Chapter 4: Dach's Smile

"Abra, are you alright?"

Julia frantically checked her Abra for any bruises from the fall. The Abra was still fast asleep, but it looked worried. It was sensing the heat of the desert that they had landed in, and the wreckage of the front of the ship. The Abra was recreating the scene in its head. The sun was blistering hot, and a few other people were sprawled out, either exhausted or knocked out. Pieces of twisted metal dotted the sand, and bags, suitcases, and other belongings. About twelve feet from the ship was a Pokéball.

“ Use Calm Mind. Everything is ok.”

Abra obeyed, and its face relaxed a bit. Abra levitated itself on top of Julia’s head.

“But I really have no idea where we are. Dach said that when we got to the hideout, he’d be there.”

Abra sighed, and started to glow. Julia started to glow as well. She closed her eyes. visions of the desert poured into her mind as the vision led her over dunes, rows of seemingly endless dunes. Finally, in the middle of the desert was a huge, grimy building, with waste pouring out into a huge lake of toxic waste.

“So it’s about ten miles away,” Julia said. “Let’s make our way.”

…

Champ struggled to get up from the hot deck. His clothes were covered in sand. The top of the ship, the deck, was not damaged at all.

His bones ached, and bruises covered his body. His face was chaffing from the sand, and the heat was giving him a headache.

“Where am I? And where’s everyone else?”

Champ braced himself against the bent railing as he struggled to stand. He could only walk at a slow pace. He slowly made his way to the corridors, the heat beating on him, making him thirsty. His bag sagged on his shoulders and down to his legs, dragging him. It resisted his efforts, and made the job much more difficult. Sand blew in his eyes. He finally dropped his bag and started to walk better toward the door.

The corridors were untouched, with only plants knocked over, and a few tables. Champ managed to get to his room, where there was a note on the door. Champ uncrumpled it and read.

“Champ,

We went to Phenac City looking for help. We couldn’t find you in the sandstorm. We’ll send people to help out the survivors. Please be careful with Treecko!
We took Machop and our bags. Leave the suitcases and wait for us on the ship. Sorry we couldn’t wait for you, we wanted to find help. Please come to Phenac if you must. But try to stay cool, and check the refridgerater for drinks.

Mom and Dad”

Champ pushed the door open and walked through the cabin to the fridge. He took all of the bottled water he could carry, and headed back to the deck.

There was nothing to do. He had to find Treecko. He couldn’t just leave it there, wherever it was. Treecko liked the fresh, now hot, air and wide open space. Not being a red ball of energy trapped in a tiny ball. Now was the time to actually forget what had been going on lately. Now was the time to find Treecko.

…

Meanwhile... with Dach...

"Boss, boss," called the scientist in the lab coat. He stood in the doorway, gazing in awe as he watched Dach actually sleep. He had never seen him as calm and peaceful as he was now. He even looked relieved of stress. How could this have happened? "Wake up. There's something important you need to know."

"Huh? Oh, it's you."

That's it? "Oh it's you"? Not "GET OUT NOW"? What's wrong with the boss? It seems that he is starting to become normal, as if...

The scientist stopped thinking and tried to take advantage of Dach's good mood, seeing that he might not have another outburst like he did a few hours ago. He cleared his throat and stepped closer to Dach, who was still half asleep. He didn't seem to care.

"So, what's the latest on the ship?" Dach asked. He was smiling. Smiling. Not an evil smile, but just a casual smile. He hadn’t smiled like that in months, probably years. Twenty years. It had been so long that his smile looked lopsided. But the smile faded, and his usual dull face overrode it. For those two seconds, he looked almost happy, pleased even. The scientist knew that it had nothing to do with anyone here, he wasn’t smiling at anyone. He must have been having a dream that was making him happy, but now he realized that he wasn’t there anymore.

"Well, the ship arrived in Hoenn," the scientist started, hoping that his boss would stay calm. "However, Lugia broke out of its Anger mode and dropped the ship in the desert. We don't think that any people are still on the ship; most of them evacuated, or were tossed into the water. The Pokémon stash should still be locked up in storage though."

The scientist closed his eyes, waiting for an explosion. But it didn’t come. Miraculously, Dach didn’t yell, or throw things. He just calmly asked,

"What about Lugia?"

The scientist was enjoying being able to have a conversation without outbursts. He continued.

"Well, our Anger Releaser ray wasn’t strong enough to keep Lugia under control for enough time to make operations. So we are perfecting it, and Lugia is in the containment chamber. It really wants to get out."

"Ok, so now you should go work on that Releaser Ray. Notify the grunts to go and ship those Pokémon back to the hideout." Dach ordered calmly. With a dismissing wave of Dach's hand, the scientist left.

Things were going by plan. Dach smiled.

The "evil villian" started walking through the dark and grimy hallway, across from his room. At full height, he was about six feet tall. His boots splashed the water as he walked.

I wonder when this place will actually start looking like something? Dach thought, brushing off some grime from his shirt. He passed many other rooms, with either researchers or field members inside. He thought about all of the control he had over them. All of his power. Had it been in vain? An overreaction? Had he bit off more than he could chew with capturing Lugia? Forcing the poor creature to fight against what it protected? Shouldn't he have just quit after he had started his raging attack? But no, the power manipulated him, instead of him manipulating the power. Dach was a monster, now misunderstood. He remembered the saying, "it takes an extremely long time to build up a reputation, but to destroy it, it could take a minute", and knew it was coming true. That second when the bullies pushed him down the mountain. When he had met Snorunt. He found that he was good at building a team, and a reputation. But he also found that when you turn down the evil path, even for a little while, it is nearly impossible to turn back. Not on his own, anyway.