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Pokemon Revolution: Advent Phoenix (Rated T)

EonMaster One

saeculum harmonia
Chapter 70-1

AD: Thank you very much.

Now, I imagine to everyone surprise – I have a chapter ready. This is the quickest I’ve gotten one done in a while. I’m feeling rather proud of myself. I’m also feeling relieved. This could be one of those types of weeks academically.

Chapter 70: At the Eleventh Hour​

October 5, PA 2013 – Evergrande City, Eastern Hoenn

“Well, I’ve got some bad news, and some good news, Kellen. Which do you want first?”

“…Depends on whether or not you think I’m going to die.”

“Well, that’s the good news. Now that you’re not bleeding internally anymore…your life’s not in any danger. In fact, you’ll be able to travel again before too long, but…with these injuries, there’s no way you’d be able to participate in the Tournament coming up.”

“…I thought it’d be something like that.”

“I know how you must…”

“No, you don’t. So shut the **** up and leave me alone.”

“If you need any—”

“I need you to go away.”


Several hours had passed since that evening conversation with the nurses, and it was now morning. Apparently, he’d been visited in his sleep by several of the Trainers that he knew. Some of them had even brought cards and gifts and left them on the small desk next to his hospital bed. He had been relocated to the Victory Road Pokémon Center, which had better medical facilities designed to handle injuries like broken fibulas and internal bleeding.

A nurse would come in every now and then to help take care of him. After a couple of times of trying to rebuff their efforts, he simply gave in and let them do their job. For the most part, though, he had been lying here, drifting in an out of awareness yet unable to go to sleep, where his dreams could, if only for a moment, deliver him from his reality. He lay there awake, his gaze alternating between the large window to his left and the plain, white ceiling, two limbs on opposite corners of his body hitched up awkwardly to prevent swelling. He felt like he was in a trapeze act gone horribly wrong.

Or maybe this world was a three-ring circus gone horribly wrong…

Whatever it was, he had run out of tears to cry hours ago. (Looking out of the window and hearing the pitter-patter of droplets against it, it seemed that the heavens had taken that task upon themselves.) All his eyes could do were to stare at objects just as lifeless as the dreams he once had. To make it this far, only to have his ambitions ripped away from him – to be a victim of another person’s jealousy, fear, and hatred…

“Excuse me,” one of the redhaired nurses walked in, talking as sweetly as possible, almost as if she was expecting him to vent all of his fury upon her if she said the wrong thing. He turned his eyes on her. “You have a visitor.”

“…Fine, let ‘em in,” Kelly muttered, looking at the ceiling. “At least I’ll see something other than a TV or a wall.”

When at last he turned his head right, he saw a girl, wearing sunglasses, bearing flowers and a fragile, nervous smile. Her black hair flowed in a shiny cascade down to her waist. Kelly’s lip curled. His eyes returned to the ceiling.

“Came to taunt me, hm?” he said cynically. “Or maybe to finish me off, since your boyfriend ****ed it up the first two times? Third time’s the charm, right?”

“Kelly…” the girl whimpered.

“Go on,” Kelly muttered. “I don’t care. I don’t give a damn.”

She set her gifts (flowers and a teddy bear? What was this, Valentine’s Day?) on a chair and came over to approach him. She reached her hand out to him, and the moment she did it, he reached out and grabbed her wrist with his far hand. She fell forward, right over his chest. He snarled through the pain in his two cracked ribs and let go of her hand like it had burned him. When she withdrew it, she saw it had a red mark – but so did the other one, which Kelly had never touched.

A strange request came to Kelly’s mind. “Lean down here.”

She did so, moving her face so that was inches away from his. He took his left hand and removed the shades. She had long, hazel eyes and a very fair, smooth complexion. In spite of himself, his first unavoidable thought was that she was actually very far from bad-looking –

At least, until he noticed that the skin around her right eye was very obviously turning an unpleasant shade of puce.

“What happened?” he muttered, raising his left hand and touching the blemish. She blinked, hissed, and drew away.

“I found him…talking with some of his…goons,” she answered. “That’s when I figured out what he’d done. I heard him talking about ‘using what his uncle left him to finish the job’ – since they didn’t manage to kill you…”

Then, the most shocking thing happened. She broke into tears and, before Kelly could protest or even react, flung her arms around his neck.

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “This didn’t have to happen to you…if I’d…”

Every part of him wanted to believe that she was trying to trick him. But there was a difference between crocodile tears and the way Jadyn Mirel was crying. It was less of a sob and more of an anguished wail – the kind a human being is only capable of producing when their heart has been torn in two.

“You don’t need me to forgive you,” he said after a while. She drew back, tears still hanging in the corners of her hazel eyes as she looked down at him. “You…you haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I didn’t stop him,” she continued to wail.

“You didn’t know he’d take things this far…” Kelly answered simply. “I didn’t know, either. So please…please try to calm down…”

A bit awkwardly, he slipped his left hand around her back, returning her embrace briefly to reassure her.

“Could I…stay here a little while?” she asked, pulling back after a moment and drying her eyes.

“Why?”

“You’re lonely,” Jadyn replied, putting a nearby chair and seating herself next to his bed. “Aren’t you?”

Kelly looked straight toward the ceiling, his mouth in a straight line. For the first time in hours, his own eyes were watering a bit.

“Excuse me,” the nurse peeked her head around the doorway, almost as if she was afraid to interrupt something personal. Kelly and Jadyn both looked toward the door and watched her come in. “You have another visitor. Should I show him in?”

“Y-yeah, I guess,” Kelly replied. He looked down at Jadyn.

“So, will you…will you ever be able to travel again with those injuries?” she finally asked, a very tentative tone in her voice. She was aware that this was probably a sensitive – even painful – subject.

“They say I will,” he answered. “As soon as next summer. I’m just not…sure I want to.”

“Why not?” she replied.

“…I don’t know. I might just be burned out,” he said simply. “Sick of trying to do something without any support. My parents never really thought I could do it. Or at least my father didn’t…”

“I know how you feel,” Jadyn replied. A bitter smile crossing her face, she went on, “My father doesn’t think that girls should be Trainers at all. I’m surprised I exist, frankly. If he hadn’t married a woman that believed like him – that a woman’s purpose in life is to bear children and support the man – I’d have never been born.”

“Is that why…why you stopped?” he asked. She nodded, gulping back tears.

“…the biggest mistake of my life,” she murmured. “What the hell did giving up my dream of becoming Champion – for him – get me? A broken heart and a black eye. Serves me right. It was so stupid…”

“Stop it,” Kelly said flatly. “You don’t deserve what happened to you.”

“When I watch that girl battle…” Jadyn murmured.

“Who?” Kelly asked, a bit confused.

“The older one,” she answered, and Kelly know exactly who she was talking about. “She can support the one she loves, but still stand on her own two feet. I wish I could be like that…”

Kelly’s mouth twitched. He didn’t really know how to respond to that statement. He certainly didn’t know how to respond when Jadyn started to bang her fist on the nearby table – over and over.

“I’m such an idiot!” she snarled through her teeth, tears running down her face. “If I’d just been able to think for myself, I’d still be Training, you wouldn’t have been hurt…and maybe I would have had the guts to…”

She broke off mid-sentence, her face a bit red for a moment.

“To what…?” Kelly asked.

“…I always wondered about you,” Jadyn replied. “What made you so fearless, to where you weren’t scared of anybody you faced…even though I couldn’t stand you on principle – because he couldn’t – I always wondered what I’d find out about you if we could ever talk to each other…”

“Hm,” Kelly uttered. “Well, now you’ve got all the time in the world.”

“Kelly,” she groaned. “I…I didn’t mean…”

“I’m being serious,” he answered in the middle of her mutters.

Jadyn did not get to ask any questions for the time being, though. At that moment, a boy strode into the room with his hood up, cursing the weather. He looked down at the girl first.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. Looking between her and the boy, he started to question, “Hold on – are you two…?”

“Wha—? N-no,” Kelly stammered. Jadyn said nothing, her cheeks turning the color of a Charmeleon’s tail. “Why are you here? Who are you?”

“Are you another one of that…*******’s hit men??” Jadyn shouted. Interposing herself in between the hooded boy and Kelly’s bed. “Stop right where you are! I won’t let you take another step! “

“Jadyn, get back,” Kelly said immediately, surprised at himself for how little thought it’d taken.

“NO! You’ve already gone through enough!! And if he wants to finish the job, he’s going to have to go through me!!” Jadyn screamed, planting herself two steps away from the approaching hooded figure and refusing to budge an inch.

“J-Jadyn…” Kelly muttered, his eyes brimming with concern and perhaps affection for the girl that had, a week ago, been one of his worst enemies.

“Calm down,” the boy answered. “I’m not here to ‘finish’ anybody.”

“Well, then, who in the hell are you?” Jadyn yelled back at him.

“Somebody that needs your forgiveness,” the boy answered, pulling the hood on his black sweatshirt down. Kelly’s face went white as a ghost.

“No…! That’s not – how in the – you’re dead!” the younger boy’s shocked and almost fearful response came in a croak.

“…Not quite,” the older boy responded, his brown shag of curly waves covering most of his ears and reaching his shoulders in the back – kept from rising skyward by a black skullcap. “But don’t beat yourself up. I’m used to people counting me out.”

“Y-you’re,” Jadyn squeaked, pointing a horribly trembling finger at the older teen. “Y-you’re…you’re…”

“I never thought he’d go this far,” the older boy said. “But I guess, after he got inside information from the League for the initial brackets…”

“What?” Kelly uttered.

“You were going to battle Cliff in the first round,” the older boy said. “If I’d known that, I would have shown myself sooner, and this wouldn’t have happened. That’s why…I need your forgiveness.”

“You don’t need my forgiveness,” Kelly said, trying to sit up. “You idiot – all of your friends and family have been mourning for you for almost two months. Didn’t that occur to you? URGH!

“Kelly, lay back,” Jadyn implored him.

“You have to go back…” Kelly muttered, managing a smile. “Things have been a mess without you…Matthew.”

The teenager’s weathered-looking, green eyes turned toward Jadyn.

“I’m not sure what brought this on, but…take care of him,” he told her. She nodded. He whirled around.

“I’ll take care of the Jade Hammer.”

;384;​

Otto Marius walked around in the same rainstorm later that afternoon, his head toward the ground as he contemplated what to do. Obviously, since Matthew was not going to be at the Tournament, there was no one there that Otto especially wanted to watch. If he’d had his way, he and what was left of his family would be gone already, halfway back to Pummelo Island, where they could at least find a way to pick up the pieces and start the healing process. Otto knew Brad Carmichael reasonably well, and was a bit surprised to find that Brad and Madeline had become something of an item. Even so, though, he was going to take Madeline home. Brad would come back later, of course, but right now, Madeline needed to be home. And once she was home, he would never let her out of his sight. He never considered himself a fatalist in any sense…

But it was hard, when he watched his oldest daughter, for him not to think that the world just had it in for some people. Of course, it made him grieve beyond words that his son, who had been desperate since early childhood for a real, stable family, had died just as that dream was beginning to become a reality. But to see the state of his daughter, to know that she only had one sibling left out of four, only added to his own suffering.

On top of all of that, he couldn’t help but think that, in a strange but very real sense, the events that had happened to his children were his own fault. After all, if he had simply stood up to his ex-wife when he’d had the chance…

Suddenly, he noticed something shadow him above his head. The raindrops were no longer finding him.

“Last thing we need now is for you to get sick,” he looked down at the girl to his left and let out a gasp.

“Maddie?” he muttered, taking the umbrella from her and holding it over both of them. “What are you doing here? I thought you and Brad were…”

“We broke up,” she said – very matter-of-factly.

“You don’t sound very…upset,” Otto replied.

“Well,” Madeline looked down at the ground. “Maybe ‘broke up’ isn’t really the right word…”

;251;​

An hour before that, she had been sitting in the lounge with Brad. The sound of rain on the roof was still audible, and as it was relatively early on a rainy morning, not that many people were awake.

“Damn this weather…” the blonde muttered. “I’d like to go down to Victory Road to train some more, but I’d rather not go into the Tournament with a cold.”

“It should pass by tomorrow, right?” Madeline asked. “Why don’t you take a day off?”

Brad grimaced in resignation, as if he knew Madeline’s idea was a good one – and still didn’t like it.

“…How’s your dad?” he asked. Madeline shook her head.

“Still taking it very hard,” she sighed.

“Can’t blame him,” Brad commented. “His only son…”

“Brad, please…” Madeline said with a shudder, her eyes toward the ground.

“I’m sorry,” he answered. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“I know…” Madeline murmured. “Brad, I want to ask you something.”

“Sure – go ahead,” he replied.

“Would you…you know…call us a couple? You and me?” she asked. Brad’s face went a bit pink.

“Well, yeah…I guess,” he said with a slight stammer.

“And you haven’t even tried to kiss me yet,” Madeline said. It wasn’t a question.

“I want – wanted it to mean something,” Brad said, turning away from her, his voice growing very morose. “I wanted you to love me before I ever kissed you. After the last couple of days, though…I see…that’s just not going to happen, is it?”

Madeline put her hands over her mouth. “What do you mean by that?”

“We could be friends – you could even like me a lot and think I’m good-looking or a nice guy or whatever,” Brad explained simply. A smirk crossing his face, he added, “But you’re never going to love me.”

Madeline gulped and put her head down.

“On the other hand, I do love you,” he replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. “So much, actually, that I can let you go.”

Her head snapped up. Her green eyes narrowed, and she let out a gasp.

“Let me go…?”

“Forgive me…but you’re being really stupid,” Brad said. “Ever since you saw him again that night, you’ve been thinking about him, wondering what the hell you were thinking when you let him go. And, knowing him, he’s been thinking about you the same way.”

“Brad…” Madeline whimpered, her head down.

“Don’t do that,” he said, and she looked up again. Tears were in her eyes, but Brad’s jaw was set. “You’re feeling ashamed. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I know I don’t have a chance…in fact, I brought you here feeling pretty sure I didn’t have a chance.”

“…You mean to tell me…?” she asked, and she was full-on sobbing now.

“Otherwise, you would have been on your way back to Pummelo on the first thing smoking,” Brad replied. “And by yourself, no less. The state you were in…I couldn’t let that happen. Good thing, right? Your family wouldn’t have been there…and you two probably wouldn’t have seen each other again for years, at least. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have complained too much if you had settled for me…but that was only if he never showed up again. Otherwise, I would have been robbing you of your happiness. I couldn’t do that.”

“Brad…” Madeline muttered.

“He was prepared to make the same sacrifice for you,” he cut her off. “You need to know that. So…could you do us both a favor?”

Madeline nodded, wiping her eyes.

“Smile more,” he said. “I know it’s hard for you, but I know he’d like to see that…and I would, too.”

She nodded again in response, a faint smile cracking on her lip. She leaned over toward Brad, and planted a kiss on his cheek, much to his surprise.

“You’ll…find someone,” Madeline said, standing up. “And she’ll be really lucky. You’re a good guy, Brad.”

“Just don’t go spreading that around town,” he quipped. Madeline offered him a smile and walked away.

;251;​

“We’re still friends,” Madeline told her father, walking close to him under the umbrella.

“As long as you’re not getting hurt,” Otto murmured. “Don’t forget, you’re still young, and you don’t want to create regrets for yourself later. You remember what I always used to tell you when you were a little girl?”

“‘You’re beautiful – and someday, you’ll find someone that will make you feel as beautiful as you are,’” Madeline recited word for word. How could she forget? “I think ‘someday’ came so fast that I missed it the first time…”

THUMP.

“Watch it!!” Madeline exclaimed, whirling around and holding her shoulder. Otto also turned and tilted the umbrella backward, exposing himself and his daughter to the rain again. The girl looked up into a pair of eyes similar to hers, on a face similar to hers, accented by hair of a dark brown – similar to hers. “No…you can’t be…you’re a ghost. No…no…”

“Madeline…” the boy uttered, walking toward her.

“NO!” she shrieked, rearing back a fist (the boy’s green eyes widened momentarily) and catching the boy across the face with a boxer-worthy right hook that sent him staggering. She looked down at her knuckles, which were red with impact. She had hit flesh and bone – a real person.

All in that instant, her balance failed her. It felt like her legs had turned to mush underneath her, and she fell to her knees, shaking violently and letting out strangled cries. In the midst of her anguish, she felt a pair of arms lock tightly around her and pull her close. She returned the embrace and sobbed unabashedly into his shoulder.

“I haven’t been a good brother…I’m sorry.”


“That’s a really nice charm on that necklace.”

“Thanks…it was his. He left it the night that…”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay. I wear it in his memory.”

“So…how did you two meet? Ouch, Veronica…” a young blonde woman grunted as her daughter used her arm as a handhold to climb into the booth with her. She picked the little girl up and set her on her lap. Both pairs of eyes, so identical in shape, looked intently at the teenager across the small table for her answer.

Brushing a long strand of black behind her ear, the teenage girl heaved a sigh. She didn’t like talking about him – people really should have been able to understand that by now. Then again, this was his family…and they had a right to know.

“We were both born in Cherrygrove,” she said, looking at her knees and smiling fondly. “We met on a beach there about a year and a half ago.”

“That’s a coincidence,” the blonde woman replied with a smile. “Otto and I met on a beach, too. Guess it’s more romantic that way…”

“I don’t believe in love at first sight, Amanda,” Mariah said matter-of-factly. “Actually, the first time I met him, I didn’t like him all that much. But, as I got to know what he was really like…”

“You’re a lot more mature about boys than most girls your age,” Mandi replied. “That’ll be…good for you when…you find someone else.”

“No,” Mariah sighed. “I’m not going to find ‘someone else.’”

Mandi took a deep breath. She looked sad. “I understand how you feel, Mariah – but can you hear me out for a sec? You’re fifteen years old. You’re just a kid, really.”

“So you’re telling me to just go on and date someone else??” Mariah’s eyes went wide. “And what if he dies?”

“You’re being paranoid, Mariah,” Mandi answered, reaching over the table and placing her hands on her shoulders. “Do you really think that would happen to you again?”

“You don’t think I have a reason?” Mariah snarled, shrugging her shoulders away from the older woman. “All the men that have been important to me have a bad habit of dying. My father died in a fire thirteen years ago. Last year, my first boyfriend hung himself. And now this…!”

Mandi’s face went white. “You’re joking.”

“You think I would joke about something like that?” Mariah’s green eyes started to run with tears.

“Mariah, I’m…” Mandi started, but was cut off by the black-haired girl standing to her feet.

“I wish I was still a kid,” she said, her eyes shining.

She stormed toward the door, her face buried in her hands.

“Mariah, wait –” Mandi took a bit of a jog to catch up to her, leaving her young daughter standing there, dumbfounded.

“Mommy, come back!!” she exclaimed childishly before running after her.

The door slid open, and everyone except for Veronica froze.

“Daddy!” she squealed, running over to the oldest of the three figures near the doorway. The man picked her up into his arms.

“Veronica,” Otto said breathlessly, going into his pocket with his free hand and pointing with his chin at one of his twin children. “Do you know who that is?”

“That’s Maddie,” she said.

“No,” Otto replied patiently. “The other one – the boy.”


Meanwhile, Mandi had stopped at a slight distance, her hands over her mouth in surprise as her eyes found her stepchildren –

Both of her stepchildren.

The girl, predictably, was clinging to her brother, who looked just like the picture Mandi had seen a hundred times as Otto talked fondly about his children. His hair was slightly curly and matted a bit by the rain, and his eyes were green and piercing just like his father’s and sister’s. He was wearing a black, hooded, zip-down sweatshirt. He had a nervous expression on his face that was nothing compared to Mariah’s body language. She looked like she would collapse at any moment.

“Go on,” Madeline muttered, shoving her brother out in front of her. “She’s waited for you all this time.”

“Hey, Mariah,” he said simply. The girl nearly melted.

“Oh, Matt…”

He put an arm around her shoulder.

“Matt Marius!” Matt jumped and grimaced. Maybe the hug was too personal a thing in front of his parents, he thought. He looked over his shoulder. Otto was indeed looking straight at him, and Matt didn’t know what he looked like if he didn’t look upset. “You’re kidding me, right?”

Matt immediately felt like the toddler that had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Your girlfriend – and those are her words, not mine – hasn’t seen you for a full two months, and everyone’s been telling her that you’re dead – gone, not coming back at all.” Otto asked, a frown on his face. After a pause, his lips turned upward into a smirk.

“Stop acting like an eight-year-old and kiss her already.”

Matt was definitely taken aback for a second – but he wasn’t about to say no to his dad. Not surprisingly, it seemed to take a couple of seconds for her to register this as reality. When she finally did, she started to kiss back – and did she ever. He could have stayed with her like this for hours…except that something came to each of their minds.

“You forgot this,” she said, going toward the back of her neck to take off his necklace. Matt stopped her.

“Keep it,” he murmured. “Until I get you something better.”

He turned around and his green eyes searched for and found the little girl. She was wearing a red, long-sleeved shirt with rhinestone hearts and jeans. She looked a bit like a curly-haired miniature of her mother with her ears pierced, but she had her father’s nose. She definitely had her father’s nose. Her curious, turquoise eyes were looking at a small piece of paper, and then up at the boy repeatedly.

“Hi, there,” Matt knelt very low.

The little girl looked straight at him, bright-eyed, and said nothing. She kept walking, a look in her turquoise eyes that signaled a sense of familiarity in what she was saying.

“Hi,” she said.

“Do you remember me?” he asked, putting his hands on her shoulders. “My name’s Matthew.”

“Matthew?” she responded, as if she didn’t hear correctly the first time.

“That’s my name,” Matt replied with a fragile smile. “And your name is Veronica, isn’t it?”

She nodded, her blonde curls bouncing against her back and shoulders. She looked down at the picture and then at the real-life boy.

“Matthew,” she repeated. It wasn’t a question this time. “My big brother…Matthew…”

“Yeah…” he replied, bringing her in toward his chest. He took a deep breath in and tried to keep some semblance of composure…but the moment those little arms opened and tried to find his sides, he broke down. Madeline dropped down to one knee and rubbed her brother’s shoulder comfortingly, trying to blink back her own tears. After a few seconds, she happened to look up in the general direction of Mariah and Mandi. A boy was coming down the staircase. His very long legs seemed to take an eternity to reach the next step. The boy laid eyes on the scene before him, and then on her in particular…

Her smile weakened a bit when she saw him, but it never left her face.

He, on the other hand, took a step back, his yellow eyes wide, and mouthed a very clear series of oaths…and promptly ran back upstairs.

Madeline was slightly stung – but she’d lament the shambles that was her love life later. Her brother was safe, alive, and well – and if everything else failed, she had a family to belong to, a place she could call home.

For him, becoming Pokémon Champion was a substitute dream. So many days, doing that, or dying in honor for a cause greater than himself, seemed like reachable ambitions, as difficult as he knew they were. His real dream, since he was ten years old, was to be part of a real family. He, too, had found a place to belong…


Travis stared at the window, watching this afternoon thundershower pound its glass panels with weighty raindrops. It was a sad sort of day, to be sure. Thankfully, he had already been planning on taking a day off…otherwise, this weather would have put a real dent in his training plans. It wasn’t that he hated training in the rain so much – heck, he had traveled in it. But that was in the middle of summer, when it was still hot, and summer storms tended to last all of an hour or two, if that. To try to do the same thing in the middle of fall was another thing entirely – and the last thing he needed was to catch some sort of cold a day or two before the Tournament started.

It had been as Katrina predicted. As the Tournament drew closer, they had both started their own separate training regimens, and spent a lot of the days apart. For him, it was a necessary sacrifice if he wanted to become Champion. He couldn’t take this field for granted – even with Kelly being knocked out of the Tournament.

Strangely enough, it was that event that made Travis waver a bit on his certainty that Cliff had been the one that had been calling the attacks. Perhaps it was because he could not fathom that a thirteen-year-old boy, no matter how twisted, could achieve that level of brutality. The way the attack was described, seemed to be designed more to maim severely than to actually kill. Whoever had done it, from what he had heard, had nearly done both successfully. And the galling thing was, even with the insane amounts of security that were found in the camp, they still couldn’t find any suspects.

That, and they had made Kelly the target. It was well-established that Kelly and Cliff did not like each other; but that still didn’t explain why Cliff’s original targets, the foreign-born veterans like himself, Katrina, and Brad Carmichael, hadn’t been targeted to that degree. Nonetheless, Travis had been on his guard ever since the first attack in the caves. If it weren’t for the fact that they had already agreed to do their training separately from each other, in order to keep the playing field as level as possible, Travis wouldn’t have let Katrina out of his sight.

But he had seen his share of villains – enough to know that, if he were in the attacker’s position, he’d go after Brad next. Why? Because Brad Carmichael, although he himself was a strong Trainer, was the easiest to attack without incurring the suspicion and wrath of about a dozen other people.

But that’s not what happened. For some reason, the attacker wanted Kelly finished off. The attacker thought that Kelly Brennan – a rookie born in Hoenn – was more of an immediate threat.

“<You okay?>” a voice snapped Travis out of his laser focus. In the dim reflection of the windows, he could see an Espeon slinking through the cracked door. “<You look like you’re thinking really hard. Does it hurt?>”

“Very funny,” Travis chuckled.

“<Well, something’s on your mind,>” Angel maintained, jumping up onto the bed and placing her forelegs on his back. “<You never make that face when you’re not thinking about anything.>”

“Just thinking about some of the stuff that’s happened the last couple of days – trying to make sense of it all,” Travis muttered. Kneading his lips once with his hand, he muttered, “Something doesn’t add up. I know Cliff has something to do with it, because of the Jade Hammer connection, but what happened to Kelly – doesn’t seem like him. He’s the type of person that would rather sneak around – but what happened to Kelly was full frontal assault. To order a guy to bludgeon one of his enemies with a sledgehammer? Not the first time the Jade Hammer has done it, but that just doesn’t seem like Cliff’s style. What if we’re dealing with the Jade Hammer and some other group trying to eliminate competition? Or did Kelly hack off someone in particular besides Cliff?”

“<You’re stressing yourself out,>” Angel said calmly. “<It sucks what happened to the kid, but this isn’t the time to be thinking about it. We have a Tournament to win.>”

“I thought you were going to be spending time with your egg,” Travis answered, turning his head and looking over his shoulder.

“<Can’t,>” the mother-to-be replied, grimacing. “<Mariah’s gone and run off somewhere. You know, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. She’s really nice and I think she’s capable, but there’s no denying the fact that she’s also an emotional wreck. I don’t want to hurt her confidence any more, but…that is my child, and if anything happens to it…>”

“I know…” Travis sighed. “Damn…so much to think about. I’d be able to clear my head if I could go out and get some exercise, but this rain…”

“<Crescent’s been teaching me not to be so wired all the time,>” Angel replied after a while. “<There are times for it…but when you do it too much, it’s unhealthy.>”

“Yeah…” he murmured, standing up and pacing the room. He made three or four passes before Angel spoke again.

“<You’re going to wear a hole in the floor.>”

Travis stopped walking. A smile crossed his face for a moment. Then the door opened.

Katrina stood framed in the doorway for a moment. Her rose-pink hair, while still beautiful, looked a bit messy, as if she had just gotten out of bed. Travis had no more time to investigate the changes in her appearance. She let out a ragged sigh and fell upon him, embracing him tightly…uncomfortably so at first. This clearly wasn’t a “glad to see you” kind of hug.

He’d been on the other end of this one more times than he would care to count. This was a “I’m so relieved that you’re alive” type of hug. But…why was…

“Wh-what’s going on?” he finally stammered. She drew back enough to see his face. Her eyes were slightly red, which either meant that she’d been crying, sleeping, or a combination of both.

“It was just a dream,” she muttered. “A bad dream.”

“A bad dream?” Travis repeated, concerned. “About what?”

“I came in, just like I just did,” she muttered. “And you were on the ground…”

“It’s fine,” Travis interrupted her. Obviously the attack on Kelly had her just as worried as he was. “I’m okay.”

She nodded and leaned against him. He tried to walk over to the bed, but she would not unlock herself from around him. So, he sat down on the nearest edge of the mattress he could find (Angel leapt out of the way quickly) and guided her down with him. The room was silent, save for the quiet pitter-patter of rain on the window – and dark, save for the occasional flash of lightning.

He held on to her, saying nothing. Even when he stole a glance at her face and noticed a solitary tear or two began to run from her eyes to his shirt, he remained silent. Besides the nightmare, something had happened. Whatever that was, his mouth would do her no good until she said it would.

After a long time, she did finally talk. “You and your family look so happy when you’re together. I get along great with my Mom, but…it’s just not the same. I’d have rather lived dirt poor with two parents who loved me and each other…”

She sniffled, wiping her eyes. Her mournful face turned into a bitter smile. She loosed herself from Travis’ arms and went toward the window. She took a deep breath, looked through the panes in a bit of a surreal expression and said:

“Mom just told me she’s filing for divorce.”

Travis’ jaw sat unhinged for a second, and he stood up about halfway. “Wait…are you serious? Wha—”

“You’re shocked? I wasn’t,” Katrina said. “He’s pretty much lived in Goldenrod City the last couple of years. E.I.’s got him working so hard, and now he’s set to take over the entire company. But he was never around – you know that.”

“I do – but…” Travis uttered. “Your mom loved him, didn’t she?”

“She did…part of me thinks she still does,” Katrina replied. “That’s why it hurts her so much. She doesn’t feel like he loves her – or me – as much as he loves his career. That’s why she couldn’t stand being married to him anymore. I thought it’d be better…but I’m not sure he ever thought of me as his own daughter. He wasn’t the one that decided to adopt me, after all.”

Travis frowned.

“I don’t even know…” she shook her head. “I don’t even know if he ever wanted to have a family. Part of me wonders if he did it just because it was what people expect the average person to do. I guess I should have seen this coming…but that doesn’t make it hurt any less…”

He rounded the bed and stood behind her, his hands locked around her neck and shoulders. She grabbed on to his arms and held on for dear life, as if he was the only thing saving her from a tremendous fall.

“Paulus and my grandfather taught me…” Travis murmured. “…that if you ignore your family for the task at hand, only bad things happen to you. That’s why…”

He guided her shoulders around so that she was facing him.

“I swear to you…”

“Stop,” she cut him off, putting a hand over his mouth. “I trust you.”

She leaned in close to him and started to kiss him.

“Guys? …Guys?” a boy’s voice muttered once, then nearly yelled. Travis looked over his shoulder. Shiro had walked in, hands in his pockets. Hunched over, he looked significantly shorter than his nearly six feet in height. His bright red hair was hanging down over his eyes and ears. He looked rather sloppy without it gelled up, ironically enough. “Sorry for interrupting, but there’s something you guys should know…”

“Can it wait?” Travis asked, turning toward Katrina. “At least for a little bit?”

“I mean…” Shiro muttered uncertainly before catching a look at Katrina’s face. “Did something happen?”

“Shut the door,” Travis said. Shiro did so, and walked over toward the window as his two friends sat down on the bed. Katrina leaned her head against her boyfriend’s shoulder, looking positively drained. Travis stroked her pink hair comfortingly for a moment, then looked up at Shiro. “Katrina’s parents are splitting up.”

Shiro’s yellow eyes popped for about a half-second, then he looked away. A steamrolled expression on his face, he uttered a single word with ironic calmness. Travis let out a sigh, and expected Shiro to grimace cordially and leave. You can imagine his surprise when, without any further conversation, the tall, red-haired boy sat right down next to them.

Were it not for a few deliberate differences, Travis could have been forgiven for thinking that they were all ten years old again. In so many ways, he missed his stolen childhood. He wondered at times how things would have been if the first war never happened. How would things have been if he and Katrina had not started their relationship under such duress?

“You ever wish we could go back?” Shiro asked. “Life was a lot less complicated when we were back at the Academy together, wasn’t it?”

“Of course I do,” Travis replied.

“I don’t,” Shiro answered. “I hate the person I was back then.”

Travis turned to him in surprise. The Shiro he knew had always been so confident – too confident, actually…

“I was such a fake person…” Shiro went on. “Anything painful, I pretty much ignored – acted like it wasn’t there. I justified it by saying that people preferred me happy – but the truth was, I just couldn’t handle the hard things in life. So every time someone came to me with some sort of emotional pain…I’d shut my eyes and stop my ears and pretend it wasn’t there. Sometimes, I’d even run…and I’d do it all with a smile on my face, saying that I still cared.”

Shiro bit his lip.

“I’m not going to pretend to understand what being a child of divorcing parents feels like,” he said seriously. “But…I’ll be here for you.”

“Thanks,” Katrina replied, managing a small smile.

Shiro stood up. “It might not do anything for you right now…but I still think you’ll be really interested to know who showed up downstairs.”

Travis looked down at Katrina. “Are you up for it?”

She took her head off Travis’ shoulder. “It’s better than moping around, in any case…yeah. Let’s go.”

;384;​

Travis stayed at the head of the pack as they made their way down the elevator. As they came out into the ground floor, they noticed the large crowds. Everyone was inside because of the rain, and on top of that, it was dinner time.

Coming off the elevator, Travis nearly walked right into a familiar-looking boy with a blond mop of hair.

“Brad?” Travis uttered, a bit surprised. Brad Carmichael was one of the many Trainers that had disappeared back into the caves in the days leading up to the Tournament.

“Oh – hey, you guys,” he replied with a disarming smile. “I was just on my way up to my room. Best relax now – I’m planning to get up early tomorrow, once this rain clears up.”
He made his way toward the elevator, stopping right next to the red-haired boy. Shiro, feeling a bit awkward, kept his golden eyes focused straight ahead.

“You’re damn lucky, you know that?” Brad chuckled, looking at the slightly taller boy through the corners of his eyes. “You’d better be good to her. If you aren’t…well, I might not be responsible for my actions at that point…”

With that, he walked off, giving Shiro no chance to respond to his words.

“What did he mean by –” Shiro murmured.

“Shiro!” Katrina was calling out to him. She and Travis were now a distance away. Shiro grimaced, took one last look at the closing elevator door, and waded through the sea of people to catch up with his friends. Standing head and shoulders above many of the young teenagers running around, he was easily visible, especially with his shock of red hair. They waited for him.

Once Shiro had made his way over to them, they whirled around and made their way toward the booths. Travis started to scan the area for any familiar faces, when all of a sudden, a form came darting out of nowhere (dodging a surprised-looking teenage girl that did look familiar) and careened right at him, headbutting him in the belly and throwing two small, milk-pale arms around his waist. It was a child – a little girl, judging by the length of light blonde hair. She raised her head, resting her chin on his navel as she looked up at him. She was smiling, her light blue eyes shining in delight.

“Anhje!” he shouted out in recognition, crouching down so he could return her show of affection.

“Eat dinner with us,” she implored, pulling on his wrist and trying to march him in the other direction. When he didn’t move, she turned around, put on her most adorable smile, and added, “Please?”

Travis let out a light chuckle. “I guess it couldn’t hurt…”

He had looked straight over Anhje’s head and caught sight of another head of blonde hair. She was sitting on the knees of another person – a boy, from the looks of it – and eyeing him with a strange, innocent mix of adoration and curiosity. Next to the two, on the inside of the booth, was another girl about his age. There was no mistaking that hair. The girl was Madeline, which meant that the boy…no, it couldn’t be…

“Matt?” he said loudly, walking toward him.

The boy’s green eyes turned once, then back to someone sitting on the other side of the booth, and then did a double take. He looked down at the little girl and said something. She promptly hopped off his lap and to the ground as he stood up. Katrina put her hand to her mouth.

“I was right…” she muttered to herself. “It was him…”

Shiro’s mouth tightened as he approached. For all of them, the seconds seemed to take minutes. The world seemed to accelerate around him as their motions slowed down.

Then, at last, he was in front of them, looking for all intents and purposes the same as he had the last time they had all seen him. His brown hair was longer and messier, and the look in his eyes seemed to have aged a bit more. He had a smirk of cynical irritation on his face.

“Rumor is that I’m supposed to be dead,” he said. “I think I feel pretty safe telling you that’s not true – although I came pretty close…”

“What…how did…where…” Travis could only stammer. He was alive. Matthew was alive. Even though he could see him, standing here in the flesh, his brain could not get a good grip on what was happening.

“It’s a pain in the *** to go through the whole story – and, frankly, I don’t feel like reliving it,” he said, looking away from them. “I haven’t even told Madeline yet.”

“You…” Shiro spoke – or growled – next. “You…”

“Hm?” he looked at the tall redhead, somewhat bewildered. “Something wrong?”

He shook his head, his lips so tight it looked like his face was stuck. His golden eyes shut and his long, slightly straight nose wrinkled in disdain. Without a further word, he whirled around and headed straight for the elevator.

Matthew frowned. “What’s up with him?”

Travis shook his head. “No idea.”

Madeline came up to her brother, and did a very good Anhje impression by latching onto his arm and pulling it to get his attention.

“Listen,” she said, “I think I’m gonna head up to bed now.”

“This early?” Matt asked. “It’s only eight.”

“Yeah, well…it’s been a long day,” she said, her eyes directed at the floor.

“Okay…see you tomorrow, then,” Matt replied, no hint of protest in his voice. Madeline turned toward him and threw her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly.

“That’d be great,” she said. With a wistful smile, she added, “Then I’ll know I’m not dreaming.”

She broke off from him and moved toward the stairs, walking backwards and staring at him for as long as she could without knocking someone else over.

“She’s…different,” Matt said, the concerned frown on his permanently tanned face making him appear older than his years. Katrina could have sworn that face looked familiar.

“She’s happy to see you, Matt,” Katrina sighed. “Does that surprise you?”

“Not as much as the clinginess and such,” Matt replied. “She could be really touchy before, but not like this…”

“Well…she’s been through a lot since you’ve been gone,” Travis said, a frown seizing his face as well. Katrina let out an inaudible gasp – now she knew where she recognized that facial expression. Clearly, Matt had “been through a lot” as well. The blue-haired teenager let out a sigh and then looked down at the very confused little girl, who had been standing still in the middle of this scene, understanding nothing.

“You think you could go back to your dad for a little bit, Anhje?” he asked.

“But…” she spluttered. “He’s going to make me go to bed.”

“I’ll find you tomorrow, okay?” he replied with a smile.

“Promise?” she whimpered.

“Promise,” Travis repeated, giving her a hug goodbye. She broke off from him, waving as she jogged in the other direction, to his call of, “Walk!!”

He stood up and set his eyes on Matthew. Now, he and Matthew looked hardly anything alike, but Travis always marveled at how sometimes, looking at the boy across from him was almost like looking at himself in another body. Now that his face bore this weathered expression, the resemblance was almost unnerving.

“So I heard you found a way to end the war after all,” Matt said, this serious expression on his face.

“Don’t go broadcasting that around,” Travis replied sharply. Matt raised one of his brown eyebrows.

“It was always strange to me, how you never wanted credit for anything you did here,” Matt commented.

“You were alive this whole time…” Travis sighed, shaking his head as he looked away from Matt. “Do you have any idea about the hell everyone’s gone through while you’ve been gone?”

“I imagine Madeline’s taken it rough,” Matt said, looking away. Next thing he knew, he was being hoisted up by his hoodie. His feet were barely scraping the ground.

“ ‘Taken it rough’?? We’re lucky she’s still here!!” Travis shouted.

“What do you mean by that?” Matt uttered, stepping back as Travis finally let go of him.

“She’s been a wreck for the last two months,” Travis replied, turning away from Matt. “She…she’s tried to kill herself.”

Matt’s pupils narrowed so much they nearly disappeared, and all he could do was to utter, “Wh-wha…I didn’t have any way of knowing. But I thought about her, I really did – it’s kinda hard, though, when you’re locked in a dungeon…”

Travis’ eyes widened for a moment. “What??”

Matthew shook his head. “Nothing. Is she okay now, at least?”

“She seems a lot better,” Travis sighed, turning and looking toward where the elevator and stairs were. “But…I just don’t know.”

