Disclaimer: Pokémon and its related properties are copyrighted to The Pokémon Company and Nintendo, respectively.
A Yearning for the Mud
Chapter Twenty-One – Survival of the Fittest 1
We die to each other daily – T.S. Eliot
Wallace ran the tip of his pen across the front of his ethics notebook until the groove became deep enough that his pen pierced the top page. While Professor McCloud engaged a chunk of the first year trainers, all gathered on one of the southern safari islands for a team assignment, Wallace looked over the face of his notebook at the series of tally marks he'd made. Wallace etched a total of nine marks into the top right of his notebook, one for each day that had passed without the world ending.
Because the report that went out about Andrew's private video culminated with Chara's return to campus and Nat being burned, Wallace had dubbed the second of September the precursor to the end of the world. Since then Wallace had developed a mantra for himself that he practiced in the bathroom mirror: 'Another day, another lie. Until the end, however, it may come.' The end of the broadcast of Andrew's final video or his father went to the police in a fit of anger after being accused of the murder or Chara and the other Orphans returning.
The first two possibilities were fresh on his mind as every news channel the university broadcasted changed its focus from recounting the details of Andrew's disappearance to investigating his death. While some replayed the story of the divers finding the holocaster – confirmed as Andrew's by its product number – in the water, others replayed the videos of Arlan being escorted out of his office and the clips of him leaving the police station, as smug as ever. Reporters were interviewing Andrew's mother and trainers Andrew had known as well as important men and women from other regions. During breakfast, before heading to the docks, Wallace watched Professor Juniper of Unova give a watery-eyed account of the day she met Andrew and wish his family peace in their troubling times.
As he flipped to the back of his notebook, Wallace's paranoia had him hunching his shoulders forward and practically hovering over the page. The entirety of the first year class had been split up among the safari islands with only twelve of them sent along with Wallace to an island a mile south of campus. Despite having written messy and extremely small words, Wallace couldn't shake the feeling that one of his classmates, sitting in the sand around him, might take an interest in the thoughts he'd penned into the back page.
The possibilities for what Andrew's final video could be plagued Wallace's dreams and eventually found themselves scrawled into his notebook. A body cam was at the top of the list, one that captured their fight that night, but he crossed it out, the option being impossible with Andrew dead. Others high on the list were a video of his birthday party, a clip that showed Arlan in the midst of stealing money, and at the very bottom was the innocuous entry that it was just a random video.
Though the chances seemed small, Wallace kept the faith that the last video was just of Andrew thanking people for his party and maybe announcing he was going out to travel again. He hated himself for it, but he actually prayed for something that would back-up the story his father had put out. Though that lie wouldn't matter anymore once Carrie's admission that she felt Andrew was dead came true, the cover-up story would only further incriminate those who spread it.
"Until the end, however, it may come," Wallace muttered as his eyes drifted from his notebook. Setting the notebook aside, Wallace dropped his hands into his lap where elgyem was sitting in the sand, his stubby hands burrowing into the beach. While Professor McCloud was talking Wallace figured paying even a modicum of attention to what they were doing in the safari would be a smart choice, but the sight of Neo in front of him drew his attention away from the professor.
The brown-haired boy was sitting in the sand in front of him, and over his shoulder, Wallace could see the screen of his tablet flashing as a video played on it. Straining to see past the sun's glare on the tablet screen, Wallace could just make out the typical set up for news reports on the screen. A woman was sitting behind a large desk and speaking to the camera while letters and images popped up on the screen.
Wallace found himself leaning forward, squishing elgyem, and hoping Neo had the volume on and he might catch even a second of the audio, but just as he thought he caught a snip of the news caster's voice the tablet screen went black and Neo spun around.
"Hi," Wallace said, a little out of breath as Neo's emerald green eyes seemed to plunge daggers of disdain into his chest.
Neo's lips twitched before he turned back and sat up straight. "Mind your business," he whispered back.
Wallace's eyes flicked around the beach, everyone was else watching the professor who was walking in circles where the beach turned into forest. "Are you still mad at me?" he asked as he sat back and elgyem popped out of his lap.
"Are you still a dick?" Neo fired back.
Wallace pursed his lips, but inched forward in the sand, practically breathing against the back of Neo's head. "I've tried to say I'm sorry. Before classes, when I run into you and Garret in the halls, the café, anywhere, doesn't matter. Every time I try you act like you don't want me around."
"Because I don't," Neo whispered, his voice sharp and raspy. He glanced towards the professor, still absorbed in her speech, before he eased turned around. "I don't need to remind you that you yelled at and basically accused Ellie of going after another person's pokémon. I know you don't read a lot, but that's high on the university's code of conduct, unnecessary force or violence against students or pokémon. Not like it even matters though, because it was a murderer's pokémon. It's not like the world will be mourning that loss. And then you attacked Garret, who was only trying to help."
