not a bother. I'm glad you're feeling alright without them. Any itching?"

"No, just sort of breezy." He ran his hand over his face again, marveling at how foreign it felt to him. He hadn't dared to agitate them before, other than to apply antimicrobial cream in the morning. "I'm going to, uh, go change. Need any brain bleach?"

"Brain…" She tilted her head to the side, causing the bonnet to flop. "Bleach?"

"Never mind."

Thirty minutes later, he'd returned fully dressed, having tossed the small bags of chocolate outside his room inside his room without looking too closely, to a much fainter smell, but one that lingered. Ariel had taken to feeding the three Fletching at the window, giving them bread crumbs and giggling as chirped songs back to her.

This girl is going to kill me, he remembered, thumping his chest to beat down the hormones. "Morning, again. What'd you make?"

"Oh, it's this chocolate-swirl bread recipe Mrs. Grace showed me after Serena and Shauna finished this morning. She said I might need it." She put a finger on her cheek, looking up and away. "Though I can't see why…"

"That woman," he muttered, before raising his voice, "Don't worry about it." He quickly walked over to the table, passing Chespin who'd been hidden behind the counter rather than Audino, who was nowhere to be seen. "You want some bread, boy?"

"Ches," it said resolutely, tiny arms held behind its back.

Blanche, dramatically so, pulled an additional chair from the table, offering it with a flourish and a sarcastic look.

The Grass-type waddled over and in a single-motion vaulted up the side and into a sitting position, its face flat and just barely poking up over the top.

Blanche took his own seat, cut out two slices of the bread, handed one to Chespin on a paper towel, and as Ariel looked at him expectantly, took a bite.

The swirls of chocolate melted in his mouth and the bread tasted more like ambrosia than anything found on Earth.

"Ariel, why are you here and not flying around in Heaven with the rest of the angels?"

It was a, ahem, testament to the quality of the food as well as her ethos in general, not that he knew he was saying that.

No one ever said Blanche was smart, exactly.

"Thank you," she replied, the steam coming out of her ears clearly imaginary.

"No, thank you," he said after taking another bite, "It's delicious."

"I'm glad you think so! Can I get you some tea?"

"I'd like that, thanks."

As Ariel moved to pull cups from the cabinet, Blanche looked around and got to thinking.

"Where is everyone?"

She hummed for a few moments before saying, "Mrs. Grace went shopping with Serena and Shauna."

"You didn't want to?"

"I couldn't think of anything I wanted." She paused as she set a laden tray on the table. "Nothing that I could buy, at the very least. Trevor and Tierno went out as well."

"I hope they're having fun," he said near-automatically, while carefully handing Chespin a hot cup of tea.

"Ches." It took it and showed that the cup was half the size of its head.

"No problem, bud." He looked around again, his neck turning further and further in confusion. "Where are Audino and the other two?"

"Mrs. Grace said something about a "girls only" trip, though I can't see what would make it so."

He shrugged. "I don't really get why that stuff's so important anyway."

Ariel slid into the seat separated from him by Chespin, closing her eyes and sipping her own cup of tea. "Mhm."

Suddenly, he was alerted by a buzz in his pocket. His Holo Caster had a single message flying across its transparent screen.

"The flowers are artificial, you won't need to water them. Living cells don't work with the system."

"Aveline, what?"

He was cut off by a blast of light and a scratchy cloud of green flopping onto his head. Indeed, it wasn't Chespin; it was a fake bouquet.

He took it off his head, shaking the sparkly red flowers back and forth.

"Huh."

Eloquent as always.

"Oh, did Chespin do that?" Ariel asked before laughing and rubbing the Grass-type's head.

"No, it's a FLARE thing." He scratched his head with the lower stem, pointy as it was. "I think. That's an interesting way to use the Gear teleportation." He glanced between the branching red flowers and Ariel. "It's no big deal though. I'll find a vase or something…"

---

March passed as quickly as the time difference between two early-morning alarms. Clemont had started work on a new Gear, informing him that the Shell gun, or whatever it was called, was still in testing with the other engineers and that he was working on an agility boost.

Midway through the month, Blanche bought everyone flowers in return for Heart Day, as it seemed to show gratitude well in Kalos, though that could have been the Shaymin myths slipping in. Mrs. Grace laughed and told Tierno and Trevor to take notes, as he gave their guardian her gift first. The former laughed it off and moved to pull his box of personally-baked protein bars out of the oven, while the latter scrambled for an apology.

As Blanche had woken up extra early, he had time to stop by FLARE before school. Aveline reacted about the same as she had the first time he gave her flowers. An example of history repeating itself if nothing else. She was always stuttering, there was nothing special about it. Nothing weird, certainly, no way.

Shauna was a minefield he was trying to be careful around. He wasn't sure if she'd appreciate him taking time out of his day for her, as she'd probably call it perversion or something equally ridiculous. She wasn't exactly antagonistic, but whenever he looked in her general direction, she'd look away, red with what was certainly anger. One particular day, when instead of dragging Serena off, she had sat in their classroom and alternated between staring at him and staring at Serena.

Maybe there's something going on with them, he thought. But instead of lingering on it, he reached into the wide shopping bag and pulled out three separate bouquets.

Ariel took hers happily, thanking him profusely for reasons he didn't really understand, but again, Blanche is sort of an idiot. She'd started taking her breaks with him and the three (maybe?) rogue Espers in their class, forming a sort of wall between him and the hot-and-cold duo.

He sighed and stood up, accepting his fate and marched over to them, ignoring the questioning looks Gin shot him.

"Hey, Serena. Thanks for being a great coworker, the chocolate, and also convincing Shauna to save some chocolate for me last month."

She accepted her flowers with a faint smile, which slipped away as her eyes darted to his forehead.

"You forgot your hat."

"Ah. I did, didn't I?" He twisted a loose lock of hair, trying to look like a docile idiot so as to not set Shauna off. Just as well, he didn't have any intention of remembering to wear it in the future.

Because in addition to only speaking his mind when freaked out and having a thought process as reasonable as making spoons out of mercury, Blanche is also a coward who thought just plainly stating she was delusional to her face wasn't a fantastic idea.

He turned to Shauna, one last bouquet held limply in his hand.

"This doesn't mean anything."

Why did she recoil when he said that?

"What?"

"I know you don't like me, but I still appreciate the thought. I got you some rue. Because I'm a comedian. Ha, ha." He held out the flowers, looking away. "This is just a social obligation. Don't call me a pervert." The fact that he felt that he did owe her for taking down Celesteela was left unsaid. Anything else he might've heard had to have been only a vision.

"Alright." Her energy had all but disappeared, or at the very least, dropped to a low simmer.

Why do I feel guilty? He thought to himself.

"...Are you okay? Feeling blue? Missed breakfast-"

"I said alright!" She snapped, quite literally too and right in front of his nose, before swiping the bouquet from his hands. "I'm not calling you a pervert anymore for a reason. Let it go already! Thank. You."

"If you say so."

"Ugh! Did you need something else? You better not be trying to hit on-"

"I wouldn't hit on anyone, least of all you."

"Serena! I meant Serena! And what's that supposed to mean?"

Tierno shook his head as he sat next to the opposite wall, though only Blanche noticed.

"I mean that I'm not suicidal. And also, you're my coworkers and that would be unprofessional as hell."

"You literally just gave us flowers."

"I owe you guys."

"I thought it was a social obligation?"

Damn, she's quick, he thought.

"Of a sort."

"Can you two make up already?" Gin asked behind his back. "My doctor said I need to wear earplugs above eighty-five deci-bells."

"Decibels," LaRusso corrected.

"Yeah, that."

"Mind your own business!" Shauna yelled, hopping on top of an absent chair. It only started being intimidating when lightning bolts started burning the air around her.

Blanche thought that was a good time to get out of dodge, so to speak, and decided to step away and let the four actual Espers deal with the developing problem.

"I was talking to you," Shauna said testily, staring down at him and punching her palm. "You're not running away, are you?"

Or not, he sighed.

---

Tuesday, the twenty-fourth of April, 2012. A time where absolutely nothing could go wrong.

Augustine Sycamore paced between the two walls of the FLARE lab, waving a clipboard for reasons which Blanche assumed included dramatic effect.

"Alright, everyone. Good news, we're going on a field trip, and you're all excused from school tomorrow!"

Shauna cheered and punched the air, Blanche raised his eyebrow, and Serena reacted like she always did, which is to say, very little.

"Bad news, it's an overnight trip and we have to be up at five o'clock sharp."

"What?" Shauna echoed his sentiment. "Why?"

"We're going to observe an experimental AIAM field test at an outdoor facility near Route 13. As FLARE was established to oversee Anomalous AIAM fields, we will be there to defeat the test subject should it go rogue or otherwise."

"Test subject?"

Sycamore tapped his own forehead with the clipboard, closing his eyes in thought. "A Golurk and a Pokémon Trainer will attempt to merge their AIAM fields and temporarily become a single being."

"How does that work?"

To the right of the Esper line, Aveline spoke, standing between Michael and Clemont at the massive computer desk. "There's a lot of theory between, I mean, behind the diffusion of AIAM fields, but to put it plainly, it's a matter of spirit."

"Because of course it is," Blanche sighed. "Alright, how's that work?"

"Have you noticed that when two people are aligned in ideals, they both become stronger?" Aveline held up two fingers and crossed them. "That is a result of AIAM diffusion fields. A combination of fields has occurred before, so my fellow scientists have known it's possible for two years."

"When was that?"

"When the Aura Guardian Mended the Heavens, he combined with a Golurk and many other Pokémon. However, the test will consist of one Trainer and one Golurk," Aveline clarified.

"God, I hate capital letters." Even if they're in my head, he amended. "Okay, why Golurk in particular? Because it looks like a mecha?"

Aveline tapped the tips of her fingers together. "I think it's an homage…"

---

Somewhere across the world, fighting off a horde of Rattata to protect a tiny village in the forest, Hilbert Johannson's blue stone helmet melted away in order for him to sneeze.

"People are talking about me again," he said to himself, wiping his nose then punching the pack leader, a bus-sized Raticate, straight through a tree. "Cool."

---

"...But that could be the reason, yes."

Blanche blinked. "Huh."

Eloquent as always.

Professor Sycamore clapped his hands. "And so, we're going on a field trip. And because we need to be there so early in the morning, we're going camping! I have a friend of a friend who happens to own a mobile home."

"Why is it so early, again?" Blanche asked.

The Professor flourished his clipboard by throwing it across the room, then pointing straight upwards with a hand on his hip. "Presentation!"

Blanche screwed his eyes up to the ceiling, looking away and trying to fight off a stupid grin. "Naturally. If it helps us kick ass, I'm down to wake up a little extra early."

---

The RV sputtered to a stop, having driven from a small garage outside the walls of Lumiose-3 along thin highways of asphalt and gravel to the low plains of northwestern Kalos. If it had only been the three Rangers, the Professor would have used Garchomp again, for better or for worse.

As it was, Augustine kicked open the door, took a heaving breath of fresh air, and hopped into the parking lot. The facility sat at the center, a small lab isolated in the forest, though it opened into a vast, open grassland and further towards the coast many miles away.

Blanche felt a stabbing pain in his head as he looked upon the scene. "Where have I seen this before?"

Shauna slapped the back of his head. "Move!"

"Agh, assault, assault! I hast been stricken by a daemon wench!"

"What are you even talking about?"

Regardless of the developing argument about the archaic way he'd just insulted her, the six younger FLARE employees piled out of the vehicle.

"Alright, we're here. Men, we have tents and inflatable mattresses. Aveline, you three get the bunks."

"Right," the younger Professor nodded, stepping back up into the mobile home.

Blanche ignored Shauna as she stuck her tongue out at him and kept his eyes on Augustine. "Yeah, alright. Makes sense."

Sleeping on an air mattress would probably be more comfortable than a dusty floor in a run-down shack, and he'd managed to conk out on the latter anyway.

The Professor took his own tent because he was a responsible chaperone and "Blanche, be sure to remind Grace what a gentleman I am, yes?"

Michael's headset was a constant, though it was less bulky when he didn't have the peripherals for LADY's system controls. He was staring at the domed ceiling with his eyes closed, which sounds strange but Blanche couldn't describe the tenseness any other way.

Clemont hadn't brought any scrap parts to tinker with, so he'd turned in early.

Blanche couldn't sleep. Maybe it was nerves. Perhaps it was his subconscious telling him that he'd be fighting soon. It could have been the light vertigo from the way he sank into the mattress when he shifted. Possibly even the gray light coming from the full moon.

Sometime when the moon reached its peak in the sky, Blanche pulled his shoes back on and quietly zipped the tent's fly back up. Waking the others up wouldn't do.

A faint light had settled in the near-empty lot, while all else was cloaked in shadow.

Aveline leaned against the outside of the RV, hands in her coat pockets as she looked up at the moon without a care in the world.

He froze like a deer caught in headlights and remembered that adage didn't apply in the Pokémon world, even as Aveline didn't seem to notice him. It was the calmest he'd ever seen her, and he felt disturbing her would have been like littering during a beach clean-up.

Her voice came clearly, even if each note was barely audible. "Fly… me to the moon… and let me play… among the stars."

"Let me see what spring is like… on Jupiter and Mars."

Aveline jumped, freezing up as he finished the verse.

"G-good evening," she said faintly.

"Hey," he whispered. "Couldn't sleep?"

"I… No, I couldn't. The moon is too bright."

In most ways, he couldn't understand her, but in a small way deep inside himself, he did.

"Yeah, I feel that."

Blanche stood from his crouch, his boots crunching down on the gravel, and walked over to lean next to her.

"You think something is going to go wrong?"

Aveline gave a small laugh. "When aura and AIAM fields are involved, they always do."

"Sounds about right."

With only a few months of experience, he wouldn't know, but that went unsaid.

"I don't sleep, Ama- Is it alright if I call you Blanche?"

"Of course. It's only a nickname, Professor. It's nothing special."

"You… You can call me Aveline. My dad's the Professor."

"If you say so. I mean, you've got a PhD and you're only, like, twenty?"

"...I don't know, actually."

A moment passed when the sound of moonlight falling was deafening.

"Huh." Something caught in Blanche's throat, and he hated that it did. "Are you… like me? I mean, there's no way, because you're like, a super-genius…"

"I woke up on a full moon two years ago. August 25th, 2009. I was not hurt like you were. I don't know where I came from, but I have memories that are not my own. Like I've lived many lives. I don't believe in reincarnation, and I don't think it was that in my case." Aveline crossed her arms. "You're an Anomaly, Blanche. I think you're a lot like me, if you don't mind me saying so, but we're not the same. That's why I find you interesting."

"In a scientific way?"

"In a scientific way."

The, "Oh, thank God," went unsaid as well.

"I have… well, I have aura. You don't have any. We're opposites."

"Ey, opposites attract," he joked. "I mean, literally, black hair versus white hair. It's like matter and antimatter or whatever."

"The fact you know so much about science and so little at the same time… My dad tells me he's confused as well. You can't remember details about yourself but you can about advanced science?"

"Something like that," he shrugged. "Most of it is subconscious. It's like a leaky faucet or something, but backward. When a question goes in, a few of my memories come out, but they're vague and I can't remember the people in them. It's a blur."

"I see." She turned away from him and turned her gaze skyward once again. "I know this world intimately. I'm sure for a fact I've only ever lived here. I once walked along Estival Avenue, and I was struck by a thousand senses of Deja Vu. That's why I don't go out anymore."

"That's… That sucks, I'm sorry."

"No. If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I find you fascinating as if you're some sort of test subject. It's disgusting."

"It's fine."

"I told you that, once. You were still guilty. We're rather similar if you don't mind me saying so again."

"You're in science mode, Aveline. You don't sound very embarrassed.

"This is how I think when I'm by myself," she responded. "I intellectually understand embarrassment. When I speak to a group of people, the Deja Vu breaks up my thought process. Thus, I stutter and mix up my words. And that is embarrassing, but I don't feel it when I'm talking to you. You're… an Anomaly. That's the best way I can say it."

Another minute passed as they drank the silence like warm milk in the evening.

"Maybe AIAM fields really are tied to memories," he offered.

"Maybe."

"...I'm going to hit the hay. Well, I should really just call it a nap."

"Very well. Sleep tight."

"Don't let the… eh, what Bug-types bite?"

"Don't let the Blipbug use Bite."

He laughed. "Right. You do the same."

---

Dozens of people filed into a room with a single window that showed a panorama of the packed earthen ground beyond. Scientists, surveyors, businesspeople.

There were two standouts. Among the scientists, they all deferred to a blond man with glasses in a lab coat with a blue cowlick that circled his head and seemed to be made of plastic. Among the surveyors, Blanche scanned their chests for insignias and found badges that read Interpol. One of them, a dull-looking man in a brown trenchcoat, bit into a lollipop as if it was a cigarette.

The two professors herded them in, half of them in black, pink, and yellow, and the other half dressed as always, though Michael clipped on a tie.

"Ah!" The lead scientist wandered over. "Augustine, how nice to see you again."

"Same to you. Everyone, this is Colress." Sycamore presented the man with a sprawled hand, turning to the rest of them.

"And this would be…" The man's eyes scanned over the three in spandex. "The rest of FLARE." His voice became sardonic. "I see your field team arrived as promised."

"Yes," Serena said, either not noticing the tone or not caring. Maybe she had some inner sarcasm after all.

Colress turned to Augustine again, giving a full-body shrug. "Do you really not trust my experiment to succeed? Because it very much will."

"Out of my control. Lysandre doesn't trust Team Plasma to do anything well."

A gong was rung in the back of Blanche's head, and it took all that he had not to flinch. Of course, Colress, the mad scientist from… Black and White 2? Wasn't that right?

But…

The world was so different. FLARE wasn't evil anymore.

Hopefully.

But that wasn't the point, the point was that so many things had changed. Judging people by what they were like when they were cardboard cut-outs would be just plain dumb.

"We're not like that anymore," Colress sighed, shaking his head at Augustine. "And by that, I mean that I'm simply a scientist that wishes to discover the true potential of Pokémon. Once my experiment is proven to work, the Golurk Synchro Project will be approved by the United Regions, and will serve to combat Anomalies as well…"

"...as sucking away funding from FLARE and granting Team Plasma legitimacy in the eyes of the UR," Sycamore finished. "I know a thing or two about politics."

"Ah, that might be true, but ultimately, you have no impact on the final decision, do you?" Colress turned to the three FLARE Rangers, smiling widely as if he hadn't just dissed their sort-of-manager right in front of them. "If any of you need a job… Well, I'm sure a Golett will hatch in the future that finds you agreeable."

The blond scientist walked away, and soon disappeared into the crowd reading biometric scanners. Outside, the world was dark but beginning to turn from black to dull blue.

Shauna crossed her arms. "I don't like him."

"You don't like anyone, Rue," Blanche reminded her.

"That's not true and you know it! I'm nice… to most people."

"That don't try," his voice deepened a few octaves, "To "steal yo' girl"."

"Let's not start an incident," Serena said evenly. Was that amusement? No, couldn't be.

"My thoughts exactly," Augustine reminded them. "We're here representing FLARE. Even if you don't like someone, you have to be polite. We can't reflect poorly on our organization."

"But that's…"

"Politics," Blanche sighed. "Well, at least everywhere except Unova."

"It's bad in Orre, too," Michael added with his own sigh. "Uncivilized would be an understatement." Michael's headset, for once, was reduced to a small Aura Reader, the sort that looked like a scouter from that one show about dodging being a subroutine. The spiky-haired redhead was wearing a backpack, presumably containing the rest of the peripherals. He looked as if to say something else about the state of politics back home, but trailed off. "Oh, dang. Don't look now, but…"

Naturally, Blanche looked.

The dull Interpol officer was burning a hole through their group with his gaze, which upon attracting their attention, was averted.

"Who the hell is that?" Blanche asked.

"His code name is Looker. I should have figured he would be here. To put things simply, I briefly met an individual of interest during the summer of 2009, and later that year, Looker came knocking to speak to me and Professor Krane."

Secret agent man, Blanche recognized.

"Interpol doesn't mess around, especially not when it comes to Heaven being Shattered."

"Ah… Wait, so you met the Aura Guardian or something?" Shauna asked, leaning in.

"Shhh!" Michael hissed. "Yes, fun times, don't yell that! Don't you have an inside voice?"

"Eh…"

Blanche's expression was hidden by his visor, but it's fairly obvious what it looked like beneath. He didn't snicker at Shauna being told off. Not at all. That was what an immature person would do. Yes, he's a teenage boy, so what? What's that got to do with it?

But regardless, the chatter slowly ceased with Michael refusing to elaborate as the presentation began.

Colress stepped onto an elevated platform, the sun's orange light slowly beginning to appear above the horizon outside the window behind him.

"Good morning, everyone!"

There was murmuring from around the crowd, as serious business didn't leave much room for enthusiasm.

"Good morning, everyone!" Colress stressed each word that time, and in response, around half the people in the room answered back. Blanche included, as one didn't attend a school anywhere without listening to a speech that started that way.

"Alright, tough crowd," Colress sighed, before apparently reading Blanche's mind. "But you're not here to reenact your school days, you're here to learn about the next great advancement in science."

The blond snapped his fingers, and outside, spotlights lit up the dim morning. A three-meter tall behemoth carved from bluestone stood, its own light flaring up in response.

A dark-skinned girl with frizzy, but tied-back ginger hair in a gray jumpsuit stood beside it, standing resolute against the scrutiny and in spite of the height difference.

Colress spoke, the sun finally beginning to creep up his back. "Today is the dawn of a new day, and the legends of the far past have been rediscovered. There have always been stories of man rising alongside Pokémon and becoming something more. Mega Evolution is made possible by the bond between a Trainer and their Pokémon. The Bond Phenomenon, as demonstrated by knights and heroes through history takes this a step further. Two beings share this bond and take on a new form. The heroes of Galar who cloaked a sword and a shield in their own aura and bestowed them upon their partners. The brothers that birthed Unova by using their beliefs to create the Ultimate Dragon. And, of course, the Aura Guardian of the modern-day, whom I have been inspired by. The Golurk Synchro Project has been made possible by him, the research done by professors and experts across the globe, as well as sponsors like you. Thank you."

Colress bowed to much applause, before straightening up and turning to the window. He pressed his index finger to a tiny machine wrapped around his ear, and said, "Miss Whately, please begin the test."

The ginger girl bowed outside, though she was nearly a speck in the empty field. "Yes, sir." Her voice came through an intercom that hung above the window.

Michael said as they all tried to get a better look, "Your helmets have a telescopic vision function. On your left side, there's a dial."

Blanche 'ooh'ed as the entirety of his vision intensified, and his periphery shrunk drastically. He could make out more details than just blobs of color outside, such as the equipment and audio receivers that led from the field back to the interior.

The grunt, presumably of Team Plasma, clapped Golurk's lower torso, a light tapping sound coming through the speaker.

It seemed almost annoyed, strangely. It looked down at her, before slowly kneeling on the ground.

"Good," she said, almost as if to reassure herself. "Remove your binding."

"Is that really a good idea?" Blanche asked as he watched. He'd read somewhere that removing the bandage on a Golurk's chest was supposed to be dangerous, but no one seemed to be panicking.

"It is, um, a risk," Aveline said, tensing up. "Though only when forced."

Golurk did not move from where it kneeled, its arms still at its sides.

"Colress, the Golurk is being unresponsive."

"Ah, just a minor complication!" Colress said loudly, appeasing the muttering business people. "It's to be expected! Now, Miss Whately, attach the blue wires to your right to the seam on its chest."

The grunt looked around for a moment, shielding her eyes from the sun, before saying, "Ah," and picking up a wire that ended in a flat, metallic plate.

Golurk clanked, and Blanche could've sworn the ground shook for a split millisecond. Serena seemed to feel something as well, as she suddenly tensed. For him, it was because he was constantly ready, eh, prepared to have his ass kicked. For her, it just came with the territory of being a physical master of all things mineral.

"Don't be scared. It's the same as every time before," the grunt said, pressing the wire to the lower portion of the glowing crack.

"Golurk. Go. Go. Go. GO. GO. GO." Each cry echoed through the intercom, though no one budged.

"Okay, moving on from this being a good idea; is this ethical?"

Aveline bit her thumb, eyes focused somewhere far off. "No… no, I've seen this before. This is… It's wrong."

"Hey, shut up, kid. What do you know?" One of the older scientists, a weedy middle-aged man, chided her. "It's just one Golurk. A scientist should understand that small sacrifices need to be made. They'll just give anyone a Ph.D. nowadays, won't they?"

Blanche clenched his fist but quickly lost his opportunity to speak.

"That's my daughter you're talking to, you know," Augustine said. His voice was something of a brown note, as cheery as it was. Blanche thought he was lucky that it wasn't directed at him.

"Pfft. The Sycamore duo, I should have guessed. Clowns on the international stage. One of them flirts with any woman he sees, the other doesn't even attend conferences. No findings to report, I assume…"

The man wasn't able to finish speaking or continue to put his foot in his mouth as Augustine's hand wrapped itself around one of his lapels.

Somewhere to Blanche's left, Michael walked away with a glaring look on his face.

"I believe I said that it is my daughter you are continuing to disrespect," Augustine said.

Aveline reached out for his shoulder. "Dad, don't…"

The scientist smirked and pulled Augustine's hand from his coat. "You can't touch me. You're FLARE and I'm with Colress. Wouldn't it be tragic if the UR thought you were trying to sabotage an independent operation? Why, they might even assume you're getting in the way of progress to protect your own organization. How pathetic for a man of science."

The man was jostled forward from the side, and his coat was quickly covered in steaming brown liquid.

"What?"

"Oops," Michael said, with such a sardonic tone that it would be clear to even the most oblivious of romance protagonists.

That wasn't a problem for Blanche though, as he certainly wasn't one. That would be stupid.

"I think I spilled my coffee," he continued, even as the scientist started sputtering and yowling in indignation. "Tragic," Michael said, as he sipped what little remained. "You should probably change. Maybe get the hell out of here in general, who knows?"

"You- I'm reporting you for this! Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm just the intern for," his eyes darted over to Blanche, "White Horsea Publishing. You know, real big scientific journal. And wow, blatantly questioning the qualifications of the youngest and most accomplished graduates from the prestigious Pokémon Tech? Scandalous. So, as I said, leave before I get thirsty again."

"Yeah!" Shauna shouted in agreement, though Serena's hand on her arm kept her from doing anything else.

The scientist sputtered for another few moments, pointing wildly at Michael, before running for the door.

Golurk's chanting continued, filling the awkward silence between the FLARE contingent.

"Go. GO. Go. Go. GO. Go. Go. GO. Go."

Michael sipped his coffee. "So, does anyone need a drink?"

"...How much of that did you make up?" Blanche asked.

"Yes. Well, actually, no. Aveline really is the smartest person of our age group and then some. The older Professor Sycamore," Michael continued despite Augustine's feigned taking of offense, "Just barely beats her because of sheer experience."

"Michael, don't exaggerate," she stuttered out in response.

Michael shrugged, allowing them to turn their attention back outside.

The golem finally slumped after minutes of protesting, the yellowish lights fading and taking on a bluish tinge, the color of frostbite and hypothermia.

The ginger grunt stood straight, arms crossed. "Good. Now, remove your binding."

In a single smooth motion, Golurk raised its left arm to its right shoulder and ripped downwards, pulling the weighted strap off. It dropped to the ground with an earth-shaking slam, as if a mountain had just been dropped.

"Prepare for entry."

Sickeningly, Golurk pressed both gauntlets into the crack on its chest and pulled. Stone deformed as it became more open to the air, and the crack became a rift that a person could fit through.

The grunt walked up to it and put her foot on its front, just below the crack as it bathed the earth in a pale blue light.

"Beginning Synchronization now."

She stepped through the rift, disappearing into its sickly aura, before the stone swelled shut like a spiraling door.

A whirring sound broke through the comms, constant like an earthquake.

"Miss Whately, status?" Colress spoke at the platform, back to the crowd.

"Attempting to take control now, Colress." Her voice came through garbled by the sound of shifting stones.

As Golurk-Plasma attempted to stand, the lights on its body turned a deep orange. The blue of the stone around it bled away, appearing to turn gray.

"S. O. S. S. O. S. S. O. S."

"That's not me," the grunt's voice claimed, despite her voice continuing to sound out the distress signal.

"Are you maintaining Synchronization?"

"It's… It's fighting me back, sir!"

Golurk's back arched, and the golem threw itself onto the ground. As if its arms had become human, it clutched at what could be called its face.

"My eyes! AGHHHHH!"

"Cut the sound," Colress said, sighing, before turning to the audience. "Deepest apologies, there are still some kinks to work out. Please dismiss yourself in a calm and orderly manner."

Scientists ran for the door, the first to know that something was going wrong.

"We're fighting now, aren't we?" Blanche deadpanned.

Aveline looked over to her dad, only for the older Professor to storm up to the stage.

"What on Earth is going on?" He asked Colress, tone entirely too relaxed and pleasant to be genuine as if the Professor was trying to sound like an idiot.

"Nothing to worry about," Colress said, waving them off, but occupied for the time being.

Michael shrugged his bag off his back and unzipped it, revealing a laptop and a pile of computer parts. "Clemont, I need a spare battery and a Wi-Fi connection."

"On it!" The jumpsuited blond replied, his backpack unlatching itself and flopping to the floor. It sprouted four tube-like legs and walked over to Michael.

"What are your field staff doing?" Colress asked, looking over the Professor's shoulder.

Sycamore slid to the side, posturing his hand on his head and laughing. "Oh, you know how teenagers are. Probably playing the Duelly Mons or some such. And gosh, is your test subject alright?"

Golurk fought to its feet, the sound of mantle scraping against itself accentuating its shudders. Glowing orange and emanating an aura that mixed with crimson flares.

"He's distracted," Michael said. "We're going to have to get your weapons quickly. LADY is going to hook up to my laptop soon. BURST won't work like it did on UB-Blast, as Golurk is Ground-type, but you have options, like the…"

"Wait," Blanche said, only sort-of noticing Shauna's deflation. "BURST is supposed to be a railgun, isn't it?"

"That's true, but I'd recommend using SHELL or BOOST."

Blanche remembered the two. The former was the aura debuff, while the latter had been under development by Clemont.

"Where are we getting the energy?"

"Well, just to get everything here," Michael pointed at Blanche without looking up, cross-legged and still typing rapidly with one hand, "We're using your unstable uplink since Geranium and Rue use the stable uplink to morph."

"Right. Professor, any advice?"

Aveline readjusted her glasses, looking sheepish. "Golurk is immune to Electricity, and Geranium's earth techniques won't affect it as strongly." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Um, to be official, Anomaly confirmed!"

Michael pressed a key and a flash of red reflected off his face. "Move out, Rangers. Comms on. And be careful with your distance, its already shown the ability to absorb aura."

The sound of glass shattering broke through the peace of their free action, and Golurk's fist soon followed.

"PAIN," it clanked in the grunt's voice, "NO MORE PAIN."

Serena dropped to the ground and pressed her hands to the floor. Shards of the glass, or what small parts were mineral-based, scraped along the floor and reformed into a single water-like orb. With a wave of her hand, it blasted towards Golurk as she ran to keep up.

The golem didn't stumble, Blanche noticed that as they jumped onto the stage and moved past Colress.

Serena swept upwards with a kick towards the air, and the stage dropped a foot downwards. Marble slabs and concrete melted into a manipulatable liquid which Serena used to throw the Golurk away from the people inside. Not all of them were scientists who didn't know the definition of too far.

A white sandstorm whirled Golurk backward into the early morning as the three sped outside through the broken window.

"I don't have control, it's in my head!"

The earth shuddered again as Golurk rebalanced itself ten paces out from the building. It continued stomping forward, pushing aside another blast from Serena.

"Rocks aren't working!" Blanche yelled.

"No metal to work with," she replied. The clear, concise logic made him feel stupid, which was probably the point.

Blanche wondered why he was in the air. His chest felt empty and his head light. He could see the forests, the plains, the Golurk beneath him with its fist pointed straight upwards.

"Oh," he said faintly, before trying to take in as much oxygen as possible that high up. His thought began running faster than his mouth, the opposite of what it usually did.

Height? No rocks. Good. Height. No ground. Bad.

"-Golurk's ability is Iron Fist!" Aveline's voice became clear as his ascent slowed. "To increase its punching power, it can briefly turn its fist into metal!"

He could have guessed, given that shards of it were embedded through his exoskeleton and into his surface-level epidermis. The pain made him angry, and the anger gave him focus.

"Access Clemontic Gear: BURST!"

---

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: BLUE

Designation: CGI BURST

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

FLARE Designation: Amaranth

"Granted!" Aveline couldn't say fast enough.

Michael tossed Clemont a big red button on a USB cord, and naturally, he pressed him in his fumbling to catch it.

"On its way!"

---

Blanche threw his shoulder into the huge tube, aiming it the best he could at Golurk, even as he began falling.

"Rue, feed energy now! Geranium," he paused in thought, "Catch me if you don't mind."

Down below, Shauna's eyes narrowed and began picking up the electromagnetic fields in the air. The interference and overlap was intense, but off to the side of the building, through multiple walls, she could make out a generator.

She stomped her foot, and she felt every computer in the building shut off as she pulled the generator's output into the air and curved it skyward.

As the seams of Blanche's BFG began glowing, he snatched a tiny shard of Golurk's gauntlet from his chest, the spots of blood that resulted blending into the spandex. He dropped it halfway to the ground, lining the three points up: The aim of his gun, the shard, and Golurk's chest.

"BLAST!"

The feedback held him in the air for a split second as the sun met its rival. The electricity wouldn't harm it at all, but the electricity wasn't what he was going for. Ground and Rock-types were similar enough, it was truly the consistency of mineral composition that affected the damage done to them. Paraphrasing what he'd learned in class, of course. And even then, a type resistance wouldn't help much when a railgun was aimed at you at around a dozen meters from your face.

The shard of metal tore through the stone, cutting from one shoulder to the opposite leg.

Serena brought up a pillar of earth, catching him as she had many times before in her arms. He didn't have to time to feel embarrassed about it as they slid to a stop.

Golurk's arm slid down its side, though it didn't quite detach. It began slowly pulling itself back together as the grunt inside screamed.

The cry was guttural. As if her body was being torn apart.

They all stopped.

"Aveline, the hell is happening?"

"The AIAM fields are combined," Michael exposited.

She nodded in his UI's peripheral vision. "...Yes, the two AIAM fields are overlapping and interfering with each other while combined. Their spirit, their intelligence, their emotion, they're almost completely merged."

"Does that include pain?"

"Yes."

Blanche faltered. Your body being torn apart… it was a sensation he was entirely too familiar with.

"Is there a way to disable it without, well, destroying it?"

Aveline paused.

"There might be. But it'll be dangerous. I… understand how AIAM fields work. How they overlap. How they can be diffused. But you'll need to be fast to get me there."

"Do we need a distraction?"

Golurk rose to its feet. Slowly at first, putting them into a false sense of security.

The Earth shook as it raged upon its crust with a single fist.

Fissures opened in the dusty plain, cracking and rising on steaming air currents. Serena dropped away from him and Shauna as huge shards of the ground shot skyward around Golurk.

Both of them fell, but each pillar-like platform slowed enough for them to keep contact.

Her voice became clear as he shook off the confusion and the ringing stopped. "Yes."

He looked over to Shauna, across a gap of twenty or so feet.

"How do I get faster?"
"Michael, send the objective list. And Amaranth, use BOOST."

Blanche nodded and shouted, "Catch!" at Shauna, before he jumped towards the earth.

---

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: BLUE

Designation: CGI BOOST

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

FLARE Designation: Amaranth

"Confirmed!"

Clemont didn't waste time listening to Colress shouting at the Professor for interfering, and simply slammed the red button once again.

---

The world slowed down around Blanche, though he didn't understand how. He was still falling, but as if he was sinking into a swimming pool. His suit had become air-tight, the spandex creeping up his neck and trapping his hair against his skin. To say he was confused would be an understatement. Obviously, it made him faster, but he never got an exact explanation of how, exactly.

The text started scrolling across the lower half of his vision, even as the other perspectives and angles slowed to a choppy few frames.

"Thank you for using Clemontic Gear Boost. My name is LADY, and due to the low processing power of the world around you, I will be your digital assistant."

The voice was clearly synthetic, though with the impression from the name, it sounded slightly feminine.

"Not to sound stupid, but how does that world?"

"The CGI Artificial AIAM Field is overlaying your being, increasing the speed of everything within close range to the generator. It also protects you from air resistance at higher speeds, though the effects will still act on your body."

"So I'm a speedster," he thought aloud, nonchalant as he could be while in not-technically freefall. "That's… broken. What about G-forces?"

"Your entire body speeds up, such as recovery mechanisms and natural defenses against such things. Simply crank the dial on your right side to decelerate, though take care to physically decelerate as well. You are currently acting at maximum speed."

He hadn't hit the ground just yet, though it was coming up soon, so that was good enough for him.

"Alright. So, any idea what Aveline's plan was?"

"Error. User not found."

"I mean the Professor. Aren't you an AI? Shouldn't you be able to tell who I'm talking about?"

"Are you looking for User: Yew?" LADY asked helpfully.

"Sure. List mission status or whatever. Please."

Blanche wasn't going to be the first one to die when the robots revolted, no siree.

A list rolled across his vision as he kicked against the pillar. It gave slightly, crumbling slowly as he dropped to the ground.

Rather than just landing, he continued moving, pushing against the earth with each step like he was walking on Jupiter. Air resistance or the time dilation made it feel like he was trying to walk through water. Clemont may have been a genius, but… actually? There was no but. He made a note to apologize later for even thinking there was.

A few seconds later, in normal time, Blanche appeared to have run straight down the pillar and in front of Aveline in just as much time.

He hadn't created a massive prevailing wind, but papers on non-panic-flipped desks scattered.

"So, what's the plan?"

Aveline didn't answer, only holding out her arms to the side with her eyes closed.

At which point he read further down the list of commands.

"Number two; throw User: Yew at the Anomaly and ensure she is absorbed into its AIAM field. Try not to hit the walls with her."

"Thank you, LADY," he sighed, cranking the lightning bolt-shaped dial back up to maximum. He picked up Aveline around her back and legs, putting her head in the crook of his neck to prevent whiplash. Naturally. Standard carry poses in fiction and all of that. He may have been a teenage boy, but not everything he did was motivated by hormones. Probably.

I'm already getting motion sick, he thought, turning slightly green. The vertigo was already starting to kick in.

He rushed outside, only to see two energy beams slowly inching towards each other in the air. At one end, on one of the heightened platforms, Shauna stood at the edge. Electricity had been funneled from the generator back into BURST, though it didn't seem to have anything else to shoot.

Golurk's arms were raised, a Focus Blast shooting towards Shauna with an angry red aura pulsating slowly.

"LADY, play Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)."

"Error. Ownership rights not found."

Blanche sighed, trying to think of exactly what his plan was. "Today is just not my day," he said.

With a slow start, he ran towards Golurk, behind its back after measuring the distance with his thumb, and tossed Aveline straight up into the air.

He moved back, watching the beam as it moved another foot in his last thirty seconds.

He grabbed one of Golurk's hands and slowly redirected it, taking the palm and turning it parallel to the crack in its chest. After doing the same with the other, he took a few seconds to breathe and stop panting. He thought a ton of stone was heavy before he had to think about air resistance? He should've thought again.

Serena was on her own pillar, rising towards Shauna, but Blanche could see that she wouldn't make it close enough block the blast.

Blanche looked towards the pillar he'd been on not ten seconds of real-time before, mentally prepared himself for his stomach's coming misfortune, and jumped.

And then jumped again, towards Shauna's pillar.

And then back again, performing what he would call a wall jump if he was thinking straight enough to make puns.

Golurk's Focus Blast was only feet away from Shauna, and he could see that she knew it was coming in her eyes, even if she couldn't dodge.

He jumped towards her and turned down the dial as fast as he could.

BURST dropped to the ground of the pillar with a clatter. A beam of light shot past them and off into the distance with a twinkle. The sides of the pillar crumbled further. Golurk was shot back, a hole opening in its chest with a cry of pain. Serena continued rising, though the surprise registered a small amount on her face. Aveline dropped like a stone and into the rift on Golurk's chest.

Blanche pushed himself up, not really questioning why the ground beneath him was slightly squishy and clicked the button on the side of his helmet that would let him…

He rushed over to the side of the pillar, the mouth slot opening just in time for him to spew a little more than what he ate for breakfast.

"Blergh…"

Blanche slumped on the side, his face hanging over the side and oh shit he was kind of high up and…

There he goes again.

"Is the," he coughed, "Professor alright?"

Golurk had gone silent, which was either incredibly good or incredibly bad. He managed to crawl over to get an actual look, only to see the lights on Golurk's body flash red, blue, yellow, green, purple… Technicolor…

There he goes again.

Serena slid over to his side, lightly slapping his back. "Shauna gets motion sickness as well," she said calmly.

"It's not motion sickness," the yellow-clad girl complained, "It's getting-dropped-halfway-from-orbit sickness."

Blanche, through blurry vision and general vertigo, watched as the hole on Golurk's chest brightened tenfold and the light turned to gold. Aveline emerged, holding up the grunt, disoriented and just a general mess. Golurk didn't rise, but its lights pulsed healthily as the rift slowly began healing over.

Though he had no clue how she did that, he hung his hand loosely over the side, forming a thumbs-up and moaning, "Go, team…"

 

[MikaelBrigman]

A reporter stood in an open field of wrecked earth and scorched trails. The technology that was once used there was long since discarded (meaning, hidden to avoid scrutiny), leaving only the physical sighs.

The camera cut to a gaping hole in a glass pane and a remarkably clean interior lacking in any physical recordings or notation.

"I stand at the site of a catastrophic experiment performed by the UR under the leadership of an independent scientist that was previously a member of-"

The newslady pressed a finger to her earpiece, muttering something into it and swearing inaudibly.

"-Excuse me, I do mean, an independent scientist that hails from Unova. The experiment was to take place in order to mimic the abilities of the urban legend, the Aura Guardian. Why is he an urban legend?"

She quickly whispered into her earpiece again.

"It's because I haven't gotten him in for an interview, alright? I won't believe in something I've never seen!"

Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz.

"Yes, I used to work in tabloid journalism, what's your point?"

She straightened up as she was informed that the camera was still running.

"Ahem. The experiment was going well, until it wasn't. Some sort of instability in the A-I-A-M fields caused the Golurk performing the experiment to go berserk. Luckily, our station has procured the footage of the heroes that prevented this rogue Pokémon to hurt anyone, and you'll be watching it now."

A black and white CCTV clip played of three people in spandex, the colors unintelligible, racing out into the field and pushing back an enraged Golurk, whose aura seemed to be interfering with the recording program.

As the earth shook, the sound of a screw popping was recorded, and the camera fell to the ground before the footage cut away.

"As you can see, three unknown individuals in spandex were able to-"

Lysandre swiped the window away on Augustine's Holo Caster, placing it face down between them.

"We're claiming anonymity?" Sycamore asked, a theatrical eyebrow raised.

"It is simpler than feeding conspiracy theorists. They see connections in the most trivial of things. Simply naming FLARE among the attendees would only verify those claims."

"You did ask us to be there." Sycamore's eyes took on a glint. "Where were the rest of our contingent? Colress said that they had arrived, but I didn't see them."

Lysandre turned in his chair, facing out the tinted window that lead to a deep chasm. "Perhaps that was a mistake on your part."

"My kids were there, Lysandre. That could have gone so much worse and you know it. Imagine an unstable Aura Guardian level Anomaly."

"They defeated it, did they not?" Lysandre waved him off. "It's over and done with, as they say. FLARE will benefit greatly, the UR will allow us to condense our power in Kalos, and a mad scientist has lost his credibility."

"That sounds almost conspiratory. Perhaps the theories about what exactly attracts Anomalies to Lumiose-3 aren't so unfounded."

Lysandre glared out into the deep pit. The bottom continued to hide outside of his vision, but the faint blue and red lights seeped upward as their sources spun at the bottom.

"Do not joke about such things. You may accidentally reveal information that will have the city crashing down upon us."

"I was being sardonic, Lysandre."

"It wasn't funny."

Sycamore sagged. "Of course."

There was a brief silence where they were both lost in thought.

Lysandre snapped his fingers, the small sound permeating through the lengths of black murals.

"The first of our agents will be traveling to Kalos within the summer. Inform your… team, and have them intercept should anything untoward occur."

"You're worried about her partner," Sycamore said.

Lysandre looked out into the revolving lights.

"Naturally. Having bait at an opportune time is essential."

"Don't hurt my team, Lysandre. Not unless you must."

"They were already hurt. It simply seems they have forgotten what loss is."

Serena and Blanche flashed through his mind, his daughter coming soon after.

Augustine breathed, speaking only to himself. "I wouldn't say so."

---

The last full month of school before break, May, showed off the last bits of spring as it began fading into summer.

Blanche was idly shocked by how quickly the time had passed. It seemed like only a week ago, he'd woken up, and then sprinted to where he was now.

The winter coats disappeared completely but the colors never changed. Everyone was about as consistent as they could be when the sort-of apocalypse threw them out of wack two and a half years prior. Blanche is a relatively boring fellow, his name only a few letters off from blank, and so he'd started wearing short red tee on blue jeans. The money Mrs. Grace gave back to him out of his paycheck was more than enough to buy some new clothes.

And even if wearing red was sort of morbid, it matched his eyes, practically confirming he was a fashion genius.

No sarcasm here at the studio, none at all.

Trevor's birthday was coming up, so he'd been thinking about that more than anything. Nothing special, but surely he'd appreciate a custom placemat for his card games. He even had the GAME owner get a special print of Dark Magician Gallade and everything.

It could be worse. The idea of a Dark Magician Gardevoir really squicked him out.

The airlock opened with a hiss, and he was greeted by Clemont and Michael talking while the former was trying to… sew at the table?

He was doing a good job at the very least.

He'd gotten a text about a new Gear, so Blanche said, "Is that a mock-up?"

Clemont had already looked up, and he grinned. "Ah, yes!" He held up the pink spandex, cut open by the sewing needle in multiple places. Clearly a mock-up, then.

"We're playing a water level in July. Escort mission at that," Michael said, calm as he always was when Clemont wasn't trying to accidentally blow up his computer.

"We are?"

"You haven't heard?" They both asked with more obvious concern coming from the blond.

Blanche shook his head, inadvertently throwing his hair all over the place. He probably needed to get a trim or to start using hairspray.

"No. What's the deal?"

"There's a special shipment coming in that we'll need to protect just in case. Nothing too crazy," Michael said, before immediately starting to type at a few hundred words a minute. His hands were a blur to Blanche.

"But it's going to be a small fleet of cargo ships, so I thought it's better to be prepared!" Clemont again held up the mock suit. "I don't have a full model yet, but once I figure out the breathing systems, I'll have the designs sent in for special construction. I can make a lot of things, but not many people have the dexterity for seven-ninths of a millimeter tubing."

Obviously, Blanche thought but didn't say.

"So what is it, a wetsuit?"

"Well, since we can take advantage of your battery, I decided to just give you the whole nine yards." Clemont picked up two long tanks and clanked them together. "Since you can teleport additional equipment and all."

"Handy. Are the Professors not in?" It was a weekday afternoon and the whole Golurk Synchro Project had since cooled down.'

"Doc's up in their office writing a paper or something for the next conference," Michael said. "Dunno about the Professor though. He looked kind of pissed if I'm being honest."

"He can get angry?" Blanche asked, shocked.

Michael shrugged. "Looks like it."

---

On June 3rd, a Sunday, it was Trevor's birthday. Even as Blanche and Ariel teamed up to cook the biggest and fruitiest stack of pancakes that he could, he laughed to himself that Trevor was older than him but still two heads shorter.

Trevor and Tierno sat side by side at the table, sharing Trevor's Holo Caster as they waited. The birthday boy himself seemed either frustrated or incredibly confused, as his brow kept furrowing further.

"Blanche."

He half-turned around, fiddling with the ties of his own frilly white apron that matched Ariel's. "Yeah?"

"Did you know that people are shipping the FLARE Rangers now?"

He stopped chopping Rawst Berries and set the knife down.

"They're what?"

"They're calling it Rangershipping."

I'm going to commit whatever passes for ritual suicide around here, he thought as he calmly walked over to investigate. Calmly in this case meaning with barely constrained rage.

The picture that he had pulled up was of a crazy person in front of a tack board with a dozen red threads connecting three pictures in all sorts of ways. The photos were blurry and definitely taken by bystanders and not FLARE, but the colors stood out enough.

"Okay, before I say anything, is Shauna behind me about to smack me with a frying pan?"

"They're still upstairs." Serena and Shauna were a two-part set, it went without saying.

"Right. So, is it fair for me to ask what the," he paused, glancing up at Ariel, who was stirring purplish Belue Berries into the batter. "What the heck that's about?"

"If you weren't aware, it's sort of your fault," Trevor said, looking up without a hint of guilt.

