Those of you wanting longer chapters, this is the longest yet! 3,000 words! However, longer chapters means a longer wait between updates. And really, it just depends on the nature of the chapter to say how long it will be. I can't guarantee they will all be this long, but I'll do my best! Thanks so so much to all of you who read, fav, and add to alert. Thanks as well to my many followers and reviewers on tumblr. And of course, thanks and hugs to my reviewers here! tacypoc, Midori Kiwi, Autistic Goldfish, DayDreamerKnight, Colress Akuroma, KinKitsune01, and Meemeeru.
My Great Big Adventure
Just when I thought I'd seen the last of him, Colress returned.
Okay, so I knew he wasn't gone for good. But I figured he needed to lie low for a while. Then again, the police didn't even appear to be looking for him (even though I gave them a very good description and his picture, and crimes!, were documented on live television).
I met Bianca in front of the Pokemon Center in Driftveil, and she told me that Cheren had told her that he had seen Colress lurking around the city.
"What is Cheren even doing out of bed?" I asked. When I'd left, he was still supposed to be 'taking it easy and resting in bed.'
"I don't know!" Bianca replied, aggravated. "I told him he needed to stay put, and what does he do? He goes out for a stroll!"
"Did he say exactly where he saw Colress?"
"No… He just told me over the xtransceiver that the guy was slinking around suspiciously, and then Cheren hung up."
"To go confront him…?"
"I don't know," she cried, sobbing a bit. "Rosa, you have to help him! He could be in danger!"
Why me? Why is it always me?! She could just as easily have called Clay, who is right down the street! Or maybe, she could have just gone looking for Cheren HERSELF!
"Bianca… you are a Pokemon trainer. You have Pokemon," I said slowly. "Why not just go after Cheren yourself?"
She wiped her eyes and gave me a pitiful look. "I'm scared of him," she whispered.
"Of Cheren?"
"No! Of that CREEPER!"
"Ah, yeah… He worries me, too."
"But you've beaten him before!" she argued. "I know you could do better than I could. You aren't nearly as scared as I am…"
I sighed and pulled my visor down over my face. I really really did not want to see that albino fruitcake again, especially so soon. But Cheren was still recovering, and he might end up in worse shape if we didn't find him soon…
"Fine, fine! I'll go find the little cretin," I conceded, throwing my hands up in defeat.
Bianca practically kissed my shoes, she was so thankful. I told her to go find Clay and tell him what was happening, as he seems to be the only person of authority interested in bringing Colress to justice. I swear the last time I asked an Officer Jenny about it, she merely raised an eyebrow before rushing off to rescue a Purrloin from a tree.
So I wandered off, strolling up and down the avenues, looking for Colress. Whatever he was up to, it couldn't be good. Why'd he have to be such a creepy person? And why was his hair like that? Why did he creep on me in the shadows that first time in the sewers?
The sewers…!
There were two ways to enter the Pokemon World Tournament grounds without being stopped at the main gate. The first, was to enter through the Castelia Sewers, which would take at least a week of walking.
Obviously I had taken the second route through the harbor, but Clay had also said that the tournament grounds did have a sewer manhole I could've accessed, had I been unable to surf. So that's how Colress snuck into the stadium so easily… Hmmm, it was possible he could be hiding out in those very sewers…
I headed to the tournament grounds, this time taking the easy way and going straight through the gate.
Considering the crimes that happened here, you would expect this place to be taped off for investigations.
NOPE.
Not even the stadium arena; there were signs around the grounds advertising current tournaments. Trainers mulled around the booths looking at power-ups and special items, while children and Pokemon ran happily around a playpen. It was as if Colress's tournament never happened.
Immediately I found the entrance to the sewers; it was just a short distance from the grounds entrance, actually. However, instead of a plain old manhole, there was a large cave dug into the ground! A man in a hard hat standing nearby informed me that inside the cave was Relic Passage. Something about that sounded familiar… but this meant that Relic Passage and the sewers were connected. Of course Colress would lurk around in a place called Relic Passage; I'm sure there were plenty of old relics down there for him to dig up. Even though he's a scientist and not an archeologist.
I decided to check out the stadium first. I wanted to make sure Colress wasn't up above ground, before having to go into that cave. I did not want to be alone with him a dark tunnel again unless I was absolutely sure he was in there. And even then… I would consider hightailing it. He's uber creepy!
I approached the nearest booth selling… whatever they were selling (they didn't have a sign). A guy in a green vest was half-asleep on the table.
"Um, excuse me…?" I asked, standing directly in front of him.
Hearing my voice, the guy bolted up like a rocket. Eeek.
"Now that I'm aware of my hidden powers, I can tell you what kind of hidden powers you can learn," he proclaimed, sounding still half-asleep.
"No, no… that's ok, I'm not interested," I replied, leaning back as he leered at me. "I'm actually looking for someone… a guy in a scientist's lab coat, have you seen anyone like that?"
"If you want to know, I'll activate my hidden power for you!" he said, and then he began chanting. "Na mu ra to fu no da…"
"I'm good, thanks…" Leaving him to his chanting, I slipped away and ran off to the next booth.
