Pride of Your Soul
Chapter 17: Unstable
AN: Good news, I'm alive. Also good news, I graduated college and now have more free time! Bad news, I need to find a job for this crippling college debt. Sorry for the long absence once again. Fortunately I have more free time, now that school is no longer a thing for me to deal with now, so hopefully I can pick up the pace. But still, a lot happened between the time I last uploaded until now, and I owe all of you a deep apology and gratitude for staying with me for this long. Of course, I will still keep uploading, but I'm on the fence of whether to juggle the three stories I'm working on right now, or just finish PoYS and get that out of the way, considering we're kinda already halfway through. I'd like to know what you guys think I should do. That'll help me come to a decision. Alright now for reviews:
FantasyLover88 (Sep 5): Yeah I figured trade evolutions would be somewhat different outside of game mechanics, so I took my own spin at it. Oh yeah Rosa. Don't worry everything goes worse from here :D.
Pale1357 (Sep 5): Good to know.
Guest 1(Sep 5): Lol can't argue with that logic. And hopefully I'll be able to get Fidelity out soon. That story was left alone for quite some time.
Tony Anderson (Sep 5): Well the wait is finally over!
Guest 2 (Sep 5): That's one way to vote. Good to know.
MrBazaarScammer (Sep 5): Thanks! And interesting take on shipping choices.
TheDarkMaster4000 (Sep 5): Thank you for your constant feedback and spellcheck! I have to get onto fixing them if I haven't already. Overall thanks for your constant support.
SamTheRapper (Sep 6): Maybe that could be his identity, who knows. Only time can tell from here.
I'm dead (Sep 6): Oh if it was only that simple.
Pika (Sep 6): Thank you for your feedback!
Anonymous Trainer (Sep 6): Oh that'll get explained this chapter, don't worry.
Anonymous (Sep 7):
Tells me to completely rewrite the story.
Only reads the first 3 chapters, ignoring the rest of the story.
Questions why Cheren the Normal-type gym leader used the Normal-type Unfezant over the not Normal-type Serperior against Nate.
Complains that Cheren lost to Nate even though he's the first gym leader and is locked into using Unfezant.
Questions why Nate wouldn't know Alder simply because Hilbert was a former champion, when the context of the situation is definitely not about that.
You do give plausible complaints however I'll give you that. Tis a shame you only read 3 chapters and not see any character development or how Nate's right now slowly going insane from hiding everything (and get shit about it in the process). Or even consider that Cheren knew what he was doing and had countermeasures I just decided not to mention until later because obviously Cheren isn't that much of a dumbass.
Yeah sure I'm gonna scrap and rewrite this entire story just because you don't like it. That sounds totally logical.
Sorry for the mini rant, but this review kinda pissed me off.
Guest (Sep 9): Don't worry, I'm not gonna scrap the entire story just because one person doesn't like it. Especially if he didn't understand the context of the scenario (Rosa was indeed surprised Alder knew the fucking psychotic child hobo on a personal level, and not simply because Hilbert was a champion for barely even a year). On your criticism, however, yeah I do have to admit their interest in Nate is slowly becoming somewhat unhealthy. This was done on purpose on the context of love clouding one's emotions and purposely ignoring certain things. However, this could have been done better I will admit, and thank you for your input.
soraroxas (Sep 9): Don't worry I'm not gonna rewrite everything. Honestly it'll take too long; by the time it'll be done, Gen 9 would've probably happened.
SereneNacho (Sep 11): Can't argue with that logic.
Guest (Sep 13): Nah N's not gonna die. I still need him for plot reasons.
I M Poik (Sep 20): No worries, glad to see you back! All your concerns will be conveniently answered now.
Naruto K (Nov 8~13): Don't worry about it, haha. Anyways, glad you liked the last chapter. Hope you like this chapter as well!
G (Nov 13): Yeah sure! That's totally what I was planning for and not totally get swamped with college to do anything (I'm so sorry btw)!
Eris (Dec 7): I'm sorry for the stagnant update pacing. However, I will see this one to the end, and then hopefully open up some time for the others to get more frequent updates.
BLACK-BIRD76 (Dec 22): No problems my man! Glad you liked the chapter! And thank you for the generous score!
Kirsch (Mar 20): Glad to know your input on that issue. And here you go.
Anyways, onto this fat wall of text.
"Hurry!" Rosa yelled as she ran down the next step of stone stairs.
Currently Rosa, Hugh and Yancy were frantically rushing their way through the unknown cave, desperately trying to find their way down as fast as possible and seeking out Nate, who had jumped off the stone passage for some reason.
"Goddamn it, why the hell did he even jump?!" Hugh muttered. "What was he thinking?!"
"Could there have been something down there that caught his attention, maybe?" Yancy asked.
"Like what?" Rosa asked sharply. "What could possibly even be down there that'll make him jump off Arceus-knows how many feet?!"
"I guess we'll have to find out once we find him," Hugh muttered as he spotted the next stone staircase down. "If he's even still alive..."
"HUGH!" Rosa screamed at the blunette, horrified that he would even mention something like that.
"Look, obviously I don't wanna see him dead," Hugh snapped. "But he'd have to either have made a really good landing or be made of iron to not be a bloody pulp down there!"
"Well if he isn't dead, then we'll make sure he is."
They all suddenly stopped in their tracks at the sudden voice that echoed through the cave, where suddenly three identical men wearing identical black attires appeared before the stone staircase to the next floor.
"You!" Hugh growled, recognizing the Shadow Triad.
"I didn't expect to see you brats so soon," the middle Shadow Triad said.
"We don't have time for you!" Rosa yelled.
"Well yes, that is true," the man replied. "Unfortunately our goals coincide at the moment."
"What...do you mean?" Yancy asked cautiously.
"You see, your friend spotted a person we're after before us, unfortunately," the Shadow Triad member explained. "And while we were about to do something about that, we noticed you lot panicking throughout the cave like patrats being attacked by liepards."
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Hugh asked. "...Is that why Nate jumped...?"
"I would assume so, whatever it is that you're blabbering about," the man on the left muttered. "Regardless, the fact remains. He is with the target."
"We highly doubt the Warren brat would just hand the target over to us if we asked," the man on the right said. "So we need to think of a plan that'll convince him otherwise."
"And...That plan would be...?" Rosa asked slowly.
"Oh that's simple," the man in the middle said as they all released a Pokémon each. From the three men came out three similar-looking genie-like Pokémon. Everyone in the room recognized the trio as Unova's Forces of Nature: Tornadus, Landorus and Thundurus. "You're all going to act as hostages."
Alarmed at the sight of the legendary pokémon, Hugh, Rosa and Yancy frantically released Flygon, Nina and Snor, who looked shocked to see the legendary pokémon as their opponents.
"Now hold still," the man in the middle told them as the three genies lunged at their prey. "Struggling will only make this worse."
Flygon intercepted Tornadus, while Landorus and Thundurus lunged for Snor and Nina respectively.
"As if we'll just stand still and let you do what you want!" Hugh growled as Flygon slammed his tail against Tornadus, who blocked it with his arm.
"Of course we know that, that's why we're trying to make you comply by force," the man retorted as Tornadus landed a punch against Flygon's head. "Hurricane!"
"Intercept it with Stone Edge!" Hugh yelled.
As Tornadus flew back to shoot a blade of air at Flygon, the dragon summoned several jagged rocks and shot them at the genie. The rocks ripped through the blade of air, dispersing it in a violent gust, as the rocks went straight for Tornadus, landing a clean hit on him. Tornadus grunted as he fell back. Meanwhile, Thundurus was constantly shooting thunderbolts at Nina, who was frantically racing around avoiding the electrical assault to the best of her abilities and spewing fire in retaliation. Landorus on the other hand was locked in arms against Snor, both trying to push each other back, refusing to yield. It was obvious that they were all in a stalemate, but for how long it would last, Hugh was not too sure. Considering that their opponents were Legendary Pokémon, and definitely possessed better overall prowess and stamina, it was only a matter of time before they would overcome their own Pokémon.
"Hmph, a valiant effort, but this is getting irritating," the man controlling Tornadus declared. "Hostages shouldn't have to be this difficult to deal with."
"Says you!" Hugh growled in retaliation.
"...Very well," the man said as he lifted a hand up. The other two saw the gesture and immediately ordered their respective Legendary to fall back, gathering around the man with Tornadus.
"What...? What're they...?" Hugh muttered as Flygon flew back in caution.
The man controlling Tornadus proceeded to take out a strange-looking mirror. The man tossed it up into the air, before the mirror ominously floated in the air, surrounded by the three genies staring at it.
