“The Galactic Corporation is really behind this…?” Cynthia repeated in disbelief once N and Looker had given her the basic run down.

  Looker made a so-so gesture with his hand. “Technically speaking the group refers to themselves as Team Galactic, so it’s possible, if not likely, that it's more of a subgroup rather than the entire company. My investigation is still ongoing, but it seems the corporation has quite a few employees who really are there for nothing more than clerical work… but at the same time, it’s hard to establish whether or not they’re completely unaware of the more secretive dealings or if they’re aiding and abetting.”

  Cynthia nodded along before giving him an unimpressed look. “And when exactly were you planning on informing me that one of the most prominent companies in Sinnoh is up to such things? Interpol may have quite a bit of leeway, but I do expect some coordination with my teams, you know.”

  Looker raised a brow in return. “I believe you’ll find that I have been keeping you up to date?”

  “Clearly not, as this is the first I’m hearing of any of this!”

  Sighing, Looker dug into his trenchcoat pulling out a notepad, flipping through the pages as he spoke. “I take my job very seriously, and I assure you that the proper reports have been made. We shared our notes on… the corporate espionage they were involved with in Kanto, the money laundering in Eterna, my notes say that it was your people who let us know about the incident with Professor Rowan in Jubilife…”

  Cynthia’s eyes narrowed. “May I see your notes?”

  She got an odd look in return, but the Interpol agent handed the notepad off regardless, pointing towards something on it.

  “This is…” her eyes scanned the page, “...Rowan’s assistant told you that? But that…” she bit her lip as she flipped to another page.

  “Ah, ah, ah!” Looker snatched the notepad back. “These are my personal notes and they contain information for other cases you have no jurisdiction over!”

  Her jaw clenched. “My apologies. I am simply… struggling to understand how such a complete breakdown in communication has occurred.”

  It was at this point that Mimikyu nudged N and he cleared his throat to get the attention of the other two humans. Their back and forth had been rather serious, and knowing he already had Cynthia’s ire had him reluctant to bring himself back into the conversation. But, Mimikyu had a point with his prompting. With the way the conversation was going, neither of them knew some key details.

  Speaking up also had the added bonus of helping to distract him from the fact that Marowak was failing to get Mawile to leave Alakazam alone.

  “Teach me! Teach me! I want to become a Psychic type!” The Steel type pleaded.

  “He’s strong, Mawile, stop making him angry!” Marowak cried out, on the verge of tears.

  Alakazam did not project his response into N’s head, but the Pokemon’s expression was enough to know that it was likely unpleasant.

  The problem with N speaking up, however, is that he didn’t know what to say. What could be trusted.

  He knew that Lucian was involved with Galactic for a fact. Anyone else in the League? Maylene was maybe clear because she’d been put under their spell, but the rest of them were mysteries. Was Cynthia actually shocked and outraged by the information she was hearing? Was she what she tried to portray herself as, a Champion who cared? Or, less charitably, was she simply pretending? Playing the fool to see what information she could get out of them without playing her hand quite as obviously as Lucian did? N imagined that pushing her luck with a member of Interpol present wasn’t a great idea, if the perception of them he’d been given by the others was accurate.

  It was hard to say. Impossible to say. But, at the end of the day, he didn’t trust the League.

  So straight up saying that her second in command was in cahoots with Galactic was out. If she was deceiving them, it would only serve to inform Lucian that his little trick had been worked around and then they’d come to finish the job.

  That didn’t mean he couldn’t suggest something lesser, however.

  “Forgive me if I’m being a bit presumptuous,” he began hesitantly. “But, from the sounds of it, the two of you don’t typically communicate directly with each other, correct?”

  Turning back to N immediately made Cynthia frown, but she nodded. “I hardly have the time to take every bit of information someone needs to pass onto me. Some people have my direct number, but they know it’s only to be used in emergency situations. Things involving interpol, reports and the like, typically go through lower channels in the League.”

  “Things are much the same in Interpol,” Looker followed up. “I may make calls directly if someone needs detailed information, but it’s typically the desk jockeys relaying what was in my initial report to the relevant parties.”

  “I see,” N nodded as they confirmed his initial suspicion, “then, though you may not like to think about it, would it not be possible that the breakdown in communication is… intentional? Obviously I don’t know the inner workings of the League or Interpol, but any organization large enough has the potential for traitors, vested interests, or other such things.”

