Chapter 19

Escape at Daybreak

The Whisperer and her ghost wander the streets in the night. They walk without footsteps, observing the invaders. But The Whisperer remembers when they were not invaders. This was their home once. And before that, it belonged only to the Pokemon. And before that, it belonged to Groudon and Kyogre. Before that, it belonged to nobody at all.

She walks to the graveyard of boats. Her ghost is uneasy. Above her, atop the building, there are people. Three. She does not see them, but hears the whispers. The voices of their presence. She does not reply.

Dawn approaches. The Whisperer moves like the wind, quickly, through the town. North. Somewhere to observe, unseen, for a while. As her ally wishes it to be. Watch the new invaders, and guard against the children of blue fire.

Kieth

The shipyard is dark. As we leave the building, I hear Tess whisper something somberly, looking back at the great building.

"Goodbye, old girl."

I don't really get the attachment to the place, but this isn't the time to question it. As we approach the main street, I hold up a hand and stop walking.

"Hear that?"

There are footprints, and faint voices, from up north, near the boat. People are already awake.

"We're going to have to take the long way. Let's keep following this road, then find another one-" I'm cut off by Tess, who jogs ahead of me.

"I know the way! Come on, follow me!" Jacob follows her, continuing down the west road. I'd rather be the one in charge, but there's no time to argue. I follow.

Tess leads us down a series of side streets that look like a warzone. It looks like the edges of a shopping district, but nobody has been going shopping here in a long time. Broken windows, display manequins and products strewn on the pavement. The buildings look hollowed out and dusty, as if someone scooped out their contents and just left the husks there for dead. I can see Tess looking around her in horror as she moves on, but she doesn't slow down. She wants to see everything, and get away from it as fast as she can.

We stop at another intersection with what looks like a sort of second main street. Across from us is what looks like an old festival ground of some kind.

"Oh..." Tess speaks quietly, walking forward. "The old market..."

"Tess, we don't have time." I walk up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She turns to look at me sadly.

"I know...but we should come back some time." Her eyes grow wistful. There's no time to be sentimental right now. I grab her hand and Jacobs, and run. She protests, but I don't let go. I just run, and they have no choice but to follow.

We stop at the north end of town, and I let go of my companions. Tess is muttering something about me being rough, but I don't listen. I'm distracted by what lies before me.

The Ryujin, the boat that brought us here, is broken in two. Cut clean down the middle. There is no sign of an explosion, no wreckage or even evidence of a struggle. It looks as though a huge blade came down and cut the thing. One half of the boat is leaning on the old harbor building, and the other is on its side, half-sunk in the water. Some PFH men are standing nearby on the shore, talking amongst themselves.

"What happened here...?" Tess steps up beside me, looking at the wreckage. "Could it have been wild Pokemon?"

"I don't think something wild would have been this precise." I really want to go take a closer look, but we can't, of course. Not with Jacob here.

"I don't like this." Jacob says, speaking up for the first time since we left. "Let's just go."

Surveying our surroundings, the only clear way out of town is the road. The woods are still fenced off, and from here you can see a mountain of fallen trees and branches. It would be not only hard to maneuver, but easy to get lost. We'll have to take the road, where there are already two PFH men patrolling. That means I'll have to play decoy again.

"Right, listen. We'll start walking towards the road, see if we can get by without being noticed. If they notice us, I'll distract them and you guys make a run for it. Tess, where can we meet up outside town?"

"Um, the bike path would work. But-"

"Okay, the bike path it is. Let's go!" I start walking, trying to ignore the indignant look Tess flashes me. I don't know what her problem is, but we'll have to sort it out later.

We walk quietly and quickly. The guards aren't paying close attention, and I'm sure we'll make it. We've got to. Of course we will.

"Hey! Stop!"

Welp.

We turn to look at the two of them. It's a man and a woman, followed by a resolutely trotting Growlithe. At least it's not the two from yesterday, and I might be able to talk our way out of it, but I reach into my pocket anyway, cradling all three poke balls in my hand.

"You guys are up early," The woman says. She's more friendly than threatening, but her companion glares at us stonily.

"Yeah, we wanted to get a head start." I give her the most convincing grin I can. She gives me a nod.

"Well, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer. After the boat incident yesterday, we're still making sure the area is safe. You'll have to wait until midday to leave Slateport." Well, there goes talking our way out of it. I take my hand out of my pocket, and glance at Tess and Jacob to make sure they're ready to run. Jacob gives me a small nod, but Tess just keeps her eyes fixed on the PFH people.

