Chapter Ten - Danger in Sparrow Town!

August 10th, 2022

Outskirts of Sparrow Town, Asture Region

"There," Raine said, pointing at a group of black figures. They could just see them between two buildings from where they hid in the forest surrounding Sparrow town. "I can see the same three Team Omni grunts who attacked Jay Town as well as at least seven others."

Mirella and Constance rushed over from where they were spying on the town from ten metres in either direction. They looked straight ahead where Raine was pointing and both reacted in their own anger or shock.

"What are they doing? Constance asked. "And why are they even here?"

"Could they actually be stationed here in Sparrow Town?" Raine asked. "Could we be so lucky?"

"I wouldn't call this lucky," Mirella said. "We somehow need to get to the Pokémon Centre and call the others without them seeing us. They know what both of us look like and are surely on high alert."

"I can go," Constance offered. "They might recognise me as the Gym Leader, but I doubt that they know what we are doing. They should let me pass."

"Are you sure?" Raine asked.

"What else are we supposed to do? I'm willing to take this risk."

"Just be careful. If they stop you they will probably try and steal your Pokémon."

"I won't let them."

"You will have to, Constance," Mirella added sternly. "If you don't hand them over, who knows what they will do to you."

"I know this town better than I know myself. I promise that they won't even see me. Just stay out of sight and I'll be back soon." She had gained confidence from somewhere. Before arriving at the edge of Sparrow Town she had been so reserved and panicked because of her injured Pokémon. Maybe returning to her home ground reassured her somehow.

"Watch out for their Charizard," Raine said before Constance took off into the shadows at the back of the closest buildings.

"Do you think that she'll be okay?" Mirella asked with clear concern in her tone. "Should we really let her go out there alone?"

"What choice do we have? That Team Omni grunt, August, will probably burn us alive on sight if we get noticed. Like Constance said, she knows this town really well. I trust that she'll stay unseen."

"What do we do then? Just wait here nervously till she hopefully comes back?"

Suddenly August, who had been facing sideways, turned and stared straight at their hiding spot.

"Uh oh," Raine said, swallowing a lump that formed in his throat.

"Where is the Gym Leader?" August yelled in his booming voice. "I know that she's here somewhere." He clearly hadn't actually seen Raine and Mirella hiding in the forest. It had just been a coincidence, but they ducked behind the nearest trees anyway.

"Please hurry, Constance," Raine whispered into the tree trunk. He never thought he would face a situation where he had to cower from danger, but he was terrified of being noticed. Visions of Professor Sakura being incinerated by Charizard's flame flashed through his mind and he whimpered.

"The Gym's doors are locked," August proclaimed. "I want to know why and where she is. Now!"

Raine peered around the tree trunk and couldn't even see any of Sparrow Town's residents near the Team Omni grunts. Whoever he was yelling at wasn't present or responding, if they were even listening. They were probably hiding inside of their houses.

Raine watched as a small boy was led over to August and he grabbed the child by the hair at the back of his head. "This is little, Jamie Pivon," August called and Jamie squealed. "If I don't get an answer in three seconds I will feed him to Charizard." He pointed towards a rooftop that Raine couldn't see and Charizard roared from its perch and shot a column of flame into the sky.

Jamie screamed at the top of his lungs and fought to earn his freedom to no avail.

"Three."

Raine stepped out to run and save the boy.

"Don't," Mirella hissed.

"But the boy," Raine cried, taking another step towards the town.

"He won't kill a child."

"Two."

"He actually might." Raine edged even closer to the forward edge of the forest where if August looked again he would surely see him.

"No!" Mirella lunged over and dragged Raine backwards by the back of his shirt. "We have to stay hidden until the others arrive."

"One."

"Let go," Raine growled, fighting Mirella's tightening grasp. When he realised that he couldn't break free. That he couldn't save the boy from his devastating fate he dropped to his knees and pounded his fists into the dirt. "I can't let this happen again."

"Just watch," Mirella said, releasing his shirt and grasping his shoulder firmly. "He'll release the boy. It's just a fear tactic this time." She was clearly fighting to convince herself just as much as Raine. They didn't know what to believe until it happened.

"Bah!" August yelled and threw Jamie at the ground. "You've called my bluff. The boy may live."

"All hells," Raine sobbed, with visions of Professor Sakura's fiery death vivid in his mind. "They're mad."

