Gain Of Trust
CHAPTER 4
"Figures...He's not here."
Yeah, how'd we not expect that?"
"So what do you think now? Head for Hoenn first, or go straight for Sinnoh?"
"Knowing Leader, he's probably at Sinnoh by now. But since we do know him so well, there is a chance he would want to take a break..." the orange-haired man gave a sigh, looking out at the massive entranceway standing before them. The Johto Pokemon League. His green-haired companion sighed as well, crossing his arms as he looked out at the distant sky to the southwest.
"Well, guess we should check it then, just in case," he added, the other man giving a nod. "...What do you think the others are doing right now?"
"Based on how they are...I'd say Gina's looking for Leader like us, with Krystal close beside her. Jack might be following, but then again, he was lied to by family..." the man trailed off, pondering about his friends. "As for Trevor and Lexi...I'm not really sure, Lexi admired Leader like crazy, but a betrayal like this could be too much. Then Trevor, he's probably training and working out some anger he's been keeping in," the two men exchanged solemn looks.
"Well, you got two out of four, at least."
"Wha-?" both men turned away from the League entranceway to see that they were not alone, noticing two figures standing a short distance from them. The men smiled as they recognized the two familiar girls.
"Krystal, Gina..." the girls smiled back, moving closer toward them. "So, you're looking for Leader to help too, then?"
"That much should be obvious, for us, at least," Krystal's smile weakened a bit, showing a bit more sadness than happiness. "You already know that Leader raised the two of us like a father, even when no one else wanted to..."
"Come on, Krys', he was like a father to all of us, remember?" Mason asked, the girl arching an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but it sounds kinda weird coming from you two, being older than Leader and all."
"Only by a year, he's still a lot wiser than the two us put together. It's not like either of us deny that."
"He's right, being a year older makes no real difference. He's still seen a lot more of the world than either of us, even together," the green-haired man added, the four sharing a smile and laugh.
"If you don't mind me asking..." Krystal trailed off, rubbing her arm behind her back as she looked at the ground. "...Do you two forgive him? For...you know, lying..."
"...For now, I can't really say..." the girl frowned, since she already expected that response. "...Not until I ask him why. I can't judge him for it until I learn the real reason why he did it. He trusted us, he raised us all like a family, but if he lied about something this big, there must be an important reason why."
"...Right," the men were surprised to hear Gina agree with them. "At this moment, Leader is working all alone towards his real goal, while the seven of us are being indecisive about helping him. But despite the lying, he's still Leader. Our Leader," the silver-haired girl glanced over, noticing a suspicious smile growing on Krystal's face. "...Stop that."
"Oh come on, you know you can let out your emotions once in a while," Gina gave a quiet sigh as her friend embraced her tightly from her side, then noticed a smirk growing on the two men across from them. She shot them a glare. "Come on, Gina, play nice. They're family, remember?"
"...But distant," she muttered, only Krystal being able to hear her. The two men gave confused looks.
"Even so," Krystal pulled back and smiled, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder as well as Mason's, as he was standing closer than Webb. "We're still a family, all of us. Just because we've been together longer doesn't mean you can't trust them."
"Well, it's not like you have to force her, Krys'," Webb smiled, Gina looking away in embarrassement. "We know we can't be as close to her as you can, but we're still gonna be here for you. Both of you."
"Same on this end," Krystal smiled widely, wrapping an arm around her embarrassed friend.
"So neither of you have heard anything from Trevor or Lexi?" Mason asked, the girls exchanging a glance.
"We actually ran into Lexi earlier today. She was having troubles deciding on continuing to support Leader or not, but I think we kinda helped her out," Krystal explained, the two men listening carefully. "We told her to just follow her heart. She smiled and said she was fine, but when we asked her to join us, she said she had something else to do first."
"Do you think she's gonna join again?" Webb asked, the others exchanging concerned looks. "...Well, I suppose she's entitled to her own choice. We'll just have to wait and see."
"Right. Now then, we heard you guys think he stopped for a break in Hoenn?"
"Slaking, Hammer Arm!" Max shouted, the ape raising its fists into the air. Slamming them down onto the icy ground, the force shook the ground and caused everyone to lose their balance and stumble. But not a dent was made in the ice. "Dammit! Come on, it's gotta give eventually! Again!"
"Max, calm down!" Misty urged the boy, gripping her hand on his shoulder but he shrugged her hand off.
