A half-hour later, Hibiki, Kenta, and Ein stood alone at the eastern gate of Mahogany Town, watching as a rainbow lined the sky above them. At its highest end, disappearing into the clouds, was a golden bird bound south. Once the rainbow was faded from sight, Ein sighed and turned his back, facing the road.
"It's depressing to bear," he murmured, possibly to himself. "You have all this brainpower, work hard to make something of yourself, finally succeed, and then it turns out that your life's work was a bad choice. I didn't think I'd have to face that again, and so soon. Perhaps I'm not as smart as I thought after all."
Hibiki watched as he trodded off, hands in his coat pockets, shoulders slumped low. "Are you gonna be okay?" he called after him.
"Yeah . . . in time," Ein replied distantly as he went. "I think I'll just . . . visit the lake. Maybe skip a few stones over it. I used to enjoy that when I was little. Didn't have many chances to do it, where I lived." He turned a corner and disappeared out of sight.
Kenta bent down and began picking up the pieces of the smashed Master Ball that Ein had left behind. Hibiki knelt and helped him.
"Your buddy Kurt's gonna be pissed about this."
"He'll get over it. In the end, Ho-oh helped us after all."
Kenta's voice was steady, but as Hibiki looked up at him, he saw an expression he had never seen on his brother before. It was the look of deep hurt that appears fleetingly on the face of a small child, just before bursting into tears. Only Kenta's eyes were already red underneath, as though he had recently finished crying.
"Kenta?" Hibiki said, putting a hand lightly on his shoulder. "Are you . . . are you okay?"
It was a mindless question. In that moment, Kenta looked more broken than the fragments of Ein's Master Ball. "Okay?" he echoed in a croaking voice. Kenta gave a hiccuping cough, swallowed twice, and brushed his cheek. " . . . You know the answer to that. I can't hide it from you any longer."
Immediately, Hibiki felt the tender wish to comfort him, and folded an arm around his older brother's shoulder. They both sat down on the ground, looking at the fragments still scattered in the dust.
"So you're not okay," he said, as gently as he could. "But I've been with you through your low points before. We've always managed to bounce back together, when the going got tough."
"Maybe not this time . . ." Kenta gave a shuddering sigh. Now Hibiki felt his brother's arm on his own shoulder. "I wanted to make it to the end. I still wanna see it through. But Hibiki, I am just so tired . . ."
Hibiki said nothing, but gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. The corner of Kenta's mouth went up ever so slightly.
"Thanks for trying. But it's time I just told you . . . I've been holding back this whole time. I've always tried to put on a brave or cheerful front to make this work. But I'm not just tired- I'm exhausted. And I act all confident, but the truth is, I don't know that I'll ever see Baku again."
Kenta buried his face in his knees, and Hibiki could think of nothing but to hug him a bit tighter. Kenta exhaled a long breath. "What a pathetic spectacle, huh?" he said, his voice muffled through his pants. "But it feels good to say out loud."
There were no words for the occasion. The brothers just sat there as they were, and let the time pass. It might have been minutes, or hours, before Kenta finally spoke again. His voice was stronger and clearer, but still burdened with melancholy.
"God, that hurt. To hear Ho-oh tell me what I've always known, to get it directly from her . . . god, that hurt so much." He looked up at the sky, cloudless and a cool blue. "I saw her once before this. Or . . . maybe it wasn't her, but a different one. But back then, it filled me with inspiration. Made me believe I could do anything . . ."
With a final deep inhale and exhale, Kenta reached out and grabbed up the rest of the Master Ball fragments, then straightened to a standing position. Hibiki came up with him. Kenta looked at him, and there was new resolve in his face.
"Hey, bro. Promise me something."
Hibiki snapped to attention. "Sure. What?"
"Promise me you'll make the Pokémon Trainer journey. She said you had a Heart of Gold. If you live out your dream, I'm certain you'll do greater things than I ever did."
Hibiki's eyes widened. "Greater than you, Kenta? How can you expect that of me? I don't believe there's a greater trainer than you!"
"Then make it so. I'll do what I can to make it happen." Kenta held Hibiki's arms firmly, standing straight and tall, as if already swearing an oath of his own.
"Kenta . . ." Hibiki looked away. "You know I can't promise what I don't have the assurance to make happen." He met Kenta's pleading eyes again. "But I will do it if I can. No vows or anything like that. Just let my yes be a yes."
