Pride of Your Soul
Chapter 27: Overcoming Hurdles
AN: Okay before I get to anything, after looking into the matter, apparently the Hugh x Iris ship is called 'VileCastleShipping'.
...VileCastle.
Who the hell comes up with these names? Don't get me wrong, the major ones make sense in their namings (for example, VisorShipping because both Nate and Rosa wears visors, or TransceiverShipping because in the main game, a lost XTransceiver is what got Nate and Yancy together), but as we get more and more obscure with the pairings, the weirder the names become I swear to God.
Okay moving on. Once again, sorry this took so long, but a lot of things did happen on my end, in my defense. First off, Pokemon Sword and Shield got officially announced! Our first step into Generation 8! I'm excited to see what they do this time. No idea which version I'm gonna pick; gonna have to wait for more information to get released. Starter? As per my own tradition, I will be going with Grookey. They're all adorable though, so any choice is the right answer. Also found my town's local scene in Smash Ultimate, so whenever I have the free time, I'm tryna go there to git gud.
I also got my driver's license last month! It, embarrassingly, took longer than I'd hoped (ended up flunking my first attempt), but I managed to get it. And finally, I got a job! It's a standard 9-5 office job. Albeit, at the moment it's a temporary position, if I show enough promise, I get to stay as a proper employee. Not the dream job I'd envisioned, but I'm just glad I got something. Now I can start paying off my student loans and support the family better.
Also this story passed over 100 favorites and followers! And over 300 reviews! That deserves a pat on the back if I do say so myself. Thank every one of you who liked the story (and all my other stories for that matter), left a review, and favorite'd/followed the story or did whatever to show your support. Really, I probably wouldn't be doing these stories without you guys.
Ok enough about me, what've you guys been up to?
Anonymous Trainer: It's quite alright. Just glad to see you back. Glad you like the progress that's going on so far. We'll just have to wait and see what Kyurem decides to become at the end.
Tony Anderson: Thank you! Glad you liked Rosa's personal chapter. I needed to give Rosa something to not leave her behind the other two, and Genesect just so happened to be the only Unova legendary left that wasn't Kyurem (or the genies that went MIA)...
FantasyLover88: At this point Ottavia NEEDED to evolve. And to give Rosa her last member. This was just a great time to do both. Also sorry about that. Truth be told, I forgot to write in the scene where Ottavia evolves LMAOOOOOO. It was supposed to be during her fight against the lucario. I dunno HOW I forgot to right it in, but I did edit it in afterwards. Sorry bout that :]
TheDarkMaster4000: First off, thanks for your hard work. Probably gonna go fix those later. And glad you liked all the things that happened with the last chapter and Rosa in general.
Souji: Not gonna lie, I'm not entirely confident that I did the Hugh x Iris moments as much justice as I did with the other two pairs, so do forgive me on that. Still glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Hopefully you and everyone else enjoy this one as well.
Guest (Jan 31): Yeah the Rosa chapter is essentially how it would've gone if Rosa had been the one to confess to Nate back at the Giant Chasm. Sorry.
I M Poik: Sorry about that. I do plan to try and have Curtis show up more in the future, although his relevance to the overall plot is limited, truth be told. And also if you remember the mythical Pokemon in gen 5, then you'd realize there's one left and one main protagonist who doesn't have one yet...Regardless, kinda glad it caught a lot of people off guard.
Guest (Mar 11): Welcome, Jeck! I'm glad you like the story! Let's not get ahead of ourselves, but I'm flattered you think that highly of my stories and overall writing competency. I hope you continue to enjoy my stories from here on out.
OK time for Hugh time.
Hugh found himself deep within the giant and vast forest that neighbored the Poké Transfer Lab. Frankly he was shocked that he somehow missed such an enormous forest on his way to the lab. He blamed the panic he and the others were in when Nate was injured. The giant white tress made up the forest itself, with some wooden houses scattered across the open field. He could see what appeared to be wild pokémon; several Hugh did not recognize as indigenous to Unova; frolicking around the forest with the people who lived here.
"I never knew this kind of place existed," Hugh muttered as he let out Flygon and Servine. "It's...pretty beautiful..."
"-Yeah...-" Flygon agreed dumbfounded. Servine merely nodded in response.
"Ah, I see you are new here," an old man said as he approached Hugh. "Welcome to the White Forest."
"The White Forest?" Hugh asked. "Is that what this place is called?"
"Indeed," the man nodded. "It is a bountiful land of pristine nature. Pokémon and people live here in peace."
"Huh..." Hugh muttered. It sounds like a place Nate would have been ecstatic to hear about. Makes Hugh wonder how Nate had never heard of such a place before.
Hugh then noticed a particular tree that dwarfed over all the other trees in the forest.
"What's that?" Hugh asked, pointing to the gargantuan tree that stood out amongst the other trees.
"Ah, that is the White Treehollow," the old man answered. "It is our forest's greatest attraction, per say. Strong trainers from across the region gather to conquer the labyrinth inside."
"...Really now," Hugh muttered, glancing at the Treehollow. Perhaps it would be useful for training for the day, regardless of the results.
"Huh? Hugh? HUUUGH!"
Hugh tore his eyes off of the Treehollow and looked up to the sky. Hovering above him and the old man was Iris, donned in her usual outfit Hugh was accustomed to seeing her wear, riding on her ever-familiar hydreigon.
"Iris!" Hugh exclaimed.
Hydreigon descended to the ground, where Iris leapt off of him and onto the ground safely.
"What're you doing here?" Hugh asked as she ran up to them. "Are you done taking care of things at Undella?"
"More or less," Iris answered. "Mr. Million took control of the Riches Estate and became the new mayor, promising to undo the damage his family had done. The rest of the family who got arrested were taken in by the Interpol. Although...the old guy...Zillion...he got away."
"We know," Hugh replied, shocking Iris. "Hild–Weiss told us. Apparently he was broken out by Team Plasma...and then was killed."
"Really!?" Iris gasped.
"Yeah," Hugh confirmed. "And well...a lot of things happened..."
"That's right!" Iris exclaimed. "Is Nate alright? Why aren't you with him? Where are the others?"
"Everything's alright. Nate's alright," Hugh said. "...It's a lot to explain."
Hugh then proceeded to give Iris an abridged explanation of everything that had transpired at the lab.
"Wow..." Iris said. "A lot really did happen."
"Yeah..." Hugh could only agree.
"At least everyone's okay though," Iris said. "So...what're you gonna do now?"
"I was thinking of trying out the Treehollow," Hugh said, pointing over to the giant tree. "Would make for some good training for the day."
"Ooooh that sounds cool!" Iris agreed. "We can go together!"
"Wha–?" Hugh blurted, not expecting Iris to want to tag along. "You sure? Don't you have like, I dunno, duties as the Champion to attend to?"
"No, not really," Iris shook her head rather bluntly.
"Oh..."
"Is that alright?" Iris asked the old man.
"But of course," the old man replied. "The more the merrier, as they say. Especially for the Champion."
"Well that's settled," Iris smiled as she went on ahead. "C'mon! Let's go!"
"Ah–Wait up!" Hugh yelled as he ran after her towards the Treehollow.
"Ah, to be young," the old man merely smiled as he saw the two kids off. He was sure the two would find the Treehollow to be a worthwhile experience. Even if the girl was the Champion, the old man had no doubts that the trainers lurking in the tree would give them a run for their money.
"So what's on your mind?" Iris decided to ask Hugh as the two were headed to the Treehollow.
"Hm? What makes you say that?" Hugh asked.
"I mean judging from that expression on your face," Iris replied, pointing to Hugh's face. From Iris' point of view, Hugh expression looked difficult; as if the boy was pondering on deep thoughts. She was right on that assumption though, Hugh had been in deep thinking on their way to the Treehollow.
"Ah..." Hugh mumbled. "Well...I guess I'm still processing everything that happened back at Undella, and the lab."
"Right," Iris mumbled, before trying to cheer the boy up. "But c'mon, at least everything worked out in the end! And you played a huge part in exposing those rotten Riches by letting me know about it!"
"I guess..." Hugh could not help but chuckle a little. "Although if it weren't for Schwar–Mister Hilbert, then I doubt I would've considered asking you for help, not gonna lie."
He did recall calling Iris and getting her involved, per Schwartzer's advice. Turns out the man knew what he was doing, as Iris turned out to be the current champion of Unova; quite possibly the highest authority of the entire region outside of perhaps the International Police force.
"Now, now, it all worked out in the end," Iris assured Hugh with a smile he's used to seeing on her face.
"I guess..." Hugh mumbled.
"...That's not all you're thinking about, is it?" Iris asked.
"...You got me," Hugh said. "Well...thinking back to that whole event... it all happened due to miscommunication between the two of them...Nate and Rosa. But then, I think about it, and I just wonder...if things could have been different if I made more of an effort to, I don't know, talk to them about...notice that something's wrong...then maybe all this could have been avoided."
It was all hypothetical at this point, but Hugh could not help but wonder if he could have done something; anything; to avoid that whole mess from happening in the first place.
"You really do care about them, huh," Iris commented. "Come to think about it, how did you meet them anyways?"
"How did I meet them?" Hugh asked. "Well, Rosa and I are childhood friends. We knew each other ever since we were kids back in Aspertia."
"So what about Nate?" Iris asked.
