Chapter Ninety Eight: The Morning After
Alaska woke to the sound of screaming.
She sat up with such speed her head slammed against the bed above. Her barely-awake vision blurred from the jolt, but Alaska winced and persevered. Someone on the boat was clearly in more pain than she was, she didn't have time to feel sorry for herself. She hobbled to her feet as fast as her aching body could manage, and Alaska stumbled towards the door, trying to work out where the shout was coming for.
It was only as her she clutched at the door-knob that Alaska hesitated. There was something odd about the scream; how close it felt, how unbroken the sound seemed to be. The sound was constant, unwavering. No person or Pokémon could hold a note for this.
The longer Alaska stood there, thinking, listening, the clearer it became. It was not one voice screaming out for help; there were at least a dozen, maybe more, all fighting one another to be heard without even realising it, yet all just as loud and unwelcome as the next.
Alaska slumped against the door. Her adrenaline had faded and fatigue swallowed her whole. It was not simply the voices in her head that had hit her; every ache, cut and graze she'd gathered yesterday had decided to make themselves heard. Worst of all was her leg, stiff and uncomfortable in the thick, boot-like brace they'd put her in. It looked like she was wearing a tiny coffin on one foot, and Alaska wished it was bigger.
Whatever painkillers they'd loaded her with last night were as distant of a memory as the sleep itself. Alaska's body felt stiff yet electric with pain, small sparks fizzing away beneath enough stitches and bandages to make her resemble a patchwork quilt.
Yet Alaska relished their presence. She honed in on each wound, trying to remember how she had earned it, running the scene over in her head. Anything to push the voices away, to let her slip away back into her empty dreams where at least it was simply her own misery, anxiety, guilt and anguish she had to endure.
Sleep was all Alaska desired, but she knew she'd never pass out with these uninvited guests inside her head. They'd have to have more of those pills, surely, she thought, and finally finished turning the knob, mind now wandering as it tried to remember where the infirmary was.
Yet Alaska opened the door to find someone standing in her way. She stumbled backwards and took all her willpower not to scream. The man, shaved head tucked beneath a beret, thick-set body tightly wrapped in a highly starched uniform, mirrored her shock.
"How long have you been standing there?" Alaska whispered angrily, though anger gave way to worry as she heard how coarse and quiet her voice was.
"Only a few seconds, ma'am," the man replied, keeping his deep voice low. "Miss Oak sent me to wake you, she wishes you to join her in the conference room."
Alaska wanted to groan but, with the military man's dark eyes watching her intently, she decided against it. "I'll be there in a minute," she said and went to close the door. "And next time don't sneak up on people," she added, and shut the door on his confused face.
He wasn't sneaking, a defiant voice that was distinctly her own, protested. You just can't siphon through all these voices yet. If you're going to be this easily confused, imagine what it'll be like when you get to the next city?
"I know, shut up!" Alaska snapped, angrily pulling her bag open. Her clothes had been taken away while she was being patched up, but it had been so long since she'd changed properly she had no idea where her spare clothes were. She tried to sift through all her jumbled belongings as quietly as possible, but the din inside her head seemed to be getting louder with each passing second. All she could hear were people wondering about breakfast, people going to the bathroom, people thinking about the mission, people thinking about yesterday, people thinking about her, people thinking she was unstable –
"Will you all shut up!" Alaska hissed to the world, dropping her bag to the ground with such force she hoped it had left a dent.
A murmur grumbled behind her. Alaska seized up. For a second, the voices all seemed to disappear, and Alaska was alone with only a sudden, all-consuming feeling of guilt for company. The murmur came again, and Alaska turned cautiously as if any sudden movements might stir Sandy from her sleep.
Yet she was clearly too far gone to notice anything in the real world. Alaska remembered vividly the pain she'd felt watching the nurses tend to Sandy last night; they'd had to shout to be heard above her tears. They'd tried to treat her for a half hour that never seemed to end before relenting to Alaska's pleas and letting their Musharna intervene.
