Pride of Your Soul
Chapter 30: Determination
AN: Damn E3 was nice. That is all. How did you guys like E3? Oh and the Pokemon Direct before that?
Anyways, this time it's a much shorter chapter than the usual. It was originally going to be much longer, but I decided to cut some things out and save them for the next chapter for a better flow of the plot. Tell me if you would like some shorter chapters sometimes, or if I should just keep going with the usual word count range.
Anyways, onto reviews:
FantasyLover88: Honestly I kinda feel like this is what the people of ye olde days did to test what was effective against what: through good old fashion trial and error. Drayden's fate will be revealed this chapter!
Tony Anderson: Thanks! Hopefully this chapter will live up to everyone's expectations, even if it is shorter than usual.
I M Poik: Welcome back! A lot has happened while you were away. With more motivation, the story is going back up to speed! The rest of Iris' team? Eh, maybe it'll be the same, who knows. Also yeah, Eve essentially broke Drayden's gym battle. And actually no, Eve's Hyper Voice is still in fact Hyper Voice.
Actually fun fact, if you all look back through the story and paid attention to Eve, you would know exactly what ability she has, and (outside of the stone catalyst) knew why Eve evolved into what she did if you know how eevee evolves into sylveon.
TheDarkMaster4000: Once again, thanks for the spellcheck and your highlights. Honestly the first half of the last chapter just revolved around Eve and everything good and bad that happened to her. Also bullying Flygon. And then the second half is what we typically call a mood whiplash. Hope it worked.
Bob: Maybe Team Plasma was onto something...
WarriorElise: Yeah, I'm kinda glad everyone thought Eve's testing was funny. That's a success in my book. Unfortunately the last part of the chapter isn't funny. Regardless, glad you enjoyed the chapter.
Acethe69th: No problem. I'm trying to pick up my usual uploading speed. Especially since we're nearing the end of PoYS.
Jeck: You'll find out real soon!
-Five years ago-
A nine-year-old Hugh smiled as he and his little sister, Val, walked up the outpost of Aspertia City. It was a special occasion; it was Val's fifth birthday. Their grandfather had gifted Val her very first Pokémon; a purrloin he had caught just for her. The purrloin instantly took a liking to Val, which made Hugh happy. Currently, the boy was taking his little sister on an outing. Now that she had her very own Pokémon, she could venture out somewhat.
"We're here!" Hugh called out, reaching the top of the outpost which oversaw the route neighboring Aspertia City.
"What're we doing up here, Big Brother?" Val asked Hugh, still hugging her new purrloin.
"Well Val, since you got your first Pokémon," Hugh told her. "I'm gonna teach you how to battle!"
"How to battle?" Val asked.
"Battling is a vital part of being a Pokémon trainer," Hugh said. "It's how you defend yourself. So your big bro's gonna teach you the basics of battling!"
"Eh!?" Val blurted, taken by surprise. "I-I don't wanna battle! I'm just happy being with Purrloin! Besides, I'm probably not gonna be good at battling anyways..."
"Oh c'mon, battling's easy!" Hugh assured Val. "You'll get the hang of it in no time!"
"Well...if you're sure..." Val said, relenting.
"I'm positive!" Hugh smiled as he sent out his ever trusty trapinch. "C'mon, you'll have fun! I'm sure of it!"
Val still looked uneasy about it, but decided to let Purrloin battle Trapinch. The small Pokémon engaged at each other in a close-up brawl of scratches and bites. Hugh would occasionally give Val tips on how to command Purrloin, such as what to do when Trapinch gained the upper hand, or how to utilize other moves Purrloin had. While Val was initially hesitant on the idea, she seemed to be having fun. That was a win in Hugh's book, regardless of whether or not she learned anything from this. Which was silly to assume; Val is a smart girl; she would definitely learn something from this.
"My, how horrible!"
The two kids looked up to see two adults they had never seen before, with a frillish and a deino. The most notable thing about them was the outfits they were wearing; it reminded Hugh of those knights from the fairy tales his mother would tell him and Val for bedtime stories.
"To think these young children would do something as despicable as making Pokémon fight each other!" the man said.
"Clearly they don't understand a thing about Pokémon!" the woman agreed. "They even have a trapinch too...such a rare Pokémon...how conceited of you!"
"Wh-What the heck!? Who do you think you are!?" Hugh yelled back. "What're you even talking about!?"
"What you're doing right now is making your Pokémon suffer," the woman explained.
"If you understand, then we implore you two to release them," the man insisted. "It's for the best for those Pokémon."
"B-Big Bro?" Val asked with a scared tone, hugging Purrloin.
"Wh-that's crazy!" Hugh argued, getting in front of Val, Purrloin and Trapinch. "Purrloin and Trapinch both like us a lot! We aren't making them suffer or anything like that!"
"...It seems that you will not understand, even if we tell you," the man said sadly.
"Then we have no choice but to make them understand the errors of their ways," the woman said as the two adults stepped forward.
"C-C'mon, let's get out of here!" Hugh exclaimed, grabbing Val's arm and making a run for it. Unfortunately the deino and frillish got around them, blocking their paths. "Out of our way!"
Trapinch and Purrloin sprung forward to battle the deino and frillish. To their surprise and relief, Trapinch and Purrloin were able to keep up with the deino and frillish. As Frillish tried to attack Trapinch, Purrloin stopped it with a bite, while Trapinch could focus on taking down Deino.
"What nasty children they are!" the man exclaimed.
"Then there is no need to hold back Frillish!" the woman commanded.
Frillish managed to pry Purrloin off of it, before it ensnared the cat. Deino shook off Trapinch and shoved him aside, before proceeding to gnaw on Purrloin's leg as Frillish choked it. Val looked horrified as Purrloin was beaten senselessly by both Frillish and Deino, as the jellyfish threw Purrloin to the ground and Deino slammed on her gut with its feet. Val frantically reach for her pokéball, wishing nothing but to save Purrloin from any further abuse.
"Return, Purrloin!" Val practically begged as she recalled Purrloin back to her pokéball.
