“D-Did you just…”
“No be sad.” Umbreon nudged her again, his eyes wide with concern.
This was different. It wasn’t random words this time. It wasn’t babbling about butts like a chatot, or chanting the word ‘bad’ over again. She’d felt it before, when she had the nightmare, but he hadn’t been able to put it into words then. Not like this. He was actually talking to her.
“How do you—“
The lights went out again, cutting her off. But this time, the room didn’t go completely dark. Instead, Luxray lit up the area, shining from his yellow fur spots. Umbreon’s familiar golden glow joined him shortly after. He followed the circular ray he casted on the floor, pouncing at the light a few times.
“I’m sorry, everyone, I promise I’ll have it fixed as soon as I can.” She heard the blonde guy with the glasses, who now attempted to lead everyone out of the arena. The rest of the tower was still lit up fine on the other side of the doors. Not that it needed the lights anyway, the rest of the rooms had plenty of windows.
“I’m sorry, Korrina, our match will have to wait until I get the lights working again,” Clemont admitted. The human didn’t seem to have a clue as to what happened, either.
Korrina waved her hand. “It's fine, Clemont, I’m the one who should be sorry. We were supposed to do this days ago.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be sorry, you helped a lot of people. I guarantee I’ll get them back on real soon!”
He pulled a strange-looking metal tool out of his pocket, did a half salute with it, and turned around, leaving as quickly as he arrived.
“What am I going to do with you…” Luxray grumbled, seemingly used to this sort of thing.
‘Maybe it was the lights, but that doesn’t explain why neither of them remembers talking beforehand. What’s up with that? And, oh right! Goldie actually responded!’
After the lights were deemed too unstable for battle, everyone decided to take a break. Korrina offered to show Owen around a little more, having missed the opportunity when they first arrived.
“Think of it as a little thank you for your help when Salamence attacked.” Korrina led them down the avenue, past many people sitting under an awning.
Ding-ding
The door closed behind them as they entered the café. Its diagonal white tiles contrasted with the dark mahogany chairs. By the display case, an array of sugary sweets, cookies, and cakes were displayed, all completely overwhelming and masking the scent of fresh bread.
Korrina had taken them to get some sweets while they waited for Clemont to get the arena up and ready again. This place at least allowed both Pokémon out at once. Umbreon and Fennekin happily joined Lucario and Mienshao with a few extra seats for shorter Pokémon brought over to the table.
Korrina had decided on quite a numerous amount of plates for the group, consisting of a few slices of sour cherry tart, several macarons, a croissant for each of them, and several of something called a ‘Profiterole’. Despite the size of the order, the waitress had managed to bring it all over in one trip, skillfully distributing each plate across the table with ease.
He wasn’t sure what to expect, but he was pleasantly surprised when it was some kind of ball filled with whipped cream, with chocolate on top. He helped Fennekin to one, who took several eager chomps in between excited squeals.
Owen himself scarfed his croissant first, followed by a vanilla buttercream macaron. He couldn’t remember the last time he treated himself to genuine baked goods. It was always his mother who brought them as a surprise.
The guilt struck him mid-bite; she was probably worried sick by now. It’d been almost a week since he landed here, and he still had no way of contacting back home, no way to let them know he was okay. He hoped Doodle wasn’t starving right now.
Umbreon bumped his arm up and stole a bite of one of the cherry tarts, which decidedly belonged to him now. The smack of his gob while he enjoyed his pilfered treat was loud enough for the whole table to hear. He licked the bits that had gotten off his nose as he finished the rest of it. Korrina couldn’t help but laugh at the sight, sending a shared sense of joy over to Lucario as he laughed in unison.
When the time came to leave, the person who brought them their bill hadn’t been the young woman who took their order. Instead, it was a man with short red hair, causing Owen to do a double-take before realizing he was staring at Tristan again. This time he was in a purple button-down shirt with slack pants instead of the now torn jacket Owen had come to associate him with.
“Oh hey, so this is where you work!” He blurted out, surprising his former acquaintance. Tristan didn’t share his enthusiasm as his shocked expression quickly turned into one of annoyance.
“Look man, if you’ve got something to say, not here.” He said anxiously in a half-whisper, as if trying to give off a professional impression.
“No, I think it’s great. This place is nice.”
Tristan gave a quick squint before regaining his composure.
“Your bill.” He slid the paper on the table, trying to contain his annoyance as he waited for Korrina to find the payment. She’d handed off a modest amount more than what was due with a knowing smile and apology. Tristan started as if to protest before cutting himself off.
