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Chapter 76
Char found himself reflexively reaching to accept the Quilava's handshake.
Handshake… A gesture he'd not seen in forever. A gesture he needed to teach Saura and Ray about when they first met.
A very human gesture.
He wanted to panic for a moment, realizing he may have been tricked into revealing one of his own biggest secrets to this devious Quilava. He wanted to slap himself for not listening to Eva's warnings. This Quilava had proven herself capable of tricking everyone, but Char assumed, for some reason, that he wasn't among those she was tricking. But maybe he played right into her trap…
Char's first instinct was to panic, but he stopped himself. That's what a child would do. That wasn't what the leader of Team Ember would do, a leader whom this strangely intelligent Quilava had regarded as worthy of her respect and attention, who'd proven himself capable of cooperating with her sudden and complex ploy to sneak away together. A leader who was now being offered a real, actual handshake – a gesture between two people who see eye-to-eye.
So Char decided to act the part of the leader and assert just as much strength and confidence as he felt was expected of him. He stood up nearly equal to her height. He looked her squarely in the eye, let himself give her a pleased little smile, and proudly clasped her hand.
"Scarlet. I'm Char," he said. "Nice to meet you, too! You must have come from the human lands. Or you must have known someone who did."
A sparkle in Scarlet's eye told Char he was on the right track. "Likewise with you. It seems we have something in common," she said, withdrawing her hand.
"But… that's not all, is it?" Char considered. "That's still not worth hiding in a dungeon to tell me. Pokémon come from the human lands all the time. I've met a few of them myself."
"Yeah… there's something else I think we have in common, too," she tentatively said. "Maybe I've met humans before. Or… in some sense of the word, maybe I haven't. Want to guess again?"
Char thought about her words very carefully, but it still felt like a puzzle with missing pieces. If his only hint was a handshake… Well, she obviously learned that from somewhere. She either saw humans doing it, or she learned from Pokémon who saw humans doing it.
Was there a third possibility? Maybe she came from one of those cults he'd heard about who worshipped humans and copied their mannerisms on purpose?
"Let me ask you this, Char," she said with a hopeful grin. "Have you met any humans before? In person?"
"N-no," Char said carefully. "I haven't. Not in person."
"In some sense of the word, right?" Scarlet tried. "And in another sense of the word… maybe… you have?"
"I don't… understand," Char admitted.
"So you've never met a single human since the day you hatched?" Scarlet asked. "Actually, when is your hatch-day? Do you remember?"
That got a nice lump of tar to settle in Char's stomach. He didn't have a hatch-day. And he never got around to fabricating one, either. He'd have to think quickly for this one.
But Scarlet must have noticed the panic he was trying to hide. "You don't have to answer that," she said gently. "It's supposed to be a hint."
A hint. His hatch-day, or lack thereof, was supposed to be a hint.
Then it hit him.
The third possibility. The one he never would have even considered as a possibility.
The reason for the secrecy.
The thing she had in common with him.
She knows what a handshake is… for the same reason that I do.
"You figured it out, didn't you?" Scarlet said with a soft smile. "That means I was right about you, too. Wasn't I?"
Char gulped down his apprehension, then gave his answer.
"Are you a human? In the body of a Quilava?"
Scarlet gave a little chuckle, sat back down, and stared at the stars above. "After all this time, it still feels surreal to hear someone say it," she sighed wistfully. "It's been decades since I've even discussed it with anyone. Some days I've even forgotten altogether… though maybe that's what I'm supposed to do, just embrace this world and forget about what I used to be…"
She turned to look at him. "What about you? Do you ever feel like that? Like you'll never be the Charmander completely? Do you always feel like some part of you is always going to be stuck somewhere that's completely lost and forgotten?"
Despite his efforts, Char blurted out a loud and awkward laugh. "Wait, wait, wait. Hold on a minute. I have so many questions!"
"Don't know how many answers I have for you, seeing that we're basically in the same situation," Scarlet said with a shrug. "But go ahead and try me. We've got time."
Char got down on his belly and looked attentively at her. "Why not just tell Eva? Why go through all this trouble to get past her? I can kind of understand keeping it a secret from the rest of the team… but I don't understand… if you know I trusted Eva with my secrets… why not just stop this silly rivalry in the first place?"
"Could I have? Really?" sang Scarlet. "She hates me because she thinks I'm in love with you. And she thinks I have the competence to be a decent partner to you. Which, to be perfectly fair, I probably do. And we're both fire-types, so we already have certain feelings in common… like the roar of the embers…" she rolled over to face him directly. "So what do you think would happen if she found out that we have even more in common than she thought? And that I could understand you on a level even deeper than she can? …Think that would have made her feel less threatened by me? Or… would it have just made things worse?"
Char snorted at the thought. "Alright. Yeah, you're completely right. Good call," he sighed. "But where did you come from? Why are you here? What made you transform? Do you remember what your life used to be like? I've always thought I was the only one… Are there any more of us? Do you know? I actually lost my memories when I came here, so I don't even know where I'm from, or why I transformed… I've been trying to figure that out since I got here."
"Reincarnation amnesia, right?" she said. "It happens to some. But you'll find that memories are fragile either way… if you go long enough, you'll start losing your memories of your old life no matter how hard you try holding onto them… Well, let's start with this. How much do you know about Ambera? Do you know about… the rules?"
While Char knew some of the rules… like the fact that this Quilava probably had the Call and didn't know it… he wasn't sure how much of the truth he was comfortable in divulging. Better to just plead ignorance for now, and see what Scarlet had to say. "I'm not sure. I just woke up here, met some friends, and… yeah, that's all, really. Guess I had a few bad run-ins with the Master doing stuff here, and joined the resistance."
"Interesting… so you woke up here? You didn't have to come here from overseas? That's… to be honest, I've never heard of that happening before," Scarlet hummed in surprise. "I came from Johto, if you remember anything about the human lands. But you also say you have amnesia, so you might not even remember the trip. So to explain, as far as anyone can tell, Ambera is under a few spells. It doesn't seem to exist geographically on the map of the world. Humans can't come here at all. Pokémon can only come here if they're guided by Pokémon who have already been here. So we think that the gods wanted Ambera to be a paradise for Pokémon only. We think there's at least one of every single Pokémon species living here. Even those that humans haven't discovered yet."
"Who's this 'we?'" Char said quickly with the keenest fascination. "So there are more humans here? We're not the only ones?"
"I've met several others, yes," Scarlet continued (with a hint of something strange in her voice… disdain, maybe?). "I can only speak for myself, but… I… well, there's only one way to say this. I died. As a human. I burned alive in a housefire. I even remember choking to death on the smoke… and then I woke up as a Cyndaquil. Probably some god wanting to turn my fatal weakness into my greatest strength, or something like that. But I'm not complaining."
I know what dying feels like, Char wanted to say. Seems we have even more in common than we thought.
"We think the spirit gods, or whoever handles life and death up there, they like to reincarnate humans into Pokémon sometimes, as some kind of… alternative to the afterlife. Maybe if they think someone died too early, they give us a second chance to accomplish what we wanted."
