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

[[Desolate Divine]]

Spiritwater Episode 5: Warnings

Spoiler:

The calendar on the wall of Section B of Heahea City Hospital read June 30th, 2021, five days since the S.S. Wishmaker’s shock arrival, and the carnage of the Spiritwater Festival’s opening ceremony. Whilst the attackers of the Spiritwater Festival had dispersed, and the city was at relative peace that evening, the next day it began again, although in a different manner.

With no large-scale events taking place, and the Spiritwater Festival event itself cancelled, given the ongoing threat of attack, Agatha’s followers had opted for smaller, quicker, and more widespread attacks, all over the city. Whilst there was a ten minute block of time in a crowded area of pure chaos at the festival, instead, over the course of the day, there were a dozen smaller attacks in public places, which had continued every day since.

Seeing the devastation the Shadowcraft was causing, Triad had arranged with Cynthia, who was overseeing the defensive half of the operation, to take control of a section of the hospital, using it as a base of operations to treat those, civilian and operative alike, who had been harmed by the terror attacks that continued throughout the city. Whilst they couldn’t advertise the fact that they were operating out of there, there was little they could do to keep it hidden from Agatha indefinitely.

Operatives in the streets would arrange for anyone needing treatment that they came across to be taken to Section B, though would not disclose where they were being taken. It was not sustainable, in terms of the secrecy, but right now it was the best they could do.

The bulk of the operatives on the mission had been reassigned to patrolling the streets, and trying to capture any witches during an attack, and intervene when they occurred. Jon however, had gotten Steven’s permission to have his squad go at a slightly different angle.

Jon and Steven both agreed that Agatha was up to something big. Between what Triad believed would be required for the clouds to have temporarily enclosed the island completely the way they did, and the sheer amount of attackers present during the opening ceremony, they believed Agatha to have roughly a hundred followers on Akala Island, to their sixty or so operatives. And what they believed Agatha to be doing, was causing as much trouble in Heahea City as possible to spread the operatives there investigating her too thin to mount any real investigation and subsequent assault. By continuing to attack civilians, operatives would be tied up helping them get treatment, fighting off their attackers, and trying to capture them. Meanwhile, Agatha could work towards her real goals, without worrying about being found, and an amassed force arriving at her doorstep.

As such, even if it meant less civilians would be saved, Eon Squad had been given permission to try and take a pre-emptive approach. Instead of being tied up trying to fight off witches, and get help for those who had been attacked, they would try and figure out where they were planning on striking next, and attempt to catch them unaware, or even follow them and try and figure out where their base of operations is.

Jon himself however, would draw attention. Whilst Dylan and Abbee weren’t as well known in Alola, given how remote it was, Jon had arrived on the S.S. Wishmaker, the site of his rise to fame, and had been doing media appearances since. Knowing he couldn’t be taking on the same task as his Squad, he instead worked directly with Triad. When there was a curse placed on a surface, that could be dispelled with pre-enchanted reagents, or even basic materials, that required no Shadowcraft to take effect, Jon would go and dispel them himself, leaving Triad available at the hospital to treat those who came in, and gave them one less reason to potentially reveal themselves in the streets.

“That’s twenty-seven today already,” Cassandra said with a yawn, before collapsing into the padded armchair of the ward they were working in. “Honestly, do they not sleep?”

Heahea Police Department, in addition to numerous operatives, had swept the city, and believed that Agatha and her followers were not staying in the city grid. This meant they had to be outside the city limits, and likely travelling for an hour each way to perform each of these attacks. Whilst the ward was empty now, it had only been emptied for the first time since the Spiritwater Festival the day before, with Cassandra, Violet and Jarena working twenty hours at a time on staggered shifts to try and treat people and send them out of the hospital faster than they were being brought in. However, since it had been empty for the first time, there had been eight separate attacks, and they had only emptied the victims of the last three with patient number twenty seven, that day.

It was a little after noon, the trio surviving on an unhealthy amount of caffeine, and energy dense food.

“They sleep,” Violet answered, irritated that their opponents were getting that and they weren’t. “They have enough that they can sleep for eight hours at a time, and still have over sixty people ready to come here and cause problems…”

In the ward were Triad, and Operative Sami Culver, who was one of the operatives that they had turned into a Pokemon during the Diamond Ladies investigation four years earlier, and was later assigned to escort them for the rest of the cruise. Sami being assigned to Section B served a double purpose. Firstly, she knew the Diamond Ladies personally and they trusted her more than a stranger to keep their identities safe. They wouldn’t have to use their alias’ as strictly with her being assigned. Secondly, Sami could understand the language of Pokemon, having been a Pokemon on the S.S. Wishmaker, so any victims of Agatha and her followers who had been turned into Pokemon could communicate with her, without Triad giving away they had the ability as well. Granted, old habits die hard, and Jarena had nearly responded to a Pokemon directly, and blown their cover.

The four operatives turned at the sound of the door opening, Violet having removed the surgical mask for a moment that acted more as a disguise than anything else, realising she probably shouldn’t have, however they breathed a slight sigh of relief, when it was Cynthia who entered.

“Expecting someone else?” Cynthia asked, though Sami was quick to answer.

“Considering the last five days, we expected another patient…” Sami answered. “You’re a more than pleasant surprise…”

“Noted. I’ll make a point of visiting more often to keep morale up,” Cynthia answered, before turning to Triad. “How are you three holding up?”

“We’re fine,” Cassandra answered, though not telling the truth. They were all exhausted, and to illustrate that point, a deep, fatigued yawn escaped her. She was exhausted, as were Violet and Jarena, having slept a total of twenty hours since the opening ceremony.

Cynthia looked at her, a worried expression on her face, before sighing.

“I appreciate everything you’re doing here, really and wish we could give you a break…” Cynthia said. “But our only other Shadowcraft users are needed in the field to help with dispelling any traps they find…”

“We know,” Violet answered quickly. “It’s not your fault. But it is just the way things are right now…”

Seeing that Triad wanted the subject changed, Sami looked over her clipboard, quickly double checking numbers.

“We’ve got a fairly even mix of everything,” Sami noted. “No obvious patterns, except that all are just plain messy. That cursed swimming pool is nightmare fuel…”

The Tide Song Hotel, despite most guests having fled, had its swimming pool cursed. Any who made contact with it began to have their flesh uncontrollably absorb water, to the point where it at first stretched, which was painful enough, before splitting in places if people didn’t get clear of it in time. The stench of chlorine and blood was sickening.

“Has the pool itself been handled?” Cynthia asked, having read a report of it. It was the worst attack since the attack on the opening ceremony.

“Jon went out a few hours ago to try and dispel it,” Violet explained. “I gave him a reagent, however part of the curse removal is salt, and for a cursed pool that size, he will need a lot of it before the reagent will activate…”

“Well he hasn’t called Steven asking to send through a tonne of salt, so he must have found some,” Cynthia answered.

“Or fallen in,” Jarena muttered, not out of any ill will to Jon, but simple exhaustion and frustration at the entire situation, manifesting in the form of tactless cynicism.

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

Jon fought the urge to pull over on the side of the road and remove his kevlar riding jacket, to alleviate the heat under it from the summer sun. However he knew that was too risky. He hadn’t ridden a motorbike in seven or eight years, when he sold his own one, both because it worried Alyssa, and because he needed funds for a wedding. Given how long it had been since he had ridden, and how much more powerful the bike he was riding now was, he knew removing the jacket would be riskier than it would have been seven years earlier.

The bike itself was technically owned by the League. After Jon realised he was going to be travelling around the city to help with removing traps, whilst Eon Squad attempted to find leads on Agatha, he quickly dismissed the idea of riding on Latios. It drew too much attention. Instead, he looked into how much of the mission budget had been allocated to his squad, and sent Ford in to purchase the bike, as well as the gear that Jon needed to go with it. He figured, given the amount of risk he was taking by taking on the operation, the risk of riding a motorbike seemed negligible in comparison. However, Jon also knew that the league would compensate him after the mission, and he could quite easily convince them to let him keep the bike as compensation…

He had left the hospital that morning after hearing about the cursed swimming pool at the Tide Song Hotel, Violet giving him the pre-enchanted reagent that would activate when enough salt was put in the pool. What Jon hadn’t realised however, was how much salt it would require. The pool was a salt water pool, and had the salt on hand, however by the time the water was salty enough to trigger the reagent and remove the curse, he had used approximately ten years worth of salt to do so. His back ached by the end, and he had made his way back, stopping the motorbike out the front of the hospital, before entering through the front door. Whilst the first day or two, reception needed to see his League ID before they’d let him in, now they knew he was involved with Section B, the section of the hospital that had been commandeered and repurposed by the League, and nobody stopped him.

