Vito scowled as he walked down the hill. Three hours had been spent on the “training” Emile had put him and Pikachu through, but Vito wouldn’t have called it training. If anything, what had happened was more of a beatdown.
Pikachu let out a high pitch groan from Vito’s shoulder, and the yellow mouse squirmed and nuzzled against his trainer’s cheek.
Vito smiled as he felt his cheek briefly go numb and patted his partner’s head. “It’s alright, the soreness should go away soon,” he said. “Then we’re gonna get payback!” Vito looked back, meeting the gazes of Emile, Belle and Frère.
Emile raised his hands as he walked. “It was just training! Besides, some potions did the trick, did they not?”
“No spores next time. I still can’t believe Pikachu was paralyzed!” Vito complained.
“That’s because Stun Spore works differently compared to a move like Thunder Wave.” Emile chuckled. “Breathing in the spores can make your entire body go numb; it’s how some carnivorous grass Pokemon eat their prey. They use Stun Spore to paralyze them, and then they go for the kill.”
“More you know,” Vito grumbled.
“Hey.” Emile patted Vito on the shoulder. “After a long rest, you’ll start seeing some of the benefits, and you did improve during the training.”
Vito grumbled again but said nothing, his eyes intensely focused on the looming figure of home.
Lantana was just up ahead, and Vito could see many of his hometown's buildings. They were all closely packed together, businesses and apartments alike, and some of these places were one and the same.
Unlike Bellissimo Mare however, the streets weren’t as narrow, allowing the people of Lantana to move around as freely as they liked. Right now, though, Vito couldn’t see too many people roaming the streets, likely because they were at work on the farms, which were just to the west of Lantana.
Vito had lived in this town his whole life. Lantana was a lovely community; the people had taken him in as their own when his father had passed and helped raise him. Thinking about that time was enough to make him smile, but when he thought about the good of Lantana he also thought about the bad.
“Hey, Emile?” Vito turned back to face his mentor again. “Listen, there’s probably something you should know about Lantana…”
Emile raised a brow. “That being?”
“There’s a group of people here called The Legione Armata,” Vito said. “They’re, uh… they got a bit of a history. Stay away from em, don’t bring up the Kanto region or the war.”
“A bit of a history?” Emile asked.
Belle narrowed her eyes at Vito. The psychic type had a decent idea as to where Vito’s explanation was going to lead up to.
The hairs on Vito’s body stood up when he saw Belle’s features shift, and he felt his heart skip a beat, but he cleared his throat and met Emile’s stare with his own. “Basically, they’re a bunch of war vets. They acted as protectors for Graecia after the war which was a whole mess on its own and now they’re accused of working alongside The Enotrian Mob.”
“I see. Them being trouble doesn’t surprise me, the sailors I met yesterday claimed to be friends with this Legione,” the trainer replied. “Anything else I should know?”
Oh, they’re all absolute scum and they should go to Hell. Vito swallowed the words as they came to mind before taking a deep breath. “No, that’s about it,” he declared.
“Alrighty then,” Emile said. “Now, lead the way to the Pokemon Center my wonderful tour guide!”
“I don’t think you can call me a good tour guide,” Vito snorted. “But luckily for you, I know where it’s at!”
“I thought you lived here,” Emile commented.
“I do, but most of my time was out in the fields or at home asleep,” Vito replied.
The group was now down the hill. They stepped off of the dirt road and walked down a simple asphalt road, pale in color with numerous large cracks, but this broken road was narrow and the buildings that Vito had seen earlier now towered above the group, their closeness rather suffocating.
Some of the streetlights weren’t turned on even as the sun was fixing to set, and those that were on were flickering. Looking at them made Vito sigh before he turned his head back.
“Hey, come join The Legione!” A voice suddenly called out when they were near the town center.
“Fuck me,” Vito groaned as he grit his teeth and clenched his fists, before letting out a heavy sigh.
“No thank you,” Emile replied, which earned him a glare from Vito.
“Hey, mister!” The voice called out again. “Come here!”
“Please don’t go over there,” Vito pleaded.
“No, now I’m curious.” Emile stepped forward, walking to the center with Frère by his side.
Vito turned to Belle. “Does this happen often?”
The Gardevoir merely sighed as she nodded her head, then waved her hand forward, clearly urging them to follow.
“Dammit,” the student complained as he started to walk forward, moving quickly to catch up to his teacher, but stopped meters away as he glanced through the doorway and saw a figure clad in black, quickly flattening himself against the wall of a building.
