Pokémon Amethyst (AU)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Pokemon Trainer Mackenzie sent out Gengar!

Go! Lily! I know you can do it!

Gengar used toxic!

Gladimax was badly poisoned!

I decided that I'd try for a one hit KO before giving her an antidote, and to do so, I used a move I had taught to her myself, Titanium Glade. The attack thrashed downwards, and thorns from the move slightly embedded Gengar's body, causing it to lose almost all of its HP. However, Mackenzie had equipped him with a focus sash, enabling him to hang on with a tiny HP left.

Gengar used Hex!

Gladimax avoided the attack! I smirked, her evasiveness was one of her best qualities in battle.

Unfortunately, despite the antidote, Mackenzie's Gengar still managed to take her down. I clenched my fists in frustration, I almost had him.

"Don't give up, Y/N!" Lisa called out from the sidelines as I sent out my beloved and loyal Glaceon, Stalagus.

Stalagus successfully took down Mackenzie's Gengar and fully-evolved Hydroxyl (which had started out as Hydroxa all the way back from Birch's lab).

Mackenzie's head darted in several directions as he realised he was running out of options.

His final Pokemon was Sableye, and by this point, I still had two Pokemon left to fight. I watched my opponent closely as he inserted his ionisation chip into Sableye's Pokeball, and I immediately followed suit with Stalagus.

The blinding light from the two ionised Pokemon was enough to light up the entire cave, as Lisa sat on the sidelines, mesmerised by the intense battle that was occurring in front of her.

Stalagus was ultimately successful, and he whistled in victory, as Mackenzie bent over with his head in his hands.

"Awww, shucks... you did it, Y/N," he grinned awkwardly.

Lisa sat there, mesmerised. "That was... it was..."

"Underwhelming, to say the least." Someone cut her off.

We all looked around, and frowned upon noticing Freya, the Harp Girl, standing cross-armed behind Mack.

"What do you want?!" Lisa spat.

The masked woman only huffed in response. "That racket you were making is upsetting my Pokemon. So I came to see what all the ruckus was about. I figured you miscreants would have something to do with it."

I couldn't help but notice what she was wearing. She had a long, baggy black hoodie that went down to her knees, with a huge white slogan printed on the front. It read: "Fighting Against Corruption."

"Can you stop butting your nose into everything we do?! Don't you have your own life?!" Lisa snapped. "Oh, and by the way, Y/N has told me everything. You're the leader of Team Moon, aren't you?"

"Hahahahhaha, you haven't changed one bit, have you?" Freya laughed in response.

"Actually, she's changed a lot." I corrected.

"Still just as slow-witted as ever, though." Harp girl continued. "If you really think I'd have anything to do with those low-ranking, pseudo-gangster Team Rocket wannabes, you'd be insulting my intelligence."

"Sounds exactly like something you'd say to try and throw us off the scent." Mackenzie chimed in.

Freya looked him up and down. "You fancy yourself a detective or something? You've a hell of a long way to go."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Team Moon doesn't even exist anymore." She said casually.

"Wait... WHAT?!" Lisa exclaimed.

"HUH?!" Mackenzie gasped.

I also opened my mouth, yet no words could come out. It was as if my brain and body had completely frozen. My confusion also skyrocketed. Team Moon did exist... they had been terrorising Taldourse for decades... not to mention those corrupted Pokemon...

Freya groaned in frustration. "Have you three learned NOTHING over your gym journey?! Team Moon has been defunct for over three years now! Flossi and Kossi saw to their demise!"

"The Champions destroyed Team Moon?! That doesn't make sense! You're lying!" Mackenzie interjected.

Freya continued, "Just because Flossi and Kossi didn't shout their good deeds from the rooftops, doesn't mean they didn't lay their lives on the line to save the nation." She then turned on her heel, and walked in the opposite direction, leaving the three of us dumbfounded.

****

It just... didn't make sense.

There was an actual base in Opaquia that we were going to investigate, Team Moon's faces were regularly featured on Rogue Magazine... yet Freya had claimed they didn't exist? What madness? She was clearly one of those spoilt, arrogant princesses who could probably lie her way out of anything. I couldn't trust a word that came from her.

But on the other hand, the more I thought about it... the more likely it seemed that Team Moon were, in fact, a thing of the past. This explained why there hadn't been a single grunt seen around in an extremely long time. It also explained why Opaquia was completely abandoned. Surely it would be infested with criminals if they really had a base there? Yet Jordan and Buzz had found nothing? And the Elite Four were just as confused as us... could it be true?

And then, there was the mystery of Kossi's death, and the unknown person who had fled the scene. Up until this point, I had been convinced that Team Moon were the ones responsible. They were the only ones with a clear motive, after all. Yet if Team Moon were already defunct at the time, they couldn't have been responsible. (Unless it was, perhaps, a former member looking for revenge against him?) I shook my head, trying not to get lost in my thoughts. I had to brace myself for my next destination after all.

Perhaps when I arrived in Opaquia, I would finally unveil Taldourse's truth, which appeared to be shrouded in mystery.