PokeWild

Fred turned back to them as the panel doors to the masters’ hall slid closed.

Before he could open his mouth the redhead behind him moved. She struck with a quick hook kick to the back of Fred’s legs, making him stumble. An open palm hit his falling shoulder, driving that stumble to the side and forcing him to turn. Fred spun around with a yelp.

David stopped with a jerk. His hands shot to his backpack straps. The heavy backpack had only been a liability in his last fight.

But the woman did not strike again at Fred’s unprotected back.

Fred straightened from his stumble and kept walking. Aside from a hunch to his shoulders it was like the series of strikes had never happened.

The attendant coughed lightly. David started moving again and he followed behind the two red heads. At a slightly greater distance this time.

-.-

Only when they left the dojo’s central mansion did Fred try to turn again.

The redhead behind him kicked forward once more, but this time Fred was prepared. He lifted his left leg and swung it to the side. Their legs collided with a clap and hers was pushed to the side.

The two of them stood close now and their similarities ended with their red hair. She was tall and willowy while Fred was more stout. She wore a formal gi, pristine even after the blows while Fred’s gi was already slightly crooked. Both raised their hands in front of their chests.

David’s hands rose to his straps again but he didn’t drop his backpack. It was obvious that the two knew each other, and violent though the blows were, this didn’t seem like an angry fight. There was no shouting for one.

The woman struck out with the heel of her palm at Fred’s right shoulder, still aiming to turn him back around.

Fred’s right arm lifted. His right fist rose up to the top of his head. He blocked the blow with his forearm and pushed it out to the side.

As the palm strike was turned aside Fred punched out with his left hand. His closed fist shot towards her head.

David’s grip on his straps tightened. Maybe it wasn’t a friendly fight.

But the woman only smiled, and as the fist neared her face she lazily swung an elbow up. Fred’s fist was pushed aside by her forearm. He made to pull his fist back but the woman latched onto his forearm with the same hand that she had blocked the punch with.

She leaned forward past his outstretched elbows, placing her weight on the same leg that Fred had pushed to the side earlier.

Fred’s eyes widened as her other knee shot into the air and towards his stomach. The teen’s left arm was still stuck in her grip but he awkwardly swung his right forearm down to try and push the knee further left and away from his body.

He failed.

The knee was unhindered and it smacked into Fred’s stomach, restrained only at the last minute.

“Ooooff.”

Fred was forced to exhale by the blow but he wasn’t folded over the knee as he could have been.

The woman dropped her grip on his elbow and struck for his head.

David slipped out of the straps and started forward.

Her open hand blow lightly slapped Fred’s head and began to ruffle his hair.

“Mom!” Fred groaned as he brought his hands up to brush away her persistent hands.

“Mom?” David muttered, stopping. He looked at the two again. They looked nothing alike.

“Oh? You still don’t like this? From what I saw at the council I thought I had my little Ember back.”

Fred gave up on brushing the hands away and stepped back to get some distance.

“Someone had to say it! They’re doing nothing! It’s like they’ve given up!” Fred protested.

“Mmhm. You are better, you deserve that yellow belt, but you still leave yourself open to knee blows!” Fred’s mother continued, ignoring Fred’s protest. “But it seems I need to forget about my Ember and teach my Fred.”

She turned to David.

“The grandmaster has spoken and we cannot shelter you. But, we can warn you and let you know what you are up against. I will teach you too.”

And with that she spun around and strode away from them, back the way Fred and he had come earlier.

Fred waited for David to pick up his backpack and they followed.

-.-

David sat beside Fred awkwardly as they waited for Fred’s mother to return. After arriving at the same building he’d met Fred at earlier, their home, he’d been led into their home and ushered through a narrow hallway to their kitchen-come-dining room.

The room's layout was weird. They were sitting at a table set into a cubbyhole with seats attached to the wall. You had to slide across the seats to get around the table which took up most of the space in the small nook. What was odd was the huge amount of open space between the cubbyhole and the kitchen itself. There was more than enough room for a much larger table and chair set in the unused space. The cubbyhole felt like it should be used for storage. Why cramp everyone into this small space to leave the majority of the room empty?

Fred’s mother arrived back with a teapot, which she placed in the middle of the table, and a stack of cups, which she placed by Fred. Fred set out the cups in a practiced motion as his mother slid into the table opposite them.

