Chapter 25: When Lightning Strikes
Snivels: Man, those reviews just keep piling up! I wonder how many people out there are reading this? You know, that whole series by that DreamWorks company doesn't really capture the real thing, does it?
Amber: I'll say. They don't know the real story!
Champion: And those Metal Heads ought to be a placed lower on the evolutionary chain than us Go-Getters, if you ask me.
Xylia: Yeah, by about 500 IQ!
Tito: I estimate the distance between our amount of intellect and theirs would be about twenty to thirty thousand years.
Snivels: Why don't we get back to that conversation during the episode's halftime?
Blaze: Sounds good to me.
Ninjark: Agreed!
Living with dragons has its ups...and downs. You need to stay calm and keep a clear head. Not easy with Vikings.
Go-Getters, on the other hand, are very reasonable.
When a problem is caused by something Vikings don't understand, they lose all sense of reason.
And that can be very dangerous.
It was a beautiful day in the Barbaric Archipelago, especially for Team Go-Getters. Hiccup had agreed to help Heather train her lower-level Pokémon for battle with help from Tito and Spike. The Helioptile was hesitant, but he eventually agreed to help out his friends.
It wasn't long before Tito and Spike were were facing Captain and Phoxie out in their front yard. The idea was for the Chespin and Fennekin to gain experience from practice battles, in hopes that they would get stronger and learn new moves.
Tito started off with a Quick Attack, but he was stopped by Captain's Vine Whip, which held him high in the air. Phoxie tried to use Ember on Spike, but the Shiny Druddigon managed to dodge. He quickly fired back with a Dragon Claw, hitting both Captain and Phoxie hard, causing Captain to lose his grip on Tito. This went on for a while until Phoxie and Tito were commanded to use Ember and Thundershock, respectively. But what they used were far more powerful attacks, that combined in midair, causing a blazing and electrifying surge of power.
Flamethrower and Thunderbolt.
The training had worked, but not in the way everyone had expected.
Phoxie and Tito stopped attacking when they realized that they were using more powerful moves than they had been commanded to use, and the little Helioptile quickly scampered back to his trainer, slightly embarrassed.
Hiccup leaned down and patted Tito's head gently while Astrid approached him. "That was pretty impressive," she said.
Hiccup scooped Tito into his arms before standing up and turning to face his fiancée. "I wasn't really expecting it," he admitted.
"None of us were expecting it," Heather said, "But those moves were definitely improvements of those previous attacks."
Hiccup shrugged. No way he could argue with that. After a quick glance around the clearing he noticed that someone wasn't there.
"Where's Snivels?"
As it turned out, Snivels never actually left the house. The Trainers of Destiny found him in their bedroom, sitting in front of a three-way mirror, his mouth half full of food.
"Eating chocolate looks like this!"
Unable to believe that the Servine was singing with chocolate in his mouth, Astrid cleared her throat loudly. Snivels jumped at the sound, leaping up from the chair and closing the mirror, whilst swallowing the chocolate. He relaxed when he noticed who it was. "Oh, hey guys, you're back early, uh...I suppose the training went well? I meant to join you, but, uh...Stoick came up here to see if anyone was home, and I wasn't really sure how long he was going to be out there, so I thought I'd try to wait him out."
"You didn't have to wait him out," Hiccup said.
Heather nodded in agreement and held up a folded piece of paper. "He left a note. The Vikings' homes are being destroyed by the dragons because they're resting on the roofs."
Snivels's eyes widened with realization. "Oh."
There was a noise outside, and everyone rushed out to see Kickin' Hawk greeting an unusual-looking dragon. It looked as though its scales were made of metal, and it had a very long, telescopic tail.
Snivels examined the dragon before stating, "That's a Razorwhip, but you don't usually see them in this part of the archipelago."
The Razorwhip leaned its head down to allow Kickin' Hawk to retrieve a paper scroll from its mouth. The Hawlucha opened the scroll as the rest of the members of Team Go-Getters gathered to see what was going on. Kickin' Hawk began to read the writing on the paper out loud.
My friends,
I have been aware of your recent accomplishments, and I am happy to report that you have all impacted and inspired many members of the Resistance. We have welcomed Vengeance into the organization, and you can be sure he will be treated well amongst us. I would also like to congratulate Astrid and Hiccup for their engagement, of which many of us are quite proud of.
