บท 11: THE THIRD FACTION PART: 1

Chapter Eleven:

An Unforseen Encounter

"He escaped…"

The voice of the councilor echoed across the chambers. There was silence as Andromeda steeled herself to reply.

"Yes." Her words were final, sending an all encompassing pressure throughout those that listened. "From the looks of it. He rose to enlightenment and accessed his first spell."

"Well that's unfortunate…" Pan was the one to answer. Her mask did not show her facial features, but from the way she sat, it was clear as day.

"He dove down Cetus' rushing flood, and ended up merging with the Great River to the north of the Silent Canyons." Andromeda pulled up an illusion of the empire's map. "If we follow the river, then it will lead to the capital."

There was more silence. The councilor looked grim at the thought of this Dragon Tamer entering the capital. At that point, discovery was imminent. And when that happens — well they just hoped it wouldn't.

"The river forks up ahead. There's still a chance that the Dragon Tamer took the other path." The woman holding the broom-sized sword stated, hoping to get an optimistic relief from the others, it was no use.

"If that's the case, then call us lucky." The councilor stated, trying to recover from his grim state. "Wherever this Dragon Tamer may be, we need to find him."

There were no rebuttals.

"Andromeda, you will be on hold for this mission. Focus on the treatment of your angels." Andromeda nodded to the councilor. "Pan, Warrior. Your very own knights will be the ones to hunt down this culprit."

The two leaders nodded consecutively. The councilor sighed and looked at the illusionary map. The river from the canyons will split up ahead, to the left will lead to one of the great cities in the east. To the right, it will lead directly to the capital.

"Warrior, you will take Bellebrooke to the east and Pan, you shall take the capital." Pan nodded while Warrior stayed suspiciously silent. "Do I make myself clear?" The councilor asked, seeing the hesitant face of Warrior.

"....understood." Warrior said, but not without a peculiar pause.

The man in the front sighed once more. He grasped his whitening hair and stared at the papers before him. Hollow was quiet during the whole exchange. His mind kept repeating the image of the Dragon Tamer over and over again.

There was something odd about that person, and he will figure it out.

.....

Pain was all that registered throughout Holland's mind. Flashes of memories made themselves known to his half conscious self as he struggled to gain consciousness.

Mom…Dad….Runi….Gracia….

Holland's eyes opened.

"Ohhh….g-god-d" Holland's face twisted at every inhale and exhale. He clutched his throat and felt a fabric-like substance wrapped around it.

"W-what the…." Holland's words paused and stuttered. Every letter uttered was a jab straight to his vocal chords. He wanted to cough so badly, but the pain in his throat prevented him from doing so.

The Pokemon Champion slowly regained consciousness, and at that time, he finally realized the area he was situated in. He tried to get up but a surge of pain rushed through his spine and legs.

Holland finally looked down, and his eyes widened. His legs were all bandaged up. Layers upon layers of fabric were wrapped tightly around them with a mysterious rock placed above each one. Holland's fingers traced the bandaged layers of his legs, a slight hitch to his breath at every sudden movement.

"One…two…three…"

With a painful humph, Holland called forth the last remaining bits of strength from his shaking arms to erect himself. He sat himself up at the head of the bed, making sure to not move his legs as much as possible.

"Ohh…god….ok…that hurts…aasrrghhh!" As he said those words, the prickling feeling of his throat made themselves known once more.

Holland closed his mouth abruptly, not willing to experience another slit to the throat. He let his eyes roam around the area as memories from the past made their way to his head.

That mental prison. Holland wanted to shout and scream but he couldn't. That place brought back everything he didn't want to experience again. Holland wiped the incoming tears in his eyes.

".....aauhdhd.." Ignoring the pain, Holland focused on the now. He buried the memories back, having no time to get emotional.

From the looks of it, he was in some kind of tent. The floor was plain dirt and there were no rugs to speak of. Cupboards and cabinets lined his front and right, and to the side, a gap of light could be seen entering the tent.

Probably the entrance.

Seeing as he was nowhere familiar, Holland made sure to burn every detail to memory. With seconds passed, Holland remembered his pokemon, or rather, his lack thereof.

His hands examined his waist, discovering that his belt was gone. He was in an entire different set of clothes. They were worse than hospital gowns, Holland could say that. Just a thin fabric wrapped around his body.

Holland tried to call for Runi, but there was nothing. All that greeted him was a tingling sensation in his head. He looked around and even considered shouting, but he would rather not experience another punch to the throat. Fortunately, he could hear a faint rustle and bustle of people beyond the walls of his tent.

