Author's Note: Yaaay! First follow! Thanks to that person! Oh, and as a heads up, this update gets a wee bit gruesome at a certain part. But, it's only a small part, so don't worry, okay? Anyways, here's Chapter 10 for my readers! Happy Reading to those people!
"Captain, set sail for Castelia City!" Haley told Pop Rox before turning to me. "You're ready, right, Hynden?"
"More than ready, Hales!" I assured him.
Pop Rox opened the desk, allowing Haley and I to walk through. We were out in the harbor and Pop Rox told us to walk onto the giant ship he gestured at.
"Ain't she a beaut?" he asked proudly. "I tell ya, the S.S. Cantarella's gonna be sailin' for years! Setting sail for the main land now!"
When Pop Rox got behind the ship's main wheel, the S.S. Cantarella started moving away from Virbank and in a whole new direction. The very sights of the ocean made my heart beat with wonder, as I was a lover of the water. I was indeed tempted to take a nice long swim in the sea, but that would have been risky, so I stayed put and stared at the waters; the wind blowing through my ponytail as we kept sailing.
"Just like Olivine," I sighed dreamily.
"It is, isn't it?" Haley remarked, standing next to me and staring at the sea too. "Hell, this boat ride's also pretty soothing. It's just the two of us here on deck. I tell ya, if Julia were on with us, she'd blow chunks the second we set sail!"
"That'd be pretty messy."
"Trust me, it is." Haley then looked at me with warm dark ruby eyes, extremely content with the surroundings. "Like I said, it's peaceful here, especially since I'm with you, and no one else is here to stop that."
"I guess. Too bad we never get to hang out together like we used to."
"Well, once we kick some Plasma butt when we get to Castelia, we could change that. Remember my proposal?"
"Oh yeah. You're talking about when you asked me on a date earlier?"
"I-It's not… it's not a date per se! W-We're just spending time together!"
"Whatever 'floats your boat', Haley!"
My joke made Haley laugh, and I found myself joining in with my friend. But, our laughter was cut short by the horn sounding off as we arrived in the bustling Castelia City. When we got off the boat, Haley stared at the large buildings in awe.
"Wow… this place is huge!" Haley breathed.
"Exactly what I said when I first came here," I commented. "Remember, we have a task in mind."
"Right! Team Plasma, your asses are grass, and I'm the goddamn chainsaw! Hynden, come on!"
"Haley, don't you think we should split up for this one?" I suggested.
"S-Split up? Split up?! No!" Haley refused in a panicky tone. "I've been separated from you for too long to go back to those days! We do this together as a team! Besides, this is kind of a big city, and you know the way around better than I do. Can you be my guide, Hynden?"
"Fine… Let's go."
It had been a while since I was last in Castelia, so most of the city was gone from my memory. But, telling Haley that would do nothing, leaving my only option to looking at my Town Map. However, it was also gonna be really hard searching the city on foot. I stopped in my tracks to dial the number of someone I need to speak to.
"Moe, you there?" I asked once the Xtransceiver picked up the call.
"Hynden, dat you?" he asked in his gruff voice, "How ya doin'?"
"Who are you talking to, Hynden?" Haley asked me with suspicion. "Who's this Moe guy I've never heard of?"
"He's the guy fixing my motorbike up after… a little incident," I answered, leaving out the part where I crashed it and damaged my bike severely. "Is Tabitha fixed yet?"
"Not even close! Do you know how badly damaged she is? Just today, she squirted oil in Daisy's face when she was workin' on her!"
"That's not good… Thanks, Moe. Call me when Tabby's fixed up."
I hung up my Xtransceiver and sighed. My motorbike was still broken, so there was no other way to get around the city. As if on cue, we were stopped by a Harlequin juggling three orange balls and standing next to a red motorcycle.
"Hello!" he greeted, "Would you like to try out my motorcycle?" he asked. "Rides are only 250 PokéDollars per person."
"Boy, would I!" I beamed, paying him 500 PokéDollars since Haley was with me.
"Thanks for your patronage, Miss," the Harlequin said to me, handing Haley a rental helmet and kissing the top of my hand.
At seeing this, Haley reached for the sheath near his other pocket shaped like some sort of kitchen knife. Before he could pull anything out, I stopped him from doing anything risky.
"It's okay, Haley," I assured him, "it's just a friendly gesture. Right?"
"Exactly!" the Harlequin agreed.
"Hmm…" Haley hummed, his eyes going from dull to regular. "Okay. Let's go, Hynden!"
I put on my red motorbike helmet as Haley put on his rented black one. I climbed onto the bike before Haley sat in the seat behind me. I turned the keys and revved the engine a few times to make sure the bike was functional.
