Awakening
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Kanto North
Chapter 12: Awakening
***
After breakfast the next morning, Abby and Theo were down in the training room, accompanied by Cassie, who was standing guard by the door as usual. The nidoking took position a couple of yards from the Abby, dressed in only a pair of black shorts and a white t-shirt with most of the back removed, the zangoose dressed in similar sparring clothes. Her fully healed claws slowly slid out, the tips glinting.
"It's time to wake up your hidden potential." The nidoking raised a single paw up, four small glowing white orbs appearing and cycling about it. "This is mine, see if you can dodge it!" With that, the psychic energy sunk into his claw, which he thrust forward while beginning a charge toward his friend.
Watching a lance of energy shoot from the nido's claws as he neared her, the zangoose executed a quick attack, the ray shooting through where she was just an eye blink ago. A white and red blur shifted to the side before zig-zagging toward Theo. The nidoking spun on a heel and swung his tail out, only for the blur dart under the much slower appendage, then up as she unfaded to reveal a pair of claws pressing up and under the nido's throat. "Got you," she said with a small smirk, "You're slow."
He hesitantly gulped as the claws scraped at his vulnerable throat. "Very good," he blinked a bit, "I see you really have been trained well...know how to utilize those attacks of yours." He took a few steps back, "But please don't use your claws during a training exercise. I should have said that beam was toned down. It would have only tickled a bit at most."
Her claws retracted as he said that. "Hm...different school of thought on training," she remarked. "Where I trained, we didn't have much restraint. Live or die, you know?"
Theo's eyes went wide for a moment. "Life or death training? The Team outlawed that decades ago."
"You're an Inquisitor, don't pretend to be that naive," she shot back, that little smile fading as she raised her now unclawed paw tips. "Now, are we going to fight?"
The nidoking seemed a bit thrown by the sudden change in her disposition for a momen t before: could this be her real nature? "Yes." With that answer, she zangoose attempted another quick attack, winking in right behind the nidoking while delivering a kick to the back of his exposed right knee, but the nido shifted fast enough for it to glance off his plates, still giving a low grow of pain as he swung the back of a paw at her face.
The zangoose was able to casually duck it, gracefully performing a backwards handspring over his serpentine tail in in the same motion, landing neatly just as the nidoking finished turning around. He looked to favor his left leg a bit more as ge crouched back in a defensive stance, arms raised as he watched her somehow just leap from standing almost to the ceiling of the tall room.
Areal ace. Flipping in the air, she kicked off the ceiling with both feet, corkscrewing toward her target with claws, thankfully, retracted. The nidoking attempted to leap to the side right before she hit, only for the course to correct itself, the zangoose barreling right into him, causing the pair to tumble across the floor. As they came to a rest, the winded nidoking found himself beneath her, the zangoose letting the tips of her claws slide out again to press up to the side of the nido's neck again. "You are really slow, Theo. Submit." She dug them in a little bit, though it didn't pierce the hide.
He folded his ears down, though Abby could see them going a little bit red around the edges as they did so. "I was expecting more of an Inquistorial Offic--Hm?" she let her claws off, still straddling the nido as she sat up on her knees. Looking down a little, she noticed the bulge in Theo's shorts, her seriousness fading with a giggle. "Oh my...looks like I woke up your hidden potential."
The kadabra at the door shook her head. "Shall I leave you two be?"
Theo turned his head to her, his blush becoming one of embarrassment. "Uhm...uh...no, no."
"You mean you want me to watch?"
"Yea--wait...no...no! Uhm..." he looked up to Abby. "I'm thinking we should take a quick break now. Uhm...yeah."
The zangoose climbed off of him and got up to her feet, just smiling down at him as the nidoking awkwardly sat up. "This is going to be a long day for you, isn't it?"
***
Alexei was sitting at his desk, feet up with a Rubik's cube in his paws, halfheartedly trying to solve it as Zilog made a few idle clicks and beeps. What was there to do now? He'd already subverted most of the major systems on base, able to control them from his keyboard. Why were the systems all so easy to mess with, it seemed intentional to the absol. Also everything was running just fine and to top it off his boss was finally dead. Maybe give Fractal another chance? Nah, he'd stick by his policy of only dating less tainted souls than his own. That zangoose with Theo seemed interesting-- strong personality. Probably not as messed up. Almost got a row.
He heard a knock at the door down the hall, his office door left open. "Come in," he said, not turning from his puzzle.
Fractal stepped in, carrying a letter in one paw, the ampharos tugging at his shirt collar as he found the room's temperature a fair bit higher. "Why don't you have proper cooling for this place yet?"