"Well that's too bad," I say with a grin. "We're so excited we can't help but make a head start. We can't walk, we're so pumped we've got to RUN!" I throw all three poke balls in the air. Maizy lands in front of the woman, and Faust, a tall, lanky Sableye, in front of the man. Vladmir hovers behind them, casting a great shadow over us all. The Growlithe starts barking at him like crazy.

Jacob starts running as soon as I say the word, but Tess hangs back. I raise my eyebrows at her, and she just returns the glance. She's holding her poke balls in her hand.

"What are you doing? Go!"

"Don't be stupid, I'm fighting with you."

"Are you kidding? I've got this." We're wasting time. I hear the woman give her Growlithe an order. It launches a fire attack at Maizy, who dodges it nimbly.

"Just go! Protect Jacob!" She gives me a glare, and shakes her head. She mutters something under her breath, and then, mercifully, she turns and runs, following Jacob up the road. Now I can concentrate on these clowns. Faust has already stepped in and is dealing blows with the Growlithe. The man whispers something in the woman's ear.

"Are you sure?!" She gives him a look. He nods.

"Crap. Then go after him, idiot!" He nods, and breaks into a sprint, in the same direction as Tess and Jacob. There's nothing I can do, either. As I turn to watch him go, I hear the sound of two more poke balls opening. I turn to see that I'm now evenly matched; the battered, scrappy Growlithe is now joined by a Machoke and a Graveller. Things are about to get messy.

Tess

I'm not too bossy of a person. I don't like being ordered around too much, but I can tolerate it as long as I know why. Kieth isn't giving us time to ask why, and it's starting to really piss me off.

Unfortunately, the sound of fast-approaching footsteps me I can't worry about that right now. I turn, and see one of the PFH people – the big, burly guy – fast approaching. Damn it.

"Jacob!" I call over my shoulder, stopping to face our pursuer. He stops too, pulling our two poke balls. Jacob runs up behind me.

"Jacob Mondego," the man speaks gruffly, slowing to a menacing walk, "as you may know, the PFH has been ordered to take you in for questioning, regarding the attack on the boat yesterday."

"What?!" I look at Jacob. There's no way he could have done that to the boat...is there? But as I think about it more, his Aron has some really strange powers...but no. There's no way. We know his dad wants him found for some other reason...at least, that's what he told us.

Either way, there's no time to consider disturst. If he gets taken in, Kieth and I will be in trouble too. We'll have to fight this guy off.

"He isn't going anywhere with you." I tell him, releasing Charybdis.

"Jacob, send out your Aron. Help me out here." He looks at me, almost as if he doesn't understand what I'm saying.

"Are you sure...? What if something happens like yesterday?" I feel for him. He still doesn't know the full extent of what his Pokemon can do, and he's probably a little scared to find out.

"That's what I'm hoping for, bud. The more explosions the better!" I give him a grin, and after a moment, he returns it. In a flash, his Pokemon stands next to mine.

"So that's how it is, huh..." The PFH guy smirks at us. "If you kids think you're some kind of threat, think again. We're authorized to take Jacob in by force, if necessary. And I think," he glares into my eyes, "we may have to take you in as well." He throws his poke balls, releasing a Medetite and a Magneton. Not a great matchup for us, but I think we can take it.

"Meditite, take out the Aron. Magneton, thunderbolt the Horsea." The meditite runs towards Garnett as the Magneton spins its magnets, readying an attack. Suprisingly, Jacob steps in before I can give my orders.

"No you don't. Garnett, mud-slap that Magneton!" Garnett instinctively knows what to do where to go, attacking before Jacob even finishes giving the order. It leaps out of the way of the Magneton, pounding the ground with its feet as it lands, sending a surge of mud and dirt flying into the Magneton. The force is enough to knock it down, but its magnets are still spinning. Time to step in.

"Char, smokescreen the hell out of the Magneton!" Charybdis moves on my word, spreading a thick cloud of black around the Magneton. From within the cloud, it makes a sound, and blasts a lightning bolt that misses Charybdis by a good 10 feet.

"Meditite, get that Aron!" The Meditite takes advantage of our distraction with the Magneton, and lands a heavy blow on Garnett. The Aron stumbles, falling onto its back. Its armor is dented, but it flips itself over, standing upright.

"The Magneton'll be distracted for a minute, Char. Focus on Meditite!" But Charybdis already knows. Balancing on his tail, he sends a rocket-spray blast of water at Meditite. It's like a Water Gun, but with a much wider spread.

