Chapter 7- The Pokemon Hunters

A few nights later after some intense training, Pinocchio decided that Alice should have a break. So he put together something called a "cookout," which he told her was when they would cook random food by a campfire. It actually turned out to be a lot of fun. Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, and Slowking showed up, and they all had a great time. Alice especially liked dessert, where they got to eat something that Pinocchio called "smores," which were these big blobs of sugar called "marshmallows" that could be roasted on the campfire, which were then encased with chocolate and biscuits. This was, hands down, Alice's new favorite dessert. It was funny because while they were eating, Zapdos's beak got messy from the marshmallows. Alice was beginning to like Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno a lot more now that she was spending more time with them. Her dad told her that she would even eventually learn some moves from them.

During the cookout, there came a booming sound in the distance and a small flash of light from far away.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Probably just a ship in trouble," Moltres said. "We get a lot of boats that come in around here."

Alice looked up at her dad. He still had a puzzled look on his face.

"Stay here," he commanded.

He then walked down to the beach and waded into the bay. He began swimming to where the flash of light had come from. But when he was half way there, a huge net sprang up from the water and caught him. He tried to fight, but as he did, electricity formed in the edges of the net, giving him a large, painful shock.

"DAD!" Alice screamed.

She and the others ran down to the shore, but by the time they arrived, her dad was being hoisted into the air by some propellers that had appeared at the ends of the net. He flew higher and higher until Alice could see where it was taking him. It looked like a big, rectangular machine that was floating in midair. Alice had heard Pinocchio talk about these things from the future. He said they were called "airplanes."

"Is that an … airplane?" she asked.

"Doesn't look like it," Pinocchio said. "It looks like just some big airship."

A hatch opened on the bottom of the airship and Alice's dad was dragged in. He continued to fight, but he kept getting electrocuted. The hatch closed, and the airship flew away.

Dead silence followed.

"What … was that?" Alice finally spoke.

"Pokemon hunters," Moltres said bitterly.

Alice didn't understand. Pinocchio never mentioned Pokemon hunters before.

"They kidnap Pokemon for a profit and then sell them on the black market," Zapdos explained.

Alice couldn't say anything for a few seconds.

"So ...," she stammered, trying her best not to think too darkly about this, "does that mean?"

"Not unless we do something," Moltres said.

We, Alice thought. She looked at the three Legendary Birds, who were looking at her in an expectant way. She took a step back, shaking her head. No! She couldn't do this. There was nothing about having to save her dad from the dangerous clutches of Pokemon hunters in the itinerary of her training.

Alice sprinted away, her eyes welling up with tears. She ran into the cave and threw herself onto the ground, burying her face in her arms and began sobbing. She couldn't do it! She just couldn't! She was only nine and was already having to face a repetitive dream every night. There was no way she could do this. She began wishing that all this was a dream; that her Lugia dad wasn't captured and that he was safe. Maybe the Pokemon hunters had heard about her and were actually planning to kidnap her. But they had gotten her dad by accident. This was all her fault. She wanted to die.

She heard footsteps from behind her, but she didn't want to look up.

"Alice," he heard Articuno's voice.

"Don't," she moaned, her voice muffled. "I know what you're going to say. 'You can do this Alice. It's in your blood. Use what your dad has taught you' …. BECAUSE I CAN'T!"

"No, Alice," Moltres said. "We were going to say that we know you not ready yet. And you have nothing to be ashamed of because of that."

This was definitely not what Alice was expecting to hear.

"We're not trying to guilt trip you," Zapdos went on. "We're being honest."

Silence.

"We'll go on ahead." She heard them leave the cave and the unmistakable sound of them flying away.

After that, Alice heard someone else approaching. It must've been Pinocchio. She then felt his hand gently stroking her blonde hair comfortingly.

"Alice?" he whispered.

"What've I done," Alice whimpered quietly as she sat herself up on her knees, tears still falling from her eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm the one they wanted. I'm the one of value. They wanted me, but they got my dad."

"How could they've known you were here?"

"They must've found out somehow. You said in this time, the government has cameras everywhere, watching people all the time. They must've found out that way."

"Alice, that's a myth," he said flatly as if Alice was a complete idiot. "Plus, nobody knows you're here. They must've been after your dad …. It's not your fault."

Alice looked down at her knees despairingly. Pinocchio put his hand on her arm.

"Alice," he said, "I know you feel like you're not ready, but you have to do this. Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno can't do this by themselves. They need you …. And I know you can do it. If you can take on the Queen of Hearts repeatedly and escape without being decapitated, I think you can take a few Pokemon hunters."

Alice's head shot up. Pinocchio looked at her confidently and nodded.

With a sudden bolt of courage, Alice got to her feet, nodded to Pinocchio, and strutted out of the cave.

Once outside, she stared up at the sky, her only focus on her dad. She turned into a Lugia and flew upwards like a bullet. She was starting to feel like that "superhero" Pinocchio referred to as "Superman".

As she flew higher, she could see Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno coming up. But she knew she had to do this alone.

She zoomed passed them and was soon above the clouds. Knowing she didn't have time to take in her surroundings, she looked around to try and spot the airship. She soon saw a black dot in the distance that was getting further away. She put on a burst of speed, scattering some clouds beneath her. She soon made out the shape of the airship as she got closer.

"DRAGON RUSH!" she screamed. Blue fire in the shape of a dragon formed around her body, and she shot headfirst towards the airship.

BAM

Alice burst through the wall, but crashed into a pole. Once she gained her composure, she saw two guards in front of her, carrying long staffs with electricity coming out of the end. Anger fueling through her, she didn't give them time to even take a step.

Heavy Slam, she thought. She leapt into the air and came smashing down onto the guard on her left and then did the same to the other.