"Eleanor and I are fine now. And I've tried to apologize to Garret," Wallace said again, articulating each word as he held his hands out, palms up, to Neo. "To you too."
"You don't get it," Neo said with a smirk as he turned forward again. "If you really wanted our forgiveness, and I mean really wanted it, not wanted it because you think it's the right thing to do and you're tired of us brushing you off. If you really cared and wanted to make things right you'd just apologize to him, not me, because you don't owe me anything. You wouldn't care what I say, or what I do, you'd just make things right."
Wallace opened his mouth to reply when Professor McCloud whirled around and clapped her hands together. "Mr. Peters and Mr. Spring, do you think you're too good for this assignment?"
"Well, actually – "
"No, ma'am," Wallace said. "We'll stop, sorry." Wallace's eyes flicked to the sand at McCloud's feet, her mudkip had been furiously digging in the sand, but paused when its trainer addressed the students.
McCloud grimaced, seemingly unpleased by Wallace's compliance before she went back to pacing the beach.
Just as Wallace shifted back on the sand, a phone came flying over and landed beside his foot. Wallace glanced over to see Ignatius beside him, nodding to the phone and the pair of earbuds attached. Wallace looked at the earbuds warily before he heard Ignatius's throaty laugh.
"I'm extremely clean," he said as he rubbed the shell of his trapinch, lying prone across the sand, napping.
Wallace smiled and fingered one of the buds into his ear, careful to lean into that side of his head to keep the wire hidden as he tapped the phone's screen. A video sat in the middle of an article written about the Gates family and as the video started, Wallace listened to two reporters on the split screen go at it.
"It's been a week and a half since this whole private video was announced and already there are many petitions and campaigns being started, all in favor of playing the video. The largest of these campaigns is even called PRESS PLAY. I think that shows there is a large demand for the video to be played, it's an honor to Andrew's memory and all that he's done for the world of trainers."
"Of course you're only looking at one side! For every group wanting this video to be shown I can guarantee you there are two more wanting for to it stay private! Now more than ever, due to the confession from Andrew's own mother, Carrie Mantle, who used to be a top executive for Pearce Productions, people are saying if it's true Andrew is dead then his last video needs to stay private. Let it be viewed by family only, if they choose, and I think we need to respect that."
Wallace watched the bickering reporters be separated on screen by a third box that appeared between them. An older man appeared in the box, staring ahead with dull colorless eyes. "Well, I'm here with Mr. Gates himself," the man said. "Charles, what do you think should happen in regards to the PRESS PLAY movement?"
Wallace let out a low gasp as the view in the middle screen widened to take in Charles. Andrew's father looked as drained of color as the man interviewing him had. His face was pale and droopy and dark circles haloed his glassy red eyes. His blond hair, usually kept short and coiffed, had grown out a bit and stuck up in odd places.
"I'm against it," Charles said, his voice wet. "I want my son's final words to remain private."
"His final words," the interviewing man said. "So then you believe the claim your ex-wife made, that Andrew is in fact dead?"
Charles nodded, his face pinched into tight folds and creases. "I don't think he's out there traveling, doing what he loved. I think someone took him and someone killed him." Charles leaned forward before he cupped his face in his hands and sobbed, his shoulders jumping with intakes of air before he sat back up. "I think someone killed my boy," he said, his voice high.
"Do you have any idea who?"
"No." Charles licked his lips before he wiped at his face. "No. I don't know who would want to hurt him, everyone loved him. But someone did, someone hurt him and now I just want it all to end."
The sound of hands clapping again snapped Wallace out of his trance as he watched Charles continue to sob on video. Nearly flinging Ignatius's phone across the beach, Wallace sat up straight to find McCloud and most of the other students staring at him.
"Were you listening to something more important than the reasoning behind today's assignment?" McCloud asked in a growl.
"No, I'm sorry." Wallace regarded her with a weak smile.
"I've got team listings in my hand," McCloud said, brandishing a single page of paper. "Three to a team and the goal is simple. Your teams will be spaced out around the beaches of the island. At the center of the island there is a box that has to be opened in order for your team to be claimed the winner."
Wallace nibbled at his lip, drifting as he listened to McCloud's explanation as he watched his classmates. Some of them seem, Arlette, looked nervous as McCloud explained the assignment, while others looked hungry and ready to begin.
"In order to open the box you'll need these," McCloud said as she reached around her neck and pulled a set of four ancient looking keys from around her neck. Each of the keys was colored differently, red, green, blue, and yellow. "Each team will be given one key to start and only by encountering the other teams will you be able to collect the keys."
