CHAPTER TEN: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Riley's speedboat finally pulls up to the huge rock known as Iron Island. It appears empty at first, but Riley assures Aaron and Frank that there are plenty of Pokemon both on top of and inside the huge cave.
"Well then let's stay out here!" Frank exclaims, eyeing a Krabby that scuttles under a rock a few feet away. "I don't like caves."
Riley shakes his head. "Lucario and I are going inside, where the Pokemon are strongest."
Aaron shrugs and follows Riley and Lucario. Frank grins. "Suit yerself, man. It's warmer out here, though."
Aaron shakes his head and steps into the inky blackness of the cave. He is immediately consumed by darkness. An eerie roar can be heard way off in the distance. "Riley?" Aaron asks nervously. "Where are you?"
"Right here," comes the reply. Before Aaron can say anything else, a bright blue ball of aura appears in Lucario's paw, lighting up the area for about twenty meters around. With a nod from Riley, Aaron steps blindly into the infinite blackness.
You and Cynthia are finally far enough away from Eterna City that you can stop and rest.
"So, I almost forgot," you say. "How'd it go with Gardenia?"
"Better than I'd expected." Cynthia replies. "Turns out she managed to steal a prototype of one of Team Galactic's new Untraceable cell phones, and used it to call around. Tyler and Volkner are on their way to Veilstone right now, and Leader Maylene is preparing a convoy to pull us out of Veilstone and over to Hoehn ASAP."
"What about the others?"
"We haven't heard from them yet. Hopefully they've gotten out of Iron Island safely and are on they're way to take down Darkrai."
You nod, knowing that you'll have to confront Cynthia and Tyler about the mission sooner or later. You decide to wait until you're near Hoehn.
"So what do you think's going on at Iron Island that's keeping Aaron and Frank from answering us?"
"Oh, nothing, they're probably fine," Cynthia reassures you.
Naturally, she can't have been more wrong.
Aaron screams as another volley of bullets blasts just inches from his ear. Team Galactic ambushed him and Riley just as they had been fighting a wild Steelix. Now bullets and Pokemon attacks are coming from every which way, and he and Riley's only consolation is that the grunts are just as blind as they are.
As Drapion blasts poison in random directions and Heracross does its best to shield Aaron, he realizes that the light from Lucario's Aura is no longer illuminating the cave.
"Riley, where the hell did you go?" Aaron yells as a bullet slices through the side of his shirt. Another shell hits Drapion in the side, and Aaron has to call back the poor creature.
Suddenly, something grabs Aaron from the back and pulls him down, and before he knows what is going on, he is sliding down a short, spiraling tunnel, Heracross rolling after him.
After sliding about thirty meters down a pitch-black catacomb, Aaron lands on the ground, coughing. The first thing he realizes is that, he can barley see. He landed in a different part of the cave, and there was light peeking up from the huge hole in the corner of the ceiling.
Aaron rolls over, wiping dirt off his face, and looks up to see Riley holding out his hand. Aaron gladly takes it, pulling himself up. He calls back Heracross, and turns to Riley. "What happened?"
"We were running from Galactic when Lucario found this tunnel I used to use as a shortcut to get out of here. He was the one who pulled you down, sorry if you got roughed up a bit."
"No problem, I'm just glad I didn't get shot. So how do we get outta here?"
Riley points up, towards the small hole in the ceiling. It has to be fifty meters in the air.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes. I'm guessing none of your Pokemon can carry us that far; we're gonna have to climb."
Aaron is about to protest, but he can hear footsteps approaching the cavern.
"Fine, let's go."
The Jackal slowly creeps through the cave, tracking Aaron and Riley. The grunts don't know he is there, or that he is on their side, but it doesn't matter. They'd never find him anyway.
His instructions are simple: kill. Both of the men working for Cynthia need to be dead. No questions asked.
He quietly takes out a Pokeball and walks into the cavern…
Pain courses through Aaron's arms as he pulls himself up the side of the wall, dismayed to see that he is barely half-way to the top. Riley is far ahead, and Lucario is a few feet above, probably only staying with Aaron to make sure he doesn't fall off.
"Riley, are you almost there?" Aaron calls up the side off the wall. He is answered by a small shower of dust and dirt, and a long pause.
Then: "Yeah, I just pulled myself over the top! It's closer than it looks!"
With a hint of newfound strength, Aaron manages to pull himself a bit further. Then, he hears men in the next cavern.
