Gain Of Trust
CHAPTER 5
"So, do you think Leader's actually expecting to see us again?" Mason asked, glancing over at the two girls riding on Gina's skarmory.
"I don't know, really. It has been over a week, so he must know that we needed that time to think about all this," Krystal responded, looking into the everlasting sky stretching over the ocean to their left. "...He might be hoping, I guess...At least, I hope he does..."
"Don't tell me you have feelings for Leader?" Krystal felt her face heat up, glaring over at Webb smiling at her.
"N-No way! I just respect him, after all he's done for me and Gina! Plus I don't want to go back to an unwelcoming Leader, obviously..." she turned away from them again, to hide her warm face.
"Calm down, you know Leader would never consider you like that," the girl frowned at Gina's sudden remark, lightly knocking her forehead into her back. "You know it's true."
"Yeah, but you don't have to say it out loud...As if that were actually the case here..."
"Judging from the warmth on my back, I can tell it's clearly-"
"Okay, stop right there. You have no right to lecture me over emotions."
"That's a valid point, but need I remind you about the two guys from Snowpoint City?"
"Oh, don't even go there! You know that was not a fair scenario, you totally had an advantage over me!"
"Just because you didn't zip up your jacket and caught a cold, where I didn't, did not give me an advantage with those guys over you."
"It totally did, you liar! My nose was all stuffy so they didn't even give me a second glance and went straight for you!"
"...Do you think we should be hearing all of this...?" Webb asked nervously, glancing to his right towards the other man riding in the sky beside him.
"Just try to ignore it the best you can," he replied, eyes focused ahead of them. The pair sighed to themselves as the girls continued to argue further into that rather personal situation.
"Again...? Why do you keep asking me that?" May questioned, not understanding the voice's words.
"Your purpose for coming here...Were you seeking a truth...or an ideal...?"
"I was looking for the dragon. I need its help. My friend, the one I mentioned, he has Zekrom helping him and Reshiram couldn't defeat him, so I need another dragon-"
"You say they've already fought? And there was a victor without destruction?"
"...Yeah, I guess so. I mean, they destroyed the building they were fighting in, but there was nothing more than that."
"...Interesting...So the two can finally put an end to their petty arguing..."
"Huh? What do you-...Are you talking about the legend of those two? With the two brothers?"
"So you know of it...Then you must know how that historic event had ended..."
"I think I remember...The two dragons were fighting, each helping one of the brothers against each other-" then it clicked in May's mind. "Wait a second...Truth and ideals! You're asking me about that legend, aren't you?"
"I do not refer to the past fighting of those dragons with the human brothers. I ask for the answer within yourself."
"Within myself...? You want to know what I think...?" May trailed off as the voice did not answer. May looked to the ground, pondering. What did she think? She just wanted to stop Ash and for him to come back.
"You mention you come for help regarding your friend..." this perked May's attention. "How exactly do you wish to help him? Will you stop him, no matter the cost?"
"Of course!"
"Would you end his life, if need be?" May's voice got stuck in her throat. Kill Ash? There's no way she could do that, she just wanted to stop him. She could never bring herself to actually hurting him, or any of his minions. "So there is a limit, then..."
"...Because he's my friend. I could never hurt him, I just want to stop him from making a mistake!"
"So your desire to help your friend...It is driven by your ideal to stop him...?"
"...I...I guess so..." May bit her lip. Why did she have this...uneasy feeling about this?
"And if circumstances were different...If he were to be with you again, at peace...You would accept him without question...?"
"...I...I just want him back..."
"So, then...you seek the ideal of getting him back...above all else...?" May paused. She glanced at Blaziken, who nodded its head, indicating that it would follow whatever she chose. She held her fist to her chest, feeling it clench tighter. Was that really her answer...? "...Very well, then. If that is-"
"No...That's not it."
"Hurry, away from the door," Brock and Gary almost stumbled as the man urged them away from the door. They glanced back, noticing quite a few different locks on the back of the door as the man re-locked them all. They shared a worried glance. "So, what do you have to say?"
"Wha- Oh, about the truth or ideals?" the man moved past them into what seemed like a living room, but had several old books and stacks of papers scattered about, making the type of room almost unrecognizable. "Uh, well...I mean, you're asking that because of the Zekrom and Reshiram legend, right?"
