Orange streams of sunset light pierced through the tower's weathered arches, painting stripes of warmth across the weathered wooden floor.
At the room's middle edge, a man sat hunched against the wall. A white cloth draped over half his face, concealing his right eye and falling in soft folds against his collarbone. Strands of golden-blonde hair escaped from beneath its hem, and in his hands clutched a pokeball.
Slowly, he lifted his gaze—and his left eye opened, glowing with the vivid, earthy hue of sage green.
***
Maribell Town...
The sun hung low over the coast, painting Maribell Town in gold. Sea breeze carried the clean scent of salt through the cobblestone streets, where shopkeepers were locking up for the night and children chased Buizels near the sea. Peace settled over the village, until the rumble of engines cut through the air.
Three heavy trucks rounded the bend at the town's edge, their dark metal bodies gleaming under the sunset. Team Xycle's "X" symbol plastered on each door as they roared past market stalls and startled residents. They didn't slow for the square or pause at any home, their path was fixed towards the narrow road that leads to a secluded small cliff where the Bell Tower is overlooking the sea.
The trucks ground to a halt in the gravel clearing before the Bell Tower. The ancient structure stood silhouetted against the orange sky, its silhouette imposing.
Doors slammed open in unison. Grunts in black and white uniforms poured out, moving with disciplined. They fanned out, cordoning off the base of the tower, setting up portable barricades, and establishing a perimeter with efficient motions.
From the lead truck, Elias, Anne, and Rein stepped down. But they were not the only ones. From the second truck, the rear door opened. Martin stepped out in his usual sharp suit. His eyes scanned the tower's peak, then the town below, in one swift glance. Sarah followed, a sleek tablet in her hands displaying a real-time feed of the perimeter.
Martin did not look at Elias, Anne, or Rein. His focus was fixed on the tower's entrance as he began walking towards it. Sarah fell into step just behind and to his left, her eyes flicking between her tablet and their surroundings.
As they passed the trio, Sarah's voice cut through the dusk:
"No one comes in and out."
Then she was past them, following Martin inside the tower with six Senior Grunts filing in silently behind them, their footsteps swallowed by the ancient interior.
The heavy doors began to swing shut.
Rein moved first, turning his back on them.
"I'm going to the edge of the cliff. It's better to watch out for possible attacks there."
He didn't wait for a reply, his form already melting into the lengthening shadows as he headed towards the rocky overlook where the land met the sea.
Anne watched him go, then hopped up to sit on the edge of the truck's lowered tailgate, letting her legs swing. She patted the space beside her, a familiar, playful glint in her eye despite the tension of the operation.
"Come, Elias. We'll talk before the chaos begins."
Elias approached, leaning his back against the metal of the truck beside her, his gaze fixed on the imposing silhouette of the Bell Tower.
For a long moment, they sat in silence. Then, Anne spoke, her voice softer than usual:
"I watched your matches, you know. All of them. I was curious. After our talk in the forest, I wanted to see if you'd found what you were looking for."
She looked out towards the darkening horizon.
"That final match... against Faith. I saw it. The moment it changed. You weren't just giving commands anymore. You were fighting with your pokemon. And you..." She turned her head to look at him fully, her pink braid swinging. "You finally let yourself feel it. The fear, the thrill, the pride. It was all there, on your face. Even through a screen, I could see it."
She nudged his shoulder lightly with her own.
"I'm proud of you, Elias. You're starting to understand. Not just trainers, but... yourself."
She swung her legs again, her gaze lifting at the darkened sky.
"Just remember, Elias... now that you've opened that door, you can't close it again. You'll feel the bad just as much as the good. But that's okay."
Anne hopped down from the tailgate, landing lightly on the gravel.
"Well... that's all! You didn't even get the chance to speak."
Elias opened his mouth to respond, but the moment was stolen.
A senior grunt, one of the perimeter scouts, came sprinting towards them from the direction of the town path. He skidded to a halt before Anne, barely sparing Elias a glance, his eyes widened in fear.
"We need backup! The Gym Leader—" The grunt panted, pointing a trembling finger back the way he came. "He's approaching the perimeter!"
Anne turned to Elias, her expression grim.
"Let's go—"
"I'll take him!" Rein interrupted, already running towards the direction of the town.
"Rein, wait!" Anne called out, but he was already a blur of motion, his eagerness to clash with a powerful opponent overriding caution. She let out a frustrated breath. "That idiot…"
"When did he become like that?" Elias asked, genuinely confused behind his mask.
"He's always like that." Anne simply replied, following down the path. "I'll follow him. You stay here."
Elias stared as Anne sprinted down the path after Rein, her pink braid flying behind her. He watched their forms disappear into tree line, swallowed by the shadows.
He turned to face the sealed oak doors of the Bell Tower. Four Senior Grunts had remained behind, forming a tight, defensive square before the entrance, their hands resting on their pokeballs, their eyes scanning the clearing. They were the last line before the door itself.
***
High above, the world narrowed to a single, circular room.
Martin, Sarah, and one Senior Grunt emerged onto the topmost floor of the Bell Tower. The grunt immediately take the position at the head of the staircase.
And there, in the middle edge of the room, sat the man.
The man's glowing green eye studied Martin, then slid to Sarah, taking in her readiness, before returning to Martin.
"Martin Tolly... leader of Team Xycle."
"Myles Pane..." Martin replied, stopping a dozen paces away. "What do you want with me?"
"That will come later..." Myles said, his voice a low, smooth tone that seemed to resonate in the room. "But I have something important to tell you."