"So… how many of us are there? Do you know? When did you meet them? Do you still know any of them?" Char eagerly asked.
Scarlet rolled onto her back again, pointedly breaking eye contact.
"…No," she said softly. "I don't know any of them anymore. I wanted to stay in contact with them… because it's nice not to feel alone. Turns out that was probably the wrong idea. Turns out maybe I'm just supposed to be a Cyndaquil now. Quilava. Whatever. Sometimes I still forget that I evolved…"
After a moment, she added, "I can already hear you wanting to ask. And I guess that's why I brought you here in the first place. So I could tell you. I guess it's time…
"When a human becomes a Pokémon, their first instinct is to find someone to be their friend. Someone they can tell all their secrets to, someone… who can teach them how to be a Pokémon instead of a human. Usually you make friends with a Pokémon who used to belong to a trainer. They seem to understand you the most. Especially if they're a starter."
"…A 'starter?'" Char asked.
"Pokémon who were raised from hatching to be friends with a human," she explained. "They're taught from the youngest ages to understand human speech, read human mannerisms and feelings… Generally they're fire, water, and grass-types, though there have been exceptions. Human scientists found they have special bonding behavior with humans, especially young children, and that's what they give to children who want to become trainers. Very rare to find in the wild, at least in the regions where they're given as starters. You and I, we're both starters. So was your friend Saura."
Special bonding behaviors, is it? Char considered quietly. Maybe they gain heartspeak faster than other Pokémon. That would explain why Saura and I are such strong vectors for the Call. I'd bet anything that Lily is one of these 'starters', too…
"Actually… now that you mentioned it, this is starting to sound familiar," Char said. "I think… I think I remember something about kids being given Charmanders and Bulbasaurs… I don't think I was a Pokémon trainer in my past life… And yeah, Saura was the first friend I made when I came here. Woke up next to him, actually."
"Makes sense, you two really did seem inseparable from what I know of you," Scarlet said. "Yeah, all the transformed humans I've ever met have gone through this stage. And for me… that friend was a Snivy. His name was Jacaranda. Said he was a starter who lost his human. Said his trainer broke her leg on a forest hike and he couldn't bring her help in time, and… so he just… wandered off into the wild without a purpose. And then a few days after I found myself in this new body, he found me."
Scarlet's voice strengthened as she spoke of this incident, as though it had taken great trouble learning how to tell the story without letting her voice break.
"…He was one of those shiny Pokémon, too," she added. "Though I never realized it, because I never met another Sinvy for as long as I'd known him…"
"Oh… I bet that was terrible…" Char offered. "I… don't know how I'd feel if I lost Saura. Even though I haven't seen him in a while… I'm happy that he's safe with his family right now. If I found out he died… it would… take a while before I could regain the strength to move on. Don't know if I could even be a team leader after that…"
"Yeah… it was terrible for him," she sighed. "That's why he latched onto me when he found out I was a human. He thought of me like a second chance. He promised he would never leave my side and we'd go everywhere in the world and do everything together… And that… if something happened to me… he'd… save me or die trying."
The hesitance in her voice was unmistakable. "That's… exactly what happened, isn't it?" Char uttered.
"Yeah… and… just… if a few things had just gone differently… And if I… knew… what was going to happen… He'd still be right here. We'd still be in this together. Maybe he would have even gotten to meet you. Maybe we'd both be on Team Ember today…" Scarlet spoke each word so slowly and carefully, as though weeding out the individual teardrops hidden within them before showing them to Char.
But Char heard the fire in her heart. The roar of the embers, she'd called it. He heard echoes of this fire in her voice, drowning and conquering the distant memories of what had happened, yet never fully succeeding.
"What… happened?" Char caught himself asking.
She made a sudden snort, like a dragoness trying to suck down the smoke from her own firebreath. That's when she seemed to make her emotions submit to her fully, and she spoke the rest of her story with the calm confidence of someone who knew they were expected to be a leader.
"Jacaranda was the one who had the idea to search for more humans," she explained. "He thought if I was a transformed human, there must be more. Thought maybe we could make a whole team of them. Like a support group. And I loved the idea. Have a whole group of humans helping one another learn how to be Pokémon. So… that's what we did. We explored the world in search of humans. We visited Sinnoh. We visited Unova. We were going to visit the Alolan Islands, but the captain of our ship lied about where he was taking us, and we ended up in Ambera instead. But once we realized what Ambera was like, how amazing it was, how there was every Pokémon and every conceivable habitat and just… everything we could ever want, without all the league battles and human nonsense… we decided just to stay there. We didn't realize how bad the Master was and how much he interfered with everything. We figured we could just stay out of his way and everything would be alright.
"I could write a whole book about what we did together in Ambera. Maybe I will someday. But I'm going to make a long story short so we're not here all day. And because… this isn't a story I like to remember anyway. So… we started finding humans! The first one we found was a… Fennekin. Named Gravis. Also had gotten taken off the map when sailing from the Alolan Islands. Then we met Axolotl the Inteleon who'd been living here already for twenty-four years. Then there was Alabaster the Emolga. And we kept finding them. Soon we had a group of five humans all together! Five humans and Jacaranda. That was our team. We called ourselves the 'Lost and Forgotten.' Or 'L and F' for short as a code word. And we started a secret clubhouse near Greenhaven Meadows, way south-west of here. And for about… I want to say five years… we were happy. We… even found a sixth human before it all happened. Echo the Sylveon. Just finished welcoming her to the team. I would have liked to get to know her more…
"And… well… we found out something. And we found it out the hard way. The Master… doesn't like humans that get turned into Pokémon. Apparently that's a loophole in the no-humans rule that he doesn't like. So whenever he finds humans… … he… kills them. Or he kidnaps them. Or probably both. All because he insists that nothing on the continent belongs to us."
Char knew he couldn't fall back into shock-and-awe. He knew that wouldn't get him anywhere. He needed to keep talking with Scarlet if he wanted more information.
"That makes so much sense," Char gasped in reply. "So that's why nobody ever talks about humans around here… even though everyone seems to love them. And why everyone in the Gold Division… Team Remorse and High Intelligence, at least, always told me to keep it a secret. And why… I guess I've never met another one until now."
"Oh, yeah, the people? They love us humans," Scarlet laughed awkwardly. "Fawn over us day and night if they could. Build shrines for us and make us leaders of everything. But what they say doesn't always matter. It's what the Master says that matters."
"Heh… the Master probably wants to be the only human-turned-Pokémon on the continent," Char muttered. "That's probably the reason he doesn't like us…"
The ensuing silence made Char's heart skip a beat, as if he actually felt the surprised flicker of Scarlet's fire.
"W-what? What did you – you said the Master is a human-turned-Pokémon? Uh, excuse me? Where exactly did you hear that?"
Again, Char's first reaction was to panic, realizing he'd just leaked information he'd completely forgotten wasn't common knowledge. But his ember seemed be cooperating with him today, helping him harness and control his stress instead of fueling his fight-or-flight reaction. He'd never felt it work like this before. It reminded him of the kind of focus and control he'd experience when smoldering. But instead of feeling nothing, he felt powerful and self-assured.
