Ch. 15 – A Blazing Battle

Water Puts out Fire, or Does it?

            "Who are you?!"  Lina demanded.  Her face looked bewildered with a slight tint of fear masked by anger.

            The hooded figure chuckled deeply in reply.  "You know who I am.  Lina Inverse."

            Lina had clenched her hands into fists so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.  Worried, Archie whimpered and licked Lina's closest hand.  But it did no good.  Softly, she spoke, her head looking down at her feet.

            "I never expected to see you again.  I honestly and truly didn't.  I was going to ask what you were doing here, but I think I already know."

            Gourry was starting to get really worried.  Tentatively, he stood up.  "…Lina?"  He reached for Lina, but she swatted his hand away fiercely.  In an undertone she ground out.  "Go find Zel and Gary.  Tell them that I can't guarantee that I'll be back, but I'll try.  And don't try to interfere.  This is my problem, and my battle.  Archie, I can't use you right now, so return."  A bit louder, she added, "Pyro, let's take to the skies!"

            With split-second timing, Lina was above the mysterious man, who levitated up to meet her.  Gourry looked up at them with worry.  Regret coursing through his heart, he took a step backward slowly, before turning to run towards the others.

            As soon as he breathed out his message, both Zel and Gary jumped up.  Gary was surprised beyond belief.  He looked towards where Gourry said Lina was.  Two pinpricks in the blue air could be seen.  Half to himself, Gary murmured, "This isn't like Lina.  She'd never say something like that.  Unless…"  Gary's eyes opened wide with realization.  "Oh no.  It can't be…Gourry!  What did you say this guy looked like?"

            Gourry had to think a while before he slowly said, "Well, he had this really clean black cloak…I think I saw a bit of dirty blond hair from under his hood…from a distance I'd estimate that he was like six feet tall…oh and he had a deep voice.  That's all I can think of."

            Gary grimaced.  "It's him all right.  Zel, Gourry, we have to convince the captain to go full throttle to Cinnabar Island.  We can't stay anywhere near this area."

            Gourry immediately asked, "What about Lina?"

            Gary shook his head.  "Trust me, she won't want any of us anywhere near her right now."

            Zel apparently understood Gary's dire need.  "I'll take care of the captain."

            Gary nodded and turned to Gourry as Zel strode off.  "Gourry, tell all of the trainers with water pokemon to go to the back of the boat and have their pokemon use water gun so we can go faster.  I'm going to go underwater and spread the word to move out.  I have a flying pokemon, so I'll catch up to you when I'm done.  Let's go!"

            Gary was a very authoritative figure, who, like Lina, took control whenever necessary.  Likewise, people immediately obeyed in response, trusting them for the greater good.

Once the boat had evacuated the area as well as the sea life, Gary glanced up at the two figures.  They were just standing still, so there was still time.  He used his Pidgeot to fly up towards them.

Meanwhile, Lina was engaged in an anxious argument with the masked visitor.  Lina was speaking first.  "How did you track me down?"

The hooded figure cracked a grin, and spoke with a voice bathed in familiarity.  "My dear Lina, you didn't honestly expect for me not to notice you hovering above our beloved town, now did you?"

Lina's eyes widened in amazement.  She mildly cursed under her breath, before murmuring, "I'd forgotten about you."

The man shook his head as he waggled his gloved hand.  "Tsk tsk Lina.  How could you possibly forget someone like me?  Your own father."

A searing white blaze of anger penetrated Lina's cool composure, and her temper erupted with the ferocity of a large volcano.  "You are NOT my father!  I refuse to admit to it, and I will never accept you as such."

As calm as the surface of a shallow pond, the man softly responded, "Just because you don't accept me, doesn't make it any less true.  You are my own flesh and blood, carved and molded by the river of time."

Lina couldn't help but scoff and muttered, "That is so corny."

In an instant, the man disappeared and reappeared directly in front of Lina.  Charizard floated paralyzed a few meters below them.  He had the chain of her cape in his hand.  Lina was now close enough to see his maliciously red eyes.  The eyes that she had as well.

"'Corny' as it may seem, it is true.  You should accept things for the way they are, Lina-chan­."

Lina tried to escape his grip in vain as she yelled almost right in his ear, "I AM THE GREAT LINA INVERSE!!  I DECIDE MY LIFE FOR MYSELF!  I DON'T-"

The source of Lina's extremely loud echo was cut short, for she had been rendered unconscious via a hefty blow to the stomach.  Below her, Pyro whined with desire to assist his mistress.  The man snarled at the Pokemon as he shouldered her.  "Shut your trap.  You wouldn't want to fall into the water now would you?"

