Chapter 5 Misty Dreams
I just want to say that I am really grateful for all the support I've had on this story! I know it's been quite a long time since these games were relevant at all and I have been pleasantly surprised by the readers I've still managed to garner. I particularly want to thank Imaginair for reviewing dutifully as they do. The support is really encouraging and does help make the story better in the future :)
Hil had paused his training in the Dreamyard momentarily to rest and relax beneath the shade of some trees. Noodle was curled about his shoulders again, but he was no longer alone. Hil now had a Patrat, Purrloin, and a Panpour as well! The Patrat and Purrloin, named Roadie and Lucky respectively, he had managed to successfully battle and catch on Route Two, and the Panpour had actually been given to him! An extremely nice lady training in the Dreamyard had asked him if he would like to have another partner on his journey and had offered the smiling blue pokémon to him without hesitation. Hil had wondered at first why someone would give away their partner so willingly, but he had decided not to look a gift Blitzle in the mouth and took the Panpour in his arms.
As he had turned his attention to the patches of tall grass within the concrete ruins, the Panpour had nosily dug into his bag that dangled from his shoulders and had taken a keen interest in Hil's toothpaste. He clasped the tube in his teeth and gleefully dodged each of Hil's attempts to retrieve it. Noodle had eventually lashed a vine from the leaves protruding from his shoulders and retrieved the tube of toothpaste for Hil, who secured it in a zipped portion of the bag this time. "Okay, Crest," Hil had joked, "you need to calm down."
And that had been how the Panpour had earned the nickname of Crest. He wasn't entirely sure why he had chosen the name of Roadie for his Patrat. Perhaps it was the fact Patrat seemed to always swarm everywhere he wanted to walk like an avid, annoying cyclist taking up half the roadway. He had chosen his Purrloin's name, Lucky, based on the fact he had felt incredibly lucky to have caught her. His track record for his first day as a trainer had not gone well and he had just felt extremely proud to have caught anything at that point. That wasn't to say he didn't feel lucky to have her, though; Lucky was a very affectionate Purrloin.
But now, it was time for relaxing. They had been training for a couple of hours on their own and Hil had yet to have to return to the Pokémon Center. He felt some pride in the amount of time he'd managed to stay here and celebrated with his pokémon by idly playing with and watching them. While Noodle scrutinized their new teammates from his shoulders, Roadie ran circles around Lucky, occasionally jumping on her tail to startle her. Crest had decided to make his own game, climbing into the trees above Hil's head and breaking as many sticks and leaves from the branches as he could.
Their peaceful midafternoon relaxation came to an end when Hil heard shouting and plaintive, high-pitched cries coming from further within the concrete ruins of the Dreamyard, beyond the chain-link fence barring off the more dangerous areas. Crest dangled from a branch above Hil's head by his tail and cocked his head at the source of the noise. Roadie stood tall on his hind legs (or as tall as a Patrat could, anyway) and Lucky cowered, her ears flat against her skull and hackles raised.
Noodle hissed and Hil took that as a sign at last to get up and take a closer look. He motioned for his pokémon to follow him and he darted over to the chain-link fencing, peering through its gaps and deeper into the yard. Noodle stretched his neck to get a better look while the rest of his pokémon gathered around his feet and leaned against the fence to get a closer view.
Hil gasped at what he saw. Two of those same silver-robed men from Accumula Town—or at least, they were wearing identical outfits to the guards Ghetsis had had with him—were circling a Munna like Basculin on bait. They had their hoods pulled far over their heads, obscuring their eyes in shadow, and their shoulders raised in a threatening display. The Munna trembled and rocked in midair despite its levitation. Then Hil saw why. One of the robed men brought his leg up high, nailing the Munna on the face and sending it careening through the air. It stopped itself after a few rolls, but didn't dare move another inch after that, cowering in fear.
"C'mon, spit out some of that Dream Mist! Then we'll be on our way!" one of the men demanded, sounding annoyed.
