Chapter 19: Sandy Situation

"PUNCH!" An unfamiliar sound usually for the gang of Brenden absent the stink of rogues and evildoers. Amongst them. Yet with the sands of the sandy dunes of route 11 howling and the party having gotten lost without seeing a way out through the sands after taking what they deemed as another random route that seemed to give them no aid in their quest to avenge Brenden some of the tempers were flaring.

"Why didn't you trust me when I told you there would be nothing of worth in these dunes?" Nagamasa yelled at his longtime friend. He was furious with Mitsuhide's choice for them charge headlong into the sands without a real plan or idea where they were going, and the linoone pointed out on the map that the place held no route beyond on the map. It was a pure debacle as now the party felt lost in the dunes seeking clear land. While the goggles helped the party be able to move in the sand it did not negative the damaging pain of the sand of the limited sight from it.

"Look I didn't know okay." Mitshide pushed the linoone back and to the ground.

"But I told you, I told you our best bet at the moment was to go back to Petalburg and challenge Norman but you said it was better to go into these stupid sands!" Naga was angry as the sand ripped into the team. The winds howled and hurt as they buffeted against the team. Small cuts became agitated and enlarged and the team was worn down and ready for any kind of relief.

"Look fighting isn't going to get us out of the mess." Masamune stepped between the two friends in the middle of a fight. "All we need to do is find a way out of this maze of sand and wind otherwise we die. That's it, nothing else matters at the moment."

"He's right you guys cut it out." Katsuie replied

"Shut up Katsuie!" Naga quipped. "Mitsu just keeps thinking everything is just going to work out, that we'll slay every enemy that everyone will keep thinking you're a trainer, and that we'll get a chance to kill team Magma, and all of that without losing friends and having our lives risked in the process." He then looked back at Mitsu glaring him down. "Quit being so headstrong and listen more to reason, It doesn't matter how far we go if we're all dead you asshole."

"Naga that is enough." Masamune growled at his friend.

"GUYS!" Rikei emerged from the sand slightly off in the distance. "I found a route out back toward South 111. Just follow my burrow line but quickly before the line fades in the winds." The gang immediately bolted after the line all except Mitsu and Naga, who remained in their spots still frustrated at each other for the things said and actions taken.

"We'll talk about this later Mitsu." The linoone told his friend as he made the first move to break from the troubles of the sand. Mitsu reluctantly followed suit as the team exited the sands after a brutal 20 minute walk. The party was exhausted from the winds and sand grains slicing at their fur and skin.

As they set up camp for the night to rest before heading back to Petalburg to settle the score with Norman, Brenden's father the tension was still high in camp. As the two who were the pinnacle of influence and leadership I the gang were at odds with each other. Mitsuhide sat on the far side of the camp and Nagamasa sat with Masamune and Motonari. Everyone else was unsure what to think as Mitsu was the true leader but Naga was smarter, more careful, and much friendlier at times. And also Naga seemed to have been angry at the notion that Mitsu was being careless with the lives of the gang. Silence filled the air. There was hardly any conversation, even larger sized monsters like Hisahide refused to enter the conversation.

"Dude you have to make this right the tension in the air is wrong." Masa told his friend as they stared at a pouting and upset Mitsu.

"He owes me and all of us an apology. He nearly got us all killed wandering a sandstorm drift for nothing and no reason. He needs to make it right." Naga loved his friend but was hurt by the leader making a choice that was so dangerous for literally no upside at all for the team.

"I am sure he had his reasons and besides we didn't die." Masa replied, trying to help his friend see reason where it normally would be found in spades, as it was now lost to the linoone.

"We don't know why he did that, and I just don't understand okay!" Naga rolled over as he prepared for sleep for the night. "We aren't immortal. We need to be smart, and I just don't think or in any way can see how that choice was the right one."

"…..Then just ask him." Masa then rolled over the opposite way as they lay back for the night's sleep.

