Chapter seven: The Mistress of Thunder
Sparky spent abut $100 on "survival stuff;" a backpack, food, water, and the like. With the problem of Sparky getting fed solved, Buck recalled his dream for their next destination.
"Two, the Mistress of Thunder, in the abandoned Place of Human Lightning..."
"Well, that's Zapdos," Sparky said, "and I suppose that means an abandoned power plant."
"Power plant?" Artica asked.
"Where humans make electricity. Let's see... there was only one power plant in the game, but it got reinstated in Gold-Silver-Crystal. Besides, the game has no mention of any Mt. Shasta."
Sparky had by now explained videogames and their relation to the Pokémon Multiverse. "I guess that means we don't have any directions, then?" Buck said.
"Right. Let's split up and ask around, shall we? We'll meet back here in an hour."
None of the trio had any luck. No Pokémon had any idea where Zapdos was, and all the humans Sparky talked to gave her funny looks. The group reassembled and heads shook. Artica especially was quite crestfallen.
"The Mistress was my best friend among best friends. She was the only other female, you see."
Sparky stroked Artica's neck comfortingly. "Aw, don't worry, girl. We'll find the Mistress. As Thomas Edison said to his disillusioned assistants; 'We now know 216 ways NOT to do it.'"
Artica smiled with her eyes, then asked, "Who's Thomas Edison?"
"Famous inventor. Proved lightning is electricity and… uh… invented the light bulb."
The history lesson was ended by a greeting of "Hail, cousins!" from above the trio's heads. They looked up and found a grinning Jolteon perched atop the small building they were standing next to.
"Hail, brother!" Sparky returned. The Jolteon nimbly leapt off the building, landing directly in front of Artica, Buck, and Sparky.
"Of all the wondrous beings to be seen in Celedon!" he said, "The Queen of Ice, a talking human, and a Mew! An honor and a privilege it is. But how rude of me! My Name is Zelos. What are yours?"
The three spoke their names in turn, with Artica speaking last and asking, "Do you know where the Mistress of Thunder lives?"
Zelos grinned. "Yes! This I know, for but a few short weeks ago, I lived in the human city of Vermillion. One year ago, the humans there shut down their old Lightning Maker in favor of a new one. At around the same time, I am told, the Mistress was forced from her old home because humans reoccupied it. She snuck into the old, underground Lightning Maker one night, right under the humans' noses!"
Artica nodded. "I, too, was forced from my old home one year ago. The network of caves I was living in collapsed. I barely escaped with my life."
"Hm," said Sparky, "that would explain a lot. Um, Zelos, could you lead us to Vermillion?"
"It would be my pleasure. Come! This way!"
The enthusiastic little Jolteon led them in an almost strait line from their location, through Saffron, and up to a dilapidated building in Vermillion City. It was evening when they arrived.
"In there." said Zelos. "I bid you farewell, my friends!" And he zipped off, showing no signs of slowing down.
"Let us go!" Artica chirped happily.
"Artica?" came an exhausted Sparky, "Artica, I know you've waited a really long time for this... but I think we should wait one more night. I can barely stand. I've never walked that far that fast in... Like... ever. Just one more night?"
Artica looked from her tired Trainer to Buck, who had become a leaning post for the pooped-out human. He offered nothing but a quick shrug. She looked at the dilapidated building and considered. She turned back to Sparky and said "Okay. One more night." with a 'smile.'
Sparky sighed with relief. "Thanks, Artica. Uh, let's go to the Pokémon Center for the night, shall we?"
She walked, somewhat drunkenly, to the in-sight Center, still using the Mewtwo for support. Artica gave the crumbling building a quick glance and said, "Tomorrow, sister." before hopping after her comrades. As she arrived, Buck was making a scene about entering the Pokémon Center.
"I'm staying right here."
"What's the matter with you, Buck? It's just a Pokémon Center." Sparky said.
"Well I uh... um, that is to say... uhhhhhh..." Buck fidgeted and wrung his hands, at a loss for words.
Sparky smirked. "You're claustrophobic, aren't you?"
"Claw-ster... whosie?"
In an encyclopedia voice with a raised index finger, Sparky said, "Claustrophobia: the exaggerated fear of enclosed spaces."
Buck considered this definition for a second. "Well... yeah, I guess. Only in human-built confines, though."
"Anthrophopbic claustrophobia. Interesting. Well, you can sleep out here, if you want. C'mon, Artica. G'night, Buck."
"'Night Sparks. 'Night Artica."
