Crossroads

  Disappointments were a part of life; Alexandria Masters had accepted
that a long time ago. That didn't, however, mean that they didn't
hurt.

  The Fortree City Gym was closed off by the police; forensic evidence
needed to be taken, statements made. Several Magma operatives had been
taken, but many more had managed to escape. Winona had already declared
that all trainer battles would be postponed until the police were
satisfied in their efforts, and that the remaining parts of the closing
ceremonies would be held later.

  That hadn't been the problem, as Alex silently fingered the golden
medal about her neck with her left hand. The real problems were still
left unsettled; Smasher was still missing, and Fugue had either
disappeared or taken his own life. Rush, Smasher's loyal, lady-loving
Arcanine had been turned into a Shadow Pokémon, and was now in
Alex's care. She eyed the Poké Ball containing him, clutched in her
right hand, and silently huffed.

  They'd been close...too damn close. And she'd failed to notice
that Fugue wasn't Smasher. Then again, Fugue failed to notice that he
wasn't Smasher either, so she wasn't totally blameless.
Still...this sucked.

  "A penny for your thoughts, Princess?" a familiar voice said.

  Alex's eyes grew wide in surprise. She quickly darted her gaze
about the small forest she was in just outside of town, then smiled.
"I told you never to call me that."

  "Old habits die hard, child," the voice replied as its owner
stepped out from behind a large oak, her blue eyes twinkling with
youthful energy despite her age. "You always did seek loneliness when
you were in deep thought; I'd thought that a forest would be the
first place to look around here. It didn't make things easier,
however; the entire town is surrounded by forest, made up of forests.
It's a wonder there isn't a termite problem." She smiled, and
said, "I'm glad to see you safe, Alex."

  "I'm glad to see you too, Aunt Akima," Alex said with a smile.

  Akima smiled. She was a tall woman, signs of age etched upon every
feature despite her voice and activity. Her ivory hair was long and
spikey, quickly reminding one of an oversized hedgehog. That was her
only outstanding feature however; the rest of her would have attracted
some attention, made people wonder what she was like as a younger
woman. She, however, never told those who didn't already know.

  "I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it to your mother's
funeral," Akima said as she stepped forward, her long coat lightly
swaying in the wind. "I doubted she would have wanted me to come; she
never seemed happy about me training you in the use of the pike."

  "Mom was a little over-protective," Alex reasoned. "Can't
blame her. Why the visit?"

  "A woman can't simply pop in and say 'hi' to her great
niece?" Akima asked as she leaned up against the same tree as Alex.

  "You could say 'hi' with a phone call," Alex reminded her.
"You don't show up personally unless it's important."

  Akima sighed, and said, "You've definitely inherited the brains
in the family." She looked to Alex and said, "Serena and Beth told
you about the major details. They left out some, unfortunately."

  "Yeah, I noticed that," Alex noted. "They mentioned that there
was an overall group keeping an eye on me, but nothing beyond that."

  "The group calls itself the Prometheus Corps," Akima explained.
"Your great uncle Darien and I have been with them for a long time,
kept safe and out of the limelight. Had things gone differently, you
would've been given the option to do the same in time." With a
slight grin, she noted, "But I think I know how you would have
reacted."

  "A firm 'no', in so many words," Alex assured her. "Is
that why you're here?"

  "An agent with the PBI got word to them, and they got word to
me," Akima explained. "I thought I'd drop in and see how you were
doing...and I think I was right, wasn't I?"

  Alex sighed, and said, "You don't know the half of it."

-

  "<Well, this has been an exercise in frustration,>" Surtur noted
as he laid out on the couch in the Pokémon Center's lobby.

  "Can't argue too much," ShadowWarrior noted. "We won, we
kicked butt, we took names...but we didn't exactly do what we hoped,
did we?"

  "<It's damn unfair,>" Daraxis said, slumped against the wall.

  "Kid, you'll find out a lot of things in life are unfair," a
second Blastoise remanded him. "Me getting stolen was unfair. Me
being stuck with Nori is unfair. A lot of things that have happened to
the both of us are unfair."