But the moment she did that, the woman immediately snatched the ball out of Val's hand.
"Huh...?" Val asked, realizing that Purrloin's pokéball was no longer in her hands.
"I'll be taking this," the woman said happily. "We will free this Pokémon!"
"N-No!" Val cried as she tried to get Purrloin's pokéball back, only to be stopped by Frillish. "That's my Pokémon! She's my friend!"
"STOP!" Hugh cried out as he ran to the woman. "Give my sister her purrloin back!"
But as Hugh tried to stop the woman, the deino ran up and slammed his head into Hugh's stomach. The boy gagged, before falling to the ground.
"B-Big Bro!" Val cried in horror as she ran up to the boy. "Please be alright! Big Brother!"
"Our very first liberation!" the woman cheered. "This is the first step to Team Plasma's glorious future!"
"Now let us liberate the trapinch as well!" the man suggested, as all eyes were on Trapinch now.
"-Oh no you don't!-" Trapinch snarled as he got in front of Hugh and Val.
"That's enough."
The two adults stopped what they were doing and glanced behind them. A man with white hair garbed in black clothing stood behind them. There was also a small girl with brown hair and wearing a similar outfit to the two adults with him, accompanied by a pawniard, but the girl seemed rather disinterested with what was going on.
"Lord Ghetsis wants everyone to report back," the man in black ordered. "Just take what you got and head back."
"I-If you say so, Lord Ein," the man said reluctantly.
"Oh don't be so glum," the woman insisted. "We made our first liberation! There'll definitely be more in the future!"
"Well, when you put it like that, you have a point," the man responded, feeling better.
"If you understand, then head back," the man ordered.
"Of course," the two adults saluted as they took their leave with their Pokémon.
The man in black glanced down at the girl. "I would hope that you learned something from this."
The girl eyed the two children they had just robbed. The boy was still in pain as he laid flat on the floor, while the girl was too busy crying over the boy. How pathetic. Those two adults were weak. She could have beaten them by herself. She even bet he could have done better. She does not even know if he had any Pokémon, but she was sure he would have done better.
"...I could've done better..." she mumbled, clinging onto one of Pawniard's claws.
"If you say so," the man sighed. "C'mon, let's get back home. Your father is probably starting to get worried about you."
The man held the girl by the hand and suddenly vanishing into thin air. It would have been fascinating, but Val was too busy crying over her stolen purrloin and hoping that her brother was alright, and Hugh was too lost in his own thoughts amidst the pain.
'This...this is my fault...' Hugh thought. 'Val didn't even want to battle...she said she was just fine being with Purrloin...but I forced her to battle...and now because of it Purrloin's...!'
'...No...'
'It's my fault because I was too weak...' Hugh thought. 'If I was strong enough...if I didn't lose to those two jerks...then Purrloin wouldn't have been stolen!'
"Team Plasma..." Hugh mumbled. "...I won't forget..."
Hugh managed to get back up, before glaring at the sky, seeing as there was no one else to direct his unbridled rage at, and there was no way Val deserved anything and everything that had happened to her a moment ago.
"I won't forget this Team Plasma!" Hugh roared. "You hear me!? I'm Hugh of Aspertia City! And I'll never forget what you did to us!"
On that day, Hugh swore. Hugh swore that he would become stronger. He would become stronger, and then one day leave the city to go on his journey. And then he would exact his revenge on Team Plasma. To get back Val's Purrloin. Even if it meant hunting down every single one of them. They will all pay for what they did. Hugh would make sure of it.
By the time his parents and a nine-year-old Rosa found them after searching for them, Hugh had passed out, lost deep in his rage and bitterness and vows of justice and revenge.
-Present day-
Hugh did not know why that particular memory suddenly came to mind. Perhaps it was because the sense of dread and uselessness he felt that day was what he was feeling now, as he saw Drayden's bloodied body fall on the ground, as the man took a blow that was meant for Hugh. He could do nothing to prevent those bastards from stealing Val's Purrloin, and here, he could do nothing to stop Drayden from taking the fatal blow to the chest that was meant for Hugh, and bleeding out on the ground.
"To think that you would go out of your way to take a fatal blow just to protect the boy," the Shadow Triad commented. "How noble, if not stupid."
Hugh glared at the Shadow Triad. "You son of a bitch!"
"Hmph, I'm just calling it as how I see it," the man said. "Now there's no one to protect you from it again."
As Cobalion tried to set up for another strike, Tornadus and Deo slammed into the goat, pushing him and the Shadow Triad away from Hugh and Drayden. Nate got in front of them, as Luca had already prepared both her staff and an Aura Sphere.
"-Master...!-" Deo muttered, pained to see his beloved master still under the clutches of Team Plasma.
"Oi, old man! Are you alright!?" Nate cried out as Hugh rushed over to Drayden.
"Drayden!" Hugh cried as he lifted the injured man.
The man struggled to keep a breath as he coughed up blood, before giving Hugh a tired gaze.
"Ah...it would seem that...you are alright," Drayden panted. "That's good..."
"I figured you were still alive," the Shadow Triad said as he eyed Nate. "I doubted that someone like you would die so easily."
"You bastards tricked Kyurem into siding with you!" Nate growled. "And now you're using him to freeze the damn city!?"
"We will accomplish our goals," the Shadow Triad declared. "No matter what the cost may be! We lack the charisma to captivate the hearts of others like Lord N had, so instead, we will bend people to our will with brute force!"
"You...scoundrels...!" Drayden growled, before going into another coughing fit.
"Drayden, please! Don't push yourself!" Hugh insisted, stopping the man from forcing his body to overexert itself.
"We got what we came for," the Shadow Triad said. "We're leaving."
"And you think you're getting out of here so easily?" Nate snarled as Deo and Luca pointed their weapons at him. "Like hell we're letting you take the DNA Splicers back to Ghetsis!"
"...You're right," the Shadow Triad agreed, much to Nate's shock and conclusion. "You're not going to let me take the DNA Splicers."