Late that night, Buck felt something tug at his tail. "Lee me alone, Sparks... not going in..."
"Wake up." said a voice that was most definitely not Sparky's. Buck snapped awake and found himself staring at a yellow, four-legged dragon. Buck pinned his ears back and growled.
"Silence, brother. I'm here to help you."
Buck stopped growling and raised his ears, but made no other move.
"Follow me." the dragon said.
Buck glared at him, but complied. As he calmed down, Buck checked his new companion out. The dragon was about half a foot shorter than Buck, and as long as Buck was tall. He was mostly yellow, save for a few vertical, jagged stripes that curiously suggested lightning. In fact, a lot of him suggested lightning: his zigzagging horns, the spiky feathers on his wings, indeed, even his claws were jagged. Buck wondered how he could walk on such things. A demonic arrow at the tail's tip nicely rounded off this bizarre being.
"Where are we going?" Buck asked.
"You will see."
They plodded on. "Can't we go back for my friends?"
"It would do no good. You alone can sense me or my brethren. But enough of that... we are here."
Buck looked and scented. It was the crumbling entrance to the Mistress of Thunder's lair.
"Look, pal, we already know..."
"I know what you know. But I also know what you do not know."
The dragon indicated Buck was to follow by a jerk of his head and walked around a corner of the building.
"Look there." he said, specifying with a wave of his paw. Buck looked where the crooked claws pointed and saw a thin crack in the wall.
"So?"
"Kicking that is the only way in. Any other entrance is blocked by fallen debris. Got it?"
"Yeah. But... hey!"
The dragon darted around a corner. Buck followed, a question on the tip of his tongue. Evidently, it would have to wait, for the news bringer had vanished.
Buck stared at what would've been the dragon's trial for quite some time in a trance-like state. When he finally snapped out of it, the sun was just below the horizon. Buck snorted, tossed his head, and slowly dragged himself back to the Pokémon Center.
***
An hour of boredom awaited Buck as his two companions slept, unbothered by visions of dragons. When they finally woke, Artica led the charge to the old building. True to the dragon's word, there was no way in until Buck kicked in the weakened wall.
The hole led down to a maze of dust-encrusted wires, generators, and even a few desks. They walked. And walked. And walked.
It was quite some time before they saw any signs of life. A corridor they had not been down was comparatively clean, as if someone had taken a lazy swipe of a feather duster to it. As they started down the tunnel, Artica was practically exploding with excitement. In a bundle of nerves, she let out a cry that amounted to a whoop.
To everyone's surprise, someone called back in a voice that sounded like a cross between a crow and buzzing static. It was too far off to understand, but Artica was overjoyed.
"That's the Mistress! It has to be! Hey!"
Artica dashed off, Buck and Sparky surprised a little at her speed on the ground. They could barely keep up. Artica and her friend called back and forth is a series of heys…
"Hey!"
"Hey..."
"Hey!"
"Hey!"
"Hey!"
"HEY!"
"Hey... there you are!"
Sure enough, there she was: the Mistress of Thunder. For both birds, it was a happy and noisy reunion. Buck and Sparky stood unnoticed for a full three minutes before Artica calmed down enough to point them out.
"A Mew and a talking human, eh? Good companions, sister."
"It gets better!" said Artica, "The Mew is Buck and he sees visions. The human is Sparky, and not only does she speak Lowger, she is a Namer! She Named me Artica!"
"A Namer? Well come then, Sparky! I want a human-name, too!"
Sparky stepped forward and immediately tripped on a wire for the umpteenth time. She cursed in exasperation and addressed the Mistress: "Sister, I'll Name you, but it would help if I could actually see. Humans have poor night-vision."
"You need light, then? Step back, Artica..."
Artica obeyed, and the Mistress jammed her long beak into a circuit box. She closed her eyes and focused. Static erupted from her feathers, dimly lighting the air around her. The circuit box and some nearby light bulbs sparked into action, as well. The Mistress's muscles trembled slightly from the effort.
"Thundra!" Sparky yelled in a burst of inspiration. "Thundra the Zapdos!"
The newly named Thundra removed her beak and cawed. She repeated the name over and over to lock it in her mind. Sparky walked up to a spaced-out Buck and clapped him out of it. "You okay?" she asked.
"Uhhhhhmmm... yeeeah. So. We found the Mistress of Thunder."
"Thundra."
"Right."
The human and Mewtwo watched the bird's joyous celebrations. Buck closed his eyes.