Think of the devil. "No funds," the absol answered, setting the cube down while turning in his chair as Fractal entered his cramped office and offered him the letter. "What's this?" he asked while unfolding it.
"You're being transferred out," Fractal said in a disappointed tone, "The person monitoring your parole has died, so you will be placed under another."
"Who?" He began to read the letter. "Oh, it's Rhombus. She's decent enough. I was under her before getting grabbed by Datan to work here." All of his words seemed a bit distant.
Which Fractal picked up on. "You don't seem too upset about having to leave this base."
Alexei just slowly shook his head, sliding the paper onto his desk to take the cube again. "Don't have any attachment to this place. I had to be here. Soon it will all just be more bad memories. It's no fur off my ruff to leave."
"What's with you?" the ampharos craned his head close to Alexei's. "As second in command, it's my job to be concerned about the well being of my subordinates."
"I killed a man yesterday," the absol said plainly. "It was just murder; he was helpless. And I was gloating. I enjoyed it."
Fractal eased back. "For the record, you didn't."
"Nice, I got another row," his eyes shifted up to meet Fractal's, a hint of a grin at the edge of his muzzle. "I've never taken anyone's life before. I wonder how his family is going to feel-- they're good from what I heard Datan say. I've probably hurt them badly."
"No," Fractal shook his head slowly, "Datan's the one who hurt them with how he decided to conduct his life."
"Yeah. Doesn't really matter; I'll never see them." He continued to carefully rotate the rows of the cube, occasionally pausing to tap a claw tip on a few of the colored tiles before starting to work again. "You won't be telling anyone the truth, will you, Zilog?"
"No sir."
As he solved a face, the smirk crossed his muzzle to form a full smile. "Is there anything else, Fractal?"
"Not really." The ampharos made his way out as Alexei began to try and solve for the next face. "Just informing you. Bye." Fractal made his way out.
***
Sophia was in a circle with around a score of other nidos, many of them kings and queens, but a couple of middle evolutions and children around as well. Every one was dressed in respectful black suits or dresses. It was an oddly sunny noon for late winter, hardly a cloud visible. A large wooden funeral pyre with a polished casket on top was in the center of a large grassy field, the Grayquill mansion a way off in the distance. Leading the ceremony was Matriarch Grayquill with Gideon, oddly enough, standing at her right side.
The nidoqueen gave the crowd a look of strength, though her scales seemed to look a bit bluer than normal, as if she wasn't able to perform the ritual dying. "And so today we bid farewell to one of our proud family...to one of the original pillars of the new order in our regions and to my strong and loving mate. Thaddeus was born of meager means, but quickly rose through the ranks, demonstrating qualities that made him worthy of being taken as my mate. He will be greatly missed, though his sound wisdom and directness live on in our heiress. Sophia, would you please take your place up here?"
"Yes mother," the younger nidoqueen said with a nod, pacing over to stand on the side opposite of Gideon, she could see the nidoking looked slightly uneasy, eyes glancing back and forth at the surrounding crowd.
"My future successor has a wonderful announcement amid this sadness."
"Like most children of Executives, my time with my parents, or any of you, has been fragmented and brief. But that is the nature of our Team's operations and nothing can to be done to change it. While my experiences have been brief, I can confirm he was a rational and careful leader, who tried to pick the cleanest path in his work when possible. This sad loss has made me fully realize the reality that I am the future leader of the Team; with that, I am willing to announce that I will be taking a second and, importantly, male mate this fast approaching spring." Her words were met with a few somber nods of approval.
Gideon's eyes shifted to her as she said that. Pity, she would probably be under heavy guard on her way back to her base, considering Thaddeus vanished while trying to do his annual visit of the Grayquill estate. "May I speak, Lady Grayquill?" he asked the older nidoqueen.
"Certainly, Gideon," she answered.
"Thank you," he said with a small nod before facing the crowd again. "I, Gideon, Patriarch of House Bloodquill, am representing my family in giving our condolences for this brutal murder. While there is friction between our houses, underhanded and cowardly assassination is below us both. I can assure you his temporary replacement as Head Justice is doing all in her power to find the party or parties that committed this deed. Once again, my house feels sympathy for this senseless loss." He was met with a few cynical stares and grudging nods of approval.
"Thank you, Gideon," said Grayquill. "Now, I offer all of you your opportunity to pay your respects before we give Thaddeus our last farewell."
And they did, almost every member of House Grayquill giving a short speech or a few lighthearted parting shots. With that, the three before the pyre stepped back a couple of yards, Grayquill letting a flamethrower attack spark to life from two raised claw tips and wash over the wooden structure. "Goodbye," she said softly as it took light.
