Marlon's Misunderstanding
Drayden looked outside of the window of the house and cringed every time the ground rumbled beneath his feet. Shards of ice and biting cold air was blowing in from every miniscule crack of the home. He wanted to run out and defend his city, but he knew running out only to get hit with an icy projectile would help nobody. The two kids he had been talking to prior to the incident were cowering similarly away from him, flat against the ground; the spiky-haired kid, Hugh, growled above all the noise.
"What are they even doing?!" Hugh snarled.
"Well, they're certainly not giving us a friendly 'hello!'" Nate snapped back at Hugh. "While you've been freaking out about a purrloin, these guys have been plotting to take over the world! Remember?"
"This is no time to fight! Hush!" Drayden barked at them. He sank to the floor and pulled his phone free of its pocket. With shaky hands and having to retype the number several times, he dialed for Marlon. Humilau City was closest, and Marlon was a fairly powerful trainer. He just hoped Marlon picked up the damn phone… he was going to need all the help he could get from this fallout.
The phone rang and booming crackles filtered through from outside. Finally, Marlon answered.
"Drayden? Ay, what's up, man?" Marlon's goofy drawl sputtered through the poor speakers. Drayden barely gave him a chance to speak before he yelled back into the receiver.
"Marlon! I need you in Opelucid!" he rasped. "We're under attack!"
"Attack?" Marlon echoed. "I'm—by who?"
"Neo Plasma, why does it matter?!" Drayden groaned as a blast of ice punctured the wall just a couple feet away from him. The wall cracked and shards of ice shattered through splinters in the wall. Drayden yelped and jumped away. He skidded on the floor and fell on his elbow. He whimpered in pain. "Marlon, get over here!"
"I—I can't—I'm at the gym, and I just got out the ocean, and—"
Drayden almost couldn't believe his ears. A horrible fury built up in his chest. "Marlon, what the fuck are you talking about?" Drayden howled. "I don't care what you're doing, drop it and get over here, people are going to die!"
"I'm—I'm at the soup… I'm at the store!" Marlon retorted.
"Marlon! Are you smoking something right now?" Drayden demanded incredulously. "Whatever, I don't have time for this, I'll just call someone that can actually help, like Skyla!" Drayden pulled the phone away from his ear and shoved his finger on the red button a little harder than he needed to. He frantically dialed Skyla's number. The rumbles from outside had died down at that point and as he called her, he motioned for Hugh and Nate to follow him outside the building.
Opelucid's futuristic, pristine roads and buildings were covered in ice. Frigid air billowed through the city and whipped off the massive, intimidating spires of ice that now blotted out the sun overhead. Drayden didn't have time to take in the dreadful sight, though; cries and screaming soon echoed off the new icy walls throughout the city. Hugh and Nate exchanged a look and Drayden breathed an audible sigh of relief when Skyla answered.
"Skyla!" Drayden screamed into the phone. "Skyla! Get to Opelucid, now!"
"Drayden, what's—"
"No time! Just get here!" Drayden shouted in frustration.
"Understood, will be there in just a minute!" Skyla answered dutifully. Drayden practically cried his thanks and put the phone away. With that, he was able to focus on the task at hand. He bolted forward and looked on in horror as throngs of Neo Plasma grunts pillaged their way through the city, barging into every house and building across Opelucid in a frenzied search for what he could only assume were the DNA Splicers. Hugh and Nate were actively battling some of the grunts, but there were only two of them; Drayden was torn between defending his own home, the hiding place of the DNA Splicers, and the homes of innocent civilians who may otherwise be gravely injured in the crossfire.
Deciding the DNA Splicers were hidden safely enough, and that people's lives mattered more, Drayden dove into action. The horrible scene continued to play out in front of him as he worked, however. He could only watch as a group of three Neo Plasma grunts pulled a woman free of her home by her ankles and then sent her sliding across the sheet of ice that now made up Opelucid's major walkways since he had been busy fighting two grunts at once; Hugh and Nate were busy as well. He thought he spotted Iris in the fray as well, but couldn't be sure. He felt a wave of relief when he heard Skyla's Skarmory shriek overhead and her shadow passed over his head. Despite all of their efforts, however, the battle at Opelucid went on for quite some time, and it wasn't for another couple of hours before the daunting ship overhead moved on.