There is no reason I should be afraid of sharing this information with a fellow human, he quickly figured. Especially considering the information she just shared with me.
"I've spoken with Celebi and Dialga," he explained. "They do not know for sure, but according to their theory, the Master was a human like us, and he was transformed into a Mewtwo based on his personality. And… that's what he is today."
"Well. That would explain why he can brainwash everyone so easily," Scarlet spat, blowing a smoke plume into the air. "And why he knows so many things we all thought we were keeping a secret from him. Yeah… he uh… when we started trying to spread word of the Lost and Forgotten to other cities, trying to pick up the trail of any more humans… the Master found out about us, and he invaded our clubhouse one day. Gravis didn't make it out alive. Echo didn't make it out alive. The other humans… they escaped and left Ambera as fast as they could."
"…And Jacaranda…?" Char asked quietly.
"Jacaranda is the reason I made it out alive," Scarlet simply said. "He convinced the assassins that he was a human. They… took him out. But he distracted them so that I could escape." She sighed long and hard. "In a way, I'm happy for him. He… the last thing he said to me. There was always one thing he never forgave himself for. And now he could finally make it right. He could finally… save his human.
"And I said… I promised him… I'd avenge him. And Gravis and Echo. Somehow. I promised him I'd stay in Ambera and join a resistance faction and that everything I'd ever do for the rest of my life, I'd find a way to oppose the Master. And he looked at me one last time with those… ruby-red snake-eyes of his… he was a Serperior by that time… and he said, 'I'm doing this so you can be free. If you let yourself hate the Master like that, you're just going to be a slave. And this will have been for nothing. So go and be free.'"
"…And now, here I am in the Gold Division, doing whatever I can to help. But I don't make it my whole life. And I teach at the Cliffside Academy and Gardenseeds in my spare time. That's my way of honoring Jacaranda's last wish."
Scarlet trailed off for a moment, making Char wonder if she was done with her story. She still had the faraway gaze in her eyes, as though she'd slipped back into those long-lost memories and was trapped reliving them.
Char realized he was still lounging on his belly, which he was sure looked very disrespectful given the circumstance, and he forced himself to sit back up. "I'm so sorry that all happened," he said earnestly. "It wasn't your fault. It could have happened to me, too. If I hadn't joined the Gold Division so quickly, I wonder if I would have gotten caught trying to tell everyone I'm a human. Really makes you wonder how many humans suffer the same fate all the time and we just never hear about them."
"Yeah… I'd be lying if I said I wanted to know," she dryly said. "I don't want to know. But at the same time… part of me has always wanted to try restarting the Lost and Forgotten project with all the things I've learned from working in the Gold Division. Because I think that humans deserve to be treated like humans, no matter what body we have. I think Jacaranda would have wanted me to."
She got to her feet and offered a forepaw to Char, helping him up. "And that's all," she said. "Now you know my secrets. I wanted you to know that you're not alone. And maybe I wanted to know that I'm not all alone either."
Char showed her a pleased smile. "Thank you for telling me. I never would have known," he said. "But I have one last question. How did you know I was a human to begin with? Or how did you start suspecting?"
"Well," Scarlet hummed, "If I had to be completely honest, I'd been slightly suspicious since you joined the Division. All the humans I've met, they all have certain mannerisms to them. The gait that doesn't match their legs. The facial expressions that don't match their inner elements. The way they get other Pokémon to pay attention to them, like they have some kind of a magical aura. When I started noticing the signs in you, I tried to get closer to you and gather more information.
"Huh," Char said. "I should have known. You have a very familiar way of holding yourself, too, now that you've mentioned it. Though you've probably learned to hide it pretty well – "
She cut in. "—And also it was because I heard Scythe call you a human once," she plainly confessed.
"…Oh," said Char, pausing to contemplate. "Yeah… Scythe called me that sometimes when he thought we were alone. I've had a strange relationship with him. In public, he's my mentor and I'm the student. But when we're alone, he treats me like a Pokémon trainer and he claims he's my servant. I've never figured out exactly how I'm supposed to react when he acts like that. I mean here's this old seasoned warrior who's seen the world and probably slain a hundred enemies and seen so much struggle and suffering and death, taking orders from me. How can I even pretend there's anything I can offer him that he doesn't already have?"
"Purpose. You give him a sense of purpose," Scarlet said confidently.
"I'm pretty sure he already has plenty of purposes he follows," Char said back.
"Then you make all those purposes stronger for him," she only said.
A warm breeze made the flame on Char's tail start to dance. Was that the dungeon's first warning of the mysterious wind, or just the weather?
"Unfortunately, now there's one last thing you still need to do, before our little adventure here is all over," Scarlet said.
"…Yeah, I know," Char sighed. "Eva. What am I even going to say to her?"
"Tell the truth if you think it's best," she suggested. "Or just tell her I'll go away and be out of your hair."
Char frowned. "Yeah, but… what if I don't want you to go away? What if I think you're a perfect fit for our team and I'd be happy to have you? The recruits all seemed to love you. And… and yeah, it would be nice to have another human to talk with. But if Eva is going to make this difficult on me… I don't know what I'm going to do."
"You know her better than I do," Scarlet said. "But if she really loves you, and if she really thinks of you as her human master… she'll do what makes you happy, even if it doesn't make her happy. I think you should just tell her what you want, and we can all go from there."
"Guess I'll have the whole walk back to think about it," Char considered. "I'll figure out what I want to say."
The sky turned from starry-midnight-dark to pleasant-early-evening as the two of them left the dungeon. It was a weak dungeon, too weak to trap or confuse them. As long as one kept their sense of direction, they could just walk out whenever they wanted. And Scarlet had exactly the sense of direction needed.
Char felt a weird wobble in the air, as though the fabric of space itself had just solidified into gelatin. He looked around, trying to determine what time of day it was. Still a good deal of daylight left. Still plenty of time to run the tournament for the recruits, if Tallie would return to fly them back.
By chance, Char caught sight of Tallie at the edge of the field, waiting patiently for their return. But it wasn't until he got closer that he noticed something else.
At the Talonflame's side, there sat an Espeon staring intently at him from across the field.
Scarlet, however, didn't look the slightest bit alarmed. "Oh, see… there was one last part of my plan that I didn't tell you about," she confessed. "I made sure Eva could follow a breadcrumb trail and find us. She read Tallie's mind to find out where she took us, then demanded Tallie to take her here."
Char gulped, feeling Eva's eyes already burning on him, and dreading the first step into the reach of her telepathy. "You actually… brought her here? Why?!" he demanded, suddenly panicked.
"So that you two, maybe the three of us, could have a talk without making a scene in front of the kids," she explained. "And because… I wanted to show her that she underestimated me," she said plainly.
"We all underestimated you," Char said, fretting his claws together like he always used to do. "I just hope I… underestimated how much you can help defuse this situation."