"She won't wake up for a while yet," a nurse had reassured Alaska as a Chansey carried Sandy away. "It's for the best, after what she's been through."
Alaska watched her sleep now; blonde hair draped half over her face and half over the mattress, dangling down beside her right arm. If it wasn't for the bandages on her arms she could have looked angelic. Alaska would accept peaceful as a consolation prize.
Carefully now, she picked her bag up and searched again for her clothes. When she finally found them, Alaska dressed as quietly as possible before slipping out the door. She knew she should be there when Sandy woke up, but as Alaska pulled the door shut, the voices returned as though the walls of her cabin had been holding them back. Her head started to throb, and Alaska bit her lips to hold back the pain. She should be there, she had to be there, but Alaska could only endure so much pain at once.
***
Despite the boat's relative smallness, it still took Alaska a while to find the right room. Every door on the Defence Force frigate looked the same – metallic blue with a number stencilled at average eye-height – and there were no signs pointing her in the right direction, despite the tightly criss-crossed maze of hallways. Alaska lumbered through the hallways with her leg dragging behind, her fatigue building with each passing second as she searched for the mysterious conference room.
Her one guide was also her punishment; Alaska scanned the thoughts drifting through her mind, searching for one that might guide her down the right path. There was a thick congregation of silent murmurings coming from the second floor, getting louder and clearer the closer Alaska got. When there was a cacophony loud enough that Alaska thought her brain might start bleeding, she knew she'd found the right room.
The door opened and Alaska was hit with a wall of heat. The windowless space was the same size as her room, yet instead of a bunkbed shoved against a wall, there were five people crammed around a steel table. It reminded Alaska of the old war rooms they used to feature in movies, but her father's classics had never seemed quite so claustrophobic.
"I see you finally woke up," Janine said, gesturing to the empty chair beside her.
"What can I say, yesterday was a long day," Alaska shot back casuistically as she closed the door. "With all the pills they put me on to soothe the burns, the busted leg, the back pain, the –"
"I'm sure that was leading someway acerbic and witty but we don't have time for sass today." Leaf smiled thinly at Alaska before gazing at the chair as well. Alaska took the hint and gratefully collapsed into it. She was crammed next to a woman from the Defence Force she'd met last night – Carol? Cathy? Caractus? – while Damian looked out of place sitting opposite. The true surprise though was Looker; it took Alaska a moment to recognise him, hunched in the shadows beside Leaf. He seemed more worn out than he had last time, and he stared into the middle distance as if clueless to where he was.
Before she could acknowledge his presence, Leaf tapped at a black cube that sat in the middle of the table. A blue light blinked into life, and a moment later a holographic map hovered between the group.
"I've spent all of last night comparing information with the International Police and the Defence Force, yet unfortunately, we all appear to be on the same blank page." Leaf pointed at a section in the middle and the map zoomed in on Saffron City. "Four days ago, the robots broke out of Silph Co and went dark on their way to the Sevii Islands."
An army of robots… I am never going to get over that. Damian stared not at the map but the table, his arms were rigidly held against his side. Alaska didn't need to read his mind to tell he wanted to slump against the table and sleep as much as she did.
"We've recovered the shells of at least thirty seven of these machines, but from the stockroom what Alaska and Looker saw a month ago, we expect there are around two hundred more minimum missing, if not more," Leaf continued.
Janine raised an eyebrow. "How do we know they didn't crash into the ocean?"
"We suspect a robotic Ursaring or Mudsdale would have attracted some attention by now, but we do have the coastguard on the alert." Leaf tapped the map so that it changed to show the Trainer Tower. "While we don't know how much personnel Buzz has working for him, we have captured the dozen people loyal to Amanda and are currently interrogating them. From what we've gathered, they were a small squadron part of a slightly larger team, but we don't believe Buzz has a human army alongside his robotic one."
