"Vel, take a break."
"But I'm so close!" I gritted out as I bend down to rest my hands on my knees while panting for breath. "Kratos and I are so close to-"
"Learning how to Mega Evolve properly takes time." Dad said in a tone of finality, not allowing me and Kratos to continue practicing the process of invoking Mega Evolution. "It is not something that can be done in a few short days. People used to take years to even come close to invoking the process with their pokemon. The fact that you and Kratos learnt how to invoke Mega Evolution in a few days is already astounding."
"But Vance was able to learn how to do it properly in a single day!"
"And you are not Vance. You are a talented trainer, but you are not a warrior like me and Vance are. Your heart lies in exploring the unknown, Vance's and I's desire is to get stronger. The process of invoking Mega Evolution is a reflection of your soul and a manifestation of the bond you and your pokemon have. If you or Kratos don't desire the power, then you will never be able to use it to its full potential. If you or Kratos don't trust each other wholeheartedly, the whole thing will fall apart. You need the drive. The fact that you can sustain Kratos's Mega Evolved form for a minute is something that I had never expected. I had expected only 30 seconds at the maximum."
"But I desire this power! I need this power!" I said in frustration as Kratos very thoughtfully erected a chair made of stone from the ground for me to sit and rest. "I am sick of getting myself nearly killed all the time! I-"
"Vel, it's ok." Dad said in a comforting tone as he pulled me close into a hug. "It's ok. You and your team are already strong enough even without Mega Evolution, you just lack the same battle experience like we do. You are not weak."
"If only my body isn't like this." I said softly into Dad's broad chest as he held me close. "If only my body wasn't so weak, I could have allowed Kratos to stay in his Mega form longer. The fault does not lie with him, it's mine."
Kratos gave a grunt which I read as disapproval to my words.
"Your body's condition may be a huge part on why you cannot sustain Kratos's Mega Evolution for long." Dad admitted. "But staying in their Mega state can be damaging to the pokemon as well. There were records of pokemon overusing their powers from Mega Evolution when they are not yet ready to. The outcomes weren't pretty. I can still remember the time when I read about a case documenting a scizor that melted from the heat of the power, because both the scizor and its trainer overextended the duration of using Mega Evolution. Vel, I know it seems frustrating to you now, but I am certain that you will be able to properly utilise Mega Evolution in time. However, if you ever use Mega Evolution, make sure the battle is swift and decisive. End it within five minutes, or preferably lesser, if you want to ensure Kratos remains unharmed from the side effects. There's a reason why pokemon automatically revert to their original form after their battles. It is their body naturally trying to protect itself from further damage. At the end of the day, Mega Evolution is just a temporary boost in power. Nothing more, nothing less."
"I got it."
Dad led me back to the cottage we are temporary staying in Littleroot Town and I headed up to the room I am staying in to take a quick shower. The incident with the Battle Frontier had ended about four days ago.
I am still unsure on how to view this entire affair.
The main big news that the government is trying to get the media to portray and heavily emphasise is the fact that both Team Aqua and Team Magma are now gone for good. The main members that made up the core of the two organisations are either caught or killed during the swift counterattack the League organised as a response to the invasion on the Battle Frontier. All of the core members of Team Magma and Team Aqua are accounted for. Their main fighting force had been totally defeated and sent packing into prison without delay. The two terrorist groups are no longer here to terrorise us, which is good news.
The other side of things is that there are also casualties and a whole lot of collateral damage. The various Thirteen Pillars, together with their gym trainers and the whole of ACE had split themselves up to crush any known bases throughout Hoenn that Jarvis had located and some of these battles were destructive. The pictures shown on TV that displayed the aftermath of the battles the various Thirteen Pillars were involved in said it all. The siege on the Battle Frontier had also nearly destroyed everything there, although I know Scott and his Frontier Brains are working on restoring the island into its former glory. There are innocent people and pokemon alike who were killed in the invasion although I personally did not see any during my time there. Still, the casualties were surprisingly low due to how quick the psychics belonging to the Battle Frontier had reacted to the attack. For an island as big as the one the Battle Frontier sits on, the casualties suffered were surprisingly small. It only numbered to less than 8% of the casualties suffered in the Lilycove invasion. It proved that the countermeasures devised by the League in handling any surprise invasions were effective, but that did not change the fact that innocents had died, innocents that died because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I could have died. If it wasn't for Flannery, Archer, and Dolly responding to the bombs even before I could make sense of the issue, my life could have ended right there.
The public's reactions were also varied. Some are glad that the two terrorist organisations are now gone for good. Some applauded the Battle Frontier and the League for being effective in responding to sudden threats. Some blamed the League for not being able to find Team Magma and Team Aqua sooner, which could have prevented this second tragedy which they dubbed as the 'The Second Lilycove Invasion'.
Personally, I am just glad that they are gone for good this time. Maybe it is because I had experienced both the Lilycove Invasion the one on the Battle Frontier, maybe it is because I had seen a worse case of senseless deaths and destruction prior to this and is already somewhat desensitised to the violence, but the attack on the Battle Frontier didn't faze me as much as I thought it will be. I still have problems trying to forget about the images I had saw in the war which I was swept up in, but it is not as bad as I had expected. My nightmares about the Lilycove Invasion have returned, a problem which had disappeared about a month after the Lilycove Invasion but resurfaced after the recent one on the Battle Frontier. I have to employ the use of medication once again to force me into a deep slumber every night and I will continue to do so until I got better. Thankfully, even if I found myself in a nightmare despite the medication I had taken, they aren't as scary nor do they happen as frequent as before.
My pokemon's overprotective streak had returned in full force after the invasion. I know pokemon who spent a long time with their trainers are extremely loyal to them and will not hesitate to defend them with their lives, but I never knew how true that statement is until now. My pokemon are unwilling to return to their pokeballs unless absolutely necessary, fearing that the moment they got sucked in another attack will happen and they will not be there to protect me. If it wasn't for Dolly and Archer being by my side at that time, I might have been killed, so I can see their reason. The bigger ones opted to wander near the little cottage that my family are now staying at (with the exception of Vance since he is still busy in helping Scott at the Battle Frontier), not straying far away from it so that they can protect me better if I need the protection. The smaller ones that can fit into my room are always near me. Dolly herself is always in my shadow and Archer is never more than five meters away from me. That is not counting members of my team like Rena, Kel, Fuzzy, and Joy. Even Jarvis is always dwelling in the nearest electronic device to my person, keeping a silent vigil and constantly making my life so convenient that there are times that I don't even need to lift a single finger to get what I want. As long as I needed to use an electronic device to do something, he will get it done for me even before I could say no. It's like he is trying to make me feel better after that unpleasant experience at the Battle Frontier in his own way. It's actually very sweet of him.
I don't know what I did to deserve my pokemon. They are wonderful and I love them for it.
The other unintended effect of the invasion is that our family is now even more famous than before. Dad, Vance, me, and even Mum, who is not a trainer, are now in the spotlight. Too many people had spotted us in action, and we cannot hide our contributions to repelling the invasion like what I did after the Lilycove Invasion.
On hindsight, we had really helped a lot in the invasion. Dad singlehandedly defeated and apprehended both Courtney and Shelly by himself. Mum and Holly were instrumental in bringing us to the Battle Factory in time to save it, thanks to Holly's mastery in Teleport. Holly may not be a battler, but her skills in using Teleport can even put some trained psychics to shame. She is the one who is constantly helping Mum and Dad run errands on the farm by teleporting them wherever they need to go. She had lots of practice and our farm is very huge. During my stay at home to train for my conference, Holly had once taken me on a trip from Petalburg to Fortree in a single jump when Mum had asked for my help to run some errands for her. I had thought it was normal for psychics to be able to do that, but Vance had later told me that even well-trained psychics may not be able to do what Holly did. The longer the distance of the Teleport, the larger amount of power is needed and the increase in power requirement grows exponentially larger. The difficulty in using Teleport to travel from one end of a region to another is the main reason why teleportation had not taken over as our main mode of transportation and why using the Teleport services is so expensive.
