Chapter 12: Gone
This time, the children's fate did not come on the wings of dragons or strange aircraft. It came in a balloon… sort of…
Chloe drifted quickly over the series of bridges that linked Lavender town to eastern Fuchsia. She was riding on her Drifblim, a large, purple, hot-air-balloon-like pokemon. It made no noise as it flew, crossing over the trees and roads silently on a self generated wind. Chloe was searching for the coordinates Hade had given her. She was only to take the girl… the director had said nothing about the boys, so they were to be left alone.
Drifblim arrived a few hundred yards away from the coordinates, and Chloe dropped down to a treetop, her white boots catching at a branch. She returned her pokemon and climbed lightly down. Pokemon chirped in the night around her, covering the sound of her footfalls.
And there they were… that foolish little girl and her friends. They were asleep in a rough triangle with two pokemon among them: a Pikachu and a Charmeleon. Chloe swore silently.
She crouched behind a log, planning. She could simply run out, grab the girl, and fly away on one of her faster, pokemon, but then that would wake the boys and their pokemon, and they could follow her later… she could sneak in silently and gag the girl before she could speak, then ride away on her Drifloon. That seemed the best option, but there was always the chance of waking the pokemon…
Chloe sighed and shook her head, and then she got up stepped into the camp as quietly as she could. The Charmeleon stirred as she passed it, but it didn't wake up. The flame on its tail burned a little brighter as she went by.
And there was the girl… Casey Ryne, her cute little Pikachu cuddled up with her… Chloe sneered.
She pulled out a little black case she had brought with her and held it up to the Pikachu's nose. The electric pokemon sniffed in its sleep and made a subconscious face. Within seconds, the Sleep Powder spores in the case put it into a sleep so deep that it could fall off a cliff and not notice until after it hit the bottom.
The spores were also given to Casey, to make sure she wasn't awake. With a little effort, Chloe pulled the girl out of her sleeping bag and laid her out on the hard earth. Casey looked uncomfortable, like she was having a bad dream, but didn't wake up. Chloe wrapped her hands and ankles with zip ties and tied a piece of cloth around the girl's mouth. The admin ran off into the trees, trying not giggle with pride, and took to the air on her rising balloon pokemon…
(-o-)
I blinked wearily and looked around. Still where I was when I went to sleep. That was always a good thing. But there was something else… off. There was a little padding noise as something walked up to me. I looked up to see a tired looking Pikachu that stumbled over and fell onto the side of my sleeping bag. It sighed weakly and looked at me with forlorn eyes.
"Hey Casey," I called. "I think there's something wrong with your Pikachu…"
There was no answer. I looked over at Casey's bed. No Casey, either. That was odd… I called again, this time waking Richard. We got up and looked around the forest for a while, hoping we wouldn't walk up on her doing… something we shouldn't see. But we didn't. No Casey. Anywhere.
We went back to the camp and looked around again. Pikachu was fast asleep again, this time curled up in my bed. Casey's sleeping bag was slightly disturbed, like she had crawled out the top. It looking like a shucked cocoon lying there on the ground. Its brightness stood out among the muted earth and trees…
"Do you think she abandoned us?" Richard asked, scratching his head.
I checked around some more.
"No, her bag's still over here, where we threw all out stuff."
All of us had piled up our backpacks and bags together between Casey's and my sleeping bags. Hers was still there; it was a cream-colored, highlighted with sky blue and pink, leather shoulder bag. It stood out like a sore thumb between Richard's red nylon, and my brown nylon backpacks. Casey would never have left without her pokemon… unless she had planned on coming back quickly.
We waited a while longer; Pikachu finally woke up and looked around worriedly. I think it knew what was going on. Or at least, it wanted its trainer back.
Realization hit me like a freight train, or at least a metaphorical freight train, because I wasn't mauled and mutilated by the epiphany.
"He's taken her," I told Richard, quickly becoming absolutely certain. "John Rook's got her. We have to find them, before he… he was supposed to kill her. If he's realized that he's failed… what if he was who she was running from? She came to us because Rook found her…"
"Ok," said Richard quickly. "Let's not jump to conclusions. Maybe she forgot something on the road and went back for it."
"Without telling either of us or taking her pokemon?" Richard looked carefully at his shoes. "I doubt it, Richard."
