Chapter 11: More Mysteries

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Lance asked, referring to the guest I had brought back. "Did you get beat up by a gang or something?" I shot my best friend a warning look, although it was already too late to take back his words. Already in a foul mood, the ragged boy abruptly turned his face away—kind of like how my Eevee did, but with less attitude.

"No," he retorted indignantly. "Mind your own business."

"I was just asking..." Lance mumbled, shooting me an inquiring glance. I returned a flat stare to suggest dropping the subject, while Riley wasn't looking all too pleased with our visitor either. I had dragged a reluctant Kai (which was his name) all the way back to the Pokémon Center on the other side of town, where Lance and Riley had been training after their own search for the strange men.

"That's some attitude for someone who looks like they just climbed out of a dumpster," Riley commented with a sniff, eyeing Kai's torn clothes. "Come on, we should clean you up." He began to exit the room that the three of us shared, gesturing at Kai as he did so.

"I'm fine," Kai insisted, looking almost annoyed. Riley then whirled around and gave him such a dangerous glare that Lance backed down even though it wasn't directed at him. It wasn't every day that Riley offered to do something nice, and insulting that hospitality probably wasn't a good idea.

"Come," he repeated, and Kai quickly followed, despite his reluctance. Anyone could tell that getting on Riley's bad side would probably be one of the worst mistakes of their lives. The door shut behind them as I plopped down on the lower half of my bunk bed, which was across from the one that Lance and Riley shared.

"So, why'd you bring back a hobo?" Lance queried, leaning back against the white walls of our room.

"He's not a hobo, I think," I said, although to be honest it was hard to tell. "Remember those weird people I was telling you and Riley about? Well, they wanted to catch him for some reason."

"Maybe he stole something," Lance suggested idly. "You know, 'cause he's a hobo...?"

"You can't assume that every homeless person steals you know," I asserted with a slight grin. "But I have a feeling he knows something important." Lance yawned, crawling into his own bunk bed.

"Let's hope he was worth the trouble," he mumbled, and a moment later he was fast asleep. I sighed, shaking my head. After all that, he'd better be worth the trouble.


Later, around dinnertime, Riley returned with Kai, who was looking much better in a new black jacket, shirt, and jeans. Most of his cuts had been cleaned and dressed, while his black eye had already begun to fade. He was also looking more calm and collected than before, compared to his previous let's-run-away frenzy. Lance and I glanced up from our meal in the Pokémon Center's cafeteria, which was beginning to fill up with Trainers boarding up for the night.

"Took you long enough," I noted, swallowing my food.

"Someone was taking his time picking out clothes," Riley said, rolling his eyes at Kai. The person he was talking about stood at a little distance from our table, as though to appear like he wasn't a part of our bunch.

"At least he doesn't look like a hobo anymore," Lance muttered, but with his mouth full we could barely comprehend his words.

After dinner, the three of us dragged Kai back to our bedroom for some questioning, which he didn't look all too happy about. He also didn't resist, however, which seemed rather odd for the kid who didn't even want our help just a little while ago.

Well, it's not like we know anything about him, I thought, other than the fact that those guys wanted to turn him into a knuckle sandwich.

I climbed into the topmost bunk of my bed once we arrived in our room, while Lance curled up in his and promptly fell asleep. Riley plopped down on the couch, and Kai simply stood by the door, probably eager to be gone.

"So, what do you want?" he asked bluntly, sighing. He looked tired now, as though he had used up all of his energy picking out his clothes.

"Why were those people chasing you?" I asked. Usually it wasn't a good idea to be straightforward with touchy topics, but since he asked I might as well be.

"That's...not really any of your business," he said in a rather monotone voice, looking down at the gray carpet.

"Well, considering we went through so much just to get you cleaned up, I think it kind of is," Riley growled. He looked bothered by the fact that we had helped him without receiving so much as a word of thanks. Kai sighed again.

"Well...I guess you could say that I have some debts to pay."

"Debts?" I echoed, frowning. Those group of men looked like the kind of people that would owe you, not the other way around. But then I thought back to the bunch I had met back in Pallet Town. It was harder to say if you put people like them in the picture. "What kind of debts?"

"The kind of debts that you wouldn't want to have to pay back," he replied darkly. Well, that put an end to that subject.

What kind of debt could be that bad? I wondered. Considering who we were dealing with, maybe I didn't want to know.

"Alright, if you don't want to tell us, then could you at least tell us who those people are and what they want?" Riley asked. At this, Kai suddenly gave us all a suspicious glance, narrowing his eyes at us.

"Why do you want to know?" he inquired in a low voice. Riley and I glanced at each other, since Lance was conked out on the mattress. I became conscious of the miniature sword that was hidden beneath my shirt, as well as the small weapons that were concealed by Lance and Riley. Should we risk showing them to Kai? He was just a stranger, but he could really be the key to our mysteries.

"Because we've...encountered them before," Riley answered. Kai arched an eyebrow at this, seeming interested for once.

"Encountered them how?" There was a slight pause after his inquiry as me and Riley considered what to say. In the end, Riley simply pulled out his shrunken axe and showed it to Kai, who cringed so slightly that the reaction could've easily gone unnoticed. He studied the pendant for a while, petrified on the spot where he stood. A tense, awkward silence settled in the following moments.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked at last, stirring from his position.

"No. That's why we want to know. Does this have anything to do with those people?" Another silence followed as we waited for Kai to answer.

"I think...it's time for me to go." He turned and reached for the door knob, his face blank and indifferent as he did so. He had to know something about our weapons, and there was no way I could just let him leave without getting something out of him.

"Hey," I called. "I saved your butt out there from those guys, even though you ran me over without saying sorry. You could at least tell me who these people are."

Kai paused at the open doorway without turning around, his hand still on the door knob. He stood there for a moment without answering, and after a while I began to wonder whether or not he would.

"They call themselves Clan Seigen," he said, and the door shut behind him.


"Here you go—enjoy your stay!"

"Thanks," Kai murmured, accepting the cardkey from Nurse Joy. He left the front desk and navigated the halls of the Pokémon Center to his assigned room, his mind buzzing from the day's events.

Of all the stupid coincidences, he thought, shaking his head, it had to come to this. He found his room and unlocked it with his cardkey, pushing the door open with ease. Staying for one night couldn't hurt, since they already knew that he was in Pewter. It would take some time for that information to reach headquarters anyway, and by the time it did he would be long gone.

Kai dropped his backpack wearily on the floor, casting his jacket aside on one of the mattresses. It was nice of a stranger to buy him so much new stuff, and the least he could do to repay them was to make sure that they were safe.

But then again…

It seemed exceedingly odd, that the three of them would be curious about Clan Seigen, especially if they had a pendant among them and had no idea what those things really were. It was even more peculiar that the three had obviously been together for years and yet had remained undetected. Things were simply too strange.

And then there was Swift and her Charizard...her shiny Charizard. No one would have expected a single-Badge Trainer to have such a rare and powerful Pokémon. Was it just a coincidence? Not to mention the fact…...

Ugh, this is getting me nowhere, he decided, his head throbbing as he kicked off his shoes and threw himself into bed. He buried his face into the pillow, missing the feel of such luxuries. Should he accompany Swift and her friends on their journey? No, it was too much of a risk. Besides, he had to find Larine as soon as possible—travelling with them would only slow him down. Everything else can wait...we have to figure this out before they do, or it's all over.


Author's Note: Just curious, but what do you guys think of the name "Clan Seigen"? Yea? Nay? It took me a while to update this chapter because I couldn't come up with a good name for them, so I hope it's good. :)