Chapter 25

Aftershock

Medical Wing, Latios Division

"There were are. All patched up," Kuren said cheerfully, wrapping the final bandage around Zero's paw. "I would recommend not punching anything for a few days, but knowing how most fighting types are, you won't listen. Just take it easy for a while."

"Okay, thank you Doctor," Zero said graciously, looking over his bandaged paw. It still throbbed, but it hurt nowhere near as much as it did before.

"How is he, Doc?" The two of them turned towards the voice and saw the rest of Team Dawn Breaker, Stride, and Orion walking over.

"As I said, he'll be fine in a few days as long as he doesn't do anything to exacerbate his injuries," Kuren explained.

"That is good to hear," Stride sighed in relief. He suddenly became stern as he turned his gaze towards Zero. "That was very foolish of you. Going up against a legendary like that, you could have been killed!"

Zero looked down, not able to look at Stride's disappointed eyes. "But it wasn't all his fault," Furno tried to defend his leader.

"Yeah, we tried to escape, but that conniving, self-centered, little-!" Quill was cut off when Furno elbowed him in the ribs.

"What he's trying to say is that when we tried to escape that Watchog stole our escape orb," Furno explained.

"If I see that bastard again, I'll throttle him!" Quill growled menacingly. "We didn't even get paid!"

"Well why didn't you teleport out when you found him?" Stride questioned.

"He insisted that we go on," Furno said. "He entered the dungeon because of the rumors that there was some kind of treasure at the-"

"That does not matter!" Furno flinched at Stride's harsh shout. "Your mission was to retrieve him, not assist him on an exploration!"

"Must you be so hard on them?" Orion interjected. "They were just doing what they thought was right."

"No, they were doing something that was foolish," Stride snapped, causing Team Dawn Breaker to duck their heads in shame. "They should have escaped the dungeon as soon as they found their client!"

"They had no way of knowing what was at the end of the dungeon," Orion pointed out. "They most likely though that they could appease the client by taking him to the end of the dungeon, that way they wouldn't have to fight him every step of the way."

"Even so, they shouldn't have fought Regirock!"

"I believe they did mention not being able to escape as their client proved to be a selfish coward. If you ask me, they handled the fight superbly."

"Yes, but... They..." Stride sputtered into a sigh, his anger evaporating. "I know, it's just that..."

"You feel responsible for them," Orion finished. "I don't need to read your emotions to know that you care for them, which is understandable. They're good kids and strong at that, if their fight with Regirock is anything to go by."

"That's true," Stride said with a chuckle. He looked as his former charges, who were looking him with cautious eyes, and smiled. "You three have gotten a lot stronger and, even though I do not agree with your decision, I cannot dispute the facts that you have become strong and are capable of making your own choices."

"Um...thanks?" Zero said uncertainly.

"Though I must say, despite my misgivings, I am pleasantly surprised that you were able to defeat a legendary. How'd you do it."

Both Furno and Quill glanced at Zero uncertainly, not knowing what to say. Zero gained a sudden fascination with the floor, refusing to meet Stride's eyes.

"Zero?" Said Riolu cringed at Stride's inquiring voice.

"Um...I uh, just...you know...hit it with a move." Stride frowned at Zero vagueness.

"Zero, what really happened?" Stride asked sternly.

"I think I can shed some light on this situation," Kuren said, jumping in when Zero made no attempt to answer Stride. "When I was examining young Zero in addition to the damage he sustained to his paw, his muscles were severely strained. I would have dismissed this as a result of fighting a legendary, except for the fact the strain was present in his entire body, not just his arms and legs."

"What caused this stress?" Stride asked the Spinda, slightly glaring at Zero.

"I was not sure at first," Kuren confessed. "The type of strain to his muscles are most common among those that spend their day lifting heavy objects. I immediately ruled that out as a cause of the strain. There are only two other things that could have caused the strain."

"Well, what are they?" Stride asked impatiently, noticing that Zero was becoming increasingly nervous.

"One way is using bulk up in rapid succession, however this leaves the muscles tense for several hours and does not cause almost instant unconsciousness. That leaves only one possibility: final gambit."

Silence filled the room. Furno and Quill were glancing nervously at their leader who was fumbling with his paws nervously. Orion's face was a mask of calm, though there was a glimmer of unease in his eye. Stride, however, was unable to hide his shock.

"Final gambit?" Stride whispered. "How is that possible. He couldn't have learned that on his own and I know Monty would never would teach that move to anyone. So who..." He trailed off as realization dawned on him.

Before the group could even blink, Stride had Orion pinned to the wall. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!" he roared.

"I thought I was teaching him a move that could save his life, which it did," Orion said, his voice calm despite being pinned to the wall by an angered Greninja.

"Tauros shit!" Stride snapped. "You taught him a move that could kill him!"

