Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Pokemon is developed by GameFreak. I only own the plot.
Chapter 2: The Landfall
The calm seas spared the boats from the striving of billowing waves. Three separate small vessels slowly made their way to the harbor wall. From the ship, they were becoming nearer and nearer to the land. With much force, yet they remained almost silent while rowing their wooden boats.
Steven walked down the stairs of the bridge, right after the anchor nested under the shallow water. Slowly, he stepped on the metal descending steps. His hand held the side of the stairs firmly, sweats dripped from his pores. Then after he reached the deck, the man in white cape, Wallace, who was standing nearby came to him.
"You are not hesitating, my friend?" Wallace said. His smile dared Steven.
"I am firm in my decision." Steven flatly said.
Wallace nodded, that everlasting smile he had flourished by the answer. Then Wallace leaned on deck railings, while looking at the sea again.
"As expected from the heir of Devon."
Wallace brought out something from his coat pocket, after he searched for a while. Then he gave Steven a bundle of pale reddish berry.
"It will shield you from the scorching flames." He explained.
"Thank you."
Steven immediately kept it in a pouch on his belt. Wallace then came near to him, right beside his left and held him on his shoulder.
"Once this is over, let's all be frolic in Sootopolis." Wallace offered.
"Of course. I'll be back." Steven assured.
"Be safe, our match is still left unfinished."Wallace said. Steven chuckled in return.
After bidding goodbye to each other, the two friends set apart. One stayed where he stood and one went to his men, with a promise and burden in heart.
On the deck of the ship, Wallace stood facing the land. He was like a mother who watched her grown up child leaving her.
"Good luck, Steven. I pray for your safety." He said to nobody.
He exhaled a breath of reluctance. And he kept watching the sight. Slowly they were far from big in his eyes.
After perhaps half an hour had passed, Steven and the agents were now near the sea wall. And then, Wallace walked away from the front deck, from the view of the city. He headed to the bridge, passing several remaining agents on the ship.
"Sir." They said as he passed. He nodded in response and quickly went on.
Soon, he reached the bridge of the ship. There, the captain was looking at the heir at a distance. He turned back and met Wallace in the eyes.
"Everything went well, eh?" Drake asked.
"His plan is not impeccable, but surely he would handle it. Hopefully." He shrugged.
Drake then pulled the lever up. With the same series of noise the anchor was lifted up from the seabed. A minute later, the ship was freed of its shackle.
"We could only pray. Now let us do our part." Wallace said.
And thus, the ship sailed to the east, along the southern coast of the island. The steer was turned to the right and the keel brought the ship to the other beach slowly, waiting for their time. Now, the heir will face a trial of his life.
On the shore near the port city, the three boats successfully landed there. Quickly, the agents dismounted from the boats and they lined up by each squad.
"Squad A, you will be under my command. Squad B and C, move on as planned." Steven instructed.
Immediately squad A lined up in front of Steven, eight men including the squad leader at the front. Squad B and C went on and left, leaving ten people remaining there.
Both of the leaving squad took the westward path, as it was the only path available. But Squad B took the northern side track while Squad C took the southern side of the woods. Soon enough both squads vanished from sight. Then Steven turned to the rest of the agents.
"The kidnapper was identified as one of the Cult. Hence so, our objective is to search through any place or individual related to it."
"Am I clear?" He asked calmly.
"Yes sir." Squad A answered, with much softer voices.
The boats that they used moved on their own. Those three wooden vessels drifted away from the beach, heading to the ship. Like a ghost dragging those away, but in fact it was not a ghost Mystical creature's deed. From beneath, each boat was tied to a round fish-like Mystical creature, three creatures known as Wailmer swam away with their ticket to return home.
While the fish did the work of returning the boats, birds up in the sky flew high. A bird with a dark blue feather, red face and white belly soared around the city up on an altitude high enough to be stealthy. While on the ground the Devon Foundation members waited under the shades of the woods.
There was no voice between the vigilant agents. Neither sound was made. In all directions they kept their eyes on. Growlithe crouched down, along a few agents who pointed their muskets to the way they were seeing.
