The Final Sending

In a dream, I was a Summoner,
Priestess of a broken land,
Dancing on glistening still waters
And, sorrowful and weary,
Willed the jealous dead
To fade to their eternal rest.

When I woke, I found the dream was real:
A broken land is forming anew,
But I am broken still,
And, clinging to memories,
Keep my brave mask in place
As I feel my faded dream's last embrace.

Gakuen Pokemon: Chapter 5 - Change of Pace

(Me: The idea of a chapter on the mainland was just too appealing to pass up!  A good amount of fluff in this installment - the plot progresses near the end, I swear!  I was in a fluffy mood please don't hate me ;-; And this chapter is 19 freaking pages typed WHAT HAVE I DONE

Aki (a.k.a. my Muse): And you take another chance to pass off PIA as a blatant Pokémon ripoff of Hogwarts...why?

Me: BECAUSE SHUT UP)

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"Um...may I have your attention, please?"

Aria, Josh, and the four other prefects from Entei and Raikou stood atop the stairs leading to the second floor of the Student Center.  On the first floor was the cafeteria, and the busily nomming students didn't seem to be interested in halting their midday social hour for the sake of listening to six overachievers talk.

Aria tried again - "May I have your attention, please?"

The female Entei prefect, an blonde girl named Lina, sighed.  "I think I'm better suited for this particular task, Ari."  She turned to the crows of students below them, sucked in a breath, and then let loose a frightening shout:  "QUIET, YOU PEASANTS!  YOUR DULY APPOINTED MONARCHS ARE TRYING TO SPEAK!"

"Your mom's a duly appointed monarch!" a solitary voice called up from the first floor.

"YOU'RE DARN RIGHT ABOUT THAT, SHE'S THE QUEEN OF CAMERAN FREAKING PALACE!  ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD?"

After that, the hall was silent.  Lina's eye twitched, but she turned back to Aria with a sweet smile.  "Carry on!"

"Anyhow," Aria continued, slightly louder now, "we'd just like to announce that the monthly weekend trips to Castelia City will begin tomorrow - "  She didn't get very far and sighed in exasperation when excited chatter broke out.

"CEASE AND DESIST!  SILENCE!"

"Thanks, Lina.  The trips to Castelia City will begin tomorrow!"  This time, she managed to continue with cooperation from the now slightly frightened students.  "Anyone from any grade will be allowed to attend, as long as you have a C average or higher in all of your classes or have disciplinary problems which prevent you from participating in extracurricular activities..."

"In which case," Josh picked up, "you'll be remaining here for either tutoring or detention.  However, I'm sure that's very few of you, all things considered."

"Whoever wants to go," the male Raikou prefect, Matt, spoke up, "needs to see your dormitory building's prefect sometime today so they can sign you up and pass the finalized list on to administration.  We need your name by at least nine o'clock tonight or you're a no-go, remember!"

His female counterpart, Kayla, continued, "If you can't find us right after classes today, we'll be hanging around the dorm buildings all evening.  You won't be able to miss us!  We'll give you the details and rules when you sign up."

"I guess that's about it, really," Tristan, Lina's partner, ended a bit lazily.  "Remember, nine PM is the deadline time!  If you have after-school plans, I suggest signing up during this period!"

The six had barely begun their trek back down the stairs before a slew of freshmen seemed to leap from their tables and rush towards them in a semi-panicked and excited frenzy.

"And so it begins," Josh sighed, reaching into his messenger bag for the Suicune Boys' sign-up sheet.

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"Looks like the rules are the same as last year," DJ commented, reading off the paper that Tristan had given him as he, Duce, and Les climbed the stairs to the residence floors of the Entei boys' dorm together.  "Call time 8 in the morning at the Central Island pier, no school uniforms, only one Pokémon per student at maximum allowed outside of its Poké Ball while on the ferries, don't get arrested while in the city, you're on your own for lunch and dinner costs - good thing we get student discounts - and be back at Thumb Pier in Castelia by 8 at night."

"That's it?" Les blinked.  "I'd expect the rules to be a bit stricter for field trips like this..."

"Have you forgotten that we're a swanky private school, Les?" Duce laughed.  "The professors don't lay down many rules because they already expect us to know how to behave in public...well, except for the flashmob that the seniors usually do in Central Plaza at least one trip a year, but as long as we don't speak of it administration lets it slide."

