Chapter 6

Like a blurry flash of cream colored fur, Princess dove into the elevator, tackling that familiar elevator conductor to the ground. He groaned at the impact, hitting the inside wall. Before he could recover, and yank the Ninetales off, Princess breathed a heavy flame point blank at his face. The man screamed, holding up his hands to block out the flash of fire. Fat and skin melted…it was a ghastly sight, one that Knight turned away from.

"Find his keys," Princess said to Knight, as Knight had something akin to hands to search through his pockets. Knight did find a pair keys attached to a chain, which was in turn attached to his belt. When he started to started to stir, groaning in pain, somehow still alive despite the wounds over his face and hands and arms, Knight whacked him across the jaw to knock him out.

Getting the key into the lock at the top of the wall was cause of pause with both of them. Neither Knight nor Princess were tall enough to reach it. Knight finally leaned against the wall of the elevator. Princess, in turn, climbed up onto his shoulders, and rested her rump down on his head. He grumbled under his breath, but by stretching straight, she managed to take the keys into her mouth and just wiggle them into lock. Then she craned her head to the side, and it turned the key. The elevator lurched up, and the precarious balance of the two Pokémon crumbled. Knight fell onto the ground, and Princess fell on top of him. Beneath her rump, she felt him squirm and push.

"Do you always have to sit on me!" he demanded.

She stood up, moving off him. "Can you cut the jokes?"

Knight growled, using his bone to get back to his feet. The moment that Princess could squeeze through the still opening doors of the elevator, she was in the top floor room. Taking in a heavy breath, she exhaled, and breathed a great stream of fire at the desk, and the muscular human who sat behind it. The stream of fire was blocked when the Machoke moved into its path. The great, muscular Pokémon lifted his arms in front of him. The fire streamed around the huge Pokémon, harmless passing around the desk and protecting the man.

"Atrocious little beasts," the large man muttered. "Ace, take care of them."

The Machoke gave a low grumble, cracking his knuckles as he came walking forward. He flexed with each step, muscles rippling, skin stretched and straining to stay intact as the body rippled, brimming with power.

"You never said there was a Machoke," muttered Knight.

Princess began taking careful steps back. "I guess I forgot," she said. Then she dashed forward, moving at a fast speed and circling a wide arc. Knight instead aimed his bone, and like a boomerang, threw it, aimed at the Machoke's head.

The Machoke lifted a massive hand and caught the bone in the air, before it had reached his face. He turned, and threw the bone at Princess, who had stopped and taken in her breath to prepare a Fire Blast. She dodged to her side, but the bone caught her in the left leg, causing her to stumble slightly. She breathed out, but the blast missed the Machoke by several feet. He took a massive stomp to his side, then several stomps forward. Princess noticed the underside of his foot as he prepared to crush her, but Knight leapt at him. Losing his bone meant losing most of his offense. He still managed to leap onto the Machoke's shoulders, and taking his head in his hands, Knight smashed his skulled head into the taller Pokémon's.

The Machoke growled, stumbling back. He reached up, taking hold of Knight around the middle and throwing him against a wall. Princess leapt, seeking to bite the Machoke's leg, but a swift kick caught her in the middle, and sent her into the wall next to Knight. She groaned, looking up, eyes hazy and blurry. She managed to breathe a few embers forward at the Machoke, but his thick skin kept him safe from burns. Princess tackled Knight, rolling with him to the side, as the Machoke stomped down and nearly crushed the two of them. He turned; fist clenched and dropped it like a sledgehammer onto Knight, who gasped under his skull, body contorting to the force. Princess took a heavy breath, before breathing out a vast flame, point blank at the Machoke's face. He lifted his hands in front of his face and stumbled back, out of her range.

It was at this time that one of the air vents broke down, and a Pidgey came tumbling down to the ground. Wings stretched and flapped just in time to prevent him having too much force with the floor. "Knight," Rook said. "Princess, what is going…?" He looked over his shoulder to the Machoke, who gave a loud roar.

"Move," Princess shouted. She worked her head under Knight, and when she lifted, Knight slid onto her back. She padded quickly towards the far wall. She couldn't move at full speed or the Marowak would bounce off, she rather awkwardly padded along. Reaching relative safety of the far wall, she turned back, wondering why the Machoke hadn't attacked her. The answer came with Rook, who was fluttering around the Machoke, pecking and whacking him with stiff wings, distracting and infuriating the great creature.

Princess turned to Knight, gently checking him, making sure that he wasn't too badly hurt. There was damage to his ribs; she felt that with her dainty forepaws. But he was breathing, and that was important.

The Machoke roared, swinging massive fists and arms. Rook dodged and swept between the blows for the most part, but suddenly a stiff left hook caught him in the middle, and Rook went tumbling to his side.

