Chapter Twenty-eight: Army

Running From Myself

Everyone around gave me a weird look. "Cynthia, don't we already have an army?" Ellena gestured around.

"No, we're outnumbered, we need to recruit people. Lots of people. And we need to have a real war with the guards." To me, this made sense, but everyone else laughed.

"Please, you're dreaming." Kedah said in-between chuckles.

My eyebrows met in the middle. I frowned. "I'm dreaming? This whole thing," I motioned to the group, "was made on a delusion. Why are we suddenly against them now?"

"Hey, this was not made on a delusion! This was sought after and thought through." Ellena said, getting defensive. I didn't blame her, her deceased father came up with the idea and I was talking against it.

"Maybe so, but it was continued by dreamers following a delusion." No one said anything to that. "Why don't we take this a step further?"

"Because it's dangerous. Too dangerous. That's final." Brush said.

"Let's at least try to make this work, let's take it seriously and recruit people." I stood up. "Lea is going to get whatever he's hunting, that's the way it works. We have to overthrow him, right? And apparently we scaring him with superstitious legends aren't enough. We need the upper hand, strength in numbers."

Everyone thought a moment. "It's crazy enough to work." Ellena muttered.

"There are people from home who'd come." Tag said.

"No, no one from home is gutsy enough to escape town." Kedah countered.

"I bet I can get people." Marco piped in. "My brothers would join. They could get people too."

"Hilbert could send people." Ellena added.

"I can't believe you guys are thinking this way." Brush shook his head. "No. We're not getting more people involved."

"Brush, this is what we have to do. It could work if we make it work." Ellena tried to coax him.

"I don't care. If you want to go along with this, I'm out."

"But we need you!" Kedah whined. "You're our leader!"

"Yeah Brush, you can't quit when we've come so far." Carrick, the quiet one, said.

Brush chewed everything over. "Fine." He spit. "We'll try this, but we need to be careful." Everyone grinned. My heart rate increased. This was getting exciting.

"I could get a boat." I said quickly, but I was hardly thinking.

"How?!" Kedah asked.

"Professor Rowan knows someone with a boat. We would have to trust him in order to ask him, but maybe he could get us out there."

"Are you kidding? Isn't Professor Rowan famous? He'll rat us out."

I shook my head. "No, he won't. He's one-hundred-percent trustable." I didn't fully agree with that…But we needed a boat, and Rowan knew a guy. And I knew, deep, deep, deep down, my dislike for him was silly.

They started sharing ideas. I think Brush became a little more comfortable with the thought as we all talked it through. This was a dangerous long-shot, but it's what we needed to do.

That evening Kedah, Ellena and I sat in my room. They decided that, since they didn't trust the Center workers, they were just going to bunk in my room…Great. I didn't mind it very badly, it's just I like my privacy.

Kedah sat on the bed and stared at Roserade. "Why does she have…Flower bouquets for hands?" She cocked her head to the side. "And she's all, petally and flowery." Roserade rumbled a growl.

"If the Pokémon could talk, she'd say similar things about you." Ellena laughed. "Except you'd be thorny and weedy." We snickered.

Kedah frowned. "At least I'm not two feet tall, has bad hair and is ugly as a Kricketot with—" Roserade growled and lunged forward. She touched Kedah's arm, it turned a purple color. Kedah yelped. "Sinnoh! What the heck just happened!" She grasped her arm.

Ellena burst out laughing. "She touched you with Poison Point."

Kedah swore then ran to the bathroom. "What are you doing?" Ellena asked, still laughing.

"I don't know, anything!"

I started laughing when Roserade crossed her arms over her chest and nodded her head in victory.

Kedah walked out of the bathroom. Her arm was still purple. "I don't feel good. Will I die?!"

"No, you'll be fine. If you were going to die, you'd be dead. She probably didn't even do anything harsh."

"She might have! She's evil!"

I returned Roserade. "There, now Kedah will be safe from having a purple body." Ellena and I started chuckling.

