Chapter 17: The Hero's Advance

~~10 minutes after Anastasia's escape from the Crimson Foundation~~

Zennon was blindfolded.

He was sitting on an electric chair with his hands tied behind his back. There was a machine strapped onto his head in the shape of a helmet. It had all sorts of contraptions and gadgets on it. For a while, all he heard were the technological sounds and occasional beep noises.

He couldn't stop shaking.

Zennon knew what was coming for doing what he did, and he thought he was fully prepared. But he couldn't stop trembling.

Zennon heard the sound of a door opening. It was a slow creaking noise, one that terrified him so much that his body went still.

"Well…" It was Aiden's voice. "it's time to begin,"

Zennon's breathing began to quicken.

"Please…" Zennon said. His voice shook. "I-... We're friends, right? Please- don't do this. You don't have to do this. Just- Just let me go!"

"I never saw you as a friend," Aiden said. "I saw you as a stepping stone. Someone who I would play nice with, but when the moment came, I would step over you to gain more power."

Zennon heard Aiden's footsteps become louder.

"Today…you will learn who your king truly is," Aiden said.

The sudden sound of a lever being pulled was what came before electricity began to pour into Zennon's body and shock him to his core. Zennon's body quaked as he screamed at the top of his lungs in pain.

Marie was trying her best to level her breathing as she stared at the hospital ceiling. Her Pichu was lying on her stomach and about to drift to sleep. The poison in Marie's body was beginning to fade away- she could feel it. She couldn't stop thinking about what that Aldrich guy did. The fact that he was able to gain technology that allows his attacks to bypass the protection of Invoker armor was worrying.

That technology was invented by Samantha, and she's in Jail along with Quinton… So how did he gain access to that technology?

Suddenly, the front door to her hospital bed slammed open. Marie spun her head and widened her eyes once she saw who opened the door. It was Anastasia, absolutely unharmed and out of breath. Pichu's eyes widened as he jumped to his feet.

"You're not supposed to be here!" Nurse Joy's voice cried out from behind her.

"A-Ana?" Marie said, struggling to pull herself up. Pichu fell onto his trainer's lap as she did this. "Ana-" Marie said with a grunt. "You're back.."

"I-.." Anastasia struggled to breathe. "There was a guy..! And-.."

Nurse Joy ran up to Anastasia from behind and grabbed her shoulders.

"Lemme go!" Anastasia cried as she struggled to fight against the Nurse Joy who had begun pulling her away.

"You have to leave! You can't be here!" Nurse Joy cried.

"She's a visitor!" Marie cried. "Don't worry! I know her!" Nurse Joy's eyes widened in realization. She pulled herself away from Anastasia quickly.

"Oh! Sorry!" Nurse Joy cried. "I'm sorry!"

"There was this guy..!" Anastasia cried with bated breath. And- And he…!"

"Breathe first, and tell me what's going on," Marie said. Anastasia took the time to stop and catch her breath. After a while, she finally cleared her throat and nodded.

"There was this guy.. Who broke me out of that place… and he's probably in danger right now!" Anastasia cried.

"Danger? Ugh…" Marie turned so her legs would touch the floor, and as soon as they did, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach.

"Ugh..!" Marie cried, clutching her gut. Pichu leapt with worry and attempted to push her back onto bed. His stubby arms pushed hard on the blonde's stomach.

"Don't move!" Nurse Joy moved past Anastasia to run to the blonde's side.

"He's in danger… Ugh!" Marie grunted in pain. "My hero's in danger-.I-…"

"H-Hero?" Anastasia asked.

"You need to rest..!" Nurse Joy placed her hands on Marie's shoulders and attempted to push her down back to bed.

"I… Ugh..! Can't… just lay here..!" Marie moaned.

"You have to stay here until the Poison fully leaves your body!" Nurse Joy cried. "We already applied the antidotes, you need rest, or else it'll get worse!"

"Darn.. it…" Marie groaned as she fell back to bed. Pichu clung to her stomach as Marie turned around to lay on her back. It was then when the former champion realized she was sweating profusely. The poison had gotten worse because she had tried to move.

"Marie… What're we going to do..?!" Anastasia cried. Marie groaned as she turned to Nurse Joy.

"Can you get me my phone..?" Marie asked. "Then, give it to Anastasia.. It's… urgent.." Nurse Joy nodded as she spun to run away.

Anastasia slowly began to cry. "If only I knew how to fight.. I wouldn't have gotten kidnapped…" She groaned.

"It's not your fault.." Marie said, turning her head to Anastasia. "You're entirely focused on being a Pokémon Contestant. Of course you don't know how to fight. As for me, I don't have an excuse." It was starting to become harder and harder to breathe for the blonde. She could feel the poison tightening her throat. "If I wasn't… so… washed up… If I had spent more time training, and less time trying to become a Pokémon contestant… then maybe…I would… have beaten Aldrich.."

