Welcome to Chapter 5! In which Layla fights Team Plasma, makes a friend, loses a friend, and fights... well, more Team Plasma, technically.

Shine a Light in the Darkness

Chapter 5: Pointless Brutality

"Get the hell out of my way," I growled. "Whatever this is, I have no time for it."

"You do not recognize me." Montoya looked resigned, not surprised. "It seems you need a reminder." He strode toward me, not the friendly waddle of a normal Audino but the broad, even steps of a man – or Pokémon – who knows what he wants and that he'll get it when the time is right. "Will you deign to face me yourself, or will you send a minion into danger in your stead?"

"I always get the loony ones. Tormod, use Tackle! We don't have time for this!" Tormod faithfully Tackled the strange Audino, but he let loose a fearsome Growl, deterring the pig before too much damage could be done. "Alright, try softening him up from a distance with Ember!"

"Right!" Tormod sprayed miniature flames in a cone at Montoya. His plush fur smouldered in some spots, but Montoya simply posed his arms and a green pulse suffused him. "What's…?" the flames on Montoya flickered out as if he was a birthday candle and the song was over, although the damage remained.

"That was Refresh," I said, confirming this hypothesis with my Pokedex. "Lots of Audino know it. Just -!" Montoya suddenly lunged forward and struck Tormod across the skull with his elbow, sending the pig sprawling.

"And that was Pound," Montoya explained, "the most gentle of my defensive maneuvers. Are you quite comfortable working for this woman, little piglet?"

"I don't care what you say," Tormod panted, getting up. "Layla isn't capable of doing something like that! Besides, she's my trainer, and that's the Pokémon's vow – we do what we're ordered by those who can catch us, for good or for evil!" He let loose a fearsome Ember, and Montoya groaned in pain as the new fires on his fur began to emit multicolored sparks.

"Ah, yes, the vow. It is foolish, it was never a good idea, and it will burn you as it has burned me. You will be seeing me again!" He left, leaving only the pine-y scent of his charred, sparking fur in the air.

"What was that?" Tormod asked.

"Oh… Audino have been hunted almost to extinction," I replied, continuing towards Wellspring Cave. "The fluid in their blood that allows them to heal others has another use. When it reacts with the air, it gradually but permanently boosts the physical and mental capabilities of nearby Pokémon. Competitive trainers like Cheren tracked Audino down and forced them to battle to the death, because the innocent blood put power in the veins of their own Pokémon. If he's going to keep coming after us…" I thought. "We'll keep getting in fights with him, and he'll bleed more for us. Fighting him off probably means we're playing his twisted little game; he thinks it makes us no better than heartless would-be Champions."

"I knew some of that already," Tormod said, "Juniper used to worry about the Audino population. I was wondering about that one red-eyed Audino. Does he know you?"

I set my teeth. "He thinks he knows me, but he doesn't. And I don't know him."

Cheren knelt outside the entrance of the cave – and it was a real cave, with a mouth tall enough that I'd only barely have to duck and wide enough that our entire teams could fit through. He looked like he had been crying. Good. Let's see if he even learns a fraction of the pain conferred from the loss of a Pokémon. Nonetheless, his voice was steady as he asked, "Are you ready?" I nodded. We turned and entered the cave together.

"Heard you sniffling outside, kid," one of the Plasma goons jeered before we had taken three steps.

"Trying to keep quiet like a little baby secret agent," another added.

"But you failed. Just like your friend failed to catch me once I had that Munna in my hand." A third – my eyes were adjusting to the relative dark, and I counted four Plasma goons, all males, all sporting Patrat companions. Should be easy pickings.

"You make me sick," the first said. "This Pokémon is going to get to live free of your cruelty, and you weep."

"It will do glorious things for Team Plasma," the fourth enunciated, "and then it will be set free! …right?"

"Cut the Philosophy-in-a-can bullshit," I said. "We're here to kick ass, get revenge, take back Munna, and eat Tauros Jerky… and guess what I'm all out of?"

"Kicks?" one of the goons volunteered.

"This is hopeless," another decided. "Benny, I've got the loud girl. Get the guy with glasses!"

