Chapter 28: Mount Silver
A/N: Strayed a bit from that tight weekly uploading schedule I've had of late, but here's chapter 28. Enjoy, R&R, Alfa19
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A shiver ran through my spine as Knight followed Flygon through the skies eastward. To my left, Mount Silver loomed in the distance, but Drake seemed to be heading further out east with the direction Flygon was taking. Knight kept up the pace, enjoying the chance to fly all out as we crossed over the Tohjo Falls and the Indigo Plateau came into sight.
Out ahead of us was the location of the Indigo and Silver Conferences, colloquially known as the Indigo City. Five massive stadiums decorated the landscape, each different on the inside, and the outside. To the north-east was the ocean stadium, where the battleground was aquatic, with platforms floating in the middle of it. The pale blue walls leaned outwards, shaped towards the top like waves.
To the south east stood the frozen stadium, pale lilac with buttresses in the shape of icicles rising from the ground to support it. To the south west was the plain stadium, where the terrain was typically grass. To the north west stood the colosseum like stadium bearing a battlefield of plain earth and boulders, one of the first to be constructed. Rising tall in the center of all of them was the Indigo Stadium. The first to be built, the most historic. It was the largest stadium by capacity, and the battleground could be changed overnight or even between battles with enough effort. It was where the Indigo Conference and the Silver Conferences began and ended, with the flame of Moltres and the prize ceremonies.
Spread all around the town were restaurants and shops, bars and playground. There was even a movie theater for re-watching battles. Trains from Kanto and Johto both came into the station near the south west of the town, as did a few smaller flights. To the East was the trainer village, a spread of around one hundred and fifty small houses with their own grocery stores, Pokemon centers and restaurants, housing the competitors of the conference in various configurations. It was rustic, not the bustling city style of Saffron, but it was apt. Victory road, leading from the plateau gatehouse, emerged into the trainer village from the east.
To the west extended the guest area, where larger, nicer houses were spread out in their own region (varying from ranches to three story houses and mini castles) owned by the wealthy and famous of Indigo for their own residence during the conferences. Some of it was owned by the League for their visiting dignitaries, including a luxury hotel situated closer to the main city. To the south were an array of smaller inns and hotels that the general public could book. To the north, a single, broad, stone road led onwards to the Indigo League itself, lined with torches on either side.
The castle was magnificent. Walking down the literal Victory Road put you on the stone floor of the plateau, marked by tall pillars bearing pokeball statues atop them. A single path lead north, surrounded by trees on either side. Stairs and plateaus comprised the fifty-foot-wide path up to the Indigo League Castle itself, a magnificent building of red brick and sandstone, with bronze accents around it.
I shook my head and came back to the moment as I felt Knight turn, following Flygon's descent to the gatehouse leading to Victory Road. The rapid dive was exhilarating; it felt almost like a chase.
Touching down on the pale brick road outside, I recalled Knight after a quick pat on the back, waiting for Drake to dust of his coat. The gatehouse was reminiscent of the league as well. Red brick with a sandstone like ceiling and glazed glass double doors. The Admiral recalled didn't recall Flygon, having the dragon walk with him as the doors slid open of their own volition, permitting us to enter the gatehouse.
Two security desks lined the sides of the red carpet going down the hall, wide enough for Drake and Flygon to walk side by side. Each guard bowed their head respectfully as the Dragon Master passed by, making his way to the crossroads at the center of the building.
"Halt!" A guard extended his arm out as I tried to cross by. "You cannot enter without eight gym badges."
Drake turned around and looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "Do I have to bail you out or can you make it on your own?"
Wordlessly, I slung my pack off my shoulders and opened it, removing my badge case from inside and presenting it to the guard. The stout man opened it up, looking at the interior and examining each badge in turn. Time was almost frozen as he carefully inspected each one, lingering on the Rising Badge before handing the case back to me.
"You may pass."
"Thank you." I put the case away and caught up to Drake, walking behind him as he turned left at the crossroads, approaching another set of glass doors with two members of the Indigo corps guarding it. I took a quick second to glance at the signs at the intersection, taking it all in. North led to Victory Road, East to Kanto, and West to Mount Silver.
"Admiral!" The guard to the right bowed, greeting Drake by his title. "Are you voyaging to Mount Silver?"
"Yes." Drake folded his arms, looking at the guards. "This is one of my crew members. He has my clearance to travel to the mountain with me."
"Understood sir. We wish you safe travels." The other guards nodded, speaking indistinctly into his earpiece before unlocking the doors and opening them for us.
I followed Drake out onto Route 28 without a word. The road out here was still distinct, leading up through the plateau to Mount Silver. Craning my neck, I look up to see the shroud of clouds hiding the peak (and much of the upper mountain) from view.
"We'll be stopping at the Pokemon center at the base of the mountain briefly, and then we'll head on." Drake was walking swiftly, having recalled Flygon at this point.
"Yes sir." I continued walking with him in silence. The majority of the route was deserted. Over the course of a three hour walk we only encountered one other trainer, another uniformed Ace Trainer heading back to the gatehouse at the Indigo Plateau.
"The weather's a bit messy out there right now. Keep an eye out." The bearded man nodded our way with his advice and kept moving, walking east even as we walked west.
"Admiral, sir, what is our target?" I asked, noticing the Pokemon center coming into view slowly.
Drake looked over at me with a scrutinizing frown as we walked, nearing the door of the Pokemon center.
"Well, you know enough about it anyway. I'll inform you more once we're inside the mountain." He stepped up to the PC and shuffled around a few pokeballs and items, before tossing me a flat package of clothing. "Wear that. Naval uniform for extreme climate exploration, and a slight armor layer. Adjust your team as you wish, and then report back to the main lobby."
I caught it deftly, feeling the outer brown paper stamped with the Ever Grande Navy Logo crumple beneath my fingers. I walked up to the nurse's station and removed the egg container from my bag, placing it on the counter.