  Both of them frowned at that.

  “There are checks to prevent things like that.” Cynthia responded after a moment. “Kalos’ Malamar teams made sure of that…”

  Looker, on the other hand, quickly found himself holding his chin in his hand, staring down into the marshy water as he thought it over. “Champion Cynthia is correct, but… you may have a point. Even if checks are done, who is checking the checker? Even an intuition as great as my own had not yet led me to such possibilities…”

  It was impossible to read the flurry of emotions that ran over Cynthia’s face when Looker said that.

  Eventually, she settled on a hardened, if stressed, expression. “I will… look into it. Thank you for your report, Looker.”

  “Of course! It is my duty!” The man replied with a smile that somehow didn’t seem forced despite the situation.

  The Champion turned to N and Mimikyu, her eyes flicking between the two of them, and also their newer companions down on the mucky ground. She sighed. “If it’s not you, it’s Ash. If it’s not Ash, it’s…” she shook her head. “I… appreciate your assistance in this matter. The Sinnoh region owes you a debt for helping to prevent such an attack. But please stop getting involved in so much nonsense, if only for the sake of my sanity.”

  With that, she turned to the Alakazam, they shared a nod, and the two teleported away.

  Looker let out a breath. “She is quite an intense one, no? But her beauty… ah, I should not say such things! Please forget those words,” he laughed. “Ah, but I should be going as well! That grunt will need to be arrested, questioned, the like…” He held out a hand with a smile on his face.

  N hesitantly shook it.

  “You performed well today! That trick with the Tropius… if not for that, we may have been too late! I am glad that my intuition led me to you!”

  “...thank you? You should be thanking the Pokemon, though, not me. I was only doing what needed to be done, I couldn’t just stand there and let him blow up the Great Marsh and all the Pokemon here.”

  Looker nodded. “Well, whether thanks are wanted or not, you may have them! Congratulations on a job well done, and share that with your companions, no? It seems they have been caught up in another part of the marsh…”

  There was a strange inflection on that last line. As if he didn’t believe the words, but felt the need to say them anyway.

  He leaned in, saying quietly, “For reference in the future, you may want to inform them that while they are good, they are not professionals. Those with experience will not be easily fooled.”

  The man left it at that, turning towards his Croagunk and the grunt and wading through the murky waters.

  Mimikyu sagged on his shoulder. “They’re finally all gone…”

  N turned towards him, keeping his voice down a bit, “I was wondering why you were being so quiet.”

  He started making his way back towards the entrance to the marsh. The Shadows would find him at some point, he was certain.

  “‘Cuz Cynthia brought an Alakazam? If I say somethin’, ‘n’ then you say anythin’ even relatin’ ta what I jus’ said, there ain’ no way he wasn’ gonna pick up on the whole you understandin’ Pokemon thing. We ‘ave not kept that under wraps from Cynthia for this long jus’ ta screw it all up now. I didn’ wanna write it out either, cuz Looker doesn’ know about that part yet an’ even if I think he’s a solid guy I don’ wan’ ‘im in’erested in me as well.”

  N nodded along, following Mimikyu’s logic. But at the same time… “Couldn’t you have just said whatever you wanted to say and had Alakazam relay it for you in that case?”

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  There was a pause in which the only sound was Marowak’s repeated attempts to get Mawile under control.

  “...I mean… ya managed to get ta everythin’ I wanted ta say anyway, so….”

  N smirked.

  “...shut up…” Mimikyu muttered.

  As they got further away from Looker and the Galactic grunt, the Shadows appeared, standing on tree branches that overlooked the marsh water below.

  “We must apologize for not discovering him before he planted the bomb, Lord N.”

  “What did Champion Cynthia ask you?”

  “You’re really walking around in that stuff…?”

  “Well they’re awfully well informed, ain’ they? ‘Ow long ‘ave they been watchin’ us?” Mimikyu muttered.

  N repeated Mimikyu’s question, ignoring those posed by the Shadows for a moment.

  “Not long,” one answered. “As you suggested, we were able to move efficiently on our own. The marsh is quite large regardless, though, so we only came upon you after Cynthia had shown up.”

  “Being so close to the Champion… it worries me…”

  N frowned. “Perhaps it should. I didn’t really understand it, but Looker said something about you guys not being professionals?”