We heard a knock on the door. "Cynthia?" It was Rowan.

Everyone stopped laughing. What am I going to do?! I pointed to the bathroom. Ellena and Kedah ran in and shut the door. I gathered myself then opened the door.

"Hello Miss Cynthia." Rowan greeted. He walked in. "I just came to check up on you…I noticed you didn't go to the gym again. Not too discouraged, I hope."

I rolled my eyes. "Rowan, as it happens, I was busy all day at the library. I even trained a bit, too. What's it to you, anyways?"

"I was just making sure you weren't going to go home." He shrugged. "No harm done."

"Right." I decided now was a good time to ask him about a boat. "Rowan, didn't you say that you were going out to one of the islands?"

"Yes, I did say that."

"So you have a boat?"

"I know someone with a boat, yes."

"Would you mind if…I went out on the boat with you?" I tried my 'sweet, charming young lady' tone.

"I didn't know you were into research."

"Oh yes, growing up in Celestic and having the family that I do, it's in my blood."

"Well I don't see why you can't join us." He shrugged. "It'll be fun." Doubtful.

"The thing is, however…" I hesitated. Telling him was harder than I thought. Maybe I truly didn't trust him enough…But why? My grandfather trusted him greatly, I should have too.

He gave me a serious look. "Is there something you wish to tell me?"

I shook my head. "No, Rowan, there isn't."

Rowan sighed. "Miss Cynthia, you should learn to trust me."

"And Professor Rowan, you should learn to believe me."

He smirked. "Right. Have a nice night." He walked out of the room and closed the door.

Kedah and Ellena came out of the bathroom. "Why didn't you tell him?!" Kedah asked. "That was our ride!" She pointed to the door.

"You all can still come." I said.

"How?!"

"Sneak on the boat, sneaking is one of your best abilities, right?"

Ellena sighed. "Cynthia, this was supposed to be another person on our side. Do you not trust him?"

"I guess I don't." I shrugged. "Wait, yes I do…Maybe…No."

Ellena smacked her head. "Do you or don't you?"

"No. Yes. No…"

"Just say yes and go talk to the man!" Kedah yelled. "This is our chance to overthrow Lea! You said it yourself!"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, you're right. This is our chance." I walked to my door and left the room. I walked across the hall and banged on the door.

A moment later Rowan opened the door. I barged in and turned towards him. "Rowan, there is something I want to tell you. You probably know that Oreburgh is in a bad state and is all messed up, well what you don't know is that there are rebels who live there who escape the town through secret tunnels and all kinds of stuff. They work with Hilbert, the day care owner, and they used to work with this man Pete but he died. Now they're here, they want to overthrow Lea by using your boat, and I'm a rebel too." The words all tumbled out of my mouth. Once they were gone, I wished I could suck them back in.

"Oh goodness, I am sorry." I grabbed my head. "Why did I just do that?!"

Rowan laughed. "Miss Cynthia, of course I know about the rebels."

I gave him a weird look. "How?"

"I keep up with Byron, he knows about them and he told me."

"But you knew I was a rebel?"

"Yes. I figured it out." He chuckled. "It's good to know you do trust me though."

"It's good to know you are trustworthy." Relief flooded over me. "Will you let the rebels go out to the island with you?"

He nodded. "Yes I will. It's probably dangerous, but I will allow it."

"And another thing…Do you know anyone who could join us? We are sort of going to war with the guards."

"I think I know a few people. I'm assuming the people in your bathroom know you told me all this?"

I laughed and nodded. "They know."

He smiled goodheartedly. "Good."

The sun beamed happily on my face the next morning. The sea breeze mixed with the hot sun was an enjoyable experience. I loved the beach. It was so relaxing and calming, even in stressful times. I walked across the huge bridge towards the library. The rebels were having another meeting there.

I walked up to the restricted section. Everyone stood around the table. Marco was present, he had a group of new faces with him.