  "<And yet, you're not bitter about it,>" Surtur noted with a
light tone of sarcasm. "<And still with her.>"

  "Didn't exactly have many places to go, did I?" Rubix asked in
reply, his tone implying a desire to end the conversation.

  Nori entered just then, Big Time in her arms, and asked,
"ShadowWarrior..."

  "Yes?" the Murkrow replied, looking towards her in curiosity.

  Nori remained silent for a few seconds before asking, "Do
you...know where Alex is?"

  "She went off to think for a while," ShadowWarrior replied.
"Why? You normally don't raise too much concern over her." He
quickly asked, "Are you just trying to make certain everyone stays
close?"

  Nori shrugged and answered, "Something like that."

-

  "So this is what you've been up to in your spare time," Akima
noted. "You haven't found him?"

  "We've kept our eyes open, but we don't have much left to go
on," Alex explained. "Days when I almost feel like it isn't worth
it."

  "Almost?" Akima asked.

  "He's got family," Alex said. "Friends, loved ones. They
need to know that he's alive, or at least that there's a body.
It's only recently that I've been able to get any real closure for
what's happened to me; I want to give that chance to others. Besides,
he knows."

  "About you?" Akima asked. "I thought we impressed upon you the
importance..."

  "It was an accident," Alex quickly explained. "But that
doesn't matter much. I've already had people try to kill me; if
they knew about Smasher, found him, tortured him...amnesia goes deep,
but any memory can be recovered given enough work."

  "It's not like they don't already know," Akima noted.
"Still, I understand your concern. I'm saddened to report that
there have been many innocents lost as a result of this feud...for his
sake and yours, I hope he doesn't become one of them. If you like, I
could send word out about him, ask if anyone at the PBI has any
information."

  "It's worth a shot," Alex said. "Thanks, Auntie."

  "Anything for my princess," Akima said with a teasing grin.

  Alex groaned despite herself. "You'll never learn." With a
sigh, she noted, "I just wish you didn't have to do anything like
that. I wish he was safe, that Fugue really was Smasher...or that
he'd been able to lead us to him. It's bad enough that he's
missing...I feel even worse that he's in danger."

  "Because of you?" Akima asked. "Child, despite the fact that
you've had a major role in many events in the last month or so, you
need to learn that not everything revolves around you."

  "Who said they did?" Alex replied. "Even if he didn't know,
I'd probably still try finding him. And he's obviously in danger
anyway, if Team Magma would send so many people just to find Fugue.
Still, I feel like I haven't helped."

  "You can't predict anything, child," Akima reminded her.
"Everything has unpredicted side effects. Consider what Canmore tried
to do to you; in the end, you became exactly the thing he was most
afraid of, and much more."

  Alex looked at her and asked, "Much more?"

  Akima sighed, then explained, "Have you ever wondered why so much
attention has been paid to you? The medical tests, the full
examinations, the genetic testing; they were all done for a reason."

  Alex gave her aunt a glance that asked for elaboration.

  "This was the first, and only time, that such a thing happened,"
Akima explained. "We were afraid afterwards that you wouldn't
survive, that your genetic structure would break down and you'd die,
or worse. Yet you survived, and have continued to do so. Now we think
we know why; your genetics aren't purely Extaxian. You have small
traces of human DNA left in your system, enough to stabilize the change
but not enough to qualify you as a proper hybrid."

  "So what does this mean for me?" Alex asked. "I mean, we know
I got all the benefits; telepathy, the immune system, heightened
strength and such..."

  "It means you may not have received the key weakness," Akima
explained. "For all the advantages I have over a normal human,
despite medical care and every advantage granted, I still have a very
short life expectancy. I'm in my early sixties now, and the average
lifespan of an Extaxian is about seventy years. You may get around
that, between lack of exposure to Extaxian diseases and whatever human
DNA courses within you. You're not immortal, but you might have a
longer lifespan, a few years, perhaps even a decade with proper
nutrition and medical care. You're special in more ways than one,
Alex."

  Alex sighed. "Like I haven't heard that already."

-

  "So, what now?" Keaton asked of the other remaining members of
the Search Party for Smasher.

