The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 3 Episode 2: Implications

Spoiler:

“Protect!” Charlotte called out to Luxray, who raised a translucent barrier with a moments notice, to block the slashing attack from Jon’s Absol, that had been darting towards it, having used Swords Dance a minute earlier, and attempting to use a Night Slash attack.

Absol was naturally a faster Pokemon than Luxray, however Luxray had slowed it down slightly with a Scary Face attack, and whilst Absol was slightly stronger in terms of sheer attack power, Luxray more than made up for that difference with its superior resilience, the lack thereof made Absol somewhat of a glass cannon. With Luxray being faster, the opportunity to strike came to it first.

“Now, Wild Charge!”

Luxray darted forward, encasing itself in crackling sparks of electricity, before running into Absol, knocking the Pokemon back, as it panted for air, and tried to regain its balance. Charlotte didn’t give another instruction, as had been the norm for these battles on Southern Island. Off to the sidelines, Latios watched them, nearby, but not overly close to, Deoxys, who also watched intently. It was the weekend of the second week of the summer program, and whilst in previous years, Jon had made a point of training Rayquaza on Southern Island every third weekend, this tradition had been changed largely for training Deoxys, and this being every second weekend. Even if hypothetically they were making faster progress than originally planned, given the publicity put on him, and his claim that he would help train Deoxys to be safe, going a little more frequently was made much easier, especially given the fact that the Eon Academy’s stellar reputation was intertwined with that of the interns remaining behind in Mossdeep, as well as Steven to oversee affairs on the weekends Jon and Charlotte were gone.

“Let’s call it there,” Jon said, as he patted Absol on the head, avoiding the sharp blade with practised hands. They never fought to the point of unconsciousness like they normally would in front of Deoxys. Battling was a catalyst for helping Deoxys remain calm under stress, as well as learn to trust its trainer's judgement. If it knew that Charlotte was more capable of choosing its course of action in a battle than it was itself, outside of a battle, it would be easier for Deoxys to trust her. At least that’s what Jon hoped.

Latios had spent the morning keeping Deoxys company, the extra-terrestrial Pokemon seeming much more comfortable, although still slightly uncertain, around the Eon Pokemon, which was unusual itself given the fact that their first meeting involved Latios colliding with Deoxys at Mach 2 speeds to capture it in a Master Ball. This could only be attributed to Latios’ own gentle persistence, trying to communicate with Deoxys. Whilst Latios’ own ability to perceive emotions as coloured auras made it the best candidate for bridging that gap between them, Deoxys own mind was so alien and unfamiliar to Latios, compared to those Latios had communicated with before, that Latios had trouble distinguishing what the colours of Deoxys aura even were, let alone what they signified.

After what was now the fifth weekend Latios had spent with Deoxys, it had a much better understanding of the aura he perceived from the Pokemon, albeit, much less instinctively, Latios intentionally translating what he saw to what he knew, compared to simply seeing and understanding like he was used to. Because of this, Latios could communicate with Deoxys, through understanding its own emotions, and projecting his, as well as other images and sensations. Latios described this to Jon as the same way the pair of them communicated before Latios learnt to speak for lack of better words, telepathically with Jon. Whilst there was a large difference between the two situations, largely being that whilst Latios couldn’t speak telepathically until recent years, but could still understand Jon’s words, Deoxys didn’t directly understand the verbal communication from either trainer, or Latios’ verbal dialogue. However, Deoxys did seem to be telepathically observing Charlotte’s own thoughts, and understanding her when she spoke, based on the fact that she understood it. At least, they believed, and sincerely hoped, that was the case…

Charlotte knelt down to scratch Luxray behind the ears, before the four foot tall, electric type rolled over onto its back, exposing its belly and seeming to ask for a belly rub. Knowing what was coming, Charlotte obliged, rubbing its chest, and seemingly falling for Luxray’s trap, as the Pokemon grabbed her wrist with its two forelegs, and playfully bit at her hand. It was a behaviour it developed years earlier as a Shinx, and never quite grew out of.

Whilst Charlotte was no stranger to showing her Pokemon affection like this, she was laying it on a little thicker with Deoxys present, Latios having informed her that he was showing Deoxys the auras signifying their emotions that Latios could see, partially to show Deoxys that the bond between a trainer and their Pokemon, in the case of Jon and Charlotte, is built on friendship and loyalty, not fear or anger.

Charlotte looked over and noticed Deoxys watching her and Luxray intently. She looked over at Jon, seeming to ask a question with the look, causing him to nod. She turned back to Deoxys, before calling out.

“Do you want to try and battle?”

She asked, forcing herself to feel excited and happy about it, even though her first instinct was to be terrified. Deoxys looked from her to Latios, as if wanting clarification. Latios impressed an image of the two of them into Deoxys mind, effectively playfighting, and the overall tone of it being fun and light-hearted. Latios then flew to stand in front of Jon, as he returned Absol to its Pokeball, and Charlotte returned Luxray. After a few seconds of looking from Latios to Charlotte, Deoxys levitated towards Charlotte, seeming to take its place on her side of the battlefield.

“This is huge…” Jon said, unable to hide a grin.

“I know…” Charlotte replied, before something practical came to mind. “How do I give it instructions? It’s not like it knows what I mean when I tell it to use Psychic?”

“Why doesn’t it?” Jon asked. “Use your imagination, and I don’t mean that in a sarcastic way. Deoxys is poking around in your head. That’s the only way it understands you. Picture what you want it doing when you give instructions.”

Understanding his reasoning, Charlotte nodded.

“That’s probably for the best. If it relies on verbal cues only, and I talk about Latios being a Psychic Type, it may just use the attack on the nearest Pokemon…”

“Exactly,” Jon said. “Latios will be taking it much slower, and hitting softer than normal. So let’s take this slowly…”

Jon gestured at Charlotte to begin. Taking a moment to picture what she wanted from Deoxys, she gave out her first instruction.

“Deoxys, Psychic attack, from the left!” she called out, calmly, yet confidently. She couldn’t help but grin, as Deoxys, whilst not shifting forms, outstretched its left arm, and launched a telekinetic blast from Latios’ left, which the Eon Pokemon dodged, making a show of barely avoiding the slower and weaker attack…

“Latios, Dragon Breath…”

Latios, slow and obvious, opened his jaws and launched a jet of Dragon Breath. Charlotte visualized Deoxys going into its bulkier, defensive form, and went to speak, however before she could give the command, Deoxys shifted form, blocking the attack with a mixture of its thick arms, and telekinesis, before waiting for Charlotte’s next instruction, unsure of what to do next, it being the first time it played this game.

