Gold.
There is no secret ingredient
Introduction
~
“Welcome back from the break, we’re continuing our coverage of the missing ship known as the S.S. Libra which vanished under mysterious circumstances only just two days ago. Rescuers are conducting an on-going search for the missing people and Pokémon lost at sea, but foul play is expected. We go now to one of the men heading up the case, Detective…” Ryker heard the sound of the TV coming down the hall first. He entered the kitchen, unsurprised to see his grandmother seated at the kitchen table, peeling potatoes and watching the news. She’d had the TV on multiple different news stations since the incident two days ago, and she’d been pretty attentive to it since.
“Why don’t you watch something else, Nana?” he suggested as he strode past her to one of the kitchen drawers. He opened it and fumbled around the miscellaneous items inside. She had to be getting sick of watching the same story over and over. He fished several dirty coins out of the drawer and slipped them into his pocket satisfied.
“Are you kidding? This is the story of the year!” she exclaimed at him from her spot, giving him that look like, ‘do you have to act so young and stupid?’
“Are you going out today?” she asked him before he could reply. Out, Ryker knew, meant out of town.
“Yeah,” he responded with a slight nod. “I’m going down to Gateon to pick up that bike part for Yuri.” Yuri was an acquaintance of Ryker’s who battled at the colosseum sometimes. He lived on the other side of town, and he’d crashed his bike last week and was trying to repair it. He’d had to order the part from elsewhere, but since his bike was totaled, he couldn’t go and get it. Ryker had offered to pick it up for him.
“Good, get some papaya while you’re out,” Nana said without even looking at him. “And don’t you dare forget this time, unless you want to be disowned.”
“I won’t, Nana, I’ll get the papaya,” Ryker promised with a sigh, knowing her threat was an empty one. She always said that ever since he’d forgotten her papaya one time. “I’ll see you in a bit.” he said, then walked towards the front door. He pulled on a long duster hanging on a coat rack and grabbed a set of keys off a nearby hook. Then he opened the door and stepped out into the hot sun.
“Well hey there neighbor.” Keegan was leaning up against the rinky fence that wrapped around Ryker’s yard. An easy smile was spread across his features. “Are you going out?” Keegan reached a hand over the fence. Ryker took it and they did a little bro handshake absentmindedly. Out still meant out of town. Ryker noticed Keegan was wearing a dusty black leather jacket himself.
“Are you?” Ryker asked, quirking a brow at Keegan as he opened the gate and exited his yard. Little bits of sand shifted under his feet as he walked.
Keegan broke into a light laugh. “Well, about that…” He grew serious, so Ryker paid him a little extra attention, knowing whatever he was about to say was important. “Look, people here are starting to get a little bit worried.” Ryker nodded absently, expressionless. He knew that already. “I think maybe you should come out and say something, put people at ease. Y’know, work your usual magic.” His words were light but his tone was grave. Ryker already knew that too. He really did need to make some kind of statement to Pyrite, but he’d been avoiding it. This whole thing was a complete mess. There was so much unwanted international attention that had just landed on Orre it wasn’t even funny. Not to mention the media was stoking people’s fears of crime syndicates and kidnappings. Outside the media, Ryker had asked around town locally a little bit, but nobody had really heard anything so far. One of the guys in the gang had mentioned that he’d heard something about a group called Cipher moving into The Under, but it was unconfirmed. Ryker had been meaning to go down there, but with Pyrite on the edge of hysteria, he couldn’t risk going down there and vanishing for a few days right now. Even the criminals he knew were uneasy about the whole thing. “Anyway,” Keegan continued. “That aside, something fishy is obviously going on here. How is it possible to move a whole cargo liner in one go? And why go to that kind of trouble?” he questioned. “If somebody is about to make a move in our region, I think we should know about it.” Nothing needed to be said. Both men already knew that the other felt the very same way. They had people they needed to protect here, and Ryker knew the rest of the world sure as hell wasn’t going to help them. That’s how Orre had always been, they had to take care of themselves. “I heard you’re going into Gateon for Yuri. I figured I’d roll with you and we can ask around a bit.” By ask around, Keegan probably meant bully sailors for information. “I mean, the ship was supposed to dock there. Maybe somebody knows something.”
