Madder Sky
"The situation is being handled accordingly," Lance spoke directly into his phone. On the other end, the Pokemon Association asked for further details on the current circumstances.
Red was slumped on his equally tired Charizard. Houndoom was curled at Red's feet with Flareon resting close by. He stared into the opening crudely made.
The morning rays of light filled up the torn cavern with its much needed warmth. The sun reached the top of the steps where crumbled walls lay ruined.
The Gym Leaders were off searching through Navel Rock to capture and arrest the mercenary group, the Xclus Clan. Lorelei found out that they were under Kuraisora and followed the same belief of that they were achieving justice. The Xclus Clan brought the income for the large organization from the work that Leer managed to bring to them.
Lance accepted the information remarking on how he wondered where they got all the funds to build this massive base. The Kuraisora members were nowhere to be found, most likely left to meet up with Leer. Well, almost all the Kuraisora members managed to escape.
"Is this what you wanted to see!?" Drake roared from his uncomfortable position. He was tied to a protruding boulder with thick rope along with tied hands. He struggled against the cuffs only to irritate the damaged skin from his earlier attempt to escape. "You wanted to see me get thrown into prison. Further degrading me from a lowlife human!"
Lance hung up to glare at Drake. "I tried my best to get you a pardon for your crimes but your boisterous shouting deterred them from doing so. You'll have to serve your time at Kanto's prison," he said with a hint of anger. "Hopefully you'll learn your lesson this time around."
"Why you asshole…"Drake grinded his teeth. He broke eye contact to glare at the ground.
Lance sighed as if given up. He crouched down next Red, exhausted from working through the night. His duties prevented him from resting and Red couldn't take a break for something was troubling deeply.
"Will they be fine till help arrives?" Emily asked, hovering over the unconscious bodies of Leaf and Blue.
Lorelei had medical supplies that she raided from the base and had bandaged Leaf's arm and Blue's head. She rolled up the linen bandages and left them to the side for easy access.
"They aren't critically injured so their lives aren't in any danger," Lorelei replied with certainty.
Lance watched Lorelei walk off to tend Misty's and Brock's injuries who were both conscious after the earthquake.
"If I my leg didn't get caught under rocks, I would have caught that smug jerk for sure," Misty decreed. Her right leg was caked in dry blood but it didn't seem to bother the strong swimmer much as Lorelei knelt to examined Brock's aching shoulder.
Lance glanced to where the mountain of debris piled up from Leer's earlier endeavor. "I can assure you he's alive," Lance said in a delicate tone.
Red blankly stared at the toes of his scuffed shoes. His focus fluttered and became light headed for no real reason. He processed what Lance said to figure that he was referring to Ember. They tried to excavate the mess but there wasn't enough strength among the group to handle such a taxing task. Everyone and their Pokemon were exhausted from the night meaning they had to wait for aid.
"Yeah," was what his dismantled mind was able to conjure up. The foul smell of blood seeded doubt in Red.
"If that's the case, we can act before things get out of hand," Lance stood up, stretching his sore muscles.
"Things aren't already out of hand?" Red rhetorically asked.
Frowning, Lance replied, "we need to keep our spirits going. Especially you."
Red tilted his head to look up to Lance with one eye. He was reminded of how he was suppose to stop this who ordeal. The obligation of ending Leer's devastating plan fell onto his teenage shoulders.
Lance knew what Red was thinking. "The southern cities of Kanto have entered a lockdown procedure. No one is allowed to leave their houses due to the eminent threat. Small towns like Pallet are included."
Pallet Town? Will Leer dare attack such a small place? Red's mind spur into the repulsive territory of his town being attacked. Am I willing to take the chance he won't hesitate to use force to bring people to his knees?
"Oh." Lance smirked seeing Red stiffly arise. "Feeling good enough to go?"
Red lifelessly nodded. "I must do what I can," he answered unconvincingly.
"Then we leave now," Lance walked off to the skylight.
Red returned Charizard back into his Pokeball.
"Wait, I'm going too!" Emily rushed to stop Lance who already released his Dragonite as his flying steed.