When he entered Section B, he was pleasantly surprised to see it empty of patients. He noticed a look of concern cross the faces of the five women present as he entered, only to be replaced with a sigh of relief when they realised it wasn’t another patient.

“Hello to you too,” Jon said jokingly, before finding an empty armchair next to Cassandra, and collapsing into that. “Swimming pool is handled. My back on the other hand…”

Cassandra let out a quick laugh, before realising just how tired she was.

“Lots of salt?” Violet asked, giving him a knowing look.

“You conveniently forgot to mention that the amount of salt needed would be in the tonnes…”

“Hey, I said it would be a lot…” Violet replied. “You can’t handle heavy lifts any more, old man?”

“Careful,” Cynthia said, though in good humour, being two or three years older than Jon herself…

“Any leads?” Jarena asked Jon, knowing Eon Squad were focusing on finding them. Jon shook his head.

“We’ve started expanding our places of interest to outside the city,” Jon explained. “We figure that people will flee if it gets any worse, which will draw the attacks to outside. Mostly checking the highways, but also some high interest places outside of the city, where the braver people may still visit…”

“I can’t figure out why they’re doing this,” Sami muttered, unintentionally getting the attention of those there.

“Because they are sick minded and power tripping?” Violet said, though was surprised when Jon shook his head.

“Steven and I have an idea, and we don’t think that’s it,” Jon answered. “Or all of it at least…”

“What do you think their endgame is?” Violet asked, curious, though Jon shook his head again.

“No clue, but I think they’re doing this just to spread our resources thin,” Jon explained. “We think they have something big planned, and are trying to keep us from catching on or being able to do anything to stop it by keeping us busy inside and close to the city…”

Cynthia nodded in agreement.

“Bad part is, it seems to be working…”

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

Brianna stood on the northern edge of Memorial Hill, watching closely. A simple charm had enhanced her vision, allowing her to see things far away, as if she were looking through a set of binoculars. In the distance, standing in front of a grave, she could see a tall young man, well built, with shaggy, medium length brown hair. Had she seen him before the festival, she wouldn’t have recognised him, however she had been doing her research over the last few days.

Like most, Brianna knew who Jon Drake was. Especially given his role in the operation to catch out the Diamond Ladies, who were the first truly publicly exposed Shadowcraft wielders, Brianna had known who Jon Drake was, and given the publicity of him being on the S.S. Wishmaker, and his Latios stopping it from wrecking, she had known he was on the island.

The reason she learnt who Dylan was however, was due to Abbee. She had seen traces of the void surrounding Abbee when she spotted her during the opening ceremony. Enough to show she was under the effect of Shadowcraft, but not enough to indicate she was currently affected by a spell, or using it herself. She realised a little later Abbee had likely been turned into a Pokemon, and as such, retained the ability to understand them. It was an accident that Brianna discovered Abbee’s identity. She had been looking into what public information was available about people who were turned into Pokemon, and given Jon’s involvement in the initial investigation being made very public by himself, had wound up on a tangent, researching Jon, and from there, finding the videos of he and his students battling against the College of the North Wind the summer before. From there, she realised who Abbee was, and guessed that the tall person wearing the Bewear costume was Dylan Squier.

Jon and his interns weren’t the only subject Brianna had been researching though. Her unknowing set of eyes in Agatha’s operation had proven somewhat useful. Though the person struck with the curse that allowed her to see through his eyes was a lower rank member of her coven, and wasn’t privy to more sensitive information, such as what they were actually doing, she had learned a few important things. Firstly, where exactly they were based, and was thankful that it was obvious enough that she really shouldn’t have needed this to find out. If the League were smart about it, they should be able to track them down, and a drawn out war suited Brianna well. The second thing was sheer irony.

That morning, a cretin of a man by the name of Nicodemus had given orders to those heading into Heahea City, teaching them of the Koxein Curse. The curse, which would allow the caster to see through the eyes of the victim, which Brianna was using at that moment to hear their plans. Additionally, Nicodemus had taught them another spell. A modification that allowed them to effectively meld two curses into one. This had surprised Brianna a little. In her own years, she had amassed wealth using Shadowcraft, and unlike the Diamond Ladies hadn’t been caught. With this, she was able to access practically every tome that she knew existed, however had only learned this modification herself from peering into the void. Nicodemus however didn’t strike her as the sort who would be able to do that. He seemed impulsive, and greedy, and those two traits usually led to someone looking too deep, and being absorbed by it.

As ironic as this was, this did concern Brianna. Firstly, because this plan of Agatha and her followers had the potential to win this war for them. If they could get eyes inside the League’s operation, they would have no trouble wiping them out, and Brianna didn’t want either side winning the war before she could achieve her own goals. However, it also indicated that Agatha, like herself, was well versed in peering into the void, and was likely a significant cut above most Shadowcraft users. Potentially even Brianna herself.

This was why she had tailed Dylan and Abbee out to Memorial Hill. Currently, the balance was in Agatha’s favour, and she intended to equalise it just a little…

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

Dylan stood by one of the graves on Memorial Hill, pretending to be a visitor, leaving some flowers by the grave he stood in front of, desperately hoping that nobody who actually knew the deceased would show up. There were a small handful of people visiting various graves as well, and out of the corner of his eye he tried to watch what others were doing. Meanwhile, he knew he had eyes on him, as Abbee, in the form of a Decidueye that she had taken to quite well, was perched in a nearby tree, watching over the people who entered.

Whilst Jon had listed places for the rest of his squad to investigate, Dylan was surprised when Jon told him to figure out on his own where to stake out. Having taken a day or so to think it over, Dylan decided to watch here. His reason being that not everybody who had been hexed was a tourist, and whilst Dylan knew some got caught out in tourist hotspots, such as the lifeguard at the pool that morning, some were being struck who had no reason to be near tourists. Dylan began thinking about places lots of the locals would visit, and this came to mind. He had hoped his theory was wrong, as it was disgusting to curse someone as they mourn loved ones, but he had to be sure.

It had been three hours since Dylan arrived, however the sun was starting to lower in the sky and he would need time to travel if he wanted to make it back to Heahea City on foot by sunset.

He coughed violently, giving the signal to Abbee that they were leaving, before noticing a young woman with silver, ash blonde hair leaving the rotunda nearby, that contained information about Memorial Hill, and a clipboard on a small fold-up table.

Making his way towards it, Dylan had a look at the piece of laminated paper next to the clipboard.

'Save our burial site.

For generations the locals of Akala Island have buried their loved ones on Memorial Hill. It is the one thing that unites us, as no matter how rich or poor a person is, if they were born on Alkala, they will be buried here. Heahea City Council are currently discussing using the site as the location for a Pokemon Research Centre, and have used loopholes in protocol to keep this hidden from the public, it only being made known by someone in council leaking the documents proposing it. Please sign to show your support of leaving Memorial Hill as is.'

Reading this, Dylan went to grab the pen, before pulling his hand away, just missing being hit by a spectral quill, as Abbee the Decidueye landed on the ground next to him. Realising what was going on, Dylan slowly placed his hand near the clipboard. As he inched closer, a purple symbol began to glow to life, though he didn't touch it and activate the hex, whatever it is. One thing he did notice however was a name on the clipboard in fresh ink. The name of the woman who left before him. Possibly an alias, but even then it's a start.

Brianna Levine.

Dylan quickly pulled out his phone, calling Jon.

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

Cynthia had left, and those in the hospital, Triad, Sami and Jon had enjoyed the moment of respite, as Jarena, who had taken the first shift of sleeping the evening prior, had even managed to fall asleep in one of the cushioned arm chairs. However, Jon knew it was over when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He groaned for a moment, before pulling it out, and seeing Dylan’s name on the screen.