Without warning, the Shadow Triad tossed the DNA Splicers high up into the air. As the relic reached the apex of the throw, someone caught it in the air. That someone was revealed to be another Shadow Triad, hanging off of a jellicent.
"You're letting him take the DNA Splicers," the first Shadow Triad said.
"SHIT!" Nate swore. "STOP HIM!"
Before Luca and Deo could make a move, Cobalion stopped them in their tracks, crazed, hypnotized blue eyes glaring at them murderously.
"Sorry, but you're stuck with me until he escapes," the Shadow Triad said. "Don't worry. No matter what, this won't take long."
"Son of a bitch..." Nate growled, before glancing back to Hugh. "We'll deal with him. You go after the other one."
"Right," Hugh nodded as Tornadus got ready to chase after the fleeing Shadow Triad.
"Like I said," the Shadow Triad in front of them said as he sent out a ferrothorn in the air and proceeded to toss a white gem at the creature. "This won't take long."
"What're you–?" Hugh blurted.
"Explosion."
"I think that's the last one," Rosa said as Audi healed the final person.
It took a lot of effort on behalf of the Fire-types, but they were able to thaw out as many people as they could that got frozen from Team Plasma's frigid attack. One of the paramedics walked up to them as they put the last remaining survivor on a stretcher to transport them to the pokécenter.
"We can't thank you kids enough," she told them. "We couldn't have saved as many people as we did without your help."
"No problem," Yancy replied, before looking down sadly. "But...we couldn't save all of them..."
Not everyone was fortunate enough to be saved. By the time they got to them, they had already succumbed to the frozen cold and died as a result. The first dead body they found was not the pleasant experience to say the least.
"Without your help, then everyone could've died," the woman insisted. "We're just glad that there were people to save."
"...Yeah..." Yancy mumbled, feeling slightly better. "We were able to save someone..."
"But what about the people trapped in the buildings?" Rosa asked, pointing to one of the apartment complexes that is frozen over.
"We're doing our best to rescue any trapped civilians out of the frozen buildings," the woman said as she pointed to a rescue team with an arcanine spewing a constant flamethrower at the frozen solid entrance. "We have no idea what kind of ice this is if our Fire-types are struggling to get it to melt down."
"I guess we can only pray for the best," Rosa sighed.
"Come to think of it, where did your friends go?" the woman asked. "I could've sworn there were four of you..."
"Oh, Nate and Hugh went to go help Drayden protect the gym," Rosa explained.
"Speaking of...I wonder if they're doing okay..." Yancy could not help but mumble in worry.
"I'm sure they're fine," Rosa assured Yancy. "I mean it's Nate, Hugh and Drayden we're talking about. I doubt that weirdo Zinzolin can take all three of them–."
A violently loud explosion from far beyond them cut off Rosa, silencing everyone in the vicinity. Everyone blinked, before turning around to see a trail of smoke rising up into the air. The trail seemed to be coming from the gym.
"...I just had to open my mouth, didn't I...?" Rosa grumbled as she quickly dropped everything and sprinted for the location of the gym, with Yancy and the paramedic following after her. The three ran towards the gym as fast as they could while being careful as to not slip on the ice. They reached the gym, only to find themselves horrified at the sight. The smoke cleared up to reveal Nate panting and covered in ash, quite obviously having been caught in the explosion. Deo and Tornadus were on the ground fainted, while Luca was barely clinging onto consciousness.
"Son of...a bitch..." Nate panted. "Oi...please tell me he's not dead..."
Behind Nate was Hugh, who did not look any better than Nate did at the moment. As if things could not look worse, Hugh got up, revealing to have been on top of a bleeding Drayden, presumably having taken the blast for the old man.
"He's...still alive..." Hugh panted. "Thank...Arceus..."
The blue-haired boy proceeded to collapse on Drayden, while Nate and Luca collapsed to their knees as the two girls rushed up to them and the paramedic scrambled for her communicator.
"What happened!?" Rosa practically demanded.
"Shadow Triad..." Nate explained. "Pulled a fast one...fucking Normal Gem Explosion...they stole...the DNA Splicers...So yeah...we're kinda fucked-."
And then Nate's world proceeded to fade into black; the last thing he registered was Yancy's cry.
When Hugh woke up, he realized he was no longer outside in front of the gym, but on a rather comfortable bed in an unfamiliar room. He glanced around, before spotting a familiar figure.
"Iris...?" Hugh asked groggily, not expecting to see the champion here.
"You're awake...!" Iris said, relieved.
Hugh rose up from his bed, before spotting Rosa and Yancy in the room as well. He did not see Nate, but that was to be expected. He was also caught in the explosion left by the Shadow Triad as well.
"When did you get here?" Hugh asked Iris.
"The paramedics informed me of what happened," Iris explained. "I rushed here as fast as I could when I heard what happened to you guys."
"I see..." Hugh muttered. "...How long was I out?"
"8 hours," Rosa informed him, shocking Hugh. "Fortunately, the doctor said that you and Nate didn't suffer anything fatal. You should be good to go by tomorrow morning."
"I see..." Hugh said in relief, before remembering the third victim of the explosion. "What about Drayden...?"
Everyone's expression turned grim upon Hugh mentioning Drayden, which did not bode well at all for the boy.
"He's alive and recovering..." Iris confirmed, which put Hugh at the slightest of ease. "But...his injuries were really bad...we don't know how long it'll take for him to wake up..."
Hugh grunted in slight pain, but managed to get up from his bed. True to Rosa's words, the injuries he got from the Shadow Triad's Explosion was not as bad as he had thought. The boy walked out of his room to find Nate outside the hall currently conversing with someone on his Xtransceiver. Hugh was glad that Nate was doing far better than he was right now, but his main concerns right now were Drayden.
Nate noticed Hugh and acknowledged him, looking away from the screen of his phone conversation. Seemingly reading his mind, Nate jerked his head to the door near him. That must be Drayden's room, Hugh surmised, and entered the room. The man was currently unconscious on the bed, covered in bandages across his muscular body.