Princess cringed, growling under her breath. She moved to aid him. The Machoke lifted his foot to finish the Pidgey off with a big stomp, when Rook pulled himself forward. He slid between the giant's legs, and when behind him fluttered into the air. The Machoke turned around, only to be caught be a hard tackle across the cheek which sent him stumbling.

Then Rook started to glow. Princess stopped moving forward briefly, instead watching what was happening. Even the Machoke took a moment. Breathless, Princess watched as Rook's form began to change within the blinding light, as wings began to grow and extend, neck began to stretch. She watched as the whole form began to expand, swelled hugely, and then the body shrank back to its new size. And before Princess, she saw a proud Pidgeotto fluttering.

For a few moments, Rook only flapped there, in midair, and the Machoke only stared at him, wondering how best to go about fighting him. The problem was finally settled when the Machoke reached down. Thick fingers dug into the ground, and with a hoist of his legs, he pulled a large chunk of the ground with him, and threw it at the Pidgeotto.

Rook swooped to his side, curving in a wide, stiff arc. Not unlike the hook that had knocked him to the ground, and triggered this new change. Rook straightened his wings to the ground, and twisted, and sharply crashed into the side of the Machoke's head. The Machoke stumbled slightly, but soon enough swung furiously at Rook. Rook had already lifted his head and adjusted his wings. He soared high, almost touching the roof of the large room, before again bending his back so he swooped in a circle. The momentum he carried put a great deal of force behind his blow. He tensed his neck so he wouldn't get hurt, as he smashed against the Machoke, squarely in the snout. The Machoke made no sound, save a low groan as he fell back, hitting the ground hard on his back. His head tilted to the side, tongue rolling out.

Rook fluttered over to Princess and Knight. "Are you alright?" he asked softly.

Princess looked to him, and then down to Knight, who was still unconscious. "We should get him out of here," she said softly. Then, as if realizing something, she asked, "Where is the human?"

Rook looked over his shoulder to the desk, and found it to be completely bare. He flapped his wings, and fluttered over to the desk, and began looking around. "I…I don't know. I didn't see him. I'm sorry."

Princess sighed. "No, it's alright." She nuzzled Knight's head. "We have to figure out how to get out of here."

There was chaos all around them. There were rooms where there were still Team Rocket agents, holding out for some sort of miracle. They didn't seem to realize that their boss had fled and left them to fight. Abandoned them really. The audience, who had come for the show, had been asked to remain in their seats. Doors had been locked from the outside to keep them under control while the criminals attempted to fight the police, so aside from a great deal of panic they were fine, safe in their grand arena. The freed Pokémon were being rounded up one by one. Many were starved, beaten, or frightened more than malicious. Along with the police came troops of control units, who either coaxed them Pokémon down or subdued them non-lethally.

"What are we going to do?" Princess asked. "We can't just walk out of here."

Rook used his beak to open the draw of the desk. "No, but maybe I can carry you."

"Rook, I know you are proud of your evolution, but we're too heavy."

Rook took two Poke balls in his talons and floated over to the two, dropping them down. "Seem familiar?"

When Rook had managed to fly back to the clearing by the river which had served as a home for them far longer than any other place he had ever had. He set the balls down, and tapped the center with his beak. Out popped Princess first, and then Knight, who was still lying on the ground.

Princess walked over, and nuzzled Knight's nape. She licked him. Rook walked over to the river and filled a bowl with cold water, then dumped it onto the Marowak's face. That woke him up. He groaned, sitting up, rubbing his eyes. He sat up. Rook fluttered over and gave him a soft hug. Knight looked to him, and muttered, "My god, you've gotten fat."

Rook gave a soft hiss under his breath. "I'm not fat."

Knight chuckled. "What happened? Where are we?"

"Back home. Rook beat the Machoke. The bad guy got away. We ran away."

Knight sighed. "I'm sorry Princess. That was all for nothing."

"Trainer…Trainer is gone Knight. I have to accept that. What did I even hope to find there? Her, with a smile and open arms? It was stupid to go. You were right."

Rook looked to her. "Princess…you saved countless Pokémon. You stopped a very bad man. You avenged her, by saving those Pokémon and bringing him into the light. You've grown strong and smart." Rook shrugged. "Princess, if your trainer was here, she would be so proud of you."

Knight nodded. "Princess, we've done a lot today. We saved a lot of good Pokémon from a very bad fate."

"Then why don't I feel any better?" Princess grumbled.

"That's life," Knight said.

"No, that's a lie." Princess looked to the Pidgeotto and the Marowak. "Thank you, both of you, for everything. Thank you very dearly."

Rook smiled. Knight looked uninterested, but said, "We're headed to…somewhere. Maybe someplace cold. You want to come along? It should be nice to have a walking set of matches with us."

Princess nodded softly. "Thank you," she said softly.

Rook leapt up, and landed on Princess' back, straddling her like a human would a Ponyta. "Let's go!" he shouted, pointing out his wing. And they headed off.