Pack Master: Chapter 21
Sorry for the long delay, I just want to let you know that my A-levels are fast approaching and so I'll be cutting back on writing untill they blow over, sorry
There was a brief pause before Gemma rolled the door to a side stepping into the room and blushing slightly when she saw Pisces was there too. She was closely followed by a small group of four Pokemon Simon didn't recognise, they were floating a few feet above the ground, two seemed larger than the others and they all seemed to have different colourations against a white base, the larger had red and blue whilst the smaller pair had green and gold markings.
"Greetings." he said politely "I am Simon, the Espeon next to me is Crystal and the Vaporeon is Pisces. What Pokemon are you and what brings you to our den?"
The larger of two gold Pokemon nodded glancing at Pisces then at Crystal giving a small nod of greeting "I am Ryan; this is my mate Ruby and my children Jade and Leon." Ryan explained "We are members of the Lati race."
Crystal frowned softly as she tried to probe their minds wincing as her own defences where shattered by a retaliatory push.
His gaze lingering on Crystal for a second 'I don't recommend trying that again. Your dealing with psychic dragons.' he told her telepathically his voice friendly but definite.
Crystal gave a slight nod and sent back 'Right sorry.' not knowing if he would receive it
Simon smiled "So what bring you all here?"
"We're here about the problems your having here." Latias said.
"You're not the source are you?" Simon asked carefully Crystal tensing up ready to fight if the answer was yes
"No, quite the opposite." Jade said. "We are here to help deal with the problem." Simon nodded relaxing again with a small sigh of relief
"The drones you have been seeing around here are part of a group called Genesis." Leon said.
"They are after a specific crystal and if they get it then it will mean the end of the world." Ryan said. "The crystal is here in your den."
"What?!" Crystal yelled. "Well get it and get it out of here!"
"That won't work." Latias explained shaking her head sadly "Even if we take it from here they will
raid your den and take all the Pokemon to use as test subjects."
"What do we do then?" Pisces asked her worried look reflected in the faces of Simon and Crystal
"We fight." Leon said. "If we repel an attack then they will more then likely leave you alone when we take the crystal."
"We have been at war for a time with them." Ryan added "These are just scouts. The main force will be attacked in about two hours or so." he gave an apologetic smile as he broke the bad news
"We can help you defend the den if you let us." Latias said smiling warmly
"We will take all the help we can get." Simon said trying to wrap his head around scope of the problem still slightly uncertain about these people.
"Good." Latias said handing Jade and Leon a map. "Jade Leon, go and set up the portipal turrets in your pack up at these locations. They are weak points in the cave."
"Simon where is the most secure place in this cavern?" Ryan asked his face turning serious
"The catacombs." Simon said quickly
"Good, we need to get all of the young and elder Pokemon into there." Ryan
said. "Latias you should go with them."
"Pisces you go with her." Simon said turning to give her and peck on the muzzle and a reassuring smile "Make sure all of them are safe."
"Alright." Pisces said standing up and padding over to the door pausing and looking at Latias "Keep safe, let's go Latias we need to hurry."
"We better," Latias agreed hurrying off after Pisces
"With the turrets up the entrance to the den is going to need the most protection." Ryan said. "I will guard there. Jade, Leon once the turrets are taken care of come up front and help me deal with things there."
"The entrance of the cave will make a perfect kill box." Leon said. "Sis we better hurry and get these turrets set up."
"Let's go then." Jade nodded both of them shooting out of the door.
"How big of a force do you think they are going to send?" Simon asked slightly annoyed by how little he knew next to Ryan and his family
"I am not sure." Ryan said. "We are a good way from the town so I think it will be about ten-thousand to fifty-thousand strong."
Simon's eyes went wide and he spluttered in disbelief, they were screwed if that was true!
"Are you sure we can take all of those?" Crystal asked the same fear springing into her mind.
"I know we will." Ryan reassured them "I've seen the forces they control first hand
and battled them. The forces are made up of mostly robots because they are a lot easier to replace then people are. In a way that makes sense but that's bad for us because they can send thousands of drones at us. The plus side is that we don't have to feel bad for destroying mindless drones."
"Have you ever... killed someone before?" Crystal asked like Simon giving a sigh of relief, assuming Ryan's confidence wasn't misplaced they would be fine
"Sadly I have." Ryan said "It's never a good feeling to kill but it has to be done to protect things you love. I have killed over fifty people through my life but it isn't because I enjoy killing, far from it. Taking someone's life isn't something I enjoy nor ever will."
"It's never good to take something's life." Simon agreed part of him wanting to peruse the matter and find out who and why Ryan had killed whilst another recognised the sadness in his eyes as he spoke of killing didn't want to stir up obviously painful memories "I hope I never do."
"Its best we get ready for the attack." Ryan said. "Simon get all the Pokemon here that can battle at the main entrance to the den. I am strong but I need to know that if any get past they will be killed quickly."
"I can do it." Crystal nodded
"We will both go." Simon said firmly not doubting that Crystal would insist that he stay somewhere safe
"I will be at the main entrance of the den." Ryan said. "I will do everything I can to keep them at bay when they come." Giving one more small smile he turned and headed for the main entrance his pace much more sedate than any of the others.
Turning to Crystal and Gemma, Simon gave a weak smile as he pushed himself to his feet heading for the sandy patch that usually facilitated their pack meetings.
They had no sooner settled down than Crystal let loose her keening cry, the pitch wavering differently to indicate who should and shouldn't come to this meeting as well as telling everyone in the pack that it was urgent. Gemma and Simon both winced at the sound as it resonated through their heads, although they understood that the situation was time critical they still both wished that Crystal would have at least given them some warning before she sent out the cry.
Crystal gave a sheepish grin picking up their pangs of annoyance easily "Sorry"
Simon waved it off his attention now on the rapidly filling hall, Pokemon were filing in almost twice as fast as they normally did, each Pokemon finding a spot to sit and falling silent almost immediately rather than the low murmurs that usually filled the room until the point he began to talk.
Fairly quickly the flow of Pokemon slowed to a stop, stragglers sprinting into the room and taking up positions panting as they fought to regain their breath. Running his eyes over the crowd Simon guessed that maybe a quarter, ten or twenty Pokemon had gone with Latias and Pisces deeper into the cave system. Crossing his fingers he said a silent prayer for their safety as he took a deep, calming, breath.
"Alright, I'm fairly certain that everyone knows that we are currently in danger" Simon spoke out getting some sombre nods of agreement, he took another deep breath before continuing "I won't lie to you; we are about to be attack by Genesis, their force is going to be larger than anything you've faced before but we have powerful allies in Ryan and his family so do not be afraid. I want all able bodied Pokemon at in the main hall ready to attack anything that gets in." Simon paused for a second to let the information sink in before speaking up again "I have complete faith in you and I'll be there with you doing what I can, so let's go fight to protect the pack!"
There was a very brief silence before a chorus of cheers went up, the odd Pokemon staying silent with looks of worry of their faces. Simon waited for the cries to die down before stepping forward flanked by Gemma and Crystal walking through the crowd he headed for the passageway to the entrance that was on the far side of the vast cavern. "If any of you don't want to join the main fight go help Pisces and Latias protect the young and old" he offered spotting the worried faces in the crowd and smiling as about six Pokemon filed off relived looks flashing across their faces and a few shooting him grateful smiles.
The remaining group formed a horseshoe around the passage Simon, Gemma, and Pisces standing at the centre all of them trying to hide the doubts that were eating at their minds lest the worry spread to the main body of the crowd. All eyes fixed on the darkened passage and all ears cocked to try and hear the first sounds of battle to indicate the fighting had started.