Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Shadows of Ganderosa
Chapter 43
Consequences
The group of four crept down the carpeted hallway, making as little sound as possible. Reya led the group into an intersection in the hallway. She quickly pressed her battered body against the left wall and held up her fist. The group came to a halt, following her example of wall-hugging, and waited. Seconds went by before a pokemon in iron armor appeared in the intersection. Please don't find us! Dillan thought as he held his breath and squinted his eyes shut in anticipation for the worst.
"Dillan," Ryan whispered from his ankle. "He's gone. And he didn't see us."
Dillan exhaled in relief, but Reya shot him a look that said, "It isn't over yet".
"Do you even know where we're going?" Ryan questioned.
"Do you know where the exit to a mystery dungeon is when you enter?" Reya questioned.
Of course not," Ryan said with an annoyed scowl.
"Then follow." Reya walked onward down the hall. Dillan looked towards Ryan briefly before moving onward. Ryan looked towards Hazel, but she didn't meet his gaze. The pachirisu's ears drooped slightly as he began walking with the group.
Dillan wished he felt bad for the guy, he really did. But he couldn't think through the steps in his head that led Ryan to leave them.
All of us would have left with him when he explained the Guild was bad. He should have known that. It's not like we were vague or anything when it came to helping one another... And Judah wouldn't have been able to come after us with Garth and everyone at the guild. The moment he said we were traitors, we would have tried to figure something out. He could have come back and talked...
He told himself these things, yet he knew a lot of it wasn't true. He probably would have gone with the Guild should they have called him a traitor so they could figure it all out rationally. And even if they needed him, they didn't need Hazel: that much was evident the moment Arlon came to hurt her instead of him.
But we still could have thought of something... He didn't have to betray our trust by abandoning us until we were in danger... He could have trusted us...
"Here we go," Ryan stated grimly, snatching Dillan from his thoughts.
The group found themselves confronted with the massive doors to the castle's courtyard. Beyond was a flowery escape route. They weren't out of the woods yet, but they were closer.
"So, after the castle," Dillan began, recalling the plan. "We have to get through the gates, passed the volcano, and then escape Jarondai on a boat. Did I get that right?"
"More or less," Reya stated. She walked up to the door and said, "Let's go."
"This was our plan?!" Hazel asked worriedly. She looked terrified. "I looked down here from a window in the room I was locked in, and the guards are swarming the courtyard! There's no way we're getting through them!"
"Do we have another choice?" Ryan asked. "I mean, it's them or an angry lizard who fights like a mad woman and, might I remind you, hates my guts. She'll hate me even more knowing I'm a traitor, and you guys aren't any safer."
"We can handle Thalia," Hazel assured.
"No, you can't," Ryan said. "She's too strong. I've seen her kill pokemon in literal seconds. Without breaking a sweat."
"But you fought her in the Alkan Islands," Dillan said.
"She wasn't trying to kill me, then," Ryan said.
"As much as I hate to say it," Reya began. "I'm with the pachirisu on this one. Thalia is stronger than any guard."
"But there are so many of them," Dillan said.
"And we can take on Thalia if we work together!" Hazel urged.
"And what about Arlon?" Ryan asked. "And Akuji? From what I've seen, that guy-" Ryan was cut off by a hand grabbing him by the scruff of his neck which pressed him to the wall.
"What did you say?!" Reya roared.
"Get off of me!" Ryan demanded.
"Hey!" Hazel shouted sternly to Reya.
"Not now, charmeleon," Reya stated coldly.
"Let him go!" Hazel shouted.
"You said Akuji, correct?!" Reya asked with a snarl. This isn't going to help us at all.
"Reya," Dillan pleaded.
"Answer the quest-" Reya's voice was drowned out by what sounded like some sort of massive vibration that filled the room in seconds: like a massive tuning fork was attacking the gabite's eardrums. And it was coming from down the hallway.
Looking towards the hallway, Dillan saw a flash of bright blue light accompanied by the smell of burned wool. When the light died down, there was a smoldering circle of ash that surrounded a panting, exhausted-looking hakamo-o.
"Fitz?" Reya asked.
"And you... thought my concentration... was insufficient..." the hakamo-o panted with a slight smile on her face. She then fell forwards, but barely caught herself on her arms.
"Fitz!" Hazel shouted as she darted towards the downed pokemon. Dillan followed to find out what happened.
"I am... fine..." Fitz said as she pushed herself onto her backside where she sat, leaning backwards on her palms. She was smiling a great big smile. "You got away?" she asked Hazel.
"Forget about that," Hazel said as she shook her head. "Are you hurt?"
"My head feels like I slammed it into a table multiple times, but that is the extent of it." She looked up to find Dillan and began scowling. "Paladin," she stated coldly
Dillan scowled at the pokemon, confused by her way of regarding him. "What happened to you?" he asked, genuinely worried for her well-being, but still just as confused whether she was insulting him.
