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

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 5 Episode 1: Capability

Spoiler:

The stench of vomit wafted through the ensuite of Jon and Alyssa’s bedroom, as Jon crouched on his knees, his head hanging over the toilet. The sheer distance between his face and the water, and the implications it brought to mind were enough to add to the nausea, however he didn’t need that. He felt his head go light again, as the contents of his stomach rose up in his throat. However, his stomach had been empty three retches ago, and at this point, it was just painful dry reaching.

“You got the meds?” Jon asked weakly, as Dylan stood by the door, unable to look at Jon. Despite Dylan being taller and stronger than Jon from the day they met, Jon had always seemed indestructible. An unstoppable force that could move an immovable object. However, an hour ago, he had another seizure, and despite it only lasting a minute, it was enough to make the rest of the day near unbearable. The nausea and the splitting headache would remain with him until he could sleep it off. On a normal day, he’d simply ask Dylan to have Darkrai hit him with a hypnosis attack, but today wasn’t normal, and he was already running late.

“I can take care of it,” Dylan said to Jon. “The meeting was supposed to start fifteen minutes ago, and people are probably already asking questions…”

“Cass, Violet, Jarena and Abbee all know,” Jon answered, as he spat the foul remnants that remained in his mouth into the toilet, before slowly standing to his feet, and pressing the button to flush it away. “I will be able to keep the meds down now-”

“They could take anywhere between half an hour to an hour to take effect,” Dylan answered. “And even if you were to go now, you probably reek of vomit, and you look like you’ve been hit by a bus…”

Dylan wasn’t trying to be hurtful with his assessment of Jon. It was accurate. He was deathly pale, and Dylan was sure that the smell would linger in Jon’s hair and clothes.

“I’ll shower and get into some clean clothes, and by the time I get there, the meds should be doing their thing,” Jon explained, as he grabbed a glass that sat by the vanity. He filled it with water, and began gargling, trying to remove the taste of vomit, before he took the medication, which would require a mouthful of water to swallow.

“Jon, I can handle the induction!” Dylan argued, as Jon spat out another mouthful of water.

“I’m not saying you can’t,” Jon replied, grimacing as his head throbbed a little more painfully than it did before. “But honestly, ninety-nine percent of the time, I am fine. It’s just when I have these seizures-”

“It’s been two weeks since the last one,” Dylan retorted.

“When I don’t have seizures, I can handle this, but if the first time the others see me after my stroke, I don’t show because I can barely think straight or keep my breakfast down, then the days where I’m fine, I’ll be treated like a cripple…”

Knowing how much Jon hated the feeling of uselessness, or the feeling of being a liability, Dylan remained silent, as Jon took the two pill-bottles from his hand. He quickly grabbed one of each, an anti-nausea medication, and a painkiller for his headache, and swallowed them with a mouthful of water.

“Keep them busy while I have a shower and get changed,” Jon said, as he stumbled towards the shower, and turned on the cold tap. He didn’t touch the hot one. The vomiting had left him feeling feverish, and the cold water, despite being uncomfortable, was still soothing.

“I’ll let you do this on one condition,” Dylan said, as Jon chuckled.

“You think you could stop me?” Jon asked jokingly, knowing full well, especially in this state, Dylan could overpower Jon with no effort.

“Darkrai could,” Dylan answered. “And you’d wake up in a few hours feeling better, so it’s a win-win…”

Jon sighed, knowing Dylan was making better points by the second.

“What’s this condition?”

“Be there, make an appearance, say your hellos,” Dylan explained. “But let me handle the bulk of the meeting. If you’re worried about being treated like a cripple, your hazy memory and headache are going to raise alarm bells with the others…”

Jon nodded at Dylan.

“But this isn’t like hiding your hand from Lili,” Dylan said, his voice dropping. “The others will figure out things aren’t right, and it’s going to be hard for myself, Abbee and the Diamond Ladies to cover for you while keeping secrets from them…”

“I’ll tell the other three,” Jon agreed. “Tonight…”

Dylan sighed with slight relief, before walking out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him, whilst Jon stripped down to shower.

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

Abbee watched in confused shock at the six other people who loitered on the battlefield of the Eon Academy’s stadium. On one side, stood Justin, Charlotte and Chris, who spoke quietly amongst themselves, and on the other, the Diamond Ladies, Cassandra, Violet and Jarena, who stood in concerned silence. Abbee noticed they had been checking their watches a lot. Jon was half an hour late, and whilst Chris, Charlotte and Justin were content chatting, and hadn’t picked up on the nervous energy, the Diamond Ladies seemed concerned. It didn’t take Abbee long to piece together what was going on.

“Surely Dylan can just handle this?” Jarena said quietly.

“Do you really think Jon is going to sit this out?” Violet asked. “This is the first summer program in two years, and Dylan’s last one…”

Abbee walked towards the Diamond Ladies, surprisingly more comfortable with them, given the uncertainty of things between herself and Chris.

“Will Jon be okay to run the meeting?” Abbee asked quietly, as Violet and Jarena spoke amongst themselves.

“Even if he isn’t, he’ll still do it,” Cassandra answered in an undertone. “Dylan hasn’t left the house since Jon had the seizure this morning, so is probably trying to help him get on his feet…”

Abbee heard the door open, and turned, not noticing the Diamond Ladies do the same thing. Charlotte, Chris and Justin glanced over, seeing Dylan enter the room alone, as Charlotte and Justin waved and called out greetings. She gave him a puzzled look, having not seen him since she arrived, and he returned it with an expression that said ’later’. Chris remained silent, looking at some section of the floor, that he hoped appeared interesting to him.

“Jon just got held up with something, so will be a little longer,” Dylan explained casually. “If anyone wants a coffee, we probably have time to make a few cups before he arrives?”

Justin, having become borderline addicted to coffee during the late night study sessions, both for his degree and the entrance exam for the Sinnoh Police Department, decided to take the offer, and noticing Chris’ apprehension with Dylan and Abbee both in the room, invited Chris to join him as the pair left the stadium to make their way to the lodge.

Charlotte, who had remained with Chris, not wanting to leave him unattended despite how much better he seemed to be doing compared to the end of their last summer at the Academy, was now relieved of duty, and approached Abbee and the Diamond Ladies to speak to them.

“And to think how much Jon hung it on us when we were late,” Charlotte joked to Abbee, who forced a grin at the joke. She knew Charlotte was perceptive, and would notice any sort of apprehensiveness towards the comment if it showed.

“Must be something important,” Abbee agreed, before looking between Cassandra and Charlotte. “Charlotte, you probably already know who this is. Cass, this Charlotte Jones. At a guess, if anyone is to follow in Jon’s footsteps and become High Seas Champion, it is Charlotte, especially since her battling is-”

“Terrifying…” Cassandra said finishing the sentence, as Charlotte couldn’t help but grin. “Pleasure to meet you. If Jon thinks your battling is terrifying, I might need to learn what I can from you…”

“It’s strange. That’s my favourite compliment for my battling,” Charlotte explained. “I met Violet and Jarena when I visited last year, but you were away?”

“In Johto, visiting my parents,” Cassandra said with a sigh. “When you cheat your way to the top of the world, get caught, then fake your death for four years, only to come back, you kind of end up owing a lot of people explanations…”

Cassandra shuddered at the thought. Whilst things with her parents, although still extremely awkward, were in a much better state than she expected, it took her a long time to find the nerve to call her parents after the Spiritwater Crisis. She knew she had to make the first step, as until she reached Mossdeep, her parents had no way of reaching out to her directly, whilst she could find them in any phone book, though if they hadn’t moved house, she still remembered her childhood phone number.

