Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Pokémon or any of its parent companies. I am merely a humble storyteller. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this journey with me.
Note: I am English, so some of the wordings, spellings, and expressions will be those commonly used in England.
Chapter Eight: Avery Interesting Flight!
Lucy craned her neck upwards. She sighed. "Are you sure?" she asked Professor P.
"Indubitably," he said. "We've pinpointed yet another Phobos Mobile that appears to be carrying countless Poké Balls up there."
The clouds raced across the sky, white and fluffy above her head, greyer and duller further along, many miles away, the sun breaking through with its rejuvenating, warm rays.
"I guess we should've considered it," Lucy said. "There was already the Phobos Train, so why wouldn't they have a plane or a jet or something like that?" She grimaced. "I just have to figure a way of getting onboard."
"I'm sure Flygon will be a great help," Professor P said. "It would be too risky for your Gligar Glider anyway, so I'm glad you have her on your team."
"Well, I'm going to get my helmet and I'll set off." Lucy frowned at the sky. "We just have to keep pressing on and on and on."
"Exactly. We're counting on your success, Miss Fleetfoot."
o~o~o~o~o
General Avery was happy. Or content. Content would probably be the word. 'Content' does sound like a lesser 'happy', doesn't it? He would be happy, hopefully soon, only when the Phobos Battalion succeeded. And they would, he was certain of that. But until then, until they had one hundred percent succeeded, he would simply be content.
General Avery pushed forward on the yoke, bursting through the clouds, the sunlight reflecting off the window. He breathed deeply. To be amongst the clouds, to be in the heavens, to gaze down at the earth they left behind, the tiny, insignificant creatures who would never understand the glory of soaring through the air, was fascinating. But even he could not truly appreciate it. Not until the Phobos Battalion succeeded. And he would play a big role, together with the Phobos Jet.
Calling it the Phobos 'Jet' might not have been accurate. Simply calling it the Phobos Plane may have been better, although Jet sounded cooler so maybe that was why it stuck. It was a fast vehicle, quite speedy, but it could not go the true speeds of a normal jet. It was too big for one. It had the purloined Poké Balls hanging underneath for another, weighing it down. Either way, it was still a remarkable mechanical creation that allowed him to be in the place that appealed to him the most, that allowed him to use his exceptional piloting skills as often as he desired.
They were getting to the end. They just had to be. It would be a waste of time and effort for them to fail. He, General Avery, would ensure their success.
Oh? The slightest shudder. Maybe turbulence? Could be. But General Avery paid it no heed as he simply continued on his aerial journey.
o~o~o~o~o
Lucy scanned four more Pokémon and sent them on their way to the SOL Satellite, guided by the light of the Trozei Beamer in the murk. She dabbed at her forehead with her scarf, her helmet lying forgotten by her side. She was getting there. Slowly but surely, she was getting there. Aipom and Manectric scanned the area, their sharp eyes and ears trained to detect anything suspicious that might come their way. Hopefully no one would. The Jet's engines were far too loud, so maybe their infiltration would go off without a hitch.
They were inside yet another Poké Ball-like contraption, a storeroom attached to the bottom of the Phobos Jet, a name Lucy discovered thanks to an engraving: Avery's Phobos Jet.
She had saved tonnes of Pokémon so far: the amorphous blob Ditto; Murkrow, a black-feathered Pokémon with a crooked, yellow beak, feathers on his head, and tail that resembled a witch's hat and broomstick respectively; Swablu, a small, round, blue creature with fluffy, cloudlike wings, a tiny, white beak, and two feathers on its head and two more acting as its tail; the wingless, three-headed bird Pokémon Dodrio of shaggy brown feathers and pink tail feathers. Those poor Pokémon were just a handful of what Lucy had rescued.
Lucy paused for a second to take a sip of water, refreshing herself and her discombobulated thoughts. A second Phobos Mobile. A second one meant there could be a third. Which also meant there could be a fourth. If there were, there was a chance they could be much more difficult to get into. Oh boy, how much of a pain the Phobos Battalion was proving to be! Secret Storages, Huge Storages, Phobos Mobiles! How long had they planning this? Were their previous criminal escapades merely a smokescreen, keen to hide this, their true plan? Maybe, for how could they organise something so quickly without stringent strategizing over a long period of time?
However, SOL were winning, weren't they? They had saved a heck of a lot of Pokémon already, thrown a spanner into the gears of the Phobos Battalion's grand scheme, hadn't they?
They just to keep on moving forward for justice would always prevail (in a fictional setting). Phobos Battalion would not succeed.
Lucy stowed away her water bottle. It was time to get back to work.
o~o~o~o~o
"Just a little while longer," General Avery murmured to himself, staring ahead at the expanse of blue.
Another delivery back to base almost completed. Maybe he could afford an hour of kip before heading off again. It was not safe to pilot a plane when tiredness threatened to take over after all. Or drive a car. Or ride a motorbike. Or… well, it was not safe to do anything when sleepy, was it? Except sleep, of course.
General Avery's eyes drifted to the navigational computer. Not far now. His eyes drifted further to the left. He frowned. Was it him or were the energy readings of the Phobos Jet lower? It did seem to be that way.
Was the Jet not absorbing some of the Poké Ball energy as it should? Was there something wrong below? The Mobile still had enough energy in the tank to get them back to base, but it was still a worrying predicament.