"I believe this is yours," she stated as she held out her left paw. Dillan's eyes widened as he saw the familiar shine of the Sapphire Star. "And I have no clue how you know her, but would it kill her to be a little more supportive?"
Dillan had a raised eyebrow of confusion. He raised his right claw, about to speak, but Hazel spoke instead.
"Where did you find the Sapphire?" she asked.
"Judah had..." Fitz drifted off as her eyes moved passed the two of them towards the wall Reya was pinning Ryan on. "You!" she shouted.
The sudden burst of energy Fitz had gained stunned Dillan. She shot up to her feet and charged the pinned pachirisu, but Reya held up her hand for Fitz to stop.
"Drop him," Fitz ordered.
"Look," Ryan began. "I'm sorry about Harrier Town-"
"Fine!" Fitz shouted furiously at Reya. "Then hold him still while I beat the crap out of-"
"No one's beating the crap out of anyone!" Hazel shouted.
"Stay out of this, Prince!" Fitz roared. She walked right next to Ryan, practically breathing on him. "I want you to answer one simple question! If you lie to me, I promise your head will be as flat as paper!"
"She said stop!" Dillan shouted.
But Fitz didn't listen, nor acknowledge Dillan had said anything. She kept eyeing Ryan with a sort of blood-lust he had never seen before. "What did you do to Valery?!" Fitz shouted.
Valery? The room went silent from that name. All eyes were set to stunned as they stared confusedly at Fitz or Ryan.
Dillan recalled the cheerful mienfoo from weeks ago. She was very nice, and always reminded them of the "G" at the end of her name. Did Ryan... do something to her?
"You and Thalia took me and threatened to kill her, remember?!" Fitz shouted.
"I remember," Ryan said. "And we left her there."
"Liar!" Fitz shouted.
"I'm not lying!"
"Why would the witch let her go?" Fitz asked sternly.
"Thalia doesn't like getting her hands dirty unless she absolutely has to," Ryan stated. "Valery wasn't any use as a hostage, and she's too young to know anything useful, so we left her there unharmed!"
Fitz stood there, eyeing Ryan for a good while. She raised a clenched fist at Ryan, threatening to hit him, but no one made a move to stop her. "If I find Valery is in any sort of pain because of what you did to get to me, I swear on my life that you will hurt for it." Fitz shot one final scowl of warning before she lowered her paw and walked away.
"What did you do to her?" Hazel asked Ryan as she shook her head.
"Hazel-" Ryan began, but Hazel didn't have any intention on listening.
The charmeleon walked towards Fitz and said calmly, "We need a way out of the castle."
"You do realize you are at the front door, correct?"
"We need another option," Dillan said.
"What difference does it make?" Reya asked. "Any other option will yield the same amount of guards, leading to the same result."
"And what makes you think I know anything?" Fitz asked apprehensively, though her brow-line was tensed with hat looked like worry.
"Reya said you know the layout of this castle better than us," Dillan explained.
"Did she?" Fitz asked as she leaned around Hazel to scowl at Reya.
"We don't have time for this, Reya!" Ryan shouted. Reya turned to Ryan and eyed him maliciously, but the pachirisu didn't seem to let it bother him. "We need to leave!"
Reya held the pachirisu close to her mouth and said in a barely audible whisper, "Eventually, you'll tell me everything that happened to you when you rejoined the Enemy. Understand?" With that, Reya seemed to have soothed a bit of her anger and dropped the pachirisu. Ryan landed on his feet and immediately began walking towards Fitz, though the hakamo-o's jaw sat skewed on her face.
"What are you doing?!" Fitz asked with shock. She lunged at Ryan, but Hazel side-stepped in front of her and held her in place. "He is a traitor!"
"Fitz, wait!" Hazel said. "Ryan's helping us!"
"The only one he helps is Giratina!"
Dillan looked at a scowling Ryan whose sight was directed towards the carpet. His fist was clenched together, but he didn't make a move on the hakamo-o. He just stood there, taking whatever abuse she let out with a look of shame. He really feels bad about it all... doesn't he?
"We need him!" Hazel shouted.
"You keep saying that," Reya stated. "Although I don't see why. We have a navigator, now. Why would we need the pachirisu?"
"Because..." Hazel said, wearing a calm expression, though her eyes mirrored Ryan's floor-bound gaze. She seemed to be scanning her brain for a valid reason as quickly as she could. "Because Ryan's been with the enemy for a while now. He has to know something about them that we don't."
"You pokemon are fools," Reya stated coldly. "He knows little more than me of the Enemy. The only reason you want him to stay is because he was once your friend."
That isn't... true..." Dillan said, watching the pachirisu's expression becoming grimmer with each word.
"They're right," Ryan said. "We're not friends anymore, and we'll all have to accept it."
Dillan wasn't sure what to say, but seeing his friend this way was dreadful. And whether it was justified or not, thinking it was partially his fault was worse. "R-Ryan-"
"You want to know what I bring to the table?" Ryan said, trampling over Dillan's words. "You have no clue where to find the Amber Amulet, right? I do."
