A/N - Sorry for the delay. I was busy with family stuff, and I was meant to update yesterday but it slipped my mind. Saturday should have an update as normal.

Chapter Fifty Eight

Anchor took a step back as Switch lunged at him with his beak, narrowly missing the talonflame's aerial ace. He spun on the spot, meeting Switch's golden eyes as another aerial ace was launched his way. Anchor brought up his fist and struck the talonflame with a feint attack right across the beak. Switch staggered backwards, blinking with surprise. He shook his head sharply and flashed Anchor a wink.

"Caught me off guard there," he said.

Anchor laughed and wiped his paw over his chest. "I do have a trick or two up my sleeve."

"You're supposed to be practising your fire fang," Switch reminded him. "Given that's what's meant to set off that Z-Crystal's special move, right?"

The talonflame nodded to Anchor's wrist. Fastened in a stone bangle was the sparkling, red Z-Crystal, catching the morning sun's rays. Switch was right. But they'd been fighting for over an hour, and he just wasn't getting anywhere with it. Hold it high, Solgaleo had said, and it would turn his fire fang into inferno overdrive.

"Should we really be doing this?" DL's voice drew their attention to the bench she was sitting on. "I mean, Macro isn't here. We should really be practising these moves together."

"My answer is the same as it was an hour ago," said Anchor. "Macro can't be here right now and we need to be practising, otherwise we'll end up unprepared."

"But the doctor said he'll be fit to go home in a couple of days," she said. "Can't we at least wait?"

"I believe his words were 'he'll be fit to go back home to his own bed'," said Anchor. "He'll need the all clear to be able to fight again. That could easily be another week. I doubt BackDoor will conveniently wait that long. Look what happened to Pulse City! Some of us are gonna need to be able to fight while he catches up."

"Anchor's right, DL. You saw what happened to him," said Switch. "If some of us know to activate these moves, it might prevent the same thing from happening again. And it might speed up his learning process and get the ball rolling much faster." He finished his sentence with a wink. "You in?"

DL stared at them for a moment then gave a curt nod. She slipped from her seat and adjusted the bangle around her right wrist.

"What about Matrix and Cookie?" she asked. "They should be here too."

Anchor grunted and turned back to the talonflame. "You wanna drag Matrix from Assassin Strike, be my guest."

DL considered this for a moment then shrugged it off and turned towards Switch. The talonflame shifted uneasily and cast a cautious eye at her.

"You don't plan to practice your move on me, do you?" He gave a nervous laugh.

"Well, erm..." She looked from Switch to Anchor and twirled the bangle around her wrist with her other paw. "Either, really. I don't mind."

"Okay, well." Switch cleared his throat. "I'm not too sure how I feel about being struck with a powerful electric move. You might end up roasting me alive."

"He has a point," said Anchor. "I'll be your punching bag. Let's get you warmed up first. Hit me with your best shot."

The granbull took a step back and spread his arms wide. DL moved around so she was facing him and fixed her eyes on his. He could see the determination in her eyes. A real look of confidence. He'd never seen her try to fight or use her attacks even once. But this was no meek pokemon staring at him. He grinned widely and thumped himself twice in the chest.

"Come on," he said. "Throw a discharge at me."

DL closed her eyes and pursed her lips, an expression reminiscent of a pichu trying to control its electricity. Then her ears stood upright and her eyes snapped back open, all that previous confidence lost in an instant.

"I... I don't know how!" she said.

"Eh?" Anchor inclined his head on one side then rubbed the back of his mohawk. "Erm... do you know any attacks? Spark? Thundershock? Tackle?"

Her eyes went distant and she stared off into space, but he knew he was checking her database. Then she shook her head slowly and looked back at him.

"No," she said. "I've no recollection of ever using any attacks."

"Really?" Anchor stared back at her dumbfounded. "Nothing at all? Why not try again? Just a small jolt or something?"

DL closed her eyes again and tensed up her entire body until her fur was on end. Both paws were clasped into fists so tight Anchor feared she might puncture her flesh with her claws. Then she let out a frustrated growl and looked back up at him.

"I just can't do it!" A lone tear trickled down her cheek and she flopped onto her bottom. "Why? I... I guess it's not in any of the memories I have."

Anchor exchanged glances with Switch, and the pair of them moved over to the pachirisu's side. Anchor sat down beside her and placed a paw on her shoulder.

