To those who read the previous chapter before I altered it: the problems that occurred with words being joined together have since been fixed with a fresh document. I apologise that that occurred: it was a combination of being prevented from uploading and than my changes not being saved, but it is all fixed now :)

Chapter Thirty Two: A Taste of Things to Come

Ten minutes later, the group began to leave the Vermilion Gym.

Mitchell's hyperactive and attention seeking instincts caused him to run about fifty metres ahead without noticing that Sandy had only just pushed Alaska in her chair through the sliding doors. His yell for them to hurry up was blown aside by wind blowing in from the sea, and Alaska and Sandy didn't mind pretending they hadn't heard. Steven was lingering behind to discuss something with Surge, and though Alaska's natural curiosity had been heightened during her experiences, she was too tired at the moment to wonder what they were talking about.

"That was a truly amazing battle," Sandy said for about the umpteenth time as they moved after Mitchell, heading towards the Pokemon Center. "Admittedly I didn't see your first one and you still have five more, but that could be your best battle! It had twists, it had surprises, it had new moves and, oh my god, it was just like being on a roller coaster!"

"I am glad you enjoyed it," Alaska laughed, "and I have to agree it was a very twisty battle. I probably wouldn't have defeated Voltorb if you hadn't given me that little reminder."

"Oh, it just seemed like a good idea at the time," Sandy said with a slight scoff, but Alaska looked up and saw she was beaming with pride. Though they hadn't gotten off to the best starts with Sandy nearly crushing her and than them nearly being killed by the BeeBot, Alaska found Sandy was growing on her. It was clear that she was in need of a friend and companion as well, and the two got along well despite their differences and Alaska being easily annoyed when she felt like it.

However, it simply made Alaska regret the fact Sandy was now involved with her drama as well: the blonde, happy go lucky girl had nearly been killed by the reality shows stupidity, nearly crushed by the GolemBot, nearly blown up by the ElecBot and had her brain switched with her Butterfree's, all since travelling with her. If Alaska had been sensible she would have pushed Sandy away after Mt Moon, but part of her (the part that had seen too many thrillers and spy movies) knew that Sandy would end up getting involved somehow, whether their paths crossed again or Gideon found a way to use her against her. But now Sandy was right in the thick of it, and all Alaska knew about what she decided upon was that she was not going to let her only human friend in years get in harm's way.

Yet Sandy was oblivious to Alaska's dark thoughts as she pushed the wheelchair along the street, humming a little song to herself and managing to brighten Alaska's day up. The sun was lower now, signalling it was the afternoon, and longer shadows were being cast around the city. All of Vermilion felt sleepy, and Alaska was tempted to snooze off right in her chair, so tired and knowing they wouldn't mind.

"Wait up!" A voice cried, and a second later Steven appeared alongside, clutching his chest and panting. "Boy, if I knew you were going to get so far ahead I wouldn't have stayed chatting! I thought Alaska was a big old lump."

"Maybe you're just a weak old man," Alaska retorted as Sandy began to laugh.

"Fair enough," Steven laughed. "It has been a few years since I went on an adventure myself, so I guess my health is not exactly at its prime at the moment. Still, once we get to the Pokemon Center we might be able to relax. Than once your Pokemon are sorted Alaska we need to take you to the hospital."

"What?" Alaska scoffed. "Do I have to go back?"

"I was only taking you out for the day," Steven pointed out as he regained his breath. "They still need to check on you and if you aren't fit to leave than you aren't fit to leave! I saw the way you fell and than jumped on your leg: this could have impaired your recovery!" Alaska was frustrated at the idea of going back to her bland hospital room, but she was too tired to bother arguing and merely put on a sulky face, but stopped when she saw Mitchell was pulling a near identical one as he waited impatiently near the Pokemon Center.

"What were you and Surge talking about?" Sandy asked in an attempt to break the tension.

"Oh, nothing much," Steven said with a slight shrug. "I enjoy keeping up with all the latest news from the leagues for old time's sake, so I was just seeing how his gym was doing." Sandy nodded along and asked some questions about being Champion, but Alaska was beginning to zone out. She wondered if Steven was telling the truth as she had the feeling he was there for more than he was letting on, but also wondered if the hospital was going to serve some nice food as Alaska was really starting to get hungry as well as tired, and these things weren't a good mix…

It isn't safe – hide.

