Music in media: Down to Earth by Peter Gabriel

17 January, Monday, 8 p.m. | Winter

"No, I'm afraid I haven't seen anyone like that," said a man in a grey top hat before walking away.

Rae sulked. She had scoured the city, giving names and descriptions of her friends to passersby and the vendors at the marketplace, only her search turned out to be frustratingly fruitless. Beside her, Zorozoro licked her leg encouragingly.

"It's so strange," Rae mumbled. "Everyone has seen them but they know nothing of their whereabouts?  My Pokémon are nowhere to be seen too!"

How strange, indeed.

Rae rubbed her temples and groaned. How was the whole of Driftveil awake despite the lullaby? Perhaps she ought to find the Gym Leader of Driftveil for answers. Maybe he was as capable as Elesa.

The path to the Gym was sandy with messy trails of footsteps, none of which she recognised. What had happened here for such frenzy to manifest itself like this? She followed the footsteps which all ended at the Gym entrance. There, the wind buffeted her and Zorozoro's fur bristled against her ankle. Taking it as another sign of encouragement, she entered the Gym, hugging herself from the cold.

It was empty, save for a battlefield full of sand and boulders. Or at least, it appeared to be so, for she soon spied a movement behind a boulder, and a grey shovel was flung into the open.

"Umm..."

At her voice, a scruffy face rose from behind the boulder, topped with a muddy hat. Then a burly man emerged with a sheepish smile while adjusting the straps on his clothes.

"Didn't think there'd be a challenger so soon. From the looks of it, you ain't from around here. Well"—he extended a coarse hand—"the name's Clay."

Rae nodded and introduced herself. Clay exuded a warm aura despite looking all chalked up. She figured he might have fallen asleep in his Gym.

Clay glanced at the Hisuian Zorua and frowned. "You got only one Pokémon witcha? Strange little one, it seems. But somethin' tells me this ain't your first rodeo in Unova."

Rae explained that her other Pokémon were currently under her friends' care, though there was little explanation in her words. It was after all impossible to explain the unexplainable.

"Well," said Clay, scratching his chin. "We shall have a one-on-one then. Would an Excadrill be too much? Do I underestimate you?"

Zorozoro puffed up his chest and scoffed. To the man, Rae shook her head and managed a tight smile. 

"No. We will take you on."

Clay chuckled and released his trusty Pokémon out of its Poké Ball, a dark brown mole-like creature with a blade jutting out of its forehead. Three large blades similarly protrude from its arms. If they were tightly clasped together, Rae felt the Pokémon would make a fearsome drill indeed. Its height alone outclassed Zorozoro, not to mention its Steel-typing that coupled its Ground-typing which would be a feat for a Normal-type like Zorozoro. Nevertheless, the puny Hisuian Zorua strutted into the battlefield with a smirk, as if conjuring a Nasty Plot at the ready.

"Before we start," Rae mumbled, then raised her voice. Now was not the time to mutter or stutter. She needed confidence or nothing. Gesturing at the cameras about the Gym, she requested for the battle to be broadcast. "It would attract attention," she reasoned, "and I believe my friends and my other Pokémon would come. And it would be nice to keep the once-drowsy city energised."

The words that left her lips left her surprised. It was as though she had awakened with a massive vocabulary and a changed voice. Not that it became higher-pitched, but that she began to mind her tone around different kinds of people and Pokémon and suit her words to the occasion. In short, she had matured.

Was this what Kyo experienced when he grew up? That he would wake up one day and turn from child to adolescent and blossom into a fine young man.

Rae frowned though the frown didn't last long. Clay acquiesced her request with a hearty chortle and gestured for her to begin.

"Zorozoro, Snowscape and follow up with Icy Wind!"

As Zorozoro summoned hail and a bout of chilly wind with a yap, Clay fixed his eye on his Excadrill. "Changing the field already? Excadrill, Sandstorm."

The weather swapped in a blink of an eye. Hot sand particles melted the hail and rendered the Icy Wind attack mere dust.

Clay dug his shovel into the sand and rested his chin on the tip. "Excadrill's Sand Force ability strengthens Rock, Ground and Steel-type moves to 1.3x their power during a sandstorm. Anytime the weather changes, I will unfailingly change it back. 'Fraid ya can't do much here.

"Besides, Ice-type moves have little effect on it. Ya sure yer victory is certain?"

"I never said anything about certain victory," returned Rae with a shrug. "Zorozoro, Bitter Malice."

So much for loving-kindness. The irony was not lost on either trainer or Pokémon. Rather, Zorozoro enthusiastically generated and harnessed his malice towards Excadrill like an actor would their emotions.