"Damn," he mutters, and begins to climb faster.
The Jackal smiles as he looks at Aaron through his sniper scope. He can visibly see the young man's strange green hair, and slowly places the crosshairs over Aaron's head. The Jackal places his finger on the trigger and applies just the tiniest bit of pressure…
*BANG!*
The Jackal gasps. The shot fired, but never hit its intended target. About ten meters below the top of the rock wall, Aaron's haste causes him to slip, and the rock his right hand is holding onto breaks off the wall. At the same moment his body drops, the bullet passes his head and tears into his left hand instead, which lets go as well.
The Jackal curses violently. He has never missed a target at this range in his life. It doesn't matter, though; he no longer has the element of surprise, but now one target is falling to his death, and the other lay tired and helpless on the top of a giant underground cliff.
The Jackal swallows his pride and loads his gun again.
Aaron screams for two reasons: One, he had just had a shot fired at is head. Instead, it had torn into his hand. Two: He is falling off a monstrously high cliff into a black oblivion. His breath catches in his chest as Lucario's paw grabs his foot just before he falls to the of no return. With one mighty swing of its arm, Lucario tosses Aaron up. He lands painfully, but alive.
Riley grabs him, pulls him to his feet, and shouts a single command: "Run!"
Aaron doesn't need to be told twice. Lucario swings himself over the top of the wall and follows. The three sprint toward the large hole in the side of the cavern ceiling, now only about twenty meters over their heads. Riley pulls out a rope with a grappling hook tied to the end and tosses it up. "Go, go, GO!"
The Jackal curses again as a grenade lands near him, throwing off his aim and causing his second shot to go wild. The damn Galactic Agents had finally found him, and were proving to be more of a threat than he had thought. Deciding he wouldn't be able to get a perfect shot with his gun, The Jackal pulls out two Pokeballs and Smoke Bomb, disappearing from sight while unleashing two deadly Pokemon.
Lucario is the first to jump onto the rope. It climbs up with blinding speed, until a green blur slams into it and knocks it back to the ground. Lucario looks up angrily at Grovyle and launches a powerful Aura Sphere. Grovyle dodges and retaliates with a flying fury of punches and kicks, all of which Lucario barely blocks.
"I can see I am not the only one here skilled with martial arts." Lucario says telepathically. "But this is a fight you cannot win."
"Gro, Grovyle!" The assassin Pokemon replies. Translation: "We shall see."
As Aaron desperately tries to grab onto the rope with one hand, while blood gushes out of the other, a huge figure flies out of the shadows and shrieks a blood-curdling roar.
"Oh, God." Aaron whispers. The man after them had sent out an Aerodactyl.
Riley curses from halfway up the rope as he sees Aerodactyl, and takes out a Pokeball.
"Let's go, Gyarados!" He'd have to put his newest Pokemon to the test in a fight to the death.
The Jackal watches from his new hiding spot as Aerodactyl smashes the Gyarados out of the air and punishes it with a Thunderbolt. Riley's Pokemon wouldn't last long.
The killer's new hiding spot is much farther than his original setup, and he doubt he'll be able to get a direct his on Riley this time. It doesn't matter though. None of his enemies are in any place to be even mildly wounded.
The Jackal pulls the trigger a third time and watches emotionlessly as the bullet slams into Riley's chest and knocks the powerful trainer to the ground. Packing up his weapon, The Jackal gets ready to move. His work here is done.
Smacking Grovyle to the ground, Lucario cries out in anger as it sees its beloved master go down. It runs over to help Riley, but Grovyle flies forward and wraps its hands around Lucario's neck. The Pokemon's last words before it blacks out are, "Master, I've failed you... master…"
Aaron looks down desperately as he sees the chaos going down below him. Riley is either dead or dying, Lucario is knocked out, Aerodactyl is beating Gyarados, and bullets are flying from all over. Aaron doesn't want to leave his friends behind, but he is wounded and can't do anything more. He gasps as the hook begins to slip from the crack it has made in the roof, and for the second time he begins to fall to his death.
But he doesn't fall far.
A hand darts down from the hole like a fist from heaven, and Aaron is hoisted up into blinding sunlight. When his vision returns to normal, who should he see but Frank bending over him. "God, I can't leave you guys alone in a cave for five minutes without having to save your asses!"
Panting and covered in a mixture of dirt and sweat, Aaron can't help but smile. "Frank, you crazy bastard…"
"Don't worry, man. We're getting you out of here."
