Chapter 20: Out of the Shell
The sun woke me the next morning, shining through the open window. I had fallen asleep to the beat of the ocean, worrying about my back. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it other than the scar… but the scar was kind of scary. Really scary.
I got up and dressed myself before heading into the kitchen for breakfast. Casey and Richard had brought in cereal and eggs, and I helped myself to the former. Casey walked in from the front door and smiled at me; ever since we came back to Pallet, she seemed to be a lot happier. Maybe she was just glad to be alive and out of that terrible little cell in the Iris.
"Beech came by to check up on Sebastian. Turns out he's still alive, just hiding…" I nodded. Ok, so what? "There's something I've been thinking of. Ok, Rook's Salamance: there's something stronger about it then just having a good trainer. It's a really high caliber pokemon, so we'll need a really strong pokemon if we want to fight it."
I thought about this. "So Sebastian is really that strong?"
"He and my grandpa won the Indigo League tournament and reigned as Champions for six years. Sebastian is one of the strongest pokemon there is. Richard's still asleep, so… will you come help me wake up Sebastian?"
"Uh… I guess." I really wasn't sure what else to say or do, but I had a bad feeling about this… I wasn't sure why. I finished my breakfast and called out Ivysaur before following Casey out onto the front lawn.
The shell sat singly on the grass, which had started to grow up around it where it couldn't be cut. It looked lonely, just sitting there in the sun. Sebastian's trainer had died, but still he lived on… it must've been a little painful for him. His best friend dead… I looked down at Ivysaur, who nodded back eagerly. He could tell something was about to happen too.
Casey went straight up to the shell and rapped on the front by (what I assumed was) the head-hole. She peered inside the dark hole, and then vanished from sight as she walked around to the other side of the shell. Sebastian was facing the sea, his head away from me, but behind the big pokemon, I could see things Casey couldn't.
Casey stuck her head into Sebastian's shell. She called for him softly, "Hey big guy. You remember me? It's Casey. Casey, remember? You remember grandpa, right?"
I heard a guttural growl from deep within the shell, and Casey giggled nervously.
"That's alright, it's me, remember?" She reached one arm into the head-hole to stroke the Blastoise. "Yeah, that's right. You know me, doncha?"
I saw it then; it was a good thing it was standing behind the shell. With a little click, two panels on the back of Sebastian's brown shell popped open, and two fat grey cannons slid out…
"Vine Whip! Get her out of there, Ivysaur!"
My pokemon's vines shot out, this time to save, not harm. The vines looped around Casey's waste and pulled her back towards me… just as a powerful jet of water erupted from one cannon, denting the ground where Casey had just been standing.
The shell rotated around, sliding away from us, and Sebastian unfolded. His indigo arms and legs came out, and he stood, and finally, Sebastian's big, turtle head appeared; his eyes were deep brown and bloodshot. There were dark markings on his head and arms, and I wondered whether they were from old age or if Sebastian was special. He glared at us, to Casey's obvious surprise, and lowered his head as if her were going to…
I grabbed Casey shoulders and hurried her to the side. I guess Sebastian was slow after being cooped up in his shell for the past three months… how had he survived? Maybe he went out at night to eat. Regardless, he seemed to be slightly confused at having been awoken, like he expected to die in there. His attack was slow and badly aimed, a poor Skull Bash that carried him into the empty cul-de-sac.
Sebastian stumbled up and turned to face us. His cannons lowered; he seemed to be coming out of his confused fog. I knew this time he wouldn't miss. I looked at Ivysaur, who immediately charged up an Energy Ball, but Casey motioned for me to stop.
She stepped forward, in front of the attack, and spoke up to her grandfather's pokemon.
"Sebastian," she said, her voice much firmer this time. "I need your help. There's a man who grandpa hated and he hated him back. They were big enemies, and now the bad man's still causing trouble. Grandpa wanted me to stop him, but I need your help to do that. Will you listen?"
The gurgle of water that had been rising from inside Sebastian's cannons calmed and vanished. He bowed his head and calmly stepped forward. The Blastoise trudged up and knelt in front of Casey; whatever anger that had possessed him before was now gone. Casey pulled out a pokeball, old and dusty with a water-droplet symbol painted on the front. She clicked the button on the front, and Sebastian vanished in a flash of red.
Casey turned and smiled at me. "There, that wasn't so hard, now was it?"
"That Blastoise is a bit of a loose cannon. Do you think we can rely on Sebastian?"
"Not a doubt in my mind." She said, raising her eyebrows. She pocketed the pokeball and started back toward the house, calling over her shoulder at me: "Richard's still asleep, and I don't think we should wake him. Up for… say… a long walk on the beech?"
She was smiling deviously and I this time, I didn't wonder why.
"Sure," I said, trying to keep the happy, nervous waver out of my voice.
(-o-)
Water Admin Akila called out her first pokemon, a shimmering Milotic that filled most of the tunnel beside her. Akila was generally acknowledged as the strongest battler of the Four Elemental Admins, and she accepted the title modestly. Everything about Akila was modest and quiet. Muted. She brushed a strand of navy hair away from her dark forehead and patted her pokemon's neck.
