4

The trip to Cataeus started with uncomfortable silence. At the break of dawn, the team of brave explorers headed south through the river on a state-of-the-art ship, which was designed to sparkle like water when hit by the sun, for camouflage. When the gimmick worked, the small boat looked like a seamless distortion of the water, as it did cruising with the violent current of the Rigurea River. Of course the technology wasn't perfect, and that particular, expensive design, as ordered by Cynthia, was merely another cautionary measure. They traveled to Cataeus fast and steady, this time with the aid of the current. The plan was simple, sneak into enemy territory unannounced, rescue Professor Copal, then take him to a safe place and explain the problem to solve, using Paul, Johanna-Skiddo and Herdier Oak to highlight the gravity of the situation.

Inside the boat, the atmosphere was rather tense between the team. It was going too fast for them to enjoy the trip out on the deck, so everyone was locked inside the cockpit. Most members of the team quickly found themselves not on speaking terms, and this continued in spite of Misty's considerable efforts. She eagerly wanted all of them to get along, but everyone else kind of wanted her to be quiet and let the tension remain.

Ash for his part was glad that the silence was mostly his fault. In fact he thought it was all because of him, after the sort of melancholic rant that he had released on them the night before. He didn't want them to fight amongst themselves, he didn't even want them to slightly disagree with one another, because, while physical confrontations were his forte, emotional confrontations were his mortal weakness. He wasn't used to experiencing any emotion that seemed remotely negative, in fact he thought there was no use for them whatsoever. Since long ago he sought to get rid of any sad feelings by always staying motivated. It had been easy for him for so long, but now he was only sad and contemplative.

It's not like Ash wanted to be sad, it just happened. This time he couldn't motivate himself out of that contemplative state, which was so novel to him that it almost felt interesting. But truthfully, Ash didn't like to think about existence, or the purpose of humanity, all of that was only thought, and thoughts alone were pointless, he thought. At least just as pointless as thoughtless actions. Even thinking of that comparison made him tired. It was necessary of him to stop thinking altogether.

But once Ash started minding his surroundings once more, and looked around, and saw that Dawn was shooting May a pretty heavy stare. Meanwhile May avoided looking at Dawn in a kind of shameless way. At the same time Misty turned from Dawn to May and then from May to Dawn with anxious eyes. Then Ash turned to Serena, who was sullenly staring at Herdier Oak, who was enjoying looking out of the window at the violent current produced by their travel, and Ash saw that Serena still felt terribly guilty. Then he turned to Paul, who was blatantly staring back at him with scorn palpable on his eyes. That's when Ash started thinking that being sad and contemplative, immersed deeply into oneself, wasn't actually that bad.

Something hit the boat from below, the floor trembled with violence and the guys felt it all the way to their knees. They hurried to the windows and started looking for signs of danger but nothing strange seemed to be there. They were right in the middle of a giant, scary river, the current of which went viciously fast and couldn't be stopped under any circumstance.

On both sides of the river there was vegetation which was so dense that nothing could be sighted past the most superficial layer. Myriads of enemies could be hidden pretty much anywhere, waiting for them.

Then something hit the boat again and the whole frame, even with its powerful engine running at full throttle, was fully stopped in a second, sending everyone on board forward from the sheer inertia with a very violent push. Before anyone could reincorporate from the force of the sudden stop they sensed how the boat started moving again, but not with the current. Instead it was pulled to the riverbank on their left.

"This is a trap, get ready!" Flint said as he took out a pokeball.

Everyone took out a pokeball and they prepared to open the doors. Another strange noise was heard, and after a few very frustrating seconds of listening to a metallic motion coming from the outside, the walls on the inside of the boat started breaking down. Whatever was outside was somehow crushing the whole boat easily, rapidly compacting the space within. They had to get out of there before the walls crushed them.

Flint was the first to react as the situation called for, he opened the door with a ruthless kick and got out first, finding himself on land all of the sudden. He rushed to help everyone out. First came out May, then Serena with Herdier Oak on her arm. Then the hairy Paul, who helped Dawn and Johanna get out. And then only Misty and Ash and Pikachu remained inside as the walls ruthlessly closed in on them and restricted their movements, right before the end. Before they could start arguing about who would sacrifice themselves, as the walls were about to crush them, Ash pushed both Misty and Pikachu out as he shouted at them to save themselves. The two of them vehemently protested and tried to force their way back in to save Ash but he didn't allow that, and overwhelmed them and forced them out.

