[IC] Pokemon: Ascendancy

[Marlowe]

MENTIONS: Iris [@Serei2477], Bianca [@Majoras End], Mika [@Solace], Astrid [@LuckyBlackCat], Sebastien [@King Cosmos]

Everyone in Hestia’s vicinity appeared to be fine, thank Arceus. Yet, with the end of the battle came questions. What were those Pokemon? What did they want with Postwick? Did they want to kidnap Iris next? There were too many people asking questions that Hestia couldn’t answer. She turned her face to the ground as her fingers curled tighter around Lazuli’s Pokeball. What a mess this whole thing was. And they couldn’t even grab someone to bring in for questioning; the terrorists were sure quick to flee. If they wanted to take away Iris, they wouldn’t have given up so easily. They knew exactly what they were doing. That was the scary part.

”I don’t know,” she referred to everyone’s question in a solemn, singular statement. ”What I’m sure of is that we need to get word to the Chairman, ASAP. He needs to know about what happened.”

Thankfully, Mika was already on that. Hestia swept her gaze over their number, blinking at Iris. She was grateful she was fine, but she couldn’t help but feel concerned for her coworker. If the strange individuals came back for her while they were away, would she be able to fend them off by herself? She almost flinched when Bianca approached her, but instantly became eased by her gentleness.

”Yeah, we should go,” Hestia nodded. Before she went on her way, she turned to the rest of them. ”Keep your wits about you and call me if they come back.”

---

That evening…

MENTIONS: Everyone

Cane called every single gym leader to Wyndon that very day, explicitly stating that Hyacinth wasn’t taking any “if”s, “and”s, or “but”s from anyone. The conference room felt very cramped, and she was sure that two or three other gym leaders had brushed past her in nervous attempts to grab a proper chair, lest they had to stand while listening to the Chairman’s speech. For once, he was there before everyone else. His face was flushed, though his lips were a straight line and there was a strange light to his eye that Hestia didn’t recognize. When everyone was present, he took his place at the head of the overly crowded table and began the meeting.

”I have several announcements to make. As you know, there were attacks on two important government buildings today– the lab in Wyndon and the gym in Postwick. At the moment, we have no idea who these culprits are or what their intentions are, but we have settled that the attack on Postwick was nothing more than a distraction to prevent any other gym leaders from helping out at the laboratory.” Hyacinth’s voice was gruff, almost as if he was tired of speaking. ”Thankfully, there were no fatalities in either of the attacks, though several civilians and police officers had to be hospitalized. These individuals are expected to make full recoveries.

”While we don’t have any significant information on these terrorists, Gym Leader Fiona does have something to say about one of her encounters with the leader of the attack at the laboratory,” Hyacinth nodded at Fiona.

"Right, so, uh..." Fiona sighed, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. "Disclaimer, this ain't exactly a good explanation. Ain't like I know th' cocksuck's name or anything. But long story short, back when I was in Orre, I wound up battlin' that cunt inna tournament. Wanker had th' most fucked up Salamence I'd ever seen an' he was mistreatin' it something fierce. So since Orre was a lawless shitehole at th' time, I might've gotten him drunk after th' tourney an' stolen his Salamence off of him. An' aye, that's Felon." She held up the Ultra Ball containing her Salamence at that for a moment before continuing on.

"At th' time, Felon was, an' I'm fairly fuckin' sure that Alakazam an' Steelix were all Shadow Pokemon. If ya don't know what that is, imagine some dipshite scientist decides tae turn a regular Pokemon into a killin' machine through chemicals or science or whatever. They ain't got no compunction about fatalities wit' other Pokemon or humans, an' they take any order they're given unless they go berserk. More importantly fer fightin' em, they all got special moves an' whatnot that just outright bleedin' ignore type advantage. Alla these 'Shadow Moves' are super-effective, no matter what they hit. Ya can rehabilitate them into regular Pokemon again, like I did wit' Felon, but it takes time an' some magic fuckin' rock in one of th' only nice places in Orre. I think. Dunno, heard somethin' about a machine round th' time I was leavin'. That all said, ya can't exactly tell if a Pokemon's Shadow or not without context clues or if they bust out one o' those moves." Fiona rapped her knuckles against the table for a few moments, as if trying to remember more.

"Think that's everything I got, really. So if these cunts're using more o' those, that's a problem. Happy now, boss?"

”Thank you for your explanation.” Hyacinth nodded again, then turned to the rest of the gym leaders, looking even more tired than before. ”If we are dealing with these so-called “Shadow Pokemon” on top of the hybrid beasts that were reported to be seen at Postwick, we will have to consult with experts in Pokemon biology. I would like to let you know that we are in frequent contact with Professor Hawthorn, who is also in the process of contacting experts in Orre. She is also likely to reach out to any one of you in order to garner further information– I expect you to help her if she requests any sort of aid, whether it be with research, odd jobs, or whatever else.

