Ice: On to chapter 14! Woo hoo!
The doors to the gym flew open. I couldn't quite place it, but I had a feeling that this could end up badly. Everyone stared intently at the shrouded figure that had quite literally waltzed into the Cerulean Gym. Something about him was so familiar and yet so distant at the same time. I racked my brain, sure I had seen him before, but couldn't figure it out.
The figure paused upon entering the gym, still somewhat veiled. I noticed a pokemon had jumped down from the figure's shoulders, though, like the figure itself, I couldn't see it clearly. It only stood two or three feet tall at its highest point. As I stared, trying to discern what it was, flames suddenly shot out of the pokemon's head and tail area. It was then that I recognized the Quilava from before. This was the guy I met in the woods!
Before I could say anything, Pichu darted towards the Quilava. I was truly scared to watch. After seeing what that Quilava had done to a full grown Mightyena, in the rain no less, I knew Pichu would fare far worse should this Quilava prove hostile. I started to stand up, but Tomoyai put a hand on my shoulder, forcing me back down. I watched as the two checked each other over. After a few moments, Pichu let out little sparks of happiness from its cheeks, and Quilava's flames danced happily, before receding. It then literally ran up the trainer before resting on its shoulder. The trainer finally walked into the light, closing the gym doors behind them.
"Just couldn't wait for me to get here, could you Tomoyai?" he asked jokingly.
He knows Tomoyai? I thought. Is he my brother's contact? This just keeps getting more confusing.
"I didn't think you'd be coming so soon. I expected you to be later," Tomo said cooly, taking it all in stride.
"I said I'd be here at 8, isn't that the time?" he persisted, checking his watch.
"Well, yeah, but a busy man such as yourself surely has times when things come up, right?" said Tomo, amusement showing both in his tone and on his face.
"Sure, sure, you just have no faith in me," said the trainer, feigning offense.
"No…of course not!" said Tomo, laughing.
"Liar."
"You…you're that jerk from the forest today!" I nearly shouted.
"I—well, except for the jerk part, yeah, that's me," he said. "I must admit, you're the first person I've saved to call me a jerk…"
"Save me?! I didn't need your help, Pichu and I would have been just fine!" I asserted.
"Uhh…" he stuttered, looking at the others. "Are we talking about the same situation here? Because it really looked like you needed help to me…"
I couldn't even see straight, much less think clearly. But I knew I wasn't going to stand by and let this guy insult me.
"Oh, well you'd like to think that, wouldn't you? Wanna see just how much help I need," I said, pulling a pokeball from my belt.
"Scyther, let's go!" I yelled, tossing the ball.
"Scyther? Is this a joke? After what you saw Quilava here do? Well, I suppose if you want a fight, I'm up for it," he said, reaching behind himself and producing a pokeball. "But I warn you, I won't hold back," he said, tossing the ball.
I must admit I was a bit nervous to see what he would choose, and was slightly relieved to see the Umbreon that popped out. I couldn't help but notice the irony of this guy having a dark type pokemon. I knew the match up was unfavorable, but I went with it anyway.
"Scyther, use double team!" I commanded.
"Scy!!" It yelled as it powered up its evasiveness.
"Good luck trying to hit Scyther now," I taunted. "You might as well just sit there!"
The trainer looked calmly at my Scyther, then at his Umbreon. "Faint attack." He said calmly, almost bored. His Umbreon disappeared.
"Wha—where'd it go?!" I yelled.
"The one thing you should always know," he said, "is that if a pokemon exists, it can be hit. Faint attack? It never misses."
From out of nowhere, his Umbreon attacked Scyther. For a moment I thought Scyther might actually be okay, when suddenly, it collapsed, exhausted.
"Just as you should never underestimate your opponent, you should also never overestimate your own abilities." He said finally, his head slightly bowed.
I was furious, but I realized he was correct. I wish he wasn't, but he was.
"I—I know…" I said quietly. "I'm sorry, I was just…angry. I don't like the idea of being helpless, and it's difficult for me to accept help from anyone, least of which a stranger"
"I know the feeling. We're not all that different, it seems." He said, smiling. "Nothing to worry about."
"You two done now?" Tomo asked. "And who are you to talk about arrogance?" he said to my opponent.
"Hey now, it's only arrogance if it's unwarranted, right? And besides, she was itching for a battle. I gave her one, and made a point too. How great am I?" he said boastfully, puffing out his chest.
I threw a pokeball at him, hitting him in the head. "Well, he's not a pokemon I guess."
"Hey! What the heck was that for?!" He yelled.
