Chapter Text
Leagues beyond the boundaries of creation, the 'waters' of the void crashed upon one another in the throes of a relentless typhoon. This raw essence of both existence and lack thereof was wholly untamed by the gods of space or time. Unown existed here of a number too fathomless for all but perhaps Arceus himself. These living characters of the ancient ethereal script occupied these places singing their songs to the depths as they moved about the far reaches. It is something that they have been doing without rest since the foundations of all worlds.
Among these storms, waters, and choirs of The Alpha was a certain conscious, its mind peered out between the very strands of the void, as it had done an incalculable number of times before. This being… this thing... was hungry, though not for food. Its behavior couldn't be entirely described as feral, but it was most unpleasant all the same.
One 'day' came and passed like every other before it. The being knew how many 'days' had passed since it was brought here, it had been counting. Though it knew time was not so stable here, there was a sense of the flow all the same, even if it was inconsistent. Which is why when a certain 'day' finally had come, it made all the difference.
On this particular 'day', it felt a disturbance echo through the seas that elated it senses. It was unique, a certain sensation, something between a sound and a physical wave of energy, but neither one could fully describe it. This disturbance coursed through it, as it had done several times so terribly long ago.
It grinned.
Its mind peered out once more into the storms with a renewed vigor as it passed the endless maelstroms that would have swallowed whole worlds without difficulty. Its mind struggled through this chaos, yet it never relented. Nothing in the wells of the ethereal seas could do much to even slow it down.
It eventually found what it was looking for.
A threshold. Fast approaching.
It pulled back its mind to its corporeal form and waited. What was coming was inevitable, there was no need to rush and risk stirring up... trouble... for itself.
The threshold approach like a sandstorm through the void sea. A massive spiral of infinite threads of reality, peering into a realm it had once been free to wander. A realm it both hated and yet strongly desired.
As the vortex collided with it, it felt the makeup of its form contort with its new locality, even though it had never really moved.
It snarled as it went out seeking again with its mind, though now it had a certain target it was after.
When it found it, it used all of its might to ensnare it, its target none the wiser what had happened, but that hardly detracted from the significance of what it had accomplished.
This being, the vindictive entity it was, allowed itself in that moment to chuckle.
The true game was about to begin, but this first victory was worth relishing in.
The final shot of the movie played out on the laptop screen as the two heroines' escape pods descended towards earth, having accomplished what they set out to do. From the couch, the redhead girl felt her tear ducts well up as the credits began to roll, far from the first time she had responded to the finale like this, and far from the last.
It was about then she remembered she had company with her, to whom she turned with a giddy smile to see his reaction to her favorite movie of all time.
"So Ash, what'd you th-"
The only other member of the audience's eyes were shut. And he was snoozing into the couch cushion.
The girl had begun to utter a sound of sheer flabbergast, but managed to catch herself.
The side of his face was up against the couch pushing a bit of his cheek out, his messy hair strewn around as his light breathing caused his chest to move up and down.
She took this all in, and her disappointment faded like a forgotten dream.
"Sleep must not come easy for him lately," Callista mumbled to herself. Eventually she exhaled, and leaned over to hit the spacebar on the laptop, pausing the credits before closing the lid.
She went to an end table to place both items in the drawer before locating the spot on the floor where the blanket and pillow she brought out earlier in the day. She fluffed up the pillow by pressing on its sides before laying it about where she guessed Ash's head would be before lightly grasping his shoulders and easing him down. It had almost invoked déjà vu of when she had done the same for her father, who came back exhausted from extended shifts.
Ash then squirmed in his sleep and proceeded to reposition himself in a manner that, apparently, his body had decided was more comfortable. The girl watched patiently until he settled again, giving a satisfactory groan, before she grabbed the comforter and draped it over him.
She stood back up and took one last time to observe him, unconsciously touching her mouth with her fingertips as she did. She had noticed the slightest hint of a smile had crept onto his face, which in turn made her do the same. Pleased with her work, she went to switch off the lamp nearby. Two clicks of the apparatus before it turned off and stole away the last light of any significance.
The future archaeologist deftly navigated her way back to her bedroom in the darkness and grasped for her night stand lamp, casting incandescent light to all four corners of her private chamber. The light revealed that both Baltoy and Pikachu were sleeping on her bed, almost blending in with her copious amount of plushies.
The mouse pokémon groaned as his paws came up to rub his eyes. He let out a yawn that almost sounded like it hurt before those black marbles were looking up at her. The two black dots were glazed over until Callista came into focus in front of him, as she saw the student-teacher put a finger to her lips in a hush gesture.
"Ash is asleep on the couch now, are you going to join him?"
"Pi," he eeked out, "Pika."
Pikachu flopped onto his belly before he got up on all fours. Callista decided to do him the favor of helping him down from the bed as she picked him up from his sides. Her hands pushed into the pudginess of his tummy. Consequences of a few too many fries with his most beloved condiment, she suspected.
The electric-type did a most lazy nod of thanks as he landed on the floor. He then turned his face forward and slowly made his way out.
Her own pokémon was roused from sleep as well, who soon leaned forward and began to balance upright.
"Baltoy," it remarked.
"Both of them must be exhausted," she said as she sat down at the edge of her bed, "and so am, I for that matter."
"Baltoy, toy bal bal?"
Callista pursed her lips as she went about unbuttoning her blouse. "Maybe…" she muttered. "I want to just say yes." She turned her back to Baltoy before unclasping and removing her bra. Baltoy used confusion to grab Callista's pajama top that was sitting atop the dresser and bring it within her range to snatch from the air.
"Balbal toy."
She lifted her legs forward and slipped off her skirt before grabbing her pajama pants Baltoy brought over next. As she slipped it on one leg at a time, all her discarded articles were caught up in psychic energy and moved over to the laundry basket at the farthest corner of the room.
"I could spend time thinking about this for the rest of my life, Baltoy." She used her hands to lift herself up enough as she shifted her frame to a proper spot on her bed. "I don't think I could get any closer to finding out which choice is the right on my own."
She sat upright in her spot, next to her pokémon. She realized just now that her headband was still on and placed it down at her nightstand.