“-Whatever,” he responded in a softer tone, before returning to the counter.
They left the café, heading down another avenue as Korrina waited for a call to return to the gym. The slight breeze tunneled between the buildings, balancing out the warmth of the afternoon sun.
Curious, Owen turned to her and asked, “So, why did you suspect him the other day, anyway?”
“I was pretty sure then, but now I know for certain. He used to be a part of Team Flare.”
“Weren’t they, um…dealt with—?”
“By the champion, yes, with the—“ She cut herself off before continuing in a whisper close to his ear, “Well, with some help.” She added, fidgeting with one of her red wristbands. “I’m sorry, Owen, wish I could share more, but any more than that isn’t supposed to, well… get out, you know?”
Her phone rang, playing a pop song Owen was unfamiliar with. She hurriedly tried to answer the call before it continued to blare in the middle of the street. Her face now slightly red, she finally managed to hit the little green button.
“8 o'clock? Honestly, that’s a bit late, but I’ll bite. Just you make sure you’re ready, you hear? Alright, see you then!”
“Power back on?” Owen asked once Korrina put her phone away.
“Yeah, but he’s got all those silly machines to put away yet, and something about some kind of… capacitor? I don't know.” She looked up to think about it for a moment. A few people started to take pictures of her while she stood still. Lucario simply shrugged with a slight sigh as he looked back at her.
“Anyway, I totally get it if you don’t want to wait that long. The Professor probably doesn’t want you getting back too late, right?”
“Nah, as long as it’s not like, after midnight or something. I think that’s when he turns the lights out.”
“I need a warm-up.” She grinned, already pulling Owen along before he could respond. She whisked him away down a short alleyway and off to another open green area. The sign at the entrance had read Magenta Plaza.
Like the Rouge Plaza from the other day, this circular plaza had a large statue at its center amidst the soft, deep green grass. This one was livelier, however. Dozens of trainers gathered around the pathways that broke up the landscape. Several pairs were already battling, while others seemed to wait, a pokéball in hand. A few of them were even standing by their Pokémon. One was next to their Diggersby while another had a male Pyroar with its bright red and yellow mane.
Korrina approached the latter and sent out her Mienshao, surprising the pair momentarily before they put their game face on. It wouldn’t amount to much, however, as they were swiftly trounced by graceful movements and a flurry of efficient attacks. She took on the other pair and urged Owen to find a battle partner for himself.
He didn’t have to look, as someone came to him instead. This time, Umbreon took the front, ready to fight. Fennekin looked up silently, but she didn’t move to stop Umbreon.
“Alright, buddy. You’ve got this.”
A Rhyhorn followed the flash of red light in front of him as Umbreon readied his stance to send out a wave of force Owen recognized as Dark Pulse. Rhyhorn was too slow to land any hit on the smaller target and ended up exhausted and down for the count after a barrage of whirling purple waves. Another challenger approached, and Fennekin barked at Umbreon this time, taking the lead against a Flaaffy she trounced without much effort.
Korrina had sent another pair of challengers packing in the time it took Owen to win, leaving a berth between any other challengers and their group. She brought out a few Leppa and Oran berries for Mienshao and Owen’s Pokémon to eat as the two shared how their fights went.
Having no others to approach for a challenge, they set back out onto Autumnal Avenue. They stopped for a quick bite to eat on the return trip to the gym, much to Umbreon and Fennekin’s delight.
The setting sun cast an orange sheen over Prism Tower, turning it into a pillar of warm light. The crowd had died down, making it much easier to gain entrance this time around. Most of the foot traffic was leaving the spire, rather than entering.
Once again, they rode the elevator back up to the arena’s level and walked through the doors. The columns of yellow light were humming steadily, and the floor was now cleared of robots.
“Right on time!” Came a voice from atop the bleachers. Clemont waved with a free hand, the other wielding a comically oversized wrench before he put it down on the bottom-most bench.
“Ready when you are! We’ve been getting warmed up all day, so you’re gonna be in for a fight if you want one of these.” She shook a bracelet in the air in front of her, one pulled from her pack.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
He pushed his glasses up his nose as they flashed a sheen of light. “You’re not the only ones, we’ll beat you today and earn that bracelet!”
“Why don’t you take a seat up there?” Clemont gestured to Owen, who had scooped up a drowsy Umbreon in front of him. It was tough to carry him up the stairs. Formerly the size of a large house cat, he was nearly medium dog-sized in only a week!
