A/N: Purely because I LOVE Hunter J and refuse to believe she is dead I decided to write a dramatic tale of how she could have possibly survived the events at Lake Valor. Let's face it, J was the best villain in Pokemon and she was so badass! She's my favourite Pokemon character and I'll probably write many more fics about her to give you a taste of what I believe her past could be. Also, while tweeting fellow Pokemon fans I have co-founded a new ship called OrbitalConquestShipping which ships Hunter J and Commander Saturn of Team Galactic. It's a very cute ship which I will write a lot for and this fic even includes a brief element of it even though it was written before the ship was invented! Anyway... enjoy!
"Are we ready for departure?" Pokémon Hunter J asked as she entered the bridge of her airship and the door slid shut behind her.
"We're ready, sir." One of her men responded from his position at the front control panel whilst he pressed buttons to prepare their exit.
"All right, return to base." J commanded in her usual strong tone after she had taken her seat on the upper level of the bridge and slid her chair closer to her panel.
Unbeknown to the huntress, outside of the airship two bolts of lightning suddenly illuminated the blue sky as they streaked downwards and struck the ship with an almighty force. Each white light sliced through the metal of the craft's exterior and the heat from the bolts of energy had set the engines ablaze in two devastating explosions. Smoke began to pour from either side of the ship as it was slowly losing altitude due to the depleting power.
Back on the lakeside Team Galactic were preparing to take the legendary Lake Trio to their boss, Cyrus but the loud 'boom' of the ship's engines exploding had caught their attention. Commander Saturn turned around and as he looked up at the sky, to his horror, he saw that the ship was beginning a slow descent and leaving a trail of thick, black smoke behind it which was definitely not supposed to happen.
Both Commanders Mars and Jupiter gasped in shock. "Have we just killed Pokémon Hunter J?" Mars couldn't help but wonder as her dark red eyes watched the scene in the skies unfold. Jupiter however, was a little calmer and although she wasn't expecting the Pokémon's attacks to still strike she was sure that they weren't capable of killing a human and J would escape somehow.
"They wouldn't kill... it's not in their nature." Jupiter said to reassure herself. She knew the Pokémon were powerful but they wouldn't kill.
Gary Oak, who had previously attempted to stop Team Galactic's plan, was frozen to the spot. He was surprised to see both strikes hit J's ship and bring it down. Gary had had a couple of not so pleasant run-ins with J in the past but even so, she didn't deserve this.
"That has to be Mesprit and Uxie's Future Sight..." Commander Saturn looked over at the two solidified Pokémon being loaded into one of the Galactic trucks. "... The power of these legendary Pokémon is frightening." His well-spoken voice shook slightly as he said the last word. Was their underestimation of the Pokémon's power the cause of J's downfall and would it be the cause of their own downfall? Saturn didn't even want to think about that.
The blue-haired Commander chewed his bottom lip out of anxiety and despite being concerned as to whether J was able to escape, they still had a mission to accomplish and he wasn't about to let Cyrus down so he ordered the Galactic Grunts to continue loading up the Pokémon and head to their rendezvous ASAP. Whilst doing so he kept glancing over his shoulder to the skies hoping to see the ship regain a flight pattern and fly away instead of plummet into the water. Mars and Jupiter both did the same thing before heading over to the helicopter. Jupiter already took her seat and was silently hoping that this mission wasn't a failure and they hadn't killed an elite hunter. She drummed her fingers on her knee whilst she waited for the other two Commanders to join her. Mars was still standing at the door; she just had to see it all for herself before commencing with the next stage of the plan.
Meanwhile, the aircraft continued its slow descent towards the lake. J had risen from her seat and was now being forced to yell over the loud sirens "Increase engines to max power! Maintain our speed!" Outside of the windows the blue of the lake drew nearer and nearer as the ship continued to fall from the sky. They only had mere moments to recover if they stood any chance of avoiding crashing into the water and J knew that she was racing against the clock. Her hand clenched into a fist as she grew more impatient. Crashing just wasn't on her agenda today.
"Engines losing power fast!" One of J's henchmen who was manning the controls at the front of the bridge called out to her as he studied the screens and was frantically pressing buttons in attempt to start up at least one of the engines.
"We've lost control!" Her other co-pilot was also trying to salvage the ship and pull up before they struck the aqua that stirred and roared beneath the vessel.
J gritted her teeth and she let out a growl of frustration, mentally cursing the Lake Trio. Those words of defeat she didn't want to hear from her men. Failure was not an option but every command she gave it just seemed that something had to go wrong to prevent any sort of escape from a crash-landing in the lake.
Seconds ticked by and as J looked up; all her lilac eyes could see out of the window was the swirling water of the whirlpool created when she had released the Galactic Bomb to flush out Azelf. The ship was heading into the whirlpool and had now disappeared from sight of those standing at the lakeside.
