Jay Wolfe

After waking up the next morning and taking time to train with Soren and Ivan in preparation for the gym leader, Ferno, I went to find Zekiel. He hadn't said much but before going to our rooms the other night he mentioned wanting to tell me something important. I wasn't sure if 'important' meant bad news-in which case my thoughts leapt to Valhalla- or if he was just in need of help- Ivan had mentioned Zekiel seemed lost when they met the day before.

"Jay." He stopped leaning against the Pokémon Center wall and walked over to me before looking over my shoulder where Soren and Ivan were trying not to look like they were eavesdropping from where they stood by the entrance. "You could've told me you guys weren't dead you know."

"We were staying at the Pokémon Center in Iceshore, why would that fire have killed us?"

"I didn't know where you were staying. Then I hear about what happened and no one knows what happened to you or your other friends... We were going to hold funerals for all of you until someone confirmed you hadn't been there." He looked at the ground, his expression a mix between frustration and melancholy.

I stopped walking and tilted my head slightly. "Is this really why you wanted to talk to me?"

"No." Zekiel shook his head. "I lied about why I started my journey... and didn't want those other two to hear the real reason... I um, well, you know how my parents were always kind of prone to arguing and fighting?"

Of course I knew, I was surprised they were still together after all these years, but I merely nodded and gave him a simple answer. "Yeah, of course."

"I ran away." He continued staring at the ground. "I just couldn't handle it anymore and with the money I saved up from working at that shop... I figured I could become a trainer like you. So far it hasn't been going to well, I mean, what kind of trainer gets lost on their first day despite having a map, right?"

Zekiel attempted to laugh but it quickly died.

I wasn't sure how to respond honestly. I knew from a young age his parents didn't treat him or each other well, though I didn't know what that really meant until I got older. Thinking about it, I was surprised he didn't leave sooner. "So... Uh, what are you planning on now then? Are you going to try earning some badges?"

"I don't know. I just want to get away from home for a while... maybe visit another region if I can earn enough to get there." He looked up and started walking again, turning back in the direction we'd come from. "Maybe by the time I get back my parents will understand why I ran and change for the better... and perhaps Valhalla won't still be around. Tarot made another announcement this morning, did you hear it?"

I hide my hatred for the name and nodded. "Yeah. It was about the King and Queen again. The legendaries that once stood by them were defeated and they ran off. He sent guards there to protect them... I don't think it'll help. They're going to be killed."

"Tarot's a good champion. He knows what he's doing, I'm sure he'll find a way to save them."

"Yeah, he does know what he's doing." I kept the thought to myself and stayed silent, a flash of hatred flashing through my mind that didn't seem to belong to me before it disappeared.

Zekiel turned to me once we were in earshot of the others, a smile on his face that would fool almost anyone who didn't actually know him. "Thanks for the advice Jay, maybe I'll be a decent trainer in the end. Um, mind if I watch the gym battle with Ferno just to see what one's like?"

"Sure." I played along. "Though don't go thinking you could challenge anyone's gym just yet. You still have a lot more training to do."

"Yeah, I know. I should probably go try some of your suggestions out now while I still remember them. I'll see you later for your match." He waved slightly before turning away to go to the Pokémon Center's training field.

I quickly sensed someone else take Zekiel's place on my other side and turned my head slightly as Soren hugged me in greeting. "So, he wanted training tips? I bet I could've given him better ones."

He gave me a joking smile and I elbowed him as I smirked back. "Says the person who lost the battle to me yesterday."

"It was a tie."

I shrugged. "True... but I'll win next time."

Soren laughed slightly at our friendly bickering before kissing my head as he let go of my waist to take my hand. "Guess we'll find out who the best is when we take down the champion."

"Yeah, whoever wins in the end between us... I don't care. Just so long as Tarot pays for what he had Valhalla do to us." I growled and glanced at Obsidian Wrath where the destroyed base was located. Where any members of Valhalla still there, waiting to hunt us or some other unlucky person down?

Soren was silent as he lead me back into the Pokémon Center before finally speaking again. "Jay... I want to make them pay too and I'll help you in any way I can, you know that right? Just don't lose yourself in this. I love you, I don't want to see Valhalla change you from what they did to us."