Naturally, today's events made her think more of the man who had reappeared in her life and clearly needed her help. The many emotions that were written across his face, even when he tried to suppress them, were vivid in her mind. The way he carried himself despite everything, seeing his most sincere smile after reassuring him at the restaurant… it flushed a sense of warmth over her now.
"And, honestly, Baltoy…" She turned to look at him, who had never stopped looking towards her. "He's… my friend. He's hurting, and I can help him." The warmth within her grew as those words left her lips. She took a hand to pet her clay doll pokémon on his head, which he responded with his typical sound of appreciation.
As she settled into her bed, she maneuvered to pull her covers over herself, she looked towards her closed bedroom door. Eventually she decided she had enough of that and turned off the bedroom light. Sleep didn't come quick, but she eased into it slowly as the thoughts in her head quieted down. Once they did, her eyelids grew heavy and her mind began to weave a pleasant dream.
The first sensation upon waking up was the feeling of something wet down the side of his mouth. Then was the lingering aftertaste of popcorn along with the kernels stuck between his teeth. His stomach was also in agreement, given the queasiness he felt emerge from there and up his esophagus. One thing noticeably absent, however, was the sound of rain battering the roof.
His mind clicked that the wetness down his mouth was drool from sleeping on his side. He then realized he didn't recall lying down at any point. Nor did he remember Pikachu snuggling up against his chest, as he currently was.
"We got back, Callista wanted to watch a movie, and then…" The last moment he saw in the film replayed in his head, he winced and brought a hand up to cover his eyes. "Oh brother…"
It was more like he smacked himself. The thought of sneaking out to spare himself the embarrassment crossed his mind for a brief moment, but it was ultimately discarded as rationality prevailed.
As he opened his eyes properly to the morning light that came in through the gaps in the vertical blinds, the rest of his senses caught up with him. His stomach was somewhat nauseous, as mentioned, but it was increasingly hollow. His shirt beneath his jacket was also sweaty across the front and back and he wanted little more than to get out of it and shower. At some point, the comforter, which likely had caused him to sweat, was discarded onto the floor.
He considered his options one by one as Pikachu continued to snooze against him.
Scenario 1: Take a shower and then cook the food here. He could compensate for anything he used up in the process. Of course, the problem was he hardly knew anything more than frying a sunny side up egg and buttering toast. The thought of doing dishes was also in the back of his mind as a negative even if he didn't put it forward as a reason not to.
Scenario 2: Take a shower and go out to get breakfast? Maybe something higher end as an apology for falling asleep during the movie? But what if she was still fast asleep when he got back and the food would go cold? Did he have it in him to wake her up after what he already had done?
Scenario 3: He ran out of time to think about this one as his ears picked up noise coming from the bathroom door behind him.
The noise of the shower itself wasn't what had caught his attention, it simply didn't register to him in his half-lucid state. Instead, it was the off-key singing that was being sung from a certain girl in the shower.
He amused – or perhaps suffered – a very disjointed cover of some alternative rock song from a decade ago, resigning himself to watch Pikachu continue his own sleep uninterrupted. Softly petting him in a way he knew wouldn't wake him. The artist with a day job she most certainly shouldn't quit continued what some might dare call a performance.
When the shower stopped, the time before the girl stepped out of the bathroom was significantly less than that of Serena, or most girls he ever knew. Ash rubbed his eyes feigning some semblance of preoccupation with himself as Callista came around and into view. She was sporting a jeans jacket with a white shirt underneath and a baggy brown skort with knee-high socks covering up much of the rest of her legs.
"Goooood morning," she said in a happy amused fashion, like how one might talk to a pet.
"Good morning," he said back as Pikachu woke up and immediately stretched his stubby arms out.
She flashed a wide smile at him. "I hope you slept well enough considering when and how you fell asleep."
"Heh," Ash went to massage the back of his neck, "Sorry about that. I was really enjoying it, I promise. Guess I was just more tired than I realized."
"I had deduced that much," She giggled as she reached to pick up Pikachu. Callista snuggled the mouse as she spoke cutely at him, the warmth radiating from the girl caused him to emit something akin to purring. She proceeded to dote on the little guy as she turned back towards her human guest. "Do you remember the last part you saw?"
"Uhh," Ash's eyes darted up and to the left, "I think it was when the fleet showed up to the center of the galaxy with the weapon?"
"Oh, sheesh, right before the climax!" Callista lamented loudly enough for the sleepy mouse to growl a hopeless complaint. "Well, perhaps we'll rewatch the rest after breakfast."
"Sounds good to me." The young man nodded. "What's on the menu?"
"Dunno yet," she admitted. "Do you enjoy comically large pancakes?"
One of his eyebrows shot up at that. "Any reason why they're comically large?"
"Mhm." She nodded as she offered Pikachu to him. "I never figured out how to make them any smaller."
Ash chuckled as he received his pokémon back. "I'd be more than happy with pancakes."
"Splendid," Callista remarked as she turned on her heels. "I'll go ahead and get started, I presume you'll want to go take a shower."
"Sure," He said as he hoisted himself from his knees up off the couch. He walked over to his backpack when something zipped through his mind and caused him to turn towards Callista. "Wait, do I really smell that bad?"
"Huh?" Callista turned her head as she was taking her apron from its hook. "Oh, heaven's no. Well, you kinda do, actually. But I just assumed you wanted one and-"
"Okay, okay," Ash chuckled, "I'll get on it, don't worry."
A pause, and they both laughed it off before turning to their separate tasks. Pikachu stayed to help Callista in the kitchen as Baltoy was retrieving the pancake mix from the cupboard.
Ash left the three of them to that as he stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. The lock on the door made a resolute clunk upon shutting. It was covered in white and gray tile along the walls and ceiling, waterproofing the entire space. The bright and large square LED light above cast a vivid white light upon the whole room.
He pulled out the spare change of clothes he brought with him. Next, he went for his hotel souvenirs he had snatched up a few days ago from the front pocket. Upon opening, he realized the complimentary soap bar was no larger than a thumbtack, and his shampoo bottle would not have been enough to wash a cleffa. He turned and saw Callista's arrangement of toiletries in her shower. A colorful arrangement of quality products. He sighed to himself as a bit of guilt washed over him, but concluded there would ultimately be no harm in it.
