It does feel kind of weird that I'm writing this part of the arc (a literal terrorist act) so close to 9/11, but here we are. Let that serve as your triggering warning for this particular chapter.
The Day Pastoria Stood Still
Chris had taken all of about two steps outside of Pastoria City's gym, before Barry was nearly running into him like back on Route 203. "Hey Chris!" the blonde-haired boy yells out. "You got the Gym Badge, huh?"
"Yes I did." Chris says as he closes his badge case to put it away.
"What'd I tell you? Mr. Wake-I mean, the master- is pretty awesome, hey?"
Suddenly, Crasher Wake steps outside to join them. "What's this racket, then? Oh, it's you two."
At the sight of Crasher Wake joining the two young trainers, Barry gets a sparkle in his eye. "Oh, Master!"
Chris catches Wake rolling his eyes, then looks at Barry. "Listen, kid. I know your father, I won't deny that. But I don't recall ever taking you on as an apprentice. Not in the least." Wake then pauses to look at both Barry and Chris. "Besides, you two don't need me. You can become strong on your own without being my apprentice."
Barry then pipes back up. "It doesn't matter. I made you my master! I decided!" Barry then pauses again to shake his head. "But forget that! There's trouble brewing! There's a Team Galactic goon in front of the Observatory Gate. He said something about using a bomb!"
Wake's attention has been completely taken away from the young trainers. "WHAAAAT?!" He yells out. His voice still raised, Wake continues. "No one messes with Pastoria! Not on my watch!" Wake dashes past both of the young men, sprinting over to the Great Marsh and the Observatory.
Barry looks after Wake, then yells out to him. "Hey! Master! Wait!" With three words, Barry sprints after Wake. Chris soaks in all of the information Barry brought to him, and then cusses under his breath. "Fucking Team Galactic." He says, as he mounts his Harley, firing up the engine and taking off. Chris makes a quick stop at the Pokémon center, leaving the three Pokémon he used against Crasher Wake with Nurse Joy, so she can heal them up. He was right back on the Harley right afterwards, keeping the engine running as he spoke to Crasher Wake and Barry.
"You're both here." Wake says, as he takes a look around. "So where's this Galac..."
Before Wake can finish his sentence, A massive explosion goes off towards the middle of the Great Marsh. The ground shakes violently from the shock wave of the explosion, as everyone around the three men can be heard gasping in confusion. Before anyone has a chance to gather their bearings, the Galactic grunt that Barry spotted comes dashing out of the Great Marsh. He runs right past Wake, Barry, and Chris, like the three of them were invisible. He lets out an exasperated breath. "That was rough." He says.
Wake is clearly enraged by the grunt's nonchalant attitude, and makes the grunt pay attention with his tone of voice. "YOU! What have you done?!"
"What I've done, you're asking? Well, technically speaking, it wasn't me. The package that arrived, see, that was a bomb, named the Galactic bomb." The grunt pauses for a second to look past the three men once again, towards the Great Marsh. "Me, I was told to push the button. So I did." He then looks away from the three now, towards Route 213. "Oh, that's right! Mustn't forget! The test results need reporting! Cheerio then! You daft codger, your mask's absurd!" Before Chris can grab him, the grunt slips away from him. He manages to get on an ATV, and speed off.
Chris notices that Crasher Wake and Barry have both ran off to investigate inside the Great Marsh, but he himself is back on his Harley, and chasing down the Galactic Grunt. As he rides, he uses his ear piece to place a call to Looker. Looker quickly answers the phone. "Young Chris," Lookers voice speaks with clear urgency. "please tell me that you have a lead on the explosion in the Great Marsh."
"It was Team Galactic." Chris speaks in short sentences to keep the air out of his mouth as he rides. "Chasing the grunt now. Heading towards Resort Area."
"Be careful Chris. I shall see you there." Looker hangs up the phone, and Chris has his eyes locked on the grunt. Despite having a faster vehicle, Chris's tires were not made to traverse through beach sands as well as the tires on the grunt's ATV. The grunt uses this to his advantage to stay ahead of Chris, but Chris is clearly the better rider. He also knows that this advantage won't last once they get to the resort area. As they ride, Chris can hear the grunt yelling back at him. "What's with you?!" He yells at Chris. "Stop chasing after me, you. I've half a mind to pulverize you with my P, okémon! But I have to be on my way to the lake ASAP! So you're lucky! Do I make myself clear?!"
"Shut the fuck up, and pull over! You couldn't beat me if I was blindfolded!"
The grunt keeps on riding, his broken concentration nearly making him hit a few people on the beach. He growls, and then continues yelling back at Chris. "I won't waste my energy knocking you around!"
"I'll galdly use mine to beat your ass, you damned terrorist!"
Clearly getting under the grunt's skin, he screams out in pure rage at Chris's words. He continues riding on, now purposefully riding to close to people on the beach in a failed effort to make Chris crash into them. "I'm warning you, kid! I'm getting tired of running away!"
"Then stop running, and take the beating you got coming to ya!"
"I won't waste my energy knocking you around!"
