The Champions

Part 5

Guilt and Conviction

I sat back in front of the television, tall glass of whisky in my hand. Soulfire was above the kitchen table, glowing faintly and casting the entire room in pale, cold light. The UNN special was set to begin, and I knew we would be receiving visitors before it was over.

I kicked back, my recliner's stool flipping out as I leaned back. The screen went dark, ominous music kicking in. I lifted my remote, flipping on the surround sound and cranking the volume.

'Two years ago, they saved the region from true tyranny. They stopped Ghetsis, stopped the second Plasma Crisis, but so much of their war is shrouded in mystery. So much has been a secret, until now. Join us tonight as we unravel the story behind The Champions.'

I smirked. This was gonna be good.

'Miss Eliza Mayweather was the simplest of the team.'

Liza's face flashed up on the screen. It morphed, shifting to highlights of her Hoenn League Gym matches.

'She was a young girl, joining Unova's League after a disappointing loss in her home region of Hoenn.'

I appeared on the screen, sitting in my study with a drink. My expression was cold and frozen. "Eliza Mayweather was perhaps the greatest hero out of the six. She was trapped in a foreign country, with enemies at every turn. Through it all, she held onto hope that she would see her home again…" my voice trailed off and I saw the pain and hurt on my face. "Hope that I tried to give her."

Miss Hall leaned forward. "What happened, Mr. Rykker?"

I hung my head and all of Unova got to see the pain. "She died."

The screen cut back to Eliza, back to a picture of her smiling with her sylveon. She looked so young.

'Miss Mayweather joined The Champions right at the beginning, when a chance encounter at Mistralton International Airport brought her into contact with former League Champion Jason Rykker…

Elesa's perky smile appeared on the screen. Her hair was up in some weird style that involved hoops and her stunning dress cut a lithe figure.

I cracked a grin. "Always the show off," I said. "Could never resist it, could you?"

"He was always a bit grim, but the war really took a toll on him. Jason was always more at home with his ghosts. After Opelucid was hit, after Sherys' death… I think he lost himself a bit. He let the ghosts take control… it was scary."

"You didn't see Jason Rykker until the battle at the Nimbasa railyards, correct?"

Elesa nodded. "I'd released my pokemon and stayed in Nimbasa, escaping Neo-Plasma's retribution. I was feeding them supplies and intel and… they came at night. Jason was haggard and gaunt, his eyes seemed to be just empty. It was like he was hardly even a person anymore, just a shade of who he used to be…"

Elesa had a far-off look in her eye, a sad frown etched on her face. "The sky was burning and I could see the shape of the two volcarona dancing through the smoke. He was covered in blood, none of it his…" She trailed off and looked away from the camera. "He told me that he missed his house, he missed his wife… I just wanted to tell him it was all going to be ok, but I couldn't."

The interviewer leaned into frame, holding a tissue out to her. "What would you tell him now, if he were listening?"

She looked back up at the camera. "That he should really call me back," she said, attempting a weak grin.

I held back a chuckle and drained the rest of my drink. I got to my feet, content to ignore the rest of my profile. It didn't matter. Nothing did until the end of my interview aired.

I walked into the kitchen, flipping my X-transceiver open and dialling Elesa. It rang twice.

"That was quick," Elesa's remarked. "You really missed me, eh?"

I grunted in response.

She shifted and I could hear voices in the background. "I'm surprised you actually went through with the interview," she said. "Surprised they could even find you."

I opened my mouth, looking for words. I didn't even remember seeing her that night, didn't remember half of anything after I'd woken up covered in someone else's blood. "I miss her," I said, settling on something I knew.

"I know," she replied. "You can say that it wasn't love all you want, Jason. I know you, I know the truth."

I looked up at my chandelure, fighting back the tears. "It wasn't real," I said. "But I miss her all the same."

"It was real," she said. "Sherys was my friend. Maybe it didn't start out as real, but it grew into something to be proud of."