"Go, Bass!" Cheren declared, as I called out Rolf. Ignoring the presence of the Purrloin came naturally, so I was able to focus on my own fight. Rolf got into a Biding stance, and the other Patrat tried to kick sand into his eyes – Rolf laughed, his vision utterly unimpeded. Enraged, the grunt ordered his rat to Tackle, and met a doubled-power retaliation at the hands of Bide. The Plasma prairie dog started to get up, but a Bite kept him down. I looked over to see Cheren beating his foe less than two seconds behind me.

"Shit!" Benny exclaimed, and his friend concurred. The other two strode in, shoulder-to-shoulder. Their Patrats got between Cheren and I and posed back-to-back. "No matter. Kids can't beat Team Plasma's effortless teamwork!" Benny cried, his friends pumping their fists and "huzzah!"-ing appreciatively. Freaks.

Cheren and I returned our Pokémon, neither of us taking chances just in case this teamwork turned out to be half what it was cracked up to be. "Megaman!" Cheren let out his Pokémon carefully, with a moment's hesitation for my sake – but that was unnecessary. I had to get over it sooner or later, and I certainly didn't blame Megaman – how could I, after hearing Tormod renew the Pokémon vow in the forest?

"Tormod!" I cried, letting the little furnace out of his ball. "It's time to show these fuckers we can put aside our differences!"

"Right!" He only glanced at Megaman, standing on the other side of the Patrats, and nodded.

"Patrat, Bite!" The two commands were identical and almost in unison. The rats both went after Tormod, wood-shearing buck teeth bared.

"Megaman, Water Gun! Careful not to hit, uh, Tormod!" Taking his master's command to heart, Megaman took careful aim – he didn't get a shot in until after Tormod had shaken off one rat and gotten clamped by the other. Still, it was better this way – Tormod would shrug off the bites more easily than the friendly fire.

"Tormod… uh…" I looked at Tormod, who was flinching as he tried to struggle free. Any command now would be a waste. I let him break its grip and cried out, "Flame Charge!"

"Right!" The Patrat who had just let go (the dry one) took a Biding stance as Tormod wreathed himself in flames and tackled it. Meanwhile, as the other Patrat bore down on Megaman, the Oshawott spat a blast of water at the Biding Pokémon and knocked it down for the count. "Okay, one left!"

Megaman shrugged off a Tackle from the remaining rodent. "Go for it!" he said.

"Right," I said, "Flame Charge again!" His speed bolstered by the continued charge, Tormod overtook the Patrat before he could strike Megaman again. The fourth and final Patrat crashed to the ground, water steaming off of him.

"Damn," a Team Plasma member snarled, calling his Pokémon back. "A defeat for the side of righteousness!"

"Righteousness?" I said, as if it was funny, but then I screamed. "RIGHTEOUSNESS? You guys stomped my wounded Purrloin to death in the road on your way here!"

"Is that what that was?" one of them asked quietly. I locked eyes with him, and he sucked in his breath and turned away.

"No!" another said. "Wait a minute, that sounds weird! Why was your Purrloin lying wounded in a puddle?" Now it was Cheren's turn, and mine, to flinch back at the words. "I knew it! You guys were having a Pokémon battle – just a stupid battle between two friends – and you pushed your Pokémon too hard! I was there, too, and I thought that thing was dead already! I bet it wouldn't have lived long enough to get to the Pokémon center!" I lowered my face, hoping the brim of my cap would keep him from seeing the tears in my eyes. "You guys talk big, but you're just another part of the problem!"

"People learn, and change," Cheren said, his voice breaking a little. "I can change!"

"People don't change, and they don't learn!" another Plasma soldier said. "I know from experience!" He laughed mirthlessly. "My mom never learned my dad was lying when he said he'd stop hitting her." Even the other Plasma grunts stared at him, and the room got very quiet for a moment.

"Some people don't learn," I said finally, "but many do. But if you separate people and Pokémon, the opportunity to learn will be gone. Segregation breeds ignorance, and ignorance breeds paranoia." I took a deep breath and wiped my eyes. "Give us the damn Munna and get out of here."

"Why should we? You're just gonna battle it to death!"

"That Munna's going back to a little girl who will love and treasure it," I said, "and it's leaving your hands or so help me my burning pig will impact your groin at twice-boosted-Speed. I was seriously considering beating you guys up with my Pokémon on the way here, and I think my friend here invited me to take my revenge however I like. But I knew then that it wouldn't bring my Purrloin back, and I know now that it won't change any of your minds. So why don't you give back the Pokémon you stole, and we can all leave like grown-ups? If you want her to release her Pokémon so bad, write her a fucking pamphlet. She's like six, so make sure it has some fucking pictures."