Jon answered the phone and was greeted by Dylan’s voice on the other end of the line, bypassing pleasantries, and delivering his report straight away.

”We found something…” Dylan explained. ”A curse that has just been placed at Memorial Hill. Hasn’t been triggered yet, and I even caught sight of the person who left it, before she disappeared…”

Jon’s eyes widened. This was a first. During the day after the attack on the opening ceremony, all operatives in the field had attempted to find curses before they triggered, however had no success. As such, some of the curses that had effects that weren’t overly specific, had been difficult to treat when they had been triggered, Triad, having to at times make educated guesses which of the four curses that they knew was capable of it, was causing the patient to have a dangerously high fever. With the exception of oddities like the cursed swimming pool, most of the curses would disappear from the surface they had been placed on after being trapped. It wasn’t much, but getting one of Triad’s members to see this curse, while it is still active, could potentially give them some insight as to the sort of Shadowcraft that Agatha and her followers were using.

“I’ll come straight away,” Jon said to Dylan. “And will try to bring an expert…”

”We also have a name, though it likely is an alias,” Dylan added. ”Brianna Levine.”

“Aliases tend to have a link to real names, and those that are completely unrelated, tend to be repeated, so that they aren’t forgotten or mixed up. We can work with it,” Jon replied. “I’ll be there soon. Stay safe.”

Jon hung up before looking to those in Section B.

"Dylan and Abbee found a curse that only just got placed," Jon asked. "Can one of you be spared to come help me figure out what it is and how to get rid of it?"

Cassandra looked to where Jarena snoozed on the armchair. Knowing their luck, within the hour, someone would be brought in, and Cassandra figured Jarena might as well make the most of the brief window of sleep she had found.

“I’ll come,” Cassandra offered. “Violet, you hold down the fort here. If people come in and you can treat them on your own, do it, but wake Jarena up if you need the help. When I get back, if we have a quiet moment, you can have the next nap…”

Violet nodded in acknowledgement, desperately hoping that there could be a moment for her to nap that afternoon, but knowing not to hold her breath.

Cassandra left to get changed into her street clothes, which consisted of a pair of cargo pants, and a graphic tee. She was about to don a hoodie, but Jon stopped her, handing her the spare motorbike jacket he kept in the storage compartment on the back of the bike.

They left the hospital, Jon firing up the motorbike, before towing the fine line of not dawdling to get there, but not taking too high a risk in his speed, considering Cassandra didn’t have proper riding pants, and would get torn to shreds from the waist down if he crashed. As they rode, Jon silently prayed that this lead would be enough to get them ahead. After the last five days, they needed a win…

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

Jimmy collected his sandwich from the lone vendor who was brave enough to keep his food cart open on Main Street, given the events of the last few days. When Jimmy had asked, whilst placing his order, the vendor had answered simply that he has no competition, and people still need to eat. Akala Island was filled with tourists from the S.S. Wishmaker, some brave enough to leave their hotels, and if he was the only vendor open, he was guaranteed to rake in the profits. When Jimmy had asked him what his plan was for if he was attacked, he simply responded with ’run like hell’...

Regardless, Jimmy wasn’t going to complain. It was two in the afternoon and he was starving. He had been so close to a breakthrough on the project he had been working on with Jirachi, and hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before. He had only just crossed the threshold of the project becoming viable half an hour earlier, and decided to finish that for the day.

Despite Jirachi’s wish-granting ability being the only thing other than Shadowcraft itself that was capable of removing hexes, Jimmy’s orders from Steven and Cynthia had been to continue working on this project. Jirachi was key to it coming to fruition, and they needed it completed soon.

The project itself was a pocket dimension, outside of space itself, that Jirachi had been able to create. While Jimmy had considered keeping it outside of time, he knew it would be risky. He could spend months there at a time, and return as if no time had passed. It would cause him to, relatively speaking, age prematurely, as his body would continue to age, even though it would be as if no time passed during his stints in this dimension. It could also have unforeseeable effects on his mental state, knowing that time wasn’t passing whilst he was there. As such, they took the safer route, keeping it under the effects of the passage of time.

What Jimmy, Steven and Cynthia saw in the pocket dimension however, was a potential headquarters, only accessible by those Jirachi allowed. And whilst none of the current squad headquarters, nor Section B had been compromised, Steven and Cynthia knew that relying on that for a drawn out fight would be foolish. As such, Jimmy had spent days with Jirachi, attempting to smooth out some rough edges of the future HQ, until only one major hurdle remained. The Wayfinder.

Whilst Jirachi could teleport itself to what Jimmy had codenamed Wishmaker HQ, and could teleport others to itself, it couldn’t teleport others to Wishmaker HQ if it wasn’t there itself. As such, Jimmy and Jirachi had been working desperately to create what they dubbed The Wayfinder. Effectively, a stone in the centre of Wishmaker HQ, that would act as a beacon, for Jirachi, directly, or via the stones such as the one around Jimmy’s neck, to teleport people to, whilst remaining outside of Wishmaker HQ itself. And after days of trying, they finally managed to get it to work.

As such, Wishmaker HQ was almost ready. There was accommodation there for a dozen people, however Jirachi would have no problem extending it for more. He had informed Steven Wishmaker HQ was practically ready for people, however Steven had told Jimmy to spend a day or two there by himself. Steven’s thinking was that if there was something missing that was vital for people staying there, Jimmy would realise, living there himself, and adjust it, and didn’t want to risk moving squads in, only to have them find that in trying to make the Wayfinder work, they had forgotten to create access to water, when Jimmy and Jirachi weren’t there to fix it, or something along those lines.

As Jimmy ate, sitting on a bench on the footpath, he tore off a piece of bread, offering it to Pikachu, who gratefully accepted the snack, and began to dig in. Though the Wayfinder was working, the last few days of work had exhausted Jirachi, who was catching up on sleep back at Wishmaker HQ. It seemed oddly quiet without Jirachi’s observations and commentary about what was happening around Jimmy.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of a loud engine pulling up, and Jimmy looked towards the intersection, where waiting by a red light, sat two people on a motorcycle, the engine idling loudly. Both wore riding jackets, and helmets, with eyes just visible through the visors, but despite that, there was a sense of familiarity for Jimmy. Though slightly in their build, the familiarity was mostly in mannerisms. He could hear the odd muffled conversation between the pair, however both remained looking forward, focused on the road ahead.

The light went green, and without hesitation, the engine roared to life, as the motorcycle and the two riding it launched forward, reaching the speed limit, and a few kilometres per hour over it, before the sound of the bike as a dwindling hum.

It was only after that Jimmy realised what was so familiar. The way the rider had stared intently reminded Jimmy of Jon. Jimmy remembered when he first met Jon as Cuddles the Pachirisu, having earned the nickname from being found by Alyssa, and because he was just so cute, being hugged tightly against her chest. He remembered Jon staring intently at him, which at the time, had seemed like it went on forever, before asking if he and Avery the Buizel were really Pokemon.

As Jimmy remembered this, it triggered the memory of when Cassandra, along with Violet and Jarena had changed him back into his human form. The look of concentration she held, and the somewhat anxious stiffness she carried with her as she tried to figure out exactly what she needed to do.

“I think that was Cass and Jon,” Jimmy said quietly to Pikachu, who looked up from his bread, before turning and looking over the side of the bench to where the motorbike, now out of sight, had gone. Pikachu spoke, Jimmy understanding from being Cuddles the Pachirisu.

“Do you think something’s wrong?” Pikachu had asked.

“I’m not sure,” Jimmy answered, quiet as to not have people think he were crazy, if they saw him having a full-blown conversation with his Pikachu. “Triad are working in the hospital at the moment, and Jon has his own squad he could send to do grunt work. I figure if both of them are going somewhere, it must be important…”

His mind made up, Jimmy finished the last bite of his sandwich, before beckoning Pikachu onto his shoulder. Removing a Pokeball, he called out his Salamence, before climbing onto its back. Whilst the motorbike was out of sight already and had a head start, Salamence was no slouch once it got moving, and from the air, it wouldn’t be too difficult to spot the motorbike.