"I know. I won't change, I don't want to become like them." I responded and tightened my grip on his hand slightly. "It's just... the nightmares are getting worse I guess. First I'll be somewhere nice and peaceful, usually a quiet forest or high up in the cloud lair surrounding the mountaintops, but then this fear will go through me and I have to escape, to hide, before I'm seen and captured again. They're so real but each time I wake up safe, confused occasionally about where I am but... not in danger."

He gave me a regretful look. "I'm sorry. If I could make them stop you know I would. I want you to be okay mentally and physically."

"I know." I shrugged it off before glancing at him. "So, anyway, what should our strategy for our gym battle be?"

"Well obviously I can't use Hoodini unless I'm trying to lose but Finn should be able to carry me through most of the battle with Schicksal as a back up against his delphox. You're using Siren and Hati mainly right?"

"With Sköll and Curse as backups, yeah." I sat down and put my feet up on the coffee table while he took a seat beside me. "I was thinking about using Scourge since he's a fire dark type but I don't think mega evolution would help too much despite the neutral typing. It just wouldn't get much damage in, especially if any shared abilities with him."

"Well, what if we sent out Finn and Hati together and then if needed switch into Schicksal and Siren? With the second pairing we'll take more damage but her aqua ring should be able to at least keep her from going down easily." Soren paused. "Seems like you have the team with the best advantage over him at the moment though... I'll try to pull my weight of course."

"You better." I smirked playfully. "Otherwise I might just keep both badges when we win."

"I see. Guess I'll just show you what my team can really do when I get them ready for battle." There was a spark of challenge in his gaze and he quickly got back up, pulling me up with him. "Come on, let's go challenge him. I think we're ready!"

"Alright." I pulled out of his grip. "I'm going to go get Zekiel, he wanted to watch our battle."

"Okay." He sighed before going to the door. "I'll meet you outside the gym then."

I quickly dragged Zekiel from where he had been training and met up with Soren. Like with Glaze's gym there were other trainers inside we had to defeat before we reached Ferno, however with our super effective pokémon we didn't have too much trouble. The gym was filled with molten lava on both sides of the path while some ran down the walls like a waterfall, the entire place smelled like smoke and ash- which wasn't that bad if there wasn't the sweltering heat that came with it. Honestly, I didn't understand how Ferno could stand staying in this place, I felt like passing out. Glancing back at Zekiel as he trailed behind us it seemed he felt the same way... must be our birthplace in a colder climate, Iceshore was practically the opposite of this place. Soren at least had grown up in a warmer town.

We finally reached the end of the room where a hall with torches lit the way to where Ferno awaited our challenge. Soren glanced back at me and took my hand as he started walking into the hall. "Ready?"

I smirked back. "Of course."

We made our way down the dimly lit hallway into a circular room lined with torches while a pool of lava created a ring around the battlefield with only two bridges crossing it for us to get onto it. I was starting to feel nervous about being surrounded by so much fire and molten lava, which probably would burn worse. From across the room Ferno rose to his feet, an obsidian colored pitchfork in one hand while another was pulling a pokéball from his belt. He seemed to fit in perfectly with his gym, his red hair and amber eyes only looked more demonic with flames reflecting in them.

"So, you've all come to challenge me? Think you can take the heat I'm about to unleash on you?" He smirked confidently, smug arrogance littering his features as he took his place on the battlefield. "Let's go then, triple battle no holding back."

"Um, sorry, I uh, I'm just here to watch." Zekiel spoke up nervously.

Ferno laughed, though it didn't sound happy, it sounded menacing. "Sorry to tell you this kid but in my gym there are no watchers unless you've already beaten me. Once you enter you have to battle me to leave as either a winner or a loser. The latter usually ends up badly burned in more ways than just to their pride."

"But..." He glanced at us, clearly aware that he wasn't going to be much help let alone be able to win. "Sorry... I'll try to stay out of the way, perhaps I could distract him."

I shrugged. I hadn't heard about this anywhere, sure gym leaders didn't need to write down rules like this but most of the other gym leaders so far didn't seem to have them, or we just didn't know about them since we were there to challenge the gym. Other than Salem's rule about entering the gym meant making a challenge this was the first snag we hit. "It's fine Zekiel, just don't stress about it. If you can outwit and dodge as many attacks as you can you might stand a chance."

