Communication (PG-13)

[Xiang]

Ratiasu:
Naw, now I don't think that review sucked. Seriously, you did let me know what you thought of what you were reading here, and I was quite glad to see what you had to say. All feedback in this thread is appreciated. ^^

Aw, thanks.

I'm now wondering how you got all those names, they're really...how do I put this...exotic? they're not everyday names I hear, and that's a very good aspect of the originality...okay, I'm confusing myself.

Liiiiiive, thread, liiiiiiivvve!

By the way, new chappie of Sayuri goodness!

[Sike Saner]

DragonFire2:

That's something that invoked (sorry, can't remember the right word) my curiosity as well. I always wondered how carnivorous Pokemon could stand murdering and eating other sentient creatures. At least, I wouldn't eat my sister, no matter how annoying she is.

That last line... XD

I will say this, though: in the context of my stories, not all pokémon struggle with the notions of preying on other pokémon--I imagine most of them don't, actually.

Ratiasu:

I'm now wondering how you got all those names, they're really...how do I put this...exotic? they're not everyday names I hear, and that's a very good aspect of the originality...okay, I'm confusing myself.

The majority of the names are entirely invented. Some of the names really do just come out of nowhere; just the first thing I think of that "sticks".

There are other cases where there's a bit more of a conscious and deliberate effort put into it, in which I try to think of a name that sounds like something a member of that species would have--Jal'tai is a prime example of this; I named him that because it sounded "lati-ish" to me somehow.

The Snorunt/Glalie names are all Alvayan, and no, that's not an actual language. There is a reason why they are associated with the Alvayan language, but that matter is for another day.

Other characters, such as Aaron and Kelly, were named after actual people.

So, yeah, the names come from all over the place, really.

PROGRESS: Roughly 15-18%. I finally got to start on the final draft today, but I still have a bit of decision-making where the later scenes in the chapter are concerned--nothing major, as in nothing with regards to the plot; that's already worked out. At this point, it's really just a matter of me determining which approaches to certain little details I like best--something I consider to be a particularly fun part of the process. ^^

[Typhlogirl]

I hate you.

I hate you and I want to steal your talent and eat it.

DAMN YOU! *shakes fist*

Once again Sike, I am overwhelmed by your magnificant writing. That was truly a beautiful (if not long) chapter. I have now decided that Jal'tai is British. Yes. He has a British accent, and probably carries an umbrella and wears a bowler hat.

XDDD

Speaking of Jal'tai, he really is a manipulative little so and so. But I like him. For some strange reason of my own. His character is one that you have truly fleshed out beautifully. I mean, video tapes? And CEREAL? XDD

Arghz, poor Solonn. You've gotta feel for the guy. I mean, he had so totally nearly escaped, and then be got caught again! That has got to suck. Really bad. And, erm, I really don't want to know what 'drastic measures' are. O_o Jal'tai is so like GOING TO TORTURE HIM IN HIS CHAMBER OF DEATH!! >=) Ahem, overly active imagination there. Ignore plz.

Anyway, back on track. Once again, your description blew me out the window. Especially in the 'calming' scenes. Wonderful. Fantastic. I'm lovin it!

I HATE MCDONALDS. >__< STUPID SLOGAN..

Ahem. Anywayz, once again you have amazed me. Once again, you have provided us with a chapter befitting publishing.

Once again, I am inexcusably late. *smilez*

Happy dayz!

-

[Sike Saner]

Kthleen:

Also, there's a point when Solonn's talking to "Morgan" where he says "Oh, good gods…When did you found out?"

I remember seeing that in your post a while back, and for some reason, the reason why you were mentioning that didn’t register in my brain. XD With a VERY delayed reaction, I eventually realized, OH…, went back, and found the typo. How it evaded my attention for so long, even after being pointed out to me, I may never know. XD

That still doesn’t beat the typo I made that resulted in Solonn being his own mother for a moment there, though. XPPPP

Typhlogirl:

I have now decided that Jal'tai is British. Yes. He has a British accent, and probably carries an umbrella and wears a bowler hat.

You know, that’s kind of the way I’ve always imagined him. XD Well, the British accent part, I mean; not the bowler hat and umbrella part. Although, I strongly suspect that I’m going to have a hard time not imagining him with those elements from now on… XD

LENGTH ADVISORY!

Yep, this one’s another doozy—in fact, it’s even longer than the last one. You poor, poor souls. XD

P.I.E. ADVISORY!

In reading this chapter, you will experience Prolonged Italics Exposure in the form of large sections of italicized text. P.I.E. has been clinically proven to cause eye irritation in some individuals. Visine will be handed out at the end of this chapter for any who have need of it.

Right, then. On with the show! ^^

_________________________

Chapter 10 – Deceiving Yesterday

Taloned arms lowered, embracing Solonn as his gaze was held by grave, red eyes. Solonn immediately wanted to be released, to be able to move away from the dragon rather than being drawn closer to him, but he simply lacked the strength to resist the hold of that grip or that stare, too drained to move other than to shudder in the latios’s arms as he was lifted from the floor. Part of him wanted to scream, but he didn’t have that in him, either; his fear could only display itself through his pallor and a continuous stream of nearly voiceless protests, mutterings that were wordless save for an occasionally discernible “no”.

Jal’tai held him there against his chest for a long moment, drawing a deep breath as his somber stare continued to weigh down upon the human’s face. He could barely stand the way Solonn was looking back at him. Hopelessness and terror were etched into every line of the human’s face, an expression befitting cornered prey.

It didn’t have to be like this, the latios lamented silently. It all could have been so much easier, but you just wouldn’t let yourself see the way… and now…

Jal’tai sighed, resigning himself with no small measure of regret to the course of action that he now felt that he had to take. He envisioned himself, along with the human in his arms, in another location, a place that lay hidden below that very tower, and focused his mind sharply on that image. Then he cast a tendril of his psychic power out and projected it into that destination. A fraction of a second later, the psychic force reeled both him and Solonn in toward it, and with a burst of golden light, the two of them teleported out of the office.

An instant later, that light drained from Solonn’s vision, revealing the scene that had replaced his prior surroundings. The room that he and Jal’tai now occupied was longer than it was wide and just large enough to allow the rigid-winged latios to move about comfortably. It was somewhat dimly lit by a single light mounted overhead, which cast a soft, rose-colored glow over the room.

Solonn saw little more of this place than what could be viewed over Jal’tai’s shoulder, but what lay there before his eyes, taking up the entirety of one end of the room, was a sight that he would have never imagined. On a large marble panel mounted into the far wall, an image of a latias stood out in relief. She was depicted hovering in place, her arms outstretched, with a benevolent smile curving across her face. Her feathers were accented with inlaid gold, making her image shine in the warm, gentle lighting. At her feet sat several elaborately carved, earthen pots containing delicate-looking, fluffy white flowers. The pots surrounded a tiny, shallow pool, at whose center a small fountain continually flowed with a soft murmuring.

In a very detached way, Solonn wondered about the enshrined latias and what sort of a place this could be to contain such a thing. His inability to determine the purpose of this place did nothing to assuage his fear, for it made it even harder to guess just what Jal’tai could have in store for him here. However, he remained sure on the deepest level that whatever awaited him, it would not be good.

He allowed his head to loll backwards over Jal’tai’s arm in order to see what lay at the other end of the room. The inverted picture that reached his eyes was very different from his previous view: no shrines, no flowers, no portraits. There was only a metal table, unremarkable and featureless save for a series of slots of varying widths that were arranged in symmetrical patterns all the way down the length of its surface.

In contrast to the seemingly benevolent image of the latias on the other side of the room, the table looked especially uninviting, enhancing the inauspicious feeling Solonn got from it. He strongly suspected that the table would have something to do with whatever punishment Jal’tai intended for him; just looking at it, he could already begin to feel the suffering that he expected he would soon be facing.

Jal’tai let go of him then, but to Solonn’s brief surprise, he didn’t fall. At the moment when he should have hit the floor, Solonn saw that the latios’s eyes carried that familiar fuchsia light once again, telling him that Jal’tai’s telekinesis was being employed to keep him up off the ground. Jal’tai lifted Solonn slightly higher into the air and then began guiding him backward—toward that table, Solonn recognized at once. It seemed his suspicion and dread toward the table had been right on the mark.

Solonn felt the coldness and hardness of the metal against his back through his shirt as he was laid down on the table, its chill seeping unpleasantly into his already aching bones at once. His entire body was then locked into rigidity by the latios’s psychic force, and his limbs were straightened and positioned between pairs of the slots in the table’s surface. The next second, metal bands suddenly erupted from the slots and shackled his arms, legs, and waist to the table.

Slowly, Jal’tai moved forward toward Solonn. The light faded from his eyes as he came to levitate directly above his captive—and then a blaze of another kind seemed to awaken in its place, the exact nature of which Solonn feared to guess. However, the phenomenon was gone just as soon as Solonn had noticed it, leaving the human to wonder if his fear hadn’t caused him to imagine the strange light that had danced so briefly within Jal’tai’s eyes.

The latios closed his eyes, taking a long, steadying breath while clasping his talons as if in prayer. “I had dearly hoped that it would not come to this,” he said, his voice somehow sounding very heavy despite being barely more than whispered. “I had hoped you would see things clearly and understand what must be… I wanted to believe that you would…”

His eyes opened and locked into Solonn’s gaze, his face exuding weariness and disappointment. “But I knew better, really,” he said almost inflectionlessly, “even from the very start—hence the need for our little experiment tonight.”

Before Solonn could even begin to guess what Jal’tai was referring to in the mentioning of an “experiment”, the latios continued. “The events of this night were the final culmination of this experiment, which was designed to test your willingness to serve our cause. On the night you were transfigured, I injected a small transmitter under your skin. I instructed Neleng to obliquely allow you to learn the exit code from her, and the police were told to keep an eye on your transmitter’s signal and to apprehend you and bring you to me if you attempted to leave Convergence.”

An immediate sinking feeling struck deep into Solonn’s chest, while his extremities went numb with shock. “…You set this up?” he asked hoarsely and with difficulty, still quite breathless, his mouth and throat dry and not quite able to coordinate properly all of a sudden. “You—” He paused momentarily, attempting in vain to swallow to relieve his parched throat. “—you let me run away?”

Jal’tai nodded slowly, sorrowfully. “I had to know if you would.”

Pained outrage seized the human’s features. “Of course I would!” he croaked, his voice badly constrained and cracking painfully. “Of course I would, after what you did to me!”