Lance studied the distraught girl. "I'm sorry but I can only take one passenger on my Dragonite," Lance apologetically rejected Emily.
"But Red has a Pidgeot! We can ride that."
"None of my Pokemon are healthy enough to even walk around," Red replied.
"I can help," Emily argued.
Red softly smiled and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Please take care of Leaf and Blue. Don't let Flareon and Houndoom walk around too much," he firmly said. "You can be of help here. I'll call you if anything comes up."
Emily reached for Red's arm as he turned to leave. "You better not fail this, Red. You being the hero is not the main objective so don't hesitate to accept help."
"I'll be with Lance. If getting help from the top trainer in Kanto is not enough to confront Lugia, then we could be out of luck," Red replied in a joshing manner but Emily didn't see it as funny.
"This is no joking matter. Go and stop this before any more lives are lost," she coldly reminded. Her fingers slipped off Red as she backed off.
Lorelei approached after Emily finished. "I'll join as soon as the situation is sorted out in here. You know the closest Pokemon Center, right?"
"Floe Island," Lance answered swiftly already boarding his Pokemon. He pulled up Red to sit behind him. "I'll be waiting."
"Stay safe," Lorelei kindly said her departing words.
Lance replied with farewell before taking off. Dragonite wasn't all to worn out and he had some potions from Lance to thank for. The dragon flew through the hideout's gaping hole.
"I'll like your help with some cleaning up," Lorelei addressed Emily who absentmindedly accepted.
Floe Island was a small peaceful island that could only provide enough land for a single village. Despite the population size, a Pokemon Center was setup in the center of the town. Lance mentioned it had to do with Lorelei's presence on the island for this was her hometown.
Dragonite flew close to the ground, scaled belly nearly scraping the blades of grass, and dashed to the front entrance. Nobody dared get in their way of the Pokemon Center making it a smooth journey. The yellow dragon dug his feet into the ground to stop, nearly toppling forward.
Red hopped off with Lane who dashed towards the door, cape flapping behind him like a nation's flag. He took long strides across the tiled floor to the front desk. Red walked into the building without urgency and Dragonite slipped through the sliding doors afterwards.
Nurse Joy came out of the backroom with a gentle yawn. The Pokemon Center being completely empty led Red to believe the medic hasn't received any patients as of lately.
"I'm terribly sorry but we are not open to the public," she wearily said to the elite trainer Lance who slammed a hand on her desk.
"This is an urgent matter," Lance rashly retorted. "A threat to the Kanto region is approaching this very minute and every second counts!"
Nurse Joy awoke from Lance's enraged reactions. "I-I'm sorry. I can do anything for you trainers." She backed away from her workplace, afraid as to what Lance was capable off.
Lance's face twisted clearly annoyed. "Listen here! I'm part of the Elite Four-"
Red grabbed Lance's arm and pulled him to the side to take his place. "Listen Nurse Joy," he calmly spoke to keep the Nurse from running away. "You don't have anything to worry. Kuraisora, the group that tried to own the islands are now gone," he assured, eyes lining up with the nurse's.
Nurse Joy stood stunned. "Are you sure? They could come back once you guys leave! We don't have enough officials to stop them-"
"It's been taken care of," Lance interrupted with cooler tone. "The Pokemon Association has taken action. We are arresting the members left behind, but we are now chasing after its leader. Help will be provided to the Sevii Islands but right now an imminent threat is heading towards Kanto."
Nurse Joy brightened up with joy. "Thank you very much! I'll help you two in any way possible," she gratefully said.
"Doing your job will suffice," Lance retorted somewhat rudely. "How long will it take to heal a full team from two trainers?"
"Since I'm low on staff today, it will take about fifteen minutes for each trainer," she answered in her merry manner.
Lance seemed visibly disturbed by the nurse's rushed conclusion. "If that's the case," Lance paused to take a look at the analog clock hanging behind the desk. "Heal this trainer's Pokemon first." His hand slid off the tabletop as he backed off from the counter.
