Chapter 123 Victory Road Part 4
With Fern and the others gone, Ash and the girls won't need to worry about him as they get outside, they manage to see Saphira's Dragonite on the ground, but there is no sign of Saphira. But just as they walk on the bridge, the avalanche happens and a Chatot charges in and saves them from the attack.
Chatot: 'Save Ash'
Ash: Wait, you're Taka's Chatot...
Because Chatot's trainer is dead, Ash decides to capture the Pokemon as Chatot is willing to join him. After getting into the cave, they find the door that leads to the League.
Serena: I think this is it...
Lillie: But how are we going to open it?
Ash: (Notices the slots) There are some slots...I wonder what we can use with this...
Florinia: (Arrives) Greetings.
Ash: Rini! You're here as well.
Florinia: The aforementioned plan to release Labradorra Tournament participants has been successfully completed. All parties finishing in Round 2 or later have been routed north towards the current premises. All parties finishing in Round 1 were redirected south for geographical and numerical practicality.
Ash: I see, I'm glad everyone is fine.
Florinia: Still remaining to be done is the original procedure of uninstalling Team Meteor. To that function, this party is present to assist in whatever way may apparently be possible. Example: A prototype Remote PC function has been collected and may be used on request. Secondary example: (Looks at the room) The device in this room contains no discernible instructions. Nevertheless, this speaker is familiar with several reports regarding it. Allegedly, its function is as a combination and feedback device, securing the path forward. Verily, it is the final obstacle of Victory Road.
Serena: So how do we complete this puzzle?
Florinia: In order to input the combination, several crystalline objects are required, which can likely be found in the remainder of this cave system. Proposed steps: 1) Gather up to twelve "Crystal Star" items from elsewhere in this cave system. 2) Speak to this individual for a detailed report on how to deduce the required combination. 3) Using the aforementioned feedback system and principles established by this speaker, Reduce the number of potential combinations to one through repeated trials and adjustment. This speaker will remain in the given area to assist with this purpose.
Lillie: How are we going to get those Crystal Stars?
Florinia: (Press a hidden button) Several additional passages should now be open. Each Star and passage corresponds to one of the established traditional color sets. The locations of the items should be in an environment accordingly matching. Does this description produce any insight?
When they head back, they find a teleportation tile and steps on it, and they are now back at the place with the four caves.
Ash: So the four caves we were in...Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and Amethyst, each of them have 3 Crystal Stars in it...
Serena: So where are we going first?
Lillie: I think we should go with the order, Ruby first.
After getting into the Ruby Cave, Ash and the others are trying to go through the cave, the puzzle is the Rock Climb puzzle with the Red Crystals needing to be activated. After finishing the puzzle, they find Charlotte, Titania, and Hardy arguing, and Sirius and Aya on the other side of the lava.
Hardy: And just let her go? You're nuts, lady! I ain't gonna do anything that'll get Aya hurt!
Charlotte: Seriously, you are giving them way too much power. (Turns to Ash and the others) Hi again, by the way. What exactly was the point of you coming all the way here if when it comes down to it you don't have the resolve to actually do anything?
Hardy: Resolve ain't an issue; I just ain't gonna do something stupid!
Charlotte: You're literally doing, like, five stupid things right now.
Aya: Can you lay off him? He's trying his best, even for someone like me.
Titania: Is he, though?
Hardy: Ugh, not you too.
Sirius: You should listen to them, boy. Resign to the failure you've already crafted by your own hands. One false move and her life is forfeit. As long as that's the case, you are beyond powerless.
Titania: (Turns to Sirius) Hey, news flash: No one cares about your B-movie villain dialogue. Go monologue offstage if you're so set on continuing to say words.
Sirius: And what position are you in to challenge me?
Titania: Yes, yes, no one's in a position to challenge you except the one person who isn't willing to. Isn't that fortunate?
Hardy: Oi, I'm more than willing! I just gotta do it in a way so she can't get hurt.
Titania: Firstly, I wasn't referring to you. Secondly, that way doesn't exist. People are going to get hurt, and you're going to be the one to hurt them. That's a fact whether you like it or not. The sooner you learn to accept it, the sooner we can all move on with our lives.
Charlotte: (Turns to Ash) Hah! I like her. It's a shame that common sense doesn't seem to run in the family.
Ash: You have no idea...
Titania: You're telling me. He's not the dullest stone in the yard though. He's just thinking with the wrong head.
Aya: (Confused) Um?!
Hardy: Whaddya mean?! Is there somethin' wrong with tryna save her?!
Titania: Not inherently. But your overzealous attitude and reckless approach make your priorities clear. You're not doing this for her. This is for yourself. You need the thrill of the chase to feel brave and daring and all those other things boys are told they're supposed to be. And at the end of it all, when the princess is finally rescued from the castle, there just might be a warm body for her rescuer to stick his d-
Hardy: (Blushes) Sis, what the fuck?