As they spoke, Abbee looked around, partially to see where Dylan was, and spotted something on the ground. The centre marking of the battlefield, what in previous years had been the Eon Academy logo, of the Latios silhouette, was now different. Instead the silhouette was different, now showing two Eon Pokemon, one smaller and one larger. Charlotte and Cassandra noticed Abbee’s gaze on it, as Charlotte took a second to understand why Jon had changed the logo, and Cassandra grinned.

“I mean, it’s the Eon Academy, and now there’s twice as much Eon,” Cassandra explained. “Willow is with Latios and Latias off-site.”

“They still inseparable?” Abbee asked with a smile.

“Not as much as they were right after we all got here,” Cassandra explained. “Latias battled alongside Willow, but in a completely different league to Jon and Latios. So Latios is trying to teach Latias some tricks…”

Abbee nodded before looking back at the logo, a little nostalgic.

“Still, I do kind of miss the old logo…”

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

“You know, you can’t avoid them forever,” Justin said, as the coffee grinder in the staff lodge screeched.

“I know…”

Chris opened the fridge, considered grabbing a drink, however decided against it. In previous years there had been some cans of soft drink available for any of them to take, and whilst there were cans there, he couldn’t be sure they were just as available, especially considering five people now lived full time in the lodge, and may have bought them for themselves. He closed the fridge.

“Honestly, it’s been that long since I’ve seen either of them…” Chris said. “I haven’t seen Abbee since that night in Jubilife, and I caught a glimpse of Dylan when I visited Jon last November…”

Justin pressed a button on the coffee machine, as it began to work its magic, while Chris continued.

“I guess, I just don’t know whether they want anything to do with me. Whether they’d get annoyed if I tried to say anything,” Chris continued. “And chances are they’ll be together all the time, so it’s not like I can just work things out one at a time-”

“Kind of happens when you’re in a relationship,” Justin joked, as Chris rolled his eyes, before sighing. Justin continued. “Honestly, last time you saw them, you were pretty okay with them…”

“Until I ran my mouth?”

“Until you ran your mouth…” Justin agreed, considering his next words carefully. Charlotte had told him later of her conversation with Abbee and Dylan, whilst Justin had been with Chris as he vomited in a nearby bush. About how they wanted to see Chris return to his old self, and how they weren’t angry with him as much as they pitied him. And Dylan’s observation that he may need to hit rock bottom before he could work through his issues. However, he didn’t want to risk telling Chris this, especially since his friend had surprised him since last summer.

“You want to make things right with Abbee, don’t you?” Justin asked. “More than Dylan…”

“I want to make things right with both, but Abbee especially,” Chris answered.

“Remember our first summer?” Justin asked, wishing he didn’t have to think about this. “What I did to her?”

Chris nodded, knowing that despite Justin and Abbee having been on great terms since their second summer, his actions in their first summer had hurt her.

“Remember Dylan’s eighteenth birthday? We threw that funeral for his childhood since he didn’t want a party?”

Chris couldn’t help but grin at the recollection, though was shocked at the fact that it was four years ago now. He and Abbee had been fifteen at the time, with Charlotte and Justin sixteen. Now he and Abbee were nineteen, with Charlotte and Justin being twenty and Dylan turning twenty-two that summer.

“Abbee and I were setting up the lodge, and things were awkward. I apologised, and honestly, it had been less than two weeks since her dad had died, and she missed out on having that last conversation with him,” Justin said. “But she told me not to beat myself up too much over it. Just enough that I wouldn’t do it again. But she was glad we had worked things out, because she was worried everyone was going to walk on egg-shells around us forever…”

The coffee machine finished filling the coffee cup underneath it, which Justin took appreciatively, before having a sip.

“You’d know better than me that that is just who Abbee is. She wants to be on good terms with everyone, and wants to work things out,” Justin concluded. “The last two years haven’t been enough to change that…”

“What about Dylan?” Chris asked. “I mean, even when we were on good terms, he wasn’t an easy person to read, and we had only been here a few weeks last summer before I messed things up. He and Abbee are together, and even if she wants to make amends, if Dylan hates me, then I doubt she’ll want to work things out…”

“Dylan was dealing with his own s**t that summer,” Justin answered, though left out the fact that Dylan had been different since returning from Alola the summer before. He didn’t blame him. Charlotte had told him that Abbee had died in Dylan’s arms, and had been resuscitated on the one in a million chance of the witch they had been assigned to investigate, taking pity on her, used some advanced Shadowcraft in order to undo the damage and give her a chance at being resuscitated. Justin hadn’t been able to visit the Academy, unable to leave Sinnoh between his final year of study, and his application for the Sinnoh Police Department. However even in terms of the messages they exchanged, Dylan was not himself. “Besides, you had beef with Dylan when you were with Abbee, and she didn’t let that stop her from working things out with him, and being friends…”

Justin raised a good point, which Chris couldn’t argue.

“Don’t try and force it, or pretend that nothing happened,” Justin said. “But don’t walk on eggshells around them. I know for sure, Abbee would hate that…”

Chris remained silent, as Justin looked out the window of the lodge, and noticed a figure walking towards the stadium from Jon and Alyssa’s house. At first, he didn’t recognise the figure as Jon, given how slowly, and unsteadily he walked.

“Come on,” Justin said. “Jon’s going to get to the stadium before us…”

Jon had only arrived in the Stadium a minute before Chris and Justin returned, taking the opportunity to greet Charlotte, who shook his hand enthusiastically, whilst Abbee hugged him, though Jon noticed to his dismay, she seemed to be extremely cautious with him, as if he may break from the embrace.

“Jon,” Justin called out. Jon turned, noticing him and Chris, and made his way over, his slow and unsteady gait now all but gone, well hidden from months of practice.

“Justin,” Jon said with a grin, as he shook Justin’s hand. “It’s great to see you…”

Jon looked around, noting that nobody was listening in. Even Chris, who was the closest to them, seemed distracted, allowing Jon to lower his voice.

“Any news?”

Justin had listed Jon as a character and professional reference in his application to join the police, given Jon’s role in training Justin, both in terms of quick, tactical thinking, as well as Pokemon battling in general, and Jon’s own role in League operations. This was what he had been waiting to ask Justin.

“Chris and Charlotte know, but I haven’t told the others,” Justin said quietly. “But I got in…”

Jon grinned widely, before slapping Justin on the shoulder, although Justin noticed that the strike was weaker than it should have been.

“I knew you would,” Jon said with a grin, before looking to Chris. “We’ll talk later…”

Jon quickly spoke to Chris, greeting him, and trying his best to make it clear in his tone and mannerisms that Chris’ words and actions two years prior were not in Jon’s mind, especially since Jon could see a reservation in Chris that he hadn’t seen since the weeks after Jon had pulled Chris out of Shoal Cave, after nearly freezing to death. Once he had said hello to all the visiting interns, he called for them to grab one of the numerous folded chairs that Dylan had brought by earlier that day, setting them up in a circle, before he began the briefing for the summer that was going to begin.

“I’m glad to see you all here, especially since last summer got a little derailed before it even began,” Jon said, as he sat on the chair, both hands in the pocket of his hoodie, which was far from appropriate given how warm it was. Even Justin, having been the most perceptive towards Jon seeming unwell, hadn’t noticed that his left hand hadn’t left the pocket. “There’s been a few changes. Firstly, in terms of people, there are a few introductions, that whilst may seem redundant, need to be made…”

Jon looked to where Cassandra, Violet and Jarena sat.

