Pride of Your Soul
Chapter 11: Forged through Hypocrisy
AN: If you aren't excited for Pokemon Sun and Moon, then smh rn. We FINALLY got a new mainline game! Sure it's gonna come out in like holiday 2016, but still!
And now, for some reviews:
Eris: Yeah...Yancy/Nancy treats Nate like some kind of god at this point; the girl is head over heels for him. And yeah, the gym battle must've been great considering the chapter prior was mostly plot and character development. And yeah, visorshipping is coming, don't worry. And yeah, Unova's fucked unless someone does something about it.
Tony Anderson: Thanks man! And I hope you had a happy holidays too!
Guest: Thanks! If Hugh and Rosa find out about Nate's genocide? We'll cross that bridge when it comes.
Knight of Wings: Yeah I agree: great battle, good plot movement and character development, mainly between Nate and Nancy, and then BAM! Nate's revealed to be the villain protagonist! Overall, at this point this is more or less a test to see whether Nate can either see the good in humanity and stop his plans, or bring everything into destruction. At this point the key to Unova's survival is whether or not Nate can learn the power of friendship, and if someone can stop Ghetsis.
Killfith: Yeah, Nate's been through a lot of shit. And yeah, Brav would be saddened. I mean if your adoptive child ended up growing up to become a maniacal maniac hellbent on genocide, you would feel sad that he ended up like that.
I . M. Poik: Well, you'll find out today...Well if it makes you happy, this chapter is pretty Hugh-centric. Rosa? Well...better luck next time, I suppose. Although I did drop a few hints here and there. Don't worry, she'll get her screentime. And yeah, Nate reveals he wants nothing more than to destroy Unova. Y'know this is a pretty good case of contrasting sequel main character (see tv tropes).
TheDarkMaster4000: Well first off, I'm glad you like all my stories, and my spin on the usual characters. And you seem to like Nate the most; although I'd like to know how you can relate to a megalomaniac like Nate when I didn't exactly reveal his backstory. Yeah the boy needs a hug, c'mon he needs one if THIS is the end result. But yeah, Ghetsis, and ironically Nate are the biggest threats to Unova, and they come in varying levels of jerkass. Sympathy-wise, I'm sure you all can agree to who needs more love...
zeffron42: Okay, I'm going to be honest here. You actually pissed me off. Like legitimately struck a nerve. Like back in CoYS. Normally I would just shake it off, but your latest review actually struck a nerve.
Now, I'm not gonna do anything stupid like name calling or false accusations or anything like that. I mean I could rant my ass off right now, and as appealing and satisfying as that might be, in fact I was going to, but decided against it, I won't. I don't want any of the other readers to have to deal with that, and honestly it's just immature on my part.
I'm just going to say however: in your review, you told me to 'get creative', and make the chapters last. If you don't think that these battles which include a snivy beating up a Garbodor with a chair and table, and a gambit play like the one in the last chapter are 'creative', and you think that these chapters that clock in on 8K words on average isn't apparently long enough, then I honestly can't help you. Especially considering that everyone else praises them for being creative or something like that.
...So yeah, on with the show!
Morning arrived, waking up Rosa up from her slumber. Groggily waking up, the bun-haired girl yawned as she stretched her arms. Rosa rubbed her eyes; looking around the room they rented for the night. Hugh was still dead asleep, but there was an empty bunk bed above him.
"He still didn't come back last night..." Rosa mumbled to herself.
Nancy said that she would let Nate free before it became too late at night, and yet he's not back yet. She couldn't help but worry slightly for the boy's wellbeing; even if he could take care of himself.
"Where is he...?" Rosa asked, before getting up and waking Hugh up by throwing a pillow at him.
"Agh!?" Hugh yelped, before getting up clutching the pillow that had been thrown at him. "The hell was that for?!"
"Nate's still not back yet," Rosa stated, getting her stuff ready.
"Really?" Hugh asked as he looked up to the empty bunk. "Huh. That's strange..."
"We're looking for him," Rosa declared.
"Aren't you sure you're just overreacting?" Hugh asked as he got his stuff ready. "This is Nate we're talking about. He'll show up eventually."
Rosa groaned at Hugh's nonchalant attitude, but then again he did have a point. They were well aware of what Nate is capable of physically; it would be outright absurd if the frail-looking Nancy could somehow get the advantage over Nate physically.
Unless she somehow managed to seduce him to...
"No, that's impossible," Rosa shook her head.
"What?" Hugh asked.
"Nothing," Rosa swiftly replied as she left the room.
The two headed out of the pokécenter and were about to turn the corner, when they saw a crowd of people gathered around the side of a pokécenter.
"What's going on over there?" Hugh asked.
The two went over to the crowd, wondering to see what the commotion was about, as they overheard some rather interesting conversations among the people.
"Can you believe a boy would be sleeping out on a tree like that?"
"Isn't he cold? It was pretty chilly last night too."
"More like how can he sleep like that?"
Confused, Rosa and Hugh made their way through the crowd to see who they were talking about. Rosa's jaw dropped as she saw the boy they were looking for and whom Rosa was worried about, sleeping lazily on a high branch on a tree like nobody's business. Hugh simply had a rather disappointed look on his face, sighing in the process.
"Told you he would be fine," Hugh said to Rosa.
"What the–?!" Rosa blurted. "Oh my god..."
Rosa then proceeded to release Eve, who barked happily as she ran over to rub Rosa's leg affectionately.
"-Morning, Rosa!-" Eve barked.
"Eve, use Hyper Voice on Nate," Rosa commanded as she rubbed Eve's head and Hugh warned everyone else to cover their ears.
Eve tilted her head in confusion, but complied nonetheless. She looked around until she spotted Nate, and proceeded to unleash a strong Hyper Voice at the sleeping boy, savagely waking him up.
"AAAAAAAGAHAH!?" Nate screamed in pain as he then proceeded to fall off the tree and fell onto the cold ground. "FUCK!"
As Nate groaned in pain, Rosa and Hugh walked up to the boy, giving him a dissatisfied glance.
"The hell was that for...?" Nate grumbled.
"Rise and shine, you idiot," Rosa chastised him. "Where were you last night?"
"Huh? Last night?" Nate asked, before trying to recall what happened last night.
"You look like a guy with a hangover right now," Hugh snickered.
"Right, I was interviewed by Nancy last night, she let me go..." Nate recalled, before remembering what he did last night.
"And?" Rosa almost demanded.
"...And it was pretty damn late when she let me go, I came back here, found that you two were already asleep with a locked door, so I just decided 'fuck it', and went to sleep outside," Nate decided to omit some crucial details and told a half-truth.
Rosa arched an eyebrow, staring at Nate suspiciously, but decided to let the topic go.
"At least nothing happened," Rosa sighed in relief.
"Oh? Does someone actually care about me now?" Nate teased, cocking a smirk.
"Wha–?! No I wasn't!" Rosa flustered. "H-Hugh was more worried about you than I was!"
Nate glanced at Hugh, who returned the glance by shaking his head and mouthing 'bullshit'.
"Well whatever," Nate shrugged, before noticing the crowd. "The hell's going on here?"
"Well it isn't everyday people get to see a fourteen-year-old boy sleep outside like a monkey," Hugh shrugged.
"I see," Nate glowered slightly, before turning to the crowd. "Alright people, show's over, time to scram and go on with your everyday lives."
The crowd, seeing that the boy was awake, decided to leave, leaving the trio to head to their next destination.
"Don't you need to heal Luca and Nite?" Rosa asked.
"Oh don't worry I healed Luca–FUCK!" Nate began, before realizing that he neglected Nite. "I forgot about him."
Rosa and Hugh slapped their palms to their faces as Nate hastily released Nite and quickly got to healing him.
"Sorry 'bout that buddy," Nate said sheepishly. "You okay?"
"-Gueh...I-It's no biggy, Boss,-" Nite groaned as the potion did its work. "-This was just another test right? A strong warrior must endure any kind of pain. That was your plan, right Boss?-"
"...Sure," Nate decided to roll with it. "Let's go with that. Yep, totally my plan. I totally didn't forget to heal you last night or anything."