There are also a lot of attention given to me and Vance. Vance had the public's attention because he is one of the seven trainers Scott had recruited. His vast experience from ACE in dealing with dangerous situations showed during the invasion. Tucker had confided to me that without Vance there to take command of the situation when the invasion just started, things might be a lot worse since everyone was still trying to make sense of what had happened. Vance's team had also wiped out a large group of magmas and aquas at the harbour. There were many witnesses there who had seen him in action and caught a glimpse of the power he wields.
I, on the other hand, had my contributions revealed against my will, since there is no way to explain how the League found out about the numerous Team Magma and Team Aqua hideouts without bringing me into the picture. Kratos is also too eye-catching with what he can do. He is the only known tyranitar able to freely control the sands and his species are rare to come by in the first place. Not that my other powerhouses are weak, but their display in the invasion certainly isn't as unique or as flashy as Kratos's. Combined with my recent participation in the conference and also being a Vera, my 'fame' was boosted.
All of a sudden, the world was reminded once again about the Vera family, one of the founding families of Hoenn. We are one of the few families that still remain after more than five centuries of our region's founding. Many of the other families had either died out or disappeared for various reasons. Even my family, the Vera family, had dwindled. There is only four of us left.
None of us like the newfound attention, so Dad decided to bring us to our family's holiday home in Littleroot to hide from the public's eye for a short while, a quiet place that is partially cut off from the world with how secluded it is. Our family may be in the pokemon breeding business for generations, but the wealth our ancestors had accumulated over the years had got them extending their reach to other business ventures as well. Our family have many properties under our name throughout Hoenn. This holiday home is one of them although this is my first time here. I don't know the exact details on how Dad is able to manage so many properties when he is always so busy with the farm, but I do know that most of the time, this place is rented out to visitors who came to Littleroot for vacation.
After my shower, I decided to spend some time with Mum and knitted some things with her. I am against in calling my heinous creations 'clothes', since they don't even remotely resemble one. I had wanted to at least try and make some clothing for my smaller pokemon, but I only managed to somewhat succeed in making one each for Fuzzy and Joy since they are small in size. I found the two pieces of garments I knitted to be atrocious looking, but they loved it, so I let it be.
The worst part was that Mum decided to take a picture of Fuzzy and Joy wearing those sweater-like things I knitted for them, saying that she must document my first attempt at knitting. If it wasn't for the fact that Fuzzy and Joy seems to enjoy wearing them at home, I might have asked Flamel to burn it down for me.
In light of the situation Hoenn is currently facing and the fact that our Thirteen Pillars are now busy with damage control, the meeting I am supposed to be having with the other regions' Thirteen Pillars had been postponed for another week. I only just found out that our group is named as the International Police, although its existence is still currently a secret until we officially reveal ourselves.
Sometimes, I wondered if this is the same International Police that Looker from the Diamond/Pearl series was a part of? And if so, did I just help create the International Police?!
Me freaking out about this new revelation aside, the rest of my free time are now spent planning on what the newly christened International Police can and should do. It is also partly to get my mind off the images I had saw in both invasions. The members of our new organisation will grow in time, but for now, we need to solve the most pressing of issues with the limited manpower we have. The respective political leaders of every region had taken the responsibility to improve trade and political relations between each other. It is the best course of action they can take, since they know what is best for their own home for things not related to pokemon. Thus, the International Police is tasked with solving pokemon-related conflict on a global scale. We are a neutral entity. We don't belong to any region and our organisation falls under the Pokemon World League.
So, then comes the big question. What is the most pressing issue right now? What should the International Police first focus their efforts on?
Stopping the various terrorist groups in every region is the first thing to come to my mind. Helping Alola to set up some form of government and to help them establish their own conference is a second, although that might be stretching the International Police's jurisdiction quite a bit. If Alola wants to remain as an equal to the other six known regions, then it needs to start doing something. It cannot remain as passive as it is. At this rate, Team Skull will usurp the peace of the region without anyone knowing or doing anything to stop them. It has been allowed to run free for too long and it needs to be nipped in the bud before they grow too strong to be taken down, like how Team Magma and Team Aqua were.
Visiting Alola sounds like a nice idea if things go according to how I planned. I can go and visit Ajika at the same time. Maybe he can help as well. Dad will also be interested in acquiring more unique pokemon from other regions into our farm. We do not have much Alola pokemon on our farm since our regions are situated so far away from each other. Our main overseas business is mainly conducted with the Kanto and Johto regions with the occasional Sinnoh customers. We don't have much trade with Unova and Kalos, something which I don't understand why that was the case until I asked Dad. It was what prompted him to start thinking about such a possibility. He then decided to go to Unova to see if it is possible to set up trade for our farm with the region. He found Chewy there.
If I can somehow get myself posted to Alola as a member of the International Police, then it will be my first stop in travelling outside of Hoenn. It will be my first step in travelling the world.
I really am looking forward to resuming my journey.
'Kratos, stop throwing sand around. You have trained more than enough for today.'
'Enough?' Flamel watched as Kratos dismissed his words with a snort and continued to refine his powers over sand. Only the bigger members of the team are present since the smaller ones are all in the little house where their trainer is resting with her family.
'Since when is 'enough' enough, Flamel? Vel nearly died on our watch, AGAIN!'
'We are all at fault here.' Flamel admitted as he felt the same regret in not being strong enough to protect his trainer. 'But throwing yourself into training to numb yourself isn't healthy. At least take a small break before continuing. Vel will worry herself over you if she sees you overworking yourself.'
'She is the one that needs to stop overworking herself.' Snap cut in as he paused in practicing his ability to shift the ground near him. 'When was the last time she had a real break? The few moons before our conference? Most of the time she spent was on training us. That's not a break for her!'
'I don't think I can ever picture Vel taking a break.' Toothless interjected as he landed near them, taking a short rest from perfecting his aerial manoeuvres. 'It's like it is in her blood to need to do something. She will go stir crazy otherwise.'
'I can understand the need to be doing something, but Vel really needs to find something to do that does not put her in mortal danger!' Lily swayed in an agitated manner as her tentacles flexed erratically. 'None of us here are weak, but yet she nearly died again with us around! I'm lucky to be able to live a second time, but Vel won't be as lucky!'
'Was the first invasion you guys experienced that…bad?'
'Yes, Chill. It was.' Toothless grunted out as his tail flame burned brighter uncontrollably for a second before going back to its normal state. 'I was holding her in my arms as Fuzzy tried his best to prevent her from bleeding out. Bleeding from her head, Chill. At that time, it was my fault that she was so badly injured. Now, everyone of us here is at fault for not being strong enough to protect her. If it wasn't for Torch's jumping in to save her…'
'I can still grow stronger.' Kratos bit out as he didn't slow down his pace in controlling the sands. 'Mega Evolution, that is what Vel and I are working towards now. If I can Mega Evolve properly, I can help to better protect her.'
'Don't get too hasty, Kratos. Mega Evolution is not a joke. The drawbacks can be as great as the power it bestows, one wrong judgement is all it takes to kill you. It is not as easy as it looks. Torch had needed a lot of practice to get it done right.'
'That reminds me.' Kratos's eyes narrowed as he turned his attention to Bigblue. 'You know all about the stupid fire bird all along, don't you? You weren't surprised at his appearance.'
'I met him a few times on the farm. He's not the most agreeable fellow, but he stays out of your way if you stay out of his.'
'And WHERE did you meet him on the farm?' Flamel pressed on. 'Vel and I had been on the farm for many, many moons and yet we had never met any of your kind before no matter how we searched. Including Torch's kind and sceptile's. Just where are you guys hiding at on the farm?'
'We aren't hiding. We live on the farm just as everyone else does. You guys just don't see us and you guys aren't allowed in the sanctuary anyway.'
'The sanctuary?'