"Now, Forces of Nature!" the man bellowed as the mirror began to rotate, showing off each of the genies' reflection as it rotated. "Show them your true forms!"
The mirror rotated faster and faster as the three genies stared at it. The genies then started to growl, before roaring as their bodies began to glow brightly. The light suddenly flashed out, blinding everyone there. Once the light settled down, the three kids looked back and gasped at the sight.
In place of Tornadus was now a large, green, bipedal long-necked bird-like Pokémon, with more crest-like hair, a beak-like mustache. He now had two strong legs with sharp talons, and large feathered wings in place of his arms.
In place of Thundurus was now a large, blue, sleek dragon-like Pokémon, with a more raised snout and a fanged-maw-like mustache. His arms are much slimmer with paw-like hands, each covered in a trailing cloud-like fluff. His purple abdomen is much smaller than his upper half, and consisted of two hind-legs and his tail.
And in place of Landorus was now a large, orange, lean quadruped Pokémon with feline features, representing a tiger of sorts. His mustache now took on a more fanged maw-like appearance much like Thundurus, and four trailing cloud covered paws, each with three sharp dark pink claws.
"They...transformed?!" Rosa exclaimed.
"That's right!" the Shadow Triad commanding Tornadus bellowed. "With the power of the Reveal Glass, the Forces of Nature show their true forms! Now! Witness their unbounded strength!"
The three legendaries then proceeded to lunge at their adversaries, with Tornadus striking Flygon with his new legs, Thundurus grabbing Nina by her snout, and Landorus ramming into Snor's belly.
N stared at Nate calmly and passively; the boy only returning the green-haired man's gaze with a feral, bloodthirsty glare.
"How do you know...?" N asked, before carefully glancing at the boy's features. "Wait...you look familiar..."
"I should," Nate grumbled. "I chopped off the shitty priest's arm off before he could strangle Hilbert."
N raised an eyebrow confusedly, before remembering what the boy was talking about.
"...Yes indeed," N said. "I would like to say my thanks...but it would seem you're not in the mood for that."
"Aren't you smart," Nate drawled sarcastically.
"Snide...just like Hilbert sometimes," N chuckled. "As expected of siblings, I suppose."
Nate's glare grew deeper. "...How the hell do you know that?"
"By asking him of course," N said matter-of-factly. "And besides, the features are noticeable. Especially your angered expression. It is much like Hilbert's."
While Nate continued to glare at N, Nite and Vire glanced at their trainer with confusion.
"-Boss, do you know this person?-" Nite asked.
"In a sense, yes," N answered Nite, surprising the two Pokémon.
"-You can understand us?-" Vire asked cautiously.
"Indeed," N nodded. "Like your trainer, I too can understand the speech and heart of Pokémon."
"-So what makes you so special outside of that to make Nate jump off a stone bridge to track you down all of a sudden?-" Vire questioned, crossing his arms.
"I do wonder myself..." N replied. "That's up to your trainer over there."
Before Vire could inquire anything, Nate brandished his knife at the man, anger imminent.
"Enough talk!" Nate growled. "You have it don't you? Reshiram!?"
N stared at Nate, before calmly taking out a pokéball. From the capsule, an immense burning aura radiated from it; one that Nite and Vire could feel, and were intimidated from it.
"You want Reshiram?" N asked. "And pray tell, why?"
"Why do I need to tell you shit?" Nate retorted.
"Just curious," N shrugged as he pocketed Reshiram's pokéball back into his pocket. "You seem to know much about me, yet I don't know too much about you. Asides from you being Hilbert's long lost little brother."
Nate leered at the lime-haired man in annoyance.
"...Fine," Nate growled. "I'm going to get Reshiram from you one way or another. Might as well enlighten you. But first a question."
"A question?"
"...You of all people should know," Nate said. "...Have you ever felt hatred towards humans?"
N's eye twitched ever so slightly, betraying his ever-neutral expression.
"In my past, yes," N admitted.
"It was because they treated you differently, was it not?" Nate inquired. "Because you could do something no one else could, you were ostracized from others for being different. Was it not?"
"My reasons were because humans mistreated and abused Pokémon," N countered. "That was what I believed at the time."
"So you can confidently say to my face right now that the first time someone else saw you talk to a Pokémon that they weren't creeped out by it?" Nate asked. "Not someone close to you; a complete stranger?"
N's eyes narrowed slightly, not giving Nate a response. The silence itself was confirmation enough for Nate.
"Then how about being betrayed by someone you thought you could trust?" Nate asked. "Someone you considered a friend? A family?!"
"...Somewhat," N muttered. While he did catch on somewhat late and had his suspicions, he did consider Ghetsis his family. Even though the man was simply using him in the end.
"Then you of all people should know!" Nate exclaimed. "This anger! This sense of betrayal! This hatred!
"You did nothing wrong! You just did something only you could do! Yet those bastards do nothing but ridicule you and leave you to ROT!"
The boy's sudden outburst made Nite and Vire unnerved. The two never saw Nate this enraged. In fact, they never saw this side of Nate before until now.
"No good will ever come out from humanity! Especially from trash that care for nothing but themselves!" Nate snarled. "So why not just get rid of it all!? Why don't we just get rid of useless trash that'll do nothing but watch each other rot away!?"
"...So your goal is to seek revenge on 'humanity' using Reshiram?" N asked.
"Yeah that's right!" Nate yelled in response. "Reshiram and Zekrom! The two dragons said to be the Heroes of Unova! It would be perfect to use their powers to destroy everything to the ground!
"That's what Kyurem wants! That's what I want! TO SEE EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE BURN TO THE GROUND!"
N stared at the boy, who started panting from the angry speech he had just made.
"-B-Boss...?-" Nite asked, somewhat scared of him now.
"...That sense of hatred and desire for justice..." N said. "...I can't deny that I don't understand it. My goals two years ago...the liberation of Pokémon that I had once sought out...In a sense, that too is a form of vengeance against the unjust humans who abused Pokémon. Nate, was it? Your name. As someone who can understand what you are feeling right now, I have this to say.
"And?"
Nate stared N as if he just grew another head. He did not expect N to respond to him so casually.
"...And?" the boy asked, genuinely confused.
"Yes. So what?" N asked. "Hypothetically, let's say you do accomplish your revenge. You manage to steal Reshiram from me, and Zekrom from your brother, and you manage to destroy Unova and satisfy your revenge.
"...And? And what next? What do you plan to do after that?"
"What I plan to do after?" Nate asked. "That's obvious! I–! I..."
Nate tried to make a response, but stopped. The boy tried to think of a response, but he failed to do so. The boy tried so desperately to think of something; what he would do after he accomplished his revenge, even if it was just to make the man in front of him silence. But he failed.
"You haven't thought of that, have you?" N asked accusingly.
"Sh-Shut up!" Nate stammered. "I-Th-that'll come when I do destroy everything!"
"And you said that no good will ever come out from humanity? I know for a fact that very sentence is a lie," N went on. "I will admit, I used to assume that just like you. But even then I had people who genuinely cared for me. I was proven wrong. Are you truly saying that you had no one who treated you with care, respect, or even sympathy?"
Nate tried to make a retort, but then he realized that N was right too. Rosa, Hugh, Yancy...they all were individuals Nate could begrudgingly admit cared for him. A far cry from what he proclaimed about humans.
"Your hesitation is enough proof for me," N declared before Nate could make a response. "There are people you have come across who treated you like a friend, and not an outcast. Will they also be burned to the ground as well? Even though they showed you the compassion that you claim is impossible from humanity? Will you sacrifice your friends for your own selfish desires?"
"That's–!" Nate started, but stopped, heavily conflicted with himself at the moment as he slowly stared to the ground. Had he truly thought this through? Before, he would most likely be able to answer N without hesitation; his vendetta unwavering. But now, knowing that he has people he can possibly call 'friends'...is he willing to throw them into the crossfire of his own anger? They did nothing wrong to him? And yet they too would pay the price that the rest of humanity supposedly paid?
"Your soul...it is gray," N said, snapping Nate out of his own conflicted thoughts. "Two years ago, your brother's soul looked the same as well. He was conflicted that his own ambitions were fabricated from a source, making him truly ambitionless. For someone with such a dastardly goal, one would assume your soul would be pitch black. But no, it is gray. Why? Perhaps it is because you are confused at what you want to do. Your previous ideals are being challenged by a truth that you refused to admit until now. Because you are realizing this, and are conflicted at what to do now. Do you decide to go through with your own selfish ideals, knowing full well that your friends will die because of it? Or will you abandon those ideals, knowing that there is another possibility?"
