Chapter Four

Matt

"Atsuto, you take the guy on the right. James, take the guy on the left. Now, let's go!" I said as the other two guys rushed into the cockpit. A loud noise was heard and they came back out, the pilot and co-pilot falling unconscious to the floor.

"I sure hope Crystal and Luke are ready to control the plane," Atsuto said, looking out the window as we say the plane begin to slowly dive lower and lower. But, just as he said it, a pink aura covered most of the cockpit and the plane regained a straight path.

"I guess they did," James said as we went back to join the others.

Atsuto

It was kind of droll seeing everything in shades of red and I wished I could remove the red mask in front of my eyes. However, that was impossible so long as I remained part Flygon. Shrugging, I returned to the cockpit. I noticed that the plane had changed direction, my inner compass telling me we were traveling east now. Through the front window, I could see land up ahead, one of the most promising sights I had seen all day.

Turning from the grand view, I drew some emergency rope from the nearby first aid kit. I bent down and relieved the knocked out drivers of their weapons and walkie-talkies, then bound them up tight, back-to-back. I then grabbed some nearby duct tape and placed it cleanly over their mouths. After that, I dragged them out into the room and dumped them in a corner where everyone could see them. I didn't want to take any chances with the pilots making any dirty moves.

Turning to look at the others, I spoke up. "Well, that takes care of those two. We'll need to keep an eye . . ." I looked up as I felt a light wind tugging at my crest-shaped hair. "Whose bright idea was it to tear a hole through a solid metal roof? I mean, you could've just looked right out the cockpit window, or the side windows." I blinked again at the hole, then looked back at the group. "Anyway, there's probably a good many Proteus lackeys in that room behind this one and they're bound to notice that we've changed course sooner or later. Who wants to guard the door?" I asked, plopping down sideways on one of the chairs.

Zeod

"I have a better idea than guarding the door," I said. "I could make the door just hot enough that it burns their hands when they touch it."

I waited for a reply before I did anything.

Alana

"We'll do both," I said in reply to Zeod's suggestion. "Zeod, you use Ember to heat the door while Crystal, Luke and I stand guard."

We stood back as Zeod aimed his flames at the door, making it just hot enough for most beings to find touching it extremely uncomfortable. I say "most" because Zeod, being part Fire Pokemon, was better able to withstand heat than the rest of us. "That'll take a couple of hours to cool down," he said when he was done.

"OK," said Crystal. "What do we do now?"

"Get this thing to land as quickly as possible," replied Atsuto, looking at all of us with his large red eyes. With that, he headed back to the cockpit with the rest of us following. In the cockpit, I watched as he quickly checked the fuel gauges before turning to us and shaking his head. "Guys, we're in trouble . . ."

"Tell me something I don't know!" I snapped. We were God only knew how far up in the air, on a plane with no human pilots. In addition, the nearest expanse of land was the one we had flown out from, a place too close to Proteus for our liking. And, if that didn't count as trouble, what did?

Atsuto paused. "Well . . . I was hoping to get us as far from those goons as possible, only . . ."

"Only what?" I asked, feeling a deep sense of foreboding.

"There's not enough fuel to get us where I planned to go, that's what," replied Atsuto. He tapped the fuel gauge.

"Looks pretty full to me," I said, glancing at the plane's control panel. But, then again, what did I know about planes?

"Not full enough," Atsuto told us. "I thought maybe we could head out to the Orange Islands or somewhere Proteus can't touch us, but . . ."

What Atsuto said made sense. Clearly, Proteus would have provided the plane with enough fuel for a straight there-and-back trip to Orre, no detours allowed. But they hadn't banked on their cargo of hybrids taking over the plane. I sighed deeply. "Guess we'll just have to go back the way we came."

Matt

"Back to where Proteus will be waiting?" I asked. "If so, we'll need to be ready for them. Most of the agents were probably waiting for us in Orre, so there shouldn't be too many left back there. But still, everyone needs to have completely concentrated their powers if we want this to work. Otherwise, they'll put us so deep in security we'll never be able to escape. So, who's ready?"

Zeod

"I'm ready. I can't wait to heat things up!" I said, going into a far corner to think for a while.

Jason

"Couldn't we possibly change the direction so we end up a little farther away from the base?" I asked. "Or do we not have enough fuel?"

I too didn't know much about planes or aircrafts, but I was sure a mile or two wouldn't make much of a difference.

Alana

"We should have enough fuel to make it to Petalburg," replied Atsuto. With that, he took hold of the plane's controls and steered it to the south.

That news didn't exactly fill me with confidence. Petalburg was a little too close to Rustboro for my liking; it wouldn't take too much effort for Number 1 to send his goons to find us. And, even if that didn't happen, we still had other problems to worry about, mainly the fact that we were hybrids. Would we be able to conceal ourselves and what would happen to us if someone found out what we were?

