CHAPTER FOURTEEN: ROUND TWO, CONFRONTATION
Location: Kin Island Stadium, Sevii Islands
Day 5 of the Sevii Cup
"The second battle of the second round of the first Sevii Cup is about to end! Welcome back from the commercial break, folks! Sorry, but this is a small location and we need the money. My salary alone is probably more than the ticket prices pay! I'm DJ Mary, I'm with DJ Ben, and we've seen a spectacular battle today, huh Ben?"
"Yeah, Mary, for the parts that I was awake to, at least! We have Kris from New Bark Town facing off against Karate King Kiyo from Saffron City. To those of you who didn't believe in our feisty girl before, the unbelievers were shut down by her amazing performance against Pete Pebbleman last round. I'd like to remind our audience that the competitors were handpicked by the man behind the Sevii Cup, Elite Four member Drake himself. Kiyo has been training at Mt. Mortar in Johto extensively, and even at a disadvantage, his Hitmontop has fared admirably against Kris' Chandelure!"
Kris agreed with the announcers, but she also knew how to bring the battle to a close. She was at the Rock Arena, andas per Leaf's advice, Kris had prepared a Pokémon that could see behind the multiple obstacles around the battlefield. Chandelure only had to float up to see where Kiyo's Hitmontop was trying to hide. After spotting the Fighting-type spinning on the top of its head, Chandelure used Flame Burst, shooting flames in every direction and lighting up every rock on the battlefield, heating it to unbearable degrees. As Hitmontop was forced to come out of cover and stay exposed, a fast and well-aimed Shadow Ball knocked Hitmontop out, netting Kris her second win.
And that meant Kris would be proceeding to round three, the final match that decided who got to challenge Drake in round four. As Kris returned to her locker room and her PokéGear rang, there were no doubts left as to who she would face in round three.
"I tried my best, Kris," Leaf said on the phone, "but she beat me. Lyra is going to round three with you."
"How did it happen?" Kris asked, though she had been anticipating this outcome. "I don't want to hear any crap about sportsmanship, I want to win."
"At least you admit it," Leaf said in an amused tone. "I beat her before at the Silver Conference so many months ago, but she has been in much more battles than me since then. Her Typhlosion was insanely strong. My Rapidash's fire was practically lukewarm in comparison. And she knows so many nonverbal commands by now, I couldn't figure out what her next move was gonna be."
"So Scorch won't be in the third round. Good to know."
As round three was still three days away, Kris decided to worry about it at a later date. Domino arrived in the locker room, tossing a water bottle to Kris, smiling brightly.
"That was incredible!" she praised. "Karate King Kiyo has been training in martial arts for over twenty years. But the way you and your Pokémon worked in sync for something else. That last strategy rocked!"
"Thanks, Domino," Kris said. "But really, part of that win goes to you. Without you as my trainer I would have probably spent most of yesterday throwing up instead of training."
"Aww, you're so sweet," Domino said brightly.
Kris smiled, but her expression doured at what Domino was about to say next.
"Now, the next round will be the most important one yet," Domino said with a more serious tone, "so after lunch, we..."
Kris took a big gulp of her water bottle to hide her annoyance.
"...take the afternoon off and celebrate this victory!" Domino said and grinned. "I bought strawberries!"
"You're the best personal trainer in the world!"
Kris and Domino gathered in the contestants dining room for lunch, a long table in a room near the kitchens at the stadium. The chair at the end of the table, reserved for Drake, was empty, Domino saying that Drake was busy running an errand. Leaf was also absent, but her personal trainer was there, talking business with Domino while Kris focused on gulping down as much food as she could, still remembering the days she spent traveling with Iris on a shoestring budget. Kiyo and his trainer were also present, the latter comforting the former, who had taken the loss honorably. And finally, there were two seats left for the final contestant. As Kris was finishing her food, the doors to the room finally opened and someone stepped in... but not someone Kris had anticipated.
It was instead a tall, slim man only a few years older than Kris in a stylish blue suit with black hair and glasses, flamboyantly proclaiming his arrival:
"Ladies and gentlemen," said Cheren, who was dragging someone into the room by the arm. "May I introduce you, one of the two finalists of the Sevii Cup! Lyra!"
