Chapter 29

There were many paths through history.

When Quinn was young, he had already known in his imagination what his route would look like. He could picture his challenging education, the eventual completion of some important academic discovery, before eventually navigating his way to lead a scientific team on one of the fancy tech firms. Maybe he would work for Silph, or end up on an orbital lab somewhere.

Though he had little interest in children, he might adopt one or two for Avery's sake, so long as she was willing to devote her time to give them a proper upbringing. He would come home each day with exciting information to share about his latest discovery.

Avery would listen attentively, and maybe offer a helpful suggestion or two. Then they would go on regular vacations, make some cute home movies, and occasionally train a new Pokémon or two as their old ones aged.

Nowhere in his wildest imagination did he conjure anything remotely like Tropical Terraplatform ISO-88-B, a place so far back into the mists of history that no human could have ever imagined something like it existed.

He knew why now, of course. Like all the Terraplatforms, ISO-88-B never touched the planet's surface below. Once it hadn't even mixed atmosphere with the world outside, protecting its inhabitants with a shell to hold its air.

Time had made that redundant, so the deck had fresh air blowing over it in a steady, damp breeze. The shield was still there, but only to stop the Pokémon who lived there from getting ripped off into the sky, never to be seen again.

Quinn was grateful for the protection right then, though not for himself. He could shield from wind without much difficulty. His little daughter, on the other hand…

She flew behind Cedrin, careful not to rely on the Celebi to lift herself. Quinn would've sensed that, and reprimanded them both. But facing the incredible winds of the upper air, a little pink fluffball would be carried away before he could blink.

Mew society still felt strange, despite his years living on ISO-88-B. There were shops on the top deck, where they currently waited in line for a cone of whipped tropical fruit a little like ice cream. Yet when they came to the front, Quinn just held up three fingers, and that was that. The cat bobbing up and down behind the stand didn't take cash in exchange, or even use the computer to deduct some virtual portion of his terraforming wage.

They worked because they wanted to, the same as he did. A teenage cat with crooked teeth and a few dyed patches of fur on her head levitated three perfectly swirled cups over, radiant with her satisfaction at her task completed.

"I put an extra Lum berry in yours, sweetie," she said, floating Rose's over to her last. "Careful not to try to eat the whole thing at once, ‘kay?"

"I know!" Rose replied, her long tail curling around her with nervous energy. "I've got enough teeth now!" She showed them off, grinning toothily back at the teenager. And indeed, the kitten did have several teeth.

They flew together away from the stand, and over to a park near the center of the deck. A large pond filled with floating flowers and surrounded by soft grass dominated the center, with a glass bottom giving a faint view down at the jungle far, far below.

Cedrin sat next to his adoptive sister, separating her from accidentally slipping into the pond. Quinn sat on the other side, licking at the sweet.

Cats scattered all over in little groups. Mostly younger, like them. Plenty of kittens and children. Other cats stayed away from the noise and motion of the public park.

"Every day I wake up here I can barely believe it's real," Cedrin thought, as a single cat with a gray uniform passed them. Tachi, ISO-88's only constable. He didn't even give them a second glance. "If I'd been born here instead, I would have cat friends. They'd let me have a job of my own. It's the most perfect way to live."

"You do have cat friends!" Rose rolled over in the grass, then prodded Cedrin's legs. "I'm your friend!" The kitten could do telepathy when she focused on it—but doing that would probably make her drop the ice cream first. So she didn't bother.

"You're my sister." Cedrin patted her. "That's not quite the same."

Rose whined, dropping the ice cream and scampering over to Quinn.

He caught it before it could roll into the grass, standing it upright instead. Then the kitten pounced onto his lap, tiny claws digging into his waxy skin. It didn't hurt that bad—he had plenty of experience with it, by now. Being a Mythical Pokémon meant his mythical healing fixed any tiny wounds before he even noticed them.

"Daddy! Daddy! I'm allowed to be sister and friend with Cedrin at the same time, right? It's not weird!"

"It's not weird." He lifted her gently into the air, dislodging those little claws carefully. Even if he could heal the scratches, that didn't make them pleasant! "Your big brother just grew up somewhere different from here. He's not being mean."

There was a secret to dealing with kittens—a little pressure on the back of the neck when he lifted her, and Rose went completely limp in the air, tiny limbs dangling. "Then I'm glad he's here instead. Our platform is the bestest one."

They spent a few more minutes finishing off the ice cream, before it was time to go. Quinn tossed the empty paper bowls into a bin, and guided them through the park to an elevator. "Mom's jumper should be back from Starfall by now," he said. "Why don't we wait for her in the starport?"

