Music in Media: See No Evil by Television

18 March, Friday, 8:15 p.m. | Spring

In time, the three Vigoroth screeched and the Hisuian Samurott froze in mid-air. Noko-Noko growled and all four of Rae's Pokémon surrounded the hostile creature, ready to battle should the tableau thaw.

"That's not normal." Rae turned to Lenora. A minute passed without movement. Then, with slow steps, Rae approached the creature whose blade pointed to the moon, a blade that at one angle seemed to cleave it in perfect halves.

Lenora joined her, not before glancing at the Vigoroth that had stacked on top of each other, as if they were a totem that had temporarily come alive, covering their eyes, eyes, and lips respectively.

"Nothing screams normal here," she concurred and scratched her brow. "I don't want to battle it, but I don't think it's wise to leave it alone."

Rae tapped her foot. The ground felt stickier and more uneven than before, like thorns were planted beneath her feet. She observed the creature before her and brought a hand to its skin, feeling its coarse coat. She thought she felt the Hisuian Samurott shiver.

What then was she to do? Could it be that it had never been around humans before? Or it was the unfamiliar surroundings that frightened it? But such a large and powerful Pokémon had no business for being scared, right?

"Rae, step back! What if—"

A roar pierced through the air and the Vigoroth with its eyes closed leapt towards her. Then it happened.

The earth blackened and grew viscous and they were sinking, sinking. The Hisuian Samurott's eyes snapped open with a dusky glare. Rae glanced around to see that all her Pokémon had been forced back into their Poké Balls, even Noko-Noko. Lenora frowned and shrieked something but Rae couldn't quite make out what she was saying, not when a big, black wave washed around her, then over.

A bubbling deluge filled her ears and her chest tightened and her pulse quickened and she was kicking and flailing about, no longer sinking but sunken in that inkiness. It hurt to breathe.

"Urgh...!" Rae gasped and glanced around her. Something was cropping up, Something sinister.

"They call this Ceaseless Edge," said a soothing female voice. "The more you struggle, the more it will hurt."

Rae breathed through her mouth, slowly, deeply, and focused on the inkiness. A furry arm was emerging, pale and glowing. The Vigoroth.

"What's going on?" She whispered. Is this the Hisuian Samurott's signature move? 'Ceaseless Edge' did sound like a move.

"Good, you're calm." The Vigoroth placed a claw on her forehead, "Not feverish."

"Should I be feverish?" Rae frowned. "And where are we? Where are my friends?"

"You're not surprised that you can hear me. And understand me."

"It's not the first time I've spoken to a Pokémon."

The Vigoroth nodded. Their surroundings were night and slush and cold and flickering like a flame resisting extinguishment. But what was to come would always come, one way or another. There's a thing as writing from a place of suffering, which was to say, one would write from the state of being alive, for all of life is suffering. The arc of a sword through air, through the throat and guts of its 'enemy', whatever the word would present itself as, if it was never to bow to its arbitrary nature and pretend a fixity, that's simply the arc of a pen writing its life's tale. Where's blood, there's a storyteller. Where there's a story, there's a flood of blood.

Henceforth, Rae and the Vigoroth were back in Pinwheel Forest. Lenora was hushing all four of her Pokémon. The two other Vigoroth waved at this one friend before leaping off. The Hisuian Samurott that was frozen remained frozen, only that it was shedding tears of crimson ruby. Every mercenary has their story. While most went unheard... No, it refused to be silenced by ravenous time.

"Thou hast surviv'd this darkness of mine," said the Formidable Pokémon, its voice low and steady and melancholy. It was telepathy. This time, Rae's heart raced a little. Glancing at Lenora, she realised that only she could hear it talk. Was she going to be like N? Would she be able to converse with Pokémon? Could she perhaps then speak to Noivern and Exploud and what other Pokémon Icosa has, to understand him? His circumstance? In a way, the Pokémon before her reminded her of Icosa. The darkness it carried or was burdened with, the loneliness and the pushing away of others, the struggle to be understand, accepted, loved. It was and wasn't all these at once.

Yet there was something else altogether. It happened with Zorozoro too. Could it be that she could connect with Hisuian Pokémon, specifically, and know their pasts, their worldviews, their language? It all began with the DNA Splicers. Perhaps that might have had some effect on her...

"I have," she said at last, realising that the Hisuian Samurott was seeking a conversation, and not merely making a remark. "But I can't quite figure you out. Why did you resort to underhanded tricks, all to win?"

"I am aware of my corruption. My heart has hardened so much over the years of grief and loss, as have my blade. Not that anything cataclysmic happened... Rather, I once lived by the Samurai's Code until it became my fetters."

"How so?"

"Everything is strict with the Way. No room for error." It sighed. Rae thought its limbs had twitched. "Are you aware of what happens to dishonourable swordsmen?"

"You don't mean... seppuku."

"I do."

The air crystallised around them. Lenora was still comforting her Pokémon, they were in the same Pinwheel Forest, yet not really, yet separated by some barrier like Rae and the Hisuian Samurott were invisible and inaudible to them.

"It was a fate I wished to escape. I... I became a mercenary since then. I don't want to die because of some rigid rules, conventions, ideas... Isn't the taking of a life cruel, especially when one takes their own? I'm aghast. I cannot die by my blade."