"How come the seniors get away with stuff like that?" Les huffed, sounding a bit annoyed to be left out of the fun.

"Bro, they're seniors," DJ stated as if it were obvious.  "This is no different than any other school in that respect - they can get away with mostly anything.  It's just that our seniors don't try to get away with anything until they're off-campus."

"I can see why - oh, this is my room."  Les stopped at a door and began fumbling for his student ID to unlock the door.  "I guess I'll see you guys in the morning, then!"

"Good night!"  Duce and DJ continued down the hallway to the next flight of stairs to their third-story dorm room, continuing their excited chat about the trip all the while.

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"Alright, everyone!  If I could have your - could you - ugh, I'm so much better at organizing events than I am people..."

Needless to say, chaos was ensuing that cool autumn morning at the Central Island pier.  The three ferries that were to transport the students to the not-that-far-away Castelia City were boarded but still docked, waiting for their respective chaperones to arrive, and thus this left the two prefects assigned to each boat to keep order.  As Suicunes were known more for their intellect than their assertiveness, Aria (who we just saw bemoaning her situation) and Josh were having a hard time keeping things under control in their tiny kingdom.

A shrill whistle echoed through the air, causing most of the students on deck to jump and turn.  There stood Duce, standing by the railing and looking as collected as ever.  Seeing that he had everyone's attention, he jerked a hand in Aria's direction, who was perched on the first tier of the boat's railing a bit away from him and seemed more dazed than anything.

"I believe the lady was trying to say something?" he addressed the mismatched group of students, who quickly turned their attention to the prefect.  "The floor is yours."

"As I was saying," Aria enunciated, "don't forget, all but one Pokémon per student must be kept inside their Poké Balls - yes, I'm looking at you, Emi, it doesn't matter how tiny the Pokémon on your team are!  And please, save some of this energy for when we get to the city!  You're perfectly welcome to goof off on Professor Graves' watch when she's responsible for your lives and safety, but not mine and Josh's, if you please!"

"Whoa," Duce said when Aria jumped down from the metal bar and made her way over to him.  "That's the most assertive thing I've heard you say all year!"

"I didn't mean for it to come out like that," she said with a sigh, joining him in leaning against the  railing.  "They were just frustrating me!  Thanks, by the way."

"You know, that was meant to be a compliment," Duce chuckled, tugging on his black jacket to readjust it.  Like all the students there, he had ditched his crested jacket and uniform pants for something more casual - a pair of darkwash jeans, a grey t-shirt, and sports sneakers.  After a surreptitious glance up and down, he commented, "You look nice."

"Hm?"  Aria glanced down at herself as if on reflex, before looking back up at him with a smile.  "Oh, thank you."  In accordance with the majority of the females there, the Coordinator had taken a bit of a more stylish approach with her city-slicking attire, sporting a black denim miniskirt with a studded belt attached at a slant, a bright pink striped tank top emblazoned with a black chibi-style skull, a cropped black hoodie appliquéd with the same skull in hot pink, black combat boots laced with pink, and a black studded choker.  Dolce would normally be swinging from the strap of her black field bag, but the Little Bear Pokémon was currently amusing itself by taking a piggyback ride on Duce's Persian who, being the finicky creature that it was, decided it wanted to stay out of its Poké Ball for the day.  The two Trainers were momentarily distracted by their Pokémon's antics, watching and smiling as Persian wove inbetween the students with Dolce holding on for dear life.  Aria was only jerked out of her observation when she heard Duce yawn.

"Tired?" she questioned.  Duce nodded in confirmation, rubbing the corner of his eye with the heel of his hand for a moment.

"Yeah, a bit.  I haven't slept well for a while."

Aria smiled a bit, sympathetically.  "Me either, if it makes you feel any better.  Nightmares.  How about you?  Is it medical, or are you worried about classes or what's been going on with the Rockets, or something?"

Oh, if only she knew.  "Yeah, I guess worrying's part of it."

"Ugh...I'm sorry.  If there's anything I can do to help, let me - "

"Aria!"

"Huh?"

Angie had run up behind the two of them during the course of their conversation.  She, too, had gotten dolled up for the trip, in mostly dark tones like Aria but in a more casual-lace-and-black-roses sort of way.  The two turned to face her as she made her presence known, and she gestured for Aria to follow her.

"Gravie wanted to talk to you and Josh about something - she's on the starboard side.  C'mon!"