"Which I told him should only be used in dire circumstances," Orion responded.

"He could have died!"

"He most likely would have died if he hadn't used it!"

"You should have never taught that move to him," Stride snarled, before turning to Zero. "And you should have never used that move!"

"I had no choice," Zero defended. "We would have died if I hadn't used it!"

"And you used the move knowing the consequences?!" Stride asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Zero said defiantly. "If done wrong, it could kill me and afterwards I'd be rendered unconscious."

Stride looked at Zero with unreadable expression. He kept his unwavering gaze on Zero, not even blinking, causing the young Riolu to have to fight his instinct to break eye contact and shuffle his feet.

"You don't know, do you?" he finally spoke, his voice no more than a whisper.

"What do you mean?" Zero asked, getting to his feet. "What don't I know?"

Instead of answering, Stride turned back to Orion and gave the Lucario a look that would send most Pokémon running. "You didn't tell him?!"

Orion kept his mouth shut, his face giving nothing away. When Orion didn't respond, Stride's hand took on a red glow which he held to Orion's throat, eliciting cries of shock from the four Pokémon behind him.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't end you right now," Stride growled.

"Stride, there will be no fighting in here!" Kuren shouted.

Stride ignored the irate Spinda and pressed his hand closer to Orion's neck. "I asked you a question."

"What didn't he tell me?!" Zero demanded, the raging emotions that were in the air getting to him.

Stride glanced at the young Pokémon and his expression softened slightly. He released his hold on Orion and gave him a final glare before addressing Zero. "There is another side effect to using final gambit. As you know, the move puts a great deal of strain on your body. However, this doesn't just mean your muscles." Stride's expression became solemn.

"The move also puts strain on you internal organs. Your heart, your lungs, everything." Stride paused, allowing for his words to sink in. "The strain causes damage that cannot be reversed to your organs. This causes your lifespan to diminish."

"Wh-What do you mean?" Zero asked fearfully.

Stride sighed. "Whenever you use final gambit...you shave of several years off your life. More depending on how long you use it."

Both Furno and Quill gasped in shock and horror while Kuren looked away, a somber expression on his face. Zero couldn't even form a single word, his mouth opening and closing without a sound. He turned to Orion, his expression a mixture of shock, anger, fear, and betrayal.

"Y-You knew?" Zero asked almost timidly. "You knew and you didn't tell me?"

Orion was silent for a second. "Yes, I knew. I didn't tell you because-"

"You knew he wouldn't use it if he knew the real consequences," Stride interrupted.

Orion's silence was all the confirmation they needed. Zero stumbled back before falling back on the table he was sitting on, his face a mask of horror. Unconsciously, Zero began to release ripples of emotion into the air, the feeling of betrayal that he was experiencing becoming evident to all.

"I trusted you," Zero whispered in despair.

"Now, Zero I did what I did because..." He tried to reach out towards the young Riolu, but Zero flinched away from his outstretched paw. He tried again, but Stride grabbed his arm before he could.

"I'd thank you kindly not to touch my student," Stride said with a deadly tone. "I think you should leave."

Orion was silent. He glanced at Zero, who refused to meet his eye. "Yes, it appears I should," he said, pulling his arm from Stride's grasp.

He began to leave, but stopped a few feat away from the exit. He turned around partially and looked at the still Riolu. "I understand that you feel betrayed by me, but I did what I did because I saw the fierce determination you had to protect your friends." With his piece said, he left the medical wing.

Once the Lucario was gone, Stride let out a long sigh, his shoulders slumping. He turned back to Zero, who was still giving off waves of betrayal and depression. "Zero, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down."

"How could he keep that from me?" Zero all but demanded.

"I'm not sure," Stride confessed. "I think he truly believes that he was helping you."

"But why withhold that kind of information?" Quill asked.

"Again, I'm not sure. This isn't the first time he's taught others risky moves. That is one of the reasons I did not want you training with him."

"He's done this before?!" Furno asked in disbelief and slight disgust. "Why hasn't he been stopped?!"

"Because he's technically not doing anything wrong," Stride sighed. "Learning potentially dangerous moves does not break any rules within the resistance. Some believe that resistance members should do whatever it takes to win this war, Orion is clearly one of them."

He turned back to Zero who had still yet to move. "Zero, I want you to promise me that you will never use final gambit again, no matter what. Understand?"

Zero hesitated for a moment before nodding his head silently.

"Good, now why don't you three head back up to your rooms. You've had a stressful day. Kuren." The Spinda looked up. "Are they good to go?"

"Yes, they're good to go," Kuren said, nodding his head.

"Good now off you go," Stride said, ushering Team Dawn Breaker out of the medical wing.

Once they were gone, Stride turned back to Kuren. "Could you determine the extent of the damage done to him?"

