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Chapter 68
Division Base
Team Ember aborted the mission, returned all the merchandise to Kecleon, and fell back to their team hall to think things over.
Ray was devastated. Losing the frozen flame was a legitimate, honest-to-goodness mistake that was his fault, and he knew he had no excuse for it.
He was curled up on the floor, his ears pressed against his head, his face buried in his front paws. "I'm sorry," he kept saying incessantly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry."
"Ray… how do you forget to unpack the bag?" Char asked him carefully, trying to act gentle despite his inward panic. "How does this happen?"
"Pocket dimension bag," Ray sobbed. "It's… bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, remember? I've been using for a while. The only way to tell if there's anything inside is to reach in and feel around in there… and I just… I forgot. We haven't been on a mission in a few days and I just… I forgot to check! By the time I realized it, I was already standing in line at the keephouse… And there were… there were all our supplies from the Anvil Quarry mission…"
He burst into more tears. "Oh… ohhhhh, I should have never bought that bag, Char! I thought it would make things easier… since I was in charge of the items now… but oh, I should have stayed with the old bags! Then this never would have happened!"
He rocked back and forth, his eyes shut tight as his tears drenched his face. "I'm such a terrible bag carrier! I never should have let this happen!"
Tallie looked with disgust at the scene playing out before her, giving a loud snort.
"Oh, for the love of all that is holy, what kind of friends do you think you are?!" she screeched at the other Pokémon in the room, her eyes flaring sternly. "Asking him questions at a time like this?! SOMEONE GIVE THIS MOUSE A HUG for crying out loud."
Char hung his head, knowing she was right. It wasn't the time to take Ray up to task for the mistake. He wrapped his arms around the Raichu and held him tenderly. He tried to ignore the unpleasant buzzing of Ray's static, and held him for as long as he could.
Eva touched Ray's forehead with her gemstone. His breaths deepened, the spasms from his chest slowed.
Tallie, although she didn't quite understand what to do, approached close to the electric mouse and spread one of her wings, touching the back of his neck. Otto came close to him and pressed his cheek against Ray's side.
"T-thanks, guys," Ray said weakly. "I'm really, really sorry. I don't know how it happened."
"Mistakes happen," Tallie said bluntly. "One mistake doesn't mean you're bad at your job. Just between us, I make at least two mistakes a day, I just try to make sure nobody notices."
Char didn't exactly feel comfortable about this. It was quite the opposite, really. He was infuriated at the thief. He was scared of letting Prince find out what had happened. And he was a little, just a little angry at Ray.
But he wasn't going to show that in Ray's weakest moment, because that wasn't what friends were for.
"Yeah, Ray, don't worry about it," Char said coolly. "Imagine how Kecleon must feel. You saw that list of all the stuff he's stolen from Kecleon. Compared to him, we got off easy."
"Yeah," Ray said in a small voice. "Yeah, I saw it. Kecleon… heh… he turns completely red somedays, because he's so angry at the thief. I just don't understand how it happened. Why did the thief come to me?"
"If you ask me, it's plainly clear what happened," Eva said. "Kecleon mentioned that the thief has some 'appraisal specs' which it uses to select targets to steal. He mentioned that the appraisal specs measure the enchantment upon items. Leaving the frozen flame globe in the bag meant that it momentarily had the rarest enchantment of any item in downtown Iron Town, or perhaps even the entire city. The thief easily pinpointed Ray because of the presence of the globe and its enchantment. I suspect the thief spotted the globe in Ray's possession as he was preparing to steal Kecleon's diamond."
Otto spoke up quickly. "This reminds me: Ray, when the thief attacked you, did you learn anything about it?" he inquired. "Any additional information would be helpful to our cause."
"Uh… I don't know, it just looked like a moving shadow, like the clouds you see before it rains," Ray said. "It was just like Kecleon said. Kind of long, maybe like a Rapidash or a Luxray, or… oh! Actually, yeah! I did notice something!"
Ray sat up, his smile returning partially. His teammates gave him room.
"It tackled me, and I felt fur. The thief has fur!"
"Mammalian," Otto chirped with a nod. "A wingless mammalian. This narrows the possibilities. Good observation. Thank you. According to Kecleon's size estimates, and judging from the general concentration of species around Iron Town, this suggests canine, feline, equine, primate, or large rodent. If a rodent, its hideout would likely be underground due to its burrowing instincts. Did you feel extreme heat or cold while it attacked?"
"Uh… no, I don't think," Ray replied. "Just pain. It really hit hard."
"Then it is likely not a Rapidash, or any fire-type or ice-type," Otto said. "What about a scent? Was there a particularly unpleasant scent when the thief was nearby, or perhaps something pleasant?"
"It was hard to tell, there were so many Pokémon in the city, I couldn't pinpoint a single thing to smell," Ray said.
"Ah, then it is likely not a poison-type or a grass-type either. Their scent would have been clearly distinguishable as soon as it came close enough to touch you."
Tallie nodded, looking impressed. "Huh, good deductive work," she said. "Maybe get a list of all known Pokémon and scratch off the ones we know it isn't?"
"It may help, but there would still be hundreds," Eva said, pacing along the far wall. "It still isn't enough for me to begin a psychological profile. We need to know something he is, not what he isn't. Give me some time, perhaps until midday tomorrow, and I will have devised a new test."
"I'm assuming this time you won't base your test on faulty assumptions?" Tallie said.
Eva shot her a smug look. "I won't dignify that with an answer, but I will say that I don't consider our experiment today entirely a waste," she said, turning away from her and staring at the wall. "In fact, it may have given us the answer we sought in the first place. We wanted to know what the thief prioritizes. Now we know that perhaps the thief relies on the appraisal specs to a fault. I wish to test this theory. If it is true, there are a thousand ways it could be abused to his detriment."