Thankfully, the individual’s eyes were set on Emile and hadn’t even seen Vito.
At the town’s center, Emile and Frère encountered a boy who appeared to be as old as Vito, if not a little older. He wore a black outfit, consisting of a cap and a neatly pressed coat over his shirt, with a pair of matching pants and shining shoes.
“Hey, kid,” Emile greeted the boy. “What is it you’re offering?”
The boy raised a brow and looked at Emile, his eyes widening as he saw the Pokeballs on his belt and the Glaceon by his side. “Well, I didn’t think you were a trainer, mister!”
“Haven’t been a trainer in a while.” Emile replied as he outstretched his hand. “My name is Emile Hawthorne.”
“Pleasure to meet you!” The boy took Emile’s hand and shook it. “I’m Caporale Enzo Mancini, a recruiter for The Legione Armata. Would you like to join, Mr. Hawthorne?”
“Sure, give me a form to sign and tell me about you guys,” Emile said. “I’ve heard all sorts of things about your group, but it’d be real nice to hear from someone who’s in it.”
“Sure!” Enzo replied. “C’mere first, mister, I got some papers right here…”
Vito groaned and shook his head as he watched Enzo pull a piece of paper from his coat pocket and hand it to Emile.
“So, you don’t look old enough to remember- no offense,” Enzo said. “But when the war ended, we still had some issues… economy was in tatters, we barely had any Rangers, that sort of thing. Most of all though, we had Team Rocket.”
“Team Rocket?” Emile raised a brow. “Here in Enotria?”
“Yeah, crazy right? They were formed in Kanto, but their crimes started here… bribing politicians, taking over shops, Pokemon trafficking. They made things worse here in Graecia, and Gallia didn’t bother supporting us,” Enzo explained.
“Why didn’t Gallia support us again?” Emile asked.
“Because we’re Graecia!” Enzo shouted as he dramatically waved his arm around. “Gallia’s in the north, ya know? They don’t care about us. To them, we are degenera!”
“Alright, I get that.” Emile nodded his head as he looked the paper over. “So, uh… someone formed The Legione and started fighting back?”
“Exactly! While that bastardo traditore Silvano Vinci was up in Capitoline, enjoying the good life, we in Graecia suffered. They endured no crime or hardships while we and Siena did. But it wasn’t just someone who started it, mister. It was Salvadore Guerra and many other veterans of the war.” Enzo explained. “They not only pushed back Team Rocket, but they helped form businesses and started supporting people here in Graecia.”
“I see, I see…” Emile nodded, his eyes focusing on the lower part of his paper.
Vito had been internally groaning throughout the entire exchange. He had heard these kinds of speeches and explanations dozens of times as he grew up in Lantana. “Join The Legion” and “Fight for Graecia” all of it was propaganda, and all of it was bullshit.
“By the way, pal… it says on the paper ‘Where In Enotria Were You Born?’” Emile said.
“Uhuh, what about it?” Enzo asked, tilting his head with a puzzled expression.
“I was born and raised in Kalos. My dad’s a Kalosian and my mom’s Paldean-”
Enzo snatched the form from Emile and glared at the older man. “This organization is for Enotrians, specifically from Graecians only. I’m sorry, mister, but I’m gonna have to ask you to go away.”
“Damn, really?” Emile frowned. “Well, if you say so…” he shrugged and walked away with a heavy sigh.
Vito let out a sigh of relief and turned to Belle again. “Is he always like this?”
Belle turned towards Vito again, and her eyes began to emit a dim glow.
A familiar and awful pain flooded Vito’s mind, as if someone was stabbing his brain with needles, and he groaned and clutched at his head.
“Y35,” a voice not his own whispered into his thoughts, the noise the equivalent of cool liquid flowing through his head.
Belle’s eyes widened and stopped glowing before she took a step back, covering her open mouth with her hands. She was still very used to communicating via telepathy, and it had come almost instinctively.
“You’re fine, Belle!” Vito breathed out. “I… I think I almost understood you that time. Were you saying yes?”
Belle nodded her head and uncovered her mouth, a wide smile appearing on her face as she kneeled down and gently helped Vito up.
“That’s awesome! I mean… my head still kinda hurts, but I get to talk with Pokemon.” He beamed. “Can we try again sometime? I wanna talk to you more!”