As Korrina and Clemont took their places, a robot similar in height to Clemont rolled out. It stood on the side of the arena, catching Lucario’s curiosity. Ampharos was revealed as his opponent, who greeted him with a pleasant melodic voice. The Aura Pokémon bowed in return.
“Initiating safety protocols now. Please stand back.” The robot declared in a monotone voice
A glowing blue energy field rose to flank either side of the arena.
Whoa. That’s some high tech shit.
Most of the technology here was reminiscent of his old world, but this? He’d never seen anything like it outside of the movies.
“The match between Gym Leader Clemont and Gym Leader Korrina will be a one-on-one that concludes when one fighter is no longer able to battle.” The mechanical construct announced.
“Just because this is a test, don’t think we’re going to go easy on you,” Korrina warned, with Lucario grunting in response to confirm his trainer’s words. “Mega evolution’s the real deal. If you’re not ready for it, it’ll chew you up and spit you out!” She shouted to him.
The clock above the door made a loud buzzing sound, signifying it was now eight o’clock.
They stared each other down in unison with their Pokémon. Ampharos’ red gems glistened as energy swelled within. Lucario took an open stance, paws ready to strike, legs poised to spring at any moment.
“Thunder Punch!”
“Force Palm!”
They clashed with sparks on either side, both disengaging without nary a scratch on them. They were merely gauging each other’s strength.
Aura Sphere and Thunderbolt were called next, meeting dead center in the air between the two Pokémon. The blue ball was enveloped in yellow light, crackling at Lucario’s feet, forcing him to jump back to avoid a shock.
They traded punches once again. Lucario’s spiked paw met Ampharos’ clenched flipper, both charged with strong pulses of energy. Sparks blew back at both combatants, bouncing off their fur.
“Alright, Lucario, let’s show them what they’re in for! Time to mega evolve!” She held her wristband high as Lucario raised his paw in tandem. A beam of light connected the two glowing gems before warping around Lucario in a cocoon of rainbow colored hues.
“I was waiting for this,” Clemont smirked. “We’re powering up too! Cotton Guard!”
White tufts of fleece surrounded Ampharos in orbit before disappearing, vanishing into its yellow fur with a distinct sheen.
Out of the burst of light, Lucario stood taller, aura feelers grown several times their length, and steam poured forth from his body. The ends of his limbs were now dyed red and adorned with an extra pair of spikes.
“If that’s your game, we’ll just have to use Power Up Punch to blow right on through!”
“You might want to rethink that plan!” Clemont retorted, one of Ampharos' flippers now glowing red hot and smoking. The fire-type energy met with Lucario’s punch, forcing Ampharos to skid backwards in the dirt, but she wouldn’t fall that easily.
Lucario smirked as he summoned two blue glowing bones, which he twirled in synchrony before flashing forward.
Umbreon perked up from Owen’s lap, pushing his head just underneath his chin. Umbreon yipped in excitement as his rings started to glow, purring all the while. Each movement made it harder to keep the moonlight Pokémon in his lap, and also distracted him from the match below. He’d lost sight of Lucario.
No, Lucario was traveling too fast for him to track. The impacts that collided with Ampharos were clear evidence of that. And yet the electric Pokémon stood tall in the face of the assault! She’d been glowing brighter and brighter the whole time as well!
“Ampharos, now let go of Discharge!”
“Alright then, Lucario, get back!” She only confirmed what he was already doing. The full area attack barely glanced him, messing up a little bit of fur. “We’ll just have to show them what a max power aura sphere looks like!”
“Okay, here it comes, Amphy, Hyper Beam attack!”
Lucario gathered energy into a massive blue ball, but Ampharos wasn’t slouching either. Shafts of red light spiraled into a focus in front of the yellow Pokémon. The air shimmered as the Pokémon charged their attacks, trembling the arena’s turf.
The supercharged laser beam cracked and sparked as it pulsed forward, colliding with the massive blue sphere. After shockwaves rippled out in short bursts, the beam split down the middle. The ball of aura had spliced the ray of energy, which tore through the remaining distance to Ampharos. The barrier started to flicker under pressure. In the same fleeting moment, the fractured beams of light converged back into one, striking Lucario before he could move out of the way.
