Episode 25: The rescue mission
"What does Team Magma want with your grandmother?" Niko asked.
"Because she is one of the last remaining Draconids."
"Okay, we get that, but who exactly are the Draconids?" JJ asked, rather impatiently.
"The Draconids were once a tribe of dragon-type trainers that lived here in Meteor Falls. It was also here that the legendary pokémon Groudon and Kyogre fought, but were stopped by Rayquaza, another legendary pokémon. After the battle, Groudon and Kyogre returned to the depths of the land and sea, respectively, while Rayquaza returned to the skies. The Draconids built the Sky Pillar in the south of Hoenn, near Pacifidlog Town, where they can easily summon Rayquaza. The Draconids painted a mural in the Sky Pillar which foretold that after a thousand years a meteor would strike once again, and planned to call Rayquaza to prevent it from striking. Essentially, our goal is to summon Rayquaza to help us."
"Still, why do they want your grandmother?" JJ asked.
"I don't know for sure, but likely for her information and her ability to help summon Rayquaza. Are any of you familiar with the last incident with the super-ancient pokémon?" The three boys shook their heads. "Ah, not from here then, I take it. Well, Team Aqua and Magma awoke Groudon and Kyogre once again, and the two fought for some time. Long story short, the battle ended quickly, and the super-ancient pokémon went back to sleep. My theory is that Team Aqua and Team Magma, now under new management, are trying to get a second chance at achieving their individual goals, and need Groudon or Kyogre to do so."
"What are their goals?" Niko asked.
"Team Magma has always been about creating more land, and Team Aqua has been about expanding the seas. It's an ideology for them."
"And why would they want access to Rayquaza?" JJ queried.
"Maybe to get Rayquaza on their side? To capture it? Could be many different reasons, but they definitely want Rayquaza in some capacity."
"Do you know where they are now? They also have our friend," Niko said, thinking of Brittany.
"Team Magma's base is inside Mt. Chimney."
"Then we need to go there!" JJ exclaimed. "Like, right now!"
"Hold your horsea, kid," Zinnia said, physically holding her hand out. "They outnumber us. We should careful with this. Luckily, I've seen their base and know a thing or two about getting around in it. Give me some time to come up with a plan."
Minutes later, Zinnia reconvened with the three boys, and they were off to Mt. Chimney. As Niko and his friends continued to walk, Zinnia stopped, eliciting a reaction from them.
"Zinnia? Aren't you coming?" Niko asked.
"Yup. Just going to make the ride quicker. Salamence, flygon, let's go!" She said, summoning a large teal colored pokémon with long red wings and two bug-eyed, dragonfly-esque pokémon on each side. Niko and JJ pulled out their pokédexes:
"Salamence, the dragon pokémon. Dragon and flying type. After many long years, its cellular structure underwent a sudden mutation to grow wings. When angered, it loses all though and rampages out of control."
"Flygon, the mystic pokémon. Ground and dragon type. The flapping of its wings sounds like singing. Because the "singing" is the only thing that can be heard in a sandstorm, this pokémon is said to be the desert spirit."
"Stop dillydallying and get on!" Zinnia shouted as Niko, JJ, and Jake each got on one, with Zinnia joining Jake on the Salamence (Niko wouldn't let him fly on one of the others on his own). They took off, scaring the hell out of Niko, who is afraid of heights, and made off in the direction of the volcano. Even though he disliked heights, Niko enjoyed watching the landscape below him pass by. From his vantage point, he could see a fair amount of western Hoenn. He could see Fallarbor Town, Route 113, and even parts of Lavaridge Town. To his left, he could see the ocean off in the distance.
It only took then ten or so minutes, but they landed on the side of the mountain, where Zinnia and Jake landed and immediately began examining what looked like the entrance: a set of tall, thick metal steel plates that resembled doors with a scanner and a number pad sitting on its left side.
"So…this is the place?" JJ commented as he looked around for a bit. "Doesn't look like much."
"And there isn't much to see, honestly," Zinnia commented. "I've been here once since Maxie left. They've completely trashed the place, and don't really care much for it. But I guess that's as good a reason as any to keep it around, right?"