A smirk graced Ryker’s features. “I… may or may not have been planning something to that effect already.” It was true; going to get a bike part in Gateon was perfect cover traveling out that way. Nobody was going to ask any questions about it because he was doing someone a favor. It was normal. Then, once he got there, he could hit up some of the seedier dive bars and ask a few questions. This, although he’d never admit it out loud, was better though. Back-up was always good, and Keegan was really good at being back-up.
At Ryker’s words, Keegan grinned. “Yeah. I figured you were.” They started walking towards the edge of town, where their bikes were usually parked.
“We need to be careful about this,” Ryker stated as they walked. “If something really is going on, we don’t want these people to know we’re on their trail.” Keegan nodded absently and waved the instructions off. Ryker took no offense. They’d done stuff like this before, and keeping to the shadows benefitted them more for the element of surprise than anything else. They’d gone up against some dangerous people, but none of them deadly enough to take them down. Despite what was up, Ryker wasn’t presently overly worried about the whole scenario.
He didn’t know then how deep the darkness they’d be facing was.
The pair reached the line of bikes and headed for their own, parked next to each other. The bikes the Arboks road were specially designed for the desert, and usually didn’t have trouble traversing it. Ryker swung a leg over his and started it up. Keegan did the same, and the two were roaring off under the morning sun, heading west towards Gateon Port.
~
Ryker
~
It was approximately a four hour drive (with good weather) to Gateon from Pyrite. The two had parked up outside the port and had been in the city for around an hour now. They’d meandered around a little bit, talking with some sailors and some of the local residents they knew, hit a few sketchy dive bars… nothing had come up. Presently, they had gone down to the docks themselves and were right out in the open of most ships and incoming seafarers. Ryker stood at a stall selling fresh catches, chatting with the fish monger. He wasn’t planning on buying anything though. “So, have you ever seen anything like that out there?” His tone was conversational, curious. According to a single eyewitness report, the ship was supposedly attacked by some sort of leviathan-like creature. There had been some helicopters involved too, but that was sketchier and not something to ask an open vendor about. But a lot of people were curious about the creature. Ryker was playing that up as natural curiosity. Unfortunately, the old fish monger said he’d never seen anything like what the eyewitness had described. Ryker wasn’t surprised. Not a lot had turned up so far. He wasn’t too disappointed though. Information had a way of eventually getting around in Orre. And, if nothing else, he could head into The Under. There would definitely be something down there to find out.
His quest for a leviathan unsuccessful, Ryker left the fishmonger's stand and ended up near one of the harbor benches. He sighed and leaned his hip against the side of it rather than taking a seat, his arms crossing over his chest. "This really freaking sucks," he thought. He'd already hit up most of his usual informants. Nothing, other than what he already knew. One sailor down at the opera house had mentioned hearing something about some people called Ciper, but nothing concrete. It was something to go on, but still not that great. A light sea breeze stirred his brown hair softly, and he absently brushed it out of his eyes, which were hazy with thought. "The boat might be a good place to start. I mean, there's only so many places you could take a boat that size here." It was possible the people involved had taken the boat to another region, but why not just scoop it up right outside Kanto then? Ryker had a sneaking suspicion that they'd used Orre's desert as a means of hiding their stolen prize. How they had moved it, he had no idea, but still.
A bit of movement immediately caught Ryker's attention. A group of rough-looking sailors had just come out of the dive bar up the wharf, and had started to come this way. Ryker glanced away, uninterested. He knew they wouldn't bother him. He tended to have that affect on people, and both he and Keegan were dressed like they'd come from the desert. Most sailors here knew better than to pick a fight with anyone who came out of the east. Ryker glanced up as another sea breeze tossed his hair, and his amber eyes narrowed a little in surprise when he recognized a Pidgeot flying among the usual Wingull. That was a rare sight. As he watched, the bird Pokemon returned to who must be its trainer, a brown-haired guy lingering on what looked to be a small ferry. Tourists? Now? That struck Ryker as odd, but it was also possible they'd headed to the region without hearing about what had gone on. Still though, strangers in the region at a time like this? That wouldn't bode well, especially knowing how many locals felt about people coming in. Ryker himself hated their presence, and thought they had no business coming into his region.