"It kinda makes sense," he said. "Those memories of yours only go back as far as... well, your early teen years. Right?"

DL nodded bitterly. "But you'd think there'd be something? Pokemon are learning new moves well into their teen years. It's how you get stronger."

"Yes, but you need something to go off," Anchor explained. "I don't know much about electric types, but moves get stronger, right? Little pokemon scratch, then later they'll really slash with their claws. Tackle becomes take down. Headbutt into head smash. That kinda thing. I guess the same works with electricity."

"It actually makes more sense with electricity," said Switch. "The current gets stronger, just like the flame in a fire type."

Anchor let out a single laugh. "Well, you would know. Unlike you and DL here, I don't use special type moves. I'm more of a brawler."

"You both made clear points." DL gave them a weak smile. "Thank you. But this leaves me with a bit of a problem."

Both pokemon looked down at her silently, waiting for her to elaborate. She grabbed her tail in her paws, brushing her fur absently as she gazed down at it. She took in a steady breath and glanced them out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm not sure I want any more of my memories," she said. "That last disk really hurt me. Bringing all that back, knowing what Socket did to me... what else happened to me? My parents, my home? How did I end up in an orphanage? What exactly happened to me that landed me in that wicked pokemon's clutches?"

Anchor scratched his mohawk again and stared off at the lake. "I... I dunno. But if you want to use your Z-Move then you need to be able to attack."

"Can't I just learn again?" she asked. "From scratch, like a hatchling?"

"You could," Anchor said hesitantly. "But it would take a really long time, and that's time we don't have."

She looked up at Switch, eyes pleading. "How long did it take you to learn? You're not even really a pokemon, so you have to have learnt at some point, right?"

He shifted uneasily and cleared his throat. "It took me months just to get the basics down to a fine art, never mind building on them. But the ability was always there, within me. It's a case of unlocking it."

"Yeh, but like you said, it took you months," said Anchor. "We don't have months, let alone enough time for her to learn discharge!"

Switch fell silent and huddled into himself, fluffing out his feathers.

Anchor sighed and ran a paw down his face. What a predicament. He hadn't expected any setbacks like this.

"Then I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" DL's voice was quiet, almost a whisper.

"You do," said Anchor. "Two choices. You either get your remaining memories back so you can use your discharge attack, and therefore your Z-Move. Or you leave it and don't..." He threw his paws into the air. "Don't help us."

DL flinched and squeezed her tail, her paws vanishing into the fur completely. "Then I was right. I don't have a choice. I'm to help you, and I want to help you. So I need to get my memories."

"Hey, don't be too hasty," said Anchor. "You made it clear you don't want them. Think things over first."

She nodded curtly and rose to her feet. As she turned to walk away, Switch lifted his head.

"Hey," he said. "There are other ways you can help, you know. You need to put yourself first here."

She froze and glanced back at him over her shoulder. "You sound just like Macro. 'Look out for number one'."

"Well, whereas I can find that mawile rather selfish," said Switch flatly, "he might actually be right here."

"Part of me thinks you're wrong." DL turned away and sighed. "I don't know. Give me time to think about it."

Anchor sat back on his paws as he watched her walk away, head down, arms limp at her side, and her usually perky tail trailing along the ground.

...

Annie stretched languidly as she strolled down the sunlit streets of Wave City. Not a toxic cloud in sight. Clean, crisp, ocean air filled her sinuses and she let out a satisfied sigh.

Despite the warm and thankful welcome the human and her team had received, Wave City's inhabitants still seemed rather jittery. The local pokemon cast her nervous glances, but none of them fled. News of a human had spread across System, not that Annie really cared. Somehow, she'd managed to take her medicine before her archeops form took hold, securing her another day at her full height on steady, human legs with steady, human hands, rather than scurrying around as a clumsy prehistoric bird.

Not that she minded the archeops. It was just nice to be herself for a little while longer.

All of her team appreciated the clean air. Trojan leant against a shop wall with his arms crossed and he raised an eyebrow at her. The irony of clean air lay between his claws in the form of a cigarette, a clear sign Web was still back at their hotel. Most likely with Zip and Poipole. The purple creature was the only one not happy with the clean air. He'd taken to hiding in the skuntank's tail in a desperate bid to inhale toxins.

Annie paused beside the scrafty and glanced from his face to the smoldering ashes dropping to the floor. "Any joy?"