"I guess you're about to find out, aren't you?" said the Quilava, sounding surprisingly perky and supportive. "If she really loves you and respects you as much as I think she does, she won't hurt you. And I can beat her in a fight if it comes to that. So let's just get this over with, alright?"
Char took several deep breaths as he slowly drew closer to the fate which awaited him at the end of the field. He once again composed himself as Char the team leader, not Char the sensitive and bewildered little lizard.
I don't know exactly how I know this, but I get the feeling that whatever happens, this is probably going to be the last real fight between Eva and Scarlet, Char thought. This is about to be resolved. It may not get resolved pleasantly or well, but after today, it will be resolved. I just… need to do my best to find the resolution best for the whole team.
"Scarlet," Char said as the two of them were about to enter the range of Eva's telepathy, "Whatever happens, please know that I'm happy to have met you…"
"C'mon, don't be so defeatist," Scarlet giggled. "Humans aren't supposed to just resign themselves to fate. We make our own destinies. C'mon, Char, this isn't going to be as bad as you're thinking it will be. I'm more afraid of Kerzek, to be honest. Now there's someone who could really mess you up if they wanted…"
Shamble Forest
It was nearly nightfall as a small Bulbasaur scampered through Shamble Forest alone.
But there was no way he would make it in time. Darkness was falling too fast.
Saura sprinted down a long, dusty road. He was starting to panic again. In the back of his mind, he knew he was running out of time. He had to hurry home before it got too dark.
The population of Watchers around his home was minimal; he could throw leaves at the ghosts all night if he wanted to. But out here, on the road into Shamble Forest… the ghosts could see him and attack him from every direction, and he wasn't prepared for that.
Besides, he had to make sure Saurvor and Saurlee were safe. They were a team, after all. They promised to stick together.
…So wait, why did I leave them behind? He suddenly thought.
Oh. Right. I had to get supplies from town to build the ghost-traps.
… But I'm not carrying any supplies…?
He stopped and looked around, realizing that he didn't actually know where the pathway was leading. It forked off in different directions he didn't remember.
So wait… did I never actually leave the forest?
Why did I black out and forget everything? What happened?
"You fell asleep," said a voice from right beside him.
He turned and suddenly remembered that he wasn't actually alone. He'd been traveling with another Bulbasaur.
"How long was I asleep?" Saura worriedly asked. "How far away are we from home? I don't know where we are."
"No, you don't get it," said the Bulbasaur. "You're still asleep. This is a dream. But don't try to think too hard about it, or you'll wake up. You need your rest. You passed out from exhaustion."
Saura blinked and narrowed his eyes at the other Bulbasaur. "Oh… right… Saurvor was insisting I sleep. I think I remember that. So… who are you, exactly?"
"I'm you," said the other Saura. "Just the voice in your head that you use to talk with yourself. I only have a body because you're in a dream."
"You're… my subconscious, or something?" Saura wondered.
Other-Saura shrugged. "Yeah, basically," he replied. "Don't worry about it. We need to have a talk and we don't have a lot of time."
Saura only vaguely realized what it meant to be in a dream, and he decided to keep walking down the trail, not caring so much about where it may lead. But the further he went, the more things started to seem strangely familiar… and not because he recognized where he was, but because he recognized how it felt.
The treetops. They were so hauntingly realistic. The leaves had intricate patterns of veins and swayed in the breeze so realistically.
"I think I remember this dream," he said to himself. "Yeah. I used to have this dream a lot, didn't I? Except something is different. The forest… oh."
He was afraid to say it, because of a certain unsettling dread that it would come true the moment he thought about it too hard.
"…The forest used to be on fire," he said.
"Yeah… but not anymore," said other-Saura. "You fixed that by coming home and seeing the forest still standing. It's okay though. The fire's gone."
"…For now, at least," he said to himself.
Saura breathed deeply, but couldn't detect even a hint of the smoke and ashes he'd come to associate with this dream. The relief he felt made the sky seem to brighten for just a moment.
But as he stared up at the sky between the treetops, something didn't sit right. The sky was somehow sinister, like the stars were arranged all wrong.
"We're still not safe," he remembered. "The fire is gone, but something else is here now."
"Yeah… and that's what we've been trying to figure out this whole time."
The first Saura looked at his clone and said, "So… any new ideas?"
Dream-Saura frowned and replied, "I don't know. I keep thinking about that Nidoking."
"The Redeemer?"
"Yeah. He's the one who told us about the problem in the first place."
"Yeah? What about him?"
Saura was glancing upward as he walked, looking out for danger coming from the sky. Wondering if the Watchers would come out from the darkness and attack him, even in his dream.
The leaves on the giant oak trees… were they drooping? Well, it was autumn. They were supposed to do that. Strangely, they were only turning colors on top. The bottom half of all the trees looked alive and vibrant, like it was early springtime. Saura was pretty sure the trees weren't supposed to do that.
"Uh… hello?" he called out, realizing his other self hadn't replied to his question. He looked around, wondering if he was left alone again.
A huge, disgusting drop of green slime slopped onto the trail in front of him. Saura froze in his tracks and looked up again to notice that the leaves were now melting and oozing off the tree branches, liquifying and dripping to the forest floor everywhere. He tried to walk around the ooze puddle, only for another giant ball of goop to strike the ground and block his path.
"What, exactly, are you afraid of?" said a new voice.
Saura turned to notice the Nidoking standing with his arms crossed, looking disappointed.
"Huh…?" Saura said.
"There's no reason to be scared of a little sludge," said The Redeemer condescendingly. "You're a poison-grass type. That sludge is either poison, or liquified leaves, both of which are your core elements. I'm disappointed you haven't thought of this."
Saura wanted to vomit as he looked at the giant puddle of slop, which almost looked like Dialga had blown its nose all over the forest trail. Shamble Forest was starting to look more like Jaded Woods, a mystery dungeon he'd visited a few times during his resistance team career.
"And you weren't afraid of the Jaded Woods either," The Redeemer reminded him. "Go on. Don't make me push you in."
With a giant gulp, Saura hesitantly tiptoed into the mysterious puddle of liquid. Surprisingly, it was warm and soothing to the touch, and kind of even made him feel stronger.
"Thanks," Saura sighed. "I don't always know what I'm supposed to do anymore. My family is counting on me, and I can't figure out if I can actually save them."
"Sure you can," said the Nidoking, stepping into the sludge beside him. "Why else do you think I warned you about the danger in the first place?"
"Yeah, but you didn't actually tell me anything useful," Saura rued.
The Nidoking glared down at him. "Oh, come now. I left you a huge hint. Have you already forgotten?"
"A huge hint?" Saura said in frustration. "I don't even remember everything you said. Something about discontinuing the timelines?"
"Maybe you should stop trying to remember what I said," the Redeemer suggested. "The time gear would not have let me say anything useful, so the hint was not in what I said. The hint was not in my words, but in my actions. Saura… what did I do?"
"What did you do?" Saura echoed, looking at his reflection in the surface of the green slime. "I don't know. I can hardly remember. Why can't you just tell me?"