"Stop!  What are you doing with Lina?!"

Lina's "father" turned to look at the new voice; Gary was flying on his Pidgeot.  "Stay out of this, boy.  It is not of your concern."

Gary's answer was echoed by another voice at the same time.  "Of course it is."  Both Gary and the perpetrator turned to see Zel, flying upon his own Pidgeot.  He continued to say, "Lina's our friend, and we're not going to stand by and let her be taken like this.  Right, Gary?"

Gary smirked and nodded in response.  "You've got that right.  Now give back Lina!"

The man let out a raucous laugh.  "I've been following Lina's actions since she was born.  Do you really think I'll 'give her back' that easily?"

Zel threatened, "Then I guess we'll just have to take her back by force."

He waggled a figure.  "Uh unh uh.  You can't do that.  You don't want poor Lina to get hurt, do you?"

Zel grit his teeth, beginning to seethe in anger.  Gary remained relatively calm as he challenged, "Fine then.  Let's have a pokemon battle.  If I win, you have to give Lina back to us."

His voice hinted amusement as he answered, "And if I win?"

Gary grinned.  "You won't.  If you win, Lina won't be happy at all."

They could detect a malicious smile displayed amongst his expression.  "Sounds good to me.  Alright, I accept the terms.  I will be returning Lina to Cinnabar Island.  Should you find us, I will battle you.  Farewell for now."

With that, he disappeared, along with Lina.  Charizard's paralysis ended with the conversation.  The two teens watched as Charizard dropped a few feet before catching the current and making a vertical U-turn.  He did this with such carefree finesse that they didn't doubt Lina had trained him to do that until it had become natural instinct.  With nothing more to do, they went to Cinnabar Island, accompanied by Lina's Charizard.

After they found and explained the situation to Gourry, he asked, "So what do we do?"

Gary declared indignantly, "Isn't it obvious?!"  When it seemed apparent that Gourry didn't think so, he explained, "We're going to rescue Lina!"

Gourry murmured a simple, "Oh," before his curiosity got in the way of his common sense.  "Where is she then?"

"She's-" Gary stopped, and realized that he wouldn't know where Lina was on Cinnabar Island.  He chuckled nervously, "Actually, I have no idea."

Zel groaned into his hand.  His immediate thoughts were, "What am I doing with a couple of idiots like them?"

Out loud, he asked, "Who does she know here?"

Gary shrugged.  "I'm not sure.  She's done a lot of traveling and befriending in her ten years.  Cinnabar…Oh!  I think the retired Gym Leader Blaine is her great uncle."

Nonchalantly, Zel suggested, "Let's start there.  Lead the way."

Gary looked disgruntled.  Softly, he informed them, "We'll have to ask around; I don't know where he lives."

As Zel began walking away, he commented under his breath, "Stinkin' no good imbeciles."

Fortunately, neither heard him, but it was decided that whoever found Lina would find a way to contact the others.  Gary let Gourry borrow his Fearow in case he needed a flying pokemon.  They set out in different directions.  Zel took the Northern section of the island, Gary the South, and Gourry in between.

**

Lina groaned.  A bruising pain in her stomach and intestines told her not only that she was injured, but that she was also really hungry.  Her stomach growled to second this notion.  She tried to move her hand to comfort her stomach, but she was met with a force stopping it in the air, and a metal clang that echoed in her ears.  Lina winced at the sudden set of reverberations.

"Finally awake are you?  My, Lina-chan, I never knew you had grown to be such a deep sleeper!"

Lina slowly raised her head to look around.  She was in what appeared to be an underground stone dungeon, but it was stiflingly hot.  Lina could feel several drops of sweat cascading carefully down the length of her body, in an attempt to cool her off.  Directly in front of her, on the opposite wall, she saw a figure in shambles tied to the wall by manacles, a woman who looked vaguely familiar…No, it couldn't be.  But it was.

"…Okaa-san?"

The woman smiled at her and nodded.  In a lighthearted voice, barely masking her sorrow, the elderly woman asked, "How have you been Lina?  What have you been doing?"

Lina ignored her questioning to ask questions of her own.  "Never mind small talk.  What are you doing here, okaa-san?  Did *he* put you here?  Where is 'here' anyways?"

Unlike Lina, she took the time to answer her inquiries.  "Me?  I'm here to keep you company.  Yes, your father put me here, but it's alright.  I don't mind if it means seeing you again.  This is the dungeon near the volcano on Cinnabar Island."

As much as she tried to keep it in, tears welled up from Lina's tear sacs.  "Why do you keep saying that?  He's not my father!  He never was and he never will be!"