You have this one chance to walk away.
The words from yesterday flashed in his mind, interrupting all other thoughts just as he began to take off his shirt. He gasped as he abandoned that and went hand outstretched for the door.
He felt in that moment like he was the dumbest man on earth, leaving Callista alone in this situation. Maybe he needed to hold off showering?
He clenched his fist as he suppressed his body from shaking. Figuring out the right course of action, he walked over and turned the handle on the door without pulling on it. With the lock completely retracted, he slowly pushed open the door just a sliver as he lined his left eye with the opening.
He could see the kitchen in full by shifting his head. Callista was still there, now in her apron and whisking pancake mix. Pikachu and Baltoy were with her. The three of them looked like they were auditioning for an advertisement.
He exhaled, and eased the door shut again before slowly letting go of the lock.
It was all of four minutes later when he walked out of the bathroom, steam rolling from the doorway as he had his jacket half-on, his belt unfastened, and was rubbing his wet hair with a towel. In the kitchen, Callista had finished flipping one flapjack while two were stacked on a plate. The sound and smell of applewood smoked bacon permeated the flat.
"That was quick," Callista giggled as she put her spatula down for a moment, reaching into a cabinet for glasses. "I should have asked if you wanted anything in them like bluk berries or chocolate. I ended up making regular."
"Regular is fine," Ash said without thinking as he turned towards the front door. The handle wasn't jostling or anything, so he then checked the living room window. No suspicious silhouette could be made out through the blinds; there was no outline of anyone at all, in fact. Ash might've wondered at some time what the difference between a suspicious or regular silhouette might be, but his mind had no room for such whimsy right now.
"Something wrong?" Callista's question snapped him out of his focus as the throw pillow that was being called a pancake was laid atop the other ridiculously large - and likely under-cooked in the middle - confection.
"Oh." Ash put a palm to his head as if pressed on a headache. "Sorry, guess I'm still waking up."
The girl smiled back as she got out the butter. "Ah, it's still gonna be a few minutes before it's all ready. So feel free to take some time for yourself."
"Sure." Ash nodded. "I think I'll step outside for a minute then."
The trainer finished fastening his belt, slid his free arm into his jacket as he stepped into his shoes, shuffling his heels into them, before opening the door and crossing out into the pre-autumn air.
His eyes squinted as the morning sun beamed right at him from just over the buildings that blocked his view of the horizon. It might not have lasted the sun much longer but the wind was still chilly at this hour. Though the future weather report didn't stop his forearms, still damp from the shower, from breaking out in goosebumps.
The young man looked out to the city before him. Alive for the first time in full since he arrived yesterday. The streets were rife with people who were dressed for what the weather would be in a few hours. A myriad of vehicles threatened to become a traffic jam, all slowly moving along with their unbearably slow response times. An occasional horn could be heard in the distance erupting from some street not visible from his position.
Ash fell into his habit he started yesterday. He first watched a guy at a newspaper stand buy a pack of gum from the vendor. He turned his eyes towards a building entrance where a another man was standing near the door, before opening it for a man and woman who walked out, along with their train of five spry children in tow.
His attention was then turned across the street and above. He spotted a chap approaching middle age at the 6th floor of an adjacent apartment complex. What immediate fear Ash may have had about this one was dissipated by his clear disinterest. The man was too busy with his coffee and cigarette and staring off somewhere else, while talking with his marill who was standing on the balcony and enjoying her own cup alongside his. The two of them were having a perfectly normal Saturday morning together with the occasional ear-scratch for the shorter one of the duo.
The sound of wingull cries interrupted his people-watching in that moment as a sizable flock flew right past him, following the wind down the street. The sight caused his body to reflexively ease up, subconsciously associating the scene to carefree days on the beach.
Deep down, Ash wanted nothing more than to give into the feeling he was being evoked to in that moment, if even for a minute. But his conscious weighed on him like a golem on a cheap kitchen scale.
He took a hand to rub his eyes. To say that the messages that were left for him yesterday were still on his mind would be a gross understatement. Their words haunted him as if they were spiteful ghosts of the innocent who found the dwelling of their murderer.
"How could someone know which things I would grab?" he wondered aloud. "Maybe they installed cameras? Should I check the apartment?"
He sighed and pressed a hand to his forehead. "What if that note was more than that one jar? Why didn't I check for that?"
A pain in the back of his head began to loop around. His skull-pressing helped ease some of the ache but he groaned nonetheless. He eventually gave up and resigned to lean more of his weight against the railing as he muttered coarsely under his breath to no one and nothing.
On top of all of this, he despised himself for not just getting it out last night to Callista. That look on her face, the one she made when she was itching to show him a movie had been too much for him.
...Serena had made that same face at him on several occasions...
No. Bad thought, he didn't like it. Didn't make it not true, but that was besides the point.
"I should reach out to someone," he eventually admitted aloud. Callista was a good first option, given her vicinity and intelligence she clearly possessed. "But how do I bring it up now?"
His other friends came to mind. Brock, May, Gary, Dawn, and Cilan quickly came to mind. But was he really going to drag them into this? Never mind catch them up to speed.
No, he was going to sort this out. He wouldn't make any of them even remotely accountable for this by proxy. Callista was already at risk, so she had a right to know.
But to tell her and let the chips fall where they may? The future-memory of her being swallowed by a very expected and understandable fear before telling him to get out took over, leaving little to no room to imagine other possibilities.
The ambiance of the city took over as his thoughts played on repeat. His mind was a disaster zone, and the future looked like there would be no one coming to rebuild.
On a different rooftop across the street was a certain swellow. It was a male with a deep blue and faded red feathers. There might've been nothing interesting about this pokémon, were it not for the leg band that fastened to it with an adjustable camera lens. Better yet, it had just been watching Ash like a lab specimen.
As the swellow adjusted its position, the band shifted left and the capture adjusted with it. The video feed was streamed to a cell phone elsewhere in the city, laying atop a table. Next to it was a notepad with handwriting that could be mistaken for scratch marks and both were the possession of a man who wrote too fast for his own good.
He picked up his pen again.
Appears visibly tired, trouble sleeping most likely.
