It's never easy being Hugo. And today is no exception. He once again finds himself in another difficult situation. He was halfway through his morning jog alongside Shinx when Shinx suddenly collapsed to the floor. Turns out the electric type is sick. There are no Pokémon Centres nearby. The team have camped out on the border of routes 11 and 12, which is a day's walk east of Digglet's Tunnell. Shinx is back in its pokéball for now, but it really needs medical attention. Brock lacks the supplies needed to treat it. Therefore, Hugo has no choice but to leave the group, he must run ahead and get to Vermillion as fast as possible.
"C'mon, can't be far to go now. Hang in there buddy." Hugo talks to himself while he struggles to maintain his run, he's been going for almost 2 hours now. "Wait, what is-"
"LAAAAAAAAAX!"
A Snorlax completely blocks the path, fast asleep. An old man scratches his head as he appears to be trying to figure out what to do. He turns and faces Hugo, who instantly recognises him. This is the old man who sent him to that island and gave him those crazy visions! Hugo could've sworn he looked older last time though, he appears to have died his grey hair brown. He does look so much younger, at a guess maybe in his late fifties, early sixties?
"So your partner is sick, but this obstacle blocks your path, eh?" The old man asks calmly.
"How'd you… never mind." Hugo frowns. He's given up wondering how this guy knows what he knows.
"I heard you can obtain a poké flute from someone in Lavender town..." The old man explains.
Hugo frowns. "Look, I'm sure you know this but my brother's in big danger, my friend's starving herself, my pokémon's sick and I'm dying! Plus I'm banned from half the places in that town! I think this is one problem too many."
The old man seems to ignore Hugo's words. "Ah. I see. Mr. Fuji truly is a genius..."
"Huh?" Hugo looks down, and to his shock, right there in his hands is a brand new poké flute! It's yellow with pictures of Pikachu's face on it. There's a note attached with sticky tape.
'Dear young Hugo. Thank you for visiting my humble abode, and I am sorry to see that you were forced to leave so hastily. I like to give a gift to all of my new friends but you vanished before I could give you yours. Therefore, I asked a very good friend of mine to deliver this to you. I'm sure you will receive this at the time it's most needed. - Fuji'
"So you're delivering this for-"
Hugo looks up, the old man is nowhere to be seen.
"Of course. Ok. Let's try this."
Hugo blows into the flute, and it makes the most horrendous noise imaginable. Snorlax opens its eyes, it looks pissed off.
Before Snorlax has the chance to move, something come flying towards it out of the sky. Four flying objects bounce off Snorlax's stomach and land on the grass beside it.
When they land, it's clear that these are in fact not objects, but living things! Two humans and two pokémon struggle to their feet, looking tired.
"No way..." Hugo recognises these four very well. A blue haired man, pink haired woman, plus a Meowth and a Wobbuffet. It's Jessie and James!
"Wow, some landing, huh? Who sez cats always land on dere feet?" Meowth groans.
"Hmm, it appears that last thunderbolt from the twerp's Pikachu has sent us quite far from our previous location." James realises.
"This place looks oddly familiar..." Jessie adds.
"Could it be..." Meowth wonders.
"WE'RE HOME!" All three wail together. "WOBBUFFET!"
"LAAAAAAAAAAX!" Snorlax is on its feet at last, looking furious that its nap was disturbed by such a horrendous sound.
"Wow! It's the tall twerp! Who would've guessed?" Meowth exclaims.
"This fool is still going? I would've thought the author would've given up on his story months ago." Jessie states with surprise.
"Woah, and there's a big scary Snorlax attacking!" James points at the normal type looking frightened.
"Fine then, Snorlax. Have it your way."
Hugo sends out Gengar, ready to battle. "Quick, use-"
"STOOOOOP!"
A young woman with red hair and a blue dress sprints towards the scene. "DON'T FIGHT! You're too close to Diglett's tunnell! If your attack are powerful enough, they could cause the whole place to cave in!"
"Darn..." Hugo frowns, then dives in the woman's direction, pushing her to the floor. A hyper beam attack narrowly misses them.
"Don't say that and then let that thing kill you..."
"Ugh, sorry, I..."
"RAICHU, THUNDERBOLT!"
"Rai-CHUUUUUUUU!"
Hugo and the red haired girl turn around. Snorlax is now lying down again, but this time it's because it has fainted, and it's now lying in a wider section of the path, enabling people to walk around it.
"Trudy, what did I tell you?! You have to be more AGGRESSIVE. Look, I haven't come close to accidentally hitting the tunnell with any attacks."
Hugo recognises the man who's talking. It's Lt. Surge! Ash once told him a story about a battle between his Pikachu and Surge's Raichu. Ash had almost evolved Pikachu in an attempt to win.
"Hey there fella, thanks for rescuing my daughter. Let me repay the favour, come and swing by my gym when you have a few minutes… maybe I can give you a battling tip or two. Now come on Trudy, let's get back to the gym, there's something we have to discuss!"
"Um… thank you, sir. See you later!" The girl springs to her feet and runs off after the Lieutenant.
Hugo returns Gengar and looks around, he sees no sign of Team Rocket. Wonder where they went? Anyway, his priority right now is Shinx.
