For Chrono, who made me smile. I prefer "Great Arceus" too.
7. Castelia City
We crossed the Skyarrow Bridge. I had done this before. Castelia City was a hotbed for contractors. There was always work for a person willing to do it. The others were mostly silent, and that made sense. The roar of the traffic from under the bridge effectively silenced all conversation. Justin was whistling, though. Castelia was his hometown, and he looked eager to be back there again. The others examined the skyline through the morning haze, not gawking, but impressed by the immensity of the city. If a person lived in Unova, they'd seen Castelia at least once before. It was, after all, The City. Bigger by far then Saffron, Hearthome, and even Lumoise did not sprawl as far. Castelia's tallest skyscrapers rose higher than their famed Prism Tower. The City, in all senses of the word.
"Look, the Royal Unova!" Helena pointed out.
"And the smell of asphalt and fish," Marcus grumbled with a pointed sniff.
The giant cruise ship made its way under the Skyarrow with the grace it was known for, and Justin glowered at Marcus. Justin shrugged.
"What? On hot days, everyone knows how they cook it in Castelia," he said.
Candace laughed.
"We'll be broiled in these uniforms," Helena grumbled. I nodded. It wasn't anywhere near the heat of the summer, but these fall days were not quite removed from the season.
Once we got over the main traffic, conversation resumed. I wondered how Ghetsis intended to work The City. It wasn't like the little towns that we'd entered before. You'd need a tv station to reach all the people, and the crowds, and all the noise! Even Ghetsis would have a hard time being heard over the din that was Castelia. I wanted to ask him, but he had been distant with me since we left Accumula. In the company of the others, he all but ignored me. I knew why. After my disgrace, he could not appear to favor me. It would make the others suspicious. At the same time, I knew that he was still interested in teaching me and I missed the companionable conversations that we'd shared... A week ago? Time didn't seem to move fast enough anymore. I had so much to learn, and this facade of indifference he maintained was enough to drive me mad!
We entered the visitor center at the end of the Skyarrow. A tour group moved from exhibit to exhibit, while bored children teased and poked each other, giggling and screaming in turn. They pointed at us and stared. I ignored them. I never cared for brats.
Candace had a different approach. She screwed up her face in an altogether horrible expression and said "Boo!"
Most of the kids laughed, but a little boy started to cry. His mother turned to shush him, but when she caught sight of us her face hardened and she scooped up her son and glared at us. I couldn't help but notice how tightly she held the boy. He twisted and fussed and she turned her back on us. I noticed other parents that took their child's hand or herded them away from us. It was different from the usual frank curiosity we inspired. I'd heard of the hard ways of the Cityfolk, but there was something else at work here.
Ghetsis observed the scene with a pensive frown. He said something to Wilhelm. Wilhelm shook his head and Ghetsis looked grim. I fought down a spike of jealousy. It should have been me. I should be the one Ghetsis confided in. What was all that talk about sharing his soul with swine if he wouldn't share it with me!
I trooped moodily behind Zarah. She seemed interested in the exhibits. Justin was showing off to Helena just how much he knew about his hometown. I was low-key amazed by how many vulgar words had been etched into the otherwise clean displays. Other than that, I was interested in them only on a surface level. I built buildings, not bridges, so the exhibits interested me in a vague way in that I knew enough to understand just how much I didn't know.
Ghetsis allowed us more time to gawk than usual. He seemed distracted, like he was waiting on something. I wanted to ask him, but Wilhelm hovered attentively and I still felt the irrational jealousy toward him. I left them alone.
It was a quarter of an hour before Ghetsis summoned us all with an impatient wave of his hand. Marcus had to hunt for Candace. She was adding her own layer of graffiti to the already abused exhibits. She was from Nimbasa, though. The grime that the city attracted was second nature to her.
Team Plasma propaganda graced the visitor's center before we left. I didn't approve. It wasn't as if I didn't leave my mark on the beams of buildings I'd helped to raise, but what office worker would ever see the steel bones of Black Tower? There was a line between marking something no one would ever see, or be meant to see, and scrawling on something that was meant to be looked at. It was childish, and despite Ghetsis' admonishment about my pride I couldn't help but feel superior that I knew the difference.
