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Resonating Destinies-Chapter 13

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   A pen could've fallen to the floor and made the ear-splitting rumble of a giant gong.

   Eight pairs of eyes - two human, six Pokémon - stared at the elderly bearded man as if he had suddenly turned into a Ditto. Some had their mouths hanging open, others clamped shut, all completely speechless.

   "W-wait a minute." After what felt like two eternities, Hyu finally broke the silence with his stammering voice. "Are you trying to tell me...Mei looks like the person who took down Team Plasma??"

   "In my eyes," Rood said in a voice so calm it sounded weirdly condescending, "Mei's appearance does seem to share a few key similarities with the young woman Reshiram chose as its new hero five years ago. I believe this is why others have been unable to tell the two apart from just a glance. It would be fairly simple for them to realize their mistake if they were only to take a closer look."

   Hyu's eyelids felt as though weights had been attached to them as he blinked, his mind still boggled from what the robed man had told them. "B-but I...I never..."

   "You never thought that your friend looked at all like Reshiram's hero, did you?" Rood finished the spiky-haired teen's fragmented mutterings. "That, I believe, is because you've only seen the new age Hero of Truth in photographs and on television programs, never once in person. Meanwhile, you've known Mei for years. Of course you wouldn't think she looks like the hero of Unova. Does that sound about right?"

   Hyu found himself slowly nodding, his eyes wandering to the brunette sitting in front of him. Maybe, if he stared hard and long enough, he could see something about his childhood friend that made her look similar to the woman Rood spoke about, and the woman he'd briefly seen in newspapers and TV specials.

   "So...people are mistaking me for a hero." Mei's quiet voice reached his ears as he stared at her. He then noticed her head turn down toward her lap, and her fingers subtly gripping the fabric of her leggings around her knees. "That's...interesting."

   A pang of hurt struck his heart when he detected the trace amount of grief in her voice. Mei...

   "Tell me more about her," Mei requested in a slightly louder, less grievous tone. "Reshiram's new hero, I mean. What was she like?"

   Rood lightly folded his hands in his lap, sighing softly. "That, I'm sorry to say, is something I have no right to tell you more about. Excluding the time in which I was still aligned with Team Plasma, I have encountered her on neutral grounds only once myself. I fear the only thing I can rightfully tell you of this young woman is her name: Touko White."

   Just as he had seen her face before, Hyu knew the name of the woman all of Unova had to thank for putting a stop to Team Plasma's evil ambitions years ago. Hearing her name spoken in Rood's voice only reminded him of how much he respected, even idolized, her. "Touko White..."

   A light chuckle escaped Mei's throat. "No wonder those guys looked so scared of me," she mused. "This Touko person must've been pretty strong to have defeated your king, and after he had just defeated the Champion, too."

   Rood nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, with Reshiram at her side, Miss White turned into quite the force to be reckoned with. Many of us here today still think of her with fear and awe and, odd as it may seem, gratefulness, because it was thanks to her that Team Plasma's true master plan was brought into light."

   Mei's cerulean eyes looked back to the elderly man, posing bewilderment. "True master plan?"

   A deep frown appeared on Rood's face before he momentarily looked over his shoulder, as if he feared he was being listened in on. "...When I was still a part of Team Plasma," he said in hushed tones, "I was part of a group of men called the Seven Sages. We acted as administrators and advisors, both to the lower ranks of Team Plasma and to our king. Among our numbers was the highest of all the Seven Sages, though each sage still remained equal to the other. And when N was defeated...to the surprise of everyone, he finally revealed exactly who he really was."

   The way Rood talked about this man, with such seriousness and deeply-rooted fear, made Mei believe that this man was not one to be messed with. Even she felt afraid of him, and she didn't even know his name. "And...who was he?"

   His hands trembling in his lap, Rood met and held Mei's gaze before informing her, "The true leader of Team Plasma. A truly monstrous man who had been deceiving and using everyone in Team Plasma since the very beginning: Ghetsis."

