#varnienne

She blinked. Weird. She hadn't seen that expression in almost two years. A pit settled in her stomach as the doors closed.

Upstairs, the pit grew when she stepped off of the elevator. Researchers and interns darted across the room with papers. Others spoke in short, clipped tones to one another without a glance from whatever they worked on. Pokémon around them whined and huddled close to their trainers.

Andria jolted when a furry ribbon wrapped around her arm. Looked down to find her Sylveon pointedly moving his head. Oh . The Trainer grabbed her pendant and took a deep breath in, then slowly let it out. And again. Okay, let's try this again.

Gold rippled across her hands as she weaved her way through everyone, pit in her stomach shrinking with each brush of contact. People and Pokemon alike sighed. Tension trickled from shoulders and brows. Everyone was calm by the time she reached the Professor.

“Thank you for that.” Sycamore gave her a smile and waved her over.  “Everyone’s been on edge since last night’s breakthrough.”

Andria blinked. “Does this have anything to do with the power spikes around Détourner Way?”

“So you’ve noticed it too.” He turned to the panel at his side. Some typing later and a Holo-Map of Route 22 appeared. Focused around an abandoned cave pocket was a circle of red. “We’ve been trying to decipher its source for the last few days.”

“And last night…?”

He clicked two buttons. “We were able to cross-reference the readings we have of Kalos’ legendaries and…” The map slid over to show an incomplete reading of the Mischief Pokemon.

“Hoopa.” Sylveon’s ribbon tightened around her fist. “They’ve been missing for a while now, right?”

Sycamore’s expression turned grim. “The last recorded sighting of them is right before the Hoenn Incident.”

Andria tensed, eyes slowly widening. That- no… How could that’ve- “We were three regions over. It shouldn’t have extended that far!”

“It didn’t.” A hand gently squeezed her shoulder. “Hoopa has rings that allow it to teleport wherever and whatever they want to. Must’ve been frightened and teleported away.”

The champion sighed. She frowned. “Wait. Do we know where it went?”

“No.” Sycamore sighed. Turned back to his panel. The hologram disappeared as he typed. “We’ve been searching and calling all night.”

Sylveon chirped beside her. His other ribbon unfurled from his leg to reopen the map. Pointed at the center of the energy red circle. He chirped again and turned to Andria.

“You think we should explore where Hoopa disappeared?” An affirmative trill. “Well…”

“If you can get close and record what you find, that would help a lot.”

The Champion gave him a short nod. “I’ll go then.” Sylveon hummed its cheer.

~~~

Andria waved at other Trainers as she walked through Détourner Way. Thankfully, most of them recognized her so no battles today. Unfortunately. It’d been too long since her team was able to really let loose.

Something in her bag beeped.

She waved the hologram away with a smile. Shauna’s well wishes and worry had warmth blooming in her chest. Greninja huffed and she restrained the need to push him. Andria gave him a flat look.

“Don’t laugh at me, Sylven. You know how she gets . ” She turned and gestured to the river beside them. “Mind using Surf so we can head over?”

Sylven nodded. Water swirled around his feet as he stepped onto the surface. He crouched, wrapped his tongue around the Trainer’s waist, and started swimming.

As they walked through the flowers, Andria’s keystone began to glow. She smiled. The Chamber of Emptiness… An apt name. With its barren rock walls and cold dirt floor, the echoing silence settled her racing pulse. She pulled up her Holo-Caster to start recording as Sylven returned.

The glow extended into the seams of her bracelet. Eyes wide, she reported to her Caster. “My Mega Ring is reacting?”

Power pulsed through the chamber. Blue light swirled into a thin disc in front of them. Gold raced around its edge. The disc flashed when the two points met. When Andria lowered her arm, she recognized the portal for what it was. One of Hoopa’s rings.

Slowly, she reached out to touch it, magic glowing around her fingertips. Her power rippled across the surface. It swirled until blue turned a soft spring green. The disc froze.

Hurricane winds swept the Trainer off her feet. Then she was lifted from the ground. Andria frantically felt around. Tried to find something, anything to grab onto. Her fingers brushed a rock. She grabbed it, only for the rock to break.

“No!”

Held her purse tight to her chest, magic consuming it - and her - in a bubble of gold.

~~~

Andria groaned and sat up. Put a hand to her throbbing head. Glanced around. Her team was unconscious on the ground around her.

The room itself was well-furnished. A soft couch with pillows and tasteful rugs. Book-filled shelves lined the walls around a TV and window. There was even a small kitchen off to the left. But the silence…

Blood drained from her face. Andria pulled out her Holo-Caster and tapped the first name. Shauna… her heart thumped as she waited. The dialing display chimed. Chimed again. And again. She hung up when 'No Answer' covered the hologram.