Kris dropped her chopsticks on the floor at the sight of Cheren putting his hand on the shoulders of Lyra, who stepped in smiling confidently, cheerfully waving at Kris.
"No," Kris said flatly, prompting everyone to stare at her. "You're her personal trainer?"
"Well, on paper, yes," Cheren said and adjusted his glasses, speaking to the whole room instead of Kris. "But the rules don't forbid some outside consultation. Think of me as her manager, and here are... her personal trainer, sports doctor, Pokémon nurse, strategist, manicurist, chef, her personal assistant, my personal assistant and a bodyguard... the contract we offered provides 24/7 security so they work in shifts, the other two are taking a nap."
Kris, Domino and the rest stared in awe as Cheren brought in a small army of people, all of them crowding behind Lyra and looking formal, as if awaiting Cheren to give them orders. Lyra just looked bothered at the attention.
"Well, hello there!" Domino said spiritedly as she greeted the new arrivals. "I'm not sure if we should ask the cook to prepare a bit more rice..."
"No thanks, they don't need anything," Cheren said while raising his finger to silence the manicurist who was about to say something. "In fact, we already ate lunch, but we figured we'd bring Lyra here to see the... competition," Cheren ended the sentence with a glance at Kris.
"Where'd you get the money for this?" Kris asked as she narrowed her eyes at Lyra.
Cheren moved his finger an inch from Lyra's face to silence her. "You don't need to answer that," he said quickly. "Her lawyer called in sick so I'm filling in. For your information, Kris, our agency did everything pro bono. Our earlier candidate seemed... disinterested."
"Oh, you fu-"
"Kris!" Domino said. "Don't get too worked up! It's not gonna help you win."
"To be honest, this is all a bit much," Lyra said as she pushed the manicurist away. "And yes, Cheren, I can talk on my own," she snapped. "Kris, this guy came to New Bark Town to tell me about the Sevii Cup, said the contestants were handpicked and that you and I were amongst them. I wanted to call you but he asked me not to do it until it was certain you had signed up."
"Lyra, do you have any idea who this guy is?" Kris said and banged her fist on the table dramatically. "What he's done?"
"Well, I met him when we were in Hoenn..." Lyra said slowly, glancing at Cheren. "He's some kinda talent scout, I guess? A bit annoying but he knows a lot about battling."
"He..." Kris stuttered. "You... I..."
Lyra raised her eyebrows at Kris, looking sincerely interested, while Cheren just smiled smugly. Even Domino looked curious, while everyone else was pretending not to listen at the awkward exchange. How was she going to explain things to Lyra? Kris didn't even know Cheren's endgame herself. And did Lyra know about EXO? Had Cheren made her the offer yet? If Kris would spill the beans now, would Lyra just take Kris' spot?
"Wise move, not resorting to making some wild allegations," Cheren remarked and adjusted his tie. "I think we're done here, Lyra. I'll expect a fantastic display from both you and your competitor when the third round comes. We'll be training our hardest until then."
Cheren clapped his hands and his massive entourage began shuffling out of the room. Lyra gave an apologetic glance in Kris' direction, but Kris was too busy burying her face in her hands and collapsing on her rice bowl.
"She seemed quite nice," Domino said timidly, watching Kris attempt to drown herself in rice.
~o~O~o~
Location: Icefall Cave, Floe Island, Sevii Islands
On an island not too far from Kris, Wes was making his way through the Icefall Cave. Though he had purchased some winter gear from the nearby town of Four Island, he still shivered as he slowly made his way through the dank cave, mostly covered with seawater and icicles decorating its ceiling. Shrew was tucked snugly in a bag Wes was carrying on his back, only his head peeking out - the climate of the cave was unsuitable for Sandshrew.
Wes was looking for another piece of the prophecy, and the rumors led him to Floe Island. Just as Moltres had once roosted at Mt. Ember, it was said that Articuno had been spotted near the Icefall Cave numerous times. Wes himself saw no evidence of this, but ancient ruins buried by layers of ice definitely pointed to the possibility of prophecy fragments.