"We?"
The question goes unanswered. Suddenly very dizzy, Aaron faints just Frank dives into the fray.
The Jackal calls back Grovyle, and is pulling out Aerodactyl's Pokeball when something huge slams onto the cavern floor. Before he can quite tell what's going on, the assassin is knocked backwards by what seems to be a giant metal ball. He looks up to see a gigantic Kingler beating Aerodactyl into the ground.
"F***," he mutters, and calls back his Pokemon. His mission is still a partial success, and that's fine with him. He'll kill Aaron another day. Before Kingler can get a hold of him, The Jackal disappears into the blackness.
Aaron awakens to the sound of a loud motor, and looks around to see him back in Riley's ship. Frank is at the wheel, while Riley's Blissey is tending to its heavily bandaged master.
"Wha-what happened?" Aaron asks.
Frank laughs. "Me and my kickass Pokemon saved you again. I'll tell you all about it later, but right now you need to get some rest."
Aaron doesn't need to be told twice. He leans his head back and falls back into a lazy sleep.
Frank tilts his head back as he feels the wind against his face. For the first time in his life, he isn't quite sure where to go. He didn't speak Blissey, but he didn't need to be told that Riley was in bad condition. He wasn't sure whether the man's health would get better or worse over the trip. Canavale was farther away than New Moon island, but if Riley was critical then he'd need a hospital.
On the other hand, other lives could be at stake if they didn't catch Darkrai soon, and Riley could turn out fine. Another option was Full Moon island, where Frank had heard Cresselia lived. It was even farther away than Darkrai's home and not part of the plan, but it was a safe place to rest and Cresselia's help would be useful.
Yes, Cresselia would help. She was the main reason that they were out here, in the first place. Confident in his new decision, Frank turns the wheel and sets a course for Full Moon Island.
Colonel Rojack is thrown against the burning wall by an amazing telekinetic force, and Alex Rawson begins to choke him to death with his mind.
"I'm going to ask you one last time, Rojack. Where. Did. They. GO?"
Struggling to breathe, Rojack chokes, "I d-…don 't….know!"
Rawson sighs. "Very well."
Rojack screams in pain his internal organs begin to churn. "Wait, wait, wait! I'll tell you! I'll do anything! PLEASE!"
Rawson finally lets him go.
Breathing heavily, Rojack murmurs, "They… they came in, in the middle of… the night…Knocked me out…almost killed me…I woke up, and they'd pulled a ton of files from the mainframe. One of our men caught a glimpse of what they were looking at before… they self-destructed the server…"
"And what did he see?"
Rojack takes a deep breath. "They took a lot, but what we saw was that Giovanni was hiding in Veilstone. He was getting ready for…something."
Alex smiles. "Interesting… and who did you say broke in again?"
"I didn't see them, but one of our security cameras barely did before they cut our power. The first one, I don't know, just an accomplice, but the second intruder was definitely... Champion Cynthia…"
Rawson nods. "You've been helpful, Rojack. As your reward, your death will be swift."
Before Rojack can move, Rawson snaps his neck with a twitch of his finger. He then tosses the body into the burning wreckage of what had been the Eterna Galactic Building, until he had found it.
He had a new destination.
"Are we there yet? My feet hurt…" Kaitlyn whines as she staggers down the steep path. Ignoring her, Volkner stops and looks around. "This looks like a safe spot." He nods to Tyler."
"A safe spot 'fer what?" Dallas asks. In response, Mewtwo appears with a brilliant flash of light.
Surprisingly unsurprised, Dallas smiles and his eyes widen. "While I'll be dod derned… I've seen some rare Pokemon in my day, but this…"
Kaitlyn is a bit less enthusiastic. She gasps and covers her mouth. "Oh, OH MY GOD! That's disgusting! Tyler, what is that thing?"
Volkner explodes into laughter, along with Dallas.
"Be careful what you say, and whom you say it to, little human." Mewtwo says telepathically. "You never know when they might…snap."
With that last sentence, he cracks huge tree in two, sets it on fire, and sends it flying away, all without even looking at it. Kaitlyn becomes a bit more respectful after that, but she doesn't talk to Tyler for the rest of the trip.
They trudge down the path for a few more minutes, Mewtwo content to be floating around on its own, when Tyler's counterpart suddenly speaks into Volkner's mind again. "Young one, should we summon the Son of Lightning?"
