The return of Remington, Gilbert, and Mort came at the worst possible moment for Diane, but for Nova, they arrived just in time.
Could anyone understand his situation? He was a decent young man with a famous girlfriend, and now, in broad daylight, he was being harassed by a woman who stood almost two meters tall. Was there no justice left in the world? Was there no law?
The moment the three senior Trainers stepped outside, they could tell something was wrong. Their own Pokémon Trainers hurried over to whisper the details of what had happened into the Gym Leaders' ears.
Remington's head throbbed as he listened to the report. The Purple Dragon Gym and the Layered Peaks Gym had never gotten along, and now his sister, the Diane, was openly provoking the boy who might one day lead the Layered Peaks Gym. If this kept up, it would push the two families toward complete disaster.
The two old men beside him had clearly pieced together what had happened as well, and the way they looked at Remington had already changed.
Mort said, "So that's why you insisted we two old fellows come inside with you. A classic 'lure the tiger from the mountain.' Get the elders out of the way so you can pick on the juniors, is that it?"
"Diane!" Remington snapped.
"No need to shout, I'm not deaf," Diane replied calmly.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
"I'm taking him back to the Purple Dragon Gym. He's going to be your brother-in-law!"
Diane pointed straight at Nova and tossed her head, leaving everyone around them stunned into silence.
Everyone already knew Diane answered to no one but herself, but couldn't she, just once, follow the script?
Gilbert and Mort were equally puzzled. They turned to study Nova, their eyes full of questions, concern, and more than a little amusement.
Nova nearly wept from sheer frustration. "Why is everyone looking at me? Master, you know me better than that. My feelings for Aresdra haven't wavered for a second. Why would I have any improper thoughts about this she-devil?"
Remington frowned. "Your name is Nova, correct? My sister's conduct was inappropriate, I'll grant you that, but calling her a she-devil to the Wrenleigh family's face? Are you looking down on the Purple Dragon Gym?"
Nova's temper flared instantly, and he opened his mouth to fire back, but someone else beat him to it with an even sharper tongue.
Mort let out a cold laugh. "And so what if we did look down on you? Do you think holding the title of Champion makes you untouchable? I don't recall you laying a finger on that Inca Alliance superstar, Syndicate, at the last International Championship."
"Or is it that the Purple Dragon Gym, and that Emperor Dragon Fiend of yours, only dares throw its weight around back home in Norlandia, and turns to jelly the moment it steps outside?"
Nova stared at the old man in disbelief. That was a brutal thing to say, practically a knife straight into Remington's chest.
The one defeat this Norlandia Alliance Champion could never quite get past was likely the last World Championship, where he had represented the Norlandia Alliance and lost to the three-time reigning Champion, the legendary Syndicate, finishing no better than the final four.
It was much like the crushing loss Mort himself had once suffered against Marty Davison. Only someone who had lived through that kind of defeat would know exactly where to strike hardest.
Sure enough, at Mort's words, Remington's face darkened to the color of someone who had just swallowed a Muk, and he looked as stormy as an oncoming squall.
Gilbert picked up right where his senior had left off. His voice was quiet, but every word landed with weight, somehow more unsettling than Mort's outburst had been. "Remington, your side showed disrespect first. Don't be surprised when others answer in kind."
"Your rigid rules about rank and hierarchy mean nothing to the Layered Peaks Gym."
"Let me be clear with you. You know exactly what kind of person your sister is. I see nothing wrong with Nova calling her a she-devil."
"And if you think that's too mild, I have plenty of harsher words ready, if you'd like to hear them."
Remington's eyes blazed with fury, his aura burning like an open flame.
But at that moment, his own sister refused to stand with him.
"That's right, Big Brother!" Diane said. "Your future brother-in-law is correct. I am a she-devil, everybody knows it!"
At that, Remington's rage collapsed into confusion, then disappointment, then something close to despair. He turned to his sister, his eyes heavy with sorrow.
"Diane, must you tear four hundred years of the Wrenleigh family's honor to pieces and grind it into the dirt while you're at it?"
Nova buried his face in his hand. Remington's expression was so pitiful that even Nova, who normally lived for a good spectacle, couldn't bring himself to keep watching.
Every family has its troubles, it seemed. Being a Champion didn't spare you from that.
It wasn't that Nova felt sorry for Remington exactly. There was little to pity in a man clinging to such outdated, rigid thinking. Still, Nova couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for how thoroughly a grown man's heart could be broken.
Diane paid no mind to her brother's suffering. "Don't make me laugh, Remington. Everyone in the Wrenleigh family already calls me the bastard daughter. What do those four hundred years of honor have to do with someone like me?"
"The Wrenleigh family still raised you!"
"The one who raised me was our father, the same father you have, which is exactly why I call you Big Brother. As for the rest of them, they can all drop dead for all I care. And the family name can go with them."
Remington's heart went cold as ash. He only sighed, offered a quiet apology to Gilbert and Mort, and turned to leave with his subordinates.
But Diane, true to form, still would not let the matter rest.
"Don't you dare walk away! I already told you, I want that handsome boy as my husband. Why won't you help your darling little sister claim him? Big Brother, you've always spoiled me. There's no one in the whole Norlandia Alliance you can't beat, is there?"
Unable to hold back any longer, Remington slapped Diane across the face.
Nova, Mort, Gilbert, and the four Elite Trainers from the Layered Peaks Gym all gasped at once.
Things were getting interesting now. A real fight had broken out.
"How much longer do you plan to keep this up?" Remington demanded.
"Ah, nice hit, Big Brother!" Diane laughed. "That felt wonderful. If you're still not satisfied, go ahead and hit this side too!"
The left side of her face had already begun to swell, and a thin line of blood traced from the corner of her mouth, yet she leaned in closer still, offering her other cheek for a second strike.
Nova's scalp prickled with dread. Diane was completely unhinged. If she truly set her heart on him, he would rather not live to see it.
"I am not your brother," Remington said flatly. "I can't control what you do. And don't bother coming back to the Purple Dragon Gym."
With that, he mounted his Dragonite and departed alongside his four subordinates, each riding a Flying-type Pokémon.
Nova watched in quiet awe. No wonder they called Remington the Emperor Dragon Fiend, his Dragonite was astonishingly fast; within moments, even its silhouette had vanished from the sky.
Left behind, Diane planted her hands on her hips and shouted after her brother as though she had just won a great victory. "I'm coming back whether you like it or not! I lived my whole life in the Purple Dragon Gym, and I'll die there too! You'll never be rid of me!"
Since the Alliance officials had already settled the matter of who controlled the entrance, Nova's master and his two senior disciples from the Layered Peaks Gym began preparing to leave as well. But Diane, of course, was far from finished.
"Not so fast! Did I say you could go, Nova? Didn't I already say you're going to marry me?"
Nova sighed. "I really have given you too much attention today, haven't I?"
It seemed clear that if he didn't put this madwoman in her place right now, she would end up treating him exactly the way she had just treated her own brother.