Chapter 23 - "Welcome to the Lost Island of Triremis."

Triremis Island

This is an emergency broadcast. Heavy rain and wind warnings are being issued throughout the entirety of the Orange Archipelago. Flooding is likely. Please evacuate to your nearest center. Please avoid beaches and areas susceptible to flooding.

This is an emergency broad-

Hajime twisted the dial on the radio and grinned. "Looks like everyone is starting to feel the effects of the storm. In a matter of hours, we'll get Lugia, and then take off for Kanto."

Eri had been filing her nails. She blew on her fingers and then looked towards the ocean. "I don't get why we're not with Okane right now. Isn't Lugia super dangerous? You sure she can take it on her own?"

"She was trained by Giovanni directly. If anyone can battle against a legendary Pokémon, it's her," he explained. "Besides, we're on lookout for any intruders. If that chosen one and the girl with the ocarina show up with more people, who knows what we could be in for."

"They were pathetic. I knew that the 'Chosen One' stuff was all bologna," Eri said before checking out her black lipstick in her small mirror. Her eyes perked up when she looked out towards the ocean and noticed a large creature moving their way. It wasn't Lugia, which she was most afraid of, but rather a Wailord, something that she was vaguely familiar with.

"Message Incoming! Message Incoming!" Hajime's device rang. The tablet in his hand looked small compared to his large body. He pushed the button and let the message play out. "Hajime! Eri! Those dorks with the Blaziken and Venusaur are on their way to try to stop you guys! They ambushed me on Daidai Island! I had know idea they were coming for me!"

Hajime tossed the tablet to the side and glared. "Pathetic."

"Looks like we're in for a fight," Eri muttered. "Maybe we'll see some action after all."

Roughly a kilometer away, Skylar and Cyan were racing straight towards the island. The storm was now more intense than either one of them could have anticipated, and their clothes were soaking wet. Cyan managed to pull his map from his bag and look at it.

"What's that island?" Skylar asked, screaming over the rain.

He shook his head. "No clue! It's not on the map!"

Triremis Island was nothing like the two had seen before. It wasn't populated with modern cities or villages. It was built entirely from stone, giving it the appearance of a colosseum where people would once do battle. The stone walls that surrounded the island had moss growing over them, and one could easily mistake it for a forest from miles away.

Wailord pulled up to the island, coming to a stone staircase that had mostly crumbled away with time. Cyan and Skylar disembarked, withdrew Wailord, and then ran up the steps as fast as they could without destroying any more of the land. They entered in a hole in the side of one of the walls, coming into what was once an ancient city. Small square and clay huts made up the city, all of them without glass windows. The ground was wet and slick from moss, and pink coral had made the ancient city its home.

"What is this place?" Skylar wondered.

"Welcome to the Lost Island of Triremis," Hajime called while walking towards them. He didn't care about any of the coral, purposely stepping on it and making it crack underneath his heavy boots. "An ancient city, but more importantly, Lugia's home."

"I didn't think that we'd be seeing you here," Eri sneered. She tucked some of her mid-length black hair behind her ear and then cocked her head. "I thought we warned you to get out of the Orange Islands while you could."

"I enjoy it here, so I think not," Skylar snapped back. She looked at Cyan, who was baffled by the surrounding architecture. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cyan said.

The ground shook, making everyone pause.

Eri laughed. "Oh, boy! She's really taking it to Lugia, eh Hajime?"

Hajime didn't respond. He never once took his eyes off of Cyan and Skylar.

"What a shame. You wasted your time coming here, and now you're going to die directly in the eye of the storm," Hajime said. "Unfortunate."

"We're not the ones you should be worried about!" Skylar snapped before throwing her Poké Ball forward. Emolga emerged. "C'mon, Cyan!"

"Yeah," Cyan said, snapping out of his trance. He motioned for Vulpix to step forward. She took her position next to Emolga and lowered her head in a battle stance.

"We're not going to hold back," Hajime said. He cracked his knuckles and then tossed his Poké Ball into the air. His Heracross appeared and waved his horn around.

"Go, Vileplume!" Eri shouted. Her Vileplume with the orange flower materialized. It bobbed up and down as it waited for Eri's command.

"Arm Thrust!"

