Chapter 24: The Ultimatum
By the time Rook landed back on the Iris, which was still hovering lazily over the oceans south of Pallet Town, Articuno and Zapdose were already being operated on. Hade and a team of surgeons moved first to one bird, then the other, implanting the control robots in their brains. Once Moltres was sealed in its cage, it was implanted as well. All three of the birds were under the Storm's control.
Time for the party to begin.
That night, Rook sent out his three trusted admins (the Four Elementals, minus Rogan; he had vanished into the lower ranks and a replacement was being found); it was time for the Storm's Eye to work its way into the public's eye.
As Rook and the Director had both often mused, the Storm's Eye was not nearly as famous as any other organization before it, despite the fact that it was more powerful than any of them. They had started out as radical environmentalists… that may be what put them behind. They came across with a message of peace, instead of a message of domination, and people don't care about peace. They care about drama and emotion.
All of that was changing, right before Rook's eyes. Before the night was done, the world would know the true power of nature, whether they wanted to or not.
(-o-)
Rook's three admins flew quickly in a variety of craft, each one with his or her own destination. Hade flew south-west to Hoen, Chloe west to Johto, and Akila north to Sinnoh.
Each returned in the morning with a second person, the champion of each region. Currently, the same man was the champion of both Johto and Kanto, and he lived in a house at the base of Mt. Silver.
Ryoku Suzuki was considering going off to bed when there was knock on his door. The young champion stood, setting down his book and hot tea, and went forth to answer it. It wasn't unusual for him to get calls this late; you got that sort of thing as a Pokemon League Champion. People expected a lot of you, it turned out; the Champion of each region served not only as an idol for its children, but also as a leader and defender for its entire people. When something bad happened, the Champion did something about it.
And something bad was happening, although Ryoku didn't know it. He was a strange looking young man, just over twenty. He was tall and broad shouldered with dark red-brown hair that was spiked up a good six inches above his head. The front quarter of his hair was died electric yellow, and he was known to wear clothing of a similar color. Perhaps it was to mach the color of his signature Pokemon…
He opened the door calmly, bowing slightly to whoever was outside before motioning for them to come in. It was a young woman, clearly a trainer, wearing a white dress embossed with shiny purple spirals. Her hair was light blue and spiked up like his.
Ryoku raised an eyebrow and asked, "What can I do for you, miss? If this is about a challenge, you'll have to wait until the next tournament. I don't really have time for unscheduled battles…"
"This is about the safety of your little nations," the young woman snapped. There was a pokeball in her hand that hadn't been there a second before. Ryoku motioned for Chloe to calm down, but it did no good. "The Storm's Eye is making its demands known now, and you are needed to hear them. My master wishes to issue his ultimatum in person; you will come with me."
Ryoku looked around, sighing. He got threats like these from time to time, and nothing ever came of them… but he was champion. It was his job to take care of it.
He stepped outside, and before he could protest, three large men had grabbed him and were escorting him to a waiting helicopter. Ryoku struggled a little at first then gave up. They couldn't hold his arms forever, and when they were free, so would he be.
(-o-)
Ryoku soon found himself standing on a platform hovering about two hundred feet above the main deck of the Iris. A sort of air-barge. There were two other people standing on the barge with him, the blue-haired, white caped form of Wallace, Champion of Hoen, and a small girl clad in a black and white-striped dress. Her hair was pitch black and combed down over the right side of her face; to Ryoku, a typical goth..
"Tori LeToure," the girl said in answer to his questioning look. "Champion of Sinnoh."
Ryoku nodded with a warm smile.
"And I'm Ryoku…"
"Ryoku Suzuki," Tori said before he could finish. "Champion of Kanto at age 15 and Champion of Johto at age 17; favored Pokemon are Raichu, Exeggutor, and Gyaradose; strategies including relying on defense while building other stats for a final attack and battling at pace, defending between powerful attacks."
Ryoku raised an eyebrow at the girl. She was barely a teenager if even that… and already a champion of Sinnoh. From the sound of all the information, she was after more championship titles then she already had. Ryoku exchanged looks with Wallace over the girl's head. Tori caught the look and shrugged.
"I like to know my competition."
