Chapter 23: Roaring Thunder, Crashing Skies
The first thing Julia saw upon opening her eyes was a titanium hallway stretching in all sorts of directions. Forward, left, right, etc. Both she, Aqua, and Hikaru managed to pull themselves to their feet despite the wobbling of the airship.
"Whoa!" Julia was quick to slam her hand on the wall. "Phew! That was close!"
"Pichu…" Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief.
"Marill…"
"Okay…" She examined everything around herself for a brief moment. "Raikou's gotta be around here somewhere," Aqua's ears twitched a little. Julia kneeled down to the water mouse's level. "Aqua. I need you to find out where Raikou is being kept. If any grunts see you, fight them off and run as fast as you can. Let me know if you find anything, and please be careful."
The water mouse held one of her stubby hands to her head, doing a mock sailor salute. "Marill marill mar!" ("Leave it to me, Jule!") Aqua chirruped before scurrying down the right hallway on her small blue legs. Julia clasped her hands together, praying that nothing happen to Aqua. She didn't think she could forgive herself, should anything terrible happen to Aqua. But this was not the time for worrying. Raikou, and possibly other pokemon, were on this ship. Now that she was here, she figured she might as well save them or die trying.
"Let's go this way, Hikaru," Julia pointed down the left hallway.
Hikaru nodded. "Pichu," With that, the two raced down the titanium hallway, making clanging sounds with every step they ran.
Fluorescent lights lit the entire airship, with only a few of them flickering like they were close to reaching the end of their life span. Thick, metal doors dotted every hallway, leading to Arceus knows where. Julia noticed some of them had entry machines on them, possibly requiring passwords. She didn't want to take any chances. For all she knew, there were probably alarms that would go off if she got it wrong. There were some that opened all by themselves. She tried to steer clear of those, or at least sneak past them without any grunts seeing her. She did manage to peek through some doors and see what was inside. But none of the rooms she had access to had Raikou in them.
"I hope Aqua's okay," Julia mused out loud.
"Pichu pi," Hikaru added.
Speaking of Aqua, the chubby water mouse moseyed down some hallways, keeping her round, red ears wide open for any sign or sound of Raikou, or someone who knew his whereabouts. Alert and collected, Aqua looked all around, checking if the coast was clear. Soon, her round ears caught human voices from a nearby room. One of them sounded exactly like J. Aqua crept closer to the door, managing to push it very slightly, getting a decent view of what was inside. But what she did see made her jaw drop.
There were possibly dozens of pokemon turned to gold stone filling the room, all trapped in round glass cases, keeping them inside. J and a few male grunts marveled over the collection with smug smirks on their faces. Aqua balled one of her hands into a fist. How could some humans be so cruel? Julia was definitely going to want to know about this if they met up again.
"This is some big collection of merchandise you got here, boss," A chubby, brown haired grunt told her in a complementary manner.
Once again, Aqua scowled. He was talking about the pokemon like they were toys or items to be collected and put on display. As far as Aqua knew, she was not merchandise, nor was any other pokemon. J adjusted her goggles. "I take great care in making sure each commodity is as pristine as can be," She glared at one black haired grunt. "Which is why I order you all to take them unharmed and alive!" She exclaimed.
"Sorry…" The black haired grunt groaned ruefully.
"So when do you plan on selling some of these?" The brown haired grunt asked curiously.
J crossed her arms. "I have some clients who expect them right away."
"What about Raikou?"
"Not yet," J told him tersely. "I have some plans for Raikou before I do anything with him."
Plans? What kind of plans? At this point, Aqua didn't stick around to find out. She figured whatever J had planned, it definitely wouldn't be good in the slightest. Time to tell Julia about this. She scurried away from the room, racing down the hallway as fast as her tiny legs could carry her. J and the grunts continued on with their conversation, even as Aqua left.
"So all that's left are Entei and Suicune, right?" The chubby grunt asked. "I can't wait to see-"
"Hold on," J raised her hand, silencing him. Both of them glanced at the door behind them. It was open just a crack. That told them everything they needed to know. "I think we have intruders."
"You think so?" The man raised an eyebrow, giving her a quizzical look. "I might have not closed the door all the way."
But J paid him no heed. "Send out the grunts! I cannot allow intruders to disrupt our mission!"
As for Julia, she just traversed through the seemingly endless titanium hallways, her search turning up empty. There was absolutely no sign, hair, or spark of Raikou anywhere. "Jeez...it's like a maze in here," Julia mused out loud. She figured whoever designed this airship made it so that if intruders came in, they'd get lost, making them easier to catch.
"Pichu pi…" ("Tell me about it.") Hikaru groaned. A soft cry made her diamond shaped ears twitch.
"What's up, Hikaru?" As soon as Julia asked that, Aqua came scurrying down from the opposite direction. Relief consumed her entire being. "Aqua! You're okay!"
"Marill!"
"Did you find anything?"
"Marill marill!" ("Their storage room is this way!") Aqua pointed in the direction she just came from. With an affirmative nod, Julia and Hikaru followed the water mouse, running as fast as they could. Julia's legs began to feel heavy, like someone had put titanium bricks in them. But this was no time to be tired.
However, as soon as they were about to pass one particular corridor, two ariados suddenly crawled in front of them. "Yeeep!" Julia shivered, freezing in fear as the large spider pokemon blocked them. Hikaru and Aqua immediately took on battle stances.
"Aria! Aria!" The spider pokemon hissed, glaring at the girl.
"Think you can escape, little girl?" A Team Rocket grunt and his cronies stood on the other side of the corridor, arms crossed.
