Chapter 7
Veronica yawned and opened a heavy eyelid. She felt warmth leave her and she shuddered. She sat up and saw a Salamence there; the blue and red pokémon looked down at her and nuzzled her. She giggled.
"Salamence," she laughed.
Her brother's pokémon were always so affectionate towards her. She scratched her head and looked around. She was inside a deserted pokémon centre bedroom. She found her pokéballs safely in a drawer beside her and clipped them in place. She heard Eevee beside her and looked down at her. Her movements had awoken the small fox like pokémon. However, the second she slid off the bed, Eevee jumped up and onto her shoulder. Veronica laughed. Slipping her shoes on she stood up and headed for the door, Salamence followed. She found her brother and Blake eating in the lounge. She smiled.
"Morning," she greeted. Darius looked up and grinned.
"Morning, sleepy head," he answered. Veronica scowled.
"And I was happy to see you why?" she asked. Darius shrugged.
"I'm not a mind reader, although if you want I can always get my Alakazam," he smirked. Veronica growled and punched his arm.
"You are so annoying!" she snapped. Blake chuckled a little before shuffling over so she could sit between him and Darius. Darius turned to Salamence.
"Thanks, Salamence.
"Mence!" it answered. Veronica smiled and put Eevee on her lap.
"So, let's see these pokémon of yours," Darius told her. Veronica rolled her eyes before unhooking the four pokéballs.
"Amber, Houndour, Draco, Firefly! Come on out!" she threw the balls in a large clear space. Her Rapidash, Houndour, Dratini and Chinchou appeared. Darius's eyebrows shot up.
"Amber evolved? A Shiny Houndour? A Chinchou?" he looked at his sister. "You have been busy," Veronica grinned.
"Thought you might like Houndour. He was difficult to capture but Pidgeot helped. Where is Pidgeot?"
"I sent him back to the lab for safe keeping,"
"Oh," Veronica looked down. She liked Pidgeot.
"Don't sweat it, I brought Ampharos," he grinned. Veronica laughed.
"Yay!" she joked, smiling. Houndour walked over and nuzzled her hand, she smiled and scratched his ear, Draco was on his back and hopped into her lap, tail wagging. She laughed. "Draco!" Darius looked at the Dratini with interest.
"Hey there little guy," he scratched Draco's head gently. Draco tilted his head to the side and wagged his tail more. Veronica giggled.
"He's my brother, Draco," she smiled. Draco cried out and nuzzled Darius's hand. He laughed softly. Firefly walked over unsurely. "It's ok, Firefly," she picked up the Chinchou and smiled. Amber walked over and licked her face. "A-Amber!" she laughed. Darius smiled.
"And to think my little sister started off with an Eevee and a Ponyta," he shook his head, a smile on his face. "So what you going to pick for you sixth pokémon?" he asked. Veronica shrugged.
"Dunno, but I'm quite happy with the pokémon I have here," she smiled and called Amber back into her pokeball. She tickled Firefly and smiled a little. Blake looked over.
"So what pokémon did you bring with you Darius?" he asked. Veronica looked over and he grinned a little.
"I'll show you," he nodded his head to Salamence and he flew over to the empty space. "Go!" he threw the pokéballs. Charizard appeared from his ball, along with the yellow electric type, Ampharos. A Grass type with a flower around his neck appeared next, then a tall, lime coloured dark type appeared, and finally a cream pokémon with a blue and red tail with a fan on the end
"Meganium, Tyranitar and Milotic!" she beamed. She put her pokémon down and raced over to them. She patted Meganium, hugged Tyranitar and tickled Milotic. Darius laughed. Blake smiled.
"She really likes your pokémon huh?"
"They really like her, you mean. There is just something about her that the pokémon love. It's strange,"
"Those men from last night. They said that a certain group of pokémon took Veronica," he sighed. Darius looked at him.
"This isn't going to be easy to figure out. I don't want to take Veronica home just to have the same thing happen again," he sighed.
"You'll be in Johto for a while then, I take it," Blake said. Darius nodded.
"Veronica," Darius got his sisters attention. "What do you remember before you were kidnapped?" he asked. Veronica gave Milotic one last pat before sitting down beside him.
"Only a roar," she answered. "And the freak weather conditions," Darius looked at her carefully.
"Can you explain the roar?" he asked. She shook her head.
"I can't. It's one of these things you can't remember until you hear it," she explained.
"Eevee said it was blue too," Blake added.
"There are a lot of things that a blue," Darius reminded.
"Oh yeah…" Blake looked down. Darius sighed and called back his pokémon. There were sudden screams from outside. Blake, Darius and Veronica leapt from their seats rushed to the windows. Silver blurs were swooping overhead. Nurse Joy jogged over.
"Oh no, it's the Skarmory again!" she whimpered a little.
"Skarmory?" Veronica echoed.
"Bird/Steel type pokémon. Nasty guys if you get on their bad side," Darius explained. "But why would they attack here? Aren't they located south of Blackthorn City?"