They would discover that he's awake sooner or later. Hopefully sooner.

The minutes that passed were now slowly bleeding to an hour. Holland tapped his fingers, at the ticking seconds. The thought of screaming was now very captivating. With every moment that passed, the fear for his pokemon grew.

Could they have fallen off during the flood?

Holland continued to ponder when a scream shrieked right through the tent walls. Soon, more people were screaming. From the deep yells of men to a high pitched scream of a woman, it was all a frenzy. Within the sea of screams, a roar permeated through.

Could it be….

"Oh no no nooo…" A young girl no older than ten entered the tent. She was panting and sweat poured across her face. She pulled back the loose strands of her pigtails and cleaned out the ruffles in her green dress. "What is that thing…?" She hunched forward and faced the entrance she came in, failing to notice the set of eyes that looked at her with utmost curiosity.

"Could it be one of those fire salamanders from the south? I won't know for sure until its stupid owner wakes—" Her words were cut short as she finally noticed Holland's questioning gaze. Her face quickly morphed into a cheer as she walked closer to him. "Oh you're awake, just in time! One of your creatures is out of control!"

"Wait…wha-aarrgg" Holland asked only to shout in pain, quickly massaging his bandaged up throat.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Poppy walked over to some cabinet and took out a wheelchair. She rolled it across the dirt and eyed Holland. The champion stared at her and then his legs. "Painful right? Well, this should do the trick."

The girl pulled out a mysterious rock, same as the ones that were placed atop his legs. She let them hover inches away before the rocks stuck into his legs and spine like magnets. Immediately, a surge of relief entered through Holland's veins. His eyes began to droop as the absence of pain made way for sleep to seep through.

"Oh no! No sleeping today mister!" The girl slapped his cheek and Holland's droopy eyes shot open. "We need to calm down your beast."

Just as the girl said those words, another scream tore through the tent walls followed by a roar of some unseen creature. Holland's eyes widened in realization.

"I know that cry…" Holland choked out. It was still painful, but the rocks made it bearable. "We need to go"

The girl smiled and helped Holland fall into the comfy embrace of the wheelchair. Holland's back sunk into the chair's seat while the girl carefully placed his bandaged feet. Her hands gently strapped them to the chair's base before looking at him with a sweet smile.

"There. Wouldn't want them to fly off." She looked at him and Holland merely blinked. That second of silent interaction was broken by another cry. "Ok, let's go!"

The girl stood up and ran to Holland's back. Her hands grappled the chair's handle and Holland could feel the slight force pressed upon him. Seconds later, they were off. It was a funny sight really, if Holland thought about it.

The girl was huffing as she tried to push him through the uneven dirt road, while he bobbed up and down at the few bumps they passed. Holland tried to grasp the chair's side for support, but it was futile as the bumps caused him to jump up and about.

With a bit more push, the girl finally exited the tent. The rays of sunlight attacked Holland's face, blinding him for a moment. The shouts and yells were now more audible as Holland focused his vision, away from the sun's harsh light. Blinking his lashes, he finally saw the area he was in.

Tents surrounded the place, forming a massive circle. At the center was where chaos ensued. People were running around holding swords, spears, and even buckets of water. A man desperately grabbed a piece of rope and ran towards the center.

"Poppy!" A yell from the side caught the two's attention. Holland eyed the source of the call. A lean twenty something, with a slight presence of facial hair. "I told you to hide—" His words stopped as he realized who Poppy was with.

"I told you I'll fix this!" She said with a firm resolve before looking at Holland with a weary smile. "Well, you're gonna fix this hehe."

Before Holland could say anything else, the now named Poppy pushed him through the frenzy. The shouts of the man from before slowly mixed with the cacophony of noises until all they heard were indistinguishable shouts.

Holland could finally see it.

The seemingly chaotic frenzy was directed to a singular entity. A group of men huddled at the center where they tried to keep the beast at bay. As they grew nearer, Holland finally saw it, and his hunch was correct.

Right before him was a pokemon of fiery orange. Standing on two legs, it flapped its blue wings and roared, releasing a breath of flamethrower. Its fiery tail burned brighter as a rope was thrown over it in an attempt to capture it. Holland giggled. The rope immediately crumpled into ashes at the contact.

"Charizard…really?" Holland muttered to himself. The pokemon's face was hidden in a haze of smoke coming from its mouth. Holland waited for the smoke to settle, and once it did, Holland released a winded sigh.