"Well..." Hugh muttered, before deciding to tell Iris about that fateful day half a year ago, when he and Rosa had first met Nate. As he told Iris about the day they met, he could not help but reminisce on that fateful day where Nate entered their lives in quite possibly the most dramatic and impactful way possible.
"Wow," Iris said as Hugh finished his story. "That's pretty crazy to hear."
"Looking back at it, yeah," Hugh agreed. "Never would've expected that a random thief would make such a difference in our lives."
"Hmmm," Iris hummed. "You three must be great friends."
"You could say that," Hugh nodded.
"...Then why didn't you help?"
"Huh?"
Hugh suddenly looked at Iris, who was staring back at him.
"You care for them. That much is obvious," Iris said. "So why didn't you notice that something was off with them? Surely you should've noticed something was wrong at some point."
Hugh stared at Iris dumbly, before glancing away in shame.
"Yeah...I did," Hugh admitted. It was ever since Yancy joined the party. Hugh had noticed that Rosa had begun to act strange. It was all subtle, but she seemed to have been craving Nate's attention and approval, while showing disdain towards Yancy. It was not subtle enough Hugh supposed, since he had noticed something was off with her. At the time, Hugh had dismissed it; finding such notions ridiculous. He had not thought of Rosa to be such a person. Looking back, he should have noticed and acted accordingly. Especially since it led to such pandemonium at Undella.
"I guess...I just didn't pay mind to it too much," Hugh rebutted. "I knew Rosa for so long. I never would've expected her to act like that. She was always a strong person, y'know. Maybe not the best trainer in the world, but she always stood tall and never let anything get to her for long. I guess...I just assumed that she was fine; that there was nothing to worry about with her, at least."
"And you guessed wrong," Iris said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah..." Hugh hung his head in shame. "I should've done more for her and not assumed that everything was fine with her. Some friend I turned out to be."
"Now, now," Iris replied, patting Hugh on the head. "It's not your fault though. I mean sure things could have turned out better, but it's asking for too much to pay attention to every nitty gritty detail. Especially if she wanted to hide it from you."
Hugh glanced up to Iris, surprised that the girl was patting his head rather affectionately. He could not help but blush a little.
"...But y'know, maybe next time, you should take the time to just talk things out with her," Iris said. "People tend to bottle things up if they want to keep things to themselves. The problem is that sometimes, they don't know when to just let things out and keep all their burdens and stress bottled up, which just makes things worse for them. Sometimes, it would be good if they had someone to talk things out."
"Iris..." Hugh mumbled at her.
"...Lemme tell you a story," Iris offered suddenly.
"A story?" Hugh tilted his head in confusion.
"It's about a time when I met Hilbert," Iris said, getting the boy's attention. "Back when I first met him, he was headstrong. Team Plasma was keeping one of his friend's Pokémon hostage while they spewed out their lies. Hilbert refused to believe any of that, and managed to save his friend's Pokémon from them. The next time I see him, he was apparently with Team Plasma, or at least had left, doubting his own ambitions and worth, blaming himself for everything and beating himself up, and believing that everyone hated him because of what he did."
"Really?" Hugh asked in shock. This was a side of the legendary hero that Hugh had never expected to hear.
"Of course, I talked him out of it, but his friends managed to seal the deal," Iris said. "But he had someone to talk things out with. They made up after they all talked things out. And man, when Hilbert smiled, he looked so happy and relieved. As if a huge weight was lifted off of his shoulders."
"I see..." Hugh replied, amazed at the backstory Iris was sharing with him.
"Morale of the story; you're all friends, so friends should trust each other more and talk things out," Iris said. "And that's what you should do for Rosa and Nate, when you see them again. Even if you all made up already, it's still good to talk things out. I know you made up with Nate, but I haven't heard you do the same thing with Rosa."
Right, she was there when Nate got back from the Giant Chasm after his freak out. He patched things up with Nate, but he had not actually done the same with Rosa. That was definitely something he needed to rectify.
"Right," Hugh nodded. "Thanks, Iris."
"Any time!" Iris replied with a big smile. "Now that being said…"
Hugh eyed Iris curiously as she jumped back and took a pokéball out of her pocket, facing it to him.
"You up for a warm-up match?" Iris asked.
"What the–!? Where did this come from!?" Hugh blurted at the sudden challenge. "How do we go from heartfelt counseling about me talking to my friends to you wanting to fight me?!"
"Ah c'mon! We're headed to the Treehollow to battle anyways," Iris insisted. "Besides, I've always been curious about your battling prowess. I know you're good after watching you at Driftveil."
"I doubt I'd stand a chance against the current champion," Hugh muttered in a deadpan tone.
"C'mon, you'll never know unless you try!" Iris smirked. "I'll turn it down a notch or two!"
'She's completely toying with me right now,' Hugh grumbled mentally. But then again, this would be a good opportunity to see just where he stood in terms of prowess outside of his small group. Even if Iris says she would hold back, Hugh doubted her words; he felt that Iris would go all-out if Hugh proved to be a challenge. The opportunity to face off against the current champion of Unova, regardless of whether or not she would actually hold back or not, was tempting regardless.
"...Fine," Hugh nodded, accepting the challenge.
Feeling giddy, Iris tossed the ball into the air, releasing a large, light blue sea creature representing a plesiosaur and Hydreigon onto the field.
'Hydreigon and...A lapras?' Hugh thought. Hydreigon was to be expected from Iris; as far as he saw up to now, Hydreigon was her go-to Pokémon. The lapras, however, took Hugh by surprise. While it could be argued that it looked vaguely draconic, it was a Water and Ice-type; a type that Dragon-types despised vehemently due to it being one of the two types that can hurt them effectively. Hugh supposed though, that this was Iris' own answer to opposing Dragon-types that was not another Dragon-type.
"It'll be a quick double battle," Iris said. "Sounds good?"
Hugh nodded as he decided on who to send out. Lapras was a Water and Ice-type, while Hydreigon was a Dark and Dragon-type. Considering his options carefully, Hugh sent out Servine and Heracross.
"Hmm, interesting," Iris mused. "Alright, let's get started!"
"Servine, Leaf Blade on Lapras! Heracross, Close Combat on Hydreigon!" Hugh immediately ordered, not wasting a second.
Servine and Heracross immediately sprinted into action, lunging for their respective targets ready to fight.
"Lapras, Ice Shard! Hydreigon, Fire Blast!" Iris ordered back.
Hydreigon immediately flew back to avoid Heracross' punch while building up fire in his main mouth. Heracross saw the fire and immediately flew back as well as Hydreigon unleashed the blast of fire at the Hercules beetle. Heracross barely avoided the infernos, but Hydreigon immediately dove at the beetle, smashing his head against Heracross' own head. Heracross was pushed back as a result, before immediately slamming his horn against Hydreigon's head and falling back to avoid another Fire Blast.
Servine, meanwhile, ran straight for Lapras, expertly avoiding the crystal of ice that was shot at his direction. The leaf on Servine's tail glowed bright green before slicing it across Lapras' face. Servine tried to go for another strike, but Lapras managed to swat the snake away with a headbutt, sending the grass snake back. As Servine and Heracross landed back in front of Hugh, Hugh glanced at Servine, who returned the glance. The snake nodded his head in response, who got a nod back in return. Iris noticed the gesture and arched a brow in confusion, until Lapras began to freak out. Iris shot her glance at Lapras, where a seed was latched onto her neck and roots were growing out of it, ensnaring Lapras' neck.
"Leech Seed?" Iris gasped. "Servine used the Leaf Blade as a cover to stick it?"
Lapras winced in pain as the Leech Seed sapped away at her vitality, providing it over to Servine in return. With that one interaction, Hugh had managed to establish himself in a favorable position. If Iris fails to finish off Servine in time, then Lapras will act as nothing more than a health pack for the snake.
"How crafty," Iris commented, before she put on a smirk. "I knew you were good!"
"Heracross, Rock Slide! Servine, Leech Seed on Hydreigon!" Hugh yelled out, wasting no time to set up.
Servine immediately ran for Hydreigon as Heracross formed a rock in his claws before tossing it up into the air above Lapras and Hydreigon. The rock dispersed into a shower of rocks, pelting Hydreigon and Lapras and forcing them into the defensive. Servine ran around the Rock Slide and fixed his sights on Hydreigon. The dragon noticed Servine gaining distance to him and shot a Fire Blast at the snake. Servine avoided the Fire Blast, before shooting a seed at Hydreigon. The dragon saw the seed, before grabbing one of the rocks falling upon him and tossing it at the seed, shooting it down before it could latch onto the hydra. Servine clicked his tongue, before falling back, knowing well that he could not take on Hydreigon by himself.
"Hydreigon, Surf!" Iris called out.
As the Rock Slide died down, Hydreigon growled at Servine and Heracross, before forming a blue orb of energy between his two side heads. Hydreigon slammed the orb onto the ground, where it created a giant tidal wave that crashed down upon every other Pokémon on the field. Hugh had to jump back to avoid getting caught by the tidal wave.
"Surf? Even hitting Lapras as well," Hugh muttered, somewhat confused by the choice of move. It would do decent damage against Heracross, but Servine would resist the Water-type attack. So would Lapras by virtue of typing, but she still had Hydreigon hit his own teammate in the process. He then noticed the lapras in question, looking outright refreshed, much to Hugh's further confusion. It was as if the Surf healed Lapras...
