Pokémon BW: Rise of Clarity (book 3 of the HBoD series)

Chapter 37: Soaring High

I pushed my dark hair out of my eyes, holding it there with one hand while staring at the X-transceiver on my left wrist. It was windy today, and storm clouds were closing in. It was going to storm. I couldn't help but think that was some sort of sign of things to come after what happened two nights ago.

I sighed and leaned back against the side of the hanger that Skyla used as her gym. Alex was inside, in the middle of her battle against the Flying type Gym Leader. I'd have been watching had it not been for Looker finally getting back to me.

"Alright, go ahead," I said to the tiny image of Looker on the wrist device.

"Thanks to your intel we were able to track the plane and safely secure it when it touched down in Castelia City," he began. "And we seized a ton of their drug known as Dream Shots."

"But..." I prompted after a few seconds of silence followed this news.

"But if your estimate of how many crates there were is correct, then we're missing more than several of them," Looker said grimly. "And we didn't find the Executioners onboard, nor anyone matching your description that you detailed as persons of importance."

I sighed, leaning my head back. "Were you able to find out where the crates disappeared along its flight path?" I asked, but I already knew the answer.

"Unfortunately no," he said, shaking his head. "We still have several teams out searching, but so far no leads. With the Executioners involved, it's unlikely we'll ever find them. That's not even the worst part."

That got my attention. "What?"

Looker sucked in a breath. "One of the crates containing the drugs held a nasty surprise. A bomb. Luckily one of our guys spotted it before it could go off and we were able to disarm it. But this is some powerful stuff here. And what you found out before about them planning something for Castelia..."

"We can then safely assume that the missing crates might have held more of these bombs..." I trailed off. "What should we do?"

"You and your friends should stay out of this," Looker advised sternly. "It's a miracle the Executioners let you go at all, but knowing you, I can't say I'm not totally surprised. You have the luck of the devil, Zeno. I'm hoping we won't need the help of ordinary trainers, so just continue on your travels. If something happens, leave it to us."

"Sure," I said, but I think even Looker knew that if something went down in Castelia, the three of us wouldn't be far behind. Luck of the devil was right. Half the time I wondered how I was even alive. Heck, the end of my journey should have happened before I even thought of running away to Alola.

Once the call was cancelled, I went back inside just in time to see Alex walking back to the stands. She wiggled the feather shaped badge in her hand. I smiled while clapping her raised hand. "Good job. My turn next then."

Alex grasped my shoulder, giving me a worried look. "You sure your battle plan is a good idea? What if you lose?"

"Win or lose it'll still be a good learning experience," I reassured her. "It'll be good for him. But let's be real," I patted her on the shoulder as I strode past. "We won't lose."

I could almost her her smirk as she called out, "Then go get 'em!"

"Are you ready to crash and burn?" Skyla called out to me as I approached the arena. I stopped within my box, enlarging one of my pokeballs.

"Not yet," I said, narrowing my eyes. "In fact, we're gonna soar."

Skyla laughed. "That's the attitude I want to hear. But let's see if you can match it with altitude."