After finishing training for the day before the Gym Challenge, I was resting up with my Pokémon under a tree. It was relaxing and along with the clear weather, I was close to falling asleep at that very moment.
...At least, that was what I thought until a familiar figure showed up.
"Lows, how did training go?" I opened my eyes and noticed Regis in front of me, slightly panting.
"It's been fine..." I slowly stood up and faced him, "You?"
"I've just been spending time jogging today!" Regis grinned, "Training stamina is a must to ensure a good long flight."
"How long have you been jogging for?"
"Not too long... Only about three hours!" Regis replied.
"...?!" I was surprised by his stamina, which was definitely much higher than mine.
"Now that you asked, I do feel a little tired, though." He said as he leaned against the tree I just rested on.
"...I would be surprised if you're not."
"I think we should have a cool down session!" He suggested.
Thinking it was some relaxing activity, I accepted, "Sure, what are you thinking of?"
He smirked and pointed towards the house near the field, "Let's conquer the Trick House challenge together!"
"W-Wait... You call this a cool down activity?"
"If it's relaxing for the body, anything is a cool down activity!" Regis replied.
Not for our brains... I sighed.
Knowing personally that it was hard for me to reject offers, I asked, "Are we allowed to do the challenge in pairs?"
"Definitely! I remember the Trick Master declared, 'No matter how many people enter together, they're still gonna have a hard time either way!'"
"Wow, he's got some confidence."
"He's not called the Trick Master for nothing!" Regis said, "Speaking of it, once I've gotten good at flying, maybe I should also give myself a name... like 'Flight Master'!"
"...You can think about it another day, Regis."
"True! Let's head over to the Trick House now."
We walked towards the unusual house built in the middle of the route. The door was not locked as we entered the house, only to see the usual furniture and decorations normally seen in a house, but no one was there.
"...?" I was confused.
"I heard to find Trick Master, you need to have a Braviary eye and observe around." He then slowly looked around the house and found something unusual, "...That flower pot seemed to have a glittering light."
I looked towards where Regis' sight was located and noticed it as well, "You're right!"
We got closer to the flower pot, only to notice a small Smoke Bomb getting set off and once the smoke dissipated, revealing a rather large man who had ragged gray hair, red paint under his eyes and a long mustache. His fancy outfit definitely caught our attention, which consisted of a big yellow tie, a dark red vest and a pair of white trousers.
"Welcome to the Trick House Challenge, trainers! I am the Trick Master. You have passed the entry part of this challenge and may proceed." The man chuckled.
"See? My pilot eyes can't deceive me!" Regis grinned.
"...Though I'd be surprised if there is anyone who can't get through this first part." I muttered.
"Trust me, there are more careless trainers than you think." Trick Master replied before showing us a hidden door, "Going as a pair, I assume? To get through this next part of the challenge, one of you needs to have a Pokémon with the move Cut. If not, you're gonna have a bad time!"
"I don't have any Pokémon with the move Cut..." I said.
"It's okay! In fact, my latest addition, Yoroi, actually learned Cut recently." He said as he took out a Pokéball, sending out a Skarmory.
"Then you're all set! Don't get stuck, and have fun!" The Trick Master threw another Smoke Bomb towards the ground and just like before, he disappeared once the smoke faded off our sights.
"Let's start, then!" Regis was eager to begin as he opened a hidden door, revealing what seemed to be a maze. Once both of us entered, the door shut tightly on its own.
"No turning back now, I suppose." Regis shrugged.
"You should lead the way, Regis. I don't really have a bad sense of direction." I confessed.
"You don't need to worry about that! My experience as a pilot has led me to this very moment. Time to destroy this maze!" Regis started running through the maze, full of energy as his Skarmory cut through the trees blocking their way.
I was barely able to catch up to them, some cool down activity, he said...
Suddenly, I found the two stopped and quickly took the chance to catch up to them. I was going to ask them what was going on, but my question was already answered the moment I saw a trainer facing us, seemingly looking for a battle.
"Is this a good sign, Regis?" I asked.
"I mean... the trainer must be trying to prevent us from going the right way, isn't it? That means it's looking flightful!" Regis interpreted.
I took out a Pokéball and sent out Surfer, "I'll take care of the battles as... you know, a way of helping with the challenge."
"You're helping either way, Lows. But go for it!"
I smiled before commencing the start of the first battle, "Surfer, use Water Pulse!"
"Oh no, my Pokémon..." The third trainer I had to face sighed as his Pokémon finally collapsed after a hard fought battle. Then, he looked at us and said, "You may proceed, trainers."
"Another good battle, Lows! I know I can count on you." Regis complimented.
"Thanks... I just hope we're close to the end."
"We definitely are!" Regis reassured as Yoroi continued cutting down another tree in our path. Something new entered our sight: An arrow on the wall signaling us to walk towards the right.
"It must be the exit!" Regis exclaimed as he quickly followed the arrow.
I slowly followed along while thinking, is this really the exit? It feels too easy for a Trick House Challenge.
Just as I thought, when I turned right, I saw Regis looking towards a dead end and an unusual scroll placed on a table.
"This must've been a trick..." Regis was disappointed.