"Wait, crap! Water Absorb!" Hugh gasped, realizing the answer to Lapras' lack of pain from the Surf attack.
"That's right! You guessed Lapras' ability!" Iris smirked.
That threw Hugh's own Leech Seed plan out of the window. The seed draining Lapras over time meant nothing if Hydreigon could simply spam a means of healing Lapras while wearing down his side instead. Servine and Heracross needed to approach them as they could simply stay by their own side of the battlefield and attack with long-ranged attacks relentlessly. Hugh's eyes darted at Hydreigon, identifying the dragon as the main threat.
"Heracross, Megahorn! Servine, Iron Tail!" Hugh yelled out. 'If I can at least take out Hydreigon...!'
Heracross' horn glowed brightly, as did Servine's tail with a metallic luster, before both lunged for Hydreigon. Despite the concentrated efforts onto Hydreigon, Iris merely smirked as Hydreigon revealed a dark blue gem within one of his mouths.
"Wait, is that–!?" Hugh gasped, recognizing the gem immediately.
"You let your guard down," Iris said. "Lapras, Blizzard! Hydreigon, Draco Meteor!"
Hydreigon crushed the gem in his mouth, where a dark blue aura surged around the dragon. Hydreigon proceeded to shoot the aura from his mouths up into the air in one burst. The energy reached to the skies before dispersing into a giant shower of energy spheres the size of meteors, where Lapras spewed a vicious blizzard from her mouth at her foes. Witnessing the onslaught that was headed their way, Heracross and Servine could do nothing but stop in their tracks and put up their own defenses.
Right before the torrent of attacks could reach Servine and Heracross, however, the earth suddenly shot up in front of them, blocking off the blizzard, while several psychic orbs shot out from nowhere and blasted through the Draco Meteors.
"-What the–?!-" Heracross blurted.
"Where did that come from!?" Hugh yelled.
As if in response, a rather loud laugh got everyone's attention. They all turned to see a short boy with orange and red hair. His eyes are red, and his eyebrows are black. In addition, he has exclaimed fangs in his mouth, which were shown off with the boy's rather eccentric-looking grin. The boy was adorned by a white ragged tank-top, some black ragged shorts and red sandals, a backpack filled with wooden sticks, and a necklace of pokéballs.
Accompanying the small boy to the right was a large, draconic Pokémon with dark, navy blue skin and a light orange underbelly and horn-like appendages that resembled a jet engine, making it resemble something akin to a hammerhead shark. The trail of broken earth that seemed to have formed from the dragon's foot was the likely Earthquake that intercepted the Blizzard. To the left of the boy floated a small, gray-blue, fairy-like Pokémon with a partially cyan cone-shaped head with elf ear-like protrusions on each side, with red jewels adorned on its forehead and ends of its two tails.
"Hey, hey!" the boy yelled. "Looks like you two are having fun!"
"Who the heck are you!?" Iris yelled back. "Interrupting our battle like that?!"
"Me?" the boy asked, before he smirked once more. "I'm Benga! I'm gonna conquer the Treehollow!"
"Conquer the Treehollow?" Hugh asked. So this boy was planning on going to the Treehollow as well?
"Yeah!" Benga replied, pointing to the colossal white tree behind him. "I'm gonna be the first trainer to reach the deepest part of the Treehollow!"
Hugh glanced at the Treehollow. Now much closer to the tree, he could not help but stare in awe at how the tree easily dwarfed the three of them. Hugh could not help but imagine just how vast the inside of the trees were. And this Benga character declared that he would be the first to venture into the deepest reaches of the tree. Despite not knowing the character; they just met after all, Hugh could tell that Benga probably can back up his boast.
Hugh could tell just by looking at his Pokémon. While it was rather hard to tell, Hugh could identify the garchomp as being a shiny Pokémon, much like Luca. The fact that its Earthquake was able to block off Lapras' Blizzard completely was a testament to its strength. Hugh could not tell what else the garchomp had; the species were among the most sought out dragons due to how versatile and powerful they are renowned as. But the garchomp paled in comparison to the elf that floated on the other side of Benga.
It should, since the elf was in fact the legendary Pokémon, Azelf.
Hugh could not believe that the boy had a legendary Pokémon with him. Granted, Hugh himself also had a legendary Pokémon in Tornadus, but Hugh would never have expected that this boy would have a legendary Pokémon.
"If you don't mind me asking..." Hugh said carefully, getting Benga's attention. "Where, exactly, did you catch Azelf?"
"Huh? You know Azelf?" Benga asked, glancing over to the elf in question. "Gramps found the three of them. I challenged Azelf to a fight and caught him!"
"Your grandfather found the three of them!?" Hugh gasped.
"Yep!" Benga smirked with pride. "Gramps befriended them alright!"
Hugh glanced over to Azelf, who simply stared back with its large, yellow eyes. The seemingly soulless stare unnerved the boy. Before Hugh could say anything, Benga suddenly approached him, before proceeding to sniff the boy.
"Wha–?" Hugh blurted.
"What're you doing!?" Iris blurted as well.
Once Benga was finished, he stepped away from Hugh, before retaining his smirk. "I knew it! You smell tough!"
"Wh–uh...what does that mean?" Hugh asked, confused at Benga's statement.
"You're a strong trainer!" Benga declared. "I can tell!"
"Th-thank you?" Hugh responded. He was not sure whether to feel flattered that the trainer with a legendary Pokémon recognized Hugh's own prowess, or be confused by the sheer bizarreness of it all.
"I wanna battle you! But just a normal battle would be boring..." Benga mumbled, letting go of his smirk. The smirk quickly came back however. "So! I have an idea!"
"An idea?"
Benga nodded, before pointing to the Treehollow. "Only the strongest can reach the deepest bottom of the Treehollow! If you reach there, then you have the right to conquer the Treehollow in your name! Let's meet up at the deepest area of the Treehollow and battle there!"
Hugh glanced at the giant tree, and then back to Benga. The boy issued him a challenge to reach the deepest parts of the Treehollow, which would no doubt involve defeating all the powerful trainers that all wish to do the same as him and Benga. Hugh was already planning to challenge the Treehollow anyways. What better motivation than reaching the very depths to challenge a trainer who was skilled enough to own a legendary Pokémon?
"Alright. You're on," Hugh replied.
"That's what I wanna hear!" Benga smirked. "I can't wait to see you guys there!"
Having said what he wanted to say, the boy guffawed before turning to the Treehollow and heading over to it. The shiny garchomp soon followed after his master, while Azelf gave Hugh one last stare, before following its trainer.
"Man, what a weirdo!" Iris huffed. "First he interrupts our battle and then he suddenly smells you like you're food or something!"
"At least he didn't do anything...dangerous," Hugh said in return.
The duo were at the lobby of the White Treehollow, currently going through the necessary registrations to enter the Treehollow's depths. There was a lobby made at the trunk of the tree, where other trainers were going through similar processes to challenge the Treehollow. Accompanying them were their own, formidable-looking Pokémon, all eager to enter the dungeon and combat with each other.
"Man, the competition looks tough," Iris said, looking around.
"Yeah..." Hugh agreed. "Although I don't see that Benga kid here. Maybe he's already in the Treehollow?"
"I mean one way or another, we'll end up seeing him down there," Iris shrugged.
Hugh supposed that would be the case, and left it at that. If the boy kept to his word, then they would eventually run into him. But that is if they can make it down there. Just from looking at the competition around him, Hugh can tell getting down to the deepest level would be no easy feat. Especially after hearing the rules of the Treehollow.
There was a total of ten areas within the Treehollow, each floor progressively more challenging than the last. There were a certain number of trainers on each floor along with all the challengers, and something called a 'Gate Trainer', who you had to beat to unlock a gate that guarded the final room of the area. There, you had to defeat the area's 'Boss Trainer' in order to gain access to the next area. Challengers were prohibited from healing their Pokémon with items, but each area offers a nurse who would heal your Pokémon should you be able to defeat them. If all of the challenger's Pokémon faint at any given point of the challenge, then their challenge is forfeited and they must be removed from the Treehollow. If one clears an area, they can start back at the next area, so at the very least one did not have to worry about restarting their trek from the very beginning.
"If we can make it down there," Hugh muttered.
"C'mon now!" Iris assured Hugh, patting him on the back. "You and me? We got this!"
"Iris..." Hugh said, before smiling. "I guess we'll never know if we don't try, huh."
"That's the spirit!" Iris exclaimed. "Now c'mon! Let's do this!"
The duo were led to an elevator that took them down below. They entered into the first underground area of the Treehollow. The room they entered had three doors on all the sides that faced them, with what appeared to be tree trunks growing within the walls and sides of the room. The area itself was rather cool and moist, giving off the atmosphere that they were in fact inside a giant tree. There, they were greeted by a hiker, who approached them curiously.
"Hm? Haven't seen you two before," the hiker said. "You two new challengers?"
"Yes, that would be the case," Hugh nodded.
"Great!" the hiker smiled. "Always nice to see fresh blood! Now, did you two get the rundown from the receptionist?"
"Yeah," Iris confirmed.
"Alright then, saves me some trouble from explaining how this place works," the hiker chuckled. "There's already a bunch of challengers here. The Boss Trainer in this room is located more east."
"Really now," Hugh nodded. "Thanks for the tip."