Lina shut her eyes from the reality of things, and failed to see the look of sympathy in her mother's eyes.  "Lina-chan…don't say that.  If it weren't for him, you would have never been born."

In a flash of anguish, Lina yelled, "THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER!  AT LEAST I WOULDN'T HAVE TO LIVE EVERY SINGLE DAY IN SHAME!"  A choking sob kept Lina from going any further with her yells.  A single tear marred her flushed cheek.  Her throat was sore from yelling, and was dry from lack of water.

A whisper in comparison, a voice murmured, "Lina-chan, I wouldn't advise yelling here.  You would draw attention to yourself."

With a start, Lina recognized the new voice, and looked up.  She broke into a half-smile.  "Heh.  I never thought I'd say this but, I'm glad you're here, Xellos.  Do you mind unlocking my manacles?"

Xellos cocked his head innocently to one side.  "Why would I want to do that?"

A small ball of fear rolled into Lina's system then.  "What do you mean?  Didn't you come here to help me?"

Xellos placed a finger on his lower lips, and began tapping it thoughtfully.  "Hmm… It depends.  What are you willing to offer for my assistance?"

Lina let out an aggravated sigh.  "I don't know, what kind of thing are you thinking of?"

"Well, how about tolerating my presence during your travels, until you settle down?"

Lina raised an eyebrow.  "That'd be a long, long time.  But…I suppose.  Now unlock me!"

            Xellos made a mock bow.  "As you wish."  Mid-bow, he snapped his fingers, and the manacles were gone.  Lina rubbed her sore wrists to get her blood flowing again.  She muttered, "Thanks."  In the corner of her eye, she saw her mother, and added, "Hey, could you unlock my mom too?"

            Xellos looked across the way and shrugged.  He snapped his fingers again and Lina's mother crumpled to the floor.  Lina ran over to make sure she was okay; she was, but had fainted.  When Xellos walked over to her, she asked for another favor.  "Xellos?  I have another favor to ask of you.  Do you think you could take her to the Riddle Inn on the Northern section of Cinnabar Island?"

            The purple-haired ninja sighed.  "I suppose, but you owe me an ice cream cone from Saffron!"

           Before Lina could agree, he took hold of the elderly woman, and disappeared into thin air.  Lina sighed and stood up.  Now that that was covered, she set her mind on her current goal - to escape, no matter what stood in her way.

            She took another skimming survey of the room she was trapped in.  Stone walls covered with scattered damp moss and cobwebs surrounded her above, below, behind, to her left, and to her right.  There was only one way out of the windowless room – the small steel door in the center of the wall before her.  Lina checked her pokemon status.  Her Charizard wasn't with her; he must have been left behind.  She hoped that her friends were taking care of him.  Other than him though, she had all of her pokemon that she had on the boat.

            Lina released Arcanine and told him to use Flamethrower to burn a hole through the doorway.  It worked as planned and Lina leaped out of the cell upon her pokemon steed.  Following the narrow hallway, she soon found a long spiral staircase.  Determined to get to the top, Lina had Arcanine gallop up the steps fifteen at a time.  It took a while, but she finally broke the surface.  As she looked around her, Lina couldn't help but gulp nervously.  She was at the top of Mt. Magma, a semi-active volcano that loomed at least 8,000 feet over Cinnabar City.  She looked around, and caught sight of the Riddle Inn far below.  Steering precariously, Lina backed up Arcanine, and prepared to make a jump.  When Arcanine realized what she wanted to do, he suddenly dug in his paws and refused to budge.  The sudden stop allowed for Lina to be bucked off.

            A harsh laughter erupted from the skies above.  "It looks like your pokemon doesn't want to obey you, Lina-chan."

            Lina growled as she looked up in the direction of the voice.  "Shut up!  I don't need your commentary!"

            The same voice rang with laughter once again.  "Tsk, Tsk, Lina-chan.  You shouldn't talk back to your elders like that."
            Again, Lina yelled out, "YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER ME!  I'LL DO WHATEVER I WANT!"

            The masculine voice sighed, as the owner of it suddenly appeared before Lina, easily balancing on the edge of the volcano.  In a soothing voice, like a parent talking down to a five- year-old, he asked, "Just who are you trying to convince, Lina-chan?  Me or you?"

            The chibified red-head was on the brink of tears from such distressed yelling.  "Stop calling me that!  You have NO right to be so formal with me!  And I don't need to convince anyone because it's my God-given right!"

            His laugh mocked Lina for another stinging blow.  "'God-given right'?  How naïve.  If there is no hard proof that your 'God' exists, then you cannot depend on him to give you 'rights'."