"Because I'm just your dream," said the Nidoking. "If I could tell you the answer, then you'd already know what I was going to say. You need to piece this together on your own. But you can do this. I believe in you. Char wouldn't have chosen you as his partner if you weren't amazing at figuring out things like this. C'mon, Saura."
Saura suddenly realized the slime puddle was too deep for him to stand, and he sank below the surface, feeling the substance coat his entire body in warmth and comfort.
…
"C'mon," said Saurvor again, gently nudging his brother awake.
Saura blinked, realizing he was back in the safety of his den. The warm comfort he felt was the body of his Ivysaur brother.
"Huh? How long was I asleep?" yawned Saura. "It's not nighttime already, is it?"
"Nah, just for a few hours," Saurvor whispered. "Hey, come look at what we did while you were asleep! We made some nice progress."
Saura followed his brother up to the surface. At the end of the front yard, Saurvor pointed out a series of sweetgum twigs sticking out of the ground.
Saura smiled. "Wow, that's… nice work," he said, tiptoeing close to one of the trap-markers and trying to detect where the pit started. "How many are there?"
"Well, I did ten of them on this side," Saurvor said. "Saurlee did some on the other end. How about we go check on her progress?"
When they got to the garden at the other end of the den, Saurlee was just sticking a sweetgum marker into a trap she just finished. "Hey! Saura! You're awake!" she cheered, jumping excitedly. "Hey, hey! Look at what I did!"
"…Oh! You made one all on your own, did you?" Saura said in surprise, examining the trap area the same way that he had for Saurvor's, still not able to discern where the trap began or ended. "That's… very impressive, Saurlee! Wow! How did you get the lily pads all on your own?"
Saurlee huffed. "I'm not a weakling, you know," she admonished. "I have vines like everyone else. Also I changed the design a little bit so I could make them faster. But I think they're still just as good as the ones dad made."
Saura was even more surprised. "…Oh? So you made more than one…?" he said.
Saurlee struck a pose. "Yeah! Look that way!" she said, pointing a vine to the tree line at the end of the yard.
Saura looked up.
He was about to congratulate his little sister on going above and beyond his expectations, when he felt an odd prickle of disturbance in his bulb, beholding something he was not expecting to see.
There was a graveyard of sweetgum markers at the edge of the yard. Twenty of them. And then another patch next to it. Thirty, at least. Maybe more. They extended out past the tree line, and Saura couldn't tell if it was just forest-rubble he saw in the shadows, or even more markers…
Saurlee didn't seem to notice how petrified the two brothers had become. "So! How's that!" she shouted. "I worked really hard! Do you like it?"
"Saurlee… how…?" Saura gasped, afraid of taking even a step forward. "How did you do all this while I was asleep?"
"Oh! I just… um…" she glanced away. "I just remembered how sad and scared you are about all this... So I worked super hard so that you'd feel safer. I just want to see you happy again, brother…"
Saura still couldn't believe his eyes. It must have been some redesign she'd come up with, to make so many pitfall traps in such a short time, when the fabled Grayleaf himself had taken just over a half-hour to make one of them.
Then again, Saurlee was proving herself to be a prodigy. Saura remembered the gorgeous little garden that Saurvor had shown him, which Saurlee had somehow built all on her own. She was really inheriting her father's mastery over the soil and plant life.
Maybe I need Saurlee more than I thought, Saura considered to himself. If this is what she can do… maybe she's a much bigger asset to this little team than I…"
Saura's heart exploded as he felt the ground give away under his pawstep.
Crumble, crumble went the dust and the soil. Snap went the frail twigs. In the heartbeat of the moment, Saura knew there was no escaping this. He was already falling.
Saurvor reacted quickly and whipped his vines down, snagging Saura's hind legs in mid-fall. And Saura was left hanging in the middle of the pit for a moment.
But his terror didn't subside. There were about eight small logs stuck at the bottom of the pit, their ends sharpened to a point as though a Bibarel had gnawed them down. The spikes stared him in the eye as he dangled above them by just about two or three body lengths.
Saura's heart still didn't start up again by the time Saurvor pulled him up and flung him onto safe, solid ground. Saurlee came rushing up to him. "Oh no… I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she squealed. "I forgot to mark that one! I'm really sorry!"
And that's all he remembered before fainting back to sleep from the sheer fright of what had happened.
Outer Restless Plains
It wasn't the way Eva stared at Char that unsettled him. It was how she sat still and said nothing, even once he was well within the range of her telepathy. As though she was too hurt and angry to even admonish Char for what he'd done.
The silent treatment. It already hurt. He couldn't even bring himself to look directly into her eyes as he approached.
This is it, he realized. Time to end this fight, one way or another.
As Tallie kept watch from the sky, Char and Scarlet came as close as they dared to the silent, seething Espeon. She was cold as a statue; only some small tail-twitches showed any indication she was still alive.
"…Anyway, you can have him back now," Scarlet said, casually shoving Char back in her direction. "I've done what I needed to do. That wasn't so hard, was it?"
Eva didn't look impressed. She cocked her head slightly and said, "Oh? Is that all? You're just going to give him back to me now? Wait and see how long it takes for your confession to sink in? See how long it takes for him to inevitably drift away from me and into your arms, is that it?"
"Eva… please," Char groaned. "It wasn't… It had nothing to do with…"
"Shut up. I'll not talking to you," Eva snapped hurtfully. "I'll deal with you later."
"Just a suggestion, but maybe you should listen to him when he's telling the truth," Scarlet returned, looking unfazed. "Maybe you should stop hearing only what you want to hear. Not everything is about love. Sometimes it's just business. You know, in the human world, it's considered forbidden to fall in love with your boss, for exactly this reason."
"Don't tell me about the human world, Quilava," Eva shot back. "I know more about the human world than you will ever know."
Scarlet only shrugged. "Whatever. Believe what you want to believe. It doesn't change the fact that you're getting in the way of your boyfriend just trying to do his job. You know, if you think there's even the slightest chance your Char was acting in good faith, I don't think you're making a very good impression on him right now."
Something flashed in Eva's eyes. Scarlet had struck a nerve. Nevertheless, she immediately turned to Char as if to lash out. But she only said, "Why would you do this?"
"He didn't want to do this, for the record," Scarlet said for Char. "No more than I wanted to do this. You could have let us have a nice short talk and then be on with our lives. But you forced this to be complicated."
Eva got up onto all fours and arched her back in anger. "Try seeing things from my point of view, will you?!" she screeched at the Quilava. "It could have gone either way! Maybe you were harmless, maybe you weren't. I made a judgment call about it. And… I'm hurt… that Char didn't trust my judgment."
Char said softly, "Eva… the difference is that I'm the team leader. If you want to be on this team, you're the one who needs to trust my judgment call. I need to run this team by my best judgments. And if I feel that one of our new recruits deserves to have a word with me, my choice is final. Scarlet's right, you know… you were only getting in the way this time. I'm sorry, but it's true."
Eva's voice turned dark. "Oh. Oh really, then? So what was the big secret? What was so important that you couldn't just say it in front of all of us? How come only Char needed to know?"
