Kalos but no Cigar!

[Diachronos]

"Brave and stupid, actually. If I hadn't found that Blastoise I'd have probably died in there with you." She holds out the Torrent Stone and Blastoise's ball to return them to Sycamore. "...I didn't think things would be this hectic the same day I left home."

[NeoSeraphi]

Sycamore straightens up. "Ah. I'm sorry to hear you've had such a long day. But I would ask, young lady, for you to do me a favor. Please, take the Torrent Stone and Blastoise with you. I want to see if it's possible that the Torrent Stone's power is tied to Blastoise's emotional state. If Blastoise is able to overcome the grief from its Trainer's death, will the Torrent Stone return to a Blastoisite? I know I can trust you with this Mei, because..."

He smiles. "Because you really love Pokemon, don't you? I could tell from your mother's description that the affection and compassion you feel for every Pokemon is real and selfless. You could tell that Blastoise is hurting, right? Please, take it with you so you can try and make it feel better. Having its Trainer pass away so suddenly...when she was so young...has shocked the poor Pokemon to its core."

Right. Blastoise had no time to prepare itself because Irina didn't die of old age. She was killed.

"I think spending time with you will make Blastoise smile again. What do you say?"

[Diachronos]

Mei sighs. "Your confidence in me is flattering, Professor, but... are you sure a novice like me is really the best one to help Blastoise?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Sycamore shrugs. "I should think I'm living proof of that! After all, the only reason I'm alive is because you convinced Blastoise to put out the fire, right?"

[Diachronos]

"I'm not sure that was me, though. It seemed ready to just wander off and ignore me."

[NeoSeraphi]

Sycamore gestures to the burned down building. "Well, I hate to force you, but I have to say that there's really not a place left for Blastoise to call home here. It would probably be happier with you than sitting in its PokeBall all the time because we don't have a place to let it out."

[Diachronos]

Mei looks down at the ball and nods. "No... no, you're right. I have to try. Blastoise deserves that much, at least." She turns her gaze back up at the Professor's face. "This is what you wanted to see me about in the first place, isn't it?"

[NeoSeraphi]

"That," Sycamore says, and his face lights up. "And this!" He reaches into his folder and pulls out a small strip of laminated plastic and a red box. "This is your Trainer's License. And this is a Pokemon Indexing Tool, or PokeDex for short. If you use this, you can scan Pokemon in the wild and learn more about them. It will be a great asset on your journey, and it even has a Town Map on it!"

[Diachronos]

Mei accepts the license and PokeDex with a smile. "Thank you, Professor."

[NeoSeraphi]

Shayla walks up to Mei and hugs her. "This is where you and I have to part ways. I'm excited to see how far you get on your journey. But as a thank you for saving me from whatever Pokemon was putting everyone to sleep, here's a bag of PokeBalls, on me!"

She hands Mei fifteen PokeBalls.

[Diachronos]

Mei looks at the collection of Pokeballs. "Thanks, but... I'm not the one who saved you."

[NeoSeraphi]

Shayla tilts her head. "What do you mean?"

[Diachronos]

"Someone came to the top of the tower and destroyed the satellite that was being used to keep everybody asleep. I tried to stop the person behind it all, but... I couldn't do anything. At best I distracted the leader of the criminals behind it all long enough for Rush to get there."Z

[NeoSeraphi]

The three of them fall back in shock. "Rush?!"

Seed sighs. "Rush Sikes is dangerous, and a menace. And now he's destroyed the satellite that Lumiose uses to keep the people of the city connected to one another...Mei you should stay away from him before he hurts you too."

He robbed the group of the Torrent Stone and Blastoise. He attacked Dr. Seed on Route 2. And he killed Blastoise's owner...

[Diachronos]

"Rush destroying that satellite is the only reason you three are awake right now. And I wouldn't be standing here if he hadn't saved me from that man's Dark Pulse."

[NeoSeraphi]

"Do you think saving your life absolves him of his past crimes?" Shayla asks.

[Diachronos]

"I..." Mei sits down with a sigh. "I don't know..."

[NeoSeraphi]

Sycamore stands up. "We should be getting home. Shayla, the Pokémon Center provides free meals and lodging for traveling Trainers. Now that you have your License you can make use of that in any town. Good night!"

