Chapter 4: Father's Son
Alex was on the run again. His latest high jinks had been met with a particularly nasty reaction by the Royal Guards, but then he supposed he probably deserved as much and regardless it was what he was aiming for. Ever since his father left him and his mother thirteen years ago to go off and join the ranks of the Guard, leaving her to take care of her five year old son alone, he had been causing general chaos and mayhem around the town for the filth to deal with. Most of his crimes were minor such as holding up traffic by using his electric Pokémon and extensive electrical knowledge learned from watching the electricians that came to work on the magnet train when he was younger to interfere with traffic signals or changing words on the numerous digital billboards that adorned the sides of building everywhere in Goldenrod City where he lived.
However for his latest prank he went directly to the source, the guards Headquarters in the abandoned radio tower. Using his father's last gift to him, A Magnemite at the time and now a powerful Magneton, he sent out a large burst of magnetic energy directed solely at their building as not to disrupt any of the privately owned businesses in the area. The sudden pulse of energy was more than enough to short out every electronical unit in its target, but he had run into a snag in the getaway portion of his carefully planned prank. One too many of these pranks set the Guards on edge and they had posted a watch for anybody acting strangely and he with his equipment hooked up to a Magneton defiantly fit the bill. So just before he set his plan in motion someone, looking out of one of the numerous windows presumably, raised the alarm and a troop was already out of the door by the time the blackout occurred.
Now as he raced through the streets knocking over carts owned by peddler selling merchandize and food of all sorts he wondered if his time had finally come. Inside he'd known that this day was coming, there was no way he could have remained hidden forever, eventually the guards would grow weary of his constant disruptions and take action to stop him. In retrospect this last venture was probably doomed to failure as he knew the guards were beginning to piece together the string of vandalisms but he didn't know just how much they knew.
There was no helping it he thought he would have to gather his things from his house in the abandoned train station and flee town. His thoughts briefly turned to his mother but Alex knew she would be fine, after she got over his departure she would probably be better off even, with one less mouth to feed.
Moments later Alex was headed down a narrow ally when at the end a Honchkrow appeared in front of him blocking the path. He knew this particular Honchkrow belonged to the head of the local guard force, a cruel man named Neil Gordan. Alex released his second oldest Pokémon.
"Go Jolteon! Use Pin Missile." He commanded. Spines flew from Jolteon's ridged back and hit the enemy directly in face. Honchkrow reeled from the attack giving Alex all the room he needed to slip past and around the corner where he disappeared into the crowd of morning traffic on the large city's sidewalks.
Shaking as he walked Alex was scared for the first time since he had started his run of practical jokes years ago. The Honchkrow in the ally belonged to none other than the head of the guard in Goldenrod City, Neil Gordan. If the chief himself was on the hunt for him then this was much more serious than he thought initially. He had been stupid to try something so brazenly disrespectful; Alex only hoped that they wouldn't get to his home before he did.
After walking around the city taking every back route and shortcut he knew Alex arrived at his home but instantly knew he was too late. The front of the abandoned train house that served as his and his mother's house was surrounded by what looked like every guard in the city. Alex snuck around the back to get a better view of what was going on by looking in a high up window.
The scene in front of him was no a heartening one to say the least. Inside his mother was arguing with Neil and he could see her growing frantic. The chief guardsman seemed to be questioning her and Alex hoped that she would just let them search the place and then they would be on their way. Alas this was not to be and Alex watched his mother begin to argue with the man wishing that he had some way to tell her to hold her tongue and just give them what they wanted. Alex knew he could not just sit back and watch this spectacle so he began to form a plan in the back of his mind.
He would use Magneton to short out the lights like he had back at the headquarters then he would sneak in through the back door while the guards were distracted then he and his mother would flee the city. In his head Alex thought everything would work out after all and grabbed Magneton's Pokeball to release it and start the first phase of his simplistic plan, and then everything went wrong.
Talk had turned even more towards the worse inside and Neil released his Honchkrow. Alex's mother's Shinx stood in front of the large bird dwarfed but ready to fight none the less. Honchkrow swept the small dog like Pokémon aside with ease and advanced on Alex's mother. With one sweep of its mighty wing a dark blade appeared and went straight through Allysa Cheval without leaving a single mark on her body but the moment would never leave Alex's thoughts. Rage burned within him as he saw her dead body crash to the floor limp and lifeless.