"Well done in getting here so fast! I can assure you that Shinx isn't as bad as it looks. It shouldn't take long until it's fully better. A day, maybe two days maximum. But I hope you appreciate, we must request that you allow us to keep Shinx with us until it's completely recovered."
"That's fine. Thanks a lot Nurse Joy!" Hugo is relieved as he makes his way out of the Vermillion Pokémon Centre. He has to stay in Vermillion until Shinx is better, and his friends probably won't be here until the evening. A glance at the big clock on the front of the Pokémon Centre shows Hugo that it's not even noon yet. To kill some time while he waits for Brock and co he decides to accept the Lieutenant's offer and visit him in his gym.
As Hugo walks along the path towards the gym he encounters a small tree. He can't seem to figure out how to get past it.
"I'll have to use force. Tyranitar, come out and use HYPER BEAM!"
"RAAAAAAAAA!" Tyranitar is summoned and shoots an overwhelmingly powerful beam of light at the tree. Unbelievably, the small tree is unaffected.
Hugo is left stunned. "Well I don't see any way I could possibly get past this small tree. Guess I can't go to the-"
"Heliolisk, use cut!"
Just as Hugo is turning around to give up, someone intervenes and finally removes the tree in his way.
"Hi, thank you for helping me earlier. Come on. My Dad wants to speak with you." Trudy gestures for Hugo to follow.
"Hi, um, what's that?" Hugo asks as he joins Trudy entering the Gym.
"Ah, that's my Heliolisk. You haven't seen one before, eh?"
Inside the Gym, Lt Surge is getting his pokémon to go through a workout. There's a Raichu, Magnezone, Electrode and a weird-looking thing similar to a Pikachu. They are all performing various exercises just as rolling around and lifting heavy objects.
"Bet you've never seen a Dedenne either?" Trudy asks. Hugo shakes his head.
Surge notices the pair walking in.
"Ah, it's you. I was wondering if you'd come. I've seen you somewhere, haven't I? If I remember from watching the news, you're the one who helped out Erika?"
"Um… yeah, I guess I did."
"Excellent! Always good to meet an ally of the Gym Leaders. The name's Dennis. But most people call me Lt. Surge. A pleasure to meet you." Surge shakes Hugo's hand enthusiastically.
Hugo already likes this guy. It's nice to talk to someone who is a similar height for a change. Hugo still has a few inches on him, but this guy is pretty big at around 6'5. "It's Hugo. A pleasure for me too."
"You see, we need the young ones like yourself to really help us out. Have you any idea how old I am?" Surge asks with a smile. Hugo shakes his head.
Surge chuckles. "Why, I'll take that as a compliment. Next month is my 50th birthday."
"My point is, most trainers stop battling at a much younger age than myself. It gets harder and harder each year to keep up my training. Blaine and Agatha, they both kept battling into their 60's. I guess for less physical trainers like them it's possible, but for people like me and you? No chance! My daughter Trudy is 23. I think it's definitely time I pass the baton along, you know what I'm saying?"
Hugo's eyes widen. He wasn't expecting all this from a guy he just met.
"Well you see, Trudy went on quite a journey, to the faraway region of Kalos. She's trained hard, and recently she beat me in battle three times in a row."
Trudy looks embarrassed standing beside her father.
"You see, with all the events that have transpired lately, at first I wanted to take action. To fight back. But these ageing bones aren't gonna allow that to happen. I've made the decision to go into hiding. I'm going to Mount Silver. I will stay there until the Kanto region knows peace again. I think this extra training is what I really need to get back into shape. Then when I return, Trudy can officially become Vermillion's new Gym leader. It'll be a day to be proud of."
Surge and Trudy share a heart-warming smile. These two obviously have a very close bond.
"So, big lad, I need you to promise me that if anyone comes after Trudy you'll do everything in your power to destroy them. I can give you somewhere to live. Stay here and protect her. Please." Surge gives Hugo a serious stare.
Hugo doesn't know what to say. He wasn't expecting all of this.
Suddenly, three sniggering figures burst in through the entrance.
"Aw, such a heart-warming tale." Jessie grins.
"Too bad your plan is going to fail." Adds James.
"Because we'll take all those pokémon, then we'll bail." Finishes Meowth.
"Eh? Who are you lot? What are you doing in my gym?" Surge demands to know.
"Prepare for trouble! You still can't name us?"
"And make it double! Around here we're famous."
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all people within our nation."
"Jessie."
"James."
"And Meowth. Now remember those names."
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light."
"Surrender now or prepare to fight."
"Meowth, that's right!"
"WOOOOBBUFFET!"
"And now is da purrfect time for dis!" Meowth announces, pulling out a remote control and pressing a few buttons.
All of a sudden, a net is shot through one of the open windows in the gym. Surge's Raichu, Trudy's Heliolisk and all the other pokémon are caught inside, with the exception of Electrode, who has incredible speed and manages to avoid. Then some sort of mechanical arm pulls the net out of the window.
"Well, see you mugs on da other side!" Meowth waves goodbye as the trio scram towards the door, attempting to escape.