But it wasn't like he could do anything about it and he had bigger fish to fry right now anyways, so he turned his attention from them, contemplating his next stop on the questioning train instead.
Keegan
~
Meanwhile, a short distance away, Keegan was taking a break. He sat on the edge of the dock, feet dangling off as he sighed. Beside him Gylfie was hooting happily despite the daylight hours--Gateon Port was much cooler than the rest of the region due to the ocean wind, and it seemed the little owl Pokemon was living it up because of that. Unlike Ryker, Keegan was feeling rather dejected. "I mean, I didn’t expect the first person we asked to know something, but literally nobody knows anything!" he thought to himself in frustration. He watched with a slight frown as as some sailors stumbled wearily up one of the wharf walkways, heading towards one of the restaurants further up along the bay. A cool breeze stirred his hair, which he found nice. Gylfie wasn't the only one who relished in getting a break from the otherwise typically oppressive heat. Movement caught his attention, and Keegan’s eyes flicked to a small ship from which people were disembarking. What interested him was that these people weren’t dressed as sailors. They looked… normal? Keegan was surprised, and instantly a little suspicious. Orre wasn’t exactly a popular vacation spot. They did get tourists from time to time, but now? Why now? Especially after a ship had literally just disappeared.
The gears in his head turned quickly and he relaxed as a solution come to mind. "I bet they have grandparents here." Orre wasn't a great place to live, for the most part. Crime was high and moral was usually low. However, and Keegan didn't know why this was but he'd always wondered, up in the north was Agate Village--a known retirement destination of former elite trainers. The village was full of more or less only old people, that the skillset of the inhabitants was probably why it remained peaceful and undisturbed. Most people wouldn't pick a fight with Ryker--imagine a hundred of him and with 50+ more years of battling experience. From time to time, people around Keegan's age would come by boat to the region in order to visit Agate Village, where their grandparents lived. Those types of visitors, and any other family members, were who made up the bulk of the tourism to Orre.
Aster
~
"Medli, come back!" the young man called lightly, brushing his brown hair out of his eyes as a sea breeze stirred around. The large Pidgeot cried an acknowledgement of his request and began looping through the skies, scattering a flock of Wingull, and descending towards the waiting trainer. Aster held out the corresponding Pokeball and Medli was enveloped and transformed is he was returned to his metal home. He tried to let Medli out to stretch his wings whenever possible. Despite being a large, conspicuous Pokemon too, Medli was doubly helpful in that he could fly and be happy, but also keep a look out for any dangerous people that might be after their group. That was how the had ended up on this boat in the first place, anyway. Smiling, Aster turned to Reya. "Ready to figure out where we are?" When some obvious henchmen of Reya's mother had appeared in the town they were visiting in Kanto, the two had bolted right away, sneaking onto the ship they were currently on. They'd his, at first, behind some cargo. But when a lot of other trainers started lingering around the deck, it had become easier to blend in and make it seem like they were supposed to be there.
Aster had overhead someone mention the name "Orre," so he figured that must be the region thay were in. But he didn't know much about it--in all os his schooling, he didn't remember learning about a place like that. All he knew was that Kalos was far, far away. But that was fine by him, too. Aster reached down to where his backpack was propped and shoved the magazine he'd been looking through inside. The paper-bound booklet in question had been picked up at random at a store somewhere back in Kanto. It was colorful, and had pictures of Pokemon, along with articles and interviews with big-name, professional trainers. Aster had taken to reading it when they had a little downtime, being really interested in the trainers--those people were far cooler than any stuffy old duke could ever be. Picking up his bag, he slung it over one shoulder, and then the other, before clipping Medli's Pokeball back to his belt. Like always, he quickly scanned the faces of the people on the dock, taking note of mannerism, clothes, expressions--but he didn't see anyone that looked like they'd been sent by the Mills Corp. "We should look for some food. I'm starving!" he told Reya, beaming. At first, it had been a little harder switching over to her new name. But the possible consequences of what would happen if he messed it up had been enough to quickly train him to have an R rolling off his tongue instead of an S.
