(Notes:
Well, this took a bit longer to get out than I expected, but I had some very dire real-life things to address during the month of January. Most notably, the passing of my cat whom I've loved and raised for 15 1/2 years. This was something that had me mentally unstable, and even now, three weeks after his death, I still think I'm in a grieving stage. So if anything in this chapter seems off to you, chalk it up to that trauma. While I'm on that topic, I should mention that my cat visited me almost exactly a year ago for a few months to ride out the winter. We raised him as both indoor/outdoor and couldn't give him that life when my family moved, so he'd been living with my grandmother. I still got to visit him, but it was especially nice getting to spend 3 months with him. Most notably, he was right there with me the moment I decided I would make this fanfic more than a one-shot last year. Many times he laid on my lap while I wrote out the early chapters (which was actually sort of difficult to do), so this chapter and the story as a whole is dedicated to the loving memory of my cat. I can't say I couldn't have done this without him, but he was the closest thing to a sibling I ever had... and as you know already, the sibling element is a strong one in this story.
In regards to the fic itself... this one's really not much longer than the last chapter, but it's quite eventful. Conway is back and better than ever, and yes, before you ask, I DO have my own way of getting through this loophole of "Paul meeting Candice for the first time in DP127" while this chapter's events occur approximately between DP119 through DP123 (basically, through the Sandalstraw Contest). Things are really going to get heated up next chapter, the chapter after that will probably be glorified filler, and then there's finally the adaption of "A Pyramiding Rage!" to look forward to. I'm not sure if these slightly shorter fic lengths are better or worse considering I'm still making you guys wait two months per chapter, but feel free to throw in your thoughts there as well.
Lastly, I've been nominated in three categories so far in Serebii's 2009 Fanfiction Awards (Best Chaptered Fic, Best Expansion of Canon, and Best Supporting Character... which would be Conway, oh gee), so if you think this fic is worth any of that glory, be sure to vote once it's actually time to vote! Heck, there's still time to nominate me for more crap. That'd be even more awesome, because I really have no idea what sort of competition I'd be going up against. Anyway, time to stop blabbering, enjoy the chapter! And woohoo, the story overall has broken 200k words as of this chapter!)
"Wh-what…? My brother left town already?"
No matter how many times it happened (and it happened fairly often), Reggie never ceased to be surprised whenever his brother left town without giving him a proper farewell over the phone. It might have been more like the fact that this was the second consecutive time in which Paul left town without a single parting word when he was usually getting much better at it since he partnered up with Conway. Of course, Reggie still had no idea that the two were separated as of now…
Sympathetically, the Nurse Joy conversing with him on the video phone nodded in affirmation. This was the same Nurse Joy from Squallville's Pokémon Center whom had been given word by Paul himself to send his parting words in his place.
"He said he would definitely call you once he reached Snowpoint City," Nurse Joy reported, trying to look and sound hopeful for Reggie's sake. "And considering the fact that Snowpoint City is close to Squallville… I would say your brother will be contacting you sooner than you'd expect."
Still slightly apprehensive, Reggie nodded to the kindly nurse and looked to the box he had received over the transmitter. "I'm sure he'll be training extensively before he takes on the Gym challenge…"
"But he still remembered your birthday," Nurse Joy pointed out, smiling. "Even if it isn't until tomorrow, that's proof enough that he cares, isn't it?"
"It certainly is," Reggie agreed, unable to help but smile back. "Thank you, Nurse Joy. I apologize if he's given you any trouble…"
Nurse Joy had already been told ahead of time to keep the business with Doctor Dalton confidential while the case was under investigation; the doctor himself decided that he would call up Reggie to discuss the matter. Knowing this, Nurse Joy tried her best not to look nervous, as she remembered witnessing Paul's turn for the worse in his condition a few days ago.
"None at all! He was a courteous young man," Nurse Joy replied with a forced laugh. "At least he was able to give you a gift despite being so far away from home."
"True," Reggie considered. "I really do appreciate this… thank you for sending along the message."
The nurse nodded. "Have a happy birthday tomorrow, Reggie."
Reggie thanked Nurse Joy and ended the call, letting out a small sigh as he again looked to the package that was delivered to him.
"Paul, something's going on, isn't there…" he murmured to himself, overwhelmed with the possible explanations behind his brother's odd behavior. Just thinking about it made Reggie too anxious to open his gift yet.
"What's with the box, Reggie?" Maylene, suddenly entering the room, asked. It quickly caught her eye even though she was completely exhausted after facing so many challengers that day.
Always happy to have company, especially in times when Reggie was feeling under the weather, he immediately smiled to his guest. "It's from Paul! He went out of his way to make sure his present got to me in time for my birthday even though he's so busy."
"B-birthday…?!" Maylene immediately squeaked, stepping back a bit and becoming flustered. She vaguely recalled weeks ago when Brandon visited Veilstone City and mentioned Reggie's upcoming birthday, which she completely forgot about. "Oh my gosh, I…!"
Naturally, it was humiliating for Maylene to forget about Reggie's birthday of all things. After all, she had become quite smitten with him thanks to the abundance of time they spent together.
Reggie continued to smile, appearing to be aware of Maylene's folly but was unfazed by it. He shook his head at her, speaking gently. "You don't need to get me anything, Maylene. You've already made a difference here in my time of need over the past month. I'd feel greedy to ask you…"
"D-don't even say that!" Maylene sputtered. "I have to get you something! I-I mean, when's your birthday…?!"
"Tomorrow…" Reggie innocently replied, not quite sure why this bothered Maylene so much. "But really, Maylene…"
"Reggie, Paul's not even going to be here to celebrate it with you!" Maylene pointed out. "I've been keeping you company all this time, so I should do something. Anything…"
She seemed determined, and Reggie always liked that about Maylene. Her passion for everything she did, be it Pokémon battling or being there for a friend, knew no limit. "If you really want to, then I'd feel bad to force you to do nothing," Reggie admitted. "At the same time, I'd hate to trouble you since my birthday is tomorrow…"
And therefore not much time to think of an adequate gift for the young man. Maylene was stumped, not even certain whether to keep the gift completely platonic or possibly use this chance to give Reggie a solid hint about her feelings for him. But was that appropriate at all? Maylene didn't know…
"Aren't you going to open Paul's gift?" she asked Reggie, biding her time.
Reggie smirked down at the box and shook his head. "It's not my birthday yet, right? I'll open it tomorrow. I'll wait towards the end of the day… Paul and Conway should hopefully have reached Snowpoint City by then and I'll be able to call him to thank him for the gift." He looked up to Maylene. "And that buys you extra time to figure out what you want to get for me, if you really insist on doing that."
"Knowing Paul, he'll just scold you for calling him rather than training for your upcoming match," Maylene figured, feeling dreadful for the tons of pressure Reggie was undeniably under because of his brother and father. "He doesn't strike me as the type who would even take a break on his own birthday…"
"Well, you're right," Reggie admitted. "In past years, he's even cut off our long-distance calls on his birthday if he was in the middle of training. He'd be very disappointed to know how little progress I've made since he left…"
That wasn't to say Reggie wasn't taking his training seriously or was not being consistent with it, but by allowing himself to get distracted with things like watching his little brother compete in a Contest, Reggie knew Paul would not be impressed. He didn't forget what Paul had said to him back when Brandon's challenge was first issued…
"I don't care if it means you have to miss seeing me in the Conference; you need intensive training more than I need moral support."
"Give yourself more credit," Maylene urged. "I think you've been doing a great job so far. Of course you're not going to be ready for Brandon overnight… but you know from experience now not to overdo it the way your brother does, right?"
That brought back less-than-pleasant memories… back when Reggie crumbled under the pressure and nearly lost his life as a result. It was a dark time, but Reggie learned from it. And at least this time… he wasn't alone.
"Of course," Reggie assured. "I'll find my own battling style… I couldn't do it four years ago, but this time I won't leave this business unfinished. It's just going to be tough… and it'll take a lot of time. I shouldn't use my birthday as an excuse to slack off. I need to get back up to speed… once I'm fully adjusted back to the level I was before I retired, the progress will really start showing."
"So… you're going to spend your birthday training?" Maylene glumly assumed. "What a sacrifice…"
Reggie simply smiled and shrugged. "So I'm turning eighteen… that's not such a big deal. If anything, it shows that since I've reached adulthood that I should start behaving like one. Part of being an adult is making sacrifices for the greater good, even on your birthday…"
Maylene wanted to tell Reggie that he was already a master in the art of self-sacrifice ever since he took up raising Paul at the age of ten, but had no desire to dredge up those old memories for her friend. "I'd still like to give you a present. Even if you insist on training for your birthday…"
"I appreciate it, Maylene," Reggie thanked, staring out the window as day began to fade into night. "All I really want is a way to become stronger more quickly… but anything you'll get me should be fine."
Sighing, seeing the hopelessness of getting Reggie to truly think of his own real needs, Maylene started to trudge out of the room before she stopped short, realizing something. "That's it…"
Overhearing her, Reggie turned his attention to the Gym Leader. "That's what?"
"What your birthday gift is going to be!" Maylene exclaimed, suddenly excited. "Come on; follow me!"
She dashed outside, prompting Reggie to follow, though he was in no hurry himself. He couldn't begin to imagine what was going on in that girl's mind.
Outside in the back, Maylene's Lucario, Machoke, and Meditite were all relaxing after a hard day of consecutive Gym Battles and enjoying the dinner Reggie specially conjured up just for them. They didn't expect to see Maylene back this soon since they hadn't finished their meal, but the determined look on her face told them all that she was out here for a reason.
"You've all done a great job adapting to the new environment while the Veilstone Gym's been undergoing renovations, guys," Maylene congratulated. "I know it's been a hard day, so I want you all to get a good night's rest early, because the real challenge has yet to come, and you won't be able to pull it off alone!"
"Maylene, what are you going on about…?" Reggie wondered, stepping outside and looking equally as confused as Maylene's Pokémon. "What challenge?"
Fully confident, Maylene turned to Reggie and grinned. "You said more than anything else, you wanted to get stronger so that you'll be ready to face Brandon in a proper battle," she reminded him. "So I'm going to help get you there. You can only accomplish certain things by training on your own… so tomorrow, get ready! I'm taking the day off from Gym challenges and challenging you to a six-on-six battle with me!"
Reggie blinked. "Say what now…?"
Maylene smirked and took out three extra Pokéballs out from her pocket. "Come out, all of you!" she shouted, tossing them all into the air. Simultaneously, the second half of Maylene's team appeared right by her side: Hitmontop, Breloom, and Primeape.