"Who said that?" Alaska said, shooting up in her chair and glancing around.
"Who said what?" Sandy asked, sounding puzzled, as they finally came to a stop outside the Pokemon Center. Alaska looked around, certain she had heard something, but there were only a small group of people on their lane heading to the fishing store and people walking individually or in pairs at the end of the lane. None of them seemed to be looking at her or appeared to have Psychic powers, and as Alaska settled back into her chair she began to recognize the voice: it was the same one that had been in her dream.

"N-nothing," Alaska stuttered, wondering who the voice belonged to. "I must just be imagining things – head wound, of course." She began to laugh but saw Sandy and Steven looked rather grim and decided not to push things.

"Well, now that Alaska has stopped being crazy, can we go see the boats?" Mitchell asked with the eager face of a boy his age. "I saw a really pretty boat in the harbour and I want to go and look!"

"Mitchell, I am not sure," Steven said with a warm smile, but Mitchell's eagerness turned to an angry pout and a glare that Alaska knew from her babysitting days that he was close to a tantrum.

"Let's just go look," she said tiredly. Mitchell took this for an immediate answer and ran ahead, moving clumsily but happily. Steven sighed and laughed slightly before moving ahead, Sandy quickly following behind with Alaska in the chair. Alaska didn't feel like talking and it seemed her hearing things had put the others on edge, so the three remained silent as they joined Mitchell at the end of Pokemon Lane.

The city was a bit busier out here, with the people in suits Alaska had seen going for lunch now making their way home for the day. There were a lot more younger people out around the cafes and shops, and other people were just generally hanging around and either making their way home or going out, Alaska couldn't tell. Sandy wheeled Alaska around to face the harbour, revealing a streamlined white ferry moving through the waters, the sun reflecting off in it a way that made it look on fire. The large container ship that was coming in before the gym battle was now docked, the cranes hastily unloading the different coloured containers so they could be moved to one of their areas where the containers formed a gigantic wall of goods.

"Isn't this all so cool?" Mitchell said, pointing eagerly. Alaska and the others nodded along, watching as the ferry disappeared behind the container ship, simply enjoying it for his sake. Alaska wondered if she would be like him if she wasn't sitting in the wheelchair with an injured head and bung knee: she had never seen anything so large and busy in her life before, and wondered if a happier Alaska would have marvelled at the skyscrapers and the giant boats. It seemed like the normal travellers thing to do, but Alaska simply didn't have the heart, far too tired at the moment to care what really happened.

I said it wasn't safe – you must move, now!

"What isn't safe?" Alaska said aloud, looking around once more. Sandy, Steven and Mitchell turned towards her curiously and several passers-by's turned as well, a group of teenage girls stopping and whispering obviously to each other.

"Alaska what are you on about?" Steven asked, looking concerned.

"I-I-I keep hearing this-this voice," Alaska explained, wondering if this was some sort of sign. "It appeared in my dream last night, and now it's just told me things aren't safe and I need to move. Steven, I think this is serious!" Alaska looked at the ex-champion with an honest, serious look, but the grey haired man stared down at her in a pitying way.

"Alaska, you have suffered a head injury," he said as more people looked around, wondering what she was going on about. Alaska hated having them all stare at her like a crazy person and she looked around, heart and head racing, wondering what was going on.

"I am serious Steven, something is about to –,"

And than the container ship exploded.

Screams sounded all around as people instinctively jumped for cover, including Mitchell, but Alaska's eyes fixed towards the sight ahead, wondering what was happening. There was an orange fist rising into the air, but it was clear it hadn't come from the top of the ship: this explosion had erupted from deep within the centre of the ship, effectively tearing it in two. Sandy began to scream as well as the orange turned to grey but the damage became more clear: one of the cranes was already tumbling down like a broken toy whilst the one next to it looked as if a slight breeze would cause it to crash down as well. The explosion was so sudden that it had shaken throughout the city, drawing all their attention towards it. Alaska wondered what happened to the ferry that had sped past only moments before the explosion, and she grasped the sides and tried pushing herself up.