...continue…
 

EonMaster One

saeculum harmonia
Chapter 70-2

~~~ *** ~~~​

The moon shone brightly through a broken canopy of clouds that floated lazily overhead. The concrete ceiling was still damp with rainwater, darkening the gravel and stone underfoot. The teenage boy surveying his surroundings took a look at the nearby fountain and couldn’t help.

The mouth from which the clear water spouted forth was supposed to be that of a stone Kyogre – but Kyogre didn’t look like that at all. He would know – he had seen one up close and personal. This creature’s eyes were much too small, and much too fierce.

…And Kyogre sure as hell didn’t spit a Water Gun like that. Nope – Kyogre’s Water Gun wasn’t made for spurting pretty fountains. More like blowing holes in ships – and possibly large buildings.

The boy laughed again; this time, at himself. He was something of a joke in his own eyes, wasn’t he? Was his own life an exercise in futility?

Or maybe it was more like irony…to love someone so much that you couldn’t stand to be in the same room as her anymore. There was something twisted about that.

There was something twisted in the entire world around him. Or was the world just the way it was meant to be, and he the one that was twisted?

The fact that he could still smile was twisted, he thought as he looked at his own off-center grin in the reflection of the water. None of them should be able to smile. That was expecting too much of any of them.

That was expecting too much of her.

Yet, he wanted to see it – he wanted to see her smile. Maybe, because it was so rare, it was that much more precious. But life had robbed her of her beauty – like a once great and magnificent castle besieged by barbarians…its king dead, its knights bleeding on the ground, its queen and serving women captured and ravaged. In the end, there was nothing left – nothing left but his love for her, which would now remain unspoken. He heard a splashing sound.

On the other side of the stone Kyogre, there was a girl, standing barefoot in the fountain, letting the water cover her legs and wet the ends of her Capri pants. She spun around and threw her arms out, almost as if in a sort of dance. He stood still, enthralled by her as she came closer. She turned and…

She laid eyes on him – emerald on gold. She hopped from the fountain, kicking up a small splash of water as she jumped in front of him. He stepped back.

She took a step toward him again.

Two years’ worth of noise and memories echoed in the very pregnant silence that followed. His eyes studied her face, her sun-kissed, golden-tan face, her piercing, green eyes, her hair, dark brown and wavy, down just past her shoulders, and her bangs, a golden blonde shining in the light of the moon. Her eyes locked themselves upon him. His face was as long and lanky as the rest of his body, his hair a very brilliant shade of red and lengthening again, hanging down in coarse, almost spiky strands around his ears, just like it had been the first time they had met.

Of all the things he wanted to say to her, the first one out of his mouth was not the one he had visualized himself saying those nights when he replayed hypothetical reunion scenarios in his head. “You look…nice. Are those new earrings?”

He wanted to slap himself as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Clearly, they had some sort of effect – she frowned. “You got these for me. My fourteenth birthday – don’t you remember, Shiro?”

He hadn’t been expecting that. He looked away from her uncomfortably. “I remembered you wouldn’t wear them because you thought they’d turn your ears blue…but you wouldn’t get rid of them, either.”

Another long lull. This was going nowhere. Shiro whirled around, turning his back to her.

“Shiro…” she pleaded, almost painfully.

“What?” he muttered, suddenly angry. “What do you want from me now?”

“Give me a second…” she tried to utter – then Shiro went off.

“NO!” he yelled. “How long are you going to keep torturing me?! I’d love to let you just go and do whatever you want, but at the same time, I can’t let go of you! And you know what? That hurts! It hurts like ****! Don’t you understand that?! I’m sorry I can’t be perfect! I’m sorry we couldn’t have the perfect relationship! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!! How many times do I have to tell you that, Madeline?!”

He trailed off, his energy spent. Madeline closed her eyes.

“But you came for me,” she said quietly after a while. “Why?”

“I don’t know why,” Shiro murmured. “I could say I did it because I love you, but I could say that I let you go in the first place because I love you. I just want to know…why did you leave?”

“I’m…I’m only fifteen, Shiro,” she replied very shakily. “Some people would say that love is an ocean…and I haven’t been around long enough to go anywhere past the shallows yet. It never occurred to me that we could be like…like our friends…where they just know, and everybody around them just knows…they’re meant to be.”

Shiro grimaced.

“Brad is a nice-guy, good-looking, an accomplished Trainer…most girls fall head over heels for him the second he walks into a room,” Madeline replied. Shiro expended a lot of effort not to walk off then and there. He didn’t have anything against the guy, but did Madeline have to parade her new boyfriend’s admirable traits in his face? “On top of that, he came out and told me that he had feelings for me. He was good to me. I smiled for the first time in ages. I did like him a lot. But it didn’t feel the same. It wasn’t the same. He knew it wouldn’t be the same for me…and that’s why we’re not together anymore.”

Shiro let out a sigh, looking from side to side, bewildered.

“Why…did you let me go?” she asked.

“Same reason as all the other questions – I love you,” Shiro replied. “So I made a decision that wasn’t a selfish one for once. I decided that, whatever it took to make you smile again, I’d do it. Even if it was something that would tear my heart in half…I’d do it. That’s what you do for someone you really love – put their happiness above yours.”

“What if that person said that she should have been happiest with you and just didn’t realize it?” Madeline asked. Shiro whirled around. “What if she said she wanted another chance…because she loves you, too, and that you’re the only person in her life that really understands everything she’s gone through?”

“Madeline…” he muttered in shock.

“I love you, Shiro – it took this for me to realize how much. Now…we could take what we have left of us,” she said, walking up behind him. “…And we could start over – start better.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” he asked. “I hope you realize, this time, you won’t be able to get rid of me so easily.”

“I want more than that,” she confessed. “I want us to stay together, maybe even to grow old together…but starting over’s a good place to begin.”

“Are you sure you want us to do that?” Shiro asked again.

“More than anything,” she answered again. Shiro turned around. She was smiling.

“Your smile is so beautiful,” he said to her. She planted her bare feet on top of his shoes to make up a little bit of the height difference. She went to lean in, but to her surprise, he turned his head. “The first time you kissed me, we were on a roof like this…remember?”

She gently guided his face back toward her, and he leaned in and lightly touched his lips against hers. They stayed that way for a few moments, each feeling the other breathe against them. Her lips parted first, and she seized him. Her breaths changed from slow and deep to short and ragged. Shiro drew back from her and immediately noticed that her face had contorted in anguish, and she was sobbing silently but uncontrollably, her body shaking as tears ran down her face at a horrifying rate.

“I-I-I’m…s-s-sorry,” she stammered between hiccups. “S-s-s-so m-much has happened…s-since then, and somehow…both of us are still here…”

Shiro didn’t say a word. He ran two hands along her matted face, wiping her tears away.

“When Yoshi and Xavier died…” she sniffled. “I don’t know how I would have…”

“Shhhh…” Shiro shushed her. “It’s okay.”

She managed to calm down, and showed the slightest shadow of a smile again. He leaned her head back and began to kiss her again. She staggered backward, pulling him with her in her arms. Then, Shiro, sensing danger, broke off. She took a step back.

“Hey, Madeline, wai—”

SPLOOSH.

Shiro’s jaw dropped for a moment, and he tried hard not to laugh, as Madeline picked herself out of the Kyogre fountain, dripping from head to toe. Her brown hair fell lankly against the back of her head. He sighed for a brief moment and let out a laugh. He went to offer his hand to her. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet and out of the fountain. A smirk and half a second later, something burst forth from her once-wounded existence. It was a sign of healing – a sign of that scars were at last beginning to disappear from her heart.

It was laughter.

But I’ve got all the time for you…

True, honest, beautiful…

Love…

Laughter.​

END

~~~ *** ~~~​

And…they’re finally back together. BTW, maybe I should have mentioned this earlier, but I don’t own the lyrics to “The Space Between.” Dave Matthews Band does, and that’s because they’re freaking awesome. It was the very first song that came to mind when I thought about Shiro and Madeline’s rocky relationship.

I’m hoping to have this wrapped up fairly soon. I can safely say that if this gets to chapter 80, something has gone horribly wrong. Spring Break is coming up – which means lots of time to write, provided I’m not hanging out with friends or obsessing over what should be my new copy of Final Fantasy XIII when it comes out.

Hopefully I don’t get time-raped so badly that I can’t write at all next week, but I do have a test and a paper due, so this could be a week of extraordinary suck.

- ;196; EM1
 

Air Dragon

Ha, ha... not.
Ichiban nari!

You're very welcome, EM...

Alrighty, let's get this on!

You know the proceedure, so i need not say anything more than...

Yay! Matt's alive! I knew you couldn't keep a good thing down! Everyone had a pretty stereotypical reaction to his return, except Katrina (well, it was her second time seeing Matt when you think on it...) Now the match of the Titans can truly begin!

And it's about time you got the shippy stuff out of the way... both in the Madeline/Shiro and Nicholette/Andrew cases (although the latter could be considered an Anti-Shipping moment...) So happy for Kelly (not that he can't compete, that sucks royally) but for Jadyn going to such lengths, it'll be interesting what you make of the duo in future chapters.

We could go into grammar issues, but my arm still hurts and i'm late for work. so if i get the time, i'll come back to that.

Stay smoking, gunslinger!

L@er!
 
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Diddy

Renegade
That was awesome.

When Kelly and Jadyn were in the hospital room and the guy walks in and Jadyn's all like "You're not finishing him off!" and Kelly's all like "whuh!?" and then the guys all like "forgive me Kelly!" and then you squeeze out a few details and you're like, no... it can't... no... it is... Matthew freakin' Marius makes his return.

It's safe to say I let out a cheer of victory, I knew he wasn't gone, you teased us with hints but now it's out in the open.

One thing I did like about the chapter is how is wasn't about Travis and Katrina, but it was mainly about Shiro and Madeline's family, a chance for the more minor characters to shine, which I think is something you do very well in this fic, there are always parts that make you think back to a previous part. Like, I've seen them before, they did such and such a thing with that person in that place.

And seriously, Chapter 70?

It would be one hell of a challenge to find a fic longer than this on SPPf.
 

EonMaster One

saeculum harmonia
Chapter 71

Well, we’re this close to actually starting the Tournament.

Let me warn you in advance – just keep the tykes somewhere at a safe distance when you read this chapter. It’s pretty dark stuff – sometimes literally. It’s pretty much a treatise on reasons not to get stuck in a foreign prison while the nation’s in the middle of a civil war.

Anyway, enjoy, and try for your own sanity not to dream too hard about it later.

Chapter 71: Decoy​

October 6, PA 2013 – Evergrande City, Eastern Hoenn

The reunions were over. The stroke of midnight had just passed, signaling the start to a new calendar day. Staying in one room on the top floor, in the bathroom, was the latest center of attention. The hot water hissed as it ran down his limp, brown hair and his bare back, which featured many bulging scars crisscrossing and overlapping each other in varying directions. Even several weeks later, they still stung quite a bit under hot water – but it was a good type of pain.

Brown hair flew everywhere as the boy shook his head, trying to clear the incessant ringing in his ears. His right fist clouted the wall with a dull THUNK. He slapped himself over the head in frustration. It was about a second after this that he heard another dull noise of impact. With a quick flip of the wrist, he turned off the shower.

THUMP. THUMP.

Someone was knocking on the door – and urgently, too. The brown-haired boy hopped out of the shower…


He toweled his hair quickly as he emerged from the bathroom wearing a pair of pajama pants. The knocking didn’t cease. He went to his nearby desk and fastened his belt of Pokéballs to his side. His green eyes drifted over the table and found another object that looked like the sleeve to a switchblade; he palmed it and hid it behind his back as he made his way to the door, which was now vibrating with hard knocks. Taking his free hand and putting it toward the handle, he opened it slightly, just enough to peer outside and see who it was…

A forceful push of the door knocked him backward. He staggered, and with a flick of the wrist, he exposed his switchblade as the door swung open.

A girl stood, black-haired and white-faced, in the doorway. The boy relaxed himself and put the knife away.

“Bee,” he muttered. “What are you doing here?”

She was clad in a nightgown that was a bit low-cut (he tried to keep his eyes firmly fixed on the necklace hanging just below her collarbone) and had her hair – long, black, and shiny – down to about the middle of her back.

“I wanted to see you, and talk to you,” she replied. “There were too many people around at first…”

She took a step or two closer, and he noticed that her eyes were not directed toward his. His first thought was to say something about double standards, but then it occurred to him that he had no shirt on. Unlike certain people he knew, his upper body was nothing to write home about. If anything, he looked a bit on the bony side because of all the weight he’d lost recently.

Without explaining herself, she reached out toward his chest and put her hand right over his heart, which predictably started thumping wildly. Compared to everyone else, they were still a very new couple, and in nearly six months (or four, not counting the two he was gone), he never remembered her touching him or looking at him like this. She traced a pattern from his chest until she reached a shoulder, at which point he flinched and she pulled her hand back, setting her eyes right on the shoulder.

“What’s that?” she whispered, walking behind him. She put her hand to her mouth. He sighed heavily. “Scars…they’re everywhere. What happened to you, Matthew?”

The brown-haired boy frowned. This was going to be a long night.

“Travis had just stolen the Blue Orb from the Cave of Origin back in Sootopolis, but the soldiers caught us and started to chase…”

;251;​
Nearly two months earlier, in Sootopolis City…

They had made it down the road to the corner where Matt had encountered the two guards hours before. They turned around. In front of them was the way toward the castle – a way that was quickly being filled with soldiers and Temple acolytes. To their right was the way toward the alleys – no telling who was coming from that direction. To their left was a sheer drop, more than likely right down onto the debris left from the entrance to the Cave. The safest way was behind them – a fifty-foot drop into the canal waters below.

“What now?” Travis asked.

“Who does everyone need more…” Matt muttered. His green eyes looked at Travis through the corners of their sockets. Travis looked up at him for a moment. Matt whirled on him.

Travis’ eyes narrowed in shock as Matt’s fist sank into his belly. He staggered backward for a moment, went over the edge, and then out of sight.

Matt grit his teeth, looking back over his shoulder. An entire division of royal guardsmen was coming his way, their armor clanking and their cries echoing in the night. Matt rounded the corner, and began to run, where he heard a noise.

“Pssssttt.”

He stopped and slowly looked over his shoulder.

“You runnin’ from someone?” a hairy man, slouching and slurring his speech, murmured.

“What?” Matt muttered. His eyes traveled below this man’s shirt, focusing on something that should have been there, but wasn’t…

“Hurry up!” the man whispered. “In here!!”

Matt frowned. The man grabbed him (Matt held his breath to avoid inhaling the bum’s stench) and nearly threw him into the alleyway. He rolled and bounced to his feet. He could smell the odor of refuse all over himself now. Great, he thought, that’s never going to come out. Meanwhile, the hairy, scraggly man put his thumb to his lip.

Sketchy alleyways weren’t Matt’s idea of a good time – especially given previous experiences. But it was his life at stake, so he didn’t care. He chose to ignore the fact that the man that had invited him into the alleyway was somewhat lacking in the breeches department – either because he was too poor to buy another pair, or he simply chose not to wear them. The man was complaining about some kid that had knocked him out earlier. Matt wasn’t listening. He simply made his way to the back of the alley. He shuddered to think of some of the stories these grubby walls could tell if they could talk. This was no doubt the side of Sootopolis City that was left out of all travel brochures and postcards.

Matt looked up and saw the homeless man approaching him slowly, his eyes looking glazed over and not taking themselves off the boy.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Matt asked, clenching his fists. “I told you, I appreciate you hiding me and all, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to owe you any ‘favors’…”

The man didn’t respond. Instead, a glob of blood spilled from his mouth nastily…

And he toppled forward, a pair of shining crossbow bolts protruding from his back.

Out of the shadows came several Imperial soldiers clad in black and silver armor. Matt’s face remained stoic, unwilling to show fear or weakness any longer.

One of the soldiers was wearing a targe. He stepped to the forefront, looked at one of his crossbowmen, and nodded. The soldier obediently raised his weapon and pointed it straight at Matt’s heart. Matt stared back at them, his green eyes unblinking…then he heard the sound of the firing weapon.

That telltale, heart-stopping…

SNAP.

Matt snarled in pain as a bolt grazed his left shoulder, sticking deep into the wall right behind him.

“High and right again!!” the captain snarled, yanking the crossbow from the soldier (a young recruit, by the looks of it) and setting another bolt on it. “You already know the weapon is going to recoil – you’ve fired it a thousand times. You want to hit the heart – aim at the belly.”

The captain did just that. Matt set his eyes on the captain, mentally cursing the young recruit for drawing this out longer by missing the first time. Matt blinked, felt the temptation to close his eyes, and resisted it. He would not close his eyes. He would not let them see any fear on his face, even as they ended his life.

“STOP!!” a familiar boy’s voice shouted. “STOP IT, NOW!!”

“Hey, kid, who are you?!” an unseen soldier from the back of the group shouted.

“Don’t shoot him – he’s too valuable!!” the boy shouted again. Matt waited and watched as the front soldiers parted to reveal a scrawny-looking boy with sandy blond hair, long but tiny nose, and a haughty smile on his face.

This had to have been the craziest day of his life. That was the first thing that came to mind. Of all people to be saved by…

“Matt Marius,” the boy said, a most artificial smile plastered onto his rodent-like face. “Long time no see.”

“Cliff Arland,” Matt growled through his teeth.

“Cliff Arland?” the captain muttered. “You’re not related to Sir Tobias Arland, are you?”

“He’s my grandfather,” Cliff replied simply. The captain folded his arms.

“Be that as it may,” he said, “that doesn’t give you the authority to decide what to do or not to do with someone the Imperial Knights have been authorized to arrest.”

“You don’t know who this guy is?” Cliff asked. “He’s part of an underground rebellion – a plot to kill His Imperial Majesty. He’s obviously not working alone. Before you kill him, why don’t you at least try to find out what he knows? Then, you can do with him what you want to.”

“Cliff…” Matt snarled. “You…”

“Decision’s up to you,” Cliff commented, ignoring Matt’s muttering. “Oh, and sir, one more thing you should know…”

He whispered something into the captain’s ear, looked over his shoulder and eyed Matt with a jeering face, and then disappeared back into the shadows. The captain looked the boy over…with a great deal of interest. After a few moments of silence, Matt spoke up.

“So, there you have it,” he said. “I’m a member of the rebellion. So are you going to kill me or not?”

The captain smiled. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Cuff him!”

The same young recruit pulled out a pair of iron handcuffs as he walked toward Matthew. He clamped one over his own wrist and one over the boy’s, ratcheting them both tightly and pocketing the key with the free hand.

“If you cooperate with us, we might even let you live,” the captain replied.

“Cooperate? You mean, talk? I’m not talking,” Matt replied defiantly as they began to lead him out of the alley. “So you might as well just stick that sword in me now.”

“Still with the bravado?” the captain turned around. “It’s obvious you don’t know the gravity of your situation.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Matt muttered with a smirk.

“What was that?” the captain stopped walking. His unit, surrounding Matt and the soldier to which he was chained, stopped moving as well.

“You were supposed to capture and arrest me,” he said. “It’s all part of the plan.”

“Well, did you plan to die?” the captain asked. “Answer me that.”

“Only suicidal people plan to die,” Matt shot back with a laugh. “People in dangerous situations just prepare for it.”

“Your life must really be worthless if you’re willing to throw it away for something like this,” the captain said. A second later, he reared back the arm with his targe…

CLANG.

Matt’s head lolled forward as the iron taste of blood filled his mouth and cascaded over his lip. He felt himself being pulled by the brown hairs on his head…his neck forcefully tilting backwards. He was looking straight into the eyes of the captain.

“You’re wrong,” Matt said. “Dying for a good cause is one of the few things that can make a worthless life worth something.”

“In that case,” the captain answered, “we’ll just have to see how much our…‘hospitality’ changes your attitude. You think you’re the first tight-tongued brat I’ve run into? We’ve dealt with your kind before…and we’ve broken everyone that’s still living.”


Several minutes later, Matt found himself thrown into a chair in a cold dungeon. He knew where he was – he was in the Imperial Castle. This close from the Emperor (or so he thought) and unable to reach him…it was frustrating.

Instead of being in the chambers, where he could potentially put an end to this war with one well-placed knife to the chest, he was stuck down here in a dark, dank dungeon, being handcuffed to a chair and surrounded by soldiers.

The captain stood in front of him, peering at him with dark eyes and taking off his helmet. One could see short, brown hair and a very obvious patch over his eye, which did nothing to hide a very large scar that cut through the right side of his face. He might have been thirty, but the one eye on him that did see had very clearly seen recent battle.

“I’ll make this quick,” the captain said. “What is your name?”

Matthew looked up at the captain. “You already know my name – that kid said it.”

“Marius, is it?” the captain answered coolly. “Not a very common name around these parts. Sounds Jotonian in origin.”

“Well, aren’t you a smart one?” Matt quipped.

A second later, he was on his side, the chair positioned awkwardly around his back.

“Sir, there’s a file on him…sir,” a voice that sounded like the young recruit entered the conversation. From his sideways point of view, Matt could see the young man handing his superior a piece of paper.

“Matthew Antonius Otto Marius, aged fifteen. Birthplace, Cherrygrove City, Republic of Johto,” the captain muttered. “Officially registered for the 2013 Emerald League on May the first of said year. Qualifies as a Tournament participant, having obtained eight Hoenn badges. A Pokémon Trainer, hm? And not a bad one, according to your file. You didn’t think to use your Pokémon on us? Curious.”

“Don’t talk to me like that,” Matt snapped, sitting up, then standing, and falling back into the chair. “If it weren’t for me, you’d have a ******-off Legendary rampaging through your city.”

“Which brings me to the question…” the captain replied. “What is a foreign-born child Pokémon Trainer looking for when he gets involved on the wrong side of a war completely outside the borders of his homeland?”

Matt hissed through his teeth. “You people bother me.”

“You insolent little –” another of the soldiers snarled. The captain held up his targe arm, and the younger man fell back into the circle.

“A while ago, our informants uncovered a plan – a plan that involved Pokémon Trainers. A plan that was to culminate in an attempt on His Imperial Majesty’s life,” the captain explained. “It was called the ‘Dragonfall Project’ – or some trite, wannabe big-damn-heroes nickname like that.”

Matt smiled. “Okay, you got me. It was my job to earn all eight badges just for the sake of getting to the Tournament. I already know that the monarch greets the finalists personally. The moment he shook my hand…it was my job to plunge a knife into his chest.”

“The rebels selected you?” the captain seemed surprised.

“They found me. I volunteered,” Matt explained.

“Were there others?” the captain asked quickly. “Backups? In case this happened to you?”

“Everybody’s got a plan ‘B’,” Matt answered cryptically.

“Do you have any names?” the captain continued on forcefully.

Matthew remained silent. Through the lone window in the dungeon, he could see the sun’s first rays, illuminating the room and exposing its dust. A smirk crossed his face.

“I figured you’d answer that way,” the captain said with a smile after a few moments had passed. “Our records show that you have a sister. How about we see what she has to say about it?”

“You’re already too late,” Matt replied quickly. “It’s dawn…so, unless you somehow managed to catch them, they’re probably long gone by now. It’s probably good for you, because if you ever lay so much as a finger on my sister, I’ll be your personal escort to Hell.”

“Shut your mouth!” the captain snapped. “Well, since you clearly won’t talk on your own, it looks like we’ll have to persuade you. Gentlemen!”

A few of the soldiers began to close in on Matt, and the boy gritted his teeth.

The one directly in front reared back a leg and then swung it forward.

It made contact with his chin, sending him slightly skyward. He flipped backward and ended up on his face, with the chair on his back.

“Get rid of that chair and teach him some manners,” the captain said harshly. Matt found himself unchained from the chair…

Then the beating started.

Matt could not count the number of kicks, but each was its own fresh, distinct, and separate agony, so he knew exactly what was being targeted.

His head…

His stomach…

His kidneys…

His torso again…

His groin (and there really is no preparing for that kind of pain)…

His stomach…

His left elbow (was someone trying to break his arm?)…

His right kneecap (that hurt much more than he thought it would)…

His groin again (that was that same guy, wasn’t it?)…

His head again (hopefully with the next one, he’d pass out, and not feel anything)…

His groin again (someone was enjoying that way too much…)

His face (that was less of a kick and more of a stomp. Either way, it was painful)…

His backside (great…now he was literally getting his *** kicked)…

It went on for a few minutes. The soldiers then picked him up by his elbows. Even if he ever had strength enough to resist, he was too battered by this point. Blood was dripping in rivulets from his nose and mouth, and he could have sworn that two of his ribs (not to mention two…other body parts) were broken. His already beaten knees and feet screamed in agony as they hit concrete repeatedly. He had no strength to stand, so they simply dragged him. This was to say nothing, of course, of the fact that they conveniently forgot to patch up the wound that was on his shoulder.

He sure hoped Travis was faring a bit better, and wondered at this point which one of them looked worse for the wear.

The next time he regained his senses, it was just as he was falling to the floor. The cold, uninviting bars of iron clanged shut. Soon after, almost against his will, his eyes began to close…


Three times he saw daylight in that miserable place, each followed by dim moonlight and relative darkness. On the fourth morning, the captain that had captured him arrived again, two soldiers of his contingent flanking him. The first thing Matt (whose stomach was screaming to him in agony) awoke to was the din of this captain kicking the bars.

“Wake up!” Matt, seemingly taking all of his strength, sat up and looked straight at the captain.

“You…” the boy snarled. “You guys don’t eat around this place?”

“Hmm,” a mock look of bewilderment seized the captain’s face. “Uh-oh. I guess the serving lady’s been forgetting that we have a new prisoner. I’ll have to go talk to her about that. Are we going to try this again now?”


Now (after being pushed around on the way – a lot) he found himself chained to a stone table of sorts…face down. This time, he could not see faces – everyone was behind him.

“You mentioned in our last little discussion,” Matt recognized the captain’s voice. “That your accomplices were ‘long gone’. If you’re not going to tell me who they are, do you at least know where they went?”

“I have no idea,” the brown-haired boy snapped each word off.

“…And even if you knew, you wouldn’t tell me, would you?” the captain asked.

“…”

“Hmm??”

“Not a chance in hell.”

“Not yet, anyway,” the captain replied. “Strip him!”

Seconds later, Matt felt a slight sting down his back. He supposed it was a precise run of one’s sword. The back of his shirt was now sliced open from collar to waist, and his back was now bare to them.

“One last chance,” the captain said, his tone this time much harsher. “Where are your accomplices?”

“I told you already, I don’t know,” Matt answered – and he meant it. He had no way of knowing where they had gone because Travis, for all of his intelligence and abilities, hadn’t planned that far in advance. The captain, however, wasn’t buying it one bit.

“Little boys shouldn’t lie,” he said with a dark tone to his voice. “We’re going to have to discipline you.”

Matt heard something slashing through the air, and wondered what it was for a second…

Next came the most unbelievable burning pain one could imagine. It was like someone had taken a match and set his entire body on fire. His hands and arms spread and tensed, and his brief shout turned into a hard, muffled hiss.

“You’re beginning to annoy me, boy. ” Any pretense of cordiality was gone now; the captain meant business. “Where are they? Who are they? What are they doing?”

Matt felt a slight urge to let them know…but that went away quickly. Mariah, Madeline…they were still with the group. Even if Travis was able to survive, history had taught that his presence couldn’t guarantee the safety of everyone.

“Not sure,” Matt grunted. “I just know that it can’t end well for you guys.”

The captain lost it. Matt could tell when the man’s roar preceded another burning pain in his own back. “Where are they?!”

“Like I said…before,” Matt snarled. “I don’t…****ing…know.”

Another lash. This time, Matt let out a short scream.

“You think you’re being tough or something?” the captain muttered. “Hell of a lot of good that’s going to do you when you’re dead. It won’t mean anything!”

“Apparently…” Matt replied, his breathing heavy with repressed pain, “…you don’t know me that well.”

He heard two cracks and felt two lashes.

“Sir,” one of the soldiers muttered pleadingly.

“WHAT?!” the captain snarled.

“…Never mind.”


They tossed him back in his cell, where he hit the ground in a heap, blood blossoming from his back and chest and staining what was left of his shirt. He was facing the wall, but he immediately noticed that they had not immediately closed the cell behind him.

“Good news for you, boy,” he heard the captain’s voice. “We’ve brought you some company.”

He heard another couple of thuds and a grunt. Then the bars slid shut again, echoing through the dungeon.

“Damn it all,” a man’s voice muttered.

Matt staggered to a kneeling position and looked up. The man he saw with his hands gripping the bars was a bit younger than thirty, with short, blond hair and (as he turned around) blue eyes – eyes that widened in surprise upon seeing him.

“Y-you’re just a kid,” the man replied. “What are you here for?”

“Tell me your reason and I’ll tell you mine,” Matt answered.

The man sighed. “They took my wife and daughter. The Imperials, that is. I came here, thinking that someone would be reasonable enough to either let them go or at least explain what the hell was going on. Of course, nowadays, if you breathe the wrong way in the presence of an Imperial soldier, they have license to lock you up. Then one of the guards tried to use me as a punching bag, and naturally, things went from bad to worse.”

“…What’s your name?” Matt asked.

“Sander,” the man replied. “Sander Brennan.”

“…Is your daughter named Anhje?” he asked.

“Yes,” the man’s blue eyes widened. “Yes. Have you seen her?”

Matt heaved a sigh.

“Sit down,” he implored him. “There’s some stuff you should know, and you won’t like all of it.”

Sander Brennan sat down right beside the boy, who went on to explain everything – himself, his friends, his reason for being in Johto…and the fact that their adventures had brought them into contact with Sander’s wife and daughter. Until, finally…

“I’m sorry,” Matt said, choosing his words carefully, “but Coryhn…”

“No,” Sander shook his head. Any color that was left in his face had drained from it.

“From what I heard,” Matt explained, “It wasn’t violent or bloody. She just…went in her sleep…”

He brought his shaking hands to the sides of his head. “Coryhn…n-no…..NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Predictably, this, along with Sander’s racking wails, echoed through the halls of the dungeon. A clanging of armor was heard several uncomfortable moments later.

“What the hell is going on down here?!” a soldier – not the captain – roared. “Private Weimann, this is your shift! Quiet down the noise!!”

“I prefer not to, Guilmore,” a voice Matt recognized – that of the young recruit that had failed to kill him days before – answered.

“One of the prisoners on your watch is creating a disturbance!” Guilmore shouted. “I volunteered to come down here because I don’t want you getting beaten. If the captain comes down himself, he won’t be half as nice to you. Now go and control your prisoner!”

“He just found out that his wife is dead, Guilmore. Have a heart for once,” Weimann replied unflappably. “You’re married, aren’t you? How would you react if you found out she died?”

“…” Guilmore had no initial response. “You’re still just a kid yourself. Give it a year or two – especially with the country in this state. The service will make a man out of you yet.”

“I’d rather be half a man than mostly a monster, Guilmore,” Weimann shot back. “What the hell is this war turning people into?”

“…You’re too kind for these times. No wonder the higher-ups won’t let you see the battlefield.”

Matt heard the heavy footfalls of a soldier stalking away just over Sander, who was still in the corner crying. He also heard approaching footsteps. Matt limped to the bars, and it was not long before the young recruit showed himself. Matt could finally get a good look at his face with his helmet off. He had his hair – black from the looks of it – buzzed down to the grunt-standard bare minimum, and brown eyes dotted his long, narrow face.

“Can I help you?” Matt asked, anger rising in the pit of his stomach.

Wiemann said nothing, dropped his head, and walked away.

The boy let go of the bars and stepped back, looking over his shoulder at Sander, who was leaning against the cold brick wall of the cell, looking straight up into the blackness where the ceiling had been. The young widower blinked, and few more tears rolled down his already sodden cheeks.

“She was always frail, wasn’t she?” Matt asked after a very long silence. Sander looked straight at him. Something about his blue eyes seemed to have been hollowed out – like the soul that was meant to be behind those windows had been removed. He nodded.

“That’s why I was in such a rush,” Sander choked. “I knew…I knew she wouldn’t hold up very long in those conditions…so I tried to get her out. But I failed…I failed her…”

“No,” Matt said firmly, limping to the back wall and sitting down next to him. “This isn’t your fault. The whole system’s messed up. Sick *******s who do that kind of thing…don’t deserve to be alive.”

“Anhje’s all alone,” Sander murmured. “Even if she’s out of that godforsaken place, how much better is the outside world…especially these days? It might not make a damn bit of difference.”

“It makes all the difference in the world,” Matt replied, his green eyes glinting. Sander finally looked up at him, as if daring him to give his broken heart a reason to believe. “Both of you are fortunate. The people your daughter’s with – my friends – aren’t just strong enough to protect her. They’re the ones that are going to end this war.”

“But they’re just kids themselves, aren’t they?” Sander questioned. “Is it even right to expect that much of them?”

Matt stared at the bars for a long while. “The world’s become twisted by people that want power just because – just to dominate people. People that want power for that are always afraid, because they’re always in competition with someone who wants the same thing. That’s why they always have to assert themselves. Schoolyard bullies, Trainers, terrorists, rulers…doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, take away their titles, and they’re all the same. People that don’t grab for power, except only to protect people, causes, and things that are close to their own heart…those are the ones that really deserve it.”

Sander looked down at the brick floor underneath him.

“Anhje will be fine,” Matt replied. “And if we ever get out of here…I’ll do all I can to make sure you see her again.”


A couple more days passed in that prison cell. The Imperials kept Matt fed enough to keep him alive and conscious so he could answer their questions. Of course, he never did – so they just beat him a bit more until they finally decided that he simply was not going to talk that day. Whispers of the outside world reached him in the prison, but all information was either secondhand from the soldiers, or rumors amongst murmurings of prisoners he could not see, so he took it all with a grain of salt.

Matt awoke to the sound of a group of heavy footsteps. Sander’s eyes snapped open as well. Their already dark cell fell into further shadow as a very familiar face darkened the doorway.

“Matthew Marius,” it was the captain. “Nice to see you again.”

The boy’s face tightened. He was being much nicer than normal. Something was really off. Nonetheless, there was no point in resisting their attempts to interrogate him. They had come down every morning like clockwork.

He kept his face emotionless and said nothing as they led him in chains down to the same room where they had taken to beating and whipping him for his information. This time, as they led him into the dungeon (which looked just as dusty and gloomy as the rest of the prison, if not moreso), he noticed something strange. Next to the stone pedestal they would usually lay him across when they used the whips (his back was now covered in a layer of scars with varying freshness) was a hard, wooden chair. Granted, they had used a similar chair as something of an imprisonment device about a week before, but against all the gray of this room, the finished, polished brown of mahogany wood looked downright inviting.

“Take a seat,” the captain said with a smile on his face. Eyeing the soldiers suspiciously, Matt shuffled over to the seat. A soldier behind him was very quick to follow him. As soon as he sat down, this soldier chained his leg to that of the chair. Matt couldn’t help but smile a bit; seeing as there were six or seven armed guards between him and the door of this room, chaining him down to something else was gratuitous at best. Granted, gratuitous imprisonment seemed to be the Empire’s specialty. Matt caught the russet eye of the soldier chaining him down. The young man’s visage bore a mournful, guilty expression. Matt immediately recognized Weimann, who had been on and off guard duty on his cell block for the last few days.

The captain stepped forward, his chest literally expanding with bravado, and started to engage in what was obviously his favorite activity – talking and hearing himself talk. “As you probably realized, we left you alone yesterday. I’ve decided that perhaps we were using the wrong approach. You have my word as a soldier that none of us will lay a hand on you in a violent fashion, no matter what your answers are. After all, there is no sense beating you to death at this point. The Prime Minister will likely sentence you to a public hanging when he returns to the capital.”

“He’s not here in Sootopolis at all?” Matt blurted out.

“He is off on business – as in, none of yours,” the captain replied arrogantly. “As I said, obviously physical beating does very little to loosen your tongue. I have to say, I admire your courage. You would have made a fine soldier, provided you had been a couple of years older and not working for the wrong side.”

“Thank you,” Matt answered, sarcasm dripping from his words like water from a leaky faucet. “Your compliments mean a lot.”

The captain’s lip curled for about a half-second, and it seemed to be taking all of his willpower not to rear back and hammer the boy in the face. Matt eyed him curiously; the captain’s ego didn’t allow him to take any kind of cheek very well, and Matt often made those kinds of comments as he braced for some sort of injury. Maybe the captain wasn’t lying; maybe they had decided to take a ‘different approach’, as he said. There was just something on Weimann’s face, though, that seemed to scream that all was not quite well.

“I’ll ask you again,” the captain replied, his one good eye glinting as he removed his helmet. “Do you know where your comrades are at this time?”

“I’ll tell you again,” Matt sighed flatly. “No. I just know they’re not in Sootopolis. If they were, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, would we?”

“No,” the captain replied, forcing a smile. “We wouldn’t.”

“Answer one thing for me,” Matt said. “Why should I sell my friends out to you? If I keep my mouth shut, I’m dead. If I were to tell you where they are, I’m dead, they’re dead, and a couple of you guys might be dead. The way I see it, more people live if I stay quiet.”

“That’s where you’re mistaken,” the captain answered silkily. “Your information could be a clear path to ending this war. At the very least, your conscience would be clear. You could die, but die knowing that you’ve atoned for your sins.”

“Don’t you dare…start preaching to me about ‘atoning’,” Matt said in a dangerously quiet voice, staring a laser through the captain. “You don’t know a damn thing.”

“You enjoy trying my patience, don’t you?” the captain said, his voice even quieter. He then went for his sword and pointed it straight at the bridge of Matt’s nose. “TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE, OR I’LL RUN YOU THROUGH!!”

“What happened to not using violence as a solution?” Matt answered. “But if you’re just going to kill me anyway, go ahead and get it over with.”

The captain froze for a while…then a nasty smile crossed his face.

“I’ll do you one better,” he said, pulling out two Pokéballs. He dropped them on the ground carelessly (clearly he had never been a professional Trainer), and the familiar white lights shot out, ending in a pair of creatures that Matt had seen his share of for a lifetime after being in that cave…

The two Golbat flapped ominously above the captain’s head, looking down at Matt with tiny, menacing eyes.

“Take your positions,” the captain said in a clipped tone. The Golbat positioned themselves on either side of his ear. Matt went to bring his hands to his neck and protect his important veins, but it then occurred to him that his hands were chained together – useless. “You can thank your friend for this.”

“Golbat, use Supersonic.”

The high-pitched noises went right into Matt’s ears. Through his focusing and defocusing vision, Matt could barely perceive the rest of the soldiers putting their hands to their ears to protect them. The room spun. He could already hear the mourning of the loved ones he had left – but, to guard them…and to guard his own conscience…it was worth it.

Then, just about as quickly as it started, it was over.

“We could have done this the easy way,” the captain’s garbled voice said, “but you had to go and piss me off. Do it again!!”

In spite of himself this time, Matt let out a scream as his ears were again assaulted by the high frequencies. He felt himself dry heaving and knew that he would be vomiting if there was anything in his stomach.

“Do you have anything you’d like to tell us?” the captain said, raising his voice. “No?? Again!!”

The boy screamed again, uttering unprintable curses in his agonized delirium.

Matt’s ears were ringing. His head felt like it was going to explode. He was a kid again, stuck in that back alley of Cherrygrove City with those thugs. The captain’s scarred face came back into focus.

No more. He was tired of being that weak, little child. That part of him needed to die…and if that was all he was, then all of him needed to die. What better time to make his last stand, right here, right now? A part of him made up his mind to charge the nearest guard he could find and invite them to riddle him with their blades, but his legs were now too weak. But death was preferable to this. It wasn’t like many people would miss him, anyway. He wasn’t the popular hero.

He was just a decoy…

But damned if he didn’t play his part to the end.

“Last chance, boy,” the captain’s voice was distorted and barely audible. “Where is this revolution of yours?!”

“There…” Matt muttered, noticing that he was on his knees a moment before staggering to his feet. “Here…everywhere. Every person you’ve ever hurt, every wife you’ve made a widow…every child you’ve made an orphan and every soldier – every soldier – that’s given his life in this war to make this country a better place to live!!”

The captain’s face tightened.

“You of all people should know that people that give their lives for something other than themselves never go away,” Matt hissed. “So kill me if you want to…but I’ll never die. And neither will they.”

“Enough of your idealistic banter,” the captain snarled. “Golbat, Supersonic.”

“STOP!” a voice rang from the back.

The Golbat – and their owner – stopped dead in their tracks. Everyone turned around.

“Is there a problem?” the captain said, a muscle going in his jaw. “Lieutenant Guilmore?”

“This isn’t helping, sir,” Guilmore said in his gruff voice. Weimann was standing next to him, looking like a thousand-pound weight had just been lifted from his shoulders. “You don’t want to turn him into a vegetable – what’ll happen to us if that gets out to the public?”

“The Imperial Knights don’t exist to win popularity contests, Guilmore. What the hell are you playing at?” the captain replied.

“His Majesty isn’t here,” Guilmore said. “If anything, either kill him now and dispose of him, or throw him in the dark room.”

