Pokemon: Incarnation
Chapter 21: The Dividing Line
"Was Duke always like this?" I asked after Duke walked off to speak to Charlie and Audrey, still looking as restless as ever.
"No, he had a very calm persona whenever I saw the occasional interview with him. I'd have never guessed he was the same guy unless he told me. Think it's down to his new body?" Melinda asked as I kept watching the vigoroth.
"I'd say so. He sure is acting as energetic as your typical vigoroth." I said, starting to wonder whether our new bodies were also affecting our minds.
"Well, good thing I have no children, else this new form could drive me mad." She said, looking away from me slightly, rubbing her fingers uncomfortably. "Say, Basil, have I been…acting differently? Please just be honest."
"Maybe a little more, well, you've been a bit pushier recently, but that's probably chalked up to that alien wanting us dead." Melinda replied as I looked out of the window. Seems like this small town nestled comfortably in this valley hasn't been affected by all this crazy shit as far as I could tell.
"You've been rather finicky since we reunited here, but it's clear that it's still you Basil." Melinda told me, standing by the window with me.
"Maybe I'd be a fear ridden wreck if I wasn't turned into a rather emotionally dead species. Imagine if I got turned into a goldeen or something like that. Needless to say, I probably wouldn't have survived long enough to meet Nisbeth, let alone flop my way all the way to Newer Orleans." I replied. It was a funny thought initially, though it seemed likely that at least one of the trainers that got yanked into this world got stuck with a body ill suited to travel on land.
"You two!" I heard someone say in a deep, thick German accent. Must have been that Rhyperior, as his large voice was forceful enough to make my small body vibrate, as if I was standing next to a huge speaker. "Come over with us, we need to discuss everything we know to see if we can learn anything about how to deal with The Devourer." We both walked on over to see everyone sitting down aside from Duke, who was still pacing back and forth across the room.
"…So from what I can tell, either those who have been…tampered with…either kill themselves or The Devourer does it remotely. That mienshao was beaten to an absolute pulp and couldn't fight back. I'm assuming he died so he couldn't give us any answers." I said after some discussion, thinking back to the bizarre and grizzly death that pokemon suffered through.
"It's hard to say exactly why but it does help give more credence to a theory I have. These 'pokemon'…I believe they are proxies for The Devourer." Heinrich said as he shifted uncomfortable in his large chair. "Shortly before I met Duke, there was a friend of mine who went looking for someone after he went missing. He said he'd be back at about midnight if he couldn't find him. I was asleep by this point, and as expected, he just let himself in. And…he then tried to kill me in my sleep." He said, looking rather pained.
"He wasn't very quiet, so he ended up waking me, and I was able to kill him before he could do the same to me. I had known this blastoise for over fifteen years, and I'm confident he wouldn't just suddenly try to murder someone like that on a whim, let alone a close friend." He said, slouching sadly on his huge chair. It creaked slightly, somehow supporting Heinrich's massive weight.
"And yet, he did." I said, being rather straightforward about all this.
"I was just getting to that. Anyway, I'm fully convinced that The Devourer was involved somehow. I don't know how it happened, but that alien must have forced Fabian to do this." Heinrich said, still looking uncomfortable talking about it.
"I can only assume it was controlled somehow. Perhaps by a malamar in league with The Devourer?" Audrey suggested, though Melinda shook her head at this.
"Unless their hypnotic abilities vastly exceed the ones back in my world, that'd be impossible. I've worked with the strongest one in England, and there's no way it could drive someone to murder unless the victim was seriously considering it in the first place. They can't make you do things you'd never ever do; they're simply not powerful enough to do that." She said, as I recalled the malamar she had that got injured so badly in a tragic training accident at the start of the year that she couldn't fight anymore.
"Well, marowaks are, according to you, very different back home, so it's possible." Audrey said, and while I could see where she was coming from, there was a more obvious answer to all this.
"I can only assume The Devourer does this to people directly, so don't ever get caught out alone, or else you'll wish you had just died right on the spot. Even worse, if it has assimilated a network of followers, maybe it could use them as a small army proxies to act on its behalf." I suggested, which made everyone around me feel uneasy, and understandably so.
"Think that Guardian weirdo picked up some humans because they were immune to his effects?" Duke suggested.
"We can be turned into black statues. Neerav could tell you all about that if he could still speak." I responded as Duke grumbled.
"Makes me wondered why he even bothered summoning us then!" He said angrily, though I assumed that it was partially because of his heightened emotions in his new body.