Nate gritted his teeth, before taking out one of his knives and pointing them at N.
"Shut up!" Nate yelled. "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! You're telling me to throw away everything I've done to get here!? BULLSHIT! If I give up now, then what was the point of everything I've done until now!? All my suffering and hatred!? You're telling me to just throw them away after all these years?! You're telling me that everything I did to get here was pointless!?
"I won't just stand here and have you tell me that everything I did and felt was all for nothing!"
N continued to stare at the now enraged and confused boy, but his glance was not that of neutrality. It was that of genuine sympathy.
"Truly I pity you," N said. "You must have gone through so much pain and agony to be the person you are now. This is the fault of my 'father', and his own selfish dreams. His actions inadvertently turned you into the tortured soul that you are now. But this is also for Hilbert's sake. For Hilda's sake. But most importantly, this is for your sake.
"Nate Warren. Your truths and ideals are wrong. Accept it, and change for the better."
Nate gritted his teeth harder, and was about to lunge at N, before the sudden sound of stone breaking emanated through the floor they were on. Everything suddenly turned to see the ceiling next to them burst open, where Rosa, Hugh and Yancy fell, with their respective Pokémon being slammed down by three menacing beasts.
"-The hell?!-" Vire blurted.
Flygon was being choked by Tornadus, Nina had her face being shoved into the ground by Thundurus, while Landorus stood upon Snor, slamming one of his paws into the bear's gut. Their respective trainers were all lying on the stone floor, hurt from the fall.
"You guys...?!" Nate muttered.
From the newly-created hole, the Shadow Triad descended down, landing perfectly on their feet, before they noticed Nate and N.
"Well now," one of them said. "We managed to find the target while teaching a bunch of brats a valuable lesson."
"Shadow Triad...!" N gasped.
"It truly has been a while, 'Lord' N," the one on the left said, the title bestowed upon N stated with sarcasm. "Unfortunately for you, Lord Ghetsis wishes to have you restrained."
The identical trio suddenly lunged for N, but suddenly and immediately jumped back as Nate intercepted them with one swing from his knife.
"Like hell I'll hand him over to you fuckers!" Nate snarled.
"Out of the way, Nate Warren," the one on the right warned. "We don't seek you. We only seek N. Get out of the way, and you will not be harmed."
"Shut up!" the boy growled, taking out two other pokéballs. "I'm so close now! Get in my way and I'll KILL YOU! ALL OF YOU!"
"...Very well," the one in the middle replied. "Eliminating you is far more beneficial than disciplining three insignificant brats."
The trio snapped their fingers, signaling the Forces of Nature to stop what they were doing and target Nate. The three behemoths shot at the boy, while Nate sent out Deo and Zoro who intercepted Tornadus and Thundurus respectively, while Vire jumped and rammed into Landorus with an Ice Punch.
"-You!-" Deo snarled, recognizing the Shadow Triad.
They were all able to push the three legendary Pokémon back as they got into their own stances. Zoro glanced back, having recognized N from his pokéball.
"-N...-" Zoro muttered.
"You...your Zorua, aren't you?" N asked, where Zoro nodded. "...So you sided with him."
"-I have a lot of things to ask you. You and Mama,-" Zoro said, referring to the zoroark that was supposedly with N. "-But right now doesn't seem to be the best time.-"
"Agreed," N nodded. "Please do take care of your trainer."
"Night Daze! Hydro Pump! Ice Punch!"
Zoro turned away from N, before creating a crimson orb in his two claws and slamming it at Thundurus, causing the orb to burst and envelop them in a crimson aura. Deo shot a violent torrent of water at Tornadus, who shielded himself with his wings. The force of the attack was still enough to push the bird back, however, and into a nearby wall. Meanwhile Vire and Landorus slammed into each other; Vire with an Ice Punch straight into Landorus's cheek, while Landorus had a paw slammed straight into Vire's face.
"Impressive, to say the least," one of the Shadow Triad as Vire tried his best to overpower Landorus. "They were able to respond to the Therian forms and match up to them initially, unlike your friends. However..."
Thundurus suddenly ripped through the Night Daze and grabbed Zoro by the head, before slamming him into the ground. Tornadus shot out from where he was blasted into while avoiding a Hydro Pump aimed to stop him, before firing a blade of air at Deo, which burst into a full-blown hurricane that engulfed Deo. Meanwhile Landorus was able to muscle his way through and overpower Vire, slamming his paw across Vire's face and sending him flying straight into Nate, knocking him straight off his feet.
"Guh!" Nate grunted as he had the weight of Vire crush him to the ground.
"Even in the end, you cannot stand to the power of the Therians," the Shadow Triad member said. "At this rate, I fail to see how you will be able to stop Team Plasma."
Nate gritted his teeth as he got up, pushing Vire off of him in the process, as Zoro and Deo were sent back to him.
"Landorus, Stone Edge!"
Landorus formed several jagged rocks around him, before shooting them all at Nate.
"-BOSS!-"
As Nate was about to send out Luca to take the hit, Nite suddenly charged out of nowhere in a Flame Charge and took the Stone Edge, defending Nate in the process.
"Nite?!" Nate blurted.
"-GAAH!-" Nite cried out in pain as he flew into Nate from the impact of the Stone Edge.
The boy managed to catch Nite as he flew before the pig could crash into the ground.
"You..." Nate muttered.
"-A-Are you okay, Boss?-" Nite asked in pain.
"Valiant effort," one of them said. "But the fact that it couldn't even withstand it unlike your other members must mean that it's weak in comparison."
Nite tried to retort in anger, but was in too much pain to do so and instead glared at the man instead.
"You're too injured to do anything," Nate said as he took out his pokéball. "Return."
Nite tried to object, but winced in pain, which convinced Nate even further that the Fire-type was in no condition to try and fight, and promptly recalled him to his pokéball. The others managed to get back up as the three Therians gathered around, looming over them.
"What's the matter?" the one on the right taunted. "What happened to trying to kill us?"
Nate gritted his teeth in frustration. Meanwhile, the other three finally recovered from the fall, only to see the predicament that Nate was in.
"Nate?" Rosa asked.
"Well at least we found him..." Hugh grunted, noticing Nate's current situation. "He's taking them on by himself..."
"He's in trouble!" Yancy gasped. "We gotta help him!"
"But how?" Rosa asked. "We're in no condition to fight. We'll just get in the way..."
Hugh narrowed his eyes as he noticed Flygon recovering. Hugh gave the Dragon-type a signal with his hand, before glancing back to Nate's battle.
"Finish them off!" one of the Shadow Triad declared as Nate's Pokémon managed to recover. As the Therians were about to make their move, another zoroark suddenly jumped out from behind Nate, slashing at the Therian trio and forcing them back.
"-Wh–Mama!-" Zoro gasped, as the other zoroark glanced back and acknowledged Zoro.
Nate glanced behind him to see N with an open pokéball out.
"Oh now you decide to help," Nate grumbled.
"Well, taking on these three by yourself is challenging for anyone," N said calmly.
"So now you decide to rebel," the Triad member commanding Landorus said. "No matter. Not even you can withstand the might of the Therian Forces of Nature."
"Maybe, maybe not," N said, before taking out Reshiram's pokéball. "But what about him?"
Nate and the Shadow Triad shot their shocked looks at N as if the man was mad.
"You..." Nate muttered.
"What arrogance," one of the Shadow Triad said. "Fine then! Reveal it! Not even the White Dragon of Truth can take on the three of us!"
"Bold words," N replied. "I never expected the three of you to be the overconfident types."
Nate glanced at N confusedly, wondering why he did not just release Reshiram to overwhelm them, before noticing that his glance was aimed slightly upwards. Nate quietly looked towards where N was glancing, before understanding why N was even bothering to retort to the Shadow Triad's boast.
"Well? Get on with it!" the Shadow Triad controlling Thundurus yelled. "Show us the strength that almost took control of Unova those two years ago!"
"Hey now, I just asked if Reshiram could handle you three," N said. "I never said I would actually send him out."
Before the Shadow Triad could realize what N meant, all of a sudden a ferrothorn fell from above and slammed onto Landorus, crushing the Ground type with its heavy weight.
"What the–?!" the Triad commanding Landorus blurted, before an eelektross and a klinklang fell from above as well, attacking Tornadus and Thundurus respectively. The eelektross zapped Tornadus with electricity before he could act, while the klinklang slammed its rotating gears at Thundurus before he could act too. Landorus tried to push Ferrothorn off, but the Steel type simply bashed its head against Landorus's causing it to flinch.
