Act 2: Chapter 29

Act 2: Chapter 29

"Ugh" Brendan groans, staring at the downed Trapinch across from himself and Marshtomp. "We're really not having any luck, are we bud?"

Marshtomp turns and regards his trainer with a sheepish face and a shrug.

After Lee left to fly off to his meeting, Brendan and Zinnia called it quits on training for the day and instead went out to try and find new team members. Zinnia settled on a Noibat, or even a Noivern if she could find one, and Brendan decided that an eventual Flygon is what he wants.

That in mind, Zinnia recruited the help of Astis and Isis to lead them through the labyrinthian tunnels of the Crater. In Zinnia's absence, the different flights of dragons had apparently changed nesting grounds, as when Zinnia took the lead, she and Brendan only found a dusty chamber filled with bones.

Isis took Zinnia, leading the Lorekeeper to a different part of the cave system where the Noivern were nesting, while Astis took Brendan into a long, narrow chamber with many nesting holes in the walls.

If Brendan is being honest with himself, he would have preferred having Isis. Astis Her admiration for him is plainly apparent, but after being manipulated by Courtney, he's simply not sure how to feel about that.

Grumbling, Brendan looks over his shoulder to Astis, who stands a safe distance away with her hands folded in front of her. "Zinnia said that there would be Vibrava, yet all I'm seeing are Trapinch? I don't mean to sound like a jerk, either, but all these guys seem pretty underwhelming."

The redheaded tribal girl helplessly shakes her head with a sigh. She shrugs, as if to say "nothing can be done."

Wishing his guide wasn't mute, Brendan returns his attention to the great number of holes along the wall.

When they first arrived, several of the Trapinch emerged from the nests, snapping their jaws in irritation as the light of Astis's lantern flooded the chamber. The antlion pokemon fought amongst themselves for only a brief moment before the largest one stepped forward, ready to throw down.

Marshtomp floored him in a single strike. It wasn't a super-effective blow, either, but an unpowered punch to gauge the large Trapinch's gumption.

The Trapinch took the blow with only a flinch and then fell over, groaning theatrically, a moment later.

The next largest Trapinch made a harsh, clicking sound reminiscent of laughter before taking his fallen comrade's place on the battlefield.

He, too, fell in one hit, and made a big clamor about his defeat.

After the sixth Trapinch failed to put up any appreciable fight, the rest slowly retreated back into their holes, dragging their wounded siblings back with them.

Astis smiled uncertainly after the disappointing performance and led him to another chamber where the same thing happened.

The third time was not the charm, either.

Brendan watches another Trapinch emerge from the wall and drag its defeated sibling back into the nest, leaving Brendan, Marshtomp, and Astis alone once more.

"Damn" Brendan doffs his hat and runs his fingers through his hair, replacing his hat afterward. 'I can't really afford to not have the best possible pokemon, not with all the crazy stuff the future is going to bring,' he thinks to himself. 'If they can't stand one hit from Marshtomp while he's holding back, then that would make for a really rough starting point'

"I really wanted a Vibrava, but I might just have to make do" Brendan murmurs, not noticing the alarm that passes Astis's face.

Feeling a tap on his arm, Brendan turns and finds Astis there, smiling apologetically. She gestures back to the tunnel that led them to this chamber and gives Brendan's sleeve a gentle tug.

"I'm game to try another, I guess," Brendan says. "C'mon, Marshtomp. I know we can find you a good teammate somewhere down here."

"Maaaash!"

Brendan and Marshtomp fall into step with each other, trailing slightly behind Astis, who picks up the lantern and takes the lead.

After a minute of walking in silence, Brendan speaks up once more. "The Trapinch aren't sick, are they? They look plenty tough at first glance, but it's kind of weird that none of them put up any kind of fight."

A bead of sweat runs down Astis's brow, and she quickly shakes her head in a negative.

A frown slowly tugs at Brendan's lips. Deep down, he feels as if the redheaded girl is hiding something from him, and after the fiasco with Courtney

Brendan's frown becomes more pronounced.

After Courtney, the idea of being lied to by a girl who supposedly admires him does not sit right with him.

'And take a look here right in the middle! If I didn't know any better, I would swear that I was sensing an entirely new person!' Anabel's telepathic voice is quick and chirpy.