"So we have to battle for the keys?" Calvin asked, lounging back in the sand, his head resting in Persia's lap.
"However you decide to give up or barter for keys is up to you," McCloud said. "But keep in mind, if one team wants to fight and your team doesn't, there's nothing saying the other team has to abide. Any and all tricks are welcome and allowed. It's survival of the fittest in there."
Wallace took in a deep breath as his stomach bottomed out, imagining all the ways someone might play dirty for a key. Beyond McCloud the trees in the forest rustled before six students emerged and joined the professor on the beach.
"I've brought six upper-class students with me," McCloud said. "They'll either be helping you or working against you on the island. The choice is up to the student highest in class," she said as she glanced at three girls to her right.
Wallace's eyes darted to a group of three girls standing beside the professor: Eleanor, Azalea, and a tall modelesque girl wearing an oversized sweater that made it seem like she'd decided to forgo pants that day. Her hair was a rich and curly brown that fell down her back.
"Hi, I'm Eleanor Ampora, third-year student," Eleanor said with a short wave to the crowd before she pushed her glasses up her nose. "I decided that my group will help whichever team we come across."
Wallace breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Eleanor, even though she hadn't seemed to notice him. Even her appearance had calmed him, her jean shorts and light grey hoodie instantly reminded him of the day they met during the safari tour and how it felt for her to come to his rescue from Chara.
"And over here we have –" McCloud started.
"Team Blaze is running counter on any first years who are unfortunate to cross us," a frail looking boy stated, stepping forward from his line. His hair, wild and black, fell around his head in a riotous manner above a pair of large light eyes.
Wallace's eyes fell from his face to his legs where the rich brown flesh on his skins was marred by patches of glossy and discolored skin.
"Thank you, Cole. Cole is a fourth year who joined the university this semester?" McCloud said. "Is that right?"
"Nah, I've been around for a while," Cole said as he stepped back in line beside Kolton and Travis, leaning on the latter's shoulder.
Wallace felt his worry growing as he looked over Team Blaze. Cole seemed fairly aggressive, he knew he was low on the list of people Kolton liked, and he simply wasn't a fan of Travis who practically drooled over Tempest.
"So you've got one team working as allies and the other as enemies, very nice. Come up and receive your teams and when you've gathered with your team members I'll tell you where your team is starting from and give you your key," McCloud said as she pulled the keys from her neck.
Wallace stayed put on the sand as his classmates all got up and rushed to the professor. In no rush to get his team, Wallace stayed seated with elgyem who had taken to levitating clumps of sand around himself like planets in orbit.
"Calvin Thompson and Nero Spring."
Wallace craned his neck up to see Ignatius standing beside him. "Hm?"
"My team," Ignatius said as he dropped his hands on his hips. "Calvin and Nero."
"That's Neo," Neo said as he butted his way into the conversation. "And if this team is going to claim victory you won't call me anything else," he said as he cast Ignatius a look before he eyed Wallace.
"I was just reading what was on the paper, heh," Ignatius said as he adjusted his snapback. "Nero."
Neo cleared his throat rather roughly as he twisted a strand of his hair and scanned the beach. "Have you seen the last on our team?"
"Here I am!" Calvin announced as he popped up behind Neo and Ignatius, his arms hooking around their necks. "Let's go bros! We've got keys to collect. I'm calling it now, Team Brains and Brawn are gonna bring it home."
"Brains and Brawn?" Ignatius asked.
"This one," Calvin said as he stretched around Neo and flicked the screen of his tablet. "Is the brain. I don't know about you," he said to Ignatius as he let go of the boys and struck a pose in the sand and flexed. "But I'm the brawn!"
Wallace jotted down TEAM BB (Brains & Brawn), along with the names of the boys in his notebook before he noticed some of the first year girls eyeing Calvin from across the beach. Heading down the beach a group of three girls was being held together by Simone, her arms linked the three together as Calvin had done. Wallace quickly jotted Simone, Persia, and Arlette's names down beside a made-up team name: Team Femme.
"Whatever. Let's get going, we're on the north side of the island, that'll give us time to discuss strategy," Neo said as he nodded up the beach and powered up his tablet.
Ignatius regarded Wallace with a large shrug before followed Neo and Calvin. Once they were gone, Wallace scanned the rest of the beach. Johnny was standing in front of Garret and Christopher, the three seemed to be involved in some kind of conversation, though Wallace couldn't imagine what Johnny expected to get out of a boy that didn't talk and one that was as quiet as the wind. Team MPPOC, Wallace scrawled into his notebook along with their names.
"Elgy, everyone is paired up," he said as he realized he'd written down three teams of three, meaning the only ones left on the beach would be his team.
