Chapter Eighteen: Maniac

And Everything Came Crashing Down

I sat in the field behind Veilstone alone. I wished that Noctowl would return. I had been sitting there ever since I left the gym earlier that morning. Now it was nightfall. My trusted Pokémon, most likely, was gone. Rhy told me that Veilstone, Route 214, 213 and Pastoria were major Pokémon hunting spots. Mostly because of all the different Pokémon.

It was my fault Noctowl was hunted… I sent him off without thinking. In the daylight too. I sighed and stood up. I should get back. I thought. I started back to the Center. I would be leaving the next morning. Once I left, I would presumably never see Noctowl again. Unless he's still alive and tries to find me. Not likely.

With one last look over my shoulder, I left the field.

The next morning I had eaten breakfast, showered and gathered my things. I stuffed everything in my bag and stopped at the thing Rhy had given me the day before. Apart from my reward, he gave me the HM Fly. I was excited about it, but my Flying Type died or got lost or just plain out left me.

But I would still get my Flyers License. Lea passed a law a while back stating that everyone needs a license to fly. The problem? Most people didn't pass. Another thing Lea controlled. Rhy was one of the few who can fly, the others consist of Lea's workers. One thing that I will have to change. I thought.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and left the Center. I would be tested in Pastoria for my Flyers License. I started down Route 214. The pavement soon ended and I was walking on nice dry grass. Trees and greenery surrounded me, I was surprised to Pokémon roamed about.

Then I remembered: Hunting grounds. Of course there aren't Pokémon around. I thought.

After a while I came upon some mountainous areas. I checked my map to make sure I was headed in the right direction, I was. It looked on the map that it would be quicker for me to trek on the rocks the go around on the grass, so I took a few big steps and hiked up.

The top was a nice flat path. It reminded me of the paths around Cornet Mountain. Except those paths were normally insanely foggy unless you caught one of the rare clear days. This area, however, was clear of any fog.

I cleared my mind of all the usual worry and just relaxed. It was nice to have a clear mind every once in a while. Normally I would be planning for the next gym around that time, but every time the thought would slip into my mind my confidence would fall. Why? Because my Pokémon weren't… The best. Normally, a trainer would have Pokémon that complement each other. I don't have that. Yet, the more I thought about it, the more I was happy with my Pokémon choices. They're not the normal bunch, no, but they're my Pokémon and they're tougher than most in Sinnoh.

I sighed and refocused on the path ahead. More rocks filled the walkway, I had to maneuver over them. Then, I heard something weird. I turned around. Someone leapt over the rocky area and stopped in front of me.

He was probably in his twenties or thirties. He stood a few inches taller than me wearing large hiking boots and a brown traveling outfit. He had a huge backpack that could hardly fit his back, and clutched an old piece of paper in his hand.

"You!" He yelled. His eyes bugged out of his head. "You! You! You!"

"…Yes?" Talk about being confused, my brain shut off as soon as I saw him.

"Do you see this?!" There was way too much enthusiasm in his voice. He shoved the map in my face. I leaned back to try to see it. He had the wrong side facing me, either that or it was a blank piece of paper.

"No I don't." I said. He gasped and looked at the paper.

"Are you blind?!" He shoved the paper at me again.

"No sir that is a blank piece of paper." I turned away and started walking, rolling my eyes two-thousand times.

"No! No! No!" He ran to my side and walked with me. He pointed at the paper. "You have to be able to see it! Don't you see it?!"

I almost said 'Yes' just to get away from him, but I decided against it. "No, there's nothing there."

"Yes! Yes there is!" He insisted. Crazy man.

I shook my head and kept walking. He was still at my side. "You have to see it! It's right there!" He shoved the paper in my face again.

I stopped and looked at it. It was blank. There was nothing there. "What do you see?" I asked.

He gasped again and took a few very deep breathes. "I—I—I—I…!" He crouched down and looked at the ground. "Gah!" He screamed. He pointed to a tiny pebble. "See it?!"