Severe weight on his conscious, visible regret.
He moved his pen to a new line as he tapped the pad for a few moments before writing again.
Possible surrender to his circumstances?
The man put his pen back down. His expression as stone-like as a classical statue of antiquity as he continued his observation.
He watched the young man, Ash Ketchum, push himself up straight from the railing and look back up. Though where or what he was looking towards was uncertain.
Focus elsewhere, potential mental distraction.
Or steeling himself?
This continued for a surprisingly long time. Then Ash appeared to say something aloud. There was nothing to pick up his words, but the man noted his set jaw and strong posture he was taking.
He then watched Ash turn back towards the apartment door before he went back inside.
The observer clicked his tongue as he grabbed his writing utensil once more. He wrote one last line of scratch only he could read before he locked his phone.
He stowed his notepad, pushed himself up from the table, and left.
Dawn awoke to the sound of wingull cries and ships horns in the distance. A cool salt-laden breeze blew in from the windows where thin white curtains fluttered in the breeze, scattering the morning light. She had failed to dress warm enough before falling into bed last night at such a late hour, leaving her to retract her frame to better hide under the covers.
She yawned, releasing with it a long string of unpronounceable gibberish. This was responded to by the chirp of a sleeping piplup who was curled up nearby; answering back while still off in dreamland. The girl turned her head towards her partner, her vision becoming clear as she reached over and pulled him in. She enjoyed the warmth he offered along with the bonus of his most adorable snoozing noises.
This probably went on for a good 30 seconds when it occurred to Dawn that there was a reason she wasn't in her own bed. She began to recall what had transpired as constellations connected in her mind.
Steven had picked them up from the airport, explained a lot of stuff that she didn't exactly make sense of but was important, nonetheless. He then brought Cynthia, May, and herself to the Stone Summer Estate in Slateport that he excitedly explained would be used as the home base for the Guardian Project.
All very exciting stuff.
It wasn't very compelling against the cold wind beyond her blankets, though.
Without letting go of Piplup, she did her best to stretch. Her shoulders rolled like rocks in a tumbler while keeping her arms around her partner. Her legs flared out, toes curling as both muscle and sinew down the length of her calves and thighs were tensed, groaning in satisfaction as her brain gave her happy chemicals for her effort. The movement caused Piplup to chirp once more before shifting to snuggle further with Dawn, still deep in his sleep.
As the girl felt his frame move from breathing, she parked her nose at the top of his crown while her lips brushed against his forehead. It had been an exhaustively long time since the two of them got to sleep in like this since Dawn had begun to work at the ranch. She definitely missed it. Time with Piplup like this was always one of the best medicines for her, especially when she felt down about…
…she remembered the actual reason she was even in Steven's villa to begin with.
Piplup was sitting in front of a fireplace with a tall glass of hot cocoa topped with marshmallows in his dream. This had been happening for as long as dreams typically feel, until he was suddenly thrown backwards and up from the comfy chair, flying out a window and launching high into the air as Dawn suddenly shot upright in bed.
The penguin pokémon awoke in a - rather understandable – panic, struggling against his trainer's arms who had forgotten in her own antics that she had been holding him. His head smashed against Dawn's nose in his thrashing as he cried out for solid ground.
"OW!" The girl yelped, immediately losing her grip on the ball of panic, causing him to make the short drop to her lap. His eyes finally opened, looking up to the sight and sound of Dawn trying to massage her nose that was now half-jammed into her skull.
"Piplup…" he uttered, his tone laced with regret.
"No, Piplup, that was my fault." The girl shook her head as she tried to massage the damage. "Good morning, I guess."
"Lup," he acknowledged.
The girl patted him on the head before she began to shift out of the covers. Last night she had lazily slipped into a big T-shirt that fell off one shoulder and kept on her undershorts. The wind chill came harsh upon her as she left the comforter behind. Naturally, her first action upon getting up was to close the kalosian doors to her room's personal balcony.
With that done and one last shivered emitted, Dawn's mind shifted back once more to the reason for her unintended arrival in Slateport. She went for her phone, which was visibly complaining about the low battery as she'd forgotten to plug it in before nodding off last night. She amended that situation before she pulled up Source again, hoping to strike gold once more. She filtered by new posts in the last 12 hours.
Piplup first looked at her behavior with curiosity, though he soon found it more important to tend to his molting as Dawn's doomscrolling surpassed the 5-minute mark and a menagerie search terms.
"There's gotta be something I'm not thinking of… maybe-"
A knock on her door interrupted that train of thought.
"Dawn, you up yet?" Cynthia's voice came muffled through the wood. "It's almost 10, Steven's got breakfast going. After that it's looking like a full day."
The bluenette checked the time on her phone. 9:52, she hadn't even taken a shower yet. Her lips curled inward in embarrassment. "Thanks, I'll be down in 15."
"That little? You might have to teach me how you do that," Cynthia joked. "I'm off to wake up May then. See you in a bit."
The girl's shoulders dropped as she sighed heavily, staring at her phone for a solid five seconds before pressing the lock button.
"Nothing to be done for it," she told herself as she sat upright, legs dangling off the bed before touching down on the cold wood beneath. She snatched up her backpack from the floor nearby and wasted no more time as she walked towards the private bathroom.
The redhead swung her cabinet doors wide and eyed one of her prize possessions behind the half-used bottle of garlic powder. It was a glass bottle of maple syrup with a label that made the reader well aware that it was imported from Northern Everida. She gleefully swiped it, minding to not touch the dust on the cap, company made for a perfect excuse to finally use it. She took it over to the sink to run it under the tap before wiping it dry with a paper towel. Around and about her, both Pikachu and Baltoy worked on each of the niceties in grabbing the silverware, plates, and placing them at the far end of the bar. The girl hummed in delight as she passed off the syrup to Baltoy before returning to her bowl of batter, getting ready to pour out another pancake of ludicrous proportion.
The skillet seared on contact and made its way away from center mass in all directions. Once it hugged the walls of the pan, she tilted her bowl back up, using the rubber spatula to swipe at the dripping edge as she placed it down on the paper towel she had been using this morning.
The sound of the front door opening keyed her into her guest's return without looking.
"Oh, hey," she began, "hope you're ready to eat."
