After feeling firmly set into Tails' body, he recalled his Salamence and sent out another dragon pokemon, amber colored: Dragonite.
"You think a Dragonite can hold its own with a Pidgeot?" Falkner asked.
Tails nodded. "Well, it knows Extreme speed,"
"You won't be able to keep that up forever," Falkner warned.
"I know," Tails replied, "but we're more than halfway through the race. I think it'll be enough to last the rest of the way."
"I won't argue with ya," Falkner conceded, "Somehow, Winona's Skarmory can keep up with my Pidgeot. It could happen."
"Yeah!" Tails said cheerfully, hopping from Falkner's Pidgeot to his own Dragonite.
"What a situation."
"What do you mean?" Tails asked.
"Here we are, so close together, yet so far behind, more than halfway through the Wild Blue Yonder."
It took a few moments for Tails to get what Falkner was getting at. He giggled. "So, we'll race ourselves and try and catch up with everyone else?"
Falkner nodded. "You up to it?"
Tails returned the nod. "You bet!"
"Okay, Zephyr, you heard him," Falkner told his Pidgeot, "We're gonna have ourselves a little head to head with that Dragonite over there. You get ready, now."
His Pidgeot gave a shrill chirp in recognition to his trainer, then snapped its beak.
"Okay, Dragonite. I'm going to need you to go as fast as you can for this one," Tails told his pokemon, "You ready for it?"
Dragonite nodded, then gave its wings a flap, getting ready to speed on.
"No more talking now! Agility, Zephyr!"
"Extreme Speed, Dragonite!"
Both pokemon cried, and they both took off, Pidgeot soaring above the clouds and Dragonite pursuing after it, both already had broken the seven hundred mile per hour mark. They soon found themselves back at the Checkpoint above the Viridian forest and the Checkpoint pointed them Northeast. Zephyr adjusted its course, and Tails nudged Dragonite to do so. After being given the chance to try and beat Falkner, Tails didn't want to waste it, and that thought was almost enough to make him forget about the stingingly cold and thin air above the clouds.
He could do this, Tails told himself, Dragonite was known as a fast fast pokemon in its own right. Perhaps it wasn't capable of mach two speeds from the get go, but it knew Agility and Extreme Speed. He hoped it would be enough. He would find out soon enough.
"Extreme Speed, Dragonite!" Tails shouted above the roar of the wind in his face.
Upon hearing the command, the Dragonite leaned forward, reducing wind resistance and shooting ahead of Falkner and his Pidgeot. Tails playfully waved at him as they passed by. But it seemed it wouldn't be that easy, because Pidgeot crept back up, even with Dragonite. Falkner mouthed something that Tails didn't exactly catch, but he thought he had a feeling he knew what he meant.
The mist was getting heavy, the further north they flew, so much that it was turning to fog. The sun had well since set, giving Tails a scene of being surrounded by a dense gray-blue gas any way he looked. Though that fog, Tails saw a mountain rear its rocky face and above it was the weather balloon and checkpoint hovering above it. Maybe it was just him, but it seemed real eerie.
Following the checkpoint north, Tails and Falkner passed over the gulf that separated Orre and Kanto, leaving behind that eerie fog, and even some other racers.
"Finally back in the race," Tails told himself.
Dragonite and Zephyr were still dead even in speed, and neither were showing signs of slowing down. But all that speed was grating on Tails' throat, and apparently the air above the desert was worse than the other regions. It was drier. Colder. Thinner. There weren't any trees to add the supplementary oxygen for the immediate area. Yeah, it looked like there was a reason Orre was last.
Perhaps Mount Battle was the highest monument in the course, because the weather balloon was hovering just above the summit where a trainer was battling the hundredth battle of that challenge. And the one that looked like the battle master was literally shaking the mountain up with his techniques, both his pokemon rocking the mountain to the core.
The checkpoint pointed Tails and Falkner South southwest and the pokemon made sharp turns, passing each other on the way by. Tails didn't know what else beside Realgam tower would be remarkable about Orre, considering it was mostly desert. But they were met with the ocean quickly and off in the distance was a stormy ocean. And an all too familiar island under stormy sky.