There was nothing more the men on the bridge could do other than brace for the impact. The whimpers and gasps of terror were muffled by the still piercing sirens that echoed in the room. As the ship struck the water most of the men were hurtled into the control panels, knocked off their feet or stumbled into the wall and J was thrown off-balance but she kept a tight grip on either side of her panel to keep her just about standing on her feet. Although she had squeezed her eyes closed she knew exactly when the ship had struck the water as the force was strong enough to push her a step forwards, which almost caused her to fall to the lower level of the bridge. There was no escape for the crew now. Once the ship had hit the whirlpool the fate of the vessel was inevitable. It was going to sink and there was nothing they could do about it now.
Water surrounded the exterior of the ship and had jolted it at a steep angle consequently, sent most of those who were still standing stumbling over slightly to the left side of the room but J was determined to remain securely on her feet until the reverberations of the impact had calmed and she was able to balance steadily on her own two feet.
The force of the water was becoming too strong for the windows and cracks formed; each one rapidly split the glass until it shattered, letting in gallons of water. The lower level of the bridge was now flooding and the men who hadn't been knocked back by the force of the water or sucked out of the windows were now almost waist-deep in the liquid.
With the added weight of the water, the ship tilted sharply again and this time it was too sudden for J to react and she was knocked onto the lower level. She landed with a splash but the water wasn't deep enough to completely stop her fall and she hit the floor with a considerable amount of force which would have caused her to yelp in agony if she wasn't holding her breath. During her fall, J had hit her head against the metal that encased the main control panel and she had a painful headache as well as dizziness because of it. She had lost her goggles in the water but she wasn't going to swim around and look for them, her only goal now was to escape before it was too late. The shock of the fall had left her disorientated for a moment but as the bridge was still rapidly flooding she knew she didn't have time to stop and think.
Most of the bridge was now submerged in water and so J had to swim back up to the upper level which was more difficult with the added weight of her coat, boots and gadgets but her long legs and agile frame enabled her to swim to the door without wasting too much time. The door didn't automatically open and not being one for waiting, J punched her fist against the red button beside the door and it slid open, sucking water through the gap. J was swept along with the water but she managed to manoeuvre herself to the left side of the corridor and slam her palm down on the button to close the door again. The water flow was cut off and she fell to her knees, taking deep breaths for just a moment before rising to her feet once more. The remaining men on the bridge were all gone, she wasn't going to open that door again now.
Without a second glance, J began to stagger down the corridor. Her knees were shaking as she struggled to stay standing; the pain in her head was just so intense and the dizziness was almost overwhelming. She fought back a cry of pain as she tried to speed up her pace.
The corridor was slowly filling with smoke from the blazing fires in both engine rooms and the toxic air made breathing even more difficult for the already weak and wounded huntress. As the fumes grew thicker J started choking and she clutched her hand over her thin torso whilst she coughed painfully. Each uneasy step her red heels took just became more and more of a challenge. However, her determination kept her going. She knew the flames had to be nearing the fuel tanks and when they come in contact then the whole ship would go up in flames and survival would be impossible. She had to get to an escape shuttle... if any were still intact or even still in the hangar.
The maze of corridors seemed never-ending, each turn just lead to another smoke filled stretch of metallic walkway. This particular corridor was much warmer than the previous and even without the temperature change J knew she was near the left engine room. The smoke here was almost black as the clouds rolled out of the burning room. J poorly attempted to fan the smoke away with her free hand whilst she navigated further towards the back of her ship. Her coughing became more violent which made her stomach hurt and she hunched over from the intensity of the pain. If she didn't get out of this corridor soon then the smoke would suffocate her.
Passing the engine room wasn't going to be easy seeing as there wasn't much of an engine room left, flames and fumes spilled from what used to be the doorway. If anyone was still alive in that room then it would be a miracle. J was still a few metres away from the room and she was already overheating in her catsuit and trench coat. She had to sprint past the flames and hopefully the rest of the way to the hangar as well. The heat only emphasised what little time she had left before the whole craft exploded, if she hadn't drowned or choked before then.
With each step she moved forwards she picked up her pace until she forced herself into a jog, then a run, then a sprint. Her chest was heaving as she gasped for the oxygen that she so desperately needed. Once the raging inferno that was previously an engine room was behind her, J slowed down into a jog as she knew the hangar was near and hopefully her escape wasn't much further.
The door to the hangar was finally in sight and although she didn't know what was on the other side J just slammed down the button to open the door and she staggered through. Surprisingly the hangar was still standing, several centimetres of water coated the floor but other than that most of the room was still in reasonable condition. All shuttles were still docked at the far end of the room and one of them was J's ticket to survival.
She opened the hatch to the nearest craft and she hoisted herself into the small cockpit of the one-man shuttle. She swiftly pulled the hatch back down over the top of the pod and locked it in place. Luckily she knew the controls like the back of her hand and starting up the shuttle took mere seconds.
As the hatch to the hangar lifted open and water came flooding in, J already sent the shuttle at full speed towards the opening. It slipped through the gap once it was wide enough and the whole hangar was flooded almost instantaneously but J didn't spare a glance back at her still sinking airship. Her hands gripped tightly onto the controls as the shuttle was speeding away from the ship only to be struck by the aftermath of the shockwaves that the fuel tanks catching fire and exploding had created just moments after she thought she had made it out of the ordeal. The ship was now an immense ball of shrapnel, debris and fumes that even erupted above the surface of the lake like a volcano.