"I can only assume it was a bit of a hail-Mary, but we should still help these people. Besides, good luck getting home without Serge." My sister responded.
"Right…speaking of Serge, that's the summoner's name, right?" He asked as we confirmed it. "So, did Serge tell you about The Fountain of Salmacis?"
"Fantastic song, one of my favourites. Guess my kidnapper might not be completely vile after all!" I replied with a smirk on my face. Unfortunately, Duke looked rather puzzled at this.
"…It's a literal fountain." Duke responded.
"Shame…" Melinda said as we smiled at each other from the corner of our eyes.
"Anyway, he was telling me about it as something that could be used against The Devourer, but he got cut off, and five seconds later, wham! New body, new world!" I looked at Melinda who just shrugged. Seemed like this was news to her as well.
"Shit…all I heard was that someone build that place a very long time ago. It helped…somehow against The Devourer back in the day, but, like I said, cut off before I could get some proper info on it. Might be worth looking for." Duke said, bouncing slightly on the spot.
"If it's from ancient times, then I'm sure the fountain is long gone. That continent is far beneath the waves now, and it's been thoroughly searched. Even if it's still there, the special water or whatever it is would have just mixed with the ocean. This is just a dead end, since there's been no trace of any activity from the ancient civilization on the other continents." Audrey said, clearly still thinking about it. "Wonder if it was mentioned in some of the text I had yet to translate?" She continued, taking out her notebook and looking at it in detail. From here, I could recognize that she copied down some of the ancient Greek text.
"I'm really missing the internet right now. Could translate a lot of this stuff or find out what or who Salmacis is." I said as Melinda chimed in.
"Genesis clearly knew about who or what it is, so I think we can assume it's related to ancient Greece and the first people to arrive on this world." My sister said, and while this was a good train of logic, it just led us to a dead end since neither of us were well versed in Greek history.
"I really should have never made fun of Tony for taking an ancient Greek course…" I muttered to myself, realising that Audrey was our only hope for the ancient Greek clues. "How long will translating that take you?"
"No idea, possibly weeks." Audrey said as I rolled my eyes.
"We might not have 'weeks' with The Devourer getting bolder, and the three of us have no intentions of dying on this planet." I said firmly gesturing to Melinda and Duke behind me.
"Well, if none of you understand this, then you should just leave me to it and try to help in some other area." Audrey replied, and I found that I couldn't disagree.
"Heinrich, surely you know of something else that could help us?" I asked as the rhyperior thought about it.
"We could try and find Entei and Raikou again, and this time be a little bolder when speaking to them. We could really use some more muscle. However, if we choose our words wrong, well, they have been known to kill those who offend them. They're supremely arrogant and see others as beneath them." Heinrich said, and needless to say, I didn't like this plan.
"Imagine how bad it'll be if The Devourer recruits them?" Audrey said as my blood ran cold just thinking about it.
"If I were an alien wanting to conquer this planet, I'd be recruiting the most powerful people on this world. Those two sound like candidates." I said somewhat quietly.
"Exactly, which is why we need to try and find them and make sure they're working with us, and not against us. From what I heard, we wouldn't stand a chance if they tried to murder us." Audrey said, and while I sort of agreed with her, I'd rather not see those two at all.
"I hate this, but knowing you, you'll just go try to find them on your own if we all vote against it, right?" I said as Melinda smirked at me.
"Basil, you know that's impossible, because I know all too well you wouldn't let me go alone." She replied.
"Fuck's sake…" I muttered under my breath. "Well, maybe I can use the weapon to bail us out of trouble if it comes to that."
"I wouldn't count on that working." Heinrich said, and true to his word, I wasn't. I knew it was just a tool that had a chance of getting us out of a dire situation. "Still, if you're insistent on this, then I'll come with you. There's been rather frequent sightings of Raikou in the plains just a couple of miles west from here. We have just enough time to do so before it gets dark. Duke, you should come with us too."
"How about all of us go?" I suggested. "If we do encounter this thing, I'd rather we'd be able to win a fight through sheer numbers if it came to blows. Almost everyone respects an adequate show of force."
"I doubt he'll entertain a talk with us if he recognizes us as being stronger. Raikou and his two brothers are notoriously vain and arrogant." Heinrich said, as I began thinking for a moment.
"Think he'll recognize and respect a human, or perhaps Serge?" I asked as the rhyperior shrugged.
