Chapter 11: Attack of the Wild Pokémon!
"All right," Naria said, looking at her equipment, "I think these will work for the repairs. Not like the recent tools made in my original world, but they should suffice."
Warles looked at her. "How are you positive that these old things will work for something as advanced as your portals?" he asked.
"We've always made our equipment as such so older tools will still work," she explained, checking her inventory. "These tools aren't exact replicas, but they're close enough. It does mean, however, that it will take longer than usual."
"How long exactly?" Warles asked. "A friend of his has orders, and if he doesn't return in less than a week, then he must declare Kevin lost again."
"So I see our references to time is the same, as well," Naria commented. "I assume you use a passing of the light and dark as a day?"
"Well, the middle of night is the beginning of a new day," Warles confirmed. "How many days do you assume it will take?"
"Four days, at most," she explained. "If I had a beam welder, then I could cut that time by half, but no matter."
"Four days… that's barely in time for Kevin to call back." Warles then sighed, shaking his head slightly. "However, we'll have to get other supplies."
He and the others were once again in the Viridian forest. It took a moment for them to find Laguna, as he was deeper in the trees and was invisible to the natural gaze to hide himself from "the populace of the city," as he referred it. Finally, Cerberus, the Houndoom hybrid, had to go and sniff him out, as she had been around Laguna long enough to know his scent. Reluctantly, Laguna was finally brought back to their group.
"All right," Warles began, "We need to split up. Blade, Laguna, and Naria will head back to the island to make the repairs. Mirmik, Arang, and I will go and retrieve food and other essentials to survive on Cinnabar for the time being."
"What about me?" Cerberus asked.
Cerberus seemed more human than Houndoom. Though she had the tail and the noticeable 'ribs' under the shirt provided for her in the chamber, not much else was there. Warles shrugged. "Unless you can battle without flamethrower and such, you can help out on Cinnabar by fighting Slugma with Blade. Blade, with the help there, can help out with cutting wires or other parts on the portal besides fighting off the Pokémon." He shrugged. "If there's not much you can help with otherwise, you can use my coat to hide those ribs and tail of yours so we can get food together."
"Wait, there's still one more member here," Rikki added.
"The more help I can have, the sooner I can finish," Naria commented. "After all, a focused flamethrower can replace the beam welder I had in mind, And Rikki can take the static away from my work."
"Very well then," Warles agreed. "It is decided. Laguna, can you handle three passengers?"
"Depends," Laguna said, shrugging. "Why do I have to be the carrier Pidgey?"
"Because you're the only hybrid currently here that can fly," Warles explained, "not to mention the fact that Kevin is the only one who knows where your hybrid status comes from. If we're going to get him back, it will have to be together."
"And if I refuse?"
"You chose to follow the hybrids, Laguna," Warles growled. "And if I know that from Naria's world, imagine my knowledge of what can possibly happen to you here."
Laguna stared coldly at Warles for a moment. He then turned to Naria, his expression back to its neutral state for a Lugia. "Fine. You and Cerberus will ride on my back, and the others I will carry with my feet."
As Warles began to explain to Mirmik and Arang how they would get the rest of their supplies, Laguna took flight with Naria and the others. Rikki wrapped his tail around Laguna's leg for extra support, and Blade gripped tightly with both hands, being careful not to slash the foot holding him with his blades on his wrists.
"Warles does not seem to be who he is," Laguna growled as he carried the four passengers. "I almost suspect him to be from that Eralch human himself!"
"Warles's face and attitude matches no one that I know of from my Company," Naria stated. "Plus, I can tell he's worn that suit for a long time, so he's certainly not anyone who used to occupy the Cinnabar Island."
"Hmph! He seems to have the arrogance of Mr. Eralch himself!" Laguna snarled. "Maybe when he gets on the island I'll teach him a thing or two for pushing me around!"
"Hey," Blade shot, "Warles seems to be the only one here in our group that knows what to do in this world. After all, who made the plan to get the items for repairs?"
Cerberus decided to change the subject before anyone else made a remark. "Laguna, I wanted to ask you something before we got to the island… how can you hold all four of us and still have plenty of energy to carry us over the sea?"
"Yeah, I've been wondering that myself," Rikki added, still gripping tightly with his tail and being careful not to charge himself with electricity. "How can you possibly keep going like this? I don't see any spots where we can land to rest!"
Laguna, though still upset of being forced to carry four people, was silently grateful for the distraction. "Well, flying isn't the only thing I am capable of doing," he explained. "Right now, I'm using my Psychic abilities to help me glide without wind and keep you heavyweights from dragging me down by making you lighter."
"Ahh, that makes sense," Rikki commented. "Sounds like you're adapting to your skills far quicker than the rest of us."
"I learned of them when I hid in the forest," Laguna said, nodding. "And once Kevin is brought back to his world and I reunited with those creatures that I originate from, I will go on my own way."
"Well then," Naria declared, "Let's get to that mansion and get to work!"
"Easier said than done, Naria," Cerberus suddenly said. "Look!"
The island was quickly coming into view, thanks to Laguna's speed. However, everyone quickly saw what was wrong. All along the shoreline, they could quickly distinguish red patches on the charred landscape. The shore wasn't the only place, either; they were beginning to carpet the base of the mansion, as well.