Dust rose and filled the scene, obscuring the presence of either Pokémon. The barrier fizzled out, unleashing the debris onto the empty lower seats. The doors on either side of the arena opened as the ventilation went into overdrive. It could be seen floating by in the multicolored shafts of light from the windows in the adjacent room. Finally, two silhouettes were revealed to still be standing opposite each other.
As the cloud settled, Ampharos was slouched and panting. Lucario, however, was standing tall, ready for more.
Or at least he appeared to be.
He stood still in his powered-up form, long aura feelers dangling toward the ground. His shadow grew three times his height in the fleeting sunlight from the neighboring room.
“Safety equipment error. Cease battling at once.” The mechanical referee announced.
The aura Pokémon stepped forward into a slouch, his paws dragging slightly through the dirt. Something about the way he moved—slower, heavier—sent a chill through the air.
Umbreon’s purring stopped. He growled low in his throat, ears pinned back.
Owen looked down, and as he did, Umbreon struggled to break free of his arms.
“Hey, easy boy!”
Fennekin joined in yapping at him, to no avail. Umbreon jumped out of Owens's arms and down to the arena below.
“Lucario, that’s good enough. Why don’t we stop for now?” Korrina called out.
He jerked his gaze in her direction. Eyes glowing red, snarling and ready to pounce.
“Lucario?”
He jumped. Though this time he wasn’t a blur, he was much slower now. But his left paw started to glow as he closed the distance. Korrina held up her arm with the stone and bracer in front of her.
At the same time, several small orbs circled Ampharos before flying straight into Umbreon. He fired off the same red laser that she had just had right in Lucario’s path! It barely missed him, but its impact alone had shaken him off his feet and stopped his advance. The only problem was now his focus had changed once again.
He shot a crazed stare toward Umbreon, readying a small blue orb in paw, and firing it toward the bleachers.
“D-Dazzling Gleam!”
Amphy did her best to follow through on the order, shining sparkles firing their way in the jackal’s direction. He wasn’t able to dodge the whole thing in time, and took a glancing blow to his side, causing him to wince before staring at not Amphy, but Clemont himself. She craned her neck back and forth quickly as Lucario gathered himself to move. Baring teeth, her red orbs shone brighter than before!
Thunder struck with a massive crackle! Exactly where Lucario had been.
Amphy glanced at the charred floor a mere second before being impacted. Lucario had slammed into the bottom of her jaw from below, almost a foot off the ground himself. But she didn’t falter, no, she even grinned as she grabbed him with both flippers! Lucario tried to break free, but Umbreon hit him with a small wave in the back, buying Amphy just enough time to finish charging. And, she wasn’t holding back.
The Light Pokémon unleashed a point-blank thunder. Flashes of yellow, blue, and even black assaulted the room in erratic intensity until finally the deafening electric hum fizzled out.
Lucario began to glow white, reverting back to his normal state. Amphy gently set him down as he slumped, unconscious. She collapsed beside him with a weary huff.
Korrina rushed over to her Pokémon’s side, ball in hand. She checked him over before returning him to his ball and clutching it against her chest.
Owen ran down the stairs to check on Umbreon, who happily rubbed against him. His Pokémon seemed to have only collected a fair amount of dust and dirt from the scrap. He scratched behind Umbreon’s ears, murmuring praise as he turned to check on Ampharos and Lucario.
“You were amazing, Amphy,” Clemont whispered as he gently rubbed her back.
“I thought we got past this,” Korrina mumbled as she recalled him. She stood there silently, looking down and clutching his ball, before returning it to her hip.
She pulled her head back up and wiped her arm across her face. She shook her head and slapped both hands to her cheeks.
“I’m going to go get him taken care of. You go tell the Professor!” Korrina nodded at Owen and spun around. She jumped toward the door, landing on wheels that popped out of the bottom of her shoes before skating out toward the elevator.
Her abrupt exit left Owen surprised and reassured at the same time. Whatever made Lucario go berserk like that was weird. All the other Pokémon seemed to have shown up from nowhere, and yet he turned like that in the middle of a battle.
Owen turned to Clemont to see his mouth ajar. He gave a knowing smile to the bespectacled gym leader. “That’s more her speed. I think she’ll be okay.”
Clemont sighed before giving up a little chuckle.
“I guess you’re right. Thanks for helping Amphy out.”
The gym leader offered up his very sweaty hand. Exasperated, he looked around at the arena, messed up as it was, and shook his head, putting his hand on the back of it.