"It's why I suggested it. Then again, it's hard to prove we're human, but regardless, if we can at least warn him, it'll hopefully be enough to make sure we don't have to deal with him some time down the line." Melinda said before looking around and counting us all.
"Well, if Melinda's determined to do this, I'll be coming too. I'd say taking the three of us and Charlie will be for the best." I suggested, wanting to keep Nisbeth, Murphy and Duke out of trouble.
"I don't want you facing that beast, Basil. Not without me." Nisbeth said as Charlie waved at us.
"I'll, uh, try to help Audrey then…" He said, collapsing on a chair.
"Right, so that's four of us then. Potentially pushing it, but I think Raikou may be willing to speak to us." Heinrich said as he showed the three of us the door.
"Make sure Murphy and Duke are doing ok you two." I called over to Audrey and Charlie as we left them behind at Heinrich's place. Looking back at the town behind it, it was far prettier than anywhere on Broussard, though given the natives here don't speak English on the whole, it might have been for the best that we didn't land here upon arrival. The path through the valley was surprisingly short as the sun started to slowly approach the horizon behind us. My feet were likely getting used to all this walking by now, as they seemed to be slowly toughening up from constantly being pressed on the ground beneath me. If anything, this 'holiday' has been great for my fitness so far, though I somehow doubted that would transfer back to my human body.
"Ah, does that road there lead to New Zürich?" Melinda asked, pointing down the path.
"Naw, it goes to Syrinx!" I said cheekily, pointing to the sign that she must have saw.
"Good luck getting in there though. Not that you'd want to with the prices they charge for even the most basic of necessities." Heinrich said as I chuckled slightly.
"I guess some things really haven't changed." I said, and shortly afterwards I noticed another sign on the side of the path.
"So, does this Raikou live here?" I asked, pointing to said sign. "'These plains are mine. Trespassers will be forcefully evicted and, upon resistance, will be killed.' Look, as much as I don't want this guy hounding us later on, I especially don't want him wanting us dead now."
"This wasn't here a few days ago…" Heinrich said, staring at the sign which was crudely written. "Also, Raikou doesn't have arms, so he couldn't have written it."
"Well, that settles it then. We're going back, no need to risk our lives like this. He clearly knows about The Devourer and has become paranoid, and I can't even blame him." Nisbeth said, already looking at the path behind him.
"Seems like such a waste since we came all the way out here, and besides, if we can convince him to join us, we can get a very powerful ally." Melinda said, as I inhaled through my teeth. This was becoming borderline reckless of her, something that Omar took full advantage of in the finals. "Besides, he said 'forcefully evict' as long as we don't resist. Maybe we can explain our case as we're being chased out."
"You could get us all killed you selfish cow!" Nisbeth suddenly said loudly as I glared at him.
"Don't speak to my sister like that again." I said firmly, glaring at him through narrowed eyes. Nisbeth looked like he was about to say something in response, but he managed to catch himself before he said a thing. It told me what I needed to know, however, and for the sake of group cohesion, it was best that we stay silent.
"…We could just walk on a while and pretend we never saw the sign. What do you think Heinrich?" She asked as I hoped that he'd help the three of us talk some sense into her.
"I'm trying to figure out why he'd try to fence off these grasslands…" He replied as I thought about it too.
"Seems like a daft choice really. All he's effectively done is put a spotlight on himself saying 'Look at me! I'm all alone! No one can help me if I'm outmatched!' So either he doesn't know, or he's just stupid." I said, though as I looked at Melinda as I mentioned these words, I would come to regret them.
"So we need to go there and inform or talk sense into him!" Melinda said as I shook my head vigorously.
"I'd much rather live thank you very much!" I said firmly. "Nisbeth's right, we should just leave."
"Look, if The Devourer can forcibly recruit people to his side, would you want to wait and deal with him when he can turn us all into black statues? He's clearly left himself vulnerable." She said as Nisbeth walked up to her.
"I'm not setting a foot in that field. I don't care what you do, I'm not going to risk myself for this. I want to make this absolutely clear." He said, speaking very slowly, annunciating every word he spoke.
"This really is just a lot of speculation Mel'. We might be off this continent before The Devourer even notices him. Besides, we don't know if The Devourer can force Raikou to go on a rampage anyway." I said, as she finally seemed hesitant about all of this.