"Are you sure?" Red glanced back to a stern look from the Elite Four Member. He sighed and left his Pokeballs for the nurse to take. She bowed before Red thanking once more before disappearing into the back.
"Once she comes out, be ready to take your Pokeballs and we will make haste to stop Leer," Lance said, going through the channels of the television.
"Leave? What about your Pokemon?"
Lance arrived to the news channel of Kanto.
"Saffron is still in the process of being evacuated," the news anchor informed and continued to run down the procedure to the citizens of Saffron. Bellow in bold white font, it warned all southern cities to remain inside.
"As you can see, we don't have enough time to heal both of our pokemon," Lance pointed out. "Every minute counts against us. The sooner we leave the better."
"Then shouldn't you be the one who gets his Pokemon healed?"
"I've seen what you are capable off," Lance answered. "Defeating Ember proves your strength and fending off Leer as well as Lugia is no easy task. You have a more understanding of the enemy than I do which is crucial. You are better fitted to take on Leer than I am."
Red opened his mouth to argue but stopped to think if it was worth to bitter over a matter that has already been decided. He shrugged and took a seat that seemed to cure his distress from flying.
Lance continued to watch the news as if something incredible would develop. He watched in silence for the first ten minutes as Red flipped through his Pokedex to try and learn more about Leer's Pokemon. He managed to scan each one for later use.
Lance motioned Red to get his Pokeballs once they arrived.
"Isn't your friend going to get his healed?" Nurse Joy asked witnessing Lance go outside.
"Can't right now," Red answered in an apologetic tone. "We need to leave quickly. Thanks for the help."
Nurse Joy nodded with a sincere smile.
The flight didn't take as long as Red though it would. Even with Extreme Speed, Red believed it would take a few hours. Dragonite brought them to Kanto in less than an hour. Slightly quicker than Lorelei's boat Red noted.
Forest rolled past below them as they sped across the sky. Vermilion City flashed right before Red who saw it past by so quick he nearly didn't recognize the place if it weren't for Lt. Surge's unique gym with its giant thunderbolts.
Dragonite swerved to the left. It caught Red off guard and nearly lost his grip to fall to his death.
Red swore he lost a few years of his life after such a startle. "What the hell are you doing?" Red asked Lance.
"I'm steering Dragonite to the appropriate location," Lance answered unalarmed.
"But Saffron City was straight ahead!"
"I know but I have confidence that he had another location he wanted to head first before reaching Saffron City," Lance confidently answered.
"How can you be so sure that he went this way?" Red shouted into Lance's ear.
It took a while for Lance to reply. "To find where he went, we must figure what's his plan," Lance pointed out. "He must be heading towards the place that is keeping Kanto in order. Without someone to keep things in order, chaos will ensue and he will swoop in to take the control."
Red dwelled in his thought, trying to figure out the place as Lance kept his focus on guiding Dragonite. Could it be? He recalled what lay beyond the horizon in the direction he was heading.
"The Indigo Plateau!"
Dragonite turned accordingly to Lance's instructions who saw the forest coming to an end.
"I arrived to the same conclusion," Lance said, squinting hard. "And it seems we weren't wrong after all. Saying it was Saffron was just a ploy by him after all."
In the far distance, the large figure of Lugia flew over Viridian city. Leer's body was visible from their distance that was quickly closing.
"I'm going to engage him first," Lance declared. "You're going to follow up my assault!"
Dragonite angled downwards to the empty city. The dragon landed in the middle of Viridian to drop off Red.
"I'll buy you enough time to come up with the appropriate plan of action," Lance boldly said, patting Dragonite as to go. "Just don't endanger the city!" Making his last point clear, Lance took off.
Dragonite soared through the air with Lance's guidance. A Draco Meteor was the start of the bout. As Lance expected, the Pokemon was too sluggish to avoid the hit.
Lugia's shrill cry sent flocks of bird Pokemon flying everywhere. Pokemon within the forest scrambled away from the legendary Pokemon expecting there to be a catastrophic battle.
