Hey guys, NightFall here with the next chapter of HDD, because I know how you all love the cliffhangers. Oh, I'm so evil, and I'm strangely okay with that. At any rate, the consensus seems to be based around figuring out who the masked person is from the last chapter, and pretty much everyone is completely okay with Kaoru. Personally, while he's not the most dynamic character in the world, that seems to work to his advantage. It's like comparing apples and oranges if you were to go between Gibson or Ame and Kaoru because they're just different people. And when people are different enough from a group, you tend to remember them more clearly. People like Maaya in this story really stand out because they don't necessarily match with the rest of them, as she's the only one who absolutely hates Natsu. At any rate, Kaoru is a good character, and I'm excited to use him in this chapter along with the continuation of Takeru's story, and I'm just gonna say it right now, I love this dynamic, and you'll see why later. Enjoy. Also, check the author's notes at the bottom for a special announcement.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKÉMON, BECAUSE IF I DID, GHOSTS AND DRAGONS WOULD NOT BE WEAK TO THEMSELVES.
Chapter 36: Accepting the Truth, Part 2
Accepting the truth of a matter is often the hardest thing about accepting somebody's differences. For the most part, people are able to accept that others are different fairly well if they're willing to work at it, but what if you come across something that contradicts your thought process so much, that you just can't. It'd be like telling a purely scientific mind that ghosts were an undeniable fact, and you had the proof to back it up. To a regular scientist, this would be absurd, and all the research would be considered inadequate because they don't want to accept something as silly as ghosts in the real world. But if somebody could prove, without a doubt, that something was real, why should it be hard to accept. The truth of the matter is that what people want to be true is where they find their security. When they feel confident in something, they also feel secure about it. And when something comes along to rip that security to shreds, even the well-seasoned scientist with the most open mind could turn into someone who doesn't want to admit to the truth in front of his eyes.
Takeru continued standing in the center of all the people in a daze, trying to make sense of everything they were saying. For the most part he understood it, but understanding something, and being able to fully grasp the entirety of it, are definitely two different things.
His eyes continued moving in the same pattern as his Mothim, trying to see everything around him without making too much movement. If he made the wrong move, they could become hostile towards him. In total there were eleven of them, four female trainers, and seven males. They were mostly hidden behind their cloaks with the exception of their faces, and the ones that were previously wearing glasses now seemed to no longer need them. Like he'd noticed before, they all seemed very physically fit, their clothes from earlier more than likely just a disguise.
The only two that stood out were the two in front of him directly: Katie and Lucas. The blond girl was the only one to wear her hood down, and Lucas just seemed to command everyone's attention. He was the obvious leader among this group, but cult may have been a better word. Katie, however, seemed to be Takeru's hope for this going smoothly. She was kinder towards him, and much friendlier, but even that might've been an act, so Takeru had to choose his next move wisely.
"So, what do you mean by Archangel, exactly?" he asked, Lucas lowering his hood with a smile on his face. "In my language, the word is written with the symbols meaning a great or large angel. And in sacred texts, an archangel refers to a higher ranking of angels amongst the heavens. From the Greek meaning chief angel."
"You are as intelligent as Katie informed us," Lucas complimented, stepping forward, almost standing eye-to-eye with Takeru, only a few inches shorter. "The Archangel Corps is, as our story suggests, a group of people who wish to rid the world of the evil that is the Underground Battling Circuit. And our top target is the battlers in both our region and your own."
"You're of course referring to the Reaper, correct?" Takeru asked, the leader of the group nodding. "And based on what Katie's already told me, I'd assume that the one from your region is named El Diablo. With a name like that, it's as if one of you is directly trying to challenge the other. A name literally translating to The Devil."
"He is a dangerous man, that is for sure, but what is even more troubling is the assumed age of such a man," Lucas said, beginning to pace around the bug trainer. "It's said that Diablo is no older than the people in this room. A young man with that much battling prowess and one that squanders it in such a brutish fashion is not a person who should be allowed to even own a pokémon. He's even conditioned the most holy of types, fairy, to obey his commands and use their forces for evil."
"There are plenty of reasons that we wish for you to join us, Takeru," Katie said, walking forward, joining Lucas' side. "We know that you are being targeted by the underground battlers in your region, and we know it all centers on the little boy that so bravely stood in the face of evil, and called it out. Admittedly, we are not as skilled in dealing with such people as you are."
"So you want me as an enforcer, is what you're saying?" Takeru asked.
"In part," Lucas answered, giving no sense they were ashamed of what they were saying. "Truthfully, while we have watched you since you arrived, we never thought much of your abilities as a fighter for our ranks as much as an investigator. The school's internet is all wired into a central processor, and we have learned of the extensive research you've conducted on the Reaper. It wasn't until just yesterday that you're true power shined through when you fought for the honor of your pokémon."
"I made my warning clear when people started talking about my pokémon behind my back," Takeru said, his anger beginning to bubble up at the memory of what happened to his Mothim.
"And you are in no way in the wrong to defend your pokémon in such a way," Katie reassured. "The Archangels know that not everything can be solved through peaceful negotiation, and that violence is a necessary sacrifice for the greater good. But after watching your battle, we know that you are everything the Archangels need amongst the Cherubim Rank."
"Cherubim," the bug trainer thought on. "A form of angel described in multiple sacred texts. Depicted as having four faces that show the different natures of the Almighty, they're considered the second highest in angelic hierarchy. You take this stuff seriously, I'll give you that."
"Such is our mission," Lucas said. "But for now, I believe that you have experienced enough of our showmanship. Katie will escort you to your room, and we will reconvene at noon for lunch," he said, the blond girl taking the bug trainer by his arm, and quickly walking him up one of the staircases.
As he walked up, Takeru looked back at the others, seeing the other nine members gather around their leader. He could see that they were talking, but the constant movement from Katie pulling him up the staircase made it hard to focus on their lip movements. So instead, he looked around the room, and found a security camera positioned in the far corner on the ceiling. He gave a small smirk, and disappeared into the hallway at the top of the stairs. After he was gone, the others looked back at Lucas as their leader refocused on them.
As the two walked through the corridor, the bug trainer could see there was something in Katie's eyes. It wasn't anything physical, but rather doubt in the way things were going.
"You're feeling bad that you, in effect, lied to me," Takeru said, walking on his own with his hands stuffed in his pockets, his back arched over, Katie about to say something, but found she couldn't. "People don't normally think of telling half-truths as telling a lie, but the faith you obviously follow has a bit of a different definition. Bearing false witness is the actual termed used, and it means that you are supposed to tell nothing but the truth without leaving details out of it. You didn't tell me what the actual purpose was outside of investigation; false witness."
"I am sorry for not being as perfect as I should strive to be," Katie admitted, walking towards one of the doors as she walked in, beckoning for Takeru to follow her. "But sadly, people always fall short of perfection, and we are bound to make mistakes in our lives. But there was a chance that you wouldn't have agreed to join us if we had told you the entire truth of our group. People usually only come to us willingly, so we've never had to entice another to come."
"Ah, don't worry about it," Takeru said quite passively. "You made what you thought was the best decision given the circumstances, and in the end it did work. I'm here, and I'm not trying to run away, so I'd say you've done well so far."
"Believe me, Takeru, we want nothing more for you and your friends to join the Archangels," Katie said as she and the bug trainer walked around the room. "But, sadly, not everyone has the same merits as you. On top of being intelligent and resourceful, you are also a powerful battler, and able to utilize your more negative emotions to your advantage."
