Pokémon Chronicles 零 (ZERO)

Episode 30: A pledge for power

"Well, I don't know what you were expecting, but there's no way we were going to get in through the front door," I sighed, smacking my forehead.

"Hey, we're the shining warriors. I thought we'd have some level of privilege here," Lucca shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "I guess Shelly annoyed Gladys that much when he asked for a divorce."

"Well duh? But seriously, we need a way in, one that does not involve attacking all of the guards," Azeth did the same as me, sighing on top of that. "I don't know why the queen is still in the throne room at this hour, but whether she's there or in her private quarters, there's no way that we'll get in easily. We need to think this through, and we don't have much time."

I quietened down to give myself a quick run through of our options. Since Queen Gladys was still well protected in her throne room, our only ways in were either to wait for Shelly to grant us entry, or to violently force our way in with attacks blazing. At that, Megan had been silent since we left the room and hadn't suggested the latter yet, nor was she giving any input, either.

"Meg, is something up? You're quieter than usual," I brought up, widening her eyes.

"Now that you mention it... ever since we got to this island, you've been acting kinda funny when it comes to Shelly," Brine added, making her hop up and start sweating.

"Never you mind that! Talking about me now is a waste of time," she hissed. "If we need to get into the room, and we're not gonna do it by beating up the guards, then let's get Elise to get us in."

"Elise?" Lucca repeated, thinking about it. "... But that would be just as bad as waiting for Shelly?"

"They're both going to find out eventually, right? The point is to at least make sure that Shelly doesn't have to fight his own mother. Elise on the other hand, we at least know that she'll stand aside," she reasoned. I lifted a wing to reply, but couldn't right away.

"... Wow. That's surprisingly caring of you. I actually expected you to just start shooting fire everywhere. Instead, you're thinking about Shelly?" I teased.

"I'm not 'thinking about Shelly', I'm thinking about everyone! And if you're just gonna take the mick outta me, would you rather I start attacking everyone?" she challenged.

"Point taken. You guys wait here, Mimia, you're with me," Lucca ordered, walking off.

"On your own? Shouldn't We go together?" Brine wondered.

"We won't be long, so just lounge around!" he called back. Mimia actually hesitated in following, but jogged to keep up, leaving the rest of us to do just that, lounge around in the middle of the castle's large hallway. Even with the glassy ceiling showing nothing but a black, starry sky, the place was well lit by candles and a chandelier, keeping the grass type knights awake, patrolling, and protective of all the castle's secrets.

I couldn't help but groan at the pressure of our task, starting to wonder how Lucca had even encouraged us to take on such a thing. He had obviously chosen to walk off with Mimia so that the two could chat, so was he coming up with an emergency plan? And if he was, why not share it with all of us?

"Oh, right... Azeth, if you want, you don't have to come with us, you know," I warned. She objected with a calm shake of a hand, and smiled at me.

"I'm deep enough into this mess already. What good would it do if I stepped back and let you all handle it from here?" she replied in question.

"But you're just a professor, right? I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to quit at any time," Brine reasoned.

"What, so because I'm a professor, I don't hold any power in regards to protecting stuff?" she challenged, smiling eagerly. "Do you kids still not realise what kind of professor I am?"