Days came and passed and as Galvin promised. He left the sky castle to find the Rune base. Both Steel and Brass tried to talk him out of doing such a thing but he remained firm on his decision and role as a guardian. Since then more time passed, at least a week or two, and there was no response or message from him since then. Both Steel and Brass felt troubled by this but their partners reassured them Zapdos would bail Galvin out of trouble, this did not entirely reassure them but they had to have faith.

Now to be fair, if Galvin could, he would of sent a letter but after flying so long and far away from the mainland he would end up on unpopulated islands for the night so he couldn’t send mail unless he backtracked many days work to do so.

“This search is getting ridiculous!” Galvin huffed. Falling onto his backside and gazing into the afternoon sky. “Augh. This is starting to be a real pain in the ass.”

Such is the life of a guardian.

“I guess but searching with no clues is bo-”he was cut off as a helicopter suddenly flew over head. He jerked himself upright and watched the aerial vehicle fly by. “Well, that’s obviously not suspicious.” Galvin pulled on his coat and followed after the helicopter from a distance. There was no other explanation for why it would be out here. Its fairly obvious it was Rune’s.

The helicopter soon came to it’s destination. A tower made of silver and iron, towering several stories. Galvin waited for the helicopter to land before he circled the building. It definitely a Rune base as he spotted many uniform clad members about. He noted the floor plan consisted of many labs, research centers, sleeping quarters and places to exercise and train.

Galvin pulled his pen and map from his pocket. The map activated the auto-detect locator and found where he was standing in a matter of seconds. He marked the spot on he map and closed it with a snap. He dived back down to the first floor and carefully circled the building. The only thing he wasn’t one hundred percent sure of is where Simon was held. Obviously in a prison cell or some windowless room to provide the same feeling of being trapped but where? From his line of vision and attempts of avoid being caught that was hard to tell. There was no way he could sneak in, last time he sneak into a Rune base he was easy found by their leader and if he was caught again there was no promise he could get out alive. He was reluctant, but he had a basic floor plan and a location, he had to leave to deliver this information to his friends.

—

“Ma'am we’ve noted some activity outside the facility. Your orders?”

“Leave it be.”

“Ma'am?”

“It would be no fun to crush them this early.”

“As you wish.”

“Now continue with your work.”

“Of course ma'am.”

—

Alright, I collected the information.

“Already?” Steel teased, but her voice gave away she was quite relieved.

Yeah. My map is marked with the location and I got a quick glance inside the building.

“…What about Simon?”

Sorry. With all the Runes walking about I couldn’t get in and last time I went into a base I was easily found.

“It’s okay. When we go in for real we’ll find him.”

…Right. I’ll be back at the base within a couple of days. I hope it’s clean and organized.

“The cleaning is going along nicely. There’s many rooms, about twenty or so, full of old items and text. Right now its all gone into storage, the current owner of the items will make the decision of what to do with their respective things once they join us…”

It’s almost hard to believe there’s more than just us as soul users.

For Steel, not so much. She remembered the small shrine she visited in Vermillion City, the windows were full of many legendary trios with the revelation of soul it did not take long for her to realize other users existed out there.

“Yeah, but they’re all too young to realize their potential or even get tangled up in my mess.”

Don’t blame yourself.

“I’m sorry…”

Have you chosen a location to place the base when it’s restored.

“Brass and I decided to wait until after Rune was dealt with to chose a location for the base.”

Alright. I should get going now. Take care.

“See you soon.” the mental link cut off and Steel sighed. She collected the box full of various silks and materials that she dropped when Galvin first contacted her and made her way down the hall and down the staircase.

According to Articuno the sky castle was crafted using the power of the bird trio to create so their prime leaders and the other members had a home to keep an eye on the people and protect themselves. It was said to both fly and sink into the water for traveling but in its current state that wouldn’t be possible.

Steel let out a sigh, hoping to one day soon she would get to see this place back in its former glory.