“The dark room?” Weimann turned toward the lieutenant. “Wait, what –”

Guilmore made a face. Weimann stopped his arguing immediately. The captain, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow at the both of them, and then turned around to where Matt was.

“Heh,” he chuckled. “Looks like today’s your lucky day, boy.”


They took him up by the arms and brought him to another part of the dungeon. It was far past his own jail cell (he caught Sander’s eye as he passed) and down toward the end of the long hallway. This door was covered by some sort of black screen and being guarded by one soldier, who was leaning against the wall sleepily.

“SOLDIER!” the captain shouted as he walked forward. The guardsman flailed for a second and quickly brought his fingers to his brow in a theatrically stiff salute.

Matt’s amusement was replaced by (for the first time in a while) a pang of genuine fear as they opened the door. He had gotten to thinking…if the captain preferred this fate for him over death, then what exactly was behind these doors?

Two strong arms heaved him irresistibly forward into the blackness. After a short bit of a fall, he hit the ground face-first. As the last point of light disappeared, he thought he had blacked out. His ears were still ringing from the Supersonic torture, and he now tasted blood from biting down into his lips. Whether this had happened during the torture or during the fall, he had no idea. All he knew was that his body was probably a broken mess. He had even gone blind.

Sitting in this nearly palatable blackness, he closed his eyes and began to think. That cute little girl would never know her brother. He was going to starve to death in here. Granted, once he died and everything went dark, he would no longer know the difference.

Perhaps he was already dead.

His next few moments of conscious existence were occupied by a feeling of extreme anger. Anger at himself for being stupid enough to go into the back alley. He was a decent swimmer – he should have just jumped into the water with Travis. What had he been thinking? Did he really value his own life so little? Was it worth more than he himself thought it was? Not that he would ever know that. Very few people in his life had ever loved him, and even fewer had ever said it in a way where he thought they meant it. Of course, his mother always said she loved him, but when did she ever mean it? She was too wrapped up in herself to care about anyone other than herself.

He felt something tighten severely around his stomach region and let out a scream. A combination of hunger and stress was starting to take its toll on his body.

Eventually, his eyes drooped and he went to sleep. His dreams the first couple of times were not at all pleasant, and then after a while, they simply ceased to have any color or light to them.

When he was awake…darkness.

When he slept…darkness.

When he dreamt…more darkness.

These periods of darkness blended together, so that the only differences between him being aware of himself as opposed to unaware, were the stinging flesh wounds in his back, the bruises on his body, and the stabbing hunger pains in his stomach.

Then, one day, a point of blinding light seared into his eyes. He could barely make out a shadow take a couple of steps and leaping down a ladder. He heard the footsteps – footsteps of a soldier – make their way over to him.

“Matthew? Matthew Marius?” he’d heard that voice before. He tried to answer, but all he could manage was a moan. It didn’t matter anyway – soon, he found himself being supported off the ground by this soldier, and rations being stuffed down his throat. His stomach started to ache even more powerfully as the canned food reached its destination. He let out a cough. “Matthew. Matthew!”

Matt wanted to speak, but the words would not come. He was too weak, and he could hardly remember what words sounded like coming from the mouth of a human being.

“Matthew, it’s over,” the young man said. It sounded like he had tears in his eyes. “The war’s over. Edgar and Prime Minister Gorba are dead.”

The young man supported him onto his feet. Matt held onto him every step of the way.

“Over…?” he finally muttered. “What’s today?”

“Today’s the 20th of August,” the young man said. “Frankly, I’m surprised you survived in here so long. I would have gotten to you sooner, but they didn’t want me or Guilmore guarding the dark room. They knew one of us would sneak food down to you.”

Matt heard a bit more of the story, and then lost consciousness…at least, he thought he had lost consciousness. It felt less like he was walking up the stairs with Weimann and more like Weimann was carrying him. But what could anyone expect him to do? He hadn’t eaten in several days.

“Close your eyes,” the youth muttered urgently. “The sudden light might blind you for good if you don’t.”

Matt shut his eyes tightly, trusting the young soldier to direct his steps. Even now, he was not entirely sure that he was alive…and if he was alive, he was not entirely sure that he wanted to be alive. His feet stumbled over each step, and he felt it growing slightly warmer after a bit of walking. He felt something tickling his skin and heard a rushing sound. Was that wind? He heard Weimann speak again:

“Open your eyes – slowly. Thankfully, it’s dawn, so it’s not that bright out, but still…”

Slowly and apprehensively, Matt opened his eyes. He was outside – at the entrance to the castle and at the top of the stairs that led down from it. In the dark reddish hue of sunrise, he could barely make out the path he had used in an attempt to escape days ago…

All at once, he felt the strength drained from his legs, his arms, his very consciousness. His stomach gave one last spasm as he began to fall…but Weimann did not let him hit the ground. “You’re okay. You’re going to be okay. Come on. Stay with me…”

…continue…
 

EonMaster One

saeculum harmonia
Chapter 71-2

~~~ *** ~~~

;251;​

“He quit the army – went back to his own place in Sootopolis,” Matt explained. “He nursed me back to health there. Later, we went to go get Sander out, too.”

Mariah’s head was toward the ground. “…I…”

She stood up very quickly. Matt looked a bit concerned. “Mariah, where are you—”

“I’m just…going to go, okay?” she said, her voice quavering. She went for the door, but Matthew grabbed her hand – hard.

“No,” he said. She turned around, wincing because of the tightness of Matt’s grip. His green eyes were wide and quivering.

“Matt…? Matt?” Mariah repeated, this time a bit more desperately. He let go of her arm and quickly turned his face from her. His entire body was shaking. He immediately went for a white t-shirt, which had been lying on his bed, slipped it on, and walked over to the window, leaning his forehead against the glass.

“Putting someone in total darkness and solitude is the worst torture man can think of,” Matt said. “It involves taking everything away from someone and leaving them with nothing but the voices inside their head. You know what mine told me? They said, ‘You’re weak. You’re nothing. You’ve spent your entire life forcing something to happen that isn’t going to happen. What kind of person are you? Not even your own mother loves you. Everyone that cares about you has abandoned you, and you’re here, about to die, alone.’ Just think of hearing that for days on end.”

Mariah responded with a sob.

“‘How can someone who suffers more than any human being should be able to take, come back without being twisted and warped by being put through their own personal hell?’ ‘How can they come back…stronger? How can they love more fiercely than they did before?’ It’s been something I’ve been trying to figure out for months now. You know that,” Matt said quickly.

“I…I do,” Mariah whispered.

“Well, I found out,” Matt replied, whirling around with a fierce glint in his green eyes. “I found the answer. It’s because that love ends up being the only thing that keeps him sane…the only thing that keeps him going.”

“What do you mean?” Mariah asked.

“I mean that you…and my family…you were the ones that stopped the voices,” Matt answered. “I imagined hearing you all and seeing your faces instead. You gave me strength.”

“So why?” her voice cracked horribly. “Why did it take you so long to get here, if you were alive all this time?”

“That was my mistake,” Matt answered, his gaze hard again. “I finally got over here, and I thought that…if Cliff thought I was still alive, he’d find some way to retaliate against you. But, obviously, he’s changed targets. In any case, I’m the one that screwed up. I didn’t have any confidence in myself that I could protect you…and it’s caused a lot of people pain.”

“I couldn’t say goodbye to you for some reason,” Mariah finally said softly, drawing herself into his arms. “Maybe it was because I couldn’t ever believe you were really gone. Even so…I really missed you.”

She leaned against his shoulder and shed silent tears as he held her. He ran his fingers through her black hair. They stayed that way for a couple of minutes. All they needed was the silence and each other. Nothing else in the vast world mattered in those moments. After a while, she drew back from him.

“I’ve never taken it off…because I always wanted a part of you with me,” she said, looking down at her nightgown, where the Pidgeot charm was hanging low across her milk-white skin. “After you were gone…it was painfully clear to me that I could never be with anyone else. I think…I think I understand how my mother feels. Strange…”

She looked down at the ground. On skin as pale as hers, it was often impossible to hide a blush, no matter how much she tried.

“I’ve never been married before, and I already know what being a widow feels like.”

“You shouldn’t do that,” Matt replied seriously. “You’ve got—”

“‘You’ve got your whole life ahead of you…’ I’ve heard it before,” Mariah finished the sentence. “I’m usually not big on making huge statements, but…”

“If something happens to me,” Matt cut her off. “Don’t feel guilty about forgetting about me. You have my permission. In fact…if I ever abandon you, you can call me a liar and hate me to your core if you want to – and I’ll know I deserve every bit of it…”

“I LOVE YOU!” she shouted, her fists clenched. Matt was taken aback for some strange reason. Then it occurred to him, looking at her face, how much she meant what she was saying. Rafael was truly gone, and even if he had somehow come back to her from the grave, her heart had already made its decision. “I love you. And I want to know what happens if we stay together.”

“I wish I could answer that,” Matt replied. “But…I’m just not sure. If I win the Tournament, then I’ll end up spending most of my time away from you and my family…but I can’t come this far and just pack it in now, can I?”

“Whatever you do,” Mariah answered him. “I’ll be behind you. Does that make it easier at all?”

Matthew let out a sigh. “It does.”

He leaned down and kissed her on the lips. She caught him around the neck and kissed him back fiercely, face and body pushing into his, almost like she was trying to meld the both of them together.

They broke apart. “You shouldn’t tie your hair up so much, Bee.”

“What do you mean?” she replied. “You like it down like this?”

“Well…yeah,” Matt replied, a bit nervously. Then, for good measure, he added, “You’re beautiful.”

“I wish I’d known that before…” Mariah said, a mournful smile crossing her face. “But then again, it wasn’t really your style to let anyone know what you were thinking.”

Matt grimaced a bit. “I think I’m going to get to sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day. It’s the last day I can get any real training in.”

Without another word, he went over to the bed and settled into it.

“Do you want me to turn the light off?” Mariah asked.

“No,” Matt replied, almost before she could stop speaking.

“…You’ve been having bad dreams.”

“Maybe…” Matt muttered. “I don’t know anyone that wouldn’t.”

“…Can you even sleep with the lights on like this?”

“…”

“No, wait a sec…”

“…”

“…Bee?”

“How about now?”

“I…but…”

“You said before, you need to sleep, right?”

“…Yeah. I…I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Let me stay here…just like this.”

;384;​

“Jadyn…Jadyn...hey, wake up…”

The girl found herself being shaken awake. She looked up into the brown eyes of the boy lying in the hospital bed. He was gazing down at her with an apologetic expression on his face.

“I appreciate everything…” he said. “But it’s almost one in the morning, you know. You should be getting back to the Center.”

Jadyn looked at the door. “It’s safer for us both…if I stay here.”

Kelly frowned. “You might have a point.”

That hadn’t occurred to Kelly. Although he doubted that Cliff would send his goons all the way down the mountain to finish Kelly off, Jadyn was a different story. If he sent her back up there in the middle of the night, with as much as she knew, she’d probably end up in the next bed over…if she was fortunate.

“I have to find some way…to make it up to you,” Jadyn said.

“To make what up?” Kelly asked. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“…Weren’t you and Raine together?” Jadyn asked. Then, seeing the look on Kelly’s face, she dropped her head and muttered, “There I go again…it’s none of my business, is it?”

“You know Raine?” Kelly queried.

“We’re cousins,” Jadyn replied. “Sort of. By marriage, you know. My stepfather’s niece.”

“Oh, okay. Wow. Small world,” Kelly murmured quickly. Jadyn giggled. “Well, if you don’t mind me asking…”

“They split up…when I was little,” Jadyn said.

“Oh…I’m sorry,” the boy gasped, ashamed of himself.

“Don’t be…things are a lot better now with Pat,” Jadyn answered. “He’s the one that first got me into Pokémon Training. My mom…well, she’s sort of old-fashioned…but I told you that already, right?”

“Yeah…she’d get along with my dad pretty well,” Kelly replied, chancing a slight chuckle. “Well, Raine…she was…is…a nice girl. But she’s sort of…”

“Boy-crazy and selfish,” Jadyn finished.

“Ah…” Kelly grimaced. “That’s not…the way I would have put it. She just didn’t understand the fact that I had goals…we would have never worked out.”

Jadyn smiled apologetically. “Did you two kiss?”

“…That’s awkward,” Kelly uttered, his cheeks going a bit red. “Why would you want to know something like that?”

“Just wondering…that’s all,” Jadyn replied, her own face a bit pink. “When it comes to relationships, guys want to be to the point. Women want all the juicy details. That’s what I’ve heard my mom say, anyway…so could you just humor me?”

“Fine,” Kelly replied. “No, we never got around to it…but it wasn’t for lack of effort. I tried once…she tried…more than once…but every time we were about to, something else happened or came up. I guess girls would call that a ‘sign’, right?”

“Maybe,” Jadyn laughed.

They kept talking through the night, knowing the reason for their seemingly random conversation, but never saying it. The fact was, in the eyes of each of them, the other was all they had at the moment. They had come together out of necessity. Each thought silently at points about whether it would lead to something…or nothing. For now, though, it didn’t matter.

It only mattered that neither one was alone.

END


And now you know the story. I’m on Spring Break, guys, so I expect to be able to get a bit of writing done. At least, that’s the plan…along with a bit of sleep.

- ;196; EM1
 

Air Dragon

Ha, ha... not.
Can't touch this... :)

Yay! First againn!

You know how i roll, EM...

OK, one of the two flaws i saw in this chapter was how easily Matt yielded to Mariah the story of his incarceration, where a chapter ago, he was reluctant to tell even his own twin sister. I know they have the whole relationship thing going, i just thought Matt would put up a bit more resistance before regaling his girl the gory details. (Gory used highly liberally there)

The other flaw being a spelling typo (moreso) according to MS Word. However, as I know that's a word, you are reprieved of the lecture.

Other than that, this chapter was a powerfully charged and elegantly told tale. You weren't kidding when you mentioned dark themes in the chapter. This part, for example, though not muchfun for Mat,,:

Matt could not count the number of kicks, but each was its own fresh, distinct, and separate agony, so he knew exactly what was being targeted.

His head…

His stomach…

His kidneys…

His torso again…

His groin (and there really is no preparing for that kind of pain)…

His stomach…

His left elbow (was someone trying to break his arm?)…

His right kneecap (that hurt much more than he thought it would)…

His groin again (that was that same guy, wasn’t it?)…

His head again (hopefully with the next one, he’d pass out, and not feel anything)…

His groin again (someone was enjoying that way too much…)

His face (that was less of a kick and more of a stomp. Either way, it was painful)…

His backside (great…now he was literally getting his *** kicked)…

was my favourite part of the chapter.

and now my review's done. Thank you for an awesome chapter, that just made my Sunday complete. Now i can face the week with slightly more pep than i could before (and even then, morale was higher than usual).

Enjoy your break, EM!

L@er!
 
Last edited:

Col. Torterra

IV breeder
So, we finally learned what happened to Matt during his 2 month absence, that parts been bugging me for awhile.

So, yea. Keep up the good work or whatever.
 
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EonMaster One

saeculum harmonia
Chapter 72-1

Oh…geez.

Well, I have a novel-er, chapter for you guys.

I was about to apologize for it taking several weeks, and I sincerely do wish I hadn’t gotten lazy and had finished it faster…

But, then I realized the chapter’s really…freaking…long.

Either way, hope you enjoy.

Chapter 72: The Victorious People​

October 8, PA 2013 – Evergrande City, Eastern Hoenn

BANG.

BANG.

“Travis!!”

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

“Travis, wake up!!”

“Damn,” the boy in bed muttered, folding the large pillow over his head. Didn’t this person know what time it was?

Too early to get up – that’s what time it was…especially after he’d worked his butt off for the last two days. He was hoping to sleep in this morning, join the pre-tournament ceremonies this evening, and take this last day to unwind and rest before the Tournament started tomorrow. For some reason, he thought that the days would drag as the Tournament approached…but it appeared that the opposite had happened. These last couple of days were spent so hectically with their last-minute preparations. These last few days were somewhat about the strength of his Pokémon – Ivory in particular could have done with a bit more catching up – but they were much more about the strength of himself. His reactions needed to be quick. If he wanted this, he would have to bring his best game, twice over. Five rough matches stood between him and being Champion. He could not afford to tire physically or mentally…

…Which was why rest was every bit as important as the training itself.

It’s hard to rest when one has people banging furiously on his door just after the crack of dawn.

“Travis!” Travis’ blue eyes snapped open upon hearing the voice. It didn’t sound a thing like Katrina.

“Travis!! Wake up! You have to come, quick!” That was Katrina. She was with…it sounded like Mariah. Why were both of them knocking on his door? Was something going on?

It occurred to him about a second and a half later, when he looked around for Angel and didn’t find her. He had sent her (and Katrina had done the same with Crescent) to stay in Mariah’s room. Mariah had told the both of them to expect the egg to hatch within the next couple of days…


Five minutes later, Travis was in a decent enough state to exit the room, where he found the girls flanking his door. The one with pink hair latched onto his arm. She looked positively beside herself with joy.

“Is it here?” Travis asked very quickly.

“No – false alarm. Go back to bed,” Katrina teased. “Of course it is.”

Mariah was smiling, too. Then again, she had been doing a lot of smiling the last couple of days. It was a refreshing sight.

“Come on,” she said. The couple followed her down the stairs and then down the hall. She had been staying on the ninth floor – as had a few of the others.

A tall, red-haired boy was standing in the hallway about halfway down, already fully dressed. He had apparently come outside to investigate the footsteps.

“What are you doing up this early, Shiro?” Travis asked immediately.

“I could be asking you the same question,” Shiro replied.

“Angel and Crescent’s baby is here,” Katrina said quickly.

Shiro’s yellow eyes assumed something of a gobsmacked expression. “Whoa. Seriously?”

“You didn’t know?” Katrina asked, tilting her head. “So, why are you up?”

“I figured I’d get breakfast early before the food court turns into a zoo,” the tall teen said in his normal nonchalant tone, featuring his trademark smirk. “You know today’s party day for everyone.”

“Okay…how about this one?” another girl came out from the nearest open door, wearing form-fitting white pants and a green halter that matched her eyes. Her dark brown hair was tied up and back, leaving only a few loose, blonde curls hanging in front of one of her eyes. Her updo threw into sharp relief the golden hoops on her ears. Shiro turned his head immediately and smiled. Even Travis had to admit, she was pretty.

“How many outfits did you bring with you??” he asked.

“I didn’t bring this one with me,” the girl said, knuckles on the sides of her somewhat exposed midriff. “Mandi bought it for me.”

“Oh,” Shiro uttered. “It’s cute. But don’t you have something…you know…warmer?”

“I’m fine,” she answered. “It’s supposed to be nice out today. But I’ll take a jacket if it makes you feel better.”

She wrapped her arms around Shiro’s waist and hugged him tightly. She noticed the others for the first time at that point and asked, “What’s going on, guys? Why’s everyone just standing out here…”

“Who’s this, Shiro?” Travis asked without thinking. Two seconds later, as he lay curled up on the ground with his hands on his extremities, he immediately regretted asking the question. “Ouch…but what…when…?”

“That’s why you shouldn’t take off to the caves for two and three days at a time, Travis,” Madeline said, looking irritated. “You miss things.”

“Well, sorry if I don’t keep up with every single detail of your life, Madeline,” Travis retorted. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been sort of busy.”

She detached herself from Shiro and walked over to Travis, who was trying to get to his feet. She smiled as she stood over her, and let out a gasp as he rose all of a sudden and she felt one of his strong hands around her shoulder. She was even more surprised when he pulled her into his body. She stood still a moment and hugged him back.

“I’m happy for you.”

“...Thanks.”

They broke their embrace and Madeline ran right back over to Shiro. Mariah gave a greeting smile to the couple, and led Travis and Katrina down the hallway at a quick pace. Shiro turned to Madeline after they were out of earshot.

Madeline opened her mouth to talk. “Shiro…”

The boy shook his head and smiled. “I think I get it.”


The other three reached Mariah’s room not long afterward. Very slowly and deliberately, she pulled the card from somewhere in her nightgown and slipped it into and out of the reader. A short beep sounded, immediately followed by a click. Mariah opened the door gingerly, and Travis followed closely behind her, about to burst with excitement. They stepped into the room, which Travis noticed was about a size smaller than the rooms upstairs. With no lights on, they had only the incoming sunrise for sight. It was enough light, however, to easily see the multicolored pile of fur curled up at the foot of the bed. In the middle of a mass of lavender and black was a tiny, sleeping, coffee-brown form. Two ears lay flat against its head, and it looked to be utterly content between the other two creatures.

“There it is – right there, see? It’s so cute!” Katrina whispered, pointing at the little brown form. To no surprise of Travis’, it was much, much smaller than Angel had been when he had first seen her. Its ruff was wispy and thin, not like the fully grown creature, which had a thick ruff of cream-colored hair below its neck. There was also something strange about its tail. But Travis couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Looks like Angel was right,” Mariah said with a smile. “They had a daughter.”

Travis did a double take. “How’d you know right off?”

“I’ve been doing my research, of course,” Mariah replied. “The quickest way to tell is to look at the ruff and the tail shortly after birth. Male Eevee naturally have a bigger ruff of fur around their necks, so it’s better defined when they’re young. On a female, it’s kind of thin at first. The tail…a newborn male will have a tail that looks like his grown-up self. The female’s tail has a lot more light fur that turns brown after a couple of weeks. Subtle stuff like that…but it’s useful if you’re on the road and don’t have a nurse in your pocket to tell you what sex your baby Pokémon is. In any case, we’d better get going – let the new family bond, you know?”

“Yeah,” Travis muttered as Mariah led Katrina out of the room. He stayed for a moment, watching Angel slumbering with her daughter. The former squinted for a moment, and then opened her pearl-like eyes and focused them right on her Trainer. “You’re a mom now. How about that? Did you pick a name?”

“<Did you?>” Angel asked.

“You’re the parent – that’s your job,” Travis said. “My job was to give you suggestions.”

“<…Hester.>” Angel turned her head toward her newborn daughter. “<I just think…that’s the right name for her.>”

Travis smiled. “The first couple of rounds are four-on-four battles. If you need more time, I can always use four of the others tomorrow.”

Without another word, he backed out of the room and shut the door gently.

;384;​

Kelly flipped through the channels one at a time with the remote in his right hand, looking up at the television. After a few flips, he rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Damn it. There’s nothing on.”

He shut the television off and tossed the remote onto the nearest dresser. His head hit the pillow again and he occupied himself with looking at the curtains, which were concealing a great deal of light. Obviously the weather today was much better than it had been in the last couple of days. Today was the day that the Flame was to be lit, signifying the start of the Tournament. Today was supposed to be a day of celebration…one big party, really. But for Kelly, that was not meant to be. He would spend the day in this hospital bed recovering from malicious injuries…and he would not be participating in the Tournament. Still, even several days later, the thought was enough to make him sick. Granted, he could not say that he had not been taken care of, but he would much rather have been competing instead of sitting around watching, unable to do much of anything.

He mulled the gifts on the right-side dresser and grabbed for the brown teddy bear. He sat the stuffed animal on his chest, staring at it for several moments.

Two knocks on the wall nearest his door brought him out of his daydream. One of the young nurses was standing there…stark white outfit, stark white face, and reddish-pink hair.

“Excuse me. Kelly?” she said. Noticing she had the boy’s full attention, she announced, “Your girlfriend is here to see you. Jadyn, I think her name was?”

“Whoa, wait a sec, Jadyn’s not…” Kelly uttered, his face growing hot. Then, feeling there was no use arguing, he muttered, “Send her in.”

The nurse left, and moments later the black-haired girl came in, looking much more refreshed than she had when she had departed late the night before. She was also wearing another outfit and had tamed the few feral ends of her hair. She removed her sunglasses and greeted Kelly with a warm smile.

“Why are you sitting here in the dark?” She walked over to the window. Moments later, Kelly found himself squinting from the sudden onslaught of light.

“What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were going to go to the celebrations…” he commented uncertainly, finally turning his eyes toward her after a couple of seconds.

“For what?” Jadyn muttered. “I have no friends up there. Besides…I knew you’d be all alone.”

Kelly turned his reddening face toward the door, his lips contorted in a frown. “Listen, I know you feel responsible for what happened, but you don’t have to…”

A heavy, accented sigh from Jadyn cut him off. He turned his head toward her.

“Do you think…you could have made it all the way here? As a Trainer?” Kelly asked.

“I don’t think so,” Jadyn finally said, undoing the band that held her hair up in a ponytail for a moment and shaking her sable locks free, allowing them to fall just past her shoulders. She sat on the windowsill, and the light from the sun gave her face a golden glow as she re-did her ponytail and gently combed a few strands of her hair forward so they fell around the outline of her jaw. “Why do you ask?”

“Just wondering,” Kelly uttered.

“Something wrong?” Jadyn asked. “Your face is all red.”

“N-no,” he stammered quickly, turning away from Jadyn again. “Well, nothing except the obvious…”

He pointed with his chin to the casts on his leg and arm.

“Well, at least they’re on the bed now,” Jadyn replied. Kelly noticed she was going for her shades again, making a very deliberate effort to hide her face.

“Why are you doing that?” Kelly asked.

“D-doing what?” the girl stammered.

“Hiding your face…? The shades? All that stuff.”

“My eye’s all black and blue – you don’t want to see it,” she said quickly.

“It’s not that bad,” Kelly replied.

“No, seriously,” Jadyn answered, a bit more desperately. “It’s ugly.”

“I think…never mind,” Kelly murmured, shaking his head.

“What?” she asked almost immediately.

“Don’t worry about it,” the boy replied. “It was one of those things you think, but don’t say. Know what I mean? So…did anyone bother you while you were back up there?”

“No,” Jadyn replied. “I was fine. He left a letter under my door – actually, two or three of them…apologizing for losing his temper and begging me to come back…”

“But you’re not going to, are you?” the teenage boy asked, his face seriously.

“Of course not,” she replied. “I……”

She thought better of finishing her sentence and trailed off, turning toward the window awkwardly as her face burned with the color of a Charmeleon’s back.

“Jadyn?” Kelly uttered, figuring out along the way that it was much harder to sit up on one elbow than it was to sit on both of one’s elbows.

“Hmm?”

“…So when are you leaving?” he asked.

“You mean…here?” Jadyn replied.

“Evergrande,” Kelly replied. “I mean, there’s not really anyone you’d want to watch that’s still in the Tournament, is there?”

Jadyn looked toward the television. “Well, the ships aren’t running from now until the Tournament’s over…but after that…after that, I guess I’m going back to Littleroot Town. But I don’t know if I want to go home…”

“…Me, neither,” Kelly admitted. “It’ll be hard facing my dad, knowing I got here and couldn’t finish. And my mom would probably do everything she could to keep me in the house after she found out what happened.”

“My mom’s overprotective like that, too,” Jadyn sighed. “And on top of that, if Cliff comes back to Littleroot, too…”

“But you don’t think he would…” the boy’s brown eyes seized a hard look.

“I don’t know what he would or wouldn’t do anymore,” she whispered quietly, her voice breaking horribly in mid-sentence. She buried her face in her hands. “…and I don’t know what I’m going to do, either.”

“Jadyn…” Kelly started to reply. He then realized that he was at a loss for how to respond. He hadn’t seen a girl cry this hard since he’d dumped Raine several weeks back. The difference was that Jadyn’s tears were actually genuine. The girl wiped streams from her uncovered eyes. Her crying threw into sharp relief the slight purpling around her right eye, which she kept trying to hide even as she sobbed uncontrollably. Almost as if no one would see her, she turned her face toward the wall.

“You were right…you were completely right about him,” she hissed angrily. “I thought he cared about me…but he doesn’t give a damn about anything except his own ego and social status now. Maybe if I had stood up to him before…why am I so weak?”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Kelly said calmly. “There was nothing you could have done. Haven’t I told you that already?”

Jadyn began to calm down after a couple of moments. She turned around, wiping her matted eyes. It then occurred to Kelly that she had worn a small bit of makeup here. He wondered why for a moment.

“You’re not the only one that messed up,” Kelly said. “I never could stand you on principle, just because you were close to Cliff. It might’ve changed my mind if I’d known you were this sensitive, honest, caring person, with a nice smile and pretty eyes…”

Jadyn gasped in surprise. Her face grew hot. She hadn’t been expecting that. Kelly also stopped for a moment, appearing as if he’d said too much. He went on anyway.

“But it didn’t, because I never bothered to see any of that. All I saw was him…and you as his pet. I didn’t see you as your own person, and I was wrong for that.” He looked down at the teddy bear that was on his lap and threw it towards her. She was taken aback for a moment, still left in a bit of shock from what he had just said to her, but she managed to catch it. She squeezed the stuffed toy to her chest for a moment. Then, she put it down, got up from the large windowsill and walked around his bed and to his right. As gently as she could, she slipped her arms around his neck and leaned on his shoulder. He used the one good arm he had to return her embrace.

“It’s too bad, really,” she said. “We could’ve been friends, but you had to go and mess it all up.”

Kelly frowned. “Yeah…sucks, doesn’t it?”

Jadyn sniffled. Kelly awkwardly patted her on the back. Out of his field of vision, she was biting her lip, holding back her tears.

“Idiot…that was supposed to be a joke. Why do you think I’m still here?”

;384;​

“Excuse me.”

Matthew Marius spun awkwardly with two trays in his hand as someone inadvertently made contact. He tried his level best not to lose the contents of the trays to the ground below him, but it took some balancing, especially after he hit a slick spot on the tile floor. He flailed a bit desperately until he felt a pair of hands take one of the trays away. He used the free hand to steady the wobbling platter in his other and looked up for his helper.

“Good luck with the whole Tournament thing,” the boy was red-haired, tall, and wearing a smirk. “…but if it doesn’t work out, you always could get a waitress gig to fall back on.”

“Very funny, Shiro,” Matt replied. “Madeline send you over here?”

“No, but if this tray falls, we’ll have two girls throwing temper tantrums and telling you to go stand in line again,” Shiro said, observing his tray, which was made up of a burger, fries, soda, and a TV dinner that looked like it was more fit for a small child. “You don’t want that, I don’t want that…nobody wants that.”

“Good point,” Matt said, grimacing. “Where’s Travis, anyway? Thought he was supposed to be taking the day off.”

“Clothes shopping with Katrina and her mom – can you believe the guy?” Shiro laughed. “Needs a different outfit for every occasion. Granted, he did really mess up his last one in the caves, but still…”

“I’ve tried the whole ‘trendy Trainer’ thing,” Matt commented. “That crap just doesn’t work for me.”

They made their way through the crowd (“Excuse me. Sorry…”) and set off toward the booths where everyone was sitting. Madeline and Mariah were at one booth, directly across from the former’s parents and Veronica. Not too far away was Travis’ family, Sander, and Anhje. Shiro did a double take. Nate and Avril had been there, at another nearby booth, when he had left. Now, they were conspicuous by their absence.

“You didn’t see Nate and Avril walk off somewhere, did you?” Shiro asked.

“Nope,” answered Matt nonchalantly. “I did notice that Avril’s not eating much. Understandable…she’s gotta be nervous as all hell. She’s going up to sing the anthem at the opening ceremonies tonight, remember? That’s…well, that’s a lot of people that are gonna be watching.”

“You’re not nervous at all?” Shiro asked curiously.

“Hell, no,” Matt replied vehemently. “They don’t decide whether I win or lose matches, so they don’t matter. Some guys are gonna be popular and all that good stuff. I’ve got nothing against them. Me, though…I put more stock in what I do in the square. If you’re successful, people are going to love you. And if you’re successful…”

Matt put his tray down at the table and looked up at Shiro again.

“People are going to hate your guts.”

Almost on cue, the doors opened. Shiro (his tray on the table, and his hands still on the tray) turned around. A boy was walking in, dressed in a half-buttoned shirt with sandy-blond hair and shades that looked like they could have cost as much as somebody’s house. He walked – or maybe paraded is the proper word – through the Pokémon Center’s lobby. At once, he was swarmed by a gaggle of preteen girls. He smiled and made conversation with them for a few moments, looking over his shoulder after a while, and then looking back toward the small group of girls…and then looking back toward them and holding up his hand. Like robots they silenced immediately, admiring him wordlessly as he pulled his sunshades off his piercing, blue eyes and gazed in the direction of the booths. His jaw dropped for a moment. Matt, only halfway into his seat, stood up again.

“What’s the matter, Cliff? Surprised to see me?” he uttered.

“You…you…” the boy stammered.

“You should have let them shoot me, Cliff,” Matt said quietly. Cliff’s jaw set hard. “You failed to take me out – and now you’re going to pay for it.”

“Hmph – like you can do anything to me,” Cliff scoffed. “You know the rules. If you’re caught physically assaulting a fellow competitor in the Tournament, you’re automatically disqualified. So I wouldn’t try anything stupid. But, you know…”

He smiled.

“I’ve gotta hand it to you,” he laughed. “You’re a tough nut to crack. Either that, or they didn’t do the sonic torture properly…I suggested that especially for you. Heard it was your favorite...”

Matt felt something brush past him and heard the most terrible screech of “YOU *******!!”

People started to turn toward the cause of the ruckus. Two of Cliff’s admirers screamed and ran for cover. Matt reached his arms out, locked them around the charging girl, and yanked her back into his body, embracing her as tightly as he could for restraint and for comfort.

“LET GO OF ME!! I’M GOING TO KILL HIM!!” she continued to yell. Matt held on to her even tighter, a look of genuine concern.

“Call off your crazy *****,” Cliff said, a bead of sweat rolling down one of his cheeks.

“Mariah, Mariah,” Matt repeated tensely. “Mariah, stop.”

“He took you away from me,” she growled, her teeth gnashing and beads of rage dangling from the corners of her eyes. She had clearly lost all sense of reason. No one had ever seen her like this…“He took you away…”

“Don’t you dare threaten me,” Cliff snarled. “Who do you think you are? You’d better watch your back, or…”

“Or what?” Matt cut him off immediately, stepping in front of her, the color draining from his furious face. “Try something stupid – and damn me to hell if I don’t end you right where you’re standing!!”

“Oh, trust me, she’s not worth getting my hands dirty,” Cliff laughed, waving his hand dismissively. “I’ve got other ways of making life difficult for people who cross me…”

“Oh, just like you did Kelly Brennan?” Matt said very loudly. “He battled you to a draw a couple of months ago, and you’ve been terrified of having to face him again ever since.”

Cliff’s eyes darted from side to side, and his face went red, then even paler than normal. He forced a nasty smile and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Almighties, this Tournament’s going to hell in a handbasket. It’s bad enough they let teakers in anyway, and now all of them are nutjobs…I don’t have the patience for this. Maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll get to humiliate you in a couple of days.”

He whirled around with a scoff and laugh, leading his female admirers to look back at Matt and Mariah mutinously, then follow him.

“I’ll never forgive him…ever,” Mariah replied, shaking her head vehemently and letting out a sob. “You’d better beat him…you have to…”

“What the hell was that?” Otto’s voice uttered, followed closely by his wife. (Veronica was sitting in Madeline’s lap playfully while she and Shiro looked on.)

“Cliff Arland,” Matt replied. “Cocky upstart that thinks he can beat me just because his gramps was champion once…we’ve got a little history.”

“You can take him, can’t you?” Otto asked. “You’re pretty good.”

“When I got here, I was only planning on destroying him,” Matt answered. “He never should have threatened Mariah like that. Now…”

His mouth turned upward into a smile.

“Now, I’m going to ruin him,” he said. “By the time I’m done with him, he’ll be screaming my name in his sleep and he’ll never want to be in the same room as a Pokéball again.”

“Try to relax,” Otto suggested. “Won’t do you guys any good getting worked up right now. C’mon, let’s try to eat before the crowds really get here. It’s hard enough to breathe as is.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Matt sighed. “Bee, come on, let’s go.”

“Why is someone like him still walking around free?” she sniffled. “Someone like him…needs to be locked up. I don’t care if he’s just a little boy – he’s evil.”

;384;​

Nate paced the room back and forth, stopping every couple of passes to look out of his window at the sunlit woods in the distance. One could have been justified in thinking that all of Hoenn had gathered at the Emerald Village. In fact, most of them were downstairs, chatting it up or enjoying their food. Even his friends…or the people he considered closest to him, which wasn’t saying much…were partaking in the action. They were all social creatures, all of them – even Travis. His experiences had somehow turned on a light in his head. He valued people and being around people. He got a charge out of it. There was no doubt in Nate’s mind…Travis would make a great Champion for that and many other reasons. He was everything that Nate couldn’t be…and that was just fine with Nate now.

He was the strange one in the group. He didn’t mind people, but socializing wasn’t his thing. He loved Pokémon, but not stadium battling. He took a glance at the little Umbreon that was curled up on his bed, her dark red eyes watching him as he traversed the floor from wall to wall. Technically, Artemis belonged to Avril; she was the one that found her and adopted her, just like Avril herself had been found and adopted. But Artemis and Nate shared a strange, silent bond that was apparent, if not obvious, from the moment Avril came back into his life. They, like Avril, had both been affected by the first war, and therefore understood each other.

“<You’re going to wear a hole in the ground, you know that?>” Artemis finally spoke up. “<Why are you so antsy? You’re almost as bad as Avril.>”

“Sorry,” Nate laughed, sitting down on the bed. “Just…thinking about a lot of things.”

“<Does it hurt?>” Artemis asked wittily.

“Not as much as this,” Nate said, not looking at the Umbreon for a moment. Then, he turned on her and started trying to burrow his fingers into a particular spot on her belly. She laughed and kicked and squealed and flailed, but was unable to break free. Once Nate stopped tickling her, she rolled over and looked up at him. “What are you doing in here, anyway? Avril won’t let you in?”

“<Even I know better than to bother her while she’s trying to get her appearance just right,>” Artemis replied. Laying her head on his knee, she added, “<Besides…I enjoy being around you.>”

“Really?” Nate tilted his head. “Why?”

“<Well…you’re the reason I’m here with Avril,>” she explained. Nate looked utterly confused now. “<She always used to tell me how she took me with her when she found me because I reminded her of you. She says we sort of look like each other.>”

Nate raised an eyebrow.

“<I used to think she was crazy,>” Artemis replied. “<‘How can a human boy look anything like me?’ But then I saw you for the first time, and I figured out what she meant. Our fur is the same, our eyes are the same…if you were a Pokémon, you’d be an Umbreon like me.>”

Nate looked down straight into Artemis’ face. A strange thought struck Nate in that moment as he realized that she was absolutely right. They matched in jet black – he with his mane of hair and usual choice of clothing, she with her shiny fur. Their eyes were both a burgundy-red color, and even had the same mix of Nate’s aged serenity and a glimmer of Avril’s youthful hope.

“You two are so cute together. Just like twins,” a girl’s voice caused Artemis to look up. She screamed the girl’s name and leapt off the bed and ran to her, where the girl knelt to pat the Umbreon’s head. “Nate…?”

Nate turned around and his jaw nearly dropped. Avril was standing there, her blonde locks tied up into a chignon, ornamented by a green ribbon tied into a bow. The ribbon matched her dress, which was green and shone in the sunlight. A black sash was tied around her middle and hung down her side a bit.

“Wh-what’s going on?” Nate asked.

“I…need some help with something,” Avril said, turning around and revealing the back of her dress, which was unzipped down to the small of her back and didn’t leave much to the imagination.

“Ah—” Nate uttered nervously, standing up and walking toward her. He went for the zipper gingerly. His knuckle lightly kissed her back as he started to zip up her dress. She let out a gasp. He yanked his hands away quickly. “What? What happened?”

“N-nothing,” she said, her face turned toward the door to hide her furiously blushing face. “Keep going.”

Slowly, he zipped up her dress to the top. She turned around and looked at him for a moment.

“You look beautiful,” Nate said. She smiled a tremulous smile, and leaned forward, resting her head on his chest. He put her arms around him.

“Nervous?” Nate finally asked after a couple of moments.

“Terrified,” Avril responded.

“Why?” Nate questioned.

“Lots of reasons,” Avril replied a bit breathlessly. “I mean…no one’s heard this song in years – centuries, even. This country’s been through so much in the last couple of years. What would they hear in that song from a person that they’ve never seen before…from a person that doesn’t even have a country?”

“Don’t say that,” Nate said desperately, shaking her gently. “I don’t know where you were born – and I don’t care. Johto is our home.”

“Exactly,” Avril answered loudly. “Johto – not Hoenn. So why…why would the king pick me to do this…?”

“Because maybe he believes you have a voice that’s able to cut through all of those barriers,” Nate told her. “Maybe it’s because we marched with him and have seen some of the same things he saw. Whatever it was, Elrik picked you to sing this song to his people.”

Avril took a glance at a clock on the nearby table and then drew back from Nate.

“Well…I have to get going now,” she said quietly. “I can only walk so fast in this dress, and he’ll be expecting me.”

“I’ll be in the stands watching,” Nate told her. “I’m sure you’ll do a great job.”

“Thanks,” Avril said, staring into his eyes for a moment. She kissed him, and walked out. He stood at the doorway watching the spot where she had been for a few seconds.

“<Bet you enjoyed that,>” Artemis’ voice piped in from Nate’s left. Nate grimaced, prompting a giggle from the small Umbreon. “<Look at that. He’s blushing.>”

“Shut up…” the boy muttered, walking toward the bed and flopping back on it. He turned his head, looked at a yellow sticky note that he’d attached to the side of his dresser earlier that week, and then sat up straight.

“<Is something wrong?>” Artemis asked. He looked down at the Umbreon. It would be a bit unkind of him to leave her here by herself.

“You want to go for a walk? I just remembered something I wanted to do.”

;384;​

“We’re going to be late, Katrina, come on…”

THUMP. THUMP.

Travis grimaced and lowered his fist to his side, staring at the door, which opened a couple of seconds later. Katrina was standing there, a fragile smile painted on her face. She’d brushed and combed her hair very thoroughly, but hadn’t bothered with makeup. Good thing, too – judging by the redness in and around her eyes, she had been crying.

“Katrina?” Travis uttered. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah. Sure, I am,” she replied distractedly, starting down the hall without him.

“H-hey…” he grabbed her arm –

“I’m fine,” she replied sharply, whirling around, the smile completely gone. She forced it back onto her face and said, “Let’s go…”

“Something’s wrong with you,” Travis said stubbornly.

“Could you just drop it? I said I’m alright!” Katrina exclaimed. Travis had rarely seen her in that kind of temper, but he was undeterred.

“No, I can’t ‘drop it.’ You haven’t been yourself since the other day,” he said. “You think I can’t see when you’re forcing yourself to smile around me? I’ve been able to tell since we were little. If something’s going on…I want to know about it. I want to help.”

Katrina’s head bowed. “You can’t help…or, at least, I don’t want you to…”

“Wh-what?” Travis muttered. She shook her head.

“Mom wants…me to win the Tournament.”

Travis’ look quickly shifted gears from one of shock to one of confusion and bewilderment. “Uh…okay. Of course she’d want you to win. She’s your mom.”

“It’s not that…it’s her reasons,” Katrina said. “She thinks…she thinks I depend on you too much.”

Travis frowned. Now he was really confused. Katrina started to walk off – a clear signal that, whether Travis liked it or not, the conversation was over.

…continue…