Trojan snorted and flicked the remains of his cigarette into the drain. "You mean making Poipole a bowl like Zip's? Fat chance. I told you that last night."

Annie shrugged and stuffed her hands into her pocket, glancing over at the docks. Keeping the little creature with them was looking to be almost impossible.

"We're probably gonna have to release him into the outskirts," Trojan explained. "Although I ain't too happy about it. He really saved our hides in that fight last night."

"Aye. Those creatures could have overwhelmed us." Annie rubbed the back of her head and sighed. "Well. Whatever's best."

"You're bein' rather dismissive about it." Trojan narrowed his eyes at her. "Way I see it is you two are exactly alike."

"Hey! I ain't no purple slimy blob!"

"I ain't sayin' you are!" Trojan growled. He let out a sigh and pushed back his head fin. "What I'm sayin' is you're two lost aliens. Stuck in a world where you don't belong. You both need understandin' types, not to be left to your own devices. That Poipole needs friends. We let him loose in the outskirts, what's gonna happen to him? You think he's gonna just buddy up with some other gang?"

Annie shifted her weight to one leg and stared off at the ocean. She pursed her lips together, searching for the right response. But Trojan went on.

"He also knows what those creatures are," he explained. "Knows how to fight 'em. He's a valuable ally. I don't know about you, but I don't really wanna discard him like that. We need to find a way to keep him healthy."

"He seemed quite comfortable in Web's tail," said Annie.

"Comfy or not, it ain't a permanent solution."

She scratched her head and frowned at the skyline. Something Trojan had said had really grated on her. She cast the scrafty a sideways glance and stuffed her hands back into her pockets.

"You really think I don't belong here?" she asked.

"You ain't a pokemon, are you?" he grunted.

"I kind of am."

"Yeh. An extinct one." He reached into his baggy skin and pulled out a cigarette pack, frowned at it, then stuffed it back in place. He folded his arms again and raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm right, aren't I? I know I'm right. You wanna get home as much as Poipole does."

Annie frowned down at him and puffed air out of her nose. "I'm free here."

Trojan shrugged and turned his head to look back at the hotel. "You might feel free, but after a while it might start to feel like a prison. I know I wouldn't wanna be stuck in some alien world without my own kind to talk to."

"My own kind aren't very interesting. They force me to read books and watch videos, rather than mingle. And they talk about celery and people named Mark."

He let out a dry chuckle and waved her off with a paw. "Then by all means, go and mingle. I'm just sayin' you might change your mind after a while."

Annie shifted her weight again and turned away from the Scrafty to look back at the ocean. She'd become oblivious of the other pokemon during their chat, but now she could feel all their eyes on her again. She shrugged them off and marched towards the docks, to her waiting ship. The pyukumyuku still looked rather stained, its glossy black hull marred with neon purple streaks.

Waveform sat beside it, his feet hanging over the docks. They were high enough not to touch the ocean, but the spray dampened his feathers and left little drops on his scales. His quiver lay beside him with his silver arrows scattered around, and he held one in his wing paw while his other polished it with a dirty rag. She slumped down beside him, letting her own feet hang over the edge. Immediately the surf peppered her worn boots with water droplets and soaked into her trousers.

"I always thought decidueye use their feathers as arrows," she said. "That's what I read in a book, anyway."

"I prefer it this way," he said bluntly.

She leant back on her hands to stare out at the ocean, letting the repetitive, steady roar of the tide soothe her. But it did little to remove her recent conversation. Trojan's words still niggled at her. She stifled a sigh and watched as the tide consumed a smooth rock blocking its path.

The decidueye looked up from his arrows and examined her face with his large eyes. "You look bothered."

"Hum." She inclined her head on one side, avoiding his gaze. "I guess I kinda am."

Waveform returned to polishing his arrows, running the rag along the shaft and over the deadly, pointed nib in an almost obsessive fashion. They sat in silence for a while, the only sounds being that of the ocean waves and the occasional squeak as he polished the arrow to a shine. Annie watched the water lap in towards the docks and feebly reach up towards them, narrowly missing as it retreated back into the surf to be followed by another wave. Frothy surf formed on the surface, some of which clung to the rocks far below the wooden supports. She thought she saw the first signs of wood rot where the damp had got to them. Like her, it wasn't meant to be there. Slowly eating away at the wood until, if left unchecked, the docks would plunge into the watery depths, dragging unsuspecting pokemon with it.

