Chapter Three
Zeod
They had a special seat for me on the plane since I couldn't sit in normal seats due to me having four legs. There was a normal seat beside it. I saved that seat for Alana so we could talk some more.
Atsuto
A plane trip eh? Man, was I glad I had grabbed my trenchcoat and my father's cross before I had come outside. Outside . . .
I took a whiff of the fresh, clean air and patted the dirt beneath my shoeless feet. After becoming a Dragon and Ground Type, I suddenly had a whole new appreciation for the air above me and the earth under me. Guess it's a little easier to understand and appreciate things when they're practically a part of you. Sighing, I allowed myself a small moment of relaxation as Number 1 explained that the plane for Pyrite was leaving in an hour.
I nodded slowly and adjusted my coat so that it fit better over my folded wings. I stood there for a moment and, with a start, I realized I was being left behind. I quickly fell into line behind the others, stopping for a moment to look back at Number 1. I'd been told he had brown hair and grey eyes, but I didn't see it. Then again, the red mask I had over my eyes rarely let me see any color other than red and its many variations. To me, he had brick colored hair, dull red eyes, and wore a maroon business suit. He kind of reminded me of a clown, actually.
"Hey, I got a question . . ." I paused for a moment. "You think I could fly alongside the plane rather than ride in it?" I asked, grinning in a business-like matter.
He just muttered for me to get on the plane and stop acting like an idiot. Shrugging, I trotted up the stairs and inside the aircraft. I spotted a normal looking chair by an open-screened window and sat down sideways. This way, I avoided leaning on my wings and I didn't have to worry about where to stick my overly large dragon tail. The plane itself seemed pretty normal and, if it weren't for the fact that we couldn't all fly, we'd probably be able to escape once the plane lifted off and they had no way of following us. Ah, well . . .
Now that I thought about it, this would be the first time I saw any of the experiments besides myself. There were ten in total, including me. One girl was a Mightyena; the other was an Espeon. Of the males, there were fusions with a Swampert, Nidoking, Gengar, Ponyta, and Alakazam. I identified the two that were arguing earlier to be a Zangoose and a Seviper - no wonder they didn't get along. I felt bad for them; because their fused species were enemies, they couldn't maintain a normal friendship.
Shrugging off the thought for now, I turned and looked out the window. Now was the time for a nice nap, while I was still on the comfortable cushions of the airplane seats.
Alana
I had never been to Orre; the only thing I knew about it was that it had a very bad reputation. So what could Proteus be sending us there for? Did they have facilities in Pyrite? I was fairly sure they did. After all, we had been told something about getting advanced training.
"Huh!" I thought to myself. "As if the training we get already isn't tough enough!"
I glanced round at the others. Zeod was sitting nearest to me, in a seat specially adapted for a Ponyta hybrid. We had become fairly close recently, but what I felt for him wasn't exactly love (after all, he was basically a centaur and I was a wolf girl). Rather, it was a sense of comradeship, of being united in adversity. For want of a better term, we were friends, but that was as far as it went.
I saw Crystal and Luke sitting together, apparently drawn to each other by the mental waves Psychic Pokemon emit. Matt, Alex, James and a Flygon boy whose name I couldn't remember were also here, as were Heather and Jason. The latter two were sitting as far apart as possible and kept glowering at each other.
Zeod
"Hey, Alana, I wonder why we are being sent to Orre. Like the training here wasn't advanced enough!" I said as Alana sat down. I could tell she was thinking the same thing.
"You know, except for Pony, you're the only one who talks to me. They all think that I am too deep in thought to show friendship. At least I think that's why. Even back when I was pure human, I never had any friends. Pony was the only one who would listen to me. But you probably don't care about that. So, you know a bit about me, so tell me about yourself." I smiled as I said this.
Alana
I paused. "Well, I came from Johto originally," I said at length. "From Mahogany Town . . ." I paused again as I recalled the details of the life I once led. "Anyway, like most kids, I left home to go on a Pokemon journey. I went via the Ice Cave and Blackthorn because it was the quickest way for me. My starter Pokemon was a Spinarak, which evolved into Ariados just before I got to New Bark . . ."
I struggled to continue; just thinking about Ariados and my other Pokemon was difficult. Proteus had taken them and I didn't know if I would ever see them again. "So, anyway," I went on, "I did the Johto League, came third in the Silver Conference and decided to try my luck in Hoenn."
