Bugging to Know (Legacy)

**Fragments** is the sixth chapter of Pokemon Legacy.

## Plot

[Isaac had just left his housemates who were going to do a Battle Royale with the Masked Royale. While out adventuring he had ran into Team Skull, who managed to convince him to follow them to meet their boss. As the grunts had trapped him and he wasn't confident his team could handle a battle, especially if the two grunts were to call in backup, Isaac begrudgingly followed the grunts. He had a hand tucked deep in his pocket around Crash's pokeball and his other hand tightly gripping a strap of his backpack. The two grunts stopped outside Fossilopolis.]

Bulk: Before we head to Ula’Ula Island, we have a quick stop to make here.

Isaac: Aight, I'll wait outside I guess.

[Bulk sent Skull inside the park to do the job, while Bulk waited with Isaac. Soon, Skull came back and they were on their way toward the west shore of the island.]

Isaac: Do I wanna know what you guys did?

Skull: Just a little messing with their electronics. Nothing too serious.

[As they got to the west shore, Bulk called out a Gyarados for the trio to ride to Ula’Ula. Isaac stared at the Gyarados and felt his heart sink. His team had no chance at fighting this and if this was just one of their Pokemon who knew how many more they had available at their disposal.]

Isaac: Will the Gyarados fit us all? I could take a ride on my own Pokemon?

Bulk: We aren’t stupid enough to let you ride anything alone, kid.

[Bulk pushed Isaac onto Gyarados and Skull called out a Lapras to use for himself. The trio then spent the next hour swimming to Ula’Ula’s north shore on the outskirts of Po Town. Isaac threw an empty Pokeball at Skull and pushed Bulk off Gyarados. He took the reins and attempted to go back to Akala Island. The Gyarados stopped as soon as Bulk fell off and would not budge no matter how much Isaac bribed it. Bulk cursed under his breath as he got back on the Pokemon.]

Bulk: DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND YOU? OR HOW MUCH DRY CLEANING COSTS!?

Isaac: You are in tank top and shorts, give me a fucking break.

[Isaac cursed to himself, he thought that would work. He tried to drop Pokeballs in the water in hopes of catching something that would help. The trio finally arrived outside Po Town, where Isaac was taken to the front gates. After some talking with the guards, the trio were let in. Isaac saw a run down town with homes in shambles, the only place somewhat okay was the mansion at the end of the main road. That mansion was exactly where Bulk and Skull took him. Isaac took in the scenery and saw many potential locations to hide, but no real ways to escape. He also saw groups of skull grunts loitering aroundevery corner and determined that actually trying to make an escape was futile.]

Isaac: You guys still haven't told me why you were looking for me. No one should even know I'm alive so what's the game plan here.

Bulk: Someone hired our boss to find you and so he got us to find you. That’s all we know and why we are bring you to him. Now zip it!

[They enter the mansion where a female skull grunt greeted Skull and the two shared a kiss. Bulk continued to lead Isaac up the stairs, leaving Skull to catch up with his girlfriend. With only one grunt left near him, Isaac felt more confident he could do ok in a fight. Though of course he wouldn't be able to escape easily. He grasped for his last chance, he shoved Bulk down the stairs and continued to bolt it up them, aiming to enter the hall at the top of the stairs and jump through a window, hopefully buying him time to escape. Several Skull Grunt members released their Pokemon prepared to stop Isaac when a door flung open.This man had yellow glasses and a crown, likely to be their leader.]

Unknown Leader: What the hell is all this noise for-? Oh? Isaac? Well, it’s about damn time that Bulk and Skull actually did something useful.

[Isaac stopped in his tracks, his plan to vacate from the window had been stopped by the fact there were no accessible windows. He turned to face this new arrival he was finally out of chances to escape.]

Isaac: Who are you, and how do you know who I am?

Guzma: An Alola, would have been nice. I’m Guzma and I’m the hired help to fix your broken family. Come into my office and have a seat we have much to discuss.

[These words hit Isaac with a shock, as he followed Guzma into the office. He sat down stunned to speak. He could only mutter out a few words.]

Isaac: What are you talking about?

Guzma: I’m not sure if you know this or not, but your parents back in Johto? Aren’t your real parents. You are from Johto, however.

[Isaac dropped the Unovan accent and talked with his native Johtoan accent for the first time since arriving in Alola.]

Isaac: My parents? You mean the horde of sages in that tower? No shit they're not my parents. Now unless you have any other shocking revelations to drop on me, I think I’m done here.

[Issac turned to leave, he opened the door to see a horde of Skull Grunts blocking his path.]

Guzma: You seem to have this strange notion that you have any say about when you leave. You will leave after we talk.

[He turned back around and returned to his seat.]

