THE THIRD FACTION PART: 2

Chapter 12:

More Of What's To Come

The Threefold Blade. An unregistered guild that operates against the laws of the Guild Council. Formed by three factions held together through the three strongest knights within the guild.

Holland listened to the story the people told him until it was night time. In front of him, leader Oou, the proclaimed "third strongest" of their guild told the tale.

"So, you guys are illegal?" Holland said after the long winded explanation by firelight.

"You may call it that, but know this, we hold dear to the moral codes of knighthood." leader Oou answered followed by the salute of the men around him.

Holland was currently sitting in his wheelchair with Bel by his side. After his three hour rest, Holland was called for dinner and then later moved to this campfire sight away from the open, only surrounded by a small number of people.

The moon shone high, giving a stark contrast to the harsh light of the fire. People, both men and women, sat with him. From what he heard, they were all knights traveling with leader Oou to their main headquarters in the capital.

"But what about them?" Holland turned to the people not accompanying them. These people were cleaning dishes, preparing the tents for sleep, and watching the children playing with Deedee.

"Refugees. They have no home to go to, so they are staying with us. Unfortunately, they hold no prowess in battle thus they are tasked to tend to the daily needs of our encampment."

There was silence all around. The people looked conflicted at the answer given by Oou. Holland was about to question this when a woman's voice shot through the silence.

"What about you?" Holland turned to see a woman in braids. Daggers were strapped to her side and a suspicious look glossed over her eyes. "Our fishermen found you nearing the grasps of death in the river. From the wounds you obtain, I wouldn't say it was mere ruckus."

Holland was quiet. Should he really tell them? Leader Oou said that they could be trusted, but it was hard to really tell if he was lying or not. The wounds Holland obtained were almost gone thanks to Bel, but he still lacked energy. With that, he was forced to stay in the wheelchair.

What if they found out he's some criminal. Those people that attacked him were knights of the Guild Council. Would they

turn him in because of their "moral code" or try to help him? If it was the former then Holland would find it a struggle to leave being partially immobilized.

Nevertheless, something inside of Holland told him not to lie. As if leader Oou would know if he did. Holland took a deep breath, and decided to go with his gut.

"I was attacked by these people claiming to be part of the Guild Council." The people around him grew tense. The girl with braids tightned her eyes while Collin and Oou listened carefully. "They were trying to apprehend me."

"Do you know who they were?" Leader Oou asked, his eyes glistening a faint green hue.

"One of them called himself Orion?" The people around him gasped and the woman in braids opened her mouth with a satisfied grin.

"Wow, you must be really strong." The woman in braids said. "To fight off Andromeda's Angels is really something."

"There were others too. A woman that tried to drown me and another covered in floating fabric."

The woman in bradis eyes shot open. The sharp look she had was momentarily replaced with a dumbfounded stare.

"You fought off three of angels?" The woman asked, earning the murmurs of the people around. Leader Oou and Collin were quiet, making Holland sweat.

"Yeah. Is there something wrong?"

"Something wrong?" The woman in braid asked. She dug her hands deep in the soil and looked at Holland. "You just fought off three enlightened Individuals. And not just any individuals, they were angels of the Heavenly Spheres!" The woman stood up with all the energy of an excited geek. "And you survived!"

"Well, I had help with my pokemon." Holland tried to play everything down. The people were now whispering loudly while the woman was ecstatic at the thought of him fighting against three people.

"Pokemon…" Leader Oou finally said after his deep thought. "Do you perhaps know why they were attacking you?"

"They said I was some kind of Dragon Tamer." That apparently was the nail on the coffin as the woman in braids looked at him with an open mouth. The others around him were now standing up from their seats, looking at him with a weary look.

"Everyone." Leader Oou simply stated, gaining the attention of everyone around. "Please leave us. Me and Mr. Holland here have something to talk about in private."

Before any chaos ensued, the people were immediately sent back to their tents, including the dumbfounded woman. Bel and Holland were then instructed by Oou to his private tent. It was only Oou and Collin that were looking at him, but even so, their stares were enough to bore through his head.

"Dragon Tamer…." Leader Oou pondered deeply, before looking at him with a firm gaze. "Prove it."

Holland looked at the two. This was not how he was hoping things would turn out. What were there issues on Dragons? Hold had no idea what was going on in their heads, as a dragon was just, well, a dragon!

"Ok." Holland hid back his confusion and fear. If push comes to shove, Bel would be there to save him. And if that happens, then it looks like his team would be moving their joints.

The two seemed to ready themselves for his release. Collin's hands hovered over his sword, while Oou's eyes glowed with a faint green hue.

Holland took out a PokeBall from his waist. With a flash, the familiar form of Goomy appeared on his lap. The two people in front of him stared accusingly at the creature. Collin seemed to loosen his form at the sight of Goomy's smile.

"You gotta be joking…" Collin was the first to say anything. With that, Oou sighed and looked at Holland.

