Chapter 4
"Flight to Fight"
By: Shadow~Of~Shadows
Disclaimer: Pokémon isn't mine. If it was, I'd be rich...oh yes, some content in this chapter is more PG-13 than PG, but still not THAT bad...
Giovanni sat back in his chair, an evil smirk lingering on his face. "So. They're going to escape, are they? And what's this about the legendary ring? Imagine how much money we could make..." he turned to his Persian, Anterole. "Tail them. You have my permission to kill if neccessary."
Anterole hissed softly. Killing was fun, and he was ready. He loped off into the darkess, even as an evil chuckle slipped from Giovanni's mouth.
"Right...so, we fake our deaths, then we get fake ID's and go to this Fuschia place?" Lyra said again, more to fix the plan in her mind than anything else. She tugged on her pants leg, somewhat unsettled both by being robbed of her skirts after years of wearing them, and at the risky plan they were going to pull of.
Hey, losing your skirts isn't THAT bad... she told herself. You were always complaining, hot in summer, cold in winner, get wet easy, clumsy...and look! Now you're wearing pants! You should rejoice! You've always wanted to! Allowing herself a slight inward smile, she sat back in her chair.
"Yes, that's it." Merlin said again. His Umbreon came in and curled up at his feet, handing a Pokéball to Merlin. He transferred it to Lyra. She hugged it gratefully and put it in her pocket, looking at the dark Pokémon and thinking. Umbreon...that had been a new one for her. Then again, the only Pokémon she'd seen until she came here were Fearow, Spearow, Growlithe, Arcanine, Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Pidgeot, and Rattata...besides the crimson Dratini, Dragonair and Dragonite that Blood was. She casted an approving glance towards Shadow. The Persian wasn't sleek, nor her fur silky, in fact it was matted with dirt and blood in places, had an almost grayish tinge to it, and upset in places by lines of scar tissue. But Lyra was still enthralled at the cat Pokémon. So swift, so quiet, and so FAST! Lyra had never seen anything move that fast.
"We'd better get going..." Maria said urgently. Lyra turned her glance to the blue-haired youth. Though both of their eyes bore the unusual color of violet, hers were darker than Maria's. Lyra's were closer to the indigo end of the spectrum, and Maria's were an almost electric purple. Lyra couldn't shake the feeling that Maria was hiding something, though.
"Right." Merlin said. He looked at the other two and pulled out one of his knives. "This is going to hurt, but it's the most believable. Here, hold out your palms." glancing inquiringly at each other, the girls obeyed.
Merlin was quick and drew the knife across their palms quickly. They both shouted out when he did it and when he looked at them apologetically they quieted. "Now sling that blood around this room. Don't worry, just do it!"
He then whispered to Maria. She nodded, and screamed, "MERLIN IS KILLING ME!! TRAITOR!!! AAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!" very loudly and threw herself onto the ground as hard as she could, creating a loud thud. Instantly voices rose in the corridor. Making sure that the dresser was shoved against the door, Merlin cut the power cord to the surveillance camera with a quick leap. "He can't watch us anymore. He won't know we're going to Ecruteak instead of Fuschia. We still have so little time."
Suddenly he grimaced. "This is going to hurt." he told himself quietly. The girls cast scared glances at him and when Maria saw what he was doing she shouted, "No! Merlin!"
But it was too late. He slung the knife across both of his palms and let a good amount of his blood drain out, growing paler by the second. Once the room was bloody enough, he let out another of his Pokémon. "Aerodactyl..."
"Aa--aerooo!" the huge Prehistoric Pokémon screeched. It was barely small enough to fit in the room and wasted no time making an exit--by slamming the entire outer wall down with its long, jagged tail.
Merlin grabbed Maria by the shoulders. "Listen to me! You two get on Aero's back and hang on tight! This is going to be tricky!" he said. They nodded and got on, Maria not even noticing the bloody handprints on her shoulders. Once Aero was outside, he took off a bit and waited on a crag. Merlin suddenly shouted and lept out the window. It was perfect--Aero dived and grabbed Merlin in his clawed feet, carefully handling the teen so as not to tear him up more than he already had been. To all the other Rockets--and yes, even Giovanni--it looked perfect--Maria had obviously found some way to cut Merlin up and set her Aerodactyl on him--she was riding on its back!--and it had grabbed him. No doubt she was going to dispense of the traitor and come straight back. Inwardly, though, Giovanni was very upset that they hadn't run off after all. Anterole wouldn't get a chance to kill them, and neither would they get a chance to punish them. All the same...