"I'd like to ask what the problem is," Waveform said, breaking the silence.

She looked up with a start, but didn't look at him, instead gazing off at the horizon. "I feel like there should be a 'but' at the end of that sentence."

He shrugged. "Well, I'll admit I am worried I won't get a straight answer."

She leant back on her hands and let out a bitter sigh. "I've just been told I don't belong here."

Waveform lowered his arrow and turned his head to look at her fully. She didn't meet his eye, but a frown creased his features, distorting what little she could see of his beak.

"Who on earth told you that?" he asked. "Wasn't one of the water types, was it?"

"No, it was Trojan."

He let out a snort and returned to his arrows, discarding the one in his paw in exchange for another. "I'd take what he says with a pinch of salt."

"Oh, I dunno. It's left me feeling salty enough." She dipped the toe of her boot into the surf as it rose up again and flicked it, scattering water droplets as far as she could toss them. "Just like this ocean here."

"Why did he say that, exactly?" Waveform asked.

"Because I'm a human. Just like little Sticky, I don't belong in this world." She paused. "But unlike him, it's not killing me."

Waveform paused with the rag held over his arrow, then tossed it to his side. "You're from System's past, right?"

"That's what I'm led to believe. But all white-walled cells look alike to me. For all I know, the doctors could have been in cosplay."

"But you turn into a pokemon."

"Yes, I've not always done that." She nodded dramatically. "So I guess that answers your question, yes."

"Then in that case, they've tried to get humans home already."

She turned her head to look at him. "They succeeded, right?"

"That's what I'm led to believe." He shrugged, not meeting her gaze. "But evidence says they failed. Not all humans went back home. But... most pokemon don't want to believe that. They say it's a myth. That the Fracture never happened, or if it did that it didn't happen the way the stories tell it."

"What, they don't have history books?"

"It was allegedly all destroyed." He picked his rag up again and absently polished his weapons. "But they can't destroy everything."

"So there's evidence?"

"There's blood."

Annie paused as a rather gruesome image filled her mind. She blinked a few times and stared at him, questioning. "What do you mean 'blood'?"

He let out a sigh and tossed his rag aside again, but with his arrow this time. It landed among the others with a small clatter that seemed to ring across the docks but it didn't draw any attention from the dock workers. He gave them a wary glance then pulled one of his legs up to his chest, letting his wing fall over his knee.

"I'm going to tell you something you can't repeat to anyone," he said quietly.

She shrugged and scratched her nose. "I probably won't remember anyway."

"Oh you will, because I want you to."

He glanced at the dock workers, then at Annie. When she only returned his stare, he tapped the floor beside him. She took the hint and scooted to his side.

He lowered his voice to a near whisper. "There's a group of pokemon out there who strongly believe they're descended from what humans remained in System. It used to be quite a large group, but it's dropped in size considerably over the last two hundred years."

"Really? Pull the other one," she scoffed. "Humans can't breed with pokemon."

"They can if they have pokemon bodies," he retorted. "When you're an archeops you have the biology of one, right?"

She blinked slowly. "What do you mean?"

He let out a flustered sigh and shook his head. "I'm starting to think this is pointless."

"No, no. Wait." Annie scratched her chin and looked up at the sky. "So I get feathers. And... my sense of smell gets stronger. Not that good a thing in Spool City, I gotta say."

"So you get my point." He ran a paw over his armoured beak and fixed his eyes on the horizon. "Anyway. Like I said. Since this group believes they're descended from humans, then you belong in System like any of them do. Just like their ancestors who chose to stay here. The only difference is, you're pure blood. To them, you're gold."

"So you think they'd want me in their group? There's somewhere I can belong?"

"Hah! I'm making it my personal duty you never fall into their paws."

A frown creased her features. "Why?"

"Like I said. You're gold." He gave her a glance out of the corner of his eye. "You like being free, don't you? If they got hold of you, you'd end up trapped in their circle. There are a lot of pokemon in that group who want to make their blood as pure as possible. To try and regain what they deem a 'lost breed'." He paused as he took in her look of confusion. "There's been a hammer dropped on this group. They're not bad pokemon, but they've become rabid with this idea. I told you all the written evidence had been destroyed. It had been destroyed years ago by those who were 'anti human'. Well... 'anti myth'. Since this group had proven there was something different with their blood, the authorities wanted to disband them. Many were locked up for 'disturbing the peace', but like I said. You can't destroy blood. The anti-murder laws meant that nothing could be done about them. They'd not done anything that warranted being put to death, so their lines continued. Albeit in a very small sense. The only ones left are fanatics."