  The group hadn't fared too well; two of their number, Carol Ross
and John Scriebb, were missing. Both Keaton and his wereNinetales
half-sister, Kitsu, had been targeted by a mysterious force that the
group knew little about, which had used their young friend Aerie as a
pawn. Both Mimic, Aerie's uncle, and Bob Raiser were occasionally
contending with their dark sides, while Bob's young sibling Jeff was
beginning to know his own inner demons. Nori had come within an inch of
death, while Ben Algam, despite having emerged unscathed, had only done
so by being somewhat absent from many of the major events of late.

  "Not sure," Mimic noted with a shrug from his position on the
couch, stretched out on its cushions. "Not many leads left, are
there?"

  "I think we have one left," a familiar voice noted.

  Those gathered turned to find Alex walking into the Pokémon Center,
a somewhat less somber expression on her face.

  "Where've you been?" Nori asked as Alex walked up to the
gathered group.

  "Just needed to be by myself for a little while and think," Alex
explained. "Anything happen while I was out?"

  "I had a brief chat with Sabrina, but that's about it," Kitsu
quickly related. "So, what's your theory?"

  "Just trying to piece together what happened," Alex said.
"Between our own research, evidence, and Fugue's story, I think we
have a fair idea of what happened to Smasher after the Silver
Conference."

  #Care to illuminate us?# Raffy asked in a somewhat bored tone.

  "One, Smasher was sent rocketing from Mount Silver to the ashen
fields near Fallarbor Town," Alex reasoned. "At the same time,
Fugue was escaping a Team Magma facility. Smasher may well have landed
on him, knocking them out in the process and causing Fugue to
subconsciously mimic Smasher's form and copy his memories and
abilities. At the same time, Smasher's helmet and Poké Ball belt
were separated from him. When he woke up, thinking he was Smasher,
Fugue grabbed the belt and rushed away, leaving the real Smasher and
the helmet behind. The helmet was found by us, but someone obviously
found Smasher."

  "Team Magma?" Bob asked.

  "Who else?" Alex asked in reply. "They probably mistook him
for Fugue and took him back to the base, leaving him to recover. They
realized he wasn't Fugue, but kept him around thinking that he might
be useful somewhere down the line."

  "We've tried getting into two Magma bases already," Rubix
quickly pointed out. "I doubt third time's the charm."

  "Who says we need to storm a Magma base?" Alex asked. "You
can't totally eliminate memories, and you definitely can't destroy
the soul. Knowing Smasher, he most likely flew the coup. That may well
explain the guy I ran into in Lilycove; he was jumpy, nervous, and he
ran the instant I spotted him. Now he didn't run here; that means
he's either still there, or he's gone on to Mossdeep. I realize
it's a long shot, but it's the best we've got for now."

  There was silence among those gathered before Nori finally said in a
low voice, "Not like we've got much left to go on."

  "What if we don't find him?" Aerie asked, concern etched on
her face. "Between you two and me, we've got most of Smasher's
team."

  Alex gave a glance towards Big Time, still nestled in Nori's arms,
and said, "Well, I think Big Time's in good hands for now." She
looked to Aerie and said, "Meanwhile, he knew you. I think he'd
feel safe knowing that Pikat-shoo, Ice, StarScream and Iron Horse were
in your care."

  "Iron Horse..." Aerie asked. "What about...?"

  Alex's face gained a somber expression and said, "Rush was the
prize; he was turned into a Shadow Pokémon and taken from Fugue. He
asked me to keep track of him, and until Rush is purified or
Smasher's found, I'll keep him with me. I won't feel safe
otherwise."

  "But the...?" Aerie asked.

  "I've sent Vision back home," Alex explained. With a shrug,
she said, "Finally decided to give 'Eye' a nickname. He'll be
safe there with Cass and the people at my dad's lab." With a sigh,
she said, "And as much as I hate to say it, we need to make tracks
now, or the trail will grow extremely cold. So if anyone has anything
to say, now's the time."

TBC!

[NS: Sorry I haven't been around for a while; been busy with other
stuff. Anyway, if anyone's got anything to say, best get it in quickly.
Hoping to see many responses...]