"Woah, what do you think you're doing?! Get back here!" Surge looks irritated. He chases after Team Rocket. Hugo is impressed, for a 49-year-old, he sure can run fast.
All of a sudden, both Team Rocket and Surge halt in their tracks. There's a looming figure coming through the doorway.
"So it's time..." Surge mutters.
"J-J-Jess… i-is that..." James stammers.
"I-I-I think it is..." Jessie replies.
Dan calmly walks through the door. He has an intense glare. "Huh. You're here again?" He glares at Hugo.
"It would be wrong of me to leave you alive. Unfortunately it's a different story for everyone else in this room."
Hugo is confused as to why Dan doesn't want to kill him, but he has no time to wonder about that now.
"So this is our future Gym leader, eh? You've raised a fine young woman, Surge. Such a shame she has to be disposed of."
Trudy is stood close to Hugo, and he can see her visibly trembling with fear.
"Electrode, get over there and use explosion!" Surge commands. Dan is far too quick for him, though.
"GIRATINA!" Dan summons the legendary ghost type.
"Gonna have to try." Hugo sprints towards Dan. "Kabutops!"
Kabutops is ready, and knows what to do. It uses surf. Hugo allows himself to be propelled forward by the powerful wave, heading towards Dan. He's propelled a little more than he expected though, landing inches away from Dan.
POW! Before Hugo can even stand up straight after landing, he recieves a mean left hook to the face. Dan is a lot stronger than expected, Hugo is knocked onto his back, soaking wet, nose bleeding and lying in the puddles left behind by surf. His vision starts to fade, but he manages to remain conscious. He sees Giratina knocking out Electrode with shadow claw. He manages to tilt his head forwards just enough to see Dan. He has a shotgun in his hands, and it's aimed straight towards Trudy.
"Goodbye little girl." Dan pulls the trigger.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Surge sprints towards Trudy, with all his might he performs a powerful leap, diving in front of her. The bullet hits him right in the chest.
"What a nuisance. Giratina, shadow ball!" Dan commands Giratina to attack Trudy directly.
Hugo's vision goes blurry. He doesn't want Kabutops to carelessly charge at him, Kabutops would surely be killed!
"WOOOOOOOBBA!"
Unexpectedly, Wobbuffet's cry can be heard, and a loud explosion occurs.
Hugo summons all of his strength and struggles onto his knees. He looks around, Dan and Giratina are lying on the floor, badly hurt.
"Gyah, lucky escape." He throws a pokéball out in front of him, summoning Alakazam. In a flash, they've teleported away.
"Awesome job Wobbuffet!" Jessie praises.
"Looks like Giratina couldn't withstand its own attack being reflected back at it." James observes.
"DAAAAAD!" Trudy screams, rushing over to Surge, who is lying on the ground.
Hugo scrambles to his feet, and staggers over to Trudy and Surge.
"Tr-Trudy, come closer." Surge's shirt is covered in blood. He looks very weak, and is breathing heavily.
"I've taught you all I could. Now it's time to keep fighting… for the Surge family..."
"Dad! Hang in there! We'll get you to a hospital!" Trudy is in tears and doesn't seem to know what to do.
Surge manages a weak smile. "No need. My time has come. I've lived a good life..."
He's really struggling to speak now.
"I… regret… nothing..."
Surge gazes out of the window with a smile on his face. And that is his final action in this world.
Trudy bursts into uncontrollable tears, punching the floor in anger.
Hugo hangs his head low, blood still dripping from his nose.
"The world has lost a great man..." He mutters.
A couple of minutes have passed. Trudy is still crying. Hugo retrieves some wipes from his bag and cleans his face, returning Kabutops to its ball. He then goes to check on the fainted Electrode, who seems to be alright, it will just need a trip to the Pokémon Centre later.
"Hey yous guys." Meowth calls over.
"We're sorry we stole from you bums. An enemy of the boss's enemy is a friend of ours."
"Here, take your pokémon back, but don't expect this level of generosity on a regular basis." James says to Hugo and Trudy, while fiddling with the remote controller seen earlier. The net is shot back through the open window and opens, returning all of the gym's pokémon.
"Keep up da fight, chums!" Meowth calls as the group turn around to make their exit.
"Come on guys, let us blast off back to Kalos!" Jessie punches the air as they exit through the door and out of sight.
Hugo decides to be respectful, and makes his way towards the exit to give Trudy some space.
"Wait." Trudy calls without turning her head. She is still knelt at her Father's corpse and sadness is evident in her voice.
"That man… the one who killed my Father… get rid of him. Please. Get rid of him so Kanto can know peace once more, and I can become the great Gym Leader my Father wanted."
Hugo makes his way out of the building, lots of thoughts going through his mind about the events that just transpired.
He arrives back in the Pokémon Centre, intent on retrieving Shinx when a familiar voice beckons.
"What are the odds that we would meet in this place? It must be fate telling us to battle, that thought makes my heart race!"
Of course, the rhyming guy…
"Bug Catcher Johnny's back, bigger and stronger. But I think we should battle and not talk for much longer..."
Hugo doesn't bother to argue with this guy and just goes along with his request to battle. They wait for the battlefield to finish being used by two other trainers, then get started.
