Authors Notes: Well… here it is. This could very well be the last chapter of the Pokémon Journeys.
So
what do we do with our lives?
We
leave only a mark
Will
our story shine like a light...
Or
end in the dark?
GIVE
IT ALL OR NOTHING!
We
don't need another hero
We
don't need to know the way home
All
we want is life beyond
Thunderdome
Crystal charged down the corridors of Thunderdome. Behind her, the friends she had come to know so well and the gladiators of Thunderdome followed closely. Two guards came running down the corridors, hearing the commotion, and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the Pokémon streaming out from the underground holding cells. They turned and fled, ducking into a side door seconds before they would have been trampled.
There it was – the door. The door that would lead them all to freedom. It opened on its own as Keia psychically undid the locking mechanism.
"Oh, no…" Pulsar, right behind her, groaned.
"What?" Crystal asked as they charged out into the cool night air.
"The festival that was in town. There will be people everywhere!"
"We shall get past them!" Callisto declared, running so that she was parallel to Crystal. They had found a Hyper Potion to give her after the battle, so now the scarred Jolteon accompanied them.
As they neared the festival, they could see Zeb standing on a podium, about to speak. When he saw his Pokémon escaping, he grabbed a nearby microphone and yelled, "Stop them! They're escaping!"
Trainers from all directions released their Pokémon to stop those who were attempting to escape. In mere moments, over a hundred Pokémon stood between the rebels and freedom. Keia pulled out ahead, running in great leaping bounds several feet before the others. The gem on her head glowed brilliantly as a psi-shield surrounded the group of escapees. Other Pokémon were flung aside as they hit the force-field like Barrier, but their luck did not last for long.
"Send out your Dark Pokémon! Take down the Espeon, quickly!" Zeb called, leaping down from his place and getting ahead of the struggling rebels, standing to the side with the rest of the trainers. Houndours, Houndooms, Umbreons, Murkrows, Tyranitaurs, and other Pokémon of other elements that possessed Dark attacks focused them towards the barrier, shattering it instantly.
"No!" Callisto yelled to the Pokémon standing before them, "Do not interfere! Thunderdome is a slaughterhouse! Do not aid in your trainer's atrocities!" Many of the Pokémon fell back, but still more remained loyal to their trainers and continued to bar the way. Keia stubbornly put the shield up again, but this time her opressors did not settle for taking down the shield alone. Keia was too far out ahead of the rest; the others could not reach her in time as the siege of Dark attacks hit her. When they did reach her, the Espeon was still alive, but in critical condition. In mid-stride, Sage forced his head underneath Keia, shrugging the Psi Pokémon onto his shoulders and continuing to run. As they approached the barrier of still-loyal Pokémon, the Crystal roared in absolute rage and hurled herself at the nearest one; a Persian like herself. In moments, the weaker Pokémon fell and Crystal tore into a second one, slashing it repeatedly. It, too, fell. Movement seemed to come to a standstill as the Pokémon collided. Sage and an second Jolteon, who carried the two Pichu on her back, were forced to stay back from the fray.
Callisto slammed aside a Raticate that was leaping towards her with an angry cry.
From her half-conscious state on Sage's back, Keia sent out a silent plea. Silent, only to the trainers who stood nearby.
*Do not do this! Please! You don't know what you're doing! You're condemning all of them to DEATH!*
This didn't seem to affect the Pokémon who faced them. Those who had refused to fight, though, suddenly charged down from their places in the crowd of trainer, despite all attempts to call them back.
A Steelix reared up in front of Pulsar and Blink. The Raichu charged at it fearlessly, but before he could land a hit, a Flamethrower engulfed it. He looked up and smiled gratefully at Cinder, who was continually letting out volleys of fire from above. She turned to look over her shoulder, shocked to see four other Charizard approaching. Fearlessly, she roared and turned to face them. To her surprise, once called out, "Don't worry, fair lady! We will not let them take you!"
"We Flame types have to stick together!" a second added. She smiled and turned again to face the blockade. Now the odds were more even.
Despite this, things looked very bad for those below. Suddenly, though, there came a mental cry to fall back and regroup. As they did so, five Espeon entered in a star-shaped formation around the rebels, together forming yet another psi-shield. Several Umbreon and other Eevee Evolutions that had disobeyed their masters also made a protective ring around them. A Flareon approached Sage and Keia, looking to the weakened Espeon, "Do not fear, sister. Many of us have joined your cause. My trainer released all of his Pokémon to fight on your side," he said with a smile. She motioned to where a tall, white-haired trainer was having an argument with Zeb. His eyes were icy blue, visible even from this distance. An Umbreon and Espeon nearby nodded, apparently belonging to the same boy. They regrouped and charged against the opposing Pokémon again. This time, though, the fight was even.
