Chapter Eleven
Touko didn't sleep that night.
Or any of the other nights following the two weeks they stayed on the island.
She thought she did a few times, but the sudden image of N—floating, tangled in seaweed—had woken her with a start.
One night she had stood up and walked over to the large rock that had once been Lucario's perch, and lay down against the smooth stone. The sound of the waves lapping against the shore and the gentle spray of the sea hitting the rock calmed her, and she was able to close her eyes and relax.
Sunrise came, and again Touko still had not gotten any bit of rest. She forced her eyelids open as Zekrom rumbled quietly to her, and slowly hoisted herself off the rock.
"We need..to learn," she slurred to her dragon Pokémon. "'Bout…Rayquaza."
Zekrom's face scrunched as he heard the name.
Touko shook her head, half to clear her foggy mind and half to show that she was disagreeing with him. "S'not Rayquaza," she told Zekrom. "Ghetsis. Pokémon always…obey their master."
The softening of Zekrom's features showed that he understood.
Touko stood to get up, but stumbled. Arcanine caught her with his body, and Lucario pushed her to her feet. Their worried eyes pierced her thoughts, and she frowned.
"Stop worrying," she told them, starting to regain the control of her tongue once again. She closed her eyes to stop the world from spinning around her, and when she reopened then Volcarona's face was only inches from her own.
The bug Pokémon chirped angrily at her, glaring at her trainer with her thousands of eyes. Touko reached out her hand, reassuringly stroking her face, and smiled.
"I'm fine," she stated firmly.
Volcarona did not look convinced, but backed away anyways.
Touko straightened herself out and reached into her bag for her Pokéballs. Returning everyone but Zekrom and Lucario, they shot off from the ground into the sky.
Touko felt tears sting her eyes as she watched the island grow smaller and smaller as they rose higher into the air. Somewhere in the ocean was N's body. Somewhere she could not find.
She squeezed her eyes shut to hold back another breakdown and gripped Zekrom tighter. Lucario put a hand on her shoulder, and when she turned back to look at him he was smiling reassuringly.
How the hell did Ghetsis get his hands on a Pokémon as powerful as Rayquaza? Touko wondered, remembering some of the old myths she had read of the legendary dragon. One of the strongest dragons in the world, its attack power was phenomenal. But Zekrom was no weakling either. Rayquaza had to have a weakness. Something to exploit, that would able them to free it.
Touko was distracted from her thoughts as a large gust of air swept them, and she clung to Zekrom's neck. She then realized where they were going.
"We're going back to Unova?" she asked Lucario, who had been guiding Zekrom.
He nodded.
Touko pursed her lips. They'd have to stop somewhere to get something to eat—it had been nearly a day since she'd had any food, and the same went for her Pokémon—and that meant that they'd need money. Touko would have to go con some money out of some poor trainers, which meant taking her least threatening looking Pokémon—which in her case was Absol—and walking around until some poor soul who didn't recognize her challenged her to battle.
She'd leave her other Pokémon in her bag, and hopefully the fact that she was only using one Pokémon would attract more customers.
Touching down on Route 14, hidden from view by both the fog and the trees, she returned Zekrom to his Pokéball and hid it in her bag. Attaching only Absol's Pokéball to her belt, she let the dark Pokémon out to walk beside her.
She was in luck. Not even two minutes into walking along the path, she was stopped by an Ace Trainer.
"Hey, you!" she cried. "Do you only have one Pokéball?"
Touko nodded.
The Ace Trainer laughed. "Ha! It's my lucky day. I'm going for a new streak; you'll help me with that. I challenge you!"
Touko shrugged, and motioned Absol forward.
Absol rolled his eyes as he walked past, and sat down a few feet ahead of his trainer.
"He doesn't look very enthusiastic," the Ace Trainer said with a sneer.
"He never does," Touko lied.
Broadening her sneer into a grin, the Ace Trainer laughed. "You're using a dark type, eh? Well, Mienshao, go!"
The pink fighting Pokémon was sent out from its Pokéball, and let out a shrill battle cry. Its voice was lower than usual, so Touko guessed it was a boy.
"Let's start!" the Ace Trainer cried. "Mienshao, use Jump Kick!"
"Me First," Touko commanded.
With frightening speed, Absol leapt into action and launched himself into the air. Extending his hind leg, as the Mienshao let out a shriek his back paw caught his face and sent him tumbling to the ground. The force from the attack didn't allow the Mienshao to finish his attack, and he rolled upon impact before pushing himself back up.