"Before we do that, I need to tell you something."
The tone in his voice incited her body to tense up, hesitating before she turned to face him across the bar.
"Oh, okay, but we might as well discuss it over breakfast. Everything's just abou-"
"Callista." Her name said at such a low register practically demanded her attention. It was as if the sound filled the room and silenced everything else. "Something happened yesterday. I meant to tell you about it. I need to now, before I hesitate again."
The girl put her hands together in front of her as she didn't dare look away now.
He took a quick breath before he began. "Yesterday, when I was out running your errands. I found… something… They were notes, two notes exactly. They were threats left for me to find."
"Huh?" The girl's hands curled in. "What do you mean?"
Ash swallowed, looking away towards the floor for a brief moment before back at the girl in front of him.
"I think whoever is involved with Serena's murder knows what we're doing, they're threatening me, or us. They want us to stop."
"Ash, I don't understand," Callista's face twisted, "and where exactly did you find these-"
Her words were interrupted as smoke rolled past her eyes and wafted into her nose.
"Oh my gosh!" The girl turned back to the stove, her newest pancake was transforming into charcoal. It was billowing out plumes like a torkoal, setting off the smoke alarms. The piercing noise caused the girl's rationality to slip away as she grabbed her spatula and hoped to save it. She jammed the utensil between the food and surface and attempted to flip what one might still argue was a pancake.
It, instead, fell apart and plenty of the former flapjack flopped into the gas flame. The comically large scorched mass somehow then ignited into a comically large fire. Well, it wasn't to anyone in the room, but someone hearing the story after the fact might think so.
Callista's panic only worsened as the flames from this most unpleasant comedy licked the air all too close to her face. She didn't even think straight enough to try turning the stove top off as her brain scrambled like radio signals. All that she could manage to do was scream in response.
Suddenly, a large hand was on her shoulder that pushed her off to the side. The young man, who consequently caused this, quickly spun the dial of the gas to off with his free hand while another had managed to find a large pot lid that he slammed down atop the pancake from hell. A resounding clang against the stove was just as pleasant as having one's ear against a gong during a festival.
The sound like a flutter could be heard next beneath the lid, the flames choked out almost as fast as they had ignited. When the hero and culprit of the whole matter lifted the lid once more, the charred unshapely item that could have been breakfast released a minor exhaust of lazy and defeated smoke. All fire that was there a moment ago was lost as tiny embers held on with crackling sounds in decibels just above ultrasonic throughout the wasteland of charred breakfast.
Ash, still holding the pot lid, took a deep breath before he turned to Callista. The girl, leaning up against the counter, put a hand to her chest and allowed herself the same.
As they faced each other, the boy cleared his throat before managing the following: "Sorry, really bad timing."
"Heheh, yeah," Callista said as she held her head with a free hand. "I guess we're gonna have to do with one less."
Ash's eyes noticed the plate with three gobsmackingly-huge disks of fluffy flour and…
He shook his head, mentally discarding all distractions, as he focused on the girl in front of him.
"Callista, about the notes."
Whatever hint of a smile brought forth from amusement of the trial by fire vanished at those words. "Right, we still need to talk about that."
The young man nodded. "I think you asked where I found them before… what just happened." He took a pause before continuing. "It's like they were left intentionally in my path. One was at the library, the other at the grocery store. Placed exactly so I'd see them."
"But how did…" she trailed off, "never mind, keep going."
"That's next." He tried to smile just then. He failed, but he tried. "One of the books you sent me to get at the library. The note was taped to the cover of it. I freaked out at first and tried to find who might have put it there, but I didn't spot anyone."
She remained silent for a pregnant pause, only indicator of her thought process was her jaw and eyes shifting.
"No one was watching for it?" she asked, rather dumbfounded.
He shook his head. "No. At least, no one I could see."
Callista looked away, biting at the corner of her lip.
Ash elected to continue, his voice fell to a whisper. "I left the library thinking it was some weird prank left by someone for whenever the book was picked up again. Nothing happened at the dry cleaner, and the grocery store trip was just as mundane. At least, that was until I got to the last item."
There was a pause again, as Ash waited for her to respond. But she didn't. Instead, the girl just looked up at him in a way that felt most prodding before eventually turning away again.
The boy felt the hair on the nape of his neck stand up. He did his best to ignore it.
No stopping now. His reason, or perhaps his stubbornness, forced itself through the mire of his mind. He remembered in that moment he still had those cursed pieces of paper as he reached for his back pocket. He did his best to make them more presentable as he peeled off tape and unbent creases before handing them to the hesitant girl.
Ash felt it best to step back and give her some space as she took one in each hand before studying them.
Pikachu, who was standing on the bar counter top, looked at Ash with a frown he couldn't hide. The two of them exchanged information non-verbally as the girl continued her most unfortunate inspection with wide eyes.
It became increasingly uncomfortable for the waiting party as time dragged itself along with every agonizing second. Nevertheless, Callista eventually dropped her hands to her side, still holding those dreadful scraps of parchment with a half-clenched fist.
Her gaze was steadier as she looked at him this time with squinted eyes.
"Why didn't you tell me this last night?"
"I wanted to," Ash said rather defensively, "but you were in such a good mood, I felt terrible about ruining it once you wanted to show me a movie. And…" he looked away as his throat felt more swollen with each word. "I was scared about what you would say."
The girl with dark green eyes watched him for what felt like a very long time. She pulled the notes back out and went over them once more. Ash might as well have prayed that the letters would suddenly rearrange themselves and spell out an apology, like it was all a prank gone wrong.
Obviously, no such thing happened.
She finally stopped, and elected to shove them into her jacket pocket as she turned her head towards the window.
"I… I'll need some time to think," She managed to say as her voice came out shrill.
"Callista, I'm-"
"Ash, just…" she raised a hand in a stop gesture before taking a breath. "I'll be in my room."
The girl's sock-covered feet made light thumps as she strode past him. Despite the significant height difference, it hardly seemed to matter given how he felt in that moment as she combeelined for her bedroom. She pulled off her apron as she walked and hooked it on a cabinet doorknob, before crossing into her bedroom with Baltoy floating beside and swung the door shut with a loud clang.