~~~ *** ~~~​
 

EonMaster One

saeculum harmonia
Chapter 72-2

~~~ *** ~~~​

Travis followed her wordlessly all the way through the Emerald Village to the huge stadium on its north side. They were told to arrive early for a short, private meeting of all thirty-two (or, in this case, thirty-one) participating Trainers. It was, as Elrik had put it, a first opportunity to meet at length with one’s competitors. Travis didn’t mind this much; he’d had enough people try to kill him to know the difference between enemies and simple competition. Granted, he was a bit older and more than likely a bit wiser than most of the other Trainers that would be in that room. Cliff was the most extreme example of the undercurrent of paranoia that would run through a room like that.

It was only natural, Travis supposed. Each rookie Trainer in attendance at the Emerald League Tournament had come with a dream that he or she had likely nursed since early childhood – a dream to be immortalized in history as one of the great Champions. Obviously, each other person in the Tournament was a threat to take that dream away…so it was only natural that the competitors distrusted each other.

It might have been natural, Travis thought, but that made it no less of a shame, especially in these times. Each of these Tournaments was a small piece of history, but since the arrival of participant and spectator alike at Evergrande City this year, it had been understood that this Tournament carried with it a much greater historical and symbolic weight. In giving their attention to the young Trainers that would match skills in the days to come, Hoenn had, for the first time in several years, united for something. The country was not quite back to its normal state, but it was peaceful and healing had started.

Because of that, Travis felt that this Tournament should have been a chance for everyone to relate to each other even more – for Hoennites to come together as Hoennites, but more importantly, for peace-loving human beings to come together as such.

Coming around a lower concourse-type pathway that seemed to be private access, Travis followed Katrina into an open door guarded by two spear-carrying soldiers dressed in their green clothing and silver armor.

Once inside, Travis saw more or less what he expected to see. The room was not huge but certainly big enough for nearly forty people to have very ample elbow room. Travis’ eyes scanned the sea of faces for anyone familiar.

Brad Carmichael was already there, saw Travis come in, and greeted him with a nod.

Cliff was in the opposite corner, standing by himself – no surprise there. He, too, saw Travis coming in, and immediately assumed an expression appropriate for one who’d just had excrement smeared under his nose. Travis shook his head pitifully and looked away from him. His eyes searched the room for a head of strawberry-blond hair, but then, with a pang of the heart, he remembered what had happened.

Katrina had already found one particular table. It was the one full of girls – about six of them. A short, dark-haired girl of maybe about thirteen or fourteen sat there. Travis recognized her for a moment, but couldn’t remember her name. It then occurred to Travis upon looking around the room again: the girls seated at the table were the only six that had made it this far. Twenty-seven boys to six girls…he wondered if these numbers were lower than average. That is, until he overheard their conversation amongst the murmuring of the room.

“I can’t believe that there are this many of us this year,” the dark-haired girl said. What was her name? The fact that he couldn’t remember was starting to bother him now. “It won’t be long before we’re half-and-half with the boys at this rate.”

“I don’t know about that,” another girl answered. She had light brown hair tied back into a ponytail and was wearing dangling earrings. “But it sure is a start…”

“This is gonna be the year,” the dark-haired girl replied, a glint in her eye. “Girls can be Trainers just as well as boys can. One of us might make history this year…the first female Champion in Hoenn! How about that? Of course, if any of you want it…you’ll have to go through me.”

Katrina’s face remained serious.

“And who are you?” the girl with the lighter hair asked.

The girl with the dark green hair tossed it back a bit showily and said, “You haven’t heard of me? I’m Liza Flynn, of course.”

“Liza Flynn…” Travis muttered.

“Dewford…back in June,” a boy’s voice answered for him. Travis recognized it without even having to turn.

“You’re late,” he said with a smirk.

“What was I supposed to do? Bee insisted on seeing me off,” the other boy replied. Travis raised an eyebrow.

“‘Seeing you off’? Not using her eyes, I bet,” he replied, wearing a knowing smirk.

“Your powers of observation amaze me,” Matt said wittily. “Anyway, looks like that little throwdown on the beach turned out to be a nice little preview. Liza’s not the only one.”

He held up a folded-up piece of paper. Travis took it from his hand and unfolded it. There, laid out in plain view, were the names of all of the participants, under a strange tree of lines. The names were arranged in pairs. Except for one…

“So Cliff just gets to win his first round match by default? That’s such…” Travis started.

“********? My thoughts exactly…but, coming from a League standpoint, nobody can prove that Cliff had anything to do with it,” Matt replied, a sour expression on his face. “If there are any witnesses, they sure as hell aren’t speaking up. What can they do? For all the League knows, Kelly got those injuries training at Victory Road. That’s how most other people end up in the hospital around here. No worries, though – I’ll just plow through ‘Blair Holcroft’, whoever that is…and then I get a hold of him next, the *******.”

“Just try not to make them cry too hard,” Travis answered.

“I wouldn’t take any of these rookies for granted, though,” Matt advised. “You, in particular – you’ve got Leon Kavanagh first off, and from what I’ve heard, he’s no joke. Did a little bit of research on him – he’s packing a damn strong Swampert, so I’d watch my *** if I were you.”

Travis caught notice of a boy with reddish-brown hair that was a bit shaggy in the back. He was talking animatedly with another boy with pale blond hair.

“Zack Troy’s here, too,” Matt said, pointing out a solitary boy in the corner of the room. His jet-black hair was now partially spiked up at the top. “He’s good, obviously, you know – but his luck still isn’t all that great. Katrina’s better.”

Travis looked back at the paper featuring the brackets and indeed noticed that Zack Troy was paired with Katrina Sasano on the very first set. “She’s first up?”

“That’s a problem?” Matt replied. “You shouldn’t worry so much.”

“Yeah, well…” Travis muttered, looking over at the girl’s table, where Katrina sat with her arms folded. “She’s been sort of…somewhere else lately.”

“Oh,” Matt murmured. “Something happen to her?”

“Well…” Travis looked furtively at the girls’ table and turned back toward Matt. “Her parents are splitting up.”

Matt’s face predictably fell. Travis knew that any sort of discussion about divorce or broken homes would hit close to home. “Oh. Wow, that’s…that’s not good at all. And her mom told her this when, a couple of days ago?”

“Yeah…and now expects her to go out and win the Tournament – I guess to prove a point that neither one of them needs men to stand on their own two feet,” Travis explained, sighing.

“Seriously?” Matt uttered. “Not gonna lie – that’s pretty messed up. On a lighter note, how’s the new addition? Mariah told me this morning.”

“All doing fine – bonding,” Travis replied with a smile. “We named her Hester – means ‘star’.”

“Gotcha,” Matt answered with a nod. He turned his head forward, and his expression changed.

Travis turned around as well. The boy he had been observing had come up to approach him, wearing an earthy-green track jacket over a black shirt, and blue jeans. He was about a half-head shorter than Travis, but did not appear intimidated as he approached.

“Are you Travis DePaul?” the boy asked.

“Yeah,” Travis answered. The auburn-haired boy proffered his hand.

“I’m Leon Kavanagh,” he said. “I’ll be your opponent in the first round.”

“Nice to meet you,” Travis answered, shaking Leon’s hand. “Where are you from?”

“Me? I graduated from the Littleroot Pokémon Academy, along with Cliff and Liza,” Leon replied. Travis took quick glances at the two classmates, each in opposite corners of the room.

“You friends with either of them?” Travis asked. Leon shook his head.

“We talk, sometimes,” he answered briskly. “I wouldn’t call us ‘friends’. I think they’re both a little bit full of themselves, personally. They both talk too much about what they can do in the arena. I’m more the type that lets what I do out there speak for itself. Not saying they’re not skilled, but…”

“Have you ever seen Cliff hanging around anyone you’d call ‘strange’?” Matt asked quickly. Leon turned toward him, a little taken aback.

“Strange? N-no,” he answered, sounding a bit nervous. “I don’t think he has many friends at all, actually, other than one of our classmates. I’m pretty sure they’re going out…or were – I haven’t seen her with him in a while…”

A clanking sound soon after alerted him to the presence of a soldier. The room started to stir, as all eyes turned toward the voice. “Make way – make way! His Majesty, the king, approaches! Make way for the king!!”

Travis, Leon, and Matt split to allow the soldier through, and by this time, nearly all of the Trainers in the gathering room were on their feet. Flanked by two heavily armored knights (all of that steel could not have been comfortable…), a young man walked in, dressed in a regal-looking white shirt with golden buttons and greenish tassels. An emerald-green cape hung from his shoulders and seemed to kiss the floor as he walked slowly into the center of the room. A number of the young Trainers had gone down to their knees in a show of respect. Travis knelt as well, keeping his eyes up to watch the young king walk by. Elrik had always had the ability to command the respect and even the silence of an entire room of people.

Elrik turned around, taking a survey of all of the people in the room. He took a deep breath.

“I’m sure all of you in this room are old enough to be aware of what Hoenn has gone through these last few months,” he said. “For many of you, the civil war hits close to home. Some of you have lost friends and family members…”

Travis looked over at Leon. He was biting his trembling lip, and his eyes were shining.

“Yet you stand here today, prepared to give your all to this great competition,” Elrik continued. “I want all of you to listen to me closely. The Emerald League Tournament is a tradition that has stood for nearly as long as kings have sat on the throne of Hoenn. It is not just a competition – it is a part of this country’s identity. I say this not to place any more pressure on you – I am certain most of you are already nervous, after all. I say this to encourage you, to make you aware of what it is you are giving back to this nation by taking part in this Tournament. In a few moments, all of you will be introduced, one by one, to the people of Hoenn. They will greet you like the heroes you are, but before they do, I felt that I would be wrong not to speak to you in person. From the bottom of my own heart, not as king but as someone who deeply loves this country, I thank you.”

He looked to his left. His eyes locked on Travis briefly.

“The guards will lead you to the entrance tunnel in a few minutes,” Elrik explained. “Celebrate this new peace by giving nothing less than your best.”

With that, he turned on his heel and left the room. After a few moments of awed silence, chatter broke out in the gathering area once again as the young Trainers went back to their previous activities. Travis and Leon both stood up. Leon was still looking down at the ground, his fists clenched tight and obviously blinking back tears.

“I-if you don’t mind me asking….” Travis started very tentatively, but Leon must have known it was coming, because he answered before Travis could even finish speaking.

“My brother,” he said, his voice shaky. “He was five years older than me…just old enough to go into the service.”

“Which side did he fight for?” Travis asked.

“The other side,” Leon replied painfully. “The side that lost. He started to realize how brutal they were, but instead of switching sides, he hoped that he could change things from the inside. He died in one of the last battles, back in August…they brought us his sword, and a letter he was going to send to us but never got to. It told me, ‘Keep going. No matter what happens, keep going.’”

“…I’m sorry,” Travis said, shaking his head. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“He just wanted to bring an end to the war,” Leon sighed. His face becoming bitter, he went on, “So I guess he’s somewhere up there, smiling…doesn’t do a whole lot for Emmalyn, though.”

“Emmalyn?” Travis uttered, unable to contain his curiosity.

“I was the middle child. Emmalyn’s my little sister,” Leon said. “She’s eleven, and I haven’t seen a smile on her face since the day we found out…and that was almost two months ago now. So that’s why I’m here – for both of them. I promised Rich I wouldn’t stop for anything, and I’m hoping I can bring some happiness back to my family. I can’t replace Rich, but I can be a man my family can be proud of…”

“You’re a lot braver and more noble than I was when I was your age,” Matt had slipped into the conversation. Leon turned and looked at him. “I hope you don’t think, though…that your family’s love for you hangs on whether you’re Champion or not.”

Leon froze for a moment, then his eyes narrowed as he looked at Matt. “Sounds like you’re trying to find a nice way to say that I can’t win.”

Matt stood up straight, taking in a sharp breath. “I’m just saying the Championship isn’t everything. It’s something…but it’s not everything. I’m planning on doing my best just like everybody else here. But I might not win. The Championship used to be everything to me…and it turned me into a horrible person. You really want to make sure your sister never smiles again? Forget about her and start chasing a trophy.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Leon answered. “I know what’s important.”


Meanwhile, Katrina sat silently, listening to the young girls chatter. Listening to them, it almost surprised her. For some reason, she had always thought of herself as the one young female Trainer in touch with her femininity. From her point of view, all of the others were tomboys or at least had that streak. It was a bit amusing to listen to the group of teenagers talk about what teenage girls normally talk about – their outfits, gossip (“I heard through the grapevine that the General just got engaged…”), and, of course, boys.

“Quit staring, Arlynn,” Liza slapped the shoulder of a girl next to her with short reddish-violet hair ornamented by a white Alice band. Up to this point, Arlynn’s eyes had been locked on the center of the room.

“Oh, come on, you don’t think he’s cute? The one with the brown hair?” Arlynn turned to Liza and asked. Katrina, sitting back in her seat, couldn’t help but smirk a little bit.

“Oh…Matt? He’s okay, I guess,” Liza sighed, leaning on her fist and looking bored.

“You know him?” Arlynn asked excitedly. “You think you could introduce me?”

Liza grimaced. “Don’t waste your time. I’m pretty sure he’s older – and taken. Besides…I have a score to settle with him.”

“And on top of that, she’s still not over Leon…” the girl with the light brown hair commented toward Arlynn.

WHAM. Liza had slammed her hand into the table. Hard. “Shut up, Blair.”

“What?” Blair didn’t seem to think she’d done anything wrong.

“There’s nothing going on between me and Leon,” Liza replied. “Nothing. We went out for a movie once last Valentine’s Day. That’s it.”

“That sounds like a lot of ‘it’,” Blair commented.

“Well, sorry for not living in a huge city like you do, Blair,” Liza snapped. “When you’re in a town as small as Littleroot, the pickings are sort of slim. It was either him, Damon, or Cliff. Damon’s still obsessing over a certain somebody that moved all the way out to Petalburg halfway through our fifth year and wouldn’t give him the time of day…”

As she accented the word, she shot a dagger at Arlynn, who threw her hands up. “What? He was weird to me…”

“You two went to the same school?” Blair asked.

“Story for another day,” Liza cut her off quickly. “And Cliff…well, Cliff’s Cliff, and everybody in town knew that he and Jadyn were going to end up being an item, anyway. So Leon was the only one left. I didn’t even ask him – he asked me. And I said yes. Even if I didn’t like him like that, there was nothing wrong with him.”

“Really?” Blair seemed incredulous. “It didn’t occur to you that maybe there was a reason…?”

“Of course not,” Liza replied. “Jadyn and I were the only two girls in our year. And Jadyn…she wasn’t Leon’s type – even if she wasn’t ga-ga over Cliff…”

“Not so much,” Arlynn replied. “I don’t think they’re together anymore.”

“Really?” Liza seemed surprised. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope,” Katrina finally spoke up. All three of the younger girls turned to look at her, as if they had only just now realized she was still there. “She’s telling the truth.”

“How would you know?” Liza asked. “Do you know Jadyn?”

“Sure do,” Katrina answered. “We came over to Evergrande on the same ship.”

“But she’s not in the Tournament…?” Liza questioned.

“Nope,” Katrina said. “She devoted all of her time to helping Cliff get here, and she quit Pokémon Training herself to do it.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Liza sighed, folding her arms. “That’s one of the reasons why I’d never try to have anything with Leon. How can you support each other if you know you’re going to end up competing against each other?”

“It’s not…impossible,” Katrina muttered as she looked over at Travis, her confidence faltering mid-sentence.

“Did you have a boyfriend that was a Trainer?” Arlynn asked.

“Still do,” Katrina answered. Raising his hand and pointing at the center of the room, she said, “He’s right over there.”

The three girls all turned to look at Travis, who was finishing a conversation with Leon, who promptly left to his own corner.

“Both of you…made it?” Liza asked. Judging by her tone and careful choice of words, Katrina could tell that Liza was trying to ask two questions at once.

“I never said it was easy,” Katrina replied. “But, we’ve made it…this…far—be back in a sec.”

She stood up and, in about seven long strides covered the distance between them. Travis had his back turned at the moment until Matt looked over his shoulder. He whirled around just in time for her to nearly knock him flat.

“Katrina…” Obviously, he was a bit surprised.

“I’m sorry,” she answered, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t have acted like that.”

“No…you were right,” Travis sighed. Katrina withdrew herself from his shirt, her eyes wide.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you should want to be competitive. It’s a competition,” Travis replied. “We promised each other that if we battled, we’d give it our best. I’m sort of torn, though…”

“Torn…why?”

“If I win, I’ll have to spend most of my time here in Hoenn,” Travis replied. “And, between you and me, I get the feeling that the king would want a lot of my input on improving relations between here and Johto. I wouldn’t get to have as much time with my parents, or Kylie, or you…”

“Sounds like we’ve all got the same problem,” Matt piped in, walking up to stand alongside Travis. “And it’d be worse for me. The Orange Islands aren’t exactly a stone’s throw away. My family would be in Pummelo, my girlfriend would be in Johto, and I’d be here…”

“I’d be away from my parents while the…the hearings are going on,” Katrina replied blankly. “But I’m not so sure that’s such a bad thing…”

“We’ve made it this far, though, and there’s no point just packing it in,” Matt commented, “much less with everybody that traveled all the way out here just to see us kick ***.”

“Excuse me – everyone??” a man’s voice rang loudly from the door. He repeated himself, and the room slowly went quiet. It was one of the heavily-armored phalanx troopers again, his armor clanking together with seemingly every movement. He was carrying a banner that possibly could have been used for a staff given the right situation, but other than that, he was unarmed. He spoke his words clearly so there was no mistaking their meaning:

“It is time.”​

Nicholette Sasano settled in at the end of one of the rows of the lowest level in the Coliseum. They were just high enough so that their eyes could quickly scan the entire arena, but low enough so that nothing was a mere rumor. In other words, the seats were just about perfect, and even if that were not the case, the enormous screens that were featured on each end of the stadium would alert people to whatever was important. The stadium itself was enormous – Nicholette, ever the fashionista, didn’t even bother to bring heels with her. The stadium was clearly battle-worthy, with the traditional Pokémon battlefield freshly painted into its floor, but with torches lining the borders of the large, rectangular area, as well as an enormous stage set into its center, it didn’t appear battle-ready. (The gear of the headlining band for the ceremony’s after-party was set up on the stage. Apparently, the band that was playing was immensely popular in Johto.) Nicholette’s eyes, hidden by huge designer sunglasses, continued to focus on the tunnel at the left. In just a few minutes, her daughter and the other competitors would be emerging from there to be greeted by the stadium, which would no doubt be next to full by the time the ceremonies started.

“Bah—” a babble came from her right. The source was a little girl, just short of two years old, reaching for the shoulder of her shirt. She put on her best smile for the little girl, who was sitting on the lap of her mother, who leaned over in an effort to keep the conversation away from her husband (who was sitting on the right, twiddling his thumbs awkwardly).

“You alright?” Amy asked.

“I’m fine,” Nicholette said, straightening herself in her chair. “Just had to fix the makeup and all.”

“You must be pretty sure you’ll be able to hold it together during the ceremony,” Amy commented with a smile. “I’m not – that’s why I didn’t bother…”

“I guess I can understand that,” Nicholette replied. “Personally, I’m not sure I have any tears left right now – tears of joy or otherwise.”

“I’m a little worried, to tell you the truth,” Amy said. “I want both Travis and Katrina to make it as far as they can, but you know if they do that…”

“They’ll have to battle each other,” Nicholette answered. “And, of course, if one of them wins, they’ll be separated for a while.”

“Do you think they’ll survive that?” Amy asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You know…” Amy replied. “Since they’re…”

“Does it matter?” Nicholette answered, keeping her eyes forward.

“Y-yes,” Amy said, now sounding a bit uncomfortable. “They love each other, don’t they?”

Nicholette smiled. Actually, it was more of a smirk. “I think they’ve got a little bit more learning to do about love before they can say that. They’re still just kids, after all. Of course they think in their naïve minds that they can have it all. But dreams get broken, hearts get broken…there’s a lot of broken stuff in the real world. The more and more I think about it, the more I wonder if they’ve both been too happy with each other for their own good.”

“…How can you say that?” Amy asked.

“Everything’s too fairytale – it’s not healthy for Katrina in particular,” Nicholette replied. “They hardly ever fight, and if they ever do, you never know about it. She would be absolutely devastated if something happened to their relationship, or to him…it shouldn’t be like that. She’s still just a little girl, and she’s not ready for the fairytale to end. She won’t ever be a woman until she figures out that the fairytale will end, and she’s able to move on when it does.”

“I had no idea you were so…cynical,” Amy replied, looking down. “What happened?”

“Life happened,” Nicholette said. “And life happens to everyone, unless you’re either sheltered or sickeningly lucky…”

“Sheltered? Lucky? Please tell me this is one big joke,” Amy said, her voice rising a bit. By this time, her husband was not only privy to the conversation, but had his hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

“Amy…” he pleaded.

“I know what you’re going to say – they’ve been through a lot, and they’ve been through it together. I’m not disagreeing with that,” Nicholette replied. “But just because their lives have been hard doesn’t mean that the world owes them anything. Life isn’t fair, after all.”

“Drop it,” Amy said suddenly, turning away from Nicholette and looking forward. “Just forget I said anything.”

The man of the group sighed uncomfortably and leaned back in his chair. After seventeen years of marriage, he’d learned that the best conversation to have with women who got like that was the one that was not had.


Travis craned his neck slightly to see over a couple of the other young Trainers. The tall, armored form of the phalanx soldier stood at the mouth of the tunnel, blocking a large portion of it with his bulk. There were murmurs and whisperings among the Trainers around him. Some were saying nothing, trembling with the occasional gulp. His attention was drawn in particular to one small-looking boy that was standing in front of him and appeared to be on the verge of tears. He gently pulled his arm out of Katrina’s possession and walked up toward him – but a brown-haired form beat him there.

“Scared?” Matt asked quietly.

The boy let out a whimper. “It’s too many people,” he muttered, shaking his head.

“…So what?” Matt asked. “They’re the ones watching you.”

“I know,” the boy uttered. “…It’s scary.”

“They’re the ones watching you – you’re living the dream right now, and they’re on the sidelines watching you because you’re that good,” Matt replied. “You made it here, didn’t you? You earned the right to be part of the show, and they paid their hard-earned money to watch.”

The boy, nearly a full head shorter than Matt, looked up at him, his eyes wide.

“Don’t let the crowd intimidate you,” Matt said simply. “We’re the reason they’re even here.”

Matt tapped the boy on the shoulder and the younger boy took a couple of deep breaths.

Right then, Travis heard a cheer erupt from outside. It was followed moments later by a fast-talking voice that sounded like nervousness channeled into resolve. The children began to murmur amongst themselves. Moments later, the soldier spoke up. “Quiet! Everyone needs to line up – ladies, up front here.”

“Why do we have to be separated?” was the query from Liza Flynn.

“Tradition – please don’t make this difficult,” the soldier asked. Liza glared mutinously at the soldier, and then made her way to the front. Arlynn followed her. Travis turned his eyes on Katrina, who nodded, unlatched herself from his arm, and joined the other girls at the front of the line. “Shortest to tallest, please. Same for you boys.”

Travis made his way toward the back of the tunnel, knowing that he’d be one of the taller guys in the tunnel. Brad, at nearly 5’10”, stood all the way toward the back, looking ever the same with his blonde, wavy shag and sunglasses. Travis and Matt got roughly to the same spot at the same time and stared at each other awkwardly.

“Urm…” Travis uttered.

“You’re an inch taller than I am,” Matt said.

“You slouch all the time,” Travis answered quickly.

“Your hair’s spikier,” Matt shot back. Travis rolled his eyes and positioned himself in between Matt and Brad. Matt looked over his shoulder, eyeing Travis with one green orb that could barely be seen in the relative darkness. “Heard something else interesting about the Tournament – the way they’re doing the matches.”

“What’s that?” Travis muttered.

“Just a little wrinkle – supposed to make things more interesting,” Matt answered. “I thought you’d have known about it by now.”

“Basically, there’s no first call or first attack,” Brad answered. “Both Trainers choose and send out their first Pokémon at the same time.”

“It makes things more fair,” Matt commented. “Usually, whoever picks second has a natural upper hand because he can already see what’s on the battlefield. Oh, and there’s a one-minute rule – once a Pokémon comes out onto the battlefield, you have to wait sixty seconds to switch out again unless there’s a knockout.”

“Interesting rules,” Travis murmured.

“I like them,” Matt replied. “I remember battling this one guy in a weird outfit once a couple of years ago. He’d switch Pokémon after literally every other attack. It was such a pain.”

“Quiet in the back,” the soldier said loudly. “You’ll have the whole night to talk when this is over.”

The children went silent, some of them (Liza’s voice was distinguishable in the murmur) muttering disapprovals at the soldier’s pushiness. All was quiet, however, when a voice clearly belonging to the king reverberated throughout the stadium. Its echoes found their way into the dark and quiet tunnel, where the young Trainers heard the speech:

“…These young people have shown their bravery as well. It goes without saying that they have likely faced one of the toughest roads that any class of Trainers has had to endure. This group traveled despite the chaos that transpired in the world around them. I feel no shame, in fact, in saying that, generations from now, this competition could be looked upon as the Tournament of the century. So without further ado, let us unite together and welcome…the Emerald Tournament Qualifying Class of 2013!!”

The stadium erupted. Travis thought for a moment that a bomb had gone off in the stadium’s center. The cheers and screams carried all the way into the tunnel, growing louder with every step he took. When he finally did emerge, he squinted for a moment – he hadn’t expected the lights here to be anywhere near this bright. His vision returned, and the first thing that came to mind was to look for his family and friends in the stands and wave to them in particular. He supposed they were somewhere in the lower deck.

The lower deck. Stadiums had decks now. He had seen the inside of the stadium a few days back, but he had never taken any time to visualize it completely full of screaming fans. Truth be told, it was a bit intimidating…but just a bit. How many people were in here? Forty thousand? Fifty? Where were all these people hiding the whole time? It didn’t seem like the Emerald Village should have been able to hold all of them…


“I don’t see them,” Madeline said, squinting and leaning forward.

“They’re right there,” Shiro extended two fingers out toward the arena. Madeline’s green eyes followed them, straight to Travis and Matt, who were second and third from Brad at the very left edge of the line.

Suddenly, a rustling sound startled the both of them.

“About time you got here,” Shiro uttered the first thing that came to mind. “You have any idea how freaking hard it is trying to save a seat in a place like – what is that??”

Nate looked at Shiro with a short of shell-shocked expression as he set a strange-shaped black bag down next to his seat. An Umbreon bounded into his lap and curled up there. He turned his head toward Shiro and replied, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“And now…” Elrik’s voice came over a loudspeaker that sent it throughout the stadium and brought the din of the crowd to a murmur. “Now, comes the most sacred moment of the celebration. The lighting of the twin torches has been a longstanding tradition of the Emerald League tournament for nearly a hundred years now.”

(Shiro, along with the rest of the crowd, turned as best they could toward the tunnel. Laid into the wall were two strange towers. The top of them had to be nearly a hundred feet high. Who was going to be able to get up there and light those?)

“The lighting of the first torch symbolizes a celebration of the past; the lighting of the second, hope for the future. For me, and no doubt for all of you, the tradition carries a special weight this year,” Elrik said. Suddenly the mood in the stadium became very somber indeed. “With as many people as are in the Emerald Coliseum this evening, there are no doubt nearly that many connections to the conflict that nearly tore us apart this past year. Most of you know someone who served in the war. To many of you, that someone was a parent, a son or daughter, a brother or sister, a husband or wife, a relative, a dear friend. Some of you are those people. You were perhaps forced to kill time after time – if not for the cause, then for the sake of your own survival.”

People began to gasp and point. Shiro focused on a long set of stairs and noticed a light. He turned his eyes toward one of the large screens and noticed it focusing on Elrik, who was walking slowly down the long flight of stairs, flaming stake in hand.

“Some of you lost those people, and your lives from here on in will never be the same again,” Elrik said, and the crowd went silent. “It is easy to say that the lost loved ones died as heroes, no matter what side they fought for, but those words are minimal comfort to those who mourn. Words are merely a crude bandage for the wounded hearts of those who remain here and have to live on with that immense loss.”

He reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Excuses benefit no one, so I will not make them. Empty words promising fast healing are just that, so I will not speak those, either. I do not know all of the answers. I do not know exactly what to do to dry every tear that has been shed in this stadium – in this nation.”

Nate watched as a girl emerged slowly from the tunnel. She looked up momentarily and put her hands to her chest, opened her mouth wide and began to sing.

Hold, hold high the banner beautiful,

Rise again,

Rise again…

“...Holy crap,” muttered Shiro, sounding astonished. “I had no idea she could sing like that.”

“Well, we don’t really know her that well, do we?” Madeline replied.

“Strange, the way the world works,” Shiro commented flippantly. “You look at her know, you’d never believe she was a child soldier—”

“Shiro,” Nate said loudly. His lips were tight. “Shut up.”

Shiro looked affronted. “Hey, wait just a second – I’m the reason you’re not somewhere in the cheap seats…”

“You shouldn’t speak so casually about dead people,” Nate said. His hands were to his mouth, and his eyes were shining as he stared straight ahead. “That part of her – of all of us – is dead now. The best thing to do is just…let it die.”

“Sure, just forget all of it and pretend it never happened, right?” Shiro uttered cynically. “It’s just that easy.”

“I didn’t say that,” Nate said defensively. “It helps, though, if you didn’t bring it up. Maybe the memories for you aren’t as painful as they are for other people…but just have some respect for those other people, alright?”

Hold until the victory is won,

Rise again…​

Elrik put his flaming torch to a spot at the wall. Flame ran up one of the towers and burst forth from its apex in spectacular fashion.

Here we stand, our banners stained with red,

Rise again,

Rise again,​

People began, unbidden, to stand. The sound of chairs and people moving filled the stadium for a few seconds until the vast majority of the Emerald Coliseum was on its feet.

From the ones who for their country bled,

Rise again,

Rise again,​

Travis looked down the line slightly. Leon’s face was stony but streaming with tears, and he wasn’t the only one. Several of the Trainers of both sexes had started crying silently. Brad had taken his shades off as a silent sign of respect, and Matt had his head toward the ground, his fists clenched and shaking.

All our labors from these weary hands…​

Her voice, ever haunting as it echoed through the near total silence, cracked at the end of a high note. Travis was looking down at his fingers. His throat tightened horribly and tears assembled at the corners of his eyes.

All to healing in this broken land,

As one we gather here, as one we’ll stand,

Rise again,

Rise again…​

The second torch was lit soon after.

“HOENN!!” a loud, top-of-the-lungs sort of shout came from some indeterminate place in the stadium.

“LONG LIVE THE KING!” came another cry.

The isolated yells turned into clusters of assenting shouts, and the shouts turned into cheers. It was the strangest sort of emotional catharsis Travis had ever seen. A few moments ago, the crowd was on the edge of bawling its collective eyes out. Now, everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs like this was indeed the greatest sporting event in Hoenn’s history. Travis did not join in. Elrik was saying something loudly, but Travis did not hear it. He only regained focus when he realized that everyone had been left to their own devices. He quickly looked for Katrina and found her hand in the crowd…forty or so people on the floor had swollen to several hundred in the matter of a couple of minutes.

“Who are all these people?” Travis grunted.

“Concert’s about to start up,” Nate’s voice came from behind Travis. He was carrying something on his back.

“What’s that?” Travis uttered. But Nate was too busy welcoming Avril into his arms. They stayed locked together for a moment.

“You were amazing,” Nate said into her ear. She smiled mistily and wiped her eyes with her hand.

“Ouch! Hey, what the hell?!” Shiro’s grunt came next. He came with Madeline’s hand gripping his wrist. One of them had just been shoved. He whirled around with some angry words toward someone explaining that it was ‘not that kind of concert’. Whatever the reply was, Shiro didn’t take it well, responding by equating his new acquaintance to a body part meant primarily for bathroom functions, condemning the person’s eternal state, and questioning the legitimacy of his birth – accenting all of the above with the use of some well-placed and very colorful adjectives. The person in the crowd said something indistinguishable, and considering the way this conversation was going, Travis was immensely thankful for that fact; Shiro responded by letting the jerk know he was ‘number one,’ and turned back toward his friends, looking thoroughly irritated. “I have just as much right to that space as he does, and I’m not the one elbowing people…don’t ask.”

“I won’t,” Travis sighed, turning around uncomfortably. At the end of a few seconds, he couldn’t help but give a laugh.

Nearly everything could change, but some things were just as liable to stay frozen in time. Madeline smiled nervously, too, when Travis turned around to look at her and Shiro.

He looked so happy that night. You could tell he wanted to bottle this moment up and keep it forever.

I couldn’t blame him.

I’m sure he understood better than anybody the pressure that would be on his shoulders in the next week or so. He had been there so many times before. But maybe that’s why he wanted to enjoy ‘tonight’ so much. ‘Tonight’, there was no competition – only friends, music, and the biggest party Hoenn had to offer. Maybe tomorrow, we’d go back and start to remember the many stops all of us made in getting here – but ‘tonight’ was for celebrating the fact that we had gotten here.

…Celebrating the fact that we were still standing, just broken down enough to be repaired stronger than ever.


END

Look at that, I finally finished the chapter. For me, this was ‘that’ chapter – the one that made me want to tear my hair out a little bit because it wouldn’t write itself, especially toward the end.

But the chapters are going to be full-contact from here on in. There are…quite a few battles to get through, you see. That’s good news for you guys, as according to the people that read my work, action scenes are what I do best. Thanks to everyone who voted, and even everyone who didn’t but still reads anyway.

- ;196; EM1
 

Air Dragon

Ha, ha... not.
Banzai! Banzai!

Let me get a Whoop, Whoop! Alrighty, my Easter Monday's been crap so far, hopefully, this will up the tone... :p

You know how I do, Buddy...

... and once again, you fail to let me down, pal!

You really did the pre-tournament arc justice, didn't you? Madeline and Travis making up, although i think Madeline still owes Travis one for the nether shot :p Hester was so cute! Now Crescent will have two foxy females to debate with! :p

Mariah when faced with Cliff was... nuclear. (despite being an understatement, there can't be another word for it, can there?) Not to mention Nicholette vs. Amy. Lots of confrontation starting up, and the league matches haven't even started.

Speaking of sparks flying, what about the Academy rookies in and out of the tournament, eh? Definitely red hot sparks flying there. More so if Lynn (?) makes a move on Matt. I don't think Mariah's too good at taking flirtation attempts right now.

Avril was pretty sweet (both her new look for the day and her solo) I wonder what Nate brought to the arena? Hmm...

Moving on to a syntax query and my fave scene:

“I’m happy for you.”


We're just gonna edit this and pretend it didn't happen. Again. :)

She smiled as she stood over her,

OK, I know Travis did the whole braid thing, but that was low... XD

Say it with me now: "Travis is a GUY!" :p

“Ouch! Hey, what the hell?!” Shiro’s grunt came next. He came with Madeline’s hand gripping his wrist. One of them had just been shoved. He whirled around with some angry words toward someone explaining that it was ‘not that kind of concert’. Whatever the reply was, Shiro didn’t take it well, responding by equating his new acquaintance to a body part meant primarily for bathroom functions, condemning the person’s eternal state, and questioning the legitimacy of his birth – accenting all of the above with the use of some well-placed and very colorful adjectives. The person in the crowd said something indistinguishable, and considering the way this conversation was going, Travis was immensely thankful for that fact; Shiro responded by letting the jerk know he was ‘number one,’ and turned back toward his friends, looking thoroughly irritated. “I have just as much right to that space as he does, and I’m not the one elbowing people…don’t ask.”

Good ol' Shiro. Always good quality when on form...^_^

All things considered, an awesome novel-er. Well worth every agonizing second of the wait! :)

Will have something ready for you by the end of the day. Consider it a little gift... ;)

THE GIFT:

Well, it's been almost a week, so it's not your birthday anymore. So shoot me.

How I got inspired to do this much, i'll never know... :p There's gonna be a lot of them, so hold on:

Let's start with an old art renewed.

"My mom... wants me to win the Tournament"

"I'm happy for you..."

"YOU *******!"

The teddy bear

"What? What's wrong?" (Reading this part again gave me a slight anime nosebleed XD)

Cliff looking a little surprised...

My bad if the colour scheme of things is a little off...and yeah, i suck at skin toning. Sorry.

And an Added bonus:

Hitmonzen

Scyple (I know i did it before, but i gotta add him in)

Arcidane and Arcidagr

The Kitide family

Voltyger and Volterror

Georyx

Anyways, from me to you :) Hope you had fun last week!

L@er... and Happy Birthday! ;196;;197;
 
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EonMaster One

saeculum harmonia
Chapter 73-2

Hello, readers!

So, I suppose your first question was, “Where the (expletive deleted) have you been?”

Well, in short, school got to be a bit rigorous…okay, maybe ‘rigorous’ is putting it a bit lightly. But I’m done with classes…actually, I’m done with classes for good. My graduation ceremony was yesterday afternoon. I graduated magna *** laude, which is pretty cool…

And I got a van as a graduation present. Which is pretty hilarious, seeing as anyone who knows me really well knows that I haven’t had time to get my learners yet.

Great news for all – I have the next two weeks essentially off from doing anything, and my home now has FIOS, which means I can get online at will. My summer will be relatively busy – I have an internship that essentially amounts to a full-time job as far as hours go.

Just to let you know, I’m still with you guys. Still writing and such. I don’t know if you’ll necessarily be able to count on two chapters a month from me anymore – funny thing about being a writer or doing anything creative is that inspiration and spare time have to line up for it to work. You have to feel like writing, and you have to have time to do writing. Part of the reason I’ve had a bit of trouble churning this one out is, I’ve been having a hard time getting those two to line up.

The other part is that the chapter’s effing enormous. So, here we go.

Chapter 73: The Burning Star of Littleroot​

October 9, PA 2013 – Emerald Coliseum, Evergrande City, Eastern Hoenn

A muttered oath bounced off the walls in the concourse of the Emerald Coliseum as Travis tore through the hallway. His destination: the Trainers’ locker room. Looking down at his watch, he swore again, lamenting his current situation. Katrina’s match, the tournament opener against Zack Troy, was in less than five minutes, and Travis, of course, had hoped to accompany her to the stadium and wish her good luck.

It goes without saying that this plan is harder to execute when one wakes up a half-hour before the scheduled start time.

With little regard for what would wait for him on the other side, he burst through the door to the locker room, panting, beads of sweat dripping down his face.

Katrina and her mother (dressed in designer clothing as usual) whirled around simultaneously. Nicholette pushed her oversized sunglasses up to her blonde-haired head, her face locked in a rather haughty expression.

“Look at that, Katrina,” she said. “He’s late.”

“I’m really sorry,” Travis said straight to Katrina, ignoring her mother for the time being as he walked toward her. “My alarm didn’t go off when I thought it would, and…”

“Really? Is that all?” Nicholette stepped in between Travis and her daughter. “Still…that’s not like you, Travis. I’ve known you since you were six years old, and you’re never late for anything if you can help it.”

“Well…it happens,” Travis sighed with a grimace. Nicholette was starting to annoy him now. What was her deal?

“ ‘It happens’? That’s it? But I’m sure, now that you two are so deeply committed to each other, you can start getting away with things…” Nicholette said offhandedly.

“Mom,” Katrina pleaded.

“Your match is starting – they’re calling you! Go!” her mother responded with raised tone. Katrina took a few steps toward the door, turned around (the announcer was announcing Zack Troy at the time) and spoke.

“I’m glad you decided to come anyway,” she said.

“Hurry up before they disqualify you,” Nicholette said loudly, not allowing Katrina to finish her sentence. Katrina looked put out for a couple of moments, and then opened the door and walked out briskly, leaving Travis and Nicholette in the locker room alone.

“…This is a switch,” Travis muttered, turning around and walking toward the door.

“You mind calling me that one more time so I can hear it?” Nicholette shouted at his back. Travis looked over his shoulder, using all the reserves of his willpower to keep from losing his temper.

“I said ‘switch’ – calm down,” he said, gripping the doorknob and turning it. He stopped.

“Weren’t you going? Don’t let me stop you,” Nicholette said smugly.

“Obviously, you can’t stand me all of a sudden,” Travis replied. “So…why the big change? What happened to being so excited about planning our wedding?”

“Wedding? Ha! Don’t make me laugh,” Nicholette answered. “Two years ago, Katrina was still a little girl. I was more than happy to go along with you two playing house, but now the game’s over.”

“You mind explaining that statement?” Travis asked, arms folded.

“Explaining? You’re half my age – I don’t have to explain a damn thing to you,” Nicholette replied sharply. “But I’ll humor you. Katrina needs to be a woman that can stand on her own two feet. Otherwise, what’s she going to do when you decide that there are more important things in life to deal with?”

“I wouldn’t do that to her,” Travis said, his mouth in a firm line.

“Of course you say that now,” Nicholette tilted her head. “But I know. You’re a Trainer, and a good one – probably better than my daughter, which wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t spent so long riding your coattails…what if you do become Champion this year? Obviously, you’ll be an entire continent away…”

“Don’t think I haven’t thought about that,” Travis answered calmly. “Both of us have.”

“I don’t hate you as a person – don’t get that impression,” Nicholette sat down on the bench. “I just want to save my daughter from the pain I went through…and that’s why I want you to stay away from her.”

A muscle in Travis’ jaw spasmed. There was simply no arguing with this woman.

“Fine,” he said, shuddering in fury. “If you want that so badly, I’ll leave. But she’ll never forgive you – I hope you know that.”

“It’s for her own good. She’ll forgive me,” Nicholette said as Travis made for the door. “I’m hoping…one day, she’ll thank me.”

Travis, standing there with the door ajar, looked over his shoulder again.

“Dream on.”

And he slammed it shut behind him.



The Trainers’ Lounge was open to the participants of the Tournament to watch their fellow competitors away from the hustle and the bustle of the arena itself.

Matthew Marius, drinking a Pecha Berry smoothie as he sat at a table and looked up at a big screen that he didn’t remember being there last night, hoped that his sister remembered that. She’d be the type to save seats – and defend them like an angry watchdog.

Katrina was in the West corner, elevated slightly above the arena itself, preparing to throw her first Pokéball. Zack Troy from Dewford stood on the other side, one foot perched on a railing as he made ready to follow suit.

(SLUUUUUUUURRPP.)

Katrina would win – there was no doubt in Matt’s mind about that. After all, she had every single opportunity to watch and learn from one of the best of their generation. He wished the ref would shut the hell up about the rules already – he knew all of them by heart, and he just wanted to see a battle. Besides, the quicker Katrina beat down Troy, the quicker Matt could get to his own battle, which was just a few matches away.

He’d taken the time out to meet Blair Holcroft. Maybe her personality was deceptive or all an act, but she appeared to him not much more than a flighty teenage girl that might have harbored a small crush on him. It was a bit galling, to be honest. At least Katrina got someone that was a good warm-up. If there was any consolation, it was that he’d get to battle Cliff in the second round.

“Welcome back to the opening match of the 2013 Emerald League Championships. This is Riordan Archer, here with Terry O’Connell, coming to you live from the Emerald Coliseum here in Evergrande City. The rules have been explained to both Trainers – first toss should be coming shortly,” the play-by-play commentator announced, coming off a Devon Corporation ad that featured the company’s new CEO, Alex Stone. Matt regretted not being able to meet Steven. From everything Travis and the others had told him, Steven Stone was a good guy.

“From what I’ve heard, Archie, Sasano took a year off from training to take care of some personal issues,” O’Connell, the color commentator, remarked. Matt couldn’t help but smirk. How diplomatic. “Zack’s a full year younger, but this is his second time in the Tournament after being knocked out in the first round last year, so he’s seen the big stage before.”

“First tosses are in the air, and we’re underway here at the 2013 Emerald League Tournament!” Archer said with a bit of extra enthusiasm. Matt sat at the edge of his chair. (SLUURRRRRPP!!)

Both balls hit the ground within split-seconds of each other and burst open. A couple of moments of flashing light later, one end featured a large, slow-looking red creature with a vacant expression in its eyes. The other side had a gray wisp of a creature wearing a necklace of sorts.

“And we’ve got our opening matchup – Sasano’s Misdreavus against Troy’s Camerupt!!” Archer shouted.

“That’s one thing some of our Hoenn natives will have to watch in this Tournament, Archie,” O’Connell added. “The several imports in the Tournament are not only all experienced, but you can count on them having access to Pokémon that aren’t native to the continent.”

Matthew looked even more intrigued now. He didn’t remember Katrina having a Misdreavus at any point.

“The referee signals, and the match is on!!” Archer yelled.


Zack Troy cocked his head, moving some of his stray black hair away from his eyes. Pointing at his opponent, he ordered, “Camerupt, start out with Ember!!”

Camerupt let out a grunt and spewed forth red-hot sparks from his mouth.

“Dodge them, Jade!” Katrina ordered decisively.

Jade danced around the flames as she moved toward Camerupt, giggling as she did so. Five seconds into the Tournament, the Ghost-type was having a ball.

“Ember again!” Troy shouted.

Another round of the red flames came straight at the Misdreavus, this time not missing by much. Jade barrel-rolled in midair to avoid the brunt of the damage, and by the time she was right side up again, the smile that had been on her face was gone. Camerupt steeled himself, the two stones that served as his humps shooting lava from his back. Jade approached with a screech, her red eyes glowing with murderous intent.

“Psywave!!” her Trainer shouted. Jade floated low, emitting streams of dark energy from her eyes. The beams hit and overtook Camerupt’s body, and the Fire-type grunted uncomfortably and staggered.

“Not a chance!!” Troy yelled. “Use Rock Slide, Camerupt!!”

A light blue glow overtook the Eruption Pokémon not long after Troy’s order. Something went off in Katrina’s brain.

“Damn!” she cursed. “Jade, watch out!!”

Jade looked up and saw a torrent of large rocks raining down on her like earthly hail. She screamed in pain as the boulders pelted her repeatedly, making nasty sounds of impact as they forced her to the ground.

“Hang in there…” Katrina muttered.

“<I…I can take it,>” Jade panted, the Rock-type assault finally over.

“Rock Slide again!!” Troy ordered.


“Points for originality, Zack,” Matt muttered sarcastically, drinking a bit more of his smoothie. “Then again, most of Camerupt’s physical attacks won’t do much against a Ghost-type like Misdreavus…”

“How’s she doing?” a boy about Matt’s age had appeared out of nowhere, sitting in a chair that had suddenly popped up next to Matt’s own, staring at the same screen.

“When’d you get here?” Matt murmured without thinking. “Never mind…you look a little like somebody **** in your cereal this morning. Lemme guess…woman trouble?”

“You could say that,” Travis answered tersely. He carried all the aura of an Electrode that could explode at the slightest provocation. “So…the match?”

“Well, it’s still early, if that makes you feel any better. It’s pretty even right now, but – oh, boy…


Jade and Katrina looked up again – this time around, the rocks were molten and on fire, falling toward the stadium floor like meteorites.


“No worries,” Matt said, watching the broadcast of the attack on the television. “She’ll just order Jade to dodge it and call another attack. Move-and-stick’s her M.O…right? She’s not moving. Why isn’t she moving?”

Indeed, Katrina stood there grimacing as Jade was hammered by flaming, molten lava. The burning rocks that didn’t hit the Misdreavus head-on exploded against the ground in magnificent fashion. Zack Troy and his Camerupt stood on the other side of the arena, looking satisfied with themselves as the two announcers attempted to make sense of the situation.

“And Camerupt hammers Misdreavus with a combination attack. That might be it for this battle,” Archer said.

“It didn’t look like the Trainer was ready for that one, Archie,” O’Connell replied. “Actually, it sort of looks like she froze up. Maybe it’s the nerves finally getting to her?”

“Doubt that,” Travis murmured through his teeth.

“Well, what, is she trying to throw the match or something?” Matt asked. “What the hell’s going on with you two?”

“I don’t know – ask her mother,” Travis replied bitterly. Matt decided he’d be better off not pressing the conversation any further, and turned his eyes toward the screen once again. There was a cloud of dust and billowing smoke where Jade had been. After several very tense seconds, she emerged from it, barely aloft and looking quite bruised.

“And it looks like Misdreavus isn’t done yet, but you gotta wonder, Terry, how much more can it take?” Riordan Archer asked his colleague over the airwaves.

“I’d say not much at all, Archie,” O’Connell answered. “My guess is that one more good attack will finish the battle.”


“<Okay…>” Jade panted, her breaths coming in short stabs. “<Is…that…enough?>”

“Should be,” Katrina murmured.

“What are you talking about?” Troy shouted. “Camerupt, finish this!! Eruption!!”

“Should’ve seen that coming,” Katrina answered. “Jade, use Pain Split.”

Jade’s eyes flashed and glowed white, then red. The same red glow overtook Camerupt’s body, and the Eruption Pokémon’s knees buckled. He appeared to be in intense pain, and trembled more violently with each passing second. Finally, it was over. Jade, who had been staying conscious by the use of sheer willpower, looked a bit healthier. Camerupt, on the other hand, was obviously injured.

Katrina took a sideways glance toward the stands. It was as she had predicted, or feared.

She was there.

He was not.

She looked back at Troy. “Use Psybeam.”

Jade blinked once. When she opened her eyes again, her pupils were gone, replaced by blank spaces that shimmered with otherworldly colors. This spectrum of light focused into a laser, and with a short recoil to the attacker, blazed forth across the stadium to the target, who was in no condition to dodge or defend himself.


“Geez! That’s it,” Matt sat back in his chair, watching the resulting explosion on the screen. When the dust cleared, predictably, Camerupt was on the ground. “That was risky – she must’ve known exactly how much Misdreavus could take. Otherwise…”

“Yeah, I know…” Travis murmured.

“Why do you sound so worried?” Matt asked. “It’s obvious she’s got a good handle on things. She’s different from most girls…”

“What do you mean?” Travis said.

“Mariah couldn’t have made a good Trainer,” Matt said. “She couldn’t bear to see her own Pokémon getting hurt. But it’s part of the territory. Nobody with half a heart likes it, but if you can’t stomach it at all, then you can’t battle.”

“Is that why she quit?” Travis asked.

“That’s one of the reasons,” Matt admitted. “But not the main one. The fact that they were both Pokémon Trainers, her and Rafael…that’s part of the thing she feels drove them apart.”

Travis’ face tightened in spite of himself.

“She still blames herself – still thinks that if she had tried to support him instead of being a Trainer herself, he wouldn’t have…”

“So you think that, too?” Travis asked, staring straight ahead. “You think women are just meant to give their whole lives to helping men succeed at what we’re doing?”

“Of course not,” Matt replied. “I think they should do what they want, period. But there’s a reason that there’s a woman behind most great men, I think. Some women just prefer it that way. I didn’t get that initially with Mariah. It didn’t occur to me that it made her happy to be there for me. It was one of my…many mistakes. Not to say that an independent woman that can stand on her own two feet’s a bad thing. I’d like to battle Sinnoh’s Champion someday. You ever heard of her?”

“ ‘Her’? Sinnoh’s got a female Champion?” Travis asked.

“Oh, yeah – she’s been there the last couple of years,” Matt answered. “Her name’s Cynthia…but – ouch, Hariyama didn’t last long…”

Travis looked up. The bulky, yellowish creature had gone skidding along the ground, the victim of another Psybeam from Jade, who was still battling.


“Eight…nine…TEN! Hariyama is unable to battle! Misdreavus is the winner!” the referee announced, pointing a red flag in Katrina’s direction.

Troy, looking flustered, returned Hariyama to his ball. His normally cavalier expression hardened for a moment.

He tossed his next Pokéball out onto the field. Its top side was blue, indicating an upgraded type of ball. It hit the ground and split open at the middle. The white light that shot forth from it formed into a peculiar creature – something like a giant insect. Its huge eyes and large, green wings placed it somewhere between creepy and imposing.

“A Dustox,” Katrina grimaced. “Best be ready for anything.”

“Psybeam, Dustox!” Troy ordered.

“Jade, counter with Psybeam!” Katrina answered quickly.


“Both Trainers have ordered Psybeam attacks!” Archer announced as the two spectral rays smashed into each other at the center of the stadium, flooding it with lights of every color. “The beams collide at midfield!”

“Mmm…no good,” Matt replied. “Katrina’s Misdreavus will be dead tired after two battles.”

“You’re not helping,” Travis commented tersely.

“Dustox are a dime a dozen because Wurmple are everywhere,” Matt commented. “Raised right, though, they can be a pain to get rid of.”


Jade floated backward, panting. The jewels on her necklace crackled.

“Time to play defense,” Katrina muttered to herself. “Use Double Team, Jade!”

“<Double Team…>” the Misdreavus replied almost robotically, splitting into three copies of herself.

“Only three of them? Damn…” Katrina grit her teeth.

“That was a waste of a move,” Troy replied. “Let’s end this, Dustox! Aerial Ace!!”

Dustox flew forward a couple of feet…then disappeared. Jade’s panicked, red eyes darted right and left. Then, a streak of white light appeared to the left of the three Misdreavus, sweeping through each of their bodies liked a slashing sword. Two of them disappeared. The third went flying into the air, screeching in pain.

“Jade!!” Katrina shouted, leaning over the railing as she watched the Ghost-type fall to the ground. Dustox blurred back into place, flying high, around the back of Troy’s platform, and then back in front of him inside the arena’s bounds.

“Six…seven…eight…nine…TEN! Misdreavus is unable to battle – the winner is Dustox!!” the referee announced, thrusting the green flag toward Troy’s side of the field.

Katrina relaxed herself. She was still in control.

“Good work, take a rest,” she said calmly, returning Jade to her ball. “Now, who’s next…?”


“And a good strategy there by Troy, using a sure-hit attack against Katrina, who scouts say tends toward quicker Pokémon that know Double Team,” Terry O’Connell commented.

“Sure, sure, stop kissing his ***,” Matt murmured, rolling his eyes.

“He’s still in something of a hole, though, Archie – that was only the first of her four Pokémon,” O’Connell went on. “If he doesn’t win this next battle, the match may be out of reach.”

“It depends on how Sasano responds,” Archer answered. “She’s still deciding…”

“Wonder if she has a Ground-type?” Travis and Matt turned around upon hearing a girl’s voice. Liza, her dark hair hanging wildly about her head, was standing directly behind them, observing the battle on the large screen. “She’ll probably use it if she does…”

“Not if she’s smart – that’ll be playing right into Zack’s hands,” Matt commented, looking toward the screen.

“Well, Ground-types are good against Poison, right, professor?” Liza said, leaning down, her hands on her hips.

“They sure are…but if you know that, you can guarantee that Zack does,” Matt answered. “That’s probably the reason why he taught Dustox Aerial Ace.”

Liza frowned. “Well, aren’t you a human PokéDex? Ugh…”

She turned on her heel and walked away.

“Nothing like having adoring fans,” Matt laughed, taking a rather short, noisy slurp from his smoothie and then slamming it back on the table, a disappointed look on his face. Evidently, it was empty now…

“That’s Liza, right?” Travis asked.

“I beat her at Dewford,” Matt replied. “She still hasn’t gotten over it. I forget who has her first, but I wouldn’t want to be them. Looks like Katrina went with…huh?”

“An Arcidane – Sasano sure likes her rare Pokémon,” O’Connell commented as the camera moved up to a close-up of the wolf-like creature.

“Not what I would have done, but we’ll see how it plays out,” Matt commented.


Arcus stamped the ground multiple times and let out a howl to the air, much to the approval of the fans, who seemed to be clamoring at his arrival.

“We’re sticking this out? Okay…” Zack Troy muttered. “Dustox, let him have it! Confusion!”

Dustox flapped his wings once. The air around him seemed to bend for a moment. Almost immediately, Arcus went skidding backward. His long claws created runs in the arena floor and his long fur stood on end as if a sudden gust of wind had knocked him backward.

“<Ouch,>” he snarled as he stepped forward, shaking his head quickly. “<That hurt.>”

“Aurora Beam!” Katrina shouted. Arcus bared his fangs, crouched for a moment, and then let loose a dangerous-looking beam of multicolored energy. Dustox had no time to dodge. He stood there, waiting to endure the hit.

“<Got him,>” Arcus laughed for a moment as a smoke cloud appeared around where Dustox was. Then, the smirk was wiped off his face. “<What? OH, F—>”

Arcus’ swear was cut short when Dustox came barreling in dangerously close to him. Arcus rolled out of the way, growled in rage, and took aim with an Aurora Beam at the ascending Bug-type’s back. The wing on Dustox’s back began to flap rapidly. Suddenly, the Arcidane found himself losing his feet and being carried skyward.

“<Hey, wha-wh…>” he uttered.

“Arcus!” Katrina yelled.

“Got him,” Troy chuckled. “Tackle!”

Dustox rounded the battlefield and went straight for Arcus, who was still airborne and slowly falling. The Cub Pokémon’s head lolled back slowly until he saw an upside-down picture of Dustox coming at him fast.

“Ice Beam!!” he heard Katrina’s order and inhaled as deeply as he could. The white, zigzagging beam soon followed. Dustox banked hard to avoid the attack.

“Crap…” Troy snarled, looking flustered for the first time in several moments. Arcus somehow managed to hit the ground on all fours, although with a stagger. Dustox picked up speed and made his way back to his Trainer’s side of the field.

“Another Ice Beam!!” Katrina ordered loudly. Arcus let his maw hang wide, ready to launch the attack for a second time.

“Again?” Troy grunted. “Dodge and hit him with String Shot!”

Dustox evaded one Ice Beam, then a second. He rolled out of the path of a third, firing some white, sticky substance toward Arcus’ feet.

“That was useless,” Katrina murmured.

“Now – Psybeam!!” Troy yelled.

“Arcus, move!!”

Arcus went to jump away as Dustox’s eyes began to glow with all the colors of the rainbow. Something was keeping him from lifting one of his legs – as if some sort of glue had bonded him to the arena floor.

BANG. The stadium went up with a great explosion, and a cloud of dust washed over Arcus and Katrina. Troy stood stoically on the other side of the field, waiting for the result of the battle. The blend of smoke and dust faded away, revealing Arcus, who was bruised but still on his feet.

“<Tch…>” the canine Pokémon grunted. “<That was not fun at all.>”

“Still standing…” Troy grunted to himself. “Damn!”

“That’s enough messing around,” Katrina muttered, her mouth in a firm line. “Arcus, use Blizzard!”


“And Dustox hits the ground encased in ice – I think this battle’s over,” Archer announced rather matter-of-factly as the television screen showed the Bug Pokémon plummeting to the ground like a brick, his entire body stiff as a board and an iridescent bluish-white.

“Dustox is frozen completely solid,” Terry O’Connell added, as if people listening wouldn’t have known this already. “

“And the referee gives the signal – the battle’s over,” Archer continued in his very steady, businesslike tone. “That means Zack Troy only has one Pokémon left. He’ll be sure to choose wisely.”

“If you’re Zack Troy, you don’t know which Pokémon your opponent has left to use against you,” O’Connell commented. “I’d expect to see him go with the strongest he’s got on his team and hope for the best when it comes to type matchups. He has to find some way to dig himself out of this hole, and if he doesn’t…”

“Well, if he doesn’t, he’ll be watching the rest of the Tournament from the sidelines once again,” Archer finished rather bluntly. “Hopefully, he has some sort of plan, because Sasano doesn’t look like she’s ready to roll over and hand him the match.”

“He’s not bad, he knows what he’s doing…” Matt commented. “…but he’s a bracket victim, so unless he can get to a point where his skills outmatch his really bad luck, he’s not going to get very far. His opponent last year in the first round ended up winning the whole thing before losing to Steven in the title match.”

“Some guys do their best and just can’t catch breaks. My dad was like that…a little bit,” Travis uttered.

“What do you mean, ‘a little bit’?” Matt asked.

“I think he worried too much about impressing my mom – they met when they were teenagers, too – and about whether or not he’d spend the rest of his life in my grandfather’s shadow,” Travis explained. “I want to think he’ll be in my corner if I win, but I wonder if my family will resent me a little bit…”

“I doubt it,” Matt answered. “Coming out here’s a lot of travel time just to see somebody lose.”


“Come on, just a little more…” Nicholette muttered from the stands, her shades-covered eyes laser-focused on the arena below. Arcus had just knocked Troy’s last Pokémon – a Sableye – for a loop. The black, gremlin-like creature hit the ground, looking weakened.

Meanwhile, the DePaul parents sat not far away, their toddler daughter bouncing up and down on her mother’s lap excitedly. Amy turned to her husband. “I didn’t think she’d be into these matches as much. She was never a Trainer.”

Travis DePaul II looked on blankly, probably thinking back to his own days as a Trainer. “She puts a lot of pressure on Katrina. She doesn’t understand how hard it is…”

“If it’s hard, Katrina sure has a funny way of showing it,” Amy commented, watching Arcus connect with another Blizzard attack and Sableye fall to the ground. “Looks like that’s it for her.”


“Game, set, match,” Matt commented over Archer’s announcement of Katrina Sasano as the winner of the match. Travis stood up, almost robotically. “You’re going to see her, right?”

“Nope,” Travis said, just as robotically. “I’m going to see if I can’t get a little more training in before tomorrow – unless you feel like you need more cheerleaders.”

“Whatever floats your boat,” Matt shrugged his shoulders as Travis walked off.


Katrina walked into the locker room, tearing the shades off her face. She saw her mother there to greet her and returned a small smile.

“You did a good job,” Nicholette said, putting her arms on the shoulders of her daughter, who was shorter than her by two inches, if that. “You’ve grown up so much, Katrina. I remember when you were just a little baby, and now look at you.”

She let her mother pull her into a hug, and used the opportunity to look over her shoulder. Someone who she thought would be there…was not.

“Mom,” Katrina repeated once or twice until Nicholette let go of her. “Where’s…”

“I don’t think he’ll be coming,” Nicholette replied.

“What? That’s not like him,” Katrina answered, frowning.

“He’s probably busy getting ready for his own match,” Nicholette said, sounding a bit more conciliatory. “Think about it – this was his childhood dream, wasn’t it? His grandfather was a Champion. He might have entertained you for a while, but now that his dream’s within reach, he’s not going to have time right now. You’d probably be best off letting him be. Now, let’s go. Lunch at the best place the Emerald Village has to offer – on me. How’s that sound?”

Katrina managed to put on a tiny smile again.


Several hours later, Travis was staring at the vast expanse that was the Victory Road central cavern. Matt was probably having his match as he stood here, thinking – then again, knowing Matt, the match was probably over already.

“What should I do…?” he muttered. He did not know what would hurt more. Should he leave things alone? Or try to force the issue as her mother did her best to drive a wedge between them? The last time he had been so confused was when he woke up to the news that Matt was probably dead. He wished Angel were with him. She had been there since the beginning, and understood him likely every bit as much as Katrina herself did. He cared for each of his Pokémon, but he had a special bond with her, and there was no denying that. What would happen to her? If he and Katrina were forced apart, would the same thing happen to Angel and Crescent?

And what about baby Hester?

A part of him deeply regretted entering the Tournament. If he had known that it would cause this much chaos, he wouldn’t have done it. But now that he was here, he couldn’t very well throw in the towel now. He would never forgive himself. He believed – no, he knew – that he was one of the best at the Tournament, and he knew that nobody wanted to win more than he did. If he just did that – just won outright – all the troubles and adversities, the battles and the forces that threatened to crush him from without and within…

All of them would be as vanishing scenery in a rear-view mirror, and he would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had been victorious.

The next several hours were a formless soup of events that blurred into one another. He faintly remembered small details like exiting the cave (ironically, without doing much training at all), returning to the Pokémon Center, eating near but not with his friends and family, hearing about Matt’s sound defeat of Blair Holcroft using only his Blaziken, leaving the table to go upstairs, falling into bed…

The thoughts about his future turned into dreams of only the most extreme circumstances, both good and bad. Somehow he was too exhausted to awaken either in delight or distress. It was as if his body knew the importance of the day ahead, and dared not rob him of a second of his needed slumber. In fact, after a while, he ceased to dream at all and enjoyed the most peaceful, restful sleep possible under the circumstances.

What seemed like five seconds later, the cry of a robotic Chansey awoke him…then the blur started again.

As he showered, brushed his teeth and hair, and slipped on his clothes, one needle of a thought penetrated his numb consciousness – he had to get to the stadium. Little else was important. If he ate much, he did not remember. A thought flashed through his head on his way to the Coliseum that Angel was not with him – he had decided not to use her until the second round.

Now, he was in the locker room, waiting for his name to be called.

When it was, the call did not come from the announcer.

It came from someone opening the door behind him.

He whirled around, thinking for a wild moment that it could have been Katrina, but this was quickly debunked when a pair of adults came into the door. Travis hoped that his split-second expression of disappointment hadn’t been too obvious.

“Oh, good, I was worried they might have called you out already,” the woman said quickly, sweeping past her husband and crushing her son in a tight embrace.

“Ouch – Mom…” the boy tried once to resist and then resigned himself.

“He won’t make it to his match if you suffocate him, Amy,” the man said steadily. Travis looked a beat higher. Perched on his neck and enjoying herself thoroughly was little Kylie, who was reaching for her older brother, babbling repeatedly.

“Twa…”

“Hm?” the father looked up at his little daughter, who was still reaching for the boy.

“Twa…”

“Oh, Kylie!” Amy was in tears. “Honey, she’s trying to say his name!”

“Let me hold her,” Travis requested. His father promptly lifted the girl off his broad shoulders, giving a sigh of relief as he handed her off to his son, who immediately started having his face pulled. “O-ow…Kylie, ouch…”

“Kylie, don’t do that!” the shout came, not from Amy or her husband, but from a little girl in the doorway who was standing there with her tiny arms folded across her chest.

“Anhje? What are you doing here?” Amy asked, as Travis sat down on the bench with Kylie in his arms.

“Daddy, hurry!” she turned back toward the door. Moments later, a tall man with dark blond hair emerged from the doorway.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Sander Brennan said nervously. “Anhje insisted.”

“It’s okay,” Travis replied with a smile. Anhje skipped over to the bench, and sat right next to Travis, leaning against him and trying to put her arms around his waist. Kylie saw her and started to flail and fuss, swinging and grabbing at Anhje’s head until –

“EEK!!”

“Kylie Michelle!!” Amy shouted, yanking the little girl out of Travis’ arms. She reached back for her brother and began to cry. “Stop it!!”

Meanwhile, Anhje sat on the bench, her face red and streaming tears as her hands groped for her scalp, where Kylie had gotten a handful of her extremely long, golden hair and had given a hearty pull. Travis knelt down and hugged her, not knowing what else to do.

“Your sister’s mean,” she sniffled.

“She’s just a baby, Anhje,” Sander tried to explain. “She doesn’t know any better.”

Anhje didn’t seem to be convinced; she returned Travis’ embrace nonetheless. He stood up and turned toward the door.

“We should probably try to get back to our seats before the match starts,” he heard his father comment. “Good luck, guy. We’ll be rooting for you.”

“Yeah,” Travis said a bit blankly, standing in front of the door as he watched everyone leave.

He took a deep breath. It flitted across his mind briefly, the thought that this was his first time in a tournament this big. But he had people that were in his corner. That was enough. A pang of sadness hit him as well – normally, Katrina would have been here to give him a few words of encouragement and a good luck kiss. He waited there at the doorway several seconds, a part of him wildly thinking that she could come storming in the door at any moment, cherry blossom hair flying behind her and a tired but satisfied look on her face.

That, of course, never happened. With a sigh of disappointment, Travis pushed the door open, making his way to the entrance tunnel.

Travis felt strange. It was as if his mind, will, and emotions were all at war with each other, refusing to reconcile. In his mind, he knew that he couldn’t give anything less than his best at this match if he wanted to win. He just wasn’t sure if he could will himself to do that, given everything that had happened. As much as it galled him, he had to consider the possibility that he might have just been burned out.

But he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he simply gave up at this juncture.

At the same time, he’d rather be a former Trainer with her than a League Champion without her.

Was this life’s way of telling him that he couldn’t have everything he wanted?

He wasn’t minimizing his dream – much less because of all he put himself through, and all he put her through – to get here. Giving up – even if it was, in his mind, to save their relationship – would be no way to thank her.

So, that was it.

He was going to go out and win this match, regardless.

As the announcer signaled his presence over the speakers, he walked out of the tunnel tall and straight, his resolve to win stiffening with every step. The rest of the crowd disappeared – he looked straight to the section where he knew his friends and family were sitting. He couldn’t see faces, so he looked for hair colors. He didn’t have to look far. In the front row were a couple of blue heads, a couple of blond ones, a couple of brown ones, and one red one towering above most of the others.

He leapt into the platform, which promptly raised itself several feet above the arena. Directly across from him was his young opponent, Leon Kavanagh. His arms were at his sides clenched in fists, and his eyes were hidden by his dark red bangs. The referee went on to explain the match terms, and toward the end of this explanation, Leon finally looked up, and Travis stared back with the inescapable feeling that Leon was not playing around. Even before the battle started, the stops were already out.

Travis selected his Pokémon at random. He might as well have done so – it wasn’t as if he’d know Leon’s selection and be able to pick based on that. Besides, he had just as much faith in any one Pokémon on his team as he did the next, and he got the feeling that Leon was the same way. Even Matt had seemed impressed by this young rookie, the way he talked about him. This match was going to be good.

“Begin!” he heard the referee shout, and launched his Pokéball into the air. It and the one belonging to his opponent both hit the ground within seconds of each other, and burst open. With a small twitch of the mouth, Travis saw his ball hit the front of the platform and fall to the ground again. He’d have to retrieve it later.

A small, bluish form materialized on Travis’ side of the field. The creature on Leon’s side was larger, sporting mainly white fur with the exception of violently red stripes across his body and one of his eyes.

The second figure, initially on two feet, bent over onto all fours and began to circle the arena slowly. Meru mirrored his movements, bluish-green eyes following her opponent intently. The entire crowd waited with bated breath for the release of tension…to see who would blink first.

It was Zangoose, who leapt at Meru, claws bared. The Cub Pokémon leapt out of the way, but Zangoose was hot on her heels, snarling as he went. He eventually caught up and passed the Kitide, who tried to turn on a dime, but skidded to a halt, smacking up against the larger creature’s white belly. She looked up to see Zangoose’s expression of fierce anger.

“<Oh, n—>” she uttered.

“Zangoose, use Slash!” Leon called suddenly.

Meru was at point-blank range – there was no time for her to dodge.

WHAM.

Meru disappeared behind Zangoose’s claw for a split-second, then went flying. She caught air time, but managed to right herself in the air with tremendous body control. Travis saw an opening.

“Double Team, Meru!”

About six Merus split from the spot where she had been, all of them landing on the ground around Zangoose, grinning toothily.

Zangoose snarled in frustration, looking right and left.

“Quick Attack, Zangoose!!” Leon shouted. Zangoose chose a target and then took off after it. He lowered his shoulder into...

“An afterimage…” Travis muttered. The four other clones blurred out of sight, leaving Meru to slide in behind Zangoose.

“Zangoose, behind you!” Leon screamed.

“Water Gun!” Travis yelled in reply. Zangoose whirled around and caught a high-pressure jet of fury on the chin, looping through the air. With a crash, he landed on his back, snarling.

“<Ugh…done already?>” Meru simpered as she trudged toward him. “<You’re no fun at all.>”

“<Look at that, she’s got a sense of humor,>” the Zangoose rolled over and got to his feet, staring daggers at his smaller opponent. “<We’ll see who’s laughing when I tear you limb from limb.>”

“<You’ve got way too much mouth,>” Meru answered smugly.

“Quick Attack,” Leon ordered. Zangoose clawed at Meru. She dodged, putting some distance between them. The Cat Ferret Pokémon followed up with a shoulder charge. Meru rolled out of the way. Zangoose landed hard on his side, but was able to roll to his feet. Meru bounded away again.

“Water Gun, Meru!” Travis yelled. Meru launched the attack immediately afterward.

“Block it, then use Crush Claw!!” Leon roared. Zangoose raised a hot-white claw toward his head. The Water Gun smashed up against the creature’s forearm, which trembled as it struggled against the pressure of the attack. Eventually, Meru’s assault broke, and Zangoose lowered his claw. He charged, swatting Meru away like a fly. The Kitide slammed into the ground and rolled several times. She came to a stop rather abruptly and, for a moment, did not move.

“Damn,” Travis snarled through his teeth.

“ONE…TWO…THREE…” the referee had started to count.

“That’s one down,” Leon sighed.

“…SIX…”

Meru started to struggle. Trembling with the effort, she stood to her feet.

“EIGHT—UP!!” the referee shouted, signaling that the count had been broken.

Meru let out a short, clipped grunt, and shut her eyes tight, making use of a short string of words (the only printable one being ‘ouch’) to describe her pain.

“Can you still fight?” Travis asked.

“<Would I have bothered getting off the ground if I couldn’t?>” Meru snarled. “<Damn it, my ears are ringing…>”

She looked straight up at Zangoose and began to tremble furiously. Her body seemed to be lighter and fuzzier, but maybe that was just a trick of the light…

“<No…stop it…>” she choked. “<Don’t…>”

She began to glow for a moment. Then, the light faded.

“Zangoose, there’s another opening!! Use Slash!!” Leon yelled. The white beast fed off his Trainer’s growing aggression and went in for the kill.

“Block that claw with Bite!” Travis commanded promptly. Meru opened her mouth…

WHACK.

“What?” Leon grunted.

“<YOU…>” the Zangoose snarled, shutting his eyes in pain as he tried to push his hand through the force that had stopped it. All this did, however, was allow Meru’s fangs to tear further into the skin of his bleeding forearm. She had trapped it between her powerful jaws and was holding on tightly.

“Crunch,” Travis said simply. A moment later, Zangoose raised his head to the heavens and let out a roar, his wide and his pupils narrow with pain.

Leon was undeterred. “You’ve got two arms, Zangoose! CRUSH CLAW!!”

“Not good,” Travis muttered to himself. “MERU, MOVE!!”

…continue…
 

EonMaster One

saeculum harmonia
Chapter 73-2