For the sake of Nite's self-esteem, Rosa and Hugh decided to play along too, before packing it up and heading out of the city.
"Alright, now where do we go?" Nate asked.
"The next gym was in Driftveil, according to Elesa," Rosa replied. "So that's our next stop."
"Alright then," Hugh nodded, before noticing something. "Huh?"
Nate and Rosa glanced at Hugh, before glancing over to where he was looking at. At the gate leading to the next route, was a familiar bubble-gum haired girl waiting nearby the gate, looking around frantically and hiding her face underneath her white sun hat.
"...You can't be serious..." Nate muttered, recognizing the girl and approached her. "Yo–."
The girl jumped, before frantically swatting Nate's face.
"Ah–No! I'm not who you think!" the girl squealed in panic.
"AGH! My face..." Nate groaned, before grabbing a hold of her. "Yancy, calm down. It's me!"
"...What?" Yancy asked, calming down. "Nate?"
"No, it's Santa Claus, of course it's me!" Nate snarked.
"I'm so sorry!" Yancy hastily apologized. "I thought you were someone else..."
"What're you doing here?" Nate asked as Rosa and Hugh came up to them.
"Uh yeah, I was uh, around town..." Yancy said nervously. "And I saw that exhibition match you had with m-Nancy and I figured, 'hey why don't I catch up with you', and yeah...but you were dragged away by her, so I couldn't catch you..."
"Okay calm down," Nate muttered.
"A-And I was wondering...if I-I could come with you guys?" Yancy asked.
"Huh?" Nate asked, while Rosa and Hugh glanced at her curiously. "Uh...speaking of which, Roxie actually sent me a message that she wanted you to see. In private, so..."
Nate went over to Yancy and brought her away from the other two, knelt down slightly and huddling near her while making sure Rosa and Hugh couldn't hear what he would say to her.
"Tell me you know that's a lie," Nate muttered.
"Uh huh..." Yancy nodded.
"Alright, what's the deal?" Nate asked in a hushed tone. "What happened to the idol biz? Did your manager even allow this?"
"Uh...I wanted to take a break from the idol biz..." Yancy mumbled. "Yeah, and so I asked for a vacation, and left."
"A vacation?" Nate glanced at her doubtingly. "They would just let you take a vacation all by yourself without any kind of protection whatsoever?"
"Uh...y-yeah...?" Yancy replied weakly.
"...Yeah, bullshit," Nate obviously didn't buy it. "...What really happened...?"
"Uh...well I..." Yancy mumbled. "C-Can we just leave the city? I'll tell you later, I promise. Can we just...?"
Nate glanced at Yancy disapprovingly. The girl was obviously hiding something; which she apparently would reveal as soon as they left the city. But why she wanted to leave the city so badly was suspicious, to say the least. It was as if she wanted to get away from something before it managed to track her down. The boy wanted to protest, but the pleading, almost desperate look on her face made it hard for even him to argue. While normally anyone else would get a solid 'no', since it was her...
"...I'm gonna regret this one way or another..." Nate sighed. "Fine, you can come along."
"Really?" Yancy gasped, expression lightening up.
"But you will explain what the real reason behind this is," Nate said sternly. "Doesn't have to be now, but I will get answers."
"Of course!" Yancy smiled happily.
"Right," Nate said, before turning to Rosa and Hugh. "So apparently she wants to come along with us. That cool with you two?"
Rosa and Hugh glanced at each other for a moment, before glancing back to him.
"Sure, I don't see a problem," Hugh said.
"...Well...I guess it shouldn't be a problem..." Rosa mumbled somewhat reluctantly.
"Great, so it's decided then," Nate said, before turning back to Yancy. "Welcome aboard. You don't have a right to regret your decisions anymore."
Yancy felt a little intimidated by his statement, but nonetheless smiled gratefully, ecstatic that they accepted her to their group.
"Thank you!" Yancy squealed, clinging onto Nate's arm.
"The hell?" Nate blurted, surprised by the sudden action.
"Ah–sorry," Yancy mumbled, blushing in embarrassment.
Rosa stared at Yancy disapprovingly, but shook it off as they began to move ahead.
"So, where are you guys going?" Yancy asked, following behind Nate dutifully.
"Driftveil," Nate replied. "The next gym's there."
"Ah," Yancy mouthed in understanding as she followed him.
As the two bgan to talk, Rosa kept her disapproving glare at Yancy, who didn't notice the glare.
"What? You jealous or something?" Hugh asked from besides her.
"W-Wha–?" Rosa blurted, her cheeks heating up. "I'm not jealous! Why would I be jealous?!"
"Then what is your problem with her then?" Hugh asked, not buying it for a second.
"It's just...she seems suspicious..." Rosa muttered. "I don't know, just, there's something up..."
"...Well it's no use just glaring at the poor girl," Hugh reasoned. "Just talk to her when you get the chance."
"Well...alright then..." Rosa muttered as she narrowed her eyes back at Nate and Yancy, who were having their own conversation.
As the group passed through the gate leading to Route 4, they failed to see the breaking news that was going on:
'Famous Pop Idol Nancy is declared missing after sudden disappearance.'
"C'mon man! Let's have fun stealing Pokémon together, like we did before!"
At Driftveil City, at the entrance bridge, two men were arguing with one another. One was a Team Plasma grunt sporting the usual black militaristic uniform, but the other was wearing a white medieval-like uniform. The one in black seemed to be trying to convince the one in white, the knightly-looking fellow having a disapproving look on his face.
"I can't," the one in white shook his head. "I've learned the hard way that stealing from others is wrong. You should've learned that as well back then!"
"Oh come on!" the one in black rolled his eyes. "It's too late now to act all goody-two-shoes now! We need to steal their Pokémon for our cause!"
"What cause?!" the one in white raised his voice. "We foolishly believed in that monster Ghetsis and stole people's Pokémon and look where that led to! We were all just puppets under his grand scheme...even Lord N...even now! You're just being used by Ghetsis again!"
The one in black suddenly contorted into rage, as he punched the one in white onto the cement pavement of the bridge.
"People just didn't understand our just cause back then!" the one in black shot back. "And they would've too if that bastard Hilbert and turncoat Hilda hadn't interfered! Now we have another chance to make them understand out just cause!"
The one in white painfully got back up, glaring daggers into the one in black.
"Don't the call you a villain who was planning world domination?" the one in black questioned. "Even though you quit Team Plasma, people are still really cold to you, right?"
"I can say the same thing about you," the one in white spat disdainfully.
"So you might as well just come back and steal Pokémon with us and take over the world again!" the one in black insisted. "C'mon man! Let's show those bastards who're mean to you the power of Team Plasma! They'll be groveling at your feet and saying how great you are!"
"...No..." the one in white insisted, gritting his teeth in anger. "I will not go back down that road. Lord N will never approve of that. Lady Hilda will never approve of that. There's no good in glory when it's earned from fear and hatred!"
"N!" the one in black scoffed. "What a joke! He's nothing more than a traitor! And that whore! She just wanted that bastard Hilbert's cock so badly that she turned her back on us! Team Plasma! The group that raised her ever since she was a child! They both disappeared somewhere and abandoned us when we needed them! Those two are just worthless traitors, and that Hilbert should never have existed in the first place!"
"...Beat me up, if you must," the one in white was now seething in rage. "But do not mock Lord Hilbert and Lady Hilda...and DO NOT mock Lord N..."
"Oh yeah?!" the one in black snarled. "What're you gonna do about it?!"
"Hey!"
The two men looked up in confusion to the direction of the sudden new voice, only to see what can be described as a raging man with a qwilfish do bolting over to the man in black and smashing his fist into the one in black's face, launching him so hard that he bounced off the bridge twice before falling down.
"Secret talking, eh?! Plasma scum!" Hugh snarled.
"Oww..." the one in black moaned in pain as he nursed his cheek. "You're gonna pay for that!"