"Who are you, Shauna?"

"Be nice, Blanche," Ariel chided.

He didn't get embarrassed by her saying so, that would be ridiculous.

"Can you explain, at least?"

"Serena was essentially an urban legend, a ghost story about FLARE's power that they could throw around. Most people attributed any destruction to her fights to someone's Pokémon. It all seems to have started sometime in January, a little after you arrived."

"Probably when I tackled that one dude out of the sky."

"I thought that was someone lying." Trevor scrolled with a profound expression. "How about that?"

"And how did that lead to…"

Blanche trailed off as a sketch of people in black and pink spandex appeared.

Tierno just laughed at his expression.

"Okay, that's just weird."

"People thought you were her and that she was you."

"Is it because I'm Pink?"

"That depends. Which answer is less offensive to you personally?"

"Neither."

"Then yes, but also because she's Black."

"No, that was the Plasma grunt."

"What?"

"Uh, I mean, gender stereotypes, hurray. Anyway."

"Ah… So people took pictures of you, and then did what most people do when they need an easy excuse for self-indulgence."

"Write fanfiction?"

"Again, are you feeling alright? But most of the time, they just imagined what you two looked like under the helmets, usually with either one of them looking like the artist."

"I see. I'm flattered… I think."

"And as far as I know, it wasn't a big thing."

"Right."

"Then Shauna joined FLARE."

"Right."

"Do you two know how loudly you argue?"

"Between one and two hundred decibels, depending on the day."

"That's hyperbole but otherwise accurate. And some people overheard that, and got ideas."

"Like, of discord in FLARE? I think it's pretty stable."

"You really are oblivious. They thought you two had too much UST to not take advantage of."

"How do people get that from one conversation? And there isn't any UST, just to be clear!"

Trevor gave a half-nod. "Sure, I've heard that one before. But my point is, that led to another bunch of people writing their own pairings. And of course, because no triangle is complete without a third angle, now Black and Yellow are a thing."

"There isn't a triangle, don't be stupid… Wait, are they not?"

"Honestly? I don't know."

"Excuse me, I have a question," Ariel asked, expertly flipping a pancake.

"Of course, Ariel," Trevor responded.

"What's shipping?"

Blanche's glare at the two other boys had a very clear message.

She can never know.

Trevor raised his eyebrow.

How do you?

Blanche sighed.

"Everyone is crazy around here except for me. At least I've got a helmet to protect me."

And with that, Blanche was hit with an intense sense of foreboding.

"FLARE better not be making propaganda capitalizing on this."

Trevor just looked at him. "You have met the Professor."

---

And he did so again later that month, just a week later.

The Professor stood with a dramatic-effect-only clipboard with the three FLARE Rangers and the other scientist, their technician, and their engineer. And remarkably, only two of them were older than seventeen. Probably.

Blanche sure acted like a stupid teenage boy, as if he'd never been anything else.

"There's a delicate shipment coming into Kalos soon. The UR wants us to guard the ship as soon as they enter Kalosian waters, so we'll be taking a helicopter. The first FLARE Ranger, Dahlia, is coming back from Unova as well."

"The what?"

Augustine sighed and walked over to tap the clipboard on Blanche's head. "Don't you pay any attention? You're Ranger 02."

"Yeah, and Serena's 01. And you can't build people, so there wouldn't be a prototype to call 00."

Augustine seemed to let out a puff of air that sounded more like a laugh.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? But no, Dahlia is FLARE Ranger 00, Geranium is 01, you are, or Amaranth is, 02, and Rue is 03."

"Seems a little out of order," he noticed. It was some weird trick of his brain's pattern recognition, as he figured the fourth Ranger would have been fourth in the list.

"You're imagining it. Now, any questions?"

"Who's Dahlia, anyway?" Shauna asked, her arms crossed likely out of frustration with Blanche for being in the same room as her. Or something else equally stupid that he came up with, Blanche is an idiot.

Sycamore wagged a finger in her face. "Now, that would be telling!"

Aveline clutched her face in a renewed embarrassment. "Dad…"

Parents could be like that even if she was truthfully a bit more tempered on the inside.

"You'll see when we get there anyway. And if nothing goes wrong, we can go to Coumarine City after we're done with the delivery."

Blanche raised an eyebrow. "If we have to be there in the first place, then that's a really big if."

"Ah." Sycamore put one hand on his hip, the other behind his head, and let out an awkward laugh. "Well, if you absolutely must know, Dahlia's real name is Rosa."

It took Blanche until he got home, wrote the late-June date on his calendar app, and in his room to actually think about that fact.

"Oh."

He looked up at his mirror as he began unwrapping his bandages from the sweltering day.

"...Son of a-"

---

Blanche's hair blew in the wind as the helicopter's door slid open and revealed the expanses of the deep blue sea, all around him except for beneath his feet.

Hundreds of huge metal cargo boxes lined the deck of the ship, colored with rust. A few other similar but smaller ships brought up the rear. The sun beat down on them as it had been for the last few weeks. Which is to say, mercilessly and harshly.

Augustine took the first step onto the deck of the barge, stance wide as he waved to those standing near the helipad with an arm holding onto an inner pillar. "Greetings!"

A black dog-like Pokémon barked, its green scarf waving in the constant breeze, as the Unovans waved. Another Professor but in the orange-blonde variation stood idly though clearly in charge.

He'd been told their names obviously, but actually seeing them in person was as much of a shock as always.

The Professor was obviously Juniper, the topknot swirl too distinctive to miss. She already seemed tired of the Professor, indicating to Blanche there was probably some sort of history there.

Rosa, a girl with twin brown ponytails tied into hair buns behind her cycling hat, stood next to the strangely patterned (Hexagonal?) Pokémon. Coming from Unova, she was the female protagonist of the sequel games set there. Where the male one was, he hadn't a clue. Though given the track record of male protagonists he didn't meet, he was sure it wasn't a good sign.

Shauna kicked him forward, and he hoped that he hadn't been staring too long. Why would he be doing that? Hormones? Don't be ridiculous.

Blanche righted himself, keeping a hand on his cap to avoid losing it. It was special to Serena, even if it was for the wrong reasons.

The oversized fan blades on the VTOL which FLARE just happened to have laying around began slowing as Michael slid out of the pilot's seat. Whatever simulations he ran 24/7, they were clearly useful.

"Augustine," Juniper replied, hands in her pockets. "Glad to see you brought everyone in FLARE with you." The comment was clearly aimed at the clown car that could be called their ride, as Aveline stepped down slowly and Clemont's bag pushed him out with a metal leg formed out the back.

"I thought we could all get to know one another better since Dahlia is going to be transferring to the main headquarters and all."

Juniper's eyebrows quirked upward. "Code names now, Augustine? This is a UR ship, there's very little chance of a data leak compared to your team's performances."

"We're lucky microphones pick up ozone burning better than battle cries," Michael deadpanned almost inaudibly.

Juniper clapped the other girl on the shoulder and gave her a shake. "Introduce yourself and your partner."

The bubbly girl smiled even wider if that was physically possible. Just then, Blanche noticed the stark blueness of her eyes. To imitate a cliche, they shone like the ocean.

He then gagged, as the statement being said in his mind made him feel stupid enough to elicit a physical reaction. It was really not the best time to get sick.

"Hi! I'm Rosa!" She held out a peace sign, little stars appearing in the air around her.

He looked over to Michael to check if he was imagining that, and through the returned glance, it was revealed that no, he wasn't crazy, the laws of physics were.

She dropped down into a squat and wrapped her arms around her partner, who nuzzled roughly into her neck. "And this is my awesome partner, Tencent! Be nice to him, okie?"

Blanche and Shauna tilted their heads in unison.

"What kind of-"

"What kind of- Shut up, mummy, I'm talking."

"-Pokémon is that?" He continued before she could.

"What kind of- Were you listening to me?" She turned on her heel and berated him, electricity sparking up in the air. "I said I was talking!"

Blanche rolled his eyes, looking back over to the strange Pokémon. Green and black hexagons…

Could it have been a Zygarde? Why would some girl just have a Legendary Pokémon? And the 10% form, thus the name (A stupid name for a Pokemon, but again, he was literally just called white in French), but Zygarde's alternate forms were an Aether Foundation development if he remembered correctly.

"He's a Zygarde! I found him when he was a little blob, and now we're besties," she giggled, snuggling the Dragon-Ground-Type. "FLARE lets me take care of him as long as I work for them!"

Blanche shot both Sycamores a questioning look, but neither answered. FLARE had a lot more power than he'd initially thought. A city-state at the center of Kalos, with a thousand arms across the world and an in with the United Regions. Anyone would have been worried by that, even if they worked for the organization itself.

A fierce wind kicked up from the ocean, a storm starting to blow in from the far south.

"As much as I enjoy the view," Augustine said, immediately looking to the horizon to absolve himself of any accusations from the other professor, "Perhaps we should continue this inside."

Juniper nodded, her lab coat whipping around her wildly. "There's a cafeteria below deck, if any of you are hungry," she said.

---

As they sat down among a crowd of sailors and their Machokes, Augustine started flirting with Juniper further without a second thought, leaving the rest of them without much to say.

Well, other than the obvious.

As Michael cracked open an iced coffee, Blanche asked, "So, uh, Rosa. What's your primary type? I'm not like, a scientific guy, but strategies kind of click together during fights, so if I've got an idea rolling around in my head-"

"Mummy, what are you even talking about?" Shauna flicked his forehead, sending a buzzing sensation across his skin with a snap.

Internally, he sighed, as he weakly rubbed his forehead.

"Well, actually, I share my typing with Tencent! It's totally awesome."

The Pokémon sat next to her, tongue sticking out of its angular jaws, swiveling its head as they spoke but doing nothing else.

Rosa scratched its head rapidly, laughing as she continued, "We're like, partners, you know? You see how his eyes are kind of blue? That's him acting like me, it's the cutest."

Blanche stared at Tencent's empty, stark-white hexagonal eyes and resolved to just agree. "Ah, yeah. Is that the Bond Phenomenon?" He trailed off as he looked over to Aveline for confirmation. He was far out of his depth, as the Bond Phenomenon was a one-time thing from the show that gave the main character a special powerup in the season where everyone got a special powerup.

"I b-believe so." Aveline readjusted her half-moon glasses. "It's nice to finally meet you, Rosa. I'm Aveline Sycamore, the Pokémon Professor. Well, the younger, the Professor would be my father…"

As she said this, further down the table, the following conversation was heard:

"Say, Aurea, do you have a map for your eyes?"

Professor Juniper sighed. "No, I don't think I brought one with me."

"Shame, I keep getting lost in them."

Aveline buried her face in her hands, red with embarrassment. Michael patted her back sympathetically.

"Oh, that's true, I don't think we all introduced ourselves," Clemont added, tapping his chin. "I'm Clemont, I design Blanche's special weapons."

"Ooh, really?" Rosa asked, immediately leaning forward in anticipation. "What kind of special? Is it a really big gun? Is it? Can I use it?"

Tencent barked, its scarf rising like a muscle and pulling her back as if telling her not to get carried away.

"I'm Michael," said the red-haired porcupine.

Of course, Blanche got the feeling that if he ever actually called him that, the next time he needed a Gear in the field it would come too little too late.

"I run the computer back at base. I'm also ranked in the top ten in Smogon University's simulation ladder."

"Oh, Nate loves that game! I'll text him and ask him what rank he is, but he's playing it all the time, I swear."

At least that male protagonist wasn't, y'know, dead, like Blanche expected. He felt guilty for thinking of such a morbid thing so easily.

Rosa turned to the other three, two of which were squished together next to her (Though he wasn't sure Shauna was complaining), and with Blanche sat in the corner of the table adjacent to the two other boys.

"So, which one of you is Pink?"

He was about to correct her by saying red, but she continued.

"It's kind of a toss-up, I know that Black is, um…"

"Serena." Serena suddenly remembered to smile, however thinly, after a moment and added, "Nice to meet you."

"Aw, you too! Let's be besties, 'kay? But I'm confused, ya know? I can never tell the difference between Pink and Yellow in the footage."

"Footage?" Blanche asked, an odd sense of foreboding settling in his stomach.

"Yeah, Professor Juniper shows me your fights sometimes when I'm not fighting with those weird new Team Plasma people." Rosa made a sour face. "So annoying."

I have a feeling this is going to come back later, Blanche noted, swallowing lead.

"So, which one of you is it?"
Blanche sighed. "Yes, I'm Pink. So what? A guy can wear pink without it being weird, can't he?"

"Totally! I mean, I was thinking it could have been either of you, because…"

Rosa made some sort of hand gestures like she was miming a box in front of her, though he really didn't get it.

Shauna clearly did at some point and whipped towards Rosa, looking scandalized. "Are you calling me flat?"

At which point Blanche decided he needed to go for a walk to avoid electrical burns. The discussion was getting a little too men-writing-women for him to handle, though he hadn't a clue what that meant either. Maybe the cargo ship's shaking was making him a bit sick.

---

Blanche only took a cursory glance at the ship's map, thinking that it was really just a big cargo ship and there wasn't much to get lost in.

He was wrong, as he quickly lost his sense of direction after a few miscounted left turns among the hundreds of shipping containers.

No one ever said that Blanche was smart, exactly.

Perhaps it was that innate sense all teenage boys had to explore and conquer, as he didn't have much other reason than wanting to avoid Shauna's omnidirectional wrath.

The sky was growing dimmer, the few clouds he could see riding on the edges of his skyward periphery. The wind blew weakly if at all, cut off from the ocean by the intimidating stacks of metal.

Blanche traced a hand along the cool metal, relishing in the relief from the humidity. Zoned out, he walked around a striped orange barricade, the kind used to block roads, as it didn't reach all the way to the wall.

The containers were all a uniform purple, emblazoned with two letters. UR.

It made sense, he idly recognized. It was a United Regions ship.

It got weird when additional words started being listed, some of which he knew, some he didn't.

GOLURK SYNCHRO PROJECT? He helped kick the ass of that experiment. He realized that he didn't know what happened to either the Golurk or the grunt afterward, and he noted to ask later.

CGI? The Professors used that acronym for his Gear. Clemontic Gear something-something, they never specified and he once again felt like an idiot for not asking.

PROTOTYPE: SANTIAGO? He straight up didn't recognize that, which was an odd feeling. Most of the time, there was at least a vague sense of familiarity even if he didn't quite remember something. A total void drew him to it, like a vacuum in space.

His hand found a stainless handle, and he hesitated. It wasn't like he'd never broken boundaries before, but those instances had been for reasons better than just curiosity.

His palm rested on the shell of that final container, the cold sending a low buzz of static through his bandages to his skin. There was a tug at the front of his head, the wind whipping up and blowing the sides of his hair towards the container and making his hat pitch further forward on his head.

Blanche shuddered. Creepy, he thought.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

He froze as he felt droplets land on his hat. It was a classic horror scenario, where the monster was either directly above the final girl or right behind.

So naturally, he threw himself to the side on the wettening deck, crashing violently but avoiding the…

Rain. It was raining.

Blanche pushed himself to his feet and readjusted his cap, looking around for witnesses to his wrong-genre-savviness. Of course, the word he used was stupidity, but he was embarrassed regardless.

It was odd though, he realized. Clouds weren't supposed to spin like that, and they definitely weren't supposed to surround the sun like that.

A chunk of ice dropped into the pit of his stomach. Of course, something was going wrong, why did he expect anything else?

He ran to find the entrance to below decks as purple lightning cracked the sun in two.

---

"I was clearly too optimistic," he spat as he wrung out his red tee, despite being unable to do anything about the bandages that covered his arms. At least his chest was drier than his limbs. His hat was flung onto a table next to Michael's laptop as he rolled up his jeans to keep the water from pooling in his shoes.

Everyone else had been inside, looking at him with varying degrees of pity, even Shauna, who he'd expected a mocking laugh from. That actually pissed him off more than it would have otherwise.

He pulled the shirt extra tight, sighing with great force. "Anytime we go somewhere, there's always weird shit. Is there a magnetic plot device strapped to someone's back? You know, big red target? Serena, you might have seen it."

Serena shook her head, picking the hat up off the table and popping its cap back into place as she said, "No, I don't believe I have. Though if it was on my back, I wouldn't know."

"Aura does seem to have that effect," Juniper said, smirking for some reason. Maybe she knew someone with the same experiences.

---

Somewhere across the world, Hilbert Johannson's helmet melted into the sand of the soul in order for him to shove some popcorn in his mouth. He'd kicked a seat out of a nearby mountaintop as he watched one of his old partners, Abra, attempt to duel the Mythical Monkey King of eastern Asia, the Infernape that Blazed with a fire that was equal to Heaven.

Also known as Sun Wukong.

Abra teleported behind the hundred-foot-long trail of flames as a punch was delivered faster than the eye could see, and a cone was carved out of the mountain range for a straight mile.

Hilbert suddenly half sneezed and half choked.

"Someone is talking about me again." He blinked as Abra delivered an Acrobatics that broke the sound barrier, striking four times in a single punch. "Oh, hell yeah!"

---

"What's happening out there?" Rosa asked, leaning on Michael's head and looking at his computer with a quizzical look.

Michael seemed more annoyed than anything else. "Getting too old for this…"

"Aren't you about our age?" Shauna asked.

"I've studied under multiple professors, you're still in Trainer School," he said, ignoring the point while his typing accelerated. "We are not the same."

"Ugh," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "I can see where Blanche gets it."

"Huh?" Our bandage babe asked with ever so much sophistication.

Serena cut across both of them, one of many to see that the conversation was going nowhere. "Is it an Anomaly?"

"In the weather?" Michael asked sarcastically. "Definitely. It's like we're at the center of a hurricane, though the weather forecast is completely clear according to ships that recently passed this way."

Juniper, behind the crowd of teenagers, elbowed Augustine. "So, it looks like to me that the kids don't need an old fart like you, do they?"

Augustine winced. "I'm supervising, but Aveline's getting better with talking. I don't need to translate. Also, I'm not thirty yet."

"And yet, you're chasing a woman almost a decade your senior."

"Grace is very good looking for her age, I assure you."

Juniper's eye twitched. "Who's this Grace?"

Augustine suddenly realized that he'd taken a fatal slip.

Back to the main conflict, Michael was looking through data from the RKS satellites. Weather patterns, maps, recordings.

The storm seemed to have come out of nowhere, and he replayed the rapid change for a full minute.

Rosa stopped chatting, looking closer at the map. "Ooh, there!" She pointed at a randomly darker spot on the image overlay, just a shadow on the ocean.

At first glance, at least.

Aveline adjusted her glasses, leaning over Michael's opposite shoulder. "I see… Oh!"

"Exactly!" Rosa suddenly jumped back, slamming a fist into her open palm. "It's a really big Sharpedo!"

Aveline started, "That's…"

"Really?" Shauna interrupted to ask with disbelief. The rest of the question hung in the air; is she really our new teammate?

"It's possible," Blanche shrugged in response to the first part. He thought about the weird things he'd seen, and honestly? A big shark? He would be surprised if it wasn't something ridiculous like that.

"It's… certainly in the realm of possibility," Aveline finished weakly, withdrawing slightly.

"Can we go check?" Rosa asked, bouncing on her heels.

Blanche looked away out of common courtesy while Aveline looked to Clemont.

"Is the morph gear waterproof?" Her eyes darted over to Blanche for a mere second, specifically his chest. Because that was where his battery was attached to his exoskeleton, why else?

Clemont readjusted his glasses, bringing a sheen to the lenses. "Of course! Technology has advanced to incredible levels since the stone age known as the time of the Macintosh and Pong cabinets. The future of waterproofing is now, thanks to-"

Michael jumped out of his chair to tackle Clemont and prevent him from finishing that sentence.

"Do you know how much my laptop cost?"

---

The four FLARE Rangers ran outside, not yet in morph form but with their fingers itching for the switches, along with a certain portion of Zygarde.

Rain swept sideways, bouncing off the ground and slamming into Blanche in waves. It was hard to believe that not an hour before, he could barely see a cloud in the sky. As the sun hung above them, it provided only enough light to see beneath the charcoal-gray clouds. Had he not been able to feel the chill beneath his bandages, he wouldn't have been able to tell how doused they had been.

Sailors ran around them, their classical white hats being whipped away every second. After the sudden storm began, they rushed to check and secure the many hundreds of thousands of tons of cargo.

"Damn!" He shouted, trying to shield his eyes from the stinging tears of the clouds above as he ran into the largest alley between containers, bringing up the rear. "How do we even fight a storm?"

"Anomalies are like hurricanes!" Rosa responded, her two ponytails wrapping around her in the wind. She pulled her hat's brim lower over her face. "In Unova, we have the Forces of Nature that do things like this. There's got to be an Anomaly that's bringing all these clouds together with its aura!"

"Like a big dragon?"

Rosa turned to look at him and grinned, even with so many liters of water throwing her around. "Exactly! And it's got to be in the ocean, because water is wet, and so is rain! It'll have to be in its element."

"Water isn't wet! It only makes other things wet," Shauna yelled back, gripping Serena's arm to keep the winds from sweeping either of them away. Naturally, Serena didn't need the help

"Heavy philosophy aside," Blanche sniped as he slipped to a stop upon arriving at the ship's edge, "That's probably right. I didn't see anything in the air before it started raining, so it's likely something in… there."

The water was pitch-black, even darker than the storm clouds. Thunder cracked as it was lit up by a strike of lightning, illuminating the water if even for a second. It was clear, almost entirely empty as if something had scared all the Water-types away.

Thump.

Blanche felt a chill go down his spine, and it wasn't because of the cold. "What's ocean depth here again?"

"We're nearing Kalos, but there is a sandbar as well," Serena recited. "Depth is fifty meters."

Thump.

Rosa scratched her head. "How much is that in Unovan?"

Blanche silently tapped his chest with his fist. American self-centeredness represent, he called mentally. With his voice, he said, "About one hundred fifty feet, maybe a little more."

Thump.

"Oh, I don't know any Dragon-types that big," Rosa sighed, clearly disappointed. She then immediately started coughing the water out of her lungs. Talking is not a free action, not even to the weather, so it would seem.

"Anomalies can be… well, anomalous in size, can't they?" Blanche asked them all with a measure of dread.

Thump.

"Uh, duh," Shauna said, so helpfully that he could tell it was the intention. Definitely. "Bigger means stronger and Anomalies are strong. Shouldn't you know this?"

"Anomaly just means weird as far as I know, okay? Screw off."

Thump.

From the sea of ink, a deep blue fin cut into the wake out on the choppy horizon, peaking out just above the water. It rose and fell methodically, surfacing every few dozen feet or so.

They had not noticed, however, as Shauna felt that renewing her enmity with Blanche was a better use of time. And to be completely fair, so had he. "What did you just say to me? Shut up or I'll… I'll…"

Thump.

"Take your time."

"Shut up! I'll kiss you if you keep talking! I mean it!" Her tone made it clear that it was a threat for sure.

"Agh, my worst fear," he said, laying the sarcasm on thick.

Why was she even thinking about that at a time like this? It would have been strange at any time, actually. Must have been stress or her getting the streams crossed by thinking about Serena or something.

Thump.

Rosa seemed to marvel at how the "main" FLARE Rangers interacted with each other, Tencent standing regally next to her and ignoring the wind. Serena kept her eyes on the water, though had said nothing yet.

The singular fin in the waves swept from side to side, pushing the water aside and creating an arc the width of a highway.

"There," Serena said, cutting across the developing argument. She pointed out through the sleet-like rain and into the dim ocean.

"What?" Blanche looked, shielding his eyes. All he could see was the water crashing into itself and the side of the ship. Out in the distance, his eyes traced a single uninterrupted wake that cut parallel to the ship.

"That's… no, the current wouldn't push the water like that."

Thump.

He finally saw the fin as it swept halfway through an arc, before stopping suddenly. Far as he was, it seemed like a pin, the side of something much larger.

The fin rose as it approached, growing taller and taller. It wasn't a Sharpedo, he could tell that much.

The fin stretched to what had to be at least twice his height, as a scaly head appeared, adorned with a golden star on its nose.

"That's a submarine," he said weakly. "Tell me that's a submarine. Call it the artificial Sharpedo, Pokévangelion, I don't care, but let that not be exactly what I think it is."

Thump.

It rose further from the water as it approached the sandbar, waves cresting and being pushed away as the Anomaly's two-story head rose into the air, already as high as the deck of the ship. Its eyes were covered in a thin black film, the gold of its irises dulled to wispy bronze.

THUMP.

Its torso, centered with a fleshy red and surrounded by purple scales, seemed to go on and on forever as it stretched higher into the air. Small tsunamis were blasted into the wind as it raised its arms, fins longer than buses winging from the spires that could be called its claws.

THUMP.

It leered above the ship from another few of its paces away, standing twice the depth of the ocean, higher than even the tallest loading crane.

"...That's no submarine," Shauna stuttered, jaw hanging low.

Rosa shouted with glee, "It's a Garchomp!"

Indeed, it seemed more like a cross between that and Sharpedo, though it stood at dozens of times the height. The Anomaly took another step, creating a gale by simply swiveling its head. It seemed to be sniffing the air.

It suddenly turned and looked straight at them, angling its nose down from the stormy heavens.

Blanche sighed, accepting that it was a good run. He turned to Shauna.

"Sorry that we couldn't get along. It's too late to apologize in depth. In summary, we're f-"

Rosa spread her arms, the rain trailing down her face like the water of baptism. "This is what I've been waiting for!"

Tencent barked, the hexagons on its skin shimmering in reversed colors.

"Oh, right." Blanche blinked the water out of his eyes. "Everyone here is crazy."

THUMP.

"Shit, shit, shit; Okay, Dragon-Ground-Type. Railgun?"

"With what generator?" Shauna asked, literally the person who knew the best. "And in these conditions?"

"Can't you use Call Lightning or something?"

"That's not even a move!"

THUMP.

Blanche shook his head, muttering as Rosa got more and more pumped up for some inane reason. "Right, right. Shit, Serena can't mess with the sand from this far away. Probably." He looked over to her hopefully.

"No, you were correct. My range is not infinite."

THUMP.

"Shit! Okay, you know what? I'll think about it in a minute." He ripped the morpher from its holster on his belt, idly noting to replace it after the rain finished ruining it.

"FLARE Rangers-"

"Who put you in charge?"

"Agh! Just… transformation sequence go! Access Clemontic Gear: DIVE!"

---

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: GREEN

Designation: CGI

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

FLARE Designation: Geranium

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: BLUE

Designation: CGI DIVE

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

FLARE Designation: Amaranth

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: GREEN

Designation: CGI

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

FLARE Designation: Rue

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: GREEN

Designation: CGI

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

FLARE Designation: Dahlia

The words flashed away as they piled up on the small monitor. The lights above them did the same, cloaking the mess hall in darkness as the storm, no, hurricane raged.

Multiple stable power batteries were hooked up to Michael's laptop, along with a variety of devices necessary to connect to LADY back at base.

"I'm glad I made an investment," Michael thought aloud.

"All approved!" Aveline stumbled to put on a headset. "Send them through!"

Clemont sagged as he didn't get to slam a big red button. That was for major transformation sequences, as the older Professor had informed him.

Juniper bit her thumb as the ship rocked slightly. "Are you sure your Espers can handle it? Big fish in a small pond."

Sycamore waved his hand in a so-so gesture. "I'm sure they can handle it. It might be a big Anomaly, but I believe in them."

"I'm not talking about the Anomaly, I'm talking about Rosa. The craziest thing she fought in Unova was one of the Forces of Nature, and the Swords of Justice took care of most of that. I hadn't heard of a Honedge allying with them before, though."

"You think she'll hold back?"

Juniper shuddered, hugging her lab coat. "I don't think she'll remember how. Your team really had an impact on her."

"Really?"

"She talks a lot about Pinky being her favorite one, even if she's a little thin."

Sycamore, being a mature adult, took very little time to connect the dots without an ounce of humor. It was the realization that came afterward that sent him to the floor laughing.

---

The empty space between his head and chest was covered, completely sealing away what little hair stuck out, his suit becoming airtight. His back was suddenly weighed down, the sound of a vacuum compressing the air and turning it into oxygen buzzing in his ears. Rugged ribs appeared on his neck like gills that blew out when he breathed.

Blanche then prayed, for that just one minute, he'd be given the clarity of mind to think of a battle plan.

The pounding rain, alarms roaring across the sea, Rosa's happy squirming, his transformation and the earth-shaking steps of the massive Anomaly didn't give him the chance.

Lightning cracked behind Garchomp, silhouetting it like it was a cliff-hanger shot. But it wasn't, meaning he wouldn't get the break in-between episodes to think.
I'm thinking in TV terms again, he realized. Well, I can't exactly lose my mind more than I already have.

"Shauna, can you ride on electromagnetic waves yet?"

"I can bend them, obviously," she replied as if she was explaining that to an idiot.

"Okay, so bend them under you and you'll fly. There's a lot of static in the air right now." He had a feeling it'd be messing with his hair if he didn't have a helmet. His vision turned to Michael's webcam. "Hey, send me a stack of coins. Spare change, pennies, whatever. I saw this on TV once."

Clemont had to have a big red button snatched away by Michael, but the five below-deck operatives pooled a handful of Pokédollar coins and sent them to Blanche in a flash of light.

He held half the pile out to Shauna with one hand, tapping his neck where the armor's storage compartment was. He still had that and his exoskeleton, but most of the suit had been streamlined into a wetsuit.

"Hold onto these. Make your own railguns and shoot the Big Freaking Garchomp. It's like," he paused for a split second to think, "Rolling the fields of electricity into themselves to make a magnetic force that repels them forward."

He couldn't see her expression, given the visor, but she didn't protest and slipped the coins into the cylindrical pocket and stumbled, before rising into the air with a wobble.

He quickly turned to Serena as the Anomaly grew closer, halfway to the most distant barge.

"Serena, is there any earth in range?"

"I…"

She closed her eyes in thought for a precious few seconds.

"I can't sense it well. It feels watered down. If I knew where it was, I could control it."

"Listen, the Anomaly has definitely kicked up tons of sand, please try to pull some up."

"Alright. Thank you, Calem."

He ignored that last bit. It really wasn't the time to stress her out. Though for some strange, certainly not cowardly reason, he never found the time.

He turned to Rosa and Tencent, again trying to focus on his thought process.

Rosa bounced on her heels again, covered in lime green spandex patterned with black hexagons, even the visor. Whoever had designed her suit was clearly going for a theme.

"How do your AIAM fields work again? You share them?"

"Well, more like they're linked," she said cheerily as a flash of light roared across the sky, and a tiny bead of metal dug into Garchomp's scales. "If I get stronger, Tencent gets stronger too. We're partners, y'know? If he gets hurt though, I do too."

"So, he's your Stand."

Rosa tilted her head, the sound of the helmet clanking lost in the roaring winds. "He's what?"

Blanche sighed, causing a burst of air from his gills, and shook his head. "Forget about it."

What would work? Tencent may have been part of Zygarde, but it wasn't anywhere big enough to fight a hundred-meter tall Pokémon.

She seemed to notice his silence but only seemed to get happier. "You're thinking of a plan, right? You're an expert tactician, so I know you've got it figured out!"

His thought process ground to a halt for as long as he could afford. "Eh?"

"I've seen in the footage that you're always calling the movements, even if your voice gets kinda squeaky sometimes," ouch, "So I know that what you say is the best move!"

How is this girl my age but so oblivious? Is it her Ability or something? She has way too much faith in me.

Wait, faith. Faith. Faith! That was it! Espers got stronger when they wanted something more, via the power of friendship or whatever. That was the key he needed.

He looked at Rosa, pointed at the Garchomp as Shauna avoided its massive swinging claw. She was doing a good job so far, channeling the lightning into herself and redirecting it into railguns.

"Rosa, hit that thing very, very hard. I believe in you and your partner."

She squeed, that admiration she had in their FLARE contingent clear. "Really?" Her aura visibly flared up, the air around her shimmering with scales.

"Yep," he said, even if it wasn't complete. He'd only just met her, after all. "And if you can't believe in yourself, believe in the me who believes in you."

Rosa raised a salute near the speed of sound. "Sir yes sir!"

"Now!" He raised a fist skyward, brushing off the feeling of ridiculousness. "Go hit the problem as hard as you can!"

"Alright!" Rosa cried as she and Tencent ran straight over the ship's edge.

Over the ship's edge.

Blanche reached out just as they disappeared from his vision. "Wait, you idiot-"

A tiny blue and red thread appeared next to him, stretching across the ship as far as he could see and likely wrapping around the opposite side. It did this many more times, almost faster than he could follow.

In the periphery of his UI, he realized that Rosa had never hit the water.

A sea serpent arose from the sea of ink, glistening with saltwater and its green scales shining like stars. From a haze of aura, Blanche was thrown to the side as the tail swirled into existence from the tiny thread.

It continued onwards, wrapping around the entire ship. The serpent, he realized, was Zygarde. Or at least, one of them.

At the peak of its fan-like skull, reaching as high as Garchomp's, Rosa stood defiantly against the wind, looking down at him. He was a speck from her perspective, but he was the only speck that was bright pink.

"Coming, leader?" She asked, not teasing but clearly burning with excitement.

I'm dead if I fall from that high, artificial aura or not, he noted but ignored. The fact that a freakin' reskinned copy of Jörmungandr had just popped up to protect the main ship made it seem more like a lucid dream than an average Tuesday.

"You better not be flirting, Mummy!" Shauna yelled as she narrowly dodged another swipe.

"I am controlling sand currents to counteract the waves in order to protect the other ships," Serena added, likely to change the subject. "Do what you must, Amaranth."

She only messes the name up when I'm right there, he acknowledged as a plus.

"Right. But uh, how do I do that?"

Tencent's entire body (Aura projection?) slid backward, its head descending further towards the water, and its tail rising between it and the Anomaly. The damn serpent had to be a mile long at least, even as it was thick as a shipping container.

Rosa offered a hand to him, only a few feet from the edge of the boat and on his eye level.

Blanche took a deep breath, fought against the crooked grin trying to force itself onto his face, and got a running start for the leap.

The barge shook violently, and he nearly plunged into the inky sea, before Rosa's glove latched onto his and pulled him up. Every one of Tencent's scales felt like a massive foothold on a climbing wall as he scrambled for the top.

Tencent's tail whipped out as he got to his feet, snapping across the Anomaly's jaw like a thunderclap. A tangible wave pushed droplets from his visor like a fierce wind, even more so than the gale forces.

Garchomp's cry cut through the rain like a flaming sword, even turning what water fell around its face to steam.

Blanche's stomach dropped to the seafloor as they ascended towards the clouds faster than he'd expected, mentally screaming about how the hell was he not being thrown off? It felt like his whole body was gravitating towards Tencent's wide skull and nothing else. Was that an effect of its AIAM field?

Somewhere to his right, a roar of lightning shot towards Garchomp's neck, a coin glittering in front of the charge and Shauna floating behind. The electricity sparking around her almost made it seem like she was shimmering.

"Nice shot, Rue," he said, saluting her without an ounce of irony. "Now all you need are some fairy wings." Okay, maybe there were a few pounds that time.

Something like a snarl came through Shauna's line. "Shut up!"

"I could call you Fairy Rue like you're a Magical Girl. Or Fairue. Fair Rue, my dear lady," he laughed.

The next bolt of lightning was particularly vicious.

"Ahem," he coughed. "How're you holding up, Geranium?"

"Much more sand is being kicked up, though the same is true for abnormal currents. I may not be able to hold this position for long."

Blanche pulled at his gloves as he recognized that was one of the longest sentences he'd heard out of her.

"Alright then. Let's finish this up and get these sailors safe to shore!"

"As shore-ly as the sun sets sooner than the stars!"

"Good pun, Dahlia. Anyway," He whipped out with a single finger against the gray storm, only slightly disappointed that Garchomp was probably glaring at Tencent and not him, "Remember to believe in yourself; HIT THE PROBLEM REALLY HARD!"

"YES SIR!"

Rosa shook a fist at the sky, shining with a light that could shatter even the most guarded of heavens.

The Legendary beneath their feet rose even further, unwrapping from the ship and causing it to lurch to the side.

The clouds that tried their damndest to block out the sun broke apart, a single pin-like gree arrow of light racing towards them. It landed right between him and Rosa, piercing through Tencent's skull.

"Oh my God!"

Rosa emitted a sound not dissimilar to a cackle. "I have a friend of a friend who's a big fan of this move!"

From around his feet, hundreds of arrows rose out of Tencent's scales, each burning brighter than the last. They raced into the air, back through the tiny hole that had been summoned in the sky.

"HEAVEN PIERCING…"

A low screech equalized across the sea as hundreds of Tencent's scales began shimmering with blue and red.

"THOUSAND ARROWS!"

Day broke.

Clouds were ripped to shreds and replaced by a night sky of light blue air and green comets.

In a wide arc that spanned miles, like the walls of a pipeline, a thousand arms of pointed light shot towards Garchomp.

The first arrow struck with the force of a missile, shoving Garchomp back a few inches and eliciting a mere grunt of pain.

But that was only the first.

Soon, the Anomaly was being thrown back through the water, shoving a wall of water that reached higher than the few clouds that remained.

It writhed and screeched, and Blanche could practically hear Tencent's battle cry.

BALANCE.

Steam billowed from the water as arrows continued to pierce through, small lights flashing off the sandbar and deep in the ocean.

The blue sky was entrenched in mist and fog, though the sun shone brighter than it did before.

A minute later, Shauna weakly dropped out of the sky and onto Tencent's head, before wrenching off her helmet and preparing to throw up over the side.

Tencent seemed to sense her intent, a light yip traveling from what he assumed was a terrifying set of teeth.

"Right," she grumbled, not even trying to stand as her knees wobbled.

She looked to Rosa, then to Blanche, then back at Rosa.

"What the hell was that?" She shouted. "Give some warning next time! I felt like I was playing one of Trevor's bullet games!"

Rosa rubbed the back of her helmet awkwardly. "Ehehehe… sorry? I got carried away."

Blanche was still somewhere between shock and awe. Even with all the crazy stuff he'd seen in the last few months, that still took the cake with absolute certainty

She clapped him on the shoulder with a force that probably would have dislocated it without the shielding. "It's all thanks to our leader, really!" She proclaimed with total confidence.

"Eh?" He said reflexively, nary an actual thought in his head.

"Eh?" Shauna asked, with much more depth of tone and bravado. "Since when is he our leader? Serena has seniority!"

"You're technically the newest," he said dully, also on reflex. What could he say? Arguing with Shauna came naturally to him, it was a talent.

"I didn't ask you!"

Blanche decided that was a good time to take a seat, and clattered to Tencent's scales weakly.

Serena appeared in his periphery, rising on a shifty column of sand and gravel, just barely stepping onto Tencent's head as it collapsed.

His gaze remained locked on the Anomaly's body, the massive eyes swimming with black spirals.

"Man… My question is, what is FLARE gonna do about that thing?"

"Most Anomalies are rehabilitated and released into the wild," Serena said in the nick of time.

"Really?" He looked back at her with a confused head-tilt, before looking back at the unconscious Garchomp. "I didn't think there was a place on Earth that thing could fit."

"Hmph," Shauna said, fluffing out her soaked hair. "At least it's a nice day to go swimming."

The four Rangers looked out at the ocean for quite a while after that, just above the dissipating mist. The sun was in the lower half of its cycle, and its light granted them an until-then unrivaled brightness.

Rosa tapped her wrist, though her costume didn't have a watch on it.

"Tencent should be cooling down about now," she said simply.

Blanche dully looked back at her as the expanse of scales beneath them began dissolving. He didn't say anything, only sighing and looking at Shauna, who was in the opening stages of panic.

"Welcome to my world."

Swish.

Plop. Plop.

Rosa shouted, "Cannonball!"

Fwoosh.

Tencent's smaller form emerged from the aura of the massive dissolving head, dropping to the ocean with a happy bark.

Blanche did a dead man's float as Rosa and Serena's helmets dissolved into light, keeping the splash of water out of their faces. Shauna, somehow still unprepared for the impromptu dive, spat out seawater.

"You're not affected in the slightest, are you?" She complained.

"Want to have a wet t-shirt contest?" He deadpanned. "Spoiler alert: I beat you."

As she screeched something about him being a pervert, so continued an average day in the insane world of Pokémon. What was left of it, at least.

 

[MikaelBrigman]

July and August passed in a few bursts of sweltering heat, broken up by thunderstorms and periods of humidity. The rain continued to flood the lower roads and swirl away into drains in the road. As September started and the storms continued, Blanche found himself staring out the classroom window, watching as people and Pokémon both wore raincoats and used umbrellas. Seeing a Mismagius in the archetypal yellow jacket was a bit disturbing.

Ms. Komoe walked in, the minuscule chemistry teacher standing behind the podium.

"I hope everyone had a good break! Before we get to reviewing for next term and sign-ups for the field trip next week, I'd like to introduce a new student. It's common, I know, but we have to be polite! Now, Ms. Rosa, please come in."

Rosa walked in, and luckily for his blood pressure, she wasn't drenched in water.

Tencent followed behind her, the two absolutely inseparable.

She struck a pose, one hand on her hip, two fingers parted over her eye.

"He-eeeeeeeey, everyone! I'm Rosa, what's up?"

"Um, Ms. Rosa, can you return your partner before we start class?"

"He can get a lot smaller, is that alright?" She asked, missing the point but still smiling.

"Well… As long as he isn't distracting."

Blanche looked over to Gin, if only to gauge the other boy's reaction.

And he was gaping like a fish, er, Water-type.

Listen, Blanche might have been really stupid (Shauna didn't call him an idiot for no reason), but he wasn't blind. Everyone around him was really attractive by most metrics, with the obvious exception of himself. That was the most common superpower, few people were ugly unless it was intentional on the part of the author. Or Arceus. Or Helix- Look, he didn't know, but that was his best guess. And he was comfortable saying so while also saying that dating was really, really not a good idea for a guy who couldn't even remember his own name.

And as Gin put it in his stupor, "Wowzas."

Blanche muttered, "This better not lead to a subplot," before looking back out the window, remembering exactly how he got into this situation.

---

The UR cargo ship sailed past Courmaline City, hundreds of cables between the small fleet pulling the unconscious Anomaly along.

Blanche still felt on edge, watching the water as Clemont handed him a drink out on the deck, while the crewmen put the massive crates back into place.

"Thanks," he said, cracking the can without taking his eyes off the Garchomp, marveling at how it still looked larger than the ship while half-submerged. "What are we going to do about that thing?"

Clemont shrugged, taking off and drying his glasses of humidity for the fiftieth time that hour. "The protocol for large Anomalies was to deliver them to a UR base after being defeated."

"Not FLARE?"

"It's a very large base, so I hear."

Seaside hills began breaking up into mountains as they sailed further north, even passing Laverre City. The ship broke east into a small delta that separated those hills from the greater mountain range.

Blanche dropped his empty can in shock as a mountain split open to slide out of the way. Two huge cliff faces slid away further into the mountain, revealing a dim expanse.

He whipped his head around as the rock turned to concrete above him, every ship easily sailing into the hidden port.

He whispered, "What the hell?"

"The world is filled with manmade wonders beyond your comprehension," Augustine said, walking out onto the deck with the others.

Blanche got this sort of dumbfounded look on his face. "That's not the quote," he said before pausing. "Probably."

"Quick to the draw but not to the follow-up," the Professor said with a light laugh. "This is the UR's Kalosian port. Materials too delicate to be handled by the average workers come here."

"I wouldn't call that Garchomp delicate," Blanche said, sarcasm sneaking into his voice.

"FLARE business, therefore, UR business."

"And what are they going to do with it?"

A dark look crossed the Professor's face, but Blanche assumed it was a trick of the light as he laughed off the question. "They'll use Aural Shells to- No, not the kind you'll be using- remove the Anomaly from its AIAM field and rehabilitate it, before releasing it back into its natural habitat."

Blanche watched as cranes hissed in the underground port, beginning to unload the ship. Many were tasked to pull the Garchomp out of the water. There was another third descriptor of events around him. Oh, yeah, Popeye the Sailor Man showing up, eating spinach, and punching the Anomaly in the gut.

Eh, he had a bit of a weird imagination.

"I saw some crates for the Golurk Synchro Project. Are they still bringing stuff in for that? I figured it had been shut down."

"It's being repurposed. Don't you read the emails?"

Blanche scratched the back of his head, disturbing his hat somewhat. Even if he'd rather not wear it, the sun was too bright to avoid it.

"Uh…"

"Even I read the emails, stupid," Shauna said, putting her hands on her hips.

Rosa looked at her, eyes wide with wonder, then copied her pose.

"I check my emails every day!"

He was going to have to eventually tell Rosa that they weren't as cool as she thought they were, and more specifically, that he certainly wasn't the coolest.

Good for the ego, but not his guilty conscience.

"What happened to those two anyway? The Golurk and the grunt, I mean," he asked, turning to the Professors.

"They were partners before they got swept up by Team Plasma, I'm afraid." Augustine shook his head. "Truly, a shame. Colress dismissed them, so I heard."

Blanche was slightly indignant as he asked, "And he's still working on it?"

Augustine held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Back to the prototype stages, or so I hear. The UR has seized his lab materials but not his research."

"That's…"

Blanche was at a loss for words. Politics, Sycamore had called it. He called it bullshit. That could have gone so much worse if Clemont didn't always have the tech to pull out of his ass. So could have the last three operations, now that he thought about it.

The major ones, at least. The smaller ones were average and went well, not worth mentioning.

He reckoned that rescuing Meowstic from trees was a waste of FLARE's resources until he learned about the PR boost. Whenever something went wrong, aside from the benefit of simply doing good, there was always a side effect that made his boss look good.

"That's stupid!" Shauna said. "What if it happens again?"

As she took the words right out of his mouth, Blanche was reminded again how similar they were. Asking dumb questions is not a zero-sum game, after all. It's fun for the whole friend group.

"Then it happens again. That's the scientific process. There's still potential in the project, even if it has gone wrong once."

Blanche took a deep breath, pushed down his frustration, and exhaled slowly.

"That sucks. And they just fired that one girl for following orders?"

"No. Remember, Blanche, dealing with AIAM fields is tricky business. Aveline?"

Aveline adjusted her glasses and coughed. "Ah, um, yes, AIAM fields can overlap but it's very rare for them to combine entirely, and when they do, the reaction is unbalanced, as you all have seen."

Rosa jumped up like a star, "But not me and Tencent, right? We're like, totally in sync!"

"Um, well, not completely but very close, I'm sure. The combination is a result of total synchronization."

Michael had a slight smirk, he noticed.

The spiky-haired boy said, "I met someone who called it a four-hundred percent sync ratio. You know, like in Eva-"

Shauna cupped her hands around her mouth, drowning out the other boy as she said, "Nerrrrrrrrrrrd."

They took a MagLev straight back home after leaving the underground dock, entirely too tired to try and check into a hotel. Blanche didn't have the energy to question why the Professor and Rosa had accompanied them home, or why Rosa had a duffel bag.

You know where this is going, of course.

Ms. Grace was waiting for them at the door, likely watching Rhyhorn to keep it from tackling Sycamore when they had guests.

Naturally, she put Rosa in the fourth guest room on the second floor. It was better than being put on the third floor, as Ms. Grace was clearly dividing their rooms by gender.

And that was just the first act of his summer in Lumiose-3.

---

The next scene, so to speak, took place in the FLARE lab as had many scenes that came before.

The Professor, though he held his clipboard, seemed to be actually using it for its intended use, and not dramatics.

"It's officially summer, everyone. Now, any fine guesses for what that means for us?"

"Ice in the water cooler," Michael said.

"Solar panel installations?" Clemont asked, adjusting his glasses.

Aveline put a hand on her chin. "Likely an increase in Grass-type reproduction and migration to more open areas, especially in the wilderness…"

"Longer days," Serena said without an ounce of imagination.

Shauna snapped her fingers and a lightbulb literally flashed above her head. "Beach episodes?"

Rosa leapt into the air, cheering, "Yeah, what she said!"

"I'd say sunscreen," Blanche muttered, "But…"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, maybe, maybe, yes for everyone else." The Professor raised his clipboard over one eye. "But when I say us, I mean FLARE! It gets really hot in Lumiose-3 with all that sunshine. Some of that heat is bound to seep into arteries and veins everywhere." He swept out with the wooden slate. "What I'm saying, of course, is that this city is going to get hot-blooded enough to stir with a spoon! And that means, drum roll please…"

Rosa maneuvered around Shauna to start slapping the tabletop, creating a steady rhythm.

Augustine clapped his clipboard with each syllable for emphasis. "Rogue Espers, Anomalies, street fights, oh my!" He pointed the wooden slate at Serena. "What are we going to do about that?"

"I believe we'll be deployed in the event of an emergency."

"Eh… Blanche, how about you?"

"Ass-kicking time?"

Shauna dug her elbow into his lower ribs, painfully so but not enough to draw blood.

He coughed, "I mean, uh," his voice deepened involuntarily, "I am… THE LAW."