"Hikaru, use Thundershock on the ariados! Aqua, use BubbleBeam on the grunts!"
Aqua wasted no time firing a barrage of bubbles at the Team Rocket grunts. The soapy bubbles popped right in front of their faces, and the water stung their eyes, making them burn like they had been set on fire. Soon, most of the team rocket grunts fell to their knees, their hands flying to cover their burning eyes. Hikaru called forth a lightning bolt that seemed much bigger and stronger than the usual thundershock attack. Unfortunately, the ariados duo was quick to crawl across the walls using their sharp feet.
"Water Gun, Aqua!" Julia commanded. Aqua caught up to the ariados duo and sprayed a geyser of water at them, sending them rolling across the shiny steel floor.
For a moment, Julia thought her opportunity to escape had arrived. She was about to race down another corridor. But a beam of light suddenly shot at Hikaru. The tiny mouse tried to race after her trainer, but before she knew it, her body grew numb. Julia whipped her head around, freezing in horror. Hikaru had turned completely into golden stone! Hikaru's mouth was wide open, as though she was calling for her trainer to help her.
"HIKARU!" Julia made the mistake of running back to her friend's side.
"Marill mar!" ("No, don't do it!") Aqua warned, turning back. But it was too late.
J had leaped onto the scene, smacking Julia across the head with the cannon on her arm. Julia's consciousness escaped her, and she fell to the floor with a solid thud. The woman stood before the unconscious girl with a cold, stern glare. Aqua was quick to throw herself in between them, glaring right back at the unfeeling woman with a look that said, "You stay away from my trainer!"
"What to do with this little rat…?"
"Mallow, use Bonemerang!"
"Kitsune, Extrasensory!"
"Weezing, use Sludge Bomb!" Ariana called out.
"Golbat, Supersonic, and make it snappy!" Proton commanded.
The battle near the mountains waged on. Despite managing to do massive damage to Proton's golbat, the supersonic still managed to hit Kitsune, throwing her mind asunder. Before long, the battered and bruised fox found herself unable to keep still, wobbling back and forth like a metronome. Mallow threw his bone at the ball of purple gas, but the weezing spat a ball of sludge at the cubone's face. Mallow's eyes burned as soon as the sludge made contact, and he found himself falling to his knees, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Sorry, Mallow!" Caiseal pulled a pokeball out. "Return!" A red light put Mallow back inside the pokeball.
"You too, "Kitsune!" Perrine called Kitsune back, refusing to put her through any more pain.
Ariana crossed her arms, smirking at the two kids. "You two may be persistent, but you're pathetic and weak."
With an affirmative nod, Proton adjusted his hat, pushing it upward just an inch. "This will be your grave. Don't think we'll let you brats interfere with Team Rocket's plans any longer!" He extended his arm out in a commanding position. "Golbat! Make sure these children die slow, painful deaths with Poison Fang!"
The blue, large mouthed bat flapped his wings vigorously, ready to be the grim reaper that would send the kids to oblivion. Perrine and Caiseal glared at them, sending two more pokemon out. Fukuro and Viole. All of their other pokemon were too tired from fighting with them for so long, and they knew the ones that were at full health might not be able to do much, even if Fukuro did have somewhat of an advantage thanks to knowing Confusion. That could only get them so far.
Even so, they were not going to die here. No way.
"Vaporeon, use Aurora Beam!"
"Ursaring, use Fire Punch!"
A vaporeon leaped onto the scene, firing a rainbow colored beam of light at the golbat. The bat tried to fly away, but the vaporeon was too fast for it, and it couldn't react fast enough. The freezing cold beam of light struck the bat, leaving it unable to move. The golbat flapped its wings twice, finally managing to escape. A large, intimidating brown bear standing on its hind legs stomped in front of weezing. If looks could kill, the bear's small eyes, burning with undiluted rage, certainly would have stopped weezing's heart right then and there. Weezing itself froze in place, unable to move. The bear's fist burned brightly in a blazing red flame before the bear roared and punched weezing so hard, it flew right onto Ariana, sending them both rolling on the dirt.
Perrine and Caiseal turned to see who it was that called those pokemon. Lo and behold, it was Kassia and Truman, Julia's parents! Ariana and Proton's jaws dropped rather ungracefully, even more so when the bear pokemon with the large yellow ring on its abdomen gave them an unforgiving glare. Even more surprising, some of Julia's pokemon were standing alongside them. Saoirse, Lucretia, and the two nidoran.
Truman approached the kids and helped them up. "Are you two alright?"
"Yes, thanks to you," Perrine replied gratefully. "You're Julia's dad, right?"
"Yep," The chubby man flashed a warm smile. "Truman Parisa. It's nice to meet you finally, Perrine and Caiseal," His smile immediately faded. "I'm sorry it's gotta be under these circumstances."
"Eevee!"
"Snub snubbull!"
"Nido nido!" The four pokemon couldn't help but greet the two.
"How come some of Julia's pokemon are with you?" Caiseal asked.
Kassia brushed some dirt off of her shoulder. "We figured Julia would like to see them, and they see her."
Finally, Caiseal couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer. The sight of the giant bear pokemon made him pull out his pokedex and examine it. He had never seen a pokemon like that up close before.
"Ursaring, the hibernator pokemon," The pokedex began in its usual robotic, monotone voice. Caiseal wondered why ursaring wasn't classified as a bear, or at the very least a giant bear. "Ursaring have a very developed sense of smell that allows them to unfailingly find any kind of food buried deep underground, no matter the weather conditions. They leave scratches on berry trees in order to mark their territory. Despite their large, bulky size, they are talented tree climbers and love to find berries or sleep in the trees, although they have been known to snap trees in half for their convenience. They are highly protective of their young and are known to have aggressive tempers, even more so during mating season. They are usually considered very dangerous and have been known to take lives if provoked."