"Of course," the hiker smiled. "A word of advice. Try to take on the other challengers if you can afford it. They might have some useful information in tracking down the Boss Trainer, or know where the Nurse is located, and might be more inclined to share if you prove your worth."
"Thanks for that tip too," Iris smiled.
"You're welcome," the hiker nodded, before heading to the middle door. "Well then, happy hunting!"
With the hiker gone, the duo looked around, before deciding to head east as the hiker said the Boss Trainer was. Upon entering the next room, the duo found several other trainers, presumably other challengers, locked in combat with one another. Powerful Pokémon were unleashing equally powerful attacks against each other, making the room look like a full-blown warzone. It was a wonder that the room did not fall apart from the sheer chaos.
"Sheesh," Hugh muttered as Iris let out a whistle.
"Man, it's every man for themselves out here," Iris said. "They all must want to proceed to the next level."
"Hey!" someone called out to them. The duo turned to see a fellow trainer who had noticed them amongst the chaos, accompanied by a large, round mammoth-like Pokémon with large fangs and a pig-like snout. "You guys new here?"
"How can you tell?" Iris asked.
"You both seemed stupefied by all the insanity going on here," the man said. "Every newcomer reacts like that. It isn't hard to tell."
"I see..." Hugh replied carefully. "So is everyone here like this...?"
"Yeah, everyone wants to go further into the Treehollow," the man explained. "It's every trainer for themselves down here."
"I can see that," Hugh responded, eyeing the chaos going on in the very same room.
"So you know where the 'Gate Trainer' is?" Iris asked the trainer. "We heard you need to beat them to battle the Boss Trainer."
"Word on the street is that the Gate Trainer is more south of here," the man said, glancing over his shoulder and pointing his thumb to the door to the left of him. "But now that all the pleasantries are settled, naturally you're both competition–."
Before the trainer could finish his sentence, the mammoth was violently blasted by water, sending it crashing straight into a bout between a haxorus and an excadrill. The trainer stared at his mammoth with wide-eyes, before glancing back to Hugh, who had already sent out Carracosta, the perpetrator of the Hydro Pump that blasted his Pokémon.
"You said every trainer for themselves," Hugh shrugged. "Might as well take the initiative."
"How merciless," Iris drawled as the haxorus and excadrill got back up.
Hugh's sucker punch garnered the attention of everyone in the room. Upon their trainers' orders, the haxorus and excadrill roared and charged for Hugh. Hugh merely scoffed at the two monsters charging at him, before sending out Magmortar to aid Carracosta.
"Carracosta, Blizzard! Magmortar, Lava Plume!"
Following the orders to a dot, Carracosta spewed out a freezing blizzard out of his mouth, while Magmortar unleashed a scorching blast of fire from his cannons. The two attacks engulfed the haxorus and excadrill, while claiming victim to the other Pokemon in the room. The combination attack was enough to knock out the haxorus and excadrill, but there were some survivors left, having withstood the attacks.
"Well if that's how we're doing things," Iris sighed as she sent out Hydreigon. "Draco Meteor!"
Hydreigon charged energy into his mouth, before shooting it up into the air. The energy dispersed, creating a savage meteor shower that pelted down upon the remaining survivors before they had any time to react.
The trainer who had greeted the duo was left in jaw-dropped awe as the chaotic mess was cleaned up instantly by the two newcomers. It was as if the storm in the room was swallowed up by an even bigger storm, before it all calmed down.
"You said the Gate Trainer was south of here, right?" Hugh asked the trainer, who only nodded dumbly. "Gotcha."
Leaving no other remark, Hugh ran off to the direction the trainer gave him with Magmortar and Carracosta in tow, while Iris followed afterwards with Hydreigon.
"Y'know we could've properly fought them instead of doing a whole party-wipe like that," Iris commented next to Hugh as they searched for the Gate Trainer. "Y'know get REALLY into it."
"There were way too many of them in that one room," Hugh replied back. "I'd rather take them out while preserving as much resources as possible, considering we have no idea how many levels there are to the bottom, or where the nurse is. If that means just taking them all out with spread moves, then so be it."
"I guess you have a point, when you put it like that," Iris conceded.
"Besides, you finished them off," Hugh pointed out.
"That's because there were still some left," Iris simply replied with a giggle.
The two entered another room to find a lone ace trainer standing in the middle of it.
"I was wondering why the place became so quiet all of a sudden," she remarked. "I guess I have you two to thank for that."
"Are you the Gate Trainer?" Iris asked.
"Yes ma'am," she replied. "I gotta thank you two for shutting the others up. Man, I should be used to this by now, but today they seemed to be extra rowdy for whatever reason."
The Gate Trainer sent out a mienshao, indicating that she was ready to accept their challenge. "Either of you can come right ahead."
Hugh and Iris glanced between each other, before Iris stepped up.
"I'll let you take on the Boss Trainer," Iris said as Hydreigon growled at his opposition.
"I won't just let you get to them!" the Gate Trainer yelled out as Mienshao immediately shot an Aura Sphere at Hydreigon. The hydra shot a burst of fire at the incoming Aura Sphere, blotting it out with the intense flames and the smoke that arose from it as a result. From the smoke, Hydreigon bulleted out of it and rammed into Mienshao, slamming her into the wall behind it.
The mienshao got back on his feet and struck back with a Force Palm, but Hydreigon was too nimble, backing away to avoid the attack effortlessly. The ermine only got a Dark Pulse to the face for its troubles. Mienshao managed to withstand the Dark Pulse thanks to his natural typing being resistant to the Dark-type move, but it still stung tremendously regardless.
"Surf!"
Iris did not let up, and neither did Hydreigon. The dragon launched a blue orb onto the floor, causing a tidal wave to emerge and tower over Mienshao, threatening to engulf it.
"Aura Sphere!" the Gate Trainer ordered hastily.
Mienshao shot an Aura Sphere at the incoming tidal wave, blasting through it, but Hydreigon was already above Mienshao. The Surf had been nothing more than a distraction for the dragon to set up his finishing move.
"Fire Blast!" Iris yelled.
Hydreigon obliged, unleashing one more blast of fire at Mienshao, who could not defend himself in time. The flames scorched Mienshao unforgivingly, leaving nothing but a burned ermine defeated on the ground rather unceremoniously.
Iris sported a grin, while Hugh let out a whistle, impressed by Iris' handiwork.
"Sheesh, no surprise you two cleaned up the rest of the competition on this floor," the Gate Trainer said, conceding in defeat. "Alright, I'll do this real quick."
The Gate Trainer rummaged through her pocket and took out two card keys which she gave to them. "Those card keys will let you get past the gate," the Gate Trainer informed them. "Just go straight from here and you'll find it in no time."
"Thanks!" Iris exclaimed.
"So what's stopping someone from simply waiting for someone else to open the gate for them?" Hugh asked. "Or stealing the key outright?"
"Oh don't worry about that," the Gate Trainer replied. "You see that camera up there?"
The Gate Trainer pointed up to a corner in the ceiling. Hugh and Iris looked to see that in fact, there was a small camera hidden within the leaves.
"The Boss Trainer watches everything that goes on in their Area," she explained. "Even if someone else got the card key, the Boss Trainer can deny them access to them even if they try to open it. They'll know who earned the right to challenge them and who's a filthy cheater."
"Is that so," Hugh mumbled. "Well if it works, then I suppose there's nothing wrong with that."
"Alright, off to the Boss Trainer!" Iris exclaimed excitedly as she grabbed Hugh's arm and pulled him towards the exit.
"Wha-Hey! I can walk!" Hugh yelled out as he was dragged against his will, with the other Pokemon following.
"Good luck, you two!" the Gate Trainer called out as the duo left, before she went to tend to her mienshao to prepare for the next challenger.
Soon enough, the two found the Gate of the Area; a giant wooden gate that looked like a drawbridge from medieval times, with a pool of water separating them from the actual door. Off to the side of it was a machine of some sorts; most likely the card reader. Hugh glanced to the top of the gate to find another camera staring down on them. This must be what the Boss Trainer uses to determine if anyone with a card key would be eligible to challenge them or not.
Curiously, Iris slid the card key through the reader slot, allowing the machine to recognize the data. A moment later, the gate began to open, slowly lowering the wooden gate to create a bridge for them to cross over. The duo entered the room to enter a rather beautiful room; the vegetation was more grown here than compared to the rest of the area, giving the room a pleasant, green hue. Standing in the middle of it was a Pokemon breeder, greeting them with a pleasant smile.
"Welcome," she said. "You two were pretty impressive out there."
"I take it you're the Boss Trainer?" Hugh asked.
"The name's Abigail," the Boss Trainer introduced herself. "I'm the Boss Trainer overseeing Area 1. So I'm gonna assume that you'll be fighting me?"
Hugh nodded as he sent out Servine. Abigail nodded and sent out her own Pokemon, a watchog.
"Let's see what you got!" Abigail called out. "Hyper Fang!"
"Leaf Blade!" Hugh ordered in response.
Watchog's teeth glowed brightly as she lunged for Servine, who prepared a Leaf Blade to intercept the attack. Watchog's teeth sunk into Servine's tail leaf, but Servine stood unyielding, trying to bring the blade across Watchog's vulnerable mouth.
"Hypnosis!" Abigail called out with a smirk.
"Shit!" Hugh swore, realizing that Servine was vulnerable in his current state. "Leech Seed!"