She did it again, more forcefully while hissing, "Try one more time."

"Fine, I'll take my job seriously," he sighed. Looking Sycamore dead in the eye, he said, "Hot-bloodedness is probably directly correlated to the strength and number of Espers, given what you've told me about the Aura Guardian and aura in general, but I don't think that the actual temperature has as much of an effect on that as you're implying. Rather, given that every Esper in this room still attends school, the same can likely be said for Rogue Espers. Due to the ongoing summer break, there is more free time for people to get bored, commit crimes, whatever, and the majority of those people are students. As well, from what Aveline said, we'll probably have to deal with more Pokémon encroaching on city limits due to natural migration patterns, which I might add is a result of building a megalopolis over the span of two years and not some Legendary's malicious intent. Overall, you're telling us that we don't have time to slack off and will likely be running around the city like actual police. In other words, we are the law, and it will soon be, in fact, ass-kicking time."

Everyone was just giving him a range of different looks.

It was just logic, nothing impressive. Maybe it was that he didn't have the native logic of the Pokémon world to unlearn.

"Can I go home now? I just used all of my brain power for today."

Or that it was him pulling a whole lot of words out of his ass.

---

It took a while for Aveline to decide it was his turn to deal with an Anomaly. For the last few incidents over the weeks, she'd only called in Rosa and Serena, which he assumed was to acclimatize the former and have the latter demonstrate the procedure.

He'd thought Serena and Shauna were enough of a contrasting pair, but the difference seemed to be that Shauna could take a hint, and was only slightly less enamored with Serena.

Because of the whole, "Oh, wow, the real FLARE team, I'm so glad I get to work with you guys!" Rosa had some ideas about how they operated, and Serena wasn't exactly the talkative type to disavow her of those notions.

So, naturally, Aveline decided that it was his turn to team up with Rosa, sending them a point on their map, and promising to explain further once a secure line was established by their morph uplink.

And of course, they couldn't morph too far away or they'd get mobbed, but too close and they'd risk exposing their identities.

Blanche felt like his spirit was being tugged along by Rosa as she skipped ahead in front of him, still wide-eyed and taking in the city around her. He was excited to walk into some kind of gang war, ecstatic even. Someone had reported flashes of light in the alley along with people shouting to the police, and Officer Jenny had turned it over to FLARE based on the eyewitness accounts.

He trudged along, tugging at his red shirt. It was hot, that much was obvious, the sun's heat didn't stop at the first layer of his bandages.

Did he need them? Strictly speaking, no. Would he continue wearing them? As long as he could get away with it.

Rosa whirled to a stop at the mouth of the alley, one palm parallel to the ground and the other being used as a visor as she peered inside. Tencent ran up behind her and barked as it slid to a stop almost comically.

"Ooh, dark!"

It gave him an opportunity to catch up and look as well. Less than thirty feet off, the alley split, with the high-rises around it blocking it off from the sun entirely.

"Let's go!"

Blanche snagged the back of her collar as she tried to run off inside.

"We need to morph first. Serious business, remember?"

The adage, act your age, was left unsaid.

"Oh, right! Where should we do that?"

That was… a very good question. People and Pokémon were abundant, hundreds walking through the plaza and even a whole crowd passing behind them.

The morphers were bright, more so than a Pokéball's activation. They would surely attract attention in the middle of the street, or in a dark alley with no other light.

Blanche wasn't stupid, so he didn't suggest using a bathroom.

"Hey, there's a bathroom!"

He sighed as she grabbed his arm and dragged him off. "God damn it."

Two flashes of light in a family restroom and a surprised look from a gaggle of children later, Amaranth and Dahlia quickly ran into the alley.

"Right, boss lady, what's the deal?"

"Apprehend Rogue Espers, turn them over to the police. Standard procedure, prevent property damage, um, if you can."

That's not a good sign.

He looked over to Rosa, scanning behind her trying to find her partner.

"Where's Tencent?" He asked as they turned the corner.

From behind Rosa's neck, a green blob slipped out of her back. The only deviations from its form were two white eyes, only one with a pupil, and a red hexagon that just barely peaked out on its chest.

"He stays in my suit when we're not fighting! Like Sun Tzu said, when strong, appear weak. Professor Juniper said that aces are best kept up your sleeve. He also gives me some extra protection. It exponentiates my aura, I think the younger Professor Sycamore said."

"You've read The Art of War?" He asked, slightly incredulous, as they moved further into the network of alleys.

"Of course!

He checked around another corner for any oddities. Somewhere far off, he could hear an unbalanced pulse that beat almost like a drum.

"You didn't think I was some kind of a ditz, did you?" Her tone was almost sorrowful; He could practically hear the puppy-dog eyes.

"Well, no… I just didn't think you would read something like that."

"No one's actually read that book," she said offhandedly. "It's like, osmosis. Professor Juniper's really smart. It makes sense that you've read it though! You know a ton about tactics."

On one hand, for Christ's sake, they really needed to have that conversation about how FLARE really wasn't as cool as she thought it was, but on the other, depressing her would mean depressing her aura, something that really wouldn't be the best idea if the reports were right.

Blanche was about to turn a corner, heard a few people talking loudly, and nearly screeched to a stop. He held his arm out to stop Rosa without a word, peeking around the bend.

Five girls with heavy amounts of make-up, dyed hair, and some really mean-looking poodle-like Furfrou stood over another girl, who was black with ginger hair and wearing a jumpsuit of some kind.

Naturally, Blanche didn't and couldn't recognize her, because improbable coincidences only happened to protagonists, which he definitely wasn't, so the thought didn't enter his head.

"Bullying?" Rosa whispered, leaning around and below him.

One of the girls brought out a hair straightener, the kind with two bars that sizzled. A nearby puddle swirled off the ground, floating just between the two bars.

"You know I'm not just going to, like, forgive you for splashing mud on my Furfrou, right? Do you know how much styling costs?"

"I did apologize," the girl on the ground said, looking at the water sizzling in mid-air without a hint of fear. "And I gave you enough money."

The bleach-blonde at the front of the crowd reared back as if struck.

With a sickly sweet voice, she said, "You know what? You're right. Let's make that fee the charge for a session!"

Blanche clapped Rosa on the shoulder. "Hit the problem."

"Really hard!" Rosa let out her battle cry as she charged forward, leading feet first as she leaped into the air, shimmering with purple scales, and kicked the hair straightener out of the leader's hands.

She landed gracefully like a dancer as the bleach-blonde yowled and rubbed her hands, causing the battery-powered machine to clatter to the ground a few meters away and the water to splash down around their feet.

Rosa put her gloves on her hips, saying, "Hey! I'm Dahlia. Bullying is bad."

He walked around the corner, arms crossed. "Listen, how many of you are Espers? Because if you're using your powers for stuff like this, I think we're supposed to arrest you."

The group of girls backed against the opposite wall, huddling together, while the leader started snarling.

"You bitch! That was my allowance for today!"

Drops of water rose through the air, sharp like spikes.

Rosa did a little more than a full spin, catching the bleach-blonde in the stomach with her heel and knocking her to the ground. The water splashed back down, muddy enough to splatter brown across her face.

"We're FLARE!" She looked over them slowly, looking much more intimidating than she would have otherwise. "Anyone else? I haven't fought in like, a month."

Blanche shook his head. "If you don't do this again, we can leave this as a misdemeanor. Bullying is only illegal when it goes too far. So get out of here."
"But Amaranth!" Rosa whined.

"We don't fight unnecessarily." He turned to the group's leader. "Leave. Don't do this again."

The gaggle ran out of the alley, one of them shooting a glare at Rosa with her stained mascara and picking up her hair straightener. The Furfrou behind them barked as they followed their Trainers.

"Amaranth?"

He sighed as he looked at Aveline through the lab's receiver.

"Yeah, yeah, we're supposed to apprehend Espers, I know."

The girl against the wall stood up, calmly brushing the dirt off of her upper jumpsuit and fluffing out her hair.

"You alright?"

"Yes. I've been looking for FLARE, actually. Could I meet with your scientist? I remember her."

"That's the grunt from the Golurk Synchro Project," Aveline whispered in surprise.

"Oh. Uh, sure. Just head down to any of the plazas, find a secretary, ask to meet with Aveline Sycamore."

"Alright. Thank you both for your assistance."

Whately, the former grunt of Team Plasma, walked out of the alley and didn't look back.

Rosa, figuratively, was steaming at the ears, though the helmet was still black and green.

"Why didn't you arrest those girls?"

"One, I don't think I would enjoy punching out women, two, we'll know if they do it again anyway, three, they're really not a threat until they do something like that Bug-type Esper from back in January. Four, how do two people carry five?"

"I could have done it," Rosa said.

"We're not always supposed to fight, Dahlia."

"But…"

"That's how we do it in Kalos. It's not all ass-kicking, as much as I enjoy it. Hurting people unnecessarily is bad and I won't stand for it. We're FLARE, we protect as many people as possible. You can go all-out against another Anomaly if you need to, but most people and Pokémon can't take you in a straight fight."

"Do you really think I'm that strong?" She asked, bouncing back and onto her heels.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but yes. That's dangerous, Dahlia. You don't have any sense of restraint."

"Oh…"

God, I feel like an asshole.

He would have pinched the bridge of his nose, but the visor still covered his head.

"Next time there's more of a match for you, do whatever. But have mercy, alright?"

"If you say so, leader."

God damn it.

"I'm not the leader, Dahlia. I'm just the ideas guy. You want a leader, look as Serena. Between you and her, I think she has more aura and that's when she isn't hyperactive like you. Take some pointers."

He could have and would have continued, but a dozen footsteps came to a halt at the mouth of the alley.

The bleach-blonde from earlier pointed at them, mascara still trailing. Behind her, more girls and a bunch of meatheads (Who compared to Tierno, looked almost scrawny) were crowded, some slipping on boxing gloves and brass knuckles.

"There's the bitch and the giant washboard!"

Blanche sighed.

"Who do they think I am, Rue? Actually, don't answer that. Anyway, Dahlia, what I just said still applies. Hit the problems hard, but not too hard. Got it?"

She punched the air with her fist. "Got it!"

"Go wild."

…

Who knew ballet could allow someone to kick so much ass?

---

Rain pounded against the roofs of Little Kanto, booths outside having long since closed up at the first sign of inclement weather. The sky had turned to a dark gray as it slated liquid death upon them-

Well, that may have been an exaggeration on Blanche's part. It certainly wasn't fun for him, though, running through the rain for a quarter-hour just to get home from the card shop. He'd have stuck around someplace dry, but the shopkeeper he'd asked said that it wasn't forecasted to lighten up any time soon.

Trevor's spare poncho being a few sizes too small certainly didn't help either.

Ariel was there at the door in an instant, truly earning what little screen time she gets and ushered them in with concern clear on her face. With barely a word, she had Audino run up the stairs and return not a minute later with towels.

Pink, fluffy, and warm to the touch, they were Blanche and Trevor's saving grace.

She immediately set out cups for hot tea and started boiling water.

"Ariel, I don't think I can say enough how great you are," Blanche said, muffled as he tried to soak the water out of his bandages and into the towel.

Even with his vision filled with pink, he could tell she was smiling as she responded, "Oh, you don't have to say anything, I'm nothing special."

He settled his towel around his neck. "I couldn't disagree more. Trevor, back me up on this."

"You really don't need to…"

Trevor nodded, "Blanche is correct, you're a boon, Ariel, we're lucky to have you. Blanche especially."

In the literal sense, of course. Blanche had told them his supposed backstory a thousand times. Trevor couldn't possibly have meant anything else, that would be stupid.

"You know, we should probably start a fan club," Blanche offered to Trevor.

"That's really not necessary…"

"She most likely deserves it more than most celebrities."

"I really don't…"

"Definitely more than I do," Blanche agreed. "Though we'll need to keep certain rules of the internet away from it at all costs."

Ariel gave up on trying to deny it and sighed. "You're all a handful, I'll say that much." She set down a tray in front of them and sat down. Almost instantly, the kitchen became that much warmer, with a cozy heat settling over them.

Blanche slumped back and closed his eyes as he took a sip. "Great as always."

"It's all store bought, but thank you."

"Hey, I barely know what I'm doing with pasta when the instructions are printed on the back," he joked. "You making it is what adds flavor."

"That's a bit cliché, Blanche," Trevor reminded him as he stirred sugar into his cup.

"It is, isn't it? But in the same way that a Champion believes in the power of friendship or a King of Games believes in the heart of the cards, it's a cliché because it's true."

Ariel would have sputtered, but she had more grace than that.

Somewhere off in the mountains, their dorm mother sneezed while training her Rhyhorn, because even in retirement, the grind to be the best never ends. Her screen time was even more limited, this is likely all you'll see from her for a while.

"Now you're just embarrassing me," she complained with a light pout.

"And it's all deserved, I assure you," Blanche said. "God's gift to mankind, can I get an amen? Wait, never mind, that doesn't apply here."

---

News reports had caught the Anomaly before FLARE did, funnily enough. Forecasters called it a result of wind patterns and Grass-types coming into full bloom, business as usual.

However, when the cloud of pollen grew like an invasive plant, creeping through the forests at an incredible rate, it was obvious enough that they had to be called in.

Blanche and Shauna were selected, as Rosa herself admitted that she couldn't think around problems she couldn't punch, while Serena's abilities would be far too destructive the suburbs that lay outside of the walled city of Lumiose-3.

A miasma of yellow-green had settled over the neighborhood, mostly comprised of similar two-story houses. Little dust particles hung in the air.

Shauna scratched at the sealed neck of her suit, the modification being easy even with the limitations of her morpher that came with its stability. She blended in well with the air, and Blanche made a mental note to keep careful watch of their position as he checked his neck compartment for his pocketknife.

Oddly enough, she hadn't complained that they'd been partnered up for the mission. Yet, anyway.

"Inhabitants have already evacuated, find the Anomaly at the source of the pollen cloud and knock it out. Horde encounters with Grass-types are expected, your Aural Shell Bolters will be useful. Keep damage to a minimum, please."

Blanche held up what was essentially a paintball gun. It was designed to be used one-handed but using both couldn't hurt. It was blocky and plasticky, with flame decals along the sides. Some of Clemont's creativity slipping in, no doubt.

"Yes, ma'am," he murmured, scanning the empty street outside the station. The conductor had been annoyed to take two passengers when he'd expected no business on the route, right up until they showed their direct order from FLARE.

He had a kid at home, they signed a little hat that he kept for her when it was bring-your- daughter-to-work day, and the MagLev sped off without a second thought.

"Isn't it kind of weird that we're micro-celebrities?" He asked, holding the bolter up and scanning the empty streets. "I really feel like the police and nurses do a lot more than us."

"We're the people the police call in when they can't handle something, m- dummy. And we're like, limited edition cards." She paused. "I mean, uh, that's how Trevor would describe it."

He snorted. "Just admit you're a nerd like the rest of us and get on with it."

"Shut up!" Lightning crackled around her, but immediately fell to a low buzz as it snapped against pollen spores. Electricity diffused around her instead of turning her into a tesla plasma ball.

Blanche heard a whooshing sound down a side street and looked away. He immediately leveled his bolter in the general direction, just past a postal box.

Two huge blades of grass cut through the pollen, just barely swiping past his head and crashing into the picket fences behind him.

"Down!" He shouted as he jumped behind a lamppost.

Shauna did the same at the other corner, leaning out slightly and frantically pointing into the yellow haze.

Another blade flew towards them, cutting through Shauna's cover and sending sparks shooting off into the street as the pole clattered to the concrete.

A high-pitched screech emanated from the cloud of pollen, and Blanche saw a bluish rope recede back into the haze.

"T-tentacles?" Shauna asked hesitantly.

He fired a few shots towards where the tentacle came from. "And it's aiming for you. Don't get a nosebleed."

"I would never- Shut up, pervert!"

A forest of blue vines shot out of the pollen, crawling through the concrete at a breakneck pace.

Blanche jumped out of cover, shooting his bolter wildly, sending the vines on the retreat. They withered on contact with each Shell-dust paintball, rooting to the ground there and then.

CLAP CLAP CLAP.

Another high-pitched screech came through the cloud, closer than before.

Blanche felt a static creep into the air, and dodged out of the way as a coin blasted past him on a wide cone of electricity.

The cone widened into a flat plane, fading away and sending the coin clinking along without any force.

"Your electricity-"

"It's diffusing, I know!" Shauna unlatched her bolter from her waist, shooting ahead of them.

The full mass of the Anomaly entered into view, a towering collection of vines wrapped around a body of total darkness.

"It's a mutated Tangrowth! Use Fire and Flying-type attacks!"

"Sorry, I didn't exactly bring a flamethrower," he grunted as he stepped away from a sweeping vine. He slipped his pocket knife out of his neck compartment, flicking it open and holding it reversed under his shooting arm. "Rue, would you happen to have a spare?"

"Where would I keep it?" She yelled back, trying to dodge away from a vine. It shot forward, wrapping around her leg and sweeping her into the air. "Ah! Mummy, you better take responsibility for this!"

"Rue's vitals are dropping!"

"God damn it, I said not to get a nosebleed!"

He dashed across the street, a whirlwind that cut through vines too thin to resist and shot to wither away those that remained. He pressed his bolter to the base of the vine that was whipping her around.

CLAP CLAP CLAP.

Blanche kept shooting until it was completely separated.

Shauna fell to the ground with a bump, just a bit too far away for him to catch her. Given that it was Shauna, trying to catch her wouldn't have ended well in the first place.

Vines completely covered the street as he ran towards the Tangrowth, stamping down any tentacles that tried to rise and dodging past the larger ones, slapping them with his knife.

"I'm a tactician, you bastard!" He plunged the knife through the main mass, turning it down with the blade facing towards him. "Not a Goddamned berserker!" He ripped outwards, utterly ruining his knife but leaving a gaping hole in the exterior, which he quickly filled with his bolter. "I don't fight in melee for a reason!"

CLAP CLAP CLAP.

The Tangrowth stopped screeching, the white eyes that peeked out at him closing as its screeching quieted to a whine and then to silence.

He pulled his arm out, shaking off the sap that had leaked from the exterior tentacles.

Luckily for his conscience, Grass-types usually had a main body that was linked to more traditional plant matter, but in the same way that the human scalp is connected to hair. The most he could've done to the Tangrowth in actuality is give it a bruise with the paintballs.

Blanche looked back at Shauna, dripping with white sap that the pollen clung to like velcro.

"Talk about a golden shower, am I right?"

The beginning of a sentence leaked into Shauna's audio uplink, but in front of him, she started gesticulating wildly in silence before finally stopping, then settling on a loud, yet simple facepalm.

---

Gin burped and slammed his half-empty mug down on the bar. Jazz music had just started up on the jukebox, and people were filing into the cool cantina after a day in the sun for a nice, midsummer night.

"So, fellas," Gin shook his hands out with his eyes closed, gesticulating as he began, "This summer's been pretty nice, hasn't it? Loads of fights, no school, man, it's just like back in the day. Ain't it, Russ?"

"Doesn't get much better than that," the karate kid said, sipping a cup of just ice.

"Ah, but it does. Blanche, my man, hear me out."

"Alright," our bandage babe said, taking a long drink.

"So, I was doing my thing, cruisin' around the city, pretty late in the afternoon, but then I hear some screeching, right? Like a Banette, I tell ya."

Russ shuddered, but Gin continued.

"There was this huge crowd'a preppy types and some punks surrounding this girl in an alley. Now, I don't usually step in during the day, cause that's FLARE's thing, but then this one girl pulled out a hair straightener, and-"

"Hey, I've seen this one before," Blanche said, pointing at nothing in particular.

Gin gave him an odd look. "Nah, man, I don't think I told ya. So, what this other girl does is step back and kick the other girl right in the jaw, man," Gin's eyes freaking fluttered, Blanche could swear, "I think I fell in love right there. That ginger hair, that jumpsuit, that kick- Man, you shoulda seen it!"

"Are you going to tell him what happened afterward?" LaRusso asked, with a look that made clear he'd heard it too many times before.

"Ah, well, I put my mask on and jumped in. There was one dude with a bat, but that was easy. Furfrou got mean bites, though, let me tell ya. One guy had a Scrafty, and those are Fightin'-types too, but I gave as good as I got."

"And then…"

"Well, there I was," Gin shook his shoulders, "All suave and cool after knocking out the last dude, and I look over to this girl, and man, her skin was like those jasper rocks you see in museums, practically shinin' in the sun-"

"Get on with it," LaRusso said, irritated.

"Right, so I look over at her, and I did this." Gin took off his glasses and ran a hand through his hair. "And I'm like, wassup, you're cool as hell, can I get your digits?"

"And?"

"She gave 'em to me, man! She's all like, whoa, Gin, you're pretty cool. I bet I could beat you in a fight, let's spar sometime-"

"What he means is, she said she'd be alright with coffee," LaRusso said.

"And she walks off, saying something about looking for FLARE." Gin sighed, sinking back in his seat with a dopey smile.

"...So did you ever call her?" Blanche asked, utterly dumbfounded at that point. Gin wasn't a bad guy by any means, he was just a little prone to violence. Like Rosa. Yeah, that's a good comparison.

"Ah, I don't wanna bore you guys with the details…"

Blanche slammed his hands on the table, thinking about doing the same with his head. "You brought it up!"

The jazz music started kicking up in the background, a rhythm kicking in as if backing up Gin's words.

A whole crowd of punks, similarly dressed to the greaser, all slid up to the bar, crowding around him in an instant.

"Yeah, man, you gotta give us the deets!"

"She anything like you, boss?"

"How much ass can she kick?"

Gin held up his hands, sliding out of his chair and taking off his glasses. And rather than walking off, he took a step back up onto the barstool.

"If you fall, I'm not catching you," Blanche deadpanned.

Gin called out over the crowd of punks, "Summer loving, havin' a blast…"

Blanche looked up. "Summer loving? You're joking. Did it happen so fast?"

Gin pointed out across the punks, hopping onto the bar to the reaction of absolutely nothing from the bartenders. So much for sanity. "I met a girl, crazy for me…"

"And she must have thought he's cute as can be!" One of the punks shouted.

"Yeah, dat's our boss! Propa respect!"

Blanche leaned over to LaRusso, "Since when is he a gang leader?"

"Summer days, driftin' away to, oh, these midsummer nights…"

"We beat up a lot of people in our spare time," LaRusso said, crunching down on an ice cube. "Defeat means friendship and all that."

The punks vibrated and moved like an ocean as Gin jumped from the bar and onto a recently vacated table.

"tell me more, tell me more, did ya get very far?"

"Is there anything beside trains in this city?" Blanche had only seen personal vehicles outside and on the outskirts, where the MagLevs didn't run.

"I don't know, around here there aren't any cars," LaRusso said.

"She walked by me, and her leg got a cramp… I played it cool, I ain't just a scamp!"

Gin snapped towards a punk standing near the jukebox, and the volume nearly doubled.

"I saved her life, she nearly fell…"

Blanche snorted into his drink, before laughing it off and thinking, ah, I'll have some fun, what the hell?

"Summer sun, something's begun, these, oh, these midsummer-"

The door to the cantina slammed open, with Lenore huffing and holding her ears as she walked through everyone else.

"Geniévre! What the hell have I told you about starting musical numbers so late in the evening? I can hear you from my house!"

"Oh, damn! It's the boss lady!" One of the greasers shouted, waving his arms towards the exit. "Scram, fellas!"

Gin just waved and stood his ground (well, table), cementing his position in the eyes of his followers.

Blanche collapsed onto the bar, laughing so hard it had become silent gasping for breath. The Pokémon world was insane, but you know what? It was also pretty nice sometimes.

---

In late July, the RKS-2 satellite reported an oddly shaped meteor approaching the Earth at low speeds. Worryingly, it seemed to be self-propelled, having a tail that was not unlike that of a comet, but its trajectory was too straight to be restrained by the sun's gravity

There was a light show that night in Lumiose-3, as the meteor approached the ozone layer and was obliterated by Rayquaza. Remnants continued to fall, and though those too were vaporized by Hyper Beams, a smaller chunk landed in the east Kalosian mountain range just outside of the Dendemille city limits.

It was a sleepy little town that still managed to have cool air even in summer, but it was clearly disturbed by the smoking crater that lay across the river.

Blanche and Serena were dispatched with Shauna and Rosa in reserve. The onboard Aura Reader hadn't detected a field, but they were sent to check to ease safety concerns.

The earth was clearly disturbed as they arrived early in the morning, Blanche only slightly cranky about being woken up so early only to take an hour ride without being allowed to nap. Apparently, slacking on public transport would've reflected poorly on FLARE.

The two crossed the bridge, both of them clicking buttons on the sides of their helmets and illuminating the dark forest. His head swiveled like a turret, constantly looking for anything strange as they approached the source of the smoke, while Serena took heavy steps onto the mud-splattered path.

Trees started leaning at lower and lower angles as they moved through the forest, cracked at the same low points on their trunks. A blasted heath grew into the forest, the grass becoming brighter and lusher, but their sheen was almost radioactive.

Serena stopped as they approached further. "Amaranth, there is an Anomaly in the earth five meters ahead. There's some sort of field countering my own."

There was a faint whirring coming from just ahead. Clicks and hisses broke up the monotonous buzz.

"Alright." He started walking again. "Let's investigate."

Half-embedded in a crater of dried mud, a bluish cube sputtered, the top nine dice that it was constructed of attempting to turn against the dirt.

Serena stopped, dropping to the earth for a moment on instinct, but then moved to pick it up with her own two hands.

"Stop." Blanche held up an arm. "It's almost never a good idea to touch weird space rocks."

It was somewhere between a tesseract and a puzzle cube, the bluish glow it gave off reminiscent of LED lights. Between the cracks, however, it was pitch black.

"I'll try. If it's countering your aura, it might not react to me."

"Amaranth, you yourself said that it could be dangerous," Aveline reminded him. "And, well, we all agree. It can't be an Aural Shell derivative, wherever that came from wouldn't have what's required."

"What's required?" He asked off-handedly, kneeling to look closer.

"Well, um, that's classified…"

She looked away from the feed sheepishly.

"But it's an element that can only be found on Earth."

"Huh."

That's probably a subplot thing, he noted. Luckily, main character gal gets to deal with that and not me.

"Should I poke it?"

Aveline put a finger to her cheek in thought. "...I suppose."

Blanche poked the weird space cube.

Weird space cube used Float-and-Spin-Really-Fast.

Blanche jumped back as the glowing puzzle started trying to solve itself, quickly growing brighter and brighter.

Serena backed away, suddenly collapsing like a puppet cut from strings.

"My aura is gone," she whispered, weakly standing up. "I don't understand."

Blanche's Infinity Battery continued whirring as he rushed over to her, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. He muttered a few swears inaudibly. "Tell me when your aura comes back, and then stay out of its field." He glanced back at the Anomaly as it began rising higher and higher into the air. He wouldn't need to move her at that rate.

A machine that cancels aura? Theories and hypotheses started running through his head. Tubes of light rose from in between the cracks, overlaying itself with glowing threads.

Blanche didn't feel any effects. Was that because his field was artificial?

"Amaranth, are you and Geranium unable to pursue?"

"No. Just her." He let go of her next to a rocky outcropping, got a running start, pulled himself up a tree, scaring an inquisitive Pansage in the process, and jumped onto the cube like it was a fumbled football.

It whirred harder under the sudden weight, dropping a few feet before it started burning brighter than before, rising even higher and beyond the treeline.

Blanche clenched his body tighter, touching his knees to his elbows to contain the Anomaly.

Augustine cut across the communications line, "Amaranth, what exactly are you doing?"

"Containing the Anomaly." He started listing towards the sun as the cube shot through the air, dragging him along. "So, uh," he laughed awkwardly, "Any chance there's a prototype parachute Gear?"

"...Your best shot is to use DIVE when over a lake."

Clemont appeared from the side of her feed, poking his head in. "I'm actually working on a modification that will work in low-pressure environments, but, well, no prototype yet."

Blanche looked down at the specks that were the countryside's residents as the cube took him away from Kalos, towards the Atlantic.

"I don't know what I was thinking," he cursed. "Rotten luck."

---

They did eventually manage to get him down before the sun set that evening. Being able to pilot a helicopter is very useful in the field, as well as Shauna being able to manipulate air currents as long as they're contained by an electromagnetic field (As such, she'd been given a rather large battery with an emitter). It was quite an adventure.

The Anomaly just kept chugging along as Blanche unclenched his aching body and dropped out of its AIAM-canceling field. Shauna caught him just below, maneuvered him into the vehicle's open door, and upon realizing he was practically catatonic, laid him across the metal bench she was seated; An act of kindness so, ahem, shocking, that Blanche wasn't sure if he wasn't hallucinating from the lack of oxygen. The DIVE Gear used what was around it, meaning it couldn't pull oxygen out of literally thin air.

Blanche was perched on the fence between not being scared of heights at all and being mentally crippled by the idea of a tall cliff. He really couldn't tell.

That had been one hell of a debriefing, for sure. The Professor was in awe of his dedication in all the worst ways, and told him if he didn't care about himself enough to stop and think before jumping onto a weird floating space rock, then maybe he was in the wrong profession.

Naturally, he wasn't called in for a while after that. Ariel was glad to have him around the house more, as he hadn't much else to do that summer.

Blanche was slightly skilled at handiwork. And whatever they put in the food in the Pokémon world, it built people out of granite. Aside from the AIAM fields, most people could pick up things they had no business carrying with just a bit of effort, such as refrigerators.

Blanche isn't most people, so naturally, he had to work for it. Now, he knew basic exercises were great for building muscle, but that's why they were basic. He's also something of an idiot, and immediately sought out the most difficult and power-building routine he could.

Tierno brought him to his dance studio but he was so far past embarrassed that it went back around and it canceled out.

The groups were divided by pretty clear lines, but none of them were gender. Plenty of dudes were in the classical (ballet?) dancing group, and plenty of girls were in the breakdancing group.

"I still don't think I look good in tights," Blanche said, pulling at the stretchy fabric. He could see himself clearly in the studio's mirrors, along with the other groups as they ran drills. His bandages were unrestricting, they had to be when they covered his whole body, but a simple white tee still covered them.

"You look great, B-meister, don't worry about it!" Tierno clapped him on the back with a laugh, unknowingly sending our bandage babe in chief stumbling forward. "So, are you more into breakdancing or ballet? Breakdancing builds more upper body muscles, and ballet builds core and lower body. They're both still really fun though, so don't let that determine your choice."

Blanche poked his own stomach. He wasn't scrawny, but he lacked definition.

"I want abs."

You and everyone else, mummy-man.

"Ballet it is." Tierno cupped a hand around his mouth and waved the ballet captain over. "Hey, Marie!"

A wiry girl with a platinum blonde ponytail stopped the dance drills for the moment, dismissing the ballet dancers for water before she jogged over.

"Hey, T. How can I help you?"

"This is my friend, Blanche," he said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Blanche gave a small wave, totally out of his element. Not that he had one, of course, but the sentiment stands. "Uh, hello."

"You mind adding him to your team for the next production? He's a total beginner, but he's got a bit of lean muscle on him."

She turned to him with a stern look. "So, you think you've got what it takes for ballet?"

"Willing to learn," he stammered out.

"Huh. Well, you've got the build. You're not stocky, but you're not scrawny, either. What Pokémon do you have to be your dance partner?"

"That's required?"

Marie hummed and crossed her arms. "Beginner indeed. Well, I suppose you can start with the basic movements until you find one. For now, come over here and introduce yourself…"

---

"Alright, great news, everyone!"

It wasn't exactly an emergency meeting, except that it totally was as well as the middle of the afternoon. Augustine had called them in on incredibly short notice, just as Blanche was getting into his (recently developed over the last couple of weeks) exercise routine and his Holo Caster started blaring in the middle of the studio. LADY had somehow gotten into it, turned his volume to maximum, and set off the most aggravating alarm he'd ever heard.

Shauna was clearly annoyed by his state of dress, as he hadn't time to change and she kept side-eyeing him as the Professor explained why he'd called them all on short notice.

Rosa seemed to recognize it though, giving him a thumbs-up and a bright smile. At least he could get along with one of his teammates.

Augustine tapped him on the forehead, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Hey, you still here?"

"Don't mind me, just zoned out."

"Well, listen up because, for this operation, we have special parameters!"

Rosa tilted her head. "What's a parameter?"

"It's like a parachute, but in metric."

Shauna slapped Blanche upside the head.

"I mean, uh, it's one of the goals that something has to meet. Shouldn't you know what that means?"

Rosa shrugged. "Professor Juniper just told me when I needed to hit stuff. That's all I listened to, anyway."

"Alright everyone, let's bring it back in," Augustine chuckled. "There's been a pair of Anomalies messing with electronics throughout Kalos. A Plusle and Minun. They were first sighted in Coumarine Town earlier this summer, but they've been spotted anywhere a MagLev train can take you. Unfortunately, their range is a bit further than just off the tracks."

The Professor unclipped the brochure from his clipboard, flashing the picture on the front cover to them. A magnificent palace decked out in ivory and gold, surrounded by sculpted hedges and beautiful orchards.

"The residents of one of Kalos's most wondrous landmarks, our very own Parfum Palace, reported the Anomaly as a minor nuisance to the authorities, who quickly identified it as something beyond their pay grade."

Blanche asked, "It's just a Plusle and Minun?"

"There's no just with those two, dummy," Shauna mumbled.

"Shauna's been dispatched to deal with them multiple times," Serena reminded him in the nearly omnipresent dull tone.

"I know, but… is that really an emergency?" Blanche still didn't believe that they needed him from this.

"Parfum Palace is the home of the Kalosian royal family," Augustine said, leaning back with his hands in his pockets. "And though they have very little political power, you can do the math."

Record scratch.

Kalos was, as you can tell from Blanche's name, based on France.

France didn't have a royal family in modern times.

"...Does the word "guillotine" mean anything to anyone here?"

"It's a mid-tier one-hit-knock-out move on Smogon," Michael said automatically, not even looking away from the computer.

"Never mind, then."

"As well, you must not manipulate your AIAM fields under any circumstances."
Another record scratch, slightly higher pitched.

"What? Why?" Shauna shot into the air like a rocket. "How are we supposed to fight?"

"Properly applied ballet lessons," Rosa said under her breath before giggling.

Blanche is, as you well know, stuck in the crazy house.

"The Kalosian royal family has always had close ties with the Helixian church, and as such, they don't believe humans were meant to have aura beyond what their Lord Helix intended. If you use any of your abilities, it could-"

"Cause a scandal," Blanche said at the same time. Augustine gave him a simple nod. "Fantastic. Next, you'll be telling me that I can't use my Gear."

"As a matter of fact…"

God damn it.

"It's a very, very treasured landmark, and let's just say the Gear you prefer isn't the most conservative in regards to property damage."

"...Can we use our bolters?"

"No. In fact, you'll be partnering up with Pokémon."

That just doesn't make any sense, he thought. FLARE purposefully used Espers instead of normal Pokémon. It was a political thing, and most Anomalous Pokémon couldn't be swayed to their side anyway.

"What kind of Pokémon?"

"In fact, the three I entrusted to Mrs. Grace and you all earlier this year."

Let's see, cute, cuddly, and curious. Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie. But why those three? They definitely weren't strong, they weren't even trained.

"What are the politics behind that?" Blanche had just resigned himself to his fate at that point.

"It's what you call a Galarian person taking a good look at something." The Professor pointed at him, then snapped. "Propaganda! We need to make FLARE look like we're made up of people and Pokémon, and good ones at that. Violence solves most of our problems here, but not all of them, and very few outside of battles. I'm sure you can infer the optimal solution."

"Cute and cuddly plus public service plus helping the Kalosian royal family is equal to some really good PR?"

"Glad you could figure that out for yourself. Now, get moving everyone."

The four Rangers started leaving for the airlock. "

And Blanche, before you go."

He turned mid-step, only stumbling a little. "Uh, yeah?"

The Professor held out a letter sealed with a red wax seal, imprinted with some sort of tree. "Would you mind delivering this to Princess Zatherina?"

What kind of name is that?

"Okay. FLARE documents, I assume?"

The Professor laughed awkwardly, shoving the letter further in his face. "Ah, no, but I'd still appreciate it if you delivered it instead of anyone else. She has a soft spot for pretty boys; I would know."

Blanche pinched the bridge of his nose. "Professor, why can't you keep it in your pants?"

"Please, Blanche?"

He swiped the letter, mentally making a note to store it properly after they morphed.

"Thank you. Oh, and remember to get your partners and their Pokéballs from Ms. Grace."

"Obviously. But I thought they weren't our partners…"

The Professor winked at him conspiratorially.

"No, of course, they're not. I haven't decided who to give them to next year, after all."

---

Parfum Palace was more magnificent in person, which contrasted with his bizarre expectations. Rather than being dingy and run-down, it was immaculate and the marble pillars practically shined in the sun. Rather than a gravel trail through the forest and uncut plains, it seemed like the garden went on for miles and miles as they walked down a paved brick road. And rather than meeting some guy who ran a tourist trap, they were greeted by a pair of guardsmen and a lady in a white and purple gown at the second set of gilded gates.

There's really no understating how few princess archetypes there are, as the woman that greeted them seemed to fit all at once.

"Gentlemen, stand down. I will greet our… esteemed guests."

Posh, arrogant, condescending; those descriptors surely fit the blonde woman before them.

"You all must know who I am, naturally. But for manners' sake, I am Enzirica Azoth, first in line to inherit the crown."

Again, what kind of name is that? His deal with being called white in French wasn't even close to that egregious.

Blanche was thankful that his expression was hidden by his helmet. Chespin was standing next to him and didn't react in the slightest, so he took that as an example of solidarity.

Serena was the first of them to kneel, almost automatically upon the introduction. Fennekin was not easily shocked and lowered itself on its front paws.

Shauna came quickly after, only panicking slightly along with Froakie.

Tencent barked, but was quickly quieted when Rosa kneeled, a surprising show of humility if anything else.

Blanche had forgotten how chivalry in the archaic sense worked, and as such didn't kneel as much as trip when he realized how much he stood out.

"Well met, citizens." She sniffed, ticking off yet another box on the list of character traits. "I see that some of you are less aware than others, but I expected nothing less from people of your caliber. Stand and I shall direct you to where the problem is."

Blanche was again the last one to get a clue, but he quickly caught up. He stepped back in line as the princess led them through the gates and towards the palace proper, whispering, "Geranium, you deal with the talking, I don't think I'm cut out for formalities."

Then he remembered who he was talking to.

"Actually, Rue-"

Then he remembered who he was talking to.

"Well, uh, Dahlia-"

Then he, well, you get the point. Maybe the irrational self-loathing would come in handy and make him look humble.

They went through the interior relatively quickly, as it wasn't a pleasure visit. The murals and paintings were still quite impressive, depicting ancient battles of man and Pokémon clashing, with little in between. Humans used swords, Pokémon used claws. He was by no means a trained artist, but in some of the paintings, the paint around a certain person had been layered over. It was always the man that carried the battle standard or wore the crown atop a throne. Salt and pepper hair, dark-skinned in contrast to the pale princess, but remarkably young looking. Though, on second thought, that certainly could have been a bias on the part of the commissioner.

The princess led them to a patio, though to call it a simple patio would be to call a mountain a molehill. It looked out over a valley of hedge mazes and statues, though…

Were those mustaches drawn with a permanent marker?

Princess Enzirica sighed haughtily and gestured to one of her uniformed escorts, who immediately handed her a handkerchief.

"So tragic, two tiny little Pokémon causing so much damage. Unfortunately, they have an almost anomalous preference for avoiding patrols, they've been unable to catch them."

All I see are the results of a prank.

Blanche's eyebrow twitched. He had an attitude, sure, but he wasn't that arrogant. Other than assuming he knew himself better than he really did, of course.

I'm never letting the Professor's crotch dictate where we work again- Oh, God, I wish that image wasn't in my head.

"Uh, my lady," that was the right word, right? Right. "I have a letter from Professor Sycamore." Blanche kneeled and he held out the letter, looking at the floor in spite of his current situation.

She took the letter without another word and opened it.

Blanche wasn't sure why the princess squawked in anger, but he suddenly remembered that letter was probably addressed to her sister.

"That… commoner…"

He glanced up, only to see the princess clenching the letter in rage and shaking.

"I believe… I need to talk with my second-most-dear younger sister about whom she keeps company with." She mechanically turned to one of her guardsmen, eyes turned to slits though maintaining a terse smile. "One of you must remain here to guide our… guests. You, come with me."

The princess stormed off, and the uniformed man left behind scratched the back of his head.

"Dang, kid, what was in that letter?"

Blanche facepalmed, but the sweet release was denied to him by his visor.

Damn it, Professor…

---

The guardsman led them to one of the hedge mazes, where the path allegedly traced the outline of a Talonflame, who once upon a time had been used in scouting operations and burning farmlands to cease enemy advance during war times, as well as…

Blanche really didn't care about the history. It was interesting, sure, but he'd also heard it during history class. Though somehow, the royal family still being a thing had never been mentioned. Perhaps it was learned so early in Trainer School that they just skipped it during review classes.

"The Plusle and Minun seem to enjoy laying traps. I'm sure people like you don't need it, but I would advise it." The guardsman walked to the side of the entrance, standing resolutely like a statue.

"Alright, game plan. Plusle and Minun are Electric-types, I know that much, and… oh, yeah, no Esper abilities or property damage."

"Got it in one," Augustine said over Aveline's shoulder.

"Hey, Professor, what was in that letter?" Shauna asked as the sound of shouting traveled over the valley from the upper balconies of the palace.

Augustine waved them off in their view, clearly not having heard the background noise. "Oh, just some personal things."

"I think I gave it to her sister by accident," Blanche said.

Augustine then pulled a Blanche, which is to say, he blanched. "You… you what?"

Never have I seen someone so properly deserving of poetic justice.

"I think she's a little mad now."

"Aveline, I'm going on a business trip effective immediately. If the police show up at your door with a royal decree for my arrest, you know nothing."

Who is she, Jon Snow?

Aveline groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Yes, Dad…"

As the airlock quickly opened and shut, Blanche looked around at the other Rangers.

"Can I just say that he probably deserves to get arrested?"

"For once, Mummy, I think I agree with you," Shauna said thoughtfully.

"Ooh, what was in the letter? Was it steamy? Was it-"

"Dahlia!" Shauna shouted.

"What?"

"That's our boss and the princess you're talking about, you can't just-"

"Imply that when they get a quiet moment, they totally-"

"I believe we're on a time limit," Serena said, cutting across them. "The Anomalies likely won't stay put for long."

"Yeah, that," Blanche added. "Michael, any battle tips?"

"Plusle and Minun only fight in pairs. That will make catching them easier, but battle more difficult."

"Catching… do we just knock them out?"

"You are authorized to use Pokéballs, though they are keyed to the Professor and none of you individually."

Aveline added, "They don't seem to have strong AIAM fields, so Pokéballs should work. They seem to be Anomalous in the sense of their intelligence, rather than strength."

"So they're as smart as Rue?"

Hey!"

"Ah, right, that's an insult to them, never mind."

The eight entered the hedge maze, spreading out along the bends and splintering off into pairs. Chespin balanced himself on Blanche's shoulders as he jogged through, looking for anything strange. He passed a few graffitied statues of similar, but markedly different Talonflame.

"Anomaly spotted!" Rosa cheered as she ran after a spot of yellow, blue, and red, Tencent just ahead but keeping pace.

The Plusle went left at the next bend, and the Minun went right.

"Go after one, splitting up will only scatter us. Aveline, do we have real-time satellite imaging?"

"Accessing RKS-2…"

Another window popped up in his view, showing the greater Kalos region, before zooming in to the forests and a clearing, and further into the gardens of Parfum Palace.

They'd started at the literal tail end of the Talonflame. Shauna had taken the immediate left, and by the look of it, traced along that wall until she was nearing its legs. Serena had gone straight along with Rosa, though the latter branched off. Blanche had taken the right side in a sort of mirror move.

Rosa chose to chase after the Plusle, nearing the center of the maze, while a speck of blue was circumventing this, traveling towards the same bend from the opposite direction.

"Shauna, close in, take the next right, the next left, then two rights after that, and you should be in the right spot. Serena, take your next left, then right, the left. We'll close in around the fountain."

"Fine- No, Froakie, this way! No, not that way-"

"Right. Fennekin, with me."

A small 'yip' traveled through Serena's mic.

"Clemont, can I fly yet? That's not technically an aura ability."

"Still working on it, I'm afraid. I watched a show about it, it's the one about mechs named after clouds. The future is still the future, but it will soon be now, thanks to-"

Michael clocked Clemont in the jaw without even looking up. "Not next to LADY."

Clemont stood up and rubbed his jaw, but otherwise seemed fine.

"Chespin, we're going to loop around from the top and cut them off. Hold on tight."

"Ches."

Having long legs certainly helped him move faster, and watching himself move on the satellite feed certainly helped. He could guess at everyone's velocities as they neared the middle, lining up the likely turns.

The Plusle and Minun met back up though kept running around the circle, somehow outrunning Tencent-

"Dahlia, are they using electricity to skate?"

"Yep."

"Huh. Rue, get on practicing that when we're done here."

"Shut- Actually, that's not a bad idea. You know what? I will!"

Blanche really should've been paying closer attention to where he was running, because as he entered the inner sections of the maze, his leg met a tiny Electric-type and sent it flying, while sending him to the ground with a sudden shock.

"Ow! Chespin, Vine Whip!"
The Grass-type looked down at him with confusion as Plusle landed near the fountain. "Ches?"

Of course, he hasn't learned that yet. Damn it, Professor.

Minun used Thundershock on Chespin, blowing him away and sending him into a hedge bush.

Blanche pushed himself up, stumbled, and landed flat on the Electric-type.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Someone- Ow. Use- Ow. Pokéball- Ow. Access? Ow."

Two red and white Pokéballs dropped down next to him, and he grabbed one as quickly as he could before bringing it to his chest. A small weight disappeared from under him in a low flash of red light.

It clicked a few shakes later.

"Just my luck. The first Pokémon I catch is all about negativity." Blanche rolled off the metal ball, clicking it to let the Minun back out in a flash of white.

He kneeled down next to it as the others arrived. It was really disoriented, looking around wildly.

"Listen, we don't want to hurt you, but you're causing a lot of trouble. Tell your friend to come here and-"

Minun dashed off.

Blanche clicked his Pokéball again and returned it.

He let Minun out again.

"No fighting."

"Miiiiiine," it groaned, falling on its face and letting out a puff of air.

Plusle ran back into the clearing, Shauna with a knocked-out Froakie in her arms on its tail. It saw Minun on its front next to Blanche and ran over on its tiny legs.

"Plus?"

"Mine."

"Plus plus."

"Mine, mine mine mine. Un…"

The Plusle held up its arms, gesturing for something.

It was rather humorous to Blanche given the size, but he held out the other Pokéball.

Plusle willingly belly-flopped onto it, disappearing in a flash of light, before Blanche clicked it again.

"I think we're done here, then," Blanche nodded.

Chespin walked over, blank-faced, and shook both Pokémon's hands.

He rubbed his chest, still feeling a sharp tingle from jumping on what was essentially a car battery. "Heh, I have a feeling I have a new scar to tell stories about."

---

And that was the series of events that preceded Blanche's second semester.

"You're staring," Blanche told Gin.

Rosa sat to Ariel's left, one of the few open seats. People switched out of Trainer Schools like they were revolving doors, either to move to less of a hotspot for crazy or taking apprenticeships to get a Trainer License early.

With an emphasis on each syllable, "Humina humina," Gin murmured.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?"

"Humina- Uh, well, uh… I can browse the aisles, can't I?"

Blanche just sighed. So much for a lack of drama.

 

[MikaelBrigman]

Their diminutive homeroom teacher, Ms. Komoe, had started writing on the chalkboard as soon as the class had settled.

"Now that we're back in session, it's time for the yearly trip!" She squeaked out as she hopped off a step stool and walked behind her podium, temporarily disappearing. "Aren't you lucky?"

There was nearly an uproar, some people complaining about still having sunburns, but most people cheering.

"Where are we going?" Blanche asked after the class calmed down again.

"The mountains near Ambrette Town. It's not just for fun, however! We're going to be visiting the Glittering Cave to look for fossils and do individual research work."

There was a collective groan throughout the class, Rosa slotting into the collective nicely by slumping over her desk.

"Oh, don't give me that," Ms. Komoe chided, waving a yardstick that was barely shorter than herself. "You have to work hard before you graduate in a few months!"

Lenore raised her hand. "Isn't Ambrette Town on the coast?"

"It is. The weather conditions have lightened up since earlier in the summer," Serena said before the teacher could.

The class held a bated breath for a moment, all looking towards Ms. Komoe.

"...Yes, we'll be going to the beach on the second day."

An uproarious cheering broke out once again.

"But! But! But!"

The class calmed again for a moment.

"We'll be observing a Mantyke fever as they pass by the coast, meaning you'll only swim for a few hours."

