Chapter Fourteen: Betrayal

And Everything Came Crashing Down

I woke up to a weird sound. Thump. Thump. Thump. I forced my eyelids open. I yawned. Thump. This time it was much louder. I sat up quickly; suddenly my eyelids had no problem staying wide open. Thump. "Hello?" I had fallen asleep on the sofa. I stood up and looked around. There was a white thing that kept running into the wall. Thump.

I walked up to it and, really without thinking this through, grabbed the white thing. It was cloth, I pulled it off. My little thumper was a Pokémon. It was white and was still wearing its eggshell. I looked at the cloth in my hand, it was the egg pouch.

"You finally hatched!" The Pokémon ran to my feet and jumped around. I scooped it up. "Now to figure out what you are. Let's get ready for breakfast."

I put on some clothes and raked through my hair. I grabbed an empty Pokéball and called in the new Pokémon, which I called Thumper, and started down to the lobby to check out this little guy.

I walked out of the elevator and up to the nurse. "Hello." I greeted and handed her my Pokéball. "Can you tell me what Pokémon this is?"

She nodded and put it on the screen counter. The holograph popped up. "Looks like you have a Togepi, barely level one and a healthy boy." She handed the ball back to me.

I nodded my thanks and attached the Pokéball to my belt loop. I walked into the next room which was the eating room where they serve breakfast. Constance and Maxina were sitting at a table with their pancakes. I grabbed a plate full and joined them.

"Good morning Blondie!" Constance chirped. "I hope you slept good because today we have a ton planned."

"What?" I already had plans. "Constance, I was going to get moving to the next gym. I have to train and stuff."

"Please, you need a day off. And what better than a day off in a Golden City?"

A day off anywhere else. "I appreciate you trying to be kind, but really, I have to put my training first." She pouted her lip at me. I ignored it and started eating the berry pancakes.

"Please!" She whined. "The three of us were going to go shopping and then have lunch at the best restaurant around."

"Excuse me?" Maxina said. "I wasn't going to go with you two, I have plans today in Jubilife." She smirked.

"Fine, then it would just be you and me. Why can't you go?"

I sighed. "Because, like I told you, training comes first."

"You're so not fun." She slumped in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. Maxina finished her pancake then stood up.

"Bye, Const. And Blondie," She looked at me, "remember what I said on the train." She walked off. I rolled my eyes.

"What did she say?" Constance asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing that matters."

I gathered my things and loaded them in my bag. My black bag became so heavy. The easy-access pocket I had stored the Sinnoh map and Gible's ball in had become full with more Pokéball and such. I still had that weird rock Grandmother gave me. It was wrapped up in paper and a t-shirt stuffed in the bottom of my bag. That thing wasn't going to be floating out unexpectedly.

Constance left off starting her 'fun day' of shopping. I could care less about the whole thing. I needed to get to Oreburgh.

I had my bag slung over my shoulder and I left the Center. I would have to sneak out through the break in the wall behind the Contest Hall then come back to leave officially so it would be in the record.

I walked through the crowds of people and found the back alleyways. It didn't take long until I slid between the back walls and was back in the forest.

The air felt lighter and fresher. The smell was woody and I heard birds chirp and yap. I thought of Eterna Forest, although that place was pure magic, still the smell matched. The trees cluttered the area as I walked. I weaved through them. They were all thin colorless things, total opposite of Eterna Forest.

I hadn't let myself worry about Ember. When it came to mind my stomach knotted and guilt shot through me. Why guilt? I don't know. I didn't think it was my fault, but I felt like if I was there I could have talked to him. Jamie was right: he was a hotheaded Drama Queen. I didn't worry about training either. I was set for Oreburgh. Although I hadn't thought of what I would say.

"Oh, hey there Ellena! I don't know if you know this, but Sake is actually a lying rich person who's married to a millionaire and she's pregnant." Or "Hey Sake, I saw you yesterday. You're a lying dirty person who betrayed everyone you know and love!" I stopped walking and slapped my hand to my forehead. This is a bad idea… But I'm going to go. Nothing's stopping me. I took in a big breath, bringing confidence with it, and moved forward.