"Let's beat him." Soren led us onto our side of the battlefield and immediately threw out his first pokémon. "Finn, let's go!"

"Alright, Hati, let's destroy them." I released my lycanroc and he howled a challenge before looking back at me, eager to fight.

Zekiel threw out his own pokémon, his shiny sylveon as I expected. "Ankou, let's see what we can do here."

His pokémon seemed confused to be in a battle but it didn't last long considering Ferno threw his first three pokémon out, eager to start the fight. "Let's burn through them! Volcarona, Ninetales, Houndoom!"

"Finn, use mud bomb on Ninetales!" Soren seemed to be going off our original tactic and I wasn't about to spring a surprise on him.

"Hati, rock tomb the Volcarona, keep it busy." I knew that had to be his toughest pokémon considering the amount of training that had to go into it so it would evolve, which meant I needed to definitely keep it away from Ankou. I glanced at Zekiel. "Go for the houndoom, it's your best bet at winning."

"Right." Zekiel nodded before looking back at the battlefield. "Ankou, quick attack then fairy wind on the houndoom."

Ferno laughed again. "Ninetales, dodge and use extrassory, Volcarona, double-edge. Houndoom, use fire fang, it shouldn't stand long after you shake it around a few times."

He was so arrogant! I glared at him, the heat not helping with my sudden irritation of him. "You can handle that attack, hit back with counter while it's dealing with the recoil!"

Hati gave a snarl as he crashed to the ground, rolling dangerously close to the edge, before getting back up and giving a killer glare at the Volcarona as it stopped moving due to the recoil. Rock tomb might not have hit but counter made up for that and I suddenly felt as if it wouldn't be too hard to take down the higher leveled pokémon. Soren was handling the Ninetales well despite the speed disadvantage Finn had but it was Zekiel who, of course, was having the most trouble. Ankou had managed to hit the houndoom but had easily been caught by its fire fang as well and was shaking on the ground as he tried to get back up.

"Hati, get over and help Ankou with a rock throw." I ordered.

"No wait!" Zekiel tensed as he saw me glance at him. "Uh... Ankou c-can still fight. Show them buddy!"

Ankou looked up at him before rolling to the side as the houndoom lunge forward for another fire fang. I didn't quite understand how Zekiel meant he could handle it until his pokémon jumped up and used draining kiss on his opponent. I was impressed that he had managed to teach his pokémon a new move but it was useful in our battle... maybe he wouldn't be such a burden after all. He certainly had taken the houndoom and Ferno by surprise with his attacks.

"Alright." I nodded. "You heard him Hati, keep it up against Volcarona! Give it another rock tomb."

"Quiver dance." Ferno turned to the other two. "Ninetales, show them all a flame burst! Houndoom, use beat up on the lycanroc, we need to mix this up a bit!"

"Well if that's the case..." I glanced at Soren. "Ready for our team up?"

"Yeah." Soren turned back to Finn. "Time to use rock slide!"

"Hati, slow them down with rock tomb, keep them from escaping!"

With their lowered speeds thanks to Hati's attack, Finn easily hit the three targets as they tried in vain to avoid the falling rocks. The flame burst sputtered out as Soren had Finn follow up the attacks with water gun and I watched in satisfaction as the ninetales and houndoom fainted. Ferno gave us a look of frustration before sending out his last two pokémon.

"Delphox, psyshock, Charizard, wing attack!" His pokémon rushed to obey him, his charizard mega evolving as it moved towards our pokémon.

It's scales turned black like the walls around us while blue flames erupted from either side of its mouth. We didn't have time to react before the psyshock hit Finn while the charizard knocked Hati down with its tail before hitting Ankou with the wing attack. Zekiel gave a shout of alarm as his pokémon was knocked back into him and he staggered back from the force, only managing to avoid falling into the lava at the edge because I jerked him forward again by the sleeve of his jacket.

"...T-thanks..." He was pale as he finished regaining his footing and putting Ankou down on the ground. "Take a rest, I'm... I'm sure Treecko can handle the rest of the battle."

"Syl..."

