Chapter Eighteen: The Question
It didn't take long for his phone to ring now that service was back up. It was his father. "Oh, thank Arceus," he said as soon as Aaron answered. "Son, are you okay?!" He'd never heard him so concerned before.
"Yeah, we're fine. Those people came by and attacked, but everything seems to be alright."
"They literally snatched our neighbor out of his house…" Krista said.
"Well, maybe he shouldn't have had a Delta flag on his front porch," Aaron replied to the audino. "What about you guys?"
"We're okay, but everything's a compete shitshow outside." A glance out of his own window revealed that much; people were flocking to the streets, fearfully trying to make heads or tails of the situation. "Listen to me," Robert said, far louder than necessary. "You stay right where you are. Once the roads clear up a bit, I'll swing by and pick you up."
"If anything, I'm safer here than you are," Aaron replied. "I've got four very capable fighters here. I'm more worried about you guys right now." The suburbs where Aaron's parents lived were not known for being sites of activity during these past chaotic weeks, but all bets were off right now – especially a few miles out from Nimbasa.
"Oh Arceus," his mother stated. "They're everywhere…"
"You two stay in the house. If I need to, I can send Marcus there to—"
"To do what?" Robert asked. "Protect us from those guys? I watched one of them flip a damn car with those suits they're wearing. I don't think that lucario of yours is going to cut it."
"…He's right, Aaron." For the lucario to admit something of that sort, he meant it.
"Fine. What's your plan then? We just wait this crap out? Go about our days like normal?"
"What else? If the military doesn't stand a chance, we don't either." His father sounded equally defeated. "I'd really prefer having you over here…"
"I'm sure, but I'm not having my pokémon sleep in their balls or on the floor. We will be fine. Like I said, I'm more worried about you."
"Fine," Robert relented. "You'd better be in constant contact. I mean it. If anything goes wrong over there, you're coming here. End of discussion."
"Alright – I get it."
"Good. I'll call you in a few hours. Stay safe, son." Despite the tough front Robert was trying to put up, Aaron had known him long enough to distinguish the underlying fear within his voice. "We love you."
"Love you too." The call ended. Aaron glanced out the window, seeing the smoke rise in the distance. A swarm of airships was fleeing from the area, and once they had put some distance between themselves and the scene, a large tear in the fabric of space appeared. They swiftly flew through the circular portal before it shut behind them.
"Did they just teleport?" the serperior asked.
"It… looks like it." The trainer was in a similar state of disbelief. But his attention returned to the smoldering wreckage in the distance. Though he couldn't see what it was, he knew it wasn't good. "Shit…" He speedily scrolled through his contacts and clicked on Nathan's. It rung several times. Nathan never let it ring more than twice… "Come on… please pick up." At the last ring, the call was answered.
"Aaron! I was just about to call you. Are you okay?!"
"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you? What's going on over there?"
"They just hit the naval base off the coast. It's completely destroyed."
"Fuck, man. What's going on?"
"They're doing exactly what they said: targeting military bases so that Unova has no organized way to defend itself."
"This is really bad. Everything's gonna go to hell. Shit, people are going to loot everything at the store before long." Aaron had no chance of catching a bus right now, but he could run there within half an hour. "I'm going to Megamart."
"Why?" Nathan asked. "I really wouldn't advise that. You said it yourself – the place will be a madhouse."
"True, but odds are they've barred the entrances and windows shut. I can get in the side entrance with my card. I can go in and grab some supplies and take them out back." He knew how that sounded, but right now, he didn't care.
"So you're saying you should steal?" Nathan asked.
"Well, no… I'm not saying I should. But the store's gonna get cleaned out regardless. I'd rather it be me than someone else."
"But it wouldn't be someone else. It would be you." Aaron rolled his eyes.
"Dammit Nathan, can you get off of your high horse for just a second? This could be the end of the fucking world for all we know it." The older male fell silent. Aaron immediately felt bad about what he'd said. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that – I'm just scared right now."
"I understand," Nathan replied. "But right now isn't the time to abandon our morals. If anything, we need them now more than ever."
"You're right, but that doesn't change the fact that we have enough groceries for a week, maybe two if we stretch things. So what now?" Nathan seemed to ponder the matter for a bit before replying.
"I can send Aiden over there with supplies. We tend to keep a stocked pantry and Naomi can catch fish easily. But don't get caught up in the chaos. I really don't want you getting stabbed over a gallon of milk and a few loaves of bread."