"Oh really now?"
The two now looked to see another figure behind Hugh, which could only be described as a boy around qwilfish-head's age that bore a striking similarity to Hilbert, but with a much more malevolent expression while tossing an actual knife in his hand.
"Y-You're Nate Warren...!" the one in black gasped in fear, recognizing him as one of Team Plasma's high-ranking threats and targets.
"You two wanna brawl? Lemme in on the fun," Nate said in a sadistic hiss. "I'll be sure to REALLY spice up the party."
The one in black began sweating. The qwilfish-head, he could take, but two on one was something he had little confidence of. Especially if the other was Nate Warren, known psychopath with an actual weapon and with confirmed knowledge of actual street-brawls. He was way more dangerous than qwilfish head, and even more so if qwilfish head and his apparently monstrous strength was aiding him.
"Tch! I'm not supposed to cause any trouble anyways," the one in black made an excuse. "I'll get you next time!"
The one in black made a run for it, ditching the one in white and the others.
"Get back here!" Hugh roared, chasing after the one in black.
Nate simply huffed as Rosa and Yancy caught up to him.
"What's his problem...?" Yancy asked.
"Oh, he just hates Team Plasma with the passion of a electabuzz versus the color red," Nate shrugged as Rosa went over to help up the man in white.
"Are you alright?" Rosa asked as she offered him her hand, which he accepted.
"Thank you," the man in white said as he got up with her help. "I'm terribly sorry for that..."
"It's alright," Rosa assured him. "Although are you alright?"
"Yes..." the man in white said. "That man your friend is chasing down and I used to be friends...but two years ago, after Team Plasma's fall, we split up into two groups. One that still follows Lord N who want to save Pokémon, and one that follows Ghetsis who plans to take over the world..."
"Is that so..." Nate mused, staring at the man in white. "So you're with the group that follows N..."
"Yes," the man in white confirmed.
"...Curious, what happened to him?" Nate asked. "You know where he went?"
"...Unfortunately no..." the man in white said. "He left to parts unknown...although we believe that he is out there saving Pokémon, so we will wait for his return."
Nate glowered at the man. Damn it, so no leads to where the Hero of Truth was.
"Although, his zoroark is still here," the man in white offered. "As I recall, according to my friend that your friend chased off, you can communicate with Pokémon. Perhaps you can get some info from him regarding Lord N."
"His zoroark is here?" Nate asked, surprised.
"Well technically, his zorua that is his zoroark's son," the man in white explained. "He left the zorua with Team Plasma when he left. It's now living here, having evolved into a zoroark."
"...Interesting..." Nate said, forming a small smirk on his face. "You mind leading the way to the zoroark?"
"Of course," the man in white said. "Follow me."
The man made his way back to his home, where Nate, Yancy and Rosa followed behind him, with the pinkette following him dutifully.
'Man...It's so obvious she has a crush on him...' Rosa thought. 'The poor soul...falling in love with Nate of all people...'
But seeing how Yancy loyally followed Nate without a care in the world, and seeing how Nate treated Yancy with a lot more respect than he treated her, something inside of Rosa burned. She didn't like it.
As the group reached a safehouse on a nearby hill, they could hear some ruckus going on from the house.
"What the...?" the man in white asked.
They approached the house, where the ruckus became louder, but suddenly a zoroark burst through the doors, followed by a familiar blue colt assaulting the fox.
"The hell?!" Nate blurted, getting in front of Yancy and Rosa. "Keldeo?!"
The zoroark rushed past them, where Keldeo snarled and pursued the zoroark into the neighboring route, ignoring Nate in the process.
"Wasn't that Keldeo?!" Rosa gasped.
"Oh hell no!" Nate growled as he suddenly went after them.
"Ah, Nate!" Yancy cried.
"You stay here!" Nate yelled as he ran out to the next route.
Yancy wanted to follow, but decided to listen to him and stay there with Rosa, much to her chagrin.
"Everyone!" the man in white cried as he rushed into the house.
Rosa and Yancy followed him into the safehouse. The place was in utter shambles; broken tables, shattered windows, stuff messily scattered everywhere, and many of the people inside were injured.
"Sir Rood!" the man in white gasped as he tended to the injured man in the robe.
"Oh...Rook," the robed man, Rood, replied weakly. "I see that you are alright..."
"What happened here?!" the man in white, now known as Rook, asked.
"That keldeo suddenly intruded the safehouse..." Rood muttered groggily as he got back up. "We couldn't fight him off, but Zoroark managed to fight it, and led it outside of the safehouse into Route 6."
"But why would it attack you all out of the blue...?" Rosa asked. If she recalled back in Floccesy Town, Keldeo did know that Team Plasma was back. But did it know about the old Team Plasma as well?
"We do not know," Rood replied. "However, we have reason to believe it despises humans; especially us, for long ago, we had captured the Three Swords of Justice, Cobalion, Virizion, and Terrakion, essentially taking Keldeo's family away from it."
"What?!" Rosa and Yancy gasped.
"Presumably, it sought out vengeance for us taking its family away from it," Rood said. "I also apologize for the mess...I wished that we could greet you all to a nicer abode..."
"N-No, it's quite alright," Yancy assured them. "It's not your fault that Keldeo suddenly dropped by..."
"Indeed..." Rood smiled weakly. "Oh, I suppose I should introduce ourselves. I am Rood. We are former members of Team Plasma. Because of the Plasma Raid that occurred two years ago, we started taking care of the Pokémon that were separated from their trainers as a way to atone for our misdeeds."
Rosa and Yancy glanced at the priest curiously, before noticing a bunch of smaller Pokémon emerging from behind him. A lillipup and a growlithe stared at them curiously, while an unfamiliar tiny furry tic Pokémon rested on the lillipup's head and a small white ursine Pokémon with a light blue head with light blue nasal mucus hanging out from its nose. Seeing the new Pokémon, Rosa scanned them with her pokédex.
"Joltik, the attaching Pokémon. Since it can't generate its own electricity, it sticks onto large-bodied Pokémon and absorbs static electricity."
"Cubchoo, the chill Pokémon. Their snot is a barometer of health. When healthy, their snot is sticky and the power of their ice moves increases."
"Aw, how cute," Yancy giggled as she kneeled down to their level.
The lillipup, growlithe and cubchoo went over to Yancy curiously, where the joltik jumped off of Growlithe's head and onto her hand. Yancy giggled as she petted the small tic, much to its delight.
"You've been taking care of all them?" Rosa asked.
"There are more in the back," Rood said. "But they are all in the middle of receiving treatment. They tried to fend off Keldeo, but the colt proved to be too strong."
"Keh! Serves you right."
Everyone turned to see Hugh at the door with a furious expression on his face, looking like he was reayd to explode at any moment.
"Hugh?" Rosa asked. "Where have you been? Also how did you know where to look?"
"The bastard got away," Hugh replied. "And Nate told me you would be here."
"Another friend of yours, I presume?" Rood asked.
"You guys are all Team Plasma too, right?" Hugh asked.
"Hugh, not now!" Rosa reprimanded, knowing full well what would happen next.
"Well, former, but yes," Rood replied. "And you are?"
"The name's Hugh Matis," Hugh growled. "From Aspertia City... Five years ago, Team Plasma–no, you scum–stole my little sister's Pokémon."
Yancy looked shocked as the Pokémon around her began to cower behind her, while Rosa had a sad, almost pained look on her face, knowing full well where this would go.
"I'm the pathetic trainer who wasn't able to stop you, when you all came in and stole it from her on her fifth birthday!" Hugh snarled, his voice increasing. "And I heard your little sob story back there. 'Separated'? What a joke! YOU were the thieves who stole them in the first place!"
Rood's expression looked shocked, before he lowered his head in shame, as if the message was settling into him.
"Is that so..." Rood said sadly. "...My sincerest apologies..."
"Just an apology...?" Hugh asked eerily quietly, before contorting into pure rage. "Just an apology!? That's fucking it!? Bullshit!"