"You planned this," one of the Shadow Triad trio accused N.
"It's your own fault for forgetting one of my biggest factors in play," N shrugged.
"Tch, no matter..." the man replied as they took out pokéballs. "We still have means of making you two submit."
"NOW!"
As the Shadow Triad were about to recall the Therians, Hugh made his presence known, as Flygon shot several jagged rocks from behind, catching the assailants in black by surprise and hitting them in the back. The sudden attack made them drop their pokéballs while trying to recover. Nate eyed the dropped pokéballs, before realizing the opportunity presented in front of hin.
"Nice job, Hugh!" Nate yelled as he took out his two knives and flung them at two of the pokéballs.
The two knives sank their blades into their targets before the Shadow Triad could retrieve them, causing them to discharge electricity, before leaking smoke. The middle Shadow Triad tried to get the remaining one, before Deo suddenly shot out and stabbed the ball with his Sacred Sword.
"You little–!" the man growled.
"-How's that?!-" Deo taunted.
The Shadow Triad were forced to jump back as Deo threatened with his sword, as the other Pokémon stalked forward closer and closer.
"Damn it..." one of them grumbled. "Lord Ghetsis won't be pleased with this outcome."
"Should we leave them?" the second one asked, referring to the Therians.
The one in the middle glanced back at the fallen Therians, then at the murderous crowd of enemy Pokémon and trainers alike.
"I doubt they'll let us reclaim them so easily," the man replied. "Let's cut our losses and leave."
"You think we'll just let you leave?" Nate growled.
The one on the left scoffed, before taking out a blue and black pokéball and sent out a large, rather feral looking bovine, quadruped Pokémon with two sharp curved brown horns.
"-Terrakion!-" Deo gasped.
"Earthquake!" the Shadow Triad commanded.
Terrakion growled, before slamming one of his hooves into the ground, causing a massive earthquake to rip apart the ground around them.
"Shit!" Nate swore as he quickly recalled his Pokémon, before aiming the last ball at Deo. "Deo!"
Deo glanced at Nate, before glancing back at Terrakion. The colt wanted so badly to rescue him from the clutches of the Shadow Triad, but it was clear that now was not the time to do so. Deo yielded and let himself get recalled back into his pokéball. The Shadow Triad recalled Terrakion, before the trio quickly jumped off the ground and onto the jagged walls for safety and escape.
"This isn't over boy!" one of them yelled, before vanishing away.
The earthquake raged on, ripping apart the ground and causing a chasm to form. The wild Pokémon that helped Nate and N fled, either climbing up the walls or floating away to safety, leaving the others to withstand the earthquake. Everyone recalled their Pokémon, before trying to escape themselves.
"Shit!" Nate swore as he almost lost his balance. The ground already split in half, leaving the Therians and their broken pokéballs, along with Nate's knives, to fall down into the openings. "Well there goes those..."
The ground began to break apart even more, causing N to lose his balance as well. The man fell to the ground, where from his pocket a pokéball fell out.
"Wha–?!" N blurted, before realizing what pokéball fell out. "No, Reshiram!"
"What?!" Nate gasped, eyes darting for the pokéball of Reshiram that fell out and rolled away from N.
The green-haired man tried to grab it, but the tremoring caused him to lose his balance as he tried to get back up. Nate glanced at the ball with wide eyes. This was the perfect opportunity! Reshiram's pokéball was right there, and its trainer was defenseless! He just had to grab the ball and scram before the earthquake made things too late.
But as Nate was about to make a grab for it, a bunch of screams stopped him in his tracks. Nate glanced to the other direction, only to see what he had forgotten about.
"You guys!?"
Nate spotted Yancy, grabbing ahold of the ground that split apart on their side and holding on for dear life. Rosa was hanging off of Yancy's other arm, while Hugh was holding onto Rosa's arm, with all three of them hanging above a seemingly endless chasm. They all must have not had any better luck dealing with the earth shattering, and all are within moments away from falling into the fissure.
"Nate! Help us!" Yancy cried out. "I can't hold on for much longer!"
"You gotta be fucking kidding me!" Nate swore.
Nate frantically glanced from Yancy and the others hanging on for dear life to the defenseless pokéball of Reshiram and back and vice versa. This was perhaps the best possible opportunity Nate could have asked for. Reshiram was right there. He just had to go grab it and run. But if he did that, then surely he would not have any time to save the others. The boy was now stuck in a grave predicament, and a vital choice needed to be made. Confused, the boy kept glancing between the two choices, genuinely confused on which to choose. Of course he wanted to achieve his goals, and that meant taking Reshiram and delivering it to Kyurem. But at the same time, his companions were in life-threatening danger, and only he was in any position to save them. The boy had to make a choice and time and nature was not on his side.
'Reshiram's right there!' Nate thought. 'But if I make a grab for it...there's no way I can go save them in time...But he's right THERE!'
Nate then noticed that N was starting to regain his balance, and slowly and carefully crawled towards Reshiram's pokéball, making sure it did not roll away from any motion. Meanwhile the boy could hear Yancy struggling to keep a grip on the rock that was keeping her and the others from falling to their deaths. His body tried to jerk towards the ball, but immediately stopped as it wavered. Nate then turned to the direction of his friends, but he then hesitated as well.
'WHY CAN'T I MAKE A DECISION!?' Nate screamed internally, damning himself for being indecisive at such a crucial moment. 'What do I value more?! My goals!? Or them?!'
Going for Reshiram was a clear indicator for Nate's betrayal towards the three. But if he went for the three, then who knows what other opportunity would present itself to take Reshiram.
'Even though they showed you the compassion that you claim is impossible from humanity? Will you sacrifice your friends for your own selfish desires?'
"NAATE!" Yancy screamed.
N's words from earlier which his adrenaline-rushed brain decided to remember, along with Yancy's emphasized cry for help was the deciding factor for Nate.
"...Goddamnit!" Nate yelled as he sprinted towards the hanging Yancy, leaving N to successfully reclaim Reshiram.
"Nate..." N murmured, surprised by the decision he made. The man was not sure what the boy would do, but he did not expect him to throw away the chance at Reshiram like that.
"-Master N.-"
N's attention snapped as he turned to see a white bird-like dragon Pokémon with red features and yellow eyes staring at him, floating in front of him without a care.
"You're...!" N gasped.
Meanwhile Nate ran as fast as he could towards Yancy. He made his choice, and he'd be damned if he could not go through with it. The girl's hand finally gave up, losing her grip on the rock that she was holding on for dear life. As she screamed as they fell, Nate jumped into the chasm after them, grabbing Yancy's hand, before activating the blades in his shoes and slamming them and his free hand against the stone, stopping the momentum of them falling as much as he could. Nate groaned in pain as his hand violently dragged against the rock, before eventually they stopped falling. Nate panted, having withstood immense pain from having his nails and fingers scraped against hard rock, before glancing down. He could see the terrified gazes of Yancy, Rosa and Hugh, as Nate was now hanging for dear life while carrying all three of them. While Nate knew he had the most physical strength out of them, he was not sure of whether he could get them all out in one piece.
"Fucking great," Nate grumbled. "Faaaaantastic. Why couldn't you guys save yourselves? Now we're all about to die!"
"Nate...?" Yancy asked.
"I threw away a perfect shot at achieving my goals for this! Like hell I'll let that decision go to waste," Nate growled. "We're all getting out of here alive. Got it!?"
Nate glanced back up, ignoring the gazes he was getting from the others. Despite the situation, they were not too far down into the void. If he had an extra arm, he could easily climb up to safety with the others in tow. Unfortunately that was not possible, and now he was stuck, unable to so much as move his free arm lest they all fall down to their dooms.
"Hugh!" Nate yelled, knowing that Hugh was the only one with an actual free hand. "Flygon! Now!"
Hugh got the message and scrambled to find Flygon's pokéball. He checked on the dragon, only to find him exhausted and out cold, most likely due to suffering exhaustion from his previous battle and expending what little strength he had in making a sneak attack on the Shadow Triad.
"No good! He's out cold!" Hugh yelled back.
"Wonderful..." Nate scowled sarcastically. No one else was in any position to call out a flying Pokémon to help carry them to safety. Now truly left with no other options, the boy gathered all the strength he could get in his arm carrying his friends in hopes of somehow throwing them up to the ground.
Unfortunately, while his arm was up for the challenge, the wall he was holding onto was not, and broke off the moment he was about to throw them.
"Eh?" Nate simply blurted as he realized that the portion of the wall his hand and feet were submerged into chipped off, and realized that now he and the others were falling.
