Chapter Eight: The Varia Revolution

"Who have you met, and what did you choose?" - Surfer, Sun and Moon

Dei's Perspective

I bite down on an old stick and chew until there's bark in my throat. It's a habit a lot of Deino pick up, apparently. I make sure I'm alone first. I'm scared, but I can't show it. My Pokémon are counting on me.

We're standing on a ridge on Mount. Mire, tucked in between the west side of the mountain and its neighbour, Mount. Spring. The scouts have returned. The Skarsgards forces are gathered by the second waterfall. We're hiding in the shadows just above them. The battle is about to begin.

Now there's 505 of us, but that's not including the Mountain Pokémon. We have no way of knowing how many of them will join, but we know a lot of them well. We've managed to gather another 346 Varia Pokémon. Some from the prisons, from the crown land settlements; we even found some hiding out near the Temple of Nature. It's a shock to everyone that we've managed to get so many. A lot of them said they'd been rounded up by and led here by a Drilbur, but I don't know any Drilbur on our forces, and neither do Dreigo or Zweil.

Zweil's suspicious of these Pokémon but Dreigo says we can't afford to turn down willing recruits. Our scouts say there are around 2,000 Pokémon on the Skarsgard army, and those are just the ones who've come to Mount. Mire. Most of the army is still in Grande City, and we have them to deal with after this.

If we win.

There's a cliff just above us, surrounded by flowers. Both my brothers warned me to stay away in case the Skarsgards saw me, or in case I fall and hurt myself. But I'm way too small for them to see me this far away, and I'm not a little kid anymore. I told them this, and they laughed. That made me sad. If going through two wars doesn't make me a grown-up, what will?

I feel my way up the cliff and sit back against the wall. It smells of palm trees and Oran Berries. I'm protected from the wind and from the spray of the waterfalls.

"Dei?" Posy's calling for me. "Deidei?" That's her and Olivia's nickname for me.

"Up here."

Posy chuckles.

"What are you doing up there, silly?"

"Thinking."

"Mind if we join you?"

"Sure."

They climb up and sit beside me, snuggling in close.

"How are you feeling?" the Floette asks.

"It doesn't matter," I say, "I have to be strong for my people."

"It does matter," says the Ivysaur, "and you shouldn't push your emotions down."

"Makes sense…"

I roll a stone back and forth under my foot.

"I don't want to add to your list of worries," says Olivia, "but I think you should know, Fitzroy's gone missing."

My chest feels funny.

"Do we know where?"

"I think he's gone to the Skarsgards," says Posy, "I never trusted him to begin with."

"But that doesn't make sense," I say, "why would he break my brothers out of prison if he was one of them?"

"I'd like to know why he decided to break everyone out of the prison," says Olivia. "Doesn't he realise the chaos that was going to cause in Grande City?"

"It kind of worked out for us though, didn't it?" I say. "I still wish he hadn't done it!" I add quickly.

"What do you think about him?" asks Posy. "Do you think we can trust him?"

"I don't know," I say, "I'm finding it harder and harder to trust anyone these days."

I kick the stone away. It goes clack… clack… clack… far down the mountainside.

"But I trust you guys," I say. "Thank you for rescuing me. I know I didn't make it easy, but I wouldn't be here without you. I owe you both so much."

They hug me from either side.

"You're our friend," says Olivia.

"You don't owe us anything," says Posy.

"I never asked how you actually found me. I thought I was being so careful!"

Olivia chuckles.

"Not all that careful, I'm afraid."

"We overheard two Pokémon talking loudly about a Deino who matched your exact description," says Posy.

The funny feeling is back.

"What Pokémon were they?" I ask.

"A Trapinch and a Drilbur."

Neither of them have heard about the mysterious Drilbur gathering the Varias. Zweil told me not to tell anyone, that it was top-secret until we figured out who this Pokémon was. But Olivia and Posy are my best friends now, so I tell them. It's nice to have people other than my brothers I can trust. I haven't had that since I lost my home.

"Sounds like it could be one of Mr. Finley's Pokémon…" says Posy.

"That's what Zweil said!" I reply.

"Add those two to the list of people we shouldn't trust."

"Doubt there's any chance of that after they let the Skarsgards into Grande Castle," says Olivia.

But if they're our enemies, why would they release Gaia?

I want to curl up into a ball. I'm just so sick and tired of all the betrayal.

"What are you thinking?" Posy asks softly.

"The scouts say Alex is down there. The Squirtle and the Garchomp, too."

"Oh, Dei…"

"Asa's there as well," Olivia says, "I can feel him."

"This must be hard for you too," I say.

Olivia swallows.

"I've been prepared for this for a long time. I love my brother, but if I end up facing him on that battlefield, I won't hesitate."

I can't even think about what it would be like if I had to fight my brothers. Probably because I would lose. Fast.

"How are you feeling?" Olivia asks. "About Alex?"

"I still hate him. But I don't think I blame him anymore. Zweil's told me a lot of stuff about him from his book. When I think about it, he sounds like a completely different person after being turned into a Charmander."

"Probably because he had no memory of being Alex the Human," says Posy.

"Exactly. But then you kinda can't blame him, can you?"

There's an uncomfortable pause. I think I've surprised both of them.

"He didn't choose to be a human, and he didn't choose to be a Charmander. And everyone took advantage of him. First us, then the Skarsgards."

"I don't understand," Olivia says, and she sounds a little annoyed, "how have we used him?"

"Dreigo only recruited him because he needed a human to destroy Ruby Forest. The Skarsgards took him back because they knew how much we needed his power. Everybody manipulated him, so they would fight on their side. When I think about it, he's a lot like me."

"You aren't being—" Posy begins.

"Yes I am. Pro used me to gather the Pokémon and move to the Temple, like he wanted. Fitzroy used me to gather the wild Pokémon, like he wanted. Dreigo and Zweil are using me to help manage their soldiers. Everyone's using me."

They both try to say something, then go quiet.

"Alex is just like me. We've both been put on a path we didn't choose, fighting in battles we didn't pick, against enemies we didn't know we were making."

"So…" it sounds like Posy's struggling to speak, "what are you planning to do?"

"I plan to win. It's the only thing I can do."

Down below, Dreigo and Zweil are barking orders. I know I should get down now, I have my own people to attend to. Out of the 505 of Pokémon in my army, I'm leading 100 into battle. We're the rearguard. I'm taking the weakest Pokémon, the stragglers, the back-up. The people most likely to die.

But before I move I sit there for another moment, thinking. About what I have to do, the people relying on me, the people I'm going to hurt, whether it'll even be worth it in the end.

I want to think it's not my fault, that I was put on this path, and that I can't leave it, because my brothers and my friends are all trapped here too. I want to think whatever happens, it was never my choice. But is all that just an excuse?

Am I a good person?