'It is what we call the place where we are born. It is a safe haven for us regional starters, where only our kind is allowed entry. You guys had met Vance's sceptile, right? His sire is the current leader of the place. I cannot divulge anything more than this, so don't bother asking.'
'And why can't you?'
'An oath. All of our kind all swore an oath that we will keep this secret and bring it to our grave, including what little we know about Mega Evolution and the secret of our duty. We are not allowed to tell anyone, even our trainers, unless we have explicit permission. No one outside of the Vera family is allowed to even know about the sanctuary, let alone the truth of the duty we bear. The consequences are just that disastrous if the worst comes to pass. You guys will know about it when Griff decides to tell her more about the sanctuary. Until then, be patient.'
'If you had actually told us about Mega Evolution, then Vel might not had been in danger.' Kratos hissed out. 'Your stupid oath nearly killed her! If you know how to help me Mega Evolve properly, then spit it out!'
'If the oath was broken, then all of Hoenn might be killed if someone got wind of what we are guarding. The farm isn't just there for show, Kratos. The farm is like a little region on its own with its own soldiers. There are things to protect. There is a good reason why generations of Vera all trained pokemon despite them not hailing from a family of trainers or not being one themselves. We need the strength. We do not need to be the strongest, but we do need to be strong enough to fend ourselves from any threats that might set their sights on the farm if they somehow know the farm's true purpose.'
'But Vel is our trainer!' Ness cried out in shock. 'I mean, Kratos being able to Mega Evolve can help increase her chances of survival, right? Surely you can tell him a thing or two that you know about Mega Evolution!'
'I am not insinuating that I would sacrifice Vel over my oath damn it!' Bigblue snapped back in anger. 'I am the second one to join her team! No one here is closer to her than me or Flamel! But I also have my own duties that were passed on to me by my ancestors! I cannot tell you about Mega Evolution without thinking about the consequences if such knowledge were to become widespread! If Griff didn't tell Vel about it, then it means that she was not yet ready for it! She still isn't! The only reason why Griff allowed Kratos and Vel to try using Mega Evolution is because there is no other choice now that the secret is out! Can you guys at least try to understand the dilemma I am facing?!'
'I have enough of secrets.' Kratos growled. 'First the stupid prophecy, now this. Secrets can get us killed, Bigblue. I ain't trusting anyone with my back that knows secrets that can potentially save our hide, but yet not telling us any of them.'
'You think I enjoy doing this? Vel is my trainer and I am sworn to not tell her anything unless I am given permission! What about those of my kind, or Torch's or sceptile's kind who were given away to others but also knows about these secrets? You think they enjoy doing this? Keeping secrets from their trainers? But it is necessary! The fragile peace of the world might be broken if we just broke oaths willy-nilly because all we do is to only care for ourselves! This is why the prophecy even exist! Because humans just cannot understand that if minding only your own business isn't helping to solve problems, then maybe, I don't know, they should cooperate and start to care more than just themselves! You want me to divulge the secrets of Mega Evolution because you care for Vel. I can respect the devotion you have for her, but you have to understand that I cannot just tell you the secrets for that reason alone! Every pokemon cares for their trainers! Does that mean that I have to tell every single pokemon that comes up to me, demanding me to cough up whatever few secrets that I know about Mega Evolution as long as the reason they gave is to protect their trainers? I don't even know everything about Mega Evolution!'
'I could care less about other humans.' Kratos snarled. 'I don't care who lived or died as long as Vel survived.'
'It is this mindset that proves to me that you are not yet ready, Kratos.'
The two giants glared at each other without either party backing down. Sands swirled around Kratos as the air near Bigblue became humid, the starkly different effects brought about by their respective powers can be felt by all who are near them.
Kratos made the first move.
Waves of sharp jagged rocks traversed the ground and shot towards Bigblue. The water type simply stood its ground calmly. Even without Bigblue moving, the waves of rock spikes suddenly fractured and splintered into many tiny pieces. Kratos's attack was negated without Bigblue needing to move an inch.
'A focused miniature Earthquake to shatter rocks? I didn't even feel that.' Lily commented as they all backed off from the duo. Bigblue rarely fought like that. He participated in the usual rowdy and friendly brawls, but never had he went all out in such seriousness before. Bigblue had always been the goofy, happy-go-lucky, friendly guy that can get along with anyone.
'I taught you that move, Kratos. You think you can best me with the things I taught you myself?'
'Then eat this!'
A huge wall of sand rose before Kratos sent it crashing down onto Bigblue. Bigblue simply froze the sands with a Blizzard and smashed into the frozen sands with a simple Mega Punch, breaking the iceberg into pieces.
A Dark Pulse blasted towards Bigblue's direction as Bigblue blocked it off with his own wall of stone. Kratos found a blue missile smashing into him at the very next instance. Bigblue had closed the distance with his own use of the Battering Ram combo.
A point-blank Focus Blast hurt Kratos as he roared in rage and threw Bigblue off him. Bigblue easily landed on his feet and fired a Scald. Kratos responded with a Stone Edge as he used it to lift Bigblue up violently, causing the Scald to miss its mark. Using this borrowed time, Kratos enhanced his speed with a Rock Polish and dove back into the battle. Bigblue took advantage of his immense strength to stop Kratos's advance, forcing Kratos to engage in a wrestling match with him.
'Enough!'
Hulk, which was silent the entire time, jumped into the fray and forcibly separated them with a Karate Chop. He grabbed both of them with one arm each, spun on his feet, and threw them away from each other with a Circle Throw.
'We are a team! Stop fighting like baby poochyenas! Do you want to make Vel sad with your fights? You know just how much she hates conflicts!'
'Stay out of this, Hulk!'
A Storm Throw was Hulk's response as the blow smashed Kratos into the ground, forming a huge crater underneath him.
'Until the two of you can talk out your differences instead of settling it with your fists, I will continue to interfere.'
Kratos snarled furiously as his bloodlust rose. This time, the rest of the team that were watching can no longer afford to be a simple bystander. A furious Kratos has the ability to destroy anything within his sights. That cannot be allowed to happen.
Kratos tried to summon his sands but found them responding to him sluggishly, much to his confusion. That short frame of time got him another punch to his face, courtesy of Hulk, to get him to remain down on the ground.
'I took away your Sandstream ability with Entrainment. Your sands won't be as fast as you like them to be. Are you now calm enough to listen to words instead of throwing punches?'
Ignoring Kratos's heated glare, Hulk continued.
'I know I am new to the team. I have no idea what you guys went through with Vel back in Lilycove but I can make an educated guess after looking at whatever had remained during my short time there. She nearly died back then, you guys think it was your fault. I get it. She nearly died again this time and now, it is our fault. Even with more of us around someone got the better of us and that damn dragon nearly ate her up. You feel angry at yourself about your repeated failings, I understand. Trust me, I feel the same way too. But this is not an excuse to play the blame game and then lash out at the most convenient target. Bigblue may be at fault too. I won't know since I have no idea what the whole oath and duty thing is about. But if keeping his oath is really that important to ensure the whole of Hoenn stays in one piece, then we can only trust his judgement. Most importantly, no matter what, infighting is the last thing we need! How can we protect our trainer if we ourselves cannot stay united? Let's say you managed to defeat Bigblue, then what? How does that solve anything?'
Seeing as Kratos's temper had calmed a little, Hulk continued.
'Vel picked us for a reason, Kratos. I wasn't there when you joined, but I heard enough to know that you would have been eaten alive by the team if it wasn't for Vel's intervention. She does not discriminate between different species of pokemon no matter how useless other humans find us to be or how afraid they are of us. People shunned me because they were afraid of me. She picked me when no one else would. For that, I am eternally grateful. She picked you when everyone else laughed at your dream and mocked you. If you feel the same gratefulness I feel for her, then the last thing you should be doing is to create a rift on our team. This is not your team, Kratos. You are the ace here. No one will argue with that statement because you are just that strong. Right now, no one here can stop you one-on-one in a fair fight other than Toothless, perhaps. Bigblue could probably do so too if you somehow go full stupid mode and fight him on his own terrain. But point is, no matter how strong you are, this is not your team. We are Vel's team. You don't go around demanding things from us like we are your subjects. If Bigblue wants to keep his secrets because he feels that it is the wiser thing to do, he is allowed to do so. Get it?'