            Lina bent her head down as her hands became clenched fists again.  She couldn't give in now.  She couldn't let him win over her.  She couldn't … disgrace her family again.

            Lina took a few calming breaths until she went from seething mad to a small smoldering.  Slowly, she looked up at her adversary with complete seriousness in her composure.  "Let's battle."

            The man grinned.  "If that is your decision, then allow me to present the battlefield."

            With one quick motion, he stripped himself of his black cape to reveal a sturdy adult of his mid-30's in a crimson cotton shirt underneath a pair of black leather trousers.  His disheveled red hair was, in the mind of a hair specialist, a true well-kept masterpiece.  His now apparent grin revealed pearly white teeth.

           As if by magic, his cape enlarged and tightened to cover the top of the volcano.  Lines were drawn in the middle of it, to show the battlefield.  Naturally, Lina was a bit skeptical.  "You sure that can hold pokemon?"

            "About as much as a trampoline can," was the reply.  "Shall we begin?"

            Lina's exhale had the impression of being disgruntled.  "Yes, let's.  Terms are 6-on-6 Pokemon battle; first to have no pokemon available loses."

            As they walked over to their respective trainer boxes, the man gestured, "Ladies first."

            "Tch.  Fine.  Let's go Arcanine!"

            Arcanine easily jumped to the center of the field, and the cape met the force with little movement.  It was drawn so taut that it was more like a stiff mattress then a trampoline.

            With a smooth movement of his hand, he chose a pokeball and released a Starmie onto the field.  Instinctively, Lina grimaced, but upon remembering how she had trained Arcanine, she turned it into a smirk.  She called out to Arcanine in its own language, "(Alright Archie, this is it.  I won't pressure you, but it's really important to me that you help me win this battle.  Just remember that this is like any other water pokemon, and we've trained to overcome them.  Let's win it!)"

            Arcanine barked in affirmative and went into battle stance.  The man made the first move.  "Starmie, Rapid Spin."

            As Starmie came at an amazingly swift rate, Arcanine barely had time to dodge before it turned back for another round.  The only difference was that it used Swift at the same time.  Caught off guard, Arcanine had trouble dodging, resulting in multiple scratches.  Arcanine tried to use a tackle, but Starmie easily dodged and used Water Gun on him.  The attack hit him in between his eyes and he yelped.

Lina cheered/goaded him on, saying that she knew he could do much better than that.  When Starmie came back around with another Rapid Spin, Arcanine was better prepared; he jumped at just the right time so that he could land on Starmie.  Since his weight was probably twice that of Starmie's, it was easily pulled down and pinned.  Losing no time, Arcanine barbequed it with a direct full-blown Flamethrower.  Despite the obvious type advantage, Starmie was no match against a head on attack like that.  Its jewel flashed a fainted red.

The man returned Starmie.  "Well done, Lina-chan.  But see if you can handle this."

With that, he released a Marowak.  Lina had to fight to keep in the laughter.  She could already tell what was going to happen.  "I'm sticking with Archie."

"Bonemarang."

When the bone went flying through the air, Archie's caninal instincts went into play.  At a galloping leap, he caught the bone between his teeth.  The force of his jaws was so great, it instantly broke in his teeth.  Both master and Marowak were surprised by this.  Marowak was suddenly defenseless.  Lina quickly commanded Arcanine to finish it off.  In one large Flame Wheel, Marowak was knocked unconscious 25 yards from his previous position.

Once again the man returned his pokemon.  This time, he said nothing as he released his next pokemon, Poliwrath.  His opening move was Hypnosis.  Unfortunately for his opponent, Arcanine's nose had been trained to seek out his enemy even while in this state.  Somewhat woozily, Arcanine made his way over to the surprised Poliwrath, and engulfed his whole head in his mouth.  Now arms flailing with distress, the water fighter managed to make Arcanine bite down harder, as a result of his struggle.  With a command from his master, Poliwrath finally succeeded in grabbing Arcanine's neck and throwing him backward.

To his adversary's dismay, Arcanine did not let go.  In fact, he wrapped his arms around Poliwrath like a puppy hugging his chew toy in his sleep, which wasn't all that far from the truth.  As it was inevitable from such a position, Poliwrath soon ceased to struggle, or even move.  Lina clapped her hands twice and called out to Arcanine that she had a treat ready for him.  His ears and eyes immediately opened to the sound, and he cantered off towards Lina, dropping the unconscious, saliva-covered Poliwrath on the spot.  Lina pet him and rewarded him with a strength revitalizing Arcanine biscuit, though he really had no need for it.  Lina was winning 3-0; she was halfway there to winning undefeated with just Arcanine.