"…That being said, Raikou could also contact his brothers, maybe get them on side too. We stand to gain a lot here. Besides, even if things take a turn for the worst, Basil can teleport us out." She said as I looked at the weapon. It didn't have the biggest range, and if Raikou was quick, then all the trickery I could pull off with this thing might not save us.
"I guess fleeing isn't an option?" I asked as Heinrich gave a nervous smile.
"He is said to be one of the fastest pokemon alive." He responded as I shrugged.
"Well, we've looked into all avenues, and it's impossible." I said, though Melinda had one final idea.
"Ok, fine, maybe you're right. However, we can walk down this path and see if we can spot him in the distance. We won't be in his field, so he has no reason to get angry at us." She said as I glanced over at the sign again.
"That depends on how you interpret his message, but…say, Heinrich, is the guy at all reasonable?" I asked as he nodded.
"Well, I walked in here a few days ago with Duke and he just told us to leave. I can't imagine he'd try to kill us on walking beside his field." He said. I still wasn't in favour of this, but I couldn't think of a way to talk Melinda out of this. Guess we were going along with her less dangerous plan.
"Ok then, if it's all settled then, Heinrich, care to lead the way?" I asked, knowing that he knew these lands better than I did. I suppose I'd be protesting alongside Nisbeth, but If Raikou got in touch with The Devourer, there's a good chance that he already knew Duke was human, which could lead him right to Melinda and I. Once that happened, there'd be no talking him out of trying to murder us.
"Now, I swear, if Raikou becomes hostile…well, I just hope we'll still be alive for me to give you a piece of my mind…" Nisbeth grumbled to Melinda as a nice cool breeze brushed against the side of my face. My sister mostly ignored him, as we kept peering around for any signs of this strange beast in the approaching twilight. The faint outline of the moon could be seen, and not too far away from it, a second one could barely be seen. I wondered where we were in relation to planet Earth.
"So…what does he look like?" I asked Heinrich as I had to duck from almost getting whacked by his tail by accident.
"Taller than me, mostly yellow, walks on all fours. You'll know it if you see him." He said as we kept looking. Night would soon be here, and after about twenty minutes or so of walking on this path, I began to get a little disillusioned.
"I'm with Nisbeth here, I think we should just turn back." I said, as I began to find it hard to see above the grass, which was growing incredibly tall by this point.
"I agree. As big as he is, we might not see him in the darkness anyway." Heinrich said as Nisbeth, who was starting to look really tense by this point, sighed quite loudly.
"Finally, some common sense and self-preservation." He said and immediately did an about turn and started walking down the dirty path, back to where we came from.
"Well, I won't do this alone…" Melinda said, sounding disappointed. "Still, if there's nothing happening tomorrow, we can try again, can't we?"
"I'd rather not!" Nisbeth said back to her, looking over his shoulder as he continued striding away from us, prompting us three to catch up.
"That toxicroak really doesn't care at all, does he…" Melinda muttered quietly as we caught up. Thankfully, it seemed like a clear and starry night, so while we'd be walking home in the dark, we'd still have a bit of visibility. Hopefully, this meant we wouldn't stub our feet on a rock, or get ambushed by some interloper.
"If you want to check this place out tomorrow, fine by me, but you're doing it without Basil and I." He said about ten minutes later as I looked up at him, narrowing one of my eyes. I agreed with him, but I didn't want him making these sort of decisions for me.
"…I don't think we will either." Melinda said as she pointed to her left across the field with her bone. Looking over to where she gestured, it was unmistakable. From here, it looked not too unlike a humungous pyroar, though further details were hard to make out from this distance, aside from what seemed to be a mane streaming behind its head in the wind. Quite majestic, yet it was clearly not someone I wanted to get on the wrong side of.
We just seemed to stare at each other for what must have been an entire minute, neither of us making a move. My breathing became a little erratic as I reached for the weapon. Looking down the path, I wondered how long we had to go until we were out of this blasted field. Would Raikou follow us out? I barely knew what this creature was, let alone what it wanted. Gazing quickly from side to side, I looked at my friends. Melinda looked like she was trying to figure out what to say, and Nisbeth looked ready to make a break for it.
"…I told you not to return!" Raikou suddenly roared at us, in a gravelly, yet forceful voice. The sudden shout made me jump slightly as I clutched the weapon tightly. At least that beast didn't know what this wooden stick could do, but given his voice was powerful enough for me to actually feel it from this distance, I doubted it'd be effective at all. Heinrich stalled slightly and poked Melinda on the shoulder. She looked up at him briefly, then back to Raikou, who was slowly approaching us.