"Starport!" Rose repeated, bouncing up and down in front of him. She did more than jump, actually flying off the ground a few inches before landing again seconds later. "Starport! Starport! Can we get pastries?"

"No, you just had ice cream." Quinn levitated her gently down in front of him. "Maybe mom will cook some with you tomorrow. You know how much she likes doing things with you."

Rose whined. "Mommy's aren't as good as the ones in the starport!"

Cedrin winced, whispering into her little ear. "Don't tell her that! That's not very nice."

It wasn't a real elevator, not like the simple mechanisms of Quinn's life. On Terraplatforms, they moved in all four directions, navigating the length and breadth of the huge platform. Most of what happened aboard was mechanical and fully automated, and not terribly compact, especially at their size. That meant long stretches of doors not opening and no buttons to press.

Mew technology worked on every aspect of the transport devices, insulating them from the rapid acceleration as they zipped around the platform. Quinn had never yet got a straight answer about how they seemed to break the conservation of momentum.

Some elevator cars were much larger, big enough to accommodate the huge Pokémon required for various terraforming jobs on the surface. They didn't need any of those special cars, so Quinn could feel almost human in their own car, with a ceiling only just low enough to reach.

They stepped out into the starport, and the busiest part of Terraplatform ISO-88. The docks had room for a dozen small ships, and always a few hundred Pokémon coming or going.

Most were cats, but not all. Some were cats without being cats, as the word was defined. That was how Quinn always found them, hunting for Baast's white fur among a sea of pink. Avery never went to the big city without her assistant.

He found her waiting near the railing of a large window, one positioned so it looked down on the jungle below. Usually it did, anyway. In the early evening, that view had transformed to roiling mist and white clouds, suggesting a coming rain.

Quinn made his way over slowly, keeping his distance from the other Pokémon. He couldn't fly without moving his wings, which meant a danger of hitting them.

Rose had no such compulsions, however. "Mommy!" She took off, flying on her own. She zipped past the bigger, two-legged cat, before smacking into the one in a blue vest and hugging her tight.

Avery was a little different than when they had first fled backward in time. An inch or so longer, though still smaller than he was. Her bones had shifted a little when Rose was born. In ways his old self never would've understood, she was more beautiful than any pinup model or video personality of his own time.

But Quinn no longer cared if his human self would've understood. That version of him had been gone for a very long time. Why should he find gangly furless skin and huge blobs of fat attractive?

Some mysteries were best left unsolved.

The cat spun to catch Rose, brushing against her with her face, grooming her, then holding her securely to her chest. First his daughter started purring, then the mother did too. Quinn left them floating there, directing his attention to Baast instead.

The Meowstic had changed far more than any of the others—her white fur was patchy in a few places, and the blue atop her head had turned gray on the tips. Faint scars around her eyes were mostly covered by fur, where the platform doctors had corrected her cataracts. Though still graceful, Baast carried Avery's case with obvious stiffness in her joints.

"Mate is not with you," she said, as Quinn approached. Exactly the sort of response he'd been expecting. "Not here?"

"Ground," he replied. "He intimidates the cats, you know that."

She did—but despite what the Mew thought, this Pokémon wasn't actually a fully sapient creature, with all the abilities and agency that meant. She was smarter than most Pokémon, but ultimately still just a Pokémon. Cats wanted things their way, no matter the actual factors involved.

She made her way past, greeting Cedrin before waiting for Rose. She was always far gentler with the kitten than Quinn. Fine by him—he never needed to worry about Rose getting hurt while the bigger cat was around.

A second later Rose let go, and zipped over to greet Baast. That left Avery free to meet him for a quick embrace.

He sensed a little unease whenever they were affectionate in public, so they never got too close. Even in this ancient day, there were signs of separation between cats and those who stayed as other creatures for too long.

That was why Avery made the trips back to the city instead of him. By convention, Mew always returned to their natural shape while they visited. Which he couldn't do, obviously. "I think we're running out of time, Quinn." She lifted her head off his shoulder, meeting his eyes. "I've followed all the directions on Sinnoh's list. It thinks they're starting to notice me too much."

"Should we have gone back to an earlier time? We could go further."

Avery shook her head once. "I think we did the right thing. But it won't be heaven forever."

"Close together, everyone." Avery gestured. Cedrin, Baast, and Rose all approached, despite the large cat's aversion to it. Quinn did too, hovering close to his mate. Avery's teleports were nowhere near as skilled as Astrid could manage, even after decades of practice.

Avery said little for the next few seconds. There was blackness, a brief wave of disorientation, and they were home.