Chapter 24

"My friends escaped containment and 'treatment' in the Starfall hospital. They had already watched friends die, or suffered permanent injuries at the hands of the ones trying to 'save' them. I had to get them free. Of course, if the place they escape to gets destroyed, that isn't very helpful either."

"You know this death is coming, but you're still here," said Azelf. They bobbed up and down in front of the map table, only occasionally looking back at Quinn. "Either you are not rational, or you are not honest. Which is it?"

If he was just fleeing on his own, he might've wavered under that pressure. But there were small Pokémon waiting in the jungle, frightened children depending on him to find them a home. He would keep Cedrin safe. "Neither. My friends… they're no rebellion. We can't fight the Admiralty on our own. Some of us are too small to fight at all. So either we survive together, or we die alone."

"We knew they would move eventually. Only the method is different. Orbital bombardment." Uxie sunk into one of the cushions, staring down at the map. "We could fight them if they came. But from orbit—we have no ships, and cannot build them. Cowards."

"Another path, perhaps?" Azelf asked. And so they continued, the three lifting higher and higher in the room as they argued. That left the others to watch in relative silence. Quinn kept close to the floor, keeping his head down. Getting involved in that argument felt about as safe as sticking his head into a blender. These Pokémon were too powerful, and too volatile to interfere with.

Someone else joined him near the table as he waited. Not the shadow—he still didn't know where Sable had got to. For that matter, he hadn't seen the glow of his eyes once since getting into the structure. Had he retreated already?

No, this was the smaller Mew from earlier. Small, but twice the size of Avery when last they spoke. This one would probably be eating solid food, at least. "Your girlfriend isn't here," she said, conversationally. "Didn't make it out of Starfall with you?"

He shook his head once. "Didn't die or anything, but—no. As far as I know, she's still there. I don't think she was old enough to get out on her own."

The Pokémon floated off the ground next to him, holding her forelegs over her head like antennae. "You should know not to think so… three-dimensionally. You traveled twice. So your friend has been in Starfall for… some amount of time, right?"

She glowed faintly, then shifted. Her body stretched, skin turning pale green like his. Her eyes expanded, antennae appearing on her forehead. A pair of wings emerged from her back. She twirled in the air in front of him, now about the size of Cedrin. "Did you look?"

How much easier life would be if they could all just change like that. If he could've pretended to be a cat, he wouldn't be in the hospital, and neither would any of those others. But if cats couldn't transform, they wouldn't be getting stuck as other Pokémon, either. "No. I told her where to meet me. I figured I'd leave something for her to find, get her to write a date, then go there to check. But it felt selfish to go now, when my friends are in danger."

"Selfish," the false Celebi repeated. She even sounded a little like Cedrin. "Not sure that's how that works, Quinn. Both times we met, you were helping others. Those other Pokémon were born with their power, and they send the lab accident in to see if it was safe?"

She floated closer, resting one fairy hand on his shoulder. "And don't think I'm judging lab accidents. You deserve your power far more than I do. I'm only here because my mom thought I was too pathetic to let leave. I wanted to know her so bad, then…" She shrugged. "My Celebi friend came from a time accident too. I wonder if that's how all of you are made."

"Lane, enough. You're frightening our guest."

The Celebi released his shoulder, wings buzzing as they drifted away from him. They weren't very coordinated, and nearly smacked into the wall. They nodded respectfully to Azelf. "I didn't mean to. But I did learn something interesting! He knows a cat living in Starfall. Another who was human before, from my future. She would be on our side if we could talk to her."

Quinn nodded in agreement. "Yes! Though when I left, she wasn't… in any condition to be very helpful. She was so small, acted more like a Pokémon than a person. I think the treatment was hard on her."

"Was?" she said. Lane apparently—the same human girl with a modest musical talent. Though since she'd saved Avery's life, he could overlook that aspect.

"Perhaps. But if she was treated the day I gave you that medical kit…" She was a cat again, melting back into pink fur like a green liquid poured towards the floor. Her paws returned, wings fading as her long tail stretched out again behind her. She relaxed as she did it, as though she'd been holding her breath the whole time. "It's been a century since then, Quinn. Years and years and years and years and…"

She spun as she spoke, rotating around until she was upside-down in front of him.

"That is interesting." Azelf pushed the Mew gently aside, sending her floating across the room towards the map. Azelf ignored her play, though one of the other cats flew over to join her, muttering something about how she'd just copied a Celebi.

"We may take steps to fortify this settlement—but any change we make will be observed by their satellites. Any change could alter their plans. And even if we survive the first blow, they would send others," Uxie said. Soon all three were floating around Quinn, slowly circling. Just fast enough to disorient him if he watched them for too long.

"They hate beyond reason. They hate as their ancestors did, driving us to war against other forms of life. If they would slaughter even their own kin, we cannot negotiate. There will be war," Mesprit said.

"War we will lose," Azelf added. "Perhaps at great cost for our enemies. But still, defeat."

"And not a war that is yours to fight," Uxie finished. "Your form is charged with power beyond your years. Yet in battle, you would be cut down easily. Some of those you brought may be able, and others not. But even if you had thousands, it wouldn't be enough."

