I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the rush of cold wind against my face. I became lost in the hum of the boat's motor and the sound of crashing waves as the vessel cut through the water almost effortlessly, the boat jolting only every so often. I'd never really been on a boat before, unless a tiny rowboat on some miscellaneous lake some years ago counted.
Opening my eyes made me squint because of the sunlight reflecting off the silver stretch of seawater. From where I stood on the boat's deck, I could make out the shapes of distant structures reaching up to the sky: Castelia's famous skyline, it could be seen from miles away. And in less than an hour, I would be there. The thought filled me with an excitement that rivaled how I felt when I first got Ivy.
I looked at Nate and Hugh to see what they were doing. Nate was sitting on the deck and leaning against the port wall of the boat, fast asleep. Hugh was on the opposite side of the deck. He was sitting with his knees pulled tight up to his chest and his arms were wrapped around his knees, he looked rather forlorn.
Poor Hugh, I thought. Between him and Nate having their Pokémon stolen, he seemed to be taking it the hardest. I couldn't even begin to grasp how either of them felt about what happened, but it made me hate Team Plasma with unbridled rage.
Hugh glanced up at me and saw that I was staring at him. I silently walked over and sat down next to him.
"Are... you okay?" I stupidly asked. What kind of question is that?! Of course he isn't okay! Even as I thought that, I continued talking. "Do you want to talk?"
Hugh was silent for a moment. "I've never told you or Nate the whole story," he said, not looking at me.
I was confused. "About what?"
"Why I hate Pokémon thieves so much, or Team Plasma I guess. And how Lily lost her Pokémon. I didn't think we were close enough as friends yet. But now I think I can tell you."
Now that he mentioned it, neither Nate or I knew much about Lily. We didn't even know what Pokémon she had. I nodded, letting Hugh begin his story.
"It was about five years ago, a month or so after I met you and Nate. I was nine and Lily had just turned five. For Lily's birthday, I wanted to get her something special, so I went to the PokéMart and used what money I'd saved to buy a Poké Ball. I snuck out of Aspertia and went out to Route 19. Using the Poké Ball I had, I caught the first Pokémon I saw: a Purrloin. Not just any Purrloin though, a Shiny Purrloin. A special Purrloin like that deserved a good nickname, so I named her Pearls," Hugh said, smiling at the memory. "I gave Pearls to Lily, much to my mom and dad's shock. They let her keep Pearls though. So a few days later, I was playing with Lily and Pearls just outside the Route 19 gate. We were having fun, but then they showed up." Hugh paused.
"Who?" I asked despite knowing I'd get an answer a second later.
"They wore different outfits back then, but the emblem was still the same. It was Team Plasma," Hugh's tone began to waver. "I can still picture them clearly. There were three of them, a man and woman, both dressed sorta like medieval knights. The third person who must've been the one in charge of the three was completely different though. Black clothing, light-colored hair, a black bandanna wrapped around most of his face, and piercing eyes. He sent out this really strange-looking Pokémon. It was a ball of greenish-blue vines with eyes."
"That kind of sounds like a Tangela," I commented.
"Tangela? That's what it's called? More you know, I guess," Hugh said. "So... they came up to us and one of them started ranting on about how we were treating Pearls like a toy and that we should let her go because she would be better off in the wild. Then the other one chimed in with how Team Plasma was on a mission to liberate Pokémon all over Unova. Lily told them that Pearls wasn't a toy and she loved her more than anything else. I was scared and I told them to go away and leave us alone. Then the guy in black stared at Lily and said something that made me feel sick," Hugh exhaled shakily.
I quietly waited for him to continue.
"The guy said 'Power Whip,' while he was staring at Lily. The Tangela lifted two of its vines, each glowing with some kind of energy. I dove in front of Lily in order to protect her, and... everything was kinda hazy after that. I could only remember not being able to breathe and feeling a horrible pain in my right arm." Hugh finally looked at me, his eyes filled with sadness. "I woke up later in one of the Aspertia Pokémon Center's rooms, my parents and Lily standing beside my hospital bed. I was just glad that Lily wasn't seriously hurt. After I woke up, my parents told me about what happened and Lily's side of the story. Apparently, someone found Lily and I out on Route 19. Lily had a scratch and a few bruises from being thrown to the ground. I was found nearly choked to death and with a broken arm."
He pulled down one side of his jacket's high collar and I saw an inch wide dark red scar ringing his neck. He then rolled up his jacket's right sleeve and showed me a similar scar, one inch wide, dark red, only this one looped several times up and around his right arm, like how vines would grow on columns. "The burns left behind by the Power Whip never healed all the way, so I always wear this jacket whenever I go out. It's one of the only things I own that covers both scars." He pulled his sleeve back down. "When I was taken out of the situation, Lily was left practically defenseless. Sure, she had Pearls, but that didn't mean she knew how to battle. Those thugs told her that they would... kill me if she didn't hand Pearls over. You can probably figure out what Lily did after hearing their demands."
