Chapter Thirteen
Vicky
I stood at the back and listened to the ideas for defeating the Devontrania.
Even though I was going to work with the Valdasians, I wasn't going to trust them - and I definitely wasn't going to stay in this refugee camp thing. I was going out on my own. Well, not quite on my own; I was going to ask Jack to go with me since he didn't trust the Valdasians either.
Yes, annoying as he and his Wobbuffet might be, he was the only other person who felt like I did. I didn't care what his answer was. If it was no, at least someone would know where I had gone; if it was yes, I wouldn't be on my own.
Emily
"I hope we can trust these Valdasians," Kate remarked as we sat watching her Oddish playing with my Meowth and Eevee.
"I don't think we have much choice - and I'm not just saying that because I'm of their stock," I told her. "So we're stuck with them, at least until we get this business with the Devontrania sorted." I sincerely hoped that wouldn't take too long; I was sick of always being on my guard, always having to watch out for the unknown dangers that lurked on this planet we called Terranova but which our hosts knew as Valdas. If only that wretched comet hadn't crashed into Earth, I would still be living the life of an ordinary girl.
But I wasn't an ordinary girl and I might never have found out what I truly was had it not been for the comet. Also, I now found it hard to imagine life without all the people I'd met on the Ark and in the time that had passed since. I was just reflecting on the whims of fate when Ken, Trent and Ronan appeared on the scene.
"Hi, Kate and Emily," Trent said to us. "You haven't seen Max, have you? Only, we can't seem to find him in the camp."
"No, we haven't," I said as it occurred to me that this was the second time Max had become separated from the rest of the group.
"Well, he was with us when we came, so he must still be in the caves somewhere," said Ken. With that, he released his Growlithe from his Poke Ball and patted the nearly full-grown Pokemon on the head. "Pads," he whispered in the Growlithe's ear, "I need you to go find Max. Find Max! Go on!"
"Maybe we should get Marle and her Ninetales to help," Kate suggested.
I agreed - after all, having two Pokemon to look for Max should make the job easier than it would be with just Pads on his own - and went to Marle's tent. I arrived to find her sitting beside her Ninetales, who was curled up around something on the floor. Looking closer, I saw what it was: a Pokemon egg.
"H - how did that get there?" I asked, pointing to the egg.
"Better ask Ninetales," Marle replied. But I didn't need to; it was already obvious that Marle's Ninetales must have mated with one of the other Pokemon in the Colony. "I've been thinking," Marle went on. "Jane helped save my Espeon, so I guess it's time I repaid her. When that egg hatches, I'm going to give the Vulpix to her."
"Let's just hope our Valdasian friends can sort the Devontrania out first," I said cautiously.
Marle
I reached over to scratch Ninetales under the chin. She raised her muzzle ever so slightly, uttering a soft growl that sounded more like a Meowth purring. I grinned and looked back at Emily. "I'm coming with you," I said. "Jane can watch over Ninetales and the egg for me. Espeon is just as good a tracker."
Emily nodded before turning and exiting the tent. I smiled at Ninetales again and tried to explain why I had to leave her with another human. "Espeon and I have to go help find Max," I said. "There aren't many humans left on this planet; we can't lose anyone else. And you know how well Jane took care of Espeon. Please, just behave for her and I promise I won't be gone long."
I saw something in my fox Pokemon's expression that said: "You'd better not."
Emily
While we waited for the others to get back (hopefully with Max in tow) Jane and I sat with Marle's Ninetales and studied the egg.
I wondered which of the male Pokemon in the Colony was the father. The only ones belonging to members of our little group of friends that were compatible with a Ninetales were Ken's Growlithe, DS's Cyndaquil and my Eevee, but they were all still young themselves. So, unless it was a Pokemon belonging to one of the other people who'd come on the Ark, or even one of the Pokemon that had been brought here as part of a breeding pair, that only left Vicky's Ditto. After all, any breedable Pokemon can be mated to a Ditto and, regardless of the non-Ditto parent's gender, the offspring will be the earliest evolutionary form of the other Pokemon. As such, it's a popular means of breeding Pokemon when you don't have a female of the desired evolutionary line . . .
Sorry, I'm getting sidetracked into a discussion of Pokemon breeding. Jane was stroking Marle's Ninetales and I was doing the same with my Eevee, both of us trying not to think too much about what was going on out there. On the surface, the Devontrania was more than likely laying waste to the community we had fought so hard to build, wrecking it with its powerful energy blasts. So, whether we liked it or not, we would have to stay here with the Valdasians until this threat was dealt with once and for all.
"Do you think the Valdasians can defeat that thing?" Jane asked. "Only, I'd hate to spend the rest of my life hiding underground like some common Diglett."
I was just about to agree when there was a commotion outside the tent, swiftly followed by Kate, Bianca, Faye and Henclu bursting in. "Emily, Jane, we've got trouble," Henclu told us, as we looked up with a start.
