We spent our last night in our hotel suite getting to know Finn. I began comparing Lenora’s notes about Victini with them in the process. A lot of her predictions and theses were correct, and with the limited amount of evidence she was going off, it was staggering. The only thing I can’t connect, and where she was wrong in her predictions, was her connecting Victini to Reshiram directly. When I talked about the Unovan heroes last night, Finn obviously wouldn’t recognise them as heroes, but when I started talking about their old friends, he lit up.

Orla and the team start getting their stuff together while I finish writing down some final thoughts about Finn and Reshiram’s connection. We hear a loud knock on the door.

“Alec? Are you ready for check out?”

“I’ll be out in a sec!”

As we make our way down to the lobby, a familiar face welcomes us.

“How has your stay been, Alec?” The strong voice stands tall and Lenora introduces us to the lean man she arrived with.

“This is Castelia's Gym Leader, Burgh. Over the past couple of days since the incident we’ve been keeping track of men wearing similar clothes to our Skull thief, and they were recently sighted in the Desert Resort north of here.” I examine Burgh myself, he isn’t as imposing as Lenora, or as serious looking as the waiters in Striaton. But he definitely seems eccentric enough to be a Gym Leader judging by previous encounters.

“It’s a very interesting project, and I thought I’d be fit to guide you!”

“I’m glad, but I could do it myself.”

“Nonsense! You’ll need me, the esteemed Leader to guide you through the treacherous sandstorm, no?” This guy…

“No, mate, I’m fine, really. You can resume your Gym Battles if needed.” Lenora chuckles to herself.

“I figured that’d be the case considering your new friend there.” Finn pokes his ears out from behind my head. Right. I don’t know what to do now.

“It’s okay, I won’t be a super asinine researcher about Victini, as much as I’d want to study them it’d be wrong to take Victini away from you. You two have fun, but if you see those creeps in the Desert Resort, let us know okay? Burgh can fly by as soon as needed.”

“As stifled as I am that you would deny my presence, I must admit it’s ravishing seeing a spunky young man vanish into the unknown on his own!” Never. Ever say spunky to me again.

***

Setting foot into the Desert Resort is an experience. The sandstorm makes it impossible to properly navigate so I’ve been trusting my phone GPS and compass in order to get us through the thick of it. Thankfully, Ruff made friends with a Sandile on the way here who’s been helping us too.

“Just a little further, am I right?”

“Dile!”

He’s a cute little thing. We all need a little break, so we pit stop in the Route Gate separating the large desert from the Route-side entrance.

“Right, who needs a drink?” All the Pokémon cheer in thirst, lucky I stocked up on more lemonade before leaving Castelia! One for Orla, one for Ruff, one for Finn, one for Elle, one for Sandile, one for…

“Wait who’s this?” The rest of the Pokémon glare puzzlingly at the round creature.

***

“Excuse me. Can we help you?” No one mooches off of my lemonade.

“Oh me? Oh me? Oh my...oh my…”

“Why is he talking like that? Is that how Pokémon talk these days?”

“No, Finn. He’s just...I dunno actually.” I wish I could make up an answer to help Ruff out.

“I dunno, I think it’s kinda funky, fresh.” Elle you’re not helping.

“Oh uh. This is my friend, Darumaka. He wants to go to Nimbasa City and when he saw that we were going to the Resort, he thought...it’d get him closer to it.” This punk of a Sandile thinks we’ll just pick anyone up, huh. Reminds me of a certain winged mongrel.

“Yes, sir! Yes, sir! Me and Sandile have known each other for- who knows! But Nimbasa’s where it’s at for an artiste like me!” and he reminds me of….that weirdo.

***

This little instigation is charming enough to watch, everyone seems to be getting along with him too. The little rock crown they’re wearing is also very cute.

“Let’s find some criminals, little orb.” Everyone reluctantly cheers, with Sandile giving an apologetic smile. “What's up? He's great. Look at his crown, I always trust a guy in a crown." Darumaka nods cutely, posing.

“Okay so, I guess we have to set a precedent that we might not even find anything here. But let's hope for some really interesting Reshiram lore to get us on the trail, okay?” The research team nods in agreement, and I bestow two Poké Balls to the two desert dwellers, as well as my notebook with some names in mind.

“Welcome to the team, boys. Mars. Terran. Get in your Balls and let’s storm a Castle!”