Solonn looked right into the face of his captor, his bloodshot eyes projecting his anguish very clearly and potently through their steady stream of tears and their unflinching, accusatory stare. That the one ray of hope that he’d found since being captured by Jal’tai had turned out to be nothing more than an illusion was almost too much for him to bear, and it elevated his hatred of Jal’tai further than even Solonn himself had thought that he could harbor.

Yet somehow, learning that his “escape” had been staged failed to completely surprise him; in Solonn’s mind, it seemed to fit perfectly with the motive of total domination that he saw in the latios. He was sure that the real main point of Jal’tai’s experiment was to demonstrate very clearly that any resistance on Solonn’s part was utterly futile—that he would never escape.

Jal’tai gave a soft, troubled sound as he turned away from Solonn, seeming to have lost the will to look upon his captive’s tormented face any longer. He hovered there in place for several moments on end, staring at the shining image of the latias who smiled back at him from across the room. Then he lowered his head, and a beat later, he turned back toward Solonn with abnormal haste as if trying to execute the action before he had a chance to be aware of what he was doing.

Though in truth, he knew it was useless to even try, Solonn nonetheless struggled in his restraints as Jal’tai drew close once more, the anticipation of imminent suffering having awakened a desperate, primal urge within him to flee from the oncoming threat. Within a breath, Jal’tai was hovering over him once more, and burning brightly within the latios’s eyes…

Solonn learned in an instant that he had not imagined the strange light that he had seen within Jal’tai’s eyes minutes earlier. There it was again, just as before, but now that it remained burning there rather than extinguishing itself just as soon as it had come, Solonn was able to witness more of its peculiar qualities. As if bewitched, his gaze fixed upon the way that the light in Jal’tai’s eyes pulsed and swirled arrhythmically, constantly shifting its color and intensity.

The light and color expanded outward from the latios’s eyes in a sudden burst, first spreading over the rest of his body, then proceeding to wash over the entire room. Now camouflaged in the psychedelic colors that had consumed everything in sight, Jal’tai was only discernible as a vague outline; if it hadn’t been for Jal’tai’s slight motion in midair as he breathed, Solonn might have easily lost sight of him.

Solonn was stricken with a sudden, sharp pain as the light that surrounded him intensified sharply, lancing into his eyes like burning needles. He tried to close them, but something was holding his eyelids open against his will and their own, forcing him to suffer the harsh light that Jal’tai had set upon him.

The dancing colors abruptly and greatly increased their speed, rushing in every direction around Solonn. In their frenzy, a powerful noise arose: a formless, discordant chorus of screeches and roars. The sound of the phenomenon matched the sight of it perfectly, chaotic and painfully intense for him to endure. In the next second, Solonn found himself seemingly able to taste and smell the chaos as well as to see and hear it; its scent and flavor were extremely sharp and sour, burning his throat as he inhaled it on the air, making him cough and gag.

The phenomenon then assaulted the rest of him, and the instant he began to feel this, he unleashed an agonized cry, its forcefulness belying how weak he still was. Jal’tai’s strange power seared almost continuously against Solonn’s skin and struck deep through his nerves in bolts that stabbed intermittently into different parts of him.

With every passing second, the punishment of his every sense grew stronger. He had never known such absolute suffering in his life. Through a mind throttled by the grip of a full sensory overload, Solonn’s sole conscious desire was for an end to this torture. It seemed impossible that he could still be conscious in the face of such overwhelming pain, and yet he was denied the mercy of passing out.

The outline of the dragon above suddenly became much more distinct then, and the change took an immediate and absolute hold of Solonn’s attention despite the ever-escalating chaos that had consumed him.

<Be at peace,> came a telepathic voice that mirrored the latios’s spoken voice, reaching Solonn as clear as a bell despite the din. Then, all at once, the light, the noise, and all of the pain simply ceased.

* * *

There was a delay before Solonn dared to recognize that the bizarre torture to which Jal’tai had been subjecting him had finally ended. Once he did, he became aware with a shock of his surroundings—or rather, the lack thereof. He could see nothing, hear nothing, taste nothing, smell nothing, feel nothing; there was simply nothing surrounding him to be perceived. He couldn’t even perceive anything of himself other than his own awareness.

This surreal unbeing considerably resembled that which lay within the confinement of a capture ball, and Solonn began to wonder if he hadn’t been sent into a device of that nature. Perhaps this was part of his punishment, he reckoned—maybe Jal’tai intended to keep him imprisoned within this netherscape, perhaps only letting him out to inflict more of that multisensory torture upon him, until his mind and sense of reality were so severely traumatized and disarrayed that he would accept anything…

In a literal flash, the solitude of his unbeing was broken. A shapeless, luminous body shone like a star within the darkness that surrounded him, impossible light in a world without vision. With the same suddenness with which it had appeared, it took on a form, one that Solonn recognized at once.

Jal’tai now hovered there in the emptiness before Solonn, glowing brilliantly, a latios made out of pure, white light. Only his eyes did not emit this glow, appearing as two fathomless, pitch-black holes in the otherwise featureless surface of his luminous form.

The latios then spoke to him telepathically, but in a mindvoice that was different than before, one as vast as the void that surrounded him. <No, Solonn. That is not what I have done to you, nor is it what I intend to do.>

Solonn was immediately stricken by fear at the sheer immensity of the psychic voice that had just spoken to him. He acknowledged Jal’tai’s words, but was too overwhelmed by them to respond.

<I will not let any further harm come to you,> Jal’tai said somberly. <I know you’d never be able to forgive me for all that you’ve suffered to this point… nor would I expect you to,> he added. <I doubt I’ll ever be able to forgive myself… and if She won’t, either, I would understand…>

The glowing latios extended his arms. Solonn felt Jal’tai’s embrace despite having nothing of himself with which to actually, physically feel anything, just as he had seen and heard Jal’tai amidst the emptiness despite being without eyes and ears.

<Your suffering ends here,> Jal’tai told him consolingly. <I will now ensure that you will struggle no more.>

What are you going to do to me? Solonn asked fearfully. He had no voice in this place, but he also had no doubt at this point that Jal’tai could hear his thoughts.

<I could tell you,> Jal’tai replied, <but you would not be able to keep that knowledge.>

With that, the black holes that were the latios’s eyes suddenly gave a single, massive flash of light that was even brighter than that which comprised the rest of his form, and Solonn knew no more.

* * *

A gasp rent the air as lungs in a body that had been suspended in stasis for nearly five minutes suddenly reawakened and resumed their duties. Their owner’s head sank and remained low as he took several moments to catch his breath. His spine arched and his talons flexed, reviving his muscles somewhat painfully.

With something of an effort, Jal’tai made himself look upon the face of the human before him. Solonn stared expressionlessly back at him through blank, dilated eyes that held a faint, silvery glow. The former glalie was still alive, but suspended in a peculiar state between consciousness and unconsciousness. His psyche was subdued and encapsulated within a psychic prison, barred from access to his own brain. The lati had a name for this state: liasa andielenne—the waking death.

Entering this state was an invariably unpleasant experience for the subject, which Jal’tai regretted to no small degree, but he knew that it was crucial for what was to be done next. There was work to be done within this human’s brain, and said human could not be present there to witness or interfere with the task at hand.

Still, even with the necessary preparations made, Jal’tai worried for the outcome of this procedure. Major, intrusive psychic methods such as the one he was about to employ bore a significant risk of unwanted, detrimental side effects, especially in brains with no sort of defense against the psychic element. Of particular concern to Jal’tai was the fact that they could corrupt or even destroy psychic anomalies in the brain—anomalies such as the Speech.

Hence Jal’tai had been severely reluctant to resort to this course of action—it had every bit as much potential to ruin his candidate as it had to secure him, if not more. Nevertheless, the latios committed himself to this act, feeling that there truly was no better option. It had been by an extraordinary stroke of luck that he had come by someone who possessed the rare and crucial quality needed to take the reins of this city. The odds were overwhelmingly against finding another Speaker anytime soon; Jal’tai didn’t know how long he had in this world to wait and furthermore knew that he would rest much more easily at night once he could be sure that Convergence’s future was secured.

Thus he was determined to do whatever could be done to keep Solonn as a viable successor. Though this last resort might bring failure to that endeavor, Jal’tai was certain that any chance for success with this candidate would be lost for sure if he didn’t go through with it; he doubted very strongly that Solonn would cooperate otherwise. Jal’tai needed to be sure that his replacement was loyal to the mission of this city and could be counted on to serve that mission once given his office, and he was therefore willing to take this risk.

It would be all or nothing, he knew. Either he would have his successor, dedicated and willing to take the role that Jal’tai truly believed that destiny had assigned to him, or else he would have something that was useless to his cause, casting the future of his project back into an indefinite uncertainty.

Jal’tai cast an imploring glance back over his shoulder toward the marble panel on the wall behind him. Please watch over him, Rei’eli, he prayed silently to the image of the goddess that smiled at him from the far end of the room. Keep his gift whole.

He turned back toward Solonn, his heart heavy with concern. He placed his talons upon the human’s head, staring intently into his subject’s empty eyes. His breathing slowed dramatically as his focus deepened, stoking his psychic element and manifesting it into a vehicle for his consciousness. As it carried him out of his own mind and into that of the human who lay before him, he dearly hoped that his goddess had heard his prayer.

* * *

Haze enveloped the intruder, hanging calmly over the surrounding mindscape. It was a thick and very murky medium, one that would have offered up no distinction among its constituent elements to less sophisticated senses and would have threatened to erase the lines between itself and any less capable invader.

For Jal’tai, the oppressive haze held no danger of absorbing his consciousness and didn’t obscure his mind’s eye in the least. He could discern the nearly innumerable, individual mental signatures that formed the haze, as well as the intricate ways by which certain among them were connected and associated—a task made all the easier by liasa andielenne; the haze would have been roiling turbulently in an active mind, making it harder to see what lay within it. It also helped matters that this particular mindscape was not unexplored territory.

Jal’tai knew not only how to distinguish these mental signatures but also what they truly were: memories. This was the history of Solonn Zgil-Al, far more complete and detailed to Jal’tai’s perception than it could ever be to its owner’s, recorded through Solonn’s own senses.

Among the archives of Solonn’s mind were records of particular importance to Jal’tai, records that held the key to the human’s cooperation—answers to the questions of both why it had not yet been achieved and how it could be. These were the records of the past twelve days, beginning with Solonn’s earliest recollection of Jal’tai from that morning when they had first met west of Lilycove.