"Back in Alola, people rode Mantine to get between islands," one of his (contrarily) paler classmates asked. "So does that mean we can-"

"You will not ride the Mantyke! They're babies, have you seen them? They might get hurt!" Ms. Komoe squeaked in a fervor.

"Right, I'm sorry…"

The teacher huffed and crossed her arms.

"They've been disturbed enough over the last three years, give them some time to readjust. You wouldn't want someone to annoy you if you were just walking around."

"Yes, Ms. Komoe," echoed the class.

"Good! Now, here are the permission slips and packing sheets, we're leaving Wednesday and will be returning Saturday."

Gin shot out of his seat. "But that's our weekend!"

"Gin, it's literally the first week back," Blanche said. "Plus, beach episode."

"Why does that matter? I can't sleep at the beach, it's sandy!"

Blanche, like everyone else in the class, looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Gin doesn't know how to swim," Lenore said off-handedly.

As the greaser shouted denials, Blanche settled back into his seat and read over the hand out. Sure, a beach trip would probably be nice. He hadn't gotten a chance to just take a breather in nature, as he only got out of the city to deal with Anomalies when they came. The mountains down there would be hot, but the forests nearby would give them some shade. And even if it was as scorching as the rest of the summer, the water would definitely be a fun way to cool… off.

Blanche's gaze drifted to the back of his hand, more specifically the bandages that had wrapped them for eight months.

Ah, shit.

---

"A school trip?"

Common sense dictated that after getting permission from his guardian that he should also call to inform his employers when he'd be out.

"Yeah. It's with every class in our year, too, so Shauna won't be sticking around either."

"...I see. Well, please be prepared to be called in if there's an emergency," Aveline said. "And you said you'd be investigating Glittering Cave?"

"It sounds kind of boring if I'm being honest."

"It's not at all! The natural crystal formations there affect the Ground and Rock-type Pokémon that live there cause all sorts of variation in their composition, making them more durable in exchange for conduction electricity much better. A similar phenomenon occurs in the horns of Rhyhorn, as they in particular enjoy eating crystals but their body expels it in the form of an offensive feature… I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"No, you're fine, I didn't know that."

"Well, I've not actually been there, I spend most of my time in FLARE. Dad- Professor Sycamore has a few samples from there, he showed them to me when I first enrolled in Pokémon Tech, but they're technically owned by the region's scientific association-"

"I'll bring you one," Blanche promised without thinking, his mouth moving faster than his brain. A second later, his brain agreed with the sentence.

"You'd do that?"

"Well, I'm going to go there anyway."

"Thank you in advance, then. I appreciate it."

"Hey, with my luck, I probably won't find any fossils, so don't thank me just yet."

"I see." Aveline laughed. "Have fun, but stay on alert."

"Naturally. Is the other professor in?"

"No, he was in Kiloude City last time he called me. The Royal Guard are still out for his head."

There was a joke about the French Revolution in there somewhere, Blanche knew, but he was sure that the connotations didn't apply. "It's unanimous in FLARE that he deserves it, right?"

"My dad's not a bad person by any means, but a bit of stress caused by his own actions is probably good for him."

"True that. Talk to you later, boss lady."

"You as well."

---

Blanche shuffled his duffle bag onto the room's floor and sagged. Checking into a train station along with a hundred other students, maneuvering through the crowd of people he vaguely recognized, getting stuffed into the few open cars like sardines, checking into the inn after a few hours of that; it took a lot out of him, to say the least.

Ms. Komoe had lined them up in pairs, and he'd been picked to room with Tierno. No complaints, even if the two of them made the room look small (as tiny as it already was) by comparison.

"Man, what a day," he muttered, dragging his feet on the floor and flopping onto the bed. "I forgot how much traveling sucks."

Tierno dropped his bag and stretched, nearly scraping the ceiling. "It wasn't that bad. At least we'll be walking around some tomorrow."

"Yeah…"

Tomorrow wouldn't be too bad, he hoped. Sure, it would be dusty, but he would be wearing more layers, not less.

"Do you think I have to swim on Friday?" Blanche turned his head to the side, scratching against the bedsheets. The anxiety dulled his senses, and the indecision was gnawing at him.

"Swimming is good for most of your muscle groups," Tierno reassured him.

"It's not about the muscles," Blanche groaned weakly. "You know how it is."

Tierno blinked.

"Are you feeling alright? Oh, you're sick! I can see why traveling would make you feel bad, then."

"That's not… that's not it." Blanche buried his face in the covers and exhaled. "It's obvious, isn't it? I can't exactly swim with these bandages."

"Yeah…"

The sound of head scratching reached his ears.

"I know I'm kind of a meathead, but you've been wearing those since we met, and in the same way. You don't need them anymore, do you?" Tierno asked.

Blanche nodded weakly. "Haven't since April."

"Is it a hard-to-break habit, or something else, B-meister?"

"It might be better if," Blanche stopped, pushing himself up and reaching for his collar. "It'll be easier to just show you."

He pulled the red tee over his head, revealing white strapped across his body as usual, leading into his jeans. He fiddled for a tag on his side, just low enough that it wouldn't scratch his elbow but high enough that it wouldn't catch on his belt.

Tierno watched evenly as Blanche began unrolling his bandages, the top layer dry but soon showing their dampness.

Blanche pointed at his shoulder after unwrapping far enough, as it had the least amount of straps on it. It was scarred, mangled almost, as if it had been torn apart and reattached muscle by muscle. Red and brown stitched across pale white skin.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Tierno asked without a hint of disgust.

Blanche blinked, then pointed again, gesturing. "All of my skin looks like this. I can't go out on a beach like this."

Tierno tilted his head. "Why?"

Had Blanche been moving, he would have frozen mid-step.

"What do you mean, why?" Blanche asked, anger slipping into his voice. It was harsh, directionless, but Tierno was its only target. "Don't you have eyes?"

"Of course. All I'm seeing is my bro, the B-meister himself."

He was dumbfounded. Was Tierno being facetious? A dull rage hung beneath his lungs, but like all rage, it went everywhere all at once. At the monster himself, towards the blind man in front of him, towards every person around him that could truly be called human.

"Don't be an idiot. You see these scars, don't you? Do you think I can just go out in front of people looking like this?" Blanche unlatched his neck and let the bandages start unwrapping themselves with gravity. They fell like ribbons, slipping off as he shook on frozen feet.

"Yes."

"Stop ignoring the problem- You're pretending not to see it so you can feel good about yourself!"

"I'm not, none of us do," Tierno said, shaking his head. "That's what you do."

"Oh, don't even try to talk-no-jutsu-whatever-the-hell the problem away. You see it, they're going to see it, and they're going to be disgusted!"

"Who are they?"

"Everyone! You, Trevor, Ariel, Serena, Shauna, Ariel, Rosa-"

"Do I look disgusted right now?" Tierno asked, his voice steely. "Because I'm not, Blanche."

"You are!" Blanche yelled. "You are, and you're just pretending you don't! It's easy to look at someone like me and say, oh, I couldn't care less, but in reality, people only do that when they want to feel justified in whatever they're talking about. In the moment, they'll see someone like me and just look away, or talk in hushed tones, or just make any excuse they can to leave, that's reality! If I was just some guy on the street, what would you think? I know what Shauna thought."

Blanche's breaths were starting to come out choked. Bandages fell from his face, obscuring his vision like falling sheets of snow.

"She thought I was just some creep that followed a couple of girls to school. And you know what? If I was them, I would have thought the same. No one has time for people like me, monsters like me. You couldn't even call me human."

"Don't say that. Don't ever say things like that." Tierno gave him the coldest glare he'd ever seen from the boy.

"I'll say the truth, because I'm the only one that can."

"It's not the truth, it's what you see. You have problems, Blanche. And I'm not making fun of you when you say that."

Blanche half-choked, half-scoffed. "Yeah, and so does everyone else. Everyone's just a sick bastard who doesn't give a damn about others, and I'm just the same."

He stopped, before yanking his duffel bag onto his shoulder, not even feeling the rope burn. "I'm taking a shower."

"Wait," Tierno said, holding out an arm and blocking him.

"I'm mad, Tierno, I don't want to get nasty," Blanche said. He didn't beg. He wouldn't. He would never admit that he was wrong, because to do so would be to tear down the few walls that he had around his ego. Every time he lashed out against someone, it was like a spine sprouting from his back, and he was faced with a dilemma that he never could answer.

"You're hurting."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"In your headspace, you're not fully healed."

"Again, no shit. Ding, ding, ding, would you like a prize?"

"I used to be fat. Did you know that? Three years ago, I was one of the most overweight kid in Vaniville Town. I didn't do anything in my spare time. I played video games with Trevor, I slept, I bought out entire stores of junk food in Aquacorde when I could be bothered to get up. I can't remember ever doing anything else. That changed. Do you want to know why?"

Tierno lifted up his shirt, unblocking his path but drawing him in regardless. Between the black cloth and layered muscles, dark splotches and stripes

"The Heavens Shattered, and I heard someone crying in the woods. I got up off the tree stump I was sitting on to walk. Not run, not jog. I walked. I couldn't manage anything else. And by the time they were Mended, I hadn't even gotten half-way. I can't remember anything else after that. I can't remember who it was that was crying. I think it was Serena, but I'm not sure because I wasn't strong enough to get there. I got angry, Blanche. I got mad. I didn't want to let my own body hold me back anymore, so I pushed it to the limit. And it hurt. My body ached for weeks, and I didn't weigh any less. I pushed harder. I stopped getting winded by just walking down the stairs. I pushed myself further than I'd ever thought was possible. I didn't let my body define who I was.

Tierno dropped his shirt and thumped his chest, looking straight at Blanche and never turning away.

"The strength I gained was what I found in myself, not all these muscles. Your limits are entirely in your head. No one else can hold you back but yourself. Your body does not define who you are. You, Blanche, you're a good person, and that's what I see when I look at you. Not your scars, not your hair, not your eyes. I see my bro, the B-meister himself. And your friends, the people that matter, that's what they see too."

Blanche was struck speechless.

"When Trevor sees you, he sees the guy that saved his life back in January. He's calmed down about it, but he really does think you're the coolest guy he's ever met. I'm hoping I'm a close second, but, eh, what can you do?" Tierno shrugged. "I don't know about Ariel, but she doesn't see you for your scars. She asks how your day was, and you do the same. You're her friend, simple as that. Shauna is Shauna, but she doesn't call you Mummy now because she thinks you're a monster, she does it out of habit, and even then she only says it when you really get her going. Serena is… difficult. I don't really get her all the time, she's changed a lot, but even I can see that she doesn't see your body first."

"Because she sees me as Calem," Blanche said bitterly, staring at a fixture in the wall and trying to clench his eyes shut.

"I don't know anything about that, so I won't say anything. I know what I know, and not much more." Tierno sighed. "But when she looks at you, she smiles, B-meister. Even when you're off in your own world, staring into space, she looks at you and smiles."

"That's not a good thing, you realize."

"I don't. But that's also not my place to pry. At the very least, she thinks of you as a friend. Anything beyond that… Well, I stick to dancing for a reason. Takes a lot more effort, but it's much less complicated."

Blanche actually laughed, even if it was in a sardonic sense. "I think you're on the right track with that."

"So, you get what I'm saying? When we go to the beach on Friday, don't look at anyone else. Don't go looking for people that won't like you. Just look at us, okay?"

Blanche's voice was low. What could he say? That Tierno was wrong? All he did was hate himself. It didn't matter for what reasons as long as he could. Some days it was because of his body. Some days it was because of his mind. Some days it was because of what he knew of his past. Some days it was because of what he saw in his future.

Anger is only an output, a result of something much greater. Hatred. Any hatred possessed, either towards others and oneself, funnels into action and emotions like the flare of a lighter making contact with gasoline.

That wasn't who Blanche wanted to be. He didn't want to be someone who struck out against others because he kept funneling his own hatred of himself inwards on an infinite loop.

And so the boy with no name spoke.

"Alright."

Tierno clapped him on the shoulder, pushing him to the tiny bathroom's door. "A nice shower always helps me cool down from a work-out. Try just cool water, a little less than lukewarm."

Blanche smiled, and he wiped his face with the back of his bare arm. "Thanks. I think I'll do just that."

---

Blanche wiped his forehead with a dusty bandage, knocking loose some of the gravel that had just crumbled into his hair.

Glittering Cave was an interesting side. The tunnels were narrow, the air crispy, and the shiny rocks cool to the touch.

A crystal clonked him upside the head, sending him into a crouch while he groaned.

Their classes had split up along the tunnels, their tour guide explaining to them that before Kalos was resettled by the UR, many Carbink, crystalline Rock and Fairy-types, resided in those caves. They hollowed out the mountain as both a living space, and to transform the earthen minerals into their food source, some of which was left behind to give the cave its name.

There also happened to be a large amount of fossils in the area, as Carbink didn't eat the bones but rather, worked around them. Earth shifted over time, meaning that some kept turning up even hundreds of years after.

First of all, they were to analyze the components of the crystals there, and fill out a questionnaire about their properties.

Blanche had gone off on his own to do so, trusting that no place that a school would take them to could possibly be dangerous.

He was wrong, he obviously figured out, as that would require the system to be sane.

Must be Serena's aura or something, he thought. She was probably growing the crystals just by being around them, or something else that was equally ridiculous.

"Hey, Russ, use Rock Smash!" Gin shouted somewhere in the cave system.

Another wave of gravel silently crumbled onto him, along with a full rock.

"No!" Ms. Komoe squeaked much further down. "Young man, we will be having words about this!"

He'd been prepared that time, his reflexes realizing that Gin being excited about something was never something to ignore. It rolled off his hand, almost like an oval, and dropped to the ground next to him with a small crack.

Blanche looked down at it, looked around, and quickly swept the Dome Fossil into his bag.

Was it ecologically irresponsible? Well, maybe. If restoration tech was as efficient as he thought, then it was a moral obligation to take it to a lab at some point, and it's not like the cave was running out of fossils any time soon. Though… it was technically part of the cave's ecosystem and not everyone could take a souvenir or it would soon be a pile of plain rocks and rubble.

He quickly moved to the side of the cave to check out the crystal formation like he was supposed to and pulled his clipboard out of his bag.

It wasn't transparent, it was translucent because it wasn't entirely clear… it was tinged blue because of, uh, chemical reactions caused by components during formation? They glowed because of…

Blanche scratched his scalp with his pen, lost in thought. Glowing crystals didn't happen naturally, that's right.

"Heeeee-eeeeeey, Leader," Rosa said, sliding up to him across the floor. "Whatcha doing?"

"Our schoolwork," he said, like it was obvious, because it was.

"Oh, right. We're taking a test when we get back, right?"

"Probably." He could have just said yes, but he didn't feel like giving a commitment.

"Couldn't you do it without the sheet? Oh, and the answer is residue from AIAM fields."

Makes sense, he thought. "How does that work?"

"Oh, well, you know. It's like static electricity," she explained with a dismissive wave. "It just sticks around for a while, like how there's a ton of residue all over the Earth. That's what causes the… eh, I don't actually know all too much about it, you should ask the Professor."

"What does it cause?"

Rosa held a finger over her lips. "Shhh… Professor Juniper told me by accident, so I can't tell you, I'm sorry."

He thought about that for a minute. AIAM field residue implied that there had been a field large enough to cover the entire planet. And people said all the time that when the Heavens Shattered, the world was swallowed in darkness… Dialga and Palkia were involved in some way, that was the consensus, but few confirmed anything.

A creeping black mass appeared in his mind, red-eyed and inky. Team Galactic had been disbanded to his knowledge, he hadn't looked it up since he was back in Swellowtail City with Ariel.

Could he say that he thought it was Giratina? Hadn't Aveline theorized that the residue wasn't caused by it?

Oh, he thought.

She leaked the official theory and hadn't realized it because she was scared of him when she had. Would that get them in trouble? Rosa would probably ask where he heard that, and he wouldn't be able to answer without risking the Professor's position.

"Ah, that's fine," he said, looking back at his sheet to hide the depth of his thoughts. "Just curious."

Just curious and just a liar who always takes the easy path.

"It's all good!" She laughed, poking his nose and laughing harder when he recoiled in surprise. "Are you excited for the beach? I wish we got to go during the summer, but this is just as awesome."

"N-yes," Blanche said, the other parts of his brain autocorrecting to his own shock. He'd almost said no on principle, but found himself actually anticipating it. "I think it'll be nice," he added hesitantly.

"Totally! I've got a new swimsuit and it's kind of tight but-"

Blanche held his hand to his nose to check for blood, before sighing, thanking whatever god was out there for their favor, tuning her out, and returning to his worksheet. Whoever said that he couldn't multitask?

---

Blanche wasn't exactly sure why he expected to get a full night's rest on a trip with a collective of main characters, but was quickly disavowed of that notion.

Gin had shown up at their door and told him to come to their room to hang out.

Tierno had a fairly strict sleep schedule and had already retired for the night, but Blanche told him before leaving.

They stopped to pick up snacks from the dinky old vending machines before heading back to Gin and LaRusso's room, where he found the karate kid and Lenore already trying to decide on which movie they would watch.

"We should watch Banette: the Haunting 2, Ghosts of the Past! It's one of the best horror sequels ever made," Lenore insisted, snatching the remote.

"I don't like horror movies," LaRusso said, shuddering. "Can't we just watch Destroy Hard?"

Blanche was positive that LaRusso got the name wrong, though he couldn't pinpoint why. Was it the whole "never say die" business?

Lenore snorted. "4Kids ruined that movie, didn't they? They replaced the scene with the broken glass with big containers of jelly donuts exploding."

"It's a good movie. Oh, you guys are back. What's up, B-man?"

"Still got some rocks in my hair," Blanche said, running a hand through it and feeling only a few bits of sand. "Thanks for that, by the way."

LaRusso shrugged, one of his arms laying on one bed's edge as he stole back the remote and started scrolling through channels. "I see a cracked rock that only needs a little push, I gotta hit it."

"Also, it was real funny," Gin added.

LaRusso nodded stoically. "That too. Hitting things is what I'm good for."

"Could you teach me how to do that?"

The three Espers looked at the not-quite fourth strangely.

"I mean," Blanche said, "Can you teach me how to punch stuff?"

I need to get stronger. I need to get better. Ballet is good for muscles, but it's not good for fighting form. I should have just gone to a dojo or something, but I wanted to see what Tierno did instead. I can't rely on my Gears like it's all I have. I need to use this body because it's my own.

"Why are you asking me?" LaRusso reclined his head and threw back his headband, though his eyes stayed on Blanche. "I'm not a teacher. You're better off asking Gin."

"Then you can both teach me how to fight. I… I'm not an Esper like you guys. I can't put energy into my moves like you can, but if you both get caught up in a brawl again, I want to help. I'm sick of letting other people do all the work."

And he really did. It was his body, it was a part of him, and by God, he was going to bend it to his will and make it do what he wanted. Ass-kicking only went so far with cool weapons and encouraging words.

"I didn't think you needed help." LaRusso pushed himself up, pulling his uniform straight. "But if you want to practice, right now's the time."

"Oh, we're sneaking out? Sick, let's go!" Gin shot up, slinging his jacket back over his shoulder. "Come on, Lenore, we've got to teach Blanche the ways of manly combat!"

The spirit medium rolled her eyes, adjusted her shawl around her neck, and stood up as well.

When the thought occurred to him, Blanche asked, "Wait, where are we going?"

"Dude, haven't you ever seen a movie?" Gin shook LaRusso by the shoulder. "We've gotta train on the beach!"

"Or a junkyard, in my experience," LaRusso said, deep in thought while rubbing his chin.

"But we're only a little bit away from the beach, not even a ten-minute walk, I'd say. Sooo, off we go!"

---

The waxing moon hung above them as they trekked down the empty boardwalk. The air was cool; not chilly, but not lukewarm.

A few clouds hung in the sky, but Blanche was still impressed by the view. He could see into the water even as it thickened out and the waves folded in on themselves. It really was beautiful, there were no other ways to put it.

The three Espers formed a line. Gin kicked a line in the sand with his hi-tops, separating him from them.

"Okay, so the thing with Espers is that we got type weaknesses and strengths like actual Pokémon."
Blanche nodded. "I don't have to worry about that stuff, but I get that."

"Do ya? Hey, Lenore, do the thing you do to scare Russ."

The spirit medium stepped forward, gliding out of line and straight towards him.

He held up his arms, stammering out denials and explanations for why he wouldn't hit a girl, before she literally ghosted past him, moving through him with a faint chill and forcing a shiver down his spine. He looked behind him, only to see that she had disappeared entirely. When he looked back, she was with the others, standing exactly where she had been a few seconds ago.

"My illusions are like Ghost-types, no matter how long they last," she explained calmly. "They can burn up, get shocked, be encased in ice, but they won't ever be stopped by someone or something just standing there, unless they're using their aura for something. It's like how Normal-types have immunities to Ghost-types. The same is true the other way around, naturally. If I had more than just Ghost-type aura, I could make more physical apparitions."

"Same goes for me and Russ," Gin admitted, laughing awkwardly. "Well, sort of. It's more about how we fight for the two of us."

Blanche was honest, and just said, "I don't get it."

Gin suddenly jumped forwards and punched him in the gut, black muckish haze floating upwards as Blanche bent double and wheezed.

"See, we can-"

"You actually hurt him, idiot," Lenore said with an exhausted exhale.

"Ah, shit. My bad." Gin pulled him up and patted him on the back.

He hadn't expected to get punched out of nowhere. That was just a dirty way to fight. Seriously, what a Sucker… Punch…

"So," Blanche wheezed, "Your aura kicks in when you fight dirty?"

"Just about, yeah." Gin pressed his palm to the back of his head, not having expected him to collapse from a punch like that. "Russ has the same deal, but only when he uses martial arts."

"Is that like, a mental thing?" Blanche rubbed his stomach. Dry, thankfully, but a bit achy.

"Dunno. It just kinda happens." Gin scratched his cheek as a wind blew from across the ocean. "Might be one of those subconscious things that the bartender is always talking about. So, you wanna see if any of that works for you?"

Blanche shook his head. "It won't. I don't have aura like you guys, I mean. You couldn't call me an Esper."

"How do you know that? Training aura's like building a tower- There's a big blue sky out there, and there ain't a ceiling."

"No, I mean-"

Blanche cut himself off and took a tense, deep breath.

"I think I can trust you guys with this. I don't have aura, period. That's not me being mean to myself, I can lie to myself about other things. It's part of the whole amnesia deal."

The three Espers looked between themselves and shrugged.

"No big deal," Gin said.

"If you still want to learn how to punch things, I'm down to help," LaRusso said.

"I'm probably closer to your level," Lenore said, stretching her arms. "A spar between us would be a lot more even."

"Yeah," Blanche agreed.

"And if you try to say no because I'm a girl, I'll have you know that I punched out Russ the last time he said something stupid like that."

"Yeah…"

"Ready?" Gin pushed LaRusso across the line. "Russ, teach him some stuff about ass-kicking."

The karate kid shifted into a lower stance that certainly wasn't karate and inched closer.

"Wait, shouldn't I learn forms before-"

Blanche's head, along with the rest of his body, was quickly pressed into the sand after an impromptu judo throw.

"Sawk and Throh taught me a thing or two," LaRusso said simply.

He groaned, digging his head into the sand as he felt his stomach churning from being tossed like a salad. Knowing he was in for one of the most, if not most strictly comfortable, productive nights of his life, he pushed himself back up.

---

It was a sunny day on the south-western coast of Kalos, and Blanche slumped onto his beach towel like it was the worst day of his life.

He was clearly being dramatic, as he didn't even wince when a bit of sand scraped against his arms. Hot, powdery, and all too willing to fall in the exact place he was going to put his head.

He never understood how people would run around in the same, play beach volleyball or whatever game Rosa had dragged the others into, and then traipse right over their towels without even dipping in the ocean first to knock off the sand.

The umbrella was nice though. The chill atmosphere in the shade gave him the mental space to think.

The day hadn't started out too bad. He showered around one in the morning, tired out and exhausted, but the smile that burned onto his face was impossible to pull off. It was a smile of satisfaction, of knowing exactly what he was doing with his life, and of knowing what he wanted.

Somewhere off to the side, Tencent barked and jumped into the air, hitting the ball back over the net with its nose.

Naturally, it hadn't lasted the short rest he got before Tierno accidentally woke him up at four in the morning to do his daily routine.

No disrespect, of course. Blanche was completely confident in saying he loved the big fella like a brother. Tierno was just that cool.

From what he'd figured and the fact he was already awake again, Blanche asked to join Tierno on his daily run.

An hour later, Blanche collapsed on the bedroom's floor for a power nap, soaked with sweat for the second time that day. And it wasn't even six a.m. yet.

He took another shower after he'd recovered and Tierno had finished up. Afterward, he wrapped his face in bandages, and only his face.

A plasticky tracksuit was still a bit much for the summer, but he'd live until they got to the beach and he changed his clothes. No one noticed during breakfast, as they were all too busy clambering through the suddenly-small continental breakfast room. It was only his hands that would have looked different, showing the scar tissue on his palms and knuckles.

Was it that people saw and didn't care, or just didn't care, period?

Then, a few tables away, someone tripped near Shauna's seat and spilled their orange juice.

Naturally, that person was Gin, who didn't seem annoyed at all when a coin struck him with the energy of a thunderbolt behind it and blasted him into the next dining room.

"Damn," the greaser grunted, standing up. "You can kick some ass, I bet. Can I-" He was distracted by the girl sitting with Shauna, presumably her assigned roommate. "Oh, babe- I mean, Whately. You, uh, go to our school too?"

And just like that, Blanche had a headache.

Because naturally, the Plasma grunt had come all the way to Lumiose-3, transferred into their school in specific despite likely already being qualified to be a Trainer, and in that time, had started a thing with Gin of all people.

At least it wasn't Ariel.

He blamed Serena. That theory about aura being magnetic seemed way too accurate sometimes.

Somehow they all got to the beach in one piece after everything had been cleared up and cleaned up, where Ms. Komoe ensured they all knew when to meet back up before setting them loose.

Now, Blanche really, really just wanted to find a tide pool or something and just look at it for a while. A puddle would have sufficed at that point. Something natural enough for him to get a feel for and appreciate the locale, but nothing that would require him to change.

The same applied to a lot of things in his life, to be truthful.

Eventually, Tierno noticed him (allegedly) staring off into space, dragged him over to the changing rooms, and gave him a pep talk.

"Do you remember what I said, B-meister?" Tierno's stance was more open, more trusting. He probably didn't think Blanche would run off if he pushed him, and Blanche didn't want to prove him wrong.

"Uh… believe in myself?"

Tierno laughed. "Not quite, but you should do that anyway. Are you going to get changed?"

"Yeah," Blanche muttered.

"Are you scared of showing who you are?"

"Yes. My personality isn't the best part of who I am, if you haven't noticed," Blanche said dryly.

"Your personality is fine, trust me. I've been friends with Shauna for years."

"That's… not quite what I meant."

"You're trying to go on a tangent," Tierno said suddenly. "Don't. Don't try to avoid who you are, it won't help in the long run."
I never intended to stick around in the long run, said a small part of himself that he violently squashed.

"Yeah, I know," he muttered again.

"Hey, eyes up! Confidence, B-meister!" Tierno tapped his knuckles on Blanche's chest. "You're going to be all muscled up too, and here's a word of advice: The more effort you put into yourself, the more attractive you are to mature people."

"But I wasn't doing all that to be attractive."
"And you know what? You don't gotta be. You're improving for yourself, and that's just as awesome. Now, get changed. What are you going to do when you come out?"

"Look at the people I care about?"

"Yep!" Tierno clapped him on the shoulder one last time and flashed a thumbs-up as he walked off.

Blanche shifted his bag off his shoulder, looked inside, and shuffled into the bathroom.

There's a certain level of doubt everybody feels when they meet someone new. For Blanche, he wasn't sure if he would be feeling that or not. He knew them because they didn't hide who they were. Would they know him?

He stepped out, wearing nothing but slides and bright red swim trunks. Sickeningly pale, practically mirroring the sun's rays.

His head poked out from around the corner, pressing his shoulder against the wall of the alcove. It wasn't hot or cold, just sort of there.

That would be the nerve damage, he realized. He still had a good sense of touch in his fingers, as they were already the most sensitive part of the body and happened to be the least scarred past the knuckles.

With a deep breath, he pushed himself out from the shade, feeling a warmth on his skin he could never remember feeling before.

There was a gasp and Blanche flinched, shutting his eyes tight and breathing faster.

Someone wolf-whistled.

"Damn, B-man, you're shredded!" Someone else, Gin had appeared next to him, grabbing his upper arm and pinching the muscle mass. "Hey, Russ, check this dude out!"

Blanche flushed under the scrutiny. "You guys really don't have to-"

Ariel started clapping, smiling sweetly. There were no words. The understanding between all of them was obvious.

"Yeah, B-meister!" Tierno cheered, giving all of his enthusiasm.

Trevor clapped, reserved as always, but Blanche had the feeling he had little to say.

Serena had this odd look on her face. Somewhere between recognition and deja vu.

Shauna was red, probably from the general heat of the day.

He couldn't really tell if she was looking at him or behind him, because he was staring at the sand as he idly kicked it.

"You don't have to clap, really, it's not dramatic or anything," he muttered.

Rosa practically bowled him over, bounding over with Tencent to latch onto him. "Do you want to play volleyball? I was thinking that we'd be down a player because you wouldn't want sand in your bandages, but I bet you're really good at it! You just have to promise to be on my team, 'kay?"

Blanche shuffled back as much as he could, partly to get out of her face and also to think. Sports weren't… Well, he didn't hate them, and he wasn't likely to tear anything by playing. He'd knifed a living clump of vines and lived, he really couldn't get that hurt.

Unless he pissed Shauna off, of course, and that was only a matter of time.

"Uh, yeah, sure, but don't you guys have to get changed first?" Most of the guys had been wearing their swim trunks since that morning, but it was obviously different for them.

"Oh, that's right, but I'm wearing mine under my shirt, just left me-"

"Rosa!" Shauna shouted, rushing forward and firmly keeping the other girl's arms at her navel.

"What?" Rosa continued to try to pull off her shirt.

Somewhere behind him, Blanche heard Gin faint with a sputter.

What an idiot, he thought.

A short scuffle later, the rest of the guys finished changing and it was the girls' turn.

They decided that out of him, Trevor, and Tierno, he would be the best judge.

He pointed out he didn't know what he would be judging, and if he was guessing right, that Shauna would probably prefer the job.

Obviously, that wouldn't work, Rosa told him, since she would be one of the "contestants".

His inner Gin said, "You know some weird people, man."

And unfortunately, he couldn't think of a single exception. Well, maybe Chespin, but that didn't help his case.

Blanche remembered exactly what Rosa was implying as the group of girls entered the changing room, at which point he decided to go look in a tide pool again.

His outer Gin, as in, the one who had recovered and was standing right next to him and preparing to wolf-whistle, asked, "Hey, where're you going?"

Blanche clapped a bare hand on the surprisingly-lukewarm leather.

"I entrust this task to you, my wise mentor," Blanche said, before walking off without another word.

That brings us to later that day, with Blanche sleeping sprawled on his stomach beneath an umbrella as the others continued having their own fun after he retired.

It was a good life he lived. The idea was obvious in the back of his mind, even if he would never assume it aloud. The people he cared about cared about him.

And he asked himself, are these my friends? Am I their friend? Is it really me they care about?

The sound of cheering reached his ears as the volleyball struck the sand, clapping from Rosa's team and frustrated, yet enthusiastic replies from the other.

He smiled and settled in for a dream. It wasn't exactly a peaceful world, but it was his now. Maybe it wouldn't hurt too much to relax a little.

"Oh, wow, everyone, look at the Mantyke pod!"

So much for that plan, he thought, pushing himself up to walk towards the wake rather than running like anyone else.

It was a very cool sight to see, even if he would have denied being the artistic type. There was a mist of glittering seawater following as Mantyke and Mantine, blobs of light and dark blue, crested over the distant waves and passed south. Other Water-types seemed to follow the pod, like a shell of Seaking and Goldeen, and he was fairly certain he saw a Barbaracle surfing on one of the muddier Mantine.

It was a reaffirming experience to Blanche, in an odd way. He was in the Pokémon world, and yes, it was batshit crazy and incredibly dangerous (to him, at least) and there was something certainly off about the government and the Heavens Shattering, but… to deny that there was beauty in the world when it was plain to see would just be pointless.

He could be an angsty jackass when he wanted to, but all in all, life was good. He may have had to risk his life against crazier and crazier stuff every other week, but he could live with that. At least then, he was helping people instead of doing nothing.

The pod's passage was forecasted to continue until well into the evening, but their school had that odd thing called curfew on trips, meaning they only had a few more hours to splash around.

And naturally, there were two Water-type Espers throughout their year who conscripted Serena into building a sandy arena for them to have the ultimate water gun fight.

Rosa couldn't just let that one rest without getting everyone else involved…

---

Blanche sat up in his bed not-so-late into the evening as someone knocked on the door. Neither he nor Tierno had prepared for bed so early, just idly watching whatever channels looked good while they cooled down from the beach. He swung his legs over the side and answered the door, waving off Tierno.

Shauna stood outside the threshold, her demeanor changing quickly from neutral to impatient. In the blink of an eye, she shifted to cross her arms and tap her foot.

"Hey, get Tierno. We're hanging out in Serena's room and… Ariel insisted you come too. She did, it was her, not me! Don't get any ideas, stupid."

Shauna had a few too many tendencies for it to be justifiable. There was acting like an archetype unconsciously and then there was acting like a cliche.

"You watch too much television," Blanche sighed, before turning his head. "Tierno, let's go hang out with everyone."

Tierno hopped up, dropping his dumbbells back into his bag. "Okay, let's go! Are we heading to the arcade?"

"No, we're just going to hang out in our room. N-not that I want Bl- the ex-mummy over here to be in my room or anything!"

Shauna was currently trying to convince Tierno of something (exactly what, he wasn't sure, but he had a pretty stupid guess), not noticing when Blanche facepalmed with a meaty thwack.

"Anyway, ex-mummy, can you go buy drinks? I heard the specialties in this inn are really good."

Blanche shrugged. "Yeah, alright. What's you guys' room number?"

"Why would I give that to you, creep?"

He blinked.

"...How come you get to call me stupid when you say stuff like that?"

Shauna seemed to notice that whatever book she was doing things by had stopped applying, and her skin tinged red.

"Forget I said that; It's room 108. Come on, Tierno!"

As Blanche was left alone in the hallway, a thought occurred to him.

Girls… were quite a bit strange. Actually, no, that was just Shauna. Well, Serena too, through no fault of her own. And Rosa could be called a bit too enthusiastic… sometimes. Eh, most of the time. All the time. Ariel was nice, but in the same way caramel is sweet compared to sugar. That alone wasn't exactly normal.

He started scraping the bottom of the barrel as he tried to look for an ounce of normalcy.

Aveline was another archetype, but that also wasn't her fault. She had some sort of memory thing like he did, but she wasn't completely screwed over so he assumed he'd been the only one to have strange demonic dreams. Also, if he did approach her, her dad would probably have an actual reason to be running from the police soon enough.

Lenore was her own sort of main character, having to deal with Gin's inability to avoid musical numbers. It was almost a weekly occurrence in a certain cantina.

Naturally, he wouldn't actually be interested in any of them. That would be weird. They were his coworkers or otherwise involved with complications.

Blanche sighed, then shook his head and mumbled, "Shit like this? It's why I swore off dating."

He then resolved to not think about it if he could. It was better to ignore whatever feelings he might have had for the sake of stability.

Wasn't it?

The front desk wasn't too busy that time of night. He greeted the clerk, asking for their specialty drinks.

They gave him an odd look, asking if he'd already checked in. A strange question, almost like they didn't recognize him.

He held up his room card, nodding along.

With the exchange of 2,000 (way too much money for a bottle of soda), they gave him the glass container with no other questions asked, remarking that they thought they recognized him.

Is this allowed?

He walked through the first-floor hallway, supposedly towards their room.

Nah, that'd be stupid. Who would sell a bunch of teenagers happy juice?

That Blanche wasn't wearing his trademark bandages was not factored in.

So there he was, standing at Shauna's door a minute later, offering the bottle only marked with a brand name none of them recognized.

"Must be a local thing," Shauna said, peering closer at the cap. "What's that, a cork? This isn't, y'know, that kind of drink, is it?"

"Why would they try to intoxicate high sch- uh, Trainer School students?"

"You seem like the kind of guy to have a fake ID," she said, turning on her heel and walking back into the room. "Hey, guys, look at this awesome soda bottle!"

Shauna and Blanche are simultaneously the most clever and least intelligent people in most rooms they enter. Sometimes they take turns, like they're passing an Idiot Ball.

Seven was a crowd for sure, but they all squeezed in-between the small desk chair and the twin beds. One of the few included amenities was a stack of coffee cups and a broken machine, but they luckily didn't need the latter.

Shauna was still trying to open it, but corks aren't exactly made for opening with hands.

"Give me that," he said, rooting around in his pocket for his second pocketknife, more of a multitool than the first.

"I… got… it," she struggled out, still trying to pinch her fingers on the seal and pull it out.

Trevor raised his hand with a suggestion, but Tierno shook his head and pulled it down.

"Tencent can probably open it," Rosa said off-handedly.

The Pokémon barked, poking out over her shoulder from its sleeping spot on the bed.

"He'll probably eat the glass too," Blanche said, "Shauna, I have a corkscrew, just give it here."

"I said I got it," she snapped, pulling extra hard before losing her grip and sprawling backward. "Agh!"

Serena picked up the bottle from beside her without a word and handed it to Blanche.

He screwed in the corkscrew, only slipping a little bit before he yanked it out.

Now, because Blanche isn't a total idiot, he had the bottle pointing a little away from him, if only to prevent the bed from staining when the bottle exploded.

And it did. Carbonated fuzz poured outwards, splashing onto the hardwood. Must've been Cherry Cokeleon, he thought, as he redirected the blast from all over everyone else to himself.

Face splattered with totally, definitely soda, he drank straight from the bottle until he could stop.

His throat burned and the aftertaste was strong, reaching up through his nose and straight to his brain, but it wasn't bad.

He wiped his face with the back of his hand, only spreading the mess further but the reflex occurred regardless. In his perfectly logical mind, it must have been a local soda. Old fashioned sodas still sold in bottles tended to have a kick, like spiced ginger ale. They were in the right climate for ginger to grow locally.

Blanche passed off the bottle, grinning crookedly and reaching for a paper towel.

"Soda," Trevor reaffirmed, before massaging his forehead. "Sure."

Rosa poured herself a full cup, not even finishing the hand-off before she drank it all down in a few gulps.

"Woo, that's fresh," she coughed, looking the slightest bit dizzy. "Fruity too." She passed the cup to Tencent, who chomped down on it, cardboard and all.

Shauna took the bottle, peering at the bottle's lip with an intense focus, then glanced at Blanche before quickly pouring herself a cup and practically throwing the bottle to Serena.

Serena caught it with a swift motion, pouring a cup for her and Ariel, who sat across from her. Almost inverse to his expectations, neither reacted with anything more than a mild distaste.

"Take one down, pass it around," Blanche laughed as they served the bottle around again. "This soda is really good. It's like, grape ginger ale or something."

"Yeah, totally," Shauna muttered. "Give me the bottle, this cup isn't big enough."

"It's my turn!" Rosa said, tugging the opaque glass away and pouring more of her own.

"Give it, I didn't get enough."

"Cause you spilled half of it," Rosa pouted.

"Did not! That was Blancheeeee-right?"

Given Shauna's size, she didn't look like she could hold anything well, least of all the tons of sugar that must have been mixed into that soda.

I mean, what else could it be? Blanche thought.

"Hey, Ariel, this reminds you of communion, doesn't it?" Blanche joked, leaning across Tierno.

The blonde tilted her head, handing her cup to Audino then folding her hands in her lap. "What's that?"

"Eh… Never mind."

That's right, he thought, Lord Helix- God, I can't believe I can think that without laughing- isn't a direct copy of the god I'm thinking of.

It was actually rather funny on second thought, and he burst into very, very ineloquent giggles. That would be the proper word to describe it, no matter how emasculating it felt to him.

Four Holo Casters buzzed at once, the special pattern making the alarm all too clear.

"Whoops! FLARE time! Go, go, Power Rangers," Blanche shot out of his seat as if responding to a fire alarm.

Rosa whooped and followed suit, nearly lifting a grumpy sleepy-looking Shauna clear into the air as she ran for the door.

She moved a bit sluggish, but Serena actually checked for the message.

"It's an Anomaly by the beach," she said, standing. She stumbled ever so slightly, Blanche nearly missed it.

"You's alright, Serena?" Blanche asked.

"I'm fine. Just…"

She stumbled again, holding out her arms for balance.

"My AIAM fields are a bit wobbly…"

"Hey, come get your girlfriend, Shauna," Blanche looked to the door to get someone else to help her down to the beach, only to find that Rosa and Shauna had already disappeared. "Eh? Aw, man. Welp, guess I'm working late tonight, guys." He gave Tierno a low high-five as he passed, prepared to catch Serena if she fell. Even under the effects of whatever ginger ale that was, his brain still recognized that protecting their powerhouse was important. "Get some sleeps, Ariel. Make sure you don't leave," he wiped his mouth again, the urge to giggle tickling his throat, "Snrk, the oven on."

She looked at him strangely, as if he wasn't acting quite right. "Um, I won't. Good luck, then?"

"Thanks, you're's the best," came a slurry of words in reply as the second pair of FLARE Rangers left the room.

---

As they got onto the boardwalk, Serena stumbled into him, arms flapping robotically and frantically at the same time. He sort of caught her, catching her wrists and almost instinctively moving one around his shoulder. They were close enough in height that the support would actually help.

"Thanks, Calem," she said, voice moving between even and unsteady.

"You really gotta stop calling me that, Serena," he said, shaking his head even as their cheeks were so close together. "I'm not Calem, he's not… around, and I can't be him."

"But you're him, you wear the same hat," she said, voice wavering. "And you're the same height and you have the same body type and you don't talk the same way but you got lost so that makes sense and-"

"I'm not him," he exhaled hotly. His breath smelt bittersweet, he couldn't make out anything else. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. You'll remember eventually," she said, smiling with a renewed self-assurance, though she stumbled on the next step.

Blanche's mood swung from a warm high to a depressing low with a single sinking word, but he kept walking. No point talking more about it when he could barely articulate his thoughts in his own damn head.

As they climbed to the peak of the boardwalk, Blanche saw the other two in morph. Not full morph, though, because for some God-forsaken reason, Rosa had on her helmet and her swimsuit; that was it. Tencent was still standing next to her, looking at the…

An enormous Mantine crested over the horizon, angled the same as the rest in its pod, but developing an arc towards the mainland.

"Urp," he coughed, his throat becoming that much dryer all of a sudden. "Motherf- No, no swearing."

He fiddled with his holster for a good half-minute while the other three Rangers just stared at him.

"Right!" He whipped out his hand like a car dealership balloon. "Clemontic Gear Access: Shield!"

---

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: GREEN

Designation: CGI

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

FLARE Designation: Geranium

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: BLUE

Designation: CGI SHIELD

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

FLARE Designation: Amaranth

"All of their vitals are off," Aveline said, appearing clearly worried to the usual two technicians. "But, um, send it through. Their heart rates are accelerated and their AIAM fields aren't steady. Geranium, why are you stumbling?"

Serena's point of view had appeared seconds earlier. "My AIAM fields are destabilized."

"What? Why? Is it something like the Anomaly from outer space?"

Blanche coughed, "No, we just drank some weird soda at the inn. That's why Dahlia is half-naked. Not that I would know, I didn't look. Okay, maybe a little, but-"

Aveline shared a look with Clemont and Michael.

The latter moved his headset aside, cleared his work area, and slammed his head into the desk. Repeatedly.

"Getting. Too. Old. For. This."

Clemont shook his head, pushing up his glasses. "Back to you, Rangers."

---

A sand dune rose out of the beach, weakly slapping at the Mantine as it hovered and twirled above them, as if looking for something it had stepped on. In a manner of speaking, of course, it didn't have legs.

It put them all in its shadow, as head to tail it reached from the dunes, incredibly close to the commercial areas of Ambrette, all the way to the water's edge.

The sand collapsed to the side, with Serena stumbling in the same direction and falling into the sand.

The lights still on in town blinked off as neighborhood generators exploded, and Shauna rerouted electricity out of them and around her like a ribbon of crackling light, before sending it skyward.

And missing its body entirely as it shifted to its left, not even dodging the attack as it brushed between its stinger and its wing-like flaps. The Anomalous Mantine dipped to the side, digging a huge gouge in the smooth sand and throwing up a dune of seashell-filled debris.

Blanche looked at his surroundings, looked at Rosa raising her arms and Tencent starting to glow, and made the intelligent decision to run for cover behind the changing rooms.

"Come on!" Rosa cried as the sky above them started to shimmer with purple, occasionally flashing green. "DRACO…"

Shauna and Serena had clearly gotten the idea by then, doing the same thing and sliding over next to him on either side. There was being confident in your aura's ability to protect you, and then there was believing that getting hit by an asteroid was a fun party game.

"METEOR!"

Wood splintered and a tin roof caved inwards. Rubble fell from around them, fading back into wispy aura as the buffeting ended.

Blanche still couldn't think straight, but he still had some of his mental faculties. He saw a red emergency life ring buoy attached to a few dozen feet of sturdy enough rope, and for some reason, thought of bullfighting.

"Clemont," he slurred as he tugged the preserver from its rack and ran back around the now-concave shelter, "Can I fly yet?"

"Still working on that- Can you guys lighten up on the property damage?"

Rosa was expected to laugh awkwardly at the remark, but she instead giggled like a madwoman.

Blanche had a witty comment in him somewhere about being surrounded by crazy, but he was too busy trying to loop the rope around Mantine's body while it weakly floated above the warzone-lookalike ground, stunned from the sudden onslaught. His initial plan was probably to wrap the rope around its neck, but seeing that it didn't have one and the feelers on its forehead wouldn't provide the most support, he found a third or fourth wind as he repeatedly breathed the same bitter air. He'd managed a vertical and a diagonal with both sides of the rope forming an hourglass shape around its body and pulling them taut.

Well, it pulled the ropes taut. Blanche was just along for the ride.

His feet scrambled without his input as he left the ground and it floated back up, twisting around to look at the source of the nuisance.

Blanche, panicking, pulled on both sides of the rope, yanked the joints of its wings up.

The SHIELD protected him, yes, but it was also an exoskeleton. That provided very little strength, however.

It was almost a miracle, through the sum of his efforts that summer, his adrenaline rush, and the inability to think clearly, that he could pull the wings up enough for it to belly flop.

Blanche collapsed to his knees, pulling even tighter as to not be thrown off.

This was not his best move, as it settled for trying to roll its enormous body in the sand to try and get rid of him where it could not see.

He felt himself pitching left, looked at Shauna just standing there, likely as dumbfounded as he usually felt, and loosed the left wing and tightened the right.

Like a balloon, Mantine lifted again, this time hurtling to the right of the beach, doing a full flip in the air without throwing Blanche off.

This cycle repeated, as it tried to stop, drop, and roll the most stubborn of life forms off of its back. To his muscles, it went on for hours, heaving and hoing. At some point, he was certain that he blacked out from either exertion or just general blood-something-levels.

In reality, it was only a few minutes, just enough for the sound of a giant Pokémon crashing around on the adored public beach to finish waking up everyone in the neighborhood.

There was still silence as it finally stopped flapping, all of its muscles relaxing at once, and allowing its impromptu rider to catch a breather.

Blanche looked out across the crowd of first responders, angry townsfolk, and students who had just come to watch. His leg was still firmly placed on Mantine's unmoving neck, er, head, holding up the rope that had led it to create a trail of destruction across the beach.

His voice crackled through the LADY's interface in an exhausted, empty deadpan, reaching the other Rangers and technicians clearly.

"I'm totally getting fired for this, aren't I."

 

[MikaelBrigman]

Professor Sycamore's absence was felt throughout their group at FLARE. Even as lax as he was, he was still a guiding force during operations, and the other technicians that worked for FLARE were there to support Michael and Clemont. Aveline was the smartest person in the room, but she was also incapable of raising her voice when there were people in said room.

And they'd taken that freedom and ran with it.

Lysandre sat behind his desk in front of a window that led to darkness, fingers steepled and the skin around his eyes tightened.
"In lieu of your usual manager's warrant for arrest by the royal police, I will have you debrief me directly rather than having Augustine give me a biased report."

Blanche looked at his shoes. He was aware he'd screwed up, how could he not be? They hadn't even managed to sneak out of town after defeating the Anomaly, they'd only been badgered by reporters until their MagLev got back to the city and they were able to return to FLARE before it was even open for public service. Their roommates, friends who got their spare keys, or Ms. Komoe, after being sworn to secrecy, brought their items home for them.