"She's right, Max! The others went back to get more information about this place, so as much as we're scared for May, we have to stay calm until they're back," Dawn explained. Just as the blunette had said, the group had become smaller since they first ventured into the cavern. Excluding May, the only ones remaining in the icy chamber were Max, Misty, Dawn and Pikachu. Absent were Brock and Gary, who had left in a hurry to see if they could learn something from the locals of Lacunosa Town. "The locals might know something about the Great Chasm, and there might even be someone who knows about this room, and why this ice won't break."
"But how are we supposed to just sit here calmly until then?" Max's frustration was obvious as he recalled his ape pokemon. "My sister's down there, all alone, and there's supposedly a monster that eats people in this cavern that we haven't even seen yet!"
"I know...But May wouldn't want you to worry so much, you know that," Dawn gave the boy a warm smile, rubbing the top of his head, earning a confused look from him. "Now take a breath, and don't worry about that monster. It might not even exist."
"Thank you for your time," Brock bowed to the elderly man in front of him, then continued down the street. He was currently interviewing almost every citizen he could find, desperately trying to find something that could explain what had happened in the depths of the Great Chasm to his friend. "Excuse me, would you happen to know anything about the Great Chasm's furthest chamber? I mean as far as you can go, the room with the single ice pillar on the ceiling. Anything can help, my friend-"
"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't know anything about that place myself," the man responded politely, Brock's heart sinking in his chest. "Although...Have you tried speaking to that conspiracy guy?"
"Conspiracy guy?" Brock asked, giving a confused look.
"Yeah. I don't actually know his real name, I'm not sure anyone does, but supposedly all he does at home is research these old conspiracy theories across the world. Like legends, but they're more supernatural," the man explained, Brock listening intently. "Just last week someone heard him talking about some boy in Sinnoh who went to sleep and never woke up, and the week before that there was some mansion in Sinnoh that had a haunted TV that spoke without power, but turns out that was just some local ghost-type pokemon."
"Do you know where I can find this man?" Brock asked eagerly, the gentleman giving a nod. He pointed down the street.
"Go to the pokemon center, then take a left and it'll be on your right. You'll know it when you see it," he stated, Brock giving a nod and a polite bow.
"Thank you so much," the man waved him off as the former gym leader took off in a hurry, taking out his phone and dialing Gary. His friend answered rather quickly. "Gary, I think I got something."
"Same here, apparently there's some guy trying to debunk conspiracies all over the world," Gary explained, Brock giving a surprised look.
"Then we must have heard about the same guy. Are you on your way to him now?"
"Yep, I just passed the pokemon center. I'll be there in a minute."
"Then I'm right behind you, I'm just reaching the pokemon center now. I'll see you there," Brock hung up the phone, passing the center and taking a left like the man had said. Sure enough, down the street, he recognized the young researcher putting away his phone and continuing down the street away from him before he stopped in front of a house. Brock caught up, stopping beside him and looking at the house in question. It seemed normal at first glance, but looking at the window, it was clear to see there were multiple sheets of paper covering the entire window. The men exchanged glances, then stepped towards the front door and knocked. They didn't hear anything at first, then knocked again. This time, they heard a crash shortly afterwards from inside the house. They looked at each other nervously as they heard footsteps pounding across the floor within, then heard them get louder as they heard a few clicks from the other side of the door before it opened a crack.
"Who are you?" a voice asked in a hush, the two men getting a strange feeling about this.
"Uh...Sir, we heard you research a lot of the supernatural conspiracies that happen-"
"What about my work?" he snapped back quietly. The pair tried to peek inside the crack in the door, but they couldn't see anything.
"Well...We were just at the Great Chasm, and we were wondering if you knew about-"
"The monster that eats people?" that got the two men's attention. "What about it?"
"Look, sir, we were just there and we got to the last room, the one with the single ice pillar-"
"Don't tell me someone got into the resting chamber!" he said incredulously, the two men nodding quickly. "...Then it's too late. If you're trying to save them, I'm afraid once you reach the resting chamber, there is no coming back out."
"But there has to be! We have to save our friend, you have to know some way!" Brock shouted, but the man inside only slammed the door shut in response. "Hey! Come on, please!" he shouted, banging his fist on the door a few times. No response.
"Dammit..." Gary muttered, fists clenched in frustration. The two men began to turn away from the door, then heard the door swing open. They looked back to see an older man, maybe in his late 70s, hiding behind the door but peering his head out at them. His short grey hair was a frizzy mess, along with his glasses that somehow indicated he was an older gentleman.
"What do you know of truths and ideals?"
"Who are you?!" May called out, glancing around nervously. The strange voice didn't respond, worrying the girl. "That voice...It must've been telepathy, even Blaziken's acting up..." she glanced at her partner, who was still standing defensively with a strong flame burning on each wrist. "...Can you at least explain what you mean? You mentioned...truths and ideals?"