"We're talking one hundred people maximum, and it's likely less than that otherwise more of them would have joined in the Arcethian attack," Looker added. He cast his eyes around the group before settling on Alaska; he did not smile but it was clearly his way of greeting her. Alaska stoically nodded back.
"As for Gideon, we have zero leads." Leaf paused fleetingly to glance towards Alaska, who stubbornly stared through her gaze; she deserved no sympathy, it wasn't her Pokémon that died. "We still have a team searching the tower for more folders, but so far that one bathroom seems to be the only storage space he used."
So Sandy could have run into any other bathroom on any other floor and Butterfree would have been fine, is that what you're saying?
"So where does that leave us?"
Alaska had not heard the Defence Force woman speak, only her thoughts drifting through the air, so she was surprised by how deep and gravelly her voice was. She had cropped black hair and thick jaw, giving her the appearance of a teenage boy who worked out too often.
"I have the military might of Kanto and Johto mobilising preparing for any strike, but we can't do anything if we don't know where they are going."
"I understand your position, Carmel, and believe me when I say we are doing everything in our power to work out what these groups are up to." Leaf pulled a strained smile that did little to mask her tiredness or irritation. "We have International Police agents scouring the entire planet trying to find Gideon and Buzz, we have researchers going through all the old Rocket files to see if we've missed something, and basically every satellite, security camera, drone, and phone camera is being monitored for signs of the robots."
"Phone camera?" Damian asked, eyes widening. "You mean we're being watched whi –"
"What we've learnt in the last few days adds little to what we already knew," Looker said, ignoring Damian. "Buzz wants to use these robots to destroy the League, and Gideon is doing who knows what somewhere out there. What has changed is that Buzz's scheme has collapsed and he has gone rogue; whether that means he has abandoned, revised or intends to carry out his plans as is remains to be seen."
"So constant vigilance as always?" Carmel asked.
"As always," Looker repeated.
The room fell silent. Several beats passed without anyone saying anything; Alaska hesitated, waiting for someone to speak, but she didn't need to read their minds to tell that wasn't coming.
"What next?" she asked finally.
Janine raised an eyebrow on behalf of the room. "Do you want to elaborate on that one?"
Don't tempt me, bitch, I can find out what you're afraid of. Alaska paused, breathing slowly before carrying on. "I mean what are we going to do next? How are we going to find them?"
"There is no 'we' in this situation," Looker said simply. "You won't be doing anything."
Alaska felt like her legs had just been swept out from under her. Her eyes flickered between Looker, Leaf and Janine, but there was nothing in their heads to contradict this statement. "Do you want to elaborate on that?" she retorted icily.
"It means you going to carry on with your journey for the foreseeable future. Cinnabar Island is about a day away, we can drop you off there and arrange for a boat to take you to Pewter afterwards. Or Teleport, if you prefer," Looker added.
"I'm sorry, but I thought there was a prophecy – a prophecy, I might add, that a week ago you were all following as if it was the rule of the land – that says I am supposed to be fighting this good fight, and now you want me to disappear for a few days?"
She paused as Janine suddenly sank forwards and rapped her head against the table. "Can we go one day without talking about bloody prophecies?" she groaned into the metal.
"Alaska, there isn't a lot any of us can do right now, let alone you or Sandy," Leaf said, smiling sanguinely. "We can't send you gallivanting around the world trying to find Buzz and Gideon, not with your injuries." Her eyes scanned every bandage that currently covered Alaska's body, and Alaska could feel the condensation rising from the back of the gym leader's mind.
"You forget who is now in possession of a –"
" – a legendary," Leaf interrupted. "Red and I have six combined, and that hasn't stopped Giovanni, Archer, Cyrus, and every other maniac out there from trying to kill us. If anything, it makes us more of a target. If Gideon hears you have Latios on your side, that may be what pushes him to finally act."
So maybe leave that one out of your next blog post.