Belle stood still. She stared at Vito’s smile for a few moments before giving a small smile of her own. Then she nodded in response to his question, her smile widening only somewhat.
“Awesome! You’re the best!” Vito cried. He outstretched his arms and stepped forward, but suddenly stopped himself.
Belle tilted her head in confusion as Vito immediately stepped back and scratched his head.
“Sorry, I’m used to hugging Pokemon. I didn’t really think.” Vito chuckled.
Belle smiled and stepped towards Vito, about to outstretch her arms until…
“Hey, is that you, Vito?” The two heard someone call out from afar.
“Cazzo.” Vito cursed and turned his head to the right, looking right into the face of Enzo. “Hey, Enzo!” He waved.
“Vito! I heard the good news, congratulations!” Enzo stepped forward, arms stretched out before bringing the other boy into a hug. “You’re a trainer now!” He clapped Vito on the back.
“Yeah, thanks Enzo.” Vito sighed, returning the hug.
Enzo reeked. The older boy probably had to have sprayed himself all over with cheap cologne. The smell was so awful that Vito forced himself not to cough as the stench burned his nostrils and lungs.
“So!” Enzo pulled away and smiled. “Have you reconsidered my offer? You and Giuseppe both would be great people for The Legion. Especially Giuseppe.”
“Mr. Giuseppe has done enough fighting for one lifetime, Enzo.” Vito frowned. “And I already told you that I don’t want to join.”
Enzo put a hand on Vito’s free shoulder. “C’mon, Vito!” He urged. “Think about the people in Lantana, in all of Graecia, they could use younger folks like you and I, and that old man fought against the Kantonians. We need you. You can still do your fancy gym challenge and all of that.”
“I said I don’t want to.” Vito growled as he slapped Enzo’s hand away from him. “I’ve made my decision, so please respect it.”
The reaction alone caused Pikachu to growl at Enzo, and while the yellow mouse wasn’t charging his electricity, he was still ready for a fight.
However, before anything could be done, Belle stepped in between the two boys and looked down, her crimson eyes glaring daggers at Enzo.
The recruiter slowly stepped away and raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, man… I get it. You don’t wanna join up.” Enzo turned his head, only to meet the nearby glares of Emile and Frère. The pair had come back for them.
“It’s looking a little late,” Emile remarked. “You should go home, kid.”
Enzo didn’t hesitate to run away.
“Would you care to explain why you went up to him?” Belle asked Emile.
Emile watched as Enzo ran away and turned his head back to Gardevoir. “This organization is heavily entrenched in the region. I wanted to see exactly what they were about, since Vito wasn’t able to give me much.”
“And did you gain anything out of that encounter?” Belle asked.
“Unfortunately not.” Emile replied.
“What the fuck?” Vito stomped forward, his face was red and hands rolled up into fists. He grabbed Emile by his shirt, and shouted, “What did I say, Emile? Don’t go near them!”
Emile had spent only a day with Vito, and he had quickly realized that he was a hothead. However, he was still surprised to see him act like this; hell, he was surprised that Vito had gotten so upset.
“I needed to learn about them,” Emile coolly replied. “If this group was really friends with those sailors from the other day, then I wanted to get a good eye on them.”
Vito took a deep breath and sighed. “Those stronzos wouldn’t have actually gone to them. If they did, The Legione would have told them to piss off, and that’s the least they would do,” he explained as he let go of Emile. “You’re fine.”
It was time to get to the bottom of this, Emile thought. He wanted to know exactly what was up with this Legione Armata group before going further.
“If I may ask,” Emile said, briefly pausing to collect his thoughts. “Why exactly do you dislike these people so much?”
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Vito grumbled as he turned away. “C’mon, I need to take you to the center.”
“Wait a second.” Emile placed his hand on Vito’s shoulder. “Don’t you have family here?”
Vito paused for a second, then shook his head. “I do have someone here, though.”
No family, huh? Emile thought as he frowned. “Go see them, then. I can find the Pokemon Center myself, don’t worry.”
“Are you sure?” Vito asked, his voice quiet.
“Yeah, don’t worry!” The older trainer smiled as he pat Vito on the shoulder. “Go see your folks, twerp. I’ll be fine!”
Vito nodded and turned around, then started to walk away, but not before shooting one final glance in his mentor’s direction.
Emile had turned and was already leaving Vito behind, both Frère and Belle walking by his side.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Belle commented. “He was scared.”
“Of the other kid?” Emile asked.