"He's not joking. I can feel a slight sense of Dragon Energy from this…thing." Oou examined the creature even more. His eyes glowed the familiar green hue as his gaze washed over the anxious pokemon.

"Hey….it's ok sweety." Holland tried to comfort him, allowing the pokemon to sink back to his embrace. "What was that?"

"My power." Oou answered, the light from his eyes fading. "I had to make sure you people weren't a threat to us. But still, a dragon…"

"What's your deal with dragons anyway!?" Holland's question was met with another dumbfounded gaze. It was like he was transported back to his high school pokemon trainer etiquette class.

"It's been prophesized Holland. Because of that, Dragon Tamers are outlawed." Collin was quiet as he let Oou do all the talking.

"Prophesized for what?" Holland was now the one asking questions. I mean it's just a dragon.

"We don't know, only those on the great seats know. It's been hidden by the public, allowing it to dissolve into myths. But what they do tell us, is that the appearance of a Dragon Tamer will bring forth disaster upon the empire."

"Disaster?" Holland couldn't believe it. Is that why those people were going after him and his pokemon? He looked at Goomy who was snuggling tightly upon his lap. "How could a dragon bring disaster?"

"Have you been living under a rock!?" Collin finally stepped in. His outgoing mood now completely dissolved.

"That's enough Collin. As for your question, I do not know. The Council Of Guilds keep it tightly sealed. All they say is that Dragon Tamers must be reported. Which leads me to this question, where did you get your dragon, and how?" Oou was genuinely curious, enough so that Holland found it suspicious.

"This is Goomy, he's everywhere where I'm from." Holland said he was beginning to figure it all out.

"Everywhere?" Oou was in shock at that statement. This seemed to cement it further for Holland. "You don't just find a dragon Holland. All dragons are hidden within the Dragon Lands. A region where humans are forbidden entrance."

Holland thought for a second. Dragon Lands….empires…..powers. He looked at the two people that stared at him with a curiosity that could kill.

"Where are you from, Mr. Holland?" Oou asked, and with that, Holland feared to answer.

"Do you have a map? Can I see where these Dragon Lands are?"

Oou wondered why he asked that, but instead of questioning further he merely nodded and ordered Collin to retrieve a map.

Holland's entire body was shaking. This didn't go unnoticed by Bel and Goomy. The former sent him a calming aura to remove his jitters. Holland couldn't thank her right now, but Bel knew what Holland was thinking, and Holland knew it too.

"Here's the map you requested." Collin returned with a rolled piece of paper in his hands. As the man opened it up in front of him, Holland felt like screaming at Arceus.

There in bold, black ink was written:

"The Empire Of Kalos"

...…..

"Are you sure that we should've let him go?" Collin asked. It had been a minute of silence after that Holland boy exited the tent. Collin was currently rolling up the mao, remembering the explicit look of shock on the boy's face after looking at it.

"He said he wasn't feeling well." It was all Oou answered before returning to his pose of deep thinking.

"You off all people should know that was just a cheap trick to not answer any more questions." Collin finished rolling up the map and returned it to its place. Once he turned around, he was met by his leader looking at him with a saddened look.

"He's scared, Collin. He might try to hide it, bury it, keep it away but I know. He's sad, lonely, and most of all, regretful. My powers are never wrong, they may not show me the entire truth, but they've shown me that." Oou stared at the entrance where Holland had just walked through. "And that same feeling was just how Poppy felt during that day…"

Collin's face turned grim as the silence overtook both of them.

.....

Holland considered himself good at masking his own feelings, but now he was panicking. Bel continued to send him calming waves of energy, making sure he wouldn't go berserk.

He was now back in his tent. Goomy was now looking at him with watery eyes and Holland desperately tried to comfort him. Unfortunately, his sweaty, wide eyed face was anything but comforting. He took in a deep breath and tried to keep himself calm.

His power burst out any moment now if he didn't. They were suspiciously calm for the most part since he woke up, but Holland knew that was just the calm before the storm. It would release, it would cause chaos, and people would get heard.

He needed to control — wait, no, he needed to let go? But that's the opposite of what he wanted.

"Oh dear Arceus…" Bel was now panicking. She hurriedly walked over to his side and was about to release Runi when Holland stopped him.

"It's not coming…" Holland said, much to the surprise of Bel. The champion looked at his hands, and then abruptly shot them forward.

Nothing happened.

"My powers…." Bel's creamy face turned pale. Holland looked at the two pokemon beside him, his hands shook as he said the words he never thought he would say.

".... They're gone."

.....

"Holland!"

The young boy turned to the person that called him. A boy his age smiled and showed him his pokeball.

"Let's battle!"

Holland looked at the boy and showed him a wide toothy grin. "You're on!"

The two soon-to-be-trainers released their pokemon. Their respective creatures appeared before them. The trainer and pokemon looked at their enemy and commenced the challenge.

To the side, Bel waited patiently. Ready to come in if things went too far.

