Chapter 45 – A Royal Pain
Last time on "Tale of a Legend"…
Volan and Thrin were transported back to the time of prehistoric Pokemon! After collecting their Pokemon – including the Yamask who Thrin accepted into her team and named Jet – the two siblings searched for the members of Team Plasma who had also fell into the portal in the Relic Castle. But they hadn't been traveling for long when they realized just where they had been transported! Encountering all kinds of prehistoric Pokemon, they were soon willing to abandon Team Plasma and get back to their own world. However, an Aerodactyl suddenly swooped down and snatched Thrin up in its claws, forcing Volan to follow them. Meanwhile, Professor Scatterly and Will fought against the Cofagrigus, unaware that their friends' lives were at risk millions of years in the past…
-.-.-.-.-.
Her ears were filled with the sound of rushing wind and the beating of huge wings. Thrin hung on for dear life as the Aerodactyl carried her higher and higher into the air with every stroke. At first, she had fought, but now she was terrified that the Rock-and-Flying-type would see some more tempting prey down below and drop her. So she clung to its claws, hoping that it would land soon.
The younger Gurei had lost sight of her brother long ago, although the lake was still visible in the distance. The Aerodactyl was heading for the mountain, the one whose peak was capped with snow and that broke through the clouds above. Privately, Thrin doubted that it was taking her back to the portal that had brought her to this blasted land.
"None of this would have happened if we hadn't visited the Relic Castle!" she fumed in a sudden rage. "Oh, I am going to kill Professor Scatterly if I get back alive! Why does everything have to happen to Volan and me? Why?!"
"KRRRAAAAWW!" the Aerodactyl roared in annoyance, abruptly cutting off her rant.
The harrowing journey finally ended. The Aerodactyl flew right past the mountain, only to make a wide banking turn back around it, heading for the opposite side. A large rock outcropping began to come into view, jutting out from the mountainside just twenty feet above the ground. Near this rocky ledge was a cave, more than wide enough for the titanic flying reptile to soar inside and land.
Thrin gulped. It didn't take a genius to figure out why the Aerodactyl was carrying her here – just like her mother every weekend, it was bringing home the groceries.
The atmosphere changed from bright and clear to dark and murky in an instant. The Aerodactyl swooped into the cave and beat its wings a few times to steady itself, before landing on the cold, hard floor. It kicked Thrin deeper into the cave, and she stumbled and fell, immediately whirling around to face the predator. She just hoped it killed its prey before eating it.
But wait – the Aerodactyl was already taking off again, kicking up a cloud of dust as it flapped strongly off of the ground. Soon, it had left the cave and was soaring back into the sunlight, until it had vanished around the mountain.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Thrin stood up shakily and examined herself. Nothing seemed to be broken, she still had her backpack, and her Poke Balls were with her. "Good," she murmured. "I don't know why that overgrown Pidgey decided to leave me here, but it's given me a chance to escape at least."
Thrin walked out of the cave and into the sun, stopping at the edge of the large outcropping. The ground was only twenty feet down – she was sure that she could somehow climb down, then head around the mountain and back to the lake to where Volan and Bernice were.
Unless they've been eaten, a tiny voice in her head whispered. She shook it away – that was only her doubts talking. She would have to ignore them if she wanted to get out alive.
The Gurei girl walked back into the cave, knowing that she really didn't have any time to lose. But maybe, if this was indeed the Aerodactyl's nest, then maybe she could use some of the nesting material to escape. She just hoped that the Aerodactyl used strong vines to help build its nest.
Her foot crunched on something that wasn't stone. It took Thrin a second or two to make it out in the darkness, but she was soon able to deduce what it was. It was an eggshell.
Just then, a small squawk came from the back of the cave.
"Oh no," Thrin moaned.
Then she found herself staring into three sets of bright, inquisitive eyes. The baby Aerodactyl all cocked their heads this way and that, trying to determine what she was. It wasn't long before they realized that she was edible, and they advanced hungrily.
Thrin backed away slowly and reached for a Poke Ball. These little wyverns were only hatchlings, so she was sure that one of her Pokemon would be able to deal with them. The only problem would be defeating them all before their mother got back.
