Chapter 37

Jaylon, Vekra, and Hiku, joined by Rin and Caprico, were all standing together, trying to make sense of all of this.

"So there were two Raquazas, and one got killed? Now we've got a traitor running back to his boss and we all are doomed?" Hiku fretted.

"I already knew that there were two Raquaza's." Vekra, even during this time of confusion and terror, liked to act superior a little. "But why a traitor did sprout up in the first place is what I'd like to know. Atri was a captain, and a shy person at that. How could he turn around and kill his leader and side with people of genocide?" the blonde teen narrowed her eyes in thought.

"And Kasmir, what happened to him?" Jaylon liked the Legendary Pokémon possibly the most of the group. The brown haired boy sighed angrily. "It's almost like I called it that he would get hurt. And now the captains are having a meeting in the infirmary…"

"Stupid…" Vekra crossed her arms. "Caprico and I are captains but we aren't allowed in either."

Caprico clenched his hands tight. "I haven't seen my sister for the longest time… and now that she's here I can't even talk to her!" he ground out, clearly unhappy.

Rin nodded along with the conversation, everything that she was wondering about was already said, so why repeat it?

"It's as if it's the end…" Hiku muttered strangely. Her eyes lowered to the ground and she sighed. "Whatever Atri learned from here he will use to destroy us. We might be able to discover the unnamed opponent person, but can we really fight this evil? What if this way of living in the Pokémon world is slipping away?"

Jaylon wheeled on Hiku Turret and grabbed her shoulders. "No, you can't say things like that, Hiku!" He pleaded; "No matter what happens we can't give up!" he stepped back and called out his Combusken as if to prove his point. He continued in his plea, talking to each one of his friends in turn. "How can the world turn down such a companionship between creature and human?" he patted his starter Pokémon on the head, "Pokémon protect us from other Pokémon, and when we work together with them, we can create things better than by ourselves. Sure there might be instances where there is a corrupt trainer that only fights to win and cares nothing about their friends, but nothing is 100% good. We trainers are in the right by treating Pokémon with respect and love. We can't give in to these guys just because they have numbers and power and influence on their side. They are in the wrong, and we can't back down."

"If we listen to you, we'll all die." Vekra glared at Jaylon. "Look, it's better to be alive than to die for something that might be right. I mean, I don't even understand if this opposing way has for motivation, so who am I to know that our side is right?"

Hiku called out her Mudkip and hugged him to her chest. "Oh Nano, I'm so scared…"

Jaylon broke off from his glare at Vekra and made a sympathetic face at his friend.

"My sister will know what to do." Caprico, the youngest in the group, said, "She just got rescued, so she can tell Raquaza all about what happened and how to get these guys!" he seemed angry and confident.

Rin sighed and clasped her hands together. "So, what should we do?" she looked around the circle of rookies. "If it came to the decision… would you run or stay?"

Jaylon crossed his arms and smiled at his Combusken. "We could totally stay, huh, Hearth? I think we could even show up at the HQ and talk them out of this trainer onslaught by showing them our friendship." His Combusken didn't look as confident.

"I'd take off." Vekra seemed to choose the opposite just to spite Jaylon. "Ever Grande City could welcome me back well. Hoenn is better off anyways."

The blue-haired boy looked uneasy. "I'd go wherever my sister went. I became part of this place only to get her back."

Hiku continued to hug her Mudkip and rock back and forth. She didn't answer.

Rin waited a while and expressed her own opinion, "I've heard Unova is un-touched by this trainer-snatchings…" she left off and shrugged.

Jaylon sighed and went up to Hiku. He removed Nano from her hands, put the little Pokémon her shoulder, and hugged her instead. The two hugged for a long time, Hiku almost breaking into tears from fear and confusion. The rookies fell silent, not knowing what to do anymore. This whole thing seemed so inescapable. What could they do to change the fate of this place? Nothing, they could only stand around and cry. Raquaza and her captains would do everything and they all would have to help the best they could.

Out of the crowd of trainer who were still standing outside came Milo, the friendly scientist. The brown-haired man beckoned to them. "Come back inside, I'll make some hot chocolate for you." He pushed his glasses back up his nose, but not in a geeky manner.

Jaylon released his hug on Hiku and the rookies all followed the kind scientist inside. Milo led them to his office and seated them all down at a spare table and grabbed a few extra chairs. The man then put some mugs of water in the microwave to heat them up.

"Mr. Milo…" Hiku asked quietly. "Why is this happening? And why are we involved?"

The man laughed grimly. "How would I know? Sometimes, God has different plans than what we have. He gave me a whirlwind of an adventure, but took away my Lucario. I guess he wanted you guys to be chosen to join Raquaza as trainers."

"But why us?" Hiku pleaded. "Why not my brother Weyler or someone else my age in the whole Pokémon world?"

The scientist shrugged. "It was Raquaza's choice of who would be chosen. Maybe you can ask her." He opened the microwave after the small ding and handed each of them a cup of hot water, a packet of cocoa mix, and a spoon.

Jaylon took his cocoa and stirred it. He glanced over at Hiku and asked the scientist, "What can we do now?" His prior gusto was gone, replaced with care for Hiku.

"Raquaza is discussing that right now." Milo Bertram sighed and sipped his hot cup of cocoa. "It sounded like Kasmir got hurt enough to lose power to keep up his human form, so this is very serious…" he mused and put the cup on his desk, his glasses slightly fogged up by the steam.

"What?" Rin and Caprico, who were still out of the loop, and Hiku asked.

"Yeah, all the secrets are going to start spilling out after this murder." Vekra rolled her eyes at the less attuned rookies.

"I'll explain Kasmir later," Milo waved his hand and picked up the mug again.

Rin nodded, accepting his word. "Thanks for the hot chocolate. But why'd you do this for us? We are just rookies to you."

Milo smiled kindly to the five trainers. "I think that you are all special. And since you aren't sure of what's going on, I'd think a friendly act would help you."

An announcement went over the loudspeakers. The summons to a meeting rang through the entire base. "All trainers, gym leaders, and employees of Raquaza are called to a meeting in the large auditorium. No exceptions will be allowed to missing this gathering. This will determine the fate of our cause." The speakers buzzed with the voice of Kaito.

"I suppose this is where we get the answers…" Vekra stood up and set her unfinished cup on the table. This was going to be a turning point in her life as a trainer. But she wasn't going to let all of her training from the last week go to waste, the very least she could do was fight these crooks that tried to kill Hiku and had been a threat to the Pokémon world. "And even if Raquaza says that we will all flee, I'll kick a few butts in the process."

Rin stood up, ready to go. She looked nervous but didn't want to bother the others with her thoughts. Besides, she couldn't even form them into words.

The five rookies and Milo all walked as a group to hear what their fearless leader would have to say.

I'm going to make the chapters shorter, but that's ok, because it's close to ending… I'm getting a little more motivation for this, so just hang in with me. Thanks for still reading and reviewing. It means a lot to me.