Lucario, Machoke, and Meditite stood alongside the less commonly-seen half of the core team and their trainer. Maylene pointed directly at Reggie, showing him her true fighting spirit at its full potential.
"Reggie, as your birthday present, I challenge you and your entire team to a full battle!" she announced. "We'll choose the perfect battleground and give it our all! The battle's not going to end until one side has all six Pokémon unable to battle."
Of course, Reggie was beyond humbled to realize the opportunity he had been given. "Maylene, there's no need to go all out like that," he gently said. "I'm so rusty that I probably won't stand a chance against you…"
"That's not the attitude to have!" Maylene scolded, shaking her head. "Because if you can't beat me, you won't be able to beat Brandon, either! This battle ought to give you an idea of how much progress you've made over the past few weeks, Reggie. Please accept my challenge."
She had a point. Reggie very much needed to get a clear idea of how close he was to reaching his previous peak and schedule out his more advanced training from there. He knew that when she was fired up like this, Maylene could be an especially fierce Gym Leader. She had come a long way from first starting out in the position less than a year ago. If he could defeat Maylene, Reggie would be able to say with certainty that he has been taking his training seriously, even if he wasn't as consistent with it as Paul usually was.
Reggie finally smiled, extending his arm to Maylene for a handshake. "When you put it like that, it's pretty much an offer I can't refuse," he admitted. "I accept your challenge… can't wait to see how we stack up against each other."
At least Maylene was able to resist the urge to blush at Reggie's compliments and proudly shook his hand. Above all else, she wanted to carry herself the way a professional would. "Great. Then I suggest we all turn in early for tonight. I have a feeling our battle is going to be a long one… it'll be the present that keeps on giving."
More than anything, Reggie was just thankful to not have to spend his eighteenth birthday alone, unlike several of his past birthdays. He understood how impossible it was to ever set up a true reunion between himself and the remains of his family (the incident a few weeks ago truly was a fluke), but having Maylene around made it hard for even Reggie to feel any pain.
"Perfect opportunity to see how well dad's presents have enhanced my Pokémon's performance," Reggie mentioned. "This was a great idea, Maylene. Thank you."
To see that content, relieved expression on Reggie's face… Maylene knew she had made the right decision. She was so happy that she hadn't caved in and tried to use this day as a cheap opportunity to confess her feelings for him. It made her feel stronger to know there was no need to rush into that sort of thing… because right now, there were so many more important things on task, and for Reggie, the last thing he needed was a complicated love life before facing Brandon.
As Reggie gradually became a stronger trainer once more, Maylene too felt strong in more ways than one. Together, they watched the sun set on Reggie's final day of being a minor. Things were going to change from now on, but this time, they were changing in a good way.
It had been a brutal ordeal to walk all the way back to Headquarters, but Galactic Commander Mars was rewarded with the pizza party as promised by Saturn; the following days were rather hectic, trying to keep this away from the watchful eye of Cyrus, but the effort was worth it, as it wasn't just Mars who was tired of the detestable energy drinks as the sole form of sustenance at Galactic Headquarters.
Saturn had been so busy covering up the underground pizza party that he hardly had time to harass Mars over how her mission went and why an entire helicopter was lost during the entire operation. His primary concern was confirming that Mars retrieved the book, which she did successfully, hence why Saturn went along with the party. His coworker's success combined with keeping Cyrus pleased and unaware of the activities at the lowest level of the building prevented Saturn from even remembering he had ordered Mars to seize his youngest cousin as well. Saturn had expected Conway to have tracked him down by now and irritate him to no end as he usually did in the past. The fact that he hadn't made as much as a peep reminded Saturn that Mars never actually returned with Conway… nor did she make any mention of his unfortunate "demise". The smell of pizza immediately distracted Mars and her coworkers and they rushed towards the party just as soon as Mars gave Saturn the book.
A small window of time allowed Saturn to monitor the party and track down Mars so that she would be forced to give out the rest of her report. Conway probably loved pizza as much as the next kid, Saturn figured, but this was ridiculous for him to go this long without seeing his cousin. It was high time Saturn got some answers.
Saturn used his break period to travel to the building's bottom floor and find Mars through the mess of the pizza party that had been going on for a few days solid. Personally, the top commander was surprised that Cyrus hadn't found out about their activities yet. To avoid to be associated with the festivities, Saturn kept himself as far away from the party as he could, but knew Mars was not the type who would leave this environment so easily.
It was no surprise for Saturn to see a mass of Galactic grunts enjoying the pizza bought with his hard-earned money. This was where the uniforms (especially the sea green wigs) came in handy, as Mars stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the crowd with her spiked up crimson hair. This was not exactly her proudest moment, as she was in a pizza-induced food coma and as such, passed out over a table; drool hanging from her mouth and all. It appeared that she had just recently eaten an entire large pizza all by herself, but this again did not catch Saturn by surprise. Mars always had issues with self-restraint, after all.
Easily ignoring the other festivities, Saturn made his way over to the table and sat down across from Mars, pounding his fist on the table right in front of her to jolt the young woman back into consciousness.
Mars groaned and opened her eyes slightly, blinking before registering where she was. Upon seeing her fellow higher-up, Mars was quickly jolted out of her slumber and stood stiffly before him. "S-Saturn, what are you doing here?!" she barked out. "You're supposed to be on Cyrus patrol!"
"It's my lunch break; someone is covering for me," Saturn calmly explained whilst looking disgusted with this party in general.
"What, now mister high-and-mighty wants a slice of the success?" Mars mused, smirking. "I thought you despised greasy food. That's what you said, remember?"
"Contrary to your belief, that's not why I'm here," Saturn denied, snobbish as ever. "It just occurred to me, Mars, that you have failed to file a full report on your mission."
Mars grumbled, hating to have her party dumped on by a wet blanket like Saturn. "I gave you the book, didn't I? Can't we skip the stupid paperwork just this one time? You know that'll just make Cyrus interrogate us if he finds it."
"That isn't what I mean and you know it," Saturn accused, glaring at her. "I instructed you to retrieve my cousin along with the book. While I am pleased to have the book, you made no mention of Conway when you first came by. Did it just slip your mind to take him and then completely forget to tell me about this rather important detail?"
The mention of that boy made Mars freeze up as she realized she had completely forgotten to tell Saturn about that. She was so cold and hungry from the forced walk back to headquarters that she had no desire to stick around Saturn for long; she craved her reward. Now that she engorged herself on said reward, Mars found that there was no real way out of explaining this.
"Or perhaps you didn't forget," Saturn mused, narrowing his eyes. "He wouldn't happen to be the reason why you lost your helicopter during the mission, would it?"
"Uh, about that…" Mars stammered, unsure of how to put this delicately. "I did see him, and I had to use every nasty trick in the book to get what you wanted from him, so I definitely earned this party whether you agree with me or not!"
Saturn stiffly shook his head. It was merciful of him to even grant Mars this party when she apparently only achieved the bare minimum of their objective for that secret mission. "Tell me where he is. I don't recall seeing him with you and the group of grunts you took with you to the mission. Perhaps I should have noticed something was off right then and there…"
"But you were too into that book to even notice," Mars shot back, smirking. "Guess you were telling the truth; your cousin was expendable."
What Mars insinuated made Saturn's eyes widen as he stared directly at her. "Mars, I said he was expendable if there was no way to bring him here; not to kill him recklessly!"
"You're not letting me finish," Mars grumbled, looking to the side. "Even I'm not sure why things went the way they did back there… I had both your dorky cousin and the book in our possession. And you were right… that weakness for women made him an easy one to succumb to my demands. But on our way back, a blizzard kicked up and out of nowhere, a Honchkrow and Gliscor attacked our helicopter."
"Honchkrow and Gliscor?" Saturn wondered out loud, finding this hard to buy. "Neither species are native to the far north of Sinnoh."
Helplessly, Mars shrugged at him. "Ask the three grunts who were with me; I know what I saw. Those two practically tore the helicopter apart, and it was our good luck that we managed to make our landing and survive. Simply put, your cousin wasn't so lucky."
Saturn was at a loss for words, only able to stare again at his coworker in disbelief.
"I did what I could to save him, but the helicopter was in such bad shape that I couldn't reach him," Mars explained. "I used the Golbat we had with us to fend those rogue Pokémon off, but the damage had been done. It's beyond me why they were so determined to take us down, but Conway just wasn't able to hang off of the helicopter forever. He fell off."
"To his death, presumably," Saturn assumed, which Mars confirmed with a nod. "So with the helicopter in ruins, you were unable to at least retrieve the body."
That response took Mars by surprise; she didn't expect Saturn to be so quickly nonchalant about hearing of his cousin's death. Then again, it was made quite obvious by Saturn himself that he couldn't care less for Conway… "Why do you want his frozen old corpse?" she asked. "What's the use?"
"It's a necessary instrument we'll need in order to stage a more appropriate death for him," Saturn told her. "We can't risk the media coming upon any clues that will tie my cousin's death to us, and the helicopter's remains couldn't be far from his body. We'll have to relocate the body and dump it off far away from that route so that we could never possibly be implicated."
"Good luck finding it," Mars muttered. "You'd have to dig through who knows how many feet of snow to even reach the body at this point, and everything looks the same on Route 216. And it's going to be suspicious for the passerby residents to see a bunch of grunts digging in the snow until the end of time. What you're asking for is unreasonable."
Saturn glared, unwilling to let a loose end stay that way. "Listen, Mars. You got into this-"
"No, you listen!" Mars interrupted, standing up and pointing her finger right in Saturn's face. "You're the one who sent me out on the mission! If you wanted things to go your way, then you should've gone yourself! But if you want to take the reigns now and spend all your precious time digging for a dead body, then be my guest! I did what was asked of me and I've got my reward. As far as I'm concerned, I'm so done with this case."
She was right. It wasn't for her lack of trying why she could only partially fulfill the mission. There was no way Mars was able to foresee the surprise attack and the helicopter being torn to shreds. Saturn sighed, turning away. "Fine. Consume this garbage until you burst; I would be more than happy to have you replaced," he bitterly replied, nodding a farewell to her as he left the premises. He'd gotten the answers he wanted, and if Mars had no desire to cooperate with him on recovering Conway's body, then she was under no obligation to do so. Saturn had to rectify this before it came back and bit him, he knew.