"I dunno, you had it coming maybe?" Tomo said, before being tackled.
I watched as the two wrestled around the gym floor. I had started hating this guy the moment he walked in the gym, but now, I think there's more to him than arrogance. In fact, I wasn't sure that he was arrogant at all. Definitely not short on confidence, but not really unnecessarily so. Away from the attitude he had, he wasn't that bad looking. In fact, I dare say he was handsome. He had more of a charm about him than Ash did for sure. Tall, grey eyes, messy dark brown hair, there was definitely something about him. I knew I owed him one for the forest, but with a guy like him, how do you pay him back? As he finally pinned my brother, I caught myself staring at him.
"Enjoying the view?" he asked me.
"What?! No, I was just enjoying seeing my brother get his butt kicked," I said quickly. I wasn't convincing, but maybe he'd buy it.
"Ha ha. You're not too bad looking yourself kiddo," he laughed.
"Hey! I'm not a kid. I do have a name!"
"Okay, okay, sorry. You didn't tell me she had a quick temper Tomoyai."
"What do you expect? I'm surprised I haven't had a frying pan to my brain since we've been here," Tomoyai commented.
"I didn't have to, brother dearest. You did that yourself."
"…Hush."
"Ok then, you said you had a name. Care to share?" He asked.
"It's Sakuya, if you must know."
"Ah, but I must!" He joked. "Anyway, I'm sorry for being rude to you, Ms. Sakuya. You can call me Morte," he said as I stared him down.
"Morte? What kind of a name is Morte?" I inquired.
"A disturbing one, if it were my real name. Most parents don't like naming their kid 'death,' but what can I say? It fits," he said.
"I guess," I said. I was about to ask further when Ash spoke up for the first time since Morte had entered.
"Saki? Aren't you going to say something? Like maybe accepting his apology?" he asked me.
"I…I suppose…I'm just not in the habit of accepting help, or apologizing. And I hate being in someone's debt, so I'll have to figure out a way to repay you." I said, almost scared to hear his response.
"Well, I'm sure we can think of something," he said, winking at me. Before I knew what was happening I found myself brutally punching his arm.
"Umm… Saki? I think you missed. Your brother is over there," Brock pointed out.
"This guy's first, he's next," I replied, looking at Tomo.
"What?! What did I do?!" came his response.
"Okay, okay, I was just kidding," Morte said, pulling back from me. "You hit hard for a girl. A small girl at that." My eyes must have turned red for he quickly turned the statement around. "Small…you know, petite? Would it have been better if I called you fat?"
"Whatever. So you're my brother's contact, huh?" I asked. He nodded. "Well, we've heard a good deal about you. I trust you won't let us down."
I noticed him shoot a glance at my brother. I wasn't quiet sure what it meant, but the two seemed to understand one another. "No, I have no intention of letting anyone down. Not a good habit to get into," he said, much more solemn than I had ever seen him before. "Anyway, I've been spying around the Oblivion headquarters, and while they are definite not to be underestimated, I…we, should have no problem handling the job. Lucky for us, they're still in the early stages of their plans."
"Plans? They actually have something planned? I kinda figured it was just ambiguous theft," said Misty.
"No, no. Stealing the Tadaki's research was the first step. It's looking far worse now. I'm not sure exactly what they're planning, but they certainly think it's big, and are taking huge strides to make it come together," he confirmed.
"How much worse could it get? They killed Saki and Tomo's parents, stole their research, and made an attempt on Saki's life. How much worse could it get?" Ash asked.
Morte shot Ash a look that I swear would have killed a lesser man. "Don't get me wrong, kid, the Tadaki's deaths were as unfortunate as they were senseless, but two people dying is tiny compared to the amount of damage they could cause and the numerous deaths that could occur as a result," he began. "Imagine total anarchy, people killing people at random, theft running rampant, not being able to leave your home without a weapon for fear of being killed instantly. Where food is a more precious commodity than gold or silver. Where all technology is worthless, because there is no government to make sure there is electricity. Does that sound like fun to you?" he asked. Upon seeing Ash, Misty, and Brock's horrified looks, and being satisfied he had made his point, he turned to Tomoyai. "Now, do you have any idea what was in the research? Anything at all?"
"No… I never went through any of it. I've only been through the part of the research I was in charge of protecting," he answered. "Is what was in there really that important? I can't even imagine…"
"Neither can I," Morte interrupted. "I'm probably understating the dangers. But without knowing what was in there, or what they're really planning, there's no way to know the full extent of what's going on."
Ice: Please review!