Hungry like the Wolf
"Order collapses in simultaneous regions. Survival is now unlikely for individuals and groups."
--Ian Malcom
*****
Once more, I was awakened by the Wolf. I was a bit surprised to see it, and it made me homesick.
It whined and nosed at me to get up. I did, a little shakey, and paused when something crunched under my boots. I looked down and saw shattered white china pieces with odd broken up markings on them. I frowned and crouched down to get a better look. I picked one up and turned it over. The back was oddly smooth and curved. I turned it back over and saw a smudge of blue near one side, a peak of red on the 'top' of the piece...
(The hell?!?)
Full of grossed out horror, I dropped it, stepping back. It was part of a Togepi shell! I only knew of one Togepi...I looked down to see more fragments and small pieces of bone. Though I hadn't been the one to crush it when it was alive, I felt guilty at having freakin' landing and then stepping on it more in death. Poor Togepi.
I looked around more, taking in the big picture and taking in my surroundings. What should've been Sub-Lab One, was a mass of ruins. The moon was full overhead and the crickets chirped. Chunks of concrete littered everywhere, I had stepped in from my dimension to this one on a relatively debris-clear area, but around me were concrete chunk mountains.
"What happened?" I whispered. No one answered my question and I was a bit glad. The Wolf and I made our way up one sturdy-ish mountain and got our first look around...at disaster.
"Oh no," I gasped, surveying the damage. Whatever destroyed this, destroyed it well. Team Rocket Headquarters was no more. The trees that had surrounded it, lush and full, had been incinerated in a hundred foot circle around HQ. Beyond that, the forest was fine.
The Wolf whined and I tenatively scratched behined its ears. It seemed to find comfort within it.
Carefully, we made our way down and into the ruined forest. The smell of charring was still there, but not strong. Whatever had happened, it happened a while ago. New growth was already happening among the ashes.
Ashes..
Ash.
Gary.
I gulped, thinking of Gary being left alone with Xanady. Four hours for me and ten months for him. I started thinking as we walked, the Wolf my unspoken lookout. It walked ahead and I got to discreetly check that it was indeed a female. I was greatful for that, female anythings are easier to talk to. Naturally!
I saw a flash of red to my right, deep in the forest that lined the road I was walking. I turned to see it and saw nothing there.
The Wolf had stopped to and she whined.
"You saw it too then?" I asked her. She looked up at me, regarding me with dark eyes. "We need to keep walking. Viridian is this way and I'm sure we can stop at the Center for the night."
We kept walking and I kept seeing the red. By now, I dismissed the idea that it was a campfire. Campfires don't follow you when you walk.
The Wolf growled, "That's it, I'm gonna flush that thing out!"
Without waiting, she lept into the shrubs in the direction of the redness.
"Oh-kay..." Pause. "Did she just...ah...um...Oh excretion." I sighed as I leaned against a tree, wishing for a nice cold glass of H20.
I dug into my pockets for the stick of gum I grabbed from Mom's Intrigue and relished in the cinnamon satisfaction that only a nice fresh stick of Big Red can provide. I heard growls and barks that were accompanied by what sounded like a horse whinnying.
"I hope she doesn't think I'm eating Equine for dinner," I muttered softly.
I turned at the sudden crashing noises that came in the direction that Wolf ran off in. I peered into the full moon litness of the forest, saw the flames coming closer. What was it?
Whinnying + crashing through brush + flames = ??
I didn't have a chance to hope it was only a Ponyta as the huge Rapidash was herded out onto the trail in front of me. The stallion wasn't as big as I thought, though it was no pony-sized thing. It had been nipped in various places, mostly on its legs, by the Wolf and small streams of blood had trickled weakly down its legs.
Wolf stepped out, grinning as only she could, "Nice work if I do say so myself!"
The Rapidash snaked its head low to the ground, ears pinned back flat, and bared its teeth..
"You'd better stay away from the hooves," I warned her. What was I supposed to do with this thing? Why had it been following us?
"The small cat didn't lie then, you can understand me!" The Wolf seemed pleased. "My name is Moonsong and I'm honored to be a part of your Ordeal. I hope there's lots of fighting!"