Hil's blood boiled and he heard a growl rising in Noodle's throat. Crest angrily grasped the fence and shook it. Roadie chuffed in a sound Hil could only assume was designed to alert others and Lucky, again, only hissed at the situation. Hil apologized rapidly to his pokémon as he recalled them all except for Noodle. His hands were trembling so much from the rage at what he had just seen that he actually missed Crest with the Poké Ball at first despite the Panpour not moving at all.
Earlier, he had had Roadie cut down a small, but sturdy tree blocking an entrance into the deeper recesses of the Dreamyard. He was in the process of slipping easily through the gap when he felt pressure on his shoulder, and he was abruptly yanked back by his hoodie. Noodle yelped and dove off his shoulder, landing on the grass just beside Hil. Hil scrabbled for a foothold and when he found it, he wrenched his hoodie out of the assailant's hold and whipped around to snarl something profane, but stopped dead in his tracks when he met Cheren's slate-gray eyes. Bianca stood only a couple of feet behind him.
"Cheren? This isn't the time!" Hil spat. He brushed Cheren off and headed straight back for the gap into the ruins. Once again, Cheren grabbed him.
"Hil! Wait!" Cheren hissed. "Let us go in there first!"
Hil heard Bianca groan. "Cheren—"
"Why?" Hil snapped in frustration, cutting her off without realizing it. "We don't have time for this, they're—"
Another sickening thud and another mournful cry. Hil cringed and Noodle made a mad dash for the gap into the ruins. Hil caught him by the very tip of his tail, earning a spitting hiss from his friend as Noodle coiled back around to face him and nip at his hands. "Sorry, Noodle, I don't want you rushing off in there alone," Hil apologized meekly at Noodle's seething red glare. It softened at Hil's words and he swore he saw Noodle nod. The Snivy slithered up his arm and once again rested on his shoulders.
Cheren took the opportunity to push ahead of Hil, into the gap. Bianca shook her head in apparent disappointment and followed. Hil earnestly followed them. Whatever their deal was, he had no interest in figuring it out, all he cared about was getting those two idiot Team Plasma agents away from that Munna. Hil was hot on his friends heels as they rounded the corner around a concrete wall to find the two agents had backed the Munna up against a wall.
"Hey! Stop it!" Hil shot as he pushed ahead of Cheren and Bianca. "What is wrong with you? Aren't you idiots for pokémon liberation or something stupid like that? Where in there does 'beat a pokémon' fit?"
Noodle hissed in agreement.
The grunts both turned back to face Hil at once. The Munna, struggling to remain aloft, rocked and rolled side to side slowly. It was bruised and had a few small cuts running across its right shoulder. "Who's asking? You, little man?" one of the grunts jeered.
"Oh, look, there's three of them!" the other giggled as he grinned in delight. "Careful, one in front's got a Snivy."
"Look, kid," the first one started again, flicking some errant red hair from in front of his piercing blue eyes, "we don't mean any trouble, but you wandered in on something you really shouldn't have." He winked at Hil and Hil's lips curled hatefully at them. "Our boss isn't a huge fan of people getting the wrong idea about us, so…"
"You shouldn't have worn your stupid uniform, then," Cheren interjected with a dangerous precision to his words. He crossed his arms. "Real smart."
"Oh? Think you're tough and got us cornered?" the second grunt beamed at Cheren wildly and then whirled around, kicking the Munna hard once again. It mewled pathetically, hit the concrete wall violently, and then abruptly fell silent as it collapsed to the ground in a heap. "Well, we're still the ones over here next to the Munna, and we're going to get its Dream Mist. You kids wouldn't understand the sacrifices that have to be made to reach our Lord's dream. And if that also means taking care of you three kids so we can continue our job…"
That was it. Hil pointed a finger at that first grunt. He was not about to sit idly by while someone was being mistreated. Not again. "Noodle, Vine Whip!"