The Plasma member who had been holding the Munna shoved it into Cheren's hands, grumbling, and they filed out. "Pray you don't see us again!" one man shouted from a distance.

"That was… amazing." Cheren walked up to me and bowed his head. I was pleased to see this Munna only had a single bruise – it had probably been manhandled a little, but I don't think they had gotten around to smashing it for Dream Smoke. "Look, I'm sorry about what I did to… Heather?" I smiled sadly, and his eyes lit up. "Heather. I'm not done making it up to you, but in the meantime, I'm gonna go return this Munna. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be right behind you. I hear there are some interesting Pokémon in this cave, so I thought I'd catch one first." He nodded and walked out, cradling the Munna.

"I heard everythin'," a voice said from behind me. It was a Roggenrola, one of the aforementioned interesting Pokémon in the cave, and according to my Pokedex, it was exactly what I wanted to round out my team. It was certainly interesting looking, too – a blue-black rock with stubby little legs and a stubby little yellow club of an antenna on his head, and a big yellow-rimmed hole for a face which looked like an eye but was (according to the dex) an ear. "You're quite a gifted speaker, little lady. Tell you what… why don't you have one-a your boys there hit me as hard as they can? If they impress me, I'll join ya."

"Sounds good." I released Edward from his Pokéball. "Eddie, Bite this guy as hard as you can. He says he can take it."

Edward frowned. "I save my best bites for giants. He doesn't look like a giant to me."

The Roggenrola chuckled. "I can take a hit like a giant, and some days I surprise m'self and hit back like 'em, too."

"Very well!" Edward said, clearly fired up. "NOM!" He bit down , his lower jaw sliding into the Rock-type's earhole as his upper jaw found purchase on the side. I even heard the stone crack. "How's that?" Edward said, sliding off.

"Ugh… not bad…" the Roggenrola sagged to the side a bit, but quickly straightened. "You can dish it out, but can you take it?" And before I could protest about what was and wasn't part of the deal, he had leaned back and Headbutted Edward to the ground with a slam of his antenna.

I was shocked silent for a second, but then Edward said "Nice…" and got to his feet. He turned and gave me a reassuring grin. "I've got to learn to take hits like that if I'm gonna fight giants… have you always had four eyes?"

I sighed, pulling out an unused ball. "Suitably impressed, sir?"

"Quite," the Roggenrola said, and he made no attempt to resist the Pokéball.

Met Brom at Wellspring Cave!
Male Roggenrola, lv. 11.
Lax Nature, Sturdy.
Sturdy body.

"Can't believe ya didn' let me help," Janaff grumbled from my shoulder.

"The opportunity didn't come up," I explained patiently. "Besides, you're an unknown quantity. I'm not familiar with you yet as a trainer."

"Hey, Layla!" I looked up. Cheren was waving at me from inside a large, thick patch of waist-high grass. "Check it out! This really tall grass has wild Pokémon that are a bit more powerful than the other local patches! Careful, though, because sometimes they come at you two at once! And… uh, yeah, that's it." He shrugged. "I'm gonna keep making this up to you, Layla."

"Thanks, Cheren." I already knew all that – Cheren was typically the smart guy of the group, but I had been studying up for a while now on facts that a Pokémon trainer should know. Besides, I was always the explorer among the three of us, even as a little kid. Still, he seemed to really be trying to change, and I wanted to humor him. "I'll… uh, keep it in mind."

He shrugged again, grinned awkwardly, and walked on ahead toward Nacrene City. "Twat," Janaff mumbled.

"He's trying," I insisted.

"Trying? I'm trying to get a chance to prove myself to you, and you're talking to your twat buddy instead of venturing into the tall grass!"

I made for a shorter patch instead, having spotted an item ball lying abandoned inside. "I keep telling you," I said, pocketing the Great Ball, "I'm waiting for a good opportunity."

