Destiny [Pokémon]

❥ intermission

"Any news?"

Heaving a long sigh of relief, Blanche stretched out her tired legs and leaned back on the bench with closed eyes. Just sitting and doing nothing for once was absolute bliss. Her sore feet were grateful to her for this more than welcome (and long overdue) break after all this running around. Ever since she had left the café in Lacerta City yesterday, she had been doing nothing but roaming Virno's coast and the two islands, either by foot or on the back of her Aurorus when she was too exhausted to continue.

"No, nothing," Spark answered Candela's question, not noticing that his Zebstrika behind him was chewing on a tuft of his hair. He was a bit windswept, his blond locks rather unkempt and his black jacket wrinkled, after riding horseback for hours on end, but he looked full of energy as ever.

At this, a scowl contorted Candela's features. "Damn it!" she spat. "I couldn't find the Destined One either! And neither did they show themselves anywhere! Where did they all go?!" She scraped a hand through her brown tresses. A few unruly strands of hair fell back across her forehead, and she swatted at them as she would at an annoying mosquito.

Spark hummed pensively. "Right, now that you mention it, they were nowhere to be seen." A sudden thought seemed to strike him, shock registering on his face, and his cobalt eyes went as wide as saucers. "Don't tell me—did they find the Destined One before us?"

Blanche sat up at that. "Don't worry, I know for a fact that they didn't," she said to prevent her friends from losing their heads and indulging in wild speculations about the worst-case scenario. "They are still searching, just like we are. It appears that most of them were combing the two islands for the Destined One. They have all left now, but I managed to eavesdrop on a pair of them without being noticed."

"And what did you find out? Spit it out!" Candela ordered. As she stared at Blanche, impatiently waiting for her to say more, her fiery, golden brown eyes bore into her even through the screen of her PokéNav Plus.

After clearing her throat, Blanche gave the two of them a brief summary of what she had heard two grunts talk about, "The Destined One purportedly had an encounter with Ho-Oh, which is why they are currently searching for someone who claims to have seen the Rainbow Pokémon and/or is in possession of one of its feathers."

"I bet that's connected to that rainbow that appeared out of nowhere above Hydra Island two days ago!" Spark chipped in.

With a thoughtful expression on her face, Candela nodded. "I saw that too. Come to think of it, it was around the same time they came crawling out of the woodwork like Durant whose nest had been poked with a stick," she mused. "Did you find out more?"

"Sadly, that was it," Blanche replied, and both her friends pulled a disappointed face. "But good news is that they all left empty-handed. It seems like they were ordered back by their leader. That means that the Destined One must have escape them and now is somewhere on the mainland, coming from either of the two islands. I propose we focus on the villages, towns, and cities along the coast. It is possible that the Destined One will show up in your respective search area."

"All we have to do is keep our eyes peeled for a person who either claims they saw Ho-Oh, has one of its rainbow-coloured feathers, or keeps their distance from them. Or maybe even all of that," Candela concluded.

"Roger that!" The view of the PokéNav Plus's camera became blurry when Spark swung himself onto his Zebstrika's back again, the Thunderbolt Pokémon neighing and audibly pawing the ground. "We don't know what they look like, but neither do they! We're gonna find them for sure! Spark out!"

"Spark, wait!" Candela called out—in vain.

The last thing Blanche saw before her friend abruptly ended the three-way video call was the blond man flashing a broad grin while putting two fingers to his forehead in a mock salute, which turned into a quick wave afterwards. Then, his part of the screen went black, and Candela's frowning face took up the whole screen of Blanche's PokéNav Plus.

"That's typical of Spark, unable to sit still for five minutes." Shaking her head, she sighed. "Anyways, the Prof contacted me earlier. He said that a bunch of them left their headquarters and split up, going in three different directions. One of their destinations was the Numen Shrine in Carina Village. He doesn't know where the two other groups went, but he overheard the one he shadowed talking about the Destined One being bound to show up at the Shrine sooner or later. I'm going to hold the fort there since it's in my area."

"The Numen Shrine? What are they doing there? I wonder ..." Blanche mumbled, more to herself than to Candela, and let out a hum as she sat pondering. But she quickly shook herself out of her thoughts again and nodded to her companion. "Alright. Be careful and call me as soon as you find out more. At least we have a new lead now."

Candela mimicked Spark's brisk salute, smirking. "Will do."

"Well then"—Blanche got to her feet and shook out her legs—"I'm going to set out for Caelum City without delay. Good luck." With that, she hung up and swiftly pocketed her PokéNav Plus, taking a Poké Ball from her belt clip. "We can only hope luck is on our side and we will find the Destined One before them," she murmured as she called forth her Swanna.

Unbeknownst to her, the very person she was currently looking for was right here on this island with her, embarking on her Pokémon journey—entirely oblivious to the three persons desperately searching for her, trying to protect her.

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We will protect you,

Destined One.

You can count on us.