Clemont went over to a tough-looking metal cabinet, and pulled out an orange bottle which he began spraying Amphy with. Her exhaustion melted into some measure of relief, prompting the long-necked Pokémon to hug her trainer close, refusing to let him go for several moments.
She finally let go on her terms.
“Sorry it’s not perfect right now, Amphy. You gonna be okay in the ball for a little while?”
She was still dirty, but her spirits were high as she curled both flippers up, smiling at him. That was his cue to return his Pokémon to the comfortable stasis of her pokéball.
“Thank you.” He held the ball close to his mouth as he uttered the words.
“Want a lift? I was going to offer one to Korrina, but she just took off like that.”
Fennekin chirped up in approval to the offer, prompting Owen to accept. Clemont brought him over to the lab and took the time to come inside. They explained what happened to the Professor together, the surprise plain to see on his face as they elaborated. He was most concerned about the fact that this was the first time a Mega Pokémon belonging to a trainer had gone berserk in this manner. It was formerly a problem only novice trainers had to deal with. One of the many factors leading to the vetting process of handing out mega stones only to certified individuals.
But, Korrina, as he explained it had mastered Mega evolution a few years prior. It was the specialty of the Shalour City gym and Tower of Mastery after all. Owen remembered this much as the Professor went over it. Korrina had been the one to hand you your mega bracelet and first mega stone in the games. And now, not even her Lucario was safe from whatever was interfering with mega evolution.
Later that night in the spare bedroom in the lab…
Fennekin and Umbreon loafed on the bed, with the latter kneading his paws into the sheets. She sighed a little sigh before trying the same herself.
“I don’t get it.” She said after trying to emulate Umbreon. He only tilted his head in return.
“Why do you do that?” She asked.
“Feels good!” He responded excitedly.
“Riiight, then how come you do that to Owen’s leg and chest, too?” She inquired of him, finding the behavior quite odd.
“Who’s that?” He tilted his head to the side.
“The guy right there, your trainer for the last 8 years, you know, Owen.” She avoided yelling as she tried to keep her patience, reminding herself he was new to this whole thing.
“Owenbreon?”
“I already told you before! His name is Owen!” Patience was never really her thing anyways.
“Owen…breon?”
“Oh, whatever! Sure. Whatever makes you happy?”
Umbreon jumped in excitement before bumping heads with her again.
“So, what did you two do before you got lost in the woods, anyway?”
“We played together at home!”
“Is that all you did?”
“Nope! Owenbreon left a lot… and I got lonely. But every time I fell asleep, he’d always come back.”
“Every day…?” She struggled to hold her focus on the conversation as Owen started to brush her tail. Sure, it felt nice, heavenly in fact, but she was far more engrossed in finding out what Umbreon had to say. Meanwhile, Umbreon’s focus drifted off as he watched the brush as if it were the greatest thing he’d ever seen in his life. He tracked every stroke on her tail with a jealous eye.
“Focus!” She snapped back at him before repeating her question with context for him. “He left every day?”
“Not every day. Sometimes he didn’t leave! Those days were the best.”
“I see… Oh right! You’ve battled a lot, haven’t you? Do you remember what those were like?”
“Uhm… there was green scary thing, and then funny grey thing… oh, and blue doggy today!”
“That’s it?” She asked, feeling slighted by the fact that these were all battles she knew about already. “What about the rest of them? What about before the green scary thing?”
“Nope! I never had the whoosh before.”
“The whoosh?” She squinted.
“Uh huh, the whoosh!” He replied, quite proud of himself. “I can tell when they're ready for a fight.” He said with a bit of a serious tone. About as serious as the goof in front of her could muster, she figured. For what it’s worth, he did always seem to focus up when they were in danger. Like some deeper instinct was taking hold.
When her brushing session was over, Umbreon took her spot. She wouldn’t get anything more out of him as he purred louder than even some machines she’d heard as he fussed over the brush. It wasn’t much longer before Owen put the lights out, and Umbreon cuddled up against his lower leg on the bed. She went to the opposite side, curled up alone on the corner of the bed.
Fennekin had a hard time getting to sleep lately, afraid of having a repeat of the dream that bothered her so. She lay awake in anxious anticipation, long after Owen and Umbreon had fallen asleep.
A flash. Her head snapped in its direction, not knowing what to expect. It was just the phone again. It was shining even though it hadn’t been touched. Blinking profusely, she looked over to see what it showed. Again, it had something written on it. Except it was words that she could read, and looked nothing like the human symbols.
- Objective: Recover Harmony Lost.