…

The gang awoke the next morning and packed up camp quickly into their ever growing pull cart and then began the journey from route 111 back to Petalburg, by way of the Rustboro tunnel. It was a quicker trek but by no means an easy or truly fast one. And worse the tension in the party was still in the air as the leaders were still not speaking and thus the next in line of hierarchy had no clue who to back, and the weaker gang members feeling unable to contribute at the same level in combat felt no pull to even open their mouths. It was a silent march in the party.

…..

After a couple of days of the hanging tension in the air that threatened to destroy ever sense of joy the party ever had they reached the walls of the Petalburg gym, home of Norman, the absentee father of Brenden. Mitsuhide growled at the gym along with Naga, as they remembered how Brenden came here after May was spreading the lies about him being a murderer. Yet, Norman simply turned his son away to go and deal with his issues on his own. Naga and Mitsu had not yet talked things over and resolved their issues. Yet, Naga walked over to Mitsu in front of the whole gang, and offered him a handshake.

"We still have much to discuss about how this party is being led going forward, I still don't understand what happened back on route 111, but I need your help to punish this gym leader." Mitsuhide felt a tide turning as if Naga was seeing himself as the full leader of the party going forward, and while this drew some concerns in his head. The Grovyle knew they needed each other in this fight. He hook Naga's hand which lowered the tension for many in the party. Now in spite of marching on a gym, their fifth one together the team felt way more confident than they had in days. The team marched in with the following six ready to tackle the trials of the gym, Nagamasa, Tadakatsu, Kojiro, Mitsuhide, Motonari, and Masamune. The team knew they had not gotten very many battles in during the last few days and were hoping to take on every trainr in the gym. They quickly found 2 trainers who both threw down Delkatty with the interest of using love and sleep to win their fights. Masamune took on one decimating it in spite of the sleep attacks and the attraction technique. Yet for Kojiro….

The battle opened and Koji was quick to flood the area with poison powder, infecting the Delkatty, making him cough on his own blood as the poison began to take hold of the enemy. Though the trainer called to put the gloom to sleep with sleep powder, the attack knocked the gloom on the floor. And while the dreams held the gloom to the realm of sleep the Delkatty used an attract attack on the gloom making the gloom absolutely blinded by love to the cat before him. "Oh no Koji is in love." Nagamasa called out. "We need to switch him out."

"But in these formal battles we can't switch him unless he tags us in." Mitsu hollered. The feuds of yesterday seemed nothing now as they watched their friend who had a very odd way of talking try and fight through the duel status effects that were upon him. Koji soon woke up from sleep but, it was too late. The love left him unable to move to either defend or attack the cat. The enemy moved in for a double-slap barrage and managed to send out five consecutive slaps with the fourth one being a critical hit. Kojiro fell to his knees from the confusion of the moment and blood and internal damage from the slaps ending his life. As he faded into the darkness with his eyes fluttering He heard Rikei crying and rushing to his side along with Nohime and Mitsuhide as Masamune jumped in and bit the cat to its own death. The trainer grunt of the gym was terrified and ran away into the safety of the gym, far from the grieving team as they witnessed Kojiro's last breathes, knowing the potions were no longer useful to save him. Rikei held him in her arms as Koji was so far gone he was unable to speak, and blood dropped from his mouth as he succumbed to his wounds. With the death being obvious. Rikei screamed a scream so loud it shook the walls of the gym. As others wailed around their friend's body. Mitsuhide and Nagamasa signaled that it was time to retreat from the gym and regroup. Their hearts were wrecked from the incident.

The emerged from the gym with Mitsuhide carrying the dead gloom's body in his arms with Rikei following closely. Mitsuhide kept walking as the team followed close behind. The leaders of the group knew very soon were the Grovyle was headed. They walked through the route west of town and back up through the Petalburg woods, all in silence. No trainers sought to jump them and no wild pokemon even thought to raid them. They were left alone to each other and the memory of Kojiro.

