Arc 2, chapter 3: Predatory Algorithm

When Jacob awoke, his vision was little more than a blurry mess.

 

“Guuuhoo…”

 

Maxie rolled around, his head almost completely foggy. By instinct, he clutched at it, and quickly discovered it was bandaged.

 

“…What?”

 

He had a pounding headache, so he didn’t really feel like sitting up, or even opening his eyes, but he gave the latter a try anyway. Blinking a few times until he could see somewhat clearly, he discovered he was in his own bed, with just a handful of changes to the layout of his room. Clearly, Courtney had called in a doctor.

 

What even happened to me?  Jacob wondered to himself. The last thing I remember was looking into something called ‘typing magic’, but…

 

Maxie slowly craned his neck around, still unwilling to sit up. Almost immediately, his eyes caught what looked like a massive dent in the ceiling.

 

It wasn’t terribly hard to deduce what had happened.

 

Okay, but how in the fuck did I manage to even hit the ceiling that hard? Last I checked, I wasn’t exactly a thirteen-year-old party animal. Especially not in this life… Jacob wasn’t sure how much time had passed between the end of his memories and whatever happened that knocked him out, but it couldn’t have been that long. This wouldn’t have been his first concussion, unfortunately.

 

It’s best to just sleep it off… he thought to himself. Unfortunately for his mental well-being, spending a few weeks doing almost nothing in his bed was not a great way to be productive.

 

After a distressingly long time, Tabitha entered the room, carrying what looked like a bunch of ice wrapped in a towel.

 

“Oh, you’re up. Thank Arceus…”

 

“Hi…” Maxie mumbled weakly.

 

Tabitha walked over to the bed and pressed the makeshift ice pack against his head. “What did you even do?”

 

“I have no idea. I can’t remember what happened…”

 

“…That’s not good,” Tabitha muttered. “You were out for days, you know that? And on my birthday, too…”

 

“You’re not mad, are you?” Maxie asked.

 

“…A little bit,” Tabitha confessed. “Mostly just confused and worried, though. Everything was going fine, and then we all heard maybe the loudest thud we’ve ever heard. You launched yourself into the ceiling and hit the floor somehow.”

 

“How bad is it, doctor?” Maxie asked, somewhat sarcastically.

 

“I almost want to say ‘not bad at all’ if you’re cracking jokes like that, but the healer said you need a whole month of rest.”

 

“A-A month?!? I can’t do nothing for a whole mo- Ack!” Maxie felt a jolt of pain in his head as he tried to sit up, and quickly laid back down. “F-fuck…”

 

Tabitha raised an eyebrow. “Who even taught you to swear?”

 

“N-not important…” Maxie said, rolling on his side, clutching the ice pack to his head as he squeezed his eyes shut.

 

Tabitha sighed. “Seriously. Get some rest. The healer also said you smashed your skull or something.”

 

“O-okay…” Maxie mumbled. “Can we talk some more, though? I’m really bored.”

 

“…About what?”

 

“Uh…” Despite his headache, Jacob did his best to think of a new conversation topic. How do I word this to not sound suspicious… “Hey, let’s say you learned about something that you don’t think anyone else knows about, and it seems cool or interesting, but you don’t know where to start, and it might be dangerous. What do you do?”

 

“…That’s a weirdly specific question.”

 

Clearly, Maxie had failed to make his question not suspicious. “I—”

 

“I’d just steer clear of it, honestly,” Tabitha answered, cutting him off. “I don’t know why you’re coming to me of all people for life advice, though.”

 

“…It’s a weird thing and you seemed open to talking about it.”

 

Tabitha breathed a deeper sigh than last time she’d sighed. “You’d probably be better off asking Mom about stuff like this. She’ll be up here in a while, anyway.”

 

“Alright…” Maxie grumbled.

 

A while later, Courtney walked into the room, looking notably more worried than Tabitha was.