"Sorry, Mr Raikou, but we've come to warn you about The Devourer." She said, getting straight to the point.
"…The Devourer?" He replied in a slightly quieter voice, tilting his head slightly with curiosity.
"The one behind the plague of black statues." Melinda told him. Raikou still seemed oblivious to all this, but if that was the case, why would the sign…
"I don't like this…" I muttered very quietly to her, barely moving my head so Raikou couldn't see that I was communicating. "We should be ready to leg it."
"This creature may be operating through other pokemon." Heinrich said as to not stall out the conversation too much. Nice save; I swear that large beast was starting to look a little twitchy. Holding the weapon behind my back, I hoped there'd be a way to teleport all four of us at once a good distance away with it. Maybe if everyone held onto me, it would work. Maybe…
"We aren't sure how it does so, but we recommend coming with us. We're trying to destroy this thing, and we need all the help we can get. Surely, someone as mighty as you would be a pivotal asset in this fight." I said loudly, trying to keep my suspicions hidden.
"Lower myself to helping such short lived pokemon?!" Raikou scoffed. Melinda looked rather angry at this, but wisely kept her thoughts to herself. "I will heed your warning however. You can aid me by making some signs to warn of would-be trespassers to my field. I will also request that you close off the path as well."
"Someone already did that for you." Melinda said as Raikou stalled slightly. The wind was slowly picking up, brushing against the fur on my body as I began to get increasingly restless.
"Well, if that's the case, then there will be no need of your service. Please, return from whence you came." Raikou said in an oddly polite manner. I had no plans of ever letting my eyes off this thing until we were reunited with the others. Raikou too seemed to be keeping an eye on us, keeping pace with our slow steps.
"You three…keep a hand on me, and keep walking." I said quietly so the beast wouldn't overhear us. Holding the weapon in front of me, I scanned for spots I could teleport us all to. That large boulder looked out of range, so I guess I had no choice but to try and aim the weapon so that there wouldn't be a painful drop after my shot reached its maximum range. I slowly started speeding up in both my pace and my breathing as I grabbed Melinda's arm, trusting her to make sure I didn't wander into the tall grasses by myself. Raikou kept pace, his eyes glued to all four of us.
"Escorting us out or something?" I asked as Raikou nodded.
"Just making sure you're actually leaving." He replied in a low voice as his eyes narrowed. I gulped as he stared right at me, wondering how all this fit together.
"Of course we are, there's nothing else here except for yourself, and we already effectively ended our conversation." I said back to him, still keeping in pace with the others.
"Did you take South or East entrance to get here?" He said as I stalled for a moment. Seems odd for him to ask something like that. Surely simply telling us where the quickest way out would be more rational, but before I could conjure a response, Heinrich spoke up.
"The East, so we'll be leaving by that path." He replied as Raikou lowered his head ever so slightly.
"I see…" He said, his voice sounding oddly quiet now for such an imposing creature. I doubted he asked just out of simple curiosity, and I started begging internally that Heinrich gave him an answer that would pacify Raikou. However, I began to strongly doubt this when I swore that little jolts of electricity started to spark off his body. I knew all too well what he was about to try and do now, as the saliva seemed to evaporate on the spot inside my mouth.
"Hold on and run with me." I said, my voice croaking slightly as I activated the weapon immediately afterwards. In less than half a second, I already found my feet about a meter above the ground and a good distance away from Raikou. Not bad, and the landing didn't hurt much. However, any pain I received now could surely become very brief as I heard Raikou roar in fury from behind us. A quick glance over my shoulder saw the terrible beast wreathed in lightning that dispelled the encroaching twilight around us.
"Why'd you draw us into this?!" I heard Nisbeth screech angrily as I warped us once more, but Raikou was so fast that we were barely gaining any ground on this guy. It suddenly dawned on me that, unless our pursuer had almost no stamina, he'd catch up real soon. I don't now how many more times I could teleport us with the weapon, but it couldn't have been too many.
"Heinrich, throw me to the side, and throw me far!" I yelled. Maybe I could disorientate Raikou by swapping places with him. It worked before with assailants, so it could work now? I had my doubts, but it had to be worth a shot. The rhyperior, who was already starting to lag behind, put his trust in me and picked me in one of his hands. I must have weighed almost nothing to such a huge pokemon as he suddenly threw me over to the left with great force. The world spun slightly as I was flung into the air as I tried to get my bearings. As soon as I landed, I needed to be ready.