They exited the woods and found their way to a single gravestone with a light maker that was not carved from human crafting. It was the grave of Brenden. And while this grave was alone and the other two friends they had lost along the way had not been laid to rest in this spot, the team respected Mitsu's thought to bring his friend here to rest.

Masamune and Nagamasa, with Toshie dug the grave to its proper depth and then Mitsu laid his friend in place and then they buried him up quickly before having a moment to reflect. "Kojiro may have spoken in a tongue that most of you had a very hard time understanding to the fullest, and I doubt he believed his end was coming today. I know he was full of life and believed in us as a gang and a family. He loved and fought for us all in his own way, and today we now lay him to rest here beside Brenden. Yes that Brenden, the one who caught myself, Nagamasa, Masamune, Motonari, and Katsuie. He was our trainer, our friend, our Patriarch." The look on many of the newer gang member's faces were ones of awe as they observed the reverence that Kojiro was receiving. "I loved Kojiro as I loved Brenden and each of you. We have a long and dangerous journey ahead. And our quest is not an easy one. I ask that you know that this could be your future with us. Yet, I ask that you resolve yourself to it in memory of the fallen." Cheers rang in the air from the power of the speech as the gang fully believed in the words of Mitsuhide as they took in the sight of their fallen comrade and the grave of their namesake.

"Well said, Hail Brenden!" Kicho called as others rallied around the cry and they with tears and heavy hearts recommitted themselves to their trifold mission.

"Nagamasa can I talk with you now." Mitsuhide tugged at the linoone. They went a few feet off away from the others who were singing songs and showing each other emotional support for the moment.

"What do you need to say." Nagamasa said with a slight attitude in his voice. Mitsuhide then pinned Nagamasa to a tree, it didn't cause pain and to anyone looking on it would not look like an attack, but it was mean to intimidate the linoone.

"Look I know you were mad at me and upset about the sandstorm, but these gym battles are different and after how tough Flannery was against us I didn't want to run in headfirst to the next one only to lose a friend, and here we are, Two grunts into the Petalburg gym and we lost one of my best allies in the gang Kojiro. Trust me for a change, because if I am reluctant to charge into a gym, it might be because I want to make sure we are prepared to actually fight that gym. Okay?"

Nagamasa teared up, and wasn't angry with the Grovyle or even frustrated or wanting to lead he sobbed and sunk his head and simply replied, "Okay." Mitsu released Naga from the tree who then sulked to the ground and sat there with a heavy heart as the others rallied around Mitsuhide ready to go and get vengeance for their friend by taking zero prisoners in the Petalburg gym.

"We shall go back into that gym and while being careful we shall offer no mercy to anymore, trainer or pokemon, we shall fil the halls with blood!" Mitsu shouted as the others praised him and rallied to his cause.

"I am with you Mitsuhide." Masamune called from the crowd. Which with the help of Masamune all would fall in line to the cause as he was the one they respected in combat the most. The pokemon decided to use this death as a chance to bolster themselves with some spaced training for the rest of the day as they prepared to enter the gym. Nagamasa felt a spark leave his body for leadership but still had a pension to fight in his soul.

As the training for the day winded down Mitsuhide realize that the waters of Petalburg had never been fished for a friend. He quickly threw down a line and fished for moment and reeled in quickly a Goldeen. The Grovyle explained the situation to the fish and made a quick ally. "Thank you Goldeen, I shall name you in honor of our trainer, Ujiyaso." Ujiyaso consented and the two headed back to the party with the new plus one for the gang. Introductions were made and while there was still a thickness in the air the group was feeling better seeing a new friend join the ranks. The leaders knew that Ujiyaso was not going to be an asset in the near term for formal conflict but did help grow the numbers back up after Koji's death.

"Are we ready?" Masamune asked the others considered the leaders. Nagamasa made no reply as the horror of the morning was still on his mind.