"Hi Nurse... Hill." I glanced at her nametag briefly. "I was wondering if you could provide me any insight as to when it looks like this egg will hatch?"
"Of course." She picked up the container and opened it from the top, removing the egg carefully and taking it to a back room for a few minutes. Having run whatever scans she wanted to, she brought it back to me and placed it in the container again, carefully sealing it.
"It looks like it'll be somewhere between two and three weeks." She smiled and handed it back to me. "Keep taking good care of it."
"Thank you!" I walked over to the PC and logged in, carefully placing the egg container in the storage unit. I wasn't about to take it with me to Mount silver on a potentially high-risk mission. It would just stay in stasis while I was out. I decided to put away the non-essentials from my pack, essentially going through a rough cleanout of it in five minutes and only keeping what I would need for a week's mission, given it was supposed to be four or five days.
My team looked set as it was, so I went into one of the bathrooms and opened up the paper package, pulling the uniform out. First came a thermal bodysuit layer in dark navy. It stretched all the way from my toes up to my face, covering my nose and mouth. A small oxygen regulating mask slipped out of the package. I picked it up and looked it over. The device was loosely fitted to my face, but there were seals around the edges which I could tighten. A similar pair of anti-glare goggles fell out beside it. I slipped both into my kit bag, unsure if needed to be wearing them at the moment. The
Then came the outer layers, almost standard black trousers and a long-sleeved shirt, but each were thicker than I was expecting. I ran a hand over the navy shirt with the same logo embossed over the navy shirt with the familiar silver anchor logo. The chest and bake regions, as well as some of the torso seemed stiffer in places. Holding it up to the light, I examined it carefully. Woven in between the fabric was something resembling Kevlar, or carbon fiber.
This was serious. Taking a deep breath, I quickly suited up and putting my own snow and hiking boots back on. I slipped the gloves into my pocket as I readied myself to head out. Pulling my snow coat on, I quickly went back to the PC and stowed everything else in storage, double checking my bag and equipment kit.
"Alright kid, let's head out." Drake had geared up too, wearing his thermal suit with the mouth covering down for the time being. He had on almost identical gear to me, save for his familiar sailor's coat and cap.
"Yes sir." I nodded and saluted, walking two steps behind him and to the side as we exited the Pokemon center and approached the cave entrance leading into the mountain base.
The interior of the cave was dimly lit by light pouring in from a few other exits out onto the mountainside. A small stream was flowing through the room, falling over cliff edges and ledges as it wound its way down. Drake pulled a flat disc out of his pocket and clipped it onto his breast, tapping it once. Immediately it illuminated the area in front of him, giving us a clearer view of the ten-foot cliff ledge were facing. He pulled another one out of his pocket and tossed it to me.
I reached out with both hands and caught it, examining the plastic disc for a moment before clipping it onto my own coat as well.
"Leave it off unless we absolutely need more light." Drake instructed me, looking at the ledges. "You know how to rock climb?"
"Yes." My mind drifted back to all the exercise I had done with Cassian out by the weather institute, glad it would be useful for something.
"Alright, then let's get going." He walked up to the ledge and jumped up, grabbing a hold and climbing. I looked at him incredulously for a moment as he swiftly progressed up before following. Drake really did not act his age. We emerged atop the ledge and stopped as Drake looked around, noticing the exit to our right.
"Get your goggles out and put your mask up. It's about to get very cold, very quick." Drake pulled his own set out of his pocket and slipped them on, covering up his mouth and nose as well.
I pulled mine on quickly, my mask already over my face. The goggles didn't have too dark off a tint, but the effect was clear when we stepped out into the snow. The polarization on them stopped the glare from the snow all around from tripping me up as I followed Drake out. He was right. In the winters, even the lower mountainside was coated in a thick snow cover, and it was already frigid.
Fortunately for us, it wasn't snowing, so while progress was slowed down by the foot or so of snow on the ground already, the visibility was decent. Pressing on, we made our way around the mountainside, scaling ledges, small cliffs, and mountain walls as we kept up through the mountain.
A small shuffling sound caught my attention, making me turn my neck to look behind me. Nothing seemed to be visible in the snow except the tips of strands of long grass poking out of the white blanket. Shaking my head, I followed Drake up and into another entrance to the cave.
Stepping inside, I removed my goggles and pocketed them, looking around. There was nothing of particular interest in this cavern, or at least nothing that I could see. Drake seemed to have a sense of where he was going as he continued to lead up and around the rough terrain inside the caverns of Mount Silver until we found ourselves facing a pathway out of the current chamber.
"Be ready for anything." Drake warned, switching off his torch as he walked into the room. I followed him in, trying my best to muffle my footsteps as we stepped through into the next cavern.
The room had no light coming in from anywhere, engulfing us in darkness. Drake cursed under his breath, startling me before he turned on his flashlight. We were standing on the edge of an empty pit in the cave, surrounded by the walls and ceiling. Nothing more occupied the room.
"As I thought." Drake put a gloved hand to his mask and looked at the empty room before turning around. "Let's go. I'll debrief you next time we stop."
"Alright." We continued on, venturing out onto the mountainside again and darting in and out of cave entrances all along the current contour line we were walking. For the most part, they seemed empty and disappointing for Drake, save for the Golbat hanging from their ceilings. We'd almost had one bad encounter, but the Dragon Master had released a large, bat looking Pokemon I couldn't identify.
Spreading its black and purple wings out threateningly, the dragon (I presumed) had unleashed a sonic blast from the massive woofer like structure atop its head, sending the swarm of Golbat fleeing.
"What Pokemon was that?"
Silence prevailed for a few moments before Drake finally stopped, setting down his pack and pulling out a few cans of what looked like food.
"Noivern. It's a Kaloasian Dragon. I found him as a youngling on some of my travels there before all this." Drake motioned for me to sit down.
Setting my pack down, I removed some of my own food, releasing Typhlosion to sit with us for a few moments and start a small fire.