Surprisingly, the man still kept his cool composure.  Lina had no doubt that he had an ace up his sleeve.  Lina smirked in remembering that she, too, had a trump card.  But before that, Lina's opponent released a Machamp onto the field.  Once again, Lina stuck with Arcanine.  This time, Lina started first.  "Fireball!"

As if it were expecting it, Machamp held his hands in front of him, and caught the fireball.  With a grunt and a push, he sent it straight back.  Like a batter in a baseball game, Arcanine swung his tail at the last minute and hit the surprised Machamp in the face.  Though charred, Machamp still held his ground.  He charged Arcanine for a Seismic Toss.  Arcanine easily dodged and attacked him with a "Mega Brand".  The attack left Machamp smoking from inside-out.  Shaking his head clear of it, Machamp was ready to try again.

He pounded the material of the ground, making it ripple.  This distracted Arcanine enough to give him the edge he needed to use a Cross Chop.  Unfortunately, Arcanine had been trained to focus quickly, and so escaped with Agility.  Once fairly far behind Machamp, Arcanine made a swift turn of his heel and came galloping back.  As Arcanine was much faster than Machamp, he didn't have enough time to dodge before he found himself on the receiving end of a Flaming Take-Down.  Machamp went sailing through the air, and just as Marowak had before him, landed in an unconscious state.  Lina was 4-0.

Still, he was not worried.  This, in its own way, allowed Lina to doubt herself for a few moments, but she shook it off.  She was going to win this.  She was finally going to beat him fair and square.

"Blastoise.  Go."

A monstrosity of a Pokemon, appeared from the man's pokeball.  By rough estimation, Lina judged that it was about twice as large as her Arcanine.  However, it can't be said that Lina didn't try to bring this new foe down.  "Flame Whip!"  A stream of fire equivalent to that of a thick rope shot out from Arcanine's mouth and proceeded to slither through every possible opening in Blastoise's shell.  Try as it might to extinguish the flames, Blastoise was still enveloped by it.  However, once the smoke cleared, Blastoise did not seem the least bit different.

It attacked Arcanine with a full-blast Hydro Pump attack.  Arcanine dodged the first one, but lost his footing at the near miss, leaving him open for the second attack.  Arcanine received a mouthful of water with a force strong enough to knock him out of the field.  Arcanine was down and out.  Grimacing, Lina returned Arcanine to his pokeball.  "You did well, Archie.  Now who should I choose…?"

As if on cue, Pyro chose that moment to roar, announcing his arrival.  Lina inwardly cheered.  When Pyro landed, she hugged him and asked, "(Welcome back, Pyro!  What do you say to helping me win a battle today?)"

He roared in response, "(I'm ready!)"

Lina nodded and declared, "Well then, my next pokemon is Charizard!"

When Pyro landed on the field, it was made obvious that the man would stay with Blastoise.

Blastoise started with another Hydro Pump.  Charizard flew into the air, narrowly missing the attack.  Blastoise launched several high powered Water Guns at Charizard while it regenerated from the Hydro Pump.  Though the attacks were close in range, Pyro was well accustomed to swerving and dodging, especially in the air.

Lina yelled her command in Pokemon, so her opponent wouldn't understand.  "(Pyro, keep up the dodging.  Wait until it's tired out, and then swerve in for a Flaming Seismic Toss.  Understand?)"

He roared his affirmative as he dodged yet again.  Lina's plan went perfectly as planned.  After about forty or so shots of water attacks, Blastoise was wiped out.  As soon as the array stopped, Pyro swooped in and grabbed Blastoise from behind.  Being a turtle-type, Blastoise was heavy, but not heavy enough for Pyro to worry about.  He used his Flamethrower at the perfect time, and slammed Blastoise into the cape.  The force was so extreme, Lina could have sworn she heard it rip a little.

To Lina's dismay, Blastoise staggered up again, only to be met by Charizard's Fireball.  The Fireball acted like a swift uppercut jab, knocking Blastoise backwards.  Inevitably, he lost his footing and fell.  Persevering, Blastoise stood again.  Getting fed up with this, Lina commanded Pyro to breathe a full on Flamethrower from directly above Blastoise.  Charred from the inside out, this was the last straw for Blastoise; he fainted on the spot.  The man's smirk grew as he returned Blastoise.

"I commend you on a job well done thus far, Lina-chan.  But this is where your luck ends.  I choose you!  Go Articuno!"

Lina gulped.  He caught an Articuno?!  Uh oh…

A/N: And so I end this chapter. ^_^ How you like?  Good?  Bad?  Tell me!