Brine. It's a move called Brine. I recall it instantly, but I don't know how. Maybe knowing the new moves my Pokemon learn is part of the bond Kieth was talking about. I'm starting to forge that bond that only trainers and their Pokemon can. Now that I think of it, Jacob and Garnett seem to have that bond already. Strange that he's so nervous about fighting with his Pokemon, but they battle so well.

The brine attack is very strong, knocking the Meditite off its feet. It starts to stand up, but Garnett follows up with a strong headbutt. The Meditite struggles to get back up, but its legs give out and it falls. The man returns it with a scowl, but there's no time to celebrate. The Magneton floats upward, out of the smoke cloud.

"Now you've pissed me off," The man growls. "Flash Cannon!"

The Magneton fires a blinding flash of hot, silver light into Charybdis. My Pokemon goes flying, landing somewhere behind me, and I can already tell he's fainted. I run over to him, already panicking. He's beat up badly, but still breathing. I return him, and stand to see Jacob looking angry for the first time.

"You...you're gonna pay for that!" He screams, sounding like there's a fire brewing inside him. Garnett roars as his trainer speaks, and a cloud billows out of his mouth. A cloud of bright green smoke. It's happening again.

"Garnett, get him back for that!" The Aron's eyes begin to glow, and the man takes a few steps back.

"What the hell, kid..." He looks scared. The Aron opens it's mouth, now billowing with green smoke, and breaths in. When he exhales, he unleashes a blast of bright, green fire, engulfing the Magneton and nearly searing its trainer in the process. The fire is so bright it's blinding to look at. I close my eyes tight.

When I open my eyes, the Magneton is lying on the round. Its metal body is blackened and warped. That damage won't repair easily. Garnett is breathing heavily, its mouth and eyes flickering with green fire. The man just stares, frozen out of fear.

"What..." he screams. "What the hell are you?!" He returns his Magneton, and turns and runs back towards town. Tentatively, I walk up to Jacob, who stares at Garnett with wide eyes. I put a hand on Jacob's shoulder.

"See? The more explosions the better."

The bike path is a mess. The entry building is in shambles, but the ramp up onto the raised path is still standing. We climb up the slope, stopping at the top. Jacob's still a little shaken up, but he doesn't speak.

The view up here gives a good view of what lies ahead. The bike path is broken up, with entire chunks that have fallen into the sea. Fallen trees lean against the ramps. The winding path below doesn't look much safer. Chunks of bike path rubble obstruct the land-bridge. Luckily, that's not where we're headed. Up ahead the path splits. One way goes to the land-bridge, and the other leads to a dead-end at the river. Near the dead-end is the cave where I want to go.

"Hey." Jacob sits on the edge of the bike path. He doesn't look worried anymore.

"What's up?"

"I wanted to way...thank you." His face starts to redden. I kind of want to laugh, but I keep it in.

"Thanks for getting me to use Garnett. I know I'm a pretty good trainer, but I still don't know everything Garnett can do. It kind of scares me." I sit down next to him.

"It's cool. All you have to do is trust your Pokemon. That's what Kieth told me, and I saw it in action just now. When you trusted garnett, he landed the finishing blow." He's quiet for a moment, fidgeting with his hands.

"Do you...do you trust me?"

"That depends. Did you attack the boat?"

"No!" He looks panicked all of a sudden, like he's desperate to convince me. "It was still together when the guards started chasing me. I have no idea how that happened!"

'Okay, okay, calm down. I believe you." It's only half a lie. I want to trust him, so I'll keep telling myself I do for now. He smiles at my words, then frowns again.

"What about Kieth? You looked angry at him before..." I sigh.

"I just don't like how he started ordering us around."

"Why?"

"I guess...I guess I don't know why he has to take charge like that. He just automatically assumes we'll follow his lead. I just met him, y'know? The least he can do is talk to us before making decisions for us. Show us we can trust him.

"You don't trust him?"

"I want to, and I thought I did, but...I just don't like him bossing us around."

"You just met both of us, and you trust me. So trust him."

"That's...that's true." I'll talk to Kieth when he gets here. If I can convince myself to trust Jacob, I should be able to do the same with Kieth.

Something catches my eye, behind Jacob's head. I point, and he turns to look. Below us, there's a clearing in the woods. Burnt into the grass is a shape I recognize.

"Groudon's symbol." Jacob knows it, too. A bright red "M" shape.

"Well...that's new."

Hey, you goof! Yeah, you reading this! What are you doing here? You should go over to PkMncast. com! Why, you ask? Because PkMncast happens to be the home of Shattered Gemstones, where you can read the next two chapters RIGHT NOW, instead of waiting for my lazy ass to post them here! You can also find our awesome Pokemon podcast and other great content, so check it out!