”That leads to my third announcement… which is, at this point, difficult to make,” Hyacinth persisted after a long pause. ”Holly Holbrok has gone missing as well. She appears to have been abducted in a manner similar to what happened with Ryker– in whose case, there have not been any recent updates on his own disappearance. Regarding Holly, her home was found in shambles and her Pokemon were taken along with her.”

Hestia broke out into a sweat. Another one of them taken? Which one of them was next? Nordrin? Fiona? Bianca?

”... and though things are becoming more difficult to deal with regarding the Gym Challenge, I’ve decided to have Sawyer take her place for the time being. He is no means a permanent replacement and will be expected to step down as soon as Holly returns to her post.”

She grit her teeth, bristling. ”Sir, is this really--”

”As of now, I have no intention of canceling the Gym Challenge. But if things become too dangerous for both its competitors and my gym leaders, I will have no other choice than to do so,” Hyacinth told them as he swept his gaze over the room. It was almost as if he had ignored her completely. ”Until then, I expect you to all focus on your duties as gym leaders and maintain morale. Do not cater to the press or paparazzi. I know that they have been harassing most of you, but if they persistently intrude on your boundaries, then you are more than allowed to gently use your Pokemon to get them to leave you alone. If that doesn’t work, you may call the police, which will lead to their arrests. At this point, they are more than aware that they should not be hounding after gym leaders for information.

”Above everything else, I demand that you remain safe in this situation and maintain consistent contact with your fellow gym leaders. If you wish, you may board with one another in order to keep an eye on your comrades. I do not mind what else you do in order to keep each other safe, as long as it is in compliance with my requests. We cannot manage to lose yet another of your members.”

When Hyacinth finished his announcements, he clasped his hands behind his back and nodded at them once again. ”That is all for now. If you need anything, please contact Cane, Professor Hawthorne, or myself.”

The Chairman left without letting anyone respond to his statements, and that was that.

[Majoraa]

"Y-Yes Papa, I couldn't believe it myself!" On her way back to her gym, Bianca was stuck in a phone call with her flabbergasted father. Looks like he finally got her messages. "Hybrid and these Shadow Pokemon, whoever these people are that attacked Postwick and one of the labs, they're pulling out all the stops for Arceus-knows-what! ...Yes, Iris is alright. The only one of us who got badly injured was Lazuli, and that was just a nasty hit to his wing. Might let Orpheus visit to keep him company." She told him as she walked up to the front door.

"Everything alright where you're at? ....I see. Hopefully the press hasn't tried to pry any information out of you guys. ...They haven't? Thank goodness. I'll keep you updated. ...Hehe, alright Papa, love you. If Mother calls, tell her I said hi!"

As the door cracked open Sloan twisted her head around from where she had Adiva trapped in a headlock, one of her taloned hands pulled backwards and pinned between them, the Blaziken squawking angrily in protest. "Hey! Bianca!" She called out to her gym mate, pulling Adiva around so that she wasn't craning her head backwards, earning another squawk. "What the hell happened? I'm gone for less than a month in Kalos with my dad and everything goes straight to shit?" She'd seen the sporadic updates on the news, obviously those had been beyond unhelpful, and the texts in their group chats, but it didn't fully explain anything either. Wasn't like she could attend the meetings either given she was out of the country.

When a talon tapped twice on her arm she let Adiva free who immediately punched her in the shoulder. She rolled her eyes at the unruly Pokémon before waving her off and crossing her arms. She lifted a finger against her arm as she spoke for each thing said, "Ryker is gone, there were attacks on both Postwick and Wyndon with some freaky Pokémon, and the challenge is still going despite all this." It was the off season for her there should not be this many problems that required her attention.

"Y-Yeah. Holly was kidnapped t-too." Bianca frowned as she walked over to Sloan. "We haven't e-even heard a thing from t-the police." She pulled out her phone and brought up the Nido-Arcanine photo, passing it to her. "It all has t-to be connected somehow..."

A heavy, exasperated groan tore from her mouth and she tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling of the gym. "I reiterate, what the hell," she threw her hands up in the air. First Ryker, now Holly, and who knew what other problems were stated in the meetings she'd missed. She glanced down at the phone that was offered and took it. Her brow furrowed in confusion at the strange looking Pokémon on the screen. She'd never seen anything like them before, well she had, but not in a singular Pokémon. "So what's the Chairman doing about all this?" She asked as she handed the phone back.

"L-Leaving it to the police? He did say he P-Professor Hawthorne was reaching out to experts about these Shadow Pokemon, b-but Fiona knows more a-about them than me." Bianca crossed her arms.

"Well that's stupid." Sloan knew that Hyacinth was an uptight ass about a lot of things, but he was seriously just leaving it to the police? They were useless on their best days, and based on what she'd seen and heard they hadn't found anything. "So the plan is just to sit around with out thumbs up our asses, while the police run around like Combusken with their heads cut off?" She couldn't stand the thought of doing nothing and more of their friends getting hurt, or worse.

Bianca shrugged. "Just g-gotta keep an eye out f-for each other, make sure no one else c-comes to harm."