"Ok, so suppose she was taken…" said Richard, starting to agree. "Where would this Rook guy take her?"
"I don't know. There's not much about the Storm's Eye that I do know. I've fought a few grunts, and…" I remembered Celadon City, and the base there, and the computer. "That's it! I raided one of their bases in Celadon City. That must be how this all started. This grunt I beat there… he must've told someone about me… and now their tracking us."
My mind was on a role. It seemed only logical that these events were all linked, despite the lack of absolute proof. Richard wouldn't believe me until I had that proof, but I was pretty sure of what I was talking about.
And then I remembered what I had taken away from the base. "And… there was this list… it was like a roster of all the Storm's bases and safe houses." I dug out my bag and began sifting through it until I came across the paper I had taken that night. It was folded up at the bottom of my backpack. I unfurled it before Richard and searched through the list of base locations. "They have a safe house in Lavender Town… three actually. That's the biggest installment near here. At worst, it's a place to start. We need to hurry though. It'll take another three days to make it Lavender walking, and we might not even be going in the right direction…"
"I could fly ahead on Fearow and check it out," offered Richard. I frowned, slightly jealous.
"But that would leave me here. And what if you got into trouble where you needed backup?"
"Well you don't have anyone that can fly!"
This was true. I'd been meaning to catch a flying type for a long time but hadn't gotten around to it yet. It was annoying that Richard might have to go ahead without me… but if there was a solution, I'd find it.
"Wait, what about Casey's pokemon?" I asked. "Maybe she has a flying type I can borrow."
Richard nodded.
I reached for our friend's bag and sifted through the front pocket until I found the one containing her pokeballs. I located an empty one and returned Pikachu to it, then took the other four balls there and activated them.
Casey's Totodile and Nidorina came out, in addition to two of her other pokemon: Butterfree and… Pigeott. I was in luck.
(-o-)
Casey woke up… hurting. She felt like she'd been asleep for days. And she must've rolled out her sleeping bag, because she was lying on something hard. She rolled over, knocking on the floor with her fist. It clanked.
Her eyes snapped open and Casey bolted up, immediately regretting her speed; her side and back hurt, and so did her throat. She coughed a few times, looking around. She had thought it was still night when she first awoke, because it was dark all around her. She realized then that it was dark because she was in some sort of small room. The floor swayed a little, giving Casey the distinct feeling she was on a boat, but when she pressed her ear to the wall she couldn't hear the telltale hiss of the sea.
Weird.
She had been lying on the corner created by the wall and floor, so she followed the wall around, leaving her jacket where she had first lay. The cell was small, maybe ten feet by twelve. Casey became aware, as she walked, that her hair was a complete mess. That was the first time she'd gone to bed without showering before or afterward in a long time. Her copper mane was sticking out wildly, and she wished she had a rubber band to tie it down.
Finally, the realization of what was going on struck her. Where was Ian? And Richard? And her sleeping bag, purse, and pokemon? And why wasn't she in the forest? With a shock that jolted her very heart, Casey screamed, knocking on the wall desperately, wondering how she had ever come to be there.
After she had screamed for a few minutes, someone outside yelled gruffly at her to shut up, and she did, afraid of what would happen if she didn't. Casey curled up on the swaying ground and began to cry.
(-o-)
I'd never flown on a pokemon before… well, I guess there was that one time on Matt's Dragonite, but I was in too much of a daze to notice that. and Casey's Pigeot was different: I was used to having a much lighter person sitting on its back, but it managed. We were headed toward Fuchsia at a great speed.
Now, for most people, I'm sure riding on the back of a giant bird is a very enjoyable experience. For me, it was anything but. As you probably know by now, I'm not the best with heights. And if I thought being in a big, mostly-safe-but-still-highly-flammable blimp was sickening… well, let me just say that that was cake compared to riding a small, not-so-safe-and-still-flammable pokemon.
We touched down at the edge of Fuchsia, a tiny town on the eastern edge of Kanto. There wasn't much there, other than two towers that stood near each other on the edge of town: the grim, pale Ghost Tower, and the Pokemon Radio broadcast tower, clearly visible with its huge, gaudy pokeball marker at the top.