   Learning the name of the 'true' leader of Team Plasma made Mei feel even more afraid of him than before Rood spoke it. An old conversation wafted to the front of her mind; a conversation she had shared with her mother about the group that called themselves Team Plasma, mainly about how their original motive wasn't their true motive. "You mean...the whole 'liberation of Pokémon' was really just a front?"

   Rood solemnly nodded. "It was N's belief that humans and Pokémon needed to be separated, because he believed that the Pokémon would be happier that way. By giving him the most powerful position in Team Plasma, Ghetsis used N and his beliefs as a means to an end to reach his true goal: to take control of and use the Pokémon that had been liberated to help him rule the world."

   This Mei also remembered from the conversation with her mother, and just like then, hearing of this horrid plan a second time made her feel as though something vile had slithered down her throat.

   Rood had been unwarily leaning forward as he spoke, and straightened his posture before continuing, "And that, dear guests, is when the schism between the members of Team Plasma truly began. Can you guess why?"

   The former sage fell silent, so as to give his guests a chance to figure out the answer on their own. Mei crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes, humming softly as she took everything she'd just been told into account with everything she'd known thus far. N believed he was helping Pokémon by separating them from humans, and Ghetsis only wanted to use Pokémon as tools to help him rule the world. I've heard some of the Plasma members in black talk about how they tried to 'conquer' Unova five years ago, and Auros said before that the medicine he had was for a sick Pokémon he and the other ex-Plasmas were looking after...

   After thinking about it a moment longer, the pieces finally fell into place in Mei's mind. "So you guys, the ex-Plasmas, are sympathizers with N's philosophy, and the others, the Plasmas in the black uniforms, are those that decided to go along with Ghetsis' plans for world domination?"

   A small smile appeared on Rood's face as he gave Mei a nod of his head. "A concise and simple summarization, but a summarization nonetheless. After Team Plasma fell apart, those of us here learned the error of our ways and, as I've mentioned before, given our all to repent for our sins. As for the rest of Team Plasma-"

   "That Ghetsis guy got them all back together so they could try again to take over Unova," Hyu interjected, scoffing. "That wasn't that hard to figure out at all."

   Rood's gaze turned onto Hyu, a stern look about his face. "That, young man, is impossible, because Ghetsis is dead."

   The word hung over them like a fog of cold air. Hyu turned away from the former sage's gaze, feeling slightly humiliated. A shiver ran down Mei's spine, making her skin prickle. "D-dead?"

   Rood solemnly nodded. "Two years ago, a great fire raged in the castle that was our former base of operations, completely decimating it. Ghetsis was there the night our castle burned, and has not been seen since. Though it was charred beyond all recognition...those that searched through the scorched remains found a human body among the rubble."

   Mei's shivers intensified as unwanted mental images popped up in her mind. As she rubbed the goosebumps on her arms, Hyu finally succeeded in removing the foot out of his mouth and asked, "But wait, if Ghetsis is dead, then why is Team Plasma still running around and causing trouble?"

   A defeated expression overtook Rood's wrinkled face. "I want nothing more than to answer that I believe that, because of Ghetsis' death and N's disappearance, our former comrades are in a state of denial, and are trying to fulfill their dead leader's unfinished goals. However, thanks to the reports we've recently heard of, I no longer think that's the case. They're behaving far too organized for them not to have a leader. It is now my belief that someone has taken Ghetsis' place as leader of Team Plasma, and is trying to bring them back to power-"

   "So they can go back to doing all the awful things they did in the past," Hyu interrupted, anger once again returning to his demeanor. "Like stealing Pokémon from innocent, defenseless children."

   Rood turned his head toward Hyu, a tired expression on his weathered face. "...Ever since the incident of five years ago, we've been lucky enough to earn the trust of the Gym Leader of this city, who provided us this place we now call home. It was thanks to his mercy and forgiveness that we've been able to start taking care of the Pokémon that were separated from their Trainers during Team Plasma's first campaign and, eventually, reunite them with the ones they were separated fr-"

   "Stop beating around the bush!" Hyu snapped, his body fully turning toward the former sage. "Separated my foot! We all know you were the thieves who stole them in the first place!"