Sloan sighed, "Yeah I guess," she recrossed her arms with a sigh, "Well, what're your plans for the rest of the day then?"

"Finish up here and h-head home, I guess." Bianca tilted her head. "U-Unless you have anything in mind?"

"Not really," Sloan shrugged, "Unless you want to hang out and try to get our minds off all this garbage going on." She grinned brightly at the ice type trainer, "There's this shitty movie that I found on DVD about a guy who was resurrected and forced to be an assassin. From what I've heard it's one of the worst films in years." She'd already burned herself out training and if the Chairman wanted them to keep an eye on each other, well, they were overdue for a bad movie night anyway. "If it's really bad we can force some of the others to watch it."

"One of the worst, huh? I-I'll be the judge of that." Bianca said with a knowing smile. It was tradition for the two at this point to have movie nights once in a while. Especially if the movies happen to suck ass. She's been meaning to find the time to gather everyone for a night, but recent events had screwed that up. And admittedly, it'll be funny as hell to see their reactions.

"Got everything s-set up upstairs?" She asked.

The grin widened and Bianca was given a nod, "Of course, who do you take me for?" The questions was rhetorical and Sloan didn't wait for an answer. She whistled for Adiva who had wandered over to the training side of the gym to beat on one of the punching bags set up. The fire type, despite the clawed hands, was great to cuddle with for heat. "Just gotta grab the snacks and drinks, but that'll only take a second if you want to get the TV turned on."

She took the stairs two at a time, followed swiftly by Adiva who was not about to miss out on a movie night. She skirted down the hallway to the breakroom where she had stashed a multitude of snacks and drinks. Popcorn, chips, and candy of various kinds were piled into Adiva's hands. Thankfully she'd had the wherewithal to put some of the drinks in the fridge; snatching what she could carry she wandered at a much slower pace back towards the room that housed their (mostly hers) terrible movie collection.

Bianca had followed behind them to set up the TV in the break room. (Or was it more of a lounge? Eh.) "Just gotta t-tinker around with a doodad or two and....there we go! R-Ready when you are!" She called out to Sloan.

"Almost there!" She called back as familiar sound of the TV turning on hit her ears. She stepped as quickly as she dared with the stack of drinks into the lounge and deposited them on one of the tables. Adiva followed suit with the snacks and looked pleased with herself that none of them had fallen on the way over.

It took a second of digging in the bag she had left on one of the chairs to find the disc. She pulled it free with an "Aha!" to smack it into the DVD player and plop down onto the couch. "I didn't do much looking into this movie other than seeing that it was on the list of the top 50 worst marital arts movies," she told Bianca; leaning forward to grab a bag of chips. "So we're both going in blind here."

"N-Not to worry, just makes this even more f-fun!" The ice type trainer grabbed a chocolate bar at random from the snack pile and sat down next to her. "After all, s-seeing this first means we h-have the power of spoiling it for the others." She let out a mischevious snicker.

Though the faint sound of shuffling and the funny feeling of a presence behind her caught her attention, she turned her head around to see-

Oh. It's just Mister, trying to climb over from behind them. Guess he wants in on this too. Bianca comically blinked, picking the Mr. Rime up with a straight face and sitting him down on the other side of their seating arrangements.

"You're evil," Sloan teased as she leaned back against the cushions. Adiva had settled to her left and was serving as a large, bird-shaped furnace, they were in the ice gym after all. They had barely gotten past the beginning of the movie where the main character got resurrected by a blind martial arts master when a strange, if familiar, chill ran down her spine. When Mister had arrived, or even escaped his pokeball, she had no idea. Still, she snickered at the lack of movement from the Mr. Rime as he was moved around.

They were maybe, maybe, ten minutes into the movie and Sloan already had very little idea what was going on. She had already opened a second bag of chips, occasionally forking them over to Advia. "Does it seem kind of weird to you that this type of martial arts gives them precognition and the ability to raise the dead?" She gestured to the TV with a chip, "Like, what's the point of being an assassin if you can also raise the dead?"

"Build an undead army." Bianca suggested. "T-Think about it. Kill enough dudes, specifically ones that can fight o-on the same level as you, and you can lead a zombie army t-to like, overthrow a king or something."

"Hmm, I suppose," she tapped her chin with a chip, "Why stop at just a king though? You could take over the world with powers like that." They hadn't even really gotten to any of the actual marital arts, aside from a blurry montage of the main character learning how to raise the dead or whatever. Of course the guy got kicked out of training because of pent up rage at the death of their mother (when was any of that mentioned?) and really left to become an assassin.

As the film continued and finally a contract was introduced that involved going to some resort and hanging around for a few days. Only after that would they be told who the targets were, which was just stupid. The moment that the kid and obviously single parent were introduced though Sloan threw up her hands, "This better not turn into some sappy romance movie. I wanna see dudes get their necks snapped not a dinner date."

"Nah, there's definitely gonna be some romance. There's a-always a love interest in action movies." Bianca commented, sharing a large bag of pretzels with a bored-looking Mister. "Maybe something happens to the kid? I h-hope not."