"Well, this looks like an opportunity right here," he said, looking up. I followed his gaze. It was Montoya. He had already come after me for the second time earlier; Brom had needed several hits to fell him, but Montoya's own offensive efforts had been like… well, there was a saying about squeezing blood from a stone, or something along those lines. Now he was back for round three, and frustratingly, there wasn't a scratch on him.

He began fresh. "Hello. My name is Audino Montoya. You killed my best friend. Prepare to die."

"I haven't killed anybody," I said, "and that accusation's really starting to sting, bub. Janaff, Quick Attack!" Responding obediently, my bird dashed past Montoya at dive speed, leaving a glittering cut on his cheek. Montoya Growled in his surprisingly deep, throaty voice, and I saw Janaff brake in uncertainty. "Janaff, follow up with Gust!" The blast of wind pushed the heavier 'mon back a few feet, although he kept his footing.

"Still playing the innocent, but attacking like an assassin. Let's see how you like it!" He darted forward and swung out with a Doubleslap, but Janaff barrel-rolled out of the second hit and escaped the third.

"Ya hit like a girl!" Janaff taunted. "A FAT girl!"

"You tread dangerous ground, boy," Montoya warned.

"Caaaaaaaaankles!" Janaff warbled, laughing insanely.

"Boy, I will crush your skull to prove a point."

"I've had enough of your threats and enigmatic accusations!" I yelled. "Janaff, Gust him again!" The wind came again, this time picking Montoya up off his feet and throwing him against a tree trunk. "Yes!" I saw him grunt in pain when he hit the trunk, knew he had landed on the broken stump of a branch and probably hurt himself.

"Your lies cannot harm me any more than the pathetic admirers you surround yourself with." Montoya kicked off against the tree trunk, and in a flash he was on top of Janaff. He let loose with Doubleslap again, hitting him once, twice, thrice…

"Nice try, old man, but these feeble slaps can't break my wings!" Janaff bragged. Still, I could see him wince as the fourth slap caught him in the face, forcing him to flap to regain air control.

And then, just like that, Montoya grabbed Janaff out of the air, holding him by the head in one paw. "Very well," he whispered, and squeezed until the screaming was replaced by a horrible set of cracking sounds.

It took me a minute to find a word for what had just happened. Only when he tossed the bloody corpse to my feet did I settle on a hysterical, teary "FAWCK!" I think I fell to my knees… I know I let Rolf and Edward out, on reflex more than anything. Rolf saw the body and made the connections immediately, and he started weeping as well. Edward stood close enough that I could feel his warmth beside me, baring his teeth at Montoya.

The red-eyed Audino smiled grimly, traced over his own scars with Janaff's blood as if that was so much more palatable. "I see a little more of your true self shining through. Do you remember me now? Do you remember what was shared between us? What you have buried and abandoned to its fate?"

"Go away," I said pathetically.

"The past will not remain buried!"

"Make him GO AWAY!" Montoya took a step toward us, and suddenly it was not Edward but Rolf who leapt up and sank his fangs into Montoya's arm. Montoya gasped at the Crunch and staggered back, pulsing himself with Refresh instinctively. Rolf finished with a Tackle, and Montoya struck his head on a tree trunk and was still. The only sounds were me heaving, Rolf panting, and the faint snaps of Montoya's blood as it reacted with the air. "Let's get out of here," I whispered. I didn't want to be around when he woke up.

RIP Janaff lv. 9 – lv. 11
Gust, Growl, Leer, Quick Attack

"Ah, Layla!" Cheren waved to me from under the awning of the Nacrene City Pokémon center. He met me ten feet from the doors. "I got this really juicy bit of information on Lenora and – oh my god," he said, reading my expression. "Again?" I nodded. "Was it another trainer?"

"A wild Pokémon," I choked. "It was this weird Audino that's been stalking me."

"An Audino?" Cheren blinked. "That can't be right, Layla, Audino are almost extinct in the wild. The population down here is particularly weak, I don't think any would be left –"

"This wasn't a normal Audino, and it wasn't weak!" I shouted, angrier than I meant to be. "It has red eyes, and scars on its face, and…" I stopped myself from telling him it was saying it knew me. I didn't want to wrap anybody up in that. That was between me and Montoya.

"Are you sure?" Cheren asked, his own voice anything but sure.

"Cheren, it crushed my Pidove's skull. It wasn't normal." Cheren sucked in a breath. "Look, I just want to box my two dead Pokémon and sit down and cry until I fall asleep."