It takes a second for Volkner to realize what it's means (legendaries have a weird way of talking.) After a nod from Tyler, the only other one who heard what Mewtwo said, Volkner calls out to Raikou with his mind.
"Uhh…yeah, I guess I can talk to you like this now…yeah, Mewtwo wants you here… I hope you can hear me… Yeah."
Despite Volkner's lack of confidence, Raikou bursts onto the path in front of them within ten seconds, roaring.
Kaitlyn screams and turns to run, but Mewtwo catches her, and calms her down. Well, he knocks her out.
Dallas is a different story. He stares at the magnificent beast, more surprised than when he met Mewtwo. Raikou looks at him with equal recognition.
"…You."
"You."
Volkner look at one, then the other. "Wait, you two know each other?"
Neither responds, not taking their eyes off each other.
Mewtwo and Tyler respond for them. "Dallas… he was a Suicune hunter as a child."
"…And he ran into Raikou one day, instead."
"They battled,"
"And Raikou lost."
"But Dallas let him go,"
"Because he was after Suicune."
Dallas doesn't take his eyes off of Raikou for a long time. After what seems like hours, he finally takes a deep breath and says, "Well, all righty then. Let's get movin'."
Starting to get a headache, Volkner looks at Tyler and Mewtwo angrily. "And why didn't you tell me this sooner?"
They respond at the same time. "You didn't ask."
Volkner turns away, grumbling. "Damn psychics…"
Aaron quickly brushes his sopping wet hair out of his eyes as he squints, trying to see through the storm that seemed to appear and strike Riley's motorboat out of nowhere.
It was bad enough to get seasick under the best circumstances, but to be trapped in a monsoon in the middle of night with zero visibility? Aaron was glad he hadn't eaten anything recently.
"Frank!" he shouts, his voice being drowned out by the crashing waves and the flashing lightning around them.
"FRANK!"
"Yeah?" The other man calls back, desperately trying to steer the boat without being flipped overboard. His hands are both gripping the wheel in a death-lock, and all of his attention is concentrated on keeping them afloat.
"I think I can see it!"
"Where?"
Aaron stumbles to the floor as the boat rocks again. The storm is picking up, and if they don't get to the island soon, he has a feeling hat they won't make it trough the night.
Getting on his hands and knees, he scrambles around the dashboard, desperately looking for a headlight switch of some kind. He finds it, a small switch under the steering wheel, and flicks it on.
Light suddenly shoots from the front of the boat, illuminating the ocean in front of them and settling on a small mass of land, looming in the darkness about tree-hundred meters ahead.
"I see it!" Fran exclaims, fighting for control as more water pours down and nearly shakes him off the wheel. "Can we make it?"
"We have to try!" Aaron replies. Then he turns his attention to Lucario, who is doing his best to hold down an unconscious Riley.
"Can he hold out?" Aaron calls over the raging storm.
"I cannot say." The Pokemon says gravely, examining its master's bullet wound. "I estimate he has only a few hours left to live, and that's only if we land safely."
Aaron repeats the message to Frank, who nods, grimacing. "We've gotta make it to land, before this storm wipes us out... I'm goin' for it." He grabs the throttle and thusts it forward, gunning it for the island and causing Aaron to nearly be thrown off.
"Are you crazy?" Aaron screams as the boat hits a monster swell and is sent flying into the air, barley sticking the landing in one piece. "Even if we survive, there could be rocks on the shore! You're gonna tear the boat apart!"
Frank can't help but smile as the last few meters of open water disappear in a flash, and the speeding motorboat closes in on the jagged, rocky beach of Full Moon Island. "It doesn't matter."
Too late to argue any further. Aaron grabs a hold of the side of the boat and braces himself for what very easily be his death.
"Sir, the flying four are back."
Steven Stone looks up from his feverish work to see Sidney standing in his doorway. At any other time, Steven would be excited, but he has too much on his mind.
"Sir?"
Steven shakes his head, trying to focus. Maybe the Flying Four had good news to bring. But he doubted it.
"Steven, are you alright?" Sidney asks, concerned. The Dark-type trainer is one of the Champion's oldest friends, and recognizes immediately that something is troubling Steven.
But Stone isn't ready to share the news about Deoxys with the rest of the world. Perhaps they already knew. "I'm fine, Sidney, thanks. How did Drake's mission go?"
