Chapter 10-Truths and Lies
"Well, I guess I'm going to have to start at the very beginning" Damon said slowly. "Jack and I…well there's some things we haven't told you, Vince. I'm assuming that since these guys are your friends, they can be trusted. Am I right?"
"Of course" Vincent replied quietly. "And I'm ready to hear anything you have to say"
"That's good. As you know, our mother was born in Celadon City. She lived there until she was twenty, and her parents were very strict so she led a sheltered life. Then, one day, she met a pokemon trainer who came from this island. They went out behind her parent's backs for a while and she fell madly in love with him. Then, the expected happened and she fell pregnant. Her father went mad and demanded that she get rid of the child, but she refused and left with this guy. They came here and lived here for two years. But towards the end of her pregnancy and when the baby was born, he became very violent and she got really scared of him. Finally she got fed up with it and after he threatened Jack, she took him and ran. Then she set up home just outside Fuchsia City"
"Damon" Vincent's face was pale, his voice low. "Jack's father is…that Clive, isn't it?"
"Yeah" Damon reached over and touched his younger brother's shoulder. "Yeah, it is. Anyway, just after she had settled in Fuchsia, she began another relationship. This one was with my father. It lasted about a year, but just after I was born he left her and disappeared completely. She was left with two young children and she was really upset. For two years she waited, hoping that he would come back, and finally he reappeared. But he refused to have anything to do with her, so she decided to take revenge. One night she got him drunk and seduced him. You were the result of that one night and she got her own back by refusing to allow him to have anything to do with you"
"Damon, tell me. Who is our father?"
"Take a guess" Damon said slowly. "Guys" he continued, glancing round at the others. "Anyone want to take a guess? It's someone well known"
"A gym leader?" Ash guessed. "It can't be Lance of the Elite Four, he's too young. And please don't tell us its Bruno"
"No, it's not Bruno. And you're right about the Lance bit. He's only my age. No our father is Koga, the Fuchsia City Gym leader"
A shocked silence followed this announcement. Vincent stared down at the floor for a moment or two, then looked at Damon again. "How did you find out?" he asked slowly. "How come you've never told me before?"
"I found out myself when mother died" Damon told him honestly. "When Jack and I were going through her belongings, we found a bunch of love letters from Koga to her and pictures of them together. I also found her diaries, which is where I got a lot of this information from"
"So what happened after mother had me" Vincent asked, curious now. "Did Koga ever see me?"
"Not to my knowledge, no" Damon shook his head. "He knows that he has two sons, but last time he saw me was when I was two years old. You weren't even born then. Anyway, after that mum had a series of short relationships, which would always, end up becoming violent. For some reason she was drawn to violent men. Finally, when Jack was nine, she married our stepfather. At first he seemed like a nice guy, and he treated us like his own children. But that was just an act and after a year he revealed his true self. Our stepfather was a violent sadist who took pleasure in beating Jack and I and doing things, which I'm not even going to mention because they are so sick. He didn't touch you, because mum and me protected you, and although he hurt me, I think he had more respect for me than Jack. Jack would cry when he got hit and say sorry for whatever he was supposed to have done. I just took it, never crying, never complaining. I took beatings for you too, when you got older and wasn't protected by mum so much"
He paused and his eyes took on a faraway look. "We lived that way for years" he continued finally. "For eight years we knew nothing else. Mother was too weak to stand up for us and he hurt us in private when he could anyway. I guess Vincent and me leant on each other those last two or three years. When he was thirteen, Jack and I had both had enough. Vince, you're going to hate us for this, but do you remember our stepfather's motorcycle?"
"Yeah, he used to take mum out on it a lot. I remember"
"Well, we cut the brake wires. Jack came up with the idea and I did it. I didn't expecting him to take mum out on it, and I guess I wasn't thinking straight. Jack wanted to get his own back, but I was just doing it to protect you. No one ever found out that we had anything to do with it and I got away with it. But the guilt's haunted me all these years…"
The rest of the group stared at Damon in horror, but Vincent just looked down at Sol-leks. Damon reached out and touched his arm again. "Vincent" he said, a hint of urgency in his voice. "Please say something. Even if it's just to tell me how much you hate me"
"I don't hate you Damon" Vincent told him slowly. "I could never hate you. I'm shocked, I can't believe that I never realised, but I understand why you did it. How does all this tie in with what Jack's up too?"
"You and I got our psychic powers from Koga" Damon said slowly. "For some reason, yours have always been a lot stronger than mine, but we both have them. Jack doesn't and he has always been jealous of both of us. I guess the fact that I could always stand up to our stepfather, when he couldn't, made him feel even weaker. He wants powers like ours, so just over two years ago he decided to find his dad. He did and he explained to his dad how he felt. Clive came up with a solution" he broke off and looked uncomfortable. "This was the time when Jack used to go away often and leave us together. You know, just before I turned into a drunken bully"
"It's alright Damon. Just forget about it. I have. So Jack and Clive came up with a plan to make Jack strong, right?"