"What is it this time?" I asked.
Bianca, who had been healed by one of the Valdasian medics, looked at me gravely. "Vicky and Jack had gone back to the surface," she said.
"But why?" I demanded. "They knew it was dangerous with that Devontrania out there! Why would they risk their lives like that?"
But, even as I said it, I knew why they had done it. Jack had never completely trusted the Valdasians - he had made that clear on the day we met Henclu and Zorral - but I still couldn't believe he would rather risk his life out there. And as for Vicky, she had never said anything, but she had always seemed a little wary around the Valdasians. So were they so prejudiced against the race who sought to protect them that they would rather take their chances against the Devontrania?
We had to find out. "Come on!" I urged the others as I picked Eevee up with one hand and Meowth's Poke Ball with the other. "We'd better go look for them. Jane, bring Ninetales and the egg. Marle and Espeon have gone to look for Max."
Just as we were about to leave, Ken and Marle appeared on the scene. "Faye, we need your Flaaffy," Ken told us. "There's a big dark pit in one of the tunnels and . . . Well, we're gonna need a Pokemon who knows Flash to see what's down there."
"No sign of Max?" asked Faye as she took out her Flaaffy's Poke Ball.
"No," said Marle, shaking her head as she spoke.
"Actually, Max isn't the only person who's missing," I added. "Bianca just told me Vicky and Jack went back to the surface. We were just about to go look for them when you came."
Marle looked at us gravely and cursed under her breath as she realised this meant we would more than likely have to face the Devontrania.
"Do you know anything about a pit?" I asked Henclu.
"I'm not sure; there are tunnels even we haven't explored," she told me. "But it could be one of the old silos where they stored the Doomsday."
Do you think Max could be down there?" asked Bianca.
I shrugged; it was possible, but I didn't know for sure myself. "I think we'd best divide into teams," I said. "Ken, you go with Faye and Henclu and see if you can find Max. Marle, Bianca and I will go back to the surface to look for Vicky and Jack. The rest of you, wait here and don't wander off! We can't risk losing anyone else."
Marle
"Jane, come here a sec!" I called as we were leaving the camp.
She walked over and tried to hand me Ninetales's Poke Ball and the egg, but I only took the Ball. "The egg's yours," I said. "Ninetales will understand. Please, take care of it. OK?"
Jane nodded and I turned to join Emily and Bianca. I took stock of the Pokemon we had with us: Emily's Meowth and Eevee, my Ninetales and Espeon and Bianca's Xatu. I only hoped we'd be able to handle whatever we found on the surface.
"Feeling better?" I asked Bianca, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.
She smiled back weakly. "Yeah, I guess," she replied. "I'm still kinda tired but I'll be all right."
"Good. Well, I'll say one thing for these Valdasians - at least they've got some decent healers," I said, making sure to keep my voice low and out of Emily's range of hearing. Nothing against Emily personally, of course, but how much did we really know about these people?
Vicky
I stretched my arms out as I looked around. It didn't look too good, thanks to the Devontrania, but I didn't mind. I was still a bit unsure about the dangers, but I just had to get away from the Valdasians.
Between us, Jack and I didn't exactly have the best Pokemon on Terranova. I had a Ditto that could only use Transform and he had a Wobbuffet that was pretty stupid and only knew a few Attacks.
"How about that?" Jack asked after we had walked around for a bit. He pointed to two trees, but I was completely clueless.
"What's that for?" I asked.
"To sleep in," he replied. "We didn't come up to the surface for nothing."
The idea of finding someone to sleep had just crossed my mind.
Emily
"Any idea where they went?" asked Bianca as we searched the wreckage of what had once been our Colony.
"No," I called back, picking my way through the ruins of the shelter I had been assigned to on the day we landed on Terranova. It all seemed so long ago now, a time when we were ignorant of this world's secrets and I had no idea of my connection to it. "All I can tell is that they don't seem to be here so . . ." I paused as something caught my eye and I bent to pick it up.
It was an envelope and it had my name written on the front in my mum's handwriting. She must have slipped it in among my things before I left Earth, hiding it so well that I hadn't found it until now. I tore it open and began to read:
Dear Emily,
I know I will more than likely be dead by the time you read this, but I feel you should know a few things, things I will now never be able to tell you in person.
First, there is something I must tell you while I've still got the chance. Emily, I am not fully human; my ancestors came from a distant planet called Valdas. I wish I could have told you this before, but alas fate has dictated otherwise . . ."
I gasped as I read that my mum had been like me and forced myself to carry on reading.
Have courage, Emily, no matter what happens to you or where in the Universe you end up. Look after your Meowth and remember that life goes on . . .
At that point, Marle came in to find me standing there, holding Mum's letter in my hand. "Hey!" she said. "I thought we were supposed to be looking for Vicky and Jack! What's that you've got there anyway?"