Scarlet bowed her head. "Char will tell you the secret if he wants. Like I said, he has my permission. But you might have to ask him nicely. I don't think he's very happy with you at the moment."
Eva turned her scowl towards Char, and said nothing. She let her demanding gaze speak for her. And there the three of them stood for a long moment, alone in the light of the setting sun, in a deadlock that only Char could resolve.
"Fine," Char sighed, putting his head into his claw. "You want to know the secret? She's a human in the body of a Pokémon. Just like me. That's why she wanted to talk only with me. Because we're the same. That's all. It was never about anything else. Do you… understand now?"
While Char was expecting some kind of reaction from Eva, it wasn't the one he got.
Somehow, hearing this secret broke her completely. Char could see her soul shattering in her eyes, and her legs getting weak, as she glanced in horrified disbelief from one human-turned-Pokémon to the other.
"Human…" she whispered to herself. A single word full of such unfathomable despair.
She flinched like she'd just been struck in the face with a claw, and couldn't decide whether to run away. She looked at Char, then at the far horizon, then back again. Then she looked straight at the dying blades of grass at her feet.
And there, she collapsed into a sobbing wreck of a Pokémon.
Char didn't know whether it was appropriate to run up and comfort her. He honestly didn't even know why she'd taken the news so badly. He thought for sure it would have been a harmless secret. Maybe an interesting secret, but ultimately harmless.
I'm sorry, she had to say in telepathy, because her voice was unusable. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't know how I can be so pathetic. How long ago, was it, that I looked into your eyes, Char, and promised you with such conviction that I would think twice before distrusting a human again? And what have I done? I've turned around and broken that promise as soon as I made it. I'm absolutely disgusted with myself. No! I should have let you consort with her. I should have. EVEN IF she was trying to capture your heart… I should have let you go, if you thought it was for the best. That's how a Pokémon is supposed to serve their master. Your will comes before mine. Always.
As Char drew closer to the crying Espeon, she lifted her head and gazed at the two fire-types with tearful eyes. Char knew she was speaking telepathically to them both.
Finally, Char decided to open his heart to her, allowing himself to feel the waves of emotion she felt. And immediately, it moved him. The hurting was deep to her core. She openly spilled her thoughts to both of them, making no effort to censor herself, not caring how pitiable it made her look. Her words rang as pure and honest as a Pokémon could possibly speak them. Char even felt for a moment that she thought of herself as a young Eevee in a grown-up world where she absolutely did not belong.
Understand something about me, she said somberly, ashamed to look Char in the eye. All I've ever wanted is to serve a human with all my heart. It's my only wish in all the world. To have a human master, here on a land where humans cannot be. And yet… look at me. Look at what I've become. Drawing the ire of every human I meet, for some reason or another. My loyalty becomes jealousy. My intuition becomes paranoia. And wherever I hope to serve, I only stand in the way. Nothing has changed about me. Nothing ever changes.
"What are you saying?" Scarlet said in concern. "This has happened before? You've met other humans here in Ambera?"
An understatement if any were ever spoken, she direly replied. I knew… a particular human…
Eva sighed longingly, trying to compose herself and regain some of her dignity. She said to them: But there are some secrets I realize I'm done keeping. If I ever want to prove myself worthy of serving a human again… I must learn to serve a human on their terms, and not on mine.
After blinking most of the tears out of her eyes, she raised her head at the two fire-types. So, then, human-Charmander and human-Quilava. As a gesture of my penance… I'm about to tell you something I absolutely shouldn't tell you. Something I once promised I would never speak to anyone. But I think it's something you deserve to know. You both deserve to know. Char… do you remember how I once told you that I used to serve on another team? I believe the time has come for me to tell you about that team.
It was a team of six. A Venusaur, a Nidoking, a Mismagius, a Suicune, a Scyther… and me. And our leader was a human Pokémon trainer. The only untransformed human who ever stepped foot onto Ambera in its entire history. He never told us his real name… either that, or he somehow erased his real name from our memories. We all knew him by one name, and one name only:
The Master.
Scarlet flashed a glare at Char. "'The' Master? You mean 'The' The Master?" she echoed incredulously.
Eva nodded. Yes. The very Master you're thinking of. One day, long ago, he was my master.
"So he really was a human," Scarlet hummed, still eyeing Char. "Funny. That's something I hadn't ever considered until today."
Yes. It's true. I knew him. I served him. We all did. He was a wonderful human. So wise and powerful. So creative. He had this whole vision he wanted to bring to life. And he did. And we were part of it. We… the six of us… we're the ones who helped him conquer Ambera in the first place. We're the ones… who put him on the throne.
I know that happened a thousand years ago. Or maybe more like two thousand. Or more. I don't know anymore. He found a way to expand lifespans. He used it on himself and the six of us. We've all been alive for much longer than we're supposed to. I've been alive for so long that history just blurs together. And I can't leave Ambera. The spell that keeps me alive prevents me from leaving. All I've ever wanted was to love a human… and now I'm cursed to remain here, on this continent completely devoid of humans… for all eternity as far as I know.
She looked directly into Char's eyes. Do you understand now why I clung so passionately to you? Why I was afraid of the mere possibility of losing your favor and your company? I know that it justifies nothing, but for all I know, it could be a thousand more years before I'd ever get to meet another human like you… And so I was panicking… I'd just met you, and already I would lose you…
Char's heart was filled with so many contradictions and questions. But through it all, one particular thought sprang to the top of his awareness. "Eva… I know you're trying to… reassure me… that I can trust you," he said carefully, "but if what you're saying is true… how can I trust you at all anymore? If you're on the Master's side, how do I know you aren't just going to betray the resistance? How do I know you aren't just going to go back to him?"
I knew you would ask that, Eva said. I'm still trying to decide how I should answer.
"I get the feeling she can't," Scarlet considered. "Something obviously happened. I think she's been banished from the Master's team. It's the only explanation for why she'd wander Ambera looking for other humans for so many years. She wants nothing more in the world than to go back to him… but she can't. So now, like the vengeful spirit she is, she hates him and sides with the resistance against him. But through it all, she's still looking for another human to fill the void in her heart. And whatever reason the Master broke her heart, it's probably not easy for her to talk about." The Quilava pointedly smirked at her. "Well? How much did I get right?"
Eva looked away. Her tail swiveled a little. I could tell you that you're right, she said plainly. What you've said is a perfect explanation for everything. Something better than I could have come up with. Something you'd accept as true.
But no. I won't lie about it this time. Not when I'm so close to speaking the real truth. The real truth is far more difficult to admit. It is something nobody wants to hear, and even fewer want to speak:
The Master fell from power long ago. The reason I can no longer be with him is because he has been dead for centuries.
Char didn't want to acknowledge the words he'd just heard. The Master was gone? Dead for centuries? There had to be something he was missing. There had to be some explanation. He felt it in his fire.
"You're not lying… are you?" he muttered.
Why else do you think nobody gets to see him? Eva said, staring sadly at him. Why else do you think he never makes any public appearances anymore? Why else do you think… Ambera is falling apart now? He's dead. He's gone. He's abandoned us all.