"What are you doing? Stop it!" Poppy pleaded from behind. She looked at the face of this creature and cringed. "And why does it look like that?"

"Deedee! That's enough!" Holland mustered all the voice power he had. Luckily, she heard it. Two black dots for eyes and a thin line for a mouth looked at him.

The people that held his pokemon down finally realized his presence. They looked at his battered state and then to the fiery beast. The pokemon released a faint hum before morphing. Its body glowed and then shrunk to reveal a blob of purple slime.

"Ditto!" The pokemon slid through the confused men and jumped towards Holland. The champion braced himself for the impact.

"How did you get ou—ooff" Holland's words halted as Deedee collided right to his chest.

"Diiitttoooo…" The thin line and beady eyes that made its face shook slightly, imitating flowing water.

"Don't worry, it's ok now…." Holland comforted the distraught pokemon. Its gooey body deflated at his touch, effectively sneaking into his chest.

Holland turned his eyes to the silent watchers of the entire event. The frenzied people were now quiet as they all looked at Holland. The boy in question gave them a shaky smile before one person broke through the silence. Holland felt Poppy's hands tighten.

"You must be the individual we found in the river." A man wearing a robe of various shades of green appeared beyond the crowd. "It's nice to finally have you with us. Though, we apologize for the not so welcoming introductions."

"O-oh it's fine really. I should be the one to apologize. Deedee here gets anxious if I'm not around." The man in front gave him a soft smile before looking towards his back. Poppy's breath hitched at the man's gaze.

"In truth, it should be us who should apologize." The man gestured forward. Holland's eyes followed and there he saw his items including one open pokeball. "It seems your beloved creature wouldn't have made such a ruckus if it weren't for us."

There was silence as the entire crowd watched the three of them. Holland had no idea what to answer, mere giving a doubtful: "Oookkk—"

"I'm sorry!" Holland's face twisted at the sudden shout from Poppy. Her face was shaky as tears threatened to escape from her eyes. "I didn't mean to press that button…"

Holland looked between the girl and the man. The man sighed as he turned to meet Holland's gaze. Holland smiled shyly at the unfolding event. Looks like someone was getting way too curious, but even so, Holland felt a little anxious at the thought of someone fiddling with his stuff. Fortunately, he'd let this one slide

"It's ok, but you shouldn't try to open it without me." Holland finally said amongst the gazes of the people. "There are dangerous creatures inside those things, and they might act similarly to how Deedee here reacted. Fortunately, Deedee here is much more of a softy than you think"

Holland grabbed the pokemon on his chest and watched as it smiled its lined lips at Poppy. The girl sucked up her runny nose and looked at the creature. Dedee's beady eyes looked back before morphing into a creature of pinkish white fluff.

"Swirlix!" Deedee cried.

"Oh my gooooddd" Poppy squealed. Her fingers twitched as she looked to Holland. The champion smiled at her and nodded. "It's so cute!"

The girl grabbed the pokemon and squashed it between her arms. Deedee giggled at her antics, releasing cotton candy fluff into the air. The people that watched loosened their tight muscles. Poppy giggled with Deedee as more kids began to huddle around the pokemon.

"Mr…?" The man from before called to him. Holland fixed his gaze to him and started to regain his composure.

"...Holland. Call me Holland." Holland watched as the man nodded and gestured for the people to his side. The men nodded at him and went to Holland's wheelchair.

"If it is acceptable, we would like to have you back to your tent. Your wounds are still not properly healed. From the looks of it, Poppy merely gave you a pain remover." The man examined the stones that had magnetized onto himself. So that's what those were!

Holland was then pushed around as his chair faced the direction of his tent.

"Speaking of that, can I have my stuff? I know someone who might be able to help."

...….

"Auuudiinoo…"

Bel hummed as she released another wave of Heal Pulse, much to the amazement of the people that watched him. He was now back in his tent while Deedee continued to play with Poppy and the other kids.

"That is truly remarkable." The man in green looked at Bel with a sense of reverence. "I've never seen a summoner with this many summons, let alone being so varied in abilities."

"About that…what do you mean summons?" Holland looked at him. This wasn't the first time he was called a summoner. It's been three days from the time he got transported to that war all the way to the moment he collapsed in the river. Those days have been the most eventful three days of his life. Not even the league could hold a candle to it.

"Aren't you a summoner?" The man looked at him with tightening eyes.

"I'm more of a….Tamer." Holland said, earning a roll of murmurs from the people within the tent.

"Truly peculiar." The man Holland met when he exited the tent spoke. Holland looked at him and the man straightened from his deep thoughts. "Oh! My name's Collin. Right hand man to Leader Oou."