~
“Welcome back from the break, we’re continuing our coverage of the missing ship known as the S.S. Libra which vanished under mysterious circumstances only just two days ago. Rescuers are conducting an on-going search for the missing people and Pokémon lost at sea, but foul play is expected. We go now to one of the men heading up the case, Detective…” Ryker heard the sound of the TV coming down the hall first. He entered the kitchen, unsurprised to see his grandmother seated at the kitchen table, peeling potatoes and watching the news. She’d had the TV on multiple different news stations since the incident two days ago, and she’d been pretty attentive to it since.
“Why don’t you watch something else, Nana?” he suggested as he strode past her to one of the kitchen drawers. He opened it and fumbled around the miscellaneous items inside. She had to be getting sick of watching the same story over and over. He fished several dirty coins out of the drawer and slipped them into his pocket satisfied.
“Are you kidding? This is the story of the year!” she exclaimed at him from her spot, giving him that look like, ‘do you have to act so young and stupid?’
“Are you going out today?” she asked him before he could reply. Out, Ryker knew, meant out of town.
“Yeah,” he responded with a slight nod. “I’m going down to Gateon to pick up that bike part for Yuri.” Yuri was an acquaintance of Ryker’s who battled at the colosseum sometimes. He lived on the other side of town, and he’d crashed his bike last week and was trying to repair it. He’d had to order the part from elsewhere, but since his bike was totaled, he couldn’t go and get it. Ryker had offered to pick it up for him.
“Good, get some papaya while you’re out,” Nana said without even looking at him. “And don’t you dare forget this time, unless you want to be disowned.”
“I won’t, Nana, I’ll get the papaya,” Ryker promised with a sigh, knowing her threat was an empty one. She always said that ever since he’d forgotten her papaya one time. “I’ll see you in a bit.” he said, then walked towards the front door. He pulled on a long duster hanging on a coat rack and grabbed a set of keys off a nearby hook. Then he opened the door and stepped out into the hot sun.
“Well hey there neighbor.” Keegan was leaning up against the rinky fence that wrapped around Ryker’s yard. An easy smile was spread across his features. “Are you going out?” Keegan reached a hand over the fence. Ryker took it and they did a little bro handshake absentmindedly. Out still meant out of town. Ryker noticed Keegan was wearing a dusty black leather jacket himself.
“Are you?” Ryker asked, quirking a brow at Keegan as he opened the gate and exited his yard. Little bits of sand shifted under his feet as he walked.
Keegan broke into a light laugh. “Well, about that…” He grew serious, so Ryker paid him a little extra attention, knowing whatever he was about to say was important. “Look, people here are starting to get a little bit worried.” Ryker nodded absently, expressionless. He knew that already. “I think maybe you should come out and say something, put people at ease. Y’know, work your usual magic.” His words were light but his tone was grave. Ryker already knew that too. He really did need to make some kind of statement to Pyrite, but he’d been avoiding it. This whole thing was a complete mess. There was so much unwanted international attention that had just landed on Orre it wasn’t even funny. Not to mention the media was stoking people’s fears of crime syndicates and kidnappings. Outside the media, Ryker had asked around town locally a little bit, but nobody had really heard anything so far. One of the guys in the gang had mentioned that he’d heard something about a group called Cipher moving into The Under, but it was unconfirmed. Ryker had been meaning to go down there, but with Pyrite on the edge of hysteria, he couldn’t risk going down there and vanishing for a few days right now. Even the criminals he knew were uneasy about the whole thing. “Anyway,” Keegan continued. “That aside, something fishy is obviously going on here. How is it possible to move a whole cargo liner in one go? And why go to that kind of trouble?” he questioned. “If somebody is about to make a move in our region, I think we should know about it.” Nothing needed to be said. Both men already knew that the other felt the very same way. They had people they needed to protect here, and Ryker knew the rest of the world sure as hell wasn’t going to help them. That’s how Orre had always been, they had to take care of themselves. “I heard you’re going into Gateon for Yuri. I figured I’d roll with you and we can ask around a bit.” By ask around, Keegan probably meant bully sailors for information. “I mean, the ship was supposed to dock there. Maybe somebody knows something.”
