~ Chapter 82 ~
Back to Lake Acuity, Too Late!
"The bad feeling Alyssandra and I had during our trip to Snowpoint proved to be true. The attack on the fortress by the banks of Lake Acuity had already long started. From what we found, it had ended not long before we arrived. Even if we had shown up, I doubt it would have mattered. We wouldn't have made much of a difference, we might have been able to save a few more people, but…that was about all we could have done. It was a resounding defeat however, and we didn't have time to lick our wounds, because there was a simultaneous attack on Lake Verity at the time, and we needed to rush there immediately."
Everyone pushed forward at a break-neck pace. Lucario had reported nothing back from his siblings at either Lake in hours.
The smoke visible on the horizon didn't help things.
Lucario couldn't see anything in the area of the fort, or in Lake Verity. Something was interrupting the Aura Network in the area.
It was just a giant, blurry, blind spot to him.
Lucario had rushed on ahead not too long ago, meanwhile, Alyssandra, Candice, Maylene and those in Snowpoint who owned Rapidash charged forward towards the fort.
The smoke had become thicker the closer they caught, hanging low in the trees, making it hard to see or breathe.
Things were on fire.
The palisades were likely burning, and the tents. It smelled of burning wood and plastic, and those were the only things in the area that would produce that smell—the forest didn't seem to be burning itself.
Just minutes from the fortress, Sam was halted by Lucario who appeared with a grim look on his face.
They could see the fortress up on the hill, on fire, burning like a beacon in the dusk.
Candice organized a water bridage to help douse the flames and search the fortress for survivors.
Sam grimly surveyed the area.
Dozens of smashed or abandoned, Spiritum coated vechiles lay burning or broken in the snow.
The cavern in the middle of the lake seemed to have been cracked open by a massive drill.
Sam could see an abandoned submarine on the shores with a wide open door. It too was on fire, burning, and looked as if it had recently taken damage to the fuel tank as the sides were blown out.
"What happened here?" Sam asked Lucario, "Where is everyone?"
Lucario shook his head. "The Spiritum instruments were interrupting my ability to see the area. I searched myself…there is no sign of life."
"Are they?" demanded Alyssandra, fearing for the worst.
Lucario shook his head. "No life, because no one is here. No life, no death. They were either captured, or they escaped."
"Any signs of escape and to where?" asked Sam.
Lucario looked back at the battlefield. "I'll have to search more closely," he explained, "There are many footprints, many from the battle. I'll have to track each one individually."
"Do it, please," asked Sam, "We need to make sure everyone is alive and safe."
Sam looked over at Alyssandra.
She looked sick to her stomach; worried for everyone they had left here at the fortress.
"Lyss, are you okay?" asked Sam.
She just shook her head. "I knew it. I knew something bad would happen."
Sam sighed. "So did I, to be honest. But…there was nothing we could have done. We had to get back up."
"He's right you know," added Aurelio, "You'd be dead or captured too if you were here. At least someone's left to fight now."
Sam relayed his grandfather's words to Alyssandra, though a bit more delicately. They seemed to help, but it didn't make the worry go away, for either of them.
It wasn't much longer before the rest of Candice's small army showed up, and by then the fire was mostly under control.
Sam and Alyssandra entered the charred remains of the palisade and saw the burning remains of the tents and settlements that had been set up to help house the defends of the Legendary Pokémon Uxie, Guardian of Lake Acuity.
Lucario was correct about no death.
There were no corpses strewn about, no charred remains or bones left behind from a dead defender.
It was more likely that everyone was captured.
This eased the worry Sam and Alyssandra felt, but only partially. If Team Galactic had actually captured their friends, they still weren't in the best position.
They needed to be freed, and soon.
Team Galactic wasn't known for being the kindest to their prisoners, as experience had shown.
On top of that, a similar attack on Lake Verity was likely occurring right now.
The failure of the Battle of Lake Acuity had led to the capture of the Tower Tycoon, the head of the Accardi Sinnoh Ranch, the High Priestess of Sinnoh, and the Gym Leader of Eterna City, not to mention Jeremy, Niya and several of Sam's friends, plus all of their Pokémon.
But if Team Galactic captured the group at Lake Verity, they would have their hands on Professor Rowan and former Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, as well as the Canalave and Oreburgh Gym Leaders.
They needed to get to Lake Verity as soon as possible, but first they needed to see if anyone escaped Team Galactic.
"Sam!" cried Lucario, "Over here!"
Sam and Alyssandra turned to where they heard Lucario.