"Silla, Bug bite let's go!" The pokemon rushed towards Holland's pokemon. It opened up and revealed powerful pincers coated in bug type energy.

"Gracia, dodge it!" The pokemon followed Holland's orders and quickly evaded that attack.

Holland wanted to yell in excitement when a sharp prick to his head stopped him from doing so. Gracias noticed his discomfort, but Holland urged her to continue the battle.

"Gracia, Psybeam!" The psychic pokemon brushed her worries away and shot a beam of multicolored light at the enemy.

"Dodge it, and bug bite again!" His opponent ordered and the pokemon dodged it in the nick of time.

"Gracia use—aarggh!" Holland didn't finish his words when he collapsed to the ground.

"Holland!" His opponent yelled and ordered his pokemon to stop.

"Audddiinnoo" Bel yelled as she ran towards Holland's body. Bel and Gracias both hovered over Holland as they examined his pained state.

Holland was squirming and clawing at his head. Tears fell down his eyes as Bel desperately tried to stop the pain. She released a Heal Pulse only for Holland to scream even louder.

"Please…make it stop!"

"Diinoo" Bel was on the verge of tears while Gracia was silent. The boy that Holland was battling earlier looked in worry while holding the outer shell of his pokemon for comfort.

Gracia finally moved and hovered her hands over Holland's head. Bel watched with hopeful eyes as the squirming stopped. Holland took in deep, quick breaths and Bel tried to comfort her master's son.

"Gracia what was—" Holland's words were cut short when a flash of magenta light engulfed his entire being before being replaced with complete darkness.

....

The sounds of beeping monitors was all that the couple could here. They looked at the unconscious body of their son, shedding tears enough to drown the entire city. Once they heard the news, they quickly left their respective work stations to see their son.

The door to their room opened and the doctor entered. The couple were still overwhelmed with emotion, unable to ask the question they wanted answers. Luckily, the doctor started without saying anything.

"Your son is a psychic, just like you ma'am." Those words sent another stream of tears to the couple as the woman collapsed into her husband's arms.

"I told you it's a curse…" The woman said in between sobs. The husband comforted his wife and urged the doctor to continue.

"He'll wake up, as for when, we don't know. The awakening of his powers were due to an accumulation of psychic energy within him. The energy had nowhere to go, so it escaped. Rather destructible I might add. Do you perhaps, have been trying to suppress his powers?"

"It runs in the family doc." The husband was the one to talk since his wife was too fueled by sorrow. "My wife and I had been trying these rituals to keep him from inheriting my wife's powers, as it is quite dangerous."

"Unfortunately, these rituals only served to delay the inevitable. Your son is a psychic, so I suggest you try letting him control it under the guidance of trained psychics." The doctor then examined the papers in her hand. "As for the boy that was unfortunately caught in the incident…."

The couple perked at the doctor's words. The wife finally said in a shaky voice, "We'll pay for the injuries our son might have caused."

"Luckily for you, the boy's injuries are minor as his power wasn't directed at him." That last line sent a chill down the couple's spine as they looked expectantly at the doctor.

"What about Gracia and Bel?"

"The Audino is fine for it was the psychic type that took the blunt force of Holland's release of energy. Since the pokemon has not matured fully, the sudden blast has managed to critically damage the flow of energy around her body."

"You mean…?" The wife asked, her words trailing after in a hushed tone.

The doctor only nodded and the couple resumed their crying.

"I'm sorry…."

After that day, Holland and his family began training his powers. To control and restrain them. They eventually left Unova and settled in Anistar in Kalos, where Olympia personally trains child psychics.

Gracia was put to retirement and Holland was given his starter pokemon. A pokemon trained to help him control his releases of energy. Holland looked at Solosis and cried that night.

"I want Gracia!" Holland yelled. "Why can't I have Gracia!?"

"You can't sweety, I'm sorry." His dad said while his mom desperately tried to hold her tears by the door of his room.

Outside, Solosis listened and decided to enter Holland's room. The young boy screamed for him to get out, his psychic powers threatening to release.

"Sweaty, just like what we practiced…." His dad comforted him with the softest voice he could muster at the moment. "Control, we are under control, we are under control…."

Holland's powers were fluctuating madly until Solosis floated nearer. His dad was about to ask him to move when the pokemon connected with Holland. All of a sudden, his son teared up in a silent cry before collapsing into Solosis' embrace.

His father and mother had no idea what the pokemon said, but their son was now bonding with it. Holland cried silently and let his release of energy soar to the firm grasp of Solosis.

"Runi….I didn't mean to." Holland said in a tired voice. A hum escaped the pokemon and a surge of warm, comforting feelings entered his thoughts.

"I'm sorry!" Holland cried that night until he finally couldn't take it and passed out on his bead. The now named Runi looked at his new master's sleeping form.

'Don't worry Holland, I'll make sure it will never happen again.'

....

Hey everyone! These couple of chapters will just be a bit more calm. It'll provide necessary backstory so that we can go back into the action next chapter.

Update Schedule:

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

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