"I'll just hire some outside resources," he planned. "It shouldn't take them more than a week to recover the body and rid the area of the evidence of our presence. That way, should the latter happen first, we won't be implicated regardless of whether or not he's found within that period of time. After all, I shouldn't go too long without informing my family of their loss. That in itself will be a perfect opportunity in more ways than one…"
Saturn smirked; a mischievous glint shined in his eyes. "But I highly doubt you will be missed, little cousin," he said in quite a devilish tone. "Regardless, I'll put a good effort into making a suitable funeral in your honor. Then your parents will definitely be compelled to give me the rights to the rest of your belongings, including any other useful information you're holding from me."
The circumstances behind Conway's death still baffled Saturn… never before had he heard of a wild Gliscor or Honchkrow attacking man-made aircrafts with no rhyme or reason to their actions, much less the two vastly different species teaming up and doing so together.
A Honchkrow, though… something about that detail struck Saturn as a detail he should keep in mind. He had watched the entire Plumeria Contest, but did not fully remember the details and therefore could not immediately recall that it was coincidentally a Honchkrow that Conway faced on a live national broadcast shortly before his demise. He failed to ask Mars whether or not Conway was alone at the time when she met up with the young man.
For the time being, Saturn was far too busy making arrangements for the cover-up immediately after exiting the party. The rest of his mind was clouded up with eager fantasies of being the one to take everything Conway ever had to his name once it was all made official.
The very much alive Conway himself had no idea what he would be coming home to. Granted, he was taking his time going back down Route 216… while Paul desired to forget their temporary partnership, Conway wasn't so eager to let go. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if Conway hadn't been kidnapped, seduced, and narrowly evading his untimely demise at the time; Conway was very adept in enduring Paul's verbal abuse… and that boy had plenty to give.
But with so much trauma hitting Conway at once, he needed someone there for him, and instead of doing that, Paul outright accused and abandoned him over a misunderstanding. He needed a few days to cope with this, realizing he was alone in the middle of nowhere with a family who couldn't care less about his woes, and worst of all, the cousin Conway had so admired after all these years appeared to be in the same boat.
It was a lot for anyone to take, and Conway had never before felt so weak, used, and betrayed than he had now. It seemed no one was on his side except for the small bundle of Pokémon who were resting nearby the hot spring Conway had discovered days ago to melt away his sorrows. The steaming water was not doing its job as efficiently as Conway hoped, unfortunately. He rested his arms on the rocky edge of the natural spring and moped, trying to figure out where to go from here. He had contemplated calling Sloan to confront him directly, but Conway found he had no courage to do so. After what Mars had done to him, he was certain Sloan could inflict a much harsher punishment if he felt the need.
Slowking patted Conway on the shoulder sympathetically, really being the only one who could understand what Conway was going through by being able to read his mind. Heracross, Aggron, and Castform remained by his side as well, but only Slowking could really get him to talk in a time like this.
"It's been a few days now, hasn't it?" he said with a sigh. "Guess there's no reason to think this whole thing was a nightmare any longer… I thought this would clear my mind, but I still don't have the faintest clue of what to do next."
Slowking nodded to him, apparently urging Conway to not rush and take his time. This was a delicate matter and a difficult one to take up alone. Conway needed to recharge his spirit as much as possible to take on this new obstacle in his life.
"I know he's practically a demon child, but I can't help but worry about Paul," Conway admitted, groaning. "But for all I know, he's probably already left Snowpoint City with his Icicle Badge and on his way back down now. Maybe I should just wait…?"
Just then, off in the snowy distance, Conway spotted a couple of men digging around the snow, slowly progressing toward his general area. With such dark and heavy clothes, they looked anything but friendly. Conway was definitely not inclined to call out to them himself even though this was the first time since splitting ways with Paul that he'd even seen another person. After the encounter with Mars, Conway was much more wary about presenting himself to strangers. He had no idea what his cousin truly was in this world. His status as a rich kid would make him an easy way for any crook to earn a nice sum of money via a ransom.
Perhaps he was just being paranoid, but Conway had no desire to take his chances. He recalled all of his Pokémon and prepared to leave the area, only to realize there was no exit that wouldn't completely expose his presence. For all Conway knew, he had inadvertently run in with the Sinnoh region's Mafia whom his cousin may or may not be part of. Digging various holes around the route just reeked of suspicious behavior.
There was no way for Conway to leave the area. And the men were coming closer, though they hadn't yet realized someone was occupying the hot spring. Conway then realized his own carryon bag would give away his presence and hastily exited the water, carelessly flinging the bag over the edge of the hill where the hot spring was situated. Conway winced as he heard the bag open up and spill his belongings, knowing it would be quite the ordeal to sort out later, but the cold was far too intense for Conway to stay out in his trunks for more than a few seconds before he returned to the water, immersing most of his body underneath it while keeping an eye on the men. Eventually, they were close enough for Conway to overhear their conversation.
"We're a bit off course, don't ya think?" one of them asked after shoveling out another deep hole of snow, looking to his partner. "Just how big a range was the boss talkin' about? Ya'd think he'd have a good idea where that body was dropped."
"Wasn't there," his partner replied after taking a breather. They'd been at this for quite a while now. "So he's got no clue where the kid fell off. And that might not even matter; you know how this place is… with blizzards about."
The first man nodded, dreading the work still ahead of them. "For all we know, the kid's under five feet of snow. No one's gonna stumble into the corpse and immediately think of him, really."
"He has his reasons, I'm sure," the other figured, continuing to dig. "Point is, he wants that body dug up and tossed to the nearest ocean. Then no one's gonna know what really happened."
All of this was matching up scarily well to what happened to Conway, and he was very much aware of this. What was especially horrifying were the numerous implications that he was presumed dead. Conway didn't once think of how Mars would perceive his fall because he wanted to stop thinking about her completely. But thinking back on it… yes, under normal circumstances, Conway should have died from falling at such a great altitude.
"Hope he fell in one piece, at least," the first man wished. "Otherwise it's gonna be a nightmare collectin' whatever didn't stick to him after the fall…"
"Who knows what we'll find under here?" the second wondered. "This place is dangerous; bet it's taken lots of lives. So we've gotta confirm the identity before we go celebratin' over dead body parts."
"Green hair, right?" his partner recalled. "Dorky-lookin' glasses… wonder if those got lost too."
The man who kept digging shrugged, thinking back on the report. "Probably. But it can't be too hard to identify a teen, right? I like to think we'd know a dead nerd if we came across one."
Conway tried his hardest not to wail in fear. It was difficult to believe otherwise: these shady men were looking for him and expecting him to be dead. He assumed well enough their "boss" was likely his cousin, whom Conway couldn't even begin to wonder about in regards to motives. Still, this was obviously a cover-up so that Sloan could ensure that he and his "company" could not be implicated for this alleged tragedy.
Much as he wanted to correct those men, Conway knew he would likely end up dead for real if he tried to confront them. He always had issues with properly confronting people… but this time, he had every reason to want to run away from the situation. He scowled as they came closer to the hot spring, knowing that there weren't many places for him to hide if they actually started looking around there.
The spring was connected to a small cove, where the water was especially warm. Presumably, this was the spring's source. That was Conway's only option for a hiding place, and with the way the cove echoed and rebound every noise coming from it, Conway would have to remain perfectly silent and still in order for it to work.
"Hey, what's that over there?" the first man asked, pointing to the hot spring, still far away enough to not notice Conway peeking out from the edge. Once Conway realized he was being pointed at, he whimpered with terror and ducked his head, trying not to flail crazily into the water as he immediately retreated into the cove.
The other man, evidently more perceptive than the first, heard a few splashes coming from the area. It was easy to identify, but he frowned ominously. "That there's a hot spring," he explained. "And from the sounds of things, something may be alive up there."
"Ya think so?" his partner asked, squinting into the distance. "Looks like an ideal restin' spot. Doubt the body's there, though."
"But someone could have overheard us talking before," the other mentioned, ceasing his digging and heading up towards that location. "It's our policy to not let anyone know about us and live to tell the tale to others."
"Oh yeah," the first one now remembered, smirking and following his cohort. "Well, if someone is up there, it'll be a nice way to spice up this dull day, right?"
Conway was in for it. He reached the cove well before either of them made it to the spring, but he was far from safe. He pressed himself against the hard, rocky wall near the entrance, hoping he wouldn't have to risk making a noise by moving further in. He covered his mouth with his hand, not willing to risk any amount of noise escaping his lips, either.
The two men scanned the area thoroughly once they arrived. Though Conway had covered his tracks relatively well, he couldn't do much about the fresh footprints in the snow from him and his Pokémon.
"Yeah, someone's been here," the second man confirmed. "As recently as today. Don't think it's a coincidence that nobody's here now."
"Well, where'd they go?" the first inquired, poking the spring with his shovel and hitting the bottom, confirming that no one was hiding in that particular area. "We've got prints, but nothin' else."
"Try poking in there," the other man suggested, pointing to the cove. "It's a dark cove, but if somebody's really in there, they've got no place to run."
Pulling his shovel back to the ground, it was obvious that the first shady worker was a bit squeamish of the prospect. "That means we've gotta step into the water, boss. Our legs are gonna be popsicles once we get outta here."
The mature half of the duo just shook his head. "Tough it out; we're professionals, remember? Let's not risk our heads getting offed just because we were afraid to get our feet wet."
"If ya say so," his partner sighed, stepping into the pool of warm, steaming water and trying to enjoy that as much as he could before the inevitable torture began once he had to get out. "Let's see… looks like the water gets deeper in there, man."
Nodding in agreement, the man's partner followed, focusing on what little he could see inside the cove while the other tentatively poked around the area with his shovel.
Being so close to the entrance, Conway was getting a good look of that shovel nearly hitting his head. He backed up as much as he could as the man blinded by the darkness carelessly thrust the shovel into the rocky wall. Mere inches away, Conway shuddered and sunk himself almost completely into the water. That man with the shovel was heading his way while the other covered the opposite side. It only seemed inevitable that he would be found and consequently killed in this hot spring in the middle of nowhere.
Conway was helpless to contain his fearful shuddering, knowing the end was nigh. Unfortunately for him, that caused a bit of noise as he shivered furiously in the water. The man on the opposite side of the cove heard the reverberating noise and looked over to the apparent source, though it was still too dark to see what was causing it.
"Did you hear that?" he asked his coworker while wading over to the other side.
Said coworker nodded. "Sure did. We've got a live one in here somewhere, and I think I'm pretty close…"
No more than a few feet, really. Conway had nowhere to go without exposing himself. He knew this was the end, especially when he heard the shovel about to crash over his head…
But it never happened. A flurry of splashes away from Conway came about, distracting both men.
"Over there!" the man further away shouted. "Whoever it is, they're trying to escape!"
"I'm on it!" his partner assured, marching through the water towards the target, which was flailing and splashing towards the entrance. A few adorable chirps were heard from the splashing, making even Conway wonder what was saving his life.