"Two down. Three to go."
Sparky spent abut $100 on "survival stuff;" a backpack, food, water, and the like. With the problem of Sparky getting fed solved, Buck recalled his dream for their next destination.
"Two, the Mistress of Thunder, in the abandoned Place of Human Lightning..."
"Well, that's Zapdos," Sparky said, "and I suppose that means an abandoned power plant."
"Power plant?" Artica asked.
"Where humans make electricity. Let's see... there was only one power plant in the game, but it got reinstated in Gold-Silver-Crystal. Besides, the game has no mention of any Mt. Shasta."
Sparky had by now explained videogames and their relation to the Pokémon Multiverse. "I guess that means we don't have any directions, then?" Buck said.
"Right. Let's split up and ask around, shall we? We'll meet back here in an hour."
None of the trio had any luck. No Pokémon had any idea where Zapdos was, and all the humans Sparky talked to gave her funny looks. The group reassembled and heads shook. Artica especially was quite crestfallen.
"The Mistress was my best friend among best friends. She was the only other female, you see."
Sparky stroked Artica's neck comfortingly. "Aw, don't worry, girl. We'll find the Mistress. As Thomas Edison said to his disillusioned assistants; 'We now know 216 ways NOT to do it.'"
Artica smiled with her eyes, then asked, "Who's Thomas Edison?"
"Famous inventor. Proved lightning is electricity and… uh… invented the light bulb."
The history lesson was ended by a greeting of "Hail, cousins!" from above the trio's heads. They looked up and found a grinning Jolteon perched atop the small building they were standing next to.
"Hail, brother!" Sparky returned. The Jolteon nimbly leapt off the building, landing directly in front of Artica, Buck, and Sparky.
"Of all the wondrous beings to be seen in Celedon!" he said, "The Queen of Ice, a talking human, and a Mew! An honor and a privilege it is. But how rude of me! My Name is Zelos. What are yours?"
The three spoke their names in turn, with Artica speaking last and asking, "Do you know where the Mistress of Thunder lives?"
Zelos grinned. "Yes! This I know, for but a few short weeks ago, I lived in the human city of Vermillion. One year ago, the humans there shut down their old Lightning Maker in favor of a new one. At around the same time, I am told, the Mistress was forced from her old home because humans reoccupied it. She snuck into the old, underground Lightning Maker one night, right under the humans' noses!"
Artica nodded. "I, too, was forced from my old home one year ago. The network of caves I was living in collapsed. I barely escaped with my life."
"Hm," said Sparky, "that would explain a lot. Um, Zelos, could you lead us to Vermillion?"
"It would be my pleasure. Come! This way!"
The enthusiastic little Jolteon led them in an almost strait line from their location, through Saffron, and up to a dilapidated building in Vermillion City. It was evening when they arrived.
"In there." said Zelos. "I bid you farewell, my friends!" And he zipped off, showing no signs of slowing down.
"Let us go!" Artica chirped happily.
"Artica?" came an exhausted Sparky, "Artica, I know you've waited a really long time for this... but I think we should wait one more night. I can barely stand. I've never walked that far that fast in... Like... ever. Just one more night?"
Artica looked from her tired Trainer to Buck, who had become a leaning post for the pooped-out human. He offered nothing but a quick shrug. She looked at the dilapidated building and considered. She turned back to Sparky and said "Okay. One more night." with a 'smile.'
Sparky sighed with relief. "Thanks, Artica. Uh, let's go to the Pokémon Center for the night, shall we?"
She walked, somewhat drunkenly, to the in-sight Center, still using the Mewtwo for support. Artica gave the crumbling building a quick glance and said, "Tomorrow, sister." before hopping after her comrades. As she arrived, Buck was making a scene about entering the Pokémon Center.
"I'm staying right here."
"What's the matter with you, Buck? It's just a Pokémon Center." Sparky said.
"Well I uh... um, that is to say... uhhhhhh..." Buck fidgeted and wrung his hands, at a loss for words.
Sparky smirked. "You're claustrophobic, aren't you?"
"Claw-ster... whosie?"
In an encyclopedia voice with a raised index finger, Sparky said, "Claustrophobia: the exaggerated fear of enclosed spaces."
Buck considered this definition for a second. "Well... yeah, I guess. Only in human-built confines, though."
"Anthrophopbic claustrophobia. Interesting. Well, you can sleep out here, if you want. C'mon, Artica. G'night, Buck."
"'Night Sparks. 'Night Artica."