"You said the appraisal specs measure the enchantment?" Tallie said pointedly. "So? Make a huge pile of diamonds and put an enchanted item in the middle with a complicated but useless spell. See if the thief takes the enchanted item and not any of the diamonds. There! I devised your test for you, and it only took ten seconds. You can thank me later."
"And where will we get the money for the diamonds?" Eva shot back.
"Ask Kecleon for them? He is kind of the kingpin, if you hadn't noticed," Tallie said with a flippant shrug.
"And if the thief steals all the diamonds, do we have your permission to blame you for the terrible idea?" Eva said with a sneer. "Because if you ask me, I feel as though we are beginning to play a game of bids-for-bids, and endlessly escalating our investment in hopes that we will win everything back in the end. Give me time and I will devise something a bit less… unaffordable."
"Consider that Kecleon has had many valuable items stolen which were not enchanted, and so it might be using more than one type of appraisal item to choose its targets," Otto noted.
"Yes, I know," Eva said. "But enough of this for one night. I need to rest my mind, and I suggest everyone do the same. I have a strange hunch that tomorrow might prove to be just as irritating as today."
Char agreed, but he gave Ray one last embrace before leaving.
"Hey, you're the best bag-carrier I could ask for," he said to the Raichu. "But this thief is also just a really good thief. So let's get our stuff back and show him that we're just a really good team. He'll regret he ever stole anything from us."
"Yeah, let's do it," Ray said quietly, with a weak smile. "Alright. I won't lose heart, Char. It just happened so suddenly and I didn't know what I could do. But I'm sure I'll feel better in the morning."
As Char retired to his room with Eva, he considered that group hugs really didn't feel the same when he wasn't being squeezed by vines.
Char climbed into his bed, already knowing that he wasn't about to have a good night's rest. The anxiety of an unresolved problem hung over his head – Prince had entrusted him with an important, powerful artifact – and he'd gotten it stolen. That was something he couldn't just sleep on.
But that wasn't the worst thing on Char's mind at that moment. There was something else, something potentially more devastating – and something growing closer and closer to his heart by the minute.
"Do you mind…?" Eva said, approaching the foot of his bed.
Char nodded, and Eva snuggled up next to him. He began to reflexively stroke her back and her head, listening to her sighs of contentment at his touch.
"I wouldn't mind sleeping here," she said, shifting closer to him. "Honestly, I wouldn't."
"Isn't it a bit warm, though?" Char wondered, eyeing the flames.
"I like the warmth," Eva said softly.
Eva had become a very different Pokémon since the moment the previous night when they agreed to be partners. Simply being together in the same room seemed to make her so happy, and he could feel the warmth spreading throughout her thoughts whenever she would speak telepathically.
Had it only been a day? It felt as though the Espeon already knew what she was doing, as though she'd had years of experience at Char's side, learning his personality. Speaking with her felt natural, as though it was something predestined.
It was hard to admit that at first he accepted her just out of impulse. After he'd seen how hurt she was that Tallie might have taken her role, he couldn't bear telling her 'no.' He figured he'd take the consequences in stride. Maybe she really could be the best partner for him.
But he was starting to see that she wouldn't stop there. She'd want to get even closer to him.
Everything about her – her gentle reverence, the tone of her thoughts, her insistence to sleep at his side – he wondered if there were any bounds to the closeness she wanted. Perhaps she would want something even more than partnership.
Now that was a weird thought. Could he fall in love with a Pokémon? Was that okay?
Was he already falling love with Eva, and just in denial?
Was that even part of his cosmic plan? Or would it throw complications into things, dragging a potential loved one into a fate full of hurt?
Was it a terrible idea for a team leader to fall in love with one of their teammates? Were there division codes against it?
Were you even supposed to worry about that stuff when you're in love? Or do you just speak your feelings and see what happens?
But… as strangely interesting as that line of thought was, and as much as he wanted to follow it, there was something standing in the way.
It was the same thing that he'd held back from Saura, that one thing that had ultimately driven a rift between them – and now he had to withhold the truth from a psychic-type Pokémon who was probably close enough that she could have already been browsing his thoughts at her will, and he'd never even suspect.
"Are you alright?" Eva asked, turning to him with a concerned look. "Are you worried about the orb?"
"Yeah," Char said. "That's part of it."
"I could help with that, if you would like," Eva said with a wry grin. "With your permission, I could give you a beautiful dream. A good dream will always clear the mind."
Char sighed, long and hard.
"I'll do it," Canniah had said, "But if I do, you need to agree not to tell anyone. It might destroy Flamewheel if the truth came out."
I understand what that's like, Char realized, looking down at Eva. I really do understand. The weight of this kind of responsibility…
The Espeon winced, a look of concern replacing her smile.
"Your thoughts are hurting tonight," she said. "If there's anything I might help you with—"
"I don't know if I'm ready to link minds with you," Char blurted.
"But I do not wish to see you hurt, my master," she said gently. "Not like this. If there is anything that burdens you, let me share the burden! What good am I, to be so close to your side, if I let you suffer like this? We could find a solution together. You might find that I am very good at finding solutions."
Char grit his teeth and forced himself to say, "No… I can't. Not right now. There are some things I'm not ready to show the world just yet. Even you."
Resentment flashed in her eyes.
"Fine, that is your choice," she replied, with a bit of sourness. "But you should know that there is very likely nothing you could be hiding in there that would make me think any less of you."
Again, Char sighed hard. "I'm not so sure about that," he said.
"It is true," she said in a soft, silky voice. "It doesn't matter what kind of thoughts you harbor. Everyone has secrets. Knowing yours would not make me think any less of you, and would only help me to understand you more deeply. I serve my master unconditionally."
"Yeah, well, can you accept the condition not to look into my mind?" Char replied with more of a cutting tone than he wanted.
"Char… I only want to help you. Why don't you trust me?" Eva asked sadly.
"Why don't you trust me?" Char shot back.
