Chapter Thirty Four – Confrontations pt 2
Adelina chuckled as she looked down at her beloved Delcatty before gently stroking the top of his head.
"Blunt as always."
"I mean it; you stay away from them," Daniel said threateningly. Adelina laughed again, annoying Daniel further, albeit unintentionally.
"You are such a sweetheart! But answer me this; what's the alternative?" she asked as she faced Daniel directly again. "You're telling me not to hurt your sisters, but what's the consequence if I do? Unless you have something to back up your threat-"
"I know it was you." Adelina lost her smug smile as she eyed the boy cautiously. Huey began to feel nervous.
"What are you talking about?"
"You attacked Alexa." Adelina was alarmed; how did he know about that confrontation? "Not only that, you attempted to blackmail her and you had the deceit to critically injure one of her Pokémon and destroy his Poké Ball, thereby technically making him a wild Pokémon! Am I right?"
"I don't know what you mean," Adelina said calmly. "What would I be doing with her anyway? She isn't my problem-"
"If she knew something you didn't want her to know, whether or not she's your problem is irrelevant if you want her to remain silent," Daniel said abruptly. "So, you found some dirt on her and threatened to tell the rest of us about it if she didn't keep quiet – not that you gave her the chance to decide where she stands on that negotiation; you hospitalised her Zoroark in the exact same confrontation!" Adelina was frustrated.
"...I think you've been reading too many crime novels..."
"Do you have a Jellicent, Adelina?" Huey was alarmed.
"A Jellicent?"
"One attacked my eldest cousin's Daycare Centre the other day. The funny thing is...nobody dropped off a Jellicent recently, and they don't live on Route 3."
"And what does that have to do with me?"
"How did you know Troy was afraid of Jellicent?" Daniel asked sceptically. Adelina lost her patience. "Did you find out through a scout of some kind? It wouldn't happen to be your Beautifly now, would it?"
"I don't believe this...how many bright sparks ARE there in your family tree?"
"So I'm right?"
"Unfortunately for you, yes." Daniel was on amber alert.
"Unfortunately?"
"Because, now, I'll have to do what I've done to Alexa. You were right; she, too, called me out on my activities...I had to silence her, but I hear she let her secret out anyway," Adelina smirked. Daniel was startled until he remembered his earlier accusation regarding Adelina's possession of a Pokémon acting as a scout.
"So you sent Alexa to Hell just because you didn't want your little games to end?! Screw everyone else as long as you're still afloat?! You don't care who you traumatise, do you?!"
"Oh, you'd know all about trauma, don't you, Two-Tone?" Adelina asked smugly. Daniel was horrified; Keenan's speculation was right on the money!
"...h-how did you-"
"Alas, though, sweetheart, I'm seriously going to have to ask for your silence now," Adelina said quickly as she took out a Poké Ball and opened it, releasing an uppity-looking Vileplume with large white spots on the heart-shaped flower petals on her head amidst a shower of falling pink flower petals. "Hyacinth, honey...Stun Spore..." Hyacinth lowered her head in preparation to carry out her assault, but Rhonda charged towards her.
From the playing fields, Daphne spotted Adelina through the corner of her eye, prompting Peggy to look in the same direction. Panicky, especially when they spotted Rhonda leaping at something in front of Adelina, Daphne and Peggy ran away from the school – and the other students walking inside the building - and rushed over to the commotion, Daphne picking out a Poké Ball from her blazer pocket.
"DANIEL!"
Ryder felt anxious as Hayden paced around a little, keeping his eyes away from the Lucario and his daughter, who kept her gaze away from him as well as the highly worried Lily and the rattled Keenan, who looked between Hayden and Alexa as Hayden tried and failed to contain his additional anger and devastation.
"Well, this just gets better and better, doesn't it!?" Hayden said sarcastically. He looked over at Alexa; though no eye contact was established, Alexa could almost feel Hayden's eyes piercing her spirit and winced, almost in pain. "What other secrets have you been keeping from me, huh?! Any gambling I should know about?!"