Drayden hobbled carefully down the slick road of Opelucid back to his place to check on the DNA Splicers. His entire body was sore, and he was freezing from the ice. He could hear sneezing and chattering teeth as he moved. As he passed Hugh and Nate, he barked, "Do either of you have a Fire-type?"
Nate's eyes lit up. "I have an Emboar!" he exclaimed.
"Then send it out and warm people up, you idiot," Hugh snapped at him through shivering teeth.
"Shut it, Hugh!" Nate spat back at him as he reached for the Emboar's Pokeball.
Drayden finally made his way into his home and saw a light dusting of frost had begun to build up on the floor. He made stumbled clumsily over to the stairwell and grasped its banister tightly against his palm, hauling himself up the stairs more with his arms than his legs, and was glad to find the DNA Splicers safely tucked away still. Thankfully, they hadn't gotten what they had come for. He retrieved the DNA Splicers, still hidden in a round, metallic casing, and made his way back downstairs. As hard as he had tried to defend Opelucid, the town would simply have to be evacuated. He had watched as many Pokemon tried to break the ice that now dominated the city and had even tried to get his Haxorus to attack it. The ice just absorbed all attacks with no signs of distress.
He had begun to exit his home and opened his mouth to shout for an emergency evacuation, but a particularly nasty breeze caused his muscles to seize up, and he stumbled forward onto his knees. He groaned as his knees hit the ice below with a sickening crack, and he watched in double vision as a black-clad figure appeared in front of him. He recognized who it was, too. It was a single member of the Shadow Triad. He held out a hand. Drayden gritted his teeth and snarled, "Never!"
Silently, the Shadow Triad member brought his knee up and into Drayden's chin. Drayden's teeth clenched on his tongue painfully and he yelped, dropping the box of DNA Splicers as he was bowled over onto his back from the force of the blow. "Thank you," the Shadow Triad member muttered breathlessly. He snatched up the case and just like that, he was gone.
"Drayden!" Skyla's voice was high-pitched and desperate. Drayden struggled to sit upright but ultimately fell back down. The sharp, unyielding bite of the cold on his back was draining all his energy to move. She grabbed his left arm though and hauled with a surprising amount of strength. Her skarmory nuzzled his back with its steely beak off the ground. "Drayden, what happened?"
Back on his feet, Drayden's knees felt weak and bolts of pain fired through his legs at every step. "Shadow Triad," he puffed with a red face from exertion. "This is a disaster," Drayden lamented, "and Marlon wouldn't come help because he said he was at the fucking store!"
"The… the store?" Skyla echoed. "Are you serious?"
"I called him and asked him to help and he came up with every excuse under the sun not to show up!" Drayden hissed. "That's when I called you, and—"
"I called all the others but they are probably still on their way," Skyla finished. "Look, I'm going to help you to another capable trainer, and then you're going to get everyone out of Opelucid, okay? Take them to Mistralton, or at least, into somewhere warmer…" she shivered. "I'm going to go figure out what the hell is going on with Marlon."
Drayden nodded briskly. "Take me to Hugh and Nate," Drayden told her.
"Gotcha," Skyla nodded.
She had called Clyde beforehand to ask him where Marlon was. The gym guide had curiously explained to her that Marlon was currently instructing some trainers at his gym. Deciding she didn't trust him to run off before she made her entrance, she had told him to keep him there, and then had swooped in on Skarmory from the back of the gym, blocking his exit into the ocean. Skarmory landed gracefully on the smooth tiles and Skyla hopped free of her back. Marlon's gym was calm and complacent; light, happy music rolled from some small speakers lining the roof of the building. She spotted him talking eagerly with a couple of trainers within the gym and Clyde nervously fiddling with his overshirt by the landlocked entrance to the gym.
"Skyla!" one of Marlon's trainers exclaimed. Marlon whipped his head around and eyed Skyla with unreadable, wide eyes.
"How'd that trip to the store go?" Skyla growled as she crossed her arms. "Get over here, Marlon." Skyla had never felt such anger before. She liked to think of herself as an overall calm person, but she had seen the chaos and pain Neo Plasma had inflicted on Opelucid. She couldn't believe Marlon had not lifted a finger to help and then had the audacity to continue teaching random trainers at his gym like nothing had ever happened! Marlon winced at her words and his gaze dropped to his feet.