I could picture it now: a lifetime spent in the shadows, hiding from those who would exploit us because of what we were. It wasn't just Proteus we had to worry about; someone might decide we belonged in a freak show. Still, I reasoned, that was likely to happen wherever we went. So Petalburg was probably as good a place as any for us to hide out.

"Hide out," I thought to myself. "That makes us sound like a gang of criminals." Yet what crimes had we committed? None, apart from being in the wrong place at the wrong time - and look where that had landed us. Inside, I was a normal kid still, even though my external appearance was that of a freakish half-Mightyena creature. I still longed for the things most kids take for granted and I had a feeling the others felt the same way. But would we ever have any of those things again?

"Not unless we take care of Proteus," I whispered to myself. But I must have spoken a little louder than I intended because James looked across at me.

"I'm with you, Alana," he said. "But, first, let's get back to solid ground."

Matt

Finally, we were going to land. Finally, we were going to be off this wretched plane. I sat down in the nearest chair, relaxing finally. No matter what happened, I was happy. Not many people get to experience the feeling of being a hybrid, using Attacks and taking damage. Even though being a hybrid was a burden, it was also a chance to experience things no-one else would ever get to. And I was grateful.

Looking out the window, I could see land. I was getting closer to home and I could feel it.

"What're we going to do when we land?" I asked "We need some place we can go, some place Proteus can't get to us. Does anyone know somewhere like that?"

Alana

"Maybe Petalburg Woods?" I suggested, looking round at everyone.

I remembered trekking through Petalburg Woods on my way to Rustboro, little realising what would happen to me. I had walked among the trees, my Pokemon safely stashed in my bag, ready for anything. Except, it seemed, a group of evil jerks out to turn innocent kids into half-Pokemon freaks . . .

"Alana?" It was Crystal who spoke. I turned round and looked at her. "What's the matter?" she asked, her blue Espeon eyes filled with worry.

I sighed. "Nothing," I told her. "It's just that, when I mentioned Petalburg Woods, it reminded me of before."

"Before you were half-Mightyena?"

I nodded but did not speak. Proteus had taken so much away from me and I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to get it back. Because of what I was, I would be forced to hide in the woods, an outcast from society, my only companions being others who had suffered my fate. And what was it all for? What did Proteus want with us? I didn't know, but I did know that, after the last escape, Number 1 would not give up searching for us.

"We're coming over Petalburg now," said Atsuto's voice. Distracted from my thoughts, I listened as he spoke to us. "Now, all I have to do is find somewhere to land this thing."

"Preferably somewhere out of sight," added Zeod.

I knew exactly what he meant. If I saw a bunch of hybrids landing a plane, I'd be on the phone to the tv stations faster than you could say "Master Ball". And, once the media found out about us, it would not take long for Proteus to realise where we were. None of us wanted to take that risk, so we had to stay hidden whatever happened.

I took a quick glance out of the window and saw that we were flying over a park. It was evening, so there weren't too many people about. Still, we couldn't take too many chances.

"Try to land behind those trees," I told Atsuto, pointing to a stand of poplars.

Atsuto did as directed and we were soon back on solid ground. But, as the plane came to a halt, a disturbing thought occurred to me. What should we do about the guards?

Atsuto

As I landed the plane on the ground, I tuned out what the others were talking about. It wasn't my business anyway. All I knew is that we couldn't possibly stay here for long. Any person with the right sense of mind would know that planes don't normally land in the park, especially without a legal runway. It wouldn't be very long until the plane was reported. We couldn't stay here.

I swished my tail in annoyance as I turned to look at everyone, closing the door to the cockpit behind me. "We can't stay here," I said in almost a bored tone. "And I don't think we can afford to stay together. Proteus is probably expecting us to stay in one large, easy to find and capture group. If anything, I think we should split into smaller groups and, if people wanna go solo, then by all means go solo. As for the guards . . ." I cast my completely red gaze towards the door. " . . . I don't really care. Lock 'em in and burn it, I suppose; we can't give them the chance to report back to Proteus," I said coldly.

"Setting the plane on fire is a bad idea, actually. The trees will catch fire - we'd be causing more destruction than needed, not to mention attracting even more attention to ourselves," Alana piped up.

"Well, does anyone have any better suggestions? Speak up, people! We haven't got as much time as I'd like; they're bound to notice we've landed within a few minutes." I gazed around at the others, waiting for a response.

Matt

I tried to think as fast as I could; we were running out of time. I closed my eyes, thinking of anything I could. We definitely couldn't stay here for too long, so where could we go? I thought as hard as I could, trying to figure out where we could go. And we couldn't all stay together; it'd be too obvious. But, after a few seconds, I finally hit an idea I thought might work.

"How about this?" I said slowly, "We could go to Fortree City. It's mostly undeveloped; I've been there before. Then we would be safe for a while. And, if we do decide to split up, there are several ways there."

I let it soak in for a second before continuing. "Everybody has their own way of moving faster. Anybody that can use Teleport can Teleport themselves, anyone that can fly, flies there and swimmers can swim. Everybody else can take their time and walk. It'll take longer, but it's easier than everybody together. And, then, once everybody gets there, we could decide on a final plan and just take it from there."