"We'll need to be careful and we can't risk any switch training plays in there. But I think we can take it with all the items that Naga has found on the ground for us." Mitsu was being positive and thanking his estranged friend whom dep down his still saw as a true friend in spite of their disagreements.

"Then let's head back in there and start our assault. No mercy." Masamune called

"Agreed." Said Moto. The team rested for the night and with the dawn they marched once more into the den of Norman.

This time Mitsuhide went in first, at the head of the team. "I will challenge and slay all comers, until I fall or need to be swapped I shall fight. While I fight, you back liners kill the trainers. We get revenge for Koji and some for Brenden today. The plan went perfect as the party went from special room to special room slaughtering trainer and pokemon alike as Mitsu use his leaf blade attacks to rip the enemy from head to toe. None could stand up to his rage.

"I AM Mitsuhide, first pokemon of the clan of Brenden." He called as he finished off the finish grunt in the last room before Norman himself. He had been nervous to face Brenden's father once again but that had all changed with the challenges of the journey and the passion of Koji falling to death. "I am strong enough." He muttered to himself. as he and the gang entered Norman's chambers.

"Ah you have returned Brenden." Norman spoke he then began a monologue about pride and position and status 100 other things to act like he was a good father.

"Does this guy really not see this isn't his son?" Kicho spoke as Norman kept rambling.

"This asshole calls himself a father?" Gozen said with furry in her heart.

"He deserves to die like his trainers." Toshie called for blood as Norman just kept muttering stupid fake father speech, as if now he could actually redeem himself.

"He dies today team." Masamune rallied the troops as Mitsuhide stood ready for action. They knew from the stories that his party was strong but they were not scared of him.

Norman finally stopped his rant. "Fine Brenden I shall be the one to bring you your punishment. Daddy will now spank you." He then sent out his weaker Slaking. Mitsuhide took the center to attack and what ensued was a barrage of leaf Blades and Absorbs to blow back the sheer damage from Slaking's façade attacks that came every other turn due to the incredibly lazy nature of that particular pokemon. The first one fell in a few turns but because of the wear of the fight. Masamune pulled back and told Mitsu that he got this. As the next pokemon a Vigorth came forth to fight Masamune intimidated the beast. The battle lasted a few rounds as Masamune bit the enemy to death eventually bleeding him out. The enemy Vigoroth fell. Norman prepared to send out his final Slaking.

"Hisahide switch with me now." All were confused as even though Hisahide was a gyarados now he was still not really able to use very good attacks. Neverthless the Gyarados had an intimidating effect on the Slaking and then as that hit the enemy Masamune switched back in Intimidating the Slaking for a second time, making the enemy pokemon's attack virtually powder puff tickles. Masamune smiled as his plan worked. He then proceeded to wear down the enemy until he finally snapped the Slaking's neck to the horror of Norman.

"What did you do you little Bastard!' Norman called out as he saw his final pokemon die and only now realized the decimation on his team. He looked about his gym and noticed there were no footsteps or noise except in that room he stood. His own team lay dead along the floor. He fell to his knees. He whispers curse words unto his son. As Katsuie came forward and removed his disguise in front of Norman and then proceeded with the help of Mitsuhide to snap his neck. The team all rejoiced as Norman fell over dead. Kicho ran his pockets and grabbed his wallet and his badge to give before they all cheered and celebrated. The team hoisted Mitsuhide over their heads and proclaimed him their leader as they walked out of the gym victors. True winners.

As they celebrated and drew up a healing campfire for the night outside town and partied as a truly unified family again, a question emerged in the head of Nagamasa, who pulled Mitsu aside to quietly ask the leader. "Now what. I don't know where we can go or do off the cusp at the moment?" Mitsuhide could tell he was being sincere in his question and not rude.

"I don't know quite yet." He smiled as the oldest two longest running members of the gang walked shoulder to shoulder back to the fire to celebrate. They had gotten closer to avenging Brenden and rid the world of a terrible father.