“We’re heading south Salamence,” Jimmy explained. “Let’s get going, and I’ll explain on the way.”

The Pokemon roared in approval, to the shock of passers by who weren’t used to large Dragon Type Pokemon appearing in the streets, before beating its wings and taking off…

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

Avery glanced between Meir the Raichu, who guarded a hole in the wall, and Abital, who lay on a makeshift bed of cushions, having not moved now for hours. He was pale, as the fever continued to rage through his body. Avery held Abital’s hand, now past the point of shock of how warm it was.

The pair had gotten back to their hotel after the Spiritwater Festival. Abital had taken medication that evening, and between that, rest, and his stomach now being completely empty, the nausea had stopped by the time the pair had gone to sleep. However, the next morning, things changed. At first, it was a mild headache, which Abital took some painkillers for.

The pair had planned to hide out in their hotel, knowing that they were trapped on the island, and that there was no better option to remain safe. By the time they decided to go get breakfast in the hotel’s dining room, there had been three separate Shadowcraft attacks in the streets of Heahea City, and whilst they could attempt to leave the city, and get off the grid until it was safe, they would run the risk of being caught in the open, and being the only targets to focus on.

The pair had gone down to the dining room the morning after to have a quick breakfast, having not planned to need supplies they'd left in their room before returning, however, disaster struck. Abital went downhill, his headache being joined by dizzy spells at the breakfast table, as his temperature soared into a fever. Avery had attempted to help him to his feet, when they heard the first screams.

The half full dining room went into a panic as four intruders entered, and the table closest to the door was struck by a curse that caused them to convulse. Avery had planned with Abital, to try and have their Pokemon fight back the intruders, creating a gap for the pair to make a dash for the elevator, however before they could act, dozens of ghost Pokemon materialised through the walls. They had realised they were severely outnumbered, and knew their only option was to run.

Avery, half carrying Abital, who was growing worse by the second, fled the hotel, trying to recall where they had heard had been attacked, and remembering that the Surf Lifesaving Clubhouse had been attacked that morning, and in the interest of safety, had been closed, leaving the beaches, which were empty due to the current circumstances anyway, without lifeguards.

Figuring they were less likely to attack the same place twice, especially if it looked empty and abandoned, Avery had set that as their destination. They had been there for nearly four days, with Abital following the same pattern with his nausea. He’d seem to get better, when out of nowhere, it would strike again, but each time, getting progressively worse. The first two days, Avery had attempted to contact emergency services, however the lines were full, and had not been able to get through to an operator. They had even tried calling Jon, figuring at this point that he may be part of the League’s response, however, after reaching voicemail for the fourth time, Avery remembered part of their last mission involved them being given burner phones to use for the duration of the operation, that were secure and untraceable, and figured Jon probably didn’t have his own phone with him, but the League issued one, which they didn’t have the number for. As irritating as this was, it confirmed their suspicion that Jon was involved with the League.

As such, since yesterday, the plan had changed from get help to Abital to get Abital to help.

Avery was pulled from their thoughts by Meir, who continued to guard the hole in the wall, crying out to get their attention.

“Avery! Over here!”

Avery looked over to see Meir step aside, to allow Gloria, Avery’s Shaymin, to crawl through the hole, before shaking off the powdery debris from the plasterboard that had scraped across her back. She then hurried towards Avery, eager to share the results of her search.

“There is a doctor’s office still open about three blocks north of here…” Gloria explained. “But there is a hospital six blocks east, and people are going in there with all sorts of things wrong with them and-”

Gloria, being small, and despite being a mythical Pokemon, not overly conspicuous, had departed that morning, attempting to avoid running into any groups of travelling witches, and trying to find somewhere that Abital could get treatment, at least to ease the fever, until Avery could reach out to the League and see if they had anybody who could perform Shadowcraft to heal Abital, or if Jimmy Kendo and Jirachi were on the island and could potentially do it.

“The doctor’s office,” Avery decided then and there. “It’s closer, and though there’s likely nothing either can do that will fix this, we just need to buy some time until we can find out how to remove this curse. And chances are, with everyone going to the hospital, the doctor's office would likely have less people in line…”

To Avery’s surprise however, Gloria shook her head.

“I saw Jon on his way to the hospital before I left, and people were actually leaving, looking okay…” Gloria explained, having watched it for hours. Avery realised instantly the implication of what Gloria had said.

“You think it’s a League base?” Avery asked. Gloria shrugged.

“If nothing else, they know how to treat people who were cursed. I don’t know if Jimmy and Jirachi are there, or they have people who know Shadowcraft, or are just using stronger stuff than we have,” Gloria explained. “But Jon went there, not looking sick at all, which likely means he either is involved in it, or there could be someone there who knows how to reach him…”

Avery thought over it for a moment. Whilst it was twice as far as the doctor’s office, there was a chance Abital could be healed fully, instead of having symptoms eased until Avery figured out something else. They looked at Abital, who, whilst conscious, seemed distant. Their mind was made up.

“We go for the hospital,” Avery said, Gloria and Meir nodding in agreement.

Abital stirred slightly, at the change in Avery’s tone, whilst Avery readied Daybreak’s Pokeball, calling out the Rapidash, and quickly quieting him as to not give away their position to anybody outside the building. The building had been left alone by witches, only being disturbed by the odd ghost Pokemon, given the fact it had clearly been abandoned after it was attacked earlier that week, and if this plan didn’t work, they may need to use it again.

“Are we going somewhere?” Abital signed, though difficult to understand as his hands shook, as Avery gripped Abital around the waist, and began to hoist him up onto Daybreak’s back.

“We’re going to get you to a hospital. Gloria says people are being treated for this sort of stuff there,” Avery said, before kissing him on the forehead. “We are gonna make a break for it though, so hold on to Daybreak, and don’t let go…”

Abital gave an okay gesture, before resting his head on Daybreak’s neck, and wrapping his arms around it to hold on. As he did, Avery gave Daybreak a look, which the Pokemon understood to mean protect Abital at all costs. However, Avery said three words to the Pokemon, that they had heard Jon say to Latios, when he was instructed to make the most of the opportunity granted by Jarena and Violet turning each other into Pokemon to grab their belongings.

”No half measures…”

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

Luneth couldn’t shake the anxious feeling, as she walked through the streets, which whilst not empty, were nowhere near as full as they should have been. The subject of her anxiety was Glimmer.

Despite the pair enlisting as a team, Steven had requested they split up in the aftermath of the attack on the opening ceremony, and their targets switching tactics from large scale terror attacks, to frequent and random smaller attacks. Whilst Luneth had been against it, Steven had told them that Triad, the Shadowcraft Team the League had recruited were working twenty hour shifts in the hospital to treat those who were attacked, and not every person who needs treatment will be able to make it to the hospital in time. Whilst Luneth and Glimmer would have preferred to stay together, having them roaming half the city each, both as operatives who are more likely to spot a curse before it gets triggered, and operatives capable of treating people who cannot wait to get to the hospital, would potentially save twice as many people.

Having heard it put that way, Glimmer had been the first to make up her mind and agree to split up, Luneth agreeing after, albeit reluctantly. The carnage of the opening ceremony had rattled her, and despite the fact that operatives were posted all around the city, some in viewing distance from where she was currently, she still would have preferred to have Glimmer with her instead.

She considered calling Glimmer, to put her mind at ease, but quickly dismissed the idea. It could distract her, and if Glimmer were in a difficult situation, that could be the difference between Glimmer making it out on top or not.

Luneth was pulled from her thoughts by the low hum of Hestia, her Volcarona, calling out as she flew behind Luneth. Pokemon following their trainers was always a common sight in the streets of Heahea City, however now for different reasons. If witches weren’t bad enough, Ghost Pokemon lurked, attacking people who weren’t prepared to fight back. Luneth had been attacked twice in the last two days, Hestia having dispatched them. Despite not making it past her first match in the first High Seas Tournament, Luneth was a beyond competent battler, likely not making it further due to Cassandra’s cheating during her first three battles in the tournament.