Once the splashing reached the entrance, the light shined down and revealed the culprit: a Smoochum struggling to swim in water that was relatively deep for her.
"Aw, nuts," the man with the shovel grumbled, easily snatching up the Smoochum and glaring at her. "We got ourselves into this over a lil' chic like this?!"
"They are native to this area," the other man recalled. "This one must have gotten lost, obviously. That explains all the splashing we heard, though. That thing can barely swim."
It was quite the dissatisfying result. The man with the shovel eyed the Kiss Pokémon for a moment, contemplating what to do from there. "This thing's practically harmless, right? Any point in killin' it?"
"Not really," his partner replied. "But it never hurts to be too cautious. Should be an easy job."
"You're right," the other man agreed, grinning at the intimidated Smoochum between his fingers. "Alright, then. So to make this trip worth somethin'…"
Conway was horrified. He was about to bear witness to a murder of an innocent baby Pokémon and there was nothing he could do to interfere. That Smoochum had practically saved his life, and Conway felt miserable knowing he would never be able to repay that adorable Pokémon.
But just then, the Smoochum eyed the man holding her. And before he could make a move, the capturer was overwhelmed with flying hearts as Smoochum began to blow kisses directly at his face. The man became dazed and confused, stumbling backwards into the water, releasing his hold on Smoochum as a result.
Shock and awe; Conway was able to identify what Smoochum had just done: the Sweet Kiss move.
"A pest of a runt, aren't you?!" the other man shouted angrily, marching over to the general area. "I'll teach you…!"
But Smoochum had already started another round of her Sweet Kiss; hearts flew rampantly against the man, disorienting him. He fell against the wall, unable to focus or concentrate due to his confusion.
Conway was amazed, but a little intimidated at the same time. He knew there was a distinct possibility that he would get Sweet Kissed into submission as well, which was something he wanted to avoid. But he smiled in relief when Smoochum (who was still on the first man's belly) looked over to Conway and smiled at him, jumping repeatedly on the belly as if she were trying to tell him to escape while he still could.
Not about to waste this opportunity, Conway dashed out of the cove and out of the spring entirely. Luckily, he kept his Pokéballs in the pockets of his swimming trunks and immediately released Heracross and Castform; the only two on his team who could recollect his belongings that he tossed over the cliff. He shivered while he waited, but his Pokémon were intuitive enough to know Conway needed his clothes back first. Though he was still absolutely freezing, Conway was thankful to be fully clothed again. He looked back towards the cove where Smoochum still was, seemingly keeping an eye on the men in case they recovered from their confusion.
Piece by piece, Conway was getting his supplies back. Once he was fully packed, he recalled both of his Pokémon and once again checked the cove to see the men starting to recover.
"Gah, no time for a chat, I guess!" he wailed, suited up and ready to bolt. "I can't let those guys see me!"
But Smoochum heard the young man's concerns and took on the matter herself. She began singing with her high-pitched yet gentle voice. Conway immediately recognized this as Sing, which was a surefire way to put anyone to sleep. He covered his ears so that he would be unaffected; the other men, however, were lulled straight to sleep.
"Quite a little miracle worker, aren't you?" Conway complimented, now able to rest easy. "I really don't know what to say… or even do. I owe you, Smoochum."
Smoochum directly addressed Conway now, firing out a fairly weak stream of snow and ice from her mouth in order to create a small, temporary path across the hot spring. She waddled over to the other side as quickly as she could, and Conway understood that she wanted to escape this place as much as he did. He extended a hand to her, which Smoochum graciously accepted by hopping onto Conway, latching herself to his arm and climbing up until she reached his shoulder where she stayed put, now contented.
"Guess I can return the favor after all," Conway figured, unable to stop smiling now. With his belongings gathered and the Smoochum in tow, Conway hightailed it out of the hot spring area and swiftly sped off down Route 216.
Running so quickly down a route covered with snow and ice wasn't exactly the smartest move on Conway's part, but to his credit, he was more concerned with making as much distance as possible from those horrid men.
Not exactly the most coordinated guy in the world, Conway found himself slipping and sliding down an icy plane, doing his best to keep himself on his feet as he descended at a rate far beyond what he could control. He managed to keep this up for a while as long as the path was clear, but after some time, it seemed Conway was reaching the end of a slope; at the end, he would fall some distance (not a deadly one, at least) and straight into a large pile of fluffy snow.
Conway popped his head out from the powder, shaking the bits of snow from his hair and continuing to shiver uncontrollably as the adrenaline quickly wore off. He paused, however, and was very surprised to see that Smoochum had remained attached to him the entire time.
"You wanted to get away from those jerks as much as I did, right?" Conway assumed, smiling at her. "I really must thank you, little one. You definitely saved my life back there."
The Smoochum chirped happily, showing signs of its own relief, but remained on Conway's shoulder despite the fact that the ride was over.
"Oh, that's right!" Conway realized, scanning the area. "This is where Paul and I found a small gathering of Smoochum while we were traveling a few days ago. You wouldn't happen to be part of the swarm, would you?"
It was true; the Smoochum nodded, as she completely understood what Conway was saying. In spite of her young age, being partially a Psychic-type allowed her to easily interpret the words of humans.
Conway continued looking around, realizing the area was practically empty; still covered in snow and ice as it was last time, but no mass of Smoochum were seen anywhere nearby.
"Well, I do owe you for saving my life," Conway muttered. "And it's not like I'm pressed for time to do anything… I need to think of a plan before I head back to Veilstone City."
He looked down at the still-smiling Smoochum. "So while I concoct a plan, I'll help you find your friends, alright? Does that sound like a good deal to you?"
That was when Smoochum squealed and hopped repeatedly on Conway's shoulder, giving the side of his face a big hug.
"Ah-ahh…!"
This brought back rather unpleasant memories. Instantly, Conway thought of Mars again… that woman he was determined to boot out of his memories for good. But he could never forget what she did to him in that helicopter. What she did against his will… and even in spite of that, Conway hated that tiny, minuscule part of himself that enjoyed it.
But somehow… this seemed different.
This Smoochum was innocent. She clung to Conway and never let go; she obviously had fun on that "ride" down the mountain and it appeared that she greatly enjoyed Conway's company.
But more than anything... Smoochum seemed to be able to sense Conway's inner turmoil. Falling in line with a Smoochum's usual mannerisms, she decided to use her lips to examine her new companion. Conway froze completely and helplessly whispered a wail as he felt a pair of lips peck his cold cheek. Unlike Mars' torture, however, this was brief and absolutely harmless. Still, it brought back rather disturbing images.
The horrible visions dissipated when Conway found Smoochum right up against his face, cooing with affection and pecking various areas of his face, including his outrageously expensive custom goggle-glasses.
"H-hey, don't stain these!" he pleaded; though Conway was shaking, he could not bring himself to fling Smoochum off of him. "These are… these are quite pricey, you see. The oil stains will make it hard for me to see, and…"
Smoochum merely giggled and gave Conway another peck on the cheek. This time it wasn't alarming at all; Conway knew he could trust the tiny Kiss Pokémon who just saved his life; he figured that perhaps he should try being more of a gentleman in return.
Even if Conway was convinced that those days were over. All thanks to Mars…
"C-come on, now!" Conway urged, pulling Smoochum away from his face, but still holding the young female Pokémon firmly in his hands. "We shouldn't dawdle. It could take a while to find your group and even longer for me to find a place to stay. I know Pokémon swarms tend to move along quickly, so it would be terrible if you were left behind, dear."
In spite of that, Smoochum appeared to have no concern over that whatsoever. She clung to Conway's hands as if she had no intention of letting go. This gesture confused Conway for a while…
… But then he smiled. Conway was a sharp one, indeed. Perhaps he was wrong about Paul, but he knew he had to be right about this.
"Pardon me if I'm being a bit forward, Miss," Conway began; his goggles gleaming with the aid of the small streaks of light shooting down from the massive clouds. "But are you giving me the impression that you wish to embark upon a journey with me?"
The response was an energetic, high-pitched "Smoo, smoo…!" added with the Smoochum nodding her head vigorously. She wasn't sure what drew her to this boy, but he seemed familiar to another one a few days ago who expressed interest in capturing one before being dragged away by his grumpy cohort. They looked exactly the same, as a matter of fact.
Things had changed since then, obviously. That grumpy boy was nowhere to be seen. Conway looked utterly miserable and his initial reactions told the psychic Smoochum that he had gone through quite an ordeal… and it wasn't over yet.
She jumped from Conway's grasp and landed on the snow, promptly hopping up and down as if to beg him to capture her. Unlike most of her group, this Smoochum rather liked the idea of having a human trainer one day. To be captured by a boy in need of emotional support… Smoochum knew she was the best Pokémon for the job.
Luckily, Conway was perceptive enough to decipher the small Pokémon's desires. And conveniently enough, Conway did have a spare empty Pokéball on hand. While he was packing back at home, Conway highly doubted he was ever going to actually use it, but this time…? Was he ever glad to be proven wrong!
"You're pretty bold about this," Conway noted. "I like that in a Pokémon. You'll be a perfect fit for my team." He posed, readying his Pokéball by pressing the button to enlarge it. "Thank you again, for everything…"
Then, he let it loose. "Now, let's go, Pokéball…!"
He tossed it into the air; Smoochum jumped up as high as she could to meet it and tagged the ball with her hand upon contact. She was consumed with red light and taken within. The Pokéball closed and dropped to the ground, nudging against the snow left and right a few times before the ball was closed securely; sparkles emitting from the ball to confirm the capture.
Rather than getting hyped up like he used to, Conway calmly picked up the ball containing his new Pokémon and smiled. "And so… I've caught Smoochum. Just as I always wanted…"
Conway pocketed the ball with the others, looking towards the gloomy sky.
"That was a close call," he reflected back on the hot spring situation. "I could have avoided that completely if I hadn't been moping the entire time… Paul never would have done that…"
He frowned just then; why did he keep thinking about that heartless trainer who left him in the dust when he was needed the most? Even if Paul did save Conway's life… it was hard to call him a hero after what he had done.
"Paul's a jerk," Conway confirmed with a low growl. "I withstood his attitude as much as I could… it's no wonder he doesn't have any friends. He doesn't even want them! I never had a chance; I should have paid more attention to those ominous feelings I had back when he spent the night at my house…"
But he thought about the young man a little more…
"But even in spite of that, Paul knew exactly what to do in a crisis," Conway sorrowfully admitted. "He's just as capable of saving my life as I was saving his… and even though it ended up in a loss, he just moved on… kept going." The bespectacled trainer surveyed his surroundings again; the desolate frozen desert. "He's probably already defeated Candice by now, and what have I been doing all this time since we parted ways? Moping over what happened! And because of that, I almost died!"