It was all over for Ash and yet he wasn't scared, not one bit. He was confused but somehow resolute; he was convinced that his friends were fine and that gave him some reassurance. He said goodbye, and waited for the walls to close in and crush him as everyone outside shouted his name. Right then the walls stopped, just a second before what remained of them could start compacting his bones. Misty inserted her hand inside the wreckage and grabbed Ash's collar, and angrily lifted him out of there with a single pull of her arm. Then, once she was convinced that he was safe, Misty threw Ash on the ground really hard, wanting to make sure that he got hurt, so that he'd understand how mad she was at him.

"Don't ever do that again!" Misty shouted at Ash. "I get that you didn't want to come here, but you out of all people don't have the right to give up so easily!"

"I wasn't giving up!" Ash replied with passion, at the very least with energy, which he hadn't shown beforehand. "I was saving you! Jeez, you're still as ungrateful as ever."

"Take this seriously Ash. And don't you dare think that was heroic!"

"It definitely was."

"Classic Ash," Paul said, a little too pleased with himself, "you need to be the hero so desperately that you put yourself in mortal danger just to look better."

"I didn't mean it like that. I didn't want to be a hero, I just wanted to save you, and that's how it came off."

"Yeah right, what happened anyway?" Paul added as he looked at the wreckage.

It was a giant pair of metal claws, tied to a thick chain, that had caught the boat; more specifically, of what used to be a very expensive boat. It was definitely a trap, a very vicious trap that had completely destroyed their vehicle.

A man and a woman walked decisively toward the group, followed by a squad of exploud who couldn't keep their giant mouths closed even as they walked, leaving their enormous set of fangs and tongue exposed. Both man and woman were abundantly tanned. The man was extremely muscular, had big teeth in showcase with a braggart smile, and his head was fully shaved. His giant muscles were at full display as he wasn't wearing a shirt, and he had a tattoo of a strange sign in white ink right in the middle of his chest. Meanwhile the woman had lustrous black hair with some blue streaks, particularly on her side fringe; she was sporting abundant eye-shadow of a deep blue, which greatly enhanced her unusual blue eyes. It was clear she was the brains of the pair, she couldn't hide her cunning, her sharp face showed it all. Her midriff was bare, she was very fit, and she was also sporting a conceited smile on her lips.

"That sign," May said.

"Who are they?" Serena asked.

"It can't be, Team Aqua. They used to operate in Hoenn. What are they doing here?"

"What else but searching for the Golden City," Ash added somberly.

"That's right," the woman replied with sass. Her name was Shelly, on Team Aqua she was the second-in-command. "We installed that trap only a few days ago, and it's already yielding results. What brings you by these lands? You know what, save it, time is precious here, not as much as gold but still. As such, there's no time for the battle that we're supposed to have now. Sure, you may outnumber us, you may have an Elite 4 member with you, yeah, we know. Sadly for you, none of that matters if your pokemon can't hear your voice."

When she finished speaking the exploud stepped forward and opened their mouths wide. Both Shelly and the swollen man, who was Team Aqua's third-in-command, Matt, put on headphones and smiled mischievously.

"If you're going to fight," Flint exclaimed, "at least fight with honor."

Shelly kept her smile, she didn't open her mouth. She merely took out her headphones and listened as Flint repeated his words. She looked at him incredulously and casually put the headphones back on.

"Why on Earth would I do that?" she said. "Exploud! Use Boomburst!"

Ash and company promptly covered their ears, but it was of no use. The exploud's sonorous attack sounded like many loud speakers rumbling at full volume with very powerful bass, and it paralyzed the group.

Matt brought out a very large bag. He took out a few weapons from it and started tinkering with a huge gun. He was merely doing his job, for him that was nothing but the same boring procedure of everyday mischief. Luckily or not, for the group, what he fired at them was a big net that captured everyone but Dawn. The attack on their ears subsided, and while the rest were immobilized Dawn found herself overcome with a justified anger. She took out a pokeball, but before she was able to throw it an exploud caught up to her. The purple monster grabbed her arm and didn't let go. A second exploud approached and put its scaly paw over her mouth, and they immobilized her.