“No. He was scared of what would happen to you,” Belle sternly replied. “What were you thinking?”
“That I don’t want a repeat of Sinnoh,” Emile shot back as he pulled up his PokeGear and looked through the map. It appeared that he was getting close to a Pokemon Center, and knowing that made him smile. “And knowing that he was scared of what would happen if I encountered that guy makes me all the more concerned.”
“He wouldn’t have done anything to you,” Belle said. “I wouldn’t have let that happen.”
“He still would have done something. You saw it, he had no problem trying to grab Vito.” Emile spat. “That’s what matters.”
The thought of it made Emile’s blood boil. His heart pounded beneath his chest, and he could feel himself start to sweat. He tightly clenched his fists, and his breathing started to quicken, grow heavier.
“Emile,” Belle whispered into her trainer’s mind, hoping to pull him out of his fury.
“I won’t let Vito get hurt, and I certainly won’t let you or the rest of the team be put in harm's way!” Emile hissed out loud. “Not while I’m around, not again!”
“Emile!” Belle shouted.
Emile fell silent but continued walking.
Belle turned her head towards Frère, who simply shrugged and frowned, before turning back towards Emile.
Her trainer was hurting. Belle knew that, she had known that for a while in fact. However, these feelings that bubbled within Emile were ones she hadn’t felt in years. Anxiety, stress, and paranoia were only the tip of the iceberg.
She started to catch up to her trainer and Frère, but Belle’s eyes were focused on the back of her trainer’s skull as she secretly began to look into his mind. It was a rather simple yet excruciating task, but it was like that for most humans.
Humanity was strange, Belle thought to herself. They all were born with aura like certain Pokemon, and yet very few of them were born with the capability to use it; only three of these individuals lived, and yet, despite most of humanity being unable to use aura, it still protected their bodies and minds.
She diverted her attention back to her trainer, and as she looked into his thoughts, she saw with her mind's eye a mix of red and blue, but these colors were all different shades with their own meanings.
Rage, fear, panic. Then there was anxiety, sadness, regret. The former was brought on more than likely due to this “Legione Armata”, the latter emotions were either because of how his interaction with Vito played out, or because he was thinking about the past.
They all approached the Pokemon Center. Unlike most of the Lantana, the building wasn’t damaged but stood tall and proud. It wasn’t as large as Bellissimo Mare’s, but judging by the saturation, it had been repainted not too long ago.
The three entered the building and were greeted by a small lobby. There were only two nurse stations, and only one had a nurse sitting behind it, messing with her phone. Looking to the side, there was a large flat-screen TV mounted onto a wall with a few couches placed near and in front of it.
Emile marched to the nurse station and grabbed the Pokeballs that contained Goyl, Venus and Roi. “Hi, do you happen to have a room available?” he asked with a smile.
The nurse almost jumped out of her seat, and her eyes went wide. “Oh, yes!” she stammered, moving towards her computer and began typing away. “Can I have your name?”
“Emile Hawthorne,” he introduced himself before reaching into his pocket and putting his Trainer ID on the desk for the nurse to take.
She picked it up and inspected it briefly before raising a brow. “Kalos, huh? You’re far from home!”
Emile shrugged. “Yeah, just doing a small favor for my father. I’m heading to Florentina to deliver something and then I’m headed home.”
The nurse nodded as she ran Emile’s card through a scanner, before handing it back to him along with a single key. “Here you go, sweetheart. Your room is up the stairs and the first door on the right!”
“Thank you,” Emile said as he took the key and his ID and started to walk away from the desk. His team followed him as he went up the stairs and into his room.
“You’re not putting me in my ball?” Belle asked.
“No, I figured you wouldn’t have liked it.” Emile replied as he reached behind and grabbed his father’s package, or rather, Eevee’s Pokeball and released the tiny creature.
The brown ball of fluff shook his head swiftly and let out a quiet, high-pitched chirp before he turned towards Emile.
“Hey, little guy!” He greeted as he got on his knees and grabbed his backpack. “We’re staying here tonight, whatcha think?”
Pokeballs were wonderful devices, but they came with some serious drawbacks. Emile had once heard from Belle that it was like being asleep, and the outside world was like a dream. You could hear anything and everything from beyond, but you were unable to interact with it all, though you also didn’t need to eat or drink while inside of one.
That being said, if you kept a Pokemon in its ball long enough, it could potentially damage its mental health and they could come out insane, though this only happened if a Pokemon was locked inside their ball long enough.