Watchog's eyes glowed ominously as they stared right into Servine's own eyes. As the snake felt ever so drowsy, Servine managed to plant a seed on Watchog's cheek from his leaf before the snake fell asleep.
The seed sprouted and ensnared Watchog's face, forcing her to let go of Servine and close her mouth to prevent the vines from growing inside it. Servine dropped to the ground like a doll, still asleep from the Hypnosis.
"Pretty clever to use Leech Seed like that," Abigail commented as Watchog tried to rip the seeds off her face. "But don't think her fangs are her only weapon! Low Kick!"
Watchog darted at the sleeping Servine to kick him while he was down, but Hugh immediately swapped out the snake for Heracross the moment Watchog was going to attack. The beetle replaced Servine, taking the Low Kick from Watchog with ease.
"Close Combat!"
With his target at point blank range, Heracross proceeded to slam a punch into Watchog's gut, before proceeding to follow up with a series of brutal punches and kicks at the watchog, finishing it off with a straight lunge from his horn. The devastating Fighting-type move was more than enough to take out Watchog instantly, but Abigail did not show any signs of weakness, recalling Watchog and swapping her out for a golurk.
Hugh narrowed his eyes. Golurk would be a rather subpar matchup for Heracross due to its Ghost-typing making it immune to Close Combat, while Megahorn would be resisted. Its additional Ground-typing meant that Stone Edge would most likely do little, considering how sturdy the automaton appeared to be. That did not mean that Heracross was completely helpless though...
"Golurk, Fire Punch!"
Hugh's eyes snapped open wide. That...could be a problem.
"Night Slash!"
Golurk's fists were set ablaze as the automaton charged for Heracross. In response, the spikes on Heracross' arms grew a sickly dark purple before growing twice in size as he jumped back to avoid Golurk's Fire Punch. Heracross lunged for Golurk, ready to slash it down, but Golurk reacted with a left hook, upper-cutting Heracross in the face. The beetle was sent into the air, before spreading his wings to fly back. Heracross tried again, this time baiting Golurk to a straight lunge, dodging the lunge and going straight for Golurk. This time, the attack was successful, as Heracross landed a straight slash across Golurk's chest. Golurk faltered, stepping back, as Heracross lunged forward to continue his assault. Heracross raised his arms for the finishing blow, but Abigail reacted accordingly to prevent his victory.
"Golurk, Protect!"
Golurk quickly raised one of its hands and deployed a green barrier that surrounded it, causing Heracross' finisher to bounce off, and causing Heracross to bounce back as well.
"Now, Fire Punch!" Abigail yelled out, seeing her opening.
As the barrier dropped, Golurk's fists were set ablaze once more, and the automaton quickly slammed its fist into Heracross' gut, sending him straight into a corner on the ceiling.
"Heracross!" Hugh cried out.
The beetle fell to the ground having lost consciousness; the force of the Fire Punch proving to be too great for Heracross to handle. Hugh gritted his teeth and recalled Heracross. Hugh weighed his options, before proceeding to send out the still-asleep Servine in Heracross' place. Despite it still being asleep, he seemed to have no problem standing up right. Abigail gave Hugh a confused look, no doubt questioning Hugh's logic for sending out a Pokémon that was still asleep, before brushing it off.
"Golurk, Fire Punch!"
Fists still on fire, Golurk approached the sleeping Servine, ready to quickly finish off its next opposition. Abigail failed to notice Hugh's smirk until it was too late.
"Leaf Blade!"
Servine suddenly opened his eyes, narrowing down on Golurk. As Golurk reacted, Servine quickly lunged at it, slashing at Golurk, who was caught off guard by the sudden assault to defend itself, straight in the chest. The titan fell back, before collapsing on its back, having met its limit from the combined onslaught of Heracross' Night Slash and the finishing Leaf Blade.
"Servine should've still been asleep," Abigail commented. "How did it wake up so fast?"
"Servine had a Lum Berry on him," Hugh decided to explain. "When I recalled him into his ball, he ate the berry within. I just had him act like he was still asleep when I sent him out again."
"Clever," Abigail said as she recalled Golurk. "But I'm not out just yet!"
Abigail sent out her last Pokémon, a mighty scolipede. The goliath centipede towered over Servine, who glared back unnervingly. Hugh shook his head. Servine already did plenty enough. There was no need to make him face an opponent that proved even more difficult. Especially since as a Bug and Poison-type, Scolipede was at a much favorable advantage, and Servine as he was right now lacked the options to properly deal with him.
"Servine, get back!" Hugh ordered, which Servine complied.
Servine stepped back as Hugh recalled him, swapping him out for Magmortar.
"Rock Slide!"
"Lava Plume!"
Scolipede created a rock from its mouth and shot it into the air, which dispersed into a massive rock shower upon Magmortar. Magmortar, in response, unleashed a large plume of fire that managed to shield him from the rock slide.
"Charge in! Poison Jab!" Abigail yelled out.
"Fire Blast!" Hugh ordered.
Scolipede charged at Magmortar with horns glistening in a purple hue, while Magmortar shot several giant bursts of flames at the incoming Bug-type. Scolipede dodged the Fire Blasts as he charged for Magmortar, poised to try and make a comeback. As Scolipede was about to connect the Poison Jab, Magmortar smirked, before aiming his cannon to the ground and shooting a Fire Blast there, causing the flames to burst in front of him and at Scolipede, who was caught off guard. The goliath centipede had to back away to avoid getting burned alive, which allowed Magmortar to aimed his other cannon straight in front of Scolipede's face and launch one more Fire Blast. The raw power of the move was more than enough to wipe out Scolipede in one shot, wrapping up the battle for Hugh's victory.
Hugh let out a sigh of relief, not realizing how tense he was, before giving Magmortar a thumbs up, which he returned with what Hugh could only interpret as Magmortar's way of doing a fist pump.
"Aw jeez," Abigail sighed. "That was rough."
Abigail gave her thanks to her scolipede before recalling him, before walking up to Hugh and Iris.
"That was a great battle," Abigail complimented Hugh. "Your skills and decision-making were breathtaking."
"Thanks," Hugh nodded his head.
"You can use the machine in the back to heal your team," Abigail informed them, pointing to a machine in the back of the room that looked similar to the healing machines that the nurses at the pokécenters used. The duo obliged and went over to heal their teams.
"So now what?" Iris decided to ask once their parties were back in top form.
"Now? You two get to proceed to the next area," Abigail informed the two. "You two received pass cards, right?"
The two nodded as they showed Abigail the cards they received from the Gate Trainer. Abigail asked if she could see them, which the duo complied. Abigail took out a PDA from her pocket and slid the two cards in them. After she punched in a few inputs, Abigail returned the card keys back to Hugh and Iris.
"I inputted authorization data," Abigail explained. "Just use those in the elevator and they'll let you get to the next area."
"Thank you!" Iris thanked Abigail.
"The next areas will be tougher, and the Boss Trainers will be way stronger than me," Abigail said as the two prepared for their exits. "But I'm sure you two will be able to overcome them! Definitely!"
Much to Hugh's chagrin, Abigail's parting words proved to be truer than he had hoped.
The trainers they found as they ventured further below proved to be tougher than the ones in Area 1, with Hugh running into Pokémon that he, while recognized, had never seen so far, making it harder and harder to properly deal with. Strategies and tactics became more varied, and more difficult to counter. Swapping out mid-battle became more common. Hugh more than often finding himself having to sacrifice one of his party members to get another into a more favorable position. By the time they cleared Area 2, Hugh prioritized locating the nurse above all, wishing to secure a valuable resource within the limited healing rule. There were way too many close calls for Hugh for him to not know the location of the nurse beforehand.
On the bright side, the rising difficulty and skill level in the competition was welcome training and experience for his team. Thanks to the hellish training the lower levels provided, his team was much stronger than when he entered the Treehollow, having refined their own movements, increased their strengths, and they even learned some new moves. Hugh was thankful for the level up, but the increasing level of the competition and number of close calls was not good for his stress.
Iris, on the other hand, was faring much better than Hugh was, much to Hugh's admiration and frustration. The girl handled her opponents with much more ease; her Pokémon proving to be much stronger than his own consistently. It was admirable and a testament to her strength as the Unova Champion (surprisingly no one seemed to recognize her), but frustrating to himself that he needed to get better in comparison. It motivated him to go further in his endeavors to get stronger.
She only ever needed to use Hydreigon and Lapras, regardless of the opponent, which begged to question what the rest of her team was. Hugh knew about Haxorus, but he wondered what the rest of her team was. Previously he assumed she had a mono-Dragon team as she was an advocate of Dragon-types, but the Lapras threw that idea out the window. Hugh could not help but wonder what the rest of her team was; were there more Dragon-types hidden? Or are there some other tricks up her sleeve?
The duo managed to seek out and defeat the Gate Trainer of Area 5 after Arceus knows how much time had passed since Area 1. Much to Hugh's annoyance, the nurse seemed to be missing, so he was currently down two Pokémon; Carracosta and Magmortar. At this point, it was much faster to just clear the Boss Trainer and proceed to the next level, as that would grant him a party heal. Even if he was two Pokémon down, he was confident in his abilities to at least clean up with the remainder of his party.
Hugh memorized the path to the Boss Trainer, as they had found the gate on the way to the Gate Trainer. Getting there while avoiding any other potential roadblocks would be simple enough.
"Oh? It's you two!"