"You don't want dinner? There's a diner here that's supposed to be nice…" I shook my head, and I guess that's when Cheren decided to really take it seriously – when my appetite was deflated. "Okay. I'll see if I can get in touch with the Pokémon Rangers, talk to them about this weird Audino. Before I go, though…" he pressed a Chesto Berry into my hand. "One of Lenora's Pokémon is supposed to pull out Hypnosis if the going gets tough. Give this to a Pokémon and it'll stop itself from falling asleep." He started to make a motion like he was gonna hug me, but stopped himself before I even had the chance to flinch back. "Take care of yourself, Layla." I watched as he headed downtown, glumly rolling the Berry in my hand.

It wasn't until I left the Pokémon center the next morning that I actually SAW Nacrene City. Except for the Gym (which, I learned quickly, was a Museum) and the Pokémon Center, the whole place was old warehouses. I learned quickly that the warehouses were a hundred years old or more and had been restored as housing for the young and poor, and had become a creative center of art and music, so it was now an extremely trendy place to live. I learned one more thing quickly, which was that most of the inhabitants of the city were delighted to brag about it.

I was more or less moping that morning, still put off by the untimely deaths of my Pokémon, and I had no intention of challenging the gym without another day to train and recover (especially not with those rumors about Lenora). However, by noon, I found myself drawn towards the Museum (which was, of course, the Gym). I decided I'd scope out the Gym for tomorrow, enjoy the sights of the museum, and maybe see if they had a café. I had nearly reached the glass doors when he stepped out from them.

He walked rapidly toward me, his fists bunched and his cap brim low over his face, so I backpedaled until he was standing where I had been and I had given him a good five feet. It was N, the guy who had commanded the alley cat in Accumula. The shirt, cap, and pants could belong to anybody, but the hair, jewelry, and his weird demeanor were unmistakable. "I…" his words, after this initial pause, came out rushed and breathless, just like before. "I want to see things no-one can see. The truths of Pokémon inside their balls. The ideals of how trainers should be. And a future where Pokémon have become perfect." I thought he was just thinking aloud until he locked eyes and said, "Do you feel the same?"

I looked around. No Cheren to tell him he was a psycho, and no Bianca to politely ask him to repeat himself. His words sounded half-meaningless, but there was nothing I could really object to – more communication between Pokémon and trainers, trainers who treat their companions better, and the superior tomorrow that results from that, right? I shrugged and said, "Yeah, I do…." Before I could even add a "but…" and explain that it wasn't that simple, he was talking again.

"That so? I think my friends and I should test you to see if you can really see this future." I saw the Pidove land on his shoulder, and two other Pokémon appeared from behind the museum's ornamental front columns. It didn't matter how much I didn't want this, it was on. N grinned and pointed, sending the Pidove in circles around me.

"Fine. Go, Brom!" The chunk of rock with feet materialized in front of me. "Let's test that new move! Rock Blast!"

"Gust," N replied coolly.

"Aye, captain!" Brom fired a series of small rocks at the Pidove. However, while the Gust wasn't capable of more than the smallest scratches to Brom's hide, it did make the rocks miss. Frustrated, I had him try again, while N elected to switch to Leer. This time, two rocks struck home, and they were more than enough.

"That's enough, Pidove. Tympole, cover him!" N sent in a small water-type Pokémon with a strange, plaintive expression, a finned tail, weird speaker-like appendages on either side of its head, and no other limbs to speak of. It looked weak.

"Edward, get that thing! Take Down!" Barking, Edward slammed an extra-hard, reckless Tackle onto the Tympole.

"Bubblebeam," N said, still quick as a whip, but still calm. The bruised Tympole spat out a powerful column of foam that knocked Edward back, hard. He was sent sprawling. It was at about this point that I remembered the extremely dangerous Water Gun we faced yesterday, and realized that despite the unassuming name and the unassuming Tympole, that Bubblebeam was even more powerful.

"Shit. Edward, finish it off with a Tackle!"

"Unf… right!" The second Bubblebeam hit before Edward made the final leap, and one of his legs gave out, sending him tumbling into his Tackle and landing several feet to the side of the tadpole. "Gah!" Edward cried out in pain. This was no ordinary foam.