Charlotte: Oh, I really like her.
Sirius: (Gives out a laugh) You're all rather amusing. But for all of your squabbling, the situation will not change. Even Saphira couldn't save her. She tried, over extended, and fell. And so she met the rocky valleys of this mountain range, face first.
Charlotte: You wanna join her?
Sirius: I'm sure you would be all too happy for me to, Belrose.
Charlotte: And what's that supposed to mean?
Sirius: Oh? You don't have any vendetta against me yourself?
Charlotte: (Demands) What are you talking about?
Sirius: Here I assumed you already knew. I suppose no one found out, or no one bothered to mention it.
Charlotte: Do you want me to say 'what' again, or should I just start saying it in different languages and hope you eventually understand? If you're going to say something, then say it already.
Sirius: I knew your parents, Belrose. I knew of their home by the lake. Back then I wondered if I should have waited for you to return from your escapade with that Vulpix first. It would have been preferable to burn the whole family together. The fewer loose ends, the better. But in the end, there was no time. Your oldest sister was defter at escaping than I imagined, but my primary targets were dealt with nonetheless. I confess I was almost looking forward to whatever venom you'd pathetically sputter when you finally reached me. But to think you never knew. I suppose I covered my tracks better than I hoped.
Ash: I have also heard this from my parents. Charlotte, you're not the one who burned the whole house and your parents. (Points at Sirius) He is, all because of the Sapphire Bracelets.
Charlotte: (Now speechless and lowers her head) Really? You're trying to tell me that after all these years of, oh, basically, basing my entire personality around the guilt of having killed my parents, (Turns to Sirius) it was you the whole time? Seriously?
Sirius: You may believe what you wish. Delude yourself if you must. Many do.
Charlotte: Yeah, whatever, you're clearly very superior to God and everyone else. Anyway, if you want to hear my 'venom' so badly, then listen up, because I'm only going to say this once: Fuck you. (Leaves)
Sirius: Hah, do you truly think it will be that simple?
Titania: So, the Sapphire Bracelets were theirs.
Sirius: How astute. I knew from my own experience already that such an item could never be harmed by a mere fire. So I destroyed everything in the way, and had only to sift through ashes for it.
Titania: And somehow I found them first.
Sirius: Oh? So that's why. No matter. They've made their way back to our hands properly by now.
Titania: They've what? I gave them to...
Sirius: Yes, and I'm told Ash quite willingly gave them up in their hypnosis. As you can see, all is bound to end with us as the victors. That is the way the world turns, for that is the way that she makes it turn.
Hardy: I ain't gonna let that happen...
Sirius: We do not require your permission.
Titania: Like I said before, there's only one person here who is capable of doing anything about this. And she's already given up. (Looks at Aya)
Aya: (Realizes) W-wait, do you mean...
Titania: Yes, you.
Aya: What do you expect me to do? I'm the hostage here!
Titania: Frankly, I expect you to continue being useless. But if we set expectations aside, I'd say you could actually work towards finding a way out of the situation yourself, instead of just waiting to be rescued like a storybook damsel. But you've already resigned yourself to the label of a helpless prisoner. And there's nothing any of us can do about that, no matter how much some of us may think we want to.
Hardy: What do you mean "think" we want to? Of course, I wanna help her! But...
Titania: But you can't, and your motivations are skewed. End of discussion.
Aya suddenly feels dizzy after hearing what Titania said, and her vision starts to get blurry and falls to the ground.
Hardy: AYA!
Sirius: (Also surprised) What? What are you doing? Get up!
Titania: By the way, how long have you been down here with her?
Sirius: Since Lin ordered us to- What does it matter?!
Titania: And when was the last time you gave her any water?
Sirius: What?
Titania: Amazing.
Serena: What do you mean by that?
Titania: I'm saying that this man is an idiot. A hostage won't do you much good if you can't even keep her alive.
Hardy: What?!
Lillie: I think I have read about this from a book... It's heat exhaustion. She's been cooped up down here next to this lava without adequate water for so long that she passed out. If she's not treated quickly, she'll die.
Hardy: Then we gotta do something!
Titania: So what will you do now, Sirius? You can no longer stall us out with your living shield. On our parts, both action and inaction lead to her loss. We no longer have any reason not to tear you to pieces. (Turns to Ash) Ash? You seem like you could use some excitement.
Ash: You bet.
Sirius: Pah. As if I ever truly needed her. I'll defeat all of you myself if I must! For the new world!
Then Ash has to fight Sirius, and Sirius goes for Alolan Marowak and Mega Manectric at the same time, Ash goes for Charizard and Krookodile for the first battle. With Krookodile's Earthquake, both Pokemon are taking a lot of damage. Since the field is the Dragon Field, Marowak goes for Outrage and deals a lot of damage to Charizard, but Charizard also takes a lot of damage from Manectric's Discharge. But Charizard withstands all the hits and defeats Manectric with the Seismic Toss and Krookodile's Dig.