"Stop it, Hayden!" Lily snapped. "You know Alexa doesn't have a Coin Case!" Hayden scoffed.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Lily, for being offended about being the LAST person to know about my daughter's encounter with a criminal group!" Alexa finally faced her father, looking more shell-shocked than before.
"I-I told you, I-I didn't-"
"Did you even INTEND to say ANYTHING to us about this?!" Hayden interrogated, his harsh glare returning to Alexa. Intimidated, Alexa held her tongue, causing Hayden to huff. "That's a no then."
"It's complicated!" Alexa exclaimed defensively. "I-I was going to tell you when I got home, but Cynthia-"
"Don't give me that, Alexa," Hayden scolded abruptly. "You must have had PLENTY of time to tell us between the aftermath of the incident itself and your battle against Cynthia!"
"Hayden, that's enough!"
"N-No, h-he's right," Alexa said submissively. Ryder and Jollie looked up at her worriedly; it was almost as if she'd given up trying to argue her case – like she'd given up trying to stand up for herself! "...I-I had two weeks between the two incidents..." Hayden felt even angrier.
"Then why didn't you say anything between those two weeks?!"
"HAYDEN!" Lily's protest fell on deaf ears; Hayden was too intent on hearing Alexa's response to his harshly delivered question, no matter how long it took her to answer him.
"...I-I was scared... ...a-and I...I-I didn't want to hurt you." Hayden was horrified in addition to being furious and hurt.
"Y-You mean to tell me...that you've kept all of this from us...to SPARE OUR FEELINGS!?" Alexa felt the anger in Hayden's voice and felt indescribably rotten; for the first time since she let the truth slip, her tears fell from her eyes in front of her family – Ryder felt one landing on his tail. "...I-I just..." Hayden sighed as he began to pace around again, trying to comprehend Alexa's motive to keep her trauma away from him. "...I-I don't believe you right now, Alexa... Why is it that your good intentions make things worse!?" In that instant, Alexa's heart may as well have shattered into oblivion; what little sense of self-worth Alexa had left was completely quashed by the very last person she'd expect to break her entirely. But the worst part for her was...she felt he was right; she'd only intended to help a man she'd respected out of a simple mugging incident, yet she ended up being 'drafted' to defeat the organisation the muggers were a part of! And, she thought, that if her father was right about that, what other good intentions did she have that ended up making things worse?! Lily, however, glared spitefully at her husband.
"That was crossing the line, Hayden!"
"And Alexa hadn't done the same already?!" Hayden asked angrily.
"Y-You can't tell me I'm only good for getting into trouble-oop!" Realising what she was about to say, Alexa slapped both hands over her mouth in horror. However, everyone heard her and drew their attention to her.
"Did someone tell you that, sweetie?" Lily asked gently. Alexa looked away from her; she really, really, really didn't want to say anything.
"Who told you that?!" Hayden asked demandingly. Jollie walked up to Alexa and hugged her right boot comfortingly, even though Alexa hardly felt a thing. Keenan watched worriedly as Alexa was devastatingly close to letting her tears get the better of her.
"...K-Keith..."
"KEITH said that?!" Keenan asked in horror; he knew that Alexa and Keith had disputes before, but he never knew Keith was so capable of uttering such hurtful words to her! Alexa nodded, though doing so only made more tears fall down her face; her eyes began to feel sore.
"What else did he say?" Lily asked softly as she made her way over to the shaken up Alexa. Alexa shook her head; she didn't want to say anything further – things were already getting worse without Keith having been brought into the picture.
"ALEXA!" Hayden roared furiously. Alexa's fear intensified and even Ryder suffered from a jump scare.
"...t-that... ...t-that I-I have a kn-knack for...m-making thing difficult for everyone...!" Alexa replied timidly. Keenan noticed that Alexa's answer failed to give Hayden a proper reaction; it was almost like it didn't surprise him.
"That-... W-Well-..." Unable to think of anything to say in response, Hayden sighed as he turned away from Alexa.
"...y-you agree with him, don't you...?" Alexa asked with dread. Lily and Keenan looked over at Hayden with alarm.
"Is that true, Hayden!?" Lily asked desperately. Hayden, however, gave no response – or even any acknowledgement to her question.