Kratos reluctantly stood back up the moment Hulk's weight stopped pressing on him.
'Uh… everything is fine? Bygones be bygones?' Bigblue said awkwardly as he lumbered up to Kratos apologetically. 'Uh, do we do a handshake or something? My flippers aren't that good at gripping stuffs. Maybe a, what was that called again? A fist bump?'
'Yea, everything's fine.' Kratos mumbled as he took the figurative olive branch extended to him.
'Everything's fine now, so let's all celebrate with A BATTLE!'
'Damn it, Chill! That was what we are avoiding in the first place!'
'Huh? B-But-, Snap! A BATTLE! Toothless?'
'NO! NO BATTLE! BAD CHILL! BAD, BAD CHILL! Come on, guys! Back me up here!'
'Toothless is right. You cannot just start a battle out of the blue, Chill. Innocents can get hurt.'
'Lily~! Flamel? F-Flamel! Don't walk away shaking your head! Don't ignore me, Flamel!'
Watching as the rest of the team trying their best to stop Chill from losing control in her excitement, Kratos took some time to think about Hulk's words. Was he in the wrong? He prides himself as the ace of the team, the King among kings. He is the strongest on the team and stronger than many other pokemon out there in this world. This would not have been possible without Vel's help. Like Hulk, he is eternally grateful to Vel for giving him the chance to prove himself. He is thankful that he got himself a trainer like Vel who loves him unconditionally despite his shitty personality. He will do anything to protect her.
Was it wrong to demand the secrets of Mega Evolution from Bigblue? All he wants is to get stronger. Mega Evolution can grant him that power. He wants the strength that he knows lay dormant within him. He knows that he needs it if helping Vel take down groups of bad humans is what they will be doing for the foreseeable future.
He cannot call himself the strongest if he cannot protect his trainer. He cannot be King if his trainer comes to harm under his watch.
But Hulk does have a point. Kratos knows he is not the smartest on the team. Far from it. Compared to the rest of the team, he is as dumb as a rock. Fuzzy wasn't totally wrong in calling him Rocky or Rock Brain even if he never liked the nickname. All he knows are fights and battles, that is the only thing he is good at. Bigblue said that he and Vel are not yet ready to learn more about Mega Evolution. What if Bigblue was really right? He and Vel are barely able to invoke and sustain his Mega Evolved form for even a minute. Vel thinks that it is her fault, that her body is too weak to help sustain his new form, but he knows that part of the blame lies with him as well. There is something else that he knows he needs to learn before being able to properly use Mega Evolution. His instincts are telling him so. Bigblue knows about that missing something.
Is not realising what that missing something is a sign? A sign that he and Vel are not ready for this? If so, what can he do to be ready?
'Hey, you alright?'
Kratos's attention was brought back when Ness spoke to him, an obvious tinge of concern lacing her voice. Ness may be as strict and rigid as Rena, but she has a motherly side that no one on the team has. That stuck-up Rena referred to Ness as the 'caretaker' because of Ness's tendency to mother them.
'Just thinking, that's all.'
'If it hurts your brain that much, then leave the thinking to us. We will just point you in the direction that you need to be at to destroy whatever we need you to destroy. That is what a team is about, to compensate each other weaknesses with their strengths.'
'Team, huh?'
'Finally got through your inflated ego?'
Kratos snorted as he held his head high. He is a King. He will not bow his head down to anyone but Vel. Even if he is in the wrong, he is the King, so he is right.
But he supposed there's no harm done if he makes a small concession.
'I guess as the future King of Mt Silver, I do need to learn how to work in a team. I will try taking into consideraton the words you guys are chattering to me about. For now.'
Ness's sly grin got him to pointedly look away. He cannot stand her smug look and is very tempted to wipe it off her face with his sand.
'Of course, King.' She said in mocking respect as she drawled out her words. He knows there's no bite in her voice, but his annoyance is reaching an all-time high.
Damn Ness and her smug look.
42
"That would be all, Happy. Thanks for helping out."
The wobbuffet gave me its signature salute before scurrying off in a comical manner, eager to complete whatever chores are left in the house. He had helped me carried my camping gear into my room so that I can start packing it into my backpack and he was a great help. My body is frail and I don't have the physical strength to carry all of them at once. If it wasn't for Happy, I would have taken many trips before I could get my packing done.
Happy is the wobbuffet Dad and I met on Mirage Island. He was the one that led us and the Elite Four to their hideout there and watched us wiped it out. We don't know what it was thinking, but it had decided to follow us back home. Mum had taken a liking to the friendly wobbuffet and with his permission, captured it in a pokeball. Mum had named him Happy due to his cheerful attitude. Happy is a great help in the house and on the farm, often volunteering to help out with any chores Mum might need help in.
"Have you packed everything you need? Clothes? Food? Travelling gear? Toiletries?"
Mum entered my room at the moment I had just finished packing. I picked up my backpack and showed it to her, signalling that I had everything covered.
"It's not the first time I went travelling, Mum." I reassured her as she began to fuss over me like she usually does. "Relax, I got the least dangerous role all things considered. I will be safe."
"That's what your Dad told me the last time at the Battle Frontier before you two went Magma and Aqua hunting. And then you nearly got eaten up by a garchomp." Mum muttered darkly and I cannot help but shuffle my feet uneasily at the remark. I knew Mum had screamed Dad's ears off behind closed doors when he told her the truth on what had happened on Mirage Island. It wasn't a pretty sight.
"Uh… Torch saved me?"
"You were lucky that your Dad brought Torch along." Mum emphasised on the 'lucky' before Holly teleported beside us with barely a sound.
"Look, Vel." Mum said tiredly as she pulled me into a hug, as if afraid that I will disappear from the face of the earth the moment I am out of her sight. "I am a simple woman. I don't really care about politics and prophecies. All I want is for my husband and children to be safe and happy. I really, really, don't want you to be out there alone in this big, bad world fighting criminals and terrorists no matter how 'safe' it is supposed to be." Mum said the last part with an air quote motion of her fingers. "Still, you had a point. Your Dad also had a point. We cannot keep you safe forever and there is no way you will always be under our wings. There is bound to be a day where you would leave our protection to pursue your dreams. I don't like this, Vel. Not one bit. But I can accept it as something inevitable. This is bound to happen one day, and when that day comes, I want you to be as prepared as possible."
Mum gently cupped the sides of my face and made me look at her straight in the eyes.
"I have given this a lot of thought. If trying to save this world like a superhero is something you want to try doing, then I should be giving you my support as your mother. I shouldn't be an obstacle in your path. However, I have enough of you going through near-death experiences. If you want to go out there to help save the world, then I need to make sure that you are well-equipped to handle any situation. I am not a trainer. I cannot help you like what your Dad and Vance did for you. But I was a nurse. A pokemon nurse with deep knowledge on how to treat both injured pokemon and humans. What I can do to help you, is to impart you with the knowledge I had learnt. There are still a few days left before you head for the meeting. Holly and I will train you and Joy up to snuff in the basics by then."
"I-I didn't mean to worry you, Mum." I croaked out, only just realising how much I had worried her with my stunts throughout the two years I had been a trainer. "I-I…"
"It's fine." She reassured me as she ruffled my hair with a hand. "Everyone has to leave their comfort zone someday. Yours is just a little early than most." Her eyes then fixed on Joy, who is watching us not too far away.
"Call Joy here, it's time Holly and I impart to the both of you how to use the move Heal Pulse properly. Joy is still a cleffa, but when she evolves into a clefairy, she will be able to learn Teleport. Holly can impart some knowledge of using Teleport to Joy so that it will be easier for Joy to pick it up in the future."