"Okay."  She allowed herself to be dragged away, but turned to wave with a quick "Talk to you later!"

Almost immediately after Aria and Angie had vanished to the other side of the boat, the whistle sounded and it began to pull away from the dock and out to sea, commencing a whole new wave of excited chatter and cheers of "Finally!"  Duce had almost contented himself with staring out at the oncoming water - until a sudden weight crashed into him from behind in an unexpected hug.

"UNF!"

"Soooo, my dear cousin, what's the plan for today?"

"What plan, Georgia - " Duce started as his cousin let go and moved to stand beside him - then realized.  "Oh - that plan.  The one that nearly kept me up half the night yesterday."

"Yes, that plan," Georgia smirked knowingly.  Now out of uniform, she was clad in her usual star-studded hoodie and jeans, the casual look only adding to her mischievous demeanor.  "You've gotta tell her sometime, Duce!"

"That's easy for you to say - you're not the one who has to worry about being rejected."

"I know - it's scary, but you've gotta take a leap of faith!  You've thought about it too long to back out now when you have the perfect opportunity!  I asked my boyfriend out first and look at me now!"

"...Georgia, you broke up with that one a year ago - "

"That's beside the point!  The point is that you like her, SO TELL HER!  I happen to know from certain sources that you will be well-received."

"What kind of certain sources?"

"Certain RELIABLE sources!"

"You asked Angie, didn't you?"

"Exactly."

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"YEAH!"  Les cried, practically flipping down the ramp and onto the Thumb Pier dock, marveling at the gleaming skyscrapers rising up into the clear morning sky.  "Unova sweet Unova!  I've missed this city so much!"

"Calm down, bro," DJ laughed, scurrying down after Les with Duce beside him, and the rest of Professor Graves's ferry filing down behind in pairs, trios, or small blob-like groups.  Persian and Dolce happily padded down the ramp beside Duce's feet.  "We've got plenty of time to explore it again!  I've missed Castelia too."

"So, where to first?" Duce asked, looking about the foreign city that he had nonetheless seen many times over the course of the past two years.  "I've heard that there's a bookstore on Mode Street that just opened - "

"DID YOU SAY BOOKSTORE?!"

"Whoa!" Duce jumped, whirling around to see a wide-eyed Aria and Angie holding on to his every word.  "Um, yeah, it's part of a chain, I think.  They're supposed to have pretty much everything - "

"That's it, we're going!" Angie announced.

"I'll come along too," Josh put in, popping up behind the two girls.  His black jeans matched the other prefect's color scheme, but his bright green hoodie didn't necessarily.  "If they have everything, maybe I can finally find a book on Kanto Legendaries..."

"I don't know," Les said.  "Bookstores aren't really my thing."

"Then," DJ said, "how about you come hang with me for a while?  We can go check out the street battles at the Central Plaza."

"Now THAT sounds amazing!"

"So we're splitting up?"  Aria sounded a bit disappointed but still smiled.  "Okay - but do you guys maybe want to meet back up on Oceanfront Road for lunch?"  A scattered chorus of "okay"s and "why not?"s confirmed the group's consent.

"Awesome!"  Les thought for a moment, then suggested, "How about the Stratos Cafe?  I've eaten there before and their stuff's amazing."

"Then it's decided!" Duce said.  "So, we'll catch you two later?"

"Stratos at noon, then!  Got it," DJ smiled, then turned back to Les.  "C'mon, let's - "

"HOLD EVERYTHING!" Georgia cried, falling in line with the redhead and brunette.  "I heard something about watching street battles and I'm coming with!"

"Alright then, three's a crowd!"  The trio eagerly began to make their way toward the street that Les and DJ knew led to the center of the city.  "Catch you later!"

Aria laughed as Dolce hopped from Persian's back to the strap of her bag, then turned her attention back to the others.  "To Mode Street, then?"

"Onward!" Josh laughed.

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Castelia was a large and bustling city, a center of business and commerce but also one of fine arts and culture.  By the time noon rolled around, the group consisting of Aria, Duce, Angie, John (who had finally caught up to them after a rousing discussion with Professor Graves about quantum physics and how it relates to the credibility of myths, much to Angie's annoyance), and Josh had seen both scurrying businesspeople engrossed in their schedules and street performers who didn't have a care in the world lining and racing about the city's numerous radial avenues.