He was still frozen right where Callista had left him as if he had orders to stand there and keep watch. He could hear the sound of her bed creaking from her falling down on it, but then everything fell silent once more.
The silence wrought nothing but more of itself as the seconds continued to pass by. Eventually, the realization would kick in about when he received a poke on his arm from Pikachu.
"Pika?" The mouse pokémon asked.
"Dunno buddy," he said, "but it had to be done."
"Pikachu," he said with a resigned intonation.
The latent smell of the smoke reminded him that there was something else in the apartment besides his worst fears manifesting. He turned back to the bar and went about grabbing utensils before loading his plate with only one of the pancakes and a few strips of rather-overcooked bacon. Preparing the skillet-sized fluff disk with butter and syrup before he began to pre-cut.
He had just slice a few rows when he heard the bedroom door open and quickly turned around.
The red-haired girl walked out briskly, she glanced up at him and their eyes met before she looked away, though entirely unfazed. She arrived at the counter and prepared her own plate in a precise fashion as if she had been on an assembly line. She stabbed one of the two pancakes left and dragged it to her plate, slapping a dollop of butter on top she spread in one seamless stroke with her knife. Then she poured her long-awaited-syrup in zig-zag fashion across the hotcake before she turned 180 degrees on her heel and walked back and away from Ash. The door once more slammed behind her, but at least it didn't assault their eardrums this time.
A few moments to blink before Ash and Pikachu turned to look at each other again. They weren't exactly confused, but their expressions could most assuredly be mistaken for such all the same.
All of their worries could have become realized the next time the bedroom door opened. While the rain had passed in the night, the storm clouds were persisting over both of them. Their simple meal – however tasty – was their only distraction.
It made for an admittedly terrible one.
An old iron skeleton key was inserted into a lock with embossed leaf patterns. Steven's hand turned it, and the device gave a chunky metallic sound as the latch was undone within before the large oaken door was freed from its holding.
As it swung away, the room beyond it was revealed to contain a large ornate rug over a wooden floor with the room surrounded by bookshelves that went up two stories. Ladders were affixed to rails along several points of the shelves' elevation, allowing access to the tomes at precarious placements. Higher than that still, was a large domed sunroof allowing for the chamber to have ample amounts of natural light. In the center of the rug was an open rectangle arrangement of leather couches with brass-studded trim, a coffee table with a glossy surface, a few wooden coasters and books were scattered about it.
Steven allowed Dawn and the other girls to step in first before following them and closing the door behind.
"This is the public study hall, much of the texts here may be a bit dry, but it's a great place to come and relax."
Dawn did her fair share of gawking at the high ceilings and sumptuous shelves lined with thick volumes of works several centuries older than herself in all their gilding. Of the three first-time sightseers, Cynthia was the most impressed, but Dawn wasn't paying attention to anyone else so she missed that.
"Wait." Something clicked in Dawn's mind as she turned towards Steven. "If this is the public study hall, why was it locked by key just now?"
That elicited a grin from Steven. "You caught that, and rather quickly. Good, you'll need those wits later, for certain." He began walking towards the bookshelf at the far side of the room. "This study is only public in the sense that unlike my private study elsewhere in this estate, other people will have access to it, for the express purposes of this." He wasted no time as he went to pull a certain book off the shelf. Some large mechanism was clearly heard by all three spectators and a section moved backwards before sliding left and tucking into an open part of the wall behind the rest of the shelving.
Cynthia looked slyly at the man proudly standing beside his secret door. "A bit cliché, don't you think?"
"Hey don't blame me, it came like that when I bought the place," he humored, "also, might've not been a cliché when it was built."
"Wait, wait." Cynthia gestured to stop with her hands. "Came with the house?"
"On Rayquaza's scales, it did." Steven chuckled. "I have it on good authority that a former leader of Team Rocket had ambitions for Hoenn way back in the day. This estate was built in advance as a headquarters. Whatever was going on inside Team Rocket, it ended up as a summer home. The place was eventually put up for sale sometime after Giovanni took over, and Dad pounced on it like a skitty. Now if you will all follow me once more."
The president of Devon Corp began his descent as he passed the portal and stepped into a whitewashed stairwell of concrete and steel. Dawn was first behind him, leaving cultured accents for the sterile world that awaited below as her boots went from hardwood to hardened rubber over steel steps.
The sound of humming machines became background noise, slowly growing louder as they descended. The stairwell turned every third of a story, which they took note of as they passed by a doorway.
"That's the emergency exit for sub-level 1. Sub-level 2 also has a door but that's not where we're going either."
May did a double-take as she stared incredulously at the back of Steven's head. "This house has two basement floors?"
"Well, more if you count the one we'll be visiting today," Steven remarked. "The tennis court is on 2 to leave room for the pool in the backyard. Though it's technically 3 considering how high the ceiling had to be for proper space."
"This is all very excessive," May said as they turned a corner again and, sure enough, there wasn't a door. However, at the right angle she could make out one further down.
"Hey, I didn't build this place." Steven shrugged. "I'm just putting it to use. Besides, once the crew starts showing up, you might have wished it was even bigger."
Dawn admittedly found that notion difficult to wrap her mind around. She had passed by what must have been two dozen unused rooms this morning on her way to breakfast and didn't think that was even the extent of it. What exactly was the kind of scale that Steven was planning for?
Idle chatter ensued until they reached four stories down and arrived at the door marked with a large B3 on it. To the side there was a hard plastic gray box that Steven deftly swiped a hand on and lifted the cover off of a keypad.
"Fourteen eighty-three…" he said aloud so the girls could hear it. The acknowledgment sound chimed and an electronic deadbolt lock turned with evident force given the sound it made. "Hmm." Steven hummed just before he pushed on the bar and swung the door open.
"I'm very grateful for my penchant to blow money every now and then. I had this facility upgraded from the state it was in when the house was originally built," he said as he held the door, allowing the girls to step into a new wide hallway with what appeared to be office doors that ran down the length of it. "You wouldn't believe what the contractors found down here. The cabling was covered in cloth, there was asbestos everywhere. Not to mention the mold." He shuddered as he let out a sound of disgust.
