Ch.39

Not Forgotten

Pokemon is the property of its respective owners

"Zangoose, you take care of him okay?" Nurse Joy shouted to her aid from the automatic doors causing the cat ferret pokemon to blush and wave back to her mentor timidly as she jogged to catch up to her first patient and walked alongside him while keeping her head down as Dmitri continued to train his new arm by clenching and unclenching his fist.

"(It's so flipping weird knowing that Jet and Maya pretty much forced themselves into our little group until the situation they have with Delia is fixed,)" Maris mused out loud causing Delia to glance at Maris with a long, curious glance while Lopunny put her paws on her hips and narrowed her eyes at the martial arts pokemon causing Maris to fold her arms and stoically stare back at her causing the group to take a pause in their walk.

"Lopunny, calm down; she wasn't intending to insult me or my parents and you'd be destroyed in an instant if you tried to fight her," Delia reasoned with the bunny pokemon causing Lopunny to let out an angered huff, looked Maris up and down, before nodding and glancing off to the side with an indignant look on her face.

"Guys listen…Luka and I are going to meet up with Yoko's relatives in Veilstone so I can try to make amends with her family so we'll meet up with you guys later," Catherine informed her two friends causing Delia and Dmitri's eyes to go wide at her statement and for Delia to even place a concerned hand on her shoulder.

"Catherine, they're going to tear you apart so I don't think it would be smart to go talk to them," Delia advised her friend causing Luka to fold her arms and stare at her girlfriend with her head cocked to the side as if to say "I told you so", but Catherine sighed softly and gently brushed off the dragon tamer's hand.

"I know they will, but I think they suffered long enough without having a face to Yoko's killer," Catherine replied solemnly causing Luka, who had maintained her cool composure through the exchange, to widen her eyes at the word "killer" and promptly grabbed the former heiress's shoulders and spun her around so they were staring at each other eye-to-eye.

"(You are not a killer; you are not a murderer. You share partial blame for it, but her death, along with Rocky and Leaf's death, falls squarely on my shoulders since I was the strongest pokemon on her team and I couldn't do anything to prevent their deaths,)" Luka stated firmly with a low, somber tone as she let a few stray tears fall from her eyes and onto the pavement before blinking them away and staring at Catherine intensely, but Maris scoffed rudely at what the aura pokemon said causing Luka to glare at her and gently push Catherine out of the way.

"(Something on your mind…sis?)" Luka asked with barely restrained fury as she let her arms rest at her sides, but everyone could tell that they were ready to strike at a moment's notice causing Dmitri to move to get in between them, but Zangoose, with a surprising amount of strength, managed to hold him back using her claws.

"(Yeah, something is; saying Catherine isn't a murder or a killer is wrong. She caused Yoko unfathomable levels of mental and emotional pain which led her to take her own life; I forgive her for what she did, but the fact still stands that she's just as guilty for her death if she had killed Yoko herself,)" Maris replied passionately with calm resolve as she too let her arms rest at her sides, ready to attack at any given moment, as Luka glared hatefully at Maris causing her dark blue aura to flare up and take on a shade of black and furiously rounded on Maris causing the martial arts pokemon to step toward her as well.

"(That's not true; Catherine does share partial blame, but she didn't kill Yoko; she was just a cause leading to a tragic end,)" Luka replied in an icy cold tone hding a dormant rage aching to be let out and once again Dmitri attempted to be the peacemaker, but Zangoose held him back causing Dmitri to seethe angrily, but nevertheless reluctantly waited to see how this exchange would go.

"(That's a lie Luka; Yoko went through extreme levels of guilt and anguish because Catherine failed to stop her previous team from killing your first teammates and hurting you and because she couldn't deal with the pain Catherine's actions caused, she took her own life. That alone proves that Catherine is indeed a killer even if she didn't directly take Yoko's life herself,)" Maris shot right back at the jackal pokemon as her magenta aura fired up and took on a bright, fiery shade and stoically stared at Luka, waiting for her response while her arms were still at rest.

"(You're saying that everyone who bullied someone who took their own life is a murderer? That's a flawed train of thought and if we follow that, then basically every person on this planet would be a murderer,)" Luka retorted with equal vigor as she took a step closer to Maris which in turn caused Maris to step toward her so close that their respective auras clashed with one another in a haze of volatile sparks and a powerful wave of warm energy that felt like being near an open flame itself.