Kenta looked at him, nodded, and gave him a smile that seemed to lift much care and worry from his face.
"That will do. Let's see this through to the end."
***
The morning of the Master's Tournament dawned, and just outside the cave that was Victory Road, four figures crouched concealed in a bush. Two officials of the Pokémon League guarded the entrance, and the quartet watched as a young man with windswept, spiky hair approached them. The guards hailed him, and one extended a hand, into which the newcomer placed his pokedex. They examined it for a minute, then returned it to him with a nod. He said something in a nasally voice, then passed between them, into the darkness of the cave.
"As expected of Blue," murmured the figure in the red cap, ducking back behind the bush. "He always did feel the need to be ahead of me in everything." He turned and smirked to the young man crouching beside him, dressed in his military police uniform. "Now more than ever, since he knows I'm coming."
Kenta, the one donning the police disguise, was too distracted by the list in his hands to take notice of Red's comment. Hibiki read it over his shoulder. It was a printout of all the pre-2008 pokémon masters who had registered for the tournament, along with the date and time Victory Road would be open for them to pass through to the main arena. They had arrived at six o'clock AM, a full hour before the official 7:00 time, in order to secure a concealed location and observe the patterns of the guards. For the most part, there was virtually no change in their behavior, so Kenta had taken to reading and re-reading the names on the list, trying to predict how they might end up battling, and how various match-ups could turn out. Although there were more than sixty names on the list, Hibiki only recognized eight of the competitors, mostly for their Champion status. He read them over, checking the notes Kenta had made about them in the margins.
Brendan B. - The Hoenn Champion, and the favorite to win the tournament.
Cynthia C. - The Sinnoh Champ, and a dark horse known for her team variety.
Rosette C. - The relatively-new Champion of Herron, though probably the weakest.
Blue M. - The guy who had just passed. Red's former rival, currently a gym leader.
Wallace M. - Like Blue, also a gym leader who was Champion for a short time.
Steven S. - Former Hoenn Champion, undefeated until he threw the battle with Wallace.
Red T. - That was Red, of course, whose sheer power people considered legendary.
Lance W. - The reigning Kanto/Johto Champ. He wouldn't need to take Victory Road.
There were other names such as Mike A, Jolt M, Theo L, Mikazuchi M, and so on, but Hibiki drew a blank at these. He glanced over at their other companion in disguise: Bill. He was supposedly going as one of the lesser-known Masters, a former Ace Trainer called "Sanchez" who had a flair for stylish dress code. Bill currently wore a cloak that was entirely black, save for a trim pattern of golden-yellow lines that ran through it. It had been custom-made by none other than Red's mother, but only- according to Red- after a long dialogue she'd had with him. Bill also wore a wide-rimmed hat that covered a good deal of his face. This too was in keeping with Sanchez's style, as he would often let his hair cover his eyes and his face. Hibiki didn't hesitate to comment on how vain Sanchez was, but Kenta welcomed it as a lucky break.
"We should have gone out while they were distracted with Blue," murmured Bill.
"Negative," said Kenta, finally looking up from his paper. "I saw that one guard's eyes roving around. They both need to be distracted by coming Masters before we can slip out of these bushes. Plus, we should probably keep Blue a good distance from Red for now."
"Well, don't be too picky," Bill replied, brushing his cloak nervously. "If the real Ace Sanchez comes through before I do, Plan A will be a bust." He tugged his hat down. "I'm actually somewhat hoping for that. This outfit is ridiculous."
"Stop fidgeting with it. You look great."
Red held up a finger to hush them. "A girl's coming by," he said. "This might be our opening, Gold. Get ready."
Hibiki watched the two of them crouch, looking just over the top of the bush with their muscles tense as springs. Faintly, he could hear the girl's voice as she spoke with the guards.
"Topaz from Johto. Here's my pokedex."
Suddenly, Red sprang from his crouch and made a few loping strides away from the bush. Kenta followed right on his heels, and a second later, the two of them settled into an easy stroll. Hibiki hadn't seen, but the guards must have been sufficiently preoccupied with the girl, Topaz.
That means Bill's coming right after, thought Hibiki, glancing back at him. If any trainer would hold the attention of both guards, it would be Red, and even Bill's flashy attire would be unnoticed for a few seconds. Bill, knowing he was next, pulled a red metallic device from his pocket, and opening it, handed it to Hibiki. It was Kenta's pokedex, but Bill had fiddled with it to change the trainer identification.