As Wes walked, he glanced at his boot. The knife he had bought from the island souvenir shop was still in the sheath attached to his boot. After his encounter with Rui and knowing that Dr. Gideon and his men were still looking for him, Wes wanted to be armed.
What Wes discovered inside the cave, though, made him shiver for reasons unrelated to the cold: on a small island off the coast of the underground lake, Wes saw the ruins, but they were surrounded by a humongous block of ice, like a tower stretching to the ceiling of the cave. Through the ice, Wes saw the figure of a woman lying unconscious on the ground. Surrounded by thick blocks of ice with nowhere to go, the woman had definitely been trapped by outside forces. But whom?
"I can't believe it!"
Wes almost dropped Shrew as he snapped to the direction of the sound. A man emerged from behind a frozen rock, dressed completely inappropriately for the cave's weather, in a white sleeveless shirt, a red vest and black jeans. Despite being in a cave, he wore stylish sunglasses that instantly tipped Wes off of his identity. He had short brown hair, but Wes remembered him being bald.
"Agrev?"
"Wesley," Agrev said, a smile slowly appearing on his face. "The prodigal son of Team Snagem. How the hell have you been?"
"Preparing for this little spelunking trip better than you, dude," Wes said with a frown. "Why-"
"Hey, you know I like to keep it cool," Agrev boasted and ran his finger down his vest. "I may have quit Team Snagem as well, but this is just too iconic to pass up. I have like ten of these vests at home. I live on the islands now, doing odd jobs. Fishing, salvaging treasure..."
"Trapping women in the middle of a tower made of blocks of ice, just another Wednesday," Wes commented as he glanced at the unconscious woman. Wes could make out the red hair, but the ice obscured most of her features.
Agrev just laughed. "Yeah, you know how it is," he said bluntly. "Gotta keep noodles on the bread somehow, so I took another job offer."
"That's gross," Wes said, "also, what job?"
"My new boss took care of most of it, he just asked me to keep an eye on the woman until she was no longer a threat. Which, considering she's unconscious, nothing to warm her up and no food or water, her Poké Balls trapped in Nevermeltice-reinforced ice... easiest gig I've ever been on."
"Even easier than the time Gonzap asked us to literally go beat up a 10-year old who insulted him on the Internet?" Wes asked.
"That was more fun," Agrev admitted with a smirk, "but the drive took forever. This one, I just get to chill out here."
"Enough puns already," Wes sighed.
"What about you, Wesley? Why would you come here to Icefall Cave. Everyone at Four Island has been told to stay away due to the danger. You wouldn't be up to anything illegal wouldn't you?"
When Wes hesitated with his answer, Agrev just laughed.
"You should have seen the look on your face!" he bellowed. "Damn, man, I don't care what you do, long as it doesn't get in the way of me and my boss."
"Yeah, about that," Wes said slowly, a bad feeling creeping up on him. "Your boss wouldn't happen to be this geek called Gideon, right? A bit hunchbacked, thick glasses, the kind of guy who would correct you on a minor grammar error?"
Agrev shook his head. "Nah, I have no idea what you're talking about," he said sincerely. "My boss never told me to keep quiet about it, so whatever, I can tell you. It's this real spooky guy called Pryce. Former Gym Leader from Johto or something, I dunno."
Now Wes was too shocked to even feel the shivers. He just stared as Agrev nonchalantly leaned on the wall, but what he saw in his mind's eye was something else. Pryce, the same man who had vowed to destroy Kris all the way back in Almia, hunted by authorities everywhere... was here on the islands. And he was after the same thing as Gideon. What Agrev said next, however, complicated Wes' thoughts even more:
"Hey... now that I think about it, the boss did try to warn me about some scientist fella and his crew after the same thing as him. That's basically who I'm guarding the lady from."
Agrev stopped leaning on the wall and took a step towards Wes.
"Hey, Wesley," he said slowly. "You wouldn't happen to be in that guy's crew, would ya? Because, much love to you bro, you were easily one of my favorite people in Team Snagem... but I'm gonna have to do something really bad if you are."
Wes sighed.
"No, Agrev, I'm not with them."
