"Don't bother," came a steely response from the treeline just above them. When the three girls turned to look up, they would find a Cinccino staring back at them. His eyes were filled with much hurt locked away behind an angry face, a very harsh difference in comparison to the blubbering mess Touko had found a day ago. It held the same messy and unkempt appearance unseen in a Cinccino, but instead of sadness in his face, it held hate. It held intense...searing...throbbing hate that seemed to encompass his aura. And he was wielding a sword...the sword that Maxin owned. Touko might remember at this moment that she had left it in the cave.
And while Touko and Sophie may or may not have known PokeSpeak...Skyva did. So when this Cinccino dropped down from the tree and approached the only person he recognized out of the three, the story he would tell would rock Skyva to the core.
"I know what happened," Liam said without emotion.
“Mmmmm…”
His sense of hearing was what he focused on first, the sounds of the trees moving in the wind in his notice first.
“Hrrnn?”
His left eye squinted open first, catching a glimpse of the softer ground he was laying on. Already he felt comfort in not moving or shifting his body, but for his own curiosity’s sake, he had to come to. A slight stir of his belly already told him he felt stiff and he needed to shake that feeling off. Slowly, he tried to use his arms to lift himself up to a downward facing dog style.
“Hmmm-URK!”
Instantly, he felt a searing pain in the middle of his chest as he fought to lift himself up. His right hand instinctively clutched the sore spot, leaving the left hand to support all his weight…which wasn’t a good idea. The next thing he knew, he was face down in the dirt again, moaning. It had been a long time since he had to recover from injuries naturally, he thought. Recently, he’d had the help of the PokeBall to heal quickly. Ever since Maxin-
Wait! Liam’s mind suddenly screamed at him, fully alert. Where was Maxin? Where was Skyva and Radegast and all their Pokemon? Hell, where was he? Ignoring the pain from the sudden surge of adrenaline, he shot up like a rocket and took in his surroundings. He was in a different part of the forest, resting underneath a bush of all places. How had he gotten there? To his right was a large clearing that had a lot of footsteps trampled in the dirt, too many to count the number of Pokemon that had to have been there. But what was more concerning than the amount of Pokemon that had been in the area was the lack of Pokemon in the area currently. Not a creature stirred besides him. It was like everyone congregated for something and then fled the area entirely.
And then all thoughts of the creepy factor flew out the window when Liam spotted the massive circular carving in the woods that seemed to span for a mile. Okay,
that was the most concerning thing to see here, he decided. But who or what had caused such a blast to happen? And why?
His first order of business was to find Maxin, however, which he didn’t see any trace of nearby. So he wandered from the clearing. Or, more accurately, swayed and shambled from tree to tree. He was still very weak and very vulnerable. He just didn’t have the strength to hold himself steady. And yet, he found the determination to keep going. He had to know what happened and where everyone went.
As he fought to keep going, he tried to back track in his mind to what he remembered. Skyva was lost…that much was certain. Radegast and Maxin had gone looking for her. They’d stumbled into a tombstone where they found Surf. And then…they were attacked. Now he could see it, clear as day, the Aura Sphere being hurtled at him from the darkness…the last thing he saw before walking up just then. The pain in his chest was the remnants of such a powerful attack being brought down upon him. And it still hurt.
But he still kept going. He didn’t keep track of time. He didn’t keep track of footprints. He didn’t even have a destination in mind or a place to begin looking. It took all of his concentration to keep moving as it was. He was just stumbling around and hoping he got lucky enough to find someone.
And then he heard voices. Most of them were celebratory, jesting, taunting…but there was one defiant voice in there, a voice Liam recognized. A ten year old boy’s voice who was retorting all kinds of insults at these other voices surrounding him.
A boy he knew as Maxin.
Now Liam had much more drive to follow the crowd of voices as he fought on, even managing a shambled jog to try and catch up. He wasn’t thinking about stealth or a plan of attack. He was thinking about figuring out what was going on and why Maxin was in trouble. Luckily, the others were making enough noise to mask his own. So he pressed on.
A few minutes later, he was near a larger-than-life looming tower. The sound of moving feet stopped, but the noises continued. Liam was thankful for that as it allowed for him to catch up while remaining quiet. As he got closer, he became aware of his own footsteps and softened them. Sure enough, the voices died down suddenly as one voice in particular took charge. There was a slight tone of threatening playfulness in his dialogue, but nothing could deny the boiling anger that spat off his tongue in Common.
“You’ve caused us a lot of trouble tonight, boy.”