"Don't most trainers from Johto enter the Kanto League after they're done back home?" cut in Crystal. I turned to find that she and a couple of the others had been listening to my story.
"I know, but I wanted to try something different. So . . ."
I was cut off abruptly as one of the agents shouted at us to sit down because we would soon be taking off. Soon, I thought as the plane began to taxi, we would be in Orre. I had never been there - it was too far away - but I had heard about its bad reputation. Number 1's decision to send us there could hardly be good.
It was then that I decided we had to do something; if we didn't, Proteus would carry on exploiting us for the rest of our lives. And, even after that, we would probably get preserved as lab specimens. I shuddered at the thought, but it only strengthened my resolve. We had to stand up for ourselves, show Proteus we were not going to take their crap any more. I checked no Proteus agents were listening before turning to address my fellow hybrids.
"Guys," I said, "are you up for kicking a little Proteus butt?"
Matt
This was it. The plane was being pulled down a long road, at the end of which we'd turn around and take off. I tightened my grip on the arm-rests, trying to calm myself down. Closing my eyes, I listened to a nearby conversation, some girl talking about her Pokemon journey before she was captured. As I listened, I began thinking about my own journey, my Pokemon which were probably still back at the Pokemon Center. I'd probably never see them again.
Suddenly, the plane was driving itself and we were turning around to take off. I gripped harder on the arm-rest, just as I heard the same girl say something else, something about kicking Proteus's butt. Whatever it was, it sounded good, too good to pass up.
"I'm in," I said, still gripping the arm-rest.
Zeod
"You can count me in. You will need a strategist to help and I was the best at the Pokemon Trainers' School. Pony and I will be glad to help any way we can."
As I said "Pony and I", they all stared at me, except for Alana. She already knew about Pony. "Pony was the Pokemon whose DNA was fused with mine," I said. "Somehow, we can maintain a mental link and we can also switch our minds. I don't know why this is possible, but it could be possible with you if you had a strong bond with the Pokemon you were fused with."
Alana
I heard what Zeod said and thought it made sense. I'd never had the ability to switch minds with the Mightyena I had been blended with. But, if you had a special bond with the Pokemon concerned . . .
Anyway, before we did anything else, we would have to stop Proteus from taking us to Orre. I turned to look at everyone. "Guys," I said as we lifted into the air, "we need a plan."
"A bit late for that," muttered Heather. She pointed out of the window, at the rapidly disappearing ground. "Unless some of you know Fly."
Jason looked like he was about to say something, but the Flygon boy beat him to it. "I do, but that won't help the rest of us."
I was glad he had chipped in; any exchange of words between Heather and Jason had a habit of resulting in a row. "Thanks . . ." I said, pausing as I realised I still didn't know his name.
"Atsuto," he told me. "I heard what you said - and I agree with you. Proteus must be stopped."
"And, to do that, we need to take control of this plane," I added, feeling a pang of excitement at the thought. We were about to become hijackers, people I had always thought of as evil fanatics. But desperate times called for desperate measures; if we didn't act soon, it would be too late. I turned to look at everyone. "OK, let's talk plans."
Matt
My mind suddenly cooled down, but my breathing and grip on the arm-rests was still strong. We needed a plan to hijack the plane. What could we do?
"Well," I thought to myself, looking around a bit, "there appear to be a few guards in a different compartment ahead and behind us."
Thinking as hard as I could, I finally got a bit of an idea. "Alana, you're mixed with a Mightyena, so maybe, somehow, you could use Yawn? If we can get the guards to sleep, we could tie them up and we'd be in control of the plane. What do you think?"
Zeod
"Either that," I said, continuing on what Matt had just said, "or the Psychic hybrids could use Hypnosis. Or they could use Teleport to transport us off the plane."
"I have an idea. What if the Psychic hybrids use mind control to have the pilots steer us to where we want to go?" Pony suggested.
I repeated what Pony had just said to the group and waited for a response.
Jason
"I've got an idea," I said. "We can walk to the pilot's cabin and I can use my claws to jam the flight controls. That way, we would only fly a short distance before landing back on the ground. But the only problem is that we might be too close to Proteus to escape."
I unbuckled myself and walked over to the rest of the group. "Should we take our chances? The clock is ticking . . ."