  “How troubling…”

  Rather than straight back to HQ, Cynthia had Alakazam teleport her to Crasher Wake’s office. It only made sense to inform him of the situation in person since she was already in the area. Teleportation may be a thing, but there were still niceties to adhere to.

  Did you notice?

  Cynthia hummed as she took a seat. “Notice what? The Mawile and Alolan Marowak? I’m not sure I want to know how he ended up with those. The Mawile is no doubt infected already on top of that…”

  The ones watching us. Three humans and a Ghost.

  Cynthia blinked, turning to pay more attention to Alakazam. “...I did not. What did you learn?”

  Not much. A Banette would be one thing, but it seems they regularly convene with Dark types as well. Their minds were not something I wished to risk myself against. I did, however, notice that their attention was focused in a rather peculiar fashion. One seemed ready to go further than the agent’s Croagunk was prepared to, one focused on the agent and yourself, and the third was focused on the infected’s trainer in a manner that seemed… protective, almost. Empathic relations are not my strong suit, however, so perhaps take that with a grain of salt.

  Cynthia groaned. “Always them. It’s always them! Why?!”

  “...is now a bad time?”

  Cynthia had not noticed Crasher Wake opening the door.

  She swallowed down a bit of embarrassment, composing herself. “No. Let’s get this over with, clearly I need to go blow off some steam. To begin with, there was just an incident in the Great Marsh. There’s no need for a further response, but I believe that…”

  Espeon’s new form felt… strange.

  Almost tripling in height left him seeing things in a new light. He doubted he could fit in Bill’s lap if he ever saw him again, not that he expected to. It had been… well, he wasn’t really sure how long ago he had been given to Bebe, but after travelling so much with Lucas it felt like forever ago.

  Then there was the fact that he was so… slender now. He’d definitely thinned out a bit, with his skin stretched taught over new muscle.

  That was the strange part, though. He could see and feel the new muscle, and yet… he really wasn’t that much stronger.

  Physically, anyway. He felt faster when he moved, sure, but in the bit of training they’d done since he evolved, it didn’t really feel like his Tackles or Bites did any more damage to Torterra than they did as an Eevee. Although…

  His reflexes were quicker. His fur had changed, not just in color, but in the way it felt on his skin, the way it responded to things. The brown fur from before had kept him warm, but this… purple? Pink? The fur he had now was so… sensitive. Responsive. Every little shift in the air was way more intense than it had been before he evolved. He hadn’t really gotten the hang of it yet, but he could tell when the others moved behind him, could tell that the storm over the route wasn’t going anywhere, could tell when an attack was coming his way and react without even seeing it.

  “You’ll get used to it,” the lumbering giant grunted. “I could fit in Lucas’ arms too, when he first picked me up. Now…” A single step caused a loud thump.

  Espeon flinched back at the words. Not at the things that Torterra was telling him, but at what his words were doing to him. Or, not his words?

  It was more like… thoughts, maybe? Short half-words and fuzzy images in Espeon’s mind that weren’t his. They were Torterra’s.

  They were also Togepi’s, Bibarel’s, Porygon2’s, Lucas’ and from various wild Pokemon in the area.

  It was all so… loud. He’d managed to make it quieter shortly after evolving, so he could manage to hear what others were saying, have conversations, but it was a constant thing in the back of his head that would not go away.

  Combined with his new fur, it was all he could do to keep it from overwhelming him completely.

  “That’s easy for you to say,” he managed to respond. “You at least stayed a Grass type the whole way through, right?”

  “Yeah,” Torterra grunted.

  Espeon didn’t think he knew anyone who had gone through this. He’d been sent off to Bebe before any of his siblings evolved, and he’d never met his parents. It was so disorienting, not being Normal anymore.

  “I was Normal before. Now I’m Water,” Bibarel tried.

  Torterra rolled his eyes. “You’re Normal and Water. You gained a type.”

  “I’m Water.” Bibarel repeated.

  Torterra sighed. “Slow steps…”

  Espeon had learned not to expect much in terms of thinking from her. In a way, that was nice because she affected him less than someone like Torterra.

  Espeon needed to be a thinker. Needed to be in top condition, because Lucas was relying on him. He was going to be their secret weapon in their rematch against Crasher Wake, so Espeon knew he needed to get over all of this already and just do better.

  The human himself was currently dealing with Togepi, who had managed to get himself caught up in a tangle of gross, sticky webs called by Metronome.

  “Priii!”

