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Chapter 65
The plan was set, and everyone agreed that it was a deviously good one.
The idea was for Kecleon, with the help of Team Ember, to plant three particularly rare and valuable objects from his personal collection all throughout Iron Town at the same time. Though Kecleon was reluctant to willingly let any more of his possessions slip into the thief's clutches, Eva reminded him that catching the thief and locating his hideout would allow him to retrieve all of the stolen goods, an idea that the distressed shopkeeper quite liked, and so he agreed.
The items were all quite priceless, but about equal in value according to Kecleon's accounting: there was a sack full of reviver seeds, a huge diamond that was worth about twelve times that of a gold bar, and a bag with three big, beautiful golden apples.
The planted items would be unguarded and free for the taking – at least for the thief – and neither Kecleon nor Team Ember would make any effort to stop the thief or track it down after it would inevitably strike. But there was a catch: once the thief would make a choice between one of the three items, the other two would be immediately whisked out of reach. Thus, the thief would reveal to Team Ember and to Kecleon what sort of things it valued most, helping them to determine just what sort of foe they were dealing with. The thief had stolen quite a lot of mystery dungeon equipment, but was it truly a dungeon explorer? Or did it value only the prestige and the money from the stolen goods? Or would its belly be unable to resist the allure of the most perfect fruit known to all Pokémon? Answering this question, as Eva figured, would help them to dig deeper into the thief's mind and solve the puzzle it presented.
Ray wrote a draft of the message that would be posted all around Iron Town for the thief to see, then the meeting concluded and Team Ember went on their way. There was a lot to think about, but hopes were high and Char was starting to feel confident about untangling the challenge posed by this mysterious figure.
Unfortunately, the confidence only lasted until a surprise encounter with Marrow on the way back to their room.
The Marowak stood outside of the stairwell in front of the hallway leading to Team Ember's room, as though he'd been waiting there for a while. He looked almost embarrassed about something. Even through his mask, Char could tell something was bothering him.
"I don't know how to tell you this," he said hesitantly, "but I just got pulled over into the corner by Xatu, and… well, I know you're all gonna be busy with Kelceon's job this week, and well, uh… High Intelligence says they don't want me to interfere."
"What, with the mission?" Ray said. "But I thought you were our guardian! Why can't you help?"
"Well, apparently, the big bosses want to see if you can pull it together all by yourself, as a test of your skill," he said regretfully. "Xatu tells me… she wants to see you prove yourselves. So uh… I guess I'm relieved of duty with you guys. To be honest, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing for the next three days. Suppose I could go back to the canyon and ask Scythe what to do, but I'd prefer not to, really… I don't want to hear him get all upset that we've got to leave you alone. If I know anything about him, he'll insist we find a way to watch you anyway…"
Char thought for a moment, trying to keep himself from dwelling upon the unpleasant notion that his team truly wouldn't have a guide to help them with their first one-star mission. "I have an idea," he said, touching his chin and peering down the hall to his door. "Tomorrow, we're holding interviews for our team. I have a feeling we're going to have a crowd up here. Want to be our host? I'm sure everyone would listen to you. That way, the four of us could focus on the interviews without having to keep the peace."
Marrow looked pleased at the suggestion. "Hah, I don't see why not," he said. "Yeah, alright. I'll keep everyone in line. Technically that's not helping you with missions, right? I don't figure so. Alright, I'll be here in the morning. But I just got a question… You're not runnin' a mission tomorrow, I take it? Focusing on the interviews?"
Char felt nervous about answering the question, knowing that Marrow probably would not approve if he admitted to taking the day off. Otto cut in quickly with an answer. "We might survey locations in Iron Town for our plan with Kecleon, but we have no plans to fulfill a job request," he answered confidently. "Our goal was to interview at least ten Pokémon."
"I see," Marrow said with a sideways glance. "Did you take a mission today, then?"
"No, why?" Char replied hesitantly.
Marrow glanced back down the hallway. "Well, uh, y'know me, I can't help but take a peek at your board every now and then, and uh, I just noticed that your board had a few less notes on it than it did the other day… I know you were meeting with Kecleon this morning and I didn't think you had time to run a mission while my back was turned, so uh, I was just wonderin' about that. Thought maybe you were working miracles or something. I'da been real impressed."
"Missing notes?" Eva asked, squinting and looking worried. "By chance, do the teams who put the job requests there in the first place have the right to take them back down, if they change their minds?"
Marrow nodded his head. "They sure do. That's probably what happened, then. Some teams revoked their requests when you didn't reply right away, gave 'em to other teams. That's why you've got to stay on top of them. At least reject the ones you don't want to take."
Nah, we won't need to reject any, Char thought, scowling. We just need our new team members. If we had enough members, we could manage all of the requests, I'm sure of it! The clients just need to be patient for another day or two…
But even so, on the way back to the room, Char tried not to make eye contact with the bulletin board.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully, aside from the Call activating when there was nothing to use it on. Char cancelled the signal by saying "ignore this," hoping once again that he wasn't accidentally brainwashing anyone with unintended orders. It seemed to have no effect on the Pokémon around him, although without psychic powers he couldn't really tell what changes he was making to his friends' minds.
Team Ember spent the rest of the night discussing how they would conduct the interviews, determining what type of questions they would ask and how they would test the potential candidates. Before they knew it, the torches turned red and Char realized they had run out of daylight to conduct their survey of Iron Town. Ray and Otto examined a map instead, looking for potential sites to put Kecleon's rare merchandise on display. The topic of teleportation was also brought up, as they'd need someone to teleport the valuable items away once the thief had made a move, and they'd also need someone to help Ray find his brother's treasure. But the discussion was half-hearted; everyone, especially Char and Ray, were on edge about all the Pokémon they'd be seeing the very next day - the Pokémon who may soon be a part of their closely-knit family.