Elgyem clambered back onto his lap and rested his hands on the paper and studied the words. Briefly, Wallace wondered if elgyem could even read or if he was just making the effort. "What do you think?"
"Elgy?" Elgyem flashed the green digit on his hand as he pointed across the beach to where Ben was moseying over, his arms folded behind his back and his body language timid.
"Hi, Ben," Wallace said as he waited for the boy to reach him.
"Hi," Ben said with a curt wave as he stopped a few feet from Wallace and wavered there, looking conflicted on if he wanted to sit down or remain standing. "We're teammates."
"Yeah, I kind of figured that," Wallace said as he glanced at his list. "I wrote down the other teams. I don't really know why," he said as he offered the notebook, but regretted it instantly remembering his paranoid list and tally marks.
Ben squatted beside Wallace and looked over the paper before he hopped back up. "Team MPPOC? What's that stand for?"
"Something my mom used to say," Wallace said, surppressing a laugh. "My dad used to travel a lot for work and when he wasn't home it'd be so calm without him walking around making business calls all the time my mom used to say the house was so quiet you could hear a mouse pokémon pissing on cotton." Wallace wet his lips as his chest jumped a few times, an internal laugh, but he couldn't help it and hunched over as he let out a short fit of giggles.
"That's funny," Ben said, though Wallace's infectious laughter didn't reach him. "Simone seemed surprised we weren't on the same team. She said she'd make it her mission that we didn't win, but don't worry, she means well, she just loves competition," he said as he held out the paper from McCloud with the team assignments on it."
"I can tell," Wallace said as he narrowed his eyes at the paper, his hand hovering over his notebook as he wrote in the last team. "Ben Rider and Carl Valrek, I don't know him," Wallace said as he wrote Team Safari beside the names.
"He's over there," Ben said, pointing to a boy that was standing a few yards from the professor, hands in his pockets and kicking at the sand.
Wallace held his hand like a visor to his eyes, but Carl stood further up on the beach, his body backlit and his face featureless and shadowy. "Did you talk to him?" he asked as got up and swatted sand from his butt.
Ben shook his head and followed beside Wallace who headed for their teammate. "He didn't introduce himself or anything, I didn't want to bother him, he kind of looked upset."
"Boys, gather together. I had the upperclassman take the other teams around the island to their starting points, but you three can start here," McCloud said as she ushered the boys in together. "Something I told the others, you'll only be permitted to use one pokémon to aid you during the exercise. So pick wisely."
"Elgy?" elgyem said curiosity as he floated up beside Wallace and draped himself over his shoulder.
"Of course," Wallace said as he rubbed elgyem's head.
"I'll choose you," Ben said to a ball in his hand before he touched the locking button and the ball released a small dragon-type onto the beach.
Instinctively, Wallace backed up as a gabite stood before Ben, its tail swhishing around and its mouth snapping shut. Even though it was less dangerous looking than its evolution, the memory of James's garchomp attacking Izumi was far too fresh in his mind. Still eyeing the rowdy looking gabite, Wallace missed Carl letting out a shiny red scizor who buzzed close to its trainer.
"Alright, here is your key," McCloud said as she held out the red key. "Who wants to hold it. You can change who carries it whenever you want and there are no rules on where you keep it. But if you hold it in plain sight you'll become a target, so it's better to give it to someone who can handle themselves." McCloud dangled the key from the end of a long string before the boys like they were pokémon waiting for a treat.
From the corner of his eye, Wallace saw Ben physically back away from the swinging key and got a good look at Carl. His skin was medium toned, though whether it was natural or a tan he couldn't tell and he was somewhere between Ben and Wallace when it came to height. Dark blond hair hung in waves around his ears and his dark green eyes stared plainly ahead at the professor while he made no move to claim the key.
"I'll take it," Wallace said, reluctantly, as he held his hand out.
"Best of luck guarding it, Mr. Peters," McCloud said as he dropped the key and the string pooled on Wallace's palm. "And boys, best of luck in the forest. Head in when you're ready."
August 11th – Stupid Girl
Dear Diary,
Things have only gotten worse. The weather took a turn for the worse. It started raining hard and the wind picked up. Once we reached the more swampy areas of the Nature Trail every step we took got our feet stuck in the mud. We've come across a lot of trainers and we weren't prepared for it. We found the abandoned house. Our teams are resting now, but Elroy is the only one left who's able to fight and we still have a few hours of walking left until we get to Laverre. I tried to make things right with Andrew, but it backfired. I tried to help him break down his tent this morning and pack up, but he thought I was trying to snoop through his things. I wasn't, honestly.
