Set in Stone: Chapter Seven -

Summary
Troy's plan is clear, and the end is near... but for which unwieldy contestant will it come? Read on and find out.

Set in Stone

Chapter 7: How Clear, the View from the Edge of the Earth

By that evening, I had caught eight other Pokémon total. But unlike in the other world, the superfluities did not get stored in a PC box automatically for future use. I ended up carrying three of them in the pouch with my other items, all the way home.

I walked into the house bruised and itchy from running about in tall brush all day, and had a few bite marks from angry wild species that I had encountered.

"So, Derrick... when the PCs are down in your world, how do you store your excess catch?"
"Well, we usually just stick them in our pockets, if we have utility belts."
I did not have one.
"But in your case... I don't know. Perhaps you could just keep them locked up somewhere safe at home, seeing as you don't usually stray far from here."
Although I did not yet know how far I was going to go, I abided by this suggestion, lest I run the risk of being a victim of theft.
"Nice idea. I've got a safe in my room; perhaps that'll fit a good 200 or so of these."

The safe was in a nook in my closet, beside the shelf where I kept my collection of Japanese prints that I had admired for so long. I suppose it would be safe to tell you that the combination to the safe was 75-22-64, followed by AF* on the keypad, since the safe was destroyed in the recent World Panic of December 21, 2012. I had bought the safe from an old shopkeeper by the name of Hitoshi, shortly before he died and all of his shop's items were liquidated to the public by the city. How fitting his end should come just after a sale to a bright-eyed hopeful like myself.

I stored my three weakest-by-level Pokémon in the safe, along with the bag of açai berries I had carried with me today.

On the evening news that night was a live shot from the scene of a mass murder. Police had been investigating a mysterious set of footprints that had been scattered across the sand in the area. The left foot was always human. The right foot was not. Possibly an accomplice? A coverup? Or something beyond that?

"This man witnessed the escape of the suspect on foot. He managed to get a quick glimpse of his face..."
"His eyes were those of a demon, I tell you! The expression on his face was... it was like he was possessed or something! And those eyes... they were violet like the night sky with a full moon out."
Something told me that Troy wouldn't be coming to school without color contacts from now on.

"Derrick, now's the time I should tell you..."
"What's that?"
"I'm taking over as Kip's trainer at this point. While you guys are still with us, I'm going to need his assistance."
"I thought you might say that. In fact, I've been helping him prepare for this even since you battled Troy's Combusken yesterday... I swear, that little Mudkip knows when something's awry. Anyway, he's level 27 now! And I've been holding back his evolution for you... would you like me to teach you how to do that?"
"No, Derrick... it's time he moved up. I could use a stronger hand in my efforts.

Later that night, I flew on one of my captives to downtown Anaheim to examine what had gone down there. There, I saw the two mismatched prints everywhere, illuminated by the street lights, a telltale sign of the activity there. Blood and chunks of bone were scattered in the sand.

"My God... it's like a warzone here."
I examined the footprints. One human shoe sole was inset to the ground, and beside each one, one monster print completed the stance.
"Incredible."
The bodies of more than ten people lay in cold silence, some with their heads missing, some drained of blood, and still others floating slightly above the ground in the shadows. I stepped closer to the shadowed victims. There was nothing holding them up. They had been hung by an invisible noose.

"Psychic rope."
An aura of darkness wisped from behind me. I spoke clearly:
"Pretty unique method of homicide, Troy."
I turned. Troy was standing behind me, staring fiercely.
"Isn't it?"
"Seems pretty complex."
"Not as much as it seems."
"I'd expect as much from a braggart like you. Have you learned nothing since our battle yesterday?" I tossed a ball tauntingly, then replaced it in my pocket. "But killing humans... on this Earth, you could very easily start a blood feud. Even by just considering murder."
I flashed the Mark of Palkia at him.
"So that's how you avoided my trump card... well, then. I truly commend you. It only comes once every eon or so that Palkia chooses a temporary spatial guardian, you know."
"Troy... if this is all about going home... just let me take care of things. I'll send you home."

The trees fell still. The wind ceased.
"Send me home? Send me home?"
His hand was engulfed by a purple flame.
"Heh. I'll send you TO HELL!"
He grabbed me by the nape of the neck, and a rushing sensation encompassed every fiber of my being. The next thing I saw was an endless abyss below me. The streets. I looked back, and saw that Troy was hovering in midair, holding me just offside the precipice of a massive skyscraper.
"This is about much more than going home, Kyle. This is about power. This is about CONTROL!"
I quivered, speechless at what I was seeing.
"I'm afraid I cannot let you get in my way any longer, Kyle. Regardless of your mission, mine is of a much higher calling...

"I WILL RULE THIS EARTH!"

As he dropped me, time slowed to a near halt. The dawn broke over the horizon as the buildings devoured it, inch by inch...

O orb of life, seen glowing in eternity's hand
How clear, the view of you, from the edge of the Earth.