"...Dad...?" Now it was Keenan's turn to feel anxious. Hayden sighed again.
"I need some air," he said bluntly as he made his way out of the hotel room, very nearly brushing passed Alexa on his way out. As soon as the door closed behind Hayden, Alexa began to sob as her despair finally caught up to her and collapsed onto her knees. Ryder spun around and held onto her securely for comfort before Lily had a chance to move one step closer to her. Despite being in the arms of her doggedly loyal Lucario, Alexa felt no comfort in his embrace, feeling only a sense of isolation. Seeing Alexa in such a vulnerable state crushed Keenan in particular; he stood there looking at Ryder's vain attempt to comfort Alexa as he, too, felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow trying to dominate him – tears fell from his eyes at long last.
Rhonda struggled to remain on her feet as the yellow spores spoiling her ebony black fur coat heavily restricted her movements. However, Hyacinth seemed to be suffering from the same ailment Rhonda was, but the Vileplume was swiftly defeated by the orange aura that briefly enveloped her, courtesy of the highly protective Espeon standing firmly in front of his twin sister. Daphne and Peggy had managed to climb over the fence and made their way over to Daneil as they confronted Adelina alongside him.
"Good going, Roland!"
"Espeon!" Roland snarled angrily towards Adelina.
"Umbreon...!" Rhonda winced from the pain of her paralysis. Daniel crouched down and cuddled her gently.
"Thanks, girl..." Rhonda lovingly licked Daniel's cheek just before she was recalled to the safety of her Poké Ball.
"Is Rhonda going to be okay?" Peggy asked worriedly.
"Blu, Blu..."
"Stun Spore washes off, don't worry, darling," Adelina said, feigning her kindness. "Though it would be hard to wash off of an untrimmed Furfrou..."
"Daniel, what were you thinking, confronting Adelina like that?!" Daphne asked as Daniel stood up properly.
"I was...confirming some suspicions I've been having...that's all," Daniel said carefully.
"So she does want to break the whole family?" Peggy asked innocently. Adelina and Huey were gravely alarmed.
"What did you just say?!" Daniel stepped in front of the confused child protectively as he glared at the angry Adelina.
"Back off!" he shouted furiously. Daphne looked between Adelina and Daniel, looking incredibly lost.
"What's even going on?"
"I'll tell you what's going on," Adelina said, looking incredibly infuriated. "Two-Tone accused me of-"
"Two-Tone? How did you know to call my brother that?" Daphne asked suspiciously. Adelina recoiled; she effectively gave herself away – again.
"I think I figured her out, Daphne. But I'm not the first to have done so...am I, Adelina?" Adelina scowled viciously at the younger twin.
"Then who was first?"
"Alexa," Daniel replied simply.
"Or so I thought," Adelina said through her teeth. Daphne and Daniel were perplexed.
"What are you-" Before Daphne could inquire, Adelina released her Gothitelle and Jellicent from their Poké Balls, respectively with a veil of sparkles and a ring of pink bubbles surrounding them.
"Francesca, Dolores, get the little one!" Adelina commanded. Peggy and Piper were horrified as the Gothitelle and Jellicent lunged towards her, but Daphne and Daniel became protective as they each took a green and black Poké Ball from their blazer pocket and belt bag respectively.
"Marco!"
"Polo!"
The two Poké Balls opened at the exact same moment, releasing the Dusknoir and Banette from inside with a stream of midnight black energy. The two Ghost Pokémon intercepted Adelina's Pokémon with the same sphere of deep purple energy knocking them in their faces. Daniel looked back at Peggy.
"Peggy, get out of here; Marco and Polo will protect you!"
"B-But...where do I go?" Peggy asked fearfully. Daniel crouched next to her and whispered his reply in her ear, preventing Adelina from hearing him.
"Now, go!" Daniel insisted. Peggy nodded nervously and began to flee.
"Marco, Polo, stay with her!" Daphne yelled.
"Dusknoir!"
"Banette!"
Marco and Polonius followed Peggy closely as she fled through the woodlands. Dolores and Francesca were about to pursue the two Ghosts, but were intercepted again, this time by a very disgruntled Aromatisse and Slurpuff. From the sidelines, Roland snarled violently at Adelina and Huey.