Hugh went over and grabbed Rood by his collar, lifting the man up by it.
"Hugh!" Rosa cried.
"Where's my sister's Pokémon, huh?! Purrloin!" Hugh demanded. "ANSWER ME DAMN IT! WHERE THE FUCK IS HER PURRLOIN!?"
"...The Pokémon you speak of is not in this place," Rood said, not wavering to Hugh's rage, but looking ashamed like all the others around him in the safehouse. "I imagine it is still being used by Team Plasma now. Just as you say, our apologies mean nothing; they do not solve anything. But you cannot move forward unless you admit you were wrong and apologize..."
If looks could kill, then Hugh's death glare would've murdered Rood twice over by now. The bluenette growled incoherently in rage, dropped Rood, and stormed out of the house. Not a moment later, a loud, angry scream could be heard from outside, and the sound of glass shattering soon accompanied it.
"Hugh..." Rosa mumbled sympathetically, before turning to Rood. "I apologize for my friend. That was totally uncalled for..."
"No, he is right. We are at fault for his suffering." Rood admitted sadly. "Team Plasma had made trainers like him suffer...I feel terrible about it...we were foolish to think that thievery like that could truly be for the freedom of Pokémon."
"But you all learned that and are doing your best to repent," Yancy insisted. "It's not like you didn't regret doing it...you felt bad...so you all are doing your best to try and apologize for it."
"At least that's respectable," Rosa agreed. "You aren't wallowing in your own despair and sadness...you're trying to atone for your sins the best you can, even if it isn't much..."
Rood, along with the other former Team Plasma members looked at Rosa with genuine shock, and then replaced said shock with a warm smile.
"Thank you...you flatter me ma'am," Rood said. "Oh, I haven't asked for you names, have I?"
"I'm Yancy..." Yancy mumbled.
"And I am Rosa Echoes," Rosa introduced herself in her standard boisterous tone. "And I am the future champion of Unova."
"Well, well, such a grand goal you have there," Rood said. "Let me introduce myself. I am Rood. And you are always welcome here, Ms. Echoes, Ms. Yancy."
"Oh, that's right!" Yancy suddenly remembered. "We still need to find Nate!"
"There is another?" Rood asked.
"Yes, he went after Zoroark and Keldeo," Rosa explained.
"Then I suggest you wait here for him," Rood suggested. "If he is going after Zoroark, then they will most certainly come back here."
"What's so special about that zoroark, anyways?" Rosa asked. "Rook said that the zoroark is the son of N's zoroark..."
"Ah yes," Rood said. "Zoroark is Lord N's zoroark's offspring. They left him here as a zorua, wanting it to learn a new life away from Team Plasma's misdemeanors. We figured that living here learning to help Pokémon sincerely would teach him to stray away from the former Team Plasma's teachings..."
Hugh managed to patch up his hand after having smash a nearby glass pot out of rage and removing the last glass shard out of his hand.
"Goddamn it!" Hugh fumed. "The nerve of those bastards! 'My sincerest apologies'? Bullshit! Apologizing isn't going to get Val's Purrloin back! Goddamn it!"
Still in a fit of rage, the bluenette stormed off into the streets, before noticing that the entrance to Route 6 was nearby. If he recalled, Nate told him where Rosa and Yancy were, before rushing off into Route 6 for some reason.
'Huh? Rosa and Yancy? Oh they're in that warehouse nearby the hill.'
He seemed to be in a hurry as well. Hugh glanced at the route. The boy was enraged, raring for something to hit or battle for that matter as an outlet. Perhaps following Nate would provide such an outlet.
Nodding, Hugh headed into Route 6, determined to track down Nate.
Nate growled as he jumped over another amoonguss, looking around the route for Zoroark and/or Keldeo.
"Damn it, a black fox and a legendary colt are trying to kill each other here...how the hell can I NOT find them?!" Nate grumbled in frustration as he kept looking around.
Nate needed to find Zoroark. If he did belong to N once, then surely the zoroark knew where the man went, or planned to leave, or something. He needed to know where the lime-haired extremist was at all costs. N had Reshiram after all. If he could hunt down Reshiram and capture it, then half of his job would be finished. Hell, the distress of Reshiram might even attract Zekrom to him, killing two birds with one stone. If he could somehow capture Reshiram, then surely he could do the same with Zekrom.
Now all he needed to do was find Zoroark, which proved to be a challenge on its own.
"Damn it...!" Nate hissed.
As he was about to move on however, he stopped. Nate glowered as he glanced around, sniffing into the air like a dog.
"...Aha..." Nate muttered, before glancing over to a nearby tranquill that was resting on a nearby tree.
The boy stared at said tranquill, before pulling out his pokédex and scanned it.
"Zoroark, the illusion fox, Pokémon. Stories say those tried to catch Zoroark were trapped in an illusion and punished."
"Crafty little fox aren't ya?" Nate smirked as the 'tranquill' gritted its beak and jumped off, disabling its illusions and transforming back into Zoroark.
"-How the hell did you know?-" Zoroark demanded.
"I'm kinda different from normal humans," Nate smirked, pointing to his nose.
"-You can talk to Pokémon...?-" Zoroark asked disbelievingly. "-And you can snuff me out...Who are you?-"
"You remember Hilbert Warren?" Nate asked, getting the fox's interest. "I'm his little brother."
"-He had a brother?-" Zoroark asked.
"Yeah, long story," Nate shrugged. "So, why are you hiding out here? What happened to Keldeo?"
"-You mean that blue colt bastard?-" Zoroark hissed. "-That crazy bitch tried to kill me! I'm hiding out here to NOT die. Well until you showed up and screwed my cover.-"
"Cool story," Nate said uncaringly. "Curious, you know N, right?"
Zoroark leered at the boy, hissing lightly.
"-N...-" Zoroark grumbled. "-...What do you want with him?-"
"I wanted to know if you knew where he was," Nate explained. "He has something I want."
"-The hell if I knew,-" Zoroark retorted. "-He and Mom disappeared and left me here for two years.-"
"Huh, you don't seem to like him very much, do you?" Nate asked.
"-THEY LEFT ME HERE!-" Zoroark growled. "-They could've taken me with them, but NOO! They left me here and left on their own! What mother–no–what FAMILY leaves their own behind!?-"
Sorry, but I don't have a brother...
Nate visibly became rigid at the fox's growl. So his family abandoned him...
"So you were abandoned by family too..." Nate muttered.
Zoroark glanced at him confused, and was about to ask him what he meant by that, until a stray Hydro Pump shot out of nowhere and blasted the ground between them, making them jump back.
"The hell?" Nate asked, until he glanced over to the direction of the Hydro Pump and saw an angry Keldeo. "Oh yeah, you were hiding from him."
"-Hah! Finally found you, damn Plasma scum,-" Keldeo snarled as he approached Zoroark, until noticing Nate. "-...And what're you doing here?-"
"Oh me? Well I was kinda in the neighborhood, and this guy apparently has information that I could use," Nate replied casually, pointing to Zoroark. "And then you tried to blast me with steel-denting amounts of water."
Keldeo narrowed his eyes at the human before approaching Zoroark, who got into a defensive stance.
"-Out of the way,-" Keldeo demanded. "-I'm here to deal with Plasma scum.-"
Zoroark growled, but Nate got in front of the fox.
"-Huh...?-" Zoroark asked.
"-What's the meaning of this?-" Keldeo asked dangerously.
"Like I said, I still need information out of this guy, and I can't get it out of him if he's dead," Nate said. "Besides...I can kinda relate with the guy...we both know what it's like to have a family abandon you..."
"-You...-" Zoroark muttered.
Keldeo glared at Nate as he pointed his horn at him.
"-Out of my way,-" Keldeo threatened. "-Even if it's you...I will kill all involved with Plasma, and if you stand in my way, I will kill you along with him.-"
"It looks like we're in an impasse then," Nate replied as he released Brav and Kid.
