Child of Thorns - A Pokemon Sinnoh Reimagining

Inyssa was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Leader's students were a lot tougher than she expected.

At least an hour had passed, and she'd only been able to defeat three of them. Steven and Kuro had fallen in the last two fights respectively, and she was now stuck with only Bret, since Shadi hadn't recovered from her wounds yet.

She winced as her last Pokemon was thrown backwards by the opposing Buizel's Aqua Jet, almost falling to the water which made up seventy percent of the arena. Each trainer stood at opposite sides of a small pool, with plastic platforms littered all over as to give fire, ground and rock types a chance were she to use one.

But she wasn't, and that was the problem. By all means Bret should've obliterated any water type he encountered, but in this specific scenario he was being outmatched. He was by far the slowest Pokemon in her team, and with no ground for him to press his hand against and summon vines, he didn't count with any way to counter the Buizel's overwhelming speed. Each torrent of petals he threw at him was either dodged effortlessly or rendered useless by his opponent simply jumping into the pool.

In a strange way, she couldn't help but be relieved. Having skipped the fight against Maylene, it had been a long time since she'd gotten an actual, honest challenge from anyone. It excited her, it put her right in her element. As messy as confusing as her life could get, a Pokemon fight was something she could actively solve, and she was grateful for that.

"Finish him off! Aqua Tail!"

She threw her hand forward, a plan forming on her mind. "Bret, surround yourself with Stun Spore!"

Raising himself to his feet, the Roselia extended both rose-covered hands to the side. A cloud of musky, yellow dust was expelled from every one of his petals, spiraling around him like a small cloud. Buizel saw this, only inches from his opponent, and with the power gathered into his tails he whipped at the air in front of him. A mighty gust of wind parted the water in half, dispelling the spores completely.

"W-what!?" the trainer in front of her yelled, eyes wide open. "He's gone!"

Inyssa smiled, her victory assured.

"Bret, Grass Knot!"

Dozens of vines broke through the surface of the water. Buizel tried his best to dodge, but using his last attack in such an unorthodox manner had left him without any momentum in the middle of the air; his speed completely nullified. They slithered their way through his body, binding him completely and leaving him suspended above the water.

"Try to break out with Sonic Boom!"

"Magical Leaf!"

Tail covered in white energy, Buizel tried desperately to cut the vines binding him, to no avail. From the bottom of the pool a torrent of glowing, sharp petals pelted his body relentlessly, until he was no longer able to stay conscious.

She let out a long sigh of relief. Grabbing Bret's Pokeball, she returned him to it from the bottom of the pool, and whispered congratulations into it. Still, her win had been too close for her liking. A lot of training would be needed before she would feel comfortable challenging the Gym leader.

Clapping brought her back to reality. The trainer she'd just fought approached her with a huge grin on her face. She was a tall, scrawny girl wearing a swimsuit and a blue wrestling mask modeled after a Piplup.

"That was one hell of a battle." She spoke with a booming voice, hands on her hips. "Though I'm afraid not good enough to get past our leader."

She struggled to form a polite smile. "Yeah, I know. Hey, what's with the masks, anyway?"

The girl smiled widely, as if she'd been expecting the question. Without prompt she lowered her knees and turned to the side, flexing both her arms. "Well why else!? This is the Gym of the greatest wrestler ever to have graced Sinnoh! We, his apprentices, can't be seen around without a mask of our own! That would bring nothing but disgrace to this distinguished establishment!"

At any other time, Inyssa might've stared in confusion at the girl's pose, or perhaps rolled her eyes at such a hammy performance. But now all she could do was let out a gasp of surprise.

"W-wait!" She gulped, eyes wide open. "The greatest wrestler… and this is a water-type Gym. Don't tell me…!"

"Indeed," said the girl, standing up and folding her arms proudly. "You stand before the strongest student of none other than the legendary Crasher Wake, master of the ocean's wrath!"

Inyssa was not proud of the sound which came out of her mouth, but at that moment she didn't care one bit. The name itself made her skin shiver, and for the first time in her life she felt like she imagined Barry did all the time.

"I love Crasher Wake!" She threw her arms to the side, smiling so widely her cheeks hurt. "Oh my god… oh my god I'm gonna have to fight Crasher Wake…" A strange mix of fear and anticipation filled her chest. "Oh my god I need to train so much more than I thought."

