Chapter 12: Where Are My Books?

  Koga’s daughter—Janine, who was currently observing the race for her younger brother—watched the screens in the control room with satisfaction. Each monitor displayed a different corner of the Cerulean Caves, where the chaotic first-year race was unfolding. Resting her elbow on the table, she scratched her chin thoughtfully while the Pokémon League Federation (PLF) technicians adjusted the camera angles. Most of the screens showed nothing particularly interesting: fainted students, toxic gases in one sector, or a pack of half-conscious Pokémon. However, in one upper corner, a scene caught her attention and pleased her: her brother Niko’s followers had just prevented the chubby kid—who apparently had an Grimer—from capturing the Zubat her father had raised and reserved for Niko.

  Janine recalled how her father had designed this challenge as a test for Niko to overcome. The Zubat possessed several powerful “Egg Moves” that had even incapacitated its own kind. It was undoubtedly a target of curiosity for many lower-class trainers. Still, Janine hadn’t anticipated the appearance of a boy so resistant to poison. After all, she had watched him slip through a purple mist without fainting. She couldn’t believe someone outside the clan could have such resistance to poison. But what intrigued her most was the poisonous spike that, on the monitor, the boy had handed to the dark-skinned fighter: Kara Auralis.

  “A spike?” she murmured, zooming in on the image with a few taps on her touch panel. They observed as the girl used it to threaten and, indirectly, poison a Rhydon. How could something so small and seemingly insignificant affect a Pokémon of that caliber? Janine noted its purplish hue, that telltale shine of concentrated toxicity. This surprised her less than the fact that the boy with the Alolan Grimer had created it.

  If the boy had a Grimer, he must be from some low-class sub-branch of the Poison clan. Only their clan had ownership of breeding and selling the pure Poison type pokemon of Kanto and the Grimer and Weezing were for helpers or low-ranking members like the ninja who helped Niko. Janine blinked, wondering if her brother Niko knew that he was an insolent and decayed low-ranking member of their clan although it seemed strange to her that he had no records of this Aspen and that he did not seem trained in the arts of the ninja. Perhaps he was an exile or simply an intruder who had inherited a pokemon improperly.

  “That brat…” she whispered, her tone teetering on the edge of anger. “Either way, he was stopped by Niko’s ninjas in that battle. I wonder if he’ll cross our path again.”

  She shifted her gaze to another screen, which showed the aura-wielding girl who had fought Rhydon head-on. According to Janine’s information, her name was Kara Auralis, and her abilities resembled an advanced form of aura control, something unusual for her age and even stranger if she didn’t belong to the Fighting Clan. It was evident that neither her attire nor her fighting style matched those of a legitimate descendant of the main Fighting family. Nevertheless, her mastery of the blue aura indicated colossal talent.

  Janine was about to notify her brother Niko that both the poison boy and the aura girl could pose a challenge to his plans when, suddenly, the screens showed the pair pursuing the ninjas. They were running—or rather, the girl was running while half-dragging the boy—after Niko’s ninjas and the Zubat. Janine’s eyes narrowed.

  “How dare they chase them directly?” she murmured with a hint of annoyance.

  She was about to reach for a handheld communicator to warn her brother when something on another screen caught her attention. For a few seconds, a figure appeared floating—or almost floating—alongside an Abra, teleporting at short intervals. Janine’s expression changed to one of pure astonishment. A chill ran through her. It wasn’t possible that…

  “What the hell is she doing here…?” Janine blurted aloud without realizing it.

  Several instructors monitoring the screens turned their heads. One jumped in surprise, and another let out a shout of disbelief. They all stared, slack-jawed, at what they were seeing: the psychic girl with dark reddish hair was inside the cave, moving through short teleports with a Mime Jr. clinging to her arm, her expression focused and simmering with anger. The control room erupted into murmurs as Janine frowned with rage, wondering what motivations the Psychic Clan could have.

  Elsewhere in the Cerulean Caves, the aforementioned girl, Vera, moved through brief teleports, her Abra “Sage” cooperating with difficulty. Constant teleportation would wear out most Abra, but Vera wasn’t an ordinary trainer. She panted slightly, more from the anger boiling inside her than from physical exhaustion. Every time she stopped to let Sage catch its breath, she recalled why she was there.

  “Where are my books?” she murmured, crossing a narrow passageway, her heart burning with rage.

  She had searched almost the entire Academy for the two valuable volumes her parents had left her, her only tangible reminder of a past she preferred to forget. She had become a ghost, prowling hallways, evading professors and prefects, and using brief teleports to avoid being caught on cameras. Yet, every search had proven fruitless. The books seemed to have vanished into thin air. There was only one possibility left: that boy, Aspen—according to what she had overheard—had taken them either accidentally or intentionally during the chaos in the library.

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  Vera’s hands clenched into fists. She was furious. She had seen him from afar after he had disappeared for a week, fainting in the library, and she had a gut feeling that the chubby boy was involved. Of course, she couldn’t approach him without drawing suspicion from the professors, so she had waited for the right moment to enter the cave and hunt him down. She was sure she could find him by detecting his “scent” of poison, as her psychic affinity allowed her to perceive that unusual purple energy.

  “Sage, focus,” she ordered in a low voice. The Abra yawned, barely opening one eye, and projected a faint psychic beam. Vera felt a jolt in her mind, confirming that there was indeed a trail of poison in the distance—not a normal one, but potent, perhaps belonging to an Alolan Grimer. She smiled disdainfully. Then, her anger surged even stronger: if that thief had the audacity to steal her books, he had better be ready to face punishment.

