Author's notes: Another chapter, one with rather packed with dealing with serious issues, but they do have to get dealt with. As stated before, this is a collab with the wonderfully talented The Fighting Irishman, and a link to his profile and works is in my favorite authors.
Disclaimer: I own game cartridges, that's it. Nintendo and Game Freak own the ideas for the games, the series, and pretty much everything that makes money. Suing me would be a big waste of time and effort.
Cost of the Crown 8
Sabrina found herself honestly wanting to hit Nagi over the head with a rolled up newspaper. The sessions on his psychic potential were slow enough at first, but now progress seemed to be glacial. Unless he was hyper-focused on a battle, Nagi's mind went anywhere and everywhere. He recalled scenes and places, but never seemed to anchor with any of them. She reached out on the ethereal planes for him only to have his mind shy away yet again. For someone who was friendly on the physical plane, he gave the impression of a frightened Ralts on the metaphysical. She gave a sigh and looked over at him.
"It looks like this session's going to be a dead end today, Nagi. Maybe we need to find another approach since this one isn't working." Nagi opened his eyes, heaving a sigh to echo hers.
"I'm sorry, Sabrina. I just can't seem to get a connection or anchor to a visual. Places never mattered that much to me." His partners, his friends, the people and Pokemon around him had always been Nagi's first impressions. Places were nice to look at, but they weren't what might challenge him to a battle or ask him if he wanted to trade. Places weren't a migration of Vivillon, patterns intermingled and speaking of lands far away and nearby. Nagi watched as Abra played with a ball, and Sabrina wondered what he was thinking.
"How many Pokemon have you had, Sabrina?" She blinked a little at his question.
"I couldn't tell you an exact number off the top of my head Nagi. I've been training for years." Nagi fiddled with the Mega Ring, his eyes fixed and distant.
"Eight." When she made an inquiring noise, Nagi elaborated. "I've only had eight, well nine now if I count the Gulpin Serena brought me. My seventh I let go, it wasn't meant to be mine." Sabrina debated with herself. On the one hand, asking for more information might make Nagi back away and close up again. On the other, he might talk at least a little more. Acting on a hunch, she asked.
"You never seem to switch out though." Nagi used his bangs to hide his eyes.
"My third… my third died. I… miscalculated. Badly. I should have been better prepared." Sabrina held her breath at that. It was hard enough not to give away that Alakazam had inadvertently found out about Charm's death. It became harder still when Nagi blamed himself. Sabrina knew that most trainer's found it hard to deal with the situation the first time death claimed one of their friends. That Nagi believed it was his fault would make the situation worse.
"I'm sorry. It's always hard to lose a Pokemon, harder still when we blame ourselves for their loss. Do you want to talk about it?" Nagi shook his head.
"No, not now, not yet. I… still need to think on things." His smile was bitter, doing little to hide how broken he felt at the moment. "Serena is fond of telling me it's something I don't do often enough. Though I keep telling her she needs to think and plan a little less. She gets so caught up in finding the 'perfect' team and partners that she bogs herself down." He caught the ball as Abra bounced it at him, flinging it for the little Psychic to float after while chuckling with glee. Sabrina watched him play with the Pokemon, noting that Nagi did seem a little less burdened.
Later when she brought it up with both Trodaire and Alakazam, the Psychic made a musing noise.
'So we gain some glimpses, but the picture remains shrouded. A Pokemon capable of Mega evolution most likely, a strong one. One of his older ones, and Nagi is not a person who chooses or puts a partner aside lightly. He blames himself for Charm's death, because he was not prepared or did not think the fight through.' He paused, musing. 'Trodaire, your impressions here may help. Given his odd multitude of typings, which would you say Nagi identifies most strongly with of the four?' Trodaire raised an eyebrow.
"You mean, which type he actually favors?" He frowned, turning the thought over in his head. "I'd say Fire first, then Dragon oddly, followed by Fairy and Psychic. Why?" Alakazam floated over to the table, thoughts sounding distracted.
'Perhaps we have been overlooking the common tendency of almost every trainer. That of gravitating towards ones primary element when choosing Pokemon for partners. Nagi may identify with the Fairy and Psychic, but they have never been primary for him. His first choice was Fire, both in his starter and given the few records his first catch. And unless it is farther back then they have recorded, he is an anomaly in that he has no clear link to the Dragon Masters, yet two Dragons follow him like Meowths after their Persian mother.' He levitated books, flicking through them. 'However, there are a fair amount of both Fire and Psychic Pokemon amongst those recorded as Mega evolution capable. Not so many Dragon or Fairy. It narrows the field a little, but not much.' Trodaire pinched the bridge of his nose, looking tired.
"One step forward, two back. Uncover part of one mystery, find three more linked to it. What does Lysandre and this 'AZ' have to do with Nagi's Charm, its death and whatever other troubles he's seen?" Sabrina got up and folded her arms around Trodaire's shoulders.
"We'll find out sooner or later, possibly sooner now that Serena's here. I get the feeling that she knows more than she lets on about what happened." Alakazam snorted in amusement.
'She cares about young Master Nagi, that much is as obvious as a blue Ditto. Yet she would keep his secrets out of those same feelings. What she knows or does not will not help us if she will not impart it.' Trodaire leaned back into Sabrina's embrace.
"Well then, I guess we just keep going forward. Something's got to change eventually."
And something did change the very next day, though nothing at all what they expected.
None of them noticed at first when the door opened. Trodaire had his back to the door, as he was facing the ring with utmost concentration on what was in front of him. Google and Steven's Armaldo were squaring off in the squared circle in front of him, exchanging headlocks and chinlocks. Google seemed to be having far more fun with it than Armaldo was, though Armaldo would make the same expression if it was his birthday or if the world was about to end.
That is to say, no expression whatsoever.
Nagi and Steven were both leaning on the ropes next to each other, also facing away from the door, and were taking the time to idly chat whilst Trodaire instructed their partners just what the difference between a wristlock and a wristwatch were. (For the record, Google was the one having trouble with the distinction)
"Do you travel a lot, Mr. Stone?" Nagi asked. Steven chuckled.
"It's just Steven, Nagi. Or Steve. Whatever you prefer. Mr. Stone is my father. And yeah, I'd say that I do travel a lot. Haven't been to Kalos all that often though, I have to say. I've heard it's pretty. That true?" He asked. For once, Nagi was about to brush it off with a casual "Yeah, it is." comment, but then thought about what Sabrina had been trying to beat into his head. Focus on the places, not just the people. So he decided to give it a try.
"There's…a feeling of regality to it." Nagi finally began. Steven perked up, not expecting a sixteen year old to refer to his country by such a fancy word. "Once you get past the people, there's something noble about it. Whimsical, I guess. The forests are pretty and lush, and the rivers are clean and sparkly." He closed his eyes, and before he knew it he was speaking without thinking. "Winters can be pretty brutal, but only if you go way up north. And Lumiose City at night…it looks like the stars came down from the sky to rest in our houses. It just glows, and you feel warm and happy, even if you don't know why."
Trodaire could hear the kid out of the corner of his ear, and continued to give Google and Armaldo instructions. But as Nagi kept talking, he quietly asked Armaldo to take over the primary instruction-giving. He trusted Armaldo enough to hire the guy, practically.
Arceus knows the Bug-Rock Pokemon would whip the three stooges into shape for him.
"I'm from Vaniville Town." Nagi said. "It's a pretty, small place. A lot of green, a lot of trees. People like summer in Kalos, but I've always liked autumn in Vaniville. Mom and I would ride with her Rhyhorn through the forest just south of our house. The whole place is like a flower about to bloom. It's pretty. You and Cynthia would love it there." He opened his eyes, and realized he'd been rambling. Blushing, he furiously added a qualifier. "Uh, if you were thinking about living in Kalos, that is."
Steven didn't say anything, instead a genuinely thoughtful expression on his face. A small, poignant smile curled on the edge of his lip.
"Y'know, Nagi, I think we might. We were sitting on the fence, to be honest, but…I think your little description might've just swayed me into giving it a go." He took a deep breath, and added something that hopefully Trodaire wouldn't hear. "…And it might be a great place to raise kids."
