Chapter Thirteen
Amari woke early the next morning, with only the faintest hint of sunlight creeping over Mt. Moon. She turned to the side to see Burgand lying on his back while looking at the top of the tent, unfocused. Magnar shook his head and huffed a little before crawling over and giving Amari a lick on the cheek. She returned the affection with a nuzzle and Burgand rolled on his side to face Amari.
"You sleep okay?" he asked.
"As well as I could…nightmares," she replied with a frown while Magnar continued to nuzzle her neck.
"I noticed," Burgand answered glancing to the side. "You were screaming."
Amari covered her mount in embarrassment. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to keep you up—"
Burgand put his hand on hers. "It's okay." Magnar then gave Burgand's hand a slight lick before rolling over on his back, between the two.
Amari remembered that her father hadn't returned and scurried out of the tent, almost tripping over Burgand in the process to see if her father was outside.
"Mornin', Sugarcube!"
She could have sworn she heard his words as she stared into the vacant campsite, with only slight remnants of her father even there. Even Calron had left, presumably in search of her father as well.
Burgand stepped out behind her, letting out a breathy sigh before putting his hand on her shoulder. "I think we're going to probably need to head to the Rangers' Station."
Amari's ears perked up. She had completely forgotten that the Pokémon Rangers would be around.
"They'd be sure to help find him!" she squealed before gathering her things.
Burgand and Amari started to get ready as Magnar scoped out around the campsite, sticking his nose underneath supplies in search of anything interesting he might find. Amari scooped him up in her arms and gave him a peck on the head. "We'll find Dad in no time little guy." The Cyndaquil gave a pleased look before crying, "Cynda!"
Burgand looked at his truck then located the Ranger's station on the path ahead. There was a worn dirt road that snaked up the mountain. "I think if we stay on this path, we should be able to get to the Ranger's station in no time." He hopped in the driver's side as he let Amari and Magnar in. "You got everything?"
Amari didn't reply as she looked inside her father's bag swung over her shoulder.
"Amari?" he asked again.
"This picture…" she choked on her words. She pulled out a worn photograph of Alaric, a woman about his age, and a very small child. "This is us. He'd always carry this photo with him. He would never leave without taking it. He used to call it his good luck charm."
Burgand's eyes widened as tears started to trickle down Amari's cheek. "Amari, I'm sure he probably just—"
"Burgand if there is one thing in this world I am absolutely sure of, it's that my father would never, ever go anywhere without taking this particular picture with him. He wouldn't just wander off and go without it. Even if he went to the grocery store down the road, he would take that picture. The only reason that he wouldn't take the picture is if he…" Amari ceased talking.
Burgand's concern only grew as he could hear Amari's breathing increase to levels of almost suffocation as her chest started to heave.
"Oh Burgand, hurry!" she screamed as Burgand slammed on his accelerator and started to speed down the bumpy road, leaving their campsite shrouded in dust.
The road grew narrower and narrower, forcing Burgand to slow down a bit around the turns so that they wouldn't go over the edge. With Amari urging him to hasten their pace, he started to panic until they came to a large open clearing. The dirt road went around the outside of the open field surrounded by forest. The tall grasses when up to knee-height as they continued up the dirt road which could be seen for a great distance. Burgand still sped along the road until a loud banging sound could be heard and he came to a stop.
"I think that was a tire!" Burgand shouted before hopping out to check. Magnar was shivering in Amari's embrace.
"Wasn't that too loud to be a tire?" Amari asked her teeth close to chattering.
Another sound could be heard, this time they could make it out to be an explosion. Amari and Burgand were overcome with a feeling of immense dread as a large, black airship could be seen coming over the trees on the other side of the field, casting a shadow over the entire valley.
The two young trainers stared up in awe before Burgand ran back in the truck and started to speed away. The airship slowly started to hover above the forest as Amari stared up at the beastly creation. A large cannon on the front of the ship seemed to turn toward their direction and let out a loud shot.
Amari only had enough time to let out a loud, "Bur—" before the explosion shuttered the ground near the truck, tossing it as if it were a toy up in the air and into the forest. Amari struggled to keep her eyes open as she stared at the new green, grassy sky.