Timeline of Errors

Part 27 - Back into it

Eventually, the ship came to a stop and the passengers started standing up, one by one. The two of us got off the ship, greeted by the harsh sunlight outside. It was around noon, so it was no wonder. I quickly put my hand on my eyebrow level, acting as a sun visor to protect my eyes. 

Alright, I thought, we're back in the mainland...

"Shall we go?" he asked.

"Where exactly are we going, though?" I asked, "you told me that this would be the enemy's lair, but..."

"...the grey estate," he said, "the ducal family's home - surely you've heard of the Gris,"

"Gris...?" I repeated, "as in the lord of Sunnyshore City?"

"No, they're not. I mean, yeah - they kind of live here as they please, but no," he said and rolled his eyes, "I've long suspected the heir of the estate is behind everything and he did answer to 'Xavier' when I called him so yesterday,"

"Mind telling me how you got to that conclusion?" I asked.

"The two houses, the one that hired you and the Gris, has been at odds with each other for years... I guess?" he wondered out loud, "land ownership dispute, noble politics... stuff like that... but the guy also gets very obsessed over a certain revenge, like, he wants them dead 'dead'. It's pretty easy to suspect him to be behind something in this scale..."

"Okay, but... does that mean we'll be breaking and entering into their estate?" I asked.

"...no, we don't have to," he said and turned to me, "I looked up-"

BOOM!

Suddenly, there was a deafening noise as if something exploded nearby. The ground shook lightly, along with the walls of the buildings around me. Then there was a silence. A tense one.

"What was that...?" I muttered under my breath.

"...I think we better head to the source of explosion first," he said, "possibly another legendary he planted... that's really dangerous around this many people..."

"Next legendary to be taken down..." I said and took a deep breath, "let's go,"

~~~

The two of us ran up the streets of Sunnyshore, following the loud explosion noise ahead. The closer we got, the more people we could see running towards the opposite direction from us. There were screams, cries, and a lot of murmurs among the crowd, followed by a series of quick footsteps.

It should be... around here! I thought as I took a turn.

Right as I did, I spotted the figure of serpent-like dragon in a cloud of dust near a few residential areas in the distance. Its green body was lined with black and yellow patterns, which somewhat gleamed in the dust. Suddenly, it shrieked and all of the dust lifted up, revealing a Rayquaza in the spot.

"Dragon type, easy," I said and grabbed the uppermost Pokeball, "let's go!"

"Wait, shouldn't you conserve your power to-" he said.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?" I ignored him and turned to Froslass, "ready for another round of Sheer Cold?"

"Val, are you sure her level is high enough for-" he said.

With one go, however, Froslass turned the air ice cold. Rayquaza stopped moving and suddenly it went down with one hit. Then there was another shriek coming from the distance.

"Seems like it's coming from the perimeter of the town..." I said and turned to Antonio, "wow, I think you're right - this city might just be the enemy lair. The more well-guarded it is, the more likely the enemy is close,"

"Umm..." he said.

"Let's go!" I said and turned to Froslass, smiling, "come on, you too!"

I turned to him, only to find him smiling gently. It was just like the one I saw a few days ago in Clemence Hill.

The rare warm and gentle smile.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I was right, wasn't I?" he asked, "miss assistant director is the best when she's battling and being herself,"

Right then, warmth broke out inside my heart and spread throughout my body. The ends of my lips went up on their own. I could not hold them back nor tell them to go down. I just couldn't stop smiling for some reason.

"Mayhaps," I said and flipped my hair.

~~~

"Wow... five legendaries taken out with one Pokémon" he said, smirking, "I got to say I must take my hat off for you, miss assistant director,"

"That was Froslass's strength, not mine," I said and turned to the Pokémon who was walking beside me, "say, maybe when grandpa gets home, we can battle him again. He'll be happy to see us battling again!"

"Isn't that just how Pokémon are supposed to be naturally? Their instinct should be to fight..." he said and raised an eyebrow at me, then turning to Froslass, "what kind of thing did Valen do to you that you stop battling, Froslass?"

"She brainwashes me," Froslass replied in her thoughts.

"'She brainwashes me'?! Oh come on," I groaned, "don't side with him,"

"Hahaha say, why don't we have lunch out to celebrate this?" he asked, smiling to me, "my treat,"

"That's very kind of you but don't you usually try to stay away from civilisations?" I said.

"Nah, the people around this area aren't exactly very anti of me, so it should be fine," he said.

Now that he mentioned it... he did work in that restaurant just like everyone else there... I thought, while in the other towns, they chase him out and wanted him gone... well, most towns, that is.

"Well, if you insist-" I said.

"Say, in exchange," he suddenly said, "can you get something for me?"

"And what would that be?" I asked.

"I'll tell you later. Just see," he said.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Pokémon, Pokémon-related items (Pokeball), location (Sunnyshore City & The Pokémon League) or moveset as they belong to Nintendo and Gamefreak.