"Heracross, go! Defeat your foe!"
Still feeling depressed about what just happened, Hugo can't find the motivation for this battle. He half-heartedly sends out Gengar.
"Oh no! A ghost! I will not shirk! My fighting type moves will not work! But that really is okay, because megahorn is the move of the day!"
Heracross attempts to attack Gengar, who dodges easily.
Gengar looks to Hugo for an order, who just shrugs, gesturing for it to do whatever it wants. So it chooses to lick Heracross.
"Yuck! A lick! That makes me feel sick! Now use aerial ace as hard as a brick!"
To be fair, this is a smart move as aerial ace cannot be dodged. Gengar is hit.
Hugo is just folding his arms with a frown on his face.
Gengar gets bored, and decides to whack Heracross with shadow claw. The bug type cannot withstand the attack and faints.
"Darn! I thought we'd make you suffer defeat. Never mind, I like my rival to be hard to beat. Well, I better be off to the next city. I'll likely see you there, if not it'll be a pity."
And with that, Bug Catcher Johnny makes his exit.
"Wow! What enthusiasm you showed there!"
The voice is Misty's. The gang have caught up at last.
Hugo doesn't bother to respond.
"What's wrong?" Asks Brock as he and the four girls all stand (and sit) beside Hugo.
"Surge is dead."
"What? Like, recently?" Misty asks in surprise.
"Very recently." Hugo frowns.
"SURGE? No fucking way! You're taking the piss surely!" Erika exclaims in surprise.
"Dan killed him." Hugo explains.
"Oh dear..." Leaf frowns.
"You were there to see it?" Dawn asks curiously.
"Unfortunately."
"What about Trudy? His daughter? Don't tell me she was there too?" Brock asks worriedly.
"She was, but she's okay." Hugo replies in an emotionless tone.
"Oh dear, well you've certainly had an eventful morning…" Dawn frowns.
"If Surge is gone, who's next?" Misty ponders.
"Well it's not hard to fucking work out, is it? It'll be Koga!" Erika replies with attitude.
"Should we warn him?" Dawn asks.
"No point. He'll be ready..." Erika stares off into the distance. "Just as I'll be ready to help him destroy that motherfucker!" Let's go to Fuschia asap!"
"Hold on!" Leaf speaks up.
The whole gang turn towards Leaf, who's usually so quiet she can go unnoticed.
"That's right!" Dawn agrees. "We came here to find Leaf's mother. She's hiding somewhere in this city, right?"
"Well I reckon if we're going to look anywhere for someone who's hiding, we'll have to go with Diglett's Tunnel, right?" Misty guesses.
"...For once, I agree with you." Brock says reluctantly, rummaging through the storage under his wheelchair for a snack.
"So what, you're all gonna put off saving Koga's life for this bullshit?! You could do this any other day! Screw it, I'm going to Fuschia. Come on Hugo." Erika is her usual angry self, she grabs Hugo's arm and attempts to pull him along with her.
"Wait."
Hugo is still showing no emotion on his face, but he speaks louder now.
"I have to be in the Safari Zone very soon for an important reason..."
The rest of gang all look surprised that Hugo would leave them, Leaf in-particular looks heartbroken.
"...But I could never abandon Leaf."
"Ha! Then it's agreed! We all go with Leaf!" Dawn punches the air in triumph, excited that Hugo took her side. Meanwhile Leaf looks overwhelmed with relief as she sighs heavily.
"Grr!" Erika grunts.
"Well, bye shithead." Hugo teases.
"...Wait." Erika mutters through gritted teeth.
"I'll go too. Let's make it quick."
"Thank you everybody. I don't deserve all of this help." Leaf has such a sweet voice, and gives off a girly smile.
"We're all here to help each other, right? Well, most of us..." Misty glares at Brock as she says the last part.
"WHAT? I'm such a team player!" Brock defends himself.
"I swear if you carry on saying what you were saying earlier you'll be paralysed above the waist as well."
"Huh? I missed it? What did you say?" Hugo asks, kneeling so he's close to Brock.
Brock whispers something in Hugo's ear, and Hugo tries unsuccessfully not to laugh.
"Seriously, I will murder both of you!" Misty fumes.
So the whole gang: Hugo, Brock, Misty, Dawn, Leaf and Erika all make the short journey to Digglet's Tunnel. Upon entering there is a man dressed in black standing in the corner. The cave's entrance is filled with artificial lights and the first few hundred yards have clearly been dug out to make it bigger.
"S-sorry, you lot, but the tunnel's c-closed d-due to maintenance work." The man sounds incredibly nervous, as if he's trying to hide something.
"FUCK YOU!" Erika delivers a right hook to his face, knocking the man out cold on the ground.
"Erika! We could've just talked to him!" Hugo exclaims.
"What? Swearing's caring." Erika replies, with a deadly serious expression.
"Not sure that's how the expression goes..." Dawn mutters to herself.
"So… we're looking for some sort of secret entrance?" Brock asks.
"Seems like it. Guess we could climb up some of the paths? There's loads of them and one of them is bound to lead to their base." Misty decides.