Seeing Drayden's injured, comatose state, made Hugh feel bitter at himself. Anger at Team Plasma obviously, for they were the ones who almost killed Drayden, but anger at himself because he felt that he was the one who put Drayden in his pitiable state. Had Hugh not had been in danger, then there would have been no need for Drayden to take Cobalion's Sacred Sword for him. Hugh could not help but blame himself for what happened to the proud Spartan mayor of Opelucid. And as Iris entered the room, Hugh could not help but feel guilty for letting Drayden be hospitalized. Even if he did not know the man personally; he only knew him for less than a day; he was an important figure to Iris, and that alone was more than enough to make Hugh feel like he slighted Iris for not being able to defend the man. She stared down at her surrogate grandfather's comatose body; with the sounds of the heart meter being the only sound filling the quiet room.
"...I'm sorry..." Hugh muttered to Iris. "It's my fault that Drayden's like this...If I had been able to do something...then..."
"Don't say that," Iris replied, stopping Hugh from blaming himself any further. "Grampa knew the risks and did it anyways because he wanted to protect you. None of this is your fault."
"But still, I–!" Hugh insisted, before Iris stopped him flat by grabbing his hand and squeezing it firmly, getting his attention.
"Blaming you isn't going to change the situation," Iris told him firmly. "If anyone's to blame, then it's definitely Team Plasma. They're the ones who froze Opelucid City and hurt you, Nate, Grampa and everyone else. You aren't to blame for anything."
"Iris..." Hugh muttered.
"Besides, while yes, seeing Grampa like this is devastating," Iris said. "I definitely wouldn't want you to get hurt or killed just to protect him. I'd rather not see either of you hurt, and that definitely doesn't mean that I want you to feel like you should've been the one to take the hit instead of Grampa. So c'mon, don't beat yourself up like that."
Iris offered Hugh a small, gentle smile, that strangely put him at ease. Iris was right; even if Hugh felt guilty for what happened to Drayden, beating himself up over it would do nothing. If anything, he should focus his efforts on stopping Team Plasma so that they could not achieve what they are planning and not let Drayden's sacrifice go to waste.
"Thanks..." Hugh responded, smiling and finding himself feeling much better. "I needed that."
"Hehe," Iris giggled, smirking at the boy.
"They did WHAT!?"
Nate grumbled at the memory of what had happened at Opelucid City as he reported it to Cheren and Bianca on his Xtransceiver, still bitter about the events that had happened and how Team Plasma got the upper hand once more.
"City's frozen over," Nate muttered. "They definitely used Kyurem to do that. They stole the DNA Splicers and almost killed Drayden, Hugh and I."
"We were just there yesterday too..." Cheren scowled, obviously frustrated at himself. "Damn it!"
"Well we're glad that you're doing better already," Bianca said, before looking worried. "What about Hugh and Drayden...?"
As Nate was about to respond, he saw the door to Hugh's room open, revealing the blue-haired boy in question. Nate was relieved that he was awake, but Hugh seemed more concerned over something than anything.
Probably Drayden, Nate assumed.
Nate jerked his head to the room behind him; Drayden's room; and Hugh nodded as he hurried into the room, followed by iris, Rosa and Yancy. Nate could not blame them. He saw the injury Drayden took from Cobalion. He could only call it a miracle that the old man was not completely sliced in half.
"...Hugh just woke up, so he's fine," Nate reported after focusing back to Cheren and Bianca. "Drayden...well he'll recover...but the injuries were pretty bad. No one knows how long it'll take for him to wake up."
"At least he'll get better..." Cheren sighed in relief. "...Cobalion...at this point I can't help but scorn the legendary Sword of Justice, even if it isn't his fault or intention. Twice now his blade harmed people important to us."
Nate glowered at the teacher-veteran trainer. Nate had an idea of what Cheren was referring to. After all, Nate was there for both times. The second time was obviously when Cobalion cut down Drayden. The first time was back at N's Castle, two years ago, when Cobalion sliced off Hilbert's arm as the Shadow Triad's attempt to kill him, before Nate returned the favor and hacked off Ghetsis' arm. Both times Cobalion was clearly under the control of Team Plasma's special pokéballs, which was essentially brainwashing in all but name.
"So, these, 'DNA Splicers'," Bianca asked, rerailing the conversation. "That's the relic of Kyurem?"
"Yeah," Nate confirmed. "Supposedly with that, Kyurem can absorb Reshiram and Zekrom. How it works, I couldn't tell you."
"And now it's in Team Plasma's hands..." Cheren grumbled. "That's certainly not good news."
"You're telling me," Nate snorted. "Everything seemed to work themselves out, and then we get an explosion to the face. So? What's the move now?"
"Since they need Zekrom and Reshiram," Cheren replied. "Then it's most likely that they'll do something to try and draw out Hilbert and N. We just need to track them down based on what it is they're most likely going to do."
"Yeah, that would be the most likely course of action."
"Yeah, wait what–?" Nate asked, realizing that was not his own voice, before he found his Xtransceiver being plucked out of his hands. "Wha–Hey!"
Nate turned around to object to whoever it was that just rudely took his Xtransceiver out of his hands (while in the middle of a conversation no less). To his and everyone else's surprise, the perpetrator was none other than Hilda, still in her Weiss outfit. Accompanying her was her usual shiny whimsicott, floating in the room like the ball of cotton that she was.
"The hell–Sis?" Nate blurted, not expecting to see Hilda here.
"Hilda?!" Bianca gasped from her line. "What're you doing over there?"
"It's Weiss right now," Hilda said, tapping at her white opera mask that obscured her eyes. "I was aboard the ship when it started to attack Opelucid. I had to get off when they were about to leave since there was no other opening that wouldn't have gotten me caught by either a grunt or one of the Shadow Triad."
Weiss' gaze met Nate's. "Are you okay? How badly did you get injured?"
"I like how you ask 'how bad did I get hurt?' and not 'did I get hurt?'," Nate retorted. "...I'm fine. Turns out hi-tech bodysuits make for great shields."
"Well that's good," Weiss smiled in relief, before her expression went back to being serious. "Plasma's got what they want. Which, when considering Ghetsis' plans...isn't good, to say the least."