I yelped slightly as I landed hard on my back, thankful that the grass and soft earth somewhat cushioned my fall. I pushed myself up to my feet immediately and quickly spotted the four of them. I heard Nisbeth still yelling about something, even amongst the roaring of the fast approaching Raikou. I needed to make this count. Aiming the weapon steadily, I fired it right at Raikou, just as he looked ready to tear Heinrich to pieces.
My body suddenly lurched when I found myself right behind the rhyperior. I got him! Now, we had to escape! Maybe if I can teleport us all once more, would we be out of the field? Would that murderous animal just give up once we were out of its territory?
"Once more!" I said, pointing the weapon ahead of us once everyone put their hand on me.
Nothing. I was completely dry of warp powder.
"Oh no…just run!" I screamed as we all continued to flee. Sadly, Raikou figured out where we were rather quickly and continued to hound us. I couldn't think of a thing now, I was out of options! Could we fight this thing? I could maybe still try to blast its head, but with all that electricity surrounding it, it would likely just cause the weapon to explode in my hands! I was essentially useless here!
"So, The Guardian of Forever specifically needs humans…run on ahead, I'll slow him down." Heinrich said, slowing to a standstill and turning around. "I guess there's always a small chance I'll survive…"
"Not a chance! I've been brought here to save you all, and that includes you!" Melinda declared also turning to face Raikou, but Nisbeth was having none of it.
"We heard what he said, let's just get out of here!" He said, grabbing her by the arm. She looked ready to protest but Raikou was almost upon Heinrich by now, barely even being phased by the barrage of small boulders being hurled at him. This wasn't a fight we could win, even if all four of us attacked at once. A shame it had to end like this, but the three of us had to live.
"Despicable!" Melinda yelled, though whether at Raikou, Nisbeth or herself, I couldn't quite tell. The three of us could move much faster as a group, and while we were able to gain some ground and leave the field, we couldn't escape the sound of screaming, thunder, and, later, what sounded like the crunching and cracking of rock. I didn't even want to look at what Raikou did to that rhyperior. I only wanted to avoid a similar fate.
"Maybe we can lose him amongst those trees ahead." Nisbeth said as my comparatively smaller legs started to tighten up with pain in their efforts to keep up with my swifter friends. The toxicroak in front of me noticed this as he quickly picked me up and held me over his shoulder. "I'll get you out of here, I promise." He said as I stared behind him at Raikou, who looked like he just finished his savage murder of Heinrich. I didn't think this would work, but I pointed the weapon at him anyway. Maybe its protection I applied could stop it from blowing up in my face, and maybe one good point blank blast to his face could dissuade him. A fool's hope maybe, but it was all I had.
As we left the field, it became clear that he wasn't just zealously just defending his territory, and would catch up in seconds. I guess Serge really would have be getting us killed indirectly after all. That bastard. Guess this would be a funny tale to tell of how I died should there be an afterlife waiting for me I guess.
"Raikou! I'll see you with Serge in whatever afterlife we end up in! Come forth and die!" I screamed at him, getting ready to fire once he was in range.
"That won't be happening tonight Basil!" I heard Melinda said. I couldn't see what she was planning on doing since I was far too focused on a desperate blast on the beast, though I did notice a swelling of that eerie pale green fire to my left. I felt the searing heat from it too, and as Nisbeth pulled away from her a bit, I could see her surrounded by those flames. Even at this distance, I would have gotten heatstroke in mere seconds, yet she seemed absolutely fine. How could she even tolerate such temperatures, let alone even generate them?!
I could see her speaking to herself, though the sound of the flames mixed in with the furious roaring of Raikou made it impossible to tell what it was. She suddenly leapt high in the air, and I was shocked by this display of athleticism. Ten feet, twenty feet…before she suddenly landed down right in front of Raikou, planting her bone right in the ground. As soon as she crashed onto the earth beneath her, flames erupted from the ground, rising even higher than her mighty leap. They extended to the left and extended to the right, forming a mighty, literal firewall as far as my eyes could see. The sudden blast of heat was so intense almost knocked Nisbeth off his feet, and had to use a nearby boulder to support us. Being used to wetter environments, it made him feel rather weak and ill upon a quick glance. Better that than dead at least!