The City was the bustling mess that I had expected. The sidewalks were thronged with people. This close to the docks was a tourist attraction and it was filled with streetside entrepreneurs looking to add to the City Experience.
"Get a taste of the seeeeeea!"
"Lovely fabrics! Woven by the Kimono Girls in Johto!"
"T-shirts! Get yer t-shirts here!"
Zarah looked longingly at the t-shirt vender. Different logos and colors graced his stand, but predominant was the silhouette of a pokeball with a crescent line underneath that shot off in five lines of varying sizes. "You there missy, how'd you like a fine t-shirt? 'Get Caught by Castelia,' right here, only 750 poké. Let 'em know at home you've been!"
The white shirt had plain black letters in a bold font, with the "caught" being a pokeball. The shirt wasn't as popular as the stylized dock and pokeball logo The City was known for, but it had its following.
"We'll have time to shop later," Helena soothed as we walked away from the vendor.
Zarah nodded, but she still looked bereft.
"Driftveil doesn't have anything like this," she muttered. "It's such a sleepy place."
"Does anyone know where we're going?" Marcus muttered to me.
"Do we ever know where we're going?" I asked.
Marcus shrugged.
"We're traveling on Main Street," Justin volunteered. "But we really should be heading for Central Plaza. That's where all the action is, and it's a great place for pokémon battles! Um..." he had the grace to look mareepish. "It's also not really noisy, and would be the best place to spread the word, you know... 'cause it's central..."
Ghetsis had been in a bad mood since we entered Castelia. His frown had only deepened as we progressed further into The City. Now, though, he turned his attention on Justin and the irritation in his face melted away.
"A capital suggestion," Ghetsis agreed. "Lead on, Justin."
Justin visibly swelled with pride. He turned down the next street, confidently leading us through the mob of humanity.
The City bustled around us. The city people treated us like an obstacle and went around. Their eyes were hooded and I felt that they didn't see us at all. I knew the spectacle we made and I wasn't sure if I was amazed or saddened by the hardness of their hearts. Even Ghetsis would be hard-pressed to bring N's message to these people. Even if they heard, I doubted they would take the time to listen.
Central Plaza always came as a surprise. It was open and airy with a giant fountain in the center. Trainers and pokémon held battles here, just as Justin had said. There were vendors here, too, strolling along selling food and t-shirts.
Our arrival drew attention. The people here seemed real, and more alive than the sea of humanity outside. Several trainers drew together, and I guessed from the blue bands they wore on their arms that they were some sort of gang.
"Candace, Wilhelm, remain with me. The rest of you, disburse and mingle," Ghetsis said. It wasn't an order. He just knew he'd be obeyed.
I grit my teeth. He'd sooner keep Candace next to him than me? How far was this show of disfavor to go?
"But sir, what are we supposed to do? We can't just leave you here," Helena sounded worried.
"Don't fret," Ghetsis said mildly. "I didn't tell you to leave the park. I wish to take the pulse of the crowd, and know our place in it. Go, see some sights. Return to me in half an hour, and then I will decide our next course of action."
We all nodded warily and did as he said. Helena kept looking back. She was uneasy. I understood her feelings. I was uneasy myself. Perhaps it was the sheer size of The City, but I felt small and insignificant. It didn't seem possible that N's message could possibly reach all these people.
Our rhythm was off. Normally we arrived at a town and Ghetsis dispatched someone to secure our lodgings and Wilhelm to herald his speech. So far, Ghetsis had done none of these things. What was he doing, then? It wasn't Ghetsis' style to just expound his message on any street corner. He wrapped Lord N's truth in as much ceremony as could be expected on a trip. I wasn't sure why he did that. The truth was the truth, whether on the corner of the street or to an expectant crowd at a market.
Even as I thought it, though, I could hear Ghetsis voice in my head, amused but chiding, "Perception, Rex. Perception." He was controlling how people saw him. By only allowing them to see him when he chose, he could manipulate the way they thought of him. He'd said back in Accumula that his words would lose power if he were to stay before the crowd. To take questions was to give up control, to have to listen instead of just teach.