He nodded. "I didn't come back here to fight them. This isn't my world, like you said. But if you lose, it never will be. I still want to help."

Azelf touched his forehead. "Go out to those who wait, and bring them in. They will be welcome in Absentia. When you have rested, we will send someone to speak to you. Your assignment, if you are willing. None here is compelled to serve."

That was what he did. He met Cedrin and the others several miles from Absentia, where they hid in a dense patch of jungle. Sable had already returned and appeared from the evening darkness when Quinn flew in.

"You made it," he said. "Their home was… protected, somehow. Could not follow without conflict."

"What were they like?" Stella asked. She yawned and stretched, waking slowly as the light faded over the horizon. "Dangerous? Barbaric? Violent?"

"None of those. They have a place for everyone in town. Though you all saw what will happen if we don't stop it. If you'd rather fly away and live somewhere else, you could."

The group of Mythical Pokémon looked to each other. At least the adults did. Cedrin flew closer, inspecting Quinn with sudden interest.

Vitari spoke first. "I don't want to spend my years alone. If that means I get fewer of them, and it ends in flame…" She bobbed towards the clearing. "I aspire to see the power of my degenerate mutation cause as much damage as possible."

"I want Aster to grow up somewhere safe," Aria said. "To have the opportunities we did. We cannot have that if we hide."

"Agreed," Sable said. "It was not a perfect place, as I saw. But it was a far better home than any hospital. Our daughter will spend her days in the sunshine, and not suffocate beneath their serums. Perhaps the others so injured can be healed as well." He eyed Manny as he spoke, who was currently splashing through a nearby muddy puddle. "Our time traveler saved our lives, perhaps he can save this town as well."

"He can!" Cedrin exclaimed, without hesitation. "Quinn knows everything! He'll save them!"

Of course, the simple declaration did nothing to make it so. Quinn's basic knowledge of Pokémon abilities would not protect this town from advanced weapons. Even if he had been a Pokémon Master, he would be out of his depth with so many Mythical and Legendary Pokémon. Most were only known to him by legend, and even then not in much detail. He knew the most about his own kind, since Celebi were a subject of study and fascination when trying to piece together temporal phenomena.

The triumvirate of Mythical Pokémon who led this little settlement did not expect him to bring knowledge, though. They gave him a few days to get situated, moving into a small house along with the town's population of smaller Pokémon. Every single one of them fit inside with room to spare.

The accommodations didn't have half the amenities they had in the hospital, but that didn't matter. There were no guards here, or doctors about to show up and poison them. They were safe.

He found Aster playing in the grass in the morning, finally free to run and climb and explore. Manny had new friends in a small lake beside the village, where he was apparently spending time with Lugia of all Pokémon. Maybe that powerful being could help in ways the Mew doctors couldn't.

When the call to work finally came, it wasn't from any of the Pokémon he expected. Instead, it was a young human woman, wearing a simple dress and braids of flowers in her hair.

"Quinn, can you come down from up there?" she called, out loud. Quinn had been high in the trees at that moment, practicing something with Cedrin. His antennae dropped low, and he looked down. There was the girl. "Can't you come up? Never seen a cat afraid of heights!"

Technically, he hadn't seen very many Mew, other than the sparse group living in his new home. Most of those were young and scrawny things, who kept away from him as though he might attack them if they moved too quickly.

Except for this one. Lane glared, then showed her bare feet. "They haven't invented real shoes yet! Don't let me get cut getting up there!"

"That human is using such a strange language," Cedrin said, sending thoughts clearly to him. "Can you tell what she's saying?"

He nodded. "That's… what people spoke in my future. And hers too." He slid off the branch, then dropped rapidly down towards the floor. In his early weeks, that would mean he had lost control. But now he could just fall as long as he wanted and catch himself near the bottom.

His wings opened a meter or so from her, and he flapped energetically, stopping himself a meter from the forest floor. "Lane? Why are you human?"

"Because someone has to be an emissary to the humans," she said, shrugging one shoulder. She spun once around, twirling her dress. "Plus, I can do this! Cat clothes aren't as fun."

She stopped after a second, looking apologetic. "Sorry. I'm not trying to mock you. You changed against your will, I get that. Do you still want to be human again?"

The answer took long enough that Cedrin floated down to watch. He remained hidden in the trees, his green body blending well into the canopy. Unless he looked right up at that huge, blue eye. Quinn couldn't change back into a person for this conversation, which meant the Celebi would understand everything he said.

"I spent my whole life building a machine that could maybe, if we were very lucky, send messages a few seconds through time. If I live through this mess, I'll be able to go in person."

He looked up, meeting her eyes. "What about you? Seem pretty eager to pretend to be human again."

"Pretend being the operative word." She gestured behind her at Absentia and its Pokémon. "I only came back here to save my mom. But it turns out that means doing some good first. Will you help too, Quinn?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding emphatically. "If you think there's something I can do."

"That's why I'm here. How do you feel about finding your mate?"

"She's not—" He squeezed one hand into a little fist. "We never got that close."

Lane paced away from the tree, back towards the grassy path into Absentia. Quinn followed, staying at her head level. "I'll leave those decisions to you. But we would like you to meet her."