But it was too late. Thrin's back had just made it into the sun when she heard the familiar shriek of the adult Aerodactyl, coming back to her nest with more prey for her hungry hatchlings.
I just hope it isn't Volan, she thought desperately.
-.-.-.-.-.
Volan hadn't been snatched, though. He was just beginning to slow down after running from the lake and halfway to the base of the mountain. The boy hadn't stopped since the Aerodactyl carried off his sister, and was already at his limit.
Exhausted, Volan stopped running, sucking in great breaths of air and rubbing his aching sides. "Why… didn't I… take… cross-country… in school?" he wheezed.
"Trrranquill!" trilled Bernice urgently.
"I know Thrin needs me!" Volan said in a voice that was half-snap and half-gasp. "But I need… to rest!" he added, doubling over and clutching his knees tiredly.
After taking a few seconds to catch his breath, Volan stood up again and looked at his beloved Starter seriously. "Bernice, this is important," he said firmly. "I need you to follow that Aerodactyl and find Thrin. It'll take me much longer to follow it on just my legs, but with your wings, you'll be able to cover ground much more quickly."
Bernice immediately drew herself up proudly and nodded. "Tran, Trrrranquill!" she cawed, spreading her wings in preparation for takeoff.
"Wait!" Volan said sharply, startling her into lowering her wings. He then ordered, "Stay out of sight. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, alright?"
The Tranquill nodded again. "Quiiill!" she warbled, then took off into the sky, rapidly shrinking as she flew farther away from her master and closer to the mountain.
Volan sighed. He hoped that Thrin was alright, at least for now, and that Bernice would be able to find her.
Starting off again at a brisk pace across the landscape, Volan trudged through the knee-high grass, feeling it slap against his pants as a wind kicked up. In the distance, he could hear the rumbling bellow of a dinosaur-like Pinepato, probably one from the herd he had encountered by the lake. The sound made him frown grimly.
Although Volan had always wanted to see a prehistoric Pokemon with his own eyes – who didn't? – he also knew that such a thing was never meant to be. Each Pokemon had a place in its own niche, and the ones that had become extinct were meant to stay as such. Prehistoric Pokemon no longer had a place in the world in Volan's time, just as modern humans and Pokemon didn't have a place in this world of the past. Volan could remember reading that scientists had developed technology to revive ancient Pokemon from fossils, and planned to create wildlife preserves to bring them back from extinction. But that was the subject of much controversy, and Volan himself wasn't sure which side he would take in such a debate.
Here, it was survival of the fittest. Might makes right. In Volan's time, however, such was no longer the case – life was much easier and there was less competition for food, water, and territory. Could prehistoric Pokemon adapt quickly enough to suit the more relaxed lifestyle of modern times? And if they could do so, should they do so? Resurrecting them from fossils could be harming the species as a whole by forcing them to try and adapt to such a different world. But at the same time, Volan couldn't help but feel like the prehistoric Pokemon deserved the chance to be brought back. It wasn't their fault that they had been wiped out in the K/T event.
All these thoughts brought Volan back to where he was now. It wasn't just a matter of survival that concerned him – it was the fact that, simply by being here, he was messing up the past and altering the future. Say he lost a shoe here in this time period; millions of years later, a paleontologist might dig up the fossilized remains of his shoe, and make some mistaken conclusion that could end up incorrectly altering the beliefs of modern science! It was a theory known as the Beautifly Effect, because it was said that even the stirrings of the wings of a Beautifly could disturb the very universe.
Now Volan's head was hurting from all these confusing thoughts. He shook his head as if to clear them.
But the second his thoughts were cleared, and he began to pay more attention to his surroundings, he noticed that something wasn't right. The sounds of battle he heard were distant, but familiar. He swore he could hear the cawing of a Fearow, and the distressed cry of "Plasmaaaa!"
The names blasted through Volan's mind. Rinkus! Sierra! Pterano! Kermit!