After that was over, she looked around and soon found a door behind her. Iron Tail, she thought, her tail becoming as hard as … well you know, and she swiped it at the doorknob. It broke off and the door creaked open.

In the other room, Alice saw a staircase leading up to another part of the ship. Another guard was halfway down the stairs, but froze when he saw her. She jumped onto him, spreading her wings threateningly and gave him a dangerous look.

"Where … is … my … dad," she said in a way that she hoped would make the man cooperate.

All he did was stare at Alice as if he'd never seen anything like her before.

"WHERE IS HE!" she screamed.

"T-The Lugia's up the stairs and through the door. There's a platform in the next room. If you step on feet indentions, it'll take you down right to him," the guard squeaked as if he were begging Alice to let him live. Alice picked him up by his collar with her mouth and threw him over the side of the stairwell. She hoped that he'd hit his head against something, knocking him out cold, because her being attacked by more guards was the last thing she needed right now. She raced up the stairs, Iron Tailed the door and went into the next room.

In it, there was a strange circle in the middle with human footprints on it. Alice quickly changed into human form and planted her feet in the indentions. The platform began to move downwards.

She found herself in a much larger room filled with all types of cages, boxes, and many different traps. And there sitting in front of her was her dad, still stuck in the net.

"Alice," he whispered with delight.

"Dad," Alice said happily, but also quietly. She ran over to him, relieved that he was still alive.

"Alice, you're the only one who can get me out of here," he instructed. "This cage is designed to only hurt Pokemon, but I think you'll be fine if you stay in your human form."

"But how am I going to get you out?"

"Think. Use the moves you've learned."

Alice quickly racked her brain for all the moves she'd learned so far. Then it came to her.

She stepped back.

"LAVA PLUME!" she yelled. A jet of magma came shooting out of her mouth and hit the side of the net, opening up a huge hole. Electricity sparked in the net for a few seconds, but then stopped. Her dad carefully clambered out of the net, looking relieved to have been freed from his bondage.

"Not bad, kid," said an evilly impressed voice from behind. "Not bad."

Alice turned around and saw whom she guessed to be the leader of these Pokemon Hunters.

Fury coursing through her, even more than her hatred for Pinocchio, Alice noticed a lever that said Open hatch over it. Quickly using Psychic, she pulled down the lever, causing the hatch, which was right underneath her dad, to open. Spreading his wings, he took off down to the world below.

Alice didn't give the man time to react. She changed into a Lugia and charged at him. She pushed him against the wall and made sure he stayed there.

Psychic, she thought. The man's body floated upward and Alice began crashing him against the walls. She was so blind with anger she didn't even notice how much she was injuring the man. She then forced his body onto the ground and made sure he didn't try to get up. Her anger at breaking point, she didn't even realize that she'd just used Aeroblast to shoot a hole through the ship, causing it to begin plummeting downwards. She stormed up to the man and planted her feet on his chest. She was about to use Aeroblast on him, but then she stopped. What was she doing? This wasn't what Lugia were supposed to do. They were supposed to keep the world in balance and protect everything on it … including people like him. Alice closed her mouth and lowered her wings. She looked intently at him. "You don't deserve death," she said, "but you do deserve justice."

Alice lifted her head, closed her eyes, and spread her wings. A sudden power flowed through her, one which she'd never felt before, but felt as if she'd already knew it.

Teleport, she thought.

She focused on the Pokemon Hunter boss and his accomplices, and a sort of tingling coursed through her body.


When Alice opened her eyes, she was back on Shamouti with the others. They must've been awaiting her return. She looked over at the men from the ship, who were cowering by the cave. A loud boom came from off somewhere. Alice could only guess that that was their ship meeting its final seconds.

"What just happened?" she asked.

"You just learned a new move," her dad explained. "And it looks like that was the first move you learned on your own."

Alice was still confused.

"That happens a lot with Pokemon," Pinocchio said, walking up to her. "It's natural."

Alice was relieved at that. She looked back at the hunters.

"I'll take care of this," Pinocchio said, getting out his phone and a rope from his backpack.


In next to no time, the police showed up and were hauling the hunters away.

"Taken down by a couple of kids," the chief of police said to the boss. "That's sad."

"You don't understand, sir," the leader said. "The girl! She-"

Pinocchio got out a pistol and held it to the back of the man's head, giving him a warning look. He'd even started tapping the trigger.

Getting Pinocchio's message, the hunter turned back to the policeman and murmured, "Never mind." He was then forced into the metal, horseless carriage that Pinocchio referred to as a "car."

"Thanks, kids," the officer said. "We've been trying to track down these idiots for months. Apparently, their ship's made of some material that's almost impossible for Pokemon to get through. Don't know how you kids did it, but thanks again."

"Oh, we have our ways," Pinocchio said, patting Alice on the back.

The officer climbed into the car and drove away. Pinocchio and Alice waved good-bye as she left.

Pinocchio put his arm around Alice's shoulders and she looked at him. He gave her a smile. She returned it. She then turned into a Lugia, let Pinocchio climb onto her back and they flew back home.


When they arrived, her dad was there waiting for her. Alice changed back into a human. She stared at him for a few minutes, tears beginning to form in her eyes again. She ran over to him. As she did, he lowered his head, and she threw her arms around it, happy tears flowing down her face. For the first time, she felt at home. This was her second home, and these amazing, brave, beautiful creatures were her family.


Author's Note:

Hi everyone. Sorry that this is, once again, late. Stuff came up. Also, I am doing an internship now (yay for me) and I'm not sure how much time I will have to upload new chapters, but I will try my best. So I would appreciate it if you all would be understanding and patient. On the bright side, next chapter is the last chapter. So enjoy and please remember to leave a review.