Jal’tai focused on his own memories of that morning as he began to sift through the haze, searching for images of that overgrown field and the guise of the swellow that he had worn there. He was fully aware that these images would certainly appear somewhat different in Solonn’s memory than they did in his own, for there were notable differences between the perception of a glalie and that of a latios. Still, Jal’tai reckoned that he’d recognize those memories once he found them, and sure enough, he did.

He had now successfully located Solonn’s memory of departing the field with him and heading off into the forest toward Convergence. Keeping it within his focus, he traced along its connections to other memories, following a backwards route to the moment when Solonn had first encountered him as a swellow.

Having found the starting point for the chain of memories that were of importance to this operation, he proceeded to anchor a part of his own mind to it. He then began to copy this memory and all those that followed it as he allowed them to unfold in chronological order at an incredible speed. Almost as soon as it had begun, the process was finished. In barely more than an instant, Jal’tai had obtained twelve days’ worth of memories, memories that were not his own.

Now the task at hand was to deal with the original copy of this chain of memories, upon which Jal’tai remained tightly focused. There were two options that he could apply here, he knew. One was to simply erase these memories. The other was to keep them intact but heavily suppressed, locking them away deep within Solonn’s subconscious mind.

Erasure was, of course, the more alluring option to Jal’tai; an erased memory was completely irretrievable, after all. However, it was also a much more intrusive method than merely sealing the memories. In even conducting the steps of this procedure that he already had, Jal’tai knew that he was pushing it, endangering the very aspect of this mind for which he was going to these lengths. Comforting though he was sure it would be to know that these memories were gone for good, Jal’tai accepted that for safety’s sake, it would be better not to destroy any of them unless he truly felt that it was necessary.

In order to judge if these memories could be trusted to be preserved in the shadows of Solonn’s mind or if he should try to remove them without a trace despite the added risk that that method brought, he accessed the copy of the chain of memories that he had absorbed and let the sequence of events play out in his mind somewhat more slowly than when he’d last let them unfold, allowing him to vicariously experience the past twelve days as Solonn had experienced them.

He saw himself, disguised as a swellow, leading Solonn through the woods and into Convergence. Through Solonn’s perspective, he experienced the morning when the human had awakened to find himself in a new form, feeling Solonn’s fearful disbelief at his new form and his bereavement at the loss of his element in a secondhand way. Jal’tai beheld the revelation of his own true form, listened to his own attempts to make Solonn listen to reason, and watched—and felt—the excruciating, telekinetic punishment that he had inflicted upon the human when his failure to convince Solonn through words had caused him to lose his patience…

…And here he paused, bringing the playback of Solonn’s memories to a grinding halt. Suddenly confronted with the suffering that his frustration had caused and made to actually experience the pain and terror that he had inflicted, he found himself overwhelmed all at once by immense horror, guilt, and shame.

What in heaven’s name came over me? he wondered, aghast. By the Goddess… I could have killed him…

Long moments passed before he regained himself enough to continue his psychic work. Even then, he remained somewhat shaken by the reminder of what he had done as he resumed studying the former glalie’s memories of the recent past, watching as Solonn dragged himself listlessly through his first few days as a human and then began planning an escape in more recent days, with the chain of memories ending with Solonn’s foiled escape and his subjection to liasa andielenne.

Having reviewed the memories that were to be censored, Jal’tai made the decision to seal them rather than erase them. Realizing just how very close he had already come to losing Solonn as a candidate once, he was now especially disinclined to tempt fate any more than he could help. And yet… thoughts of that day when he had lost control and of the pain that that had caused remained close at hand, haunting his mind. Not only was he deeply ashamed of it, but if the human were to somehow recall it against the odds, it was certain that that would destroy any trust that Jal’tai instilled in him.

Jal’tai proceeded to isolate the memory of the past twelve days from the rest of Solonn’s memories. He then set a psychic lock upon them and relocated them to the deepest, most obscure and inaccessible layer of the human’s mind—but not before extracting one particular memory from the chain and annihilating it.

The offending history was now subdued, but Jal’tai’s work was not yet finished. As he departed Solonn’s mindscape to proceed with the next step of the process, he tried to draw some relief and satisfaction from the fact that at least now Solonn would never be able to recall his brutal punishment at the latios’s hands again… but his efforts were hampered by the knowledge that he could not purge that memory from his own mind likewise.

* * *

With his consciousness having returned to the physical plane, Jal’tai once again beheld the motionless form of the human before him. Solonn still wore the same blank, emotionless, lifeless expression that he had been wearing ever since entering liasa andielenne.

At least he’s not suffering anymore, the latios thought wearily as he set himself down on the floor for a short break following the work that he had accomplished thus far; the act of sustaining his presence within a foreign mind for extended periods of time was fairly taxing, especially at his age. He rested his head in his talons as he prepared to initiate the next task, which was to create a different version of events to replace the twelve days that he had just sealed away from Solonn’s memory.

Jal’tai still saw promise in Solonn despite the obstacles that had arisen in trying to get the human to recognize his potential. He was quite certain that Solonn was capable of appreciating the mission of the Convergence Project and might have thereby accepted his new role under different circumstances. Jal’tai still felt that no other course of action but the one that he had taken could have securely yielded success, however; he believed that it was the only way to have been absolutely sure that Solonn would take the form that becoming the new mayor demanded. What was done was done, and because Solonn had reacted so adversely to the way that things were done, the next step for Jal’tai was to make the human believe that things had been done differently.

From what he had gathered both from reviewing Solonn’s memories of the days since the two had met and from his own memories of his interactions with the human over the past several days, Jal’tai had determined that one of the main reasons why Solonn was refusing to accept his new form and the purpose for which it had been bestowed upon him was that the change had not been his choice. He had also determined a number of other elements which, if removed or added to the circumstances, would help to ensure Solonn’s cooperation, as well as to enable Jal’tai to earn the human’s trust and escape his resentment.

With all of these things in mind, Jal’tai entered a trance in which he began to fabricate an alternative version of the circumstances surrounding Solonn’s reception of his new identity. If all went as Jal’tai desired for it to go, this rewrite of history would turn Solonn into the ready and willing successor for which the latios so dearly hoped…

* * *

(CONTINUED)

[Sike Saner]

“Go!” Solonn shouted at the terrified creature who cowered before him—the creature who had almost become his prey. He watched as the zigzagoon sprinted fearfully away through the tall grass, sickened by himself as he thought of what he had nearly done.

“Well, that certainly was magnanimous of you,” said a bright, jovial voice.

Surprised, Solonn turned at once to see whom and what had just spoken. He was met with the sight of a feathered, blue-and-gray dragon hovering in midair a short distance in front of him.

The dragon introduced himself as Jal’tai, a latios. After Solonn had introduced himself in turn, Jal’tai inquired as to what had brought him to this area, having never seen Solonn around before. Solonn told him of how he had fled from human abductors in Lilycove and was just trying to lie low until he could find some means to return to his home across the sea.

Jal’tai offered him a place to stay in a city in the west where he could be safe and comfortable. Solonn hesitated to take him up on the offer, reluctant to go into another human city. Jal’tai assured him that the place that he had in mind was nothing of the sort. After a few more moments’ consideration, Solonn accepted Jal’tai’s offer and followed him westward through the forest.

Upon arriving at their destination, a place which Jal’tai identified as Convergence, Solonn couldn’t help but notice certain familiarities about the city—familiarities which contradicted the latios’s assurances about it.

“Jal’tai, I thought you said this wasn’t a human city…”

“Yes, I most certainly did,” Jal’tai responded. “And on closer inspection, you might realize that indeed, just as I stated, this is not a human city. Here in Convergence, pokémon and humans live and work as equals.” He smiled proudly. “I’m the man in charge of this city, you see, and I would not have it any other way around here.”

The last of the latios’s statements took a moment to fully register in Solonn’s brain. “…Wait, did you say you were in charge here?” he asked incredulously once it clicked.

Jal’tai nodded, still beaming. “Yes, that’s correct,” he said. “I am the mayor of this fine city. Convergence is my pride and joy—a testament to the equality of all peoples. You see… in the cities owned and ruled exclusively by humans, pokémon are second-class citizens—if even that.” His features gave a brief flash of disgust. “But here, pokémon are afforded the same rights and opportunities as humans. They may own properties like those the humans own. They may learn to operate the vehicles invented by humans if they so wish. Our academy offers them the same education that humans receive and training for those who wish to enter occupations that elsewhere may only be held by humans.

“My hope is that the rest of the human world will learn from Convergence’s example, that they will see that they can and should live alongside pokémon in harmony and equality. This community may very well be the starting point for the greatly-needed change in human-pokémon relations—perhaps then, pokémon will be respected by humans, rather than disregarded, exploited, and abused as we have all too often been in the past. Now do you see what makes Convergence great?”

Solonn could only nod in response, still quite absorbed in thoughts of what Jal’tai had just told him about the state of relations between humans and the other peoples of the world, in the latios’s claim that pokémon were such non-entities in the eyes of humans.

Jal’tai offered to take him to lunch at a local restaurant then, and he accepted. Along the way, he was shown how the pokémon citizens of Convergence were able to utilize the technological conveniences invented by humans to go about their everyday lives—a privilege that they would be denied in the human world, according to Jal’tai.

Once they had reached the restaurant and had been served their respective meals, Jal’tai spoke further about the apparent schism between humans and other intelligent species.

“As I was saying,” the latios said as he paused momentarily in his enjoyment of his fish platter, “the way pokémon are perceived by humans desperately needs to be changed. Did you know that most humans do not realize—or else deny—that pokémon are intelligent beings?”

Solonn looked up from the steak that had been served to him, which still lay untouched due to the glalie’s internal conflict with his own sensibilities. “…No,” he responded, sounding quite troubled at this information. “No, I didn’t know that.”

Jal’tai nodded sadly. “It’s true. The majority of humans regard pokémon not as people, but as mere animals,” he told Solonn, a distinct touch of vehemence coloring his words and seeming to shine in his eyes.

“Gods… How could they see us that way?” Solonn wondered aloud.

The dragon sighed sorrowfully. “I have been trying to figure that out myself for many years now, to no avail, I’m afraid. All I know for certain is that they must be made to see the truth if pokémon are to receive the treatment we deserve from their kind.”

