Escape from the Space Center
Beka woke up to a new feeling within her. She felt like something new was living now inside of her, beating with her own heart, thinking with her own thoughts, and breathing with her own lungs. She then remembered about the Green Orb and that now it was residing inside of her. She opened her hazel eyes to see she was back in the same storage room and that she wasn't alone. She saw the Team Sky Grunt looking at her, with his shadowed over eyes, sitting upon the boxes beside her. She screamed and got up immediately, just to trip and fall back on the wool blanket. She tried to scoot as far away as she could from the Grunt, but was stopped by more boxes in her path. The Grunt stood and began to toward her, reaching out a gloved fist at her, as if he was going to grab her when he was close enough. Beka tried to scamper back up to her feet, her legs feeling like lead.
"Please!" exclaimed Beka, now starting to cry and stuttering in anger as she spoke, "Leave me alone! You…you are all nothing but monsters…greedy monsters who only care about your selfish desires about taking over Hoenn, no the world, and are using me as some bait to revive a Legendary…Team Sky…you and Team Aqua and Magma…you are all nothing but heartless monsters…"
Beka dropped to the floor and sat there, pulling her knees up to her chest and burying her face in her knees, while placing her arms over her head. She cried even more. She was tired…tired of being chased round like if she some toy, tired of hiding, tired of being messed up in legends…
"Please…" she begged, "leave me alone…"
Beka then suddenly heard the sound of twangy wrapping paper in front of her. She looked up, curious by this sound, and saw pieces of candy were being held out to her in the Grunt's hand. She saw on the wrapper that there were tiny, lighting-bolt type markings on it.
'Wait,' thought Beka, 'this…this is Rare Candy. Then that must mean…'
Beka looked up to see that the shadowed eyes were fully alight and they were glowing in the bright sky-blue hue. A soft smile was pressed against his face and said:
"Hello again Beka."
"Polaris!" exclaimed Beka, running up and hugging her astronomer friend, almost tackling him.
Polaris' aviation hat fell off when Beka tackled-hugged him, his shaggy, sky-blue hair now flowing down his back after being tucked in the hat. He gently laughed and said:
"I'm glad you're all right."
"So, what's with the Team Sky outfit?" asked Beka, "And where are we?"
"Well," said Polaris, "the location of we are in is the Space Center, first off, and second, the outfit is a disguise for not being captured by Team Sky."
"What?" questioned Beka, "They're after you too?"
"Well," said Polaris, "I think the reason why they're after me is because since I'm a head scientist here at the Space Center, they must want something that I know about the Earth's atmosphere."
"Yeah," said Beka, "they want to find a way to expand the atmosphere, but they said the only way they can do so is by summoning Rayquaza."
"Rayquaza?" asked Polaris, "The Legendary of the Sky!"
"Yeah," nodded Beka, "and apparently, I'm the Chosen One, or The Emerald of Hoenn, who is able to summon Rayquaza."
"And that's why you're here," said Polaris.
Beka nodded, taking a piece of the Rare Candy and asking:
"So what's up with the Rare Candy? You gave me a whole bag full before and I haven't even used even one to power up my Pokemon," said Beka.
"Ah," said Polaris, "so you like battling to strength your Pokemon. Well, I gave you that Rare Candy not only for them, but also for you and your friends as well to share. Certain kinds of Rare Candy is safe for humans to eat, and to tell you truth, I make homemade Rare Candy too."
"Wow, serious!" asked Beka, unwrapping a piece and placing it in her mouth.
Beka bit into the hard candy shell, letting the familiar taste of oranges fill her mouth and she swallowed the candy.
"Wow, not bad Polaris," complemented Beka.
"Oh, well thank you," said Polaris.
Polaris then stood to his feet and tucked in his shaggy blue hair, followed by placing the aviation hat over top to keep the hair from spilling out.
"Well, anyway," said Polaris, "come on, I have a plan to get you out of here, but first, you'll need these…"
Polaris rummaged through a pocket in the out fit and pulled out a pair of brown cuffs, but they looked like they were made out of brown glass.