Suddenly, Chris ear piece rings. It's Looker. "My friend, I have all the information on Team Galactic's cargo I need. Keep at the grunt, I will be sure to cut him off outside of Valor Lakefront, as he is no doubt attempting to return to the Galactic building in Veilstone City." Just as quickly as he called Chris, Looker hangs up the phone.
Chris continues his pursuit of the grunt, who is no less frustrated than he was before Chris was called. They are both now off the beach, and the grunt is speeding through the Hotel Grand Lake. "I'm not gonna battle you, kid!" He yells back at Chris, who is only getting closer to him now that they're back on the asphalt.
"You have no choice." Chris warns. As they leave the northern part of the Hotel Grand Lake, the grunt sees the flashing lights of Looker's vehicle. He's trapped now, and he knows it. The Grunt dismounts his ATV, and then turns around to look at Chris.
"Damn you." He says, as he activates a Poké Ball. "My Pokémon will KO you." He says, as he throws out a Croagunk.
"Caesar, post up!" Chris throws out his Monferno. "Use Flame Wheel!" He yells out, as his Monferno curls up into a ball, and surrounds his body with fire. Caesar rolls forth, and nails the grunt's Croagunk at full force. Its power easily surpasses that of Croagunk, who gets beaten with a single blow.
Now the grunt is at a total loss for words, as he is quickly put on the ground by Looker. "You sir, are under arrest, and are being charged with terrorism." Looker puts the man in handcuffs, and then motions for Chris to follow him. Before Chris does though, Caesar begins to shine brightly. He grows a full foot taller, the fire on his tail going out as a new one burns from out of his head. What seems to be armor plates sprout on his chest, shoulders, wrists, and knees. His ears become pointy as the light fades, and reveal his final evolved form.
"INFERNAPE!" Caesar shouts out loud, as he gives a small display of his newfound power.
"You're an Infernape now, Caesar." Chris says with a proud smile on his face. "Congratulations." He says, as he holds out his fist. Caesar bumps Chris fist with his own, a smile on his face. On what has been a terrible day to this point, at least Chris now had two bright spots that he could point to.
Following up to Looker now, the detective speaks. "The Team Galactic grunts that you helped to apprehend in Jubilife City were bailed out, and the charges were mysteriously dropped. However, terrorist charges are not such an easy thing to dodge. We're going to see how much this degenerate will spill on his masters."
"Whatever he does, it will never be enough restitution for what happened at the Great Marsh. Whether no one was killed, or just one person was killed."
"Well, thankfully no fatalities have been found. Several have been injured however." Looker pauses, and looks at the grunt in the back of his car. "We'll see what we can learn from this one." He then looks back at Chris. "I shall contact you soon, Chris. Take care." Looker then gets into his car, and drives off towards Veilstone.
Chris turns around to face his Infernape, and grabs the Poké Balls he still has with him off his belt. "Let's get you and the others some food." Infernape nods with a smile on his face, and Chris grabs the handle bars of his Harley to walk it back towards the gas station at the Hotel Grand Lake.
While filling up his gas tank, and feeding his Infernape, Togetic, and Swampert, Chris hears a familiar voice calling his name behind him. He turns around, and he's greeted by the most beautiful sight he could've seen at this point, on a day like this. It was Cynthia. "Are you okay? Were you just in Pastoria City?"
An attack like today, bearing witness to it. Now that Chris had helped Looker capture the culprit, it was starting to get to him. "I... I don't know." Chris responds to Cynthia, who gives him a hug. This was the first time in a long time that Chris didn't need to lean down to give someone a hug, as the beautiful blonde holding him was only an inch or two shorter than him. She knew he was shell-shocked, and she was willing to help to comfort him. Once she let him go, she looked back towards the restaurant across the street.
"Come on. Let me get you some food, and help you get your mind off of it." She gave him a warm, comforting smile, and then led him across the street once Chris was done filling up his gas tank. He recalled his Pokémon into their balls, and then stepped inside the restaurant with Cynthia. Chris went to the bathroom to wash his hands before sitting down with her, and as he approached the table they would be sitting at, he started to realize what was so familiar about her. But he did not bring it up right away. Instead, he chose to start the conversation with a different question. "So, why'd you come out this way?" He asked.
Cynthia smiles. "I came to research the folklore about the lake, but..." She looks over towards the direction of Lake Valor. "Well, that news crew still has the lake blocked off." She then looks back at Chris. "Have you heard the folklore about it?" She asks.
Chris shakes his head. "I don't think they ever got around to it, in my geography class."
"There's supposedly an island in the middle of the lake. And inside that island is a mirage of a Pokémon. No one must enter the chamber of that Pokémon... but I suspect Team Galactic may have plans to do just that."
That caught Chris's attention. "Have you been looking into them, too?" He asks.
"I have. I've heard enough about them to be more than just a little concerned. I have to admit however, I'm surprised a young trainer like you would be so invested in fighting them."
Chris nods, and is about to speak before their waiter comes to the table. "Hello folks, my name is Lorenzo, and I'll be taking your orders today. Can I get you two started with something to drink?"
"I'll have tea, green if you have it." Cynthia says.
The waiter writes it down. "We certainly do. And for you, sir?" He says, looking at Chris.