Jal’tai resumed his meal then, leaving Solonn to muse on all that he had just learned. It disturbed and saddened him to think of how poorly humans apparently regarded pokémon. At the same time, however, he thought of Morgan—she hadn’t fit the portrayal that Jal’tai had given of humans as uncaring and disregarding of pokémon. She had always treated Solonn and the other pokémon who lived with her with respect instead of as inferiors. If she could respect pokémon, then perhaps the humans who didn’t could learn to do so, as well… maybe, Solonn considered, there was hope for the relations between humanity and the rest of the world’s peoples.

At length, Solonn finally managed to force himself to take the meat that he had been given. Shortly thereafter, he found himself becoming quite tired with an unusual and alarming suddenness—he suspected that the trials of the prior evening were finally taking their toll on him. When he mentioned this to Jal’tai, the latios told him of a nearby hotel where he could rest and brought him there right away.

Solonn fell into a profoundly deep sleep just as soon as he was given a suite in which to stay, and he remained asleep until late in the following morning when he was awakened by a series of loud, shrill beeps followed by the sound of a computerized voice.

“Receiving message,” the voice said coolly.

Solonn only distantly noted those words, not quite absorbing them, as he was still emerging with an effort from his sleep. He was slightly more awake and aware when another voice arose; he recognized it at once as that of Jal’tai.

“Solonn? Are you awake?” the latios asked.

Stifling a yawn, Solonn rose from the floor and turned toward the source of Jal’tai’s voice, but saw no one there. A second later, as his brain finally finished awakening, he spotted the paging device that sat on the nearby table, and remembered being told that he could use it to call Jal’tai—apparently it also worked the other way around.

“Yeah, I’m awake,” he answered finally.

“Good, good,” Jal’tai said brightly. “Is it all right if I come and pay you a visit?”

“Hm? Sure, go ahead,” Solonn said nonchalantly.

“Ah, very well, then,” Jal’tai said. “I’ll be right up in a moment.”

“Connection terminated,” said the computerized voice again, and with another beep, the device shut itself off.

Very shortly thereafter, that same voice spoke up again, this time to announce the arrival of a visitor. Bright green light blossomed from a tile on the floor near the wall, then faded as Jal’tai materialized within the suite.

“Good morning,” the latios said amiably. “How are you feeling today?”

“Meh, just fine, I suppose,” Solonn answered. “Still a little tired, but other than that…”

“Hm,” Jal’tai responded, nodding. “Well, I’m glad to hear that you seem to be on the mend. I was quite concerned about you yesterday, you know,” he said, his tone serious. “I feared you wouldn’t even remain conscious through the trip to this hotel. Never in my life have I seen someone drained of energy so suddenly and completely… those humans in Lilycove must have put you through a most dreadful ordeal, indeed…”

Solonn only made a small, wordless, affirmative noise in response.

“Well, at least you did manage to escape from those scoundrels,” Jal’tai said. “You’ve certainly been spared a most unpleasant fate… Do you have any idea what their motives might have been in taking you, what they might have had in store?”

Solonn hesitated to answer. Yes, he did know why he had been taken—and in the wake of learning such, he was particularly wary of speaking of that very thing that had gotten him into such a situation in the first place.

However, he did wonder how much danger there could actually be in confiding in Jal’tai. It wouldn’t be the first time that he had trusted his secret with another—he had deemed both Morgan and Sei to be safe to confide in, and as he thought about it, he still felt that that had been a sound judgment, even considering what had happened the day before. After all, his abilities had only gotten him into trouble in Lilycove due to completely external forces stumbling upon his secret, something that might not necessarily have happened under different circumstances even given the fact that he had chosen not to hide that secret from Morgan and Sei.

Neither of them had not come across to him as being untrustworthy, and Solonn was finding himself of the mindset that Jal’tai didn’t, either. Ever since he had met him, the latios had been speaking of his disapproval of unjust treatment and exploitation of pokémon—he seemed like one of the last people who would ever make Solonn sorry to reveal his abilities to him.

Solonn got the feeling that if he told Jal’tai to keep the secret, he would do so. And since Jal’tai was this city’s leader, perhaps he had authority enough in this place to help ensure that none of the wrong people happened upon the secret themselves.

So, feeling fairly secure in doing so, Solonn went ahead and told Jal’tai of the reason why he was targeted for abduction.

“They wanted me…” he began, “because I can do something that apparently very few pokémon can do… I can speak to humans. In their own language.” He sighed bitterly. “The humans who tried to take me wanted to show me off because of it, as a freak,” he told Jal’tai, that last word more hissed than spoken.

Jal’tai’s expression became dramatically sterner as he stared back at Solonn in the wake of the glalie’s admission. “Sickening,” he hissed, his voice low and rather ominous-sounding. “Absolutely deplorable… what you possess is a gift; you should be honored for it, not exploited…”

Fury radiated almost tangibly from Jal’tai as he hovered in place for a moment, his features contorted with clear disgust. At length, he drew a long breath, seemingly trying to calm himself, and released it on a sorrowful sigh. “I’m afraid such troubles come with the territory of the talents you possess,” he said soberly, closing his eyes and folding his hands. “I know it all too well myself…” He met Solonn’s gaze directly, his eyes staring pointedly into those of the glalie. “It is true that exceedingly few possess the Speech—the ability to communicate universally. As such, I thought I would likely never find another who shared this ability in common with me.”

Solonn stared speechlessly back at Jal’tai for seconds on end. Like Jal’tai, he had not been expecting to come across another person who shared his linguistic abilities. As Jal’tai’s revelation sank fully into his mind, he was left without a doubt that his assessment of the dragon’s trustworthiness had been right on the mark. Jal’tai was a kindred spirit—if anyone could be trusted, Solonn reckoned, it was him.

“So, this thing… this ‘Speech’, as you called it… it’s gotten you into trouble, too?” Solonn asked, earning a nod from the latios in response. “Was the trouble with humans?”

“Not exclusively,” Jal’tai answered, “but mostly, yes. Hence the need for a bit of deceptiveness unto the outside world on my part, I’m afraid… Observe…”

Solonn gave the latios his attention, having no idea what to expect from him. As he watched, a strange, shimmering light surrounded Jal’tai, blurring and consuming his form until it was completely unidentifiable. The mass of light brightened momentarily, then began to take shape once more as it faded.

Once the light was gone completely, Solonn saw that the latios that had been in that very spot had apparently gone with it. An elderly, goateed human in a brown suit stood there instead—one whom Solonn recognized at once as being the man pictured on the sign at Whitley’s.

“This is how I appear to the citizens of Convergence, as well as those with whom I do business outside of town,” he said. “To them, I am known as the human Rolf Whitley—I virtually never work under my true identity. I lament that I must appear to the people as something and someone I am not—it should not have to be this way, but the unfortunate fact is that it is a necessity of my work.

“You see, as a pokémon who can speak human languages, humans may look upon me as a curiosity—a freak, as you so aptly put it,” Jal’tai explained, his tone carrying clear distaste. “They will not listen to or respect something that they regard in such a demeaning way. However, as a human who can speak pokémon language, I am not seen as a freak, but merely gifted. It’s a shameful double standard, but it’s the reality for people like us, I’m afraid.”

With another brief shimmering of light all around him, Jal’tai resumed his true form. “So, you see, that guise is the means by which I am able not only to live with my gift in peace but to also utilize it to do good in this world.”

He turned toward Solonn. “You know, this place, this embodiment of all that I believe in… it could not have been made possible were it not for my possession of the Speech,” he then said. “Because this is a community for both pokémon and humans, its leader must be able to deal with both equally. Thus this office demands the Speech, meaning that there are very few who could take care of this city’s needs.”

An unreadable expression suddenly over took the dragon’s features, but Solonn was given little time to look upon it or to wonder about it before Jal’tai turned away from him. A very long and rather awkward silence followed.

Eventually, Jal’tai turned back, his expression distinctly uneasy. “Solonn…” he began, “I would like to know if…” He faltered, seemingly unable to complete the sentence. “No,” he said in a subdued tone a moment later, “no, I just couldn’t ask such a thing of you…”

Solonn’s brows drew together, the light in his eyes flickering slightly in concern. “…What is it?” he asked. “What are you talking about?”

Jal’tai only gazed back at him for a time, looking almost guilty. He hesitated momentarily before answering, and even once he did respond, he spoke with clear reluctance.

“I’m… well, I’m not a young dragon anymore,” he said quietly. “I won’t be around to take care of this city forever… I love Convergence, Solonn,” he all but whispered. “I worry for its future… I don’t know what will become of this place without me. Who will watch over this city when I’m gone?”

Solonn didn’t know how to respond to that at first. Then he realized just what the latios was saying. “Are… are you saying you want me to take your place?” he asked, his eyes wide.

“Well…” the latios responded with something of a delay, “as I said, only those who are blessed with the Speech, as you and I are, are qualified to guide and maintain this community. And as I also mentioned, I had not expected that I would ever find another such person… I have been fretting over the matter of who could possibly take my office after me—and what might become of Convergence and its mission if no one suitable could be found…”

Quite overwhelmed, Solonn suddenly felt the need to sit down. “…I don’t know what to say…”

“I don’t imagine I would, either, were I in your position,” Jal’tai said quietly.

“I mean… I understand what you’re worried about, but… are you sure there’s no one else you could ask?” Solonn asked, finding it difficult to get the words out.

“I honestly can’t say for certain,” the latios answered, “but the odds are very much against it.”

With every passing second, Solonn found himself feeling more cornered by the matter. How the guilt had overtaken him so swiftly and strongly, and precisely where it had actually even come from, Solonn could not guess, but there it was, present and undeniable. He understood and cared about Jal’tai’s dilemma… but still…

“…I don’t know…” he said guiltily, “…This is not a minor matter—I mean, you’re thinking of putting me in charge of an entire city?” He shook his head in disbelief. “Jal’tai… I don’t know if I have it in me…”

“There’s no need to worry where that is concerned,” Jal’tai said softly. “I assure you that you would be adequately educated and prepared to take up these responsibilities.”

The latios’s already troubled expression suddenly became even moreso. “Solonn… there is one more thing I need to tell you before you commit yourself one way or another to my offer,” he told the glalie, his tone grave. “I demonstrated the way that I disguise myself as a human in order to live and work with the Speech safely. You would have to take on a human identity as well if you were to take my office. But since you are not endowed as I am with the power to project a mirage over yourself… well, you would have to come by your disguise by a different means. The only other method by which you could pass for a human… is to actually become one.”

“…What?” Solonn thought he must surely have misheard the latios. “You can’t be serious!”

“I am serious, Solonn,” Jal’tai said. “In order to replace me as the mayor of this city, you will have to be physically transformed into a human.”

“But… how is that even possible?!”

