A Greater Trouble

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Obstagoon stood brave and bold on the Stow-on-Side stadium, facing the menacing steel serpent, Steelix.

Daniel laughed. “How cute. Steelix, Sandstorm!”

Piers sighed. The hail from Alolan Sandslash earlier was just about to let up, only for Steelix to replace it with a grueling Sandstorm. Obstagoon growled when some of the sharp sand stung his face.

It was a good thing Piers opted not to start with Obstruct, or else the move would have failed, since Sandstorm was a non-damaging attack.

Piers sang out his command, “Goon, use Throat Chop!”

“Obsta!” Obstagoon’s hands glowed purple, and he leaped at the big steel snake. It hissed when Obstagoon struck its body, but didn’t appear to be much hurt. Steelix had an absurdly high defense, after all.

Daniel snorted. “Use Iron Tail!”

“Obstruct!” Piers yelled at the same time.

Obstagoon crossed his arms and made a barrier just in time. Steelix’s tail, now a glowing white, banged against the shield. Yes! Its defense was harshly lowered. But would it be enough?

“Throat Chop again!” Piers commanded.

Obstagoon bounded up onto Steelix’s head, and chopped right down. The Steelix let out a wail.

“Toss him off, Steelix, and use Thunder Fang!”

Electricity spiked out from the steel snake’s teeth, and Steelix snapped onto Obstagoon.

The dark and normal type shuddered and writhed in its jaws. From the rigidity of his body, it looked like he was paralyzed.

“No, Obstagoon!” Piers cried. “Use Counter!”

At his command, Obstagoon seemed to regain strength, and smashed down hard on the Steelix’s jaw.

Very hard, in fact, that the Steelix screeched and let go of Obstagoon. The steel and ground pokemon roared and crashed down to the gym stadium bottom. Obstagoon bounced off to stand near his trainer.

The sandstorm cleared and they could see Steelix with its face buried in the ground, defeated at last.

“Victory goes to Piers and Obstagoon!” the referee yelled.

“All right!” Raihan leapt up and hugged Piers. Piers smiled, relieved and glad. But he glanced over his friend’s shoulder at his adversary.

Daniel seethed as he returned his fallen pokemon. “Fine, you get your win, gym leader. Happy now? But I still need to talk to Allister.”

Piers opened his mouth to retort, but Allister spoke up first. “Okay, but you can talk here. I’m sure whatever you have in mind, isn’t such a secret that even my colleagues can’t hear it.” Allister sounded a little steadier and more confident than he was earlier.

From Daniel’s gawk, he had noticed his cousin’s more assertive voice, too. The man’s face was scrunched up again in a scowl. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t try to respect your privacy, coz.”

Piers exchanged a glance with Raihan. The Spikemuth gym leader was amazed that Daniel had relented at all. But what did his ominous last words mean?

Allister’s face drooped, but he muttered, “I don’t care. I trust Piers and Raihan.”

Piers was touched by the declaration, and from the awkward shuffling Raihan made beside him, the Hammerlocke gym leader felt the same. Still, Piers felt compelled to say, “We respect your wishes regardless, Allister. If ya want more privacy at any point, just give us a shout. Otherwise, we’ll stay here to support ya.”

The Ghost type expert nodded with gratitude. Even the Gengar beside him seemed to relax, its red eyes becoming a cooler and lighter color.

Daniel fidgeted with a bracelet on his wrist, which Raihan only just noticed.

It appeared to be an ordinary black bracelet, like one of those leather watches. But what if it was a Dynamax band?

Raihan had been astonished that Daniel didn’t Dynamax any of his pokemon, not even the Steelix at the end.

While Raihan believed in his friend’s abilities, Piers’ refusal to Dynamax could have put Obstagoon in a tough spot if Steelix did get the boost.

Or maybe Daniel was indeed wearing a regular bracelet and wasn’t familiar with Galarian Dynamaxing. He even had a Sandslash from Alola. Where was the guy from, if he didn’t reside in Galar?

