Chapter 10: Linoleum

Lavaridge Town was on fire. Chaos ruled as the royal guard ran through the streets wrecking havoc and bringing misery wherever they walked. Though smoke rose in billows over the small village one man slept undisturbed, seemingly deaf to the cries of his fellow town people. He was not an evil man nor was he an uncaring man, he simply an oblivious man; the cries of Lavaridge fell upon deaf ears as he slept in his cottage just outside the boundaries of the village.

Eventually the thick smoke found its way under the door to his humble cottage of stone, and crept toward his prone, sleeping form like a sinister fog. The sudden shock of a nostril full of smoke woke the man instantly though he did not seem alarmed by it. Rather Jackson Perrin felt confused, while it was true that the dormant volcano nearby would on rare occasion billow smoke never before had it poured into the valley in which Lavaridge town was located before. Still groggy Jackson walked to his window and looked out over the town.

The view that met his eyes was not that which he had become accustomed to over his five years in the small village; instead of seeing a bustling of people going about their morning routines like gears in a clock he saw nothing but fire and smoke. Immediately awakened by such a horrendous sight he immediate dressed himself in his usual garb of an Ursaring pelt coat, matching pants and Sharpedo skin boots and set off at a sprint down the hill his cottage rested on towards the village below.

A rather rude welcome greeted him in the form of a rather large member of the Royal guard at the entrance to the village. Brandishing a long spear and flanked by a pair of Houndoom he looked menacingly at Jackson and called out to him in a gruff voice.

"You there, state your business!" He commanded lowering the spear as if preparing himself for a fight. Though Jackson knew that he could easily take care of this man with the skills learned from living in the mountains for years, he had forgotten his Pokeballs on his desk at home, and without them he fared little chance against the beasts emitting flame laced snarls in his direction. So in light of this development he opted to take the easier more diplomatic route.

"My name is Jackson Perrin; I live in that house on the ridge over there." He said non confrontational as possible, while pointing towards his cottage. The guard let out a laugh and lowered his spear. After gesturing to the guard dogs to stand down he turned towards Jackson and spoke again, this time adopting a rather mocking voice.

"Oh, I am so sorry sir!" he said feigning apology. "I am sorry to have questioned the king of the mountains! How dare I!"

"What did you just call me?" Jackson asked, confused and more than a little angry at this man's blatant disrespect for him. "And for what reason are you terrorizing this village?" He shouted these last words over the crash of a nearby house as the fires consumed it.

"This village was found to be harboring secrets from his Excellency." The guard stated flatly and in a tone that strongly suggested there was more to the explanation than he was letting on. "Now leave before we decide that useless mountain men are a threat as well." These last words were joined with growls from the pair of Houndooms and Jackson knew that it was time for him to leave. Turning back towards his home he vowed to find out what was going on down there even if it meant dirtying his hands a bit.

Jackson stood at the base of the volcano that Lavaridge had become famous for the feeling of regret weighing on him deeply. As he began to scale the steep incline he thought of all the things he could have done to prevent the tragedy that had occurred. He had arrived in the small town five years before a week after his 45th birthday as an outcast from the guard. Immediately the townsfolk sensed that there was something off about him and though they had not shunned him they had treated him with an air of general distrust. This hadn't bothered him at the time; without the added responsibilities of social interaction Jackson had much more time to practice his favorite hobbies of hiking and wilderness survival with his trusted team of ground specialist Pokémon.

He was a rather large man, standing at around six and a half feet with wide shoulders and a heavily muscled body toned from days of climbing the mountains around Lavaridge and trekking through the various canyons they were riddled with. He brushed away his long dark hair as he paused on a ledge a quarter up the mountain side to look over the ruins of the village. This was a favorite spot of his when he needed to think, made all that much better by the long head-clearing journey needed to reach it.

As he gazed down into the smoldering debris he couldn't help but feel responsible for what had happened. Sure the guards were the ones who should shoulder most of the blame but was he not a former member of the famed Pillars of Earth? Was it not their mission to challenge tyranny wherever they may be? To him it made no difference that the resistance had disbanded years before after their leader and good friend of Jackson—Dwayne Jordan—had died in a skirmish with a platoon of guards. The way that Jackson saw things he was bound to the pledge he had made to end Sharakor's reign until it became no longer relevant—the day the bastard was six feet deep.

It was then and there where he decided that he would not rest until these people were brought to justice, but he knew that he couldn't take this group on alone and would need help from someone in the town. Unfortunately this is where his plan hit a wall, what he needed was a cause to rally these people to. They would obviously be upset, but he doubted that they had enough rage left in their downtrodden bodies to muster any kind of revolt. So Jackson needed to create a more immediate cause than the death of the all controlling godlike figure the overlord had been turned into by legend.

As Jackson made his way into the village he was shocked and angered by the extent of damage that the guards had caused; everywhere he looked he saw the remains of the peaceful village burnt to the ground, treasured possessions littering the streets as the townsfolk wandered about in states of obvious confusion and dismay. Many lay dead and covered in burns while still others tended to their wounds like as many scared animals after a brush fire. The sight was enough to make Jackson's blood boil and his fury grew with each step as he headed toward the center of the village where many of the inhabitant were massing if only to try and bring comfort to one another.

Jackson stormed to the center of the huddled grievers and jumped up onto the wooden stage built for public announcements for the village. The stage was in surprisingly good condition, it must have been used by the guards to have avoided the scorching the rest of the town endured, but small which left him with little room to walk stand, but it was better than nothing. He yelled as loud as he could and when he had got the group's attention he began to speak.