"Excuse me, but have you seen a suspicious man in a lab coat?" I asked the woman behind the table.
"Do you want to remember him?" she asked with a weird smile. "I can help you remember. All it costs is one scale from your heart…"
"Yeeesh! No thanks!" I stuttered, scrambling away.
An old man was wiping down the next booth with a cloth. He seemed normal enough…
"Excuse me, sir?" I asked cautiously.
He jumped and looked at me in surprise. "Er… Who was I again? …oh right! I make you forget things! You've come to forget something?"
"No…"
"Remember me if you ever want to forget!"
Jeez, what was with these vendors? Maybe they were just tired and ready to go home. The afternoon was almost over… I bet they were all just hungry and their empty stomachs were doing the talking. There had to be someone here full enough to help me.
"Your quest for power has brought you here…!"
Nyah! I jumped away from the voice that startled me, coming face to face with another old man.
"You must be competing in the tournament, am I correct?" he asked.
"No… Actually, I'm looking for a creepy albino bird-looking man wearing a white lab coat and doing suspicious things like maybe creeping on young female Pokemon trainers. Have you seen him?"
"A who-now? Either buy something or get out!" he barked suddenly, closing the curtains on his booth.
I swear this tournament must be run by a bunch of weirdos…
I scoured the tournament grounds, the stadium halls, and even the arena, but no sign of Colress. Exiting the stadium, I looked around one more time. I really didn't want to go back into the sewers…
"Stop. There's no need for you to stick your neck into something so dangerous."
I whipped around so fast my hair smacked me in the face.
"Colress."
He beamed. "The one and only. And my, my, Rosa, out looking for me. Could it be you have finally realized I was right all along?" He pushed his glasses against his nose so that they shined against the sunset dramatically.
"You haven't been right about anything! And I'm not looking for you, exactly… I'm looking for Cheren! What've you done to him?"
"Calm down, little girl. You're always so quick to judge."
Well of course I am… he's evil! I glared at him as he inspected his nails as if this was a casual occurrence.
"I didn't do anything to that gym leader. He ran off somewhere with your little friend."
Little friend…?
"You saw Hugh?" I choked out.
Colress shrugged. "Just in passing. He and the gym leader met up and ran off together… But it's not courage," he sighed deeply. "It's recklessness. Does he think anything is possible just because of his Pokemon?"
I frowned and crossed my arms, tired of these ramblings of his. "What are you talking about now?"
"No, no… it's not possible," he continued, as if I'd said nothing. He stared up at the sky as if deep in thought. "Trainers and Pokemon are bound together by Pokeballs. Hmmm… Maybe it is this bond will allow Trainers to overcome the impossible… Such trust in their Pokemon…"
Oh lord, he was talking about that 'inner strength' garbage again. A likely cover-up for his other creepier motives. He drives me up the wall when he talks like that!
"Will you make sense already?!"
Fixing his glasses again, Colress gave me a steely look. "Trust… it's too much of an unknown factor. However, I trust one thing: we will meet again, Rosa."
"Don't count on it," I snapped, clenching my fists. If he tried anything funny…
"If believing in your Pokemon gives you the courage to stand up to Team Plasma… and the courage to help your friends… then follow them south to the docks!"
What?
"WHAT?" I repeated aloud. "What the heck does this have to do with Team Plasma?"
But Colress was already gone, racing away from me with a trail of dust behind him. I watched him run off into Relic Passage, watching until the dust cloud had faded away.
Why does he always have to speak in riddles and such? Why can't he just talk normally? Well, I suppose that's a loaded question. For him to talk normally, he'd have to be normal himself. And he's not; he's a crazy mad scientist who seems to be somewhat attracted to me. A cradle-robber! My greatest mortal enemy… The Seviper to my Zangoose, the Brycen-Man to my Riolu Girl, the bread to my butter…? Or would I be the bread…? Butter is sweeter but you can't eat it by itself and have it still taste good like you can with bread…
Never mind that! He'd said my friends were at the dock! That's important!
Cheren… and Hugh. Hugh was there too. Well of course he was; anything involving Team Plasma had his undivided attention. Colress did mention them… I'm guessing the two of them headed off to confront Team Plasma at the docks.
I could have simply walked away… I could have told Bianca that I didn't find anyone. That would be best. I'm tired of getting involved with Team Plasma, and Hugh obviously didn't want to see me, something he made very clear when he walked out on me.
But I want to see him.
I raced off down the docks without a second thought, my feet practically flying over the wood. However, the docks were empty. No sign of Cheren or Hugh.
Just a large, dark ship… with a Plasma logo on the flag. They had to be onboard.
I scrambled up the gangplank and onto the massive ship.
I ran straight into Cheren and Hugh. And about fifty Team Plasma grunts. They all turned and stared as I clambered aboard.
"Uhh… hi."
Cheren was the first to recover. "Oh, Rosa, thank goodness you're here. We could use your help."
"You say that like we need it," Hugh scoffed, avoiding my eyes.
His dang attitude ticked me off. "You assume I want to be here! Bianca was worried, so I was sent out to look! And now that I see you can handle it, I'm leaving!" I spun on my heel, not caring if he was affected or not.