"And yet you have no idea of whose hands you are currently in," said a faintly accented voice from behind. The three champions whirled to see a huge, scarlet-winged Salamance swooping to a landing at the other end of the air-barge (it was about twenty feet by sixty feet, more than large enough for the dragon Pokemon).
The guards standing at each corner of the hovering platform stepped forth to surround the three champions. They all tensed as a man climbed down from the Salamance's back, his face mostly covered with a glinting metal mask. The man stepped forth and offered a gloved hand to his captives.
"John Rook," said Wallace, carefully offering his hand first. He was the only one to shake; the two younger champions stepped back, frightened by the odd masked man.
Rook nodded. "Wallace, it has been a while. I trust you still have the scar from our battle in the Dragon Cave?"
"Doctors are quite good these days, actually. It's been complete healed… but you Rook, I think, always will bear the scars that the late Matt Cartright gave you."
"You know Matt?" asked Ryoku. He had long been friends with the boy, and they'd shared many a battle as both foes and partners. "And what do you mean 'the late'?"
Wallace held a hand, indicating that he would explain later. The eldest champion turned back to Rook, his blue hair fluttering wildly under his cap. "What's going on here, Rook? I know you: you aren't a planner, you're an enforcer. Whose built all this, and why don't we know about it?"
"Surely you have heard of the Storm's Eye?"
"I have," said Ryoku. "But I thought they were just air scum. Pirates."
Rook chuckled dryly. "That, my friend, is where you are oh so wrong." John Rook turned and gestured to the ringed, black fortress floating below them. "My master, the Director, built this glorious abode for his dream… the dream of restoring the nature to the prowess and respect it once had. You are right Wallace, I am an enforcer; I enforce the dream of the Director, who regretfully suffers from a degenerative disease and cannot leave his bed."
Rook looked as though he wanted to continue, but Wallace cut him off. "You're fairly deformed yourself, John. Who is the Director and why did he chose you as his lieutenant?"
Rook ignored the taunt and the questions and continued speaking.
"I lead this team for him; I am his mouthpiece. His plan is genius, and I am very near completing it. As you know, I am also issuing a series of demands… but before I get to that, there is something I would like the three of you to witness."
A sudden wind blew through, sweeping Rook's greasy hair and trench-coat. His arm swept back too and he pointed at the Iris. Still eyeing him distrustfully, Wallace –followed by Tori and Ryoku, moved to the edge of the air barge and watched.
Far bellow them, at three doors began opening. They were large and black, hanger doors, spaced evenly around the dark ring of the Iris. It truly looked like a giant eye from above, a blue pupil of sea shining in the center. The whole construction was drifting slowly west, toward the seas south of Johto. Ryoku's tall hair rose a little higher in anticipation. He was fingering a pokeball in his pocket.
The hanger doors stopped moving with a series of loud clanks and a new noise filled the air… the rush of metal moving close to metal… something was rising up from the open gateways. Suddenly, three metal columns appeared, rising like upside-down pile drivers into the sky. Each was about thirty feet high, circular, and crouched at the top of each one was a massive bird.
Rook whispered something inside his mask. Begin. Sitting in a control tower far below him, his three trusted admins heard the command and began.
There was a crackle of energy, a burst of heat, and of cold as the birds took flight. Articuno, Zapdose, and Moltres rose, spiraling up over the metal ring. They each called out as they climbed… soon they were above the champions, but the admins made sure that each bird passed the air-barge once.
They had to show the champions a reason to fear.
Ryoku watched them, unsure of how the Storm's Eye had come across this sort of power… he had heard rumors from Victory Road, but believed none of them. There had been a powerful thunder storm and a strange attack on the radio tower, both in Lavender town… and fishermen had reported strange people tramping around the Seafoam Islands… had it been building for that long? Had all these events been overlooked? How had he missed the connections?
Tori watched the birds with an envious hunger. If she had those birds in her hands… she would be unstoppable, the greatest champion that the world had ever seen. She smiled and reached out a hand, as if to brush the legendary feathers. Her dark hair was blown away from eyes with their passing. To anyone looking, she would've seemed… anticipative.