"There have been reports of strange activity out here. People claiming they see steam pouring out of the tunnels in the mountain, of snowmelt in winter. There's been a shift in the patterns of the Pokemon living on the mountain side."
Right on cue, a distant roar sounded, shaking the mountainside slightly. Drake looked up and to the side, waiting for the tremor to subside.
"There's a lot of speculation about what could be causing it, and what we're trying to find out, is if that's a legendary Pokemon." Drake sipped some water, capping his bottle and setting it down as a reciprocal roar was audible in the distance. "Lance had a theory that Moltres might be roosting somewhere deep in the mountain."
"Moltres?" I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Most previous sightings of it have been out at Mount Ember in the Sevii Islands, but lately the volcanic activity there seems to have died down." Drake gestured at the interior of the cave. "Mount Silver most certainly isn't a volcano either, so that can't be what's going on here."
"So, what are we trying to do. Find it?" I asked carefully, looking at him.
"In a nutshell. We want to see if its roosting here, and then we leave. We just document that it is in fact here." Drake started to put away his things, gesturing behind me.
I turned around again to see a small green Pokemon with red belly markings staring at me. The bipedal creature had a small horn jutting out of the top of its head, and its red eyes were clearly visible in the dim light of the cavern.
"Oh, it's a Larvitar!" I reached out hesitantly, holding a bit of food in my palm.
The rock type Pokemon walked up to me brazenly and took the food from my hand, chewing it for a moment before spitting it out. It stared at me expectantly, leaving me slightly confused, until I looked around at the land behind it. It had torn a small tunnel through the ground, eating rock until it had emerged behind us. Picking up a small rock from behind me as a peace offering, I held it out again, waiting for Larvitar to react. The small Pokemon picked up the rock, looking at it carefully before gnawing at it and consuming it.
"So, you were probably the noise out on the mountainside." I patted the Pokémon's head, watching it walk away quietly and hop back into its tunnel.
"Interesting Pokemon. I wouldn't want to fight a Tyranitar." Drake looked at the tunnel for a moment before continuing. "We don't plan to engage Moltres if we find it."
"What do you notice about all the caverns we've been in so far. What pattern do you see?" Drake looked at me expectantly as the fire slowly died down, watching me pack away my own things.
I frowned and looked around the cave, taking in the details as I thought back to the previous one, we'd been in. This one didn't have any lakes or streams, but others had. Some of them were completely flat, but others had pits and ledges. Some were darker, some were dead ends…
"None of them lead into the mountain. They all kind of dance around the edges." I cast a glance at the far wall, opposite the mountainside entrance we had come in from.
"Correct." Drake looked up towards the ceiling. "I expect that if we want to get into the mountain, we'll have to keep climbing up and then descend from the inside."
"Couldn't we just fly up?" I asked him, putting a hand on Knight's pokeball. "I mean it's cold, but it should be a short flight for any of the dragons."
"Not as much as you'd think." Drake shook his head, looking outside. "Ascending continuously is harder than flying straight, and the cold is an issue, but not the dominant one. The problem with flying up the mountain is that the air gets increasingly thinner as you rise in altitude, and that can become a problem both for us and for the Pokemon. You only get used to it by spending excessive amounts of time training up here. It's why you have the oxygen regulator. It'll basically pump in more air if it thinks you're at a deficit."
"It's harder not just for the Pokemon to breathe and get oxygen to their lungs, but the air also thins out to the extent that flying is simply harder because there is less air to manipulate with their wings."
"Oh. That makes sense."
"We'll just keep climbing and poking around the caves. We can fly back down." Drake stood up, brushing off his coat. "Come on, let's go."
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I was quite glad for the oxygen regulating masks right about now. Sure, you could try climbing Mount Silver without them, but running from a Tyranitar would not have been fun when you could barely breath. It had been a few days up on the Mountain, and we were closer to the top than when we began. Some internal passages had sheltered us from the weather and the difficult conditions outside, but right now we were on the mountain face, trying to scale it and climb higher.
"Sir?" I took a deep breath, the whirring of the fans audible as they supplemented my breathing.
"Yes?"
"What happens if Moltres isn't here?" I asked, hauling myself over the ledge we had been climbing.
Drake was standing atop the ledge, staring off into the distance towards Kanto. His eyes weren't unfocused, rather they were scanning the skies out to the east.
"Well, midshipman. In that case, we tell the league it isn't here, and you get to tell people you climbed Mount Silver." Drake turned north and started walking along the ledge. I stopped for a moment to see Larvitar burrow up from the ground behind me. The young Pokemon had persistently followed us around the mountain, poking around our camp and generally accompanying us after the Tyranitar incident.
Drake had humored it, and I hadn't caught it, given I was hesitant to remove the young Pokemon from its natural habitat. For the most part it didn't really bother us. It ticked off one of Drake's Salamence a little bit, and only the once. The sleeping dragon had opened its eyes to find a Larvitar prodding its face. Even watching it from afar, it had sent shivers down my spine to watch Salamence slowly open its eyes, its narrow, yellow iris gleaming as it stared down Larvitar with a brutal look.
Larvitar had immediately burrowed into the ground and not appeared for an entire day, before coming back and maintaining its distance from Salamence. The rock type was curious about everything and everyone. It had tried the same thing with Flygon, but the green dragon had simply poked it back, startling it.
"Alright. We're going inside." Drake gestured towards an opening in the walls as the blizzard picked up strength.
Holding onto the mountain wall, I walked myself to the cavern entrance slipped inside, breathing slowly in respite from the howling winds. The interior of the mountain was immediately warmer, once I stepped out of the way of the draft. Drake had already decided which way to go, following the one further entrance into the cave.
The tunnel we found ourselves in was narrow and dark, leading down the inside of the mountain at a steep gradient. Drake was using a climbing pick while inside, stabbing it into the wall for support occasionally to hold himself and make sure he didn't slip down the tunnel and fall.