Citadark Isle.
Even he remembered the time he had there, fending off that Shadow Lugia. He couldn't think of any time where he felt any pain greater than that doled out by that Lugia, the one that broke his leg even. He hated the place, and hopefully the foul weather below wouldn't be too much consequence on their flying.
And just as he had hoped, which he met with a sigh, the checkpoint came, pointed them east northeast. But Tails couldn't help stare down at the island. through the storm clouds, he saw the glowing of the lava that was probably still flowing from that time almost a year ago where Snagem and the Shadow Lugia tore that place up and where he himself took down a Shadow Articuno. Tough times. But they were behind him, now. He was an admin of the team, now and he was expected to be strong. That was the reason he's here now, touring the Pokemon world in the form of a race.
He was actually thankful when they started flying over the desert again, only because he didn't like to think of that creepy island. He looked over at Falkner and his Pidgeot and noticed that they were inching ahead bit by bit. Ahead, another group of racers came into view. They were getting close.
"Dragonite, Agility, now!" Tails cried against the wind.
That call made Dragonite double up its efforts to fly as fast as it could, straining its wings and whatever mystical power its scales had to get past Falkner, his Pidgeot, past those other racers and find the next checkpoint, floating above Pyrite Town's colosseum. There were no battles that he could see going down below. But unlike Mt. Battle, the checkpoint was ifar/i above the battlefield. So he couldn't see far enough to see through the rusted through colosseum anyhow.
Following the arrow, Dragonite flew through the night northwest, toward Realgam tower that he could see even from above the Pyrite airspace. Of course, as expected when Dragonite reached the checkpoint above the tower, Falkner and his Pidgeot caught up with them. Just in time for the last checkpoint. The direction was straight west. Pidgeot and Dragonite made the slight shift in direction and shot toward the final destination in Orre, Tails hanging on for all he was, hoping it would be over soon.
But where was Winona? She was perhaps the only one he didn't pass, trying to catch up in the race. Falkner was probably thinking the same thing, too. His face looked strained, staring ahead through the sky, his eyes scanning the skies for any sign of the Skarmory mounted Fortree representative.
Tails' eyes caught a glimpse of hope when he saw the other balloon, ergo, a glint in the distance before the balloon. That had to be her. Flying for the Krane Laboratory, for the final checkpoint, for the final stretch. He looked at Falkner and he nodded at him before lowering himself to his pokemon's back, prompting Tails to do so himself. He watched the glint streak south around the checkpoint. Tails' ears twitched, mentally urging Dragonite to push harder. And Falkner was probably doing the same thing, minus twitching his ears.
They both turned the corner, turned south, turned hard. They were in the final stretch, now. Tails' teeth was chattering now, not only from being cold, but also from nerves. He was so close to winning, he could almost taste it. Falkner took the lead ahead of Tails and Dragonite, and Dragonite let out a roar before reasserting her authority over the Pidgeot. Finally, the shape of Winona on her Skarmory could be seen. He was getting closer, closer. He watched the scenery flick by below to see how much time they had left before the finish mark in Fortree.
They passed the gulf of Orre, the suppressing blue fog of Mt Moon, the penta-city area, Tails found himself waving at Winona when he finally caught up. Finally caught up. She waved back, thinking nothing of being having been caught up to. They passed over Fuschia. Falkner passed them up. They were soaring over the sea, the three of them. Tails' throat was burning more than ever in the night, feeling more and more light-headed. His breathing was quick and shallow. They were close, he knew that, and as much as he thought it would take its toll on him later, he didn't let Dragonite relent in passing Falkner, nor in being passed up again by Winona.
More sea, finally sight of the forested shore north of Fortree. On either side of him, he could see Falkner on his Pidgeot, Winona on her Skarmory. This was going to be close, all right.
Though they were going faster than many commercial aircraft, the shore took its sweet time in approaching. Tails wanted to call out another Extreme speed to try and shorten his time in the air, but when he opened his mouth, he was overwhelmed by the wind. He was getting too nervous. He tightened his embrace on Dragonite's back as if that would give him the strength to call out the attack.