"You'll probably be killed next time if you send out a grass type, or at least your pokémon will get too injured." I knew he wasn't trying to be reckless, he was normally the opposite of that, but he didn't have any other pokémon to use. I sent a quick glance at Ferno to see his gaze was fixed on the battle between Finn and two of his pokémon while Hati continued taking on the Volcarona. "Here, Curse will battle with you. Right girl?"

"Eon." Curse leapt into the battlefield and looked back at us.

"Go after the delphox, she'll do better against it."

"Alright..." He nodded. "I guess I owe you one, huh Jay?"

"Focus on the battle." I smirked back at him. "But I'll call in that debt someday."

"Curse, uh, use confuse ray on Delphox!" Zekiel commanded as he gave me a thankful look.

"Hati, let's go, thunder fang on charizard!" It wasn't going to be super effective anymore but it would give Finn time to recover from the attacks he'd taken.

"Fire fang!" Ferno gave me a smug look. "Heh, don't you know what happens when a charizard becomes Charizard X? It's ability tough claws boosts physical damage and your mutt seems pretty beat at this point."

Hati yelp as the charizard ripped him off its wing and bit down on his arm before flying up and releasing him. I winced as he landed and went limp, images of Soul's limp body flashing across my vision momentarily, and finally held up his ball. "Hati, that was a great job... Siren, let's finish this."

"Finn, time to take a rest, Schicksal, let's show them our own power!" Soren's key stone glowed as he mega evolved his absol. "Alright... night slash on Delphox!"

The delphox was confused from Curse's attack and considering it was being double teamed I was sure we could take it out. I just needed to keep the charizard and volcarona busy. "Siren, hit Volcarona with a water pulse then hit charizard with a dragon tail!"

"That's not going to save you." Ferno glanced at Delphox as it fell. "Don't give in, keep going, use mystical fire! Volcarona, double edge. Charizard, don't let that attack hit, use wing attack to knock it down!"

I winced as Siren tumbled across the ground from the force of the consecutive hits, quiver dance had really helped raise Volcarona's speed. She was holding up though so far and I could help make it difficult for Ferno to take her out too. "Siren, aqua ring then use water pulse to finish off the volcarona!"

Ferno had two choices, save his volcarona with his charizard again or have his charizard save the delphox. He glared at us from across the field. "Charizard, flame burst on the dark types, show them how bright fire can really be!"

"Dodge it Schicksal!" Soren was tensed up as he stood beside me. "Then hit it wish slash!"

"Um, wait for it to get closer then give it a feint attack, Curse." Zekiel added.

The volcarona fell as Siren hit it with a super effective attack and I immediately shifted my focus on the charizard. Delphox would be easy to take out once the mega evolved pokémon was out of the way. "Disarming voice on the charizard!"

"Take them down with wing attack!" Ferno ordered before glancing at his delphox as it recovered enough to stand. "Get back in the fight with mystical fire!"

Curse collapsed on the ground as she was directly hit with the wing attack but at least she wasn't injured worse thanks to disarming voice making the charizard retreat... right into the slash attack. The delphox made an easy target from Curse's previous attack and I forced myself not to order her to attack, she was pretending to be Zekiel's pokémon after all so I wouldn't be the one telling her what to do.

"C-Curse..." Zekiel flashed me an apologetic look. "Come on... get up..."

Ferno laughed. "Looks like the pokémon you have are only meant to be looked at. Rare doesn't mean strong kid."

"Siren, water pulse on the delphox!" I growled, trying to stop my body from shaking as the battle continued. "What is wrong with me? This is just like any other battle!"

"Schicksal, don't let up, give it a night slash!" Soren demanded.

Zekiel finally found his train of thought again enough to give an actual order. "Curse, use assurance on the delphox!"

Delphox collapsed to the ground unconscious and I sighed slightly. "N-ice work Siren... Let's help finish off that charizard with a dragon tail!"

"Feint attack the charizard." Zekiel copied my lead as our pokémon went to Schicksal's aid to finish off Ferno's mega charizard.

With our three pokémon combined against Ferno's last one we finally managed to take it down, though I was concerned with Curse's health... she could barely stand... I returned Siren to her ball before taking a step forward to meet up with Ferno as he returned his own pokémon and took out the badges to award us with. A moment later though my legs gave out and I felt someone grab me before the world whited out.