“Good…” Jon said with a grin…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Dylan watched the group of four boys sitting in the back rows of the significantly fuller stadium, when compared to previous years. Not including the interns, there were a hundred campers on site, all of whom were present in the stadium. The interns retained their teams from the year before, albeit with twenty students in each, compared to the seven the year prior. This time however, each team had two older campers, all of them returning campers who volunteered to assist the team leaders with their team. As Dylan had looked around the stadium, he was thankful that Jon had it built to a seating capacity of three hundred, figuring that if they had a summer without a rampaging Legendary Pokemon, and another year without a corrupt politician setting their sights on the Academy, or poachers trying to take their Legendary Pokemon, killing them if they have to, they may find themselves needing all the space they can get…

As Steven started wrapping up the lecture he was delivering on a concept he called the metagame, a series of patterns of Pokemon, trained specific ways with specific abilities that were prominent in the competitive scene, Dylan’s attention was still drawn to the four boys, all of whom seemed distracted by something one of them had on his phone, all of them glancing down together to the floor where he and Justin stood, as Steven lectured. They were in the middle range of age for the campers, and none of them in his team, or off the top of his head, in Justin's either. If memory served him correctly, two were from Chris’ and the other two from Charlotte’s. As they looked down at the pair of interns, seeming to know something, for the thirteenth time, the one on the far left noticed Dylan looking back, before letting his friends know, as they all tried to look like they were paying attention.

Dylan was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of applause as Steven finished the lecture, before dismissing everyone. He, Dylan and Justin made their way towards the foyer outside the actual arena, where Justin stopped to ask Steven a question he found himself wondering about during the lecture. Dylan moved to the other side of the foyer, pretending to tie his shoelaces as the students began making their way out. When Dylan noticed the four boys walk past, he noticed them looking over at Justin, grinning about something that he seemed none-the-wiser about. Standing up, Dylan made his way towards the four boys, before tapping one of them on the shoulder. He turned, and when Dylan spoke, the other three turned as well.

“You guys alright?” Dylan asked, somewhat casually, but not letting the sense of authority drop. “You seemed a little distracted in the lecture?”

The boy that Dylan had tapped on the shoulder seemed to grow anxious, his eyes widening. His friend next to him however, was quicker to speak.

“Just found the metagame concept amusing,” his friend said. “Every winning team I have seen in official tournaments had at least one of the Pokemon Steven talked about. I told these guys, and they realized they have seen them all as well…”

“Right,” Dylan said, his instincts telling him that it was a well thought out lie, but not wanting to make them too suspicious. He did notice they were doing everything they could to avoid looking towards Justin, and one held something, Dylan presumed a phone, behind his back. “Well just make sure you aren’t distracting the people around you. It’s good that you’re invested, but others may need a little more focus.”

“No worries.”

The boys left, and once they were out of sight, Dylan looked around for an older student he could trust. Something didn’t sit right with him, and whilst he didn’t think it was anything nefarious, the amount of attention Justin had, that these boys were being so private about, had him concerned. After a few seconds, he saw a group of girls leaving, and recognized Rachael, a seventeen year old from his team, who was returning for her second year. Whilst she was the third oldest in his team, she had the most maturity, with the two eighteen year olds, Blake and Hannah, having caused Dylan a little trouble the year before. Whilst they were his assistants that year, that was due to their skill battling, but also giving them responsibility to rise to the occasion, and himself the opportunity to keep a closer eye on them. But for this, an assistant wouldn’t do.

“Rach, you got a sec?” Dylan called out. Rachael caught his eye, before waving goodbye to her friends, and making her way towards him.

“What’s going on?”

Dylan nodded towards the four boys who just left, making sure she knew who he was talking about.

“The four of them seemed really distracted during the seminar. For some reason, they couldn’t keep their eyes off Justin, and kept looking at one of their phones…” Dylan explained, as Rachael nodded. “I asked them what was going on and they told me something that is likely not true, but it’s got me a little worried, and if I try and push harder, they will probably be more secretive.”

“You want me to see if I can figure out what’s going on?” Rachael asked, seeing where Dylan was going.

“If you don’t mind. It’s probably nothing serious, but on the off chance one of them snuck an unflattering photo of Justin when he wasn’t looking, or something teenagers do these days, I’d rather deal with it before it goes online…”

“Yeah, understandable,” Rachael replied, a teenager herself, and being aware how brutal they can be. “I’ll see if I can figure out what’s got them so worked up.”

“Thanks,” Dylan said. “I owe you one…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“What about a Rotom?” Chris asked, not waiting for an answer before looking down at his phone to search information about the Pokemon.

“Possibly,” Abbee replied, considering the thought. “I’m going to try and catch an Electabuzz regardless, but maybe once I am a little more established there, a Rotom could be a good fit…”

The pair were discussing Electric Type Pokemon, with Abbee having gotten a job as a trainer at Elesa’s Electric Type gym, in Nimbasa City, Unova. Whilst she only had one Electric Type Pokemon herself, being her Ampharos, for a new Gym Trainer, that was more than enough, seeing as Gym Trainers were not meant to be difficult to the point of being more of a challenge than the Gym Leader they worked for. However, Ampharos may very well get sick, or one of the more experienced Gym Trainers who is required to pose more of a challenge than Abbee may take time off, and whilst Abbee was guaranteed the job, it was strongly recommended she capture another Electric Pokemon in case of either of those two scenarios.

They sat in a cafe by the beach of Mossdeep Island. It was an hour or two after midday, and the pair, their students having been required to attend Steven’s lecture that afternoon, which Dylan and Justin were helping him with, had the day off, this being the first real opportunity they had to get off the property, and have some time to themselves. The weather was perfect that afternoon, being relatively warm, but with a refreshing breeze blowing through the large open windows of the cafe. Whilst Chris and Abbee had finished their lunch, the pair were too comfortable to consider making their way to the nearest bus stop, instead, opting to buy another smoothie and cola float respectively. As they took their time finishing their drinks, not able to justify spending the money on another round just to not feel bad about taking up space, the pair were brainstorming which Pokemon Abbee could possibly catch. If nothing else, it had to be an Electric Type. However, Abbee didn’t want a Pokemon that would take months to get strong enough to provide the level of challenge she was required to offer. Hence her preference towards Electabuzz. Whilst they were the evolved form of Elekid, they were still somewhat easy to find, compared to other middle stage Pokemon, and could hold their own. And once it had evolved and was trained, it would be stronger than her Ampharos.

“Rotom on their own aren’t overly powerful, relatively speaking. Comparable to an Emolga,” Chris explained. “However, if you get it to possess an appliance, like a fridge or something, it will be as strong as a Jolteon, and have a secondary typing. And if you pick the right appliance, it might not have its Ground type weakness. Do you think Jon would notice if a fridge went missing?”

“I’d be concerned if he didn’t,” Abbee laughed, as she reached out, and took his free hand that was sitting on the table. Chris raised some very valid points, and under other circumstances, she’d probably agree, and try and catch a Rotom before heading to Unova. But two main reasons came to mind.

“Two things though,” Abbee explained. “The first, is that I am going to be the newest trainer there, and I can’t be too difficult to beat for the people challenging the Gym. Part of the interview was a battle with Elesa herself, but instead of trying to win, I was trying to be just a little more difficult to beat than her. She’d start off battling like a beginner, and I had to respond in a way that gave her opportunities to beat me, but not making them easy to take. And she’d gradually battle better, and I had to raise the bar in response. After three years at the Academy, it is going to be hard to not just go all out, and risk turning away challengers before they battle Elesa. So having pure Electric Types that are easy to have a type advantage over will be a good starting point for me.”