The mention of her name broke my façade. I bit back a sob, but the tears were freely falling. "I miss everything about her, the laughing, the smiling… even the terrible burnt grilled cheese…"

There was a long pause. "You want me to fly out?" She asked. "I can probably be in Aspertia by tomorrow night."

"No," I replied forcefully. "There won't be a point, darling."

She paused again. "Jason… what do you mean by that?"

I lowered the phone. "Just keep watching," I said. "I couldn't just let it sit. I couldn't just let him get away with it…"

"Jason, what did you-"

I ended the call and lifted the bottle of whiskey. My nerves were flaring up and they needed calmed. I turned back to my living room, taking the bottle with me. I wasn't going to need the glass.

"He was a dreamer," I said with a cryptic frown. "He still saw the world in the same light, still saw the injustice in the League's system. He was still just as ready to fight for a better world." I shrugged, not knowing exactly how to articulate myself. "At least this time he was on our side."

"That's all great, but I was looking for a more personal take." She put down her notepad and her head cocked to the side. "Something real, personal to you."

I looked up at her and the camera perfectly framed the conflict worn clear on my face. "I hated him for what he was. He was a living symbol of the League's failings. His very existence sparked questions about the League's system, just because he dared to ask if things could be different."

The screen cut to N, his green hair blowing in the wind. A raging fire was literally behind him, framing him in destructive light.

"He was dangerous," Benga said, his grinning face appearing on the screen. "And after everything he did, could we really trust him?" Benga shrugged. "I know I definitely didn't-"

I reached up, muting my entertainment centre while Benga droned on about N's incompetence. I tipped back my bottle and drained the rest of the whisky.

The narrator shifted towards introducing Benga as I got to my feet. I needed another drink and now was as good a time as any. I didn't need to know any more about that little monster. I knew enough.

I flipped open my X-Transceiver with my free hand as I grabbed a second bottle out of the cupboard, tapping out a short message to our dear champion.

'Hope you're watching.'

"But despite Champion Benga Adeku's continued insistence, rumours of war crimes committed on both sides of the conflict persist."

The screen cut back to me, sitting morose in my study. My gaze didn't meet the camera and I spoke slowly, searching for the right words. "He just enjoyed it a little too much," I said. "The war was his crucible, his bloody evolution."

"I know that I lost control. I know that people are dead because of me, no matter how much restraint I showed." I shook my head. "But Benga? Restraint was reserved for none."

"What are you saying, mister Rykker?"

I scowled. "That we're all monsters, miss Hall. And Benga's just the monster at the top of the food chain."

My phone buzzed angrily. I flipped it open, smirking at the furious reply.

'YOU ARE DEAD.'

I grinned. I was already dead inside. It was time I dragged the real monster down with me. It wouldn't be long now. All I had to do was wait.

It was near the end of the program. They'd been covering the final battle, dancing around what I'd accused Benga of. I was still waiting, still watching for the last little bit of weight that would tip the scales away from that monster.

I was back on the screen, righteous anger on my face as I directed the trainers out of Plasma's crumbling base. "Alder was the one we believed in, the one we fell behind."

The scene cut to a grainy photo of Alder being thrown from the ship by Ghetsis' hydreigon. "Alder and Benga had gone to confront Ghetsis…"

The screen cut again, back to the two newscasters sitting at the desk. "Indigo League representatives have made Elite Lance Wataru aware of the following testimony. While the Elite refused to be interviewed, he did corroborate the following interview."

We were back in my study. My face was gaunt , I'd been speaking for the better part of the day. I was tired. I was exhausted from the years of carrying the war in my head.

Miss Hall leaned forward, looking at me expectantly. "What are you implying, Mister Rykker? That Champion Benga allowed Alder to be killed?"

I shrugged. "I'm just connecting the dots, Miss Hall. Benga didn't require medical attention, neither did any of his pokemon. How did he take down a trainer like Ghetsis without a single injury?" She didn't answer, so I continued my rant. "Just look at the testimony of the surviving Indigo Elite. He testified that Benga was conspicuously absent from the final battle. Both Alder and the Elite were both under the impression that they had Benga's support."