The girl nodded knowingly. "You better not come at our boss without making sure you're ready!"

A violent shiver hit her, the mere thought of having to face against one of her favorite celebrities almost too much for her to handle. An image came to mind; Shadi and Barry and her laying on the couch as they watched the man in television, wrestling his way through every opponent which came to him. She'd never cheered harder in her life.

Barry…

She turned to his friend, excited to see his reaction to the news. Unfortunately what she saw wiped the smile off her face; Barry's Kadabra had just received a devastating attack from the opposing Shellos. She saw her friend's face covered in shadows as he returned his last Pokemon, hands shaking.

The girl she'd just fought might've been a bit offended at being left there without even a goodbye, but Inyssa couldn't worry about that at the moment. She headed toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder in the most reassuring way she could.

"Hey… it's gonna be okay," she assured him. "You got through three other trainers before; I'm sure Kitsune was really tired."

Barry shook his head, too weakly for her liking. "It's… it's not that. Kitsune was fine, I just…" He looked as his palm, eyes droopy. "I froze. That thing was beating us and I couldn't think my way out. "

The sheer sadness in his voice made her want to walk to the trainer he'd just faced and punch them in the face. She instead chose to grab him by the arm as she walked towards the exit.

"Nothing we can't fix with some training," she said. "Come on, let's get our Pokemon patched up before we go to that spot Reiko and Percy said. You'll feel much better after that."

"Yeah… I guess."

"I guarantee it." She tried her best to smile cheerfully. "I also have some news that will knock your socks off."

In the end, the reveal of the Gym Leader's identity did bring Barry back to his usual bubbly self, and then some. There was no way to explain how relieved that made Inyssa; she really wasn't sure how good she was at cheering up her friend. Still, she knew it was temporary. Whatever mental block Barry was struggling against in battle, it was something she could only marginally help with. He would eventually have to solve it by himself.

As soon as their Pokemon were healed they headed to the spot saved in their map. It was a small clearance hidden between two thick walls of robust trees, filled to the brim with tall grass and a myriad of other bushes and colorful plants, most of which she'd never seen before.

She instructed Bret to use Sweet Scent in the direction of the wind, and soon enough the place was swarming with horde after horde of wild Pokemon. Wooper, Bibarel, Tangela and Noctowl fell on them from every direction. Luckily the combined might of their team was too much for them to handle.

After a few minutes of training they heard steps behind them, and through two thick bushes appeared Reiko and Percy. For the first time since the trial at the Lost Tower, the redhead didn't look cheery.

"Well… isn't this a sight for sore eyes," she said, forcing herself to smile. "Looks like you're getting your time's worth with these wild Pokemon."

"How did the Gym go?" Percy asked.

She explained their little venture, focusing mostly on the Gym Leader's revealed identity and omitting to mention Barry's defeat. Reiko seemed to regain some of the color in her face as she heard her tale.

"You're both fans of Crasher Wake? Well, let it be known you do have some taste after all," she said. "So, mind if we join the training?"

She didn't wait for a response before letting out three Pokemon. The first two she'd seen already; Stain the Scyther and Nakuru the Golduck. The third however, was completely new. A chubby, bipedal rodent with orange fur covering most of its body and two circular marks on its cheeks. A long tail sprout from its back, ending in the shape of a lightning bolt.

Inyssa took out her Pokédex almost reflexively.

Raichu: The Orange Blur Pokemon - Electric Type. While mostly friendly and harmless, it can become aggressive if the pouches on its cheeks are too full of electricity. To prevent this, it grounds itself with its tail and discharges all its energy at once. Scorched patches of earth will be found near its nest.

"So that's how you got past Crasher Wake," she said.

Reiko nodded proudly. "Denki here is not someone you wanna mess with."

As if to completely counter his trainer's words, the Raichu approached her and rubbed his cheek on her leg, all the while smiling.

"A-anyway…" She cleared her throat. "We should probably get started."

Inyssa stared her down. "And you're gonna tell us what you wanted to tell us now?"

"Yeah. Here, let's find a better spot while our Pokemon fight."

"And you're absolutely sure she was doing that with a Ditto."

Barry had never seen Reiko so shaken, even if the redhead tried her best to hide it. Her arms were crossed tightly, and her feet tapped the ground incessantly.