"We're not going down easy!" the other trainer cried.
Touko grinned. We'll see about that. "Absol, Psycho Cut!"
Absol leapt for the Mienshao, his claws glowing a slight pink and extending half a foot from his paws. The Ace Trainer yelled at her Mienshao to dodge, but Absol was too fast, and raked the fighting Pokémon with the psychic claws. It shone bright white where Absol struck, signifying that he had hit a critical spot. Mienshao was as good as done.
Thrown a few feet away, the Mienshao lay immobile on the ground.
The trainer frantically returned him to his Pokéball. Looking a little disappointed, she sent out a Cryogonal in her Mienshao's place. Touko frowned. She never really did like that creepy ice Pokémon.
"Cryogonal!" The Ace Trainer cried. "Ice Beam!"
"Use Sucker Punch," Touko told her Pokémon. "Then hit it with a Hyper Beam."
The Cryogonal drew in the air around it, preparing for its Ice Beam. Bad move. Absol struck, hitting the ice Pokémon, and as it was falling opened his mouth for the Hyper Beam. Before the Cryogonal could get up, Absol pulverized it with a powerful Hyper Beam.
Two Pokémon down.
The Ace Trainer was starting to get suspicious now. "Who are you?" she hissed. "Are you a champion? Or a gym leader? Or something?"
Touko shook her head. "Not any of those, no."
The Ace Trainer frowned, and sent out a Musharna.
Touko had to stop herself from laughing aloud.
It was obviously the trainer's last Pokémon. She already knew that she was going to be defeated, for the look on her face said so. Touko did have a bit of guilt, but she knew the Ace would be out as soon as her Pokémon were healed challenging more people, their match nearly forgotten. It was how these people were.
The trainer called for a Psychic, and Touko called for a double Night Slash. Absol was lucky, and got three good hits in before the Musharna fainted at its trainer's feet.
The Ace Trainer looked bitter about their loss. Touko knew she would, too. But she still handed over the money, and Touko thanked her for the battle before continuing.
A hiker, a rich kid (which was very convenient) and just a wandering trainer all called her for battles and shared similar fates. Absol decimated his competition while taking almost no damage against himself.
"What do you say we get ourselves a snack?" Touko asked him. The whole ordeal had been a nice distraction, but she still knew that after she and her Pokémon were fed they would immediately continue their search.
Touko saw a little boy running up, most likely to challenge her, and she quickly let out Zekrom. The huge dragon towered above the both of them, and the child stared at him in horror for a few brief seconds before running back the way he came.
Touko, Absol and Zekrom shared a chuckle about that.
They took off to the sky, and flew to Castelia. Touko was sure to land a little ways away, and the sandstorm brewing on Route 4 was the perfect cover. Touko returned all her Pokémon to their Pokéballs, and clipped them all to her belt.
Grabbing some food for both herself and her Pokémon, she hurried back out to Route 4. They would go back to Route 11 to prepare, and then set on their way.
Zekrom soared high above the ground from Castelia, and Nimbasa looked like nothing but a miniature set from the sky. To the ground below, Touko and Zekrom would appear like a far-off Unfezant or another flying-type Pokémon.
Touko and Zekrom landed at the top of the waterfall on Route 11, and Touko quickly returned her dragon Pokémon to his Pokéball. She walked out to the edge of the cliff, and sat down against the rough stone. It was a long drop below, with two waterfalls leading down beneath her feet.
There was a screech behind her, and Touko whipped her head around to see. There was rustling in the grass behind her, and she nearly fell off when a Seviper leapt into the air. Touko whipped out Absol's Pokéball, who stood at her attention.
There was another screech as something desperately tried to fight off two more Seviper. The grass rustled manically, and the Seviper hissed with annoyance.
"Absol, let's go!" Touko told him, picking up a large stick to defend herself with. They charged the Seviper, Absol's claws growing longer and pink with Psycho Cut. Touko swung the large stick, catching one Seviper in the face, and Absol took on the other two.
Whatever was being attacked was still screeching, and it ran behind Touko. She didn't have time to see what it was, for the Seviper lashed out at her with its poisonous fangs and she had to defend herself. Jamming the stick into the Seviper's mouth, she drove it to the ground with a flying kick to the face. It hissed and bared its teeth at her, readying itself for another strike.