“It is David yes? My name is Eloise.”

David nodded to confirm and Eloise let out a hum as she pulled the teapot towards her and began to stir the contents.

“I guess I should start this lesson at the beginning for you.” Eloise turned to Fred. “Tell your friend how Saffron came to be as it is.”

Fred grumbled but with a sigh he turned to David.

“Saffron was originally a crossroads between other settlements. It was a stopover point for travelers to rest before continuing their journeys. With travelers, goods and money came bandits. The travelers began to hire guards to battle the bandits and protect them. Eventually merchants pooled together money to fund an outpost for permanent guards. That outpost turned into the dojo over time.”

Eloise snorted but continued to stir. “Short but sufficient. Now the integration.”

Fred narrowed his eyes at her but continued to recite as if by rote.

“A village formed around the outpost. Not a usual village with fields and herds but a collection of houses and craftsmen. Walls were built to better repel bandits and the village continued to grow. Then the uprising in the south happened. The village grew as more and more fled the fights. When the uprising ended a convoy arrived at the gates. The Voyant clan had lost and were seeking refuge. The dojo, which accepted all who could show their mettle and was the only sovereign at the time made from bonds of spirit not blood, welcomed the convoy. Together the leaders of the two sovereigns named the outpost Saffron for the yellow of spirit and how the Voyant clan’s emblem was similar to the golden flower.”

Eloise looked up from the teapot finally and gave a wide grin.

“Now the real integration story.”

Fred balked. Fred wasn’t as obvious as the policeman from earlier but David saw how the teen’s eyes moved toward him.

“I thought that wasn’t to be discussed with..” Fred trailed off but David got the idea. Guests. Strangers. Outsiders.

David flicked his eyes between mother and son. What could they be hiding and why did they care? This sounded like it had happened hundreds of years ago.

“It is relevant to what I am teaching,” Eloise answered, lifting the spoon out of the teapot. She tapped the spoon against the edge of the teapot with two ‘tings’ as if to close the matter.

More hesitantly, Fred began to speak again.

“The Voyant convoy arrived at the outpost gates battered and tired. Many of their trainers and Pokemon were injured or dead from ambushes along the road. The uprising had not chased them to the village’s gates but they had chased them far. The Voyants were desperate and mostly women and children. The grandmaster at the time gave them entry and promised protection but only at the cost of most of their remaining treasures. Only the symbol of their rule of the marshes was left to them.”

“And?” Eloise’s voice was cold now.

Vapors rose from the teapot but a chill filled David as he heard the story. He had seen convoys of refugees in the news back home many times. It was never a pretty sight, and it sounded like the grandmaster had all but robbed them. It was a very different story compared to the earlier version.

“And the grandmaster had one last stipulation. As the Voyant’s trainers were laid low and, specializing in Psychic Pokemon they tended to be weak of body, he-” Fred’s voice turned bitter and sad. “-gifted them another way of proving their mettle. Their people would have refuge but only if the main Voyant family crawled from one side of the outpost to the other.”

Fred’s head sank and he stared at the table.

“So they did. The proud madness of the marsh crawled in the mud and dirt across the outpost for their people while the honorable dojo laughed and jeered. We became like the bandits we were founded to destroy. It is our greatest shame.”

Eloise picked up the teapot and, reaching across the table, began to pour. The gentle gurgle of the flowing water was the only sound until she continued the story.

“The dojo’s greatest shame and the Voyant’s lowest point. With two sovereigns in residence Saffron grew explosively. The Voyant’s trainers recovered, and now had even more anger and hate to spur their growth. They fed on the emotion. With the dojo’s protection and an abundance of free time now that they had nothing to rule, they grew powerful.” Eloise paused to set the teapot down in the center of the table.

David’s cup was full but he was too enthralled to drink.

“But even as they surpassed their previous strength they did not strike at the dojo or at the marshes. They were called mad and cruel, but never stupid. The uprising taught them that no matter how tight they gripped, they could not control the minds of others and crushing them did not always work. They had learned on their hands and knees what it felt like to be one of their subjects and they sought dominance no more. Instead they prospered and learned to influence through intelligence and suggestion, not the power of their minds.”

Eloise stopped to sip at her cup. Fred lifted his up with slow hands.

“When Kanto was founded it was the Voyants that became the representatives of Saffron and not the more senior dojo.”