Eva looked hurt from the reply. It was as though nobody had ever asked her that question before. Even her telepathy seemed to emit a stunned monotone as she failed to reply.
Char clutched his forehead with his claw. "Alright, Eva, look… there's a limit I've got to set. If… I told you that certain thoughts are off-limits to look at, could you stay out of them?"
"Of course," Eva said plainly. "Depending on the topics, they should be easy to avoid. And if we are mind-linked, then it will be difficult for me to hide my guilt if I were to intrude upon your secrets. You would know the moment I have broken my promise."
"Alright. Well, I have a few secrets that I don't want anyone to know yet. And this includes you. If you can accept that, then alright… I'll let you into my head. But… it's hard. I'm really going to trust you with this. Nobody can know."
A brightness came to life behind Eva's eyes. Char felt her tail brush against his back. "I'll stay out of whatever you'd like. Just let me know."
"Ah, it's… It's the Call," he finally spat out. "Everything about the Call. What I've done with it, what I can do with it, just… just everything."
Eva shrugged. "Is that all?" she said humorously. "If I recall correctly, I've already looked through those memories of yours once before, on the very first day we met, even, and there was nothing there that was cause for any shame. And besides, I thought by now that you would be aware that everyone in the Gold Division knows of your power. I don't see any r–"
"Eva."
She immediately stopped talking, closing her mouth hard.
"I'm serious. That's my condition. Don't look at my memories of the Call. Any of them. Ever. Got it? I might tell you them someday. Maybe. But I need you to trust me that I'm only going to tell you when I'm ready."
"Yes, master," she said simply, looking away as though in shame. "Anything for you."
Char let out a sigh of relief, trying his best to hide his exasperation from her notice.
"Besides, it's only fair…" he muttered.
Eva turned to him again, a suspicious glint in her eyes. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.
Char realized his mistake. He hadn't meant to say it out loud, only to think it, but he was learning that it sometimes got difficult to tell the difference when in a conversation with someone who could communicate in both the mediums of thought and spoken word.
Shrugging, he decided to elaborate.
"You've got your secrets, too," Char told her. "Like, what happened before you joined the Gold Division? And what about this team you used to be on that you keep talking about?"
A spectrum of sour emotions flashed in Eva's mind, reflecting in her eyes – shame, regret, and cowardice. Fear. Crippling reluctance.
Take me far away from here, said a sudden, clear thought from her subconscious. I want to hide.
"Well… I, um…" she said, shifting uncomfortably and hanging her head away from Char. "That is. Well, if you insist, I could tell you…"
Char pet between her ears."Don't. I know you're not ready to tell me yet. So I don't pry. You'll tell me when you're ready. I guess I'm just asking for the same thing in return. Hey… I have no problem sharing secrets with you. We're partners. But you respect my boundaries and I'll respect yours. Fair?"
She snorted, trying to hide the relief that mirrored Char's own. "I suppose I walked into that one," she sighed. "Yes, of course it's fair. Would you have expected me to say otherwise? I don't believe in being so insensitive when my master opens his heart to me."
At some moment after the conversation ended – it was hard to tell, because of the way time seems to become fuzzy when lost in thought – Char gave Eva permission to look into his mind and observe his immediate thoughts at her leisure. He found that Eva offered her own set of thoughts through the mind-link, a whole catalogue of ideas presented for his inspection.
The next thing Char knew, he was flying.
He was flying fiercely and masterfully through some mystery dungeon-like place, a cave with giant stalagmites rising out of a pit of darkness.
A pair of mighty Charizard wings supported him with little effort, taking him wherever he wished. He swooped and banked around the rocky columns at great speeds, the beautiful firelight upon his tail guiding his way. Sometimes when he performed a loop in the air, he could see the tail twisting and trailing behind him.
This was meant for me, Char knew. These wings, this strength… I was meant to have them. Someday I will. I was destined to fly.
Knowing this made his heart soar even higher.
He explored his imaginary playground for a time, that strange time-length in dreams which feels like an entire eternity which ends too soon, until he found himself swooping to land upon the top of one of the stalagmites. He climbed to its peak, his motions so effortless with the long, muscular body of a dragon. He curled his fiery tail around the rocky column and roared into the darkness, watching the flames stream from his maw and vanish into the distance.
He propelled himself from his perch, diving straight down into the abyss, until a wall of solid stone stood in his way. There was a moment of panic as he realized he would crash, but it was quelled by the roaring fire in his chest, and he held out his fist as though to punch a hole in the wall.
The stone barrier shattered like a pile of leaves, and he found himself flying around a mountainside under a clear starry sky. A full moon, four times the size it should have been and deep gold in color, bathed the land down below in an intense silvery sheen.
Thank you, Char said to his partner. Where did you learn to create dreams like this?
An old friend, a voice replied. She was much better at it than I was, but I learned a thing or two by watching her work. I cannot promise much variety, but I can offer you these dreams as often as you'd like.
Thank you, Char said again, for trusting me.
And you as well, the voice said. The feeling is mutual… my master.
Char flew faster and higher, watching the firelight of his tail streak across the sky. He laughed deeply and triumphantly, hearing the fearsome roar of a Charizard escape his throat.
He knew it was only a dream, but it was real now, and that's all that really mattered.
Perhaps a few more minutes of this, Char said, but then you should go give Ray some good dreams too. He needs them more than I do.
As you say, the voice replied, its contentment and pride spilling into the dream and painting the sky with swirls of orange and blue.
After a surprisingly good rest, Char got up to face a particularly unpleasant day.
"I've decided something," he told his team at the morning meeting. "We've got more than enough good candidates to start holding tryouts. So today's going to be the last day we'll hold interviews."
Ray looked disappointed at the news. "Aww, but there's still like thirty Pokémon left in line! They're going to be sad that they won't get a chance," he said.
Tallie nodded. "I concur with Char. If they wanted a chance, they would have been first in line."