At this moment, Daniel eyed them like they were his prey, even though he just lost to Piers. He fluffed his hair, and then he sighed. “Al, there’s trouble in Glimwood Tangle. Just not what you’d expect.” He smirked as he darted a glance at Raihan and Piers. “Last chance to back out and have some privacy before I spill the beans.”

Piers glared at him, while Allister shook his head. “No thank you,” the boy said. “I can handle it, whatever it is.”

Despite Raihan’s complaints about Allister earlier, Raihan respected Allister’s courage here. Besides, he burned with curiosity to see what nasty secret Daniel had to tell.

“You asked for it, coz,” the man answered with a harsh laugh. “In Glimwood Tangle, I discovered a group of troublemakers, by the name of Team Hex. They claimed to be in league with you, Allister!”

Allister gaped, looking shocked through his mask. “Team Hex? I’ve never heard of them before.”

“Are you sure?” Daniel’s hard stare resembled the Pokemon move Mean Look. “They said that you were friends with their boss, and you gave them permission to do their work in the forest.”

“What work are they doing?” Allister asked with a sharper tone Raihan had ever heard him use.

“Take a good guess,” Daniel replied. He glanced around the Stow-on-Side gym. “You do have a nice gym, and the gym challenge isn’t bad, despite the annoying spooks and scares. But Team Hex is interested in something far more serious than just jump scares.”

Piers cut in, “Are they controlling the wild pokemon at Glimwood Tangle?” His black and white locks flowed around his slim shoulders.

“What do you think?” Daniel shot back. Raihan bristled at how rude he was to Piers. The Dragon gym leader was about to get into Daniel’s face when the latter continued, “Yes, they are maniacs. Inspired by the Hex Maniac trainers. Some of them used to be Hex Maniacs themselves. They hypnotize the pokemon from Glimwood Tangle to do their bidding, to wreak havoc and stir up terror. Sounds like your kind of thing, Al, with your ghost pokemon causing trouble for everyone.”

Allister looked aghast and shook his head rapidly from side to side.

The Dark type gym leader stomped with his spiked boots. “Stop being such an arse, Daniel. Allister already apologized for lettin’ his ghost pokemon out like that, and unlike this Team Hex gang, he does call his mons back. And what is Team Hex’s objective? What do they even want?”

Daniel coughed to clear his throat. “Isn’t it obvious? They enjoy messing people up on purpose, because it’s exciting for them. That’s what ghosts do, don’t they, coz?”

“No, they don’t…,” Allister said in a quiet voice.

“Hey wait,” Raihan stepped in with a glare at Daniel. “How did you find out so much about Team Hex? Are you part of them?”

Daniel was silent for a moment. Then he laughed, the sound as harsh as broken glass. “The Team Hex members told me directly when I accidentally got in their way.” He looked annoyed. “I’m allowed to travel through Glimwood Tangle too, you know? I was just visiting my cousin, and touring Galar again after being gone for so long.”

Piers gave him a piercing look. “Ya sure ya ain’t affiliated with Team Hex in any way?”

Daniel scoffed. “I swear on my life that I’m not.” He sneered. “Unless you count me being related to Allister, and that Allister is affiliated with them.”

“I am not,” the Ghost type gym leader said, wringing his hands. “I have never heard of Team Hex. Nor do I know their leader, whoever they are.”

Daniel snorted and waved a dismissive hand at his cousin. “Deny it all you like. And who wouldn’t believe you? You look so small and innocent.”

“Lay off, Daniel!” Piers cried out, gripping his fists.

“Who is their leader, then?” Raihan interjected.

Daniel let out a shrieking laugh. “He goes by the name Gloss. Who knows whether that’s his real name, but who cares. A pretty handsome dude with long turquoise hair and dark eyes. Too bad he’s not on the good side.”

Raihan couldn’t resist a jab here. “Has Gloss seduced you, Daniel? You seem quite bummed that this attractive guy, whom you described with some detail, turned out to be a crook.” He didn’t add that Daniel was probably a crook, too.