"I've have practice," the dorm head said, taking a seat at the desk in the room, pulling out his computer from his bag, turning back to the young female trainer watching him. "Could I have some privacy? As calm as I may seem, there're still some things I need to work out with this."
"Of course, take as much time as you need," Katie said, closing the door softly as the bug trainer's eyes narrowed and immediately began typing at his laptop.
Hoping that she wouldn't be able to hear his quickening typing pace, Takeru continued scanning through the computer code coming at him at an increasingly faster speed as each second passed. And after pressing the final enter key after about a solid minute of nonstop typing, a screen appeared in front of him. From the angle, and the actual picture, it was most likely the feed from the security camera he managed to find before he was taken to his room.
He wasn't able to control the camera, nor was he able to increase the volume it picked sounds up at. So he had to make do with only his headphones for better sound quality. As he did, the others were joined again by Katie, looking as though she had no idea what he was doing earlier. Among them, only Lucas and Katie had their hoods off, the others staying hidden from sight.
"So, what are your first impressions?" Lucas asked on screen, Takeru already knowing who they were talking about. "I believe we have found somebody remarkable."
"Remarkable, perhaps, but he is far from perfect for our group," one of the members said. "Yesterday his Heracross was being commanded by nothing more than that trainer's rage. I'm not so sure it was a good idea to create that situation in the first place," they said, Takeru's eyes widening for a second.
"We were all in agreement at the time, and had no reason to fear his actual ability at commanding his pokémon," Lucas reminded. "Because of his focus on bug types, we also figured that even a pokémon such as a low leveled Geodude could prove challenging. In fact, he fared much better than any of us expected. The high Seraphim Council will most assuredly wish for his joining the Archangel Corps. Also, he is the only one to have any usable information on the Reaper. He is a very precious commodity."
"And Takeru is more than a simple tool for us to use at our whim," Katie spoke up, the others turning to her. "He is a kind and gentle trainer to his pokémon, and would do anything for them. If you are suggesting that he be brought into the Corps, I do think that he should be considered for the Cherubim Rank. He has all of the markers we would need to defeat the underground battlers, and protect the boy from their evil schemes."
"Yes, I agree," Lucas said, Takeru noticing the member from earlier not looking as impressed. "Our priority should be to have Takeru join us so that he may better protect Natsu Kohashigawa when the time is right," he continued, the bug trainer still listening as he began to relax in his chair, slightly surprised at how honest they were.
"But you promised that we would not force him to join if he didn't feel it suited him, remember," Katie brought up, Lucas nodding. "If he does join, I want it to be because he wants is, not because he forced it on him. I could only imagine how horrible an experience like that much be," she said, Takeru taking a moment to think on those words, leaning over into the desk.
"I don't have to imagine what that feels like," he said aloud, turning off the monitor, figuring there was nothing else he was going to learn from them just talking about him.
As he laid himself out on the bed in his room, Takeru reached into his pocket, and tossed whatever he grabbed into the air, a small explosion making way for his Heracross. The bug and fighting mix quickly looked on all sides of it, seeing that there wasn't anything that would force it to battle, so it moved to the corner, and took a seat. And for nearly two hours, that's how it stayed for them, neither of them moving at all with the exceptions of their breathing.
For the two of them, it was normal to not say anything in particular, not even the odd gesture to get the other's attention. Usually the only life in between them was brought by Mothim from its random flight pattern. Somehow it made the fact that his partner pokémon was attacked all the more painful for Takeru. Not having that one pokémon around seemed to change the entire mood around these two. And no matter how annoying it may have gotten with it constantly running into everything, both could agree…they missed Mothim.
Their reminiscence was cut short, however, when the sound of shattering glass rained down from the lower floor, the two of them quickly jumping up from their resting positions. Both pokémon and trainer immediately ran down the hallway towards the staircase, Heracross moving on ahead with a quick dash forward, reaching the stairwell long before Takeru would be able to get there.
"Just go! Make sure nobody's hurt!" Takeru shouted, Heracross nodding as the bug and fighting mix jumped onto the banister, and slid all the way down to the first floor. "Katie, Lucas! Is everything alright down there!" the bug trainer called out, waiting for some kind of reply.
"The Archangel Corps members tell no lies," he could hear Lucas answer back, his voice not as strong as Takeru's. "And in truth, we are nowhere near fine," he said, looking over in front of him, the sparking cheeks of a small, orange rodent scaring some of the others back as the small pokémon's devilish grin stared down at them. "Recall your pokémon!" Takeru suddenly heard Lucas shout out.
But before the bug trainer could react, he reached the top of the staircase and looked down to see his pokémon already deadlocked with the small electric pokémon. The fighting type's wide, swinging movements were easily dodged by the pokémon's small body. It'd gained such speed that Takeru was finding it to be a difficult task just to identify the darn thing. But as it bounced off of one of the statues in the room, knocking it to the ground from the rebound, Takeru was able to catch the slightest glimpse of the electric type Dedenne.
"Heracross, listen to me!" Takeru shouted, his pokémon getting sent back a few feet towards the staircase after coming into contact with the electric pokémon's cheeks. "Dedenne is part fairy type so even if you hit it with Brick Break, you won't do much damage. You have to adjust to the new protocols regarding fairy pokémon."
Not even turning back to look at its trainer, Heracross lowered its head, and charged directly at Dedenne, the mischievous little mouse sneering as it stared straight at the tip of Heracross' horn. Almost as though it disappeared, Dedenne dodged Takeru's attack and reappeared on Heracross' back, its cheeks beginning to charge with electricity. Without a single warning, both the smaller and larger pokémon were covered in blue bolts of electricity, only Dedenne seeming to be fine with the voltage.
After jumping off of Heracross, Dedenne landed on the ground in front of the other members of the Corps, Takeru watching his pokémon fall to the ground. The electric type's sneer seemed to be ever-present on its face as it looked directly up at Katie, the female member looking down at it with a cautious eye.
"Dios mio, you have bad manners, Dedenne," a voice said from the broken window, Takeru now realizing it was from the window at the very top of the room, a single, dark clothed figure standing in its wake. "My apologies," he said, jumping down from his perch, and joining his little troublemaker as it climbed up his shoulder. "I would introduce myself, but it would appear as though I am already known amongst this group," the figure said, tipping the front of his large sombrero.
"Of course we know who you are, Diablo!" Lucas said angrily, all eleven members brandishing their pokéballs as Takeru's Heracross stood back up, the underground battler's pokémon giving a loud raspberry to them all.
"Well, I can see you're not exactly going to be gracious hosts, are you?" he asked, obviously being much cockier than anyone else in the room. "I do not blame you, amigos. But, perhaps, you would rather think about your situation before you try to attack me? I am only here to give but a simple message to your newest amigo. Señor Sanjero has a long awaited appointment with a very special acquaintance of mine. The rest of you idiotas are of no consequence to me. So get out, or my little friend here will send you out."
"You dare to insult the Archangel Corps!?" one of the members shouted, throwing their pokéball directly at Diablo, the confident trainer not even batting an eye as Dedenne jumped from his shoulder and swatted the ball back with its tail. As the ball travelled back through the air, it struck the original trainer directly in the face, knocking him back to the ground, Dedenne landing comfortable on Diablo's shoulder, once again.