His Holocaster went off again. He walked off to answer it, but I could still hear him. I've never eavesdropped on anyone before, and I wasn't trying to start, but he was talking kind of loud. Yelling, actually. There was a girl on the other end, she yelled too. I only caught bits and pieces of their conversation, but from what I gathered it seems like Andrew maybe had plans to see another girl when he came back to Kalos… I didn't say anything when he came back, but I think he saw it in my face. I'm not very good at hiding emotions when it comes to something like that. But it's my fault. I put too much faith in this trip. I was silly to think after nine years he could still feel the same way about me. I'm not mad, not at Andrew. Mad at myself maybe. I just want to get to Laverre, heal my team, and go home...
Sadly Yours, Arlette B.
Wallace palmed sweat from his brow as he folded up the page from Arlette's diary and scanned the horizon beyond his teammates as they traveled through the island in search of other teams. Judging by how amped some of the other teams seemed to win the challenge to collect four keys, Wallace had been grateful for not seeing any of the other teams yet, but over time their absence was becoming eerie.
Turning back, Wallace was unable to see the beach anymore and his anxiety rocketed. With every step, Wallace felt more and more worried about some kind of attack. It was inconceivable that they could possibly travel so far into the island, so close to the winner's box, without encountering one of the other teams. Maybe it was the calm silence of the safari, or being away from campus, the first time since Chara's appearance in the abandoned mansion, or both that had Wallace feeling on edge more than usual.
Instinctively, Wallace reached up to nudge elgyem's foot to comfort himself. Apparently startled, elgyem made a high machine-like whine as he batted at Wallace's hand. "Sorry, buddy. I'm nervous," Wallace said before he touched a hand to the bulge in his pocket, spinarak's ball. After receiving their key from McCloud Wallace gave it to spinarak to hold and promptly recalled him into his ball, figuring it was as safe a place as any to hide it.
Panning his gaze forward, Wallace looked over their formation with Ben and his gabite, Angelica, ahead of him, shoulders slumped and his feet dragging across the ground. He hated to admit it, but without Simone around, what light Ben had seemed to fade away. Either that or the safari had the same effect on him, or it was perhaps the presence of the other team member, Carl.
Carl walked at the front of their line, as silent as he'd been on the beach, his scizor's wings buzzing beside him as it kept watch. While Ben seemed extremely focused on the placement of his feet, Wallace hoped Carl and his scizor had noticed the unsettling calmness of the forest, and that he wasn't alone in his paranoia.
From the corner of his eye Wallace saw a glint of light flash off scizor's red exoskeleton, looking forward Wallace saw the pincer pokémon standing alert beside Carl who looked equally on edge, eyes trained on the trees.
"They're coming," Ben said, his voice making the statement sound more like a question.
Wallace pulled the page of from his notebook out and unfolded it to find his list scrawled inside:
Team BB (Brains & Brawn) - Neo, Ignatius, Calvin
Team Femme – Arlette, Simone, Persia
Team MPPOC – Garret, Johnny, Kit
Team Safari – Me, Carl, Ben
Team Blaze (Foe) – Cole, Kolton, Travis (Upperclass)
Team Friend – Eleanor, Azalea, Model Girl (Upperclass)
Looking away from the paper, Wallace focused on the rustling sound coming through clear from the tree line. Unless it was a random encounter, he didn't expect Team Handicap to target them, even if he and Garret weren't exactly on good terms. With Simone at the lead, her team was likely to attack, as was Neo's team. But what came through the trees was a large and wooly brown pokémon with curved off-white tusks that were chipped and scratched. Kolton and Travis emerged on either side of the pokémon while Cole rode on top, looking as regal as could be as they crossed the path.
"It looks like Will found us some prey," Cole said as he scratched the head of his mount. "Good job."
"Ma-mo!" his pokémon groaned out as it stomped down on the path.
"Which one of you has the key?" Cole asked as he dead-eyed each of the boys. "I'll get nothing by taking all four keys to the box except the satisfaction of not letting any scrawny first years win."
Wallace furrowed his brows as Carl turned around in their formation and looked back at him, he wanted for him to face forward, as if looking back might be the only clue they needed.
"I have it," Carl said. "Or had it. We hid it a while back. We were out looking for another team to get their key and then we were going to put them together, but keep them hidden. I won't tell you where it's hidden."
Wallace eyed Carl's back before he scanned the faces of Team Blaze. Kolton and Travis were exchanging looks before they cast their gazes up to Cole who had his arms crossed over his chest.
Cole hummed, a sense of urgency vibrating from his throat. "McCloud said anyone could carry the key and it doesn't have to stay static," he said flatly, before he pointed to Ben. "I think you have it. Hand it over or I'll have my mamoswine freeze-dry your gabite."
Wallace saw Ben physically go frigid as Cole turned his attention on him, his hands clenched into fists at his sides before they uncurled and Ben rubbed his palms on his shorts.