Hugh glowered as he saw the several cleave marks on the rocks as he made his way through Route 6. These were definitely from a battle of some sorts.
"What the hell's going on?" Hugh muttered as he released Magby and Heracross.
"-What's going on?-" Magby asked as he and Heracross followed Hugh down the route.
Heracross looked up, and suddenly stopped, grabbing Hugh and Magby and jumping back to avoid a stray Hydro Pump from hitting them.
"-That was close...-" Heracross muttered.
"The hell did that come from?" Hugh muttered, before looking up and gasping at the sight.
Keldeo slammed his sword at Nate, who stepped out of the way as Brav descended down upon the colt. He lifted his sword up, intercepting the eagle's claw with the sword. Brav flew back, as Kid dashed underneath Keldeo and smashed a Thunder Punch into his gut.
"-Guh!-" Keldeo grunted, before kicking Kid asides. "-Out of my way!-"
"-Tch!-" Kid grunted.
Keldeo lunged for Zoroark, but Nate got in the way, grabbing Keldeo's sword before it could skewer Zoroark.
"Gh...!" Nate grunted as he felt the blade starting to sink into his skin.
"-Why the hell are you getting in my way!?-" Keldeo growled. "-He's with Team Plasma!-"
"No, he's with the old Team Plasma!" Nate growled. "The one who actually try to say sorry but no one believes them like the boy who cried wolf! And I still need him to get info!"
"-They're all the same!-" Keldeo roared as he swung Nate into a tree. "-Old or not! They did so many things to harm both humanity and Pokémon! Things that are inexcusable!-"
Zoroark gritted his teeth and glared at Keldeo, even if the colt was right. No matter what they did; no matter how hard Rood and the others try to atone for their crimes, the fact that they committed those crimes in the first place will never change. Even N and his own mother were not exempt from that. As the faux leader of Team Plasma, they were responsible for leading the forefront of the terrors that Team Plasma waged.
"See, I can understand why you're pissed off at Plasma," Nate replied. "Sure I can understand your urge to kill 'em all. But are you gonna go kill off the innocent?"
"-Who in Team Plasma is innocent?!-" Keldeo growled.
"What about those who didn't know any better?" Nate questioned. "Those who had no choice but to follow their lead? Those who were lied to and manipulated their whole lives? It's not like everyone in Plasma had that hive mentality."
"-It doesn't matter! They're all still guilty!-" Keldeo yelled.
"So would you kill a small child if they were guilty of the same crime?" Nate asked, causing Keldeo to recoil. "If a small child was told to commit the same crimes, despite not knowing any better and simply listening to the others since they don't know better, would you still kill a small, defenseless child? What about the elderly, who're too weak to do anything?"
"-They're all guilty!-" Keldeo snarled. "-I don't care if they're just kids or not! They should know better!-"
"-Damn, that's just harsh,-" Kid muttered.
"-Whether they are guilty or not, they are still children,-" Brav reprimanded.
"-I don't care!-" Keldeo shot at Brav. "-They're all guilty of their crimes! Just saying that they're just kids or old people or whatever! They still committed the crimes! They should still pay!-"
"Even if that means killing them?" Nate asked, glowering in disapproval.
"-They will know justice,-" Keldeo growled.
"Damn, you're sounding like Matis whenever he sees a Plasma," Nate shook his head, earning the boy's attention. "You're so engulfed in your own rage and hatred that you're on a strict black and white morality. Just because they're designated as such, you think they're guilty. Everything isn't exactly cookie-cutter, y'know. There is good from bad; you just suck at deciphering one from the other."
Hugh recoiled at that. It reminded him of his own anger towards Team Plasma; sure they were responsible for stealing his sister's purrloin, but who's to say that everyone was guilty? There could be people who actually didn't know better and were doing them because they actually believe they were making a difference. Sure there were those who had malicious intents, like that one grunt at the beginning of Driftveil, but who's to say there were others who thought otherwise. Hell, there was even the old Team Plasma he yelled at. They all saw the errors of their ways and wanted to repent for their past sins, yet he didn't see it; he called them out for their past misdemeanors and labeled them all as the same; ignoring their efforts to atone for themselves.
Keldeo seemed to be affected by the small speech, and went silent for a moment, seemingly considering his words.
'-Wise words,-' Brav thought. '-Although the hypocrisy in those words are very strong, Nate.-'
"Indeed, however you can still argue the opposite."
Everyone glanced up to the top of a nearby cave. On top of the entrance were three identical men. They had long white hair and grey eyes, each wearing a face mask and a black and grey sleeveless tunic with baggy pants. Their ice cold stares bore into everyone there, unfazed by the dead stare from Keldeo along with the confused glares from Nate and Hugh.
"They have their black and white morality for a reason," the leading man said. "If there is good, then there is also evil. No matter who they are, they still have committed the crimes that is deemed worthy of punishment. It's whether you deem it worthy of punishing it that matters."
"-...You...-" Keldeo said in an eerily calm tone.
"Who the hell are you?!" Hugh demanded.
"Oh, it's been a while," Nate muttered. "Shadow Triad, if I recall correctly, right?"
"It's been a while, boy," the lead Triad replied. "As always, you continue to be a thorn in our side."
"Sh-Shadow Triad...?" Hugh murmured, trying to recall where he heard that from, until it hit him.
"Aspertia City...yes, now I remember," Colress said. "That was the sight for Team Plasma's first liberation mission, if I recall."
"Who was involved in that?!" Hugh demanded.
"Your demands should be pointed to the Shadow Triad," Colress said.
Of course! Back in Route 4, that scientist Colress said that the Shadow Triad were involved in a liberation mission in Aspertia. And the only incident where Team Plasma attacked Aspertia was...
"Hey!" Hugh yelled at them. "You're the Shadow Triad?!"
"So what of it?" the one on the left asked.
"Do you remember stealing a purrloin from a little girl in Aspertia City five years ago?" Hugh questioned.
"Aspertia...?" the leading triad asked, before remembering something. "Oh...that..."
"So you do remember it!" Hugh yelled. "Tell me where it is! Where's my sister's purrloin!"
"Very well," the triad member said, taking out a pokéball. "This is probably it."
From the pokéball, the triad released a liepard that landed in front of them, snarling at them with a feral expression.
"W-What...?" Hugh asked, his expression filled with dread.
"I stole this Pokémon five years ago in Aspertia as the first act of Team Plasma," the triad explained. "It's likely that Liepard here is the same purrloin that you're looking for."
Hugh glanced to Liepard with a horrified expression. He tried to approach the leopard, but Liepard snarled and swiped its claw at the boy, leaving a scratch mark on his cheek. Heracross and Magby jumped and brought the boy back away from the feral Pokémon.
"P-Purrloin...? I-It's me...Hugh..." Hugh pleaded with a desperate tone. "You gotta remember me...right...?"
Liepard didn't flinch at all, steeling its menacing glare as it hissed at them.
"Try as you want," the triad said. "But after five years of it being under my command, it will only listen to me. Such is the fate of a Pokémon trapped in a pokéball. Whoever has the leash, has complete control."
"Y-You stop shitting with me!" Hugh yelled. "Th–That's someone else's Pokémon!"
"Hmph...I feel sorry for Pokémon, to be honest," he went on. "They're ruled by pokéballs, and the whims of the trainer who holds it. So if I say, 'attack the bluenette'..."
At response, Liepard lunged for Hugh without hesitation, but Heracross parried the attack and pushed Liepard away.
"...It would listen to my command without hesitation," the triad member said.
Hugh's expression dropped to one of complete despair; his entire ambitions; the very reason why he wanted to become strong and defeat Team Plasma was right now trying to harm him. He felt as if his whole world was crashing down upon him.
"Lord Ghetsis spoke of Pokémon liberation two years ago simply for his own ambitions," the member said. "However...if his plans had succeeded, many Pokémon would have been saved. This Liepard–well, Purrloin, to you at least–if it had been released, it might have returned to you."