***

The ruins are dark, with pools of dampness littering wherever would be safest. I bring out Terran to help navigate through the crevices of this ancient building. The walls are completely made of sandstone. There is not a single freaking trace of thieves. Even the excavators and psychics who explore the area frequently have seen nothing. Not a single weirdo in blue.

“I’m sorry sir, you can’t come down here right now. We’re in the middle of clearing out an avalanche of sand that fell today.” One excavator said.

“Is there any idea of when it’ll be cleared up? It’s not urgent but it’s important.”

“I’m afraid you’d need a permit to go further while it’s dangerous, sir.” Fair enough. I am just an independent researcher after all. No sign of weirdos means the Gym Leaders can leave me alone at least. As interesting as Lenora is, I don’t exactly get why she asked me to come up here. It’s been proven over and over again that Relic Castle is the remains of ancient Unova, predating the Reshiram legend even, there’s nothing. Just sand and wasteland.

“Dile?”

“Nothing, don’t worry about it. Let’s go.” As we make our way out of the ruins...I misstep. The excavators watch in shock as I sink into the ground. An unmarked sinkhole.

***

Terran? Terran! I can’t see him anywhere. I just hope that he’s gone for help. When I come to, I find it hard to breathe, almost suffocating to shout for help.

There are figures of humans wavering all around this chamber room. Yamask. Wisps of what were once people, clinging onto unified masks that are meant to remind those Yamask of who they were...humans.

My vision gets more and more hazy as I try to get up. I shouldn’t bring out any of my Pokémon, I just need to trust that Terran did the right thing. I can’t panic. Panicking will lessen my air supply. I can’t write, I need to conserve energy.

What am I meant to do?

I begin to...fade out…

***

I’m a child again, with the body in front of me, with the monster standing over it. It comes closer. It breathes slower. It’s struggling. It’s crying.

And then it’s my mother. She's struggling. Those Pokémon. The Cinderace, the Boltund, the Dragapult. They’re crying. They’re mourning.

They were his…

***

When I woke up, I heard a nasally, worried voice beckon for me.

“Alec? Alec? Oh Alec please get up! Alec please!”

Evaluating my surroundings while trying to breathe is difficult.

“Leavanny, more bandages. Whirlipede, more water!”

Oh...oh no.

“Burgh?”

“Oh thank the Legends you’re okay! Your Sandile here came and brought me straight to the ruins. I had to do all of this admin work and drag you out, but you’ve been knocked out for a few days! When Leavanny saw you’d opened your eyes I came straight back to the room from a Gym Battle.” So wait...there’s a kid just...waiting for him to get back?

“Oh by the way, this creepy little guy wouldn’t go away and he’s been watching you ever since the ruins. I think he likes you. You should catch it! Loving the Darumaka by the way, very in fashion.” Right...I look onward to the creature that had been my guardian over the past couple of days. A Yamask. At least it doesn’t look like it tried to harm me.

Finn approaches me, sitting on my lap as I sit up.

“You weren’t too worried were you? Sorry for the bad first impression.” Finn shakes their head and nuzzles against my chin...cute.

Orla, Ruff and Mars come forward next, giving me my bag, my jacket and my Poké Balls. They’d come out all by themselves to look after me.

Elle seems to be keeping an eye on the Yamask. I stand, limping over to them.

“You, you didn’t hurt me, did you?” They shake. “Did any of the other Yamask hurt me?” They shake. “...why did you come with us?” They shake. They don’t know why? I look outside, we’re in my VIP hotel suite again. I feel horrible living off other people’s money like this…

“Come on everyone, we’re getting a taxi to Nimbasa City as soon as we can. We can’t stay any longer, you hear me?” They look shaken by the decision, but respect it, and return to their Poké Balls. Yamask remaining.

“You can come with us, but I’ll have to store you for now. Is that okay?” They nod. “The name Drayn. Do you like that?” They nod. “Cool. Sorry I just can’t think of a better one right now. We’ll talk later, okay? It just feels like the right thing to do, considering you helped get me out of there and all.”

I throw a Poké Ball at it, and sure as sure, it’s instantly caught. I storm out of the room past Burgh, making my way to call a taxi to Nimbasa. I’m not trekking through that desert again. And definitely not coming back to Castelia for a while.

As I tell the driver my destination, I notice that another pin badge has appeared on the inline of my jacket.

I suppose another gold star of pity from a Gym Leader. Fantastic.