She sat back, a disbelieving look on her face. "I don't believe that Champion Benga would have killed his own grandfather."

"I never said that he did," I replied. "Just that his own pokemon were uninjured. The foreign Elite corroborates this story, having berated our new Champion after the battle…" I trailed off, letting her mind work through the clues. "Benga stood aside and let them battle alone, only to swoop in at the last moment to steal the glory. He ensured that he would become the next League Champion, that he and not Alder would stand as Unova's new hero."

She shook her head, sighing. "I just don't believe it," she said. "He may not be what the League presents him as, but Champion Benga is not suspected of causing Alder's death.

I shrugged. "You can tell yourself that as many times as you like. I prefer to believe that he is who he is who he showed himself to be."

My study faded and we slowly cut back to the UNN news desk. The blonde woman on the left straightened the stack of papers in front of her as the man nervously cleared his throat.

"There you have it," he started. "The truth laid-"

An explosion of violent light interrupted his words. The feed died in a scream of pain and static. I lifted my remote, flipping over to one of Unova's other news channels.

"We are getting unconfirmed reports of an explosion at UNN headquarters in Castelia City."

The man put a finger to his ear, looking off camera. "We've got some footage apparently, posted online from a trainer flying into Castelia."

The screen cut to a shaky view of the fireball, engulfing several floors worth of Castelia skyline. The building groaned and bent as the supports on one side of the building gave way to the flames.

Then it emerged. Wreathed in flame and burning with furious light, the volcarona tore itself free of the building. It twisted away, the upper floors smashing into the building beside it. Glass and debris showered down from the collapsing buildings, no doubt raining death on the busy streets below.

My phone buzzed and I looked down. I knew who it would be from before I even read it.

'You're next.'

I was waiting on my porch, half-drank bottle of whiskey in my hand. Soulfire was hanging from the roof of the veranda, Demeter waiting in the garden. I'd even dragged Malvus, my old cofragius, out of the basement. We had a champion to greet.

My phone rang again, the same number that had been calling since the attack on UNN. I ignored it. Whoever it was, it didn't matter anymore. I'd be dead before the night was out. I'd be free to see Sherys and Liza, free to be with those I'd loved and lost.

It rang again, this time Elesa's ringtone. I let it ring once, then answered with a grunt.

"He's coming for you," she said. "And he's gonna kill you."

"I know," I said with a shrug. I couldn't help the peace that the idea brought me. "It was worth it. Everyone sees him for what he is now."

She sighed in frustration. "I've got an Indigo League Elite here, breathing down my neck. They're intervening, pulling anyone they can before Benga really starts purging Unova's ranks." She paused for a moment. "The Champion is on his way to you, just a few minutes out."

I sighed as the incandescent form of a volcano bug appeared over the darkening horizon. "He is already here," I said. "I'm sorry, Elesa. I had to expose him for what he did… it was the only way."

I lowered the phone. She was still yelling through the phone, but I lost the words. I looked up at Soulfire. "Be ready. We'll only get the one chance."

My chandelure nodded at me and I turned my attention to the approaching fire.

He swept across the wilderness north of Aspertia, his volcarona trailing a plume of flame. The forest beneath them burned, a wide path laying charred and smoking behind him. I'd worried about sharing the forest with the pokemon who inhabited it. I no longer had that worry.

He hung in the air as he approached, looking down on me. The malevolent glow of his volcano bug cast sadistic shadows across his face. "I heard what you had to say," he half-shouted down to me. "I wasn't a fan."

"All of Unova saw you for who you are today. Not just me."

He descended, slipping off his pokemon's back as he fluttered to the ground. "They'll see what I-"

We sprung the trap. Demeter was there, her haunted stump springing to life. A dozen spectral vines wrapped around the volcarona's wings as Malvus' sarcophagus swung open. Wrapping sprung from the ancient casket as infernal chanting grew louder.

Benga swivelled about, turning to face me as Soulfire dropped down beside me. He reached for his belt as I gave my order.

