Chapter 26 Iron-Willed Defiance

"Hugh… do you ever get that feeling like you're in way over your head?"

Rosa had asked him that the second Nate left the hostel room, and Hugh gnawed his lower lip for a second as he thought for a response. Truthfully, he wanted to laugh, because he most certainly did know that feeling; he dealt with it every waking moment, especially now that he had seen the Shadow Triad, had learned what they were, that they were real. Yet, he held his tongue because he didn't know why Rosa would be asking him that. She didn't sound accusatory, so he didn't think she was getting at anything about him, in fact, she seemed just… confused. Lost, perhaps was a better word. He felt a rush of sympathy and chanced sitting on the edge of her bunk, closer to her, in a way that made his chest tingle slightly with nerves.

"Well… yeah," he laughed uneasily. Ivy leapt onto the bed up next to him, apparently satisfied with having helped clean the treats from the floor. "A lot… Why, though?"

"I'm just really thinking about something," she answered, distractedly staring at her Pignite on the floor. "Just a hard decision…"

More and more confused by the second, Hugh softly pressed, "Um… if I may ask, Rosa, what is it that you're trying to figure out…?"

She seemed to think. "I can't say," she admitted at last, quietly. "Just… If I do what I want to do, someone may get hurt. May get hurt bad. But if I don't, I'll get hurt…"

Frightened by that, Hugh forgot his inhibitions and reached a hand to touch her arm, squeezing it gently. He ashamedly enjoyed that more than he felt he should have considering the frightening circumstances, even more so because she didn't wrench her arm away immediately at his touch. "Rosa, you're… you're scaring me. What are you talking about? Who's threatening to hurt you?" He almost bared his teeth. "Where are they? I'll take care of 'em right now!"

"You would just fight them, then?"

She was completely unfazed by his reaction. That unnerved him greatly and he swallowed anxiously at her question, red eyes widening fearfully. "Well… yes… nobody should have to get hurt… Except whoever the bastard is that's doing something to you. They should pay, not you or anyone else. Where would be the justice in just choosing the options given to you? Come on, Rosa, who are they? What do you need?"

She finally looked up at him and shook her head slowly. "It's nothing you can help with, Hugh. I just…" She took a shuddery breath and finally seemed to realize he was touching her, pulling her hand away. She called for her Pignite to follow as she stood up and started gathering her things. "It's nothing, Hugh, don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it?" Hugh almost yelped as he jumped to his feet, Ivy following in short order. "Rosa, if you're in danger—"

"I said don't worry about it, Hugh," Rosa snapped, the life returning to her eyes and the fire to her voice as she stared him down in a way that sent a familiar surge of shame up his spine, the one that told him he shouldn't be so close to another person, to hear their secrets or offer advice.

His intuition was misleading him to thinking he was at fault, but that wasn't to say it wasn't onto something. Hugh couldn't have known that he had indirectly answered her dilemma for her, that the reason for her sudden caginess was that she simply couldn't afford his assistance in the path she had decided on—the path to fight her way out of her own mess rather than accept the hand she had been dealt.

She took a deep breath and turned to leave. "Don't worry about it…"

Hugh's shoulders sagged as he felt like he were being crushed with an overwhelming wave of defeat. "Alright… I won't."

(He would.)

"There was a gym leader and two gym challengers aboard my ship, Colress. A gym leader!"

Dr. Colress cringed under his snarling but refused to look away from the old man pacing ahead of him, silhouetted by the monitors lining the back of the room. The Shadow Triad stood in corners around the room, unblinkingly staring ahead, deaf and blind to the conversation at hand. They had teleported him there at his request. He didn't appreciate this tirade his uncle was on, but he thought that perhaps interrupting it would only drag it out longer, and he had to get it over with; it was going to happen no matter what, after all. Understanding what Ghetsis was feeling or considering doing at any moment in time was an exercise in an arithmetic Dr. Colress had yet to understand, and he hated not understanding it.

Ghetsis paused, leaning on the wooden cane in his grasp so hard that it buckled beneath his weight, and turned a surprisingly icy stare on him for a man with a single, crimson eye. "They were aboard my ship because you had us docked in Driftveil for more of your experimentation when you were supposed to be finishing up the harness for Kyurem. It lashed out again while you were prancing in the streets of Driftveil and froze several of my men to death before they were able to calm it down again. This is unacceptable, Colress!" He ran out of air in his yelling and was forced to stop and pant for breath. "And then you call away my Shadow Triad without warning this morning! What has gotten into you?"