'Indeed. I've never seen two minds form a central nexus as homogenized as this before, if this phenomenon can even be called a nexus,' another voice, this one older and smoother, comments. 'It's no wonder why our tests failed to yield any results.'

'That's precisely what Espeon and I were thinking! It's a little bit like a color gradient, and you can't tell who is who in the middle. If you probe near the middle, it's completely indecipherable,' Anabel says.

'Curiouser and curiouser the mystery becomes I do have several theories, however.' The second voice makes the mental equivalent of an inquisitive hum.

' Measured flow?... Equilibrium... Like flowing water...' speaks yet another. Each slurred, nearly indecipherable word rings throughout the skull like the gongs of a bell. 'Pulling and pushing Anchors firmly'

'Indeed, my friend.'

Lee ignores the voices in his head and glances at the clock on the meeting room wall, finding that it's already 3 PM. If this goes on for much longer, he's going to have to tell his Draconid guide that he will be staying the night in town.

'Ah, my apologies, Mister Henson. It is not every day that one can witness such an extraordinary phenomenon, so please forgive the lengthy inspection.'

Lee looked towards the owner of the 'voice'.

Across the table and sitting next to Anabel is none other than Lucian of the Sinnoh Elite Four, Anabel's former mentor. Behind Lucian is his Bronzong, a massive Psychic pokemon resembling a hovering, patina-soiled bell.

After discovering Lee and Ninetales' apparent meta-stable gestalt, Anabel excused herself for several minutes, stating that she needed to make a phone call. When she returned, it was with a curious Lucian in tow, and Lee had to close his eyes and count to ten, exasperated with being on yet another Elite's radar.

'I wonder, does Lucian already have prior authorization to enter Hoenn so suddenly, or is that a privilege of his station?' Ninetales rests her chin on the table. 'I distinctly felt a great surge of Psychic TE outside, so he must've teleported here.'

'Who's to say?' Lee replies with a mental shrug, inspecting Lucian and Bronzong once more.

The bell pokemon, Bronzong, looks much like a bell that can be found within a clock tower or cathedral. The massive hunk of steel hovers behind Lucian like some sort of guardian angel. Much of its body is oxidized to a pale blue, save for two red, protruding eyes upon its front.

In front of Bronzong is Anabel's purported mentor, Lucian. Lucian's thin frame is covered by a sharp red suit, and his face is framed by shoulder-length, lavender hair a shade darker than Anabel's. His eyes are covered by oval glasses with a color similar to his hair, and his mouth is curved into an easy-going smile.

'Easy-going? I suppose. I assure you, though, that I'm quite excited by this discovery.' Lucian's smile widens.

Oh, right. Lucian, Anabel, and their pokemon can hear his thoughts. He's plenty used to it with Ninetales, but having someone else hear his introspection is quite annoying.

As Lee thinks that, he can feel Anabel, Espeon, Bronzong, and Lucian's minds retract their telepathic probes, leaving Ninetales and Lee alone once more.

"A true meta-stable gestalt between a human and a pokemon" Lucian shakes his head slowly, but his smile remains. "Amazing. Countless experts have theorized such a thing, but to see it firsthand is a spectacle I don't think I'll ever forget."

"Now, you say stable, but are you sure about that?" Lee asks, unable to hide the worry that colors his tone. "We've both lost sleep over this. You're certain that we're fine?"

Lucian nods absently, apparently still lost in his own thoughts. "When it comes to the science of the mind, there is always room for uncertainty, but I believe that you and Miss Ninetales have nothing to fear." He focuses on Lee. "What exactly prevents one side of you from subsuming the other is unknown to us, but I see no signs of a potential cascade. As far as I am able to see, you have dodged the worst perils that could be thrown at you."

Lee breathes a sigh of relief as Ninetales leans into his side.

"Now, this may come as an upside or downside, depending on how one looks at it, but I suspect that what has been done can no longer be undone. You and Miss Ninetales are quite solidly connected," Lucian continues. "We've pulled and prodded here and there, and the deep psychic channel between you holds fast. Even the four of us working in tandem could not stress the connection. With colorful wordplay and the stretching of definitions, one could even argue that you are a singular entity at heart."