Isaac: We talked, you didn't have anything interesting to say. If you do actually have interesting things to say then get to the damn point.

Guzma: You were the one who interrupted me with your pissyfit. Now as I was saying, I was not told exacts about your upbringing. Your father was the one who hired me, but you see, he is a bit of an ass. It is well deserved though, he is a very powerful man. That’s where you and I come in. I have a plan that could get you what you want and I get what I want.

Isaac: Go on.

Guzma: It’s likely your father doesn’t want you know just to reconnect. Likely he has a personal gain from having you back. So I say, if we want to, we make him work for it. He rub it in his face that we met. He gives me more money and you eventually get to see your father.

Isaac: Not much motivation for me there. I could care less about him, dickwad dumped me off in a tower with a bunch of religious nuts. You're gonna have to offer better than that.

Guzma: You don’t even want to see him hurt or inconvenience even a little bit? It’s likely he will find you regardless of what I do, but wouldn’t it be fun to piss him off?

[Guzma tossed a Pokeball back and forth between his hands as he spoke.]

Isaac: It's some random dude I've never even heard of before in my life. If he has enough power to hire you morons and is gonna be able to find me anyways what's the point in pissing him off? Especially if all you can offer for me is pissing him off and inconveniencing him, while you end up getting money. There's no motive for me to cooperate.

[Isaac began to worry, these negotiations were not going well and he had no escape route.]

Guzma: While I will give it to you that Bulk and Skull are not the brightest. I do however have a reason for you to do this. I imagine you’d rather bug off and not see your dad. You have your own life and what not now, right? Why not make it harder for him to get to you, by joining us? Not as a full timer, but as a contact for us. I’ll even throw in what’s in this Pokeball.

[He held the Pokeball still in his palms, tempting Isaac. Isaac mulled the offer over, running through a list of pros and cons. The most pressing of which was that if he didn't accept he'd have no way out of this room. The Pokemon was an additional bonus but there was no way to guarantee it would be anything meaningful, let alone that there was even a Pokemon in the ball.]

Isaac: How about you show me what's inside that ball first, how do I know you're not trying to rip me off? Especially, since you're already planning to rip your contract off.

Guzma: Not so much a contract with your father more so a promise. Trust me when I say there is a Pokemon in here. I only ask that you use it in your school’s tournament coming up. That thing will be televised to the world, hopefully he sees it and sees you using my calling card.

Isaac: Show me, first.

Guzma: Definitely not having kids.

[He opened the Pokeball as a Wimpod came out. Isaac’s eyes slightly lit up. He reached for the Pokeball.]

Isaac: Fine, I’m in.

Guzma: Just so you know, I will be having Bulk and Skull be checking in with you and potentially giving you tidbits of information in exchange for the same.

Isaac: You don’t have anyone more… I don’t know, competent?

[Isaac pocketed the Pokeball and began brainstorming names for the new partner. Guzma pressed a button calling in a new trio of Skull Grunts. One was tall and lanky, one was a chubby dude, and the last was a woman.]

Guzma: Does this work for you? This is Tupp,Zipp, and Rapp.

Isaac: Guess we'll see how it goes. How will you be contacting me when that ends up happening?

Guzma: I will send for you and the three will bring you here. If your father makes any contact with me, you will also be in the know.

[Isaac shrugged s he stood up to leave. The three skull grunts escorted him back to Heahea City as the sun started to set. Before they left him, they handed him a device.]

Tupp: We will use this to contact you. We can’t exactly get into Aether.

Isaac: I’ll keep a look out for a call.

[The trio left as the Masked Royale and his housemates arrived with a new friend. Isaac quickly changed his demenaor and put on a fake smile.]

Isaac: How was it?

Mason: Pretty good.

[Venus waved to Isaac. The group of five head out back to campus and split ways once there, Ooze heading back to his dorm as the rest go back to theirs as well. The group went back to play video games, this time Isaac joined them. After a while, Isaac got bored and went off to his room. Venus went off to play with Ooze and Litten, while Mason and Daniel decided to study for an up coming exam. In his room, Isaac stared at Wimpod’s Pokeball.]

Isaac: Well if that tournament is coming up soon, I guess we'd better go train. I still gotta give you a name too. Guzma said I had to use you in the tournament so we'd better plan to give ‘em a show.

[Isaac stood up and left his dorm, aiming to wander around the campus until he could find a spot to train. He found a nice grass area that was off a main pathway, so hopefully no one would bother him.]

Isaac: Let’s do this Needles!

[Isaac sent Wimpod out and began training. As Isaac was training, someone walked up humming to herself. She did not expect to see Isaac there and so she screamed upon seeing him. Isaac panicked and recalled Needles to his Pokeball. He quickly turned around to see who was screaming.]