Come to think of it, Ghetsis had controlled all of my interactions with him, first by using my ignorance and awe, and then by outright forbidding me speech. Now he controlled our interaction by withholding it. I sighed. It made my head ache just to think about it. How much control did a man need? The worst part was that if I confronted him with this, he would have a perfectly reasonable explanation, then he'd steer the conversation his way, I'd follow along, and he would be in control. Again.
I noted that two members of the blue band group were doing a poor job of shadowing me. Judging by their swagger, they weren't trying to be stealthy. Before I could wonder about them, a trainer caught my eye.
"Ha! Gotcha, Sir Knight!" she squealed in delight. "I don't know what your group's about, but since I saw you I've been itching to battle!"
My heart sank, even as I felt the adrenaline rush that battle always provoked. To be challenged now, though, after the tenets of Lord N...
Still, I carried pokémon and we had locked eyes. That made me a trainer, and she handled her pokeballs well enough. She was younger than me, but I was unused to the pokémon I carried. I hadn't tried to train them, and knew very little about them besides the liepard's dislike of bitter food and that the whirlipede would rather not listen to me.
"I'm Fréda," she said expectantly,
"I am Rex of Team Plasma," I replied. If she noticed the resignation in my tone, she said nothing.
"Plasma? Like blood? Eww," she said. "Whatever, though. Let's go Ruby!"
She released a herdier from her pokeball and it growled at me. The red ribbon in its hair spoiled its ferocity just a little.
I released my... No. Really, I should know better than this. Battling was dangerous, not just to the pokémon, but to the mind of the trainer. It was all too easy to think of the pokémon as "mine." My friend, my partner. But that wasn't true! The pokémon no more belonged to me than Fréda did. Only pokeballs could not cage humans.
"Are you going to go? We can't fight if you don't send one out," Fréda chided.
I bristled. The chiding tone was getting to be the one I hated most. I let the liepard out with ill grace, fuming that my thoughts had run away with me and that Team Plasma issued pokémon in the first place. Without them, I could have avoided this battle, and followed more closely the ideals of my Lord N. Why did people who preached pokémon liberation carry pokémon? The hypocrisy was getting to be more than I could stomach.
The herdier and liepard circled each other before the herdier went in for a tackle. Liepard fought defensively and without help from me. Fréda called out encouragement to her... the herdier and pointed out any weaknesses she saw.
Liepard looked at me questioningly when she could, but I shook my head. I would not command her. She wasn't mine. After a while, she stopped looking.
Fréda and herdier muscled through Liepard. She fought well, and the fight was close, but the herdier refused to fall, even when I was certain Liepard had dished out more than enough damage for two herdier. Liepard just laid limp under the herdier's last tackle, not fainted but without the will to continue fighting.
"That's enough Ruby!" Fréda said. Herdier barked happily and settled at her feet. It had lost its ribbon and looked smug.
I recalled Liepard. I was restless and shaken from the loss and the adrenaline crash; but, more than that, I was angry. It wasn't fair that I put Liepard into a battle I couldn't fight! Why did we allow this? How could anyone follow Lord N and put a pokémon in battle?
"Your liepard was quick," Fréda said. "It really has the instinct, but really, you should take a more hands-on approach. It's obvious you and Liepard aren't used to each other yet. By spending time with it, eventually you'll get to that nonverbal level."
"That will not be the case. Liepard will be released as soon as our mission is complete. I want to spare her as much as possible the taint of a trainer," I replied.
"The taint? What do you mean? I thought you were a nurse or something."
"A nurse?" I asked in surprise.
"Well, you know. Blood plasma. Team Plasma. I thought you guys were a cosplay BloodMobile group or something," she admitted.
"... A cosplay..." I started, but I forced my mouth shut. Ghetsis would never be caught flat-footed like this. If I wanted to do what he did, I had to start by doing it as he would.
"Have you never heard the message of pokémon liberation?" I asked. "The way you spoke of the bond between myself and Liepard shows you care about pokémon."
"I do. Every trainer should," she replied, in the same way a person would say "A tamato berry is hot."
"Indeed, all people should respect pokémon. They are marvelous creatures, and we learn more about them every day. They are our equals, wouldn't you say?" I asked.
