Chapter 198 (REDUX) (Patreon)

READ ME: You've read this chapter before, and it serves as an introduction to Guzma. However, the more I've sat on it, the more I've disliked it. With it coming out on Royal Road today, I decided to take the jump and rewrite most of it. A lot of the basic details are the same, except the initial exchange with the grunts at the beginning and an addition at the very end. The second half of the chapter is now from Guzma's perspective, not Alex's, but, more importantly:

PLEASE READ THE SECTION AT THE VERY END. IT IS BRAND NEW.

I was originally going to include that part as an interlude, but I never found a good place to slot it in.

Today's new chapter can be found here.
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Malie Garden was less of a garden and more of its own, miniature biome. Designed by Johto natives who moved to Alola, it consisted of an entire, walled-off area as large as a small town, complete with its own central lake and an island shaped like the Johto region within. Gilded, arching bridges connected the shores where the lake was thin, and an entire artificial mountain sat in the back with a recreation of Johto's Bell Tower next to it.

Honestly, it was beautiful. It would have been an incredible place to visit if Hope and I weren’t being summoned by a potential emergency alert.

"Lillie, you need to stay back," I said as we ran towards our destination.

"No! I want to help!"

"Alex and I have been specifically trained as Ace Trainers, Lillie,” Hope said. “This isn’t just fighting Team Skull. This is us potentially responding to an emergency. Please, can you wait at the entrance when we arrive? Nebbie needs to stay safe, too.”

Lillie’s face scrunched up in annoyance; a scowl was held back by the knowledge that we were right. We couldn’t risk someone else taking Nebbie away, and the same was true for Lillie as well. Thankfully, she didn’t argue, merely nodding her head with a huff, and we continued to rush to where the entrance of the gardens sat at the edge of the city.

It didn’t take us too long to arrive, especially since Malie Garden was set almost right next to Malie City’s port. Once it was in sight, we noticed a small group of people crowded around the red archway entrance, and both Hope and I sent out Pokémon out of caution.

“Altaria.”

“Bellossom.”

“Protect Lillie,” we both told our Pokémon.

Altaria moved to hop alongside us while Bellossom simply walked along the ground. Lillie pressed her lips together out of resigned annoyance as we split off to head to the entrance, leaving her behind but well protected.

“Really?” Hope groaned as we pushed through the crowd of people. “It’s these guys again.”

Three, familiar grunts glared at all of the people who were prevented from going within. The grunts crouched in threatening poses with their Pokémon out next to them. A blue haired, wiry-looking trainer stood next to a Salandit. A pink-haired woman had a Zubat flying in the air next to her. Finally, a heavyset male crossed his arms next to a particularly vicious-looking Yungoos. All three grunts were decked out in the classic black and white outfit of a member of Team Skull, which included both skull-skullcaps and a bandana covering their mouths.

Huh. None of their Pokémon have evolved. Looks like they’ve hardly trained, too.

“Let us through!” Someone in the crowd shouted.

“Nah,” the tallest of the bunch, the one with the blue hair, replied. “Boss says to not let anyone interrupt his fight.”

A man in the crowd tried to step forward in an attempt to get past the grunts, but the three Team Skull members just stood up to properly loom right at him. The sudden increase in menace made him hesitate and cautiously take a step back, falling back in line.

Hope and I exchanged a simple look.

"I have a plan. I'm still mad about Plumeria," I said.

Hope's eyes narrowed in response, obviously wary about what I had to say.

“Does it include any dumb risks?”

“Not against these three. We technically have legal authority, Hope. All we have to do is go up and threaten them with disturbing the—”

“Hey!”

My heart dropped at the familiar voice, and both Hope and I snapped our heads towards the girl who had just shouted. Somehow, while we were distracted with taking in the scene, Lillie had slipped past us to approach the Team Skull grunts on her own.

“You know it's rude to block the entrance to the gardens like this,” she called out.

“What are you doing?” I moaned.

The blue-haired grunt scowled, and he took a step towards Lillie. She didn’t even blink as he walked all the way up to her to stand a foot away.