"People of Lavaridge I came here to apologize to you" He started garnering interest from the crowd who seemed perplexed but intrigued. "I came to apologize to you for not being here when the guards attacked. I came to tell you that as a former member of The Pillars of Earth that I should have protected this place from the evils of Sharakor." He paused as the crowd grew silent, and all chattered ceased at the name of the notorious rebel group. "However after seeing what you do in the light of this heinous crime I will not apologize. I will not apologize for failing to defend a town so cowardly that it won't even stand up for its self! When I look around I see no barricades, no fallen guards, and no sign of a struggle. Was no man brave enough to fight? Did no man value his friends and family more than himself? And what has that wrought you? I'll tell you what; burnt homes, broken family, and black memories. I intend on going after these bastards and I will not quit until every one of them is wiped from the face of Pantera, and I will do it alone if need be. However if anyone in this pathetic village has the courage to stand with me let him meet me at the southern gate in an hour."

With one last disgusted glance Jackson walked away looking for all the world like a man who could not stand his surrounding; however, inside he was pleased. The town seemed to have taken offense to his words and he hoped that the feeling of disgust he felt upon surveying the town that had lain down to the guards would infect some of its members and they would join him.

As promised an hour later Jackson stood at the southern gate, standing in front of him was a handful of men. The gate was simple stone construction that made an archway over the dirt road that lead from the mountains into the town. None of the men standing before him looked like they would be of much use in a real fight, though he had expected as much being that they were all farmers or miners. Lavaridge had never faced a threat before and so there was simply no need for anyone to learn to fight. Jackson had the men release their Pokémon; they were all relatively weak creatures that served primarily as companions to their masters unlike the Houndoom and Mighteyena he knew the guards would employ. However one of the trainers did stand out from the rest. He was a boy of no more than eighteen. He was not large but was tall and well toned from whatever job it was that he did around the village.

"You" Jackson said pointing to the boy. "What is your name?" The boy straitened up and looked at him with an unwavering gaze and said.

"My name is Neil. Neil Hezlitt." Neil answered

"You and your Pokémon may stay." Jackson replied gesturing to the Shiftry Neil was flanked by. "The rest of you may return to your homes, I have no need for your services."

When the rest of the group had cleared out Jackson approached Neil and started to speak with him.

"Now what we have to do will not be easy, you understand that don't you?" The boy nodded that he did so Jackson continued with his speech. "That looks like a full platoon of guards that came through here which would put their numbers somewhere around fifteen or so. They will be highly trained in the art of fighting and their Pokémon are all extremely dangerous. Fighting them head on will be nothing short of suicide."

"What!" Neil exclaimed "Then why did you send all of them home? They could have helped!"

"They would just be in the way." Jackson said dismissively. The boy in front of him looked confused and Jackson started to doubt his earlier decision to bring the boy with him on this venture. "Now listen up because I'm only going to say this once. I've spent more time in battle than you have living, and I will not have my decisions questioned by you! Am I understood?" Neil shook his head yes, that Jackson's message had been loud and clear, and stood back a little shocked, but also with more respect in his eyes for the older man. "Good now that you understand where I'm coming from here is our plan…"

Several hours later Jackson sat perched on a ledge overlooking Jagged Pass, the base of another active volcano. The pass was less of a gap between mountains so much as it was merely a portion where the incline dipped below eighty degrees. Rockslides were a common occurrence and travel through it was not advised except for the most experienced of hikers. The platoon of guards were slowly making their way down the steep slopes, clearly struggling with the rigors of the journey, so far unaware that they were being followed closely by Jackson and Neil.

Jackson's plan was simple; Neil would, with the help of his nimble Shiftry and a life spent navigating the treacherous slopes, distract the guards while Jackson and his troop of ground Pokémon caused a large rockslide that would crush the guards beneath. It was an old favorite from his days as a member of the Pillars of Earth; they had won so many battles in this fashion that the Overlord had been hesitant to send any of his troops anywhere near the mountainous regions where they made their stronghold.

Neil sprang into actions as Jackson gave him the silent signal and began to harass the platoon. Jumping between the numerous boulders that stood like golems he hurled rocks, sticks, and whatever else he could get his hands on at the guards. He was careful never to stay in one place for too long as to keep the guards confused. His Shiftry began to unleash a barrage of grass attacks that cut down many of the soldiers before they knew what hit them. Gradually they began to understand what was happening and formed a tight battle formation looking for their mysterious foe.

This was what Jackson had been hoping for. With a nod to his team of ground type specialists he unleashed a massive landside down upon the defenseless platoon who was still searching for their mystery assailant. The entire platoon was crushed almost simultaneously under several tons of ruble—these men would harass the good people of Lavaridge no more.

Feeling confident that everything had gone just as planned Jackson signaled for Neil to join him on his perch. However while the boy was climbing up to join him disaster struck. Too late Jackson saw the blast that took young Neil's life. He tried to cry out for the boy to duck but it was too late, he was already consumed in a pillar of fire and his Shiftry with him. Looking around Jackson quickly saw the man responsible—The Fire Snake. His Houndoom already returned to its ball he was fleeing down the mountain towards his Honchkrow mount and by the time Jackson could react he was flying far away from his reaches.

Jackson Perrin felt then the rage that had fueled his all those years ago when he and the others had formed the Pillars of Earth and he vowed in that moment to finish what he started and destroy Sharakor before he or his minions could do anything like this ever again.

Song: Linoleum-NOFX/ Streetlight Manifesto (Cover)

Possessions never meant anything to me
I'm not crazy
Well that's not true, I've got a bed, and a guitar
And a dog named Bob who pisses on my floor
That's right, I've got a floor
So what, so what, so what?