I don't think I have to say this but I'm going to do so anyways. If the idea or description of blood, due to violence, bothers you, understand there are a couple moments in this chapter mentioning it. It's nothing crazy because this is a T-rated fanfiction.
We went to the Pokemon Center where Acerola was invited to the back to help Torracat. I showed a witness to the attack a picture of Caleb and asked if that was who was kidnapped.
"Yes. They hit him over the head with something. He was bleeding."
A woman walked over and backed up what the man said. She then went on to say that Torracat was hit with a bat. My heart dropped for a moment.
I let Dartrix out of my ball and told Lana to make sure Dartrix is with Torracat. When she disappears to the back Skitty and I jet out of the Pokemon Center and make our way to the beach. I see a boat docked at the pier and begin to untie it.
When I'm ready to kick off the pier I hear Lana yelling. I look up and see her running towards me. I roll my eyes and slouch onto the boat.
"What do you think you are doing?"
"I'm going to get Caleb. That's what I'm doing."
She shakes her head and scowls. "No. That's not what I mean you idiot. How can you go on your own?! The gall you have to leave me here while you go kick Team Skull's ass is not appreciated Cameron."
"I'm sorry," I say.
"You just run off on your own and think it's a good idea? And you are down one pokemon!"
"Lana! I'm sorry. Now can you stop yelling and push off the pier."
She places her hand over her mouth and takes a deep breath. "Oh, right. Sorry. Let's go." She pushes off the pier and we start paddling through the water.
I can feel my arms begin to hurt but the adrenaline push me to paddle more. It takes maybe 15 minutes to get to Route 16 where we are met by 3 members of Team Skull.
"Hey-ho, look at you so. Where do you think you'll go? And look at you my little doe," one member says before Lana interrupts him.
"Are you rhyming? Seriously. Go crawl up your own ass and die. Move along."
"Woah woah. Feisty little princess we have here, huh?" Another Skull grunt says. This one is different than the other two. He isn't wearing a mask.
"I ain't your princess. Now step aside before I make you dance like one." Lana is aggressively standing face-to-face with this blue haired grunt.
"The name is Morton. It's time I show you some respect, Princess."
"Get her, boss. Teach her a lesson and hand her a loss,"
Lana sighs and takes a few steps back. She takes a deep breath and sends out her Primarina. The Skull Grunt sends out a Dhelmise.
"Anchor Shot!" Morton barks.
Primarina dodges the attack and uses bubblebeam. Dhelmise is also able to dodge and counter attacks with a gyro ball. Primarina is hit but the damage isn't too bad. She recovers and hits Dhelmise with a water gun.
The two continue to battle trading blow for blow. The grunt looks annoyed that Dhelmise isn't running away with the battle. Lana, however, looks bored.
"That's it! Dhelmise, Phantom Force!"
Dhelmise disappears into thin air. Lana and Primarina don't look all that concerned. Meanwhile, I'm confused as hell. What is the Phantom Force attack anyways?
"Now!" the grunt yells.
"Shadow Ball, Primarina!" Lana quickly orders.
Dhelmise appears behind Primarina who turns and hits at Dhelmise with, surprisingly, a ghost attack. The attack immediately causes Dhelmise to faint.
Lana returns Primarina to her Pokeball and scoffs at the Grunt.
"Who's the Princess now?" Lana taunts Morton. Morton shrugs and leaves with the other 2 grunts.
I walk over to Lana with Skitty and say, "Well that was interesting."
"Ha. Word of advice Cameron, always make sure your Pokemon know a move the opponent may not expect. Keep them on their toes and who knows, you may get lucky."
That's actually some decent advice from Lana. She showed off that it could work too. Who would've thought that Primarina could learn a ghost attack. Luckily for her ghost attacks are super effective against Dhelmise.
We went through Ula'Ula Meadow quickly without any resistance which we thought was eerie. Team Skull is supposed to be in control of this part of the island, no? It kept us more on our toes than we already were.