I was amazed I could speak at all. My legs trembled and my mouth was dry. My world narrowed to myself and Fréda. The words felt unwieldy in my mouth, but they were Ghetsis' words. I'd heard them often enough to know their power and to recall the shape of them.
"Yes," she drew the word out. She looked unsure of me now. Likely she was regretting challenging me. Well, I regretted it too so she could shoulder some of the blame.
"Is that so? Well, you have defeated me. Do you presume to give me orders?" I asked.
"What? Sir Knight, you're too much! Besides the prize money, there isn't anything I want from you," she laughed. "I mean, I thought about dinner if you were local, but..."
I blushed. Again, I missed my old self. I was shameless then. What was it about this new conviction that made me feel so vulnerable?
"But... But we are equals," I stammered.
"Well, yes, I guess. You are local then?"
"You make it sound as if you're interested in capturing me," I replied.
"In a Love Ball, if you know what I mean!" She said with a cheeky wink.
"Well, why not then? You'd capture a pokémon you defeated and force it to do your bidding," I said disgustedly.
"You are so queer! You talk like it's a bad thing!" She exclaimed. "I don't know what to make of you, Rex of Team Plasma!"
"Can't you hear the contradiction yourself?" I demanded. "You call pokémon your equals, just as you call me, but you would hardly force me to obey you. Why then is it different for pokémon?"
Fréda stared at me. She opened her mouth a few times, but closed it without a word.
"This is the heart of pokémon liberation. Pokémon are subject to the selfish commands of trainers and we humans push them around, all the while calling them our partners. What partner is kept locked away until you have use for it? How is that equal? How is that fair? My Lord N, the king of Team Plasma, he has seen this and he has heard the pokémon's cries. This is his message. Liberation, because only then can we truly be equal," I finished.
I was still trembling, but I hadn't noticed through my... Speech. A speech! I'd done it! I had managed to string words together (I ignored Ghetsis voice in my head. 'As a chatot can...') for someone other than other members of Team Plasma! I was too worked up to grin, but I felt less afraid.
"...That's not right at all!" Fréda finally protested. "Pokémon aren't like that! People aren't like that! How could you say..."
"And where was Herdier?" I demanded. "Is she free to do as she pleases, or does she wait in her pokeball for you to decide her fate?"
"Ruby is my pokémon!" Fréda snapped. The herdier barked in agreement.
"She belongs to you, then?"
"Yes! She's my partner!"
"She is your possession, unless she too has the right to place you in a pokeball at her whim. How are you equal?"
"We just are, you horrible..." Fréda was practically spitting. Herdier looked menacing, picking up the emotion from Fréda likely.
"I don't know who I feel worse for, you for not seeing the slavery you participate in or the herdier, for not realizing the extent to which it is enslaved," I said.
"You monster," Fréda hissed.
She turned on her heel and stalked away. Herdier went with her.
What just happened? My arguments were foolproof. I'd reduced her to name-calling and she'd walked away. By all standards, I'd won. Why, then, was I feeling like the loser?
A shout drew my attention away from my achievement, or failure. Justin was engaged in a loud argument with several of the blue-banded gang members. I started toward him, but my two shadows, forgotten during my excitement, made themselves known again.
"Youse'd be best ta let this alone, see?" said the one in the shredded leather jacket. The other wore a t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off. He cracked his knuckles in a menacing manner.
I didn't like the look of either of them. They were young, but had the tough look of fighters.
I thought of my bouffalant immediately. Being a trainer was an instinct that I could not always suppress and, right now, I would have relished the looks on their faces if my old Boulder was staring them in the eye. Instead, I had only myself. How could I ask any pokémon to fight for me now?
"You of all people should understand team loyalty," I said haughtily. "And what's going on over there is hardly fair."
"T'it's personal, and youse and youses don't know nothing about it," Leather said.
"Can make it personal, if'n ya want," T-shirt said.
I'd always been stubborn, but two against one was not good odds. Even if it came to a pokémon battle, the whirlipede wouldn't listen to me and I couldn't make it. I wouldn't try. Could I take these two? Well, maybe...
"My, my. Is this a challenge?"