"Um… you think there's wheelchair access?" Brock asks, filled with doubt.
"Brock, sweetie, I'm not trying to get rid of you or anything..." Dawn begins.
"I am!" Misty exclaims. "I'll say what we're all thinking. You'll have to wait outside, wheels!"
"Gah! If only I could get up and walk! Well good luck to you all. Especially you Leaf!" Brock says as he reluctantly turns around and begins to make his exit.
Speaking of Leaf, Hugo can't help but notice how heavily she seems to be breathing.
"Leaf, you okay? The air's not too dusty?" He quizzes her.
"No. I'm fine." Leaf lies, faking a smile. Hugo knows she's not, but as this is important to her, he doesn't want to suggest to her to go with Brock.
"Stay close to me." He tells her.
The gang decide to split in half. Hugo, Leaf and Erika search in one direction while Misty and Dawn search another.
"This is pointless!" Erika exclaims. "I bet there's not even anything here!"
"Well we have to hope there is… for Leaf's sake." Hugo casts a glance in Leaf's direction, frowning at how ill she looks.
After a good twenty minutes of looking around for anything that resembles a secret base entrance, Misty spots something.
"Hey Dawn, come over here, what do ya reckon this i-WAAAH!"
"Misty! Don't worry I- WAAAAAAH!"
The girl's screams are heard from across the tunnel.
"What the fuck?" Erika glances at Hugo.
"Run." Hugo tells her.
Hugo and Erika begin to bolt across the rocky path, having to climb and jump across rocks as they go. After making some good distance Hugo realises…
"Leaf!" She's fallen so far behind they can't even see her any more. Hugo instantly turns around and sprints back in the other direction. Letting out a deep sigh, Erika reluctantly follows him.
Getting around the corner, Hugo spots Leaf again, and as he feared she's not alone.
"Good afternoon Hugo, we meet again." Leaf's mother, Sarah, is standing right there. There are four members of Team Oblivion, dressed in Black, surrounding Leaf, effectively taking her hostage. Leaf looks even more pale than usual, and hardly possesses the strength to react to the situation.
"Aw, fuckity fuck!" Erika exclaims as she catches up to Hugo.
"What do you want?" Hugo asks through gritted teeth.
"Funny. I was just going to ask you the same question." Sarah replies while inspecting her painted nails.
"Your daughter isn't well. We need you to help her." Hugo tells her with a stone cold expression.
"Woah, never seen you so pissed off!" Erika glares at Hugo's face.
"Help her? And why would I do that after she betrayed me?"
All of a sudden, Leaf looks more lively again. Despite her condition, her face begins to glow slightly red, for the first time ever she looks angry.
"MUM!" Leaf yells, louder than she expected to be able to. "YOU LEFT ME TO ROT! I HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO RESORT TO STEALING!"
"Pfft. Hardly. You could've just gone down to the village to live." Sarah lies.
"You know I couldn't! The whole village wanted me dead! Every one of them! Except one! The generosity of one… incredible, selfless boy saved my life! But my greed almost ended his..." Leaf is now an emotional wreck, a tear starts to travel along her cheek.
"WHAT?!" Sarah exclaims.
"WHAT?!" Hugo exclaims.
"Hugo..." Leaf glares at him. "I took too much from you. You offered me more than you could afford to give. The big, muscular, handsome young man was turned into a weak little boy and all because of me… Mum was right to leave a horrible person like me to die..." Leaf's breathing is very heavy now, and she looks about as upset as someone can possibly look.
"Leaf..." Hugo has so many things to say to her now, but he's not gonna get the chance.
"Well Mummy's glad to have you back, girl! But I need to teach you a valuable lesson about your attitude. Come on!"
A Koffing emerges from the shadows, using smokescreen. Hugo and Erika are taken by surprise and all they can do is cough and splutter. When the smoke clears, everyone is gone except the two of them.
Hugo and Erika are so shocked that they simply stare at each other for almost fifteen seconds before Erika finally breaks the silence.
"What the fuck? Who are that lot?"
"Team Oblivion. Haven't got a clue what they do." Hugo explains.
"Well… your friends are dead. Too bad. Let's grab wheels and head straight to Fuschia." Erika laughs at her own joke.
"You know what, you're an arsehole!" Hugo scoffs.
"Oh, it took you until now to realise, really? Fucking genius!" Erika folds her arms and turns away.
"You know what, I can do this alone. Go home." Hugo begins to continue down the tunnel.
"Oy! You totally need me! You're fucked without me!" Erika follows him, refusing to be left behind.
"Oh yeah? And how do you help in any way besides insulting me every ten seconds?" Hugo quickens his pace.
"You need it to stop your massive ego inflating so much it takes up the whole room!" Erika quickens her pace to match Hugo's quickened pace.
"Ego?! You're kidding? I'm practically Mr Humble!" Hugo bursts into a run,
"Oh yeah, that's exactly what a super humble guy would say!" Erika runs beside him.
The pair continue to argue like a married couple until they reach the end of the tunnel. There's a bright light coming from a hole in the wall. Hugo and Erika peer down in to see a slide that looks like it leads deep within.
"Think we found it." Hugo says.
