Three Hours after The Royal Guardsmen lost their jobs, still February 19
Antonio
"Antonio, are we anywhere close?" Thomas whined from behind me. I tried to see how close we were, but I had to use one hand to hold Stephen up, so it took a few minutes to navigate the device.
"We seem to be approaching it. It should be about half a mile ahead of us."
"Good. Also, after all of this, Stephen needs to lose some weight!"
"Thomas, he weighs the least of all of us."
"Too bad!"
"I have an alternate solution. How about you gain some muscle?"
"Coming from you? I could bench press you!"
"Enough of this! We have arrived at our destination, apparently." We looked around, seeing nothing but a rocky hill.
"That thing must be wrong! There's nothing here!"
"Hold on, Thomas. It seems like it is indicating that there is something inside of the hill." We walked over to the door, and I knocked on the rock.
Luke
"So, we must create a plan for…" Steven began to say when the siren went off inside the conference room.
"What's that for?" Selena asked. Steven pulled up a video screen, showing three Gallade, two with their clothes horribly ripped, and carrying another one.
"They seem to be knocking on the door, as if they know that we are here." Steven announced. "Should we let them in?"
"That could be a massive security risk, Steven!" Cynthia replied.
"Yes, but the Gallade that they are carrying looks pretty bad. I vote we let them in!" Red countered.
"I agree with Red. The nearest town is about three hours away, and I don't know if he could make it that long." Blue stated.
"I say that we don't! We do not need more Gallade in this base!" Selena demanded.
"I think we should let them in." I said, with Selena giving me a confused look.
"I want to let them in. If they are against us, they will not escape." Steven stated as he walked through the door. I followed him to the door, and Steven opened it.
"I think that you're… not crazy anymore!" The one on the left said as they walked in. Steven and I helped carry the Gallade towards the Medical Bay, and then the Blissey and Chansey there took him to a room. The two Gallade looked around the waiting room, seemingly very confused.
"Hello, Gallade." I said to the one on the left. "Can you come with me for a moment?"
"Sure." The Gallade followed me out of the waiting room and back towards the main entrance.
"What is your name, sir?"
"Antonio." That caught me off guard for a second. Could it really be…?
"Would your last name happen to be Starrin?"
"Actually, yes. How did you know that?"
"Do you know a Gallade named Gality?"
"Yes, I did. Well, at least I thought I did."
"What do you mean by that?" We both sat down on a bench.
"He fled the community a while ago, and has been toying with our group ever since. A few months ago, he would have taken a Hyper Beam for us, and now.."
"Well, back to how I knew your name, you wrote an entry in Gality's diary."
"How did you have access to that?"
"We worked as an engineer here. I thought he was my friend at one point." I paused, still saddened having to think of that. "He even saved me from the effects of Nightmare, and helped me on many missions. But then, I learned that he was mind controlling people, and we kicked him out." The Gallade stood up.
"I was never a supporter of him doing that, but I couldn't stop him. The community supported him in using it, and so did his father."
"Well, how did you get in this situation, with two of you with ripped up clothes, and one of you absolutely defeated?"
"We returned from a mission in Herhen, and the Mayor tried to execute us for failing."
"Oh." We walked back to the Medical Bay, and to the Blissey running the front desk. "Where is the Gallade staying?"
"Left wing, second room, Mr. Stonewall." I thanked the Blissey, and walked into the room. The other Gallade was sitting in the chair across from the door. A Chansey was explaining his condition to him.
"Well, you are lucky. Another ten minutes, and he would be a goner." The Chansey said, and then walked out of the room.
Thomas
"Who do you have here, Antonio?" I asked.
"A person who knew Gality, that's who."
"He does? Where is that scoundrel?"
"I have no idea at the moment." the Lucario answered. "We banished him to the mountains on the other side of the region." I sighed.
"Well, that's just great!" Just then, a human and another Lucario walked into the room. "There are also humans here, Antonio!"
"And what would be the problem with that?" The human said.
"That your race is still alive! The community told us.."
"I'm going to stop you right there, Thomas. We were just betrayed by the place that we believed in most, so whatever they said is mostly likely incorrect!" Antonio interrupted, his leader instincts kicking in. "So, sit down, and let me handle this!" I did as he commanded, sighing.