“Some of you already know each other or have already introduced yourselves, but to cover all bases, joining us as interns this summer, we have Cassandra Silvers, who seeks to compete professionally again, Jarena Farrell, who wants to save the world, one abandoned or neglected Pokemon at a time, and Violet Radcliffe, who is still figuring out what field deserves to have her natural skills and intellect most,” Jon explained. “Not currently present, is Willow Scalera, the trainer of Latias and Marshadow, who is using her vast knowledge of Shadowcraft to make sure that the Eon Academy remains safe, should any grudges that were formed last summer make their way here…”

Jon then looked around to where the others sat. Next to Jarena sat Dylan, with Abbee on the other side of him. Charlotte sat next to her, with Justin and Chris on her other side. He directed his words towards the Diamond Ladies.

“You already know Abbee, and by now, are well familiar with Dylan,” Jon continued. “However, here we have the terrifying Charlotte Jones, the down-to-earth Justin Collins, and the strong, and even more loyal, Christopher Kingswood…”

Chris felt a slight pit in his stomach at being called loyal, however noticed something which distracted him. An uneasiness from Cassandra. Whilst Violet and Jarena seemed as interested in him as they were by Charlotte and Justin, Cassandra seemed unable to hide an interest in Chris, that did not seem like the pleasant type. He figured he knew why. He didn’t hide the fact that Lance was his cousin anymore, and figured they probably knew, and considering the last time they saw Lance was on the S.S. Wishmaker, where he tried to kill Violet and Jarena, and frame Jon, he wasn’t surprised that Cassandra seemed to be apprehensive towards him.

There was a general greeting from both sides of the room.

“In terms of this summer’s briefing, I’ll leave that in Dylan’s very capable hands,” Jon said, now growing thankful that Dylan had strong-armed him into giving him this responsibility. Whilst the nausea was gone, the medication had only dulled the headache, which still pained him, albeit with less intensity, and made it difficult to focus on smaller details.

Dylan nodded, before grabbing his phone, and opening his notes.

“We had to close registrations this summer before last Christmas,” Dylan explained. “We reached two hundred people, and even if we used all the space we could to build more lodges, any more than that would have been too big of a jump for us to handle…”

“We literally doubled our numbers from the last summer we ran,” Charlotte said in disbelief. “I think things are going to be tricky regardless…”

“You’re not wrong,” Dylan agreed. “But we’ve made adjustments to the program, and to your roles as interns, which should allow things to run smoothly.”

“What changes?” Justin asked.

“Well, you will not be working as directly with your teams,” Dylan explained. “The five of us who have done this before will have teams of thirty-five, whilst Cassandra will lead a team of twenty-five. Each team has five returning students, who have been contacted, and agreed to help coach your team. In terms of general training, they will be responsible for seven students each. They will take care of the general training, whilst our roles in that will be identifying where students in our team need extra help, and coaching the five senior students under us in how to help those they coach. They have also been strategically placed in terms of accommodation, and will be arriving two days before the rest of the students to be trained for their role…”

“Wait, what about classes?” Abbee asked, having not heard this level of detail from Dylan. “Last summer that we ran, we had forty to sixty people in each class, but made it work because we used the main hall and the Stadium. The Stadium could fit a hundred people easily, but the Hall would struggle unless we emptied the dining room?”

“Three classes will run simultaneously, with two groups attending each. We’ll use the Stadium, the main hall, and the old classrooms we used in our first two summers, which have had the internal walls knocked down to make one large usable space. At most, there will be seventy people in any given class,” Dylan explained, as a grin began to cross his face, knowing what the follow up question would be. He wasn’t surprised when it was Justin who asked.

“If three classes are running at a time, who is taking them?”

“Everyone in this room,” Jon answered. “Plus Steven…”

There was a cry of alarm from Abbee and Justin. Chris looked at Jon in shock, as Dylan took lead of the conversation again.

“Myself and Jarena will handle the Raising Pokemon classes. Abbee and Violet will be heading up Trainer Career. Steven and Justin will look after Pokemon Knowledge,” Dylan explained, reading his notes. “Charlotte and Jon will take care of Practical Training, and Chris and Cassandra will be in charge of Tactics and Strategy…”

Cassandra had known that Jon would be putting her in charge of Tactics and Strategy, having identified her own strength in that area early on, and seeing this as an opportunity for her to grow, being forced to understand concepts well enough to teach others. She had also known that Jon would place one of the interns with her to run this class, however had heard so much praise of Charlotte’s own tactical genius, that she figured Charlotte would be her partner in running the class. Finding out she was paired with Chris instead, was surprising to say the least. She quickly hid any indication of that surprise, as Dylan continued.

“Because we don’t have a continuous program where returning students will cover new content in subsequent years, the curriculum is largely the same as previous years. Abbee, Charlotte, Chris and Justin, you have all done this three times already, and have a week to look over the content and fill any blank spots before campers arrive,” Dylan explained. “But honestly, these were chosen based on your strengths, so you should not find it too difficult of a transition…”

“What about you guys?” Charlotte asked the Diamond Ladies. “Are you okay with being thrown in the deep end during your first summer?”

“Jon told us about these allocations six months ago,” Violet explained. “He has covered two summers worth of content with us since we arrived here, and we’ve had plenty of time to prepare.”

Jarena nodded in agreement.

“Besides, in mine and Cass’ case, our allocations line up with what we are planning on specialising in long term,” Jarena explained, before nodding to Violet. “And even if we didn’t earn our way to being at the top of the world, in terms of handling the media, and PR stuff, Violet was by far the best out of the three of us…”

“If Violet wanted to be treated as the leader of the Diamond Ladies, she could have made that happen regardless of what either of us thought,” Cassandra agreed. “So Trainer Career is a good fit…”

Dylan nodded in agreement, having lived with the Diamond Ladies and Willow since their return, and having seen their strengths since training under Jon.

“In terms of what was one-on-one training with Jon, that has now changed to accommodate the number of students,” Dylan continued. “Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, there will be four sessions after lunch, where individual teams will train with their team leaders and Jon, and Tuesday and Thursday will have three. This means each team will have four sessions with Jon a week instead of two…”

As he spoke, Dylan quickly pressed a few buttons on his phone, and all present felt their phones buzz in their pockets, as an email arrived.

“I have just sent a copy of all the documentation we’ve been working on for this summer. It has everything from who your senior students are that will help manage your teams, to your teams themselves, the Pokemon they battle with, down to their room allocations and any medical conditions you need to be aware of,” Dylan explained. “As well as any emergency procedures for various situations that could arise…”

In previous years, the first question asked would be ’what situations?’ However, even for Chris, Charlotte and Justin who were not present in Alola, their experience of being targeted in Johto provided enough of an answer. They had been targeted as hostages for Agatha, who wished to use Latios’ blood to accelerate her plans, and if not for being underestimated, as well as Lance stealing his Dragonite off Chris, they would have been taken, and likely killed. Justin was concussed, and Charlotte suffered a stab wound to her shoulder, which had taken months to fully recover from.

“It’s not just Alola that might resurface,” Jon said, his tone shifting to a more grave expression. “In all honesty, without Agatha or Nicodemus, and with the Diamond Ladies and Willow in our corner, what’s left of what happened in Alola, doesn’t scare me as much as what else is out there that we don’t know about…”

“What else is out there?” Chris asked, speaking for the first time since the meeting began.

Jon considered his thoughts, before deciding to be honest.

“What I am about to say doesn’t leave this room,” Jon said, ignoring the dull throbbing of his headache. “Have you ever heard of Blackstone?”

The question was aimed towards Abbee, Charlotte, Chris and Justin. Despite having Jon’s permission to share his condition with Abbee, he had told Dylan to keep Blackstone’s activity a secret. Given that Blackstone had seemingly unrestricted access to League and government databases, it wasn’t unreasonable to believe that Blackstone couldn’t get access to information such as text messages sent. With the exception of when Lance tipped Jon off to begin with, all discussions of Blackstone were held in person, with nothing being recorded or sent electronically.