Anterole padded down a hallway, unaware of the goings on. He'd find Shadow and cut her up good...she was older than him...the cocky young Persian allowed himself a hiss of sure tasted victory, sweet as blood. Suddenly he snarled and choked, and felt something hot running down his front. He bent his head forward and his head lolled strangely. Something had--slit his throat? He fell over with a sigh.
Shadow ran from the scene, not even celebrating her victory. She allowed herself a brief lick of her claws, tasting the quickly cooling blood of her foe. That young Persian had been too cocky. One NEVER celebrated one's foe's demise until that foe was vanquished. And Shadow knew better than to allow herself to celebrate now.
Following back paths and twisty alleys, Shadow made a careful way out of the hideout, and towards Ecruteak at a blistering pace, sticking strictly to the shadows. She would use all her wits, and she would be safe.
Aero was blisteringly fast. Lyra was amazed when Maria handed her a fake ID and hissed something in her ear. "Be careful. Your new name is Susan." she advised the younger girl and worriedly looked down at Merlin. He'd been pressing both palms together to stem the flow of blood, but it had helped only slightly. The pale ex-Rocket was smeared with his own blood and small bits of the other's. His hands were stuck together by dried and drying blood, and it looked for all the world like he was in a sick parody of prayer. Perhaps he was praying. Despite his unfortunate line of work and desperate and dangerous life, Merlin was a religious person. Maria shook her head, feeling unusual pangs of concern for her partner. Why was it that when they were both shot up with bullets she wasn't as worried as when he lost a lot of blood and looked pale as death? Was it because it was self inflicted? Or was it just because of the stress of the day? Unsure what to think, she settled for sighing desperately.
"We're here, Merlin!" she called down. "Or should I say John." He looked up at her with a weak grin, then let his head fall. She needed to get him to a hospital. They could pay for it--they'd accumulated a lot of money between themselves and hidden it in a bank account. Aero landed awkwardly, putting Merlin down and extending his legs for a delayed landing. He bounced, almost, his tough legs absorbing the shock, before stopping. Maria and Lyra ran off and over to Merlin. They helped him to his feet and braced him as he wobbled crazily. A turbulent flight wasn't good for a person that had lost a lot of blood, quite obviously! Maria recalled Aero for him and they hustled him to the nearest hospital, despite his frequent pleas that he was okay.
After getting Merlin in the hospital, Maria and Lyra exchaged their bloodied clothes for some Maria had brought with her. They left the hospital to go look around and get their Pokémon healed. They explained away Blood's color at the PokéCenter as an odd crossbreed and left. They made several quick errands after that, running back to the hospital as soon as they could manage.
"What other Pokémon do you have, Maria?" Lyra asked curiously. She'd only seen Maria's noble Kingdra, because he had been let out of his Pokéball to check on a fin infection.
"Ampharos, Charizard, Sandslash, and Xatu." she said. "I only have five Pokémon."
"Really?" Lyra said, confused. "Then why do you keep six Pokéballs?"
"Well," Maria launched into her lie. "I always keep a spare in case I come across a really rare Pokémon or one I just can't live without." she explained.
"Oh, I see." Lyra said in an understanding way. "I only have Growlithe and Dragonite..." she looked down at Rex appreciatively and he gave her a Growlithe grin. "What Pokémon does Merlin have?"
She took a deep breath. "He has, besides Umbreon, Jolteon, Flareon, Vaporeon, and Espeon, and also Aerodactyl. His family used to be Pokémon raisers and gene splicers, and he saved a batch of Eevees that were going to be culled because they didn't have the proper 'code' to evolve into a mutant superpowered Pokémon his family was trying to create. He left after they did that." she said quietly. "And I do not blame him in the least."
Lyra gave her new friend a sort of an odd look just as something tumbled onto the path at her feet. "Huh?"