Excadrill's skin turned blue-grey in an instant. Clay paid it no mind. Frostbite amid a Sandstorm was laughable.

"Excadrill, Crush Claw."

Zorozoro let Excadrill's left claw cleave through him with a grin. Clay's eyes bulged when the Pokémon did not faint and even seemed unfazed.

"Zorozoro, Hex."

Excadrill's claw, frozen in Zorozoro's ghostly body, tinged purple and the purple light soon enveloped the Subterrane Pokémon, causing it to whimper at the sheer monstrosity of the tinier Pokémon. But of course, Hex's enhanced power over Excadrill due to its frostbite meant double the terror.

Gasps resounded around them. Then an influx of voices:

"That's cheating, innit?"

"She messed with her Zorua! I'm calling it!"

"Maltreatment! That Zorua has lost its skeleton!"

"She looks like a Johtonian. Well, I never liked those people! I knew they were all disgusting snobs and cheaters! That's why I never sent my son—"

"—Crush her, Clay! Make her pay!"

Clay's jaw went slack. There was no explanation for what happened unless that Zorua was a Ghost-type. Yet how was it possible?

The girl, he noted, paid no heed to the ruckus, but the Pokémon's smoky extension reddened and curled and his eyes darkened. What was that move again? He had never heard of such a thing as Bitter Malice before. Was it possible that this seemingly innocent girl here and her peculiar Zorua were the ones behind Unova's crisis? His citizens might be right. She might even be an otherworldly being. Wasn't there something like an Ultra Wormhole in Alola? Besides, she was feigning mute, he was sure, for why else was she not responding at all? Silence meant consent, no? 

As such outlandish thoughts sprouted out of the unsuspecting man, his anxiety seeped deeper into his being. He'd rather criticise the girl than question the source of his newfound anxiety. No, it wasn't him alone. A great wave of anxiety had swept the whole of Driftveil off her feet and who could bring them back down to earth if not the extraterrestrial creature he was up against? Clay thought the only option was to win and send them back to where they belonged. Definitely not Unova.

Fighting the pinpricks in his palm, he curled up his fingers into a fist and feigned confidence. Narrowing his gaze, he mumbled, "Excadrill, Throat Chop."

While Excadrill raised its free claw and prepared for the brutal swipe, Rae shouted. "Agility!"

Zorozoro bolted out of the claw's way, dragging Excadrill's stuck claw at breakneck speed that the latter fell on its bottom and hit itself instead before he released his hold on it with a triumphant smirk.

Rae's eye glinted alongside Zorozoro's. "Curse."

It was a devious move and a gamble. Never would she imagine herself spitting that move out of her lips. She had no healing items with her and Zorozoro's only option of healing was Rest which would make him more vulnerable than he already was. She had to be quick on her feet despite the Excadrill's lumbering figure and slow movements. The voices would not stop. She reckoned if she proved she was as human as them they just might. And again, such a thought wouldn't have existed before meeting Zorozoro and experiencing that intense dream.

Zorozoro must have noticed her slight grimace or he wouldn't have used the move hesitatingly. A lavender hue illuminated his body and faded in a blink of an eye, resurfacing as a shadow-emitting pawprint on Excadrill's forehead-drill.

"Excadrill, trap 'im with Rock Slide!"

"Zorozoro, dodge!"

Rae's pleas fell on deaf ears. She couldn't tell if it was due to the swift lifting and crashing of the battlefield's boulders or it was Zorozoro's choice to not heed her. Either way, he was now surrounded by the boulders.

"Yer pup refuses to listen, hah?" Clay tsked.

"I... He knows what he's doing."

"That so?" Clay raised a brow and raised his shovel. "Very well. Excadrill, rush in for another Throat Chop!"

"Zorozoro, use Protect!" 

The Spiteful Fox Pokémon yawned as Excadrill's claw inched closer. Rae held her breath and winced when a flurry of sandy smoke exploded where the claw landed. A boulder crumbled. Excadrill howled. The crowd cheered. Was Zorozoro too late in setting up the barrier?

She stepped closer and craned her neck. The crowd standing about or sitting on the metallic seats, ditto. 

Then the smoke cleared, giving way to the roar of the sandstorm.

Where the Hisuian Zorua had been was a gaping hole encircled by wet sand. Then Rae understood. Excadrill's howl wasn't of celebration, but frustration. Zorozoro was deliberately breeding and weaponising malice in the atmosphere. Stalling for time. This strategy revolved around Curse. 

If Icosa were here, he probably would have reprimanded her for using a lowly stalling stratagem, would have said it was unbecoming and uncouth of her. 

Was it her fault? She definitely didn't ask Zorozoro to use Dig. But whatever it was, she could trust that he knew what he was doing. 