"Yeah, well that's just a big 'what if'," Nate interjected. "Had the shitty priest's plans worked out two years ago, I doubt the liepard would return to Matis. It was with you for three years then. It would've still stuck with you, as cruel as it is to him."
"Hmph, they're all hypotheticals, in the end," the one to the middle's right shrugged. "We can never know now."
The liepard was about to lunge at Hugh once more, but Keldeo intercepted it, slamming his sword down upon the feline, making Hugh react.
"-I don't give a crap about your problems,-" Keldeo hissed, before glaring at the Shadow Triad. "-YOU! YOU PIECES OF SHIT WERE THE ONES THAT TOOK MY FAMILY AWAY FROM ME!-"
"-Y-You too...?-" Zoroark asked, shocked by Keldeo's revelation.
"Hm, looks like we all have something in common," Nate told Zoroark.
"Oh, it's been a while," the middle member said as he recalled Liepard. "We certainly remember you...I do believe a reunion is in order here..."
The man took out an unfamiliar, black and blue pokéball and released a goat-like, quadruped Pokémon that is covered in aqua blue fur with yellow horns similar in shape to thunderbolts, whom landed in front of them and glowered at Keldeo with a cold, soulless blue gaze.
"Oh fuck," Nate muttered, recognizing the goat and took out his pokédex to scan it.
"Cobalion, the iron will Pokémon. It has a body and heart of steel. It worked with its allies to punish people when they hurt Pokémon."
"How ironic. A Pokémon of such valor is working for us," the man sneered.
"-M-Master...-" Keldeo gaped. His master; his family that he had lost two years ago and spent the time searching for, was staring down on him right now.
"A touching family reunion this might be," the man muttered. "But there are more important matters to attend to. Cobalion."
The goat reacted by producing a long sword on its forehead.
"Of course..." Nate muttered, motioning Brav and Kid to get ready.
"Attack them."
Cobalion roared as he charged at them, sword brandished to slam upon them. Everyone jumped out of the way to avoid the attack, but Cobalion charged at Keldeo without flinching. The colt intercepted Cobalion's sword with his own sword. Keldeo gritted his teeth, before managing to push Cobalion back.
"Flash Cannon."
Cobalion stepped back, before his entire body began to glow and blasted Keldeo with the light. Keldeo retaliated with a Hydro Pump, but the Flash Cannon managed to overpower it and hit him.
"-Guh!-" Keldeo grunted as he flew back from the Flash Cannon.
"Tch! Brav, Superpower! Kid, Low Kick!" Nate yelled.
Brav charged at Cobalion and smashed his talon at the goat, but Cobalion met it with his sword. However while he was distracted, Kid slid underneath Cobalion and swiped his legs, causing the goat to trip and lose his balance, allowing Brav to smash Cobalion into the ground.
"Stone Edge."
Before Brav could pull away, Cobalion glared at the eagle, where several jagged rocks shot out form the ground around him and stabbed Brav in the wings.
"-Guoh?!-" Brav winced in pain as he fell to the ground, releasing Cobalion in the process.
As Brav wilted onto the ground, Cobalion stood back up, glaring at Brav mercilessly. He was about to trample Brav, until Kid got in the way, blasting him with a Shock Wave to distract him. The attack did little to him, as Cobalion glared at Kid without flinching at all.
"-Raaagh!-" Keldeo roared as he slashed Cobalion from behind with a Sacred Sword attack.
The attack did notable damage, as Cobalion winced from it and kneeled down slightly in pain. Kid and Keldeo jumped at Cobalion, but the goat stood back up and released a bright burst of energy, blasting them away.
"-Agh!-" Kid yelped as he flew into Nate, who caught him, while Keldeo was sent into a tree, until Zoroark jumped and caught the colt.
"-Ugh...-" Keldeo grunted, before noticing Zoroark. "-...Th-thanks...I guess...-"
"-Yeah, yeah,-" Zoroark muttered.
Cobalion faced Zoroark, who still had Keldeo, and charged at them. Zoroark quickly spewed flames at Cobalion, but the goat charged through the flames unfazed, and proceeded to ram into them.
"-Gueh!?-" Zoroark gagged from being sandwiched between the force of Cobalion and the tree that was behind him.
Keldeo managed to kick Cobalion in the face, kicking him away, before Kid and a recovered Brav assaulted Cobalion.
"Damn this is gonna take a while..." Nate muttered, before glancing to a still shell-shocked Hugh. "Yo! Would you at least lend a hand?!"
Hugh was still in a shocked state; probably due to learning that everything he did up to this point was all brought down to null. Gritting his teeth, Nate went over to Hugh, ripping him out of Heracross's grip and holding him up by the collar.
"Get a grip, would you?!" Nate yelled. "We're in the middle of a battle! The least you can do is help out here!"
Hugh still had a terrified expression filled with despair on his face; prompting Nate to punch him in the face.
"Enough of this!" Nate growled. "We are in the middle of a battle! They're trying to kill us here! So stop feeling sorry for yourself and FIGHT!"
"-Hey! He's going through a mid-life crisis right now!-" Heracross yelled.
"Well he won't be able to do anything else if they kill him!" Nate shot back, before glancing back to Hugh. "So is that it, huh?! You feel sorry for yourself because the purrloin that was stolen five years ago actually changed?! I told you this was a wild goose chase to begin with!"
"P-Purrloin..." Hugh quivered.
"Oh would you quit it already!?" Nate yelled, becoming more frustrated. "Look here! You're not the only one who's been affected by Team Plasma! There are countless others who were affected by Plasma's deeds two years ago, and there are going to be even more who will be affected by the new Plasma's deed if we don't do something about it! There will be more Pokémon just like the liepard who will suffer under their tyranny, while you're just here wallowing in your own self-pity, so unless you 're okay with that happening, then get your shit together and FIGHT, DAMN IT!"
Hugh finally broke out of his despaired expression, letting Nate's words sink in. He wasn't the only victim; he was simply the first, after all. There were countless others; humans and Pokémon alike, who suffered from Plasma's acts just like him. The old Plasma was trying to seek forgiveness and repent for their acts, yet he denied that, selfishly believing that he was the only victim here. And as long as the new Team Plasma was still alive, then more would continue to suffer.
"...So more Pokémon would become sad...like Purrloin...?" Hugh asked.
"Yeah," Nate replied. "So fight to prevent that from happening."
Hugh stared at Nate for a moment, before his expression became more determined.
"Right," Hugh nodded as he got up. "...I'll get you back for punching me though."
"Hmph!" Nate smirked. "Just try it."
"As touching as this is," the triad member said, getting their attention. "You're still in the middle of a battle."
They turned to him, and saw Brav, Zoroark, and Keldeo flying towards them and crashing past them, while Cobalion stomped on Kid.
"Kid!" Nate cried.
"Heracross! Magby!" Hugh yelled.
The duo nodded and lunged for Cobalion, with Heracross ramming his horn into the goat, pushing him off Kid, while Magby shot a Flame Burst at the Steel-type, burning it. Magby then went over to help Kid up.
"-You alright?-" Magby asked as he helped him up.
"-Tch, I've been better,-" Kid grunted as he accepted the help and got back up, where Cobalion was looming over them.
"Sacred Sword."
Cobalion deployed his sword and brought it down upon the duo, who both stopped it together with their hands.
"Shit, Kid!" Nate yelled.
"Magby!" Hugh cried.
The two struggled to keep the sword from smashing them into the ground. As they pushed back though, they both began to glow brightly.
"What the–?!" Nate blurted.
"They're evolving!" Hugh gasped.
The two glowed brightly as they began to change shape, along with growing in size. Cobalion jumped back as the two continued evolving. Once the light ceased, in place of Kid was a slightly humanoid Pokémon covered in yellow fur with black stripes and a black lightning bolt stripe on his chest, while in place of Magby was a bipedal Pokémon with a red body that has yellow flame designs on it, with a puckered yellow beak and two lumps on its forehead with a flame on top of each one. Amazed, the two trainers took out their pokédex and scanned their respective Pokémon.
