With a sense of dread and curiosity, Louis and his Pokémon moved closer toward the door.
"Let's just hope whoever is in there doesn't attack anyone," said Louis.
"Be careful," warned Suzuki.
Louis gently pushed the door wide open. One by one, Louis and the rest of the team, excluding Suzuki, stepped through the portal. Aside from the glow emitting from the moon through the doorway, not a shred of light was present inside.
"Hmm, it's so dark in here," muttered Staraptor.
Almost immediately, Braixen retrieved the twig in her tail, which created a small flame, giving enough light for them to see.
"Maybe this'll help," she said
Louis took in a deep breath, but then immediately plugged his nose, gagging.
"You can tell how long this has been like this," said Louis. "It smells like rotten mould in here."
Putting these issues aside, the group made their way toward the locker room. Along their travels, each of them took one last look of the battlefield before the gym is taken down.
"This place does bring back some memories," said Marowak.
"You could say that again," replied Louis.
"This place does bring back some memories."
Louis raised an eyebrow and turned his head to Incineroar.
"Did he just..." paused Louis.
"He did," answered Incineroar.
Their travels were soon interrupted by a sudden creaking sound coming from the locker room.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Staraptor. "What was that?!"
"I have no idea," answered Lucario. "But something tells me that we need to move fast."
Wasting no more time, the party quickly found their way to the gym's locker room, with the sound of creaking metal emitting from behind the door. Proceeding with caution, Louis slowly pushed the door open and saw that the sound was coming from a locker that had been broken open.
Louis' eyes widened.
"Oh no," he whispered.
"Isn't that...your locker?" questioned Braixen.
Without answering, Louis quickly moved toward the broken locker. He peered inside, only to see that the locker...was empty.
"...you have gotta be kidding me," groaned Louis.
Sensing the discomfort and frustration depicted on the young adult, the Pokémon slowly moved closer.
"What's wrong?" asked Marowak.
"What's wrong?!" exclaimed Louis. "The trophy's gone!"
"What?!" growled Incineroar.
"You can't be serious," grumbled Staraptor.
With that, the party stepped out of the locker room, annoyed at their failed attempt to retrieve their trophy.
"I can't believe it," moaned Marowak. "All this effort for nothing!"
The gang prepared to exit the structure, but all of a sudden, Lucario sensed something inside the arena.
"Hey, hold on!" called Lucario.
Everyone else froze in place and turned their attention to the aura Pokémon.
"What is it?" questioned Louis.
"Suzuki was right," answered Lucario. "Something is here, and it's coming this way."
The party ran toward Lucario. The aura Pokémon pointed toward a shadowy figure stepping toward the party. But the shape of the shadow wasn't human.
'It looks like a Pokémon,' thought Louis.
The shadow moved closer to the party. Then, a combination of the light shining outside and the flame emitting from Braixen's twig made the shadow more visible.
The figure was, in fact, a Pokémon.
It was mostly dark blue, with a yellow chest and lower face and red eyes with white pupils.
It also had a light-blue four-pointed star on each thigh, bubble-like bumps on its elbows and knees and fin extensions on the centre and sides of its head. Its mouth appeared to be hidden behind a large, pink, scarf-like object that extended outward, behind its head.
Louis' heart raced at the sight of the figure.
"Whoa..." he muttered.
The Pokémon took its last steps toward the gang and folded its arms.
"Hey," it said.
The group froze.
"A...a Greninja?" blurted Braixen.
"Should've known," said Incineroar. "Greninjas are always very stealthy."
"I know that," replied Braixen. "But what's it doing here?"
The Greninja unfolded its arms and fixed up the scarf around its face.
"Of all the places I would get to see you guys..." it said. "Never thought it would be here."
"See us?" said Louis. "What are you talking abo-"
Louis immediately froze as a small reflection shone on the Greninja's chest. Around its neck...was a pendant.
Louis' jaw dropped.
"No way..." he gasped.
"Hm? What is it?" asked Marowak.
The young adult, surprised, struggled to answer.