"Unfortunately, no. I don't have the equipment to determine the amount of damage that his organs," Kuren said.

"How could he do something so risky? Stride grumbled, leaning against the wall. "Even if he didn't fully realize the consequences of using that move, he knew there were risks to using the move!"

"Well if their recount of their incident, he was protecting his team," Kuren said sagely.

"Yes, but it was still risky. If that move had been done wrong, he would have died!"

"As I recall, there once was a Frogadier who would pull similar stunts in order to protect his team," Kuren said, giving Stride a meaningful look.

Stride's eyes widened before he turned away. He stalked off haughtily, causing Kuren to chuckle lightly. "Same old Stride."

-Resistance-

Once Team Dawn Breaker had gotten to their room all they could do was sit in silence. Furno and Quill kept sending worried glances at Zero, who had still yet to speak, but the young Riolu hadn't even looked up. The aura that Zero had given off had long since faded, leaving a blank and apathetic Riolu in it wake.

"I can't believe what he did to me," Zero finally spoke.

"Zero, I don't think he meant to hurt you like this," Furno said consolingly. "He just..."

"Taught me something that shortens my lifespan without telling me." Both Quill and Furno winced at the hollow tone in his voice.

"Not that I agree with his methods," Furno said. "but I think he believed that he was helping you."

"Well he's got a funny way of showing it," Zero snapped angrily. "He should have told me what would happen instead of giving a few vague consequences and tossing me out into the world! What if I had used it more than once before we learned the consequences? I might not be here!"

"But you didn't and you are," Quill pointed out, incurring Zero's fury.

"That not the point! I trusted him and he betrayed me!" He placed his head in his paws. "I should have listened to Stride back then," he lamented. "He told me that he didn't want me to train with Orion, but I didn't listen. I should have trusted him, but I was too stubborn and I put my trust in the wrong Pokémon."

SMACK!

Zero reeled back in surprise and pain. Holding his cheek he looked up at Quill in surprise and confusion.

"Quill!" Furno exclaimed. "Why'd you-?"

"Sorry, but I was sick of the pity party," Quill interrupted angrily, his eyes trained on Zero.

"Wha...?" Zero said, completely caught off guard.

"While I don't agree with Orion's actions, not by a long shot, but you can't let it get to you." Zero opened his mouth to protest, but Quill continued. "You are our leader, which means we look to you for guidance. If you fall apart like this, then the team falls apart. We face hardships at every turn, you can't let this kind of stuff get to you."

Zero looked down at his paws once more. "I know, but it's just..."

"Look, Zero." Quill sat next to his leader and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know that your trust isn't easily earned if your interactions with others is anything to go by, but you need to get over this. I'm not saying that you forget of forgive Orion," Quill added, seeing Zero getting ready to argue, "but you need to stay strong."

"I know, but..." Zero hated how his voice sounded weak. He was the leader of Team Dawn Breaker, he couldn't be weak. Yet there he was, practically drowning in sorrow. "I just can't...I'm not strong enough..."

"Tauros shit!" Zero jumped at Quill's sudden proclamation. "Not strong? Ha! You've saved both mine and Furno's asses on several occasions."

"Those times were just pure luck," Zero mumbled.

"Your fight with Regirock wasn't," Quill countered. "You did that with skill, even if that power was brought on by final gambit. You still risked it all to save us."

"He's right, Zero," Furno jumped in. "Since I met you, you've always had my back. You've helped me out of even before we were actually a team and even then I knew that you'd have my back. Yes you're not the strongest Pokémon out their, heck, none of us are, but despite that I wouldn't want anybody else watching my back. Do you want to know why?"

"Why?" Zero asked.

"Because you're strong in your own way. You are strong-willed, caring, and loyal. You are always willing to fight for what you believe in and will do whatever you can to help those in need." Furno smiled widely at his friend. "That's why you're strong, because you have the heart to fight for what you believe in."

By this point, Zero's eyes had began to mist over, the urge to let his tears fall becoming overwhelming.

"And let's be honest, if Orion had told you the true costs of using final gambit, would you still have used it in order to protect us?" Furno questioned.

"...Yes," Zero admitted after a few moments of silence.

"Well there you go, that's why you're strong," Quill said. "You are willing to risk your life for others, something that not many would even consider. It's that strength that make you a good leader that I would follow anywhere."

"Same here," Furno added confidently.

"So use that strength and keep moving forward. Not just for the sake of the team, but for you as well." With that, Quill flashed him with a grin and a cheesy thumbs up.

Zero gave a watery chuckle at Quill's antics. Tears of joy and happiness began to freely fall down his cheeks, the knowledge that his friends trusted him and cared for him to that extent moving him to tears.

They really think this strongly about me? Zero asked himself. They really trust me this much? He paused at that thought. They both trust me, even Quill, yet I stubbornly refuse to trust them. Zero's eyes hardened in determination. That ends now. And I'll start now.