“There is an elemental technique that has been practiced by my people for millennia—namely the transfigure technique—that enables the user to change the form of another thing or person,” Jal’tai explained. “Allow me to demonstrate…”

Jal’tai left the room momentarily. When he returned, he was carrying a small decorative pillow in his talons. “Watch carefully,” he instructed Solonn, then set the pillow down upon the floor. He extended his arms, keeping his talons rigid over the pillow. Slowly, spheres of mint-green light swelled around his hands; soon after, an aura of the same color surrounded the pillow.

The light began strobing then; Solonn winced, his eyes narrowing to slits to fend off the flashing light. He kept them open with an effort despite the discomfort, however, determined to see if Jal’tai could actually do what he was claiming to be able to do. With astonishment, he realized that he could see the pillow warping, shifting somewhat jerkily and unevenly into another shape.

With one final flash of green light and one last metamorphic spasm, the pillow was no more. Right before Solonn’s eyes, it had been transfigured into a plant sitting in an earthen pot, its many leafy tendrils spilling out over the rim.

“And that is how it’s done,” Jal’tai said, sounding somewhat winded, as he picked up the potted plant and examined it briefly. He cast a quick look upward at a particular spot on the ceiling. “This would look rather nice right about there, I think…” he remarked, then set the plant back down and turned back toward Solonn once more.

Solonn, meanwhile, stared dumbstruck at the plant. “Oh gods…” he said almost voicelessly. He had risen from the floor without realizing it and was now starting to back away from the plant.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Jal’tai assured him. “If you choose to accept the change, I will do everything in my power to make it as non-traumatic an experience as I can. If you wish, I can render you unconscious during the actual transfiguration so that you can be sure not to experience any discomfort. Afterward, I promise that I will help you to become accustomed to your new form. Furthermore—” He inclined his head slightly further toward Solonn. “—the change is not permanent. It will wear off after about eight to ten years… perhaps by that time, such masquerades will no longer be needed in this world.”

Those reassurances fell short of quite comforting Solonn, and Jal’tai seemed to recognize this. “I know that physical transformation is not something to be taken lightly, but it’s also something with which you have had some prior experience, have you not? I happen to know that yours is an evolved form—perhaps you might try looking at this as just another stage of evolution.”

Jal’tai was right in one sense: this was indeed not the first time that Solonn had been faced with the prospect of transformation. However, Solonn had not accepted his last change hastily; he had only agreed to go through with it once it had truly seemed necessary. Furthermore, after comparing his memory of evolving into a glalie with the process of transfiguration that he had just beheld, he was quite certain that they would be two very different experiences.

“This is just… all too much,” Solonn said finally, wearily, as he set himself back down.

“I understand,” Jal’tai said softly. “I would not expect anyone to make such a major decision in any hurry.” He began to glide past Solonn then, moving toward the wall that bore the keypad and transport tile, but turned back before exiting. “You can stay here as long as you like,” he told Solonn. “And when you come to a decision regarding what I have offered to you, please call me and let me know. I won’t force you to decide one way or another… but I do ask that you consider what is at the heart of this matter. This community was born in the name of a better future, one in which the schism between humanity and all the other peoples of the world is bridged at last. Ask yourself: is this not a future that you desire to see made into a reality?”

Solonn winced, feeling as though a large weight had just dropped into his stomach. He did want to see unity between humans and pokémon, but there was still also the matter of what acting on that desire here would apparently require of him. He couldn’t even begin to decide what to do.

He finally pried his eyes away from the plant and turned quickly to face Jal’tai and ask him how he was supposed to deal with these conflicting notions, but he saw only a flash of green light. The latios had already gone, leaving him alone with the weight of this decision.

For the rest of the day, Solonn’s thoughts were monopolized by the matter of Jal’tai’s offer, and it denied him sleep throughout the night. He agreed with the latios’s mission, and he could not deny that he truly did want to help. But to become a human… how could he readily accept something that he could barely believe?

As hour after hour was claimed by these thoughts, bringing the morning and then midday, Solonn found himself reckoning this situation by a previous one: that which had surrounded his evolution. He had initially dismissed the comparison, certain of there being a major difference between the two methods of change. As he considered the comparison further, however, he began to see similarities between the two situations.

The last time that he had been faced with the prospect of taking on a new form, he had ultimately determined that it was the right course of action, that it would offer the elemental skill that he would need to succeed in his contest performance. Now, with the matter of physical transformation having been raised once again, he would once more have to determine if it was the right thing to do under the circumstances.

He knew that if he did agree to the change, it would be for the purpose of joining in Jal’tai’s cause—again, he could not deny that it was one with which he agreed. The notion of being made human was quite daunting to him, but if he went through with it, then he could aid Jal’tai in his efforts toward fair and equal treatment for pokémon…

Solonn thought about some of the things that he had learned about the way that humans tended to view and treat pokémon—both from what Jal’tai had told him and from his own experience. His thoughts turned toward his own abduction by humans who had wanted to profit from his abilities—and the fact that they had not been content to merely take him but the rest of Morgan’s pokémon, as well. He thought of those pokémon, friends of his whose condition and whereabouts were still unknown. He thought about Morgan, separated from some of her closest friends, shaken and crying the last time that he’d seen her.

If enough humans could be made to respect pokémon, he considered, then perhaps scenarios like that one would never happen again.

The glalie’s eyes drifted toward that paging device sitting a short distance across the room. There was his answer, it seemed. He had been given an opportunity to do something that he believed could be significantly beneficial to the world—he had to take it, he decided then, even if the knowledge of what it would require of him still terrified him.

He felt heavier than usual as he ascended; it was as though his body were less than willing to rise from the ground. With his heart hammering, he glided across the room until he found himself looking down upon the paging device. Once he had recalled how to operate it, he used it to call Jal’tai.

“Yes? What is it, my boy?” Jal’tai said once the connection went through.

“…I’ll do it,” Solonn spat out before his trepidation could have a chance to foil him.

Jal’tai didn’t respond right away, making Solonn worry that he had perhaps been too vague in declaring his acceptance. But then, “All right, then,” the latios said simply, and the connection was terminated.

In virtually no time, Jal’tai arrived at the suite, entering by way of the transport tile and immediately coming to hover before Solonn.

“I know this was no easy decision for you,” the dragon said, “but in the end, you have made the right choice.” His mouth curved into a warm, proud smile. “We and our efforts will go down in history, Solonn. And someday, pokémon throughout the world will thank you for your selfless actions here.”

They were nice words, Solonn thought, but the glalie wasn’t feeling quite so long-sighted at the moment as Jal’tai was. He couldn’t quite look to the future and any praise and appreciation that lay there—he saw only the present and what it was about to bring and just wanted it to be over and done.

“Do you wish for me to put you under for the transfiguration?” Jal’tai asked him.

An image of the pillow’s rather spasmodic transformation entered Solonn’s mind along with an unbidden sense of what that sort of a process might actually feel like, and he shuddered. “Please do,” he responded quickly.

Jal’tai nodded in acknowledgment, then moved forward and placed his talons on top of the glalie’s head, giving a shudder at the contact with the glalie’s frigid hide. “There will only be a brief discomfort,” he assured Solonn. Solonn gazed nervously into Jal’tai’s eyes for a moment, hoping that the latios was right—and then his vision, as well as his consciousness, were extinguished in an instant by something that sent a shock through his skull and a burst of red light to the back of his eyes.

When Solonn awakened, the scene surrounding him had changed. He knew at once that he was seeing through different eyes, eyes that were much weaker and more limited in their range than the ones that he’d previously had. He shifted slightly, feeling soft surfaces all around him as his limbs stretched—yes, his limbs. It seemed that Jal’tai’s technique had worked—that Solonn was now a human.

He lifted his head and saw that he was presently lying in a bed. The sheets that covered him prevented him from seeing most of his new form; he pushed them aside with one of his newly-formed arms in order to have a look at what he had become. He found that seeing the human body that he now possessed actually made it harder somehow for him to believe that the change had really occurred.

A shadow fell over him then; he looked up and to his left and saw Jal’tai there, smiling gently as he hovered in place.

“The transfiguration was a complete success,” the latios said. “Here—have a look at your new face with this,” he suggested, then offered Solonn a small hand mirror. The human took the mirror, and after a moment’s fumbling with it, he managed to catch his own reflection in the glass. “Do you like it?” Jal’tai then asked.

Solonn wasn’t quite sure what to make of his new form; he could still scarcely believe that he actually possessed it. He responded to Jal’tai’s question with a noncommittal noise.

“Well, given time, I’m sure you’ll get used to it,” the latios said as he took the mirror back from Solonn. “Come, now,” he said, offering Solonn a talon to help him up out of bed. “Allow me to show you around your new home and to help you begin to grow accustomed to your new form.”

Not knowing what else to do, Solonn took Jal’tai’s hand and allowed himself to be made acquainted with his surroundings, hoping all the while that he would indeed get used to this new way of life eventually.

On each of the days that followed, Jal’tai paid Solonn a visit, during which he helped Solonn to learn human habits. He brought a series of instructional videos that demonstrated the ways of human life, and he gave Solonn extra tutelage on certain points of those lessons. While Solonn found some of the practices of human beings to be quite strange (particularly where hygiene was concerned), he nonetheless allowed himself to be taught of these habits and picked them up quickly enough for Jal’tai’s liking.

Things carried on fairly smoothly in this manner until the eighth day following Solonn’s transfiguration. Jal’tai had just left after giving a brief lecture to supplement a segment on one of the DVDs, specifically a segment explaining the concept of money. Solonn was sitting in the den, reviewing that segment and trying out of semi-boredom to memorize whose portrait was on each denomination of the paper notes, when a sudden, incredibly strong pain awakened in his head completely without warning.

Solonn shouted in pain and alarm, wondering what in the world could possibly be causing this spontaneous suffering. It worsened with each passing second, making flashing spots explode within his vision and shooting a bolt of nausea down his throat.

Certain that something was terribly wrong, he tried to call Jal’tai, hoping that the latios could get help for him. He reached for the paging device—but as he did so, a powerful spasm tore through his body. His outstretched arm flailed wildly, knocking the device to the floor.

He tried to make a move to pick it back up, but he had still not quite regained control of his muscles. No sooner had he risen from his chair than he collapsed to the floor—and he did not get back up. The last thing that Solonn was aware of before he blacked out completely was a blurred, sideways view of the paging device lying just inches away.