"Oou?" What a weird name, Holland thought. Unfortunately, the man in green seemed to sense this as he replied.

"That would be me. Any concern with that?" He looked at him with an amused smile on his face.

"Nothing…" Holland replied with a dry chuckle. "Anyways, can you tell me where I am?"

"Well Mr. Holland, you're in the presence of the third faction." Oou stated, earning the salute of everyone there.

"Yeaahh…. third faction of what?" Holland asked. This question caused another roll of murmurs. Oou looked to his subordinates before meeting Holland's gaze. The man stared at him, his eyes glowing a deep shade of green.

There was a tingling sensation throughout Holland's nose as he sniffed for the cause. The man continued staring and Holland could've sworn he had just barged through his mind. Though, he had no way to prove it.

"....Can we trust you, Mr. Holland?" The man's voice turned deep and slow. The people around him no longer whispered. Their eyes turned to him, waiting eagerly for his answer. Even the energetic Collin looked silent.

Holland gulped. The tingling sensation in his nose then traveled to his throat. Holland looked towards Bel, but the pokemon did not move. Her eyes were glossed over with a peculiar haze. Holland coughed as the sensation seemed to call upon an itch to his throat and tongue. The people were silent during this whole ordeal. Holland gulped his saliva once more and felt the itch enter his vocal chords.

".....Yes." Holland answered. Immediately, the itch subsided and the heavy atmosphere lightened considerably. Leader Oou looked at him with a fond smile while Collin shot him a wide grin. Bel gasped as she seemed to have regained her senses.

"Welcome Mr. Holland, to the Threefold Blade."

...….

Holland was now alone. After another close call via choking, the people decided it was time for him to get some rest.

He was currently surrounded by two of his pokemon. Deedee floated above him in the form of Swirlix while Audino sat beside his bed, sending him an occasional Heal Pulse here and there.

"What would I do without you guys…" Holland muttered, earning a satisfied trill from Deedee. Bel gave him a smile and proceeded to pinch his cheeks.

"Bel, I told you that hurts!" The pokemon in question laughed. She let go of his cheeks and covered her mouth shyly.

"Deedee, could you get my stuff for me." The body of Deedee was engulfed in light. Once it dimmed, in Swirlix's place was a goat-like pokemon with grass on her back.

"Skiiddooo" the pokemon cried and walked to the table holding all his stuff. The pokemon sent out a Vine Whip and lifted the entire table up. The pokemon then proceeded to carry the table towards Holland.

"Thanks Deedee." Holland patted the pokemon and began sifting through his stuff.

His clothes were folded neatly to the side while his bag and belt were placed on the other. On his belt, twelve pokeballs were magnetized on, earning a sigh of relief from the trainer. Holland opened his bag and inside were the things he expected.

His Xtranciever, portable storage compartments, Pokedex, and wallet were all there, allowing Holland to release another held breath. According to Collin, he was out for almost three days. He must've pulled off more than he could handle with the battle against those angels as they were called.

Holland was in deep thought when he remembered the final moments of his battle. Those words. Holland had no idea what those were, but at that moment, it was all perfectly clear. It was as if deep inside his subconscious, a greater knowledge opened up and forced him to use those words. But now, everything was blank. It was like the "greater knowledge" had sunk back deep into his mind.

From what Holland could remember though, it was liberating.

Holland opened his wallet and paused at the picture of his family. He had no idea where he was. He was pretty sure he wasn't in Kalos any more. If he was, then these people would've known about him, their new champion.

Holland closed his wallet and turned to the pokeballs. One by one he released all of his pokemon until there was one PokeBall left. Holland couldn't believe she was here to. The champion turned to Bel, earning a sorrowful hum from the pokemon.

"Audino…" The pokemon cried as her hands landed upon Holland.

"Hey it's ok…it was never your fault, it was mine." Holland comforted his oldest pokemon. Being the one to care for him, she knew this pokeball all too well, along with the memories that came with it.

The Pokemon Champion looked at the ball tightly wrapped around his fingers. His 11 other pokemon let their gazes linger and waited. Holland took a deep breath. He just couldn't, not for now.

"Gracia…"

...

Pokemon Tracklist

-Holland's Main Team-

Reuniclus (Runi)

Aegislash (Sebas)

Ditto (Deedee)

-Holland's Side Team-

Audino (Bel)

Vivzy (Vivillon)

Goomy

...

What do you think will be his other pokemon?

...….

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