Leer wordlessly ordered his Lugia to deliver a Psychic attack onto Dragonite. The hit connected and was followed up with an Ice Beam. Lance steered clear out of the devastating attack to fire of another Draco Meteor weaker than the last.
Aeroblast ripped through the barrage with ease. Lugia flew above the dragon tamer as to have the advantage.
"Legendary Pokemon under his control and he till tries to keep the situation in his favor," Lance smirked under the sire situation.
"It's a habit from my battling years," Leer said uncannily. "A man who figured where I was actually heading is no idiot. I won't fight you without being cautious."
Dragonite kept his patterns random to avoid being caught from Leer and gave Lance time to adjust.
Lance leaned in close to say, "Let's try and get a status effect on it. Supersonic."
With a sharp turn, Dragonite dashed for Lugia. He let out a screech directed to Lugia's head.
Weather Ball!
Lugia created a white ball of light. The sphere took in the bright sunlight to set itself ablaze. The Weather Ball burned as bright as the sun, blinding the attacker. The Weather Ball was fired to make direct contact with Dragonite.
"Dragonite! Watch Out!" Lance was saved from the intense fire from Dragonite taking the entire hit. He saw the incoming Ice Beam but didn't warn his Pokemon in time.
A defeated cry resonated from Dragonite. It battled to keep itself airborne but Leer's next move ended that dream.
"Aeroblast."
Dragonite felt powerless under the torrent of winds slashing against him. Tearing up the landscape, the Aeroblast violently threw him into the tattered ground. Battered from intense abuse, Dragonite lay limp as to signal his defeat but it wasn't enough for Leer.
Lugia charged up an Ice Beam, rearing his head back. Lugia's head abruptly snapped back to fire the pale blue beam at the Pidgeot approaching him from behind.
Red rode his bird Pokemon and ordered Pidgeot to dive under the Ice Beam. The beam followed and Pidgeot weaved through the air to avoid it. Pidgeot passed over Lugia to drop something.
-"Legendary or not, you still have a crippling weakness!"- Pikachu dropped a fully charged Thunder Bolt onto the Lugia in midair. The lightning bolt struck close to Leer's position, giving him a taste of pain.
Pidgeot flew out of Pikachu's reach and flew ahead as the rodent continued to fall through the sky. Charizard appeared from the trees to catch Pikachu in his arms. He spat out a Spitfire combo directly into Lugia's face as to buy him time to fall back.
"A legendary Pokemon doesn't go down to a few mediocre attacks," Leer proclaimed. He raised a hand to the sky. "Especially one that can bend the world to its will."
The cloudy skies clustered together to form gray gloomy clouds. The wind grew stronger as clouds were pushed together and created the perfect environment for a storm. Not a light drizzle came down, but a heavy downpour fell onto the torn up place. The weather now at Leer's command, developed the right scenario for his counterattack.
Lugia followed the others given to him through the invisible connection between him and Leer. A blast of pressurized water left his mouth at the Charizard who struggled to keep in the air.
"Draco Meteor!"
Lugia was pelted with the Draco Meteor. The attack didn't slack on the power, bringing down Lugia close to the ground. The Hydro Pump missed its target completely, instead, it swamped the part of the forest yet to be touched during the fray. Wild Pokemon have already left the area so no real harm was caused.
Lance proudly rode his Dragonite once again. The yellow dragon still had the strength to dish out a powerful move and remain with enough energy to keep him and his trainer in the grueling rain.
"You Elite Four members have grown to be more prominent over the years," Leer egotistically remarked.
"I can't say the same for you," Lance retorted.
Boulders rained down onto Lugia. A surprise that brought Lugia onto the floor and nearly knocked Leer off. A fierce Dragon Rage scorched the silver feathers around Lugia's face.
The culprits behind the surprise attack were Gabite and Nidoking who entered the wide open field decimated by Lugia. As if life was scraped off the earth, a barren wasteland lay under Lugia's tremendous bulk. The open field didn't give both ground types any cover but it didn't deter them to act.