"You found something?" Cheren asked.
"He plans to destroy the entire Unova region with Kyurem by restoring its original form and rule over it uncontested," Weiss revealed. "He plans to send out his forces to occupy the cities, distracting the gym leaders and any government officials, before freezing the damn region whole. All this, just to lure out Hilbert and N."
"He plans to do ALL of that just to lure out the two?" Bianca asked in horror.
"He's lost his mind, that's for sure," Weiss muttered. "Opelucid was just a test run for them. Once they restore enough energy for Kyurem, then they'll go for the rest of Unova. Even if Hilbert or N, for whatever reason, decide to ignore Ghetsis, he still gets to destroy Unova for free."
"So we're fucked either way," Nate muttered. "Since there's no way either of them will let Ghetsis do whatever he wants, we're gonna have to face him then."
"And bring Zekrom and Reshiram to him..." Bianca mumbled.
"Beats letting him turn the entire region into an ice cube," Nate retorted. "So? Where do we even go to find them?"
"They plan to make a pit stop at Seaside Cave on Route 21, near Humilau City," Weiss informed them. "After that, they're headed straight for the Giant Chasm. You can go to the Chasm and wait for him there..."
"If we can cut the head off the snake, then by all means," Nate replied. "Let's cut them off at Seaside Cave."
"It's worth a shot, I suppose," Weiss nodded.
"Did you happen to find anything else while you were on the ship, Hil–Weiss?" Cheren asked, correcting himself at the end.
"There's only so much I can find out without someone noticing," Weiss said, raising her hands up in defeat. "Even less if the Triad are on the ship without a distraction. That's all I could find out..."
"I see..." Cheren said. "Thank you for everything you found, regardless."
"No problem," Weiss waved off. "Alright now, I better get going. Gotta regroup with Schwartzer to plan the next move."
"Right," Nate muttered.
"Don't go dying on me, Nate," Weiss teased as she headed out of the hallway.
"Keh! Right back at you," Nate shot back amusingly.
It was at that moment when Hugh and the others decided to exit Drayden's room and find Nate in the middle of his Xtransceiver conversation.
"You feel better?" Nate asked Hugh.
"Yeah," Hugh nodded. "So...what now?"
"We were just discussing that," Cheren said from his link.
"Professor Cheren!" Rosa addressed.
"It's good to see you kids all in one piece," Cheren said. "Weiss was kind enough to give us some info on what's to come."
"Their next stop is the Seaside Cave," Nate said. "After that, they're gonna go back to the Giant Chasm, let Kyurem get more energy, and then go on a wanton freezing spree all across Unova. So we're gonna intercept them at the Seaside Cave and hopefully stop this from getting anymore asinine."
"...Great, so no pressure. Got it," Rosa mumbled sarcastically.
"For now, let's head to Humilau City," Nate said. "It's the closest to both Seaside Cave and the Giant Chasm. What's the best way there?"
"From what I heard, the easiest way is to go through the Marine Tube at Undella," Bianca informed them.
"...On second thought let's just head straight to Seaside Cave," Nate reiterated, wanting nothing to do with Undella Town.
"...You'd still have to go through Undella Town," Bianca informed Nate. "Besides, the Marine Tube would be a better, discrete way to get to Humilau as opposed to just heading straight for there."
"Son of a bitch..." Nate grumbled. "...Fine..."
"We'll meet up with you guys at Humilau," Cheren informed them, taking the kids by surprise. "While I doubt you would need the extra help, it wouldn't hurt to have it. I am also curious about the new gym over there."
"New gym?" Rosa asked. "Oh right! Humilau established a gym there recently."
"Since Iccirus is blocked off at the moment, the Humilau gym would be your last gym to get all eight badges," Cheren explained. "I heard the gym leader there is quite strong; strong enough to be a qualifier for the Pokémon League."
"Really now," Nate said, somewhat intrigued. "Well, might as well kill two birds with one stone. If we fly to Undella first thing tomorrow, then we should be able to get to Humilau before noon."
"Alright then," Cheren nodded. "We'll meet up with you guys at Humilau tomorrow."
"Have a good night!" Bianca said to them.
The communication link cut off, leaving the kids to themselves, with plans to head to Humilau tomorrow.
"Well that's settled," Nate said. "I'm going back to sleep. I'm gonna need the energy for the migraine I'm gonna get stepping foot into that damn cesspool again."
Nate was obviously referring to Undella Town with a bitter memory of it as he walked off to his own room. Rosa and Yancy had similar thoughts, before heading to their own rooms to rest up for tomorrow.
"So, what're you gonna do?" Hugh asked Iris.
"Of course, go after Team Plasma!" Iris replied. "…is what I would like to do...but I'm gonna have to stay here and watch over Opelucid while Grampa recovers."
"Right," Hugh nodded. That did make sense. With Drayden out of commission, then Opelucid would need a surrogate leader to watch over them until the old man recovered. Not many others would be more suitable at the role than Iris.
"You're gonna have a long day tomorrow," Iris told Hugh. "You should go rest too."
"You do have a point," Hugh nodded. "Alright, good night Iris."
"G'night," Iris replied back as she headed downstairs, most likely to see what she could do as Drayden's temporary replacement.
Hugh saw Iris off, before heading back to his own room. Passing by Drayden's room, he took a moment to glance at the door. He glowered at the door, gripping his fists tightly.
"I'll be sure to get them back for what they did," Hugh promised, finding himself redetermined to bring justice upon Team Plasma. "For both Val and for you, Drayden."
First thing tomorrow morning, the quartet flew off back to Undella Town after being sent off by Iris' words of encouragement.
"You beat their asses, you hear me!? There's no way we're gonna let them do whatever they want!"
Rather invigorating, if not blunt.
Knowing the general path, it did not take long for them to reach the beach town of Undella. All four of their expressions instantly dampened upon setting foot on the beach, their latest experience here not being a fond one, to say the least. The atmosphere of the town, however, could not be more opposite to their own mood.
"Tch, the hell's this place so happy about?" Nate muttered under his breath.