~~~ *** ~~~​

The Kitide released the mangled limb and leapt backward immediately. A hissing sound – like water poured over burning coals – was perceptible amid a din of shouts as Zangoose’s signature attack sizzled through the air, missing Meru’s face by a mere split-second.

Geez, the blue-haired Trainer thought to himself in the resulting lull. That could have been bad.

;384;​

Katrina flicked her fork awkwardly, rolling a pea around her plate. Her free hand cupped her face as she leaned on it languidly, taking no notice of anything else in the nearly empty restaurant.

“Why aren’t you eating?” a saccharine voice asked insistently. Katrina didn’t bother looking up.

“Not hungry,” she murmured.

“You need your strength,” the same sweet voice replied. “You should know better than I do, how much Pokémon Training takes out of the Trainer, too…”

Katrina didn’t reply to her mother’s comment.

“I know you’re hurt,” the sweet voice said softly. “This is exactly why you need me here to keep your focus.”

“Since when?” Katrina uttered. “I’ve been able to keep my focus just fine on my own.”

“That’s not true,” Nicholette replied calmly. “You’ve been relying on that boy.”

“You can’t even call Travis by name now? What the hell is wrong with you?”

SLAM. Nicholette had slapped her hand on the table, and now she leaned over it, one of her long nails right between Katrina’s eyes.

“Listen – I’m your mother. Don’t you dare talk to me like that,” she said, her voice quavering with rage. “You think you know who you’re screwing with – I’ll have you taken out of this Tournament and drag you straight home!”

“Don’t make me laugh,” Katrina snapped. “You want to go home even less than I do.”

“You’re only proving my point,” Nicholette said, drawing back her hand and clenching it into a fist. “You never talked any old way to your elders – because I didn’t raise you like that. Then, he got a little power and started talking down to me, and you did, too.”

“Did it ever occur to you that he just doesn’t like you very much?” Katrina replied. “I wonder why that is?”

“Don’t start going on about how he cares for you so much,” Nicholette laughed. “He’s probably winning his battle right now, going on with life…look at me when I’m talking to you…”

Katrina had folded her arms and turned her head elsewhere.

“Katrina, you’re acting like a child,” Nicholette sighed. “Pouting and folding your arms like that.”

“Well, so are you,” Katrina replied. “The fact that you and Dad’s marriage has fallen apart and your daughter has someone who she loves, and who really, truly, loves her…you can’t handle it.”

“I can’t believe you, Katrina,” Nicholette said, pounding the table and getting to her feet. “I took you from the scrap heap of society. How well do you think you would have done for yourself, growing up in that overcrowded orphanage – or, even worse, in a back alley with your birth mother? If it weren’t for the fact that she had to sell herself on the streets to keep food on her own table, you’d have never been born. She was barely older than you are now, wasn’t she? A child from a poor family with a baby of her own! The next time you want to mouth off to me, you’d damn well better remember who saved you from that kind of lifestyle!!”

“All out of the goodness of your heart, right?” Katrina shot back immediately, standing up herself and making to walk past her. “You wanted a doll baby that you could dress up in fancy outfits and control…and I thought you woke up, but I guess I was just kidding myself.”

“YOU UNGRATEFUL *****!!” Nicholette screamed, whirling on Katrina before she had a chance to react. She hit her daughter with an open palm, so forcefully that it sent the younger girl staggering into a table. Both table and girl crashed to the ground, along with the accompanying chairs. The barkeep stopped dead, midway through scrubbing a table, with an expression of utmost shock on his face. Nicholette, looking at her hand, seemed to take a moment to realize what she’d done. She looked at her daughter, who was sprawled on the ground, her pink hair covering all but a portion of her forehead, on which was a cut from the fall, dripping blood across her forehead. She slowly reached out for her daughter, a ragged breath of regret escaping her lips. The girl turned over, her eyes missing their pupils and trailing white light down the sides of her face. Nicholette felt herself lifted from her feet for a split-second…

BANG.

She went flying, clipping a table and twisting violently in mid-air before landing face-first on the ground and skidding to a stop.

Katrina staggered to her feet, holding her bleeding forehead. Then she took off running, as fast as she could, crying loudly on the way.