The third Pokemon for Sirius is Tyrantrum, and Tyrantrum goes for Rock Slide to knock out Charizard, but Krookodile goes for another Earthquake to defeat Manectric. Ash goes for Lucario and Sirius goes for Seviper. Ash goes for Mega Lucario and then it goes for Close Combat, knocking out Tyrantrum, so Sirius goes for Minior as his fifth Pokemon.
Seviper manages to use Giga Drain to defeat Krookodile, so Ash goes for Gardevoir. Gardevoir goes for Psychic to knock out Seviper, and the final Pokemon for Sirius is Chandelure. Lucario goes for Flash Cannon, also knocking out Minior after taking the Rock Slide hit for many times, and Chandelure also defeats Gardevoir with Shadow Ball, so Ash goes for Pikachu, using Thunderbolt to knock out Chandelure.
Sirius: Do you know what regret like that does to a person? I've done all I could to erase the mistakes I've scrawled on history. How do you expect me to live with my myriad sins?
Saphira: I don't.
Much to their surprise, Saphira charges with Dragonite, and then they push Sirius into the lava.
Saphira: Live by fire; die by fire.
Sirius: You! Ha- Too true- This is a fitting place... for me to-
Then Sirius sinks into the lava, signaling his death. Ash can't believe it, first Solaris is dead, and now Sirius...
Titania: We heard you had a little tumble, but you seem to be well.
Saphira: I said before... I may be down, but I'm never out.
Titania: Unlike some.
Saphira: I found a way back in and heard about what he did. I'm glad to have been able to take revenge on at least one person.
Titania: As if that meant anything.
Saphira: Right. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a sibling to console.
Saphira brings Aya to Ash and the others while leaving to find Charlotte, after a while, Aya wakes up.
Hardy: You're awake!
Aya: Y-yeah.
Hardy: Are you okay? I'll find you some water, stat!
Aya: It's fine, really...
Titania: She was just faking the collapse.
Hardy: Say what?!
Aya: She told me to try and do something myself to fix it, so I... I didn't know what else to do.
Titania: No points for still casting yourself as the victim in it, but it worked.
Hardy: An' you knew?
Ash and Serena are the only ones who shake their heads, but they are surprised to learn that Lillie knows.
Lillie: What? It was obvious. So I came up with a pretext for it.
Titania: But I'll admit that your oblivious panic helped sell it.
Hardy: Gee, thanks. (Turns to Aya) But you're really okay, then.
Aya: Yeah, I'm... fine. I could use some food... or a nap. Or, for that matter, a shower. A really, really long shower...
Hardy: Then let's get you outta here. Everything's gonna be okay from now on. Or... (Lowers his head)
Aya: ...What's the matter?
Hardy: I just... I guess I dunno if I should be sayin' that kinda thing anymore. For all my big talk about rescuing you, I wasn't able to. Maybe it's just like she said. I was just deluding myself into thinking I could be some kind of hero for you.
Aya: Well... Is that so bad? One way or another, I'm safe. And for the record, I don't think she's right about that. Even before I was taken, you were the only one who really seemed to care about me. And regardless of the reasons, you didn't give up. Somehow, you're even still here now. In a sense, I'm glad it happened this way. If you had actually been the one to save me, and then tried to stick around and help me like before, I'd just feel like I didn't even come close to deserving you. I still... don't really know if I do, but... Uh, what I'm trying to say is... It's easier for me this way. In the end, you're still the one who always cared about me. Or you. Or...us?
Hardy: "Us" ... sounds pretty good. I can do that.
Titania: Well, I can't say I approve, but...
Hardy: Listen, sis, regardless of what you think, if this is what we wanna do, isn't that our right?
Titania: Naturally. (Walks towards her) Aya, right?
Aya: Yeah...?
Titania: We'll be in touch. (Leaves)
Aya: Uhhhhh...
Hardy: Oh boy. Don't worry about it for now, aite? We'll figure it out. For now, whaddya say we get outta here?
Aya: I say 'please'.
Hardy: That's that, then. We'll be rollin' out too. Gotta take care of her best I can, yanno? Thanks for your help with her, and everything else, guys. I'm trustin' you to take care of the rest of Team Meteor for me, aite? I know you'll rock 'em as always!
Then Aya and Hardy leave, while Ash and the others quickly grab the 3 Ruby Crystal Stars.
And I'll end the chapter right here, as you can see, we're in the final stretch of the Victory Road, as you need to collect 12 Crystal Stars, 3 for each color. And Sirius is now dead, you won't be seeing him after this chapter. I hope you like this chapter.