It was then that Conway realized that this incident he had gotten himself into was much more severe than he initially believed. He didn't have Paul to help him this time… but this was something Conway simply couldn't ignore. It was obvious to him now that Sloan was not the admirable cousin he made himself out to be; there were evil forces at work within Conway's own family, and he had been unaware of it this entire time! It was a huge blow to his ego, but then Conway remembered…
"I really should have seen this coming," he muttered. "And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I've got to take a page out of Paul's book this time! Running away from the situation won't solve a thing; I must directly confront the matter and attack it with full power!"
He dug out his phone, but paused before dialing anything. A horrible realization dawned upon Conway just then. "If I call Sloan now… that's like giving myself away. If he truly believes me to be dead, I've got to use that to my advantage if I'm ever going to get to the bottom of this."
Conway bit his lip in frustration and confusion, unsure of what move to make next. There were so many options… but even in situations like these, Paul always seemed quick to make up his mind. Even if it had gotten him into a few problems of his own, Paul was a very decisive young man. It was why he was so efficient in what he did, after all.
What could he do from here… call his family, possibly, but what would they care about Conway's near-death experience? There was Reggie, but Conway still couldn't bring himself to face the breeder (even via telephone) and admit that he had failed in keeping his promise of looking after Paul. Calling the police wasn't going to do much good when Conway had no idea what sort of organization attempted to kidnap him – he was pretty sure the G on their uniforms did not stand for "government", though.
"I've got to pull myself together," Conway decided, suddenly drawing out all of his Pokéballs and sending out Slowking, Aggron, Heracross, Castform, and even Smoochum all at once. The group of Pokémon looked to Conway with confusion and/or concern, as all were well aware of their trainer's mental and emotional anguish at this point.
"Alright, everyone, it's time to make a stand," Conway announced. "I've let people like Paul trample over me all my life – but no more! We must figure out who my cousin is really working for, why his cohort nearly apprehended me, and why he needed that Uxie book so badly!"
He pointed south towards yet another slippery path. "We'll first need to conquer this route, which I know we all can do, but there is another matter at hand…!"
His goggle-glasses gleamed at that moment; Conway's eyes were staring hard into the eyes of his own Pokémon. "I really cannot take this on alone. And since we no longer have Paul on hand, I'm counting on each and every one of you to help me in whatever conflict I face as I come closer to finding out the truth! Because really… I remember the helicopter's interior. It wasn't just Mars in there… Sloan could be leading his own army for all I know. That's why we'll need to fight!"
All of the Pokémon cried out in agreement, relieved that Conway was getting his head into the game. Smoochum latched herself onto Conway's shoulder again, giving him an affectionate peck on the cheek. Again, Conway's first reaction was to shudder and flinch, but remembered that this not Mars… and honestly, after the emotional abuse Paul put him through combined with the fact that his entire family obviously didn't love him; this affection was rather welcome at this point.
But as Conway lightly laughed at Smoochum's antics, he realized something else very important:
He did need to fight back. But with his Pokémon alone, the experience he had… could Conway really do it? Ever since he became a trainer, Conway was completely unsure of which route of expertise to take. His status as a Jack of All Trades really exposed the various weaknesses Conway possessed. All he wanted to know was that he had a strong desire to learn. Learn everything about Pokémon… though the battles thrilled him and the Contests made him happy, Conway had foregone his Coordinator option for Paul's sake. It wasn't exactly valid now that the two were separated, but still… Contests were not going to give Conway the strength and experience he needed to overcome his adversary. Not only that, but Contests were broadcast everywhere in Sinnoh. If Sloan were to happen upon another Contest and saw Conway competing… that would ruin his advantage.
His battle with Maylene… that was a workout. Gym Battles weren't televised… and Conway knew firsthand how strong Paul was and easily saw that it was largely due to his long and detailed history of facing Gym Leaders. He remembered Paul's battle with Byron… the intensity and ingenious strategies pulled. Conway could learn a lot from Byron. And there were so many Gym Leaders out there in Sinnoh that he had not yet faced…
Conway knew this was the only way. Standard training wasn't going to cut it this time; he needed to work on his weakness - that being poor at improvising in the event that his plan fails – and hone the aspects of his battling style that made him a competent battler in the first place.
So that was that: Conway chose the path of battling. More than anything, now, his greatest desire was to come strong… like Paul, much as Conway hated to admit that.
"We're going to need a lot of training," Conway told his team. "Not only to defeat what stands against us, but to ensure your safety." He had already lost Paul; he couldn't bear to lose someone else. "So our next course of action is to return to Veilstone City. While we stock up on supplies and whatever I can get from home, I'll be deciding which Gym Leader we'll be facing next. That's right: we're going the same path as Paul! Qualifying for the Sinnoh League will prove that we're strong enough to take on my cousin!"
Conway had no idea just how powerful his cousin really was, but remembered admiring his Toxicroak back in the day when Sloan made a rare appearance at his house. It was definitely a Pokémon that would be a challenge at this point. Who knows whatever else he acquired…
"While I'm there, I'm going to have to face Reggie and tell him the truth," Conway decided. "Even if it's going to be difficult admitting to him how badly I failed… I'm sure Paul isn't planning on letting him know about it. He can't be left in the dark."
He looked to the Smoochum who looked to her trainer with adoring eyes. "Unfortunately, my dear, I'll have to train you as well. But I'll make sure you'll enjoy it, okay?" Conway patted her head, giving the young Kiss Pokémon an encouraging smile. Smoochum was easy to please, thankfully. Conway couldn't stop his smiling when she proceeded to hug his neck; this affection was so direly needed, after all.
"Now, onward!" Conway shouted after getting his fill of that therapy. "Everyone, return!"
Each of Conway's Pokémon returned to their balls, and he securely stored them over his belt. Conway grabbed his bag, looked ahead in the direction of his planned destination, and started off. He never before felt so determined and alive; this was even more poignant than his two landmark victories in the past. A mission was assigned to Conway; something that apparently only he could complete.
As he marched on with determination and a renewed sense of who he was, Conway smirked to himself as he remembered a conversation between himself and Paul the day the two reunited:
"Do whatever you want, but back off, alright? I don't need a sidekick. This is my journey. You need to find your own path and stick with it, because I can guarantee you'll never be the second coming of Wallace."
"I agree, sidekick definitely isn't me. How about co-star, then? We'll split it evenly, fifty-fifty. Sound good?"
"In your dreams."
"Seems I'm a suitable protagonist after all," Conway noted. "Whatever journey you're embarking on now, Paul, know that I've finally got my own journey, too!"
And he journeyed off.
And what of Paul's journey? He was so close to Snowpoint City after leaving Squallville, and he insisted to not rest until he reached that destination. He feared another stop at any other town would lead to disaster somehow.
However, he was still experiencing disasters in his own way. Since Paul refused any form of decent refuge, he toughed out some of the harshest elements Sinnoh had to offer. He climbed, he crawled… it was very similar to his trek on the dangerous path on Route 216, as a matter of fact. But in spite of Route 217's harsher obstacles, Paul was at least well-equipped to deal with it this time. Much as he wanted to ditch the coat that Conway bought for him, it was an utter necessity to brave the elements.
Still, the coat was not enough to protect Paul from the various injuries he sustained while hiking up the roughest sector of Route 217. The snow was up to his waist; the blizzard just wouldn't taper off. The wind chill itself was nigh unbearable, but Paul had self-preservation tactics this time. He knew in dire situations like these to rest in deep ditches of the snow and cover himself in order to protect himself from the wind. That in itself was a life-saver.
Paul was willing to undergo any kind of torture just to get his mind off Conway and Ash. And this definitely kept him busy; this time, his Pokémon knew better than to come out of their own free will to help out.
A nasty incident with a boulder and a giant shard of ice left Paul with nasty head and face injuries. Feeling the blood trickle down and freeze against his face, Paul kept his hood on at all times from that point on. He was worn and torn; beaten and battered… it certainly took him more than a day to reach his destination due to his choice to take the path often not taken.
Paul collapsed on his knees when he finally saw a group of houses, all with distinct crimson roofs. He smirked, definitely having lost some of his sanity from the brutal journey. But by the gods, he made it.
Snowpoint City: The City of Snow.
Now all he had to do was find this "Candice" person and get this over with. Paul didn't care that he was beaten and battered from the traveling; he figured if he could defeat Byron while suffering a cold (not to mention type disadvantages across his entire team), he could easily take out some girl and her fragile Ice-type Pokémon.
Then Paul remembered the strategy that Conway had created for him weeks ago for this specific battle. The fellow trainer put immense amounts of work into creating a viable strategy for yet another scenario where nearly all of his Pokémon suffered a weakness to Ice. Paul and Conway talked for hours, building up foolproof strategies for each other. It worked like a charm for Conway when he had to battle Maylene; logically, Paul's chances of winning were drastically increased with this strategy made from Conway and his desire to see Paul succeed in his goals. A work of their friendship…
… A friendship that no longer existed.
Paul hated everything that reminded him of Conway. Due to the nature of his traveling, the heavy coat was not expendable… but the strategy was, in his eyes. He pulled it out of his bag, quietly growling as his hand crushed the paper when he formed a fist. Paul promptly approached the nearest garbage can to toss the evidence of his association with that young man…
… But before that, he promptly fell into a pit before he could reach it. Paul was practically buried in snow; it was so deep. He flailed and struggled to free himself, way beyond tired of covering himself in that powder to shelter himself as it was.
Just then, he heard the giggles of small children. Paul turned towards the direction of the noise (still in the midst of freeing himself from the pit) and noticed a group of children ice skating. The one that led the group, however, was much older than these tykes; she had to at least be in her mid to late teens. Initially, Paul was disturbed by the way this girl dressed; sure, that sky blue sweater seemed thick enough and appropriate for the weather, but she was also wearing a tiny khaki skirt. Her striped socks only barely came below her knees, and they didn't look thick enough to cover up her otherwise-bare legs. Her hair was long, but up in pigtails, which would do nothing to keep her warm.
Paul couldn't stop watching this girl so effortlessly brave the elements as she skated across the frozen pond with elegance and grace, as if she'd been doing it for years. And here Paul was, borderline hypothermia once more a concern… as well as his health.
Indeed, what bothered Paul more than anything else… even more than Ash and Conway, was the discovery of his apparent bad health. Paul still refused to look at the test results given to him by Doctor Dalton in Squallville; he was absolutely convinced that there was nothing wrong with him.