Will it still be a closely-knit family, even with nine members? Char wondered. And more importantly, will I be able to keep them all in line? Will I have the strength to make difficult decisions? Could I fire anyone who's not performing well? Would I do that to a friend? What if I have to put up with teammates who are not my personal friends? Could I do that? Will they respect me enough?
Char wanted to pour his heart out to someone, just like he always would. He wanted to lay awake in bed and talk out his problem all through the night, just like old times…
But he couldn't do that anymore. When Char's teammates retired for the evening, they all helped one another move their nests back into the other rooms. It was only fair to the newcomers.
And that night, for the first time in many days, Char slept alone.
When his bedside torches turned blue, he turned onto his stomach and eyed Saura's nest, which remained in place at the right side of his own huge bed.
Wish me luck, Saura, he thought, curling around his tail and trying to sleep.
Shamble Forest
It was very early in the morning when the Bulbasaur and his brother set down the fateful path, the same one Saura had followed the night he had run away from his family.
The Watchers were gone for now, but the sky was still very dark – dark enough that Saura felt like he was step-for-step repeating the long-past moment in his life. He remembered how, on that night long ago, he had only wanted to be alone. He needed time to cope with the dreadful destiny that his father had forced upon him. But now, as he retraced his steps, he wasn't sure what exactly he'd find at the end of the path. He only knew that the Starborn Nidoking awaited him, no doubt to convince him to betray the resistance. No doubt to squeeze information from him that would help him defeat Team Remorse at Basin Canyon. No doubt to play with him in whatever way that the Master's generals did.
And yet he was going. He was walking right into the trap.
Nothing can happen to me, he kept telling himself. I'm untouchable. I'm not part of this war anymore.
No matter what happens, nothing is going to happen to me or to my family.
"So this is the way you went, huh?" Saurvor said in an unsettled tone, keeping a protective eye on his younger brother.
"Yeah, I guess you'll get to see where I found Char," Saura replied absently. "I thought nobody else knew about it but me. And… and a Scyther, and a Sandslash. And that one Chikorita who lived here when I was younger. She's the one who showed it to me. But… nobody should know that I found Char there. Nobody was there. We were all alone when we met. Even Scythe and Shander showed up too late to see where Char was. I don't get it! But that's what they say that Cepheus is like. He just knows things. He figures out secrets all by himself."
"Uh, and you're sure that we can get out of there if he attacks us?"
"Yeah, there's a mystery dungeon right there," Saura said. "It's an easy one. We can get through it without any supplies. He can't follow us in there. Unless…"
Saura blinked, and his legs buckled with dread.
"Unless he can unveil the dungeon. I forgot that was even possible until now…"
Saurvor frowned. "Yeah, I was going to say, this Starborn sounds like something formidable," he said. "You'd think if he has a way of knowing where you found the Charmander, he'd also know about the mystery dungeon. He wouldn't have made us go there if he didn't have a plan to deal with us if we weren't being cooperative. Just saying."
Something caught in Saura's throat. "But he can't hurt us," he forced himself to say. "He can't. We're untouchable… right?"
"Guess we're about to find out," Saurvor muttered bitterly. "Although that ghost did say that the Starborn isn't working for the Master, which would mean –"
"No, no, no, NO!" shouted a voice.
The Bulbasaur and his brother tensed. Only the shadows of Shamble Forest surrounded them, the faint glow of daybreak illuminating the branches and trunks in shades of gray.
There was no sound besides the occasional call of an insect or bird… and an odd voice that suddenly rang from behind the trees.
"This is all wrong!" it roared.
There was a crunching sound as something came running, its heavy paws crashing through fallen leaves and twigs. Saura jumped back.
There was an orange glow shining between the trees. It was approaching fast.
A Nidoking, clothed in tattered violet robes and fragments of an iron shell, stumbled out from behind a cluster of saplings and stood at the side of the road. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, leaning on a long wooden staff and looking exhausted. The fiery ghost from Saura's previous encounter followed close behind, its fires aglow with bright orange colors.
"You... weren't… supposed to be here yet," the Nidoking breathed between gasps. "You're early."
"…Huh? What do you mean?! You said the crack of dawn," Saura said dryly, staring at the Nidoking's ghost familiar. "Or at leastthat thing of yours said it, when it surrounded us with fire."
"Ah, yes, well, hmm. Generally one sets appointments expecting others to be tardy," the Nidoking said absently, glancing behind as though to reassure himself that his ghost companion was still there.
Saurvor looked astounded. He snorted at the Nidoking and said, "Right. After threatening my brother with a fate worse than death. Like eternal nightmares. You expected us to be late after that?"
The Nidoking seethed with momentary frustration. "Charon. I told you to go easy on them. No threats," he said, sounding grumpy. "We simply can't go around intimidating all of the key players."
The Chandelure only hovered in place, its flames growing still. "No, that was last time," it said. "This time, you said to be 'unapologetically ferocious.' Those were your exact words."
The Nidoking growled. "Perfect. As if anything's going right in this world anyway." He shook his head and returned his gaze to the Bulbasaur and his brother, as though just remembering they were there. "Well, what are you waiting for?! Get moving. We need to get to the cave."
"Why can't we just talk here?" Saura wondered.
"Because we'll be seen," the Nidoking said urgently. "As we speak, we are being hunted. We cannot afford to draw any attention upon ourselves. Now start walking! I've had a long morning; I don't need any more of my time wasted."
The Chandelure made a strange chuckling sound. "But we're two hours ahead of schedule, so actually our time was gained."
"Quiet, you," the odd Nidoking spat, swinging his staff at the ghost.