Nobody who the question was addressed to answered in the affirmative, and Jon continued.

“After I returned from Alola, I got a phone call late at night from an unknown number. It was Lance,” Jon said, before holding up his hand to halt the incoming stream of questions. “Blackstone are technically a mercenary group, but if evidence could stick, they’d be considered terrorists. Lance has set his sights on them, I think because he thinks he can do some damage if he isn’t restricted by League Protocol. According to Steven, if you dig deep enough, you’ll find dozens of odd occurrences, things like people going missing, or in some cases, turning up dead with no trail to follow. Important evidence going missing before a massive court case, or certain places being destroyed in freak accidents that seem too convenient. And in some cases, not enough to create any sort of pattern, or place any responsibility on them, Blackstone is hinted towards…”

“And you think Blackstone are coming after us?” Abbee asked, before looking over at Dylan, wondering why he hadn’t mentioned it. Jon shook his head.

“I think it’s a possibility, especially this summer,” Jon explained. “I’ll get to that. But Lance told me that in his own investigation, it has become clear that they have much more at their disposal, and are a much bigger threat than we realised.”

There was a grave silence as Jon continued.

“Firstly, they have developed means of breaking through the standard Pokeball security, in order to adjust the data on the chip of a Pokeball. Something that until Lance tipped me off, the League believed to be impossible, and still haven’t figure out how they’re doing it,” Jon explained. “The League tries to find dangerous people by looking for people with weapons, or unregistered Pokeballs, because honestly, ninety nine times out of a hundred, people who have them are up to no good. But Blackstone could have six Legendary Pokemon all in normal Pokeballs, board a plane, and the airport security would believe there are six Dunsparce in the Pokeballs, registered to a fake Trainer ID…”

Justin went to speak, however Jon halted him, having asked the question of Lance that Justin was about to ask him.

“They also have access to League and government databases that puts the guys at the Whirl Islands to shame,” Jon continued. “And the only way to remove their access with any guarantee of certainty, would be to effectively create another completely new network, with absolutely no link to or information about it on the previous network or any of their devices. And from there, destroy the old network. Something the League wouldn’t do on the basis of a tip off from Lance…”

“So they could effectively create a fake trainer card, and reprogram a heap of Pokeballs to transmit that they are carrying common Pokemon, when really, they have dangerous Pokemon, and it isn’t going to raise alarm bells?” Justin asked. Jon nodded.

“The League are investigating the current standard of Pokeballs, trying to see if an exploit exists that would allow this, however it’s tricky, because whilst Lance may be blowing smoke out of his a**, there is no way to prove it. If they find nothing, it could mean no exploit exists, or the League simply couldn’t find it,” Jon explained. “As for the access to their computers, Lance believes that before Steven discovered the computer Hill sold with government access, and had their access revoked, Blackstone got a hold of a list of IP and MAC addresses, and have access to legitimate League machines, and through them, access to the entire network, and there is no way to prove that or disprove that short of getting the information from Blackstone themselves…”

“So why might they come here?” Chris asked, as Abbee nodded in agreement. Jon had temporarily shelved the question, wanting to make sure they understood the severity of the potential situation first.

“Lance says that they are after something. Something big,” Jon explained. “He doesn’t think that is here, as we aren’t on their radar at the moment. But he told me that he knows Blackstone have at least four Legendary Pokemon at their disposal, and may have as many as we do here this summer, which he also knows. Really, what he is saying is that despite the fact there is likely nowhere else on the planet with as many Legendary Pokemon as there are here this summer, the Eon Academy is relatively the least secure site, which makes sense. It is a summer school, not a military base. And even if Blackstone don’t have their sights on us now, if this big thing they have their sights set on is too big for them to handle with their current arsenal, then we would make a good target. To quote Lance, if they get a hold of even a few of our Legendary Pokemon, they go from being very difficult to take down, to f**king impossible…”

“Let them try,” Dylan muttered angrily, though Jon flashed him a look.

“If they try, then we have a fight on our hands, made more difficult by the two hundred students under our care,” Jon explained. “I know that you guys don’t need lists of emergency procedures for dealing with things like the Whirl Islands, where some half-baked poachers have set their sights on you, or even when a psychotic witch has decided you’d make a good hostage. You have proven you can all handle yourselves. But this is a whole other league…”

Knowing his focus was wearing thin, as the nausea was beginning to fight through the medication, Jon gestured to the phones that most of them held.

“We’ll keep this brief. I know it’s been a long time since the five of you have been together, and really, outside of the changes in roles, and the new risks of Blackstone, not much has changed. Everything you need to know is in the document Dylan sent you,” Jon explained. He stood slowly, and began to stretch his limbs that had grown stiff from his sitting position. “Seeing as you will likely be busier this year, and have less time to just enjoy yourselves like you have had in previous years, I’ve pulled some strings and gotten another permit for a campfire on the beach tonight. All Eon Academy staff are welcome, though I personally won’t be having too late of a night…”

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

The sun was beginning to set when the thirteen people arrived on Mossdeep beach. Dylan had driven his car, bringing Abbee, Charlotte, Chris and Justin, whilst Cassandra drove Jon’s car with herself, Violet, Jarena and Willow. Alyssa, having returned from a day trip to Lilycove with Amelia that afternoon, drove herself, Jon and Amelia, who had just turned four the week prior. Steven met them at the beach, happily greeting the interns who didn’t live on site, not having seen Abbee since the summer before, nor Chris, Charlotte or Justin since the summer before that. The trio that had not been in Alola the summer before, also met Willow, and Latias, seeing first hand why the Eon Academy logo had been updated, before Dylan asked Justin to help unload the firewood from the tub of his ute. Chris joined them without being asked, however as they worked, Justin glanced at Jon, noticing something.

Normally Jon would be the first to help, however he stood to the side, listening as Cassandra and Alyssa, with his left hand in his hoodie pocket. Despite how much Jon tried, the position didn’t seem natural to him, and whilst he seemed invested in the conversation, he looked distant.

“Is Jon alright?” Justin asked Dylan quietly. Dylan froze for a second, not knowing how to answer. He didn’t want to lie to Justin, especially because he knew his friend wasn’t asking out of any ill will, but concern. He also knew that Jon had told him he would tell the others the truth that evening.

“He didn’t come out of Alola unmarked,” Dylan replied, matching Justin’s tone. “He told me he’ll tell you all tonight…”

Justin nodded, though felt his heart sink a little. The Spiritwater Crisis was nearly a year ago, and Jon seemed like he was very unwell, and using all the energy he could to hide whatever had happened.

From a few metres away, Abbee watched as Dylan asked Justin for help, and Chris joined him in helping unload the firewood. She was conflicted in how she should feel about it. Whilst Chris seemed to be doing okay, especially compared to the last time she saw him, last time he had seemed fine, until she or Dylan said something which he retaliated to by acting out.

“So I hear that congratulations are in order…”

The voice was quiet, and Abbee turned to see Steven behind her, a knowing grin on his face.

“I think?” Abbee replied with a laugh. “If you’re talking about what I think you’re talking about and not some rumour that I haven’t heard yet…”

“A certain Gym leader deciding to retire, and naming her successor…” Steven said with a grin. “You hear these things when you’re as involved with the League as I am.”

“You practically are the League,” Abbee retorted, glad that this was what Steven was talking about, and not some rumour of her being pregnant, like seemed to happen to Elesa a few times a year. “But thanks. I’m really excited, but honestly, sad to leave this place…”

“It had to happen eventually,” Steven answered. “I know Jon will be ecstatic to hear it…”

“He doesn’t know?” Abbee asked, somewhat surprised.

