Steel and Copper were hiding behind a tree near the Goldenrod gate. They spoke in hushed voices to not be heard by the guards that stood close by.
"Goldenrod is 'run' by the Plains, not the Zephyrs, but they, like everyone else in Johto, fear them." Copper looked inside her bag and pulled out a familiar uniform. Steel stared at her with narrow eyes.
"When did you get all this? I thought you went with me on a whim." Copper stared at the gate calculatingly.
"I was going that day anyway. I'd already stolen the uniform in case I ran into more of the bastards." she said venomously. "You just gave me somewhere to go and someone to go with." she nudged him affectionately. "Thanks for that."
She disappeared behind a tree and later emerged dressed like a Zephyr. Just looking at the blue cloth, red sleeves and silver emblem made the memory of Paxton flash through Steel's mind and rage shot through him.
Suddenly Copper grabbed his wrists and pulled them behind his back. He cried out with the pain of his injured arm being touched but Copper's face wasn't sympathetic as she hissed at him.
"Keep in character!" she called out Conrad and talked to it with the same hate as last night. "Stay still and look intimidating."
She shoved Steel into view and the guards tensed.
"What 'cha doin' here Zephyr!?" said the taller of the guards. They didn't seem to have must of a uniform except for the white jackets with a small yellow badge pinned to them. The guard in question was overweight, wore reflective sunglasses and had a yellow suit under the jacket with red, fire-like decorations. The second one was blonde and had tied a crimson ribbon around his forehead to match his trousers.
Copper stood up straight. "I need to pass Plain."
"Just go to Violet City!" The second guard shouted, his elbows were bent and his fists clenched. Steel began to worry about the fear tactic.
"You have no right to interfere with our business. Do you want Goldenrod attacked?" she threatened and the two backed up shortly. They'd heard what happened during the Ecruteak battle and Violet City was so close...
"I still don't see why you can't go through Violet. You can't have any business in Goldenrod or Azalea." the juggler was testing how much information he could get out of this tiny Zephyr.
"More like Ilex." the fire breather gave a pitying look to the captive. He wouldn't survive a minute in the forest. The fire breather shifted his weight nervously.
"Can't you fly around?" he asked looking at the Noctowl. "Blair doesn't like your type coming through."
"Tell Blair that I'll be gone quickly." There was a long silence while the two guards weighed the pros and cons of letting her through.
The juggler let out a Pokémon that looked surprisingly like a pokéball and it crackled with electricity. "We'll keep you under guard as you walk, quickly." He iterated. Copper frowned internally. They couldn't follow them but she nodded and just hoped to ditch them as soon as possible.
The Voltorb rolled to the gate and zapped a nearby panel. The light turned from red to green and the two guards escorted Steel and Copper through the gate.
The four walked down the long gravel path that stretched from the gate to Goldenrod in silence while other Plain members stared at her and Steel. Copper hated wearing the uniform and hated the looks that people gave her even more. She was supposed to be the one glaring, not visa-versa.
They emerged into Johto's largest city and Steel marvelled before remembering that he was supposed to be a prisoner. A large bridge ran above their heads and the size of the buildings astounded him. Skyscrapers scraped the sky and the numbers of houses in sight were amazing. Though the grimness that the grey clouds reflected onto the city gave it a sense of tension and the lack of people increased the tension tenfold.
Then the metaphorical light bulb lit up above his head. No-one was around except them and the two guards. Steel stumbled and Copper brought his head up to her face so she could whisper a warning while still looking threatening.
"Close your eyes." then louder so said, "Move it!" the juggler's voltorb had been recalled but Conrad still flew above their heads.
"Hypnosis!" she yelled and they clenched their eyes shut. However the two guards foolishly looked up to her Pokémon and their eyes were bombarded with the psychic light. They collapsed to the ground snoring and Copper released Steel who immediately began massaging his now stiff shoulder. Copper grabbed the hem of the Zephyr uniform and tore it off, revealing her regularly grey clothes underneath. Now they both looked inconspicuous, except for the fact that they were outside next to two unconscious Plains members.
She called Conrad back and clipped the pokéball back onto her belt. She paused and looked around then pointed to the iconic red roofed building. "That's the Pokémon centre. Let's go."
They sprinted past a neon purple building and burst into the centre. Steel looked around the empty room and to his dismay saw no-one around. He strolled to the desk and noticed a machine. "Just put the pokéballs in the machine and press the button there." she advised and she passed him her pokéballs. The five glowed and the machine beeped which hopefully meant it was working. Once the glowing stopped they grabbed their respective pokéballs and Steel called out his beedrill.
Copper dashed across the room while Steel beamed at the yellow bug. "Hey, I'm Steel. Are you a girl?" he asked and the beedrill shook its head and buzzed. "Cool." he tapped his foot while he thought of names and then snapped his fingers. "How about Lancer?" It buzzed happily then they heard an unfamiliar sound.
