DISCLAIMER: grammaguy owns Pokemon! Also, he's the Wizard of Oz. No, really, it's true.
Hello, hello, hello again my faithful readers! If you're still happy to have a read despite the massive hiatus, I can do nothing but bow deeply to you in reverence. I hope this will have been worth the wait.
A lot's changed since I last updated! I've moved on to university (Queen Mary, University of London, yo!) and I'm very happy here. Of course, a change of setting means the only thing I have for company now is my trusty MacBook, which has led me to find better ways to pass the time. As a product of that, it seems my spirit for fanfiction has returned in a minor way! I've been reading a whole lot of great stories recently and I've been inspired by what I've seen, and I've started dropping the occasional review, done in my usual in-depth style. And as you can see here, I've been busy writing some of my own too!
My gracious thanks to Silverstein222, Hidden Lines, JapanDreamer09 and... ZXCVBNMEM (I hope I got that right xD) for their kind words of encouragement and light critique last chapter. Feels weird for me to be on the receiving end of reviews for once.
No promises on when I can get next one done, but for now, enjoy the show. It's the product of several months of being starved of a good read.
Orbhunt - Chapter 8
Greenlush Valley Reserve
The familiar twinge of doubt wormed its way into May's gut once again as the hiss of an impatient Beedrill behind her made her jump slightly.
The Linoone pack had made excellent use of their time last night. Evidently a very influential voice in the area, they'd stayed true to their word and reputation and had managed to gather an impressive assortment of wild forest dwellers in the time since Hazal had first left, ranging from a few bloodthirsty Scyther to hordes of indignant Poochyena. Even a few Flying-types, such as the flight of Taillow passing over the country in their migration, had taken offense to Magma's defilement of one of their favourite resting stops and had joined as well.
May had been quite impressed with the work done… right until a Pinsir lurking at the edge of the crowd had spotted her watching the gathering and openly snarled at her to keep her distance, followed by a few other angry threats. Then she'd wished an alien spaceship would just come along and beam her away. Even though their attention had been drawn shortly afterwards as Hazal and a few other members of the forest gave a rousing speech that nonetheless emphasized 'the humans in the red and black uniforms' were the only enemy they were there for, it was still plainly obvious to May that humans as a whole were not welcome here.
Brendan, walking along beside her, hadn't said a word to her since after the whole gathering had started moving southward as one massive glacier of death with the two in tow. He'd likely come to the same conclusion as her and didn't want to attract unrequited attention from their new 'allies'.
She wasn't about to do that either.
Blinking as her attention returned to her view again, she frowned as a pair of Venonat who'd volunteered to scout ahead for the group had stopped atop a small bank of dirt and were making rapid gestures to the rest of them further back. Almost at once, the Beedrill who'd been boring its compound eyes into her back for the whole trip hissed a barely perceptible, "Finally," and flew straight past her. Having a vague idea of what they were talking about and dreading if it was true, May and Brendan both inched up to the incline, careful not to crunch any of the dead plant matter littering the floor.
A pair of Magma grunts slowly trudged along ahead of them in a tired fashion, apparently totally unaware of the hundreds of hungry eyes watching them from the canopy above and the trees. A Zubat hung upside-down almost comically from the torso half of its owner's uniform, evidently asleep, with the annoyed expression betraying his expression rather easily. A Mightyena comprised the other half of the two's Pokemon, also looking rather fatigued.
"I'm hungry," one of the two complained suddenly.
The other man grunted, apparently too tired to bother commenting on his partner's state of being.
The next few seconds would shock May to her core.
The wind changed quite noticeably at first. Going from a fairly neutral speed towards her it abruptly changed to a considerable breeze at their tail, tinged with an unpleasant feeling. This did not go unnoticed by the pair of men, who paused in their tracks and frowned at the air. The Mightyena, sensing the change also, perked up… and instantly detected the massive wave of scents coming from that direction.
"GET THEM!"