Saura shot a baffled glance at his brother as they marched down the road. This wasn't anything like he had expected. The Nidoking didn't carry himself like he imagined an arch-villain would, and instead looked a bit confused and exhausted. The poor state of his clothing spoke volumes about what sort of struggles he'd recently been in; the cape was nearly shredded, with gaping tears wherever his spikes jutted from his back. His armor, with pieces of bronze and silvery iron, seemed to be in good condition, although it was clearly missing pieces of the set and he only wore the chestplate.
"Uh… you are the Starborn, right?" Saura croaked, making sure he kept pace with the figure.
"Hmm," was the noncommittal reply, sounding like both a confirmation and a denial at once.
"…Are you Cepheus?" Saura tried again, speaking louder this time.
"No," the Nidoking spoke. "And I have no concern for what my raving lunatic of a father does."
Saura nearly tripped over his feet. "…Father? Cepheus is your father? Then… who's the Starborn, exactly?"
"His entire lineage is known as Starborn," Charon explained in a condescending tone. "All royal Nidoking descended from Centauri the Boundless are born with this title. They are named after constellations and stellar phenomenon; hence, Starborn. Cepheus is technically the reigning king at the moment, so the title is often attributed to him. His son is next in line."
"Hmph. As if I had any interest in that anymore," the Nidoking grumbled. "The glamour has quite lost its appeal to me."
Saura frowned. "So, if you aren't Cepheus… who are you?" he inquired. "What's your name?"
With a sudden motion, the brunt of the Nidoking's walking staff slammed down in front of Saura's nose, and he had to stub his toes to keep from running into it.
"I did not bring you here so you could bombard me with your pointless questions," the Nidoking said darkly. "Your questions hardly mean anything at this point. I will be the one choosing the topics of conversation. Understood?"
"Fine, fine!" Saura shouted, walking around the staff. "Sorry. I'll shut up."
It was a short and awkward walk to the secret hideout where Saura had first met Char. There were too many questions forming in the poor Bulbasaur's head, the worst of which was just how this eccentric Nidoking knew of the Charmander in the first place, and what he intended to do with the information. And why did he need Saurvor? What use did he have for this Ivysaur who had barely anything to do with the war?
Once inside of the cave, the Nidoking himself moved the stone to shut the entrance. As the heavy stone slid into its crevice, the Chandelure flared up, washing the room in a steady orange glow. Saura eyed the back of the cave where the small mystery dungeon began, wondering if he could outrun the Nidoking given the chance. He was certain he could make it back to the top of the plateau on his own; there were only a bunch of bats in there, and it was only four floors long. It was child's play for an experienced explorer such as himself who knew more than a few battle techniques. But he hoped it wouldn't come to it; he hoped whatever this odd Nidoking wanted from them, he'd get it and go away so he could return to his peaceful life in his protected meadow.
"Why are you alive?" the Nidoking suddenly demanded, pacing absently across the room.
Saura bit his tongue. "Uh… what?" he spat out. "Why am I alive?"
"Not you. The Ivysaur," he grunted, pointing an accusing claw at Saura's brother. "I know exactly why you're still alive. But it baffles me that the Ivysaur is still standing here. Shouldn't you have perished in a fire?"
Saurvor puffed up his leaves. "Oh, so you're working for them, are you?!" he growled. "Adiel and Hunter, right?"
"Silence," the Nidoking shouted, slamming his staff on the cave floor. "I have yet to ask you a question."
"Yes you did! You just—"
"No, that was a question I directed toward myself," the Nidoking said, disregarding the Ivysaur's frustration. "I am merely thinking out loud at the moment. Believe me, I would not have honestly expected you to know that you survived a cataclysmic shift in fate. No, no… this is something I need to figure out for myself. But here's a question I do have for you…"
The Nidoking's eye gleamed in the golden glow, and he glared sideways at the Ivysaur below him, looking deathly serious.
"What's your favorite color?" he said.
"Pff, what?!" Saurvor spat, about ready to lash out at the horned reptile. "What does that–"
"Quiet," said the Nidoking, slamming the stick down again. "This is very important. Answer the question."
Saurvor shifted awkwardly, staring down at his paws. "Uh… blue?" he tried.
The Starborn Nidoking looked stunned. He passed his staff to the other hand and pointed it at Saurvor. "See?" he called to his ghostly companion. "See? I told you! I told you it was blue. On the happiest day of his life, the day he was accepted to the Grendel guild and met with his future wife for the first time, he glanced up at the clear blue sky. And so the color blue has ever since been associated with the excitement of a bright future. Pah! And to think I could have been losing my mind. Preposterous."
"Wait, …what? Future wife…?" Saurvor choked out. "What- I didn't- What the heck are you talking about?!"
"I remembered just as clearly," the Chandelure said in protest, its flames giving a flicker. "It used to be green."
"But not now! Not under these circumstances! It would have been green, but it was overwritten by blue!" the Nidoking jeered. "You were wrong. I was right. Ah, that feels so wonderful to say."
"Oh, come on!" Saurvor shouted, stamping his feet and whipping his vines threateningly above him. "What does my favorite color have to do with anything?! What, are you going to buy me a present? Get me a bouquet? Look, I don't care who you are! Cut this out, we can't be here all day!"
"One: you will be here as long as I require you," the Nidoking said, his tone shifting and becoming grave. "Two: what I said to Saura about asking questions… also applies to you. Three…" he bent down closely to Saurvor, glaring at him. "It is more important than you know. What if you woke up one day to find that everyone around you, all your many little brothers and sisters, thought you were a Politoed, when you were clearly an Ivysaur? Hmm? How would that make you feel? That's not a rhetorical question. Go ahead and answer."
Saurvor stepped back, his eyes darting across the Nidoking's figure. "Um… that'd be annoying, I guess," he said. "I'd tell 'em, 'Look at me! I look just like you!' I don't see how they could disagree with me."
