Chapter 20: The Vision Fulfilled

Sleeping in the house, away from the normal light, we got a late start. I was awakened by someone prodding me lightly.

"Ben, wake up, we've slept too long," Lucario said as I put on my shoes.

"What time is it?" I replied sleepily.

"About mid-morning I'd say," Lucario responded.

Looking at a clock on the wall, it was indeed 9:00 AM. Wasting time wasn't good, since each hour lost meant more destruction that Nerezzik would cause. We next woke up Charmander and Ninetales. For a quick breakfast, I grabbed some raisin bran and milk, which we all quickly ate.

Outside in the neighborhood, the birds were chirping in the trees and the sun was shining and it almost seemed peaceful. The absence of other people or cars made it seem forlorn as we moved onward. After leaving the neighborhood, the houses began to thin out, and soon we were near the fields that made up the outermost part of Origin City. Rows of corn and wheat spread out along the highway we traveled. The sun reached its zenith in the sky, and ahead of us the highway led into a forest. This large forest was right near my hometown of Feldpar, and I had camped in it several times during my life. The highway led directly through the forest, so I walked with a sudden energy in my step, since we would be reaching my town by the days end.

The trees grew along the highway, forming a wall of broad leaves. The highway had been cut straight through the forest, and so the sunlight shown down on it, but the forest was in shadows. A few hours later, the sun was beginning to approach the horizon, but the trees were also thinning.

"We should almost be to my town now," I told the others.

"It will be nice what it is like," Charmander replied.

"Too bad we won't be able to stay long," I stated.

Up ahead would be the steep slope that led down from the forest to my town. As we reached the top of the slope, the view ahead made reminded me of the vision from the princess in the Mystic Mountains. Smoke rose from the burning buildings, and so I ran forward to see if the vision had come true. The others fell behind as I rushed forward.

In the city, I stopped as the destruction unfolded before me. I now walked slowly, shocked that my town was now in ruins. The others caught up as I paused to look at my old school, which was now collapsed and smoldering.

Seeing my state of shock, Ninetales tried to console me, "Ben, losses can be painful. I have felt many in my long life."

"Is it all gone?" I replied, "Can I truly change anything? There still might be time!"

Rage and hopelessness both mixed in my mind as I moved onward. I told the others to follow, and ran towards where my home was. The thick smoke from the flames rose into the sky, and the flames seemed more fresh as we got nearer to my home. Soon, the scene before me was exactly like the vision from before. The road and sidewalk were cracked, and the houses were all burning. We moved forward and ran into the fallen street sign. We moved through the thick smoke, and ahead was the collapsed and burnt remains of my home. The Murkrow from the vision flew away, and a group of 50 or so pokemon was ahead.

Seeing the destruction of my home filled me with anger, and I rushed forward and changed to Mudkip again. I blasted the group with several hydro pumps as I ran towards them. A few of them were taken down, and I ran forward and rammed into the side of an Arcanine. It flew backwards, knocking down some of the others, but the rest of the group began to surround me. In my fury, I blasted all around me with mud and water. Suddenly something grabbed me and jumped into the air. Just where I had been was decimated by just about every type of attack as the enemies retaliated. We landed, and I saw it was Lucario who had saved me.

"Rushing in like that against so large a group will only get you killed!" chided Lucario.

"You may be angry, Mudkip, but don't let that cloud your judgement," added Ninetales.

After my furious assault, I was out breath, but was now back to my senses. Rushing such a large group was pretty foolish, and it didn't look like we had much of a chance at defeating them. The Arcanine got back up, and now the group moved towards us.

"Head North!" I yelled to Lucario, Chamander, and Ninetales, "There might still be boats at the docks!"

We ran back to the East, the way we had come from earlier. At the first intersection we turned North, with the others still pursuing. Running as a Mudkip was slower, so I became a human once again. The transformation made me clumsy for a second, and I tumbled forwards. Lucario pulled me up quickly with his strength, even though he was shorter than me now that I was a human again. Charmander's short stride slowed him down and he started falling behind.

"Charmander, I'll carry you," I suggested as we slowed down for him to catch up.

I grabbed Charmander and held him at my side as we continued running. Nerezzik's forces had almost caught up with us, and started shooting a few attacks. A flamethrower blasted the road behind us, but we kept moving. Shortly later a thunderbolt struck right behind my foot. This spurred us to run even faster, and we slowly broke away from those behind us.

Running had quickly gotten us through town, and we were now near the docks. All of the larger boats or the ones with motors were gone now, but one small sailboat probably used for pleasure sailing was left. We ran down the wooden dock, and reached the small boat at its end. The boat was about 10 feet long with a wooden bottom and large white sail. It would have to do for now.

"You three hop in and untie the boat, and I'll give us a push," I commanded as I set Charmander down and transformed to Mudkip.

I hopped in the water while the others untied the boat. I pushed the boat away from the dock, but our enemies had reached its end. Lucario, Ninetales, and Charmander each shot attacks to hold the others off, while we moved quickly out into the water.

"Lucario, tie the rope to me and then try to control the sails!" I yelled out from the water.

Lucario quickly grabbed the rope, and tied it to the front of the boat and around my middle. I swam quickly forward, pulling the boat along. Lucario and Charmander worked on the sail, and figured it out a little bit. Pulled by myself and the wind, the boat flew along the lake, and the shore grew smaller and smaller. The sun began to set, reflecting the oranges, reds, and other colors of the sunset onto the lake. This lake was called Lake Crystal, and it was clear and cool. Pulling the boat for so long was tiring, and as darkness fell I had Lucario untie me. I got back in the boat, and showed Lucario which way to tie the sail. The boat moved forward as the stars came out, and the other three all fell asleep to the gentle rocking of the boat.

After seeing that the vision had been fulfilled, I thought about the day. My home and town were gone, and I had been unable to stop it. Saving the pokemon world had been my destiny before, but was seeing the destruction of my world my destiny now? Could we overcome Nerezzik, and would anyone in the cities of Garnet or Obsidian be of any help? After ages of peace and with almost no weapons, it seemed like we were the only ones that could defend against Nerezzik. How could we overcome his numbers or the strength of him and his strongest allies? It all seemed hopeless to me. I wanted to go back to the happy times, such as when the days of our rescue team or the time I had spend in the swamp with Wave. Yes, I would fight for peace and happiness, and return victorious to relax in the swamp when it was all done. I slowly drifted to sleep while the boat moved forward through the black water of the dark night.