Chapter 4:

I sat bolt upright, then sprang to my feet, looking around for the source of the explosion. It didn't take long: smoke was pouring up from somewhere beyond the row of boardwalk buildings that blocked my view. My instinct to run momentarily clashed with my urge to investigate, but it was a short battle: no matter how much I wanted to believe it, I didn't think my incredible luck would hold out much longer.

"Come on, Daggerwing, we're gettin' outta here...Daggerwing?" The bird was nowhere in sight. After searching for a few minutes, I spotted him in the sky, flying into the rising smoke. Crap. I ran after him, sprinting through alleys and vaulting over trashcans. As I ran, I began to recognize more of the buildings that were flying by, and figured out where the smoke was coming from: the hospital.

My survival instinct now stepped aside to let through my ego-boosted heroism. If there was anyone stuck in that hospital, I was gonna help them out. I can't exactly say why, 'cause it's not something I would usually do. Something took over. Just when I got to the hospital, someone came stumbling out the revolving door. It was Lori.

"Gavin! Help us out!" Her usually serene face was now contorted with worry, fear and rage (though she was still pretty good-looking). She gestured frantically at the entrance, then ran back inside. I followed her in, squinting my eyes to keep out the thick black smoke. It was a nightmarish scene. The lobby was completely deserted, and the various potted plants were already reduced to ashes. Some of the treatment rooms, however, had been occupied. Many were invalids, and hadn't made it out in time. Others were staggering down the halls, helped along by the sparse hospital staff.

I was just beginning to wonder where Lori was leading me when she threw open a door to our right. This led into a small lab equipment room, which had apparently been devoid of smoke until now. She grabbed two pairs of goggles and a couple of facemasks from a bin and tossed one of each to me. I put them both on, and opened my eyes fully, glad for relief from the smoke-filled air. Without a word, she led me back out of the room and down a narrow corridor. We moved a lot faster after that. A thought hit me just as she was opening another door. Though it was deathly quiet in this part of the building, the oppressive ash and smoke made me shout to her, "Where's Ryan?" She turned her head and shot me a look I couldn't decipher, then opened the door.

Holy crap! The walls of the small room were stacked with more PokéBalls than I had ever seen in my life. They were an oddly luminescent blue color, and slightly bigger than usual. A large machine with weird-looking internal chambers took up most of the room. Lori shut the door and said to me form behind her mask, "Okay, Gavin, I need some help with this. See all those PokéBalls?" I nodded, and she continued, "Most of them are empty, but all of them in this section have injured Pokémon in them." She pointed to a portion of the nearest wall packed with the glowing spheres. I noticed for the first time that some of the indicator lights were on, colored the same soft blue as the Balls themselves, instead of the usual red.

"Why are the lights blue?"

"Those are Heal Balls. They contain both a Pokémon and its PokéBall, which is why they're larger than normal. The lights turn red when the Pokémon's fully recovered. Now, help me transfer these Pokémon. They're going to the Indigo Hospital; they'll be safe there." I realized that the big machine must have been a transfer unit, used for virtualizing Pokémon and sending them wherever they're needed. Yes, we can do that. You're just not advanced enough to understand it.

She picked up a Ball and pressed the actuator to one of several ports on the side of the machine. There was a flash of red light as the Injured creature's PokéBall appeared inside one of the chambers and disappeared. She tossed aside the empty Heal Ball and picked up a couple more. I followed suit, pressing the Balls against the ports as fast as I could. After about five minutes, I transferred the last one and followed Lori out the door. Or, rather, I slammed right into her back. She had stopped cold, and seemed to be listening intently.

...so hungry...

I then felt a chill that couldn't have been anything but supernatural, given the heat the fire was giving off. I froze, but Lori grabbed my wrist and dragged me forward. She led me downstairs (led is kind of an understatement, pulled is more like it) and out the front revolving door. I wondered what the hell had happened.

I t wasn't long until I found out.

I must feed...I MUST FEED...so hungry...

Shit. Now I recognized that...that voice, or whatever it was. It was Mara, the former Gym Leader of Saffron City. Apparently, the Black Mask had negotiated a truce. Drenched in ghostly blood, she drifted closer to us, her dead gaze fixed intently on us. I couldn't move, I was so scared; my legs were like cement. Lori let out a small whimper. She stopped suddenly, and turned slowly around. There, just coming out of the door, was a doctor supporting one of the invalid patients, encouraging him to keep going. Lori suddenly found her voice, and screamed, "Look out!" The doctor looked up, and paled: Mara was now floating their way, all the time emitting her psychic message. He backed up slightly, and I finally registered that it was Ryan.