Thankfully, Eevee was experiencing none of these symptoms from what Emile could gather, though he was rather wary of his surroundings. His beady brown eyes looked left and right and a frown was visible on his face.
“It’s alright,” Emile said as he began to pet the tiny creature. “Its just us, Frère and Belle over there.” he pointed behind.
Eevee slowly stepped forward and then jumped into his caretaker’s arms, letting out what Emile thought was a sigh of relief.
“There, there…” Emile said as he traced his fingers over that soft, velvety fur. “I’m sorry you were locked in there for a while, but since we’re in a safe place I think it’s fine for you to be out here for the night.”
Emile stopped petting Eevee and reached into his backpack, pulling out a food bowl and a pack of PokeChow, which he immediately poured into the bowl as soon as he placed it down.
Eevee barked in joy as he jumped towards the bowl, a wide smile appearing on his face as he began eating away at the food.
“Are you two hungry as well?” Emile looked towards Frère and Belle. “I think I might have something for you.”
“Not really,” Belle said. “Frère is, however.”
Emile nodded, put another food bowl down, and began reaching around in his backpack. Frère may have once been an Eevee, but he somehow gained his trainer’s enormous sweet tooth. How he chose to evolve into a Glaceon instead of a Sylveon baffled Emile to this very day, he thought as he pulled out a bag of Pecha-flavored PokeChow that he poured into the second bowl.
Frère jumped down, approached the bowl without hesitation, and started eating alongside Eevee, his face widening with a smile as he tasted the sweet food, mixed with Pecha juices.
Emile smiled again and watched the two, before he finally stood up and turned towards the door and grabbed the handle.
“Where are you going?” Belle asked.
“Out for a drink,” Emile replied. “Keep an eye on these two, it’ll be a while before I’m back.”
Emile opened the door and stepped out without another word.
Lantana
Worker District
Vito frowned as he walked alone through Lantana’s narrow streets. The “conversation” he had with Emile wasn’t something he was quite happy with.
Pikachu quietly whimpered as he rested on his trainer’s shoulder and nuzzled against his cheek, hoping to get rid of his trainer’s frown.
“Sorry little guy…” Vito softly said as he petted his friend’s head. “I just don’t like thinking about them.”
The fucking Legione Armata. Repelling Team Rocket, protecting the people, what a crock of Tauros shit! The only reason that group of power-hungry asshats did anything was to line their own pockets and stick it to the league. Who the fuck did it better when they burned down my papa's shop? Who!?
Calm down, Vito. They have eyes everywhere. Just calm down.
Vito took a deep breath as he continued walking. His eyes were focused on an old apartment complex that was about three stories high. Some windows were busted out, and there was spray paint on portions of the exterior and its pale coloration was making the building beg for a new paint job.
It was a run-down apartment for sure, but for Vito? It was home.
He opened the door to the complex and stepped inside, quietly shutting the door. A flickering light bulb dimly lit the interior, and nobody was around. There was no sign of the property manager either, which wasn’t a surprise. That old fart was barely around to begin with unless he was forced to collect rent himself.
Vito began to walk through the building, quietly going up the wooden stairs that creaked no matter how lightly he stepped on the planks. He kept his hand on the railing as he walked, hoping that none of the stairs would break under his feet.
“Might be a long time before we come back here.” Vito whispered to Pikachu, who nodded.
Though, if they ever did return, Vito would find a way to repair this old broken down home. Nobody deserved to live in such a broken-down apartment. The fact that the manager never even bothered to fix it was disgusting. Hell, he was sure he had seen roaches before he had left to get his trainer’s license.
As he walked up the stairs, he was led into a narrow hallway with dozens of wooden doors with numbers on them, and as he walked further he saw that a door on his left was almost torn off its hinges.
Vito shook his head at the sight and continued forward. The place he was looking for was the last door on the right side, Apartment 12B. A sense of bliss and warmth filled his mind and he smiled as he looked at it before finally knocking on the door.
However… nobody came to the door, peculiar given that the lights were still on, so, Vito knocked on the door again.
This time, it opened up to reveal a tall smiling woman with olive skin like Vito’s. She had emerald eyes and long black hair, and wore a white sweater and blue pants along with a pair of black boots.
“Miranda?” Vito’s eyes widened. “Why are you here? Is everything alright?”