General Avery activated the autopilot and proceeded to the Phobos Jet's storage sector.
o~o~o~o~o
Had she done it? Were they the last? It appeared to be the case. Lucy let out a long sigh and reattached the Trozei Beamer to her belt. She petted Aipom and Manectric. "Looks like we can go," she said to herself, returning them to their Poké Balls.
She would go out the way she entered, through a small latch at the bottom of the giant Poké Ball. Diving out of a plane and falling for miles, watching as the ground grew larger and larger, the wind buffeting her from all sides, always made her stomach lurch, but she did have Flygon on her, and her Gligar Glider should Flygon have a case of butterfingers.
She gripped the latch's handle and tugged. She was greeted by a loud, powerful, freezing wind and the clouds being whipped by the speed of the Phobos Jet. Lucy took a deep breath, about to put on her helmet, prepared to jump.
However…
"What? The Phobos Jet has been infiltrated by an intruder?"
Lucy heard something and looked up. From an opening in the roof of the storage sector came a man clad in purple, descending slowly with his boots that spurted flames. Jets boots would probably be their name. Lights flashed on, ridding the storage sector of its shadows.
He glared at her. "That cannot be! Not under my watch! For I am the great General Avery!"
Lucy sucked her lips and tapped her ear towards the man.
"What?" General Avery said.
She tapped her ear again and gestured around her.
"What?" General Avery said again.
Once more, Lucy tapped her ear and shrugged.
"You… can't hear me?" General Avery said. "Too windy?"
"What?" Lucy mouthed at him.
General Avery gritted his teeth, his nostrils flaring. This was utterly ridiculous! Here was an infiltrator and she could not appreciate his wonderful and imposing entrance, a little Rattata who desired to ruin the Phobos Battalion's great plans? They may not have been able to hear each other but he would speak to her in the only other language he knew how.
"I will end you, interloper!" he snarled at her. "I'll feed you to the Fearow!"
"What?"
A Murkrow appeared from a Poké Ball General Avery hurled, a delightful viciousness glinting in its dark eyes, most certainly a different breed to the ones Lucy had already saved.
It was a Dark and Flying-type, which meant it was a job for Manectric. The lightning hound reappeared and howled, although his howls were drowned out by the Jet's engines.
It was a SOL versus the Phobos Battalion battle once again.
But battling can be made intrinsically more difficult when communication between Trainer and Pokémon is disrupted.
The loud engines and the rushing wind through the open latch screamed throughout the storage sector, stealing away the commands of the Trainers. The two opposing Pokémon snapped at each other, occasionally attacking when the orders came through, mostly circling and eyeing one another instead.
The confrontation seemed to be losing momentum. Anything could have happened.
And anything did.
Manectric caught Lucy's eye and wagged his tail. Lucy smiled instead of wagging her tail as she did not possess one and edged nearer to the open latch, placing her helmet over her head. She squatted by it, grasping onto a pipe so as not to be sucked out. She stared at the opening in the ship, as though the prospect of plummeting for miles and miles held more intrigue for her than the battle.
General Avery narrowed his eyes. "Just what do you think you're doing?" he demanded to know.
Lucy did not answer, his words gone lightyears before they even had the ghost of a chance of reaching her ears.
The Phobos Battalion General's momentary lapse of attention on the battle came back to bite him in the bum immediately. Manectric sparked as he charged at Murkrow, knocking the bird to the ground, its body twitching as the voltage ran a marathon through its body.
"What?" General Avery snarled. "Murkrow, return." He threw out another Poké Ball. "End them, Gligar!"
Replacing Murkrow was another Flying-type, a dual Ground and Flying-type to be exact and for whom Lucy's Gligar Glider was named for. Gligar was a three-foot tall purple creature with arms that ended as pincers, a large stinger on its tail, blue wings, a protruding tongue with two sharp fangs on show, and triangular ears. It hissed at Lucy and Manectric.
General Avery called for a Feint Attack, and Gligar disappeared before shooting out from the shadows and ramming into Manectric. Before Manectric had time to compose himself, Gligar swiped its pincers across the lightning canine's side with a critical Slash attack.
Manectric howled in pain, a howl so strident it seemed to combat the rushing wind and fill the storage sector itself. Nevertheless, he did not faint.
Gligar came in for a second try, only to have its wings caught in the fangs of Manectric, fangs that were encased in ice.
"No!" General Avery screeched.
Gligar fell back, one wing icy and numb, flinching in distress.
Lucy grinned. It always paid to have a sneaky attack, didn't it? And now, there was no longer any reason to stay. This was not a Pokémon League battle, where the duel only ended when all of a Trainer's Pokémon were unable to continue the fight. Her job was done. Her grin widened as she returned Manectric to his Poké Ball.
"Au revoir," she mouthed to the Phobos Battalion General.
She leapt into the chilly blue expanse and descended to earth.
General Avery froze, stuck to the spot as those he too was immobilised by Manectric's Ice Fang. He thawed out quickly, however, and rushed to the opened latch, holding onto the same pipe Lucy had.
He gritted his teeth so hard one of them chipped.
A Flygon was sailing away, the SOL agent on its back.
He screamed after them, searing his tongue with the curses he directed at them, firing them off like missiles.
But these missiles would never reach their target.
SOL had gotten one over General Avery.
SOL had gotten another one over the Phobos Battalion.