Woman: I wasn’t expecting anyone over here this time of day.

[Her bag started to slightly move. Isaac ignored the bag and walked over to introduce himself.]

Isaac: Sorry about the fright, just wanted to start a training regime for that upcoming tournament. I'm Isaac, you?

Lillie: I’m Lillie, Gladion’s younger sister. I help out around campus.

Isaac: Oh are you here to train, too?

Lillie: More so to relax by the waterfront. So what kind of Pokémon are you training, I assume you will be in the first year bracket?

Isaac: Nothing too special, mostly an Eevee and a Cottonee.

[Isaac decided it was best to hide the fact he was training the Wimpod for now. He wasn't sure how well known Team Skull was and this gave him a potential ace in the hole on his team.]

Lillie: I'm sure they are special. Every Pokemon has a purpose, Isaac.

Isaac: Ssorry, I grew up in Unova, where there were a bunch of battles going on frequentl. I'm just used to seeing a lot of professional teams and so I'm a bit out of my comfort zone here.

Lillie: Even then, they are still there for a reason. Who else do you have for the tournament? It is a 3-v-3 match this year. Or did Gladion not tell you guys that yet?

Isaac: I mean I guess I have a Vullaby but I'm not sure it can do anything super beneficial for my team.

Lillie: It can help take care of bug types that Cottonee is weak to. A lot of bug types are in the beginners bracket as it’s what most first years have access to at first.

Isaac: I suppose that's a valid point, and I fully intend to train it with the rest of my team for now.

[Isaac then wandered off, so he can train in peace without worrying about Wimpod being seen. Also to avoid further bothering Lillie. Eventually, night became upon the campus as Isaac came home to see all of his housemates and Ooze in the living room, playing with Litten.]

Isaac: Hey, guys…. Who’s this?

Mason: Ooze, a classmate…you’d know if you joined us for Battle Royale earlier.

Venus: And this is Litten. Mason won him, but he allowed Litten to make his own choice on who to be with, and he picked Ooze.

Daniel: You've been missing out on a lot of stuff, Isaac. That Battle Royale was sure something though.

Isaac: I believe it. Well nice to meet you, Ooze.

Mason: Yeah, soooo....where exactly did you sneak off to anyways? Going to do some secret training without us? Catch any new 'Mons?

Venus: You know, I've been curious about that too. Isn't this like the second time this happened now?

Daniel: Venus is right. You keep running off, skipping out on our daily class work.

Isaac: I'm just more of a loner. I like having time to myself and my own thoughts. As far as running off goes I've got a couple reasons for it. Mainly, I'm trying to explore Alola and see what it actually has to offer, not what the school thinks we should see. Sorry if its been worrying you guys. I just try to take the outings as a chance to get some space.

[Isaac paused here and seemed like he wanted to say more but decided against it.]

Mason: It’s fine. You know what? I kinda feel the same way….I have some bad memories here. I like leaving this place when I can. I won’t bug you anymore.

[With that he walked to their room, deep in thought.]

Venus: Hey. So, do you want to play with Ooze's Litten for a bit?

Daniel: I also had a lot of stresses I faced at home. Always working to help everyone else. The stress, it's one reason I ended up striking out on my own.

[Daniel was a bit sensitive about this, but he could relate to Isaac's reasons for why he was so willing to go out alone, as he stepped back to his room. As he sat in the room, thinking, he was joined by his Pokemon. Pikachu was the first to approach, sitting on his shoulder, and then Happiny, laying in his arms. But the last of them to come up was Metapod. The Caterpie he found had evolved, pupating into Metapod, resting beside him.]

Isaac: Thanks, guys.. And sure, I’ll play with Litten.

[Isaac joined Ooze and Venus in playing with Litten for a little while. Eventually, Isaac got up and headed to his room collapsing on his bed. A faint buzzing was heard coming from his bag, but he opted to ignore it with Mason being in the room.]

## Major Events

* Isaac comes face to face with the leader of Team Skull
* Isaac learns his birth parents are searching for him

## Characters

### Supporting Characters

* Mason Shade
* Venus Aphrodite
* Daniel Flint
* Lillie

### Minor Characters

* Ooze
* Masked Royale

### Antagonists

* Bulk
* Skull
* Guzma
* Tupp
* Zipp
* Rapp

### Pokemon Used

* Gyarados (Bulk's)
* Lapras (Skull's)
* Needles (Wimpod, Guzma's, Isaac's)
* Litten (Ooze's)
* Pikachu (Daniel's)
* Happiny (Daniel's)
* Metapod (Daniel's)

## Trivia

* This chapter went through a lot of drafts before being finalized to the plot that happened. This was mainly due to Isaac not being defined with a backstory until a week or two before writing.