Therefore, I hereby offer for them to be wed by none other than yours truly, up at the Resistance's headquarters, and my home, the Ice Caves (Best known to the Vikings as Freezing to Death). I will be waiting for all of you to arrive near the end of the Vikings' celebratory Bork Week, so be sure to be ready by then. It is then when I will finally reveal myself to all of you, as I have secluded myself inside my home for safety, and I have been in hiding ever since the beginning of the Great Dragon War. Very few of you have been lucky enough to meet me in person, and there will be no exception with the coming of another dreadful Viking tradition. I will be sending some friends of mine to talk to you about the arrangements. Let me warn you - they can be rather electrifying.
Wishing you all the best,
Fjord
P.S. I thought your friend Heather would like to have this dragon, as it is my fault she no longer has any parents. Her name is Windshear. Take good care of her.
As Kickin' Hawk read the last part, Windshear walked up to Heather and nuzzled her. Heather was momentarily surprised by this, but she didn't hesitate to pat the dragon's snout.
Hiccup, on the other hand, was quite uncomfortable with Fjord's knowledge of his and Astrid's engagement. Just how much did that all-seeing Kyurem know? How far into the future was he able to see?
He'd have to make a list of questions for when he went to meet Fjord.
But first, they had some problem-solving to do.
That's how Team Go-Getters ended up building and setting up large metal perches for the dragons to rest on.
It took a lot of work to shape all the metal beams and finding enough supports to help them hold the weight of the dragons, but it was worth the absence of complaints from the Vikings about their damaged homes. And it didn't help that Xylia wasn't entirely focused on the operation.
"Amber, don't you think it's cute the way Ninjark glues the beams together with his frubbles? Me too. We're so going to be mates someday. Know what we're gonna name our kids? Xavier and Phelsuma."
Despite all of that, they were able to get the job done before the end of the day, and were soon ready to test the perches. Astrid had already mounted Stormfly, and the dragon-Go-Getter duo were soon airborne. With some hesitation, the Deadly Nadder lowered herself onto the perch. Shifting a little to make herself more comfortable, Stormfly let out a squawk of approval. Satisfied, the members of Team Go-Getters all headed home, ignoring the Vikings cheering at the success.
Tito was the only one who noticed some dark storm clouds heading their way.
"Wasn't this just the greatest idea ever?!" Phoxie asked as she observed a pack of Nadders landing on the perches to rest from inside their home.
"As much as I dislike helping out the Vikings, at least we won't be getting any more complaints about damaged homes," Snivels muttered as he helped Amber and Blaze mix up a stew.
Kickin' Hawk nodded in agreement. "Go-Getters above Vikings, that's what I always say," he deduced. He turned to see Heather leaning against the wall. "Hiccup and Astrid have been up there for a while," he said, "Would you do us all a favor and go check on them?"
"Last I heard them, they were discussing possible results of Fjord's visitors," Blaze commented, "At least Hiccup was."
No sooner after she'd said that, Heather was trudging up the stairs. When she reached the bedroom, she found Laetio sitting at the foot of one of the beds, with Astrid and Hiccup both asleep on it. Noticing his trainer, the Shiny Noibat hopped onto Hiccup's desk, picked up a pencil in his mouth, and began scribbling words onto a sheet of paper.
HICCY AND ASTY TALK LOTS
SAY "LOVE"
GET SLEEPY
TAKE NAPS
Dropping the pencil, Laetio smiled at Heather. It took her a minute to understand the uncoordinated writing. "Thanks for watching them for us, Laetio," she said, "Now why don't you go eat some stew?" Laetio flapped his wings excitedly.
"Yea, yea! Laetio gobble stewie! Gobble stewie with Ninjy! Hiccy and Asty wakey?"
The young Noibat had gotten slightly better at speech, but it was still a bit hard to understand him. "Yes, you go eat," Heather said encouragingly, "I'll be right down with you." Laetio jumped down from the desk and hopped down the stairs. Heather quietly approached the bed where her two friends were resting. "Aw, they're so cute when they sleep together," she said before sitting down on the bed and gently shaking them. "Psst, guys?"
Downstairs, the rest of the members of Team Go-Getters were already gathering bowls for the stew, which looked and smelled better than most of the things they had tried to cook, when they all heard a loud rumble from outside. Everyone froze in surprise as another roll of thunder followed, along with a flash of light from outside. The loud noises were enough to make both Hiccup and Astrid jolt awake. Heather nearly fell back in surprise at both the storm and her friends waking up so quickly.