"Oh, but what if they would disagree?" the Nidoking said. "What if you'd tell them over and over again what you know to be true, but they insisted you were delusional? What if there was no way to prove something to them, something you knew to be correct?"
"That'd be kind of scary," he admitted blankly. "I wouldn't know what to say."
"You'd feel like you'd be going insane, wouldn't you? Perhaps even…losing your mind?" the figure said. "Now you know why I ask about your favorite color. I need to know that I'm remembering things correctly. I can't afford to be losing my mind. Because if I lose my mind… I've lost everything I've worked for."
He clunked the base of his staff in front of the Ivysaur's face, standing back to his full height. He eyed the cave entrance for an extended moment with a faint gleam of fear in his expression.
"Now, then. Since that's out of the way, I suppose I should get to the point," he said, shuffling across the room and beginning to pace toward the Chandelure. "But in order for you understand, I must explain a foreign concept to you. Tell me, Saura. How much do you know about a concept called 'fate'?"
Saura's eyes lit up. "Oh, uh… I know a little about fate, actually," Saura said.
"Yes, it's… Wait, what?" the Nidoking said, clamping his mouth shut.
He squinted at the Bulbasaur, appraising him for a moment as his claws clacked against the staff. Confusion stirred in his eyes.
"Are you so certain about that? Fate is not at all a straightforward concept," he said carefully.
"Uh… fate is when something is probably going to happen, but might not happen," Saura said, staring at the floor and trying to recall what he'd been told. "Is that right? You can change your fate if you want. It's hard, but you can stop it. It's easier if you can see the time stream as a whole somehow. Like if you're a Celebi and you can time travel whenever you want so you can see what happens."
The Nidoking stared blankly at him for a moment. Twice he started to say something, but decided against it. "Yes, that's correct," he finally said on the third try. "And here… I had this whole speech I was going to give to you about what it means when something is fated… Very well, then. I suppose we can skip over that part. Ah, this timeline is very strange. Nothing is behaving as it should."
Saura blinked. "Are you… a time traveler?" he tried. "Is that why you knew what Saurvor's favorite color was? Can you travel in time like Celebi?"
The Starborn shrugged, as though not surprised by the accusation.
"I suppose I've made it obvious by this point," he said. He then reached down and picked something off of his waist: it was a tiny trinket, a small blue cog dangling from a thin chain which passed through the hole in its center. "This is called a time gear," he explained. "These are objects created by Dialga to help him maintain the flow of time near a gravity well, such as the one at the center of this earth. Normally they are designed to help get time moving again after a cataclysmic disaster which halts the local flow, but this one was specifically granted to me by certain cosmic forces… Its power allows me to travel to the past."
"Whoa, really? So, what am I about to say?" Saurvor asked.
The Nidoking shook his head. "I have neither the time nor the energy for parlor tricks. Besides, there are more cosmic forces at work keeping the time streams in order than you might realize. You might say that even with the power afforded by this time gear, my power to change fate is severely limited. Which brings me to my next point! Since we can skip the lesson on fate, let me teach you about another temporal principle, something which has proven itself the bane of my existence: a principle called continuity."
Bending down, the Nidoking used a claw to etch a small circle into the gravelly cave floor. The Chandelure loomed closer to brighten the surface.
"For the sake of argument, pretend this circle is the time stream, the one in which you and I reside. Now…" He began to draw several lines branching out from the circle until it looked like a crude representation of the sun. "Here are the various branches of the timeline," he continued. "Many… possibilities created by many pivotal moments in this world, the moments which are the causes of changed fates. Now, what generally happens to a plant when it is severed from its roots?"
"Depending on the plant, it might grow new roots," Saurvor said. "Or the roots might grow into a new plant. But most of the time, the plant… dies."
The Nidoking scratched a claw across several of the lines, cutting them off from the circle. The noise gave Saura a chill.
"Such is what happens when a timeline looses its rooting," the Starborn explained, indicating the severed lines. "Continuity means that there is a logical, unbroken sequence of events which lead to further events. If that sequence is broken – when a timeline is cut away with no continuity to the original branch – it dies. That is to say, it is no longer real. The inhabitants and contents of that timeline… they become only imaginary, fleeting dreams of the gods with no souls. You and I, we exist because we have souls, unlike the infinite countless branches of possibility which did not truly happen in any sense of the word."
"What does that even mean? I might not even be real right now?" Saurvor said skeptically. "I don't understand. How could one timeline get cut off from the others? It doesn't seem possible."
"Many of the gods have a power known as 'mutation,'" the Nidoking said. "It means they can make things happen without cause. But even the gods need to take care to use the power wisely. If they misuse the power of mutation…"
Scratch. The staff severed yet another line from the circle.
"And that is why I cannot merely do anything I wish with the power which has been granted to me," he said, holding up the tiny chain with the powerful relic. "This time gear's origin is from outside of the time stream. It is a divine mutagen. If I were to mishandle its power, change the time stream in the wrong way, I might render an entire branch of the time stream discontinuous. I am not here to end the wars and stop the killing. I am here for one reason alone… A task for which I was appointed, you might say, by your Charmander friend."
"Char… what? Char hired you?" Saura stammered out, taking a step back. "Who… who are you, exactly? What do you have to do with Char?"
The Nidoking hummed. "Your friend wanted to make a change to this time stream, but without breaking its continuity," he explained, scratching out his diagram with his foot. "Despite his best efforts, Char could not plan for every random happenstance required by his great plan. Therefore, before he allowed himself to be transformed into a Charmander, he requisitioned help from several Amberan Pokémon to carve out a path for him to walk. To me, he gave the simplest, yet the most difficult task of all his guardians: I am here only to ensure he arrives at the correct place, at the correct time. Nothing more. He knew I would fail, so he gave me the time gear to allow me multiple attempts, but not without risks: with every step I take, without the foresight of Dialga or the freedom of Celebi, I risk disrupting the delicate chains of causality holding the future in place and rendering our timestream discontinuous. Even the words I speak must be carefully considered; should I tell you something that you otherwise might not have learned on your own, you and all of Ambera would suddenly cease to be real, and I would be left with no other option but to return to the moment I was given the time gear and try everything over again from the beginning.