"Truth or ideals..." May flinched at the telepathic voice's sudden response, almost not expecting it. "All before you have made their choices...and proved themselves...inadequate..."
"All before me...? Wait, so other people have made it down here?!" May exclaimed. So she wasn't the first person to make it down here in search of the monster?
"All humans have come here...searching. For pokemon...For treasure...For knowledge...All humans desire reward for effort..."
"But...not all humans are like that," May responded. What was this voice getting at? "Not all humans want something in return for doing something, there are people who do things just for the good of others. Regardless of whether they get rewarded or not."
"Not one visitor of mine...has proved that to me...They always desire something...Their greed knew no limits..."
"...Well, you have now," May stated, putting her hand on Blaziken's shoulder. The pokemon looked at her in question. "Calm down, Blaziken. It's not gonna hurt us."
"Blaze?" the pokemon asked. The brunette smiled, the pokemon reluctantly deciding to stand down cautiously.
"You mean to say...You desire nothing for coming here...?"
"That's right. I will admit, I first came here in search of something...Because I really need help right now..." May trailed off, her thoughts beginning to focus on a particular man. "My friend...I really care about him, even after not seeing him for three years. But recently, I got to see him again...But he's changed..."
"Changed...?"
"Yeah, he's...a completely different person now. I didn't even recognize him right away, but...something happened to him," the brunette clutched her arm, her grip tightening. "And right now, he's doing bad things. I want to stop him, but he has a legendary pokemon helping him, and there's no way I can compete with that...That's why I came here."
"You seek...the monster..." May bit her lip. It already knew why she was here. "The monster...Would never easily submit...If it does not approve, you will...never leave..."
"So it really does eat people...?" May chuckled weakly as she looked down at her feet. She had to admit, the rumor was kinda scary the first time she heard it, but getting confirmation of it...That was terrifying.
"Eat...? It does not desire humans..." May gave a questioning look to the ground. "The monster's power...it flows through this place...It flows...through everything..."
"It flows...?" May then felt a chill course through her body at those words. She shivered, rubbing her arms. Looking down at her arms covered in goosebumps, a thought occured to her. "...Cold...? So the monster's an ice-type?"
"In human terms, that is true...The monster...freezes what it does not approve...and eliminates..."
"If that's true...Then people aren't being eaten, but frozen?" May asked, starting to look around the dark cavern. "But...this is the deepest part of the Chasm, right? Shouldn't they be down here?"
"The monster's power...you...underestimate it...No human can withstand its power...and survive within..."
"The power...actually kills them...? Like hypothermia?" May tensed up. The thought of dying instantly from the cold, it almost hurt to imagine. "But wait, where is the monster? Do you know it?"
"...I know of the monster...I know it does not enjoy...being disturbed..."
"Then...can you tell me where it is? I need to ask for its help!"
"The beast...would not help a human...without just cause..."
"Then what does it consider just cause? What my friend is doing out there - to the world - it's going to make people unhappy! It's going to make pokemon unhappy!"
"Then...tell me..."
"What is it...?"
"Do you seek truth...or ideals...?"
Jack tapped the pen against the pad of paper, beginning to feel frustrated. "Jeez, how hard is it to find inspiration...?" he muttered, running a hand through his jet-black hair with a sigh as he fell backwards onto his back. Looking up at the top of his red tent, he began to think back to Leader's earlier words. "I've found inspiration just fine from doing nothing like this...Why is it different now...?" suddenly, an image flashed through his mind. The face of a particular blonde-haired girl. He quickly shook his head. "No, no way. There is no way Leader was right, she is crazy and violent," he told himself, closing his eyes and rubbing them. "Just think about something else...Something else..." his mind began to drift away from the girl's face. But not away from the girl, the image had just drifted...lower than her face. "...Guess it's not the worst..."
"What's not the worst?" the young jumped, launching the notepad and pen off his chest. His attention snapped to the opening of the tent, where the face of a smirking man had appeared. "Assuming the notepad wasn't a decoy, I didn't think I was interrupting anything..."
"Shut up!" the younger man shouted, giving a sigh. "What is so important that you had to nearly give me a heart attack for?"
"Is there something wrong with having a simple talk once in a while?" the man chuckled, moving back from the tent as the younger man had gotten up. He followed him outside, both standing up straight.
"Well, if you hadn't scared me it would've been alright," Jack stretched, resting his arms behind his head in his signature carefree pose. "So, what about?"
