Mt. Silver
The chill of the night rattled through my very core, but still I remained firm at my post, keeping an ever watchful eye out over the mountains that formed jagged shapes in the moonlight.
Snow covered the ground everywhere I looked, the moon reflecting off the whiteness and causing it to glint and shimmer. Silence prevailed across Mount Silver; only the sound of my beating heart keeping me company. The villagers had long been ordered to take refuge in the inner rooms of the temple in preparation for Sa'lu's impending attack.
Team Rocket crawled into every crook and crevice of the ancient site. Except, for once, we were on the same side. It was an eerie feeling… one that I still couldn't quite justify. Had this what Aisha had spoken of in her journals? These where the changes that were on the way? The Mafia Crime Lord and the Champion - both sworn enemies now having to work together to protect a common interest.
It was madness in the truest sense, and I was half expecting to wake from this bizarre dream at any moment.
"Are you alright?" Kair's approach startled me from my thoughts and I turned to face her as she entered onto the balcony. Her eyes had a genuine look of concern in them, and I could clearly see that in the past months she had gradually moulded herself into a more 'motherly' frame.
I blinked away tiredness and stifled a yawn. "Fine. You?"
She looked pained - as if she wanted to tell me something but chose to keep her mouth shut. "I've seen better days," was all she managed to say.
I drew her into a light embrace and kissed her on the forehead. She really was beautiful.
"You need to get into the temple with the rest of the village. For your own safety."
She clearly did not agree with the idea but knew she was in no position to fight. "I hate this. Not being on the front line kills me."
"I know," I smiled. "But you've got more important things to worry about."
She nodded before handing me a pokéball. "Take care of Charizard."
I watched her leave back through the double doors before turning back to my post. The night hadn't changed. The moon was still high and I was still freezing.
"Hurrrrr!" I spotted the outline of Dragonite as she made her way through the mountains after making her rounds.
"Still nothing?" I questioned as she landed on the balcony beside me and shook off the frost from her hide. She was visibly not impressed with the cold. "Get inside and warm up Dragonite. I ordered."
It was at the Dragon's insistence that she came along on this mission, even in spite of the fact that the time for her eggs to hatch was near. She was supposed to be resting before motherhood came upon her, so needless to say I was surprised to find that she chose otherwise. But then again, she was a fighter after all. She and I were a team. I couldn't have been more proud of her.
"Master Lance," the voice of a young rocket alerted me. "We have a… situation. The Boss requires your presence in the tactical room."
I followed the boy back into the temple, into its main chamber which had since become a base of operations for the Team Rocket Boss. Makeshift tables filled with computers and tracking technology lined the floor. Then to the room's centre was a single, large table with a holographic map displaying the outline of Mt. Silver and the mountains around it. It was there Giovanni stood, staring intently at the diagram before the chamber door swung open and a young, dishevelled man found himself dragged in by a couple of Team Rocket agents.
"N?" I frowned.
"You know this boy?" Giovanni questioned me.
I nodded. "He is a relative of Kair and Sa'lu."
Giovanni's composure was not promising for the boy. "Then perhaps that will explain his presence in the village. He is a spy."
"No! Wait! I'm not a spy!" The teenager let out a cry only to find himself elbowed in the face by one of Giovanni's goons.
"Is this necessary?" I raised an eyebrow at the Boss and he waved a hand for them to drop the boy. I headed over to N and helped him to his feet. "N, what are you doing here?"
N took a moment to fix his composure, wiping a bloody nose with the back of his sleeve.
"I came here to warn you. Sa'lu and her forces are camped out behind the valley," he pointed in the general direction, "She is planning the attack for midnight tonight. She is powerful, Lance. She won't be easily defeated."
"You just leave that to us, N. In the meanwhile, you need to make yourself sparse."
But he dug his heels in. "I want to fight, Lance."
I found myself taken aback by this. The peacemaker wanted to fight?!
"What Sa'lu has planned for the Dragon Clan… those Pokémon… it's not right. I will not stand for it. So she leaves me with no choice but to return fire." N's reasoning was sound, though my faith in his fighting abilities was less than substantial.
"Alright," I said finally. "Make sure you stick with me. Do you still have your Charizard you borrowed from Clair?"
He nodded.
"Good. Come on." I signalled for him to follow me, "I'll show you to your post."
"December 24," I whispered under a stuttering breath, watching the main square's clock-tower tick past midnight. The zero hour was upon us.