  “Take me to him,” she demanded once the Abra locked onto a direction. She teleported a few meters with a faint flash, advancing with this “leap” tactic at intervals. This allowed her to bypass obstacles with relative ease. It wasn’t as loud a teleport as that of a Kadabra or Alakazam, but it was effective.

  In her mind, Vera repeated to herself that she would retrieve the books at all costs, no matter how many she had to crush in a psychic abyss. “That idiot… will pay for this,” she thought. After everything, she wouldn’t let her only family memories vanish into the hands of a stranger.

  Meanwhile, in another part of the labyrinth, Aspen struggled to keep moving, but his body was giving out. He had been running for what felt like forever after dealing with Rhyhorn, ninjas, and the fiasco of failing to capture the Zubat. Beside him, Kara Auralis jogged with apparent ease, the tension in her muscles seeming to energize her. Despite having fought a massive Rhydon, she didn’t look nearly as exhausted.

  “Hey, the race is still on,” Kara said, glancing at Aspen with a mix of concern and pity. “But at this rate, we’ll never get past the middle sections. And don’t get me wrong—I like having company—but you’re way too slow.”

  Aspen panted, feeling a sting in his side. The latent poison in his spleen gave him extra resistance to toxins but no boost to his speed. Unfortunately, nothing about his current state kept him in shape. “Sorry, I’m doing my best,” he mumbled. “I’m no athlete.”

  Kara clicked her tongue, stopping for a second. Then, without asking for permission, she bent down and hoisted Aspen onto her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The boy let out a shout of surprise and embarrassment.

  “W-what are you doing? Put me down! You’ll hurt your back!” he protested.

  She simply laughed and pushed off with her legs, running at full speed, her aura flaring around her. Aspen felt everything around him blur and instinctively shut his eyes.

  “You better shut up,” Kara said, breathing heavily. “If I get tired, I’ll drop you, and you don’t want to roll across the ground. Besides, this way, we’ll catch up to those damn ninjas who stole your Zubat, right?”

  Mortified, Aspen stopped arguing. Images of the ninjas, the Zubat, and the humiliation of having his chance snatched away swirled in his mind. The walls blurred by with the pounding of Kara’s footsteps and the resonance of her aura. After a few minutes, she stopped abruptly, letting Aspen down. He collapsed, his legs trembling.

  “Have you lost your mind?” he protested, halfway between terror and anger.

  “Look, they’re there,” Kara whispered, pointing down a corridor.

  Indeed, a few meters ahead were the silhouettes of the ninjas, with the Zubat perched on a rock above them. They were joined by a couple of trainers in dark clothing, likely reinforcements. Aspen felt his hatred boil again. He wasn’t sure if he could defeat them, but his pride pushed him to at least face them.

  When the ninjas noticed Kara and Aspen’s presence, their expressions turned murderous. The Zubat, still perched on the rock, seemed disinterested in helping them; it merely watched the scene unfold with curiosity. One of the ninjas spoke:

  “I thought we made ourselves clear. This Zubat belongs to someone more noble. What don’t you understand? You’re not getting it! Leave now if you don’t want to be crushed.”

  The other ninja scoffed and released a Poké Ball, from which emerged a scarred Weezing, floating and exuding a nauseating gas. The first ninja followed suit, releasing an Ekans that coiled with a venomous hiss. Kara frowned, disappointed:

  “Weezing and Ekans? I expected more formidable Pokémon. Ugh, how boring.”

  Without another word, Kara assumed a martial stance, her blue aura intensifying. Aspen thought she would send out her Machop or Mankey, but the girl raised her chin arrogantly:

  “Whatever. I can handle these two Pokémon myself. Barehanded.”

  Before Aspen could ask if she was serious, she launched herself with a battle cry, delivering punches and kicks to one of the ninjas and their Pokémon. Her attacks were swift, though Weezing’s gas made visibility and breathing difficult. Kara coughed but didn’t back down, cutting through the haze with a combo of knee strikes and elbow blows that left flashes of her aura.

  Meanwhile, the other ninja and his Ekans confronted Aspen and Dozy. The ninja sneered venomously:

  “Still eager to fight, fatso?”

  Aspen felt his stomach churn. He remembered the times people teased him about his weight, but it didn’t bother him as much anymore. Now his blood burned with determination. He released Dozy, who emerged with an aggressive gurgle. Strangely, Aspen pulled a large glass jar with a special seal from his backpack—something his grandmother had given him for venom experiments.

  “Dozy, spit Toxic into this,” he commanded, placing the jar on the ground.

  With a growl, the Alolan Grimer opened its mouth, pouring a shiny purple liquid so thick it slid slowly into the jar’s throat. The ninja frowned, utterly baffled by what he was seeing. Ekans coiled, hissing impatiently. The Zubat above fixed its gaze on Aspen, tilting its head with fascination.

  When the jar was nearly half full, Aspen sealed it momentarily and gazed at its contents with a mix of fear and resolve. Then, without warning, he uncorked it and drank the venom directly, producing a wet sound that echoed in the cave. Aspen’s throat burned as if he were swallowing liquid fire, and a purplish flush spread across his skin.

  The ninja stepped back, incredulous. In the observation room, many professors covered their mouths, and Janine let out a cry of pure shock. The psychic girl with the Abra, who had appeared floating in another part of the cave, was also stunned, her eyes wide as plates.

  Everyone present in the cavern froze. Aspen felt the Toxic searing inside him, an effervescence coursing through his stomach and the area where his modified spleen resided. A ringing sound filled his ears, and his mind overflowed with hatred and determination.

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