The Trainer stood and darted to the window. A full city lay beyond the glass. It was entirely devoid of life.

Magic hummed under her skin and she closed her eyes. Took a deep breath. Sent a pulse out. Felt it flow over her PokéBalls. Coursed through concrete, stone, and dirt. Hummed through metal, the electric wiring hidden underneath. She ignored her team popping free when her magic reached a door.

There! Her eyes snapped open. Andria smiled. It was an… Her head tilted. Weird. She shrugged. It was still a sign of life!

Something nestled into the crook of her neck. She patted Gardevoir’s head. Andria smiled. "We'll be okay, Begonia. For now though," pulled its empty ball her purse, "return to your PokéBall. I don't know where we are, but there isn't a Pokémon anywhere near here."

A chirp of agreement followed.

~~~

A shiver came over him. His ear twitched. How odd.

Blaring rings ripped through the silence of his office.

Paws darted across his keyboard as he silenced the alarm. Security footage of all their training grounds reflected in his eyes. Nedzu smiled when Training Ground Beta showed a flash of light. No movement or other sign of forced entry. He sped up the playback. A soft pulse followed with the time showing an hour later. Now nothing.

Flipped to the cameras stored in the building and rewound the footage. There they are- Nedzu blinked. Well, now.

He watched as a portal opened just below the ceiling and a bubble hurtled out. It popped - shattered - against the floor and a sleeping young woman with brown hair and red hat over her face was left in its wake. The portal shrank and turned into a golden bracelet. It fell harmlessly into the girl’s open purse.

Six strange creatures lay unconscious around a sleeping young woman with brown hair and a hat above her on the couch she landed on.

He hummed. Typed a quick text to Aizawa-kun. The teacher was mostly free with his class out at internships.

The principal's attention returned to the footage when their intruder shifted. She woke up and glanced around. He saw the second she thought of something. Likely remembering how she appeared in the room. His tail twitched at her awful expression. She couldn't be much older than their Third Years.

Nedzu glanced up when his door camera alerted him to a visitor. He smiled and turned his laptop display into a hologram. Almost greeted the opening door when the intruder- guest stood and kept his attention.

She darted to the nearest window. Golden light burst from her hands and raced across the building. A flip through cams showed it reaching the edge of Ground Beta. It faded and nothing happened.

Some kind of displacement or teleportation quirk then. Perhaps she needed to sense living targets for it to work. Were they an anchor? Did it only work on people?

Aizawa settled in the closest chair.

"Hello, Aizawa-kun."

He grunted out a greeting. Nodded at the footage. "Is that the intruder you mentioned?"

Nedzu hummed and gestured to the display. "She has yet to cause a disturbance and appears to be more confused than malicious."

Eraserhead raised a brow but didn't comment. Glanced over the young woman's body language and decided he agreed. That level of emotion couldn't be faked. Light poured from her purse. The heroes' postures shifted, more attentive as their attention sharpened on the movement.

The light solidified into a strange creature. It stood a bit taller than the girl and wore what appeared to be a white dress. Its hair(?) and arms were bright green. The creature watched the girl as her senses finally returned to her.

[I don't think we're in Kalos anymore, everyone.]  It nuzzled into her neck. Chirped at her. Andria smiled and patted the creature’s head(?). [We'll be okay, Begonia. I don't know where we are, but there isn't a single Pokémon anywhere near here. So for now,] she pulled a red and white ball from her purse, [return to your PokéBall.]

A chirp of agreement followed. The girl smiled, though its light didn't reach her eyes.

Nedzu blinked. “Pokémon?" He smiled. More mystery to unravel. He stood as she gathered her things and left the room. Turned to his favorite human with a smile. "Why don't we greet our guest?"

~~~

The principal crossed his paws behind his back. Nedzu scanned his ID and opened the doors. Turned to the alley coming up. “If I remember correctly, she appeared in the apartment building on the next street.”

By the time they finally got to the building, the girl was walking out. Only a few inches shorter than Aizawa, she wore a white, sleeveless sweater and red pants. The strap across her chest trailed down to her purse, matching boots clicking on the sidewalk. Golden eyes flashed and she smiled at them.

Nedzu returned the gesture. “Hello, miss…?”

“Mathieu.” Her eyes glazed over for a moment, a small smile on her face. “Andria Mathieu.”

From a Western country then. “Hello, Miss Mathieu. I am Nedzu, and this is Aizawa, a good friend of mine.” He rocked on his feet. “Mind telling us how you managed to get by the alarms?”

“Alarms?” Andria frowned. Pulled out a strange tablet and started typing. They could just hear her whispered words. “I was in a cave before I woke up here. How could that have-” Her eyes widened when she stopped scrolling. Blinked. “That's not good.”