He'd come this far… he had endured rough journeys in Hoenn, Kanto, and Johto (though none of those regions had this arctic weather)… and even though Paul had come down with illnesses from time to time and took longer than usual to recover from them, Paul didn't think there was anything odd about his health. Only that on occasion he would still cough up blood… that one, he still blamed Conway for it, but even more, that woman… Mars.
Paul and Conway may have been separated now, but they still had a common enemy. The only difference was that Paul was barely involved in the attack while Conway seemed to be an essential element towards the goals of the organization Mars worked for.
But Paul was quite self-centered compared to Conway; he was more interested in reaching his own goals than investigating a former friend's problem.
And now with the matter of his health… Paul would say he had no interest in reading the papers, and while there was some truth to that, the real reason was simply fear. Paul was afraid of what the test results would say about him… after all, the doctor had worked with his family, particularly his late mother, in the past. This man's medical opinion was one to be taken seriously.
Whenever this bothered him severely, Paul would constantly tell himself out loud, "There's nothing wrong with me… there's nothing wrong with me… there's nothing wrong with me…" This was a time that called for it.
"There's nothing wrong with me," Paul insisted to himself, wondering if he should toss the medical papers away into the trash bin along with Conway's strategy guide. He had no desire to carry either document any longer. Still yet, Paul was getting worse; more blood spilled down his face… overall, he felt like he'd been hit by a car. Conway spared no expense in getting Paul the best winter coat money could buy, but even it was not invincible against the elements for a long period of time.
As he hated to be seen like this, Paul still kept his hood on to hide his blood-streaked face. Remembering Squallville's Nurse Joy freaking out over a cut on his hand and his coughing up of blood, Paul had no desire to properly show his face to anyone.
"There's nothing wrong with me!!" he shouted, perhaps a bit too loudly. Paul had managed to escape the snow pit, at least, but it was amazing in itself that Paul finally reached his goal. All he needed to do was ask any random stranger of Candice…
"You sure about that? It sure looks like there's something wrong with you!"
The voice was female, and her statement was followed by a crowd of children shouting "Yes!" in agreement with her.
Paul barely had it in him to register the fact that he was surrounded by easily imitatable children, but the older girl who stood in front of them was hard to ignore.
"I'm… fine…" he muttered, really not wanting to have to prove it.
"It's not easy to get here, you know!" the girl informed him. "So it's no surprise you're roughed up, but it looks like you took the toughest path to reach this place. Is that true?"
Paul, still focused on the snow (now turning red from the droplets of his blood), nodded slowly. "I did."
"Amazing!" the girl shouted. "You've got to have some mad awesome kiai to get through a path like that!"
That took Paul off guard. "Mad awesome what…?"
"Your kiai!" she repeated. "I can't remember the last time I saw a person who took that path, really. Would you happen to be a trainer?"
"That's right," Paul confirmed, his voice now sounding quite raspy. Perhaps he shouldn't have yelled so loudly earlier. "I'm here to conquer the Snowpoint Gym."
The teenage girl squealed with excitement. The children all cheered. Paul had no idea what was going on.
"We almost never get Gym challengers because of our remote location!" she proclaimed. "So if you made it this far, your kiai must be strong… therefore, you're a formidable competitor!"
Paul had no idea what this "kiai" was and he was far too exhausted to care to know. He knew this was a good sign, though, that his presence was well-received as a battling trainer. "I'll show that Gym Leader just how powerful I am," he claimed. "Tell me where the Gym is and I'll go right away and win that badge."
"Well, of course I can tell you where our Gym is," the girl offered. "I happen to be its Leader!"
How unexpected that he would run right into the Gym Leader the second he entered Snowpoint City. He looked up at her, eyes widened. "Then you're… Candice?!"
"So you already know my name," she noted in a sly tone. "Guess I must have some reputation. The truth is, I wish I could take on more challengers, but this is nature's way. But since you came all this way, I'll give you the kiai battle you want! The challenge is so on!"
"Then let's get started," Paul suggested, finally able to stand up. "I made it up here by myself without using any of my Pokémon, so they're all fully ready to fight."
"Without using any of your Pokémon…" Candice muttered, then squeaking and stepping back when she finally noticed the bloody snow. "Y-you've been bleeding this entire time! You can't challenge me now!"
"Yes I can," Paul asserted, stern and stiff. "There's nothing wrong with me."
Candice shook her head, now worried. "You don't look so good, you know. We should at least get you cleaned up before we battle. Neither of us want to get my Gym covered with blood stains, right?"
Reluctantly, Paul nodded. "I'll clean up, but I expect my Gym Battle today, Candice."
"I understand," Candice replied with a nod. "Look, I'll take you to the Pokémon Center so you can get yourself decent. Nurse Joy will tell you where the Snowpoint Gym is. I'll be going back to the Gym in the meantime!" she announced, looking towards the flock of children behind her. "I'm sorry to cut off our session so early today, kids. But you know how rare it is for us to get a challenger."
"We understand, Teach!" said a little boy in the crowd. "But can we watch?"
Immediately, the other children simultaneously requested the same privilege of Candice, making her smile. "It'd be great to have an audience for our Gym Battle," she said, then looking to Paul. "Is that alright for you?"
"I don't care," Paul replied coldly. "As long as I get my Gym Battle today, it doesn't matter what else happens."
"Then it's settled!" Candice decided. She always seemed so full of energy, even in spite of the freezing temperatures. "You all get to watch! Go on ahead of me if you want, kids. I'll come to the Gym after taking my challenger to the Pokémon Center, because I've totally gotta get my kiai on for this battle! It's been way too long!"
"We love watching you train!" a young girl with admiring eyes said. "We hope you win, Miss Candice!"
That prompted Paul to glare at the child. Normally he wouldn't bother to go this low, but in his current state… "I didn't come all this way to lose."
"You'll see!" another boy said. "Not a lot of people can beat Candice!"
"Settle down, settle down," Candice urged. "Save that energy for the battle, because you're all gonna cheer me on, right?"
"RIGHT!" they all shouted in unison.
Ready to set things into motion, Candice snagged Paul by the arm. "Then get going!" she instructed. "While I take this gentleman to the Pokémon Center!"
The children ran off, heeding their teacher's order. Paul was a bit put off by Candice suddenly grabbing him, but he didn't mind it as much this time… Paul realized it was hurting him to even walk at this point. He truly was a mess.
"You should have treated those cuts immediately, Paul," Snowpoint City's Nurse Joy scolded, though did so gently. This one bore a light blue cross and was hard at work trying to wipe all of Paul's wounds clean.
There were a lot more than he thought. Even in areas where the skin wasn't broken, Paul found his arms and torso full of swollen, discolored bruises. For all Paul knew, his ribs possibly weren't fully healed yet, and even if they were, still tender. He did experience some pain in his chest, but it was hard to identify since Paul was truly hurting everywhere. The trail he took nearly tore him limb from limb.
"I was going to do that once I got here anyway," Paul lied, sounding very tired at this point. "I know it looks bad, but there's really nothing wrong with me."
"How can you say that when you're in a condition like this?!" Nurse Joy asked in a panic. She really was concerned with Paul's lack of concern for his own wellbeing. "And Candice told me you were to have a Gym Battle today…?"
Paul closed his eyes and nodded. "After you're done cleaning me up, I'm going to challenge her."
Nurse Joy sighed. With an attitude like this, she wasn't that surprised when she learned of Paul's future plans, foolish as they were. "I implore you, Paul, to please take a few days to rest before battling Candice," she pleaded.
"I'm telling you I'm fine," Paul repeated. "There is nothing wrong with me. Just take care of my belongings while I'm gone. I'll pick them up once I've won my battle."
Paul was completely cleaned off now, but some of those cuts refused to stop bleeding. As a result, his face was covered with bandages. In spite of his lethargic state, he had enough in him to put his jacket back on, followed by the heavy coat. He had no need to tote around his backpack just for the Gym; everything in there was useless for his cause. His Pokémon were attached to his belt; Paul felt that's all he truly needed to defeat that spunky young lady.
"I can't force you to stay," Nurse Joy acknowledged sadly. "But please come back if you're unable to battle."
Paul nodded to Nurse Joy. "I will." He then stood up, still unable to resist a wince from the still-present pain. There wasn't much Nurse Joy could do about his bruises in a timely manner. Paul had made up his mind and was far too stubborn to go back on his word.
Nurse Joy's eyes widened when she noticed traces of dried blood on Paul's heavy coat; the blood from a few days ago when he reached Squallville. She wanted to say something about it, but knew she would only be blown off.
"Thank you for your help," Paul told her before he left the building. It was an obviously-forced show of gratitude, but Nurse Joy didn't particularly mind.
"Chansey-Chans…!"
"Chansey!" Nurse Joy was surprised by her partner's sudden appearance, and even more surprised that Chansey was going through Paul's opened backpack that he left behind. "You should know better than to invade a patient's privacy! Now close that up!"
The reason for said invasion soon became apparent when Chansey turned to her coworker and revealed a long, detailed statement from a certain doctor.
"That's…" Nurse Joy couldn't help but break her code of honor and grabbed the document. "A statement of the results of a series of tests performed on Paul… by Doctor Dalton of Squallville…?"
Chansey nodded, finding this information vital to figuring out Paul's strange behavior.
"Oh my goodness…" Nurse Joy gasped. "This… if I had known of this, I wouldn't have let him leave!" She glumly looked towards the entrance. "It's too late now… but it's obvious that Paul is in denial. He'll have to learn the hard way, unfortunately…"
The Egg Pokémon agreed, knowing there was no way things were going to go as Paul had planned as long as he was this bad off.
Rather ashamed of his appearance due to the bandages on his face, Paul kept the heavy coat's hood over his head. He bowed his head, making it nearly impossible to see his face. Nurse Joy had told him earlier where the Snowpoint Gym was, and Paul was making a beeline for it. Candice was waiting for him in there, and regardless of the "kiai" she kept talking about, Paul knew he would be able to beat someone like her.
After all, Paul found Byron to be a much more competent Gym Leader; much more of a threat. And yet, Paul still defeated him while suffering a severe cold. With this girl? Paul foolishly believed this would be a piece of cake.
When he entered the Gym, as he expected, the battling field was an arena of ice. Unlike Canalave's Gym, Snowpoint's was rather straightforward in showing its main arena. Paul noticed that all of those children from earlier were in the audience seats. In the center side of the field was the assigned referee, Mr. Honcho. And finally, on the opposite side of the field from Paul was the energetic Candice, who looked frighteningly confident about her chances in this battle.