I turned round and looked her full in the face. "It's a letter my mum left with me," I said. "She was a Valdasian too and she wrote that to tell me."
But there was no time to think about this because we still had to find our two friends. They were goodness knew where on this planet, at the mercy of the Devontrania and with only a Ditto and a Wobbuffet for protection.
Marle
I hadn't meant to sound so harsh with Emily; it was just that I was worried about Vicky and Jack. I left her to her thoughts and began to search for any supplies we might be able to salvage from the decimated campsite.
A while later, I was stuffing my pack with as much as I could carry without collapsing. I had just finished and was struggling to get it fully closed when Emily called to us from the edge of the site. "Come on! Finish whatever it is you're doing and let's move out! Vicky and Jack are still out there somewhere!"
Emily
As the three of us made our way through the forest, a terrified scream rent the air.
"That's Vicky!" exclaimed Bianca. "Something must be seriously wrong!"
We hoped it wasn't what we all thought it was, but there was no way of telling unless we followed that scream and saw for ourselves. As we headed in its general direction, I sent up a quick prayer (rare for me, since I've never been particularly religious) that Vicky and Jack would be found safe, or as safe as anyone could be with the Devontrania on the loose.
As we neared the area where we had first found the entrance to the underground system, I spotted something that caused me to literally stop in my tracks. The Devontrania was hovering menacingly over two figures; I knew they had to be Vicky and Jack because they were the only ones outside apart from Marle, Bianca and myself. It was tempting to leave them to their fate - after all, it was their refusal to trust the Valdasians that had landed them in this mess - but I knew I couldn't do that. Vicky was just a kid after all and, as for Jack, he might be a bit of a jerk at times, but he was still one of us.
"We've got to get them out of there," said Bianca.
"I know, but how?" Marle replied. "None of us has a Pokemon large enough to take on that thing."
Bianca sighed. "Yeah. If only I'd been allowed to bring my dad's Charizard . . ."
I chanced to glance at the Pendant I wore round my neck and noticed to my amazement that it seemed to be glowing with a light so intense that, had it been night, would have lit up the whole area. Then, before I had time to think about it, I sent a powerful blast of fire, stronger than anything I had yet produced, in the Devontrania's direction. Taken completely by surprise, it took off into the sky and disappeared from view.
Marle knelt to examine Vicky and Jack. Luckily, Jack didn't seem too badly hurt, which was more than could be said for Vicky, who had been knocked unconscious by something. "What happened?" Marle asked Jack, even though I had a feeling I knew what the answer would be.
"Devontrania . . . attacked us," Jack explained. "Used its energy blasts. Vicky took the brunt of it . . ."
Wasting no time, I lifted Vicky off the ground and turned to go with Marle and Bianca following in my wake. "We'll have to take her to the Valdasian medics," I said. "After all, they healed Bianca so, hopefully, they'll be able to heal her as well." I was so concerned about Vicky that I failed to notice Jack wasn't following until Bianca pointed this out.
Marle and Bianca went back to fetch Jack and returned moments later, dragging him along between them.
"Hey!" he yelled. "I'm not going back with those freaks! Let go of me!"
"Oh shut your wordhole!" I snapped impatiently. "Do you realise that Devontrania could have killed you? Besides, we've got to get Vicky seen to."
But there seemed to be no reasoning with Jack; every time we tried to get him to come with us, he refused to budge. In the end, there was no other option but to knock him out somehow. But how? I had Vicky to deal with and Jack was taller than both Marle and Bianca.
"Jack," Bianca said as she released her Xatu from his Poke Ball, "I'm really sorry about this . . ." She told her Xatu to use Night Shade, which he did, sending a blast of shadowy energy in Jack's direction and putting him temporarily out of action. "Quick, Marle!" she ordered as she took hold of Jack's legs. "Help me get him back to the caves!"
"Do you think Max has been found yet?" Marle asked as we carried Vicky and Jack to safety.
"I don't know," I replied. "But I sure hope so; we can't risk losing anyone now."
Presently, we saw the entrance to the caves just up ahead . . .
"Quick! Through here!" Henclu yelled as we approached the caves. Then, she paused when she saw Vicky and Jack. "What's wrong with them?"
"The Devontrania got Vicky so we had to bring her back here," I explained. "And Jack was being a little . . . unco-operative, so Bianca got her Xatu to use Night Shade and knock him out."
"Bring them in," Henclu ordered. "I'll go fetch the medics."
At that point I remembered something. "Any news of Max yet?" I asked.
"We found him in one of the old silos, just like I thought," Henclu told me. "I used my powers to lift him out on the wind. He's with Ken and Trent right now and there doesn't seem to be too much harm done."
I was relieved to hear that Max was OK, but we still had to get Vicky and Jack seen to. And then there was the matter of the Devontrania.
Henclu must have read my mind somehow because she turned to me with a determined look on her face. "Daumos has been making plans with your Captain Monash," she told me. "We move against it tonight."