"Thanks, Mum." I said softly to her, who merely smiled back in return.
"I am your mother. Can't have your goofy Dad and brother teaching you everything you know, can I? I don't want to boast, but there's not a lot of pokemon that is better than Holly in using Heal Pulse and Teleport. Using those two moves is Holly's specialty. By the time we're through with the both of you, Joy would be at least decent enough in using Heal Pulse. I'm warning you now, I am a taskmaster. Holly and I won't be going easy on the both of you."
I gave her a cheeky grin in return.
"Won't have it any other way, Mum."
I held back a yawn as I walked out of the back door of our house that leads to our farm. It is in the middle of the night and I have no idea why Dad picked this timing to talk to me of all times. I saw a shadow in the dark night sky as it flew closer and closer to the farm.
"Vance?"
"Vel." Vance greeted me as he hopped off his salamence's back the moment they landed. "Dad called you out too?"
"Yeah. Didn't explain why though." I blinked in mild confusion. If even Vance was called back by Dad from the Battle Frontier at this ungodly hour, something must be up.
"I see the both of you managed to make it." Dad announced his appearance with Fang by his side. Where did he come from? Or was he there all along? "Recall all of your pokemon except for your starters."
Vance and I immediately complied. I can see Vance's shadow shifting a little and there is no doubt in my mind that Macky is there. Flamel stood by my side as at the rest of my team who were with me were recalled back into their pokeballs.
Something is up. It may be the timing in which Dad wanted to talk to us. It may be the seriousness in his voice. I have no idea what it is, but I just know that whatever Dad wanted to talk to us about in the dead of the night, it has to be serious.
Problem is, I have no idea what the topic of discussion is about.
Dad walked ahead with Fang by his side. Vance and I followed silently behind with our starters and shared a look, only to find that the other party definitely has no idea on what this whole thing is about.
I decided to break the ice.
"Dad? What's wrong?"
"I have been thinking." Dad replied after a brief period of silence as he continued walking ahead. "I had wanted to put this off for as long as I could because you and Vance have too much on your plate as it is, but I realised that doing that is no different from running away from the incoming problems. My hesitance had nearly caused you to be killed by Courtney's garchomp. I won't make the same mistake twice. It's time the both of you learn for yourselves the true duty of the Vera house."
"The true duty of the Vera house?" Vance voiced out the questions in our heads with a puzzled look on his face.
"Our family crest. What does it look like?"
"A five-point star with an opened eye in the middle. Each point of the star has a word written next to it. It is our family's motto and values." I replied instinctively without missing a beat. "Care, Diligence, Honour, Respect, and…Duty…" I trailed off after reciting the last word.
"I remembered that you asked me once when you were still young, what the Duty part meant." I could not see as his back was facing me, but I can imagine a small smile breaking out on Dad's face. "You don't know how proud I was at that moment."
"So, uh, you are going to explain to us about that duty part now?" Vance asked in an uncertain manner. "Why wait until the dead of the night?"
"Because I don't want anyone else to see this no matter how small that chance might be. Not the workers working on the farm, and definitely not any outsiders if they somehow managed to catch a glimpse of it. Even your Mum had never entered the Sanctuary even if I had told her about it. If I have to go strictly by tradition, only the respective Heads of the Vera House are allowed entry to the Sanctuary. The members of the main family of the Vera house are allowed to know about its existence, but they also cannot enter unless given explicit permission by the Head of the Vera house. However, considering that we Veras consists of only four people now, I guess I can tweak the tradition a little."
"You are bringing us into the Sanctuary." I said without a thought. Sanctuary? What is it? I had never heard of such a place before that exists on our farm. Vance had always been the one slated to take over Dad as the next Head of the house, we all know that. I had accepted it too, since I have no wish to be the next Head of the house. I know that there will be secrets that will only be told to Vance but not me because of that, but I accepted it. But this? The Sanctuary? What is it?
"Correct. And we are already here."
I looked in front of me. There's no mistake. I had come here before many times even before I had met Flamel. After I had him, we spent a lot of time here too.
This is the great oak tree that Whiskers once made its home in. My grandfather's linoone had loved this place.
"Dad…"
"This is Whiskers' old home. Had it never occurred to you why Whiskers chose this place to make its burrow out of the many trees littering our farm?"
"I still don't see how this has any connection to our family's true duty." Vance said with a hint of confusion in his voice. "As far as I can tell, it is just a tree."
"A tree that Whiskers guarded until the end of his life. Arceus bless his soul." Dad said a quick prayer before turning to face us. "I never told you two that your grandfather had another pokemon, did I?"
"What?!"
Dad seemed to be extremely amused at the combined outburst given by me and Vance. Even Fang looked as if he is laughing at us from the way he is smiling.
"Your grandfather had a sceptile. An extremely strong sceptile at that. In fact, your sceptile is the offspring of your grandfather's sceptile." He directed the last part at Vance, who simply looked gobsmacked at the information dropped on him.
"Wait… what?"
"It is tradition for every member of the Vera house to receive a regional starter." Dad continued to explain as we crouched down and entered a hole that Whiskers had dug a long time ago between the large roots of the great oak tree. It is the entrance to where he had made his burrow and thankfully, it is just big enough for us to enter. Flamel struggled a little due to his larger size, but managed to enter the burrow nonetheless. The interior of the burrow is spacious enough for all of us to stand in the burrow without feeling cramped in the underground space.
"But you never gave me a treecko when I asked for it." Vance half-whined. "I had to sit for the stupid test to get one from Professor Birch."
"You would have gotten yourself one eventually if you actually bothered to wait. Vel got Bigblue, didn't she?" Dad replied dryly. "In any case, you got yourself one from the test. For us Veras, it doesn't matter how. As long as you received a Hoenn regional starter, that's when the duty of being a Vera started. It started late for me due to me trying to care for you two little hellions until you both are old enough to take care of yourselves, but every single one of us will raise a regional starter eventually. It is part of our duty to do so. I myself got Torch only a few years back."
"What exactly is this duty? It sounds like we have to do many things."
"It cannot really be put into words; it is something that I can only show you. If I have to summarise it, our duty is to guard and protect. As to what, let me show you. Fang, if you will."
Fang gave a bark of affirmation before he trotted to stand in front of a wall of the burrow.
And then an entrance opened, just like that. It is like something out of a fantasy movie.
"Secret Power. Interesting, right?" Dad said with amusement dancing in his eyes as he took in our jaw-dropped expressions.
"Wait, Fang knew how to use Secret Power all along?! Don't you need to register with the League for your pokemon knowing this move? After what happened in the Lilycove Invasion?"
"By all rights we should, but we had enough sway in the League to convince them that there is no need for our family to register ourselves. Perks of being a Vera, as I always say." Dad called back as he entered the hole Fang had opened up. "Come on, it's time to introduce the both of you to the members of the Sanctuary."
"Perks of being a Vera." I heard Vance muttered under his breath as he entered the hole after Dad and Fang. "Knowing how to use Secret Power, one of the most elusive pokemon moves in history and not needing to register with the League? A great perk indeed."
Yeah, a great perk indeed.
The interior of the Sanctuary is nothing like how I expected it to be. How should I put it?
To keep it simple, it is like having another world within the space that Fang had opened for us. The Sanctuary has its own skies, its own forests, its own climate, its own lakes and clearings. It actually reminds me of the Narnia movie that I had watched in my previous life, a different world the moment you stepped through that cabinet. I don't even want to start to think just how much power and proficiency in Secret Power is needed for the pokemon that first created a hidden world as great as this. To create an entirely different world this vast with just one pokemon move is definitely not an easy feat.
What I wasn't expecting in this world is the number of pokemon living in it.
Countless number of blazikens, sceptiles, and swamperts eyed us the moment we entered. They are everywhere. The trees, the ground, the waters. As far as my eyes can see, members of their evolutionary lines dotted the space that we are at. There are no other species of pokemon here, simply Hoenn's regional starters.