A Yanmega at the lead of the group roared his declaration moments before the Mightyena began howling in panic at the sheer killing intent radiating from the horde. The two men at its side barely got a chance to exclaim an astonished, "What the fu…?" before a tidal wave of wings, beaks and claws descended upon them from above.
May promptly found a pair of hands clamping down on her ears, pulling her down the ground and muffling the sounds of the battle. She glanced up to see Brendan also crouched down next to her, wincing at the sounds he could hear.
Holy Arceus… they're tearing them apart.
After what seemed like an eternity but what couldn't have been more than ten seconds, Brendan slowly drew his hands away from her head, his eyes squeezed shut in grief. He took a deep breath.
"Don't look at it, just don't," he said slowly.
She nodded tightly. "Did you look at it?"
"No, but I heard it alright."
She winced. "I should have covered your ears too… I'm… I'm sorry, Brendan."
"Don't be." He shook his head. "But let this be a lesson to the both of us. And let us never speak of this again," he added.
She nodded her affirmation and stood. Cautiously making their way around the site of the bloodbath, May resolutely focused on keeping her head looking forward and not at the mess left behind. She couldn't afford to crush her resolve before they'd even gotten close to Magma's base.
Her Pokemon would need her to keep it.
Scythe cradled her injured hand as she paced about in the control room. She was, for lack of a better term, bored. But underneath it all was a growing sense of unease.
Checking the odd hiccup in all the data the technicians had read off the instruments had gotten intensely repetitive and taxing on her patience after the first few incidents, which hadn't helped her boredom. Since the fiasco yesterday, the patrols under her command hadn't had any significant run-ins with wild Pokemon at all.
Which was exactly what was worrying her. Up until then, there'd been quite frequent incursions being made all over the site by tenacious but ultimately disorganized bands of Pokemon seeking to put a stop to Magma's plans there. Nothing that the patrols themselves and occasionally the fast response units she'd set up hadn't been able to handle – only one case involving a large group of Shiftry had ever warranted significant attention from her – but it only highlighted the relative peace they were enjoying now.
She didn't like it one bit.
She desperately wanted to go out there and oversee things personally, but Maxie had insisted she remain in the machine as security and the range on the radios they used combined with the expansive, hilly geography of the area she'd designated for patrolling meant she couldn't feasibly keep in contact with everywhere at once if she went much further from the facility. The radios she'd loaned to Butler and subsequently retrieved after his capture had been state-of-the-art – not exactly mass producible. So it was here she stayed.
She slowed for a moment as her radio crackled static for the umpteenth time that morning. Lifting it to her head, she said with a voice matching her mood, "Rubaia. Go ahead."
"Eighteenth recon. We've found bodies."
Her stomach dropped and she lurched to a halt immediately. "Bodies?"
"Of the tenth. It looks like they got hacked apart really fast – their Pokemon aren't even released aside from the Zubat and Mightyena dictated by protocol."
Holy Groudon. There was no way they could have been killed by just a small group of Pokemon fast enough to stop them from releasing even one Pokemon. This was an organized assault.
"… okay," she said, trying to maintain a calm disposition despite her unprofessional diction. "Fall back to base now. Something big's coming for this machine and I'll need every last man and woman here to defend it."
"Understood." The radio ceased crackling.
Scythe switched channels and immediately began barking orders to the other units at the other side of the patrol area. When this horde appeared, she'd be ready for it.
Truth be told, Brendan wasn't as carefree and unshakable as he let on in casual company. Inwardly, he suffered much the same flaws as the more emotional May beside him… he just hid it better.
Inside, he was trembling at the sounds he'd heard as he put a concerned pair of hands around May's head. Even as he felt her body lock up in his grip, he could hear agonized screams from both the two men in the clearing and the Pokemon they traveled with. The forest residents were so consumed in their hatred for Magma that even their Pokemon were considered acceptable targets. The screams had stopped only extremely shortly after they started, bringing him relief at the knowledge that their death had been quick, if painful, but the other sounds of tearing and disgusting squelching noises continued on for several seconds more as the furious mob literally tore them apart. Nobody deserved a death like that. Nobody. Not even Magma.