"Wh-What?" Ben asked.
"K-E-Y, I want the key," Cole said, holding his hand out in a fetching manner. "McCloud gave it to you didn't see? The weakest in the bunch."
Wallace glanced to Ben's gabite, standing prone at its trainer's side, snapping its jaws at Cole every few seconds. Between scizor, gabite, and elgyem, Wallace was sure he was the weakest in the group, though he'd never seen the other two battle.
"No, no, I don't – I don't know," Ben stammered, his head turning left and right as he looked toward the forest as if looking for a way to escape from Cole's scrutiny.
"You don't know what? If she gave you the weak or if you're the weakest?" Cole asked as he shifted forward on his pokémon and slid down its fur to land beside Travis.
Wallace saw Ben's mouth move as if he had uttered a sentence in another language before he looked off to the side. "I don't remember, I don't know," Ben said as he swallowed what sounded like a lump in his throat. "I don't know who she gave the key too."
Cole looked slightly offended. "How could you not know who? You were there weren't you?"
Wallace's hand twitched at his side as he focused his attention on Ben. With every question, Cole came closer and Ben seemed to be breaking down just in his presence. From just a few feet away Wallace saw a bead of sweat ran slide down Ben's forehead.
"I – I was, but I... I don't know, I didn't – I didn't get the key," Ben managed to say, his voice breaking and his body jerking at odd intervals.
"Oh, so you don't have the key?" Cole asked, his tone less threatening.
"No, I don't."
Cole wet his lips before pursing them, narrowing his eyes at Ben. "But you said you didn't know who got the key. If don't know who got it how come you know it wasn't you?"
"I—uh—I don't really remember, but I'm sure, I know it wasn't me, It – I – I don't know," Ben said before his head fell forward and he pinched his eyes shut, mouth moving a mile a minute as he muttered to himself.
"Who has the key?" Cole said sternly as he approached Ben and grabbed his chin, lifting his head until they were staring at each other.
Despite their height difference, Cole coming in at around Wallace's own height, Ben couldn't have looked like more of a child in front of the upperclassman.
Again Ben's mouth moved as if he was going to start several sentences at once, but anything he might have thought about saying seemed to deflate under Cole's intense stare.
"I don't know," Ben whispered.
"I'm sorry?" Cole asked sweetly as he leaned in closer, turning his ear toward Ben. "I didn't hear you."
"I don't know, sir," Ben said, his voice shaking.
Wallace was taken aback by Ben calling him sir and glanced past the two to see Carl standing just as still as him. Ahead of them Kolton and Travis were leaving the mamoswine's side and heading for Cole.
"I can't stand liars," Cole said as he let go of Ben's face and grabbed by the front of his shirt. "Do you know why? Because it's the biggest insult you can give to someone! When you lie to me," Cole said as he pulled on Ben's shirt and forced the boy to lean over until they were face to face, Cole pressing his forehead to Ben's. "When you lie to me, you're saying 'Cole, I think you're stupid enough to fall for this. You don't deserve the truth.' Is that it? You think I'm stupid?"
"N-No," Ben whined.
"Then tell me who has the key?" Cole barked, spit spraying Ben's face. "Give me the damn key, or I turn you and your dragon into ice cubes."
"Gaa!" Gabite circled Ben and Cole, its fangs and claws bared as it hissed.
"What – a – I don't know," Ben said before his face became pinched and it looked like he might break down and cry. "I'm sorry."
Cole tipped his head down to gabite and glare down at it. "Will, freeze-dry us!"
Wallace flinched as the mamoswine's tusks lit up blue and like two conducting poles a line of sizzling blue energy connected the two. "Is he gonna attack us all?" Wallace watched a small orb of light expand between mamoswine's tusks before a ray of light shot forth and struck the ground around Cole.
Wallace pulled elgyem from his shoulder and spun around, giving his back to what he presumed would be Cole's attack, but after a few moments of nothing happening, he spared a glance over his shoulder. The path between the mamoswine and Cole had been converted into a slick streak of ice. Carl and scizor had moved out of the way, but Ben's gabite had ended up in the line of attack and stood with sheets of frost and ice covering its scales. During the attack Cole had switched places with Ben, the taller boy's back taking part of the attack and Ben's shirt was frosted with pricks of ice over like a carton of ice cream pulled from the very bottom of the freezer.
Ben screeched as he ran his hands over his arms, clearing away sheets of ice before he tried to reach his gabite who stood frozen in the path. "Angelica!" Ben cried as he tried to tear himself away from Cole, to no avail.
"Key please," Cole said, attempting to sound sweet, but it came out as patronizing. "Or else things will get nasty," he said as he stretched out his leg and kicked gabite.