“Everything’s just fine, come on in,” Miranda replied as she gently took Vito’s hand and pulled him inside, shutting the door behind the two.
“SURPRISE!” Vito heard from what felt like dozens of people, however as he looked around in the old kitchen, he was greeted with not just Giuseppe but three other people.
“Vito, il mio ragazzo!” Giuseppe approached and pulled Vito into a tight bear hug.
Vito already felt like he was suffocating. Giuseppe might have complained that he was an old man, but that “old man” was once a well-trained soldier with the most vicious bear hug known to man.
“Ack! Stop!” Vito managed to breathe out as he slapped Giuseppe’s back.
The old man released Vito and put his hands on his shoulders. “Look at you, you’re a trainer who got to experience his first night of camping!”
Vito chuckled a little. He had called Giuseppe some time before he fell asleep last night and informed him of everything that had happened, and while it wasn’t a big deal, he recalled Giuseppe saying, “Oh, already you’re having your first adventure!”
“Catch anything nice?” A burly man who Vito recognized as Lantana’s General Store Owner, Mr. Carlo, asked.
Vito shook his head. “I don’t have any Pokeballs yet, but I’ll make sure to buy some from you!”
“Nonsense!” Carlo laughed as he grabbed out a small box and placed it down on the table.
Vito turned his head towards the table and saw not only the box, but a couple of large bowls. The first was full of cheese, rigatoni, and sausage that was covered with marinara and the second was full of well-cooked Octillerly legs mixed with Slowpoke tails.
The smell of the cooked meat mixed with marinara and tomato sauce was enough to make Vito and Pikachu both drool.
“Vito!” Carlo said, pulling Vito away from his fixation.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Vito apologized.
Miranda clapped him on the shoulder. “Ah, look at the poor boy! Went camping one night and he’s already dying for some actual food!”
The comment was enough to incite laughter amongst the group, but as soon as it ended, their attention was focused on the box.
“Are you sure about this, Carlo?” Vito asked.
“Aahh, don’t give me that young man! You’re a trainer, you deserve the gift!” Carlo declared. “Now, Adesso, fai presto!”
Vito grabbed the lid of the box with both hands and slowly lifted it. His eyes widened as he pushed the lid to the side and stared at the contents inside— twelve Pokeballs and five potions!
“Holy shit…” he said. “You’re fine with me having all of this?”
“Hey, now that’s not what you say!” Carlo wrapped Vito into a tight hug. “Of course I’m fine! I made sure these were delivered specifically by Silph! None of that third party manufacturing nonsense.”
Like with Giuseppe, Vito felt the air leave his lungs and the young man pounded his fist onto Carlo’s back, hoping to be released.
Carlodid so, laughing all the while before he clapped Vito on the back so hard that he visibly recoiled from the impact.
“Seriously… thank you, Carlo,” Vito said after he took a deep breath of fresh air.
“Ah, and don’t forget me!” Miranda called out as she showed off a small white backpack. “There was a discount on some Silph bags, so I thought I’d pick one up for you while I was in Bellissimo Mare.”
Vito immediately grabbed the bag; it was a bit rough to touch, but that didn’t matter. These bags were the best things a trainer could have!
“Thank you so much!” Vito beamed to the group. His smile was so wide that everyone could practically hear it.
“Hey, anything for you, Vito!” Giuseppe said. “I know how much you’ve been wanting this… just don’t forget us when you get to the big leagues, alright?”
“Don’t worry,” Vito said as he looked around, gazing at the faces of Giuseppe, Carlo and Miranda and smiled. “I won’t.”
His home might be a run-down apartment complex, and sure, things went to shit when he was younger, but… he wouldn’t have been here today if it weren’t for the people around him, and this was one of the very good things about Lantana— the fact that you could at least have family to count on.
“Now come on! Enough with the thank yous!” Vito suddenly cried.
Pikachu squeaked and cried out in agreement.
“Agreed, c’mon everyone! Let's eat!”
And family was all that mattered at the end of the day.
The Wandering Teacher
Lantana
Legione District
Caporale Enzo Mancini of the 19th Lantana Detachment screamed as he slammed the door to HQ shut.
Nobody was around, so it wouldn’t be a problem if he took out his frustration, right?
“Fucking pricks,” he spat as he grabbed a foldable chair and threw it against the wall in his rage! “Not a single one of them takes me seriously!” Enzo screamed.