"Now, you may call this a dirty trick," Shelly said. "But from whichever angle you look at it, we simply bested you. You should've seen this coming. Besides, here you won't find opponents eager to wait for you to be ready, there are no referees to officiate your fights. So think of this as a valuable lesson. And hey, it's not all bad news. We're with the good guys, we'll merely rough you up a bit, won't hurt you too bad if you're good prisoners. Think of what would've happened if it had been Lance who'd gotten you first."

"Oh crap," Matt said. He saw a group of natives approaching.

They needed to react fast. Shelly knew, survival on this jungle required any alert pair of eyes to be perpetually open. Many shadows appeared running through the field, and an instant later a group of weavile had the exploud completely surrounded. Dark fur, sharp claws and fangs. A fierce expression on their faces and a palpable desire to harm were noticeable on their many piercing stares. They immediately went for the exploud's throats and struck them hatefully with a chop of their claws. Shelly could only watch as all of her pokemon were mercilessly neutralized and then they were all on the ground, with their paws on their throats, recoiling in pain. She clenched her fist and lamented the loss for just a second. Then she smiled and started walking backwards.

"One is enough, the others are done," she said to Matt. "Get her and let's get out of here before those beasts have us."

Matt nodded silently and went for Dawn. He put her over his big shoulder easily with his muscular arms which were thicker than Dawn's torso. Meanwhile she hopelessly protested by kicking the air and punching Matt's hard back, doing no damage whatsoever. They ran to a small boat hidden within some bushes near the riverbank. Matt dropped Dawn on it, Shelly jumped in and put her arm around Dawn's neck very tight, discouraging any attempts to escape. Then Matt pushed the boat into the river and jumped in right before the current snatched it away with violence. It was only because the weavile found them thoroughly unimportant and ineffective as a threat that they managed to escape.

One of the weavile slashed the net open with a simple hit, and Ash came out first with his guard up, knowing he was completely outnumbered so there was no use in trying to fight. Flint also stood up silently, making only subtle movements, then everyone else did the same imitating his careful pace. That the weavile were powerful and dangerous didn't need to be clarified, and it was obvious that the dark pokemon weren't friendly as they stared at the group in a predatory stance, waiting for any of them to do anything stupid. And if they weren't friendly, then they were enemies. And if they were enemies, then they needed to be eliminated as soon as possible. It was clear that the weavile sought to eliminate the team, and the only thing that stalled the elimination process was the preliminary stance of careful observation, the asphyxiating wait for that lethal reaction.

From the densest part of the jungle, a group of lopunny arrived, all the while the tense stare-down continued. The weavile paid no attention to the normal types approaching from behind, which could only mean that they were allies. Right behind all the lopunny came a taller mega-lopunny, clearly the leader of the pack. They walked carelessly through the stoic weavile and the leader got in front of them, and the tension seemed to decrease. Ash was in front of his group, he did his best to seem imposing, setting his back straight and putting on a serious face as the tallest lopunny went to meet him.

"Hey, my name is Ash Ketchum, I'm from Pallet Town, we come in peace," he said.

Ash extended his hand at her and gave a friendly smile. The lopunny lowered her sight and looked at his open palm for a few seconds. Then she looked at his face in silence, with a blank expression on her face. Then she punched him hard in the face and put him to sleep. The rest of the team suffered similar fates.

Serena was the first one to wake up, an hour later. She came back into herself feeling an acute but bearable pain on her left temple, and then she opened her eyes. It was of little use however, as everything around her was dark. She was inside a very large place, the walls far from her were apparently gray, but clearly decayed, and the ceiling was very high up. It seemed to be an ancient building, which still stood but was half in ruins. Right in front of her was a giant statue which was hard to discern from all the shadows that covered it, but it seemed to be of a man who was sitting down with his legs crossed, with his open hands put together as if asking for food. The head reached the ceiling, and Serena's eyes couldn't reach its darkened face.

She heard steps and murmurs with abundant echo, the place was obviously very big. Then suddenly it became completely silent, and then the steps of a single person were heard.

"Any changes in their behavior?" An imposing voice said.

"Yes, but none of them positive sir. It seems they are getting weaker, and now they refuse to eat," was the reply.