"Sludge Bomb!"

"Electro Ball! Go!"

"Vulpix, use Ice Beam!"

While Heracross charged forward, Vileplume waved her flower up and down. She heaved before releasing thick purple goop from the top of her head, launching it at Cyan and Skylar's Pokémon. Vulpix responded by unleashing the jagged beam of ice, and Emolga twisted her body before tossing the ball of electric energy at the ground.

Heracross was surprisingly strong, and he repeatedly thrusted his claws into the ice, destroying it with ease until he reached Vulpix. With one more strike, he knocked Vulpix in the jaw, sending her backward.

Then, the goop met with the electrical ball, causing an explosion of purple mist, just like what had happened when Daidai Rocket invaded the museum. Hajime and Eri were prepared, and they put masks over their faces so they could breathe clean air. Cyan and Skylar were left in a coughing fit.

"Megahorn!"

"Moonblast!"

Although the two's voices were muffled, their Pokémon knew perfectly what was being asked of them. Heracross emerged from the purple smoke and jabbed his large horn at Vulpix. Emolga tried to take the hit for her, but ended up being blasted by a thick beam of pink light. Vulpix and Emolga fell back and then looked up at their trainers, who remained immobilized by the smoke.

"What do we do?" Skylar asked.

Cyan couldn't stop coughing, but that didn't prevent him from putting a plan in action. He quickly dropped to his knees and got low, removing his backpack. He opened the front end a pulled a dark crystal from one of his bag's pockets. He attached the crystal to his Z-Ring and then stood up.

"Vul-pix!" he said through coughs. "We have to do this!"

Vulpix winced but the walked forward. She struck her battle position and waited for further instructions.

"Megahorn again!"

"Petal Blizzard!"

Cyan stood up and raised his wrist. Darkness engulfed him while he struck his first pose. It quickly raced towards Vulpix, filling her with energy too.

The two Daidai Rocket members' Pokémon emerged from the smoke.

"Black Hole Eclipse!" Cyan shouted.

Vulpix formed a sphere of dark energy in her mouth. Emolga quickly flew to her before lifting her into the air, letting her get more time to build the attack. Then, Vulpix released the ball, and it quadrupled in size. It sucked away all of the poisonous gas and absorbed both Heracross and Vileplume. It quickly compressed in on itself, exploding with the two Pokémon inside of it. They weren't finished though, as they managed to stumble away.

"I don't think so!" Skylar yelled. "Emolga, use Shock Wave! Go!"

Knowing that her attack couldn't miss, Emolga glided towards her opponents. She sent a beam of electric energy from her palms, shooting it straight. It exploded into a wave, washing over the two. That was enough to do it, and Heracross and Vileplume collapsed right in front of their trainers.

"No! My Vileplume!" Eri screeched.

Cyan slightly stumbled over, forcing himself to use Skylar as a crutch.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he answered. "Let's go while we can."

The two trainers withdrew both Vulpix and Emolga, and they ran, careful not to slip. They weren't sure exactly where they were heading, but they knew that they had to get deeper into the island. Hajime and Eri stood still, upset with their loss, but without any course of sensible action.

"We should warn Okane," Hajime whispered. "Let's go."

Cyan and Skylar didn't stop running. They weaved through every corridor of the large colosseum and quickly checked the inside of every room that they came across. Every few seconds, the island would rumble, and they used the intensity of the rumble to help indicate how close they were to Lugia.

Near the middle of the island, there was no storm or rain. Skylar took notice of this and grabbed Cyan by the hand, dragging him along with her.

"Don't you think they'd be in a place of intense rain?" Cyan asked.

"No! They're in the eye of the storm," she said.

The two came to the center of the island where the rumbling felt like thunder under their feet. There was a spiraling staircase that would take them underground. Skylar looked at Cyan in the eyes and smiled.

"No matter what, I'm here for you, okay?"

He didn't respond.

"Okay?"

"Okay."

"We'll make it out of this. I promise. I have a gym rematch and Supreme Gym Leader to beat, so I have to make it out of this! And you're my coach and best friend, so I need you there too."

Cyan paused. "Best friend?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Now's not the time to get into it, okay? Let's go save Lugia."