Only Wallace looked on in fear. Only he knew what Rook could do with these birds… the power of the birds… it was not only their own. If these three were found and controlled by the same person… they could be used to open a much more powerful door.
With as much speed and grace as they had appeared, the birds began to fight, swooping fiercely at each other, striking with beaks, wings, and elemental energy. A fire ball was struck aside with a burst of wind, and flurry of thunderbolts were reflected down towards the deck of the Iris. Each bird was being mentally controlled by one admin… but their fighting wasn't senseless. There was a purpose, a prize (as Rook thought it). There was something the Storm's Eye intended to gain from this battle.
"Why are they fighting?" asked Ryoku, watching one bird tackle another, bring both twirling down like fallen leaves until they struck the metal deck and rushed up again.
"Because I tell them to," answered Rook with a hidden grin. "These three birds are implanted with command robots. Their brains are stimulated by tiny electronic and chemical pulses… I do not understand it entirely myself, but I do know that commands for certain attacks ban be given and the affected Pokemon will have no choice but to obey."
Tori's eyes widened. Even better: ultimate power that had would listen to her every command without question. She smiled. She wanted those birds…
"And why do you want them to fight?" asked Wallace. He already knew the answer.
"It is the only way to awaken true power… the King of Sea and Sky. It only comes when its children quarrel…"
"Lugia," said Wallace. "You're after Lugia?"
Rook chuckled and nodded lightly. "Now you see, don't you? You see the genius of the Director's plan? With the power of Lugia…"
"…Being controlled by those nano-bots," added Tori in awe.
"…We would have, at our disposal, one of the greatest powers nature has ever created! And with that power, I will reawaken the world to majesty and awe of nature. The world will be made right again."
There was a shocked silence when the only noise was the cawing and screeching of the Legendary Birds. Rook was scanning the water with some sort of device held to his eye. His Salamance grumbled like a stalled machine next to him. Wallace and Ryoku looked at each other nervously. Tori still stared on in envy.
After about twenty more minutes of battling, Wallace saw Rook's arms tense.
"It's here," he said, his voice dripping with excitement. "Lugia has come to silence its children…"
Suddenly, the water beneath the Iris exploded. A column… a cyclone of spinning water rose up through the center of the giant metal ring, rising higher and higher until it crumbled into white foam, soaking the Storm's fortress. And emerging from the cyclone…
A massive white bird, wings like splayed hands came forth and hovered impossibly over the seen. The champions and Rook all leaned out over the safety rail of the platform to see… it was the most beautiful thing any of them had ever seen. Indigo fins rose from behind Lugia's eyes, and there was a teardrop-shaped patch of the same color on its stomach. Its tail was long and thin, tipped with an array of dark spikes…
Colored light and mist swirled around it like a veil. The Pokemon had some sort of weird power welling up from within it… everyone present could feel that power. It was intoxicating… horrifying… lovely…
Lugia let out a beautiful song-like cry that filled the air for miles around. Some inner uncontrolled portion of the Legendary Birds still wanted to listen to that call and return safely home… but the metal spores in their brain were relentless. Instead of heading their steward, the Pokemon attacked.
Moltres lashed it with scorching wings, Articuno and Zapdose fired freezing beams and sparks… Lugia was knocked back, then pelted down through the air. It recovered and flew up, firing a beam of pure golden energy at its attackers, but it was clear who was hunting and who was being hunted. Rook whispered a command and the three birds pulled away from their prey, wheeling off into higher skies.
It was his turn to fight. Rook's gauntlet rushed open and he fired the dot of blue energy into his Salamance before any of the champions could see what had happened. Rook barked at his Pokemon to go, and it did, gliding down with wonderful speed at Lugia on blue-glowing wings.
Rook brandished the device on his arm at the surprised champions.