“Hey!” the barkeep shouted. “Get back here! Who’s going to pay for this damage?!”

;384;​

Meru leapt over Zangoose, using his back as a springboard as she avoided his attack. Zangoose rolled to the ground. A black ball of energy formed near his mouth, and he launched it a Meru, who was just landing. She let out a shriek as the ball of energy exploded in her face, sending her flying backward once again.

“END THIS BATTLE!” Leon yelled, his eyes narrowing with each passing second as he channeled his momentum into further aggression. “USE CRUSH CLAW, ZANGOOSE!!”

Travis snarled. He opened his mouth to order Double Team, but something happened.

A twinge in his stomach – or his heart?

A sensation of a burst of amazing but familiar power, and an acute sense that something was wrong.

He put his hand to his chest…why?

What was that?

“EIGHT…NINE…TEN! Kitide is unable to battle! The winner is Zangoose!” the referee’s announcement refocused him immediately. He grimaced, angry with himself. He had let the strange sensation overwhelm him, and it had taken his focus off the battle. He’d already told himself he’d need a hundred percent to beat this kid, so why was his mind wandering? He swore at himself and returned Meru to her Pokéball.

“Sorry,” he muttered, putting it back on his belt. He studied the battlefield. Zangoose was panting a bit, obviously winded from the previous battle. Even if he had won, the white beast had very little energy left to offer. “Next up…”

He threw his next Pokéball and from it emerged his Absol.

“<I sense defeat in your future,>” the one white beast said calmly, drawing a snarl from the other.

“<You’re full of yourself, aren’t you?>” Zangoose shot back.

“Well, if you’re going to attack, then bring it on!!” Leon yelled.

“Fine, then,” Travis answered. “Grim, hit him with your Shadow Ball.”

Grim opened his mouth and a ball of dark energy formed. With a snarl, he shot it at Zangoose, who simply stood there. The energy ball overtook him for a moment, and then went…through his body.

“What the –” Travis grunted. “Is that an afterimage?”

Grim began looking left and right for the sign of the real Zangoose. He looked forward. Zangoose was coming, fast, in a slight arc off to Grim’s left flank.

“Crush Claw, Zangoose!” Leon ordered.

“One of his arms is injured – the attack’s coming from your left!” Travis shouted.

The next several seconds played out just as Travis had predicted. Zangoose leapt into the air, his left claw glowing a bright white. The Absol turned around and looked up.

SNAP.

At the last moment, Grim bared his fangs and caught Zangoose’s good claw within his jaws.

“That Crush Claw’s starting to get on my nerves,” Travis muttered. “Use Razor Wind!!”

“Razor Wind?” Leon gasped.

Zangoose began to hover in midair, suspended only by Grim’s inexorable hold on his left arm. Dust began to surround them and circle them quickly.

“Zangoose!!” Leon yelled desperately. “Move!!”

After several seconds, Grim, with a nod of the head, hurled Zangoose into the air. Carried a bit by the winds, the Cat Ferret Pokémon began to fall as the whirlwind died down. He flailed in midair, dropping back into the Absol’s line of sight.

“Now,” Travis ordered. Grim flicked his neck, and the glowing crescent on his head produced an even larger one in midair. The sickle of energy made a beeline right for Zangoose’s falling body. The air distorted as the energy made contact, and seconds later….

“AARGH!” Leon Kavanagh fell to the ground as his Pokémon was slammed forcefully into his own Trainer’s platform with bone-crunching impact. Several feet below, Zangoose’s body lay flattened against the face of the wall. (“TEN!!”)

“That should get to him,” Travis murmured to himself.

“<Was that too much?>” Grim asked.

“Nope,” Travis answered, a glint in his blue eyes. “Just enough.”

Leon returned Zangoose to his ball. Travis expected to see a look of desperation or at least concern. What he saw instead, though, was a confident smirk.

“So you like to hit hard to freak out your opponents, huh?” he chuckled. “Well, you can’t hit what you can’t see, so good luck with this one. GO!”

The next Pokéball Leon threw revealed a small creature with yellow and black coloration. It was some sort of giant bug.

“That’s a Ninjask,” Travis commented. “It’s fast, but we can definitely see it.”

“You can see it now,” Leon corrected him. “GO! Agility!!”

Ninjask stayed right where he was, wings beating so furiously they were no longer visible.

“Use Bite!” Travis yelled. Grim darted forward, his fangs bared. He leapt toward the hovering insect and snapped his maw shut upon…

Nothing.

“Nobody home,” Leon chuckled as Grim landed, his head on a swivel.

“GRIM! RIGHT SIDE!” Travis yelled. Grim turned slowly.

With a snarl and a whimper, the Dark-type went to the ground, a spurt of red bursting forth from his face. He jumped back to his feet, a long cut now visible between his eyes. His head bounced from right to left again looking for his opponent.

“Fury Cutter, again!” Leon shouted.

“<Can’t see him…>” Grim muttered, his head still turning quickly. Suddenly, the large, white beast fell to the ground. Red blossomed from a long slash going lengthwise down his back.

“He gets faster as the battle goes on, doesn’t he?” Travis murmured to himself. “Damn!!”

“Fury Cutter, until he can stop it!” Leon yelled again, his eyes wide.

Travis grit his teeth as he watched his Absol cut down…

Again…

And again…

And again…

Grim reeled sideways to the ground, unable to handle any more damage.

“Absol is unable to battle!” the referee announced after several moments.

“I know that already,” Travis snarled in annoyance, returning Grim to his ball. “Gotta match that speed somehow…got it.”

Travis’ next Pokémon was the blue-and-black, panther-like Electric-type that was by far the fastest on his team.

“Raiden, that Ninjask is fast,” Travis explained. “Really fast.”

“<As fast as I am?>” Raiden asked.

“Maybe,” Travis replied with a smile. “Why don’t we find out?”

“A Voltyger…” Leon uttered. “If I’d been able to catch one of those, I’d have the fastest team in all of Hoenn.”

“Kick this battle up a notch!” Travis shouted. “Use Agility!”

Raiden took a step forward and then disappeared.

“What the heck?!” Leon yelled.

“Quick Attack, Raiden!!” Travis shouted. The electric blue Electric-type slid into view right near Ninjask, who had slowed down enough to be visible.

“Double Team, Ninjask!” Leon shouted. The Ninjask split into no less than a dozen copies – none of them remotely near each other on the battlefield. Raiden obliterated one and then slid to a stop on the ground, surrounded by large, black insects whose buzzing drowned out the buzzing of the excited crowd.

“That’s ridiculous,” Travis grunted, gritting his teeth. “Raiden, Thundershock!!”

Raiden stood up straight and began charging electricity. A bluish-white bolt of lightning zigzagged forth from his body and through one of the afterimages.

“Damn – missed it,” the blue-haired Trainer sighed. “Raiden…stand still – hold your ground!!”

“<Stand still? If you say so…>” Raiden uttered, planting himself into the arena floor with a dubious expression on his feline face.

“Use Double Team again!!” Leon ordered.

Now there was an entire swarm of Ninjask scattered around the arena…some right, some left, some high, some low.

“That’s not overkill at all,” Travis replied, folding his arms. “If you’re coming, then come on!!”

“Fine, then,” Leon snarled. “Ninjask!! Use Slash!!”

The buzzing became an overwhelming drone as an army of insects descended upon the small, black creature in the center of the stadium.

“Swat ‘em all down,” Travis said firmly. “Shock Wave, Raiden.”

Raiden began to glow an electric-blue that matched the stripes on his sable coat. The battalion of Ninjask, sensing danger, began to stop short.

“Damn! Ninjask, pull back! Pull back!!” the young, red-haired rookie yelled.

“Too late,” Travis said, his eyes flashing. “FIRE!”

Raiden raised a roar to the heavens and fired an electric-blue ball of energy. The sphere crackled and hummed as is rose into the air and hovered, pulsating with pent-up power. A ring of crackling light burst forth from the center of the arena. Leon shielded his face with one hand and one of his ears with the other, as the resulting explosion let of a tremendous thunderclap.

Once the light faded, the battlefield was emptied, now holding only wafting smoke, a proudly standing Voltyger, and the browned and defeated Ninjask that lay buzzing weakly on the floor several feet away from him.

“Ninjask is unable to battle!” the referee soon shouted to the crowd. “Voltyger is the winner!”

Leon let out a sigh and returned Ninjask to his ball.

“I’m going to make you a guarantee,” the boy said to his older counterpart. “Your Voltyger won’t win this next battle.”

“Big words,” Travis replied. “Let’s see if you can back them up.”

“You’re the one that asked for it,” Leon told him. “Golem!!”

“Golem?”

He was large.

He was round.

He was made of solid rock.

The huge boulder creature let out a roar to the heavens after arriving on the battlefield in ground-shaking fashion.

“Uh-oh,” Travis whispered to himself. Judging by Raiden’s expression, he was probably thinking the same thing. “Looks like we’re gonna be on the defensive this time.”

“Let’s teach these guys a thing or two about brute force,” Leon said. “Show him your Rollout, Golem.”

Golem’s head and limbs disappeared into his boulder body. The boulder began to roll in place, making a grating sound like screeching tires. He shot forward, as if fired from a cannon, straight at the Voltyger. Raiden had the presence of mind to dive out of the way before being flattened. Travis grit his teeth. He’d only met a few Trainers as crazy as he was – crazy enough to think that the Championship was his to lose and that all he had to do was to reach out and grab it…and each one of them, to a man, had pushed him to his limit.


“It looks like the two combatants have reached a stalemate,” Riordan Archer’s voice commented, coming from the small screen hanging from the far wall of the mostly white hospital room. “Golem can take almost any attack Voltyger’s throwing at them, but DePaul’s Voltyger is so fast and elusive that Golem can’t hope to land any sort of counterattack.”

“Y-yeah, now, this is just my opinion because I’m not down there and I don’t know what’s going through DePaul’s head,” O’Connell remarked, accenting his disclaimer with well-placed stammers and pauses, “but he’s going to have to switch out. His Voltyger’s already gone through one battle and, at those speeds, he’s sure to tire out well before Golem. Perhaps he’s afraid of showing his entire hand too early, but any well-formed Pokémon team has to have something that matches up better.”

Kelly tried to stare at it. The Nurse had assumed that he wanted the match put on against his wishes, then she had left to tend to other patients. He tried looking away and found that he could not. Then he tried forcing himself to watch…but it hurt too much.

He could have been in a match just as good as that one.

He should have been.

Things should not have ended like this…

A defeat in the arena? Possibly…probably. But worse even than defeat was the feeling he lived with – the feeling of being cheated…

Every time he saw it, bitterness ate away at his insides like a cancer.

He averted his gaze from the television (“Earthquake! Looks like Voltyger won’t be dodging that one – here comes the referee with the count…”) and turned his eyes to the Teddiursa doll sitting placidly on his chest, its beady black eyes staring at him innocently.

All of a sudden, a fire went coursing through him. It came like a rushing wave, too hard and too fast for him to control. All in one moment, he raised his good hand, roared a vibrant oath, then flung the stuffed toy across the room. He watched the defenseless bear doll slam into the screen above, barely disturbing it (“DePaul shows his Sceptile. It’s been spotted in several of his Gym Battles and is on file as one of the strongest known Pokémon in his team...”) as it fell to the ground with the thud. As Kelly had almost predicted, fast, almost panicky steps followed his racket-making. Into the doorway strode a young nurse, breathing hard and more white-faced than usual.

“What’s going on? Are you in any pain? What’s the matter?” she asked quickly.

“Turn it off,” Kelly snarled, looking away from the screen. “Just turn it off.”

Archer was cut off mid-sentence (“Sceptile launches its—”) by a brief, high-pitched squeak.

Then…silence.

“Is there anything else?” the nurse’s voice asked.

“No…” Kelly replied in a hollow voice. “Just go away.”

“Is it okay if I come in?” another young female voice sounded, followed by a couple of weak knocks. “Kelly?”

“I don’t care,” Kelly murmured. “As long as that TV’s not on, I don’t care.”

“That’s fine,” the nurse’s voice replied. “If you need anything else, anything at all…”

The door shut. Kelly’s eyes stayed turned toward the wall.

“Kelly?” the same girl asked uncertainly. “Kellen.”

“What?” the boy answered, a hint of the rage still on his voice. Hardly anyone but his parents called him ‘Kellen’ – and that was when they were annoyed with him.

A trail of black hair flitted briefly through Kelly’s field of vision.

“You dropped this,” Kelly found the Teddiursa doll thrust back into his chest. His eyes started burning. He turned his head so that he was facing the door again. “What’s…? Why won’t you talk to me?”

Kelly shook his head, his lips drawn painfully as he choked on the swelling lump in his throat. The corners of his eyes started to prickle.

“Do you want me to turn on the match?” the girl asked.

“NO!” Kelly shouted, before she could even finish the question. “Don’t…”

“Why not?” she questioned.

“It…it was boring,” Kelly muttered – a full-out lie. It had been one of the best matches he had ever seen.

“You think you should be out there,” she said softly.

“Yeah…? Is that wrong?” Kelly shot back, his voice starting to rise.

“N-no, not at all,” she stammered. “I wish you were out there.”

“To hell you are,” Kelly snapped bitterly. “I don’t need your fake pity, Jadyn. I’m strong enough – I can handle this on my own! I always have…”

“This isn’t like you at all,” Jadyn replied, sounding concerned.

“How in the hell do you know?” Kelly shouted back, so loudly he thought for a moment his throat might tear. “I gave up everything – everything! Just to get this one opportunity. It was always one thing or another. First, I was sick and I’d never be strong enough to travel. Then, I didn’t have the right pedigree. Then, I wasn’t smart enough. One thing after another after another. I gave up friends, spare time after school…I gave up being my father’s son, all for what?! A hospital bed and a stuffed doll? No!! I gave it up because I wanted to be the best!”

“Don’t act like you’re the only one hurt,” Jadyn replied. “The fact that Cliff’s acted the way he has…I know you hate him, but I can’t. All you ever knew is what you saw…but I remember when he was just another little boy trying to be as great at something as his father and grandfather were. He was my friend, and now he’s not the same person.”

Kelly heard Jadyn sniffle.

“Ten years….with a chance of parole at age seventeen,” she said. “And that’s only because he’s so young. If he were seventeen, a lot of the things he’s done could be capital crimes. He kept them all from me by not doing them himself, and I’ve only started to realize it since you were attacked.”

“Then, that’s your problem,” Kelly snarled. “Doesn’t take much to figure out that he’s a worthless rat.”

“You didn’t know him before,” Jadyn answered. “It’s more complicated than just telling someone…I’m not so afraid of him – but I’m scared for him.”

“The next person he goes after might not be as lucky as I was,” Kelly sat up, staring at her. “You’re telling me that, because you care for him so much, you’d be willing to let an innocent person die? You think you could handle that guilt for the rest of your life?”

“It’s one life or another,” Jadyn answered uncomfortably. “His life is over if I turn him in. To send someone you care for so much to their doom...you’ve never had to do it, have you? Not to mention their family would lose a son…”

“They should have raised him better, then…” Kelly muttered.

“But they did!” Jadyn exclaimed. “Cliff looked up to his grandfather so much. He worshipped the ground Sir Tobias walked on. And Sir Tobias was a good man – one of the best Champions Hoenn ever had.”

“…People are weak.”

“I know I’m weak – I don’t need you to tell me that,” Jadyn sniffled.

“Why don’t you try being your own person for once?” Kelly asked. “You spend all of your life clinging to other people and supporting them – if it’s not Cliff, it’s me or someone else.”

“Are you telling me to leave?” Jadyn asked.

“I’m telling you not to use me as a tool to get rid of your own guilt,” Kelly snapped. “Do whatever you want to do – just don’t be fake.”

Jadyn took in air sharply. Then again.

Three footfalls were followed by a sob and a door closing. Kelly slumped back onto the bed, looking morose. He heaved a sigh.

It’s better off this way.

He took the Teddiursa doll from the edge of his bed, hung it over the side of his bed, and let it drop.

;384;​

A Sceptile skidded backward, looking quite bruised as the full weight of Golem’s body slammed into his own. Golem was still rolling in place on Leon Kavanagh’s side of the field. Travis bated his breath while the green reptilian at his command crouched slowly – each waiting for action from their opponents.

“He’s banged up. He can’t stand up to another one,” Leon muttered. “This match is MINE!! GOLEM, USE ROLLOUT!!”

The large ball of rock launched forward again. Champ dug in, ready to spring into an attack at a moment’s notice.

“Same thing again? Big mistake,” Travis murmured. “Champ – give ‘em your best Leaf Blade.”

The stone creature wound its way across the arena. Champ stood silently for a moment, focusing his energy. All of a sudden, the ground shook for a brief moment. A spire of earth shot forth from the arena floor, sending Golem skyward like a giant pinball – still rolling and about to crash down upon the Sceptile, who began to glow a bright green color. The energy went straight to the shoots on the creature’s arms, forming into blades of energy, the swords of nature itself. Champ’s narrow eyes turned upward, watching the huge ball of rock slowly descend upon him. He reared back with both arms…it was about to arrive…

“Swords Dance!!!’

He crossed the blades in front of himself and then began to spin, horizontally and furiously. The two rotating masses of green and gray mashed together. Green sparks began to fly from the site of the collision. Then, without warning, Champ whirled around and applied a final Leaf Blade to the rotating form again, sending him airborne. Golem, spinning now stopped, bounced violently against the ground, creating an earth-moving tremor. Golem’s sheer weight created a long trench in the arena floor as he came to rest, just feet short of Leon’s platform. The huge Rock-type lay motionless, its colorless body peppered with deep cuts and blade marks.

“<…And stay the hell down this time,>” Champ snarled, crossing his arms in front of himself as the energy swords dissipated. The referee began to count. Everything after ‘FIVE!’ seemed to take forever. Finally, the count reached ‘TEN!’ Travis and Champ both breathed a sigh of relief.

“Golem is unable to battle!” the referee announced – as if the rest of the audience hadn’t noticed that Golem hadn’t moved for nearly half a minute at this point. “Sceptile is the winner!!”

“Make things easier on yourself, Leon,” Travis advised his younger opponent. “If Swampert’s all you have left, you’d better forfeit.”

“Forfeit? What, is your brain missing? You’ve got to be out of your –” and then Leon used a word he’d had stored away only for use in making the most vehement of points, “mind if you think I’m going to come this far and just forfeit! And what makes you think I can’t beat your Sceptile with Swampert?”

“This should be interesting. Prove me wrong,” Travis muttered.

“Fine, then!!” Leon roared, throwing his last Pokéball to the sky. Out of it popped a huge, amphibious-looking creature, blue in color, with fins atop her head and around arms the size of tree trunks.

“Let me let you in on a little secret – your Sceptile’s worn out,” Leon laughed. “It won’t take much to finish you off, and my Swampert has the strength she needs, no matter what your type is.”

“<Here we go,>” Champ murmured. “<Just one more…>”

“One Leaf Blade should do it,” Travis sighed. “Take him down.”

Champ snarled as the energy blades on his forearms erupted into life once again. Swampert looked down at her advancing opponent and let out a loud growl.

“<Hmph. Just gonna stand there? Nice knowing you,>” Champ chuckled, rearing his arms back to strike.

“Double Team!” Leon shouted.

Champ swung, now at the middle and the blurriest of three Swampert. The Double Team was so bad, Champ knew he’d hit a fake before his attack failed to connect. The timing was good, though, and that was why Champ was now careening through the air. He skidded to a stop and whirled around. His eyes widened.

“<Oh, Ar—>” the rest of his shout was muffled by a torrent of water. The Water Gun attack stopped to find that Champ was still on his feet. Swampert had started to run. The huge Water-type was much faster than Golem – in other words, quite fast enough. She lowered her shoulder. Champ spun around her and leapt away.

“Quick Attack!!” Travis ordered. Champ dropped down from the air, leaving one afterimage, then another one as he immediately darted forward toward Swampert and slammed himself into her larger body, driving her backward. An elaborate flip right after ended with Champ well inside his own half of the field. Swampert staggered to her feet. Champ snarled and took off after her, glowing a furious green.

White light trailed him as he smashed into her body again. She staggered backward a step and looked up to see her opponent, white tail and all, falling down towards her. She reared back and launched something from her mouth. The white, zigzagging beam grazed Champ’s shoulder, and he shut his eyes tight in pain, which was more than the opening Swampert needed…

…To snatch him from the air and bodily fling him across the arena.

Champ slammed into the ground hard on his back. He gurgled as a visible amount of dark substance escaped from his mouth. Travis cursed.

“Ice Beam?” he muttered. “He waited until just now to pull that out? Has he been screwing with me this entire time?”

“Champ, get ready to charge that attack we worked on,” Travis muttered.

“<Fine – but they’re not gonna just stand here and let me charge energy,>” Champ replied. “<If she hits me again, I probably won’t get up.>”

“Charge it while you’re moving,” Travis replied.

“<That’ll take forever,>” Champ replied.

“If you can keep her from hitting you again for long enough, it won’t matter,” Travis smiled. “One more thing…redirect the energy from the attack into your Leaf Blades once it’s done.”

“<Buh…what? A-are you serious? That could blow my arms off,>” Champ spluttered.

“You said you’ve only got a little energy left, right?” Travis said. “We have to be sure the attack won’t miss.”

“<Why am I always the one that gets experimented on?>” Champ muttered, wiping the dark substance away from his reptilian face and wearing a wry smirk.

“Because you’re one of the strongest I’ve got, and I trust you,” Travis replied. “Now go kick some ***.”

Champ’s eyes hardened.

“<You got it, Coach.>”

“Ice Beam again!!” Leon ordered. Swampert sent another of the chilly bolts at Champ, who ducked this time and took off after her on all fours. Swampert snarled and fired another Ice Beam. Champ jumped to the left of it and leapt into the air, spinning and coming around tail-first.

His large, leafy tail ricocheted off Swampert’s shoulder. Swampert responded with an almighty haymaker. The Sceptile blocked the attack with his forearm.

The Grass-type’s torso was exposed.

Particles of energy began to form at the front of Swampert’s widening mouth…

“DETECT!” Travis yelled, seconds before an almighty blast went off, colored flaming reds and oranges. Champ was unscathed, looping through the air. A strange gathering of energy forced his mouth open for a moment before he shut it. His Leaf Blades glowed green, then a hot white as he hit the ground. Swampert stared at him for a moment, panting as her mouth crackled with the excess energy from her Hyper Beam.

“No…” Leon whispered, a blank look on his face.

“<Yeah,>” Champ nodded, a glint in his tiny eyes. “<Game over.>”

“Champ, use Solar Sword!” Travis exclaimed. The reptilian creature charged. With a loud screech, the Sceptile drove his blade through the body of his opponent. Silence followed the loud hiss and crackle…

Then, there was a spurt…

Then, Swampert’s body was consumed by a column of light. When the flash faded, the great blue beast was on the ground.

;384;​

Nicholette jumped and turned around, looking at a screen that had just turned on.

“And the match is over,” a man’s voice-over said, as the camera focused on a blue-haired boy standing on one of the platforms as it lowered itself toward the ground again. “DePaul earns a hard-fought victory and advances to the second round of the Tournament.”

“DePaul exposed his opponent’s team this afternoon,” another voice added. Nicholette turned toward the bar, reflecting on the empty cup of ice at the bar in front of her.

“Bartender!” she yelled loudly, raising her hand languidly. “One more!”

The bartender – balding, bearded, and bulky, stared at her with beady eyes. He looked over her disheveled, blonde hair and reddening face, juxtaposed very strangely against a designer dress and expensive necklace.

“I think you’ve had enough, ma’am,” the bartender said, as politely as possible. “Maybe some tea?”

“You’re a bartender, not a – hic – doctor,” Nicholette murmured. “Get me another…drink. NOW.”

With an apologetic face, the short, stocky man poured some more flaxen liquid into her cup. It frothed at the top for a moment before finally settling down. Nicholette shook the cup with her hand for a moment (some of its contents spilled over the rim) and then downed half of it in one gulp, smacking it down on the table rather forcefully.

“I can’t imagine a lady as classy as yourself got where she was by getting drunk,” the bartender turned and looked at her. “What’s your story?”

“It’s none of your…hic…business,” Nicholette replied unsteadily. She looked at the half-empty glass and tried to look through it. Her eyes began to droop and water.



Travis let out a sigh that was all the noise in an empty locker room. A boy walked in from Travis’ right. From the left, a woman who looked to be in her thirties came, followed by a girl quite a bit older than Anhje, both with auburn hair. She stopped in front of the woman, looked straight at the boy, and started to cry. The boy walked over to the small girl and hugged her tightly, muffling her wails against his shirt.

Their identities hit Travis with all the force of a sledgehammer…as Emmalyn Kavanagh’s cries began to echo and feature gut-wrenching screams.

“Emmalyn…” Leon murmured weakly. “Emmy, stop it…”

The girl broke from her brother’s arms and stared at Travis, her face contorted and reddening.

“YOU’RE MEAN!” she screamed, and made to charge.

“Stop!” Leon pulled her back into his arms. “Stop it. He beat me fair and square.”

Travis was unable to talk. Suddenly, he wished that he had never won the match. Leon broke away from Emmalyn, stepped in front of her, and…extended his hand.

“Don’t feel guilty,” he said, his voice trembling a bit. “It’s all for the best. My family needs me a lot more than they need me to be Champion.”

“That was…a great match,” Travis replied, shaking Leon’s hand and trying to find words that would not make the lump in his throat worse. “One of the best I’ve ever had. I’ve never ordered Champ to use Detect – ever. If I hadn’t…”

“Don’t act like you’ll never see me again,” Leon cut him off. “I’ll be back – that’s a promise. And you’d better be ready for me when I get here – otherwise, you will lose.”

“I’ll be ready,” Travis answered. Then, smiling in spite of himself, he added, “Count on it.”

He watched the Kavanagh family leave, wondering momentarily about the family’s father – or if a father was even present. He wondered – was Leon’s mother a single parent?

As if on cue, a tall, blond-haired man walked into the locker room followed closely by another little girl, who wasted no time squealing and putting her arms around him.

“You won!!” she shouted. “You won, you won, you won, you won, you won!!”

He hugged the little girl back as other family members and friends began to pour into the room. His parents with Kylie…Shiro, Madeline, her parents and little sister….Nate and Avril were there, too…

But one person was missing, conspicuous by her absence. The feeling of uneasiness he’d sensed during the match flooded back to him as he went through the motions of celebrating with the rest of his family and friends. He dared not ask where she was…at least, not right now…

He got the strange feeling that no one really knew.

END

Well, you’ve got yourself a chapter, a couple of battles to chew on.

Hope you enjoyed it – R&R when you get some time!

- ;196; EM1
 

Air Dragon

Ha, ha... not.
Well, here we are again...

Alright! Time to read, rip and burn!

You know how this works, EM! (73 chapters?! Damn, I feel fat and old... :p)

Wow, man... I for one am so glad you decided to wait for time and inspiration to coincide! Talk about your bombshell battles! I know Meru's putting off evolution 'til the time is right, but she's beginning to vex me somewhat.

Same goes for Kelly. I know what he's going through must be tough, and the way Jadyn's 'using him' (for want of better words) isn't the coolest, but he was somewhat too rough on the poor girl. Hope she pulls her act together soon.

Speaking of which, judging by the run-up to the the event, the next chapter is bound to be something to behold. Can't wait to see Cliff get what's coming to him. Can't wait... :)

Even better than the battles (if that were possible) is the way you portrayed everybody's emotions. If battle scenes are your strong point, then i believe we've found you strong second. Beautiful all the way. Everybody's relationships are growing epically, even the antagonistic ones: Anjhe and Kylie, Nicholette and Katrina. Bad move on Mrs. Sasano's part. You don't hit Aurillians and expect to get away with it. I'm glad anjhe showed some more control than Katrina. Kyle might not have gotten up from a counter like Katrina.

Top-notch, man. all-round awesome. Keep it coming! Now i need some free time that won't affect my sleep pattern... :(

L@er!

P.S.: Oh, yeah. Col. Torterra already mentioned this, but you have posted Part 2 twice. Gotta hate your browser sometimes, eh?
 
Last edited:

Col. Torterra

IV breeder
Dude, you posted part 2 twice
 

EonMaster One

saeculum harmonia
Chapter 74-1

Seventy-four Chapters…I’ve created a monster… o_o

I wonder how heavy it would be, were someone to print the entire thing out? We have to be pushing 3,000 pages by this point.

Still, we press on. It’s getting too interesting to stop now.

Chapter 74: The Final Verdict​

October 11, PA 2013 –Evergrande City, Eastern Hoenn

Travis fingered a Pokéball as he walked down the empty hallway of the Pokémon Center’s lodging. He stopped at a door and reached for its handle. He realized that it was cracked. With a hesitant hand, he pushed it open. The room was alight with sunshine, and the immediate sight of the days-old Eevee running playfully around her Espeon mother was precious indeed…but someone was missing…

“<How was the match?>” Angel asked, standing to her feet. “<Except for being early?>”

In the second round, the league shuffled the match order. To Travis’ great chagrin, his match had been first on the card, which meant waking up at seven in the morning to get ready after a rough battle with Leon Kavanagh the day before.

The young Trainer sighed, disappointment obvious on his face.

“You didn’t miss much,” he finally answered. “I hate to put it this way, but the guy was no challenge at all. Leon would have wiped the floor with him.”

“<Oh…well, guess it was for the best,>” Angel sighed. “<Sorry I couldn’t go…I just couldn’t leave Hester alone by herself.>”

“About that…” Travis murmured, looking around and sitting on the bed. “Where’s Crescent, anyway?”

“<He’s been gone since yesterday,>” Angel answered sadly. “<Something’s wrong.>”

“Wrong…?” Travis uttered again, his heart jolting. Angel looked away from him momentarily, as if she was trying to avoid giving him some bad news. “What’s going on?”

“<Katrina’s…disappeared,>” Angel said, looking away from him as she said it.

Travis looked like he’d just been clubbed over the head.

“ ‘Disappeared’?” he repeated blankly.

“<No one’s seen her in the last day or two,>” the Espeon explained.

“Oh – Travis?” the blue-haired boy whirled around. A pale-skinned girl with her black hair hanging down her shoulders asked. “What are you doing here?”

“Checking on Angel and Hester,” Travis replied, as if Mariah should have been able to figure that out already. “What about you? Haven’t you been in the other room, sleeping with Matt?”

The teenage girl’s normally pale face definitely got some color after that comment.

“That…came out wrong,” Travis muttered, looking away from her uncomfortably, his own face a bit red.

“What I meant was,” Mariah said, her face still red, “how did you get in? I’m pretty sure I locked the door.”

“<That was me,>” Angel answered. “<Crescent wanted to get out to look for Katrina, so I unlocked it…>”

“Oh,” Mariah uttered, looking a bit concerned.

“Is there something going on with Katrina that everyone’s not telling me?” Travis looked from Mariah to the Pokémon and then back to Mariah.

“<I did tell you,>” the Espeon replied, as if she’d rather not repeat the information. “<She’s missing.>”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Mariah said.

Travis buried a face in his palm. “It’s us. It’s always more complicated than that. So, what happened?”

“Well, the only information I know, I know from Katrina’s mom, and I’m not sure how reliable it is,” Mariah responded. Then, lowering her voice as if to reveal something private, she added, “She’s still hung over.”

“Hung over?” Travis uttered, his lower jaw refusing to lock itself back into its partner, instead just hanging there. He had known Nicholette to be a social drinker at the worst. She and Travis’ mother used to have the occasional drink together, but Amy stopped when she found out she was pregnant with Kylie and hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol since. Mariah made a resigned face.

“Yeah,” she replied. “Somebody found her passed-out drunk last night in a bar at the village. When I saw her early this morning, she was barely keeping herself together. She’d said that she and Katrina’d had some huge fight, and she hadn’t seen her since.”

“Damn it!” Travis folded his arms, his face tightening. “I’m going to find her.”

He made for the door.

“She couldn’t have gone far,” Mariah said, trying to step in front of the door. “I sure hope she didn’t…her match is after Matt’s. Actually, I have to hurry up. Liza Flynn just won her match –”

“Already?” Travis said, looking for a clock in the room. “She was almost as fast as I was.”

“But Matt’s next,” Mariah replied. Travis’ eyes lit up.

“Cliff.”


Kelly Brennan spent most of his time looking at the ceiling nowadays. There was no one around to talk to, and he could not bring himself to look at the matches. Someone had been ‘nice’ enough over the night to pick up his Teddiursa doll and put it on the windowsill, in plain view. Sometimes he stared at it, and past it, out of the window. Jadyn thought she understood him better than Raine had. Truth be told, neither one of them understood, and he was starting to wonder whether anybody understood.

He didn’t want to be alone as much as he needed to be alone.

This was an example, wasn’t it?

If he was going to end up in danger of life and limb from standing up to certain people, he couldn’t afford to put anyone else between himself and the wrath of his enemies, could he?

He wondered if his family knew – or cared – about what had happened to him. They were probably watching the Tournament, all figuring that he simply had not made the cut. They probably assumed that he was in one piece, and, once he gathered up the nerve, would come back home to them soon. They wouldn’t have been any further from the truth. Even if and when he ever healed enough to get out of here, he didn’t have much interest in going home. He had different plans. First, he was going to deal with the one that had put him in here…since no one else had the balls…he’d do it himself. He didn’t care if people marked him as a selfish soul out for vengeance…or even as a vigilante. The people that had hurt him were going to answer for it, one way or another.

Then…well, then, he didn’t know. His dad could take the family business and shove it, as far as he was concerned. His little brother and sister would find out how immensely conditional their father’s ‘love’ was as well, and they’d leave one day, too. His mother didn’t try hard enough to stand up to her husband’s controlling ways, so she was no less deserving of a life of loneliness.

As for him? He’d no longer be involved. It wasn’t his problem. He just wanted to live life with no pressures from anyone. The thing these last few days had taught him…

Life was a crooked banker.

You put all you have into it…and the return on your investment is never as much as you put in.

What you get is never quite as much as what you put into it. That was what the world had showed him.

Life was not fair, justice was rarely done, the innocent got hurt and the guilty got away. And nothing and no one was able or willing to do anything about it. That was just how life was.

Nothing was equal. Love was not made for everyone, and not everyone for it.

The loneliness would make him stronger…strong enough, one day, to overcome all of this.

THUMP. THUMP.

“Come in,” he said, his voice dripping with apathy. In stepped the young nurse.

“I was just seeing if you were doing alright,” she said.

“I’m fine…a little thirsty, though,” Kelly murmured.

“I’ll bring you some water, then,” the nurse replied. “Is there anything on television you’d want to watch? You must be bored in here.”

“Not really,” Kelly said. He didn’t want her to put on the Tournament again – it was the only good program on right now, other than re-runs of shows he didn’t watch anyway. Other channels tended to cut back their programming because they didn’t want to have to compete with the Tournament coverage. In other words, the Tournament would have been the only thing worthy of watching…except that he did not want to watch it.

“Are you sure? There’s a pretty interesting match starting in a few minutes,” she replied. “You’ve heard of Sir Tobias, haven’t you? His grandson is in the next match.”

“What?” Kelly raised himself off the bed. His lips pursed. “Put it on.”

The nurse was a bit taken aback by Kelly’s sudden eagerness but she did as told, and quietly left the room. The screen brightened to show an overhead shot of the Emerald Coliseum. With a momentary pang, it occurred to Kelly that Jadyn was probably somewhere in the crowd, cheering him on.

What a fool. Her…and him. Why did he still care about what Jadyn was doing?

With his one good hand, Kelly brushed some of his reddish-blond locks away from his face and turned to look at the clock. It was 11:57. Kelly’s stomach grumbled. He swore quietly to himself, just now realizing how hungry he’d been the entire time. Maybe the nurse would know and bring him a small meal. As much as he hated the food here – everything was a ‘healthy’ (in other words, tasteless) version of something he otherwise would have liked to eat – it was better than his stomach starting to hurt as it had at points.

“From what I could gather, Terry,” Archer’s voice brought attention. “There’s some bad blood that’s involved in this match. There are rumors of everything from fist fights to restraining orders – to some things too outlandish to give airtime. What have you heard about the relationship between these two Trainers?”

“Well, this much I can say, Archie, is that they have history, and it hasn’t been good history,” Terry O’Connell answered. “They battled in the early goings of the season, and Matt Marius won in dominating fashion. They haven’t faced each other since then, but there seems to have been some sort of connection between the veteran import and Cliff Arland’s first-round opponent, who, as most of you know already, never made it to the Tournament.”

“On that subject, medical authorities have confirmed that Kelly Brennan is in stable condition at the local hospital,” Riordan Archer said quickly. “The assumption is that Kelly was injured while training in Victory Road for his first-round match.”

“********,” Kelly snarled over Archer’s wish for him to have a speedy recovery.

“On a more objective note, Terry, what do you see in this match?” Archer asked his partner.

“Well, Archie,” O’Connell responded. “As we’ve said before, Matt Marius is an interesting story indeed. He shares a lot of similarities with the other two Johton Trainers that are at this Tournament. He’s a third-year Trainer, 2011 being his rookie season, but was unable to finish his journey because of that year’s Crystal Cup being cancelled. He then took a year off for personal reasons and resurfaced here in Hoenn late this spring. Unlike the other two, though, he’s completely self-taught and shows no record of ever having been to a Pokémon Academy. Despite that, analysts have him consistently ranked in the top three to five strongest Trainers at the Tournament, which speaks to his obvious talent. On the other side, you have Cliff Arland. Most of you have heard the Arland name before of course, so if nothing else, Cliff has pedigree going for him. He has also battled and built his team with a certain brand of ruthlessness. He knows what it takes to win and he will not settle for anything less. Still, don’t mistake him for a slave driver, especially when each Pokémon in his team is every bit as ruthless and competitive as he is. I’d also expect to see a balance from Cliff’s squad in this match, and not just in terms of type. He made headlines this past spring for his refusal to accept the starter Pokémon from Professor Birch’s laboratory, but instead springing for an import all the way from Carona. This guy means business, and his business is taking down opponents. His methods won’t win many beauty contests, but he knows the true meaning of competition.”

“A very detailed description of our two competitors, Terry – thank you,” Riordan Archer replied. “The referee has relayed the match terms to the two Trainers. First toss should be here shortly.”

;384;​

Matt Marius drummed his fingers against the front railing, gazing across the arena at his opponent. He almost had to laugh. Who battled in a shirt, tie, and cufflinks? Normally, he would have conceded that it was a pretty nice outfit, but on Cliff Arland…it was just another testament to his enormous ego.

It was fine with him. He could wear whatever he wanted to. It still wouldn’t change the result.

“I’m kind of disappointed, Cliff,” Matt shouted loudly. “Your goons stood me up last night. I was expecting a visit – ordered food and everything.”

“I care about results,” Cliff snarled, raising a Pokéball and holding it at his side. “I’ll deal with you myself.”

“Y-yourself?” Matt smiled. “That’s absolutely hilarious. Your grandfather must be turning over in his grave right now…”

“You leave my grandfather out of this!!” Cliff barked. “He’s twice the Trainer and twice the man you’ll ever be!”

“That’s exactly my point, Cliff,” Matt replied with a chuckle. Then, his smile disappeared and a crazed and ruthless sort of look seized his green eyes. “Because I’m ten times the man that you are.”

“You’re all talk,” Cliff said, turning his eyes away from him.

“And you’re already afraid of me,” Matt replied. “You can still forfeit if you want – I might let you go.”

Cliff looked to his left. Matt had to hold back a laugh. The coward actually was looking for a way out.

“Even your family thinks you’re going to lose,” Cliff said, looking back at Matt with a nasty smile on his face. “They didn’t even show up.”

Matt glanced to his right – his girlfriend, stepmother, and sisters should have been on the front row, and they were not. Otto was there. Shiro had been sitting two chairs to the right, between Madeline and Mandi, but he was gone, too.

“You play dirty,” Matt replied simply. Then, with a smirk, he added, “Too bad for you, I know that already.”


“Are you done looking at yourself in the mirror?” Mandi looked over her shoulder at the bathroom, where her daughter was standing mesmerized in front of the furthest sink and mirror. “Veronica, let’s go. Matthew’s match is starting in a couple of minutes.”

“Where’d Madeline go?” the little girl asked.

“To get your juice, now hurry up and let’s get out of here,” her mother replied. Hearing the pitter-patter of little feet, she turned and made to exit, but bumped into a large object. “Oof!!”

She looked up. There, standing in front of her, was a rather large man whose girth occupied the entire doorway.