The three of them leave in various directions.

[Diachronos]

Mei walks back to the Pokemon Center, intending to rest for the night and collect her thoughts. She lets Froakie and Blastoise out of their Pokeballs for the night, and finally decides on a name for Froakie: Saisho.

[NeoSeraphi]

Nurse Joy brings her some warm rice and bread. "Have you decided where you'll be heading yet? Lumiose is in the direct center of the region so you can get almost anywhere from here."

[Diachronos]

"No, I haven't. Where do most Trainers go when they're just getting started and looking to become stronger?"

She thinks back to that strange black aura surrounding Switch's Houndour and the overwhelming presence of darkness on that large flying Pokemon... what was that? And how come nobody else could see it? "Nurse Joy? Have you ever heard of something called a 'Shadow Pokemon'?"

[NeoSeraphi]

Nurse Joy smiles. "There's a Trainer School in Santalune City. Many new Trainers go there to learn more about Type matchups, status conditions, priority and other important battling techniques."

When she asks about a Shadow Pokemon, Nurse Joy frowns. "No...I've never heard of anything like that. But Professor Sycamore is in this town. He knows lots about Pokemon. Maybe you should ask him?"

[Diachronos]

Mei nods and gets out her PokeDex to see where Santalune city is in relation to Lumiose.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy. I'll stop by and ask Professor Sycamore before I leave the city."

[NeoSeraphi]

Mei goes to sleep. Saisho curls up next to her and keeps her warm through the night.

In the morning Mei wakes up to a crashing sound.

"Young man, I must insist that you take some time to heal! Your wounds were much worse than I thought and there's a very good chance that they'll open up again if you move around too much."

Mei sees Rush walking towards the door, even as Nurse Joy bars the way. She is horrified when she realizes that he's covered in the same black aura as Houndour was. A Shadow...Human?

"Get out of my way! I can take care of myself!" he says in a hoarse voice. It seems like he was probably screaming a lot throughout the night. His face shows one of distrust and anger towards the nurse.

[Diachronos]

Mei runs over and puts her hands on Rush's shoulders. "Please, listen to her! You could barely stand after getting hit yesterday, you need time to recover." What was that aura around him? He didn't have it before... was it caused by Xehanort's attack?

[NeoSeraphi]

Rush pushes her back. "Get off of me! Why should I listen to you?! You accused me of killing my own sister!"

[Diachronos]

Mei clenches her fists. "...I did. When Dr. Seed said that you were the one who killed her, I didn't have any reason to not believe him at the time. But now... now I'm not sure what to believe." After a moment she relaxes her hands. "I'm sorry I accused you. And I'm sorry that you lost your sister. But pushing yourself to keep going when you're in this shape isn't going to help anything."

[NeoSeraphi]

"That freak from the roof got away! He's still out there somewhere! If I just sit around and wait to get better..who knows how many other Pokémon could get hurt?"

He looks down at the ground. "If that happens...Irina...argh!"

The aura around him turns a dark red! It swells to twice its size! Rush grabs onto his chest. "I can't...let anyone else...lose someone."

A mark appears on his chest. It looks like the Team Heartless emblem, except it's directly on his skin and glowing. From Nurse Joy's reaction, it looks like she can see it too.

[Diachronos]

Mei grabs his shoulders and shakes him. "Rush, snap out of it! I'm pissed about what that monster was doing too, but charging head-first after him isn't going to help, it's just going to get you killed!"

He's not going to back down, that much is clear. But... "If you're dead set on going after him now, then I'm going with you."

[NeoSeraphi]

Rush shakes his head. "I don't need you! I don't need this Froslass!" He takes the PokeBall on his belt and throws it to the ground. "I don't...need anyone! Argh!"

He screams loudly as the emblem glows red and then, to the nurse's shock, Rush's heart emerges from the emblem on his chest and starts to float towards the entrance. There, Dr. Seed steps through the doorway and snatches it out of the air, placing it into a box.

Rush's entire body shatters and shadows emerge. When the transformation is done...he looks just like Xehanort. Dropping to all fours, Rush leaps past Dr. Seed and charges towards Route 5.