He hoped he wouldn't have to see a professional after… this… was all over with.
Now with their bloodlust satiated by the slightest margins, the Pokemon who flew, walked and clambered alongside them appeared a little less angry towards them both – just a little.
It was several tens of minutes of walking before something next happened. Once again, the duo froze as a Venonat far ahead stopped, turned and started signaling with their small arms at the rest of them. No glares were directed at them this time as the Pokemon hovering behind them moved on past. The two glanced at each other, with Brendan silently motioning to follow them, but he still nearly yelled in surprise when a small claw tapped him on the leg. He glanced down to see Hazal looking up at him inquisitively.
"This is the point where I believe we ought to split up," he said pointedly.
May frowned at him, not understanding. "Why? What's going on?"
The Linoone gave her a concerned look. "I'm one of the advance scouts… there's a very large group of humans in those red uniforms not far ahead. And they look as if they're expecting something important, likely us. If you two do not wish to fight alongside us, then you would be better served finding another way back to your friends."
The girl paled, but smiled hesitantly. "Thank you, Hazal."
"My pleasure," he said officiously. He didn't wait to hear Brendan's thanks before he bounded off again to the frontline.
The boy sighed. "Well, you heard the critter. We're going around. I don't want to even risk Magma spotting us and doing something nasty to our friends."
"How do you plan on doing that?" she said, crossing her arms. "This is probably going to be a mile-wide battle."
"I don't know," he said sadly. He squinted up at the canopy above and sighed. "What I'd give to get a lift…"
May had her brows furrowed in thought. "Um… Brendan?"
"Hm?"
She cocked her head. "Could you, like, lift us up there? On a rock?"
He blinked at her completely unexpected solution. "You want me to lift us up on a rock I'm levitating with my mind," he said flatly.
She nodded carefully. "I don't know how difficult it'll be for you, though. You've only lifted that rock you've got in your pocket, but I noticed that the more water I try to lift, the harder it gets…"
He scowled. "Well, gee, thanks, Miss Encouragement."
"At least try?"
"Well… oh, screw it, fine. I doubt I can do it, though."
May stood back a little bit as Brendan etched a circle in the compacted dirt with his shoe, big enough for them both to stand in. It would be a little cramped, but he didn't want to make it any bigger than strictly necessary.
And he concentrated.
And he concentrated harder.
And the small dirt circle shifted.
May gave a small gasp. "It's working!"
Feeling a small ache nagging in the back of his head, he ground out, "Yeah."
The ache intensified as he slowly pulled a perfect circle of packed dirt out of the ground. Shaking his head in an unsuccessful attempt to rid himself of the pain, he hovered it close to the ground and stepped up onto the dirt platform he'd created.
At once, the pain went to groan-worthy levels as he attempted to keep the dirt from collapsing under his weight. "Owwww…"
"It's hurting, isn't it?" May asked, grimacing.
Ignoring her question, he said, "Try stepping on it for a second," in a tired voice.
Nodding, the sixteen-year-old slowly approached and lifted a foot to place in on the circle. Slowly letting her weight on, Brendan felt the ache approach burning levels.
She lifted her other foot off the ground as she put her full weight on the disk, prompting him to clench his teeth. "Augh, no, off, off, now."
She hastily stepped back off the platform, with Brendan letting the platform drop back into the ground again. The relief was the most beautiful thing ever.
"Too much, huh?" she asked with a hesitant smile on her face.
"Tell me about it." He rubbed the sides of his head. "I could never keep that up for long enough to get us up there. My head would explode."
She sighed. "Sorry for suggesting that. I thought it would be a good use of your powers."
"As a glorified elevator?" He cracked a tired grin. "Wouldn't have been my first idea. A bit mundane, don't you think?"
She looked away. "I'm willing to go to any lengths to get my friends back."
The sincerity in her voice made him feel a flash of guilt. "Maybe I should try again…"
"No." Her voice had that hardness which brooked no argument to it again. "You're not killing yourself just to get there."
He shrugged. "Well, alright then… so, have you any other bright ideas?"