"Yeah. We really need the extra help as soon as we can get it," Char said. "We already have enough Pokémon who might work. We need to get them on our team so they can start helping us. Although, Ray, if you have any particular recommendations from Team Stripes, I could make sure they get a chance. When Marrow gets here, you can go out into the hall and tell them they can skip the interview and just come to the tryout missions."
"Okay! I can do that!" Ray said, looking quite satisfied.
"Not too many, though! Just like three or four, alright?" said Char sternly, knowing that the Raichu would give a pass to half the line if he had things his way.
"Yeah, I understand," Ray replied, playing excitedly with the end of his tail.
Tallie gave Eva an impatient glare. "I move that we take all of your candidates so far and I'll take them out get some of those job requests done from the board," she said. "Unless we've gotten any bright ideas about what to tell Kecleon next?"
"Some thoughts are forming, yes," Eva replied. "I would like to ask some additional questions of Kecleon. But I feel as though the thief gave us the answer we sought. He had chosen the diamond as his target, and was only distracted by the contents of Ray's bag."
"But, uh… the diamond wasn't enchanted, was it?" Ray asked. "I thought it was just a plain diamond. How would the thief know where to look for it if it can only sense enchanted things?"
"Obviously," Otto said, "because we had informed the thief of the diamond's location, by writing it on the notices that we intended for it to see."
"Oh… yeah, I wrote those yesterday morning," Ray said. "I forgot. Sorry, it's hard. I'm still thinking about… y'know, getting in a fight with the thief. I just wonder what I could have done different."
"Inflicting paralysis would have been a good place to start," Eva said a bit coldly. Ray looked at the ground and didn't say anything. "But I understand. The attack happened too quickly to think about your reaction. I almost believe this thief is a thrill-seeker, and is collecting valuables purely for sport. From what I understand, it might even be biased towards the greater challenges. It is fortunate that we still have in our possession the one item it likely chose out of the three we offered – the diamond. Knowing this, it is now possible we might toy with its expectations in a way that Kecleon could not. So I'm thinking that we should return to the false diamond exhibit in the downtown district. I'm not certain what stunt we will pull, but I'm certain it will have something to do with the diamond."
Shortly later in the middle of breakfast, Marrow rapped on the door, ready to act as the host for the third and final time. Char went to greet him.
"Scythe is gonna want me back soon," Marrow warned Char when he opened the door. "Only ten days in a week, you know. Whether the line thins out or not, you've got to be wrapping this up shortly."
"Yeah, we are. Actually, this is the last day we'll have interviews," Char told him. "How's your team doing, by the way?"
Marrow shifted his gaze away. He didn't respond for a moment, then blinked as though he was waking up from a trance.
"Ah, sorry… just… things," he said. "Not all fun and games going on with Scythe right now. Huntin' for Cepheus has gotten weird. We don't even know if he's paying attention to the canyon or not anymore. We thought we had him, but we got the wrong Nidoking entirely, so we're back at zero. We lost Adiel completely. And for some strange reason, Scythe doesn't seem to be putting his whole heart into working with the Sandshash tribe anymore. I've got half a mind to say he's snapped, it's like he just expects everything to fall into place by magic." He tapped his club on the floor. "But oh well, such is the life we lead. Guess I'll be headin' back to that life in a day or two, and what will be will be. Have to keep tellin' myself Scythe's had some weirder ideas before that ended up working, and this time shouldn't be anything real different. But I'm really gonna miss workin' with you, Char, hope you understand that."
"Yeah, thanks for everything," Char said, nodding. "Actually, that reminds me…"
Char hesitated before he finished his sentence, knowing that it was going to sound ridiculous. But it was most certainly worth the try.
"I was thinking, y'know… And hey, I know this is a long shot, but, um…"
He scratched the back of his head and curled his toes into the floor, trying to force out his words. Marrow eyed his tail flame with suspicion.
"Wanna join the team?" Char finally said. "I mean, uh… it looks like you really enjoy the dungeon missions we've been doing together, so why not just help us do these for a living? Then you wouldn't have to go back to the canyon."
Marrow gave a small, kindly chuckle. "Hah, I was starting to wonder if you'd ask that," he said, leaning on his bone club. "Hey. I'm flattered and honored you'd offer, but bein' on Team Remorse isn't about what a 'mon enjoys or doesn't enjoy. It's about doing somethin' greater than yourself. If I wanted to be happy forever, I'm sure I could just retire to Crystal Bay and skip rocks for the rest of days. Or, y'know, a peaceful meadow somewhere, like a certain someone we both know. But I kinda swore an oath to Scythe that I wouldn't make my life about the petty things. An' I meant it, too. Breakin' that oath would cost me my honor."
"I understand," Char said, trying not to show his disheartenment. "Either way, thank you for being our mentor. Good luck with whatever's going on at the canyon."
"And the same to you. Good luck catching that thief," Marrow said. "I'm not sure if I'd have the mind to help you catch someone so slippery, but I know I'd be seeing fantasies about what I'd to 'em after he got caught. Now if you'll go and excuse me, I think I hear the pitter-patter of hopeful candidates comin' round the corner. Better get yourselves ready."
Char had interviewed eleven Pokémon, not counting the Pokémon that Ray had picked out of the line himself, before the morning rush was over and it was time to meet once again with Kecleon. To his surprise, there were a few candidates he was quite pleased with.
Among them was a Pidgey named Brace who claimed to be an old friend of Otto's.
"Back in the day, I was the only one who figured out how to talk to him," claimed Brace proudly. "He was a weirdling for sure. He never said anything to anyone and he loved getting into fights for no reason. I've been meaning to swoop by and see how he's been doing, but I wouldn't mind the chance to get off Silverwing for a change. Otto and I work well together."
"It is true," Otto said. "He stood up for me when I drew the disdain of the other Silverwing birds. He also once beat me in a race."