Melinda turned around and ran towards us down the path, pointing down it on the way back to town without saying a word. She did however look extremely shocked, both mentally and physically, from that unbelievable stunt she just pulled off. Looking back, I couldn't even see Raikou behind the raging flames. Seems like he wasn't willing to leap through them, and unless he could jump over them, then he'd have a long, long way to get around them.
"How…the fuck?! Mel' that was incredible!" I said after a short while as I was placed on the ground. Our pace slowed slightly to a jog as we began to catch our breath once again.
"This thing here…" She said, showing me that strange red crystal that Duke handed her. "It almost tore my body apart, but the dividing line I made right there…if only I thought about it before…poor Heinrich."
"You feeling ok?" I said, seeing her stagger a bit.
"I hope so…I can see why these things are illegal. Basil, remind me to be quicker when using this again. I could have saved Heinrich if only I thought of it sooner!" She replied, sounding rather angry and upset with herself. "He'd be alive if I wasn't so god damn slow!"
"Melinda; all four of us would have been torn to pieces if it weren't for you. Please don't beat yourself up too much, you're doing an excellent job." I said, trying to comfort her, though it seemed like Nisbeth wasn't too impressed.
"You know, Heinrich didn't have to die. I told you. I told all of you! I told you all that this was a terrible idea! Seeking out a temperamental beast like that for help! What did you think was going to happen?! If we just stayed where we were then he'd still be alive!" Nisbeth said, half snarling at my sister.
"I already explained why Nisbeth! What would you be doing all this time?! Just sitting indoors and hoping this whole thing blows over?!" She said, turning to look at him.
"It was incredibly lucky that all four of us didn't die horribly back there! To think what would have happened if you didn't get that strange stone from Duke!" Nisbeth said, moving in front of her and walked backwards, staring hard at my sister.
"I took a risk, and, yes, perhaps it backfired, but we're not going to defeat The Devourer by doing nothing! If we did what you'd do, we'd probably all be dead in weeks!" She yelled back, getting angrier by the second.
"You know, ever since I met Basil, he's spoken extremely highly for you. He pretty much dedicated everything he had to try and find you. To think your recklessness almost got him killed! Does that even phase you?!" He said, their conversation getting more and more heated.
"Of course it does!" She said simply as Nisbeth slowly turned to look at me.
"I wouldn't be too sure whether to trust her or not. As much as you adore her, it's clear that Melinda does not have your best interest in mind at all." Nisbeth said and stormed off ahead of us.
"…And it's clear to me that he doesn't have his planet's interest in mind." She muttered as we followed the irritated toxicroak. Regardless, what Nisbeth said bothered me ever so slightly. It's clear that she's very determined to stop The Devourer, but how far would she go? Would she even use me as a bargaining chip if it was needed? No, she wouldn't. She'd be at my side throughout this whole affair.
"Just let him cool down a bit. This has been horribly stressful for all of us." I said as she looked down at me.
"Suppose it's a good thing you two found each other. He seems to really care about you." She said and sighed. "Just wish he cared more about our efforts to make sure he can live safely in the long term. Short sighted idiot…"
"I guess…" I muttered to myself.
"Say, Basil, I may have to unleash The Dividing Line again at some point. If my body can't take it and it tears me apart, or if I die in some other manner, promise me you'll continue fighting The Devourer for me, won't you?" She said as I nodded.
"Anything for you Mel'." I replied as she looked up at the darkening sky.
"The world's much bigger than you or I, but when one person dies, I guess a small part of the world dies with it. I don't want The Devourer to kill anyone more. Not you, not I, not anyone." She said, which didn't make me feel too good.
"You know that's probably not going to be possible right? There are vile bastards all over this world, and you can't be everywhere at once." I said back to her as she sighed.
"Well, it's no excuse to not, at the very least, try our best. I still could have done so much better back there…" She said, trailing off a bit before perking herself up again. "Don't worry about what that toxicroak says: I'm not going to make you into bargaining chips or whatever he said. I'll get us both home after all this is done."
"…Only after this is all blown over?" I asked as she nodded firmly at me. Would it really be in my place to drag her home to Earth when she wanted to kill The Devourer here? I couldn't be sure. Maybe she wasn't in the right mind after all her time here. I was starting to lose track of how many brushes with death I've had by now, and I was all too aware that I'd probably have another one in the not-too distant future.
