Chapter 41 - Land of the Living

Rain pours on a cobblestone street. Brick storefronts advertising fine hats, watchmakers, tailors and yet, a closer look reveals nothing deeper within. The brick work is plaster, the cobbles painted wood. To one side, the floor drops off to empty rows of seats.

The storm above cracks with thunder and a well built man in a tuxedo steps from behind the building props. His cane clicks against the wooden stage. He stops on a marked position and tips his gentleman's top hat.

"Good evening," His voice sounds like a poor attempt at a british accent, and when his head raises I see only one red eye beneath a monocle.

"That ghost from the tunnel."

"Indeed!" there's a cheerful tone to his voice for all he lacks a face, just a black shadow, "Allow me to introduce myself! HAhahahaHA!"

Pausing his laughter, "Apologies it is a wonderful night, you see I've never had the pŀėȧsurė of such a thing. Among other reasons."

"Well don't let me spoil it." Creepy, yes, sinister, hardly.

"Quite, thank you." He removes his monocle and plays at polishing it while giving another soft chuckle.

"My name, as of this evening, is Jack."

"The Ripper?" We are in an old London scene after all.

He replaces the glass and gestures to the setting, "Yes, No? I'm merely taking inspiration from your thoroughly veiled memories. You are quite the mystery good sir. There I was, spending another droll day in my mandatory community service when I heard the most delightful shriek."

Jane getting poked by Blue.

"Now as I prepared to give you all something to really scream about, I suddenly received new instructions from on high, not to meddle with you. Hehe," He stifles back another fit of laughter, "Furthermore my sentence has been commuted! I'm free!"

"No more tunnel hauntings?"

A crack of lightning reveals his hands are in bandages rather than the gloves I thought, "No, as lovely a home as it has been, I've often dreamt of the possibilities awaiting me beyond the mountain's depths."

I gesture around us, "So what is this then?"

He bows deeply, "I merely wished to convey my thanks, Dusknior to Trainer. I've been given reprieve until my services are deemed necessary once more. If you have any questions about this world, as it appears quite different from yours, I'd be happy to answer them this once. Then you'll wake up, tell that lovely doctor you've suffered a modest Dream Eater attack, and be right as rain in no time."

This fellow is certainly an odd….dusk, "Alright, let me think a second."

"Certainly." He strolls around the stage, glancing at the many prop goods in shop windows.

So, what do I want to know that the people I've met so far can't answer?

"How long do pokemon live?"

"Ha!" He doesn't even look at me, "Most live just as long as you humans, others, till weakness takes them."

How ambiguous, "I see. The hierarchy you mentioned,"

"Nope, I'll stop you there," He taps his cane solidly against the stage, "I'm not permitted to speak of it, neither are any pokemon intelligent enough to become aware of such order of life… and death."

Ah but that was telling in itself, and judging by the glint in his eyeglass that was on purpose.

"Then let's be specific about what's going on here in central Hoenn."

"Very well," he reaches right through a window as if it didn't exist...which it doesn't. And grabs a stool. "Let's begin with Mauville Holdings and their rivals, the Devon Corporation. City development verses home goods, constantly looking to one up each other's achievements going back generations. Devon verses Wattson."

The view around us changes to a sky high panorama of the area between Rustboro and Mauville.

He points at locations, "The Tunnel, Sea Mauville, New Mauville, Mauville Mall, Meteor Falls excavation, the large scale farming experiments. These two families are quite destructive of their surroundings when not given the occasional reminder of the balance. Usually nothing too drastic, to strive for the future is part of what makes you human."

Not hard to get, "Cut down the woods, Trevnants. Collapse the natural cave systems, you."

Nodding, "Precisely, now having looked at your recent memories I can belay your concerns for your lighthouse goal. Such a project would be a welcome utilisation of the land. Hardly intrusive yet offering sanctuary to pokemon considered...less cuddly. Hehe."

Well everyone needs a home. "I know in the past certain organizations sought to upend the order of things, any of that going on I should look out for?"

"YES," His tone becomes more stern, "A number of smaller operations are being monitored, one such will fall by the end of the week at the hands of the lovely Miss Pike Queen. I'm personally a fan of your heroes that work with Pokemon whom humanity often fears."

I noticed, "Anything near Rustboro?"

Pointing towards the pillar of black smoke rising to the north, Mt. Chimney, "There is an irony that evil can be found in the most obvious of locations sometimes. It's a small scale, yet tragic none the less...Ah."

His eye glows bright for a moment as another bout of lightning splashes across the sky.

"We will leave that problem to you, or so I've just been told. Go on your journey as planned, don't rush, but don't deviate. You need strength you've yet to reach to effectively tackle the problem."

Wait, "I thought you said something evil was going on, isn't it better to go now?"

"Lives are not in peril, yet to appear early would risk yours, and those young girls. Sometimes, a small measure of suffering results in the... 'greater good?' as you might say." It's a tad disturbing how cheerfully he just said that.

The scene returns to the Verdanturf Amphitheater, props removed.

"So long Mr. Kurt, may your future be bright and the shadows welcoming." He bows low once more and slowly sinks into his own shadow.

No shade without light and such I suppose. It's strange watching a sunrise on a dream world as everything fades like a mirage in the desert.

-----

A splitting headache like the worst brain freeze ever causes me to groan and roll right out of bed.