"You think it's just about that?" the pair looked confused as the old man started searching through a pile of documents, then moving to a bookshelf stuffed with dusty books. He scanned each book spine carefully.
"What do you mean, just about that?" Brock asked, the young professor nodding in agreement.
"The man-eating monster...Rumor says that anyone who travels into the Great Chasm, and manages to get to the end, never come back," the man explained. "Then truth and ideals...they refer to the legend of the brothers who harbored the power of the dragons, Zekrom and Reshiram. One brother seeked the truth, and the other seeked his ideals, each befriending a dragon to support their beliefs," the man pulls a book off the shelf, giving a blow on the cover releasing a small cloud of dust as he moved back towards Brock and Gary. "But how do you think that story ended?"
"The legend says that a meteor crashed down in the Great Chasm and flash-froze the whole area. The two dragons were in that area, so they disappeared..." Gary trailed off, trying to recall what he already knew.
"And the history records depict that the Light Stone and Dark Stone, thought to be the hibernating embodiments of Reshiram and Zekrom, were found in the Relic Castle and the Desert Resort, on the other side of Unova," the man explained, setting the book down on a coffee table and opening it. The two guests stood on the other side of the table, eyeing the book curiously. "Then how, pray tell, was that able to happen if the brothers were in possession of them?"
"What?" Brock asked.
"If the brothers were to witness the dragons convert into the two stones after losing their power, don't you think they would have taken the stones themselves and held onto them in hopes of restoring the dragons?" the two men glanced at each other. "But then, if you consider the possibility...What if they never had the stones?"
"But if that were true, then...you're implying that they left the stones in the Chasm? But why would they do that?" Gary inquired, the older man pointing to the open page of the book. The pair looked at the page's contents, seeing an image on the page. It was hand-drawn, with slight smudging from the pages being pressed together, but depicted two similar-looking men standing together, smiling with an arm over each other's shoulder.
"Because the last time they were ever seen, together or at all...was going into the Great Chasm."
"Hmm? That is not your answer?"
"Well, it's true that I want to help him and bring him back, that's an ideal I'm working towards...But it's not like that's all," the brunette felt conflicted, having to decide these words on the spot.
"But given the choice, that ideal is what you strive for the most, correct?"
"...I wouldn't exactly say the most...It's only a part of what I want in the end, really," images of her best friend flashed across her mind, some images from past time spent with him. "...I want to help him, but it's not like I would just ignore what happened. I want to know why he's doing this...what changed him..."
"...You speak of...truths now..." May thought the voice almost sounded irritated. "...I understand your logic, but you have not decided on your final answer."
"Well, I don't really know myself..." May rubbed her arm, deep in thought. What did she care about more? Working towards getting Ash back, or learning the truth behind what he's doing?
"Enough stalling, human. Give me your answer, now," the voice was definitely getting impatient. "If you continue to be indecisive, you will suffer the same fate as all those who have made that mistake before you."
"Before me...?" May pondered on those words for a moment. "The voice mentioned there have been people who got here before me, but they were frozen solid and disappeared without a trace. It mentioned they had made their choices, and were proven to be inadequate..." she closed her eyes, focusing on that statement. "...Inadequate...Everyone came here searching for something, and told the voice what they wanted..."
"Enough of this!" May flinched as she felt a wave of cold air wash over her. "I have no patience for such insolence! If you will not give either answer, like those who have come before you, then you will not live to see the daylight ever again!"
"Either answer...?" then it clicked in May's mind. What made them inadequate...Why the voice was impatient, and got mad when she was indecisive!
"Prepare yourself, human, to be lost within this Chasm for eternity!"
"Wait, wait! I have my answer!" May exclaimed. The voice went silent, and the temperature returned to what it was before.
"...Then be it truth? Or ideals?"
"...Neither."
"..."
"..."
"...Neither...?"
"Right...I do want to get Ash back. More than anything in the world right now. But at the same time, I wouldn't be able to live with myself or with him if I don't know the reason why he changed, what happened to make him become like this," May explained, another image of the man flashing through her mind. "...In a way, I want both the truth and my ideals. But I don't want either one more than the other. And if I chose one, I could never live with myself abandoning the other," the brunette closed her eyes, her fists clenching at her sides. "...So that's my choice! I choose neither, because I could never choose one over the other! And even if I did, I could never live my life without knowing what the other could have given me!"
...
... ...
... ... ...