"You're really selling me right now on staying down here for long periods of time," Cynthia said with pure snide.
"I just said they fixed it," He rebutted, though sounding rather amused from her complaining. "Also, we have proper humidity control now for that last issue. Just hope none of you are too bothered by dry air." He began to walk down the hall again. "Anyway, the whole facility now has proper servers and network cabling as well as generators that can keep operations online if power goes out in the city. So we should be able to operate without issue. I probably should have had a coffee shop built down here while the contractors were at it."
"Ugh," Cynthia half-groaned at the Hoenn man, "might as well just run a pipeline of dark roast to this house for how much you go through."
"Don't tempt me," Steven smiled back at her, "but let's continue the tour."
The man turned to their right towards a painted-blue steel door with a pushbar. "This will be our research room."
Everyone shuffled in and saw rows of desktop machines in what might have been mistaken for the most sterile looking PC café in all of Hoenn. On one wall was a series of shelves that had a stack of unused binders, staplers, and a series of other office supplies punctually arranged for the ghosts and dust mites that they had been exclusively available for up to today.
"The people filling this room will begin arriving as soon as tonight. Should be up to speed in a few days."
"Looks more like a school computer room than a research facility," May said in a reflexive manner.
"In some sense, probably," Steven nodded. "That's more so because the hands-on and more dramatic research is in labs further down the hall."
"Dramatic?" May repeated back.
"See, this is what is great about this being a former rocket hideout." Steven smirked as he spun on his heels and casually marched his way out of the computer lab. "Follow me."
The three girls trailed behind him with their own varying degrees of curiosity as they walked down the hall towards the far end. The door, which they could see well beforehand, stood out like a tank among unicycles. A blast door big enough to get a heavy-duty truck through. On all sides were titanium bars like large deadbolts sticking out, acting as extra reinforcement that looked ready to take on an aeroblast or five.
Mr. Stone opened the access panel and quietly entered the code with a certain speed, accounting for keystroke biometrics. Hydraulics began to churn loudly as the titanium braces around the hexagonal door retracted into both the floor and ceiling.
The blast door then opened from the middle as the bottom half sank into the floor below and the top rose out of sight, a beeping sound like a truck backing up accompanied the action. The opening revealed that the thickness of the blast door was the length of a man's forearm.
It finished with a loud thud before he proceeded and the rest followed as they stepped into what looked like a viewing room of an interrogation chamber. There was a large panel of buttons and dials and computer monitors up against the two-way mirror with enough chairs for a crew of people to operate them all simultaneously.
But that was mundane compared to what was on the other side of the glass. The room through the window was reinforced with something akin to a Faraday cage. The walls were covered in reflective panels and between them were hundreds of what appeared to be diodes. In the corners were satellite dish-looking instruments that – given everything – one might suspect of being turrets for some kind of laser or conduit of… well, who was to say? Cameras were also spotted in many places within the chamber behind protective shielding.
Cynthia's grey eyes went wider than a commercial airplane's wingspan as she took in the details. "By Time and Space, themselves, Steven. Was this also included in the upgrades?"
"Some of it," he said in a flat manner that was disarming rather than dismissive. "They didn't exactly have those turrets you're seeing back when this place was built. But more than you think was already installed."
"I'm a bit confused," May turned to the Hoenn Champion, "do you intend on using this soon? And what for?"
"Intend is the wrong word here," Steven said with sound mind, "it's more like if we're ready for what may come."
May put a finger to her chin. "I'm not following."
He sighed so lightly it was mistaken for a simple exhale. "When two nations go to war, they already have stockpiled a mass of weapons and armor for the coming conflict. They have armies of trained men who know how to act under conditions of battle. If they didn't, they would be caught entirely unprepared and easily defeated.
"You all have probably seen rooms like this before thanks to your time being exposed to groups like Team Rocket, Magma, Plasma, and what not," He continued. "The difference is that they build these kind of chambers because they go looking for trouble. I wanted this ready in the event trouble comes and finds us."
The three of them stayed silent, mulling over his words as his eyes went between them. "Pokémon are an incredible thing, they range from household pets to gods. Stranger still, there's even more beings out there we classify loosely as Ultra Beasts, and our knowledge of them is extremely scarce. Whatever was behind the events that took place in the past that led to me bringing you all here, I want us best prepared to make sure we get better results. Once it's all over, I'll be happy to let this room stay sealed up and collect dust."
Dawn shrugged with her eyes. "Well, that makes sense to me. Though I don't think this room could hold Arceus."
Steven chuckled. "Maybe he could help us stress test it."
Any further conversation was cut off with a notification sound coming from Steven's phone. He quickly slid it up out of his pocket as he checked the message on the lock screen.
"Looks like he's here."
"Who's here?" Dawn asked.
Steven looked up at her with a smirk across his face. "Your soon to be new best friend. At least over the next few days." He opened messages and hammered a reply with ludicrous speed before twirling his phone back into his pocket. "Alright, we're leaving the exhibit, back towards the entrance."
As they got about two-thirds down they saw a man in his late 40s, in a button-down collared shirt, short black hair, and glasses come in with a computer bag hanging from his left hand.
"Charlie!" Steven spoke loud enough to cause an echo as he approached with a ready handshake. "Thanks so much for coming on such a short notice."
"You kidding me? This was a perfect excuse to get some time away from the wife." The man apparently named Charlie brought up his own hand to shake Steven's firmly. "The money doesn't hurt, either."
"I'm sure it doesn't." Steven laughed before stepping to the right and turning so he could face everyone. "Dawn, this is Charlie. He's one of the best men I know when it comes to intelligence gathering."
Charlie nodded. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Berlitz, all three of my daughters are huge fans of yours."
"Oh, uh, wow," she managed to say, as she put a hand to the back of her head, "I'm… glad to hear that, though I haven't been performing for a while now."
"They have told me as much." He nodded again. "It's none of my business, but if you ever return to the stage, my daughters would certainly be excited to see you compete again."
The smile spread across Steven's face showed he had been enjoying the conversation. "So, Dawn, Charlie is here specifically for helping us with tracking down Ash. I contacted him before we got to the estate this morning."