 

“Are you alright?” she quickly asked. “Tabitha said you didn’t remember, and the healer said it might be a concussion, so I’ve been worried sick, and I just had to come see you! Please tell me that it’s not too bad.”

 

“Well, I have a headache…”

 

“Oh, that’s not good,” Courtney replied. “Here, the healer gave us some herbs. This should help with the headache.”

 

Maxie reluctantly took the greenish powder, eating it as best he could. It was horrendously bitter and looked a bit too much like cannabis, but Jacob was desperate for the relief. He’d have to wait a few hours for it to take effect, though.

 

“Thanks…” Maxie mumbled.

 

“Anything for you, my child,” Courtney replied. “Tabitha said you had a question?”

 

Maxie sighed and repeated his question to Courtney, exactly as it was asked to Tabitha. Courtney stared at him curiously for a moment, before responding.

 

“This is related to something you found with your blessing ability, isn’t it?” she questioned.

 

“Yeah…” Maxie admitted. It was nice having someone who knew about the ability, even if Courtney didn’t want him telling anyone else.

 

“If I was you, I would think twice before trying to mess with it again. Maybe try to learn as much as you can before you give it another try. Wouldn’t want to hurt yourself again because you didn’t know what you were messing with.”

 

“The thing is…” Maxie started, now able to collect Jacob’s thoughts more clearly. “It’s something that I see referenced every time I use the blessing to get info on a person, and it’s hard not to wonder about, you know?”

 

“Hm…” Courtney stared out of the window for a few seconds. “If you absolutely must, just be sure to approach it with all due caution. As with all things in life, especially telling others. Hard to know who to trust in this day and age, you know.”

 

“You say that a lot…” Maxie mumbled.

 

“Because it’s true. And terrible, really—we all need someone to trust, and yet everyone is so hard to put your faith in. It truly is a paradox of a world we live in.”

 

“…Okay.”

 

Courtney smiled. “Just remember that I’m one of those special few who can be trusted, all right? You can always talk to me.”

 

“…Okay.”

 

Courtney turned around. “Good. I’d hate for something to happen to you. Get some rest these next few weeks, okay?”

 

“…Okay.”

 

Courtney chuckled. “You wouldn’t happen to just be ‘okay’-ing me right now, would you?”

 

“Maybe.”

 

“Well, then get some rest. You clearly need it.”

 

As Maxie wordlessly watched his mother leave the room, Jacob couldn’t help but wonder if he even had a choice in heeding Courtney’s advice. Is it even possible to try it again? Where would I even start?

 

 

---

 

 

Two years later…

 

Maxie watched from afar, wearing sunglasses that obscured his eyes, as a swarm of people made preparations for the massive feast that would be held that night in the town hall. Tables set up, platters carried, dealings made.

 

“Do you think they’re gonna do anything actually interesting this year?” Maxie asked Tabitha, who happened to be sitting at the same table. They’d been sitting off to the side of the venue for nearly two hours now, and nothing had happened.

 

“Nothing flashy, obviously,” Tabitha replied. “I don’t know why you’re expecting anything different. Just hang back and enjoy the food like you normally do.”

 

“Don’t you mean like we normally do?”

 

“No, I meant you. I actually have someone I was hoping to meet with tonight.”

 

“Really? Who?” Maxie asked eagerly, desperate to keep the conversation alive, lest he waste even more of the day.

 

“Big shot from the Guild of Honor. Mom talks with them a lot, and I want to figure out what they’re all about. If it goes well, I could get a proper connection with them.”

 

I feel like I should know what that is…

 

!dt Guild of Honor

 

The name of a highly influential guild located in Hakken no Machi.

 

Oh, right, those guys. Aren’t they the ones with a place in the next town over?

 

“They’re probably already here by now if you want to start looking.”

 

“Eh, I’d rather not. They said they wanted to meet right around here, anyway.”

 

“Is that my cue to leave?”