"Oh, God," Mirella croaked and fell to the ground beside Raine. "I wasn't really sure if he would do it. I just had to convince myself that staying hidden was the right thing to do. But I wasn't sure. I wasn't ready. Oh, God."

Raine wrapped an arm around Mirella and they balled their eyes out and screamed internally, unable to expel their anger and terror.

"Charizard," August yelled and the enormous fiery Pokémon flew down and landed beside him. "Destroy everything."

Charizard immediately turned to face the closest building and engulfed it in flames.

At the same moment Constance came running out of nowhere and slid to a stop before August. "I'm right here. I'm Constance," she yelled in his face. "Don't do this."

"No," Raine and Mirella echoed and both lurched to their feet. Neither of them made a move to enter the town just yet though.

"Ah, the Gym Leader," August called, still talking loud enough for everyone to hear. Practically yelling in Constance's face. "Stand down, Charizard. You and I have business, Miss."

Charizard calmed down, having only burnt the one building to ash, but kept up a constant stream of smoke from his nostrils.

"What do you want?" Constance asked, keeping their conversation at a level where Raine and Mirella could still hear.

"You are going to give me your Gym," August said calmly, "or everything burns."

"What do you mean?"

"The Gym. I want you to sign over the deed and make me the new Gym Leader."

"Why would I do that?" Constance said, crossing her arms aggressively. "Why don't you just take it, like you're taking everything else?"

"The little details matter to me," August explained. "This must look official."

"You won't get away with this. If I can't stop you, others who can will come and defeat you."

Raine hoped that before she had recklessly run out to face down August that she had called the other Gym Leaders. Without them they would never be able to defeat Team Omni.

"Oh," August laughed. "You want to battle me for the right to claim the Gym. So be it. Let's fight, right here. Who do you have that could possibly compete with my Charizard?"

At the mention of his name Charizard roared and sent flames over the group of Team Omni grunts and then glared down at Constance.

Constance cowered under his steely gaze and whether she responded or not it was too quiet to hear. But she started to step backwards and moved out of sight of the slim window Raine had between the buildings. All of the Team Omni grunts stepped away in the other direction.

"I'm going to see what's happening," Raine said, quickly running into the town before Mirella could stop him. He slid between the buildings and crouched in the shadows. Mirella was hot on his heels, ducking down beside him wordlessly.

Constance stood at one end of a paved garden square with Team Omni at the other. Charizard remained standing where he had been, glaring at Constance. It was about half the size of a traditional fighting pitch, but it would suffice considering Constance had a team of flying Pokémon also.

"Pidgeot, I choose you!" Constance yelled, throwing a PokéBall overarm towards Charizard. The giant bird appeared and instantly jetted upwards into the sky, followed immediately by Charizard.

Raine didn't know how competent a trainer Constance was, but he put his faith in her.

Pidgeot was faster and more agile than Charizard. For several minutes it easily dodged every attack thrown its way and August was growing frustrated. Raine could see it in the bulging veins on his face and hear it in his groans of disapproval.

"Fight me, you coward!" August yelled. "Stop running and face me head on. What's the point of a battle if you're just avoiding me?"

Constance didn't rise to meet his ire, simply watching Pidgeot gracefully dance through the sky above.

"Argh, damn girl," August growled as Pidgeot easily twisted and spun out of the way of a powerful Fire Blast. "Charizard, land now."

Charizard took a moment to chase Pidgeot fruitlessly before slamming to the ground in the middle of their makeshift arena. He stared up at Pidgeot, clearly fuming as flames and smoke swirled around his nostrils.

"Clearly you need a lesson," August said, throwing three Poké Balls under arm into the town square. "Here's a little surprise from Kanto to teach you how a real Pokémon fights."

The three Pokémon came out of their Poké Balls and dominated the sky. The three enormous red, blue and yellow bird Pokémon were like nothing Raine had ever seen.

"What are they?" Raine whispered, unable to look away from the enormous bird Pokémon. He pulled the Pokédex out of his pocket and aimed it at the closest of the three, a gigantic blue bird, as they hovered a metre above the ground.

"Articuno, the freeze Pokémon," the Pokédex said, quietly enough for the sound not to travel to August's ears. "Articuno is a legendary Pokémon that can control ice. The flapping of its wings chills the air. As a result, it is said that when this Pokémon flies, snow will fall."