  Lucas sighed as he wiped down Togepi’s shell.

  Espeon felt something bitter in him at the sight. He had been the one who evolved, why wasn’t he the one getting attention? He knew Lucas cared about him, knew they were friends…

  He tried to focus on that. Focus on Lucas. Turn the connection around and stop getting snippets from Lucas, to send snippets to him.

  Nothing happened.

  “Perhaps you would get more results if you were trained by an experienced Psychic.”

  Espeon flinched again.

  Porygon2’s thoughts were weird. Espeon couldn’t really make sense of them. Well, not that he could make sense of most thoughts, as jumbled as he got them, but Porygon2 was noticeably worse.

  “And where am I going to find one to train me?” Espeon asked.

  “I would offer to help you myself, but I don’t think my experience with Psybeam will be very helpful when it comes to anything beyond refining the move, unfortunately. However, Psychic types are actually quite common in Sinnoh. My data indicates that some members of the Ralts line live west of here, past the constant rain.”

  That… could work. Espeon found himself nodding along, hoping that Porygon2’s idea would work out.

  Of course, that was when his new senses decided to go crazy. Something just appeared where there’d been nothing before, off to his right and behind.

  Though, he wasn’t really getting anything beyond that? It was like–

  Do stop that, you’re only embarrassing yourself.

  Espeon spun around, eyeing the newcomers warily.

  A human, blonde hair with black clothing. With her was an Alakazam.

  “Lucas?” The woman paused upon seeing his trainer.

  Lucas paused his cleaning, smiling up at the woman and giving her a short wave.

  She laughed. “I really am just running into everyone lately, aren’t I?” She let her gaze wander around the group. “I see you’ve been busy! Your team is really shaping up, and I can tell you’re caring for Togepi well.” She approached Lucas with a confidence that set Espeon on edge, bending at the waist to keep her coat from dropping to the wet ground while she inspected his teammate up close. “I’d say Togepi is pretty close to evolution! Though I suppose that’s no surprise if you ended up with an Espeon.”

  Lucas smiled up at her. Tha- -u. Pride. An egg in an unknown city. Unfamiliar feeling. Cooties.

  Cooties? What are cooties?

  Espeon shook his head, turning to Torterra.

  “Are we supposed to know her?”

  Torterra’s eyes narrowed as he looked over the Alakazam and the woman. “Maybe. Seems familiar.”

  “And for good reason!” Porygon2 chimed in.

  Quiet.

  They focused their attention on the Alakazam as Lucas and the woman spoke. Not that Lucas did any of the speaking.

  She prefers to foster normal relationships when possible. All the boy needs to know her as is the one who gifted him the Togepi’s egg.

  Torterra grunted. “Ah. That’s it…”

  Interesting. So this woman was Togepi’s Bebe, in a way. Though did that count if he hadn’t hatched yet?

  The woman laughed. “I wouldn’t worry too much, you’re certainly not the first to lose against Wake, and you won’t be the last. A loss at this point in your journey will have you better prepared for the foes you’ll face later. And that’s speaking from experience! I went on a big adventure with a Pokedex myself when I was younger!” She reached into her coat, pulling something out. “Actually, it’s funny that I’ve run into you. I was meaning to ask if you’d run into the Psyduck on route 210 yet.”

  “Wait a moment, this is perfect!” Porygon2 suddenly shouted. The woman and Lucas barely gave him a glance when they saw his attention was on Alakazam. “We were just speaking about getting Espeon here a tutor for his new Psychic abilities, and then you show up! I’m sure there are few in the region better suited to instructing him!”

  Alakazam stared into Espeon’s eyes for a moment, rubbing his mustache before turning to Porygon2. I am not actually one of hers, you know. I am merely at her service for the moment.

  “Ah. Well, that’s slightly embarrassing… but still, she trusts you, right? You must be skilled regardless.”

  Espeon felt like he was missing something important here.

  There was a sigh.

  At least you’re not begging like the other one…

  Listen closely. I will not delay any of her travels. I cannot say how long she will want to interact with the boy. But, until she deigns to leave… it won’t hurt to pass on the teachings imparted to me. Luckily for you, I am well acquainted with an Espeon or two.

  Prepare yourself.

  In a way you could call this a Cynthia focused chapter since she’s in every scene.

  As always, feedback is appreciated. (If you’re actually looking for a response, discord is the place to be)