“Excuse me?” Mandi uttered, looking affronted. “In case you haven’t noticed, this is a women’s restroom. The men’s room is down the concourse—”

He stepped in, forcing Veronica backward. Mandi’s look of bewilderment changed gears with each of his steps, crossing through shock, fear, and then utter terror. She knew what was about to happen. How did this guy get in? Was no one watching the doors? Everyone was probably inside the stadium, watching the match…not to mention they had crossed the concourse to find a bathroom that didn’t have a line. Mandi didn’t know exactly what this guy wanted, but her mind did settle on one of two or three things…and whichever one of them it was, Mandi couldn’t let the same thing happen to her daughter.

“Veronica, run!!” she shouted. “RUN NOW!!”

The little girl froze for a minute, then tried to make it around the large man. Mandi’s heart sank as the large man closed an Ursaring paw of a hand around his daughter’s entire forearm, then lifted her screaming and kicking into the air almost effortlessly. Mandi screamed and put her hands around her mouth, the worst imaginable fates for her daughter flashing through her mind. It didn’t help matters at all when the huge man intoned to the little toddler, “Whoa, there, sweetie, where do you think you’re going?”

The man’s expression changed. His eyebrows jumped slightly and his smile faded…

“About time you showed up,” another male voice intoned, barely masking suppressed rage. “You can put Veronica down now.”

Mandi glanced over the beastly man’s broad shoulders and could barely make out a head of bright red hair.

“Shiro?” she whimpered.

“GUARGH!” the man suddenly screamed. His left arm went limp, and Veronica, still crying, slipped from his grip and hit the tiled floor. Stumbling on the way, she scampered to the arms of her mother, who was now looking up at the back of the large man.

“What are you waiting for? Get out of here!” Shiro shouted. Mandi didn’t need telling twice; she scooped Veronica up into her arms, ducked around the large goon’s frame, and scurried toward the exit.

This left the two males…alone…in a women’s restroom. Shiro, however, did not look at all interested in making any jokes about the awkwardness of the situation.

“Looks like we were one step ahead of you,” he commented, a cold look in his piercing, yellow eyes. As if he knew what the man was going to say, he added, “Oh, and I don’t think your backup’s coming, either. Doesn’t look like your boss is as good at controlling people as he thinks he is.”

;251;​

Carver Dunn shook his black hair out of his face.

He continued to pump his arms as he looked over his shoulder at the large, mountainous island slowly shrinking in the distance. He worked his oars relentlessly, looking back every few seconds to make sure they were not being pursued.

He heard short, ragged breaths after a few minutes of rowing. He finally turned his eyes out toward the open sea. Two grey orbs looked at him from the other side of the small rowboat, framed by lank, brown hair. She had curled up like a frightened Sandshrew, shivering from the cold. Carver let go of the oars, slowly took off his jacket and laid it over her shoulders. She leaned forward to receive it. Carver put his hands down at his sides.

“Are you okay now, Nayina?” he asked. She was still staring at him, leaning forward. He looked back over his shoulder at the island, then back at the girl. She leaned forward even further.

Despite the chilly October weather, Carver’s face was burning as the girl settled there. The breeze blew against his cheeks, and against his mouth, where he could still feel the outline of her lips. He turned his eyes down toward the water. “Nayina…you’re welcome.”

He turned his eyes back toward the island one final time. No one was coming after them. They had no one to come after them – at least not now.

The time was right for them to disappear.

And, disappear, they did.

Some say that Nayina and Carver died at sea not long after leaving Evergrande Island. Others believe that they happened upon an undiscovered island in Hoenn’s seas and are living there as hermits. Still others believe they ended up taking refuge on a certain island community south of Hoenn’s mainland. And then there are those that claim that they left the country altogether for some distant continent.

In any case, the miniscule role that Fate meted out for them in this greater story was soon forgotten, and when their names were ever spoken, they were spoken as distant memories.


;251;​

The huge bruiser snarled for a second…then raised an arm. Shiro drifted to the right, avoiding the large fist. With a flourish, he unleashed one of the ends of his three-piece rod into the jaw of his attacker. With a grunt, the terrifying figure shrank backward, opening him up to another follow-up hit, and then a third. Shiro put the rod together again just as his opponent fell back into the wall, knocking off the cover of the paper towel dispenser. The large man roared and lunged forward again, pulling something from his back and swinging it. Shiro ducked out of the way as his enemy’s sledgehammer connected with a nearby mirror, shattering it in the middle. With a snarl, the hammer-wielding behemoth dug his weapon through the mirror, creating a large gash before the bulk of the weapon again found its way toward Shiro’s head. Shiro ducked again – this time, the hammer knocked out one of the stall doors.

The hammer arced around the width of the room. Shiro had no time to dodge this attack; he tried to block it.

Big mistake.

The sheer force of the hammer slung him sideways into one of the stall doors. He hit it, then went through it, smashing against the back wall of the stall. He found his feet just in time to avoid slumping down into the toilet (who leaves the seat up in a women’s bathroom??). A trickle fell from his mouth and hit the white porcelain, staining it red.

The large man reared back with his hammer and tried to shove it in headfirst.

Shiro, reacting quickly, dodged the head with the little space he had. He slung his three-piece rod around the weapon’s shaft and tugged hard, wresting it from its surprised wielder. He lowered his shoulder, summoned all the strength in his body, and charged. He was almost as surprised as his opponent was when the latter was forced backward and out of the doorway. Shiro leapt left before any retaliation.

“You know…” he uttered with a smirk. “Swinging that huge hammer around, I can’t help but wonder if you’re compensating for something…”

The thug didn’t take kindly to this comment at all. He hurled himself at the redhead, who drove his rod into the attacker’s midsection. The man coughed and began to slump over. Shiro thrust the first section of the rod…

Into the man’s throat.

The entire room went silent. The attacker’s eyes rolled. He gagged for a moment. Shiro, taking no chances, followed up with a brutal strike to the face. He heard a crack and felt the jaw break under the impact of his weapon as the man slumped sideways to the ground and teetered there….

Completely motionless.

Panting hard, Shiro leaned back against the wall and slumped to the floor. He took the opportunity to wipe his bleeding lip onto his sleeve as he tried to catch his breath.

A girl walked into the bathroom, putting her hands to her mouth.

“Shiro!” she gasped.

“I told you…” the red-haired boy muttered, clutching his forehead with one hand. “I...told you, Madeline. Why does no one…ever listen to me?”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, crouching down near her boyfriend.

“Are Veronica and your stepmom okay?” Shiro grunted.

“Veronica has a couple of bruises and she’s scared out of her mind,” Madeline replied.

“Well…she won’t have to worry about him anymore,” Shiro replied grimly.

“Is he…” Madeline crouched near the fallen man. “Is he dead…?”

“I think I crushed his windpipe,” Shiro grunted, getting to his feet slowly and using the wall for support. “If he’s not dead yet, he will be in a couple of minutes. It’s nuts – spent all that time fighting in a war, and this is the first time I ever know for a fact that I’ve killed somebody.”

“Oh, Shiro…” Madeline hugged him around the middle. “I’m sorry you had to…”

“He tried to take my head off with a freakin’ sledgehammer,” the teenage boy answered. “And there’s no telling what he was planning on doing with Veronica. I think I’ll learn to live with it. Now let’s get the hell out of here – this looks bad enough without the two of us standing over a body.”

He stood from the wall, clutching his ribs.

“Are you okay?” Madeline walked over to him.

“I’m fine,” Shiro grunted.

“You knew already, didn’t you?” she asked, putting a hand on his chest.

“Matt…” Shiro murmured by way of an answer. “Even he knew he couldn’t be two or three places at once.”

;384;​

“You really should try mixing things up, Cliff,” Matt taunted as he watched Cliff’s Pokémon whiff several times while trying to hit Mightyena. With an added knowing smirk, he commented, “Your attacks are too predictable.”

“I’m getting really sick of you talking down to me,” Cliff snarled. “Exploud! Use Uproar!!”

The bluish creature opened a mouth that seemed fit to swallow the earth whole. There was a moment of silence, then from the gaping hole came the most ungodly of screeches, accompanied by strange, blue rings of light. Matthew’s face turned down into a frown. Mightyena was wincing as well, growling and snarling under the strange sonic attack.

Cliff had a smirk on his face. Heheh…just a little bit longer before he loses it…

“No mercy, Exploud!” he shouted. “Keep up the assault!”

“That’s really all you’ve got?” Matt laughed. “Tackle, Mightyena!”

The hulking dog creature dug his nails into the arena floor and took off running. Exploud, still busy with his attack, did not see the Dark-type, and reacted noisily as Mightyena slammed into him with a full-force body charge. Exploud kept his feet, skidding backward on the arena floor a bit unsteadily.

“Up-close and personal, huh? Fine, then!” Cliff shouted. “Use Pound, Exploud!!”

Exploud rushed forward, clenched fists at his sides. He reared one back and swung once – Mightyena ducked away from it. On the second attack, the Bite Pokémon was not as lucky.

Nor the third.

Mightyena went sprawling sideways to the ground after the third hit. He looked up for Exploud, trying to target him for a little revenge. Except that the Normal-type wasn’t there.

“Mightyena!” Matt shouted. “Above you!”

“Attack, Exploud!” Cliff yelled. “Stomp him into the ground!!”

“Watch it!” Matt yelled. Exploud came down much heavier than expected, causing the ground to shake as he missed Mightyena by inches. The blue creature opened his huge maw once more and a large, translucent sphere appeared within it. Exploud fired it off. Mightyena dug his feet into the arena flor. Then the sphere exploded, spawning a wave of water coming too fast and too large to dodge.

The black canine whimpered as the wave overtook him. Cliff’s eyes went wide and the boy let fly a cold, high-pitched laugh.

“Heh heh heh heh heh! You’re in over your head, barbarian trash!!” he shouted, a sick look in his eyes. “Exploud, show him your true power!! HYPER VOICE!!”

“You really have lost it,” Matt shook his head. “Mightyena, dodge!”

Exploud reared back. The many huge pores on his crest, arms, and legs opened, then constricted. Exploud’s cavernous mouth opened again. A loud roar rang throughout the stadium, louder than anything Matt had ever heard. A huge, white ring of light blazed forth from Exploud as well, spinning and tearing across the arena. The light overtook Mightyena and an unseen force knocked him to the ground. The light and sound washed over the brown-haired Trainer as well. The boy’s face contorted in mild discomfort.

“Supersonic!!” Cliff snarled. The sound became more acute, high-pitched. Mightyena dodged very easily.

The attack hit the front of Matt’s platform, subjecting him to its full fury. His eyes shut again and his head dropped. He started hearing screaming mixed with the high pitch of the Supersonic attack.

“MATT!!” he recognized that voice.

Matt slammed his fist into the front railing. His head snapped up.

“Mightyena, use Shadow Ball!” he yelled.

The canine Pokémon opened his own mouth this time. A large ball of dark energy formed and crackled. Wasting no time, Mightyena fired.

Cliff smirked.

Exploud stopped moving, eyeing the incoming ball of energy curiously.

BANG.

Exploud disappeared behind a column of smoke and dust. Mightyena growled, licked his lips hungrily, then took off after him as the billow swelled to fill the better part of the battlefield.

“What the –” Cliff grunted.

“Use Double Team,” Matt ordered next.

“Hyper Voice again!!” Cliff responded. A split-second later, a thunderous roar rang from the cloud, and the smoke was blown away by another white ring of visible sonic energy – this time starting at the center of the stadium and radiating outward.

Once again, Mightyena (all five of him) and Exploud were exposed at the middle of the arena.

“Pound!” Cliff yelled. Exploud took two long strides toward the Mightyena in front of him, gathered a fist, and swung. It was about the middle of his attack before he realized that he had hit nothing but an afterimage.

A hungry growl sounded right behind him. Exploud reacted more quickly than his build should have allowed. He turned on his heel right there, and his swinging fist managed to find Mightyena’s…

…Teeth.

Exploud winced. Then he opened his eyes, a toothy grin on his wide, blue face.

“Water Pulse,” his Trainer ordered.

The canine beast took the attack point-blank. A tidal wave over took him as he rolled from head to tail, across the field like a flat tire. He ended up on his back, his four limbs akimbo, and his head lolled to the side.

Matt, his face sour, pulled out Mightyena’s ball. He knew there was no use waiting for the count to be finished. He took Mightyena’s defeat in stride, calmly snapping the ball back into his belt and selecting his next combatant. Cliff, predictably, was already starting to gloat.

“You always did underestimate me,” he snarled. “You might be able to get away with treating rookies like that in Johto, but…”

He stopped for a moment. A smirk seized his lips, then disappeared.

“THIS – ISN’T – ****ING – JOHTO!!”

“Shut up,” Matt growled, flicking his Pokéball into the air. From it burst a fat, purplish hog-like creature. “I can beat you on any continent, any day of the week.”

“Exploud, use Stomp!” Cliff shouted. The Normal-type’s short, stubby legs unwound for a moment, right before he went airborne. Matt grimaced. Mightyena had some agility to him, but Grumpig was, for lack of a better word, slow. Not to mention her constitution was less than stellar…

Not that any of that mattered…

Exploud’s attack would never land.

Matt waited…
Exploud fell…
…and waited…
…and fell…
…and waited…
…and fell…

“Heh. Your Exploud’s finished,” Matt chuckled. “PSYBEAM!!”

;384;​

The man quietly watched his dim reflection in the glass frame of a nearby portrait on his desk. His dark hair was beginning to pepper very subtly. On top of that, his face was darkened by a shadow…a few days away from being full-blown stubble.

He regarded himself with a bit of wonder. Maybe he had not noticed the years pass. He felt…old. How strange. He was not yet forty, and he felt…old. Not middle-aged…but old.

His dark eyes blinked a couple of times, barely staying open because of fatigue. They refocused on the picture itself. Him, a blonde, and a little girl wearing a pretty dress with hair to match. How old was this picture? In it, the little girl only came up to his waist, if that. She was much, much, much taller now.

He turned his eyes back to the computer screen in front of him. His head throbbed; his eyes hurt from watching this screen for too long. His stomach grumbled underneath him – he was hungry. Yet his chest hurt – something like a nagging, like indigestion…

But there was nothing to digest. He hadn’t eaten in perhaps…ten hours? Twelve? Fourteen? He’d lost track.

He tried to focus himself once again. This e-mail was about…about…

The name on the e-mail was Alexander Stone…e-mailing to discuss a merger. Again.

It was exasperating, trying to deal with his younger counterpart overseas.

The last thing the world needed was some sort of worldwide conglomerate. But, then again, Devon was being run by someone slightly over half his age who wouldn’t have the experience to know that. And given everything that had happened to him in the last several months…

Why was his arm hurting?

He rolled his shoulder, massaging it with his free hand.

He was finding it a little bit harder to catch his breath. That was it. He was tired. He should probably ask for a day off, just so his body wouldn’t start wearing down on him.

Then a thought occurred to him – where would he place that call? He had no one to report to. In theory, he could take a day off whenever he wanted to. In theory, he could leave now and no one had the authority to fire him. They had given him the keys to the kingdom, after all. But they did so because they knew he was a tireless worker.

The pain in his chest was getting worse. He tried to take in air.

Something was wrong.

He looked at the years-old picture that was on his desk as his chest continued to throb and tighten.

Then, a horrifying thought hit him.

No, this couldn’t be…not at his age…he’d have been the first to admit that he was getting older, but not nearly old enough for this…

Frantically, he went for the button on his intercom. He missed a couple of times. When he did hit it, no one responded. So he kept hitting it.

Finally, the garbled voice of a young lady came over the line.

“Sir? Is everything alright?”

The man could not get any words out. In fact, he could hardly breathe at all. The pain was blinding. His head was spinning, and he felt like he could pass out any moment.

“Call a doctor, I think something’s wrong,” his words came out in a strangled stream, with no breaths in between.

“Sir? A-are you alright? Are you still there? Stay on the line,” the young secretary must have sensed something in his voice. “Are you still there?”

“My wife…call my wife,” he muttered next, taking a short, wheezing breath.

His finger slipped away from the button. He grabbed onto the table itself, trying to hold himself off the ground. Panic began to seize him.

His heart had stopped beating. It was now trembling, shaking. He tried to draw in breath, and found that he no longer could. Sweat began to pour down his face and into the collar of his shirt. His eyes shifted to the picture again.

All of a sudden, he no longer saw a happy family, with his blond-haired wife and pretty little daughter.

He saw failure.

He thought back to his last conversation with his wife. Failure. He should have dropped it all then and there – what the hell had he been thinking??

Every time he tried to talk to his daughter – failure. He had still wanted to see her as the little girl in the picture, but she was growing up now – almost a woman herself. And so many of the important times in her life, he’d missed. Now, whenever he went home, the two were strangers under one roof, and any ‘fatherly’ act by him was looked on with suspicion.

Failure.

He had achieved the highest position in his company. He had started as an intern over twenty years ago now, and was now at the very top of the ladder. He had dozens of people in both of the Twin States that were answerable to him, not to mention the hundreds to thousands of people under them. But, still…

Failure.

He and his wife hadn’t seen each other in weeks…he hadn’t seen his daughter since April or so, and even then, he saw her over the phone. When was the last time he had held either of them and said that he loved them?

Failure.
failure.
FAILURE.

A sudden lurch happened in his chest and in his entire consciousness, followed by a sudden compulsion to grab that portrait. But his grip would not hold. The picture slid out of his falling hand and cartwheeled violently off the desk. He hit the ground, and it soon followed. He clutched his chest, trying to catch his breath.

As the world went black around him, all he could see, all he could think of, was the picture in front of him with the shattered frame…and the magnitude of his own…

Failure.

;384;​

“Aggron,” Cliff snarled to the huge, armored beast standing before him. “Finish it! Take Down!!”

A bruised Grumpig staggered to her feet, swaying unsteadily.

WHAM.

Eight hundred pounds of steel and rock slammed into Grumpig full-force. The Psychic-type went flying backward, hit the Trainer’s platform, and then fell flat on her face.

Matt’s lip twitched as the referee announced Aggron as the winner of the battle. As much as it galled him to admit this, Cliff was right about one thing – he had underestimated him…in many ways, including but not limited to his skill on the battlefield.

“I just don’t understand one thing, Cliff,” Matt sighed, returning Grumpig to her ball. “Why? You can battle well and honestly in the arena, but everything else…”

“Why should I have to explain myself to you?” Cliff replied. “You’re beneath me.”

“That’s exactly your problem,” Matt’s green eyes hardened. “You don’t care about people at all. It’s all about power to you. Not even the people that love you matter.”

“Well, they’re not always around, are they?” Cliff growled. Apparently, Matt had touched a nerve. “If you don’t learn how to grab life by the balls yourself, you’ll never make it.”

“That’s not wrong,” Matt conceded. “Only thing is…when you step on people on the way to what you want…all you do is make more enemies for yourself. Do I care what people think? Actually, with a couple of exceptions, I don’t give a damn.”

“Then we’re not that different!!” Cliff shouted.

“That’s where you are wrong,” Matt replied. “You do care what people think. Actually, it’s all about your reputation. Why would you go to such lengths to make sure you came out on top, then?”

“That’s my business, isn’t it?” Cliff answered harshly.

“You dragged me and my friends and family into it, so now it’s my business,” Matt said, pulling out a Pokéball with a star-shaped sticker on its white side. His eyes had switched from completely calm to beyond reason in a manner of second. “You’re dishonest, arrogant, ruthless, a remorseless bigot. You kidnapped someone I love, subjected me to torture, tried to order the deaths of my friends several times, all to satisfy your own sick thirst for power. And how have you treated so-called ‘friends’ of yours? Someone that loved you and managed to remember that you’re still human despite the fact that you act like a monster…you treated her like dirt, too!”

He grabbed the railing in front of him. His hand began to shake around it.

“I used to think that the things that happened to us shaped who we became,” he continued, his voice trembling. “I could be as twisted as you are – I’m more aware of that than anyone. But I’m not – I’m better than that. Because I chose to be better than that!!

“Touching…you’re making me nauseous,” Cliff replied. “Why don’t we finish this off? I’m sick of listening to your mouth.”

“You asked for it. We each have two Pokémon left, right?” Matt asked. Then, throwing the ball, he said, “But…I’m through wasting time with you!!”

From the Pokéball burst a tall creature, colored various shades of red and gold. Flames erupted on his wrists and he lowered himself into a fighting stance.

“This soon?” Cliff folded his arms. “You must be getting desperate.”

“Desperate?” Matt barked back. “You’re kidding, right? I chose Blaziken, because Blaziken is all I will need.”

“Fool,” Cliff spat. “Aggron, use Earthquake!!”

An amber glow surrounded the Iron Armor Pokémon. He let out a roar to the heavens and raised one of his huge feet from the ground.

“Jump, Blaziken,” Matt ordered. Blaziken, who had been bouncing around on the balls of his feet, dug into the ground and then leapt right as it started to tremble. He raised his hands.

“Aggron…!” Cliff growled. The Steel-type monster looked up. Blaziken was rearing his hands back.

“Meteor Ball!” A sphere of flame shot forth from Blaziken’s palm. Growling, Aggron crossed his arms in front of himself. A loud hiss sounded and the Iron Armor Pokémon disappeared behind a wall of red and white flames.

Blaziken landed and folded his arms, looking satisfied with himself.

Until he saw a huge shadow…growing larger…and darker…emerging from the middle of the fire…

“Aggron!” Cliff ordered. Use Take Down!!”

With every step, Aggron accelerated. He lowered his head and shoulder and barreled right into Blaziken, who went flying backward, swearing in his species tongue. The Blaze Pokémon’s feet dug into the ground. He took off after Aggron, who managed to avoid his opening Scratch attack. The second connected, but Aggron didn’t seem fazed much. He raised his head, then lowered it, horns and all, toward Blaziken.

The tall, strong creature used his Fighting-type prowess to block the Headbutt with his bare hands. Then, he cocked back one of his arms. His fist went alight with blazing flame.

Aggron’s head jerked sideways for a moment as the Fire Punch hit its mark. Blaziken repeated the move with the other hand. Aggron’s neck whipped in the other direction.

Another punch came. It connected.

Then another. And another.

Aggron staggered backward, his steel helmet starting to warp a bit under the heat of the Fire Punch barrage.

“Water Pulse!” Cliff shouted. Aggron fired the sphere of water straight into Blaziken’s face.

The Fire Pokémon went skyward as the sound of a torrent filled the Coliseum. He hit the ground not far in front of Matt, whose face was tightening with every passing second.

“You picked a fight with the wrong person,” Cliff said. “HYPER BEAM!!”

Energy crackled in front of Aggron’s mouth. He released a roar to the heavens, then let the beam fly.

Blaziken was lost beneath its light – it was coming dangerously close to the Trainer platform…

An explosion rocked the stadium. Matt lost his footing and fell forward, leaning over the railing as the platform shook violently. Dark gray, billowing smoke filled the area.

“Stop this match!” a voice yelled through the smoke.

“What do you mean, stop the match?” Matt muttered, looking around. The smoke was beginning to settle, just enough for Matt to see. When it did, Blaziken was no longer in front of Matt….

He was behind Aggron.

Calmly, he tapped the large beast on the shoulder. Aggron turned…

“Sky Uppercut!”

Blaziken reared back with one fist and drove it into Aggron’s chin. The latter’s neck snapped back violently as he went airborne. He seemed to hang in the air forever before gravity took effect, and he at last hit the ground with an almighty, earth-shattering CRASH.

“That’s it,” a young, dark-skinned man with neck-length, straight, black hair was standing next to the field’s midline, flanked by a couple of heavily-armored guardsmen wielding spears. With a slight jolt of the heart, Matt recognized him as Rashid al-Zevi, one of the Royal Generals. “Clifford Tobias Arland, by the authority of His Majesty the King and the judicial code of the nation of Hoenn, I place you under arrest.”

Cliff’s face went white. Matt blinked blankly, unable to process what was happening.

“What the hell is this?! State the charges!” Cliff snarled, grasping the railing as he looked down at Rashid.

“Do I really have to read all of these? We’ll be here all day,” he muttered in an aside to one of his soldiers, who looked to be quite a bit older than him.

“It’s…protocol, sir,” the veteran replied. A muscle twitched in Rashid’s jaw.

“Unbelievable,” the young general sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. “Three counts of attempted murder by proxy, about twelve counts by proxy of assault with a deadly weapon…”

“Sir, that incident in the restroom…” the veteran muttered. Rashid shut his eyes tight.

“Damn!” he growled through his teeth. “Thirteen counts by proxy of assault with a deadly weapon. Three counts by proxy of malicious wounding, including two ‘with cruelty’…seems a bit redundant…two counts by proxy of kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment…and by virtue of your fanatical jingoism, a large percentage of these counts will be classified as ‘hate crimes.’”

“There’s no such thing!” Cliff snarled.

“There will be by the time this trial gets going,” Rashid muttered, rolling up the scroll. “What a mess…”

“Not to mention, you ruined Lord Rashid’s date,” the older soldier chortled. “He was right about to –”

“You really don’t want to finish that sentence,” Rashid cut him off with alarming calmness.

“It’s not like he’s going anywhere,” Matt grunted. “So…the courts can have whatever’s left after I’m done with him.”

Cliff turned to Matt. “This is your solution?”

“Nope,” Matt shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just as caught off guard by this as you are.”

“Liar,” Cliff’s eyes narrowed. Throwing a Pokéball into the air, he shouted, “YOU’RE A LIAR!!”

A greenish, bird-like creature with beautiful, rainbow plumage appeared in the air from the ball.

“Mailing it in?” Matt snickered. Then his smile disappeared. “Half of me wanted to see you put up a fight…but now, I really don’t give a **** anymore.”