"A legendary Pokémon…" Raine said, his jaw falling open. If one of the birds was indeed a legendary Pokémon that meant that surely the other two were as well. Raine had only heard stories of these Pokémon of myth. He never expected to see one - let alone three - for himself. How had Team Omni obtained these Pokemon, and how did they control them?

Raine angled the Pokédex to centre the giant yellow bird in the centre of the Pokédexes viewscreen next. "Zapdos, the electric Pokémon. Zapdos is a legendary Pokémon that has the ability to control electricity. It usually lives in thunderclouds. The Pokémon gains power if it is stricken by lightning bolts."

As soon as it finished the description he turned it towards the last legendary bird and listened. "Moltres, the flame Pokémon. Moltres is a legendary Pokémon that has the ability to control fire. If this Pokémon is injured, it is said to dip its body in the molten magma of a volcano to burn and heal itself."

Constance's Pidgeot had literally zero chance of survival. She could hold her own against Charizard, but faced with battling not one but three legendaries, she would surely lose.

"How dare you," Constance yelled. Whether she knew what she was facing or not it was a cowardly move by August to summon more than one Pokémon to battle her single Pokémon at a time. "I thought you would at least fight fair."

"Fair?" August asked, laughing boisterously. "Nothing about this world is fair. If you want to even the odds, go right ahead."

The three incredible, legendary Pokémon waited for their commands, effortlessly flapping their wings to remain a metre off of the ground. Raine couldn't tear his eyes off of them for a second to see what Constance would do in return. Surely whatever she chose she couldn't face this clear display of power.

"I'm going to help her," Mirella said, stepping out of the shadows and standing up straight. Luckily nobody was looking at anything beside the legendary Pokémon.

"Get down," Raine hissed, jumping up and pulling her back down into the darkness. "They'll kill you if they see you."

"She can't face this test alone." She shrugged out of Raine's grasp, but remained hidden. "I have to help her."

"Not at the cost of your life. See reason, Mirella."

"No, Raine. Nothing is worth letting them get away with everything they've done."

"You can't possibly hope to beat their legendary Pokémon," Raine pointed out.

"Come, Girl," August growled. "Make your decision before I eviscerate your Pidgeot."

Raine was incredibly torn about where to look. There were three things battling for his attention. His eyes darted between them all, but eventually landed on Mirella. Saving her life was the most important thing that he could do.

"Don't go out there," Raine pleaded. "We'll stop them before they can do any more harm. I promise."

"How?" Mirella cried. "How can you promise that?"

"Constance would have called for help. The others will arrive soon and together we can stop them. You going into battle preemptively, like Constance has done, will only do more harm."

"Kill!" August yelled and Raine turned to watch the four Pokémon send a tumult of fire, ice and lightning into the sky. It intermingled into a jet of pure fury. It was a sight unlike any other.

Pidgeot tried to avoid the incoming attack, but had nowhere to go as it was engulfed. It fainted in mid air, falling to slam into the ground in a destroyed heap.

"No!" Constance screamed, running forward to lay over her injured bird before her opponents could strike again and finish Pidgeot's life. She wailed incoherently and Raine could see that she hadn't brought forth any of her other Pokémon to try and even the odds.

"Coward," Raine seethed, squeezing the Pokédex to near breaking point.

"I take it this is you forfeiting the fight?" August asked mockingly, as his four Pokémon moved forward to surround Constance. "Your Pokéomon is unable to battle. Give me the rights to your Gym and you won't face the same outcome."

"Never," Constance yelled, looking up with a red, tear stained face. "I'll burn before I ever give up." She dragged herself to her feet and returned Pidgeot to her Poké Ball as she spun around to look at the incredible Pokémon that had her hemmed in. Whatever Pokémon she had left surely couldn't face down the threat that they posed. No matter how afraid she was she still lobbed a ball into the air, ready to take on the challenge.

Raine stepped out of the shadows and instructed Mirella, "Stay hidden. I'll help her fight this."

"You?" Mirella said, uncertainty tainting her voice. "Don't be a fool. What hope do you have?"

"I don't know, but I have to fight."

Three legendary Pokémon and a Charizard that could raze hell. Who was he kidding? Yet, something made him move forward into the light.