Releasing his Electivire Alex burst in through the back door no longer thinking of self preservation, only destroying all those responsible for this heinous deed. He picked his first target and Electivire unleashed a bone shattering Thunder Punch to Honchkrow that sent it flying into its master and into a wall instantly shattering the man's spine. Not willing to quit just yet Alex released the rest of his party to unleash an electrical storm unlike any that the town had ever seen. His Pokémon were everywhere fighting human and Pokémon such was his anger that Alex cared little what the target was as long as it was responsible he would destroy it.
His Manetric and Jolteon were darting through the ranks of guards unleashing quick concentrated bursts of electricity while simultaneously crashing into any Pokémon that dared to challenge them. Magneton hovered above the battle shooting powerful arcs of blue lightning into the ranks of slowly advancing guardsmen. Electivire stood still like an unmovable mountain of electrical current landing devastating punch after punch sending many Pokémon to an early departure from this world. Alex himself had picked up the sword from the fallen body of the late Neil Gordan and was fighting off several guards. However even in his enraged state Alex knew he could not keep this up and as a final coup de grace for the fallen and a parting shot at those still fighting his Voltorb unleashed a powerful Self-Destruct That covered his exit as he returned his party and fled the building.
As he was leaving Alex kicked a Pokeball that he recognized as the one his mother had kept her only Pokémon in. Running back through the wreckage he found the Shinx who had been knocked cold by Hounchcrow's Wing Attack. Alex grabbed him and holding the small Pokémon under his arm ran from the building. Not bothering to look back Alex ran through the city tears forming in his eyes for the first time since his father left. Today he had witnessed the last thing in his life that he cared about, outside of his Pokémon, ripped away from him. The empire had taken both of his parents from him and he had nowhere left to turn. Alex sat down just outside of the city by the edge of a lake and cried.
He sat there for hours thinking about his father in the limited time he'd known him. The memories were cloudy and distant, but they were there. From his father he had learned his first swordplay moves, even if because he was only a small child when Arthur Cheval had joined the guard he could not learn much the seed was planted. It was from those training sessions that Alex's interest in sword fighting had sprung from and over the years he grew into a fairly experienced fighter.
Though he supposed that his father would be the enemy now. Surely the damage he had caused to the guard would not be ignored, Alex knew that he was a hunted man now and he also knew that if he wanted to have any chance at all at survival then he would have to come up with a plan.
Alex briefly considered settling down in a quiet town and hiding out but knew that this would be a mistake. Eventually he would be found and who knew if he would be in any condition to fight of any attackers. He couldn't afford to settle down not with the Overlords forces after him. After much deliberating thought Alex decided that the best course of action would be to find his father and let him know of his former wife's death.
So with this goal in mind Alex set off towards the last place he knew his father had been to, Olivine City a coastal city that was the training grounds for new guards. It would be a long journey but Alex thought he could handle it and besides it wasn't as if he was welcome back in Goldenrod.
Arthur Cheval was distraught with grief. Not only had he lost his commander and one of his oldest friends to the fugitives they had chased outside of Celestic Town but now he had recently received even more depressing news. His only son and former wife had died in Goldenrod in an explosion that had occurred as a result of a battle his son was having with the local guards. The story he was given said that Alex had assaulted a guard who chased him back to the abandoned train house that they had been using as a home.
The reported stated there had been an altercation that had ended with Alex detonating several large homemade bombs that destroyed the building killing everyone inside.
Arthur knew immediately that this report was nothing more than a cover up. He had written too many such stories to not recognize it. What had actually happen would likely remain a mystery but he knew that there was more to this than what was printed on this document in front of him.
For the second time in as many days he questioned his loyalty to the Overlord. The only reason he joined the guard in the first place was protection for his family that he had promised to the families of all new recruits. However like so many other things in this corrupt system this had been a lie. Not only had the empire failed to provide his family with any sort of assistance, evidenced by their housing situation but now they had failed to keep them safe. The more he thought the angrier he became. This had to end he could no longer fight for a cause that would allow this kind of evil to happen. This was too personal for Arthur and he began to plan his escape.
The one hand throws the whiskey, and the other throws the gun
As he cries out to the heavens
I am not my father's son
Father's Son-3 Doors Down