Proton clenched his teeth. "Don't think you've won! We'll-" He yelled. Before he could go on a tirade, Ariana's hand firmly grasped one of his shoulders.
"Proton. Stop. The mission is complete," Ariana told him firmly.
Wailing sirens echoed in the distance, with flashing red and blue lights streaking against the bleak, grey sky above. As soon as police cars and armored tanks came rolling onto the scene, policemen and armed guards stormed out, aiming rifles at the Team Rocket executives. The wail of the sirens drowned out any further nose.
"Put your hands up!" One guard barked. "Put your hands where I can see them!"
An officer pulled the four and their pokemon aside. Kassia couldn't bear to hold it back any longer. "Where is Julia?" The worry in her voice was imminent. Everyone knew it.
Perrine and Caiseal couldn't lie to them. J had her. Julia was trapped on that airship. They prayed that she was okay.
Smoke entering her nostrils finally woke her from her unconscious state. Julia shook her head left and right to force the smoky aroma out of her vicinity. It didn't work. The first thing she noticed was that she was no longer in the titanium hallways from before. She stood up on her feet, but couldn't move forward, nor could she lift her hands. A heavy set of silver handcuffs kept her hands bound together, held right behind her back, with a chain attached to it leading into the wall behind her. A thick, black leather collar wrapped around her neck, with a similar chain attaching it to the wall. She had enough movement to walk around in a small circle, but that was it. She felt as though she were being suffocated. How she was able to breathe, she wasn't sure.
There was J, sitting behind a mahogany desk overflowing with papers and thick books, with a lone cigarette protruding from her mouth. The tip of the cigarette glowed in a faint orange light. Julia grimaced. J must have knocked her out and dragged her here. The room was eerily quiet. Too quiet. She knew why.
Hikaru and Aqua weren't here.
"Hey, lady!" Julia yelled. No answer. "HEY! Where are Hikaru and Aqua?!" She shouted louder. Once again, no answer. "I know you turned Hikaru to stone! Where are my friends?! And where's Raikou?!"
J stood up from her seat and marched toward the girl, giving her the deadest, coldest look Julia had ever seen. Of course, being averse to eye contact, Julia looked away. Just knowing that this woman was staring her down made her run cold. The automatic doors pulled themselves open. The chubby, brown haired grunt from before came into the room holding a small cage.
"Marill marill mariiiiiiill!" ("Let me out let me ouuuuut!") Julia snapped her head up. A marill was screaming from inside the cage. At the end of her tail was a light blue ribbon with white spots on it.
"Aqua!" Julia cried before turning back to J. "Let her go right now!"
"So whaddaya want me to do with this little rat?" The man asked.
"MARILL MARILL MARILL!" ("I SAID LET ME OUT RIGHT NOW!") Aqua's screaming didn't let up. It ripped at Julia's ear drums, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Her hands were bound to her back, so she couldn't cover them. Hearing Aqua's screaming made tears spring forth.
"Give her back to me!" Julia pleaded.
J paid her no heed, looking the grunt straight in the eye. "A stupid little creature like that has no monetary value. Do away with it," J told him tersely. "The euthanasia is in the storage room. It'll save this world a worthless piece of garbage."
Euthanasia? No. Anything but that. Hearing that made both Aqua and Julia run completely cold. J just ordered him to kill Aqua all because she didn't have any value to her. How could any human being be so heartless? Julia wished she could break out of these restraints and save her friend. Hearing their plans only made Aqua scream even harder. The water mouse stamped and stamped her stubby feet on the bottom of the cage, screaming and wailing in a screechy voice that made the grunt grimace.
"You are NOT going to kill my friend!" Julia yelled.
She expected J to tell her to shut up or at the very least put her in another room. But J gripped the girl by her arm, yanked her up rather forcefully, and used her free hand to pull the cigarette out of her mouth. Nobody could have predicted what J would do next. Not even Julia.
An intense burning sensation ripped through Julia's entire arm, forcing the girl to let out a primal, inhuman scream. Aqua covered her mouth with her stubby arms, round black eyes wide with horror. Even the grunt froze in place, horrified. J had pushed the cigarette butt onto the skin of Julia's arm, the tobacco melting away the epidermis, leaving an ugly red circular shape. Julia tried to hold back tears, but they came out anyway, much to J's displeasure. Not even she could hold back those primal cries. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, J yanked the cigarette off and threw it in a nearby trash bin.
"You were practically asking for this, you little brat," J hissed in an uncaring voice. Julia hated the way she phrased that, implying she wanted it. Utterly despicable. Despite the cigarette being gone, the stinging pain still ran through Julia's skin, and the tears came pouring right out. It felt as though her arm was being exposed to 500 degree heat. "But even with this little blemish," Julia couldn't help but think that was the understatement of the millennium. "I'm sure I can find some clients who will take great pleasure in your services."
Julia knew what she meant. The implications were too horrifying to even think about.
That did it for Aqua. With a shrill cry, the aqua mouse glowed in a harsh pink light, bouncing all around the cage, so hard that she fell out of the grunt's arms. As soon as the cage made contact with the ground, the force of the fall and Aqua's roughhousing shattered it to smithereens. But Aqua didn't stop there. The glowing mouse bounced all around the room with the force of a rocket, causing papers to fly all over, knocking J and the grunt to their feet, and even breaking the chains keeping Julia to the wall. Some books fell right on top of J, producing a big dust cloud. Not so big that it covered the entire area, though.
