Our vacation was over. Certainly we didn't spend as much time on the beach as I would have liked, but it was fun anyways.
It was time to say my goodbyes; I was off to Slateport while my parents returned home to Littleroot. And Winona...she was coming with me as far as Slateport, but after that, she was probably back off to Fortree to not see me for another 3 years. It was disheartening, knowing that the more successful either of us were, the harder it would be to cross the border to see each other. And considering that I was already seeded and Winona could be a gym leader within the next month, it was unlikely that we would meet again for a while. Maybe not ever, considering the draconian border controls designed to prevent strong trainers from crossing the border to complete the other side's gyms.
We were scheduled to leave on Mr. Briney's boat around 11 AM, so we had to rush from the airport to the dock to catch him unmooring from the dock. A second later, he was humming an old sea shanty to himself as we sat on deck, chatting and watching the waves move up and down.
"Have you ever considered that we might never see each other again?"
"No, I haven't."
"Well, with the borders the way they are, the better we get, the less we get to see each other. Maybe never again."
"Skarm, we'll always find a way. How do you think, me being a gym candidate, that I got across the border this time? It's possible-just not if you're trying to get through legally."
"So in order to take the League challange...I have to cross a river with military personnel on both sides and patrol boats and mines in the water without getting caught."
"Well, no. There are other ways around. Some people go through the desert; that's how the champion before Steven won. Some people, like Steven, have connections that get them across the border. I just hopped on Swellow, flew out to sea about a mile, then crossed the border and came back and landed on the Hoenn side."
We sat in silence for a bit, watching the waves bob up and down. By the time we arrived in Slateport, it was dinnertime in Slateport, but we weren't ready to eat anything thanks to the time change. So we roamed the town, seeing the sights, and then we headed to the Pokemon Center to stay overnight.
"We're sorry, but we don't have any room."
"What do you mean you don't have any room?"
"Well, some shady guys in red outfits are filling about 20 rooms by themselves, and then there are the people who normally stay here...it's a numbers game. You're just going to have to find a place to stay."
We walked out onto the street, where it was cool and dark. Unlike Dewford, which had skyscrapers towering over the street, Slateport was much shorter, and from the Pokemon Center we could actually see the sea thanks to the hill the town was on. Since neither of us had the money for a hotel, we walked down to the beach and set up my tent on the beach about a hundred feet from the shore.
"You going to come in here with me?"
"You wish, Skarm."
"Well, actually I do, but..."
"Not going to happen today, sorry. Ask me again in five years."
"Crap...."
I slept alone inside the tent-Winona preferred being out under the stars whenever she could. I guess I don't blame her, seeing as her home since the splitting was out in the woods. It was probably a lot more fun then my staying in school watching all my friends leave to hit the road and train pokemon.
When I woke up in the morning, Winona's sleeping bag was empty. I didn't have to go far to find her-she was sitting on a rock overlooking the sea, watching the sun rise above us.
"You sleep fine?"
"Skarm, why do you worry so much about me? I spend 3 years out in the wilderness. I can handle myself."
"Well, we all know the only time teenagers get up before dawn is when they're anxious about something. So what are you anxious about."
Her feet trailed in the brine like lilies on a lake. "I was thinking about the war. About how my father died."
"Winona, don't worry---"
She cut me off. "Don't tell me to forget him. He was a great man, and more importantly, he was my father." She sighed, her eyes watching the water. "Well, you should know the truth if you're going to stay with me."
"We're going to split up tomorrow, I thought."
"We are. But as long as we're here, I might as well tell you. How my father died."
"I thought he died in battle during the Splitting. Got caught by a rock some Rhyperior launched."
"That was a lie, cooked up by the Grande Islands government to prevent a revolt. I found that out at the funeral. Before it started, they let me look at his body alone."
"And..."
"There was no rock. He looked perfectly fine until I turned him over. There were 3 bullet holes in his back, right next to his spine. No, his death was friendly fire. And it was close range, too. Either that, or it was intentional."
"So someone in the army killed your dad? He was the best fighter they had!" I just couldn't believe that her father was deliberately murdered by someone he trusted. Someone on his side.
"Yeah. And I found out who, too. It was in the last letter that my dad was about to mailed me when he died."
She pulled it from her pocket and handed it to me. It was a little difficult to read, but I managed.
Winona's Dad (I think) said:
Dear Winona,
Before I really start, you'll only ever see this letter if I die in the war. If I survive and the war ends, I'm burning this straight away. You probably should to, but I'll understand if you want to keep it.