His hopes were dashed.
"OooooooooooOOO!" Trodaire whistled, earning him a smack to the back of the head by Steven. Nagi laughed, as the Orrean rubbed his smarting head whilst grumbling mightily. "…Jackass." Trodaire muttered.
"Eavesdropper." Steven countered, looking at Nagi and winking.
That was when the door opened.
Trodaire had conditioned himself to expect just about anything walking in the front door of his gym. Yet seeing Serena lead in these two people was completely unexpected.
"This is the place you two are looking for, right?" Serena asked, glancing back at the two people following her. The male nodded.
"Yes. Well, I'm looking for it." Lance said, holding the door open for his travelling companion. "Clair here is just sort of following me."
"Don't know why you dragged me in here, cousin…" Clair muttered, wrinkling her nose in distaste. Serena caught the flabbergasted look of Nagi, and waved.
"Hi Nagi! Don't mind me, I just led these two to the gym while I came over too!" She said cheerily. Nagi blinked once, and then found his voice.
"Uh, Serena? Do you know who those two are?" He managed to squeak.
"Nope!" Serena said with a smile. "Should I?"
"Well, uh, I might face off against the guy in the tournament so…" Nagi trailed off, letting Serena do the mental math. It didn't take long. With an awed (perhaps frightened?) "Eep!" Serena skirted off to the shadows, leaving Clair and Lance in the doorway. Where they stood, staring.
Nagi looked up behind him and saw that Trodaire and Steven were staring right back at them. Well, not really at *them* per say. Mostly at Lance. Nagi looked back and forth between the two groups and felt a tidal wave of emotions that threatened to sweep them away. Trodaire was the one to break the ice.
"Can I help you, Lance?" He asked.
He'd just referred to the Kanto Champion (former, really) on a first name basis. Nagi wondered just how big Trodaire's…tumbleweeds really were to address a guy of that stature that flippantly.
Then it hit him. Class stratification was a big deal in Kalos, but probably not as much in Kanto and pretty much non-existent in Orre. This might be par for the course.
"You could show a little respect, boy." Clair said with barely concealed contempt.
Okay, maybe it was a big deal here too.
"I'm just here to drop off the Clan's monthly donation to the gym." Lance said, no hostility whatsoever in his voice. "Clair came along with me." That last line seemed like an apology. Trodaire nodded.
"No problem. Just leave it at the desk in the office, and Paulie'll take care of it when he gets in today." He said. Lance nodded. The Dragon master looked at Steven.
"How was the honeymoon?" He asked. Steven smirked.
"It was good. Relaxing. Back to work now, unfortunately."
"For Summerfest, I imagine?" Lance asked.
"You know it." Steven's smirk deepened. They were dancing around the main issue here, so Lance decided to broach it.
"Expecting much trouble from the challengers?" He asked. Steven shook his head.
"Not really. Trodaire here has my team in iron-sharp shape already. I don't know if anyone could give them a good fight at this rate." He said.
"No doubt. Maybe I'll have to see if I can make it to Hoenn around that time." Lance said, a similar cat-like grin forming on his face.
"I'd like that." Steven said, a genuine smile on his face.
"As would I." Lance replied, carrying a mutual smile. Clair rolled her eyes.
"Aren't you more concerned with the World Tournament later this year?" She asked.
"I have a pretty open schedule. I could make Summerfest." Lance said to his cousin. Clair wrinkled her nose.
"Seems like a waste of time." She said. Serena, the poor girl, decided that this was an opportune moment to speak.
"Hey! I've been to Summerfest. It's a great tournament!" She said.
Like a Persian eying fresh Feebas, Clair turned her full attention to the girl to the side.
"Oh, really? And why should I take the advice of a child?" She asked. Lance frowned.
"Clair!" He said harshly. Serena wasn't cowed.
"If not a kid, then why not a champion's word?" She asked.
Clair burst into a giggling fit. It wasn't a terribly pleasant sound.
"You? A Champion? Where at, your preparatory school?" She asked. "I think Earl retired a few years ago, so that's the last of the good teachers gone."
"How about Kalos' co-champion?" Nagi said, standing upright to two of the more famous trainers in the world. "With me, as a matter of fact."
If it were possible, Clair seemed to become more condescending.
"Why am I not surprised? Kalos is a land of fairies. Makes sense that children would run around playing champion there as well."
Nagi felt his face flush red in anger and stung pride. He could see Serena practically wilting in the background, and he'd be damned if this rotten woman would hurt her any longer.
"Wanna put your money where your mouth is?" Nagi said. "I bet my little fairies could wipe the floor with your Dragons any day of the week."
Lance sensed that the situation was only moments from combusting, and valiantly attempted to defuse it.
"Clair, I wouldn't be making a challenge like this." He said, glancing at Steven and nodding, warning the Steel-type master that some big guns might need to be called in to break up a fight.
"What is wrong with this challenge, cousin?" Clair asked. "It's common knowledge that any champion outside of the core four is suspect to critique. I'd wager I could personally smash any of them."
"Really? And does my wife fall in or out of your little core?" Steven snarled. Lance sighed. He'd been hoping to defuse this with some help, and now his cousin had gone and dragged Steven into it. So much for backup. Clair's snarl rivaled an angry Gyarados'.
"And what if she isn't?" Clair asked. Trodaire spoke up.
"Y'know, Clair, if you've got nothing else to say other than put-downs, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave. You're cutting into training time here." He said. Clair raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah, street rat? Whose am I interrupting?" She asked. Trodaire didn't respond to the slur, instead gesturing directly behind her.
Clair wondered what the dust rat was talking about, when she heard a male clearing his throat behind her. She turned around, about to tear into the boy for interrupting her, when she froze.
He was young. Probably about 20 or so. He was wearing blue jeans, with a black shirt. Over that shirt was his trusty red vest, with its white collar. He was wearing a simple red hat, the color scheme not unlike that of the top of a Poke Ball. He was about six feet tall, perhaps six foot one. But to her, he was a twenty-foot tall beast man that had more or less crippled her entire team without breaking a sweat and never saying a word. He stared at her with those piercing blue eyes, a frown etched on his face. It was clear he'd been there the whole time, and had heard every word she'd said. All of the color drained from Clair's face, and she felt herself break into a cold sweat. The boy in front of her pointed at her with his left thumb (a move that caused her to flinch badly), and then jerked his left thumb back over his shoulder. The implication was clear.
You. Out.
Lance nodded, and took his shell-shocked cousin out of the gym, not before apologizing profusely for the scene she'd caused. The boy watched them go, and then turned back to face the rest of the gym. Slacked jaws, and buggy eyes greeted him. He raised an eyebrow, confused with the undue attention. He hadn't done anything, had he? Finally, the Orrean in the corner of the ring broke the reverential silence.
"Geez, man. Don't you think you were a little hard on her?" He asked.
Red shrugged.
"Bitch deserved it."
It took another twenty minutes before training could begin again. That was because for the first five minutes Serena began to squeal like she'd just met a teenage pop idol hero of hers for the first time, and was practically in tears when he shook her hand. And then promptly passed out when he agreed to take a "selfie" with her. (Though he insisted on tucking his hat's brim over his eyes) During this time, Steven had discreetly called Cynthia, who was over in what seemed to be five seconds. And then proceeded to repeat the process that Serena had gone through (though in a much more dignified way). This took an additional ten minutes. The remaining five were spent by Sabrina trying to revive Serena.
Finally, after Steven and Cynthia excused themselves for the day (knowing that this was not their exercise), all that remained were Trodaire, Sabrina, Serena, Nagi, and Red. The Boy from the Mountain, gracing mere mortals.
Red was leaning against the far turnbuckle, never once saying a word. He was waiting for Nagi to choose a Pokemon. Nagi felt his chest heaving in excitement. Where did he start? Who did he choose? He thought long and hard, and then decided that he would go with Amber, the dear sister that had been with him from the very beginning.
Amber gracefully stepped through the ropes, and curtsied in front of Red. Red smiled slightly, and doffed his cap lightly to her. And then he nodded.