Dr. Colress' eyes glittered as he looked his uncle up and down, that blue sensor dancing with angry electricity. "I am not one of your men to order around like a Lillipup," Dr. Colress growled darkly, unbothered by Ghetsis' revelation that Kyurem had killed more men. Not that he cared to think about it, but legends hadn't called it the Beast of Black Ice for nothing. "You need my help to run this operation of yours. Remember, Uncle?"

The left side of Ghetsis' lips curled to a cruel smirk and he staggered slightly until he stood as tall as he could manage with one hand still clutching that ancient cane. "Is that the game you want to play today, Colress?"

"Dr. Colress."

"And who gave you that part of your name?" Ghetsis sneered, suddenly lunging forward, and beginning to circle Dr. Colress, a malicious gleam in that single eye. "Who always stole you away from your parents under the guise of the 'watchful babysitter' that just loved his nephew so much, Dr. Colress?" He spat the word 'doctor' like venom. Again and again, he circled, his voice rising in gleeful hatred as he slammed his metaphorical fist on every one of Dr. Colress' buttons. The doctor trembled and his teeth clenched hard under Ghetsis' words and amused look. There wasn't much that bothered him, but Ghetsis unfortunately knew just what made him tick… more so than Dr. Colress himself did. That disturbed the usually composed doctor greatly. "Who brought you all those science books you lavished as a child, Dr. Colress? Who brought you the equipment necessary to perform the little experiments you were planning? Who convinced your parents you were a genius so that they would let you? So that they would let you spend more time with me?" Ghetsis paused in front of Dr. Colress' face and gave one last wicked grin. "Who created you, Colress? Who fed that genius inside of you?"

Dr. Colress shoved Ghetsis away, causing the old man to falter slightly, and curled his lip. Then, in a desperate tone of voice unlike his usual persona of the suave, eager scientist, he shot back, "I created me! You gave me the tools, but it was my brain that developed all that I made! I created the Shadow Triad! I created the technology that lets this ship fly! I created the technology that keeps Kyurem from completely breaking its binds and reducing this ship to rubble! Without me, you are nothing, Ghetsis, not the other way around!" Gasping for air as he adamantly insisted his point, Dr. Colress repeated vehemently, "It is YOU who is nothing without ME!"

"It's true," Ghetsis admitted with a cold sense of control that only served to fuel Dr. Colress' anxiety, "that I do owe you for a lot, Dr. Colress. But, oh, dear nephew… You have to live with this knowledge that you are but a failed experiment of mine." Ghetsis limped in front of Dr. Colress and raised his chin at him again, that callous, resentful smirk back. "You can tell yourself you're a self-made man all you want, dear nephew, but you know you were sculpted by me. You might have bucked my control, that's true… It's you who truly controls the Shadow Triad, after all. But as much as I need you… you need me. You'll never escape that fact of life, Colress…" Ghetsis laughed, a deep, foreboding snicker. "How does it feel, Colress, tell me… How does it feel knowing that you had no control over where you ended up in life? That you have no control over the future of your life? That you were nothing more but practice for when I moved on to my real target, the Hero of Ideals?"

"I could have the Shadow Triad kill you at any moment," Dr. Colress spat, stumbling over his words, eyes round as saucers. He was defending himself like a cornered animal. He truly felt less than human in these moments alone with his uncle. It felt like every waking moment of his life, he could turn around and find Ghetsis there, standing over his shoulder, setting guardrails around him. Dr. Colress was nothing more than a Rattata in a maze; he knew that, deep down in his heart. He loathed that feeling more than anything else on the planet. It prickled at his skin and made him feel physically ill—and frightened. Frightened more than he could ever describe.

He didn't understand this man.

He didn't understand himself.

He didn't understand humans.

Because… he wasn't human.

Not according to this man.

Not according to himself.

"Then where would you go, dear nephew? Where would you get all these shiny toys that you get to experiment with?" Ghetsis drawled, lazily tapping that cane against the floor of the ship. "You're wanted for crimes against humanity in most countries… There's no way a woman would ever take you as you are. Not only are you repulsive and frightening to most, but you couldn't even carry on the Harmonia name should you want to try. Where would you go, Colress? Tell me, where?" Ghetsis leaned on that cane again and Colress swore he saw him lick his lips hungrily. "Please, do tell. I love to hear the desperation in your voice when you scream at me. I do love to hear that suffering, dear nephew."