May opened her mouth to give an answer, but before she could say anything a series of war cries echoed from the battleground further ahead. Looking over with wide eyes, the duo could see dozens upon dozens of Bug- and Flying-types pouring down from the cover of the brush and canopy. Moments later, another series of cries were heard as well – only this time in discernible English. That was the last thing they heard before the air erupted into a chaotic storm as several energy blasts fired from Magma overshot their intended targets and splashed down nary a few metres from the pair.
May openly screamed and instinctively crouched down to avoid as much debris as possible. Brendan, astutely observing their predicament, gritted his teeth at a very hasty plan put together in all of two seconds, and reached forward and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her onto the disk again. Concentrating as carefully as he could in the madness, the unfriendly ache in the back of his head returned even quicker this time as he slowly wrenched the disk into the air again with the two atop.
A stray Fire Blast promptly obliterated the closest tree to the hovering pair, making the air rain with hot splinters. Now with his blood boiling with adrenaline, he was able to ignore the massive pain his exertion was causing him and the diminutive platform steadily rose skywards.
As the canopy loomed overheard, the number of offending projectiles gradually dwindled as they went higher, with most undershooting them. Brendan hadn't even sworn it had been five seconds since they'd started before May interrupted his concentration by stepping off the platform onto the bough of a large tree. He wordlessly accepted her helping hand and stepped onto the branch himself. Staring dumbly back at the platform, he wondered how he'd managed to get so far… before his attention returned to his head. More specifically, how it was full of an agonizing burning sensation.
Brendan gritted his teeth as the platform crumbled and began falling the long way down. "Owwwwwwww. Fucking hell, ow. OW." It was taking his whole being to not scream his heart out at the pain.
May gave him a half-guilty, half-sympathetic look as he crouched with his head in his hands, eyes squeezed shut, wracked with convulsions. Seconds later she kneeled down and he felt her arms envelop his head in a weak hug. "Are you okay?" she asked, in a tone matching her embrace.
He groaned. "My fucking head is on fire," he choked out.
She didn't question his somewhat more offensive choice of wording, instead slowly rocking his head from side to side in a relaxing manner. "I'm sorry. I should have done something-"
He shook his head despite the nauseating feeling it gave him. "No, you're apologizing again. I did it because it was an emergency, and in any case we're up here now. We can keep moving."
She was silent for several seconds before she sighed despondently. "If even a small thing like this is going to cause us so much pain, how are we ever going to overpower Magma?"
"We'll find a way," he promised. Pulling her arms apart, he slowly stood again to avoid exacerbating his headache. "I'm feeling a little better now; thank you, May. I'm not about to do any repeat performances for you any time soon, though. I hope you understand."
"And I'm not expecting any." She stood as well and leaped over to a neighbouring branch. "I just hope you're not afraid of heights."
Whatever Scythe had been expecting, this hadn't been it. At least, not on this scale.
She'd been impatiently pacing on the outside rim of the platform while speaking to one of her assassins in charge of the security around the rune site itself when she'd heard an abrupt series of cries echoing up from the forest further away. Her reply had died on her tongue as she stared in the direction of the noise in time to see a barrage of Pokémon attacks and explosions fly up from the area followed by another series of human cries screaming various orders.
Quite quickly after that, a swarm of angry Flying-types had risen up from the canopy some distance away and began making a beeline for the platform. A handful of Magmas who were also on the platform had quickly come up to see what in Arceus' name had been going on to see the advancing wall of bugs and birds. Scythe had narrowed her eyes and palmed a knife or two in her hands as her comrades released various Pokémon to in preparation.
That had been thirty seconds ago.
Unlike Pokémon battles visible to the common crowd, battles like those involving Magma and their wild enemies tended to be short and brutal. Even more so with wild Pokémon, who had no sense of restraint and focused much more on the powerful aspects of their attacks. The wave that Scythe had first spotted should have been wiped out almost instantly once they had closed to melee range, with both her and other Magmas supporting her.
Which they had. But they still kept coming.