"Hang onto me tight, Hales," I told him as he wrapped his arms around my waist tightly.
My foot engaged the motorcycle, and Haley and I started zooming through Castelia City. Haley was still holding onto me tightly at the high speed, but I could hear his cries of excitement and thrill as we drove.
"This is awesome!" he exclaimed, "When did you learn to drive a motorcycle?"
"When I was sixteen," I answered, turning into a section between buildings. "I know who we can ask for help!"
I started driving towards the Castelia City Gym and stopped the bike in front of it. Parking it with its kickstand after Haley got off the bike, I removed my helmet and talked to the man at the closed doors.
"Sorry, ma'am, the Gym Leader's not here at the moment," he explained, "come back another day."
"What do you mean Burgh's not here?" I wanted to know, "Where'd he go?!"
"Burgh's not here?"
I turned around to see someone walk close. The person turned out to be my Champion successor, Iris. I waved to her, and she saw me almost instantly when I removed my helmet.
"Hynden! Oh my gosh, it's really you!" she beamed, hugging me tightly. "How goes your training, future title-reclaimer?"
"Pretty well. I just got the Toxic Badge from Roxie! How are things as Champion?"
"Well-"
Iris was cut off by Haley storming up to her and rudely cutting in front of her and hugging my arm protectively. I shot him a glare, but he only gave me a confused look as a response.
"What? She might be a… danger!" Haley insisted, still clinging to me. "I'd bet you're working for Team Plasma and trying to hurt Hynden, aren't you?"
"Haley! Show some respect, will ya?" I scolded. "That's Champion Iris you're being very rude to!"
"Ch-Ch-Champion?! Oh Arceus, I am so sorry!" Haley apologized, bowing several times on his knees. "I didn't know who took Hynden's place!"
"It's okay, you really wouldn't figure out I'm the Champion since I'm in my street clothes," Iris said. "Also, what the heck are you talking about? Hynden took care of Team Plasma years ago!"
"Yeah, but they came back," I corrected. "Haley and I are here to stop them."
"Lemme help you then!"
"Champion Iris, ma'am," Haley interrupted with a genuinely polite tone, "with all due respect, Hynden and I are fine by ourselves. You know, just her and me. I'm sure we can-"
"-Let you be of assistance! Lead us to greatness, Iris!"
"Great! I've got a hunch of where they'd be! Follow me!"
Iris called out her Hydreigon, which made Haley wide-eyed with intimidation. But, the Dragon-type actually made me remember a time where I had to face one, and I lost a dear friend because of it. Although a low growl of dark bitterness escaped my throat, I calmed down and focused on the task at hand. Iris flew off on her Hydreigon, and Haley and I followed her on the motorcycle. I was going at a speed that felt even faster than last time, as evident by Haley's screams on the seat behind me.
"S-Slow down, Hynden!" he shouted over the engine as I made a sharp turn.
"You're right, I'll just stop," I decided, slamming the brakes once Iris and Hydreigon stopped at a spot. Haley accidentally rammed his head into mine and removed his helmet while catching his breath.
"You drive like a maniac…" he panted, "No wonder your other motorbike's broken!"
Ignoring Haley, I walked over to Iris, who recalled Hydreigon to its PokéBall. She led us far down until we reached another pier. Below us was a gaping hole that smelled of raw sewage.
"There ya go," she said, pinching her nose to block out the smell. "The Castelia Sewers. Lots of suspicious people and street creeps hide out in there!"
"Blech! What's that stench?!" I gagged.
"That, my dear Hynden, is the sweet stench of revenge!" Haley declared, despite his nose being blocked by his nose being pinched. "Down we go!"
Without a second thought, Haley dragged me down in through the sewer's entrance. The moment we entered the pungent-smelling, vermin-infested underground, we were ambushed by a tag team consisting of a Zubat and a Rattata.
"What else would you find in a sewer?" I asked rhetorically. "Perseus, take care of this!"
"Ace, let's go!" Haley called, sending out his newly-evolved Pignite.
"He's a Pignite already?" I asked.
"Yep! Lots a training goes a long way, Hynden!"
"He's right, Miss!" Ace agreed, flexing his muscles. "I was a wimp before we trained! Now, I'm a jerk and everybody loves me!"
"Let's hope that part with the 'jerk' isn't true," Percy uttered, "it's bad enough I have to live with a boorish Fire-type already."
Ace used Flame Charge to punt-kick Rattata across the sewer. Perseus used a Force Palm attack on Zubat, leaving it paralyzed. Just as Haley was about to finish the Zubat off, I stopped him when I got an idea.