Alaska glowered at Janine but fought back the urge to call her out. She didn't want to start a fight with her, or anyone for that matter. All Alaska wanted was to crawl back into bed and pretend the last few days hadn't happened. They had, though, and she couldn't ignore that. Not after what it had cost.
"I feel I should be part of this fight. Isn't that what you've wanted from me from the very start?" Alaska knew she would sound pathetic and tired, which is admittedly how she felt, but part of her hoped that pleading might just be enough to win them over.
Leaf sighed. "There's nothing for you to fight at the moment. Buzz is likely re-grouping, Gideon is still doing whatever he can. You are welcome to go to the Indigo League and wait there, but you may be there a while."
Alaska would have happily left it there. Walking through this boat had been enough to sap all her energy. She couldn't fight a Caterpie at the moment, let alone another robot. She could have happily left it there, but as her eyes remained fixated on Leaf's, the gym leader's voice exasperatedly echoed inside her head. We need you out in the world, can't you see that? They'll find you before you have any chance of finding them.
"What, am I supposed to be a pawn? Is that all I am to you?"
The energy in the room suddenly turned tense. "Alaska, what are you talking about?" Leaf asked.
"Don't pretend you don't know." Alaska leapt to her feet, ignoring the pain in her leg, and lunged forwards. She sent the box flying, and Damian yelped as it shattered against the wall. "You don't know what they are up to, so you need me out there to lure them out, is that it?"
"Alaska, you're being hysterical," Leaf said, tone warning, but her thoughts took a different path. What the hell is this, is she reading my mind now? Wait, Latios…
"Yeah, Latios," Alaska snapped, and smirked as Leaf's eyes widened in shock. "Imagine if I'd had this power earlier, who knows what lies I might have caught you out on." She heaved her leg out from under the table and stumbled for the door.
"Alaska, wait!" Looker yelled.
"Fuck off!" she barked, and flung the door open with such vigour it bounced off the wall.
Even as their voices faded almost immediately, their thoughts followed Alaska through the boat; there was no one around, but all she could hear was surprise, regret and plotting echoing through her head. She tried to walk faster as though she could outrun it, but her ribs burnt and her head swayed. Alaska would have screamed simply to listen to something else, but then she came across two people, both in defence force uniform, and decided against.
What's wrong with her? one of them thought as Alaska waddled past.
"Do you really want me to answer?" Alaska snapped and stormed off smirking at the shock that flashed across their faces. Something tingled against her skin, and Alaska turned and saw sunlight glimmering faintly from the far end of the adjacent hallway. Finally, she thought, and lumbered feverishly towards it.
The second she stepped through the door onto the deck, Alaska felt the pressure lift from her head. The voices lingered, but they were quieter now, repressed by how many walls and doors now separated her from everyone else. She was alone out here, and the sudden peace made Alaska groan with pleasure. Finally.
The boat was designed for military purposes, not for cruising, so there were no benches around. Alaska made do with a break in the wall that came in around her height; she sank mercifully onto the cool metal, letting her wounded body melt into its angular curves, and gazed across the ocean.
Alaska had assumed when they had boarded the frigate last night they were being whisked away to some secret hideout, but instead they were anchored in the middle of nowhere, untouched ocean encasing them for miles. The waves were gentle bordering on non-existent, the waters calm and inviting, though Alaska was in no position to swim. She was happy to simply sit out here on her own, basking in the sunlight and praying the past would drift away.
Yet her peace lasted only a few minutes before Alaska felt a shadow cross her face. "Morning," she offered with a barely stifled grimace.
Good morning. Latios' deep tones echoed smoothly through her head, pushing all other voices aside. I hope you slept well.
"Can't you work that out for yourself?"
I could, but I prefer not to pry if unnecessary.
Alaska rolled her eyes and opened them, only to find she was staring at herself. The sight chilled her blood; what little of her skin was visible beneath all the bandages and plasters was sallow and pale in patches, bruised and scabbed in others. She was so many shades – milky white, purplish black, crimson brown – it looked like she'd been rolling through paint. Her head was the worst sign, streaks of dried crimson still there despite the lengthy, quiet shower she'd had last night.