"So you made it after all," Candice noted, grinning. "Well, at least you're not bleeding, but I still sense that your kiai has been exhausted just by getting here! You're sure you wanna battle today?"
"I'm doing this today," Paul stated, again very stern about his stance. "And I'm doing it right now. I'll give you the kind of battle you want, even if I'm tired. I've done it before; I can do it again."
Candice raised an eyebrow at that last statement. He had challenged other Gym Leaders like this before… perhaps he was going to be a force to be reckoned with?
"I never did get your name, stranger," Candice suddenly remembered. "Care to introduce yourself?"
"Paul," the challenger simply said. "I'm from Veilstone City."
Candice nodded with approval. "That'll do. I think we can start now! The clash of our kiai is ready to begin!"
Again with the "kiai"… Paul sighed. As it was cold being near the field of ice, Paul kept on his heavy coat for this battle, hood and all.
"Then let us begin!" Mr. Honcho announced. "The Snowpoint Gym Battle between Leader Candice and the challenger: Paul from Veilstone City!"
Paul was so relieved to finally have this Gym Battle started… even if he was still in massive pain otherwise.
"This battle will be a four-on-four match," Mr. Honcho continued, which confirmed Conway's suspicions about the slightly unorthodox method of a Snowpoint battle. "The winner will be determined once one side's Pokémon are rendered unable to battle! Additionally, only the challenger is allowed to substitute Pokémon during the battle!"
"You ready to do this?" Candice asked Paul with a smirk. She had a Pokéball in her hand, having already decided which Pokémon to use first. It wasn't the one she usually used first… but she really wanted to test Paul's… "kiai"… by flashing out the big guns first.
Paul nodded, also grabbing one of his Pokéballs. It took him a bit of time to decide which one to start with, as most had type disadvantages, but Paul was still conscious enough to make a solid decision on his own strategy. He completely disregarded everything Conway had ever told him. That left Paul completely without a strategy… there seemed to be many ups and downs on both sides for this battle. Paul was determined to make one Candice would forever remember.
"Battle begin…!" Mr. Honcho called out, officially starting the challenge.
"You think your kiai can match up with mine?!" Candice called out, throwing her Pokéball. "Show him what we're made of, Abomasnow!"
Over seven feet tall and nearly three hundred pounds, Candice immediately sent out her trump card. The children in the audience looked on with awe and wonder.
"Wonder what Miss Candice is planning," one girl said out loud. "I've never seen her send out Abomasnow first!"
"I think she really wants to teach that guy a lesson by taking him out in one shot," a young boy hypothesized. "And she knows how to counter her disadvantages, so I think this is already a game over for that guy!"
Paul glared at this challenge. It certainly would have been useful to have Magmar now… "That must be her signature," he muttered to himself. "If she's sending that out already, she still thinks I'm too sick to fight. She wants to make this a swift one. I've got no choice, then…"
It was time for Paul to send out his counter: "Torterra, stand by for battle!"
Countering signature Pokémon with another signature, but there was a problem; Torterra had a double-weakness to Ice-type moves.
Originally, as written in Conway's strategy, Honchkrow was supposed to be sent out first. But just to spite the young man he considered a traitor, Paul decided to completely disregard the strategy and do the opposite of what it suggested. The children were certainly impressed just by seeing a Torterra and realizing how massive the species really was. But they soon recognized what a poor choice this was against a Pokémon like Abomasnow.
"What's that guy thinking?!" another random boy in the crowd yelled out. "Doesn't he know better?!"
Candice simply smirked. She knew this had to be Paul's starter Pokémon, and therefore his most powerful. But could it really show off that power with such a great disadvantage in types?
"I like your style," she complimented. "I certainly didn't expect you to bring out a Grass/Ground-Type to the field."
"I'm just full of surprises," Paul sarcastically replied, deciding to make the first move. "Torterra, use Stone Edge!"
Even Torterra had no idea where Paul was going with this, but it utilized the only effective attack it had against Abomasnow. But much to Paul's horror, Abomasnow stood its ground.
"You can take that, Abomasnow!" Candice ordered. "Let him think that's his ace in the hole!"
Actually… that was the only trump card move Torterra had on hand. Frenzy Plant and Giga Drain would be ineffective… there was Crunch, which Paul taught Torterra to spite Conway, and he was originally going to teach Torterra Iron Head. It would be neutral, but Abomasnow would have to come to Torterra for it to mean anything.
Already frustrated at how badly this boded for him, Paul called out the next attack. "Now use Frenzy Plant!"
Even if it would be ineffective against Abomasnow, it was the strongest known Grass-type move. Surely it would do some damage…
While the thorny roots popped out from the ice and struck Abomasnow, it still remained in fairly good shape. The power in itself was great, but not nearly enough to truly make a dent on Candice's strongest Pokémon. Candice just laughed it off.
"I figured you'd have some sort of unique plan if you were coming at me with a disadvantage!" she chided. "Guess you're not in your right mind to battle after all! Abomasnow, use Blizzard!"
Torterra was unable to move due to using Frenzy Plant. Paul growled as Torterra was hit hard by the ice storm. Paul himself had to shield his face from the frosty debris… Torterra was still in the game after all of that, but various sections of it were frozen.
"Now use Ice Punch!" Candice commanded, causing Abomasnow to charge at the Continent Pokémon with full power. Paul had no idea how to counter this at all… even though he could have used Crunch, he completely forgot about it and had Torterra command another attack.
"Torterra, use-"
Abomasnow landed the hit on Torterra. It was hit hard. Paul didn't even have the time to call for the counterattack. But now he was in desperation mode as he saw Torterra falter.
"Giga Drain, now!" he commanded, hoping the ineffective move would at least keep Torterra alive for a bit longer so Paul could find some sort of weakness to Abomasnow, but…
"Ice Shard, then Ice Punch again!"
As a priority move, a gleaming spike of ice slammed into Torterra before it even got the chance to try Giga Drain. The following Ice Punch made sure of that.
There was a thunderous thud as Torterra lost its ability to stand on its feet. It so badly didn't want to fall so easily to this Gym Leader, remembering what Paul had said to it a month ago when he first received Brandon's letter…
"Don't forget you're going to be participating in Snowpoint City's Gym Battle. You know what type that Gym will be, and you have your work cut out for you. Work hard and prove to me that you're going to take these future battles seriously so I know I can count on you when we face the old man."
It pained Torterra to go down this quickly. But four direct hits with Ice-type moves were just too much, even for a tank like it. Paul was mortified at the sight.
"Torterra is unable to battle!" Mr. Honcho confirmed. "Abomasnow is the winner!"
Deep down, Torterra definitely hated itself for failing Paul after all the work its trainer had done just to get here. To be all for naught… it was very hard to swallow.
Candice wasn't the least bit surprised, but smiled to the children who cheered for her victory. She was completely convinced by this point that Paul was not in his right mind. She felt had he had, in her opinion, a potentially powerful kiai. But in this state, Paul was simply unable to give it his all.
"Torterra… return," Paul softly said; his ego now crushed completely due to the fact that his Torterra went down so quickly. The match wasn't over yet, however. Paul still had three more left…
"So, your strongest player was taken down in four shots, huh?" Candice asked Paul, which surprised him; that being the fact that she could so quickly identify Torterra as Paul's starter. "I'll make this interesting, then. I'll take out your next Pokémon in three hits with full kiai power!"
That taunt pushed Paul over the edge. "Oh, it will not!"
Hastily, he threw out his next competitor. "Honchkrow, stand by for battle…!"
Honchkrow had both a disadvantage and an advantage against Abomasnow. An Ice-type weakness for Honchkrow, but a Flying-type weakness for Abomasnow.
"Hm, a bit more sensible this time!" Candice noted. "Still unpredictable, but I bet you've got a trick up your sleeve."
"Yeah, it's called taking down your Pokémon with Sky Attack!" Paul replied angrily. "Go, Honchkrow!"
Sky Attack was powerful and sure to do significant damage to Abomasnow. But it was an attack that required time to charge… Candice knew how to take advantage of that: her priority move.
"Quick, use Ice Shard!" she called out, which Abomasnow promptly followed through with. In the midst of charging the attack, Honchkrow was unable to dodge the giant block of ice hurled towards it and was slammed hard, barely able to remain in flight mode at this point.
Paul was furious. He was not going to let Honchkrow fall so easily to an Ice-type weakness again like it did against Byron. "Get back up in the air and use Aerial Ace, come on!"
It would be an effective for-sure hit for Paul to score, at least. Abomasnow was knocked back into a pillar of ice due to the force behind Honchkrow's strike. It too had no desire to lose; it was already on a streak as it was with Byron's battle and the final Contest battle.
"Now that it's in close range, use Ice Punch, Abomasnow!" Candice instructed, very analytical of the battle schematics at this point. Honchkrow was not nearly the tank that Torterra was, so she knew it could be taken out in three hits if she played her cards right. Paul was so dazed and controlled by his fury that he forgot to tell Honchkrow to dodge the attack… it very well could have, but Ice Punch connected… that sent the Big Boss Pokémon straight to the ground.
Paul couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Honchkrow…"
"Wrap it up with Blizzard!" was Candice's final command for this round, and with Honchkrow in such a weakened state, there was nothing it could do but take the ice. It attempted to fly out of it, but that resulted in Honchkrow becoming completely frozen in a block of ice in midair.
Of course, due to the laws of gravity, that chunk of ice fell back to the field and shattered, revealing a very knocked-out Honchkrow.
"Honchkrow is unable to battle!" shouted Mr. Honcho. "The winner is Abomasnow!"
Candice was right; Honchkrow was taken out in approximately three hits. And the Gym Leader knew she was right… she was proving to Paul here and now that he was not truly ready yet to face her. The only way to get that through the head of one as stubborn as Paul was to soundly sweep him in battle to prove it.
Silently, Paul recalled Honchkrow back to its Pokéball. He was definitely on edge at this point; he had lost two Pokémon within just a few hits… while Candice's Abomasnow remained standing in relatively good health. It was only then that Paul started to think that charging into this Gym Battle in his weakened state with no strategy and type disadvantages across his team probably wasn't the right move to make.
Quite simply, he had let himself be controlled by his raw emotions. His hatred for Conway and Ash were largely why he was doing it this way in the first place. Then there was his father… that in itself was a complex mess of mixed emotions. But Paul was still so weak, yet still so determined to prove that nothing was wrong with him… that he wasn't sick like his mother was…
He had no business being here now. But it was too late to back out, in Paul's opinion. There was still a slim chance he could pull this off…
"Still want more?" Candice challenged. "Because I'll bet you that I can take out your next Pokémon in two hits!"