"I saw it myself," Niss said. "It's definitely a Ditto."

Reiko bit her thumb, eyes focused on the ground. She seemed to be somewhat lost in thought.

"Did she say anything about it? Like…" She moved her hand in a circle, biting her lip. "Where she got it or anything like that?"

Barry stepped in. "Well, at least from what I saw it looked like it was melted into her body. "

"Back in Veilstone she mentioned something about it," Niss explained. "I think she was experimented on by a guy named Charon."

All color left Reiko's face. She took a sudden step back and almost tripped on an overgrown root, before Percy managed to catch her. She ran her fingers through her hair, as something between a laugh and a sound of incredulousness came out of her mouth.

"I-I knew it!" Barry felt the sheer relief and anger through her voice. "I fucking knew it! I told you he was hiding here in Sinnoh!" she told Percy, fingers curling into fists.

He noticed Niss wincing, as an almost imperceptible spasm hit her right hand. She looked down at her wrist and furrowed her brow, shaking her head slightly. This caught Percy's attention, though he didn't get much time to wonder what had happened as Barry spoke up.

"You know that guy?"

Reiko closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in and out slowly. Her lower lip was shaking.

"It's… it's a long story," she said, pale as paper.

"Really?" Niss said. "You're gonna pull that shit on us? Why do you think we cleared our schedule for today?"

Even though she probably meant her words to be sarcastic, Barry noticed the tinge of impatience in her voice, and he agreed with her sentiment. If they knew anything about Team Galactic which could help take them down, they had to know.

"Fine, but you better listen carefully, because I'm not telling this twice." She unconsciously grabbed her boyfriend's hand, as if wanting to extract strength from it. "So… I mentioned before that my mom worked for Silph Co., right?"

They nodded in unison, the story about how she'd met Red still fresh in their memory.

"Well, I don't know if you knew this, but back in the last two years of the war the company changed a lot," she said, voice slow and taciturn. "The government turned it into a base of operations; intel, communications and all that junk. It became our main scientific branch, which is why Saffron was so targeted by Sinnoh's forces."

Barry decided to ignore the pulsing, burning poison behind her words, and the way her face twisted into pure rage as he said those last words. Next to him Niss frowned, though thankfully she didn't say anything.

"But… some people didn't think having all our brains working on that alone would get us anywhere. That's why a second, smaller branch was created by a group of scientists, who decided to set their base on the old facilities in Cinnabar Island. They said they could come up with a magic bullet to end the war; a secret weapon or something."

Cinnabar Island… Barry could swear he'd heard something about the place related to the war.

Reiko took a deep breath before continuing. "They tried really hard to convince Professor Oak to join their team, though he obviously refused, being a pacifist and the one at the forefront of the anti-war movement. So in the end it was just a group of three scientists, and a few assistants here and there. My…" She swallowed. "My… dad was one of those assistants."

He didn't like the wave of anguish that the girl expelled as she said that, her expression turning grim. Barry's eyes flashed gold for a moment as the feeling hit him.

"They were doing something... dangerous. By some wild miracle one of the lead scientists, Doctor Fuji, had obtained a DNA sample of the mirage Pokemon: Mew. I'm… guessing you're familiar with it."

Barry gulped, feeling like someone had run electricity through his stomach. "I… I mean, yeah?"

"We are indeed familiar with the most famous legendary Pokemon of all time, yes," Niss said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"R-right, stupid question." Reiko let out a weak laugh. "Anyway, their plan was to use the strands of Mew's hair to clone it, or at least clone something just as powerful. Due to religious and spiritual beliefs the Johto branch of the Indigo League wasn't very happy with the idea, but in the end they agreed to keep it a secret. The scientists worked at it for almost an entire year, and then…" She closed and opened her hands unconsciously. "Well, something happened. My dad wouldn't tell us what it was, no matter how much mom and I asked, and I figured that someone above him forbade him from saying anything. After that, rumors started circulating, mostly from the people of Cinnabar. They said they'd heard a huge explosion near the lab, and then they saw a… thing, flying through the roof and into the sky.

"My guess is that they did make a clone, though one too strong for them to control. Not that it matters; after the incident the whole project was cancelled and the three leaders lost their scientific privileges. They each went their own way, and less than two years later the war ended for good."

Niss crossed her arms. "I'm guessing that one of those scientists was Charon, though I still don't know what this has to do with Mars or that weird Ditto."