"So you can defeat one of us," Lucas started, the others all preparing to send out their pokémon, Takeru's Heracross ready to charge from behind. "But can you defeat us all at once?" he questioned, the rest of them throwing their capsules towards Diablo as he just seemed to yawn it off, barely even flinching as they all came at him.
"Con facilidad," he said haughtily, his Dedenne jumping back from his shoulder, Takeru quickly doing a calculation in his mind, his eyes snapping open as he looked down at his running pokémon.
"Heracross, scoop up!" he shouted, Diablo looking straight up at him as the bug and fighting type jumped directly into the air, Dedenne's body beginning to charge with lightning once more.
In one fluid motion, Heracross threw its entire body backwards, the curve of its horn quickly catching onto Dedenne's round body, catapulting it towards the window it obviously came down from. By the time the electricity was let out, the electric and fairy mix was already too high in the air to make contact with any of the other pokémon being let out of their pokéballs. However, its training had seemed to prepare it for this, Dedenne growling from the window as it grabbed onto the ledge with its tail, protecting it from the glass shards.
However, as Diablo turned around, he quickly found himself surrounded by eleven different pokémon, which soon became twelve as Heracross landed on the ground. In the front of the group was Katie's Ponyta and a steel and ghost mix pokémon, most likely from Lucas, in the form of a Doublade.
"I have waited so long for this moment," Lucas said, the twin swords of his pokémon quickly unsheathing, and crossing just in front of Diablo's neck, the underground battler placing his hands up as though he were surrendering. "Don't think you're getting off that easy, Diablo."
"Hmm, and I was hoping that there might be a chance of retribution from all of this crime I commit," he said, almost as though he were mocking them with his grin, his Dedenne still standing in the morning light cast from the hole in the window. "Guess you don't believe in second chances for the damned, do you, vato?"
"You aligned yourself with the ultimate evil in this world," Lucas declared. "You far beyond any kind of help we can give you. And therefore, it is the ruling of the Archangel Corps that judgment should be brought down upon you!"
"Wait!" Takeru shouted as he ran down the staircase. "Are you seriously saying you're going to kill him?" he asked, none of the other members looking away, their hearts steeled to do what they considered their duty. "You said you think he's only a kid. In any country, he can't be tried as an adult for what he's done. Besides, the only felonies he can only possible commit in his current status is neglectful conduct and vandalism. It's not as if he's a murderer or anything like that."
"Takeru, I understand your hesitance in this sort of activity as you have just been introduced to our group," Lucas stated, his Doublade's swords still getting closer to Diablo's skin. "But leniency because of age is not something that we can entertain. The fact remains that this is one of the most wanted men in all of Kalos, and nobody even knows his name. And I'm going to make him pay for every single pokémon he's hurt by fighting in that so-called ring," he said, Diablo clearing his throat as he looked at both of them. "What?"
"May the condemned say a few words before his final moment, por favor?" he asked, blinking several times with a wide smile on his face, Lucas sighing as he nodded. "Señor Sanjero, about the message I was supposed to send to you. I did say you were overdue for an appointment with an acquaintance, didn't I?" he asked, Takeru indeed remembering that. "Well, I do have an actual message for you, and I believe it said…'lights out'," he said with a grin, the entire room going completely dark the clanging of metal able to heard throughout the shadows.
The other members of the group started stumbling around in the darkness until they all converged around the light cast by Katie's Ponyta, returning each of their pokémon with the exception of Lucas' Doublade. As the lights came back on, the group looked around and saw there was no trace of Diablo or his Dedenne.
Seeing that he had lost his chance to end it all, Lucas turned angrily towards Takeru, the bug trainer blindsided by a swift punch to the jaw from the other student. As he fell to the ground, holding his cheek in slight pain, he looked up and saw that Lucas was far from happy with what had happened just now.
"I almost had him!" he shouted, Takeru getting back up to his feet, still standing over Lucas. "Two more seconds and I could've separated his head from his pathetic excuse for a body! Why on earth did you make me stop!?"
"Because an eye for an eye just leaves everyone blind," the bug trainer answered. "I don't approve of the actions of underground battlers, but punishment for a crime must be equal. All throughout that battle, his pokémon was never harmed, and you actually believed you could've killed him. It takes his Dedenne less than a second to charge with electricity, and then two seconds to discharge it. In the time it would've taken for your Doublade's swords to slice Diablo, his pokémon, from its perch could have electrocuted us all."
"That's impossible," Lucas said, beginning to move towards the staircases. "If that were the case, then that would mean that his pokémon actually care for him. And nobody could love something that evil."
"Don't be so naïve," Takeru said, the rest of the group looking back and forth between the two. "The bonds between pokémon are just like the reality of this world. Nothing is ever as black and white as you put it. There're shades of grey mixed in, and just because you believe that all pokémon are inherently benign doesn't mean they don't have their own personalities, their own desires, their own dreams. I do believe his Dedenne cares about Diablo, just like how any pokémon cares for his trainer."
"I'm starting to think you may not be the best fit for this group, Takeru," Lucas said as he began walking up the stairs. "All of you spread out and find him. A man like that wouldn't want to end his sadistic games so soon. Katie, take Takeru back to his room and don't let him out under any circumstances. He'll only endanger the mission if he gets involved. Move out!" he commanded, the others in the group all moving to different parts of the mansion, as Takeru was quickly pulled away by Katie back up the staircase.
By the time they'd reached his room, Takeru was seated at his desk, typing away at his computer as Katie and her Ponyta both stood at the door, making sure he wasn't going to try and escape. Using the reflection from his screen, Takeru was able to see that she was shivering, but the temperature in the room was moderate and the cloak, plus her other clothing kept her fairly warm. She was scared of something. For all that brave talk of help people in the world, when it finally came time to deliver on it, she was just as afraid as anyone.
Looking down where his Heracross was seated, the stoic pokémon only exchanged a look with its trainer, neither one of them quite sure what to say about this. But as he continued watching her through the small reflection, Takeru knew he couldn't stay quiet about it for very long.
"You know," he spoke up, Katie jumping up slightly when she heard his voice. "I was considering it for a while," he started, the fire trainer and her Ponyta looking at him curiously. "When you told me about how I was what you needed to protect Natsu-kun, I was considering joining your group. I'm not very good at talking to people, and I'm not exactly pleasant company to keep around, but if I could, even for one second help that kid out after all he's had to live through, I thought maybe I might do it."
"And when you saw the way Lucas was, you thought it wasn't a good fit, either," Katie continued, Takeru nodding as he continued typing. "He's really not a bad person, you know. And the rest of the Archangels aren't like that at all. Lucas' father was an underground battler, and when he was taken away, the last thing he ever heard from that man's throat was how much he hated Lucas. So, while I don't always think he has the best solutions, maybe…"
"Maybe I could see why he wanted to do something like that to arguably the most powerful battler in Kalos?" Takeru finished for her. "I still don't know all that much about Diablo as a battler, or as a person, but I know that he came after one of the other people from my school. And so far, he's the only one of those people who we've yet to conclusively defeat."
"He lives up to his reputation, I guess," the blond girl said with a light chuckle. "I'm sorry about how Lucas treated you, though, and I hope that you might consider joining us again if we can get out of this okay."