They had crossed over the shore, now over the forest, seeing the final balloon. Tails saw Winona and Falkner start to edge ahead of him and he let his lungs take an icy plunge and he took a deep breath that made his head spin. But through that, he finally called out "Extreme Speed!"
When he finally passed up Falkner and Winona, he noticed his hands and feet were numb from being buffeted by the cold for so long. And when he passed through the holographic finish line he didn't know whether to stop and see what direction it was pointing or just stop. His ears twitched when he finally figured out what just happened and he chanced a look behind, seeing Falkner and Winona hovering on their pokemon above the finish line. He pulled back on Dragonite and thankfully it stopped and looked around, allowing Tails to catch at least a breath that didn't sting from mouth to lung.
"Go back...It's over, I think..." he said, breathing heavily. After a sigh, he just placed his head to rest on his pokemon's back, feeling like he was either going to faint from being exposed to the thin air for so long, or just fall asleep from pure fatigue after an adrenaline rush.
When Tails quit moving, it hovered back to the finish line with the two gym leaders and their pokemon. Unlike the Skarmory and Pidgeot, Dragonite didn't have to flap its wings to stay afloat. But neither Falkner nor Winona looked perturbed by it. They we're probably as used to seeing it as Tails was using it.
"You won," Winona said.
"Never thought I'd lose to a newcomer," Falkner admitted with a brief chuckle. "Even Winona beat me. I blame beginner's luck."
Winona had Skarmory peck at Falkner's head for that remark, causing him to promptly begin an attempt to massage the pain away. "You're free to head back down, you know. You look tired." she told him.
Tails nodded instead of answering. He was really tired after all that. So tired that he only said "Down" to his Dragonite. But it descended all the same, sensitive to its trainer's feeling.
When at last it hit the ground, Tails tried to dismount, but only achieved flopping belly first onto the ground. But now, he didn't care which way he landed. He was finally back on the ground, back on the solid earth. The air was thick and rich, laced with the welcoming smells of cookies, various juices and fruits, the humid, dewy smell of grass, and lush with oxygen.
He didn't even move when he heard the others landing nearby.
"You okay over there?" Winona questioned, sounding a bit worried.
"Yeah," Tails said, muffled by the grass, "I feel good, now."
"If you say so..." Winona answered, still with a hint of concern in her voice. But nonetheless, she walked off, probably off to attend to other duties.
"Don't mind her," Falkner said. He walked over and bent down, ruffling the fur on Tails' head a little. "I think you deserve a little rest before the ending ceremonies. I bet some of the other racers are still trying to catch up."
With that, he stood up, and walked off, leaving Tails to laying down. He listened to the crowd around him, still probably eating, no way tired out from any sort of race. The light from the lamp posts shed a dim light that illuminated the grass around him a yellow-green. After a little while, his neck began to ache, so he turned his head a bit so that his head was resting on its side in the grass. Laying there like that, he realized a few things. He won. He won, as in beat two Gym Leaders. He also realized that he wasn't breathing as fast and his hands were being warmed by the ground.
But he also realized that Julian was still out there, and apparently he had access to resources with which he could change his appearance and his identity. He could be anyone, and who knew what was going though his mind? Tails sighed. He knew one day, he'd probably have to deal with him again. It always worked out that way with evil people named Julian.
Finally, he realized something that dealt with him personally. He was hungry. That, and he had to go to the bathroom really bad. As much as he wanted to get up and eat or find the nearest bathroom, he had no desire to go through all that work just yet. Rest now, eat later. That's what his body was telling him at the moment. His belly would protest, but like the rest of his body, it just wanted inactivity above all else.
When Falkner picked him up and sat him on his feet, he almost protested, but decided he was too tired to.
"They're getting ready," Falkner said. "You gotta look lively for the crowd, you know."
Tails nodded obediently. "Okay...but could I get a cookie or something? I'm hungry," he said, half thinking by now.
That request didn't surprise Falkner any. "Sure, but head up to the stage. I'll go get you one while you're heading up."
