"You're lucky you didn't break any bones, but please watch that concussion," Lucian says.

Luce nods. His limbs all ached, but he only had bruises and scratches. It hurt all over to move around, but it's about as bad as muscle pains after a horrid day, so it's not bad enough to warrant bedrest.

Lopunny squints at him as he walks. Monferno is staring skeptically, and Togepi's got the exact same expression on him. The monkey's imprinting on him, he thought amusedly.

Luce crouches down, patting Ralts gratefully on the head. He doesn't have words to give, but Ralts' feeler gleamed, so he understands that he's gotten his feelings loud and clear.

Now, if he's going to give him to Barry, he'll need a name.

It'd be weird if Luce gave it a name in his own theme... but he's not familiar enough with military titles to confidently give Ralts one that's fitting. But Barry won't be able to change nicknames once the Pokemon change hands, so it'll have to be good.

Luce spends an embarrassingly long amount of time scribbling and rethinking names in his notepad with Lucian. Lucian chortles at some of his suggestions, but they eventually end up with one that Ralts was satisfied with.

He keeps the Shiny Ralts in a Poke Ball, and boots up the Pokemon Transfer system.

The nation's power was back on, which meant that now was the best time to do this. By putting up a Pokemon on hold for Barry in the Center's records, Ralts would be sent to whichever Pokemon Center Barry registers next.

"Alright. Now that's done with," Lucian says. "Now to officially fix the Psyduck problem!"

-

Apparently, they lost contact with Roy around Route 209.

Luce is flabbergasted, honestly. They were thinking he got assaulted by Galactic grunts on the way, or that he'd gotten lost, or anything equally incriminating— but all those worries were for naught.

Roy's asleep by the Hallowed Tower.

No no, let's rephrase that.

There's a nest of Bibarel and Bidoofs by the Hallowed Tower, where the occasional Bonsly and Roselia have taken to reside around, filling the area with comfortable grass bedding. And in the middle of that warm cuddle pile is young man Roy himself, sleeping soundly with a Bidoof in his arms, hugged like a plush toy.

They are all wild Pokemon.

That is not natural, and yet, somehow or the other, this was a human being that the Pokemon have deemed comforting enough to build a sleeping area around. It just isn't— logical. How on earth is this happening?

"...what am I looking at?" Lucian asks.

Luce is devastated to hear that this is equally baffling for him, too. Whoever the hell Roy is, he's a Pokemon Whisperer and Luce is very afraid of the power he holds.

"Hmm...?" Roy rouses, yawning and stretching, somehow not bothering the Bidoof around him or the Bibarel he was using as a pillow as he rolls around. "Okay, I guess I fell asleep again. Oh hi, Luce."

He stands up, dusting himself off, before lightly slapping himself on both cheeks to wake himself up. Then he reaches for his bag and beams a thousand watts, depositing a pouch into Luce's hands.

"Here's the SecretPotion for the Psyducks!"

-

From there, they need to gather the Psyducks, and slowly return them to their owners. Lucian and Roy will have to stay and handle that with the Officers, which leaves Luce to the problem of just staring into the mountain of now-cured Psyducks trying to figure out where Doozy is.

Not for the first time, he curses his inability to speak.

Beside him, Monferno takes a deep breath. Lopunny takes a lungfull too. Togepi looks between them and then imitates. Duskull is asleep, though.

And all at once, the three of them start hollering , loud and rambunctious and incoherent babbles of their species name.

Luce yelps when they start shouting, stumbling from the loud volume and landing in a seated position. He has no idea what they're up to, and the entire crowd of people and Psyducks are staring at them in disbelief.

Monferno starts sounding angry at some point, and Lopunny starts sounding sarcastic. Togepi keeps the exact same monotonous intonation for about five times before he gets tired, spends ten seconds catching his breath, and does it all over again.

People turn to look at them, and Luce squirms at the attention— but he couldn't help but look upon his Pokemon and try his best not to cry in joy.

(He didn't need a voice if he had his Pokemon by his side.)

Monferno rushes forward, and Luce lifts his head to follow. In the congested crowd of Psyducks in the distance, just one of them was hurrying toward him. She cries, stumbling over her feet and rolling heel over bill over topsy turn and again, earning a yelp from literally every creature in the vicinity.

She finally stops rolling as her forehead harshly collides against a stone.

The new injury on her head swells into a bump.