"Those must be the fire-type Slugma that the outpost was having problems with!" Naria exclaimed, recalling the name from her studies. "How on earth did they grow to be so many?"
"The landscape itself seems to tell that there's a permanent source of fire nearby," Cerberus declared. "Either that fire has spawned hundreds of these, or because of the now-abandoned mansion there are no longer people to keep them in check."
"I think there's more to it than that," Blade shouted, alarmed at an object that was now coming at them. "Incoming!!"
Laguna dodged left, barely evading a molten ball from hitting his right hand. However, the mere presence drawing close to him suddenly startled Laguna. He quickly glanced back at it before looking back at the island. "Was that ball… alive?" he wondered.
As they drew closer, they saw the scene clearly before them. The volcano was once again erupting, but instead of pouring out lava like it did the last time, it shot out balls of fire in random directions, even into the water. However, more landed on dry land, and took a form that represented the Pokémon Naria could easily recognize.
"We should've seen this one coming," Naria exclaimed. "They were beginning to appear more often before Kevin came through, and so we should've taken the hint!"
"Well, too late for that now," Rikki remarked. "Now what we need to figure out is how to stop them!"
"They're attacking the building!" Cerberus said in alarm.
Just as Cerberus made her comment, several of the Slugma along the wall of the mansion began to use their flamethrower on the cement walls of the mansion. Naria knew they wouldn't get immediate results from attacking the mansion, but if they continued with their flamethrower, the walls would eventually become hot enough to melt and form a way in.
Think, Naria! She said to herself in her mind. What moves do these hybrids know?
Naria looked down at Blade. "Blade," she said nervously, "Think you can pull off a Hydro Pump?"
"I can try," Blade answered. "I haven't had the time to test out my abilities yet…"
"Well, it's natural for a Pokémon that you're created with," Naria said. "Just see what you can do from up here!"
Since Laguna was holding onto one of his hands, Blade let go with the other to get a better view of the attacking Slugma. Inhaling deep, he breathed out fiercely and unleashed a powerful stream of water at the Slugma. Because he was moving with Laguna, he actually hit several at once, causing them to run. More began to take their place and continue where their friends had left off, which Naria knew they would take a lot longer than those still working because the cement was capable of cooling off very quickly from even a small breeze.
"We have to act now," Naria urged. "Laguna! Get us closer so we can all drop on top of them and hit them all at once. Looks like there's going to be a war!"
"Now you've got my interest!" Laguna said, grinning. "Ok, first off, Blade!"
"This will be too easy!" Blade said, staring down at the Slugma. He shouted a war cry immediately as Laguna let go, and landed with an intentional heavy impact to release an intensive Ancient Power attack, sending a rocky shockwave in all directions.
"Here we gooo!" Rikki shouted as Laguna dropped him further from Blade along the building. He landed, connecting his tail to the ground, and pulled a thunder attack from the clear sky to hit himself and several Slugma, causing them to flee as well.
"I'm going to drop you two off on the second floor balcony," Laguna said to the remaining riders. "That way, if any of them got in, Cerberus can fight them off. How, I don't know, but I'm going to keep them from the door!"
"Thank you, Laguna," Naria replied. Once they were close enough, Naria and Cerberus hopped off and dashed inside.
Naria knew the whole outpost inside and out. Leading the way to the portal, they dashed their way down a staircase and through several corridors. However, one Slugma had managed to get inside the building and now moved toward the portal. Naria was glad that the building was prepared for fire, and had no flammable materials inside or out.
"I'll handle this one!" Cerberus shouted, dashing past Naria. Though she was a Houndoom as a creature, her other half was a partial martial artist. Leaping into the air, she gave the Slugma a powerful Jump Kick, getting its attention.
Naria fell to the ground, and no sooner did she do that than a Flamethrower shot over her. Sitting up again to watch the fight, she stared in amazement, as the Slugma seemed to do no harm with the flamethrower, either to Cerberus's skin or clothes. Even the kicks Cerberus did left no burns on her bare feet, and the hits she got in on the Pokémon made sound, solid blows. As Naria stared at the Slugma, however, she noticed that something was different about this one than the ones that she studied about. With a final swift kick, she mysteriously brought it up to her hands, molded the Pokémon into a ball, and held it with fierce intent.
"Either these Slugma are newborns and look different," Naria said as they took the Slugma outside, "or these are Slugma created only for destruction."
"I'll go with option two," Cerberus remarked. "Makes me feel better about beating this one senseless."
As the two of them stepped outside, Blade stepped up to Naria as Cerberus threw the Slugma as far as she could. "They're too numerous," Blade announced. "And I've depleted the energy necessary to use both Hydro Pump and Ancient Power. There's one move I can perform still, but I need to know something first; can this building sustain against water?"
"The windows are built as such so no one can break entry, if they managed to get that far," Naria answered. "It was modeled after a building from before, so my assumption is it can."
"Then all of you, get inside," Blade declared. "I'm going to give Surf a whole new meaning!" he then dashed past a Slugma, slashing it in the process.
"I'll help," Laguna added, following him. "I can use water abilities, too."
Cerberus quickly kicked away a Slugma from attacking. "Rikki!" she shouted to the still fighting Raichu hybrid. "Get inside! We're going to have the wave of our lives!!"
"But they're still attacking!" Rikki shouted back.
"That's a sacrifice we'll make," Naria said. "Just hurry!"