Cyan hadn't really thought of Skylar as a friend up until this point. He considered her a rival of sorts, and although they were friendly to one another, he wasn't entirely sure of what their relationship was. He thought he was just her coach and tour guide. Her calling him best friend had given him a feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time.

"C'mon, Cyan!"

"Coming!"

The two raced down the spiral staircase, making sure to keep their arms against the walls to prevent them from falling. They came to a lower level floor, which looked completely different from the ancient architecture from the upper area. It was filled with computers, which were probably put up only a few hours ago.

Skylar was set to ignore the computers and keep running, but Cyan stopped moving. On the main computer was a picture of his home of Kanto. There were red dots around places on the map in various cities.

"What?" Skylar asked. "Cyan, we don't have time."

"This is Kanto," he said. He pointed towards the south-western area where one dot was placed. "This is Pallet Town. My home."

"It's close to here, so it makes sense."

"Give me one minute," he said. He started to mess with the computer while Skylar hopped up and down.

She was feeling an adrenaline rush, and she didn't want it to go away. She stopped jumping and huffed, looking to the right of Cyan and finding two orbs of varying cool colors. There was an insignia on the orbs which looked like a small strand of DNA. She recognized the symbol, and her eyes widened. But before she could say anything, the computer warbled and a pre-recorded video came onto the screen.

They couldn't tell who the person on the screen was, as they were covered in shadows, but Cyan and Skylar could tell that it was a male. He spoke directly into the camera.

"This message goes out to the B Branch in the Orange Archipelago. This is the year when Team Rocket will be making our grand return. We are asking that all groups rise and make yourselves known. The B Branch's task is to bring us Lugia."

"Cyan, these stones-"

"Shh!"

"A legend from Shamouti Island states that if a 'Chosen One' gathers the three treasures from Fire, Ice, and Thunder Island yearly, balance will be restored to the world. We don't know the validity of these claims. However, we want you to find the treasures and destroy them. If the treasures are as important as is said in the ancient scripts, then Lugia will make itself known to try to stop those who are out to destroy the treasures. It's a tall order to put yourself in the way of a legendary Pokémon, but I'm sure that someone who was personally trained by Master Giovanni should have no issue."

So, he wasn't lying. It really is Okane, Cyan thought.

"Disrupt the balance, capture Lugia, and strike fear into the hearts of the people of the Orange Archipelago. Peace is no longer an option. As for us, Neo Rocket will be searching for Mewtwo. Once we find it, we will make contact. Then, we will call for Giovanni to return, and Team Rocket will rise from dormancy. Good luck."

The video then cut out, and Cyan slammed his fist against the keyboard.

"You can't be serious?! Another group?! Another group!" he exclaimed.

"Cyan."

"What?" Cyan snapped.

Skylar reached out and grabbed the two orbs. "These are key stones."

"What does that have to do with what's going on right now?!"

"Nothing right now, but it's important. If we can harness these stones correctly, then it's said that we can make our Pokémon mega evolve. I'm not quite sure how it works, but I've seen it on television. If we can get it to work right now, then maybe we can have an ace against Daidai Rocket. It looks like they were collecting the stones. We can use it against them."

Cyan had slightly calmed down. He observed the multi-colored orb. "Okay. How does it work?"

"No idea."

Cyan slouched.

"But when the time comes, we'll know. For now, let's focus on what's in front of us."

Cyan looked back at the map of Kanto. Places like Pallet Town, Celadon City, and Lavender Town had been marked. "Yeah. I agree."

The two left the computer room and continued their descent down the staircase. The rumbling was now nonstop, and all of the lighting that had been put up was flashing on and off. They reached the lower floor, and there were no more walls to support them. They had to walk down the staircase with no support, but neither of them cared, because now they got a good look at what was causing the rumbling.

A girl, around the age of sixteen, was battling against a behemoth of a Pokémon. Her Pokémon was long and blue with a wide gaping mouth. Surrounding the battlefield were large orb-like cages which kept three avian Pokémon inside. Cyan recognized one of them as Moltres, and he figured he knew what the other two were.

He couldn't make out the girl clearly from the distance, but he recognized her red hair. His heart sank into his chest, but he kept running down the stairs as fast as his feet would take him.