Then she starts bawling. Very loudly. Sending psychic waves flying everywhere, the entire vicinity of people screaming out in alarm as she starts off a crying chain reaction across every other Psyduck. The Confusion field expands slowly, and people start yelling out in alarm.

"Oh no! Everyone run!" the farmers yell.

"Everyone get out before you're trapped in with it! OUT OUT OUT!"

"Leave the Psyducks, you're just bringing the problem with you!"

"AAAHHH There are invisible walls everywhere! I can't move! HELP!"

Doozy, the problematic little Psyduck brat, toddles toward Luce, sobbing and asking for pampering. Monferno and Lopunny are loudly chewing her out for a whole variety of things, and Togepi sighs. Duskull is thriving in the chaos.

Luce watches the mayhem spread, and he bursts out laughing right then and there.

-

"You're Lucas, I see," the Nurse Joy beams, when he sends the Ralts off. "You actually have a Pokemon on hold as well. It's from Platina Dawnes, if you would like to receive it?"

Luce brightens immediately.

"[Dear Luce,]" he reads from the Grass Mail that came attached, "[I found a cool Pokemon in the Grand Underground. He's a grouch, just like Barry. You'll love him. His name's Maverick!]"

-

-

-

"You're writing mail?" Thorton asks, brow raised.

"None of your business," Barry scoffs, scribbling his name at the end of the Bubble Mail. He seals it, bonking the blue Shellos on the head. "Do not eat it. Do not, I swear. I will put bitter powder on it if that's what it takes."

He waves around a packet of Heal Powder, and Shellos grimaces. It obediently takes the mail, tucking it under its chin before returning to the Poke Ball.

Barry rubs it under the chin, smiling. Ponyta comes by, whining for attention, and Barry reaches over to give it a good rub. This leads to Munchlax coming by, trying to climb onto his lap, and Prinplup being very quiet behind him, tugging at the edge of his shirt. Staravia's on his head, not very needy, but enjoying its perch.

"I only have two hands, guys," Barry says. They whine, growling at each other.

Thorton watches the sight, mildly impressed. "In this regard, he's just like Palmer," he mutters, unheard by Barry.

It's late at night. The efforts to resettle the Great Marsh is still going on, so no one can quite feel at ease just yet.

Barry sighs, looking toward the living room, where Anabel was sleeping on the couch. Looker had taken the bed, since the boys weren't using it as arranged.

"So? How's the device?" Barry turns to Thorton.

The detonator is disassembled, and Thorton frowns. Laid out in the corners of the desk was Thorton's wave reading sensors, and Barry's Vs Recorder, including the now-removed listening device.

"How do I say this... it's very well made," Thorton says, inspecting the parts. "Whoever designed this, he's an engineering genius. If only I could have seen the bomb myself, I would have a field day just taking it apart just trying to figure it out."

"So, nothing concrete?"

"Actually, one thing," Thorton says. "Or a few, to be specific."

The parts— from the screws, to the plating, to the wiring's plastic coating— they all had serial numbers, maker signatures, and other information. Of course they did— there was no way this was all made in the same building. The parts were ordered elsewhere, the design concocted someplace else, and assembled in the Galactic Building, where the main experiments went on.

"I'll need to have a word with the owner of Fuego Ironworks," Thorton says.

Barry tries to recall the map. "It's near Valley Windworks, so I'm not beyond thinking they've gotten raided and coerced."

The two of them look at each other. And then, they turned toward Looker and Anabel. Neither had roused yet.

It's currently 1:01 in the morning.

-

Barry pulls on the wind goggles when Thorton hands it to him.

They drop the Shellos off at the Pokemon Center, and hightail it out of there.

Barry wasn't very comfortable flying on a Crobat, but alas, it was surprisingly soothing to bury his face in purple fur. Thorton lay down beside him, and they held onto one horn each as Crobat soared over the Sinnoh skyline toward Floaroma. It's a tight fit, but with the wind as it was, it was better to have more to lean onto.

"I have a few more concerns," Thorton says.

"Master Wake will be busy for a while, so he won't notice! And Looker can be worried. That asshole deserves the anxiety."

"Not just him, but that lady known as Anabel, as well," Thorton tells him. "It might just be my imagination, but I can't quite figure it out. I feel I've seen her before."

Barry raises a brow at that. "Maybe you've seen her when she was working? She's Interpol, after all. I think they go around."