Darkness enveloped us as Drake's flashlight failed, having run out of power. I pulled mine out and clipped it on quickly, tapping it to activate it and flood the passage ahead with light.
"This doesn't look natural." I remarked, following Drake down carefully.
"Probably a Pupitar judging by the looks of it." Drake was running a hand along the roof, loosening dirt particles clinging to the rock. "And a big one at that. Probably the Tyranitar from a few days ago."
"Oh."
"Be ready, this could emerge into a Tyranitar's den." Drake instructed me, one hand on his belt. It looked like we had reached the end of the tunnel, and I was glad. The walls were creeping up on us, eating up all the available space and making for a narrow path.
We emerged into an open cavern. Two clear paths were visible in the dimly lit room, one leading further into the caves, and another that I took a moment to poke my head out of. It seemed to emerge into a small sheltered pit in the middle of the mountain, maybe ten feet wide at most.
I stepped back inside to see Drake looking at the path. The older man was examining the structure of the tunnel. Spotting the stream running through the room, I walked over and removed my oxygen mask, kneeling to cup some water and drink from it. Reaching my hands in, I broke the surface of the water with a shock, expecting the same cold rush from the other streams inside the mountain.
"Admiral." I turned towards Drake, letting the hot water from the stream run over my hands. "I think we're heading in the right direction. This water's hot. Everything in here should either be ground water or glacial melt. Nothing should be this hot."
Drake immediately turned around, coming over to the stream and plunging a hand in himself. His eyes widened at the latent heat in the liquid, feeling the sign that of what was close by. He removed his own mask, putting a little bit of the water in his mouth to make sure his hands weren't deceiving him.
"Upstream." He removed his hand, shaking it dry and pulling a glove back on. I followed his gaze and spotted the broad opening the water was gushing out from. Drake climbed atop a boulder next to the stream, taking a step backwards before running and leaping over the water to the narrow outcropping of rock on the other side. I followed his lead, approaching the cavity in the wall. It was plenty wide, but it was only four feet high.
Drake examined the wall for a moment before reaching for his belt. He picked off his belt and released the slim green dragon that had first brought him down to me in Route 45.
"Flygon. We need this passage to be taller. Try using earth power." Drake gestured towards the tunnel and Flygon immediately set to work, concentrating. I could see its eyes through the red lens structures atop them.
The structure of the rock itself shifted with a rumble until the roof of the tunnel was seven feet high, giving us enough room to walk without bending or crawling. He recalled the dragon, staring down the tunnel into the darkness.
"In case we need to run." Drake slowly started walking down the tunnel, around the edge of the river. I followed him cautiously, walking around the bends in the river and following it through. I turned a corner and the wall of heat hit me like Knight rushing forward.
Drake could feel it too, having taken off his snow coat and tied it around his waist. I copied him quickly, glad for the respite for the sudden heat. We rounded another bend, following the curve of the river, and the exit from the tunnel was visible. The river itself was winding around the edge of a pit. An orange glow lit up the walls of the cavern, emanating from the depths of the pit itself, heating up the room. The river wasn't even crossing the pit directly, and it was superheated.
Drake motioned with his hand for me to come, stepping out of the tunnel and into the cavern. I ran a hand across my face, wiping the sweat off it and approaching the edge of the pit where he stood, carefully taking picture of the inside of it. Steeling myself, I glanced over the edge of the pit. It descended down for some twenty feet in a rough inverted pyramid with rocks jutting out all over the edges.
A golden form lay sleeping in the center, wings spread over its body. From where we were standing, its body looked quite thin, with straight, legs ending in talons and long, thin wings. In reality, it was massive. Casting a glance around the rim of the pit and the floor at the bottom, I tried to work through it. Its wingspan must have been twenty feet, and its long sharp beak was at least a foot on its own.
Flickering red flames danced along the length of its spine, from the top of its skull all the way to the base of its body, breaking off into a wispy tail. The edges of its wings were alight with fire as well, lending to the image that the massive creature was burning where it lay. The light was mesmerizing, flickering and casting shadows all around from the tiny rocks everywhere. The waves of heat emanating from it moved with its breath, showing us its heartbeat.
Drake gestured towards the cavern, satisfied with the pictures and the data he had collected, turning around. Sighing with relief internally, I started walking towards the same tunnel we had come from carefully, making for the exit as I tried to process what I had just seen.
A small tumbling sound echoed throughout the chamber, stopping me in my tracks. I turned around with caution, eyes wide as I spotted Larvitar peering over the edge of the pit. It had dug a small tunnel into the cavern and emerged right by the edge. I slowly stepped forward, craning my neck to look at the sleeping legend again.
Pryce's gym was cold. The Ice Path was cold. But neither were as cold as the skeletal fingers closing around my heart as I watched with horror as a loose rock tumbled down the pit and bounced off the walls.
With a resounding smack, the chunk of stone fell atop the bird's head, stopping the waves of heat. Larvitar was still standing by the edge, looking over it curiously as the light in the cavern dimmed, before dying out altogether.
Light like I had never seen before flooded the room as a towering inferno rose up from the depths of the pit, scorching the roof and boiling the water in the passing stream into gaseous vapors.
In the split second before the fire poured over the edge of the pit, I reacted, throwing a pokeball out and capturing Larvitar. The red sphere disappeared, flashing back to the storage system as the fire spilled out over the edges, leaving burn marks over the floor when it subsided.
The mountain itself seemed to tremble beneath us, leaving me struggling to stay standing as the pressure in the room rapidly increased. Heat spread throughout the chamber, filling it with steam from the water nearby and running the riverbed dry. I knelt to the ground as the sheer force exuded by the creature in the pit forced my back down, pressing me to the ground.
I managed to turn my neck, looking up with the flapping off wings. Rising out of the pit was the massive creature itself. Its wings burned with white hot flames, tailing off to a brilliant red and orange wake pouring off the edges, and its tail flickered with colors from the rainbow, searing its image into my mind.
