Chapter 8
They saw more lights in the distance as they continued, their hues varying from bright red to that same sickly shade of green. Soon, they began to feel them as well, even over the thunderous movements of Brock's Steelix. They met no pokémon on their journey, not even any water faring types as they followed the river to the source of the commotion, Brock's stomach tightening all the while.
As the group turned onto a tributary that led off at a sharp angle back east, they didn't have to wait long for the Breeder's worst fears to come true. Entering another clearing, the thick trees along the banks sweeping away to give them a clear view, they stepped into a war zone.
Boiling craters dotted the earth, having set the far eastern stretch of wood on fire. And there, lying in the middle of it all on a patch of blackened earth, was a Charizard.
Swallowing audibly, Brock gestured to his ride to bring them around to the downed lizard's side. Before Steelix could even lower them closer, Whitney jumped off first, tears evident in her eyes. Brock followed moments later, already swinging his pack around and opening it.
The monster was alive, if barely. Deep burns and gouges covered its scaly hide, and Whitney felt helpless as Brock did what he could. She wished dearly that her Miltank was still alive; its Heal Bell would have been able to knit the flesh back together instantly, but…
Noticing movement out of the corner of her eye as she was gently caressing the poor creature's head, Whitney got Brock's attention. "Look! Underneath him!"
Coming around from where he'd been attending to one of Charizard's broken wings, Brock made his way back to the creature's belly. There, cradled protectively and rendered almost invisible in the pitch shadows and pale light, was Ash and his Pikachu.
"Thank Arceus," Brock breathed as the two rescuers brought Ash and his closest companion out from under the fire dragon's great bulk. "They're alive, too," he said, examining them immediately.
If anything, they were in even worse shape than Charizard. Pikachu was positively black, his yellow fur nearly burned right off. Ash had a deep and nasty gash on his right side, which had thankfully been cauterized, as well as a broken leg. He had some small burns on his open face and arms as well.
Brock was thoroughly surprised, therefore, when the young man's eyelids fluttered open. He brought up his left arm to grasp Brock's shoulder.
"Hey, buddy," he said, his voice strained. He was obviously in incredible pain. "You missed the party."
Grasping his friend's hand in his own, Brock found himself chuckling despite the situation.
"Hey to you, too," he replied. Forcing down the dozens of questions shooting through his mind, he went for a different tactic. "You better hold on, man, and live. 'Cause if you don't you know Misty's gonna have me stuffed and mounted above her pool."
Ash laughed, which came out as no more than a gurgle as he spat a glob of blood off to the side. "So what the hell happened here?" he asked, coming back on track. "We've all been out of the loop."
When he had finally turned his head back, Brock could see a mixture of sorrow and seriousness on Ash's face.
"Parents," he stated vaguely. Reaching slowly down to his belt, Ash drew out a Fast Ball. Unlike a standard ball, these were created specifically to capture rare pokémon. "I managed to capture a Dratini. As you can see, its parents weren't too pleased with my actions."
As realization dawned on him, the Breeder forced down a sharp reply. He would deal with his friend's foolishness later. For the moment, the important thing was to get everyone out of here. They were all in grave danger now.
Scanning the surrounding field as it continued to blaze, Brock noticed a breeze beginning to pick up. But as the wind began to accelerate, both he and Whitney noticed that it was coming simultaneously from two separate directions, along with a series of roiling clouds from the east and south.
Ash's grip on his shoulder tightened. "You have to leave, Brock. Now. They're Dragonair; you're no match for them." Dragonair, though the de-evolved form of Dragonite, were still incredibly dangerous pokémon, and had one thing that their final form did not: bar the gods themselves, they were the most adept at controlling the weather.
And these two were using that power now, creating a storm of stupendous proportions high above. Through the sudden downpour, Whitney could make out two long, serpentine forms weaving amongst each other, the silvery wings cresting their heads reflecting the lighting swirling through the air. Already beginning to strike more trees below, the bolts set the rest of the surrounding forest ablaze.
"Whitney!" Brock yelled, grabbing her attention. "Help me get Ash and Pikachu to safety!" Having dug through Ketchum's supplies, Brock had managed to retrieve Charizard and put him into stasis. With the now-barely conscious Ash still lying on the ground, she ran over to help carry him to Steelix.
However, she'd only moved a step when she felt a prickling sensation on her turned back. Diving away instinctively, she managed to tuck and roll before the first Hyper Beam hit, the attack a pure golden column of force that blew another chunk from the terrain.
Brock had managed to dodge the second attack, this one a DragonBreath that traced a furrow in the earth and sent up a column of sallow green flame in its wake.
The attack continued, sending up a wall of heat that encircled the group. They were trapped.
Drawing closer, the two Dragonair lined themselves up for another round, their jaws steaming. As the next set of DragonBreath attacks came closer, Brock, Ash, and Whitney all closed their eyes for the inevitable.
It never came. Instead, they found themselves surrounded by a fortress of metal. Brock's Steelix roared in irritation as it took the brunt of the attacks, its eyes smoldering up at those that wished to hurt its friends and master.
Regaining her wits about her, Whitney slowly drew a pokéball from her back as Brock called his Steelix to send out its own DragonBreath in retaliation. She was angry. Far more angry than she'd ever felt in her life; even more than when she'd lost her dearest friend. It was almost overwhelming, this rather new emotion. Almost.
"Clefairy, use Ice Beam!" Another pink pokémon flew from its confines, this one star-shaped with a curl of fur on its forehead. The creature wasn't smiling, though. It had sensed its Trainer's mood and launched a dazzling blue beam of cold without question, directly up at one of the dragons hovering above.