Lugia floated meters above the new challengers. A second Hydro Pump was aim at them with even greater force than any Hydro Pump Lugia has fired before. The defenseless Pokemon were, however, prepared.
-"I got this!"- Vaporeon hopped from behind from Nidoking's body to harmlessly absorb the water attack.
-"He's close enough!"- Nidoking shouted left arm shielding from stray water particles. He extended his right arm to Gabite.
-"Time to end this!"- Gabite answered, leaping forward. He got on to Nidoking's stiff tail paying heed to the poisonous spines he was strictly warned about.
Nidoking lashed upwards with his mighty tail to send Gabite straight into the sky.
-"Burning Claw!"- Gabite needlessly shouted.
Lugia seized its Hydro Pump to perform a second attack which required some time to prepare. Rain lessen the flames but a direct Dragon Claw across it face didn't reduce the power enough to do considerable damage.
-"And now you!"- Gabite stood on top of Lugia's head.
Leer simply raised a hand as Gabite dashed down the neck, claws extended. Dashing in a straight line, Leer didn't have a hard time to dodge the claws. A sidestep saved Leer and reached to grab the slightly shocked Gabite,
The glove protected Leer from the rough scales that would have otherwise tear open his hand. He gripped around Gabite's thin neck tightening to near suffocation. He shocked Gabite with an Aura blast directly from his hand weakening the frantic Pokemon.
Lugia raised its head to fire an Ice Beam. The Pidgeot coming down to save Gabite swerved back to avoid being hit.
-"Can't. Breathe"- Gabite squeaked not able to think due to panic settling in his mind.
Leer intended to end Gabite's life as he tightened his hold. He wasn't oblivious to his surroundings as he was before and sensed the Dragonite using Extreme Speed. He cruelly threw Gabite off the side and jumped back to avoid the dragon trying to tackle him.
We need to go higher, Leer figured to escape the pressure as he was being attacked by multiple angles. Lugia did just that. They flew close to the rain clouds but the cold rainwater didn't bother Leer. The increase in altitude did make slightly lightheaded but he pulled through, rubbing his right shoulder feeling it get hot.
Red had Pidgeot catch Gabite with his claws and descended to drop the weakened comrade into Vaporeon's care.
Lance followed Leer to the sky bracing the cold air that grew colder the higher they went. Dragonite wavered in the stormy wind, affected by the cold due to his weakness.
"Don't fall yet. We need to bring him down with another attack!" Lance shouted through chapped lips. His spirits burned hot as he thought of plan "Dragonite! Dragon Rush! We must breakthrough!"
-"So we are finally combining ours powers together,"- Dragonite muttered smirking. –"Let's do it!"-
The dark blue dragon aura overtook both Dragonite and Lance. They went from flying in an unpredictable manner to a straight line heading for Lugia's mass.
Leer responded by having Lugia beat its massive wings more frequently to create harsh gusts of wind. The move has such a wide range that it managed to reach forest ground which was close to 3,000 feet below them.
-"This wind!"- Pidgeot squawked being pushed down by the vicious winds blowing at hurricane speeds. His body adept for flying through harsh weather couldn't withstand the strength and dropped a few meters. He angled his body to a safe spot to land as gently as he could.
Red nearly fell of his Pokemon when Pidgeot awkwardly dropped Gabite near Vaporeon and collapsed into the ground as another torrent of winds pushed down on them. Red battled against the environment to look up to see Lugia creating an even more powerful Hurricane.
Lance and Dragonite struggled to get past the extreme, blustery weather. They couldn't go a few more feet before they began to get pushed backwards. The Dragon Rush distinguished leaving Dragonite vulnerable and weakened. The winds were blowing at seventy miles per hour with enough force to take out the trained Dragonite out of the sky.
"Dragon Pulse!" was the last ditch effort Lance had his Pokemon muster as they began to fall back down.
With his strength, Dragonite pierced the gale with a bright pink, red beam. The attack clipped Lugia in the side doing minimal damage but more importantly, disrupted Lugia's flapping patterns. The Hurricane lost some strength that is allowed the Pokemon pinned on the ground to get up.