The Gurei boy broke into a run in the direction of the sound he had just heard, which took him slightly away from the mountain and deeper into the grassland. There was a grove of those odd-looking, prehistoric palm trees about half a kilometer away, and he instinctively knew that they were in there.
It felt like forever, but Volan finally reached the trees. The grass here was taller than it had been out on the plain, and rose up above his head.
How will Bernice see me in this mess? he wondered, but shook off the question. As a Tranquill, she had superb navigation abilities. She could probably find him in a crowd of identically-dressed strangers if she looked hard enough.
Volan burst through the grass and into a large, circular "clearing". The bowl-shaped area, ringed by the tall grass, was shaded slightly by the broad leaves of the trees that soared high into the air over his head. In the middle of the clearing was a small depression, and in the middle of that sat three maroon-colored ovular objects that only could have been eggs.
And it was here in this grassy clearing where Volan found the four Plasmas. Of the four of them, only Pterano, the Elite Plasma Grunt, seemed to be hanging back. The other three were commanding their Pokemon to attack, and the object of their attacks were a trio of tall, bird-like Pokemon that stood on two long legs and were covered in brown scales. Their arms were long and held close to their sides, and they had long, pointy beaks, also like birds.
Volan didn't need to get out his natural history book to know what these creatures were. These were Poachor, fleet-footed Rock-and-Fighting-types that could sprint across flat ground at fifty miles an hour. They were also thought to dine regularly on the eggs of other Pokemon.
That explains their presence here in this nest, Volan thought. But why is Team Plasma fighting them?
"Fearow, use Peck!" squawked Rinkus.
"Kraaaaaahhh!" screeched Fearow, lunging at one of the Poachor with her sword-like beak.
"Wrrreeeeek!" the Poachor screeched right back at Fearow, jumping into the air and executing a perfect Hi Jump Kick. Its clawed foot slammed right into Fearow's chest, sending the Beak Pokemon tumbling to the ground.
Sierra gritted his teeth in annoyance. "These critters are tough! Murkrow, use Wing Attack!"
"And you use Aerial Ace, Pidove!" ordered Kermit, his comical voice making Volan smile despite himself.
Both Murkrow and Pidove dove straight at one of the Poachor with their respective attacks, shrieking battle cries. But the prehistoric raptor was too fast, lashing out with a Mach Punch and smacking them back to their masters' side, unconscious.
The three Poachor looked at each other after defeating the Plasmas' Pokemon, communicating through short, turkey-like warbles. Then they ran, stopping for just long enough to each grab an egg from the nest, and disappeared into the tall grass.
"Blast it!" fumed Sierra. "I thought we'd be able to catch some of those prehistoric Pokemon fer ourselves!"
"We would have been able to use their power to help us in our quest for Pokemon Liberation, yes?" agreed Rinkus.
Pterano interrupted them upon noticing Volan observing them from the sidelines. "Hold, you two," he ordered. "It appears Mister Volantes has been transported here to the distant past alongside us."
Volan nodded. "Thrin and I were looking for you four when an Aerodactyl carried her off," he replied, his emotions making his voice tremble a bit. "We need to get back to our own time as soon as we possibly can."
"A wise decision," Pterano agreed. "But we of Team Plasma, as you probably heard, were hoping to capture a few of these ancient Pokemon in order to help succeed in our goal."
This time, Volan shook his head. "No offense, but that isn't a good idea," he replied somberly. "It's better not to meddle with the past or the future."
"What would you know about it?" snarled Sierra. "Yer just a kid!"
Kermit placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. "We really shouldn't be fighting now," he advised, showing surprising intelligence for a Team Plasma grunt. "We've all got to work together to get out of here alive."
"Well said," Volan said politely, yet coldly. No matter how much quality time he spent with these particular Plasmas, he'd never respect them.
Suddenly, the ground trembled. It lasted only an instant, and was accompanied by a dull, faraway thud. Then it came again, and again, and again, in a slow yet steady rhythm. With each tremor, each thudding sound, the five humans grew more and more edgy.
"What is that?" murmured Rinkus uneasily, recalling his Fearow.
"It sounds like something's comin', all right," Sierra piled on, pulling out his Murkrow's Poke Ball and recalling him as well.