The three screamed as they fell deeper into the chasm, while Nate simply fell in stunned silence, comprehending what was going on.
'You're kidding me...' Nate thought as he felt himself plummet. 'After throwing away a perfect change at accomplishing my goal...after abandoning a perfect opportunity for my revenge for them...You're telling me I can't even do that...? I can't even save them?'
"NATE!" they all screamed as the ground was slowly getting visible. The boy snapped out of his thoughts, before seeing Yancy reach out to him as they were falling. The boy gritted his teeth in anger and anguish, before grabbing Yancy and holding her tight, positioning himself so that he would land on the ground first and Yancy could use him as a cushion.
"GODDDAMN IT!" Nate cried in anger as they fell to the ground.
But right before the four hit the ground in most likely an explosion of blood and flesh, Nate felt himself landing on something else with a yelp of pain, while Rosa and Hugh felt themselves being grabbed. The sensation of falling was no longer present, as they looked to see what had happened.
To Nate's surprise, it was none other than the Therians who had come to their rescue, with Nate and Yancy finding themselves on Landorus's back, Rosa finding herself in the arms of Thundurus, while Hugh found himself in the talons of Tornadus.
"-Hold on,-" Landorus told Nate, who dumbly complied and held a grip on Landorus as they flew upwards.
The three divine beasts rocketed upwards, expertly dodging the falling debris while maintaining their speed upwards. Within seconds the group found themselves back where they fell, before the Therians flew further up away from the collapsing ground and to safety. The four kids glanced down to see the ground crumbling, before finally collapsing in on itself to form one giant chasm.
"...Wait, where's–?" Nate asked, before he felt something fly past him.
The boy glanced to see the man in question, riding the white and red bird-like dragon away from them. Nate and N exchanged glances as N past by him, before N was taken away by the dragon at a speed even faster than the speed Landorus and his two brethren showed off.
"A latias...?" Nate asked, wondering where the legendary dragon came from. "...Wait...don't tell me..."
The Forces of Nature then proceeded to fly upwards to stable ground, leaving the rubble that was once the bottom floor of the Chargestone Cave.
The Forces of Nature navigated their way to the exit of the cave, before descending to the ground, letting the kids on the ground.
"-That was a close one,-" Landorus muttered.
"Yeah..." Nate muttered, before glancing to the others. "You guys alright?"
"That could've gone worse..." Hugh mumbled.
"...Yeah..." Rosa replied tiredly.
"Y-Yes..." Yancy stammered, still trying to collect herself. Her expression then suddenly flushed, before squirming, realizing that Nate was still holding her. Nate realized this and let her go from his grasp.
"Sorry," Nate said, before turning to the Forces of Nature. "Why did you save us?"
"-What? So you wanted to die there?-" Thundurus asked.
"Not really, but you lot didn't really have a reason to save us," Nate replied.
"-That's where you're wrong though,-" Tornadus retorted.
"-We're free from the control of those three cowardly vermin thanks to you and your friend,-" Landorus explained. "-And thus, at the very least we can show our gratitude by saving you kids from death's door.-"
"What're they saying?" Hugh asked Nate.
"They said thanks for freeing them from the Shadow Triad," Nate roughly explained. "And they saved us as gratitude."
"R-Really now..." Hugh mumbled, shocked that Unova's legendary Pokémon would go out of their way to save them. "Thank you."
"You say you're free from the control of them, implying you were being used against your will," Nate accused, pointing to Thundurus and Tornadus. "But those two looked eager to kill us last time back at Route 5!"
"-They're bloodthirsty idiots, what did you expect?-" Landorus asked. "-Regardless, thank you for freeing us. Anything you want from us? It's only fair that we listen to a request.-"
"Uh..." Nate mumbled, before glancing over to the others. "You guys want something from them?"
"They're...taking offers?" Rosa asked.
"I guess..." Nate shrugged.
The group looked at each other, wondering what to ask from the group of legendary Pokémon. Before Rosa or Yancy could say anything, Hugh stepped up to them.
"Then...can I ask one of you to join my party?" Hugh asked.
"Hugh?" Rosa asked.
"Seriously?" Nate asked, surprised by the request.
"-Oh, bold words,-" Landorus mused. "-And why's that?-"
"He's asking why," Nate translated to Hugh.
"...Back there, when we were about to fall," Hugh answered. "I was the only one who could do anything to help. Yet I couldn't. Flygon was too hurt to help us. If you three didn't save us...then we would be all dead by now.
"Flygon was too hurt to do anything to begin with because we were too weak against you three back against the Shadow Triad. I...I want to get stronger. So that something like that can be prevented. So I can stop Team Plasma. So please! I'll fight you if I have to prove myself!"
The Therians took the blunette's words in deep consideration, glancing at each other. The boy's words seemed to impress them enough. The emotion it radiated was enough for them to see how much the event had affected him and his wish to become stronger.
Eventually, Tornadus stepped up, staring at Hugh in the eye.
"-Very well then,-" Tornadus said.
"-You okay with this?-" Thundurus asked.
"-Why not? The boy's interesting,-" Tornadus replied.
"Huh…?" Hugh asked, not understanding the Pokémon.
"Congratulations, you won Tornadus," Nate informed Hugh with mock pomp and fair.
"Really?!" Rosa gasped.
"You're serious," Hugh said to Tornadus, who nodded in confirmation. The blunette gulped, before taking out an empty pokéball and presenting it to Tornadus. The bird tapped his head against the button, allowing the ball to open up and convert Tornadus into a red light, before swallowing the light up and close. The ball shook three times, before it flashed, confirming the capture. Hugh smiled, before immediately letting Tornadus out into the open.
"Thank you," Hugh told Tornadus. "I'm looking forward to working with you."
Tornadus nodded in response, before glancing back to Landorus and Thundurus, who began to rise into the air.
"You guys good with your current forms?" Nate asked. "Last time I checked, you three looked more like genies."
"Oh right," Rosa said. "The Shadow Triad used some mirror to change their forms."
"Yeah figured..." Nate muttered. "...So? You guys good with this?"
"-We can live,-" Landorus replied. "-Sure we're somewhat slower, but we gain more power in these forms.-"
"-You guys get slower,-" Tornadus scoffed. "-I actually become faster in this form.-"
"-Whatever,-" Thundurus rolled his eyes as the two ascended to the air to leave.
"-At this rate, you lot shouldn't leave Plasma to their doings,-" Landorus warned them. "-They're planning something big. Whatever you do, don't let them get Reshiram or Zekrom.-"
'So they're after them too...' Nate thought to himself. 'Well that's to be expected...'
"-If the time comes, we will come to aid you,-" Landorus declared. "-...Whether we should trust you or not is debatable, considering what you're after.-"
Nate shot up and glared at Landorus, who returned the glare unflinching.
"-...Well, considering how you chose to save your friends over your greed,-" Landorus admitted. "-I feel that you can still be trusted.-"
Nate's eyes widened slightly, as Landorus and Thundurus turned to leave.
"-Tornadus! Don't go dying pathetically on us!-" Thundurus yelled.
"-You too,-" Tornadus replied as he saw his two brethren fly off.
Nate saw the two fly off, before letting out a frustrated sigh. "What a shitty day..."
The boy was about to leave, before turning to his group. Now with everything calmed down, the other three turned and stared at Nate.
"...What?" Nate asked somewhat rudely.
"Now that everything's calmed down," Rosa said, before glaring at the boy. "Care to explain why you suddenly ditched us back there?"
Nate leered at the girl. Of course they would question him about that. Personally the boy wished that they would not confront him about that, but that was wishful thinking.
"...I thought I saw someone I recognized," Nate muttered weakly.
"Who exactly?" Rosa asked accusingly.
"Don't worry about it," Nate deflected the question. He knew revealing N would keep them from finding out his intentions.
"No," Rosa shot back. "Normally I wouldn't question what you do since it doesn't change much for us, but you running off like that not only made us worried that you killed yourself, but it ended up involving those Shadow Triad freaks! I'm done with you keeping stuff behind our backs!"
Nate did not say anything, instead glancing to the side. As annoying as she was to him right now, Rosa was speaking nothing but the truth. His own actions did inadvertently drag the others into the mess, and almost cost everyone their lives.
"I know..." Nate mumbled.
"We don't know what Team Plasma up their sleeves!" Rosa yelled. "Sure they lost the Forces of Nature, but they still have the Swords of Justice! Who knows what else they have that we don't know! We need to stick together, and you going off doing whatever it is you're doing isn't helping!"