—

Days passed into weeks and it was Christmas Eve in Pallet Town and so the trio returned home for the holiday. After warm welcomes and a great feast presents were ripped open, there weren’t many since the kids were able to buy most of what they wanted with spoils from battles, but each were grateful for what they got.

The night soon came and everyone retreated early for the night. Not a single one of them slept, not from excitement but from anticipation. Tonight they were going after Rune. Bags packed and fully restocked each pre-teen sneaked out of their house.

“Where are you going Galvin?” He flinched at his sister’s voice, it was tired and somewhat bored.

“Just… out,” he quickly added “for a walk.”

“Why don’t you leave your bag then?” she yawned. Galvin clenched his fists but he quickly uncurled them as he shook his head.

“I feel better with my stuff… I feel… Secure.”

“Okay… don’t be out too late. You need to be well rested and everything for your trip back.” he nodded, reaching out to the doorknob once more when Daisy suddenly hugged him. He blinked. Her grip around him grew tighter.

“You know I’m not going for a walk… don’t you…?” Daisy nodded. Galvin sighed heavily. “Don’t tell Grandpa.”

“I don’t know what you’re doing…. I just know it’s important. It’s a sister’s instinct that knows this. Just come back alive.”

“I will.” Daisy sighed, no longer feeling thirsty, she returned to her room.

—

“Daisy nearly caught you!?”

“There’s nothing nearly about it, she caught me at the door but she didn’t ask questions. She doesn’t know what I’m doing but she knows its dangerous…”

“Then we have to make sure we come back okay, for her sake too!”

“We’re supposed to live for everyone’s sake regardless.”

“I guess that’s true.” Brass shrugged. Galvin rolled his eyes as a response.

“Yeah, well, whatever. We need to get going. It’s eleven now, if we hurry it up we should be able to to get there while it’s still dark. Remember the plan.”

“Reserve Soul for last resorts, use pokemon against the grunts.” Steel repeated. “Find Simon as soon as possible so he cant be used against us when we confront Hilda.” With a nod from the two boys the trio took off.

—-

Many days have passed, or so he thinks, since his kidnapping. It happened all too fast. He was sleeping and when he woke up he found himself in this place. A small dark room without a window or any lighting. Just constant darkness. It seemed like forever before any light returned to him but when that light came it was accompanied with a terrifying figure.

The figure looked down at him for a moment or two before shutting the door on him. He couldn’t find his voice but for the first time in what felt like forever his motor systems moved, propelling himself to the door to knock and bang upon it while screaming through tears. But not a soul came to his aid.

Time passed on and on. Slowly he felt like he was being suffocated. This room was too dark, the room was too small. There was nothing left to do once he ran out of tears to cry, only sleep but it seem like he would not have that for the moment. He could hear yells and screeches from beyond the door.

“..re here…!”

“…can’t …eve this!”

voices and phrases were muffled but if he could understand it all, people here. Could it be the police? Steel even?

For the first time in forever, Simon smiled.

—

“DID I STUTTER?!” Steel shrieked, shaking a poor grunt around like a rag doll. After her training with Articuno, not only was she versicle in ice attacks her overall strength had increased which would explain the cracks in the wall caused by her punches when she was roughing up the grunt.

“L-l-look! I don’t know…! I’ve heard rumors about this kid but I’ve n-never seen him!”

“WELL, TELL ME WHO MADE THESE RUMORS.”

“I-it was the admin. Oh Arceus, please don’t hit me. ” the poor man trembled and tried to shield his face. Steel simply threw him aside and stomped off with Bubbled, who shook his head. Steel stormed down the hall to regroup with her friend down the hallway. She watched Brass throw aside a grunt like the trash he was.

“A grunt told me that the admin started the rumor of some captive kid.” She spoke up, gaining his attention.

“So, find the admin, find Simon?” She nodded. “Galvin went on ahead. He’ll find her before us without a doubt.”