"Don't even think about it, girlie," a large grunt said, blocking my path. He pulled out a few Pokeballs.
"Fine, but you asked for it," I warned him, sending out Serperior. These grunts weren't aware that they were about to try my patience…
"Rosa! Let's take them down together," Cheren called out, hurrying over to join me.
In no time, we had beaten at least ten grunts. Leaving Cheren to finish off the last two on our side of the deck, I glanced over at Hugh. He was attempting to battle five people at once. That dunderhead…
"I told you, I don't need you," he stated, not even looking at me as I joined his side and called out Lucario.
"Hugh, you may be a great trainer, but you aren't a superhero. Let me help you."
He finally looked at me. His eyes seemed to be trying to say an awful lot that he couldn't, but in the end, he just scoffed again. "Whatever. It's not like I can make you go away."
I fell into step next to him, and we wordlessly took out the remaining grunts. For a few minutes, it felt like old times. Tag-teaming against those grunts down in the sewers suddenly felt like only yesterday. Like we had never argued at all.
But it couldn't last. Eventually the last grunt was defeated, and Hugh distanced himself from me once more. He walked over to the last grunt and shook him.
"Ok, Plasma punk, are you the thief who stole Purrloin five years ago in Aspertia? Answer me!"
The grunt coughed. "Back off, ya Quilfish Headed toerag."
"Tell me everything about Purrloin!" Hugh said angrily, grabbing the man's collar. Several other grunts knocked him away from their fallen comrade.
Cheren nodded. "I have some questions too…"
I stood silently and watched it all.
Just as a physical fight between Hugh and the grunts was about to break out, a strange light appeared, blinding everyone. Once the light was gone, I saw four newcomers standing in the middle of the ship.
Three strange ninjas… and a man in a big purple dress.
"WHAT is going on?!" the purple man demanded. He surveyed the scene, frowning at Hugh, who was halfway through pounding a grunt in the face. His eyes flickered over me, before they came to rest on Cheren.
"YOU! No matter. Once again, we will use the legendary Pokemon to rule the Unova region! You are not allowed to run around as you please, worthless trainers."
He turned to the ninjas. "Shadow Triad, get rid of them!"
"But we are not your—"
"Just do it."
Hands grabbed me and roughly shoved me around. The next thing I knew, I was falling off the side of the ship and into the water below.
I know how to swim, but being caught so off guard and falling upside down… I was kicking my legs and flailing my arms but the surface seemed to get farther and farther away… Which one was Azumarill's Pokeball again?
A hand closed around my arm and dragged me upwards. I broke the surface hacking and chocking, but I didn't have much time to gather myself before I was yanked out of the water and pulled up onto the deck.
I tumbled over and found myself looking up into the eyes of Hugh.
"Thanks," I breathed.
He said nothing, but his eyes weren't as angry as they had been before. He moved away to check on Cheren, who was spitting up saltwater, and I stared out into the ocean.
The Plasma ship had vanished. Had I been underwater that long?
"How did they get away so quickly?" Cheren asked.
"I don't know," Hugh replied grimly, "but I don't like it."
"Thanks for your help, Rosa," Cheren said, turning to me. "I'm sorry you got swept up in this… literally."
"Eheh, yeah…"
I stared at Hugh, but he purposely looked away. Cheren seemed to catch that something was going on, and he quickly excused himself, hurrying away and muttering about how frantic Bianca must be.
"I said I didn't need your help," Hugh said after a while, still looking away.
"I know—"
"But I… Well… Thanks," he said stiffly.
"You're welcome," I replied, unsure of what I could say that wouldn't cause another huge fight. "Uhh… Thanks for saving me. In the water, I mean."
He nodded. "Of course, I wasn't about to let you—" He sighed. "I'm headed off for Mistralton City. Alone."
"But—"
"I have to go alone, okay?" he interrupted in a firm, but gentle voice. "I have to do this by myself. I have to know I'm strong enough."
Leaning on the dock railing at such an angle, with the sun setting against the ocean behind him… He was breath-taking.
"Hugh, you are strong," I told him, stepping closer.
He sighed but didn't move away. "But not strong enough. Not yet."
We looked at each other for a long time. I wasn't entirely sure what he felt, but I was glad to be on speaking terms, at least. He was staring at, almost frowning… but not quite.
"We should head back," he said, clearing his throat. "It's getting late. You're staying at the Pokemon Center, right?"
I shook my head. "No, I'm actually staying at Clay's house." I glanced over at the orange ocean. "But I think I'd like to stay here for a bit." I sat down at the edge of the dock.
Stay with me?
"Oh. Well… see ya…" With a parting wave, Hugh trudged back up the decks towards the stadium. I watched him until he disappeared behind one of the booths.
I pulled off my shoes and socks and dipped my feet into the water. I didn't feel like going back just yet. The glow from the sun was nice, and the sound of the waves was soothing. Much better than the worried voices waiting for me back at the house. As it grew darker, the wind picked up some, blowing a cool breeze over me.
But I wasn't cold. There was a small warmth spreading through my chest, keeping the chills out.