After a two-hour-long escapade in the new bookstore - which ended with John and Duce having to drag Aria, Angie, and Josh away from the numerous floors full of "preciouses" and check out with whatever volumes they had on them at the moment (which fortunately for Josh did include a lore book on Kanto-native Legendaries) - the gang had spent the remaining hour before the appointed lunch meeting time in Castelia Park, letting their Pokémon run about and play for a while.  For the most part, the members of their teams got along well.  However, as in all groups, there was bound to be conflict - Josh's Larvitar and Aria's Sneasel, Discord, didn't seem to like each other much at all, partially due to Discord frequently aiming teasing Powder Snow attacks at the little Ground-type's backside, and Angie's Glaceon even joined in the fun; John's Salamence and Duce's Dragonite seemed to have initiated some sort of strange "my wings are bigger than yours" rivalry.  While those four annoyed each other, the smaller Pokémon played tag, and the larger ones initiated playful wrestling matches with each other, Aria's Nocturne and Duce's Espeon seemed content to cuddle and snooze together in the shade - when he wasn't conversing with the others, Duce's eyes seemed to drift toward the two Eeveelutions unconsciously.

Soon afterward, they had spent most of lunch at Stratos Cafe (which was every bit as high-quality as Les had claimed) listening to the wayward trio relate their stories of the mini street-battle tournament that had taken place in Central Plaza.  ("It was AMAZING!" Georgia had gushed.  "Okay, sure, Umbreon and I lost our battle, but my opponent Coal's Quilava was gorgeous to watch and super strong!  And he was two years younger than me!  Seriously, kids out on journeys learn just as much, if not more, as we do in school.")  The three had then listened to the larger group's funny experiences through the day so far - Les had gone so far as to rummage through Aria's bag when she wasn't looking to discover her purchases at the bookstore which she refused to disclose, but ended up flinging it as far away as he could when he opened to a page in a manga volume depicting two teenage boys with Pikachu ears engaging in rather...passionate activities.  They had stayed in the Cafe for over an hour, discussing random subjects and laughing like hyenas over even slightly amusing things.

Now reunited and with the afternoon already pressing upon them, the group of eight seemingly completely different and yet perfectly matched students took to the streets again.

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"Sweet Arceus, it's been way too long since I've had this coffee," Angie sighed, taking a sip of her MooMoo Milk latte.  Her Glaceon sat on the counter of the bar, lapping at the iced lemonade its Trainer had purchased for it, while Dolce sat beside the Ice-type, balancing a tiny cup of hot chocolate between its paws.  "Seriously, if this place wasn't so out of the way, it would have too many customers to handle!"

Aria smiled and nodded in agreement, sipping slowly at her liberally sweetened green tea.  "Mm-hm.  I've missed it, too.  We don't have any good cafés like this in Violet City."

The roommates had gone their own way for a while, opting out of dinner at a larger restaurant with the others to visit their favorite place in the city that they had discovered as freshmen - a small and quiet coffee shop on Narrow Street entitled Café Sonata.  The atmosphere was peaceful - a pair of businessmen sat at a corner table and conversed quietly, a teenage couple cuddled happily in a lounge off to the side, and a young male musician sat at the end of the bar playing a tranquil melody on his guitar.  ("Aria, huh?" he had said when the girls complimented his playing and asked their names. "I'd sing one of your namesakes for you, but I'm no soprano.")  The café's street was out of the way and a bit shady, but it was worth it in their minds, and they figured they were safe enough with their Pokémon with them.  It was somewhat of a tradition of theirs to visit Sonata every trip to Castelia they took.

They stayed for a bit longer until they noticed the sky beginning to turn orange with the sunset and, after checking Aria's Pokétch, realized that it was nearing seven o'clock - their appointed meet-up time with the others on Oceanfront Road, although they still had an hour remaining in the city.  After finishing their drinks and bidding the manager, who knew them well by then, farewell, they gathered their things and began to make their way down the more-shadowy-than-usual Narrow Street.

"Kind of creepy, huh?" Angie laughed.

"Glae!" Glaceon agreed, but Dolce's only response was a nervous-sounding cry and scrambling up Aria's bag strap to nestle into the hood of its Trainer's jacket in fright.

"Oh, it's okay, sweetie," Aria comforted the Tiny Bear.  "It's just a little dark - "

"Aria."  Angie's voice was suddenly serious.  Worried now, Aria turned her attention away from her Pokémon - and wasn't far behind in joining Dolce in its frightened state.  Two older males, perhaps early twenties, not rough-looking but definitely not respectable, were making their way down the empty street as well, not too far away - and seemed to have already spotted the two friends.  One of them wolf-whistled, while the other made his presence known with his voice.