"You want to get to OUR little sister, you'll need to get through US first!" Daphne yelled nastily. Adelina was still frustrated, but she cracked a little smirk.
"I don't have to."
"So, which one?" Harvey asked as he, Hailey and Colin walked down one of Castelia's many streets. "Milotic tail or Talonflame bust?"
"Milotic tail," Colin answered, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "I need my arms for my illustrations."
"Same as Colin; it just looks more appealing!" Hailey laughed. "What about you, Harvey?"
"Does anyone think of an answer to their own hypotheticals?" Harvey chuckled. Colin looked ahead of him; he saw Castelite, but it wasn't the building itself that concerned him. "Though, if I had to this one time-"
"Uh, guys?" Hailey and Harvey looked over at Colin in confusion until they looked at what he was pointing to; they then spotted Hayden leaning against the wall of Castelite, standing fairly far away from the hotel's entrance. Confused and worried, Colin, Harvey and Hailey ran towards him, eventually noticing the stress written all over Hayden's face.
"Hayden?" Hayden almost jumped as he looked up at his older brother.
"Harvey!" He then spotted Hailey and Colin standing next to Harvey. "Hailey, Colin! W-What are you doing here?"
"We, uh, came to see you," Hailey said nervously. "I wanted to apologise for my behaviour..."
"Me, too," Harvey admitted. "But then we saw you out here and...what's wrong, bro?" Hayden looked away from his siblings and brother-in-law.
"It...it's nothing...you have enough on your plates as it is...all of you..." Hailey walked closer to Hayden; his look of anguish became clearer to her.
"Is it something we can help you with?" she asked sweetly. Hayden lifted his head and looked up at the cloudy sky above him; now his look of torment was clear to Harvey and Colin.
"No...no, it isn't..."
"Oh, crap...you told Alexa about my proposal, didn't you?" Harvey asked anxiously. Colin noticed Hayden clenching the sleeves of his suit jacket at the very mention of Alexa's name.
"No, I didn't... ...shit...I still need to discuss that with her...!"
"But whatever it is that's stressing you out, it involves her, doesn't it?" Colin asked. Hayden sighed as he looked at the ground again.
"Hayden? Are you sure we can't help you?" Hailey asked with concern.
"I'm quite sure," Hayden sighed.
From further down the street, Keith and Robbie made their way over to Castelite, but they spotted Hayden speaking with Harvey, Hailey and Colin. Keith began to feel uneasy as he saw how stressed Hayden looked and approached cautiously.
"Hayden? What's wrong?" Keith asked carefully. All four of the adults looked over at Keith, but only Hayden saw red when they saw the boy.
"You KNOW what's wrong with me!" Hayden roared as, before anyone had a chance to react, he darted towards Keith, grabbed him by his shirt and pressed him against the wall of Castelite; the sudden act heavily shocked Colin, Harvey and Hailey, but Keith almost looked frightened beyond anything he'd ever felt before – like he was staring at his worst nightmare.
"Hayden!" Hailey cried.
"I know how you've demolished my daughter's self-esteem!" Hayden yelled furiously. "That's bad enough without knowing that you knew about Team Galactic all this time," he added in a low and sinister whisper, preventing Hailey, Harvey and Colin from hearing him. Keith began to hyperventilate.
"I-I-I can-"
"DON'T even bother; it's not YOUR place to explain! Not THAT, anyway..."
"Hayden, let him go!" Harvey exclaimed as he and Colin began trying to pry Hayden away from Keith – but Hayden was not going to yield. Having heard the commotion from the hotel room, Lily and Alexa, through Cheryl's Teleport technique, suddenly appeared outside the hotel building; Alexa immediately spotted Keith locked inside Hayden's violent glare and was completely horrified. Lily, however, was furious.
"I want to know what possessed you to DESTROY my daughter!"
"HAYDEN!" Lily shouted savagely as she stepped in between Hayden and Keith and shoved the angry parent away. During the commotion, Keith fled down the street, looking immensely traumatised. Robbie followed him, looking very panicky. Alexa began to chase after him.