A smirk graced Ryker’s features. “I… may or may not have been planning something to that effect already.” It was true; going to get a bike part in Gateon was perfect cover traveling out that way. Nobody was going to ask any questions about it because he was doing someone a favor. It was normal. Then, once he got there, he could hit up some of the seedier dive bars and ask a few questions. This, although he’d never admit it out loud, was better though. Back-up was always good, and Keegan was really good at being back-up.
At Ryker’s words, Keegan grinned. “Yeah. I figured you were.” They started walking towards the edge of town, where their bikes were usually parked.
“We need to be careful about this,” Ryker stated as they walked. “If something really is going on, we don’t want these people to know we’re on their trail.” Keegan nodded absently and waved the instructions off. Ryker took no offense. They’d done stuff like this before, and keeping to the shadows benefitted them more for the element of surprise than anything else. They’d gone up against some dangerous people, but none of them deadly enough to take them down. Despite what was up, Ryker wasn’t presently overly worried about the whole scenario.
He didn’t know then how deep the darkness they’d be facing was.
The pair reached the line of bikes and headed for their own, parked next to each other. The bikes the Arboks road were specially designed for the desert, and usually didn’t have trouble traversing it. Ryker swung a leg over his and started it up. Keegan did the same, and the two were roaring off under the morning sun, heading west towards Gateon Port.
~
Ryker
~
It was approximately a four hour drive (with good weather) to Gateon from Pyrite. The two had parked up outside the port and had been in the city for around an hour now. They’d meandered around a little bit, talking with some sailors and some of the local residents they knew, hit a few sketchy dive bars… nothing had come up. Presently, they had gone down to the docks themselves and were right out in the open of most ships and incoming seafarers. Ryker stood at a stall selling fresh catches, chatting with the fish monger. He wasn’t planning on buying anything though. “So, have you ever seen anything like that out there?” His tone was conversational, curious. According to a single eyewitness report, the ship was supposedly attacked by some sort of leviathan-like creature. There had been some helicopters involved too, but that was sketchier and not something to ask an open vendor about. But a lot of people were curious about the creature. Ryker was playing that up as natural curiosity. Unfortunately, the old fish monger said he’d never seen anything like what the eyewitness had described. Ryker wasn’t surprised. Not a lot had turned up so far. He wasn’t too disappointed though. Information had a way of eventually getting around in Orre. And, if nothing else, he could head into The Under. There would definitely be something down there to find out.
His quest for a leviathan unsuccessful, Ryker left the fishmonger's stand and ended up near one of the harbor benches. He sighed and leaned his hip against the side of it rather than taking a seat, his arms crossing over his chest. "This really freaking sucks," he thought. He'd already hit up most of his usual informants. Nothing, other than what he already knew. One sailor down at the opera house had mentioned hearing something about some people called Ciper, but nothing concrete. It was something to go on, but still not that great. A light sea breeze stirred his brown hair softly, and he absently brushed it out of his eyes, which were hazy with thought. "The boat might be a good place to start. I mean, there's only so many places you could take a boat that size here." It was possible the people involved had taken the boat to another region, but why not just scoop it up right outside Kanto then? Ryker had a sneaking suspicion that they'd used Orre's desert as a means of hiding their stolen prize. How they had moved it, he had no idea, but still.
A bit of movement immediately caught Ryker's attention. A group of rough-looking sailors had just come out of the dive bar up the wharf, and had started to come this way. Ryker glanced away, uninterested. He knew they wouldn't bother him. He tended to have that affect on people, and both he and Keegan were dressed like they'd come from the desert. Most sailors here knew better than to pick a fight with anyone who came out of the east. Ryker glanced up as another sea breeze tossed his hair, and his amber eyes narrowed a little in surprise when he recognized a Pidgeot flying among the usual Wingull. That was a rare sight. As he watched, the bird Pokemon returned to who must be its trainer, a brown-haired guy lingering on what looked to be a small ferry. Tourists? Now? That struck Ryker as odd, but it was also possible they'd headed to the region without hearing about what had gone on. Still though, strangers in the region at a time like this? That wouldn't bode well, especially knowing how many locals felt about people coming in. Ryker himself hated their presence, and thought they had no business coming into his region.