"Cynthia, this is Marco's brothers and nephews." Brush explained. I nodded my hello. I looked around for more people, unfortunately there were none. "Let's sit everyone."

Everybody sat at the crowded table except Ellena and Brush. "We're going to leave out tomorrow." Ellena said. "Make sure you're ready to go by then. Brush, Tag and Carrick are going to leave for Oreburgh today. They have to work at the mines."

"We'll be back by tomorrow at dinnertime. Hopefully, we'll bring people back with us." Brush said.

"Make sure you all contact anyone who could help us. I've sent a letter to Hilbert asking him to send people. We hope it'll be soon. There's no way to know unless people show up. We have a boat that'll get us there and back, so that's taken care of."

"The raid is still going strong. Lea sent over handfuls of guards today, and me and Carrick watched two full boats of them head out to the islands. They're everywhere. Be careful, if they're looking at you funny, get away. We've recognized some from Oreburgh. We don't need to be caught." Brush elucidated. "Make sure your Pokémon are strong enough for tomorrow. Take this day to train. Make sure you're out of the city limits, if you leave, leave with partners. If more people join by tomorrow, make sure they know when we're leaving and what to do. This is serious." You could tell by the tone of his voice that it was serious.

"Tomorrow when we're out in the islands, we expect you to know what you're doing and to not goof-off." Ellena said, her tone matching Brush's. "Cynthia and Kedah will be with me tomorrow. Carrick, Tag and Marco will be together. Brush will lead Marco's family, and anyone else will be put with either Carrick or Brush's group. Carrick's group is the strongest, they'll have one of the main responsibilities, my group will have one of the main responsibilities, and Brush's group is to help us by fighting and distracting guards. Understand?" Everyone nodded.

"I can't wait to see Lea with his tail between his legs!" Tag said.

"Tag, Lea won't be there. Just guards. Still, the guards are his way of doing anything. If the guards do down, he goes down. And tomorrow the place will be crawling with guards."

"And Lea will definitely get the memo that we're out to stop him." Kedah cut in.

We chatted about Lea a moment more, then Brush and the boys left for Oreburgh. I asked how they were getting there, they said that Sara would get them to Jubilife but not to the islands. Kedah, Ellena and I left the city to train. Kedah had recently caught three Pokémon, so we were teaching her how to make them stronger. She had a fishing rod that caught her a Finneon and a Barboach, her strongest Pokémon, and she had an Abra the teleported away from her (I sympathized with her). Nevertheless, we trained them hard.

My Pokémon took a beating as well. We were going to the gym today, before we would leave tomorrow. That would help them build-up strength as well. Spiritomb was all for training since my presence wasn't around. Roserade tried to double-hit more than once, but she got too tired too quickly. As for the rest of my Pokémon, they were doing good. Minus Gabite. I tried to have a heart-to-heart, as Ellena suggested, but she almost used Dragon Rage on my face. Probably because I wasn't genuine and a bit sarcastic…That went well…

Ellena had a Geodude and her father's Graveler, they were both pretty tough and listened well, Graveler was high in levels and could dodge almost effortlessly. That certainly came in handy. Geodude was bred and hatched from an egg, so he had a special bond with Ellena and listened to her every word. She had an upper-hand there.

All of our Pokémon battled against each other in weird orders and ways. It was fun having these battles. It was good practice for Kedah to call out moves quickly. She caught on instantly and had no problems keeping up with Ellena and I.

I was surprised when Graveler beat my Bibarel, but I tried to call off Water Gun too many times when I should have called other moves. Whenever I would yell "Water—" Ellena would command him to dodge and he would. He was definitely scared of water, which was good, he would always dodge it.

After spending multiple hours training, it was well past lunchtime. We headed for the Mart and got a loaf of bread and some Pokémon food. We went to my Center room and released most of our Pokémon, it was very cramped in there. But fun at the same time…Until Roserade threatened Kedah. It was humorous how they didn't get along, they were opposites after all. Kedah was very tomboyish and Roserade…Wasn't.