Scythe hadn't had time to glare at the Pidgey she'd just downed with a well-aimed knife before something extremely sharp punched her in the leg, almost knocking her off balance. She looked up in surprise to see another wave of Bug- and Flying-types hovering some distance away, using their superior height to launch a barrage of various attacks at the platform without fear of counterattack. Her jaw dropped and quickly reattached itself as a Sludge Bomb from a Venomoth exploded on the railing beside her, beginning to sizzling away at the hot metal. She yelled for a quick retreat before ducking into the nearest portal, with the other Magmas hastily following. She quickly slammed the heavy door shut with a loud bang, locking it soon after.
Neither the humans or their Pokémon made a sound for a moment, much more content to just gather their wits after nearly being perforated, liquidised and slaughtered, perhaps not in that order. Then, one Magma let out a slightly shaky breath.
"Orders, ma'am?" he asked nervously.
Scythe did not answer him, instead choosing to stare down at her leg. What looked to have been a Pin Missile had deeply scored her along her calf, leaving a bloody gash. A few of the men caught her gaze and winced as they saw the wound. Her growl afterwards must have been suitably vaguely targeted, as two of them took a small but unmistakeable step backwards.
Good for them.
"Get out there and make sure every single external door is shut and locked," she ground out. Her leg was really starting to hurt. "I want this place to be airtightwhen we're done. And after that, make yourselves useful and make sure no wild Pokémon so much as makes a step in this facility. If I catch any of you so much as blinking, I will kill you myself. Do I make myself clear?"
The group crisply snapped to attention, deciding not to give the Lord Assassin any excuse in her current temper to eviscerate them. The footsteps in the silence that followed her speech were conspicuously loud.
Scythe let out a very slow, deliberate breath before carefully standing up, cautious about putting too much weight on her newly injured leg.
When she found out who had started this revolt, she'd butcher them herself.
The Magma's fortress had looked just as unforgiving as it had yesterday, if not more so. The ivory blue metal, once close to glittering in the midday sun, was now stained all over with dark red puddles of congealed blood and the occasional dead body. And the battle had only lasted how long? A few minutes? Five, at best?
May's stomach lurched hard enough that it persuaded her to immediately turn around and not get any more horrified looks at the carnage. Beside her, with his branch creaking under his weight, Brendan gave a slight groan.
"I think I'm going to be sick soon," he wheezed.
"You're not the only one," she replied.
Turning around had the unfortunate effect of giving her a bird's eye view of the battle still raging on below, which she'd heroically managed to avoid glancing at up until now. Magma's forces had entrenched themselves behind a natural embankment and were rarely peeking over to fire the odd Flamethrower or Shadow Ball. Behind them, a battery of Camerupt, Numel and the odd Claydol were busy shelling everything beyond the raise with Rock Tombs and Eruptions in a bid to hold back the attackers, reducing the forest loam to fields of ash in seconds. A few Mightyena patrolled glaring upwards for any aerial assaults, barking as soon as a small group of Swellow tried to make a blindingly fast hit-and-run attack on the group. The Normal and Flying-types had been cut apart almost immediately as the rest of Magma instinctively wailed in their general direction.
While the casualties being sustained by the wild Pokémon were genuinely enormous and only climbing higher, it seemed as if the recent hell march towards through the woods had stirred up pretty much the entire population of the reserve against them. For every one the humans cut down, another two were ready and eager to take their place if it meant ridding themselves of the danger. Eventually, they would be forced back despite their efforts of a defense.
May's face went red after she realised what kind of analysis she'd made. She'd been seeing far, far too much these past couple of days.
"We could try and find a place less… less gruesome, if you wanted."
She turned to see Brendan giving her a pained look. Combined with his dishevelled appearance, hat and clothing now slightly torn, she hadn't remembered a time he'd looked this worn out. "If you want."
He turned back, muttering, "If I want…" under his breath in a disdainful tone. She nearly winced. She hoped he wasn't resenting her for her earlier weakness. It wouldn't do for him to take all the emotional stress by himself.