"…Yes, it's a rock."

"Not just any rock! This fell off of a Graveler! That means they're still here!" He jumped up and stuck his face really close to mine, his nose was touching mine.

I took a step back.

"Do you know what this means?!" He whispered. I shook my head. "They're…They're…Here! Still here!"

"What do you mean 'still here'?"

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" He swiftly turned around and examined the rock wall. Then he spread out his arms and hugged it. "I love you." He muttered. He stayed like that for a second. I started to inch away. Then I started to sprint.

"No!" He shrieked. I looked over my shoulder, he was running wildly towards me. His arms flailing about and his legs taking huge steps.

I was so focused behind me that I ran into something, or someone rather. I landed on my haunches. I ran into an older man wearing a similar getup to Crazy Man. He was much shorter and more plump then Crazy, but the facial features were similar minus Old Man's white mustache.

Crazy Man reached us and fell to the ground, he was laying on his stomach with his arms spread apart again. I assumed he was hugging the ground now.

"Bryan, what are you doing now?" Old Man asked.

"I—I—I…!" He jumped up, eyes still wide, and pointed to me. "You! You! You!" He shoved the paper in my face again.

"Do you know him?" I asked Old Man. I stood up and brushed the dirt off of me.

"Of course I do, this is Bryan, my nephew. I'm Chip Bonguard." He extended his hand.

"Cynthia." I shook it. His accent was odd, it wasn't Golden, it was just different. "Are you two trainers?" I knew they weren't. Trainers normally don't… Do whatever Bryan, or Crazy Man, did.

"No, no. I'm a traveler of sorts."

"Ruin Maniac!" Bryan shouted.

Chip chuckled. "Yes, most call us Ruin Maniacs. I have traveled long and far to find ruins to examine." He pulled a large magnified glass from his back pocket. He put it in front of his eyeball, the eye appeared huge.

"Look!" Bryan shoved the paper under the glass.

"I see." Chip said. He moved the glass around, as if actually examining it. "Bryan, my friend, you have done it!"

"What?!" I said. "That's a blank piece of paper!" I was very befuddled.

They both looked up from the paper and gave me odd looks. Except Bryan's look was kind of creepy along with odd.

"No! No! No!" Bryan shoved it in my face again.

I snatched the paper. "I've seen it, it's blank!" I studied it. It was yellowed, dirty and old. No writings, no diagrams, nothing.

Bryan gasped and took the paper. He hugged it against his chest. "You! Never take my paper!" He yelled.

"Okay, I'm truly sorry." I said. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"Cynthia, is it?" Chip said, I nodded. "As Ruin Maniacs, we've learned to see things in a new light." He made a gesture towards the sun. "We study the ground and rocks to see where to make a cave, according to that paper, right here is the perfect place to make a manmade cave." He smiled at himself like he had just cleared everything up.

"Alright, well then I'll leave you to it." I smiled quite nervously and walked away.

"See?!" Bryan yelled again. I turned around, he was shoving the paper under Chip's magnified glass.

"Yes!"

"See?!"

"Yes!"

"Gah!" He laid on the ground again. He was yelling something I couldn't understand.

"Right-o boy, I agree completely." Crazies.

He jumped up and started flailing his arms again. "Still here!" He shouted.

"Well isn't that something?" Chip nodded and grinned. "That makes me happier than a Magikarp on a Wednesday!"

I stopped walking. Part of me wanted to know what they were talking about, the other part wanted me to get out of there. Curiosity got me… Curiosity also killed the Eevee.

I started walking towards them. I took long strides. "Why is that good? What's that mean?" The words spilled out of my mouth quickly.

Chip looked at me. "Why Cynthia, that means that they're still Pokémon 'round these parts! Don't you know that there used to be so many kinds of Pokémon here before they all were hunted? There were Bonsly, Combee, Burmy, Staravia among Staravia and even Staraptor!"

