Chapter 28: Fintan's Past

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

POKÉMON

"Um… Misaki…?" Mason spoke up from behind the girl in question as they headed back into the village. "I don't mean to pry, but… who was it that Fintan was talking about?"

"Huh?" Misaki responded, prompting him to elaborate.

"You know… The one that he was talking about… The one that he said was important to him…" Mason muttered, beginning to get the feeling that his questioning was unwelcome after Tomoko glanced at him with a look of shock and horror and Misaki tensed up slightly at the mere mention of the subject.

"Oh… That…" Misaki mumbled. "He was… talking about someone that was important to everyone in the village… That person was killed in the massacre…"

"… The… Outsan Massacre…?" Mason flinched, the realisation of the situation hitting home.

"… Yeah… That one…" Misaki sighed. "He was…" Misaki trailed off, unable to find the words to allow her to continue.

"… You don't need to go on if you don't want to…" Mason quickly muttered after a few moments of silence.

"No… After all of that, you deserve to know…" Misaki smiled wistfully, staring off into the distance as they trudged on, her mind clearly somewhere else. "We were talking about my big brother…"

"Oh…" Mason spoke dumbly, realisation sinking in as he put the pieces of the puzzle together.

'… That person was killed in the massacre…'

Mason swallowed heavily. "I-I'm sorry…" he stammered.

Misaki's smile didn't vanish. "It's alright. He was a good person. All of the children looked up to him and all of the adults loved him, too," the redhead explained, directing her eyes at the ground. "He was special to everyone. When he wasn't playing with us children and teaching us so many things, he was helping around the village. People could find very little fault in him and, for that, he was loved very dearly." A chuckle escaped Misaki's lips. "He had a temper, though. He was a terrible battler, as well. I remember my Dad teaching him how to battle with one of the Pokémon on Fintan's parents' farm. It didn't go over well…"

Misaki trailed off, her eyes flicking back to her friends as another memory invaded her thoughts. She smiled slightly as she processed exactly how far Fintan had come since that day. Her wistful smile slowly crept away as the memory played over and over in her mind. She slowly let the smile slide back onto her face again.

"Fintan wasn't always like he is now…" Misaki stated.

"What do you mean?" Tomoko asked, a frown making its way onto her face.

"He was a bully once," Misaki explained. "It was because of my brother that he changed…"

Flashback…

"Who do you think you are…?!" Diggory hissed as he held Misaki close, glaring at the boy before him – a young Fintan, barely at the age of three, much like the crying girl in Diggory's arms. "You have no right to treat people with such disrespect.

"I didn't disrespect her!" Fintan snapped, crossing his arms with a pout. "She bumped into me!She started it!"

"What part of that invited you to push her into that stone wall like that…?!" Diggory asked incredulously as he looked down at the back of Misaki's head, wincing as he noticed the small wounds lacing it, small amounts of blood trickling down her hair.

"I don't get what's so wrong with it… You can't even see the blood… Not with hair like that…" Fintan sneered.

"You can't talk like that…!" Diggory glared. Suddenly, to Fintan's surprise, the older boy's gaze softened as he lifted Misaki into his arms, stroking her back as she buried her head into his chest. His gaze fixed on Fintan, he spoke. "You're filled with too much hatred…"

"… Hatred…?" Fintan muttered in confusion, his eyes widening in surprise as Diggory's gaze only continued to soften.

"Why are you behaving like this…?" Diggory sighed.

"… Why…?"

Diggory nodded. "Think about it…" he murmured as he began to hush Misaki and walked away, pushing Fintan to the back of his mind.

End flashback…

"I don't actually know what happened after that," Misaki admitted. "He came to our house the next day to apologise. He didn't say why and I didn't ask. I just presumed that it had something to do with what Diggy said, especially because Fintan treated him with so much respect afterwards. At the time, I never thought that I'd see the day when Fintan would start to respect people like he does now. Now, I couldn't see it any other way…"

"… So, what made Fintan become like he is now, then…?" Tomoko inquired hesitantly.

"Well… he respected my brother… He was very close to him and ended up seeing him as something like a brother… They spent a lot of time together after that…" Misaki chuckled. "I still remember that time that Diggy started to see that girl and he spent less time with the both of us. He got so indignant!" she laughed. "When he died, though… Fintan took it really hard…"

"It must not have taken you all long to get very close…" Tomoko smiled gently.