Matt
"Whatever we're going to do, we need to decide fast. 'Cause, I don't think we can all swim," I commented, pointing out my window, from which you could see the ocean beginning to appear on the horizon.
Unbuckling my seatbelt, I gently stood up, trying to shake off my fear of flying. Today was the day we were actually going to try and escape from Proteus.
Alana
First, though, we had to take out the pilots. I looked at everyone, trying to decide who would be best equipped to handle this. One thing I did know was that Matt was probably right when he said we had to do something before we got too far away from land.
"OK," I said. "Here's what I want each of you to do. James," I said to the Nidoking guy, "you're the strongest of us; you can take care of the pilot. Atsuto, you deal with the co-pilot. Crystal and Luke, you two can use your Psychic powers to control the plane."
"And what about the rest of us?" asked Heather, looking at me with her reptilian face.
"Yeah," added Jason. "Do we just sit back and do nothing?"
I looked at him, realising as I did so that this was the first time he'd agreed with Heather about anything. Usually, the two of them would start bickering over the slightest thing, their attitude towards each other shaped by the Pokemon they had been blended with. I sometimes wished they could forget their differences and at least try to be friends, but it was easier said than done. The rivalry between Zangoose and Seviper runs deep, so deep that few trainers have ever succeeded in having both on the same team without fights breaking out. One of the few who did was a neighbour of mine from back in Mahogany Town.
"Alana?"
I looked up to see Zeod waving his hand in front of my face. "Oh, sorry," I told him, realising I had been daydreaming. "Anyway," I went on, "the rest of you will be ready to back James and Atsuto up if necessary."
"O - OK," said Zeod. "But when are we going to make our move?"
I looked him full in the face. "Right now."
Matt
"Right," I said, following James and Atsuto to the front of the plane. The rest of the group split up as well. Split up as much as you could on a small plane, that is.
Most of the guards appeared to be in the back of the plane, so no-one would try and stop us as we took over the plane. Looking at James, I realised he appeared quite strong, as Nidoking were naturally strong. Going to the door that separated us from the pilots, I realised this wasn't going to be easy. The door seemed very thick and ripping it off its hinges wouldn't work. We had to weaken the hinges first.
So Atsuto took one side and I took the other. Atsuto used what appeared to be Sandstorm, grinding away at the hinges, and I used Water Gun. This was not as effective, but it still worked. Finally, we both stepped back as James stepped in. Using his huge hands to grasp each side of the door, he pulled back, ripping the door from the wall. He did not make much noise, so, as we hurried towards the pilots, they didn't appear to have heard anything.
Zeod
"I'll see how far we are from land. It won't matter if we take over the plane if we don't know where land is," I said, climbing out the door and onto the top of the plane. I had a hard time getting set so I wouldn't fall off; hooves don't grip slick surfaces very well. Finally, I managed to make a indent in the roof to lie in so I could see where the nearest piece of land was.
Alana
Zeod had climbed out onto the plane's roof and was on the lookout for land. I hoped he would be able to maintain his balance long enough; Ponyta hybrids aren't exactly famous for being able to stand on smooth surfaces, especially ones that are moving. I wished there was some way to keep him from falling, but none of us knew any moves that might help. There was a girl who was mixed with an Ivysaur, but she was one of the four who escaped.
"Too bad Belinda's not here," I thought. Belinda was the Ivysaur girl's name. "She could've used Vine Whip to keep . . . No, that wouldn't work. Zeod's flames would burn through the vine and, besides . . ."
Just then, Zeod's voice called out to us, jolting me out of my thoughts. "Hey, you guys! I can see land!"
The effect of his words was instantaneous. We all gathered around the plane's door, watching as Zeod began the perilous climb down from the roof. It was a slow and unnerving process, made harder by the constant movement, and we all knew that one slip could spell disaster. Then, as if simply thinking about it had tempted fate, Zeod missed his footing and fell.
"Zeod!" we all shouted in a panic.
"Luke!" I called to the Alakazam boy. "Help him!"
In response, Luke raised his arms and his eyes glowed as he Teleported Zeod back on board. Zeod appeared shaken and we waited until he had caught his breath before asking any questions.
"You saw land?" asked Crystal. "Where?"
"That way." Zeod pointed to the east.
"Good work," I told him. "Let's hope Matt, Atsuto and James have had as much luck."