"(Don't you see sis? That's the kind of thinking that nearly caused me to kill Catherine and walk astray from my path for a long time before she helped me find it again,)" Luka said to Maris in a calm, yet sad tone as she saw a part of herself right in front of her and she yearned to correct it before it got out of hand.

"(Maris, say that Dmitri ended up taking his own life because of his father's death. By your train of thought-)"

"(Luka…you are walking on thin ice here and I suggest you turn back before you go under,)" Maris warned Luka in a harsh, vicious whisper that screamed "Push me and I'll make you regret it", but having gotten this far, Luka wasn't about to back down.

"(By your train of thought, the people who bullied him would be guilty of murder and you would deliver "justice" onto them even though they didn't kill him,)" Luka continued on solemnly with a bit of a sad tone to her voice, but the unshakable resolve in her tone still remained.

"(So what, that's what scum who drive people to that low point deserve. They didn't even consider how their actions might have affected others and what's cruel about it all is that some don't even care if the victim does carry it out, hell, they might do some mockery of them afterward just to rub it in,)" Maris passionately defended her position causing Luka to narrow her glowing blue eyes harshly at her friend and resisted the urge to let out tears that were near to being let out.

"(If people like that had done that against Delia or Dmitri, I would have hunted them all down to the ends of the earth and sent them to the Reverse World, where they belong!)" Maris shouted vehemently as her magenta aura violently expanded in tune with her shout causing those around the two to step back in awe and fear, but Maris and Luka promptly calmed down when they heard Catherine crying with her face buried in her hands.

"Maris, don't you see, you're acting no better than Luka was when she sought revenge against me! Just as Luka nearly failed Yoko, you would have brought great shame onto Dmitri if you tried getting revenge!" Catherine shrieked at the martial arts pokemon with red, teary eyes and upon processing this Maris, in the heat of the moment, aggressively rounded on the former heiress and not only did Luka forcibly body block her, Catherine's entire team popped out of their pokeballs and formed a defensive wall in front of their trainer.

Haxorus, Druddigon, Hydreigon, and Dragonite also emerged onto the scene as Haxorus and Hydreigon escorted Maris away from the scene while Druddigon and Dragonite flanked them just in case Maris broke free.

"Luka, Catherine…thank you. My father's death is still something I haven't fully come to terms with and for so long, I held Lance responsible for his death, but after hearing what you guys said, it really opened my eyes. My father's death was tragic, but now I realize it wasn't Lance's fault," Dmitri gratefully said to his two friends who smiled a bit despite the tense atmosphere and nodded in turn, but everyone turned their heads when Maris somehow broke free and was angrily stomping toward her boyfriend.

"(Are you fucking serious Dmitri? How can you not blame him for your father's death? Not only did her continually deny having a school opened up in his region, he caused your dad stress at home and forced him to take continuous trips over to the Indigo Plateau in order to try to convince him! Ugh…I can't even look at you right now,)" Maris spat disdainfully at the battle ace causing Dmitri's eyes to widen briefly before he looked down at the ground with his hands in his pockets before sighing and walking away.

Delia handed Haxorus's pokeball to him when he passed her causing him to give a curt nod of thanks and continued walking down the road while Delia glared at the martial arts pokemon with white hot rage as Maris, upon realizing what she said in a moment of blind rage, put a paw to her forehead and shook her head sadly. She began jogging to catch up to him, but was blocked by Hydreigon and Dragonite who grabbed her arms and led her to Delia who put her hands on her hips and raised a brow expectantly causing Maris to hang her head down in shame.

"Catherine, Luka you guys go on ahead to meet up with Yoko's relatives; the idiot and I will go back to Hearthome and talk in the park to sort things out," Delia stated calmly, but shot Maris a glower upon saying idiot causing Maris to nod and put her paws on the back of her head causing Catherine to stare at Maris for a bit before waving goodbye to the dragon tamer and heading down the road with her team.

Once they were out of sight, Dragonite and Hydreigon went back into their pokeballs, but the brutal pokemon lightly thwacked Maris over the head before he did so causing Maris to grunt in pain, but punched herself in the skull full force as if Hydreigon hadn't hit her hard enough and Delia calmly, but firmly put her hand over Maris's paw to prevent her from hitting herself.