Late that night, Buck felt something tug at his tail. "Lee me alone, Sparks... not going in..."
"Wake up." said a voice that was most definitely not Sparky's. Buck snapped awake and found himself staring at a yellow, four-legged dragon. Buck pinned his ears back and growled.
"Silence, brother. I'm here to help you."
Buck stopped growling and raised his ears, but made no other move.
"Follow me." the dragon said.
Buck glared at him, but complied. As he calmed down, Buck checked his new companion out. The dragon was about half a foot shorter than Buck, and as long as Buck was tall. He was mostly yellow, save for a few vertical, jagged stripes that curiously suggested lightning. In fact, a lot of him suggested lightning: his zigzagging horns, the spiky feathers on his wings, indeed, even his claws were jagged. Buck wondered how he could walk on such things. A demonic arrow at the tail's tip nicely rounded off this bizarre being.
"Where are we going?" Buck asked.
"You will see."
They plodded on. "Can't we go back for my friends?"
"It would do no good. You alone can sense me or my brethren. But enough of that... we are here."
Buck looked and scented. It was the crumbling entrance to the Mistress of Thunder's lair.
"Look, pal, we already know..."
"I know what you know. But I also know what you do not know."
The dragon indicated Buck was to follow by a jerk of his head and walked around a corner of the building.
"Look there." he said, specifying with a wave of his paw. Buck looked where the crooked claws pointed and saw a thin crack in the wall.
"So?"
"Kicking that is the only way in. Any other entrance is blocked by fallen debris. Got it?"
"Yeah. But... hey!"
The dragon darted around a corner. Buck followed, a question on the tip of his tongue. Evidently, it would have to wait, for the news bringer had vanished.
Buck stared at what would've been the dragon's trial for quite some time in a trance-like state. When he finally snapped out of it, the sun was just below the horizon. Buck snorted, tossed his head, and slowly dragged himself back to the Pokémon Center.
***
An hour of boredom awaited Buck as his two companions slept, unbothered by visions of dragons. When they finally woke, Artica led the charge to the old building. True to the dragon's word, there was no way in until Buck kicked in the weakened wall.
The hole led down to a maze of dust-encrusted wires, generators, and even a few desks. They walked. And walked. And walked.
It was quite some time before they saw any signs of life. A corridor they had not been down was comparatively clean, as if someone had taken a lazy swipe of a feather duster to it. As they started down the tunnel, Artica was practically exploding with excitement. In a bundle of nerves, she let out a cry that amounted to a whoop.
To everyone's surprise, someone called back in a voice that sounded like a cross between a crow and buzzing static. It was too far off to understand, but Artica was overjoyed.
"That's the Mistress! It has to be! Hey!"
Artica dashed off, Buck and Sparky surprised a little at her speed on the ground. They could barely keep up. Artica and her friend called back and forth is a series of heys…
"Hey!"
"Hey..."
"Hey!"
"Hey!"
"Hey!"
"HEY!"
"Hey... there you are!"
Sure enough, there she was: the Mistress of Thunder. For both birds, it was a happy and noisy reunion. Buck and Sparky stood unnoticed for a full three minutes before Artica calmed down enough to point them out.
"A Mew and a talking human, eh? Good companions, sister."
"It gets better!" said Artica, "The Mew is Buck and he sees visions. The human is Sparky, and not only does she speak Lowger, she is a Namer! She Named me Artica!"
"A Namer? Well come then, Sparky! I want a human-name, too!"
Sparky stepped forward and immediately tripped on a wire for the umpteenth time. She cursed in exasperation and addressed the Mistress: "Sister, I'll Name you, but it would help if I could actually see. Humans have poor night-vision."
"You need light, then? Step back, Artica..."
Artica obeyed, and the Mistress jammed her long beak into a circuit box. She closed her eyes and focused. Static erupted from her feathers, dimly lighting the air around her. The circuit box and some nearby light bulbs sparked into action, as well. The Mistress's muscles trembled slightly from the effort.
"Thundra!" Sparky yelled in a burst of inspiration. "Thundra the Zapdos!"
The newly named Thundra removed her beak and cawed. She repeated the name over and over to lock it in her mind. Sparky walked up to a spaced-out Buck and clapped him out of it. "You okay?" she asked.
"Uhhhhhmmm... yeeeah. So. We found the Mistress of Thunder."
"Thundra."
"Right."
The human and Mewtwo watched the bird's joyous celebrations. Buck closed his eyes.
"Two down. Three to go."