A mane of burning white flames stretched down its spine, tailing off in the same orange and red wake all the way down its spine until it met the shock of colors at its tail. Up closer, its legs were easily as stout as mine, and its talons looked like they could crush the breath out of me if the avian hadn't already incinerated my soul.
An ear-piercing shriek sounded through the cavern as a flickering silver ring of sparks appeared in the corner of the room, high up in the air near the ceiling. Through the ring of sparks, I could vaguely make out a barren mountain summit in a much warmer climate than Mount Silver.
The shape of the ring twisted and contorted, collapsing in upon itself with a burst of energy. Three more took its place in various spots across the chamber, each spasming violently as the locations they depicted within it tore themselves apart. I watched, mesmerized by the flames as Moltres shrieked again, tearing apart the silver rings with the sound of its voice as another thirteen popped into existence. Some of the places I recognized, some I had never seen before. Underwater from an ocean, a stone altar out on a desolate island, Hoenn's Mount Chimney billowing steam and ash out its top.
Moltres's eyes settled on us, the intruders in its sanctuary. It looked between the two of us before turning its long beak towards me, focusing its gaze on my face. I raised my eyes to meet it, to look at the Pokemon that would take my life from my hands one more time before I left the earth.
Its pupils shifted on a particulate level like the surface of a black sun, the burning darkness entrapping my gaze as I found myself helpless to look anywhere else, staring directly at the bird's eyes. Gravity itself seemed to be fixing my eyes to Moltres, allowing my face to burn from the waves of oncoming heat as the pressure it exerted forced me into the ground.
My vision blurred until the only thing visible was the dark stars that were Moltres's eyes and thoughts faded into the background as I simply lay on the ground, feeling the small strip of rock touching my face burn. A lilting melody floated out of the back of my head, the notes dancing around the darkness in my eyes in all the colors of Moltres's tail flames.
Slowly the pressure on my back alleviated, allowing me to crane my neck up. Moltres's neck had turned, its eyes focused on Drake. The old sailor was holding a shell ocarina, almost pressed into the ground like I was, but his fingers were moving on the seafarer's instrument, just barely.
The tune was soft and cooling, soothing some of the pain of the burn mark across my left cheek. The flickering flames on Moltres's back rose to even greater heights as the spasming portals across the cavern collapsed, leaving only one in place between myself and Drake. I couldn't see through the ring from where I sat, but I could hear it.
A familiar lapping of water against stone walls was audible as the same melody Drake had been playing sounded out of the portal, filling the chamber completely. The warm light from Moltres's flames died down as the white receded to red and the avian stared into the portal, as mesmerized as I had been a moment earlier. A cool, blueish pattern of light diffusing through rippling waves projected itself across the walls slowly as the melody continued.
I watched in utter disbelief as the avian sank back into its pit slowly, feeling the pressure abate. I slowly pushed myself off the ground as the portal collapsed behind us. Drake rose to his knees and continued playing the tune, picking up where the ethereal song had left off. With his head and eyes, he gestured violently towards the pit. Breathing heavily, I crawled towards the edge, peering over cautiously.
The bird of fire lay sleeping where we had found it before Larvitar had arrived, wings spread over its body and flames flickering with red warmth. Slowly, the regular breathing from the pit resumed, exhaling waves of heat as I crawled back to Drake. Putting an arm under his shoulders to support him, I slowly rose to my feet, helping him as we walked out, Drake continuing to play.
We followed the river path out as the water slowly resumed its trickle down the riverbed. Once we were out of the cave, Drake gestured to his belt, continuing to play. I reached over gingerly and plucked off Flygon's pokeball releasing the dragon.
"Flygon, could you use earth power and seal this tunnel?" I asked, holding my shoulder and clipping the ball back onto Drake's belt.
The ground type looked over at Drake for confirmation before setting to work, closing off the river tunnel in a minute. Only then did Drake remove the ocarina from his lips, gasping and putting it away. Silence reigned for a few minutes as we regained our breath and our composure.
"That's a legendary Photon, wrap your head around it." He stood up and dusted his coat off, "You did the right thing with that Larvitar. The fire would have burned it into the ground. Here, thrice daily, and rub it in properly. It's the strongest burn cream we have." He passed me a small white tube, gesturing at my face.
"Thank you, sir." I bowed my head, touching one hand gingerly to the darkening mark across my right cheek, under my eye. "Admiral… what was that? The music?"
Drake pulled a bottle of water out of his bag and drank, motioning for me to do the same. I reached for mine, pulling it out and drinking as he thought for a few moments, absentmindedly stroking Flygon's back.
"That was Lugia's song. It's treated as a sailor's song by many, but the folks out at the Shamouti Islands in Kanto, the caretakers of the bird's shrines, they know its real significance." Drake put his ocarina away after a quick wash in the warm water of the stream, pulling his gloves and his respirator mask back on. "You did well. If there weren't two of us, I'd be dead right now."
I looked up at the dragon master with a frown, staring at him. He nodded his head, looking at me seriously.
"You've performed exceptionally on this mission. Effective immediately, you're promoted to the rank of Lieutenant." Drake examined me for a moment before turning to the exit into the mountain pit. "You'll get your new kit onboard the ship. Now let's get out of here."
I followed the man out into the open, releasing Knight and taking to the air as we tried to leave. I could see the difficulty for Knight up in the thin mountain air, but fortunately once we were over the crest we could simply let gravity guide us down the mountain until the air was thick enough for Knight and Flygon to comfortably take us to the Pokemon center at the base.
"Heal up, put your gear away for the next time you need it, and you're free to head out. I'll handle the debrief right now, but expect some discussion on this at a later point in time, once you're on active duty again." Drake nodded at me, staying atop Flygon as I dismounted Knight.
"Yes sir. Thank you, Admiral." I saluted him momentarily before recalling Knight.