“I didn’t tell him seeing as it wasn’t my news to share,” Steven answered. “And I spoke to Dylan after I found out, and he said the same thing…”

As the sun went down, and the campfire was lit, those present mingled for the next hour, as they waited for the pizza’s they ordered to arrive. Charlotte found herself talking to Cassandra and Willow, the former wanting to learn more of Charlotte’s own wins, particularly against Jon. Whilst she had improved dramatically since enrolling at the Eon Academy, she hadn’t managed to beat Jon in a proper battle yet, and had heard that Charlotte was the person to speak to about figuring out how to beat Jon. Despite Dylan having beaten him the summer before, Cassandra had realised that the win Dylan had earned was the result of Jon’s own weakness in battle, Dylan’s own near impenetrable defences, and Dylan learning something of Mega Evolution that Jon wasn’t aware of. Of all interns, Charlotte was the one who, if challenged by Jon then and there, stood the best chance of beating him.

Violet, who was fascinated by the fame Justin had amassed, despite not seeking it in any way, as well as the study he had undertaken whilst he prepared to apply for the Sinnoh Police Department, had approached him, curious as to the anomaly that was Justin Collins. And to Cassandra’s shock, Jarena had approached Chris, making friendly conversation, and asking questions about him, surprising Chris just as much.

Dylan looked towards Jon, who looked around the group of people who seemed to be enjoying themselves with a sense of reservation. He knew that he owed it to his students to tell them the truth of his condition, especially since in terms of the group present, those who didn’t know were the minority. However, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and Jon didn’t want to end that.

The pizzas arrived, as all present settled in a circle on chairs around the fire, eating and chatting. Jon had bought a case of beers to take, which Dylan had offered to bring, his car offering the most space. However, Dylan had chosen to forget to bring them. Jon couldn’t have beer at the moment, and Dylan didn’t want to drink in front of him. Whilst they hadn’t had the conversation, he knew that Steven also avoided drinking in front of Jon when he could. Abbee didn’t like beer, nor did Justin or Charlotte. He wasn’t sure if Chris liked it, but considering Chris’ change in temperament after a few drinks last time, Dylan figured that it would not be noticed. Instead, they drank various soft drinks brought by the pizza delivery guy.

Once people were finished eating, and the boxes that had been emptied were thrown onto the fire, causing it to flare from the oil soaked into the cardboard, Charlotte decided that she wouldn’t get a better opportunity. Jon had mentioned not wanting to have a late night, and Amelia was looking tired.

“So, I’ve actually got some news…” Charlotte said with a grin. Puzzled faces glanced around, with the exception of Justin, who was aware. Charlotte had intentionally kept it a secret, waiting for Seafoam Cruises to send the agreement in writing. Once she had Justin look it over, and make sure she wasn’t making a mistake signing it, she had signed the agreement, locking in her plans for the following summer.

“This will be my final summer here,” Charlotte said, to the shock of practically all present. “Next summer, I will be competing in the High Seas Tournament…”

Chris’ jaw dropped as Jon couldn’t help but grin.

“How come I knew it would be you chasing that title?” Jon teased, as Charlotte shrugged, unable to hide the satisfied grin from her face.

“Wait, how’re you going to do that if you’re here this summer?” Steven asked. “The High Seas Tournament is invitational, and the thirty-two participants are the highest ranking competitors throughout the competitive circuits during the rest of the year? Even if you win every match, missing this summer’s tournaments will put you severely behind, especially since there is a big break over Christmas and New Years Eve?”

“Hey, yeah!” Chris said, realising Steven was right. “I did the numbers last summer, and based on the invitations sent out for that summer, it was impossible to be in the top thirty-two!”

“You’re both right, except for one thing,” Charlotte explained. “Only the top thirty trainers are invited…”

Chris and Steven looked at Charlotte confused, when Cassandra answered.

“The remaining two entries are wildcards. Popular vote,” Cassandra explained, before going slightly red with embarrassment. “Technically, I didn’t compete enough in the tournament circuit. I had spent the year battling Gyms in Sinnoh to battle Cynthia.”

Steven grinned at Cassandra, as she continued.

“We knew that tournaments had too many people watching who could spot something was up, compared to Gym and League battles, and the amount of attention we would get beating a Regional Champion would be more than even some of the bigger tournaments,” Cassandra explained. “So I technically wasn’t ranked high enough to get an invitation to the High Seas Tournament, but got offered a place through the popular vote, wildcard entry…”

As Cassandra said this, she began to realise something that after five years, she had never considered, having been invited to compete in many tournaments before the S.S. Wishmaker, as Steven’s grin widened.

“Wait, did you stack the vote so I would get invited, and you could investigate us?” Cassandra asked Steven as he burst into laughter. Violet and Jarena realised that Cassandra was likely right, and looked at Steven in shock.

“We were prepared to if somehow somebody else got the most votes,” Steven answered. “But no, you legitimately got the most votes and offered the spot…”

Cassandra sighed with relief, glad to know she didn’t have one more illegitimate achievement that she hadn’t been aware of. She looked to Charlotte though, now confused.

“Seafoam Cruises contacted me a few weeks before the tournament,” Cassandra explained. “I had to cancel other appearances to attend. Did they start planning a year in advance?”

Charlotte shook her head.

“Technically, I got the second most votes, and was offered a place in this year’s tournament, but I convinced them to lock me in for next year instead…”

This took everyone but Justin by surprise, Jon most of all. He looked at Steven.

“Weren’t Seafoam Cruises a stubborn pain in the a** to work with?” Jon asked. Steven nodded.

“They fought us on practically every aspect of the operation,” Steven agreed. “We had to pull rank and threaten to remove the League certification from their tournament to get them to cooperate.”

Jon nodded, remembering Steven having told him this over a beer years earlier.

“So how did you convince them?”

“I made them an offer they couldn’t refuse…” Charlotte replied, as Dylan looked at her with mock concern.

“You threatened them?” he asked. Charlotte grinned.

“I told them that if they locked me in now, they could advertise the fact I would be competing next summer from the moment this year’s High Seas Tournament ends, and potentially get more tickets sold early on. I also told them that the person who got the most votes would not be accepting the offer anyway,” Charlotte explained, as Justin gave her a look. “They weren’t convinced, so I told them that I am going to be competing next summer anyway, even if it means I have to win every single tournament I can get myself into, and that the only difference will be that they won’t sell as many tickets.”

Alyssa laughed at Charlotte’s cunning, as she continued.

“They said they’d get in touch with me, and sure enough, they called the person who got the most votes and got offered the other wildcard spot, who turned them down, and they realised that I had more leverage than they thought,” Charlotte explained. “So they sent me the contract a few days ago, and I signed it. Short of me having some hugely controversial arrest, I will be competing in the seventh High Seas Tournament…”

There was a chorus of congratulations, as Chris asked the question that had escaped everyone else’s mind.

“So if you got the second most votes, who got more?”

Charlotte grinned, before jerking her thumb at Justin, who sat next to her, and the chorus of congratulations shifted to an exclamation of shock.

“Are you competing as well?” Abbee asked. Justin shook his head.

“Charlotte guessed that if anyone was going to beat her for the public vote that wasn’t already there, it would be me,” Justin explained. “And she was right. I turned it down. I actually got some news an hour or so before Seafoam Cruises called me…”

“And that is?” Steven asked, though everyone else present who knew Justin before that day knew him well enough to know what it would be.

“I got accepted into the Sinnoh P.D. After summer, I begin training at the Police Academy in Jubilife, and from there, I will hopefully get posted in Snowpoint,” Justin explained. “So yeah, this is my last summer as well. I can’t exactly get three months off from the S.P.D. to come here…”

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Jon agreed. “You have the potential to make more of a difference in the world out there than being here every summer…”

Justin grinned, remembering the conversation he and Jon had towards the end of his first summer, after the incident with Abbee’s phone. He had told Jon that he wanted to do something substantial with his life, to make a difference. He wanted to be remembered, not just by the people who had to, but others, for the sake of his actions.