I glanced out over my post at the men and women – Dragon Trainer and Team Rocket - who lined the winding balconies of the temple and village. The silence that prevailed was eerie - like the calm before the storm. Eyes were focused, minds alert.
N's silent point from beside signalled me to a cloud of dark shadows that were on the approach, coming from the very valley he'd told us they were hiding in. Flying low, they kept to the shadows and were as silent as the night.
"N, pass the message along. Keep calm and remain quiet. Attack on my mark."
The teenager nodded and hurried off down the line-up as I took to searching the sky for the one person who dared called herself a Dragon Master. She rode at the front on the back of a Dragonite, signalling for her people to get into battle formation.
N returned to my side and I let out a loud bellow, "Battle positions!"
Great flashes of red trailed down the line-up as trainers released their Pokémon from their balls. Team Rocket members took the added step and armed large cannon looking devices loaded with electrified netting. Any Pokémon belonging to Sa'lu's clan unfortunate enough to find itself caught up in one of those nets would ultimately become the property of Team Rocket - a far better fate in my mind than being the helpless puppet of a Shadow Dragon Trainer.
The first attack came from Sa'lu as a massive fireball shot from her Dragon's mouth and exploded into the mountain side just above our heads. Then she ducked down under her troops, allowing for them to follow through with a line of assault.
"Attack!" my order echoed off the mountain walls and all at once the evening was shattered into a rain of Pokémon battle moves.
Those with flying types took to the sky, including N and myself - N on the back of his Charizard and me on the back of Dragonite. Kair's Charizard joined us, falling into line behind us.
"Keep on the watch, N!" I ordered the boy. "And whatever you do, don't fall off!"
My target was none other than Sa'lu herself. Weaving my way through various dragons and their riders I soon realised that the old Shadow Dragon Master now chose to keep herself safely tucked away behind her people. She sat on the back of her Dragonite, barking out random orders and was seemingly oblivious to our approach.
"We've got to get that fang, N."
The boy beside me nodded. "One of us will need to distract her while the other comes up from behind. She is expecting you Lance. You are her main focus."
"Good thinking. I'll grab her attention, you get that fang."
The boy signalled his Charizard downwards underneath and behind Sa'lu and her Dragonite while I headed up and over her. Our eyes met and she stopped mid shout, her mouth forming into a sneer.
"Stop this nonsense at once, Sa'lu!" I yelled at her at the top of my lungs.
"I don't think so, Lance. This is only just the beginning!"
My eyes briefly met N's as we both spotted the fang hanging from her belt. She was oblivious to his approach until her Dragon caught a whiff of his scent and promptly turned.
"Hurrrr!" it bellowed, alerting the woman.
"Shit!" I cursed but it was too late.
N went for the fang but Sa'lu with her Dragonite immediately scooted out of the way, the woman giving a shout in protest. "You little, scheming brat!"
The Dragonite's metal claw made contact with the boy's Charizard, sending it into a freefall and N flying into Sa'lu and her Dragon. There was a brief struggle before the woman got the upper hand and promptly shoved her nephew from the back of her Dragonite.
"N!" I didn't even stop to think; I pushed my Dragon into a nose dive and went after the boy.
His arms flailing madly, the moon's reflection off the snow-covered mountains that came hurtling up to meet him lit up the look of terror in his eyes.
Dragonite's claws were outstretched, her wings flared and at the last moment before we found ourselves spattered across the mountain face, she managed to catch him before dropping him gently into a snow embankment and hitting the ground herself.
Her wings heavy with ice, Dragonite soon found herself unable to lift off. "Hurrr!" she bellowed, her energy quickly draining from her.
I staggered from my Dragonite and grabbed for her Pokéball, withdrawing her into a beam of red before the icy conditions got the better of her. And I could only imagine how much longer the other dragons that battled high above us would last.
"Lance," I heard N's shallow call from behind me and reeled. The boy sat in the snow, shivering from head to toe but his expression was victorious. "I got it!" He held up the fang.
I couldn't help the brief smile that escaped my lips. "Nice work N."
I helped the boy to his feet and we both glanced up at the battle that took place several hundred metres above us. We were stuck on the mountain side, alive but stuck nevertheless.
Sa'lu's men were being forced to retreat back behind her. A black beam erupted from her general location and I felt the groan gurgle forth from my throat as we watched the Phantom Dragon form in the air in front of the temple.
