The only reasons a battle didn’t start then and there were that Luca was still unconscious, I was barely able to stand and getting worse by the minute, and Elaine stepped in before anything could go too wrong. Once it was decided that the issue with Ducky would be put on hold, Quentin and Megu did a check-up on Luca and me. He was no doctor, but the affinity of his Pokémon with healing meant that he had some experience around the sick and wounded. Megu sent out a Heal Pulse, and a floral scent filled the air, not unlike Comfey’s when she used Aromatherapy. Even still, I could only lie on the log we used as a bench, unable to get up.

  “Megu can only do so much,” Quentin was saying. “He mainly relies on boosting the natural healing of his patients. That stops working without proper rest or treatment. It looks like she was relying on Comfey to keep her going for some time now, and Megu’s healing is ineffective. At least he’s stabilised Luca, but she needs proper care too.”

  “I can fly them over to the Pokémon Centre in Wavecrest,” said Ducky. I think that would be quickest.”

  “Couldn’t Gallade Teleport them?” asked Sunny.

  “It’s not advisable to Teleport when sick, and certainly not when injured,” said Baltazar. “Before, it was an emergency, but I would like to avoid that if at all possible. If you say Megu has stabilised them for now, flying would be the better choice.”

  “I can take Calla on Volcarona,” said Elaine. “She’d prefer it over Down or Crest.”

  “Then I’ll take Luca on Down,” said Ducky. “Meloetta, could I ask you a favour. Could you please travel with them to Wavecrest? There are a few things we need to discuss. In return, I promise we’ll protect you from Killian and not infringe on your freedom.”

  Meloetta must have given an affirmation, because Ducky continued:

  “Good. And you, Espurr, behave yourself while I’m gone. You know what I’ll do if you cause trouble.”

  A growl sounded in the distance, followed by a Roar. The shadow of the Hydreigon loomed over us, even from so far away.

  “We should get a move on,” said Baltazar. “Gallade doesn’t have the strength to Teleport all of us to Wavecrest, but we can skip some of the journey and use it to escape Killian. But we should leave now.”

  I was helped to my feet, which sent me into another coughing fit. My chest hurt. I repressed the urge to throw up. Baltazar lifted me onto Volcarona, and Elaine hopped on behind me. I clutched onto the warm fluff between the wings. I wasn’t repelled by them, or Volcarona, at all. It was curious how my phobia was limited to flying-types, even with the similarities in shape and behaviour other Pokémon had with them. These thoughts ran through my somewhat aware mind as Volcarona lifted off the ground. We kept low in the air, still partially within the canopy, to avoid the eyes of the dragon. The flight was smooth, and, ill as I was, I didn’t have the energy to get scared by looking down. I kept my eyes shut and pressed against the heat coming off of Volcarona. It was over before I realised it, possibly because I may have dozed off a while. We landed in Wavecrest and were immediately admitted to the Pokémon Centre and given a room reserved for the sick. There, I fell asleep again, and this time, didn’t wake up for a long time.

  When I did open my eyes, Elaine and Ducky were sitting close by, having a whispered conversation. It wasn’t long before they noticed I was awake and came to ask me how I was. The answer to that was I was awful. My muscles felt weak, and my throat was itchy. Three comforts I had were my Pokémon, who were staying by my sickbed. Yes, even Junior was curled up asleep on my stomach.

  What I did have, was enough clarity of mind to demand some answers.

  “Luca?” I asked.

  “She’s fine,” said Elaine. “Or, she will be. She was in a bad condition, but the nurse said that with proper treatment, she’ll make a full recovery. She’s asleep right now, and from what they’ve told me, she will have to spend at least a week in hospital.”

  I nodded and, having gotten the most pressing issue out of the way, focused on the other question I needed to ask.

  “Ducky, why?” I said.