At least Hugh thought it would be simple enough. Just as they reached the room with the Boss gate, they ran into Benga, who had just entered the room as well.
In hindsight, Hugh had thought it was strange that they had not ran into Benga yet. He had made his intentions clear that he would be here and went here before them. It would only have been a matter of time before they would have ran into him. Hugh wished they had ran into him after Hugh found a way to heal his team up.
"Benga," Hugh muttered. "You're here too?"
"Yep!" Benga replied with a smirk. "Tryna make my way down to the bottom! So what about you guys? Gonna go challenge the Boss Trainer?"
"That's right," Iris nodded. "And I'm gonna assume you too...?"
"Yep!" Benga replied. "But hmm...We're all trying to challenge the Boss Trainer...How do we decide who goes first? Oh I know!"
'He's gonna say let's decide it by battling, isn't he?' Hugh thought.
"Let's decide it by battling!" Benga declared.
'Of course he does.'
While Hugh was more than welcome to battle Benga, he would rather do it with a full party. All he knew about Benga is that he had a garchomp and the legendary Pokémon Azelf. The rest of Benga's party, much like Iris' party, was an enigma. What else Benga had when he had a garchomp and Azelf was something Hugh wished to know beforehand.
"We'll each take turns!" Benga suggested, before pointing to Hugh, and then to Iris. "I'll fight you! Then I'll fight you afterwards! And then you fight each other! Whoever gets two wins gets to challenge the Boss Trainer!"
"Wait why do you get to decide on what to do!?" Iris retorted. "And you're acting like you'll just beat us anyways!"
"This way will be more fun!" Benga replied. "And fair and square! Besides..."
Benga glanced at Hugh, his gaze sharp, almost as if he was challenging him.
"I wanna fight you!" Benga declared.
'So that's what this is about, huh...' Hugh thought. "...I don't have a full party on me right now. Two of my members are fainted."
"That's alright! Half of my team's knocked out!" Benga replied cheerfully.
Hugh was not sure whether he should feel offended by that remark or not, or whether or not Benga understood that his remark was somewhat insulting or not. It was as if he was boasting that he can take him on with half of his team out of commission.
"...Well if you're so determined to do so," Hugh decided. "Then fine! Let's go!"
"You sure about this?" Iris asked. "I can take him if you want..."
"No, he wants to fight me first and foremost," Hugh shot down Iris' offer. "If I back down now, then there's no point in it!"
If he backed out now, then he would be betraying his desire to become stronger to reach the level of Nate and the others. That was something that his pride would not allow.
Iris sighed as she stepped away a bit, giving Hugh and Benga enough room to battle. Benga flashed his usual toothy smirk, while Hugh narrowed his eyes, focused on the upcoming battle at hand.
"I know we promised to meet at the deepest level," Benga said. "So this is kinda early. But I still wanna fight you! I wanna see how strong you are!"
"Bring it!" Hugh exclaimed back.
"That's what I like to hear!" Benga yelled as they both sent out their first Pokémon.
From Hugh's side was Heracross. From Benga's side was a mighty volcarona. Hugh clicked his teeth, not liking the matchup one bit.
"Stone Edge!"
"Quiver Dance!"
Heracross summoned several jagged rocks and shot them at Volcarona, but the Atlas moth fluttered around, performing a rather mystical dance, avoiding the jagged rocks that aimed to strike him down.
"-Damn it!-" Heracross swore.
"Fire Blast!" Benga yelled out.
"Dodge it!" Hugh yelled out.
Heracross flew back as Volcarona charged a massive ball of fire in its mouth. But the moth proved to be faster than the beetle could ever hope to be, as he caught up to the beetle during his retreat. Volcarona shot the ball of fire right in Heracross' face, incinerating the beetle in a giant engulfing sea of flames. Within seconds Heracross lost consciousness, falling down to the ground unceremoniously.
Hugh gritted his teeth as he recalled Heracross. He knew the matchup was skewed against his favor, but he had hoped that Heracross could have at least landed one Stone Edge against the burning moth. Hugh glanced back to his remaining party and considered who to send out next. He had Servine, Flygon and Tornadus left. While Tornadus would be the obvious choice to deal with Volcarona, Benga most likely still had Azelf. If that was the case, then Hugh would need Tornadus to stand a chance against a legendary Pokémon such as Azelf. Sending Servine against Volcarona was the same as signing a suicide note. So the only option would be...
"Flygon!"
Hugh sent out Flygon as his response to Benga's Volcarona. The bug-like dragon glared at Volcarona, ready to avenge his fallen comrade.
"Oh! That's a strong-looking flygon you got there!" Benga exclaimed, giddy to fight more of Hugh's Pokémon.
"Earthquake!" Hugh yelled.
"Fly up and use Bug Buzz!" Benga countered.
Flygon slammed his tail onto the ground, causing a massive earthquake to overwhelm Volcarona. Volcarona, in response, simply flew up to the ceiling, before emitting an ear-piercing sound to ravage the room, and Flygon. Everyone had to cover their ears, as Flygon was left writhing in pain from Volcarona's ear-shattering cacophony.
"Oh what the hell!" Iris cried out in pain.
"Stone Edge! While it's occupied!" Hugh yelled out loudly through the noise.
Flygon managed to recognize the order and managed to shoot a few jagged rocks at Volcarona while he was in the middle of his Bug Buzz. Volcarona could not avoid the Stone Edge like last time and was forced to take the Rock-type attacks. The Atlas moth was shot down by Flygon and crashed down onto the ground, which stopped the Bug Buzz and relieving everyone from shattered ear drums.
"Now, Earthquake!" Hugh yelled, seeing Volcarona on the ground.
Flygon slammed his tail onto the ground once more, trying Earthquake once more. With Volcarona stuck on the ground and not having enough time to fly back, the moth was subjected to the earthquake's full force with no means of escape. The earthquake died down and Volcarona still had some consciousness left in him, so Flygon dove in to finish him off.
"Fire Blast!" Benga yelled out.
"Fire Punch!" Hugh yelled back.
Volcarona shot a Fire Blast at Flygon while down to protect himself, but Flygon's claws burst in flames, letting Flygon punch through the Fire Blast and straight into Volcarona's face. The punch was more than enough to finish off Volcarona, ending the moth's run before he could do any more damage. This did not seem to faze Benga however, as he recalled Volcarona while keeping his enthusiastic, animalistic grin.
"Whew! Not bad!" Benga exclaimed, already preparing his next Pokémon. "But how about this!?"
Benga replaced Volcarona with his shiny garchomp, who was already gunning down Flygon at an alarming speed, even faster than Volcarona had performed.
"Dragon Pul-!"
"Outrage!"
Flygon tried to charge a Dragon Pulse, but Shiny Garchomp beat him to the punch, snarling with incoherent rage as he slammed his head into Flygon's gut. Flygon choked from the force of the hit, as Garchomp sent Flygon flying straight into the wall with a loud crash. The desert dragon could not handle the hefty strike from Shiny Garchomp and was knocked out instantly from the strike. Gritting his teeth once more, Hugh recalled Flygon for his next member. Benga awaited in anticipation, while Garchomp snarled at Hugh with a crazed, wrathful expression befit of a psychopath, waiting for his opponent to send out new prey.
Now only Servine and Tornadus were left. Hugh weighed his options. Benga only had the garchomp and one more left. The fact that he was able to bring Hugh down to even while being at a deficit in terms of number of Pokémon vexed Hugh. But Hugh could not waste time with petty spite. He needed to act now. Deciding to save Tornadus for whatever was waiting for him as Benga's anchor, Hugh sent out Servine. The snake glanced at Shiny Garchomp, who let out a blood-curdling roar and stampeded towards Servine. The grass snake immediately darted to the side to avoid Shiny Garchomp's enraged stomp, before being forced to go on the defensive as he jumped back to avoid another claw strike from Shiny Garchomp's Outrage.
"Leech Seed!"
As Shiny Garchomp lunged forward, Servine jumped over him and latched a seed onto the nape of his neck. Shiny Garchomp crashed into a wall, as the seed sprouted around the neck, draining the dragon of his health. Servine landed away from the beast, as Shiny Garchomp emerged from the wall, exhausted and dazed, while suffering from the constant pain of Leech Seed sapping away at his health.
'Good, Garchomp's Outrage ended,' Hugh thought. 'Now it should be confused afterwards. Now's my chance!'
"Servine, Leaf Blade!"
Servine's tail leaf turned sharp and glowed a brilliant green shine as he sprinted for the confused Shiny Garchomp. Benga merely smirked, catching Hugh's attention.
"Stone Edge!" he ordered triumphantly.
Shiny Garchomp suddenly whirled around at Servine, slamming his foot onto the ground and causing a giant, sharp rock to shoot out at Servine. The snake had to stop his assault and jump back, barely avoiding the stone skewering his eye. Servine landed back on his feet, away from Shiny Garchomp and with his eye still intact. The dragon merely snarled at Servine, glaring at him, almost daring him to try anything. While he did indeed look exhausted, Shiny Garchomp looked nowhere near confused.
"What the hell...?" Hugh muttered.
"Must've been a hold item," Iris commented from her side, catching Hugh's attention. "There's no way a garchomp shouldn't be confused after an Outrage. And Volcarona didn't set up anything like a Safeguard before it went down."
"That's right!" Benga replied as he took out a round, green berry from his pocket and showed it to them. "Garchomp had a lum berry! It'll protect him from getting confused from Outrage or getting burned!"