"It should go without saying that I am disgusted by the performance you put up for this region last night. Stumbling around like drunkards, indecent dress, destruction of public property, disturbing the peace-"
"It was an emergency, what else were we supposed to do?" Rosa muttered, folding her hands behind her back and staring at the ground.

"Use your Aural Shell derived weaponry. You children could have used the least destructive weapons in your arsenal, but you didn't. Geranium destroyed the sand dunes, a habitat for local populations of Skorupi, Amaranth destroyed the beach itself, a public area which we will receive much criticism for the remodeling of, Rue caused multiple generators to explode within Ambrette proper for no useful purpose, Dahlia and her… partner… caused a shower of meteorites that destroyed the boardwalk and and nearby buildings indiscriminately; Do I have this all correct?"

"I was trying to-" Shauna was cut off by Lysandre's voice like it was a knife.

His voice was deep and sharp. "Do I have this all correct, operatives?"

They spoke in unison with low, diminished tones. "Yes, sir…"

"I am not one to be angered. And I am not at the moment. I am, however, greatly disappointed. FLARE's credibility has taken a nosedive because of your actions. Your pay for this monthly period will be deducted accordingly. You will be serving your community to make up for this, as a public apology from FLARE in your name will not be enough. You are supposed to be the best Espers this world has to offer. I expect better than this disgraceful attitude towards the world. Do any of you know what sort of people I despise?"

"No," Blanche said, rapidly clenching and unclenching his fists.

"People who have little regard for the world around them, little regard for the balance they disrupt. We're merely factors in a cycle that has been turning for epochs. Those that disrupt that balance are worthless to me. You have disrupted that balance."

"Yes, sir."
"You are, however, still children. It would be foolish of me to hold this mistake over you for the rest of your lives. This is your first warning. Must I give another, you will be placed on probation. Further offenses against the world you must guard with have you removed from FLARE's employ entirely. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," they said, miserable, sandy, and entirely too exhausted to argue.

"Then you are dismissed. Leave and clean yourselves up."

---

The four of them trudged back home, gazes directed at the ground in front of them and little energy in their steps.

Blanche's clothes were soaked in sweat, dusted with dirt, and smelled faintly of bitter grapes. Rosa walked behind him, clutching one of Aveline's spare lab coats close to her body. Shauna and Serena had physically gotten out the best, but their hair was just as messy.

The gate swung open outside their house in Little Kanto, causing Rhyhorn to awaken from its mid-morning nap in the yard. It sniffed at them, seemed to sense their mood, and bowed its head before settling back down.

Ariel, Trevor, and Tierno all sat at the breakfast table, a full meal laid out but barely touched. Miss Grace paced behind them across the bar, blocking them off from the stairs.

Blanche couldn't even gather the energy to say that they were back, only nodding and walking around the table with a half-hearted wave.

He wiped the sleep and sinking feeling out of his eyes, barely registering Chespin walking up to him and climbing onto his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Ariel asked all of them, eyes wide as she quickly stood up, with Audino perking up in tandem.

"I screwed everything up," Blanche said, walking past Grace as she ran to Serena to check her up and down. "But more importantly, I need a shower. Maybe a bath would be better, actually. I kind of feel like shit, sorry."

"It wasn't just your fault!" Shauna called after him, snapping, "Don't be arrogant."

"Whatever," he said, shrugging. "Still screwed up."

Really, what does she expect? Oh, boo hoo, it's not your fault, it's all our faults- I wish people didn't give me that shit.

Blanche stripped off his clothes in the third-floor bathroom, repeatedly reaching for latches that he didn't wear anymore and swearing at himself.

Warm water offered some reprieve from his frustration, soaking into his skin and creating the steam that cleared his mind.

I knew this would happen, he thought. I knew I shouldn't have opened myself up to screwing up. I have responsibilities and people to take care of now, and the second I realized that it's like I stopped caring.

Blanche laid back in the water and stared at the ceiling, rubbing a hand on his heavy chest.

Without FLARE, I'm nothing. I won't have a place to stay, I won't have protection, I won't even have a license to let me go my own way.

God damn it.

---

Blanche kept to himself over the next few weeks. He didn't stand out, didn't snark as loudly, and deigned to accept Rosa's squealed thanks earlier that day when he bought her combat heels for her birthday. And yes, they looked as ridiculous as they sounded.

He didn't tease Ariel as often, saying nothing about fan clubs or the genuine force of kindness that she was. Silences stretched out and her Audino noticed even if she wouldn't mention it. It stared at him, a frown often flickering across his face that forced his gaze away with shame.

He played his card games with Trevor, winning as often as he lost but his strategies had stagnated. He stopped thinking ahead or combining card effects, only playing on the defense.

He started missing steps at the dance studio, not exerting himself to the fullest. Tierno noticed, as well as the dance captain, considering she pointed it out. He would ask Blanche after every practice if he was doing alright, and he just waved it off and changed the subject.

He didn't react strongly when Gin dragged him out to the cantina or to the bar fights that happened not long after.

Shauna hadn't shot barbs at him for a while, and he hadn't instigated. In the situation the two were in the same room, they'd make inoffensive small talk until Shauna couldn't put up with his stonewalling anymore and left.

LaRusso and Lenore would help Gin teach him the art of kicking ass, meaning they'd kick his ass until he started understanding it. He rarely did. What he didn't do was cry out in pain or complain about the aches.

He wore a bright red hat most days, shielding his eyes from the colder-growing wind. It was easier than sticking up and just saying no. It made Serena happy. Even if he could never be who everyone thought he was, he was fulfilling a purpose.

Because that's who Blanche was, wasn't it? Just a kid who didn't know a thing about himself other than what he loathed. And repeatedly, day after day, he'd tell himself that he just had to make it to graduation at the end of 2012. He could leave then, stop cowering under the weight of the expectations he imagined had been placed on him.

He had nothing without FLARE; he was nothing. He wouldn't be able to help people without them, even when he tried his best because he simply wasn't enough.

Why was he still trying then? Because it was easier than damaging people's expectations? He cooked because he wanted to pull his weight like Ariel did. He played card games because that's why Trevor was friends with him. He danced because Tierno would be disappointed if he didn't. He was nice to Shauna because he didn't have the willpower to snark back when she jabbed. He wore that thrice-damned hat because Serena would be sad otherwise. Rosa was a little bit crazy, but being kind to her was easy.

Blanche was on a downward spiral, only moving backwards.

---

The elevator to the top of Prism Tower was a spectacle in and of itself. The glass walls slid diagonally upwards, curling around a pitch-black hole that the tower had been built around. Only when the sun or moon hung directly above would it be illuminated, or so he'd heard.

It was late in the evening, which wasn't saying much since summer was fading away while the days grew shorter. It was odd. For Blanche, they seemed longer than ever, dragging into each other like a constant stream.

The full moon hung against the sky, rising higher and higher as it was chased by the stars. The glass opened up before him, and he stepped out onto the viewing deck.

He'd really thought that just the walls of Lumiose-3 were a sight. That was when he hadn't visited the city's pride and joy yet.

Tiny bits of graffiti littered the ground, made of chalk or paint or just plain scratched into the metal using Pokémon claws or some such. A smile tugged at his lips for a split second before it gave up just as easily. Fleeting emotions once again.

Nevertheless, he studied the childish drawings, for whom else would have drawn a Gogoat as a stick-figure? Tiny people holding tiny red and white balls, lines depicting the lights that Pokémon were channeled through to be released and captured.

No one else was on the viewing deck at that time of night. It was strange, almost. Though Blanche had felt an odd sense of magnetism that night, though that simply could have been opposites attracting. A sky that keeps on turning and a boy who refuses to move.

The elevator beeped, closing as he stepped out onto the deck.

Lights flashed off, the doors closing half-way, and a red light blinked.

He looked at it in confusion, before looking out across the city and finding it steeped in darkness.

The wind was stale as he ran to the edge of the railing, barely blowing even so high up in the sky. The clouds around him refused to move. The tower was unwavering against nature's might, more resistant than what had come before. The full moon hung above it all, the mythical outline of a Lunatone appearing as the light pollution disappeared.

The deepest and darkest craters were said to be its eye sockets, though obviously, considering it was the moon, they were empty.

A light flickered on in the sky above him. A tiny red light burning a hole into his vision, appearing even when he closed his eyes. At least, it would, has he not been frozen to that very spot.

And though surely it was being forced upon him, he knew that deep down, his body would have refused to move at the realization.

The black that had gathered around the white moon dripped around it, cutting it off from the starry sky as it swirled towards him. Intellectually, he knew that the moon was hundreds of thousands of miles away and that it was unlikely that they saw him.

He also knew that MissingNo wasn't just a dream anymore.

A set of inky teeth formed in front of the moon, locking it inside a gaping maw like prison bars before it was swallowed entirely. A golden crown of feathers slid over it from behind, as if announcing itself.

The night sky blurred like a television screen turned to a dead channel. Day was night, night was day, and the air became the color of static.

A red line pierced him, straight through both of his eyes like an iron spike. From the moon, that arrow of light pulled the true form of MissingNo through the shadows, up from below the balcony, from the edges of his periphery, from the doubt in his own mind.

A spine of light and six legs. Seven sets of wings, one on each foot and one that dominated its form on its back, filling his entire vision with golden feathers.

Avatar.

The voice spoke simply, as if it did not ring like a chorus of fallen angels singing for their own righteousness.

It has been a long time since you have needed my help.

Blanche's mind dripped with fear. Need to get away, need to run, need to hide.

But there is no place to hide from something that hides inside one's own mind.

You have done well, but your ideals are lacking. Your truth is lacking as well. You are as pathetic as it was imagined you would be.

That is intentional, of course, child. Silly games seem useless to some, but in this world, it is a very different story, wouldn't you agree? What you believe to be conventions are realities of this world, a fact you are all too willing to embrace when convenient, and all too willing to deny when it is not.

A very different voice broke through the cacophony, as if an individual star within the void of MissingNo's body has gone supernova.

I miss her, you know?

It seemed that a Big Bang occurred within, the sounds of shouting splitting Blanche's brain into slices of meat and his ears into broken drums.

SILENCE.

The space within MissingNo went dark for a moment, before the lights returned, one by one.

You, avatar. You have not been acting to your fullest potential. Naturally. Your fullest potential can never be found in playing the act of a schoolboy.

And he wanted to cry out, he did. It's not my fault, I didn't want this, what am I supposed to do?

I am not speaking for my own entertainment. My consciousness does not exist for its own sake. SPEAK.

His throat burned with ozone as he spoke, hesitation soaking into his tongue.

"...Why am I here?"

An intriguing question. Why are we? We are here because of those who believe themselves to be able to create a Heaven on Earth. We are here because reckless idealism has gone too far. We are here because of the obliteration of life and the discarding of those who were once alive and are no longer in this fragile bubble.

The maw opened further, two red eyes bearing down on him.

You are here because you are necessary to do what must be done. A threat looms over every horizon, towards the endless oceans that our speck in the vast universe manages to float in. Life and death will become meaningless once again should you succeed, no matter how far in the future that may be. To do my bidding will make you a hero beyond your wildest fantasies. You no longer have to live in solitude and within the suffering of your own mind. That should be enough for one as selfish as yourself.

"Why…"

Blanche's throat burned.

Not with pain. He was far past that point.

His very mind trembled, his nerves burned with electricity, and a small flame ignited in his spirit.

Whatever he'd once had, it was gone. His family, his friends, anyone he'd ever cared around before that night, they had disappeared from his mind as his body was torn apart and recreated worse.

What he had now… Who was to say he couldn't lose it all again? MissingNo wasn't a dream, it wasn't a hallucination, he knew that for certain now, and it wasn't on his side. It was a demon that operated outside the cycle of life, something that by all means shouldn't exist.

A lot like Blanche, when he considered it properly. Was that why it called him its avatar?

But an avatar was supposed to be blank. Open. A projection. Someone who represents someone else.

He wasn't completely blank. He was his own person now. Whoever he'd been before he'd woken up, he couldn't go back to being that person without losing who he'd become, losing all the improvements and changes he'd felt within himself.

White was the presence of all light, all possibilities. Was that why Ariel had found it so fitting?

If so… why would he risk all those possibilities for something that had only hurt him?

"Why should I help you?"

Two red eyes pressed against his face.

Because I know what you hide within your heart, and you will pursue what I wish even if I were uninvolved. Use your hate. Yes, I brought you here. Lay your pain at my feet. FEEL ANGUISH! REJOICE IN THAT EMOTION, FOR IT WILL MAKE YOU STRONGER! USE THE POWER OF THIS WORLD AND DO WHAT MUST BE DONE.

Blanche steeled himself, raising his fist and fighting the cramp. "MissingNo."

His sworn statement rang clear, his appendage making the gesture obvious even as his voice was lost in the wind and his body was filled with static.

The lights blinked back on around him with a jarring vertigo, the wind kicking up and pulling his hat from his head, as if yanked by something greater.

The stars returned to the night sky, burning into his periphery with a sudden burst.

A sick laugh echoed across the Kalosian cityscape as Blanche picked up his hat. He wasn't Calem. He wasn't a Trainer. He wasn't even a human by most metrics.

None of that would stop him from becoming who he wanted to be.

What exactly that was, he intended to find out.

---

Leaves blew down from the many trees that grew in Lumiose-3's plazas, scattering to the rain-filled wind and blowing across the city, clogging storm drains and squelching underfoot even dozens of blocks away from their source.

A wet maple leaf smacked Blanche across the face, sticking itself into his mouth like the wind itself had a personal problem with him. Given that he was… well, he still wouldn't call himself a protagonist, even if it seemed like the world was out to get him sometimes. That title was obviously split between Serena and Rosa. One could use three types of attacks, and the other was partnered with a Legendary.

He was a guy who happened to be called white in French. Nothing too crazy about that.

A side character, perhaps. Actually, no, that would be Trevor and Tierno, all the people that worked in the lab, his friends, etcetera etcetera.

A recurring extra. Yeah, that had a good sound to it. If he was lucky, he'd not become an ensemble dark horse and have to deal with stuff like throwing oneself in front of a laser beam or having a Dragon-type living in his head rent-free and driving him crazy.

Listen, you could call him reckless, but probably wouldn't have made a conscious decision to shield someone else with his body. One, because of how weak he was, and two, because he was still a coward at the end of the day.

Is it fair to call common-friggin'-sense cowardice? Probably not. Alas, Blanche rarely thought about himself with fairness in mind.

A shopping bag was held in the hand he wasn't using to wipe the mucky pollen off his face, waterproof and swinging along with the wind as he walked home.

Shauna's birthday wasn't that long after Rosa's, almost four weeks after on the eleventh of October. The question was, what do you get for the girl who half the time, acts like she hates your guts, and the other half suddenly has a fever?

His mood had certainly improved as he got kicked out of his funk. He was too busy reeling from the impact of learning more about himself to even consider moping when there was work to do. Weights, protein, studying, thinking, repairing Amaranth's PR to make him look less like a berserker (which was truly the greatest irony of them all, considering the other three essentially couldn't operate without property damage. They also happened to be girls while he happened to be a guy, a fact that sent the… ugh, FLARE shippers into a frenzy of retcons and all sorts of things that he didn't dare ask Trevor to elaborate on), and generally just trying to push himself harder. It wasn't motivation or anything temporary. It was more solid that that, more constant. He dedicated his life to himself first and foremost, even when he could only be motivated by someone else. Only a self-destructive idiot would push themselves for years to protect others when they didn't have a chance.

---

Hilbert Johannson sneezed, missing the button on a stopwatch as a Scolipede rolled past him trailing purplish light.

"Ah, crap. People just love talking about me, don't they?"

A few hundred feet away, Scolipede managed to decelerate and stop digging a ravine deeper into the earthen ground. It gave a few clicks, sounding almost sarcastic.

Hilbert sighed and scratched his face with his unoccupied hand. The stone of his armor had melted away to his forearms, as Golurk seemed to be taking a nap in his consciousness. It wasn't exactly quiet in there, but true rest was a rare sensation for the golem's usual form.

"Yeah, you're right. My fault for saving the world and all that. By the way, your mile time is up to twenty seconds, bud. Step it up."

Scolipede clicked its mandibles again, before curling up again and nearly creating a sonic boom as it took off again.

---

Blanche stepped up to the door, tossing Rhyhorn a crystalline rock-bone-treat-thing as he pushed the door open and shrugged off his rain jacket.

He was then hit in the face by a stray paper streamer as his ears were hit by the sounds of the party occuring in his living room.

Party would be an overstatement. They weren't popular like most of the class. Shauna's low tolerance for idiocy would have made her endearing to similarly-thinking intellectuals had she not been about as smart as Blanche.

It was Rosa's presence that put their gathering on the level of a party, and that should say more than enough about both subjects.

As Rosa had said, "There's gonna be streamers! There's gonna be hats! There's gonna be- Blanche, how do you feel about popping out of a giant birthday cake?"

He'd obviously declined before she could finish describing the necessity of his undress in that scenario.

He picked up the roll of paper ribbons and tapped it on the table as he dropped it and his bag, already piled high with gifts and food.

Blanche would never buy last minute gifts. In fact, his gift was at the very bottom of the pile, having been placed there first. It was just that he'd not been very certain and went to buy other things, along with drinks, just in case.

What does one buy for the girl who has everything, but clearly wants something from you, but clearly doesn't like you or anything, stupid?

Blanche wasn't oblivious, honest. He was just selective about the sort of things he would acknowledge, for truly, some things are too horrifying to be known by the human mind and can not be unlearned.

Anyway, back in the back, Shauna was sitting between Serena and Rosa, one of which was sitting politely with a listing party hat on her head an, and the other bouncing up and down and trying to find a good movie for them to watch.

Given Shauna's face, or rather, the amount of blood that had rushed to said face, Blanche thought he had good reason to act oblivious. It would have been obvious to anyone else, but he just had to make do as he didn't have the luxury of common sense.

So he slid onto the other couch, rubbed Audino's head, and sat down next to Ariel. No point in commenting on it and making someone uncomfortable.

And if he did joke about it, it would be because she was blushing, not why. People did that a bit too much around him, but that was probably a weird Pokémon world thing. Oh, and because he didn't give a shit about anyone's orientation. That would be stupid. It would be like getting mad at the sky for being blue or the sun for being yellow.

Eventually, a movie did get put on, meaning that they could start eating. A few pizzas later (Blanche didn't question what was in the supreme's toppings, as Tierno seemed to be enjoying his), energy was running high from all the sodium and sugary soda.

Well, they would be if Blanche hadn't cut himself off after one can.

"I'm all for socializing, but I'm not trying to get yelled at when there's an emergency."

"It's nothing like that stuff from the field trip, don't worry so much." Shauna flicked an opener-tab at him with an electrical tingle.

"I've been getting robocalls about drinking more water too," he said offhandedly, relaxing on the couch and staring at the ceiling. "Gin gets them a lot too, it's weird."

Hours of cheer and celebration later, they filtered off slowly to bed, the energy from the cakes and the carbs from the pizza catching up to them and making them drop, one by one.

Trevor had obviously gone first, saying that while he enjoyed watching Pretty in Pink, people of his size weren't meant to become fifty-percent sugar. An obvious exaggeration, but a fair one since Blanche didn't feel too far off himself.

Tierno had stuck to pizza, likely because the protein contents could be argued to have outweighed the general unhealthiness of the stuff. He went not long after, wishing Shauna good luck with the weights he'd gifted her.

Blanche was fixed with a few expectant stares, making him shift in his seat as the credits rolled.

Audino, that damn Pokémon, was giving him that empty-behind-the-eyes stare.

"I, uh, I'll go to bed now," he said, before Chespin jumped on

"Shoo, shoo, it's girl time now," Rosa said, leaning forward. "We're going to talk about all kinds of stuff, like make-up, shoes, and boys."

"I said I was going," he said, resisting the urge to sigh. She was messing with him again. Rosa snuck in a lot of sarcasm without ever changing her tone. Much in the same way Serena did, but with sheer distracting enthusiasm rather than coolness. Not that he had many examples, but that said more about him than it did her.

So, he went up to the third floor as he had many times before, feeling the slightest bit sluggish.

And the sluggishness disappeared as he opened his door, replaced with a spike of panic. Apparently, he'd left his window open. Which was especially odd, considering he hadn't even opened it when it was scorching during the summer.

And naturally, that meant that his bed right next to it was getting slushy leaves and rainwater all over it.

"Son of a-" His eyes zeroed in on Froakie, who he realized hadn't been downstairs for a while. "You!"

Froakie's head turned from where it was face planted on the wet spot, then had the audacity to yawn.

He was about to call for Shauna and tell her to deal with her damn partner-but-not-really, but he stopped himself, considering that it would be rude to do that on her birthday. The same was true on any other day, but Blanche didn't care most of the time.

"Froakie?" The blue frog asked, sitting up.

Blanche pointed his thumb towards the door, and the Pokémon scampered off as if it had done nothing wrong.

He sighed as Chespin jumped off his shoulder, massaging it with an absent mind as he slammed the window shut. Instantly, the chill disappeared and the leaves stopped fluttering around. His mattress was damp in a spot, but not dripping wet. He pulled it off the frame and below the ceiling fan so it could dry off.

It was a bit late for laundry, and he really would have fallen asleep immediately had he not been interrupted. If he sat down even just to wait, he'd wake up the next morning with a terrible back ache.

He dropped the sheets and went back downstairs.

"You guys aren't having an actual wet t-shirt contest, are you?" He asked, halfway onto the bottom step.

"Of course not, stupid. What do you need?"

"Froakie opened my window and slept on my bed."

"So what?"

"It's raining, Ponytails," he said dryly. "A birthday gift from some god to you."

"Go sleep in Tienrno's room, I'm not in charge of you."

"They're already asleep." He'd checked. Or rather, he'd knocked lightly so as to not be rude. "Can I just sleep on the couch while you guys do whatever?"

"Eh, why not?" she responded quickly, as if it'd been rehearsed.

The sound of a page turning caught his ears.

"But, uh, don't get any ideas, stupid!"

Her voice dropped.

"Do I really say that? That's sort of against the point…"

As soon as he stepped around the bend, she fumbled with whatever book she was holding, hiding it behind her back and sending him a glare.

He held up his arms in surrender and sprawled across the free couch, not paying attention to what the girls were talking about.

He also didn't notice Rosa holding up a marker as he drifted off to sleep or the downright demonic giggle.

---

Blanche had some weird dreams that night. Something about truth or dare, but with really weird truths and dares. There was also a bottle involved in some way, but he could remember how. And for some reason, he kept thinking about getting chased by some kind of blob. Odd.

That all swept away as he came to, feeling a few weights on him, smelling marker solvent right next to his nose, and looking up into some magazine. Chespin was snoring on his chest, so he scratched the Grass-types quills before picking the book up off of his head.

"Get Boys to Like You by Treating Them Like Dirt: A Guide to The Heart, by Shana Kuron?" Blanche held up the book with an odd look. That wasn't Shauna, obviously, even if it was suspiciously similar. "What the hell is this?"

It was quickly snatched out of his hands, and he looked over to Shauna, who was deeply flushed and out of breath from sprinting however far she had to grab the book.

"Don't look at me like that!"

Blanche blinked.

"You're returning that, right? I don't think it'll work on whatever guy you're thinking about."

"Mind your own business!" she shouted, still dark-red in the face. "How'd you even get it?"

"Well, you see, when you wake up with something on your face, you're generally inclined to take it off."

Across the bar in the kitchen, Rosa giggled. Whether at his reaction, or from some kind of set up, he didn't know.

"Shut up! Don't wisecrack to me, you m- you, you, you-"

She slapped his hair, which he was surprised by before remembering she was short enough for that to be possible. He was also surprised because she slapped his hair.

"Blondie! Yeah, you heard me!" She looked entirely too satisfied with the new nickname.

Must have taken a whole two months for her to come up with, he thought. "Whatever," he said, pushing his hair out of his face and himself into a sitting position. He felt something smudge on his face, and his hand came away with a splotch of black.

"You're not creative enough to draw on my face. Was it Froakie or Rosa?"

The latter was clearly cackling in the kitchen, which he saw turning his head while Ariel was already set to making breakfast. Trevor and Tierno had woken up early, alternatively giving him a dry look and one of sympathy, while Serena zeroed in on him immediately.

Blanche wasn't enough of an idiot to let a pretty girl smiling at him overcome the unsettling feeling that same smile always gave him. It was just enough to stop him from saying anything.

"Rosa, then," he muttered, scratching Chespin's quills again and looking at the polaroid pictures of him that had been printed out.

There were also a few that weren't of him, which Shauna quickly snatched with a scandalized look.

"Those are private, pervert!"

"What kind of idiot takes pictures of a girls' pillow fight?" he retorted, certain that his face was red now as well. Damn hormones. "Whose idea was that, anyway?"

Rosa coughed, but that was somewhat diminished by the sound of air crackling around Shauna.

"You can't call me an idiot!" she snapped.

"I don't think you've been listening very well if you still think that," he said.

The lightning became visible around her as Blanche sighed.

Saturday morning in Lumiose-3. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

---

There was a crater engraved in ancient marble flooring atop the Spear Pillar of the Sinnoh region. Even three years later, the rain had not washed away the cracks formed by the wings of a monster, or the clear indentation of a drill covered in thorns, spikes, plasma, and formed, however temporarily, of every single bit of aura that existed on Earth.

It was not an anniversary of the day that the Heavens Shattered. Even years later, there were some that didn't know the site where it ended, where the Aura Guardian defeated Giratina. Those that did rarely visited.

And for the few that remembered everything and who knew of the site, their journey was made there to leave flowers in the memory of those that time forgot.

But it was not an anniversary, and so, it sat preserved, untouched by the elements. Perhaps it was the sheer amount of residue that kept the people and Pokémon of Earth away.

In the hole that had been dug by the drill that pierced even the heavens, there was a blue box, floating and clicking and glowing, even months after it had located the site. It was mechanical in nature, though acted as though it had a mind of its own. Its AIAM field was incomparable to any found on Earth, and as such, could not even be recognized as an AIAM field.

And so, rather than eliminating the residual aura, the box intermixed its own aura and amplified them.

After all, even from millions of miles away and far off into space, an Aura Reader of any kind would be able to see such a bright beacon.

 

[MikaelBrigman]

The older Professor Sycamore came back around three weeks later, the Saturday before Ariel's birthday which was the fifteenth of November. His eyes were sunken with bags under them, and he looked a bit thin, but he maintained a positive façade.

"Tough time with the royal family?" Blanche asked, trying his best not to smirk.

"Huh?" the Professor said, stumbling mid-stride. "Oh, no, it's unrelated. I've sorted that out for now but there's more important stuff to…" he stopped mid-sentence, nearly collapsing into a chair and coughing. "Never mind. Nothing you kids should waste time worrying about. Time's precious, after all."

"Any Anomalies?" Shauna asked, stretching her arms with a click in her elbows.

Augustine waved his arm haggardly, staring through the back window that led to darkness. "No… in fact, you all can leave. Go spend time with your friends or whatever you kids do for fun."

"Feeling a mid-life crisis?" Blanche offered.

"Ha, I wish," Augustine said, sounding positively miserable. "I think I'm going to call up my father and see how he's doing. You all do the same for your relatives. They'll appreciate it, I'm sure."

Rosa gave a rigid salute, standing to attention.

Blanche felt sobered all of a sudden, like a cold wave had just crashed over him. It wasn't out of concern for his parents, because he couldn't remember them in the first place, but for his friends.

Serena had her mother and so did Rosa, most likely, and the Professor had mentioned Michael's, but everyone else? Shauna, Trevor, Tierno, they had all been living with Serena's mom for a year at least. Clemont had mentioned his sister and only his sister, not saying a thing about his parents.

And the worst part was that they didn't even recognize that as the tragedy that it was.

"Aveline, we need to talk to Lysandre for a debrief," Augustine said, his voice sounding regretful. "It's classified information, but still nothing any of you need to worry about. Blanche, I'm looking at you."

Our bandage babe in chief held up his arms in surrender. "I acknowledge that I can be nosy, my bad."

"Maybe keep a hold on that for the next week or so. Might make you feel better…"

There it was again, the Professor just trailing off.

He never did that, except when he'd been severely off-balanced by whatever stupid shit Blanche had just said. Was he just tired? He'd just gotten told off for being nosy, so thinking about it only compounded his minor amount of guilt.

He shrugged. "If you say so, boss man."

Not that it helped anything.

---

Blanche's head was placed against the dining room table, his forehead feeling cool on the wooden surface as he continued annoying Ariel.

"You can't tell me that there's nothing you want to do for your birthday."

She hummed as she worked at her homework beside him, some physics work about equal and opposite reactions. Blanche wasn't the smartest guy when it came to emotional intelligence, but he excelled in most science that helped him kick ass. Rosa was similar in that way, but tenfold and much more specialized. And he knew very well that punching something that pushed back harder would only break his wrists, so he helped her with the diagrams when she asked, not even looking at the paper.

"I've never celebrated it, it's no more special than a Tuesday. And truly, it's not very accurate since the church found me in a basket as a mere babe."

"So you're probably older than me even if I was born in December," he groaned. Seriously, why did he have to be so young? It only prolonged the presence of those thrice-damned hormones. "But you could, I don't know, go for a walk with Audino in one of the plaza parks while we set up a surprise party."

She hummed again, a slight giggle sounding through. "I think that the surprise wouldn't work as well if I knew when to expect it. But it is the thought that counts, I suppose."

"It's still important." His voice was muffled a bit because of the wooden table he was speaking into. "We've celebrated everyone else's birthday, we can't just skip over yours. Come on, what do you want? A new jacket?"

"A good sister chooses to live in squalor, but I do enjoy the one I have. Any more than that, well, I just couldn't accept it." Her attention returned to her homework. "What is it called… a vector quantity?"

"Velocity, acceleration and force are vectors since they got magnitude and direction. Speed and time are scalar since they're directionless," he recited from his own notes without looking at them. Ariel, evidently, was not looking at his notes either, which was respectable.

"I see. It's saying to create an example of an object accelerating to a slower velocity… isn't accelerating only increasing?"

"It means increasing or decreasing velocity."

Rosa passed by somewhere, with Blanche recognizing the sound of footsteps before she opened the squeaky cupboard, the one that was filled with snacks for as many hours as Rosa hadn't remembered it was there.

"I used a FLARE Ranger punching the sky after moon jumping, and that they would slow down over time because of gravity and resistance from the sky," Rosa said, before her voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't think the sky likes being punched. I drew a smiley face though, so I think it'll be fine."

"Valuable input," Blanche said, still not lifting his head. "Have you already finished it?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to have anything to worry about at home so I did it in class."

"...But the Physics teacher only gives homework right before the bell."

"Really? I thought it was classwork."

Ariel's pencil scribbled.

"Don't copy Rosa," he said automatically. "You know how the teacher is about plagiarism."

"I do remember when they thought you had stolen Trevor's homework."

"I'm not a delinquent. Wish Shauna never started that rumor," he grumbled. It went without saying that his teachers had noticed when he turned out to know a lot of stuff even with amnesia, which was still the story he was going with, as well as noticing Shauna yelling at him for extorting homework or whatever set her off that day.

A hand slapped against his scalp, meaning that Shauna had just walked back into the room.

"I said sorry, idiot," she said. "I'm not going to do anything like that again."

"Afternoon to you too, Ponytails," he said, lazily rolling up. Shauna had already passed by to get to the fridge, but he saw her shrug.

"Pft. Well, you know what they say about dumb blonds. No offense, Ariel."

Her head bowed to the side in confusion. "Do you spell it with an 'E'?"

"Eh?"

"Is Serena feeling alright?" he asked, leaning into his fist and lazily looking over to Shauna.

"...No, she's still nauseous," Shauna complained, evidently deciding that insulting him wasn't as important. "She was fine when she went to bed, too. It's an upset stomach, I think."

"Maybe she spent a little too much time looking at me," he said without thinking.

He'd meant it as a comment about her habit of insisting he wear the red hat, but given his own habits, it was obvious why Shauna squawked in indignation and ran over to slap him upside the head.

"Don't say things like that!" she yelled as Ariel recoiled to the side. Rosa was peaking around the bar, still shoveling caramel popcorn into her mouth.

Blanche made the ever so intelligent decision to play it off as a joke, saying, "What, do you think she enjoys looking at me? Jealous?"

She was clearly torn between calling him a pervert and just shouting a denial. He could tell just by looking at the shade of her face. Was flushing when you got angry really that common?

"Just… don't say things like that," she said, much quieter than he expected.

He sighed. Tierno had said a lot of the same things, but with obviously different intent from Shauna. "Yeah, yeah, alright."

Ariel scooted back over and returned to her homework, Shauna chiming in with an answer about how magnetism would be a pulling force or a pulling force depending on the location of the magnet and the direction of the acceleration.

Rosa, naturally, continued to eat snacks and say absolutely asinine things that completely fit the guidelines given for original examples.

A certain sort of peace had settled in the apartment. Not in the sense that there wasn't any tension, Shauna made sure there was plenty when he was around, but that it was comfortable.

From a room on a higher floor, a series of beeping cut through the floorboards and ceiling plaster, and soon after, a crash.

Blanche looked up to the ceiling, confused. Tierno had decided to hit the gym (Blanche had not, still drilling Ariel with questions about what she wanted for her birthday) and Serena wasn't feeling well that day.

Trevor stumbled down the stairs not ten seconds later, running over to them before nearly collapsing.

"There's a…"

Three chimes rang out from three pockets simultaneously, the FLARE alert making them perk up.

"There's… turn on the news," Trevor puffed out, hands on his knees.

Blanche confusedly stood up, moving to grab the remote while fishing his Holo Caster out of his pocket.

He clicked the television on and saw a black bar above the cartoons currently playing. There were too many teenagers in the house to keep the channel set to anything important.

EMERGENCY ALERT

URGENT MESSAGE FROM LOCAL AUTHORITIES

PLEASE CHANGE YOUR CHANNEL TO A NEWS STATION AND LISTEN TO AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY

He pressed down on the channel button with a spike of panic driving through his spine.

A newscaster sat in front of an unedited green screen, shuffling papers with a somber look.

"This is," the middle-aged man began, his voice cracking slightly, "An emergency alert from the United Regions and FLARE to our Kalosian listeners. If we are lucky, there is nothing to worry about. As of 5 o'clock today, an official memo was released to the public detailing the trajectory of a large meteoroid approaching the Earth. The approximate size is twenty by ten by five kilometers."

The man shuffled his papers again, looking off the set with a hopeful look.

"That can't really be it, can it? That's twice the size of Lumiose-3."

"Read the script," commanded another voice.

The man choked, before coughing and beginning again. "The meteoroid is predicted to strike the Earth somewhere on the Eurasian continent at 11:08 this evening. At the current velocity, it is believed that the crust of the Earth will be shattered. If we are struck…" The man paused, the veneer of professionalism cracking once again as a single sob escaped his lips. "Life on Earth as we know it will come to a close. People, Pokémon, all of nature. Please, anyone-"

"Stay on script!"

"I don't care what gods you follow! Helix, Arceus, those damn Storm Birds that always screw with the forecast, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zy-"

Two other men hustled onto the set, dragging the man away as he cried.

"Pick a god and pray. PLEASE!"

The news broadcast shut off, leaving a black screen with an error message along with the constant buzzing.

The remote slipped from Blanche's fingers as Serena ran down the stairs, a stern look set into her face though directed at nothing.

"FLARE. Immediately," she said, tugging on her bag.

"Couldn't agree more. Ms. Grace will be heading there now." He stopped for a moment, thinking of the one thing people did when there was an emergency. "Along with everyone else in the city, I'm guessing."

Chespin ran across the kitchen tiles and jumped onto his shoulders.

Blanche opened his bag, shuffling arm-deep in hammer space before pulling out his folded bolter and testing his grip. His hands shook, though he tried to hide it.

Shauna looked up from her arms which tightly held Froakie and gaped. "Wait, why are you-"

"It's the end of the world as we know it," he said. "And I don't feel fine when it's going to be chaos in the streets in just a few minutes. Serena, get Fennekin and Rhyhorn."

"Right."

"Trevor, Ariel, behind us. I'm going to morph. The rest of you, act as civilians."

"Why?" Shauna asked, rushing to catch up with the rest of them as he kicked the door down. Hinges and all. The result of his adrenaline created a sharp crack as people ran through the street outside. Children looking for adults, adults looking for children, people looking for their Pokémon, and Pokémon looking for their people.

Blanche placed his morpher to his chest, itching to twist it into place. "I don't know much about people on a small scale, but when the world's about to end, people tend to throw shit they don't care about out the window."

---

Lysandre's hands were steepled in front of his face. Augustine's were held in front of his eyes as he curled into himself.

A singular switch sat between them on Lysandre's desk, perpetually a shade of green signaling its use.

"You know it's necessary."

"They'll be breaking down the doors soon. All those people…"

"You don't have very much faith, Augustine. You care too much."

"I'm a human, dammit," he said, dragging his hands across his face and revealing the deep bags under his eyes. "Did we have to tell them all?"

"UR-DRAGON knew. The council would have released the details without my input had I not negotiated." Lysandre's visage was hidden. "Too late for any long-term damage to be done. Too early for them to burn out their emotions. The information was released as I asked. We live in a world of pathos, Augustine."

"You don't seem to have any yourself."

"That is the necessary sacrifice. Should FLARE prevent this end, our funding will be secured. Should another, such as the… commonly favored Aura Guardian, step in, then we will not be criticized for being unable to control the situation. We aren't the United Regions, after all. We simply send them the bill."

"You remind me of Amaranth, sometimes. The kid's smart, and thinks a lot like you do."

"It is likely the other way around. I know a great many things, Augustine. If he is who you believe him to be, then perhaps it was a trigger of trauma that changed him."

"Like you?"

"..."

"...I apologize, my friend."

"It is not your fault that you cannot remember. It is also not the time to dwell on such things. The last resort is always possible, even if years of work will be undone. Zygarde will reenter hibernation, and will not awake for many more."

"It'll still come, eventually."

"Just as Xerneas brings life and Yveltal brings death."

The switch between them sat untouched.

"Rayquaza will likely interfere as well. The Champion of Hoenn does not keep a tight leash on his Pokémon."

"That's for the better, though."

"It is. And it is not as if we do not have alternatives."

"We're talking about millions of people and Pokémon, Lysandre. Don't just call them alternatives."

"A heart is a heart. An ace is an ace. A spade is a spade. A wild card is a wild card. The rest are minor compared to the major."

"You just like to play with a full deck."

"Something like that."

The switch remained unused

"Hey."

"Yes?"

"Do you think that if we make it to tomorrow, you can set me up with Diantha?" Augustine let out a tiny laugh, trying to cut through the mood. "She's been too busy to talk with a mere scientist recently. That's what her receptionist says."

Lysandre's expression was hidden as he appeared intimidating and cold.

"Even I cannot work miracles, Augustine. You can hope that tomorrow comes, as will I."

---

The sky was clear of smoke and fog, but a single cloud hung overhead as the sun approached the horizon. The cloud was not a cloud at all, however. It was the shape of a coffin, evenly approaching the Earth and growing slightly, minute by minute.

Jaune Plaza was filled with people shouting and Pokémon screeching, barking, or whatever sounds they could make. It was chaos. Pandemonium. Shards of glass littered the streets, with cries of pain coming every other second from those around them.

Blanche held his bolter across his heart, not daring to move it and appear to be aiming. He wasn't a fool. If anyone thought he was even possibly instigating a fight, there would be a riot, no doubts about it.

Police officers and FLARE grunts were standing on top of makeshift barricades, whether they be police transports or the roofs of the nearby MagLev stations.

And naturally, a fight did break out eventually. It was slow at first, a sudden outburst from someone more central to the plaza, before a wave spread outwards of people moving back.

"You all get to FLARE," he said to Serena, hoping that his tone carried through properly even with the mechanical change in pitch. "Talk with Aveline then brief me over the uplink. Let's set to meet at Prism Tower if things get too bad."

Serena simply nodded, the only one in their group to hear him. It was certain that any vocal responses wouldn't carry very well to anyone else.

Balance pushed himself through the crowd, the people in front of him growing more and more unstable, quickly clambering out of the way.

A man rained down blows on another held beneath him, swinging wildly and not responding even as the other pleaded that he stop.

And no one around did anything. They stood there as surely as Blanche would have if he was them. It wasn't their business. The world was ending, why should they? They all just watched glumly, giving in to their own uselessness.

Blanche had been there before, though. He'd been one of those people, a long time ago. But now, he was himself. He'd seen what could happen if he did nothing, the two options. He'd seen Trevor nearly be taken by a Nihilego almost a full year before, and he knew that there had been very few outcomes. The easy outcome where he did nothing because he believed himself to be too weak to do anything, and the difficult outcome. The outcome where he pushed back what he believed he was and acted as what he truly was.

Blanche didn't know what he wanted. Sometimes, he took the easy options, like passively denying that he was Calem to Serena but keeping a hold on his frustration. Other times, he stopped caring about what limits he thought he had and knocked out an Ultra Beast with a metal lamp post.

Suffering. The suffering of the people around him, the apathy of the very same. The pain that he knew everyone felt because he felt it too, and the unwillingness to do anything about it.

The world was ending. Most saw it as a reason to stop trying. Blanche saw it as a reason to do his best.

He clicked his bolter onto his waste, locking it into place before rushing behind the attacking man and pulling him off. They attempted to headbutt him, lashing back into his grip, but only succeeded in slamming the back of their head into his breastbone.

"You FLARE bastard! Why aren't you doing anything? Why are you just letting this happen?" the man shouted, pulling against Blanche's grip and his sunglasses sliding off his face with a soundless click against concrete. "All you do is control us, but when we need you, you're nowhere to be found!"

It was tragic, really.

Why?

Because Blanche recognized both of the men, as well as the girl that the man on the ground was protecting.

Clemont had shielded Bonnie with his body as Gin had mercilessly attacked him. His blue jumpsuit was torn in some places, his glasses crushed on the ground and blood dripping down his face. A tiny patch of flame, emblazoned on his left breast, was hanging by a thread, burns of decay surrounding it.

The Esper's fists were still crackling with a murkish black energy. His shouts broke through the muted chaos of the plaza, ringing out quickly. He shouted, "Damn you all!" continuing to struggle.

Blanche moved his arms from around Gin's upper arms to around his neck, using one to click a button on the side of his helmet.

A tiny slot slid back into the helmet, removing the voice modification.

"Gin, stop fighting. This isn't justice."

"Who the hell…" the greaser said, trying to turn to get a better look.

Blanche could tell what it looked like. FLARE abusing its power against civilians during a conflict rather than talking the aggressors down. It was unlikely that they'd get far enough for that to be a problem with the media. It was more likely to turn the impromptu protests and confusion into a full-blown riot with a domino effect.

That wasn't justice either. That was senseless violence, anger directed in the same ways as usual.

I'm not a psychologist, he thought, I don't know what to say.

But I can still try.

"Gin, you know me. It's Blanche. I'll explain everything to you when we all get out of his alive, but please stop. That guy over there, he's my friend. His name's Clemont, and that's his sister. He's a person, just like you. It's not his fault. There are much, much bigger bastards out there than a guy who wants to protect his sister. Can you see yourself? Can you see what you're doing? Or has a haze settled over your mind, that damn red mist?"

"You're not…" Gin wheezed, clawing at his arms and his joints laced with black lightning, "Blanche isn't an Esper, you bastard."

"I'm not. I'm not even close. What I am is someone with an outside perspective. You are attacking someone who's trying his best to be a good brother from what I can tell. Is that you? Is that Gin? What would LaRusso say? What would Lenore? What the hell are you doing with your power, Gin?"

"More than… you…"

His voice was rising, taking on a scratchy edge. "A hero doesn't do that to anyone. A hero protects as many people as he can. A hero stops when their enemy is downed. That's why there aren't any heroes, because a true hero will never do what needs to be done without becoming a hypocrite. The greatest hero this world has ever known is likely the one that broke it. That's just a matter of likelihood. It's a convention of the world we're living in. That's the way our world works. You're dealing with the same emotions that everyone is feeling by making them worse. You're extending suffering, creating more pain, not reducing it. The long-term at the moment is midnight, and probably not even then. So, why are you giving up so easily?"

Blanche loosened his grip, before turning on his heel and copying one of LaRusso's moves. The practice paid off, even if it looked a little too much like a ballet step when he pulled Gin over his head and threw him down into the pavement with a resounding crack.

Static burned at the edges of his vision, but Blanche couldn't see it. His periphery and his tunnel vision blended into one, and it became as if he couldn't see at all. He simply existed. He felt his existence and the existence of the world around him.

He pointed down at Gin, his finger shaking no matter how hard he tried to control it. "You're not the hero of this story, and neither am I. I'm going to do whatever I can to protect as many people as I can for as long as I can. You can do whatever you want with your life. You can give in, lash out, or start trying to find a damn solution yourself. I don't need to tell you what I'm doing."

There were tears flowing from Gin's eyes, the boy's body impossibly tense as he cried on the ground, his anger leaving him and being replaced with only sorrow and pain.

They were emotions that Blanche knew would become all too common if he didn't do anything, even as the sky above him grew closer.

He pulled Clemont to his feet, and his sister along with him.

Clemont tried to smile. His eye was beginning to swell shut but the flow from his mouth was stemmed.

"Get to FLARE. I'm going to head to Prism Tower."

"Why?"

Blanche looked to the ceiling of the world, encroaching and trying to make him feel smaller and smaller.

"I don't know. I'm going to do whatever I can once I get there. I'll need you for support. Thanks for everything." A thought occurred to him, so stupid in its simplicity and irrelevant that it made him crack a smile even in the bleakest of situations. "And if you see the others, well, just tell them that I'll owe them all the flowers I can buy if we make it through this. It's funny. I've been complaining all this time about what I've forgotten while forgetting something more important."

Blanche walked past them, through a crowd that split like a sea, his helmet clicking back into place and hiding his grin.

"This is my world now, and for all this time… I've forgotten how much I owe to it."

---

A camera feed from the RKS-2 was a small comfort in the FLARE Pokémon Lab. They all knew what was coming. Technicians had left to be with their families. Clemont had rushed off to make sure his sister was safe at home. Michael had left to call his mother who was still back home in Orre. Her dad was still meeting with Lysandre.

Aveline sat alone, listening silently to an empty communications channel. She was not as stressed as she supposed she ought to have been. Why didn't she fear the coming future herself?

Was it because she knew that the moment impact was made, there would be very little pain for her, and simply a flash of light?

Was it because it was inevitable? That was how most people coped with tragic certainties that were yet to come.

Or maybe it was because someone like her had nothing to fear.

The feed existed on a loop, replaying into segments separated across the monitor, to the first appearance of the meteoroid in the camera's periphery to the very moment that it was cut off.

The satellite would need to be repaired and relaunched. The RKS system couldn't run at full efficiency with only seventeen satellites, after all.

That was assuming that they would need to run at all in the near future.

Aveline saw it on the feed. She wasn't a religious person by any means, but she still clasped her hands. A silent cry, a show of solidarity. Either or both.

A pair of thin tentacles, red and blue, emerged from a crater in the meteor. They spun themselves together and violently grabbed the satellite from hundreds of miles away, even as it thinned from the width of highways to lengths of rope.

The satellite was crushed, the camera along with it, and the feed snapped to darkness before replaying once again.

"Blanche, whatever you know, whatever you remember…" she began, not sure what to say next. "I can't believe in myself to do anything up there… but you're just like me. I'm going to believe in you instead."

The outer airlock hissed, and she clasped her hands tighter.

"Is that alright?"

---

Prism Tower had stairs. That was as fortunate as it could be, since the elevator was out as the interior ground floor was used as an emergency center. It was the biggest landmark in the city, after all, and Lumiose-3 was a big place. People gravitated there or had their children go there in cases of emergency.

Blanche placed his foot on the first step of a staircase that led skyward. According to a map, there were four, one for each cardinal direction. Only the south was generally accessible to the public, the rest reserved for maintenance. Blanche started climbing up the eastern staircase.

A small part of him asked what the point was. Why fly so high just to die anyway? What could he do against a meteor?

He didn't know. He was too cowardly to defy destiny, wasn't he? Ever since he'd been reborn, he'd taken the easy options. Go to Kalos because it was easy. Join FLARE to avoid pain. Ignore any uncomfortable subjects for the sake of stability.

He clung to that idea. Even in a world so filled with dreams and nightmares, he refused to let himself fall asleep at all. He didn't have a plan after 2012. What was he going to do after they all graduated? Would they just scatter to the wind and go on their own journeys? Was Shauna right to be afraid of that? He certainly was.

A platform was reached, the metal grating leveling out, but he continued onwards.

He didn't have to look up to see the sky darkening. Just on the edges of his periphery did a static burn, and within that he saw the sun finally finish setting.

The moon was rising higher, offering only slivers of moonlight despite its fullness.

