Another update! And DP story is updated so be sure to check it out! I am on a roll!
Thank you SinCityAssassin for editing this.
Chapter 19:
There was a long silence filling the room. It was clear that they all wanted to go first, but none of them had any idea how to go about saying it.
"Uhh, how do we decide? Rock, paper, scissors?"
"No! Every time we play that game, I always lose!"
"Then how about 20 Questions?"
"We're not in school anymore, Cheren! We can't go with those class games! We should decide things like adults now."
"Alright then, what would be the most adult way to handle this?"
More silence. "Umm, uhhh…who has the most taxes? I don't know! You usually come up with a solution!"
"Actually, does it matter who goes first?" Sara had interjected.
"Well, I want to go first," said Alex placidly.
"Same here."
"And me!"
"Ahem!" Lenora coughed loudly. She had realized that this was getting nowhere, and all four of them turned to the gym leader. "How about we decide this little problem through a test of knowledge?"
"Knowledge?" The blank looks on their faces told Lenora that she had to explain a bit more.
"Before any trainer can challenge me, they must first complete a test. I can't give you the details unless you wish to accept, but we can make it that the first of you three to complete it will be able to challenge me first." There was a brief silence.
"I don't know about you guys," Cheren whispered, "I mean… a test of knowledge? Knowledge about what?"
"The term 'knowledge' is rather vague. It can be anything. It could be about something other than Pokémon, right?" Sara mumbled, despite the fact she wasn't participating.
"Maybe about rocks… or taxes?" Bianca interrupted. She looked worried, but that was nothing compared to Cheren.
"We don't know if that is what she will ask," Cheren muttered, trembling a bit. Ironically, he was the only one of the three childhood friends who got test anxieties. Panicking right before the test, and then more panicking about the test grade before the test, and then even MORE panicking after that next test was over. Perhaps they should hold off with the challenge, come up with a plan, and come back another day.
"Okay, we'll accept this challenge," Alex announced abruptly.
"Wait, what?!"
"Very good. Hawes, show them the room. I'll be waiting in the main room," Lenora grinned and disappeared without another word.
"What?! Al-Alex! Alex? ALEX." Cheren sputtered in horror and grabbed his friend by the collar. "Why did you agree to that?"
"Hey, at the rate we're bickering, we would take all night," Alex said, shrugging his shoulders. "Besides, Lenora said that all trainers must take this test before challenging her anyways. Better to do it now than later, I mean, when will we get another opportunity to challenge her together?"
"Well…there IS a point there," Cheren sighed exasperatedly at Alex's 'act first think later' attitude. "Well, let me just say this, even though we're friends, we are also rivals. I am going to give it my all."
"Of course," Alex said, nodding, "And same for me."
"Me too! You guys just watch me win this!" Bianca said, now fired up from the prospect of battling. "Prepare to lose!"
"Yeah! Girl power all the way!" Sara said high-fiving Bianca.
"Pease follow me. I'll lead you to the testing room. Oh and," Hawes motioned to Sara, "I'm afraid I have to ask you to wait in the museum. Only challengers up to this point."
"No problem. I think I'll go ahead and try being a tour guide a while longer, maybe I'll even get tips!" Sara grinned, completely unperturbed. "Good luck you guys, I know you will do great!" With a quick wave goodbye and a hug for Bianca, she went off to the exhibits. Alex looked at the girl's shrinking form; it was a bit suspicious of her to just leave like so quickly even after spending so much time here figuring out their situation with them. Before he could finish his thoughts though, Bianca grabbed him by the arm.
"Don't get distracted! Come on! We have a test to take!"
"Oh, sorry."
"This is the first time I've ever seen you excited for a test. You tend to hide under the desk before each one in hopes the teacher would think you were absent."
"Cheren!" Bianca yelped, burning red in embarrassment.
"Here we are," Hawes motioned them to a hallway, and at its end were a pair of thick oak doors, a man with pure white hair was blocking their way.
"This is Clyde. He will be your examiner. Good luck," Hawes added before leaving the trainers. There was a moment silence as Clyde observed through his sunglasses. He then opened the door for them and let them in.
"Whoa!" Cheren gaped; he could not believe his eyes. The section they wee in wasn't the museum anymore, but somehow turned into a posh library. It was not incredibly large, but the scope of all the bookcases and shelves reaching up to the ceiling certainly made an impression. Cheren could envision himself staying in here and for hours on end just reading.
"Wow, this museum has everything," Alex said out loud.
"This main library contains books on any subject you can think of. Classic literature, social sciences, mathematics, and of course, most any documentation on Pokémon," Clyde explained briefly.
"So… what's the test?" Bianca asked with trepidation.
"You must find the passageway into the gym. The winner will be determined by how quickly they find it."
"Passage…way?" Bianca blinked several times, wondering if she was hearing correctly.
"Yes, that is correct," the man said, refusing to elaborate.
"How is this a test of our knowledge?" Alex asked bluntly.