She blinked at him, looked at Charlie, then back to Steven. "Oh, wow," the broken record said once more, "Steven, thank you for-"
"-It's nothing," he dismissed. "Besides, it isn't entirely altruistic. Ash is exactly the kind of man we need for The Guardian Project."
Charlie chuckled. "He's quite the stalwart if some of the stories about him are true."
"They probably are, I was there for some of them myself," The bluenette said.
"Same here," May added.
"Hmph," Charlie acknowledged. "Well, I suppose you're all eager to see me get to work then. I just need a few minutes to set myself up and we can go over everything together."
"By all means, and let me know if you need anything," Steven said as he raised an arm and gestured towards one of the offices. "He'll probably need your help Dawn."
As Charlie departed, Dawn could only describe the sensation in her heart as feeling full. She observed Steven who seemed very pleased with everything given his straight posture and the edge of the smile she could see from her angle.
She had believed him at 2 a.m. this morning when he told her they had better ways to find Ash, but she didn't know how much he would actually prioritize it. It might've been dismissed by others as someone who could simply throw money at every problem they even remotely cared about, but she got a sense that wasn't the extent of the kind of person he was.
Steven Stone, who had turned back towards the blast doors to face Cynthia, was caught off guard when he felt the weight of a 97-pound girl jump on his back, simultaneously hugging him around the neck.
"You're the best, Steven," she said with a dash of glee, "I'll properly thank you for this later."
Steven thought for a moment he could have just said that her joining up for this was all he needed. Instead he decided to keep it simple as he patted the arm around his neck. "You're welcome, Dawn."
She then let go and didn't waste any time as she followed Charlie into the room. The smile on her face wouldn't wipe off for quite some time after.
Ash didn't survive waiting in the apartment for all of 15 minutes after breakfast – and subsequent cleanup – was finished. He had hoped she would have emerged from her den after she had also finished eating, but that hope was shattered many hours ago. So he tried laying down, thinking he might just sleep, and that obviously proved to be impossible. He spent all the time reworking the conversation in his head, regretting that he hadn't said something one way or another. The rest of his mind was also preoccupied with forming what he would say when she came out. Hindsight and future joined forces to do nothing but work his brain into a knot that would have made the Gordian look like a shoelace tie job by comparison.
An hour after the meal and it became too much for the worn soul He got up and grabbed his jacket once more, thinking he would walk about the city to clear his head.
But Pikachu had been there to stop him as he stepped out of the apartment, realizing he would be leaving Callista by herself after all he had told her. The messenger could have simply come while he was away.
All that left for him to do was to sit down against the outside wall of the apartment. His eyes peering out to the city through the railing he was leaning against earlier. Time slogged on as it did before, though counted now by the number of car horns, the sharp increase in wind speed that made the late-summer air a bit more bearable, and finally by the number of times he reconsidered Callista's offer to pick up smoking.
Several times he had the incredibly stupid idea to step inside and initiate trying to talk to her. The rational side of his mind kicked in made it clear it would only make things worse. This led to several exasperated sighs throughout this time in limbo.
It was at the third hour, after many wind gusts, angry driver noises, and thoughts about what tobacco might taste like, that Ash had heard the door to the apartment open from the inside. The young man, who had settled into his position on the concrete, struggled to his feet.
"Hey, Ash," Callista said with some awkward stumbling in her cadence, "how about we get out for a bit?"
"Get out?" He repeated rather dumbfounded as he stood up. "I mean, uh, what for?"
"Well, it's kind of a nice day, don't you think?" she said, managing a smile as she looked up to the sky and the late morning sun. "Besides, there's some places in town I'd like to show you."
The young man – clearly taken aback – had numerous questions queued up on his tongue, all of which were ready to leap off. They were foiled as he managed some restraint, retracting the diving board as he pressed his lips together.
He noticed the girl's gaze towards him was very strong now. The sunlight shone into her emerald eyes and across her face, while the rest of her was still in the shadow of the doorway.
Ash swallowed the anxiety back down for just a few seconds longer as he dared to speak. "I'm not against it. Are we going now?"
Callista nodded. "You need anything first?"
He shook his head. "Nothing I can think of."
"Fantastic." She stepped out fully into the sunlight as the door closed behind her. In one free hand was a pair of sunglasses she extended to him. "It might help to put these on if you're trying to keep a low profile. Also, maybe Pikachu should ride on my shoulder instead?"
"Uh, sure," Ash said as he took the shades from her. He looked at them for a solid ten seconds. Observing the style – sport – before putting them on. He was never much of one to wear them, a little voice in the back of his mind always thought it took away from the beauty of the natural world.
Though as he put them on a sense of relaxation threatened to wash over him as his vision became filtered in a fierce shade of blue. It enhanced the sky above in a more vivid and 'thick' color, even causing the clouds to appear more defined. Everything just felt a bit cooler, and his brain quickly agreed as the wind whipped past them and it was like he could feel it in his bones.
"It's just sunglasses, Ash," Callista giggled at him looking around with his mouth in a little o shape. She leaned her arm down for Pikachu who hurriedly ran up onto her shoulder before rubbing his cheek against her own.
"Pikaaa~," he cooed at her, the minuscule discharge from him caused another fit of giggling from the redhead.
Ash leaned back with wide posture as he watched the two of them. "Looks like he's really starting to like you."
"Well, what's not to like?" Callista gestured at herself with both hands dramatically. A beat, and then a synapse fired off in her brain that mortified her expression. "On second thought, don't answer that."
Ash's head tilted a little. "I didn't have anything in mind to say, anyway."
"Really?" she said, her nonplussed expression with wide eyes was both quick and dramatic.
He shook his head again.
"Oh," she unconsciously moved to tuck her hair behind her ear, "great. I mean uh, yeah."
She suddenly felt something was stuck in her throat and coughed heavily to clear it.
Ash watched all of this with narrowing eyes. "Something wrong?"
"No, probably not," She answered too loudly. "Well... erm, let's start heading to the metro"
The young man let her walk past him for a moment as he watched her begin to head down the flight of stairs nearby. His brain now more whisked than the pancake batter this morning.
Ultimately he rolled his eyes and followed after her and Pikachu as the morning continued, entirely at the mercy of this peculiar girl's whims.
Well, perhaps time could wait.