"Heck if I knew," Rosa mumbled, glossing over the town, before noticing something. "Hey...didn't the Riches Mansion used to be over there?"
The others looked at where Rosa pointed, only to find nothing where the giant, imposing mansion once stood. In its place was a vacant construction site, with no traces of the mansion having been left whatsoever. The kids went over to the site with morbid curiosity to confirm that they were not dreaming.
"The hell happened here?" Hugh asked.
"That's what I wanna know..." Nate muttered, still staring at where the Riches' Mansion used to be with wide eyes.
"MR. NATE!"
The group turned around to see two familiar faces; the small Riches boy Draco with his smaller darumaka and corphish, and his father, Million, in a somewhat loose karategi. Both were wearing rather impoverished clothes, as opposed to the rather formal attire Draco had worn when they last saw the boy.
"Oh, it's you," Nate said, recognizing the boy. "Draco, right?"
"You're okay!" Draco cheered giddily as he ran up to Nate. "I'm so glad!"
"I wasn't gonna die that easily," Nate snickered as he patted the kid on the head.
"You did get shot by Father to protect us," Million retorted, stepping forward. "No normal person would have survived that."
"Well thank Arceus I'm not normal," Nate shot back jokingly.
"...We can't thank you kids enough for helping to uncover our family's crimes," Million said, bowing to them. "If it weren't for you, then perhaps they would have never been brought out to the public. You really opened the eyes of the people of Undella. I can't thank you all enough for that."
"Ah–You don't have to thank us," Rosa said, as she, Yancy and Hugh felt embarrassed by the praise.
"If anything, you two were more vital in ratting out that fat bastard than we were," Nate said as he knelt down to little Draco. "You really helped out by stealing the video evidence. Without it, well, I'm pretty sure no one could've convinced Undella Town about your grandfather's crimes. Glad you found your dad, by the way."
Draco could not help but feel giddy at Nate's praise, knowing that he helped in taking down his evil grandfather.
"So? What happened to the mansion?" Nate asked, pointing to vacant lot.
"I couldn't get over the fact that this mansion; our once-proud legacy, was built under deceit and corruption," Million shook his head. "I had our assets liquidated and destroyed the mansion. The money was sent to charities, along with city renovations."
"So where do you live now?" Yancy asked Million.
The man pointed to a small house nearby. Certainly nothing impressive, but suitable enough. Compared to the once-active mansion, however, it was as impressive as a tent made from leaves.
"We wanted to start over," Million responded. "Try and build the legacy of the Riches from the ground up; one that isn't stymied by corrupted greed."
"I see..." Nate muttered. The boy felt somewhat relieved, knowing that this man would do his best to redeem a name that plagued not only Nate, but so many others for Arceus knows how long. He felt a weight lifted off of him.
"So what brings you all back here so soon?" Million asked.
"We need to head to Humilau ASAP," Nate explained. "We heard that the Marine Tube was our fastest bet."
"The Marine Tube? Not a problem," Million replied.
The man led the group of four to a large, blue entrance situated between two houses that led to the underground. It was a wonder how none of them noticed such a rather striking entrance when they arrived here.
"Here you go," Million said. "I used the Marine Tube to get back into Undella Town without Father noticing. They didn't really care for it, so it made for a good way to get back into Undella."
"Alright," Nate nodded. "Thanks."
"Anything to help," Million said back. "I wish you all nothing but the best of luck."
"Please do come back to visit," Draco said, primarily towards Nate.
"Sure," Nate said back. "Don't go getting yourself into any more trouble."
The Marine Tube was nothing short of breathtaking. Known as the 'the walk-through aquarium', the Marine Tube was supposedly built last year to celebrate the alliance between Undella Town and Humilau City, under the orders of Zillion Riches. According to the guide that greeted them upon entering the tube, the Marine Tube is a transparent tube made of 9.8 inch glass built to withstand high water pressures and contact with huge Pokémon. The tunnel was made above ground and lowered into the water, according to a kind janitor. Crossing a six-mile-deep ocean trench, the Marine Tube is one of the many pinnacles of technology in the Unova region.
"Wow!" Yancy gushed at the gorgeous scenery the Marine Tube offered. "This is so beautiful!"
"I know right?" Rosa agreed, eyeing the ocean that surrounded them. "I can't believe such a stunning place existed here."
"Hmm..." Nate mumbled as he eyed the place. "...I suppose with enough money, you could make something like this."
Even though he did not want to admit it, there were a few good things that came about thanks to Zillion's wealth. Although the amount of 'good' things that were thanks to him could be counted on one hand.
Rosa decided to send out Ottavia to let her enjoy the view as well. The Water-type looked around, finding herself captivated by the sights of the Marine Tube just like her master. Deciding to entertain the thought, Hugh sent out Serperior, while Nate, on a whim, sent out Bo.
"-Ooh...-" Bo awed at the Marine Tube, before turning his attention back to Nate. "-Is there something the matter, Boss?-"
"Oh nothing really," Nate muttered. "We're headed to the next city. Most likely gonna challenge the gym there too."
"-A gym!?-" Bo gasped in anticipation. "-Please, let me battle in this one!-"
"Hmm...Well I never did use you in a gym fight yet after you evolved," Nate muttered. When Bo had evolved from his previous form of 'Nite', he was never used in the two gym battles where Bo was an option. The first was against Skyla, who was a Flying-type expert, so using Bo was out of the question. The second was against Drayden, where Luca was Nate's best answer to Dragon-types by virtue of typing, until Eve decided to become the premier Dragon counter. Bo never got the window of opportunity to display his strength.
"This is the eighth one..." Nate mumbled, before deciding to give Bo what he wants. "Alright then, you're on."
"-Alright!-" Bo roared with enthusiasm. "-I won't let you down, Boss!-"
"I'm sure you won't," Nate chuckled.
"Well in that case, I'm gonna use Ottavia for the gym battle!" Rosa declared.
"-Right, leave it to me!-" Ottavia nodded.
Hugh glanced to Serperior, who returned the glance. "Can I count on you?"