"What's… what's going on here?" Stephen started to sit up, and then grimaced in pain, laying back down.
"Stephen!" Antonio stood next to him.
"Where are we?"
"We're at the point where your sensor showed."
"Alright."
"What sensor do you speak of?" the male Lucario asked.
"My old friend Gality had created a sensor that could track psychic signals and projections." Stephen slowly sat up. "He broadcasted his voice to us when we were in the Herhen region from this base."
"He did not tell me that he could do that." the male Lucario replied. "My name is Luke, by the way, and this is my wife, Selena." Selena gave Stephen a look of anger and annoyance at the same time.
"And that would be Steven Stone to your left, though I don't know how that is possible."
"What is possible, and isn't anymore, I don't know, Stephen. Also, I'm assuming that Gality told you that information."
"Correct. He studied some of your battle tendencies and styles back in the community."
"Well, I have a question for you, Gallade!" Selena interjected. "What were you doing in Herhen?"
"Besides getting wrecked, we were.."
"Stephen! That's confidential information!" I interrupted.
"To who, Thomas?" He replied. To that, I had no answer. "That's what I thought. We were there to capture a Gardevoir that was killing the regional protectors."
"Jubilee?"
"If that was her name, then yes. She's the reason that I'm stuck in a hospital bed right now."
"That's debatable." I commented.
"And why would that be, Thomas?"
"You should have dodged instead of blocked."
"Sorry, Mr. I Studied Every Type of Weapon and Fighting Style Since I Was Three! I don't have that kind of knowledge!" I didn't press because Stephen was starting to get annoyed. "Well, back on track. We returned from there to the Gallade Community, where Mayor Swordhand threw us in a cage above lava for failing. They escaped through a hole in the bars. I had to think of another solution, since I was too beat up from the fight with "Jubilee".
"That's actually what I was going to ask, Stephen." Antonio stated. "How did you end up half-awake in a bush?"
"When you guys left, I used the last bit of energy to contact anyone through a psychic message. Gality happened to save me from that trap."
"Gality?" Luke asked, confused. "Did he say anything?"
"The only thing he said was you're welcome, and after I admitted that he was right about his father, he said that 'he was glad I saw what it meant'".
"He is not what I remember him to be. Remember the sixth mission that we were on, Stephen?"
"Yes, Antonio. I was fifteen, so that would be four years ago…"
"What do you mean by mission?" Selena asked. Antonio threw her his badge, which was someone not destroyed. I felt around my pockets, but mine was missing. "Gallade Royal Guardsmen, 9th Division, Sergeant Antonio Starrin." Selena read the badge. "Gality was part of a Guarding Division?"
"Since he was seven, so for about ten years, yes."
"Well, what did he do on this mission that you remember foldly?" Steven asked.
"We were told to infiltrate a hydroelectric dam controlled by Bisharp. We accidentally.."
"*cough**cough* you!" I corrected.
"...opened a hatch that was holding a large amount of water." Stephen said, ignoring me. "He told us to run, and he held back the entire column for as long as he could with Protect. We found him later, nearly drowned." There was silence in the room. "On a different note, I'm going to assume he's not here, or he would be in this room." Steven nodded.
"We released him into the mountains about five days ago."
"Did he try and mind control people again?"
"Has he done that before?" Luke asked.
"Yes, unfortunately. His father always told him to use his ability as a weapon, and he always wanted to please him."
"Well, we should leave you three alone. We'll go do our jobs for the day." Steven said, walking out of the room with the two Lucario.
Luke
I walked back into my room with Selena on my heels. Helen was bouncing up and down on our bed, with the sheets over in the corner of the room. "Helen, what did I tell you about destroying the bed!" I said as Helen stopped jumping.
"I know, Daddy." She started to drag the sheets back on the bed when Selena motioned for me to sit down.
"Do you want to talk about something, Selena?"
"Yes, I do. Why are you standing with the friends of Gality?"
"What's wrong with them?"
"They worked with the man that betrayed us! And hurt you!"
"That's not entirely his fault, Selena." Helen was listening to our conversation, confused. "Helen, how about you go to the park for a couple of hours?"
"Okay!" Helen ran out the door and towards the elevator.
"I mean, it is his fault. His mind controlled people!"