"Don't Pokémon faint? Don't you die only by old age or some accident of sorts?"

"That comes way after. Fainting occurs when one channels the internal chi to preserve and harden the body, the heart. All Pokémon follow the Way like that. It's how fainting has become more common than dying. When one stops preserving their bodies using their internal chi due to a scarcity, they die. It's how we Pokémon come to live far longer than you humans."

"Chi?"

"Some call it ether. Others, mana. Those who follow the Way call it chi," says the Hisuian Samurott. "It's how any Pokémon can generate moves."

It occurred to Rae that this Pokémon before her was perhaps like any other Pokémon she had met. She could see no evil. No, most Pokémon were by nature of clear conscience and lawfully good. No, that's just her being idealistic. But why not ideals, why truth, why not optimism, why not make life a little easier to live?

"You are from Johto, aren't you?" Rae nodded at the Pokémon's question before it continued, "You are wondering... why you? Why would you be able to understand us Pokémon who do not fit with your times?"

"Y-Yes."

"Johto has always been tied to Sinnoh since ancient times," said the Hisuian Samurott. "For one, Celebi is a time-travelling Pokémon thanks to Dialga's blessing."

"That hardly explains anything."

"Your brother has an affinity with Celebi, Ho-Oh and Lugia. Please don't ask me how I know this." The Pokémon blushed when Rae cursed under her breath about how Kyo skyrocketed to fame among the mythical and legendary Pokémon who would gather to gossip about his relationship. "What I was planning to say is, after his meeting with Celebi, Dialga also got influenced and has been watching over you since then. Your brother's Ditto granted him Pokéspeech. Knowing that you are travelling alone in a faraway land, and knowing that Time will turn wayward, Dialga has gifted you with the ability to speak with Pokémon from the past."

"Ummm... Did Dialga talk to you about...?"

"Yes. Show Me Your Smile was perhaps the most famous bedtime story among Pokémon."

Rae hesitated and glanced at her four Pokémon who were now staring at her, as was Lenora. She wasn't sure if they were seeing her or seeing through her. She waved her hand slowly, then another time, this time quickly, and they didn't blink or wave back.

"What did you do? Why can't they see me?" A coldness in her veins. "The Vigoroth. It was here just now."

"It's just in the trees. Don't bother looking for it." The Hisuian Samurott let out a low, guttural sound. "Protect and Substitute. It's an advanced version that creates a barrier while substituting what others see behind the barrier. The forest replaces us."

Rae shivered and changed the subject. "Why did Dialga give me this ability?"

"The third-person perspective works wonders. You can observe what the Unovans can't. And before you ask, Dialga cannot change the time in another region as he pleases. Each region is governed by their own legendary. As a result, any resolution to the current crisis will need the combined efforts of not only the mythicals, but also the legendaries, of Unova."

Rae looked at the canopy that blocked most of the sky and moonlight. Protect and Substitute. That's an interesting combination she could try one day. Distraction. Subterfuge.

She inhaled and exhaled deeply.

"I have one last question."

"Then ask." The Pokémon's eyes seemed even gentler than before now.

"Why can I only speak with the Pokémon from the past and does that mean only Hisuian Pokémon?"

The Hisuian Samurott shook its head. "Because the past is of utmost importance here. It is the key to solving everything. You may speak with not only Pokémon that existed in Hisui, but also legendaries and mythicals and those associated with them. You humans either dwell too much in the past or consider it ineffectual, in that the present is separate from the past. Both hold true and are false at the same time. Whatever you do with your knowledge of the past will aid you in the events to come. For history repeats itself in one way or another till the lesson is learnt."

The earth quaked. The Hisuian Samurott let out a roar, winked at Rae and galloped away. She felt something melt behind her and before she had fully turned around, her four Pokémon were all over her, wiggling and kissing and whimpering. Lenora walked slowly towards her.

"You just emerged out of nowhere!"

Rae stared at her sheepishly. "Something like that."

"It's almost eleven. We should head back. We're still meeting Calliope tomorrow."

Rae produced a slight nod. "And check the Straiton Gym out."

"Yes."

Pinwheel Forest, as the Hisuian Samurott said, did return to its original state. The torii gate was gone. The paths returned to how they always were. The trees, ditto. Rae wondered if all they had previously seen was also the result of Protect and Substitute. Surely this combination couldn't warp spaces and make fantasy real? Then again, wasn't 'fantasy' about revelation, about making something visible?

They had barely reached the museum when they saw it. The Vigoroth from before, alone. Rae didn't know which it was till it covered its eyes with cupped hands.

"So it was all real," breathed Lenora.

"Take me along with you," said the Vigoroth. Without waiting for a reply, the Pokémon snatched one of Rae's empty Poké Balls and entered it before popping out. Rae blinked in surprise. A Vigoroth wasn't the Pokémon she expected to have, not in Unova. Thus far, besides Zorozoro, Chilchil and Tabutabu were the two Pokémon she met that were native to Unova. She thought she would have a team of Unovan Pokémon save for Noko-Noko. Technically, Zorozoro was a Unovan Pokémon too, only in Hisuian form.

"Nono." Rae beamed after a while. "I'll call you Nono."

The female Vigoroth raised her arms to the air and swayed back and forth. Then, it joined the quartet and shook hands with them. The rest of the night was as easy as the Pokémon's conversation.