The monster was bigger than any Dragon I'd seen in my life. Serpent in shape and form- almost like a Gyarados – it twisted and twirled in the air, roaring at the top of its lungs and sending everything within its vicinity scrambling for shelter. Team Rocket started to attack it, firing cannons and electrified nets at it. They were attempting to capture it! But their efforts did nothing more than get absorbed up into the Dragon's ghost-like body.
"We need to get up there!" N voiced my thoughts.
Two Charizards where fast on the approach – one belonging to Kair and the other one N had borrowed from Clair.
"Over here!" I waved my arms and they quickened their flapping, the fire types seemingly unaffected by the snow and ice.
They landed, urgently waiting for us to mount them before we took off toward the beast that threatened the temple.
A loud shout sounded from the direction of the Phantom Dragon's Shadow Master - an order that I couldn't quite make out. The Dragon responded to the woman's command without hesitation, and we all watched on as it started to form an unknown attack in the back of its ghost-like throat. Similar to a Hyperbeam but with the force of something so much stronger, the Dragon attacked the temple wall, blasting segments of it into oblivion. Only one thought seemed to be on its mind, complete and utter annihilation.
"N! Toss me the fang!"
The boy did just so, asking, "Do you know how to use it? Or even if this will work?"
"No idea," I called back. "Just follow my lead."
I was determined this was going to work. If Sa'lu could use it to open a gateway to release the Dragon, then surely I could use it to open that same gateway to expel it.
Giant chunks of rock and wall lining rained down over us, immediately throwing our Charizards into evasive manoeuvres. Dust clouds billowed from the wreckage, stinging our eyes and choking us.
I only had one chance at this! Holding up the fang, I began to chant the words I'd known since childhood. I caught her from the corner of my eye; Sa'lu and her Dragonite taking a dive for me in attempt to stop me. A Hyperbeam formed on its lips, leaving me with no choice but to dodge it and order Charizard to throw out a Flamethrower attack of its own.
But her Protect attack immediately dispersed it.
"You think you can stop me, Dragon Master?!" her holler sounded aloud over the destruction. Sa'lu along with her Dragonite both conjured Dragon attacks that forced me into a retreat, knowing all to well that the chances of Kair's Charizard winning in a battle against her weren't good. I was at a disadvantage.
"Give me that fang, boy!"
The Dragonite swooped me, passing us by mere inches. N took a dive after us in attempt to ward the old Dragon Master off, but his attempts were rendered useless as he found himself facing off with a Twister attack that send him and his Charizard back into the dust cloud.
I had no other option. I had nowhere else to go but down.
We skimmed the snow-covered mountain peeks, Sa'lu hot on our tail, but not for long as just as what had happened to my Dragonite, her Dragon's wings became frostbitten and heavy. Soon it wasn't able to hold itself up in the air which sent it and its master tumbling into the freezing snow.
Not even looking back to see the fate of the old Dragon Master, Charizard and I took to the sky once again, fighting with every breath left in its lungs to get back to the Phantom that continued to rain down destruction on my beloved temple.
But Charizard was getting tired… he was beginning to slow down.
"Lance! Throw me the fang! I know what to do," N was suddenly above me, his hand outstretched and his gaze wide and urgent.
Charizard and I were already losing lift. I threw the fang and the boy caught it mid-air, and on the back of his Charizard made one final attempt at opening this gateway.
I watched him as he lifted the fang high into the air, his soulful chants ringing aloud across the valley and causing the monster to stop in its tracks.
Then like a whirlpool had formed in mid-air, the gateway began to open, spewing bright, white light across the mountain face. I squinted, having to cover my eyes at the spectacle as the Dragon soon found itself pulled into this trans-dimensional whirlpool.
N watched from his position, completely motionless and for a moment it seemed as though he too found himself being slowly dragged into this whirlpool. His eyes wide with exhilaration, it didn't take me long to realise that he could see something… A vision perhaps… I don't know. But one moment he was stationary and the next he was suddenly ordering his Charizard to follow the Dragon into the whirlpool.
"N! No!" I howled, but the boy simply ignored me. "Charizard! After him!"
Charizard was beyond exhausted but in a final burst of energy we hurtled up toward N and his Pokémon, throwing ourselves into a tackle and pushing them out of the gateway's pull before once and for all it closed over, leaving the world around us in silence…