"You have been holding out on us," Reya stated coldly.
"It is only a matter of time," Fitz said.
"If you're all so determined to distrust me," Ryan retorted. "Then keeping some information to myself is the only way to make sure you won't kill me!"
"None of it matters!" Hazel roared above everyone else. "This is my exploration team, and I say Ryan is coming with us whether you like it or not!"
"Who put you in charge, Prince?" Fitz questioned.
"Everyone just stop!" Dillan shouted.
Silence filled the hallway as the group looked towards Dillan. The gabite didn't care if his face was getting a little hot from the sudden attention he brought to himself. The fighting had to end.
"I have the Sapphire Star," Dillan said sternly. "I'm the human. I'm the Paladin of the Sapphire Star. I'm the one thing the Enemy wants more than anything! And standing here is begging the Enemy to come around the corner and capture us again! Agreed?"
No one spoke up. Fitz had stopped her struggling against Hazel's self-barricade, though he hakamo-o scowled accusingly at the gabite as though he'd said something malicious.
"Ryan is coming with us," Dillan stated. "If anyone doesn't like that answer, they can argue about it after we're out of danger."
"With him walking with us-" Reya began.
"After danger," Dillan stated.
Reya stood up straight as best she could and shook her head. "Fine."
"One thing at a time," Hazel said, obviously not wanting to engage Reya. She looked towards Fitz and asked, "Do you know a better way out of the castle or not?"
"Yes," Fitz said, still scowling at Dillan. What's her problem?
"Lead on," Hazel said as she gestured down the hallway.
Fitz rolled her eyes and turned around, leading the charmeleon down the hallway. Reya stood there, eyeing Ryan. She obviously wanted to keep an eye on him, which didn't help Ryan's attitude.
"You know," Ryan said. "Thalia had that same look in her eye when she looked at me."
"Then she was right to distrust you," Reya said.
Ryan gave a sigh and followed Hazel. Dillan walked with the pachirisu as Reya tailed the group.
As they walked onward, Dillan was very worried. How is this all going to work? The amount of hate towards Ryan is too massive. I know Hazel's just trying to get the group moving, but doing so is making Reya use her as a punching bag for frustration. With Fitz doing the same, I'm not sure we'll be able to work as a team long enough to get out alive...
"Hey," Ryan said to Dillan just loud enough for him to hear. Dillan looked down towards the worried-looking pachirisu. "You guys have changed since I last saw you."
"How so?" Dillan asked out of curiosity.
"Well, you for one are braver than when I... left... And Hazel seems a lot more confident in general."
"I'm not sure that's true," Dillan admitted, trying not to get irritated with Ryan. "Hazel's still worried, and I'm not sure we've really had a chance to sit down and think about the Guild being... you know..."
"Still..." Ryan stated. "The Dillan I knew would have been shaking his tail or maybe his legs in fear. Instead, you're confident."
"I'm more terrified than ever!" Dillan said harshly to Ryan, letting some of his frustration out. The pachirisu looked towards Dillan with shock.
"I..." he said slowly. "I didn't... mean anything by it..."
Dillan took a deep breath and regained his composure. "You have no clue what we've been through," he stated calmly. "You say we've changed as though it's a good thing, but you're just reminding me of the fact that you weren't with us for over a month of fighting and struggling. And we did it all for you..."
"Dillan," Ryan said apologetically. "I didn't know... I didn't realize-"
"I came here because I was worried they were going to kill you," Dillan said, trying desperately not to let his emotions show, even though he felt like breaking down from how wrong he really was. "Adelina's been searching non-stop because she thinks it's her fault you were... Well I guess I can't even say you were taken."
Ryan didn't make any attempt at responding. As he grabbed the golden locked that hung around his neck, he seemed to realize exactly what kind of pain he'd caused, and Dillan didn't even try to deny it. Ryan hurt so many of his friends. They'd wasted so much time on trying to save him, when, in actuality, he left with Thalia of his own free will.
"You guys keep acting like life is just that simple!" Ryan shouted angrily. "Like you're all a simple letter or phone call away from being assured I'm safe! Well, Giratina would have killed everyone I cared about if he caught anything that looked remotely like I was going to turn on him! Hazel, Bolt, Adelina, Even Dean and Haily. They'd be killed just because they were witnesses. An entire Guild would be wiped out all because I decided to assure you guys I was all right!
"And maybe you haven't had time to consider it all. And maybe I helped do some questionable shit that I'll have to live with my entire life! But don't act like I just woke up one day and decided today was the day I'd try being the bad guy, because I had to think about what I was doing each and every day! I had to look into a pokemon's eyes before they died and realize that I didn't pull the trigger, but I sure as hell helped load the gun! And I did it because if I looked like a traitor for even a second, Thalia would make sure more pokemon would die as a result!
"So fine! Look at me like I'm a bad guy! Talk to me like I destroyed Team Rapture! Act like I've killed something about you! But I want you to realize that I did everything I did to save more lives in the long-run! Sure, some of those lives were some that were closest to me, but at least I didn't stand there and let everyone around me die! At least I made a choice that would save more lives than ended them!"