"I was getting to that, half pint," frowned Reiko. "Turns out, all the work and research they did wasn't in vain. See, they went through a lot of clone prototypes before finally getting it right. These prototypes were really small and pretty much useless as weapons, but they shared something in common with Mew: The ability to transform into any Pokemon they came across."

"W-wait!" Barry asked, eyes going wide. "You mean Ditto?"

Niss gently hit his side with her elbow. "What else? They originated in Kanto due to mysterious experiments," she said. "I guess now we know what those experiments were."

He blushed, completely unaware of that particular tidbit. It had probably been covered during one of their many classes in which he wasn't able to pay any attention.

Reiko nodded. "The initial plan was to get rid of them, though after a lot of convincing from Professor Oak they were allowed to be released into the wild, and from then they spread everywhere. Well… most of them were released.

"There was one Ditto which was… different, from the others. It was their last prototype before the incident that ruined the whole project. Looks like not only was it a lot stronger, but it also wasn't limited to imitating only Pokemon. It could turn into anything; weapons, appliances, even people."

Another wave of unbridled surprise, with a hint of anger, coming from Niss.

"They weren't able to use it as a weapon in the war, since it ended before they could figure out a way to implement its abilities. Still, even after the peace treaties were made the Association's scientists kept studying the thing, just in case. Doctor Fuji and Blaine had no problem with it, but Charon refused. For years he did all he could to convince them to return the Ditto to him. Eventually they discovered several acts of malfeasance attributed to him, and he was declared a war criminal. He was to be judged in front of a tribunal, until…"

Reiko's voice lost strength, and he could see her violently struggling to keep appearances. She lowered her head and tried to speak, tone brittle and weak.

"It… it happened a few days before the trial. I'm sure you saw it in the news, considering…" She attempted to smile, though it only formed halfway.

"Around that time…" Niss whispered, arching her brow. "That's when Cinnabar's volcano erupted, wasn't it?"

"Y-yeah. I was in Saffron when it happened. We saw on TV how all the lava and rock slides just… swallowed the entire island. Though most people managed to evacuate to Vermillion thanks to Blaine's help and that of his Pokemon."

Barry didn't like one bit her use of the word most, and suddenly dreaded hearing any more of her story. Judging by the look on her face, Niss agreed.

"M-my parents were divorced at the time, which is why I lived with my mom. My dad and my… my little brother…"

Percy got closer and gently pushed his shoulder against hers, his fingers grazing her free hand. Reiko sniffled and rubbed her eye with the back of her hand.

Even if Barry knew what to say, he wasn't sure he'd be able to get it out. He could tell it was still a fresh and powerful memory in Reiko's mind, even if so much time had gone by since then. For the first time in ages he didn't notice the change in his eyes.

"Anyway." Reiko cleared her throat. "Eventually they found the bodies of almost everyone who wasn't in the rescue boats. The only two missing were Charon and the Ditto stored in Cinnabar Mansion. No matter how much they looked they couldn't find trace of either of them."

"Is that why you came here?" Barry asked, voice as pale as his skin. "To Sinnoh, I mean."

"Well… A couple days before the trial he was visited by a strange man, apparently. He had light blue hair and his skin was pale and sickly looking, like that of the people here. The boat he came in had arrived from Sinnoh. No one knows what he talked to Charon about, but it happened just before the volcano erupted." She raised one of her hands, curled into a fist, and stared at it. "I had other reasons of course, but I knew that my best chance to find him would be coming here."

It happened again; Niss flinched and threw her arm backwards, letting out a small gasp of pain. He could almost feel the electricity buzzing out of her Pokétch, and he was glad he wasn't able to see Hao's face. To think he'd find two people who were after the same crazy scientist in such a short time…

"Hold on." Niss raised her hand slightly, a quizzical look on her face. "Do you have any proof that this weird guy was from here other than his appearance and the boat he arrived on?"

A scowl formed between Reiko's eyebrows, as if she weren't sure whether to be angry at her words or not.

"That doesn't matter, I was right," she said firmly. "You just told me that Charon is here, working with Team Galactic."

"He is right now, but the eruption in Cinnabar happened years ago," Niss replied in a heated tone. "I believe you in that he escaped and stole that Ditto, but that doesn't mean he immediately came to Sinnoh and started working for Team Galactic."