  “That’s a fair question,” she said. “Though complicated. If you mean my participation in Joey’s little heist, I assure you, it was the best solution I could think of. I heard you don’t get on well with him, so you might not believe me, but he was doubting carrying out the job he was given. I could have convinced him to refuse it, but that would have led to a worse outcome. If he didn’t take the job, his father would have. You might have seen him at the ruins; he was the man with the Metagross. He is also one of the most dangerous men in Silín. If he was in charge of stealing Darren’s Pokémon, a lot more damage would have been done, and chances are, Darren would never have seen Auri or Wish again. Instead, when I pieced together the situation, I thought it best to have Joey complete the job, leaving a trail for Elaine to follow. I had faith in her and her Pokémon to get them back.

  “As a bonus, I get the excuse to partner up with Joey, giving me an in with the darker side of bounty hunting while also taking care of him. I know he can be difficult, but he has it rough. That Espurr of his was more beholden to his father than to Joey. She’s the kind to want a luxurious and rich lifestyle, and thought the best way to achieve that was to force Joey into following his father’s footsteps. Ignoring the morality of it, she’s not wrong, and she’s very comfortable with ignoring morality. Anyway, she was messing with Joey’s head, and I couldn’t, in good conscious, allow that to continue. Which is why I’ve taken him under my wing, and plan to continue that arrangement for the near future.”

  I listened to her reasons and found I didn’t have the energy to care about any of it in my current state. I would go back over her words many times to come in the future, trying to come up with things I would have done differently, and whether those hypothetical choices would have led to better or worse outcomes, but at that moment, I didn’t want to think about it at all.

  “In the ruins, what happened? Did we achieve something?” I asked instead.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “We did. How much, though, is still to be seen,” said Ducky. “Most concretely, we’ve liberated Meloetta. Some of this is speculation, but I’m pretty confident in my deductions. In the tale of the Hero, it is said that the Meloetta of the time calmed three rival deities in the region, and with her song, created a treaty between them, forging peace, not only for the Pokémon, but also for their human followers. It was the biggest step in unifying Silín. That was a long time ago, and I’m sure it was a different Meloetta. I don’t know their lifespans, but I find it hard to believe she can be who knows how many thousands of years old. The deities also left the region to who knows where, but when this Meloetta, before Killian managed to completely trap her, sang a song calling for aid, they heard her and remembered. Unable to locate her precisely, they have been rampaging in their old dwelling places. Now that she’s free, I can convince her to calm them down once more.”

  “You’re saying the disasters going on are caused by these legendary Pokémon?” asked Elaine. “I mean, I heard some rumours, but still.”

  “I know, I didn’t believe it at first myself, but I confirmed the presence of Thundurus with my own eyes. He’s real, and very destructive. As for everything else going on in the ruins, that is going to be trickier. We’ve enough evidence of criminal activity that it would be hard to imagine the police ignoring it. Even with that, it’s going to be hard to levy charges against any of the significant players. Embarrassingly, I only made the connection that Killian had with all this when I found out about his activities in the ruins. I’ve done some investigating into him since, and in hindsight, it’s quite obvious. As the undisputed champion for a decade, he has built up a web of connections with trainers and politicians, and has been pushing for less protections for Pokémon, and less oversight for trainers, creating the current situation where trainers essentially live in their own world, following their own laws, and as long as nobody pushes things too far, or harms ordinary people, the state leaves them be. His goal is clear. As the strongest trainer, there is no one left to keep him in check.”

  “But now we have evidence that he’s pushed things too far,” I said. “And even if the law does nothing, the people won’t stand for it when they find out he tried to forcibly capture Meloetta.”

  “That’s why things are complicated,” said Ducky. “Starting with the evidence, Killian was not directly involved with any of the smuggling or anything else going on in the ruins. Rather than a criminal organisation, these were all lone individuals who happened to use the same base. The only thing Killian asked of them was to provide him with food and water. Whatever about the man, but it is impressive what he achieved. For months, he maintained a mega evolution without a break. I don’t suppose you’ve experienced mega evolution yourself? When you do, you’ll find that it is incredibly draining. For a short battle, it isn’t too bad. Eat a meal high in calories and you’ll be fine. To keep a Pokémon mega-evolved for days is considered impossible. What he did is not something anyone had even thought of doing. The focus he must have spent on just keeping himself awake, makes it more believable that he didn’t know what was happening in the rooms next to him. After all, he just asked trusted associates to provide him with meals. Whatever else they did has nothing to do with him. It’s a flimsy excuse, I know, but the reality is, he only needs a flimsy excuse. Any reason to absolve him is enough.

