Linkage

17

Cynthia felt sore as she sat up. To her left was Wes, in a hospital gown, asleep, with an IV in his arm. She noticed that she had an IV as well, and wondered how in the world they ended up there. But she could feel him from across the room, without closing her eyes or touching him.  Perhaps it was true. Their bond had strengthened.

"Wes and Cynthia," said a flustered Maylene as she burst in.

Of course she was there. Cynthia shrunk back in her bed, trying to run away. But she was sore upon movement so she hissed as she did it. What was Maylene even doing there?

"Oh Cynthia," said Maylene, "there's no need to hide from me. Now that you've actually gained some sense, we're alright. Besides, we have to talk, now. Let me wake Wes up."

Cynthia watched as Maylene tried to rouse him. She looked over and wished that Wes would just wake up. She closed her eyes in frustration.

"Don't complain about me not waking up," Wes grumbled, "when the both of us don't even know how we got here. You don't even know if I'm damaged."

"Oh you're fine," she complained. "Just listen to her because it's important."

"Roark's gone missing," she said, her tone getting lower, "Byron called me. And then a Lt. Dunnan told me to relay to you that Dawn Hikari is holding a press conference in three days."

"Which means I lose investigative authority...and Wes does too," she said.

Cynthia felt something off from Wes, like he was trying to put some pieces together. She watched as he was deep in thought, wondering where he was going with this.

"What is it Wes?" Cynthia asked.

Wes huffed. "Someone clearly thinks we're too close to something. That's why Hikari is back. She's a distraction. But I'm not so sure. If what I think is correct, then there's some way that the police and the rogue Galactic Grunts are connected."

Maylene drew in a breath. "What do you mean, Wes?"

Cynthia watched as he took a deep, uncomfortable breath. She could feel his nervousness as he spoke.

"Apparently, the Galactic Grunts are under a new boss, and said new boss was the one who kidnapped Dawn. They also knew who I was. Which is why I don't trust it. Something is wrong, and someone doesn't want us to find out about it," he finished.

There was dead silence in the room after Wes stopped speaking. Cynthia felt beyond betrayed. She trusted the police, and now there was the possibility they were playing her? She trusted her staff. And Team Galactic. Oh did she feel the fear. The anger, the hate swelled inside her. But most importantly there was fear.

She didn't want to disappoint her region again.

"Cynthia," Wes said, his voice soothing to her.

She shook her head. "Maylene, how did you find us?"

"I was on my way up to visit Candice for some girl time" she said, after a quick clarification to Wes that she was the local gym leader. "And apparently she was at the hospital looking after the both of you. Some hiker found the both of you on the shores of Lake Acuity about to freeze to death. All your things are on the chairs, so don't worry."

And then she stepped out, and Cynthia couldn't hold it in. She began to sob, her body wracked with fear. She just couldn't believe it. She'd been ousted from underneath her nose again. She hadn't been able to find the bad guys, and now she was going to lose again. And this time, Sinnoh was going to suffer for it.

Sinnoh was going to suffer at her failure. Yet again. And she didn't deserve to be champion.

Wes, to her surprise, took her by the hands. "Cynthia, you're not going to fail. You were the champion, right? You got there somehow didn't you?"

"But even then," said Cynthia shaking her head. "I failed then. Dawn, who was more powerful than I could ever be. She was stronger than I could ever be."

"Don't say that," said Wes. "It's not about strength. It is about the fact that you were chosen. Right? Dawn wasn't chosen. You are the one destined to be the hero of Sinnoh."

"It's a fluke," she said. "I'm there every year."

"No," said Wes as he pulled her into him, "no don't say that. You were chosen by the shrine some time ago and that's why you've hosted it for years. This bond is proof! This bond is proof that you are going to make it! That you're valuable, that you're worth something. Okay?"

And she looked at him as he gave her a look. As he turned his back, his thoughts screamed out loud to her. "Besides, if she wasn't worth something. Then I know I wouldn't be worth anything either."

The both of them got dressed. She had no clue what was next, but they had to keep fighting.

She had to keep fighting, because she wanted to make him feel the way he made her feel. Because he was worth something too

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Wes and Cynthia decided together that the best thing to do was for Wes to go back to work and for Cynthia to stay out. If he was going to find answers, he had to go back to his desk. And then he had to figure out who was behind it all. There would be answers in the desks. After all, when he got back, Lt. Dunnan sent him straight back to the records room.

The first thing he did was grab the police files of Kowalski, Lt. Dunnan, and Team Galactic. He sat at his desk, playing his harmonica. In his lap, due to suspicion, he had the files. It was time to do a deep dive, like he knew how to do.

From what he read, Kowalski served for years with the Hoenn Seals before joining. He came around the same time that Wes came, which was natural, because he was second in his class at the police academy. Only two years with the force was the only suspicious quality he had, and Wes could respect his military training. Which left Lt. Dunnan.

Lt. Dunnan was just as difficult as well. He was even less suspicious than Kowalski. If someone invented hate for Team Galactic, it would be this guy. He had been part of the force for over ten years, and was one of the main police officers in the raids against Team Galactic. It was unbelievable to Wes, but it was his gut feeling that told him this was the guy.

But why? Just because Lt. Dunnan was a horrible boss didn't mean that he was the kidnapper. And for that matter Wes couldn't say anything about Kowalski either. Which put him back to square one on that. And so he shut the files and tucked them into his desk.

Team Galactic though, yielded something. When he read the file, most of the details were things he'd already heard from Saturn. However, there was one particular section that was interesting. When talking about the Distortion World he saw an interesting note about Turnback Spring, along with a picture of a place he recognized.

It was that place where they found Dawn's hat.

The ringing of a phone snapped Wes out his stupor.

"Officer Wes Michaels speaking," he answered.

Byron's voice echoed over the phone. "Wes! I need you to come to Canalave City. I have some important paperwork for you."

"With all due respect—" Wes began.

The gym leader cut him off. "It's important. Come now."

And so Wes flew off to Canalave City. When he arrived to the gym there, he saw Byron, whose beard was scruffier than normal, and whose eyes were more bloodshot. He knew within the second that the trip was not wasted.

"What is it Byron?"

The gym leader sighed. "I've made a map of the disappearances within the recent weeks. The majority of them now have been miners or scientists. Wes, I think I'm next."