Moments later, it descended to the group of Devon members off the shore. It landed upon the arm of an agent, who held his arm out like holding an eagle. The agents prepared a metal board on the ground, with a large paper on it. The bird was given a pencil and it went near the board.
Without much confusion, the bird held the pencil with its delicate talon. It drew rough sketches, starting from some seemingly random lines and drawings. After many scratches, a rough image was there. And there it became clearer, although not as clear as an artist's drawing. Nonetheless, now they had a guide to enter the port city.
Another three birds came down from the sky, but those birds landed on a different squad. Quickly each did its job, providing a visage of the ironclad city's inner side. And much later it finished its duty. Then the agents patted the happy birds and brought it back to blue colored container orbs with two horizontal red stripes near the top axis.
One of the squad members handed over the map to Steven, who stood facing a clearing. His hand rested upon his longsword, while his eyes laid upon the city.
"Sir, the city map is complete." The agent told him. Steven then turned to the agent.
"Here it is." He handed over the map.
Steven took the map and studied it. Silence for a while, his hand was on his chin, he was scrutinizing the rudimentary drawing to find any information to gain of it
Sidney, who stood three cubits away from Steven, saw him nodding, it seemed a plan had come into mind. Then Steven approached him, with that map in hand.
"Sidney, I have routes planned. Mind to look at it?" Steven showed him the paper.
"Here. Then here and here."
Steven glided his finger across the paper, pointing at certain spots, then moved to another. Sidney raised his brow occasionally.
"You're sure? Squad A pair up and split up?" Sidney said.
Steven affirmed Sidney's question. Sidney thought for a while, Steven strolled a bit while so.
"What about us?"
"I am still considering that." Steven admitted.
Then Sidney pointed out a certain spot that piqued Steven's attention immediately, he stared at the location.
"Seems like the harbor for me. Let's check it out too." Sidney suggested.
"It is a high risk place, I am not sure." Steven said.
"Hey, you want to cover more grounds right?"
Steven seemed to be considering the option Sidney presented. Silence for a while.
"Alright then." Steven said.
Then Squad A gathered nearby Steven, with Sidney accompanying him. The eight men squad soon formed a circular line in front of the two higher ups, and they were ready to hear the instruction.
"We will split and pair up. Vice chief and I will head to the harbor." He announced.
"The rest of you will go in this direction."
He decided on the pairing, without much protest. Quickly they eyed the map and put markings on it.
"Both of you will head to the church avenue, then the next pair passes the western edge."
"And commander, you and the messenger's route is through the housing district."
"Yes sir."
Then they made final preparation once the briefing was over. A lot of checking equipment, such as their guns, swords, and their Mystical orbs. And formation was reiterated, maintaining solidness and easing the dripping sweats before entering the lion's den, where turning back was not an option for sure.
Steven looked at his men, who were poised to strike. He calmed his breath down once again. Then his eyes went to a part of the city iron wall. The mighty iron bastion of blood, Wallace would say so. Then after his heart became still, he looked at the squad leader who had been waiting, and nodded. And so, the infiltration began.
The top of the steel wall was void of any figure or entity. The wide grey metal wall did not mount any guard, despite that it could mount ten thousands. One could judge the place as an abandoned city, it was as if this city was a relic of ancient civilization. But Devon Foundation knew better than that, nothing was as it seemed.
A slight glance would not be enough to see a being made of steel floating around on the top. Regularly it moved away from its spot then returned. It had no face and solely was a tube of metal with two curved appendages on the top part, known as Bronzong. Then after it left it's spot, a pair of eyes peered over the wall.
The squad leader gave a signal, a hand wave then quickly he climbed up. A rock Mystical creature bearing resemblance to the sun followed him. The squad leader ran while crouching toward a tower to the right. Soon two Squad A members followed, entering the round guard turret. The squad leader peeked, while waiting for the rest of the squad.
After a while, the still air was undisturbed. Steven grasped the merlon of the steel wall and dragged himself passing the embasure.
"Hmp!" He suppressed a surprised reaction.