"How?"
"Officially, our farm only has 8 swamperts, 6 sceptiles, and 4 blazikens. A lie, of course, but a necessary one. The League knows we have way beyond that stated number, but they allowed it. This is the core of the Vera farm, the reason why this farm existed in the first place. It is to hide the Sanctuary and to guard it. The regional starters you see here have only one duty, and that is to guard the Sanctuary and the farm. They are the farm's private army."
"We… We can't possibly train so many mudkips, torchics, and treeckos into their final evolutionary form. We don't have the manpower, especially so if no one else other than you knew about the Sanctuary." I stated the facts I knew as my mind ran a mile a minute. "How did they all managed to evolve?"
"I will answer that question shortly." Dad replied patiently as a red blur jumped from one of the treetops and landed next to Dad with a loud thud. A blaziken looked at us with its sharp gaze and Macky rose partially out of Vance's shadows in response, probably mentally gauging its strength and deciding if Torch is a threat. A small part of my brain helpfully supplies the fact that this is probably Vance's and Macky's first meeting with Torch.
"As Vel already know, this is Torch, my blaziken." Dad said nonchalantly while Torch only gave a grunt of acknowledgement. "He doesn't like human contact all that much, so I let him out here to help maintain order in the Sanctuary most of the time. Now, since we are already here, release Bigblue and sceptile. Torch will guide us to the heart of the Sanctuary."
Wordlessly, Vance and I released our regional starters. The two of them perked up the moment they recognised where we are at. Bigblue's reaction to our location is all the confirmation I need that he had been here before.
Flamel gave a little whinny as I climbed onto his back and followed Dad and Torch. Vance and his pokemon followed by my side. The crowd of regional starters around us parted to allow us to walk through although that didn't stop them from watching us. Some in curiosity, some in caution.
It took a while, but Torch eventually led us to a humongous but hollowed out tree trunk. I had never seen anything as ancient looking as this other than the desert ruins in Route 111. It has a hole as large as a human adult for its entrance. Prior to this, I had no idea if growing a forest within the space created by Secret Power is possible, but seeing the sight in front of my eyes showed me that even the most bizarre of things does exist.
A large sceptile swung itself down from the trees above and landed right in front of us in a crouching position, eyeing us cautiously with the blades on its arms already lengthened. Even I shivered a little in its presence. The amount of power this sceptile is unconsciously emitting is unreal. Imagine the power it will unleash if it got hostile and decide to attack us.
"Blades, these are my children that I told you about. Vance, Vel, this is your grandfather's sceptile, Blades. Your grandfather may not have been a trainer, but he was no slouch in training his pokemon. Blades is also the current leader of the Sanctuary."
Vance's own sceptile did a little hiss of greeting at Blades, who simply cocked its head to a side and hiss a greeting in return. Blades eventually straighten itself to its full height once again and retracted the blades on its arms to its original length when it finally decided that we are not a threat.
"When Blades reach the end of its lifespan, Torch will take over the role as the leader of the Sanctuary. The position of leader is decided mainly based on two factors: whether the pokemon has the strength to be one and also whether it had been trained by a Vera. Going by this tradition, after Torch, it will be Vance's sceptile to takeover that role. Bigblue may be a possible candidate, but Vance is the next Head of the house, so sceptile's chances to be leader is a lot higher. Vel isn't a candidate for the next Head of the house and Bigblue is definitely not as strong as sceptile, so the chance of Bigblue becoming leader is slim."
"I'm still confused." I admitted. "I don't really have a clue on what's going on."
"Come on in, then I will start explaining." Dad gestured for us to follow him as he entered the huge hollowed out tree.
Even without any visible source of light, the interior of the tree is dimly lit with a slight greenish glow. There is a huge empty space within the tree trunk and there is only one object in there, right in the middle.
Just right on top of a small wooden altar that looks older than all of our ages combined, a stone of some sort sits on it. The stone's size is roughly the size of my bag. It looks like a fragment of a meteorite to me, but I cannot be too sure.
"How do I start to explain this?" Dad scratched the back of his head with a hand with a small hint of frustration. "Alright, maybe I should do it the way my father did to me." Dad mumbled to himself after taking a few seconds to decide the best course of action. He pointed a finger at the rock.
"Vance, Vel, meet jirachi."
Cue the silence and the stares of disbelief we sent in Dad's direction.
"You've got to be kidding me." Vance blurted out as he pointed to the rock. "That is jirachi?!"
"It is." Dad nodded his head to show us that we didn't hear him wrongly. "Jirachi only looks like a piece of rock right now because it is in a deep slumber. According to the legends, it is only supposed to be awake for seven days out of a thousand years. While it sleeps, a tough crystalline shell will cover it to protect it from enemies. I guess over the years its shell kind of dulled to make it look like a rock. That's just my guess though. Remember the eye in the middle of our family crest? Jirachi is said to have a third eye in the middle of its body. The design of our family crest is a reference to that."
"And why will jirachi be… here?" I asked in disbelief. "It could have chosen anywhere else to have its slumber, right? Why us? Why here?"
"It's a long story." Dad said as he gestured for us to sit on the ground with him. This is probably going to take a while. "It all started out a long, long time ago back during the warring states era, when the then Head of the house, Charlton Vera, found this rock which is in actuality, jirachi. Of course, he didn't know what it was back then, only that the rock was probably something very valuable. No matter how hard he tried, he just can't seem to break it, not even with his pokemon's help. It was then that he knew that he had stumbled onto something."
"People don't just stumble into legendary pokemon." Vance said as he tried to wrap his head around this information made known to him. "They hide from humans for a reason."
"If we want to be technical, jirachi is classified as a mythical pokemon and not a legendary." Dad said as he got into his lecture mode. "Mythical and legendary pokemon are different. While legendary pokemon are, well, legendary, mythical pokemon are merely a group of pokemon so rarely seen in the world that many people question their existence. Legendary pokemon are different. They are literal Gods. They are unique and there is only one of each of them. There can be more than one individual for a mythical, but there is always only one legendary pokemon of its species. Like how our world only have one groudon and one kyogre. Many people lumped mythical and legendary pokemon together under the label of 'legendary' simply because sightings of them are so rare. The fact that most mythical pokemon are just a small step down from a legendary pokemon in terms of strength is also why many people confused mythical and legendary pokemon as one and the same. There are mythical pokemon that are almost on the level of legendary, like the darkrai species, but ultimately the darkrai species are not legendary pokemon. But I digress."
Dad made sure that he had our attention before he continued his story about our family's history.
"The rock was left forgotten until the person who would be our very first Hoenn Champion, Shozo Oshin, came to our family. Remember, it was during the pre-PWL era at that point in time. War was commonplace and there was no semblance of peace. Champion Shozo seeked our family's help to join them. Charlton agreed."
"Why did Champion Shozo need our help specifically?" I asked in puzzlement. "He could have asked anybody else."
"Even back then, our family was wealthy and we hail from a long line of established pokemon breeders. Charlton was the first official Head of the Vera house in Hoenn's record, but he wasn't the one who founded the Vera family. That part of our family history prior to Charlton had been lost to time." Dad said as he shifted a little to allow Fang to rest his head on his lap. "Our family had always been good with pokemon. We have the knowledge and the natural talent to be able to befriend and tame them with or without a pokeball. We know what makes them tick, what we need to do to gain their trust. That is a scary power to be found in an individual. Remember, this took place more than 500 years ago. Pokeballs back then were very expensive, and the knowledge on how to craft one was a tightly guarded secret. Not everyone can afford a pokeball, only the truly rich and influential can. Even for our family at that time, only the main family were allowed to possess pokeballs. Back then, having a pokemon by your side is a sign of power, a statement of your strength. The more pokemon you have and the stronger they are, the more highly regarded you will be. We Veras numbered close to a hundred during the warring states. Imagine a tightly knitted group of individuals having that kind of power in an era where pokeballs were hardly seen or used. Our family had at least a hundred people, and every single one of them is able to befriend pokemon as easy as breathing when the average human at that time could only manage to fully tame a pokemon or two in their lifetime. How strong was our family compared to the rest of the world? How valuable was our family's strength to Champion Shozo? Think about it."