Wallace watched in horror as Ben's gabite didn't react to being kicked. The dragon-type fell over as if Cole had knocked over a statue, only it didn't shatter on impact.
"I don't have it," Ben whimpered as his legs sagged and he fell. "I swear, I don't have it. I don't have the key." Ben sat, slumped on the ground beside his gabite, shuddering for several moments.
"What did I say about liars?" Cole asked as he spun around and slipped his arm around Ben's neck and held it there.
Wallace watched the expression on Ben's face morph into something horrific as Cole acted like he might strangle him. Ben's hands came up, clawing and grasping as Cole's forearm while his legs kicked up dirt and grass.
"Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" Ben shrieked, his voice cracking with every word, his spastic movements becoming too much to watch.
Although he hadn't seen what Chara had done to Ben, the moment he found Chara strangling Simone flashed into Wallace's mind. "Stop!" Wallace yelled at he pulled spinarak's ball out and released him. "Let him go, please!" Wallace crouched and grabbed spinarak, his hand clutching the key under spinarak's abdomen, the string looped around the pokémon's body a few times.
"I want the key, that's the rule," Cole said, his attention shifting to Wallace. "Technically I beat him in a battle," he said as he glanced over his shoulder to the fallen gabite. Cole glared at Ben, who was still trying to pry the arm off his neck, before he let go and grabbed Ben's wrist and twisted his arm behind him as he lifted Ben up and slammed him against a tree.
Ben cried out as his chest collided with the tree trunk, but Cole pulled him off and swept his foot between Ben's legs, knocking the boy off balance. Wallace watched Ben tumble forward before Cole released him and Ben crashed onto the ground. The boy sputtered as he pulled himself up, dirt dotting his cheeks, before he seemed to realize he was free and crawled forward toward Carl.
"Right," Wallace said as he inched down the path towards Carl who took to standing in front of Ben. "You can have the key. I have it," he said as he pulled it from under spinarak and waved it in the air, wishing he would have given it up before Cole assaulted Ben. "Come get it."
One of Cole's brows cocked up and his mouth curved into a grin. "Don't play games with me," Cole warned as he strutted toward Wallace, hand out for the key.
"No games," Wallace breathed, eyes locked on Cole as he inched further down the path until he was standing beside Carl and Ben. "Elgyem, take us away," he gulped.
"Gyy!" Elgyem floated from Wallace's shoulder and hovered before him and Carl as the digits on his hands lit up.
Wallace watched as elgyem's light flooded the area around them and through it, he could see Cole's twisted face, pissed as all hell. In an instant, the lush greens of the forest were gone and the sturdy ground was replaced by loose shifting sand as they appeared on the beach.
The tension of the forest faded with the sound of waves lapping the shore and Wallace saw the expression on everyone's faces change into relief once they realized where they were. Somewhere in the forest Wallace heard a roaring yell, Cole no doubt. They were far enough away that he wasn't a threat, he couldn't possibly find them, but the sound of him yelling still shook him.
Recalling spinarak, Wallace pulled elgyem into his arms and planted a kiss on top of his head. "Thank you so much," he said as he squeezed the pokémon tight.
"Elgy!" he cooed back, but lit up the red digits on his hands as he pointed to Ben.
Wallace turned his attention to Ben, in the sand a few feet from Carl and scizor. He was leaning forward, his arms and face practically buried in the sand, his back jumping as he sobbed, his entire body quivering. Wallace approached slowly, letting elgyem climb back onto his shoulder, and as he came closer to Ben the wind picked up and something nipped his nose.
Wallace gulped down a pungent odor as he crouched near Ben, wanting to comfort him, but not having the slightest clue on how to do such a thing. "Ben? It's okay, we're safe now."
Ben's head turned to the side and Wallace could see his red and wet eyes along with lines of snot dribbling from his nose. "I'm sorry," he whimpered as he sat up, his hands coming together in his lap trying to cover a dark patch spreading from his crotch.
The sight of Ben's accident dealt a blow to Wallace's gut that knocked the wind out of him. His mouth moved, but he couldn't think of a single thing to say to make Ben feel any better. Hapless, he turned to Carl who came wandering over.
"It's fine, you didn't tell him where the key was," he offered. "I tried, but he saw through me. You did fine."
"No." Ben's mouth spread into a flat line, his eyes pinching shut and spilling tears down his face. "I would have told him, I just, I couldn't focus. I couldn't think, he scared me. He reminds me of..."
He didn't have to finish his sentence, Wallace knew where he was going and where Cole's attack had taken Ben. Just several miles north of the beach the abandoned mansion was still there, a distant, yet looming reminder. "I know," he said as he saw the patches of ice still clinging to Ben's shirt. "Why don't we stay here for a bit?" he offered, glancing to Carl who seemed as unreadable as ever, his face a blank slate. "The sun will get rid of this ice and we can take care of your gabite," he said as he looked up the beach. Ben's gabite was lying on its side in the sand, still as a statue with Carl's scizor looking over it.
