Traversing Boundaries Chapter 9: Cutting Edge Games ----- “Are you actually fucking kidding me with this shit?” Abigail was not thrilled; if this was what she had to come back to she almost preferred her former prison. Almost. “Ember thought it was great.” Shadow’s grin was weak and shaky. “Cutting Edge Games. If you could think of any worse of a name I’d have to go off myself out of the shame of being associated with you.” Lumi tapped the Liepard’s side. “Enough.” “Fine.” Emberflame arrived at the front entrance with the rest of the team following her; Talion, Snowfrost, and Varin. “It’s so exciting!” Snowfrost was even more jumpy than her sister, practically ready to barge inside at any second. “Worth every Poké,” Varin agreed, having already seen the inside. “My room had better be great.” Talion looked around the front restlessly. “Your room is last, Talion.” “Hmph.” The Lycanroc folded his lanky arms as best he could. “Alright, is everyone here?” Shadow asked. A round of confirmations rang out into the night. “Then let’s go! First peek time!” the Absol grinned as she opened the front door and led everyone inside. The new Game Corner was already noticeably bigger upon entering. The first thing that caught everyone’s eye was the inclusion of a second floor balcony, with two staircases leading up to it. Then came the realization of how much more ‘stuff’ was out on the first floor. Numerous tables formatted for more board games than anyone should be able to count were scattered about the entire floor, save the entrance area which was fenced in to make sure anyone who wanted in would have to pay at the front desk. The floor was covered in soft, purple carpeting, which likely ate up a ton of the expenses by itself. Bookshelves filled with rules books, dictionaries (appropriately made readable by Pokémon), and some literature for those that just wanted to pass time by themselves inside the building. Two garish and massive doors housed other activities offered here. The door on the left was for a daytime bar, something Shadow quickly explained was far more limited than the Den’s to avoid direct competition: a hard limit on drinks able to be consumed, more limited stock of beverages, and that it was supposed to act as more of a breakroom or general hangout than anything else. The door on the right, adored with a Meowth’s head mural around it, was for the gambling center. It was an adventurous idea, even by Shadow’s standards, but it did work as one would expect: housing card games, a betting area for any performances put in town of a competitive sort, and an area to cash in the in-house chips. Shadow pulled one out for demonstration, with Emberflame visibly grinning when she realized the head of it was Spice with actual laurels on. “He asked for it while I was trying to work things out with Cyn, so Cyn and I made a deal. If someone wants, they can trade in enough of these at the counter and get a free visit to the Den, drinks and other paid services not included. And if they trade in even more, they can get a one time hour-long session with Spice whenever he isn’t working. Redeemable by talking to Cyn with a signed note from me personally.” Two more doors toward the back of the main lobby became visible next. The door on the left side of the back wall led to what Shadow called the new office of Team Radiance, while the door on the right led to Staff-only areas: a kitchen, a bathing area, and a private breakroom. Lumi inspected the office for herself, only having been able to request things, given that only Shadow and Varin, along with the builders and other personnel, had been allowed to see inside before tonight. It passed her inspection: quiet, far away from the commotion, and giving her plenty of space to store documentation along with room to get it all done. A single window decorated the back wall behind her chair, giving a clear view of the Marketplace if she was into looking at it at any time. There was also a curtain in place in case she didn’t want that, too. “And now… we go upstairs.” Shadow grinned. Snow zoomed up past her, causing a stampede to start as everyone tried to locate their rooms. Shadow regretted not outlining the rest of the tour, first. ----- After everyone was gathered back up, Shadow began to show off the second floor, starting with the balcony. It was there purely to be able to look down from above, relax on some cushions or chairs, and otherwise just enjoy some conversation without just leaving the main area entirely. Large chandeliers kept lit with fire stones could be seen most clearly from up here, finally revealing what had been keeping the place lit since nobody had thought to look up previously. Shadow began to reveal the guest rooms eagerly, each one looking the same as the others, though there were more than enough to house multiple rescue teams worth of Pokémon inside all of them. All the rooms meant to be lived in were behind staff-only areas, but oddly enough had no real doors stopping Pokémon from simply ignoring that and going in. Shadow explained that the Pokémon she hired as security would be tasked with making sure nobody wandered that way, with one being given an area they could sit at to monitor the second floor overall along with the entrances to the staff areas. The Absol went on to explain a few of these rooms were already bent rented out to the ones she had hired to work here. “Who else is working here?” Lumi inquired. “A Manectric, Umbreon, Milotic, Flygon, Sylveon, and a couple others. I had plenty of extras built just in case we got extra members or I needed more staff, or y’know, just inviting a bunch of my pals over.” Shadow explained. “Oh, lovely.” Abigail rolled her eyes. “More to annoy me.” “Shush, Abby.” Ember grinned. “Or do I need to remind you that I can repeat history, if needed.” The Liepard barely resisted a malicious swipe. Abigail’s room was the farthest down the left hall, just how she liked it. A plaque bearing her title was set above the door, ‘Abigail Dunham.’ The room was decorated in ways befitting a dark-type. The light was minimal, aside from an exit out to a second balcony that overlooked the Clearspring Market (all of the primary Team Radiance rooms included an exit to that balcony.) Though a few candles had been placed down if extra light was desired. An old and beaten up trunk served as an area where Abigail could store her belongings, along with a closet and a single nightstand that stood next to her bed. The bed was covered in purple sheets, and had some surprisingly soft and accommodating pillows on them. The feline tested it out immediately, and to her surprise, quite liked it. “... Not bad, Shadow. Not bad at all.” Abigail nodded. “Hey guys, I got Abby’s approval, do I win a prize?” Shadow flashed a new grin. “Nope! Sorry!” Ember closed her eyes and laughed, listening to it echo down the empty hall. Lumi’s room was situated closer to the front end of the left hallway. The door had her name above it on a plaque, ‘Lumi Winters’ and the door itself felt quite chilly to the touch. The Glaceon tilted her head in slight confusion. Shadow opened it for all to see, revealing the inside to be noticeably cooler than the rest of the building. A few vents carved out of the ceiling were quickly revealed to be concealing NeverMeltIce, which was constantly chilling the air around it and having it be vented down into the room itself. The Absol was clearly proud of her ingenuity in planning the room, and Lumi found the setup quite comfortable. The primary things distinguishing it from Abigail’s room were some extra lights, one of which was a lamp powered by a thunderstone that had been salvaged from human territory. The lamp sat on a desk where Lumi could work on whatever she desired, or perhaps read if she so desired. The Glaceon’s bed was also covered in light blue blankets, something the ice-type couldn’t help but smile at. “It’s far more than I expected, thank you.” Lumi gave the Absol a pat on the shoulder. Next up was Shadow and Varin’s shared room. The door was about as over decorated as expected, featuring a painting of an Absol’s horn jutting out from the left side of the door, and a Delphox’s wand poking out from the right side. Shadow opened it up to reveal the inside was nothing short of geek paradise. The room was the largest room of anything in the building, save for the main lobby. Human lighting fixtures were installed in the ceiling giving off constant light, though these didn’t seem to have a thunderstone powering them, not that one would likely do it in this case. All the same elements of Shadow’s old room had been brought in: bookshelves filled with tabletop game books, rulings, sheets of paper and writing utensils, everything a proper nerd group would need to waste away a few years in their imagination; a large two Pokémon bed with a canopy over it, and multiple large chests to store anything they could ever need in. Three doors could be seen on the walls, two on the left and one on the right. “The left doors are extra areas for games to be held, or to have more private ones if need be,” Shadow began. “And the door on the right is a generator room, it connects to all the other electrical devices we have now and any we get in the future.” Everyone gave the Absol a particular look of ‘why?’. “I don’t have an actual generator, calm down,” the Absol withered under all the gazes. “I have an electric-type coming in who can charge a large capacitor I got my claws on thanks to one of Varin’s friends, and we can just draw any power we’ll need from that and recharge it as needed.” “How many contacts do you have? Holy shit.” Abigail shook her head. “Tons!” Varin chimed in. “We even know a few Kecleons.” “Terrifying.” Snow said cheerily. “Please don’t ever call them over.” Ember seconded that motion. Snowfrost’s room was next, starting off the right side of the hall. Shadow quickly explained that she did it so Ember wouldn’t be able to complain that she could hear Shadow and the others having fun, as it were. The alolan Ninetales’ room shared a lot of similarities with Lumi’s: cold vents, a good amount of light, and the same colors for bed covers. What Snowfrost was instantly attracted to was a wooden chest labeled ‘Safe For Work.’ “Aheh… just a little bit of humor, but ah... Knowing what you can get up to, Snow, I figured you’d want a place that is labeled for putting anything that might get dirty or irreparably damaged whenever you have friends in here.” Shadow explained. The ice fox’s mind was already lost in all the fun she was going to have in here. Shadow took it as a time to add in that the walls around Snow’s room had cork in it to help keep any possibly disturbing or arousing sounds from bothering anyone. Emberflame’s room was next, as expected. Notably, both Snow and Ember’s plaques only listed their first names. The kanto Ninetales’ room was one of the most drastically decorated of them all, something nobody could believe except those who had helped build it. The floor was covered with green carpeting, the walls were a mural of trees, flowery fields, and