Dillan's jaw hung open. He had no clue what to say to the pachirisu. He'd never thought about it like that. He felt ashamed. Ryan...
"You don't have to say anything..." Ryan said, scowling at the floor. "I don't want forgiveness. Ultimately, I put myself on this path before you even came here... When it's all said and done, I'm the reason you..." Ryan stopped himself, not able to look at Dillan. "I'm sorry I did this to you." He got down on all fours and ran ahead, matching the group's pace between Hazel and Fitz.
Dillan was still confused. Maybe he didn't have time to think about it all. Maybe Ryan made some bad choices. But... Dillan had to wonder if he'd have done the same if he was in Ryan's position.
"That's the ultimate question, isn't it?" Reya asked in the gabite's mind. "Would you do the same?"
What makes your position any different? Dillan mentally asked Reya. You were with the Enemy, too. Did you kill anyone in the name of peace? Reya said nothing. Dillan glanced back to see a sad gaze. I'll take that as a yes.
"I did awful things," Reya stated. "And I realized that, so I left."
You aren't answering my question. What makes you different than Ryan?
"I left and never looked back. He went back to the Enemy, knowing exactly what kind of evil he was returning to. Regardless of whether he thought he was doing the right thing, Ryan decided to accept whatever evil came with returning. The one thing you should be asking yourself is whether he was morally right in accepting whatever evil came with protecting you."
He did it to protect more pokemon.
"Do you truly believe that?" Reya questioned. "Say we are all caught, and the only way to survive is for Ryan to sacrifice twenty civilians. What do you think he will choose?"
The answer was simple. The civilians. There was no way Ryan would kill that many pokemon for him... right?
He pondered the question. Each time he answered it, the words came back. It seemed like a never-ending cycle. Each time he thought about it, more doubt came to him. With more doubt came more uncertainty about Ryan's allegiance.
Dillan looked back to see Reya's one-good eye give him a quizzical look. He wouldn't sacrifice that many... But Reya said no more. She only seemed willing to prod Dillan into thinking about the question.
The gabite turned away from Reya. Each step seemed to lead him out of the evil that was all around him and into mental uncertainty. Ryan's words seemed to be at war with Reya's, and Dillan had no clue which one to believe. Each quiet second that passed between the group forced Dillan to think about that one question. It was such a short question, but after everything that had happened over the course of a literal day, he didn't know what to believe. How much is Ryan willing to sacrifice... for his friends?
Hazel stared at the fifteenth Royal Guard with shock. Fitz had yet again defeated the pokemon in seconds. With her seemingly boundless knowledge on the Royal Guards, their fighting tactics, and whatever other knowledge she refused to share with the rest of the group, who needed Reya's psychic?
Now there was the occasional group of two or three guards that did pose a challenge, but with her group's determination to get off Jarondai alive, it didn't matter how much more skilled these guards were compared to their mediocre self-training. On top of that, Fitz utilized stealth and the element of surprise to a level that any greninja would be proud of.
"We are almost there," Fitz stated, completely glossing over the fact that she'd subdued a tyranitar in seconds like it was just another day.
"Does anyone else get the feeling that there should be more guards in the castle?" Dillan asked, still lacking confidence regardless of their progress. It was obvious to Hazel that the gabite was not taking this day very well. It wasn't surprising, what with- No! Don't think about it! Don't think about it!
"No," Fitz said. "Giratina doesn't want too many pokemon knowing about him, and the fewer guards inside of the castle, the less of a chance they have to stumble into his chambers."
"Besides," Reya began. "The Castle Grounds is the more logical place to keep your guards. If there's an attack, it would happen from outside of the castle, not inside."
Hazel half-expected a snide comment from Ryan, something along the lines of, "Tell that to the escaped prisoners", but he didn't say a thing. He'd been extremely silent since his outburst. Maybe he felt some shame in what he did. To be honest, Hazel didn't care.
To think that all this time he knew about The Enemy... All that time we'd been hunted, and he knew who was doing it. And to top it all off, he knew why. She wanted to be furious with him. She wanted to tell him exactly what he did to the team when he left: what he did to her. But what really frustrated her was that she couldn't help but be thankful he was alive and as well.
Was he a traitor? She couldn't make a decision right now. Doing so would mean confronting everything else that she'd been told, and that would make her a weeping mess. It would make her useless to the team, and she wouldn't let that happen: not in the most dangerous situation she'd been in since Titus.
Just thinking of the charizard sent shivers into her tail as if she was still under the icy waters. Her paw involuntarily drifted towards the scars across her chest as she remembered his brutality. Maybe a past trauma wasn't the best thing to focus on, but at least it took her mind from Judah.
Just then, a chilly breeze blew by the charmeleon's body, twisting her tail-flame as it went by. Hazel looked ahead and found before her was a set of massive, wooden doors that were barred off by a block of wood resting on metal hangers: a kind of medieval lock.