Pikachu being lightest of the group was the most relieved to be able to get up. He looked to the sky to see if Lugia was planning to launch another gust of wind slam him into the ground again.
"We got to do something about that," Red remarked, grudgingly getting onto his feet.
-"But neither of us can take on that kind of wind let alone get in close enough for our attacks to reach it,"- Charizard bitterly stated.
Pikachu glanced back up to judge the distance. –No way my Thunder Bolt is reaching that far…- Pikachu repeated what Charizard stated. –Maybe that Dragonite can give me a ride up there?-
Dragonite flew back up to try for another Dragon Rush but an Ice Beam deterred Dragonite to dodge to the side.
-"But this weather,"- Pikachu muttered to himself fur tingling with a strange sensation.
-"Didn't you hear when I said your attacks won't reach?"- Charizard harshly said towards Pikachu.
The electric rodent began to charge electricity to the point that his body began to emit light.
-"Grrrr!"- Pikachu's deep growls continued as he charged up power.
Red admired Pikachu with wonder. "Pikachu, are you…are trying to use Thunder?" Red asked, believing Pikachu was ready to control more powerful electric technique.
-"I'll try!"- Pikachu shouted jumping into the air and throwing his arms into the sky.
The clamorous clouds were filled with stored up electricity. Just a signal for them to react was what it took to set off the Thunder. It shot out from the clouds in the blink of an eye.
Leer felt the entire the electricity coarse through him into Lugia with no way to ground the electricity into the ground. The Aura Guardian collapsed onto the bed of pale silver feathers but still managed to hold onto his conscious.
"Excellent Job, Red," Lance silently acclaimed the trainer. "Now, let's try it again!"
Dragonite charged right back in with his Dragon Rush at the stunned Lugia that hasn't faltered in attitude.
"Twister," Leer lazily said out loud.
The brainwashed Lugia shrugged off the attack by ignoring the intense pain. It summoned a spiraling twister from the clouds to catch Dragonite in its flight. The dragon-type attack proved to be effective against Dragonite who lost his aura once again and was whipped around on the vortex of air.
Red sensed the danger Lance was caught up in. He hopped onto his Pidgeot feeling speed was essential.
"Pikachu, do it once more if you can! I'll go in and help Lance," Red ordered before taking off.
-"I'll try and provide cover"- Charizard said, going after the avian but a much more sluggish pace.
-"I can do it!"- Pikachu shouted, raising his arms into the sky once more.
Leer steadied himself onto Lugia's neck as he surveyed the area down below him. The right sleeve of his sweater was torn apart to reveal his bare right shoulder. Dark purple scratches branched from his shoulder all down his vulnerable arm that gave him proof the he took a lightning bolt. Blood leaked form the thin openings and coated the back of his jacket showing more wounds opened up on Leer's back.
"It seems the Pikachu has learned Thunder," he muttered in deep thought. "Let's change the weather then."
Lugia's eyes glowed bright blue. The air grew colder in the proximity of Lugia. The rain clouds lifted higher with the rain drops almost immediately seizing. The downpour was replaced with golf ball size hail.
-"The clouds are higher up,"- Pikachu struggled to command the lightning to do his bidding. –"And I can't see where the target it!"- Lugia camouflage in the heavy sleet.
-"Why sleet?"- Nidoking shivered. –"I can't handle the cold. Why did Charizard have to leave?"-
Red pushed through the hail, taking chip damage every second, and figured of a way to help Lance escape who was losing health fast.
"Red is in position," Leer whispered to Lugia. "You can't miss with Blizzard."
Lugia silently flapped its thick wings to create the below freezing gust of wind. It picked up hail to increase the damage output. The Blizzard's wide range was near impossible to escape and completely engulfed Lance and his Dragonite.
"No!" Red yelled. Not able to help Lance, Red found himself helpless as well as the Blizzard swallowed him.
"That's at least one person out for good," Leer remarked, seeing the outcome through his aura awareness. He leeched off from Lugia's life force to replenish his own ready to take on the survivor.