"And how do you know about them?" Annie asked. "If they're so small."

"My great grandfather was amongst them," Waveform explained. "Strongly believed his was of human decent. Roped my grandfather into it and wanted him to marry into the circle to continue on the genes. But he didn't. My mother, however. She went with my grandfather into the circle and found her place there."

"You make it sound like some sort of cult."

"That's what I thought it was, if I'm honest." He paused and ran his feathers over his knee. "I went with her a couple of times, but I wasn't sure I believed any of it. They were just a bunch of crazy fanatics in my eyes, spouting nonsense." He paused again and glanced Annie out of the corner of his eye. "Then you came along."

She blinked a few times as she tried to take it all in, putting the pieces together like an elaborate jigsaw with no image to guide by. Then she lifted a hand and pointed a finger at the decidueye's chest.

"So let me get this straight," she said slowly. "You're telling me... that you are part human?"

"Allegedly."

"And there's a group of pokemon out there who are also part human?"

"Exactly."

She rolled her eyes and turned to fall back on her hands. "Whoa, what kinda crazy world did I fall into?"

Waveform let out a long groan. "What I told you was meant to make you feel like you belong."

"But it's fact, right?" she asked. "Not some tall tale?"

"Of course it's fact."

"And are you gonna take me to this group? Let me see it with my own eyes?"

"I told you!" He rounded on her and grabbed her arm in his wing. "If I took you there, you'd never see the light of day again! They'd be fighting over you! A pure human might even break them. They'd be at each others throats!"

"Would they?" Annie folded her arms and gave him a pointed stare. "Or is it you doing the fighting? You just don't want to share the gold that landed in your lap."

A frown twisted his features and he staggered back onto one paw. "You seriously think that?"

"They've been looking for an answer, haven't they? And what, you're not gonna let them know they were right the whole time? I'd say you're the one being greedy."

"You moron," he gasped. "I'm trying to protect you! From crazed fanatics, from the mayor, and from nosey detectives! Even psychotic space pirates! And you have the nerve to think-"

"Hey, hear me out here." She raised a hand to silence him.

"No, I won't hear you out! I'm a bounty hunter. My job is to hunt down the next big target that will net me a fortune. Do you know how much I could get for you if I took you to the right buyer? A lot! I can't even guess the zeroes! And where are you right now? That's right, you're free! Sat on the docks in a wealthy city, free as a bird!"

"Alright, I get it. But you need to understand where I'm coming from. You've basically just told me there's a jar of candy and you won't give it to me."

"What?"

"I'm not alone. There's kind-of-humans here."

"Yes, and you're talking to one." He retrieved his arrow and returned to polishing it.

"So that means if there's humans here, I don't need to go back, do I? I don't need the Time Onion to get me home, because technically I am home." She sat back on her hands again. "I can be free here."

He snorted. "Then I guess we've both learned something new. You've learned there's human descendants, and I've learned you don't trust me."

She swivelled to stare at him and inclined her head on one side. "Would you trust someone who won't introduce you to your own kind?"

He lowered his arrow and met her eyes. "Would you introduce Zip to sharks, just because they were another kind of fish?"

"Zip, huh?" She diverted her gaze to the sky in thought. "The little fish. I suppose... I wouldn't want to be thrown to the sharks either."

"That's exactly what I'd be doing to you if I took you there. You'll just have to trust me. Your family here aren't crazed part-humans. You belong with pokemon who care about you. Like Trojan and Webber."

He scooped up his arrows into his quiver and rose to his feet, tossing it over his left shoulder. She had to crane her neck back to look up at him.

"Not includin' yourself in that little list?" she asked.

He turned on his heel to return to the city, not even glancing back at her. "There's no need to include myself. You can trust the pokemon I trust. That's all you need to know."

She watched as he strolled away into the city, shedding two long green feathers as he left. One of them drifted over to her and she scooped it up without thinking. A few of the delicate barbs broke away under her fingers, and she trailed one over them delicately to try and neaten them back out.

Dry and brittle. She'd always expected them to be soft.