"Hil, wait—" Cheren began, only to be cut off by Bianca. She shook her head at him in a way that told him no. Hil took no note of the exchange, however, and Noodle dove off his shoulders and grabbed the two grunts each by one of their arms with a vine, dragging them away from the Munna. They each used their spare hands to then send out their own pokémon, a Patrat and a Purrloin.
It was Cheren who sent out another pokémon to assist Hil. His Tepig's nostrils blazed furiously and he rushed at the Purrloin. He stopped dead in his tracks only to blast a ball of flame at the Purrloin's face. It hissed and lashed claws back at him. Noodle was forced to let go of its hold on the two Plasma agents as the Patrat lunged at him with the intention of biting through the vines.
It was a chaotic double battle, that was for sure, but Hil found his mind was clearer than it had ever felt the previous day during battles. Neither Patrat or Purrloin looked particularly sturdy from the outside, so he settled on a simple strategy of attack again and again until they went down, certain his Snivy could take the hits necessary to do so. "Noodle, Vine Whip that Patrat!"
"Tepig, Ember on the Purrloin again!" Cheren called calmly.
"Purrloin, Fury Swipes on the Tepig!"
"Patrat, Bide!"
Bide… Bide… Hil knew that move. It meant the pokémon would do its best to endure hits, and then lash out when the opponent least expected it, usually dishing back a significant amount of damage to the attacker. He inwardly groaned as Noodle's vines lashed across Patrat's arms that it had brought protectively over its head. He and Cheren would have to take it out quickly.
Although faster, Purrloin's Fury Swipes barely fazed Tepig, and with another blast of flame from its nose, Purrloin went down. The Team Plasma member blinked in confusion for a moment before recalling the Purrloin to its Poké Ball. "You just got lucky!" he spat at Cheren. "Clearly that was a pokémon gifted to you by someone important. We are helping rehabilitate pokémon that have been abandoned or abused by trainers. You know, the 'common' ones, like Purrloin and Lillipup that everyone thinks it's okay to treat like garbage."
"You were just kicking around a Munna, and did so until it went unconscious," Cheren growled. "Shut up with the high and mighty act because it's not working. Tepig, Ember on Patrat!"
"Noodle, Vine Whip Patrat again!"
As Tepig and Noodle convened on the lone Patrat, Hil felt a bolt of exhaustion run through him. His knees wobbled and he had to actively stiffen them to keep from falling over. Noodle and Tepig squeaked and fell still as a figured took form in front of them. They then retreated to their respective trainers. Noodle coiled himself around Hil's arm this time and hissed at the shape from the safety of Hil's hold. Hil heard the two Team Plasma agents give something akin to a yelp. He and Cheren fell back, staggering from the shock of the apparition.
It was Ghetsis, from the speech yesterday… but how? How had he just appeared? Hil, Cheren, and Bianca all looked at each other with wide eyes, questioning one another wordlessly.
"What are you two doing goofing off?" the apparition snarled. His gravelly voice sounded so much stronger now and radiated anger.
Hil jumped, landing nearly on Cheren's feet, and screamed as another apparition appeared just a few feet away, flanking the Team Plasma agents. It was another apparition of Ghetsis! There were now two of them! Two? Hil's breath quickened and he looked up at the apparition in front of him. He felt very small beneath the towering height of that man, even if he did move with a limp.
"Not only have you failed your mission, but you have allowed yourselves to be seen doing this," the second Ghetsis boomed.
Suddenly, both the apparitions vanished and reappeared behind the Team Plasma agents, causing both to hop in the air, startled. They grabbed one another's hands and stared at the ghost of Ghetsis, shaking and trembling. Hil could have sworn their knees were literally knocking by the severity of their jitters.
"Th…this isn't Ghetsis when he's trying to amass followers, or trick people with speeches…" one of them mumbled. Hil wondered if they knew they were talking out loud… That didn't exactly sound like something Team Plasma wanted to be public knowledge, after all.
"No… this is Ghetsis when a plan has failed and he's about to issue punishment…" the second agreed hopelessly.