"Double shit. Edward, are you okay?"

"The giantslayer… won't be finished off so easily!" Edward got up on his good paws and smashed into the Tympole, knocking it out.

"Hmm… so be it. Timburr, you're on cleanup." N's last Pokémon was grey with red markings. It was small, humanoid, and carrying a wooden beam. It had a pompadour-like appendage on its forehead and another at the base of its skull. It looked goofy but strong. And I was fairly certain it was fighting-type, so I wasn't going to keep a wounded Edward out front.

"Tormod, you're up. Open with a Defense Curl."

"Right!" the little pig eagerly got between Edward and the Timburr, curling to expose his padded back to the Timburr.

"Timburr, Leer!" N called softly, more or less negating the effect of my maneuver.

"Fine. Tormod, Flame Charge!"

"Timburr, Bide." The fighter stuck his pole into the ground and braced against it, blocking Tormod's burning slam. However, the flames still licked around him, and the pole ignited. I saw Timburr's muscles tense with stored energy.

"Shit!" I knew what was coming. I also knew that another Defense Curl wouldn't help one iota, and another blow would make it worse. "Tormod, use Tail Whip!" A little surprised, Tormod still wobbled his butt at Timburr. The Timburr grinned and picked up his burning pole, spinning 360 degrees to deliver a home-run swing to Tormod's backside.

"Yii!" Tormod yelled, spinning through the air. He landed on all fours sideways against one of the museum's pillars, and slid down, his trotters making a scratching sound. "That was a fun trip! Let's not do that again!"

"Timburr, Low Kick," N half-shouted, his cool having warmed and hardened into determination. "If we do not test their determination, this will mean nothing!"

"Tormod, hit him with another Flame Charge!" Tormod struck first, slamming the clownish strongman full-on with the Flame Charge this time, but the Timburr managed to stay on his feet. He drove his pole into the ground burning-end down and swung around it, kicking Tormod's legs out from under him. Both looked beaten up when they broke away from each other.

"Finish him off!" N and I both cried; "with a Tackle!" I finished, while N concluded with "Another Low Kick!" The Timburr drove its stick into the ground again, but the flames had weakened it, and it snapped, leaving the Timburr helpless on the ground. Tormod Tackled his round-nosed face into the sidewalk. "Yes!" I cried.

"Hmm…" N crossed his arms and set his jaw as his battered team regrouped around him. "I can't make my vision a reality yet. My friends are great, but they lack the power. I can't solve the equation that'll change the world, so I need… power. Power to make anybody agree with me."

"What are you babbling about there?" I asked, walking over, but I think N was assuming I just wanted what all trainers wanted, so he emptied his wallet into my hand and waved me away.

"Yes… now I know the kind of power I need. Zekrom, the Legendary Pokémon of ideals! He could assist me in making the world a better place! He helped create the whole region! It's my turn to become his patron hero, and then everybody will be my friend!" He looked at me and grinned the pure, sweet grin of an innocent man. "Even you!" And just like that, they were gone.

"Are you ok, Edward?" I asked.

"Yeah…" he tested his weight on it and winced, but it held. "Let's get back to the Pokémon center, but I think it'll be better by tonight."

"What a weird guy," Tormod said. He was pretty battered himself, but walking fine. "His Pokémon really love him, though."

I sighed. "He's kinda nuts, but he's got some good ideas and he seems to want to do the right thing." I looked at Edward and Tormod and bit my thumbnail. "I think I'm gonna start keeping the team outside their Pokéballs more often. Would that be alright?" They cheered, and I smiled nervously.

Hah, I bet you thought Montoya was a joke character, right? Well, he was serious about that skull-crushing. Yeah, that happened the third time I ran into an Audino. The RNG hit Pidove with Doubleslap twice, and then it was like, "Five hits, second hit's a critical, and the last hit does more damage than the other non-criticals just because fuck you." So Janaff is another victim.

I'm trying not to make Team Plasma universally assholes here. There are plenty of assholes, but there are also guys who really want to help Pokemon, and some good-hearted but socially inept people... you know, like N but not special. And then there's N, who is special, being a made-to-order messiah and all.

Also learning to be less of an asshole: Cheren.

Nuzlocke challenge (c) Nuzlocke
Pokemon (c) Nintendo and Game Freak
Layla (c) me