***
In another hour, Theo and Abby were back in the training room, the pair having recently showered were and dressed in similar, but new training clothes. The nidoking took his spot several yards from the zangoose again, back spines flicking up as his tail lashed behind him. "Okay. We should be able to complete the training with no more...distractions on my part. To awaken your hidden power, you'll need to remember all of your past training. In it, you will find your power. It will just click into place."
"Heh...distractions," she gave him a little smile. "Anyway, that's really it?"
The nidoking nodded. "Thinking too much while you fight may be a bit hard. If you're not careful, I may actually land a blow for once."
"You won't," her eyes moved to Cassie, who was still just reading a small book. "How about we have a rematch? Right here and now."
The kadabra slowly looked up. "No. While I'd like to trust you, Theo could attempt something while I'm distracted. I'm not one for needless fighting, anyway."
"Fine." She looked back to Theo. "Ready?"
There I was, taking part in the Rocket's mandatory combat testing. I was around 12 at the time. They were looking for the best youths to recruit.
He nodded, whipping his tail back and forth a bit before edging up to her, arms up as the tail covered his back this time. Abby let her claws retract fully, trying to remind herself it was still just training.
Sitting in the back was a large nidoking in what I now know to be an Executive's coat with a somewhat nervous-looking farfetch'd, maybe in his mid-20's, to his side.
The zangoose vanished in a blur, executing a quick attack to get behind the nidoking to try and strike below his shoulder plate, but she was forced to leap the tail, just managing to plant her paws on his shoulders and flip forward off of them in a still skillful acrobatic maneuver.
The nidoking whispered something to the duck as I passed by their table. The farfetch'd seemed to be eying me up. When my turn came, I took my place in the battle ring. I never expected what they were going to be testing me against.
As she just landed the thin, but still larger, nidoking was upon her. Narrowly tilting her head to dodge a kick to the face, she stumbled from his tail sweeping out in the same motion.
A seviper. Poor bastard. Just...the poor bastard. I didn't mean to go that far. I didn't mean to. It was intentional, the duck wanted me on first sight-- that's why I was paired to fight with the poor bastard; I couldn't help but give it my all and looked amazing for it. Didn't know that at first, though.
As she staggered, the nidoking attempted to seize the cat ferret, who just managed to throw herself to the side, the nidoking's spines folding as he had to roll from the failed pounce. The zangoose was the first up, leaping to her feet.
That night I was taken to his hotel room. He said I would be one to accomplish great things-- help the rightful leader take his place. Didn't know what he meant then, and had little idea what he was doing with me after that...told me to drink with him.
Theo could hear Abby start to hiss a little, bolting toward the nido in a quick attack. Bracing himself and raising his arms again, the nido's eyes went wide as he narrowly sidestepped a burst of razor wind she performed in the same motion, the waves of dense air carving channels in the mats just where he was last standing.
This continued throughout all of my training. Had a nagging feeling something was wrong with all of this as a kid...but he knew better. He always knew better than I did.
The zangoose's claws were drawn by this point, the nidoking narrowly parrying a pair of swipes with his tail as he gave ground, stepping back as his assistant seemed to be entering a frenzy, continuing to swipe, dodging every returned blow with ease as he narrowly avoided hers.
One day, I was transferred to his real work place. A place where he claimed they fixed redeemable traitors. Took me to a bare concrete room, there was a pidgy girl and a male cubone with a missing mask...both starved and beaten.
One of her right claws hit, a small line of blood appearing from a shallow cut in the thinner hide on his upper right arm, the nido giving a small growl as he ducked another swipe. She was fighting for real now.
He said they were not worth trying to redeem. I was to do what I did to the seviper. And I did. So messy and loud-- pleading to be spared. But I didn't. He was right. He was always right. I was 13 at the time.
The nidoking managed to slam an elbow into her gut as he stood from the dodge, the zangoose staggering back a step, but she managed to recover quickly and continued her offensive.
He said I would get used to it. I did. In a few years, I was removing those he told me were threats to our Team. It was this year he also took me during a heat. I was 15.
Theo was finding more and more difficult to parry or dodge her claws, a few more scratches being carved into his shoulder and chest plates. Cassie put her book aside, and folded up her glasses.
Two or three months passed. The duck was furious when he realized it-- denying what he did was his. I passed out from the, thankfully, blunt blows of his leek. The child became miscarried from the beating and life continued as normal for me. Maybe he wasn't as right as I thought before.
Cassie's eyes began to glow a very subtle blue as she watched the nidoking begin to falter in his defense, hardly able to strike back and the zangoose just...ignoring every hit that landed. The kadabra really didn't want to have to break it up.