Reiko shrugged. "Do you have a better explanation, half pint?"

This time it was clear the nickname wasn't thrown around in an endearing way. Niss closed her hands into fists, and Barry didn't have time to stop her before she replied.

"I'm just saying that the last part of your story doesn't make much sense. You're jumping to conclusions too much."

Barry immediately noticed the change in atmosphere, not to mention the way Reiko's eyelid twitched ever so slightly, and decided to step in. "H-hey I don't think that was the point of what she was saying, we should go back to talking about…"

Reiko snapped back, ignoring him. "Are you really that mindlessly patriotic that you can't bear the thought that someone from Sinnoh was behind what happened to our island?"

"Okay, that's enough." Percy grabbed Reiko's arm, eyebrows knit together. "This isn't the time to fight."

"That's not what I'm saying at all!" Niss yelled, gritting her teeth. "The most logical explanation is that Charon was there when the eruption happened and took advantage of it to steal Ditto and escape. How the hell could he even manage to cause something like that, even with outside help? You're just sticking to whatever theory makes hating us easier!"

Reiko chortled, an incredulous look on her face. "You think I don't have proof!? Besides, I don't need to go around grasping at straws to find a reason to be bitter. Your region has already given me a lot of excuses to fucking hate it."

"Says someone from Kanto," Niss spat back, voice full of poison. "Don't act like you're all a bunch of angels. Remember the invasion on Fuchsia City, how they bombed our recon troops with poison gas? Or how about the fact that you still have a war criminal like Surge as a fucking Gym Leader?"

"Is this really the game you wanna play!?" The ground felt like it shook as Reiko took a step forward, expression darkened. "The Lavender invasion! The Sevii Islands bombings! The strike against Viridian that ended the war! Hundreds dead in every one of those incidents!"

Her screams rang through the air all around them, catching the attention of their Pokemon, who turned around towards them. A thick, oppressive silence fell before Niss could respond.

"You were the ones who pulled the trigger first," she growled. "Kanto started the war; don't ever forget that."

Barry put an arm between them before things could escalate further, shooting an irritated look at Niss.

"Alright, let's all calm down!" He tried his best to imbue his voice with authority. "We can all agree that what happened was really bad, and no one here is at fault for it, okay?"

Reiko laughed, which wasn't at all what he was expecting. "Oh, I'm sure you'd love to sweep all this under the rug, Barry. Don't think I don't know who your parents are. Tower Tycoon Palmer and Sarah Paladino, right?" A smile full of wrath formed on her face, and he felt compelled to step back. "Say, how much would you say they enjoyed carving a bloody crest through my homeland? Because considering what they've done I'd say they got a pretty big kick out of it."

"Reiko!" Percy yelled, closing his fingers around her arm, scowling.

Barry's arms dropped to the side, and he was pretty sure a boulder had materialized inside his stomach considering how those words felt. He opened his mouth to refute her, to say anything, but before he could Niss pushed him to the side.

"Leave him out of this!" As small as she was compared to the mountain that was Reiko, she looked just as intimidating. "Talk to him like that again and I'll knock your teeth out!"

He flinched a few inches back. "N-Niss!"

There was a short moment, a couple seconds or so, where it seemed to dawn on the two girls what they'd just said. A short moment where it almost looked like they were able to see through each other's anger, were able to understand the reason for the other's pain. It was short-lived, however, as those seconds passed and the stalwart pride inside them burned that understanding to cinders.

Niss looked down, still simmering like a furnace from his perspective. Her hand moved swiftly, grabbing him by the wrist a bit more strongly than he would've liked.

He was painfully aware of all their Pokemon staring at them inquisitively.

"We're going now," she said, trying to no avail to erase emotion from her voice. "I knew I shouldn't have wasted my time on you two."

The sheer poison behind her tone made Reiko wince. She actually looked hurt, as if her anger had been mitigated by Niss, at least for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself.

Barry felt himself being dragged back the way they came from, as their Pokemon followed behind with clear looks of confusion. He knew he should've told her something, told her they could resolve the situation without having to go away or write them off entirely.

Yeah, like you'd be able to change her mind. Good one.

His shoulders dropped, shame creeping up through his body. No choice but to give up; not that he'd be able to change anything by himself.

He let himself be dragged by Niss, a million unsaid words inside him.