"Oh, well, then there's no problem."
"Sorry," Wes said and grabbed a Poké Ball, clicking a button to enlarge it, "but I'm afraid there is."
~o~O~o~
Location: Bond Bridge, Kin Island, Sevii Islands
After lunch, Domino had made good of her promise. She led Kris to a completely empty part of Kin Island's beach, right under the Bond Bridge, where the two could lounge on the sand, the bridge shielding them from the scorching sun. There was not a cloud in the sky, not even a gust of wind to interrupt with the day's beauty, and it was still early in the afternoon. Kris and Domino chatted away and ate strawberries, thoughts about Wes, Lunick or even her upcoming match with Lyra not even entering her mind, despite the incident at lunch.
"How did you know about this place?" Kris said as she soaked her feet in the water. "This is great! It has all my favorite people: nobody!"
Domino laughed. "I live here," she said. "It's one of the quietest places in the whole archipelago, and this spot is the most quiet of them all. Almost nobody except for the odd fisherman comes here."
"Why are the fishermen odd?"
"No, I mean..."
"Ooh, wait, I didn't know you lived on this island specifically," Kris said, already forgetting what she thought about before. "How did you end up working for Drake, anyway?"
"Well, I'm not just a gymnast, I was into martial arts as well," Domino bragged and stood up. "Watch, toss that rock in the air in front of me!"
Kris did as ordered, and in a movement so fast Kris couldn't believe possible, Domino kicked the rock with a precise motion, sending it flying horizontally in the air until it landed in the sea too far for the naked eye. Kris nodded approvingly.
"I've kicked stuff in my day, too," she said. "I could do that too, just not right after lunch, you know?"
"Of course," Domino laughed. "But anyway, that skill made me real useful in getting rid of this rowdy group of bikers who came here from another island. I was noticed by the island's Pokémon Association representatives who wanted to organize battling activity here and established me as a coach for potential trainers. Kids with big dreams, mostly. Then, when Drake came on the island and put the Sevii Cup together, he chose me to be one of his trainers. Handpicked, just like you."
"Wow," Kris said. "But why train me, specifically?"
"Truth to be told, I asked Drake myself, and he agreed with it," Domino said and put her hands on her hips as she looked at Kris like a proud big sister. "I saw recordings of your older battles. The Whirl Cup, the Silver Conference, the Hoenn League, the Sinnoh League... not only is your improvement some of the fastest I've seen in a trainer, but your strategies are so refreshing. That stuff against Cloyster and again today with Hitmontop... you don't see that every day."
"Me and Lyra created some of those together," Kris reminisced as she turned to look at her reflection in the water, her smile fading as memories of the encounter came back. "We had a plan for so many different encounters. It's just that before, whenever I battled, my mind was just blank and I was just improvising. Now my mind is clearer."
"It's called confidence, Kris," Domino laughed. "And confidence comes from experience. That's all you need, really. But I gotta ask you something if I'm going to properly train you for the next round."
"Uh-oh. Look, if this is about the hair-eating, I never said that my nerves are still perfect-"
"No. About Lyra. What's the deal between you and her?"
Kris sighed. "It's-"
"Yeah, it's complicated, that much is obvious. Tell me something I don't know."
"We were best friends for most of my life," Kris said. "Then we stopped being friends. Now we're friends again, I think... but then again, not really. And she's just so much better than me in every way, and she has a goddamn team by her side. I don't know why, but that asshole Cheren is investing a ton to prep Lyra up."
"No matter how many people he hires, none of them will be there to back her up when then the battle comes," Domino said reassuringly as she sat next to Lyra. "It will be just you against her. Besides, are you saying a team of paid nobodies is better than a coach like me?"
Kris chuckled. "Of course not, you're amazing," she said quietly. "But still... there's just a lot riding on this battle. I can't really explain it properly."
Not without you thinking I'm crazy, Kris thought.
"Listen up, Kris," Domino said firmly. "If you really think she is so much better than you, then there is no magic word or cheesy self-assurance that will make you win. You know I have tapes of her battles as well, from before the Sevii Cup at least. What we'll do is study her style, learn her weaknesses. Tonight we will learn what arena you will fight on... then we'll decide what Pokémon to use, what moves to practice, how to counter her moves, how to use the battlefield to your advantage. For tomorrow and the day after, we will train harder than you've ever trained before. Got it?"