"Do you have Coke?" He asks.
"Yes we do. So one Coke, and one green tea." He says as he writes. "Alright, I'll be back shortly."
Chris and Cynthia both smile at him, and then Chris goes back to what he was about to say. "I have a tendency to like Pokémon more than I like people. Present company excluded." He says with a flirty smile to Cynthia, which she returns. "So to see these guys treating Pokémon the way they do, and then also stealing them from others, it's enough to get my blood boiling. But I also ran into a couple of them that were trying to steal from Professor Rowan, when he was in Jubliife City. I didn't stand for it, so I beat them both up. None of them have ever explicitly said this, but I know that they're angry with me over that."
"So you don't have much of a choice but to fight them."
"No. I really don't. But I'm okay with that. I've spent the first eighteen years of my life with no real purpose in life, and plenty of adversity. I doubt there's anything they can throw at me that I can't handle."
"Your confidence is impressive, Chris. And you're going to need it." Chris nods, and then the waiter returns with his and Cynthia's drinks. They both take a bit of time in silence to look over the menu, and then place their orders with the waiter. After their orders are in, Cynthia continues. "Listen, I don't know this for sure, but I might now a location where Team Galactic will investigate to further their goals. There is a ruin in my Celestic Town, where I was born. There's ruin there, and in the back of the ruins is a painting of the Pokémon that guard Sinnoh's three lakes. An inquisitive mind's interpretation of the painting could be the basis of a plan, and I believe that whoever Team Galactic's leader is, they have an inquisitive mind."
Chris nods. "Then I'll head there before I go to Canalave City." Chris then takes a short look at Cynthia's face, and all of a sudden it clicks in his head."
Cynthia smiles playfully, and then asks. "What? Do I have something on my face?"
"No it's just... aren't you... aren't you the Sinnoh region's Pokémon Champion?"
Cynthia chuckles, then nods her head. "I am."
Chris nods. "So when the time comes, I'm supposed to challenge you."
Cynthia nods back. "If you want to become champion, then yes."
"I certainly do. I guess I need to do some research on you, then."
"It seems so. But for now, you should focus on Team Galactic's plan. It may be far more than anyone could ever guess."
"Your probably right."
"But lets eat for now, handsome." Cynthia gives Chris another warm smile, and the young trainer swears that he can feel his brain melting by a woman as beautiful as Cynthia is calling him handsome. Lunch passes by fairly quickly, and Cynthia is more than happy to pay the bill. Her having lunch with him has done Chris a lot of good with the trauma of what transpired in Pastoria, and even helped him to smile despite it all.
Before they part ways, Cynthia asks for a favor. "Chris, the path to Celestic Town is rough, but that will be good training for you and your Pokémon. I'm going to keep trying to get into Lake Valor, but I was hoping you could do something for me."
"Okay, what do you need?" Chris asks.
Cynthia reaches into her pocket, and pulls out something that looks to be made out of Pokémon bones. "Its an old good luck charm. I was hoping you could take it to my Grandma. She spends a lot of time in the ruins I told you about, so she shouldn't be hard to find at all."
Chris accepts the charm from Cynthia, and nods at her. "Okay, I'll bring it to her."
Cynthia smiles at Chris again. "Thank you." She says, as she gives him another hug before they part ways. In the hug, she encourages him by telling him that he could do this, in realtion to Team Galactic. He believed her, and her words were clearly enough as he vigorously kick started his Harley.
Chris returned to Pastoria City, which was now crawling with law enforcement. That included government officials, and even some military. If the grunt that Chris helped Looker to apprehend spilled his guts, then Team Galactic could be in some serious trouble after this. Chris could hope that this whole situation with them could have a stop put to it before it could get worse, but knowing his luck he wasn't holding his breath.
After waiting at least three hours before retrieving his other three Pokémon from the Center, and stepped outside, he was flagged down by Crasher Wake. "Chris!" The professional wrestler shouted as he approached his most recent gym challenger. "What happened to that bastard from Team Galactic?"
"I've got a friend in the International Police Department. He helped me corner him, and I helped him arrest him. Hopefully by now, he's spilling his guts in an interrogation room."
"Here's hoping." Wake says, after letting out a sigh of relief. "They can't get away with this."
"They won't. One way or another. I'll see to it."
"I appreciate you wanting to help young Chris, but please don't try to take them all down alone."
"I won't." Chris cocks his head to the side. "I'll just be taking most of them down alone."
Wake smiles, and shakes his head. "Listen, I've helped the authorities check almost every inch of the Great Marsh. There have been no casualties, human or Pokémon. Anyone who was hurt is being treated as we speak, as I'm sure you've seen from the Pokémon Center."
"Yeah, its kind of a mad house in there."
"You've done this city a great service today, young man. Would you like to take my guest bedroom for the night, free of charge?"
"I'd appreciate that, Wake. Thank you."
"It's the least I can do." Wake says, as he steps inside his truck. He leads Chris riding his Harley back to his house, throwing the sheets on the guest bed into the wash. While the sheets are in the wash, Chris rides with Wake back to the Great Marsh to see if there's more help that can be given.