I was about to answer her when a voice broke in.
"Nice rifraff you're hanging around with, Cirrus." The voice fairly trembled with suppressed sarcasm. "And I'm sure there will be tons of fighing, dog."
Moonsong snarled at the slur and the Rapidash raised his head, staring down at me with fire-red eyes. The flames of its mane flickered in the night breeze.
"Gary?" I almost fainted in shock, "But...how? Again? Is this what Mew wanted me to see?"
"You left me," the voice accused, "You willingly left me with that psycho-bitch."
"No, I..." Mew's necklace warned me of the mindgames Xanady played with Gary.
"Why?" his voice was suddenly sorrowful, "Do you know what she had me do? If I hadn't kept thinking of you, I think I might have gone insane."
I acted without thinking and I threw my arms around his neck in a hug, only to back away in extreme pain. I stiffled a scream and the tears that threated to fall.
"You don't trust me?"
He looked a little guilty, "How can I?"
"No," I shook my head, walking back up to him. "I don't believe that." I raised my hands again to the flaming mane. "I helped you once before..."
I lowered my hands towards the flames, closing my eyes, "...and I will help you again."
I heard Moonsong mutter something about "crazy humans" as the heat around my hands grew intense and burning. I grabbed onto the ridge of his neck and held on as the heat, which had my hands feeling like pins and needles, started to subside a bit, and then disappeared suddenly.
I felt his head leaning on my shoulder, whuffling sobs into my hair, as whatever barrier Xanady put up, fell away. My hands hurt like hell, but I stroked his neck reassuringly anyway. I'd need a potion to relieve the burns.
"While this is all so very interesting," Moonsong broke in, "Do you suppose we could get to this Center you keep prattling about?"
"Where did you find such an irritating creature?" Gary said.
*****
We walked, the three of us, side by side. I had tried to get in touch with Mew, but with no luck. Gary filled me in on the details as we walked. It seems that he was the first of Xanady's victims. Transformed into a Ponyta and forced to lure others into her insinuous trap. She had been quiet the first month I'd been gone, then struck in full force.
She had used a variety of little plans that fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Plan one was using Psychic Pokémon, those not killed by my ride home, to freeze everyone in Headquarters in their tracks. From the lowliest Rocket to Giovanni himself, all had been changed and Gary had witnessed it all. He let me know that they were captured after transformed and put into storage. It seemed that Xanady had a dislike for Team Rocket.
Plan two involved using genetically altered Butterfrees to sprinkle the closest towns, Pallet and Viridian, with a change powder. It worked instantly, either by inhaling it or by it coming in physical contact with the human.
The boldest plan involved using five each of the highest evolution of a Psychic Pokémon: Alakazam, Hypno, Exeggutor, Starmie, Mr. Mime, and Slowbro. Their most powerful attack was altered and synchronized with the others' to produce a new version of the Psybeam attack that changed the genetic code, the DNA, of any human in the way of the powerful wave. It changed the humans into the Pokémon that most fit the human. Trainers that trained Water Types became a Water Type, Fire with Fire, and so on.
Only Trainers that were travelling deep inside mountains, like Mt. Moon in Kanto or the Union Caves in Johto, had been spared the blast. The Psybeam was a controlled blast, contained and precise. Just like Xanady wanted it. She herself was spared the effects, as were any normal Pokémon or those already changed, like Gary and the members of Team Rocket.
Life in this dimension had been ripped at the seams. Cities fell into ruin, Pokémarts were raided, and the Leagues were abandoned. The Elite Four disappeared and families tried to stay together, but varying Types made it difficult.
All because of one person's insane mind. Xanady.
"She's the key. She's the one to undo this." I said as the ruins of Viridian came into view.
"Nice plan, but for one little thing." Gary said.
"What's that?"
"She is holed up in Pallet, that's where her new HQ is at. It's heavily guarded."
"Great! We'll fight our way in!" Moonsong grinned, her tongue lolling out.
"She must have been busy last night, too busy to come after you." He said, ignoring Moonsong. "Xanady has sworn to do the same to you. It seems you're her last loose end."