Silence. That was the only thing May could consider a response for almost a full minute. She began to felt nervous. Was the voice angry with that answer? She couldn't tell, but the air almost did seem heavier since the voice had gone silent. Blaziken began to grow uneasy, ready to be on the defensive at any moment. That's when May heard a dripping sound. She began looking around in question, then realized where it was coming from. Moving closer towards the ice wall, she had noticed small drops were beginning to hit the ground in front of it.
"Is it...melting...?" she asked quietly, then heard a strange, loud noise. Almost as if...stone were grinding against something.
"Blaze!" the fire-type grabbed its trainer's shoulders and pulled her back from the wall, lighting its wrists brighter so she could see what was happening. May gasped as she noticed the entire wall had began to shrink, the bottom beginning to melt and the top beginning to dissipate into frost. The frost fell to the cavern floor, covering it in a blanket of mist enough so that May could no longer see her own feet. As the wall began to disappear more and more, she noticed that the strange glowing from the other side of the wall was becoming more visible.
"What is that...?" she eyed the light curiously, then noticed it begin to dim. Dimmer...Dimmer...Gone. The wall of ice had completely disappeared just before the light went out, but the mist that had been released seemed to give off a strange glow which dimly lit the cavern floor. That's when May froze. Not because of the mist, but what had happened in front of her, where the single golden glow had come from.
There were now two golden glows. Almost resembling...a pair of eyes.
"Very well. With that answer...you have chosen your fate."
A gentle breeze blowing across the land. That's all that was heard at the entrance of the Hoenn League, where four figures stood in silence, all their eyes fixated on one of them in particular.
"...What...do you mean...?" Lexi finally managed to get out in a low voice, surprised she could find it at all.
"...I mean exactly what I said..." Jack closed his eyes with a sigh. He knew this would come eventually, but he had never expected it to be so soon.
"...You're saying...It's your fault? You're the reason Leader lied to us? To all of us?" Trevor inquired, but was only answered with the man's silence.
"Trevor, stop. He's not to bla-" Leader tried to cut in, but Trevor held his open palm out towards the man, surprising him. He never broke his gaze off Jack.
"I'm asking you, Jack!" Jack winced at his friend's outburst. Jack figured it was natural he would be angry about it, but he didn't expect the usually-calm-and-collective Trevor to actually raise his own voice. "Answer me, dammit! Or is it not about Leader's trust, but your own?!"
"What?" Leader looked at Trevor, surprised. Jack only lowered his head more, not realizing his fist was tightening at his side.
"...Why...?" everyone's attention was now on Lexi, who was barely able to find her voice at all. Jack felt a pain inside him as he saw her expression. Anger. Sadness. Confusion. Betrayal. And it was all because of him. "...Why would you do that...?"
"...I'm sorry, pinky," he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jacket, giving a sorrowful look to the girl. "...I know neither of you will forgive me, no matter what I say at this point. And neither will any of the others, but I swear, I did this with the best intentions-"
"Best intentions?" Trevor cut in, quickly moving towards the man. "Do you have any idea what we are feeling right now?! How do your 'best intentions' lead to us being hurt like this?! We trusted you, you moron! And you just throw that under the bridge and lie to us, and even make Leader do it too?!"
"Trevor!" Leader was beginning to get worried. He wasn't fast enough to stop him, but Trevor had close enough to Jack to grab the collar of his shirt with both hands, lifting him slightly into the air. "Trevor, that's enough!"
"Not until he says why! Why did you do this, Jack?!" he snapped, but the man in his grip didn't respond. He only looked away at the ground beside him. "Look at me, dammit! Why the hell do you refuse to defend yourself?!"
"Trevor, stop!" all three men flinched, looking towards Lexi. She began stepping towards them, fists clenched tightly at her sides with a serious look on her face. Trevor actually began to feel concerned, as he had never seen that look on her face before, dropping Jack on his feet. Lexi stopped directly beside Jack, standing inches from him as he only looked at his feet. "...Look at me."
"Lexi, please, this was not his fault," Leader began feeling worried for his relative, even if only a little. He knew Jack could handle himself, defend himself even if necessary, but he wasn't doing anything right now. Why?
"I said look at me, Jack," the man flinched slightly, beginning to sense the urgency in her tone. Slowly, he raised his head and turned towards her, standing face-to-face and looking her in the eye. "...Is it true?"