   His yelling was starting to turn heads. One was Mei's, who stared at the older boy in cautionary concern. "H-Hyu-"

   "Five years ago," Hyu continued, outright ignoring his friend's pleas. "Aspertia City. Months before Team Plasma fell. You guys stole my little sister's Purrloin. Why hasn't it been returned to her yet, huh?!"

   People were now stopping what they were doing to stare at the yelling teen. "More Pokémon than you realize had been sep-stolen," Rood explained, his voice oddly calm in contrast to the fury Hyu was exerting. "Many of them are more than likely still being used by our former comrades. I am truly sorry for your sister's loss, but-"

   "You're sorry?" At his sides, Hyu's clenched fists began to shake. "I could only helplessly sit and watch as my sister's best friend was taken from her right in front of her eyes, and you're only sorry?!"

   A few stomps forward, and Hyu's hands had found their way to the front of Rood's robes, clenching them tightly as his torso was jerked toward Hyu's distorted-by-hatred face. "That's NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!"

   A flash of white and blue pulled Hyu away from the elderly ex-sage faster than Mei could even raise her voice. Halfway out of her chair, she stared wide-eyed at the three ex-Plasma members that were now positioned between the two males, while two more were at the former sage's sides, making sure he was alright. As the scowling faces of those separating the two of them stared at Hyu, Rood, who had not once during the whole ordeal taken his eyes off the teen's face, said in a gentle voice, laced with warning, "I believe it would be wise for you to leave now."

   Disheveled and enraged, his breathing rigid and his teeth grinding, Hyu kept his gaze locked on Rood's face for two more ticks of the clock before he finally looked away, gave a loud "Hmph!", and stomped his way straight out of the foyer, his Pokémon hurriedly racing along after him.

--------

   The loud stomps of the spiky-haired teen's feet soon faded away, and just before they did, the loud slam! of the front door resonated inside the halls of the ex-Plasma house. As soon as the sound stopped echoing, a look of weariness washed over Rood's old face as he reached a hand up to massage his forehead. "Of course, your friend's right, Mei," he confessed in an equally weary voice. "Apologies won't solve anything, but in cases like these, they're all we can give. Team Plasma made countless Trainers like him suffer...but though it solves nothing, one can't move forward unless they admit they were wrong and apologize."

   Though she was not directly involved with what just occurred, Mei sank back into her chair, feeling winded and mentally drained. "I...I am so sorry for Hyu's behavior..."

   "Please, don't be," Rood said as the ex-Plasmas that had pulled Hyu away from the former sage walked away. "Being former members of Team Plasma, we have all been through a lot these past few years. What Hyu did was akin to an infant throwing a temper tantrum compared to what myself and others have been put through."

   "That still doesn't excuse how horrible he was toward you!" Mei argued in a louder-than-necessary voice. "You obviously still feel terrible about everything you've done in the past, right? He had no right to make you feel even worse about it!"

   Rood turned his eyes toward the ground, his hands intertwining in front of his face. "Perhaps," he muttered through his fingers. "Or, perhaps he has found no better alternative to deal with the anger and suffering in his heart than to lash out at anyone in any way associated with Team Plasma."

   Mei opened her mouth to argue more, but when no words made their way to her tongue, she pressed her lips shut and sank further into her chair.

   "I do not mind being the scapegoat for someone else's anger, young Mei," Rood continued in a small voice. "If it means bringing them one step closer to achieving inner peace, I will gladly accept being scorned and hated for the rest of my days."

   The way the elderly man said this made Mei's heart ache. "Sir..."

   Two seconds of solemn silence passed before Rood turned his gaze back towards his guest and dropped his hands to his lap, revealing a pleasant smile. "Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

   After staring at the former sage's wrinkled face a moment longer, Mei arched an eyebrow. "Um, aren't you forgetting something, sir?"