"We depart from Vermillion City for Hoenn again on the twenty second of February, seven hundred hours sharp. Report to the Katherine at six hundred to stow your belongings and get ready for duty." Drake nodded, giving me a kind look. "Get some rest Ethan. You've earned it." With that, Flygon took off bound east, leaving me to my own devices.
With a weary nod to the skies, I recalled Knight and walked into the Pokemon center. Looking around, I spotted the lone nurse on duty at the counter reading a magazine with her Chansey.
"Hi, could you check my team out?" I gratefully handed my pokeballs and ID to the kindly smiling nurse. Accepting the card back, I went up to the PC, sorting through my bag and setting it straight for the remaining, short leg of the journey I had. As easy as it would be to just fly into New Bark Town, especially after all this, I was still going to go to the North end of Route 46 and complete the journey home. Besides, I'd rather try and give the burn mark a few days to settle down while I treated it before I showed up and my mother panicked.
Dealing with everything to do with my belongings, I took a change of clothes with me and went to the showers, taking my time to wash up and change. Once I was ready, I headed back out to the front, taking Larvitar's pokeball out of the PC. Walking up to the cave entrance of Mount Silver, I pressed the button and released Larvitar onto the ground.
"Alright buddy, you can go back to the mountain now. I caught you to so you wouldn't burn up." Larvitar looked at me for a moment shaking its head.
"You don't want to go back?" I looked at Larvitar, watching the rock type shake its head again.
"You're serious. Huh. I guess you're not going back." Larvitar nodded, pointing at the pokeball in my hand.
"Alright. If that's what you want." I recalled the young Pokemon and stepped back into the Pokemon center. A few quick keyboard clicks later, I had deposited it in the PC for the time being and collected the rest of my team from the nurse.
"Thank you for your help." I smiled and nodded my head to the nurse who was watching me with a pleasant smile.
"Of course. I hope you feel better soon." She waved politely as Chansey chimed in, watching me step out of the Pokemon center.
Once we were outside, I released Knight, letting the great dragon stretch its wings for a few moments before I climbed onto its back.
"Hey girl, let's get back to Route 46 and pick up where we left off. We can talk about the last few days when we're there, or maybe at home." I smiled and scratched her back, patting it lightly. "Think you can handle this flight? I'm a bit tired. Honestly when we get there, I'm just setting up camp for the day."
Knight crooned one more time, and gently took off, letting me sit peacefully in the saddle a he guided us back towards our journey.
|\/|~^-_-_-^-_-_-^~|\/|
The morning after next…
I crawled out of my tent, looking up to the clear skies and sighing. The events of the Mount Silver had slowly sunk in, becoming more real and tangible. I pulled my phone out and look at my face in the reflection on the screen. The cream Drake had given me was helping, and the burn mark already looked better, but it would take a few days to clean itself up.
I released Lucario, enlisting the fighting type's help to break down camp and clean up the remains of the campfire from last night. I had spent the previous two nights simply sitting with the team, enjoying their company and talking about light hearted things, or positive things like the conference. I had deliberately avoided the topic of Mount Silver.
I hesitated with one of the tent poles in my hand. We had barely survived the encounter with Moltres, and it was terrifying. Sleep hadn't come easy, with nightmares of the burning obsidian eyes that had almost consumed me reigning in the darkness. Typhlosion was helpful, simply providing a familiar, comfortable warmth to ward off the searing heat from Moltres. Lucario had stayed out the first night, exuding a soothing aura as it helped me drift to sleep.
"Let's get going. I think we'll reach the gatehouse in a few hours' time." I finished packing up the tent and shouldered my pack, turning south with Lucario by my side.
'Trainer-friend.'
"Yes?" We had long since left behind the mountains and the valley and we were traversing a plain route with grass, bounded on either side by the forests. If I wasn't mistaken, it was the far edge of the same forest where I used to go to take pictures.
'When will we discuss the mountain?'
"When we're in New Bark Town and we can stop moving." I replied.
Lucario stayed silent, simply accompanying me the remainder of the way down the route. It took us another two hours but we progressed towards it at a steady pace. The familiar Johtan style gatehouse was visible ahead of us. Plain peach walls with dark green tiling on the roof. I stepped through the doors and walked down the hall, nodding politely at the security guard sitting behind the counter.
We emerged on the other side in the middle of a wide path. I cast a glance to my right, the west, which led off to Cherrygrove city. That was the route I would have taken had Lucy not decided to give me a shortcut and send me straight to Violet City. I turned east, walking through the knee-high grass with Lucario.
'This is quite a peaceful region.' Lucario remarked, wading through the tall grass by my side.
"More so than the valley?"
'Perhaps peaceful is the wrong word. It is… innocent. The Pokemon here are young and spry, the humans passing through here are new trainers. There is a sense of wonder about this place. It is unlike any of the other journeys we have taken in Johto.'
"I can understand that." I admitted, looking around at the route with a few young trainers walking about. "Lucario."
'Yes?' The aura Pokemon stopped in its tracks as I spoke.
A lone Sentret bounded out of the grass at Lucario, trying to catch it by surprise and attack it. With a single, swift movement, the aura Pokemon caught Sentret with one paw and simply held it at an arm's length.
'Be at ease little one.' Lucario's voice was audible to me even as it spoke to the normal type Pokemon. It set Sentret down in the grass, watching it scamper off into the distance. 'What is on your mind friend?'
"I… don't think I'm ready to go back to New Bark Town yet." I looked over at the fighting type. I had stopped walking when Sentret had sprung out of the grass. Lucario looked at me with what I thought to be genuine surprise. It could read my emotions very easily, but it couldn't exactly read my mind all the time, unless I was trying to reach out to it. It was maybe the only bit of aura use I would ever learn.
'Then let us stay a while.' Lucario responded simply, not prodding me over my reasons or my thoughts. Silently grateful, I lay down on the grass, staring at the sky above. The wind was blowing clouds across the ocean of blue above us, and while it was cold, the sun was comfortable.