"Ugh." Always had to ruin a movie with a weird, shoved in side romance. She narrowed her eyes and immediately pegged this movie for what it was going for, "I bet you the kid is gonna be one of the targets." There was no way that they wouldn't pull some stupid tropey shit like that. It took very little time for that theory to be confirmed, "Ha! Called it!"

Bianca blinked in disbelief, narrowing her eyes as she leaned further towards the TV. "...What the actual fuck." She'd flinch when Mister lightly smacked the back of her head with his cane. Her head snapped back at the pokemon, who was giving her a reprimanding look. Language, Bianca! "Oh, like you don't think this is nonsensical!"

A sharp bark of laughter lightly startled Adiva as Sloan reveled in the fact that this shitty film had gotten Bianca of all people to swear. She'd count that as a major success. "It is and we haven't even gotten halfway through it," she said; checking her phone for the time. Unsurprisingly, to Sloan at least, both the kid and the love interest were the targets and the main character let them go. "Well now this is going to cause some problems," Sloan muttered quietly.

Suffice to say the guy who issued the contract was not happy and sent another group of assassins to collect "The Treasure" which was, unsurprisingly again, the kid. Sloan almost choked on her drink when it was said that one of the assassins was named Typhoid of all fucking things. "Ok who is this dude that they're hiding out with and why is he sacrificing himself for these people?" She resisted the urge to throw something at the TV as this random guy died to the assassins in probably one of the most poorly choreographed fight scenes she'd ever seen.

So bad in fact, that Mister sat up and made booing motions at the TV. He's seen, nay, been in battles more interesting than this trash-heap!

"Think they s-shoehorned 'em in just for the tension. Is the kid some s-sorta weapon though? Or artifical life, or something?"

"Thank you Mister!" Sloan agreed wholeheartedly with the booing and even Adiva, who could handle the worst movies out there, looked disgusted. "Man, I dunno," she said, once again flopping back into the cushions. She was going to mess up her back with all this rapid sitting up to complain. For whatever reason the dude that died had a secret passage into the orchard out the back of his house where the main character escaped with the kid and love interest. Clearly the sacrifice bought them very little time as the assassins showed up in the orchard.

She expected their main guy to be able to take out an assassin, but when the kid suddenly expressed prowess in martial arts she got tempted to throw in the towel. "What the fuck?" she whispered in a quiet, stunned disbelief as the kid and her parent killed one of the very well trained assassins with his own weapon.

A dumbfounded chuckle escaped from Bianca. "Guess that's what they mean by 'The Treasure'. Prodigy. child. Wonder what backstory they'll cough up for this. That they trained him since he could walk?" She quipped with a tinge of sarcasm.

"Better have something good or I'm gonna lose it," Sloan muttered darkly at the screen. The next ten minutes or so did not provide them with any solid backstory. Instead Typhoid gave the main guy a "Kiss of Death" (hilarious) and the old blind master had to show up and save their asses before the kid could get snatched by the assassins. In doing so confirms that the "Treasure" is someone gifted with marital arts and...that's it. They're just real good at it for no reason and the main guy is also a "Treasure" which is why their mom died.

"That's it, I can't," Sloan wanted to shove her head under a pillow but at this point it was like a train wreck, she just couldn't look away. It took every fiber of her being to not choke again laughing as the main character fucking astral projected in order to fight the leader of the other assassin group.

Bianca opened her mouth to speak, but after a brief pause she closed it and slumped down with a conceded look. "I don't even have words. Were they high when making this?!"

Meanwhile the Mr. Rime decided to just indulge himself on the snacks instead. They were much more interesting anyways.

“I wish I was high right now, it might make this more bearable,” Sloan said as she slid further down the couch into a slump. The train wreck only continued with their main guy getting their ass whooped by the leader of the assassins and nearly dying. Until the damn kid showed up again and distracted him long enough for them to escape into a…hedge maze? “Sure, anything makes sense at this point.”

The kid got caught by magical Ekans conjured by one of the other assassins in the maze; leading to the absolute worst depiction of someone getting their neck snapped in history. “They didn’t even show it! Dudes head just got yanked forward and suddenly he’s dead?!”

Bianca couldn't help laughing at the sheer absurdity at this point. "It's like they're not even hiding where they cut the budget from, bahahah!"

“At this point I’m questioning if they even had a budget,” Sloan responded through a mouthful of popcorn. Though it did seem like they were either running out of time, money, or both. In quick succession the MC finally killed the leader of the assassins, Typhoid poisoned and killed the kid, and then promptly died.

Whatever emotional impact that was meant to be there was lost on Sloan, and Adiva, since she’d mostly stopped paying attention. The resurrection thing finally came full circle though as the MC used it to bring the kid back. There was one final scene with the love interest, who Sloan had honestly forgot existed, before they all parted ways with no other fanfare.

