victory_road | ANOMALY DETECTED

"Ah. Radley. It is good to see you."

Oh, that is a rather lovely-looking pokemon.

"Is this a new addition?"

"Same! You look like you're having a good time."

The one thing Radley likes about these weekends is seeing friends he doesn't always get to see in person. He wishes friends from home would come too.

"You know, I think she is. She just suddenly ran over and doesn't wanna leave. I hope she'll still be here after this weekend is over."

"Yes. I am certainly enjoying myself. Especially when I have been given an opportunity to be my actual self, even if perhaps for not very long."

As opposed to the self he is here in the pokemon world.

"She is very pretty," he notes. Cotton candy Ponytas are rather cute.

"It must be really freeing," Radley says.

He smiles. "She is. I've never seen a horse quite like this before. Not in real-life, anyway."

"Oh, it is. Today I can look as a Gar should look. Today I have my loyal companion at my side."

Don't eye the Ponyta like it's a potential supper, Panthor.

"And I have my magic. I can feel the ether again."

It's a really nice, heady feeling.

"I have not, either. But it does look a bit like the others. Only, the others had fire for hair."

Radley smiles. "I'm happy for you. So this is Panthor?"

He blinks at the magic comment. "Ether?"

He nods. "Yeah, those kind scared me a bit. But this, this is different."

Evie, riding the Ponyta, warbles.

He motions to the pony-sized purple cat.

"Yes. This is Panthor. He is my pet and steed back in Eternia."

A pause.

"The ether is what all magic-users tap into in order to do their spellwork. It is like an atmosphere, or an ocean, but instead of air or water, it is magical energy."

As he waves his hand in random patterns, purple-coloured light trails in its wake.

Radley smiles. "Hi, Panthor. I've heard a lot about you."

He listens to the explanation, intrigued. "That's really interesting."

Evie jumps up, batting at the light trails. "Eevee-vee!"

In response, the cat rumbles. If dad thinks this guy's OK then he won't try and hurt him.

"Of course, that was a demonstration of basic control, which most sorcerers can manage. However, if one wants to tap into the magical core itself, an amplifier is needed."

In his hands he holds the Havoc Staff, a long sceptre that is topped with a ram's skull, and purple-coloured.

"This here is one such object. I obtained it by journeying to the ruins of an ancient city called 'Zalesia' and besting the Faceless One in combat."

"That sounds like it was a big adventure," Radley says. "The Faceless One?"

Cosmo thinks that sounds scary.

"Yes. Quite the trek across the desert. Panthor was rather exhausted by the end."

Keldor's got a faraway look on his face now, as he remembers things from the past.

"His name is—or was—Nicholas Powers. Once, long ago, he ruled a city called Zalesia. Now, he is a ghost cursed to haunt the ruins of the city. His daughter, Evelyn is... Is..."

His voice trails off, but not because the memories are painful, but rather because...

...this is someone he loves.

"I can imagine."

Radley listens to the tale with interest.

"That would be an awful afterlife.... It must be hard on Evelyn...."

"According to Lyn, she did have her father's ghost for company while she lived in the ruins."

But that's not sufficient for a little girl or her emotional and psychological needs, and he's positive that, deep down, she knew this was something going unmet, and that's why she left.

"Lyn was otherwise alone, though."

Until she left and began discovering the world and meeting people, including Keldor and his band of rebels. Become friends with them. And eventually, form a deep bond with the leader of the outfit.

"I wonder if she has noticed that I am not there."

To say Lyn would be upset to find the one she loves most gone without any explanation would be an understatement of considerable magnitude.

"... I guess that's better than nothing...."

He smiles kindly. "Time isn't supposed to pass back home while we're gone, so hopefully worrying about you won't be a problem, at least."

"I do not know if Lyn would agree."

Poor woman. She had a lot to learn when it came to just basic interactions with other people. That there even are other people at all, and all different. Concepts like "personal property" and "no, you can't just take it because it's lying there". The very real risk of being taken advantage by others because your own naivety knows no limits.

And that magic scares some people.

It was, perhaps, good fortune that Lyn avoided some very dangerous situations, but who knew how long her luck would hold before she found the ragtag bunch of misfits led by the exiled prince?

"But what if it does?" he wonders.

Lyn, despite being rather independent, dislikes being alone at times. Especially when it's Keldor who's not around.

"I just want her to know that I am safe and well and did not leave her intentionally."

Radley feels that he would rather be haunted than to be alone, but maybe he would feel differently depending on the ghost.

"I worry like that too," he says. "I really hope it's true that time stands still."

He sighs. "I worried when we were stuck in the past too. I was afraid my Pokemon would think I just left them. Thankfully, they didn't."

Lyn's not a pokemon, he wants to say. The way she was raised and how pokemon are raised are very different from each other. That her upbringing wasn't ideal. That even now it still affects her.

It's not like roaming the wild, carefree, until a trainer happens along and throws a ball at you, expecting you to battle others that you might have called "friend".

...is it?

"If there is a way to let her know, I will find it. I will never leave her. Not if I can help it."

It's not just Lyn who doesn't like it when they're apart, for it upsets him too, though so far he's managed not to show it.

Radley means it more just to show that he sympathizes with such concerns and distress over loved ones.

"I understand. I hope you will see her again. Maybe she'll even end up here."

Hearing that, he perks up.

"Oh, I would be overjoyed if she were to come to this place!"

It's possible that Lyn might not end up being a fan of how some things are done in this world, but he can deal with that after telling [and showing] her how happy he is to finally see her again.

"And if she does, I shall make sure to introduce you to her."

They might even end up as friends.

Radley smiles. "I'd love to meet her."

"And she is a lovely woman."

Not just literally. Lyn's an absolute delight to interact with, and becoming her friend, then her "something more" was one of the bright spots in an otherwise unhappy life. As cliche as it sounds, Lyn really was the first person who really understood him as an individual, and he was willing to help a poorly-socialised young woman adapt to the world in a way that didn't overwhelm her or expose her to anyone unsavory during the process.

"She makes me feel ... complete..."

Radley smiles more. "I'm glad you have someone like that."

"I am glad as well. I most certainly am glad."

His eyes turn upwards towards the sky, a prayerful look on his face.

Lyn. Wherever you are. Please come to me. Make me whole again.

Radley smiles sadly. He hopes their loved ones will all come.

He repeats his plea a couple more times, just to be sure that the fates have heard his request. After that, there isn't much he can do other than get back to the business of getting on with life while he waits to see if his prayers will be answered.

He's done his part. The rest is up to the powers that be now. He just needs to trust in them.

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