"These, are Rare Candy cuffs," Polaris explained to Beka, "they look like normal cuffs, but since they are made out of just hardened sugar, they break easily too, so once you have a good chance of escape, you can break these loose and make a run for it."
"Thank you so much Polaris," said Beka, knowing she had made a good friend in Polaris.
Polaris nodded and then put on the cuffs on Beka's wrists. With her Pokeballs along her belt and her messenger bag across her left shoulder; Beka was lead by Polaris toward the door. Polaris opened the door and lead Beka and him out of the room and closed the door behind them. Polaris then led Beka toward a door and opened it. They proceeded in and the door closed behind them. Beka saw that they had entered into a stairway.
"If we use the elevator to carry you out," whispered Polaris, "Team Sky will seem suspicious. So let's take the stairs."
"Okay," Beka whispered back.
Polaris began leading Beka down the flight of stairs, which seemed to be quiet and empty.
"How many flights do we need to take?" asked Beka softly.
"About twelve," said Polaris, "after we hit the last floor, we need to travel down through another hallway before we reach the main entrance/exit way and…"
Polaris' sentence was cut short when another door banged opened, a door that lead out to the twelfth floor. A Team Sky Executive, a male with white colored hair and black eyes, his attire consisting of an aviation hat with the brown and yellow lines on the top to show he was an Executive, a green, buttoned up vest with the Team Sky S embroided on his left chest, the same green and yellow design pants, a pair of brown rugged boots, gloves of black leather, and also a cape, short and green, that reached down toward his waist, appeared. With him came two Team Sky Grunts, who stood behind him if he needed assistance.
"You there!" exclaimed the Executive, "Where are you taking the Emerald at?"
"Our leader told me to take her out for some fresh air," Polaris lied, his sky-blue eyes now shadowed over and getting into Team Sky Grunt character. He stopped to hear the Executive out, but didn't turn around.
"Fresh air?" sneered the Executive in disgust, "Then why do you just open a window?"
"The leader also believed she need to walk around some," lied Polaris again.
"Hmm…" the Executive hummed, and then said: "Give me your ID Grunt."
"Here's my ID!" said Polaris and turned, delivering a powerful punch to the Executive's gut.
The Executive cringed onto the floor; the two other Grunts were by his side for reassurance.
"And just who are you?" said one of the Grunts, this one being female, to Polaris.
"How dare you hit Executive Neil like that!" said the other one, being male.
"My name…" said Polaris, pulling off the Team Sky outfit to reveal his casual wear of tan pants and jacket over a white shirt, black and white sneakers, and his crystal necklace around his neck, "…is Polaris North. Head scientist here at the Space Center. My question for you is, who are you all and what is your purpose here at the Center?"
"Heh," Neil laughed, "we of Team Sky are using this Center as a hideout and to find as much information as we can into expanding the skies for humans and Pokemon alike!"
"Well, I know one thing," said Polaris, "your 'key' to your plan is making her way out of here!"
They turned to see Beka, having broken the fake cuffs, and making her run down the stairwell.
"No!" exclaimed Neil, then turning to Polaris, "You'll pay North!"
"Then, I accept my payment to you in a battle," said Polaris, grabbing two Pokeballs and throwing them up in the air, calling out:
"Comet, Draco, come forth!"
The Pokeballs opened and Polaris' Dragonite, Comet, and his Salamance, Draco, appeared.
"Drag-o-nite!" bellowed out Comet.
"Sa-la-mance!" Draco growled deeply.
The two Grunts stood to battle, but Neil simply said:
"Stand down! I'll battle this kid myself!"
He threw out two Pokeballs as well and out appeared a Mightyena and Swellow.
"Might-yena!" Mightyena howled.
"Swell-ow!" cried out Swellow.
"Well now, let's get down to business," said Neil and called out:
"Mightyena, use Hidden Power on Dragonite! Swellow, use Hyper Beam on Salamance!"