“I had my last exam for my degree the other week, and my tutor thinks I’ve passed it, but if I haven’t, I’ll repeat that class online in whatever spare time I have,” Justin explained. “But I’ll be a cop by this time next year…”

There were more congratulations, as Justin looked to Chris, having had a thought.

“What about you?” Justin asked. “You had been in Jubilife for months without telling Charlotte and myself, telling us you were working on something, but refused to tell us what or why…”

Jon grinned, before addressing Chris himself.

“I don’t think you’ll get a better chance to blow their minds than now, Chris,” Jon said, as Chris couldn’t help but smile, despite the awkwardness he felt at being around Abbee, Dylan, and now, the Diamond Ladies. Jon was the only person he told, and the biggest reason for telling Jon was to make sure Jon was aware of why he was planning on going to the College of the North Wind, and not risk offending Jon, especially given his own words to his mentor the summer before.

“I had been at the College of the North Wind since the start of the year,” Chris said, as all the other interns looked at him in shock.

“But you hated them?” Abbee said, despite herself.

“Just the ones who were being smug d********s,” Chris answered. “Sophie and Natasha were cool. Even Brad, once he got beaten. And Camilla’s attitude was pretty different once Jon wiped the floor with her whole team, using only Blaziken…”

Steven laughed at Chris’ account of Jon and Camilla’s battle, and surprisingly, Jarena was the one to ask the obvious question, having gotten to know Chris a little before dinner.

“Why go to the College of the North Wind?” Jarena asked. “I mean, Jon trains the three of us during the academic year?”

“Jon specialises in tournament battling, but I’ve got a project I’m working on, which Camilla’s training would be more suited towards,” Chris said, grabbing his phone. “If you’ve got your phone, go to projectstn.com...”

All present, with the exception of Jon, who knew what Chris had planned, followed the instruction, and one by one, found themself on a website, with black and white images of all the Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Champions of the seven regions that had a recognised League Challenge, each region represented as a row, with Galar being the first. Steven recognised a photo of himself alongside the Hoenn Elite Four members.

“You plan on beating all of these people?” Charlotte asked in disbelief. Chris nodded.

“What’s the timer for?” Justin asked.

“The moment I arrive in Galar, I will start it, and it will count down from a year, and because the timer will be ticking away during next summer, I won’t be here…” Chris answered, as Charlotte shook her head in disbelief. “If I beat every League, but the timer hits zero the day before I beat the last Champion, this project will be considered a failure…”

“Goddamn…” Steven said, surprising even Jon at how shocked he was by this. “This is not going to be an easy task. If you pull this off, it will be unprecedented, and honestly, I don’t know that this achievement would ever be beaten…”

“I know…” Chris said nervously. “That’s why it’s ProjectSTN. And I guess I’ll be seeing you sometime in the next year for a challenge, Steven…”

“What’s STN stand for?” Violet asked, equally impressed by Chris’ ambition.

“Second to None…”

Silence permeated the beach, as those present digested what Chris had just told them all.

“Nobody has ever pulled off something like this,” Charlotte said, still processing what Chris had planned.

“See, Charlotte, Second to None means-” Chris began sarcastically, as Charlotte rolled her eyes.

“I know what it means, dumba**,” Charlotte retorted, earning a laugh from Justin, as Chris flashed her a grin. “This is just… big…”

Chris nodded in silence, as Abbee spoke.

“This looks really impressive Chris, but there is one thing you’ve got wrong here…”

Chris looked at Abbee in shock, partially because she addressed him almost as if two summers earlier hadn’t happened, and partially because he had double checked the website meticulously before making it live.

“What’s wrong with it?” Chris asked, almost panicked. Abbee grinned.

“I have it on good authority that Elesa is retiring from Gym Leading, to get into the film industry, and has asked one of her younger Gym Trainers to be her successor,” Abbee explained. “And once her successor returns from her final summer at the Eon Academy, she’ll take charge of the Nimbasa City Gym…”

Chris and Justin looked at Abbee in amazement at her news, as Jon, having been somewhat of a father-figure for the young woman since the sudden loss of her father, felt a sense of pride swell up in him. She had only received the job as Gym Trainer at the end of the summer before last, and after less than two years, was being offered the role of Gym Leader.

“So if this is anything to go by,” Abbee said to Chris, holding up her phone, still open to his website. “I’ll be the first person here to have a crack at getting in your way…”

Despite being the fourth lot of congratulations, the chorus was still sincere, and when it quietened down, there was an awkward silence, as Jon looked at Dylan. When it became clear Dylan wasn’t going to speak up, Jon addressed him directly.

“Come on Dylan, don’t pretend that you’re going to be here on your own next summer,” Jon teased. “I hate keeping secrets…”

Dylan looked at Jon, before sighing internally. He had wanted to keep this a secret, in case he changed his mind, and considering how much Jon struggled to even run the induction that afternoon, he felt even more unsure about leaving. However, now Jon had put the attention of Chris, Charlotte and Justin on him, and Dylan knew he couldn’t talk, or not talk, his way out of this.

“I placed a deposit on a piece of land in Unova, just outside of Nimbasa City,” Dylan explained. “If nothing changes, once it's titled, I’ll be trying to convince the bank to lend me enough money to build a house on it. Once I do that, I’ll start my own business, breeding Pokemon…”

There was a cheer of congratulations from Charlotte and Justin, as Chris remained silent, looking at the sand in front of him. Having passed through Nimbasa City once or twice in the two years prior, though on neither occasion, having made a point of seeing Abbee, he knew that the land surrounding it would suit Dylan’s purposes, especially considering the business side of it, in which many trainers, prospective customers, would be passing by. But he, like all there knew that each region had many places that would tick those boxes, and there was another reason Dylan had chosen that location in particular.

Chris glanced over at Abbee for a second, noticing the look of pride she wore for her boyfriend, and felt the bitter thought that he didn’t recall seeing that when she was with him.

“So this is really it,” Abbee said, her voice going a little quieter. “The last summer we will all be here…”

Jon nodded.

“It had to happen eventually, and honestly, I think this is pretty great. You all get to take the world by storm together…”

The conversation continued, as the moon rose, each talking and asking questions of each other's respective plans for the next year. Steven was the first to go, citing a challenger due to arrive in Ever Grande City the next day, and therefore, an early start for him to arrive there and take the challenge. As the night wore on however, Dylan wondered when Jon would finally tell the others of his own challenges from the year prior. Jon noticed Dylan’s puzzled looks, and sighed. It was nearing 10pm, when he spoke.

“Liss and I better get Lili home,” Jon said, nodding towards his daughter who sat on his lap, barely able to stay awake. He noticed Alyssa give him a puzzled look, however she didn’t say anything further, instead nodding.

“We aren’t as young as we used to be,” Alyssa agreed with a laugh. She moved towards Jon, picking up Amelia from his lap, as Jon wouldn’t have been able to gently remove her, allowing him to stand, with revealing his left hand.

“We’ll see you back at the Academy,” Charlotte said, to which Jon nodded. As those remaining said goodbye, Dylan got to his feet.

“I gotta find out when Jon wants us ready tomorrow morning for training,” Dylan lied, knowing the answer already, wanting to dismiss himself.

As Jon, Alyssa and Amelia climbed the stairs towards the beach carpark, Jon stopped when he heard footsteps approaching on the wooden steps behind them. Alyssa turned, noticing he had stopped.