One mission. I was 16. With a xatu, Datan and I set up position in a building overlooking a crowd in Celadon. I looked down upon the protest leader through my scope. One shot, one kill. That's what was needed of me. I did not notice the Mr. Mime standing near the furret. The bullet flattened out like a coin against the shield; all of their attention was drawn to where we were hiding. When I looked up, Datan and the xatu solider had teleported away. Ditched the rifle and ran. Was caught by some of the crowd, taken to their hideout. Resistance forces. Surprisingly forgiving-- they thought I was just a messed up kid more than anything else. Dead right. Eventually, the Enforcers busted the door down, killed my new friends and I was rescued and back in the Team. That separation confirmed he was always wrong, though. Never right.
The zangoose began to radiate a slight red aura, her swipes and swings becoming faster, making deeper scratches the the tiring nido's plates, ripping up the front of his shirt. The kadabra took an opposing blue glow as she stepped into the fray. Abby would kill Theo for sure if she kept this up, visibly frothing at the muzzle as her crimson aura became more dense.
More years of service. A higher body count. What did Datan need with me, anyway? This wasn't his official job. Then I found out who I had been training to take out. An Executive named Edward. This was all for his own boss, too. But I never forgot he was still wrong. I was 17.
The kadabra teleported between Theo and Abby, the nido stumbling back in surprise behind Cassie as the lethal claws clacked and sparked off of the brilliant blue hexagonal shield that was her protect ability. Waving a hand, it expanded to encompass the nido behind her, the psychic pokemon giving a few mentally charged punches and kicks at the berserk zangoose as she continued to just...attack the shield, the aura seeming to make the kadabra's retaliatory strikes turn away from her body.
Said he was bored with me one day-- saying he received some highborn boys to play with. So I was given simple training as a Data Officer and shoved into a desk job in Goldenrod. I was happy for the distance again, though aware he'd still want me to carry out my objective someday. I was 18.
Hidden power: fighting. With a snarl, the aura condensed into four orbs, two entering each of her paws. Each claw took a sickly, mottled red glow as they continued to hammer at the shield, which started to flicker a little bit. Cassie gave a growl, the fur of her mustache going tense as she strengthened the shield and launched a kinetic shot of psychic at her enraged opponent.
Then I was told to look up some stuff for Datan, ordering me to get close to the Inquisitor it would attract and that this would get me sent to his new workplace. Once there, I was to do my actual job of ending Edward, then myself.
The attack blew the zangoose back, but she neatly caught herself with a backwards handspring before she struck ground. Abby took a couple of ragged breaths, noticing the kadabra was just standing her ground-- not going on the offensive. She seemed to be a purely defensive fighter: a polar opposite to her.
But he's gone now after claiming 13 years of my life. Thank you, Theodore. Were you one of his victims? You must have been. Thank you. You did something I should have done. What am I doing? Oh no...I've hurt you.
With that thought, she gave a heavy sigh and discharged the stored energy in her claws, which returned to a glossy black. "I'm...I'm sorry," she whispered, limping over slowly as the pain of her injuries from Theo set in. She watched Cassie cautiously drop the barrier and step back, Theo still sitting on the ground, a paw pressed to the gash on his arm with several tares in his shirt, but thankfully the fabric wasn't bloodied.
Yes, she would make the perfect host for the Lord of Kanto. With an awoken power, she'd be all the easier to bind to. "It's okay, Abby. You're an even better fighter than I thought."
***
By early evening, Gideon was just arriving back at his own base from the Grayquill estate, which was just a bit outside of Viridian City. A large black sedan, covered in blocky armored plates rolled up to a security gate in a concrete wall around the perimeter of Indigo Plateau. The driver side window rolled down as a purple-hided paw flashed its owner's badge to a male venomoth sentry. "Welcome back, sir," said the poison moth as the barrier raised up and the car continued on its way.
In a few more minutes, the nidoking parked in one of the underground garages in the base, dozens of matching cars surrounding it. His large frame climbed out, Grayquill following from the passenger side. "You're not really going to be missing Thaddeus, are you, Lilith?" asked Gideon as they walked down to a door at the far end of the dimly lit parking garage.
"No, Lord Bloodquill," she said, the strength in her voice absent again. "Just keeping up appearances...as you want me to."
"Very good. Don't worry for the rest of your kin, I have places for them in my Team."
"Thank you, my lord. Your altruism knows no bounds."
If he could manage it, the next Grayquill heir would be a Bloodquill. But how to get to Sophia before spring. And Datan was still not reporting in; he'd have to find out why.