Niko and JJ shrugged as Zinnia finally unlocked the door, pushing the left one open and quickly skirting inside and down a tunnel, leaving Niko and JJ to close the door and walk down the tunnel alone with Jake.
"What do you think of her?" JJ whispered to Niko as they walked down the tunnel.
"Odd, but whatever. She's getting us to Brittany, and that's what matters, right?" JJ nodded as they continued on.
Moments later, they reached a wide-open room that looked deserted. There were wires sparking every which way and machines clearly broken and scattered across the ground floor. Niko stepped over the broken wires as he, JJ, and Jake examined the room. It was short-lived, however, since Zinnia was already on the move down a tunnel to their right. Sighing, Niko pointed in her direction and the three raced off to catch up.
They once again stopped as Zinnia was edging her way around a wall to peek at something. Suddenly she jerked her head back around to face her three companions. "They're here. I'm not sure what exactly this room is, but I think it's Courtney's primary base of operations, judging by how it looks relative to everywhere else," she whispered.
"So how are we going to go about this?" Niko whispered back. Zinnia turned back around and then looked back at Niko.
"There aren't many of them; we could probably fight them. Three of us distract while the other one goes and gets my grandma and your friend. How does that sound?"
The three trainers, lacking any better plan, agreed to this. Zinnia then turned back around to get a final look, and then tossed a pokéball onto the ground, ultimately containing her salamence.
"Use dragonbreath!" She shouted, catching the Magma grunts and Courtney off guard, engulfing the ground in front of them in purple fire. Panicked, the grunts threw out pokéballs containing numels, zubats, and poochyenas. At this point, JJ and Jake both ran out, sending out umbreon, marill, mudkip, and seedot to join salamence. Niko ran around the battle to collect Brittany and Zinnia's grandmother.
"Niko!" Brittany shouted out. She tried to run towards her friend, but was stopped by a grunt who grabbed her by the arm.
"Not so fast, kid," Courtney said, camerupt at her side. With a flick of her finger, two grunts ran from behind her to grab the grandmother and Brittany and carry them off again. "You'll have to get through me.
"Fine then. Aron, I choose you!" Niko shouted, throwing out his pokéball. "Use dig!"
"Camerupt, earthquake," Courtney said calmly. The eruption pokémon shook the ground under it, causing the room around them to shake and the other battles to halt. As Niko was trying to make sure Jake and JJ were safe, Courtney returned camerupt and escaped down the tunnel her grunts had left. Soon enough the room was empty, with only Niko, JJ, Jake, Zinnia, and their pokémon.
"You idiot! You let them get away!" Zinnia shouted at Niko, pointing down to the tunnel across the room. "Ugh!" She cried out as she and salamence rushed after Courtney and the rest of Team Magma. Niko and his friends followed after her, running up through the tunnels until they reached what seemed to be the top of Mt. Chimney. There they saw Brittany in the vice grip of a grunt while Courtney was standing in front of a vast pit of magma.
"You interfere with our plans any further, and you can say goodbye to your friend," Courtney said coldly, staring down Zinnia and Niko. "As for your grandmother, if we can't get the answers that we need out of her, then we will use brute force to. And don't think about interfering either, Zinnia—your grandmother will perish, too."
Niko felt pressure inside his chest. It felt like his blood was boiling, and when the rage swelled up inside him, he rushed forward at Courtney, summoning his full team of pokémon to assist him. Thinking unusually quickly, he commanded electrike to use thunderwave, which stunned all of the grunts, their pokémon, and Courtney, Brittany, and Zinnia's grandmother, causing everyone to collapse onto the ground.
Niko was about to make a run for Brittany when a hand grabbed his ankle, causing him to collapse. He looked back to see Courtney fighting through the paralysis, slowly letting go of his ankle and standing back up.