"I know...!" Nate gritted his teeth, starting to get frustrated.
"If you really do know, then stop going behind our backs!" Rosa demanded. "We're a team at this point! You told Hugh to stop only caring about defeating Team Plasma and getting his sister's purrloin back, yet you refuse to tell any of us what you do and keep to yourself! We don't even know what you're trying to accomplish on this journey besides listening to Professor Cheren so he didn't call the police on you and looking for Hilbert! Honestly I still don't know why he didn't just call the police on you then! Hell we don't even know WHY you even decided to go along with him anyways! You could've just ditched us the moment you had the chance, but NO! You decided to go with it! And we don't know WHY you did it!"
"Call the police...?" Yancy asked, as Nate refused to look at Rosa. This was news to her.
"Besides, we almost died there too!" Rosa went on. "You going behind our backs doing whatever it is almost killed us today! Who knows what else might happen now!? What did you even accomplish by going after whoever you were going after!? The only thing you did in the end was almost getting us killed!"
"I SAID I FUCKING KNOW ALRIGHT?!" Nate yelled at Rosa, his frustration reaching a boiling point, making him snap. "YOU KEEP PREACHING ABOUT DYING SO MUCH, SO YOU WANT ME TO FUCKING KILL YOU THEN?!"
The three stepped back in surprise, not expecting Nate snapping like that all of a sudden nor his choice of words. The boy realized what he said, glancing at Rosa. Her face looked of shock and fear, almost cowering at the sight of him. No surprise; he just threatened to murder her out of rage. The boy gritted his teeth in further frustration after realizing what he said in the heat of the moment, and turned away from them.
"...Sorry..." Nate muttered. "...C'mon, let's just get out of here."
The boy headed to the direction of the exit, the other three somewhat hesitating, before following after him. They never seen Nate get that angry before. The boy looked truly enraged, almost murderous. While it sounded like Nate genuinely regretted his actions, it still begged the question of what Nate did to begin with. They still knew nothing about Nate. The air around them felt heavy, as they made their way out of Chargestone Cave in silence. Yancy glanced at Hugh and Rosa in worry, noting Rosa's rather scared expression and Hugh's rather uncomfortable expression. The pinkette glanced over to Nate, who was walking ahead, refusing to glance back to them. The girl had a worried and nervous expression on her face, before deciding to catch up to him. The girl nervously glanced up to see Nate's face. The boy was still frustrated; that much was obvious.
"Uh...Nate...?" Yancy asked.
"What?" Nate asked bluntly, coldly and angrily, glancing to her. "...What do you want?"
"Y-You know you can trust us, right?" Yancy offered timidly. "You don't have to keep any secrets from us...right...?"
"...Whatever..." Nate muttered, glancing away.
"...Uh...about what Rosa said back there..." Yancy mumbled, not sure whether asking was a good idea but decided to do it anyways. "She said that this Professor Cheren person was going to call the police on you if you didn't listen to him..."
Nate's frustration told him to shut Yancy up, but the boy did not want to snap at her. He already felt bad for yelling at Rosa, even threatening to kill her out of anger when she was justified about everything she said; lashing out against them was pointless. The boy did his best to keep calm and not simply let out any anger, before answering Yancy.
"Don't worry about it," Nate sighed, muttering to her. "...It's complicated...Look I'd rather not talk about it."
"O-Okay..." Yancy replied. Nate looked forward, signaling that the conversation ended, which Yancy complied by walking besides him in silence.
"Well at least he isn't lashing out again," Hugh sighed. "Geez...I understand how he must be feeling right now, but lashing out like that isn't gonna do anyone any favors."
Unnoticed by Hugh however, Rosa was furiously glaring at Yancy. How come when she tried to pry into Nate's past actions all she gets is a light dismissal, but when Rosa does it he threatens to kill her?! Why?! Why is that pink bitch being treated so specially?! It's not fair!
'That's it,' Rosa thought darkly. 'I tried to play nice–as much as I could bear to, but enough is enough.'
Yancy needed to go. But how? Oh that was simple. Nate was not the only one hiding secrets from the rest of the group. Yancy was also hiding the fact that she ran away from home. Conveniently for Rosa, she just so happen to run into her brother Curtis, and can contact him anytime she wished.
She contemplated the idea previously, but now seems to be the perfect time to do so. Set up a place and time for Curtis to come and get Yancy. And done. The pinkette would no longer be around to steal Nate's attention from her, leaving Nate all to herself.
It was a simple, straightforward, yet perfect plan. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Rosa smiled at that thought as they reached the exit.
The latias soared smoothly through the azure skies, bringing her passenger to a nearby cliff, overseeing a city with a cave entrance. The dragon descended down in front of her trainer, allowing N to step down onto the cliff, before recognizing the trainer in front of him; the woman cladded in white with an opera mask concealing her eyes. Next to her, a shiny whimsicott was floating around, playfully chasing a joltik that was bouncing around.
"Well I'm glad you're still in one piece," the woman said with a smile.
"You..." N muttered in shock, but before he could continue, the woman stopped him.
"No need for thanks," the woman replied dramatically. "All in a day's work for the white heroine of justice, Weiss! Just kidding."
N stared at Weiss with a baffled expression as she simply giggled to herself. "...I see, so that's how it is. Nonetheless, thank you for saving me."
"Well you are still an important individual in this game," Weiss replied. "I can't exactly let Plasma get their hands on you."
"I see," N said.
"You have NO idea how much of a pain in the ass it was to get here anyways!" Weiss started to suddenly rant. "Geez! That Schwartzer! I tell him that I got information to Ghetsis' plans, and how does he repay me? By ditching me on the Frigate, forcing me to scramble out of there without anyone noticing as the thing decides to fly! I almost got caught y'know and that would've ruined SO MUCH planning! OOOH when I get my hands on him, he's gonna get one hell of a scolding! And an ass-kicking! Oh I'm gonna kick his ass so hard I'm gonna have to be on top next time!"
N stared at the woman's ranting dumbfounded, before chuckling to himself, getting Weiss' attention.
"You seem to be having fun," N giggled. "You're much happier than before. That's good. It's definitely thanks to him."
Weiss stared at N for a moment, before smiling. "Anyways, I'm gonna assume that you were almost killed by Plasma. Anything interesting happened?"
"...I ran into Nate," N told Weiss.
"...Did you now," Weiss commented. "So how was he? Your first impressions?"
"He told me his intentions," N replied. "And I gave him food for thought. Honestly he's like Hilbert, but at the same time completely different. They both have similar traits, but both are complete opposites at the same time.
"I do wonder...do you have any idea just what kind of life he had lived?"
Weiss stared at N, her whimsical smile now gone in favor of a neutral expression.
"I wouldn't know," Weiss answered. "I only first met him back at Driftveil after all."
"Ah, right," N murmured, before glancing at the cave entrance to see a familiar group emerging from it. "...However...While at the moment he possesses undeniable malice...he is also at the same time undeniably confused. Lost on what to do. Too lost in his own anger and hatred to see beyond that. But he chose his companions over his ambitions. So perhaps maybe, there is some hope for him after all."
Nate grumbled as he bought a sandwich from the café, waiting for his Pokémon to be healed from their injuries. Saying that the day did not go well was an understatement. In fact, everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Well, that was a lie, there were still some things that could go horribly wrong that still have not gone wrong yet (such as dying), but today was still a terrible day.
"Ugh, goddamn it..." Nate grumbled. He could have had Reshiram if he had just not hesitated and gone for it. But then again if he had, then he would be here alone right now. The boy shook his head, getting the thought out of his head, before glancing back to where his other companions were. While he spotted Hugh and Yancy, Rosa was nowhere in sight.
"Oi," Nate said to the two as he approached the table they were sitting at. "Where's Rosa?"
"She said she needed to go to the bathroom," Yancy said.
"Uh huh..." Nate muttered as he sat down and took a bite out of his basculin-fillet sandwich. "Hey, this is pretty good."
Meanwhile, the girl in question had entered an empty room that they had rented out for the night. Making sure no one was coming in unexpected, she locked the door behind her as she sat on one of the beds. She then took out her Xtransceiver, dialing a specific number, before letting it dial and ring. The connection went through, with a familiar boy with light blonde hair and dark green eyes showed up on the screen.
"Hello? Rosa?" the boy asked.
"Hey Curtis," Rosa replied.
"It is you!" Curtis exclaimed. "Ah, sorry...I didn't actually expect you to call me back. Hehe...So, what's up?"
Rosa smiled. From what short time she spent with Curtis, the boy was a very kind, sweet and chivalrous person. She felt bad that she only called him for her own selfish purposes.