Mightyena's body glowed a pale white, with orbs of energy surrounding it, and then released them out on Comet, while Swellow opened its mouth and released a powerful golden blast of Normal energy.
"Comet," called out Polaris, "use Outrage on Mightyena! Draco, use Hyper Beam as well on Swellow!"
Comet's body was surrounded in a red aura and sent out a powerful blast of dragon flames from its mouth at Mightyena, while Draco opened its mouth and released a golden blast as energy as well at Swellow…
0o0o0o0o0o0
At Steven's house, which was more like a huge, yet beautiful beach home, Edgar was impatiently pacing back and forth between the door and a window that looked out toward the Space Center. Brendan and May were watching him quietly from a couch nearby, wondering why he was just continuously pacing. Edgar then let out a soft growl and stated:
"I can't take this anymore, I'm going after Beka…"
Edgar began making his way back toward the door. Just then, Brendan blocked Edgar's path and the only exit out of the house. Edgar growled softly again and said:
"Hey! Let me go out!"
"No can do," Brendan said, shaking his head, "Steven said to stay here and wait until he brings Beka back."
"Look Brendan," said Edgar, his tone being very impatient, "I'm not going to sit by and let Team Sky take Beka away from me…ahem I mean us…"
"Oh," said Brendan, a mischievous expression filling his face and joking, "taking one for Team Edgar, right?"
"Look," said Edgar, whose face was becoming red with blush and said in a serious-like tone, "Brendan, please move aside, I'm going to rescue Beka."
"Edgar," said Brendan, "I can't let you do that..."
"Look!" exclaimed Edgar, cutting into Brendan's sentence, "If you cared about her as much as I do, then you'd understand and…oops…"
Edgar quickly turned away from Brendan.
'Oh crap!' thought Edgar, 'Did I say that out loud!'
"Ed," said Brendan, his voice becoming reassuring, "I do care for Beka, and I do understand about caring for the ones you love…"
Brendan turned to May, who sat on the couch with a soft smile on her face, and smiled back at her.
"…but Ed, this is something Steven wants to…no, has to do on his own, because, well, he loves Beka."
Those words made Edgar turn his gaze down to his feet.
'But…,' thought Edgar.
Suddenly, a boom filled the air and slightly shook Steven's house.
"What was that!" asked May.
All three trainers peered out of the window toward the Space Center and saw that the entranceway to the Center was blown open, not by a bomb, but by a Pokemon attack…
0o0o0o0o0o0
Beka, who had finally made it to the last step of the stairs, bolted out of the stair well and began making her way toward the exit. Sirens were blaring through out the Center now and Beka's heart was thumping like wild and her lungs screaming for air, and the fuel that was keeping her going was fear of being captured again. She was about two hundred feet from the door when Executive Isabel stopped her, blocking her exit way. A smile pressed against Isabel's face and said:
"Trying to escape Emerald?" asked Isabel.
Beka could also see more Team Sky Grunts filling in the same room as Isabel and Beka was, circling the group. Beka growled softly and she then heard Isabel's voice saying:
"Give it up Emerald," said Isabel, "you will never be able to battle you way out of this one."
Beka had heard that word so many times that she was now really starting to hate it…
Give it up…give up and surrender to Team Sky, give up to their wants and needs, give up to Team Magma and Aqua, give up on making friends in the real world, give up on her dreams and goals in the real world, give up on life in the real world…
"I will never…," said Beka, her hazel eyes hardened to emeralds, "never…ever…never give up! Even if I lose to you all, even if it kills me to defend this world and the real world…I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!"
Suddenly, a blast filled the air, knocking down some Team Sky Grunts and sending some across the room. Beka shielded her eyes away from the blast, but looked up when she heard:
"STAY AWAY FROM HER TEAM SKY!"
Beka looked up to see it was Steven, standing there with a serious look in his sky blue eyes.
"STEVEN!" exclaimed Beka, tears of joy streaming from her eyes.