"Hey there, lovely ladies!" he called.

"Let's just go," Angie said monotonously, quickly turning on her heel to walk the other direction toward Central Plaza.  "There'll be people over - oh, Arceus damn it."  Her attempt had done no good as there were two more of them approaching from the other end of the street.  Aria instinctively stepped closer to Angie, her more assertive presence a definite comfort.

"And to think - "  Aria gasped and whirled around as she heard a voice behind her and found that the first two had reached them.  One of them winked at her.  "Here we were just trying to meet up with our friends, and look what we find!"

"You should come hang out with us, cutie," the other smirked, then glanced Angie up and down where she stood staring down their buddies - her Glaceon was already crouching and growling.  "You too, gorgeous - we'll show you what a good time could be."

"You know what?" Angie responded, not even turning her head to look at him.  "How about you all just go screw yourselves?"

"Ooh, feisty," one of the others laughed, grabbing Angie by the arm despite her protest of 'Don't touch me!'  "I like that!"

Aria had managed to stay free and had come to her senses, and took advantage of that to try and surreptitiously reach into her bag for Nocturne's Ball - until both her forearms were suddenly grasped and twisted behind her back.  "Ah!"

"Now what were you planning on doing?" her captor taunted, tightening his grip.  "This would be so much more agreeable if you would just - "

"URSA!"

"ARGH!"  She felt that her Pokémon had leapt from its hiding place in her hood, and soon after heard the shing and the sound of tearing skin that accompanied a Fury Swipe attack.

"Dolce!" Aria gasped as her arms were suddenly released - she took the chance to rejoin Angie, whose Glaceon had freed its Trainer with a vicious Ice Fang to the thug's leg.  The girls were now pressed back to back with their Pokémon maintaining their stance beside them, on edge, breathing heavy and not having a clue what to do next as the square closed in on them.

"You're gonna pay for that," one thug growled as he stared straight at Aria, pressing a hand to his scratched face.

"Angie," Aria whispered, voice trembling.  "What do we..."

"On three," Angie whispered back, "we press the button on every Poké Ball we can reach and hope for the best.  One..."  Angie's hand inched towards the waistband of her jeans.

Aria clenched the muscles in her arm in preparation to spring her hand to her bag.  "T-two..."

"DRAGON RAGE!"

"What?!" Aria gasped.  The two girls pressed as close as they could manage to avoid the sudden streams of violet flame that were rushing down either side of the alley from both sides and knocking their assaulters away.

"What the heck?!" one of them cried, pushing himself up from the ground and wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Pardon me, gentlemen," a new voice spoke up, emphasizing the last word in obvious sarcasm, "but they're with us."

"John?" Angie cried.  Sure enough, her boyfriend had touched down on his Salamence and blocked one possible escape route out of the street.  She and Glaceon didn't waste any time shoving their way past the still-dazed thugs to get to him.  Aria would have joined her, if yet another newcomer hadn't appeared.

"You four had better hope that you weren't trying to do what I think you were, because this is not boding well for you!"

"Duce!" she gasped, whirling about.  Sure enough, his emerald-hued Dragonite had caused the other Dragon Rage attack.  She didn't get the chance to run to him - he was at her side within seconds.

"Are you alright?" he asked, equal parts concern and righteous fury flaring in his eyes.  Aria nodded.

"Yes, fine."

The Ace Trainer seemed to breathe a nearly inaudible sigh of relief, before turning back to his immediate adversaries, who had by now all gotten back on their feet.  "You have two options - get out of here before I count to three or I end you.  Your choice!"  He took a step forward and to the side, partially shielding the girl behind him.

"Duce, we can't just - " John began to protest, but was cut off.

"Hmph," the first thug grunted.  "Big words for a kid!  How about this?  We battle to decide who walks away from this unscathed!"

"I hardly think you deserve a fair fight," John scoffed, holding a now-calm Angie in a one-armed embrace.  "But..."

"I've never been one to walk away from a challenge."  Duce's rage seemed to be slowly replaced by fierce determination.  "Fine, then!  Four-on-two.  We win, you leave them be and get out of here."

"Alright then, kids," another sneered.  "But a deal goes both ways!  What if we win?"