As if he needed the added dialogue to confirm his worries, Liam knew who the boy they were talking about was. And when he peered through the trees from a safe distance, he could see the head of his trainer giving a defiant stare back. Through the torn and battle weary clothing he wore, the disheveled hair, and the trickle of blood running down the side of his head, Maxin was hardly recognizable. But he had those green eyes, that high spirit shining through the bleakness. And with it, the boy managed a smirk of satisfaction towards a very peeved looking Zoroark.
“Good. Cause you kind of deserve it.”
The Lucario standing behind Maxin immediately slapped him, sending a cold chill down Liam’s spine as he remembered the ever so present burning pain in his chest for some reason. Surrounding the boy was a cast of unpleasant Pokemon, some of them Steel or Fairy type. There was a greater majority of Ghost and Dark-Types. But most, if not all, carried a bit of Psychic-Type with them. He could feel it in the atmosphere. That energy alone was enough to leave his heart thumping. The Zoroark was giving off an intense aura as well, amplifying the feeling of fear he felt. Or was that the weird stone on his necklace? He also noticed that neither Skyva nor Radegast or any of their Pokemon were by his side. Skyva had been lost to begin with, he remembered, but where was Radegast?
“Now…” the Zoroark continued, “I know you know about the whereabouts of Radegast. So I would like for you to tell me where he is. It’ll be much easier on you this way, I promise.” A slow smirk glistened in the darkness.
But Maxin didn’t seem to be intimidated at all by this, “I don’t, actually.”
“Oh, really? Somehow I don’t believe you.”
“Honest to Arceus.” Maxin’s face held a slight edge of satisfaction in it as the Zoroark began to pace.
“You made a diversion somehow. You sent them off somewhere while you took the route to Chargestone. It was actually quite brilliant of you, I must commend. You had all the scenarios prepared, didn’t you?”
Maxin’s face showed puzzlement for the first time, “Not sure what you mean by that.”
“Well, you obviously sniffed out the ambush we had set up for you in Chargestone Cavern.” Zane had approached the boy’s side and began raking a claw across his cheek, soft enough to where it didn’t dig into the skin, but enough to cause Maxin visible discomfort, “How else would you have known to split off when we came after you?”
But Maxin just shrugged, “I took precautions, but honestly…I didn’t know you were over there.”
Almost immediately, there was a violent outburst from the Zoroark, his foot smashing into the ground and making a large imprint, a couple inches behind Maxin. “But you know where you directed them. You had a rendezvous point planned out. So you know where they’re headed, don’t you?”
This time Maxin was silent. Liam could see the restraint in his eyes as he lowered them slightly. The Zoroark’s sinister grin grew a bit wider.
“Aha! So you do know where they’re heading,” the Zoroark paused, letting it sink it Maxin’s head before continuing, “Tell ya what. I may even let the girl go. She was just a way for me to lure him into the forest. All I really want is Radegast.” His eyes shined with the proposition.
But when Maxin spoke next, his own anger took over. “You don’t get it. I’m NOT telling you where he is. He’s too important to me. He’s too important to his dysfunctional family and to his fractured friends. He’s too important to this world, whether he wants to believe he is or not. And I don’t ever give up on my friends. Never.” He shot a glare at the Zoroark with that last word, who was no longer smiling.
“Well your friends seem to have given up on you,” the Zoroark quipped as he reached towards his necklace and rubbed the black stone attached to it. And then, from the ranks of Pokemon, emerged three more faces Liam recognized…the faces of Snips, Smashball, and Dalia. Their steely and unblinking gaze already gave the Cinccino the impression that something was wrong. They all looked pretty normal. But as Liam squinted, he began to notice a black ring around their eyes, one that wasn’t there when he saw them last. He shivered from their cold, blank stare.
"Snips? Buddy?" Maxin managed to croak out.
“Let’s try this again,” the Zoroark ignore Maxin as he went on, much more menace in his tone, “You’re gonna tell me where Radegast is heading…or I’m gonna sick your own wolfpack on you.” Liam gasped silently as he took in what he was saying. Snips and company was on his side now?
There was much more hesitation in his voice when Maxin replied, “B-Bring it…”
The Zoroark stopped for a moment, looked around at the crowd assembled, glanced towards the three Pokemon that were now under his control, turned back to Maxin, and snapped his fingers.
What happened next could only be described as vicious.