Hugh clicked his teeth in annoyance, realizing that Shiny Garchomp could go for another Outrage assault. Even if the Leech Seed was draining away at the dragon's health, it would not matter much if Shiny Garchomp could simply demolish the recipient before the seed could finish him off. Servine needed to find a way to finish him off before he gets taken out by Shiny Garchomp.
"Now, Outrage!"
...So much for planning time.
Shiny Garchomp let out another sickening howl, before charging at Servine. The snake jumped to the side, but Shiny Garchomp, amidst his roaring rampage, suddenly made a sharp turn to Servine's path and slammed his tail across the snake. Servine gagged as he was sent flying and crashing into a wall.
"SERVINE!" Hugh cried out.
The grass snake slid off the wall, coughing profusely as he struggled to get back up, only to be greeted by Shiny Garchomp glaring down murderously at him, as if daring him to make a move. Servine gritted his teeth in pain and anger. It was times like this where Servine wished he was not mute; that he could leave a snarky reply at the rampaging monster in front of him like his fellow comrades in the face of danger or declare that he would not be bested by his opponent like Bo; anything to express his frustrations. But no, he could not speak a word, so he was stuck simply glaring at the dragon with a never-changing limit to expressing his anger and was stuck bottling up his frustrations.
Servine glanced at Hugh, taking note of his master's worried expression, as if he was contemplating on relieving him of this slugfest in favor of Tornadus.
No.
Servine refused to back down. With no way to speak; he can only express himself with raw emotion. Whether it be through simple gestures like smiling or conquering his opponents for him, he only knew one way of reaching out to Hugh. Similar to Bo back when he was still Nite, Servine felt dissatisfied with himself; the rest of his teammates were evolving and reaching stronger states, while he was stuck the way he was. The addition of Tornadus only further cemented his internal frustrations. With better options at Hugh's disposal, Servine's purpose of battling; his limited ways of expressing himself to Hugh; was slowly but surely diminishing. Servine refused to have that taken away from him.
With gritted teeth, Servine got back up, shooting his own glare at Shiny Garchomp. Servine will defeat Shiny Garchomp. No matter what, Servine will NOT back down.
"Servine..." Hugh muttered.
"Oh, I like that look in your eyes!" Benga complimented the grass snake. "But I'm not one to back down either! Let'em have it, Garchomp!"
"Leaf Blade!" Hugh frantically called out.
Shiny Garchomp howled once again, before lifting his foot up and bringing it down upon Servine's hastily prepared Leaf Blade. Servine pushed all of his might into preventing the dragon shark from squashing him like a bug. He refused to lose. No matter what, he would find a way to win.
And then, as if God decided to answer his anger, Servine's body began to glow.
"Huh!?" Benga blurted as Servine's body shined a blinding light.
"Servine...!?" Hugh blurted out as well, not expecting that to happen. "Is he...!?"
Soon enough, Servine's body began to change and grow, growing large enough to push Shiny Garchomp off of him in spite of the dragon's strength. The light died down after a moment to reveal Servine in his evolved splendor. His face was primarily white, with mint-colored patterns extending on it and pointed, yellow protrusions on the back of his head, all adorned with narrow, red eyes. Coiled, dark green extensions spread out from the sides of his neck and formed a curving pattern with lower down his new, more serpentine-like body, which had apparently lost its limbs in favor of the new body-type. The leaf on his tail had become several palmate leaves instead of the one big leaf. Two, small leaf-like protrusions came out from either side of his neck, forming a sort of regal-like collar for the serpent.
"He evolved..." Hugh gasped. "Into Serperior...!"
Shiny Garchomp stepped back, sizing up his new prey, before showing his sharp, bloodthirsty teeth in anticipation. Serperior merely glared back, unfazed by his opponent, and feeling somewhat more confident with his newly-increased power thanks to a timely evolution. To be honest, Serperior did not know whether this would be enough to take out Shiny Garchomp. But he had nothing else left, so he decided to bet it all on this miracle.
"Leaf Blade!" Hugh yelled out, seemingly having the same idea.
"Outrage!" Benga yelled back, not at all fazed by the sudden evolution; in fact, his excitement was increased tenfold.
Shiny Garchomp roared and lunged for Serperior. Serperior's leaves formed to create one, absurdly sharp, blade, before he slithered around Shiny Garchomp with a new, blistering speed. The dragon shark was caught off guard by Serperior's new speed and fell back, but the serpentine was already behind Shiny Garchomp, and mercilessly brought his blade down upon the dragon with one, big swipe.
Shiny Garchomp cried out in agony as the Leaf Blade proved to be stronger than he had anticipated. The shark jumped away to create some distance, but Serperior had already caught up to the land shark.
"Now, Iron Tail!" Hugh yelled out in gusto.
Serperior's tail turned a silver hue, before slamming it down upon Shiny Garchomp, who blocked the attack with his arms. Serperior and Shiny Garchomp were in a deadlock that no one seemed to know the end to, until Shiny Garchomp suddenly found himself weak, and involuntarily loosened his defenses. Serperior saw the opening and brought the Iron Tail down on Shiny Garchomp's head with a loud thud. The land shark let out a gasp of air, before slowly stepping back and falling on his back. Serperior glanced down to check on the opponent, and to his relief, his opponent was finally down for the count.
"Alright!" Iris cheered for Hugh. "You're almost there!"
"No," Hugh muttered. While he was relieved and overjoyed that Servine evolved into Serperior and triumphed over Shiny Garchomp, he knew there was one more monster to worry about. "There's still one more..."
"Yo that was amazing!" Benga exclaimed as he recalled Shiny Garchomp. "But I'm not done yet! There's still this guy!"
Benga took out one last pokéball and sent out his own legendary Pokémon; Azelf. Hugh slightly gulped; he knew this would be the last one. Hugh would have been surprised if Azelf had already been taken down prior to their encounter here. Serperior narrowed his eyes, preparing to fight the new legendary Pokémon. Azelf merely stared back with bright, yellow eyes, that seemed to pierce through Serperior's very soul. Hugh knew that Serperior must be tired from his fight against Shiny Garchomp; he needed to make the fullest of Serperior while the snake was still standing.
"Leech Seed!"
"Flamethrower!"
Serperior shot out several seeds at Azelf, hoping to catch it before it could make a move, but Azelf lifted one of its arms and let out a stream of fire that incinerated the seeds, before going straight for Serperior. The snake slid to the side to avoid the stream of fire as Azelf flew to the snake, somehow even faster than Serperior demonstrated.
"Wha-!?" Hugh blurted. "Leaf Blade!"
Serperior tried to prepare another hasty Leaf Blade to slice down Azelf, but Azelf proved to be faster than Serperior and had already lifted an arm at him to burn the snake down with another powerful Flamethrower. The snake was engulfed in intense flames, before fainting on the ground after the fires died down. Hugh simply stared with wide eyes at just how swift and... effortlessly Azelf took out Serperior in spite of the snake's showing. Hugh went over and kneeled down to Serperior, who managed to open an eye and see Hugh.
"You did great out there Serperior," Hugh assured the snake. "Leave the rest to us."
Serperior stared at Hugh, before nodding, giving his usual small smile as Hugh recalled Serperior back into his ball.
"Hugh..." Iris murmured worryingly.
Hugh stared back at Benga and Azelf, before reaching out for his last pokéball.
"You have one more, right?" Benga asked. "C'mon! Lemme see 'em! Me and Azelf are just itching to fight 'em!"
Hugh narrowed his eyes. "Is that right? Then let's fight legendary with legendary then!"
Hugh threw the ball, and out came Tornadus, who flew straight towards Azelf like a bat out of hell and slammed one of his feet onto the elf.
"I'm counting on you, Tornadus," Hugh called out, earning himself a nod in response from Tornadus.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEH!? YOU HAVE TORNADUS!?" Iris cried out in shock.
"That's so COOOL!" Benga squealed. "But Azelf won't lose! Thunderbolt!"
Tornadus immediately backed off before Azelf let loose a surge of electricity from its body, aimed directly at the bird. Tornadus avoided the Thunderbolt, before flying up to the ceiling.
"Hurricane!"
Tornadus flapped his wings, creating a harsh storm that ravaged Azelf, who had little space to flee to in the room they were fighting in. Azelf nonetheless powered through, flying after Tornadus, who made his own flight known. The two legendary Pokémon blistered around the room, Tornadus refusing to let Azelf catch up, while Azelf did its best to catch up.
"Psyshock!"
"Focus Blast!"
Azelf let loose several psychic orbs that surrounded Tornadus, before converging to the bird. Tornadus, in response, created a blue orb in one of his feet, before flying down and hurling it up, letting the Focus Blast take the Psyshock for him. Azelf hovered above Tornadus, having used the interaction as an opening to catch up to Tornadus.
"Thunderbolt!"
"Hurricane!"
Azelf unleashed another powerful Thunderbolt and unleashed it at Tornadus from above. Tornadus, in return, shot out several blades of air at Azelf. The thunderbolt struck Tornadus, but the blades of air hit Azelf, causing another massive storm to form and rip Azelf apart. The two fell to the ground, having struck each other down with their own attacks that could rival natural disasters. After hitting the ground with a loud thud, both Tornadus and Azelf got back up, panting and glaring at each other. Hugh noted that Azelf must have been extremely powerful, but very frail; considering that one Thunderbolt was all it took to bring Tornadus to the brink of defeat, but a single Hurricane was enough to do the same back. Tornadus needed to finish this off in one hit; and it looked like Benga was thinking the same thing.