Everything is going fine right now. Most of my unit made it through the last battle fine. What I'm worried about now is the chance that we could be betrayed by members of our own side. you see, one member of our group has very high standards in terms of what we think, what we believe, why we're fighting. People have turned up dead thanks to him. Not on the battlefield, but in the barracks.
His name is Maxie. I can't send this letter to you, ever, because Maxie runs the censorship station that ensures that nobody accidentally gives away crucial information. All I can do is put this letter in the pile of things that you'll get to remember me by when I die.
And I will die. Because I definitely don't agree with him. He talks all the time about how the land needs to be expanded. About how we're running out of space, humans and pokemon alike. Sure, the continent may be getting more crowded. Sure, there might be too many of us to sustain with the land we already have. But that's no reason to fight or kill for.
To be honest, I don't even know why I'm fighting any more. At first, it was because everyone in Fortree wanted me to. Then it was to protect you, after I heard of some of the incidents involving civilians. But now, I have no motivation. You're safe in Littleroot and Fortree doesn't need me to protect them with the front lines being hundreds of miles away.
Don't make the mistakes I did, Winona. Don't sign up to fight a war for a cause you don't believe in. Above all, stay strong, and don't spend all your time mourning me. I died so you could have a long, full, happy life, and you moping around doesn't help.
With love,
Larsen.
"Well, he has a good message there at the end." I was trying to steer away from the obvious conclusion of the letter.
"But obviously that's not the point. He knew he was going to be murdered, but even the police, who saw that letter BEFORE me, didn't try to do anything. Maxie got away clean."
"So who is that Maxie guy, anyways?"
"Never met him. But I know his face. Dad sent me a picture of his unit clipped onto a letter, and all the names were labeled."
We sat there in silence, watching the waves wash over her feet. Then we made breakfast, ate, and hit the streets to deliver the parts I had recieved about a week ago from the CEO of DevonCorp.
The Dockyard was about a mile up Shore Drive, and cars were whizzing by us as the city awoke. It was just across the street from us when Winona stopped dead and I ran into her from behind.
"Winona, what the hell?"
"I think I've seen that man before..." He had hair that was dyed bright red and he was wearing a red dress shirt with a black vest over it. Then he turned towards us, revealing the large M on the pocket of his vest, smiled, and walked away from us up the street.
"Oh, that son of a bitch!" Winona took off after him, causing several cars to screech aside, horns honking.
"Winona, wait! Who is that guy?"
"It's Maxie! Just deliver the parts and I'll deal with him!"
I was a little skeptical, but I decided to take her word for it. I waited for the light, and crossed the street like a normal person.
Inside the building, I could clearly hear the sounds of industrial machinery even in the lobby. A crisply dressed woman at the front desk asked,"Are you here for a school project or something?"
"No, actually, I have some parts for you that Mr. Stone from DevonCorp asked me to deliver." I opened my bag and showed her the box.
"Oh, yes, we've been waiting for those. Here, come with me and you can drop them off in Stern's office."
"Speaking of Stern, where is he right now?"
"Oh, he's at the Ocean Museum. It's right over there across the bay." She pointed out the window, and I could see the museum with a long line of men and women in red hoodies interrupted by a single girl in a sky blue jumpsuit. My blood turned cold as ice, just as my phone buzzed.
It was a text from Winona.
R u dropping off parts for Stern?
Yeah. U do know ur standing n the middle of Tm Mgma?
Duh. Drop the parts at Stern's office and come back me up. Gonna get hot.
They're there for Stern, well have to get him out.
kk.
I thanked the lady and ran out of the Dockyard. As it turned out, the museum was only a block away from the Dockyard, but it was a long block. When I got there, the line of Magma soldiers, including Winona, were all inside. My sprint through the door was interrupted by the lady at the desk.
"That'll be 50 poke, please."
I reached for the money as I magnanimously gestured around the room, where there were numerous Magma members roaming. "If you haven't noticed, we're having a bit of an issue here."
She rolled her eyes. "Those guys seem fine to me."
I sighed and explored the room for a bit. Neither Winona nor Maxie were anywhere in sight, so I climbed the stairs to the second floor. It was empty, except for an exhibit hall, where the silouettes of two people were clearly visible.
