Interlude: Cross-Talk Meeting

Porygon-2-54374372  (Shepherd to his meatspace friends) hummed as it set up the virtual chatroom for their guests. Creating a real-time link between four separate regions was tricky business, and there was the variable number of clients who might be joining. But Shepherd was a simple creature at his core; and tricky work meant fun work.

You could only play so much Dwarf Fortress before you needed a break, after all.

Shepherd paused his work as he felt the first alert as one of his clients logged into the system; Secure League connection, coming from Kalos. With a thought, he added an extra layer of encryption to the video lobby, and split his attention to monitor the external connections; safety was going to be a priority during today’s conversation, it seemed.

“Okay, did I do that right?” A man spoke into his camera, and Shepherd quickly ran the man through his facial recognition software. Barring Ditto impersonation (only 1.53% likely, given the stability of the face), this was Emiya, Kiritsugu, League Agent. Another League Agent, Emmanuelle, stood at his side, verbally confirming their success at the setup, while a few Pokemon lounged nearby. With another split in his attention, the Shepherd started up RT-2.4.5 Pokemon Translator, allowing the nonhuman participants to have their words communicated across the boundaries.

As the system was set up fully, Shepherd received two more handshakes, and quickly opened links to both Sinnoh and Unova. The Unova portal revealed the expected two girls, sitting in a comfortable room filled with railroad paraphernalia, a pair of men in white and black sitting in the background, along with a juvenile boy with green hair. Running a quick systems check, he confirmed that the Subway Masters were expected to be on this call, then checked the other screen. One child adjusted the camera of their display, while three others sat watching them, before sitting back. Most of the expected guests had arrived. The last sent their handshake as the groups settled in and exchanged greetings, and Shepherd finalized the connection from Johto.

…it was a shame he couldn’t ever talk about this. Seeing the Heroine of Hisui in a campsite as Ace Trainer Misora set up the camera was a treat, and one he’d archive as soon as possible. Settling back, Shepherd was able to turn all his attention to the developing conversation.

“...feel like I cheated you, young man,” Akari said, her eyes tracking the part of her screen showing Shirou. “Giving you an egg as a reward that ended up imprinting on your sister.” She rubbed her chin in thought. “I can think of some other lineages who’d be happy to send one to you, if you’d like…”

“I think I’ll be fine. Illya’s joy was honestly worth it,” Shirou replied immediately, a fond smile on his face, “Besides, I ended up with the Vulpix she wanted anyway, so it’s not a large loss. Ritsuka is already fighting his sister for parental rights though.”

“Is it really fighting though?” The aforementioned dragon stated idly, from where he’d wrestled his sister to the ground, “We’re kinda just going through the motions.”

“Otherwise, I’d just Moonblast him,” Matilda said from underneath him.

“Well, if you say so. I’ll just have to find something else to get you,” Akari chuckled. “And these are the two girls stirring up so much trouble in Unova! It’s been ages since I went; honestly, I never did get over there to see you when you returned, Ingo. Sorry about that.”

Ingo looked up from his paper, giving Akari a firm nod. “Our trains diverged, and then ran on entirely different schedules. It seems like only a year since we saw each other, but it has been five hundred for you.” He shrugged. “A track delay is no insult.”

“You meant more to me than you know.” Akari shook her head, then looked back at the rest of the kids. “Is it alright if I stick around? I know you were more looking to speak with Misora.” She inclined her head to the modern Ace Trainer and her Primeon partner, sitting on a log nearby.

“We don’t mind!” Sakura and Rin chimed in pretty much immediately.

“Neither do I,” Illya stated, shrugging nonchalantly. Her grudge had mostly settled. She did, honestly, kinda understand where Akari was coming from at this point, even if her execution was… flawed.

“None here either,” Kiritsugu said simply.

“You won’t hear any objection from me,” Shirou finished. “Right, so… it sounds like the League is actually handling things as well as they can, so… we don’t need to get involved, right?” He asked, a pensive frown on his face.