***
"The Pokémon League has been after you for years! We all know the only reason you haven't been shut down is because of public support. Let's just see how much they support you now!" the trainer yelled. Zeb growled and shoved past him.
"You should learn your place, Eevee Trainer! Those Pokémon are mine and I'll do what I want with them!"
Several other angry trainers had gathered around, facing those who were trying to stop the gladiators from escaping. It was not long before a fight broke out between them.
"I think you should learn YOURS! They are living creatures! Do you really believe that, even if you DO get some of them back, that they will listen to you?"
Zeb whirled on the smaller boy, one fist curled to strike. Before he could, he found a pair of teeth tightly clamped to his arm. He howled in pain and tried to shake the Eevee off, but to no avail. Jason Erevan tuned to address the trainers who were still fighting.
***
Pulsar was hurled aside as a Marowak hit him with a Bonemerang. He struggled back to his feet, hitting it with a Mega Punch and taking it down. While his opponents were fighting only because their trainers commanded it, the rebels were fighting for their lives, their freedom, and their friends. For that reason, the Raichu had far more of an incentive to win. But he was tiring quickly. The attacks were beginning to take their toll.
Harmony usually lived up to her name. She was only a young Vulpix, and not a fighter. But she was also very, VERY angry. And the last thing you ever want to do is invoke the wrath of a fire Pokémon. She charged at a Kadabra that was attacking Callisto with its Confusion, engulfing the Psychic Pokémon in flames. A Ninetales came at her from the side, but she trapped it with Fire Spin to keep it from getting too close. It leapt out of the flames, only to be met by a powerful water attack from a Totodile who had joined the rebels in their fight. The Kadabra hit her with a Psybeam, making her mind reel, but a Pin Missile from Callisto took it out of the action. Harmony could see that she was badly injured, but the Jolteon refused to rest. She leapt into the fray again, and all Harmony could do was keep on fighting. It was all any of them could do.
The psychic barrier was down again. The Espeon were too busy fighting to keep it up anymore.
"Crystal! Pulsar!" Sage called. In the massive fight, none of his friends were visible. He wanted to help, but using any kind of attack would harm Keia. She had fallen unconscious minutes before. A sound from behind caused him to turn as a trio of Pokémon bore down on him. He tuned to flee, but the others were crowded too closely around him. The Feraligatr, Rhydon, and Arcanine closed in even as the Thunderdome combatants rushed to intercept them.
An Houndoom that had joined the fight faced off with another of its kind. "Leave here before I kill you!" he snarled. "Let them go. They do not deserve this any more than you or I."
"I will obey my trainer!" the other roared as it lunged at him. Blood flew and fires raged as the two Doberman-like Pokémon tore at each other. Crystal was not far away. Her milky white sides were streaked with crimson as she knocked an Ivysaur aside, slashing into it with her long claws. It was the same Ivysaur she had battled before her trainer abandoned her. It fainted away and she turned to the crowd full of trainers as its master recalled it. Standing next to him was Jared.
***
Those standing in the crowd screamed and fled as the huge, lioness-like Pokémon came barreling out of the fray. Covered with blood, rage burning in her eyes, Crystal looked like a cat from hell. Jared's eyes widened with terror as she leapt up, hitting him square in the chest. The Persians eyes were wet with tears. Whether they were of sadness or anger, one could not tell.
"So, am I too weak for you NOW, Jared?! Am I less than the others you possess? Well," here tone became dangerous, "lets just see which of us is the weaker."
***
The battle raged for hours. In the end, police from all the nearby cities had to come in and break up the mob that still continued to fight. There were no human casualties…at least, not from the fight. A boy about the age of fifteen was found literally torn to shreds, by what his friend claimed was some kind of hellish Persian. So many lives were lost that day… the Pokémon League later imprisoned Zeb for life because of the cruel and unjust methods of battling he used. Of the more than seventy Pokémon who fought so bravely that day, only around forty ever made it to freedom. Callisto, Pulsar, Sage, and Keia were among those who never made it beyond the bloody battlefield outside Thunderdome.
ooc: Well, that was…grim. Let me know what you think, please. This could be the last chapter ever of Pokémon Journeys…let me know in your reviews if you want me to keep going. I don't consider it worth my efforts if no one wants to read this.