Daniel’s eyes narrowed, though he also seemed flustered. “I admit that I find him attractive, so I’m doubly disappointed that he’s an evildoer. Not that I wouldn’t fight against him, though. Otherwise, why would I tell you about him? The guy is a charmer too, so no wonder he befriended my coz.”

Allister wrapped his arms protectively around his middle. His Gengar’s eyes glowed red again, like he wanted to spring an attack on Daniel.

Piers spied the black sparks around the Gengar’s hands.

Without thinking, Piers threw out a Dusk Ball. “Goon, Obstruct!”

Obstagoon jumped out and created a barrier in front of Daniel.

The Gengar’s shadow ball collided with the barrier and melted into nothing. The Ghost pokemon snarled and looked like it was about to attack again.

But Allister put a hand on its back. “Hey, Gengar, please calm down.”

The ghost and poison pokemon protested and waved its arms around, gesticulating wildly. Allister nodded and said, “I know, I know. I don’t like him either, but attacking him won’t help.” He shot Piers a glance. “You have some amazing reflexes, by the way.”

The Dark type gym leader just smiled faintly. “I don’t like Mr Smirky Arsehole here, but yeah, hittin’ him isn’t the answer, sorry, Gengar.”

Gengar stuck out its tongue at Piers, and sulked. Piers could empathize with the pokemon, who was clearly very protective of its trainer. If anyone was so insulting towards Marnie, Piers would be equally protective of his sister.

Just then, Allister fell silent and gazed into the distance, as if lost in a trance.

“Are you all right?” Piers asked, concerned.

Still in that trance, Allister murmured, “Oh, I remember Gloss now. I do know him, but I wouldn’t say we’re friends. Maybe he misunderstood…He seemed like a very nice man. What a shame that he turned out to be this way.”

A second later, the Ghost type gym leader jumped with a jolt, and quivered like he was wrapped in a chilly wind. He put his hands over his eyes. “I can’t believe I forgot about him. And I didn’t realize I had left such an impression on him.”

“Wait, let me get this straight,” Raihan chipped in. “So you do know this Gloss, the leader of Team Hex. But he thinks you’re friends and that you gave him permission to make a mess in Glimwood Tangle?” The disbelief in Raihan’s tone was palpable. Daniel snorted, too. Piers was silent, though, as he didn’t want to jump to conclusions just yet.

Allister sighed, a heavy and grave sound. “That’s why I don’t like to meet people much. It’s so easy for them to misunderstand me. I guess wearing my mask full time doesn’t help.” He straightened. “But if Gloss really thinks we’re friends, that means I can talk to him, right? Daniel, can you take us to this man?”

His cousin stiffened and blinked. “I’m surprised you can’t contact Gloss yourself. Didn’t he give you his number?”

Allister gaped. “He did?” The Ghost type gym leader tugged out his phone, looking panicked. “I can’t find him…Darn, maybe I lost it and forgot to enter it in my phone. I don’t even remember exchanging numbers with him.”

Piers really felt for the kid. He was so disoriented. So the Spikemuth singer said, “Daniel, what about you? Surely you got the guy’s contact, right? Seein’ as you might have liked him if he weren’t a villain.”

Daniel looked embarrassed again. He stamped his foot, grumbling, but to Piers’ pleasant surprise, he scrolled through his own phone. “Here it is. Allister, I’ll read out his number and you can enter it, okay?”

It was bewildering to watch this exchange. But Allister seemed so serious as he inputted this guy’s number. When he was done, the Ghost type gym leader said, “All right. Best to call him now.”

His Rotom phone rang with an ominous sound. When it connected, Piers was stunned that Allister had selected a hologram call. In an instant, a 3D image of a man appeared.

He indeed had turquoise long hair and dark brown eyes. His smile seemed so warm and friendly, that Piers wouldn’t have suspected anything about the man. Gloss said, in a voice that sounded like a fresh brook, “Why, hello, Allister! I thought you would never call.”

Stay tuned for the next chapter!