Ninetales clicks her tongue and throws her head, sending a few errant locks of her head tuft behind her ear. 'As if we would be so easily separated,' she says with a deep frown. Her distaste, however, does not hide the touch of apprehension beneath the surface. The unasked what if they succeeded goes unanswered.

'It's nice to know that we resist it, even if it's coming from some damn-strong psychics.' Lee strokes the fox across the back of her neck, soothing her. 'See? I told you it was a worthwhile test.'

Nine has done excellently on her promise to better control her emotions, especially where Sylveon is concerned, but there is always a small, instinctual flash of jealousy whenever Lee focuses his attention on someone else. The fox hasn't acted on such impulses since Lee stopped her from lashing out at May back in Lavaridge.

Yet, there wasn't even an errant flicker when Lee stroked Sylveon a few minutes prior. What changed?

'How are you feeling after that talk with Anabel and Lucian, love?' Lee sends. 'I can feel something turning in the back of your head. You've been thinking about it since we left the Pokemon Center.'

Ninetales doesn't reply right away, instead taking her time to gather her thoughts. From deep within her, Lee can feel a bubbling, giddy sort of happiness begin to well up. 'Good. I feel good. Fantastic, even,' she says, leaning into Lee's side with a warm sigh. She looks up at him, her eyes sparkling. 'Knowing that I'm not about to harm you by accident has set countless fears to rest. In fact, I haven't felt such levity since my evolution.'

As she speaks, Ninetales' happiness boils over, pouring into Lee and making his body tingle. All of his limbs feel so light that he has to look down to confirm that he isn't floating away.

'I already know what you wish to ask,' Ninetales continues. 'Just as I said during our first night in the Crater, I should not be jealous of others you deign to give your time to, not when they do not share what we have. Now?'

She smiles, but beneath her joy, there is a touch of... Melancholy? 'Our bond is one unbreakable and unique. No, I shan't be jealous any longer. If anything I am tempted to pity,' she says, her glee leveling off. 'My life is rich thanks to you, and the fact that no one else may know such a feeling leaves me sorrowful, I suppose.'

Ninetales sweeps her eyes across the other people and pokemon in the mart. 'What would others say, if they knew what they were missing out on?'

Not knowing what to say, and now filled with mixed emotions of his own, Lee just holds the fox tight.

As he tries to think of a way to break the suddenly somber atmosphere, an intrusive thought comes to Lee's mind. 'Well, at least the average person gets some peace of mind. They don't have a partner who knows what kind of weird things they've touched themselves to, and I can't say the same.'

Nine physically sputters and breaks out into wheezy laughter, making a sound somewhere between a giggle and a vulpine gekker.

After Sylveon finally picks the best berries on display, Lee accidentally causes a delay at the Pokemart checkout, as the clerk needs a manager to sign off on the luxury ball. Once that hiccup is out of the way, they begin the walk back to the Pokemon Center to wait for their pick-up.

"Okay, so" Lee glances at the little instruction manual floating in front of his face, courtesy of Ninetales' telekinesis, as he, Ninetales, and Sylveon walk down the road. "Double press into long press, hold seven seconds, then short press after one vibration"

In his hands, Lee holds Sylveon's old ball and the shiny new luxury ball. Silph Co seems to (correctly) assume that most people will be transferring pokemon from a more mundane ball to the luxury ball, and has included an instruction manual on how to do so.

"Press the buttons together after confirming the first vibration" Lee touches both of the capsules together by their front buttons, and both buttons flash red briefly. A moment later, the luxury ball flashes blue with a distinct 'ping!'

"That should do it!" Lee grins. He shrinks and pockets the now unassigned pokeball before pointing the luxury ball towards Sylveon. "Alrighty, Sylvy. We'll be up in the air here in a few. Do you want to try your ball now, or wait?"

Sylveon answers with a shake of her head, looking up at the warm sun above. Mount Chimney is idle today, leaving the sky beautiful and clear of soot.

"You're right, some more sun won't hurt," Lee says with a smile.

Lee shrinks the gold-accented ball and clips it to his belt. "All in all, a productive day," he says with a smile, watching Ninetales neatly fold the little paper manual and slip it into one of his backpack pockets.

Together, the trio comes to a stop in front of the Pokemon Center. Lee seats himself on a bench near the sidewalk as both Sylveon and Ninetales take positions in front of him. With the spare time, Lee takes out his phone and does his best to catch up with his emails and other electronic business.