Chris nodded, following her logic. He had occasionally in his younger years filled in for Gym Trainers during summer for his sister’s gym in Blackthorn City, and the first few times, he got chewed out for going too hard on trainers, that whilst having earnt the previous seven badges, hadn’t been tutored personally by the premier Gym Leader of Johto, and on the rare occasion, the Indigo Champion of the time.

“What’s the second reason?” Chris asked, putting his phone down.

“Rotom can’t be found in the wild in Johto, Kanto, or even here in Hoenn,” Abbee replied. “The closest place to catch one in the wild is Sinnoh, and I’ll only have two weeks between leaving here, and leaving for Unova. I could theoretically source one from a breeder, but it will be too young and inexperienced to battle in a Gym, and if Ampharos were sick during my second month there-”

Abbee continued, however Chris’ focus was pulled to something she had already said.

“Two weeks?” Chris asked, surprised. “I thought you had a month back in Johto before you left?”

Abbee was stunned by the comment, before realizing her mistake.

“I thought I told you?”

“Told me what?”

“Elesa got in touch with me just before we left Goldenrod,” Abbee answered, kicking herself for forgetting to tell Chris about this. “She’s had to let a Gym Trainer go. Apparently they were caught doing something illegal, and she doesn’t want the bad press on her Gym. So they’re down a trainer, and she asked if I could start two weeks earlier. Offered to cover my accommodation until I can move into my apartment and all that. So I said yes.”

Chris seemed stunned that in the two weeks since Abbee had known about this, she hadn’t realized Chris wasn’t aware. But there was more to his stunned silence.

“I’m sorry, I should have told you as soon as I found out,” Abbee apologized. “But it was late and I was exhausted, and when I got off the phone, we were boarding, and I fell asleep. I pretty much forgot about it myself until the day after we got here, and by that point everyone was arriving, and it all just got forgotten…”

“It’s not just that,” Chris sighed. “I guess I thought that before making that decision, you’d have talked to me about it. Even if your mind was made up, at least humouring me with the conversation…”

“I mean, we’ve known for months I’ll be moving. What’s another two weeks?” Abbee asked. “It’ll be the middle of September when I go, and we’ll still see each other for Christmas and New Year’s Eve…”

It was Chris’ turn to pay the price for forgetting to tell his girlfriend something important. Noticing the silence changing from one of disappointment to one of realization, Abbee made her last point, but as a question.

“We’ll still see each other for Christmas and New Year’s Eve, won’t we?” Abbee asked, the question sounding much more pointed.

“I forgot to tell you…” Chris began quietly, as Abbee’s eyes widened. “I preregistered for all the tournaments I planned on competing in before next summer. It’s my first year not in the junior circuit, and the Kalos Christmas Day and Alola New Year’s Eve tournaments are televised everywhere…”

It hit Abbee hard to realize that her first Christmas and New Year living in a foreign city, far from home, would likely be spent alone. Even Justin, albeit much easier now he lived in Jubilife, was able to spend Christmas with Candice. However, Abbee refused to let herself conveniently forget the fact she had forgotten to tell Chris of her earlier departure, even if she believed this was a bigger blunder. She sighed.

“Look, let’s just say we’re even then, if that’s what we gotta do to not let this get worse,” Abbee said, hanging her head at the prospect of spending Christmas alone. “Long distance is gonna suck, sure, but Justin and Candice have made it work?”

“They’re both in Sinnoh now, and I’m willing to bet that Justin will be doing everything he can to get into the police at Snowpoint…” Chris replied, bitter at the comparison, even though Abbee meant it more as an encouragement.

Abbee’s first reaction to Chris’ answer was not what Chris had intended. To her, he may as well have said ”Justin might be willing to relocate for his girlfriend, but I’m not…”. However, she knew Chris well enough to know that as blunt and occasionally thoughtless as the things he said could be, his heart was in the right place, and wouldn’t have meant it in that way.

“Well, surely you can come visit me for my eighteenth?” Abbee asked. “I’d probably have to work, but I can rearrange my shifts to have nights off, and Nimbasa City has amazing nightlife from what I’ve heard…”

Abbee’s heart sank as Chris’ expression didn’t shift to one of confirmation, but one that seemed to imply he was trying to remember something, and based on the question he was asked it could have been one of two things. He was trying and struggling to remember when her eighteenth birthday was, or trying to remember if he had pre-registered for a tournament that was on that day.

“Your birthday is in February, right?” Chris asked, as Abbee let go of Chris’ hand, before putting her elbows on the table, and resting her forehead in her hands, in a sign of sheer exasperation.

“January 26th…”

To Abbee’s horror, Chris opened his phone, presumably to his calendar.

“January 26th is the Orre Day Tournament,” Chris answered carefully. “It’s the day the celebrate the discovery of the region, and they have a tournament in Agate Town.”

Orre was a region in the Southern Hemisphere, somewhat disconnected from the larger, more settled regions in the Northern Hemisphere, with very little of note happening there.

“It’s the same old guy who wins every year, because nobody is willing to travel there for it,” Chris explained hastily. “I figured it would be an easy win, and good publicity if I beat the guy who has won it for the last fifteen years…”

“Nobody is willing to travel there for it, except you, skipping your girlfriend's eighteenth birthday…” Abbee said, before repeating Chris’ words from before. ”I guess I thought that before making that decision, you’d have talked to me about it.”

“You could come visit me then?” Chris suggested, trying to defuse the situation. “Agate Village is apparently a good spot?”

“It’s a good spot for people to go when they retire…” Abbee retorted. “My dad always talked about wanting to retire there when Tyler and I were out of home. Besides, I won’t be able to take enough time off work for it to be worth it…”

“You’re working full time?” Chris asked. “You get four paid weeks of leave a year.”

“And I am scheduled to take twelve off over summer to work here,” Abbee snapped. “And not full-time. Overtime. I’m going to be working eight hours, six days a week to get enough annual leave to cover the difference in pay between here and the Gym, and even after nine months of overtime, and taking a few days leave to see you for your eighteenth, that will only cover a third of the summer…”

“I’m sure if Jon knew you were doing that, surely he’d give you a pay rise for interning here?” Chris tried to justify. “You’ll be eighteen before next summer anyway, and Justin and Charlotte both got a decent pay rise after they turned eighteen-”

“It’s not about Jon not paying enough!” Abbee interrupted, wondering how Chris could be so dense about all this. “Jon pays less by the hour than the gym, sure, but covers all living expenses for us here, and honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig. But my landlord isn’t going to let me stop paying rent back in Nimbasa City because I take three months off to work at the Academy, even if I tell her it seems like that’s the only way I’ll get to see my boyfriend…”

Abbee realized she was arguing the wrong point here.

“The problem is that you seem willing to travel anywhere but the place that I will be! Do I need to get Elesa to host a tournament just to get you to come visit me?”

“You knew I’d be travelling and competing,” Chris retorted. “Until Candice visited and you talked to her about Gym Leading, you were considering doing the same thing…”

“Yeah, I knew. But I also figured you’d make a point of seeing me for my birthday, let alone remembering when it actually is…”

There was a clink as someone on a nearby table accidentally knocked a fork onto the polished tile floor, catching Chris’ attention. He looked over to see people on other tables quickly look away from the pair, and realized how much of a scene they were making. A few people held sour glances, and from what he could tell, they were aimed at him.