"As for the agents, lock 'em up and leave 'em here. As long as they don't get out and tell Proteus what happened, they're no threat to us. So what do ya think?" I finished.

Jason

"They have already noticed us; you don't fly over a park without people wondering why a plane is suddenly only forty feet above their heads," I said. "Also, leave the agents there with their minds intact and we'll be hunted by Proteus and the police. We could get our 'Zam buddy to mind wipe 'em or utterly destroy them. Either way works because, if their minds are destroyed, then we more humanoid ones can pretend to be humans who were flying mental cases to hospital. Then, when nobody is looking, we'll slip away."

I quickly glanced at the door. "As to going somewhere, we should head to a port. If we can get to Johto or Kanto, then Proteus will never see us again. I'm sure that a few researchers could cure us, 'cause it's either that or we destroy Proteus from the inside so Number 1 will be force to cure us."

Alana

We didn't have much time. We had to make a decision - and soon.

I had to admit that Jason was probably right about wiping the guards' minds, but his other suggestion troubled me. We were all obviously hybrids so, in order to pass as human, we would have to keep our Pokemon features hidden somehow. I, for example, could hide my ears under a hat and use shades to cover my eyes. But that still left me with the problem of hiding my nose and tail.

And what were we to do about those of us who were less humanoid than the others? No, pulling off Jason's plan would be easier said than done. I turned to face everyone.

"Here's what we'll do," I said. "Luke, use Amnesia on the guards. Make them forget everything that's happened in the last few hours. Then, we'll make a run for it and find somewhere to hide. And, Atsuto, I think we had better stay together. If we split up, we'll be vulnerable to any lurking Proteus agents."

"Alana," Zeod cut in, "that's all very well, but that still doesn't solve the problem of this." He gestured towards the plane.

"There's no time to worry about that right now!" I told him. "We've got to get out of here! Besides, it's well out of sight and . . ." I broke off as I realised someone was lurking nearby.

"Hey!" I called. Then, heedless of the danger, I ran after the retreating figure, readying a Shadow Ball as I did so. The ball of black energy caught the stranger in the back and knocked her to the ground. It was only then that I noticed her face looked somewhat like a Dewgong's.

Zeod

"It can't be . . . It's one of the escaped hybrids!" I muttered to myself.

Alana

I looked at the Dewgong girl, who was just starting to come around. Her facial features were a strange mix of human and Dewgong. She had the characteristic wide mouth, but there were no teeth jutting over her lower lip. She had a human nose, albeit a somewhat flattened one, and her entire body was covered with white fur. A single horn poked out from her short brown hair.

She groaned and opened her eyes. Dewgong eyes, I noted, even though they were hazel and not black like those of a real Dewgong. "W - what?" she mumbled, looking at me and seeing that I was a Mightyena hybrid. "Where did you come from?"

I put my hand over her flipper; she had no hands of her own. "We've escaped from Proteus, same as you," I told her. I racked my brains, trying to recall the names and hybrid forms of the girls who had escaped before. The Dewgong girl's name was . . . I wasn't sure, but I seemed to recall it being Tammy or something similar. "Oh, and sorry for Shadow-Balling you, but we're all a little on edge right now." I glanced round at my fellow hybrids.

The Dewgong girl sat up. "That's understandable," she said. "We've been hiding out in Petalburg for ages. I only came here to swim in the lake."

"We?" asked Atsuto, edging closer to her.

She nodded. "Me, Ruby, Belinda and Esther," she replied. "I'm Tanya. And you are . . .?"

She paused, waiting for us to tell her our names. But before we could do so, Alex (the Gengar boy) butted in. "In trouble if we don't get out of here."

He was probably right, I realised. It was only because it was night time that we hadn't attracted any unwanted attention. But, come morning, the sight of several half-Pokemon beings hanging around in the park was bound to attract attention. And, if Proteus found out where we were . . .

I turned to Tanya. "Lead the way!"

Zeod

"Hey, Tanya. I'm Zeod. Nice to meet you," I said as we walked. Then I noticed she had flippers instead of hands. "It must be fun to swim. Since I'm fused with a Ponyta, I can't because, if my fire goes out, I'll die," I added with a hint of gloom in my voice.

Matt

As we continued walking, I too noticed the flipper hands and that she had swum in a lake.

"I haven't swum for a while," I said to myself, forcing water from my body to cool myself off, making it easier to think. We hadn't seen these girls for a while and they seemed to have been living here just fine. Now it appeared as though they were going to come with us.

Looking up at the stars, I noted that the moon was full. It was perfectly clear, so you could see everything, which was bad for us as people would have easily been able to see the plane landing.

Thinking back, though, I thought of my Pokemon and hoped that they were still all right. By now, they were probably at a homeless Pokemon shelter and I hoped they didn't get euthanized or anything bad like that.