"That makes two of us…"
"I'll send Aiden over there with some stuff soon. You just stay put and stay safe in the meantime, got it?"
"Alright." For a moment, Nathan sounded no different than his father. Or maybe a concerned guy looking out for a reckless younger brother. In any case, he ended the call, leaving Aaron in the company of only his pokémon.
"This sucks," Krista mumbled.
"I'm pretty sure we're all aware of that," Marcus replied.
"So what now? We wait here while Omega takes over? Accept this 'new world' just like that?" the audino asked.
"I'm not sure there's much we can do."
"But… don't you have all the Unova gym badges?" Nora asked. Aaron paused, thinking it over, then shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but that is not happening. There's no way we're ready for something like that."
"Nobody was ready for this," Nora replied. "But we don't have that luxury. If you have all the gym badges, then you can fight this group."
"And risk losing you all? Not a chance." The trainer would have nothing to do with that idea. The world be damned – his team was more important to him. If they had to answer to a different authority for them to remain with him, then so be it.
"Well, what do you think about them?" the typhlosion asked. "Do you think they're in the wrong?"
"Obviously, but—"
"Then it would be better for you to lose on your feet than… cower on your knees." He clenched his fists at her insinuation. Where had this Nora come from? She had planted her foot, though, folding her arms and meeting his gaze with an equal intensity.
"Caring about you guys more than Unova isn't cowardly! I have nothing to do with whatever the hell is going on outside."
"Then why do you say they're wrong?"
"Because… I don't know, but they shouldn't just force everyone to obey. That's not right."
"Then you should take them up on their offer and fight." Aaron grit his teeth, trying to form a response. He couldn't. That is, until she spoke up again. "I thought you were better than this. I'd like to think I wasn't mistaken."
"Fine – if you're such an expert on right and wrong, let's hear it. Why should we fight?" Aaron snapped.
"Because when you remove the option to do wrong, good ceases to be good. People should do the right thing because it's the right thing to do – not out of fear of being locked up or killed."
"Don't we lock people up for breaking the law though?" Aster replied.
"Aster, you're not helping right now," Nora murmured.
"But I'm right…"
"Well what do you think?" she asked.
"I… think he's right." The serperior immediately followed his statement up upon seeing the several concerned glances. "About the world being bad, that is! I don't know how this Omega group would work out… but there has to be a reason the legendaries are backing these guys." Aaron looked down, remembering the story Nathan had told him.
"Do… you all think the legendaries should be respected?" A moment of silence persisted, but all four of them nodded. "Good, so we aren't on Delta's side… but doesn't that mean we should stand aside? Do we only respect the legendaries when they do what we want?"
"If the legendaries wanted everyone to comply, then why did they demand this group give people the chance to fight back?" Nora asked.
"That's… a good point," the trainer admitted.
"And I didn't hear a single one of them endorse Omega in that video," the typhlosion said matter-of-factly.
"They're helping Omega – what more of an endorsement could they give?" Marcus asked.
"If humans are so fundamentally bad, then I don't think they're ready to put the entirety of the world into the hands of just a single one," she countered.
"I will admit, I'm wary of one person or group saying they have the answers to everything," Aster stated.
"Then you think we should fight," Nora replied. "Because that's exactly what this person implied. He thinks he has all the answers."
"Why are you so intent on getting involved in this?" Aaron asked. She seemed determined to rush headfirst into battle against Omega without even weighing the costs or consequences that could come from such an action. She sighed, dropping her aggressive demeanor.
"Look, I know the world is a horrible place. It needs a lot of improvement – all of us do. That guy was right about that. But what it doesn't need is a tyrant. Someone who gets to call all the shots and determine right from wrong. He's just as imperfect as us – he admitted it himself. And I've lived the life he's putting down, okay? I know what it's like to be under someone like that who only cares for their little system, someone who you can't please no matter how hard you try." Tears all but welled up in the corners of her eyes. "This world needs less people like that, not more. I know what that pain is like, and now, it looks like the entire world might soon feel that. So yeah, this is something I'm pretty passionate about."
"…I gotcha," Aaron sighed. "Well… anyone else have any thoughts?"
"I'm with her. I don't trust them," Krista said simply. "That's all there is to it. If you guys want to fight, then I'm down."