"Um, well…–"
Before Sidney can answer, footsteps are heard coming up the stairs, and a devastated-looking Drake enters the room, following by Winona, whose eyes are red from sobbing.
"Oh no."
Steven is shocked by the news of Lance's death. How ever much he disliked his rival Champion growing up with him, Steven had never hated the older man.
But Lance had lived a good life, being an Elite in one region and a Champion in the other, the Dragon Tamer had lived to be a good age.
There were more important matters at hand than grieving over lost friends; there would be time for that later.
"Drake, I know this is hard for you, but I need to know how the attack went. Was the plan a success?"
Drake looks up, anger and pain clearly showing in his one good eye. "Oh yes, the plan went fine. Wilma captured your damned beast."
Steven is taken aback by his sharp tone. Drake was supposed to be the calm one.
He turns back to Sidney, who is still quietly awaiting orders. "Sid, I want you to take Winona here down to the guest area. Give her some tea, coffee, whatever, and make her feel at home. Once she's feeling a bit better, debrief her on everything that's happened.
Sidney looks annoyed at first about acting like a nursemaid, but of course he follows orders. Steven knows that the young man's always had a soft spot for the cryptic gym leader.
"Yes, sir. What about Drake?"
"We have private matters to discuss. You're dismissed."
Nodding, Sidney puts his arm around the girl and escorts her down the hall. Once they are gone, Steven folds his hands calmly and turns back to Drake. "That's great news. Now that we have Rayquaza, we can finally begin the campaign to bring peace back to this ravaged country.
Drake turns away in anger. "And you don't even care about the price we'll have to pay. The price we've already payed."
"Drake, you know that's not true. But I will do whatever it takes to keep my people safe." Steven leans closer. "But I need to know what happened on that mission. I need to know how your son died."
"He was shot."
"By whom?"
"A…–" Drake struggles to remember. "An assassin. A foreign man. Yes, I remember now. He didn't look like he would be from Sinnoh, and he definitely wasn't a part of Galactic. Probably a mercenary."
"Can you give me a visual description?"
Drake sighed. "I didn't see the man very clearly, it didn't even look like the Galactics knew who he was. Why the hell does it make a difference, though?"
"I thought you would want to avenge your son."
"Yes, but it's not like you to track down a single man when you have entire terrorist organizations to worry about."
Steven nods and taps away on his computer a bit. Then he spins the screen to face Drake.
"Is this the guy?"
Drake squints at the picture Steven's brought up. "It's hard to tell. I think so. Who is he?"
"Nobody knows his real name. They call him The Jackal. You ever heard of Koga Chén?
"Of course, that corrupt Leader from Kanto a few years back."
"We think that The Jackal is working for him. This is the only known picture in existence of him."
Drake straightens up. "Tell me where to find him. I'll kill him."
Steven shakes his head. Drake is old enough to be his grandfather; he can't have him running off on a mission like this.
"I'm sorry, Drake, but I have another man better suited for the job."
As if on cue, a third man walks through the door. The person standing before them is a tall, tan man who can't be older than twenty-five. He is muscular, intense, and has deep, hard eyes with pupils black as night. His short black hair is highlighted with streaks of scarlet.
"Drake, meet Marcus, my special field agent. When we need somebody found, or someone protected, we talk to him."
"So he does your dirty work for you?"
"In a sense, yes. He's going to be the one to track down the Jackal–"
"–And kill him."
"Not at all. Well, at least, not right away. If Marcus here can trace this man back to Koga, it will give us other leads. Then we can get deep inside Cyrus' operation, and destroy the whole thing from the inside out."
"I thought we were after Archie and Maxie?"
"Yes, but I never underestimate foreign enemies over domestic ones. Which is why I'm sending you to Sinnoh."
Drake raised his eyebrows. "Seems like I'm heading in the wrong direction."
Steven shook his head. "Cynthia–she's assembling a team of the strongest trainers she can find. They're mopping up all of the terrorists, and they're getting ready for something big–something she's not talking about. After they're done in Sinnoh, they're coming here, and I want you to meet them before they leave. The team's gathering in Veilstone in a week, and I have a feeling Team Rocket's going to be ready for them. You really want to avenge your son? Go there and help Cynthia and her friends make a difference."
Drake sighed. After what seemed like hours of thought, he finally spoke. "Alright, I'll do it. For Lance."
Steven nodded contently. "Now there's one more thing we need to talk about, the most important thing of all."
"And what's that?"
"...Deoxys"
THE END