I both relaxed and tensed at the sound of Ghetsis' voice. Leather and T-shirt looked less cocky when Wilhelm and Candace bolstered my ranks. Ghetsis swept in front of us. His grin was sharp.
"It seems that you have a grievance with my team. State it, or find me someone who can," he said.
"This'n isn't anything to do with youse..." Leather started, but his eyes were wide. T-shirt's mouth was still hanging open.
"Gentleman," Ghetsis said. It was heartening to hear him use that condescending tone on someone other than me. "You are about to find yourselves in the midst of a war. I suggest you choose your battles carefully."
Leather was brave enough when he had me out-numbered, but he moved when Ghetsis walked past him. T-shirt looked less certain, but Candace and Wilhelm pulled pokeballs. He frowned, but let us pass.
Justin was in the middle of a ring of ruffians, but he wasn't beaten up. He was yelling at them. They were yelling back.
"... Wouldn't dare!" Justin shouted.
"Traitor! Youse and youses think we're low..."
"... Pokémon stealing thief!"
"Shame the Bonnie Blues, someone like you..."
"Says you! You steal lunches from preschoolers Marv, you sneakin' scrafty!" Justin retorted.
"At least I didn't forget where I came from!"
"I haven't forgotten!" Justin reached under the Plasma surcoat and pulled out a sweaty, faded blue band. He held it up like a talisman. "'True blue,' just like all of you!"
A punk girl with an electric-blue mohawk snatched the band from Justin, then she threw it on the ground and spat on it. The circle went quiet. Justin's color went from red to white in seconds.
"True Blue draws a line. True Blue don't steal pokémon," she said. "We don't truck with pokésnatchers, and of youse is aligned with 'im, you ain't a Blue."
"This has gone on long enough," Ghetsis said.
He stepped into the circle and put a hand on Justin's shoulder. Wilhelm looked tense, and I felt my unease return. Seeing our leader in the center of hostile thugs was not heartening, nevermind how easily they'd parted to let him pass.
"Is this the legendary honor of Castelia's gangs? Seven against one? I was under the impression you were more certain of your strength," Ghetsis said.
For the life of me, I couldn't detect a breath of sarcasm; however, it wasn't my breath on the line. I was very aware that we only numbered seven in grunts total, plus Ghetsis makes eight. The gang had at least nine, and there were other people watching us balefully. It was hard to tell if they were with the gang or spectators.
"T'its got nothin' ta do with youse. Yous'en be better ta leave it be seen' as youse isn't a gang, and youse isn't Castelian," the mohawk punk said.
The gang members around her nodded. Their eyes were flat and mean. They didn't bother to go for pokeballs. When the blow fell, it would be physical.
"Do you not take care of your members, and help those of yours in good standing? Do you not have a firm, but guiding hand at the top, and a group of people who safeguard your best interests and tell you where to be and when to be there?" Ghetsis asked. He punctuated the question with a subtle turn of his free hand, leaving it palm up, open and inviting. The hard, flat eyes of the gang members were drawn to the little motion, like a meowth to glitter.
"Yah," answered a kid to the left of the punk lady. "T'its bosses like Lorenna here does that."
Most of the gang nodded. They didn't need to point out the punk with the blue mohawk. Their very posture pointed to her, and a gleam appeared in their eyes. They knew her, and they were... I wasn't sure. Proud, maybe. It remained to be seen.
"Shut your face fool!" Lorenna snapped. "So's I'm boss here, but ain't like he's."
"On the contrary, I believe we both occupy a position of leadership, and you can hardly say our two groups are not alike in function," Ghetsis said smoothly.
"Ain't no twistin' that youse is a bunch of pokésnatchin' thieves," Lorenna growled.
"There are those who would say you are nothing more than anarchist thugs," Ghetsis replied, again without a trace of malice. "And with good reason, as well."
"Ain't talkin' 'bout us. Isn' us doin' no snatchin'."
"It's well known that the gangs are the leading cause of Castelia's commercial dead zones, especially its banking deserts. The tales of missing children also have a certain basis in fact," Ghetsis had an edge in his voice now. He made a small, delicate motion, like closing a zipper.