Kris almost teared up as she looked at Domino in her bright blue eyes and nodded.
~o~O~o~
Location: Icefall Cave, Floe Island, Sevii Islands
"Ninetales, Flamethrower!"
Wes ordered another attack, but once again, Agrev's Cryogonal dodged. Wes cursed, befuddled by this strange Unovan Pokémon. It was like a large, blue, hexagonal snowflake, hovering in the air and moving insanely fast. It had some sort of face hidden in its features, but its menacing expression didn't change at all as it attacked. Cryogonal launched an Ancient Power attack at Ninetales, and Wes had to order a Quick Attack, which finally made contact with Cryogonal, but one of the rocks from the Ancient Power attack hit Ninetales' body, forcing it to retreat.
"Cryogonal, Light Screen!" Agrev ordered.
A window-like energy shield suddenly appeared between the combatants, leaving Agrev and his Pokémon on the other side. Wes and Agrev glared at each other, Agrev from the small island off the coast of the underground lake.
"Bro, I don't know why you're taking this so personally," Agrev said casually, pacing back and forth, Wes falling into step with him and following his movements.
"I'm not," Wes said, "but kidnapping a woman and lettin' her freeze to death isn't exactly something to be tolerated."
"Like we didn't do bad things while in Team Snagem," Agrev scoffed. "What happened to you?"
"We stole, sure," Wes said calmly, still keeping in pace with Agrev's movements. "So did the police and the government and the landlords. In Orre, justice for 90 percent of people comes through their own hands."
"What's the big deal, then?" Agrev remarked. "We were buddies when we're committing crimes together and now all of a sudden we're enemies?"
"I've been up to some shady stuff in my time, but what you're doing here will become murder," Wes said coldly. "That's a big difference. And as it happens, whatever this woman knows, I need."
Agrev sighed. "This sucks," he groaned and stopped pacing. "When we were in Team Snagem, I never thought the two of us would become enemies."
Wes nodded joylessly. "I know," he sighed. "But we don't need to take this any further. Just… just leave without any fuss, okay? You can tell your boss that a bunch of people came in and overwhelmed you."
"No, no, no," Agrev said, also following with a deep sigh. "If we're enemies, that means I need to kill you."
Wes stared at Agrev blankly, then let out a loud, forced laughter. But as he expected, Agrev just shrugged with a sad expression on his face.
"Why, though?" Wes asked, holding his hand out to Ninetales, signaling to stand down.
"It's a job, Wes!" Agrev snapped. "It's either this or I don't eat next month!"
Wes shook his head. "There has to be a better way! You're above this!"
"Easy for you to say!" Agrev yelled, Cryogonal's menacing eyes flashing for a bit as it floated between the two young men. "You ran off with Rui, probably made a ton of money thanks to her powers! And now you wanna take what's rightfully mine!"
If only Agrev knew what had happened since he left, Wes thought. He hadn't told anyone about it, for all he knew, the two had never broken up, Rui had just left and Wes had followed a bit later. It had been two years and just recently, Wes and Rui had almost killed each other. How to explain adequately and briefly what they had been through?
"It's not like you think, Agrev," Wes simply said. "I managed to turn my life around and I didn't need a truckload of money to do it!"
"Good for you, man," Agrev spat venomously. "The rest of us live in the real world. And my choices are clear: I do my job and get paid, or either Pryce or hunger kill me soon enough!
The Light Screen flickered away and dissipated.
"Cryogonal, Night Slash!" Agrev ordered.
Wes wasn't ready as Cryogonal, spinning quickly, with all of its sharp protrusions ready to go, quickly dashed at Ninetales, knocking the fire-type on the ground.
"Now, Rapid Spin!" Agrev yelled. "Grind that thing into the ground! Don't let it get an attack out."
Floating so it would be away from Ninetales' mouth, Cryogonal began spinning rapidly and jamming its body at Ninetales, very painfully. But as soon as it did so, Wes knew that it was over.