“You didn’t tell them…” Dylan stated quietly, his brow flattening into a line. “You said you’d tell them tonight...”

“I know,” Jon said, as Alyssa sighed. He considered his thoughts before continuing. “It’s just that everyone seemed to be having a good time, and were in good spirits with all your news. I didn’t want to dampen them by telling them about what’s happened…”

Dylan felt a pang of guilt at Jon’s reasoning. He was right. Despite his own anxiety about everything, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and given how flat out that summer would be, it was likely the only opportunity they would get with all of the employees to simply get to know each other and enjoy each other's company.

“It’s just that,” Dylan began, before looking over his shoulder, and lowering his voice. “I don’t know about Chris and Charlotte, but Justin’s asking me questions that aren’t mine to answer. He can tell something is off…”

Jon’s shoulders slumped, knowing that he hadn’t hidden his condition as well as he thought.

“I told him that you’d tell him tonight, because that was the plan, but I don’t want to lie to him, or keep putting it off and make him worry,” Dylan explained. “You said yourself, you don’t want them thinking you’re some sort of cripple now…”

“Jon…” Alyssa whispered, shocked that her husband had that view of himself. He had never explicitly said it, always trying to remain optimistic for her sake, but earlier that day, when Jon was a post-seizure wreck, and looking like he couldn’t handle the briefing, he had let slip his own feelings to Dylan, in an attempt to get Dylan to allow him to handle the briefing himself. “Do you really think that about yourself?”

“Not on a good day,” Jon answered evenly. “But when I am liable to collapse into a fit at any moment, and be a vomiting, pained mess for God knows how long, it’s hard not to feel a little broken…”

Alyssa went silent, thankful it was late and Amelia was completely asleep, unable to hear. Jon looked at Dylan, then at the group still sitting on the beach.

“You’re right, you shouldn’t have to lie to him,” Jon said with a sigh. “I’m hoping Justin’s forgotten about that since you had the conversation, but he is too smart for that. So, only if you want to, you have my permission to tell him. All of them. Otherwise, I’ll tell them tomorrow…”

His headache, which had mostly subsided but still lightly throbbed behind his eyes, sharpened for a moment, causing him to wince.

“Come on,” Alyssa said with a sad sigh. “Let’s get home…”

Jon nodded, before putting a hand on Dylan’s shoulder.

“I appreciate how much you worry, but really, it’ll be okay,” Jon said quietly as Alyssa walked towards the car. “In a twisted way, it's better that these are becoming more frequent. It means that when I finally start on the medication, it should be easier for it to actually work…”

“You shouldn’t have to rely on that…” Dylan muttered. “You help save the world, and get cursed for it…”

“A lot of people didn’t make it back at all,” Jon reminded Dylan. “If I have a rough year after, and things can improve after that, then honestly, compared to the alternatives, that isn’t a bad deal…”

Jon slapped Dylan on the shoulder, before making his way to Alyssa’s car, and climbing into the passenger seat. Angrily, Dylan kicked the step in front of him, which gave a thud, as he quickly regretted it, hoping those on the beach didn’t hear him. He made his way back down, and was greeted by a question from Charlotte.

“So do we get a sleep in tomorrow?”

“10am is start time,” Dylan answered, matter-of-factly. “So plenty of time…”

Dylan sat at his place between Abbee and Jarena, noticing Justin looking at him, before glancing away once spotted, and knew that Justin hadn’t forgotten.

Dylan was quiet for the next half an hour, and it seemed to spread. Justin, knowing something was wrong, was the next to be content pretending to listen to the conversations surrounding him, whilst not participating himself, followed by Abbee, who knew Dylan had a lot on his mind. It was Willow and the Diamond Ladies who went quiet next, before Chris, still feeling self conscious realised that if he spoke, all present could hear him, and wasn’t comfortable with it.

“Geez, you guys are the life of the party,” Charlotte noted after realising how little the others had contributed to the conversations since Jon had left. When nobody responded to her joke in kind though, her tone shifted. “Is everything alright?”

There was silence for a minute, as those aware of Jon’s condition looked between each other. Finally, Dylan spoke.

“Jon was going to tell you guys something tonight, but thought we were having too good of a time to ruin it,” Dylan said quietly. “He told me if the right opportunity came up, that I could tell you…”

Cassandra looked at Dylan with surprise, knowing Jon well enough to know he would want to tell them himself.

“Is everything alright?” Charlotte asked. Chris remained silent, not knowing how Dylan would take him asking the question, and Justin already had a hunch on what the answer was.

“No…” Dylan said weakly, before taking a breath and continuing. “Jon got hurt back in Alola…”

Willow watched Dylan, and considered stepping in, but decided against it. She was there when Jon was cursed, but Jon trusted Dylan as much as he did his own family, and had given Dylan permission to share, not her. And Dylan knew the others far better than she did.

“When things went to s**t in Alola, like, really to s**t,” Dylan explained. “Myself and Abbee were investigating a potential threat, whilst the Diamond Ladies alongside a few others, were performing some reconnaissance on the abandoned Megamart where Agatha and her followers were hiding. Willow and Jon were at HQ, planning a trap to lure out and capture Agatha’s Giratina and Marshadow.”

Dylan shuddered internally as he remembered that day, wishing he could just forget.

“Agatha’s plan, using the Netherlink, could have been accelerated if she had the blood of both Latios and Latias. That’s what tipped Willow over the edge into helping us,” Dylan explained, nodding towards Willow. “But one of Agatha’s followers used this spell to turn himself into a monster…”

“You mean that weird Lugia?” Charlotte asked, remembering seeing the battle on the television in her hospital room. Dylan nodded.

“It turned on her, and began attacking the Megamart, and Agatha sent Giratina and Marshadow to kill it, so we took the opportunity to make our move,” Dylan explained. “Cass, Violet and Jarena, as well as the operatives they were with, infiltrated the Megamart to dismantle the Netherlink, and take on Agatha, whilst Jon and Willow rushed to the battle between the Lugia and Agatha’s Pokemon, to let them weaken each other, before capturing Agatha’s Pokemon…”

Cassandra looked at the sand, struggling to make eye contact with those there. Despite that day ending in victory, that victory still came at a cost. Jirachi fell asleep in order to grant the wish that closed the Netherlink, and had only awoken very recently. Even then, he was still drowsy. And Jon…

“Agatha’s followers, led by this creep called Nicodemus, were protecting Giratina, which allowed it to kill the Lugia, however when Jon and Willow began battling, they got in the way. Willow took Latios and Latias, and battled Marshadow, whilst Jon had Rayquaza battle Giratina, while he tried to dispatch Nicodemus, who was trying to kill him,” Dylan continued. “Rayquaza was being beaten, and Jon wasn’t able to direct it like it needed until Nicodemus was out of the picture, but he couldn’t get a window, so he grabbed Nicodemus’ hand, which was channelling a curse, with his own hand, and used his free hand to hit him with a chunk of concrete…”

Justin’s eyes widened, as Chris, finally spoke.

“Is Nicodemus… still alive?”

“Unfortunately,” Dylan said bitterly. “If he had have died, the curse that he put on Jon would have died with him. The useless piece of s**t is rotting in some high care facility, practically a vegetable…”

Charlotte was shocked to hear Dylan speak of someone, especially someone who she realised had a permanent mental disability, in such hostile terms, however she figured that the answer to her next question would justify it.

“What curse did he put on Jon?” she asked quietly, almost as if saying it would make it more real.

