Adventure's Past

Chapter 6 - Burning Pain

"Hello!? Are you here Wulfric?" Bonnie exclaimed in the dark gym, her voice echoing off the sleek ice floor and wall. "That's weird," Clemont stated, pulling out a flashlight. "I checked just yesterday and he was here, so I wonder where he went." Bonnie turned to Clemont in the dark and made a face. "Why don't you just call him on your gym leader thingy," she said.

"You know I can't use that whenever I want, Bonnie," Clemont explained. After the Cell War, all gym leaders and kahunas from all regions had received a personal transmitter that allowed for a distress call at the push of a button. It had only been used once in the past 6 years, but it had been caused by a certain skating gym leader whose partner was a mega-evolving Lucario during their training.

"It's only used for emergencies," Clemont added finally, causing Bonnie to roll her eyes. "Ok, then how are we going to find Wulfric then?"Clemont shrugged and said, "Maybe he's out doing some training. But even that wouldn't make sense, since he said he would be here today."

Bonnie crossed her arms and thought for a moment. Why? It's my final gym battle and the gym leader isn't even here. A sudden ringing disturbed her thoughts. She turned towards Clemont and angrily exclaimed, "Your phone is so loud! Why can't you ever turn it off?" Clemont hurriedly grabbed his phone and rushed out of the gym, not wanting to anger Bonnie anymore.

He quickly entered the frosty outside and palmed his phone in his hands. The name on his phone not only shocked him but also made him extremely worried. Goh, why are you calling me? He thought to himself. The entire group that experience the Cell War promised to stay in touch, but after a while, they began slowly drifting apart, doing their own lives. Serena was the most distant, as she hadn't talked to any of the four in three years.

Clemont clicked accept on the screen and shakily put the phone to his ear. "Goh?" He asked, waiting for a response.

"Hey."

Clemont was a little shocked at hearing the voice at first, as it was an odd mix of familiar and odd. It sounded like Goh, but he had clearly grown up a little bit; his voice had matured and just the way said "Hey" sounded as if Goh was dealing with the world's entire burden on his shoulders. "Is this a bad time?" Goh asked in a serious tone.

"Uh-No. No, it's not," Clemont lied. He truly did want to see Bonnie battle, but hearing from Goh was rare and he was not about to pass up the opportunity to catch up with his friend. "What's up?" Clemont heard a sigh come from his phone's speakers. "I need your help with something. A few things, actually," he asked.

"I guess I could, yeah," Clemont responded. "What is it exactly? Something technological related?" He knew Goh was proficient in technology similarly to him, but every now and then Clemont knew that Goh could definitely need some assistance. "Kind of," Goh replied. "It involves something that may be related to Team Rocket."

Clemont's heart skipped a beat. "Team Rocket? But I thought Giovanni was gone?" He stammered. "Yeah, I thought that, too," Goh agreed. "But maybe he's not. Do you have any flying Pokemon with you?" Clemont thought for a moment. "I've got my Magnezone with me. Does that work?" He asked.

"Sure does. I'll send you the coordinates to the location," Goh explained. "Wait. What exactly am I helping you out with?" Clemont asked worriedly. "I can't explain right now, but please come as soon as possible," Goh said, his voice sounding slightly frantic. "Wait, Goh I-" Clemont began, before getting cut off by the phone call ending.

Great, Clemont thought to himself as he put away his phone. Now, what am I gonna explain to Bonnie? He rushed back inside to the gym and saw that Bonnie had brought all of her Pokemon out and were training against one another. "Bonnie! I have to go!" Clemont yelled across the ice battlefield, getting Bonnie's attention.