"Pika?" A small, yellow face appeared from over his shoulder, peering out from his backpack. Judging from its squinting eyes, it had been napping. It crawled down his arm, onto the turnbuckle, and then stood in the corner of the ring facing Amber. It goes without saying, dear readers, that this was no ordinary Pikachu.
Red made a face, and Trodaire nodded.
"Red wants to see Amber's quickness. He wants her to try to hit Pikachu."
Nagi nodded. He relayed the instructions to Amber. The Delphox let out a cry, and let loose a series of Embers. Off to the side, Machamp, Sawk and Throh were coated in impromptu fireman's clothing, hoping and praying they wouldn't have to use the fire extinguishers.
The words do not yet exist to describe the speed of the small yellow rodent across from Amber. Try as she might, no matter what beautiful combination of fire she used, she could not lay a spark on the Pikachu. Every time it would appear that she was about to scorch the little mouse, it would be sitting somewhere else in the ring, smiling innocently and waving. Red watched his oldest companion with a bemused grin. Trodaire kept his mouth shut the entire time. Who was he to teach Red how to battle?
Finally, Red whistled, and his Pikachu returned to his shoulder. Red reached into his pocket, and dug out a small bottle that was red. The Pikachu let out a cry of joy, and greedily began trying to pull the cap off of the ketchup bottle. Red gently took the bottle from his friend, pulled off the cap, and then inserted a bendy straw down the bottle. Pikachu took it, and gleefully returned to its home inside Red's backpack, where loud slurping noises could soon be heard.
Next, Nagi sent forth Izanagi, Google and Robina. They were brilliant, the best Nagi had ever seen them perform, but they paled in comparison to Red's three chosen partners. Nagi had never seen such power and speed come from a Snorlax, Lapras, and Venusaur.
That left Tempest and Garden. Tempest was, shockingly, completely behaved, and Garden knew just who they were facing and was absolutely prepared. Red nodded, and sent out his two Pokemon.
The first let out a proud cry, and beat its chest. Blastoise looked up at Tempest, and gave a smug grin.
Betcha I could take you in a fight, Queenie.
Tempest roared, but Blastoise didn't even flinch. Instead, it yawned, and decided to flex its cannons.
Then came the second flash as Red's final Pokemon came out. Nagi wondered what it was going to be.
Then he heard that roar.
Instantly, memories came flooding back to him. Good and bad. From the beginning in Lumiose, to the very end in that cursed laboratory and that Arceus-damned Gyarados.
Do you want to know unending pain as I have?
Nagi blinked, and managed to shake off the flood of memories. Thankfully, he noted, no one had seen his miniature breakdown.
He did not take into account Sabrina, who had watched off to the side with a horrified look of understanding in her eyes. In the end, it was not Nagi's reaction that tipped everyone off. It was his Pokemon's.
Garden stared at Red's Charizard, mouth agape. Something glistening was running down her eyes, and Trodaire saw it was her tears. She gave a muffled cry, and fell to her knees, sobbing. There was a strangled bawling noise, and everyone realized that it was Tempest of all things, wailing in sorrow.
Red realized this, and in a flash returned his two Pokemon to their homes before they knew what was going on. He leapt over the turnbuckle, and instantly laid his hands on Garden's shoulder and Tempest's knee. Slowly, their wailing stopped, and was reduced to just sniffling. Red nodded, looking them both in the eyes and sighing. The pain was visible in his eyes, as if he was the one that had originally been crying. Everyone watched this exchange breathlessly, unsure of what to make of such a display. They'd never seen anything like it before.
Red let go of Garden and Tempest, and walked over to Nagi and Trodaire in the corner. He leaned over to Trodaire and whispered something in the Orrean's ear. Trodaire nodded gravely. Then, Red slipped out through the turnbuckles and began to head to the door.
"What did he say?" Nagi asked. Somehow he wasn't crying. He wasn't sure why, but he just felt numb. Trodaire spoke.
"He said he's sorry. He wishes he could take it back, but he can't. He doesn't want to train with you until you figure this out, and the pain's gone."
Nagi sniffled a little bit, and stared straight into Red's eyes.
"Then what do I have to do, huh?" He asked, glancing at his sorrowful friend Serena as well. She was practically in tears herself. "What do I do?"
Red didn't say anything at first. Instead, he reached into his coat and took out an envelope. He handed it to Sabrina, and then whispered something in her ear. He began to walk for the door, and then paused. He turned around and faced the rest of the gym.
"Do what I don't." Red said. "Talk." He said.
And then he was gone.
For a few moments, there was nothing but silence. Then, a few moments after that, the door opened again.
"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Trodaire." Renner said, hastily taking his coat off. "I was running late from work and-" He looked up, and started sensing the feelings in the gym. "Oh, wow. Did I come at a bad time?"
Tempest picked that moment to let out a honking snuffle that sprayed goo over Nagi who'd been trying to finish calming her down and Renner. The look of sheer and utter offense on the man's face was too much for Serena. She sat down hard on the floor, hysterical giggles that verged on sobs tearing from her throat. Nagi wiped dino-dragon snot from his face and sighed.
"Somewhat. I was trying to practice with someone. It was going well, until…" His throat closed around the words. It had been hard, harder then he had thought it would to even admit in general Charm's death. Nagi found he couldn't bring it up again, couldn't openly say that Red's Charizard had sparked memories. Charm trying his best for Sycamore, his potential obvious even in the Professor's unskilled hands. The Charmander waiting with wide eyes to see if he would be picked from amongst the three by Nagi. Charm chewing on Binacles in the surf as a Charmeleon, tail held high to keep the flames from dying. Charm's first flight, the loud and raucous roar telling the world he was ready to fight. The Mega evolution, black scales and blue flames and tattered wings.
…And his third, his Mega laying broken and limp, chain snapped and stone at his feet, blood on his shirt and face from the tears in Charm's flesh. The Mega Gyarados' shrieking roar and the blank and somewhat shocked expression on Lysandre's face. And all he sees suddenly is redredred and the words from his lips are Creation and Avenge and maddened Fury.
"Xerneas, Moonblast!"
"…? Kid!" Nagi snapped back to the present, staring up at Renner. Something in the man's expression felt familiar, but Nagi didn't have a chance to think on it. He gasped and flung one hand out and felt Serena grab it, sacrificing any worry for her stylish clothes to help him focus. Tempest's nose bumped into his shoulder, and Garden hovered behind Renner, wringing her hands and looking like she had no idea what to do. She probably didn't, Nagi couldn't actually think of a point where his memories of Charm had been so overwhelming he'd lost himself in them. Sabrina came over with some wet towels, while Trodaire gave him a stern look.
"Nagi, what was that?" Nagi wasn't surprised when Serena answered for him. She knew he was still getting his breath back.
"A memory." She looked pale, overwrought and Nagi wondered if she'd had something similar happen. He pulled his hand from hers, using Tempest's snout as leverage to stand again. Renner allowed him to do so, face closed and careful.
"Something like that." He acknowledged. "I've never had one that bad, though. Never bad enough that I lost where I was in it." Trodaire narrowed his eyes.
"Nagi…" Nagi shook his head.
"Not right now, Trodaire. I can't talk about it right now." Serena took the towels from Sabrina and handed them to him and Renner. Nagi carefully pretended he didn't see how bad her hands were shaking. He was bad enough about talking about it even a little, but last he knew Serena wouldn't even allow herself that. The last thing he, his team, and the other people in the Fight Club needed was for Serena to also have a meltdown. "It's not only my problem, and I am working on it. When I'm ready, when I can, I'll tell you." Nagi could see silent thanks in Serena's eyes.
"Trodaire, let the kid take his time." Nagi looked at Renner, feeling surprised that the older man would take his side. "I don't know everything kid, no-one but you, the other two who were in there with you and Lysandre do, but I know enough. When you're ready to talk, it'll come and not before then. Pushing will only hurt you." Nagi felt his lips curve in a shaky smile.
"Thank you, Voisin. I'm sorry, but I think Serena and I need to have a talk elsewhere." Trodaire looked frustrated, but nodded.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Nagi." When the two left, he rounded on Renner while Sabrina watched.
"What the hell was that?" Renner had called Laceration out, and stroked her fur to calm himself. His voice was measured, controlled, his working voice not his normal voice.