Suddenly, the patrolling Bronzong returned. Without any warning it rushed back. In a blink of an eye, he failed to grasp the thick climbing rope. His hands clung the embasure tightly as his heart embraced the wall.
Sidney's eyes bulged out from its socket. But he could only eyed Steven and gripped the rope tighter. Steven shrugged to them, halting the waning composure from the squad members. He struggled, to keep his breath calm, to keep their secrecy, and most importantly, his death away for now.
The Bronzong was as if inspecting something. As if it could smell the scent of a strange entity. It rotated horizontally a few times to the right and left, and sweat dropped from the Devon Foundation members everytime it did so. After a minute or more, it went away, like an innocent child it left. And a breath of relief was exhaled by them.
Afterward each of the squad members, and Sidney rushed to the tower. And they reeled the rope back with a fast pace. Inside the tower, it was dark with minimal sunlight entered through the small window. They stood away from the door and hid themselves deeper inside. Steven did not mention anything, just tried to catch his breath. He was adamant as before, with slight sweats and dilated pupils.
"We proceed." He said after his composure returned.
Nobody objected, the squad leader carefully walked down a spiral staircase which headed upward and downward in the far right of the room.
"That was close." Sidney had that snide look on his face.
"Too close." Steven chuckled.
Then both of them headed downstairs, with very soft footsteps sound as they were descending.
The bottom of the tower led to the other side of the wall, which was a city with a stone floor. One by one the squad members scaled down the steep wall, which was at least ten meters high. The men on the ground watched their left, right, and front keenly. Until the last member reached the inner side of the city.
The city was silent. They were like walking into a graveyard with living bodies. An advantage for the humans for now. Then they paired up according to the determined pairing. They were standing in a circle, hearing instructions for the search.
"Commander, did Solrock detect any human presence?"
The aforementioned rock Mystical
"Yes sir, they are spread among the resident houses."
Those humans were blood slaves, he deduced. Another question to answer, how could the population of humans exist here, arguably thriving?
"Alright, due to our limited time, prioritize searching religious sites, thrall camp, and major houses."
"And in the afternoon, please regroup at the designated spot." Steven said.
"Yes sir."
Immediately, four of the squad members brought out their Mystical orbs. And from the orbs came out Growlithe, the small tiger-like creature. Those beings were eager, waiting for order. With that, the ten men segregated into five pairs and went according to each of their ways. Steven and Sidney headed west from the entry location.
They snuck around the city, so far no hostile encounters had occurred. Just like Steven's prediction regarding the behaviour of the vampires. Only sentry Mystical creatures were there on the wall. And so far there was no sign yet of the Cult, which might be harder to find. They could hide anywhere, like a needle in a haystack.
Steven and Sidney carefully tread, passing a large building, then a few small buildings, which had somewhat old architecture. The houses mostly had dark brown roofs, a hip type one. The houses did not even have any windows to begin with. The numerous houses seemed not to end very quickly, it lasted for a while.
But they stopped and entered an alley when they saw an approaching figure. And both of them ran past a turn in the alley further. Both of their hands reached their weapon and they drew each half way out. The footsteps of the figure were audible very much, it sounded like metal. Then they heard another set footsteps, identical to the first.
Due to the silence, the muffled voice of those figures was audible, especially as they did not bother to keep their voices down.
"What seest thou?" The approaching one asked, with a muffled voice.
"A scent of mortal, passeth and gone. They trespassed the curfew." The other answered.
"Fleeing one? Find it."
"Thou warnest others, lest we suffer wrath."
Without much waiting, the guards went away in a hurry. After a while, the footsteps were far from their ears.
Both of them exhaled their breath. Steven inhaled a few more breaths, slowly. It was fortunate that they were still undiscovered.
"Well, there goes our undetected status." Sidney comment.
"Security is tighter than I expected." Steven looked serious.
Steven peered over the turn, he saw the street was empty once again, at least from his point of view.
"Aren't we going to warn the squad?" Sidney asked with a hush voice.
Steven was thinking once again. The situation did not go in their favor now. Then he shrugged to Sidney.
"I don't think we can. Time is short, Sidney. And we will risk them."