My long strides soon brought me to the pond where Ellena and I met. I estimated another half hour or so of walking. I marched passed the water and through all the clearings and got to the cave. I entered it with no hesitation. Zubat fluttered around but no one challenged. Good, I wasn't in the mood to battle. That's how steamed I was.

I crawled through the fence and walked through the small bit of trees. I crouched behind a thorn bush and peaked around the back street. A few guards walked around. It was probably close to lunchtime, but I assumed I would have to wait a while.

The back street was the street both Sake and Ellena lived on. Ellena's house was one in the center and Sake's was a few doors down from that. I would go see Sake first. I wouldn't bring Ellena, Esmeralda and Essie into this just yet.

Lunch struck and the mineworkers all went into their houses. There were no guards around. I decided to make a run for it. I sprinted to Sake's tiny house. When I reached the door I looked around, still no guards.

Should I knock? My hand was shaking. I just reached up and banged on the door.

"Hold on a sec." I heard Sake's voice. I didn't wait for her to open the door, I was afraid she would just slam it shut on me and call the guards. I stumbled in and shut the door.

She was absolutely stunned. She froze and her eyes widened. She was breathing hard. Yeah she knew what this was about.

My eyebrows met in the middle of my forehead. My mouth opened to yell and scream, but nothing came out. The fire of anger started to be doused with pain and hurt. "Selene!" I muttered. My throat ran dry.

"Please let me explain." She whispered. She came out of her frozen form. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

The fire grew inside me. The anger returned. "Why should I?! Why should I let you explain yourself Selene?"

"You need to know everything!" She pleaded.

"What else do I have to know?! You are a liar! You've hurt me, Sake, you've hurt Ellena."

Pain crossed her face. "You told them?" She hardly whispered it.

"Not yet. But you bet I'm going to."

"Please, Cynthia!" She dropped to her knees. "You can't, I'm doing this for them!"

"What?" I clenched my teeth. "Stop lying." The words slid through my teeth.

"I'm—I'm not lying!" She was still crying. "Just let me explain!"

I paused. "Who's Jackson? And why are you married?!"

"We're not really married. I've only known him for not even a month." She sighed. "A guard caught me sneaking out of the town one day. He threatened to kill me! I told him I was a rebel and worked with the rebels, and he told me he would let me live only if I went to Jubilife every once in a while and tell Lea's workers our plan for attacks. That's when the war was in its first stages. I agreed to that and have to go to Jubilife about once a week. And because Jackson wants to look like a big-shot, he made me pose as his wife."

Atomic bomb explosion. What, what, what?! Then, everything made perfect sense. Of course Ellena and Sake were rebels. But, their plan of attacks? "…You're the bad guy?" I muttered.

"What?" Tears started full-force again. They left blood-red tracts in their place. "I didn't mean for this to happen this way! I never, ever wanted this to get so… So… Serious."

Just then, the door swung open. I swiftly turned on my heels. Ellena stood there in the doorway. She gave us a weird look. She shut the door.

"What in Sinnoh is going on?" She looked at Sake who was still on the floor crying.

I looked at Sake. "Tell her, Selene." I hissed. Then I turned to Ellena. "Unless you already know!"

"Know what?! What the—"

"Stop!" I cut her off. "You are a liar too! And to think I trusted you!" I yelled. My mind ran around like my newly hatched Pokémon. "I bet you did try to poison me that day we met, didn't you? And that book was something to trick me, wasn't it? And then when you bombed that temple while I was in it you tried to kill me again!"

Her eyes widened. "Sake, you told her?!"

Selene cried even harder. "Y—Yes, but it—it's hard to…" She hiccupped.

"What she's trying to say is that she's been working with Lea, who is the good guy here!"

Fire burned in Ellena's eyes. "What are you talking about? Sake, what's going on?"

Sake stood up. "Sh—" She couldn't finish. She gulped. "She's right."

I saw the shock, pain, anger and confusion fill Ellena's face at once. She was so easy to read. "No, no. You wouldn't do that to me and Mom. You wouldn't do that to Dad, right?" She yelled. "Right?!" Sake returned to the floor.

"Tell her Selene! Tell her everything!" I growled.

"I—I worked with Lea's guard. They've paid me and I've been…" She paused and wept some more.

"Been what, Selene?"

"Feeding them information on the rebels! They've known about everything since the war started!"

Ellena let out a gasp paired with a cry of pain. "Sake! How could you rat us out?!"