There was a pattern of ridicule Candice was enforcing here for Paul's own good. By defeating him in the most embarrassing manner possible, she would get him to wake up and realize the error of his ways. She could tell just by looking at the young man that he had a strong fighting spirit, and therefore a strong team… but he was understandably drained by his journey to get here and he refused to admit that. This here was Candice's way of tough love.
"Two hits?" Paul grumbled, taking out his next Pokéball. "Just go ahead and try! Ursaring, stand by for battle!"
An essential powerhouse to Paul's team, Ursaring was the only Pokémon without a disadvantage to Ice-type attacks. And luckily for Paul, Ursaring had Fighting-type moves in its repertoire that would easily combat a fragile Ice-type… and perhaps finally defeat that Abomasnow, at least.
"You're nothing but full of surprises," Candice mused. "Not a Fire-type to be seen yet, and you're down to two… I really like your style, Paul. Everyone else who faces me is always so predictable with their choices! And that Ursaring looks strong… better brace yourself, Abomasnow! It's maximum kiai time!"
Abomasnow understood Candice's suggestion and went on the defensive, leaving itself wide open for an attack that Paul was more than happy to oblige.
"Ursaring, Hammer Arm!" Paul ordered, which had Ursaring sliding swiftly towards the Frost Tree Pokémon. Both of its arms glowed, ready to land a heavy hit on its opponent. Candice made no order, and Abomasnow took that brutal attack, definitely feeling that one. Ursaring's speed suffered as a result of using this move, but being so close to Abomasnow now made that not even matter now.
"Now, finish it off with Focus Blast!" Paul really believed this was finally the time he would score a win; when the tables would turn in his favor.
But Ursaring being this close was yet another fatal mistake.
"Use Blizzard!" Candice shouted, and with Ursaring being so close to Abomasnow and too slow to evade the attack, it got the brunt of the frigid onslaught. And, much to Paul's horror, the consequence of the closeness was Ursaring becoming completely frozen again.
Just like when it was frozen solid during Paul's match against Byron and his Steelix, which used Ice Fang at the time. That too was a fatal error that rendered Ursaring unable to battle without being able to take down a single opponent.
"How about we close the book on this match right now?" Candice taunted. "Abomasnow, use Wood Hammer!"
This was easy to do with an immobile target. With the grassy part of its massive arm, it was imbued with a glow of a light blue hue. Effortlessly, Abomasnow smashed Ursaring hard into the icy floor, leaving a massive crater in its wake. The ice surrounding Ursaring had been shattered now, but… the force was too much; Ursaring was rendered unconscious.
"Ursaring is unable to battle! Abomasnow is the winner!" came Mr. Honcho's confirmation.
Once again, Candice was right. The third match was over in just two hits. Paul silently recalled Ursaring shortly afterward, still struggling to believe that this wasn't just some sort of nightmare instead.
"I think you know what's coming next," Candice teased. "You can guess, right?"
Paul really didn't feel like speaking at a time like this, but he very well knew what she meant. And he couldn't help but notice that her Abomasnow was quietly suffering a bit of recoil damage from using Wood Hammer. That made him smirk; with his last Pokémon, he would at least be able to take down that Abomasnow.
"You're going to take out my last Pokémon in one hit?" he assumed.
"You bet!" the Gym Leader confirmed. "Abomasnow's still got some spunk! It's just gonna take some real good timing!"
Paul shook his head. "Good luck with that. Your Abomasnow must be running on empty by now."
"Underestimating my Pokémon is a mistake you'll live to regret," Candice warned, though still with a smile and a playful tone to her voice. "Go ahead and hit me with your best shot."
"Fine," Paul grunted, sending out his final Pokéball. "Gliscor, stand by for battle…!"
Candice couldn't help it. She really, really could not understand what Paul was going for here, unless he had just flat-out assumed that she was a low-rate Gym Leader who could be defeated even with her own advantages. But Paul had never said nor insinuated such a thing, and yet…
"Without a doubt, you're my most unpredictable competitor so far," she admitted, scratching her head. "Ground and Flying? That's…"
"Doubly weak to Ice; I know," Paul replied, still sounding bitter over his inevitable loss. "Don't think I didn't come prepared. Now, Gliscor! Attack with X-Scissor!"
As Gliscor flew towards its opponent, ready to mark it with an X-shaped slash, Candice nodded in approval. "Bug-type move, huh. We can take it, Abomasnow! We're gonna need a maximum power kiai to do this in one hit, you know!"
But of course it wasn't going to be that difficult, as Gliscor was doubly weak to its specialty element. Still, Abomasnow was struggling to continue enduring Paul's powerful moves. That was the other indication that made Candice recognize Paul as a seasoned competitor; he obviously put a lot of emphasis on strength and made sure to destroy every obstacle blocking his path. It was as obvious in his personality just like his battling style.
"Don't give it a chance to retaliate!" Paul ordered, purely desperate to take down this beast. "Steel Wing, let's go!"
Yet another super-effective move. Candice calmed herself, trying to time this exactly right… Abomasnow was a mere few blows from losing consciousness.
"And finish it off with Guillotine!" The end of Paul's three-part assault of desperation and rage. If that move connected, it would undoubtedly be all over for Abomasnow.
"Not so fast!" Candice interrupted. "Abomasnow, give it the best Ice Shard you can throw! Make this count!"
Once again, a priority move. Guillotine didn't even have a chance to succeed or fail before Gliscor was pummeled with the largest block of ice Abomasnow could form.
The full extent of Candice's and Abomasnow's determination to win was quite strong in the pain that Gliscor went through. Its poor position in the air left it crashing to the ground… and it didn't get back up afterwards.
Mr. Honcho made the result official: "Gliscor is unable to battle! Abomasnow is the winner, thus our victor for this battle is Gym Leader Candice!"
Those words echoed throughout Paul's mind as he suddenly looked very numb. With a blank expression on his face, he recalled Gliscor to its Pokéball. Just like with the others, Gliscor received no encouragement or compliments whatsoever. Paul felt too ashamed to even speak right now, especially when he heard the victorious cries of the children who watched the whole thing.
After waving to her young fans, Candice smiled to Abomasnow. "That was some great work, Abomasnow! You really stuck it out and I'm very impressed. You've earned a good, long rest."
She recalled Abomasnow, then looking to the one who challenged her to the battle. Everything went exactly the way she said it would: Torterra went down in four hits, Honchkrow in three, Ursaring in two, and Gliscor with one.
"I know you've got to be strong to have made it all this way, Paul," she reassured. "And seeing the strength of your Pokémon, you've obviously been a trainer for a few years at least. But this was the only way to show you that just because you've got a lot of experience under your belt doesn't mean you're invincible!"
Paul could only barely look to her, but still wasn't responding. He just wanted to let her know that he was indeed listening.
"Take a few days to chill and challenge me again!" she requested. "I want to see your real kiai the next time we have a battle, you got that?"
What could Paul possibly say to that? He couldn't argue a single word she said; she had just completely swept him almost effortlessly. And all this time Paul thought Candice would be so much weaker than Byron… it wasn't so often that Paul underestimated a trainer so greatly. All he wanted to do now was rest; he'd officially gone well past his limit.
… This was made even more apparent when Paul vomited out of nowhere, shocking everyone present in the arena. This was no ordinary vomit… this was blood.
"G-geez, you're way worse off than we thought!" Candice cried out in a panic. "Quick, we need to get him to a doctor…!"
Paul was unable to play it off as he normally would have, as the sudden blood loss made him feel extremely dizzy, and after a few moments, he lost consciousness completely. He fell to his knees, then lifelessly right over the blood he just regurgitated. Everything blacked out to Paul; his senses completely dulled.
Still, the first words that came to his mind after regaining an ounce of consciousness were none other than…
"There's nothing wrong with me."
Oddly enough, in his head, Paul could have sworn he had heard an unfamiliar woman's voice say those very words simultaneously with him.
He woke up in what should have been a familiar setting for him by now: a hospital. Once again, he was in a random bed in the usual garb worn by an in-patient… though since this was Snowpoint City's facility, it was a bit more advanced. More out of necessity, really, considering how treacherous it could be just outside of the city limits.
"Thank goodness… you're awake now."
At least that voice was vaguely familiar: Nurse Joy. The same one who had treated him before the Gym Battle and obviously had guilt issues for not catching onto this sooner.
"Why did you follow me here?" Paul just had to ask, confused as to how he ended up here… but at this point, it wasn't hard for him to guess. But he would never admit his own suspicions.
"I was wrong to look at this, but Chansey pointed it out and because I didn't know about this, you… came very close to dying, Paul," she explained somberly. "You vomited blood and passed out right after you lost your battle against Candice, and no one had a clue as to how or why you were in such an awful shape until I stepped in and told them. I had to, so they would know how to treat you. I'm so sorry…"
Paul had a feeling he knew what she was talking about. But even to the very final seconds of being able to do so, Paul still dismissed the possibility. "What are you talking about? What did you find…?"
Nurse Joy showed her discovery directly to him. "Your test results from Doctor Dalton of Squallville. I gave him a call after you left and gave me instructions on what to do in case of a likely worst-case scenario."
"What nonsense!" Paul shot back. It was likely the rest he finally had and the painkillers he was on that even gave him the ability to bark out at someone like this. "There's nothing wrong with- "
"There is very much something wrong with you, Paul," Nurse Joy interrupted, glaring at him. "I know this must be hard to take, but you can't keep running away anymore. If you do, you may not survive an incident like this next time! And there will be a next time, Paul!"
Paul's eyes narrowed at the assumption. "And what makes you so sure of that?"
"I read these papers," she explained. "And either you haven't or you've just deeply rooted yourself into denial, but this is it: you have to have the courage to live with this for as long as you can. Paul… the disease your mother died from was genetic. And based on a series of tests the doctor at Squallville performed… the results are matching up perfectly with your mother's from years ago."
"I…" Paul was speechless. He was never directly told this, much as it had been implied. "No, I just…"
"Your mother's disease was passed down to you since the day of your birth," Nurse Joy clarified. "I'm so sorry…"
Paul could no longer run away from the truth. He couldn't pretend it didn't exist, or that it was some strange concocted medical mumbo-jumbo to fool him into paying doctors ridiculous sums of money that he didn't have.
No… Paul was forced to acknowledge it from this day to the rest of his life… which if his mother was any example to go by, meant that Paul had roughly twenty years left. Twenty years of illness and pain.
Paul was terminally ill.
( TBC )