"So you're old friends, that's fantastic," Tallie said dryly. "But what good will you be to the team?"
"Well, I mean, I don't know if there's anything much special about me," Brace said. "I've got a clean record… My IQ isn't as high as Otto's but it's decent… and I guess I know a few more white aura techniques than most Pidgey. I flap up a mean twister. But hey, if you need another bird on the team, I can follow orders as well as the next bird… The thing about birds is that we work well together, you know? The more of us you've got on the team, the stronger we get. And I know that Silverwing changes a lot for their specialty services…"
"So I hear," Tallie said.
After Brace, there came another member from Team Silverwing – a Hoothoot named Glower who claimed to have experience with night missions.
"I'm not afraid of any Watchers," she claimed. "Master Karow trained us good. I can act like a feral and keep watch for days. And I can go a whole week without sleeping if I need. I make the perfect spy, day or night. I'm patient."
"I find it strange," Otto told the Hoothoot, "that you would be trained in the art of acting like an innocuous feral bird, when I joined Silverwing already with a mastery of that skill, and spent my education being trained to behave like a civil bird."
"Yeah? Well here's the thing, you aren't stupid," Glower said. "You've that eleven stars Pidgey that Karow kept talking about, aren't you? Yeah. You've never been stupid, and I don't think you could act stupid if anyone paid you to act stupid. But I can act like the most stupid feral bird you'd ever see. I can blank out my mind so well that the Master's psychics could see me up in the trees and nobody would suspect a thing."
She's quite right about that, Eva said to Char. She certainly has large, vapid spaces in her consciousness, but I'm not entirely sure that's something she should be bragging about.
Another interesting candidate a Skitty who called himself Dragonbane. Eva assured Char it was not his real name, and that his real name was something unremarkable, but Char played along.
"Someday I'm going to be the world's most famous dragon-slayer," he said. "Don't laugh. No joke! A Hydregion ate my best friend, and I've sworn revenge on all evil dragons everywhere."
"How do you expect to slay dragons when you don't oppose them elementally?" Otto asked. "I do not know of any advantages your kind would have over one."
The Skitty smiled gleefully. "Yeah, and that's why it's so brilliant!" he said. "They don't expect me to be a threat. They'll never see it coming!"
Can't argue that point, Eva said dryly.
"Hah. I like this guy," Ray said, patting him on the back. "Dragons are tough. Someone's gotta face 'em."
A few candidates later, there was a little purple Nidoran that took Char by surprise. "I'm a girl, dummy," she shouted at Otto. "Some of us have boy colors. You gotta look at the face, girls have whiskers and boys don't."
"Our most sincere apologies," Eva said to her. "I have met recessively-colored Nidoran before, but it has been a very long time, and I don't think any of us were expecting one. Can you tell us your name?"
"Name's Gemstone, of Team Chasm," she said proudly. "At your service. Oh, and you know Nidoroch? Scythe's friend? That's my dad."
"Oh wow, I had a brother on Team Remorse once…" Ray said. "That's so cool! Does he teach you a lot?"
"Oh yeah, everything," she said, striking a pose. "I'm at the top of my class. If you pick anyone from Team Chasm, you should pick me." She winked at Char. "Because I'm gonna be a powerful Nidoqueen someday and you'll really want someone like me on your team, so don't miss the opportunity! Get me while you can! I'm sure someone else would love to hire me if you don't."
Well, I like her, Eva said to Char. But if the temperature spike in the room is any indication, Tallie sure doesn't.
Finally, when it was almost lunchtime, a skittish little Nincada showed up.
"You don't have a bug on your team, do you?" he said, twitching. "You can just call me Nincada, or whatever you want, I don't care." He cast a wary glance to the large fiery bird standing at Char's side.
"Good morning!" Ray said to the little Pokémon. "What brings you to Team Ember? Think you've got what it takes to help Char out?"
The little bug looked very courageous. He turned to Char and said, "Well, can I be honest? I… hate bugs."
"Oh, really?" Tallie said, stifling laughter. "This I've got to hear. How come you hate bugs?"
"Laugh if you want. Go ahead, I don't care. I've heard it all," Nincada said, buzzing his little wings. "I hate working with bugs. I hate being surrounded by bugs. All the time! Hate Team Spider. Hate always doing bug jobs. Gathering foods and tunneling. Want to join a team with no bugs. Tired of bug culture. Tired of always being weak and frail. Tired of being creepy and annoying. Bugs know what everyone thinks about them, but you know what? They don't care that other Pokémon think that way. They embrace it. They embrace being the victim. They enjoy being the prey. They like that we're the Pokémon that win fights by annoying you to death. Tired of it. Want to grow up. Want to join a team with no bugs! Wouldn't complain if I never see another bug in my life."
"Well, there is Scythe," Ray said. "We see him all the time…"
"Scythe is my hero!" the noisy little bug said. "Know why? Because nobody even cares he's a bug. They just treat him like another Pokémon. That's what I want to be like someday. I want Pokémon to know me and respect me and not even notice that I'm a bug."
Though the Nincada was quite talkative, Char felt a strong fondness for the little thing, and decided to give him a chance.
And that was it. That was all the interviews Char wanted to see. Of the eleven, five more were added to the roster for the tryouts. But the tryouts wouldn't happen until Kecleon's job was done. Char had promised that much to his team – Tallie having been excluded from that promise, although the team seemed to be living with her well enough – and he wasn't about to give up just because the thief did what thieves do best. He had two of the smartest birds in the world, a devious con artist, and Ambera's most notoriously vengeful shopkeeper on his side. They would win, he knew. It was only a matter of time.
Char told Marrow to give the disappointing news to the Pokémon in the hall – the uproar could be heard even through the closed door – and the team soon set themselves upon the day's work. Eva and Ray made their way to Kecleon's shop to discuss the latest plan. Tallie was instructed to issue another run of notices and post them around town to taunt the thief. Char hung back in the room and tried to take inventory of the items they still had after the incident with the bag, while Otto read the daily news report in the planning room.