Finally, Aqua stopped and approached the girl with a worried expression. "Marill mar?" ("Are you okay?") Aqua didn't hesitate spraying cold water on the small burn. Julia flinched, as the freezing cold water contrasted too much with the intense burn. But she knew Aqua was trying to help, so she tried to hold back any pain.
Once that was finished, Aqua broke the collar and handcuffs with the same attack from before. "I am now," With a smile, Julia stroke her friend's head with one hand. Boy, did it feel good to be free from those awful restraints. "Thanks to you. Nice Play Rough attack."
"Marill!"
"Now let's find Hikaru and Raikou!"
They escaped from the room before J and her grunt could wake up. They did run into some grunts, but Aqua and Tokiko, whom Julia sent out for extra help, were able to hold them off. Finally, they made it to the room where Raikou-and now Hikaru-were being kept. Julia's hands flew to her mouth. The entire room was like a museum of golden stone statues. But she knew they were all real pokemon. There were dozens of them. Big pokemon, small pokemon, ferocious pokemon like gyarados and ursaring, cute pokemon like cleffa and eevee, rare pokemon like togepi and some others she didn't recognize right off.
"This is awful…" Julia whimpered. "Their trainers must be so sad!"
"Choki…" ("Terrible…") Tokiko agreed, her Soothe Bell letting out a soft ring.
Raikou was easy to spot, since he was one of the biggest pokemon in the room. But they needed to find Hikaru, too. Aqua and Tokiko looked all over the room. Hikaru just had to be here somewhere. They remembered that Hikaru had a ribbon on her right ear. Julia hoped they didn't remove it. "Marill mar!" ("I found her!") Aqua cried from the far left corner of the room, jumping up and down so they could see her.
There was Hikaru, in the exact same pose as she was when she tried to save Julia. The girl saw a switch on the disk, figuring it might free her friend. She pressed it, pushing it to the lowest level. Immediately, the golden stone faded, and Hikaru was able to move again.
"Pichu!"
Intense relief overcame them both. "Hikaru!" The pichu leaped into her trainer's arms, and Julia held her so tight, she didn't want to let go. "You're okay! Thank goodness!" The joy was just absolutely overwhelming. Even Aqua and Tokiko joined in on the group hug. But they had to release Raikou and the others, so they cut the hug short. Julia didn't waste time going to Raikou's disk and pushing the button to the lowest level.
"Greah?" Raikou examined his surroundings, confused.
"Raikou! You're free now!" Julia told him. Raikou looked down, seeing the girl and her three pokemon, Hikaru included. Immediately, he was at ease. "You're not hurt, are you?"
The electric tiger shook his head no.
"Good. We'll get you out of here. Let's save the other pokemon while we're here, too," Julia scurried to the other pokemon, releasing them one by one. She even released the rest of her pokemon so they could help too: Blossom, Tsubasa, and Papillon. All six of her pokemon released the others from their stone prisons. Gradually, the room became more lively, with the sounds of the freed pokemon rejoicing echoing in the room thanks to the small room and its corners increasing the sound.
Before Hikaru could release an eevee from its prison, Tokiko tapped on her shoulder. "Pichu pi?" ("What is it?")
Tokiko untied the Soothe Bell around her neck and handed it to Hikaru. "Choki chokikko," ("Put this on so if you get lost, Julia will know where to find you.") She told her in a low whisper.
The tiny mouse tilted her head to one side, confused. "But didn't Perrine's dad give that to you?"
"Yes, he did," Tokiko answered with a solemn but warm nod. "But I think you deserve it now. It may help you."
At first, Hikaru didn't take it right off. It had always been Tokiko's ever since Eduardo gave it to her back in Goldenrod City. Why would Tokiko not want it anymore? It was a precious gift, wasn't it? Upon further rumination, its sound was very distinct from that of other bells, and Julia had heard it plenty of times, so if Hikaru wore it and was lost, Julia could find her by the sound and reunite with her. With that in mind, Hikaru put the Soothe Bell around her neck. Oddly enough, it felt rather heavy, almost pulling her down like it was a weight. Tokiko couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.
"Gloom gloom gloom!" ("Everyone's free now!") Blossom announced jubilantly.
"Eeeee freeeee?" ("What do we do now?") Papillon asked, fluttering her wings like she usually does.
"We're still trapped, and we don't know how far this airship has gone," The butterfly pointed out.
The automatic doors opened. J and a few grunts came storming right in. "Seize them!" J edicted. The grunts bolted into the room with intent to kill. Raikou shot a lightning bolt at them, forcing them to step back. Some water pokemon blasted water at them, blowing them away, soaking them to the bone. Some psychic types teleported the grunts to Arceus knows where.
Teleport? That's it!
A humanoid pokemon with yellow and brown fur stood next to the girl, carrying two silver spoons in each hand. Perfect. "Excuse me, Mr. Alakazam?" Julia asked the pokemon. "You still know Teleport, right?"
"Alakazam," The large psi pokemon replied with an affirmative nod.
"Teleport us back to Olivine City, please!" Julia pleaded. "Get us out of here!"
"Ala!" The alakazam's spoons bent, facing the automatic doors. Soon, every single pokemon in the room, Julia included, glowed in a rainbow hued light before disappearing into thin air. But unbeknownst to them, a rocket grunt shot something at Raikou before they teleported away. Something resembling a black cube producing metal rings, forming a collar or necklace around Raikou's neck.