Serperior nodded in acknowledgement, not wishing to be one-upped by his fellow brethren. Rosa looked at the three Pokémon out, before giggling.
"Y'know, thinking about it," she said. "These three really did come a long way, huh."
Nate and Hugh glanced at Rosa questioningly, before glancing at the three starters. Indeed, they had come a long way ever since they first met six months ago. Back when they were merely a small tepig, oshawott and snivy respectively provided to them by Bianca. Now here they were, all having evolved to their final forms and on their way to obtain their final badge and to stop Team Plasma from destroying Unova.
"That reminds me...you guys were already with each other when we first met," Yancy said to the group as they walked down the Marine Tube. "How did you guys meet?"
"How did we meet? Huh..." Rosa mused. "Well, Hugh and I are childhood friends and lived in Aspertia City together. And we were students learning under Professor Cheren. After beating him in a gym battle, we were selected to receive the pokédex and a starter Pokémon."
"So...how did you guys meet Nate?" Yancy asked, glancing over to the boy in question.
"Right..." Hugh said. "Well...he kinda broke into the school to steal food. I think that's what it was."
"He did?" Yancy gasped.
"Hey, poor boys gotta eat too," Nate shrugged. "You think I had money to buy food?"
"I mean don't you now?" Yancy asked.
"Yancy, all the money in this wallet belonged to someone else," Nate said without an iota of guilt. "In fact, this wallet belongs to someone else."
"So...how did you end up getting roped into the pokédex quest?" Yancy asked.
"I got caught and was threatened to do it or else I'd get arrested," Nate replied flatly. "I'd rather not get arrested so I became their patsy. And then the rest they say, is history."
"I see..." Yancy said, fascinated at how the group originated before she first met Nate back at Virbank Complex.
"Yeah you deserved that," Rosa muttered, recalling just how exactly he ended up getting caught.
"You knocked him out cold because he fell on you and groped you, right?" Hugh recalled on the verge of breaking out in laughter.
"He WHAT?!" Yancy blurted.
"That was an accident you dumbass!" Nate growled back.
"Hmph!" Rosa huffed, bitterly remembering the particular moment when Nate had crashed into Rosa back at the school and inadvertently groped her in the process.
"Oh c'mon! You can't still be pissed about that!" Nate yelled. "It was an accident for Christ sake!"
"Make that two accidents," Hugh snickered, referring to a similar incident that ended up happening back at the Castelia City gym.
"TWO!?" Yancy gasped, her face blushing.
"You be quiet!" Nate snarled at Hugh, who was unapologetically cackling to himself. "Alright enough of this! Long story short, I got forced into doing this! End of story! Moving on!"
Nate angrily trudged forward, wishing to just reach Humilau City already. Yancy and Bo rushed up to him, with Rosa and Hugh following after; Rosa both embarrassed and irritated at remembering the two groping incidents, and Hugh internally chuckling, finding the whole thing hilarious.
"-What was he talking about, Boss?-" Bo asked Nate innocently.
"Don't worry about it," Nate grumbled. "It was an accident...nothing more."
Yancy puffed her cheeks, before glancing down to her own chest.
"Maybe..." Yancy mumbled to herself.
"Huh? What're you mumbling about?" Nate asked.
"Nothing," Yancy quickly stated, looking back up.
After much mayhem, the group exited the end of the Marine Tube and reached their destination; Humilau City. With its wide beaches, wood houses that floated in the waves resembling tiny islands, and tropical palm trees, Humilau City looked more extravagant as a beach resort than Undella Town did. The peaceful, festive atmosphere that the city gave out was rather infectious; you would not think that this city was the second closest city to the Giant Chasm, and that all Hell was threatening to break loose next door.
"HEEEY!"
The four looked up to see Cheren and Bianca, both near a large billboard of two frillishes, both opposite genders, with cut-out holes where the faces should be, obviously meant for couples.
"Glad you guys made it safely," Cheren said as the kids went up to them.
"WOW!" Bianca exclaimed as she eyed Bo, Ottavia and Serperior. "You guys really grew up!"
"-Ah, you're the lady who brought us to Aspertia City,-" Ottavia responded.
"I can't help but feel like it was yesterday when you three were just starting out as a small tepig, oshawott and snivy," Bianca reminisced. "Now look at you! You're all evolved up and looking really strong!"
"Right?" Rosa agreed. "And what better way to finish our gym badge quest than to have these guys win our final gym battle?"
"So? What do we do now?" Nate asked, getting straight to the point.
"Well, might as well check out the gym," Hugh suggested.
Cheren and Bianca had already found the gym beforehand, so the duo led the others to it. The gym in question resembled a giant waterpark of sorts, which was fitting considering the area.
"It...looks like a Water-type gym..." Nate noted.
"Well that's because it is," Cheren said matter-of-factly.
"Oh boy..." Nate muttered, glancing to Bo, who looked slightly pale at the gym.
"So what's the gym leader like?" Rosa asked Cheren curiously.
"Dunno," Bianca shrugged, surprising the four kids. "Humilau gym was a more recent gym that got established after Brycen retired the Iccirus Gym. So Cheren, Hilbert and I never went here."
"We're just as clueless as you are," Cheren admitted. "All we do know is that he is a Water-type expert and that he's on par with Drayden in terms of skill."
"Just as strong as Drayden..." Hugh muttered. A new gym leader that was just as strong as Drayden? Now that was something to look forward to. Drayden was indeed strong but was unfortunately gimped by Eve and her surprise advantage. Hugh was not so sure that the same could be said about this new gym leader, since Water is a type that is strong both offensively and defensively.
"You talkin 'bout me?"
Everyone was brought out of their conversation and glanced behind them to see a tall, half-naked man with wild deep blue hair wearing a skin-tight light blue swimsuit and equally light blue goggles and was notably drenched in seawater. Accompanying him was a rather formidable looking jellicent, which was male due to its body color and large mustache-like collar.
"Woah! We got a lot of challengers today, huh?" the man observed with a laidback grin.
"You're the gym leader?" Yancy asked.