"The way you people view the world is no different than underground battlers in the first place," Takeru said without hesitation. "It's always in absolutes. There's never any room for something in between. If you're not one thing, then you're another. Before I even consider joining with a person who would gladly commit murder for his cause, what would you do if you found the Reaper?" he asked, moving aside as Katie looked at the screen, seeing a picture of the cloaked individual. "People used to give him the nickname 'Fear Incarnate' if my research is correct."
"I can see why," she said, pointing at the blank space where his head should've been. "It's like there's nothing in him. No mercy, no pain, no suffering, no kindness, just nothing. Can a person like that really be called a person in the first place?"
"Nevertheless, he is flesh and blood like you or I," Takeru reminded. "If you found him, and had the chance to end his existence, what do you think you would do, Katie?"
And with that, she froze in place, unsure of what to say as she just kept looking into the empty husk of the black figure on the screen. She began to imagine such a person lying on the ground with her Ponyta standing over him, its hoof about to smash his head in. And just as it was about to reach his temple, she stopped imagining it. She held her forehead in pain as she tried more and more to think what she would do to that sort of person, but found that in every situation, she just couldn't go through with killing him.
"I-I don't know what I'd do," she said, almost as though she were defeated. "Someone like that might not be able to be killed by someone like me. I know I tried to look all cool in front of you, but these people scare me to death. Lucas is the real hero among us, able to battle these people and make them confess to all of their sins."
"Oh, please," a voice suddenly rang out, both Takeru and Katie looking around the room, focusing on the computer screen again. "This Lucas kid is nothing more than a spoiled brat who wants revenge against his pathetic excuse for a father. He's not some dark, brooding comic book hero, and even then, that wouldn't make him look any better in my eyes," it continued, a picture beginning to appear on the screen, only for a single silhouette to be featured.
"Who are you, and how did hijack this frequency?" Takeru asked, quickly sitting down at his computer, typing at his keys as the person in front of them did the same.
"Please don't insult me, Takeru-kun," the voice continued, the static from the computer making it hard to determine if they were male or female. "I've already been able to hack through your systems from when you turned on your computer, and hacked into the security cameras. By the way, care to watch a little show?" they asked, Katie in horror as she watched two of the other members from her group in a battle with Diablo, the fairy trainer's Dedenne moving like a literally bolt of lightning across the screen.
The other two, with their pokémon, a Noctowl and an Altaria, were trying their best, attempting to dodge the small electric type's movements, but found it moved too quickly even for the flying types. And with that keyword in mind, Dedenne rebounded off of the ceiling, and within seconds to entire hallway was filled with an electrical discharge that shut off the camera, leaving only static on the screen with the silhouette reappearing on Takeru's monitor.
"Oops, guess we'll have to find another angle to do this from," the voice said, Takeru able to hear how many times the keyboard on the other end was being typed at, amazed at the speed of the other person. "There, how's that?" they asked, leaning over to the screen as Takeru and Katie watched again with Diablo's Dedenne moving in closer to the other two pokémon.
"Care to surrender, my weak little friends, or do I have to clip your wings as well?" Diablo asked, the camera at the far end of the hall able to catch the evil smirk on the electric and fairy mix's face.
"We would give our lives to the Archangel Corps," one of the members proudly stated, the electrical attack having even affected the two of them, Dedenne's cheeks beginning to spark up as it snickered.
"Lo siento," the Spanish trainer apologized. "But I am not interested in murdering any one of these pathetic excuses for battlers, so I will just have to have you sleep for the rest of the day. Buenos noches," he said with a large smile, Dedenne releasing another blast of electrical energy, electrocuting both the pair of pokémon and trainers until they were unconscious.
"He took them down so easily," Katie said horrified, Takeru still watching as Dedenne ran up to the camera at the far end of the corridor, and jumped up so it was right in the path of the lens.
With a loud raspberry sound, the electric type attacked the camera's wiring, and shut it off just like the last one, Takeru doing in his best to get at another one before the other hacker came back onto the screen. But just as he was about to get to the next one, the not so friendly sight reappeared, the bug trainer watching the figure, trying to notice anything he could about their identity.
"Ah, why do you always have to try so hard, Takeru-kun?" the voice asked. "In effect, most of this is your fault in the first place. Diablo was just having a nice visit back to his hometown when he gave me a call, and told me all about your little escapade with your new girlfriend," they said, neither Katie nor Takeru amused by that in the slightest. "But then, you've always been pretty popular with girls, haven't you? Everyone at your old school loved the smart little bug boy with his Mothim always running into the teacher during class. How many girls confessed to you in sixth grade, again? A dozen? Two dozen? Maybe that's why you and Kaoru-kun get along so well, you've always had a way with the ladies," the voice continued to taunt, Takeru trying more and more to notice anything that might help.
"So, tell me, why do you care so much about my love life, anyway?" he asked, trying to stall for time as his eyes kept moving in all directions. "And why did you call Katie my new girlfriend? How do you know if I even had another to begin with? I sure don't remember anything like that," he said, the figure suddenly trembling, seemingly in anger as the bug trainer's eyes quickly focused on that one gesture. "Now I know who you are."
"Cute, Takeru-kun," the voice said as they stood up, Takeru's eyes following the curvatures of the person's body, indicating she was female. "But we all know you had that other sweetheart a long time ago. What was her name again? Something that started with an E wasn't it?"
"I know what you're trying to do," Takeru said, typing away at his keyboard, Katie noticing that the frame was starting to come more into focus. "You're trying to distract me with thoughts about my past so I can't perform as well. Well, as much as I hate to break this to you, I don't let my emotions get the better of me. They only act as fuel."
"So you say, but even should my tactic fail, I always have a few safeguards," the girl on the other end said as the picture and voice became crystal clear, both Takeru and Katie jumping back in surprise at the sight the saw. "I'd rather not spoil the view of my own face, but for the purposes of my own protection, I suppose this is more than necessary," she said, the only part of her face visible being her eyes, a similar amber color to Takeru's. The rest of it was hidden behind a ghastly looking mask that reminded the two watching of a Vulpix or Ninetales.
"So, I take it you're the one I have an appointment with?" Takeru asked, the girl on the other end chuckling as she flicked some of her dark colored hair out of her face.
"Precisely, my old friend," she confirmed, Takeru figuring that she must've had either a confident or angry expression on her face. "While the underground is fairly idiotic by giving us these codenames, I do believe mine is more than fitting for my role within this little group. You may call me the Phantom," she said, Takeru not budging at the sound of that name, but knew exactly what it meant.
"More like a poltergeist," he said in return. "You've taken control of the lighting in this house, and hijacked the camera frequencies. You've turned this mansion into your own little funhouse."
"But how can she do something like that?" Katie asked, keeping to the door in case Diablo tried to get through the door. "Nothing in this house is run by computer hardware."
"Your girlfriends keep getting dumber, don't they, Takeru-kun?" Phantom taunted. "Or else she'd be able to know that you can wire anything to a universal transceiver. To put it in the smallest and most basic terms for your benefit, girl, I can turn my computer into a universal remote, light switch, or anything I want it to be. Diablo is quite the master of sleight of hand, wouldn't you agree, Takeru-kun?" she continued mocking as Takeru just stared straight on, his eyes the only thing moving on his face.
"When he entered the house through the window, it'd be like throwing a Velcro toy at a sheet of cotton," he explained. "But since he couldn't guarantee that the connection could be made, his Dedenne's Discharge attack made it all too easy to create an alternate power source for your computer to connect to. You make quite the pair, I'll give you that."