"Aldrich…?!" Anastasia said. "Hey- don't say that! You had no idea that some guy was going to come and cause trouble! Don't beat yourself up! Just rest!"

"You're right… I should rest… but listen…Once… Nurse Joy… Bring my phone.. I want you to call… The current champion of Hoenn...Lucian."

"Lucian..?" Anastasia said with widened eyes.

"He'll take care of…everything…" Marie said. "As of now… he's… a lot stronger… than I am."

"O-Okay…" Anastasia said. "You're going to be okay, all right? Just you wait and see.."

"Yeah.." Marie said. "Let me rest.."

Nurse Joy tapped Anastasia's shoulder. The white-haired girl took the phone from the Nurse's hands. Nurse Joy silently bowed before leaving. Anastasia turned back to Marie, who was struggling to breathe with her eyes closed. She sighed deeply before turning on Marie's phone.

She went to the contact list and saw Lucian's phone number. She dialed the number and pressed the phone against her ear.

"Hey, Marie! What's my little girl up to?" The man named Lucian spoke. He had a deep, mature voice. It immediately made the young girl blush. She shook her head to snap herself out of it.

"M-Mister Lucian, Sir!? I-I have to tell you something! I- uh, a lot of things are happening, and-"

"...Slow down." Lucian said. "Who is this?"

"This is Anastasia."

"Hello, Anastasia. Where's Marie?"

"I'll explain everything!" Anastasia cried. "I-..."

"Ana..!" Marie's voice called out to the white-haired girl, who spun around so quickly that her magician's hat nearly fell off of her head. "Give me the phone… I'll explain.."

"But- You're-"

"Just do it.. Okay?" Marie said, interrupting Anastasia. The Pokémon Contestant frowned and begrudgingly nodded. She went over to Marie and handed her the phone.

—

"I see.." Lucian said. His voice was loud enough for both girls to hear him. "They're trying to break Quinton out of Jail… and give him God-like power again. That's bad."

"Yeah.." Marie said. "...I have to rest now… I'll talk to you later.." Marie groaned as she turned her head to face the wall. Anastasia pulled the phone to her ear once again.

"I'll look into this. I'm climbing onto my Flygon's back as we speak and going straight to the Crimson Foundation's hideout. Thanks for the warning. Goodby-"

"Wait! No!" Anastasia cried.

"Huh? Something the matter?" Lucian asked.

"Whatever you're doing, I want in."

"You want in? You're a Pokémon contestant. Leave the fighting to us trainers."

"I- I can't shake the feeling that all of this is my fault..! That guy's in danger- and it's because of m-"

"Listen to me."

Anastasia gasped.

"You have to understand that you're not capable of fighting right now. I understand that you feel bad but, think about it. If I had to stop to pick you up, they would have more time to torture that man, or worse. Not only that- but you could also get captured all over again. Whatever you do, do not go back to the hideout. Do you understand?"

"I-.."

"Do you understand?" Lucian repeated.

"Ye-Yes.." Anastasia felt tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I understand."

"Good." Lucian sighed. "...Listen, kid..." The man sounded like he was feeling bad. "I'm really sorry for being harsh. I promise, none of this is your fault. I yelled at you because you reminded me of my little girl. After all this is over, I can personally teach you and your Pokémon how to fight, if you really want to learn."

Anastasia's eyes lit up. "I- Yes! Yes! I would love that!"

"Good," Lucian said. "Stay there, okay? I'll take care of all of this."

Lucian sighed deeply after turning off the phone. He was sitting on his Flygon's back as he soared into the sky. It would take him a few minutes to get to Lilycove city from Victory Road, but he knew his Pokémon would get there fast.

The Clean-shaven, muscular Champion had short pink hair like cotton candy, and piercing yellow eyes. The man had on a white collared shirt and tie under a black suit vest, and black pants. He had a menacing fur jacket that hung over his shoulders and flew gracefully in the wind. The jacket itself was black, while the fur was white. He had on a necklace that had the symbol of the Invoker, which was a thunderbolt sigil.

"They could be torturing that man…" Lucian said. "Or worse…!" Anger washed over the man as he clenched his fists.

One thing was certain. He was going to tear the Crimson foundation apart.

Aiden watched Zennon lay motionless on the electric chair. The blindfold the green-haired man had on before was gone. Steam was emanating from Zennon's body.

"Now…" Aiden said. "Who is your king?"

Slowly, Zennon began to raise his head, a devious smile grew on his lips. He slowly opened his eyes, and they were glowing crimson red.

"You are.." Zennon said. "You are the King."

"Good.." Aiden said. He snickered lightly, before laughing maniacally.