"U-turn!"
"Thunderbolt!"
Tornadus charged at Azelf to finish it off, while Azelf let loose one more Thunderbolt with the same idea. As Tornadus was charging straight forward, the elf simply shot it in front of it, easily claiming Tornadus as its target. To Azelf's surprise, Tornadus powered through the electrical agony and slammed a claw onto Azelf's head, slamming Azelf straight into the wall behind them. With yet another loud slam, the electricity ceased, as Tornadus let go of Azelf and fell to the ground, while Azelf slid off the wall rather pathetically. Both legendary Pokémon laid on the ground, no longer able to battle.
"...It's a tie..." Hugh let out after what seemed to be a century of silence between all onlookers.
"Yep, a tie," Iris said.
"That was so exciting!" Benga exclaimed. "You and your Pokémon's combination! Amazing teamwork! You had it all!"
"Thanks," Hugh muttered as he went over to Tornadus. "You did great out here."
"-Hmph, well I'm just glad I got to fight a worthwhile opponent,-" Tornadus muttered, although he secretly appreciated Hugh's compliment.
Hugh merely smiled as he recalled Tornadus, before Benga and Iris went up to him.
"Great job, you two," Iris complimented the duo. "That was intense!"
"Yep!" Benga smirked, before he realized something. "But, we both lost. So, I guess our run ends here. For now!"
"That's right," a voice came out from the camera above the door, garnering everyone's attention. It was most likely the Boss Trainer of the area. "While the battle was amazing, you two unfortunately have no remaining Pokémon. You two will have to leave and try again another day. You can continue off from this area next time."
"Right..." Hugh said, before glancing to Iris. "So what about you? I mean technically you still have Pokémon."
Iris's eyes lit up, realizing that indeed, she was still technically allowed to continue her run. She glanced to the gate, before glancing at her card key, before glancing back at the two.
"Well..." Iris said. "Since I'm not out yet, I'm gonna just go fight the Boss Trainer. So...See ya later!"
Without a care in the world, Iris ran over to the gate, opened it with her card key, and entered the room, leaving the two boys as the gate closed back up.
"I see..." Hugh mumbled as he glanced over to Benga. The boy with the crazy hair merely tilted his head to the side.
"...Let's just get out of here."
The two boys exited the elevator as it brought them back to the lobby. The receptionist gave them some kind words of sympathy and encouraged them to come back, while healing their teams from the brinks of unconsciousness. The two stepped out of the tree and outside, taking in a rather breathtaking sunset view of the orange-lit forest.
"Damn, we've been in there for a long time," Hugh said in surprise.
"Aaaah! That was fun!" Benga exclaimed, bringing his hands behind his head.
"So, what're you gonna do now?" Hugh asked Benga.
"Hm? I guess go back to Grampa's place for now," Benga said. "Then get better! And then come back here and conquer the Treehollow!"
"Is that so," Hugh replied.
"Yep!" Benga said. "You better come back here! It's not over yet! Once I'm stronger, we'll settle this score and see who's better! This time at the bottom of the Treehollow!"
"...Yeah," Hugh nodded. He too did not want to leave this short rivalry on a tie. "Next time, I'll beat you."
"That's the spirit!" Benga exclaimed, his ever-so toothy grin finding its place back on his expression as he sent out Volcarona and rode on his back. "Next time though, I'll definitely beat you!"
Hugh could not help but let out a snort as Benga waved him goodbye before taking off to the skies on Volcarona. Shortly after Benga was out of Hugh's sights, Iris emerged from the Treehollow, walking up to the boy.
"Sorry for the wait!" Iris called out.
"So how'd it go?" Hugh asked, referring to Iris' fight against the Boss Trainer.
"I won," Iris reported. "The dude was really tough though. Sheesh, one wrong move and I probably would've lost."
"As expected of the Champion," Hugh replied. "I'm sure you would've been fine regardless."
"Thanks," Iris said, before she had a rather disapproving expression on her face. "Which reminds me, why didn't you tell me you caught Tornadus? When did you catch Tornadus?!"
Hugh simply shrugged, before telling Iris the tale of his experience back at Chargestone Cave, and how he ended up recruiting Tornadus at the end of it all. Reflecting back on the experience, getting Tornadus felt like a consolation prize for escaping potential death via falling down a seemingly-bottomless pit.
"Yeesh, that must've been rough," Iris said. "Was everything alright afterwards?"
Hugh thought back to the events that happened after the Chargestone Cave incident.
"Uhhh..." Hugh said, deciding not to recall the events to her. "Yeah, everything went normally afterwards."
"If you say so," Iris said, seemingly buying it. "But anyways, that was fun! I'll definitely come back here one day!"
"Same," Hugh agreed. He did make a promise with Benga to settle their score here after all.
"Did you enjoy it?" Iris asked Hugh.
"Huh?" the boy asked, confused.
"I mean, I know it was stressful and tiring at the lower levels," Iris said. "But it looked like you were enjoying yourself."
The boy stared at Iris rather skeptically, but she did have a point. Hugh found himself in several unfamiliar scenarios and forced to think of a way to overcome them with limited resources and his Pokémon's own strengths. While intense and immensely stressful, Hugh found himself invested and exhilarated at overcoming the challenges and trainers that got in his way; Benga included.
"Yeah...it was a refreshing change of pace. As weird as that sounds," Hugh said. That response earned him an honest smile from Iris. That little gesture caught Hugh's attention, but he decided to not bring it up. "I guess all the stuff that happened in the last two days was really stressful."
"That's an understatement," Iris commented. "I wasn't even a part of all of it and I felt like just wanting to hibernate for days. And not go back to Undella. I don't wanna go back to Undella for a while."
"Right," Hugh could not help but snicker. "Fuck Undella, really. It'll definitely get better going forward. But for now? Fuck Undella."
"Well, now that that's done," Iris said. "I'm starving! C'mon, let's go find some place to get dinner! I heard there's a bunch of good restaurants at Driftveil!"
"Right, right," Hugh said as he sent out Tornadus, while Iris sent out Hydreigon.
The two mounted their respective flying Pokémon and took off, leaving the beautiful White Forest behind. He had to thank Iris. While her appearance today was unexpected, he could not have had it any other way. The advice she gave to him, and her support throughout the Treehollow was invaluable. Hell, looking back, she always did help him out in some way or another; giving him Tirtouga when they first met back at Castelia, giving him some advice back at Driftveil, and most recently her stunt she did back at Undella on his request. He still questioned why she seemed so invested in him, but he supposed that was a topic for another day.
Hugh gave the Treehollow a last glance before Tornadus sped off to Driftveil. While the time spent there did not directly solve many of Hugh's own internal problems, it did give him a much-needed boost in his overall strength as a trainer, and completed his team in terms of evolutions. The time spent there also gave him a clearer mind. He would think about what to say to Rosa and Nate when he meets up with them tomorrow. He was curious to see how their days off went and if they had anything exciting to tell.
For now though, Hugh decided to just unwind on Tornadus' back. A lot occurred today. He would need the energy for tomorrow. For once, he was looking forward to what tomorrow would have in store.
To be continued
AN: And that wraps up this break from the plot! Hugh explored White Forest and the Treehollow, got his shit together (which was not too much when compared to his two crazier friends), met a new rival in Benga, and Servine evolved into Serperior, tying up Hugh's team for the most part. Not as confident in portraying Hugh and Iris' relationship (if you can even call it that right now) when compared to Nate x Yancy or Rosa x Curtis, but I do hope it sufficed. Now to discuss a few aspects:
Most notably, Benga's introduction and the change to his party. While Benga will not play a huge role in the story, I put him there to act as Hugh's challenge to overcome. It was mentioned after you clear the game that he finally cleared the White Treehollow/Black Skyscraper, so odds are he would be in the middle of trying to clear it during the main story. The Shiny Garchomp is merely there to represent the shiny gible/dratini you get from him when you beat him in the post-game, and it coincides with the gachomp he has in Black 2, so it has no deeper meaning. Since both Latias and Latios are unavailable, I had to give him a replacement; and with Alder having Mesprit and Uxie, Azelf was the perfect candidate. I tried to depict the Treehollow without game mechanics as this kind of survival dungeon.
Also the battles in this chapter were long; longer than my usual average lengths. Notably Hugh vs Benga, where this was the first battle that was written so long that I had to cut it up into several sections just to avoid making it one giant wall of text. If this is a foreshadow of what's to come in the future, then I better step up my game.
And with that, all three got their character development/filler-esque chapters done. Next chapter, we finally go back to the main plot. I mean we're near the end; so if I were to shove as much plot as I can in one chapter, so let's say the size of this one, then I should be able to wrap up the main story in a rough estimate of 5-10 chapter-
Oh god we're gonna be here for another year, aren't we?
...I'll try not to take that long.
And now for team rosters:
Hugh: Flygon / Serperior / Magmortar / Carracosta / Heracross / Tornadus
Iris: Hydreigon / Lapras / ? / ? / ? / Haxorus
Iris only revealed three mons, so this seems fair in my book. You'll see her full team eventually, I promise.
Alright, everything's taken care of. Next time, the plot moves forward!
See ya then!