"Perhaps, but I'd much rather pair with someone a bit more on my level intellectually," the Phantom replied. "Somebody a bit more like you, Takeru-kun."
"Sorry, you could say I'm spoken for," the bug trainer said, tapping at his keys again before hitting the enter key. "And you are now offline."
As soon as the code he had been writing since the beginning of the conversation, Katie noticed that the picture on the screen was beginning to look less and less in focus, and in fact seemed to be disappearing. The two then noticed that Phantom's eyes seemed to be getting desperate, typing at her keyboard like mad to keep her connection strong.
"I wouldn't try it, that code had at least four different encryptions on it, and each one is specific to my own style of programming," Takeru said, noticing that Phantom had stopped trying, and just looked at the screen. "You'd have to know everything about me in order to even attempt to understand how to crack that code."
"Good to know," Phantom said, her face appearing back on the screen just as in focus as it was from before, a smug look in her eyes as she gleamed at Takeru through her mask. "You really should do your homework if you want to win at a game like this, Takeru-kun. And just so you know, things are going to get a lot tougher for you," she taunted, Takeru looking around the room. "I wouldn't be much of a Phantom if I couldn't cause a little pain here and there."
Thinking on that for a second, Takeru's eyes shot out of his head, shouting at Heracross, the bug type quickly lunging forward at Katie, knocking her out of the room, quickly locking the door to keep her from coming back in. All Takeru could hear was her banging on the door, her Ponyta looking like it was about to knock it down from the hallway.
"I need things to be a bit quieter if I'm going to beat this woman at her own game!" Takeru shouted, Katie looking a bit confused. "So I need you to see if you can hold off Diablo, even if just for a bit!" he explained, Katie's eyes shooting out of her head at that. "If I can get her out of the system, maybe it'll deter him from staying. The only reason he can be moving so easily in this place is if she's giving him the plans for the mansion. Every secret passage, every bookcase, ever single secret about this place is his if she is willing to give it up."
"I can't fight a person like Diablo!" Katie shouted back. "I'm not like you, Takeru. I've never had to battle this kind of people before."
"That story you guys told me was about your family was given the opportunity to make this world safer for both pokémon and people, without worrying about people like Diablo or Phantom," Takeru said. "If you're ancestors could see you now, afraid of fulfilling what you believe to be right, do you think they'd be smiling or disappointed," he said, beginning to type at his computer, trying not to let the obvious other figure in the room distract him as it came up to him. "Everyone is afraid of something, and it's only by facing up to those fears that we can actually begin to live our lives. Do what you have to."
"O-Okay," Katie said, hesitantly walking down the hallway, sticking to the walls as though to distance herself as much as possible from any meeting with Diablo. "Be safe, Takeru."
"No wonder the girls love you so much, Takeru-kun," Phantom mocked. "You always get to act as the tall, dark hero. Truthfully, I think you'd be a much better opponent for the Don than that brat Natsu-kun. He's more like a lost baby pokémon you find in a cardboard box. You could intimidate anyone into submission."
"Let's see if you're right," Takeru said, cracking his knuckles before typing like mad at his keyboard, Phantom doing the same as a pokémon aside from Heracross quickly jumped up at the bug trainer.
Not even hesitating in the slightest, Takeru took in a deep breath and let out a sigh as he turned his head, still able to type perfectly at the sight of his Heracross holding back the enemy pokémon, most likely Phantom's. It was also a pokémon Takeru remembered from back during the summer months, when the rest of the dorm heads were playing that night game. When attacked, he could only see it for a second, but now, seeing it again, he knew what kind of pokémon he was dealing with.
Wrapped in what looked like blue bandages, the pokémon's reddish pink head was decorated with a four pointed star on its forehead and a pair of black, beady eyes. A pokémon that Takeru might've even trained himself, Accelgor was a lightning fast pokémon, and well able to take down Heracross. Holding true to this, the pure bug type quickly flipped Heracross over its head, and threw it to the ground, the bug and fighting type landing against the locked door.
"Stay on your toes, Heracross, Accelgor is one of the fastest bug pokémon in the world," Takeru said, the fighting mix nodding as it stared down Accelgor, the tip of its horn shining in a brilliant light.
With a single charge forward, Heracross slashed its horn at Accelgor, the bug pokémon dodging it with ease, and then quickly appearing behind Takeru's pokémon. With a single breath in, Accelgor's body began to release a strange liquid that quickly covered Heracross' body. Noticing this out of the corner of his eye, Takeru grinded his teeth, knowing that the Toxic move it used was only going to make things tougher on all of them.
Outside of his room, on the main floor, Katie was looking all around her with a very conflicted mind. She could stay and fight Diablo should he come, or she could run right out the front door, and never look back. By this point, she was terrified of this person and the wicked look on his pokémon's face. As she looked back towards the front door, and even began to move towards it, a large explosion was heard from one of the back rooms, Lucas and his Doublade running out into the open, Diablo stepping forward with a small box being tucked into his coat.
"What did you take!?" Lucas shouted, his Doublade's swords already drawn.
"Nothing of consequence to you," Diablo replied, his Dedenne's cheeks already sparking. "But since the two of you are the only ones I've yet to beat, I'm sure my employers don't mind me getting a bit of exercise in beforehand. Dedenne, let's have some fun with them," he said, his pokémon chuckling evilly as it walked towards them, the rounded body of it making the fact it was so serious almost amusing.
"What do we do, Lucas?" Katie asked, her Ponyta standing in front of her.
"We fight him no matter what," the other member said as they suddenly heard a knock at their door.
For a while, nobody did anything, Diablo shrugging his shoulders as Dedenne began to pick up a scent in the air, and immediately began running back to him. As the electric type crawled up its trainer's back, the four heard the banging outside getting louder, harder, and progressively stronger until the door was nearly ripped off its hinges with a metal face now in the doorway.
"Next time, wait for them to come to the door first," a rather annoyed voice said as three people with their pokémon stepped through the doorway. "Just because they don't always come right away doesn't they're not coming, June."
"Hey, if they were gonna come, I would've waited," the steel trainer said as the others noticed a bit of a concerned smile on Diablo's face, seeing that both Kaname and Kaoru were on either side of her. "Besides, there's a naughty boy here that needs a spanking from me," she said as she pounded her fist into her palm, Diablo letting out a nervous chuckle.
"Hola?" he said unsure of himself, quickly jumping over her Lairon as it attempted to charge at him. "Now, see here, June, my love, you can't just talk about spanking somebody, and then throw a metal tank at them. It sends mixed signals."
"How about these signals?" Kaname questioned, his Sableye jumping into the air, slashing at Diablo and his pokémon with its Shadow Claw attack, almost ripping through some of his clothing before it was recalled.
"So, this is the guy you were telling me about," Kaoru said, his Pansage jumping down from his shoulder as Dedenne did the same. "As much as I prefer to battle two-on-two, I can't let someone like you throw a wrench in June-chan's relationship with Natsu-kun," he said, his normal smile on his face as June went completely red at what he brought up, still not having told him the truth of the matter. "So that's why, I think you and I should have a little talk."
"Forget it," Lucas said. "The Archangel Corps reserves the right to defeat the underground battlers. Get ready, Doublade," he started, looking like he was about to attack, but fell to his knees from having already battled previously, the steel and ghost mix also finding it difficult to stay afloat.
"Yeah, I'll believe that when you show me something," the grass trainer said with his normal smile. "So what do you say, amigo? Ready to tango?"