Ultimately, I just wanted to get to Caleb as soon as possible.
On Route 17 there wasn't a Team Skull grunt to be found. However, there was a large walled-in city up ahead. I'm guessing that was Po Town.
I tried to make a run for it but Lana grabbed my arm.
"What are you doing?" I asked her.
"Cameron, you can't just go running into a hornet's nest like that."
"I need to save Caleb," I shot back.
"I understand, but be smart about it."
I scoff and struggle my arm out of her grasp.
We walk silently for a moment until we see a group of Skull Grunts appear out of nowhere. They walk towards us as we approach the walls of Po Town.
"Yo, where you think you goin, son?"
"Yeah, bro. Wanna get popped, yo?"
I take a deep breath and try to walk past them. That was a bad idea. Two of the grunts grab me and throw me down to the ground.
"Woah woah. Enough my little Grunts. There is no need for that now is there?" a man says nearby.
A man appears from behind me and walks over to the grunts. He stands in front of me with his hand out. I look at the white coat he is wearing and green glasses. This is the man who approached Caleb and me back on Akala Island. This is the man who Liko told me to avoid.
"I'm Faba," he introduces himself to me.
He helps me up and grins mysteriously.
"Please, come follow me. The boss has been expecting you, Cameron."
How does he know my name? I look at Lana who isn't giving up any ounce of expression. She just follows Faba and these grunts into Po Town.
Po Town looks like a disaster zone. There is graffiti on every object, every wall in here. There are several cars along the road that have broken windows. Some even have the doors removed. Not even the windows on the buildings survived. There is a Pokemon Center but it looks absolutely ruined. Definitely no Pokemon are getting healed in there.
"Where is Caleb?" I ask.
Faba looks back and smiles. "He's right up there."
Faba points up ahead where a lot of grunts are milling about. I can even see Guzma towering over everybody. Then I spot Caleb. He's sitting in a chair in the middle of the road. I quickly blast by Faba and the Grunts with Skitty and make my way towards Caleb. When I get close a bunch of grunts get in my way. Castor and Iwika are one of the grunts who create the wall blocking Skitty and me.
"Hey Splits," Castor teases.
I ignore him.
"Welcome Cameron. It's okay guys, let them pass." Guzma picks at his teeth with a toothpick and flicks it in my direction.
Castor and the rest of the grunts spread apart and let us pass. Faba and Lana have finally caught up. Faba walks up to Guzma and stands beside him.
Meanwhile, I make my way over to Caleb and see the dry blood that paints the side of his face.
"Are you okay?" I asked stupidly, knowing that he isn't okay.
"I'm fine, Cam. Put Skitty in his ball," he warns me.
"Shut it!" Guzma barks as two grunts grab me and pull me away from Caleb.
"Okay listen here Cameron. You have two options here; Give me Skitty to get Caleb or don't and Caleb becomes a test subject for Faba."
The choice was impossible. How can I choose between Caleb and Skitty? I look down at Skitty who is looking at Guzma. Meanwhile, Caleb is looking at me with a pained look on his face. He shakes his head.
"You don't need to do this, Guzma!" Lana yells.
"Shut it girl. I will give you to Faba as well." Guzma's grin has vanished from his face. He looks sinister now. He turns to me and tells me to decide now.
I struggle to answer him. My mind races through all of the possible scenarios that could play out along with all of the responses I can say. That's when I just shout out, "Let's battle. 2 Pokemon each."
Guzma walks up to me wearing that sinister look on his face that soon turns into a grin. "Haha. I knew I liked you for a reason. You got spunk, kid. I like that. Fine. You win, you get Caleb and keep Skitty. You lose..."
I interrupt him, "You get both of them."
"Damn straight, bucko. Now let's go."
Guzma sends out Pinsir. I respond with Passimian.
The battle takes off quickly as Guzma uses aggressive tactics. My adrenaline courses through my veins allowing to me to think faster than normal. I watch as Pinsir's speed matches Passimian with each step until the aggressiveness begins to take it's toll.