Guess we're down to four reviver seeds now, he realized sadly. Good thing the rescue emblems weren't stolen, either. Good thing we never put those in a bag. But all our best orbs were in there, and most of our expensive seeds…
He took out a long, red scarf which was hanging from a hook near the back of the tiny closet.
At least we still have the mobile scarves, he said, stroking the fine threads. Saura would kill me if I lost his.
…Maybe I should give it back to him. Not fair that I should get to keep it when it was his gift. Maybe he could use it back home somehow.
There was a thwapping at the door. It wasn't a knocking, and it wasn't a pecking. It certainly wasn't the sound of Marrow's club. Probably some child coming to beg for a spot on the team. Char sighed and threw the mobile scarf back onto its hook. He approached the door, expecting the worst.
"Interviews are over!" he shouted. "We finished an hour ago."
"Good, because I'm not here for an interview," replied a distantly familiar voice. "Open the door."
The female voice gave him shivers of apprehension. He recognized it, but couldn't picture the face it belonged to. All he got were flashes of pain and bad memories.
"Open the door, Char," the voice said forcefully.
After putting his claws to the door, hesitating for a prolonged moment and wishing his door had a hole he could peer through, he opened it. He immediately regretted it; the face staring over him filled his body with dread.
"Oh… Lily. Hi," he said weakly. "Been a while, hasn't it?"
"Sure has," the Bayleef replied with an unwavering frown. "Can I come in?"
Not awaiting an answer, she pushed past Char and stood at the foyer of his team hall, glancing around at the furnishings and decorations. Her gaze lingered on the opened supply closet.
"Huh, so this is where Prince used to live before he met me," she said. "Kind of looks the same as the hall we're in now, but backwards." She looked at a candelabra next to the door to the planning room. "Wonder if Prince would ever want any of this stuff back. Maybe I should ask him."
Char was afraid to open his mouth and say anything. The Bayleef was clearly peeved, maybe at him specifically, and wore a painfully forced smile whenever she spoke. It gave him the creeps.
"Anything I, uh… can help you with?" Char forced out.
She peered at him with a look of disgust, then forced the fake smile back onto her face. "Yeah, there is," she said, then just stared at him as though imagining him having a stone tied to his tail and thrown into the ocean.
Char felt very small. "Hey, if this is about…"
"About what, something that may or may not have happened on a top-secret classified mission? Tell you what. How about we turn over a new leaf, alright? We both did what we thought was right at the time. I think it would be best for both of us if we act like it never happened. Sound fair? Because I honestly don't care at this point. Deal?"
"Uh, alright," Char said, choking on his words. "Yeah. Alright, if you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to."
"Good. Now that that's out of the way…"
The Bayleef jumped close to him, sticking her nose in his face and looking like she was about to whip out her vines and strangle him. Char felt his heart clench as he stepped away from her.
"Give it back," she hissed.
Char waited for clarification that never came. Lily only stared at him, boring holes into his skull with her fiery glare.
"Give… what back?" he tried asking.
"Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm talking about," Lily said in a low voice. "The blue fire globe. I just heard from Legend that you have it now. That belongs to Prince. It does not belong to you. So give it back."
Tongues of panic were licking at the outside of his lungs.
"Lily, wait. Prince gave it to me," he tried saying.
"And you LET HIM?!" Lily roared in his face, causing him to wince back and nearly fall over. "Look. You have no idea what that thing means to him. You don't know what it means to Team Flamewheel. That little thing is their livelihood. It represents all the lives they lost in the war. You do not deserve to keep it. But hey, it's not like you'd ever know what it's like to lose a teammate, right? You're still a rookie. Not even a year of service yet. The frozen flame is for grownups who've seen what war can do to you. It isn't for rookies like you."
"Well, um… I… I tried giving it back, but Prince wouldn't let me," he said quickly. "He insisted I keep it."
"Ugh. Forget it. Give it to me and I'll give it back myself," she sighed, turning away from him and rushing at the supply cabinet. She began whipping his supplies away, tossing them haphazardly on the floor. "It's in here, right? This is where you keep your stuff?"
"Lily, wait."
"Ugh, You'd better still have it. I would have thought that you'd get it lost on the first day. Like it were just some toy."
"Lily…!"
"WHAT?!" She snapped her vine in the air, gasping in anger.
Char cringed. His mind was racing, and his teeth were chattering from the terrible surge of adrenaline. "I… you can't have it… right now. It's not here. It's in Ray's bag. We're… using it. It's our first one-star mission and we're using it right now to help Kecleon."
She jumped at the whimpering Char, this time wrapping him in her vines and pinning him against the wall. She touched her forehead to his.
"If you lose that thing…" she growled quietly, "I swear, I will never forgive you for as long as you live. Never."
Char squeaked as she held him tighter, pressing his head hard against the stone wall. He couldn't say anything. He could barely breathe.
And then the Call happened, right on time.
Char thought for a moment that he was seeing hallucinations from being unable to breathe, but he recognized Celebi's cheery, pleasant voice calling to him, and he knew just what he wanted to do.
He didn't want to mind-control her. He knew that he wouldn't forgive himself if he mind-controlled any of his friends, or even his former friends. He knew that heartspeak wasn't just a granted wish. He knew it changed you on the inside, made you a different kind of person. That kind of change wasn't supposed to happen all at once.
But in that moment of desperation, as the furious Bayleef held him responsible for the frozen flame, he knew in his heart that he wanted her to understand. He wanted her to see his side of things. So instead of words, he used the Call and sent her thoughts.
They were his thoughts and feelings from Temporal Tower. He showed her the pain and confusion of witnessing Scythe fight against Prince, and the panic and uncertainty he faced when he thought Scythe would fight him. He showed her the terrible cold of Zerferia, the numbness of smoldering, the saving warmth of Prince's body, and the hopelessness of being caught in the blizzard and not knowing where to go.