"Yet another secret of the Storm's Eye," he said as Salamance tore into Lugia's wing with its teeth behind him. "A Fourth-Strain Pokerus Activator; FSPA or Activator for short. You have all, no doubt, heard of Pokerus, but the usual variety that infects Pokemon is actually called Third Strain Pokerus. It elevates a Pokemon's strength and battling prowess and can easily be cultivated. The first two strains of the virus are rather weak and much more common than the third…
"Fourth Strain, though, is a bit of an enigma. You see, this type of virus lies dormant in every Pokemon, residing in most of its cells. When activated, the affected Pokemon is infinitely stronger, faster, and quick to heal from almost any injury. Unfortunately, this power come from virus which leeches power from the cells… so once it is awakened, the Pokemon has 100 seconds to live. Luckily, my scientists have developed a formula to activate this virus for approximately 90 seconds before forcing it to go through apoptosis –basically, cell suicide."
"So the virus kills itself off before it kills the Pokemon's cells?" Tori asked.
"Precisely. But for one minute and half, the Pokemon becomes a variable killing machine…"
He turned and nodded back at his Salamance. It was chasing the Legendary low across the water, and with a final burst of speed, caught it and forced it into the water. Other floating platforms were gathering around the battle, and dozens of pokeballs were thrown… Rook knew one would connect. The Legendary Bird cried out in pain and dove one final time into the water… Salamance aided it in its endeavor, rushing down at top speed and crashing into it.
Lugia screamed and hit the waves. Finally, a pokeball hit and the Legendary Bird vanished into the ball with a burst of red. Salamance caught the pokeball in its wicked claws and flew back up to Rook. He reached out and took the ball before turning back to his guests.
"So you see… it would be foolish not listen to me. I am not one to be trifled with."
Wallace looked gravely at the pokeball. All of his usual flamboyance was gone… his face had become a grim and worried husk. Tori resisted the urge to reach out and take the Legendary from Rook; her hand was staid only by fear of the Pokemon behind him.
"And what exactly are we supposed to listen to?" asked Ryoku.
"Here is my ultimatum," said Rook matter-of-factly; he pocketed the pokeball. "All of the cities in all of the lands which you steward must be abandoned in one week. If my demands are not met, I will destroy the entire Cities one at a time… regardless of whom or what is in them."
The Champions stared on in shock. When the silence broke, all of them were speaking at once, screaming questions, pleas, demands…
"Who the hell do you think you are?" shouted Ryoku.
"We can't do that! What are you saying Rook?" Wallace insisted.
"Surely you can't have that sort of power…" Tori was muttering.
Rook held up his hands calmly and bowed his head slightly.
"Please," he whispered. "One at a time. I will answer your questions in the order I heard them. First of all, Mr. Suzuki: I think I am the person issuing the threat here. Wallace: you can very easily do that. The people of earth have come to cling far too much to their devices and fuels. You are probably thinking it is a bit hypocritical of me to say this, but it is not so: the Iris below us runs completely off of solar and wind power, and as soon as we have cleansed the world of its industries and cities, the Iris will settle down and become a static… center of society."
"Whatever's left of society!" barked Wallace. "But Rook, we can't just tell millions of people to live their homes and… what, live in the forests? Hide in little huts on the mountains? You can't force people to leave… it would be genocidal."
"People are much more resilient than you think. They will find a way to survive no matter how grave the situation. And last, to answer Ms. LeTour, the power to destroy cities will come from a number of things. The three Minor Birds, certainly, but also Lugia, empowered by a FSPA and… another theory we're working on here at the Iris. With that power, no city or fortress could stand in our way."
The girl nodded thoughtfully and stepped back.
"I will give you one week to answer me… you know what I expect from all of you, and I will not change my proposition. The Director, through me, has made his demands and plan clear. I only wait for your answer now." Rook motioned to the men standing at each corner of the barge. "Escort them home."
"We will escort ourselves, thank you," snapped Wallace. He pulled out a pokeball and released a big, drifting Mantine, onto which the three champions climbed. Before Rook could say anything else, they were soaring away to the north, gliding on the wind rising from the sea.
(-o-)
"Ryoku, your house is nearest," said Wallace. "May we meet there? I believe there is much for us to discuss."
Ryoku nodded but said nothing. The events of the last few hours had stolen any words from his mouth, and thoughts from his head. They drifted along on kite-like wings over forest and prairie, until Mt. Silver rose into view. The sun was just lifting up over its white peak when they landed at the front door of Ryoku's cottage.
The three champions opened the door and moved inside in silence.