"Ok, I get that part." Vance nodded his head slowly. "And how does it lead us to where we are now?"
"The rest is history." Dad said as he stroked Fang's fur with one hand as the massive canine closed his eyes to take a quick nap. "With our family's support together with a few other influential families, Champion Shozo won the war and unite the whole of Hoenn under one single flag. Champion Shozo was fighting for unification and peace, an ideal that our family believed in. It was the reason why we supported his cause. The Stones did as well, so did the Draconids, and many other families whose names were lost to time and had gone extinct one way or another. 500 hundred years is a long time after all. As far as I know, we three families are the only ones who are left. The rest had faded into history somehow, including the family that was supposed to guard the orbs that was meant to control groudon and kyogre."
"You knew." I said in growing realisation. "You knew about the orbs all along."
"Along with other things that I probably shouldn't know." Dad admitted. "Each of us noble families are tasked to protect something that is crucial to Hoenn's safety. That is the true duty of the noble families. I know what each family is guarding just as they know what we are all tasked to protect, but that's it. That is the extent of the knowledge we know about each other's secret. Our respective Heads all agreed at that time that sharing anymore information with each other will be too dangerous if a leak somehow happened. Look at Lilycove. Team Aqua somehow got wind of an inkling of the orbs' location and looked at what had resulted from the mess. The Geist family had disappeared more than a century ago, they were supposed to be the ones guarding the orbs. No one knew the location of the orbs after the last of them passed away, so we can only assume that the orbs were placed at somewhere safe. But nowhere is truly safe to protect Hoenn's secrets unless there is a group of people that can be trusted to protect it. That's us, the ancient and noble families. This is our duty. We are crucial to Hoenn's continued peace and safety. We have to uphold the peace in Hoenn at all costs and to protect its secrets from falling into the wrong hands. At the same time, we cannot abuse the power we have. This is the duty and burden passed down to us from our ancestors."
"And our duty is to protect jirachi?" I asked with my throat feeling a little dry at the revelation and the implication of what he just told us. Anything to do with legendary or mythical pokemon is no small matter.
"Yes." Dad answered. "Shortly after the war ended, with Champion Shozo and the other Heads of the family around to help, it didn't take them long to figure out that the rock Charlton found was jirachi. Upon discussion with Champion Shozo and the Heads of the other noble families, they came up with this Guardian System, where each of the founding families will be tasked to protect one of Hoenn's vital secrets. How they go about doing it is up to them, but they all agreed that secrecy is of the utmost importance when it comes to dealing with legendary and mythical pokemon making their home in Hoenn. The way each family chooses to guard their secrets is only privy to their own members. Nothing is to be recorded about the discussion, everything they knew can only be passed down by word of mouth from the current Head of the family to the next. The same goes for our Regional Champion. Steven will learn of it in time, although he already would have known most of it as the next Head of the Stone family. His family is guarding another vital secret for as long as we have, the key to awakening the legendary titans."
"Why couldn't we just… destroy the secrets?" Vance asked. "The best way to keep secrets is to make sure no traces of it can be found, right?"
"And what if we ever need the powers of the various legendary and mythical pokemon that called Hoenn their home?" Dad directed another question to Vance. "Like fighting a war with the other regions? We know for a fact that Johto is able to call upon their legendary beasts in their time of need. Unova are able to control their forces of nature trio to a certain extent. Hoenn needs the same kind of firepower to protect itself from such a calamity. Discounting jirachi, we only have the weather trio, the legendary titans, and the eon duo. Groudon and Kyogre are near uncontrollable when the Geist family had gone extinct. They don't take orders from anyone that is not a Geist. The Draconids are guarding Rayquaza, but the sky dragon stays up in the stratosphere most of the time and rarely comes down. The legendary titans want nothing more than to remain in their slumber. The eon duo doesn't stay at a fixed place, and you can maybe only spot them once or twice every century. Who else is able to help protect Hoenn in our times of need? We need to have a way to find or summon them if the worst comes to pass. They are our last resort to protect Hoenn."
"To think that every region has a way to summon their regional legendaries or mythical pokemon... if a world war does break out…" I muttered darkly under my breath. I don't even want to think about the damage that will be wrought upon the world.
"It will be the end of the world. But that's what you are trying to prevent, Vel. If it means helping to uphold the peace and security of Hoenn, then we noble families have a duty to help you. Everyone is in on this, you are not alone." Dad reassured me as he places a hand on my shoulder. "I had managed to finally come into contact with the elusive Draconids, they are also helping in their own way."
"So this Sanctuary, it is the way our ancestors devised to help guard jirachi?" Vance asked upon understanding the train of thoughts our ancestors took.
"Our families are the only ones who were able to properly tame the regional starters even as far back as 500 years ago." Dad recounted the story told to him by our grandfather. "Their species hold untold power among the pokemon in our region. If trained right, each of them can be an unstoppable force individually. Our transactions with the League are not just purely business in nature. As part of the agreement our family had with Champion Shozo to bolster Hoenn's military strength, we will help Hoenn tame our regional starters and give them out to promising trainers. We will also provide pokemon from our farm to the League regularly so that our region's pokemon army will never run dry."
"And the regional starters just… accepted that?" I asked as I glanced back to Bigblue, who is resting next to me.
"Jirachi is too critical an asset to be left unprotected. It is something that the regional starters understand, and they too don't want to have their homes destroyed simply because jirachi's power was misused. 500 years back, the regional starters took an oath to help us Veras protect jirachi and we took an oath to help protect them in return. I have no idea how Charlton convinced them to do so, but the regional starters had kindly agreed to lend us their strength to help protect one of Hoenn's greatest secrets, jirachi. Jirachi's powers can be devastating, especially so when it has the ability to grant any wish at the peak of its power. Its existence must be kept a secret and it absolutely must be guarded with the highest level of security we can provide. That was the reason why we built our farm in Petalburg when our family settled down in Hoenn permanently, where there is enough land for us to build a farm as large as ours. It was why the League stationed a Gym Leader here when we first founded the region, so that he or she can help us if we ever need it together with the gym trainers. All of these arrangements were done so that we can have a private army on the farm that is strong and large enough dedicated to protecting jirachi, with equally strong trainers from the gym to help us if things ever got that bad. But like Vel had pointed out earlier, it is impossible to train so many of the regional starters with the amount of manpower we have. For secrecy sake, Charlton had also decreed that only the main family can freely enter and exit the Sanctuary. If only the main family are able to enter the Sanctuary, how do we go about training their species up to snuff to help protect jirachi?"
"T-The sponsored trainers." I croaked out the moment the realisation hit me like a speeding train. "There are always a few sets of Hoenn regional starters given out to sponsored trainers every year, who must be Hoenn locals to qualify for the sponsorship. Assuming the average number of starters given out every year is about six, and multiply it by about 500 years, we would have trained 3,000 starters throughout these 500 years. Of course, deducting the pokemon who have passed away from old age or whatever reasons, at the bare minimum, we would at least have a hundred fully evolved and trained regional starters hiding on our farm to guard jirachi. Considering their species' individual firepower and multiply it by a hundred, even an army would be hard pressed to take them on. This is not considering the other pokemon that we have on our farm. But how did we take back the regional starters that we had given out in the first place?"
"A legal agreement." Vance spoke out softly as his sceptile did a soft hiss behind him. "When I first received sceptile as treecko, I had to sign an agreement similar to what the other sponsored trainers did to be able to even receive him. I remember the terms on the contract. Upon my death, sceptile would be returned to the farm for "security purposes" and also to ensure that there are enough regional starters left to breed, to ensure the continuity of their species. I didn't pay it much mind back then, because I am a Vera and I would take over the farm someday, so that particular clause wouldn't affect me. But for the other trainers, it would have an impact. When their regional starters returned to us back to the farm, they would be fully trained. They will be ready to help defend the farm if the need ever arises. This is the method our ancestors had secretly came up with to help safeguard jirachi. If we cannot train them ourselves, we get somebody to help us with the job."