"Keeping both of them from upsetting themselves more, Trodaire." He hung his head, ragged cut hair hiding his face for a second. He hadn't cut it as short as Trodaire might have wished, but it was shorter. "I 'heard' enough from them, both of them to know that whatever happened still upsets them. It does no good to push them too hard." Laceration nipped at his hand, while Sabrina looked over at him.
"What was it? They both seemed upset about Lysandre being alive." Renner drew in a deep breath.
"What we know is mostly conjecture, as they and a young girl named Shauna were the only ones actually conscious who survived who could or would tell us much, and Miss Shauna was and I quote 'running around like a Torchic with its head cut off screaming how much she hated being chased'. Lysandre could trace his lineage back to the War, to the royal family though he never bragged about it. At some point during his terrorism, he came across the location for an ancient device. We don't know the thing's original purpose, but we do know thanks to Serena and Nagi that it was re-purposed into a weapon of mass destruction that makes a nuke look like a firecracker." Trodaire blinked, trying to process this.
"You're saying the megalomaniac with delusions of mass murder was in possession of something like that? And your superiors didn't think this was bad why?" Renner made a noise like a deflating Jigglypuff.
"Because they like to stick their heads in the sand like Doduos. That, and as far as they knew both the power sources for the weapon and the key to it were gone. Big surprise, Lysandre tracked down both." He shook his head. "Fortunately from what we can tell, the power sources objected rather violently to being used that way again." Trodaire blinked, as did Sabrina.
"Again? How could a power source object?" Renner paused for several seconds, as if trying to find the right words.
"We use Porygon to mine solar energy to power electric plants. That they like their job and like us is the main reason we never have serious black-outs unless someone siphons off the power. If the Porygon decided not to send the power, we'd have to rely either on man-made machines or Electric Pokemon. If the Electric Pokemon took umbrage, we'd really have problems. The power sources for the device were so exhausted from its original uses that they went dormant, their usual cycles disrupted and even the stories about them have been mostly lost." Trodaire remembered Nagi's questions and his brief tale.
"The Sleepers?" Renner looked a bit surprised.
"He mentioned them? Well, that confirms that they are awake and active again. But yes, our best guess was that the legendary Pokemon that are said never to tread outside of Kalos were the power source. We also know, Giratina's Void Unova proved it recently, that legendary or god Pokemon can be enticed or forced into 'choosing' a human. My best guess would be that one or both of the missing Sleepers woke, and in the circumstances they found themselves in chose or were forced to lend their strength to the people trying to keep them safe." Sabrina frowned.
"Nagi told me earlier today he'd released the seventh Pokemon he'd caught. That it was 'never meant' to be his." Renner frowned while Laceration made a thoughtful noise.
"That lends more weight to that theory, but until he and Serena both feel like talking about it, it remains theory and not fact. Whatever did happen upset them both enough that they've had trouble dealing with it. Serena just refused to talk about it, period. Nagi talked a little more, but it was clear he left major details out for both his sake and Serena's." Renner recalled Laceration, standing.
"Waiting's a bitch, but it's the only thing we can do at the moment." Trodaire frowned at Renner's statement, but couldn't help but agree. There wasn't much they could do but hope that Nagi would share more or all of this problem soon. He thought of what he'd told Nagi of Orre's beliefs about legendaries, and how Nagi had said it cleared some things up for him.
Maybe Nagi understood having a 'personal' god a little less abstractly than Trodaire'd thought.
Meanwhile, Nagi and Serena had found a shop selling ice cream and a nice wall to sit on. The day was starting to edge towards warm enough for such treats and the two had much to talk about. Or to commune silently about it in the way of close friends. Gestures and short words took the place of sentences.
"Sorry." Muttered into a mouthful of peanut-buttercup chocolate flavor, head cast down and glancing out of the corner of eyes.
I'm sorry I freaked and had a panic attack when it looked like I was actually under control. I know you hate it when I do something unexpected. Forgive me?
"Should be me saying that." Nip at cherry and vanilla scoop, eyes straight ahead and tracking an escapee Caterpie.
I'm the one who should be apologizing since I haven't been helping by refusing to talk about it at all and I just stood there uselessly while someone else got you back to the present. Think that Caterpie's wild?
"Going to have to talk, eventually." Catch a drip on the far side of the cone, lazy assessment of the Caterpie.
Still, we are going to owe them an explanation of what happened and Trodaire is not going to let it go. Not when I bloody near passed out. You don't need a Caterpie, besides it's inchy-squinchied its way clear over there and into an inconvenient hole. Leave it alone.
"True." A wistful sigh and bored expression, a quick twist of the cone to get at a cherry bit.
Yes, and I can admit that but I still really don't want to do so. It figures you'd meet someone who won't let us wiggle out of talking. And I know I don't need the Caterpie, but I want it.
"Missed you." An amused chuckle, idle tapping of fingers on stone.
Obsessive collector. I'm glad you left that tower, I was beginning to think I was down a friend and I'd hate for that to happen. I missed you.
"Missed you too." Careful positioning of fingers so that they brushed, but nothing more.
I'm glad you're not as upset and closed off as you were and I'm glad I left the tower. I missed you too.
All in all, it was sickeningly cute for anyone witnessing it. Two young trainers on a date that wasn't being called a date, dancing around discussing anything important. People smiled at them, and they smiled distractedly back, enjoying the day. There were serious things ahead, but at that moment, neither was ready to deal with them.
THWOCK. THWOCK. THWOCK-THWOCKTHWOCK.
Sabrina sighed, turning the page in her book. She'd long since given up trying to reason with her boyfriend right now. He'd been in a bad mood about something ever since Nagi left, and she knew better than to ask him now. Also, going through his mind when he was angry was the mental equivalent of stepping barefoot on shards of glass. Absolutely not worth her time.
THWOCK. THWOCKTHWOCKTHWOCK. THWOCK-THWOCK.
Still…he'd been going at this for a while now.
"Ok, Trodaire, that's enough." She said. The sounds of a wooden dummy being hit with fierce intensity told her that he wasn't listening. Renner, who hadn't left yet, had sort of been awkwardly watching the beatdown Trodaire was giving his wooden dummy. Sabrina frowned. He still hadn't stopped.
"Trodaire, STOP!" She shouted.
THWOCKTHWOCKTHWOCK-THWOCKTHWOCK-KRRACK!
…
"FUCK!"
Sabrina winced as her boyfriend walked over, rubbing at his forearms. He'd hit the dummy so hard it had broken, and now his arms were bleeding. She frowned anyway.
"Punching the problem isn't going to solve anything." She said. Trodaire hissed in pain. Renner looked at the kid's arms, and winced in sympathy. There were some gnarly splinters in there. Taking those out was gonna be a bitch.
"I know." Trodaire said. "It's just, I don't know how much more I can deal with Nagi not be willing to say anything. I mean, Red was going to be my trump card. Hell, I figured if Red could calm him down…" He trailed off, and sat down on a chair. Machamp brought him over some athletic tape, and he began wrapping his forearms nonchalantly. Using a little telekinesis, Sabrina had removed the larger splinters from his arms, so that the tape wouldn't aggravate them any further. Sabrina placed a hand on his shoulder as if to say "There, there." Renner put his hands in his jacket, uncomfortably staring at the ground while he thought of something to say. Then it came to him.
"You gotta be patient with kids, Trodaire." He said. Trodaire was about to make a snark about how Renner clearly knew what he was talking about, but decided that his frustration wasn't worth insulting other people over. So he nodded, signaling Renner to continue. "I guess, if it were me, I'd probably be a lot more comfortable talking about things that made me sad…if I was doing something that made me unequivocally happy. So that it all balanced out, I guess." He said.
"Training is a little bit stressful…" Trodaire admitted. Sabrina nodded.
"I think that that's a good idea. The thing is…what comes to mind?" She asked. "Nagi hasn't exactly given us a glimpse of his life and interests outside of a select few things."
Trodaire was about to nod, when it hit him. He started chuckling, wondering why he hadn't thought of it before.
"He's given us more than he thinks, Rina." He said. Renner and Sabrina exchanged a confused look, and then looked down at him.