"You guys should leave," Marlon whispered to his trainers as he shot a look over his shoulder. He smiled at them reassuringly and it made Skyla sick.
"Why? Planning on running away like always?" Skyla shot at him. Her shoulders squared as she glared at him. "Maybe they should stay so you don't get cold feet, Marlon."
The gathered trainers in front of him glanced in confusion between the two gym leaders, unsure of who to follow. Marlon looked at them, and then over at Skyla. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Skyla," he started calmly, "I know you're upset, but you're scaring people. These—"
"Scaring people!" Skyla stamped a foot. Skarmory flared her wings and trilled. "People died in Opelucid, today, Marlon!"
Marlon visibly flinched at her words, taking a step back. He swallowed hard. The trainers next to him all looked visibly shaken as well and began to shuffle toward Clyde at the entrance of the gym. Nobody quite left, but they clung to the doorway nervously. Marlon gave Skyla a worried look and shook his head. "Look, Skyla, I don't know what you heard today, but—what goes on in Opelucid, I—"
"Marlon," Skyla began, cutting him off but biting back her anger for a moment, "start talking. What happened today? And tell the truth."
"I… I can't say," Marlon answered cagily as he fiddled with his hands. His confident, boisterous exterior was quickly melting away. That reignited the flames and Skyla easily hopped her way through his docks and lilypads until she was standing directly in front of him. Skarmory dutifully remained by the ocean exit of the gym to prevent Marlon from making any getaways. She stepped uncomfortably close to Marlon and brought her hands up next to her face in a desperate wave of frustration.
"What do you mean you 'can't say?' Marlon, whatever's going on, just tell us! What's so hard about that?" She shook her head and Marlon stumbled away from her. His back touched the wall of his gym and he watched Skyla approach again with a grimace.
"I can't say!" Marlon repeated himself as she got so uncomfortably close again. His nails dug at the wall behind him and he practically bared his teeth at her. "I can't fight Neo Plasma!" he finally spat in a much more raw voice, quite different from his typical joking tone.
"What? What the fuck does that mean, Marlon?" Skyla demanded. She was so close her nose practically touched his at this point. Marlon grabbed her shoulders and Skyla slapped his hands away audibly. "Don't touch me!" she snapped at him shrilly. "What? What, Marlon? What's so fucking bad you'd let people die to keep it a secret?!"
"Y-you don't know me!" Marlon spat back at her incredulously and his voice rose in anger nobody in the gym had apparently heard before, based on the shocked gasps and scared shuffling of feet that came from some of the trainers fleeing the gym. Marlon glared down at Skyla, and he raised his hands like he wanted to grab her again, but he didn't touch her. His hands floated there and trembled. "You've got no idea what I've been through, Skyla! I'm allowed to have my personal life! Just, stop it! Leave me alone! Those people getting hurt didn't have anything to do with me!" Marlon howled.
"No!" Skyla shouted. She jabbed him in the chest hard enough to cut him with her nail. "Not until you tell me what the hell happened today!"
"Skyla, Marlon!" Clyde interjected from near the doorway. "Please, calm down, I'm sure this—"
"Shut up, Clyde!" Skyla shot at him. Clyde fell silent and shrank at her scathing words. She turned her attention back to Marlon, who was shivering as his hands trembled over Skyla's shoulders. They ultimately dropped back to his sides and clawed at the wall behind him. He had nowhere to go.
"Because I was Team Plasma!" Marlon finally yelled back at her. "I was Team Plasma! I was, I was, I was! I can't fight Neo Plasma! Just, stop it, let me go! Please!" Marlon's hollering slowly shifted to more of a screaming beg and he sank down the wall to the wood of the pier he and Skyla were standing on. Skyla gasped at his response and staggered away from him. "Just let me go!" Marlon begged once more.
"Y-you—you sympathized with them?" Skyla squeaked.
Marlon was clutching his hair and shaking his head back and forth rapidly. His breathing was rapid, almost hyperventilative, and he didn't reply to her. For Skyla, that was all she needed to hear. Her eyes stung and she gave an ugly yell. "I can't believe you! We trusted you and you let people die for your old allies!"
"LEAVE ME ALONE, SKYLA!" Marlon bellowed back at her as his fingers dug into his scalp, grabbing fistfuls of the dark blue locks into each hand. He was curled into a ball with his face against his knees.