“Look, I’ve screwed up here, I get that…” Chris said, lowering his voice, not wanting to share everything with their audience. “Can we talk about this back at the lodge?”

Abbee went to argue, however at Chris’ prompting, noticed just how many people had been listening, and felt a wave of embarrassment.

“Sure…” Abbee said, though not giving any indication that she was going to simply forget this and move on when they got back. Not bothering to finish her drink, the ice cream in which had long since melted, she left enough cash on the table to cover just her drink, before walking out, leaving Chris fumbling with his wallet to get some cash out for his own.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

It was shortly after five when Chris and Abbee found themselves in the lodge, the discussion no closer to reaching a resolution. They stood in the foyer, with the argument commencing as soon as the front door closed. An hour later, they were both in the lounge, sitting quietly on different couches, neither knowing what to say. Abbee knew what she wanted to say, but it seemed like every time she spoke, she found out something worse from Chris, and at this point, couldn’t take anything more. Chris was the first to break the silence.

“Look, I’ve screwed up, and I’ll cancel the Orre Day tournament…” Chris began.

“I’d hate to be a burden…” Abbee snapped back, not usually being this petty, but after a silent bus trip and walk back to the Academy, with the emotions festering, she had given up on tact at this point.

“Abbee…” Chris said, sounding slightly exasperated. “I’m really trying here…”

Surprisingly, those were the words that caused Abbee to try and show some self control. It took Chris saying that to realize that he was. She’d known him long enough to know that it took a lot for him to admit fault, with the exception of extreme circumstances, like the Shoal Cave incident back in their first summer at the Academy.

“Sorry…” Abbee said, before clarifying. “For being b***hy just then I mean…”

Chris chuckled at the clarification, knowing full well that she wasn’t going to apologize for anything else. He opened up his phone, and quickly looked through his calendar.

“How’s this? Every time I’m in Unova for a tournament, I’ll spend a few days in Nimbasa,” Chris began. “And every three months, I’ll make sure I have a week I can spend in Nimbasa, with no tournaments or distractions. Just us…”

Abbee considered this, and while this was more than she could have asked for given the argument they just had, there was a thought that kept pestering her, and she knew she couldn’t ignore it. She sighed.

“I appreciate that, really. And I’m going to hold you to it. But…”

“But what?” Chris asked, worried where this was going.

“I’m not saying I’m wanting to get married or anything,” Abbee began, as Chris started to worry hearing this. She noticed it, and shifted her approach. “Let me explain it better…”

Abbee considered her thoughts, before trying again.

“I want to become a Gym Leader, and do that for a few years, so I can buy a house, and have a bit of financial security before I compete like you do,” Abbee started. “I really want to compete, like you and Tyler do, and like Dad did. But I want to do that because I enjoy it. Not because I need to to pay the bills. And I want to have a home to go back to when I’m ready to take a break. And the best way for me to get to that place is to work this Gym Trainer job, eventually become the Gym Leader, and work my a** off until I can compete for the sake of wanting to do it. I could be in Nimbasa for the next ten years before I’m ready to travel and compete like you want to…”

Chris nodded, understanding what she was saying.

“But you, you want to get right out there, and take the battling world by storm. You don’t want a fixed address, but to travel the world and win every tournament you can. And I hope that in five or ten years, I will be able to do that with you as well. But it’s just as likely by then, I’ll be happy Gym Leading, or want to join the Elite Four, or even be done with battling and find a job elsewhere…” Abbee explained, really hoping that she was doing the right thing bringing this up. “What I’m saying is that there is no definite point in time where our plans align. And I’m not saying I want to get married, or move in together or something. But if things working out long term for us seems this unlikely, and we’re not together now thinking we’d want to stay together long term, then are we together just for it to end, and us just get hurt?”

Chris was shocked hearing this. He and Abbee had been together for nearly ten months at this point. They had survived a cave in, an attack by a rampaging Hydreigon, followed a few days later by Deoxys, as well as the Whirl Islands incident. And in all that time, there had never been any inclination that things weren’t working out between them.

“I’m sorry for causing all this trouble, really…” Chris began, trying to find the words. He moved to the couch next to her. “I guess I don’t normally think that far ahead, so I haven’t considered it…”

Abbee’s heart sank a little hearing that, before Chris continued.

“But one of the things I love about you is the fact that you do, and times like this, actually get me thinking a bit further ahead and a bit more seriously than I normally would,” Chris said, though Abbee was struggling to focus after hearing the first sentence he just said.

“I don’t know what the future looks like for us. Five years, ten years, whatever. You’re right. The only house I want to buy is the mansion I can afford after I become Diamond Ladies level loaded, because I can. I want to travel the world, and make a name for myself as the very best,” Chris explained. “And you want to spend five or ten years building a home to always be able to come back to, before you go out and take the world by storm. Right now, that doesn’t seem to add up.”

“But we’ll make it work…”

Abbee looked at Chris as he said those words, seeming to genuinely believe them himself.

“I don’t know how, but we will make it work,” Chris repeated. “Stranger things have happened…”

Abbee wasn’t sure how to respond. On the one hand, she desperately wanted to believe him. But on the other, she knew that was a lot easier said than done. She didn’t get the chance to respond, as the sound of the doorbell to the lodge played through the speaker by the TV…

“It can wait,” Chris said. “If they’re ringing the doorbell, it’s a student, since everyone else has a key.”

“But what if it’s important?” Abbee asked, rising to stand.

“Justin or Dylan can handle it,” Chris answered. “Steven or Alyssa even.”

Before Abbee could reply, there was a heavy knocking on the door. She got up, figuring if they were this persistent it must be something important, as Chris sighed.

Abbee made her way to the door, opening it, and vaguely recognized the blonde, seventeen year old girl who was on the other side as one of Dylan’s students, who had attended last year.

“Rachael, isn’t it?” Abbee asked, before noticing the worried look in the girl's bright green eyes. “Is everything alright?”

“Is Dylan around?” Rachael asked, not answering the question, and looking past Dylan. “I need to show him something, but he isn’t in the dining hall with the others…”

Chris emerged from the lounge, to see what was going on.

“I don’t think he’s here?” Abbee replied, though realizing that neither she nor Chris had attempted to check that the lodge was empty before they entered and continued their argument. “I can give him a call if you want?”

“It’s fine…”

Abbee turned to see Dylan making his way down the stairs, realizing he had been upstairs the entire time, and probably heard everything. Dylan didn’t make any attempt to look at her, focusing on the student at the door.

“Did you figure something out?” Dylan asked Rachael, leaving Abbee and Chris confused.

“I did, and it’s not good…”

Dylan looked around to make sure there weren’t any campers nearby, before speaking again.

“Let’s talk inside…”

“Are we in your way?” Abbee asked, not sure what was going on with Dylan and Rachael. “We can go talk somewhere else…”

“Rach, is it anything these guys shouldn’t see?” Dylan asked Rachael, who shook her head.

“They’ll see it soon enough at this rate anyway. I just figured Justin should see it from one of you guys, and not one of us students…”

Dylan ushered her into the lounge, where they all sat, and Rachael pulled out her phone, unlocking it to a webpage she saved earlier, and handed it to Dylan. Abbee and Chris watched in confusion as Dylan’s eyes widened.