At first, Luneth thought the hum was a warning of a ghost, and looked around, trying to spot it, however instead realised that Hestia was looking intently towards a man who stumbled all over the footpath, and sometimes even staggered into the street, causing cars to veer to miss him. Her eyes widened when she saw a form begin to materialise out of the ground in front of the man, which she soon recognised to be a Gengar.

“Hestia, Flamethrower!” Luneth commanded. Hestia cried out with its usual hum, before launching a dense jet of flame, intentionally missing the side of Gengar’s head by millimetres and scorching the ground in front of it. Whilst Luneth and Hestia had no qualms about knocking these Pokemon out, they figured that an intentional show of precision such as that would send a message more than a single direct hit, and could prevent a fight. Gengar turned, glaring at them, before sinking into the ground, as they approached the man.

He wore an Ecruteak-style Pikachu themed kimono and mask, and had Luneth seen him a year ago, she’d have simply thought he was one of the people Mayor Kelekolio had warned about displays of public drunkenness during his speech in the opening ceremony. Now however, she knew that wasn’t the case.

The problem was that despite it being obvious this man was under the influence of Shadowcraft, Luneth didn’t know what exactly. Nobody had been wearing their festival outfits since the disaster that was the opening ceremony, and Luneth realised this man had likely been under this effect for days.

Luneth knew some basic curse removal spells, however they were specialised to specific curses, which this man seemed to fit none of. The only general curse removal she knew was a Nox Purge, however the stronger the curse, the more it would drain her own energy, and without Glimmer here to assist, to try on this man, not knowing anything about the curse he was affected by would be foolish. The hospital was his best bet. However, Luneth was shorter than average, and this man was tall, and could hardly be described as lean. At first she considered beckoning him to follow her, as he didn’t seem to have any clear destination in mind, and looked like he could be convinced, however dismissed that idea. It would take too long, and leave her too vulnerable. Instead, she grabbed a Pokeball.

“Go, Circuit!”

There was a flash of light, as the masked Silvally appeared, waiting for instructions. Luneth looked towards the stumbling, masked man.

“Circuit, can you carry this man to the hospital?” Luneth asked. The Silvally grunted in the affirmative, before crouching, the large Pokemon standing at over seven and a half feet tall normally. Struggling, Luneth grabbed the man by the forearm, and led him towards Circuit. With much struggle, she hoisted the man onto Circuit’s back, although once most of his weight was on Circuit, Circuit shifted position to help transfer the rest of it.

“So far, so good…” Luneth said to herself, forcing a grin at the large Pokemon in front of her. However, the sense of victory was short lived, as the man tipped forward, his head resting on Circuit’s back.

The moment his mask made contact, Circuit seized up, before crying out in pain, and beginning to buck wildly. The man was thrown off, being grabbed by Hestia’s small arms, which slowed him down enough that the fall was just a not so gentle bump.

“Circuit!” Luneth cried out, shocked, as the Silvally flailed, losing all sense in the moment. Realising she was not making headway in calming the Pokemon, and her attention being on Circuit was making her vulnerable to attack, she quickly called the Pokemon back to its Pokeball.

Hestia cried out, and Luneth, having spent plenty of time in the form of an Alolan Vulpix, understood.

“The mask…”

Luneth looked at the Pikachu mask on the man and realised that Hestia was right. As soon as the mask made contact with Circuit, he went into a frenzy. Luneth had an idea about the mask, but in her knowledge of Shadowcraft, it seemed impossible.

“The mask has two curses applied to it,” Luneth said, though largely to herself to process the idea. “The first affects whoever wears it, which is what we saw on this guy. The second though, affects anyone else who tries to touch it…”

The mask seemed like an anomaly because it was a common rule of Shadowcraft that only one curse be placed on a given object at once. Trying to place a second was all but forbidden because it never worked as intended. If one tried to place two curses on the same object, they would mix, and the effect would resemble neither curse. However the effects of this mask seemed too correct and intentional. Which means somebody has found a way to place them simultaneously. However, even more concerning was the fact this mask was familiar.

That morning, she had seen a stall selling them despite the danger of being out in the streets, and had wondered how the stallholder was able to be out in the open without risking attack. Now she knew…

Luneth called out Roseli, her Scolipede, before quickly explaining the situation. She hoisted the man onto the tall Bug Pokemon’s back, holding him in place as she climbed on so he didn’t fall forward and touch Roseli with the mask. Once the pair were moving, she held the man in place with one hand, before getting out her League issued phone, and calling Cynthia, knowing she was the co-head of the mission, who specialised in the defensive side of it.

“This is Inari,” Luneth said, making a point of using her callsign, something she had forgotten once or twice over the last few days. “I’ve found something extremely weird, and am bringing it to the hospital. It’s a cursed mask, however, it is more dangerous than most of the curses we’ve seen so far…”

On the other end of the line, Cynthia sighed, not out of any ill-will towards Luneth, but simple exhaustion at the fact this operation seemed to always take one step forward and two steps back.

”Any idea where the mask came from?” Cynthia asked after a moment, all sense of exasperation gone from her tone, and now, all business.

“I saw a stall with them on the corner of Main and Tropic,” Luneth answered. “Are there operatives who can be spared to check it out?”

”We’ll find someone,” Cynthia answered. ”If this is more dangerous than what we have been dealing with the last few days, then it’s a priority…”

Before Luneth could reply, Cynthia continued.

”I have to meet with Steven to discuss our next steps. We’re stagnating here, and he thinks Agatha might be taking this approach for that purpose, so we are too busy to actually get in her way. So I won’t be at the hospital myself by the time you get there,” Cynthia explained. ”But most of Triad are there, and are good with this stuff. They may need some help, but they’ll figure it out…”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll be there as soon as I can…” Luneth answered. “Over and out…”

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

Dylan and Abbee remained at Memorial Hill by the rotunda for the half hour it took for Jon and Cass to arrive. Abbee, in her Decidueye form, flew around the inside of it, pretending to be agitated, in order to keep any curious souls nearby from getting too close. At first Dylan, not being able to understand her, and not wanting to have the attention of sending out Metagross to telepathically interpret, took a few minutes to realise what she was doing, and began trying to calm the agitated Pokemon. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the sound of the motorbike approaching, and could stop the charade.

The motorbike approached, slowing to a halt, before Jon killed the engine, and climbed off the bike, as did his passenger. Whilst she wasn’t immediately recognisable with the motorbike helmet, he spotted blonde hair emerging from the bottom of it, and realised it was Cassandra.

“On the clipboard in the rotunda. The petition,” Dylan explained. “The smart**s even wrote her name before she cursed it. Left just before I came over, though Abbee saw, and stopped me before I signed it myself…”

Cassandra cautiously walked to the clipboard and chuckled to herself slightly, as she saw the Decidueye feather sticking out of the table next to it. Abbee began to speak, though only Jon and Cassandra could understand her.

"I wanted to tail her, but Dylan hadn't noticed, and by the time he knew something was wrong and could stop people from touching it, she was gone..." Abbee the Decidueye said. Jon shook his head.

"No matter, it's a lead if nothing else." Jon said, "Cass, any idea what it is?"

Cassandra went to speak, however heard the sound of large wingbeats, before stepping out of the rotunda, Ace the Ampharos’ Pokeball readied.

A Salamence descended from the sky above them, beating its wings to slow its descent before landing. Jon watched cautiously, before recognising the trainer who slid off its back. He quickly called Salamence back to its Pokeball, before approaching them.

“I noticed the pair of you heading out of Heahea in a hurry,” he said, before looking at Jon. “I figured if you’re attending a matter personally instead of sending one of your squad, it must be important so figured I’d see if you needed help…”

He was dressed in what appeared to be some sort of tactical suit, and had since dyed his hair yellow, though it was now spikier. Jon had no trouble recognizing Jimmy Kendo.

“Long time no see, both of you,” Jimmy said. “What’s the situation?”

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

From a safe distance, unbeknownst to those there, Brianna watched as a Decidueye seemed to panic inside the Rotunda, and Dylan seemed to struggle to calm it. It barely took her a moment to put the pieces together. She had seen Abbee at the Spiritwater Festival, wearing a Decidueye cloak, and knew she was under a passive effect of Shadowcraft. Now Dylan happened to be with a Decidueye, who seemed to have had a thicker than normal coat. Brianna couldn’t help but grin.