"C'mon you meathead, let's take a walk."

Meanwhile

Dmitri came to a stop at a tree where he sat lay against it with his legs pulled close to his chest and his face resting on his knees where he took deep, slow breathes in order to calm himself and sensing his inaction, Haxorus, Kiera, and Sparkplug took that moment to emerge from their pokeballs. Zangoose in the meantime placed a reassuring claw on his leg and simply watched her new teammates and the mysterious, unknown pokemon before her converse.

"(Not that I don't like you, but why are you here exactly?)" Sparkplug questioned the dragon type curiously which was something Kiera agreed with as she studied the shorter dragon while maintaining a relaxed posture.

"(You guys care about Dmitri and you want to cheer him up, but I've known him and Maris far longer than you guys have so I know what this issue is about which will help me put at him at ease more effectively than if you guys tried to do the same thing,)" Haxorus answered bluntly causing Kiera to nod in respect at that answer while Sparkplug widened her eyes at the response, clearly taken aback from the terse, yet true evaluation, and growled lowly before stepping aside.

Sighing, Haxorus slowly approached the distraught battle ace and sat down next to him and tenderly put a claw on his shoulder while Sparkplug and Kiera sat beside their trainer, ready to help if they were needed.

"(Dmitri, your father is a great man and you made him proud today by letting go of your misplaced hate towards Lance,)" the axe jaw pokemon consoled his human companion causing Dmitri to nod silently without lifting up his head causing Haxorus to let out a soft breath and pat him on the head.

"(Maris…she's a damn good strategist in battle and fights with a savage, yet refined style, but she needs to grow up. I don't mean to offend you Dmitri, but Luka is right; if we think like her, we might as well be wiping out anyone who so much as playfully teases another person,)" Haxorus continued coolly and took his claw off of Dmitri's head, expecting the battle ace to say something in retort, but the former champion's son simply lifted his head and stared at the dragon with heavy, red eyes.

"It's okay, I know what you mean," Dmitri replied quietly causing Haxorus to reach behind the battle ace's head and gently pull his forehead into his own causing the human to place a hand on Haxorus's shoulder and close his eyes.

"Haxorus…do you hate Maris?" Dmitri asked of the mighty dragon causing Haxorus to gently push Dmitri away and rub the back of his head nervously, carefully choosing what he was going to say, before shaking his head.

"(I never hated her…I was just jealous that she got to be with an awesome guy and I didn't,)" Haxorus sheepishly admitted causing Dmitri to raise a brow at his long time friend's revelation, but accepted it and moved his hand toward Haxorus, but the dragon shook his head and gently pushed Dmitri's hand back.

"(I appreciate the gesture Dmitri, but we're here to help you get better, not make me feel better. Look, I've been over it and for now Hydreigon and I are gradually mending our past relationship. I hope we get to be mates, but I'll take it slow,)" Haxorus assured his human companion causing Dmitri to nod slowly in return, still clearly distraught over what Maris had said, causing Kiera to rest her head on his leg and Sparkplug to cuddle up beside him causing the battle ace to let out a brief grin before going back to his sad look.

"(Maris has gotten angry at you before, we all get angry at our comrades sometimes, but this is the first time she's actually…disgusted with your morality and this will undoubtedly take more than just a few days to fix. Until you and Maris make up, I'll be a temporary member of your team,)" Haxorus said firmly with a soft, steeled resolve causing Kiera, Sparkplug, and Zangoose to widen their eyes in shock and look at each other with incredulous looks.

Knowing firsthand how powerful Delia's dragons are, Sparkplug's lips curled into a brief, competitive grin before changing to a blank look while Zangoose, whom Dmitri assured that she didn't have to participate in any battles or even sparring if she so chose, perked her ears up and cocked her head, sending a curious look at the foreign pokemon in front of her before looking away. Kiera, if she wasn't focused on comforting her trainer, would have stomped to her feet and challenged the dragon to a battle here and now.

She had nothing against him, she in fact greatly appreciated the advice and consolation the dragon was giving to her trainer, but to simply force themselves onto her team without seeing his prowess in battle? She wouldn't stand for that until she got a proper evaluation of his skill, but suppressed the urge for now in order to deal with the more important matter of comforting her shaken friend.