"Turtwig!" Bryan yelled. "Murkrow!"

Chip nodded. "Yes, all before this became hunting territory. I say, you'll be lucky if you ever get half the Pokémon back to these parts."

"All those Pokémon are food?" I was disgusted.

"No, no. Most were scared away. Not a lot of Pokémon trust us humans here in Sinnoh. I would get back to my lands, but the ruins and culture is so rich here!" He babbled about rocks for a bit before being interrupted by Bryan.

"Look! Look!" Bryan pointed to the sky. We all looked up, a Staravia hurriedly flew across the blue blanket.

Chip grinned. "I'll be. That's good news for you little girl."

"I guess it is." I said.

After saying my goodbyes to Crazy Man and Old Man, I continued on. Once I reached the end of Route 214, I came to a bunch of trees. I hesitantly entered them since, according to my map, I was headed the right direction. I walked through and someone approached me, he was older and scary looking. Reminded me of Red back in Solaceon.

"You best be getting out'a these here parts." He mumbled. His voice was husky. "Yer on hunting ground, wouldn't want anythin' to happen to ye now would you?"

I nodded and he pointed to a 'travelers' path that he said was safe. I quickly walked down the path, not wanting to disturb anymore hunters.

Once I got to a large clearing I checked my map again. Valor Lakefront. It was beautiful out there. Nice clear area with lots of tall grass, no Pokémon around however, and lots of beautiful rocky areas. I could smell saltwater in the air. It was wonderful and natural.

I walked through the area and came to a huge wall that towered above me, it was a Golden City wall with the Golden emblem. There was a huge gate with a sign that read 'Do Not Enter Unless Authority Says Otherwise. Unsafe Vicinity For Visitors. Valor Lake.' Maroon was right, they have it sealed from the public. What are they hiding? My mind went back to the awful dinner a while ago and the conversation Maroon and I had about the lakes… There was definitely some hiding going on, and it was very mysterious.

I made it to Route 213. It was equally beautiful. The shore was amazing, the water was a lovely indigo color as it splashed on the sand. I climbed down a short rock wall and sprinted to the water. I threw my bag and kicked off my shoes and dove into the chilly sea.

After a bit of drying on the hot sand I left for Pastoria. The map said I was very close to it. I had just gotten a bit dry when a rainstorm hit. Now I was soaked again. Great.

I soon reached Pastoria. It was currently a mud puddle due to the rain. It took me a while to find the Center, which resulted in me being even more wet. Once I did I went straight to my room and tried to remove all water from my hair and changed clothes. Not a good way to start in a new place, that's for certain.

Things did look up then, however. I learned that the Mart sold a bunch of delicious Pokébread. That was fantastic. So I munched on my late lunch with a happy face. The rain subsided and I went out to look around the town. I gathered that it wasn't as huge as Veilstone, I saw no one but sailors working at the docks, which was rather odd, the gym was huge, so that meant the Leader's ego must have been bigger, and that Pastoria wasn't the beach city like I thought, actually it was swampy. I found myself trekking through mud puddles a lot.

The upside: Absolutely no Golden's or Golden anything.

Well, until I came upon a large arena-like thing. The huge sign above the door read 'Golden Coliseum, Hunting Games & Recreation.' Hunting Games? I thought. There was a newer sign above that, 'Grand Reopening.' I walked up to the glass doors and looked in. A dozen people were standing in the lobby. I walked in. Someone approached me.

"Welcome, welcome!" This guy had a huge smile on and, guess what, Golden appearance. Sparkles covered his pink suit, which really complimented his purple hair and blue eyeliner. It was hard not to roll my eyes. "Here you go, today is Half Off Day, because of the reopening!" He handed me five coins. This cannot be what I think it is.

"What is this place?" I asked Sparkles.

"Why my dear! This is Golden Coliseum! The Hunting Arena! All you do if buy ten Hunting Coins and you get an hour of Hunt Time, fifteen for three hours, and thirty for a Day Pass! Oh, you have to try it! It's good fun!" He clapped and spun around to find another person to bother.