“What isn't?” She startled at Aizawa's gruff voice.

“Um…” Her tablet beeped. She frowned at it. Tapped it a few times. Winced. Glanced back up at them. “I was investigating a small cave for energy surges the lab's been getting.” She scrolled through her tablet again. Shook her head. “The second I walked in, there was another surge. And if I'm reading these numbers right,” her grip tightened, “it caused a spatial distortion that brought me here.” Gestured around her. “Wherever here is.”

Nedzu gestured around them. “You are at Yuuei, of which I am the principal.”

“Principal?” Andria tilted her head. “Is this a school?”

The stoat shifted at the question. Glanced over her again. She was cleanly dressed in modern clothes. Possessed technology no civilian could get their hands on. Spoke of a professor she likely interned with, given how young she looked. Yuuei was world-renowned, and yet…

“Yuuei is a school noted for its Heroics course, though it offers more than that.” The principal’s smile lessened. Her body language hadn’t changed much since they started talking. No hostility, only confusion and... growing horror? But to get past the system as she did… “Miss Mathieu, are you not aware that you’re trespassing on highly secured and regulated grounds?”

Her eyes widened. Shook her head. Something in her bag jostled. Her hand steadied it, whispered words neither staff member understood. Was that French? She was quiet for a while, struggling to get her bag to calm. Only when it settled did her posture relax.

“I had no idea.” She glanced between the two before her, lips a grim line. Soft light pulsed from her pendant. Closed her eyes as it fell silent after a second pulse. “I didn't hear any alarms and assumed I was on a theater set or something.”

"Unfortunately, no." Nedzu shook his head. "Why don't we head to my office. I'm sure we both have many questions."

Each of the guards raised their shields and spears. All aimed at the intruder.

“This is sacred land protected by the gods.” Princess Zelda glared at him, sword pointed out. “I will not allow you to hurt my people.”

The intruder laughed. “You think to beat me when your father couldn’t?”

Zelda’s hand tightened around the hilt of her sword. Please, give me strength. Golden light faintly hummed from her left hand.

“It is time to choose, princess. Surrender.” An aura of murky black surrounded him. The beast servants stopped moving. “Or death.” He hissed out the word.

Before she could answer, the guards charged forward. The intruder scoffed. His aura flared and the beasts launched forward. Their first victims were swallowed. The next were sliced into pieces with the swipes of claws.

He waved his hand and disappeared. Zelda felt the air behind her distort. She stiffened at the ghost of his breath on her neck. The intruder chuckled. “Your stubbornness only brings pain to your people.”

“Don’t give in princess,” called the guard captain, trapped in a beast’s grip. He reached out to her. “Don’t let our homeland become the den of shadows.”

Zelda watched, wide-eyed as the last of her soldiers huddled together. They shivered even as they faced the beasts, spears and swords ready to strike. Sweat rolled down her face as she trembled. The light of Wisdom fell silent. Dammit. The princess struggled to hold in her tears. We cannot win.

Her sword dropped with a deafening clang as the intruder laughed.

~oOo~

Racing feet thumped on the forest floor. Kagome panted and clutched her son closer to her chest. The sun dipped below the horizon. She cursed. There was no choice. Rose light swirled into her eyes. She hissed at the pull on her soul.

"Please be careful, Mama," he whispered. Tiny clawed hands dug into her haori. He sniffled. "I'm sorry my leaves couldn't keep us hidden."

Kagome smiled sadly and rubbed his back. "It's okay, Shippo. We've been fighting all day."

Grunts and whines echoed behind them. Ice slithered down their spines. Kagome pushed herself to run faster.

Their hunters heard her pace pick up. One of them stopped. It let out an ear-splitting screech and the forest animals fled. She winced and covered her son’s ears. Her foot hit a tree root and Kagome stumbled. No! She maneuvered around to land on her back. Impact choked the breath from her lungs.

The creatures were on her.

They were like nothing she’d ever seen before. Blacker than the midnight sky, they skulked around on all fours. The long shadows of twilight melded into them. Only the glowing red of strange runes on their chests pierced the dark. Several tendrils flowed from their shield-like heads as though they were hair.

Kagome pulled at her dry well of power. She ignored the needles in her chest. Rose pink light rippled across her skin and around her son. The snarling beasts tried to approach only to whine on contact.

A moment of stillness. Harsh cracks spidered up their arms, her power glowing through. The beasts whined as their arms turned to dust.

All three of them screeched. Dark power pulsed around them. An answering pulse came from above. Kagome and Shippo glanced up and their eyes widened. In the sky was a swirling vortex of black with geometric designs glowing red like the beasts’ chests. Its power rushed down to consume them in darkness.