"Doesn't matter. We haven't exactly had much time for...you know, family bonding so, we could give that a try," Leader suggested, Jack giving him a suspicious look.
"...That doesn't sound like you at all. Not that I have a problem with embracing my own blood, but why now?" he asked, Leader not giving a response but only looking up into the sky above them with a blank gaze. Then a thought occured to Jack. It is true that Leader had almost never engaged in minor conversation, aside from being related to the mission, but there is one instance where he had seen Leader do so. "...Oh..."
"Relax, I'm not asking for a heartfelt talk," Leader chuckled, his blank stare still on the open sky above them. "It's just...In so many years...This is really the first time I've been anywhere without him..."
"...Sorry, Leader...I can't lie and say I understand what that's like..." Jack trailed off, not wanting to accidentally anger the man. He dared not push his limits when it came to the man and the sudden absence of his best friend, who never left his side. "...So...have I really been that obvious?"
"Hm?" Leader gave a questioning look to his nephew, noticing he was glancing away with a slight shade of pink on his cheeks. "...Oh. Well, you two have been flirting almost every day for-"
"Not Lexi," Jack quickly interrupted, Leader pausing for a moment. "I meant Krys'."
"Well, despite your sad attempts you call chivalry, not really," Jack glared at him, the older man giving a smirk. "But I have to be honest, I didn't think a girl like her would be your type."
"It's not that I have a type, it's just...I dunno, she seems like an interesting mix, you know? She can be really nice to others, she may like the cold but she still really cares about her pokemon and friends, she's clearly cute, it was just kind of a spur-of-the-moment the first time I met her."
So you like the criminally assertive types?" Leader emphasized his words with a smirk, earning a punch in the arm from the younger man. "Well, at least you know firsthand that she can defend herself if you get on her bad side. Although, you're too afraid to really try anything."
"And what makes you say that? I'm perfectly capable of getting a girl."
"Even when Gina's around?"
"..."
"..."
"...Okay, but you've seen how she is! They're like actual sisters, if I tried to get between that I would actually fear Gina would be after my life!"
"And so your forbidden love ends before it even begins..."
"Oh, shut up. Not like you're any be-eeeeee..." Jack trailed off on that letter, not wanting to finish that sentence as he noticed Leader tense up. "...est be getting back to my novel...heh heh..."
"You don't have to try to avoid it," Leader sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he moved towards a tree. Jack followed cautiously and watched the man climb up, setting himself on the largest branch and resting against the trunk. "It's my past, so it's not like I can avoid it forever."
"Yeah, especially when it's chasing you...literally..." Jack quipped quietly, not wanting the man to hear him as he leaned against the tree on the ground. "...Would you mind if I asked what really happened?"
"I suppose this is payback for me making fun of you," Leader responded, closing his eyes.
"Surprisingly, no. Back when I met May...I'll admit, I was kinda taken back. She's really cute, even competing with Krystal, then hearing that she's the girl you were smitten with way back when...It just got me wondering how you managed to get her."
"So you think I can't get a girl?" Leader remarked, Jack giving a nervous chuckle.
"No way, I'm sure you can. I mean, come on, you're related to me," Jack said confidently, Leader giving a smirk. "But regardless, a girl like her...I gotta say I'm impressed, Leader. So it got me wondering what could have happened..."
"...I made mistakes," Jack almost didn't recognize the tone his friend was using. It was nothing like his tone earlier, making fun of him, it almost seemed completely...honest. "Things were going great, even if we were keeping quiet about it. We managed to keep it from our best friends, some of who are in that group chasing us, even our own parents never knew. But we were young...and oblivious..."
"How so?" Jack asked slowly, not wanting to push his luck.
"...The world is desperate for something to focus on. Even if it's not true," Leader's voice grew quieter, Jack taking notice of this. He sighed, pushing off from the tree and resting his arms behind his head.
"Never mind," Leader opened his eyes, looking down at the boy with a confused look. "I know all your tones, but I've never heard that one before, so I can only imagine it's coming from a dark place. If it bothers you this much, don't worry about telling me. I'll wonder in silence," Leader watched the younger man walk towards the treeline and disappear through it, leaving the man in silence. He looked down at his open palm, then held it out in front of him over the sun.
"Humans and pokemon...All they do is hurt each other...and themselves..."