"It really was that obvious, wasn't it?" He asked himself. Weird dreams, the more memorable operations, hallucinations; they all happened around the full moon. Even if he dismissed them as anything more than nightmares, he should have put two and two together.

He was never a stargazer. He'd only looked when he was stressed or scared. That late night in December, there had been a full moon, he was sure of it. When he met MissingNo just a month before, the moon was full and the stars burned bright.

What the hell was it? A glitch in reality? Something from the depths of blue hell?

That didn't matter. It wouldn't if he wasn't right.

Because he felt it around him. It was in his body, sending shivers down his spine, a spider of lead crawling through his chest, a pain that lanced through each and every muscle. It was a bastard, and he was its avatar.

Fitting, he thought.

It was just like the bastard he was to continue fighting against hopeless odds instead of giving in.

The air screamed in his ears as he reached the true top of Prism Tower. Not the viewing deck, but the grated platform that would barely fit four people that neared the peak.

The sky pressed down on him. It was strange watching something that would be considered small if it were part of the landscape approach, and recognizing that once it landed, everyone would die. It was roughshod, gray and plasticky, like it was constructed of souvenir moon dust. It filled his vision when he looked directly up, the static in his periphery obscuring what remained of the natural night sky.

There was an emerald light coming across the horizon, like a tiny green arrow that streaked across the sky. It was small, and ignited in flames before striking the meteor as it crossed the edge of space. Space rocks and rubble exploded outwards to the far west, like an asteroid belt had just been created.

But the arrow of light fell to the Earth, descending back through the ozone layer. It crashed somewhere over the horizon. He couldn't see it directly, but he saw the huge plume of dust and heard the ear-splitting crack that followed a screech that could only belong to the Legendary known as Rayquaza.

Above him, a monster approached the earth. Blue and red tentacles, stretching for miles end to end. A single tentacle was likely wider than Prism Tower itself.

Deoxys.

Its face pressed down on him, its eyes showing no emotion as it fell towards Lumiose-3 with no opposition. Within its chest, a small sun seemed to glow. A cubic blue box, twisting and turning like a generator. The very same kind that had canceled out Serena's aura.

The hole that had been blasted in its shoulder swelled shut, not regenerating, but instead redirecting its mass. Rocks were still trailing from loose bits of its body, the size of train cars in and of themselves.

It stood out against the blackness of space, not making a single gesture to accelerate.

He knew it was a lie. It was still coming closer. A single impact couldn't prevent such a massive thing from making contact. Not when it failed.

And neither could he.

He grasped the handrails tightly, sending a rumble down them as he tried to relax.

Why was he there? To watch? To be the first to die?

No, that wasn't it. He didn't feel any selfish satisfaction. He didn't feel like a martyr. He didn't want to be one either.

And yet, he knew that it was what he needed to do, even if it would send him drifting across the cosmos or crashing back down to earth.

"Are you there?" he asked with only the crackling and bleeding-with-static air to answer him.

The communications line in his ears crackled to life, a somber but resolved Aveline answering along with everyone else. Clemont, Michael, Serena, Shauna, Rosa, Trevor, Ariel; even Tierno had found his way there.

"We're with you!"

He was shocked for a moment, but the shock was quickly replaced with a grim determination.

"Unlock my inhibitors," he said with gritted teeth, the static overwhelming him and spreading to the outside of his helmet. "Because I'm not giving up. I refuse to! Even if I die, I'll go even further. I will fight beyond death, because this is my world, and I'm not letting anything take it away from me!"

A picture appeared in his mind. A prototype, perhaps, but it would be what he needed.

He let go of the railing, clenching his fists by his side. He thrusted one skyward, as if his knuckles could pierce the heavens.

"Clemontic Gear Access: NSPACE!"

---

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: ERROR. MISSING NUMBER.

Designation: ERROR. MISSING NUMBER.

FLARE Designation: ERRO. MISSING NUMBER.

Clemont reared back as the prototype on the table disappeared. The mechanical wings and the fueling mechanisms hadn't been completed. It wouldn't work at all.

"But I haven't added the link. And it's not even called that." He looked at the unpressed button on his desk. "How is this possible?" He wiped his face, once again trying to clear his vision.

"He's going past the impossible, can't you tell?" Rosa said, finding her own resolve after a moment. "I… We have to go help!"

"Agreed," Serena added.

"Yeah, let's go!" She paused, her mouth moving but no words coming out. "Well, I'm not doing it for him or anything," Shauna said after a few seconds of internal struggle.

Trevor looked up and gave Shauna a dry look.

"Okay, fine, it's the end of the world, maybe I am."

"You all, go! Support him in any way you can!" Aveline commanded, speaking clearly and concisely. "Go!"

---

Hilbert Johannson stood on an island, not far from the coast of Kalos. A tiny piece of land adrift on the seas, a resting place for the Sea Spirit that made the cave its home.

They'd met, naturally. Occupational hazard, if one could call it that.

His rocky helmet was sealed over his face, giving him the appearance of a Golurk himself, as he watched the massive Pokémon enter the atmosphere. From so far away, it seemed small, almost, but it was above Prism Tower. The true size was evident when it made the region-wide landmark look like a house of cards.

A spark lit up the night on top of Prism Tower. It gleamed like a diamond in the sun, despite the land being shadowed beneath the moon. The spark, whatever it was, began rising through the air.

Hilbert shuddered as he felt a wave of pressure roll over him moments later. It was nothing major. Barely even a shift from what the air pressure was before, but it was there.

He still had a good feeling. His helmet melted away, his brown hair falling loosely as he smiled.

"Lucas is always telling me to believe in the next generation of heroes." He raised his arms and clasped his hands behind his head, looking to the stars that the Pokémon had left behind in thought. "Huh. Maybe I can retire before I turn twenty after all."

---

A gust of wind threw Blanche upwards, the backdraft sweeping his legs out from under him.

He didn't control the blinding wings of energy that had just appeared on his back. They were what he needed. That was the Gear, and that was all that mattered. It was what FLARE could give him in support, representative of everything that they ever had given to him.

He wasn't going to put it to waste by worrying about technicalities.

"I will go further," he said, and he accelerated. There was no muscle control, no computer. A need and a response. Was this his aura?

Static grew stronger around the edges of his vision. His vision was tinged with red, but not because of rage. If he had seen himself, he would see that the inside of his visor was simply reflecting the neon red light pouring out of his eyes.

The wings of energy tinged themselves with gold, the mechanical source on his back overwhelmingly hot. His chest was burning, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He couldn't afford to care about that right now.

Deoxys was still falling. A single tentacle, slightly faster in its advance, reached down through the atmosphere. It initially burned away to nothing, but as it grew wider it grew more resistant.

It passed by him by miles at least. It had sprouted from its arms, and it seemed like an inverse water spout as it poured downwards.

He didn't flex any muscles. He felt a need to cut it off before it could do anything, hurt anything, hurt anyone.

And the wings on his back responded.

He didn't understand the power. He didn't need to. His mind was clocking into overdrive, possibilities running themselves into the ground where he fell, was crushed, was burned alive. He discarded all of them, only looking for the one he needed. Not the future where he lived, but the future where everyone else did.

They could have treated him like dirt. They could have left him out in the cold. They could have believed him to be the same person that he believed himself to be.

But they didn't.

He was going to repay them in full, or as fully as he could, for as long as he could.

Cutting through the air, he pulled a pocket knife from his suits neck compartment, feeling the air jet against his skin. Would it cut through yards and yards of Deoxys's arm?

No. Not on its own.

As he raced toward it, he flicked the blade open, and an energy he didn't know he had, called, "Access: Progressive Knife!"

---

Mechanical parts strewn about the FLARE Pokémon lab disappeared. From shelves, from unused machinery, from things that Blanche had barely even seen, pieces were taken. The lights flickered slightly as the BURST was reduced to only a handle.

Clemont whirled around, hearing the buzz they were all too accustomed to. "What's happening up there?"

Aveline bit her thumbnail in thought. "He's doing it. I thought he didn't have aura… maybe we really are opposites. To have nothing but to borrow strength regardless… is that what it means to be human?"

---

A beam shot from Blanche's wrist, his knife growing in size and melting into exactly what he needed. The tubes from his shielding melted into the instrument as it expanded from a metallic hilt. The hum of electricity was overpowering in his ears. Two blades extended from the hilt, containing the beam within. A circular guard prevented his hands from slipping upwards.

He twisted the beam sword in his hands, a containment field springing to life and weakly containing it. It shrank to four feet, then grew to twenty, then settled at eight. It still wavered as he shot forward, but uncertainty was what he needed.

It was a risk to trust in chance, but nothing changes without taking risks.

His wings blasted him towards the corded red and blue, and he plunged into it where it was as wide as a skyscraper.

"I'm sorry, everyone."

He descended along with the double helix of tentacles before his body stopped. The blade traveled upwards, burning through cells and dry matter like air. He stopped being pushed down and shot skyward, continuing to cut further through Deoxys's arm. The sword grew heavier, but his resolve grew stronger. He pushed his shoulder into the hilt and trusted in his wings to guide him further.

There was a sudden resistance as he approached the approximate shoulder, where the sword behind his head grew long enough to cut off the tentacle entirely.

He glanced back and watched it dissolve, turning from red and blue to gray and black as it withered away and burst into flame.

Blanche stared into the face of the Deoxys still above him. As it recoiled away from the outer atmosphere, had there been any air it would have pulled him too as a vacuum formed.

But there was no air. There was the Deoxys with only the stars and the moon behind it, and there was Blanche, a glowing sword in his hands and the Earth at his back.

He was merely an insect to it. His sword was the threat, not him.

And somehow, he didn't care. Whether it was by his hand or another's, this Anomaly would be destroyed. It wouldn't threaten his world, his people, his family, and carrying on like it could get away with that.

He held the beam sword with one arm and freed the other, before pointing a thumb at his chest. It was a pointless gesture, an insignificant one, as he floated on his own in the vacuum in low Earth orbit. If he went too far, there was no coming back down.

And he was fine with that.

"My name is Blanche. I am seventeen years old as of this moment. My house is in the upper-east side of Little Kanto, where all the row houses are. Remember that. Make it a warning to the rest of you, wherever you come from. Because if I have to, I will destroy you. I'm not a human or a Pokémon. I have no aura. But it's thanks to them that I can live as a person anyway. It's their power, not mine, so let it be known. It will be the least powerful being on this Earth that destroys you."

His hand slipped back down to his sword as the wings on his back did not flap, but exploded into clawed sections of light and threw him forward.

"And this Earth… is MINE. I'm not letting anyone or anything take it away from me!"

He raised his arms, his back to the ground and his face defying the sky. "BURST!"

The beam sword exploded into fragments and debris, a metal cylinder replacing them and fueling itself with Blanche's overclocked Infinity Battery. The very second that it glowed with its charge was the very second that a spear of electricity lanced towards Deoxys.

The stars dimmed as it was struck, the light appearing and making its features clearer. That empty face, the beady eyes concealed by a false mask. Whatever aura it had once had no longer existed. Its organic core had been replaced with one of artificial machinery that canceled it out in exchange for greater power. It was a machine that could destroy what little protection they had left.

Humanity was not alone in the universe.

But it also had Pokémon by its side.

They wouldn't be destroyed so easily.

Because people kept on growing. That was what set them apart from Pokémon. It didn't make them better or worse, simply different. A Pokémon could only change in so many ways. It could never become more intelligent, it simply learned different things.

And yes, they advanced with each and every turn. As someone had once said, that's just how a drill works.

The beam tore through its upper chest, missing the heart by a mile. A clean hole opened, and the head only hung by a few threads of dry matter.

Psionics, mechanics, whatever it was, it would not continue. Blanche had made his last stand, and no one would pass in front of him for as long as he stood.

Even alone, even as it could repair the damage done, even as his battery was beginning to fail as he could tell by each and every click, he would stand strong.

But he was not alone, and he didn't stop anyone from passing behind him.

A crackle came to life in his ears. "Hey, Leader. You were out of range for a while so I couldn't get your input on the plan, but I think…"

A roaring streak of green shot past him, patterned with red and segmented with yellow. It curled around him, hesitating to approach the

Someone rode on its back, wearing some kind of oversized space suit.

No, that wasn't a space suit. It was too transparent.

Also, it was shaped like Zygarde's standard form, with Rosa standing in full morph inside, immersed in some kind of green goo.

"This should do the trick."

Blanche floated back, the static burning brighter and seeming to cackle in his ears as if it were a voice.

He smiled, before his face was reset with grim determination.

"This Rubix-cube-looking RGB light on an string can cancel out normal AIAM fields. It has the same kind of cube that canceled out Serena's aura a while ago. Don't get too close or it'll send you off into space until you get out of whatever its range is. I'll ask how you got Rayquaza back up after we win."

He'd been carried along with that cube for hours. There was no forgetting what it looked like.

"It's not just us, Leader," she teased.

From all around him, scattered meteoroid debris shot back into its source, pelting it and tearing small chunks free of its body.

As it regenerated, it shrunk yet again, but still towered over all of them.

Wearing some kind of actual space suit, Serena rode past on a pillar of Earth, a meteor in its own right, before jumping back and floating next to him, but not close enough to be cut by his clawed wings.

"Shauna's in here too!" Rosa called. "No extra space suits."

"I'm still confused about why any of this is working," Shauna complained.

"You two are similar. Sort of. Kind of. Eh… it's not an exact science." Blanche shook his head, still smiling. To be able to joke like that, to talk with his friends, to live with such great people; that was what he was fighting for, and he'd never forget it.

"Blasting. Aim for the core. I'm going to-"

"Don't say it!" Shauna shouted.

"-cut this bastard down to size!" He yelled, leading with the blade of his sword and blasting forward. Each of his clawed wings seemed to pull him towards Deoxys, cutting through the static in his vision.

It was still enormous, no matter how much damage he'd done on his own. It stood fifteen kilometers tall, roughly ten miles by his estimates. It was smaller, but that wasn't enough. Its tentacles were still wider than Prism Tower, but not by much.

His blade grew longer and more massive, and he swung it at the remaining decameters of thread that kept its head attached.

A storm of meteors battered its chest, and though it could block some of them with its appendages and the occasional psychic blast, it couldn't block his sword as it melted through the plasticine organics like clay. In a single soundless swish, the head began dissolving, disconnected from its power source and the brain.

Whatever had created it in its own image, whatever it had mutated from, it had a head. It was just that Deoxys only needed it for vision.

"It's blinded!" He yelled, his feet nearly skimming its new head as it regenerated. It shrunk again, dropping to thirteen kilometers as it rushed to replace the missing mass.

Had it been a normal Deoxys, he wouldn't have had a chance, but he could think faster than it could move no matter how large it was. Had it been a normal Deoxys, he wouldn't have been necessary. He had to keep moving, keep fighting, even as his body felt as hot as the sun. He couldn't even think about letting himself stop.

It stopped dodging as it reformed, for a precious few moments. Serena jumped from one meteor to another to avoid a blast of energy from the core, more like pulling them to where she needed them and rebounding.

Rosa was yelling in his ear as purple shimmered in the space around it and hundreds of scales shot out towards it, shredding its body and scratching at the core.

A light flashed and they were forced back as its body spasmed.

One of its tendrils caught Blanche, slamming into him with the force of a train. He grunted, his body numb, but realized that the claws of his wings had caught the tendril, not countering the impact, but lessening it.

He pushed out of its way, tumbling along the side as it whooshed past and knocked more debris out of orbit.

The Earth was still spinning beneath him, one horizon leaving his vision and another growing closer. He could see the shadow that Deoxys was creating over Lumiose-3, over all those people.

He was struck by a thought. There was a gap in Deoxys's body around its core, empty space. Was that because it needed to be exposed? It thrashed in what he assumed was pain when it was struck.

Blanche didn't want to cause it pain.

He wanted it to die.

He wanted it to be gone, not to suffer. Whatever it was, organic or artificial, it had senses. If it was attacking Earth, then it was likely no coincidence that a similar core had arrived earlier, though much smaller in size. That implied some sort of link, whether by communication or sort of hive mind.

There wasn't anything more discouraging to an invader than pain received in turn.

He jetted around it, his chest burning hotter and the static growing stronger in his vision.

Its back was to him as it fought off the others, even as a distance. Its body was full again, even as the limbs that had been cut off were dissolving into nothing but dust and carbon.

The moonlight was at his back. He looked down at Deoxys with his feet towards it. He saw the core, the gaps in its body, and glimpses of the Earth beyond it.

"You're here, then?" he asked the empty space around him. Static intensified in his vision, and his wings curled around his face into seven claws.

For as long as it is necessary, my avatar. You are doing my will better than expected.

He nodded to himself despite the lack of visual confirmation and reoriented himself. He was burning out, burning up. He knew that.

They call it a blaze of glory for a reason.

"Access: BLAZING SWORD."

He'd be that reason from now until the end of time, or at least until the sun finally went dark.

Blanche scoffed to himself. A year ago, he'd been someone else. No idea who, but even without his proper memories he could assume that he was a prick who hated himself. And now? Well, issues like that don't totally go away so easily. He was still having issues, but he was improving.

And he was going to keep improving for as long as he breathed.

"The enemy gate," he began, a sword of white-hot flaming plasma towards the core, "Is down."

Like an arrow of light, flames billowed around him, licking at his helmet and his face. It was breaking down, he knew that. But at high enough speeds, even a single particle could create a great impact.

He accelerated. He kept accelerating. He kept moving forward, even as his body trailing behind his mind and he pushed further beyond.

There was a sudden halt, like he'd hit a wall. His body creaked and his mind shook. A terrible vibration shook him, glowing white diamond filling his vision and screeching.

His sword was halfway through the core. It tried to click and solve itself, but it was jammed.

An unstoppable force meets an immovable and massive object.

He pushed forward anyway. His vision was filled with entirely red light as red and blue organics engulfed him and tried to crush him. His body folded in on itself. Or it ought to have. Any attempts to stop him only pushed him further.

A single crack.

Then another.

Then the cubic plane beneath him shattered entirely, and he burst through it in a cascade of light.

The remaining RKS satellites had long since lost connection with planet side receivers, but what little information they could gather was burned into their hard drives and later on would be backed up to hard drives across the world.

A monolithic being, holding its chest as it broke down entirely, not a shred of emotion apparent on its false face as it dissolved into nothing but dead and opaque carbon debris. In front of it, a boy reaching towards the Earth with an outstretched hand, the armor he wore drifting away from his body as he re-crossed the edge of space.

It wasn't quite a Shattered Heavens incident.

But some thought, hey, it's damn well close enough.

---

Blanche was falling.

That's not good, he noticed.

The train of thought was obviously missing some of its wheels, as he clearly demonstrated. Simultaneously, he realized that he was too tired to try to fly. Not that he could have, since he was pretty sure his Battery had exploded a minute ago. Why did he have wings? How did they work when he didn't have muscles controlling them or aura to connect them to?

His chest was hot. Was that normal?

His whole body was hot, now that he could feel it. It was like he was being dragged across asphalt at terminal velocity.

Ah, wait, that made sense.

His displeasure would have been obvious if his uplink was still working. A simple swear could only contain so much malice, after all, and when lost on the wind it also lost most of its impact.

Where was he again?

Oh, right. Falling because he hit a Deoxys with a really big sword-

Wait, seriously? He'd done that?

Why did his eyes hurt so much? It was like he'd been watching a dead television channel for hours. The afterimage seemed to have burned into his eyelids.

Maybe I can sleep now, he thought.

No, no, it's not my time yet, said another part of himself. Don't be selfish.

There was a pop in his ears, then another, and then another. He could still breath though, which meant that the pop was loud enough to get through the sealed armor.

He looked to his left and saw a big green dragon and a girl riding a meteor trying to catch up with him.

Trying and succeeding, of course. Said big green dragon was a Legendary Pokémon that lived in the ozone layer.

Y'know, Blanche thought, if I had a nickel for every time Rosa teamed up with a Legendary green Dragon-type that balances out two forces of nature, I'd have two nickels. Not a lot, especially in this economy, but it's sort of weird that it's happened twice.

Oh, wait, Pokémon world.

My world, he reminded himself.

His world. Yeah. That sounded about right.

He still had the distinct feeling of an oncoming sunburn beneath all the spandex, but Zygarde grabbed him with its serpentine tail and pulled him onto Rayquaza, along with the space-suit-clad Serena.

He looked behind him and back to the sky and saw only the moon and the stars.

I suppose I should say thank you, next time I see that bastard, Blanche thought.

He let himself relax in the semi-permeable projection of Zygarde like it was a fully-immersive saddle. His vision was tinged green, Rosa and Shauna in front of him and Serena behind. The former two could clearly breathe, so he was guessing that they weren't just chilling out in a tub of aloe vera, as nice as that sounded to him at the moment.

The edges of Lumiose-3 came into view. First the forests, then the outskirts, then the walls of the city proper, and then he watched as Rayquaza curled around the base of Prism Tower at Rosa's command.

There was a hiss in the air as the protective Zygarde shell disappeared, and Tencent's blobby form became more clear around Rosa's neck. She gave Rayquaza a soothing caress before hopping off its neck with a whoop, sliding down to the road with an impactful slam.

As if they hadn't been silent enough, the rest of Lumiose-3 took a breath and held it.

Shauna went after, stammering something under her breath about not wanting to look awkward.

Blanche swung a leg over and out onto the segmented brick path beneath him.

His boots cracked. Then the exoskeleton began breaking down, busting open with a shower of sparks and falling from the spandex, though thankfully his modesty was unharmed.

His helmet essentially shattered on impact with the air, cleaving itself off into pieces with his visor going first.

It clattered to the ground, and he felt a cool breeze brush across his face.

"...I'm guessing an expletive wouldn't be very family friendly," he said awkwardly, shrinking under the collective gazes of, well, all of Lumiose-3 could have been there just from the sheer amount of crowding. People stood on rooftops, on vehicles, on each other's shoulders. Some had even climbed partway up the outer shell of Prism Tower.

Serena slid off behind him almost silently, putting a hand on his back and clicking a button on the space-suit.

It folded off of her body and she handed it to Rayquaza, who gingerly took it with its relatively tiny arms though it didn't move more than that.

Serena bowed to palm her helmet, slipping it off and letting it disappear in a flash of light.

Shauna looked over, tapped at her own face, then realized she was the odd one out and quickly took her helmet off too.

Rosa did the same thing at the same time, though with much more nonchalance.

Shauna elbowed him, whispering from the corner of her mouth, "Say something, Leader."

Fittingly, Blanche's mind blanked. Another cool wind brushed across his face as the world stood still. This… was not a situation he'd expected to be in under any circumstances. Which was strange, considering he turned out to be right about keeping a pocket knife in his morph suit and being prepared for FLARE-related things in general. Well, as long as they didn't involve emails.

A show of solidarity from his friends. They wouldn't leave him out in the cold, even if he was exposed himself. Was that... was that what loyalty felt like? That was what the people of Lumiose-3 expected. FLARE wasn't just a big, nebulous organization. It was built of people and Pokémon in tandem, with everything that entailed.

"Uh…" he started, holding up his arm with a vague grasping motion.

Wait, I'm not socially awkward, I'm just bad with social cues. What am I saying?

He switched over to running his hand through his hair to look a lot more confident than he felt.

"You should see the other guy."

An ear-splitting cheer. People jumped into the air, Embers shot off in celebration, smaller Pokémon being tossed into the air with joy and clearly feeling that joy as well.

He couldn't hear very well, like just about everyone else, but the four of them had a fair amount of space to talk as Rayquaza flew back off into the sky to return to its Trainer.

"You can't go a day without saying something stupid, can you?" Shauna asked, shaking her head with her hands on her hips.

"It's a habit," he said with a shrug.

His chin was then yanked away from that direction, and he found himself looking straight at Serena only a few inches away.

She leaned next to his ear, almost imperceptibly. "You're not Calem. I can see that now. No matter how similar you are. But I think I can care about you anyway." She leaned back, not reacting to shock. Her voice took on a different tone, almost… teasing? No, that was impossible. "Are you familiar with the Standard Hero Reward, Blanche?"

Something equivalent to a system of gears jamming occurred in his head.

"Uh… is my princess in another castle?" he asked, a stupid joke being the only thing he could think of.

Serena stuck her tongue in his mouth.

Oh.

Warm, a small part of his brain said.

A much larger part of his brain told the rest of it to shut up.

A few seconds later, she let go of him and looked past him, saying, "I'm going to speak with the Professors."

Then she just… walked off. Headed back to FLARE.

Blanche pressed his fingers to his lips, pulled them away, and stared at his hands for a good few seconds.

"What the fu-"

Shauna coughed.

He turned, certain that his face looked incredibly stupid, but Shauna was clearly too angry to comment on it and Rosa was just too Rosa to point it out.

Blanche's arms shot up in self-defense. "I didn't ask her to!"

Shauna opened her mouth, as if to speak, but she closed it again like a Goldeen. Snaps, crackles, and pops of electricity were flying out of her ears. Truly a miracle of human biology.

"Well, since she's gone… I'm a hero too, y'know! Where's my Standard Hero Reward?"

"Maybe ask the next time you see her," Blanche asked. What a responsible friend he was, providing solutions.

"I guess…" Shauna struggled for her words. She suddenly whipped out with her finger, pointing up at him. "You'll have to do it. N-not because I like you or anything, but because that's how these things go. You save the day, and then you get the g-b-whoever! Right?"

Blanche blinked.

He then pinched his nose and sighed. It really was just not his day. But since that was the logic Serena had used, it would be sort of unfair to deny it.

Why was he factoring fairness into it? Oh, right, those damn hormones.

"I'm not… going to object. Just get it over wit-"

Shauna then tackled him sideways with much more force than someone her size should have been able to generate.

By the time he registered the weight, the heat, and that he could finally breathe again, she had already run off.

Blanche sat up, massaging his face until a sharp pain in his arm shocked him into stopping. He was already suppressing his hormones in preparation for the next year, even though it was almost a month and a half away.

"Rosa, I'm beginning to think that I don't understand girls."

Rosa shrugged. "Me neither. Punching things is much easier."

"You're not going to… do that, are you?"

"What? No! Ew." Rosa made a face. "You're like, a really cool guy and all but that would be like kissing Nate or Hugh. I mean… ick."

"Oh, thank God. Can we just be good friends, then?"

"Good friends kiss sometimes."

"...I forgot you're crazy too. Still no."

"Still not gonna."

"Then don't say stuff like that to make up a loophole!"

"Do you want there to be a loophole?"

"No! God, you're all impossible."

"Go beyond the impossible and kick reason to the curb! That's how Rosa rolls!"

"Sure it is. Say... do you think the grocery store will be open after we go give our report?"

"Why?"

"I could really go for some ice cream. With… caramel syrup. Chocolate-vanilla swirl. Hell, I'll take Neapolitan if that's all they have."

"You had me at ice cream, Leader."

Few were paying attention to him and Rosa anymore. People and Pokémon cheered together, crying with relief and laughing away the catharsis. The lights in the sky burned brighter than they ever had before. As the full moon rose higher into the sky, it was as if a new day had dawned in Lumiose-3.

---

AN:
End of Arc 2.
And wow, it's certainly been one.
The end of Arc 1 was the fight against Celesteela, by the way.
I've come to a revelation about the use of author's notes. You're not going to see them every chapter, but if they're necessary, I will include them instead of just posting them separately. Author's notes shouldn't be used to tell the story directly, I don't think. If I mess up with a character's intentions and making that clear to my readers, I should edit the writing instead of saying exactly what they meant. A lot of the fun in reading comes from discovering the meaning of the pages yourself.
God, I'm doing the stuff I did in MSND again. Ha. Ignore me. I'm just some guy on a soapbox talking about human nature when I should really be talking about cool monsters. I think my next story will have maybe two Trainer characters as the focus instead of high school drama.
Chapter... 13/27? Yeah, I've spaced that right.
Thank you to everyone that's been reading so far. I know I'm a bit insufferable at times, that's still something I'm working on, so I hope you can forgive me. I should probably learn how to tag things properly on Ao3, but I write stuff so niche that it probably won't increase readership.
I know, I know, "Write for yourself," and I absolutely am, but developing themes and characters is kind of useless if no one else reads about them. Like the old adage about trees falling in a forest, if a guy gets on a soapbox but no one is around to listen, did he really make any good points?
Reviews are always appreciated. Even flames if they make the story better. I make fun of Blanche a lot for acting like a stupid teenager, but, well, I'm not the smartest guy either. I sort of stumbled through the first few chapters before I found my footing. I'll go back and rewrite them one day and maybe make the prologue, to speak colloquially, not as shitty.
I may take a week off of posting to build up my buffer, as I've been busy recently, but no one is going to tell this story but me. Well, unless someone makes recursive fanfic. Man, that would be pretty cool. Plenty of shipping fodder is just laying around in these text documents and Blanche is the only one that can't see any.
Have a good one, my friends. You're all appreciated from the depths of my bleeding heart.

 

[MikaelBrigman]

Blanche stared at a bowl of ice cream, taunting him as it sat, cold, delicious, and covered in syrup, on the lab table. It glistened beneath the buzzing overhead light, only existing to tease him. His arms were on either side of it, covered in plaster, tense and unmoving.

"Aren't you gonna eat that?" Rosa asked, sitting down next to him with a much, much larger bowl.

"...I can't pick up the spoon with these casts."

Indeed, to prevent further injury, they encompassed a large part of his wrists as well, forcing his palms to stay open.

He tried to pick up the plastic utensil for the fifteenth time, pinching it weakly between the side of his thumb and index finger. His muscles twitched, making his already shaky grip shakier and the spoon fell out of his grasp once again.

Maybe fracturing both sets of radius and ulna bones wasn't his best idea.

---

Not that it had been intentional, of course. He didn't actually know until, during debriefing, his arms started throbbing and his body refused to let him raise his arms high enough to demorph.

That was a bit embarrassing, given that everyone else in FLARE was geared up to celebrate and essentially waiting on him.

He clenched his fists, winced at the pressure just above his wrists, and relaxed it.

With something of a constipated look, he said, "I think my arms are broken."

A bit of a mood killer, that was. And because having him whine during their downtime would be annoying (Such faith, Shauna), they had Audino and Ariel by proxy take him down to the medical wing.

"We've gotta stop meeting like this," he said to the blonde as they walked down the labyrinthian halls only familiar to him.

"Excuse me?"

"Y'know, I'm in critical condition, you decide to help me out, just another Tuesday."

"I wouldn't say that happens very often," she responded with a laugh. "Twice is a coincidence."

"Give me another year, it'll be three times," he joked.

Ariel opened her mouth as if to speak, but said nothing, only shaking her head.

"I hope that I won't be necessary," she said. "I might not be there to help."

Another twinge in his arms brought his mood even lower, keeping the following silence awkward.

She would be thinking about going on a journey. That made sense. She didn't have anything to tie her to the city, even if he did. They were great friends, sure, but that wouldn't mean they stayed together forever.

It was a sobering thought.

Blanche tried to ignore it, kicking in the door to the medical wing with his foot, maneuvering it around the handle to click it open before he pushed it lightly.

The graveyard shift Nurse Joy, or the one that had the least amount of cousins in the business, was thankfully still there, and she quickly ran a diagnosis.

They'd long-since become accustomed to his lack of aura at FLARE, meaning that the procedure for scanning was familiar to the medical staff. They'd always at least give him a check-up after each operation when he was feeling lingering pain from jumping on a car battery or nausea from joining the literally-a-mile high club. What worked on him was much slower acting than what most people used as the more fantastical plants and chemicals didn't work properly on him. Luckily, FLARE was well stocked and well prepared for oddities like that.

As he'd vaguely guessed, he had fractures in both of his lower forearms. Had the adrenaline worn off earlier, it would have been obvious to him that trying to break through probably-diamonds with a sword would strain his body. Unfortunately, it had worked so well that the two thoughts simply didn't connect or occur.

Six to eight weeks was a long time to be out of action, but his brain was already thinking of ways around it. Rocket boots that let him kick things really hard were appearing in his mind.

"What color for your cast?" the nurse asked after cleaning and wrapping the first arm with a layer of protective cloth.

White would get dirty way too easily, he thought, and picking red would have been a bit morbid, even for him. "Do you have any patterns?"

If Shauna was there, she surely would have asked something like, "What are you, seven years old?"

Add a decade or so and the answer was a definitive maybe.

Alas, she wasn't there, so without interruption the nurse stood up to peruse a cabinet filled with all kinds of wraps.

"Well, there's some with Pokéballs on it, some with camouflage, then there's pink and red with white diamonds..."

"That last one," he said automatically. It would be funny, he thought. Not "let's point and laugh" funny, but "huh, that's interesting," funny. Tying together both of his identities, in a way.

The nurse quickly finished wrapping his arms, and soon enough he looked like he was wearing his morph suit, but only below his elbows.

He stood up and held his arms out to Ariel, posing like a boxer and waving them around. "Eh? Eh?"

She laughed. Not in an "ah, Blanche, you're so stupid" sort of way, she seemed to actually think the new wraps were cool. Or cute. Did girls think things were cool? Blanche didn't know. Maybe that kind of laugh wasn't so inaccurate, on second thought.

Already, his arms felt a bit better, but that was probably more an effect of the pain reliever than anything else.

---

They'd gotten back to the lab soon enough, just in time for Professor Sycamore to return with Ms. Grace (likely a VIP compared to the other citizens in FLARE, by Blanche's guess). Less importantly, he also got ice cream, drinks, and party hats.

The other technicians had long since left headquarters after the initial emergency alert, leaving only their group plus Ms. Grace, Ariel, Trevor, and Tierno. Any parties topside were likely much, much crazier, but Blanche was happy to have a reprieve on this occasion.

It was certainly a party. Ms. Grace was recounting some sort of Rhyhorn race to Ariel of all people, while Trevor spoke with Michael about something-something-battlegrounds while Tierno stood nearby with an easy-going smile. Clemont was fiddling with a clearly broken Gear in the corner while Shauna was asking him something about its electrical input while Bonnie, his sister, was trying to keep up with the conversation. Serena and Aveline were talking about the fight itself and discussing the order of events for a proper write-up.

That brings us to Blanche still staring at a blob of ice cream while it began slowly melting, with Rosa also staring, though with much more disbelief in her expression.

"You could ask someone else for help, you know," she said, just before shoveling what was essentially an entire scoop into her mouth.

"I'd rather die," he said, his gaze remaining unbroken. "I'm not asking someone to feed me."

"You're not a Psychic-type, it's not going to float into your mouth."

"Have a straw?"

She grabbed the box of straws and stuck one of them through his hair, thankfully unused, but it stuck inside due to the white mop's volume.

Blanche had a thought. "I could… make a soda float."

Rosa slapped the back of his head. Lightly. "Don't drink caffeine with medication. It's water for you, buster."

"Damn it," he sighed.

His ice cream continued melting.

Trevor walked over, holding a bowl that was stacked even higher than Rosa's with strawberry ice cream and toppings, if such a thing was possible.

"Aren't you going to eat that, Blanche?"

He raised his arms slightly, then tapped them back down on the table.

"Ah."

"My thoughts exactly," Blanche said, giving up and picking his bowl up with the grooves in his casts. He had a poor grip, but if he really wanted to, he could probably drink it when it was liquid.

"Perhaps you could ask someone for help," Trevor said, somehow balancing multiple scoops on a single spoon and apparently unhinging his jaw to eat it all.

"Still no. That'd be embarrassing."

Blanche picked up his spoon for the sixteenth time, and for the sixteenth time it fell back onto the table.

"Damn it."

"Language," Trevor said evenly.

"Yeah, what he said!" Rosa added.

Blanche's ice cream continued melting. A small chocolate puddle was collecting at the base of his bowl.

Aveline walked over, taking off her half-moon glasses and polishing them with her lab coat. "My apologies for interrupting, but, um, Dahlia, how exactly did you get Rayquaza to take you to space? I was under the impression that the Hoenn Champion was its Trainer?"

"Oh, that's simple! See, when Blanche left, we were just sort of spreading out around the city, but then I saw Rayquaza crash so I went there. I guess Serena saw it too and was close because she got there around the same time I did. It was trying to fly back over and up, I think, but I had Tencent call it over using his super cool dragon aura. She was fine, but her Trainer wasn't doing too hot. And because we're super awesome and Tencent helped Rayquaza recover, he gave Serena his space suit and wished us luck."

Aveline's glasses had been sliding down her nose throughout the short monologue, but she pushed them back up quickly.

"I… see. And where is Rayquaza now?"

"She flew off after dropping us off next to Prism Tower. That was right before Blanche and Serena-"

"Yeah, Rayquaza flew off," Blanche said, a bit louder. "That's about it. I don't get it either."

"That is… very well, then. And you describe Rayquaza as a she?"

"Well, most Legendary Pokémon don't really have the whole gender thing going on, but I think it fits," Rosa said simply. "Rayquaza was fine with it."

Aveline took off her glasses and polished them again, nodding before walking off to the computer, where Michael had returned to his residence.

Blanche's ice cream was now a sad mess of soaked blobs of chocolate and caramel syrup.

He still couldn't pick up his damn spoon.

Shauna walked over, with a contrastingly modest serving of ice cream left in her bowl.

She opened her mouth, and he immediately snapped, "I'm not asking for help, it's just ice cream."

Then he realized how awkward he was supposed to be around one of his friends when they, well, uh…

"Well, if you're having trouble, I can- Well, it doesn't mean anything, but if you need me to, I'll feed-"

Blanche sank into his seat and let out a depressed cackle, planting his face into his hands.

"Ow."

A touch too secure around his wrists, those casts were.

---

The rest of the city was partying through the night, their entire group going unbothered as people celebrated with their Pokémon in the streets, waving sparklers and popping poppers. Someone had gotten the clearance for fireworks, apparently, as the dark night sky was continually blown up by charges of spectacular lights and sounds.

It was really something else. Blanche felt a little selfish for it, but a small part of him said, yes, I helped protect this, I wasn't a burden.

It was really a long day, he realized as he stumbled through the front door. His arms were heavy, his knees were weak, he's got- what, what?

And it wasn't really that far from the door to the couch, he realized, collapsing onto it before he could even think about getting to the stairs.

And in the blink of an eye, it was morning.

Is this parallelism, you ask? Perish the thought. That would be ridiculous.

His mind was refreshed enough for him to run through the last twenty-four hours, to his quickly mounting horror.

I really killed a Deoxys. That's kind of screwed up. Shit, I killed something, didn't I? It's usually a Psychic-type too, so it was probably sapient. Why am I not dead after that? Oh, that son of a bitch, MissingNo. Shit. I have a glitch-demon dogging my steps to make sure I'm on the right path, whatever that is. Cryptic bastard. I bet it can read my thoughts too. MissingNo, eat shit. And what happened after that…

Blanche swung his arm over a snoozing Chespin and his head, disguising it as him just tossing and turning in his sleep with a groan.

Shit. Shit. Shit. That's going to be trouble. Serena's… Serena. And Shauna just decided to do that. I wish I understood girls.

…Why do I get the feeling that if I did, they would still be exceptions? Rosa makes more sense than those two.

Serena probably didn't mean it. Yeah, Standard Hero Reward. That happens in a ton of stories. Are media metaphors just a common thread with Espers? But she said something about Calem, too… Oh, shit, she doesn't think I'm Calem anymore. That's good. Awesome. But that other thing about caring about me anyway… She meant as a friend. Yeah, that's what that meant. Don't catch feelings, dumbass. A girl kissing you doesn't mean she likes you. I mean, except sometimes, but that's not happening to me anytime soon. Totally platonic way to show affection. I mean, Kalosians are Kalosian, right? They're all supposed to be like that.

Shauna's still weird. I mean, the girl hates my guts but turns around and does that? I mean, I don't hate her or anything, that'd be a waste of energy, but I don't expect that. Serena was gone though, so it was probably the next best thing in her mind. No, wait, that would have to be Rosa. They're kind of similar, though, it would probably be weird. I mean, I wouldn't. She's like my little sister. Not that I would know what having one is like, but I think it's close enough. Shauna probably just thinks the same way. It was the stress, had to be. No other logical reason for it.

As one can well see, Blanche's system of logic is not all-powerful. Where people are concerned, it tends to have failings involving his inability to think of himself objectively. If he were asked, he would reply, "What? I can totally look at myself objectively," and then say that he's "not even human" in the same breath.

The point is that one can be logical based on available information, yet be so very wrong.

Trevor had been walking past him, but stopped as Blanche shuffled in his faux-sleep.

"I can turn the lights off if you're still trying to sleep," he offered.

"As if you could reach the switch," Blanche muttered darkly, before swinging himself up with a groan as his arms strained against the rough casts. "No, I'm up, I'm up. What a night, yeah?"

Trevor nodded resolutely. "Most people seem to be glad the world is still in one piece."

"That seems like something most people would do, you're right," Blanche said as he stood up.

"Ah, don't get up." Trevor said quickly. Even with Blanche half-crouched next to him, he was still shorter. The orange-haired boy fidgeted with his Holo Caster's case. "You're probably going to need to take a seat after this."

Blanche's stomach filled with even more dread, if such a thing was possible. "What happened? Another Anomaly while I was out? Meteor debris blowing up the countryside?" The pit in his stomach deepened further in an odd direction. "Is FLARE getting canceled for not stopping Deoxys fast enough?"

Trevor's eyes twitched in a direction implying he would roll his eyes, but didn't. "No, not quite. But is that what you're calling that thing?"

"Seemed to fit. Gibberish word, it's an alien, you get it," Blanche explained slowly, trying to hide how quickly he was thinking to clear up the slip. "They've always got cool names in the movies."

"That's reasonable, I suppose," Trevor agreed. "Well, you see… you remember the situation online with FLARE Rangers and…"

"Oh, son of a-"

---

An awkward Wednesday at home of pointedly not explaining things to Ariel, avoiding Serena to make it clear he understood her meaning, as well as avoiding Shauna to not incur her wrath for a similar purpose later, they returned to school.

Blanche's social life, to say the least, got very, very weird.

He could almost count the exact amount of distance in feet that people gave him on the street. It was ironic, in a way, considering people were staring more than he had thought they had when he still wore bandages. He was on his own, having left not long after he'd served everyone Ariel's birthday pancakes breakfast.

It was a shock, almost funny is a cosmic way, to see his boss on the news telling a reporter that in no uncertain terms, harassing or badgering FLARE personnel, no matter how public their status, would result in heavy reprimands from the League. The Pokémon League was still a major body in the region, FLARE just happened to be in that odd zone where they operated out of the capital and essentially owned it while also being a worldwide force. They were much more spread out, but the League still had ultimate jurisdiction.

And so, while people didn't approach and there wasn't a news crew in sight, Blanche could swear he heard the shutter sound of a camera app a few times on his way to school.

At least my hair doesn't look stupid today, he thought. Now that would be something to worry about.

Despite Blanche's numerous hobbies, including but not limited to the obvious, he was still a teenage boy with normal teenage boy concerns, such as existential crises, a demon thing giving him superpowers for about five minutes, and trying to figure out what exactly happened to all of those people that disappeared when the Heavens Shattered.

Too heavy for someone his age? Probably. Long-term, definitely not good for his mental health, but to be fair, he hadn't been planning in the long-term since, well, Tuesday.

He also had hormones, making the whole situation that much more complicated.

So much more, he thought, can't there be a little or just enough of anything around here?

Ahem.

So, Blanche went up a ton of staircases for just about the eightieth to last time, went to his classroom, and thankfully found no one. Everyone was so crazy in general that he was banking on his classmates not acting like cardboard cutouts and pointing like he was something special the entire day. They were people, after all. And people, as he very well knew, always acted logically.

It was calm for a precious few minutes, before that calm was interrupted by Gin slamming the door open. LaRusso and Lenore flanked him, seeming to be trying to hold him back. He pushed past them and nearly ran towards Blanche.

Blanche didn't dislike Gin. They were friends even if Gin did some really stupid things and did hurt one of his other friends. He still wasn't sure exactly what he felt about that, so he hadn't a clue how to interpret the other boy's action. His hand reached into his bag like a rocket, grasping for his morpher before he quickly jumped out of his seat.

Gin threw himself to Blanche's feet, arms at ninety degree angles as he bowed his head to the ground. The clink of sunglasses tapping the ground almost overwhelmed the sudden thud.

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me," Gin said. His voice was subdued and his limbs were steady as he lay prostrated. His jacket was torn up on its back, jagged cuts lacing the leather.

LaRusso and Lenore caught up to him, standing behind Gin but neither knowing what to do. They were both stuck between picking him up and letting him say his piece.

Blanche's arm dropped from his upper chest to his side. He didn't think Gin would attack him at full force while knowing that he didn't have aura, but he didn't plan on leaving that up to chance. It was a muscle twitch, the memory familiar to his arm, even as his hands held nothing.

His morpher was still broken, after all.

"For…" Blanche questioned, caught off-guard. He could fight even if he knew he would lose, but he wasn't used to people bowing before him. Well, except for the one other time, but that was probably different.

"I used my powers to hurt an innocent person. All this time, I've been telling myself that I would only do good with them, that I wouldn't end up like most of the other Espers." Gin's hands clawed against the ground, trying to tighten into fists. He bowed his head lower and shivered. "I'm sorry for who I've been. I've always tried to only fight people that try to fight me. I snapped when I saw that… guy wandering around like he had nothing better to do. No. No!" Gin cracked his head against the floor. "I won't make excuses. I've done something wrong, I know. I'll never use my powers again. I can't trust myself to be able to stop myself from doing something like that. I know I don't deserve forgiveness, but please, let me move forward!"

Blanche stared in confusion for a moment, taking a step back. Why was Gin apologizing to him? It wasn't like he'd hurt him or anything. He'd hurt Clemont, and that was… bad, certainly, no buts about it. Sure, giving up his powers would be the responsible thing to do and FLARE probably had a warrant out for him if Clemont said anything.

But he couldn't exactly give up his powers, could he? He could choose not to fight or defend himself, and he could ignore what he could do. He could stop trying to fight for justice and just give up.

There was something Gin had said a long time ago, something that had stuck itself in the back of his mind.

FLARE doesn't do anything for the little people, or something along those lines. The people in the dark, the dull violence that occurs in every city, FLARE did nothing about, but Gin did. He'd… fought for something. He believed in something. Offering to give it up because of a mistake?

Blanche didn't know how to respond, or even if he was the person that ought to respond. He was just some guy, living in a Pokémon world like everyone else.

The root of the problem was clear, though.

"Don't bow to me. I'm not some king or god-emperor, don't be ridiculous. I'm not an overseer of right and wrong or a hero of justice. Most of all, I'm not the person you should be apologizing to." Blanche kneeled on one bended knee and weakly pinched Gin's sunglasses off of the floor. "His name is Clemont. He works at FLARE. You can beg him for forgiveness, but I'm not the guy you should be talking to. After school or whenever you can, just head to FLARE and apologize, if they'll patch you through to him."

Gin looked up, his face tight and his eyes swelled shut. "Really?"

"What am I, some paragon? Don't be an idiot. You're not stupid, Gin. You made a mistake, and I'll have to side with the other guy, but we're still friends. No what's or who's about it." Blanche offered the sunglasses with an awkward grip.

Gin took them, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He looked away from his floor and up at Blanche again. "Do I deserve that?"

"I said don't be stupid. Of course you deserve it."

"...Thanks, man."

He stood up with a nod. "No problem. I'd offer you an arm, but," Blanche gestured vaguely with his casts. "Y'know."

Gin stood up too, an odd look in his eyes. "Yeah. Thank you, for, uh, everything in general, I guess."

Blanche gave him a dismissal wave and sat down. "It's all good. Class is starting soon. Can't have our resident badass all teary-eyed can we?"

Gin wiped his face with his sleeve. "I'm not crying. I'm just… sweating a lot. From my eyes."

"It's November."

"Details, man, so not… Well, I guess they are pretty important. Thanks."

Blanche traced his temple with his forefinger, avoided scratching himself with his cast, and sighed. "Stop thanking me. I'm really no one special."

---

"Blanche, why is there a gang outside the Jaune Plaza entrance to FLARE demanding to see me?"

Blanche blinked at the holographic image. He had stopped in the middle of the street as he got the incoming call. The holographic Clemont adjusted his nearly opaque holographic glasses.

"God damn it, Gin," he breathed after a moment. "Right, I know their leader. They just want to talk."

"Funny. They're saying the same thing. You can understand why I'm somewhat concerned."

"No, really. The guy wants to apologize for laying you out, giving you the old one-two, hitting you with the sickest of dance moves, if you understand what I'm saying."

"Yes, I think I do," Clemont sighed. "Are you sure? They seem rather thuggish."

"Looks can be deceiving, you know."

"One of them did beat me up."

"Ah… I'm sorry for him, but I hope you'll listen to what he has to say."

"I would appreciate it if you came to mediate, just in case. Rosa is here trying to convince Michael to come to your other friend's birthday party, but, well…"

"Rosa isn't exactly the best at diplomacy," he agreed. "Right, I'll head over there soon."

"That would-" Bzzt.