"Fabulous." I murmured. "Hey, why were you there? In the forest around the Headquarters, I mean."
"I remembered that you said you'd be back in ten months. After I ran from Xanady last month, I hid out in the forest around here, hiding from her minions. It wasn't easy, but I had this feeling that you could be the one to save us all."
"But I thought all the prophecies were fullfilled by Ash." I yawned. "Aren't they?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"By the way, what happened to Ash, Misty, and Brock?"
Gary rolled his eyes, "Ash escaped the wave. He had been in Mt. Moon looking for a Clefairy. Misty and Brock have been captured by Xanady."
"Where is he now?"
He stared at me, judging me. "He is still in Mt. Moon. A secret hideout of sorts. Other Trainers who were in Mt.Moon and also escaped have formed a band to take out Xanady."
"They're gonna play Hanson?"
I stared down at Moonsong. "You know about Hanson?"
"Sure! Us Wolves love to eat up little girls!"
*****
We had to be careful as well as quiet in the ruined city, as Gary didn't know if there were any of Xanady's "people" around waiting for my appearance. I was hoping there'd be something in the form of medicines in the Pokémart and if not there, then the Center. It was quiet as we walked down the road, not even the slight pounding Gary's hooves made was all that noisey.
Moonsong walked ahead, sniffing the air for anyone. Her ears were flicked back to us, waiting for directions.
I was shocked at what I saw. Tattered ruins of clothes, glass shards from busted out shop windows, Pokeballs of all kinds were scattered around and broken. Not much of humanity remained. We made it to the Mart, but it was a charred heap that had collapsed in on itself. The Center was in a similar condition.
I knew it was futile, but I went up the Centers' stairs anyway, debris cluttering them, and stopped. While the outer walls remained largely intact, the Center had collapsed in on itself. Hopefully, no one had been inside.
I was about to rejoin the two when a nagging feeling tugged at my stomach. I walked around the side of the Center and saw a black backpack. I cheered inwardly as I carefully, painfully, picked it up and ran back. "Look what I found!" I exclaimed, proud of myself.
I sat down right there on the side of the street and opened the pack. I felt a slight twinge of guilt at rummaging in someone elses pack, but quickly supressed it. Inside was a wallet, a slim case, a few Pokeballs, some TM's, a few poitions, and berries of all sorts in baggies. Luckily, the trainer had been very organized and labled the baggies. There were regular berries, ten gold berries, and pzncure berries.
One of the potions was a burn potion and I used it on my hands. Instantly, they began to tingle and I had to look away as the blisters healed themselves and the redness faded. The tingling stopped and my hands were back to their "normal" tanned selves.
I flexed my fingers and grinned.
"Uh, next please?" Gary stamped one hoof. "Your dog did a number on me over here."
"Moonsong! I told you to go before we left!" I chastized her.
She hung her head, "I'm sorry, Mom."
"You two are not funny, you know that?" Gary looked at us and glared.
"Whoo! Glare Attack!" I dug out a potion in defense. "Please, just...let me use this...Okay?"
I heard Gary muttering about how "unfair" it was that we girls were ganging up on him as I healed the numerous cuts. I gave both him and Moonsong three each of the gold berries.
Though Moonsong said she wasn't a fruit-eater, she ate the berries anyway. I hoped they would give her a bit of a power-up and she looked a bit less fatigued, as did Gary.
I slung the pack on my back and looked at my friends. "Shall we go?"
"Yeah, but I know it'll be faster if I gave you a ride."
"Oh, you trust me now?" I smiled as I vaulted onto his back.
"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" He said as we started out.
"Well, gee, there's the first time. I'll let you know when it's enough." I looked down to Moonsong. "Can you keep up?"
"Hah! Pony over here can't outrun me!" Once more, that infectuous grin.
I grinned back as we started out and up, towards the Viridian Forest and then Pewter City. After that..Mt. Moon and Ash Ketchum would be waiting for us.
Maybe I should call to let them know we're coming!
Wow, I made it to Ten Chapers! I'm impressed with myself.
I hope everyone is enjoying the show so far! Bricka-bracka-firecracka-sis-boom-bah! Pikajenn, Pikajenn, rah rah rah!