Alaska blinked, desperate to escape, and thankfully her stony face was replaced by Latios'. He floated before her like a loyal balloon, only one with eyes deeper and more eternal than the waters themselves.
"I slept fine," she murmured, though doubted she would tonight after what she'd just seen.
I am pleased. Latios tilted his head, or rather, his elongated neck, and stared at Alaska with renewed intensity. I can sense anger in you. Do you want to discuss it?
A chill ran down Alaska's spine as she imagined him poking around inside her head. "Am I supposed to capture you?" she diverted, tossing the question out there casually. "Leaf and Red captured their legendaries, I think. It seems you and I skipped over that conversation."
You are welcome to try.
There was a smirk in his voice drowned out by the obvious authority. "So I just have to put up with you floating behind me like a bad shadow for the rest of my life?"
If that's how you're going to view this connection, things are going to be very difficult for you.
Alaska laughed. "Things already are difficult for me. Look, if you aren't going to give me the answers I need, why don't you just fly away, because I preferred your vagueness when it wasn't right in my personal bubble space."
Latios laughed, not internally as Alaska had come to expect, but an actual sound passed his lips. It was too soft for her to hear properly, but every hair on her body seemed to stand on end as the whispered chuckle passed her by.
I understand you might gain some pleasure from this, but taking your anger out on me won't benefit anyone, certainly not yourself. We are not linked so you can abuse and belittle me, so are you going to articulate your feelings, or do I need to probe your thoughts?
"Can I really stop you from doing that?" Alaska fired back.
There was a brief pause, but the few seconds seemed to drag on forever. No, I suppose you can't.
Alaska looked up just as Latios' face vanished from her gaze, and once again she was staring at herself. Her eyes were bloodshot and bruised, dark rings circling them like ink stains. There were bandages holding her cheeks, forehead, nose and neck together, white patches that already seemed stained despite barely twelve hours having passed since she was treated. Alaska had scrubbed herself raw last night, but maybe she had imagined things, too caught up in trying to distract her mind from all the guilt, to forget the sight of Butterfree lying in Sandy's arms…
Is it just the guilt you feel?
Alaska blinked and returned to her own head. Latios was floating as close to her height as possible, his deep, haunted eyes only inches from her own. Alaska's instinct was to lie, but that was impossible when it felt like he was staring into the very depths of her being – which, to be fair, he undoubtedly was.
"No. Yes. Maybe? I have no idea. I can't even tell which feelings are my own."
Yes, you can. You can't pawn this off onto anyone else, you will nev-
"Fine!" Alaska threw her arms in the air and winced, having forgotten which parts were bruised and which were stitched. "I'm fucked off because these people that are controlling my life want me to carry on with my journey so Buzz or Gideon or both of them might try and attack me again, just so they can ambush them or something, I have no idea. I sort of expected this, I may have offered if they had asked, but the fact that they, once again, lied to me rather than just telling me the truth just really pisses me off. Because I've been out there this last week trying to do what they want, trying to fight back, trying to balance this war with my journey, exactly as they wanted, and look where it's ended. I came inches to death, my siblings nearly died, I burnt down my dream school, and Sandy…"
Alaska couldn't carry on. For one, her voice was hoarser and weaker than it had been earlier. She wondered if it was the smoke inhalation or simple exhaustion, and wished she had the strength to go back to the infirmary. Yet she was too weak to move, the blood seeming to have evaporated from her body. She longed to sleep, but if she shut her eyes, she was back under the Tower, holding Sandy in her arms, weakly trying to comfort her while knowing that nothing she could ever say or do would ever make up for what she had done.
Thankfully, Latios' voice filled her head again, temporarily relieving her of her own memories. I understand your rage now. Thank you for explaining. Now, how do you intend on resolving this issue?