My stomach tightened and I swore my Pokébread was going to come back up. I threw the coins on the floor and stormed out. Why?! Why?! I kept repeating in my head. I should have been used to the fact Lea was evil and disgusting, but really, I wasn't.

He knows who I am. Sinnoh, that was true. We almost met. Maroon told him, apparently, everything about me. What if I did meet him? See him face-to-face… Maybe he would tell me he knows everything. Rebel, vegetarian and every time I lied…

Shivers crawled up and down my spine and through my arms. I shook my head hard in an attempt to rid all of those thoughts. I was not afraid of someone who had so many weak spots. I found the Center and gathered my Pokémon, a good training session was just what I needed.

The next morning was like most. I got some breakfast and washed my clothes in a nearby pond. After, I decided to train some more before challenging the gym. I had no idea who the Leader was, what Pokémon he had, nothing. Basically, I was going into this blind. The thing was that it had been a really long time since someone had made it to this gym, so it was never on television, newspapers or radios. How would I know about it?

Training the day before was about as progressive as… Well, nothing. Bibarel did awesome, as usual. Togetic gained a level or two, I think. Psyduck's training was slow, however. That wasn't progressive, but he was about to evolve. I just knew it.

Roselia wasn't doing well either. Of course Gible was hopeless. And then my presence returned when I was training Spiritomb and she got all freaked out. Very little progress was made.

So I decided to try for a better day. I started with Togetic, he was quicker and wasn't as clumsy. He could even flutter around with his little wings. That lifted my spirits. Then I trained with Spiritomb, my buddy wasn't around so that went well. We were getting used to each other quickly.

Psyduck trained well, too. He was giving it his all and, as I predicted, he evolved. I wrapped it up with trying to train Gible… Nothing.

"Why don't you want to evolve?!" I asked her.

She hissed. "Gible, come on, you'll be tougher and bigger. And you won't go through any pain." I had seen most of my Pokémon evolve, it looked easy and pain free. "…Please?" I tried. She growled. I sighed and anger grew. "Why don't you just run away? Run out into the woods right now, that's what you wanted to do when I first got you!"

She growled and showed her teeth. "Oh, you don't scare me. Leave, go! Then you'll never, ever, ever have to see me again! Is that what you want?!" She jumped up and roared, then light surrounded her. Orbs of yellow and flashes of blue enclosed her. A moment later, a tall, blue and red dragon stood in front of me. Her eyes were serious and her stance was full of confidence.

I stood there in amazement. Now, she was Gabite.

A growl rumbled in her throat. This growl was a dragons growl, not the little baby growl that she had been throwing around. "Now, do you want to train?" I asked through a smile.

Her eyes tightened and she turned around, waiting a command.

After a good training session with Gabite, learning her new strengths, I went back into town for lunch. On my way to the Mart, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. A guard was screaming at a sailor. I stopped and listened.

"You think you can just leave your post?! You're the manager here!" The guard yelled.

"My wife's ill and I went to check on her, my men are trustworthy." The sailor said.

"Your men are trustworthy?! Tell that to the missing crates!"

"I have no idea how those got lost."

"You don't?! You're a liar!"

"Hey man, I'm just trying to do my job and take care of my family!" The sailor countered.

The guard swung his arm and punched the sailor, he fell to the ground. The guard continued to punch and kick, I looked away and scurried to the Mart.

That's not right at all. I thought. I need to put a stop to it, or at least threaten the guards. I need Ellena and the rebels. My first thought was to send a letter, but how? There wasn't a post office in that city, and Noctowl wasn't around. I could've sent Togetic, but I was not going to put him in danger like that. Hunting grounds and the fact he could hardly fly? Not a chance.

So that meant I would have to find another way to send a letter. I was not standing by, there was Hunting Games and guards who treat people horribly? Something was going to be done, even if it meant I was going to do it myself.