"(Haxorus…um…thanks for your help,)" Sparkplug sheepishly got out through clenched teeth while having her face briefly flash a tinge of red before it subsided causing the dragon type to nod and lay down on the grass next to Dmitri.

"(No problem; Dmitri is my family too after all.)"

Meanwhile

Catherine stared at the house in front of her with a reluctant gaze, as if she didn't deserve to be in its presence, and felt her feet go cold whenever she felt the urge to approach the front door. She could already see it now; the hateful voices calling for her blood and the hands reaching for her in order to beat her to an unrecognizable pulp and she accepted that if that's what Yoko's family wanted to deliver to her.

"(Catherine, you know we got your back,)" Luka reassured her girlfriend causing the former heiress to turn her head and saw her team standing behind her ready to defend her if necessary which she thought would almost be a complete certainty and even Kricketune, despite being the weakest member of her team, stood proudly with his teammates.

Giving a grateful grin, Catherine nodded and with renewed resolve, she approached the front door of the house which seemed so far away just moments ago and knocked on the door, patiently waiting for one of Yoko's relatives to show up. Eventually, she heard the door being unlocked causing Catherine to tense her muscles as the door briefly opened a crack and saw a wrinkly, old woman staring back at her.

"If you're looking to take self-defense classes, then you're out of luck. We stopped offering teachings a long time ago," the old woman snapped at the young girl causing Catherine, unperturbed by the woman's harsh tone, cleared her throat of any phlegm and politely addressed her.

"No ma'am, I'm not seeking to participate in any martial art classes; are you related to a pokemon trainer named Yoko?" Catherine asked calmly despite the urge to ask this in the shyest tone possible and kept her cool when the woman closed the door and undid the locks before opening it up again and giving the young girl a wary, level gaze.

"I was her grandmother until her unfortunate passing; why, what do you know of her?" Yoko's grandmother demanded of the young girl causing Catherine to briefly wince at the blunt tone, but returned to a collected composure just as more of Yoko's relatives joined them outside.

"(Oh shit,)" Floatzel whispered concernedly as all of the other relatives that had come outside all had a full set of pokeballs strapped to their belts and Luka gritted her teeth worriedly and tensed up her muscles, not wanting to face off against yet another army of pokemon without Delia and Dmitri's team for backup.

"Do…do you know why she took her own life?" Catherine inquired reluctantly, not wanting to make Yoko's relatives mad in anyway, and the grandmother shook her head and folded her arms while narrowing her eyes at the former heiress.

"Sadly, we don't. Are you here to tell us why?" the matriarch questioned the young girl causing Catherine to briefly bow her head and suck in a big breathe and let it back out before speaking to the whole family.

"My name is Catherine Wayne and a few years back, I challenged Yoko to a battle and I beat her. I said some…unpleasant things to her and then my team attacked hers and unfortunately, two members of Yoko's team were killed. Because of that, Yoko took her own life, feeling responsible for not saving her pokemon from my former team's wrath. I know nothing can ever change what happened, but I just want to let you guys know that I'm sorry and I'm trying to make up for what I did…or rather what I didn't do to prevent such a thing from happening," the former heiress informed the family, feeling a great weight being lifted off of her chest and in that brief moment, Catherine felt at peace, but waited to see how Yoko's family would react.

She wouldn't have to wait long as a toned, nineteen year old boy pushed his way through the crowd and unleashed his team consisting of a Blaziken, Infernape, Gallade, Medicham, Heracross, and Breloom causing Luka, Floatzel, Graveler, and Kricketune to step in front of Catherine protectively.

"So what, running people out of business, stealing all their money, and giving stuff to shady business partners that hurt innocent people aren't good enough for you? You have to torment my little sister to the point where she kills herself?" the young man roared at Catherine in a mixture of rage, but she also detected a hint of sadness in it causing the former heiress to sigh and solemnly shake her head.

Looking to Luka, the aura pokemon nodded and stepped forward intently and came to a stop a few feet away from the man and his team.

"(I can assure you that the Wayne's no longer partake in such things and have been running a legitimate business for quite some time now and as Catherine stated, she's sorry for what she did and is doing her best to make up for it,)" Luka stated firmly, but maintained her calm tone causing the young man to growl and fold his arms while giving the aura pokemon a wary gaze.