It was...small. yellow, a Pokémon, she realized...but it was so tiny! It couldn't be much more than a foot tall! It had ludicrously huge black ears with a yellow rib down the middle and a tiny black lightning bolt tail, plus a spiky black ruff around its neck. It squealed in a high-pitched voice and she noticed it was covered with bruises. "What happened to it?"
"I don't--" Maria began, but just then she heard an angry shout and a Bayleef burst out of the nearby bushes. A trainer followed, a savage looking girl with spiky blond hair and green eyes. "You stupid little Pichu! You lost the most important battle of my life! You oughta die for that!" she began. "Bayleef! Razor Leaf!"
"No!" Lyra yelled. "Rex, take the hit!" She ordered. Rex, as mad as his master, lept in the path of the sharp leaves.
"Flamethrower attack!" She shouted. Rex howled and flames burst forth from his mouth. The flames were the brightest she'd seen--bright orange and yellow fading to a deep crimson red and with a strong blue heart. The Bayleef was singed and nearly collapsed, burnt.
"I'm not going to kill your Pokémon because that's the act of a coward!" Lyra shouted. She bent to pick up the Pichu in her arms. "I'm taking this Pokémon and if I so much as see you lay a hand on any Pokémon again in violence or anger, I'm going to hunt you down and kill you myself!" The other trainer couldn't dodge the fury in Lyra's violet eyes and instead recalled her Bayleef and ran.
Feeling slightly embarassed by her outburst, Lyra turned back to Maria to find the girl watching her with an unreadable expression. Clearing her throat slightly, she asked Maria, "What Pokémon is this? It's pretty cute..."
Maria smiled. "That's a Pichu. It's the youngest form of a Pokémon called Raichu. It can grow up to be pretty strong, but it looks hurt. We'd better take it to the Pokémon Center and get it fixed up."
Lyra held the Pichu tightly, protectively as Maria led the way back to the Pokémon Center. She bent slightly to allow Rex to sniff the small mouse Pokémon. He wagged his tail and grinned a Growlithe grin approvingly.
"Rex, this is our new friend. She.." she didn't know how the Pichu was female, she just...knew, "Is going to be training with US from now on."
Rex nodded his approval and let out a small bark of satisfaction. Turning her attentions to the Pichu, Lyra whispered in her ear kindly, "I'm not going to leave you alone or let anybody abuse you again, you hear?"
The Pichu let out a small squeak of satisfaction and closed her eyes. They made it to the PokéCenter not long after.
After a quick bout of explaining things to the nurse, the Pichu was healed and given back to Lyra. The nurse smiled. "It's good to see young people as caring as you." She told Lyra.
Lyra nodded. "Thanks for healing Pichu." she said. She looked surprised when the nurse handed her two Pokéballs. "These are more convenient to carry your Pokémon in than just letting them walk around. If you'd like decorative Apricorn balls, I can give you the address of a man in Azalea..." just then the phone rang. "Oops, well, just go to azalea if you're interested!" she said. "Now, I have to get the phone."
Lyra looked at the Pokeballs. They were smooth and shiny, made of some kind of...plastic or something? Blood was in one. She hadn't given it much thought. Back on the island they'd hollowed out Apricorns, fitted them with a risky device, and hoped it worked. Sometimes the Pokémon died. These didn't look like they'd make the Pokémon die.
Befuddled, she'd realized that she'd been talking to other people and saying "Pokéball" in a common manner as if she knew about it all along! Shaking her head, she put the Pokéballs in a pocket and laughed when the Pichu climbed onto her shoulder. "Shouldn't we go check on Merlin?"
They walked into the hospital room not long later. Merlin was awake, his hands wrapped in gauze, and waiting in the front lobby. "I was just going to come after you..." he started, then saw the Pichu on Lyra's shoulder. "Oh, cute, a Pichu. Where'd you catch it, Lyra?"
"It was being abused," she explained, "So I helped it out. She's mine now." she said, smiling at the small Pokémon. The Pichu squeaked and Rex barked approval. Both ex-rockets smiled.
Giovanni gritted his teeth as they informed him that Anterole had been found dead. So many of his plans were going wrong. He still knew the location of an old colony, now.
"Procure as many nuclear warheads as you can, Commander Zarchi!"
"Yes, sir."
To be Continued...