The final scene being even more underwhelming as the master showed back up and told the MC that they “didn’t turn out so bad” before fading from existence or some other BS. “That’s seriously how they end it? Wow.”

"Well that was...some braincells I'll never get back!" Getting up from her seat, Bianca ejected the disc and carefully handed it back to Sloan. "Imagine how the others will react, it'd surely be more entertaining than the actual movie." Bianca chuckled. With the movie done and over with, Mister slid down from the couch and casually took whatever snacks they didn't eat and walked away.

“I think I can feel my brain running out of my ears,” Sloan turned to poke Adiva who had a vacant, glazed look in her eyes. The Blaziken blinked before leaning forward to snatch another bag of popcorn before Mister could wander off with all of it.

Sloan took the disc back and unceremoniously tossed the case back into her bag. “The only way I’ll watch that film again is to torture the others. They need to suffer as we have.” She watched Mister grab the rest of the snacks and wander off with amusement, “He’s gonna be bouncing off the walls if he eats all that candy.”

"Oh joy..." Bianca wryly smiled. Hopefully he was just going to put the leftovers away, but knowing the Mr. Rime, he was either going to split them with her other Pokemon, or do just that. She could already see the ensuing chaos.

"So now what? Wanna watch a better movie as a pallete cleanser?" She asked Sloan.

Sloan waved a dismissive hand, “So long as we don’t hear anything breaking.” Though there was always a chance of that. She grinned and flopped back down onto the couch, “Sounds great. Your pick this time.”

[Serei2477]

Inigo & Bianca
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inigo had been busy for the past few weeks, admittedly. His original plan had been to finish up whatever sponsorship crap he had to do in Paldea then return home in time for the start of the season. Unfortunately, things got delayed and he was expected to stay there for a few more weeks. He'd spoken to his sponsors that his work as a Gym leader came first before being a musician, but given his spot as a Minor League gym, he was pretty certain his voice went over their heads.

The first strike had been when he received word that Ryker, the Champion, had gone missing. He told his sponsors that he needed to head back to Galar to figure out what was going on, but they insisted that Ryker had just taken a surprise vacation and there was nothing Inigo should worry about nor anything he could do about it. Ryker wasn't the type to take surprise vacations, but they did have a point. Inigo couldn't do anything about it.

The final strike was when he heard about the attack at Postwick. After that, Inigo told his sponsors that they can resume their little events all they wanted, but he needed to head back to Galar. Now.

Much to their annoyance, the sponsors relented and Inigo booked the first ticket back to Galar. He sent a message to Bianca asking her if they could talk at her gym when he got back. Would be a shame to have to walk through the cold only for her to not be there, you know?

His trip landed him in Circhester; The snowy climate immediately sending a chill through his entire core. He didn't dress accordingly for the weather in his rush, but letting out Sahara, his Flareon, to hold and cuddle while he headed to Bianca's gym let him stay warm enough until he got there.

He entered the gym and looked around, hoping he wasn't interrupting a battle or anything.

Luckily for him, it was a slow day for the Circhester Gym.

Bianca emerged from downstairs, having helped restock the shops set up with the public ice rink. She held an empty box under her arm. "I-I should really move it out somewhere more open..." she told herself with a huff. She glanced around at the main entrance in case there were any challengers that made it to her gym. But who she did see was, admittedly, a sight for sore eyes. Her face lit up in an instant. Bianca dropped the empty box and hurried over to hug Inigo (and Sahara). "You're back!"

It always warmed his heart to be greeted this way. Be it his brother, Bianca, or his Pokemon; having someone so happy to see him was enough to make his stoicism melt. He smiled and hugged her back with one arm, leaving Sahara to be sandwiched between them. The Pokemon didn’t squirm all that much because Bianca was a familiar face, but having two people enclosing on her personal bubble so suddenly wasn’t exactly ideal.

Inigo let Bianca go and placed Sahara down on the floor. He’d instructed her in the past to not run off melting anything, and so far, she’d done a very good job obeying him. Well to be honest, she never ran off anyway. Always stuck by him and was too shy to make friends with Bianca’s Pokemon. So, if she didn’t cause any trouble, he would let her walk around and make friends at her own pace.

”It’s good to be back. How’ve you been?” He asked her, then added.

They had quite a few things that needed to be addressed first. After that, he’d be happy to share his traveling adventures with her.

Bianca stepped back to give Sahara some space, clasping her hands behind her back with a smile. "I-I've been okay! As for everything else, not so much..." Her smile turned crooked once she implied what happened to Ryker and all. It then dropped when she gave him a glance over, and her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, but you must've been cold outside. Come on, the heater should be on upstairs." Bianca motioned for the two to follow her.

Glad he wasn't the one who had to put a damper on the conversation. He did make it clear what he needed to talk to her about to give her time to mentally prepare for it, so it was good to know she wasn't, you know, traumatized or anything. At least it didn't seem that way.

He and Sahara followed her upstairs to the lounge room; a familiar spot, it was added in for anyone who preferred to stay warm while watching gym battles, with windows looking out into the stadium rink. It was also where Bianca and Sloan take their breaks.