As I crept up towards it, trying to hear what was going on, I saw the scene better. There were a number of pokemon scattered about the room, most of them bloody as if they had been battling recently. As I got closer, I realised that it was Winona's bird pokemon were the ones lying unconscious around the room, and her Swellow, her only conscious pokemon, was hovering while 3 pokemon watched its every move, ready to pounce.
"Now, I'm a man of simple principles. I believe in all of us being happier. I believe in positive change for the future. And sometimes violence is necessary to achieve change."
"You're a terrorist and a murderer." Winona stage-whispered, just loud enough for me to hear around the corner. "You can talk as much as you want about your 'ideals', but at heart you're just a murderer."
"Now, that's not very nice, Winona. I might decide to finish off your pokemon if you keep saying things like that." He paused. "The truth is, you've got fight in you. I like that."
The cliche was complete. "Then you're gonna love me." I said, stepping out from around the corner with my pokemon spread around me.
"Oh. We have a visitor." Maxie smiled. "I don't know if you noticed, but I dealt with HER rather easily, and you look a lot weaker then her. So maybe you should just forget this and leave."
"I don't think that'll be happening."
"Oh well then...You would have been rather nice to have on my side." He motioned to his pokemon. "Camerupt, Golbat, you deal with this one. Mightyena, just keep that Swellow in the corner where it belongs."
His pokemon slowly turned to face me while my pokemon spread out throughout the room.
"Skarm, don't do this. If he could beat me, you don't stand a chance."
I ignored her. "I think maybe you should back off. 3 versus 7 aren't exactly the best odds."
"Well said, young man. But you should listen to your lady friend. If you fight me, you'll lose. You're throwing your pokemons' lives away. And what will you gain? What will the world gain? Nothing. It'll all be such a foolish waste of time."
"Maybe it's a waste of your time. But helping a friend-that's a positive use of time in my book."
"Who am I to deny you, then? When your pokemon are lying dead on the ground, don't blame me. It was your decision to get involved." His pokemon prepared themselves to jump in. But I wanted to make the first move. And it had to be a useful one, one that would get me an advantage.
"Everyone! Take down that Mightyena!" I was hoping that I could get Swellow out of where it was trapped in the corner, because I knew that thing could probably beat Golbat on its own. And with Golbat out of the way, I'd certainly be able to beat Camerupt 6 on 1.
Mightyena was down in seconds from an Aron headbutt and a few slashes from Flapper's teeth and Soda's beak.
"Well now, that changes things, doesn't it?" I counted on my fingers. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven..." I paused for emphasis,"against one, two. There's certainly no chance that I'll win, so I'll just surrender now."
"You're right, there IS no chance that you'll win." He reached into his pocket and revealed a gun, which he raised and pointed at us. "Now withdraw your pokemon or I'll have to shoot you, which I'd really hate to do. You see, I don't want to kill humans to achieve my goal. But sometimes killing is necessary for change. Regrettable, but necessary."
"Regrettable? Like the time you killed my father?" Winona had withdrawn her pokemon, but she wasn't done yet.
"I killed your father?" He had a quizzical look on his face. "Oh, wait, you look just like him." He withdrew his pokemon as well, leaving only the gun. "That explains a lot about the last five minutes. What do you want from me? His last words before I killed him? The way he begged me to not hunt you down as well? The wedding ring he was wearing?"
Winona had had enough. She was stepping towards him when Maxie pulled the trigger. She cowered until she realized that he had only fired it into the air.
"That's better, now isn't it?" He lowered the gun so it was pointing at us again. "Now, that shot will have attracted a lot of attention down there, and the police are probably being called right now. So in a second, I'm going to walk straight out of here and take my crew with me. You will stay," he checked his watch, "exactly where you are standing for 5 minutes, and then you can leave. If you try to follow me, I won't hesitate to pull the trigger." He turned the corner and began down the stairs before turning around. "For real this time."
Five minutes later, he was gone and we were off to the Pokemon Center. When we arrived, we turned in Winona's pokemon to the nurse and then sat down opposite each other in the lobby. She was sobbing silently into her hands, her shoulders heaving up and down.
"Winona, I'm sorry."
There was nothing else I could say.
"He was right there!" she sobbed. "The son of a bitch was right there, and we just let him walk away."
"He would have killed us. And then he would have gotten away anyways."
"But he was there. I wasn't strong enough to stop him. To bring him to justice. Both of us together weren't enough. The police will never catch him. It's up to us, and we just blew it. Might have been our only chance."