A/N: I must apologize in advance. We have started packing and cleaning for our move across the country, and I recently found out that my new job will be starting sooner than expected. We have about three weeks to pack and clean everything, and I'm still working full time until the 23rd. I will keep writing when I can, but I'm putting a pause on releasing until after we get situated. Please, wish me luck with the packing. We're driving from Connecticut back to California.
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At the end of Connecting Cave was the Muraille Coast, where we were greeted by a beautiful view of the beach and ocean. Well, we should have been greeted by the view.
Instead, we bumped into a League Agent. I was so blinded from spending nearly four days in the dark cave system that I didn't immediately notice the other dozen or so League agents waiting for us under a tent. Officer Jenny was slightly further out as she dealt with the Trainers trying to get to Connecting Cave.
"All of this because I didn't let Swinub out?" Alex asked incredulously, staring at the commotion.
"No," I heard a gruff voice from off to the side. We turned to see…
"Tierno?" I asked.
"The one and only."
It was a dumb question. Tierno, one of Calem's friends in the games, looked exactly how I pictured him. He wore the same black Vanillite t-shirt, orange long shorts, and spiky man bun, except now he sported some serious five o'clock shadow. He seemed slimmer from the games, but his muscular frame was far from lean. I heard Alex grumble something about muscle heads, but I quickly tuned him out when Tierno spoke.
"Man, what do they feed new Trainers now?" he questioned me, rubbing his chin with a hand. "It took me like three years to get this bod."
"It took me nearly five years of weightlifting to get to a four-fifty squat, man," I said, holding a hand out. He nodded approvingly before clasping my forearm tightly. I returned the respect, grasping his forearm tightly as well.
After letting go, we both turned to Alex, only to see him in handcuffs and on Officer Jenny's motorcycle.
"I heard about him from Sycamore," Tierno commented, the bass in his voice reverberating through me. "It's always sad to see the cycles of trauma continue to damage relationships among humans and Pokémon. I'm glad Swinub was able to stay with you."
"Yeah, me too," I replied, sighing. "I haven't known him long, but he can be pretty obstinate when he wants to. That's why the name Boaris fits so well."
Tierno laughed a deep, throaty laugh. "Oh, I love a good nickname. You should take him to the Name Rater back in Camphrier before Shaymin's Rest. He refuses to hold nickname competitions during the autumn and winter months."
"Noted," I responded with a smile. It slowly faded as I looked at all of the League agents. "What's with the League activity?"
Tierno's chuckling stopped and his demeanor flipped instantly. "Team Flux," he answered, his tone void of the warmth and amusement present just a second ago. "After you dealt with them on Route 5 and Route 7, the League stopped messing around. Interpol called in everyone and used the Regional Safety Treaty to get permission to go through all League personnel's minds with one of Professor Oak's Psychic Pokémon. They were also able to rally the Kalos government to help them since the child you tried to save was a government official's daughter. It's been a chaotic time, Marco.
"And then, just two days ago, we got reports of Team Flux been sighted in Connecting Cave. We've blocked off as many exits as we could, and we've set up an anti-Teleport barrier as best as we can. We just need to-. What is it?"
He scrutinized me as I thought back to the conversation Nautilus had with the Axew.
"I don't know if it will help, but yesterday we ran into a raging Fraxure and a group of Axew. Once we dealt with the Fraxure, Nautilus, my Inkay, talked with one of the Axew. I didn't understand much of what the Axew said, but I did understand Nautilus ask them something about people in green clothes and how they were fighting each other."
"That's good to know," he responded. "That means we can get information out of some of them."
Tierno started to walk back to the tent before stopping and turning back to me. "Calem told me to watch out for you while I'm back in Kalos, so let me keep you in the loop. Team Flux is getting aggressive and violent. We've already had a few deaths in Kalos traced back to them. We don't know why, but you need to stay aware of your surroundings. We've found a… sickness, for lack of a better word, in some Trainers' Pokémon.
"We don't know what it is, but the Pokémon infected with it mutate. Their appearance changes to something almost, demonic. They grow absurdly strong but turn rabid. They die the moment they run out of Infinity Energy instead of just fainting. And it's only been in cases where Trainers have stood against certain members of Team Flux. We don't have a way to rid a Pokémon of it, so be careful. I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you this or not, but Calem told me to watch out for you, so here you go. Those Team Flare grunts you bumped into and called the Rangers about? They were caught last week, and apparently, they were disguised Flux grunts."
With that, he left me at the mouth of the cave.
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Ambrette Town was a cozy town built on the cliff-side of the massive cave system containing Connecting Cave and Glittering Cave. It wasn't lit up like the towns before it. Small, grounded lights guided people along the cliff's edge and throughout town. They led me to the PokéCenter before branching off in two directions. Behind the PokéCenter was a path that led to a large, dark, almost ominous-looking glass building, which I assumed was the aquarium. Further along the street was Hotel Ambrette, where a lady with an unknown number of Rock Smash TMs was known to stay. Following the lights branching to the left was the Fossil Lab, and, next to it, the gate to Route 8.
As I neared the Center's doors, I heard a muffled voice coming from near the aquarium. Against my better judgement, I walked over to see who was there. I nearly collided with a slim, dark-skinned man, whose quick reflexes prevented that from happening.
"I apologize, monsieur," the man said. His dreadlocks were pulled into a man bun with colorful gemstones adding a stylish dash of color. His warm expression put me at ease, especially when I put a name to the face. "Ah, Marco, a pleasure to meet you at last. My name is Grant. I am the-"
"Cyllage City Gym Leader," I finished for him. "I recognize you from the fashion ads and Gym Battles."
"Well, that's good to hear. I hope you're planning on challenging me soon," he said with a smile.
"That's the plan," I replied, running my hand through my hair. "I'll be heading there first thing tomorrow morning."
"Perfect!" he exclaimed. "Then you can start the Challenge tomorrow!"
"Oh, well, shit," I stumbled out. "That's soon, isn't it?"
"Yes," he chuckled. "But I think it will be a good one. See, it takes about two and a half days to walk through Connecting Cave and reach Cyllage City. If you go along the bottom half of Route 8, it takes a day and a half on average. But there is a bike trail next the beach road that many forget about. If you bike, it takes roughly ten hours. For your Gym Challenge, you must bike from Ambrette to Cyllage in eight. I will have one of my trainees waiting for you at the Route 8 gate. I will have Nurse Joy tell me what time you leave."
"I don't have a bike."
"No worries, Marco, you can have mine!" Grant pulled out a bike from… I don't know where and handed it to me. "That is yours to keep, my new friend. If you make it, we will have our Gym Battle tomorrow evening!"