The north was Rock Mountain, and the various, less famous mountains that surrounded it, and to the west was the road to Saffron.
Richard landed just in front of me, stepping off his massive Fearow and returning it. I did the same with Pigeot, and put its ball back in Casey's bag, which I carried. I noticed that the name "Beech" was printed on the back of the ball with permanent black ink, and wondered what that could mean. The name sounded familiar… maybe Casey had said it once and I had forgotten.
Casey. I was so worried about her I felt sick. Richard came over to me and I took out the list of safe houses. If we wanted to find her, we had to stick to business. There were three addresses, all on the same street, probably a few blocks away from each other.
We got directions to the street and set off. It was on the northern edge of town, not far from the towers. We passed the first house, walking casually. There seemed nothing off about it, so we kept going. The next two house were about three blocks away, and only one door apart from each other.
This time, Richard kept walking and I turned and ran into the alley, moving behind the houses. I got to the fence, which, by my count, should have backed the first house. There was a knothole in the wood, so I looked through. No on in the yard.
I grabbed onto one of the cross beams of the fence and vaulted over; it wasn't very high. Richard –who was now waiting at the end of the alley- followed me over. The yard was unkempt, but not necessarily messy. Yellow grass grew shin-high everywhere, and a few dead shrubs and flowers withered sadly off to the side. There was a rusty shed in the back-left corner of the yard; it was badly oxidized that it was almost as red as the brick-back of the house in front of us.
I walked up to the house at a crouch, hoping I didn't leave too obvious a path in the grass. Richard was right behind me. I looked in through the windows on the ground floor, but couldn't reach the second floor ones. Most of the windows were curtained, but through the few that weren't, I caught glimpses of cheaply furnished, threadbare rooms that looked more like the outside of most people's houses than the inside.
"Ian!" hissed Richard, pointing to one window. It was open, just a crack. He made a move to enter the window, but I stopped him.
"Go ring the doorbell first and run back into the alley. If no one answers, then no one's home and we can go in."
He nodded and jumped back over the fence.
I waited for what seemed like hours, but was doubtlessly much less. Richard finally clambered back over the fence and waded through the grass to me. He told me, "I waited for a few seconds and tried again, but no one came. Let's go."
Richard let out Charmeleon and I summoned Eevee because she was small and fast, and together we climbed into the empty house.
(-o-)
After a while, they switched a light on for her.
Casey blinked as they (whoever they were) did, and finally got a glimpse of her room. The walls were grey linoleum, and the floors metal grating. It was very odd decor, she thought. One wall was a wide black window halfway up it. No doubt one-way glass. Someone was watching her.
"Hey!" she called hoarsely. "Who are you? What do you want, and where's all my stuff?"
No one answered, but she hadn't expected them to. Casey frowned and kicked the wall. With a little sniff of self-pity, she started pacing the room slowly, waiting for someone to answer her.
(-o-)
We climbed through the window and began looking around. There was almost as much rust on the inside of the house as there was on the outside.
There were a few papers spread out on the table, which I checked. Little of interest: a bit about how electrical attacks from pokemon could charge electronic devices. There was also a page that looked like blueprints of the radio tower. Very weird.
Richard and his Charmeleon leapt up the stairs to search. Eevee and I checked out the rooms on the ground floor. There was a small, unmade bedroom, a laundry room, kitchen, and broken-down den. There didn't seem to be any sign of Casey though.
"Ian!" Richard called from up stairs. "There's a car pulling up in front of the house. And… weird people getting out of it."
I heard him swear loudly and joined him in that act. I scrambled for somewhere to hide, knowing Richard was doing the same. I found a low cupboard that seemed empty in the hall between the kitchen and front door and climbed in pulling Eevee in with me and praying no one would see…
"But what do we do about Rook?" said a girl's voice loudly into Pokenav. I saw a pair of white boots stalk by the crack between the doors of my hiding place. Two black-booted feet walked by as well, shucking their footwear next to my cupboard. The girl waited for an answer that I couldn't hear.