“How is this related to Team Rocket?” Fred cut in. His voice was still gloomy but clearer. For something that had happened hundreds of years ago, he seemed to take it very personally.

Eloise turned to David and gestured at his cup in question. A little embarrassed he waved her away and picked it up. Bringing it to his lips he was surprised by the refreshing zingy flavor. He’d expected tea. The drink wasn’t fruity as such but there was a definite energy rush from it, like it contained sugar. He smiled and nodded his thanks to Eloise.

“There has never been open battle between the dojo and the Voyants but the tension was never cleared. They cannot forget their slights as we cannot forget our shame." Eloise sipped her cup again. "When Haruki spoke of backing he spoke of the Voyants. The sovereigns of the Saffron gym.”

“What?” Fred’s voice was sharp as he slapped his cup back down onto the table with a clatter. His gloom had been burned away by anger. “The gym supports Team Rocket? And the dojo won’t do anything? I don’t care what happened in the past. We should stop them.”

“Quiet!” Eloise snapped back just as angrily. “You know nothing. Protest at the end of the lesson.”

They stared at each other, forgetting about David as they clashed. After a second Fred’s hand relaxed and he leaned back against the cubbyhole wall. Eloise kept her gaze fixed on her son as she started again.

“The great war changed Kanto. It changed Saffron and it changed both the dojo and the Voyant clan. Such large scale battles and loss of life had never been seen before. Destruction is more freely dealt when you don’t need to live in the craters you leave behind. The dojo and the Voyants contributed fully to the war but fewer from the dojo returned. This led to accusations of sabotage and treachery which strained relations. Teleport was a luxury that few other than the Voyants possessed and what ifs are hard to forget. The simple truth is that at most it would be cowardice, but anger and grief has a mind of its own. None of Saffron’s trainers would turn on each other over what happened hundreds of years ago.”

“You think I don’t know this already?” Fred whispered.

“But even the trainers that came back were changed. Most of all the Voyant heir, Bryan. The war had awoken something in him or crushed whatever spirit he had. Bryan began a campaign to take over the Saffron gym from his mother earlier than tradition and he did it by breaking the balance in the city. Our trainers had barely returned when he began to visit the dojo. Every day a challenge and every day a crushed mind as was the way of his ancestors. Only the grandmaster with his son’s Machamp could turn Bryan back and not without cost.”

Eloise poured herself another cup with shaking hands.

“The visits only stopped when he became a gym leader but the madness settling over Saffron was not finished. No trainer was unscathed but Bryan never strayed too far in his position as a gym leader. Unless he fought a dojo member. Our Pokemon lacked- ” Eloise’s voice wavered “-mettle, he would say. Fewer and fewer young trainers came to Saffron each year as a result of his actions. In his tenure as gym leader not one dojo member earned a Marsh badge. It was forbidden to attempt the challenge after the losses in the first two years, but the foolhardy still tried.”

“But he’s not a gym leader anymore.” Fred spoke softly but with an undertone. “Sabrina is.”

“Yes,” Eloise said. Satisfaction fought with fear on her face. “Bryan was defeated by his daughter as he once cast down his mother. But don’t think her different. One madness just devoured the other. After his removal Bryan has not been seen, but the dojo still has influence. We know he is a shell now. His mind crushed as he once crushed others.”

“And if he can be defeated, so can she,” Fred argued triumphantly. “We can protect Saffron and restore what we’ve lost.”

“You have no idea of what was lost!” Eloise cut across him, her hands clutching the table. ”You never saw the war or that monster’s battles. You never had to watch noble Pokemon wither away, physically fine but broken. You don’t understand what it was like to have to live with that and have him as the city’s leader.”

Fred slid out from the table.

“I know what was lost,” Fred said, his voice pained. He turned and left the room.

Eloise cursed and rested her head against the wall.

David waited a moment before sliding out of the cubbyhole. Eloise's warning/ lesson had been terrifying and useful but it was becoming clear that this was straying into something else that he shouldn’t be here for.

“I’m sorry for… everything.” David trailed off. He had never thought that accepting a training match against the eager teen and his Pokemon would have led him here.

“His father always made himself a target too,” Eloise said wistfully before turning to David. “Fred would have found trouble somehow or been a target for who he is. At least now I can prepare him for it. I know I’m not in any position to give you advice but you should stay away from the gym. Leave here if you can. Saffron is not safe.”