"Sure? Not funny when a garrison sweeps them."
Steven smiled softly to his question. Then he kept his sword back to its rest like before.
"They have made us able to hunt all this time. I believe in them."
Sidney shook his shoulder in return. And thus, the plan remained the same albeit with much alert and wariness in mind.
Both of them walked through the narrow alleyway. The grim-looking alley did not faze them. While looking at the rough map, Steven tried to discern any route. While Sidney was eyeing the front, checking every turn they passed.
"They are civilized at least." Sidney said, looking at the clean alleyway.
After three turns, they left the alley, stepping on a wide street. What they saw hundreds of cubits across them was a wide area, filled with a few large buildings, and most importantly an array of foreign-modeled ships lined up near the dock. Steven looked upon his map, he was sure this was the harbor.
Like the rest of the city, the harbor was calm and seemed empty. Then they proceeded crossing the open space, their guns were unbuckled from its strap and their swords were ready. They eyed where any possible attack could come. After a few minutes of tension, both safely arrived uninvited to the vast port.
They hid for a while in the midst of some unused pile of crates. Sidney peeked around, making sure there had not been any eyes on them.
"We are gambling you know." Sidney said.
"This is our best lead."
Sidney just chuckled hearing that. It was as if they were playing a betting game in a bar or a tavern.
Steven brought out his own Mystical orb from his coat pocket. He held it out before he called the Mystical within.
"Come. Hover."
There was no delay. The creature came out in a form of energy, before it manifested in its true form. Without landing, it stayed afloat.
The creature was a polygonal being. Like a crude creation of an engineer. It did not dwell long, it closed its black eyes. Deep within its mind, it was probing their surroundings. Its psionic power sensed minds nearby, and the presence of other people. Though their exact location was blurry to the creature.
"Thank you." Steven said.
He opened his eyes which he had closed long his own Mystical. It felt like an eternity, but actually it had been just a minute. Nonetheless, the quick scan of the nearby port confirmed there were other occupants beside the guards.
"There are humans. probably blood slaves." Steven said.
"Where?" Sidney asked.
Steven pointed out a row of houses a few yards away from them. Sidney eyed those. Not the best place to look at but he could not complain.
"She could be held there." Steven said.
"Well, let's go." And both of them soon resumed their search.
Both of them sneaked to one of the houses aforementioned. And right beside them, was the back entrance, a reinforced steel door. A slight push and of course the door was sealed tight.
Steven nodded to Sidney, who gave a toothy grin. In a flash, he drew his sword and a flash of black divided the lock on the middle or left of the door.
The house inside was dark, aside the miniscule sunlight entered from the broken door. Both of them brought out an orb from their pocket, and held out that orb. The energy that was shot out materialized a spherical Mystical creature made of steel, with two horseshoes magnet on left and right, a corkscrew head on the top and a large eye on the front.
Those two lit up its eyes, producing two bright beams of light. Steven and Sidney then walked in cautiously with the orbs on their foremost front belt part. The floating Mysticals eyed where its owner looked at, and yet what they saw was a stack of black rocks. Without any hesitation, Steven knelt down and took a little sample.
"Coal." It did not take long for him to know.
Sidney walked around the room further, for a one floor only building, he could see lots of space. He saw nothing but piles of coal wherever he turned his eyes. He hoped for something more, his hand scrubbed the wall around him, but nothing came to fruition. So for Steven, who had been trudging the piles of black and found no such thing as suspicious tiles.
"Man, we almost became a coal thief." Sidney joked.
"Unto the next room I guess." Steven said.
"Yeah right, don't want to waste any more minutes here." Sidney eagerly walked away.
Steven followed suit. A single door was there to their tight, of course locked. Steven looked at Sidney, who replied with a nod.
Steven squared off. He took a few steps back, then with all of his might he kicked the door and busted it open. Immediately the Magnemites illuminated the hallway before them. Nobody fortunately stood in their way.
They proceeded. To their left was the wall and to their right was a row of jail cells. So far they passed only empty spaces behind those bars. Only a glimmer of sunshine was the sight to be seen there. Until they reached the remaining last five rows. Suddenly a pair of hands grasped the metal bar in the fifth from the last.