“So Abbee’s been flying under the radar by pretending to be a Decidueye…” Brianna muttered, making a mental note of the cloak idea. Whilst she had considered flying under the radar by transforming into a Pokemon herself, the fact that if she needed to transform back at a moment’s notice, she’d be baring all, had stopped her from doing that. This however seemed like a good workaround.

Before she could ponder the idea further, she heard the sound of an engine and looked to the north, left of her position, to see a motorbike arriving carrying two people. The sound of the engine disappeared as both passengers dismounted, removing their helmets.

Whilst identifying the figures from this distance would normally be impossible, she had resumed the vision enhancement charm, allowing her vision to be magnified, and she quickly recognised Jon Drake, as he began to speak to Dylan. The other figure, a young blonde woman in her late twenties who walked towards the clipboard, seemed familiar to Brianna, and when she did remember where she had seen her, suddenly the pieces came together.

Cassandra Silvers.

Jon had Cassandra Silvers, who the world believed to be long dead, on this mission. Suddenly, Brianna remembered figuring out there was a small group of people using Shadowcraft in Heahea City, likely against Agatha. Her eyes widened as she realised that it wasn’t just Cassandra in Heahea City. Violet Radcliffe and Jarena Farrell were likely also present…

Brianna, having seen enough, turned to leave, as behind her, a Salamence began to descend from the sky. She made good pace west, towards Konikoni City, where she would take a bus back into Heahea. As she walked however, she felt a tingling sensation in the back of her neck. She knew this to be the notification of the Koxein Curse, that her leak in Agatha’s operation was receiving a lot of sensory input. When she was sure she wasn’t being followed, she found a secluded spot behind a tree, and activated her end of the curse, allowing her to see through the eyes of the person she had cursed during the opening ceremony.

She closed her eyes, and upon reopening them, found herself standing in a large crowded room, that appeared to be a storeroom of sorts, surrounded by eighty or so people, she presumed all witches. On a platform at the front of the room stood Nicodemus, looking like as much of a cretin as he did that morning.

“You have all been gathered here, because we have our next major attack planned…” Nicodemus explained. “Our ghost scouts have tailed a League operative taking some fool who was out in the streets and got cursed, to Heahea City Hospital, where it appears they have set up a Shadowcraft ward…”

There was a mixture of cheers from those who looked forward to another large scale attack, and boos from those who didn’t like hearing that their hard work cursing those in the open had gone to waste.

“In four hours, we will be led by our glorious leader, to infiltrate Heahea City, and tear this hospital to the ground…”

The cheers multiplied, as Nicodemus gave his instructions.

“Spend the rest of the afternoon finding the most painful, deadly hexes you can perform, and gather what materials you may need from the storeroom. In four hours, we march…”

Knowing there was little left to gain by remaining, Brianna ended the spell, closing her eyes and reopening them, finding herself in the tropical forest she had been wandering through prior. She sighed.

She had hoped that tipping off the League about Agatha using Koxein and Hybrid curses would help even the playing field, so that the fight could be longer and drawn out, however this attack had the potential to be the end of the League’s response on Akala Island. Now it appeared she had to get involved again, to keep the battle going, and this time, more directly.

She quickened her pace towards Konikoni City, knowing that she was on a countdown…

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

”And he wins without having a single Pokemon fall, or even bringing out the Pokemon that the audience are dying to see!”

The image on screen shifted to a close up of Chris, as he walked to join his Garchomp on the battlefield, waving to those spectating and cheering him on. The visuals then switched to slow motion replays of the key strikes, first Garchomp hitting a Venusaur with a Dragon Rush, getting in close and causing it to flinch, then finishing it off with a Fire Fang. Then, Garchomp knocking out a Machamp with a Shadow Claw attack, and finally, having used Protect to block Tyranitar’s Hyper Beam, Garchomp used Protect again while Tyranitar recharged, failing, before hitting Tyranitar with an empowered Stomping Tantrum, having used it after a move that had failed.

Charlotte had to admit that the battle had impressed her. Chris, having battled against dozens of new trainers, all championship level, over the last year, had caused him to grow immensely, though she had done the same thing, albeit less intensely than Chris.

She and Justin sat in the greenroom of the tournament. Whilst Justin was technically not allowed, not being a competitor, Charlotte had been very convincing to the security guard, claiming that Justin would be harassed by fans if he were to simply sit in the stands with the general public. Though on its own, this hadn’t convinced him, Charlotte then went for a dangerous bluff, threatening to battle all the way to the grand final, which most people anticipated would be between her and Chris, only to withdraw, effectively ruining the tournament for everybody. Whilst she knew she wouldn’t be disqualified from the tournament for her threat, especially since that would effectively just follow through on her threat for her, she didn’t want to follow through herself. She was here to try and catch up with Chris, and see where he was at, and following through with her threat would likely alienate herself from Chris further. Thankfully, that was enough for the security guard to relent, and let Justin join her in the greenroom.

“It looks like it’s going to be a difficult battle,” Justin noted, having watched the match as well himself on the TV mounted to the wall. Charlotte nodded. Although winning wasn’t her goal, but providing Chris with an enjoyable match, she was still going to try and win. However, Chris was definitely tougher than last time she battled him.

“I have an idea. Inspired by Dylan actually,” Charlotte said, as she noticed Chris on screen begin to walk off the battlefield. “Don’t tell Chris that though…”

The battle Chris had won was the semi-final match. Charlotte had won her own before him, and was thankful that the pair hadn’t wound up on the same side of the initial fixture. Being on opposite sides made it possible for them to battle in the grand final, which would make their battle all the better.

A few moments later, Chris entered the room, handing his Pokeballs to a nearby attendant, who took them away to be healed. Despite only one of his Pokemon needing healing after the match, it was standard protocol for all six Pokeballs to be taken. Trainers had to register their team of six Pokemon at the start of the tournament, and only use them. And it wasn’t an uncommon scam for trainers to have two near identical specimens of the same species of Pokemon, trained differently in order to throw their opponent, and switch them before the grand final. Like Chris, Charlotte’s Pokeballs had been taken to be healed after her last match, and she would receive them at the same time Chris did, before they entered the battlefield.

Despite the tournament having started at 10am that morning, this was the first time Chris had seen Charlotte since their last tournament, and Justin since that night in Jubilife. Due to there being thirty two competitors, only those in the next three matches were allowed in the greenroom at a given time until the quarter finals. However the quarter final was before an hour long lunch break. Charlotte had to be ready by the entrance to the battlefield ten minutes before her match was scheduled to start, Justin tagging along to watch from the entrance, so as to not be pestered by people who recognised him, and Chris arrived in the greenroom as Charlotte’s match began.

“So why are you travelling with Charlotte to Johto?” Chris asked jokingly, as he sat next to Justin, glad to see his friend again. “Are you her groupie or something?”

Justin snorted to himself, as Charlotte rolled her eyes.

“In all honesty, the Eon Academy got cancelled, and Candice is too flat out with Gym challenges during summer for me to visit with no notice,” Justin explained. “I was going to go back home to Kalos, but Charlotte mentioned she was competing, and might be seeing you, so figured I’d tag along before I head home…”

Chris nodded, understanding, before turning to Charlotte.

“So why compete here?” Chris asked. “Surely there were tournaments in Sinnoh?”

“None that would accept a late registration. We found out the same day all the students did that the summer program wasn’t happening,” Charlotte said, though the last part was a lie. “I figured I’m better off trying to get a few wins in the summer series on my record, and this was one of the few I was able to register for when I tried. Why? Are you worried I’ll beat you?”

Chris couldn’t help but grin at that.

“Am I ever?”

“No, but that could just as likely be a testament to your smarts, or lack thereof, than your battling prowess,” Charlotte retorted, earning a laugh from Justin, who Chris proceeded to not so gently shove, causing Charlotte to laugh as well.

Honestly, Chris was grateful that the trio were talking like they used to, and not bringing up what happened the last time the three of them were together, with Abbee and Dylan.

“So Jon didn’t invite you guys to come on the S.S. Wishmaker?” Chris asked, trying to remain casual. Whilst there was a rift between him and Jon, that was his own fault, and wasn’t going to act out like he did the last time the topic of Jon had come up when they got together.