"Kurt? What's wrong?!"

Lacy scampers over to my side of the bed and looks down at me on the floor.

Massaging my temples with my wrists, "Dream Eater, or so he said."

She bolts out of the bed and pulls me into the bathroom. She turns on the shower and guides me in, not minding my boxers still on.

"Holy Shit!" Hot, Waaay too hot!

"Just keep your head in there." She's rubbing the back of my head, "Dream Eater on humans can cause nerve damage and temporary paralysis."

"Kurt, what hit you with Dream Eater? The tunnel ghost?"

Bingo, "Ya, a Dusknior or so he said. Popped in to say hello, claimed that because I passed by his boss decided he'd been there long enough and let him go?"

I can't see her while I'm face down in the shower but I hear her scoff, "How casual… you know there once was a group that tried to unseat the mythics from their high throne. Didn't go well for anyone. How do you feel?"

The shaking has stopped, "Just a bit exhausted, like a bad night of sleep."

"Let me see your eyes." She pats my back.

Stretching my back, I turn and face her. She pulls a pen light from the vanity drawer and shines it in each of my eyes.

"Pupils are even, just a bit of red...Seems it really didn't mean any harm." She sighs and sits on the toilet seat.

I plop down on the bath edge, "Well it's gone now. Guess that means folks will stop disappearing in the tunnel."

Her hand clenches, "It's because of things like that I never participated in the league. Folks like my old neighbor Riley just going missing. No one even spends too much time looking. Especially here, once a month someone thinks it's so easy to fetch a dragon egg only to show up on my father's doorstep sliced up from head to toe."

"Hey," brushing her copper hair aside, "I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere… and I think you could use a vacation."

She huffs, "Oh yeah? Alola was it? Why are you grinning?!"

"Ha!" I pull her all the way into the warm shower, "Just imagining you in a two piece bathing suit on the beach."

Water pours down her shoulders, soaking into her black lace bra.

Pouting she flicks me right in the dɨċk!

"Ow!"

"My hair was going to be perfect today!" then she collapses into my embrace, "You're a jerk only giving me a week to try and get a beach bod as well."

My hands wander down her abs, "I think I'll be fighting off other guys enough as is."

"Oh? Gonna claim your property is it?" Her nails claw at my back a bit and she gasps when my fingers reach their destination.

Needless to say this ended up being the second day in a row with a late start.

-----

Noami had found a creamsicle from somewhere and was watching the irate Jane pacing in the living room when we came down.

"Finally," Jane rushes over, "How can you sleep in when we are getting new pokemon today?!"

Lacy swats her with a magazine, "I was fixing my hair, now let's get going."

The landmark lab is at the north end of town. It's over a dozen floors of white brick in gothic architecture casting shade over a large, fenced area. Between the large and odd trees I can see what looks like a yellow, triceratops-ish dinosaur munching on a mossy rock. A Bastiodon according to my dex app.

Inside a young receptionist gal greets us from behind a front desk, "Good morning and welcome to Devon, how can I help you?"

Noami steps up, "My friends would like to exchange their fossils."

"Ah, Miss Wattson, of course, just head down that hall there please." She points to a large hall in which hangs an Aerodactyl skeleton.

Similar to the breeder ranch, this hallway is lined with glass windows looking out into varied pokemon enclosures. There are many I'm already familiar with such as Oddish, and some new breeds like this odd green penguin, a Xatu.

"I'm in Jurassic Park!"

At least my Dex said Tyrantrum only grow up to ten feet when I looked up Alloy's Tyrunt.

A secondary high ceilinged lobby has a large circular desk that looks over the surrounding exhibits while housing a tower of science fiction level machinery. Several lab coated individuals are studying monitors and print outs. Some are in the oddly nostalgic process of cutting up food and tossing it into a row of buckets.

One of the few men steps out from the work area and greets us, "Hello there folks, Lacy, what can we do for you today. Kelly is still resting at home but she wanted me to thank you again if I saw you Doc."

Lacy scowls, "Robert, It's certainly nice to meet over fossil stuff instead of your wife's bloody leg."

"Ha..ha, um ya." he nods awkwardly, "So, fossils is it, what do you have for us?"

Jane hops over and hands him her amber sample while I place my shell fragment on the counter.

I can't help but chuckle, "Let's let her go first before she breaks something or someone in excitement."

Rob takes the amber sample and places it in a glass container hooked up to a computer, "Let's see… Yup, we have a very good trace of Aerodactyl DNA." He looks back at us, "What would you like to do with this today? Egg synthesis or equivalent adoption, mind we don't do hybrid tests here. The board ruled that as unethical and we of this lab tend to agree."

Jane looks to Naomi who gestures towards one of the branching halls, "The sample wasn't anything special, just good quality. Let's look at the healthy young pokemon."

Our guide breathes a sigh of relief, "Fantastic, we're all happy for these pokemon to find good homes over any other option. So, let's visit the Grand Stone Aviary!"

Now, there was a lot I imagined we'd see today as far as science labs might include.

What I didn't expect, was a several stories tall indoor habitat the size of a football field with covered walkways snaking between towering rock pillars amongst a mostly water floor with a few small islands.. Car sized nests can be spotted along the rock pillars from which fly winged dinosaurs with jaws that could swallow the family dog whole.