"As for what you might call me… I am The Redeemer."
Something touched the outside of the boulder. There were voices coming from the forest.
Saurvor stiffened. "Who's there? Was someone following us?" he whispered, inching closer to his brother. "What the heck is going on?"
"…Seems like someone else is ahead of schedule as well," the Nidoking said, quickly hooking the time gear back to his belt and brandishing his staff. "Ah, I was hoping to have more time to talk with you. We need to move. Charon, please run interference. Perhaps we can finish this discussion up on the way to the surface."
The Nidoking ushered the two brothers quickly to the back of the cave while the ghost positioned itself in front of the cave's entrance, awaiting the inevitable.
"I'm serious!" one voice said. "Look, there's a hidden door here!"
"Where?"
"Here! Look at the ditch! Someone moved this rock."
"You really think he could have disappeared into here?"
"Well, can you open it?"
"Stand back…"
Just as the Starborn escaped into the mystery dungeon with his escorts, the cave was rattled with the impact of a hyper beam, shattering the boulder. Several large birds crowded around the open entrance as the dust settled.
Division Base
The torches flickered and turned yellow. Char sat beside his team at the front door, flames of anxiety licking at his innards.
The applicants had already arrived. They were there, just on the other side of the door. He wasn't sure how many had shown up, but he could hear their chit-chat and laughter only a few meters away. He knew that Marrow was only waiting for the go-ahead from Char to let them in.
Char still didn't feel ready for this.
"Don't worry about it," Ray reassured him. "We aren't hiring anyone today. We'll just talk to them. Decide who can come back for a second interview. That's how the pros do it."
"Char, if you think you're nervous, just imagine how nervous the applicants must feel," Eva added, brushing against him gently. "I can feel their minds on the other side of the wall. They respect you. They hope to impress you."
I know you'd rather hear the advice coming from Saura, she added silently, nudging him. But I hope that you will find I am just as qualified to ease your mind as he is.
Thank you, Char replied, stroking her head.
Have you given any thought to appointing a second-in-command? Eva asked, glancing at the door to keep her conversation inconspicuous. You are not the independent type. You need someone to trust, or your insecurities will get the better of you. I've seen it happen too many times before. The sooner you choose someone as your new partner, the sooner you can start to rebuild your confidence in yourself.
I'm still thinking, Char replied. It's not an easy decision.
I don't think it's as hard as you're making it out to be, she retorted, smirking at him. Perhaps I cannot speak entirely for Otto or Ray, but I can promise you that if I were chosen, I would never judge you for sharing any of your thoughts with me. Since we can communicate silently, we would never need to wait for privacy to discuss important matters. Your secrets would be kept safe, and I would tell the perfect lies to protect them if necessary. And… it would not offend me to step down from the position, should Saura re-appear.
Char looked at her with surprise, and she met his gaze. You didn't even consider that angle, did you? she goaded. You might also find that I am quite skilled with anticipating my master's needs.
Alright, alright. Point taken, Char said. You know, you're not the one I'm supposed to be interviewing today. But I'll consider your offer. I suppose my biggest reservation about you… I'm not sure I'm comfortable having a partner who won't follow me into mystery dungeons.
Let me keep one of those wonderful emblems for myself, and I'll follow you anywhere, she replied.
Char's thoughts were interrupted by the familiar sound of a bone rapping at the door, and Ray opened it to let Marrow in. Char noticed several Pokémon in the hall, but tried to avoid eye contact with them.
"Is there any sign of Tallie?" Otto inquired as soon as the door was shut.
"None," Marrow answered. "Y'know, you can't wait all day for her. Wait any longer and I fear you won't even get through ten interviews like you wanted."
Char grumbled, pushing himself away from Eva and rising to his feet. "Figures. We promise her a pass to the front of the line, and she doesn't even take it. I guess you guys were right; I guess she's not very reliable."
"Yes, but do not forget the promise still stands!" Otto said with surprising vigor. "You do not want to give her reason to ridicule you as a team leader who does not keep the promises he makes. You would be a hypocrite to call her unreliable."
Char eyed the Pidgey suspiciously. There had been an uncharacteristic squeak in his voice, something like the chirp of a songbird. Otto soon blinked as though recognizing an error he made. He bashfully hopped backward and seemed to willfully force a blank, expressionless face upon himself, something which resembled his typical persona.
He was looking forward to seeing her, Char realized. Maybe I was too. Although I'm not complaining that she gave us an excuse to start late. But Marrow's right; we can't wait all day. We need to get this over with.
He sighed and stood tall, imagining himself with the stature and authority of a Charizard. He swept his surging flame to the side, where it would hopefully inspire the interviewees with power and confidence.
"Everyone ready for this?" Char uttered, glancing sideways at his team. "Ray, if you could help me do most of the talking, that would be wonderful. Otto, you take mental notes and help us decide who should go on which missions with us. Eva… go ahead and read their minds, watch them for lies. Let me know if anyone's lying to our faces. Exaggerations are fine, outright lies aren't. Alright?"
"As you say," the Espeon replied with a twist of her tail.
Finally, Char bowed his head and gave the motion to Marrow. "Well, then. Let's find our new teammates," he decided.
Marrow quickly slid through the door again. "Alright, alright! We're startin'," he shouted, his voice muffled from beyond the wall. "We'll do this first-come, first serve. Form a line! Line starts down there. Leave them some room. Quiet then. You rabblerouse I'll kick ya' out. Got it?"