Soon, it was time for me to have my battle. Kedah and Ellena decided to go check around for possible new people interested to help us, and then they would go train some more. I went down to the lobby with my things, ready to beat Captain Steel. I healed my Pokémon then started for the door.

"Miss Cynthia," Rowan called. I rolled my eyes and turned in his direction. He was sitting in one of the lobby chairs nearby, the thing was however, he wasn't alone.

I walked over to him. I recognized the man sitting next to him, but I couldn't quite pinpoint where I had seen him. He was around my age, had sandy hair, much like mine, and cobalt eyes. His hair was rather messy, like he had just rolled out of bed; he had sideburns, unkempt sideburns, and wore a stern expression. Where have I seen him before?! I thought.

Rowan stood up. "Miss Cynthia, meet Volkner."

"Hello." I greeted. Confusion was still etched on my face.

"He's the last the gym leader." Rowan added, noting my look.

Volkner stood up. "Hey." He reached his hand out. I shoot it and half-smiled.

"Are you headed to Captain?" Rowan asked.

"Yes I am."

"Oh good, Volkner wanted to watch your battle."

I frowned. I didn't like that idea. The last gym leader watching my battle? No, he'll know how I work and will have the upper-hand later. I wanted to object, but I knew that would be rude. "No." I objected anyways.

"No?" Volkner echoed. "I just want to watch your battle."

"Cynthia, he's a trainer, he likes watching battles." Rowan said. "Why can't he come?"

Because I said no. "I would lose focus with a crowd watching me." I lied.

"You've had huge crowds watching you before and you were perfectly fine. You even won the battle." Volkner said, seeing right through me. "Why can't I come?" He seemed frustrated and offended.

I automatically took the same emotion. "Because I said no. I don't even want Rowan there but he tags along anyways." I mused.

Volkner frowned. "Whatever, Miss Cynthia, I won't come." He took a step away. "But I want to." He didn't look back when he said that.

I don't know why, but I felt guilty for my actions. I rolled my eyes. "Fine, you can come." I called to him.

He turned around on his heels and walked back over. He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and smirked. "Great."

We left the Center and started for the gym yet again. Right before the bridge, I noticed a Starly taking off from the post office. That reminded me to send a letter to Oliver and ask him to come down and help us. I stopped. Volkner, who walked behind me, ran right into me.

I started to fall, but he caught me and pulled me to my feet. "Watch it." He said. He still had his arms around me. I squirmed out of his grip and probably blushed as I looked towards the post office.

"I should send a letter…" I trailed off, not wanting to reveal too much to Volkner.

"Now?" He asked.

I nodded. "Rowan, would you mind waiting a minute?" He shook his head.

I purposely didn't say anything to Volkner, I was still slightly irritated with him. I shot him a quick glance, he scowled. I walked into the post office and grabbed two pieces of paper. One for Grandmother and one for Oliver.

Dear Oliver,

I apologize for my lack of communication…Things have gotten insanely busy. As you may or may not know, I am currently in Canalave City. I urgently request that you come here and meet me. Please come here quickly, prepared with battling Pokémon. Ask around for people that might want to join you.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Everheart

I quickly wrote a note telling Grandmother I'm alright and about to go to battle with Captain Steel. I sent them both out right away and headed back to Rowan and Volkner.

"Ready now?" Rowan asked. I nodded and we crossed the bridge.

We walked into the steel building. Captain Steel looked like he was training with his Empoleon at that moment, but he stopped and approached us, his Water and Steel Type obediently following. "Trainer Cynthia! Nice to see you again!" He yelled, his booming voice bouncing around the room and shooting in my ears.

"Same to you." I said.

"Are you here for a battle? I bet you are! You are aren't you? You must be!"

"Yes, I'm here for our final battle."

His grin widened, "excellent! Let us start and not wait any longer then we absolutely have to!"

I just blinked.

"Righto! You stand on your side!" He jogged to his end.