"It's..." he paused. "...it's Azul!"
Most of the party gasped at the revelation. Louis drew their attention to the pendant hanging from the Pokémon's neck, where they immediately recalled the moment where Louis gave the pendant to Azul before departing for Kanto years ago.
"Azul?!" The Pokémon simultaneously exclaimed.
The Greninja was their long-awaited teammate, Azul. None of the other party members could believe their eyes.
"I can't believe it," said Braixen, with a smile. "You're back."
"It's been so long, man," added Incineroar.
"...I know," Azul responded.
Louis watched on as his Pokémon happily reunited with Azul. However, the young adult felt uncomfortable and shifted on the spot.
Lucario could sense Louis' mixture of feelings.
"Louis...aren't you gonna say something?" he offered.
Azul and the young adult locked eyes, in an almost uncomfortable silence, before Louis finally spoke.
"Azul..." he paused. "...how have you been?"
"Fine..." answered Azul.
Staraptor remained attentive of the two individuals, noticing their hesitation. Lucario, once again, sensed the unease in the human and Pokémon.
"Um...are you guys alright?" inquired Staraptor.
"Yeah, we're fine," answered Azul.
"Yeah, don't worry about it," added Louis.
The frog-ninja gently brushed past the group of Pokémon.
"I was just about to head out anyway," he said.
"Already?" blurted Braixen.
"Yeah. I only came here to have one last look at this place before it gets torn down."
"...oh, you know that?" questioned Louis.
"Only today," answered Azul.
Then, the frog Pokémon remembered that there was another reason he came to the old gym.
"Oh, I almost forgot," he said.
The frog-ninja brought up his hand and quickly flicked it to the side, causing an object to mysteriously appear in his hand.
"Were you guys looking for this?" the Pokémon asked.
The gang focused on the object in Azul's grasp. They immediately recognised the shape. It was the statue they were looking for in the first place.
"Our...our trophy!" exclaimed Marowak.
A combination of surprise and shock flowed through Louis and the other creatures.
'So that's why the locker was empty,' thought Staraptor.
"How did he get that?" muttered Louis.
"Why did you take it?!" growled Marowak.
After asking the question, Azul closed his eyes and lowered his head. Almost as if he was...ashamed of something.
"I didn't think you guys would actually come here to grab it as well," said Azul. "It belongs to you, so...you guys can have it."
The group became surprised at Azul's response. They each turned to one another before returning their attention to their long-lost friend.
"But...you're a part of the team too," Braixen pointed out.
"Yeah, so?" Azul responded.
"So, it's as much your trophy as it is ours."
This time, Azul didn't respond. He simply took small steps toward the human and handed the trophy to him.
"Here," said Azul.
Louis slowly retrieved the trophy from Azul's grasp, unsure of why the Pokénon was behaving in this way. Then, Azul turned around and walked toward the exit. From behind, the party noticed Azul perform a few hand gestures before a spontaneous cloud of pale smoke appeared, where Azul suddenly disappeared.
"Whoa..." blurted Louis.
The human and his Pokémon just stood there in the centre of the rotting arena. It was hard for them to process the current events.
"Azul..." paused Braixen.
"That's not like him at all," said Lucario.
Outside, Suzuki worried for his friend's safety. Then, he heard a strange sound and jumped in startled shock. He peered through the door from the side. Thankfully, it was just Louis and his Pokémon slowly exiting the building.
"Thank goodness," he muttered.
Team Venus stepped out into the moonlight, breathing in fresh air.
"So, did you find it?" asked Suzuki.
"Y-yeah..." stuttered Louis.
Suzuki noticed his friend's strange behaviour.
"Hey, is something wrong?" he asked.
Louis hesitated to answer.
"...it's nothing," he answered.
Huh. Azul is back. That's good. But I'm not sure why he was...a bit distant. *shrugs*
Anyway, thanks for reading. Is there something you enjoyed? Can you guess what happens next? Or...what do you hope to see in future chapters? If so, go ahead and leave a review explaining any of these reasons. (Please don't leave hurtful reviews)
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