Duce smirked.  "You won't."

The final taunt seemed to set them off - the four were already sending their Poké Balls flying.

"Whirlipede, go!"

"Krokorok, show 'em!"

"Escavalier, I choose you!"

"Galvantula, take 'em out!"

John and Duce seemed unfazed at their opponents - in fact, John seemed fairly at ease when he called his first strategy suggestion over to his tag partner.

"I know you were saving that new combo to use with DJ, but there's no time like the present!"

"Let's do it!"

Their first command to their Dragons were issued in unison. "Dragon Tail!"

Dragonite and Salamence instantly charged past their Trainers and sent two Pokémon each flying upward into the air with a powerful whip of their tails.  Their opponents attempted to issue counter-commands to their Pokémon, but the boys weren't quite finished yet.

"Dragon Pulse!" John called.

"Draco Meteor!" Duce joined in.

The Dragons flew upward, following the still-airborn Pokémon of their opponents - a pulsing violet sphere of energy began to pulse before Salamence as Dragonite raised its short arms as high as it could.  Just as Salamence released the beam of energy, a meteor ringed in violet materialized above Dragonite and was flung towards the quartet of enemy Pokémon.  The attacks were perfectly timed - the Draco Meteor and Dragon Pulse met in the middle, converging in an explosion of rock shards and fireworks of violet energy and sending their opponents hurdling toward the ground, K.O.'d.

"H-how the heck - ?!" one thug cried in shock as their Pokémon were returned.

"Apparently these kids," Duce taunted, "easily outmatch you!  If you're going to insist on battling fair and square, at least make it a challenge worth my time!"

"Now scram!" John ordered, his grounded Salamence roaring in agreement.  That was all it took - the four were now scrambling toward Central Plaza like frightened Lillipups.  Angie took the energy to stick her tongue out at them as they ran past, then turned back to John.

"Thanks, honey - but Aria and I could have taken those guys given the opportunity!"

"I'm sure you could have," John laughed, kissing her lightly.  "But I'm glad I could keep you safe regardless."

"Duce..." Aria breathed out, feeling Dolce climb back into her hood and watching as Duce returned Dragonite to the Master Ball in his hand.  "W-wow...thank you."

"You don't need to thank me," he said, turning to her - placing a hand on her shoulder, he glanced her over.  "Are you sure you're okay?  If they hurt you - "

"No, I'm fine, really," she insisted.

"...that's a lie.  You're trembling, I feel it."

"Huh?"  Aria hadn't even noticed that she was indeed shaking until Duce pointed it out.  "O-oh...I guess I am," she laughed shortly.  "I-I guess I'm just still a bit shaken up, it's no big deal."

"I wish you'd stop that," Duce sighed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to make sure she kept steady as the four began to walk back toward Oceanfront Road.  "You don't have to hide anything from me for the sake of not being a bother."

"But I - "

"Just don't, Ari.  Please."

"...okay," Aria replied quietly, the tiniest hint of a smile on her face as she fell silent.

"You have a bruise coming up on your left arm too.  Thought I wouldn't notice?"

"...you notice pretty much everything, don't you?"

Josh, Georgia, Les and DJ were waiting for the four when they emerged from Narrow Street onto the busier Oceanfront, its buildings now gleaming in the deep red light of the fading sunset.  "What happened?!" Les cried, running up to them frantically.  "There were freaking EXPLOSIONS happening above the buildings!"

"Was that the combo we've been practicing?!" DJ interjected.

"What took you so long?" Josh asked.

Georgia only glanced from Duce's arm around Aria to Duce's face with a mischievous, knowing expression.  Duce caught her eye once, answered her silent question with a silent answer of his own, and looked away.

The four glanced at each other, then back at the frantic-for-answers group.  "It might take a minute to explain," John laughed.

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It was 7:30, nearly time for the students to return to the Academy.  Most had congregated on Oceanfront Road even with half an hour left, scattered about Castelia's main street and enjoying the sounds and sights of the darkening city.  The eight had scattered once again - Les and DJ were lounging against the railing of Thumb Pier discussing battle strategy, Georgia and Josh were having a ferocious debate over the accuracy of the prefect's new book, Angie and John were seated on a bench near the pier looking out at the sunset and being cute in their own little way.  Duce and Aria were standing on the Oceanfront sidewalk that ran by the red-and-indigo lit sea, leaning against the rail that separated the street from the ninety-degree drop to the water.