I was beyond astonished, completely speechless. I stared at Hugh, my mouth slightly open like I was about to say something though no words came out. Hugh, one of my closest friends, had kept this story a secret the entire time I had known him. I almost wanted to think Hugh's story wasn't real, that it was just a really morbid tale he had come up with. That wasn't possible though. Lily's disposition, her attitude towards Pokémon, Hugh's hatred of Team Plasma, and his scars all were evidence betraying the minuscule prick of doubt I had. I thought anything I might say would sound insensitive. The only thing I could think to do was hug my friend. Hugh clearly wasn't prepared for this, because out of the corner of my eye I saw his face turn several shades of red.
"I... I'm sorry for dumping all of this information on you like this," Hugh said faintly. "Seeing Team Plasma again, they brought up those memories."
I shook my head. "No, I understand," I replied. "I can't imagine what it must have been like for you and Lily to go through something like that." There was some truth to that statement, I really couldn't imagine it. But I then realized that I did. How I felt when I saw Nate get hurt, the anger and terror I felt then, Hugh must've felt that in those brief seconds before he shielded Lily. I suddenly felt anger, and a deep hatred. Hatred... for Team Plasma. They would pay for what they'd done.
I let Hugh go and looked at him with resolve. "You want to get Pearls back, don't you," I stated bitterly, already knowing the answer. He nodded. "I'll help you find her," I said. "It's been five years, but that doesn't mean Pearls is gone forever."
Hugh smiled. "Thanks. I kinda expected you to say you would help. You're the kind of girl who would want to help someone whether they want it or not."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I said jokingly. "At least I'm not the type of person who can crap out a soap opera spur-of-the-moment!"
"Whatever! You agreed to help me find Pearls, that's what matters right now," Hugh responded.
"Hugh, why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"
We looked away from each other and saw Nate staring at us, fully awake and looking confused.
"Nate! How long have you been listening?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I wasn't really paying attention. I only began listening when I heard you mention Team Plasma. Weren't they the crazy group that were causing a lot of trouble two years ago?"
"Yeah they were," Hugh replied. "They got broken up by this one guy, can't remember his name though. It was old-fashioned sounding."
"Hilbert. His name was Hilbert," I recalled. "Nate, remember when mom worked at the Driftveil Pokémon Center for a month? When she was on break one day, she overheard some visiting news people talking about their latest story. A young man named Hilbert Idelle had been involved in a few incidents concerning Team Plasma, and he was considered a battling prodigy who was known to have earned four badges in about two months. A while later, he went on to stop Team Plasma's plan of world domination."
"Huh, a prodigy earning badges in a short amount of time... sounds like someone I know," Hugh remarked, glancing at Nate.
"You're not wrong!" Nate smiled, then he became puzzled again. "Wait, if Plasma was disbanded, why are they back? And according to Hugh's story, they had the whole 'knight in shining armor' thing going on. You know, with their talk about saving all Pokémon and stuff."
"You've got a point," Hugh said.
I agreed, it didn't make much sense. They were broken up, so why were they suddenly popping up again? "Maybe it's a splinter group? I mean, the group leader called themselves Neo Team Plasma."
Nate sighed. "Whatever they call themselves, they're back and they're dangerous. What happened to Hugh and myself is proof enough that they're not afraid to assault people to get what they want." He shuddered and crossed his arms over his midsection. "I'll tell you, that guy hit hard!" I could see the fear in his eyes as he said that, and it made my heart ache. Neo Team Plasma was definitely going to pay for this!
I then remembered the Plasma member who stood by and didn't do anything at first. The way he reacted and how he seemed shocked about the situation was a bit strange the more I thought about it. Maybe it was his first "mission" or something? I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and focused back in on the conversation.
"If Neo Plasma is a real thing and they're actually regrouping, what does that mean for everyone?" Hugh said. "The whole of Unova could be in danger!"
"No one has heard anything about them yet and in a way, it's a good thing. If other people don't know about them, it means this splinter group is brand-new. I'm sure Roxie has contacted the authorities about the what happened in Virbank," I said.
"Yeah right! The cops sure did a whole lot to stop them last time, and look how far they got in their plan. If it hadn't been for Hilbert, Unova would've been conquered!" Hugh argued.
"Don't even start an argument about this!" Nate interjected. "Let's just assume Rosa is right about Neo Plasma and go from there. I know we're new Trainers, but we can still do something about this. Hilbert was a rookie and he still managed to take on the original Team Plasma, and guess what? He won. So why can't we?"
Hugh scoffed. "You know what they say about assuming... it makes an a—"
"That's not the point!" Nate huffed, casting Hugh an irritated glance. "I know you want to find Pearls. If we actively hunt down Neo Plasma, we have a greater chance of finding her. I'm genuinely surprised you didn't come up with this idea, for Arceus' sake!"
The afternoon sunlight was suddenly cut off and the deck of the boat was covered in shade. I looked up and saw that we were so close to Castelia City, one of the tallest buildings had eclipsed the sun.
"We're docking at Prime Pier! ETA is three minutes!" the captain announced over a loudspeaker.
"We can deal with this issue later," I said. "We have a metropolis to explore." Despite still seething over Neo Plasma, I was beyond excited to check out Castelia City. The sights, the streets, the stores, everything! We were on the mainland now, anything could happen!