Kanto North
Chapter 12: Awakening
***
After breakfast the next morning, Abby and Theo were down in the training room, accompanied by Cassie, who was standing guard by the door as usual. The nidoking took position a couple of yards from the Abby, dressed in only a pair of black shorts and a white t-shirt with most of the back removed, the zangoose dressed in similar sparring clothes. Her fully healed claws slowly slid out, the tips glinting.
"It's time to wake up your hidden potential." The nidoking raised a single paw up, four small glowing white orbs appearing and cycling about it. "This is mine, see if you can dodge it!" With that, the psychic energy sunk into his claw, which he thrust forward while beginning a charge toward his friend.
Watching a lance of energy shoot from the nido's claws as he neared her, the zangoose executed a quick attack, the ray shooting through where she was just an eye blink ago. A white and red blur shifted to the side before zig-zagging toward Theo. The nidoking spun on a heel and swung his tail out, only for the blur dart under the much slower appendage, then up as she unfaded to reveal a pair of claws pressing up and under the nido's throat. "Got you," she said with a small smirk, "You're slow."
He hesitantly gulped as the claws scraped at his vulnerable throat. "Very good," he blinked a bit, "I see you really have been trained well...know how to utilize those attacks of yours." He took a few steps back, "But please don't use your claws during a training exercise. I should have said that beam was toned down. It would have only tickled a bit at most."
Her claws retracted as he said that. "Hm...different school of thought on training," she remarked. "Where I trained, we didn't have much restraint. Live or die, you know?"
Theo's eyes went wide for a moment. "Life or death training? The Team outlawed that decades ago."
"You're an Inquisitor, don't pretend to be that naive," she shot back, that little smile fading as she raised her now unclawed paw tips. "Now, are we going to fight?"
The nidoking seemed a bit thrown by the sudden change in her disposition for a momen t before: could this be her real nature? "Yes." With that answer, she zangoose attempted another quick attack, winking in right behind the nidoking while delivering a kick to the back of his exposed right knee, but the nido shifted fast enough for it to glance off his plates, still giving a low grow of pain as he swung the back of a paw at her face.
The zangoose was able to casually duck it, gracefully performing a backwards handspring over his serpentine tail in in the same motion, landing neatly just as the nidoking finished turning around. He looked to favor his left leg a bit more as ge crouched back in a defensive stance, arms raised as he watched her somehow just leap from standing almost to the ceiling of the tall room.
Areal ace. Flipping in the air, she kicked off the ceiling with both feet, corkscrewing toward her target with claws, thankfully, retracted. The nidoking attempted to leap to the side right before she hit, only for the course to correct itself, the zangoose barreling right into him, causing the pair to tumble across the floor. As they came to a rest, the winded nidoking found himself beneath her, the zangoose letting the tips of her claws slide out again to press up to the side of the nido's neck again. "You are really slow, Theo. Submit." She dug them in a little bit, though it didn't pierce the hide.
He folded his ears down, though Abby could see them going a little bit red around the edges as they did so. "I was expecting more of an Inquistorial Offic--Hm?" she let her claws off, still straddling the nido as she sat up on her knees. Looking down a little, she noticed the bulge in Theo's shorts, her seriousness fading with a giggle. "Oh my...looks like I woke up your hidden potential."
The kadabra at the door shook her head. "Shall I leave you two be?"
Theo turned his head to her, his blush becoming one of embarrassment. "Uhm...uh...no, no."
"You mean you want me to watch?"
"Yea--wait...no...no! Uhm..." he looked up to Abby. "I'm thinking we should take a quick break now. Uhm...yeah."
The zangoose climbed off of him and got up to her feet, just smiling down at him as the nidoking awkwardly sat up. "This is going to be a long day for you, isn't it?"
***
Alexei was sitting at his desk, feet up with a Rubik's cube in his paws, halfheartedly trying to solve it as Zilog made a few idle clicks and beeps. What was there to do now? He'd already subverted most of the major systems on base, able to control them from his keyboard. Why were the systems all so easy to mess with, it seemed intentional to the absol. Also everything was running just fine and to top it off his boss was finally dead. Maybe give Fractal another chance? Nah, he'd stick by his policy of only dating less tainted souls than his own. That zangoose with Theo seemed interesting-- strong personality. Probably not as messed up. Almost got a row.
He heard a knock at the door down the hall, his office door left open. "Come in," he said, not turning from his puzzle.
Fractal stepped in, carrying a letter in one paw, the ampharos tugging at his shirt collar as he found the room's temperature a fair bit higher. "Why don't you have proper cooling for this place yet?"