BattleNet: You were mentioned in the thread: Official Lee Henson Megathread

BattleNet: You were mentioned in the group: Fox Friday (x45)

Junesoft: Notice of Deposit

ContestCorner: Fallarbor Contest

BattleNet: New friend request from Lucian Goyou

BattleNet: New friend request from Anabel Lila

Alec Aarons: SPECIAL STUFF! Silph Job Fair gig.

BattleNet: You have been invited to join the private group: The Cognoscenti: Masters of the Mind

His emails are the usual things. There's a fair amount of spam, a handful of updates from various threads he's watching on BattleNet, an invite to the next Fallarbor Pokemon Contest, Aarons being himself, and a notification from Junesoft about the first royalty payment they deposited into his account. He doesn't give the rest much time or consideration. Before closing his mailbox, Lee shoots Nigel an email telling him that the first meeting between himself and Anabel went well, and to expect some detailed data in the next set of log files.

Logging into BattleNet, Lee finds a plethora of new alerts, mostly from his own megathread. Both Lucian and Anabel have sent him friend requests that he accepts, and it looks like Anabel has invited him to some kind of elite Psychic-type specialist group.

'Here we go again' Lee rolls his eyes and taps 'Accept.' The instant the chat room loads, Lee throws in the same boilerplate 'leave me alone' message that he used in the Fire Master group.

Today at 3:44 PM

L_Henson: Hello everyone, and thank you, Anabel, for the invite. I cannot say how active I will be due to being a traveling trainer, but I'll do my best to contribute where I can. I'm actually about to lose service now, so I hope to be back soon.

Before closing the group, Lee glances at the members list, finding Anabel, Lucian, Liza and Tate, Sabrina of Saffron city, Will of the Johto Elite Four, and several other recognizable names.

He closes the group and moves on, finding that somebody in Fox Friday was incessantly pinging him, and he didn't notice at all due to having the group muted.

Marking all of the pings as read without actually reading them, Lee instead opens his phone's camera and holds it up. "Nine? Sylvy?"

Both pokemon look at him inquisitively, just in time for Lee to snap a photo of them.

Opening his browser and returning to Fox Friday, Lee attaches the photo to a message

Today at 3:45 PM

L_Henson: Is this a fox? Ninetales for comparison.

(Attachment #1)

And hits send before promptly muting the group once more.

Ninetales chortles, while Sylveon can only tilt her head in confusion.

Nothing else really requires any attention, so Lee locks his phone and puts it away. Leaning his head back and closing his eyes, he enjoys the warm sun and the company of his pokemon.

Ninetales eventually sets her chin on Lee's knee, closing her eyes and relaxing, and even Sylveon leans into his legs, letting her usual tension drain away.

For a while, there is nothing but peace.

Then the bench shifts and Lee feels someone sit down next to him.

"Blasted volcano is finally calm for a change. Not many days like this in Fallarbor." The stranger laughs, his voice rough. "It's a bit dry, though. We could do with some rain."

Not raising his head, Lee hums. "Yeah, it is pretty dry, isn't it? I hope the local Grass-types are doing okay."

"Only tough buggers live north of the volcano, but I bet they'd appreciate the sentiment, at least," the stranger says. "You know, I'm pretty sensitive to the humidity, so I can't help but notice when it's dry out. My boys joke and use me as a living hygrometer because I comment on it a lot." The stranger shifts, and Lee feels eyes on him. "What made you think of pokemon so quickly for something so mundane, if you don't mind humoring me?"

Lee simply shrugs as best he can with his head leaned back. "What can I say? I'm a career trainer, and my number one concern is always pokemon. Whether or not they're my pokemon is kind of immaterial in the matter. Isn't that what any trainer would think?"

The stranger laughs once more, sounding pleased by the answer. "I think you'd be surprised by how often people think of themselves first for pretty much anything, really. I think it says a lot about a man to think of others first, especially when it comes to pokemon. There aren't many people like you around."

Lee opens his eyes and turns to the stranger. "Geez, man. You're gonna make me blush. I jus-!" Lee's words stop dead in his mouth and his blood runs cold, jolting Ninetales awake.

Grinning back from the other side of the bench is none other than Archie, leader of Team Aqua.nove(l)bi(n.)com