 

“Not yet it isn’t. We have maybe another hour to go before the festivities start.”

 

Are you kidding me? An hour? What am I gonna do? “Did you bring a deck of cards or something? Sitting here is such a waste of time.”

 

“When have I ever been one to do that, Maxie?”

 

“I’m just asking, sheesh…”

 

“Go find someone else to bother if you’re so bored.”

 

“It’s not that I’m bored, it’s that there’s nothing to do. There’s a difference.”

 

“Just go, Maxie.”

 

“Fine…” Maxie got up from his chair, and began idly wandering around town hall, not really sure where to even go. Practicing typing magic during the feast was a no-go—infuriatingly, he hadn’t gotten it to work once since the incident nearly two years ago at this point—so he really wasn’t sure what to even do. It was doubtful he was going to find any sort of privacy while the feast was ongoing, that was for certain.

 

He peeked around a corner, to a practically empty part of the building. There was nobody there, save for a single waiter organizing plates on a table. He ignored the waiter, and leaned over by the windowsill, staring out of it.

 

Making connections, huh…

 

Now that he thought about it, he really had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He could probably do anything he wanted, given the fortunate position he found himself in. That somehow made choosing what to do even harder, though.

 

I did like being a streamer in my past life. At least, I think I did. What would that even translate to in this world, though? Some kind of performer? Entertainer? What job would that even be?

 

…Could I die in a similar way?

 

It disturbed Jacob to even think of how he died, given how sudden and violent it was, so he did his best to push it out of his mind.

 

If only…

 

“Hello there.”

 

Maxie jumped, and whipped around to see a Snorlax nearly double his height towering over him, wearing a plain brown cape, and with a golden Medallion depicting a crown over a closed eye.

 

“Y-you scared me…”

 

The Snorlax laughed. “I have a bad habit of doing that, apologies. I am Steven, you may have heard of me.”

 

“That big religion guy? You’re him?”

 

“Well, that’s certainly one way to refer to me.” Steven shook his head. “I don’t come down here often enough to know everyone. Who might you be?”

 

“Uh, Prince Maxie?”

 

“Oh! Well, it’s a pleasure to meet with you.”

 

There was an awkward silence between the two of them.

 

“…Generally, the response to that is ‘it’s nice to meet you too.’ Has your mother shared her opinion of me with you already?”

 

“She said I shouldn’t be talking to you under any circumstances.”

 

“Well, that’s rather harsh.”

 

More awkward silence followed.

 

“Anyway, I wanted to find somewhere quiet,” Maxie replied after the longest time. “I’ll be seeing you around.”

 

“Going so soon? I thought—”

 

“It’s been nice meeting you, bye,” Maxie said as he walked back over to the edge of the hall, only to bump into a Luxray.

 

“Gah…” the rather imposing-looking Luxray said. “Apologies, not used to contacts yet. Steven!” he yelled, seeing the Snorlax. “Did you see Courtney’s children around here anywhere? I was going to talk with her daughter, and I haven’t seen a single Flareon in this entire town.”

 

“You needn’t worry about that, Dumas. Courtney’s daughter is a Glaceon.”

 

The Luxray paused for a second, looking rather sheepish, before turning to Maxie, who was still sitting down, a little dazed. “You must be Maxie. Do you know where your sister is?”

 

“She’s literally sitting at a table in the corner of the room, waiting for you.”

 

For a split second, Jacob could’ve sworn he saw a yellow glow in the Luxray’s eyes, but he brushed it off quickly.

 

“…Thank you,” Dumas simply said before running off seemingly as fast as his legs could take him.

 

Jacob decided it was best to follow suit. He certainly wasn’t going to be around the ominous old man any longer than he absolutely needed to. He didn’t get the distraction he was looking for, however, and returned to the main hall, where the feast had properly started.