I wasn't going to stand around and be useless for my two friends here, or Murphy. They've done so much for me, and I hope I've done great things for them too. I couldn't stand the idea of letting any of them die! Leaving them on this danger infested world would be effectively signing their death warrant. I'd be a horrible person if I did that! I couldn't live without them! They're coming home, and if Melinda never forgives me, then I'll take solace in the fact that she'd still be alive, even if she would never want to see me again! Raikou came that close to ending it all for us three! It can't happen again.
"I think I'm gonna need some of Charlie's booze when we get back…" I muttered to myself as we caught up with Nisbeth. It seemed like Raikou had completely given up on us, but we were still very cautious given there were many people out there who'd happily see our heads on pikes.
"So…why do you think Raikou wanted us dead?" Nisbeth asked, looking like he cooled of over the whole thing.
"Either he's indecisively territorial or he's in league with The Devourer. If it's the latter, then I wonder just how far that alien's tendrils go. Also, it would seem like he's already got some powerful allies." Melinda said when I thought of something.
"He didn't seem to try to turn us into one of those black statues though. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for that, but it doesn't quite add up." I said when I remembered something that Heinrich said. "That being said, poor ol' Heinrich did say that one of his friends tried to kill him in his sleep. Now we've seen several cases of this. It's possible that not everyone working for this creepy bastard doesn't have that statue power."
"I did hear from Jirachi before you two arrived in Newer Orleans that Raikou and his two brothers are hundreds of years old. Maybe age just made them really, well, you get the idea." My sister said, but one thing was clear: We weren't going to interview Raikou to find out why.
"Hope nothing happened in Thalnacht when we were gone." I said as Melinda suddenly looked at me.
"Don't say things like that!" She said, sounding worried.
"You made the choice to drag us out here you know." Nisbeth said, causing me to stand between them since it looked like Melinda was about to have another go at him.
"If you two don't stop getting at each other's throats…" I said, not able to think of a good way to finish the sentence. "Oh, look at that, we're almost there!" I pointed to the lights of the town ahead. Seemed like nothing obvious was amiss from here, and when we entered, it seemed like business as usual. Still, I wasn't looking forward to breaking the news to Charlie. Unlike the last time I had to break the news of someone's passing, the recipient of this information was about three times my size, perpetually drunk and had vast electrical power. Not good.
"So…who's gonna break the news to Charlie?" I said as Nisbeth pointed at my sister.
"She's known him longer than us. I reckon she could find a way to not make things messy." He said as Melinda narrowed her eyes at him.
"Or it's because that if anyone has to bear the brunt of a grief-stricken ampharos, it should be me, simply because you don't like me. I'm not stupid, but I suppose I'll do it anyway." She said through slightly gritted teeth.
"Well, we might not have to right away; the lights are out in Heinrich's place." I said, pointing at the empty looking building on the path ahead of us. Strangely enough, the door was unlocked, so we let ourselves in. A note was lying on the table in front of us so, naturally, we decided to have a read.
"Just checking out a rumour of some event that happened north of here. If we're not back by the time you do, we shouldn't be far behind. Sorry for leaving your place unlocked, I'll make it up by getting us a drink of six.
Charlie."
"Well, seems like they're also helping us." Melinda said, though I started becoming concerned for Murphy's safety.
"What if they don't come back within the next few hours or something. They could be in trouble, or worse, for all we know." I suggested as Nisbeth threw himself on Heinrich's old comfy chair.
"They said they'd be coming back. No point on going on a wild goose chase right now. Just sit tight until the morning, that's what I think." He said, looking like he was ready to fall asleep. "Charlie and Audrey seem tougher than us anyway, I'm sure Murphy and that human will be fine."
"I guess you're right…" I said, taking out some water from my bag. I didn't feel too comfortable however, as I couldn't help but wonder how Murphy was doing. We didn't have to wait too long for some news to arrive as the three of us jumped in our skin at the surprise of the door being suddenly flung open.
"Duke?!" I said loudly as I lowered the weapon, realising it was safe.
"I…I'm here too!" Murphy said behind him as I ran over to give my friend a hug.
"Glad to see you're fine! What's the news anyway?" I asked the two scared looking pokemon.
"We were separated from Charlie and Audrey." Duke said, looking over his shoulder.
"Well I guessed that much. What actually happened?" Nisbeth said as Murphy looked very pale.
"I think we found it…or it found us." Shortly after he said this, I saw a brief flash of light pierce the darkness like lightning, except it seemed to come from behind the mountains as opposed from the sky. It vanished as soon as it arrived, and seeing the look on Murphy's and Duke's face, I began to fear the worst.
"It's The Devourer."