PokeStones of the Dead - Chapter Three
Temperance unconsciously bowed his head, almost as if preparing himself for the stroke to fall. Everything else, including the chanting Mr. Mime, was blurry in the background. Only the figures of his parents were crystal-clear. For the first time, Temperance paid more attention to the knives they were holding, and noticed that they were burning with a black fire, but the metal itself was white-hot. The knives were raised, and soon they would come down on Temperance's vulnerable and waiting neck.
The knives dropped… only to be met with a metal claw, the sound of the clash breaking the spell. Temperance's head snapped back up, focusing on the Mr. Mime, now no longer chanting, face clearly disappointed despite its hideous and blurred features. Dodrio had just woken up, thanks to its Early Bird trait, and Temperance felt the ring, mumbled a silent apology to his parents for being deceived by a cheap imitation, and turned to Dodrio for his revenge.
Dodrio complied, easily dodging the Mr. Mime's desperation Psybeam and slamming into it with full force. Pursuing it, Dodrio then Drill Pecked a hole in its back, causing the Mr. Mime to crumble into dust. The flies and maggots, disappointed at the loss of their host, made their way back to the attacking Dead, where rotting flesh was in great abundance.
Temperanceallowed himself a sigh of thanks for the narrow escape, and clenched his fist in anger and disappointment at himself for being tricked. Don't let your emotions get in the way! Feeling for their death is acceptable and commendable, but allowing these emotions to get the better of you can be fatal! Anyway, why are your emotions suddenly rising? You've been able to do without them for years…
And the attacks would have been fatal, if not for Lillette. Scizor had already dispatched one of the Grovyles, and the other, uncharacteristically running away, was frozen in place with a Mean Look from Misdreavus. Lillette, on seeing there was no danger, took the chance to scold Temperance again.
"Idiot… that's the second time in two hours that you've frozen mindlessly like that, waiting for death. Honestly, for someone with visibly strong and experienced Pokemon, you're acting like someone encountering his first Pokemon, fumbling to pronounce attacks and unable to find Poke Balls," Lillette said. Then her face softened, seemingly aware of what Temperance had been subjected to.
"You're Temperance, right? I vaguely saw your tag when searching through your stuff," Lillette said. She proceeded to gesture at the still-frozen Grovyle, unable to move. "You want to take your righteous and holy revenge, right? Do the honours."
Ignoring the slight bit of sarcasm present in Lillette's voice, Temperance nodded in appreciation, proceeding to took out a dagger from his pack. Usually used to cut bushes and tall grass when trekking in harsh terrain, the dagger would serve a more cruel purpose now. Temperance walked purposefully to the frozen Grovyle, touched the blade with his ring, and got to work.
Three slashes later, and the Grovyle was missing an arm, half a leg, and its ears. Temperance ignored the maggots crawling from every hole he made in his body, stabbing and slashing with unholy precision. Just as he was about to slice off the hated Grovyle's head, it snapped to life, then raised its remaining claw in an attack that would turn the tables instantly – by cutting off Temperance's head.
Temperance was too preoccupied with decapitating the Grovyle to care. Dagger in mid-swing, he suddenly saw the claw arching towards his face. Lillette saw it as well, but before she could order a block, a vine, seemingly from the PokeStone, shot out and blocked the attack. Temperance gasped. Had the legendary PokeStones come to life in the face of the Dead, helping all defenders?
Then he saw that the explanation was much less magical. The Weepinbell, freed from immobilisation, had simply stretched out to help her rescuer with a vine. She apparently had some revenge of her own, for she used another vine to grasp hold of the Grovyle, then flung it bodily. Temperance never even saw where the body landed.
Lillette smiled. "It looks as though she likes you."
Temperance took hold of the Weepinbell, smiling. It appeared that he would have a fourth Pokemon to help him in these troubled times. Before he could rejoice at the saving of the PokeStone and the addition of Weepinbell to his party, he looked at the main front, and gasped.
"Lillette! Most of the defenders are still paralysed with those accursed Stun Spores! The Dead are making paths into Lavender! We have to protect the city once more!"