“Motherf**kers…” Dylan swore, surprising Abbee and Chris that he did that in front of Rachael, and surprising Rachael even more.

“What’s wrong?” Abbee asked.

“Some of the boys today seemed to have an excessive interest in Justin, and it had something to do with their phones. I asked Rach to see if she could figure it out, since they’d never tell me, and she figured it out alright…” Dylan said, before swearing again under his breath. “Silver Wing News posted a slander piece this morning about Justin…”

“Wait what? Aren’t they the ones who leaked the Diamond Ladies investigation?” Chris replied angrily. “What could they possibly have on Justin?”

“That’s them. Nothing concrete, but it’s always possible to technically tell the truth, but in a way that implies other things,” Dylan answered, as he scrolled through the article, skimming parts. “Granted it looks like they proposed a few hypotheticals which make Justin look worse. But Candice is also involved…”

“What does it say?” Abbee asked. Dylan having finished skimming the article, scrolled back to the top.

”Every year, new influencers find fame on social media. In our Pokemon-centred society, normally Pokemon are at the center of it, and recently, a young trainer by the name of Justin Collins, aged eighteen, has blown up in popularity, despite never having actually competed in a formal tournament. One of the five original students at High Seas Tournament Champion, Jon Drake’s Eon Academy, and currently working summers there as an intern, the battling world’s first exposure to Justin was a live streamed battle during the summer of 2018. However, Justin’s rise to fame stemmed from his contribution to the discovery, and his own subsequent capture of the previously unknown Regieleki, during December at the end of that year. From there, Justin’s fame grew with Regieleki under his command destroying a meteor that threatened to strike Mossdeep Island last summer, and by that summer's end, contributing to the defeat and capture of the Legendary Pokemon Deoxys, sparing Mossdeep Island from destruction. And most recently, photographers for Silver Wing News capturing photographs of Justin, and Snowpoint City Gym Leader, Candice on what appeared to be a New Year’s Eve date in Snowpoint City.

However, nobody is without fault, and when one sees the facts that aren’t as public about Justin Collins, particularly those surrounding his apparent relationship with Candice, everything suddenly seems far less sweet and glamorous, compared to the highlights curated and shared by social media personalities such as Justin.

The most prominent cause for concern is his relationship with Candice. Candice, aged twenty-two, received critical acclaim for being the youngest trainer at the time to take the mantle of Gym Leader, commanding the Snowpoint City Gym, which until last summer, was the second to last gym in the Sinnoh League, where it has now overtaken Sunyshore City to be the final gym. Additionally, she has captured and now battles alongside the Legendary Pokemon Regice, which is where this iceberg (if you the reader will forgive the pun) begins.

Justin and Candice were part of the same expedition team to discover and capture Regieleki, with Candice attending to capture Regice, one of the requirements to enter Regieleki’s lair. It is understood that this expedition was where Justin and Candice met, when Candice was close to turning twenty-one, and Justin had just turned seventeen, still a child himself. Whilst this does not necessarily mean the pair were in a relationship at the time, sources who attended the Summer Program at the Eon Academy in the summer of 2019 state that Candice visited the site on Mossdeep Island, spending a week there, almost a week before the infamous Deoxys incident. Sources state that Candice, twenty-one at the time, was very close to Justin, still a child at the age of seventeen…”

“Who the f**k talked?” Chris yelled, getting defensive of his friend.

“Does it matter?” Abbee asked, through clenched teeth, equally furious about what she was hearing. “I don’t think any of last year's students would have gone out to incriminate Justin. I’m guessing they were contacted to confirm a rumour that Candice was sighted on the island last summer, and are being taken out of context…”

“It gets worse…” Rachael said, though not knowing Justin well personally, feeling bad for this.

”The next time the pair were spotted together, any and all pretence of the relationship between the pair being platonic was gone, conveniently, a month after Justin turned eighteen and was legally considered an adult. Even accounting for teenage hormones, it seems largely unlikely that the relationship between Justin and Candice was platonic before Justin was an adult, especially considering the fact Candice took leave from her job to travel to a far away region for a week with complete strangers with the exception of one.

When asking who is to blame for a relationship between a child of seventeen, and a woman of twenty-one, it is important to consider all sides. Starting from the least obvious, one must look at the role that Jon Drake may have played in this, allowing Candice to attend a summer camp aimed at children, and based on his own history of turning the blind eye to what is considered proper and appropriate, as shown with his own involvement in attempting to cover up the largest cheating scandal in history, potentially turning a blind eye to the inappropriate relationship that was forming under his supposed and expected care seems par for the course. However, one must also ask the questions of Justin Collins himself, and whether he disclosed his age to Candice, or potentially deceived her in relation to his age. Given the fact his mentor has been living under a false name for over fifteen years, it isn’t unreasonable to believe the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Lastly, one must consider the obvious possibility. That Candice, aware of Justin’s youth and naivety, was not hindered, and pursued a relationship, even though she was an adult, four years his senior.

However, this iceberg goes deeper, and other facts when brought into consideration raise more concerning questions about both Justin and Candice.

Since graduating high school in Lumiose City, after the summer of 2019, Justin began attending Jubilife University, studying a Bachelor of Law, one of the most prestigious degrees offered by the university, which itself is ranked in the top five in the world. The entry score requirements for the course are not for the faint hearted, and whilst Justin has shown talent as a trainer and battler, his academic scores did not meet the requirements to gain entry into Jubilife University’s Bachelor of Law. Whilst entry scores themselves are not published, individual subject scores are published by regional newspapers if they are in the top ten percent, and whilst Mr. Collins would need all five of his subject scores for his final exams to be in that top ten percent, his scores were only published for three subjects, putting him well below what is required to be accepted into his current study. One must ask how Justin got accepted in this case, however the answer is painfully obvious.

Universities have been known to accept recommendations by Pokemon League Officials for special consideration. However, this special consideration has been on the basis of skill and accomplishment in local Pokemon Leagues. Justin, as skilled of a trainer as he is, has never participated in a formal Pokemon League event, be it tournament or gym battle, which raises further questions as to how he was accepted, granted it is easy enough to guess…"

“There is nothing new from there…” Rachael muttered, as Chris and Abbee looked at Dylan, shocked at what they had just heard. “They just repeat the same rubbish…”

“Still-” Abbee began, before seeming to have a better idea. She stopped speaking, instead getting her own phone out, and typing frantically.

“What are you doing?” Chris asked.

“If they want to write s**t about Justin online, I will back him up,” Abbee said. “I have just as many followers as Justin, and I’ll tell them all about how this excuse for news is just a pathetic grab for attention…”

“Don’t,” Dylan said, looking up from his own phone. He was as furious about this as the rest of them. “Not yet at least…”

“Why?” Abbee asked, directing her irritation more towards Dylan now. “Half of our plan to save the Academy hinged on our online presence? Surely we can help soften the blow if we get in early enough.”

“Because Justin doesn’t even know yet, which is a miracle in itself,” Dylan replied. “The last thing this s**t needs is more exposure before Justin actually has a chance to find out and figure out his next steps…”

“And then what?” Abbee retorted.