Needless to say, the warmth and the quiet atmosphere was what made this Inigo's favorite room.

He sat down on one of the seats, the smile he had before having fallen back to his usual stoic face. A shame they had to get serious for a second.

”I've heard about Ryker, and I've heard about the attack at Postwick.” He started. Best to get the conversation over with now than dance around it. ”Wanna tell me about Ryker first?”

"Word does get around, doesn't it?" Bianca shook her head in distain, stepping aside to rummage through a nearby mini-fridge. "The opening ceremony had to be cancelled. Someone broke into Ryker's home and kidnapped him, and his pokemon. Apparently there was a struggle, so we know he didn't go willingly." She began to explain. "No one knows any further details yet. Mr. Hyacinth didn't want us getting in the way of the investigation. Want anything to drink?"

Ryker and his Pokemon were kidnapped from his house... ”And no one saw or heard anything?” He asked aloud though didn't expect an answer. Even if it happened in the dead of night, wouldn't that much commotion alert someone? ”I hope the police or Mr. Hyacinth can give us an update soon. I can only imagine the shit that has to be dealt with right now.” He doubted the league would fall apart. Mr. Hyacinth would probably promote Hestia and move the gym leader rankings around to fit his needs, but that wouldn't stop the questions and theories of Ryker. How do you explain the League Champion disappearing overnight?

”Sure. Anything carbonated if you have it.” He responded to her question, then he asked his own. ”And what about the attack at Postwick?”

"It was during one of Iris' gym battles." Bianca grabbed two cans of soda, closing the minifridge with her elbows and walking back over to sit down next to Inigo. She held one out for him to take. "Some strange group of people, wearing tactical gear and gas masks were attacking the town with these." She pulled out her phone and showed him the picture of the Nido-Arcanine she saved. "Fusions. Hybrids, Inigo. How they were created or who managed to do so aside, no doubt they were being used as weapons. Papa had a conniption when I told him about them. Hopefully he and Professor Hawthorne can get to the bottom of it." Bianca pocketed her phone and popped open her can of soda. "Fortunately there were more of us than there were of them. They fled the scene before anyone else could get hurt. Hestia's Salamance ended up taking a nasty blow to his wing from them though, I stuck by her when we took him to a Pokemon Center. Poor thing..." She frowned.

"Holly ended up getting abducted too. I hadn't heard from her in a while, but I was hoping it wasn't, y'know, that..."

Inigo took the soda with a "thank you" and followed along with her story, giving a few silent nods of confirmation here and there to assure her that he was listening. It was unsettling, to say the least. Seeing the Nido-Arcanine fusion she was talking about made him feel a bit sick to his stomach. How the hell did they manage to combine two Pokemon completely outside of their egg group? And on top of that, just what the fuck were they thinking? How could someone do something so heartless to their Pokemon?

”Nido-Arcanine hybrids...” He almost wanted to ask her if she was joking, but he knew better than that. Why in the world would she joke about something so... disturbing? Not just what they did to the Pokemon, but how they were using them. He hated anyone that thought these lovely creatures were nothing more than just weapons.

”Not Holly too...” He had sincerely hoped Holly had just gotten scared and ran off, but that didn't seem like her... So they weren't just going down the line of gym leaders; they'd take whoever they wanted. ”What about you and the gym leaders? Are all of you okay? And the people of Postwick?”

There weren't any human injuries, right? Or Arceus forbid, human casualties.

"Far as I can tell me and the rest of the gym leaders were in one piece. Though Iris probably has her hands full right now dealing with the aftermath of it all. Postwick didn't suffer any fatalities, but some people had to be hospitalized. Hyacinth told us they should be making a full recovery, thank goodness." Bianca took a sip of her drink.

Inigo took this opportunity to pop open his drink and take a sip. He could feel his teeth decay a bit, but at least his stomach was settling. ”Sucks for her, but I'm glad to hear there weren't any casualties, and that Salamence is okay too... I guess people are gonna be more cautious about seeing gym battles in person now.”

At least Iris can do something other than baby her Pokemon.

”Have you taken precautions regarding your gym in case they come back? Well, you and everyone else.” He'd hate to see his friend end up in the same predicament as Ghost Girl.

Bianca seemed to freeze in place at that question.

"Oh goodness, that hadn't even crossed my mind that they could attack here next!" To think they could've hit Circhester instead, while she wasn't there to protect her home town no less! "Not sure what everyone else is doing, but...hm...maybe I can add in a security system in case those people try to break in?" She glanced around the room.

”Better you're thinking about it now than during an emergency.” He reassured her. If Ghost Girl got attacked, what was stopping them from going after the other leaders?

Listening to her suggestion, he gave her an approving nod. It was definitely better than nothing. ”Security's a good idea. If you have any bird Pokemon, ice or not, you can have them fly above Circhester to keep an eye out. I can let you borrow some Fletchlings and my Talonflame if it'll make you feel safer.” He offered her. He was sure his Pokemon would love the little vacation anyway.