   Rood, dumbfounded, blinked a couple of times before he was finally graced by clarity. "Oh, how foolish of me," he lightly chuckled. "I truly must be going senile to forget that I said I would elaborate more on how N was raised. Yes, well..." There was a small pause, then another amused chuckle breezed through his lips. "That, I believe, would be a topic that the 'goddesses' would be better able to elaborate on than I would."

   Pure bewilderment formed Mei's expression as she stared, somewhat slack-jawed, at the former sage. "Goddesses...?"

--------

   Mei and her Pokémon were led down a staircase at the northern end of the foyer. It was a mildly short trip down the stairs, and at the bottom of the staircase a large room stretched out before them, with many boxes and beds littered about the area. Many Pokémon were in this room, some running about, some staying still, some with ex-Plasma members with them.

   And, from where Mei was standing, all looked to be injured in one way or another.

   A Scraggy passed by in front of her, which had a white bandage around its arm. Near the center of the room she spotted a Herdier that looked like something took a large bite out of its ear. In a corner of the room nearest to her, humbly nibbling at a Sitrus berry, was a Patrat, which looked terribly frail and skinny compared to any other Patrat she'd seen before. And, its steps lop-sided and a little off-balance, a Galvantula was scuttling over to where Mei was, accompanied by an ex-Plasma with short orange hair. "Auros!"

   "Hello again," Auros greeted the teen as he stopped in front of her, the Galvantula slipping to a halt beside him. "Where'd your friend go?"

   "He..." Her spirits sinking, she did her best to hide the disappointment she felt in Hyu's behavior. "He lost his temper and left a little bit ago."

   "Oh, alright." Awkwardly scratching the back of his head with one hand, he extended the other toward Mei, in which was held a picture frame. "Well, I kinda wanted to show him this, in case he still doubted whether or not I had a twin brother."

   Carefully, Mei took the frame out of his grasp and turned it around so she could see the picture inside it. The photograph looked a little dated, and in it were two boys - one happily grinning, with one of his hands formed into a peace sign while the other was around the shoulders of the second boy, who looked a little less happy than the first - whose faces looked very identical.

   "This was us when we were kids, way before we got involved with Team Plasma. That one's me-" Auros pointed to the boy with the peace sign. "-and this one's Vernos." His finger moved to the less-happy looking boy. "He looks just as much of a grump back then as he does now, doesn't he?"

   "Yeah," Mei breathed, a surreal feeling washing over her to see how much different yet similar Auros and his brother looked between their current and younger selves. "I guess he does..."

   "Auros." Suddenly, Rood's voice reminded Mei that he was still with them, and she looked away from the photograph to see him beginning to walk away. "Would you mind keeping Mei company while I find Anthea and Concordia?"

   "Not at all," Auros answered, and with a slight wave of his hand, Rood walked further into the room. Auros turned back to Mei, a smile on his face. "So, you're gonna meet the 'goddesses'? You're in for a treat then!"

   There was that word again. And once again, it left Mei in a state of bewilderment. "I...guess?"

   Something poked at her leg then, and Mei looked down to see Tristen prodding her calf with the tip of his finger. Once he got her attention, the Dewott then pointed down at Auros' feet, where the Galvantula he was with was hesitantly trying to approach Mei.

   "Hi there," Mei softly spoke to the EleSpider Pokémon as she bent down and extended her hand towards it. "No need to be shy-"

   "Careful!" Auros cautioned, making Mei's hand freeze inches from the Galvantula's head. "Don't approach her from that side!"

   The brunette arched an eyebrow at the man's warning, but upon closer look at the Galvantula's face, she could see why that warning should be heeded. "Oh..."

   "We rescued her from an abusive Trainer," Auros explained as he stooped down and petted the left side of the Galvantula's body. "That Trainer probably would've beaten her to death if we didn't rescue her in time. But...we were too late to stop them from beating her altogether."

   A stormy look appeared on his face, and his mouth twisted as though he had just taken a bite out of a rotten fruit. "She's now permanently blind in the eyes on the right side of her head, and her right front leg has been partially crippled. The medicine I brought from Nimbasa is used to help her with the pain she often feels in that leg."