…continue…
 

EonMaster One

saeculum harmonia
Chapter 74-2

~~~ *** ~~~​

“Blaziken prepares the attack – it’s a Fire Blast!!” Archer’s voice shouted loudly enough for it to come through the television speakers distorted. “Faelock doesn’t move – it connects!”

“It’s over,” Terry O’Connell added, as if no one would be able to tell that by the fact that Faelock had disappeared in an explosion and column of flame. The camera cut to Cliff. Even against the light of the towering pillar of fire, his face looked white. On top of that, he was starting to sweat. Kelly thought he might have seen him trembling a bit.

Archer’s normally enthusiastic voice had gone flat with shock. “The match is over, and Faelock is…Faelock is seriously hurt. The referee’s calling the match right now in favor of Marius, and he’s waving emergency staff over to deal with the injured Pokémon. Meanwhile, Cliff Arland is being brought down from his platform by soldiers and being put in chains. In twenty years of announcing matches, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ending this bizarre. Near silence here at the Emerald Coliseum, and I’m sure everyone out there, here in the broadcast booth, and all those watching at home are thinking the same thing – what brought this on?”

“I won’t be foolish enough to comment at this point. Anything I could say would be speculation, but I do know this much – these have to be some serious accusations that are being leveled against him.”

Kelly couldn’t help but feel a sick pleasure as he watched the scene play out. Matt had completely turned his back on everything, and was already walking back to the locker room. Cliff was hurling insults at the older Trainer from across the arena, and judging by the movement of his lips, it was a very good thing that there was no one around to pick up what he was saying. The relative silence of the crowd had faded into a confused murmur, as several staff (led, of course, by a Nurse Joy) stood toward the center of the field, aiding a horribly burned Faelock.

Was there a part of Kelly that wanted to get his hands on Cliff himself? Definitely. But for now, it was a satisfying feeling to see justice done.

Footsteps…the nurse was coming.

She opened the door to find Kelly looking straight at her. She was a bit taken aback.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“…I wouldn’t mind a bite to eat,” Kelly conceded.

“Oh…of course,” the nurse asked. She walked back out, but stopped at the doorway. “Oh – they’ve released you already?”

“It was only tonight – they wanted to keep me to see if I had any more problems,” the answering voice was from a girl. Kelly recognized the voice.

“…I’ll be back before too long,” the nurse replied.

“Right,” the girl answered a bit blankly.

She stepped in, closing the door behind her. Her lip was trembling.

“You’re back,” Kelly replied blankly. She nodded.

“I just wanted to say goodbye to you…before I left,” she said. Her voice was lilting and unsteady, like skates on paper-thin ice.

“Why were you in the hospital?” Kelly asked, trying to sound offhand.

“Panic attack,” she said very delicately, as if the fact embarrassed her. “And…the fact that the police saw all these bruises and wanted me checked out.”

“Police?” Kelly cringed at his delivery – it sounded less objective and more cynical.

Jadyn’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I told them…everything I knew...”

She turned around and started toward the door.

“Jadyn…wait,” the boy blurted out. She turned around, her shiny hair. Her eyes (one of them still bruised) were red. A single tear was running down her right cheek. Kelly reached town for the stuffed toy at the side of his bed. But the bed was high, and his arms were not long enough. He leaned over, grunting through the pain in his leg and ribs as he tried to get that once extra inch of reach that he needed.

He suddenly felt the soft fur of the stuffed Teddiursa being forced upward to his hand and the brush of fingers. He looked up and saw the girl frozen, staring at him. Her hazel eyes were locked squarely on his.

“Weren’t you leaving?” he asked.

“Do you want me to go?” she replied.

“You do whatever you want,” he answered.

He could feel her breaths against his face…then against his mouth. Then, he no longer felt them distinct from each other, as his breath and hers blurred into each other and became one mass…

“Kelly-oh…” both of them looked up as Nurse Joy was standing there with a very manufactured-looking plate of food. She had a slightly embarrassed look on her face – and she wasn’t the only one. “I’m not…interrupting…?”

“N-no, I was waiting for my meal. Thanks,” Kelly stammered, looking uncomfortable. Jadyn looked on as Kelly was given the tray, hugging the Teddiursa doll closely to her and then putting it down on a close desk. Nurse Joy stepped out soon after, leaving the two in the room alone again.

“I’m…going to go back to the Pokémon Center,” Jadyn murmured, her eyes flicking between the ground and Kelly’s face.

“Are you coming back?” Kelly asked. The words slipped out before he could think to hold them back. Jadyn started contemplating her sandals, her face redder than ever. “Being alone with my thoughts isn’t as much fun as people say it is.”


Jadyn sighed to herself as she started down the long flight of stairs that led to the beach. She started down a few stairs and looked back up at the building.

Of course she knew what was happening – even if she didn’t want to admit it. She knew. It was not love, at least, not yet. But it was something – something in her heart that drew her to him, and something in his heart that drew him to her. They had known each other only a short while. He didn’t treat her with a sense of entitlement like Cliff did.

That very small part of her welcomed it. That part of her wanted to fall for him completely, just to know what it felt like. It was the piece of her that wanted a relationship and not merely an unspoken agreement. She had cared for Cliff very deeply. She had ‘loved’ him in that sense. But in many ways, they felt obligated to each other, almost like a couple arranged to be married. Was that really love?

What was love?

Turning Cliff in was one of the most heartrending things she had ever done in her short life. At the same time, though, she felt the sense of a burden lifted, chains broken. She was free to do what she wanted.

Free to find out what love really meant.

;384;​

It seemed as if the tension from the day’s events had not completely left the stadium. The tenuous murmurs that always filled the space in between matches seemed to have a bit more edge to them. Small details of individual conversations melted their way into the soup of sound, but even the constant murmuring could not mask the shrill screech of a fussing baby.

Amy DePaul gathered her daughter more firmly into her arms, looking at her husband, who had found a newspaper and begun perusing its contents.

“I wonder where Travis went,” the man muttered. “The match is about to start soon. You think he’d be here.”

“He might have left,” Amy replied, casting sideways looks at the woman to whom they had given a full seat worth of space. With her nice blouse and sunglasses framing her blonde-streaked head, she had an aura of haughtiness to her as always, even as she put her hands on her chin in what was obviously a very pensive pose. “I know he went back to the Center for something. He might not have come back. He and Katrina are…”

Amy didn’t finish the sentence. Perhaps it was that she did not know how. They were becoming more and more distant with every passing day. Travis seemed to be keeping to himself lately. She had seen that coming; he was so consumed with winning each match as it arrived that he simply did not have the time for anything else. Then again, one would have been a fool to think that the situation with Katrina was not weighing heavily on Travis’ mind. That, Amy thought with a burning sensation deep in her chest, was exactly how Nicholette wanted it. The fact that she had driven a wedge between the two teenagers not only (in her mind) served to focus Katrina more on the task at hand, but it also distracted Travis with perhaps one of the few things that could break his mental focus at this point. Amy was trying hard not to hate her – after all, Nicholette had been through quite a bit herself in the last couple of weeks. But at the same time, she was causing Travis pain. And for Amy – for any woman that was a decent mother – that was hard to swallow.

DING-DING-DI-DI-DING.

DING-DING-DI-DI-DING.


Nicholette frowned and reached for her pocket. Pulling out a cellphone, she opened it and put it to her ear. “Hello, this is Nicholette Sasano.”

Five seconds later, the young woman’s facial expression changed to one of shock and horror. She put her hand to her mouth.

“Oh, my go-”
“And in the green corner, all the way from Celadon City in the Republic of Kanto, please welcome Spencer Brady!!”

Amy turned her head toward the field. The match was about to start. Meanwhile, Nicholette looked like she had seen a train wreck happen right in front of her. She let out a whimper, gathered her bag, yanked off her heels, and then took off up the stairs.

Nicholette ran as fast as she could. She failed to notice the young man she shoulder-checked…

…A young man in his mid-teens, wearing sunglasses and a bewildered expression on his youthful face. His hoodie, black with blue stripes and white sleeves, was open to reveal a white shirt with some sort of print on it. His longish, cobalt hair was spiky and wild, covering his neck in the back and his forehead in the front, and flirting with his eyes. He watched the woman run up the stairs, standing there for a few moments. Through his shades, he scanned the surrounding area for any of his friends. He saw a handful of people toward the bottom row, most of them sporting blue hair a bit like his. He came down the stairs at a brisk pace and stopped at the bottom row.

“Travis?” he looked to his right. His family was sitting there, his parents looking concerned, and his sister with a confused, ‘I’ve-never-seen-you-before’ look on her tiny face. Nate and Avril had also craned their necks around his family, and were looking at him. “Why don’t you take a seat?”

“Hm? Yeah, sure,” he replied distractedly, inching into the seat next to his mother and sister. He removed his sunglasses for a moment, kneading his nose in his fingers. When he resurfaced, the little girl in Amy’s arms started to stir and reach out for him.

“Ba-ba,” she babbled.

“You want your brother?” Amy asked the baby, lifting her up from her own lap and giving her to Travis. Travis hugged Kylie closely to him, studying the puffs in her little cheeks. She was noticeably bigger than she’d been when he had left…and her curiosity, if anything, had grown along with her. She reached up with her little hand and grabbed a firm hold of his nose.

“Ow! Kylie,” he grunted. She responded with squealing laughter. He pinched her cheeks lightly, and she laughed even harder.

“Katrina still hasn’t come out,” Amy murmured. “Shoot – the referee’s going to start counting now…”

Travis’ heart sank. If the referee reached ‘ten’ on a slow count and Katrina still hadn’t shown up, she would be disqualified.

Just then, a terrible series of thoughts crossed his mind. Mariah had mentioned that no one had seen Katrina for the last day or so. What would cause Nicholette to leave for the match right before it started? On top of that, from the small glimpse he got to see of her face, she was in a panic. Something must have happened – something bad. If something happened to Katrina, then…

“SIX!”

“SEVEN!”

Blankly, Travis handed his little sister to their surprised-looking mother, and stood up. He had no idea where to go or what to do. But he knew one thing; if she was in any sort of danger, he had to get to her.

“EIGHT!”

Spencer Brady was wearing a look of obvious smugness. Spencer was very obviously about fourteen or so, with dark hair that was curlier and wilder than Matt’s. A headband pulled it back away from his forehead, where it sat at the back of his head like shag carpet.

“NINE!”

Travis, his heart sinking into his stomach, turned and started back up the stairs. Just then, an explosion of sound prompted him to stop dead in his tracks. He whirled around.

A girl had just emerged from the tunnel, pink hair and black Umbreon trailing behind her as she walked. The spectators cheered loudly – probably not for her as much as their relief that they would actually be able to see a match. Something was different about her, though – her face was intense, holding a dangerous amount of bottled rage. He trudged lazily back down the stairs and looked out over the railing.


She dared not look to the right, to see who was there. If he was not there, she could not go on because she would know that it was finally over between them. If he was there, she would be overcome by the hurt of their separation. For not the first time, she wanted to run away, just run and hide from it all like the scared, little girl everyone thought she was.

But it was really everyone else that was scared. Everyone was scared to fall in love – that was her theory. Falling in love completely meant laying oneself bare to the other…and having someone truly love you back meant that they accepted the whole of you – weaknesses and all.

And human beings were scared to do either one of those. They would much rather trouble themselves with other things, like careers and future plans for themselves. Building relationships was too hard. Maintaining them was even harder. And maintaining them with a sense of security, a sense of knowing that you loved one person and that this one person loved you back, and that the two of you shared something unique to yourselves that no one else but those who were similarly fortunate could understand…

People said that was impossible – especially if they were over thirty, and you were not.

She had no illusions about not being normal. She had learned lessons about love…because she’d had to in order to survive. She was glad that she wasn’t given a choice in the way Fate had shuffled her hand. Given the opportunity to start again from four years ago, she wasn’t sure she would have done it all over. She might have stayed the spoiled princess – and very few would have been in a position to judge.

These years had not made her jaded, but she was world-weary from fighting a good fight. Human hearts were made with the capacity to love, and yet seemed incapable. The heart of the world had shrunk and atrophied, like a muscle never used. But she was an exception, and therefore misunderstood.

Why did so few people understand?

Why did her mother not understand? Or better yet, why did her father not understand?

;251;
Goldenrod City, Johto – two years earlier

It seemed surreal, her standing there in a beautiful white dress while crowds of people looked on. She was shaking in her little heels, feeling like she wanted to run and hide. Truth be told, she had seen this moment, or moments like this, happening in her dreams more times than she’d care to disclose…at least, she thought. She had no idea where this was going. But there was something deep inside her young, twelve-year-old heart that trembled in fear.

Some voice outside her – she knew not the origin – was telling her to kneel. She did it, looking at her knees against the ground. Not long after, she saw another pair of knees next to her own. She tried to talk, but no words were coming out. Her eyes were watering. There she went again, being a crybaby. She tried to stem the flow of tears, not even knowing where they were coming from, but she failed miserably.

She felt two hands on her shoulders and looked up into those eyes. There was a determination in those two blue irises, like something was going to happen and there would be nothing in heaven, in hell, or anything in between that would stop it. “You deserve this more than anyone I know.”

She felt a slight weight encircle her forehead and then the face disappeared above her. She felt herself being helped to her feet and did not resist. She was still crying and didn’t know why. She felt a hand touching her face...wiping her tears away. Then a hand ran over the scars on her shoulder, symbols of outward and inner pain…there was something intentional about the way he did it that caught her attention far more than the fact that she never remembered him touching her like this before. He shook her ever so gently. She blinked hard and laid eyes on him. His mouth started to move…

“I love you.”

Her mouth hung open for a second. It felt like someone had taken all the breath out of her for a moment. It wasn’t the words – she had heard them before. It was the look in his eyes that got her. He only had that look when he really meant what he was saying, almost as if his eyes were pleading with her to believe him and to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was telling the truth.

What was she supposed to say to that? There was nothing she could say or do now. Nothing could measure up to this.

“I love you, too”? That would have been the natural reaction. Of course she wanted to say it. She wanted to scream it at him. But what would that do for him? It took far less effort for her to say that. He was almost perfect. He had few problems, except maybe for his performance pressure, and this secret he had been carrying because he did not know how she would react. He didn’t have a past to be ashamed of. There were very few blemishes or scars on his life, while hers was full of them.

He was inching his face closer and closer, drifting off to the side a bit, probably aiming for one of her cheeks. Even in this moment, he was such a timid gentleman…

And such a fool.

She turned her head upward, put her mouth up to his so that his lips would have nowhere else to go, and closed the distance.

;251;​

She trembled under the weight of the memory. Anger coursed through her shaking body, and the corners of her eyes prickled. Her mother was asking her to reconsider the truth of that. Nicholette Sasano was not there that night. She couldn’t have seen the look in his eyes when he said those words. She couldn’t have heard the conviction in them.

Nicholette hadn’t been there in the rehab clinic on those long days where his leg just would not cooperate, and he took that one look at her, and his eyes would harden, and he’d push his body to the limit, and past it.

“Begin the match!” the referee shouted.

“You heard the man,” the grating voice of her opponent sounded next. “If you’re done being all cool, I’d like to start the match now!”

Katrina slowly took off her shades, and dropped them…

Over the railing, where they hit the ground and splintered.

Her head snapped up, revealing her flickering, blue eyes. Those eyes had cried many tears in the last several days. But no more. People had told her she couldn’t have these few things that she wanted, but they weren’t the ones in position to go out and take it.

She would take it all – this Championship and her support for him. She would be strong, independent, yet there for the one she loved.

She would prove that it could be done. People could call her a young fool if they wanted – but she had felt that one thing that years had only seemed to warn against, and she knew the treasure that lay within. She would not give it up. They would have to come and pry it from her cold, dead fingers if they wanted to take it away…and that would be the day when all the noise would stop. That would be the day when their opinions on the matter…would no longer matter.

She tore a Pokéball from her belt, the gaze in her blue eyes as intense as fire and as firm as steel.

“Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

END

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Just so you guys know, there are _probably_ only going to be five chapters left. I've outlined the rest of the tournament. Also, since I'll have internet access at will for the foreseeable future, the gaps shouldn't be too long. I've moved back to Lynchburg for my summer internship, which is about 10 weeks or so. I'm hoping that this change in paradigm sorta frees up my evenings, which were previously spent studying for tests and doing homework. Maverick Heart WILL happen, and it will happen before this year is over. Thanks to everyone who's continuing to read, and I'll be back with another update before too long.

- ;196; EM1
 

Air Dragon

Ha, ha... not.
How did I know you were posting this now?

Must be psychic... :)

Let's do this, EM...

Firstly, no real grammar errors! You're getting good! And Fast! It can't have been more than two weeks since your last one! Keep 'em coming, mate!

Andrew having a heart failure I did NOT see coming. From what I see, this might change Nicholette's opinion on her daughter's relationship.

I'd really hate to be Spencer right about now. Katrina looks ready to own his rear. Hope she and Travis patch things up.

I'm surprised Matt had that much trouble with Rat-Face Cliff. But somehow I saw Cliff's end coming a mile off. Believe you me, I feel he had it coming. From the looks of things, it seems Kelly is too.

Ha-haaah! That bruiser got owned! Anyone who'd attack a little girl like that deserved it and more. Atta Boy, Shiro... :)

It's time... for me to run. Gotta keep my eyes peeled!

L@er!

P.S.: Pokemon Revolution Johto has been eBook-ed by me. It was 1,078 pages long and is 3.27MB. Pokemon Revolution: Advent Phoenix is currently 1,647 pages long and is about a megabyte bigger (MS Word format). Just a fun fact... :)
 
Last edited:

Diddy

Renegade
I remember someone condensed all the chapters of Kiyohome's AEON: End into a PDF and it topped out at about 170+ pages overall, I'll tell ya, that was one hell of a night xD

Short, but sweet.

This however, I don't think they make PDF's big enough...

I have a book handy which is roughly 1000 pages long on A5-ish paper, which would be roughly 500 pages on A4, this would be 3 times the height of the book, and its a pretty thick book. Condensing your fic onto A5 paper would mean it would be SIX times the size of my book, which is an impressive amount of paper.

anyway, I really should get reading the new chapter.
 

EonMaster One

saeculum harmonia
Chapter 75

Seventy-five is three-quarters of a hundred.

It’s a milestone – a sign that this story has probably taken far too long to tell.

Nonetheless, I thank all of you who have stayed for each detail. As people, we are eventually rewarded for our dedication to something. This chapter in particular is probably the most rewarding one I’ve ever written since I ended Revolution: Johto over five years ago. I can only hope that those of you that have been reading anywhere close to that long will feel as rewarded when you read it.

So, without further ado…

Chapter 75: Katrina’s Decision​

October 11, PA 2013 –Evergrande City, Eastern Hoenn

Spencer Brady took an incredulous gaze at his female opponent across the stadium. An amused laugh escaped from him.

“You don’t know who you’re dealing with, obviously,” he chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. “I was the runner-up in last year’s Indigo Tournament!”

“Really? Good for you,” Katrina replied, unimpressed. “What about the one person that beat you? Did he spend his time running his mouth about how great he was, too?”

Spencer’s face turned purple.

“You think I can’t back it up?” he barked. “Let me show you just how wrong you are!”

Katrina moved a few strands of hair from in front of her face. She hoped silently that he was as good as he said he was. She wouldn’t be able to prove her point otherwise.

“GO!” Spencer threw his first ball, and Katrina matched his motion soon after. The two spheres soared through the air. Both hit the ground – Spencer’s first. The one Katrina had thrown burst open immediately. Spencer’s bounced into the air again before splitting open and throwing its light into nothingness.

The Pokémon on Katrina’s side of the field was a very long, streamlined creature with mostly brown fur. He chased his tail a couple of times, creating a perfect circle with his body before unfurling again to look at his opponent. He stared at the base of the platform, a bit bewildered as he saw nothing.

“Jack, move!!” Katrina yelled. The Linoone got down and rolled as quickly as he could as a blur passed over his head. The attacking creature turned, and Katrina was able to get a look at her opponent’s features. She was a bit astonished for a moment at the bird’s beautiful, long, gold and red plumage.

“Pidgeot, use Wing Attack!” Spencer ordered. Jack whirled his head around just in time to see the large Bird Pokémon descending quickly toward him. Given Pidgeot’s speed, this was not enough time to dodge.

Jack went airborne for a second before landing on his back, his eyes shut tight in pain. He rolled gingerly to his feet as Pidgeot made another pass around the stadium.

“Wing Attack again!” Spencer shouted.

This time, Pidgeot was in full view as she started her descent toward the Linoone.

“Water Pulse!” Katrina issued the counterattack.

Jack opened his mouth. A small, bluish sphere formed there and he fired it at the Flying-type. Pidgeot banked – the attack missed her under her left wing – and kept coming. She brought her wings down on nothing. Dodging the Water Pulse (which went off somewhere behind her with a splash) had given Jack enough time to evade her second attack.

WHAM.

Pidgeot screeched as something slammed into her from the side. In a bit of a panic, she flapped her wings powerfully and rose into the air, returning in the direction of her Trainer. Jack snarled after her, shooting another Water Pulse. This one hit Pidgeot in the back and exploded. Feathers flew everywhere, and the sopping wet Flying Pokémon rolled and flailed in midair, stalling out and losing height. She caught herself just in time to avoid crashing into the ground, and turned herself around to face the smug-looking Jack and his Trainer.

Spencer let out a sigh and smiled. “Okay, we’re warmed up now. GO! Agility!!”

Pidgeot flapped her wings and closed in. It looked like she was in three different places at once…then…

Jack’s only reaction was to fire a Water Pulse at the last place he saw her. He hit an afterimage and nothing more. He turned his head when he heard the bird Pokémon’s cry to his right. She spread her wings and gave one mighty flap. White blades of light burst forth from her form, twisting the air around her. There was a nasty sound of impact, and Jack went flying backward through the air. The Normal-type ended up on his back again. He gave two hacking coughs as he got back to his feet.

“Don’t let up, Pidgeot! Gust again!” Spencer shouted.

Another attack washed over the Linoone, who fell to the ground.

Katrina grimaced.


Travis stayed frozen in his spot, leaned over the railing as he watched the battle wear on. Spencer was good. He wondered if he’d have to battle him at any point.

He felt a small tug on his pants and looked down. Kylie was looking up at him with her blue eyes. He was taken aback for a moment. He still wasn’t used to seeing Kylie on her feet. She had only started learning to walk in the months before he had left for Hoenn. She was growing up so fast.

He reached down and lifted his little sister into the air. She babbled contentedly, smiling, and Travis took note of the fact that she was growing nearly a full set of teeth. Suddenly her smile disappeared. She looked uncomfortable – in pain. Her face started turning red. Travis gave a start. He’d seen that facial expression before…

“Mom,” he uttered nervously, carrying the little girl over to Amy and thrusting her into his mother’s lap. The mother took one look at her daughter’s face.

“Uh-oh,” she muttered, grabbing a small bag from under her chair with her free hand and whisking it and her daughter up the stairs in very short order. Travis moved in and took the seat right next to his father, who didn’t look at him initially.

“I heard you’ve been having girl troubles,” he said after a while. “That’s a bit redundant, actually, isn’t it?”

Travis forced himself to laugh. He could see his dad was trying to cheer him up. It was a bit surreal, the prospect of talking about his relationship with Katrina with his father. He supposed that, up until now, it was something that everyone had acknowledged, but had taken for granted because it was so normal as to not make headlines. The Pidgey flew, the Magikarp swam, clocks ticked, the sky was blue, the grass was green, and Travis DePaul and Katrina Sasano were a steady couple. They disagreed about things on occasion, but they hardly ever fought. The normal pitfalls of a teenage couple didn’t seem to affect them.

“You don’t have any problem with it, do you?” Travis asked a question he had never thought to ask his father.

“You two have been official for, what, two years?” his father laughed. “Don’t you think I would have said something by now? Not that it would have mattered much. Some things you can change, but other things, it’s just not worth the fight.”

Travis let out a long sigh. “Why is this happening? Can you tell me?”

“Welcome to being a normal teenager, buddy,” his dad answered, patting his son’s shoulder and causing it to ache dully. “Relationships go through rough patches. Sometimes it’s our own fault, other times it’s too many voices in our head. Your mom and I met when we both were on our Pokémon journeys.”

“How?” Travis asked.

“How do most Trainers meet each other?” his father answered with another question. “I was cutting through the Ilex Forest to get my badge from Azalea Town, and she saw me.”

“Love at first sight?”

Travis the second laughed aloud at this comment. “More like ‘battle at first sight.’ Your mother was very assertive as a teenager – kind of like that friend of yours. Anyway, I won the first time. She stayed there in the Forest for three days until I came back through with my Hive Badge, and followed me until she could track me down for a rematch. As you can imagine, she was amazed when I told her my name. Everybody knew who my father was, since he had been Champion up to two years before I left on my journey. Except…I wasn’t as self-confident as you were. To me, everything rode on whether or not I could get out of your grandfather’s shadow. And your mom…well…she was afraid of me, a little bit. I mean, afraid of us being together. She hasn’t really ever talked to you much about her parents, has she?”

“No, actually,” he replied.

“She came from a broken home,” his father said somberly. “Her parents split up when she was only about eight or nine. She and her mother got on pretty well by themselves, but she didn’t have a very good picture of men growing up.”

Travis frowned. He’d never known that. His mother was usually very private about her past, so he never really thought to press the issue. Of course, he’d asked his father all sorts of questions since he had come back from his first journey. It was strange, so many of the things about his family that he never knew…

“I was going to be her hero,” the blue-haired man said, a bit of irony in his voice. “That didn’t work out as well as I’d planned. I was wasting my time – she didn’t want a hero, really.”

“I don’t know…” Travis sighed. “There’s always something – a war, parents, Pokémon Training. It makes me wonder a little bit if we’d be better off…”

“I have a hard time believing you’d just give up now after everything that’s happened,” his father cut him off.

“I’d like to think that, too, but…” Travis paused for a second. “We’re only teenagers. Maybe everyone’s right. Maybe we’ve been taking this way too seriously, when it wasn’t ever meant to be serious.”

“What is going on with you?” his father gave him an incredulous look. “How can you say something like that? After all you two have gone through together?”

“I don’t want her to feel like she has to be with me for that, or any other reason,” Travis replied. “I want her to do what she wants, and be happy…even if that’s not with me. Personally, a part of me feels like I’ve put her through enough.”

“You’re serious about that, aren’t you? You’re really ready to do that?”

“Of course I’m not ready. But I would, if I knew it would make her happy,” Travis answered, his voice shaking. His father seemed a bit taken aback.


Jack let yet another Water Pulse fly at his advancing opponent. Pidgeot barrel rolled around it and kept coming. Jack panted with fatigue, his head hanging close to the ground. Pidgeot’s eyes narrowed as she bore down on the Rushing Pokémon.

Jack looked up, with no time left to spare.

“Finish him off!” Spencer shouted. “Use Wing Attack, Pidgeot!”

“Use Shock Wave!!”

Everything seemed to happen all at once. The resulting shockwave caused the air itself to vibrate, and the space exploded with the loudest thunderclap that Travis had ever heard. His father grimaced slightly, and he saw Avril favoring her ear, an expression of obvious discomfort on her pale face.

When the smoke from the resulting explosion finally cleared, both Pokémon were on the ground, bruised and motionless. The referee started the count.

Katrina sighed lightly as the referee announced that the first battle had been a draw. She mentally slapped herself. What had she been thinking? She was supposed to use one Water Pulse, then Shock Wave. She’d let that battle go on too long, and Jack had paid the price for it. On top of that, she was down to three Pokémon now, and there was no telling what he was planning on featuring next.

She selected her next Pokéball. With Pidgeot off the field, she was counting on that being the only Flying-type Spencer would feature during the match.

Spencer had made his next selection.

The referee announced the double toss. “Three…two…one…BEGIN!”

Both Trainers lobbed their Pokéballs toward the stadium floor. They both burst open.

As soon as the combatants were revealed, Katrina smiled, amazed at her fortune. Spencer, meanwhile, looked quite bewildered.

On his side of the field was an orange, rather pudgy mouse creature with yellow cheeks and a long, whiplike tail that ended in a zigzag bolt.

Meanwhile, on the other size of the field, a horned, ram-like creature raised his mouth up to the heavens and let out an almighty…

Yawn.

“<Magnus – this isn’t the time to be sleeping! Pay attention!!>” Crescent barked from the sideline.

The Georyx gave a start and then stood. “<Fine, fine, I’m going….>”

Spencer grunted to himself. “****! That’s a Ground-type, isn’t it? Listen, as soon as we get to sixty seconds, I’m pulling you out.”

The Raichu peered over at the Georyx, who was stretching.

“<I can take him,>” she said, flicking her long tail. “<He looks lazy and slow.>”

“Don’t be reckless,” Spencer warned.

Raichu crouched low, sparks flying from her yellow cheeks. “<Of course not.>”

“Get after him, then,” Spencer laughed. “Quick Attack!”

A smirk crossed Raichu’s face as she dug her feet into the ground. She left an afterimage as she took off across the field, seemingly bouncing on the arena floor and creating ripples like a stone skipping across water.

“<Oh, boy…>” Magnus grunted, looking around for his opponent.

“<Magnus!>” Crescent roared. “<Move!>”

Raichu came darting in from the left. Magnus didn’t have enough time to react, and let out a grunt as the Electric-type slammed into him hard, knocking him to his flank. She pinned him to the ground on his back, a playful look in her eyes. She kept them locked on the Ground-type, who struggled to get up for a moment. He looked up at her brown eyes. She had the most demure expression on her face…

Magnus got to his feet as she darted away slightly to put some distance between herself and her opponent. “<Ouch…hmm…?>”

“Magnus, Earthquake!” Katrina shouted.

Magnus reared back and raised his hoofs from the ground. He seemed to hesitate, though.

“<What’s wrong?>” Crescent asked.

“<Do I really have to attack her?>” Magnus uttered dreamily, staring in wonder at the Mouse Pokémon.

“<If you don’t want to get your *** kicked!!>” Crescent snarled, clearly annoyed.

“<She can kick it, then...>” the Georyx sighed. “<That doesn’t seem like it’d be so bad, actually…>”

“<W-w-WHAT?!>” the Umbreon looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. His red irises shrank to pinpricks in his eyes. “<What the hell is that supposed to mean?!>”

“<Didn’t you meet your one true love by losing to her in battle?>” Magnus asked.

“<You can’t be serious,>” Crescent uttered, looking completely thrown. Katrina, meanwhile, was at a loss to give an order.

“Raichu? What did you do to him…?” Spencer asked, looking just as astonished.

“<I made use of my feminine charm, that’s all,>” Raichu replied casually, batting her eyes. “<Can I beat him down now?>”

“Of course,” Spencer chuckled. “Raichu! Use Slam attack!”

Raichu’s tail lashed toward Magnus, who watched it languidly as if in some sort of trance. The long, slender tail wrapped around his body. Suddenly, he felt himself being hoisted into the air.

“<WH-WHO-WHO-WHOA!!>” he shouted.

The tail extended to its full length, leaving the Georyx suspended in mid-air for a second.

Crescent’s face twitched.

“<Oh, ****.>”

With a powerful flick, Raichu brought her tail downward, and Magnus with it. He slammed into the ground and bounced before Raichu flicked her tail again and discarded his body across the arena.

“<Ouch,>” Magnus grunted as he stood, shaking the cobwebs out. “<That’s not very nice…>”

Crescent raised his front paw and brought it down over his face in disbelief. “<Are you enjoying getting beaten to a pulp? Fight back!!>”

Katrina let out a groan as she watched Magnus tried to keep up with the Raichu. He got his wits together enough to try to attack her with a Headbutt. Raichu went flying into the air, her long, black tail trailing behind her, and looped around herself as she landed on her feet.

The two combatants’ opposing Tackle attacks canceled each other out. The frustrated Raichu lost herself for a moment and let an electric attack fly. Magnus blinked blankly as the bolt of lightning washed over him and then dissipated with no effect.

“Electric attacks aren’t going to work, Raichu!” Spencer warned her.

“<Tsk. Damn!>” she sighed.

“Magnitude!” Katrina ordered.

“<Okay, that’s where I draw the line,>” Magnus said, his voice firmer and more committed than she had ever heard it. “<That could kill her if it’s too strong.>”

“<You don’t want to attack me, do you? How cute,>” Raichu replied. Her body was bruised and she was clearly not happy about it. “<Well, loverboy, it’s been fun, but maybe it’s time for us to start seeing other Pokémon.>”

“She’ll live, Magnus – I’ll even arrange a date for you two if you want it so badly,” Katrina replied, a vein going in her temple. “Use – Magnitude!

Raichu’s smirk started to disappear.

An amber glow began to radiate from Magnus’ body. He reared back on his hind hooves and stomped the ground, which began to shake violently. Raichu lost her footing and fell to the ground. Suddenly, she bounced into the air, as if thrown there by some powerful force.

When she landed, she did so on her back, and went limply to the ground.

“<It’s over,>” Crescent muttered.

Magnus sighed and walked over to where the Raichu was lying down and stood over her.

“<Never woulda worked between us,>” he laughed.
The electric-type’s body trembled as she tried with no avail to rise to her feet.

“<Don’t make things harder for yourself,>” Magnus answered. “<You’ve gotta be tired.>”

“<Tch…>” Raichu scoffed.

“<You weren’t bad,>” Magnus chuckled. “<Not bad-looking, either.>”

“<You’re making…fun of me,>” the Electric-type panted.

“<Maybe,>” the Georyx answered lazily, turning around to walk away.

“<You’re…you’re such a d…>” Raichu grunted for a moment. A blush was visible on her face before she finally passed out.

“Raichu is unable to battle! Georyx is the winner!”

Magnus sauntered back over to his side of the field. Crescent was annoyed with him. “<You’re strutting an awful lot for a guy that almost got his *** handed to him by an Electric-type.>”

“<I’m not strutting,>” Magnus replied.

“<Okay, fine, well, the taunting thing still isn’t cool,>” Crescent said. “<She put up a good fight.>”

“<I told her that already,>” Magnus answered.

Suddenly, a knowing look seized the Umbreon’s face. “<You did, huh? You were flirting with her, weren’t you?>”

“<Flirting? I don’t flirt,>” Magnus replied casually, looking away from Crescent. “<Takes too much energy.>”

“<A crush on a girl Pokémon?>” Crescent teased. “<Our little Magnus is growing up.>”

“<Not so much,>” Magnus answered. “<You’re just getting old…pops.>”

Crescent’s face tightened.

“Touché,” Katrina laughed.

Spencer returned Raichu to her ball. His face contorted in a grimace. “Okay, so you’re not horrible at this. But…your Georyx is standing on his last legs already.”

He pulled out another Pokéball, ready to resume the battle.



Shiro leaned his tall body languidly against the nearest white wall, gazing out of the fifth-story window and watching the ground below as he sat on the window’s huge sill. He tried to relax, but part of him was on edge. He took a look at the closed door and sighed. They were taking a while.

He jumped to his feet and, hands in his pockets, trudged lankily down the mostly white hallway, where he nodded a greeting at a white-clad nurse that was going down the hall in the opposite direction. He went past several doors...three, four, five. A couple of them were open, revealing the fact that most of the patients on this floor in particular were children. He glimpsed a sniffling, little boy being held by his mother as a doctor approached the two of them with a syringe. He smirked in sympathy. He knew that feeling. Even to this day, he had a small thing about needles.

He saw a flash of blondish hair out of the corner of his eye and heard the excited voice of a man coming from what sounded to be a television in the room.

“Glalie has an obvious type advantage in this one, Archie, but as we just saw with the last battle, that doesn’t always translate into an easy victory. Her Pokémon’s been on the field for well over five minutes, so she’s eligible to switch out if she wants to. This could turn into a chess match very quickly.”

He did a double take for a couple of reasons. First of all, he knew for a fact that the man was announcing or describing some sort of Pokémon battle. The second was…he thought he might have recognized the kid in the bed.

The boy was about twelve or thirteen, intently studying a teddy bear that was on his belly. A couple of his limbs seemed to be in traction. A half-finished tray of food stood off to the side of his bed as well.

Slowly, he stepped into the room. The boy seemed to notice his presence, and turned around. A brief flash of disappointment crossed his face as he met Shiro’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by surprise.

“Shiro?” the boy uttered.

“Kelly,” Shiro replied, sounding less questioning.

“What are you doing here?” Kelly asked.

“I’m here with…” Shiro trailed off. “Madeline and her family.”

An interested look crossed Kelly’s face. “I thought you two were…you know, done.”

Shiro chuckled as he took the seat next to the younger boy’s hospital bed. “Yeah. So did I.”

Kelly let out a small laugh.

“You never struck me as the type that’d need a stuffed toy to help get to sleep,” Shiro mentioned casually, hoping that it didn’t sound too much like he was mocking Kelly.

“Er…” Kelly let out a nervous chuckle. “It’s not mine. I mean, it is, but…it’s a gift.”

“A gift?” now it was Shiro’s turn to look on Kelly with interest. “Who was it from?”

Kelly looked down and mouthed something, barely audible as he spoke.

“What??” Shiro asked. “Didn’t hear you.”

“It was from Jadyn Mirel, okay?” Kelly replied more loudly this time, looking uncomfortable.

“You mean…” Shiro started, looking uncomfortable as well and knowing that he was bringing up a likely sore subject. “You mean, Cliff’s g—”

Ex-girlfriend,” Kelly answered, and it was with a sort of aggressiveness, a protective instinct.

“Sorry, sorry,” Shiro replied quickly. “I didn’t know. So, she’s single?”

“I just said that,” the blond-haired teenager sighed in exasperation. “I don’t think she’s found anyone new in the last few days, and even if she had, it’s not like she’d tell me.”

There was a long silence. Shiro watched the screen. The Georyx shown had just slammed into Glalie with a Skull Bash, driving the Ice Ball Pokémon backward.

“So, do you like her?” Shiro asked.

“Wh-what?” Kelly uttered, his face ablaze with blushing.

“C’mon, it’s just us two here,” the red-haired boy said, talking to Kelly as one would a younger brother. “You can tell me.”

“I don’t know, okay?” Kelly almost yelled at him. “I don’t know. I’ve never felt like this before – it doesn’t make any sense.”

And he fell silent.

“It usually doesn’t,” Shiro replied. “Most of the time, actually…”

As if on cue, a teenage girl with bouncing, brown curls showed up in the doorway.

“There you are!” she exclaimed. “I was looking for you, why didn’t you come in with – Kelly?”

The boy’s presence registered to her mid-sentence. Shiro stood up and Madeline grabbed onto his hand.

“You disappeared on us,” she said, trying to pull him out of the room by his arm. “Why didn’t you come in? It would have been okay.”

“It would have been awkward,” Shiro answered. “Me not being a family member…and they probably did a full checkup on her…”

The ‘her’ in question was Madeline’s little sister, Veronica. They were pretty sure she was alright, but her family had brought her to the medical facilities at Victory Road to make sure the attack she and her mother had suffered earlier that day hadn’t left any lasting damage. Given the nature of how and where it happened, Shiro figured that they had checked everything, which more than likely involved stripping the young patient down to nearly nothing. Nobody had said that he could not come in, but he just figured to stay outside. No use creating an awkward situation.

“Well, in any case, they’re done now,” Madeline replied. “Everything checked out fine…except she’s got one small bruise.”

“I didn’t see any bruises on her,” Shiro commented.

“Well, you wouldn’t…” Madeline replied darkly. “…unless she decided to moon you. She landed on her tailbone pretty hard when that guy dropped her.”

Shiro grimaced. “****, that’s probably my fault, too. I hit his elbow and made his arm go numb. I wasn’t thinking…”

“Don’t beat yourself up,” Madeline put a hand on both of his shoulders. “You probably saved her life – and Mandi’s too.”

“Yeah, well…” murmured Shiro. “I’m not good with kids. You know that.”

“Looks like you’re decent with saving lives,” Kelly laughed. Shiro turned around. “I never did thank you. If you hadn’t gotten in and found me, they were definitely planning on finishing me off.”

Shiro’s mouth twitched. “Well, you know…I do what I can.”

“Come on,” Madeline pulled his arm again. “Veronica’s looking for you. Hope you get well soon, Kelly.”

Kelly opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by a loud shout from the television.

“Ice Beam hits its mark!” Archer’s excitable voice turned everyone’s attention to the screen as the camera focused on Georyx, who hit the ground, encased in a block of ice. “Looks like Georyx is totally frozen.”

“Mmf,” Shiro groaned. A picture of Katrina returning Georyx to his ball, as her name appeared on the screen along with the subtitle: TWO POKÉMON REMAINING.

“She’ll be alright,” Madeline replied. “I think.”


Amanda Marius took a shirt from her bag and draped it over her daughter’s head, beginning to cover her bare upper body. The little girl’s blonde curls shook and shook until her head and arms popped through like a Squirtle from its shell. She sat upon the paper-covered leather, dangling her sandaled feet in the air, several feet from the ground.

“Maffew,” she uttered childishly. The little girl’s teenage brother uprooted himself from his standing place in the room and walked over to him.

“Hm? What’s up, Veronica?” he asked. She looked at him and extended her arms toward him. Reading the wordless message, he hoisted her small form up into his arms. Her hands found a home around his neck, and her curled head a place right under his chin. Mariah, who had been sitting down, stood and walked over to the other two. She smiled at Veronica and wiggled one of her fingers under the little girl’s collarbone, eliciting a squeal and a giggle.

At that moment, the door opened.

“Finally found him, did you?” Otto’s voice asked, accompanied by a chuckle. Madeline led a nervous-looking Shiro into the office by the hand and literally shoved him out in front of Matt. She stopped leaning and turned her head upward, regarding Shiro’s apprehensive face with interest and recognition.

“Hi, there,” Shiro said. “You doing okay?”

“Veronica, be careful!” Matt said loudly, as the little girl tried to dislodge herself from her brother and hung precariously in the air as she reached out for Shiro.

“Well, are you going to take her or not?” Madeline asked. Gingerly, he reached out for the little girl. Once Matt was sure he had a decent grip, he let her go. Her legs swung for a second as they covered the distance, but as soon as they reached Shiro, they coiled tightly around him along with her arms.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“I thought I told you,” Shiro replied. “It’s Shiro.”

“Oh,” Veronica answered simply, leaning against his shoulder. “Did you save me?”

“Er…” Shiro uttered sheepishly. “I…uh…”

“That’s exactly what he did, Veronica,” Amanda walked up to him. “And we’re all very grateful to him.”



“Glalie, Ice Beam!” Spencer snarled. The large, perpetually scowling head focused his eyes on his opponent – a creature well over three feet in height when standing, a flame marking on her belly the only accent on her vermillion coat of fur. Her flaming tail swished behind her like a candle in the wind. Glalie fired the bolt of energy at his opponent, who stood there briefly and observed the zigzagging, thunderbolt-like action it had as it crackled toward her.

“<Ooh…it’s so pretty…>” she uttered.

“<Amber – admire the sight later before you get frozen solid!!>” Crescent shouted.

“<What?? Eeee!!>” she squealed as the Ice Beam hit her in the belly. “<Oh!! Oh!! Omigosh, that’s cold!!>”

She patted her stomach repeatedly, following that motion by grabbing her tail and waving it in front of her belly.

“Amber…stop playing around, would you?” Katrina sighed. “This is a serious battle, in case you haven’t noticed. That Glalie isn’t your friend.”

“<Fine with me,>” Amber tossed her head back.

The Glalie said something to her. Whatever it was, it set the Marhot off.

“<Who the hell are you calling ‘ugly’?! Have you looked in a mirror lately?>” she snarled. “<That’s it. I’m toasting him.>”

A sweatdrop rolled down Crescent’s head. “<At least she’s motivated now.>”

“Glalie,” Spencer roared. “Use Headbutt!!”

Glalie came in hard and fast, his nearly five-hundred-pound body streaking through thin air.

“<Would now be a good time to move?>” Amber asked, looking a bit nervous.

“If you don’t want a quarter of a ton smashing into you, yes, that would be good,” Katrina replied.

“<Ack!!>” Amber leapt out of the way just as the Ice Pokémon smashed into the ground, creating a small dent in the arena floor as he turned around to locate her. When he finally did, he fired another Ice Beam. A yellowish jet of light was Amber’s counterattack. It tore through the Ice Beam and then ricocheted off Glalie’s face, exploding. “<Boom! How’s that taste – *****?!>”

The Glalie roared in pain. When he emerged from the smoke cloud, one of his eyes was swollen and burned out.

“<Ouch,>” Crescent commented. “<That can’t feel good.>”

“An eye gouge? Way to play fair,” Spencer commented sarcastically.

“Totally an accident, but if it’s effective…” Katrina sighed. Spencer’s lip curled. His face contorted – was he devising a plan, or was he simply about to blow his top?

“Ice Beam!” he snarled. Glalie fired the beam and missed the Marhot by a mile…and a half. “Fire it again!!”

“<Missed me!!>” Amber taunted as another Ice Beam whizzed by her head. Then, they started coming in series. The Fire-type dodged each of them relatively easily, taunting Glalie along the way. “<Try again!! Nope!! Fail!! You suck!!>”

“<You know, if it doesn’t work after five times, maybe you should try something else,>” Crescent commented with a slight chuckle.

Spencer smirked.

“You really must think that I’m a rookie,” Katrina chuckled. “Amber, use Flamethrower on the ground around you!”

Amber looked at Katrina and then down at her feet. “<Oh, poo, there’s ice everywhere…>”

She let the stream of fire fly, melting the ice around her feet. A hiss reverberated in the stadium as the ice disappeared into pillars of steam and smoke, lowering the visibility on the field.

“Hah,” Spencer cackled. “Glalie, Double Team!!”

Glalie emerged from the cloud of smoke and steam for a moment. As he descended, Katrina caught sight of one of the Pokémon’s trademark horns elsewhere on the battlefield.

Inside the cloud, Amber snarled as she caught sight of Glalie’s head for a brief second. Then it disappeared into the fog again.

Seconds later, she heard a rush of wind behind her.

Outside, a nasty sound of impact was followed by a short, clipped scream.

“Amber!” Katrina shouted.

A similar pair of sounds happened again.

The third time, a vermillion form came flying out of the shrinking cloud. She landed on her flank and rolled a couple of times rather violently.

She staggered to her feet, looking bruised and weakened.

“Great…he knew I’d try to melt the ice…” Katrina muttered to herself angrily.

“Use Sheer Cold!!” Spencer commanded. Glalie began to glow a translucent blue hue. This hue expanded, and Katrina instantly felt the temperature around her drop drastically. Whatever was happening, it was not good.

“Double Team!!” Katrina answered. Amber recollected herself and braced, just before the blue aura of light overtook her. “…Damn…!”

With a chilly, crackling sound, the entire battlefield was encased in ice. Amber was nowhere to be found. Spencer gave a light chuckle as he looked at Katrina, whose expression went hollow for a moment, then hardened.

“End of the line.”

“What?”

Amber darted back into sight, rising to her feet behind Glalie, her flaming tail whipping back and forth with excitement and maybe a bit of malice. Spencer’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, and he expressed his shock and worry with a loud cry of, “Freaking HELL!!!”

Glalie heard his Trainer’s shout and slowly bobbed around, only to find himself face to face with an angry Fire-type, embers sparking at the corners of her mouth as she looked down on him with a devilish grin on her face. “I’m about to turn you into charcoal.”

“Flamethrower!!!”

Glalie’s bug-eyed expression disappeared behind a stream of golden flames that hit the ground and collected there, going up in a huge fireball that prompted more than a couple of gasps of excitement and fear from the surrounding fans.


“Nice,” Travis the younger muttered.

“I’ll be surprised if Glalie gets up after that one, right?” his father said, smiling at his son. “Looks like she’s going to win.”

“It’s not over yet,” Travis replied. “From what I heard, he’s got one of those really strong Kanto Pokémon. He attended the Academy that’s run by the Oak family.”

“Right,” was his father’s reply. A second later, he turned to look across Travis at a woman carrying a bouncing toddler.

“Good grief, T.J. – what did you feed her?” the woman asked.

“I thought you fed her last time,” Travis’ father answered defensively.

“But you did the time before that, and that’s what was in the diaper I just had to change,” Amy answered.

“We wouldn’t have to worry about that if we just potty trained her,” T.J. said, sitting back.

“I thought we went over this already,” Amy said tersely. “We weren’t going to do it until –”

“Her second birthday, I know,” Travis looked right, toward his father, who had his face in his palm. He got the impression that this was a conversation his parents had already had several times. “It’s October, Amy. Her birthday’s in seven weeks. The headstart would help if we started working on it when we get back home.”

“She might not be ready,” Amy replied. “What do you think?”

His mother was looking at him. Why was he the one answering this question? He shrugged his shoulders.

“What about Dr. Audrey?” he questioned. “Did you ask him?”

Amy looked like Christmas had been canceled.

“It can’t hurt that much,” Travis’ father commented. “If she’s not ready, we won’t push it.”

Travis briefly lamented the fact that he had been away from home for so long. He could remember when getting her to walk four steps without face-planting was seen as a monumental victory in the DePaul household.


Katrina bated her breath as she watched Spencer Brady make his decision. She knew that Amber was tired. Her breathing was labored, and her tail flame was starting to flicker. Fortunately, she knew that simply happened when a Marhot was tired. It didn’t necessarily mean she was near death, as was the case with some other Pokémon…

Crescent, who had been sitting down just outside the battle boundaries, was now on his feet, his black tail swishing from side to side in anticipation.

Amber herself was standing extremely still. She tried to shift her weight onto the battlefield, which was completely iced over, and lost her balance. She was panting, trying to catch her breath, her teeth chattering from the cold.


“I ran into Nicholette on the way by the bathroom,” Amy said, looking ahead and not at her husband or her teenage son. Nevertheless, both looked back at her, aware that she wouldn’t have said anything about it if it wasn’t somewhat important. The woman’s slightly thin form heaved with a long, heavy sigh. The weight of her next statement could be felt already, even though she had said nothing. Even Nate and Avril were craning their necks around to have a better listen. “Drew had a heart attack at work last night.”

“WHAT?!” Travis was surprised when the one that was on his feet, yelling in shock was not him, but…

“Nate, not so loud,” Avril had stood too, and grabbed onto Nate’s arm, just as Kylie started to whimper a bit in fright.

“Is he alive?” Nate asked.

“He’s stable, for now…” Amy replied. “But he’s in a coma.”

Nate said, looking blank as he slumped down into his chair. “On top of everything else…”

His head dropped in between his knees, and he grasped at his very wild, very black hair as Avril patted his shoulder. “Why are you getting so upset?”

“Why?” Nate’s head popped back up. “Because she’s gone through enough hell already, hasn’t she?”

The crowd make a collective sound of amazement as the Pokémon burst forth from Spencer’s ball. It was a huge sort of cross between a dinosaur and a dragon. Orange in color, it appeared in midair and spread its large wings. A cream pot belly was very prominent on its body, but it didn’t seem to impede the Pokémon that much as it did a lap around the stadium, throwing several screaming spectators into the shadow of its huge form, before finally landing at its Trainer’s feet. It raised its head, spread its huge, leathery wings, and released a Flamethrower and a loud roar into the heavens.

Everyone stopped what they were doing when they heard the roar.

“Oh, my…” Amy muttered as she saw the creature.


“Attack, Charizard!” Spencer shouted. “Use Slash!!”

The large, winged reptilian took off across the stadium and raised one claw. Amber leapt out of the way just in time, and Charizard’s clawing strike cleaved an icicle into shards. Amber landed on melting ice and slid backward, breathing laboriously.

“Use Fireworks, Amber!” Katrina yelled. Amber reared back and spat a glowing ball of flame at Charizard, but the fire quickly fizzled before it got to him. “Move over!!”

Charizard came in with another claw. This time, he connected, sending Amber straight into the air.

“Amber!!”

“You still don’t know who you’re dealing with,” Spencer snarled. “So I’m going to show you! Charizard, finish her off! Use Seismic Toss!!”

Charizard took flight, then scooped Amber up into his arms. With several mighty flaps of his wings, he cut through the graying firmament and disappeared. Several tense moments later, a twinkle appeared in the sky. Charizard, his victim in his grasp, was nosediving toward Earth at frightening speeds. A white glow surrounded him, and he had all the appearance of a meteor descending on the stadium from the heavens. Several spectators screamed aloud as Charizard flew dangerously close to the ground. He let Amber go and pulled up at the very last moment, looking behind him to see that his opponent’s collision with the floor came with a blast and sound akin to a bomb going off in the middle of the stadium. The cloud of smoke only managed to hide what everyone knew as soon as the blow had fallen.

The referee went through the motion of counting to ten, then officially ruled Amber out of the battle. Katrina returned Amber to her ball without a further word.

She dropped her hand to her side.

“You know what we have to do,” Katrina said simply.

“<Yeah,>” Crescent replied, with a simple nod. “<It’s just, everything that’s going on…>”

“Hm?” Katrina uttered.

“<We could all be separated,>” Crescent answered. “<My…my family…>”

“I won’t let that happen, Crescent,” Katrina said. “You can trust me. No matter what happens with me, you won’t be separated from Angel and Hester.”

“<What are things coming to?>” Crescent shook his head. “<After all we’ve gone through…>”


“…Why is this happening?” Travis murmured blankly, standing up.

“Are you leaving?” Amy asked, moving her legs over so Travis could get out.

“You’re joking,” Nate said.

“I can’t do this anymore,” Travis replied firmly, looking at Nate.

“You can’t be serious,” Nate repeated, the tension in his voice growing a little bit. He stood, ignoring Avril’s pleas for him to calm down, and went out of the row after Travis. He caught his shoulder and flung him around.

“What? What do you want me to do?” Travis replied. His voice was raised and a bit tense, but he was not yelling. He sounded, rather, like someone who wanted to scream but had tried and had found that he simply lacked the energy.

“You’re giving up?” Nate asked.

“I’m fighting a losing battle,” Travis answered very quickly. “There’s always something going on – some kind of hurt, some kind of fear, some kind of weird circumstance – that keeps us just far enough apart. I don’t know. Maybe everyone’s right. Everything’s just for a time, and maybe our time’s finally up.”

“You—stop screwing with me, Travis,” Nate replied, shaking his head and wearing a disbelieving smile. “You mean, everything we went through…everything I did to make sure she stayed alive…”

“…Doesn’t entitle us to anything,” Travis cut him off. “That’s the way life is. You do almost everything right, and you still stand a chance of coming away empty-handed. Besides, we’re just teenagers, Nate. Be reasonable. Things weren’t supposed to be this serious…”

Nate looked down at his shoes for a couple of seconds.

“But they were, weren’t they?” he asked. When he popped up, one of his hands came with him.

Travis was on his back a second later, feeling stinging pains in his jaw and in his side.

“Damn ‘reasonable’ to hell! You’re being stupid!!” Nate snarled, reaching for Travis’ shirt and bunching it up in his hands. “You and Katrina have something special. Something that you’ll never have with anyone else if you let her go now! Look me in the eye and tell me that someone else will ever be as important to you!”

Travis looked up at Nate’s face. He tried to talk, but the words would not come. He turned his blue eyes away from Nate, who watched them water.

All of a sudden, Nate let go as if Travis’ clothes had repulsed him. Travis turned around and took off up the stairs.

…continue…
 
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