"Right. Clive was a violent, abusive bully, but he honestly cares for his son. And when he learnt that Jack was unhappy, he tried to figure out a way to help him. And finally he came up with an idea. In the middle of Dark Wood, there's a gym. Not far from the gym is a shrine to the legendary Umbreon. It's said that you can't catch an Umbreon, if they want to be caught; they'll come to you. Umbreon is a Dark pokemon and it's also said to be evil. There was a strong rumour going around that if someone murders 10 pokemon trainers on the alter of the shrine; an Umbreon will come to you. Clive set up a gym here and began taking the trainers to the shrine and killing them. I knew what they were doing, but they said that if I told anyone they'd not only kill me, but you as well. I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut. But when you went, I realised that I had nothing to lose by speaking up. So I did and I wound up in here. And that's the full story"
"You said that Misty and James were going to be killed" Ash spoke slowly, his voice trembling. "Damon tell me. How long do we have to help them?"
"About three days. Until the next full moon anyway"
"Yeah, that's three days" Brock told them. "So when we get out of here, what's our plan of action? We do have one, right?"
Vincent and Damon glanced at each other, both looking worried. "I hate to break it to you" Damon said slowly. "But it'll take us days to get to the shrine from here. It's over those mountains," he continued pointing to a row of mountains several miles away. "Even if we walked day and night, we'll never make it. I'm sorry, but…"
"How did Jack and Clive get there then?" Jessie demanded. "Think Vincent, please help James"
"Meowth, please" the cat pokemon agreed. "He's a jerk, I know that. But he's still our friend"
"I know that. I do everything I can" Vincent promised. "Damon, you must know a way. Please think"
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking" Damon stood up, with some difficulty, and limped to the window. "I wonder," he said slowly, half to himself. "We need something to ride on. Then we could do it in half the time. Maybe you could take my Tauros, Vincent. I have a Ponyta, but we still need one more. I wonder if Jack keeps any around here?"
"Well, here's our chance to find out" Vincent said as the door began to open and two guards walked in. Quickly, Vincent grabbed one and slammed his head against the doorframe. Before the second guard could react, Damon had put one hand over his mouth and Sol-leks had bitten him hard in the groin. He guard tried to yell, then passed out from the pain.
"That must have been painful" Brock commented, looking at the fallen guard. "It was a good thing that Misty wasn't here to see that. We don't want to give her any ideas"
"That's true" Ash gave him a small smile. "I must say, she's only been gone a couple of hours and I'm already beginning to miss her"
"That's stupid" Gary began to say, but Vincent shot him a look and he shut up quickly. "I meant yeah, I agree," he said quickly. "I guess we were just beginning to get used to each other and it feels strange to be worrying about Misty and James. I mean I didn't even know who James was until a few days ago"
"Thanks Gary. I'm sorry for everything that's happened, all right. Do you think we could be friends again?"
"Sure" Gary shook his hand. "But I still say I'm a better pokemon trainer than you"
"Guys" Vincent interrupted their conversation and they all turned to look at him. While they had been talking, Damon and Vincent had both put on the guard's uniforms. "Let's save any arguing, friendly or otherwise, for when we get out of here, okay? I think that there's some rope in my rucksack. Ash, Brock and Jessie, we'll tie your hands together and lead you along. That should be enough to stop these stupid guards from suspecting anything. Keep your fingers crossed that Jack really has left or we're all in for it big time"
"Alright little brother, don't panic. I'm here and I'm not about to let Jack get one over on me," Damon reminded him as he tied Ash's hands behind his back. "That's not to tight, is it kid?" he asked. Ash shook his head. "Fine then" he said. "Come on guys. Lets go help your friends. Before…before it's too late"
"Fine" Vincent took a deep breath and called Sol-leks back into his pokeball. "Thanks Damon, I feel a lot less confused now that I know the truth. At least now we know what we're dealing with"
"Personally" Brock whispered to Ash as Gary and Damon led them from the room. "I don't trust that guy one bit"
"Quiet" Ash whispered back. "They'll hear you. I don't either, but he is Vincent's brother and if he can help us get Misty and James back, then that's all I care about"
"You're worried about James?" Brock asked. "That's new"
"I don't trust those two either really. But I guess they can be all right when they're not trying to steal Pikachu or something. Besides, it isn't really their fault they got mixed up in all this"
Vincent turned and put a finger to his lips, silently telling them to be quiet. "Guards" he hissed. "This is the hard part. Just act like prisoners and let Damon and I do the talking"
"Halt!" the two guards called as they stepped through a door into a long hallway. "Where are you taking those prisoners? And where are the other two?"
"Just before he left, Master Jack told us to take these three to a cell at the end of this hallway" Damon said quickly. "He wanted his two brothers on their own. They're still in there if you want to go and see them"
"We weren't informed of these orders," the first guard said. "We are not happy about that. When Master Jack returns, we shall tell him that we are not happy. Sorry to have bothered you, but we can't be too careful"
"No" Vincent agreed. "We can never be too careful" Jessie tried to pull away and he tugged on the rope to pull her back. "We shall be reporting for duty as soon as we have these three put safely away"
"Yes sir" Damon saluted. The guards nodded and went back to their positions, allowing the six friends to walk outside unnoticed. They had escaped.