Julia and the others found themselves teleported right back to the Pokemon Center. Good thing, too, as Nurse Joy rounded everyone up and took her and the pokemon inside, both for treatment and reuniting the other pokemon back to their trainers or the wild. The chansey wasted no time treating the burn on Julia's arm, and she herself called her parents, letting them know she was alright and at the center. She imagined them dropping everything and running here.
As predicted, Kassia burst through the door right as the chansey dabbed some disinfectant on the burn. "Julia!" Her voice almost bordered on hysterical, but the joy was imminent. Julia's mother threw her arms around her daughter, holding her so tight, she didn't want to let go. "You're alright! Oh, thank goodness!" She cried. "Don't ever do anything like that ever again!"
By that, she meant jumping into the airship and putting herself in danger. She wasn't sure if she could promise that, but the warmth of her mother's love made her heart melt. "Hi, Mom," That was all she said. "Ow! Careful!" She yelped.
As soon as Kassia let go of her daughter, Perrine, Caiseal, and Truman came into the room. "Jule! You're okay!" Perrine exclaimed.
Before she could hug her friend, Kassia interrupted her, saying, "Is that a burn?!" Julia wasted no time telling everyone about what J did to her. As soon as she finished, her mother's face contorted into undiluted rage. Her eyes blazed, and they were surprised her hair didn't set on fire. "I swear, if I ever find that woman, I am going to make sure she regrets ever laying a hand on you!"
Truman let out a rueful laugh. "I think you should let the police handle that one," He told her. "Anyway, we're glad you're okay, slick," Julia smiled. "Oh! We brought some of your friends with us!"
Julia wasn't sure what he meant by that. Perrine and Caiseal were already here. Sure enough, Lucretia and Saoirse bolted into the room, hopping right on her lap, nuzzling and squealing for her attention. "Hey, girls!" Julia wrapped her arms around her fluffy friends, happy to have someone to cuddle as the chansey wrapped gauze around her arm. "Hey! The nidos are here, too!" She saw Rina and Rino sitting on the floor. "Hi Rina and Rino! Long time no see!" She greeted them with a cheerful tone.
Oddly enough, the nidoran duo didn't respond. They just looked away, averting their gaze. Julia could see twinges of indifference in their eyes, along with something else. They almost looked...angry. But why? "Is everything okay?"
"I don't know," Truman said. "They've been like this since we brought them along."
"Oh!" That was when it hit her. She never got to ask. "Mom? Dad? What are you even doing here anyway?" It couldn't have been just to come and visit. How did they even manage to get time off, anyway? Surely the pokemon at the ranch needed their attention, and from what she heard, it certainly wasn't easy to just take time off from both that and their regular jobs.
Her mother looked down at her purse. "We...received this in the mail…" She pulled out an envelope and handed it to her daughter. "It's...from Amara."
"Seriously?!" Julia yelped.
"You got a letter from your sister?" Perrine asked.
"What's it say?" Caiseal asked.
"Hang on, will ya?!" She had already pulled the letter out. It was a very short letter so it was easy to just skim through it. But just reading it was enough to make Julia glare at it with irritation. "Really?! She actually takes the time to send a letter and this is how she talks to you?!" Julia had heard enough arguments between Amara and her parents to know how she treated them a lot of the time, and some of the things she said about them were just terrible in the younger daughter's eyes. "She really needs to go to jail!"
"We're going to the police station later. She might still be here in Olivine, and we want to see if they can search for her here," Truman explained, keeping his voice calm so as to not worry anyone. "We've heard about some incidents where she assaulted some trainers, so we're going to report her ourselves."
"But didn't you already do that back in Cherrygrove when she stole the totodile and assaulted me?" Julia asked. She had seen them report Amara to their local authorities. Wouldn't doing it again be rather redundant?
"Eevee vui!" Lucretia tapped her paws on Julia's cheek, diverting her attention toward the fluffy mammal.
"I missed you too, Lucretia," Julia nuzzled her friend's face with her own. "Sorry we haven't hung out much," She turned back to Saoirse. "How are you doing? You're not sick anymore, right?"
"Snub snubbull!" Saoirse put her hands on her hips and nodded affirmatively, showing she was in tip top shape. Julia stroke her friend with one hand, scratching her floppy ears.
"Pichu!" Hikaru chirruped.
Julia told everyone about what happened in the airship, from Aqua almost being euthanized to convincing an alakazam to teleport everyone to safety. Her parents and friends listened silently, in awe of the terrifying tale. At one point, her mother's hands flew to her mouth. That was when her parents noticed it: Julia had changed. Not just personality-wise, but physically, as well.
It seemed to be only yesterday that their younger daughter was still the shy, reserved girl who would much rather stay home and play with pokemon than go with them to unfamiliar places and meet new people. She wouldn't even go anywhere all by herself. Either her mother or father always had to be with her. Not only that, Julia's face looked thinner, just a bit more mature. Some of the roundness in her cheeks faded, but some if it was still there. Her green eyes had a more mature glimmer about them. Her hair had grown quite long, reaching down to her shoulders. Kassia wondered if she could take her to get a haircut after this mess was over. Her arms and legs looked leaner, as some of the pudge she had was pretty much gone. Finally, after all this time pestering her to go out more and eat less sweets and junk food, she had lost some weight. But they hoped she was eating healthy foods and not starving herself in the mean time.
Rumbling rocked the Pokemon Center right then. Hikaru, Saoirse, and Lucretia almost fell off of Julia's lap, but she was able to hold onto them tight. Perrine and Caiseal clung to Truman's large arms. "What...was that?!" Truman yelped, his glasses having been pushed halfway past his nose.