"Well no shit, Mr detective!" Erika pushes Hugo in, so he ends up sliding head first. Much to her annoyance though, he remains in control and spins around to go feet first. She quickly follows him.
At the bottom of the slide they are met with the expected warm welcome. They are in a massive open warehouse and five men are stood a good distance away pointing guns at them. Hugo and Erika can only put up their arms in surrender. "PUT YOUR HANDS UP WHERE WE CAN SEE 'EM! IF YOU MOVE WE OPEN FIRE!"
All five men are gathered quite closely together.
"Good job we're fucking smart." Erika whispers and winks at Hugo.
"DIG!" Erika yells. "Aerial ace!" Hugo commands.
Erika had informed Hugo beforehand that she'd brought a Grovyle that knows dig. Hugo had decided to also teach his Kabutops dig so they could perform a double stealth attack. Grovyle attacks from underneath, hitting them directly with its dig attack while Kabutops does the opposite, diving out of the tunnell into an immediate aerial ace from above.
Five seconds later the guards are taken care of. Erika and Hugo share a quick high five and return their pokémon, then begin to make way through the warehouse. It's relatively empty despite its massive size. There's two planes in the distance on the left side with the word 'OBLIVION' painted on in black. They're quite small, probably used as private jets for their team. There's at least thirty different doors across the walls of the warehouse, who knows what's behind each one? All of a sudden, another team member pokes his head out of one door. "In here guys." He gestures to follow. The pair, always on the alert, follow the man through the door.
Behind the door, to their surprise, is an office. Sarah's office. She's sitting at her desk resting her elbows on it. Behind her, around ten Team Oblivion members are gathered, all standing with their hands behind their back, trying to look professional. At the side, Leaf, Misty and Dawn are all sat in a chair tied up, their mouths covered with tape.
"So..." Sarah begins. "I bet you're wondering what Team Oblivion's all about."
"Not really..." Erika replies, uninterested.
"Well, you see, the world needs us. Much more than you know. As you may be aware, there are pokémon out there far more powerful than any pokémon you can find in Kanto. Even the mighty Mewtwo is outmatched."
Hugo thinks back to that time he got his arse kicked by Mewtwo and doubts her words.
"I'm referring to the pokémon GODS! We all know about Arceus and how powerful it is. But what if there are others? Pokémon so powerful, that anything they want to happen, happens."
"Sounds like some bullshit religion..." Erika sighs, unimpressed.
"We have evidence that such pokémon exist. However, it is not as it seems… these are pokémon many of us already knew about. It's just that their powers are far greater than any of us had previously imagined. You're probably unfamiliar with pokémon fusion, however it is something that is very real and possible. Now, we've experimented with this many times over the years. Behold!"
On cue, one of the grunts sends out three pokémon. The first is a Rattatta with the beak, wings and tail of a Pidgey. The second is the reverse, a Pidgey with four legs and a nose in place of its beak. The third one is horrifying – obviously a Koffing merged with a Grimer, but… yikes! That thing will give Hugo nightmares for weeks! Luckily, it's only out for a few seconds then the grunt returns the pokémon to their balls.
"Now think about this. Dialga, the pokémon that controls time itself. Palkia. The pokémon that controls space itself… see where I'm going with this? If we were to fuse Palkia and Dialga together we'd have a pokémon in control of time AND space! It would have more power than Arceus itself! With its power we could literally reshape the world, make ourselves young forever, hell, if I wanted to, with that power, I could wipe out half of humanity simply my snapping my finger. Ha! Now THAT sounds like a great idea for a movie!"
"And this is where YOU come in." Sarah points straight at Hugo. "Whatever Giovanni is paying you, I'll offer triple. I want YOU to be the one who captures them for me. We have everything in place to do it, we just need someone quick and strong with pokémon to match."
Hugo holds back his laughter. "Triple zero is still zero..."
"And what would you do with ME?!" Erika demands to know.
"Some irrelevant ex-gym leader? Not much I can do for you I'm afraid love..." Sarah frowns with fake sympathy.
"Oh, and one more thing…" Sarah smiles. "If you don't agree, these to are dead." On cue, several of the grunts stood behind her point guns straight at the helpless Misty and Dawn.
"Ha, I must admit I'm impressed. You're the first one who's ever managed to shut Misty up..." Hugo smirks.
"If you're not going to take this seriously then..." Sarah begins.
"Seriously? There's nothing serious here! In fact, it's quite funny… funny how oblivious you lot are. NOW!" Hugo claps his hands and the wall behind him and Erika is smashed down, a Rhyperior emerges, clearly responsible. Five officer Jenny's as well as Looker the detective are present, all armed with guns.
"POLICE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS! HANDS UP WHERE WE CAN SEE 'EM!" One of the Jenny's yells.
Despite being armed themselves, the Team Oblivion Grunts all panic and oblige.
"P-police?" Sarah stammers, also throwing her arms in the air. "We've committed no crime!"
"Oh please! Theft. Kidnapping. Plotting acts of terrorism..."