"Doesn't matter. All I need to do is find the Golden City, the power we need to restore their life is there. Trust me, they'll wake up again, stronger than ever."

"Yes sir. The prisoners are waking up."

"Take them outside."

She heard steps getting closer and then her arms were pulled heavily. Just then she realized her hands were tied together very tightly by the wrists, and she was somehow tied to whoever was next to her too. Serena was forced to get up however she could, almost falling with the heartless pulls that ensued.

"You? What has he done to you?" It was Flint's voice. Serena was tied to him.

"Be quiet please. It will be much better for you," replied the same subservient voice from before.

"But how?"

"I'll explain later."

"What's there to explain? …Unless. Unless."

"Flint, please, be quiet."

"You betrayed us."

"Please, shut up."

"So it's true? …Don't make me hate you so suddenly, say something …You miserable piece of bloodsucking trash …Why?"

"Why!" the other voice raised. "I'll tell you why," he then said, whispering with caution once more. "Cynthia had the power to take the Golden City, she could've brought the Gym Leaders, she could've stormed the Ghilera River by herself. She would be the strongest by far if she wished to be. But she wants none of it. It's all there just for her to take it, and she's frozen doing nothing to get it, all because of her misguided sense of morality. She says she wants to protect the people of Sicaum, but she can't even protect the people of Sinnoh."

"What are you talking about?"

"Every day many crimes are committed, everyday people suffer, and she can't do anything about it. She says she wants to help the world but she can't save everyone, not even a few people pleading for a hero. Not with a sense of finality; she can't erase evil from existence. At least not with the power she has now. She could take the Golden City for herself, get the riches and the power and do whatever she wants, protect people, eliminate all evil or whatever. If Cynthia is as good as she says she is, why doesn't she seize that power to get rid of everything that's bad? It's so senseless of her to stand still—so stupid. Why bother to come all the way here just the five of us? There are many powerful trainers in Sinnoh, renowned Gym Leaders that she could've brought with her."

"And she didn't bring any of them, because she knew they'd be as selfish and greedy as you've turned out to be Lucian, you traitor."

"And yet I couldn't hurt her. I had to hide my desertion. And you know what? It has costed me! When I joined Lance he asked me to take him to Cynthia. And I couldn't say yes, I couldn't do that to her. And now Lance has his sights on me. I had a way to prove myself to him, to show him my loyalty, and I couldn't do it, all because of Cynthia. How could she be so stupid? Lance understands the opportunity that we have in our hands."

"Doesn't make you right, you're still a traitor."

"Shut up, they're going to hear you now. Trust me, it's better if you're quiet."

On their way through the darkened ruins, Serena passed by a deep pit in the middle of a hallway, from which faint hisses came out. She peeped inside for just a second and managed to see blue bodies covered in goo, slithering and curling slowly inside. She heard faint moans which lacked energy, it sounded as if the creatures were suffering. Then she was pulled forward way too hard again.

The prisoners were led outside, and Serena was blinded by the sun for a little bit. She then ascertained she was tied to the rest of the prisoners, although there were only three of them in total. Flint was in front of her also tied by the hands, and poor Herdier Oak was behind her cruelly tied to them by the neck.

Waiting for them outside was a very striking figure. A man with spiky red hair, which went up like a flame on top of his head. He was wearing a long black cape which augmented his already impressive intimidating factor, and which, along with the stoically angry expression on his face, which didn't seem to ever change, as well as the ancient city that was now in ruins, upon which he was standing, made him seem like a deity in front of them.

Out of nowhere Flint freed himself from the ropes by straight up ripping them apart. He took out a pokeball and released his fearsome Magmortar which came out ready for battle.

"I instructed my people to let your pokeballs on you," Lance said calmly. "Do you know where you are?"

"My best guess, Uquegai," Flint replied.

"You're correct. The biggest and most important city of this whole region, and it moves with a wave of my finger. So, why bother?"

"Because I have no intention of becoming your prisoner."

"Taking the path of the coward I see," Lance said with his chin up.

"I think you're getting that mixed up."

"Not at all. A brave man would withstand all the torture I inflicted on him, instead of practically committing suicide in the name of false bravery. You can't bear the idea of spending hours and hours in pain, without food, used as a hostage that puts your whole team at a disadvantage. So instead you give up and pretend you're going out like a hero. But why should you destroy yourself? Is that what you're going with?"