Time and time again, everyone either passed him by or made a fool out of him. It was something he was used to, but to have some Kalosian make a mockery out of him? With him and that putanna Gardevoir of his and that ugly Glaceon?
It was enough to make him think nothing but violence, and the Caporale punched the wall with all his might. Punching the sheetrock hurt like hell, but he didn’t care. The sheer adrenaline was enough to dull his sense of pain, and he was going to do it again until—
“Hey!”
The raging fury inside of Enzo was replaced by the cold hand of death touching his shoulder, and for a single second he was sure his heart stopped as he heard the gruff, tired and most of all grumpy voice.
Enzo turned and stood at attention, coming face-to-face with Sergente Maggiore Aurelio Bernadi, a man dressed in the same black uniform but visibly older. He was in his early thirties, one of the first trainers involved with The Legione when it had been officially formed, and a rising star in Enotria’s Gym Challenge during those days.
Enzo swiftly saluted. “Sergente Maggiore Bernadi, signore!”
“Cut that shit out,” Bernadi waved off. “And get the hell over here. What the hell is wrong with you, kid?”
Enzo swallowed hard and slowly walked over to Bernadi, who had sat on a foldable chair. More than likely, Enzo thought, he had been sleeping in it. He was quite the odd man, Enzo had heard. Though, that didn’t matter.
Enzo took a seat right next to Bernadi,the young man’s heart pounding beneath his chest, hands quivering and shaking.
“Look at me, kid,” Bernadi ordered. “I want to know what the hell is going on. Why in Lupa’s name are you trying to tear apart the walls like a Vigoroth?”
Enzo swallowed hard, but didn’t respond. Fear kept him from speaking, even though his superior had ordered him to.
“C’mon, kid. I wanna know,” Bernadi demanded.
“Some Kalosian made an ass of me, sir,” Enzo meekly said. “He claimed he was all about The Legione and pretended to be one of us… then he sicced his Gardevoir on me when I tried recruiting another kid and Giuseppe.”
Bernadi raised a brow and leaned forward, looking at Enzo in his emerald eyes. “Kalosian, huh? What was this person’s name?” He asked.
“H-he said his name was Emile Hawthorne, but I’m not sure if it was real, sir.”
Bernadi narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue once, then twice as he turned his head away from Enzo and rested against the chair.
Then the room fell silent.
“Sir?” Enzo weakly called out.
“Emile Hawthorne?” Bernadi asked as he turned back towards Enzo. “You’re sure about that?”
“Y-yessir.” Enzo said. “Emile Hawthorne.”
Aurelio leaned forward again and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small wad of PokeDollars.
“Get out of here, go get laid or whatever you kids do.” He handed Enzo the money. “But don’t ever do stupid shit like this again, hear me? If you do, at least do it somewhere you aint seen. Shit’s embarrassing for us and you alike.”
“Yessir! Thank you sir!” Enzo said as he took the money and swiftly turned and left HQ, quietly shutting the door.
Aurelio sighed as he grabbed his Rotomphone and opened up the TrainerDex App. The name “Emile Hawthorne” sounded very familiar to him… and he was fixing to find out why as he typed the name into the search bar.
He had heard the name earlier. Some of the Legione’s contacts from Galar bitched and moaned about him. Apparently, this ‘Hawthorne’ had punched one of them in the nose.
Aurelio, at the time, told them that it was their fault and they deserved it, then threatened to burn their livelihoods to the ground if they ever did anything like that again. Blocking off a Pokemon Center and claiming to be aligned with The Legione was bad press, and The Armata didn’t need any of that.
As soon as he pulled Hawthorne’s page up, he began skimming through it. He saw photos of this man competing all over the world when he was a child. This Hawthorne fellow was certainly the poster boy for Pokemon Trainers everywhere.
Then things got interesting the further he looked into it… worked with International Police in his first year, worked in Sinnoh’s ACE Department and helped combat Team Galactic back when that shit hit the fan.
Aurelio scratched his chin and nodded his head. Yup, he thought. This guy was going to be trouble.
“Call Capitano Greco,” he said to the device.
The Rotomphone’s screen lit up with a large thumbs up before the screen shifted to a black screen displaying the name “CAPITANO GRECO.”.
It rang once… then twice… then three times, and finally, an older man’s face appeared.
“Bernadi,” Greco grumbled. “Why are you calling this late?”
“Signore, I’m requesting use of our…” Bernadi paused, trying to find the right words. “Mike Uniform. I think we might have a problem.”