Charlotte shook her head.

“I wouldn’t have wanted to go anyway, unless I were competing in the High Seas Tournament myself,” Charlotte answered. “Honestly, the only reason he went was to try and cash in on them wanting him for media stunts. Try and fix the Academy. Abbee was already in Mossdeep when they cancelled, and had summer off from work, so she and Dylan went, hoping to help promote the Academy for next summer…”

She didn’t like lying to Chris, but honestly, given the way he had acted since last summer, he was too much of a liability to know the truth, even if they weren’t there to try and help him work out some of his issues.

“So what actually happened?” Chris asked. “I heard something about a Rotom…”

“One got into Abbee’s laptop in Nimbasa City,” Justin explained. “She had no clue. It must have remained pretty dormant to not be picked up by airport security. But when she got to Mossdeep, and plugged in the laptop, it got into the Academy’s electrical grid, and fried it…”

“S**t…” Chris muttered. However, he didn’t believe Justin’s story. He didn’t necessarily think that the pair were lying to him, but more so believed it would take more than that for Jon to throw in the towel that summer.

“What about you?” Charlotte asked Chris. “How have you been doing?”

Whilst she hadn’t said it directly, Chris knew she was likely thinking about what Chris had said the year before, when she and Justin had half-carried him back to Justin’s place, being too drunk to walk himself. Charlotte had made her annoyance at him, and how he had acted out that night with Abbee and Dylan, abundantly clear, and Chris, too drunk to bother hiding it, broke down. He told them that every time he acted that way, he just hated himself more for it, but every time he tried to let things go and make things right, something stopped him, and he’d just end up lashing out.

Chris went quiet hearing this, and was thankful that the conversation was interrupted by an attendant entering the greenroom, holding two trays of Pokeballs.

“This is your twenty minute warning,” the attendant explained as he placed both trays down on the coffee table. “You have ten minutes to go to your respective briefing rooms, and strategize with your teams. The match will begin ten minutes after that…”

Chris took his Pokeballs and stood.

“I’ll see you out there,” Chris said to Charlotte, before going to his briefing room. He had no intention of strategizing with his team. He knew that against Charlotte, it would be a bane to him. Instead, he needed to focus on figuring out what Charlotte was doing in the moment, and defend against that. However, it was a convenient excuse…

When Chris was out of earshot, Justin spoke quietly.

“He seems to be doing okay…” Justin whispered, though Charlotte wasn’t convinced.

“He seemed to be doing okay last time as well,” Charlotte answered. “Granted, he seems better now than he did back then, but honestly, I don’t know…”

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

“Nice to see you again Jimmy,” Cassandra said in greeting, before nodding towards the clipboard. “Don’t get close to it. Not sure what it is, or why it was put there, but it’s been hexed…”

On edge the longer he didn’t know what that hex was, Jon addressed Jimmy, so Cassandra could focus on the hex in front of her.

“Jimmy Kendo, it’s been a while…” Jon said, before answering the question while his phone began to buzz. “Eon Squad’s been trying to find curses before they get triggered, to try and get an idea of what sort of spells they are using, and trying to get leads from there. Had no luck until now…”

Jimmy nodded, as in the back of his mind, he felt Jirachi starting to wake. Meanwhile, the call Jon had dismissed was coming through again.

“Sorry Jimmy, this is Steven,” Jon said. “I gotta take this…”

Jimmy nodded as he felt Jirachi begin to take in Jimmy’s surroundings through the telepathic link from the stone.

”It’s Cass! And Jon!” Jirachi said, sounding like all his Christmas’ came at once, though knowing Jon’s apprehension about Jirachi, Jimmy was somewhat surprised that Jon was mentioned in that moment of excitement.

Going towards Cassandra to not be overheard by Jimmy, Jon finally answered the phone.

“What’s going on?” Jon asked Steven, forgoing all pleasantries, knowing he and Steven were past that.

“Got a few questions for you Jon,” Steven said, his tone obvious he didn’t want to be having this conversation, and Jon had done something to make his life difficult. Jon already had a hunch as to what this was. ”First question, why is your phone’s tracking disabled? I won’t ask how, because I know it was Miller. Second question, why does the rest of your squad have theirs disabled too? And third question, why do I keep getting told ‘ask Jon’ when I try to talk to any of your squad about their activity…”

Jon sighed. He knew this would come up eventually.

“They have been ordered not to share information to anyone outside of the squad. If information leaves the squad, it’s through me,” Jon explained. “What do you want to know?”

“I want to know why you’re encouraging insubordination from your squad,” Steven asked, his tone growing tired of the discussion already. Steven was likely the only person who was breaking Triad’s record for lack of sleep, and whilst normally he had patience for Jon acting out, given his track record of his instincts being right, he wasn’t in the mood. “I’m tied for highest ranking official here, and can’t get a peep out of them, even under threat of punishment…”

“So they’re doing it well then?” Jon asked, his tone a little too relaxed for Steven’s liking.

“Jon, answer the question…” Steven said with a sigh.

"The S.S. Wishmaker s**tshow made it abundantly clear that the League has a problem keeping information to themselves," Jon explained. "I have handpicked my squad and trust all of them, but I don't have the time or authority to comb through everyone involved in the operation. I trust my squad to keep information to themselves, but very few others outside of them. And if my trust proved to be ill-placed, and information leaks, it will be easier to find that leak..."

“So you don’t trust me either?” Steven asked, though knowing that wasn’t the case. Jon however, didn’t appreciate the question.

"If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have contacted you when Triad showed up at my door, let alone let you involve the League. I trust you, Cynthia and Triad, but the League has no reason to have my trust," Jon answered quietly, so nobody outside those closest to him could hear. "I know it isn't certain, but there is a very real chance that had the League managed to keep its operatives under control, and its information from leaking, we would have covered up what happened on the S.S. Wishmaker and might not be in this mess. The league's failings led to attempted murder, me nearly being framed for it, and an attack on my school that resulted with a gun pointed at my head. Don't pretend the League has any reason for me to trust them blindly, especially since we both have a secret that could wind up with us being court-marshalled and thrown in jail for the rest of our lives, and I don't exactly see you lining up to inform the League of it..."

“Look, I shouldn’t have said that,” Steven said, trying to defuse the situation. ”There’s just a lot going on, and having to chase this up is the last thing I wanted to do. But I get it, the League is far from perfect…”

"I will let you and Cynthia know whatever you want to know about what my squad digs up, because I have faith you will trust my instinct and let me keep this information within my squad," Jon explained. "Just like I trusted yours about our green friend..."

“I expect a written report from you every night,” Steven said, though continued before Jon could argue. “If it gets to my superiors that you had information that I didn’t even know, it will be my responsibility if the s**t hits the fan…”

“Then I expect you to show nobody but Cynthia, and burn it after reading,” Jon retorted.

“Deal…”

Jon hung up the phone, before heading back towards Jimmy, who had kept quiet, not wanting to distract Cassandra with catch-up small talk. Cassandra worked quietly, trying to figure out what she was looking at.

“I’ve been seeing you on TV a lot the last four years Jon,” Jimmy said with a grin. “I would have thought you’d be trying to avoid all the attention after the S.S. Wishmaker…”

Jon scoffed jokingly, before replying.

“Honestly, I hate the attention, but it helps out at times,” Jon explained. “Especially when trying to run a business. But I’ve had four years to get used to it…”

“Four years is a long time… Good opportunity to grow,” Jimmy said, before deciding he may be speaking a little too cryptically. “Especially the little trouble-maker…”

Jimmy knew that chances are Jon may need to work with Jirachi, especially if Steven moved the squads into Wishmaker HQ, and knowing that Jon’s only experience with the Pokemon was during the somewhat high-stress end of the High Seas Tournament, where Jirachi turned a handful of people into Pokemon, one of them almost being Alyssa, despite her protests, Jimmy figured that there may still be some animosity. Despite the fact that Jimmy had spent the last four years with Jirachi, and trusted it completely, Jon didn’t have that experience.

Jon’s expression didn’t change, and Jimmy noted that it was the same expression that Jon had when they first met four years ago.