Dad gave us a soft smile.
"You two got it in one. I'm proud to call the both of you my children." Dad said with pride as he looked at the both of us, who are still shaken at the severity of the true duty that our family was burdened with since the founding of Hoenn. "This is not an easy responsibility to bear, but someone has to do it. I don't know if other regions use the same Guardian System as we do, but frankly that is none of our business. We don't know for sure when jirachi will awaken, but based on our best estimates, it will probably be sometime during your generation. I might still be here when it happens, or maybe I won't. I don't know for sure since no one has kept any proper records on when jirachi was last awake. All I know now is an estimate of when it might wake up."
"And what do we do if it ever wakes up?"
"Protect it for the seven days when it is awake, for it will be when jirachi is at its most vulnerable." Dad replied in a heartbeat. "Anyone with nefarious thoughts who got wind of jirachi being awake will stop at nothing to have their wish being granted. It is our job to prevent that from happening. That job will fall on your shoulders, Vance."
"I know. I will make sure I am ready when that day arrives." Vance made a promise as he glanced back towards the rock. We still have trouble believing that right beneath that layer of stone lies a sleeping mythical pokemon, but we have to accept the fact as it is.
After a short while, Vance spoke up again.
"Did jirachi, like, grant any wish before? Even in its slumber? I mean, usually a powerful pokemon will be leaking its powers everywhere, right? Just look at Blades. Maybe jirachi had accidentally granted a wish or two even in this state? Or maybe we get some special treatment from jirachi as thanks since we had been guarding it for centuries?"
"Well, I'm not entirely sure about this." Dad said as he scratched his chin. "A few years after you were born, your Mum and I do want a second child and we wanted a girl. We jokingly said that we might as well make a wish to jirachi to grant us one. It was supposed to be a joke, since jirachi is supposed to be asleep and unable to hear anything. Then, about two months later, your Mum found herself pregnant with Vel. We got ourselves a girl."
"You mean I am the by-product of a wish?!" My voice raised a few octaves higher at this revelation. Like, come on! Don't tell me this is how I came to be here!
"Woah, calm down, Vel. Your Mum and I honestly think that this is just a coincidence. There's no way jirachi is involved in your, uh, making. You were... 100% naturally conceived. It's not like our ancestors haven't tried experimenting if jirachi is able to grant wishes even in its slumber. None of their wishes came true, even the very minor ones. We are almost certain that jirachi is unable to grant any wish in its slumber."
I cast Dad a sceptical look. I don't know how exactly I came to be here and I have stopped questioning it a long time ago, but talking about jirachi of all things opens up many more possibilities that I haven't thought to explore before. If my reason for being reincarnated here was because Dad and Mum wished for a daughter and jirachi just so conveniently happens to be in our farm…
Honestly, it doesn't matter how I came to be here. I'm glad I came. I'm glad that I am able to live a second life with such a loving family. Whether jirachi was involved or not shouldn't matter to me.
I will just live my life exactly how I want it to be.
"I think the two of you are strong and mature enough to be entrusted with these." Dad spoke up as he handed us a stone each. A Mega Stone each.
"That is a swampertite and a sceptilite. I myself hold a blazikenite. Our family are allowed to hold these three Mega Stones because we are the ones that has the deepest connection with Hoenn's regional starters. The stones have been with us since before Hoenn's founding, passed down from one Head of the house to the next. Vance already knew how to invoke Mega Evolution from his time in ACE, and I already taught Vel how to properly use this power. All you need to do now is to train yourself and your regional starter how to use this power to its fullest extent. Your own regional starter would probably know a thing or two about Mega Evolution. It will make the process easier."
Bigblue let out a low rumble from his throat beside me as I let him hold onto the swampertite. He took it gently from me, looking at the object as if worshipping its very presence.
"Fang and I will get you two started on helping your starters to learn Secret Power tomorrow morning. It's easy to learn, so I expect Flamel and Macky to be done by lunchtime. All they need to practice in is the speed in using it, how to open existing space, and how vast they are able to create the space. Other than that, there's nothing particularly hard in learning Secret Power. Remember, only your own starter and regional starter are able to learn this move. I don't want you two to go about teaching every pokemon on your team Secret Power or for any of your pokemon learning this move from Flamel, Macky, Bigblue, or sceptile. Secret Power itself is supposed to be a guarded secret. Things will go awry if the trick behind learning Secret Power somehow gets out since we cannot control what our pokemon does after our deaths. The lesser who knows the trick behind Secret Power, the better. Make sure your team knows about this. Make it an explicit order if you have to."
"Even I will learn how to teach Secret Power to pokemon?" I asked in slight hesitation. "I'm not the next Head of the house, is that alright?"
"There is only four of us left now, Vel." Dad said in reply. "There's no longer any point in distinguishing between the next Head of the house and you since it is just Vance and you left in running the farm and guarding jirachi. Don't concern yourself too much with our family tradition, some traditions are meant to be broken if we want to move past obsolete rules put in place during a time so different from ours."
Dad stood up and dusted himself as Torch and Fang stood by his side. He waved to Blades, who hissed something back before jumping back to the treetops and disappeared from view.
"I think the both of you probably have a lot to think about and digest. Let's head back for now, we can revisit this topic some other day when your minds are clearer."
I took one last look at jirachi before I left, who still looks like a piece of metallic rock no matter how I view it. What Dad casually told me about he and Mum made a wish as some sort of cosmic joke about having a daughter sparked a memory in me.
I remembered that my sickness suddenly got better in a single night when I was nine years old. There was no reason as to why, even the doctors were baffled by my sudden improved health. They were unable to offer any explanations. I remembered the day when I was suddenly free of the frequent coughing that plagued me. I remembered just the night before, I was grumbling to myself how I wished for a healthier body as I coughed myself to sleep. I never forgot about it, because I have no idea why my illness suddenly got better even if this is my own body that we are talking about.
I have no concrete proof, but I have a feeling that jirachi is behind it. Dad said that our family had tried for a long time to check if jirachi has the power to grant wishes even in its slumber and they are sure that it does not have the ability. Is that really true? Is my sudden improved health when I was nine a sign that jirachi is awakening soon? How soon? Weeks? Months? Years? Decades? Dad did say that jirachi is estimated to awaken within my and Vance's generation. It will happen eventually.
If jirachi was indeed the reason behind my sudden improved health, if even my small grumbling of a wish was somehow granted even if I have no idea how jirachi heard my wish in its slumber, then I cannot begin to imagine just how devastating it will be if someone wishes for the end of the world using jirachi's powers when it is fully awakened. According to the legends that I know of, jirachi's powers grow stronger the closer to the day of its awakening. The scope of the wish, the type of wish it can grant, and to what extent can the wish be fulfilled depends on how much power jirachi currently has. My illness wasn't completely cured, but it was improved so much that I was able to stay outdoors and eventually able to travel by myself. My illness was supposed to be incurable, a fact that remains true to this day, but the fact that my condition had improved drastically in a single night without any explainable reason suggested that an external force was at work.
Now that I know of its existence, I believe jirachi is the external force. It was the one helping me with my wish with what limited powers it currently has. Whether it was by choice or accident I wouldn't know, but I am grateful to it if it was indeed the one helping me with my sickness.
It still doesn't change the fact that Jirachi's awakening feels like an ill omen, like a sense of foreboding especially when you consider the contents of the prophecy that we are supposed to fight against. The end of the world can be realised in many ways, and my family is tasked to protect one such way to ensure that jirachi won't be the reason for the destruction of the world that we know. We cannot allow jirachi to fall into the wrong hands.
Like Dad had reiterated many times, we will have to protect jirachi at all costs. That is our duty as members of the Vera house.