"No Alaska, stay down!" Sandy yelled hysterically, forcing her friend back into the chair.

"NO!" Alaska yelled back, staring towards the site. "Something is happening, we need to move!"

"Yes Alaska, but stay in your chair, I'll move –," Sandy began to say, but was cut off as another explosion occurred before their eyes. This time the bottom most right container in the giant wall of metal had exploded, setting off a shockwave: one by one the containers erupted into flames, the top ones began to collapse down into the continuous burst of fire around them. More screams sounded and people began to run up the main road away from the yard, looking distressed.

"VERMILION IS UNDER ATTACK!" A voice suddenly shouted and Alaska turned as Surge ran up the lane, holding a megaphone to his mouth and joined by a series of Pokemon: his Raichu and Electabuzz had been joined by several Pikachu, Elekid and what looked like a furry yellow Ariados racing up behind. "MOVE TO SAFETY, NOW!" The presence of the gym leader seemed to set residents into action and suddenly Alaska was beginning confused as blurred figures rushed past in all directions. Surge ran up to them with his army of Pokemon, his usual nature turning to concern as this crisis erupted around them, the sounds of more explosions coming from the docks.

"I am going to get down there and see what the fuck is going on," he told Steven. "You stay and help, but you better get those three inside."

"Of course. Good luck," Steven said, pulling PokeBalls from his own pocket as Surge began to head down the road. Mitchell hurried towards them with tears streaming down his face, and Steven pushed him gently towards Sandy, beginning to turn towards them but suddenly freezing, his eyes bulging. "SURGE, COME BACK!" He yelled. "Sandy, move them, NOW!"

"What is it?" Mitchell cried as Sandy wheeled Alaska around and grabbed his hand. Alaska turned around to try and see as Steven dropped PokeBalls onto the ground, the first one forming being the four legged metal beast Metagross. Surge was shouting and pointing into the sky, and more people seemed to be running past. Alaska's head hurt as if a million robots were marching against her brain, causing her to feel disorientated and making her vision blur. It took a while, but she soon saw what was in the sky: it was what had to be a Pokemon, but it wasn't one Alaska knew. It had a body made of swirling purple and black, though the swirling could have just been her imagination. Its body didn't seem to directly join together, more like bits hovering near each other. But the one thing that stood out to Alaska was its eyes: it had dark red eyes that were visible even from the distance between them. Alaska had no idea who the Pokemon was, but it was enough to strike fear into both Steven and Surge's hearts and she could see why.

"What is that Pokemon?" Alaska asked, trying to stare at it but found her vision blurring as Sandy pushed the chair forwards.

"I don't know Alaska, but we can find out later," Sandy said, her voice cracking slightly, and Alaska wondered if she was crying. She decided not to ask any more questions, mainly though as her head seemed to throb more and more, and Alaska would have remained silent and gone to the Pokemon Center if a building didn't explode behind them.

Sandy screamed and jumped to the ground, pulling Mitchell down with her. Alaska had no choice but the cover her head and duck down as the explosion seemed to literally shake the city, but at the same time she turned and tried to catch a glimpse. It seemed that an apartment building had suddenly exploded, flames coming out from a jagged hole in the side. More screams echoed around, joined by the sounds of ambulance sirens and moves being unleashed by Pokemon. Alaska could see multiple Electric attacks being fired into the sky, but the mysterious Pokemon swerved out of the way, white energy forming at the end of his arms.

Silently, the Pokemon fired a second Hyper Beam at another building. This time Alaska watched as it struck the building and exploded upon impact, instantly destroying every window and sending bricks soaring into the air. The white energy turned to flames a moment later, joining the mass of smoke and fire curling up into the sky. This Pokemon was ruthless, but Alaska knew one thing about Pokemon: few Pokemon became evil in the wild; they needed a trainer to them bad, simply meaning someone was behind this.