“We’re already tangentially involved with the gang war, and with Team Plasma. But it sounds like the League will be bringing in professionals, so we shouldn’t get drafted again. And we’re not volunteering until we get our teams strengthened,” Sakura nodded at her side.

“And I’m going to join up with the forces heading into Kalos. Mr. Emiya, anything I should know that the League packet left out?” Misora added.

“Flare plays for keeps,” he began immediately, “I may have some fault in that, but they always escalate and expect you to not do the same in response.” He paused, more for effect than anything else, “Also, most of them might be arrogant, but they do have the sheer funding to back it up to a degree. We have a genuinely difficult time keeping their agents locked up due to obvious sympathies in the Government. Either I or another agent will brief you more in person. As much as I trust the security of this call, this is need to know.”

Shepherd tried not to feel insulted by the insinuation. He succeeded only as he beat off an attempt to gain access to the call; it seemed Agent Kiritsugu’s paranoia was warranted. He turned his attention back to the conversation only after securing the outside channels and contacting a Sysadmin to trace the IP of the attempted hack.

“...nothing to be ashamed of, but I’m still a little grumpy about the loss,” Rin said sourly. “Even more so to hear that no one else here has lost a gym battle.”

“Point of order–” Misora raised a hand. “I’ve lost several gym and tournament battles in my time. Pretty sure Emmanuelle is the same way.”

“Arceus, I’ve lost battles more important than Gym Battles,” Akari hummed. “You can’t win all the time, and that you’re still pressing forward is commendable. How many hotshots drop out after their first major loss?” She mused aloud.

“Too damned many,” Misora chuckled, clearly amused. “Some of em even have the potential to go further if they’d get their head out of their ass, but your mental game is sometimes more important than your innate talent in the circuit."

Sakura, Rin, and Illya all nodded, while Shirou sat back. Shepherd recognized the cadence of the boy; someone who’d lost many times, and simply pressed onward. Admirable, though it invited a different sort of failure.

“Right, well… I don’t want to lose again,” Rin huffed. “I’ve been working on my conditioning, and re-tuned my nutrition with the brothers’ help. Gordon has worked out a couple of strategies to even the odds, Libra’s working on her speed and agility, and Carrol is getting up to speed. He’ll need to evolve to make this match, but right now he’s still adjusting. I don’t suppose any of you have any advice?”

“You could train with your Pokemon,” Shirou suggested, drawing an amused look from Illya and a look of fond exasperation from Kiritsugu. “Using reinforcement should let you keep up, after all.”

“Alright… might help,” Rin muttered. “I wonder if Carrol will be interested in martial arts when he evolves?” At her side, the grass cat wrinkled his nose.

“You need to make sure your team can take a few hits,” Elle advised from her seat next to Kiritsugu. “Teach them to roll with physical strikes or counter ranged attacks with spot blasts to blunt elemental strikes. Endurance is important, too; if your team can’t keep up in extended battles, they’ll suffer. Some gym leaders demand their challengers face a Gym Gauntlet before taking on them, and there’s always a trainer who’ll go for a stall strategy.”

“You should also start leaning into a specialization pretty soon.,” Misora advised, receiving a nod from her fellow experienced trainers. “It’s good to be a generalist, but only the best of the best manage to make it work super well, and even those generally have a niche in their generality.”

“What’s Cynthia’s niche?” Illya asked, her eyes fixed on Misora and Akari’s screen. “I know that’s the person Shirou measures himself against, and I’ve caught myself comparing myself to her on occasion.” She explained.

“Cynthia is one of the rare ‘generalists’ if you ask most people, but if you were to ask me Cynthia is a technical specialist.” Misora responded immediately, “Strange, of course, given her ace is a Garchomp, but Cynthia is an expert in making you battle on HER terms, not your own. Think of her as someone who controls the pace of the battle at all times, with every move.”