"Quill," he said, earning the Quilladin's attention.

"Huh?"

"There's something I need to tell you."

"Sure, what's up?"

"Remember what Stride mentioned when we were heading over to the Groudon Division? About my secret?"

"Yeah?" Quill said uncertainly.

"I think it's time I told you."

Quill's eyes widened almost comically. "Y-You don't have to tell me! Like I said, you're entitled to your own secrets!"

"Zero, are you sure?" Furno asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Zero nodded. "He's put his trust in me. It's only fair that I trust him with my secret." He took a deep breath and turned back to Quill. "My secret is...I'm a human."

Quill was silent for a while. His face blank, devoid of any emotion. The all of a sudden he burst out in laughter.

"Hahahaha! You think... You think you're a human?! That hilarious!" Quill continued to laugh and laugh until he noticed that neither Zero or Furno was laughing with him. "You can't be serious."

"Deadly," Zero answered.

"But-But...how?!" Quill exclaimed. "Humans have been extinct for years!"

"I don't know," Zero confessed, looking at his paws. "I just...woke up as a Pokémon."

"When I found Zero in Shrouded Forest, he had no memories, not even of his own name. The only thing that he was sure of was that he used to be human," Furno explained.

"I'm not sure how I know, but I'm positive that I used to be human," Zero said.

"I don't...I can't...What?" Quill spluttered.

"I know it's a lot to take in," Zero said, "but I swear that it's the truth."

Quill was silent for what seemed like an eternity, taking the time to process the information that he had just received. Zero rubbed his paws nervously, scared that Quill wouldn't treat him the same.

"I can see why you kept it a secret." Zero's head snapped up towards Quill, who had a benign smile on his face. "Ah well. It doesn't matter to me."

"You mean that you don't care that I'm a human?" Zero asked in bewilderment, hope blossoming in his chest.

"Of course I don't," Quill said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Your past doesn't matter. What matters is who you are now. You could've been a Muk before and I still wouldn't care. To me you're still Zero, Team Dawn Breaker's leader and my friend."

Once again, tears began to glisten in the corners of Zero's eyes. He ducked his head in embarrassment, not wanting his friends to see him cry again. "Thank you," he said, wiping his eyes furiously.

"No prob, Bob," Quill said, slinging an arm around Zero's shoulders and bringing him into a headlock. "You're the leader of the team so I can't not get along with you."

Zero chuckled as he tried to push Quill of which compelled the Quilladin to tighten his grip and rub his knuckles rapidly over the top of Zero's head. Zero fought harder, now laughing along with Quill as he struggled to escape Quill's hold. Furno too joined in on the laughter as he watched his friends rough house.

A knock at their door halted Quill and Zero's wrestling match. Quickly separating, Zero made his way to the door and opened it, revealing a very familiar one armed Electivire.

"I'zer!" Zero exclaimed in shock.

"Zero, good to see you," I'zer said, his permanent grin stretching wider. He then took in Zero's tousled fur. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, you're fine," Zero reassured. "We were just talking. Do you want to come in?"

"That would be greatly appreciated, thank you," I'zer said, bowing slightly.

Zero led the large electric type into the lounge. I'zer took a seat on one of the sofas, sighing in relief as he sunk into the cushions.

"It's been so long since I've been able to just sit down and relax," I'zer sighed, closing his eyes in bliss.

"Um, not that we aren't glad to see you, but why are you here?" Furno asked.

"Right, right. I came to talk to you three about something. Though seeing the condition you're in," he said indicating to Zero's cast.

"It's nothing, really," Zero said, quick to allay I'zer's concern. "I can still use it as long as I don't put too much strain on it. Doctor Kuren said that I'll be a hundred percent in a few days."

"Well, okay then," I'zer said, not fully convinced.

"So what did you want to talk to us about?" Quill asked.

"Well it's mostly for Furno and Zero, but since you're on their team, I can inform you as well." I'zer's demeanor suddenly became serious, his grin turning into a grim frown. "You remember Glaucuous Town?"

Both Zero and Furno became solemn at the mention of the town they had their first S-rank mission.

"I take it from your grim expressions that you remember it clearly," I'zer said.

"Yeah, we remember," Zero said somberly.

"Um, what's Glaucuous Town?" Quill asked.

"It was the location we went for our first S-rank mission," Furno explained. "We were tasked with sneaking in and locating he townspeople that were imprisoned by the emperor."

"That's right. With their help we were not only able to learn where the townspeople are being held, but also the location of a hidden entrance into the town itself. Which is why I am here." I'zer leaned forward, his eyes boring into the three before him. "We, meaning the tribunal and I, want you to accompany a expedition party to Glaucuous Town and help us free the town from the emperor's rule."