   Her eyes staring into the Galvantula's - one side clear and blue, the other clouded and white - Mei's arm shook as she tenderly placed her hand on the left side of the EleSpider Pokémon's head. "You poor dear..."

   The Galvantula was hesitant at first, but soon leaned into Mei's hand, allowing the teen to pet her furry body. "A lot of the Pokémon still here were rescued from abusive Trainers, actually," Auros continued. "The very least we've been able to do for them is to help them recover from their injuries, in hopes that, maybe, they'll be well enough to take care of themselves back in the wild. We've also considered putting them up for adoption, but..."

   His stormy expression became even stormier. Sympathy slipped into Mei's heart. "Not many people are on board with adopting Pokémon that ex-Team Plasma members are putting up for adoption, huh?"

   Auros didn't even need to nod his head for Mei to know she had guessed right. "And we can't just return them to their original Trainers once they've recovered; they'll be just as worse off than before Team Plasma took them in the first place, if not even worse than back then." A deep sigh blew through his mouth as he rested his chin in his free hand. "What else can we do but to look after them until they're well enough to be back in the wild?"

   Mei removed her hand from the Galvantula's head and held her chin in it, thinking. As she pondered the ex-Plasmas' predicament, her eyes rested on Auros and the Galvantula, who looked especially pleased as Auros continued stroking her. As she watched the two of them, an idea popped into her head. "Well, why don't you guys adopt them?"

   Auros' hand froze, much to the Galvantula's apparent disappointment. Slowly, his eyes met Mei's in a puzzled stare. "Huh?"

   "Yeah, what's stopping you guys from adopting the Pokémon taken from abusive Trainers?" Her legs growing numb from her current position, Mei placed her bum on the floor and crossed her legs, a smile on her face. "This Galvantula seems pretty attached to you already, so why not officially make her your own Pokémon? And I think the others would probably like that idea, too."

   Auros, contemplating the teen’s words, turned his head toward the Galvantula he helped rescue almost five years ago. Noticing this, the Galvantula turned her head to meet his gaze, a curious look about her face. "I...I just don't know..."

   Mei hummed thoughtfully, then moved to stand back up again. "Why don't you think about it, then?" she proposed. "And, when you do know, you can let me know, alright?"

   Auros kept the Galvantula's half-blind gaze a moment longer before looking back to Mei, a meek smile on his face. "A-alright."

   "Mei?"

   The voice made Mei jump a little. Turning towards the direction it came from, she spotted Rood standing a little bit away from where she was, waving her forward with his hand. "I'm gonna go now, so be sure to think about it, 'kay?" She gave Auros' picture frame back to him and waved as she walked to where Rood stood, her Pokémon following along behind her. "Bye!"

   Auros half-heartedly waved back, then returned his gaze back to the Galvantula beside him, thinking deeply. What should I do...?

--------

   "I apologize for returning only to make you follow me again," Rood said as he led Mei and her team further into the room, "but Anthea and Concordia have their hands full at the moment, and couldn't join me. This is why I’m now taking you to them."

   Mei was about to say that she didn't mind waiting - and that she enjoyed talking with Auros and trying to convince him to adopt that Galvantula - when hearing two unknown names made her stop. "Anthea and Concordia...who are they?"

   Before the former sage could answer, a loud clang!, followed by what looked like a food bowl rolling out in front of him and Mei silenced him. Both human and Pokémon stopped their forward movement to watch the bowl roll out in front of them, some food spilling out as it clambered to a stop at Rood's feet. What the...?

   Two sets of footsteps were soon heard, and Mei looked away from the food bowl to see two women hastening to where Rood stood. These women, one with pink hair and the other blonde, were so stunningly beautiful that Mei couldn't help but stare, mouth agape, as they approached. Are they...?

   "We are so sorry about that, sir," the pink-haired woman spoke as Rood stooped down and picked up the bowl. "He's has yet to eat today, and when we tried giving him the bowl-"

   Rood held up a hand to silence the pink-haired woman. "It's alright, Anthea," he said in a calm voice, "and there is absolutely no need to apologize. I understand perfectly."