"I—I didn't have a choice!"

"You always have a choice! You chose this!" Ellena bellowed.

"Don't forget about your double life." I added.

She looked at me with wet, pleading eyes. "And I've been going to the Golden Cities, where I pose as a rich man's wife and go to parties with him." She murmured.

Ellena cursed loudly. "I can't believe this!"

"You forgot the fact that you're pregnant and your fake name is Selene."

Sake sat up. "I'm not pregnant, Jackson's going to tell everyone I miscarried in a few months."

"A few months? You're planning to betray us for that long!" Ellena's eyes filled with tears.

"I—I…" She lost her words.

"You're a dirty liar!" I finished for her. "And you," I looked at Ellena, "you're no better! You are the one who has caused all this distress on Sinnoh, not Lea! You lied too."

A tear skidded down her face. "I lied for your own good!" She yelled. "If you knew what we were doing and got involved, you would have been putting your life in serious danger." She pointed to Selene. "See her? Now that's she ratted us out, we'll probably be killed. And because of my little lie, you're safe. And how dare you think I tried to poison you! We're not the only bad guys here! We're not even bad guys!"

"And why should I believe you?" I spat.

"Because you trust me and I'm telling the truth."

"How do I know you're telling the truth when you lied before?" I yelled.

She stomped her foot. "Fine! Don't believe me, it's still for your own good." She looked at Sake. "What have you told them?" She demanded.

"I've only told them half the truth." Sake said between hiccups. "They know we live here, but I've told them there are others but I don't know where they are. I've told them a bunch of lies, so we should still be—"

"No!" Ellena snapped. "No we! You're gone, Sake, you're out of the team. You're out of my life. You can go rot in Hades for all I care." She turned towards the door. "Cynthia, if you want to hear the truth, you better come with me."

I didn't look at Sake again when I followed her out. Again, no guards, but we still ran to Ellena's house. We ran as a mixture of not wanting to be caught by guards and because in a little way it helped blow off steam.

We ran straight into the house. I looked over at one of beds, expecting to be greeted by Essie, but she wasn't there. That meant she had gotten better and could leave her bed. Esmeralda looked up from her mashing berries. She immediately ran over to us. She wrapped her arms around Ellena.

"What happened?! Is Sake alright?!"

"You better believe that dirty liar is alright." I said. She cocked her head at me. Ellena sat down and told her everything, right down to every word of the previous conversation.

Esmeralda had started tearing up half way through the explanation. "This can't be true." She murmured.

Ellena was pacing the room. "It's the whole truth." She had stopped crying, her hurt became full-fledged fury. "I know it's hard to believe, Mom, but Sake betrayed us. And she was going to continue when we needed her most."

"Sake has been my closest friend for half my life and she knew Pete before she knew me. But she let both of us down." Esmeralda put her face in her hands. "I don't think I can forgive her."

"I'm not forgiving her as long as I live." Ellena spit. "And maybe even after."

I was still confused however. Ellena and Sake were rebels who were attacking towns, they were the bad guys and Lea was good? It didn't make sense. I knew it was inconsiderate of me to bring up the rebel thing while Ellena and her mother were having a moment, but being polite was something I had thrown out the door at that moment. I was outraged.

I stood up from the sofa. "Okay, explain what in Sinnoh is going on about the rebels. You guys are the bad people here, you are attacking the towns, why should I trust you?"

Ellena sighed and half-rolled her eyes. "Look, we're not the 'bad guys' so stop saying it!"

I walked up to her. "You're attacking towns!" I thought back to Eterna Forest. "I saw you and your little group running off in Eterna. Everything was you!" That didn't sound right though. There was a bombing in the mines where Ellena supposedly 'lost' her hearing and her father died, that couldn't have been her then, right?

She scrunched her nose up and her eyebrows met. "Not everything was me! You don't know anything! Just shut your Dialga-rid mouth and open this great new thing called ears!"

I shut my mouth just like she said. I was taken aback by her yelling so loudly at me. I hadn't done a thing wrong. I tried to calm myself down. I sat on the sofa next to Esmeralda and waited for Ellena to begin.

She took a deep breath and sat on the floor in front of me. "Listen, a few weeks ago Hilbert contacted my dad telling him that Lea was looking for something. Apparently it involved Solaceon Ruins so Hilbert did some studying."