"Well then..." Another smokescreen is spewed into the room, but this time Hugo was expecting it. "Oh no you don't!" He cries. Before anyone else can react, Hugo sprints into the thickest part of the smoke. Resisting the urge to burst into a coughing fit, he can barely make out what Sarah is doing. She's pulling her gun out of her pocket. Fearing what she's about to do, Hugo makes a dash towards Leaf… until he realises whatever she's pulling out isn't a gun… it's a remote? Sarah presses a button on her remote and a trap door opens under Leaf's feet where she's tied up against the wall. Hugo makes a dive for her and manages to catch her frail body in his arms, but tumbles down the trap door in the process. It's another slide like the one he and Erika went down earlier. He slides on his back, Leaf still in his arms. Behind him, Sarah leaps onto the slide while the door above slams shut. Surprisingly, none of the grunts follow. They end up in a basement area. It's cold and dark, until Sarah moves to a light switch on the wall. Once the room is lit up, Hugo can see that this is actually a bedroom with a double bed, pink walls and lots of decorations all around. Hugo places Leaf on her feet and unties her – he uncovers her mouth then frees her legs followed by her feet. Sarah simply stands with her arms folded and watches.
"You weren't supposed to follow us here..." Sarah glares at Hugo. "Nobody was."
Leaf looks weak and tired, she takes a moment to register what's happening. "H-Hugo, thank you."
Sarah sits on the bed and, surprisingly, a soft smile forms on her face. "Hmm… perhaps I was wrong."
"You have some explaining to do..." Leaf tells her mother, standing close to Hugo.
"I do… well first, let me say, I have missed you… so much… more than you could possibly realise."
Leaf puts her hands on her hips. "Yeah right..."
Sarah's smile spreads across her whole face. "Listen, when I left you, do you know why?"
"Because you couldn't give a SHIT!" Leaf clenches her fists and screams at the top of her lunges. Hugo gasps, he's not used to hearing that language from Leaf. With her glare cast straight at Sarah, she grabs Hugo's hand and squeezes it with surprising strength. She doesn't even seem to realise she's doing it, but Hugo decides it's best not to say anything for now.
"I assure you, it's a very long story… the man you knew as your father… he was not your father. He thought he was, but he certainly was not."
Leaf gasps. "Dad..."
"Your father is alive." Sarah explains. "At least, I believe he is. I haven't seen him in years, so I can't be certain of this, but a man like your father, he's not really the dying type."
Leaf squeezes Hugo's hand. "So...who..."
Sarah frowns. "Look, There's a reason for everything I did, ok? I didn't do it the right way, but I did what I believed was best. Me and your father were together for only a short period of time, but during that time we did have three children..."
"Wait, three?!" Leaf gasps.
Suddenly, Hugo feels an overwhelming headache coming on. He releases himself from Leaf's grip to clutch his head in pain.
"Before you, I gave birth to two…" Sarah forms a tear in her eye. "...Beautiful boys. Twins, in fact. I was over the moon. It was the happiest day of my life the day they were born. But unfortunately, due to the nature of your father's… lifestyle… it was simply too dangerous to keep them around. They would certainly have been killed by..." Sarah gulps. "Anyway, in the end, it broke my heart but I felt I had no choice but to take my boys to a quiet alley and leave them there, hoping that some kind-hearted village person would take them in and raise them as their own. Luckily for me, it seems, at least one of them, has turned into a wonderful young man." Sarah glances at Hugo. "Wouldn't you agree, son?"
"GYAAAAAAAAH!" Hugo is in agony. Images of… someone… from when he was younger flash in front of him for very very brief periods of time.
"H-he lost his memory. Mentioning the past can hurt him." Leaf explains, her own eyes tearing up.
"Really?!" Sarah exclaims. "That would explain a lot. I thought for sure he'd find me familiar at least..."
The pain eventually begins to die down for Hugo. Why do those headaches keep happening? Is the tumour growing?
"Your father was an incredibly abusive man, when I decided I couldn't cope with being with him any more, he sexually abused me, then took me as his prisoner. In the end, as the result of a complicated gang war, I was rescued by a heroic woman. She informed me that she was the leader of Team Oblivion and that she would look after me. Soon after I fell in love with another man, and then found out I was pregnant. I know it was the rape that impregnated me, but I lied to him and told him it was his."
Leaf is stunned, while Hugo is scratching his aching head over whether to believe her.
"Our daughter was born, then shortly afterwards the leader of Team Oblivion passed away from a sudden illness. By this time we were great friends and she's named ME as her successor. I was so shocked, as I hadn't even been working for her for long. Team Oblivion were all about pokémon fusion. Their dream was to develop the technology to fuse any pokémon – something I eventually made a reality. Despite their goals not originally being mine, I owed my life to that woman so I put my heart and soul into leading the team, without a doubt though, I became a much angrier person. One day my partner suddenly confronted me, in a fit of anger I fired a warning shot near him with my gun. He was so pissed off that he then stormed out – he never had anything to do with me or my daughter after that."
"So you didn't murder him?!" Leaf exclaims.
"Murder? I've never so much as bruised anyone..."
Hugo folds his arms. "So… 'Mum'… why put me through all that crap the other day?"