Illya took in that information, then slowly smiled, rubbing her hands together. Shirou sighed, looking away from his sister and rubbing his forehead.

On her own screen, Rin tapped the notebook she’s produced. “So, what kind of strategy do you think I should employ?” She asked.

It was her sister who spoke up first. “Perhaps a lockdown or option removal strategy? I think you’d do well with something like what Elesa used on me. Curses, status afflictions, and debuffs are all things your team does well,” she observed.

Rin nodded immediately, “Yes. Takes advantage of my team’s focus on wide movepools as well.” She paused, “Thank you, Sakura.”

“As for you, Sakura… your team is made up of evasive or tanky pokemon, though you seem to have a strong grounding in the fundamentals as well. You might want to adopt a stalling strategy, at least as a base.” Elle advised. “You seem like someone who can adapt to changing circumstances, but it’s always a good idea to have a basic plan.”

“Yes, it is probably for the best.” Sakura nodded swiftly, making a mental note to herself, “If I can outlast my opponent’s initial gambit, I can also adapt specifically to counter them as well.”

“And that leaves you, Shirou.” Kiritsugu said. “...honestly, son, from what I’ve seen you’re going to either need to focus on overwhelming opponents with power, or honing their individual skills to a razor’s edge.”

“Not quite right,” Akari interjected as Shirou looked between the two adults. “Shirou doesn’t have the talent of the other children here; what he does have is a much deeper capacity for bonds and combat instincts. That wouldn’t make him a good trainer, but if he can bond deeply enough with his team to share those instincts, and bolster them as they bolster him, he can walk the path of the old heroes.” She paused. “I’m glad you’re learning restraint, Shirou. Put too much of yourself into your team, and you might fall as they do.”

“I’m aware. Yagi told me about the dangers of over-extending your aura,” Shirou replied. “Thank you for the advice, ma’am. And old man, I’ve been keeping up with my training, don’t worry.”

“I can’t help but worry, I’m a father,” Kiritsugu responded immediately. “You’re having fun, though, right?”

“He has,” Illya interjected with some degree of amusement. “Though he sometimes has trouble letting himself. We’re working on it. Myself, my team, and his team.”

“Yes. Can’t enjoy my fights unless my trainer is enjoying himself,” Vulpix stated with some degree of amusement, from her place at her Kantoian counterpart’s side, the older six-tailed fox taking care of the younger. The little Vulpix gave a rumbling squeal, not yet able to communicate with those around her.

Akari’s smile dropped as the group quieted down. “Kids, I do bring some not-so-great news. When my boss brought you all here, they only had plans for the old man,” she nodded at Kiritsugu, “and even then, it was only putting him in a place to intercept that first raid; nothing more. But now that you’re all getting involved in major events, they’ve marked you all as potential Chosen.” She took a deep breath. “You’ll all need to choose; keep poking your nose into trouble, and let Arceus add you to their board; or step back. They’ll respect your choice.”

“Of course we’re going to keep intervening to help.” Shirou stated, with the same tone one would use to say the sky was blue, or that the Earth, or, perhaps more aptly, that Garde was round.

Illya shot him a look, then nodded. “And I’m following him.”

“I think at this point Other and I are too empathetic to let people suffer. And we’re not abandoning N.” Sakura spoke up, Rin nodding at her side.

Kiritsugu finished. “And Flare’s existence is a threat to me and mine. Either they die, or we do. There’s little room for peace between us.”

Shepherd listened as the group slowly began to talk through their plans for the future; apparently, the Eizenbern-Emiya siblings would be leaving the Mirelands and heading north to Veilstone City, while the Tohsaka-Juniper siblings would be staying to train in their current location a little longer. As for the adults, they were all tight-lipped about their plans, but it seemed they would be joining the planned offensives against evil around the war.

Shepherd approved of this plan. For many reasons, not the least being entertainment.