"All he ever wanted to do was impress his father." I grabbed Gality's computer and booted it up. "In the notes I took in his diary, there are almost three hundred mentions of him just wanting to impress his father, do what he says, do anything to make him happy. You should know better than me how wanting to impress someone can change you."
"My mother was different!" Selena slipped for a split second. "She wasn't a leader, just a person trying to help their daughter!" I decided to change the topic, as this could get out of hand.
"Also, those Gallade didn't do anything wrong. Just because we are Gality's friends doesn't mean that we're evil!"
"Fair point." Selena got up and knelt next to me. "I just wanted to make sure that you are safe, Luke."
"You know that I can defend better than a brick, right?"
"I know that." Selena ran her hand along my face. "It's just… you mean so much to me. You're the reason I'm here today." Selena held her hand under my chin. "I love you, Luke."
"I love you too, Selena." I felt her lips against mine, and everything in the room melted.
16 Hours after the Former Gallade Royal Guardsman reached the Remnant Base, February 20
Stephen
A Chansey walked into the room. "Stephen, are you feeling alright?"
"About back to normal, actually." I said, sitting up in the bed.
"Good. You are allowed to go!" The Chansey replied, leaving the room. I followed her out, with Antonio and Thomas on my heels. Steven was waiting for us in the waiting area in the hospital.
"Follow me, Gallade." He walked out of the waiting room door. I followed, but Antonio pretty much dragged Thomas behind him. We turned into a room with a single table and projector. "You may sit, if you like." Antonio and I sat, but Thomas refused to sit down.
"What are we here for?" Antonio asked.
"Well, I never really told you what this place is. We are a group that wants to bring down Giratina, who destroyed the world before this one."
"What do you want to do, make Pokemon slaves again?!" Thomas snapped. Antonio had to keep him from punching Steven across the face, though he didn't seem phased.
"Of course not. That didn't work before, so why would we try it again?" Steven answered. "Our group here believes that leaving the world under the rule of Giratina allows too much death to occur. This place is a warzone, and Giratina will let this world implode."
"I think that it is fine the way it is!" Thomas yelled.
"Well, everyone is entitled to an opinion." Steven replied, still unfazed by Thomas' screaming.
"Why did you bring us here?" I asked.
"We always need new members, and you guys seem to be similar to other Pokemon here. I will leave you guys alone to make a decision." Steven walked out of the room, and it looked like Thomas was trying his hardest not to run out of the room and tackle him.
"I'll join them." I stated. Antonio and Thomas, especially seemed confused.
"Just like that?" Antonio asked.
"You're willing to join those animals? They're humans, the things that enslaved Pokemon!"
"One, Thomas, you were told that by an organization that we aren't aligned with anymore. Two, Antonio, it isn't just like that. We were told our whole lives how prestigious the role of Royal Guardsman was. We were also told how important and hard finding them was. Yet, we were discarded like tissues. Disposable. I never told you guys, but Mayor Swordhand reports to Giratina. If other communities controlled by Giratina are anywhere close to ours, this needs to end. And we also couldn't do it alone, no matter how powerful we are." Antonio was seemingly considering the idea, but Thomas was having none of it.
"That may be true, but you have no proof that it was Giratina's influence." Thomas replied.
"I'll support Stephen on this one. That is a very good point, and no one else should have to go though what we did. The more I think about it, we're lucky. If Stephen didn't make that cage, we would have melted!"
"I can't stay here." Thomas stated.
"Why, Thomas?" I replied.
"It's not just because I don't trust the humans here. It's because some part of me likes the death and the war. I was bred to be an assassin, warrior, and tactician. I simply cannot support this organization. It will destroy the only way I know how to think and live. If you two believe that this is best, I will have to leave." Thomas speech floored me. Does he really believe that he only lives for war?
"Thomas, there's more than battle in the world!" Antonio exclaimed.
"Antonio, Stephen, it's been nice knowing you two. You are the only true friends that I will probably ever have." Thomas walked out of the door and towards the exit of the base. "But I cannot fight with you any longer." He reached the large stone door and opened it. I opened my mouth to protest, but Thomas stopped me. "There is no changing my mind, Stephen." I watched as my friend of sixteen years walked into the dark forest, the sun not even risen, probably never to be seen again.