"Yeah, remember you told me that you were looking for your sister?" Rosa asked. "The one who ran away from home?"
"Yancy? Did you find her!?" Curtis shouted from the screen. "Ah...sorry...Didn't mean to scream like that..."
"It's alright," Rosa assured him. "And to answer your question, yes. I did find her. I managed to convince her to travel with us for a while."
"Is she okay?!" Curtis asked.
"She's fine," Rosa told him.
"Oh thank Arceus...' Curtis sighed in relief. "I gotta inform Dad! We were worried sick!"
'If that means you'll take her off of our hands, then all the better,' Rosa thought to herself. "So...how do you wanna do this? Do we just bring her to you?"
"Well, we're currently at Undella Town, and we'll be here for a while for business," Curtis told her. "If you could bring her there within the next few days, then that would be great."
'Perfect,' Rosa thought to herself, smiling. "Sounds like a plan."
"I can't thank you enough," Curtis said.
"No problem," Rosa replied. "Glad I could help. Alright then, see ya."
As she cut off the connection, a dark smile graced itself on her face. Everything was going all according to plan. All she needed to do now is bring her to Undella and her family can claim her back. And then Nate would be all hers. She could not help but giggle to herself as she headed out of the room and back to where the others were. They all glanced at Rosa as she approached their table and took a seat next to Nate.
"What took you so long?" Nate asked.
"Sorry, someone stopped me on the way to ask me some help," Rosa lied.
"Uh huh..." Nate muttered as he took another bite out of his sandwich. "So, you guys plan on taking on the gym here?"
"Right, the gym here," Hugh said. "Flying-type, right?"
"Right," Rosa answered.
"I see..." Nate muttered. "Well? You guys got a game plan for that?"
"I'm sure I can think of something," Hugh said, glancing at Tornadus' pokeball.
Rosa, meanwhile, looked at her team. She had no resistance to Flying-types; her best defense against Flying-types was Mandi. Offense-wise, she has nothing that can hit Flying-types super effectively. Yet another flaw she found about her team and her own abilities; not being able to find an answer to a common typing. Although if she could teach Ottavia Blizzard or Ice Beam, then she would have a chance, as little as it may be.
"Huh? Aren't you three...?"
The group looked up in response to the question to spot two ladies glancing at them. One had brown hair and green eyes, wearing a white blouse, a green skirt, a lab coat and white shoes with red stripes. The other woman had blue eyes and dark-red hair, with a light accessory resembling a propeller and a bun, while wearing a long-sleeved light blue crop top, bulky dark blue gloves, light blue short-shorts and dark blue boots.
"Professor Juniper?!" Rosa gasped, recognizing the woman in the lab coat.
"I knew I recognized you three!" Juniper exclaimed. "You're the new group of pokédex wielders Cheren and Bianca assigned!"
"Yeah..." Hugh said. "It's been ever since Aspertia City, and that was via Xtransceiver."
"Yep!" Juniper chirped. "This is the first time we met face to face!"
The two women took empty seats at the group's table. Yancy squirmed slightly and moved slightly away, with Nate narrowing his eyes at her, and then at the two.
"So how've the pokédex been holding out for you three?" Juniper asked.
"They're doing fine," Rosa replied. "They proved to be useful in vital times."
"I see, I see," Juniper nodded. "If you don't mind, may I see how your progress with them has been going?"
"You mean like, how many Pokémon the dexes recorded?" Hugh asked.
"That's right!" Juniper beamed. "Since the past 2 years, new Pokémon from other regions began to pop up here and there! You three must have met tons of them by now!"
Hugh and Rosa glanced at each other, before glancing over to Nate. The boy merely shrugged as he took out his pokédex and placed it on the table before sliding it over to Juniper. Hugh and Rosa then proceeded to do the same. Juniper gleefully glanced at the three pokédexes, before she proceeded to check through the data recorded within the devices. While she was doing so, Nate glanced over to the redheaded woman.
"So who're you?" Nate asked.
"Oh, sorry I haven't introduced myself," the woman replied sheepishly. "I'm Skyla. I'm the gym leader here."
"You're the gym leader?" Hugh asked.
"Yup!" Skyla smirked. "Do you three wish to challenge me?"
"Of course!" Rosa replied eagerly.
"Gotcha!" Skyla replied. "Although I do have to take Professor Juniper over to Opelucid City from the east, I'm sure she won't mind if you three had your gym battles first."
"From the east?" Nate asked. "Why not just cross Twist Mountain? That's closer."
"Well, it's currently blocked off," Skyla revealed.
"Blocked off?" Nate raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Skyla nodded. "Recently some strong wild Pokémon started to appear within the area. Stronger than usual too. And they seem to be rather hostile to outsiders, so traveling through the mountain became really unsafe.
"So for the time being, Marshal from the Elite Four is currently investigating Twist Mountain, so it's blocked off to the public until further notice."
"Hold up," Nate muttered. "Then how do you expect people to get past this city to Opelucid? That's the only way there from here."
"That's why I'm taking Professor Juniper over to the east," Skyla answered. "We're traveling over via my plane, where the Professor is gonna have to travel from Lentimas Town."
"From Lentimas...?" Nate muttered.
"Doesn't that mean we'd have to go all the way around Eastern Unova?" Hugh asked, having overheard the conversation.
"Yep," Juniper confirmed. "Sure it'll be a long trip, but there's a bunch of interesting sites on the way there, like the volcanic Reversal Mountain and Unova's famous beach resort, Undella Town!"
"Did you say Undella Town?" Rosa perked up.
"Yes ma'am!" Juniper exclaimed. "One of the two premier beach resorts of Unova!"
Rosa could not help the smirk that grew on her face. She just got a perfect and convenient route to Undella! Now she can just follow Professor Juniper, get to Undella and get rid of Yancy! She could not have asked for anything better!
The bun-haired girl was too caught up in her own fervent thoughts, that she did not notice how the pinkette in question gave her a questionable and worried glance. Neither of them noticed Nate's sudden reaction, however.
"Oi," Nate suddenly spoke up. "You sure there isn't another way to Opelucid? Can't you just fly over there?"
"It would be possible, but the wild Pokémon seem to attack any outsider regardless of how they travel," Skyla replied. "There's been reports of people being shot down by the wild cryogonals while trying to fly over them, so that's too dangerous too."
"So the wild Pokémon being too strong is the problem here?" Nate persisted. "So if they were dealt with, then there would be no problem?"
"...Nate...?" Hugh asked, noticing Nate's sudden unrest.
"Well...I guess that would solve the problem..." Skyla admitted, somewhat unnerved by Nate's persistence. "But they're pretty strong for the average trainer to handle..."
"You're gonna try to take them out yourself, aren't you?" Rosa guessed, keeping her cool around Nate. "Look, yes that would solve the issue, but if an Elite Four member is being called into investigate, then it'll be out of our hands this time around."
Nate shot Rosa a feral glare, causing the girl to shudder slightly, but she managed to keep calm.
"It'll be much safer to go with Skyla's idea and fly over to East Unova, and then travel from there," Rosa reasoned with Nate. "It may take longer and a few detours, but it'll be worth it instead of dying. Besides, we can probably enjoy a few tourist attractions. Undella's pretty nice this time of year, for example–."
Nate gritted his teeth at the response, something Rosa did not expect from a perfectly reasonable response. Before anyone could say anything, Nate suddenly stood up and stormed out of the building.
"Wha–Nate?!" Rosa blurted.
The boy did not respond, instead jumping over the building and landing on top of the roof, before setting his sights towards Route 7.
"They won't be a problem if they can't do shit," Nate hissed as he made a huge leap into Route 7, and presumably to Twist Mountain.
Everyone ran out of the building to see Nate perform his inhumane feats towards Route 7.
"That's impressive, to say the least," Juniper commented.
"Why did Nate suddenly react like that though...?" Rosa asked. "It's like he doesn't want to go to the east for some reason."
"I guess that's precisely it," Hugh muttered. "I mean I can't think of any other reason why he would be so dead set on trying to find another way to Opelucid."
"But...but why...?" Yancy asked.
"Hell if I knew," Hugh shrugged. "But he's definitely trying to avoid going east. That's for sure."
"Shouldn't we go after him?" Skyla asked. "I won't claim to know how strong he is, but going to Twist Mountain by himself is dangerous no matter what."
"Right," Hugh said, gesturing to Yancy and Rosa. "C'mon, let's go!"
The two nodded as Hugh took the lead, as the trio ran after Nate's presumed path, leaving Juniper and Skyla behind.