"Tell me the truth," Bill said, almost in a pleading voice. "Do I look like Sanchez? I tried to alter the picture a bit so it would fit me better."
"It's depressing to bear," he murmured, possibly to himself. "You have all this brainpower, work hard to make something of yourself, finally succeed, and then it turns out that your life's work was a bad choice. I didn't think I'd have to face that again, and so soon. Perhaps I'm not as smart as I thought after all."
Hibiki watched as he trodded off, hands in his coat pockets, shoulders slumped low. "Are you gonna be okay?" he called after him.
"Yeah . . . in time," Ein replied distantly as he went. "I think I'll just . . . visit the lake. Maybe skip a few stones over it. I used to enjoy that when I was little. Didn't have many chances to do it, where I lived." He turned a corner and disappeared out of sight.
Kenta bent down and began picking up the pieces of the smashed Master Ball that Ein had left behind. Hibiki knelt and helped him.
"Your buddy Kurt's gonna be pissed about this."
"He'll get over it. In the end, Ho-oh helped us after all."
Kenta's voice was steady, but as Hibiki looked up at him, he saw an expression he had never seen on his brother before. It was the look of deep hurt that appears fleetingly on the face of a small child, just before bursting into tears. Only Kenta's eyes were already red underneath, as though he had recently finished crying.
"Kenta?" Hibiki said, putting a hand lightly on his shoulder. "Are you . . . are you okay?"
It was a mindless question. In that moment, Kenta looked more broken than the fragments of Ein's Master Ball. "Okay?" he echoed in a croaking voice. Kenta gave a hiccuping cough, swallowed twice, and brushed his cheek. " . . . You know the answer to that. I can't hide it from you any longer."
Immediately, Hibiki felt the tender wish to comfort him, and folded an arm around his older brother's shoulder. They both sat down on the ground, looking at the fragments still scattered in the dust.
"So you're not okay," he said, as gently as he could. "But I've been with you through your low points before. We've always managed to bounce back together, when the going got tough."
"Maybe not this time . . ." Kenta gave a shuddering sigh. Now Hibiki felt his brother's arm on his own shoulder. "I wanted to make it to the end. I still wanna see it through. But Hibiki, I am just so tired . . ."
Hibiki said nothing, but gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. The corner of Kenta's mouth went up ever so slightly.
"Thanks for trying. But it's time I just told you . . . I've been holding back this whole time. I've always tried to put on a brave or cheerful front to make this work. But I'm not just tired- I'm exhausted. And I act all confident, but the truth is, I don't know that I'll ever see Baku again."
Kenta buried his face in his knees, and Hibiki could think of nothing but to hug him a bit tighter. Kenta exhaled a long breath. "What a pathetic spectacle, huh?" he said, his voice muffled through his pants. "But it feels good to say out loud."
There were no words for the occasion. The brothers just sat there as they were, and let the time pass. It might have been minutes, or hours, before Kenta finally spoke again. His voice was stronger and clearer, but still burdened with melancholy.
"God, that hurt. To hear Ho-oh tell me what I've always known, to get it directly from her . . . god, that hurt so much." He looked up at the sky, cloudless and a cool blue. "I saw her once before this. Or . . . maybe it wasn't her, but a different one. But back then, it filled me with inspiration. Made me believe I could do anything . . ."
With a final deep inhale and exhale, Kenta reached out and grabbed up the rest of the Master Ball fragments, then straightened to a standing position. Hibiki came up with him. Kenta looked at him, and there was new resolve in his face.
"Hey, bro. Promise me something."
Hibiki snapped to attention. "Sure. What?"
"Promise me you'll make the Pokémon Trainer journey. She said you had a Heart of Gold. If you live out your dream, I'm certain you'll do greater things than I ever did."
Hibiki's eyes widened. "Greater than you, Kenta? How can you expect that of me? I don't believe there's a greater trainer than you!"
"Then make it so. I'll do what I can to make it happen." Kenta held Hibiki's arms firmly, standing straight and tall, as if already swearing an oath of his own.
"Kenta . . ." Hibiki looked away. "You know I can't promise what I don't have the assurance to make happen." He met Kenta's pleading eyes again. "But I will do it if I can. No vows or anything like that. Just let my yes be a yes."
Kenta looked at him, nodded, and gave him a smile that seemed to lift much care and worry from his face.
"That will do. Let's see this through to the end."