Dr. Colress floundered for something to say but couldn't form sentences. His usually sharp mind felt distant and unreachable as he gummed the air. What did one say back to this man? He didn't know. He found himself missing Rosa and wishing she hadn't reacted so negatively to his proposed experimentation… Her emotions fascinated him because they reminded him of Ghetsis', but they weren't cruel. She wasn't cruel like he was. Dr. Colress may not have cared for what people tended to consider cruel or kind, but even his twisted mind was disturbed by the way Ghetsis spoke, by the way he said he craved to hear and see the suffering and pain of others. He was disturbed, frightened, but above all, intrigued. Dr. Colress just… wanted to understand…

"That's right. You are less than human, unworthy of the Harmonia name, and that's why you can't carry it on. The only reason you still stand today, Colress, is because the Shadow Triad won't harm you. At least your genius has proven useful to me, even though you tend to just make a mess of everything wherever you go," Ghetsis coldly growled. He turned around to face some of the monitors in the back of the room. "You came groveling to me for help after you were lost everywhere else, because you are not human, because you don't know how to work with other humans. Of course you would be led back to me. You have nobody else, Colress, and you are nothing else than what I have made you."

Dr. Colress clenched his fists. "I wouldn't want to carry this blasted name on anyway," Dr. Colress snapped back defensively. "You act like I care. I don't care that I can't have children. I don't care that you are who gave me these tools. You are still the one assisting me! I may be giving you useful pieces of technology, but you're still serving my research ends, Ghetsis!" Dr. Colress hissed. The way his voice wavered betrayed his own uncertainty, betrayed the denial he was in, betrayed the fact he was trying to convince himself more so than his uncle. With that, he turned to stalk out of the room, further enraged by the fact Ghetsis was no longer speaking to him, like his uncle thought he had won their argument (which, admittedly, it was clear he had with how frazzled Dr. Colress was at that point).

Still, he was fuming.

Ghetsis gave him the tools, but it was he, Dr. Colress, who turned them into reality.

Ghetsis might have inspired his love for science, but it was Dr. Colress who had run with it.

Ghetsis might have taken away his ability to pass on the Harmonia name, but Dr. Colress didn't care for it anyway.

Ghetsis might have been benefiting from his research as well, but Dr. Colress was still getting what he wanted.

Still… as he staggered back to the deck of that ship, he wanted nothing more than to flee that flying vessel and find Miss Rosa, return to her side, glean all he could from her. She was his secret to understanding humanity…

…to understanding Ghetsis…

…to understanding himself.

Route Six was boring. Nate found that it was mostly just teeming with Deerling, the occasional Tranquill, and rarely, a Karrablast or Marill would be found. Most kept their distance, but he did try to train some of his team while he waited for Hugh and Rosa to call and arrive. Spacey could handle her own against most foes; if her strength wasn't enough and she didn't have the type advantage, it seemed she could pull through on their joint stubbornness and refusal to go down. Risk, his indignant Unfezant, saw success against the enemies on that route as well. Crag all but laughed at the occasional Marill that dared challenge him. As usual, Bitty, his Sunflora, was far less decorated in her victories, but that was alright. He had come to terms with the fact he didn't really keep her around for battles a while ago, anyway.

Yet, while he had his Excadrill dealing with another brave Marill, he saw something move in the trees farther ahead that looked too large to be anything he'd seen on the route so far. Motioning for Crag to follow and to finish with the Marill, he hurried after the shape he'd seen moving through the woods, crossing a single, wooden bridge to meet the tree line, just beyond a blue-roofed building he didn't bother looking into.

He peered nervously into the trees as Crag lumbered behind him. There was more rustling, and then he caught the glint of bright, golden eyes in the bushes. He staggered away in time to see a blue quadruped pokémon, similar to a Sawsbuck, sail over his and Crag's heads. It landed behind them with a thud and a splash. Crag and Nate both whirled around in time to face the teal beast.

As it scowled down at him with narrow, piercing eyes, jagged, tan antlers reached off its head and a thick, white tuft of fur projected from its chest. Golden blades gleamed from over its shoulders and a white blade similarly made up its tail. It leaned forward, crouching its hooved feet against the wet ground, and bellowed at him in a way that sounded like steel plates ringing together.