"That's right," Flint said decisively, and right then Magmortar aimed his arm cannon at Lance. A huge blue blast came upon the fire pokemon and exploded right in front of him, raising up a bunch of smoke in the process. When it cleared, Serena and Flint discovered they were surrounded by a myriad of dragons, mostly druddigon on the ground, staring at them from behind the decayed pillars of the city, some dragonair resting on top of the ruins, and many dragonite floating on the sky, all of them observing them attentively. Lance snapped his fingers, the dragons, all of them, mercilessly attacked Magmortar with many blasts and cannons that came out of their mouths and exploded at contact with their target. For a second he alone was a war zone, and then the lone pokemon seemed to have disappeared entirely, leaving only a scorched stain on the ground.

Flint led his hands to his face, then released a piercing, high-pitched cry full of grief.

"You dare talk about what is brave!" Flint forced himself to unload his mind on Lance, out of the sheer rage that was consuming him. "You're the coward! Guarding yourself with all these mindless monsters. You're nothing without your dragons!"

"I am the Dragon," Lance calmly replied.

Flint, in his delirious state, couldn't help but let out an agitated chuckle.

"You lost your mind long ago, freak," he said.

"You don't believe me?" Lance replied.

"Believe what?"

"That I am the Dragon."

"I believe you've deluded yourself into seriously thinking you are."

"Very well then, allow me to change your mind."

Lance broke the fierce expression of his face and smirked subtly with only one side of his lip. He took off his right glove with care, then put his open hand forward, with his palm directed at Flint. Then he screamed, calling upon a very tangible rage out of him, and out of his hand came a powerful flame that slowly reached all the way to Flint, burning his face.

Flint screamed and covered his injuries with his hands as vapors emanated from his head. Serena felt his pain in his voice, she ran to him dragging Herdier Oak with her and crouched to tend to Flint with her hands still tied.

"How could you do this?" Serena cried. "You are a monster!"

She was very scared, but the level of cruelty she had just witnessed made her powerful sense of justice take complete control over her.

"Serena, keep your voice down. You should think of your safety," Herdier Oak whispered wisely.

Lance slowly walked up to them. He got right in front of Serena, who was kneeling and covering Flint with her hands however she could.

"You saw what I did to him, you can see my army, my power. And yet you choose to raise your voice at me. Interesting."

Serena looked up at him. She realized instantly that Lance could easily finish her right there and then. His decision to do so depended solely on how he felt on that very moment. Because she didn't matter to him. It was all over his face. He didn't need to teach her a lesson, he didn't want to watch her suffer, he didn't need to. Perhaps he had done it so many times already, that inflicting pain on others had lost all of its sense of novelty, and had become nothing but a chore. Serena saw the mental back and forth in Lance's eyes, she was overwhelmed by fear. There were many things that she regretted, so many in fact, that she thought of her life as nothing but a senseless tragedy. She had objectives to accomplish, mistakes to correct, and feelings to confess. It had been so hard for her to stay motivated as the tasks to complete became incredibly difficult, and that was before the adventure in hand turned out to be much more dangerous. And yet, she couldn't accept her fate which seemed unavoidable, because she wanted to live.

"Lance!" Lucian exclaimed. "We could use her as leverage. She was with Flint so Cynthia probably cares about her."

Lance kept staring at Serena with a somber expression on his face. He almost looked bored. He began turning his head very slowly towards Lucian, who was on his left. And every second that passed, as his eyes traveled from Serena to Lucian, made both of them fear for their lives more and more.

"You haven't contributed anything to my cause ever since you decided to follow me. You didn't want to lead me to Cynthia. And now you're trying to manipulate me, just because you feel bad for what I've done to your friend."

"No, you've got it all wrong. That's not it at all. I was just saying that-"

Lucian froze as Lance started making his way toward him.

"There's no point in keeping you around," Lance said.

Lucian's legs started shaking, and then he fell on his knees.

"Lance, what is all this noise?" A woman appeared. She had her wild blue hair tied into a ponytail, and her face had the same resting expression as Lance's—fierce and aggressive—although her eyes were jarringly of a gentle blue, and quite striking at that. She was also wearing a cape, but her clothes revealed the traces of her slender figure much more clearly.