***
The morning of the Master's Tournament dawned, and just outside the cave that was Victory Road, four figures crouched concealed in a bush. Two officials of the Pokémon League guarded the entrance, and the quartet watched as a young man with windswept, spiky hair approached them. The guards hailed him, and one extended a hand, into which the newcomer placed his pokedex. They examined it for a minute, then returned it to him with a nod. He said something in a nasally voice, then passed between them, into the darkness of the cave.
"As expected of Blue," murmured the figure in the red cap, ducking back behind the bush. "He always did feel the need to be ahead of me in everything." He turned and smirked to the young man crouching beside him, dressed in his military police uniform. "Now more than ever, since he knows I'm coming."
Kenta, the one donning the police disguise, was too distracted by the list in his hands to take notice of Red's comment. Hibiki read it over his shoulder. It was a printout of all the pre-2008 pokémon masters who had registered for the tournament, along with the date and time Victory Road would be open for them to pass through to the main arena. They had arrived at six o'clock AM, a full hour before the official 7:00 time, in order to secure a concealed location and observe the patterns of the guards. For the most part, there was virtually no change in their behavior, so Kenta had taken to reading and re-reading the names on the list, trying to predict how they might end up battling, and how various match-ups could turn out. Although there were more than sixty names on the list, Hibiki only recognized eight of the competitors, mostly for their Champion status. He read them over, checking the notes Kenta had made about them in the margins.
Brendan B. - The Hoenn Champion, and the favorite to win the tournament.
Cynthia C. - The Sinnoh Champ, and a dark horse known for her team variety.
Rosette C. - The relatively-new Champion of Herron, though probably the weakest.
Blue M. - The guy who had just passed. Red's former rival, currently a gym leader.
Wallace M. - Like Blue, also a gym leader who was Champion for a short time.
Steven S. - Former Hoenn Champion, undefeated until he threw the battle with Wallace.
Red T. - That was Red, of course, whose sheer power people considered legendary.
Lance W. - The reigning Kanto/Johto Champ. He wouldn't need to take Victory Road.
There were other names such as Mike A, Jolt M, Theo L, Mikazuchi M, and so on, but Hibiki drew a blank at these. He glanced over at their other companion in disguise: Bill. He was supposedly going as one of the lesser-known Masters, a former Ace Trainer called "Sanchez" who had a flair for stylish dress code. Bill currently wore a cloak that was entirely black, save for a trim pattern of golden-yellow lines that ran through it. It had been custom-made by none other than Red's mother, but only- according to Red- after a long dialogue she'd had with him. Bill also wore a wide-rimmed hat that covered a good deal of his face. This too was in keeping with Sanchez's style, as he would often let his hair cover his eyes and his face. Hibiki didn't hesitate to comment on how vain Sanchez was, but Kenta welcomed it as a lucky break.
"We should have gone out while they were distracted with Blue," murmured Bill.
"Negative," said Kenta, finally looking up from his paper. "I saw that one guard's eyes roving around. They both need to be distracted by coming Masters before we can slip out of these bushes. Plus, we should probably keep Blue a good distance from Red for now."
"Well, don't be too picky," Bill replied, brushing his cloak nervously. "If the real Ace Sanchez comes through before I do, Plan A will be a bust." He tugged his hat down. "I'm actually somewhat hoping for that. This outfit is ridiculous."
"Stop fidgeting with it. You look great."
Red held up a finger to hush them. "A girl's coming by," he said. "This might be our opening, Gold. Get ready."
Hibiki watched the two of them crouch, looking just over the top of the bush with their muscles tense as springs. Faintly, he could hear the girl's voice as she spoke with the guards.
"Topaz from Johto. Here's my pokedex."
Suddenly, Red sprang from his crouch and made a few loping strides away from the bush. Kenta followed right on his heels, and a second later, the two of them settled into an easy stroll. Hibiki hadn't seen, but the guards must have been sufficiently preoccupied with the girl, Topaz.
That means Bill's coming right after, thought Hibiki, glancing back at him. If any trainer would hold the attention of both guards, it would be Red, and even Bill's flashy attire would be unnoticed for a few seconds. Bill, knowing he was next, pulled a red metallic device from his pocket, and opening it, handed it to Hibiki. It was Kenta's pokedex, but Bill had fiddled with it to change the trainer identification.
"Tell me the truth," Bill said, almost in a pleading voice. "Do I look like Sanchez? I tried to alter the picture a bit so it would fit me better."