Char felt tremors in his soul. Like the floor would collapse and drop him into a bottomless abyss.
"So… the resistance teams… who are they fighting?" he asked, afraid as he was to hear the answers. "Someone's still giving the orders… isn't there? Someone has to be still on the throne… don't they? And who else knows about this?"
Enigma is the one in command, if you even want to call it that at this point, Eva explained ruefully. She claims to be taking orders from the Master from beyond the grave, but we all know that she's gone completely insane. That's just what being alive for thousands of years does to you. I've lost my mind and regained it dozens of times already since the great fall. Finding a human has allowed me to regain more of my sanity than I've felt in hundreds of years. But Enigma… she's completely lost her mind. Even until this day, she's been unable to accept that the Master is completely gone. So she has delusions which tell her that he's still there talking to her. And it's those delusions which are in command of the entire kingdom now. The Master never would have made the decisions she's claimed, or wrecked Ambera the way she's done it. Ambera was his beloved darling child… he would have sacrificed anything to keep it strong and beautiful. According to some, that's exactly what he did. But look and see what he has to show for it.
As for who else knows… The original six know, of course. And all the high generals know. Adiel, Cepheus, Mirandalys… they all know. When they're granted private audience to meet the Master face-to-face, they learn the truth, and are then sworn to secrecy, under punishment of total and permanent brainwashing by Enigma. I'm certain that Lucario of the Emerald Division knows, as well as High Intelligence of the Gold Division. And…
"…And Scythe," Char realized with dread, his claws uncontrollably shaking. "Scythe was one of those generals. He knows the truth. He's always known the truth."
Eva sighed. …Yes… I was hesitant to broach that fact, but you have it right. Adron knows.
"Then… then why…" Char struggled to say. "Every morning… he says to his whole team, 'why do we rise?' and they all reply 'So that he will fall!' But… if he knows that the Master has already fallen…"
"He says that because he has to say it," said the wide-eyed Scarlet, piecing it together. "If the resistance knew the Master has already fallen, and it fixed nothing… they wouldn't fight anymore. They need him to still be there."
"What about Enigma?" Char anxiously tried. "Why can't the resistance just fight against Enigma now? If she's the one wrecking everything…"
Scarlet realized the answer to that one, too. "If the Master already got knocked off the throne… and it fixes nothing… there's no reason to believe that defeating Enigma would do anything different. Someone would always fill the vacuum of power. Someone would always take their place. Nothing would change. And everyone would know that nothing we're doing even matters."
As much as Char tried to suppress his inner fire, he was panicking fast. Not only because the truth was too large and too sudden a change for him to accept, but because he was still the leader of Team Ember. He'd have to carry on as that leader, knowing the dismal truth of the resistance while still projecting the same strength and focus his team needed from him.
He didn't know if he could keep that strength and focus, knowing he would have to project a giant lie to keep a smile on everyone's face. That was too crushing of a thought to believe.
And yet, that's exactly what Scythe did. And that's exactly what Lucario did, too. And probably many more. They carried this burden.
And now Char would now need to carry this burden himself.
"…But that can't be true, can it?" Char feebly tried, fishing for possibilities. "That nothing we do even matters…? We work so hard every day… doing all these jobs… we can't really be going nowhere… can we?"
It is a difficult truth for many to believe, but you cannot change a kingdom merely by changing its king, Eva said. Such a change is nothing but an illusion. In truth… you only change a kingdom by changing its people. And that's much harder, longer, and more complicated a process, so it's not something we can place our childlike hopes upon. For that, we need a figurehead unto whom we can direct our hearts and prayers. A king often serves no greater purpose than taking the blame for the misfortunes of the people, because that makes life simpler for all to understand. And that is precisely the role which the Master plays in Ambera today, and the reason the people need to believe that he's still there.
But you also need to understand what the resistance movement is really doing. They save lives. They help people. They spread ideas. They run the economy. They change Ambera's culture and values from the inside. They all think they're working hard to change our king, when they are actually succeeding in changing the people a little bit each day. There are some… who even refer to the resistance movement as Ambera's true governing body.
But that's why nobody can know the truth about the Master. It is only because of the Master's notoriety that the resistance finds the strength to rise at the brink of dawn every morning, uniting against a common enemy to make Ambera a better place.
And that is all I wished to say. Now you know my deepest secrets, my human master… if you would still allow me to call you that. I hope you will consider this sufficient repentance for the pain I've caused.
Deep in his bones and every sinew of his muscle, Char felt like his world should have been shattered by this revelation. It made too much sense, and it was enough to shatter anyone's spirit. The Master… wasn't there? They'd never been fighting him? The war was all fake?
And yet… in the depths of his ember… a spark still burned.
A spark that said, something about this still isn't adding up. I think I mostly believe Eva's story, but there's still something missing. It's big and glaring and staring me right in the face, I just… wish I could remember what it was.
But that spark was enough for Char to keep his strength about him, and stay determined to learn the real truth before succumbing to the same despair that had ensnared Scythe, Lucario, and undoubtedly many more members of the resistance unfortunate enough to learn of the Master's true fate for themselves.
"What am I going to tell the team…?" Char wondered absently.
Eva bowed before him. "For once, I will say what I always should have said: tell them whatever you choose. You are the human, I am the servant, and I am here only to offer my advice and my support, should you need it. Howsoever you choose to handle these truths, and howsoever you choose to treat your team because of it… I will be here at your side to help you accomplish it more efficiently, but only if you would have me. My master."
Eva glanced sideways at Scarlet as she raised her head. "And though I will always put my master's will before yours, I revere you the same, human. I am sorry for my misbehavior."
"So… does this mean… I can hire her?" Char wondered.
"If that is what you think is best," said Eva softly. "Whatever you deem best, I deem best. I only wonder how the others will react, after they've witnessed her… dramatic termination."
"Oh, half of them know it was just an act," Scarlet reassured her. "They've probably explained it all to the other half by now. Nobody's going to be surprised to see me coming back."
"So it seems I've been thoroughly outwitted," happily sighed the Espeon. "It is an honor to be outwitted by a human. I only wish I had known sooner."
When Scarlet gave a signal, Tallie descended from the sky, shot Eva a strange glare, and let the Quilava climb onto her back.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone," said Scarlet. "See you back at the base?"
Tallie interjected, "Yeah, don't get too comfortable. I'll be back in a flash. I don't fly like a Slowpoke." And the two fire-types swept into the sky.
On one hand, Char wanted to stop for a moment and reflect on everything he'd just heard. But on the other hand, he didn't want to think too deeply about it. It scared him. He was just growing into the role of a good team leader. And now… he didn't even know what kind of a team he was even running. A 'resistance' team? What was that even supposed to mean?
Eva looked at him with a comforting sparkle in her eye. "I can tell you are struggling with some heavy thoughts right now," she said softly. "There's no need to struggle alone."
Char returned a sad smile. "Eva… you've really been alive since the start of the Master's reign…?"