I've utilized a strategy I've seen Caleb use many times. Let the aggressor tire themselves out. Then strike. With Pinsir panting after each physical attack, I pounce.
"Take Down!" Passimian charges Pinsir and connects. It doesn't hurt Pinsir too much but it's still something.
"Storm Throw!" Guzma barks. The hit bounces Passimian back a few feet. Pinsir then continues the onslaught with a seismic toss. Passimian is rattled but not out.
Passimian tries to attack Pinsir, but Pinsir dodges and hits Passimian. Passimian growls and bangs it's chest. Then in a flash of light it charges towards Pinsir and hits hard. The attack causes Pinsir to faint.
I breathe a sigh of relief but I know what's coming. Golisiopod.
"Go Golisiopod! Sucker Punch." The attack connects with Passimian and even though it's not effective it gets the job done. Just like that I'm down to my last Pokemon as well.
So I send out Mudsdale who has easily become my go-to Pokemon after Dartrix.
"Razor Shell!"
A water attack. That's not good. "Mudsdale double team and then Headbutt." Golisiopod's attack misses Mudsdale but Mudsdale doesn't miss. Golisiopod is rocked by the attack but responds with a Brick Break attack that hits.
"Double Team," Guzma orders in a sudden change in tactics. This doesn't put my Mudsdale in a particularly good position.
Guzma has his Golisiopod use Sucker Punch and then jump back into a Double Team attack. He repeats the process, a process that has been used on me twice before and is getting old.
"Mudsdale, shake this damn town. Earthquake!" I angrily yell.
Mudsdale gallops and slams down on the ground causing it to shake violently. Golisiopod, who was in the middle of a double team attack, trips and falls to the ground. "High Horsepower!"
Mudsdale slams into Golisiopod with it's entire body. However, Golisiopod isn't as rattled as I was hoping. It punches Mudsdale and hops back a few feet and readies up a Focus Blast. The blast hits Mudsdale directly causing a cloud of dirt to mask the battle field surrounding Mudsdale.
I stare into the dirt looking for Mudsdale. He can't be done yet. This battle isn't over. "Counter!"
Guzma laughs and says, "Mudsdale is done. You lost."
Mudsdale appears from the cloud of dirt and dashes towards Golisiopod who is hobbling from exhaustion. That's when a large stream of water comes out of nowhere and strikes Mudsdale before it can hit Golisiopod.
I look over and see Iwika and her Primarina.
"You interfered!" Guzma yells in an erratic tone.
"Boss, he was going to beat you. I made sure he didn't."
"You interfered you little witch. How dare you? I was not going to lose. Guzma does not lose!"
"Boss..." Iwika pleads.
"Get out!" Guzma yells.
I take this time to rush over to Caleb and release him from his restraints. After I successfully get him out of the restraints I help him up and walk towards Lana.
"What do you think you are doing?!" Guzma bellows.
"Leaving." I say.
He shakes his head. "You did not win!"
"Enough!" a voice screams from behind.
I turn around and see Gladion with his Silvally. Acerola and Nanu are with him as well.
"Guzma, you've lost again. I've tolerated your actions for far too long. I gave you a chance and you squandered it." Gladion was definite in his words.
Guzma laughed. "You are a little boy. There is nothing you can do."
"Little boy, huh? Fancy considering you still can't beat one. First Sol destroyed you and now this kid did. It's gotta be heartbreaking to be such a loser." Gladion was actively trolling Guzma now, who seemed to be getting more irate with each passing second.
"And Faba. I knew you'd surface again. It's bad enough to poisoned my mother's mind would your talk of glory and perfection. But here you are joining with this loser, for what?"
Faba chuckled. "I don't have to answer to you. You are nothing but an insufferable brat. You think I'm responsible for your mother? Ha. You're the one who left. You're the one who ditched your own mother."