Steven ran to Beka and grabbed her into a big, tightening hug. He was so relieved she was safe and that he could feel her warm form in his arms.
"Beka," said Steven, "are you all right?"
"I'm okay," said Beka, letting Steven hold her in his arms and having a slight blush in her face.
Beka then heard:
"Aww, what a touchy reunion. It makes me sick!"
Steven and Beka saw it was Isabel who got back up from the fallen Team Sky Grunts, who were still recovering or out cold.
"What now?" asked Steven.
"Give back the Emerald now Champion," sneered Isabel, "or else…"
She threw out two Pokeballs and a Tropius and a Kingdra appeared.
"Tro-pius," said Tropius.
"King-dra!" bellowed out Kingdra.
Beka turned to Steven, who was staring back down at her and he said:
"Beka, we can take Isabel, and I think you all ready knew that. So, are you ready?"
Steven held out his hand to Beka.
"For Hoenn," said Beka.
'And for the real world as well,' Beka thought.
She placed her gloved hand into his hand and they clasped. They then broke lose and threw out their Pokeballs, calling out:
"Cradily, go!"
Steven's Pokeball opened and Cradily, a Grass/ Rock Element, that was looked like a green, underwater plant with yellow, circular designs on its body, and pink, petal-like appendages around its neck, appeared.
"Shelgon, I choose you!"
Beka's Pokeball opened and Shelgon appeared.
"Shel-gon!" came the deep voice of Shelgon.
"Cra-dily!" cried out Cradily.
Battle Situation:
Beka's Shelgon and Steven's Cradily vs. Team Sky Executive Isabel's Tropius and Kingdra
This is a two-on-two battle with no substitutions or time limits.
BATTLE BEGIN!
"Tropius, use Stomp on Shelgon! Kingdra, use Twister on Cradily!"
Tropius charged at Shelgon, ready to use Stomp on the Dragon Element and Kingdra released a powerful blast of dragon wind at Cradily.
"Shelgon, use Flamethrower on Tropius!"
"Cradily, use Endure!"
Shelgon sent a blast of flames at Tropius, hitting the Grass/ Flying Element and burning it, while Cradily, surrounded in a yellow sphere of light, endured the attack.
"Tropius, use Sweet Scent on Shelgon! Kingdra, use Hydro Pump on Cradily!"
Tropius released a pink cloud of flowery scent from the leaf-wings on its back, and suffering from its burn, while Kingdra released a powerful blast of water toward Cradily.
"Shelgon, use Protect!"
"Cradily, use Solar Beam on Kingdra!"
Shelgon surrounded itself in a golden aura and let the Sweet Scent flow off of it. Cradily's pink appendages around its neck began to glitter in a yellow light and then unleashed a massive Solar Beam from its appendages, evaporating the Hydro Pump as it blasted toward Kingdra. The Solar Beam then slammed into Kingdra, causing a massive critical hit, however, Kingdra was still able to battle, although it's HP was down to a slight sliver.
"Tropius, use Body Slam on Shelgon! Kingdra, use Aurora Beam on Shelgon as well!"
Beka knew Isabel wanted to give one last shot at this battle and decided to try and knock out Shelgon first. Steven stared at Beka and then began to call out for Cradily to attack, but was stopped by Beka.
"Don't worry," said Beka, with a sense of awe in her voice and sight, "I think Shelgon's got this battle!"
Steven turned back to the field to see what Beka was talking about. He saw that Shelgon was now surrounded in a bright white aura and it was beginning to evolve. Once the bright light had faded away, there stood Salamance, a Dragon/ Flying Element with blue skin, red wings and designs on its head, neck, and under its legs, a gray underside and lower jaw, sharp white claws and teeth, a long tail, and hardened black eyes.
"Sa-la-mance," cried out Beka's newly evolved dragon.
"Salamance," called out Beka, giving out the final attack, "use Twister!"
