The Patron Quadrilogy: The Legend Begins

Chapter 15

Sunday, October 15th, 12:05 p.m. 2018
Brimstone Pub Alleyway
Brendan dropped from the rooftops he ran on to get back to Brimstone. He'd started doing parkour shortly after his father died. It was just an easy way to get around. Though, he would later admit to himself, he also started taking various other risks. He'd just stopped caring about his own well-being after he lost his parents and all. But, after he became a Patron, he found that it was also a useful way to train himself and his powers, without needing to worry about innocent people getting in the way. A lot of the rooftops had scorch marks on them, but everyone just assumed that it was stray Pokémon battles causing the damage. Nobody really cared, as the damage was usually minimal, so it was just ignored.
"Well, let's get inside, and rally the Team," Brendan thought. He put his hands in his pockets and walked to the door.
Sunday, October 15th, 12:08 p.m., 2018
Brimstone Pub
The door chimed as Brendan opened it, and he saw Wally raise his head. He was on his cellphone, likely talking with Zinnia.
"Wonderful, I'll see you then, Zinnia," Wally said. "I love you too, babe. See you Tuesday." He hung up his phone, and smiled.
"Judging by your smile, I'd say it went well," Brendan said. "Is she going to be here Tuesday? Or are you flying out there to meet her?"
"She'll be flying here on her Salamence," Wally replied, though Brendan winced considerably. "Does that thing still make you nervous? It's been years since it gave you that scar. And, as I recall, you told her to."
Brendan, May, and Wally had known Zinnia for years, having met her through Steven. She had been working for him, the Elite Four, and the Frontier Brains as an undercover agent. She'd been spying on Team Magma, and Maxie usually held her in high regard, along with Courtney, his fanatical second-in-command. A few years ago she'd been forced to fight him in a duel. She lost the fight, but during their battle, Brendan signaled for her to tell Salamence to hit him instead, and to prove that she'd do anything to win. Though hesitant, she complied, and Brendan took a claw to the side of the head. It almost killed him, and if it wasn't for his Blaziken cauterizing his wound, it probably would have. Brendan had been forced to retreat shortly thereafter, as Steven had successfully hacked the facility's data storage, and stole very important plans from Magma. May had called him an idiot and she was worried, but he knew Steven was thankful, and later on, Wally actually confessed to him that he liked Zinnia, and was very thankful that Brendan had done everything he could to help maintain her cover. But, due to the severity of his wound, which left a permanent scar, one he covered with his beanie, he was still very wary of that Salamence.
"That's the last time I ever willingly take a claw from a Salamence," Brendan said. "And yeah, I'm still kinda wary about her Salamence. But, enough of that, did you ask if she's still interested in becoming a Lieutenant of Team Brimstone?"
"I felt that that's something that you should ask her, as you are the Patron of Groudon, and the Leader of Team Brimstone."
"Alright then," Brendan said. "Let's assemble the Team. We might as well let them know what's going on. Tell them to gather around the fireplace, and we'll get them up to date on the situation."
"Got it, boss," Wally replied, snapping his fingers, and sending small embers up the stairs. Brendan nodded in gratitude and they walked over to the fireplace, which was around a ninety-degree corner, and down two stairs (the center of the Pub, (where the bar is), is slightly elevated), lined with booths. Custom signs, some neon, and one of which said BRIMSTONE PUB, CIRCA 2016, were mounted on the fireplace and surrounding walls. Brendan leaned against the fireplace, and had his hands in his pockets. Wally sat on the small staircase, rested his arms on his leg, igniting and extinguishing his lighter. The others gradually came downstairs to the meeting. Starting with Damian and Giri, and then the Rhodes Twins.
"Claire will be down soon," Marilyn told them. "She's checking to see if May's awake."
"Good," Brendan replied. "While we wait, how's everyone been? I know everything's kinda been chaotic, and I haven't been able to keep up with you guys as much."
"Well, all's well for me," Giri replied. "The streets have been quiet, so I'm pretty relaxed. No fights, no problem. I've almost got enough money saved up to bring my family to Littleroot, as well."
"Congrats, man," Brendan replied, glad that his friend was getting close to achieving his goal. "Just another reason for me to keep fighting to protect this Team."
"I've been well," Damian said. "I think I've got some potential leads on people who wouldn't mind doing business with us. We might be able to get another supplier for the Pub."
"Awesome," Wally told him. "Our reserves are running low, and our regular supplier had to raise his prices this month. Seems his company ran low on some of the ingredients they need for their stock."