"Face me!" ordered an angry but motherly voice. The three turned around slowly and saw a gun pointed at them.
The owner was a middle-aged woman with pink hair that fell in untidy strands from her messy bun. She was a dirty white and pink dress. "What are you doing in my Pokémon centre?" she demanded and Steel raised his hands.
"Just healing my beedrill." the woman's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"I saw you two knock out the two guards and come over," she pointed the gun at Copper, "You're a Zephyr!"
Copper's eyes were those of a scared Stantler, "No! I just stole the uniform to get through Goldenrod!" but the woman wasn't having it.
"What about the Noctowl? It answers to you."
"Stole him too." Copper exclaimed but the woman laughed hollowly.
"Then why does he answer to you?" beads of sweat ran down her forehead. Steel should have intervened but he was just a curious as the woman. Copper didn't reply so the woman hefted the gun more threateningly.
"I don't have all day! This thing is pretty loud and attracts an awful lot of attention."
"He's a family pokémon!" Copper burst out and the look on the woman's face showed that she'd made up her mind.
"But I'm not Zephyr! I ran away from Ecruteak with him. Please believe me!" Copper pleaded and at last Steel intervened.
"I can vouch for her! She took out a Zephyr and his fearow, a Zephyr wouldn't have done that."
The woman glared at him but finally lowered the gun and brushed the strands of hot pink hair out of her face. "My name is Bliss and I'm the nurse here." Copper sighed in relief but shot up straight when Bliss turned on her. "You're not out of the woods yet," Bliss looked at one of the walls slyly. "To prove your true allegiance to me, just do me a favour." she pointed the gun to the wall she'd been looking at. "In the old gym is Blair. Just beat him in a Pokémon battle and I'll let your pass."
"Why can't you face him?" Steel asked.
"No-one in Goldenrod has Pokémon anymore. They were all taken away by Blair."
"Fine, what does he look like?" Steel asked.
"Pale curly hair, white jacket, yellow badge and has a raticate."
"Normal types," Copper mused. She nodded. "We'll do it."
Steel nodded determinedly. He would help her. "We'll fight him."
The nurse smiled and pushed them to the doors which opened with a whoosh. "Go!"
The gym reeked of smoke and there were remnants of pillars everywhere. Steel guessed that there used to be some sort of decoration or puzzle here but it had been demolished.
The gym was littered with chatting guards and next to the far wall there was a chair. Steel could see it was meant to be some sort of throne considering the shape and the regard the people gave it but in his opinion it was just…. simple.
On the 'throne' was the source of smoke. A cigarette hung between the teeth of Blair who was lying in the chair with an air of arrogance and his curls were so extravagant that Steel wasn't sure if it was a dare or something.
The guards immediately noticed the duo but as they advanced Steel exclaimed, "We want to battle Blair." Blair sat up and smirked, waving his hand to call off the Plains.
"Cool, but what's in it for me?" he asked twirling the lit cigarette in his hand. Steel looked quizzically to Copper who steeped forwards confidently.
"A double pokéduel." she suggested and his smirk grew larger as he stood up, revealing his impish physique which did not make him more intimidating.
"Two on two. One from each and two from me." he affirmed while walking closer and pulling out two pokéballs from his belt. He gestured with his hands and all the guards parted to clear an area for battle. Blair walked to the gym's edge and called out two pokémon.
"Go Raticate! Go Furret!" he called and two pokémon appeared in flashes. The furret was long and slim with cute little ears and feet but a menacing look that didn't suit it very well. The raticate's angry expression did suit it. Its rat tail whipped the air and its large front teeth gnashed.
Steel and Copper both had two pokémon but they mutually decided to play it safe.
"Brooke!" Steel hurled her pokémon and she appeared quacking happily. Copper rolled her eyes and threw out Lore who glared at the furret and raticate.
Blair stood slanted and he placed a fist on his hip and sneered. "I go first since you," he pointed in an exaggerated fashion to Steel and Copper and spoke slowly as if they were toddlers, "and then you can retaliate all you want with your wittle totodile and chikorita."
Brooke and Lore growled and Steel braced for the battle. He felt dread in the pit of his stomach as it dawned on him that, win or lose; it wouldn't end up well for them. They were surrounded by Plain members with their prideful leader in front of them. But he stood up and glared at Blair. Whatever it takes to help.
Hey guys :)
Finally we're getting to a more exciting bit. Sorry for all the exposition heavy chapters lately but Steel's new to the world and we couldn't have him suddenly know everything about it.
I'm gonna try upload Chapter 6 ASAP and please review to tell me how you want it to be improved. You're the ones reading it. :)