Lance's face lightened up as soon as he saw her, and he ignored both Lucian and Serena and went over to her.

"It's time to get rid of Lucian," Lance said.

"Took you long enough," the blue haired woman said. Her name was Clair, she was the leader of the Blackthorn Gym as well as Lance's cousin. She was also a high-ranking member of the Dragon Clan hailing from Johto, of which Lance was the leader. "He hasn't contributed anything to our cause, won't even tell us where Cynthia is. Want me to deal with him?"

"No, he isn't worth the effort. You should save your energies for something productive."

"It'll only take me a minute," Clair said.

"I know, but I would prefer if he retained his ability to speak, so that he tells me where Cynthia is hiding before he's gone. So leave him to me."

"Why are you doing this?" Serena said from the ground. She had been thoroughly intimidated so her tone had changed, but she just couldn't keep quiet. "How can you be so cruel?"

"The dragons are dying," Lucian said with a tone of despair. After fully understanding what Lance had done to Flint, he realized what a horrible mistake he had made by joining the Dragon Clan. Of course, it was too late for him to correct it, it was simply too late for him. Lucian accepted his condition as a traitor and, at the very least, he bowed not to make any more mistakes that hurt his group, his actual group; the one he had betrayed. "Lance is growing desperate because the dragons are getting weaker and weaker. None of them are evolving anymore. He used to be reasonable, and fair-"

Lance was standing next to Lucian who was kneeling on the ground, and he just couldn't accept the words that the traitor had dared to say. He smacked Lucian's cheek really hard with the back of his hand and knocked him out.

"You don't have the right to speak of the dragons that way!" Lance shouted, his voice sounded like a strenuous thunder. It was so frightening that both Serena and Herdier Oak closed their eyes and shrieked backwards. Lance looked at Lucian laying unconscious on the ground, and calmed down a bit. "I guess he can't hear me anymore. I'll let him know once he wakes up, one last time. Because we, the Dragons, aren't dying. We're merely aching for the new world to come and redeem us. We're wiser and more capable of observing the changing paradigms of the world than any other being in existence. We have realized that this world cages us, inhibits us and keeps us docile, unaware of our incredible potential. We used to be the top of the food chain, and although it might seem like that's not the case anymore, our current condition is but a rather timely signal. A call for us to herald our eternal might and power. And it is here that we'll find the key to bring it forth. I, will restore the Dragon Clan to its former glory, because that is what is asked of me. And I know exactly how to usher in the new world as a purified body with us as its head. First, I must be like the numel, which carries all of its heavy burdens, its humiliations and its ignorance to the lonely desert, and does as told. Then I must become like the pyroar, which rebels against its master and becomes enemies with him, all because it can't bear to listen to his orders, which he has uncovered as lies, feeling them empty as they boggle down his internal desires. The pyroar defeats the 'you must' from his master, with the 'you want' from his spirit. Finally, I must then become like a little kid. Do you know why, must I turn from a mighty pyroar to an innocent child?" Lance asked Clair, who already knew the answer.

"Tell me," she said anyway, with a soft smile on her lips, her entertained eyes eager to take more of Lance's performance.

"Because a kid is a new beginning, a fresh, untainted start. No more questioning of the old laws which don't exist for the kid, no more uncovering of falsehoods. Instead of reacting, aching for freedom, all the kid knows is freedom, moving on his own. There are no laws to change for the kid. He is free to make the law as he pleases. When I have obtained the power, and become like a child, the world will be ours again, to make up as we please."

Lance looked at Clair in a way that seemed wrong of him to do, with a tender expression on his face. He gently caressed her cheek. Clair in turn reached her face for his touch, and smiled softly.

"We'll be able to do whatever we want, and it will be so for the world. Our world," Lance finalized. "Take Flint and Lucian to the dungeon, keep their senses working adequately."

"What about the girl and the rags tied to her?"

Lance looked at Serena, who once more feared for her life.

"You're a monster!" Serena blurted out. She couldn't help herself. It had come out of her from anger as much as it had been from sheer nervousness.

"I like you," Lance said, then he turned to Clair. "Tie her hands behind her back. And cover her eyes, but keep her mouth open. I want to see how far my patience goes."