Think of the devil. "No funds," the absol answered, setting the cube down while turning in his chair as Fractal entered his cramped office and offered him the letter. "What's this?" he asked while unfolding it.
"You're being transferred out," Fractal said in a disappointed tone, "The person monitoring your parole has died, so you will be placed under another."
"Who?" He began to read the letter. "Oh, it's Rhombus. She's decent enough. I was under her before getting grabbed by Datan to work here." All of his words seemed a bit distant.
Which Fractal picked up on. "You don't seem too upset about having to leave this base."
Alexei just slowly shook his head, sliding the paper onto his desk to take the cube again. "Don't have any attachment to this place. I had to be here. Soon it will all just be more bad memories. It's no fur off my ruff to leave."
"What's with you?" the ampharos craned his head close to Alexei's. "As second in command, it's my job to be concerned about the well being of my subordinates."
"I killed a man yesterday," the absol said plainly. "It was just murder; he was helpless. And I was gloating. I enjoyed it."
Fractal eased back. "For the record, you didn't."
"Nice, I got another row," his eyes shifted up to meet Fractal's, a hint of a grin at the edge of his muzzle. "I've never taken anyone's life before. I wonder how his family is going to feel-- they're good from what I heard Datan say. I've probably hurt them badly."
"No," Fractal shook his head slowly, "Datan's the one who hurt them with how he decided to conduct his life."
"Yeah. Doesn't really matter; I'll never see them." He continued to carefully rotate the rows of the cube, occasionally pausing to tap a claw tip on a few of the colored tiles before starting to work again. "You won't be telling anyone the truth, will you, Zilog?"
"No sir."
As he solved a face, the smirk crossed his muzzle to form a full smile. "Is there anything else, Fractal?"
"Not really." The ampharos made his way out as Alexei began to try and solve for the next face. "Just informing you. Bye." Fractal made his way out.
***
Sophia was in a circle with around a score of other nidos, many of them kings and queens, but a couple of middle evolutions and children around as well. Every one was dressed in respectful black suits or dresses. It was an oddly sunny noon for late winter, hardly a cloud visible. A large wooden funeral pyre with a polished casket on top was in the center of a large grassy field, the Grayquill mansion a way off in the distance. Leading the ceremony was Matriarch Grayquill with Gideon, oddly enough, standing at her right side.
The nidoqueen gave the crowd a look of strength, though her scales seemed to look a bit bluer than normal, as if she wasn't able to perform the ritual dying. "And so today we bid farewell to one of our proud family...to one of the original pillars of the new order in our regions and to my strong and loving mate. Thaddeus was born of meager means, but quickly rose through the ranks, demonstrating qualities that made him worthy of being taken as my mate. He will be greatly missed, though his sound wisdom and directness live on in our heiress. Sophia, would you please take your place up here?"
"Yes mother," the younger nidoqueen said with a nod, pacing over to stand on the side opposite of Gideon, she could see the nidoking looked slightly uneasy, eyes glancing back and forth at the surrounding crowd.
"My future successor has a wonderful announcement amid this sadness."
"Like most children of Executives, my time with my parents, or any of you, has been fragmented and brief. But that is the nature of our Team's operations and nothing can to be done to change it. While my experiences have been brief, I can confirm he was a rational and careful leader, who tried to pick the cleanest path in his work when possible. This sad loss has made me fully realize the reality that I am the future leader of the Team; with that, I am willing to announce that I will be taking a second and, importantly, male mate this fast approaching spring." Her words were met with a few somber nods of approval.
Gideon's eyes shifted to her as she said that. Pity, she would probably be under heavy guard on her way back to her base, considering Thaddeus vanished while trying to do his annual visit of the Grayquill estate. "May I speak, Lady Grayquill?" he asked the older nidoqueen.
"Certainly, Gideon," she answered.
"Thank you," he said with a small nod before facing the crowd again. "I, Gideon, Patriarch of House Bloodquill, am representing my family in giving our condolences for this brutal murder. While there is friction between our houses, underhanded and cowardly assassination is below us both. I can assure you his temporary replacement as Head Justice is doing all in her power to find the party or parties that committed this deed. Once again, my house feels sympathy for this senseless loss." He was met with a few cynical stares and grudging nods of approval.
"Thank you, Gideon," said Grayquill. "Now, I offer all of you your opportunity to pay your respects before we give Thaddeus our last farewell."
And they did, almost every member of House Grayquill giving a short speech or a few lighthearted parting shots. With that, the three before the pyre stepped back a couple of yards, Grayquill letting a flamethrower attack spark to life from two raised claw tips and wash over the wooden structure. "Goodbye," she said softly as it took light.