* * *

Jal’tai emerged from his trance, having constructed and packaged a chain of memories to replace the ones that he had quarantined. The latios allowed himself a couple of minutes’ worth of rest before rising and returning to the table where his subject lay.

Once again, he entered the human’s mind and immediately sought out the chronological telltales that identified the memory that directly preceded the ones that he had locked away, showing him where the new memories were to be placed. Very carefully, Jal’tai implanted the chain, made certain its connections to the preceding memories were secure, and then exited the human’s mind once more.

The procedure was now completed. Anxious anticipation spread through Jal’tai’s nerves as he looked upon Solonn, wondering if the work that had just been done had secured the human as a successor or if it had done quite the opposite.

This was the moment of truth, Jal’tai knew—he needed to see if his interference with Solonn’s mind had robbed the human of the Speech. Focusing his psychic abilities, he stirred Solonn’s consciousness within the confines of liasa andielenne but did not truly awaken it. The human shifted slightly in his shackles, turning his still-blank eyes toward Jal’tai. Solonn was now in a state in which he would respond to stimuli and commands while being utterly unaware of doing so.

“Solonn,” Jal’tai addressed him. He held up one hand and pointed two claws toward his own eyes. “What am I pointing at?”

Solonn maintained his empty stare at the latios for a brief moment. Then, “Vhekahr’syin sierahs hivhassen,” he responded inflectionlessly.

Glalie language, Jal’tai noted, unsurprised. Solonn had spoken his own language almost exclusively in all the time that Jal’tai had known him; he was not one to “show off” his linguistic abilities. However, this situation was one that required Solonn to do just that.

“Solonn, this time you will answer in my language,” Jal’tai instructed, then indicated his eyes once again. He had never heard Solonn speak in lati language and was certain that the former glalie had never done so. Jal’tai reckoned that if Solonn could respond in this language, it would be a good indication that his abilities had survived the psychic procedure. “What am I pointing at?” he repeated.

Like the last time the question was posed, there was a delay in Solonn’s response, but it was a longer one than before, making Jal’tai fear that perhaps the human would not be able to respond as instructed. But then, much to Jal’tai’s immense relief, “Catelisi adiele setali assiria,” Solonn answered.

“Oh… oh, thank the Goddess!” Jal’tai exclaimed almost breathlessly, so overjoyed with relief that he broke into tears. The procedure was a complete success—Solonn now possessed memories that would allow him to accept his new purpose and had kept the skills that would allow him to serve it.

Jal’tai released Solonn from both the hypnotic state and liasa andielenne then, allowing the human to lapse fully into unconsciousness. “Rest well, my boy,” Jal’tai said softly. “You’ve certainly earned it.”

Smiling, Jal’tai then turned toward his shrine to Rei’eli and drifted over to it. Once there, he reached down toward the potted autillia flowers and closed his talons around a pair of them, allowing them to fall apart in his hands. He looked up at the serene face of his goddess as he held the handfuls of petals that he now clutched over the fountain, an almost rapturous gratitude showing through his features.

Thank you, Jal’tai prayed silently and sincerely. With all my heart, I thank you. With that, he let the petals fall from his hands, drifting gently down into the water in a symbolic return of the power that he believed that his goddess had lent him.

* * *

“…which came back negative, thankfully… Oh, look, he’s awake!”

Solonn awoke to the sound of the cheerful voice that had just spoken and was greeted with a somewhat blurry view of its owner: standing nearby was a chansey, who was looking at him and smiling. He also awoke to a splitting headache.

“Oh good, good!” said another voice, a much more familiar one. “Could you give the two of us a moment, Miss Teresa?”

“Of course,” the chansey replied amiably, then departed the room, her tail waving behind her as she waddled out of the room.

Groaning softly, Solonn rubbed his eyes to clear them completely, then cast a glance about himself, confused. He found that he was lying in a simple bed in a sterile, white room. He also found that he was not alone; seated at his bedside was an elderly man—Jal’tai in his human guise, Solonn recognized with a slight delay.

“Good morning,” Jal’tai said warmly. “Or, to be more accurate, good late morning,” he amended with a chuckle. “Feeling all right?”

“Ugh… not really,” Solonn answered groggily. “Gods, my head hurts…”

“Hmm,” Jal’tai responded, sounding concerned. “Well, that’s nothing a little aspirin won’t cure, I’d reckon.”

Solonn cradled his aching head in his hands for a moment, hoping that he would be given some of this “aspirin” as soon as possible. “Where am I?” he then asked.

“You’re in the Haven, Solonn,” Jal’tai told him, “our city’s medical center. I brought you here after I found you unconscious on the floor in your suite. I’ve been so worried about you, my boy,” he said earnestly, concern etched into the deep lines of his aged, presently-human face. “You were out cold for nearly four days.”

With some difficulty amid the pain that wracked his head, Solonn managed to recall his last memory of being in that suite, of that evening when he had been suddenly stricken with a headache that was even worse than the one that he was suffering now and had subsequently passed out. “What in the world happened to me back there?” he asked. “Gods, it scared me half to death…”

“I’m afraid that what you experienced was a side effect of your transfiguration,” Jal’tai said. “That sort of a change can put quite a lot of stress on a body, and sometimes that stress can sneak up on you and hit you all at once—sometimes immediately, sometimes with a bit of a delay, but usually never.”

He sighed. “What you experienced is a rare occurrence indeed; I had truthfully not expected that it would happen. It usually only occurs in the wake of transfigurations performed by less-than-skilled users… I assure you that I am well-practiced in the art, but I fear that age may have deteriorated my skills somewhat. I sincerely apologize for the suffering this has caused you,” he said somberly, lowering his head.

“Mmm,” Solonn said dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. You said you hadn’t expected this to happen.”

Jal’tai gave a small, reserved smile in acknowledgment of the human’s forgiveness. “You’re too kind,” he said gratefully. “Anyhow… as I mentioned, this is a very rare occurrence, and as such, I don’t expect it will happen again. However, just to be safe, I have enlisted the services of someone who possesses abilities that should help to keep you relaxed and well in both body and mind. Her name is Neleng, and I have made an appointment for her to come and visit you tonight. She can also offer a session any and every night after if you so wish.”

“Okay,” Solonn said, grateful for anything that might prevent him from going through this unpleasant experience again.

Jal’tai stood then—or more accurately, his human mirage appeared to stand. “So, then. Do you think you’re up to resuming your education as a human?”

“Yeah… yeah, I think so,” Solonn answered. “Although I think I’d like to get some of that ‘aspirin’ you were talking about first,” he added.

Jal’tai laughed brightly. “Ah, good,” he said, smiling. “Yes, I think we can safely say that all the unpleasantness is behind you now.”

* * *

Not long after awakening, Solonn was released from the Haven. He stepped out into the early afternoon under an overcast sky. A light rain was falling, making pattering noises against the wide, burgundy umbrella that Jal’tai had given him. There was an identical umbrella in the hand of Jal’tai’s human mirage, but whether the latios was actually holding one or simply projecting an image of one and letting the rain fall on him without a care, Solonn couldn’t tell.

A long, sleek, black car waited in the parking lot in front of the hospital; as Jal’tai and Solonn reached it, a uniformed human stepped out of the vehicle and opened a door on either side in the back of the car for the two of them. Solonn took a seat within the car, while Jal’tai went around the back of the car and entered from the opposite side (though in actuality, he was only projecting his human mirage into the vehicle while he hovered above the car outside). The chauffeur closed the doors, then took his seat behind the wheel. Jal’tai’s mirage smiled at Solonn from its place beside him as the vehicle left the parking lot and set off toward the Convergence Inn.

Solonn stared idly out through the window during the ride, watching the urban scenery race past through a veil of autumn rain. As he did so, a most peculiar notion came over his mind: a sense of wondering how he had gotten there, how things had come to be just as they presently were. He was briefly puzzled by it, but then dismissed the momentary confusion as just some temporary malfunction of his mental faculties, some brief and harmless aftereffect of his recent malady that might never happen again. He gave it no further thought, just glad and grateful that the worst of it was over, and serenely allowed the wheels to carry him home.

_________________________

*proffers basket of Visine* Heh heh heh…

It would appear that I have chosen to completely forsake both the “language consisting of the species’ name” route and the “language consisting of animalistic cries” route. Fear not, though—for the record, something of one of those established forms of pokémon speech (specifically the latter version) is kept in my fics.

In these fics, humans generally do not, for whatever reason, perceive pokémon speech as it actually is. What humans hear instead basically amounts to the pokémon cries as heard in the games (or more “lifelike” versions thereof, perhaps). This is why Oth is described as sounding the way it does when it speaks: it’s meant to represent the sort of odd, low, rattling cry claydol have in-game.

Please note that this does not mean that I demand for anyone else to handle pokémon speech the same way I do—I’m not going to give any of you or any other author a hard time about how you or they handle pokémon speech. I respect the personal preferences and choices of individual authors with regards to their own work.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the “glalie language” Solonn used was not Alvayan; it was just a native glalie-language, specifically that of the Virc. Although… it does have a relation to Alvayan—but that’s a matter for another time. ;)

Next time: A new era will soon begin in the city of Convergence... See you then!

- Sike Saner

[PsiUmbreon]

Blah... modifying someone's memories? freaky.

*wonders how the hell Solonn will ever get out of the Latios' power* Seriously... *can't wait to read more*

BTW does this mean you'll be on AIM again? ^^

[Xiang]

Golden Moments:

Then, he cast a tendril of his Psychic power out and projected it into that destination. A fraction of a second later, the Psychic force reeled both he and Solonn in towards it, and with a burst of golden-hued Psychic energy, the two of them Teleported out of the office.

An instant later, the citrine light drained from Solonn’s vision, revealing the scene that had replaced his prior surroundings.

Awesome. I've always wondered how they teleport *snap* just like that, I guess this is how. Awesome and creative.

On a vast, marble panel mounted into the far wall, an image of a Latias stood out in relief. She was depicted hovering in place, her arms outstretched, with a benevolent smile curving across her semi-avian face. Her scales were accented with inlaid gold, making her image shine in the warm, gentle lighting. At her feet, a multitude of delicate-looking, fluffy white flowers sat in elaborately carved, earthen pots. They surrounded a tiny, shallow pool, at whose center a small fountain continually flowed, gently churning the water with a soft murmuring.

Very pretty image here and so well put out. I'm there.

In contrast to the beautiful and benevolent image of the Latias on the other side of the room,

Yes...worship the great Ratiasu- Latias.