 

At least the food is normally good…

 

He meticulously grabbed the exact foods he had on Fridays off of the buffet, and started looking for a relatively innocuous place to sit down. While doing so, he overheard a conversation between his sister and the Luxray.

 

“If you ask me, the best thing you could be doing right now is getting more resources in the hands of explorers. There’s never much equipment to go around, and the prices for items that should be standard can be obscene in some parts of the continent. The information network around here is lacking, too. If you want us to be more friendly with you guys, those are places where work needs to be done.”

 

“I don’t think I have the influence to do much there, but I’ll try.”

 

“That’s understandable. I’ve heard of your mother’s attitude towards politics.” The Luxray spotted Maxie, and his eyes widened.

 

“What is it?” Tabitha asked.

 

“Nothing, it’s just… you have an interesting younger sibling.”

 

“Could you not say that in earshot of him?”

 

“…Sorry.”

 

Jacob would never know what he meant by that.

 

 

---

 

 

Maxie got out of his bed with a stretch. Today was his birthday, but it didn’t feel like that to Jacob. My old birthdays were never this time of year… He looked outside, and was greeted by maybe the sunniest day he’d ever seen in his life before. Not a cloud in the sky.

 

After going through his morning routine as meticulously as he could, he stepped outside of the room, and received a debatably welcome greeting.

 

“Happy birthday, dude,” Tabitha said, greeting him.

 

What’s she doing? “Uh, good morning?”

 

“I got you a present…” she deadpanned. “I hope you enjoy it.” She pulled out what looked like a steampunk digital watch. “I know you like keeping track of the time, so I got you something to help with that.”

 

Admittedly, this was a pretty good gift. I didn’t know they were making watches like this in this day and age… “Oh, thanks.” He immediately tried it on, and it fit like a charm. Am I really that obsessed with time that she’d notice it? I guess so…

 

“Anyway, mom had the butlers prepare a birthday breakfast for you. Come on.”

 

“Why are you the one escorting me?”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe mom wanted you to ask me about how the trip went. It went great, by the way. Got basically everything I hoped for and more.”

 

“Ah, that’s good to hear.” Better was the fact that their relationship was better than it had ever been. Which wasn’t saying much—there was still a bit of a sibling rivalry between them—but it was good.

 

“Yeah…”

 

Downstairs, the dining hall was slightly more extravagant than usual, with streamers, special decorations, and other party accessories placed around the room with what could only be a deep care. Maxie saw his mother sitting at the table, beaming.

 

“Come, my seventeen-year-old prince. Today is a special day.”

 

“I know, mom.” Maxie walked up to the table, and sat down in a place that didn’t feel quite right.

 

None of it felt quite right.

 

“Well? Any goals you’d like to share with me for this year before we start the festivities, my child?”

 

Maxie paused for what felt like the longest time. In truth, he had no idea. “None to report, no.”

 

Courtney looked… disappointed. Only for a split second, though. “Ah well.” She tapped the table twice. “Bring on the breakfast!”

 

The meal today was significantly more extravagant than Jacob was used to. Pancakes, more exotic berries, cream cheese, and more. It felt more like a buffet than a breakfast, which only made Maxie less inclined to dig in. It doesn’t feel like the kind of day where I should eat this much…

 

He tried nevertheless, but it was evident.

 

“Are you not hungry, Maxie?” Courtney asked. “You’ve barely dug in.”

 

“Ah, no…”

 

“Really?” Tabitha asked. “Something’s definitely bothering you. It’s written all over your face.”

 

“I’m fine, guys. I’m just thinking about the party, that’s all.”

 

“…You can talk to me, you know,” Courtney said gently.

 

Maxie said nothing in response. Jacob didn’t really know what to say.

 

After a while, Courtney spoke again. “Alright, you… Just be sure to brush for the party later, alright?”

 

“Alright, mom.”

 

After a heading up to his bedroom, Maxie opened up his journal. He needed to write down how he was feeling, or else he was going to explode.