"Hah, Excadrill, shake 'im up! Earthquake!" Clay grinned and slammed his shovel against his back. 

Rae bit her lip. No way would Zorozoro hear her. She didn't even know where he was. 

The Gym quaked and cracks slithered across the battlefield every which way, revealing the blood orange layers of the underground with its miraculous light blue and white tint. The cracks widened and persisted yet the Hisuian Zorua was nowhere in sight. The crowd burst into a flurry of condescension.

"It must have fainted down there."

"How do you retrieve a fainted Pokémon in that state?"

"Poor alien! This is why Clay is the defender of the earth."

"That's enough!"

Rae glanced at the crowd, at the source of the sharp voice, and a small smile was pried out of her lips. There they were, Icosa Kalomiris, Cheren, Bianca, Lenora, Hawes, Calliope, Linus, her Pokemon...

The whispers, however, only worsened. Speaking of Cheren's explosion, the curious group, the Relic Crown in Icosa's hand—

The sandstorm died down and brought the heat down with it. The cracks froze in their tracks. The battlefield appeared to be a kintsugi piece with ice for gold. A work of art. A mending.

Rae figured it had to be either Snowscape or Icy Wind. There must be something else too, for shadows flitted about under the clear ice.

Clay stood unfazed. "Break them with Stomping Tantrum."

A series of clinks echoed throughout the Gym. Then a deafening roar broke through the cracks as ice darted towards the ceiling and rained onto the battlefield, slicing the rocks. Some hit Excadrill and melted almost immediately. Its eyes reddened. It did not have much time left. Still, the sly Pokémon did not appear.

"Excadrill, max out your defence with Iron Defense! And... Body Slam!"

A yelp resounded as Zorozoro shot out out the hole where he once was, his eyes bulging with a malicious glint. In midair, it seemed to be teetering a little. Rae tightened the grip on her hem. 

"Zorozoro! Bitter Malice!" Rae grunted. It was a brilliant move to max out Excadrill's weight and force him out of the earth, but that was all that it was. Nothing more. The pressure might have shaken him a little but he would recover. 

This time, Zorozoro obeyed and struck his foe harshly on the nape of its neck.

"Fling!" Clay roared.

The Hisuian Zorua swept his tail out of the way in time and unleashed Hex onto Excadrill whose eyes grew a darker shade of red before it collapsed onto the battlefield. With a huff, Zorozoro slumped beside a chipped rock, shut his eyes and snored.

Clay blinked at the atrocity of the tiny Pokémon as he returned Excadrill to its Poké Ball and declared Rae the winner. The crowd, unsurprisingly, booed and jeered while Rae's companions rushed down to congratulate her. 

The Gym Badge Clay handed her resembled two tri-coloured tectonic plates interacting, with a green gem encrusted into the bottom plate. Rae shared an awestruck expression with Zorozoro, lifted him off the ground, raised him above her head and spun around. 

The crowd would not have it. In their babble, they demanded an explanation. Cheren cleared his throat and raised a hand up as Icosa eagerly let Rae strike the badge against the crown. A bright So spread across Driftveil City. The crowd furrowed their brows and continued to express their deepest worries.

Calliope rolled her wheelchair to the middle of the messy battlefield. All eyes followed her. In a region teeming with healthy individuals, her existence was quite uncommon, as if a critique on the healthcare system's priority to Pokémon over humans. 

"This is Aomine Rae," said Calliope, gesturing to the girl. "The Zorua you bear witness to is a Hisuian Zorua."

Seeing confusion plague their faces, she further explained what Hisui was and offered a brief history lesson. By the end of it, there was nothing but understanding.

Just then, the Gym doors slid open. 

N stepped inside, earning everyone's attention. He, however, only had his attention on the crown.  

"That crown... Where did you get that?"

Lenora cocked her head sideways. "Abyssal Ruins. It's the Relic Crown."

"No," said N, raising his voice. "The Relic Crown doesn't have gems on it. That's a fake."

"You don't know what you're talking about. I found it in the basement."

N glanced aside. "That's the same crown he placed on my head that day. There weren't any gems then but now... Yes, it's unmistakably the same crown."

"By he, you mean Ghetsis," mumbled Icosa.

N flinched. "You have no business uttering that name."

"You have no business waltzing in here acting all innocent," Icosa retorted with a wave of a hand and placed the crown in Cheren's palm. "You are his successor. You are Harmonia. You are the one causing this music perversion."

N took a step back. "I... That's not true."

Icosa turned to face the crowd with open arms. "Everyone, this man here is the true source of all your worries."

N glared at him, speechless.

Icosa continued, "And I will prove it to you now."