"There are, but that area is being developed for a new pokémon battle arena, so pokémon are being forced from their homes,"
"That's horrible!" Veronica gasped. Nurse Joy nodded her head solemnly.
"The Gym leaders are trying their best and their fear even the elite four might have to come and sort this out." She sighed.
"So this is serious," Darius mused. He looked out side before calling out Charizard, Ampharos and Salamence.
"Darius, you aren't going to fight them all are you?" Veronica asked.
"Well, someone needs to help. And if you do decide to join me, they are weak against fire, electric and ice." He headed outside with his pokémon. Veronica sighed a little. Blake released his Flareon, Jolteon and Glaceon.
"You too?"
"You can stay here, Veronica. But I want to help these people," he ran outside after Darius.
Nurse Joy headed around to the back of the pokémon centre. Veronica was left standing in the lobby, looking at the door her friend and brother left. She looked at her pokémon as they walked over beside her. Amber burst out of her pokeball and nuzzled her. Veronica gave them a pat before looking down. She could help. She could use Houndour, Amber and Firefly. Eevee would be little help and Draco would only be able to paralyze them. She looked at her pokémon sadly.
"Eevee, Draco return," she called them back reluctantly. "Houndour, Amber, Firefly c'mon," she headed for the door, her loyal pokémon behind her.
It was a real mess outside. The Skarmory had attacked houses, cars and people alike. Electric attacks sparked in the air. Fire attacks sent birds crashing to the ground. Ice attacks froze everything they touched. Veronica found her brother soaring in the air on his Charizard, commanding Salamence and Ampharos on where to attack. Blake was far from her, always disappearing behind a building as he ran to help people. She heard an ear piercing screech and looked up to see a Skarmory diving straight at her. Amber had already thrown a flamethrower at it, causing it to change direction in order not to be hit. Veronica shook her head to snap her out of her daze. She vaulted onto Amber's back neatly.
"Houndour, use ember at the Skarmory. Firefly, Thunder Wave and Thundershock. Amber, fire spin, Flamethrower and Ember," she instructed.
Her pokémon nodded in reply before running off in their own directions. Veronica headed North West, for some reason no one was fighting up here or the Skarmory hadn't reached it yet. Amber skidded to a stop when a small flock of Skarmory looked over at her from the roofs of the homes here. She glared slightly. However, they didn't attack. She blinked in confusion. Amber neighed and reared as a Skarmory dived at them from high above. Amber threw a flamethrower at it but it just moved to the side and continued coming. It struck Amber, causing Veronica to fly off her back. She screamed and rolled on the ground as she hit it. Amber jumped back on her feet and started throwing embers at the offending pokémon.
"Amber!" Veronica called. She stood up shakily. She glared at the Skarmory. It cried out and the Skarmory on the rooftops took to the air, aiming for Veronica. She screamed before fleeing. Amber was cut off from her. She neighed in vein. Veronica raced away from the bird pokémon. She tripped and fell on the ground again. She pushed herself off the ground and looked over her shoulder. The Skarmory dived at her. She screamed loudly.
The sky started to turn stormy. Dark clouds covering the sky. The Skarmory stopped their attacks and looked at the sky. Lighting flashed and leapt from cloud to cloud. The Skarmory screeched in surprise and landed to avoid the cracking lightning. Veronica flipped so she was sitting up. She looked in awe at the sky. Veronica heard many Skarmory squawk at each other. She gulped as more lightning flash high above her.
A Skarmory looked at her and advanced on her. She scrambled away from it. Its wings started to glow as it got closer. She glared a little, trying to scare it off. But it was unfazed. It cried loudly and charged at her. She screamed and closed her eyes tightly covering her face with her arms. There was a yell, the sound of fighting then a soft thud. She opened her eyes and saw Salamence in front of her. The Skarmory was badly injured in front of her, she stood up.
"Thanks Salamence," she whispered. He nodded before glaring at the Skarmory. Soon there a flock of them, all turning on Salamence.
"Flamethrower!" came a voice. Salamence powered up and fired a jet of fire at them. The Skarmory didn't stand a chance. Darius appeared and grabbed her arm. He yanked her to her feet and nearly threw her onto Salamence. "Get her to the pokémon centre! Now!" he ordered. Salamence nodded and flew high in the air. Veronica yelped and held on. Salamence fired more flamethrowers at nearby Skarmorys. It landed just outside the pokémon centre.
"Salamence, please check on my pokémon." She asked. He nodded and took to the sky. Veronica jogged inside. Nurse Joy rushed over.
"Are you ok?" she asked. Veronica nodded.
"I'm fine. I'm more worried about the others," she answered. Nurse Joy nodded. The lights suddenly cut out. Veronica growled. She poked her head outside. The dark clouds make it seem like night. "Firefly!" she called. She waited for what seemed to be ages until her blue pokémon appeared. She picked him up and rushed inside. "Can you use you antennas and make some light please?" Firefly nodded and the yellow antennas started to glow.