 

Today is my ‘birthday’. It doesn’t feel that way, though. I still don’t really know why I should call these people my family, or why I’m even here. Well, I suppose there’s Apollo, but…

 

Maxie paused. Apollo? Of course! He’d know why I’m here!

 

!dt Apollo Mew

 

Apollo Mew is the name of the deity known for giving blessings to those who they find worthy or interesting. They are also generally perfect, and worthy of your worship. Why don’t you prostrate yourself in their honor right now?

 

Is it they? He? She? Whoever you are, can we talk?

 

Several seconds of silence followed.

 

…What is it? a familiar voice replied.

 

Do you know why I’m here?

 

Oh, that? Apollo replied nonchalantly. Yeah, that’s a total accident. Nobody really decides when a human enters the world of Pokémon, it just kinda happens as a weird quirk of the system.

 

Jacob was confused. Wait, really? How does that even work?

 

I’d rather spare you the details, because it’s actually super complicated, Apollo replied. Just know that souls tend to get stripped for parts, so to speak. That has some weird side effects, like accidental reincarnations.

 

…Anything else?

 

I really don’t have the time to explain everything, Apollo said, brushing Jacob off. The actual explanation defies mortal comprehension. Did you want to ask me anything else, or is your curiosity sated?

 

No, Jacob replied matter-of-factly. As soon as he did, he felt that same feeling of disconnection that he’d felt previously. I wonder if I could just talk to Apollo whenever I want…

 

More importantly, it struck him that Apollo had completely failed to provide him with anything meaningful to latch onto. There was no purpose.

 

In a way, it was freeing. He wasn’t responsible for anything. At the same time, he felt empty with nothing to do. His hands—or paws, rather—were left idle. To rot.

 

He briefly wondered if it made sense to follow in Tabitha’s footsteps. Being a diplomat of sorts didn’t seem like a terrible profession—he’d get to meet all sorts of people, at least. But it just didn’t scratch that itch in the back of his mind telling him to act.

 

To some part of him, it felt like nothing could.

 

He tapped a pen on the journal’s page. There was something missing here, he could feel it deep inside his soul. But what could—

 

“Son?” Courtney asked.

 

Maxie calmly closed the book and turned around to face his mother. “I’m fine, mom. There’s nothing wrong.”

 

“I do worry about you a lot, you know. You don’t seem to have very many friends.”

 

“The ones I have are enough,” Maxie lied. Those didn’t feel real, either.

 

“…I worry about you, and your sister. She’s veering close to politics these days, and, well, that’s worrying. I want you two to be happy, more than anything.”

 

“Why do you hate politics so much, anyway? You’ve never told us.”

 

“It’s a sad story, and I’d rather not burden you with that. Not on your birthday.”

 

“Can you tell me anyway?”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

Maxie paused for the longest time. He really wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but the curiosity was killing him. “…Yes,” he replied slowly.

 

“You don’t sound so sure.”

 

“Please?” Maxie asked.

 

Courtney took in a deep breath. “Alright. But don’t say I didn’t warn you, you hear?”

 

 

---

 

 

Courtney Eevee ran around the courtyard, playing chase with her friend, Justine Treecko.

 

“Gotcha!” Courtney declared, Tackling Justine to the floor.

 

“Ow…” Justine moaned. “Courtney, why do you always play so rough?”

 

“More rough is fun!” Courtney declared without missing a beat. “Besides, you gotta be assertive if you want to rule, right?”

 

Courtney had already been designated to eventually become one of the king’s wives at age fourteen, and Justine had a claim to the throne itself. To say that the two had big expectations out of life would be an understatement.

 

“Well… what kind of changes would you want to make, Courtney?”

 

“Well, first of all, I’d want to get the church out. Those guys are no good!”

 

“Maybe not the whole church?”