"I will live with my actions for the rest of my life, Faba. I don't need a reminder. But do not dare marginalize what you did."
I watched as the Grunts looked in disbelief at what was happening. Some had left, most had stuck around. Some of what were left were scratching their heads. Their belief in their leader was beginning to unravel.
"Team Skull is over, Guzma. Whatever you were planning to do ends today. Same with you Faba."
Faba laughed hysterically. "Wrong, kid. Go Nihilego!" Faba tosses a black Pokeball and out comes this beast of a Pokemon.
"I told you this beast was beautiful. Take us out of here Nihilego!" Nihilego and Faba disappear.
Caleb and I look at each other dumbfounded. Meanwhile, Guzma's shoulders slouch. He's given up. Nanu approaches him and chuckles. "Tough break, dumbass."
Nanu ties a rope around Guzma's hands. That's when he whistles loudly and the gated doors to Po Town open again. A horde of police officers stream into the area.
"This has to be the entire police force of Alola," Caleb says stunned at the amount of officers streaming in.
Among the officers is Hala and Olivia. Hala approaches me and shakes my hand. Then he walks over to Gladion and says, "You've done good for Alola, Gladion."
Gladion doesn't say anything.
After a few minutes many of the Skull grunts are arrested along with Guzma. Some grunts got away like Castor and Iwika, but they shouldn't be a problem any longer. Well, maybe Castor and Iwika will be, but Team Skull is officially done.
Sitting with Caleb near the rugged Pokemon Center I am applying a cream to the gash on the side of his head. He's going to need stitches but there are no paramedics here.
"How's Torracat, Cam?" Caleb's face looks desperate, but I can't ease it. In fact, I sorta forgot about Torracat throughout this whole ordeal.
"Uh, I don't know."
"She's okay, Caleb," Acerola says as she approaches us. "She's still unconscious but she'll be okay."
Caleb takes a deep breath. I just go back to cleaning up his face, wiping away the dry blood. The gravity of this starts to weigh on me as my adrenaline disappears and allows me to think more carefully.
Things should not be this grave during a Pokemon adventure. Trainer's should be clubbed over the head. Hell, neither should Pokemon. How both of those acts were committed by Team Skull is egregious. To stoop to such a level, it cannot be taken lightly.
God forbid what happened today could've been worse. Torracat could've been killed. Caleb could've...no. I can't think like that.
"Cam. You okay?" Caleb says waving his hand in front of my face. We were walking past Ula'Ula Meadow into Route 16. I don't even remember walking here. I thought I was still in Po Town.
Some daydream.
It was just past midnight so that may have to do with it.
"I'm fine. Just kinda out of it," I say. Caleb slipped his hand into mine and squeezed it.
"Me too, Cam. Me too."
We got back to Tapu Village and quickly went to the Pokemon Center. Caleb and I went to the back to see Torracat while Lana got us some tea and biscuits.
Torracat was sleeping peacefully in a small bed. The nurse said that the vitals are fine and all she needs to do is wake up, which they expect her to do. Torracat has 8 stitches along side her head. The nurses notices the wound on Caleb and tells him to sit down. She looks at it and says she needs to close it up.
So we sit there, me holding his hand as he gets his head stitched. 7 stitches in total for him.
After the nurse left Caleb yawned deeply.
"You don't have to stay here, Cam. Go get some sleep."
"I'm not going to leave you. You may own this Torracat, but she's mine too."
A stray tear dribbles down his cheek as he says, "Thank you."
I reach up and wipe away the tear. After I wipe it away I find my hand placed on his face as I approach it. I move my hand to the back of his neck and slowly pull him towards me. When our lips meet I feel the rush of warmth fill my body.
For the first time in a long time everything seemed right.
We kissed for just a couple seconds but it felt like several minutes. It felt so right.
I drifted away from the kiss and looked into his eyes. He smiled at me and I smiled back. I let my mind and body drift away as I rested my head on his shoulders.