“What do you want, girlie?” he hissed.

“I want you three to move,” Lillie calmly replied.

Despite Lillie throwing herself into danger like this, explicitly not what we requested, Hope and I were effectively frozen in place. We could step in to stop the exchange, but seeing Lillie stand up to the grunts so confidently caused a silent moment of curiosity between Hope and I.

After all, Lillie had been training, and none of these grunts looked very strong. Hesitantly, Hope and I came to the quiet understanding that we’d give Lillie this chance. She’d be in trouble later for going against our orders during a time of emergency, but we wouldn’t stop whatever her plan was to handle these three grunts.

Briefly, I wondered where Bellosom and Altaria had gone, but Hope tapped me on my shoulder and pointed behind us. Turning my head, I frowned. Clefairy sat on the ground in the back with both Altaria and Bellosom next to her, enthralled with a clever use of Attract.

“Damnit, Lillie,” I mumbled.

Back at the gatefront, Lillie continued to face off against the three grunts.

“I’m sick of bullies like you,” Lillie said to the grunt in front of her. “Just intimidating your way through life without a care about anyone else in the world. So what if your boss is battling? He’s allowed to do that! Battles aren’t against the rules of the gardens, but preventing everyone else from getting in is!”

“Me a bully? Me?” He literally laughed in her face as he completely ignored the second half of what Lillie had said. “Why don’t you tell the crowd everything you did to us? You lied about your team’s strength when you challenged us to a fight, your Pokémon forcibly Teleported us against our wills, and now, now, you’re making demands of us with no ground to stand on!”

“I’m standing on the same ground you are! We’re literally standing on a street!” Lillie shouted.

I wanted to cover my face with my hands.

“Fine, then. You want a battle? You’ll get a battle,” the grunt hissed. “You and me, right here and now, proving once and for all that—”

“No,” Lillie interrupted.

“No?” The grunt crossed his arms.

“All three of you. Me and my Pokémon are going to face all three of you at once and come out a winner.”

A hush fell over the crowd. Quiet whispers started up that I could just barely hear.

“...A four-way battle?”

“...All of them in the same match?”

“...Would this be a battle royale?”

What initially started as subdued anger at the grunts quickly turned into excitement and support for Lillie. Four way matches—battle royales—were somewhat of a pastime in Alola. Fighting three trainers at once wasn’t necessarily the same thing, but for the people here, the culture of the islands painted a different interpretation of these events. Anyone in Alola would be looking forward to such a chaotic match, even if the majority teamed up against one side.

As the murmurs in the crowd grew and grew, the two other grunts who stayed in the back started to shift around, uncomfortable.

“Hey, maybe we should—”

“Shut up!” the grunt in the front shouted to interrupt the heavier one who just tried to talk. He snapped his gaze onto Lillie once his companion went utterly quiet. “We accept your challenge, girl. But if we win, we get your Pokémon.”

The crowd quieted down. Lillie’s eyes widened.

“I don’t bet my friends,” she whispered.

“Oh? Scared?”

“N-no! You don’t understand me. I won’t be betting my friends, because I’m not going to lose!”

Someone in the crowd cheered for her declaration, and the grunt standing in front of her growled.

“Step back. We’ll fight here.”

“I refuse to fight unless we have a proper battlefield,” Lillie replied.

As the grunt turned back to look at his two companions, Lillie sent a quick glance our way. Without anyone else noticing, she made eye contact and winked. Hope nudged my shoulder out of pride. I just shook my head, mildly exasperated.

Somehow, Lillie’s words were convincing enough, and the three grunts moved off with her to take Lillie on in a match. She gained a confident grin and followed them towards the nearby Pokémon Center. The crowd—alongside the now no-longer-infatuated Bellosom and Altaria—all followed.

Of course, Hope and I used this distraction to slip in through the garden’s main gates.

“I’m so proud of her,” Hope said.

“I guess she did good. I don’t like how she went against our instructions to do that.”

“Come on, Alex!” Hope nudged me in my arm again. “I saw you smiling! You know she helped us out!”