"Uhh…wanna explain yourself, Trodaire?" Renner asked. The Orrean grinned.
"Yeah. How's your balance, old timer?" He asked.
Nagi came back to the Fight Club with Serena the next day with no idea what to expect. After all, they had left the gym on a rather abrupt note the previous day. Serena assured him that everything would work out okay, but Nagi wasn't convinced. He was starting to think that maybe Trodaire's infinite patience with him was about to run out. Not that he blamed the guy; he was behaving a little flakey by his own admission.
When they got to the gym, they noticed that there was a piece of paper tacked to the door. It read:
Fight Club closed for the day. Nagi and Serena are to report to Route 5.
"Why would we be headed up there?" Nagi asked. Serena shrugged.
"Maybe it's part of training?" She asked. Nagi shrugged.
"So long as he doesn't have me punch a Steelix or something."
When they passed by the friendly gatekeeper that managed the way station between Saffron and Route 5, Nagi and Serena found themselves staring out a vast, spacious flatland. Long fields of corn and grass bordered them to the right and left, and the road was a gentle grey. And there, sitting on a bench, was Trodaire, Renner and Sabrina.
Trodaire waved the two of them over. As the Kalosians approached, Nagi glanced closer at the trio on the bench. Sabrina seemed a little nervous about something, Renner seemed like he was unsure of what to do, and Trodaire seemed to have a wild gleam of excitement in his eyes.
Then Nagi glanced downwards.
They were all wearing skates.
Trodaire cleared his throat.
"Today we're taking a day off of training. Figured you guys might wanna see Cerulean City. Misty said that the gym is closed to battlers, and that they're setting up the annual Cerulean Cape Fireworks display tonight!" He seemed giddy like a little kid. He was the first off of the bench. Nagi was surprised at how graceful he seemed on the skates.
He was more comforted with the sight of Sabrina taking several wobbly steps over to them (before grasping onto Trodaire's arm for balance), as well as Renner trying to rush off of the bench before having his feet swing out from under him and falling right on his ass. (Complete with rather obscene language)
Nagi smiled, and wordlessly pressed the instep of his heels. Small wheels popped out from the bottom of each boot, drawing an impressed "Ooooo…" from everyone not used to Kalos skates. Serena giggled, and did the same.
"I love fireworks!" Serena said. "C'mon, I'll race you guys!" She said. With that, she started to speed off up the route.
"Now, easy guys, it is about an hour from here to Cerulean so don't tire yourselves…" He trailed off when Nagi and Serena bolted ahead of him. "…out."
"You created monsters." Sabrina groaned, as she gingerly began to follow after them. Renner chuckled.
"Bet you $100 that you can't catch up to them, Trodaire." He said. The Orrean's eyes narrowed, sensing a wonderful challenge.
"You're on." He said.
He bolted off. Sabrina sighed.
"I'm dating a child." She said. Renner chuckled, and the two began a methodical skate after the trio ahead of them.
"Maybe, but you can't say that life is boring with him."
For once, Nagi didn't have to worry about gameplanning for a battle, or worry about whatever evil training that Trodaire had set up for him. Instead, he could feel the wind running through his face and pretend for a moment that he was flying on the ground.
Then, of course, Serena came pirouetting around him like a damned ballerina, sticking out her tongue.
"You can't catch me!" She teased, before taking off whilst giggling. Laughing, Nagi dug down with his heels and pushed off after her. He was gaining speed, and coming up behind her. Time to play his favorite trick…
With an extra burst of effort, he shot ahead of her. Then, as soon as he was safely ahead of her, he roughly skidded to as much of a halt as he could. Serena let out a squeal of terror, and just narrowly managed to get out of the way.
"Nagiiiiiiii! Don't do that!" She whined. Now it was Nagi's turn to laugh and circle his friend.
"Whatsamatter?" He asked. "Are you ever not going to fall for that?" He asked, poking her on the shoulder. Giving an annoyed grunt, Serena poked him back. They kept poking as they traveled down the route, Nagi effortlessly skating backwards. Eventually, their poking escalated to elaborate hand-fighting routines, whilst somehow never managing to lose balance. Somehow, their hands (his right and her left) managed to get intertwined. They stared at their hands for a moment, and then at each other. A small blush crept up Nagi's face…
"YAHOOOOOOOO! HUNDRED BUCKS IS MINE!"
Trodaire Phoenix, unaware of what a moment-killer he was, shot past the two of them, breaking their concentration.
"Watch it!" Nagi shouted. He was actually pretty impressed with Trodaire's skating know-how. Then it hit him. Trodaire was going pretty fast, but it didn't seem like he knew how to sto-
"Whooaaaa!"
Bang. Thump. Whap. CRASH!
"Should we go help him up?" Serena asked. There was another crashing noise, and the two of them flinched sympathetically. Nagi just nodded.
They helped the feeble Orrean back to his feet (wondering just how on earth someone could get as much dirt on them as he had just done), just as Renner and Sabrina rolled past.
"Slow and steady wins the race!" Renner called out teasingly. Nagi stuck out his tongue.
"Shut up, Renner! You're cheating!" He said.
Though he didn't realize it, those two sentences were some of the most important Renner had ever heard in his entire life. For the first time, his son had called him by name.
Trodaire noticed this too, and decided to capitalize on it.
"Well, don't let him get away with it, Nagi! We're got a long ways to go to Cerulean! Pick it up and beat yo-the old man!" He very nearly said "your" instead of "the," but thankfully Nagi was having too much fun to have even heard the slip-up.
Serena gently skated over to Sabrina, who seemed to be having a much better time of things now.
"Enjoying yourself?" Serena asked. The older Psychic gave a small smile.
"I am, as a matter of fact." She glanced over at Nagi, who was rapidly getting smaller (along with Renner and Trodaire) as the trio sped off on another impromptu race. "Not quite as much enjoyment as you and your friend were having, though." She said. Serena nodded with a sigh.
"Nagi and I are close like that." She said. Sabrina raised an eyebrow and a smirk.
"Awfully cute, he is." She delighted in how fast Serena's cheeks turned an embarrassed flush of red. Was this how Misty felt when she teased people? If so, then perhaps she should try it more often…
"Whuh-nuh…Uh, yeah he is-I mean, we're friends Miss Sabrina!" She said. Sabrina let out an airy laugh.
"Oh, of course. Serena, of course you are." Still, she wasn't quite done yet. "Then again, Trodaire and I were at each others' throats when we first met." She said. Once again, Sabrina felt that she was taking a little bit too much satisfaction with how easily she was teasing Serena, and this time decided to stop. Serena glanced over at her, and desperately tried to change the subject.
"You didn't like Mister Trodaire?" She asked. To this, Sabrina burst out into laughter.
"Serena, you have no idea." She said. She glanced around them. "We do have a bit of time, I think…" She said. Serena smiled and clasped her hands together in excitement.
"Ooo, I love stories! How did you meet?" She asked. Sabrina looked upwards as she reminisced.
"Well, the first time I met Trodaire Phoenix was…in a courtroom, of all places..." She began, ignoring Serena's confused expression. "I remember seeing his scruffy attempts at looking dressed up, and wondering just what kind of clueless hick he was. Then I actually talked to him. And he…was still a clueless dweeb." She said. Serena giggled.
"Yeah? Who asked who out?" She asked.
"Who do you think?" Sabrina asked with a smirk. Serena chuckled. "Yeah, he was an interesting bird. Still is, I guess."
"Did you ever think you'd run into a guy like him?" Serena asked, cartoon hearts somehow appearing in her eyes as she clasped her hands together and close to her chest whilst leaning towards Sabrina as if she was some sort of lovey-dovey teenager.
Which…she kind of was, actually.
"Never in a million years…" Sabrina admitted.
And they kept talking about similar things as they followed those three dorks down the road on a beautiful day, as the last vestiges of winter began to fade away and spring was waking from its long slumber.
Meanwhile, Nagi was playfully doubling back and threading around Trodaire and Renner, dropping down into spins and bolting ahead only to double back yet again to skate backwards around them. Renner tolerated it with admirable steadiness, but the first point Nagi pulled his favorite stunt on Trodaire the Orrean nearly freaked.