Thorton hums. "Perhaps."

Sinnoh at midnight was hollow. They soared over the shallows of Mount Coronet, seeing the world in the nightlife. Most of East Sinnoh was bright by now, but other parts were still dark and waiting for the return of electricity to their towns.

They make their way back to West Sinnoh, soaring past Cycling Road, down toward Eterna, and straight into Floaroma.

Barry felt windswept.

"Never taken a high-speed flight before?" Thorton asks, returning Crobat to its Poke Ball. The whole journey took a little less than ten minutes. "Motion sick?"

"I've ridden Captain Hawk before," Barry peels off the goggles, resting them on his head.

Thorton hums. "Palmer's Staraptor, huh? She's unnaturally gentle toward children, so I reckon she went easy on you."

"I think so too..."

The short trek to Fuego Ironworks is haunting. It probably isn't a good idea to visit so late at night, but what else were two impatient boys with the inability to stay still for longer than five minutes supposed to do, wait until sunrise?'

"Oh! It's Big Brother Barry!"

Barry pauses, staring confusedly down at the little girl that pops out of the bushes. She's little and adorable, and holding a flashlight that she'd just turned on to beam at her face. Barry is very concerned about the fact that a young girl is out and about at this hour, in such an isolated area.

"How is Big Brother Lucy doing?"

And now he remembers who she is.

"You're the daughter of the guy Luce saved!" he exclaims. The owner of the Valley Windworks, or something? "The Honey Tree girl!"

Thorton raises a brow at that, but Barry crouches down to high-five her. She cheers, high-fiving back.

"I get it now. You've snuck out to check Honey Trees again, haven't you? You're a rascal!" Barry grins. The girl only snickers mischievously.

"It's okay. The Combee here will look after me," she says, with full confidence. Unbeknownst to Barry, Thorton has seen something in the darkness and his face goes three shades paler.

Thorton is standing very straight. And horrified. From the shadows, a Vespiquen is staring him down, non-verbally but very clearly threatening some grievous bodily harm if any trouble were to come to the little girl.

(Holy shit. This girl isn't joking when she says the Combee will look after her. She's their favorite little sweetheart now, since she probably feeds the Honey Trees often enough to be acquainted with every Pokemon in the general vicinity.)

"So? What's Big Brother Barry doing here today? Did you find something cool to show me?"

"Oh, I certainly did!" Barry beams, "I'll show you Major, a Munchlax, here—"

He's interrupted when Thorton loudly clears his throat. He desperately wants to get this job over with immediately before Vespiquen changes her mind. Barry freezes, remembering their original agenda.

"Right. I'll show it to you later. First, do you know where Fuego Ironworks is? And if anything strange's been happening around it recently?"

-

"So he's been stuck in there for how long exactly?"

"Dunno," says the little girl, from Barry's shoulder. "Papa says I shouldn't come here cause it's dangerous, so no one's been here ever since the Windworks got attacked."

"...is that man alright?"

From the second floor window, the man in question hollers, "don't worry, I'm a hoarder! I've got plenty of canned food! And there's a lavatory in here!"

"Well, that's a relief," Barry says. "So we just gotta find our way in there to the switch?"

"Yeah! Sorry for the trouble!"

Barry grimaces. He's usually the first puzzle-breaker you'll find, but not right now, he's not in the mood. It seems neither was Thorton, because his Magnezone is pressed up against the main generator of the building.

A loud, explosive zap later, the entire building shuts down.

"There, the power's cut," Thorton says. "Now we can walk in normally."

Barry questions the ethics of violently blowing a building's power generator for convenience. They don't have to pay for it, right? Right...?

-

They obtain Fuego Ironworks' contracts, bills, and succeeding paperwork with Team Galactic. (And a Star Piece and Flamethrower TM after they raided the place and ran off with anything valuable the owner didn't want.) They sift through the information while partaking in a hearty meal of Honey Toast and warm tea at the cafe.

The little girl plays patty cake with Barry's Munchlax while this goes on. The Ironworks owner is taking a much-needed bath at home.

"I guess Veilstone's their base of operations," Thorton says, gesturing toward the signature at the end, stating Cyrus to be the Chief Executive Officer of Galactic Veilstone Building. "Wanna go?"