"I don't see how they can be resolved. I've been fighting these people for months now, and they haven't exactly been forthcoming with an apology or anything… emphasis on anything."
Then you need to find a different solution.
Alaska sat up, eyeing Latios uncertainly. "I thought you were here to offer me advice on shit like this."
Latios' eyes twinkled, and his lips rose in a smirk. I did not break into this dimension and spend months regaining strength in order to be your therapist.
"Well, what's the point of this then?" Alaska snapped. "I didn't ask to hear these voices or to feel like my head has been split in two. I never wanted to feel the pain Sandy felt. If I'm going to be stuck with you, what's the benefit for me?"
Latios laughed again, his chuckle as soft as the breeze. The point? Maybe it's exactly what you just said. Maybe you never wanted to feel that pain, but perhaps you had to.
"Don't give me that touchy feely bullshit," Alaska snapped.
I am not. You want advice or guidance, that is what I am trying to offer.
"I don't want guidance, I want a fucking explanation!" Alaska leapt uneasily to her feet. "For once, I wish someone would give me an honest answer. What is the fucking point of all of this?"
"If you think you're the only one that's ever asked that, I've got news for you."
Alaska yelped instinctively and glanced towards the door; Leaf leant against the frame, smiling awkwardly as her eyes darted between god and trainer. "Seriously?" Alaska squawked, turning back to Latios. "That's the second time this hour! I can hear everyone's thoughts when I don't want to, but when someone is sneaking up on –"
"I'm not sneaking up on you," Leaf interrupted. "I came to check how you're feeling."
Alaska scoffed. "How I'm feeling? Where should I begin?"
"Let me stop you there." Leaf sidled across the deck and settled down on the wall, tapping the spot next to her. "I don't need to hear you bitchily list every insult and injury you've suffered in the last week." When Alaska didn't answer, she laughed in a drained manner. "We don't all need to be read minds to know what people are thinking."
"Aren't you lucky," Alaska replied, barely concealing the contempt in her voice, yet she still sat down beside the gym leader, if only out of continued exhaustion.
I think I'll leave you to it. Latios smiled knowingly as he drifted away from the boat and across the water.
An awkward silence lingered in his wake. Alaska wasn't sure if she was expected to say something or not, but she stared forwards, watching Latios move through the air, trying her best not to listen to whatever thoughts were emanating from the woman next to her.
Thankfully, Leaf broke first. "Look, I'm sorry for what you heard back there, but the reality is that it's the truth. Had I had the chance to vocalise it, I could have worded it differently, but…"
"But you'd simply be rolling the turd in a different pile of glitter."
Leaf smirked. "Probably." She sighed and slumped forwards. Alaska wasn't sure if she was crying or trying to scream, but when the gym leader straightened up, Alaska noticed the rings under Leaf's eyes, a pair of purple half-moons that went well with her bloodshot eyes.
"I know it sounds harsh, but you are the only lead we've got in this fight. We want to end this as much as you do, and wasting time trying to find them won't work. If you're out there, eventually you will run into one of them again. You've been fairly consistent on that front, and believe me, you aren't the first person to constantly encounter your enemies whether you want to or not."
"Is that what happened between you and Giovanni?" Alaska had never touched on the subject with Leaf, despite the fact that one man is what linked all the trials and tribulations the pair had faced. Leaf said nothing in response, but Alaska could see flickers of emotion pass through her own thoughts, flashes of memory leaden with suffering.
"If you want to know why you've been chosen for this, you will never know," Leaf said after a prolonged pause. "I asked myself that every day while we were fighting Giovanni. He had his reasons, but whatever revenge he was trying to satisfy doesn't explain away the fact I can now call on two different gods whenever I need their help. Almost every person in the world in some semblance of power or who had to save the world wonders why it had to be them, why it wasn't Calum from next door or Heidi from the other side of the world."
Alaska sniggered despite herself. "Heidi? Where the hell did that come from?"