"There are clues scattered around the area. Find them to find the door. I will provide you the first one." The explanation was vague, and Alex was feeling rather irritated by the deadpan of the examiner.
"So, what's the clue?" The man simply took out a piece of paper from the inside of his blazer and handed it to Bianca.
Bianca took one look at it and read it in an incredulous voice. "Nice to Meet You, Pokémon?" She looked up Clyde with disbelief. "What does that mean?"
"I'm sure you'll find the answer in the library," the man said in a rather cryptic voice.
This guy is no help, Alex thought. He took the piece of paper, but unlike Bianca, he stared at the paper with careful examination.
"The challenge starts now. You may begin." Clyde stood in the back of the library and near the doors they came in. He said no more and just stood there, staring at the confused trainers to gauge their actions.
"Well, I suppose we could spread out," Cheren shrugged his shoulders. Before he could give any more orders, Bianca was already zipping through the library.
"There is only one door here," Bianca reported after running around the library twice. "And that's the door that we just came in."
"So that's Clyde meant. It must be a secret passageway."
"So how do we find it?" Bianca asked, her tone filled with worry. Alex and Cheren didn't respond, both frowning at the frustrating puzzle before them. Unbeknownst to the three trainers, security cameras mounted on the library walls were watching their every move.
"Well then," Lenora grinned as she watched the small monitor screens. "Show me what you got."
…
Inside Nacrene Museum…
"Yes, I have been keeping an eye on the target. I had to step out for a brief moment due to some circumstances, but it hasn't hindered the mission," Sara mumbled into her Xtransceiver as she walked calmly through the area. She edged her way toward the entrance of the museum to get away from the crowds as she kept an eye around her. The tourists were there for the museum and paid her no heed.
"Has your position been compromised?" The distorted voice asked on the other end. Sara paused for a moment, remembering how she was caught and almost outed. Despite that setback, she did a pretty good job talking her way of that somehow. Whoever was on the phone seemed to feel differently.
"No sir. They don't suspect a single thing." Sara leaned against the wall near the entrance and stared up at the giant dragon skeleton before her. She was relieved that she didn't have to wear her stuffy uniform for this mission. Casual wear helped her blend quite well within the crowds.
"Very well," the voice on the other end sighed, "Do not let the target out of sight. This might be our only chance to catch him."
"Yes sir." With that, Sara quickly hung up and waited.
…
Meanwhile, back at the library…
"Maybe the door switch is in the book cases. Like the ones we saw in those T.V. shows."
"That seems to be the only possible explanation at the moment," Cheren remarked, "We just need to find the right shelf, but if we don't have a starting point…"
While his friends were discussing their options, Alex approached the nearest bookshelf on the left side of the entrance. He tried to move the ladders, but they were held firmly in place. He was faintly surprised, but said nothing as he climbed up to a book he had his eye on. He took a look through it and his hunch was correct. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Clyde back at the entrance of the room, his head slowly hinting the slightest nod.
"Hm."
…
Bianca and Cheren had spent a few minutes going through the library, paying no heed to Black's disappearance and only focusing on finding out the key to open the secret entrance. Bianca spent a few moments looking through as many book covers as she could before leaving them splayed on the ground. Cheren followed to clean up her mess. Bianca finally gave up her random search after a couple of minutes.
"You know…" Bianca looked at the piece of paper and frowned. "I feel like there's something I'm missing here, but I can't quite put my finger on it…"
"Let me see that clue again." Cheren took the piece of paper and read what was on it. He was as puzzled by the lack of context as Bianca was, though unlike her he tried not to upturn the whole library.
"Maybe if we wrote it backwards a secret password comes out." Bianca said, trying to look at the letters from behind the paper.
"That would just make a bunch of gibberish." Cheren responded, still focused.
"Oh! Maybe the capital letters make a secret word like in those spy dramas. You know, the first letter of every word forms a new word…"
Cheren mused to himself. Capital letters… he thought, why would it be in capital letters...
His eyes lit up as it hit him.
"Oh ho!" Lenora grinned as she watched from her monitor screen. "Looks like someone figured it out."
"Of course! It's so simple!" Cheren suddenly shouted.
"What? What?" Bianca asked, excitedly.
"Nice to Meet You, Pokémon! It's not a riddle at all! The answer is literally written on here!"
"But it doesn't make any sense!"
"Yes, it does! Look!" Cheren pulled out the piece of paper in front of Bianca for a closer look. "Each word is capitalized! Except this word!" Cheren pointed at the word 'to'.
"So?" Bianca noticed it from earlier, but wasn't too sure of what to make from it.
"When do you think the sentence needs to be capitalized like this?" Cheren quickly answered his own question. "When it's important, like headlines or…"
"Book titles," Bianca finished breathlessly. Of course! That was what the man said when he said that the answer in the library. "So this book holds the next clue! But… where is it?" Bianca just realized the next dilemma. There were at least thousands of books in this place. Where in the world would they start?