"Nah, I wanna train with Master Wake first," Barry says. It's better to have a calculated attack on that building rather than charging in alone. "Plus, the Great Marsh probably needs help settling back in with the enraged Pokemon."

"You gonna fill up your team?"

"That too, but I don't know what fits."

Thorton frowns at that, taking out his device, fervently keying in a whole score of data with one hand before handing it off to Barry.

"Look," he says, leaning in, "your team is very different from Palmer's for one reason— your team's not balanced. You focus generally on one thing— fervently attacking. Your Prinplup is the only odd one out, but that's not uncommon for Water types. I'd say, once it evolves and gains the Steel typing, he'll fit right in with the rest."

All of his Pokemon excelled in Physical stats, except his starter. It's not a big deal, but the imbalance made his team hard to figure out.

"So you've got two choices—" Thorton raises two fingers. "You've got plenty of defense and endurance. So you have to find more Special Attackers and Speedsters to even the curve... or you go all out, and make a hyper-physical team."

Barry hears that suggestion and laughs.

"Of course, as my dad always says..." he winds up an arm, and declares, louder than necessary with all the vigor of Palmer on an enthusiastic start of the day. "Make certain all your attacks hit! Avoid enemy attacks for sure! You do that, you'd never lose! You'd be the invincible Trainer!"

Thorton stares at him, flabbergasted, having traumatic flashbacks. "...you sound like Palmer," he says, very dryly.

"Of course I do!" Barry says, huffing, arms crossed. "But that's my answer."

He may be the smarter of the group, but that's exactly why he doesn't want to complicate things.

Thorton sighs, fond.

"Alright, in that case," he says, "you can't go wrong with Fighting and..." he looks toward the motley little team. "Poison. Can't forget coverage. Let's go back to the Great Marsh, I have just the perfect suggestion for you."

-

"Oh, Blair, is it?" Nurse Joy greets, when they put in his Pokemon for Healing at Pastoria Pokemon Center. "You've got a Pokemon on hold, from one Lucas Diance."

Barry blinks in surprise. The Nurse Joy picks up the tray, where a single Poke Ball laid warm and rested. Barry couldn't help but bloom when he saw what was in the Poke Ball.

Thorton looks at it and he's genuinely baffled.

"They say best friends think alike, but this is just ridiculous," he says. "Just when you've sent another one out, too. Are you three mind-readers? Is this a special unrevealed ability of Pokedex Holders that no one's ever heard of?"

Barry releases the Shiny Ralts, catching it in his arms. There's a Flame Mail in its hand, and Prinplup takes it first, because Barry's hands are too busy trying to cuddle. Prinplup opens it and holds it up to be read.

"Oh! Good news everyone! Luce found Doozy!" he beams.

Ralts cheers with the squad, its horn gleaming in a shared jubilee.

Barry reads on. "I'm glad he's doing alright... ah. So Luce named you Knight!" he beams, holding up the Ralts to meet it in the eyes. "Nice to meet you, little one! Welcome to the team!"

-

"You're sleeping in too much!" Looker yells, at nine in the morning. "People start their days at seven in this country, you oughta step up, children!"

Barry and Thorton groan sleepily, whining into each other on the bed.

"One more hour..."

"Absolutely not! You're young and able! UP!"

"Noooo."

"Wait a second, there's a new face!" Looker gawks at the Shiny Ralts that walks up to him, happily greeting, "it's a different colour! Where did it come from?!"

"Gift from heaven," Barry murmurs, pulling the Ralts over to his chest and rolling over for more sleep. The Ralts giggles, squirming playfully. "Came here on a Poke Ball rocket."

"...that explains nothing. WAKE UP! You've slept for long enough!"

"Bwzeeep! YOU have slept long enough!" Thorton yells, "we have not! We had to take a round trip to Floaroma! We require rest!"

"YOU WHAT?!"

"Oh wait yike we weren't supposed to tell you that."

-

-

-

Meanwhile, in another part of Sinnoh, Dawn picks up Shellos and squeals , absolutely thrilled.

"DAD BARRY SENT ME A BLUE SLUG!"

Tea choking noises ensued.

"IT'S SO CUTE LOOK LOOK LOOK"

She raises it over her head enthusiastically. Darach is looking respectfully, Caitlyn is exhausted, and Professor Rowan is hunched over in laughter. Professor Dawnes is still trying to recover from his coughing fit.

"It's also shiny!"