"Electabuzz, the electric Pokémon," Nate's pokédex read. "Research is progressing on storing lightning in Electabuzz so this energy can be used at any time."
"Magmar, the spitfire Pokémon," Hugh's pokédex read. "The scorching fire exhaled by Magmar forms heat waves around its body, making it hard to see the Pokémon clearly."
"Well, so they evolved," Nate mused. "Alright Kid, your new name's 'Buzz'!"
"-Really?-" Kid, now Buzz, asked. "-I evolve and the first thing you do is name me after a state of being drunk?-"
"Shaddup, it's better than calling you 'Kid'," Nate shot back as he scanned Buzz with the pokédex. "Alright...Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Low Kick...OOOH...this outta be good."
"...Impressive..." Hugh muttered, glancing at Magmar's improved move set. "Let's go, Magmar!"
"Even if you evolved, it matters not!" the triad member yelled as Cobalion stood his ground.
Cobalion was about to charge at them, but a stray Flamethrower courtesy of Zoroark shot out, stopping him in his tracks.
"Buzz, Thunderbolt!"
"Magmar, Flamethrower!"
Buzz produced strong currents of electricity and blasted them at Cobalion, while Magmar released his own flamethrower at Cobalion at the same time. The two attacks combined managed to nail Cobalion, forcing the goat on the defensive.
"What...?" the triad member asked, stunned that they're actually matching to Cobalion. "Damn it, Cobalion, Metal Burs–!"
"-RAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!-"
Before Cobalion could move, Keldeo suddenly appeared above him and descended to the ground, slamming Cobalion on the head with a Sacred Sword. The force was strong enough for Cobalion to falter, as the mighty Steel-type fell to one knee.
Groaning in pain, the goat glanced up to Keldeo's glare.
"-How's that...?-" Keldeo asked cautiously.
"-...Ugh...K-Kel...deo...-" Cobalion grunted, his eyes now a calmer yellow.
"-Master–?!-" Keldeo gasped, realizing this.
But Cobalion's eyes quickly descended back to bright blue, as he began to snarl once more, pushing Keldeo away. Keldeo landed on his feet, glancing back at the snarling Cobalion. He was still in there. He could still save him! If that was the case, then perhaps he could save Terrakion and Virizon too...
"That's enough," the triad member declared, taking out the black and blue pokéball. "I will admit, you lot are much better than we anticipated."
Keldeo watched as the triad member recalled Cobalion into the peculiar pokéball with a hardened glare. It was definitely that weird pokéball that was causing Master to become aggressive and feral. If he could do something about that...
"We wasted enough time as it is," the one on the left spoke. "We need to leave now, Ein."
"I know, Zwei," the leader, 'Ein', grunted, before turning to the group below. "While we would love to spend more time here, unfortunately we can't. We have other business to take care of."
"You're just gonna run?!" Hugh growled.
"We'd like to call it 'tactical retreat'," Ein retorted.
"-Like hell you are!-" Keldeo roared as he shot a Hydro Pump at them.
The Hydro Pump bulleted for the Shadow Triad and blasting them, creating smoke from the impact. The smoke cleared, however, to reveal that they were unharmed, and protected by three muscular genie-like Pokémon, deploying a barrier around them. The one to the left was green with two horns on its head with wavy and billowy styled white hair, similar purple dots on its body, and a long purple tail, tipped with a whirl with whorled structures on it. The one to the right was blue with one horn on its head with zigzagging and jutting styled white hair and purple dots on its body, where its purple cable-like tail had several ball-like structures on it. And the one in front of them was orange with three pink horns on its head and a white protrusion shaped like a log on its head.
"Oh c'mon, that's just not fair," Nate deadpanned.
"Tornadus...Thundurus...and Landorus...?!" Hugh gasped, recognizing them.
"Remember this, brats!" Ein declared. "We Shadow Triad always accomplish our goals! All in the name of Lord Ghetsis!"
With a snap of their fingers, Tornadus and Thundurus eagerly shot a Hurricane and Thunder respectively, while Landorus sighed and released Earth Power. The combined force of their attacks decimated the field, engulfing everyone in the destruction and forcing them to guard. Once it ceased, they looked up to see that the Shadow Triad had disappeared.
"Great, so those ninja wannabes have the Three Swords and the Forces of Nature?" Nate questioned.
"-Yeah, sorry about that,-" Zoroark muttered.
"Goddamn it..." Nate grumbled, before glancing to Brav. "Yo, Old Man! You alright?"
"-I've had better days, my boy,-" Brav replied weakly.
"Right," he replied, returning Brav to his pokéball, before glancing to Keldeo. "So, what're you gonna do now?"
"-...Follow them,-" Keldeo muttered. "-Master was still in there. I just need to find them and destroy those weird pokéballs that they were trapped in.-"
"Hm...True...I never saw any pokéball like that," Nate agreed. "It must have some kind of property that's controlling them..."
"-So if I can break them, then Masters will be free,-" Keldeo nodded.
"Hm, alright then," Nate said, before facing the colt. "So Keldeo, join my team."
"What?!" everyone around him gasped.
"-...You're serious?-" Keldeo asked.
"Oh I'm serious," Nate insisted. "You're going after Plasma. We're going after Plasma too. Our goals coincides. Wouldn't it be better to work together on this one? Besides, what other human could possibly pair up with you better than me?"
Keldeo narrowed his eyes at the boy suspiciously, but he had a point. Keldeo couldn't see himself working with any other human, and Nate did understand him the most.
"You're still pissed at Plasma?" Nate asked. "Good. Direct your anger at them. Don't waste it on anything else but them. You found a hint to how to free your family. Then direct your energy, your determination towards that goal. There's no use for needless rage. That goes for you too, Hugh."
Hugh perked up to him.
"You're not the only victim, so instead of mindlessly raging at anything that just happens to have the Plasma symbol on them, do everything in your power to prevent more victims from rising up," Nate said.
Hugh glanced down to the ground, before glancing back at Nate and nodding, a newfound determined expression on his face.
"-I can tell there's more to you than meets the eye,-" Keldeo said. "-Hell, you could be manipulating us for all we know. However, you understand my own anger, my own hatred. If anything, you're the only human that could possibly understand me. As such, you're the only human I would willingly follow.-"
"So that's a yes?" Nate asked.
"-For better or for worse,-" Keldeo nodded.
Smirking satisfactorily, Nate took out a spare pokéball and tossed it at Keldeo, who willingly let it hit him. The ball sucked Keldeo in with a red light and dropped to the ground, shaking three times before it flashed, signaling a successful capture. The boy then glanced at Zoroark.
"And what're you gonan do?" Nate asked.
"-You mind if I join your team as well?-" Zoroark asked, surprising Nate.
"Oh? What's with the sudden interest?"
"-After hearing what you said to the bluenette and the colt, I kinda realized something,-" Zoroark answered. "-I was always brooding over Mom and N leaving me behind, but then again, I'm not the only one who's ever been abandoned by family. Hell, there're people, Pokémon alike out there who went through much worse than me.-"
Zoroark looked at Nate straight in the face.
"-I don't want to needlessly brood anymore. I want to find them as well,-" Zoroark declared. "-I want to know why they felt the need to leave me behind.-"
Nate stared at him, before nodding. He took another pokéball out, before tossing it to Zoroark, as it repeated the process of a successful capture. Smirking, Nate went over and picked up both pokéballs, before releasing Keldeo and Zoroark out into the open.
"Alright then, from now on, you're 'Deo' and 'Zoro'," Nate declared. "You're stuck with me from now on, until something happens. Don't regret it."
Keldeo, now 'Deo', and Zoroark, now 'Zoro', both nodded in response.
"Yo, Nate," Hugh said.
"Huh? What's wrong?" he asked.
"Uh...th-thanks...for helping me out back there," Hugh muttered, his cheeks flushing red in embarrassment.
Nate stared at the boy, before lightly knocking his head with a fist.
"Idiot, 'course I would've done that," Nate grunted. "...You were in a funk, anyways..."