I walked over to mine. Focus, you've got this. You can do it. I thought.

"Forretress, go!" The clam Pokémon came out.

"Bibarel, fight well!" Bibarel came out of the Pokéball and growled. He readied himself for a command.

"Take Down!" Forretress leapt up and collided with Bibarel, sending both of them to the ground.

"Hyper Fang." I commanded. Bibarel hissed and opened his mouth wide. He jabbed his teeth into the foe. Forretress cried out in pain. My Pokémon jumped up and ran back to his place.

"Payback!" The opponent rolled to Bibarel and slammed into him, sending him flying backwards.

"Water Gun." My Pokémon spit water at the rival. "Hyper Fang." He sprinted to Forretress and bit it hard.

"Take Down again!" Captain yelled. Forretress tackled Bibarel again. Bibarel clashed to the ground and whimpered, I knew he took a good hit. But nevertheless, he stood up and was ready for another hit.

"Take Down." I shouted. I knew it was risky, most likely Bibarel would go down after the attack, but I was hoping it would push the rival over the edge as well. Bibarel slammed onto Forretress. He rolled across the room and slammed into the steel walls. Bibarel slumped to the ground, no hope of recovery. I returned my Pokémon and looked at the foe.

He lay lifelessly on the ground. Captain returned him, I smiled. Three more to go.

"Bronzong, go!" Captain released the large, robotic Pokémon.

I decided to, yet again, go with Milotic. "Milotic, beat the rival." She materialized from the light beam.

"Use Extrasensory!" Captain Steel commanded. Bronzong focused on Milotic. She started to become hazy in appearance, she cried out in pain.

"Fight it!" I called. Milotic started to fight back, soon the foe stopped. "Use Hydro Pump." She spewed water at Bronzong, he fell to the ground with a clang.

"Get up and use Gyro Ball!" Bronzong levitated back up and started spinning rapidly. Silver and white waves spun around with him. He spun across the field and onto my Pokémon. She wasn't knocked to the ground, she held herself greatly.

"Twister." I commanded. Milotic created a purple tornado. It crashed over to the rival and pushed him into the air. He collided with the ground. He recovered slowly.

"Confuse Ray!" Instantly, Milotic fell to the ground. She twitched and slammed her large tail to the ground. I knew there was no hope for her.

"Spiritomb, defeat him!" My Ghost Type came out. She grinned wickedly and cackled. My presence wasn't going to mess this up.

"Bronzong, Extrasensory!" Bronzong focused. Nothing happened. Spiritomb cackled, and I grinned.

"Ominous Wind." I called. Black and purple fog circled around Bronzong. They intertwined with the rival, he cried out in his mechanical way.

"Gyro Ball!" Bronzong used Gyro Ball flawlessly. Spiritomb screeched, she took a good hit.

"Sucker Punch." Spiritomb shot to the foe, a black ghostly fist appeared and wailed on Bronzong.

Bronzong fought back well. "Gyro Ball again!" Bronzong spun around and spun right through Spiritomb's body, she cried out then cackled evilly.

"Ominous Wind." I commanded. The hazy air collided with the opponent. Bronzong screamed and fell to the ground. He had fainted. A sweet smile crossed my face. I returned Spiritomb and waited for Captain to release his next Pokémon.

"Go Empoleon!" The penguin-like Water Type came out.

"Roserade." I brought out Grass Type. I knew I had the upper hand type-wise.

"Brine!" Empoleon shot water at my Pokémon. She was pushed backwards. She stood her ground and stopped herself before slamming into the wall.

"Great defense." I praised. "Giga Drain." Roserade focused. Empoleon bent over and cried out. Roserade, still looking beautiful and regal, stood tall. She was causing inner torture within Empoleon, she was loving it. She breathed in life stolen from Empoleon.

The rival stood up slowly. You could see the lingering pain on his face. "Metal Claw!" He sprinted to my Pokémon. His wing over coated in silver and he sliced it across Roserade's body. She hissed and growled.