I wonder if there's a better way to do this, Char suddenly realized.
But there was no time to follow the thought. The first applicant stepped around the corner and appeared in the door frame. Before he knew it, Char met with quite a familiar face: a furry white figure with a smug grin and a firey red scarf around her neck. She sauntered into the room, her face flashing with uncharacteristic humility.
Char momentarily forgot the lines he had memorized to welcome the Pokémon to the interviews, and he instead wanted to laugh at the absurdity of seeing Zachel first in line.
"…What?" she said dryly. "Surprised to see me?"
"Oh! No, it's fine, it's fine!" Ray laughed. "Come on in!"
Marrow slammed the door shut to give them privacy, and Team Ember formed a close yet comfortable semicircle around the Zangoose. She bowed to Char, as if to say "at your service," and adjusted the bright scarf around her neck with her long, black claws.
"So… what brings you here?" Char said, jerking backward as he suddenly remembered that Pokémon didn't know about handshakes.
"Well, what can I say? Figured it was time to graduate," she said warmly. "I know I'm no fire-type like you wanted, but I figured it'd be worth something to get here before everyone else. Knew there would be lotsa kids wanting on Team Ember."
"We're giving everyone a shot," Char assured her, crossing his arms. "By the way, how many are in line out there, exactly?"
"Twenty or thirty, I'd say," Zachel answered. "More on the way, I'd bet. You're more popular than you might realize, Char. Everyone wants to be friends with you." She prodded Char in the chest with a claw. Char tried not to react.
She waved her hand at the door. "All those kids out there? Bet they said, 'Hey, living like a seven-star team and getting to be friends with Remorse? Sign me up!' But I'm different. I'm not here for the perks. I'm here because I think you guys could use me."
"Fair enough!" Ray said. "So, Zachel, what can you do?"
"For starters, I'll never gripe about having to carry the bag," she said with a laugh. "But I can fight, too. Claw-to-claw I can fight like a Scyther. Immune to all poison and venom, too. Comes with the species. At range, I know a few special techniques you might not expect someone like me to know. I can throw fire, I can throw ice, I can throw lightning. Trying to learn one of each type of spell so I can be versatile. Just don't tell anyone else this, alright? It's no fun when other Pokémon know what I can do. I like having the drop on them." She smiled evilly, showing off her claws.
Otto looked pleased. "You are a wildcard," he said. "Impressive. I would like to see you demonstrate your skills in a dungeon expedition."
"Hey, wait just a minute there," Char said with an awkward laugh, stepping toward her. "Zachel, we'd love to give you a tryout. You seem like you'd fit in here. But… well, there's just one thing about you that bothers me."
"…Huh?" she grunted, looking up from admiring her claws.
"Well, it's… you aren't going to freak out every time we pass that Seviper in the hall, are you?" Char said carefully. "Team X… Or, Team Blockheads as you know them… they're kind of our rivals. We'll be crossing paths with them a lot. So… would we be able to trust you not to lose control around him?"
Char noticed the Zangoose's eyes dilate at the mere mention of the Seviper. Though she tried to hide it, Zachel's confidence had been swiftly punctured. By the time Char was done talking, she looked as though she didn't know where to put her claws.
"Well uh… I haven't lost control yet, have I?" she returned, trying to sound reassuring. "Mostly… it was the audience making a scene, you know? The crowd watching us. I've had nothing but civil discussions with that snake. I'll be fine."
Ray and Otto exchanged a troubling glance.
"So… you're saying you'll be fine around Seviper? You're sure?" Char tried again. "What if we had to team up with them?"
"Look, bud. I'm a grown feline," she insisted, waving her claw as though to slice Char's neck. "I understand your concern, but I'd appreciate not being stereotyped. We're all civils here. The laws of the wild don't apply so much. Saura doesn't panic whenever he sees your tail, right? Well, I don't panic whenever I see Seviper."
Well, about that, Char wanted to say, remembering Saura's final words to him. Saura's not a great fan of fire, no.
"It's a non-issue," Zachel growled. "That Seviper means nothing to me. Got it?"
Char searched for a reply, but Eva's telepathic voice broke his focus.
Well, Char, you asked me to point out lies. And that… that is very clearly a lie.
Char squinted at the Zangoose, trying not to make eye contact with Eva. So you mean…
Yes, Zachel is emotionally compromised by the Seviper, and is trying to convince you otherwise. In fact, let me try something.
"I don't think it is going to be an issue," Eva chimed in. "Instincts will be instincts, but as she says, we are all civils here. Frequent exposure to the Seviper might even lead her to become desensitized to her instincts, rendering their rivalry less of a threat."
Zachel visibly shuddered at the mention of 'frequent exposure.'
Well, my master, it seems this one is a lost cause, Eva reported with some humor. She clearly harbors an unhealthy obsession with the Seviper. Her mind spirals with endless scenarios of encounters with him. If we hire her, we would need to take strong precautions against her… instinctual madness.
Char nodded. Though he was ashamed to admit it, he very much liked Eva calling him 'master.' He suspected she knew as much.
"I see," he said, looking her in the eyes. "Zachel, you seem like an obvious choice for us. We'd like you to come on a mission with us sometime and show off your skills. We'd like to take your word about Seviper, but if there's ever a problem–"
"There won't be," she snarled, glaring at him and pointing her claws at his face. "Look, if there's one thing I actually like about Team Carrier, it's that they don't define me by… by Seviper like everyone else does. Try this: open the Poképedia sometime and turn to Zangoose. First sentence: I hate Seviper. Second sentence: I've always hated Seviper. Third sentence: I always will hate Seviper. It's almost like I don't even have an identity without him. I mean… you know that gets old after a while, right? That you can't mention me in a sentence without him? The one thing in my life I could literally not care less about. But all the other Pokémon won't let me stop caring. I don't think it's too much to ask that my own teammates give me a chance to be my own Pokémon. But…"
She smiled and poked him in the chin, giving a mischievous flick of her tail.