"Well, we know this has got to be a projection from the Triad since he's teleporting everywhere," the first sputtered, "so let's just, let's just hurry back and apologize to him, so he'll forgive us and…"
"Hopefully, anyway…" the second mused pathetically.
With that, the two men in silver robes nearly stumbled over one another in their effort to get out of the Dreamyard. They pushed past Hil, Cheren, and Bianca without so much as a glance in their direction. Hil, Cheren, and Bianca turned their attention back to the ghost of Ghetsis once the Team Plasma agents had left, and saw as its shape began to shift and morph. Within seconds, it was clear it had not been Ghetsis at all, but a Musharna.
"Oh, that's a relief," Bianca gasped. "For a second there I thought we were about to face that guy… I'm not sure if he's one you want to get on the bad side of…"
Cheren and Hil both gave her a look. "What was your first clue?" Cheren asked in faux thoughtfulness.
"Oh, save it," Bianca chuckled. "Those guys aren't exactly stellar models of what Team Plasma stands for; he'd have every right to be furious at them. After all, it was Musharna that was talking there, not actually Ghetsis."
"It fooled his grunts well enough," Cheren pointed out.
Hil waved his hands in their faces. "Who cares about that right now? Help me check on the Munna." He couldn't care less what Ghetsis was like or his relation to his lackeys. He was only concerned with the beaten and bruised Munna still lying unconscious at the foot of the concrete wall it had been kicked against. Musharna had made its way over to it as well, hovering above the Munna. Hil examined it, running his hand across the Munna's body gently, and was glad to find its breathing seemed normal, and its eyes open. It wasn't unconscious after all, but likely playing dead in a last-ditch effort to make the Team Plasma agents leave it alone.
Bianca leaned over his shoulder then and held out a spray bottle of orange fluid. "Super Potion," she said and then began to lightly spritz the Munna. "Cheren said that should perk it right up."
At first, the Munna jerked from the touch of the fluid, and Hil furrowed his brows sadly. He had never witnessed someone physically beat a pokémon before and watching it unfold in front of him had been awful, but seeing the aftermath of it on this Munna was far worse. It jerked and jumped at every touch and the fact it had been playing dead at all was disheartening. Once Bianca finished her ministrations, the Munna slowly returned to its levitating position just a few feet above the ground. It cast a cautious look between Hil, Bianca, and Musharna, and froze, shutting its eyes tightly, when Bianca reached a hand out to pet its head gently.
"See?" Bianca beamed. "All better! I'm sorry you had to run into those awful people," she apologized sadly. "But we're not all like that!"
"If I ever see them again, I'll skin them alive," Hil muttered under his breath. Noodle found his way to Hil's hat and leaned down on the visor to stare at the Munna. He then nodded in agreement with Hil.
Cheren snorted as he listened in. "Where did all of that come from, Hil?" he asked, only half-joking. "Almost like someone flipped a switch. I hope you can do something like that again during your gym battle at Striaton City's gym," he laughed.
Hil knew Cheren was simply trying to bring some light into the situation, but Hil was feeling a little too high-strung for it. He took a deep breath in, and another out, another in, another out… He needed to calm down. He smiled as the Munna relaxed finally and even drifted a little closer to Bianca. Okay. Everything was going to be alright. Everything's going to be alright, he repeated to himself a few times. Ugh, had he always been this panicky?
"Don't worry, Daddy, I'll do my best at the gym," Hil answered Cheren finally with a cocky grin. Cheren threw his head back and his arms fell slack at his sides.
"You need new material," was all he could respond with.
Eh, maybe he did, but man, was it funny to get under Cheren's skin.
In all seriousness, Hil had no idea if he truly wanted to take on the gym challenge. He thought to the battle he had endured the day before against N and how violent the injuries Noodle had taken looked… and how painful… If he was entirely honest, the idea of battling for fun made his stomach churn a little. He reached a hand to pet Noodle's head and decided he'd have to sit down with his pokémon and see if he could figure out their thoughts about battling for fun. Maybe he couldn't talk to pokémon like N supposedly could, but there were still ways to understand them properly… right?