Hazel was surprised to see something like that in the castle. She expected Jarondai to have updated their structures to something a little sturdier and more modern, like an iron gate. This must be old... She then observed a thick layer of grey particles resting on the top of the wood. And it hasn't been used in a long time... Maybe never...
"What is this?" Hazel asked, intrigued by the door. Her mind raced with possibilities of what it may have been used for in the olden days: back when the Civil War was at large.
"This is the emergency escape for the King," Fitz said. "It was never used because the castle has never been attacked by anything the Guards could not handle. We will be its first occupants since it was constructed."
"Then there shouldn't be any guards?" Dillan asked.
Fitz sighed and mouthed the words, "Why him?".
"According to Fitz, yes," Reya stated.
"How do you know so much about the castle?" Hazel questioned. "Did you steal- borrow some blueprints of the castle?" She wished she'd thought more about what word she used before she said it, now wondering whether the hakamo-o would knock her block off.
Fitz grabbed her face, clearly irritated with what seemed like a constant reminder of her life-choices. "Why do you pokemon insist on calling me a thief?" Fitz asked slowly with little emotion in her voice. She was clearly attempting to restrain herself.
Dillan seemed to want to say something judging by his opened jaw, but refrained from doing so. Hazel assumed he was going to give an explanation, but thought better of it.
"So where does it take us?" Reya asked.
"Hopefully, the King's private boat," Fitz stated. "From there, we would take it out of whatever private port is on the other side of the mountain and we will have escaped."
"Sounds good to me..." Ryan grumbled.
"Let's move on," Hazel said, not wanting to give the bad guys a chance to catch up with them. "We can deal with anything else on the boat."
"There might not even be a boat," Fitz said.
"Why not?" Dillan asked. "It's an island, and escaping it would be pretty difficult without one."
Fitz groaned as she rubbed the bridge of her nose with two fingers. "Human," she said like an insult. "Judah's a dragonite: a winged pokemon. So, he can fly. On top of that, dragonites are rumored to fly across the entire world. Would it surprise you to find he could make a short trip to the mainland, too?"
"Oh..." Dillan said.
Hazel moved passed the pokemon and pushed up on the wooden block. She grimaced as she pushed her muscles to their limits, barely managing to lift the wood from the door. "Help would be appreciated!" Hazel said, strained.
"R-right!" Dillan said as he got next to her and lifted the wood, helping her get it into the air. From there, Dillan seemed to realize he didn't have any sort of grip on the wood with his claws. Then, Fitz came and helped, too. The three of them – Dillan only managing the weight distribution of the wood – managed to set the wood on the floor, allowing the door to move freely.
Fitz took no time to rest from the lifting and immediately pushed the door open. Hazel looked on with wonder at the passageway. It was like a mine-shaft in there: rocky walls surrounding every side being held up by wooden supports along the side of the wall. The adventurous-side of Hazel began to take control, making her forget her worries in seconds.
The history in this room alone was awe-consuming. On top of that, Hazel and her compatriots were going to be the first pokemon ever to venture inside. It was as if she'd discovered a new mystery dungeon. Sure, there were the original pokemon who constructed the place, but that didn't cripple her wonder.
"We have a limited amount of time," Fitz said as she waved for the pokemon to enter the passageway.
Focus, Prince... Hazel told herself as she mentally kicked herself. You're still in danger.
Dillan was the first one in. When he entered the passageway, he turned to the pokemon with a confident look in his eyes which accompanied his otherwise-neutral face. "I'll take the lead from here," he said.
"And what makes you suited for the job?" Fitz retorted.
"He's a ground-type," Ryan said, finally speaking, though he did so with an emotionless tone. "Dillan can feel the environment around him, meaning he'll be able to sense anything that comes our way from in front or behind."
Fitz looked at Ryan with annoyance. She then threw up her paws in defeat and moved back with Reya. "Fine. We should just go before they catch up."
"They shouldn't know we're here," Hazel stated simply. "Since they don't know that we knew about this place, the Enemy won't come here."
"They will," Fitz said. Before Hazel could ask how, Fitz cut her off with a raised paw in front of her face. "Do you want to waste time asking me futile questions, or would you like to see tomorrow come?"
Hazel scowled at Fitz, saying nothing in response to her rude question. "If you're ready, Dillan," she said.
Dillan nodded his head and walked into the cave, followed by Hazel. Ryan walked behind her followed by Reya and Fitz who began whispering to each other, though the hakamo-o did so in a furious manner, what with her tensed muscles and unpleasant tone.
"Hey," Dillan's voice said calmly with a sort of sweetness in his tone. He faced her with a look of understanding. "We're going to be alright."
"I know..." Hazel said. "It's just..." Stopping herself, she glanced back to see Ryan was in ear-shot. "I'm alright."