"Luckily, Char, I respect you too much to hold it against you. If I have to prove myself to you, that's fine. I'll earn your trust. Look forward to picking some fights with ferals, just let me know the day. I'll be there."
The interview ended shortly after, with Zachel thanking Char for his time and marching back out the door, leaving Char with some mixed feelings.
"Thoughts?" he muttered to his team.
Ray stretched and yawned. "She sounds great. Really, she does! Let's do what she says and stop bothering her about Team X. What's the worst that can happen?"
"Perhaps I can go have a talk with the ghosts and tell them to do their job," Eva added snidely. "I don't know what's become of them. If they keep the two in separate hallways like they're supposed to be doing already, there's not going to be a problem. But yes, otherwise, I have no objections."
"A strong, multi-talented Normal-type. We need a Normal-type," Otto said fondly. "Very well. It sounds like we are unanimous. Eva, tell Marrow to send the next in line."
This isn't too hard, actually, Char said to himself. I could do a few more of these. Especially if it's with Pokémon I recognize. Yeah… anyone from Team Stripes would be nice to see. Thanks to Ray, I know almost all of his former teammates. Leo, Tyson, Taka… they'd all be welcome faces here. What I'm really afraid of is seeing someone I don't know.
The next Pokémon to enter the room was an especially tall Grovyle. It slithered through the crack in the door and towered above the four teammates, looking quite proud of itself.
"Uh… Good morning," Char said, standing up straight and holding himself like a team leader. He tried to remember the lines he wanted to recite. "Thank you for visiting us. What is your name, and what can you offer to Team Ember?"
The Grovyle chucked, folding its arms and leaning against the wall. "Oh, Char, you sound so… official," she said. "Couldn't imagine such a serious voice coming from such a diminutive lizard."
She grinned at him, expecting a response which completely eluded Char. Ray was the one to give the response she wanted.
The Raichu gasped so loud, he sounded like he would choke to death. "Ahhhhh! …Taka?!"
"It's my name, don't wear it out," the Grovyle replied, acting lackadaisical and glancing away from her former teammate.
Beaming with a huge smile, Ray scampered close to the Grovyle and stood on his hind legs, but he was still unable to match her height. "Taka…! You look so… strong! How did you get a feral-shard?!"
"Eh, by not ignoring a question-marks reward. They can be real surprises sometimes, y'know," she said. "We had this client… Tropius, we rescued her daughter. They had a feral-shard, but their kind doesn't evolve, so they had no use for it. So they made it our payment. Team took a vote and decided I should use it. Now I'm quitting Stripes, grown out of it."
Ray couldn't stop admiring her. "Wow! That's so awesome, Taka… Congratulations! Coping well?"
"Yeah, well, couldn't stop tripping over my own legs yesterday, but I'm getting' the hang of it. Love how I can jump like eight body heights now. I can practically fly, just working on sticking the landing. So uh… yeah."
"Ah, a strong grass-type with an affinity for acrobatic techniques!" Otto chirped. "This will work. We are honored to have you as an applicant."
Taka smirked. "Ah, but this is where I get to break your heart, kid. I'm not actually here to be on your team, Char. Mainly just here to show off the new evolution to Ray."
"…Oh," Ray said, his smile faltering for a split second.
"Yeah, I hate to brag, but right as soon as I walk out of here, I'm gonna sign the papers to join Team Avalanche," she said with a smug smile. "Tyson got me in. Turns out a team full of rock-types would need some rock-breakers too. So yeah. No more Stripes. Gonna be weird not waking up to Ansie every morning… But I'm sure you're used to it by now, so why can't I get used to it too? Gotta say, though, I'm still a bit jealous of you guys getting to hang out with Team Remorse all the time, but hey. Cataclysm is a hero too, in his own way. So maybe you can feel a little jealous back, huh?"
Char barely heard any of Taka's words; a familiar tingle had sparked in his forehead and moved down his face.
Oh… Oh no. Is it… is it really that late already? Char thought, trying to keep himself calm. Ahh… Celebi…
Celebi, what am I ever going to do with you?
He bit his tongue and waited for Celebi's familiar voice to enter his head, trying to hide his turmoil from Taka and especially from Eva. He knew that she would pry into his secrets the moment she figured something was wrong, so he bit down harder on his tongue and kept his eyes glued to the Grovyle in the room.
And it gave him an awful idea.
No… oh, no, I can't do that… can I?
He glared at the formidable Grovyle as he listened to Celebi encourage him the same way she always did. He mentally scolded her for being so cheerful all the time, as though she had no idea what kind of awful dilemma she imposed upon him whenever her Call sounded from her faraway tower.
This time, surprisingly, Celebi had the perfect timing to give Char an opportunity. It was an opportunity of dubious morality, and one he knew he would feel guilty with forever if he actually carried through with it, but the mere existence of the opportunity demanded not to be ignored.
And so, against his better judgement, Char rode out the wave of the Call, and at the height of the psychic reverberation, he sent a single request:
Taka… please reconsider?
When the command was uttered, Char blinked as though waking back up to the real world. He instinctively glanced over at his Espeon companion, and found that she was too busy analyzing the Grovyle's mind to have noticed anything wrong with her so-called master. He sighed in relief.
He turned his attention to Taka, who was laughing about something with Ray and Otto. Otto surprisingly seemed to enjoy her company.