"What are you?" Nate asked breathlessly, convinced he was seeing things again. He was reminded of the beast that had approached him in the unending sandstorms of Route Four, the one he had told himself had been the result of his fatigued, fearful mind conjuring images following his uncomfortable run-in with Dr. Colress in Castelia. But this beast… it was clear as day out on Route Six. It wasn't like there was any weather to obscure his vision. The puddles in the wet earth were from the river nearby, with how its waters rose and fell with the tide. At his question, the beast only scuffed a hoof against the mud and let another ringing sound out.

Crag jumped to his defense and clicked his claws together furiously, stamping its feet in a show of power as it approached. The unknown pokémon looked strangely… noble, like it was proud of what it was facing. "Crag, um… Bulldoze…?" Nate called halfheartedly, still unable to pry his eyes free of the opposition's yellow gaze.

The second Crag went to slam its feet violently again and again against the ground, the other pokémon leapt into the air, avoiding the brunt of the attack. It landed atop Crag and fiercely pounded him with its steely hooves, kicking off him and landing back to the ground in one fluid motion. Crag toppled to his back and Nate jumped away, shocked to see his prized powerhouse downed so easily, all while the noble beast silently stared them down.

"Okay," Nate said, nodding back at the pokémon. "Okay. So, you think you're tough." Feeling a strange compulsion to still try and battle this fearless competitor nonetheless, Nate withdrew Crag and readied Spacey's Poké Ball. He smirked at the foe. "Too bad for you I don't quit so easily." He pitched the Dewott's Poké Ball and was shocked to see Spacey cower once she took in the sight of her new enemy.

Spacey was never afraid to battle.

In fact, she retreated to hide behind his feet, chattering fearfully. Encouraged to pull his Pokédex out to take in the unknown pokémon, Nate gawked at the screen when it simply read: "Unavailable," in bright red letters. He slowly tore his eyes free of the screen and swallowed hard as he took in the creature's form again. He shook his head in disbelief. "You… you're unknown…"

It scuffed hooves against the muddy ground once more and jerked its head, slicing those antlers through the misty air. "Cobaaaa!"

"You're not going away without a fight, are you?" Nate asked tentatively.

It huffed and shook out the tuft of white on its chest.

"Fine. Then it's a fight you'll get," Nate snapped. He looked down at his feet. "Spacey?"

She nervously reappeared from behind him and held out a shell shakily. She was scared, but she was willing to fight anyway.

That was all he could ask from her. "Spacey, Aqua Jet!"

Just as she spewed water to cloak herself and rush forward, the cobalt pokémon lunged forward and pitched its front hooves into the earth, then swung, kicking out its back legs, the iron hooves landing squarely on Spacey's muzzle. The water clinging to her body fell away immediately and she arced through the air, landing in a heap a few feet behind Nate. The noble beast only cried out again and reared back, kicking out its front legs in a proud, challenging display as it glared at Nate again.

Gritting his teeth, Nate recalled Spacey. "You did good, Spacey!" He shoved her Poké Ball back into his bag and shook his head at the unwavering foe. "What are you? Who are you?" he demanded again.

Still, there was no answer, just more staring.

"You might be beating my team members easily, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna go down quietly!" Nate snarled at it, feeling the hot prickle of fear at his fingertips, the rush of adrenaline. He hated it. He hated it, hated it, hated it, and he'd show the world why he wasn't going to just stand by and take it anymore.

He sent out Bitty and Risk at the same time. He'd try a different tactic since clearly, one-to-one wasn't working. "Bitty, Sunny Day! Risk, Aerial Ace!"

Bitty danced her flowery head from side to side as a ball of light emanated from her forehead, while Risk had just started to fly into the air, when the noble beast reared back and then charged forward at breakneck speeds. The tan horns adorning its head suddenly grew in size and it lashed its head to the side as it powered through both of Nate's pokémon, slicing the enormous, wicked horns across their bodies, knocking both clean to the ground before their attacks had a chance to finish.

The pokémon came to a skidding halt in front of Nate. Its muzzle was centimeters away from his face and he could feel its breath, misty in the eerie new coolness surrounding Driftveil and Route Six, blow over his skin. Its golden gaze was full of a tense feeling he couldn't quite place. Perhaps it was tentative hope or maybe it was repressed anger; he didn't know, but it made that awful clanging sound again in his face and stamped its hooves once more, throwing mud onto Nate's legs, doing its best to intimidate him. Although his legs started to shake and although he was frightened to his core by what this pokémon could do to him should it decide to attack, Nate simply steeled his jaw and shook his head at it. He curled a lip.