"Hazel, talk to me," Dillan said. "I know you're probably trying to ignore what's happening right now, but-"
"Dillan," Hazel interrupted, lightly squeezing his shoulder. "It isn't that I don't want to talk about it. It's just that right now isn't the best time to do so…" That didn't seem to ease Dillan's worries at all. "I'll be fine."
Dillan dropped his head a bit and scanned the floor as if thinking. "Alright," Dillan stated. It was clear as day this wasn't the answer he was looking for. "It's just that… I don't want you to feel like you're alone here… I'm your teammate, and I know how much the Guild means…" The gabite's voice trailed off at the end and he stood in place.
"Dillan," Hazel said to him, but he didn't turn to face her. She rubbed her arm nervously. Talking it out… I'm not sure if that would help me sort through it all… or even help me deal with it… But it helped me with the Alkan Islands… Would it help with-
"Someone's coming!" Dillan announced.
Hazel snapped out of her trance-like thoughts and was brought to reality. "What?" she asked.
"I knew this was a trap!" Reya grumbled.
"It wasn't me!" Ryan snapped at the pokemon, getting on all-fours. His cheeks began sparking as he readied himself for a fight.
"Where are they, Dillan?" Hazel asked.
Dillan stood there, his face draining of confidence the longer he stood. It was being replaced with a look of worry.
"I… I don't know!" Dillan shouted.
"For the love of all that is good in this world!" Fitz shouted. "Would you act like a hero for once in your life and not a sniveling coward!"
"Insulting him doesn't help, princess!" Ryan retorted. The moment those words left his mouth Fitz lunged at the pachirisu, but Reya grabbed her by the arm.
"Say it again, traitor!" Fitz erupted. "Just do it!"
"Not helping!" Hazel shouted back at the bickering hakamo-o.
"There's so many of them!" Dillan said in wide-eyed fear. "And they're all around us!"
"Get in a circle!" Reya ordered. No one wasted even a second to follow Reya's command. They had a tight diameter, ready to engage from all sides.
"Are they actually all around us?" Ryan asked above the crackling of his cheek-lightning. "I mean, we're in the middle of an underground passageway! They'd have to be digging!"
"Y-yeah!" Dillan said. "They're in the walls!"
Hazel's heart thumped loudly in her ears as realization came to her. "We need to move backw-" She was cut off by the loud crumbling of the walls as holes emerged on all sides.
Pokemon appeared from the holes. Each one was of a different species, but all the same type: ground. Hazel counted a few hippowdons, some rhyhorns, krokoroks, donphans, and some excadrills. Exact numbers were hard to gage in the dark, but Hazel estimated at least twelve of them in total: enough to overwhelm them if they didn't do something.
The strangest thing that stood out to the charmeleon was the fact that none of them wore any armor. In fact, they didn't seem to have any indicator tying them to the Ganderosan Crown. But if they're with King Judah-
Hazel's thoughts were cut off when an excadrill lunged at her claw-first. She quickly moved out of the way, avoiding the pokemon. She then planted her feet to breath fire, but stopped herself when she noticed the remaining flames would hit Reya square in the back.
Fitz noticed the excadrill in the center of the circle and reacted swiftly. She immediately swung around and grabbed the pokemon by the arm before launching him out of pure strength outside of their safe-zone.
"Prince!" Fitz scolded. "Do not let them inside! Our backs are our weak-points!"
"R-right!" Hazel stuttered, not very happy about where that left her. So, no dodging! Great!
"These aren't guards!" Dillan said as he planted his own feet. He drew his head back and sent a stream of flames at an incoming assault of hippowdons, but they didn't seem fazed by the strike.
"They're ferals!" Ryan said to Dillan as he swished his tail through the air. Ferals? Outside of a mystery dungeon? Stars pelted the incoming hippowdons in the nose, but they were still just as determined to get to the group. "And fire attacks don't work against ground-types!"
Dillan's fins glowed a bright blue, illuminating the surrounding area. The hippowdons were almost on top of him, but they didn't slow down or make any attempt at dodging Ryan's continuous "Swift" attacks. They were going to trample the group.
"Move!" Reya shouted as she whipped around. She quickly raised her hand towards the oncoming group, bathing them in a pink glow. Then, one of the hippowdons tripped into the other, forcing them both into a tumble towards Dillan.
The gabite didn't waste the opportunity. He lunged at the oncoming ball of black and yellow before slashing them with his blades. The pokemon shouted from pain, but made their way to their feet fast.
But Hazel had other concerns. She couldn't fight very effectively in this circumstance, and her opponent seemed to know it: maybe by instinct. Her krokorok enemy began hacking at Hazel with massive blades of black energy which jutted from his arms. Hazel tried to avoid the attacks as best she could without letting the pokemon in the circle, but it didn't work out so well. She was too enclosed to do anything other than dodge and scratch the pokemon whenever she could.
The krokorok slashed once more, forcing the charmeleon to side-step. Then, she felt a stone below her shift. Immediately, a rhyhorn came out of the ground from below her, sending rocks and boulders into her face as its horn punctured the scales on her chest.