"Petal Dance." I shouted. Roserade lifted her arms up. Colorful leaves spun around her. The leaves multiplied. They shot to Empoleon and pierced his skin.

"Bubblebeam!" Many bubbles hit Roserade and knocked her to the ground. She stood slowly. I knew she didn't have much left. "Metal Claw!"

"Dodge!" I tried. But Empoleon slammed his metallic wing into my Pokémon. She slumped to the ground, still full of grace, and fainted.

That left Milotic, Gabite and Thumper. I decided to fight water with dragon. "Gabite, let's fight."

"Metal Claw!" Empoleon rushed to my Pokémon and sliced a red blood line on her chest. Gabite roared and showed her sharp teeth.

"Dragon Claw." Gabite returned the favor by slicing Empoleon's wing.

"Bubblebeam!" Empoleon shot water at Gabite. She stood her ground.

"Take Down!" I commanded. Gabite tackled Empoleon. They fell to the ground harshly. Empoleon was down for the count.

Gabite stood up and walked in front of me. She hissed slightly at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Lucario!" Captain brought out the blue and black dog Pokémon. He had fierceness perfectly displayed in his eyes and expression.

"Dragon Rage." I shouted. Gabite jumped up and glided over to the foe. Then, she dropped down and tackled him, using Take Down again. Both Gabite and Lucario took some damage.

"Bone Rush!" Captain Steel yelled. Lucario held out his hand. Blue colored energy started to swirl and take the form of a bone. Gabite used Dragon Claw and ruined the rivals concentration. I smiled at this…Even though she disobeyed me.

"Again!" I called. Gabite used Dragon Claw again perfectly. I grinned.

"Metal Claw!" Lucario's claws turned silvery. He scratched Gabite. She roared and growled.

"Dragon Rage." Gabite spewed purple energy at the opponent. Lucario fell backwards but quickly recovered.

"Bone Rush!" Lucario created a bone-shaped energy force and hit Gabite over the head with it. She growled and raised her hand to strike him. Then, surprising both me and Rowan, she looked at me for a command.

"Dragon Claw." I yelled, a smirk etched on my face. She used Dragon Claw and left her claw imprints on Lucario's chest.

"Use Close Combat!" Lucario met Gabite and started punching and kicking her. She roared and used Take Down…Again. I smacked my forehead. And I thought we were getting somewhere!

They both jumped back up and started hissing at each other. "Dragon Rage!" Gabite used the move beautifully. Lucario stood up slowly.

"Metal Claw!" Lucario quickly clawed Gabite. "Aura Sphere!" Lucario held his paw out. A blue ball shot to Gabite and knocked her to the ground. She was KO'd.

I grabbed Milotic's Pokéball. "Milotic, win for me!" She came out of the ball and held her head high, totally over her confusion.

"Close Combat!" Lucario jumped to Milotic and punched and kicked and hurt her. She groaned.

"Aqua Tail." Her large tail morphed into rushing water, she slammed it on Lucario and knocked him away. He stood up and waited a command.

"Bone Rush!" Lucario sprinted towards my Pokémon. He slammed the bone on Milotic.

"Hydro Pump." I commanded. Water spilled out of my Pokémon's mouth and knocked Lucario to the ground. It was no doubt a critical hit, Lucario had fainted.

Volkner became an uproar with cheers. I looked over at him, cheering and clapping, and grinned.

My smile of victory was great, the feeling inside me was better. I was back in the game, and I wasn't leaving.

Authors Note: So, what did everyone think? Sorry for my late update...I've been busy. I hope you all had a great Hallows Eve, I had a nice one myself. This gym battle was a major pain, it took me a few days to write. Thankfully it's written and done. Hopefully I didn't disappoint.

I'm almost to one-hundred reviews! Let's get TCB to one-hundred!

*OH. And I put a new poll on my profile... It's kind of important. Sort of. Check it out yall.