"Never thought I would see him like that..." Jack muttered to himself, glancing back at the treeline he had come from. He turned around, facing the grand archway leading into the Hoenn League. "...Just Sinnoh and Kalos left...I guess Alola, but their League is still in the works, so there's no real point going there..." Jack gave a sigh, scratching the back of his head as he felt a breeze come from behind him. "...I wonder what everyone else is doing right about now...? Mason and Webb are probably looking for us, Gina might be too with Krystal trying to stop her..." he chuckled, thinking of the possibility of the two girls arguing. He had never seen that before, and wondered if it were even possible. "...Lexi...Could go either way, I guess...Which leaves Trevor, probably just magnetizing chicks down the street-"
"Always talking behind my back, aren't you?" Jack jumped, leaping forward and spinning around on his heels. True to his ears, he saw the owner of the voice standing with his arms crossed, smirking.
"Trevor?" the man nodded, running a hand through his deep blue hair as he looked up at the League towering before them, moving closer to his old companion. "You...found me..."
"Not you, I found Leader," Trevor remarked, the younger boy narrowing his eyes. "I figured he would be done with Johto rather quickly, so I thought I would catch him here. If you came through the trees over there, I can only imagine Leader's over there too, right?"
"...Yeah..." was all Jack said. Trevor didn't exactly speak his mind a lot, but he never took him to be the smart and deducing type.
"So, my question then is what you're doing over here on your own," Jack cringed, glancing away at the distant sky. "There's also why she's still hiding from you, but I guess I can imagine that already."
"Right...Wait, what?" Jack blinked, looking back at the man curiously. Trevor arched an eyebrow.
"What? I thought you noticed her already?" Jack just stared blankly. Trevor sighed, turning towards the corner of the building a short distance away. "Come on, are you planning on hiding forever?"
"...Have you finally lost it...?" Jack asked quietly, only staring at the man who did not avert his gaze from the building's corner. Then Jack heard an audible sigh, but not from him or Jack, and heard footsteps from where Trevor was looking. Following his gaze, he was surprised to see a familiar blonde girl in her familiar pink jacket, arms crossed with a slightly embarrassed look towards the ground beside her.
"Thank you, Trevor, I'm so grateful..." she muttered sarcastically, the navy-blue-haired man giving a shrug in response.
"Wait, Lexi? What are you doing here? How long have you been here?" Jack asked quizzically, the girl tightening her arms across her chest.
"...Not too long."
"How did you figure we were here?"
"Just a hunch, I guess...Plus when I got here, I noticed Zekrom not too far off in the sky."
"...Oh, right...Guess that's kind of a giveaway..."
"Yeah...So you're still with him, huh?"
"Yep, we are family, after all. He's the only family I really know anymore, so I can't just bring myself to leave him."
"Right...I suppose that would logically make you...his partner, right? The one he told?"
"...Yeah..." Jack scratched the back of his head nervously, glancing away to the ground. How was he supposed to talk to these two right now? Leader had announced he only trusted one person with his true intentions, and for the six of them following him, being a blood-relative makes him the most suspicious. "...Look, I'm sorry you guys found out that way..."
"Assuming there's nothing any of us could do to make you talk..." Trevor stared at the man, who only lowered his head in repsonse. "...Then that means the two of you don't truly trust us-"
"That's not it!" Jack snapped, surprising the other two as well as himself. "...I mean...We do trust you guys...We were together for so long, like the others have said before...we're like a family..."
"Then what has Leader said about us?" the two men looked at Lexi in question, who stepped towards Jack. "If we really are a family - if he considers us family - then why did he lie to us? How are we supposed to just trust him after all we've done for a lie?" Lexi was now face-to-face with Jack, her own face inches from his showing no sign of backing down. Jack leaned back nervously, glancing away. "And if you can't even look me in the eye, why should I ever trust you?"
"...Maybe you can't trust me..." Lexi backed off a bit. "...Look, even if you don't trust me, that's fine. But...Please don't hate Leader for this. This wasn't actually his fault."
"What are you talking about?" Trevor inquired, Jack closing his eyes with a sigh as he took a step away from Lexi, turning his back to them.
"That's...because-"
"Stop," the three were surprised to hear a familiar deep voice, not any of their own, looking over to see a familiar figure emerging from the trees where Jack had come from. Leader. "There's no point, Jack. Stop this."
"But there is a point...I can't just leave it like this! I'm the one they hate, not you! You raised them - you raised all of us! They can't hate you when you're not responsible here!" Jack exclaimed, the other two looking back and forth between him and Leader questioningly.
"What are you guys talking about? Just because he didn't lie to you doesn't mean he didn't lie to the rest of us," Trevor remarked, Jack clenching his fists at his sides. He took a breath.
"Jack, seriously, you don't-"
"It was me. I'm the reason Leader lied to you."
END