"This one's coming with me," I decided.
"I am? S-Sure, I don't mind! Thanks!" Zubat thanked me. "I'm Rubella, nice to meet you! Aren't I just the prettiest little Zubat you ever did see?"
"I'm Hynden, your new Trainer," I said to her, throwing the Great Ball that resulted in a flawless catch, even though Rubella got boxed due to my full party. "I could use another flyer on my team."
"Trying to get a Crobat like your dad's?"
"Maybe. Let's keep searching through the sewers. Team Plasma's gotta be close-by."
Once our Pokémon were recalled, Haley and I kept traversing the Castelia Sewers. We both found two staircases, and from the height we were standing at, two Plasma Grunts were in sight. We followed the one that led directly to it and approached the Grunts immediately.
"Stop right there, Team Plasma!" I proclaimed.
"And why should we?" the Grunts taunted. "Two little kids aren't gonna stop us!"
"Oh really?" Haley spat, sending Ace out. "These two 'little kids' have Pokémon that are waiting to knock you all the way to Cinnabar Island!"
"Hmph, I guess we'll humor you two. Go on, try and stop us."
The Grunts sent out a Sandile and a Scraggy. My choice of Pokémon was Tidus to pit against the Sandile, which would lead to an easy victory on my half.
"Tidus, use-" I began.
"Ace, Flame Charge on Sandile!" Haley ordered.
Before I could object, Ace KO-ed the Sandile with one single Flame Charge. Tidus and I stood in disbelief at not getting to attack, so I exchanged him for little Phoebe to see if the Scraggy could be taken down.
"Phoebe, use Bug-" I was about to say.
"Ace, Arm Thrust!" Haley interrupted.
It only took one brutal strike from Ace's hand to subdue Scraggy, which I still couldn't believe. As Haley had a satisfied smirk on his face, I shot him an outraged glare at the so-called "battle".
"What?" he asked.
"You know 'what'!" I snapped, recalling Phoebe. "I didn't get to attack once! Stop taking all the glory!"
"Whoops. Guess I got a little carried away. Sorry, Hynden! I promise I'll let you have the next one!"
"Pffft, not even giving your girlfriend a chance to fight?" the Grunt taunted.
"I'm not his girlfriend!" I insisted, embarrassed. "He's just my friend, got it?"
"Girlfriend, regular friend, doesn't matter!" the other Grunt added, walking up to me. "You're all pitiful just the same!"
Suddenly, the Grunt grabbed me by the neck and held me up with one hand as I gasped for air. I tried reaching for Storm's Blade as defense, but the other Grunt took my katana and tossed it aside, scabbard and all.
"We may have lost, but you're not gonna get in our way!" the Grunt taunted, grasping my neck tighter. "We will conquer the Unova region, even if it means getting rid of you one way or another!"
"S-Stop it…" I choked, frustrated, "Let me go now!"
The Grunt that held me captive started laughing maniacally until he stopped so suddenly and let me go before I fell to the ground coughing. His face was frozen with shock. I looked behind him and saw Haley, who was holding Storm's Blade and pushing the blade even further through the Grunt's body. When he yanked it out and the Grunt fell to the floor, he had an indignant and very dark expression. He knelt and grabbed the Plasma Grunt by the collar.
"You lot make me sick," he hissed with dull and dark eyes, "and here's one thing: you never hurt Hynden in front of me."
Paying no heed to the horror on my face, Haley dropped my blood-stained katana, unsheathed a kitchen knife from his right side, and stabbed the Plasma Grunt in the side of his neck. When the second Plasma Grunt tearfully tried to attack Haley in revenge for his dead friend, Haley merely slashed the second Grunt's throat before stabbing his aorta to make sure he was dead.
"Glad that's over," he said without a hint of remorse, grabbing the bodies and tossing them over the railing until they were out of sight. "Stupid Plasma Grunts, ruining everyone's lives! And to think they've got the gall to roam these streets again."
I was still in shock, picking up my sword and looking over the ledge at where the corpses had landed. I looked at Haley, still horrified at what he had done. He handed me a handkerchief for my sword, but that didn't change how I felt at all.
"You should probably clean your blade," Haley told me with a calm smile, his eyes back to normal. "I can't risk getting you in trouble."
"What… Haley, what were you THINKING?!" I shouted as I wiped the blood clean off my sword and getting rid of the blood-stained handkerchief. "Why are you acting like this is nothing?! You just murdered two people in cold blood!"
"Those weren't 'people', Hynden," Haley retorted bitterly, "they were monsters. Everyone on Team Plasma's a monster! Going around stealing Pokémon like that! It's sickening!"