I turned away from Hope to prevent her from seeing my expression as we entered the gardens. The same environment that I expected was actually here. The bridges, the island, the lake, and the mountain and the belltower all sat in their set positions within this walled area. At the center, however, another crowd had formed at the base of one of the arched bridges, and sounds of battle came from the bridge itself.

“Look. Kukui’s there. At least we know who sent out the alert,” Hope said.

“Seems like Hau’s trying to protect him, too,” I added. “Hold on, is that Elio at the front? Wait, is—”

I paused.

Grainy music with simple, repeating lyrics echoed faintly through the air.

“Oh my god,” I mumbled. “He actually brought his own theme music. Let’s hurry up.”

With that, Hope and I rushed forward to see what this was all about.

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Guzma considered himself to have many titles.

The Leader of Team Skull.

The Strongest Bug Type specialist around.

The Big Bad himself.

And, Destruction, given human form.

Each self-given title carried its own weight, but the one title he believed the most in was simple: Strongest Trainer in Alola. He had gone undefeated for years, and there was no way that was going to change today.

“This all your little students have, Kukui?” he shouted from where he crouched at the very peak of the bridge. “You can’t beat me. This kid can’t beat me, either. We ain’t scared of nothing or nobody. We’re undefeatable!”

Guzma knew he was going to win, and all the tiny little people in these gardens knew that, too. He took in their faces—their helpless expressions—and Guzma couldn’t help but to gain a mad smile at the sight.

His favorite expression had to be Kukui's scowl as the “Professor” clenched his hands into fists at his side. Guzma saw that, and his grin deepened as he took off his lopsided glasses to run a hand through his messy, white hair. It was no secret that Kukui was balding, and Guzma wasn’t one to pass up the opportunity to taunt his rival when given the chance.

He cackled when Kukui briefly closed his eyes, and the Pokémon continued to fight.

On the sloped front half of the bridge itself, two combatants fought it out. A boy yelled for his Lycanroc-Dusk to dodge, and it jumped back right as Guzma’s Ariados sprayed out a String Shot. It dodged, of course, but that was what Guzma expected. Instead of letting its string go to waste, the large, red arachnid angled the sticky spray to latch onto one of the bridge's arches, swinging itself upwards to give itself a better position for the rest of the fight.

A few Accelerock pebbles were sent forward, but all they did was cause the wood Ariados stood on to crack. With Ariados’s mobility and position above the Lycanroc, there was no way the boy Guzma was fighting would win.

Decent Lycanroc, though. Shame. With more training, it might have been a threat.

Guzma was never going to say that out loud, however. Whoever this kid was, he had potential, but that potential would go to waste once he gave up after seeing just how badly Guzma crushed his team.

“Accelerock!” the kid shouted again, and even more stones were launched out from Lycanroc. Ariados deflected some with a spray of Poison Sting, and the ones that got close were caught in a web that bounced them right back at the dog. They jabbed the wolf in the side and caused it to cry out in pain.

Guzma stayed crouching, not needing to give any more orders. His Ariados was well trained and needed little input from him to continue this fight. He played with the large chain that hung off his neck, and his sharp eyes casually glanced around the area.

The garden visitors were still scared, and no one seemed intent on approaching. However, for some reason, two random people moved to stand beside Kukui, but they were nobodies, so Guzma paid them no mind.

Glancing back to the battle, Guzma finally saw it—there was a moment in between its attacks where Lycanroc paused for the briefest delay. Gaining an even wider grin, he leaned over to turn up the volume on his boom box a bit more, and he watched as Ariados used one last move to end the match.

His Pokémon jumped forward to leap right at Lycanroc and land on the hound’s back. The Pokémon tried to summon a Rock Tomb to defend itself, but Ariados was too fast as its legs jabbed into Lycanroc’s side, biting down into the dog’s neck.

A horrible howl rang out as Ariados’s mandibles pierced deeper and deeper. Several weak stones floated into the air before clattering to the ground, and the Lycanroc finally collapsed under the weight of the spider’s attack.