Lillette spun to see where Temperance was pointing. Without a word, she ran with Scizor and Misdreavus to quell more streams of attack.
That girl is one spirited individual. Temperance gathered Dodrio and Weepinbell, and swiftly followed behind. There was yet some killing to do.
The dagger lay in Temperance's pack, the rotting flesh leaving a horrible dark stain on its blade. Temperance was starting to have doubts about his actions previously. Was it right to totally mutilate that Grovyle like that? It had been unbelievably cruel, not even giving it a quick end. Instead, he had removed limb after limb, much like a barbarian wielding an axe. What is wrong with me? I just swore to not let my emotions get the better of me, then I let anger take over and commit that sort of action… is it really possible to remain emotionless throughout this war?
Come on! It impersonated your mother… or father… and was about to cut of your head and take it as a prize. You know that!
Temperance banished that small voice inside his head. True, what they did was terrible and they, of course, deserved to be banished from this earth, but the manner in which he did it was both unnecessary and sadistic. The two conflicting voices inside his head did nothing to release the stress inside him. In desperation, he turned to Lillette - the only one he could ask now - for advice.
"Lillette… what I did just now… was it acceptable?"
Expecting an angry and sardonic retort, Temperance was almost surprised to see Lillette turn back and stop entirely, facial expression, for once, hard to distinguish. Almost half a minute passed before Lillette gave her answer, her voice uncertain – again a first.
"Temperance, you do know that what they do is irrelevant. These… things… are not supposed to walk the earth at all. However, they were once Pokemon, and good Pokemon as well, serving their masters loyally before being claimed. It, from an outsider's view, was not acceptable. Yet we are allowed to let emotions take charge of us at times and do something originally unacceptable. As long as we do not get used to it, or let emotions take control of our entire soul, I think it is up to your heart. Does your heart think that what you did was fine?"
As Temperance pondered Lillette's words, a Kadabra behind them fell to the Dead. Lillette noticed it and replaced her soft demeanour with her usual self. "If you want to think about it, you'll have plenty of time when this entire episode is over, or when you lie in eternal sleep. The Dead are spilling through the ranks. We have to go NOW!"
Shaking his head at the sudden change, Temperance followed Lillette. This "emotions" thing was coming into the foreground more and more often. My name does not mean I cannot have emotions. It just means that I show them in moderation. It is a virtue. I can be like the rest. Temperance made a decision. Taking the horribly stale and smelly dagger from his pack, he let it drop to the ground. He just had his moment of revenge. He would get no more.
Temperance surveyed the scene. Most of the defenders, including the Fighting Dojo Master, had recovered, and were moving to resume their positions in the defensive lines. However, the Dead kept coming. The Barrier by Lillette's Xatu had long since expired, and Xatu was one of the few who still had not recovered from the aerial attack. Lillette was about to ask Misdreavus to Perish Song again, but Temperance stopped her, hand moving towards her mouth to cut off the attack command.
"What are you doing? Do you want them to break through?"
"Shut up!" Temperance said, for once quicker on the uptake. "Look at their ears, damnit!"
Lillette did as Temperance said and gasped. The Dead now had no ears. They were simply cut off, a grisly pile of ears visible in the distance. Temperance saw the sight and grimly understood that there could be no more doubt that there was an external force controlling these zombies. After seeing that many of his troops had fallen to Perish Song, the necromancer responsible for this attack had simply ordered all his minions to cut off their ears. Perish Song was now useless – and that was a huge blow to the defenders, seeing as the previous Perish Song had wiped out a significant portion of the Dead.
"Do you have an attack that affects an area?" Temperance asked. His Gyarados and Flygon were exhausted, and Temperance knew that ordering them to continue fighting would not only be cruel, but also suicide.
"Just Lapras… but she can't fight on land. Xatu is out of commission and Perish Song won't work here."
The Fighting Dojo Master asked all of his Psychic Pokemon to use Psywave on the invaders, but the attacks were weak and only served to slow the Dead's progress. After some early successes, it appeared as though the defending forces had run out of steam. Whenever a zombie went down, two more came to take its place. Things were looking grim.