...feed...hungry...come to me...COME TO ME...

He stopped retreating and let the patient fall to the ground, moaning in pain. Ryan then walked forward slowly, entranced. I recognized those symptoms: he, like I'd been before, was possessed. In a split second, I regained control of my legs and ran full-tilt at the young doctor. I tackled him, almost breaking my leg in the process, but he snapped out of it. Mara was furious. She wheeled around in midair, those once lifeless eyes now glowing an angry red. The ghost dove first at me, then at Lori. Both of us dodged her, me only by inches, taking the initiative to drag the still-recovering Ryan out of her path. As Mara turned to attack me again, a sharp cry sounded above us. I watched in astonishment as Daggerwing, who I had completely forgotten about in the frenzy of the hospital scene, dove straight down at Mara. She stood her ground as the Skarmory initiated a Steel Wing attack. I was nervous: sure, a Steel attack'll hit a Ghost Pokémon, but I didn't know about an actual ghost.

Well, it worked.

Daggerwing's attack threw the specter to the ground. As the metallic hawk flew onto my shoulder, Mara hovered where she had landed for a moment, then vanished. Lori gave another small whimper, then regained enough control to wobble over to her brother, who was kneeling a few feet away trying to clear away the possession-induced mental fog. "Ryan, you okay?" she said tentatively, with a note of worry on her voice.

Ryan rubbed his eyes vigorously, trying to clear his vision. "Yeah...what the hell happened?" He looked around, more than a little dazed.

Lori seemed to have misplaced her voice again, so I stepped in. "You were helping someone out of the hospital when Mara attacked us," I related, then, noting his confusion, added, "the dead Saffron Gym Leader?" He nodded. "She possessed you."

"Ah. Well, that would explain it then..." He stopped, and a look of panic spread across his face. "Oh, god, Mr. Randall!" I wondered who he was talking about, but before I could ask, he stood and rushed (well, limped) over to the hospital door. Of course, I thought, the invalid. Ryan knelt down and checked his pulse, then came up shaking his head solemnly. Damn Mara. I didn't really know what to say, so I kept my mouth shut as the siblings debated what to do next.

"Gavin and I've already transferred all the injured Pokémon. There's not much left to do, assuming that Mr. Randall was the last patient left in there."

"He was, and judging from Mara's fervor, the rest got away safely."

Mara actually smiled slightly at that. "Yeah, I guess so. But why did they attack the hospital?"

They went on like that for a while, mentally double-checking the hospital's evacuation, leaving me absentmindedly scratching Daggerwing's neck. Suddenly, I noticed two things: first, my Pokémon's collar was missing. Second, though Mara had most definitely made an appearance, I hadn't seen any sign of the Black Mask anywhere; at least, not yet. A chill ran down my spine as I realized what that meant. Ambush. Exactly like Cerulean. "Uh, guys...maybe we should leave," I muttered in what I hoped was a nearly inaudible whisper.

Ryan looked a bit puzzled. "Why," he replied, just as quietly, "is there something go—"

He was cut off then, because at that moment, the gang members revealed themselves. They had been hidden in plain view, utilizing the special camouflaging talents of the Pokémon known as Kecleon. In addition to the fifty-odd humans, there were several Pokémon out of their balls, and many more on standby. We were surrounded.

Shit.

Then it got worse. There had been a few gang members behind us, all with guns, and a few with knives. The horrible feel of a gun barrel against the back of my head was more than enough to make me cower. Add to that a knife against my throat and a few hundred violent Pokémon ready to attack at any moment. I was about to shit my pants.

"Give it up, or else."

It took a second to find my voice, which had apparently been hiding somewhere in my stomach. I finally manage to stutter, "G-give what up?"

The Masker laughed , pressing his gun a bit harder against my skull. I felt blood on my neck where the knife was cutting into my skin. "You know what I'm talking about, punk-ass. Hand it over." He then figured out I had no idea what he was talking about, so he forcibly turned my head to face Daggerwing, who had flapped onto the ground at the first sign of danger. Loyal, my ass.

"That is what we want. Now order it over to us before I kill you."

My mind had stopped working. I frantically searched for a way out...

NEXT TIME...

I tried not to listen to the sickening sound of his neck snapping...