"But whatever could it be?" asked Pterano. Although his voice was muffled behind the cloth that covered his face, Volan could detect a tremor of fear in it.
That was when a gigantic, horned head rose up in front of them, towering over the tall grass. Sharp, predatory eyes picked out the empty nest and the strange creatures that cowered under its mighty presence, and narrowed with suspicion.
The monster put two and two together, reared up, and released a furious, earthshaking roar that rattled the very sky. "GRRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAHH!"
It was at that moment when Volan remembered the beast's name, and screamed it out for all to hear.
"TYRANTRUM!"
-.-.-.-.-.
Bernice had flown a long way in order to reach the base of the mountain, and was tiring quickly. Never had she flown so far, so fast, and so desperately. She couldn't rest, though, because her master's sister's life was at stake. Thus, the Tranquill flew on.
But soon, her fatigue became so great that she just had to take a rest. Bernice promised herself that she would only take a quick rest before continuing on the path the Aerodactyl had flown.
She just hoped that it hadn't eaten the young lady yet.
Shuddering at the thought, Bernice lighted down in a magnolia tree that grew near the base of the mountain. The tree was in full bloom, and its pink flowers waved their petals delicately in the wind. Although she was supposed to be in a hurry, Bernice couldn't help but marvel at the simplistic beauty of the tree she perched in.
There was a scrabbling sound that came from the largest hollow of the tree just then, almost making Bernice jump out of her feathers. She spread her wings, ready to lift off in a moment if necessary. But she waited for whatever it was that was scratching about in that hollow to come out into the light.
The Tranquill didn't have long to wait – a small, feathery head poked out from the dark hole just then. The creature's face was disfigured by a monstrous beak that looked more like a Gible's jaws than a modern bird's bill. It crawled further out from its hole, revealing a body covered in yellow feathers. Bright blue primary feathers poked out from the sunny plumage on its arms. It tilted its head so that it was studying her with one beady eye.
Bernice knew what it was, of course. She and Volan had read many a natural history book together when the Gurei boy was younger. It was an Archen, said to be the very first Flying-type to ever evolve.
Despite her unfamiliarity with her most ancient of ancestors, Bernice could tell that this little one was a young male. He tilted his head again, observing her with his other eye. And when he opened his toothy jaws, Bernice was absolutely flabbergasted to find that she could understand his language of harsh, loud squawks.
"Me no see Pokemon like you before!" cawed the Archen. "You like me, but big and grey. And tiny beak too! How you eat with such little beak?"
The language he used was a very primitive form of what Bernice was accustomed to, but she did her best to speak back, slowly and carefully. "Well, what I eat is much littler," she explained, folding her wings – but not entirely. "I eat small bugs, worms, and other little crawling things."
"Me too! Me too!" the Archen squawked excitedly. "Me too young to catch big prey, so me eat buzzers mostly, when parents not bringing me meat from hunts!"
To demonstrate, the Archen jumped straight up in the air and caught a fat horsefly-like Pokemon that was twice as big as Bernice's head. He crunched down on it with gusto, then swallowed it whole.
"What Pokemon are you?" the Archen demanded inquisitively. "You have feathers like me, but much weirder-looking. Can strange flier fly?"
Bernice smiled at the young bird's curiosity. "I can indeed," she replied, lifting off of the branch and circling once around the tree before landing again.
The Archen was completely in awe. "That amazing!" he said, hopping up and down in excitement. "Me no old enough to fly yet through big blue like you! But me practice jumping every day and get stronger!"
He did another demonstration, this time of jumping to another tree branch. It was too far for him to make it by just a simple jump, but his still-growing primaries caught the wind and carried him gently over to his destination. Then he jumped again, gliding back to Bernice's branch.
But the Archen didn't have his little talons wrapped around the tree limb for long when he asked another question. "Where you from? Me never see Pokemon like you in life!"
Bernice wondered how she would explain it to the enthusiastic bird. "Well," she began, "I came to this place from the future. Where you and everything you see around you is extinct."
"Future?" the Archen demanded. "You mean time and place yet to come?"
