“Dawn!”


    The girl turned around, startled at the approach of a wide-eyed Lucas.


    “Lucas? You made it here already? Wow, I''m surprised. When did you get here?” Her eyes locked onto the plaster pasted on his cheek. She couldn''t help but notice the stressed look in his eyes. He''d been through something…


    “Me? Let me tell you!” he spat, averting his gaze. “I got here last night. It wasn''t easy, but I managed. Learned a lot too—I even caught a Shinx!”


    “You did? That''s good to hear, Lucas. Professor''s gonna be happy to hear you''re filling up your Pokédex. I knew it''d be better if we parted ways; you''re getting stronger already.” Dawn’s eyebrows were stiff, her voice filled with hushed urgency and subtle reluctance. Her eyes shifted toward the phone in her hand upon feeling a little vibration. “No, no, no…” Her fingers tap-danced on her screen in a flurried blur before she pressed send, the tip of her thumb barely in her mouth as she gnawed on her nail.


    “What’s wrong?”


    “What? Oh!” Embarrassed, she quickly put her thumb away. “Nothing. You said you caught a Shinx? Lemme see it.”


    Lucas lit up, pulling out a Pokéball from his jacket—


    “No!”


    People walking by turned their heads, the volume of Dawn’s voice pulling their ears.


    “What’s wrong? Sorry…” Lucas said.


    “Don’t take out your Pokémon here. You’re not allowed to have your Pokémon out of their balls in town, Lucas. I meant show me on your Pokédex, silly.”


    “Oh…I don’t know how to record the Pokémon I’ve caught in my Dex, so it won’t show up on the…”


    Lucas’s words fizzled out in Dawn’s ears. She couldn''t focus. Not with what was on her screen. It was far too important, far more important than this baby she had to take care of. She didn’t need him giving her more stress, not then. Not with the headache, the absolute mess she was in.


    …


    “What? No, you don''t need to record anything, Lucas, come on. That was years ago...” Dawn dug into her pocket and pulled out another phone-like device. “See?”


    Lucas scanned the screen. There was a picture of a Swinub with a bunch of descriptions on the species.


    “You have a Swinub?”


    “That''s not the point. Can you focus?”


    “Sorry.”


    “It''s alright. I was trying to show you all the data. I didn''t record that. With all the research and stuff all over the internet, there’s no need to record stuff unless you’re an actual legit researcher or you’re studying rare specimens…” she said, her gaze returning to her screen.


    “Wouldn’t that mean I have to enter data into this thing when I come across legendary Pokémon? That sounds like something I need to do with the whole mission Professor gave me…”


    The more he spoke, the more tense she felt her eyebrows becoming. Every word that came out of his mouth bolstered her irritation tenfold, and she felt all the stress about to burst out her mouth until—


    Ding!


    Her phone buzzed in her hand.


    It was him.


    “Meet me at the library right now. If you don’t show up in the next twenty minutes, I’m not helping you. I’ve got things to do. Hurry up.”


    “Yes!” Dawn burst out, her heart pumping boldly in her chest.


    “So I’m right?”


    “What? Look, Lucas, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you right now. Something seriously wrong is happening, and I need to leave right now. I don’t have time to help now, okay? Bye!” Dawn was already jogging away on the street.


    Lucas hopped into action, chasing after her in a panic. This was his chance, a second chance he couldn’t afford to miss no matter what. He needed to get to the Pokémon school.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    He needed her. He needed her help. He couldn’t do it himself, he couldn’t do anything himself. But this was the last time. After he got to the school, he’d do everything himself. He wouldn’t need anyone else.


    Never again.


    The boy dashed past parked bikes and galleries of stores, after the girl in a red coat running like there was no tomorrow.


    “Wait!”


    <hr>


    “Hello?”


    “Yes, sir. It’s Jupiter.”


    “I know. I have you saved as ‘Jupiter.’”


    “My apologies, sir. I was just making sure. I’m calling to give you a report on the mission so far. We have them, sir. The research papers. Our units retrieved them with no casualties last night.”


    …


    “Sir?”


    …


    “Jupiter.”


    “Yes, sir?”


    “Why am I not speaking to Mars on this matter?”


    …


    “Well, sir, I—”


    “I put her in charge of retrieving the papers from the school before she meets with Pluto to collect energy at Valley Windworks. I ask again: why am I speaking to you?”


    “You see, sir—”


    “Where is she?”


    “Excuse me, sir—”


    “Don’t waste my time, Jupiter. This mission is beyond you and your petty ego. Where is Mars? Put her on the line. I want to speak with her, not you.”


    “Sir, are you sure you want to leave it in her hands? You know how reckless—”


    “Jupiter!”


    …


    “My apologies, sir. Please hold.”


    …


    “Good morning, Master Cyrus…”


    “Commander Mars. Where are you right now?”


    “Right now? Oh, we''re just about to leave for Floaroma, sir. I insisted that we leave the minute we retrieved the papers, but Jupiter said we need to be ‘thorough’ and make sure that poor little girl didn’t follow us or bring reinforcements…”


    “What little girl?”


    “She didn’t tell you? So much for being thorough—there was a poor little girl making her way out of the school around seven last night. One of the Professor’s assistants. She was carrying a little parcel, so I told two of my units to go after her. Luckily for us, she had the research papers, so we didn’t even have to raid the school.”


    “I see. Excellent work, Mars.”


    “Why, thank you, Master Cyrus, but the job is far from finished. We still have quite a way to go until we''re in any position to celebrate…”


    “Ever the practical one. I made no mistake picking you to carry out the mission. I trust you’ll be able to carry out the mission in Valley Windworks alongside Pluto with no casualties.”


    “Of course, sir. I’ll make sure everything goes exactly as it should.”


    “Brilliant. Put Jupiter back on the line. We’re done here.”


    “By any means, Master Cyrus, but…”


    “What is it?”


    …


    “The briefcase…what''s inside it?”


    …


    “Are there others around you?”


    “I’m alone now. I just left the room.”


    “Right. You are aware that Steven Stone is currently in the region?”


    “Of course, sir. I hear he’s researching the tunnels in Oreburgh for possible diamond deposits…why?”


    “That’s half the story. He supplied us with an assortment of…stones.”


    “That’s incredible, sir! But what’s in it for him?”


    “A place in our new world. He also seems fixated on a certain anomaly striding across the stars.”


    “A Pokémon?”


    “An alien, more than anything. He''d like to use our research facilities to observe it further. We''ve struck a deal. He will continue to sponsor us so long as we assist his own research. A deposit of P8,000,000. For now. That should be more than enough funding for this stage of the plan.”


    “I see…so that''s what''s in the box.”


    “No. To finally answer your question: inside that briefcase is a legendary Pokémon. Registeel.”


    …


    “Mars? Does that satisfy your curiosity, Commander Mars?”


    …


    “Yes, Master Cyrus. Thank you for your patience and your tolerance. I’ll pass the line to Jupiter now…”


    “Mars.”


    “Sir?”


    “What’s in the briefcase?”


    “Absolutely nothing, sir.”