"Well, if you so insist on a double battle," Diablo started, tossing a second ball in the air with his Togekiss coming out, a gentle sneer on its face that Kaoru almost seemed to mimic. "Show me what you've got."
"Pansage, let's have a bit of fun," Kaoru started, dropping his second pokéball to the ground. "If you want to use fairy types, I'd be more than happy to oblige. Whimsicott, let's do this," he continued, a small brown colored pokémon with a large tuft of white cotton enveloping most of its body appearing out of the light, showing a much gentler personality as opposed to Pansage. "You can still back out if you want to. I won't think any less of you."
"Vamos," Diablo said as both teams of pokémon jumped straight towards each other as the others just watched, waiting for everything to run its course.
Back in his room, Takeru tried his best to stay entirely focused on the task in front of him, trying to take away any access to information from Phantom as the female trainer just beamed straight on, never once looking down at her keyboard. On top of this, Takeru was being forced to work around both his and Phantom's pokémon fighting in the background, Heracross constantly having to find a way to bring the battle back around to it.
But there was another reason Takeru was having a harder time than usual, trying to hack back through the systems. And it had to do with each time he glanced up from his work to look at the trainer in front of him. To anyone else, it would just seem strange she was wearing the mask, but it was as if Takeru could see through the mask and see the person herself. It was as if it were slow torture for him, having to constantly look back and forth from his codes while having to look at that face in the upper corner of his screen.
Meanwhile, it was clear that Phantom loved this, never stating it outright, but in the way her eyes watched Takeru while never having to look at her own coding. And also, something about watching the pokémon battle in the background while the sweat appearing on Takeru's brow was becoming more and more apparent.
"I forgot how cute you were when you got serious, Takeru-kun," she said, Takeru not responding, knowing it would only encourage her. "It must be so horrible to have to watch your pokémon get the stuffing beat out of it, and I'm not even in the room with mine. Guess absence does make the heart grow fonder."
"Funny," Takeru finally broke down. "I've been trying to forget you the past few years," he said, seeing no physical change in Phantom's face, but it was clear something was starting to agitate her. "I can't think of her as what she once was. I have to think of this as a battle like any other. But instead of pokémon and attacks being used, I'm battling her with only my codes. When she uses one code, I use one that takes little damage, and when she has a firewall up, I use a code that's super effective."
"Let me guess," Phantom started. "You're using your little, 'pretend a hack is a battle' trick? Don't get me wrong, it's a cute idea. But for a battle against me, you'd be like a Jigglypuff against a Nidoking."
For a moment, Takeru froze, his codes finally stopping as he saw Phantom take her hands away from the keys as well. "Why did you join that kind of person? You didn't use to be this way."
"I'd never been betrayed like that before," the girl said, the two of them turning their attention to the two pokémon battle, Accelgor dodging underneath one of Heracross' attacks, and quickly kicking up from underneath it. "Accelgor reminds me of you in so many ways, Takeru-kun. He notices things that nobody else does, he knows how to respond to anything, but unlike you, he's stayed loyal to the ones he originally trusted. Now what are you going to do, protect that wimp Natsu by joining a bunch of religious nutjobs?"
"I thought about it," Takeru said, Heracross swinging both of its forearms at Accelgor, the pure bug type still showing it had a clear advantage. "I thought if there was a way I could help someone like him, then I shouldn't hesitate."
"But because you are hesitating, you have doubts about protecting him, don't you?" Phantom asked, Takeru not saying anything as he just leaned over in his chair.
"There's a strong chance what I think about Natsu is true," Takeru started. "If he is what I think he is, then there's no point in protecting him. He can take care of himself. He's shown me that time and time again. I have no reason to protect him."
As the two pokémon battled some more, Heracross looked over at Takeru, and saw the depressed look in his eyes as he stared down at the floor, his eyes no longer moving. Out of pure rage, the bug and fighting type made a single lunge at Accelgor, the other bug pokémon easily seeing through it as it struck down on Heracross from above.
The two had battled for so long, and Heracross had already taken so much punishment, the final attack was more than enough to force it unconscious. Seeing its distraction had been defeated, Accelgor quickly moved to strike Takeru, a sneer noticeable in the eyes of Phantom. But before the final move could be made, the bug trainer stood up and stared directly into Accelgor's attack.
"That's enough, Accelgor," he said, speaking with as much authority in his voice as he could muster, the bug pokémon suddenly freezing. "We are done here," he said, turning around to his computer, typing faster than he ever had before, Phantom looking down at her screen and saw that hundreds of error messages were popping up.
"W-What are you doing? How are you doing this!?" she asked, almost looking like she were trapped in the computer screen itself.
"Hackers have signatures that they live by, they never deviate from them, and when they do, it's because their hand has been forced," Takeru started, Accelgor looking at the bug trainer in amazement. "I have at least fifteen different hacking styles hidden away in this stupid brain of mine, and I'm going to use all of them at once to shut you down, Phantom. The Archangels are right to think of underground battlers as a dangerous crew, because in the end, the only people in there are the ones who want to be there. That logic cannot be refuted."
"It's impossible, you taught me everything I know, there's no way there's a code of yours that I don't know!" Phantom shouted back. "Accelgor, take him down!" she shouted, the bug pokémon taking the order, about to strike Takeru until something got caught on its face.
With its large, decorated wings, one of them bandaged, Takeru's Mothim tackled the other bug pokémon to the ground, quickly taking back into the air while shooting off multiple Air Slash attacks. Because of its random flight pattern, and its injured wing beats, it became impossible for Accelgor to dodge all of the attacks and was quickly caught up by a few of them, sending it into the wall. While all of this was happening, Takeru was finished up his code as Phantom continued to type against him.
"You are right, Phantom," Takeru started, putting the finishing touches on his program. "But there's one thing I never taught you…," he said as Phantom looked up, her mask about to fall from her face. "Everything I know."
After hitting the enter key, Takeru's screen went completely dark. He let out a large sigh of relief as he pressed the escape key, and his desktop returned to his monitor. Seeing that its trainer was no longer within range, Accelgor looked to Takeru, the bug trainer sharing its gaze as it zoomed out of the window, the glass shattering behind it.
Letting out another relieved breath, Takeru was now finally able to hear the battle that was currently raging in the downstairs common area. As he quickly ran down the hallway, his Heracross already returned and his Mothim latched onto his head, Takeru stood at the top of the staircase watching the two teams of pokémon battling, noticing that Kaoru's Pansage was actually able to hold its own against Diablo's Dedenne.
Amidst the battle, the pure grass type jumped into the air, and landed behind Dedenne, throwing its hands outward with a barrage of green colored spheres shooting at the small electric type. Seeing the attack coming at it, Dedenne quickly jumped into the air, dodging it with ease, but couldn't see that Whimsicott was already directly behind it. Looking back to see the pokémon's gentle smile, Dedenne tried to attack but was quickly caught by the grass and fairy mix's Energy Ball attack.
Seeing that it's back was turned, Togekiss quickly shot upwards into the sky, its body beginning to cloak itself in light, preparing itself to use a Sky Attack. Turning to look back at it, Whimsicott smiled again as Pansage was already behind the fairy and flying type, swinging its tail directly into one of the statues lining the room. As the marble figure crumbled, the created Rock Slide battered down on the white pokémon, and almost brought it down to the ground.