***
In another hour, Theo and Abby were back in the training room, the pair having recently showered were and dressed in similar, but new training clothes. The nidoking took his spot several yards from the zangoose again, back spines flicking up as his tail lashed behind him. "Okay. We should be able to complete the training with no more...distractions on my part. To awaken your hidden power, you'll need to remember all of your past training. In it, you will find your power. It will just click into place."
"Heh...distractions," she gave him a little smile. "Anyway, that's really it?"
The nidoking nodded. "Thinking too much while you fight may be a bit hard. If you're not careful, I may actually land a blow for once."
"You won't," her eyes moved to Cassie, who was still just reading a small book. "How about we have a rematch? Right here and now."
The kadabra slowly looked up. "No. While I'd like to trust you, Theo could attempt something while I'm distracted. I'm not one for needless fighting, anyway."
"Fine." She looked back to Theo. "Ready?"
There I was, taking part in the Rocket's mandatory combat testing. I was around 12 at the time. They were looking for the best youths to recruit.
He nodded, whipping his tail back and forth a bit before edging up to her, arms up as the tail covered his back this time. Abby let her claws retract fully, trying to remind herself it was still just training.
Sitting in the back was a large nidoking in what I now know to be an Executive's coat with a somewhat nervous-looking farfetch'd, maybe in his mid-20's, to his side.
The zangoose vanished in a blur, executing a quick attack to get behind the nidoking to try and strike below his shoulder plate, but she was forced to leap the tail, just managing to plant her paws on his shoulders and flip forward off of them in a still skillful acrobatic maneuver.
The nidoking whispered something to the duck as I passed by their table. The farfetch'd seemed to be eying me up. When my turn came, I took my place in the battle ring. I never expected what they were going to be testing me against.
As she just landed the thin, but still larger, nidoking was upon her. Narrowly tilting her head to dodge a kick to the face, she stumbled from his tail sweeping out in the same motion.
A seviper. Poor bastard. Just...the poor bastard. I didn't mean to go that far. I didn't mean to. It was intentional, the duck wanted me on first sight-- that's why I was paired to fight with the poor bastard; I couldn't help but give it my all and looked amazing for it. Didn't know that at first, though.
As she staggered, the nidoking attempted to seize the cat ferret, who just managed to throw herself to the side, the nidoking's spines folding as he had to roll from the failed pounce. The zangoose was the first up, leaping to her feet.
That night I was taken to his hotel room. He said I would be one to accomplish great things-- help the rightful leader take his place. Didn't know what he meant then, and had little idea what he was doing with me after that...told me to drink with him.
Theo could hear Abby start to hiss a little, bolting toward the nido in a quick attack. Bracing himself and raising his arms again, the nido's eyes went wide as he narrowly sidestepped a burst of razor wind she performed in the same motion, the waves of dense air carving channels in the mats just where he was last standing.
This continued throughout all of my training. Had a nagging feeling something was wrong with all of this as a kid...but he knew better. He always knew better than I did.
The zangoose's claws were drawn by this point, the nidoking narrowly parrying a pair of swipes with his tail as he gave ground, stepping back as his assistant seemed to be entering a frenzy, continuing to swipe, dodging every returned blow with ease as he narrowly avoided hers.
One day, I was transferred to his real work place. A place where he claimed they fixed redeemable traitors. Took me to a bare concrete room, there was a pidgy girl and a male cubone with a missing mask...both starved and beaten.
One of her right claws hit, a small line of blood appearing from a shallow cut in the thinner hide on his upper right arm, the nido giving a small growl as he ducked another swipe. She was fighting for real now.
He said they were not worth trying to redeem. I was to do what I did to the seviper. And I did. So messy and loud-- pleading to be spared. But I didn't. He was right. He was always right. I was 13 at the time.
The nidoking managed to slam an elbow into her gut as he stood from the dodge, the zangoose staggering back a step, but she managed to recover quickly and continued her offensive.
He said I would get used to it. I did. In a few years, I was removing those he told me were threats to our Team. It was this year he also took me during a heat. I was 15.
Theo was finding more and more difficult to parry or dodge her claws, a few more scratches being carved into his shoulder and chest plates. Cassie put her book aside, and folded up her glasses.
Two or three months passed. The duck was furious when he realized it-- denying what he did was his. I passed out from the, thankfully, blunt blows of his leek. The child became miscarried from the beating and life continued as normal for me. Maybe he wasn't as right as I thought before.
Cassie's eyes began to glow a very subtle blue as she watched the nidoking begin to falter in his defense, hardly able to strike back and the zangoose just...ignoring every hit that landed. The kadabra really didn't want to have to break it up.