"The pokémon!" Nurse Joy gasped. She rushed to the back of the centre. Veronica followed with the only light source they had. Nurse Joy looked at the pokémon.
"What is it?" she asked.
"We need electricity, otherwise the pokémon…" she cut herself off. Veronica looked at Firefly and nodded.
"Will a Thunder Wave also help?"
"Yes, any electrical attack,"
"Draco, go!" she threw out her pokémon, releasing her pokémon. He cried out. "Where's the generator?" she asked.
"Down the hall, 3rd door on the left," she answered; Veronica nodded and picked up her pokémon before running down the hall. She opened the door carefully and found the generator; the back-up generator had ports for pokémon to use their power.
"Firefly, use Thundershock, but don't wear yourself out too much too quickly, same to you Draco. Only use Thunder wave," she instructed. Her pokémon nodded before taking positions on the ports. Her pokémon released their electrical attacks, their combined weak attacks started to power the centre. "Good, keep that up until we find the problem ok?" She got up and raced back to Nurse Joy.
"Thank you, Veronica," she smiled.
"They won't last long. We need to find the problem and fix it," she warned. Nurse Joy nodded before the pair of them headed to another room, the power circuits were here. She winced. She was terrible with electronics. She shook her head and let Nurse Joy examine everything.
"Everything is ok here. Maybe something happened outside,"
"Damn. I just hope the storm passes, the Skarmory leave and we can get back to normal," she sighed.
"I hope that too. But we must help the pokémon." She returned to her patients. Veronica returned to her pokémon. Draco had stopped to rest while Firefly was struggling.
"Oh guys," she whispered. She heard the generator kick back into gear and Firefly stopped. "Why did it start?" She walked over to it carefully.
She shook her head after a while before calling her tired pokémon back. She headed back into the lobby. The clouds had grown worse now. She blinked. The Skarmory were gone weren't they? She looked at a window just in time to see a silver bird smash through the window. She gasped before it tackled her. She hit the ground hard. Nurse Joy looked around the corner and gasped.
"Veronica!" she jogged over to her.
"Stay back!" she yelled.
She glared at the Skarmory before standing up. The Skarmory called out and a flock of about ten more flew through windows. She glared and stepped away from them. The Skarmory that had attacked her was covered in scars. She chewed her bottom lip nervously. The Skarmory came at her again but she dodged it and rolled out the way. A second Skarmory flew towards her. She ducked under it and ran out the door. The Skarmory tore after her. She ducked beside buildings and sometimes slammed on her breaks and ran the way she came. She tripped over a stone and fell on the ground. She turned to face the flock of Skarmory diving towards her. She closed her eyes tightly, her legs refusing to move. Then it came.
The mysterious roar she heard before sounded. The Skarmory froze and hovered in mid air. She looked around. Mist rolled in, like before. She feared she would be taken away just when she found her brother. However, the opposite seemed to happen. She heard Darius's yells as he ran towards the mist. He spotted her before it got any worse. He grabbed her and held her tightly. The roar soon started to sound like something else, but she couldn't quite place it. The Skarmory fled. Slowly, the strange mist started to disappear; the clouds gave way to the sun. With one last, gentle roar, Veronica's mind went blank and she slumped against her brother.
She heard something. It was like a faint whisper. Slowly it became clearer. Someone was calling her. She made a noise of complaint. The voice went silent for a little while before calling her again. Insulting her by calling her lazy. She growled and opened an eye reluctantly. She was still extremely sleepy and whoever was trying to wake her up was very annoying. Her vision was fragmented. It started to focus on the worried face looking down at her. Darius. Who else would call her lazy to wake her up?
"Hey. You ok?" he asked. Veronica groaned and closed her eyes.
"I'm really sleepy," she whispered. Darius pulled the duvet over her.
"Was that the roar?" he asked, he seemed slightly stunned. Veronica nodded. "Sleep. I'll check on you tomorrow," he answered. He turned to his Salamence. "Watch her, ok?" the dragon nodded before lying beside the rookie trainer.
"Where are my pokémon?" she asked. Her voice was started to give way.
"In their pokéballs. Eevee is in the lobby with Blake," he answered. He left before she tried to ask more. He closed the door silently before heading over to the lounge area. Blake looked up.
"How is she?" he asked.
"She has a few bruises from the Skarmory, and it very tired, but fine otherwise." Darius answered. Blake nodded before looking at the sleeping Eevee.
"Still can't believe she broke her pokeball just to get out." Blake shook his head.
"She hates her pokeball," Darius said. He sat down next to him. He had traded his Tyranitar for his Vulpix. Professor Oak would take good care of him. He stroked his Vulpix gently.
"What now?" Blake asked.
"Wait for Veronica to recover. Then I want to take her to the burnt tower," he answered.
"Why there?" he asked.
"I…have a hunch on what might have taken Veronica," he answered.
"Going to share?" Blake tested
"Not until I am 100 sure," Darius replied. Blake sighed but nodded.