"Marcus?" The lucario shrugged.
"I like his ideas," Marcus replied. "I think he's right. The same hierarchy he seems to be proposing is the one we lived under, and it worked really well when everyone pulled their weight."
"Then why did you leave it?" Nora asked.
"I'd prefer not to talk about that."
"Uh, no," she snapped. "Everything's on the table now. If I had to tell my secret, you have to tell yours."
"…Fine." Aaron listened intently. Come to think of it, Marcus had never really told them why he had joined the team. All he'd said previously was that he wanted a trainer. "Our pack was good, and everyone treated each other fairly. But I wasn't exactly the strongest. I almost always lost sparring matches, and… I really wasn't that impressive. Every time females came of age to select their mates I was always overlooked." He closed his eyes. "I mean, there's more to life than that stuff, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt."
"So you decided to join a trainer and become stronger," she said. "Looks like we're more alike than I thought…"
"Looks like it," he mumbled. "Trainers mean battles – against more opponents than just my own kind. I thought that maybe I could get stronger and return to them one day, showing them that I had worth. Our species is rare and valued amongst humans, so I could afford to be picky in finding a trainer. But then one day I found Aaron, eating with his team, and… I felt their love for each other. I knew right then that if I joined his team, I wouldn't be going back – and it turned out to be the best decision I ever made." He crossed his arms as if mimicking her own stance. "Humans definitely need more order. Not… whatever this disgrace is that they've had for centuries."
"So you're with them?" Aaron asked.
"I never said that," Marcus replied. "Your kind does need some form of order, but… I'm not so sure humans are the type to accept it, either. You all just do whatever you want because you want to. At least in this region, you don't respect anyone or anything aside from yourselves. You're not an example of them, Aaron. You're an exception." The trainer was hoping that he didn't have a lucario on his hands that was about to side against them. But was Marcus wrong? Even Aaron had chosen a different path at one time – one that he had all but forced two of his pokémon to accept.
"If you thought Omega was right, then you would have said so by now," Nora added. "So what gives?"
"Because I think that humans are completely incompatible with them. You can't control humans. If you could, the legendaries would have ruled over us long before now. You can't fix what's broken by nature." The lucario seemed to be backed into a corner, unapologetically defending himself against the rest of the group. "But if you're asking if I'm ready to fight with you, then the answer is yes. It's rare you find good humans. Rarer to find them in power. I'm skeptical of what that one had to do to get where he is now."
"But… Omega has both Reshiram and Zekrom. It's said that they embody truth and ideals. That would mean that team has both." An uncomfortable silence overtook the room.
"I'm a fire-type," Nora stated out of the blue.
"…What's that got to do with anything?" the serperior asked.
"Can I produce fire?" Nobody answered, but Aster shook his head. "My point is, something can be true in one regard but not in another. Maybe he isn't a liar, but I doubt he's right about everything. Definitely not enough to be able to rule the world or whatever." As her words died down, an uncomfortable realization struck Aaron.
"Arceus… it's that trainer from three years ago."
"What?" Krista asked.
"Don't you remember? There was a trainer who captured both Reshiram and Zekrom – it was the first time anything like that had ever happened before," Aaron stated. "And that guy in the video called Reshiram his friend. It's him… He used them to find the other legends."
"And yet those same legendaries gave us a chance, and I think we should take it." Nora focused her eyes on him. Gone was the misery she had held the previous nights. There was still that tension in the air, but right now, there were far bigger issues at hand.
"So that's the final verdict then?" Aaron looked at his four pokémon. Three nodded; Marcus shrugged. "And you four are willing to risk our freedom? Maybe even our lives? We have no idea what happens if they take us prisoner."
"He seemed to have a distaste for killing," Nora said. "I'll give him that much. Had he wanted us dead, we would already be dead. Omega could've bombed Unova several times over, but they didn't. I don't think he's out for blood. Just out of his mind." Aaron folded his hands, placing them against his chin. He really didn't like this idea, but Nora was almost forcing them into it. Whatever beef she seemed to have against Omega was dominating the conversation. He could put his foot down on the matter - he was the trainer, after all. But he knew firsthand how much that could hurt his team and had vowed never to do so again. A single thought raced through Aaron's mind. One that he pushed out as quickly as it had come.
She was forcing him to be better.
A/N: Special thanks to FuryWrites for beta reading this chapter.