"Let's move, quickly!" Sandy yelled from near Alaska's feet. She put a hand at the back of the chair and gave it a mighty shove towards the Pokemon Center before leaping up and dragging Mitchell, trying to race after. "Let's just get inside and find a place to hide," Sandy said, near hysterical. "Once we're inside, we can put everything out of the – AAAAHHHH!" Sandy screamed and came to a stop, nearly tipping the chair backwards as she grabbed onto it. Alaska would have complained about nearly falling over, but her eyes focused on the giant blue blur that had suddenly shot past them. Alaska thought it might have just been part of her imagination, but as the blur rounded the corner and everyone around them froze to stare it at, she knew it was real: crested head, long purple cape, white tails, white diamonds on a blue body.

Suicune had just arrived.

The appearance of a legendary Pokemon was so stunning and surprising that everyone seemed to forget they were running for their lives, but a third explosion snapped people out of it. Mitchell was staring at Suicune as if he was a giant piece of candy, but Sandy pulled herself together and began pushing the two forwards once more. Alaska wondered why Suicune was here and if it could get any weirder, only for her question to instantly get answered.

"ZAAAAAAA!" All eyes turned to the skies this time, and the legendary Electric type Zapdos made a much more grand entrance: its giant yellow and black wings shot electricity across the skyline as the bird dived down towards the scene. There was another blur and Alaska turned to see Suicune had disappeared, leaving Zapdos to fight the mysterious Pokemon. The purple and black destroyer had turned around at the sound and sight of the legendary, white energy instantly forming again.

"DOOOOOOOOSSSS!" Zapdos screeched, flashing yellow and firing what looked like a super charged Thunder towards the Hyper Beam. The two attacks suddenly collided, and the resulting explosion was enough to set the stampede and screams off once more: a shockwave seemed to engulf the skyline, windows shattering all along the main road and a display of lights that would have been pretty in other circumstances erupted above them.

"What about Steven and Lt. Surge?" Mitchell yelled as people rushed past them, heading towards any of the buildings around them and not really caring where they ended up.

"He'll be fine, he has powerful Pokemon to protect him," Sandy said, pushing them off again.

"Shouldn't we have our Pokemon protecting us?" Mitchell asked, fetching his PokeBalls.

"Mitchell, just SHUT UP!" Alaska snapped, clutching her throbbing head. "This situation is horrible enough without you whiny like the irritating little vermin that you are!"

"Alaska!" Sandy gasped just as Mitchell burst into tears. Despite running for their lives, several people turned around in shock at the scene before them: an apparently disabled girl turning a younger boy to tears, with an equally as young person looking after them. It didn't look good but Alaska didn't care, half tempted to roll herself to the Center, ready to simply fall asleep and get over with it.

"If you aren't going to apologize we'll just have to move," Sandy said, grasping Mitchell tightly and pushing Alaska forwards. However, Mitchell continued to cry and perform and stood still, forcing Sandy to try and pull him forwards. "Mitchell now isn't the time to act up! Do you want to be here when that Pokemon starts bombing the lane!"

"Alaska is such a Miltank, she doesn't deserve to get all that focus the gym people are giving her!" Mitchell shouted tearfully as another explosion rocked the ground behind them, and Sandy gasped as the young boy pushed the chair forwards. Alaska quickly tried to find the brakes, but she had rolled forwards several metres before managing to stop. Sandy remained behind trying to tell Mitchell off, leaving Alaska stuck in front of them. She didn't care though as Mitchell's words sounded inside her throbbing head: what did he mean by all the attention the 'gym people' were giving her? Alaska looked back towards them, wondering what to do, when she noticed something above them.

"LOOK OUT!" She screamed. Sandy and Mitchell turned to the sky and yelled as well: Zapdos was crash landing towards them, flapping her wings to keep afloat but now closer as the mysterious Pokemon chased after. Alaska caught Steven running around the corner with his Metagross and noticed out of the corner of her eye Sandy pulling something out of her pockets, but it all seemed too late as three balls of electricity, ice and fire formed by the mysterious Pokemon.