"Yeah, I agree with you, but you didn't have to kill them!"
"Of course I did. They were hurting you; I wasn't going to stand by and let you get choked!"
"Then why didn't you help me another way?! You could have just made him let me go!"
"I did. If the katana blade through the stomach did anything."
"That's not what I meant! You could have done any other method but that one! I can't believe you would just murder two Grunts and not feel a shred of guilt!"
"Why should I? They had it coming, and you know it. No one hurts you when I'm around, Hynden. Ever."
"How could you say that, Haley?! What you just did is unbelievable, even for you! It's not only that, but you're sick and wrong for justifying it!"
My raised tone made Haley's eyes widen with shock. He turned away from me with a hurt expression, which started to make me feel a little bad. I still thought Haley killing those guys was unacceptable, but the whole thing was all too much altogether. The silence between us was broken when Haley asked his next question.
"...Do you hate me now?" he asked, turning to me with sadness and paranoia.
"N-No, I could never hate you, Haley," I said honestly. "You're my best friend in the world, but you can't just go around killing people like that. It's not good both morally and legally."
"Okay then. But I'm still gonna stick by you, Hynden! I'm not gonna make you feel unsafe around me ever again!"
"We got a deal then?"
"Yes, we do!"
Haley and I intertwined our fingers partially and wiggled them around, which was our traditional secret handshake. Just then, we heard someone walk in from behind. When they came into the light, I recognized the person right away.
"Hey, are you the Gym Leader guy of this city?" Haley asked.
"Why, yes I am," Burgh confirmed. "My name is Burgh, the Castelia City Gym Leader." He then turned to me with a warm smile. "And, I see a familiar face is among us today."
"Hi, Burgh," I greeted. "It's good to see you after so long."
"Good to see you again too, Hynden. What brings you and your friend to the sewers?"
"We're hunting Team Plasma," Haley answered. "They're here in Castelia."
"I am aware. I'm after them too. Since I've found nothing, and they aren't around here either, let's go back to the city."
With Haley beside me and my katana re-sheathed, I followed Burgh towards the exit. But, we were all stopped by a glasses-wearing adult man with light blonde hair in an odd fashion wearing a white lab coat over black and periwinkle clothes. He approached me and Haley, and had a small smile on his face.
"I couldn't help but notice the way the two of you battled," the man commented. "Not to mention, this young lad stepping in to protect his friend afterwards."
"I did what had to be done," Haley answered, much to my chagrin. "I'm always looking out for my friend!"
"And who may you be, sir?" Burgh asked.
"My name is of no importance right now," the man said. "It will come in time, but that has yet to happen. Farewell."
The man mysteriously walked past us until he was out of sight. The three of us scratched our heads in confusion as to what just happened, but we shrugged it off and left the pungent Castelia Sewers.
"Finally," I sighed, "that place reeked."
"I'll say," Haley agreed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some Plasma goons to track down! They're not getting away from me, and Jules will finally be happy again!"
Before I could warn him not to repeat what he did in the sewers, Haley bolted off like lightning, so I was unable to catch him in time. When he was out of sight, I instantly got a message on my Xtransceiver, coincidentally from Haley himself. The message said 'meet me in the CA when u have the badge', followed by one that said 'PS, CA is the Central Area. C U then! '.
"Hynden, what do you plan on doing next?" Burgh asked me, cutting me away from my thoughts. "Are you going to challenge my Gym? Or would you like some more time to prepare first?"
"Typically, I would go right ahead and take you on," I said, "but I wanna train a little more so I know I'll be prepared. After all, I might not win if I don't."
"How very careful of you. I recommend training back in the Castelia Sewers since that's where all the challenging Pokémon are. I'll see you in a little while, my dear!" Burgh said, flipping his permed auburn hair and walking off in style.
"Two years, and you never change, Burgh," I thought after watching him leave.
I walked back to the Castelia Sewers entrance and gulped. Plugging my nose to block the smell out for a little bit, I went back into the dark and foul-smelling crevices of the sewers, preparing to train my team some more for the upcoming duel that would get me the Insect Badge.
Pokémon obtained: Rubella the Zubat, Female, Docile nature, Somewhat vain.
Badges earned: 2/8
Boxed/Unboxed: Rubella the Zubat (Boxed).
Author's Note: This really has nothing to do with the story, but I've been more motivated to finish Mirai Nikki all of a sudden. I started it a long time back, and I stopped watching for a while. I'm a little over halfway through the anime, and it's pretty good like when I first watched it! Stay tuned for the next chapter, guys!