"KEITH!" she called. However, Lily caught her and held her in a gentle embrace, despite Alexa wanting to see to Keith's well-being after such a frightening encounter with her pissed off father.
"Leave him be, baby," Lily said sweetly before facing Hayden meanly. "What was that all about?!"
"You KNOW what that was about, Lily!" Hayden roared viciously. Seeing Hayden and Lily practically at each other's throats worried Hailey, Harvey and Colin greatly.
"That's no reason to give Keith such a harsh grilling!"
"Isn't it, though?! You heard what he said to Alexa!"
"And I heard what you said to HIM! You accuse him of destroying our daughter when that's exactly what you've just done – you were being a hypocrite!" Hayden was horrified; he committed the exact same crime he had just accused Keith of committing. He looked over at the distraught girl in Lily's arms; knowing that he was responsible for the distress she was feeling made him feel rotten.
"Guys, guys...why don't we take this inside?" Colin negotiated calmly. "We came here to talk to you anyway; we might as well do it somewhere nobody else can hear us."
"Thank Arceus nobody else is on our floor," Lily said quietly. Alexa kept her focus on the street Keith ran down.
"I-I-I need to see if he's okay-"
"No, baby, not right now," Lily said delicately. Hearing how shaky and tearful Alexa's voice was made Hayden regret his behaviour even further. "Cheryl, can you take us all back to the room, please?"
"Gardevoir," Cheryl nodded compliantly as she vanished, taking Lily, Alexa, Hayden, Harvey, Hailey and Colin with her.
Peggy raced Polonius and Marco out of the woodlands as they made their way onto Route 3. Perri, who was leaning against the fence overlooking the entirety of the route, spotted the lone child.
"ZOR!" she called out to Troy, who was pre-occupied with the pregnant Purugly. Troy spotted Peggy and hurried over to her with Perri before she fled down the path leading to Nacrene City.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's the matter, Pegs?" he asked quickly.
"Noir," Marco said impatiently. Troy and Perri finally noticed Marco and Polonius on either side of Peggy.
"Marco? Polo?" Troy became a little apprehensive. "Peggy, what's going on?"
"I-It was Adelina...!" Peggy said tearfully. "S-She wanted to hurt me...!"
"Say no more," Troy said boldly. "Marco, Polo, you carry on with whatever you're doing."
"Dusk!"
"Bane!" Marco and Polonius both saluted the Breeder. Troy stood up and looked over at Perri.
"Perri, you're in charge of the Daycare while I-"
"NINE!" Michael called. Troy and Peggy looked towards the paddock; to their horror, some of the Pokémon inside, including Brent and Lucy, were attacking the other Pokémon! Perri immediately rushed back into the paddock to help her husband against the unprovoked fury of Nate, using her shadowy claws to repel the Reuniclus.
"What's going on?!" Troy asked in confusion. Nobody seemed to notice Marco and Polonius's eyes growing pale and lifeless. "Why is everyone-" Peggy screamed as she jumped backwards, attracting Troy's attention; Marco and Polonius had just tried to attack Peggy and Piper with the same string of concentrated electrical energy! Troy was furious, but he ran passed the two Ghost types and stepped in front of the petrified Peggy protectively, taking out two Poké Balls from his pockets.
"T-Troy...! W-Why are they attacking me...?!"
"That's a very good question, Pegs," Troy said angrily. "Mac, Lukie, get out here!" he yelled as he opened the two Poké Balls. Lukie appeared from one of them, but a large and slightly slender Emboar with green eyes emerged next to the dopey-looking Watchog. Mac glared at the opposing duo, whereas Lukie looked virtually as clueless as ever, with tongue hanging out of his mouth.
"T-Troy...?"
"It's okay, Peggy...nothing will hurt you on my watch," Troy vowed sincerely. "Mac, Lukie! I don't care if they ARE Daniel and Daphne's Pokémon; they turned on Peggy, so treat them as the enemy, got it!?"
"Wat!" Lukie nodded.
"BOAR!" Mac grunted, banging his giant fists together eagerly. Troy glared at the two soulless Ghost Pokémon, perplexed as to how and why they turned on Peggy without prior provocation.
To be continued...