"I have it," Alex called out. He had climbed to the top of the bookcase's ladder that was furthest to the door and in his hand was a book that read –
"Nice to Meet You, Pokémon!" Bianca squealed at the title. "You did it!"
"H-How?" Cheren was surprised by how quick Alex worked. It had been less than ten minutes and he already found the book.
"Libraries have their own systems, and it looks like the library here has their books in order of reading age, so the first clue was probably nearest to where we started. That and the ladders are nailed into place. I figured the reason for that was that the books we have to get would be somewhere near them. Here," Alex tossed the book down and Cheren scrambled forward and caught it. The boy flipped through the pages feverously until he noticed a memo stuck in the pages.
"This is it!" Cheren exclaimed. "The next clue!"
"Yes!" Bianca had an excited look and hopped around with glee.
"We're definitely on the right track. With this clue, we can find the other books. And then the door will be-!"
"Over here." There was a sudden rumbling sound, and for a moment, Bianca thought that there was an earthquake. When the noise stopped, Cheren turned around and his mouth opened with shock. Alex was standing next to the secret underground stairs. There was a rather lazy and relaxed look on his face in contrast to Cheren or Bianca's, who were shocked at the turn of events. A closer look at their friend and the two realized that he was carrying not one book, but four books under his arm.
"Wha-? B-But h-how?"
"I, uh, already found the other clues when I gave you that one," Alex said apologetically and motioned to the book in Cheren's hands. Cheren's eyes bulged with shock, realizing what happened. But that meant Alex didn't solve the first clue in less than ten minutes. He completed the test before he even gave Cheren the first book.
"Don't forget," Alex added, "we're still competing."
"Man," Cheren finally said, sighing, "You really got me there."
Suddenly, Lenora's voice resonated from the PA system. "Based on his quick thinking and being the first to open the door, Alex will be the first to challenge me!"
"Wow Alex!" Bianca exclaimed. Despite losing the challenge, she was proud that her friend solved it so quickly. "That is amazing!"
Lenora watched the whole thing unfold with an amused look on her face. "Look at that kid." In truth, she really expected Cheren on winning this challenge, but Alex was quick enough to get through the whole thing without Lenora ever realizing it until just now. He even beat the previous record by three minutes. This kid had to be pretty perceptive to figure out the layout system the library was set under.
"Congratulations," Hawes said, suddenly coming up from the secret staircase, "Please go on through. The gym leader is waiting."
"Alex, don't you dare lose." Cheren said.
"Of course not," Alex grinned, high-fiving his friend, "I definitely will win."
"A-Alex…"
"Yeah?" Alex noticed that the usually cheerful Bianca had turned all timid. She slowly walked toward Alex and stopped when they were face-to-face.
"R-remember about the charm," Bianca mumbled quietly. It took Alex a second to realize what she was talking about. He took out the Togekiss charm and Bianca blushed red at the sight.
"Thanks for reminding me," Alex grinned, "We'll all get our gym badges."
"Of course we will. You just happen to be getting it first. That's all."
Alex laughed, and he walked down the staircase.
"So," Bianca said, deciding to change the topic, "how are we going to decide whose going next?"
…
Nacrene Gym Arena…
The darkness of the tunnel sent a shiver down Alex's spine. He could feel his pulse quickening as he took each step. This was his first one-on-one battle with a gym leader. The excitement took over his nervousness and he quickened his pace to the end of the hallway. At the end of the staircase was a bright light that became brighter and brighter as he got closer and closer to his destination. When his eyes finally adjusted, he found himself on one end of a large underground gym field. On the opposite end of the field was…
"I was very impressed by how you beat those library puzzles so easily; there seems to be more to you than your poker face lets on. But we can talk about this later. Before we start the match, it is important for us to introduce ourselves." Lenora paused for a second before continuing. "I am Lenora, the gym leader of Nacrene City. State your name, challenger."
This was it. His second gym battle and another step closer to his dream. Alex took a deep breath.
"MY NAME IS ALEX BLACK! And I'm going to become the Pokémon Champion! I will definitely, definitely, DEFINITELY beat 'em all! The gym leaders, the Elite Four, and then the Champion! So just you wait! Cause you're looking at the next Pokémon Champion of Unova! I PROMISE!"
Author's Notes
All right! Battle time! Or at least the most important one in this arc. We don't need those random trainer battles. LOL. Hopefully, Bianca and Cheren will be able to decide who goes next.
We also get to learn a little bit more about Sara. She seems to be working under somebody, but can she be trusted? What do they mean they only have one chance to catch him? Hmm, another puzzle on our hands.
Anyways, important news. For those who don't know, I will 1) be informing everybody about my updates schedule on my profile page and 2) I am starting the school year very soon and will be very busy. Ten times busier than before. I will not be able to update as much as before (I know, I can't believe it was possible either), but please remember that my stories (regardless of slow updates) will continue to be updated unless announced otherwise.
Thank you so much and I'll see you in the next chapter.
-JapanDreamer