"Okay," Ben breathed as he stood up and moved up the beach to his gabite and sat beside it. "Does anyone have any aspear berries? Maybe potions too."
Wallace blew air through his lips and pat his pockets, despite knowing he hadn't brought anything but elgyem and spinarak.
"I can help!" a voice from the trees announced.
Wallace leaped to his feet, though the airy voice couldn't have been Cole's. He watched some of the lower branches shift before the model-like girl from Eleanor's team emerged from the trees and bounced down the beach to Ben and gabite. "Who are you?" he asked.
"My friends call me Shay," she announced as she skipped past Ben and headed down the beach to Wallace. In a swift motion she scooped up his hand and lightly shook it before she grabbed his shoulders and kissed both of his cheeks. She skipped away and tried the same with Carl who swerved out of the way. "Ugh, rude," she scoffed at his dismissal of her greeting. "Anyway, I'm Shannon, Shannon Oxton, you might have heard of me," she said as she twirled a strand of her rich brown hair around her finger.
"Or we might not have," Carl said sharply. "But it's nice to meet you, I'm Carl."
Shannon smirked as she cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowing at Carl. "Mm, you're kind of cute," she said with a wink before she whirled around and pranced back up the beach. "Ellie said we have to helpful little butterfrees today, so I'll help you here and now."
Wallace watched as she lifted up the bottom of her sweater, revealing she did, in fact, have shorts on, and pulled out a small package stuffed into her pocket. He watched as she crouched beside Ben and fed a berry in gabite's mouth before she handed a few bottles to Ben and pranced away.
"I gave him some medicine," Shannon said as she stopped short of Wallace and started walking around him, her finger trailing along his shoulder blades. "We can stay here until he's ready to go again, sound good?"
"We?" Wallace asked.
Shannon stopped in front of him and put her hands on her hips, her face, full of makeup, forming a shocked expression. "You weren't thinking of leaving me behind, were you? I can be of great service, in more than just the visual sense."
Wallace swallowed his reply and felt his cheeks burning. "Thanks for helping Ben."
"You're welcome, cutie," she said as she pinched Wallace's cheek. "So, while we wait how about we catch up on our tans? I mean, why come to the beach if we don't get some rays? Right?" she asked as she pulled off her sweater, revealing a bikini top beneath. Looking even more confident and sure of herself with less clothing on, Shannon watched Carl and Wallace. "Who's stripping first boys? I can't tan alone, it's no fun. Oh, my sun screen. You," she said softly as she gestured to Carl. "Can you grab it for me? It's in my bag up the beach."
Carl nodded and passed Wallace a look as he trudged up toward Ben and gabite.
"Now that we're alone," Shannon said as she grabbed the hem of Wallace's shirt. "Let's talk."
"Eh?" Wallace asked as he fought to keep his clothes on. "W-What? Talk about what?"
"Ignatius," Shannon said, her voice suddenly deep and serious. "I saw you two talking earlier. I want you to tell me everything you know about him. Pretend I know nothing about him."
Wallace narrowed his eyes at her. "How much do you know about him?"
Shannon waved a hand in the air. "Details, things of little importance. I mean, it's not like I enrolled in this school in the middle of Kalos nowhere just because I heard he had gotten accepted or anything, heh. Now, back to business. You and I are going to tan and you are going to spill the beans on everything from what time he wakes up to what flavor of berry juice is his favorite," Shannon rattled off as she pulled at the neckline of Wallace's shirt and managed to force it off over his head, knocking elgyem from his perch.
Wallace stumbled back down the beach, crossing his arms over his chest as elgyem floated in front of him, arms raised and digits flashing in sequence. "Give me my shirt!"
Shannon swung his shirt around her finger like a prize before she draped it over her shoulder and pulled a ball from her waistline. "You wanna fight for it? Winner gets what they want? You can have your shirt and I get all the deets on my previous Iggy. Deal?"
"You're crazy," Wallace said, finding it difficult not to drop his arms. "Elgyem, are you ready?"
"Elgy!" elgyem cried out, his body glowing purple as he floated higher above Wallace. The lights on his hands flashed again before only the red digits lit up and he let out a low mechanical hum.
Shannon tossed her ball up a few times before she chucked it at the sand and the beach flooded with brilliant white light.
End of Chapter Twenty-One
AN: Introducing Cole by Oly in Flight and Shannon Oxton by The Pocketwatch Ripper.
Question of the Chapter #20: Which team do you think will win the assignment?