"But, apart from that, nothing else has happened, though I guess war will be on the horizon soon," Damian concluded with a sigh. "Hopefully, it doesn't last too long, though. I don't think we'll withstand a drawn out war, even with April, Team Permafrost, and Steven."
"Well, hopefully we'll have more allies than enemies in this war," Brendan remarked. "Though I agree, a short war will be our best chance. But we'll talk more about that later, when May and Claire are down here." He turned to Marilyn and Nathan. "What about you two?"
"I'm fine, very little is going on with us," Nathan told him.
"Well, Claire has been doing well in her studies," Marilyn told them. "But apart from that, we don't really have much else to do."
"Well, that's going to change real soon," Brendan muttered. "You guys need to protect Claire, because she's too young to fight."
"There isn't a member of Brimstone that wouldn't willingly lay down their life to protect her," Wally assured him. "She's the soul of this Team."
"Good," Brendan said with a smile. "Speaking of, I believe they're coming down the stairs. Now the meeting can begin."
Sunday, October 15th, 12:15 p.m., 2018
Brimstone Pub
"Glad to see you're finally awake, May," Brendan greeted her.
"How long was I out for?" She asked, slightly concerned.
"About a day, roughly," Brendan told her. "We'll need to work on teaching you to recognize your limits. You overexerted yourself. Really badly. You're really lucky that you were only unconscious for a day. Most Patrons aren't so lucky. Plenty have died because they didn't know their limit, or they ignored it."
May looked down for a few seconds, before speaking again.
"Guess I really messed up, huh?"
"You'll learn," Brendan assured her. "But, for Arceus' sake, be more careful from now on."
He turned to Claire, who was playing with Eve.
"Thank you for bringing May, Claire," Brendan told her, resting a hand on her head. "Wally has some manga for you. See him after the meeting, alright?" Claire nodded happily.
"Alright, time to get this show underway."
He resumed his position by the fireplace, before clearing his throat.
"Alright, everyone listen up!" He began. "As we discussed a couple days ago, Harley is after May. Well, April and Steven also agree that this situation is bad. If you need any proof, remember that STEVEN agreed with us."
"Yeah, the situation's getting pretty bad, huh?" Giri said, his usually jovial tone now serious.
"Indeed, Giri," Brendan sighed. "We've even initiated an emergency meeting. Now, initially I wanted all of us to attend, and I wanted Steven to tell Red. And neither of these things will happen. May, Claire, Wally, Ash, and myself are the only ones who can go. And we'll need to hit up Mt. Silver first. We'll only be gone for a day, hopefully. However, the Pub will be closed all week. Some last minute renovations before the Festival. So all of this will work out. Also, the Pub might be getting a new Lieutenant, in the form of Wally's girlfriend, Zinnia. But, that's currently up in the air. And after the meeting, Wally will be with Zinnia for the rest of the week after that, so it's best that we get all of the renovations out of the way while he's out."
"Alright," Nathan agreed. "So while you guys are gone, we'll also continue our battle training. Is there anything else we should do?"
"Yes. In the event that Littleroot comes under siege, I want one or two of you to protect Claire and get her out of the town and to safety. So, rehearse all the evacuation routes we've made in the past, just in case something would happen that would force us to get out of the town. But, other than that, I don't know what else we can do to prepare."
"Well, there's not much else to do, is there?" Giri asked. "Just preparing for war, and that's it."
"Pretty much," Brendan agreed, stretching. "Well, that concludes our meeting. May, Wally, Claire, and myself must be on our way. Can you please call Ash, May?"
"I'm already on it," she replied, looking at her phone.
"Well, we'll be heading out, then. I don't think there is anything else to say at the moment."
Yeah, sorry about this chapter being so late guys. October was NOT a good month for me (due to illness and personal reasons).
Anyways, I'll try to get back on a decent schedule again, though I have doubts I'll be able to crank out another chapter by the end of November... I'll try, but I don't want get any hopes up.
Also, I'm working on another project as well (yeah I know there's plenty of those here, but I write what I imagine, and I think this idea was too good to risk losing). It's a standalone story, and it's going to be very lore-heavy. Like, I even intend to make a world map for this story. Other than that, there's going to be various races, most of them are the usual thing, but I've got some unique ones in there. There's going to be factions, wars, backstories, and plenty of characters.
However, this story is my top priority, as this one does seem to be immensely popular (thank you all for your continuing support, by the way).
Also, I do want to reiterate, none of my stories will ever require payment to read. This is a hobby to me, not a job. I don't want to be paid for my stories (I have a job, and I intend in the future to actually start my YouTube channel up).
I just self advertised, didn't I?
Damnit.
Anyways, have a good day everyone, and as always, stay tuned for the next chapter!
-Myst out