"Nate..." Hugh muttered.
"...Look, I'm not good at this whole morale support thing," Nate muttered. "But seeing you like that...made me want to do something about it...we're...f-f...friends...after all..."
"Friends?" Hugh asked, genuinely surprised that Nate would associate himself with that word, and even more so that he would consider him as a friend.
"I-I mean I never really had any human friends anyways, and you were the more tolerable out of the two..." Nate muttered, looking away in embarrassment. "And you and I are somewhat alike in a way...so...yeah..."
Hugh just stared at the boy, who glanced back.
"What...? You don't want to be my friend or something?" Nate mumbled.
"...I'm just surprised you would even consider friends," Hugh said, before smiling. "'Course I'll be your friend man. After all this, I've got your back."
The bluenette offered a hand, which Nate stared at surprised, before smiling himself and accepting the handshake.
The sun was starting to set, where Rosa and Yancy were still at the old Plasma safehouse.
"How much longer are they gonna take?" Rosa asked.
"I hope they're alright..." Yancy mumbled.
"Oh don't worry," Rosa assured the pinkette. "Those two won't go down so easily."
"You seem to have confidence in your friends," Rood said.
"They've been through a lot," Rosa replied. "It'll take a lot to knock them down a peg or two."
"Whoa, the hell's this?"
"Right, I broke that..."
The two girls perked up at the voices outside and rushed to the door. They opened it to see Nate and Hugh, looking like they've had better days.
"Nate!" Yancy squealed, hugging the brunette.
"Yo, sorry it took so long," Nate said tiredly. "Something tried to kill us."
"What happened out there?!" Rosa asked, worried as she saw the wounds they had.
Nate and Hugh walked in, followed by the creatures they never bothered to recall into their pokéballs.
"I-Is that...K-Keldeo...?" Rosa asked, noticing Deo. "And Kid and Magby evolved?"
"Oh yeah, I caught him," Nate offhandedly replied, making Rosa's jaw drop. "Oh yeah Zoro too. Hope you don't mind, but the pokéball did register."
"At least Zoroark is alright," Rood sighed in relief, before facing Zoro. "Are you okay with this?"
Zoro glanced at Rood and the other former Plasma members, before nodding in response.
"If this is your decision, then so be it," Rood said. "Now, let's tend to your wounds."
Rook, followed by all the other Plasma members rushed over to tend to their wounds.
"You two must've had quite a day," Yancy said as someone wrapped up Nate's arm.
"Yeah, pretty much," Nate said. "Oh that reminds me, might as well show you to the rest of the idiots."
Nate took out the rest of his pokéballs, releasing Luca and Nite, while Brav just flopped onto the ground.
"Right, someone tend to the elderly!" Nate called out, signaling someone to heal Brav. "Right, you lot, Kid evolved, so he's now 'Buzz'. Meet Deo, the Edgy My Little Ponyta, and Zoro, the former terrorist."
"-You want me to kill you?-" Deo glared at Nate, who was unfazed by the threat.
"-Wow, you evolved,-" Nite commented.
"-Yep,-" Buzz smirked. "-You're not the only one who an evolve!-"
"-Well I'm still better than you!-" the fire pig declared.
"-Bring it then,-" Buzz challenged.
"Alright, break it up," Nate said sternly, going in between Nite and Buzz. "We're here to cooperate. Not to try and kill each other."
"-Sorry...- " the two mumbled, before Nite noticed Deo.
"-Hey I remember you!-" Nite yelled as he pointed one of his hooves at Deo. "-You're that unicorn back at Floccesy or something!-"
"-And what of it?-" Deo growled, annoyed that Nite called him 'Unicorn'.
"-Oh I may have not been al ble to take you on before, but now I can totally take you on!-" Nite declared. "-Right, Boss?-"
"Yeah, sure, just don't kill each other," Nate said nonchalantly.
"-But still,-" Luca questioned. "-What made you decide to join us now?-"
"-I have my reasons,-" Deo answered. "-But it would seem that our goals overlap each other, so I decided to join him, seeing that we're both more or less after the same thing.-"
Luca glanced at the colt questioningly, but shrugged it off. If Nate was okay with this, then who was she to judge? She then turned to Zoro, who was just staring at her with wide eyes.
"-Uh, hello?-" Luca asked.
"-Beautiful...-" Zoro muttered.
"-What?-"
"-Huh? Oh, sorry,-" Zoro blurted, trying to compose himself and hiding the blush on his cheeks., much to her confusion.
"Oh?" Nate smirked deviously, catching onto the blush.
Meanwhile Hugh released his team to show them the evolved Magmar.
"-Well now, another evolution,-" Flygon commented. "-Looks like our group is becoming stronger and stronger.-"
Servine simply smiled, nodding in approval, while Tirtouga said nothing, seemingly examining Magmar.
"-? You got something to say?-" Heracross asked.
Tirtouga simply shrugged, much to the Hercules-beetle's irritation.
Rosa glanced back from the two teams as they conversed with one another. In the span of one afternoon, the two became so much stronger. And here she was, making no progress at all...
No! She shouldn't think that. She was strong. She was skilled. She was going to become the next champion after all. She would be able to reach their level in no time.
"Hey, can someone heal Magmar, while they're at it?" Hugh asked, surprising everyone.
The Plasma members began to look uneasy, all hesitant to step in. Hugh sighed; it was understandable, he did yell at them all angrily.
"I'm not gonna bite, if that's what you think," Hugh sighed, appearing much less angrier than before. "But Magmar needs medical attention."
The Plasma members glanced at one another, until Rook stepped up.
"Here, I'll do it," Rook offered, as he went over to Magmar and sprayed him with a potion.
"Y-You're not angry at them?" Rosa asked, surprised at how calm Hugh was right now.
"...While I still believe that what they did two years ago was unacceptable," Hugh replied. "I was wrong for not seeing that they were trying to make up for their actions and blindly labeled them as the same as the new Plasma...I let my own anger get the better of me..."
"Hugh..." Rosa mumbled, surprised by the change of character.
"Well, it is getting late," Rood offered. "You all can stay here for the night if you wish."
"Oh sweet!" Nate grinned.
"There are some available rooms upstairs," Rood said. "The boys can share a room, while the girls can share another one. We will prepare dinner."
"Right," Nate nodded. "C'mon Hugh, let's go crash, I'm tired."
"Right," Hugh nodded as he followed the brunette upstairs.
"We'll call you down when dinner's ready!" Yancy called out to them, receiving a 'Kay!' from Nate. "Heehee, he's pretty happy."
"Yeah, I guess something must've happened..." Rosa commented, noting how happier Nate looked.
They both looked a lot happier, she could tell. Something must've happened out there. Well they would reveal it all at dinner. As Rosa was about to move out to help around, she noticed something.
Did Nate just call Hugh by his name?
To be continued
AN: What? You didn't expect Nate to get an upgrade? Well too bad! The plot demands it! Regardless, this chapter was mostly character development on Hugh's part and some for Nate, and arguably Keldeo as well. Yancy also joined the group too (this is plot relevant). The Shadow Triad also make their first official appearance in this story, and are armed with some power. And Nate gets Keldeo and Zoroark, while Kid evolves into Electabuzz, while Hugh gets another one and has Magby evolve into Magmar. Yep, sounds about enough for one chapter.
And Nate is the first to get a full roster!
Nate: Luca (Lucario) / Nite (Pignite) / Buzz (Electabuzz) / Brav (Braviary) / Deo (Keldeo) / Zoro (Zoroark)
Rosa: Eve (Eevee) / Ottavia (Dewott) / Nina (Growlithe) / Mandi (Mandibuzz)
Hugh: Flygon / Servine / Magmar / Tirtouga / Heracross
Welp, that's about it. Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see ya next time. Hopefully sooner. And if you would like, I have a story for an XY novelization (Fidelity), and one I recently started for Platinum (Platinum Witch). Hopefully you'll check them out and like them and not leave them neglected like I do for like a month or so to work in another story.