"Overheat!" Wes ordered.
Ninetales' whole body glowed orange as a blast of fire shot into every direction from its body, including at Cryogonal, who was knocked out instantly. Wes had to shield his face to escape the burning heat, but in a few seconds, it was over, and the battle was won.
Agrev looked sadly at his unconscious Cryogonal, but instead of withdrawing it like Wes suspected, he pulled out a device from his pocket - just a small, black, square-shaped device with a big red button in the middle.
"I didn't wanna do this!" Agrev shouted at Wes. "But if me or this ice won't keep this woman out of the boss' way, then the bomb I strapped on her leg will!"
"NO!" Wes yelled. "Agrev, you'll regret doing this!"
"Nah, it's cool, the ice is thick enough and I used a small explosive," Agrev said casually. "Still, might wanna close your eyes, this ain't gonna be pret-"
Taking advantage of Agrev's momentary distraction, Wes quickly grabbed the knife from his boot and tossed it at Agrev as hard as he could. With his arms spread and him holding the device so high, the blade hit him in the middle of his chest. Agrev let out a gasp and dropped the device, dropping to his knees.
"Ninetales, I need a boost!"
Ninetales lowered its head, allowing Wes to step on its neck with one foot, Ninetales simultaneously shooting its head up and allowing Wes to jump several meters across the water and on the island next to where Agrev was. Without a second look at Agrev, Wes grabbed the detonator device and tossed it into the water.
As he did so, Agrev managed to get back on his feet, the knife still lodged in his chest, Agrev stumbling around to the water's edge, barely managing to get a hold of himself. Despite knowing there was little to be done, Wes offered his hand to Agrev, but Agrev simply let himself fall backwards into the lake, sinking into the deep, cold depths quickly.
As unpleasant as what he had to do was, Wes had to get back to work. He ordered his Ninetales to melt the icy wall separating him from both the woman and the ruins. It took a while, but finally, the last of the ice left, most of it evaporating into steam but some forming large puddles of water on the cavern floor. Ninetales didn't want to follow Wes into the watery cavern, so Wes went alone. Though he glanced at the stone carvings on the wall, the woman needed to be looked after first.
The woman, a beautiful one as Wes noted, was in her mid-thirties and looked vaguely familiar to Wes. She was tall, around the same height as Wes himself, with long red hair tied to a ponytail and thick, round glasses. Wes turned her on her back and tried to shake her awake, fully expecting to have to go find a doctor or something.
Instead, the woman woke up within seconds, making Wes retreat a bit when she got on her feet amazingly fast.
"What happened?!" she said, quickly adjusting her glasses. "Where am I? What happened to that man?"
"Uh, calm down, miss," Wes said softly, a bit intimidated but also attracted by the woman's harsh tone of voice. "You're safe. I, uh, took care of that guy. I mean, I took care of things."
The woman glanced at Wes, staring at him as if to evaluate him, before nodding.
"Right," she said. "Thanks for the help, really, but I don't need it anymore. Unless you're here for the ruins-"
"But I am!" Wes said quickly. "I need someone to help me find something like a prophecy from the texts here and, uh…"
The woman narrowed her eyes at Wes as he trailed off. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Um… you, first."
To Wes' relief, the woman smiled, flipping back her hair and dusting her immaculate black clothes. "Right, I'm sorry, too used to being recognized around here. I'm Lorelei, from the Kanto Elite Four. Well, formerly, of them."
Wes snapped his fingers. "Right, now I remember!" he said before offering his hand at Lorelei. "Uh, the name's Wes. I'm looking into the prophecy, and I'm guessing you are, too."
"Yes, I am, but why are you?" Lorelei said suspiciously.
"Uh… maybe this can wait?" Wes said quickly. "That guy was working for a really bad dude called Pryce. And this other guy called Dr. Gideon has a bunch of cronies after the pro-"
Hearing the name, Lorelei quickly grabbed Wes by the wrist. With her other hand, Lorelei removed whatever thing had been taped to her leg - most likely Agrev's bomb. After casting one sad look at the text on the walls of the ruins, Lorelei ran out, half-dragging Wes behind her.