"Well, he's not called the Trick Master for nothing."
"What does this scroll even do for us?" He opened the scroll, revealing a message, "Trick Master is fabulous."
"Hmm..." I was confused.
"This must be a taunt message! Lows... let's just try to find the right way." Regis sighed.
"Sure thing." I followed Regis, who seemed to feel beaten up that his pilot skills did not get the results he desired.
I put the scroll message in mind; in fact, it was quite hilarious and out of nowhere, so it became hard for me to forget about it for at least a short while.
As we tried going another way and defeated more trainers, we seemed to have found ourselves the true exit.
How did we know, you ask?
"...It's like he wanted trainers to know this is the exit." I said as I pointed towards the huge sign board above a wooden door that said, "EXIT".
"Could this be another trick on his sleeves?" Regis asked.
"I don't think so. He's the Trick Master, not the Unfair Master." I joked.
"Let's just get out of here, then!" Regis' energy seemed to be drained from this maze as he tried opening the door, only to realize that it was locked.
"What the-?" He noticed a small screen beside the door lighting up and showing a message. We looked closely and saw the text, "Please read out the secret code to unlock the exit."
"Secret code?" Regis asked
"...I think I know what it could be related to." I said, as Regis' memories also brought him to the truth.
"I thought it was a taunt message, that I didn't even consider remembering it!" Regis became upset, "What are we supposed to do now?"
"A-Actually..." I replied, "I think I barely remember the code."
"Go for it, then!" Regis encouraged.
"I'm not that confident about my memory." I admitted.
"It's whatever. Having a chance to solve the case is better than nothing! Worst comes to worst, we'll just go back to where the scroll is." Regis shrugged.
"Alright then..." I took a deep breath before talking towards the screen, "Trick Master is fabulous."
The text on the screen was immediately switched to "Correct" before the door opened on its own. I immediately sighed in relief.
"Even though you got it right, I'm now wondering whether Trick Master made this code just to hear that sentence from other trainers." Regis retorted.
"Oh shut up, Regis." I helplessly smiled, "At least it's somewhat memorable."
We walked out of the exit to see the Trick Master waiting for us, "Congratulations for getting through the 1st Trick House Challenge!"
"Wait, the first challenge?" Regis asked.
"Yeah, there are a total of eight challenges! If you two are interested, you can immediately start the next-"
"We'll pass, thank you!" Regis cut him off, "Our engines are well out of fuel."
"That's fine, then!" Trick Master laughed, "Though I'm impressed by your friend's good memory. Usually, people would get the code wrong on their first try and have to find their way back to the scroll."
"It was a lucky guess..." I didn't take the full credit, "Besides, Regis also got us out of here with his good sense of direction and observation. I don't think I'll be close to getting out of here if it wasn't for him."
"The power of teamwork is truly delightful to witness!" Trick Master faked himself wiping his fake tears, "Once your heart is ready for more, you two can always return for the next challenge! For now, farewell."
He threw another Smoke Bomb, which seemed to produce more smoke than usual. Once the smoke dissipated, surprisingly, we found ourselves back to the first scene that greeted us in the house; the same exact furniture and decorations.
"...Well, that was something." I said.
"Let's just get out of here." I agreed to Regis' suggestion and left the Trick House.
Overall, the experience can be concluded with one sentence Regis said...
"What a flightful day!"
Team Willpower Leader, Wilson.
What made him decide to do what he was doing?
No one is evil in the beginning; just the events that happened throughout one's life may cause them to pursue the path of doing evil.
For this man, the events that unfolded in the past remained a mystery even for the ones working close to him.
For now, these events will be remained untold, and in his eyes, they were nowhere close to having the worth of being reminisced.
Except for when he's encountering difficulties in his team's plans.
Because whenever he had even a single trace of intention to give up the plan, the past events will always come back to haunt him, which could both be a good thing and a bad thing: the bad thing being he hated recalling them, and the good thing being it will give him a dose of motivation to get through the difficulties...
As he felt the hardest had already passed.
He was done with the world being so cruel to him over the past few years.
"If the world is cruel to me...
I'll be cruel to the world too.
By at least a hundred times more."
And by all means...
He would never let anyone get in the way of him doing so.
Never.
Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a Willpower Admin entering his office.
"What is it?" He quickly regained his composure.
"All preparations are ready for us to carry on with our plan."
"...Good." The Willpower Leader smiled, satisfied, "Last time, we weren't successful in retrieving what we wanted...
If we can't do it by force...
We'll just do it the smarter way."
Lows' Pokémon Team:
Surfer (Wartortle, Male) Jolly Nature, Moves: Bite, Water Gun, Water Pulse, Sand Tomb
Ziggs (Linoone, Male) Naive Nature, Moves: Dig, Headbutt, Swift, Facade
Grace (Kirlia, Female) Calm Nature, Moves: Teleport, Magical Leaf, Shadow Ball, Psybeam
Woody (Grovyle, Male) Lonely Nature, Moves: Pursuit, Leaf Blade, Bullet Seed, Rock Throw
Power (Machop, Male) Timid Nature, Moves: Fling, Karate Chop, Low Kick, Seismic Toss