Pandemonium broke out.
"Help! That Raikou's going nuts!"
"Why is it attacking us?!"
"We gotta get out of here!"
"Go somewhere safe!"
Raikou? Going nuts? Everyone stormed out of the Pokemon Center to see if what the other people were saying was true. Sure enough, it was. Raikou's eyes were glowing in an eerie red light that made it look much more ferocious than he normally was. He let out harsh roars as lightning bolts dropped down on Olivine City. One of them knocked two trees down, with one hitting the roof of a nearby house, leaving a huge hole. A mother and two kids barely managed to escape the other one and were spared being flattened. Citizens were running for their lives, screaming in fright.
"What the-?! What's Raikou doing?!" Perrine shouted. Raikou called forth another thunderbolt, sending it right down in front of the Pokemon Center. Truman managed to carry the kids away from the scene, evading the attack.
"Raikou!" Julia cried. "Snap out of it!" Her cries went unheard, as Raikou continued to roar and drop lightning bolts down. At one point, the electric tiger slashed some power lines and turned a small boat into a pile of scrap metal floating in the ocean.
"Pichu!" Hikaru buried her face in her tiny arms. What had happened? Why was Raikou doing this? She didn't know, but she was sure about one thing: the real Raikou wouldn't do this.
Police cars and armored tanks came rolling onto the scene. Armed guards and their pokemon, namely ground types like cubone and grey, rhino pokemon with small horns circled around the electric tiger. Some cubone threw their bones at the electric tiger. A few of them managed to hit, but not enough to do massive damage. The grey rhino pokemon held their horns up as Raikou used his thunder attacks. But instead of doing damage, the thunder was drawn to their horns, absorbed into their bodies.
"Rhyhorn, use Drill Run!"
The rhyhorn began by running before spinning around in the shape of a drill. The pokemon charged at Raikou. Unfortunately, Raikou leaped into the air, evading the attack. Some of the rhyhorn wound up attacking each other. As soon as they collided, their attack formation disassembled, and some of the rhyhorn fell on their backs.
All of a sudden, a large silver snake pokemon popped out from the ground. The silver snake towered above everything, resembling a silver tower of hard diamond. Its large, shovel-shaped head was bigger than its rocky body, but some horns protruded out from some of the rocks making up its abdomen. Sitting atop of the pokemon's head was none other than Jasmine. Flying next to her were two togetic. One of them had a blue ribbon wrapped around its neck, and the other a pink ribbon on its head. Four other pokemon accompanied her, one of them being Ampere, two silver orb shaped pokemon with screws and magnets on them, and a bigger version of the former pokemon.
"Everyone! Please evacuate immediately! I'll handle this!" Jasmine edicted.
"But you're just a gym leader!" One police officer bellowed. "There's no way you can-" But Jasmine paid no heed. She had already sent Ampere after the rampaging electric tiger.
"Ampere, use Cotton Spore!"
"Paaaaaaaaar!" The yellow pokemon produced a thick cloud of white cotton that surrounded Raikou like smoke. Some of the kids had to cover their mouths to keep from inhaling it. But it didn't stop Raikou, as he slashed his way through the cotton.
"Angela and Angelo, charge and use Steel Wing!" Jasmine commanded. The two togetic, Angela and Angelo, descended down toward Raikou, their small wings glowing in silvery white lights. Charging at the electric tiger at full speed, the two togetic rammed themselves against Raikou's body. The force wasn't strong enough to knock him out, but it did push him back a bit.
"Amandine, knock him out with Iron Tail!"
"Steeeeeelix!" The snake pokemon's tail turned white as it slammed right into Raikou, knocking him straight into a rock.
Everyone gathered at the scene, police included. When the smoke cleared, Julia saw it: a collar around Raikou's neck. A silver collar coiled around his neck, with a black cube hanging from it glowing in a red light. Could that be what was making Raikou go crazy? This was her chance.
"Saoirse! Break that collar off of Raikou!" Julia commanded. "Lucretia, Rina, and Rino! You help out, too!"
"Vui! Nido! Nyu!" The four pokemon scurried over to the unconscious Raikou. Good thing Jasmine stopped her pokemon from doing anything else, getting the message. Saoirse's fangs blazed with red fire as she drenched her teeth down on the steel collar. Gradually, it began to rust. Both Rina and Rino kicked at the collar with their feet, using as many Double Kicks as they could. Finally, Lucretia made it explode with just one Shadow Ball attack. Raikou's eyes stopped glowing and he fell asleep.
"Yes! We got it off!" Julia cheered, pumping her fists in the air.
"How did you know that was what was making him all crazy?" Perrine asked.
"I don't remember seeing that collar there when we teleported away," Julia explained. "I think one of those Team Rocket goons put it on him."
One would think that this would be the end of the whole mess, but fate had other plans. A small beam of light suddenly struck Raikou, forcing gathering officers to retreat. Even Jasmine made her steelix pull back. All of a sudden, Raikou turned right back into stone. A floating disk flew right underneath Raikou, trapping him in a glass case.
Joy turned back into horror. "Not again!" Caiseal roared.
"PICHU!" ("DADDY!") Hikaru cried. It happened again. Her small body trembled once more. Julia facepalmed. The airship was in tact when they teleported away. Julia wished she used one of her pokemon to at least destroy their equipment, or something similar. Of course she wouldn't give up.
The airship floated right above them as the case containing Raikou flew into the hatch. J closed the door once Raikou was inside. The officers pulled out their guns and fired at the airship. Bullets flew all over the place, but none of them pierced the airship's thick armor. It didn't help that it had turned invisible by the time they could even attempt to strike it down.