Solonn learned in an instant that he had not imagined the strange light that he had seen within the Latios’s eyes minutes earlier. There it was again, just as before, but now that it remained burning within the Dragon’s eyes rather than extinguishing itself just as soon as it had come, Solonn was able to witness more of its peculiar qualities. As if bewitched, his gaze fixed upon the way that the light in Jal’tai’s eyes pulsed and swirled arrhythmically, constantly shifting its color and intensity in its chaotic dance.

Gold.

I'll stop quoting here. This just gets weirder by the moment, and eventually I'll explode in confusion. @_@ Thank God for brains.

...

[PDL]

very intriging chapter, it made me think of two things

Acid trips and brain surgery.

I also loved the way you've described the mindscape of Solonn

also rewrite of Solonn's memory was quite well done, it's good that you get the feeling that it seems totally false while it's not so obvious that Solonn knows when he wakes up from his coma.

BTW, is Jal'tai still the "bad guy" here? surely he must have learned something about the way he treated poor Solonn...

[Luphinid Silnaek]

Yay, first - second - third... fourth... post...

Okay, this is the last straw. Transfiguring him was fine, torturing him into submission was was... well... okay, but now he's BRAINWASHED him! I was restraining my doubts about Jal'tai, but I can do that no more now. I mean, he's turned Solonn into a Matrix character, for crying out loud! Something should have told him not to take away the last thing Solonn had - his own free will - but there seems to be nothing!

*calms down* Well, okay, maybe that's a bit of an overreaction. Really, it could be possible that Solonn eventually Detransfigures back into his former self - after completing his Convergence duties, that is - and returns to his home. Although that would be if Jal'tai isn't lying about the Detransfiguring thing (which is probably not even a word), if there are no more impediments in his journey, and if Jal'tai even restores Solonn's memory - or even if Jal'tai is even there to do it. That's a lot of if's...

Once again, you have proved to me that it doesn't take words only the author knows to make a good story; that it is possible to keep readers hooked without compromising the quality of the aphorisms and words in the story. Once again, I was amazed that I found only two errors, and only this once has my post sounded so much like Typhlogirl's. Meh. By the way, yes, I would like PM notifications.

The errors:

Jal’tai uttered a soft, troubled sound then as he turned away from Solonn, seeming to have lost the will to look upon his captive’s tormented face any longer. He hovered there in place for several moments on end, seemingly staring at the shining image of the Latias who smiled back at him from across the room. Then, the Dragon lowered his head, and a beat later, he turned back towards Solonn with abnormal haste, as if trying to execute the action before he had a chance to be aware of what he was doing.

Annhilate said word. Or, if you like, change the sentence structure a bit.

The maelstrom of light and color expanded outward from the Dragon’s eyes then in a sudden, fitful burst, first spreading over his downy coat entirely, then proceeding to wash over the entire room. Jal’tai was now only discernible as a vague outline, camouflaged in the psychedelic colors that had consumed everything in sight; were it not for his slight motion in midair as he breathed, Solonn might have easily lost sight of him.

Ditto.

And now for some things that struck me:

In a literal flash, the solitude of his unbeing was broken, denying him the luxury of melding into the surrounding nothingness. A shapeless, luminous body shone like a star within the darkness of the netherscape, impossible light in a world without vision. With the same suddenness with which it had appeared, it condensed into a form, one that Solonn recognized at once.

He wanted to do that? Must have been in pain!

In the days that followed, Jal’tai paid Solonn a daily visit, during which he helped Solonn to learn Human habits. He brought a series of instructional videos that demonstrated the ways of Human life quite well, and gave Solonn extra tutelage on certain points of these lessons. While Solonn definitely found some of the practices of Human beings to be quite strange (particularly where hygiene was concerned), he nonetheless allowed himself to be taught of these habits, and picked up them fairly quickly.

XDXDXDXDXDXD I can see you got inspired once again.

“You’re in the Haven, Solonn,” Jal’tai told him, “our city’s medical center. I brought you here after I found you unconscious on the floor in your suite. I’ve been so worried about you, my boy,” he said earnestly, concern etched into the deep lines of his aged, presently-Human face. “You were out cold for over two days.”

And

“Oh, good, good!” came another voice, a much more familiar one. “Could you give the two of us a moment, Miss Teresa?”

You seem to like blatant references to TOoS, don't you?

“…I’ll do it,” Solonn spat out, before his trepidation could foil him.

Something tellls me that would have come in reality, too, had Solonn been able to think a bit more clearly.

Sorry I couldn't reply earlier; it was an ungodly time of the morning where I lived when you posted the chapter; I was enjoying an especially buttery parantha right when I was writing this; and my chair broke down again. All in all, keep it up!

[Pinecone Tortoise]

Well... after this chapter, I'm probably the only one thinking "cuddles for Jal'tai, he must be feeling so bad right now". >< Sorry, Sike, he's just too cute.

Solonn took a seat within the car, while Jal’tai went around the back of the car and entered from the opposite side (though in actuality, he was only projecting his Human mirage into the vehicle while he hovered above the car outside).

Because you only said that he was OUTSIDE the car at the END of the sentence, my bizarre imagination churned up the image of 'Latios squished in posh limo in manner reminiscent of 'bonsai cat''. A very ugly reference, but I assure you the mental picture was considerably more cartoonishly-amusing.

Anyway, the way you deal with such complexity and subtlety continues to astonish me. And the effort... you actually typed out what was the content for the past few chapters. It amazes me. @_@

There's probably little point in me commenting on the technical stuff except to say that you continue to churn out brilliant work. Possibly 'protracted' was a little awkward to see so soon in the chapter (in amongst the middle, it probably wouldn't have gotten a second glance). Oh, and the languages! They seem so... fitting... for their speakers. The Lati one is beautiful! However, the Glalie one makes me think of Vikings. O.O *just realises that Glalie horns make them look like viking helmets* Is that why they talk like that? Cause Glalies look like Vikings?

*Pictures Glalies out at sea in a long boat with a Snorunt strapped to the front (helm?) as a figurehead. The Snorunt is squirming slightly, but nothing else is happening. The sea is still and glassy and just above it, a mist curls and twists in haunting shapes. A few tiny ripples spread out from the boat, but that's from the waves lapping at the sides, not cause the boat is moving, cause it isn't. Then one of the Glalie crew, presumably brighter than the rest, pipes up,

"Wait, what are we supposed to row with?"*

@_@





...uh, considering that I've just blatantly ignored your main character, promoted Jal'tai as 'teh cuddliest, cutest, most wuvvable and fuzzly character in the story!', littered the page with irrelevant and disturbing mental images and claimed your fave pokemon look like Vikings, I might just leave now. *Makes effort to say something nice about Solonn* He's cute when he's crying? >< *winces* Sorry. I'll just leave now. Please don't hurt me.

Good luck and fun to you, as always!

Piney.

[Terria]

@ @
X
You really weren't joking.I had to rub my eyes after that!
poor Solonn.....
having your memories erased and replaced is the worst that can happen to ANYONE.I'm starting to hate that annoying, disgusting, atrocious, british barette and umbrella carrying Jai'tai!
AwWWwwwwwwSoME use of creative stuff there though.Loved it.
To me,your waiting time is getting longer & longer but ya chappies get longer & longer and more creative and more wunderful and......
Keep it up!!

[Morpher01]

....

DEATH TO JAL'TAI!! DEATH TO JAL'TAI!! DEATH TO JAL'TAI!!!

Seriously. The guy's erasing and replacing memories. HE MUST DIE FOR HIS.....uh......BRITISHNESS!!! Oh, and his evil mind control powers, too.

Even though the awesome "Monty Python" came from Britain.

Anyway, I haven't gotten what the Smeargle gang was, back in an earlier chapter....where'd they come from?

Oh, and.....*sends Skull the Shadow Marowak after Jal'Tai again* Go, Skull! BRING BACK SOLONN'S REAL MEMORIES!!!! Oh, and POUND THE LIFE OUT OF THAT **** ****ING ***** OF A LATIOS!!!!

Ahem.

Anyway......KEEP WRITING OR I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND.....uh.....PREFORM THE FISH-SLAPPING DANCE!!!

[whit19]

I always liked the idea of erasing someone's memory and replacin em with false memories. The description was vivid as always and kept me readin! I couldn't imagine Solonn's incredible pain, I mean an attack that hurts all your senses?! OUCH! I'd wish for death too.

Needless ta say, you did a great job! I neva thought the story would come to somethin like this...

[Kthleen]

Oh man. Like DragonFire2, I too can no longer restrain my doubts about Jal'tai. I mean, I guess I can understand why he's doing it (and it certainly does sound like a noble endeavor), but I'm afraid I just can't seem to sympathize. I bet it's because "Solonn's the good guy (=not noticeably evil protagonist), and Jal'tai's doing really bad stuff to Solonn, so Jal'tai's the really bad bad guy." (I swear, I need to deepen my thought processes.... )

I wonder if he's telling the truth about Solonn being able to change back. I have a feeling he is, for some reason. I just feel like he wouldn't have told Solonn such a lie, even though... he was in the midst of totally reconstructing parts of Solonn's memories.... There's no purpose to it, unless he was merely trying to comfort him and planned on 1. erasing the lie later or 2. not really doing anything because he thought a. he would be dead by then or b. puny human can't do anything to him.

[Sike Saner]

PsiUmbreon:

*wonders how the hell Solonn will ever get out of the Latios' power* Seriously...

    Spoiler:

Show Spoiler

 
Heh heh… how indeed…
 

Ratiasu:

I've always wondered how they teleport *snap* just like that, I guess this is how.

I’d wondered, too, so I decided to stop and think about it, and that’s what I came up with, and pretty spontaneously, actually. I was a little concerned that that explanation might not work in text, but I guess it did. ^^

PDL:

very intriging chapter, it made me think of two things

Acid trips and brain surgery.

XD I think I kind of had similar things on the brain when I wrote this, actually.

BTW, is Jal'tai still the "bad guy" here?

IMO, it’s actually debatable whether or not he even really fell under the category of a “bad guy”, at least in the conventional sense.

DragonFire2: Thanks for finding this:

denying him the luxury of melding into the surrounding nothingness

That was actually a remnant from the old version that had somehow managed to escape the last battery of revisions. Thanks for helping me exterminate it. ^^

You seem to like blatant references to TOoS, don't you?

Yes. Yes, I do. XD

Pinecone Tortoise:

Because you only said that he was OUTSIDE the car at the END of the sentence, my bizarre imagination churned up the image of 'Latios squished in posh limo in manner reminiscent of 'bonsai cat''. A very ugly reference, but I assure you the mental picture was considerably more cartoonishly-amusing.