But it wasn't like he could do anything about it and he had bigger fish to fry right now anyways, so he turned his attention from them, contemplating his next stop on the questioning train instead.
Keegan
~
Meanwhile, a short distance away, Keegan was taking a break. He sat on the edge of the dock, feet dangling off as he sighed. Beside him Gylfie was hooting happily despite the daylight hours--Gateon Port was much cooler than the rest of the region due to the ocean wind, and it seemed the little owl Pokemon was living it up because of that. Unlike Ryker, Keegan was feeling rather dejected. "I mean, I didn’t expect the first person we asked to know something, but literally nobody knows anything!" he thought to himself in frustration. He watched with a slight frown as as some sailors stumbled wearily up one of the wharf walkways, heading towards one of the restaurants further up along the bay. A cool breeze stirred his hair, which he found nice. Gylfie wasn't the only one who relished in getting a break from the otherwise typically oppressive heat. Movement caught his attention, and Keegan’s eyes flicked to a small ship from which people were disembarking. What interested him was that these people weren’t dressed as sailors. They looked… normal? Keegan was surprised, and instantly a little suspicious. Orre wasn’t exactly a popular vacation spot. They did get tourists from time to time, but now? Why now? Especially after a ship had literally just disappeared.
The gears in his head turned quickly and he relaxed as a solution come to mind. "I bet they have grandparents here." Orre wasn't a great place to live, for the most part. Crime was high and moral was usually low. However, and Keegan didn't know why this was but he'd always wondered, up in the north was Agate Village--a known retirement destination of former elite trainers. The village was full of more or less only old people, that the skillset of the inhabitants was probably why it remained peaceful and undisturbed. Most people wouldn't pick a fight with Ryker--imagine a hundred of him and with 50+ more years of battling experience. From time to time, people around Keegan's age would come by boat to the region in order to visit Agate Village, where their grandparents lived. Those types of visitors, and any other family members, were who made up the bulk of the tourism to Orre.
Aster
~
"Medli, come back!" the young man called lightly, brushing his brown hair out of his eyes as a sea breeze stirred around. The large Pidgeot cried an acknowledgement of his request and began looping through the skies, scattering a flock of Wingull, and descending towards the waiting trainer. Aster held out the corresponding Pokeball and Medli was enveloped and transformed is he was returned to his metal home. He tried to let Medli out to stretch his wings whenever possible. Despite being a large, conspicuous Pokemon too, Medli was doubly helpful in that he could fly and be happy, but also keep a look out for any dangerous people that might be after their group. That was how the had ended up on this boat in the first place, anyway. Smiling, Aster turned to Reya. "Ready to figure out where we are?" When some obvious henchmen of Reya's mother had appeared in the town they were visiting in Kanto, the two had bolted right away, sneaking onto the ship they were currently on. They'd his, at first, behind some cargo. But when a lot of other trainers started lingering around the deck, it had become easier to blend in and make it seem like they were supposed to be there.
Aster had overhead someone mention the name "Orre," so he figured that must be the region thay were in. But he didn't know much about it--in all os his schooling, he didn't remember learning about a place like that. All he knew was that Kalos was far, far away. But that was fine by him, too. Aster reached down to where his backpack was propped and shoved the magazine he'd been looking through inside. The paper-bound booklet in question had been picked up at random at a store somewhere back in Kanto. It was colorful, and had pictures of Pokemon, along with articles and interviews with big-name, professional trainers. Aster had taken to reading it when they had a little downtime, being really interested in the trainers--those people were far cooler than any stuffy old duke could ever be. Picking up his bag, he slung it over one shoulder, and then the other, before clipping Medli's Pokeball back to his belt. Like always, he quickly scanned the faces of the people on the dock, taking note of mannerism, clothes, expressions--but he didn't see anyone that looked like they'd been sent by the Mills Corp. "We should look for some food. I'm starving!" he told Reya, beaming. At first, it had been a little harder switching over to her new name. But the possible consequences of what would happen if he messed it up had been enough to quickly train him to have an R rolling off his tongue instead of an S.
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