Temperance released Dodrio and Weepinbell, but the action was half-hearted. Deep down he knew that even these two could only stem the tide. The army of Dead reached back as far as the eye could see, and their attacks to quell multiple enemies at once had all been foiled. Could he press Gyarados and Flygon again? Then he remembered him cutting the dagger through the air, towards the frozen Grovyle, and instantly banished the idea from his mind. He would be mean to no Pokemon, unless in desperate circumstances. Next to him, Lillette showed no sign of despair, but she was weary, and Temperance for the first time noticed eyebags around her usually spirited eyes.
"Weepinbell, Razor Leaf!"
Weepinbell shot four sharp leaves, a graze with them already able to draw blood. With their weakened bodies, the Dead never stood a chance. Six were instantly beheaded by the leaves, while a dozen more fell to the ground. However, many more filled their spots. The frontline was now at the barricades, raining imprecise blows on them, but eventually they would get through. He had to delay them enough for the Rock Tunnel to be cleared, so reinforcements could arrive from Cerulean. Then, a man ran into Lavender from the Rock Tunnel with a Hitmonchan, both panting. Even fit Fighting Pokemon were tired. Speaking to the Fighting Dojo Master, he pronounced the words of doom.
"The rocks are cleared, but there is some sort of invisible force field or barrier. It is impassable. Appearing to be some kind of magic…"
So, it appeared that the necromancer behind this attack had prepared for it and made the Rock Tunnel truly a dead end. They were on their own… and if that was the case, they would die. Slowly, but eventually, the Dead would force their way through, and they would die. Temperance considered asking everyone to evacuate and move towards Vermillion, but abandoning the Radio Tower and the Cemetery would be suicide anyway. The already formidable ranks of the Dead would be bolstered further.
If I will die, I'll take as many of them as I can with me. Temperance, for the first time in his life, prayed, not to anyone in particular. There was little hope for him anyway, so it was more of a despairing gesture than anything else. One of the Dead made the final blow on one of the barricades, splintering and falling. The zombies now had a path to get through, stepping into the city boundaries for the first time.
Then a mighty and powerful shriek was heard from the direction of the Power Plant, surprising the living and zombie alike. The trainers and their living Pokemon were strengthened, and new hope unlooked-for seeped into their hearts. Paralysed Pokemon were healed, those exhausted found new energy in that cry, and the defenders found new strength. Lillette's Xatu renewed the Barrier, and Flygon Fire Blasted the first wave of Dead, causing them to smoulder and fall back. But the coup de grace was to come later.
A yellow bird took to the skies, but this was not just a mere yellow bird. Humongous and majestic, it travelled the skies at an astonishing rate, but even in the haste, still retained all of its beauty. Almost shining in its brilliance, Zapdos had appeared. And what an appearance it was, launching itself straight into Route 8. Those Dead that were flying were utterly destroyed by its sharp wings and beak. Those under fared no better. Untouched in the sky, the bird gave a great cry once more, and the bright clouds suddenly turned dark. A thunderstorm had come, and with it the lightning.
Soon, lightning was peppering Route 8 with dreadful accuracy. Not one bolt struck Lavender or Saffron, all of its wrath directed to the Dead. The lightning grew so frequent that Temperance, observing below, could not tell if the bolts came from the clouds or from the bird itself. All the defenders gazed upwards, spellbound by the great power and beauty of the legendary Zapdos.
Then, the spell lifted, and the defenders gave a great war-cry, then charged at the retreating and horrified zombies. All the surviving Pokemon were restored to their original fitness, and they charged at the Dead now, sending them all back to their rightful place.
Zapdos, seeing this, stopped the lightning. It gazed at the battlefield, convinced that its work here was done, let loose with a final awesome Thunderbolt, then took to the skies, flying away faster than the eye could follow.
A shadowy figure stood in a dark room, watching the Dead – his Dead – being totally wiped out. He chuckled, not appearing to care, instead replaying Zapdos' appearance over and over.
"So, you have awakened, Zapdos… and what will you do when I call for your blood?"