"That's right," the man confirmed. "The name's Marlon. Sorry if you were waiting for me, yo. I was swimmin' with the Pokémon and it felt real good, so I kept goin' and goin'. Must've lost track of the time, so sorry 'bout that!"
'He might be as strong as Drayden,' Hugh thought as everyone took in the sight of the rather laidback man in front of them. 'But their personalities couldn't be more opposite of each other.'
"So, y'all here to challenge me?" Marlon asked.
"Ah no, it's only these three," Cheren remarked, gesturing to Nate, Rosa and Hugh.
"Alright, alright," Marlon said, examining the trio. "You guys happen to be that group of three who keep challenging the gyms together?"
"You've heard of us?" Rosa asked, confirming Marlon's question.
"Yep," Marlon nodded. "All the gym leaders in Unova know about you guys who keep challenging the gyms in Challenge Mode. That ain't somethin' normal trainers do."
"Huh...I...never would've guessed..." Rosa mumbled.
"Well I mean you kept at this shit since Virbank," Nate pointed out. "I'm sure the league would've noticed three newbies taking out the gym leaders at their best. Would've raised a few brows at least."
"I'm always game for a good challenge!" Marlon laughed. "I'll be more than willin' to accept your challenge!"
"Would you mind if we spectated?" Cheren asked.
"Nah, the more the merrier," Marlon replied. "Welp, I'll be waiting at the gym, 'K?"
Declaring the gym challenge official, Marlon walked past the group and back to the lab. As they passed by, Nate could not help but narrow his eyes at the jellicent that accompanied Marlon before they entered the gym.
"So...What're you gonna do?" Rosa asked Nate. "I know I said we were gonna do this with these three, but..."
While Ottavia could handle it, and Serperior obviously had the type advantage, Bo was the liability with his glaring weakness to Water-types. Even if he had moves to fend them off such as Wild Charge, that could only carry him so far before one good Water-type attack finishes the job.
Nate glanced over to the Fire-type in question. Bo was no fool; he was well aware the glaring disadvantage he faced with the gym. Making Bo fight Water-types would be nothing short of torture. And it was not like Nate was helpless against the type; Vire would prove to be much more effective and easier to deal with Marlon.
But then that would mean he would have to forfeit Bo's last chance at a gym battle. While it may sound silly and insignificant in the long run, it was something Bo was looking forward to. Bo wanted to prove himself in battle. And while that was not necessary to Nate; Bo wanted to prove it to himself.
Before Nate could make a response, someone's stomach decided to growl. The perpetrator of the stomach growl ended up being Yancy.
"Ahaha...sorry..." Yancy mumbled in embarrassment.
"That reminds me, we haven't eaten lunch yet," Rosa said. "I'm feeling pretty famished too."
"Alright then, a lunch break first, then the gym," Cheren nodded.
"Ooh, I know the pokécenter here serves some REALLY good seafood!" Bianca suggested in excitement.
"Sounds like a plan," Hugh agreed.
With a lunch plan set, the group made their attention to the pokécenter and headed there to rest and eat lunch. Except for Nate, who did not move from his spot.
"Nate?" Yancy asked.
"You guys go ahead," Nate replied without facing them. "We'll catch up."
"Eh?" Rosa asked. "...Well if you say so..."
It was nice to have their trust again. If this were a literal week ago, then it would have taken much more to convince Rosa to leave him be. As the others went to the pokécenter, Nate eyed Bo.
"-Boss, I...-" Bo started, feeling guilty for making Nate worry about him.
"No, don't worry about it," Nate shot him down. "I said you were gonna take the final gym, and I'm not going back on my word."
"-Huh?-" Bo asked. "-But...I'm a Fire-type. Vire would be so much better for this gym.-"
"And I made him fight a Ground-type," Nate pointed, referring to the time back at the Mistralton Gym where he had Vire take out Skyla's gliscor. "Making you guys fight against someone with an inherent advantage is something that isn't out of the blue."
"-But Vire had Ice Punch!-" Bo objected. "-I don't have anything like that!-"
"What? Now you aren't feeling confident in yourself?" Nate asked, raising a brow in amusement.
"-Ah–No I mean–!-" Bo stammered. "-...I just don't want to let you down again.-"
"You dumbass," Nate bluntly replied, earning a shocked look from Bo. "You never let me down. And you're not gonna let me down today."
"-Boss...-" Bo mumbled, taken aback by how much faith Nate has in him.
"There's no such thing as an unbeatable enemy," Nate said. "The odds are just stacked higher against us. There's always a way to win."
"-So...You have a plan, Boss?-" Bo asked.
"When do I not have a plan?" Nate asked back.
"-What about that time we fought that Fighting-type guy back at Twist Mountain?-"
"Aye, we don't talk about that, aight?"
"-But still...-" Bo said with uncertainty. "-What do you plan to do, Boss?-"
Nate rummaged through his bag and retrieved Brav's pokéball.
"I have a plan," Nate said as he sent out the eagle. "All it needs is the right conditions."
To be continued
AN: And that's that. Honestly not too much happened; the Shadow Triad made off with the DNA Splicers, Drayden's okay (if now out of commission for a while), and the team finds out Team Plasma's final plans and where they're headed to, and try to intercept them. Originally this was going to end at Marlon's gym battle, but I decided to save that for next chapter. Hopefully the chapter was just as good as the usual chapters, even if it was shorter and thus lacked as much content.
Nate: Luca (Lucario) / Bo (Emboar) / Vire (Electivire) / Brav (Braviary) / Deo (Keldeo) / Zoro (Zoroark)
Rosa: Eve (?) / Ottavia (Samurott) / Nina (Arcanine) / Mandi (Mandibuzz) / Gustav (Amoonguss) / Geno (Genesect)
Hugh: Flygon / Serperior / Magmortar / Carracosta / Heracross / Tornadus-Therian
Yancy: Audi (Audino) / Teddi (Ursaring) / Snor (Snorlax) / Toge (Togekiss)
Alright, I'll see y'all next time with Marlon's gym battle!