“It was a hybrid curse,” Cassandra answered, understanding how it all worked better than Dylan. “At face value it looked like some horrible curse I haven’t seen, which all but destroyed his flesh. It started with his forearm and hand, but if he hadn't knocked out Nicodemus before he could finish the curse, it would have spread, and once it hit his heart or brain, it would have killed him then and there…”

“That’s why his hand is always hidden in his pocket?” Justin asked, as Chris realised that even when he saw Jon last year, he didn’t see Jon without one hand in his hoodie’s pocket. Cassandra nodded.

“He still hasn’t let Amelia see it,” Cassandra answered. “Or anyone really outside of the operation and the Academy…”

“So if this is a hybrid…” Charlotte asked, as Cassandra nodded.

“There was another curse interlaced in it, which had a conditional trigger, and we had no way of knowing to any useful degree what that trigger was, or what this other curse would do,” Cassandra explained. “I don’t know whether things were better before it activated or not, because honestly, we were all terrified that anything could trigger it, and it kill him, and us be unable to do a damn thing about it. Jon and I argued a bit about it. I wanted him to be more careful than he was being, but the way he saw it, he had no clue what would trigger it, so taking any measure to avoid it could just as likely put him closer to triggering it…”

“It was months before it triggered,” Dylan explained. “Myself, Jon, Steven, Cass and Willow went to Southern Island to let Giratina out of it’s Pokeball for the first time since Jon captured it, and try and figure out if it could be rehabilitated. When we did, it lashed out, and Rayquaza restrained it, and we found out that Agatha had placed a curse on it, forcing it to loyally obey her, at risk of immense pain…”

Jarena tensed up hearing this. Despite still being far from comfortable around Giratina, she loathed Agatha for resorting to such barbaric methods of inspiring loyalty from such a powerful Pokemon.

“But with Agatha gone, Giratina wasn’t bound to her, and made Jon an offer, where if he helped it regain its true power, it would obey him,” Dylan said. “And Jon accepted…”

Charlotte, Justin and Chris looked at Dylan in shock, as if he just told them Jon had made a deal with the devil himself. In their eyes, Giratina was close to it.

“Did Giratina…” Justin began, though Cassandra quickly interjected.

“Giratina didn’t hurt Jon,” Cassandra explained. “I was as sceptical as everyone else, but Jon was insistent he take the deal. He said that he had treated Rayquaza like a liability, and that had done more harm than anything. Meanwhile, if he took Giratina’s offer, he would have a better chance of earning its loyalty, and if he refused, Giratina would likely rebel and be more difficult to train. But Giratina kept its word, which is where everything went downhill…”

There were confused glances, as Cassandra continued.

“The second curse, the one we couldn’t identify; the trigger for that was Giratina becoming loyal to Jon. Nicodemus had placed it as a spiteful contingency. Should he fail, and Jon capture Giratina, and Giratina become loyal to him, Jon would be killed, and Giratina would be punished for betraying Agatha by seeing its new trainer die,” Cassandra explained. “Jon and I travelled to Sinnoh, and helped Giratina find this stone that lets it change into its preferred form, and Giratina became loyal to Jon, so the curse activated, and Jon had a massive stroke…”

“Wait, what?” Chris said, all apprehension at speaking gone. “Is he okay?”

“Yes and no,” Cassandra replied. “We were at the peak of Mt. Coronet when we found out that Giratina was related to the curse trigger, and Jon wanted to keep going, so myself and Latios were both watching him intently. So when the curse triggered, we knew and I was able to slow it for a minute to figure out what was wrong, but there was nothing I could do on my own. Then Giratina saved him…”

“How?” Justin asked, both asking how the Pokemon that had caused so much destruction in Alola could save Jon mere months later, and how it managed to stop the curse.

“Giratina, in the form Jon helped it regain, is as powerful as Dialga and Palkia, but instead of time and space, it rules over gravity, and with enough finesse and control, gravity can be used to manipulate time and space,” Dylan answered, as Cassandra nodded in agreement.

“Giratina opened a wormhole to a place in time where Nicodemus hadn’t been born yet. The curse relied on Nicodemus to be able to function, but without Nicodemus existing in the world at that time, it couldn’t, which gave me time to stop the haemorrhage before it did too much damage,” Cassandra continued. “But we still had the issue of the curse triggering when we returned to the present, and I couldn’t remove the curse on my own. But with the curse having activated, I was able to modify it, changing the trigger to an impossibility, so we could return without it activating again.”

“So is Jon okay?” Charlotte asked, shelving all the questions of time travel she now had. “Other than his hand?”

“We stopped the stroke before it did too much damage, but didn’t stop it early enough,” Cassandra explained. “Within an hour, Jon had a seizure, and has been having them since.”

“He had one this morning…” Dylan said quietly. “They only last a minute or two at most, but afterwards, he is really unwell for most of the day. That is why we were late for the briefing…”

Charlotte looked at Abbee and Cassandra, having remembered her own joke about Jon being late, and realised that it wasn’t just Jon losing track of time.

“Jon is fine the rest of the time,” Willow interjected, as Dylan nodded emphatically. “Honestly, he is himself every other day, but it’s just when he has these seizures, they really knock him down…”

“How often does he have them?” Justin asked, as all went silent, not wanting to answer. “What, once a week?”

“No,” Dylan answered. “But…”

“But what?”

“The first seizure after the one he had with Cass after his stroke took six weeks. We’d thought that it was once off. But ever since, they’ve been becoming more frequent,” Dylan said quietly. “But his last one was only two weeks ago. They’re becoming more frequent, and honestly, at this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was having two a week before the end of the year…”

A somber silence fell across the group, before Abbee spoke for the first time, having heard all of this before from Dylan.

“How’re Jon and Alyssa handling it?”

“They’re putting on a brave face,” Dylan answered, surprising Cassandra a little that he was sharing that level of detail. “But even with all of us here to help, even on the good days, the seizures just complicate everything…”

“How so?”

“After the first, Jon had his driver’s license taken away from him, seeing as if he had a seizure behind the wheel of a car, it would be a disaster. And after we realised that the seizures were going to keep happening, he and Alyssa decided it was for the best if he wasn’t alone with Lili, in case he is holding her when he has a seizure. I know he hates that, but knows it’s necessary…” Dylan explained. “He can’t be medicated yet, but the medication he will be going on reacts to alcohol, and even the most minor withdrawals, so he can’t have a beer anymore. That and…”

Dylan went silent, which only served to pique the interest of those there further.

“I don’t want to leave this place with Jon only getting worse…” Dylan said quietly. “He’s had me here since the end of our first summer, and since the seizure’s started, he’s relied on me even more. I’d been talking about moving on after this summer since before he had the stroke, and he refuses to listen to any possibility of me sticking around a little longer to help. He says he doesn’t want me putting my own future on hold for him…”

The only sounds heard were the waves crashing, the crackling of the fire, and the distant cries of Pokemon, as all went silent, feeling similar. Jon had relied on them more and more as years went on, to the point where during the summer, each of them were taking on just as much teaching responsibility as Jon. They had all been prepared to leave after that summer, however, with the exception of Abbee, they had believed Jon was just as capable as he was the summer prior, and would be able to handle it.

“The four of us will be around for a little while longer,” Violet said, trying to cut through the silence. “Even after the five of you go, myself, Cass, Jarena and Willow will be around, and so will Steven. And honestly, given the reputation the five of you with Jon have made for this place, I think Jon will have people lining up at the gates at the prospect of working here…”

“And Jon will be able to be medicated soon,” Jarena added. “And we haven’t given up on finding a way to undo the damage with our own talents...”

Cassandra nodded, before looking at Dylan.

“Dylan, I know you don’t want to hear it, but Jon’s right. You’ve done more than enough…” Cassandra said. “Don’t feel like you need to put your life on hold…”

Dylan sighed, before standing to his feet, looking out to the ocean, not wanting to make eye contact with those present.

“Let’s just get through this summer first…”