The beam only managed a glancing hit on the one to the left, but that was enough to distract it from launching an attack of its own. To the right, the other parent launched another Hyper Beam, this one contacting directly with the incoming DragonBreath.
The resulting explosion seemed to rend the world asunder, clawing at the eardrums as it sent sparks flying off everywhere.
Shaking off the ringing in his ears, Ash noticed the young woman who was now standing beside him and Brock, directing her pixie pokémon to launch a Psychic blast this time.
With a quirk of an eyebrow, he quipped, "Hey, Brock. You got yourself a girlfriend? We must be dead from that attack and I'm just dreaming."
"Ha. Ha. Just don't think about it too much; we all know such exercise for your brain will just injure you more. Steelix, Iron Tail!" They all ducked as the Steel-type's tail glowed white and whipped over their heads, knocking one of the incoming Dragonair to the ground.
The other dragon was undeterred, however. Seeing its mate thrown away, it sent out a fluting below of rage. Shrugging off Clefairy's Psychic pulse, it flew ever closer, bending around Steelix to strike from behind. Steelix would never be able to shift its weight in time.
But then, it didn't have to. As another golden stream of energy spun itself into existence within the dragon's mouth, it was cut off as a white blur rose from the riverbank nearby and tackled it midair.
With its teeth sawing into the Dragonair's neck and its claws straddling the sinewy form, the Absol held on for dear life. Shifting its weight, using the momentum of its jump, the pokémon of disaster managed to drive the creature to the ground, the two struggling for supremacy.
Using the distraction to their advantage, Brock and Whitney tried to come up with a plan.
"How are we going to get out of here, Brock? You don't have any other pokémon that could battle those…things while Steelix carries Ash and Pikachu out of here, do you?"
The Breeder shook his head sadly. "No. Marshtomp wouldn't last a second, and Steelix is exhausted already. He can't carry us anymore."
"Then you guys should make a run for it," Ash interjected. "None of my pokémon could beat them either. They've been in an attack rage for days, Brock. Just take Pikachu and the pokéball with you." As he placed the ball in Brock's hand, Ash collapsed. Whether it was from the pain, or worse, nobody could tell.
Brock swallowed. He knew what happened when a dragon went into an attack rage. They became nearly unstoppable, and these two were obviously at a very high level of martial prowess.
"No, there's got to be some way," he whispered to himself. But it all seemed so hopeless. He didn't know what to do anymore. He lent over his prone friend, and began to cry.
Just as his self-pity was taking hold, he felt a warm hand rest on his shoulder.
Glancing up, he saw Whitney kneeling over him, an excited look on her face. "I've got an idea." She looked over at her pokémon. "Clefairy, use Metronome!"
The pokémon Breeder's gaze filled with hope. He shouted over at the pixie. "You can do it, Clefairy! Come on!"
Metronome was a rather unique move. It allowed a pokémon to use virtually any attack. And that included such things as the ability to simply fly them all out of here at high speed.
The only problem was that whatever was generated was completely random.
As the little pink puff started swinging its hands back and forth, the tips of its fingers glowing blue, the battle between Dragonair and Absol had been decided.
Having managed to curl itself around the Dark-type, the blue snake had begun to cut off its opponent's air supply. Surrendering, the brave pokémon managed to twitch its neck in one final effort, sending its blade scoring deep into blue flesh and scales.
Shuddering in agony, the dragon reared up and over its prey, preparing to strike.
At that moment, Clefairy had finished. With a rush of wind, a psychic wall formed itself around Brock and his companions. That included Absol. Bouncing rather comically off of the Reflect that had been put up, the enraged pokémon ascended skyward one again.
Brock saw his chance. Knowing the affects of Reflect wouldn't protect the pokémon from any energy-based attacks, he withdrew a now-familiar pokéball from his supplies as Clefairy tried again. "Absol!"
The tired animal snapped its head around from where it lay. Noticing what Brock was holding, it glanced back and forth for a moment from the device back to Brock's face.
It made its decision. Attempting to stand up, the pokémon collapsed again. Noticing its plight, Steelix uncurled itself from its protective embrace, trusting the Reflect to do its job. Wrapping its tail around the fallen, the iron behemoth actually managed to pull its catch back in time, before another DragonBreath hit just where Absol had lain.
Quickly capturing his friend once again, Brock smiled up at his first pokémon. "Thank you," he said. Steelix simply nodded.
Clefairy was on its third attempt. The poor thing was beginning to sweat as it struggled to build up another bout of energy. Fortunately, the other Dragonair had only been trying to bash its way into the shield all this time, but even that amount of luck wasn't going to hold out.
Brock and Whitney could see holes beginning to form in the crystalline barrier around them, and these spiderwebbed into cracks as the inherent psychic structure failed. And then the end began.
Entwining themselves together by their tails, the two monsters flew in harmony high up into the air. Their movements graceful, it was a sight to behold and would have been beautiful if not for the danger attached to it.
"They're doing a Dragon Dance, aren't they?" Whitney asked, her mouth turning ashen.
"Yes. They're boosting each others' power. Then they're going to ram right through our defenses as if it were tinfoil."
It was pointless to resist now. The dragons were fast before; now they would be able to move too fast for any of their own pokémon to even land a hit. Brock withdrew Steelix as well, not bothering to recall Pikachu back into its own ball. The belligerent little guy would want to go out with the rest of them.
Using one of the strongest attacks in existence, the Dragonair spun as one toward the beleaguered people and pokémon below. Their still-spinning forms lighting with fire from all colors of the rainbow, they descended in a brilliant Outrage.
With a bright white aura resonating from beside him, Brock grasped Whitney's hand.
Then the earth gushed in flame and smoke as the dragons hit.