  “Then, with Meloetta, that too is uncertain. It’s true, if people believe us, most of them would turn against him. Unfortunately, his network isn’t limited to just trainers and politicians. He has contacts in the media as well. If we come out and tell our story carelessly, he only has to spin an opposing story to win back public opinion. And for him, that is too easy. No offence, Elaine, but you aren’t all that liked by people. All he has to say is this is a story made up by you because you’re jealous of his popularity, and it’s a feeble attempt to prove your legitimacy as champion.”

  “I wouldn’t!" Protested Elaine.

  “I know, of course. But there are more than enough people willing to believe it. The other witnesses we have are scarcely more believable. A young model making a grab for the spotlight, inexperienced trainers with a known relationship with the current champion, no, he has it too easy.”

  “So we say nothing,” I said.

  “Of course not. We just have to choose what we say very carefully and come up with a plan of attack. We also have to win people with influence over to our side. But even with all that, even if we win against Killian, a lot of damage has been done. The policies he’s pushed for have been put in place, and even with him out of the picture, the way society currently treats trainers is not healthy. If we want to really make a difference, we have to use what little we got from this to run a campaign pushing for the re-establishment of strong institutions such as the Pokémon Rangers. The good news is that on those topics, the public opinion leans in favour of us. This can give us an advantage for when we make our case.”

  “Sounds complicated,” I said.

  “I did say so. But, and don’t take this the wrong way, it’s not something you have to worry all that much about. As a very young, newbie trainer with no significant accomplishments to her name, you are, at most, a minor witness. The ones with power behind their words are, naturally, Elaine, as the champion, Baltazar, as a strong trainer with a solid reputation in other regions, Jade, as a reputable up-and-coming model, and Darren, as the winner of the Rondo tournament. My words also carry some weight, as a well-known, if somewhat disliked, trainer.”

  It upset me more than it should have, how little I could do. She was right, though. Who would seriously listen to a little girl like me? I pulled my blankets up to my chin, trying not to sulk.

  “And I guess you have everything planned out, like Joey’s heist, or the whole thing in the ruins. You, what, just calculate everything, and it all goes according to plan? Or are you making it up as you go along?”

  Ducky laughed.

  “A true mastermind has to be able to combine both, and I am good at winging it; it’s going to come back to bite me someday, I know it. Seriously, though, I consider myself a good judge of people, both their character and their abilities. It’s important to have a solid plan of action and a clear goal. It’s also important to be able to improvise when necessary. In the ruins, I had every intention of getting you and your group out of there quickly, but when we met, I figured your growth and resolve were enough to provide an escape route for Meloetta. I scouted out the tunnels beforehand, in case I could find anything useful, and noticed that there was a corridor just behind where she was trapped. Now, what you would do when you got there, I didn’t know, but at worst, it would be a distraction for Killian, and at best, it would provide her with an opportunity to escape. The trick is to have multiple ways of achieving your goal. One of them is bound to work. That said, I didn’t expect Killian to bring the whole place down. That was above the danger level I expected. It’s incredibly lucky everyone is still alive after that. It also means that Joey’s Staryu was forced to teleport in to retrieve Meloetta. Killian didn’t recognise it, of course, but his father almost certainly did, which means he knows neither Joey nor I can be trusted. Not an ideal situation, but better than how things could have gone.”

  “That man, he’ll tell Killian?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. He’s one of the few people I find it hard to get a read on. I think his mind is practically meshed with Metagross’. It makes it impossible to know what either is thinking. He might want to protect his son, or think that the information isn’t worth sharing, or maybe he’ll tell everyone just because. I don’t think the last is likely, but it’s a possibility I would prefer not having to consider.”

  “Okay, that’s enough talk,” said Elaine. “Calla, you’re going pale again. Make sure to get some rest, okay?”

  She gave my shoulder a squeeze and ushered Ducky out of the room. She lingered at the door, as if to say something, but decided against it, leaving me alone with my Pokémon.