Leaping to a branch directly next to the machine, Brendan glared upwards at small vent a little above his head set into the wall. From what it looked like, it had already been shut and sealed by Magma long ago. "Meh. We can't climb this anyway."
She sighed. What she would give for her trusty Blaziken… or a Flying-type…
A series of metallic footsteps echoed from the balcony several meters above them, drawing their attention. A wild Scizor leaned over the edge, glaring at the two teenagers with disapproval. She felt like nothing more than withering away under that gaze, until a radical idea sparked in her mind.
It was a crazy idea, but she tried it. "Excuse me! Can you give us a lift up there? We can't climb the sides."
The Scizor (and Brendan) turned to stare at her, the glare vanishing but being replaced with a look of mild annoyance. "Even if I did, human," he grated out in a series of discernible clicks, "It would not accomplish anything. The humans in red coats have sealed all the entrances up here."
Brendan balled his left hand into fists and slapped a palm with it. "We have to get in somehow. You haven't tried breaking it down."
"Of course." The Scizor gave a contemptuous snort. "Your species is as bad as those Linoone sometimes, always hiding at the first sign of danger."
May frowned, not appreciating the unprovoked jab. "Well, we're not about to hide anywhere any time soon. Have you tried breaking that vent there?" she added, pointing at said hatch with a finger.
"No. It isn't large enough for me," he said flatly.
"It'll be large enough for us," Brendan countered. At the Scizor's suspicious glance, he continued, "I know you hate humans with a passion, but we have friends – your fellow Pokémon – inside there waiting for the humans in red costs to do whatever they please with. If we make it out, then you're reunited with your kind. If we don't…" He shrugged. "Then that's two less humans for you to finish off."
The Bug- and Steel-type held his gaze for a moment longer, and then grunted. "I see your point, human. I ask you to deliver our comrades to safety." May blinked, pleasantly surprised. And she thought Hazal had been the only polite wild Pokémon out there.
With that said, the Scizor leaped down from the balcony, punching a handhold in the metal walls as he reached the vent. Using Bullet Punch, he rapidly dismantled the thick metal latches holding it in place and promptly tore the whole door out with a Crush Claw. His job done, the Steel-type hurled himself back up to the balcony, landing with a distinctive clank of metal on metal. He turned back to regard them one last time.
"I have a word of warning for you," he said carefully. "Watch out for the red-coated female wielding the black blades. She personally downed three of the wave I was in with her attacks." His eyes gleamed. "She might actually be a challenge to take down."
Brendan thanked the Scizor for his help and watched it leave their sight… and then angrily slammed a fist against the steel of the platform. "I'm starting to regret being able to understand their speech, I think. I've heard nothing but completely xenophobic comments from them."
"He did apologise," she said meekly.
"Only after he found out we trying to rescue our Pokémon," he countered. "We don't mean anything to him except as two-legged stress balls."
She sighed. "Let's just get this over with. The sooner we leave all this…" She waved an arm in the general direction of the battle behind her. "… behind, the better."
"I concur." Reaching up, he grunted in exertion as he hauled himself up into the vent, clicking his tongue in displeasure. "Well, okay, this is going to be seriously tight."
"You haven't even started crawling yet and you're already rethinking your plan," she retorted. "Typical Brendan Birch."
She couldn't see his face with his body now stuck halfway into the machine, but she could just tell he was grinning like crazy. "Typical May Maple, always standing there whinging instead of getting stuff done. I'll see you on the other side, okay?"
"But I do get stuff done…" she muttered, but he had already vanished into the vent. "Hey! At least help a miserable lady out here?"
Bam! And so ends this chapter. Things are heating up for the intrepid duo and their bloodthirsty red-eyed nemesis. Though I imagine she'll be wide-eyed too once she finds out that those two are still alive and kicking! Ha!
Like I said, no promises on next chapter. My drive to write is often tempered by my drive to daydream a lot, which is quite often (and usually when I have my phone and earbuds nearby, haha). With any luck, I could have the next chapter done... by the end of the year. xD
Oh, ignore my pessimistic concerns. Thanks for reading!
Signing off,
grammaguy