"You. Will. Not. Stop. Us. Camerupt, use take down!" Courtney said, throwing her pokéball to her side and unleashing the eruption pokémon. As it stampeded towards Niko, his numel and aron intercepted, holding the camerupt back, which gave their trainer enough time to get back on his feet. However, before he could do so, Courtney lunged at him and tackled him back to the ground. "Stop this!" She said in an unusually angry tone, gripping his neck and choking him. It was short lived, however, as taillow swooped down and struck Courtney in the back with its talons and electrike slammed into her with quick attack, knocking her over.
Meanwhile, JJ and Jake continued their battle with the grunts, along with the help of Zinnia's salamence, while the Draconid went to rescue her grandmother with her two flygons at her side. Eventually, JJ noticed that she wasn't going for Brittany either, and called her out on it.
"Hey! Can you help us, too?" The curly blonde shouted. Zinnia ignored him as she helped her grandmother get aboard one of the flygon while she boarded the other. Whistling, she summoned her salamence, which immediately left the battle and allowed them to escape.
Courtney, seeing this, snapped back at Niko and dove for him again, only to be pried off again by treecko and taillow, while electrike fought off grunts and their pokémon with its new spark attack. JJ, having defeated the grunts with Jake, ran over to challenge the ones keeping Brittany captive while Jake ran at Courtney, who did not see the little boy coming. He leapt at her side, tackling her to the ground, which gave Niko enough room to get back up, pry his brother off, and stand over Courtney.
"It's over," Niko said, panting. "The Draconids are gone. You failed…"
"Oh, child, I did not fail. Team Magma will continue towards its goal. I just need to re-think my strategy…" Courtney said, scooting away from Niko and standing up. "We will call this a draw."
"A draw?" JJ said in shock. "We beat you!"
"No, you did not. I surrendered this battle," Courtney said as she briefly turned behind her back to see JJ, Brittany, and some of her own grunts standing there. "Team Magma, move out."
With that, all of the grunts and Courtney left the top of Mt. Chimney, leaving the group alone once again.
"Brittany, are you alright?" Niko asked, looking sympathetically at his brunette friend.
"I'm just fine. A few bruises, but nothing serious. Thanks for getting me back, you guys."
"That's what friends are for, right?" Niko asked, eliciting a light chuckle from the other three. He then turned to the magma below them. "I'm just worried about what this means for Team Magma. They'll be back."
"And if we find them, we'll beat them," Brittany said. "All of us."
"Speaking of which: Brittany, do you have your pokéballs?" Niko asked, cocking his head a little to the right in bemusement.
"Oh, of course! So, story is that the grunts took them from me, but when JJ ran over here, his umbreon managed to tackle the grunt that had them, and tossed them back to me individually. Everything is fine now, I swear!"
"Alright, just checking!" Niko said, raising his hands slightly as if guilty of something. Once again, his friend laughed a little. "Also, what happened to Zinnia?"
"Who's Zinnia?" Brittany asked. "Is she that girl with the dragon?"
"Yeah, that's her salamence," JJ explained. "She's a Draconid. And so is her grandmother. Don't worry, we can explain it you on the way to Lavaridge Town."
"Where's Zinnia, actually?" Niko asked. He clearly didn't see her leave with her grandmother, as he was too busy dealing with Courtney to notice.
"She left without trying to help Brittany. It was pretty selfish of her," JJ said with contempt in his voice.
"Whatever, everyone is safe now. Hopefully we don't have to help her again. She clearly only cares about her needs."
The group all nodded in agreement as they began to head down the mountain, where Lavaridge Town was awaiting them at the bottom.
The next day, the group woke up late in the morning, as they had reached Lavaridge Town at roughly 3am. Since he didn't get much training done, Niko chose to spend the day in Lavaridge Town doing some last-minute training, and would challenge the gym leader the following day.
Lavaridge Town is famous for its hot springs, and the group took full advantage of this by spending their afternoon sitting in the pools of hot water with some of their pokémon. Treecko, who was the only one on Niko's team who felt comfortable joining him in the water, did so and seemed to relax significantly while taillow sat perched on the edge of the pool soaking in the steam rising from the water.
Regardless, after the events in Meteor Falls and Mt. Chimney, the group certainly needed the relaxation before continuing on with their gym and contest challenges.