"There was this whole thing about people who seek ultimate power and he got worried. That's where my dad came in. He recruited a few locals and they left out and attempted to bomb Solaceon Ruins while Lea's workers were there."

"They only ended up scaring the workers away. Afterwards Solaceon received a threatening note from the League and my dad was outraged. We took off to Sunyshore and blew up the lighthouse."

"Then Lea fought back. He thought the attackers were coming from Solaceon so he taxed them insanely. Then we set fire to Veilstone's shops, he bombed Solaceon Ruins and the war started."

Surprisingly this all made sense. No atomic bomb explosion. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was shocked. "You still seem like the bad guy." I said.

Ellena rolled her eyes. "You still don't believe me?"

"It's the truth Cynthia." Esmeralda said. "Pete led the rebels, Sake was a part of it and Ellena joined."

I sighed. "Fine, I believe you. I don't like this but I believe you."

"We're doing this to prove a point. We're doing this for Sinnoh."

I thought for a few moments. "I don't think you completely understand. You guys really hurt Eterna with that attack."

"Cynthia, bombing the statue was supposed to sting Lea."

"How did it sting Lea? I think you did something a little bit bigger than that…" I debated to tell them about the gems.

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

"I was there when you bombed the statue. Not only did the two other statues turn to ruble too, there were weird pink gems that were pulsing with energy."

Ellena paused. "What do you think that means?"

I shook my head. "I'm not sure. I have someone studying them, they should let me know if they figure anything out."

She sighed. "We wanted to bomb it to scare Lea. It must have worked, he hasn't attacked back yet."

"Scare Lea? He conceals himself up at the League, why would a bombing on a statue on the other side of Sinnoh scare him?"

She stood up and sat beside me. "Because, Lea is superstitious. Almost unhealthily superstitious. So by bombing the statue he may think that unleashed some kind of oogie-boogie he'll be cowering under his bed."

"Is that why you burnt Leaf Tower?" I asked. There was poison in my voice.

She sighed. "Yes. It was probably a mistake, but look, he hasn't struck back."

"If you think that making Lea put his tail between his trembling legs isn't going to stop him from bombing, you must not be thinking." I said.

"Well what else are we supposed to try?" She rolled her eyes. "We're doing the best we can."

"Your best put people in danger! In fact your act killed two people that day!" I countered.

"But it stopped Lea!"

"For a second!"

"Girls, stop it!" Esmeralda said. "You two are too angry. Why don't we take a deep breath and have some dinner?" She returned to mashing berries.

"Mom's right." Ellena calmed down and leaned back on the sofa.

We sat in silence for a while. My mind was spinning. We ate some mashed berries and I realized that Essie was nowhere.

"Where's Essie?" I asked.

Esmeralda's face turned color. "Oh…" She muttered.

"She died. Her illness killed her." Ellena said quickly. I would have apologized, but since I grew up with people telling me they're so sorry I lost my parents, I knew it wouldn't make a difference.

A little while went by. The topic changed to my training. Since Ellena taught me how to train she was curious. The change of topic was good for both of us.

Then there was a knock on the door. My mind instantly flew to that day at Sake's when I hid in the trunk. Esmeralda scurried over to the door and peeked out. "Oh, hello." She opened the door and four people poured in. They all eyed me suspiciously.

One man, probably in his twenties, spoke up. "Ellena, we just went to Sake's and she sent us away. What's up?"

She looked at me. She told them the short version of Sake. She turned to me. "Cynthia, these are the people who helped create the war." She chuckled. "Guys this is Cynthia, she got wrapped up in the rebels and Sake and stuff." She stood up. "We're going to have a quick meeting over at Kedah's house, I'll be back soon." The group left off.

Esmeralda started to light candles and prepare for nightfall. I lounged on the sofa and studied my map. My plan was to leave off the next morning and head to Solaceon so I could get to the next gym. But as I figured out, my plans don't exactly go… As planned.

After a half hour or so, Ellena and her group returned. They all sat on the floor in front of the sofa and eyed me. What's going on?

Ellena sat beside me. "Cynthia, we want to ask you something."

"…What?" I have to admit, I was scared.

"We have decided that we could really use you. Would you join us?"