The wide and round room had no artificial lighting like the staircase did, but it also lacked the ability to get any natural lighting from the outside. Instead, there were crystals that lined the wall, which gave off blue light. With every attack from the two Pokémon, they shook, and some of them fell from the walls, smashing into the ground.

The large behemoth Pokémon roared before blasting spiraling wind from its mouth. The wind connected directly with the red-haired girl's Pokémon, only knocking it back a few feet.

She laughed. "Gyarados, use Crunch!"

Her Pokémon either still had a lot of energy, or it refused to faint. It slithered across the slick battlefield while forming a set of black jaws around its body. It snapped the jaws down onto the white Pokémon, making it screech with pain. When Gyarados reeled back, the white Pokémon collapsed to the ground, falling at the middle of the battlefield.

"Stop this now!" Skylar yelled as soon as the two were close enough.

The girl kept her back turned to Cyan and Skylar. "So, my three subordinates weren't enough."

Skylar glanced at Lugia and gasped. "Cyan, it's on its last legs." She observed Gyarados. "And this is the mega evolution that I was talking about. Gyarados is super strong right now."

Cyan's fist balled up. "Turn around!" he commanded.

The girl slowly cocked her head and looked back at Cyan. She had a deadpan expression on her face. She turned around and faced the two trainers, her glance never changing.

Cyan shook his head and closed his eyes. "I-I can't believe it. How could you?!"

She didn't respond.

"What are you doing, Okane? What do you think you're doing? You can't be serious! You too?! I can't believe this!" Cyan screamed, trying to make sense of everything all at once, which was an impossible task at the moment.

Okane's eyes shifted. "How do you know my name?"

Cyan paused. "Huh? It's me. Cyan. Cyan Kokura. We trained together. We were friends."

"I've never had any friends," she responded. "You must be thinking of someone else."

"No!" Cyan yelled while pointing at the girl. "You and I were friends! We trained together! We watched baseball together! I remember it like it was yesterday! I still have the letter that you sent me!"

Skylar watched the two. So, this is the girl that he's been dreaming about?

Cyan smacked the side of his head and let out a guttural yell. "I can't believe that after all of this time, you too; you were also evil! I should've known! I shouldn't have convinced myself otherwise! And then-and then you have the audacity to forget me?!"

Okane smiled. "I'm sorry. I don't remember. I guess you weren't that important to me, if what you say is true."

Cyan didn't respond. He remained still with his hands on his head. He had a terrible migraine, and all of his emotions were swelling up inside of him at once; he wanted to explode.

"How do you like Triremis Island? It's a beautiful place, isn't it," Okane said. "It's said that this is the Orange Archipelago's first ancient city. It sank thousands of years ago. Legend says that it was because of a storm which flooded the island and turned the ocean black. Curiosity brought me here, and it's a wonderful thing to see. We're witnessing history. Without the treasures, the Orange Archipelago loses all of its color. I didn't think it was true at first."

"Okane, what changed in you?" Cyan asked.

"I've never changed, boy. You don't know a single thing about me. I was destined to rule Team Rocket. I was destined to raise Triremes Island from its shallow grave. I was destined to come here and capture these legendary Pokémon. It's my birthright. It's not something I expect someone as lowly as you or your friend to understand."

"Cyan, I'm not going to take anymore of this!" Skylar shouted. "We have to fight back!"

Cyan remained still.

"C'mon!" she shouted. She took a step past Cyan and drew out her Poké Ball before throwing it forward. Blaziken appeared and blasted flames from his wrists. She looked back at Cyan, who kept his head down.

"Do you honestly believe you'll be able to defeat me, little girl?" Okane asked. "I've not only captured the three legendary birds, but I will soon move onto capturing Lugia, the beast of the sea. Your Blaziken stands no chance."

"Someone has to fight back!" Skylar yelled. "Use Sky Uppercut, Blaziken!"

"Aqua Tail!"

Blaziken lunged forward and prepared to strike, but Gyarados was quick. The large Pokémon spun its body around, smashing its large tail into the entirety of Blaziken, tossing him backward. Blaziken landed on the ground in front of Skylar, still okay to battle.

Skylar glanced over to Cyan and then shook her head. "Fine! Blaziken, we'll use our ultimate attack! Use Blast Burn!"