"Nooooo!" Julia slammed her fist on the ground. "She took him again!"
"She sure doesn't give up, does she?" Caiseal asked.
"How are we gonna save him?" Perrine asked, her voice peppering with worry.
"We'll find her for sure!" An Officer Jenny suddenly piped in, holding some kind of green machine in her hand. "I shot a tracking device on her airship," She showed everyone the screen. A red light blinked, heading north. "We can discern their location with this. As soon as we find their hideout or wherever they're heading, we'll arrest her and bring her and the others to justice!"
Julia didn't hesitate when she shouted, "Let us go with you!" The officers found themselves taken aback. Even her parents' jaws dropped. "That's Hikaru's father she just petrified and kidnapped! Let me and my friends come with you! We can help!"
"Absolutely not!" Kassia suddenly interjected with a fierce voice. She ran over to Julia and put both hands on her shoulders. "This is far too dangerous! I'm not letting you go out there, not after what she did to you!"
"Mom, please!" Julia pleaded. "It's important to Hikaru! Raikou's her adopted dad!" She told them about Hikaru's past in detail. Even Hikaru couldn't help but listen despite having told her about it. The desperation and passion in her voice felt so real. Just seeing Julia attempt to convince her parents to let her go left Hikaru in silent awe. She had no idea Julia was this devoted to making her first friend happy. "Mom...Dad...I'm not afraid anymore! I want to do this! For Hikaru! For everyone!"
"The answer is still no!" Kassia exclaimed. "I already lost one daughter!" Amara wasn't lost, per say, but the worried mother had no other way to describe their current situation right now. "If I were to lose you…" Kassia's voice caught in her throat, and her eyes trembled as though she were on the verge of crying. "...I'd never forgive myself…I can't lose you both. I just can't…"
"I'll be fine, Mom," Julia told her, keeping her voice calm. "I've been in dangerous situations before. Perrine and Caiseal will be with me. My pokemon are with me. If Raikou ends up sold or killed or whatever else, Hikaru will be sad. I don't...want my friend to be sad…please, Mom. Let me help them. I want to do this."
Truman was taken aback. He had been surprised by the changes in his daughter before, but this one was a doozy. Julia actually battled another pokemon, even if it was to break that brainwashing collar on his neck. She used to cry whenever she would see a pokemon battle, even try to intervene and tell trainers it was wrong to battle, even if it meant getting herself hurt. She always considered pokemon battles cruel and barbaric no matter what he and his wife tried to tell her. But not only did she battle, she handled herself like a mature trainer would, and even wants to put her life on the line just to make Hikaru happy.
A tear came out from one of his eyes. He had no idea he raised Julia to be so compassionate and strong. All she needed was some confidence, and here it was.
"...Go with them."
"WHAT?!" His weeping wife snapped her head up, eyes wide with confusion.
"You've grown up so much since you left on your journey, slick," Truman ambled over to his daughter and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. "You've become much braver. I'm proud to have you as my daughter, both your mother, sister, and I," Julia felt warm upon him saying that. "You should do what you think is right."
She couldn't hold it back any longer. Her father was actually letting her save Hikaru's adopted father. All of the joy in her heart bubbled over. She leaped onto her father, throwing her arms around him. "Thank you, Dad! Thank you!"
"H-H-H-He has a good point…" Kassia sputtered, crossing her arms so tight, her hands almost turned white. "Y-Y-You really have become stronger…" Her face was turning red. "Kids!" She turned to Perrine and Caiseal, who shivered upon meeting her eyes. "Make sure Julia's safe, okay?!"
Caiseal held his hand to his head, doing a mock salute. "You can count on us, Mrs. Parisa!"
"If you don't mind," A familiar voice interrupted. Eusine came marching onto the scene with Jasmine and an alakazam by her side. "We'd like to help, too."
"I know the area around here," Jasmine explained in her soft, sweet voice. "So if it's not too much trouble, I can assist you in tracking their location."
Eusine crossed his arms. "My alakazam's psychic powers can be useful in this situation, if you so wish."
"Ala!" Eusine's alakazam piped in. No, this isn't the alakazam Julia asked to teleport out of the airship with.
Officer Jenny nodded. "Alright. You all can accompany us on the search. We'll need all the help we can get," She told them, gesturing for the guards to fall back. She then told the kids to get into the police car with her. Julia's other pokemon accompanied her as well, figuring they could help as well. The other armed guards went back into their tanks, rolling away as the police cars raced into the distance. "Let's throw that woman in the clink!" She shouted, driving into the mountains.
With that, Truman and Kassia were all alone. Kassia turned to her husband, staring daggers at him, her face beet red. "TRUMAN! Why did you let Julia go?!"
"I stand by my decision," Truman replied, keeping his cool.
"Our daughter's probably gonna get herself killed, and you're letting her fight a notorious criminal, and who's extremely high on the Federation's Top 10 Most Wanted List!" Kassia screamed. As much as she hated to admit it, Amara was classified as a criminal with what she had done. But nothing Amara could do would ever put her on the same level as J. To Kassia, Amara would always be her daughter, even if she wasn't proud of the things she had done. But now another daughter was gone. "Julia could die out there!"
"I know that," Truman replied. "But we can't keep protecting her forever. You saw her battle earlier, right? She used to think battling was cruel and monstrous," The proud glimmer in his eyes made his wife fall silent. He had a point. "Do you remember when she was first diagnosed? How that one doctor we consulted told us that she would never talk or function on her own or live a normal life?"