"Reshiram's flaming ass! Don't do that Nagi!" The Kalosian grinned like an Aipom, chuckling.
"You and Serena, I bet you'd fall for it every time like she does!" He bolted off ahead again, and Renner chuckled a little.
"He likes to see how far he can push. At least he's not moping." Trodaire steadied on his skates, grumbling.
"He's asking for a boot to the ass." The rest of the journey was relatively quiet. Well, aside from Nagi having to put on a burst of speed to get away from an upset Farfetch'd whose nest he'd gotten a little too close to. Trodaire didn't waste the opportunity to heckle loudly from behind.
"Birdie's gaining Nagi! Better step up the pace!" Nagi turned back to stick out his tongue. He did manage to lose the Farfetch'd before they got to Cerulean, though.
A small fair had sprung up in anticipation of the fireworks display. Cotton candy shaped like Swablu's and Jigglypuffs and one species Trodaire couldn't immediately identify but Serena and Nagi referred to as Swirlix was being hawked relentlessly to small children, a bell and strongman's hammer were seeing a lot of use. There was a magic show with several Pokemon to create the effects. Then something caught Nagi's attention and he bolted off, Trodaire and the others following him out of curiosity. A hastily erected wooden pen held a Rhyhorn, a tad smaller and more sleekly built then most Rhyhorn he'd ever seen. There was a hiker on its back, trying desperately to hang on.
"Come now, its no hard task! Ride the Rhyhorn for five minutes and win a prize! Step right up and try your luck! Only five yen a try!" Trodaire raised an eyebrow as the Rhyhorn dislodged the burly hiker, landing him face first in a patch of mud. Nagi chuckled a little.
"He's got no idea how to stay on at all." Serena smiled a little, and Renner grinned with amusement.
"Why don't you show them then, kid?" Nagi blinked for a second, looking at the Rhyhorn before he nodded.
"Haven't been on a Rhyhorn in awhile. Better not get rusty." He walked over to pay, several of the burly guys who'd been trying looking a little concerned that a scrawny teen was going to test his luck. Renner looked back at Trodaire.
"If he's anything like Grace, that Rhyhorn is the one who should be worried." He turned to watch Nagi swing up on the Pokemon. Trodaire had time to note that Nagi didn't reach for the upraised 'pommel' of stone skin to cling to like most of the men had been doing. Instead he hooked his hands separately into two plates and jammed his feet into two crevices. It forced him down into a lower crouch, a position Renner murmured professional riders preferred because it made it far harder for the Rhyhorn to scrape them off. There was a second of stillness as the Rhyhorn processed that another irritating human was on its back. Another second as it processed that the human knew how to grip it.
The Rhyhorn went ballistic.
It flung itself around the ring, twisting and bashing itself into the poles creating the ring, trying to get the human OFF. Nagi clung like a Joltik, occasionally letting go with one hand or the other to press a spot where far more fragile skin was exposed from the rock plating to force the Rhyhorn to change course. It ran headlong into the poles, bounced, did everything but roll over to dislodge him. All its efforts ended in failure. Finally it slowed down and stopped, panting heavily. The timer indicated seven minutes 42 seconds. Nagi patted it almost consolingly as he slid off of it, grinning at the dumbfounded looks from the muscle men and hikers and the put out look from the carnival sharpster.
"Looks like we have a winner, folks! And here's the prize!" Nagi eyed the set of evolution stones he was handed with amusement.
"Several thousand dollars of stones I'm unlikely to ever use. Still it was fun." Serena laughed.
"You would complain about your prize! At least it isn't a shiny medal." Nagi nodded, before being distracted by another game. Trodaire had to laugh.
"They're enjoying themselves." Sabrina nodded.
"It's a chance for them to be kids. Somehow, I don't think they've had that chance much recently." The day went well, and they managed to get good seats for the fireworks.
Nagi watched the explosions with utter delight, the pyromaniac in him more then appeased by that much explosions. Serena was quieter, and unsurprisingly to all but Trodaire perhaps leaned her head on Nagi's shoulder and eventually went to sleep. He paid little attention, caught up in the show. He felt calm and excited, for the first time in ages like he was just… him. Just Nagi who trained a good team and had a good time. He closed his eyes, thinking. It still wasn't perfect, he still hurt somewhere deep inside. But right then, he couldn't think of a reason to keep it bottled in. He thought of what Red had said.
Do what I don't. Talk.
Sabrina saw something out of the corner of her eye, turning her head towards Nagi a little. She stifled a gasp at the ghostly Charizard that manifested on a plane visible only to Psychics. Black scales glistened in the moonlight, great blue and black wings flexed proudly. Spines ran down the back of its neck and protruded from its shoulders, and blue flames flickered at its tailtip and dripped out the sides of its mouth. It nosed fondly at Nagi's shoulder, an encouraging 'Char' slipping from it. She watched Nagi draw in a breath and let it out before he began speaking.
"When we got to Luminose, Professor Sycamore wanted to see us. He wanted to see how we battled, how we were developing." He spoke as if he'd already been talking about it, but no-one there needed to be brought up to speed. "For a Professor, the man is the most incompetent battler I've ever seen. He gave such contradictory orders it's a miracle the three he was using could battle at all. When it was over, he told us we could each pick one of the Pokemon, that they'd be better off with us then him." He drew in a careful breath so as not to shake Serena.
"The girls let me have first pick. There was a Bulbasaur, a Squirtle, and a Charmander. The first two, they were good but they didn't have that spark. The one that makes it clear that the Pokemon will be a force to be reckoned with if trained right. The Charmander did, so I didn't even hesitate in picking him. I called him Charm, silly and cliché I suppose. Sycamore had Mega stones for all three, but claimed he didn't know how to activate them." Nagi chuckled. "I think he knew far more than he claimed, but I'm content to let that lie."
"We stopped at a café before we left, and met a few people there. One of them said that he wanted the world to be beautiful, for it to never change and decay. I asked him why, because if nothing ever changed then Amber would still be a Fennekin, not a Braixen like she was then. I said that I felt change was the most beautiful thing, that the world didn't need to become static and unchanging, that it wouldn't be beautiful then. Serena agreed with me." Trodaire and Renner both winced. Lysandre, it had to be. And Nagi had thrown a gauntlet straight in the man's face by stating his own views.
"He left, and so did we. Eventually I found Tempest when a group of people who said they wanted to create a beautiful world were trying to capture her. We beat them and they left, and I kept on with training, with beating the gyms. When I got to Shalour, Korrina had Serena and I battle to see who might be better suited for the Mega ring since there was only one available at the time. I won, Izanagi proved to be something of a tide turner because he wasn't weak to anything she had. After I beat the gym, Korrina tested me again to see if I could handle Mega evolution. It was the first time I saw Charm take the form his stone could give him." Longing entered Nagi's voice. "The black dragon that speaks with blue flames. Korrina acknowledged me as a successor to hold the Mega Ring, and Gaiscioch chose to leave Korrina to follow Serena." He braced a little, drawing in a breath.
"Things went smoothly until we found that team, Team Flare they called themselves, messing with the power plant. We chased them from there, but they showed up again stealing a massive amount of Pokeballs, and then again trying to capture a powerful pokemon up in the ice caverns. It wasn't until later that we found out what they were doing." Nagi bit his lip, drawing in several breaths. He knew Serena was no longer sleeping even if she hadn't moved from his shoulder. Still, he had to talk about it, if he didn't it would just fester in his mind again. "They'd found a weapon, a horrible thing. They… they were going to use massive amounts of Pokemon to help fuel it, knowing it would kill them. We tried to stop them, he PROMISED if we picked the right button he'd surrender and it would be over. We did, but one of his underlings disobeyed him and activated it anyway. We had to go, we had to stop it." He clenched his fist so hard the knuckles went white.
"He told us to fight, to try and stop him, and we did. Serena… she kept the rest of them off my back because she had a more varied team, a strategy more suited for multiple opponents. I fought him, but I didn't count on the fact that he had a Mega as well." Sabrina gasped, shaken and Trodaire flashed back to what Nagi had said the day after Garden had Mega-evolved.
A person can misuse the Mega form.