Inigo highly doubted the troublemakers would be aiming for the Minor gyms. If they wanted to be taken seriously, they had to fight the Kings and Queens. Maybe that's what they were doing...

"Bird pokemon? I'll have to ask Fiona for suggest-" Bianca's eyes widened as she looked back at Inigo. "Y-You'd really let me borrow your Pokemon?"

He returned her gaze. ”Of course. I care about you and your safety, you know? Besides, the birds at my gym were itching to get out and explore. You'll be doing them a huge favor.”

With that, he took another sip of his drink. Inigo figured she'd feel less guilty about it if he reassured her that the birds wanted to be there just as much as she did. It's not like he was lying, anyway.

One could've sworn her rosy cheeks were a bit more pink as he reassured her. Once Inigo was done talking, she had set her drink down and wrapped her arms around him again.

"Thank you. I promise, I'll take good care of them!" Bianca grinned.

Inigo could feel his own cheeks grow a little warmer as she hugged him. He trusted her enough to take good care of his Talonflame and the Fletchlings. If anything, he was worried his Pokemon would become too stubborn to come back.

He moved his free arm so he could return her hug. ”Careful that they don't end up liking you more than me, alright?” He smiled. It wasn't difficult to bond with the Fletchlings, but it was easy for them to get attached. Especially to other trainers.

”Did anything else happen while I was gone?” Might as well catch up to speed with everything if possible.

"Hmm..." Bianca thought for a moment. "Well, besides the usual meetup before the season started, Fiona did take me to see the Crown Shrine at the tundra."

The Crown Shrine? ”I've never been there. How did that go?” If he remembered right, the sponsor guy said the place was a "barren wasteland" and to "not bother advertising there".

"It was pretty nice! Let the team out to stretch their legs for a bit." She told him. "She said the shrine was dedicated to an ancient king, been meaning to look further into that. Did have a huge as hell tree at the center though." Bianca chuckled.

Inigo grinned at the mention of the tree. ”Sounds like a nice place. Did you get any photos?” What other place had a "huge as hell tree" in the center of it? Or a cool shrine dedicated to an ancient king? Sounded like the place was a little rural. Not like that was a bad thing.

"Crap, I didn't think to take any. I also helped Isaiah out at the clinic a bit, with Nyx and Fionn? Mister had the bright idea of escaping his pokeball again while we were there..." She mentioned with a comical look.

”It's ok. There's always next time.” Her mentioning the clinic did get his attention. ”And how'd that go? I hope he didn't trash Old Man Isaiah's place.”

A tiny part of him hoped that was the case only because it made the story more entertaining.

Bianca practically snorted at the nickname he gave Isaiah. "I did catch him trying to climb onto one of the filing cabnets, if that counts. But Izzy was fine with him being out and about so I let him off with a warning. The day he ends up causing more trouble than it's worth is the day I take a vacation, mark my words!"

He chuckled at the thought. Bianca's Pokemon trying to climb the filing cabinets like a tree was a humorous little thought. At least the Old Man wasn't upset about a Pokemon going rogue.

Which reminded him.

”Speaking of vacation...”

Inigo pulled out his phone and navigated it to the camera reel before handing it to her. There, Bianca would see pictures of a whole different region. Colorful towns in different climates completely took over his camera. Some were eccentric "in-character" selfies, others were just normal pictures, and a couple were regular Inigo selfies. In a couple of them, Inigo got photobombed by people in the background, only for the following pictures to be of him posing with those same people. Only a select few consisted of the strange Pokemon he encountered there.

”If you do consider going on vacation, try Paldea. It's gorgeous. They also really like sandwiches for some reason.”

He never figured out why, just that they were popular.

"I see!" Bianca said as she scrolled through the photos. "I'm guessing the sandwich part is the region's niche? Like Alola's ruins and whatnot?" She suggested, giggling at the photobomb pictures.

”I guess so. Might just be like Galar and curry."

He never quite understood that. Seemed like everywhere he went there were people camping with a big pot of curry being made.

”They had ice cream and churros over there too. One of the ice creams had a cube of salt they got from one of the Pokemon. I wish I could remember the name.”

He was gonna be kicking himself about it later until the name came to mind.

Bianca rose a brow. "Salt on ice cream? I'm no Nordrin, but wouldn't that make the flavors conflict with each other?"

Inigo smiled. "It wasn't that bad. It's like chocolate covered chips, or chips dipped in milkshake."

Bianca knew about that, right? It wasn't popular but it wasn't unheard of or anything.

"I'll tell him about Paldea's famous "sushi sandwich". I'm sure he'll get a kick out of it."

"Hah, let me know how that goes."

After a short moment of silence, she spoke up again. "...I missed you."

Inigo's look seemed to soften upon hearing that. He smiled at her. "I missed you too. Paldea was fun and all, but it got real lonely out there. Couldn't completely enjoy it without anyone I cared about accompanying me."