 

“Eh… I’ll work out the details someday. They’ve gotta stop meddling with our lives.” Courtney was more than annoyed with how much the Holy League of Heavenly Kings seemed to be able to do whatever they wanted by now. They’d even been able to dictate when and where she celebrated her birthday, which just felt wrong. She did have to concede that there were probably good people in there, too.

 

“I agree, but I’ve still gotta think about that sort of thing. I’m the one who’s gonna run the show, remember?”

 

She would not.

 

“Well, consider me your muse, then.”

 

The king was still relatively young at the time, being a Zangoose who was barely twenty. As such, there was speculation going around at the time that he was a potentially vulnerable target. He had yet to consolidate his rule so soon after the death of his father.

 

That would change shortly.

 

Somewhere, hiding in the bushes nearby, was an informant, who happened to overhear Courtney and Justine’s conversation.

 

 

---

 

 

“I don’t really know who this informant was, all I know is that they were listening in at the time,” Courtney explained. “They had to be. Otherwise what happened next wouldn’t have made sense.”

 

 

---

 

 

Courtney would be heading to Justine’s room the following day, hoping to have breakfast with her. She didn’t really understand it at the time, but she found herself being rather fond of that Treecko.

 

“Hey, Justine?” Courtney asked, knocking on the door.

 

No response.

 

“Justine?” That’s strange, Courtney thought. Isn’t she normally wide awake by now?

 

Still nothing.

 

Annoyed, Courtney gently opened the door.

 

She found a dead body.

 

The next several hours were a blur of confusion, panic, and crying. Justine’s mother, crying over her body. Several guards, yelling at each other. Some of Justine’s other friends, trying to comfort each other.

 

There was one thing Courtney would remember clearly, though. It was a note, found on top of Justine’s body.

 

“Y-You will be no muse…” Courtney read, trembling.

 

 

---

 

 

Courtney seemed misty-eyed, just recounting what happened. Clearly, it was a painful memory.

 

“The cruelest part was that she wasn’t the only person killed that week. The current king would go on to kill nearly everyone else that had a claim to the throne. Technically, that’s hearsay, but it was obvious who did it.”

 

“…And he made you have us?”

 

For a moment, Courtney looked horrified. “That’s not—” She took a deep breath. “Listen. I don’t regret having you two. I want the best for the both of you. It wasn’t entirely his decision either. I just regret that you two couldn’t have a proper father. If you’re wondering why we never see the king unless he asks for us, it’s because I’m trying to protect you two from him.”

 

Jacob tried his best to recall what the king was like when they last met nearly a decade ago at that point, but he struggled to remember much of anything, other than the fact that he was a Zangoose, like Maxie.

 

“So the reason you hate politics is because of him?”

 

“You’re partially right. The thing is, he rose to power by being the most ruthless, heartless monster he could. And it’s not hard to find stories like Justine’s all over history. Politics has a nasty habit of leading to bloodshed when power is on the line. The only way to save yourself is to not get involved.”

 

“…I see.” Maxie wanted to say more, but Jacob wasn’t sure what to say.

 

Courtney sighed. “Enough about my sob story. Today’s your birthday. You should enjoy it as much as you can.”

 

“…I’ll try.”

 

With that, Courtney left the room, leaving Maxie to stew in his own mixed emotions. He’d gotten her to speak to distract himself from those, and now they were coming back to him.

 

Maybe the issue is that I just can’t see myself as Maxie? I mean, that’s probably pretty close.

 

How can I even begin to deal with how I feel, though? It’s not like I can tell anyone about this. They’d probably just laugh me off or call me insane. Tabitha would definitely think I’m looking for attention and get mad at me.

 

Tabitha, huh?

 

She definitely felt overshadowed by me when we were growing up.

 

…Where is this train of thought headed?

 

Unable to organize his thoughts into anything coherent, Maxie headed over to the window, and stared out of it for the longest time, paying no mind to the shadowy figures who were just barely visible.

 

He would regret not paying attention to them sooner.

 

---