As both assaults were finished, both Whimsicott and Pansage landed on the ground together, Diablo looking up to see Kaoru still smiling at him, but like before with his teacher, it was a different kind of smile. The kind of smile that you make when you have proven yourself stronger than somebody, and then relish in it. That was the smile on Kaoru's face.
"It was a mistake of yours to challenge Kao-kun to a double battle," June said from behind, her Lairon snorting at Diablo as Kaname stood on the right hand side of him. "Last year at our school festival, he took first place in the Double Battle Competition. Of course it was only because I didn't want to do it. And to think, he didn't even have to evolve his Pansage for this."
"Normally I wouldn't mind the slam," Diablo said, his shoulders hung over a bit depressed. "But hearing it from you, señorita, makes it hurt much worse. Dedenne, don't you think it's time you stop humoring that smiling idiot?" he asked, the electric type's sneer returning as it seemed to disappear without a trace, the grass trainer still smiling.
As Pansage looked on both sides of it, the small grass type felt a light tap on its shoulder, turning around as it felt a strange touch on its cheek. Seeing that it had connected with Dedenne's, Pansage made a face that could only mean "I hate you," and was thrown across the room with the electricity shooting out from the electric type's pouches.
Rushing in to help its partner, Whimsicott was quickly caught from behind by Togekiss ramming it with enough speed to rival a moving truck. But the grass type's punishment didn't end there as Whimsicott looked up, and saw both of Diablo's pokémon standing over it like a couple of thugs.
"Whimsicott, you gotta get out of there!" Kaoru shouted, his smile still present, but it was the kind that wanted to say he didn't want to look, or believe his pokémon was going to get hurt like that. "Pansage, you doing okay over there?"
Hearing its trainer's voice, the pure grass type shot its eyes open, and then held its hand out. Seeing that it was prepared, Kaoru nodded and smirked as it threw something from his bag out over the makeshift field. Seeing it flying over his head, Diablo turned around, and watched as it landed in Pansage's hand.
"Are you seriously telling me that you want your pokémon to take a lunch break, right now?" the fairy trainer asked in disbelief, seeing that there was a strangely shaped berry now in the grass type's hand. "I've done my research on your, Kaoru, and I know that your parents work as herbalist, using berry fusions to mix certain medicines and cures. But even a berry like that isn't going to help you in the slightest."
"It's called a Petaya Berry," Kaoru explained. "Normally, when eaten, the natural juices and energy enhancers in it will increase a pokémon's special attack power until the berry is digested, but in my case, my Pansage is trained to use berries in a different way," he explained, his smile growing wider and wider as Diablo looked back, and saw that the grass type was begin to convulse after eating the berry.
"You two, watch that monkey," Diablo cautioned, Dedenne leaving Togekiss as the flying type made sure to keep Whimsicott down.
As Pansage clenched its eyes shut, feeling the natural energy of the berry working through its system, Diablo noticed a small light beginning to appear in its fingertips. And within another second, its fists erupted into a brilliant purple aura with the grass type smirking just like its trainer did.
"This is my tactic…," Kaoru started with a large smile. "…Natural Gift. Pansage, take them out!" he commanded, his pokémon suddenly running directly at Dedenne, no longer afraid of the electric mouse's capabilities.
Acting on pure instinct, Dedenne charged up its electricity, and shot it in a straight line at Pansage, Kaoru's partner jumping out of the way, and, like an acrobat, flipped through the air, and smashed one of its fists down onto the electric and fairy mix. Suddenly Diablo noticed that it looked like it was in an even more intense pain that what it had went through before, finally connecting the dots together on what the colored aura meant.
"Natural Gift is a move that requires a pokémon to eat a single berry," Kaoru explained, Pansage punching Dedenne again, only this time, sending it flying towards the doorway. "With that in mind, after consumption, the attack's enzymes break down the energy enhancers and bring out a specific element to be used as opposed to the berry's original effect. And different types of berries have varying levels of power depending on how strong their enhancers are. I just fed my pokémon the strongest poison carrying berry on earth."
"Interesting move, but it still won't help," Diablo said, motioning to his Togekiss as the flying type flapped its wings once and was already in the air overlooking Pansage. "Aura Sphere, shut it down!" he commanded, the flying and fairy mix quickly launching a ball of energy at Pansage at an incredible speed. A speed Pansage couldn't hope to dodge.
"Whimsicott, give 'em the Hurricane!" Kaoru ordered, his cotton covered pokémon able to jump up into the air, and began running around in a giant circle over and over again, the wind speed in the room beginning to pick up.
As the wind started to become more visible, creating a small funnel cloud, the gusts picked up the Aura Sphere attack, and began to spiral it downward, Whimsicott closing its eyes shut as the attack exploded upon impact. While taking less damage than Pansage would've been able to, Whimsicott's attack slowly disappeared as Togekiss and Dedenne both began walking back towards Pansage, the pokémon's fists still glowing the brilliant purple lighting.
With Whimsicott too tired to fight anymore, Kaoru conceded his pokémon, and returned it to its pokéball, leaving only his single Pansage to go up against two pokémon from one of the strongest trainers in the region. But, for some reason, Pansage didn't seem so afraid, and just pounded its fists together, knowing the other two would be hesitant to go near it.
"Kaoru," Takeru said from above. "Your attack has a minute and a half until it dissipates, you have to use that time wisely, or that's just going to be a bad waste of a Petaya."
"Thanks for the heads-up, Takeru-kun," Kaoru said as he smiled back at Diablo, his Pansage quickly lunging forward, Togekiss getting the brunt of the assault as the grass type punched at it several times with little sign of it letting up.
But two against one doesn't make for good odds as Dedenne came up from behind and bashed into Kaoru's pokémon, its body still charged with electricity. As the grass type fell forward a little bit, it turned back around and saw that the Natural Gift's power was beginning to weaken. Seeing that for themselves, Dedenne and Togekiss got on either side of Pansage and began circling around the near helpless pokémon.
As it tried to punch at one of them, Pansage was attacked in one of its blind spots, Diablo's smile returning, but found that Kaoru's had never left in the first place. Even throughout all of this, the trainer was smiling at the sight of his pokémon being attacked helpless.
"I can see why your nickname used to be the 'Smiling Devil'," he said, Kaoru not looking up at him and was only focused on Pansage, holding something in his pocket, fiddling with it in his fingers. "So tell me, what would it take to see something different from you?"
"I couldn't say," Kaoru responded. "I've forgotten how to do anything but smile," he said, snickering at Diablo's reaction. "But if there's one thing I'll never forget how to do. It's how to trust what people gave me," he said, holding up a small stone from his pocket, Diablo squinting his eyes through his mask and saw a green leaf pattern on the front. "Honestly, I didn't want to have to evolve my pokémon because it was weaker than somebody else's. But people like you, Diablo, make me sick. You squander the responsibilities of having a pokémon by making them fight in such a barbaric way, and you constantly think of new ways to break them into sadistic tools," he said, placing the stone on the ground, both of Diablo's pokémon looking over at him. "I've had my Pansage for only ten years. Him and my Whimsicott. But I only evolved my Whimsicott because I wanted to, and now I can see that sometimes, evolution is a need."
Without an order from their trainer, Togekiss and Dedenne charged at Kaoru before he could get the Leaf Stone to his pokémon. But something seemed to snap in Pansage for a second as it became almost as fast as the electric type had been, standing in between them and its trainer. Seeing it was trying to protect him, Kaoru smiled at him and held up the stone as though in offering.