"Charm and I, we thought we could take it. It…" Nagi drew in a deep, shuddering breath. "His Mega was a Gyarados, but we thought we had the edge in speed and that we'd use something other than Fire attacks on it." He wanted to stop, to not think about it, but he forced himself to choke out the words. "It got wrapped around Charm somehow, and it just… savaged his neck. I couldn't do anything. I underestimated its reach and its speed, and it just… destroyed him." Nagi looked down at his hands.
"I don't think he meant for his Gyarados to do that, he looked about as shocked as I felt but it happened. I went rage-mad after that point, when I came out of it I'd won and the place was falling apart. I'd grabbed Charm's Mega stone at some point, and just as we were turning to leave that man, Lysandre, he threw his Ring to Serena. He didn't say anything, maybe it was a twisted apology or something. But it didn't change the fact that Charm was gone. My third dead, and it was my fault." He felt Serena hug him, trying to impart some kind of comfort. "You said no one comes to your gym 'just looking to get strong'. You said eventually I'd be able to tell you why I came." Serious dark brown eyes looked at Trodaire. "I want to be strong enough to protect what I care for, to never again lose someone or some Pokemon like I lost Charm. That's why I'm here." He let himself collapse in Serena's hold, feeling empty and scoured inside. It hurt, but it was out and spoken about at long last. Maybe with that done he could begin to truly heal.
Trodaire didn't say anything at first, only exchanging a poignant glance with Renner. Though nothing was said, both men somehow implicitly knew that a reveal of Voisin's identity at this point might not be the wisest thing. Sabrina was quiet. Serena nuzzled into Nagi's shoulder, interlacing her hand with his. Nagi was just too tired to care about being embarrassed about that, at this point.
They watched the end of the fireworks in silence, and long after the last of the smog and the echoes faded away and people began to make their way back to their homes, the group sat in the grass. Misty had offered rooms at the Cerulean gym for them all to stay the night, and over the phone was respectfully sympathetic as Sabrina told her what had happened. The Cerulean leader promised to hide her…baby when Nagi got there.
Renner sensed that maybe Trodaire would want to say something to Nagi, so he made a show of being tired and decided to turn in. Sabrina took that offer as well, though in reality she was also giving Trodaire a way out. Both of them had seen the way the gears were grinding in his head, behind those green eyes of his. He had something to say, all right.
But he'd rather say it in private.
Renner and Sabrina began to walk away from the group, leaving Trodaire and the teens behind. But right before they left, Renner asked Trodaire to come over.
"I'd give anything to say to him what I know you're going to say now, Trodaire." He whispered. "But I know it wouldn't be right. So I'm asking you…I'm begging you…don't fuck this up." He was more desperate than angry, and the Orrean nodded. With that, the Unovan followed Sabrina back into town.
Serena and Nagi were still sitting in the grass, the sun long having set and warmth leaving the air. Serena shivered, unaccustomed to Cerulean's cool nights. Nagi had offered her his jacket, but she refused politely. They both looked up at Trodaire, who was standing up and staring off into the distance. Lost in thought.
"Shouldn't we be going, Trodaire?" Nagi asked. The Orrean waited a moment before speaking.
"How did he die, Nagi?" He asked. Nagi was thrown by that question.
"Whuh-I…" Trodaire cut him off, explaining himself.
"Was there a reason to it?" Trodaire asked. Nagi was about to answer and rage at Trodaire's insensitivity, but then remembered something. The confident smirk on Charm's face when it glanced back at Nagi before the final showdown with Lysandre. The nod and wink.
"Charm…knew that the world was at stake, I think." Nagi said. "I think he knew that this was more than just a regular battle. I think he was ready to fight." He smiled a bit wistfully. "He always loved a challenge."
"So he died trying to help others," Trodaire said, walking over to where Serena and Nagi were sitting. "Trying to help you, right?" He asked.
"Yeah…yeah, he did." Nagi said, though the dead way that he said it meant that he didn't really feel that way.
"And how did he live?" Trodaire asked.
"Huh?" Serena and Nagi both asked in confusion and in unison. Neither had expected a question like that.
"How did he live?" Trodaire asked. "Describe him to me. What was he like?"
Nagi had to think for a moment. Not because there wasn't much to say, but because there was too much to say.
"Well, the first time he ever fought for me was shortly after Sycamore gave him to me." Nagi began. "It was a battle against…was it a Hawlucha? Yeah, yeah it was. Charm was just a Charmander at that point, and the Hawlucha went for a Flying Press. I remember Charm rolling out of the way, and then Tackling the Hawlucha into a nearby rock so hard the thing broke up like you'd used Rock Smash on it. The Hawlucha is completely out cold, and Charm pops right up and…" Nagi started to dramatically gesture to his face. "His /face/ is just a crimson mask. Covered in blood. He must've cut himself really badly on that Tackle, and I remember freaking out. I tore off a piece of my shirt, my sleeve in fact, to wipe it all off. I got most of it off, and then I saw that Charm was /laughing./ He'd taken a risk that in no way should've paid off, but it did! That whole 'ah, screw it!' mentality that led him to tackle a Pokemon stronger than him into a rock that could hurt them both was the only logical thing to do in his mind. I remember laughing with him when the Nurse at the Pokemon Center took one look at his face and fought back the urge to gag. For the longest time, he considered that his proudest moment."
Serena had never heard any of this before, and was content to quietly listen. Meanwhile, Trodaire had taken a seat in the grass right next to the two Kalosians, resting his head on his palms with his elbows pressing on his thighs. Nagi kept going.
"He got a big ol' scar on his face from that, that started a little bit above his left eye, was broken up by the eye itself, and then continued from the bottom of the eye all the way to his chin. How he never got blinded is a mystery to me."
"He treated scars like badges of honor (and he compiled a lot of them), and saw impossible odds as pretty doable if he put his mind to it. And as he got bigger and stronger, he got so fast and tough that it all just…became a game to him. I remember him going up against Korrina's Lucario once as a friendly sparring match that pretty quickly turned into something serious. Well, Lucario certainly thought it needed to be serious, the way it was chasing after Charm."
At this, Nagi stood up and began flapping his arms as if they were wings.
"He kept flapping his wings, moving backwards and letting Lucario chase him and…I don't know how he did it, but he was blocking every one of Lucario's punches with his /knees!/ Just…just lifting them up like this!" Nagi started high stepping in a laughable attempt to mimic the move that he was describing, so much so that Trodaire snorted and Serena started to giggle. Nagi started laughing too.
"And…and…Lucario was getting pissed. It's throwing punches so fast, and here's this supposed-to-be-lumbering Charizard knocking them aside with a smirk and a yawn on his face! And that was when I didn't Mega evolve him…" Nagi smiled wistfully, and plopped back down in the grass. He started to reminisce again.
"And he was…so good with the rest of the team. I mean, Izanagi is a guy too…but Charm was the big brother of the team. He was the one that kept Tempest from eating things she shouldn't, the one that kept encouraging Google that she was gonna be something special someday, the one that raced Robina and let her grow proud of herself…and the one that willingly let himself be a practice dummy for Amber and Garden's Psychic-style attacks." He sighed. "Amber /idolized/ Charm. He was the only one that understood her deep-seated passion of Fire, and stoked that passion as much as he could. They'd make a game to see who could fire a stronger Flamethrower during a battle…She never did beat him, no matter how she tried."
Nagi paused, thinking for a moment. Something seemed to have dawned on him.
"He was always the one keeping watch whenever it was time for us to camp for the night. He was always the last one to get medical treatment, refusing care until everyone else in the group had been tended to. And as much fun as he was having during a battle (and believe me, he /loved/ the combat), when it was all said and done he never boasted or bragged and was content to let others bask in the glow of victory instead of him. He wasn't just a big brother; he was like a team dad. And as silly as it sounds, I noticed a couple fatherly qualities to him that I wish I'd experienced."
It was dark, so nobody saw Trodaire wince.