Guzma let loose a barking laugh.

“Fell Stinger, fool!” he shouted. “Now Ariados is empowered to sweep the rest of your team!”

The expression of Guzma’s opponent didn’t let up. He maintained a simple, determined stare forward. Guzma didn’t really care what the kid did or thought in this match, all he cared about was seeing Kukui’s defeated expression.

The man seemed stressed, but he didn’t show much more than that. Guzma decided to push even harder upon seeing that.

When the kid sent out his next Pokémon, Guzma immediately scowled. It was a cat—a fiery thing—one of those damned starter Pokémon given out by Kukui. Red and black, the feline stood on all fours with a small lick of immobile flame that resembled a bell on its neck. The Pokémon, Torracat, crouched down to ready itself for the battle, and Guzma forced himself to grin despite the current Type disadvantage.

“Ariados, return,” Guzma said. Even though Fell Stinger had boosted his Pokémon’s stats, he wasn’t willing to risk his Pokémon here.

But, he wasn’t going to give up the opportunity the kid just presented him.

"You really want to be strong, kid? Face it! There's no point in any of this!” Guzma shouted. “The Island Challenge, the Pokémon League, even our battle! We've already established who the strongest trainer is, so why even bother with this nonsense?"

His opponent stayed silent, but his opponent’s friend in the back—the one with an uncomfortable resemblance to Kahuna Hala—shouted to respond.

"Oh yeah? And who's that?" he yelled.

Someone in the audience groaned, and Guzma tilted his head back for a laugh. He couldn’t believe that set up actually worked.

Preparing himself, he stood up, briefly grabbing his face, and he snapped his head down while pointing up at his chin with a thumb.

“Me,” Guzma said confidently. "I’m the strongest.”

He then tossed forward a weathered, yellow and black Ultra Ball.

“Golisopod! Show yourself, once again! Go ahead and make your dramatic second impression!”

The boy who had responded yelped in surprise, mumbling something about having thought Guzma’s ace Pokémon had fainted earlier. Guzma himself just pointed forward confidently as Golisopod, a plated, bipedal arthropod, extended its heavy claws out to slash the surprised Torracat across its chest.

The First Impression landed well enough.

“Flamethrower!”

“Razor Shell!”

The flame sac on Torracat’s neck rang like a bell as a burst of flames left its mouth. Golisopod, while Bug Type, was also part Water Type, and it pushed through the attack to slash its opponent once more, now dealing super effective damage.

The heavy impact launched Torracat back, but, as it was a cat, it landed on its feet and slid down the sloped bridge. A hiss left its mouth as its hair stood on its ends. Burn marks appeared on the wood around its paws as flames licked off its body.

Oh? If we keep this up, the kid might actually burn down the bridge. I can see the look on Kukui’s face if that happens, even now.

He laughed.

He wanted to continue this match, to continue to aggravate both this kid and Kukui and show the region just how pathetic their famed “Professor” was, but Guzma noticed that in the back, those two people who had approached were now distracting Kukui with a quiet conversation. He frowned as their expressions hardened when part of the wooden bridge was burned, and that frown deepened when they both grabbed a Pokéball in their hand and moved forward.

“Florges!”

“Tropius!”

“Stop this match!” the pair shouted in unison.

Two Pokémon appeared in the air: one, a flowery, humanoid figure with a head surrounded by petals, and two, an ancient dinosaur who floated under the power of the wind.

The Florges appeared in front of Torracat, surprising the feline and grabbing it as it jumped through the air before placing it back on the floor as it let loose a startled “Mrow!” Behind it, Tropius landed with a heavy thump, and it parried the incoming Razor Shell with its wide, back leaves.

Can’t even get a decent battle anymore.

Guzma spat on the ground.

“Yo! What’s the meaning of this!?” he shouted.

The two trainers ran onto the bridge itself, and the one who had sent out the Tropius was the one to respond.

“This battle is over. You’re risking too much property damage already. Based on the state of the bridge, we should get you to pay for the damage you’ve already caused, too!” she shouted.