Maxin’s former Pokemon didn’t even seem to hesitate as they charged forward with sudden fury, Snips delivering a Vine Whip towards Maxin’s arm while Smashball using Smack Down to send the boy flying backwards. Maxin made a noise of pain as his back bounced against the ground, then a yelp of surprise as Dalia’s claw emerged from the ground to slice into his arm. Staggering to his feet as quick as he could manage, he only had time to take a step before Snips was back on him with a Slam into his chest so hard Liam could’ve sworn it broke a couple ribs. As Maxin scrambled across the ground, the crowd of Pokemon around him began to grow more and more rowdy as they watched with glee. Frantically, he drew his sword and held it out against Snips who was advancing slowly. Liam could see the hesitation in his eyes, the friendship he’d built with the Servine for so long coming forefront as his hand trembled.
Not that it mattered. A quick Rock Slide from Dalia knocked the sword out of his hand when the pile of rocks hit him and buried him from the torso down, the glint of steel landing in the grass beside him. He tried to claw for it, but Smashball laid the Smack Down on him again, this time directing his rocky and boulder-like surface onto his arm, crushing it underneath the monstrous weight. Liam would never forget the howl of pain Maxin uttered from his lips that evening.
Finally, Zoroark stepped forward, rubbing the stone once more. Immediately, the three Pokemon stopped, falling in line until they stood behind the tall red-headed figure once more. Liam couldn’t even bring himself to bear looking at Maxin’s crushed arm, even from far away.
“You got an answer for me?” the Zoroark called once more, seemingly unfazed by the amount of pain he just put this boy through.
Maxin’s own breath shuddered, his voice encompassing agony as he managed to breathe out, “I told them…to go to…Viridian City…”
The Zoroark lifted an inquisitive brow, “Why?”
“Said he…had to get…his family…*wheeze*…had to…stop you.”
The Zoroark scrunched up his nose slightly, “They won’t be able to do anything. Not while I hold all the cards. A wasted effort.”
Maxin actually managed a slight chuckle when he replied, “That’s what…you think…”
“Sonya, you know what to do,” Zane stepped away, only now revealing to Liam the Meowstic standing behind him, smirking with confidence. On her shoulder was a very large machine with steel plating on the outside and a barrel in the center, kind of like a blaster of some kind…a very large blaster. Two Pokemon behind Maxin managed to drag him to his feet, completely disregarding his mangled arm by his side as they did so. Maxin gritted his teeth and groaned as he did so, his chest heaving with each breath he took. Only now was Liam getting the memo that these could be his very last.
“Say your prayers, boy,” the Meowstic said in a cheerfully wicked tone with a wink. She aimed the barrel directly at Maxin and steadied herself. Maxin continued to breathe, not bothering to dodge out of the way, almost as if he was accepting his fate. And Liam himself…he was paralyzed with fear. He wanted to help. He wanted to scream and divert their attention to distract them so Maxin could get away. He wanted to run at full force and push Maxin out of the way. But he couldn’t do it. Even if he wasn’t frozen in place, he wasn’t capable physically of getting there.
There was nothing he could do.
And yet…despite it all…despite imminent destruction staring Maxin down the barrel, Liam could see his trainer manage a smile…a smile of determination directed at the Zoroark.
“We will win…I’ve seen it…”
The Meowstic smirked and pulled the trigger.
Liam watched as a massive beam shot forth, white in color yet sizzling the air with warmth, encompassing Maxin and the trees behind him as it was shot at a slight upward diagonal angle. It was so bright that many a mon would likely have to shield their eyes. The noise was deafening from here, the massive burst of power creating an incredible
BOOM! that seemed to blast across the area. The massive beam barely seemed to graze the side of the hill as it journey on, heading over towards Castelia City. Meanwhile, the whiteness began to fade from the area, returning the forest to darkness once more.
Only now when Liam looked back, Maxin was gone. There was no trace of the boy left. Just the smoke drifting up from where the boy had been standing before he was vaporized. Liam suddenly found trouble breathing, his own breath choked up with emotion. His vision became blurry, his own tears suddenly finding the surface. The air smelled suddenly like death.
And when the crowd of Pokemon cheered in celebration, Liam ran towards the mouth of Chargestone Cave, his only sense of composure vaporized with the large blaster-like device on the Meowstic’s shoulders. He wouldn’t dare look back.
Skyva would have a moment to process the information Liam had told her as the Cinccino had to recover from living those events. She would likely see him trembling from the mental strain of it all. The way his fist clenched around the sword like it was his lifeline. What was more surprising, however, was that Liam didn't cry while he told the story...not even once. It was blatant he had shed as much tears as he could manage.
But that didn't stop the cold, blank stare he was giving as he merely stared ahead, his eyes seemingly focused on nothing, like he was lost in his own head...his own memories...