The ripples in the water that the explosion created shook the small escape shuttle violently and J fought for control but it was a losing battle as the waves shoved the ship through the water brutally. The glass dome that formed the roof of the hatch was cracking from the pressure it was put under and the cockpit was very slowly filling with water.
J had managed to tilt the shuttle upwards so at least it was heading towards the surface; she only hoped it would make it to land before the entire dome shattered. As she tried to maintain the little control she had of the ship, J bit her lip hard and pulled back on the steering as forcefully as she could so she could get the craft into some clean air and she could stand on dry land again. Her headache and dizziness were the least of her worries right now, no matter how much they still pained her.
Up ahead was the bright light of the sun cutting through the deep blue of the water and the smallest of smiles formed on J's lips. Safety was within reach.
From the surface of the water it looked as if all on board the ship had perished. Gary watched the explosion from the lakeside and as the ball of smoke and flame rose from the surface of the water he came to the conclusion that it had claimed J's life as well as all of her men's.
Team Galactic had packed up and was on the move in their helicopter after loading up the truck with the Pokémon on board. The helicopter flew over the cloud of carbon dioxide which marked the remains of Hunter J's airship and Saturn stood by the open door, looking out at Lake Valor below. However, something caught his eye. On the forest side of the lake a small shuttle had landed and was resting on the edge of the greenery. Clearly the smoke had provided the perfect cloaking for one small vessel to leap out of the water and into the dense forest without being detected. Saturn was able to identify the pilot as J and he couldn't help but smile knowing that she had survived. He was the only one who had seen her escape and her being alive could prove useful in the future. He took this secret with him as the helicopter flew off to Mt Coronet and disappeared in the distance.
The shuttle had landed rather roughly on the grass and nearly hit a tree after it was hurtled out of the water. J tried to keep herself steady as the ship jostled and jolted before coming to a rest, tilting against the large root of a tree. The cockpit had taken in a lot of water and had been dented and battered from the escape. J reached for the handle to lift up the dome but it was jammed shut. She tried a few more times before ramming her shoulder into the dome in attempt to force it open or to shatter the glass, whichever was easier. This wasn't the best plan as after only a couple of attempts she clutched her shoulder and cried out in agony, there was definitely going to be a nasty bruise tomorrow.
J had another idea to break the glass enough so she could climb out. She was going to use the heels of her boots but with the cockpit being quite flooded it wasn't going to be easy. She positioned herself below the crack that had sprung the leak and she rested one hand on the control panel whilst the other gripped a pipe fixed to the wall to provide her with enough support as she leaned back into the water and kicked both legs up as hard as she could to shatter the glass. This took several tries as her body was still weak from the previous events but she managed to break the dome and as soon as she did she hastily lifted her head above the water to fill her lungs with the fresh, clean air of the forest.
The hole she had made in the glass was quite small but luckily J had an incredibly slim figure and flexible joints to match. She slid both arms out first and then her head and shoulders and she used her arms to lift the rest of her body out of the shuttle. Both heels landed squarely on the grass but as soon as she landed she had to crouch down with her hands either side of her feet, she couldn't stand just yet.
J's arms were shaking as they struggled to support her upper body. She was drained of energy from nearly drowning, hitting her head, almost choking to death and then nearly drowning again so there was no mystery as to why J needed rest. Her deep purple trench coat seemed to feel very tight on her chest as she took deep breaths of air, craving the oxygen to be in her system.
After regaining her breath somewhat, J rested her hand against a nearby tree and she slowly rose to her feet, her other hand clutching her chest. J was never the sort of person to let a little pain stop her but she felt so weak and so very dizzy from when she hit her head that she admitted to herself she'll find somewhere safe to rest later.
As she looked out onto the lake and to the burning remains of her airship, her hand balled up into a fist which left scratch marks on the bark of the tree. The Lake Trio had destroyed her ship, decimated her henchmen and ruined her career. If she was to start over again, it would take up far too much of her time to just get another airship and team together. It would be easier if she just let everyone believe she had perished in the explosion.
J took a Pokéball from her pocket and tossed it in the air, calling out her Drapion. "Dump the shuttle... back into the lake..." As she gave the demand she had to take short breaths, even speech was difficult for the usually strong woman. Her Pokémon obeyed and it began to drag the remnants of the escape pod back towards the lake.
A little deeper in the forest Gary Oak was making his way out of the area but he stopped as he caught sight of the young silver-haired woman and her poison Pokémon dumping the shuttle into the water. "The Sinnoh Region is dead to me... as I am to it."
"It's J... she survived." Gary muttered in disbelief, he was amazed that anyone survived as from where he was standing the crash looked fatal.
J looked over her shoulder and her eyes narrowed into a glare as she spotted Gary. "You. Saw. Nothing."