"I have," she wistfully sighed. "He called me Aster. The flower that will always drift. That's what everybody called me. But when you're cursed with immortality, you need to change your name every once in a while so people don't catch on. And Eva is a very common Espeon's name, so I've taken that name often."
"Aster? Do you want me to call you that now?" Char offered.
Eva visibly shivered. "There was a tingle through my spine just now, at hearing a human speak my true name again," she admitted. "You may always call me whatever you'd like, human. I'll give you no objections. I would only ask that you don't call me by my true name when we are in public. There might be certain… repercussions… when certain Pokémon would hear you utter that name." She looked away suddenly. "Unless… you want to, I mean. I would suffer those repercussions for you. Or any repercussions. Do whatever you want with me… I have no right to tell you otherwise."
Char reached out to scratch the Espeon on the head, and her face melted into bliss. "Thank you," he whispered. "I think I understand you a lot better know. I forgive you for fighting with Scarlet. And hey… I'm not going anywhere, as far as I know. Maybe I'll be your master for a long time."
"I'll be your Pokémon until the day I outlive you, if you'll have me," she promised, laying down in the grass as he continued petting her. "I forget sometimes what it means to love unconditionally. I forget that it means to expect nothing in return. Perhaps another Pokémon will capture your heart… or perhaps it will be another human. Perhaps Saura will return to your side. As long as it is in your best interest, and it makes you happy, then I will offer no resistance to anything. That's how I once served him… and how I must now serve you."
"Yeah…" said Char with a faraway gaze. "Speaking of resistance. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to lead a 'resistance' team now, knowing what you've told me. What are we resisting, exactly? I need to come up with something, or I'm going to feel really weird standing in front of my team every day and reminding them why we're fighting."
Eva's eye sparkled. "I could offer several complicated reasons that would justify still calling it a resistance team. But I think the simplest answer… is that you're resisting against an unhappy future. That's all it is. That's all it ever was."
Char thought that answer was good enough for now. Especially since it had come from someone with a full perspective over Ambera's history. Maybe… knowing the Master wasn't there anymore wouldn't change very much at all. There was still work to be done, there were still mystery dungeons to be explored, there was still evil to be fought, and there were still smiles to put on Pokémon's faces all over the world. That's what they'd always done, and that's what they'd continue to do.
"How much of history do you remember?" Char found himself wondering.
"Shockingly very little," Eva admitted. "As it happens, the mind is only meant to withstand one or two centuries of wisdom and experience. Any more, and things will get lost and forgotten, despite your best efforts to remember them. I have many sharp memories of my time with the Master. And then I remember many of the stupid decisions Enigma has made since then. It was around the time she wrecked the Emerald Division that I got fed up and cut off ties with her. But for the rest… I would need to jog my memories with a history book. And to be honest, the history books aren't very helpful, either. Most of the time they're simply wrong, but they are believed only because there is no other source of information. But… whatever you wish to know, I will do my best to scrape the answers from the depths of my subconscious, any way I know how." She bowed her head again, drawing upon her deepest humility. "And I will be perfectly clear… for all the secrets I speak to you, I expect nothing in return. Although I still fondly anticipate the day I might see the secrets you keep from me, I will not resent you for keeping them as long as you may need. As promised, I have not placed a pawprint on your memories of the Call, and that's how it will be until the moment you tell me otherwise."
When she mentioned it, Char started to ask himself why he still wanted to keep the secret of the Call from her. This, a Pokémon who had served the most powerful human Ambera had ever known, who'd commanded brainwashing powers and apparently some means of making Pokémon and humans immortal… she was offering the same level of loyalty to Char. So… was there any reason to still keep the secret?
The Call.
Char remembered what he was forgetting. The thing that was staring him right in the face. The problem with Eva's story.
He tried not to betray his thoughts to Eva as he followed where they led.
The Call.
Temporal Tower. Celebi. The source of the Call.
The Master… knocked down Temporal Tower while I was up there. The Master killed me. And he tried to erase me from history.
So maybe… the Master isn't on the throne anymore… but he still exists somewhere. Maybe the spirit realm. Maybe another dimension completely. He's still there, and he's still plotting something.
Maybe Enigma really is receiving orders from him. Maybe she's not as crazy as Eva thinks.
And if the Master is still there, and he still has some kind of master plan, and he's still messing with fate…
…We still need to resist him.
Team Ember is still a resistance team after all.
"I felt you think about something just now," Eva told Char. "But as soon as you mentioned the Call, I looked the other way. I suspect you were testing my loyalty."
"Thanks," Char replied. "I really appreciate it."
Eva looked at him. "So… what now?" she asked.
"Now," Char decided, "We run a little battle tournament with the recruits. And then we help thirteen new Pokémon move in with us. And then we figure out how to keep track of them all."
They cuddled close together as they waited for Tallie to come back and fly them away, back to their resistance team life as though nothing had ever changed.
Basin Canyon
"I'm concerned about this tunnel," said one Sandslash to another. "It's not safe for a vital tunnel to be so close to the surface."
"Nobody's getting down through the surface," reassured the other. "We saw the design problems two years ago. We filled that whole sediment layer with darksteel mix. It'd take ten Charizards a whole hour to even poke a hole in it."
"Even so, we should seal off access to the mines," said the first. "We've all poured too many resources into this project to lose it all to a weak link in the chain. Seal off this tunnel and reroute a secondary tunnel if we need one."
"I'm not sure if Daemon is going to agree to that. It'll take three days at least."
The two Sandslash stopped their conversation at the sound of the frantic footsteps scurrying towards them. They turned around to find a helmetless Marowak rushing to catch up.
"Marrow?" said one of the Sandslash. "This isn't your tunnel. You're supposed to be –"
"You've got to call it off," Marrow gasped, completely out of breath. "Shander, listen. We have to call off the settlement."
Shander twitched uncomfortably, sharing a concerned gaze with his brother. "Marrow, what are you talking about? What happened?"
The Marowak groaned, leaning on his bone club. "I've tried telling half the rest of the team but nobody is listening to me. We need to call this off. Cepheus is onto us. We stand no godforsaken chance."
He lowered his voice. "Shander… something happened. But I… I don't know what it was."
"You don't know what happened…?" Shander echoed. "Marrow… calm down. We don't need you to be delirious at this hour."
"Listen. Listen. Nobody else is listening to me, so you'd better in all the shattered crags of the basin listen to me. Something happened, but I don't remember what it was. My memories were erased. I'm certain of it. I learned something I wasn't supposed to know, and then someone… someone erased my memories of it."
He grabbed Shander's front claw and yanked him forward. "There's a traitor, Shander," he hissed like a madman. "Someone's a traitor. One of our own erased my memories."
The Sandslash brothers only looked at one another. "Have you told Scythe about this?" Shander replied.
"Yeah, and he flicked me away the moment I opened my mouth," he breathed. "I've half a mind to say he's the traitor. Everyone knows he's been actin' weird lately. Look. Please. You've got to believe me, or this… all this…" he waved around at the tunnel walls, meticulously carved out over the past years, "This… is all about to be a bloodbath."
Once again, a big thank you to everyone who came to the reading of this chapter on Twitch. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!