"What is-" Bzzt. Clemont looked away from the receiver before it fizzled. The fierce sound of Michael's typing continued even as the hologram broke down.

"What do you mean, LADY is being-" Bzzt. Dial tone.

Blanche shook his Holo Caster, a pit of worry opening in his stomach. FLARE designed Holo Casters; they practically had a monopoly even with the competition of cross-transceivers and Pokétchs. They didn't break down like that ever.

He turned on his heel and ran back towards Jaune Plaza, cursing under his breath.

Somewhere to his left, a lamp post exploded in a shower of sparks, with the wires nearby lighting up with blue electricity.

He threw himself further forward, easily avoiding the sparks, but then the blue electricity traced along another wire before they snapped off, before exploding another lamp.

"The hell? Did a transformer break down?" He swore as he picked up the pace. Another lamp exploded behind him, making passerby cry out and shield themselves. As long as they weren't stupid, they would be fine. One was happenstance, twice was a coincidence, but three times?

Another lamp exploded as he passed by, and it seemed as if the trail of electricity was following him.

That was certainly an Anomaly. But with no ability to morph, he had no other option than to keep running and get a clue.

Jauna Plaza was in disarray, though more confused than intense. Jumbotrons were turned to dead channels and the spotlights on billboards dimmed and shut down.

He jumped down the handrail that lead into the below-ground FLARE lobby, sliding along it as the escalators crawled to a stop.

A gaggle of thugs in leather jackets and pompadours crowded the entire lobby, standing in organized rows that made them seem more like a respectable mafia than a bunch of rowdy teens. FLARE grunts were maneuvering between them, trying to get actual work done.

"Excuse me, pardon me, damn it, Gin," Blanche repeated like a mantra, pushing through Gin's grunts and trying to get past. He didn't have the time to fumble around in his bag for his identification card, so he kicked off of the turnstile and hopped over, just barely maintaining his balance. He heard some shouts from the receptionists and grunts, but he could explain later.

After navigating through the labyrinth of sterile tunnels beneath the city, Blanche came to the airlock that sealed the FLARE Pokémon Lab away from the rest of the facility. The lights flickered overhead, the sound of glass popping and crackling inside the transparent panels.

He bumped against the button, only for it to give a small, sad click instead of opening the door. The mechanisms whirred for a split second, opening the door an inch before slamming back down.

Blanche was about to pound his fist on the door in frustration, before thinking better of it and kicking it instead.

It then shuddered and slid open. He stared at it for a second, not sure if it would crush him while he was halfway through. It remained open, and he quickly went inside.

The door then slammed down behind him, crackled with blue electricity.

"Shit."

He kicked on the door in front of him as well, but it refused to budge.

Well, until someone put eight holes in the bottom of the door, put their fingers through those holes and lifted the door.

"Afternoon, Rosa," he said hurriedly, ducking under the metal edge as she lifted it above her head. Her hands were glowing with green aura, taking on a scaly sheen.

"Hey, Leader!" She let the door slam down behind down with a heavy clang. "What's up?"

"Oh, you know, lamps exploding, everyone's confused again, Ariel's birthday is probably ruined, just an average Tue- No, today's Thursday." He looked out across the usual four in FLARE. The two Professors waved at him, standing a good five feet of Michael while he yelled at his computer.

"For Celebi's sake, work! Damn computer!" Michael slapped his hands against the edges of the computer.

A sticky note appeared on the glitchy monitor and began listing the definitions for a variety of profanities.

"I hate Rotom, so, so much," Michael growled.

Clemont rushed across the room as the BURST cannon broke down into white light, disappeared, then reappeared at the opposite end of the room and dropped with an ear-splitting clang.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Blanche asked.

"An Anomalous herd of Rotom and Porygon have broken into FLARE's systems," Professor Sycamore said, a smile continuously and practically bisecting his face. Perhaps he hadn't worked off the high of surviving the end of the world. "They've gotten into every function the LADY has, including the teleportation uplinks. They're essentially running amok in Lumiose-3, and we can't do much to stop them."

"We just saved the world, can't we have a break?" If he didn't know for a fact that Rotom were Ghost-type, he would have felt the urge to find and throttle them.

"Time and tide wait for no man, Blanche," the Professor said, entirely too nonchalant in their current predicament.

"Perhaps they should add Anomalies to that, I mean, the list," Aveline said.

"It would certainly appear so."

"Yeah, yeah, that's great- Listen, how do we stop them?" Blanche asked, watching Michael kick his desk.

"We… can't. The Rotom are connected to every function, including the generators. The Porygon control the breaker boxes at the moment. I've talked to technicians over the radio, and all three generator systems are too dangerous to get near."

"Ah. So, we're screwed."

"No, no, not quite. They've been unable to access anything that's cut off from the main power grid, thankfully, but they've created a symbiotic relationship with the power system, acting in place of electricity most times to follow the whims of the Porygon, whatever they are."

"So, what, they've taken over FLARE?"

"Well… yes," Augustine admitted.

"Shit."

"Language," the Professor added.

"Could we starve them of power, somehow? That would flush them out, wouldn't it?"

"Hypothetically. But we'd have to create something that needs enough power to force the breakers to switch. And with everything except the most basic functions locked off-"

Michael kicked his computer again as it opened under FLARE's public account, started typing gibberish and hitting send.

"We aren't in much of a position to fight back. It's a problem that is difficult to punch."

Somewhere behind him, Rosa groaned dramatically. Her attitude had to be an act. No one was that obsessed with fighting, not even Gin, and he was a damn gang leader. Well, if he was around.

The computer then typed exactly what the Professor had just said and sent it. In mere seconds, it was already getting likes. Was FLARE really that big, or did people just have nothing better to do? Eh, maybe just indicative of the state of social media in general.

Michael grabbed the monitor again and yanked his hands away as if burned. "Ah, damn it. They're overheating the system on purpose. They'll probably get it as hot as it can get before jumping ship and finding something else to break.

Breaking the computer, that could work, but LADY was a lot bigger than just the computer in the room with them. It would need an actual firestorm to overheat the whole system and get it to shut down.

Or maybe… maybe a flame war would work.

"Wait, wait. It's listening to us, isn't it?"

His exact words were typed out, quotation marks and all, before they were sent.

Cogs were turning in his head. Blanche fished his Holo Caster out of his pocket and dropped it onto the table before tapping at it. Using a search engine because he had enough of a life to not download the app (He wouldn't use that phrasing near Trevor, of course), he opened and started looking for the hottest trends. New Mecha-Tyranitar movie, no, Cokleon announcing a new coffee flavor, ew, a hashtag detailing a love triangle in Diantha's latest movie with people getting incredibly heated- What could he say that would make come back to FLARE's system?

Wait, love triangles...

A painful cloud descended on him as he typed it out. Rangershipping went in the search bar, and fan accounts showed up in the results.

There goes my self-respect, he thought. And here goes my dignity.

Shauna's going to kill me. Eh, it'll be for a good cause.

On a dime, the most inflammatory statement he could make, not that he meant most of it, was this:

"At amarue underscore official, at geramaranth four life, at gerue underscore gerue, at amarahlia," he sucked in a deep breath, both to finish the statement and to break through his throat swelling up with embarrassment. "You're all wrong. The only canon ships are Geranium x stupid rocks, Amaranth x being a little bitch, Rue x PMS, and Dahlia x hot blood. And no, none of them or you are old enough to date Professor Sycamore, what the hell is wrong with you?"

The computer crawled to a stop, slowly processing and typing out his statement. It appeared in its full glory, the tagging of larger accounts turning blue in the text box and the character limit ticking down to zero before it was finally sent.

Blanche slumped back into a seat, closed his eyes, and sagged. He put his arm to his face, accepting the embarrassment as his own instead of trying to deny it.

"For context…"

A flurry of notifications began flooding into the website's inbox, hopping from one to ten to one-hundred.

His eyes peeked out around his cast, and his expression was one of mischief.

"I said all of that just to piss people off. It might overload the Porygon with brain damage, though."

---

"FLARE is over party," Trevor said, narrowly looking from his Holo Caster to Blanche, who was watching over a five course meal in preparation on the stove with hyper focus. "Have you heard of that?"

"No clue," Blanche replied, stirring the caramelizing onions and flipping the fish filets.

"From what I can tell, someone hacked FLARE's HootHoot account and started calling out all of the Rangershipping accounts."

"Really?" Blanche asked, his voice flat and uninterested. His hands were wrapped in bandages to protect his casts, ironically enough, but he wouldn't let a little thing like his body not wanting to do anything stop him from making Ariel the absolutely best food he could for her birthday. He would go beyond the possible for his best friend.

"...Is there a reason you're so disinterested?"

"Long day," Blanche said.

His mind was running with timers and ingredient orders, but dealing with the black out that occurred inside FLARE a few hours beforehand was in the back of it. After that had gotten dealt with, he ran into Gin on the way out, who had been waiting patiently to talk to Clemont, and…

Well, it was simpler to say his day got a lot easier when all he had to worry about was food.

"No, I mean… Never mind, you're being oblivious on purpose again," Trevor said.

"Me? Oblivious? When have I ever been oblivious?" He asked, not even sure if he was being sarcastic or not. Sure, he missed some social cues and a few obvious facts about his life, but that was just him being stubborn.

Trevor sighed, moving onto something else. "What did you get for Ariel?" he asked.

"Secret. And if you bought her another maid dress, I would have to castrate you. Like, legally speaking. This show doesn't need more fanservice," he joked, as if he were actually living in one. He wasn't, but it sure seemed like it sometimes, usually when it concerns other people.

"I didn't even buy the first one! I don't care for that kind of fanservice anyway."

Blanche laughed. "You seem like the kind of guy to be into teachers."

"I'm partial towards professors, myself."

"Aveline's also off-limits," he said absent-mindedly. Bro code and all that, if the older Professor could be considered a bro and not a cool bachelor uncle figure type of guy.

"Not what I meant," Trevor said cryptically. "Humina humina, so the saying goes."

"It means no worries… for the rest of your-"

"What?"

"What?"

"...Anyway," Trevor said, not sure where to go with that conversation thread.

Luckily, he didn't have to, as Shauna jumped half-way down the last flight of stairs with a loud stomp. "Blondie! Why am I getting texts from my classmates about being sorry for my loss? What happened?"

"Why are you blaming me?" Blanche asked, an easy-going smile on his face even though it was trying to twitch into a smirk.

"It's always you!"

"Proof?"

"I believe it," she huffed, crossing her arms.

"You're not Rosa. Therefore, not proof."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. "Wait, I get it. You like her, don't you?"

Blanche blinked, before rearing back. "What? Ew. She's like a little sister to me. Wait, no, I get it. You're jealous."

"No, I'm not!" she said rather quickly.

"Sounds like you are," Blanche replied, leaning on the bar with false bravado. "Something you want to tell me?"

Obviously, there wasn't anything she had to say. That's why it was funny. Teasing someone was funny when it was embarrassing, never when it was hurtful. He wasn't curious on a subconscious level, no way.

Trevor looked between the two, rolled his eyes, and went back to reading on his Holo Caster.

Everyone was back together a half an hour later, eating together at the table. There was fish, there were noodles, there was sauteed vegetables, there was salad, there was everything that Blanche knew how to make and thought Ariel might possibly enjoy.

She certainly seemed to. Everyone did. He'd always thought he was a pretty average cook, only doing so because it was a contribution that he could make, but he'd never bragged about it. Probably. He didn't remember absolutely everything he said. Pokémon food was a bit strange to him, as they all had fairly different diets (he'd learned as much in Biology class). Rhyhorn would eat rocks just as easily as it would eat berries. Just a bit strange.

Now, Blanche was a mature young man. He was a bit ahead mentally but a bit behind physically, and much, much further behind socially, but he could be considered a mature person.

Wearing a bright pink party hat and insisting that everyone else do the same was very much a mature thing to do, no doubt.

Ariel raised her hand when offered a hat. She didn't take it.

Blanche shrank back, a bit surprised. It wasn't that she didn't like her birthday, she'd said as much, she just didn't usually celebrate it.

She mumbled something, bringing their attention closer to her as they couldn't understand.

"Huh?" Blanche asked.

"I can't take it," she said quietly. "Thank you, but… I can't keep continuing on like this."

The color drained a bit from the world around him. A pit of dread settled in his stomach as it had many times before.

"I'm going to leave this city," Ariel said, her head bowed and her hands tightly gripping the cup in her lap.

"Most of us are." Shauna's eyes flicked over to Blanche. Her eyebrows sank slightly, remembering his own plans, but she continued, "We didn't go to Trainer School to sit in Lumiose our entire lives, y'know."

"No, I mean… It's unlikely that you'll see me again." Her voice dropped, trembling slightly. "I've lived with all of you amazing people, and my eyes have been opened to the world at large… but I think that's what makes me so certain in what I want to do. My Lord… has always been my Lord. I think He wanted me to see the world this way, to discover all of the wonderful things outside his church, and to see all of the amazing things in the world He has created. I can never assume I know His intentions, but I will obey as much as I can."

None of the others moved. Shauna's hands were clasped and as close to white-knuckled as they could get. Rosa stared at her shoes. Trevor and Tierno shared a frown. Serena was impassive.

Audino's face was set, full of emotion. It could clearly feel the terse stress in the room. Its bell-shaped antenna continuously twitched.

"I suppose… This has been my journey, in an odd way. I've seen so much of the world. The sand by the sea, the people in the city, the friends that I can make by being myself. I have truly been blessed with this gift. I know now that I must return, even if I may not be accepted." She looked up, her eyes slightly glassy. Her smile was weak, but as always, through thick and thin, it was there. "Blanche… It was Helix that brought me to you, to heal you. I must be thankful for what you've given me, and to my Lord for giving us the opportunity to be friends." She looked back down as they took it all in.

Blanche's hand twitched. It was the only sign of what he was feeling that escaped his control. Even so, his mind was taking everything in. Has she always felt that way? Was he being naïve by hoping they'd be friends together forever? Was it unfair of him to want that consistent future?

"But I can't stay with all of you forever. It's truly a wonderful year that you've all given me, but I have to go home. Even if they will not welcome me, I will try, and try, and try. That's what I've learned from all of you. I will keep trying, even if I am scorned and spat upon. I believe that is my purpose. If there is even a chance that my Lord will allow me to return to his grace, then I will," she said.

Ariel took the hat from Blanche's still hand, pressing its edge to her forehead. "But… let's have a fun night. Please? I'd like to have a memory of you all to treasure while I am in the church's service."

And so they did. No further words were spoken of the subject. Blanche stamped down his emotions, the feelings of loss already sneaking into his heart. They wouldn't help him stay true.

Thursday, November 15th, 2012. A night to remember for as long as they could.

---

AN:

Back. Life got busy, I made a good call. I'm a bit ahead of the curve now, so back to your regularly scheduled Evangelion-ripoff. Also, I've realized that the chapter set next to release is literally right before Valentine's Day. I probably won't need to write a full special, hint hint. I likely won't need another hiatus, so this story will finish up before the Ides of May.

 

[MikaelBrigman]

Blanche shook his head. The back of his mind had been occupied since that night as a calendar of days slowly ticked down to zero. He tapped his pencil against the test paper, running over physics formulae in his head. The prompt was to draw a free-body diagram of a FLARE Ranger as it flew into and punched something out of the sky, then calculate the amount of forces acting on it in the x and y directions.

I don't know why, but I'm fairly certain this is Rosa's fault, he thought.

He also thought it was weird going from saving the world and then taking his final exams only a few weeks later. On one hand, he was rather lucky that no important Anomalies had popped up over their last month in Trainer School, but on the other hand, it meant that he had no excuses to not study. Well, other than his casts getting in the way, but that excuse had worn thin with most of his teachers.

Really, he didn't have too much trouble with the tests. Literature was so low-level that it essentially boiled down to knowing how to read textbooks, which was… odd and probably indicative of something going on in the UR, but the more important subjects were easier. Physics was a lot less boring to learn about when you could see its application right in front of you every single day. Chemistry was a lot of math that he probably wouldn't worry about in the future, because mathematically computing move effects on certain Pokémon was more time consuming than just hitting it until it was knocked out. He didn't understand theoretical types no matter how hard he tried. Phós as a coefficient of photonic friction? What the hell did that even mean?

A Certain Trainer School… What an interesting place. Who would have thought that in a world like his, they would still have to go to school? A complicated web of studying, socializing, and searching for who he was. It could be painful at times, dealing with all of that.

He would miss it.

He finished scribbling out his final answer, flipped his paper, and decided that he would try to catch a nap.

---

Far outside of Lumiose-3, in the hills that lay beyond Laverre City, there was a hollow mountain. A complex that relayed information from across the world and served as the United Regions regional base of operations. The embassy located in Lumiose-3 was merely performative.

Inside the hollow mountain, there are many layers. An elevator that leads directly into a basement level that is empty for most, but filled for some.

Lysandre stood with his arms behind his back, a spotlight singling him out, and a dim red light being cast over him from seventeen directions.

In the darkness, seventeen tiles were erected on the reddened floor. Pitch black and written on with red lettering. UR-GRASS. UR-WATER. UR-DRAGON.

"FIRE," the brightest tile spoke, a speaker appearing in the red light beneath the lettering that spelled DRAGON. "Give your report."

Lysandre began his yearly explanation. From January to December, he ran over FLARE's development, their standing with other organizations, along with their gains and losses. Logistics were what would win the war against a broken world.

"The number of allied Espers have doubled in the last year. Public relations have grown amicable with the recent severity of Anomalies and the fanaticism with the Espers."

Of Legendaries, he said nothing.

"Celebrity is a curse, I have learned," DRAGON said. "You say that the number of Espers have doubled, but according to your files, only three of them have AIAM-field related abilities. Explain."

"The fourth has no aura."

"Of course," ELECTRIC said. "I had thought that they were an escaped prototype, but Santiago is unlikely to finish development for some time."

Lysandre's brow furrowed. "I don't believe that continuing the development of an android will aid us in our goals."

"Oh, but why not?" ELECTRIC said. "After all, your Anomaly was instrumental in defeating the Second Deoxys."

"That was a fluke."

DRAGON interrupted, "We ought not to argue. The prototype will begin proper development under UR oversight and not just your own scientists, ELECTRIC."

"I don't need your oversight," ELECTRIC hissed.

"You will receive it regardless. I have been told that gifts are best given when none are wanted," DRAGON replied. "FIRE. Your organization will receive representatives from Interpol to aid in detaining rogue Espers properly."

"Very well," Lysandre replied, brow furrowing.

"Good. Funding will be redistributed and more resources will become available to you. Now," DRAGON coughed, "Is there anything else on the agenda? When I was king, we simply had petitioners."

"That was three thousand years ago," STEEL, ROCK, and GROUND said all at once with a single voice. "If you look like you're twenty, you need to act like it."

The tiles in the room began blinking out as the UR Council saw that nothing else of importance was to be discussed.

Lysandre shook his head, stepping out of the spotlight. For all the talk of running the world, they were all absolutely ridiculous.

---

And it was the strangest thing. As quickly as Blanche had melded into the Trainer School system, he just as easily slipped out of it. The graduation ceremony was still a short ways off, but the last day of school had officially passed.

The afternoon of, seven sealed envelopes with seven different names inscribed arrived at a small row house in the Little Kanto suburbs. The return address was unanimously a Certain Trainer School, just off of Jauna Plaza.

Most people had postponed their celebrations for that evening, in lieu of wanting to know if they had actually passed the year or not. There was no time that Gin celebrated other than from early at night to one in the morning, of course, but the idea was still logical.

Everyone had gathered at home before opening their letters, and an air of trepidation had settled over them. They stood in a semi-circle, crowded around the pile. Ariel looked to Trevor, Trevor looked to Shauna, and Shauna looked to Blanche.

"You go first," she said before he could issue an objection.

"Hey-eh, I might as well." He shrugged and stepped up. "The moment of truth," Blanche whispered, tearing open the side of his envelope instead of struggling with the flap.

A plastic laminated card plinked onto the table as he slid out the letter.

It was more helpful than any report card, in retrospect. The numbers were there, high-ish but not perfect, but the teacher's comments pointed out what areas he should study on his own. Biology, care, stuff that required interacting with Pokémon that didn't want to destroy the city or any of the good Espers that lived in it. A small booklet and a coupon for a Pokédex 3D on his Holo Caster were enfolded as well.

He was hit with an odd sense of… relief? He hadn't expected to fail, but he didn't have high hopes. With only a year's worth of memories and whatever MissingNo gave him, he hadn't been confident.

He stepped to the side so that Trevor could get his results, picking up his Trainer Card from where it had dropped. Strangely, it showed a picture of him after he'd stopped wearing his bandages, and the background seemed far too… lively. Like it had been taken in the middle of the city. His smile was oddly wide, too. Which wasn't rare, he smiled all the time, he wasn't depressed or anything like that, but…

Geez, was that what he looked like after coming down from Deoxys? He'd been worn out and aching, what did he have then to look so happy about?

There was an odd squiggle in the upper right corner as well. He squinted his eyes and looked closer.

LADY WAS HERE

"Huh," he murmured with a nod. Maybe having Skynet on his side wasn't such a bad idea. It could be handled with getting his government photos up to date. "I guess I should thank her if I ever get zapped into a computer or something dumb like that."

---

As the sun set on a midwinter evening, an all-but-empty jet let off its few passengers in the Lumiose-3 interregional airport.

It was a small team, for there was no leader, but a deep impression was made as one man in a trench coat looked out across the city.

The lights in the nearest MagLev station blinked with a bell-like pulse.

Looker secured his duffel bag around his shoulder and bit down hard on a lollipop stick.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's get to work."

---

"Ladies and gentlemen," Gin crowed, standing on top of a Certain Cantina's table and holding a broom (God knows where he got it from) like a microphone stand, "Are you ready to RUMB-UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-LE?"

There was an ear-splitting roar as two classes worth of everyone crowded into the bar, filling it to the brim with people and drinks. With partner Pokémon mixed into the equation, either walking on two legs or balancing on shoulders, it was an absolute nightmare to get around.

Through the booming jazz-pop and the constant cheering, it was hard to make much out of anything, least of all his surroundings.

Blanche was sitting on a stool next to the bar, looking out into the chaos as a similarly blond bartender worked behind him.

As LaRusso's Throh backflipped onto the table, picked up Gin and threw him into the opposite wall, Blanche felt like the most unfettered man in the world. As long as he had his soda, of course. He soon swiveled back to pick up his drink.

And instead of soda, he was presented with a mug of clear, icy liquid. Not the good kind of clear, like a Sprite Cokleon, but clear like water.

"Your friend told me to cut you off," the frosty bartender said, smoothly jerking his head towards Shauna, who was wagging her finger at him from further down the bar where all the girls were sitting and probably laughing at Gin making a fool of himself.

"But I haven't had any yet!" Blanche exclaimed.

"It's best for your health, I'm sure," Trevor said in a low tone, drinking his own water.

"You're implying Shauna cares about my well-being. I expect our valedictorian to be a little more intelligent than that."
"Hold that thought- you don't mind if I borrow your vernacular for a moment, do you?" Trevor asked.

Blanche was confused for a moment, and offered, "I guess not?"

"In that case," Trevor drank from his cup and pointed at him with his free hand. "You, Blanche, are a Goddamn idiot."

It was just the way Trevor said it that kept him from feeling offended. He hadn't said it as an insult, more as a matter of fact.

Wasn't that worse?

He barely even got to appreciate his cool, refreshing, not at all special beverage before a booming shout came across the cantina.

"Well, if it isn't the man of the hour!" Gin shouted. "Everyone say, hi, Blanche!"

"HI, BLANCHE!" came a shout from what could have been every single person in the city, but was more likely just every boy that was still listening to Gin.

The boy in demand called bullshit, thinking that if everyone else was acting drunk on success, he should at least be able to get drunk on soda.

"Now, as you all know, my friend, my buddy, my old pal, he's also our favorite FLARE Ranger, Amaranth, isn't that right?"

"YEAAAAAAAAAH!"

"I thought I was everyone's favorite!" Rosa cried from somewhere in the crowd, which did nothing to dissuade Blanche of his opinions on her sanity.

"Now, this sick, forever-single bastard has saved our wonderful city," Gin burped, "On multiple occasions! Let's show him how much we appreciate it!"

Blanche swore, "Oh, Christ, save me-"

And then he was swept up by the tide of other, much more creatively dressed- though just as testosterone-ridden- teenage boys. They pushed him to the center of the cantina, an odd spot where the floor was clear and everyone was pushed to the side.

"And if it isn't one of our most wonderful bachelorettes, the ever illustrious railgun of Lumiose-3, our fair lady Rue-"

Blanche choked on his air and coughed.

"Shauna!"

"WOOOOOOOOOO!"

Carried by Lenore, Rosa, and Whitley, because of course she was, Shauna appeared above the crowd's heads and seemed to surf over, before landing opposite him in the circle.

"Now, as anyone with a pulse, eyes, or ears can tell, these two got a little something-something going on!" Gin yelled, his voice booming in time with the music.
"Yeah they do!" shouted back everyone else but two other them.

"No, we don't!" Blanche and Shauna shouted back, louder and simultaneously.

Gin smacked his forehead, though the sound couldn't reach them. "COME ON! TURN THAT U.S.T. INTO SOME R.S.T.!"

More cheering. "KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS!"

The mantra continued while Blanche swore under his breath.

"Seriously?" he whispered, his throat clamming up for some odd reason.

Wait.

No, no, no.

Regardless of how he thought he felt about it, his skin was starting to flush red and blood continued to rush to his face.

That'd be weird, no, wait, shit, shit, shit, she is kind of cute- WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING?

Time seemed to have slowed, not from any interference from MissingNo, but the sheer confusion his brain had decided to slam over his head.

Shauna was looking at him in some sort of… way. Somewhere between brick and beet red in the face, electricity zapping the air around her like a tesla coil. He really, honestly, truly had very little clue what she was thinking.

Damn that tsundere survival guide or whatever the hell it was called.

Unfortunately for Blanche, mixed signals don't work on a guy whose actual superpower is to be impossibly dense in matters of heart, be they platonic or otherwise.

He pointed at her, pointed at himself, showed a thumbs-up, then a thumbs-down.

He expected her to shake her head or throw something at him, because while she'd never done the latter, it wasn't that far off.

"KISS! KISS! KISS! KISS!"

Shauna walked up to him, making him take a step back, but she paused a quarter-pace away, seemingly talking to her shoes.

She said in a low tone, calmer than her body language implied, "They're expecting something dramatic, I'll grab you, you'll wrap your hands around me, and they'll think that's enough to ease off. If you don't want to…"

He said, "No, might as well, I'd hate to kill the mood," from the corner of his mouth.

Seriously, what's a guy gotta do to get a nice, tall glass of soda in this city?

As the cheering continued, she got closer and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Awkwardly as you'd expect, he tried to clasp his hands together at the small of her back and not scrape her with his casts.

Tried.

Shauna suddenly jumped into the air, and his arms ended up locked behind her waist as she pulled her face close to his.
Snap, crackle, pop.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Not that Blanche could tell at the moment, but Gin pointed across the crowd and shouted, "Lenore, I freakin' told you! You owe me two hundred !"

"I never took that bet!" the spirit medium yelled back. "Only an idiot would take those odds!"

Across the cantina, Trevor sat with a bemused look on his face, like he'd just remembered that he hadn't done his homework or something similarly inconvenient.

"Tio," he said.

"Yeah, Trevs?" Tierno replied, before drinking

"It has just occurred to me that if I had joined the betting pool back in January, I'd be a few thousand Pokédollars richer."

"When did you end up joining?"

Trevor stared down at his kneecaps for a moment, then slumped in his seat.

"...I'm not a betting man, Tio."

Lenore was standing in a relatively clear spot on the floor, sighing and shaking her head as Ariel and Whitley questioned what all the fuss was about. Money was changing hands all around them.

"Ariel, you remember what I told you when you first transferred in?"

"Um, maybe?" she answered honestly. She was red in the face, not used to seeing public displays quite like… that. She would have reacted the same way if it were a couple that she didn't know.

"Boys… are very, very stupid."

At the other end of the bar, standing on one of the stools, Rosa surveyed the crowd with her hand positioned a visor extension.

"Aw, man! Sorry, Serena, I bet on you instead."

Serena was sitting with a glass of sparkling water. She had an odd smile on her face, like she knew something no one else did.

"It's fine. I think I've learned something that's worth more than money."

"Eh? What's that supposed to mean?" Rosa asked, confusedly.

The look on her face was almost incomprehensible. "I felt him before. I can tell that it wasn't Blanche."

Rosa looked at her blankly. "...Eh?"

About a full minute after it had started, Blanche half-collapsed to the ground, the red in his face having been entirely replaced by blue.

"Did… did, did-"

"I'll give you a moment," Shauna said quietly soon after regaining her footing, before walking off into the crowd to never return.

Blanche moved his fingers to his lips, not even registering the scratchiness he felt on his chin. The buzzing sensation was almost overwhelming.

"Did that- no, yes, no. Maybe. I think that might have meant something."

A beat passed as the party raged on regardless of his immobility.

It took its sweet time, but a gear eventually clicked into place in his brain.

"Holy shit!"

Just your average night in Lumiose-3.

---

AN:

Very short chapter, as I realize now. I'm following a vague outline for proper pacing and chapter count, so unless I put in a ton of filler, there's going to be a skewed average. Blanche is... really dumb, a fact which I am reminded of every day and I thank God I'm not in his situation. Like, imagine you get the opportunity for the most wish fulfillment ever, but then MissingNo goes brrrrr, you find out a semi-apocalypse happened that you don't have a clue about, and you're also a bundle of self-loathing and lack of actual confidence. If this were a dark fic... man, this would be a much different story.

 

[MikaelBrigman]

There is an elevated park at the center of Jaune Plaza. There are a few dozen rows of chairs, a few more banners and hundreds of people and Pokémon on the sidelines. A podium at the very front, where a robed man with almost impossibly long blond hair stood.

"...it is the duty of the old to surrender the power of choice to the young, once they have grown strong enough to demand it. I, Aleister Crowley, am proud to have served as principal for this next generation of Trainers, though some may choose not to train Pokémon. They may choose to become scientists, or to open a business, or simply to live off the land. Whatever futures may come for them, from now on, I can only wish them the best, and hope that I have done my duty. Thank you."

A fierce clapping from all around, a few whoops. Naturally, the students were sitting quietly in front of the podium, though clapping politely.

"I would now like for the class of 2012's valedictorian to give a short speech. Trevor-"

A plane passed overhead, waving a banner that said, "TEAM AMARUE WINS AGAIN!" The whiny roar of the engines cut across another round of applause.

Where someone had gotten the money to do that, or whoever went to their school and had gotten the money to do that, Blanche had no clue. He clapped along with everyone else as Trevor walked on stage, pulling out a set of index cards.

He then looked at them, shook his head, and scattered them to the wind. Like leaves from a tree in fall, they blew out across the park and mixed with the soggy winter flora.

His hands were tightly gripping the edges of the podium, and his head barely came up above its edge, but his presence demanded their attention.

"These kinds of speeches are supposed to be inspirational. I've heard of people reading picture books in front of thousands of people." He took a deep breath and forced a brittle smile. "I don't think that's what you all want to see."

It was a safe joke, and laughter scattered itself across the audience of relatives and precious family Pokémon.

"Inspiration doesn't mean anything. Inspiration is fleeting, inspiration is an emotion, and inspiration can easily turn into nothing."

A stale wind blew across the park. Trevor's hair was forced out of its impeccable curve by the breeze.

"The word I prefer to use… is dedication. To keep your inspiration, to make it matter, you need to be dedicated."

Trevor looked across the students, and locked eyes with Blanche for a split second. The orange-haired boy sighed.

"There is an astounding amount of talent and dedication in this class. I've met people that have overcome some of the worse circumstances I've ever heard of, and are still working at it. They were dedicated to becoming better. They have been inspired by others and passed that along repeatedly. I don't think they would agree, but it's true that they're dedicated to inspiring others. They whine a bit too much, but I like to think I can see past that."

There was a silent applause in the moments before he continued.

"If you want to inspire yourself and others, you need to keep working at it. You need to dedicate yourself to being the very best person that you can be. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, no matter who you've been. Some here will become professional Trainers. Some will become Coordinators. Some will pursue other career paths. I read of a man that helped settle Unova and its surrounding regions while it was in great turmoil. He was a great man, but he was humble. Regardless of his origins, regardless of his limits, he simply said, "Whatever you are, be a good one." As long as you keep trying, keep getting back up, The true hero is the person who falls seven times, and rises up eight."

Trevor coughed, suddenly, as he ended his monologue. He wiped his brow and gave another weak smile, covering half of his face.

"If you can't tell, I've been listening to quite a few motivational speakers, recently." The orange-haired boy gave a half-laugh. "Thank you for listening, regardless. All of my teachers, all of my friends, I truly am thankful. I'm going to be someone, someday, and it'll all be thanks to you. Everyone here will become someone greater, and we'll all meet again, someday, somehow. So thank all of you as well. If you can't make something of yourself for yourself, do it for someone else. A friend, a parent, a partner. Dedicate yourself to something and to someone. That's all I have to say."

Blanche couldn't think of any other time that a standing ovation was more deserved. Was the speech corny as hell? Yes, no doubt about it. Did it mean something? Of course. It meant something to Trevor, so it meant something to him.

His casts clicked together as he rose from his seat, his graduation cap falling from his head in the wind. Even with such a weak sound, he kept clapping.

Then there was another who joined him. A bit further away and behind him. Serena perhaps?

And then the clapping grew stronger once again.

It would continue as they were all officially cast into the world by the principal, who didn't bother with his own remarks, instead calling for them to rise.

It didn't feel like a French tradition, Blanche thought as he tossed his cap in the air with everyone else, but that was just the world he lived in. He loved it regardless of its quirks.

He still reckoned that setting a flock of Pidoves free to fly through the sun's beams was a bit over dramatic.

---

2012 hadn't ended yet. There was still two weeks left in December.

Unfortunately, the Winter Solstice was on the 21st. It wasn't exactly a holiday, but in the church of Helix, it held significance. For what exactly, Ariel was sort of vague about, but she explained that it meant she had to go home in time to be there.

Two people and one Pokémon stood together on a MagLev platform. Passing people split around them like water, walking away and around them like they weren't even there.

Blanche hugged her tight, his eyes squinting themselves together to keep in tears.

"I'm not going to say anything corny, or try to convince you not to go, but…" he choked, then took a deep, wet breath. "I'll… miss you. You and Audino."

That constant nothing-behind-the-eyes smile could be comforting and disconcerting, often at the same time. It was familiar, though, something he could remember.

"We'll miss you too," she said, her ear pressed to his chest. She accepted the embrace, patting him behind the back. "You and everyone."

"You're the best friend, friends anyone could ask for," he said, stammering slightly.

"You as well. Even when you're hurting, you always try your best."

"Are we still friends?" he asked.

"Of course. Pinky promise?" she offered, her hands slipping away.

"Where… where did you hear about those?" he half-laughed, eyes still watery.

She held out her small finger, and he did the same. His hands were smooth and rugged, textured without being scratchy. He could feel his finger's shape in hers.

Ariel looked up at him and smiled a smile that didn't quite reach her shining green eyes.

"I was sheltered, not locked away in an attic," she joked.

There was an attempt.

"Friends?" he asked again.

She nodded. "Through thick and thin."

He nodded back. "Through brimstone and hellfire."

She shrank away, barely a sliver of an inch. He didn't see it so much as feel it. Ariel nodded again.

"I'll see you again, one day. If you ever find yourself in Kiloude City… please, feel free to visit!"

She lifted the few belongings that she had accumulated over the last year, which were all packed into a tiny brown suitcase. Audino walked over and stuffed the frill of an apron back into the bag and snapped it shut.

Blanche kneeled and gave it a rub behind the ears. It gave the same damn smiles as always for one last time, and thanked him with a trill.

"Goodbye, Blanche," she bowed before retreating into the MagLev.

He waved at her as she did the same, inside the train car. "See you later…"

The door slid shut, though they still looked at each other. Audino's head poked up above the bottom of the window, giving its own wave.

"Ariel."

With a THOOM, the MagLev sped off west, on its way to Ariel's home town and leaving empty space behind.

Blanche stood there for a long time. His hand stayed in the air until he was sure that all the blood left in it had rushed away.

There was a distinct sound of footsteps behind him. He'd been standing there long enough that the rush had calmed down so that he could hear.

It brought him back to reality and his arm fell to his side like a tube of jelly.

"Hey. You alright? We're all… we're all going to miss her too, but I don't think we will as much as you," Shauna said.

It was odd that she was being so perceptive, Blanche idly recognized. Had she always been like that, and had he just missed it? Even back in January, she caught on to even the slightest hints so easily. Back then…

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, voice thick. It dried out and became a whisper immediately after. "Don't worry about me."

Shauna sighed and stepped closer. She punched the side of his arm lightly. "Don't be stupid. You're allowed to admit you're hurting. There's nothing wrong with that."

"I'm… not," he struggled out with his face tightening further.

"I'd be a hypocrite for… well, do you remember in January when-"

"When you hated my guts?" he cut in, giving a weak chuckle and trying to change the subject.

"No, you dumb blond," she snapped, before coughing. "Before I joined FLARE, on the rooftop, I think? You got… mad. I mean, you got really mad. At me. You said I was being blind and that I just stood by when Serena was hurting. I still don't get everything you said, but I think I understood what you meant by it." She held her arm across her chest and pointed her thumbs at her heart. "So, I'm not going to be a hypocrite, got it?" she said, clearly demanding an answer.

"That's… different. Really, I'm fine." Blanche looked in the opposite direction, staring off into space to distract himself. He shrugged off what he supposed had to be her concern. "I need to learn how to be strong on my own. You're all leaving too, in a few weeks. Thank you, but I don't need any help."

She sighed again. "You're really not an easy person to talk to. You're smart, stupid, dense, aware, perceptive and blind, all at the same time."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"You still have friends, though. Do you really think showing that you're hurting will make a difference?" she asked.

Damn it, Shauna, why do you have to make so much sense?

"When I get emotional, I'm not the nicest person." He shrugged, blowing out dry air. "Really, it's no problem."

Shauna shook her head, stepping away. After a few steps, she stopped. "Hey, what do you want for dinner?"

"Since when are you a Domestic-type Pokémon?"

"Shut up, Blondie. It's cold and I want takeout. You can pay me back later."

"Be still my beating heart, are you being nice to me?"

"Quit it with the stupid questions- I can be nice!" she turned around and huffed. "Like when I… um…"

Yeah, that.

There was an awkward air as the subject reared its head in both their minds. Which Blanche didn't really get. He was confused at first, at least until he remembered that Rosa said it was normal for friends to casually kiss like it was no big deal the first time it happened.

Intentionally or not, Blanche didn't account for Rosa being Rosa.

Whatever Shauna was thinking, it clearly embarrassed her.

"Let's wait until I'm Champion before we, um, make any big commitments," she said after a few moments.

"I'm cool with that," he said with an even tone, trying not to answer too quickly.

"Right, right… so, what kind of takeout?"

"What's the region off the Mediterranean sea that makes pizza? Mama mia and all that? It's got the region in the name, Gin recommended it to me."

She sighed again. "Idiot. Fine, I know the place you're talking about."

"Can you get Chespin extra salad? They put nuts in it that he really likes."

"As long as you're paying for it. Enjoy your alone time, brooding-boy."

---

The others discussed their plans, routes, and goals for their journeys over dinner.

Rosa didn't care about the Gym Challenge. At least, not like most people did. It wasn't about being the Very Best for her, it was about getting a good fight. She'd go to every Gym in the region, sure, but only to see which ones were the most fun to battle.

Battling herself, to be clear. Her and Tencent wouldn't technically qualify for an official match.

Serena wanted to be the Very Best. Sure, she said it in different but as few words, but it was clear she wouldn't accept a loss.

"It's the same as his goal, so I must pursue it," she said, cryptically as ever. None of them quite understood it, save Blanche. She didn't elaborate, and Blanche wouldn't.

Shauna was a bit more… Shauna about it. Having fun, making friends with all kind of Pokémon, and seeing if she could match up to Serena. It was a jest worded like a challenge to the other girl. He didn't doubt for a second that becoming an Esper had changed her plans at all. She was stubborn like that.

Trevor had a thing for Professors, or he wanted to become one; Blanche wasn't quite sure. He'd analyze all of Kalos's native Pokémon and then some. Definitely no Gym Challenge for him.

Tierno was a dancer through and through. He confirmed it when he stood up, placed a hand over his heart, and declared that he would form not just the first human-Pokémon hip hop dance crew, but the Very Best of them.

Blanche hadn't gotten very good at dancing in the time he spent at the studio. He'd stop by when Tierno invited him, but it wasn't really his thing.

In spite of that, he said that when Tierno went to the big leagues, he'd buy out the entire front row of the concert. Could he do that on his (to be fair, sizable) salary? Probably not. Did he mean what he said? Absolutely.

It was a little awkward when they didn't ask him what his plans were, mainly because they all already knew.

See, right next to the definition of 'irony' in the dictionary, there's a quote that says "getting transported to the Pokémon world and being unable to go on a journey."

Inability wouldn't be the right word, but it also wouldn't be the right word to describe the reasons someone wouldn't jump into a volcano. It was obvious what the end result was.

They couldn't comprehend it exactly because people didn't seem to die very often from unnatural-natural causes, but they trusted his word when he explained it as not having aura and left it at that.

Professor Sycamore stopped by that night, whether by pure spontaneity or purposeful scheduling.

"Well, I might as well tell you early, not that it wasn't already obvious," he said with a bow, barely crossing through their front door. "Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie are my gift to you. Divide them as you wish, though I'm fairly certain they've made their choices themselves. Good luck to you, young Trainers! Now, Grace, this is unrelated, but since all of the kids will be out the house next year, how about-"

The flamboyant man was then chased out of the house by a trio of Fletchling, and from the cries, presumably sat upon by Rhyhorn.

God rest his soul, Blanche prayed silently, motioning a cross across his torso.

Chespin had already stuck himself on Blanche's head. He barely even registered the extra weight at that point in time, used to the Grass-type perching there. Froakie was firmly gripped in Shauna's arms, only making a token effort to escape before relaxing. Fennekin had hopped into Serena's lap and was so still he almost forgot it was there, only noticing when he caught its gaze. Then it just kept staring.

Knowing that it would later evolve into a Psychic-type, he hadn't been surprised that it already acted a bit strange.

Trevor and Tierno were actually perfectly content with the distribution. Tierno wouldn't force his partner to dance if they didn't want to, because obviously Blanche didn't have enough reasons to respect him, and Trevor wanted to see a lot of Pokémon anyway so he'd be better off with a smaller Pokémon that was easier to maintain, like a Joltik or something similarly low maintenance but no less powerful.

The house would be empty, now that Blanche thought about it. It would be strange if it was just him and Ms. Grace when they weren't related. She'd not even said a word about it, but ever the observant young man he was, he knew she'd appreciate him moving out. He'd be stuck in the city for the rest of his life anyway, so he might as well get it over with and get to house hunting.

He'd already accepted they were leaving, and already felt its impact. He was just delaying it until he was alone.

---

Blanche's hand trailed along a handrail, creating a light metallic whine as he walked along the high walkway.

Beyond the walled city of Lumiose-3, the environment was incredibly diverse. Suburbs outside the ring of skyscrapers were considered to be the bindings of the city. To the west, there was a desert. To the north, there were rocky hills. To the east, there were wetlands and rivers. To the southwest, there were historic buildings and rolling plains.

And to the southeast there was a visible trail of destruction, carved from the southern coast through the forest, through the flower fields, through everything there once was. A cone of ruined terrain made what occurred clear, even if nature had partially healed.

It seemed that it had healed even more since the last time he'd gone on a walk along the city walls.

Chespin walked alongside him. Normally, it would be struggling to keep up, but Blanche was taking slow steps. The atmosphere felt calmer that way.

The wind whipped through his hair, massaging frigid air into his skin and cooling his nerves.

There were no heartfelt goodbyes for them, as all it took was a sweeping hug from Tierno to get their feelings across.

Trevor had rechecked everyone's bags as the MagLev timetables grew closer.

Tierno and Rosa went first, heading to Camphrier Town to see the old castles that were, if she was lucky, not inhabited by the region's royalty. Tierno was going with her because the town was relatively renowned for having tutors that taught old styles of dancing. Tencent barked at them one last time before they hopped on the next car and sped off.

Serena gave them all a smile before taking her own leave, Fennekin perched partially inside of her bag and Shauna trailing after her talking about all the fun they were going to have. The Lumiose Gym had always been finicky around the start of the new year, even before the Heavens Shattered from what he had heard. She was heading southeast to find one of the old routes to Snowbelle City, presumably. Shauna was tagging along because there was strength in numbers.

Blanche had given Trevor an odd look. No Pokémon, no one else to travel with him.

The orange-haired boy pointed at his brain in response, then pulled what had to have been a paintball gun halfway out of his bag.

He didn't have any more questions after that.

And then… Blanche was alone. It wasn't as bad as he thought. And really, he wasn't alone. They weren't gone forever, they never would be, even as the chill set in.

His thoughts returned to his pace as the light gray clouds seemed to thicken and the wind grew harsher.

Chespin tried to hide it, he could tell, but the Grass-type was getting cold. Blanche picked him up, wrapped him in his jacket, and zipped it up just enough that his head was still poking out. It was just the right thing to do.

As he began the return trip home, flakes of ice began to fall from the sky. And that night, a palette of snow would be brushed across the canvas that was Kalos, primed and ready for new footsteps to leave their trails.

---

Aveline messaged him and said they needed him at FLARE.

Given he wasn't doing much else so early in January since he'd finished healing, he obliged right away.

The FLARE Pokémon Lab had a steady staff of three, maybe four people depending on the older Professor. That day it held eight, not including himself.

"Due to Geranium, Rue, and Dahlia's absences, it has become pertinent that we have a steady number of Rangers in the city at all times," Aveline explained, flipping a page over her clipboard and adjusting her glasses. "We haven't created a very accessible application process- Michael will be working on that soon- but these are some of the Espers interested in working with you, as well as some Pokémon but they're inseparable from Clemont's sister at the moment so let's…" Aveline took a deep breath, shook her head. "Yes, please introduce yourselves."

A tallish boy stood dressed head to toe like a ninja, mostly in black with red highlights and a matching scarf, the skin around his exposed eyes a shade of dark brown while two sheathed swords poked out over his back. Next to him, a girl in a white and deep blue dress with what looked like pointed tufts of cottons sticking out of her scalp. Gin was the third in the line, shooting finger guns at him.

"You mean working for FLARE, right?" he asked.

"Yes, that's what I said," she clarified.

The ninja offered a hand, though made a motion as if to arm wrestle. "Hello. I am the Black Shinobi. For years, I have traveled across the world to seek out evil, and I believe I can best do that with you as my ally. I hope that we can work together well, like steel sharpening steel in order to vanquish evil.

Blanche took the shrouded hand and gave it a small shake before releasing it. "Right. Uh, I'm Blanche, literally white in Kalosian if you didn't know, so I guess the naming thing balances out."

The ninja nodded. "No worries."

"Alright, Black Shinobi- Okay, sorry, do you have a name besides your title?"

"You may call me Ash, as my forefathers were called before me, like the dying embers of flames traveling upon the cooling wind of sunrise. As long as you grant me a similar honor, of course."

Blanche ignored the poetry before giving half of a shrug. "I don't really have any cool titles worth honoring me with, but you do have to call me Amaranth in the field." He made a so-so motion. "It's part of the brand or something."

"I see. Kalos is certainly an interesting place-"

"Don't I know it!" interrupted the poofy-blue-haired girl. A small part of his brain thought that the tufts of cotton, seeming almost like ears, twitched as she bowled into the conversation, pushing Ash to the side. "See, I've lived here for years, and you know, me and my partner, Meowstic, we both think that it's crazy! I mean, especially for the last three years. Don't you think so?" She stared up at him, pink eyes almost looking through him and practically glowing with energy.

"Yeah… You do kinda look like a Meowstic, is that intentional? Not to be rude or anything, but… actually," Blanche looked over to Gin, "Can you guys all explain your abilities and, well, why you're even here? It's kind of important."

Gin smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Easy as apple pie. Yo. I'm Gin. When I fight dirty, I turn Dark-type. It's pretty cool. Whitley's the best repair technician in FLARE, by the way. I'm her boyfriend, and man, am I lucky."

Blanche motioned for him to go on, saying the words to match.

"Oh, well, I realized I wasn't going about anything the right way. I used to be a vigilante, still am if I remember the law correctly, but I made some mistakes and now," Gin pointed at his heart with his thumb, "Ya boy is on the straight and narrow, ya dig? I gotta make up for Russ going off to train and Lenore traveling to become a performer, and FLARE's the best place to do it!"

Gin turned to Clemont, the blond gave him a thumbs-up, and Blanche became acutely aware that weird shit would happen regardless of if he was there to see it.