Kickin' Hawk nearly pulled the door off its hinges as he ran outside to see a storm bigger than any he'd ever seen. Dark clouds were forming in the sky over the island, and lightning seemed to be striking every second. This was not being caused by a Legendary Pokémon. This was a real storm. Upon observing the effect of the storm, Kickin' Hawk quickly realized that the metal perches were attracting the lightning. The electric bolts were beginning to lance off of the perches and setting houses and other wooden structures on fire.
Now, Kickin' Hawk wasn't one to be concerned for the well being of Vikings, but he knew that there were also dragons and Pokémon that were in danger of getting hurt, either by the lightning, or the fires. The Hawlucha raced back inside to warn the rest of the team of the oncoming danger.
But even he didn't know of the creatures coming to feed on the majority of inhabitants.
The Vikings were already in enough trouble as they could get in. Almost all of their homes were ablaze, and the storm had grown in so much intensity, that it seemed there was never less than two bolts in the sky at once. None of them were aware of the curious yellow eyes that were watching their every move.
The two dragons from the mountain cave had never seen creatures like these before - walking upright on two legs with flabby appendages that ended in five clawless digits. And what was with those odd fabrics of cloth they were wearing? And those funny hats with horns sticking out of them?
The two dragons stayed hidden in the foliage at the edge of the forest as the storm raged on. With lightning striking down every second, the Vikings had no choice but to take shelter in the Great Hall, which was the only building that wasn't close enough to a perch to be damaged by the lightning.
By the time Team Go-Getters arrived, the entire place looked like a warzone. Multiple building were ablaze, but, miraculously, no one was seriously hurt.
Kickin' Hawk spotted the two dragons hiding near the edge of the forest as he surveyed the area. He recognized the creatures immediately.
What are the Chimeragons doing out in this kind of weather?
The Hawlucha almost didn't hear Hiccup give out orders for putting out the fires and saving whoever or whatever was still trapped. He looked away from the Chimeragons to give Hiccup an obedient nod as he heard him finish his orders. But when the Hawlucha looked back to where he had seen the dragons, they were gone, most likely having disappeared into the thick foliage of the forest. He ignored this as he followed his friends into the fire-infested wreckage.
Toothless, who had been searching among the fires for anyone in need of help, noticed Hiccup heading for the Great Hall, and started over to meet him. Hoping to get there faster, the Night Fury started jumping on top of the perches, but soon realized he had made a mistake when the lightning bolts started striking the metal beams, barely missing him each time. From the way it looked, it was like the lightning was aiming at Toothless.
The Night Fury soon caught up with his friend as they made their way towards the Great Hall. A large group of surviving Vikings had witnessed the lightning incident, and were rather confused about the occurrence.
Suddenly, Mildew and Jekyll were among them. "Did you all see that?" the old man asked in an accusing tone.
The other members of Team Go-Getters had caught up with Hiccup by then, and many of them groaned inwardly at the sight of the ugly hermit. Heather, however, was confused as to why the old man was making such a fuss. Snivels sighed. "Let's here what the old bag of dragon dung has to say, shall we?" he asked, sarcastically. His comment went unnoticed as the Vikings mumbled amongst themselves.
"Don't you understand?" Mildew said, "The Gods are angry, and they've unleashed the storms, and the coming of the Great Hideous Beast upon us! And I'll tell you why. It's because of him!" He pointed his stick at an innocent-looking and confused Toothless. Before Hiccup could protest, Mildew continued. "As you all know, the Night Fury is the offspring of lightning and death itself! We've let it live among us, and now we will all pay the price!"
Snivels scoffed. "As if! You don't have any proof that Toothless was the cause of all this!"
Murmurs of "the Servine's right," and "Toothless isn't to blame" drifted through the crowd of Vikings like wood in the ocean.
But Mildew wasn't finished just yet. "Then what do you suppose the Gods are angry at?" he asked.
"No one is mad at anyone or anything," Kickin' Hawk said, pointing to the perches. "The perches are made of metal, and metal conducts electricity. That's the reason why there's so much lightning here."
"And do you expect us to believe that?" Mildew asked accusingly, "You've got no proof that the perches are the cause of all this!"
"Quit stealing my words!" Snivels shouted. Jekyll gave him an unzipped, and scary grin. Snivels growled in anger at the Banette.
Hiccup stepped forward. "Snivels, calm down," he said, "There's no reason to be upset."
"Mildew's accusing Toothless of all the trouble," Snivels said, "And you think there's no reason to be upset?!"