"Ah, y'know what? I forgot how much I loved hanging around with you, Ray," Taka said, pushing herself away from the wall and patting the Raichu on the head. "You have this way of just… brightening everyone's day, just by being there. I miss that. I guess it's just another reason I can be jealous of you. Actually…"
She paused for a moment, as though gears were shifting in her head. Char held his breath a bit too deeply, causing his tail to flare. He already regretted abusing his power, and wished he could have it back so he could undo its effects. Awful scenarios began to flood in to his mind, making him realize that he might never be truly honest with her. "Taka, I don't know how to tell you this, but you really didn't choose to join Team Ember," he heard himself saying in the not-so-distant future. "You were going to join Team Avalanche, but you didn't… because I mind-controlled you and made you stay here."
Ugh, what have I done now?! Char silently scolded himself.
But Taka quickly shook her head. "Ah, y'know, for a moment there I was thinking of actually staying with you guys. But nah, reconsidering's done, and the answer's no. To be honest, want to know why?"
"How come?" Char said nervously.
"To be frank, it's because you let Saura go," Taka said with an accusatory sigh. "I felt some kinship with him. Felt like we could learn from one another. Be greeny friends 'n all. Now that he's not here anymore, well, there's really no point. Sorry Char, nothing personal with you. I'm sure you had a good reason to fire him."
Otto looked especially disappointed. "Actually, Saura is still a member of this team," he corrected her. "He hasn't been unregistered yet."
"You ghosted him? Lotta good that does, if he's not actually here," Taka said, shaking her head and turning towards the door. "Anyway, it was nice catching up with you guys. Have fun with your adventures. I've gotta go, Tyson's waiting for me."
"You too!" Ray called to her as she left. "Good luck on Team Avalanche!"
The mood turned grim the moment she stepped out. Ray's smile immediately came off, and he looked betrayed. Otto scratched at the floor.
"We could have used a Grass-type again," he said ruefully. "It would have opened possibilities. Specifically for cave expeditions. Saura was the only good rock-breaker we had."
"Aww, don't worry, we'll just go on to the next interview! There might be another grass-type."
"Ah, but she looked so… powerful. She looked like she could have done entire missions on her own."
Eva finally noticed her master's change of demeanor. Are you alright? she silently asked.
I'm fine, I'm fine, Char said, surprisingly not too much of a lie. It just surprised me, is all.
You're not alone, Eva said, turning up her nose. That Grovyle was a jerk. Has she always been such a jerk?
Uh… yeah, kinda, now that you mentioned it.
"Alright, not too shabby for just an hour," Marrow said, stopping in to check on the team. "You're makin' good time, I'm impressed! Get five done and I'll order you some lunch."
Yeah, well, that last one wasn't actually an interview, Char said to himself. But alright. We'll just call it that.
"Ready for number three?" Marrow said cheerfully, slinging his bone onto his shoulder and putting his hand on the door. "Go easy on this one, alright? He looks awful nervous. But if you ask me, it's the quiet ones that always have the most promise. It's the loud ones that are always speakin' over their own insecurities, y'know what I mean? Anyway, give the little fella a chance. He's even a fire-type, like you wanted."
The tone of Marrow's voice didn't give Char much confidence, but he readied an open mind. It would be more than welcome to have another teammate utilize the Frozen Flame's power with him.
Marrow stepped outside and held the door open, and slowly but surely, a small, meek little Pokémon crept around the corner and into Char's view.
It was a Vulpix.
"Uh… Hi. Can I come in?" it said.
Shamble Forest
It had taken a bit of doing for Charon to subdue the crazed birds that were mobbing him.
Squawking and scrabbling, they swooped after him endlessly. He dodged to the left, to the right, and into the ground. He sent out false copies for them to attack. Finally, he encased them in a dome of fire, or at least a few of them, and shared with them a few choice words.
"Are you quite finished?" the Chandelure sighed to the terrified birds as they coweredtogether away from the ghastly, roaring inferno. "All this exercise is certainly tiring, and I'm frankly quite bored."
"What do we do, Master Karow?" a Swellow whispered to his flock leader, a large Honchkrow. "I'm thinking a gust attack would disperse the fire enough to…"
"What do you want?" the crow demanded to the orange ghost, stepping in front of his teammates.
The Chandelure was quiet for a moment. "I would be asking the same of you," it spoke in a ghastly, reverberating monotone. "After all, you were the one who attacked me when I was only minding my own business."
"We aren't after you," Karow told it. "We're after the Starborn. You attacked us the moment we entered the cave."
"Hmmmnn," said the ghost, humming long and thoughtfully. "If it is Cepheus you are after, your trail's gone cold."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Karow squawked. "Where is the Starborn?! Where are you hiding him?! We know he's there in that cave, we just spotted him on this trail!"
"Listen to me, and listen to me closely, Silverwing," the Chandelure spoke, lowering his voice to terrifying tones. "There is indeed a Nidoking travelling with me. However, he is not Cepheus. I do not know where Cepheus is, and I strongly suggest you leave my companion alone."
"Why should we?" the Honchkrow boomed, flaring his wings. "We will track whomever we darn well please, thank you very much. And your Nidoking certainly looks suspicious to us, if I am to be blunt."
The Chandelure laughed, and the fire flared.
"Why should you?" the ghost repeated, drifting close to the crow. "If I am to be blunt… if you've truly lost track of Cepheus, then you have much greater problems than you might realize… and your time is far too precious to waste on chasing an innocent traveler around midwestern Ambera. If you've indeed lost track of Cepheus… then I suppose I do have one word of advice to offer."
"Yes…?" the crow said, grimacing.
The ghost rose into the air, ballooning in size. Long, red tendrils shot out of its body, and the dome of fire crackled loudly.
"Pray."
The next moment, the fire vanished, leaving no trace or evidence that it had ever existed. Master Karow and his wingmates stood still, gazing at each other as the cackling laughter of the ghost resounded in their ears.