“Well consider this your chance to show the little troublemaker’s progress,” Jon said, his expression even. “Actions speak louder than words in s**ty situations like this one…”

Before the conversation could continue, Cassandra, who had been hunched over the petition, inspecting the glyph, stood, which was noticed by all present, who had been waiting for her analysis expectantly. In a twisted way, she was thankful that she had something out of the ordinary to tell them. This curse was nothing like she had ever seen before. Something she had believed to be impossible.

“This curse is a hybrid of two hexes, interwoven together,” Cassandra explained. “Whoever left it managed to figure out how to weave a Zekve and a Koxein curse together. Had you touched that, you’d be one really sick and queasy Shroomish, and whoever left it would get to see through your own eyes, like Latios lets you do with him, and watch everything you do, whilst you’re none-the-wiser…”

Jon looked at her in horror. The idea that a curse like this existed whilst they were covertly trying to find and stop Agatha was beyond concerning. However, Jon’s expression wasn’t enough for Cassandra, who knew he didn’t understand the significance of it.

“It’s not just the spells, but the fact they were weaved together,” Cassandra explained. “Rule Zero of Shadowcraft is that you can’t place two hexes on a single item. It won’t have both effects. They will mix together, and have some unpredictable effect, likely completely different from either of the intended effects…”

“And this Brianna Levine knows how to break this rule?” Dylan asked, and Cassandra nodded emphatically.

“If that’s her real name, but honestly, I doubt it. Likely a red Remoraid. It’s the equivalent of me pouring two liquids into the same cup, and them remaining completely separate…” Cassandra explained, however Jon voiced his concern before she could continue.

“You’ve had over a hundred people treated in Section B since it opened…” Jon began. “Could someone have gone in and out with one of these sight-sharing curses, and it not been detected? Could Agatha know exactly where you three are and what you’re doing?”

Jon breathed a sigh of relief when Cassandra shook her head.

“Most of our curse removal spells target specific curses, however if there is a curse we don’t know, we use a Nox Purge, which is much more taxing on us, but removes anything nasty. The thing with the targeted removal spells however, is that they only work if that curse is the only one affecting the recipient,” Cassandra explained. “This curse is the exact same as if each of these two curses were used one after the other. And if a patient with this effect came in, and we tried to dispel the obvious curse, it wouldn’t work, and we’d then resort to a Nox Purge, which would clear both. So far however, we haven’t done one since we set up shop…”

Jon breathed a sigh of relief, as Cassandra began working to dispel the curse in front of her. The fact that Dylan got close enough that it glowed meant that less than a centimetre closer and it would have triggered. However, she had no experience in these hybrid hexes that until now, she’d believed to be impossible.

She decided to focus on the Koxein portion of the curse, figuring if she triggered the second by disarming the first, she’d at least not be compromising the hospital, even if she were a nauseated Shroomish. She focused on severing the connection between the glowing Koxein sigil to the void, which powered the curse, and was pleasantly surprised to find that both curses used the same connection, causing both to be disarmed, with neither triggering.

“And poof, it’s gone…” Cassandra said with a grin, before turning serious again. “But honestly, it may not be a bad idea, if we can get our hands on one of these witches, to place the Koxein Hex on them, and accidentally let them get out. If Agatha thinks only her and her friends have access to this sort of spell, it could give us an edge…”

Cassandra looked at her watch, seeing it had been fifty minutes since her and Jon had left the hospital. Knowing how few and far between the breaks with no patients were, she figured that her Triad squadmates were likely needing some help. On top of that, she wanted to discuss what she found with them. The idea of the Koxein curse was concerning enough, without considering the fact that hybrid curses are apparently possible.

“You mind if we head back, Jon?” Cassandra asked. “I imagine Section B is already filling up…”

Jon nodded, before looking towards Jimmy.

“Duty calls,” Jon said, before remembering something.

"I command Eon Squad who made this discovery and one of the rules we have is that intel doesn't leave the squad unless it's via me. The league don't have a good history of containing leaks," Jon explained. "I have ideas on how to respond to this, but they only work if we keep this information on a need to know basis, so I need you to not tell a soul about what you heard here today. I will let your COs know, but want this kept secret for now..."

Jimmy nodded in understanding, as Jon made his way to the bike, turning the key, before pressing the ignition button, causing the engine to roar to life.

"See you around, Cuddles."

“See you around Jimmy,” Cassandra said with a quick salute, as she grabbed her helmet from the back of the motorbike. “Say hi to your friend for me…”

Jon climbed onto the bike, Cassandra ready to mount, however before he could depart, he was approached by Dylan.

"Are you going to look into the name?" Dylan asked. Jon took a moment to think it over.

"At some point, but honestly, it's probably a red Remoraid, if anything, so I will be dealing with other things first." Jon explained, looking to Cassandra, who nodded her confirmation.

"Then can I be reassigned?" Dylan asked. "I think there is more to this than we are giving credit for, and want to make sure it isn't something big before too much time has passed."

Jon thought over Dylan's request for a second.

"Fine, both you and Abbee are reassigned," Jon said. "But I don't want you getting too close. If this woman you saw is Brianna Levine and you get too close, it could tip her off since she saw you here. Abbee hasn't been seen by her in her human form so she is probably best to be in the field for this. Let me know if you need anything. CCTV access or something like that."

Dylan nodded as Jon climbed on to the bike. Once Cassandra was ready, they departed heading back to the hospital. The rear tyre kicked up dirt from the road leading to Memorial Hill, as Jimmy called out his Salamence, and took off.

As they rode back, Jon spoke to Cassandra via the Bluetooth helmets.

"I have the beginnings of an idea... But it means not treating these people for this hidden hex," Jon explained. "I think we are pretty safe in saying our targets don't know that we are aware of them being able to spy on us. I will talk to Steven and Cynthia, but I think that we give some false information before you treat any operatives who show signs of being compromised, and use it to lay a trap for whoever is on the other end, or maybe even see if you three can figure out a way to tap into it, and see what comes out the other end..."

"If we go ahead with this I will reassign Eon Squad to guard the hospital," Jon continued as they rode into Heahea City. "But what do you think?"

“It’s risky as hell, but it could work,” Cassandra replied, still feeling the only way they were going to be able to turn the tables on Agatha was by taking a few chances. “I’ll let you know if and when we have a candidate that got afflicted with a Koxein curse, or at least something similar to that. Have the false information ready at a moment’s notice, so we aren’t dawdling in treating them. But, it will definitely confirm to Agatha’s posse that we have a witchcraft hospital if they don’t know already. And I wouldn’t put it past them to try attacking our urgent care centre to send a message. If that happens, I may need your help in both being a pain in the a*s to whoever is attacking us, and to relocate the hospital if we find ourselves unable to defend it. If we need to move, I think the infirmary on the S.S. Wishmaker is a start and would be safer and more secure, since nobody would expect us to set up shop on a damaged ship, but it’s small, it’s more of a trip for patients to reach, and we’d need to expand it at the rate things have been going. But again, that’s if we get attacked and it’s too much to deal with…”

Cassandra sighed, thinking over what Jon had mentioned about he and Steven’s theory. That Agatha was intentionally keeping them occupied so they wouldn’t have the time or resources to get in her way. And, sadly it seemed to be working.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m not afraid of these hexes and curses,” she told Jon bluntly. “Agatha and her band of geeks and freaks could turn me into a monstrously obese Skuntank with a Lilligant flower on my a*s, I couldn’t care less and we’ll find a way to gut it and wipe it off. And I know everyone else in Triad feels the same way. It’s the rest of these people that are freaking out from supernatural crap they’ve never seen and felt before that I’m more concerned about. When people panic, they do stupid things, people get hurt, and people start impulsively talking too much to save their own hide while others get thrown under the bus…”

Jon sighed at Cassandra’s rather graphic explanation, though couldn’t help but grin.

“An obese Skuntank, s**tting out a Lilligant flower is oddly specific…” Jon said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have been as worried about being turned into a Dunsparce, in hindsight with that being an option…”

Despite herself, Cassandra couldn’t help but laugh.

“Honestly, I thought I’d be teaching this summer,” Jon said, his tone now more sombre. “Didn’t think I’d be here…”