Blaziken tucked his arms at his sides and focused his power. He started to glow with a hint of red aura, which then surrounded his body as it whipped up wind. Flames formed around him, and he took in a deep breath. Then, he blasted an explosion of fire from his beak. The ground also erupted with flames, which combined to engulf Gyarados completely. Okane remained deadpan while the attack took place, and when the flames dissipated, she smiled.

Gyarados roared, shaking the battlefield.

Skylar took a step backward. "No way. It just shook off my attack!"

"My Gyarados is infected with Pokérus and is the strongest of its kind. I hunted it down specifically. A Fire-type attack, no matter how strong, would only leave a mere scratch," Okane said.

Skylar quickly put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the key stone that she stole from before. She held it out and grinned. "Oh yeah! Well, we have a secret weapon!"

Okane raised her eyebrow. "Oh, do you? Interesting."

"Yeah!" She raised the orb into the air. "Blaziken, let's mega evolve!"

Blaziken howled and tried to take in as much power as he possibly could, but it was all just noise. Energy didn't swirl around Blaziken and make him take a new form like Skylar had seen on television. She looked at the key stone, perplexed.

Okane snickered. "You're pathetic. You need more than a key stone to reach mega evolution. It looks like you lack the proper mega stone, which makes that orb you're holding nothing more than a paperweight."

Skylar shook. "No. No way."

"Gyarados, use Aqua Tail!" Okane commanded.

Her Pokémon screeched once again and then approached the stunned Blaziken. It turned its body around and crashed its tail into the entirety of Fire-type, sending him backward. Blaziken cracked against the stone floor in front of Skylar, fainting on impact.

"No!" Skylar shouted. She ran to her Pokémon and knelt, putting her hand on his chest. "No. I'm sorry."

Cyan quivered as he watched his friend. He slowly shook his head, but he still couldn't bring himself to move.

Lugia lifted one of its arms and tried to stand, but it was impossible. Its head fell back to the ground, catching Okane's attention.

"This ancient city was made with the intention of controlling the beast," Okane said. "And that's why Lugia's ancestor decided to sink it when it did. Ironically, Lugia has made the island its underwater home since."

She walked over to a small podium and pressed her hand on top of it. She adjusted the Silver Wing, which surged with power. The blue crystals around the room started to glow with more intensity, and the ground took on the same color. Circular rings made of stone lifted from the ground and began to surround Lugia. They sparked with blue electricity, zapping Lugia and making it screech. They pulled the legendary Pokémon from the ground and lifted it into the air, trapping it inside. Lugia now appeared to be in some sort of comatose state.

Okane grinned. "Lugia is mine."

Skylar looked back towards Cyan for some kind of reassurance, but he continued to stare at the ground, frozen with fear.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

How did I manage to take a happy character like Cyan and put him through so much?

The image that I have for Triremis Island is kind of like a city inside of a colosseum. The idea came from two places. I went to Nagasaki, where there is a place called Battleship Island, and it inspired the name. A trireme is an ancient battleship (so Triremis). And the other inspiration comes from Atlantis. Some of the Orange Islands already kind of have a Greek feel to them (especially Pummelo Island), so I figured, why not?

Also, I kind of like the Key Stone red herring in this chapter. Skylar thinks that she'll take Blaziken to the next step but is ultimately unable to. Whether or not she'll ever be able to take Blaziken to the next level is up in the air, as they have to make it through this event first.

Next chapter: Okane has successfully captured Lugia. Cyan is too shaken to move, leaving Skylar to fight by herself. Can they pull themselves together in time, or is it already too late?

REVIEWS:

pokemonking0924 - "Training seemed to be going great both showed great energy and strategies. However who would have thought that they were on Daidai Rockets island. Then Cyan is told how is leading this group his old friend Okane and his whole world shattered for a moment. Now they are on their way to confront her and get some answers." - And even with a confrontation, he still has very few answers.

wisdom-jewel - "I can't wait to see Cyan meet/fight Okane. I can see it be very emotional on both sides or mostly on Cyan's side. It is a very good idea for their Pokemon to heal before going off. And I love the battling scene. I'm sure it will get more intenst since they are going to battle Team Rocket." - Next chapter will be the most intense/emotional, I think.