Guzma couldn’t stop a sneer from forming on his face as he called Golisopod back.

The property damage he caused? It was the kids Rock and Fire Type moves causing all the damage!

His starter Pokémon jumped through the air to land on the bridge beside him, and Guzma returned Golisopod to their Ultra Ball, recognizing when he was outnumbered.

“And who are you, anyway?” Guzma asked, annoyed.

“Hope, Wandering Elite,” the woman replied.

“Alex. Same,” the other one added.

Wandering Elite? That’s, uh... Something to do with the Pokémon League?

Of course they’d interfere somehow. Nothing more than a bunch of controlling scum, that bunch.

He glanced between the two elite trainers, his scowl still on his face. He could beat them, of course, but battling them here would just give them what they wanted. Not only that, but they’d probably find some excuse to arrest him even though he made sure he broke no laws setting this all up.

His eyes flicked between the Pokémon still on the bridge out of curiosity, then they lit up as a plan came to mind.

"You got the strength to back those words up?" Guzma replied.

"I do. Eleven star team,” the woman said. “Want to try us out?"

Guzma clicked his tongue again and put his hands in his pockets. He immediately turned to lock eyes with Kukui.

"Good,” she said. “Now, you need to—"

"Hey, is this really what you want, Kukui?" he suddenly shouted. "Some random foreigners doing your job for you? The Pokémon League amounts to nothing! Sure, they’re strong, but you can’t just let them do what they want! You’re inviting outsiders to police our region, involve themselves with our politics, and make demands where they don’t have the right to make demands!”

Murmurs spread around the crowd. Guzma held back a smile as he noted their tone. It wasn't positive, as expected.

"You're just as I remembered. A coward," Guzma continued, carefully choosing his words to aggravate his rival. "You'll just roll over and show your belly to anyone strong as long as you get what you want."

Guzma took joy in how the “great” Kukui bit his lip and didn’t respond. He was visibly glaring at Guzma, but he still hadn’t sent out any of his strong Pokémon for a fight.

Coward. Fight me. Prove that you aren’t anything special. Don’t just stand there and watch.

Unfortunately, Kukui made no further movements, and Guzma felt his cold, dead heart become even colder in his chest.

“Whatever. This is stupid. I’m—”

“Guzma!” one of the two elite trainers shouted.

The Team Skull leader paused out of annoyance and sent a glare that one’s way. The trainer was the one who had sent out the Florges, and there was a strange, hesitant confidence to their movements.

“What?” Guzma practically hissed.

“Do you really think you’re the strongest trainer in the region?” the trainer asked.

For a moment, the annoyed look on Guzma’s face vanished as he blinked, surprised at the question. He squinted his eyes, trying to see what was this trainer’s game, and he nodded his head once before forcing another grin.

“I’m destruction in human form!” he yelled. “Your boy Guzma’s the strongest trainer here!”

He glanced over to Kukui again. Kukui’s knuckles turned white.

Tch. Still not motivated to fight, huh?

“Then...” the trainer began again. Guzma turned back their way. “If you think you’re so strong, you should be aware of a chance coming up. Hope and I aren’t just here by coincidence. Alola will be getting its Pokémon League, and Alola’s eight Gym Leaders need to be decided.”

Surprised murmurs in the crowd. Guzma frowned.

“We’ve been testing strong trainers to see if they’d be able to fit in that role,” the trainer continued. “While focused on them, the tests aren’t limited to Trial Captains. Anyone strong enough has the potential to become a Gym Leader. If your team is as powerful as you say they are, you should know that you’ll be tested, too.”

Guzma felt himself freeze. Around him, the crowd went utterly silent. His boom box continued to play his music, but he kicked it to get it to shut up.

No one moved as Guzma processed those words.

“‘Cuse me?” he said out of utter bewilderment.

“You’ve trained under Hala. You’re an exceptional Bug Type specialist. Your lean towards crime isn’t in your favor, but the sheer level of loyalty you’ve inspired in Team Skull is something else. While I don’t know if you have the Pokémon to battle at all tiers of strength, you already have the support structure to have quite a number of people working under you in a Gym.” Guzma opened and closed his mouth without forming any words. “We’ll be coming for you eventually to test your potential. If you think you could make it as a Gym Leader—”

I get it now.