Lorenna glared at him. The rest of the gang had a more mixed reaction. Some glared like Lorenna, some drew pokeballs. They boo'd and hissed, but there were a few. A few whose eyes went from opaque to troubled. The truth was a powerful weapon indeed.
"Is this not excusable, though?" Ghetsis said in a silky voice. "After all, the gang's farm a great deal of capital through their own banking system, and small community stores can be counted on to pay bribes and be properly pliable, with no large chain to back them or provide capital to pursue legal action should they need to be dealt with. It is all for the good of the gang, is it not? We both do what we must to obtain our goals, though I understand that our goals must be alien to you. After all, you are used to keeping not just pokémon, but people in slavery."
Lorenna hissed, but the crowd around Justin was only the inner circle. Outside, the confrontation had drawn spectators. Trainers and cityfolk on break watched with an interest more intent than usual. Gangs were a looming, but quiet problem in Castilia. It was the kind of thing people ignored and hoped would go away. Anyone who challenged them, anyone at all, gained no small measure of respect in the City, although it was quiet and not advertised where any gang member might hear. I started to breathe easy again. Ghetsis had a crowd. We would be fine.
"Team Plasma's attempts to free either are understandably shocking, then," Ghetsis said. He delivered one of his eye meeting looks to every member of the crowd. When he looked at me I thought he winked, but with the eyepiece I could not be sure.
"Consider this, and reevaluate your position on us. We have no quarrel with you. Our aim is something higher and brighter, our goal to bring true equality to Unova. Can you say your aim is as noble?"
Everyone was silent. I found myself smiling. Wilhelm looked grave yet, but Candace grinned cockily. Even Justin lost his defeated slump and drew himself up straight and proud under Ghetsis' touch.
"Youse is callin' youself a gang then?" Leather asked from the back of the circle. He sounded bewildered.
"It don't matter what they calls 'emselves," Lorenna snapped. "Youse is pokésnatchers. Bein' a gang just means we can have ourselves some gang warfare."
"Now, now. We don't have to be enemies. It would not be in your best interest," Ghetsis protested gently.
"Oh, yeah? Why'd that be?" Lorenna demanded. She fingered the pokeballs hanging from her hip chain.
Ghetsis regarded her with a pitying look.
"Because our goals do not concern you and, perhaps in a way that you can properly comprehend, there are more of us than what you see here," he said. His smile was sharp.
In an act of perfect timing, Zarah and Helena appeared. Beside them was another Plasma member that I didn't know. The newcomer had a swagger to her step and a haughty look on her face. She looked at the Bonnie Blues as if she saw better everyday.
The Bonnie Blues shifted uncomfortably. It was all well and good while they outnumbered us, but with this new influx of people, they seemed less sure. They had drawn back into a half circle, and we had filled in the other side. They were wary now. The spectators outside murmured too, and the gang looked from us to them with a patrat's caution. Ghetsis smiled, and affected not to notice. That just made Lorenna glare at him even harder.
"This don't change nothin'. He's still a traitor and a thief, and so are the lot of you," Lorenna said.
"I'm a liberator!" Justin cried. "I'm part of something bigger now, something bigger than just turf wars and violence! Team Plasma will change the world, and everything will be better! Better than just being here, where nothing ever changes and the same people shake down the same people every day! I'm proud to be Plasma! I don't need you anymore!"
It was quiet, very quiet. Someone's muttered, "good lad," was very loud in the silence. Lorenna looked up quickly and spread her glower amongst the crowd, but no one said anything more. No one pulled away from the speaker as if he were diseased either. Lorenna returned her glare to Justin.
"I'll take that back to youse's ma and pa and see what they think of it," Lorenna threatened.
Justin swallowed uncomfortably. The crowd rippled and more than one voice muttered "low blow," or "bad form."
"If you are reduced to threats and personal attacks, then this conversation is over. Let us go," Ghetsis said. He turned his back on the Bonnie Blues and walked back to us. We parted to let him pass.
Justin looked at us, then back at the Blues, and then at the blue band on the ground. After a long moment, he spat on it as Lorenna had done before.
"Do what you want. I'm already doing what's right. My folks will understand that," he said. He hurried after Ghetsis. The Blues looked shocked, but anger was quickly overriding that.