"I…I remember sharing a look with him right before he went after Lysandre's Gyarados. Right before he…" Nagi stopped. He shook his head, something dawning on him. "I didn't think of it as such at the time but…there was a sense of seriousness to it that I'd never seen in him before. Almost as if he knew that that Gyarados could, if it wanted to, seriously injure or even kill one of the others. Maybe he figured it better to be him…" He said softly. Serena gave him a hug from where she was sitting, which had the side effect of smushing her face against his shoulder. Not that she cared. She didn't want them to see her crying. Nagi smiled a little bit.
"He went out with a bang. I remember he'd been glowing strangely right before I heard…it…and when he went limp I guess he just released whatever it was that he'd been storing inside of him. The biggest Overheat I'd ever seen. I mean, Fire types can't even dent Water types and that Gyarados was roaring in pain like I couldn't believe. Huge explosion. Smoke everywhere. And something in us just…clicked. We forgot about the rules of engagement, and just mobbed every one of Lysandre's Pokemon. Beat them into submission. And we made that bastard, for the first time in his life maybe, completely and utterly terrified. Maybe Charm knew that the right spark would shock us into saving ourselves. Because we did. As the Sleepers laid waste to the hideout, we grabbed everyone we could and got out of there." He smiled a little bit, a tear running down his eye. "You crazy bastard. Even in death, you were looking out for us." He turned to Trodaire, tears running down his face now.
"Arceus, Trodaire, I miss him so much."
The silence between the three of them went on for what seemed like an eternity. And then Trodaire spoke.
"I know that you come looking to me for advice." He said slowly. "And I know that you said this probably thinking that I would be little more than a sympathetic ear without much meaningful consolation… But now that you've told me a story, I'd like to tell you one."
He cleared his throat, while Serena and Nagi shifted a little so that they were facing him.
"Before I came to Kanto, I was in Orre. You guys know that. But maybe what you didn't know is what I did to get myself here." He shrugged. "Boat tickets aren't cheap, especially for a dust boy like me. I had to scratch and scrape everything I could from my 'job' to afford it."
"What was your job?" Serena asked.
"I was…a ref of sorts, for unsanctioned street fights in Pyrite Town. Worst decaying city you'll ever see. I've heard it's better now but it was /something/ back in the day. And Pokemon battles were not the clean things we see today. They were brutal and dangerous as hell. More than a few of these scars that you see on my arms? They come from me breaking up fights between Pokemon. Mostly Fighting types, too."
Serena and Nagi both winced and gaped at the same time, wondering how the man sitting in front of them had taken such a beating and wasn't in a coma. He seemed to sense their thoughts, because he laughed.
"Luck I guess? I dunno, I was a mean cuss back then. Had to be. Also, knew a few almost-dirty submission holds to get a Pokemon to stop beating up its downed opponent. And despite the pain and beating I took, never once did something bad happen to a Pokemon while I was a ref. It was a rowdy, raucous atmosphere, I had a little bit of street cred, and the trainers respected me even when they towered over me. For the longst time, I figured hell, I can make a living out of this. Not much, but a living. Until one day, when I realized what kind of crappy existence I was a part of."
He paused, taking a deep breath.
"I was off that night. Had gone out drinking at the local pub. If I was anywhere else I would've been a year underage but Orre doesn't care. And me and a few of my 'drinking buddies' (I wouldn't go so far as to call them friends) were walking back to our 'apartments', pleasantly buzzing, when we got past the main square of Pyrite only to hear…pandemonium." He said.
"There was a fight going on, and judging by the crazed and frenzied sounds the crowd was making, it was clear that the ref had lost control of things and they were all witnessing a beatdown."
Serena cupped her hands to her mouth. Trodaire continued.
"Most of my 'buddies' hightailed it, but one other guy who worked as a ref ran with me to the fight to see if we could step in and save things from getting out of hand. We were just in time…to see we were too late."
The pause he took between words was the longest yet. He was shaking a little bit, as if he was about to cry.
"So my ref pal and I see that the ref for this fight is on the ground, clearly in pain because some jackoff in the crowd knocked him a good one so that they could all see some blood. And there's this Primeape beating the /shit/ out of a Machop. It's fucking ugly. So my ref pal and I decide: forget ruining people's entertainment, we've got a Pokemon to save and a fight to stop."
Trodaire's countenance darkened.
"I hate Primeapes. They're mean, nasty sons-of-bitches that aren't into fighting because they appreciate the codes of honor, like my three stooges back in the Fight Club." Despite themselves, Serena and Nagi snorted a little bit. Trodaire smiled a bit, but then scowled again. "Primeape only like fighting because it lets them beat people up, and badly to boot." He shook his head. "The crowd was too thick and crazed. We're shoving people to the side, at one point I literally punched a guy in the cheek to get him to home…and we break through to the front of the crowd in time to see that Primeape land a High Jump Kick so powerful I swear to Arceus it lit on fucking fire…and Machop went down."
He started to shake.
"Everyone's too into their bloodlust to notice me and my buddy grab the Machop and start racing for the Pokemon Center…well, the closest thing that Pyrite had to one. We literally smash through the door, and we're screaming and shouting that this Pokemon needs immediate care. The town orderly did the best he could, Arceus bless him."
Trodaire looked away from Serena and Nagi.
"I stayed with that Machop till the bitter end…And two days later, I find out that it was a wild Machop. It had been released from some deadbeat who didn't think that it was strong enough. And it had stumbled into that fight hoping to find someone who would take it in, y'know? Feel pity on it." Trodaire's smile was bitter. "That's the closest I've ever come to owning a Pokemon of my own, ya know? And it fucking died on me. And there are nights where I still dream about that moment."
How he wasn't crying was a miracle.
"Nagi, I never got to know that Machop. I didn't know anything about it. Who owned it, what its favorite move was, what it wanted to do as it evolved… nothing. I was just there for the end. And I am haunted by that void of knowledge. But you?" He smiled a little bit. "You might not believe it, because it's not going to be easy, but you have a way out. You can close the door on that pain, that raw stinging pain that eats away at you to this day, so that it slowly fades. It might not ever completely go away, but it will fade. You know how you do that?" He asked.
"How?" Nagi asked softly. Trodaire slowly stood up, staring at Nagi intently.
"Remember Charm as he lived. Not as he died. And he'll always be there with you." He looked around.
"It's getting late. We should head back now."
They walked back to the city in silence, Serena and Nagi holding hands. Trodaire was off to the side, unattached.
Well, not quite.
About halfway there, between that field and the awaiting gym, the young Kalosian boy took his other arm and gently clapped Trodaire on the back of his shoulder.
/I'm here for you, buddy./
The Orrean returned the gesture.
Trodaire couldn't sleep. All the others had gone to bed, and Sabrina was sound asleep long before they'd come back. Renner was snoring out on the couch in the main lobby, Misty was in her room, and Nagi and Serena were both out cold in the guest bedroom (there were two beds).
He decided to step outside once again, and began to jog. Perhaps a visit to the Cerulean Cape would clear his head.
He was halfway across the bridge that led there, when he saw something.
It looked like a Pokemon, but unlike any he had seen before. Sort of like…a Stantler. With horns that were large and intricate in design. It was glowing a soft, unearthly light. It was also huge, almost ten feet tall. It stared at Trodaire, and then galloped away.
"Wait!" Trodaire shouted, running after it.
Arceus, it was fast! Effortlessly gliding across the grassy path, leaving the huffing and puffing Orrean in its dust. Trodaire had no idea what that thing was, only that for some reason he had to follow it.
And that it wanted to be followed.
He cornered it at the edge of the Cerulean Cove. There it stood, looking out over the endless abyss of the Great Kanto Sea before it, and then turned back to stare at the exhausted Orrean in front of it. Trodaire walked up close to it, so that he was no more than a few feet from it.
"What…are you?" He managed to gasp.
The creature said nothing. It appeared to be studying him.
Despite himself, Trodaire was curious. What was this gigantic creature? And what was it doing here? Would…would it let him touch it?
It didn't seem to flinch, so Trodaire gently reached his arm outwards. Closer…closer…
"Do not touch it!"
The voice was harsh, weathered, and most of all /old./ A massive hand, attached to an equally massive arm, enveloped Trodaire's hand and jerked him away. Crying out in shock (and a little bit of pain) Trodaire, looked at the massive hand holding his and looked up…
…and up into the tired, old eyes of the largest man he had ever seen.