"Precisely," Bernice replied, pleased that he had understood.
The Archen frowned. "But what 'extinct' mean?"
"Extinct means all gone," she said, with a hint of sadness in her voice. She scratched her head and elaborated, "Everything you see around you is gone, dead, never to be seen again."
"That very sad," agreed the Archen. "But there new Pokemon like you in future, right? Lots of fliers too?"
"Yes, of course," said Bernice, again pleased. She rather liked this odd Pokemon.
Then, she thought of something. "One of my friends, another one who came from the future like I did, is in trouble," she told him. "An Aerodactyl grabbed her, and I was following before I decided to get some rest."
"Aero-what?" squawked the Archen.
It hadn't occurred to Bernice that the names that they used for prehistoric Pokemon back in the future wouldn't be used here in the past. She had just assumed that they had always been called that – but now that she thought of it, how would beings from her time know of such things?
"You know," Bernice began to explain, "a big grey flier, with no feathers, and horrible jaws filled with teeth."
"Oh, yes, yes!" the Archen said happily, confusion evaporating. "Me see one go beyond edge of great rock!" He pointed with a claw at the mountain. "She has nest there. Always hunting to feed hatchlings, me think."
Bernice paled under her feathers. Thrin was going to be torn apart by a bunch of hungry infant dinosaur-like Pokemon?
Not on my watch, she promised herself grimly.
For reasons that were a mystery even to her, Bernice bent down so that her belly was almost touching the branch she perched on. "Climb on," she commanded.
The Archen tilted his head again. "What? Why?" he asked harshly – not because he was trying to be rude, but because that was just his tone of voice.
"You and I are going to go help my friend," Bernice explained with surprising calm.
"Friend?" asked the First Bird Pokemon quizzically, hearing the word for the very first time in his life.
"Someone who you like, someone you enjoy being around," Bernice explained further. "Now hop on! You can't fly, so I'll carry you on my back."
"But why is grey feathered flier asking me to come along?" demanded the Archen, waving his arms impatiently. This strange Pokemon raised so many more questions than she answered!
Bernice smiled as, somehow, she figured out why she had invited her much younger – and technically, much older – cousin along.
"Because you're also my friend," she said simply.
As the sun slipped lower in the sky, having passed its zenith a while ago, Bernice took flight from the branches of the magnolia tree, a confused but somehow happy prehistoric Pokemon clinging to her back.
-.-.-.-.-.
Danger! Suspense! Intrigue!
Volan and the Plasmas get attacked by a Tyrantrum, King of the Prehistoric Pokemon, while Thrin faces off against a trio of hungry wyverns with their mother rapidly approaching! But little does she know that Bernice and Archen are coming to save the day!
Stay tuned!
Archen: "Me want you to review! Although me not know what that means…"
Chapter Question #36: What Pokemon game do you think has the best soundtrack?
One of my favorites is Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness! Black and White have a pretty killer soundtrack, too.
-.-.-.-.-.
Volan's Party:
Bernice (Tranquill, female)
Ability: Big Pecks
Attacks: Air Cutter, Roost, Aerial Ace, Hypnosis
Grunge (Garbodor, male)
Ability: Weak Armor
Attacks: Pound, Body Slam, Poison Gas, Solarbeam
Rickie (Palpitoad, male)
Ability: Hydration
Attacks: Bubblebeam, Uproar, Rain Dance, Mud Shot
Rudy (Sandile, male)
Ability: Moxie
Attacks: Thunder Fang, Crunch, Sand Tomb, Dig
Thrin's Party:
Oliver (Pignite, male)
Ability: Blaze
Attacks: Flame Charge, Tail Whip, Body Slam, Arm Thrust
Luna (Munna, female)
Ability: Synchronize
Attacks: Psywave, Defense Curl, Moonlight, Psybeam
Valkyrie (Venipede, female)
Ability: Poison Point
Attacks: Rollout, Protect, Poison Tail, Attract
Jet (Yamask, male)
Ability: Mummy
Attacks: Hex, Will-O-Wisp, Night Shade, Nasty Plot