Absol had finished with the other two Seviper, and came flying in from behind Touko and landed a hit against the Seviper's neck. Absol bared his teeth and snarled at it, and the Seviper looked at its two foes carefully before reluctantly slithering off.
The Pokémon had now latched itself to Touko's leg, and she lifted it to see a frightened Oshawott clinging for dear life. It looked young, like it had hatched recently.
"You poor thing," Touko cooed, pulling the frightened sea otter Pokémon off her leg. It then proceeded to attach itself to her chest, shivering and whimpering with fear. It was wet, as if it had crossed the river to try to escape the Seviper. "Where's your trainer?"
The Oshawott's sad eyes told Touko that he didn't have one.
Touko pulled it closer to herself and looked at Absol. "We need to get it to a Pokémon Center," she told him, gesturing to the wound on Oshawott's side. If it was from the Seviper, than it would have poison already circulating in its bloodstream and could die. "Lead the way down from here."
Absol nodded, and took off. Touko followed him, running as fast as she could. Oshawott's breathing was shallow. With the sun beaming on their backs from the summer day, she realized with a shock that Oshawott's shivering was not from the water but instead from the poison.
Touko growled and brought out Arcanine. Without explaining, she hopped onto her Pokémon's back. Absol had stopped up ahead, and Touko quickly returned him to his Pokéball.
"Come on!" she cried to Arcanine. "We need to get to Opelucid!"
Arcanine let out a howl, and leapt down the cliffside. A couple of trainers looked up in suspicion, but before they could get her attention Arcanine was already galloping along the path.
A Braviary leapt out in front of them at one point, but with a fierce snarl and flamethrower from Arcanine it flew off.
Finally they were nearly at the end of the route. A small bridge was the last of their obstacles, and to Touko's dismay this one looked rather unstable. The fast current tore at the supports, and it would be impossible to swim across.
"Careful, Arcanine," Touko warned him, and he nodded in understanding and tiptoed onto the rickety old structure.
At the halfway mark, Touko was beginning to feel good about their progress. But Arcanine stepped on a bad board, and his front paw went crashing through the bottom. He let out a yelp, and Touko quickly pulled on his mane to bring him up.
"Quick, make a run for it!" she cried, and Arcanine pushed himself off in a leap for the end. He let out a yowl as his back paws broke through the rotting wood and his back end was dropped into the water.
Touko was starting to panic when she heard the cry of a male Unfezant. She looked up just in time to be plucked off of Arcanine's back, and she quickly cried out in protest. Arcanine watched helplessly as she was carried away, and quickly kicked his way back onto the bridge only to fall in once again.
The Unfezant dropped Touko and Oshawott by the water's edge, and went back for Arcanine. He could not fully lift the larger Pokémon, but with him pulling on Arcanine's scruff he was able to take away some of his weight to allow him to finish crossing.
"Seriously, taking risks like that, I don't know how you've managed to make it this far," a familiar voice scoffed behind her.
"Cheren!" Touko cried, nearly falling backwards into the river. "Where did you come from?"
Cheren laughed. "I saw you and Arcanine running like you were being chased by a herd of Bouffalant back there."
"Oh." Touko looked down at the Oshawott, who was starting to feel limp in her arms. "I'm sorry, I need to get to Opelucid," she told Cheren. "I found this Oshawott…he's been poisoned."
Cheren nodded. "I'll catch up to you; go on ahead."
Touko smiled in thanks and leapt back on Arcanine. They continued running along the path, and it didn't take long until they were at the eastern gate to the city.
It was just starting to undergo the drastic change from old-fashioned to high-tech, and at the moment was a mess. The Pokémon Center hadn't moved, though, and Arcanine and Touko burst through its doors to see that it was nearly empty.
"May I help you?" the nurse asked Touko.
Touko quickly returned Arcanine and ran up to the front desk. "Please help," she panted. "I found him being attacked by Seviper…and got her as soon as I could."
The nurse, whose nametag read Joy, barely gave Oshawott a glance before snapping into action. She quickly grabbed a stretcher, called over an Audino, and took Oshawott from Touko.
"You can wait here," Nurse Joy told her, hurrying with the Audino into the Intensive Care Unit.
Touko sighed and sat down on one of the couches and looked out the window. The sun was starting its descent into the sky. Another day that she could have been out looking for Ghetsis, wasted.
It was going to be a long night.
Sorry for that chapter, just needed to tie up some loose ends and cover some things I had planned to get to earlier. More plot next chapter, less...stalling. Haha.
