Silver Bullet

[Undyne]

Sabrina only noticed how far she had walked when she felt a splash of water against her cheek, and noticed that she was standing at the edge of Costa del Sol, on the seaside looking out into the endless oceans that spanned the verse. Out here there was less protection from the elements than further into the city, meaning that winds and waves battered against the dikes that kept the island from being eroded on this side. She'd never been here before... but now that she was, it reminded her of the area south of Vermillion City, with the big open shores. Just as bustling with activity, and with the same nice wind and rich salty scent in the air. The only thing missing were those benches along the dikes for strollers to sit- never mind. As if on queue she saw one of those benches, pointed at the sea, that'd been hidden behind a handful of people walking by when she had first looked in that direction. She moved over, sat down and tugged her sweater over her chin to guard herself from the wind.

Out here was a better place to think than in the apartment... haaah. Things weren't looking up right now. She couldn't send batches of incomplete data to the Navy, but she could not just hold her findings back either. The Navy would not be very happy if she sent them data that misled them, but on the other hand if she withheld something she would be asked why she hadn't sent anything. They had, after all, supplied her with a lot of data and she had access to the database, plus she'd proclaimed herself to be an expert on Pokemon matters. If she did not show up with some results soon things would not look up for her credibility.

The problem, the key figure, was Wartortle. Sabrina looked out into the sea, following the course of the waves as they advanced towards the shore and crashed against the dike. What events had shaped it to become the way it was? Why did it behave the way it did? And above all, why did it do what it did? According to the data records it waged a guerilla warfare with its faction against... well, almost everyone. The Navy most of all, but also Cinnabar and any other factions that were present in whatever verse they operated in, though that was primarily the Vasty Deep. They had groups operating in the other verses as well, it seemed, but the most threatening forces were right here, led by Wartortle. She wondered if it really was operating on its own, or if there was someone behind it all, the shadowy leader. Pokemon were animals, their behavior was animalistic and their habits and patterns were simple. The most that they would achieve were simple hierarchies and packs. Mewtwo was the exception: it wasn't just intelligent but also smart, able to make use of its knowledge as they had found out when it had carried out its ruthless plan. Back then Mewtwo had even gone as far as to establish a community of Pokemon that was organized in a complex yet functional society. A simple knockoff of human society, really... and since its arrival here in the Omniverse it had set up Cinnabar Island, which was a community as complex as a human one. In other words, it had gone beyond itself. Could it be that it was the mastermind behind the Liberation Front? A Wartortle, even one molded by its trainer, couldn't have the cunning to carry out plans as complex as this. She would hardly trust a Psychic Pokemon with being able to think of that, and even those would be a far stretch. On the other hand, the council members had displayed how cunning they themselves were... so it wasn't out of the question that they had somehow evolved to be smarter and more humanlike than their Pokemon World counterparts.

Could it be that Cinnabar was using the Liberation Front as a fictitious "common enemy" between the Empire and itself, a force that they could pretend was rebels without any affiliation to them when in reality it was to enhance Cinnabar's military power and to drive forward some hidden agenda of Mewtwo's? A force supposedly unrelated to Cinnabar would mean that Mewtwo couldn't be held responsible if the Liberation Front destroyed imperial settlements, attacked their ships or sabotaged their operations. They could act with relative impunity. But of course, they couldn't accuse Mewtwo without any solid proof - like a confession from Wartortle, maybe. Getting the bugger captured for questioning was a whole different story, of course.

Sabrina pushed herself to her feet and walked back towards her home. Speculating and making up wild theories wasn't gonna help her cause, and she had exploited every bit of information that she'd been able to get her hands on. If there was more she would have to earn it, if there wasn't she had done all she could. The only thing to do now was to send the results back to HQ and await their response... if they sent out a ship to intercept Wartortle she would probably be the first one to be approached about joining them. When she arrived at her apartment she printed out everything required and added a new section to the Liberation Front Folder in the far back, marked with her code and a date. She sent an encrypted digital copy to the Navy and packed the folders into her bag. It was time to head back to Coruscant for a visit. Let's just see here... Communicator, check. Keys for her Airbike, check. Keys for the apartment, check. Folders, check. Pokeballs, check... everything looked good. She put on her biker suit and helmet, locked the apartment down and headed downstairs to get on the Airbike. A few button presses on her helmet enabled the GPS and set the coordinates to her destination in Coruscant. And with the badge on her suit the troopers would let her pass without causing any hassle.

Fifteen minutes later Sabrina drove the bike through the gate to Coruscant, leaving Costa del Sol behind for now.