"I'm reading this trashy book at the moment," Leaf said, smiling softly. "It's the only thing that takes my mind off anything. Though that's only when I'm not so exhausted I just pass out."
Alaska nodded quietly. She knew that feeling all too well. There was probably a lot she could learn from Leaf, whether it was something as simple as coping with the trauma. Alaska longed for the day she could simply sit down and talk with someone like her without all the tension and pressure simmering away between them. She liked to think that could happen if they survived this, but how many other secret plans were they keeping from her? How much more were they expecting Alaska to go through before this ended?
I could just read her mind. Alaska stared at Leaf's forehead, wondering what she'd find if she looked beneath the surface. Yet the second the thought crossed her mind, a spasm went through her brain, too intense for Alaska to stifle her own shout.
"Are you alright?" Leaf moved on her instantly, resting a hand to her forehead. "Is this the mind reading thing?"
"Yep." Alaska winced against the pain as five different voices floated through her head, wavering in and out of tune like a bad radio station. "Not an area of expertise for you by any chance?"
"Sadly, no," Leaf said, sounding genuinely sympathetic. "But after what you said before, I put a call in to a friend who can help."
"Who? Where is she?" Alaska was desperate for any salvation right now, she didn't care where the help came from.
"She should be here soon. In fact, I think that might be here now." Leaf pointed across the ocean, but when Alaska followed her line of sight, she saw nothing except for Latios floating in the air.
Then, she realised. The previously frozen waters were now shimmering and shifting, soft waves crashing against the boat that were only getting bigger. The sky was as cloudless and sparkling as it had been a minute earlier, but Alaska could feel a change in the air, a sudden pressure that was slowly growing. Alaska stood up, tense and prepared, aware now that something was coming towards them. There was a shimmer in the air that was getting closer and closer, creating a wake strong enough to part the ocean, two columns of water billowing out with ever-increasing height.
Suddenly, the waves slammed into the hull, and a wall of air sent Alaska crashing backwards, almost squashing Leaf as she tumbled against the boat. Alaska winced with pain, not helped by the waves now violently rocking the boat, but all anger and suffering left her as she stared at the new arrival.
For a second, Alaska thought she was seeing double. The creature looked so alike Latios that it could have been his mirror image if it were not was red where he was blue, blue where he was red. Yet everything else was identical, from the wings on their backs to the curvature of their heads. What struck Alaska though was the sense of familiarity that blossomed within her; it was not their appearances that struck her, more that it was like looking at an old friend or family member she knew intimately yet had not seen for years.
Hello brother.
Sister. Latios drifted forwards so his forehead touched Latias', and Alaska felt phantom goosebumps spread down her body as the two nuzzled each other in greeting.
"I'll never get used to that." Leaf drew Alaska out of her thoughts as she rose queasily to her feet "You didn't have to come that quickly."
"These two really only have the one setting."
Alaska had been so distracted by the similarity she had not noticed there was a woman riding on Latias' back. She swung one leg over and slid roughly onto the deck, wobbling as she landed. "To be honest, I don't think I'm used to it either," she added, gripping the rail to steady herself. She stared down at her feet and smirked before pulling Leaf into a hug, though her eyes stared over the gym leader's shoulder and locked onto Alaska. Hello there.
Alaska said nothing. She was too busy cursing her own stupidity. She had known Latios had a sister, that his whole thing was that he came in a pair, but through all her own struggles and longing to meet him, Alaska had never considered how that other half would fit in.
And now here was this girl, one of the most famous people in the world, walking towards her with unquestionable certainty. Alaska knew her of course; the blue-green hair, the lanky body tucked into blue jeans and a long red shirt, white bag hanging lazily from her shoulders. Alaska had seen her in magazines, had watched her battles, had seen that Latias decimate countless opponents. This girl was a literal Champion, and she had flown all the way from Johto just to meet Alaska.
"Alaska? I've been dying to meet you. My name's Krystal, but you can call me Kris."
