17
The aftermath of the battle left the forest in a haunting, charred silence. Aaron guided the group to a hidden sanctuary—a limestone grotto shielded by ancient aura seals that hummed with a protective blue light.
The Recovery & The Warning
Inside the grotto, Raven used her remaining strength to weave a calming telepathic field while Aaron's Lucario applied poultices of crushed Revive seeds to Kage's battered frame. I sat by the entrance, my hands still trembling from the feedback of the Key Stone.
"He will live," Aaron said, his voice grave as he stepped away from the unconscious Treecko. "But you have opened a door that cannot be closed. That burst of energy was a flare in the dark. Team Aqua—and their rivals, Magma—now know exactly where you are. They won't send grunts next time. They'll send commanders."
He looked at the Key Stone hilt in my lap. "You are an anomaly, Jake. You have the 'Golden Tongue' of a leader, but you are playing with the primal forces of this world. If you cannot master that resonance, it will consume your team from the inside out."
May's Amnesia
May woke up an hour later, blinking against the soft light of the cave. She sat up and immediately winced, clutching her torn sleeve.
"Ugh... my head feels like a Loudred is throwing a party in there," she groaned, looking around. "Jakey? Why are we in a cave? And why does my Torchic look like it saw a ghost?"
She had no memory of the amber glow, the tearing of steel, or the way she had backhanded a solar explosion. To her, the last thing that happened was a "scary purple fog" and then a sudden nap.
"You fainted, May," I said, my Nat 20 Charisma working overtime to keep my voice steady. "The fog was toxic. Kage and the others handled the rest, but it was a close one."
"Oh... I'm such a klutz!" she pouted, completely oblivious to the fact that her knuckles were still dusted with the pulverized metal of the sonic emitters. "I need to train harder so I don't just pass out when things get exciting!"
The Secret Discussion
While I talked to May, the rest of the team gathered in the shadows of the grotto. Kage was still out cold, but the others had a lot to say.
Jerry (Noble Rattata): "I say, that was... uncouth. The girl literally tore a machine apart with her bare paws. It was quite magnificent, but I fear for my tail if she ever decides I'm a nuisance."
Tammy (Ghetto Purrloin): "Forget the tail, Pipsqueak. Did you see the lizard? He didn't just evolve; he warped. That wasn't a power-up, that was a glitch. Boss is messing with some heavy-duty mojo.
"Raven (Absol): "The girl is a vessel," her voice echoed in their minds. "She is the sea's fury in human skin. And the boy... he is the only thing keeping her from drowning the world. We are no longer just a team. We are the 'Titans' of his stories, whether we wish it or not."
Blaze (Torchic): He just chirped a small, fiery "Vee!", looking at his scorched bandana. He didn't understand the cosmic stakes, but he knew he wanted to be as strong as the "Big Sister" who had protected him.
I looked at the group—the posh mouse, the street cat, the oracle, and the living weapon. I realized the "livestream" was now a record of something far more dangerous than a Pokémon journey.
"Lens," I whispered to the drone, which was hovering in a low-power mode. "Delete the last ten minutes of the local cache. Some things are too hot for the internet."