The rest of us fell into formation behind Ghetsis. The new girl had no place, but she slipped passed me and up to Ghetsis' side.
The Bonnie Blues let us go… no, that wasn't right. The Bonnie Blues couldn't of stopped us, not with the crowd Ghetsis had pulled. I felt myself shaking. Adrenaline was wearing off again. I hadn't realized just how afraid I'd been.
"Pretty bit of talking you did back there. We'll probably be fighting the BB's now, too. The gangs hate us 'round here. Oh, right, Sage Bronius sends his greetings," the new grunt drawled.
"Bronius' greetings are not what I'm looking for. His punctuality would have been far more appreciated," Ghetsis said pointedly.
The new grunt shrugged, "It's a big city, and ya'll weren't where you'd said you'd be. Can't blame him tryin' sir."
"No, indeed. I will hold him accountable for failure, however," Ghetsis said.
I was impressed by the girl's nonchalance. Ghetsis was certainly angry, but it slid off her, just like his sarcasm slid off Wilhelm. I wondered what it took to be immune.
"Just stick with me. I'll take you to our new secret hideout," the girl said.
She seemed proud. Ghetsis, I noted, wrinkled his brow in irritation.
"Bronius is gonna get it," Marcus whispered to me.
I nodded. Bronius was one of the Seven Sages, just as Ghetsis was; however, Ghetsis was the only one that traveled. It was different with other sages.
Ghetsis may have been one of the Seven Sages but, somehow, I couldn't picture Ghetsis regarding anyone else as his equal. Only a few days before, he'd predicted that he and I would converse as equals. Ghetsis could assume sincerity whenever he wanted; however, something about the way he'd said it... It was like a wish. I watched the angry furrows of his brow and the grim set of his mouth and I wondered. This man controlled everyone and everything around him. With his gift, he'd extracted us from the marauding attentions of a gang, and spread the message of pokémon liberation. He'd also made us heroes in the eyes of the watching cityfolk. If word of this didn't spread, this wasn't a city.
Who on earth would this man acknowledge as his equal, and how, by Reshiram's Blazing Fire, did he expect that equal to be me?
We turned down Gym Street. It was quiet here, oddly enough. Burgh had painted his gym again, I noted. I felt uneasy at the sight. Zarah and Marcus kept glancing at it too. Justin was still high on euphoria and marched along with his chest puffed out. Candace had eyes only for the new grunt. I could see why. The new girl swaggered so much it was amazing her hips hadn't dislocated and if her expression was any more bored I could smooth it with a belt sander. She also tossed and caught several small pokeballs, all of them different from the regulation pokeballs we were issued. I frowned. So, there was liberation at work here too.
I looked pensively at the back of Ghetsis' head. I much preferred Ghetsis brand of liberation. Trainers had to be made to see the errors of their ways. A pokémon released because the trainer understood and agreed was preferable. Anyone who joined Team Plasma had to release all their pokémon. There were those, though, that could not or would not. In that case, extreme measures had to be taken. It was the duty of Team Plasma to fulfill N's dream, and that meant that sometimes we...
We stole pokémon. We all had. It wasn't stealing. Not really. How can you steal something that wasn't property? It was liberation. We liberated pokémon from wicked, ignorant trainers. We also liberated pokémon from people who didn't yet understand why it was that generations of slavery was wrong. People were vehemently opposed to these methods, so force and group of three were often employed. We would ask, and when that didn't work, then there was the battle. We triumphed because of N's grace and superior numbers. If we didn't win, then we withdrew. That trainer was trouble for someone higher up than us.
It was easier to lose sometimes. Far easier than listening to the distressed cries and curses from the trainer as we forcibly subdued them and took...
Liberation. We liberated, but Arceus! It was the worst liberation I could imagine. I looked away from the cocky grunt. I was proud to serve N, proud of my truth, but thank the Brothers for Ghetsis, else there, but for the grace of our Sage, go I.
I clenched my fist and stared hard at Ghetsis. I wanted to ask him. I wanted to know, but how could I? How long would I be in exile? Why wouldn't he talk to me? I gave a speech today! Why was it I felt like the loser?