“Ask Justin…” Dylan replied, before being cut off.

“Ask me what?”

All four trainers were shocked to see Justin standing in the doorway, looking appropriately confused at the exchange that was happening.

“Are you trying to be a ninja or something?” Chris asked, noting that none of them heard the door open.

“The door was left open, and I don’t feel like being eaten alive by bugs while I’m sleeping,” Justin retorted, before directing his attention towards Dylan and Abbee, noticing Rachael sitting quietly to the side. “What’s going on?”

“Silver Wing News posted an article about you this morning, and it’s far from good,” Dylan answered, handing Justin the phone. “Involves Candice as well…”

Justin took the phone, not sure what to expect, and began reading. As he scrolled down, reading what was being said, his shoulders slumped, seeing it getting far worse before it got better.

“It’s all s**t,” Chris offered. “Any idiot can see they’re just trying to get attention…”

Justin remained silent, as he finished the article, going to hand the phone to Dylan, who gestured to Rachael. Justin handed her the phone, as she cautiously accepted it, before speaking.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Rachael explained. “I only just found it, and figured you’d rather hear it from one of these guys in private than me try and tell you in the dining hall…”

“No, you’re fine,” Justin said flatly, before forcing a grin towards Rachael. “I appreciate it.”

Rachael nodded, before standing up.

“I’m going to head out, but is there anything I can do?”

Dylan initially was going to say no, however, had a thought.

“Actually there is…”

Dylan reached over to the notepad and pen from the coffee table, before writing a quick note, and signing it.

“Can you find Blake and Hannah, and show them this,” Dylan explained, handing her the note. “Tell them we’ve had something come up, and need them to find as many of the other assistants as possible and keep things running smoothly for an hour or so.”

“Guys, you don’t have to,” Justin interjected, sounding defeated. However Chris interrupted before he could continue his argument.

“What, you think we’re just gonna show you this, then walk out and have a night on the town?” Chris asked. “Let them handle things for a bit. Builds character…”

“Is that what you think about the Deoxys incident?” Abbee asked playfully. “Or the Whirl Islands incident?”

“Any bets what the next incident will be?” Chris replied.

“At this rate the Silver Wing News Arson Attack Incident...” Dylan answered, earning a laugh from Chris, and a grin from Justin, despite himself, as Rachael left with Dylan’s note.

“In all seriousness, I don’t know how you’re not angry about this…” Chris asked.

“I am… I’m furious…” Justin answered. “Mostly because they’re trying to drag Candice through the mud. It’s one thing to make me out to be a liar, or say I didn’t earn my place at Jubilife University. But the things they’re saying about her are disgusting, and if I ever meet the piece of s**t who wrote this, it would take all the self control I have not to take this out on them…”

“Then why do you seem so calm?” Chris asked. Justin shrugged, still seeming defeated by it all.

“Because what’s getting angry going to do? Seriously. I could try and get vocal online, and tell the truth. Turn a few people away from them, sure. But the fact is they would just set their sights on me more,” Justin answered. “Hell, Jon pays these groups no attention and still gets slandered by them. But could you imagine what it would be like if he retaliated?”

Dylan nodded, knowing what Justin was referring to with the slander that was posted about Jon every few months.

“So what are you going to do?” Abbee asked, gripping her own phone tightly.

“I’m sure as hell not going to roll over…” Justin answered. “I’m going to make it abundantly clear that I won’t stand for it.”

“So we’re taking the fight to them?” Chris asked.

“Not in the way you’re thinking…” Justin answered. “I’m not a lawyer, but they made a pretty big mistake slandering a legal student. Cease and desists are pretty easy to write, and I’ve got enough examples from classes that I think I could write one myself to scare them a little…”

“And if they don’t?” Chris asked, hoping that Justin would opt for the Christopher Kingswood style of taking the fight to them.

“Then next night out is on me,” Justin answered. “Because I’ll be suing, and with an average lawyer, I’d get a reasonable payout. But again, pissing off a law student. I have tutors that still practice, and are well known enough to give these p***ks a scare…”

Chris grinned at the thought of them paying Justin out for defamation.

“Why bother with the cease and desist then?” Chris asked excitedly. “Let’s just sue…”

“Why are you involving yourself in that?” Abbee asked. “Justin and Candice are the ones being slandered…”

“Because I didn’t ask for this attention. Hell, I thought I’d get a bit of media attention if it got out that Candice and I were together, even if we waited until I was eighteen to make it public,” Justin answered, his tone quieting down a little and the defeated demeanor returning. “There was a little attention from Regieleki, but that was mostly academic stuff. But the meteor, and the Deoxys incident, as well as Whirl Islands caused it all to blow up. But I didn’t ask for any of this. Hell, I don’t even want it. I’m actually worried I may not make it into the police because I’m too well known and recognizable…”

Chris went quiet at the conversation getting heavy, realizing even amidst his attempts to remain light hearted and optimistic, how much this was weighing on Justin.

“Anyway, thanks for letting me know about this. I’ll give Candice a call, then have a chat to Alyssa,” Justin continued. “I figure she might know a few things to say or do to scare these guys into pulling the story, and maybe issuing an apology of sorts…”

Justin made his way upstairs to his room, before Dylan left, firstly to let Alyssa know she may have a guest for a bit that night, and then to get back to work keeping the program running smoothly, especially with dinner nearly being over. When Dylan walked out, Chris and Abbee found themselves sitting on the couch in relative silence. In the wake of what had just happened, Abbee’s anger at Chris’ thoughtlessness had well and truly subsided. However, the concerns she raised were still there. She wanted to believe Chris when he said they’d work it out, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but wonder if they were being naive in putting stock in that line of thinking, when realistically speaking, a long term relationship between them seemed difficult at best, and impossible at worst, unless one or both of them were willing to compromise their own dreams for the sake of it.

Chris was the first to speak, seeming to read her mind.

“Are we okay Abbee?” Chris asked. “I meant what I said, about cancelling the Orre tournament, and making a point of seeing you…”

Abbee groaned internally. Ideally, she wanted some time to herself to answer the nagging question of whether or not they were setting themselves up to crash and burn by not actually figuring out, practically speaking, how their relationship would work, when their paths seemed to be branching into very different directions. Yet, Chris didn’t seem to want to put more thought into it than we’ll make it work.

Wishing she could be more honest, but knowing that given what was going on with Justin, the last thing he needed was their relationship drama downstairs, and the thing she needed most was time to figure things out, Abbee spoke.

“Yeah, we’re fine…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“I’m really sorry that this is how you’re spending your Saturday night…” Justin said to Alyssa as the pair sat at the dining table, with Justin’s laptop open in front of them. It was 8:30pm, and Alyssa, having managed to get Amelia to sleep early, had been in her pyjamas in front of the TV, about to press play on something that wasn’t aimed at two year olds for the first time in days when Dylan arrived, letting her know what had happened and that she’d have some company.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine,” Alyssa replied with a grin. “Really, the night is young, and I’ve still got plenty of time to watch movies at this rate.”

It didn’t take Justin long to draft the cease and desist letter he would be forwarding to Silver Wing News. At this point, Alyssa was looking through the article again with a fine tooth comb, finding the statements that had gone the point of implication, and were straight up slander that slipped through.