Hazel gave a shout of pain as she rose with the pokemon, but she wasn't done. She focused on that flame in her stomach, fueling it with whatever survival instinct she could muster. Then, the heat changed into a sort of pulsing energy in her chest. She opened her mouth, allowing a massive burst of purple energy to escape through her throat, slamming its energy into the opponent. The rhyhorn was forced downwards and slammed into the floor.
As Hazel fell onto her feet, she looked up just in time to see the krokorok was back with a vengeance. But just before he could do anything, a glowing fist came out of nowhere, planting itself below the pokemon's jaw in a "Sky Uppercut" attack.
The krokorok gave a groan of pain before passing out. Fitz stood there for a second before looking at Hazel. "Trouble?" she asked.
"We need to get everyone to fall back from the cave!" Hazel announced.
"Sounds good to me!" Ryan shouted as he and Dillan continued to deal with the hippowdons, both the pachirisu and gabite having trouble avoiding and attacking their opponents without being struck themselves.
"These are ferals?" Hazel questioned.
"Yes," Reya said. An excadrill was about to attack her, but she simply used psychic to throw it into a nearby wall.
"Then I know what this is," Hazel stated. "But we need to fall back if we want to deal with them efficiently!"
"We're surrounded!" Dillan said. "Not sure how that's going to work-" Dillan stopped as he shouted in pain. The hippowdon had traded its close-up assault for a distanced one, throwing a volley of stones towards Dillan's chest. The gabite attempted to use his fins as a shield from the attack, but they were ineffective.
"Then you all need to run when I am finished!" Fitz said. She ran towards the back where Reya was currently dealing with multiple pokemon at once, but they were slowly gaining ground on her. She wore a look of worry, unsure of how much longer she could keep them from the group.
Fitz got right next to Reya. To Hazel's astonishment, the pokemon's larger scales began glowing, and so did her chest. She puffed out her breast before spitting out a massive ball of energy towards the opponents. The pokemon all panicked as the sphere exploded into miniature balls of fire, all making their way towards them. They burrowed into the wall to avoid the blast.
"Now!" Fitz shouted, taking off towards the now-empty passageway.
Everyone followed her lead, making their way down the passageway. Ryan continued sending volleys of stars as he ran, but it only managed to stall the ever-gaining pokemon.
"What now?" Dillan asked Hazel.
"When I give the order," Hazel began. "Use your most powerful long-ranged attack down the hallway!"
"That was your plan?!" Fitz asked, sounding as though she'd just been ripped off by a sales-person.
"And you have a better one?" Dillan asked, though he sounded as though he genuinely wanted a better option instead of trying to be snarky.
Fitz looked at Hazel for a few seconds before rolling her eyes. "This better work," she grumbled.
"It will," Reya assured, nodding at Hazel.
"Make it quick!" Ryan yelled, a krokorok just barely out of scratching-range.
"On three!" Hazel said. "One! Two! Three!"
They all stopped in place, turning around to face the hoard of pokemon. Each member of the group made their own movements. Hazel and Dillan focused on the flame in their chest before releasing a massive burst of flames, Ryan swished his tail multiple times, knowing that electric attacks wouldn't work; Reya threw her hands towards the sky before sending a massive ball of bright, white blast of energy towards their soon-to-be murderers, and Fitz sent one more ball of red-hot energy down the hall before it exploded into a blast of miniature fire-balls. All in all, it was an all-consuming volley of attacks, each one ready to obliterate their opponents.
The feral swarm panicked. Some turned around in a futile attempt at outrunning the blast. Others lunged at the walls or the ground to burrow away. There were even those who either didn't care that the blast could mortally injure them, or they didn't have enough time to stop: probably a mixture of both. Either way, the amalgamation of attacks struck multiple pokemon, missed several targets, but cleared the entire hallway of any threat.
Hazel looked on with wide-eyed amazement at what they just accomplished, but soon fell onto her back-side from exhaustion.
"That took… a lot…" Dillan said.
"You try using Draco Meteor twice in a row…" Fitz said wearily.
"Where are… they?" Ryan asked.
"Gone…" Dillan panted.
"Probably ran from fear or instinct," Reya sated, not worn out even a little.
"Then… it's over…" Hazel said with relief.
Everyone except Reya was sitting on the ground, recovering from the loss of energy.
"That was awesome," Ryan said.
"How did you know that would work?" Fitz asked Hazel.
"Monster House survival is the first thing they teach you in advanced exploring one-o-one," Hazel explained. "Get on one side and let them all have it at the same time."
"Monster houses?" Dillan questioned.
"A feral mob," Hazel explained.
"So, like a mosh pit for feral pokemon," Ryan said. "Good to know."
"Fitz," Hazel said, looking towards the hakamo-o for answers. "Why is there a monster house under the castle?"
"If I were to guess why they are here," Fitz began. "I would say Judah uses it as a defense system."
"You don't say?" Ryan asked sarcastically, sprawled out on the floor spread-eagle style.