"Who art there?" A woman spoke.
Steven and Sidney halted. They stopped by that cell. A lady wearing what one would call garments for peasants was looking at them by the bar. A collar wrapped her neck tight. Her fragile hand and thin arms held the rows of beams tightly.
"From where cometh ye? Who?" Her voice sounded apprehensive.
"We are humans, do not fear us. We come from land afar." Steven answered.
The woman eyed them from head to toe. The look she gave told them enough that she was suspicious and wondered about them.
"Hath the king of Kalos finally sent us rescuers?"
Steven raised his brow. Did she mention Kalos, the present Kingdom of Kalos? On second thought, her accent was certainly Kalosian, yet she seemed disconnected from the present.
"King? I beg to differ, the current ruler of Kalos is Her Majesty, Queen Diantha."
The woman was taken aback by this revelation. As if the world she knew had long since gone.
"And we are from the Republic of Hoenn."
Her composure deteriorated. She backed away and fell on her knees.
"Nay… were we fooled? Lulled into comfort by a false promise?"
Tears began to fall slowly as she bursted out her wailings.
Steven was silent. Knowing his mission here, he decided to end the conversation. A feeling of unease gripped his heart. These slaves surely need only one thing now, a savior. Yet for his own sake, he knew freeing them was out of the equation. If only he could, he thought.
"Listen here lady, we're sorry if we startled you. We need your help." Sidney chimed in.
But the woman did not respond, nor looked them in the eye. Sidney's countenance turned grim upon the sight. His usual demeanor was replaced by those of sympathy.
"Let her be, ye strangers. Her mind hath been tormented by years of cruel masters."
The voice came from the cell adjacent to hers. They turned over the source of that voice. An older slave, a man in his fifties. He seemed to be calm despite the presence of unknown strangers busting in their cell.
"A promise of deliverance hath been given to us, long, long time ago."
"Yet… from our ancestors, to us now, shackles remain, yoke oppresses our flesh."
This was new, so humans here had been enslaved from possibly centuries ago, explaining the longevity of this kingdom.
"Wait, would you please explain how your ancestors were here ?" Steven asked.
"They struck at night, when our ancestors were laid to rest. They were brought hither
and they hath never seen their land evermore."
Steven held his chin. If what he said were true, then human trafficking had been occurring for decades, or even centuries. Sydney shook his head, the same thought came to him too.
"And why art thou here? The Marquis shall punish those who trespass into his domain."
"Marquis? This city ruler?" Steven asked.
"Byron, the ruler of iron. His hand strikes with his iron rod till blood floods the earth."
The information was certainly a warning for them. Getting caught would be their demise knowing that.
"And he hath ears, everywhere. Even here, as we are speaking now."
That one raised Steven's alarm. He could be lying, but there was no reason for him to do so. In fact he could not be far from the truth. Sydney's hand went to his sabre hilt. Steven gripped his sword as their Mythicals shone the walls around them.
"Alright, answer quick, have you seen a woman, blond with blue eyes brought here?"
The man only laughed in return. Was he as insane as that lady from earlier? Steven could not help but be unnerved.
"None that I saw according to thy description. Therefore flee. Flee, ye strangers."
"For the Marquis is not of a merciful man, nor his patience is bountiful."
He laughed once again. Sydney could only look in disgust, but he felt more.
Was it just a paranoia? No, he could not shake the feeling that he was right,something was not right, his chest was unpleasant, as if there were eyes here. And he landed his sight upon the upper wall at the opposite wall from the entrance.
"Magnemite, thunder shock." He ordered.
Both magnets sparked with electricity, and it channeled the current. In an instant the flow of ions zapped the direction where Steven pointed to, and a target was hit. But the target, a hexagonal steel plate being did not fall upon the ground, it levitated with its power.
`Clank!` Distracted, the being that was shocked retaliated against the sky blue haired man. A psionic wave hit Steven, knocking him down. Rapid steps were nigh to him and fast. And from outside a voice shouted,
"Surrender, intruders!"
To Be Continued….