"NOOOOO!" Alaska screamed, but it was worthless: three beams were fired towards Zapdos' Thunder, and instantly they collided. It took a single second for them to come together before they suddenly exploded. The shockwave was powerful, enough to blast Alaska out of her chair. She yelled as she rolled painfully along the ground, glaring white light completely engulfing her. Screams that sounded like Sandy's joined screeches coming from Zapdos, but Alaska couldn't see anything. The ground seemed to rumble and Alaska could feel it crack, the sound of another beam being fired joining the noise and unleashing another shock wave. It was all too painful and confusing, with the sounds of roars and glass shattering joining the fray. Alaska's head felt like it was about to explode and she had to clutch it, trying to block out all of the noise and the pain, needing to do something to try and save herself.

I did try to warn you.

As soon as the words washed over her, Alaska suddenly felt calm. She opened her eyes to find that all she could see was still white from the explosion, but no longer could the sounds reach her or could see feel the rumbling beneath her body. The pain in her head remained though, and Alaska wondered if she had had an aneurysm and died, joining the mysterious voice in some sort of afterlife.

"Who are you?" Alaska asked, trying to turn but finding hands pressing into her back.

You don't need to know that at the moment, the voice told her. In time, yes, but I don't want to confuse you at the moment. I am here to help you, not make things worse for you.

"What do you mean?" Alaska asked, struggling to concentrate as the pain erupted throughout her brain. "You gave me that message in my dream, didn't you? Who was that other person you mentioned, and why do I need to stop travelling?

You must stop because ultimately you will be used by the people that claim are there to help you, the voice said urgently. You will find more allies along your quest but the longer you keep travelling the longer the league will try and use you to fight this battle for them, and this will only get more dangerous. Neil Bolton came close to killing you yesterday and if it hadn't been for a door you wouldn't be here right now. Gideon is willing to kill innocent people simply to get what he wants, and if you get in his way he will most likely kill your friends, your Pokemon and your family before you before finally taking your own life. You are not safe the more you co-operate with the league and the more you cross paths with your enemies, and yes, that includes the reality stars. I am here to help you Alaska Acevedo, you must know this.

"Why should I believe you?" Alaska snapped, the pain becoming so unbearable she could barely speak. "You could be working for Gideon or that Neil person!" A hand suddenly appeared alongside, and Alaska was able to notice it was oval shaped, blue on the top and grey and striped on the bottom, with three sharp claws.

Would an enemy do this? The voice whispered and suddenly moved towards her head. Alaska's brain felt like it was about to blow and she screamed as the hand touched her, forcing her to shut her eyes and writhe her body as a sensation swept through her body. She couldn't think about anything except the pain and simply screamed, unable to do anything else.

"ALASKA! ALASKA!"

The sensation suddenly left and Alaska landed on the ground, instantly feeling it jagged beneath her. She breathed deeply as she opened her eyes, seeing the cracked ground beneath her and feeling nothing against her skin. Alaska's hands reached up towards her skull as footsteps appeared alongside, instinctively looking up as Sandy appeared. Her Onix had stretched up high above her, leaving Alaska confused as to what was going on.

"Oh thank god!" Sandy wailed with teary eyes, pulling Alaska up into a hug and providing her with a view over her shoulder: the ground in front of them had collapsed into the sewers, giving off a smell of damp and general disgust. Bricks and concrete were scattered all around alongside glass and what looked like several people knocked out or killed, Alaska couldn't tell. She looked around for any sight of the mysterious Pokemon but it was nowhere to be seen, but she could clearly see Zapdos flying into the distance. Onix's tail stood near a shaken Mitchell, the rest of his body stretching across the hole towards Steven, Surge and their various Pokemon.

"I can't believe this happened, but we are all safe and alive and that's what truly matters!" Sandy said tearfully, but Alaska meekly nodded, touching her hand to her bandages. There should have been some sort of wound underneath, but it all felt smooth to Alaska, and she was so shocked that the pain in her brain had disappeared she could barely speak. All she could think of as she watched the floors of a building collapse onto the main road was that the mysterious Pokemon was there to help her, meaning that his words had some truth to them. If he was right, than Alaska knew that Sandy's words were wrong: they definitely weren't safe, and how much longer could they stay alive?

This has been a very long arc, hasn't it? :P Blog and Interlude combo next, and expect light to be shed ;)