XD I can totally envision that… But anyway, yeah, I did have to stop and think about how Jal’tai, with his HUGE, RIGID WINGS, could ride in a car. And the answer was, quite simply, he can’t. X3 So he projects ol’ “Colonel Sanders” into the car in his place and just flies outside. XD

And the effort... you actually typed out what was the content for the past few chapters. It amazes me. @_@

Be glad I revised this story--in the original version, those events were not typed out. It basically just told what all Jal’tai changed--“instead of ____, _____”. X3; …Well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it was almost that lame and skimpy. That whole section was only three paragraphs long in the old version.

Oh, and the languages! They seem so... fitting... for their speakers.

Yeah, that was my intent exactly: to come up with words that seemed fitting for their speakers. ^^

And I think the glalie in the boat should totally be made into a comic; that’d be awesome. I especially love the squirming snorunt figurehead. ^^

Terria: *new reviewer alarm goes off* FWEE! ^^

Poor Jal’tai… he’s made so many enemies around here… X3

Morpher01: Thanks for reminding me of the fish-slapping dance… XD

Anyway, I haven't gotten what the Smeargle gang was, back in an earlier chapter....where'd they come from?

The smeargle came from from my previous fic, The Origin of Storms.


Don’t be British-bashing, though. That’s not cool. =(

whit19:

I couldn't imagine Solonn's incredible pain, I mean an attack that hurts all your senses?! OUCH! I'd wish for death too.

Yeah, that would definitely suck for sure. XP

Kthleen:

I wonder if he's telling the truth about Solonn being able to change back. I have a feeling he is, for some reason. I just feel like he wouldn't have told Solonn such a lie, even though... he was in the midst of totally reconstructing parts of Solonn's memories.... There's no purpose to it, unless he was merely trying to comfort him and planned on 1. erasing the lie later or 2. not really doing anything because he thought a. he would be dead by then or b. puny human can't do anything to him.

    Spoiler:

Show Spoiler

 
Ah, yes. The promise of reversion. We shall see how that whole thing plays out...
 

[Brian Powell]

*Impressed whistle* Impressive. You keep getting descriptive and the length keeps getting longer with each chapter. Although, I did spot a couple of spelling/grammar mistakes.

The Latios lifted Solonn slightly higher into the air, then began guiding him backwards – towards that table,

Place the word ‘he’ between those two.

The Latios’s already troubled expression suddenly become even moreso.

Try the word ‘became’ or ‘becomes’. See if one of these two makes sense.

but Solonn was given little time to look upon it wonder about it before Jal’tai turned away from him.

Wondering.

And since Jal’tai was the this city’s leader,

You can only have one of these words.

What’s striking me most right now is Jal’tai. Before reading this chapter, I thought that he wouldn’t stoop any lower. Obviously his intentions are good because it’s for the good of pokemon and humans but I strongly disagree with his methods of choosing a candidate. First, he changes a pokemon into a human without his permission, then he comforts him, and then he blocks out his memory and replaces them with some fake ones, now he feels guilty. I'm beginning to think that he will one day lose respect of others because of what he did, if he isn't already. I predict he passes away first before Solonn regains his memory (he probably will but you’re the author so…) otherwise… Solonn not happy.

One more thing, those bashing the British knock it off!

[metal_chimaera]

Wow, wow, wow....

I kinda understand now how this chapter took so long... you wrote a new chap plus the older chapter...

So yeah, new Chapter with new improved descriptions and improved olength... I guess we've said that enough times now

I really liked to whole thing about the "light" (which is usually used in a positive context) being all negative and all. It had an ironic feel to it all.

I especially loved the different languages that were attributed to the different species, the glalie/snorunt language sounding all slithery and raw while the lati@s language sound so noble...

Anyway, I really have to go now
See you
metal_chimaera

PS: I wonder how many other references to TOoS there will be... I guess the Weezing (canm't remember its name ) is to come, and maybe Karo?... Only time will tell I guess...

[Kaizer]

For such a long chapter and me taking so long to finally get to it, you're getting an awfully short review.

I rather liked it- a lot actually. Though I have an inclination that Solonn's going to figure something wrong more than a little faster than Jal'tai planned on. Those memories just didn't seem all that realistic to me. That and the whole "wear off in 8-10 years" thing. I highly doubt that he'd give up his successor after 10 years.

So umm, yeah. It was a nice chapter, but what's going to happen with Morgan still?

[Typhlogirl]

O_O OMG JAL'TAI LIKE TORTURED SOLONN!

I KNEW IT!! AHA!!! YOU CAN'T FOOL ME SIKE!!

XD

Real review time now plz.

Well, I knew that Jal'tai was going to do something to Solonn's memory, probably re-write it or something, but that was intense. As usual, your infuriatingly perfect description set the scene beautifully. The characters were great, as was the flow.

Your suffering ends here, Jal’tai told him consolingly. I will now ensure that you will struggle no more.
What are you going to do to me? Solonn asked fearfully.

I could tell you, the Dragon replied, but you would not learn.

Solonn knows he's screwed now! O_O XD

I also liked the addition of the statue of the Latias. I wonder if she was actually related to Jal'tai? Maybe sister, mate...*shrugs* But I have an inkling she might appear somewhere. Don't ask me why, because I am probably wrong, but I just feel like she might. O_o

What in heaven’s name came over me? he wondered, aghast. …By the Goddess…I nearly killed him…

He realises this now. Good work. It would have been a bit late if Solonn had stopped moving, eh? Then you would have been in trouble! *imagines the Latios poking a comatose Solonn with his umbrel-HAND!! and saying 'Solonn? Erm, Solonn? Why are you sleeping?'* XDDDDDD

I'm sorry, I just dislike Jal'tai a lot. Don't hate me. ;_; And it seems I've convinced everyone that he is British. XDDDDD

Anyway, this chapter was very, very disturbing Sike. I do hope that Solonn recovers his memories quickly, so he can beat up Jal'tai.

Is that the only reason? Yes it is.

Bye now!!

-

[Sike Saner]

Brian Powell:

I'm beginning to think that he will one day lose respect of others because of what he did, if he isn't already.

Perhaps.     Spoiler:

Show Spoiler

 
Of course, for that to happen, his misdeeds would need to be brought to light to more people. I would say that anyone in the context of the story who has any clue at this point about what he's doing in the name of securing a successor (and I doubt that anyone involved with him has the full picture) supports his actions.
 

And thanks for finding those errors. Consider them dead and buried. X3

metal_chimaera:

I really liked to whole thing about the "light" (which is usually used in a positive context) being all negative and all. It had an ironic feel to it all.

I like it too. ^^ After all, why should light be given only a positive context? Who ever heard of getting skin cancer from darkness? X3

I wonder how many other references to TOoS there will be... I guess the Weezing (canm't remember its name ) is to come, and maybe Karo?... Only time will tell I guess...

With regards to Faurur:     Spoiler:

Show Spoiler

 
I will say that she (or for the current time in this fic, he) is presently not anywhere near the Convergence area.
 

With regards to Karo... I'm still not going to say anything for certain about him yet. But Lord certainly knows I miss writing that guy; he's just a flipping blast. XD

Kaizer:

Those memories just didn't seem all that realistic to me.

Nor should they; they were dripping with Jal'tai's biases, amounting in a sense to a sort of propaganda for Jal'tai's cause.

Typhlogirl:

OMG JAL'TAI LIKE TORTURED SOLONN!

XD Aw, now, he didn't really torture him--he merely subjected him to a process by which he would be psychically suspended... a process that just so happened to hurt like hell. XP

I wonder if she was actually related to Jal'tai? Maybe sister, mate...*shrugs*

Nope, no relation whatsoever. Rei'eli is a lati religious figure; in the context of this story, lati gods and goddesses are in their own image.

What in heaven’s name came over me? he wondered, aghast. …By the Goddess…I nearly killed him…

He realises this now. Good work. It would have been a bit late if Solonn had stopped moving, eh? Then you would have been in trouble! *imagines the Latios poking a comatose Solonn with his umbrel-HAND!! and saying 'Solonn? Erm, Solonn? Why are you sleeping?'*

XDDDD *sniffle* Oh, mercy... X3

[Dark Latios]

I'm like.. The last reviewer to post here.. Sorry for being late. And my printer broke, so I had to stare at the comp screen all day to read this chap. ._.


OMG Jal'tai is so freaky that he makes me twitch.. How could he do that to Solonn? Pure evil if you ask me! And screwing around with his memories? *Shakes head* Guess there's more to psychic types than even I knew. Good job on making everything sound.. and feel *twitch* so real. XD

The Latias goddess thing was neat too.. I had that feeling that she was more than a statue. *Shrug* I always seem to expect the impossible.

Also, like Kaizer said, I'd like to see what happens to Morgan.. I mean.. during all this time he's been gone, she must have been doing something important. o_0 Or maybe that'll all be told later if Solonn ever finds her again.

Anyway, sorry for the short review.. I had to read everything in three days and I kindas forgot the beginning halves by then. :X
Heh, at least I revived the thread..

[monkeyspoon5]

GRAAHHHHH! Nooooooo!

By the way DL, you aren't the last reviewer it seems. >_<

But honestly, I have to say, that's just completely unfair. That Latios needs his priorities straightened. He's like the communists. They try to get a perfect society and yet they do horrible things to try to do it! Gaah! HATE HATE HATE!!!!!

[Silentvibrava]

I just got around to reading the first chapter, and I must say I'm impressed. It's going to take me a while to read everything, but eventually I will.

I love your choice of vocabulary. It's like an elegant flow of words marvelously strung together.(like that) Not many stories have that appeal to me. It was a delightful read.

I also like the idea about the father Galie leaving, in the begining. I'm going to read more, quote things, maybe two days from now.

[Kiyohime]

OH MY GOD HOES SNAP IT'S FINALLY BACK AND I MISSED SO MUCH OMFGWTFBBQ *headsploxes* LEWKRJJJ VT23P5VUP346U.


AND LATIOS...OMFG. It's like Aldous Huxley and George Orville and Animal Farm and all of those "big brother is watching you" things...o_O;;;

Monkeyspoon, I think you're thinking more of a totalliarian dictatorship. Communism is simply the opposite of capitalism...I THINK. <<;; Yeah.

[monkeyspoon5]

No, I meant the communists, because thewere has been no true communism so far, only dictatorships hidden as communisms. Except for perhaps Cuba.

And this is completely off topic...