"But wouldn't they attack the King?" Dillan asked. "I mean, it doesn't work well as an escape route if you get killed escaping."
"Feral pokemon can smell anyone who isn't one of them," Reya explained, staring down the dark road ahead. "They won't attack anyone associated with the Enemy because he and his followers radiate the same aura. The only exception is if they feel threatened, though they would never do anything of the such. Besides: Judah's body has been exposed to Giratina for so long that he radiates his aura more than anyone else, and most ferals fear Giratina through instinct." Reya walked towards the group and reached for Fitz' hand. "That's enough talk on this subject. Right now, we need to leave."
"Agreed," Fitz said. She stood up on her own, ignoring the gardevoir's scarred arm. Reya didn't look annoyed by Fitz' denial. Instead, she walked to Dillan and helped him on his feet. "We have retraced our steps long enough to be close to where we began. We should move quickly before Giratina's followers find us."
"Alright," Hazel stated as she got to her feet. "Then let's go before that happens."
(An hour ago: Jarondai Castle: Jarondai Territory)
A blur of blue light flew by the two pokemon. Thalia whipped around just quick enough to see the light turn the corner, becoming lost to the castle. Thalia walked towards the end of the room with a grip of iron. She clenched her fist so hard her knuckles popped multiple times.
"She won't get away," the nidoqueen assured Judah.
"Don't bother," Judah stated calmly.
Thalia whipped around and looked at the King with shock. "B-but…" she stuttered. "Your body will die if we don't have-"
"I know that, as well." Judah walked towards Thalia. Their eyes met as the dragonite set his paws on her shoulder.
"Then allow me to recapture them!" Thalia stated, stepping closer to the exit.
"No," Judah said simply.
"Why?!" Thalia questioned.
Judah began scowling at the nidoqueen. "You should trust me."
Thalia stamped her foot on the ground. She couldn't believe he would even imply she didn't believe in him. "I have always had our dream in mind!" Thalia assured. "And I have proved myself since your first inhabitant! I helped you to claim the crown throughout the Great War! I even put up with the traitor, knowing the entire time he would betray us! And when I explained to you my fears, all that you said was to rely on blind faith! And I have! But now I cannot understand any of your choices! Have I not earned the right to understand by now?!"
Judah stood there for a few seconds, still scowling at the nidoqueen. He turned from her and walked towards the center of the throne-room. He turned towards her and said calmly, "Do you know what a fork in the road is?"
"Of course," Thalia said with a hint of her original frustration. She had no clue what the dragonite was getting at with such a simple question, but she hoped it would lead to answers.
"Let's say you are wandering on the road, and you come across a fork that leads to two paths," Judah said. "The first path is filled with trees and flowers of a wide variety. But then we have the second path. This one is filled with brambles and fire. Both paths look completely different, but you suspect that these paths will lead to your destination. As you can obviously see, this fork presents you with a choice, does it not?"
"It does," Thalia said. "There is an easy road and a difficult one."
"Then which path do you choose?" Judah questioned.
"It depends on where the paths lead," Thalia answered. "Why would I choose the easy path if it leads me to the wrong destination?" Judah said nothing in response. He merely chuckled, leaving the nidoqueen even more confused than before.
"Obviously the first path looks safe, and the other dangerous. But you haven't considered the biggest issue with the paths."
Thalia was frustrated with this conversation. Was this some kind of game to him? What did it have to do with what was happening? And why wouldn't he simply tell her the plan? "But-"
"Knowing her, she'll lead them to my boat," Judah said. "Reya, Dillan, and the rest of their group will escape."
"But I can stop them!" Thalia shouted. "Why won't you let me?!"
"Because they have made the same assumption that you did with the fork," Judah said. He walked towards Thalia and spun her around to face him. "You need to understand that I trust you to accomplish our goal to shape a peaceful world. One where there is no abandonment of children."
"Then why?" Thalia asked, staring into Judah's eyes. "Why won't you simply explain your plan?"
Judah smiled deeply at Thalia. "Because that would be putting all of my apples in one basket when I can just as easily spread them out." The dragonite let go of Thalia and moved around her, leaving her in her own disbelief. But he stopped at the corner. "You will let them go."
Thalia took a deep breath. There was nothing she could do to force the pokemon to give her information he didn't want her having, and the dream was too important to simply give it up because of greed: because she wanted to know more. "Yes, Master Giratina."
Judah laughed aloud, then turned to Thalia. "You still assume the fork means you have a choice in the matter."
(Author's Notes)
Hey guys! I'm going to make this short just because the chapter has come out a week after the last (New Record for me!).
Shout-Out to "MegaCharizardX56" for favoriting/following the story!
Another shout-out to my Beta-reader, "Deuxious Vultious"!
The "Favorite Character" poll is still up, but has been updated to allow three choices, and has more options to choose from (including the villains!)! Unlike Thalia, you have a choice! So go check that out on my profile page!
That's all! Told you it'd be short. ;D Thanks for reading, guys! And I'll see you in the next chapter!