"Pretty," Aria observed quietly, smiling as she looked out at the dimly glowing horizon.  "Twilight's always been my favorite time of day."

Duce nodded in agreement.  "It is peaceful."  He let the comfortable silence linger again for a moment before breaking it.  "Aria, about earlier - "

"I told you, I'm fine," Aria laughed quietly, looking over at him.  "Stop worrying so much.  If I'm going to stop hiding things, then you have to promise me that."

"Alright," he chuckled.  "I'll try if you will."

"Deal!"

The conversation continued in brief intervals over the next few minutes, reminiscing over the things that had happened over the course of the day, until Aria glanced at her Pokétch.  "Ugh...it's almost eight."  She began to turn towards the direction that led to Thumb Pier.  "We should head - "

Leap of faith.

"Aria, wait - "

"Hm?"  She stopped mid-stride and whirled back around to face him.

"I want to ask you about something."

"Sure!  Fire away!"

______________________________________________________________________________

"So, if you look at it that way," Josh continued - he and Georgia had already boarded the ferry and were keeping their discussion going, "the elements of the legendary birds and beasts of Kanto and Johto don't really - "

"HOLD EVERYTHING, THEY'RE BACK," Georgia cried, dashing over to the side of the boat where she saw Duce and Aria boarding.

("...match up or make sense," Josh finished to himself with a sigh.)

"So what hap - " the excited girl began to ask, then smiled even wider when she saw the two Trainers joined at the hands.  "I knew it!"

Aria blushed and looked away a bit, but her smile didn't fade - she giggled when Duce tugged her a bit closer.

"That leap of faith worked after all," Duce said, thanking Georgia subtly.  The excited curly-headed blonde could only whirl about and walk off triumphantly.

"Who is always right?  THAT WOULD BE ME!"

"Good thing she was, too," Duce smiled down at Aria.  She could only laugh and lean her head against his shoulder.

"Indeed!"

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"I miss it already," Les whined as he, DJ, and the new class couple according to Georgia made their way back through the path winding through Trinity Forest.  The school had been making their way from the Student Center back to their dorms after an eventful day in large groups at first dwindling down to small packs, and these four were among the last to make the walk back.

"Don't worry, bro," DJ laughed, clapping him on the back lightly.  "Another month and we'll be able to go ba - "

'...evil...'

"Huh?"  The sophomore started slightly, shaking his head.  "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Aria asked with a light yawn.

'...chaos...destruction...'

"Okay, is one of you messing with me?"

"Trust me," Duce said, "if I were messing with you, you wouldn't be realizing it so soon."

'...evil, chaos, destruction, danger, DANGER - '

DJ grunted, pressing a hand to his ear.  "Okay, how are you guys not hearing that?!  It's freaking me out!"

"DJ, what are we supposed to be listening for - a-ah..."  Aria's response was cut short - something seemed to blank out in her eyes, her fingers interlocked with Duce's loosened, and she silently began to fall forward.  Dolce scrambled to jump from her bag strap with a cry to avoid being crushed just as Duce reacted on reflex and lunged to catch her just in time.

"Ari - AGH!"  He had just managed to get the unconscious Coordinator onto the ground safely when an attack of his own hit - he slumped over the ground using one hand to brace himself, the other clutching the side of his head as if in severe mental distress.  His face was contorted in what could only be described as an attempt to resist extreme torment - however, he succumbed with a moan of pain within a few moments and fell beside Aria.

"What the heck - "  Les began to dash towards the pair but was stopped in his tracks.  His experience was fairly quick - after a gasp, his chest rebounded back and his body jerked once, as if he had taken a blow to the heart, and he crumpled after a barely audible sound of anguish.

Dolce seemed to be the only one who was appropriately panicked - the Tiny Bear Pokémon dashed towards the cluster of unconscious students crying its name in alarm, shaking Aria as much as it could with its stumpy arms in an effort to revive its fallen Trainer.  DJ could only stand frozen, staring in shock.

"What...what's going on..."

'DANGER, WARNED YOU, LISTEN...'

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Phase 1 Completed Report - Day 60

All Links confirmed.  All Bonds confirmed.  Data on file - D. Kazuhira, A. Higure, L. Honda, D. Sensou.

Leohta Ruins awakened.  Means of control needed.

Phase 1 complete.  Phase 2 set to begin immediately.