   He handed the food bowl to the blonde woman, who accepted it with a look of humbleness. Then, her dark yellow eyes focused on the teen beside Rood. "Is this the young woman you told us about, Rood?"

   Rood nodded, and held his arm out to gesture to Mei. "Anthea, Concordia, this is Mei. Mei-" He turned his arm to gesture to the two women. "-meet Anthea and Concordia."

   The two women smiled at Mei, smiles that could be described as gentle and motherly. "It's very nice to meet you, Mei," the blonde - Concordia - said.

   "Rood has informed us that you wish to know more about Team Plasma," the pink-haired woman - Anthea - continued. "Is that right?"

   Mei, forcing her gaping mouth to close, nodded twice before asking, "Are you...the goddesses Rood mentioned?"

   The women's smiles faded. Their eyes turned once to Rood - who had suddenly become very interested in adjusting the collar of his robes - then back to each other. Two seconds later, small, sad smiles appeared on each of their faces. "...We were called goddesses once," Anthea quietly admitted.

   "That is...it is what N called us," Concordia continued in a soft voice, "when we were charged with taking care of him."

   Mei's cerulean eyes blinked in surprise. "Taking care of him?"

   'Mei...'

   A gentle tugging at the end of her sleeve made Mei look down. "What is it, Lucca?"

   All eyes turned to look at the Lucario by Mei's side, who was staring intently somewhere past where Anthea and Concordia stood. 'I...I feel something strange over there...'

   The two 'goddesses' followed Lucca's line of sight, realization soon lighting up their eyes. "Mei." After both women turned their heads back toward the brunette, Anthea took a small step closer to Mei. "If it's not too much trouble, there's something we think you and your Lucario would be able to help us out with."

   Lucca blinked as soon as she heard herself being mentioned. With a look of uneasiness, she looked up at the two women. 'M-Me?'

   "Even if you do not accept, or if you are not able to do anything about it," Concordia continued, "we will still tell you all you wish to know. But if you do accept, we must ask that our...issue must be dealt with first. Will you and your Lucario help us, Mei?"

   Mei felt her cheeks flame up to be put out on the spot like this. "Well, uh," she muttered, "that's really up for Lucca to decide, in all honesty."

   Lucca flinched, and not just because of the eyes that were now trained upon her. She partially hid herself behind Mei, her paws beginning to tremble. 'I-I don't know...'

   'It'll be alright, Lucca.' Beside her, Tristen placed his paw on top of hers, and gave her a gentle smile.

   'We'll be righ' behind yeh in case somethin' were t' happen,' Rorek assured in a gruff voice.

   The encouragement of her teammates made Lucca's heart flutter. Then, gathering her courage, she looked up to Mei and curtly nodded. "Well, there you have it," Mei said, turning her head around to meet the 'goddesses' gazes. "What do you want us to do?"
The amount of time and energy I'm dedicating to developing these side characters is starting to become unhealthy. :iconimdeadplz:

Part two of 'Rood Explains It All', and I still haven't gotten to the part about N's backstory what is wrong with me good grief :iconotlplz: (this is definitely gonna be a three-parter now ugh)

Yeeeeeeeeeep gaycheese is still dead in this one, which definitely makes it a sequel to my fws stories. Hopefully I've made the timeline easy to understand so far?? If not then part three will definitely sum it up okay.

So! Hyu threw a hissy-fit and got kicked out. What else is new? :U Touko finally gets mentioned for the first time by name! Woo! Mei meets the goddesses and gets starstruck! And now they want her and Lucca's help with something? What could it be? Find out in the hopefully last installment of the 'Rood Explains It All' chapters!

Pokémon and all its characters belong to Nintendo.
Story is mine.
Have a wonderful day/afternoon/night/whatever.~ :heart:
© 2014 - 2024 FallenFromInsanity
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Not gonna lie,As much as Hugh was a Jerk,The "His only option of trying to find inner peace is to lash out" really Stuck with me.Revenge is yeah..F-ed up but then does he really know any way else?maybe thats why i love the BW series,and Of course hugh himself.great story