"...Yes..." was all he could say. Lexi glanced over at Leader.
"Is it true, Leader?" she asked sternly. Leader had never heard Lexi even use that tone before, letalone directed at him, so saying he was surprised was an understatement. The man hesitated, then gave a nod. She looked back at Jack. "...And the others have no idea about this?"
"...No. You're the first ones, after Leader," Jack replied, the girl eyeing him down intensely. Jack began to feel uneasy by the girl's staring, leaning his head away from her a bit. "...Like I said, I don't expect you to forgive me for this, but please, I beg of you, don't abandon Leader because of me. Leader only did it because I asked him to, and I knew as a favor to his blood relative he would never disrespect it, so I'm the only one you should be mad at."
"...I know we have our differences...We fight all the time, and almost never cooperate unless Leader is around..." Jack felt nervous at the girl's serious words, mixed with her expression. Leader watched the two carefully, also keeping an eye on the anger within Trevor's fists, which had not subsided. "...But despite all that...Despite all the trouble, the fighting, your annoying jokes, and behavior, and attitude...I still trusted you. Because Leader brought us together, and he chose each of us with his own eyes. He didn't use our background, or history or anything, he just looked at us and wanted us."
"Lexi..." Leader was at a loss for words.
"I trusted you, Jack. I know we didn't get along, but that doesn't mean I refused to work with you and trust you," Jack felt a sharp pain as her words, which clearly emphasized on where he had went wrong. "I was always willing to work with you, and be around you, because of Leader. But that was only in the beginning, because as time went on, I began to be happy with everyone. Gina, Krystal, Mason, Webb, Trevor, Leader...and you."
"What are you...?" Jack couldn't find his words as the girl didn't break eye contact for even a second. She leaned closer towards him, moving a hand to his shoulder and gripping it tightly.
"Like the others have been saying all this time, we're a family now. We may have been strangers, but Leader brought us together, and he united us. We're not just co-workers, we're not just friends, we're family. We have each others' backs, we help each other, and most of all, we trust each other."
"...But now I'm out of that loop now, I get it..." Jack stepped away from her, adjusting his collar. "Look, if you want to help Leader but won't do so with me around, then I'll leave. He knows I would never betray him, anyway."
"Jack? What are you doing?" Leader questioned, his nephew flashing him a grin. One he recognized from himself, so many years ago.
"Relax, Leader, I've always got your back if you need it, just say the word and I'll come running. But for now, you could probably use everyone else's help over just mine," he stepped away from the others, moving towards the treeline which lead to the clearing. "I'll get my team and go. But, Lexi, Trevor-"
"What...are you thinking...?" Trevor asked carefully, watching the man turn back to them and flash the same grin.
"It was fun while it lasted, you know. I know you won't believe me, but Lexi had it spot on," the girl eyed him curiously as he crossed his arms behind his head, turning away from them again. "I enjoyed every day I spent with you guys, and I guess now it's not just Leader anymore. I consider all you guys my family."
"Jack, hold on!" he stopped in his tracks, glancing back at Leader. "...Why are you doing this? We both knew this day would come eventually, if we just explain it to them, they'll understand why we lied!"
"Wrong, Leader," he chuckled, closing his eyes. "I lied. All you did was grant me a favor, which I'm thankful for. It's a shame I couldn't stay with everyone right up until the end, though."
"Jack," Trevor cut in, stepping towards the man. "I may be pissed as hell at you right now...But if Leader is giving you a chance to explain yourself, then I can't very well refuse you that. So please, what is really going on?"
"...Sorry, man," Jack chuckled lightly, giving a weaker smile than earlier. "If you guys knew the truth, things would never be the same again."
"Don't exaggerate," Leader interjected. "Things may be different if they knew, but they certainly wouldn't trust you any less."
"What the hell are you two talking about? Just tell us already!" Lexi snapped, startling the men. They exchanged concerned looks, then Jack gave a sigh.
"Fine...I'll tell you the first half of how it started, at least. It started back when me and Leader first met..."
"The Great Chasm was the last place they were ever seen? But how do you know that?" Brock asked, the man giving a tap of his finger on the drawn photo within the book.