Things quickly escalated into a full-out argument over the cause of the storms, as well as the attacks. Blaze shut her eyes, as if trying to block out the noise, but the shouting just kept getting louder. It eventually grew to a point where she couldn't stand it anymore, and she shouted at the top of her lungs.
"QUIET!"
Amazingly enough, everything went silent shortly after her brief outburst. All eyes were on her now. The Blaziken calmly raised her hand.
"Hi."
Before anyone could respond, or complain, Stoick suddenly spoke up. "The kids are right. The Gods are angry at us, but I do not believe it's because of Toothless."
"Then what do you suppose they're angry at?" Mildew asked, annoyed.
"I don't presume to know their minds," Stoick said, "But we will find a way to soothe their fury."
Dissatisfied, Mildew trudged off in the direction of the mountain on which his hut resided, his ugly face twisted into a hideous glare.
Speechless, the members of Team Go-Getters all exchanged worried glances before heading back to Raven Point. They happened to pass the yak barn, where Snotlout was shoveling large quantities of yak droppings into a wagon. The Jorgenson boy froze at the sight of them, but his anger and frustration reached boiling point when he spotted Snivels. Dropping the shovel on the ground, he yelled as he charged head on. "If I ever...!" He was cut off as he tripped over a pile of shovels he had not seen. Snivels ducked behind Toothless as Snotlout picked himself up, finishing his threat. "If I ever get my hands on you, I'm gonna wring your scrawny little neck, so help me, I will!"
Astrid shot him a glare that would've made him drop dead, if looks could kill. "You had it coming to you, Snotlout, and you know you can't keep blaming others for you misfortunes." Snotlout fumed for a minute before reluctantly returning to his work. The members of Team Go-Getters promptly resumed their trek home, Hiccup glancing up at the darkened clouds before doing so.
A few hours later, all of the Pokémon were sulking inside their house, their trainers out talking, trying to figure out how to handle the lightning storms. Tito was sitting across from the Pokedex, a Sun Stone laying next to it. He knew as well as anyone that Helioptile evolved into Heliolisk when exposed to Sun Stones, and he'd been pondering whether or not he wanted to evolve.
The long, dreadful silence was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. Amber went to open it. "Are we expecting anyone this late?" Snivels asked.
Amber opened the door to reveal Zapdos, Raikou, Zekrom, Thundurus, and Zeraora standing just outside. "Certainly not them," the Charmeleon replied.
Zapdos, Raikou, Thundurus, and Zeraora invited themselves in while Zekrom stayed outside, peeking in through the window. "It's good to see you again, Opinor," Kickin' Hawk said to the large black Pokémon. "So who are your friends?"
Opinor leaned his arm in through the window and pointed to each Legendary Pokémon, calling them by their respective name. "They're Zap, Sabre, Thor and Plasmoid."
There was a pause before Ninjark asked, "I don't suppose you guys are the ones Fjord sent to make arrangements for the wedding?"
"Yes," Zap said, "Yes we are. But seeing as you guys have a big problem on your hands, we might need to take care of that first."
"We didn't mean to cause any harm," Snivels said, "We were just trying to keep the dragons from wrecking things and provide a good rest spot for them."
"But we never really thought about the consequences of the idea, did we?" Blaze asked.
Tito shook his head. "No, no we did not."
All the other Pokémon sighed.
Their distress was short-lived, though, as Amber walked over to the group, carrying trays with several mugs full of a strange, nonalcoholic drink and offered them to her friends. "These will turn all your frowns upside-down!"
Thor observed the drink in his mug. "Juice squeezed from apples?" he asked, "We have nothing like this back at our headquarters."
Sabre growled as he tried to pick up his mug of apple juice with his paws. "No...thumbs...can't...grip...!"
Plasmoid walked up next to him. "Hey, hey, hey," the Zeraora said, "Calm blue ocean. Let me hold that for you, buddy." He grabbed the mug in his hands, picking it up and holding it out for the Raikou to drink from.
"Thanks, Amber," Opinor said as the Charmeleon handed him his own mug of apple juice. He sipped his drink before continuing. "Normally, we'd do as we're assigned first, which would be arranging the wedding, but since you've all somehow managed to turn the entire island into a giant lightning rod, we're gonna have to deal with that problem first."
"But how are we going to do that?" Snivels asked. "Is there a way for us to get rid of the metal without having to completely dispose of the perches? We made them out of metal because we knew that wooden perches would catch fire, but we didn't mean to draw in so many electrical storms."