One mission. I was 16. With a xatu, Datan and I set up position in a building overlooking a crowd in Celadon. I looked down upon the protest leader through my scope. One shot, one kill. That's what was needed of me. I did not notice the Mr. Mime standing near the furret. The bullet flattened out like a coin against the shield; all of their attention was drawn to where we were hiding. When I looked up, Datan and the xatu solider had teleported away. Ditched the rifle and ran. Was caught by some of the crowd, taken to their hideout. Resistance forces. Surprisingly forgiving-- they thought I was just a messed up kid more than anything else. Dead right. Eventually, the Enforcers busted the door down, killed my new friends and I was rescued and back in the Team. That separation confirmed he was always wrong, though. Never right.
The zangoose began to radiate a slight red aura, her swipes and swings becoming faster, making deeper scratches the the tiring nido's plates, ripping up the front of his shirt. The kadabra took an opposing blue glow as she stepped into the fray. Abby would kill Theo for sure if she kept this up, visibly frothing at the muzzle as her crimson aura became more dense.
More years of service. A higher body count. What did Datan need with me, anyway? This wasn't his official job. Then I found out who I had been training to take out. An Executive named Edward. This was all for his own boss, too. But I never forgot he was still wrong. I was 17.
The kadabra teleported between Theo and Abby, the nido stumbling back in surprise behind Cassie as the lethal claws clacked and sparked off of the brilliant blue hexagonal shield that was her protect ability. Waving a hand, it expanded to encompass the nido behind her, the psychic pokemon giving a few mentally charged punches and kicks at the berserk zangoose as she continued to just...attack the shield, the aura seeming to make the kadabra's retaliatory strikes turn away from her body.
Said he was bored with me one day-- saying he received some highborn boys to play with. So I was given simple training as a Data Officer and shoved into a desk job in Goldenrod. I was happy for the distance again, though aware he'd still want me to carry out my objective someday. I was 18.
Hidden power: fighting. With a snarl, the aura condensed into four orbs, two entering each of her paws. Each claw took a sickly, mottled red glow as they continued to hammer at the shield, which started to flicker a little bit. Cassie gave a growl, the fur of her mustache going tense as she strengthened the shield and launched a kinetic shot of psychic at her enraged opponent.
Then I was told to look up some stuff for Datan, ordering me to get close to the Inquisitor it would attract and that this would get me sent to his new workplace. Once there, I was to do my actual job of ending Edward, then myself.
The attack blew the zangoose back, but she neatly caught herself with a backwards handspring before she struck ground. Abby took a couple of ragged breaths, noticing the kadabra was just standing her ground-- not going on the offensive. She seemed to be a purely defensive fighter: a polar opposite to her.
But he's gone now after claiming 13 years of my life. Thank you, Theodore. Were you one of his victims? You must have been. Thank you. You did something I should have done. What am I doing? Oh no...I've hurt you.
With that thought, she gave a heavy sigh and discharged the stored energy in her claws, which returned to a glossy black. "I'm...I'm sorry," she whispered, limping over slowly as the pain of her injuries from Theo set in. She watched Cassie cautiously drop the barrier and step back, Theo still sitting on the ground, a paw pressed to the gash on his arm with several tares in his shirt, but thankfully the fabric wasn't bloodied.
Yes, she would make the perfect host for the Lord of Kanto. With an awoken power, she'd be all the easier to bind to. "It's okay, Abby. You're an even better fighter than I thought."
***
By early evening, Gideon was just arriving back at his own base from the Grayquill estate, which was just a bit outside of Viridian City. A large black sedan, covered in blocky armored plates rolled up to a security gate in a concrete wall around the perimeter of Indigo Plateau. The driver side window rolled down as a purple-hided paw flashed its owner's badge to a male venomoth sentry. "Welcome back, sir," said the poison moth as the barrier raised up and the car continued on its way.
In a few more minutes, the nidoking parked in one of the underground garages in the base, dozens of matching cars surrounding it. His large frame climbed out, Grayquill following from the passenger side. "You're not really going to be missing Thaddeus, are you, Lilith?" asked Gideon as they walked down to a door at the far end of the dimly lit parking garage.
"No, Lord Bloodquill," she said, the strength in her voice absent again. "Just keeping up appearances...as you want me to."
"Very good. Don't worry for the rest of your kin, I have places for them in my Team."
"Thank you, my lord. Your altruism knows no bounds."
If he could manage it, the next Grayquill heir would be a Bloodquill. But how to get to Sophia before spring. And Datan was still not reporting in; he'd have to find out why.