He showed her the end of the journey, the night when they thought they would parish in the valley of the Scarred Crags.
He showed her, thought after thought, image after image, impression after impression, all the feelings he could remember from the fateful mission. He showed her every indecision, every uncertainty, and every scrap of regret he felt at the mistakes he had made. Her showed her his relationship with Scythe, with Prince, and with Saura. He hoped, in desperation, he could make her see why he made the decisions he did, and make her see that he was not a bad person on the inside.
Then something very strange happened. Somehow, Lily used the Call back on him. He didn't know how; maybe she was simply reflecting the force of his powerful heart-speak back onto him. Maybe she was receiving feedback from Celebi's signal since they were at such a close proximity. Whatever the cause, she used the Call to communicate a stream of memories to Char, just as he did to her.
What he saw and what he felt terrified him.
There was a feeling that cut the heart like a sawblade, of believing in something you knew to be hopeless, but carrying on because too many others were counting on you.
There was a vision of watching a snowy valley splattered in blood as all of her friends, allies, and respected leaders died before her eyes.
Vallon. Tangrind. Heroes who deserved more than anyone else to see the future they had died trying to protect.
There was a numbing feeling of knowing that all the deaths were her own fault.
She was expected to stop killing other Pokémon but she didn't know how.
There was a feeling that crushed the heart like a boulder, of having things expected of you, things you knew you could not deliver, but still had to believe you could do them because so many others were counting on you. You just had to believe them until they became true.
There was a feeling that drained the heart of all its energy, of always being a child on the inside even as the body would grow and strengthen. There was a feeling of being trapped in a body you know is too big for you, and did not represent who you were.
There was a sensation of being surrounded by ice, and also by fire, and shivering to death even as your skin burns and peels away. There was a resentful feeling of forgetting what the green forests and grassy prairies ever looked like, and forgetting what it felt like to simply stand in the sun and soak up its rays without the entire world always trying to kill you.
There was a longing for a distant home that was quickly fading from memory.
There was a trust in Prince, much stronger than any trust Char had ever felt towards Scythe. She was truly alone in the world except for him. His fire was more important to her than the sun itself. He was the only one who had ever treated her like a creature, and not a weapon to be used, or a weapon to be feared. He was the only one to protect her from the Master, and also from the cruel resistance teams, and also from herself and the terrible effects of her own power.
There was an understanding. Prince didn't want to simply fight. He wanted to win. He fought the resistance teams who insisted on being weak. He created his own.
The burning. It stung. It was much more painful than the numbing cold he felt. Her body was coated in fire. That fire sunk down into her soul and didn't go away. The fire that had come from Char's own throat.
The hopelessness. Knowing that the one Pokémon she loved was likely dead. She was alone. Even as a godlike bird clutched her close and flew her to safety, the fires still burned upon her. He was gone. Prince was no more. He was betrayed by the Charmander. By the Scyther. She was truly alone in the world.
Char realized he would have died by the sides of his closest friends. Lily would have died utterly alone.
There was a tearful reunion, bringing more happiness and relief than Char had ever felt with Saura. There was a night spent in a warm embrace as the joyful sobbing would never end. Resolutions and promises were made. They were set in stone. Love and dedication was professed.
All of it, the victories and the tragedies, the struggles and the heartbreaks… it was encapsulated in a sphere of crystal glass, one which Prince kept close to his heart. It was the frozen flame.
The vision ended as the Call ceased its signal. Char snapped back to reality, realizing that he was probably crying. He gasped for air. He looked at Lily – her eyes were dilated and her face was astonished, as though she was coming to realize what had just happened.
"You know what the difference is between you and me…?" she said plainly. "Your hurt came from a choice you made. You got exactly what you deserved."
She dropped him hard and walked away.
"I'll be back later for the frozen flame," she said. "I hope by then you'll be done using it."
Even without Lily's vines wrapped around him, Char could still barely breathe. All of Lily's emotions and memories were all so much stronger than his own. They had overshadowed his own, enough that he could barely remember what he had felt.
He had no choice but to admit to himself: Lily had suffered worse. Words could do no justice to the things she had seen, the memories she had witnessed. The curse of the Call was far more horrifying than he ever knew.
He sat there, still cycling through the sensations Lily had given him, and then noticed Otto standing in the doorway to the planning room. He looked like he'd watched the whole confrontation.
"I have since learned what awkwardness is," Otto said, "and how it applies to Pokémon who cannot be trusted. Are you hurt?"
"Yes," Char said. "But not on the outside."
"You are bleeding internally? Broken bones?"
Char coughed out a laugh. "No. I feel shame. It's like... it's like the shame of failing a mission. You know what that feels like, right?"
"…Yes," Otto admitted. "In a way, it indeed hurts. But not in a physical way."
"Sometimes, a failure counts for a lot more than just a bad mark on your record," Char said. "Sometimes it's a black mark on you. I did something terrible to Lily that I might not ever be able to make up for. I burned her. She didn't deserve to be burned, but I burned her. And I didn't realize that the rest of the world burned her too."
Char got up and shook his head, wiping his tears away. "When we find the frozen flame, I'm giving it back to Prince," he decided. "I'll have to apologize to Tallie and Zona that they'll never get to try it. But I understand it now. That's the way it should be. So let's go. Let's get it back."
Iron Town
Eva's second attempt at testing the thief did not go as planned.
Her idea was to trick the thief into possibly revealing its type. She had collected the worthless glass diamonds from the public display in Iron Town and had a spell placed on each of them. Since she had never studied how to enchant items, she and Kecleon had taken them to a professional imbuer – Kecleon paid the hefty bill himself – and the diamonds were given a very simple enchantment that would sound a noise if touched by a certain type of Pokémon. A few hours into the evening, the enchantments were completed and they had diamonds to test for water, electric, psychic, dark, and fairy-type Pokémon. The enchantments upon the diamonds would hopefully activate the thief's appraisal specs and lure it to the trap. Eva hoped that if they could deduce the thief's type, they could make use of a number of available type-exclusive spells and items to ultimately trap it.