“Tch.” He scoffed, interrupting the speech. “Nice joke.”

“I’m not kidding.”

It took all of Guzma’s efforts to keep his expression schooled. The words this trainer was saying were something else.

Ridiculous. Stupid. The Big Bad Guzma as a Gym Leader? They want me to beat up a bunch of little kids to teach them a lesson?

His scowl returned as he thought about it. A Gym Building he owned filled with all of his beloved Bug Types. He’d have to set up tests, build teams for trainers of all levels, ensure he stood at the top of his local area, and keep that area peaceful, to boot.

For a second, he could picture himself in the role, but he shook his head.

He already did all that. He had Team Skull to protect and train up already. Plus, he had other responsibilities and ties to be more concerned about before letting the League step in.

Guzma quickly forced any stray thoughts away. Becoming a Gym Leader was ridiculous, and anyone who thought he could be in that role was a complete fool. He opened his mouth to respond, to call out the dumbass plan that was presented to him—

But then he gave Kukui the slightest of glances once again. Guzma would have thought the man would have been surprised at the suggestion, but he wasn’t.

He knew that look. Kukui was upset, of course, but for the first time here, Kukui wasn’t upset at Guzma. Instead, the look on his face was something Guzma had seen so many times before when the pair of them had been lectured by Hala for getting into trouble. It was an expression he practically knew by heart.

Kukui looked like he had sucked on a lemon. He desperately didn’t want to agree with Alex’s words, yet, Kukui knew they were right.

Kukui thinks I could become a Gym Leader?

And that thought made Guzma truly, utterly, pause.

Too many errant thoughts entered Guzma’s mind to process. Too many differing images and expectations of how this encounter was supposed to go came and passed.

Guzma was the region’s villain. He presented himself that way on purpose. To have these people come here and tell him he had potential for a job with the League?

The words that came out of his mouth were not at all what he wanted.

“Y-ya’ll are stupid!” Guzma yelled. “I’m outta here!”

He quickly turned away from the crowd, unable to see their expressions as he picked up his boombox and tossed forward the Pokéball that contained his trusted Scizor. Someone shouted for him to stop, but he jumped up to hook a hand around his Pokémon’s shoulder while his feet braced themselves on Scizor’s lower back.

Then, with a single clicking noise from Guzma’s mouth, Scizor extended its wings. After a brief moment to ensure they both had the proper balance, the Pokémon sped off to and over the walls of Malie Gardens, allowing Guzma to escape the area unimpeded.

The gardens burst into noise as he left them behind.

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Guzma only managed to travel south for so long before his phone rang. Only one person ever called him on it—it was why it was given to him in the first place—so he called out to Scizor to pull over and stop under a tree.

“Wait here,” he ordered.

Scizor bowed its head in recognition of its trainer’s order, and Guzma dug into his pocket to pull out a treat. Scizor snatched it out of the air as Guzma dropped his boombox to hold up his phone. It took a second to remember how to answer it, but soon enough, the screen on it flashed to display the image of who had called him.

She was older than him, but not by too much. With a professional, white dress, she sat behind a desk, her hair neatly trimmed. There was a strange gap between her prim appearance and Guzma’s mess of a look. Regardless, there was a kind smile on her face, and Guzma’s frown disappeared.

“Guzma. Sweetie,” Lusamine said softly. “Are you okay?”

Guzma found himself letting loose a laugh.

“I’m fine, Miss Lusamine. You didn’t need to call,” he replied.

Lusamine responded the same way she always responded when he said something she didn’t like. Her hand pressed flat on her desk, and she shook her head as she sighed.

“Of course I had to call. The moment I was told what happened to you in Malie I immediately picked up the phone. I’m sorry you had to go through all that. It must be awful to be lied to so explicitly.”

Her words immediately made Guzma freeze.

Lied to? What?