"Because this is a portrait of the brothers, together, drawn in commemoration of resolving their argument after returning back to this very town from the Great Chasm," he explained, flipping to the next page which depicted the distant mountain range of the Great Chasm. But this looked very...different. "That portrait was actually drawn by one of the ancestors of a very wise elder here, in this town, and can still show you several portraits of pokemon and landscapes that they had drawn. The time that portrait was drawn, the meteor had not touched down in the Great Chasm yet, so the landscape around what used to be a mountain was very different from what it is now."
"So...It wasn't always a chasm...?" Gary asked, eyeing the image of the once-was mountain curiously.
"Not until the meteor touched down. And some might say it was a coincidence this happened at the same time the dragons were fighting in the area, but I believe there is more to that event than what the history books tell us," the man pulled another old book from the bookshelf, giving another blow of the dust off the cover before opening it and skimming through the pages. "Although, not many people still around today know the fact that the meteor had touched down while the brothers were spending time in Lacunosa town."
"In town? But didn't you say the dragons were fighting in the Chasm at the time?" the older man nodded. "But then...They just left the dragons there to fight? Why would they just leave the dragons on their own?"
"Because they had found the answers they sought to find," the two visitors gave a questioning look. "And that is what angered the new monster that had crashed down on the mountain."
"The monster...? You mean the dragon in the meteor?" Gary asked, earning a nod from the older man. "You're saying it was angry at them? But-"
"As I said, the history books do not tell you that the brothers had actually resolved their fighting shortly before the meteor touched down. This is why they had returned to Lacunosa, to celebrate, one might say," the man started, stopping on a page and showing to his visitors. "But, after witnessing the meteor's descent, they returned to the mountain range to investigate. That is how they got to the innermost depths of what is now known as the Great Chasm, and confronted the new dragon."
"They saw it?!" Brock was in shock. How were the history books so wrong?
"Right. The pair searched the entire area for Zekrom and Reshiram, but the pair were nowhere to be found, as they had been depleted of their energy and reverted into the Dark and Light Stone, where they hibernated for centuries," the old man pointed to the page currently open, which was full of scribbled notes and images of what looked like pillars or crystals of sorts. "And the two brothers managed to get to the very end, finding where the dragon had taken refuge. But the dragon didn't just eat them, like rumors around here say, no...It tested them."
"Tested...?" Brock could barely make any sense of this.
"Wait...These notes..." Gary eyed them more carefully, recognizing their purpose. "...These explain how to get to the end of the Great Chasm, where we lost May! See, Brock? This drawing is of the single crystal in that last room!"
"This...can't be...But how are these here? If you said the brothers were never seen again after going to the Great Chasm, and nobody who's gotten to the end of that place has come back, then how do these notes exist?"
"Because they were found, by an explorer who got to the end, but somehow managed to get out faster than he could be found by the dragon. Perhaps by a pokemon's teleportation, no one really knows the truth," the man explained, turning to the next page which was a much stranger sight. The two could read the first few lines.
"I made it to the end, but I'm almost too afraid to look any further...This dead end clearly has a hidden meaning, but do I really want to find this monster...?" Brock trailed off, noticing the cursive had begun to get much messier. "...Cold...Breathe...? It doesn't even look like it makes sense anymore..."
"Wait, down here...it says choice..." Gary squinted, desperately attempting to read the barely legible writing. "...Does this say...'it demands an answer'...?"
"Indeed it does. Think back to the final room you visited, and I'm sure your friend who fell into the resting chamber noticed it as well," the man told them, Brock and Gary beginning to think back. Then it clicked in Gary's head.
"The cold...It was too cold for this guy to write, that's why you can't read it," Gary said. May did mention it was a lot colder down where she had fallen, no wonder the guy couldn't write.
"And the time this man had written these lines, this is where he had met the dragon," the man stated, surprising the pair. "There are only a few more pages written past this, but they are much easier to read. And the meaning behind them, their connection to the legend of Zekrom and Reshiram, it undoubtedly leads to only one solution. The true resolution to this historic tale of the two brothers, one seeking truth, and the other seeking ideals..." the old man flipped the page, Gary and Brock surprised to see the contents of the page. A single letter, written as large as possible. They glanced at each other nervously, then flipped the next page. Another letter. This continued until they realized what they had just found.
T
R
U
T
H
I
D
E
A
L
S
Brock and Gary looked at each other, then to the old man. The man closed the book, giving a grim expression.
"The dragon demands a choice, just as it did to the two brothers...And both their answers cost them their lives."
END