But the thief did not show up to the exhibition. Even after Tallie had spread fliers around town "cordially inviting" the thief to another treasure of its choosing, the thief was nowhere to be seen, and for hours into the evening Kecleon had to pretend to show off his diamond collection to citizens of Iron Town as Team Ember hid themselves around the town square and kept watch.
By the time the clock towers rang nine and the streets were clearing up for the night, the decision was made to retreat in fear of the Watchers. That's when the thief finally struck, stealing all five diamonds in rapid succession while Kecleon's back was turned for a moment. He did not even notice until a Sableye, who he'd been arguing with (it claimed that it could tell the diamonds were not real just by looking at them) noted that someone had just taken them. The thief also apparently had activated a nullifying spell which allowed it to break into the exhibit undetected, a spell which likely nullified the spells on the diamonds which Eva had spent all day setting up. Ray noted that it might have been an embargo spell, saying that's what he would have done in the thief's place, but he wasn't sure how it did not affect the penumbra cape. Otto noted that since nobody even saw the diamonds being stolen, it was possible that the thief was not even wearing the cape and simply disguised itself as a commoner until it was close enough to take the treasures and run.
Kecleon got so angry that he momentarily turned completely red and smashed the entire exhibit with his bare hands. It was a terrifying scene, and Char was thankful that he was nowhere in the vicinity as the marble stands and wooden housings were shredded and beaten into dust with only a few terrifying blows from the enraged shopkeeper. As soon as he was done taking out his anger, Kecleon reverted to his normal, friendly self and thanked Team Ember for another day's work of attempting to help him.
As the resistance team walked back to the Cliffside Academy empty-handed, Eva said, "I realize now that this thief has so many items at its disposal that it's difficult to make a scenario that it cannot counteract. It does not help that most orbs speak of their own functions, and most common bands and scarves are described in the public encyclopedias. This thief is resourceful and knows how to do his research. This thief can do anything he wants, absolutely anything. And he is dangerous because he knows this."
"Too bad the same can't be said about us," Char said under his breath, peering at the darkening sky. "I wish I could do anything just by believing hard enough."
"Nonsense! It is only a matter of time!" Kecleon said. "I feel strongly that this team right here, standing beside me, is just the team we need to bring this thief to justice. No matter how much of my merchandise will be stolen, I still have more resources than the thief would ever hope for. There are some things it simply can't take away."
"Thanks," Char said half-heartedly, watching Otto and Tallie fly overhead.
He thought of Lily. He remembered that stinging feeling she had given him, of having things expected of you that you know you can't do by sheer force of will. He remembered that empty feeling she felt all her life, the feeling of having to push forward even though you don't believe something is possible, only because others believe in you.
"This is a learning experience. Don't forget this," Eva said encouragingly, noticing his dark thoughts. "It is especially a learning experience for me. After many years, I have forgotten how to think critically. Soon, my mind will be back to top form."
Char was afraid. Afraid that Lily or Prince would find out what he'd done.
He couldn't feel the confidence his team was trying to give to him. He was against a faceless, nameless enemy who revealed nothing about itself. It was an enemy with a greater mastery over equipment than even Ray. It was practically all-powerful. At this rate, they would pour all their efforts into trying to bait and trap it, and get nothing in return.
"We know at least one new piece of information," Eva said. "He took the bait. He does not know the difference between a useless and useful enchantment. The diamonds are of no use, but he took them anyway. This confirms my theory that he might be placing too much of his trust in the appraisal specs."
"Ah, wonderful!" Kecleon said. "This is useful news. Perhaps I can continue my trading, but I will need to temporarily carry only things that are not enchanted. Such as gold and money."
CRUNCH.
Eva, Ray, and Kecleon turned in surprise to a frustrated Char who had just punched the side of the building.
He kept his fist buried in the tiny crack he had made in the stone wall, feeling the painful throbbing within his knuckles. The firelight of his tail grew and lit the dark street more brightly than the crystal lamps above them.
He clenched his teeth, stewing in the pain and the dark thoughts that followed.
"Who are you…?" he muttered, closing his eyes. "Who do you think you are?!"
"Char…? Are you okay?" Ray asked.
"Why do you steal things that you can't even use?!" Char growled to nobody, his mind spinning. "Otto says you aren't even a fire-type… What use would you have for…"
A thought struck him. He stopped leaning on the wall and stood up. He looked at the swollen knuckles of his claw. He felt the pain.
The pain.
He looked at the wall he had just punched. It was some kind of granite brick, too hard to smash the way that Kecleon had smashed the exhibit booths, even when he'd charged white power into his fist.
There was no question in his mind. The answer had come to him. He simply knew what to do.
"I know how we can catch the thief," Char said, still staring at disbelief in his claw. "I have the answer."
"Oh? You thought of a way?" Eva asked with keen interest.
"Kecleon," Char said, "Do you have any other of those enchanted globes in your storage?"
"…Yes, I do believe I have one," he replied. "Similar to your frozen flame, but effective only to a different type of Pokémon. The base enchantments on them are very quite the same, although require long and grueling conditions to imbue, and so they are most valuable and rare. I keep it in the vault."
"Alright, I'm glad," Char said. "I need you to find out exactly how big its area of effect is. Can you do that? How far away can you be before it stops working?"
"Easily," Kecleon said with a smile. "I believe I even have it written down somewhere, and if not, a volunteer would suffice to perform a test. I will have your answer by morning."
Char eyed the birds above him, who had stopped to circle around in wait for him. He saw a glint from the Talonflame's eye.
"You two," he said, knowing they could hear him, "I think I'm about to give you the strangest assignment you've ever heard."