Sarah sighs deeply. "Hugo… to be honest with you, when I left Leaf there was one reason for it. It was because I knew her brothers could take better care of her than I ever could. I simply had to HOPE that you'd find each other, which you did… but then… when I learned that you'd left her, I was furious! Ashamed, even. But the act I saw from you just now, diving through the smoke to come and save your sister, I see now that you do care for her deeply..."
Leaf frowns. "He's my… my brother! But I… we… almost...I felt…GYAH!"
Hugo puts his hand on Leaf's shoulder, reassuring her. "It's okay. You didn't know."
All of this is a lot for Hugo to take in. Perhaps the reason Sarah has acted so horrible is because of the abuse she's suffered through throughout her life. Hugo feels as though he understands everything now. He probably shouldn't even believe her words, but for some reason, he feels that he should.
"Look, everything we've done has been the team's decision, not mine. There's a board of members that decided everything, from the kidnappings, to the threats...I secretly planned THIS. This room has been prepared for the return of my sweet daughter for years. Away from work, I don't have to put on that tough woman act, I can be the mother I always wanted to be. And now I have TWO of my children here! Although, with everyone else behind bars now, we'll probably have to move away."
Hugo's agonising headache comes back, but this time the images appear just long enough for Hugo to register. The image confirms everything for Hugo. He can finally remember something. He remembers Mum...
"Oh dear, does it hurt again my boy?" Sarah stands up and approaches Hugo.
The pain dies down, and Hugo feels strangely happy. "Mother..." He pulls Leaf and Sarah in for a hug, which they both happily return. The reunited family stay like that for a good ten seconds or so.
"Oh children, I will help you both. I know I had to act tough in front of my team, but I've felt deeply concerned about you, Leaf. We need to get you eating more, and fast."
"Yes mother, I'll do my best." Leaf nods.
"And Hugo..." Sarah frowns. "We need to get you treated ASAP. I'll have you on the next flight to Kalos as soon as possible. I'll give you plenty of money for the trip."
Hugo releases himself from the group hug. "I can't. I really can't. There's stuff I urgently need to do in Kanto."
"Well surely you can put it off for a few days..." Sarah frowns.
Leaf is shocked by what she's hearing. Her breathing grows heavy as she starts to panic. "H-Hugo… what's going on? Nothing's wrong with you?! TELL ME NOTHING'S WRONG!" She physically shakes her new brother, getting really worked up about the situation.
"I have a brain tumour Leaf." Hugo confesses.
"Hugo, Get it treated. GET IT TREATED!" Leaf is crying again, and she shakes Hugo violently, closing her eyes and facing the ground.
"I will… but first, I must catch Mewtwo! If I don't do as Giovanni asks, Hubert's gonna die!"
"Hubert… you mean your brother?"
"Yeah, of course, who else?"
"You know, your names aren't actually Hugo and Hubert. They're the names the woman who fostered you gave you."
"Really? So what ARE our names?"
"You actual names are Frederickery and BillyBob."
"Um… think I'll stick with Hugo, thanks."
All of a sudden, Hugo and Sarah hear a THUD on the floor. The turn around to see that Leaf has collapsed! She looks very weak and ill.
"Oh no! My poor little girl! This is awful!" Sarah scream.
"Leaf..." Hugo frowns.
"Hugo… you have to go! You have to take Leaf to the Hospital! We can't help her here!"
"But what about you?" Hugo asks.
"Huh. Funny. You certainly haven't been concerned about me before now."
"True..."
"I'll be fine. I'll avoid the police. I always do. But Leaf, she won't be fine! Not unless you save her now go! Go go go!"
Hugo picks up Leaf's unconscious body with ease since she's so light.
"Take your first right, into the corridoor, then your second left. There'll be an elevator which will take you to an alleyway in the middle of Vermillion. It's well disguised."
"Thanks. Well, I guess this is goodbye… Mum." Hugo manages a faint smile, despite the bleak situation.
Sarah smiles back. "I hope it doesn't take another twenty-odd years to hear you call me that name."
Hugo begins to quickly make his way along the almost pitch-black corridoor, squinting to try and make out where the bends are.
"Oh, Hugo! One more thing!" Sarah calls out, poking her head out from the bedroom.
Hugo turns around to look a her.
"Happy Twenty-Second birthday!"
Hugo gives Sarah one last smile, then turns back around and focuses on the task at hand. Before long he finds his way to the elevator. Or rather, he was expecting an elevator. All he found was a wooden platform with no safety attatched to some ropes. There's a large hole above them that appears to rise to the surface. He places Leaf lying on the platform and hops on himself. There's a handle beside the platform, he starts turning it in a clockwise direction and the platform starts to rise. After about two minutes of turning the handle round and round as fast as he can, they get all the way to just below ground level. The platform raises through a hole in the floor in a small, empty room. Hugo stops turning the handle, and the platform very slowly starts to lower itself. He manages to pick up Leaf's body and step off before it drops below the height of the room's floor. He notices a door on one of the walls, upon using his elbow to open it he finds himself immediately in an alleyway in Vermillion City. The door locks itself behind him so there's no going back.
Hugo glances at Leaf, still unconscious in his arms.
"Come on sis, let's get you to a Hospital." He whispers.