Opinor thought for a minute before he got an idea. "There is an element known as titanium. It's super strong, heat resistant, and it's a poor conductor of electricity. There's some hidden in the mountains of Berk, but it's a very long and difficult trek. We'll lead you there in the morning."
Snivels glanced around the room at his friends. "Guys, I know what we're gonna do tomorrow. We're gonna get some titanium!"
It was at that moment when Heather walked into the house. "Okay, guys, Hiccup's in the forge with Astrid trying to figure out a way to prove Toothless's innocence, and they asked me to come check on all of you to see if everything's okay." She walked over to grab a mug of apple juice, passing Zap on the way. Without realizing what she was doing, she mumbled a greeting, "Hey, Zapdos." Grabbing herself a mug of apple juice, she continued her explanation. "So, I'll be staying here for the rest of the..." Suddenly, her recent actions seemed to come flooding into realization, causing her eyes to widen, and stutter. "D...d...d...daaay?!"
Zap, slightly entertained by Heather's shocked response, waved his wing at her casually. "'Sup?"
Thor gave the stunned girl a curt nod. "Greetings, Trainer of Destiny."
Heather, still shocked, dropped her mug and paced over to her friends, her eyes bugging, and her body as stiff as a tree. She pointed back and forth between the Electric-Type Legendary Pokémon and their kitchen.
"It's...Legendary...Pokémon...in...duh...our...kitchen!"
That last word came out as more of a squeal.
Ninjark stepped forward and put his hands on his trainer's shoulders. "Heather's going to go lie down for a while," he said before leading the shocked girl to the stairs.
"Pokémon..."
"That's it, just breathe."
"Thundurus...Raikou...Zeraora..."
"They're only Lengedaries."
"In...our...kitchen...uh...Legendary..."
Snivels chuckled as the two headed up the stairs. "Looks like you guys have a fan!"
No sooner after he'd said that, there was a loud crash of thunder from outside.
"I'm thinking now would probably be a good time for us to hunker down for a while," Tito said, frightened.
"I couldn't agree more," Snivels said, "We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow."
It was after dark when Hiccup and Astrid returned home from the forge, with Toothless following close behind. The Electric-Type Legendary and Mythical Pokémon were all sleeping outside, by the window from which Opinor used to see inside. Knowing the reason why they had come, Hiccup and Astrid headed inside. Toothless bounded over to the Dragon's Meadow to meet Stormfly and Windshear, his energetic movements contradicting his exhaustion. Hiccup watched him go for a few seconds before following Astrid inside. As they walked into their home, the Sun Stone left on the table caught Hiccup's eye. He noticed the Pokedex lying next to it, turned to the page about Heliolisk.
Has Tito been thinking about evolving?
Hiccup went to pick up the Sun Stone, and Astrid noticed him. "Everything okay?" she asked. Hiccup sighed as he examined the Sun Stone in his hand. "I don't want to force Tito to evolve," he said, "I just want him to be happy with who he is. And with everything that's going on in the village, I..."
Astrid walked over and turned him so that he was facing her. "It's okay," she said, "I understand." She laid a hand on his shoulder, her expression soft and comforting. "Hiccup, I know you'll do what you think is right, especially for Tito. You've done so much for all of us, and I think I speak for everyone when I say we're grateful for it." Hiccup set the Sun Stone on the table behind him and gave his fiancée a small smile.
"Thank you, Astrid."
Astrid smiled back before pulling him into a hug. Hiccup was momentarily surprised, but he set that feeling aside and hugged her back. They stayed that way for what seemed like an eternity, but was really several minutes, when Hiccup suddenly remembered the events from earlier that day.
"What about Toothless?"
Astrid pulled out of the embrace to look him in the eye. "He'll be fine, Hiccup," she said, "We'll find a way to figure this out. We always do."
That made Hiccup smile. "When did I get lucky enough to have you in my life?" he asked.
Astrid gave him a skeptical look, along with the usual punch to the arm. "You really want to go that far?" she asked.
Despite the pain, Hiccup's smile remained. He knew what was coming next. And he didn't have to wait too long, because the next thing he knew, it was happening.
Ninjark: Wow, that was some crazy stuff going on! Anyone else wondering if Tito will evolve?
Snivels: Well, I'll admit I'm interested in seeing him evolve, but let's not push him into doing something he doesn't want to do.
Tito: Actually, I could use some support in the idea of evolving, especially from some of our biggest followers.
Snivels: Sure we can, and while we're at it, why don't we tell our fans to leave some reviews? Tito, care to do the honors?
Tito: Thank you. Leave us some reviews!