'Perhaps training with the team might ease your mind a bit.' Lucario suggested, looking around he open plains once more.
"That sounds like a decent idea." I smiled weakly, reaching for my belt and releasing Typhlosion. "Hey buddy, why don't we get a little bit more time in training before we get to New Bark and take a few days off."
The fire type growled pleasantly and looked at me, waiting for an instruction.
"How about you try Sunny Day, and we can see if I feel warmer, and actually test it using Solarbeam." I pulled my pack around and leaned back against it so I could see the fire type. Lucario came over and sat by me cross legged as Typhlosion began practicing the technique, going through a slew of exercises we had pulled up from the internet to train for using sunny day effectively.
'What are you feeling Ethan-gold?' Lucario's eyes were closed as it gazed at Typhlosion, watching the fire type practice its movements and prepare itself.
"That's a trick question and you know it. You can see my aura. You know me better than I do at this point." I grumbled, smiling slightly as I looked at my first partner standing ten feet away from me.
'That defeats the point of this exercise trainer-friend. I understand it to be therapeutic when one talks through their own emotions rather than being told them.' Lucario kept its eyes focused on Typhlosion, visibly refusing to read my aura and shortcut it.
"Why are you so wise anyway? You literally hatched on the journey with us!" I looked over at Lucario, staring at it quizzically.
'Do you recall a conversation we had a while back where I mentioned the old masters?'
"Reasonably well."
'The old masters had understood how to store memories within crystals with inductive properties and resonant aura. But they were not limited to objects with aura induction properties.' Lucario stared up at the sky, watching the clouds with his eyes opening slowly.
'They Knights of Cameran understood the necessity of passing down wisdom and education from generation to generation. For the humans, they used what little aura communication they had along with memories stored in these crystals to help them educate. But within our species, the elders learned how to embed knowledge into our very aura.'
"Isn't that disorienting?" I looked over at Lucario in awe, raising an eyebrow. "To have years of other people's memories inside your head?"
'They learned over time how to formulate it as an instinctual understanding of things rather than a memory.' Lucario smiled wryly, finally looking over at me. 'They did include some understanding of the principle of this method incase it ever needed to be reconstructed, and the consequences of structuring it as memories.'
"Interesting."
'Indeed. But to return to our earlier conversation, trainer friend.' Lucario looked over at me, fixing his red eyes on me. His stare was intense, but it wasn't jarring. It was warm, and empathetic, the look of a friend. 'I understand that it may be difficult to understand or vocalize why you are hesitant to return to New Bark Town, so perhaps it might be a better exercise to simply ask you to speak what you are thinking. You project your thoughts to me when we battle, perhaps try vocalizing them.'
"I don't know Lucario." I stopped for a moment to look at Typhlosion and check in on its progress. "Hey pal, I think you're making some great progress on the stance, how about we try a Solarbeam?"
Typhlosion nodded and growled, standing on its haunches. It looked up to the sun, inhaling deeply enough that I could see its chest dilate before in about half as much time as usual, it blasted solar beam straight into the sky.
"That's looking great. How about we give it another run or two for the day."
'Back to the topic at hand.' Redirecting the conversation, Lucario watched Typhlosion practice its movements and form again.
"It's just… odd. I haven't been home in ages. The last time we came here was right before we left for Hoenn before the raid on the town. I don't know what I'm going to see when we get back."
'I do not know what the town will look like now, but I believe that had we any need to worry about it, your mother might have warned you.'
"You're probably right, it's just going to be weird."
'What else is on your mind?'
"I kind of like this life. Just being on the road, or traveling. It's become my life. I don't know if I'm ready to go back to being at home."
'Ethan, rest easy. You deserve a rest after the events of late, and we will be on our journey again soon will we not? Tell me where will be going next, let's talk over it.'
"Well, first out east the normal way to get to the gatehouse and cross Victory Road. From there we make it to Indigo City and register for the Silver Conference." I scratched my chin as I plotted out the next few weeks. "We should take the chance while we're in Kanto and go to Pewter City to look for a Protector for Rhydon. Then we leave for Hoenn again with Drake from Vermillion City."
'There is much journeying ahead of us my friend. I understand it may be difficult to return to New Bark after everything, but we can enjoy it, and use the time to re-center ourselves prior to traveling.' Lucario gave me a wolfish grin, standing up as Typhlosion scampered over. 'And then, together we take on the Silver Conference.'
Smiling weakly, I stood up and nodded, getting ready to move again. Lucario was right. We had a few weeks with family to enjoy, so it was time to make the most of it. Once I had shouldered my pack, the three of us began walking, heading down the path east to return home to New Bark Town.
The dirt path slowly widened, turning into a clear road as we emerged from the route into a small town. Houses were scattered to either side of us, none particularly tall. The construction varied, but for the most part they shared the same widely available wood as their outer surface. Roof tiling of various colors was visible, and I could see a Pokemon center in the distance. Casting a glance to my left, I noticed Professor Elm's ranch and house, the building taller than most so that it could fit his lab in the ground floor.
Children were darting about the playground nearby, and I could hear people going about their daily lives, to and from the shops and their houses. I cast a glance at my watch. It was two in the afternoon, so school was most certainly out.
"Welcome to New Bark Town." I smiled as Lucario and Typhlosion, watching the fire type perk up at the sight of the first home it had known. We had spent many a day wandering the streets together when I had been staying in New Bark before journeying out.
"We're home."
I walked down the main road with the two Pokemon, drawing some attention from passersby and familiar faces.
"Ethan!" A loud voice boomed from the right and I turned to see Sal the grocer standing out by his small store, looking over at me with a wide smile. "Good to see you back!"
"It's good to be home Sal!" I replied, grinning as he brushed aside his curly red hair.
"You look like you've been on some heck of a journey!" Sal wiped his hands on his apron, wrinkling the plaid pattern.
"It's been a good time! I'm going to head home, but I'll swing by the shop to catch up later!" I waved at him and continued walking, greeting the people I recognized with a smile and a wave.