Misaki shook her head, glancing back at them. "It didn't. Fintan… didn't have any friends… I only had my big brother…"

"You didn't have friends?" Mason frowned.

"No." She laughed mirthlessly. "But, with hair like mine, what did you expect?"

Tomoko nodded. "Well, redheads are certainly rare…"

"Yeah. They didn't quite like someone who was so… different…" Misaki noted with a sigh.

"Hmm…" Tomoko hummed in thought. "We didn't have any redheads in Tundran."

"We didn't have any where I come from, either… Then again, it was a big place… Maybe I just didn't meet any…" Mason muttered.

"Huh… By the way, I don't think you've told us about that…" Tomoko mused.

"I haven't told you about what?" Mason asked, his tone one of curiosity.

"Where you come from," Tomoko explained.

Mason froze slightly, but it went unnoticed by the two girls who stopped walking and turned to face him with expectant expressions on their faces. The boy paused, much like his companions, and began to think of a way to get out of the situation.

'Can I really afford to let them find out…?' Mason thought to himself, unaware of the bead of sweat that slipped down the side of his face, just out of sight of the two girls.

"Mason?" Misaki's voice cut through his thoughts and Mason was dragged back to reality only to realise that the two girls were staring at him intently.

"Is something wrong?" Tomoko inquired with a worried frown.

"Um… Yeah… I'm fine…" Mason chuckled nervously.

"Maybe we should go back to the Pokémon Center quickly…" Misaki suggested, stepping forwards. She placed a steadying hand on Mason's shoulder prompting Tomoko to do the same.

"You're pale and sweating… If you don't feel well, just tell us!" Tomoko grinned.

Seeing his chance, Mason took it. "Uh… Yeah… You're right… I'm not feeling very well…" he chuckled.

"Well, come on then…" Misaki sighed as the girls herded him down the road, checking on him every so often to see if he was alright.

It wasn't long before they reached the Pokémon Center and they all plopped down on the bench in the waiting room. Misaki sighed before taking a glance at Mason who let out a sigh of slight relief. As Mason reached up to rub his head in an attempt to calm himself down, Misaki spoke up.

"Are you OK? You still look a little pale…" she noted with a worried expression.

"Um… Yeah… I think so… On another note, Misaki, what are you going to do about this Gym battle?" Mason inquired.

"Hmm…" Misaki hummed in thought. "I didn't think about that…"

"I think that Fintan might be going for it…" Tomoko stated quietly.

"Yeah… He's been getting serious about these Gym battles… He'll probably go for it as soon as possible and he's really strong… I…" Misaki trailed off.

"So…?" Mason probed.

"… I'm going to have to go for it… After what Seedot learned today, I think that we should try one more time… If we lose, then so be it… We just weren't ready and I'd go back to training…" Misaki muttered.

"… Well, if you think so…" Mason responded, his tone conveying his apprehension regarding the matter.

"Either way, I should get my Pokémon healed up. We'll head out tomorrow and I'll challenge Titania," Misaki decided, reaching up to fiddle with her headband as a look of determination filled her eyes.

The next day…

Misaki took a deep breath as she faced the open doors of the Gym, mentally preparing herself for whatever awaited her inside. Taking a step inside, she soon found her pace quickening as nervous tension made way for sheer excitement. Her friends behind her, the three quickly made their way down the hall. As they rounded a corner, though, they came across a young man who was also walking down the hallway. With his brown hair hidden under a blue hat and the blue overalls that he was wearing, it was apparent that he was a cleaner, even without looking at the mop and bucket that he was dragging behind him.

"Oh!" he smiled, surprised at their sudden appearance, his brown eyes twinkling kindly. "Are you here for a Gym battle with Titania?" he asked.

Misaki nodded, tugging at her headband in determination. "Yeah. We were just going down to the arena."

"Ah… Sorry to tell you this, but… Titania isn't taking any more battles today…" he grinned nervously.

"No… battles…?" Misaki asked incredulously. "Why?!"

"Um… Well… Gym Leaders only really accept one battle a day… If they didn't, their Pokémon would be exhausted… Of course, that doesn't stop some…" the man explained.

"So… that means that someone's already battled her…" Misaki frowned dejectedly.

"Actually, the battle's just about to begin…" the man admitted.

"Really? Who's battling?" Misaki inquired, her tone conveying her curiosity.

"Hmm…" the man hummed, placing a white-gloved hand on his chin in thought. "I believe that he said that his name was Fintan…"