Salamance inhaled in a huge breath of air and then released a furious Dragon Element attack at the two opponents. Cutting through the other attacks, Twister hit the two Pokemon of Isabel with a massive critical hit and they both fainted.
"No!" cried out Isabel.
Beka cheered out a "Yes! We did it!" and then ran up and hugged her Salamance, thanking it. Salamance bent down and gently gave Beka a friendly lick on her cheek. Steven recalled his Cradily and turned to Beka, with a smile on his face.
"Isabel…" came the sound of a radio, "Isabel…come in…"
Isabel, after recalling her fallen Pokemon, picked up a hand-held radio from her belt and raised it to her face.
"Isabel here," she said.
"Isabel…our leader wants us to bale out…" came the voice from the other line, and sounded like Emily of the Team Sky Elite.
"But I have the Emerald in my sight and…" said Isabel, but was soon cut off by Emily again:
"Our leader told us to leave the Emerald for now…we can come back for her later…"
Isabel growled and said:
"Fine, Isabel, over and out…"
She clicked the radio off and turned her gaze to Beka.
"Seems like you lucked out yet again," said Isabel, and then turned and made her way back up into the Space Center.
Beka watched her leave, wondering why Team Sky wasn't going to try and capture her again…
Suddenly, Beka felt a powerful force fill inside of her, causing her to fall to the floor on her knees and hold herself in her arms.
"Beka!" exclaimed Steven, running to her side, "Beka, what's wrong?"
"It's…" Beka said, quaking in her voice, "it's…the…Green Orb…AAAHHH!"
She screamed as the surge of energy was filling inside of her, fighting with her own life force for control over her vessel. Steven saw in horror that her body was glowing in a green aura and the markings of Rayquaza reappeared on her skin, beating with her heartbeat.
"BEKA!" exclaimed Steven, now on the ground with her and hugging her in his arms, "Beka, please, fight it, whatever it is!"
Beka grabbed onto Steven's black and purple-designed shirt and gripped onto the soft cloth, showing she was trying to fight this energy, but yet wanted to make sure Steven was with her. Steven enclosed tighter around her, showing he wasn't going to let her go and hugged her tighter.
'Please Beka,' thought Steven, 'fight it!'
Suddenly, Steven could feel Beka release a soft scream and fell limp in his arms. Steven looked down to see Beka had fainted, or worst... Frantically, he checked her pulse by pressing his index and middle fingers on her neck. Steven breathed a sigh of relief, knowing Beka had just fainted as his first thought told him.
"You better get her out of here," said a voice from behind Steven.
Steven turned to see it was Polaris, walking over the knocked out Grunts and some recuperating, towarding the Champion.
"What about Team Sky?" asked Steven.
"Some of them fled the Center by an aircraft, especially the leader and her top aids," said Polaris, "the police will be here soon to make arrests. It's better if you leave this mess to me, I'll handle it."
"Thank you so much Polaris," said Steven, taking Beka in his arms and standing with her in his cradling hold, "you've been a big help to not only me, but Beka and her friends as well, especially Beka. I'm sure if she was awake now, she would thank you as well."
"Well," said Polaris, with a soft smile on his face, "just willing to help out a friend."
Steven softly nodded and smiled as well. Salamance, seeing its trainer out cold, gently nuzzled its snout on her forehead, as to say 'Things will be okay', and then lowered its red wings so Steven could climb on. Steven laid Beka across Salamance's back first and then bounded onto the dragon's back. He then pulled Beka up to his chest, laying one arm across her form and the other on Salamance's neck. Steven nodded for Salamance to go. Salamance then gave out a roar and flapped its red wings, kicking itself into the air and flying out of the Center. From below, Steven saw police cars coming at the Center, knowing at least some Team Sky members were going to be locked up. He then turned down and stared at Beka. He then gently parted a piece of her red hair bangs and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
Beka, Steven's deepest thoughts filled his mind, I'm so glad to have you back…
0o0o0o0o0o0
RW: Next chapter is Beka battling against Tate and Lisa for her seventh badge…