“Here. The section about how they think you got into Jubilife University,” Alyssa pointed out. “You were referenced by name in the thesis your friend wrote about Regieleki, right?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t anonymous,” Justin confirmed. “That’s partially how people started to know who I am.”

Alyssa nodded, before doing a search on her own laptop.

“And when you started there, Jubilife University decided to cash in on your publicity for some free advertising, and posted online that you were attending. I remember seeing it somewhere…” Alyssa continued, as she typed on her laptop, before finding the page she was after. “Here it is…”

As she skimmed the article, she began to grin.

“Perfect…” Alyssa muttered before turning to Justin. “Did you ever see this?”

Justin shook his head.

“Honestly, if I read every article posted about me these days, I wouldn’t have time to sleep…”

Alyssa laughed, before continuing.

“Listen to this,” Alyssa said. ”Considering his contribution to the discovery and capture of a new Legendary Pokemon, there was no question of Justin’s suitability for study at Jubilife University…”

Justin cocked his head slightly, not understanding.

“I don’t follow…” Justin said. “I mean, that’s nice and all, but…”

“The way Silver Wing News has slandered you is by stating things that are technically true, and making claims that are reasonable. It’s a dirty trick, but it makes it hard to accuse them of defamation. But whoever wrote this hasn’t done their research…” Alyssa explained. “They implied that because your marks weren’t high enough to get into the course the standard way, your relationship with Candice got you an unfair edge for getting in. But here, we have it from Jubilife University itself that your contribution to the discovery of Regieleki played a substantial part in your acceptance…”

“Which means that the implication they are making is confirmed to be misinformation…” Justin realized, as Alyssa nodded.

“Any idiot could have googled you and found this. J.U spend heaps on advertising to be the top result,” Alyssa explained. “But whoever wrote this probably didn’t read anything that was different to the sort of s**t they write, and has gone and ignored a statement from the University and written something contrary and hostile. I think that if you were to reference this fact, and demand the article be pulled and a formal apology written to both yourself and Candice, with the threat of legal action, you’d be pretty well off.”

“No apology to Jon?” Justin asked, remembering Jon was also slandered in the article, albeit as a side note. Alyssa barked out in laughter, before realizing Amelia was asleep, and cringing to herself. After looking over her shoulder to make sure she couldn’t hear the sounds of a restless two year old, she continued, this time much quieter and more controlled.

“Silver Wing News are big fans of Jon. Have been since the S.S. Wishmaker incident. I think if you pull this off, you and Candice should be safe from them for a few years. They wouldn’t risk doing something like this again and having you take legal action. The risk isn’t worth the reward,” Alyssa answered. “Jon on the other hand doesn’t care about what they write, as long as they focus on him, and not you guys, or the Academy. They’re that accustomed to writing about him at this point that if you tried to include him, they’d rather risk the lawsuit than stop.”

Justin knew that the big fans comment was sarcasm, having seen an example of the way Silver Wing News had written about him a year earlier.

“Fair enough.” Justin replied, as he made a couple of final touches, including what Alyssa had mentioned, before letting out an exasperated sigh, and closing his laptop. He leant back, staring at the ceiling.

“Not how you planned on spending your Saturday night?” Alyssa joked, causing Justin to roll his eyes and snort a little with derision.

“Hardly. Hell, I can’t even remember what I planned to do tonight before all this,” Justin answered. “I know I had plans outside of giving Candice a call, but other than that, I am stumped. This has just taken over.”

“How’s Candice taking all of this?” Alyssa asked. “They’ve made her look worse than you…”

“As well as she can,” Justin said. “She tends to be pretty high spirited and bubbly at the best of times, and thankfully she didn’t seem too down about it all. Irritated sure, but she seemed to be herself still.”

“I’m glad to hear,” Alyssa answered. “Silver Wing News are scum. We had a joke in the BattleNET offices. If we ever weren’t sure to publish a story, we’d ask would SWN publish this, and not in the way that flatters them…”

Justin laughed at the comment, before remembering something and changing the subject.

“Any word from Jon and Charlotte?”

“Jon sent a message through this afternoon when he got reception,” Alyssa answered. “Apparently they’re making good progress. Deoxys is battling under Charlotte’s command, and things are going well.”

Justin nodded, knowing Charlotte had been anxious about battling Deoxys.

“I’m glad to hear things are looking good then…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“Day two…” Jon remarked, as the pair stood on either side of the clearing that made up the Southern Island training ground. “Let’s see if yesterday was a fluke…”

The day before had been shockingly good progress in training Deoxys. At first the battles were very slow, tame and predictable, however, as time progressed, Latios ramped up his own attacks, gradually hitting harder with each battle, whilst maintaining a solid concentration on Deoxys own emotions. If Deoxys were to ever be able to battle at the same capacity as Charlotte’s other Pokemon, it needed to take hits and dish them out as hard as they did, and not see it as a threat. As such, Latios attempted to raise the bar a little at a time. Latios would incrementally get closer to his full battling strength with each new battle, causing Deoxys to do the same, and between battles, make a point of communicating with Deoxys, to make sure it understood that the attacks between the pair weren’t personal, but in the spirit of a competition. That even if Latios took a heavier hit, there were no hard feelings between the pair. However there was one other thing Latios was doing that Charlotte didn’t understand until he explained it at the end of the day, when Deoxys was put in its Pokeball to rest. Occasionally, Latios would hit a bit harder than he was normally during that battle, and a lot of the time, it seemed to come out of nowhere, and take Deoxys by surprise. Charlotte had given Jon a look after the second time, which Jon returned with his own, which seemed to say trust me. At the end of the day, they revealed that whenever Deoxys didn’t follow Charlotte’s instructions to the letter, Latios would do whatever it could to make sure Deoxys' own move would fail, and counter attack a little stronger than normal. At first, Charlotte thought they were trying to punish Deoxys for not obeying her to the letter, and objected heavily, however, they explained that they weren’t intending to punish it, instead teach it that its best option when battling, and even outside of battles, is to follow its trainers orders. When they wrapped up for the day on Saturday, Jon anticipated that Latios was battling at thirty percent of his normal capability, and hoped that Deoxys was roughly as strong as Latios, because their ideal end goal would be to have Deoxys battling with all its own strength, and be able to maintain its cool and follow Charlotte’s orders.

“You really think it could be a fluke?” Charlotte asked, having been impressed herself at the progress Deoxys had been making. Whilst she wasn’t necessarily comfortable around the Pokemon, she didn’t fear it as much as she did before their first week, and if it were to lash out violently, didn’t believe it would rampage anywhere near as much as it did the summer before.

“I’m not writing off the possibility,” Jon answered. “There’s too much at stake for us to become complacent.”

Understanding, Charlotte nodded, sending out Deoxys, as Jon sent out Latios, Deoxys well accustomed and familiar with battling the Eon Pokemon from the day before.

“You know the drill. Keep it simple and not too intense,” Jon reminded. “Give specific instructions, and give them verbally so we know what to expect.”

Jon wanting to know what to expect was less to do with being worried that Deoxys was going to hit too hard, but more for Latios to know to hit a little harder when Deoxys didn’t follow instructions.