Soulfire erupted like a sun, bringing day back to the smouldering forest. Benga disappeared under the fire and I stepped back and flung an arm up to shield my face.

I felt the earth rumble beneath me and knew that I had failed.

The very ground underneath my home opened. I felt it tip backwards and leapt from the porch as the earth swallowed my house whole.

Soulfire's angle of fire was cut off and the stream of flame died as well. He levitated from the pit that had swallowed my home, but it was too late. Benga stood unharmed, a dragonite and a garchomp towering over us both.

"Well?" he asked. "Was that all?"

Demeter was shrieking, fleeing as the volcarona laid waste to her garden. Malvus was gone, back into his casket. I'd never see him again, not unless I got my miracle. Only Soulfire was still here, hovering over my shoulder.

"It was," I said. "You'll never win now. Unova knows what you did."

"They know nothing," he hissed. "They will know what I-"

"You showed them exactly what they needed to know. You are no Champion. You are nothing like what he was."

He scowled, his face contorting in anger. "I told you I'd kill you," he said slowly. "I told you what that little act of insolence would get you. You did it anyways." He glanced back at his dragons. "Kill this-"

A bolt of psychic light ripped over the treetops, driving Benga's garchomp into the earth. The dragonite bellowed and turned, but a fist wreathed in godly power pummelled the dragon into submission. The volcarona shrieked as fire surrounded it, but a flick of Mewtwo's wrist quenched the fire with a cold gust of psychic wind.

A true Champion hovered over the treetops, Mewtwo's power holding the young man aloft. He floated down to the ground, his hand over the belt of balls on his waist. "It's over, Benga."

Benga turned, scowling at the Indigo Champion. "Red," he said. "You've given Mewtwo some upgrades, it seems."

Mewtwo flexed an arm built with powerful muscle. It was more monstrous than Rykker remembered the news reports from Indigo, like it had been hitting the gym relentlessly.

"Surrender now, and I'll allow you to live." Red clenched his fist, preparing for a real fight. "Or fight, and I let Mewtwo do what he was created for."

Benga looked cautiously between Red and Rykker. "You would risk open war? For him?"

Red nodded. "Would war really be what you wanted?" He asked. "Your region lies in ruin, partly by your hand. Think about your people! Think about-"

Benga shot forward, howling an order in a vain attempt to surprise Red. Mewtwo raised an arm and Benga sailed off over the forest. His screams echoed for a short moment, before the dragons launched themselves from the earth after their master.

Red looked over at the former Champion, walking across the ruined garden. "We should go," he said. "He'll be back."

"You should have killed him," I said. "He'll use this to draw up more support."

The young man shot me a pained look. "I will not cause any more death," he said. "Benga has caused enough pain. It would not do to leave him as a martyr."

He dropped his hand to his belt, releasing a large pidgeot that cawed to the sky. "We must hurry," he said. "We should get back to Kanto before he can launch a counterattack."

"We?" I asked.

Red shot me an impatient glare. "Indigo has no desire to watch Unova burn, not when she could stand strong…" he trailed off and I sensed that there was more. "We need to stand together, not tear each other down."

I sighed. "Well you've bought yourself a war," I said. "Benga won't take this lying down."

He shrugged. "If it comes down to it, he'll lose." He mounted his pidgeot and reached down toward me. "It's time to go," he said as the deafening roar of a pair of dragons echoed over the forest. "Before he comes back."

I looked around at the ruins. I'd built the house as an escape from civilization. Now it was nothing but a monument to Unova's pain. I returned my pokemon to their balls and took his hand. "Why are you doing this?" I asked as I swung myself onto the bird's back behind him. "Why do you care?"

Red turned his head and smiled at me. "Because something bigger than all of this is coming. And just maybe we'll need Unova to have a proper Champion before all is said and done."

He dug his heels in and his pidgeot threw itself into the air. My gaze lingered on the sinkhole as we ascended into the sky. "Maybe," I said. "Maybe."