Martin's expression remained impassive, but Sarah's eyes narrowed, her hand drifting subtly toward the hidden compartment on her belt.
"About the history of our region." Myles's single visible eye seemed to gleam brighter in the dim light. "People believe Adele's past is peaceful. That is what is written in the books. A gentle land, watched over by benevolent guardians. They speak of a legendary pokemon who looked like a tree, and you can still see the place where it once stood."
"The Ruins of Faradity." Sarah's brow furrowed.
"Exactly." Myles said, his green eye locking onto her. "A lovely name for a lovely park. Faradity, the Sentient Tree. They marvel at the great remains of our symbol, and they feel a sense of ancient peace."
"Get to the point." Martin took a half-step forward.
"Be patient." Myles said, his voice dropping to a whisper that seemed to slither through the room. "Faradity, yes, is the symbol of Adele Region. But it is only a symbol? No. I saw Faradity with my own eyes, and it... asked me for a mission."
"Faradity… spoke to you?" Martin's voice was low, stripped of its usual control. "Have you gone crazy?"
"No. What I've been telling so far is the truth." Myles stood up with a quick motion, the white cloth on his face dropping slowly on the ground.
The cloth fell like a dying petal, revealing what it had concealed.
The right half of Myles's face was a shocking contrast to the left. It wasn't scarred by fire or blade, but marked by something far more organic. Thick veins of deep, earthy brown crisscrossed his skin from hairline to jaw. They converged at his right eye socket, which was not empty, but occupied. Instead of an eye, a single shard of petrified wood was embedded there.
Sarah recoiled a half-step, her composure shattered by the visceral sight. The senior grunt at the stairs let out a choked gasp, his hand flying to his own pokeball.
Martin did not move. His eyes, however, widened, taking in every grotesque detail.
"After the Lu' Laguna Incident, the Legion disbanded." Myles said, his voice unchanged. "I traveled far away from the land of men towards the peace I have been seeking for."
"But I found not peace..." Myles raised a hand to gently touch the wooden shard in his eye socket. "I found the legend we've been looking for in our days in the Legion. Faradity."
He lowered his hand, his gaze growing distant, as if seeing the past on the tower's stones.
"It wasn't a majestic, living tree in a sun-drenched glade. It was a towering, petrified husk, weeping a sap that glowed with that same psychic resonance we feel here."
He turned his unsettling gaze fully on Martin.
"You asked what I want. I want the screaming to stop. Not just Faradity's, but the world's. The cycle you wishes to break is a symptom, Martin. A fever dream caused by the infection seeping from this ancient wound. You should know that goal of yours will bring chaos to our lands."
Martin's expression hardened into ice at Myles's final words.
"Chaos." He repeated, the word flat and cold. "That's right... in order to bring peace to this world, chaos must prevail first. Light won't exist without darkness. Darkness can't exist without light. This world is built on that foundation. We are in a never ending cycle, Myles. The one I wish to break."
The silence after stretched.
Martin held Myles's gaze for a long moment.
Then, slowly, Martin turned his back on Myles.
"If there's nothing more of value to say... we're leaving. We've exposed our position and our personnel for too long on a… philosophical tangent."
As Martin reached the head of the stairs where the senior grunt stood guard, Myles's voice finally came again, not as a shout, but as a quiet, final statement that seemed to bypass the ears and settle directly in the mind.
"The fracture is real, Martin. When the chaos you court comes, it will not be the kind you can control."
Martin didn't pause. He didn't look back. He descended the first step, and disappeared with Sarah and the grunt, leaving Myles alone in the circular room.
***
Elias leaned against cool metal of the truck, the silence of the clearing a contrast to the distant, muffled clashes from the cliffside. His thoughts were a tangled knot. Anne's pride in him felt like a warmth held against his chest, a precious, fragile thing. And right now, what he felt was a sharp, anxious tension, a wire pulled between his concern for Anne and his duty.
Then, a new sound cut through the silence, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He stiffened, tilting his head. The four senior grunts by the door heard it too, their heads snapping up, eyes scanning the dark sky.
The thrumming grew louder, resolving into the distinct, aggressive whump-whump-whump of rotor blades.
Elias pushed off from the truck, his hand going to his belt. From his vantage point, he saw a silhouette. A sleek, black helicopter, its design devoid of any markings. It arrowed directly for the Bell Tower clearing, descending with deliberately.
As it touched the ground, the rotor blades slowed, and a door slid open on its side.
A figure stood in the opening, silhouetted against the interior light. He wore a long, dark coat that flapped in the rotor wash. Even from this distance, Elias could see the man was tall, his posture one of absolute, unshakable authority.
Behind him, another figure moved. A woman with red hair and a sharp expression. And then, a third figure stepped out from the helicopter. He was lean with spiky teal hair. A sly smirk formed on his lips as his gaze dropped on Elias.
"So this is Team Xycle? I thought there'd more." He said with an insulting drawl that carried easily over the dying whine of the helicopter's engines.
The man with the long, dark coat stepped from the aircraft last, his movements economical and precise. He didn't glance at teal-haired man, nor at the red-haired woman, who fell into step beside him. His dark eyes swept the clearing and finally settled on Elias. The masked figure standing slightly apart, the one who hadn't flinched.
"Adequate staging." The man said, his voice a low baritone that didn't need to rise to command the space. "But predictable."
He paused, halfway between the helicopter and the tower. Then, his gaze fell on Elias.
"You are in the way. Stand aside."