"Your choice, bud," Kaoru said as Pansage looked in between the stone and the two pokémon about to attack. Without another thought, the grass type kicking the stone out of Kaoru's hand, and sent it flying through the air up and over its head. "Go get 'em."
With that, Pansage caught the stone, and was immediately cast in a bright, white light. As it covered him, Kaoru's smile grew more and more with Dedenne and Togekiss seeming to be frozen in place, just watching in amazement. This was something that the electric type would never experience, and maybe in that way, it made it slightly jealous.
But as Pansage grew in the light, it stomped one foot on the ground, and with a mighty call, thumped on its chest with a new form to call its own: Simisage. By this point, the newly evolved pokémon wasted no time in testing its new power, taking a small Oran Berry from its trainer pouch without even looking at him.
Never taking its eyes off of the other two pokémon, Simisage crunched down on only a single bite of the berry, its hands already cloaked in the purple aura from before, but noticeably weaker than the Petaya Berry. And after the berry was all but consumed, Simisage let out another wild yell before quickly going straight for Togekiss. With a single punch, the fairy and flying type was sent flying through the sky until it hit the ceiling.
The impact from the sudden stop quickly sent Togekiss into unconsciousness, Diablo holding out his hand to the side to return his pokémon to its ball. And with that, the two trainers each had a single pokémon out: Diablo's sadistic Dedenne and Kaoru's newly evolved Simisage. The grass type made the first move, giving a single punch directly at Dedenne, but was easily dodged with its larger size comparatively. And while underneath its opponent, Dedenne erupted its entire body into an electrical discharge, Simisage easily feeling the pain from that assault.
That, combined with the attacks it had taken before, forced Kaoru's pokémon to one knee, Simisage trying its best to stay up and ready to fight, its opponent having taken barely any damage whatsoever.
"This is a losing battle, Kaoru," Diablo said, his small hellion ready to fight some more, showing off some of its excess electrical power. "My Dedenne is able to power this big of a mansion for a week until it starts to lose its power. A battle like this can be counted only as a decent workout," he said, Kaoru still smiling as he shrugged his shoulders.
"I think you're right," Kaoru said, his Simisage slowly walking past Dedenne, taking its trainer's side. "But you can't deny that I could have won if I had evolved Pansage before the battle. I guess I just wanted to look cool in front of my friends."
"I wouldn't know what that feels like," Diablo said, turning his head slightly to see June still wary of him. "But the fact remains that I have what I came for, and this was nothing more than mere enjoyment. So thanks for the fun time, berry boy. Adios," he said, Lucas finally having regained his strength, attempting to catch him, but was too late as Diablo seemed to have disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Argh, I almost had him," Lucas said disgruntled.
"Had you grabbed onto him, his pokémon would have electrocuted you on its own whim," June said. "You have no idea how much that pokémon cares about its trainer."
"I will never accept someone like that having a pokémon that loves him," Lucas said turning to Kaoru, the grass trainer looking over his new friend, Simisage loving the fact he was much stronger than he was before. "Kaoru Hayashi, you are indeed a powerful battler, and with proper training, I do believe that you could become a fine addition to the Archangel Corps. What do you say?" he asked, turning to the other dorm head, extending his hand in welcome.
"I say go suck a lemon," Kaoru said, turning back to his pokémon. "I'm not in the same world as you guys, or in the same world as my friends, anymore. Something's been happening with them over in Unova that I'm not a part of. So I'm not joining any cause, or getting myself waist-deep in some kind of cult. I'll help out when I'm needed, but this isn't something I was supposed to be involved with. I only wanted to thank Takeru-kun for the Leaf Stone he gave me."
And with that, everyone looked back up at Takeru, the bug trainer watching over them, not even noticing a painting of an angel doing the same to a regular mortal. So many things had happened that day, and yet, so many questions remained. Who truly was the woman on Takeru's computer? What was it that Diablo took from the mansion? And were the Archangels really trying to do all the good that they claimed to be doing?
It was about a week later when Takeru saw Kaoru again, the grass trainer having to stay with both of his pokémon after their long battle with Diablo. As they passed each other in the hallway, Kaoru turned back to Takeru, noticing that Mothim's wing was all healed up.
"Hey, Takeru-kun," he started, the bug trainer turning around as he looked back at his classmate. "Why did you give me the Leaf Stone in the first place? Were you that worried something was going to happen over the weekend?"
"I wasn't worried about something happening at all," Takeru answered, Kaoru looking at him unconvinced. "I knew something was going to happen," he said, Kaoru looking at him a bit surprised. "Normally I would trust my secrets with somebody like Maaya or Mitsuta-san, but since neither is around, the logical choice would fall on somebody who knows the area, knows the locals, and has enough skill to battle anyone without preparation. You are the only one that falls under all parameters."
"Is that the only reason?" Kaoru asked.
"No," Takeru said blankly as he walked into his room, Kaoru shrugging his shoulders as he continued moving through the hall. "You were the only I could fully trust, my friend," he said with a smile, opening up his laptop as he began typing, a video message suddenly showing up on his screen. Looking around on both sides to make sure nobody was going to be able to watch, he accepted the call.
"I assume everything is under control?" a warbled voice said as Takeru answered yes.
"I am working on finding out what Diablo took from the mansion and for what purpose," Takeru answered, both of his pokémon joining him in the frame. "When I am done with that investigation, I will resume working on the Reaper's identity as you have wished."
"Excellent," the voice responded. "The Council is pleased with your work, Archangel Takeru."
"I am merely pleased to help save this world, High Seraphim," Takeru said, turning his hat around, a symbol of two angelic wings on the front: the mark of the Archangels.
Characters:
Takeru Sanjero: Mothim, and Heracross. Moth's Aflame
Diego Martinez: Dedenne, and Togekiss. NightFall00
June Kurosaki: Lairon, Skarmory, and Klefki. Lady Island Rose
Kaname Misaki: Sableye, and Absol. Ariesbird
Kaoru Hayashi: Simisage, and Whimsicott. JJun
Chapter Thirty Six Complete: Ah, I feel so evil right now. Quite honestly, I think sometimes the pokémon characters have more personality than the human ones. I know it may not seem that way for you, but for me it does. Especially pokémon like Takeru's Mothim or Diego's Dedenne. Those two are easily tied for my favorite pokémon in this story. But as for this chapter, there you go. Quite a bit happening, so I hope you guys didn't get too lost, but to recap, we got the Archangels, we had their run-in with Diablo, we had Phantom, Takeru vs. Phantom, Kaoru vs. Diablo, and so and so forth. I won't mention the ending in case you're one of those people who likes to read ahead to just get things over and done with. And if you are I digress, and now for that announcement.
So you heard me talking earlier about how I sometimes love the pokémon characters more than the human ones. Well, in case you don't feel the same way, I'm actually considering writing a story depicting just that. I haven't made a final decision yet, but for the most part it would simply be a story narrated by the different pokémon characters from HDD. Essentially, a short story series that a lot of manga have when you have a convoluted plot with a lot of different characters. These are usually used to bring characters into the spotlight that haven't been given much time to themselves, or who haven't had their pasts explored as much as others. If I do decide to write one, it would probably be up within a week, but if you any comments, feelings, thoughts, or concerns about that kind of story, let me know in the reviews or as a PM if you so desire. Thanks for reading this chapter, and until we meet again, ja na.