"There is nothing you could do to me that I'm not prepared for," Nate told it tensely, voice quivering as rain started to dribble overhead. The noble beast blinked and tilted its head at him slightly. Louder, Nate growled, "Whatever your plans are, I'm not afraid."

That was a lie. He was terrified.

Unova is out of Heroes, a hushed, feminine voice seemed to say directly in his mind. Nate gasped and stumbled away from the beast, looking it over with newfound fright. They are desperate. They need your iron will and your sense of justice.

The beast huffed, blowing hot air in his face, and then started to bound away, throwing more mud in its wake as the rain started to pick up. Nate shakily recalled Bitty and Risk to their Poké Balls and jumped when he felt something sharp dig into his calf. Looking down, he blinked when he recognized a little black vulpine, a Zorua… "Zeshi?" he croaked. "What… what are you doing here…?"

Zeshi yipped up at him and cocked her head. Her teal eyes seemed to light up knowingly. He felt his blood run like ice as he heard that feminine voice again. Cobalion was impressed with you! Even when you had nothing left to lose, you didn't back down!

"Zeshi! Zeshi! Oh, my word, where did that little Zorua run off to now—oh, Nate?"

Nate jerked his head up and watched as Sage Rood and another in the Silver Knights uniform made their way nearer to him. Rood was flailing his arms almost like a cartoon character as he reached Nate, struggling to keep his dragging robes out of the mud. "Was that you that Cobalion was just battling?" he asked breathlessly, his elderly eyes bulging from his head.

"Who?" Nate asked dumbly. He had heard Rood clearly; he just didn't believe it. As if he'd seen a ghost, he looked down at Zeshi, who still had that knowing teal gaze locked onto him. "Cob… Cobalion? What… what is that, what's going on…?"

Cobalion is one of the Swords of Justice. Zeshi barked up at him and leaned on his shins again.

Still with his eyes disbelievingly on the Zorua, Rood explained quickly, excitedly. "Cobalion is the Sword of Justice that represents iron-will. The refusal to give up or give in no matter what. If it is impressed by you, well…" Sage Rood took a deep breath and exchanged a smile with the man in the Silver Knights uniform—Nate recognized him as Cal—and both of them tugged their respective robes and hoods closer against the sudden torrent of rain. "Well, I understand why Zeshi ran away to find you, now!"

I'm glad you do, because I don't, Nate thought desperately. He was blithely unaware of the flood of water that was starting to chill him to the bone. He was far too distracted by what was happening around him, to the point he was starting to wonder if he was lost in a dream, or perhaps a nightmare. He blinked at Zeshi. Pokémon didn't talk. Legendaries didn't just run out of the woods and attack random passerby and have that mean something. This was madness. This couldn't have been real!

"Challenger Nate, I think I'd like to ask you a favor," Sage Rood said, holding a hand over his face protectively from the rain. "Can you look after Zeshi for me? She is so restless with me. I don't think I could give her the home she deserves. And I think you have an adventure out there waiting for you that you aren't even aware of…"

Alarmed, Nate vigorously shook his head, then started to shiver as the cold kicked in. "W-wait, no, no, n-no, you don't understand—"

Cal warmly smiled at Nate and he swore he saw his eyes welling up. Perhaps that was just the rain, but it still shook him to his core. "Lord N would be so proud of you," he said quietly. "You garnered the favor of a Zorua… Pokémon notorious for disliking people… and you have impressed a Sword of Justice. You have something great ahead of you."

Hugging himself tightly, Nate shook his head wildly. "Okay, that's great," he panted, "but right now, I'm just freezing to death. I'm—I'm—"

Zeshi nipped at his ankles and darted ahead of him somewhat. Follow me! she gleefully exclaimed. There's a lab along this route! Rood took me here all the time to talk to people!

"Wait!" Nate yelped, tearing off after her. He shot an apologetic look back at Sage Rood and Cal. "S-sorry, we'll—I'll need to talk later!"

"Goodbye, young man!" Sage Rood beamed.

Cal dipped his head respectfully. "Have a safe journey, young Hero!"

aaaa things are finally happeninggg

QOTD(s): WE SAW GHETSIS AGAIN! Thoughts? I know it was short but still. Also, Rosa's made a decision... thoughts on what that seems to be? Zeshi? IhavesomanythingsgoingonI'msorrybutalsoI'mnot