Chapter 10: Trust

The train hummed steadily as it cut south through the frost-bitten countryside. The rhythmic clatter of wheels filled the silence the three champions couldn’t.

Ace sat pressed against the window with his reflection pale in the glass. He kept his hand near his belt. His thumb brushed absently over Saur’s Poké Ball, as if reassuring himself it was still there.

Across from him, Phoebe sat rigid with her scarf pulled tight around her neck. She flipped open her field notebook more than once, only to stare at the same page without writing a word. Her pen simply tapped against the margin like a metronome.

Phillip slouched with his arms crossed and eyes half-shut, but the restless tapping of his boot against the floor betrayed his agitation.

No one spoke. The fire from the night before had burned itself into silence, leaving only thoughts they weren’t ready to share.

Outside, the frost blurred the fields into white streaks, and every so often the glass caught a faint static flicker.

A trick of the light, Ace told himself, though the knot in his chest tightened all the same.

By late morning the train hissed into Wedgehurst Station. The three stepped out into the modest bustle of the town. The cobblestone streets and bright shopfronts were a sharp contrast to the tundra they’d left behind.

Even the warmth of the air felt foreign after days of biting wind and snow, but none of them commented on it. Their boots carried them wordlessly up the hill toward the slate-roofed research lab.

Professor Sonia was already waiting outside, bundled in her orange coat with hair tied back but still catching the breeze. Relief crossed her face when she spotted them even though they had called her that morning and told her they were coming.

“Finally,” she said, though her tone was softer than her words. “You all look like you’ve been through hell.”

“Not far off,” Phillip muttered.

Sonia beckoned them inside and they entered the lab. Inside, the lab was warm and cluttered. Machines hummed quietly beside stacks of books and open research files.

Professor Magnolia sat at a desk near the back with her frail frame bent over a data pad but her eyes sharp when she glanced up. The air smelled faintly of ink and ozone like the lived-in scent of a place where knowledge was worked into every corner.

Sonia gestured toward the central table that was already cleared for them. “Sit. We’ll patch in the others once you’re ready. Oak, Rowan, Sycamore, the whole lot’s waiting on the holo feed.”

Ace, Phoebe, and Phillip exchanged brief glances but said nothing. They set their packs down heavily. As the holo projector flickered to life, filling the room with the ghostly silhouettes of the other professors, Ace felt that same pressure on his spine. It was the sense of eyes that didn’t belong to anyone in the room.

The holo projector buzzed to life, casting ghostly blue figures around the table. Professor Oak’s familiar face formed first with his expression grave.

One by one, the others flickered into view: Rowan with his furrowed brow, Sycamore leaning thoughtfully against his desk, Birch shifting uneasily in his chair, Juniper with arms folded tight, and Kukui’s usual easy grin nowhere to be found.

“Good to see you all in one piece,” Oak began, though his tone carried no warmth. His eyes searched Ace, Phoebe, and Phillip with quiet urgency. “Sonia briefed us on the broad strokes. Now ... tell us everything.”

Ace exchanged a glance with Phoebe before speaking.

His recounting was steady and clipped. He spoke of their descent into Split-Decision Temple including the hordes of wild Pokémon they faced. They detailed the puzzle inside of the temple and the subsequent battle and the capture of Regieleki and Regidrago. Finally, he detailed the dead Team Plasma bodies they’d stumbled upon.

When he pulled up the holo-photos showing the torn grunts, scorched ice, and claw marks, no one on the projection spoke for a long while.

It was Rowan who finally broke the silence. “Team Plasma,” he said heavily, his voice like stone. “We feared they’d set their sights on the Regis ... but to see them cut down like this...” His brow furrowed deeper. “Whatever killed them is no ordinary Pokémon.”

Juniper leaned forward. “Ace, you’re certain of what you heard in the night? The growl? The electricity?”

“I’m certain,” Ace said flatly. “And I’m certain it’s following us.”

Birch swore under his breath. “That’s not good. If they’ve awakened something alongside the Regis, something we don’t understand, it could complicate everything.”

Rowan raised a hand. His voice was calmer but edged with tension. “Complication or not, the fact remains that with the five Regis now secured ... the conditions are now met.”