The battle went forward largely the same as it had the day before, with both Pokemon holding back, while Deoxys got used to the stress of battling, and learnt to maintain its cool and focus. And similar to the day before, Deoxys was in Charlotte’s mind, following her instructions. However, after a few minutes, for the first time, Charlotte felt something specific from the Pokemon through their telepathic link. An image of a large orb of psychic energy, being launched from Deoxys, and a feeling of eagerness, as if Deoxys wanted to show what it could do. Whilst the battles were about teaching Deoxys to trust her and follow her orders even in a high stress situation, she also wanted Deoxys to know it was safe and valued. Not just a test subject like it was at the Space Center, and taking Deoxys suggestion could be a way to do that.

“Psycho Boost!” Charlotte commanded, naming the move in that moment, and relying on her telepathic link with Deoxys for it to understand it had the all clear to go ahead.

Remaining in its normal form, Deoxys places its palms a matter of inches apart, as a large, transparent purple orb of psychic energy, grew, and launched towards Latios. Jon grinned at this development, seeing it as good progress.

“Protect!” Jon commanded. However, for the first time in battle since he had captured Latios, Latios didn’t follow Jon’s instruction. Latios seemed to freeze on the spot, petrified by the orb of energy launching towards it. Jon shouted, realizing that something was wrong. “Latios!”

Instantly, Jon found his vision replaced, as Latios took the attack, seeing flashes of memories that Latios seemed to be reliving, triggered seeing Deoxys letting off such a powerful, and relatively unknown attack. Jon could see from Latios’ perspective, flying in the early hours of the morning towards Mossdeep Island, where in the distance, Deoxys had just used another version of Psycho Boost, in the form of the large beam it used to destroy the space center, to take down Dylan’s Dusknoir, and Charlotte’s Magmortar. The scene then changed to Latios flying at top speed, aiming for Deoxys, before shifting again to a daylight scene, as Latios attempted to cut off a trainer on a Pidgeot, who held a Pokeball. Being tailed by a Noivern, and knowing that he couldn’t stop the Pidgeot from getting away, save Jon back on the ship, and knock Noivern out, Latios slowed suddenly, causing Noivern to dart past it, before grabbing it with his own telekinetic grip.

In this vision, Jon heard his own voice. Words from the S.S. Wishmaker. The words he told Latios after the Diamond Ladies started their rampage, and he realized Alyssa could be a target.

"If any of those three girls try and lay a paw on her, kill them. Stay invisible so they can't see you and use your telekinesis. Snap their neck, compress them, tear them limb from limb…

Jon realized what was happening, and shook off the forced sight sharing from Latios, as Latios roared angrily, and Deoxys was yanked from where it floated by an invisible hand, and lifted a little higher into the air.

“Latios!” Jon yelled. “Don’t!”

Charlotte watched in horror as Latios’ angry gaze bore into Deoxys, who struggled against the vice-like grip of the enraged Eon Pokemon. After a moment of useless struggling, Deoxys shifted forms, changing into its attack form, and letting off a powerful telekinetic blast to shake off Latios’ grip, slipping out of the hold, before launching a Zap Cannon attack, however it seemed to be noticeably weaker than the summer before. The electric attack struck Latios, paralyzing it, however also seeming to shake it out of its recollection. Charlotte grabbed the Master Ball from her belt, about to call Deoxys back.

“Don’t!” Jon shouted over the chaos. “If we just return it while it's in this state, we may lose even more progress!”

Charlotte hesitated, before lowering the Master Ball, but keeping it on hand. She knew Jon wouldn’t have stopped her if he didn’t have a way to defuse this without it, however, decided the moment Latios or Deoxys seemed to be in mortal danger, she would intervene.

“Latios!” Jon called out the Pokemon, who responded with a cry. “Psycho Shift!”

Latios’ eyes glowed, as his paralysis was shifted from himself to Deoxys, crippling the Pokemon’s speed and movement temporarily.

“Power Split!”

Charlotte realized what Jon was doing. Psycho Boost must have been a powerful attack, which reduces the power of attacks after, similar to Magmortar's Overheat. Additionally, Power Split when used against Deoxys’ attack form should reduce its power when used by Latios, and the paralysis should slow down, if not prevent Deoxys from taking action.

“Momento!” Jon instructed regretfully, knowing this attack would knock Latios out, but greatly reduce Deoxys’ attack power even further.

Latios cried out, as its own energy was drained, converted into a power reducing attack, which struck Deoxys, leaving it with nearly full energy, but too physically weak to be a real danger.

Jon grabbed a black Pokeball from his belt, ready to send out the Pokemon. However, before he could, both trainers were struck by a telepathic wave of emotion. A sense of great sadness and regret, emanating from Deoxys, as it shifted form back to its normal state.

“I don’t think it wants to fight anymore…” Charlotte said, before sighing, both with relief that things didn’t get any worse, but disappointed that things went so badly…

Jon put Rayquaza’s Pokeball back on his belt, before continuing.

“I’m sorry,” Jon said. “For Latios.”

“What happened?” Charlotte asked. “Everything was going so well…”

“Latios had a flashback, and it caused him to panic…” Jon said. “It’s my fault. Considering what he has been through in the last year, between the battle with Deoxys, killing the Noivern, and being in that poachers mind as he died, he has been struggling, and a lot of the work in training Deoxys has been on him…”

Charlotte started to understand, as Jon continued.

“He saw Deoxys using that attack, and had a flashback to the night on Mossdeep when Deoxys attacked. Then to when he killed the Noivern, and I killed the poacher. Then lastly to the S.S. Wishmaker…”

“What happened there?” Charlotte asked. “In light of the last year, wasn’t the S.S. Wishmaker relatively uneventful?”

“Relatively, yes,” Jon answered. “There was a point on the S.S. Wishmaker when I thought Alyssa was in danger, and I sent Latios to protect her. I told him to kill them if they tried to hurt her. To grab them telekinetically and snap their necks…”

Charlotte’s eyes widened as she remembered Deoxys being grabbed by Latios’ iron grip, and understood how close they had been to disaster.

“During the flashback, Latios remembered that instruction word for word…” Jon explained. “It’s an order I gave at a very stressful and emotional time, and with hindsight, I now realize I really shouldn’t have given that order. That’s twice now Latios has attempted to do that…”

“I’m sure you had your reasons…” Charlotte answered. “And you both managed to calm everything down well…”

Jon nodded, though still feeling the weight of a decision from three years earlier.

“I’ll be spending a lot more time with Latios, and looking into counselling for him,” Jon said, before sighing. “I’m not used to this, you know? I’ve never seen a problem my Pokemon has, and felt like I am not the best person to fix it. But this…”

“Latios has been through a lot…” Charlotte replied. “S**t, we all have…:

Before they could reply, there was a sound neither of them had heard before. An unfamiliar Pokemon cry. They looked towards Deoxys, having not heard a sound from the Pokemon since they captured it, with the pair of them and Latios relying on telepathic communication.

Charlotte looked at Jon, noticing his look of shock.

“What is it?” Charlotte asked, starting to worry…

“Deoxys… apologized…” Jon said, shocked. “I’m sorry…”