a blue sky with a lantern hanging down from where the sun was. Ember’s old bed had been apparently replaced with a new one, big enough to hold her and nearly two other Pokémon her size, with yellow blankets covering it and extra pillows to boot. Multiple candles stood ready to be lit as needed, along with a candelabra in the center of a large table surrounded by cushions. Ember loved it to bits, tackling the Absol down and giving her tons of licks and slurps to the face. Snow immediately grew jealous and hopped on top of Ember, creating total chaos as they all tried to get up and failed. Talion’s room was the last. Shadow waited to open the door as a smirk creeped up on her face, something that even had Abigail a bit concerned. “What’s the hold up?” Abigail demanded. “Talion is the one who should open this door.” Shadow motioned for the Lycanroc to come over. “There’s a special surprise waiting for you behind it.” “A surprise, eh? Like what?” Talion walked over. “Guess you have to find out,” the Absol moved aside with her grin only widening. Talion huffed and yanked the door open recklessly, almost as if he wanted to tear it off the hinges. Thankfully, they were made with his brute force in mind, though it was not the interior that made him immediately step back in disbelief. “Welcome home, ya thick-skulled bastard.” Abigail’s fur stood on end as Ember did a double-take. Talion was stunned beyond words, watching as a familiar Turtonator strode out of the dark room and into the lit hall. “Shadow told me you’ve gotten better, so I figured I’d come and see fer me own eyes.” Shadow stepped forward as Talion embraced the Turtonator and tried not to look like a giant crybaby in the process. “I sent a note to Turt once I found out where he was in Alola, after a bit of back and forth, I convinced him to come back to Sinnoh and help run the revamped Game Corner, along with some other contacts of mine.” “Aye, I’m part of the security.” Turt nodded. “I keep Pokémon from stealing, cheating, or getting too rowdy.” “Yer a fuckin’ bastard,” Talion grumbled. “Leaving me behind like that…” “I won’t deny it was a bit harsh, but it worked all the same.” Turt squeezed the Lycanroc. “It’s good ta see ya again, buddy.” “Leave me like that again and I’ll shove a stalactite up your chest hole!” Talion’s room was mixed with Turt’s, the walls having been painted by a Smeargle to look more like igneous rocks and obsidian, with some lava flowing down at certain places. It was also the least well lit of any of the rooms, having only a single lantern hanging down from the ceiling along with their own entrance out to the balcony. Two beds adorned the room, one being a slab of stone, while the other was more normal, save a lack of any covers. It likely didn’t help that both occupants would easily tear up any blankets put on them anyway. Any other creature comforts were notably lacking, not that either minded that. They could add more to it as they pleased, but neither of them particularly needed much to themselves from what Shadow had seen. “I’ll install the plaque later, just wanted to keep this a surprise, was all,” Shadow noted quickly. “So, what do you all think?” “Good enough,” Abigail spoke up. “Excellent.” Lumi responded. “Amazing!” the two Ninetales said in unison. Talion was too busy trying to pull himself together to respond. It was good enough for Shadow, the Absol dismissing everyone to explore anything else at their leisure so that she could go hop into bed with Varin. The dark-type in particular especially needed the sleep; she had to spend all of tomorrow watching over the grand re-opening of what was now Cutting Edge Games. Arceusdamn Shadow was proud of that name. ----- Sophia groaned and shoved Yuri off of her chest. The Espeon yelped, but landed perfectly on all fours. “Feeling alright, Sophia?” Yuri inquired. “I feel like I got smacked in the head with a cinder block. How bad was it last night?” the human yawned and tossed the covers off of her entirely. “You were dreaming about Fintan again, I did my best to deal with it.” The Espeon looked away. Sophia frowned and picked the Espeon up and plopped the psychic down on her lap. Yuri mewled curiously. “I’m not making you deal with them, you know,” Sophia pointed out contemplatively. “Yeah, but I don’t like feeling you writhe and suffer so much.” Yuri rubbed her head against the Joy’s chest. “You are still my closest friend, after all.” Sophia sighed and petted the Espeon from her head down to her back. “I just wish you didn’t have to make me look so incompetent everytime I take you anywhere.” “You let this happen,” Yuri smiled softly. “Yeah, I know. But you deserved better than life gave you at first, so I’ll dutifully suffer the embarrassment in order to let you have something that is really you.” The human looked away, towards the Pokeball with a purple ribbon around it. “You really are the odd one out, of all my team.” “I take pride in that, if all your Pokémon were the same, life wouldn’t be nearly as fun and chaotic,” the Espeon laughed before getting onto her back and desiring belly rubs. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Sophia looked back to the Espeon. “Do me a favor, later.” “Hmm?” “Get Einstein to arrange you a trip to Johto, get the team back together.” Yuri’s eyes lit up. “Is it time?” “I’m tired of sitting here letting my life rot away because I can’t do anything about Fintan. So, yes, it is goddamn time.” Yuri’s smile widened as far as it could. “You have my word, lady Sophia. I’ll bring them all here.”