Maybe it was the fact he was there to work for some dudes in suits, or maybe it was because he needed to act like an idiot for most of it. But traveling on sponsorship money was really losing its luster. Yes, he got to travel to places he would have never seen before otherwise, but if there was no one to enjoy it with, what was even the point?

He knew he couldn't drag his friends or family away from their responsibilities, but even taking just one person would have made these trips way more enjoyable.

"Maybe the bosses will let me stay now. I like being here talking to you more than out there, anyway."

Bianca was practically beaming back at him at this point. "Y-Yeah, I really like this too. Shame you'll have to head out at some point, let everyone else know you're back and all..."

He took another sip of his soda, "Eh, I doubt they'll mind if I don't talk to them right away."

It would definitely be nice to go and see the other leaders, and maybe get the story of what happened from their perspective, but talking to Bianca was always comforting.

"Oh right, before I forget. I know you're just thinking about precautions, but did the rest of the gym leaders say what they were going to do?"

"Besides doing their own investigating on everything and avoiding the press?" Bianca puffed a cheek out in thought. "I'm sure they'll think of something. Mr. Hyacinth did suggest boarding with one another though."

"Their own investigation? Aren't they ill-equipped for that kind of thing?" Police have to go through a lot of training for that, didn't they? He wasn't saying his friends were stupid; more that he wasn't sure if they know how to investigate better than professionals.

Her next words made him raise an eyebrow. The idea of Iris boarding with Fiona or Hestia flashed through his head. He could already imagine the chaos.

"Great way to keep an eye on each other, I'll admit. Isn't that gonna test a lot of friendships though?"

If things didn't work out, they could always go home. But at this time, testing friendships was the worst thing the group can do.

"You planning to board with anyone?" He decided to ask out of curiosity.

Bianca shrugged. "Not exactly? I mean, I won't force anyone to. If someone wants to be my roommate until this blows over, I won't exactly complain."

Inigo gently put a hand on her shoulder. "If you don't feel safe, you shouldn't be afraid to ask or let them know you're open to the idea. Especially now." He responded reassuringly. The worst that could happen is they say no or just not take her up on the offer.

"Besides, rooming is a two-way street. You wouldn't be forcing anyone to do anything."

The thing was, Bianca didn't exactly have any ideas as to who to ask.

But then again? Maybe she did now.

"W-Well, in that case...maybe you could stay with me?" She asked Inigo. "I-It's alright if you can't! I don't wanna ask too much of you, especially with you just having returned and all, haha!" She quickly clarified, her face turning a brighter shade of red.

Inigo was lucky he wasn't drinking from his soda when she asked her question; he absolutely would have done a spittake. His eyes widened a little out of surprise, caught totally off-guard by the question. He was sure she would ask Sloan or Fiona or any of the girls to room with her. Asking him, well...

Inigo's hand covered his mouth and part of his cheeks, a tint of red creeping on his cheeks above his fingers as his face started feeling warm. It's not like there was anything wrong with it; more than it would probably raise questions. But they would cross that bridge when they got there.

For now, he took this opportunity to think about her proposition.

If Inigo were by himself, he'd say yes and that would be the end of that. But he had his younger brother and his father to think about. He couldn't leave them alone when there was risk of another attack. Bianca's safety was also important, and if she felt safer rooming with him, then he didn't want to turn her away.

Circhester was close by enough that Inigo could take a flying taxi to his gym and back. He could have his gym trainers keep an eye on things when he was gone and have them work in shifts. If necessary, he could use sponsor money to hire extras to work as security during the night in case the bastards decided to attack when the gym was closed.

Or, Bianca could stay with him and they work out arrangements for her gym.

"If your place is big enough to include my dad and my brother, then I'd be happy to. I'm sorry, but I can't leave them on their own. Especially with those bastards out there." He responded. The last thing he wanted was for those people to use his father or brother as hostages. He hoped she would understand.

"If it isn't, then you can stay with me in Spikemuth. Our place isn't big or grand, but you'd get your own room at least."

He didn't tell her that it'd have Inigo sleeping on the pull out bed in the living room. Didn't need her feeling guilty about it.

Oh right, he didn't live alone!

"Damn, my place only has a spare bedroom. My apologies." Bianca pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked back at him with a softer expression. "Spikemuth it is then? Hope your folks won't mind having me around."

"Mhm. My dad and my brother won't mind. They usually keep to themselves in their own rooms. Just... if you have a Pokemon that likes to scare people, keep them away from my dad, please. He's got a weak heart."

It was also why he told Iris and her misbehaved creatures to stay the hell away from his gym.

Bianca nodded. "Weiss knows to behave herself around others, I know she won't be a bother. Hecate's on a tight leash." She said with a wry smile.

He gave her a few nods, looking a little relieved. "Good. Don't worry about cooking or cleaning, I handle both of those. Just worry about getting settled in. Oh, and ignore any questions my brother asks. He likes to embarrass me when he can."

Needless to say, living with him might not be completely quiet. But at least she would have something to look forward to every day.