"Yeah, I suppose, but what if he doesn't? We need to get in there and get him out, Hade. I don't care if it's suicide! Without Rook, we're totally screwed. He's the only one the director really trusts!" Whoever she was conversing with… Hade, said something. "Oh. On his way here? I don't know if I can wait. There's supposed to be a thunderstorm tomorrow night, and that's my best shot at… ok. I'll hold out for as long as I can. Bye…"
I pressed my ear to the wall of the cupboard, straining to hear what Hade was saying. Finally, the girl answered in a voice I could hear.
"Oh, the girl." Casey? "I brought her to the Iris. She should be safe in a holding cell there for now. You can go see her if you want. I'm sure she'd be glad to know of her fate. Ok, love ya Hade. Later."
There was a pause, footsteps. I heard the thud of someone climbing stairs. Eevee whimpered. She was worried about Richard, and I realized why. Please be hidden well…
I heard a window break. Shit, they found him. Someone screamed, and I heard a loud crack. Well… nothing left to do in the cupboard. I punched the door open and rolled out, Eevee springing to attention. The two grunts that had accompanied the girl were standing at the bottom of the stairs, shouting up. When they saw me, they both began growling and summoned pokemon. Kadabra and Zubat appeared in the hallway, glaring angrily at my Eevee. Eevee growled back bravely.
"Quick Attack!"
Before the other two pokemon could move, Eevee became a wild blur, smashing into Kadabra bowling both pokemon and their trainers over in the hall. Eevee darted back to me and we darted out into the front yard. Richard had jumped out the window and landed on the lawn. Charmeleon, as well as his new Ryhorn, were on the ground, both looking up at… I'm not sure what. It looked like a hot air balloon… but had eyes.
I realized it must've been the pokemon Drifblim; I'd heard about it, but knew nothing of its attacks or stats. It hovered in the air like a giant, menacing jellyfish, black ghost energies gathering between its dangling arms.
There was a young woman standing on top of the pokemon. She was wearing white boots and a short white dress covered in purple spirals. Her hair was glacial blue, which wasn't as odd as you'd think around here.
She was shouting orders to her pokemon. "Shadow Ball!" A sphere of black energy gathered between Drifblim's arms and launched itself at Charmeleon. The fire pokemon dodged, leaping up and over the Shadow Ball. The attack collided with the ground, leaving a crater in the unkempt grass.
Richard launched back Flamethrower, and I returned Eevee, summoning my Staryu. I added a Swift attack to Richard's, sending the ghost pokemon back into the house behind it. Ryhorn used a quick Rock Blast which smashed Drifblim deeper back and Richard tugged on my sleeve, returning his two pokemon. He let out Fearow, and I released Pigeot, and soon, we were safely in the air, away over Rock Mountain.
(-o-)
Chloe leapt down from her wounded pokemon and returned it. So much for trying to capture the stupid kids… it would have been easier to just let Drifblim kill it. It had wanted to. Chloe could tell. She sighed and went back into the house, hand already bringing up Hade's number on her pokenav and calling him.
His pokenave was switched off, so she got his answering machine. "Hey Hade," she said, after a recording of his voice reminded her to leave her name, number, and rank. "Look, these two kids got into the house and might have heard some things. I don't know how much. I think they were that stupid Ryne girl's little boyfriends. I tired to catch them but they got away. It was three on one, hardly fair but… I guess I should stop bitching about it do something. I'll send my men after them; I have too much to think about now as it is. Call me back when you get this. Thanks."
She hung up and pocketed her nav. Chloe looked down at the grunts who were still struggling out from under their pokemon. First, they had to get out of this house. Second, after those stupid meddling kids.
(-o-)
Richard and I circled up over the mountain and then back past the towers. That woman… she seemed to be interested in the radio tower. That couldn't lead to anything good. And thunderstorms… I remembered seeing those notes on her table about electric pokemon charging objects. Maybe she wanted to charge up the radio tower during the storm… but so what? That didn't seem to do much for anyone.
We found a hotel, and I already felt lonely checking in without Casey. I'd only known her for a day and already it was hard without her. God, I'm hopeless!
But there was hope: Richard hadn't heard anything the woman said, so I told him all I had learned. Something called the Iris. That was what interested Richard. He thought it might be some sort of code name. I knew the iris was the center part of the eye, so maybe it had to do with the center… I don't know. Maybe like their HQ or something?
But there was someone Richard thought of that he knew we could ask, and luckily, that man lived right here in Lavender: Fuji.