"Oh, is it my turn?" Not waiting for an answer, the Meowstic-like girl continued, "Just call me Em!"

She went on to not elaborate.

"...Is that short for Emily or something?" Blanche asked, trying to fill the awkward space.

"It's short for Salem. People get really weird when I tell them that, though. My partner's a Meowstic, and we're best buds! It's called… eh, doctor, what's that called?"

Aveline adjusted her glasses and seemed to physically resist the urge to sigh. "That is called the Bond Phenomenon. I haven't observed a case as permanent as yours, Salem, but it is… very interesting."

I have a sneaking suspicion that there are connotations to that name, but I'm not sure what, Blanche thought.

"Oh, yeah. I'm also a Psychic. Why can't I read your mind, Blake?"

"Blanche."

"That's what I said." She stared him dead in the eyes for a few seconds, Blanche not sure if it would be rude to look away. "Aw, man, it still doesn't work! Okay, just pretend I changed your mind so I got it right."

Michael chimed in from his computer, "You know, reading the mind of a teenage boy in general isn't usually a good idea."

"What? Why? Hey, Gwen, look here!"

Gin looked after a moment of confusion, and because he wasn't wearing his sunglasses properly (did he ever?), he made eye contact.

It clearly still didn't work, given the Meowstic-girl's displeased reaction. Either his residual AIAM fields just resisted Psychic-type stuff naturally, or certain types of thoughts automatically qualified as Dark-types.

Ash rested his fist in his palms, not opening his eyes as Salem whirled around to him. "I will not be tricked by illusions of the mind. I have trained for years and meditated for continuous days in order to achieve my state of mental fortitude. It is unlikely that even one as skilled as yourself would be able to penetrate to the truest realms of my-"

Blanche cut off Ash and interjected, "Okay, Em, no reading minds unless it's necessary."

"Alright," she said a little too quickly.

"Unless me or Aveline says it's necessary," he added.

"Aw…"

"May I continue?" Ash asked, his calmness nearly radiating off of him.

"Oh, yeah, my bad for interrupting," Blanche said, waving his hand to dismiss himself.

"It is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things," he said.

"He reminds me of a certain someone," Augustine mumbled, rubbing his chin, though this went unnoticed.

Ash continued, "I am what is called a Poison-type Esper in your scientifically-minded society. However, my clan is in fierce competition with the Koga clan, and in order to maintain our level of prominence, we were forced to innovate. As such, through extensive training and habitation near Koffing and Weezing, I gained the ability to manipulate poisonous substances to varying degrees."

"Right, I'll keep that in mind if we ever have a stealth mission," Blanche said.

He hadn't meant to be sarcastic, but it must have come across that way, as Ash said, "I can also swing a sword fast enough to cut three times with a single slice. Four is…" he sighed, "Beyond my reach, however."

Blanche blinked. "How fast is that?"

"It is a dangerous technique, but should you ever call on me, I will be able to demonstrate," Ash said, bowing his head.

Salem cut in, saying, "Oh, and don't forget, I can brain-blast any weird Pokemon you need me to! I'm very good at that."

"And I'll punch anything you need me to," Gin added, whirling his fists in front of his face.

Blanche scratched his cheek. He'd noticed it earlier, but they were deferring to him instead of either Professor. He wasn't literally FLARE's field leader, that was just what Rosa called him… and then Shauna, though with more sarcasm… and then…

A lot of people would have gotten that impression, he realized, the Professors probably knew that.

Aveline flipped another page, scanning over the paper before saying, "FLARE Rangers 00 through 03 will keep their designations. Geniévre, your designation is Ulex 04. Salem, um, Em, your designation is Rhododendron 05. Ash, your designation will be Agapanthus 06." Regardless of the barrel-bottom-scraping naming schema, Aveline seemed entirely unfettered and bowed. "Once again, we are very grateful to have you here. We try to keep it quiet, but, well, FLARE really needs all the help it can get."

Gin moved as if to say something, but shook his head and stayed silent.

Ash clapped his fist against his palm. "It is I who must give my thanks. I will bring honor to my clan and peace to the world; if you would kindly allow it, mademoiselle." He paused for a moment. "I do hope that is the correct term in the Kalosian dialect."

"O-of course. We appreciate your enthusiasm," Aveline said.

"Did someone say enthusiasm?" Salem asked, closing the distance between herself and Aveline within the blink of an eye. A literal blink of the eye as well, if he'd read everyone else's expressions correctly.

As the Professor stumbled and her father laughed at her expense, breaking whatever remnants of professionalism there were once and for all, Blanche looked at Gin.

It was odd not seeing a goofy smile on his face. He was the confident greaser, that was his thing, but he looked to be at a mental impasse. If Blanche were to take one, he was fairly certain he wouldn't score very highly on an EQ test, but even then he would be able to tell that something was conflicting inside the other boy.

Well, nothing that a nice drink wouldn't fix. Who would stop him from buying soda? The bartender?

---

In fact, the bartender kicked him and Gin out within the very minute they walked in. One, it was too busy for a fight, and two, it was just that many hours into the afternoon. He also said something about Blanche's arms needing a little longer to heal properly.

Believing he sensed an excuse, Blanche held up his pastier than usual yet still bare arms. He'd gotten his casts off the week before.

The bartender said he was a doctor as well as a psychologist, which sort of overruled that, and said that drinking too much of anything wasn't a good idea when he would still be healing for a while longer.

---

"...On this, the day of my daughter's wedding…"

The television in a Little Kanto living room was blaring an old crime drama as two teenagers sat with nothing better to do.

Blanche's elbows clicked quietly as he held Chespin high in the air above his chest, laying flat on the couch. He gave the Grass-type a small shake, and it responded like a bobblehead.

"Gin, I think I need a day job."

"You and me both work at FLARE now. Why would you need more work?" Gin responded, shoveling convenience store chips into his mouth while he leaned against the couch.

"I don't want to just sit around when I'm not working." Blanche's eyes screwed up in thought. "Ariel told me about a bakery she visited one time, maybe I should ask for a job."

"Blanche, I'm not being mean, but you don't have the presence for customer service," Gin said, shrugging. "You look out of your element most of the time."

Blanche winced. It wasn't inaccurate either, but it was something he didn't know how to fix. "Yeah…"

"You could start hitting the gym," Gin offered. "Hell, we can get Clemont and, uh, other guy in on it."

"I thought it was shut down right now," Blanche said. And wasn't Clemont the old Gym Leader? Would that be awkward?

"No, no, I mean one for physical training," Gin added, making Blanche groan internally. "I could keep trying to show you how to fight, but I'm not really the type of guy to work out like Russ," Gin said.

"Dude, you have a six pack," Blanche pointed out.

"I said like Russ," Gin reminded him. "He can bench… wait, carry the one, add three zeros… A lot. Most gyms don't have enough weights for him."

"Ah. Cool. Terrifying." Blanche put Chespin down calmly, then reversed quicker than a celebrity after getting called out. "YOU MADE ME SPAR AGAINST HIM?"

"He's all about control, you had nothing to worry about," Gin said, waving him off before tilting the last of the chips into his mouth.

"...I don't know why I even bother," Blanche sighed. "Alright, where's the gym? Let's go."

"Oh, right now? Sick. They let Pokémon in too, so Chespin can come along. Alright, so it's called Doc Louis's off of Vert Plaza…"

---

The mountains beyond Kiloude City have acted as natural barriers in years past. In fact, the only way to access the city is by train, as many consider the hike to not be worth it. They seem to layer themselves as if they were painted on canvas, compressing in the vision until they fall away on the horizon.

A shadow crests over a faraway peak.

And the rest of them follow.

---

AN:

A lot of low-key stuff in this chapter. I'm not French, I know very little about graduation ceremonies over there, but I hope it's not too offensive to use my personal knowledge of what they're like. Pokémon is already so ridiculous that a world-wide standardized education system doesn't sound too far-fetch'd. I hope your disbelief can be suspended.

Also, new characters. Ash is admittedly based on someone I know in real life. Dude really likes Naruto. I thought of the name and then I remembered that it's also the name of the twenty year old ten year old. Keeping it unless there are too many problems with people not being able to notice the difference. I'm sort of iffy on Salem's design but I'm so far into AU that including more stupid anime stuff can't hurt. And how do I say this... shit is about to get real, really fast, so take the comic relief where you can.

Basically, the paraphrased wisdom for this chapter is that no writer can ever come up with something in fiction that is more insane than what has, happens, and will happen in real life.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story and gave their criticisms, it's very helpful. I should probably write something that isn't so far removed from the fandom. Even if I'm a bit scared to check my review page sometimes, they are generally pretty accurate.

 

[MikaelBrigman]

"It's a new year!"

"It's nearly February, Dad," Aveline responded.

So began another briefing.

"Similarly to the summer, the new year brings out all sorts of changes in people," Augustine said. "For good… and for worse. Anomalies are bound to spike in number, and we all have to be prepared for that!"

"So, Tuesday," Blanche simplified.

"Not just that. Using census data, FLARE has been able to determine what kinds of people are moving into Lumiose-3," Augustine said. "Thanks to all of your efforts, more and more people are realizing that the risk of living here is minor compared to what they have to gain."

"That's… basic human geography, isn't it?" Gin asked, scratching his head. "I mean, I barely passed that class, but..."

"You can make geography out of humans?" Salem asked. "Can I try that?"

"No," Blanche said automatically.

"However, Lumiose-3 also happens to offer some… less than legal opportunities on account of its size," Augustine said.

"That happened in Orre, too. It's mostly just people having nothing else to do, though," Michael said.

"All in all, you'll likely be dealing with more human Anomalies than usual," Augustine summed it up. "Any questions? Ulex, Rhododendron, Agapanthus?"

"How did you say that all without flubbing the names?" Blanche asked.

The Professor shushed him while Salem raised her hand.

"When you say human Anomalies," one of her ear-like tufts twitched, "Does that mean I can use my powers to-"

"Making the enemy forget they saw you is dishonorable," Ash said, shielding his eyes with a strange gesture.

"Just knock 'em out," Gin added.

"Aw…"

Blanche sighed, mentally getting back in the saddle.

"Oh, Blanche," Clemont called as everyone broke up into more specific discussions. "New Gears have been authorized for field use. As long as your Infinity Battery is functioning properly, you should be able to teleport them normally."

"Sick. What do they look like?" Blanche walked over as the three Espers in the room started discussing how to properly raid a warehouse of criminals.

Clemont was looking over some blueprints, but he quickly switched them out for a tablet plugged into LADY's systems.

"Well, they're nothing special, but you get some use out of them." Clemont swiped once, and a picture of a shield appeared. "The STRIKE is a shield that propels itself with Infinity Energy to counter its weight, while also using its mass to protect you. Your mobility shouldn't suffer in open air, but I don't advise getting into small spaces with it."

"How heavy is it?"

"I… can't actually lift it myself. It has a series of tiny thrusters that push back against the acceleration of gravity and it has a small computer that connects to LADY's interface to change the vectors and such. It won't crush you, but I wouldn't recommend using it as a blanket."

Clemont swiped again. A schematic of a glove and a bright spear appeared.

"The STAB is a generalized spear, but it can be thrown as well as used as a sweeping weapon. LADY handles the computing, but it creates a small, temporary AIAM field that binds a rod of Infinity Energy together long enough to be thrown. I watched a Sinnoh League conference match once, and I saw an Infernape create a lance out of fire with a similar impression. The glove is the Gear itself, and it will give the impression of weight though the spear has little. The AIAM field only lasts for a few seconds after losing contact with the glove, so short to mid-range is ideal."

"Maybe I should have signed up for track and field in Trainer School," Blanche remarked.

Clemont tapped his screen as a new picture appeared.

Blanche's eyes widened, before a smile slowly but surely broke onto his face.

"And this here is the SLASH. I had a feeling you might like it."

---

Early February.

In the dead of night, two figures were nearly invisible under the waning moon, sticking to the shadows of a towering palace. Their breathing was muffled, but inside of their helmets it sounded deafening.

"Remind me why we're here again?" Blanche hissed, his heart soon to explode out of his chest.

It was just one of many assignments that had popped up. To get the new Espers acclimated as well as put them to good use, Augustine put him and Ash on this specific mission. It wasn't to fight and Anomaly, but rather, to do some reconnaissance.

"I believe there was an item of great importance that we must recover," Ash replied, his voice so low it could be mistaken for rustling grass.

"For the good of all mankind," Augustine added. The Pokémon Lab was dim behind him, with only one person using it. "This mission required absolute stealth!" he whispered. "You must not be caught! You must not summon your Gear under any circumstances! If you are… we are doomed!"

"I know, I know," Blanche said, shaking his head minutely. The satellite images weren't updated in real time, but he could keep track of where they were using landmarks in the architecture.

A huff split the silence like a jackhammer. Him and Ash immediately hugged a wall as the sound of sniffing echoed towards them. A Pyroar, telling by the silhouette, passed by, standing tall and looking regal as it paced around the inner perimeter. It eventually passed, the sound of its breathing fading away.

Blanche nearly collapsed, one hand on his chest and the other still pressed to the wall. "I'm really not built for this stuff," he wheezed as quietly as possible.

Ash looked at him, moonlight reflecting off of navy blue- nearly black- spandex. His breathing was entirely silent, not even a whisper coming through his communications line.

"May we continue?" he asked.

"Yeah, let's. The sooner we're out of here, the better for my nerves."

They hugged the palace wall for a hundred or so paces, not disturbed by any more guards.

Beneath a high window, in the edges of perfectly maintained grass hidden by a bush, there was a wide patch of dirt. It looked as if it had been swept away or kicked up a while ago, though the grass had not begun to grow back.

"Entry point located," Blanche said. He looked up at the high window as the two of them crouched between the rowed windows on the ground floor. "...Are you sure you meant the third floor? Seems sort of small from down here."

"Trust in me, my A-team. It is a rendezvous and stash for… certain items. I have been informed that spring cleaning will soon occur in the palace, and as such, is at risk of discovery."

"Right, right…" Blanche assured himself, choosing to believe that it was an attic that stored a doomsday artifact or something similar.

Maybe a magic lamp?

Whatever the case, he stared at the high roof for a good few moments in thought. "How are we supposed to get up there?"

Ash raised his hand in a rigid manner. "I believe I may be of some assistance. I have training for these sorts of situations."

"Shoot."

Ash's hand went to a belt that had been incorporated into his morph suit upon his request. A small purple pellet, a bit larger than an egg, dropped to the ground before it silently exploded and Blanche's vision was filled with white smoke.

Him and Ash were then on a high ledge, precariously balanced on the six-inch outcropping just outside the window. Ash pulled the two of them into a crouch.

Blanche eyed the ground warily. "How did you do that?" he whispered.

"I can manipulate poisonous substances. By cloaking us in a very mild allergen which few are actually allergic to, I was able to lift us through the resultant fog," Ash explained, perfectly still, before his visor turned towards the closed window. "I have not encountered a frame of this design before." He palmed a small hook-ended implement and slid it between the panes. "Allow me a minute to open this. If you see any movement, freeze and alert me. The watch will notice movement in these light conditions, but they may not be looking too closely."

Blanche was about to nod, but instead said, "Alright."

The mentor becomes the mentee, indeed.

"Agapanthus, you wouldn't happen to have used your skills in Lumiose-3 before, would you?" Augustine asked warily.

"Ask no questions and I shall tell no lies." A bit of metal unhitched near silently. "Traveling the world does leave one low on supplies. Amaranth, the window is open. Shall we proceed?"

Knowing Gin as well, he couldn't care less about criminal history. Ash was on the side of good now, and that was what mattered. "Let's go. In and out. I have a warm bed with my name on it back home."

"Indubitably."

The window swung inward, just enough to let them silently step fully inside the room while not totally exposing it to the wind. The room was tall, not nearly as much so as the lower floors, but enough that Blanche didn't feel cramped.

There was a four-post bed with curtains, dozens of pillows, the whole shebang.

Naturally, there was also a person inside of it.

Obviously, speaking externally would be a very bad idea, but internally, Blanche was screaming profanities and swearing that he was going to commit elder abuse next time he saw the Professor.

Blanche gesticulated wildly to Ash, hoping that his emotion was carrying through even with his entire face covered by a black visor.

"Now," Augustine said, face incredibly close to the camera receiver. "Third dresser, the one between the mirror and the wardrobe. The fourth drawer, below the middle."

Over the course of a minute, Blanche and Ash slowly padded over to the dresser. Over another minute, Blanche slid it open and prayed to God that his body wasn't shaking too badly. Inside the dresser, as you would expect, there were clothes.

Men's clothes.

"Professor, I'm actually going to kill you," Blanche muttered so far under his breath that it could be on the ground floor.

"Secret between men! Now, get those out of there! Any evidence left behind can and will be used against me."

This is an abuse of power, I'm one-hundred percent certain, Blanche thought. Breaking and entering, theft, aiding and abetting…

Oh, definitely not that last one. Terrible image to have in his brain.

Blanche wrapped all of the clothes up in a single lab coat, bunching it together without a care for the wrinkles he was creating. Ash was looking at him with a blank look, though that was the natural state of their visors, he could feel it radiating from the ninja.

There was more shuffling in the room. In his rush, he must have created too much noise.

"GO! GO!" Augustine screamed in his ear.

Blanche took a running jump and threw himself out the window and into the garden, sure that Ash wasn't far behind. A pellet struck his upper back, and his vision of a rapidly approaching statue was replaced by fog.

His vision cleared as he softly landed behind another bush, further into the courtyard next to Ash. His ears, however, were filled by a cry coming from the upper window.

The world seemed to come alive around them with Pyroar roaring and flashlight beams blazing into the air around them.

They had no other choice than to run for dear life.

---

Blanche threw a bundle of clothes at the Professor in the wee hours of the morning, the FLARE Pokémon Lab still dimmed as he and Ash reentered, with Blanche's morph suit being covered in twigs and internally filled with sweat, though somehow still in one piece.

"Ah, gentlemen, how fantastic it is to see you," the Professor said, sipping a cup of coffee and looking entirely nonchalant as the bundle landed at his feet.

"I hate you. So. So much," Blanche spat, before pausing and adding, "Sir." He paused again. "Actually, you know what? No. Augustine, you can take these clothes, and shove them wuh-haaaaaaaaaaaay up your-"

---

Later that month, it turned out that there were slow days in Kalos. No, really. There are days when not much of anything happens, and even weeks full of such days.

Unfortunately, as Blanche was suddenly informed, if they wanted their full salary they needed to fulfill a quota.

That was how Blanche ended up raking sand on a beach in Ambrette Town with Salem, her Meowstic, Chespin, as well as two old enemies, Plusle and Minun.

Allegedly, people only care about volunteer work when there are cute mascots there to sensationalize, as Michael put it. It was probably the cynical Orrean in him speaking.

So the story went, once the two Electric-types had calmed down, they became good enough friends with Clemont's Dedenne to fully switch to the less chaotic side of things, and were allowed to help with the beach clean-up.

Of course, it had been months since the old team had actually cleaned it. It wasn't notable, but it had been hard and embarrassing work to repair the boardwalk they'd inadvertently shredded on their school trip.

Alas, any PR is good PR, so they were sent back.

Gin and Ash had fulfilled their quotas, and according to the greaser they'd gone on their own little adventure in Lumiose's underside and now they were best friends.

So, it was him and Salem on deck. He also felt like doing a little physical training with Chespin couldn't hurt.

Blanche was the only one of the two to not be wearing his helmet, as his identity was commonly known and he could smell the sea breeze better that way.

Upon later reflection that he had made the choice to take it off in mid-winter, he quickly remembered that he was an idiot as he downed more cold medicine.

But at that moment, he was raking sand for trash. A lot of the work was saved by pointing out trash to Salem, whose morph suit was a copperish orange highlighted with red, and she would levitate it into a trash bag.

He was fairly certain that when he wasn't looking, she was levitating fish Pokémon out of the surf then throwing them back out to sea, but he only caught glimpses and heard the splashes.

"Stop that," he said, snapping and pointing at her without looking.

"Stop what?" she asked innocently, her voice digitizing slightly as it traveled through her helmet.

"That."

"What?"

Blanche sighed. For a "leader," he sure didn't feel in charge. Salem didn't work exactly like Rosa even if they were both a little crazy. Rosa's case was understandable because when your Esper ability is a hammer, every problem is a nail.

He pulled a bit of rope out from the sand, along with a chunk of a life preserver and tossed it to Chespin.

They'd been working with Vine Whip on the backburner, starting with just trying to catch things with the vines to hone control and tautness.

The plasticky preserver chunk bounced off Chespin's forehead and back onto the sand.

"Ah…"

"Ches…"

Blanche held out a thumbs-up, his armor glinting in the sunlight that reached through the cloud cover. "Hey, that's fine. We'll try again."

Salem levitated the hunk of junk out of the sand and into a massive ball of garbage that she and her Meowstic were levitating. The bipedal cat (well, that metric could describe both of them) was a little less than twice Chespin's height as it stood next to Salem. The two would move at the exact same time and often make the same motion, working at the same rhythm. If they were a duo of Trainer and partner Pokémon, they'd probably be great in the Gym Challenge.

Well, they'd been doing a pretty good job cleaning. As Gin and LaRusso had put it, there's no better place to train than on the beach.

"Hey, Rhododendron, you want to have a battle?"

One of Meowstic's ears perked up before Salem turned towards him. Her helmet had twitched upwards just the slightest bit.

"Really? Can we?" she asked, a pink glow surrounding a nearby tarp and pulling it under the floating ball of junk. It crashed down with a scattered clang, but the air seemed to solidify around the edges and kept anything from spilling back onto the sand.

"As long as we don't destroy anything, it should be fine. And, well… I haven't actually had a proper Pokémon battle before," he admitted, laughing awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head.

"No way!" she exclaimed.

"Way," he said.

"Wow, this is going to be awesome! I've never had anyone ask to battle my Meowstic before." Her helmet twitched a second time. "Well, no one that's heard of me. Still dunno why. So! You know the rules?"

"I've seen a battle, my amnesia isn't short-term," he snarked. "It's not turn-based, it's just done that way in big matches for the audience's benefit. Most Trainers can figure out what's happening before it does. That's the Art of War, know thy enemy, what they're most likely to do, y'know…"

"Really? I always thought they were taking the time to think."

"Oh." Well, shit, he used his brain a little too much there. "That too."

"What size field?" she asked, her Meowstic's eyes turning a solid pink.

"Nothing crazy. Half a tennis court should be good," he guessed.

Small plumes of sand were cut out around them in the shape of a rectangle, an invisible force digging wavy lines in a vague pattern that sectioned off an area of the beach.

Blanche walked backwards out of the arena and Salem did the same. Chespin remained where he'd been standing, near the center. Salem's Meowstic took up a stance near the three-quarter mark opposite Blanche.

Almost immediately, plans began falling into place. The gears on his train of thought clicked and churned. They hadn't worked out Vine Whip yet, it was very imprecise. He hadn't needed to teach Tackle or Growl because those were just things that Chespin could do. He couldn't teach instincts like that, they were very basic commands.

Growl would lower the physical attack power of another Pokémon, so it went in his brain. Psychic is generally a special attack, so that was out. Getting in close could work.

"Are you ready, Leader?" Salem asked, pointing at him across the sandy gap.

"Yes. Tackle!"

Chespin started running after a moment, but its footwork was sloppy on the loose earth. It kicked up sand as it moved forward, approaching the Meowstic with its two stubby legs.

"Meowstic, use Mean Look!"

The cat-like Pokémon stared down Chespin and sneered so powerfully, Blanche had flashbacks to getting shoved into a locker while preps watched. Just like high school.

Wait a damn minute, he thought, that wasn't a flashback! That was the memories of a stupid movie LaRusso made him, Gin, and Lenore watch the last time they were there. It wasn't even a psychic attack.

And I'm an amnesiac, for Christ's sake, he complained mentally.

Chespin lost its footing entirely just from the mental impact and collapsed, face down in the sand. Meowstic's eyes flashed pink and its ears unfurled. The sand sculpted itself into the shape of a bowl and a vague humanoid shape. The latter put its foot-like appendage on the back of Chespin's head and mimed pushing it in.

"It's a trick! Snap out of it! You've never faced the Unovan education system!"

That seemed to do the trick, and the quills from its head looped outwards and cut through the sand. Chespin got back on its feet warily, somewhat closer to Meowstic.

"Can you continue?" Blanche asked.

The Grass-type nodded silently, pulling its short arms close to its face in a pseudo-boxing stance.

"Right. Vine Whip the sand!" he called, hoping that the screen would blind Meowstic and lower its accuracy.

Chespin was still for a moment before striking immediately below it, kicking up sand mostly upwards and not outwards. It provided a smokescreen of sorts, but it wasn't what he was looking for.

"Confusion, Meowstic!" Salem called.

The short-lived sandstorm was cut even shorter by a beam of pink and purple waves swirling through and throwing Chespin back into the sand.

"Ches…" it groaned, before trying to get back up.

Blanche was at a loss for words. He didn't have another plan. If he was Chespin, he would have kept trying, but he wasn't and he didn't want to force his partner to keep going if he knew they wouldn't win.

"I think that's enough," Blanche called to Salem before walking onto the field. The cool breeze swept over him as he crouched down next to Chespin. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Ches-ches," it replied woozily, shifting its weight from one foot to another.

He was holding up one, not two.

Blanche sighed and stood up as Salem approached with Meowstic padding alongside her.

"You're not in tune. Chespin doesn't know what you're thinking." She turned to Chespin, and her Meowstic's eyes glowed again.

The tiny Grass-type snapped out of its confusion and nodded.

"I don't have aura or anything, so I don't know what you're thinking either," Blanche said helpfully.

"Psions aren't related to aura," Salem said. "But you're a really funny guy, you know that, Blanca?"

"Blanche."

"No, Blanca! Like a blank slate. Like I could just sculpt your face into something else entirely with a marker." Salem stuck her fingers into his cheeks, pushing them in tiny circles. "Blanca."

"Right," he said slowly.

Right. Everyone in this world is insane. Including me, I suppose.

---

The different sections of Lumiose-3 actually have a bit of history to them, stretching from the city's founding thousands of years ago to the March of 2013. The south side is filled to the brim with people who used to live in Santalune or Aquacorde but were forced to evacuate when the Heavens Shattered. The west side is where the commerce happens, as the road that connects Coumarine City runs through it. The east side has a similar story, as the high rises have an excellent view in that direction. The north side, though? It's desolate most days. Depressing, almost. Most people consider it to be less than suburban, because to them, nothing happens there.

How wrong they are, Blanche thought, trying to keep the fire escape from creaking as he climbed it with Gin, both of them fully morphed with Gin's suit being a dark purple that seeped into the night air and highlighted with black.

"Let's try this way," Gin said, jerking his head to the side and towards a row of windows. The metal grating was thinner and separated from the fire escape, presumably scaffolding that had never been torn down.

Blanche nodded, having thought something similar. They crouched low as they snuck around the windows, careful to avoid being seen by anyone inside.

They stopped and crouched down outside one of the windows and waited with anticipation. A few minutes passed and Gin checked his watch.

"Should be any second now," he muttered. "My info guy's usually not wrong about this sort of thing."

Metal slammed on another end of the warehouse, and inside it the lights flickered on. Suited men and women strolled in, some wearing sunglasses even so late at night, with one, a middle aged man carrying a thick metal briefcase. The suits walked around him in formation, putting him at the center before they came to a stop near the midpoint of the interior. They were almost directly in front of them, separated only by glass and a dozen or so feet. The waning moon behind them wouldn't highlight them, as the surrounding rooftops blocked out moonlight.

Another few minutes passed, reaching almost exactly eleven minutes past eleven. There was another clang of metal as the doors opened again. More suits, though wearing much less uniform clothing. Pinstripe whites and blues and fedoras straight out of a mafia movie.

"Dolls, bozos, wild cards," one of them greeted, tipping an aged hat over their salt and pepper hair. If the first leader was squatted, this one was doing the limbo. He couldn't have been more than four foot six, not even three-quarters of Blanche's height. "Let's discuss business, shall we?"

"This is the part me and Russ usually bust in," Gin said, before cutting himself off to see if any of the nearby windows had cracks. "Beat up a few grunts, call the cops, see if the Aura Sacks are any good, y'know."

"Aural Sap," Blanche corrected, though no one was nearby to look at him funny. "Is that how you got your powers?"

"It's a long story, man," Gin said, shaking his head. "I'll tell you later, now, let's get in there and-"

"No," Blanche said, holding out a hand. "If they don't actually have any, then it's not worth the risk."

"Ah, whatever you say, boss-man."

"I'm not your-" Blanche was about to protest, but noticed the discussion inside moving forward and turned his attention back.

The pinstripe leader clapped his gnarled hands. "Now that we're out of the way with pleasantries, let's see the goods. The Cubone Family," he said, pronouncing it as cuh-bone, "Is well-known back home for our honor in business."

"Of course. Thirty million up front," the black-suited leader said. "Enough to make an Esper to rival FLARE's."

Blanche felt faint at the number. He knew it was powerful, rare, and kept under lock and key, but… actually, it was very reasonable, he hadn't expected it.

"Seventy million when it works," the pinstripe leader said, chuckling. "One hundred million in total, plus a good bottle of wine. You'll have it soon enough." He snapped his fingers. "Alphonse, present the money."

A young boy with black and bluish hair, not even a teenager, rushed to the front to present a tight brown briefcase, emblazoned with the letter C. It snapped open, presenting stacks upon stacks of bills, and at the same time the metal suitcase did the same.

Blanche, despite the last time he had seen it being the January before, would have recognized the iridescent rainbow-colored liquid anywhere.

"Gin, let's go hit some problems very, very hard," he said in a low tone, almost as if he were saying the words to himself, before thrusting his hand out to the empty air beside him. A gun would be a bit much. Humans had much less aura than most Pokémon, and Aural Shells were still paintballs at the end of the day. They wouldn't be knocking anyone out directly. Melee was his best option, but no blades. Never a blade.

"Clemontic Gear Access: STRIKE!"

In one moment, there was a flash of light. In the very next, there was the shattering of glass. In the third, there was Gin falling towards the gangsters, flaring up with dark fog and leading with his feet, and Blanche smashing through the rest of the window behind him, waving around a massive shield like it was nothing.

"Float," he grunted before jumping in after Gin.

That was one of the shield's properties. It used the Infinity Battery to change the forces acting on it via mechanisms Blanche still didn't fully understand. The edges burned white with expelled energy and slowed his fall, though it was his muscles that pulled him close enough to it to maintain its purpose.

Gin was already among the gangsters, punching and kicking like a demon even before they all registered that they were under attack. Both briefcases snapped shut via their respective owners.

Blanche landed between them, touching down heavily and slamming the metal edge into the concrete floor. He tilted his head towards both gang leaders before pulling the STRIKE out of the cracked foundation.

"Gentlemen."

The pinstripe reached into his jacket and pulled out…

"A tommy gun!" the man said, about to pull the trigger before he realized he was pointing it at a metal shield. "...I see my personal favorite won't be of much use here. Alphonse, prepare our escape."

Blanche whipped behind him and knocked the black-suited leader off his feet as he had reared up with a tire iron. The STRIKE whirred as it accelerated, then slowed back down as soon as it had lost contact. "You shouldn't discuss escape plans in front of cops, y'know."

"The alternative is that we don't and you catch me. Alas, I must monologue," the pinstriped leader said with a chuckle. "Forgive an old man his tendencies."

"If you surrender, I don't have to beat the hell out of you," Blanche offered, shrugging with his shield.

Behind and around him, Gin was still absolutely decimating the gangsters on both sides like a mad hound, coincidentally keeping them away from the center. The grunts were afraid to hit one of the bosses and were already occupied anyway.

"No dice, unfortunately. Now, Alphonse, the getaway?"

Blanche wound back with the shield, but an odd Pokémon appeared before him in a blast of light. The inverted Psychic-type squid, Malamar.

Its eyes flashed reddish-pink, and his shield bounced off of solid and glassy air, making him nearly drop it from the backlash in his joints.

Shit, he thought. "LADY, what's the maximum distance for the STRIKE's connection?"

"Thirty meters," the computer replied helpfully. "With a twenty-five meter margin of error."

Blanche inhaled and threw his shield to the side. As the edges of the metal began glowing and it careened towards the wall. the gang leader began to speak.

"Now, Malamar, use-"

The command was cut short as the Malamar lost focus on account of the metal discus that slammed into it and pushed it into the wall parallel. The shield righted itself, bouncing off of its squishy body as it made full impact, and traveled towards Blanche at an odd angle. One side burned brighter than the other, and the saucer spun around him before slowing and floating next to his arm.

Gin then broke away from the grunt he was fighting, kicked off another Pokémon's face, then delivered a mid-air roundhouse kick to the Malamar as it had just started to recover.

The distraction gone but the method of retreat removed, the grunts had no other choice but to refocus on Blanche. He hefted his shield as six of them surrounded him in a semicircle and the pinstripe leader looked at his watch. Many Golbat flew into the air around him, and a group of five Pawniard kneeled beside a Bisharp.

"Activate comms back to base," Blanche whispered, forcing himself to stand tall and feign bravado.

"Stealth mode deactivated. Opening channel," LADY said as two Golbat swept towards him from opposite directions.

He ducked their wings as they took on a metal sheen, shoving the shield entirely upwards to catch both of them rather than blocking one hit and taking the other.

"What are my odds?" he grunted as he took a step back to avoid a swipe from a dashing Pawniard at his calves. He swung the STRIKE to the side, the thrusters burning as they accelerated and the shield threw it into a grunt, knocking them over.

A cut lanced over his arm from a Pawniard that had jumped at him. It didn't break through the spandex as it was a glancing blow, but he felt the texture scrape across the armor.

He didn't have the time to glance at the user interface, but he could hear Michael say, "He's support, not the brawler," in the background.

"Asshole," he breathed.

Gin had finished pummeling the Malamar into unconsciousness at some point, as he reappeared in Blanche's periphery. He grabbed a Golbat by the wing and swung it in a wide arc into a grunt's face, before punching the grunt in the gut and slamming both down into the concrete.

Blanche turned his attention back to the third Pawniard that was trying to jump him. It had swung straight for his face, scratching the helmet widely and breaking up a swath of his vision. A split second later he redirected it, leaning backwards to throw it over with the top of his shield and into the gang leader. It had merely been skimmed and its trajectory was much lower.

His legs were almost literally cut out from under him a moment later, and he could feel the swipe go deeper than before. A sharp cry of pain came from his calf and he stumbled forwards. A Golbat swept towards him and faster than he could blink, he was seeing the darkness inside of its mouth as it knocked him backwards. Another cut laced around his body in the upper thigh.

Blanche righted himself as forcefully as he could and raised his shield high into the air before slamming it down. Whatever predictive algorithms LADY used, they worked, as the shield broke out of his grasp and cracked the concrete with an ear-splitting pound. He pulled Golbat from his head, yanking it by the whatever wing he could grab. Its teeth left two vertical gouges in his visor, worsening the condition further as he threw it into the concrete.

A sharp arrow struck his heart.

No, that was Bisharp's arm, he realized. It swept outwards, cutting a trail from his ribs to a small segment on his forearm. It hurt and he'd probably need to get patched up, but he wasn't retreating yet. He would just have to avoid another hit like that.

He yanked back his shield, just barely getting it up in time to deflect another slash that would have cracked his visor clean in two. After stepping back, he tripped over another blade, the one remaining Pawniard.

Ah, shit.

Bisharp was coming towards him with an overhead blow, and landing on Pawniard would cut straight through his spine.

The STRIKE's thrusters burned, keeping him on his feet as it pushed itself high enough to protect his face. The blow threw him down, and his Battery warmed as the thrusters threw him to the side.

Gin replaced him moments later, punting the Pawniard into Bisharp's face, knocking it to one knee as it stumbled.

Blanche put a hand on his knee as he stood up as he stood up. Gin seemed to be having a little too much fun with the remaining Pokémon, as the combatants were the only two moving in the warehouse as they traded lightning-fast blows.

Blanche looked left, then he looked right, then he looked at Gin as he slammed a briefcase across the Bisharp's face.

"Ulex, they're gone," he said.

"Huh?" Gin responded, slamming down the metal briefcase for good measure and partially submerging the Bisharp's head in concrete.

"The leader and that kid got away."

"Oh. Well, damn, that's lame," Gin said, standing and rolling his shoulders.

The grunts and Pokémon were all knocked out, with the Malamar and its Trainer's entourage nowhere to be seen.

Gin held up the dented metal briefcase. "Hey, it's not all bad, though. We got the sap back."

Fluorescent liquid began dripping from one of its many new corners.

Blanche took off his helmet and let it disappear back to FLARE. The first reason was because he couldn't see and it needed to be repaired, but the second was so that he could facepalm properly.

"Tuesday," he muttered before wiping a hand across what little of his skin was bare. The white gloves came away tinged with red. He stared at his fingers for a good while. "Because I don't have enough scars," he said, sounding annoyed but truly relieved that it hadn't been worse. "Thank you, Universe, I think you've made your point."

---

FLARE has MagLev drivers on payroll for emergencies in a similar situation to how Nurse Joy works in the headquarters beneath Lumiose-3. One of these drivers was the fifth person on the train that sped through the countryside.

The hills passed by quickly as Blanche mentally prepared himself, Ash moved through katas, Gin shadowboxed, and Salem stretched in total sync with Meowstic. They'd received a distress call from Kiloude City before the sounds of struggling became clear and they violently lost contact. It was a very remote city as the mountains surrounding it were too treacherous for the average traveler, so there were no on-foot routes. They were too great in number for the Professor's Garchomp to take them, and an evacuation was potentially necessary.

Blanche closed his eyes and tried to sooth his nerves. His fingers rhythmically tapped his belt and each of the three Pokéballs. Ariel was in Kiloude as well, it was her hometown. Was she hurt? What was happening? Were they already too late?

No, he told himself. Don't think in that direction. People didn't die like that in Kalos. They hadn't died like that anywhere, even if that had been the only possible explanation he could give.

His hands were shaking. Why were they betraying him?

The MagLev approached the mountain range to the southeast. The rail had been built along the mile-wide gash in the Earth, to remind everyone that rode it that even as the world was destroyed and Shattered, they would be able to come together and build something stronger.

Blanche looked out across the murky floodplains. Rainwater must have pooled there, he thought as he tried to distance himself from his fear. The trail of destruction was simply too large to coalesce runoff into a single pond or lake.

The conductor called out to them, looking over her shoulder, "We'll be coming up on the tunnel shortly. I'd tell you good luck, but I think you've got enough between the four of you."

In a manner of speaking, yes. It could be called luck to live in the Pokémon world, just as it could be called unlucky since doing so made him forget everything important.

The train car was submerged in darkness as it entered the tunnel. The dim overhead lights casted them in thin shadows. A deep rumbling came from the Earth around them. It was distant, somewhere far above them.

The rumbling grew closer, more rhythmic, as it beat down on their ears like drums.

Blanche's hand tightened around his morpher, pulling the strap taut against his waist.

"Turbulence," the conductor assured them. "The local Pokémon have learned to only enter the tunnel when the MagLevs aren't running, but the Rock-types tend to leave waste behind.

Distant cries, almost like metal screeching, passed unnoticed. The tunnel's bend blocked the light from both sides, but in a moment, they seemed to grow even darker.

Blanche got an itch in the back of his head. Not on his scalp, but somewhere deep in his brain. A spike of adrenaline ran through him, though he couldn't understand why. He squeezed his eyes tight in concentration, trying to not be anxious.

Ash's eyes narrowed, though he said nothing, and his stance changed into a slight crouch.

The rumbling began again, much closer this time.

"That's odd…" the conductor noted, leaning to one side, "Usually the light gets deeper inside."

"MORPH!" Blanche screamed, seconds before metal screamed as it met a flood of rocks at the end of the tunnel.

There was a flash of white as he flew through the air, torn from his feet as the train derailed. Time slowed as well, or it seemed to. His vision became slightly more glassy, darker even. The window shattered on impact as the front ran aground and small boulders pounded against the hull. Th conductor jerked forward violently in their seat, head whipping forward though their body was strapped safely in. There was a spray of rubble scratching across Blanche's vision, and then he saw nothing.

There was a whiny ringing in his ears, however long it took him to recover afterwards. He rolled in the tar-like darkness, the only source of light being a car much further along the train. The stale luminescent blue reflected across the metal and the others as they rolled across the ground.

His armor creaked as he shakily pushed himself up. Sparks blew off of him before fizzling out. His left side was killing him, as it was the side he'd shielded himself with.

Wasn't it? It was just so foggy, and… if he hadn't had his armor…

He wouldn't have been in solid enough chunks for the clean-up crew to scrape him off of anything.

"Hey, Ulex. Rhododendron. Agapanthus." He coughed, feeling a sharp pain in his ribs as he forcefully inhaled. His helmet was scratched on its left, though thankfully still in one piece. "You guys alive?"

A silence followed.

"Guys? Guys, seriously," he said again, his voice quivering. They couldn't have died from that, it was ridiculous. He was still alive and he was only on even ground, his artificial aura was probably weaker than theirs anyway, right?

Blanche heard the sound of a glove slapping against metal. He turned more to his left and saw Ash pushing himself to his feet. His suit blended in with the darkness and the artificial light, he almost didn't see him even with the clear movement.

"Breathing," Ash said weakly. "Are you well, Amaranth?"

"Just barely," he replied, trying to maneuver back into the pilot's cabin. Oh, God, the pilot… was in one piece. The train had crushed inwards instead of digging in, preventing most of the rubble from hitting anyone inside. The conductor's head was lulled over her shoulder. Blanche guessed whiplash at best.

"Shit, shit, shit," he swore as he put too much pressure on his foot getting back in. Ash moved to remove the pilot. "No! If he has a neck injury, you must not move him. Are Ulex and Rhododendron awake?"

"Present, Mr. Santa Claus," she murmured dizzily, surrounded by a pink glow as she levitated upwards in a slumped pile with her Meowstic.

The psychic light illuminated more of the car and showed Gin curled around a pole, still holding on for dear life. Chespin was hanging by a vine from an overhead handle, spinning like a ceiling fan. Plusle and Minun poked out from further down the car and shot off a spark of electricity. The train ran on electromagnets, Blanche remembered hazily.

"I wish I could remember the right swears right now." He tried to spit the words out, but the ringing in his ears made it feel like he'd barely mumbled them. He unlatched the conductor's seat belt, careful to not move them before he fumbled around for a first aid kit.

Gin stirred with Ash's help while Blanche inflated a support balloon around the conductor's neck. It wouldn't heal anything, but wrapped properly it would keep them from moving and possibly hurting themselves further.

He looked up as he finished tying it off, ignoring the ache that was beginning to settle in his body. "Do you guys need first aid?" he asked, holding up the small box of emergency supplies.

"I could use some vapor rub," Gin groaned, massaging his chest muscles. "Is this what Anomalies are usually like outside the city?"

"No… no, we usually show up before or after things like this happen," Blanche said slowly. "This can't be a coincidence."

"I have a headache," Salem complained, rubbing her temples in sync with Meowstic. "There's a lot of… distress coming from ahead."

Blanche looked at the rockfall in front of the car, then back down the tunnel which was still immersed in darkness.

"We need to get out of here, but we're closer to the Kiloude end than the countryside end." He looked back at the unconscious conductor, before crouching and detaching the seat from the train's base. "Rhododendron, Teleport the conductor back to base and fill the others in." His interface was filled with declarations of lost connections. The uplink ran on FLARE's satellite, which wouldn't be reaching them while they were buried.

There was a pop and a flash of pink light as she and Meowstic disappeared with the conductor and their seat.

"Ulex, Agapanthus. Do you think we should retreat?" Blanche asked seriously.

"What? Hell no! There could still be people in danger," Gin answered angrily. "Why would you even ask?"

Ash nodded as well. "I don't believe that is an option. The rockfall seems to have occurred on both sides of the tunnel, and I don't believe Rhododendron has enough power to Teleport all of us."

Blanche tapped his temple. "I'm glad we agree. Agapanthus, you said you could cut three times with a single swing when you joined FLARE, right?"

"I did. I am still attempting to master the fourth," Ash answered.

"Can you cut through the rocks?" Blanche asked.

"Stand back," was all he said in reply. Ash's equipment and sheaths were excluded by his morpher's programming, and so he was able to draw one of his swords easily.

Blanche eyed the… well, the silvery eye that protruded from the hilt, along with the blue ribbon that hung limply between the grip and the sheath.

"Is that a Honedge?"

"A Doublade, in fact. Spiritually-imbibed heirlooms of my clan," Ash said, as if he hadn't waited until then to let them know. He planted his foot on the edge of the console, crunching down what was left of the shattered glass, and held his sword sideways as a plume of purple gas exploded around him.

There was a low thunk in the gaseous darkness, and then light from the end of the tunnel, just barely peeking through.

"I'm not questioning it. Let's go," Blanche said, clapping Gin on the shoulder before tapping the buttons on his Pokéballs, returning Chespin, Plusle, and Minun. They hadn't seemed too injured, each having their own way of lessening the impact, but a spot of rest for them would be good.

"There were cracks of air between the larger boulders," Ash explained, pulling his sword away from its ending position parallel to the tunnel wall and pointing forward. He sheathed it as the three Rangers walked along the cleared rubble. "After I force the pollen through it, I can make it brittle enough to break easily."

Blanche looked around just to make sure. "This was at least thirty feet of rockfall," he said.

"As I said, it was broken easily," Ash replied.

The tracks finally opened into air, and contact was made again with the satellite. Aveline was very close to the camera receiver, though Salem was closer and smushing her face into the computer screen.

"Oh, you're alright!" Aveline said to all of them, thankfully relieved, before looking to the side. "But your biometrics…"

"They're fine," Blanche said immediately. "Send Rhododendron back, we're out of the tunnel."

He looked across Kiloude Town's remnants, and the smoke curling around the only remaining building at the center. A church.

"We're going to need her."

Pokémon approached them, their bodies crackling with black smog and purplish lightning. Not like Gin, they were dark, but more sinister. Almost like…

"Those are Shadow Pokémon!" Michael yelled, his voice pounding into Blanche's ears as he held out his hand for a gear. "How the hell are they in Kalos?"

---

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: BLUE

Designation: CGI BOOST

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

FLARE Designation: Amaranth

AIAM FIELD PATTERN: BLUE

Designation: CGI STAB

Artificial Teleport Request Inbound

FLARE Designation: Amaranth

"The Infinity Battery can't handle two at once," Clemont warned, "It might overclock it."

"Send them through," Michael said, pushing the button closer to Clemont. "He'll be careful, and they'll need whatever they can get."

---

"I need to find someone," he said, as a spear of light began forming in his suddenly-bulkier gloves and a crank appeared on his helmet. The worse-than-feral Pokémon drew closer. Rabid Growlithe, spiky Geodude, red-eyed Gabite, and dozens of other species. "You guys handle these." He tapped his second and third Pokéballs and watched the duo of Electric-types appear in twin flashes of light. "Plusle, Minun, load these two up with a Helping Hand, alright?"

They looked around and each gave him a thumbs-up; Plusle with his right hand, Minun with her left.

"Dahlia, Geranium, and Rue are on their way!" Aveline said, typing frantically on her computer.

"You can't form a spear and travel at high speeds simultaneously," Clemont warned, adjusting his glasses.

"I'll manage. Thanks." The audio and visual feed cut out as Blanche cranked up the dial on the side of his visor. Instantly, his stomach protested along with his already aching body, but he pushed past the discomfort. He had more important things to worry about.

He leapt over the first wave as the Pokémon crashed onto each other beneath him, vaulting on and off their bodies faster than they could strike at him. The image of a person and her partner Pokémon was clear in his mind, even as the distorted screeching and crying reached him.

Dead. Him soaking the ground with his own tears, lashing out against others like he'd lost himself all over again, because he would.

It was the future he could never allow to come true.

They wouldn't die. They couldn't. He wouldn't let it happen. He couldn't live with himself if it did. He would protect them until his last breath.

"I'm coming."

---

Colress reclined in his own lab, hidden in an undisclosed location. The tube at its center was empty, as the subject had been released days prior.

"Let's see if the spirit truly is stronger than science," he said to himself, spinning around in a swivel chair. "The heart? The soul? Such a simple minded explanation. Only taming the mind can make us all stronger."

There had been one Genesect created under Team Plasma, but it was too blatant, too obvious. Only a single Pokémon could never be used to conquer the natural order. But a second attempt, one that could instead close the hearts of beasts and tame them to their will? It's name would be Legion; for it could create many.

It was deemed a failure, of course. It couldn't control Pokémon as was desired, but that didn't mean it couldn't serve an alternate purpose. Closing the heart? No, it destroyed it, obliterated it until there was nothing left but hate and the desire to destroy the world that had wronged it.

Perfect for his little scheme of revenge against FLARE.

---

A stained glass window, showing an ancient spiraling fossil, shattered outward as a shadowy flame billowed.

An Audino's trills stop sounding elegant and become raw and melancholic.