"Okay," Tails repeated before dragging himself through the empty auditorium aisle where he had unknowingly ran into Julian earlier, clambering tiredly up the steps to the platform where he was talking to Falkner and Winona soon after running into that so-called 'store manager'.
"I'm here, Winona," Tails said wearily, walking over next to her, wondering what he should be doing.
"You sure looked like you went to sleep out there."
"Yeah, I'm kinda tired."
"Okay, I'll try to make things short. Just stay awake. You can do it if you can win the Wild Blue Yonder," Winona said with a small chuckle.
Tails giggled a bit back. "I guess you're right."
"Here's the Champion's feast."
Tails turned around after hearing Falkner and he was handed several cookies, more than enough to get him through the rest of the night. He promptly began to sink his teeth into one of them, the flavor of burnt dough and chocolate chasing away the stale taste of thin air. His belly celebrated, finally getting the attention it needed.
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The seats in the outdoor auditorium filled up quickly enough. Tails was sitting on a chair now, finishing the last cookie. Falkner sat beside him, Winona was speaking to the crowd. He couldn't quite make sense of what she was saying. The cookies nourished him with energy, yes, but they also brought with them the gift of unexplained drowsiness that could render an insomniac unable to give a gist of a lecture.
He must have dozed off several times during her speech, almost falling off his chair one time. Soon he noticed that Winona wasn't talking anymore and when he lifted up his head to see if he needed to stand up for the crowd, there was no crowd to stand up for. Just empty seats being folded up by janitors and confetti being scavenged by night owl kids.
"Did you enjoy your rest?"
The sudden question almost made Tails jump from his chair. He nodded before looking up at Winona. "Yeah... wait, I was asleep?" he asked sheepishly.
"Yeah," she answered with a surprisingly youthful giggle. "Almost everyone left about an hour ago. I was going to wake you up, but Falkner said I should just let you sleep until you either woke up or fell off your chair."
Tails couldn't help but laugh at that. "Where is Falkner, anyhow?"
"He left for Violet," Winona answered. "He had a call for a battle at this late at night. And of course he couldn't refuse."
"Falkner kinda reminds me of someone back home," Tails reminisced.
"Oh, the other planet?" Winona asked.
Tails nodded. "Yeah. Not Sonic, but one of my other friends." He had to struggle to say that though yawning.
"I think you should get back home. You're sleepy."
"I guess I am, huh? I'm gonna sleep real good tonight," he said. He stood up from the chair and grabbed for a pokeball. Or he would have until he was grabbed up by his Dragonite and held like he was some sort of pet. An odd twist of fate.
"Eep!" Tails squeaked in surprise.
"Aw, you never returned her to her pokeball," Winona said, shaking her head.
"Her?" Tails asked, confused.
"You can't tell?" Winona asked.
Tails shook his head. "No, not really..."
"Well, just look at her, even after you left her out, she's still going to take you home," Winona told him, tilting her head proudly to the side.
"Thanks, Dragonite..." Tails said, embarrassed at being so rude to his pokemon like that. But it seemed to be of little consequence. The bond between a pokemon and trainer was harder to break than the shell of a Shuckle and any trainer worth his or her salt knew that. Dragonite began to pick up off the ground and Winona waved at them as they ascended into the sky.
"Make sure you come back next year! Falkner needs someone to keep him in check!" she called.
"Okay, I'll try! And I'll be a whole lot better next year, too!" Tails called back.
Dragonite spiked her speed, flying off into the sky, much, much lower than the altitude they had been flying through the night. They were flying off for the final destination of the night. Snagem HQ, where they both could take a much needed rest. Tails could sleep on the couch, Dragonite in the comfort of her pokeball.
Tails didn't notice the time that went by during that last flight. He slept right though it, and when Dragonite set him down, facing the doors of HQ, he almost fell down. But he resisted the dizziness and he remembered to return his Dragonite. He made a note to find a good name for her sometime and he pushed through the front door of HQ. Without saying anything or turning on any lights or the TV, he crawled up to the couch and he curled up just like he wanted to, hugging a tail and using the other as a pillow. It didn't take him any time to fall asleep.