'This must be quite a small town if you know this many people here.' Lucario remarked, watching me with interest as I waved hello to Lyra's mother.
"Yeah, it's probably three thousand people." We rounded the corner and walked past a row of houses with small gardens.
"Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve… fourteen! We're home guys." I grinned, looking at the house. A small cobbled path led up to the dark brown door. To the right was the garden patch with mom's flowerbeds and bushes, and to the left was the entrance to the garage. The small half hexagon alcove protruded from the house, the curtains half drawn over the windows.
Reaching for the door handle I grasped it, felling the familiar shape as I closed my eyes. One twist, just to the point before it started creaking, and then pull.
The sight of an empty kitchenette greeted me, although I could hear the television playing somewhere else. Nobody was sitting at the dinner table, or at the kitchen counter, so I took my shoes off, along with my coat, putting them in the closet by the door. I stepped around the wall and looked over at the lounge.
Lily was sitting on the carpet, watching cartoons and grooming Phloe with her eye on the screen. The old Typhlosion was simply relaxing and letting my little sister brush her coat repeatedly.
"Hey Lily." I smiled and waved as Lily's head turned towards me, her green eyes snapping wide open when she saw me.
"MOM! ETHAN'S HOME!" She screamed running forward and tackling me with a hug as Typhlosion scampered over to his mother. Phloe seemed almost surprised to see a Typhlosion in place of the Quilava who had left New Bark Town, taking in the sight of her child with joy.
I heard my mother's footsteps coming down the stairs, calm and collected as ever. I looked expectantly, hugging Lily back and picking her up.
"You've gotten bigger!" I ruffled her hair and set her down, looking over at the staircase. My mother stepped down and around the corner, her brown hair done up in a bun and warm smile decorating her face.
"Ethan! I'm so glad you're home!" She stepped over and wrapped me up in a long hug, before stepping back and looking at my face. "What happened here?"
She ran a finger over the burn mark, making me wince as she looked on with worry.
"Oh, nothing, just a small accident. It wasn't anyone of us." I gestured towards Typhlosion before. "It'll be better in a few days. I have medicine for it." I smiled and hugged her again, holding her tight.
"Oh. I guess it'll be okay if you've had it checked out." She smiled and returned the hug.
I carefully neglected to mention the fact that I hadn't in fact actually gone to get it checked, and that Drake had simply given me the ointment, but those were just details that didn't need to be said right now.
"And who is this?" Mom looked over at Lucario with a pleasant smile.
"Mom, this is Lucario, one of my… older? Younger technically? I don't know. One of my team members, one of the family."
'It is a pleasure to meet you.' Lily's eyes widened as Lucario spoke to the two of them, looking up at it in awe.
"You can talk!" she shrieked excitedly, looking at the aura Pokemon with a wide smile.
'You can hear me in your head.' Lucario nodded with a smile at my overly excited little sister.
"You ought to be used to it by now Lily. You've talked to Alakazam enough." I laughed, folding my arms.
"Yeah, but Alakazam is boooooooring." She pouted before switching back to her excited grin.
"Well, I can't wait to see all the other cute family members you've brought home." My mother smiled, stepping over and stoking the fire burning in the fireplace.
"Well, technically most of them are past the cute stage." I scratched my head with a weak smile. "We might have to go outside for a few of them, I think. They're more like superpowered battlers. Although Larvitar is pretty young right now. And we've got an unidentified egg!"
"Oh, that's wonderful dear. I'm sure we can step outside to meet them all soon."
"I'll have to find out from Professor Elm if there's any way I can actually have more than six of them with me at a time." I frowned for a moment, scratching my head as I thought.
"Why don't you go wash up and get some rest dear, Lucy will be home for the weekend at dinner, and then we can all relax and talk."
"That sounds good. Typhlosion, Lucario, you two can do whatever you want. We're home."
Lucario followed me up the stairs as Typhlosion stayed downstairs with Phloe and Lily, playing happily with the two of them.
I stepped off the last stair and turned left, opening the door to my room. Light was pouring in from the window, and it looked almost as I had left it. My bedsheets were the same dull green drawn over a twin bed. The lamp on my bedside table shaped like a Kingdra was still there, switched off, and my old alarm clock sat by its side. The throw cushions in the corner of the room looked plumper and brighter than I remembered them, but my desk was the same, with notes and sketches and pictures stacked in one corner.
Two posters decorated the walls; the first was from Goldenrod City, a lively poster depicting the radio tower and the sea behind it, and the other was a flyer for the Silver Conference. Setting my pack down I sighed happily, turning to the window and looking out at the neighbors' wall. Cracking it open, I stuck my head out and looked across the street in front of the house. Everything was familiar, but it had been done up. Houses had new paint, one of the neighbors had built up his porch, and it looked like the road had been repaved.
A small knot trussed itself up in my stomach as I realized the timing of them. The damage to New Bark Town hadn't been severe, it hadn't even been bad, but it had happened. Debris had been blasted around and probably meant that a few people would have needed to repair the fences, or their windows, or patch up a part of their walls.
Resigning myself to the knot in my chest, I quickly went and showered, changing into a set of clothes that I hadn't taken along with me on my journey, for the first time in months. It was refreshing and odd at the same time. I had gotten used to living that way, on my own, out with my Pokemon. I didn't mind being home. It was just… different.
I hurried down the steps, having recalled Lucario quickly as the fighting type wanted some rest. Taking what used to be my old seat on the couch, I settled in comfortably as Lily played with the two Typhlosion by the fire. Switching the TV on, I sat back, relaxing and watching a random sitcom as the sound of the door opening caught my attention.
I craned my neck to look and smiled as a tall, pale skinned girl with black hair and green eyes stepped around the wall between the doorway and the lounge, picking up Lily as the younger girl ran towards her.
"Lucy!" Lily hugged our older sister tightly as I smiled, waiting for her to let go. It was good to be home.