Skyla cast a glance between him and Clyde, as well as a couple gym trainers that looked frozen in shock at the situation, and then she called Skarmory through her tears. Within seconds, Skarmory was next to her and she nuzzled her trainer's face gently. Skyla hugged Skarmory's neck and then, shuddering, clambered onto its back. "T-to Mistralton," she sniffled to her Pokemon. She and Skarmory then left. They left Marlon there, curled up against the wall, convinced he had been a supporter of Team Plasma. A traitor amongst them that they had all trusted with protecting Unova. Every gym leader in Unova took an oath to guard the country as they saw fit, and… Marlon hadn't done even that. He had made no attempt to stop the devastation in Opelucid.
As Skarmory lifted her into the sky, she shakily retrieved her phone from her pocket and called Drayden. "Wh-where are you all?" she mewled pathetically over the line.
"We're safe, we're nearly at Mistralton… what's going on over there?" Drayden asked, alarmed at Skyla's shuddery voice.
"Marlon's Plasma," Skyla spluttered as she let out a few more sobs. "He—he says he can't fight Neo Plasma."
"Wait, he is Plasma? Like, he is currently Plasma?" Drayden sounded blown away. She heard him sigh.
"I-I think so," Skyla whimpered. "He—he—he just started yelling about he was Plasma and he can't fight Neo Plasma, and told me to go away!" Skyla sobbed into the phone. She wiped her eyes with her forearm. "He… he was upset, but he had no problems—"
"Letting Opelucid suffer," Drayden growled. "Just come on back to Mistralton, Skyla, please. We don't have time to deal with him right now. I'll call all the others and let them know to not talk to him right now and I'll call Iris and tell her about it. She can't force him to resign, but she can definitely strongly suggest he does."
"How could he do this, Drayden?" Skyla begged after a moment's pause. "How?"
"I know, I know, Skyla," Drayden said softly. "Just… come to Mistralton, please. It'll be okay."
She thanked him through her tears and then hung up, sticking the phone back in her pocket.
The entire time she had been in his face, he didn't see Skyla. Rather, he saw the tall, imposing figure of a man cloaked in violet and gold, a blazing red eye, and jagged green hair. He heard the deep, gravelly voice that matched the looks, viciously tearing into his mind and filling it with hateful concepts. He had heard everything Skyla had said, of course, and he knew it had been her talking, but the moment she got in his face, he had all but melted on the inside. He had been backed into a corner of his gym with no escape in sight.
Once she had left, though, he didn't feel any freer. His fingers were curled tightly into his blue hair and he could hear Clyde calling his name, but he felt like he couldn't catch his breath, much less speak. It didn't quite dawn on him what had just happened for a few minutes, and when it did, his chest tightened uncomfortably. He became acutely aware of how poorly he had phrased what he had said. He had been very upset, but… that was nothing compared to the fear that now gripped his heart. What was Skyla going to tell the others? She had been so upset…
Then he remembered something else she had said. "We trusted you and you let people die for your old allies!"
"No, I didn't!" Marlon called in a hoarse cry. He let go of his hair and looked up at the exclamation and saw Clyde standing a few feet away. He was quivering and his hands trembled as he held one up at Marlon nervously. Marlon blinked at him and shook his head back and forth.
"Marlon, come on," Clyde said gently, "you should go home and get some rest, okay?"
Marlon shook his head more rapidly and turned to face the back of the gym. He sprinted across the decks and the lilypads and into the open ocean, diving deep into its waves. He wanted to swim down and down and never come back up, but his starving lungs forced him up for air far sooner than they normally would have. He coughed and found himself struggling to keep air in, so he found the nearest dock and hauled himself back out of the water. He didn't know how to describe the feelings going through his body at that point. Fear that he as in danger of retaliation? Worry that he'd lose his job and whatever few friends he'd managed to scrape up over the years?
Oh, Marlon, what have you done? he thought desperately.
This is a snippet from an upcoming idea I had for a novelization of Pokemon Black and Pokemon Black 2. Marlon here is not the main character but his past as a former Team Plasma grunt is a pretty significant part of the plot. This serves as sort of a teaser for some of the tenser moments from that story. Hope to see you all again when that's ready for release!