Roughly half an hour later, the trio managed to reach Twist Mountain after several trips through the route's ever-famous tall grass and raised walkways. The mountain itself was as daunting as it was tall. The grey skies above it with the heavy rain that began to pour down a few minutes ago did not help make the mountain anything less than intimidating. The group found a man-made staircase that led up to the entrance into the mountain, before rushing up to find Nate.
"Man, how many times is he gonna go rogue like this?" Hugh asked.
"Let's just find him!" Yancy insisted.
Rosa, on the other hand, remained silent.
'Yeah...why did he do this...?' Rosa thought to herself. It did not make any sense. There was nothing wrong with Skyla's proposed plan to get Professor Juniper over to Opelucid City from the east. Did he not want to go to the east for some reason? But that was ridiculous. It's not like they were going anywhere dangerous, like say infiltrating Team Plasma again. It was just simply a detour through Lentimas Town, Reversal Mountain, Undella–.
Rosa suddenly stopped in her tracks, causing her to trip on the stairs and bump into her head.
"Rosa?!" Yancy yelped as she noticed that Rosa fell, and immediately went over to help her.
The bun-haired girl was struck with sudden realization that only she could possibly come to.
'Does he know!?' Rosa thought madly, referring to Yancy's family being at Undella. 'Does he know that I'm trying to get rid of Yancy?!'
But that was absurd! She set that up not even an hour ago! There was no possible way that Nate could have found out so quickly! And he was not even anywhere near the transceiver call!
...But then again, this was Nate. He had an uncanny ability to accomplish feats that no ordinary human should be able to accomplish. If anyone could have found out about that set up within such a short time, then if would definitely be him.
...Then did he want to avoid Undella because he did not want to let go of Yancy? Did he like Yancy enough that he would keep her to himself? He would choose Yancy over Rosa? Even though Rosa was with him since day one while Yancy simply waltzed in on her own imposing on them?
"Are you alright?"
Rosa snapped out of her thoughts to see Yancy lending a hand to help her get up. As much as she wanted to just slap her hand away right now, she refrained from doing so and accepted Yancy's help. She could not make the pinkette suspicious of her. If Nate found out, then there was a high likeliness that he told Yancy as well.
"I'm fine, thanks," Rosa muttered as she got up.
"Yo, you alright?" Hugh asked, walking up to her.
"Yeah, sorry," Rosa responded. "I guess I tripped on something. C'mon, let's just go–."
Before she could finish the sentence however, her eyes widened as she saw something shoot out from above the top of the staircase. She jumped out of the way to see that it was none other than Luca who shot out from the top and slammed into the staircase.
"Luca?!" Rosa gasped.
The jackal was unconscious, and was roughed up, presumably from a rather fierce fight which she was unfortunately not the victor of. Feeling dread come up to them, Rosa picked up Luca and the three rushed up the stairs. Once they reached the top to only see Nate, who was panting heavily and Deo who tried to strike down a sawk with his Sacred Sword. The sawk caught the incoming sword attack with his two hands, before proceeding to slam his knee into Deo's face. The sawk then proceeded to hurl Deo at Nate, who caught him in time. Deo was found unconscious from the strike as Nate placed him down on the ground.
"What the...?" Rosa mumbled as they scanned the area.
Including Luca and Deo who was just defeated, Vire and Zoro were sprawled on the floor already defeated, and Brav was submerged into the rock wall and unconscious as well. The only one who was left on Nate's team that was still active was Nite, and he was heavily panting and did not look fit to continue battling. Nate's opponent was a muscular dark-skinned man with short blonde hair and wore a bulky sleeveless jersey and large pants. The only Pokémon representing the man was the sawk, who had just defeated Deo.
"That's...Marshal...!" Rosa gasped. "Marshal of the Elite Four!"
"You show promise," the man, Marshal, commented to Nate while giving the boy a stern glare. "In a fight with no rules, you used every trick you could come up with to try and overpower me. Even forcing me to a six versus one.
"However, you and your Pokémon lack the actual strength to defeat me. Furthermore, you yourself are too consumed in your own frenzy and rage to come up with a solid tactic to defeat me. What you and your team did was not strategy, nor was it a legitimate battle. It was nothing more than an uncontrolled and unstable rampage."
Nate shot a glare at Marshal, as Nite struggled to keep his balance from exhaustion.
"I have no doubt you are a formidable trainer," Marshal kept going. "Your team is nothing short of balanced and exquisite as well, especially with the lucario and Keldeo. However, right now you cannot be called a trainer. No you are nothing more than an angry brat too foolish to see when they are clearly outmatched."
Nate tried to make a retort, but could not come up with one. The man was right and he knew it, and the frustration Nate felt was eating away at him.
"-Everyone always keeps mocking Boss,-" Nite growled as he managed to get back up. "-I call bullshit!-"
"Nite...?" Nate asked.
"-None of you know what kinds of struggles Boss goes through!-" Nite roared, even though the only ones who could understand him were Nate and the sawk in front of him. "-I don't fully understand either, but I'm not gonna just sit here and let you all mock him as you will!-"
"-So what will you do then?-" Sawk challenged Nite.
"-Even if it's impossible! Even if it's the wrong thing to do! I will defend Boss's honor!-" Nite roared as his body began to shine brightly. "-I'm done being a punching bag while everyone else gets stronger! No matter the odds, I WILL BEAT YOU!-"
The light glowed blindingly bright, as the pig's body began to shape and shift. The light then deceased, as a completely new Pokémon took Nite's place and charged at Sawk in a roaring rampage. Sawk readied himself to defend, but 'Nite's' newfound strength was too much, and the Fighting-type found himself being sent flying back.
Nite was now a gargantuan, bulky, bipedal pig-like Pokémon, with a red nose, large bushy black eyebrows, and two tusks protruding from its lower jaw. Endlessly burning flames covered the front of his neck and shoulders, as two large arms replaced the tiny stubs he used to call arms. A large, dark horizontal stripe on the chest has swirled yellow markings.
"Nite evolved...into Emboar...?" Hugh gasped.
"Impressive," Marshal nodded as Sawk got back up. The man signaled Sawk to stand down as he took out a new pokéball.
Nite boomed a vicious battle cry as he charged at Marshal, the flames around him still burning in spite of the rain. Marshal sent out an equally large, bipedal sepia-colored Pokémon resembling an ogre, who met Nite's charge with a concrete pillar, before swatting the pig back. Nite landed on his feet, before the ogre launched itself at Nite.
"Conkeldurr, Drain Punch."
Conkeldurr threw one of his concrete pillars at Nite, who punched it aside. This left him wide open for Conkeldurr's punch to the gut, which proceeded to drain what little energy Nite had left.
"-D-Damn it...-" Nite coughed, before finally falling.
Nate was simply left mouth agape, as Conkeldurr went over to collect his pillar and return to Marshal.
"Yield," Marshal told Nate. "Do not let your Pokémon's determination and efforts go to waste."
Nate gritted his teeth, before sighing in defeat. With no other option, the boy simply lowered his head in defeat at the Elite Four member.
"...I admit defeat," Nate replied with a wavering tone.
To be continued
AN: And to your left you can see local psychotic child hobo and bun-haired girl slowly going insane and desperate from their own follies and paranoia. Oh no it just gets worse from here. Also I'm REALLY excited to write the next two chapters, because they will finally answer one important question I'm surprised no one asked yet until now. Also it's when the plot will REALLY kick up a notch. But at least Hugh got Tornadus and Nite finally evolved, only to have his ass handed to him again. Poor piggy.
Anyways, do let me know on whether you'd like me to try and juggle the three stories (PoYS, Fidelity (XY) and Platinum Witch (DPPt)), or if you all would prefer to just have me finish this and then focus on the other two. And as apologies, I will be doing another QnA chapter like before, which will be released along with the next chapter. I'll be accepting questions until June 6.
And updated teams:
Nate: Luca (Lucario) / Nite (Emboar) / Vire (Electivire) / Brav (Braviary) / Deo (Keldeo) / Zoro (Zoroark)
Rosa: Eve (Eevee) / Ottavia (Dewott) / Nina (Arcanine) / Mandi (Mandibuzz) / Gustav (Amoonguss)
Hugh: Flygon / Servine / Magmortar / Tirtouga / Heracross / Tornadus-Therian
Yancy: Audi (Audino) / Teddi (Ursaring) / Snor (Snorlax) / Toge (Togekiss)
Welp, that's all I have to say. Thanks for stopping by, and hope to catch you next time. Enjoy your summer everyone!