Kassia's fists balled up. She remembered that day all too well. After a doctor diagnosed Julia as being autistic in her infancy, he referred them to specialists who could help them understand her better. One of them didn't work out so well. Julia was supposed to be evaluated and approved for potential therapy, but one doctor just gave up on her without even attempting to evaluate or understand her. It didn't help that said doctor did things neither Julia nor the parents liked, such as insult her when she didn't understand something or cooperate, put her in a room full of crying babies, and discourage her when she wanted to play with some toys or read a book. Kassia pulled her out of there as soon as that doctor told her to shut up over stepping on a lego. Boy, was she glad she did.
Now look at her. The same Julia who used to be scared of pokemon battles before, would cry when someone yelled, and avoided trouble, was now battling alongside her pokemon and on a mission to rescue a legendary pokemon in need, with friends by her side. These parents never did believe what that doctor said about their daughter, nor any other naysayers.
"You're right, Truman. You're absolutely right," Kassia whimpered, wiping a tear away. "Julia...please come back safe."
Actually, she wished both daughters would come back safe. It's a parent's nature to worry about their children's well-being, no matter how well-off they were.
Whoo! I'm really loving finally being able to write this subplot and get it out of the way! It'll be over soon, guys. The subplot I mean, not the story! This fan fic's almost finished, but not quite there yet. I do have the whole story planned out, though! This chapter didn't have enough material in it when I outlined it, so I just took a portion of the previous one and added it here. I think it turned out quite nicely! I applied for one job so far, but I doubt I'll get accepted despite it being at a place I go to a lot.
Random fact: The little tidbit at the end about a doctor being mean to Julia was actually an experience I myself had when I was young. I honestly don't have memories of it, since I was too young to remember it, but my parents told me that after I was diagnosed, they were referred to other doctors who they thought could help me. One of them was apparently very mean to me and was rough with me, too. My mom stopped seeing him the minute he told me to shut up about something. Apparently, he even suggested that they put me on a sedative. Fat chance of that. They made me see better doctors and therapists, and the rest is history.
Julia's Party:
Hikaru (Shiny Pichu, Female, Jolly Nature)
Ability: Static
Attacks: Thunderbolt, Disarming Voice, Sweet Kiss, Tail Whip
Aqua (Marill, Female, Mild Nature)
Ability: Thick Fat
Attacks: Rollout, Bubblebeam, Play Rough, and Water Gun
Tokiko (Togetic, Female, Hardy Nature)
Ability: Serene Grace
Attacks: Extrasensory, Headbutt, Dazzling Gleam, Magical Leaf
Papillon (Butterfree, Female, Calm Nature)
Ability: Compound Eyes
Attacks: Confusion, Sleep Powder, Psybeam, Stun Spore
Tsubasa (Pidgeotto, Female, Naughty Nature)
Ability: Keen Eye
Attacks: Tackle, Quick Attack, Wing Attack, Twister
Blossom (Gloom, Female, Docile Nature)
Ability: Chlorophyll
Attacks: Acid, Poison Powder, Stun Spore, and Mega Drain
Saoirse (Snubbull, Female, Gentle Nature)
Ability: Intimidate
Attacks: Ice Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, and Scary Face
Lucretia (Eevee, Female, Bashful Nature)
Ability: Anticipation
Attacks: Quick Attack, Helping Hand, Bite, and Shadow Ball
Rina (Nidoran, Female, Bold Nature)
Ability: Poison Point
Attacks: Double Kick, Poison Sting, Scratch, and Bite
Rino (Nidoran, Male, Modest Nature)
Ability: Poison Point
Attacks: Double Kick, Poison Sting, Peck, and Horn Attack
Perrine's Party:
Kitsune (Ninetales, Female, Quiet Nature)
Ability: Flash Fire
Attacks: Heat Wave, Extrasensory, Confuse Ray, and Faint Attack
Florian (Bayleef, Male, Gentle Nature)
Ability: Overgrow
Attacks: Razor Leaf, Tackle, Body Slam, and Poison Powder
Fuwari (Skiploom, Female, Relaxed Nature)
Ability: Leaf Guard
Attacks: Tackle, Fairy Wind, Bullet Seed, and Sleep Powder
Mushi (Paras, Male, Quirky Nature)
Ability: Effect Spore
Attacks: Scratch, Stun Spore, Growth, and Giga Drain
Baloo (Jigglypuff, Female, Docile Nature)
Ability: Cute Charm
Attacks: Sing, Wake-Up Slap, Disarming Voice, and Round
Fukuro (Noctowl, Male, Sassy Nature)
Ability: Tinted Lens
Attacks: Confusion, Peck, Hypnosis, and Dream Eater
Caiseal's Party:
Mallow (Cubone, Male, Lax Nature)
Ability: Lightning Rod
Attacks: Bonemerang, Bone Club, Headbutt, Growl
Apollo (Quilava, Male, Bold Nature)
Ability: Blaze
Attacks: Flame Wheel, Tackle, Quick Attack, and Smokescreen
Flippy (Quagsire, Female, Jolly Nature)
Ability: Damp
Attacks: Water Gun, Mud Bomb, Mud Slap, and Slam
Ravenclaw (Murkrow, Female, Hardy Nature)
Ability: Super Luck
Attacks: Wing Attack, Night Shade, Dark Pulse, and Haze
Viole (Oddish, Male, Quirky Nature)
Ability: Chlorophyll
Attacks: Acid, Sludge Bomb, Sleep Powder, and Sweet Scent
Stacey (Pinsir, Female, Serious Nature)
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Attacks: X-Scissor, Swords Dance, Seismic Toss, and Double Hit