He wanted to snap at her that it wasn’t a lie, that someone else really did believe in his team’s strength, but her expression gave him pause.

She seemed genuinely sad.

"Oh, honey. Do you not know?" Lusamine asked quietly when Guzma didn’t respond.

"...Know what?" he asked quietly.

"Their offer was from the League. The League. The organization that does nothing but present false promises. This is the same League that you've campaigned and fought against for so long. Do you really think they changed their mind just like that? Do you really think they want someone they hated to work under them as a Gym Leader?”

She let out another sigh, and Guzma was too crushed to properly respond.

"It's entrapment, plain and simple," Miss Lusamine said. "They lower your guard, have you come to them defenseless, then..."

She clicked her tongue.

"It was wrong of them to play with your emotions like that."

Guzma slumped in defeat. It was like someone had taken a knife to his chest and twisted. He should have known.

He should have known.

Why would anyone like them ever recognize him? They were all fools.

Liars.

People who should fear both him and his team.

He started to growl and began to pace back and forth. He felt like an idiot. A dumbass. He was just as stupid as everyone else who sat back and watched his match in the garden.

His fist impacted the tree, leaving a nasty dent. His knuckles hurt, but he pushed past the pain. He couldn’t believe he had been so dumb.

But, an image suddenly flashed in his mind. It was the look on Kukui’s face at the end.

It was...

Was that really...

Was Kukui’s expression fake, too?

"Guzma," Lusamine said, interrupting his thoughts. "I know that was cruel of them, so let me make it up to you."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

The woman tapped a pen to her lips.

"Oh! I have an idea! How would you like to help the Aether Foundation out with Pokémon rescue?"

Her words caused his eyes to immediately narrow.

"Help you out? I said I ain't gonna—"

"Oh, no, no, no. You misunderstand me. This isn't a request, this is a gift!"

"A gift,” Guzma repeated.

Lusamine’s smile widened.

"Yes, a gift. We have a pair of Pokémon that need... guidance, if you will. Given your specialty, I think the two of them would be perfect for your team. Both of them have been rescued recently, and as beautiful as they are, I don’t think they’ve learned the proper love of a strong trainer. I think you can give that to them. Teach them how to be truly strong, like you."

Her words made Guzma smile. Grin, actually. If there was anyone in the region who respected his strength, it was Miss Lusamine for sure.

"What do you need?" he asked.

"I'll send someone to deliver them your way, but I can email you their details right now. The two Pokémon are strong, but, more importantly, they’re—"

Another phone rang on the other side of the call, and Miss Lusamine scowled for the slightest of moments before schooling her expression to be neutral once more.

"It seems I have to go. We'll continue this conversation later."

"Wait—"

But Lusamine had already hung up the call.

Guzma grumbled, annoyed at being cut off like that, and he gripped the phone tight in his hands. The case cracked slightly under his grip, and Scizor stepped closer to Guzma’s side in an attempt to comfort its trainer.

However, Guzma began to pace, thinking about the conversation he just had. He didn’t get to do so for long, because his phone dinged, and he opened up what seemed at first to be a basic email.

The attachment was unusually large. He downloaded the files.

Immediately, Guzma was beset by diagrams. Pictures of biology that didn't make much sense filled his phone. Two insectoid bodies popped up in images, one unusually thin, and the other dense with muscle.

He stood there for a while, just taking in the pictures and reading everything he could about the pair of Bug Types. They were strange—otherworldly, even. Despite that, he couldn’t stop himself from gaining a smile.

Miss Lusamine wanted him to train these two Pokémon? They were already ridiculously powerful as they were! He couldn’t understand half of the notes on them, but he knew one thing:

"No one but Guzma is worthy to train them," he mumbled. "Whatever these Pokémon are, I can handle them. Don't you worry, Miss Lusamine. I'll train whatever these ‘UB-02’ are and make them strong, just like me."

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Author Note:

Pokémon (and people) mentioned in this chapter:
Ariados
Golisopod
Lycanroc-Dusk
Salandit
Scizor
Torracat
Yungoos
Zubat

Guzma
Lusamine

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