She began walking forward, first slowly, then building into a full run for the end of the tunnel. Milotic slithered along beside her, moving as gracefully on land as it would in water. The orange light at the tunnel's end grew brighter and bigger until…
Akila burst into a huge, orb-shaped room. The bottom half was filled with glaring, bubbling magma. A narrow stone bridge jutted across the center of the room; the cave entrance behind Akila was the only way in… except for the hole in the ceiling hundreds of meters above… but you'd need to fly to get out that way.
On the center of the stone bridge was a collection of lava rock arranged in a ring. Burnt out tree branches and piles of ash softened the rest of the nest. A nest. It was the same thing Rogan had reported in the Seafoam Islands: the Legendaries were about to lay eggs.
Some scientist speculated that Legendaries of the same pantheons reproduced at the same time… but because there was only ever one of each Legendary at a time, the theory that they reproduced at all was generally dismissed. But the Director knew things that only Rook could guess at (and relate to the admins), and he knew that they did in fact lay eggs. The pokemon in egg would be a carbon copy of its parent; the Legendaries reproduced asexually. The Director believed that unless it had another reason to live, the parent Legendary would probably die as soon as its spawn could care for itself…
But the chance of having the power of two of each of the Legendary Birds… it was enough to make any naturalist wonder… what better way to show the world the true power of nature than demonstrating with the power of the Great Birds?
But back to business. Milotic roared into the room, wrapping its long colorful body around the stone bridge. In the center of the room, resting in the nest was Moltres, its wings and tail streaming with bright flame. It screeched at the water pokemon and flapped into the air. The massive firebird looped down, around the bridge, then up in the heights of the chamber. It was going to fly out the hole in the roof.
"Hydro Pump," whispered Akila into her headset. The message was sent to Milotic's nano-bots… and a jet of powerful water slammed into Moltres' back. The Legendary screamed again; its flames flickered and almost went out, and it plunged down, vanishing into the magma below. Akila stalked over to the edge and looked down into the glowing liquid stone…
Moltres burst out of the lava, its body shining with new heat and rose up, smashing into the bridge. The center of the stone path was shattered and tumbled dramatically toward the magma. Akila leapt onto her pokemon's back and the two retreated back along the bridge to safe, unbroken place… Moltres continued to rise, up toward the ceiling.
There was an explosion from above as the fire pokemon widened the hole with its burning wings and vanished from the cave.
"Waterfall," Akila ordered, her voice taught with frustration. Milotic rose on a column of water and followed the Legendary out into the air.
Moltres was waiting for them; it was much more eager to fight than the other two Birds. It launched a Fire Blast straight into Milotic. The water pokemon looped back, almost falling back into the chamber. Akila looked around quickly to see they were on top of one of the many tiers around the edge of the Indigo Plato. High above her was the Pokemon League Headquarters, but Akila didn't immediately care about this.
Milotic surged forward with another Waterfall, but the bird flapped to the side. They were close now; the heat from Moltres' wings smoldered Akila's dress. Milotic wrapped around its foe and close range and used Waterfall a third time to slam Moltres into the cliff face. Milotic uncurled from its foe and writhed back.
"Dragon Pulse."
A ball of bright blue energy struck Moltres in the chest before it could pull away from the stone wall. It stumbled back again, then began to struggle up weakly… Akila hurled a pokeball.
A blast of fire from Moltres' beak knocked it from the air. It flapped its wings, releasing a powerful Heat Wave. Akila sheltered behind her pokemon, but she was too late now: Moltres leapt past her and into the sky. The red glow of the Legendary began to move into the distance…
A loud buzzing noise began to rise from the bottom of the Plato. Akila didn't bother glancing over the edge: she knew who it was. Rogan rose up over the side of the cliff in his trademark red helicopter. His pilot looked sternly ahead, but Rogan was grinning impishly.
Akila returned her Milotic and jumped into the helicopter's side door.
"Shut up and go," she mumbled at Rogan. That was a longer statement than Rogan had ever heard her say. He smiled at her again and nodded to his pilot, who took off after the fleeing Legendary Bird.
(-o-)
The ferry was closed for a week of repairs, but some kind of exited energy emanated from the three of us: we couldn't wait to leave Pallet Town. Our things were packed, and now that we had Sebastian with us, we could sail all the way to Cinnabar Island.
Beech asked us to stay, offered to show us around his lab more, but Casey was already fed up with him. She wouldn't stay near Beech for another day. He met us at the Beech behind Casey's house to see us off. He gave Richard and I a firm handshake and warm smile; he tried hugging Casey, and she reluctantly accepted… that is, she let him hug her. Her arms stayed stiff at her side and she looked mortified.
With that out of the way, Casey called out Sebastian and leapt onto his back. Richard and I clambered up after her, and the Blastoise swam off into the afternoon, three children standing on his shell.
Beech waved for a few minutes, then left before Pallet Town was out of site.