"Well, sorry isn't going to bring my little sister back to life and it doesn't matter how much she tries to atone, she will never be forgiven by us for what she did and will be forever hated by us for taking the life a sweet, young girl," the young man retorted angrily causing Catherine's head to hang down in shame while Luka scanned the family members of her former trainer and sensed, to her disgust, but not surprise, that they all shared the same sentiment.

"(Yoko would not want that; she would want you guys to at least accept what she did and treat her respectfully,)" Luka reasoned with the young man causing his eyes to go as wide as saucers before his pupils became narrow slits as Catherine, despite not being able to sense any energy, could feel the intense level of rage he was feeling wash over Luka.

"WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT WHAT SHE WANTED!?" the young man downright screamed at Luka at the top of his lungs and managing to keep calm despite the feeling to wince, she was about to respond, but was on the receiving end of fast, sharp kick to the side of her head that caused her to hit the ground face first leaving small cracks on the concrete.

"(Ow,)" Luka grumbled as she rubbed the spot where she got kicked and pulled herself up to her feet and saw that the boy's Blaziken was sending her a death glare which she responded with an icy, cold look that could freeze a person in place.

"(You should watch what you say; you speak of things you know nothing about,)" Blaziken advised Luka in a tone that imitated a wise mentor, but Catherine and her team could plainly see through it as an arrogant youth touting themselves as a master.

"(I know-)"

"(You have five seconds to leave; if you and the murderer are still here after that, we'll beat you all to a bloody pulp,)" Blaziken warned Luka in a calm, cool tone as all of his teammates cracked their knuckles in eager anticipation of the bloodbath to come and even Luka was unnerved by the way he said something so horrible so calmly.

"(I lost-)"

"(What would you know of loss, Lucario? The only thing you know of loss is losing your expensive tiara and a dress that cost billions of hard working people's money,)" Blaziken interrupted her scathingly causing Luka's eyes to go wide before her dark blue aura flared up, but this time as it powered up it sounded like a tortured scream and her sclera, the white membrane of her eyeball, turned a demonic, vicious shade of black all while she kept a collected posture.

"Don't talk to her like that! Luka lost Yoko, along with a Geodude and a Turtwig that she considered to be siblings to her!" Catherine yelled at the fire avian pokemon as she rushed in front of Luka protectively, shielding her from further insults, all while Luka maintained the same stoic face as her dark blue aura began taking up a shade of a cruel, sinister black.

"That Lucario of yours will get no sympathy from us! She's a coward by allying herself with the likes of you, a Wayne, and tarnished Yoko's reputation and betrayed the spirits of her dead comrades!" the young man shouted right back at her causing Catherine, in a heat of blind rage, to stomp toward him intently, but Luka wrapped her arms around her waist and held her back.

"As Mako has stated, you will receive no forgiveness and will be forever hated by our family. Just run away Wayne and take the traitor and your second-rate team with you," the grandmother of Yoko suggested as she and her other family member's had their hands around one of their pokeballs, seriously considering releasing them onto the heavily outnumbered girl and wisely, Catherine nodded as she began backing up, but Luka scooped her up and her teammates up in her arms before sprinting away with them, appearing like a blur.

Coming to a stop near a clearing, Luka gently set them down and paced back and forth as her breathing slowly deteriorated into heavy, gruff spurts of air. Luka, finally managing to process what happened, collapsed to her knees and curled herself up into a ball while firmly placing her paws over her head as her erratic breathing continued while Catherine lay down next to her and hugged her tightly. Luka immediately returned the hug and buried her face into Catherine's chest as Luka's crying became a mixture of screaming in rage and moans of agony all while Floatzel, Graveler, and Kricketune hugged her in response in an attempt to calm her down, but their efforts felt like they were for naught.

Catherine, seeing her girlfriend like this, couldn't help but let tears stream down her face and nuzzled Luka's head with her face all while her lips quivered violently which was the only thing preventing her from bawling along with her.

"(It's okay Luka, you can cry as long as you want to,)" Floatzel assured her despite knowing that she couldn't hear him over her cries and Graveler soothingly rubbed Luka's back with two of his hands while Kricketune let out a soft, soothing melody from his mouth akin to what a parent would sing to a distraught child.

Luka's cries did not cease and only got louder as time went on and eventually, everyone shared in her anguish.