He was down the edge of the lake, by the shore where it formed a small cliffside and a small beach. There was a cave that seemed to be etched into the cliff.
Footprints from Lucario and several others seemed to lead down there.
Lucario didn't have to tell Sam twice what was down there.
Sam charged his Rapidash down as far as it could go, Alyssandra close behind.
They hopped off, and ran towards the cave.
They didn't know who would be down in that cave, but they knew someone was better than no one.
Sam barged into the cave, and found Lucario healing a badly wounded and bruised ranch hand.
Sam and Alyssandra knelt by her side, waiting for her to recover enough strength from Lucario's healing to speak.
Sam recognized her as Abigail, one of the longer serving ranch hands. Best wrangler at the Sinnoh Ranch, too.
"Mister Accardi?" she asked, weakly as she shifted a bit.
"What happened, Abigail?" asked Sam gently.
Alyssandra offered Abigail some water before she began her story.
"Team Galactic came out of nowhere," he explained, "They had this submarine with a drill, and came right out of the water. Must have drilled in from the ocean. Before we could attack them they sent a massive force of trucks after us, and we didn't have enough people to fend them off."
"Where is everyone? What happened after that?" urged Sam.
Abigail coughed. "They set fire to the palisades and boxed us in. Most of us got caught in the smoke, and couldn't breathe. Before we knew it, Team Galactic and their Pokémon were attacking us, and people were being rounded up. Some of us tried to escape so we could meet up with you but…only I made it. I passed out having trouble breathing here—that's the last thing I remember."
"So they got the Legendary Pokémon then," added Sam, "And everyone else too…they're probably being held prisoner in Veilstone City."
"What about our allies at Lake Verity?" asked Alyssandra, "Any word from them?"
Abigail shook her head.
"Who lead this attack?" asked Sam, curious about which Galactic Commander was behind this.
"A woman named Mars," coughed Abigail.
Sam's face went grim. Jupiter was harsh, but honourable. Mars was crazy, wicked and cruel—she like to play with her food like some kind of spider.
"My siblings are likely being held captive as well," continued Lucario, "I cannot sense them anywhere here."
Sam looked to Alyssandra, who he knew was suddenly panicking over her Pokémon's state.
"I swear if they hurt her," muttered Alyssandra.
"We'll get her back, and our friends too," reassured Sam.
"Do you want me to go check on Lake Verity?" asked Aurelio.
Sam nodded, but didn't answer verbally.
Aurelio disappeared shortly after, and Sam turned back to Lucario and Abigail. "I'm going to send some medics down here to get you, and bring you back to Snowpoint. Hang tight, Abigail," reassured Sam, as he walked towards the entrance of the cave.
He ran back to the main group and pointed medics to where Abigail was, and shortly after, they returned, holding Abigail on a stretcher, with Lucario and Alyssandra with both the Rapidash behind her.
Sam looked at his friends, but didn't answer their questions as Aurelio returned.
"You're going to want to get going," warned Aurelio, "They're holding out better, and they've got Valentina and the other Gym Leaders with them but…they'll need help or what happened here will happen at Lake Verity. You don't need Team Galactic capturing the Champion."
Sam looked at Alyssandra. "We need to get going," he stated, "Lake Verity won't hold out much longer. Valentina brought the Gym Leaders with her but…they've only managed to buy more time."
"We'll never make it on time on foot, and we don't exactly have a helicopter helping us out this time," stated Alyssandra, "We're not going to make it in time."
"Nonsense!" cried Candice, wiping sweat and soot from her forehead, "I've got an Abra here that knows Teleport. Just let her know where you want to go and she'll bring you right there. Lake Verity was it?"
"Yes," nodded Sam, "Thank you so much."
Candice nodded. "You may not be able to stop Team Galactic from getting Mesprit, but you can stop them from capturing anymore of your friends."
Alyssandra nodded. "The more allies we have when we storm their headquarters in Veilstone the better."
Candice smirked. "Veilstone eh?" she asked, "If that's where they are, we'll get everyone back to Snowpoint and loaded up on to a boat. We can skulk off the coastline of the city until you're ready to attack. Once you are, let us know, and we'll land in the harbour and storm the city. If Team Galactic has that place on lockdown like they did Eterna, we can provide a distraction, and hold of a brunt of the grunts so you're not worried about facing an army alone."
"That would be appreciated," smiled Sam, "I'll send my Staraptor to meet you with a message once we've assembled in Veilstone, and we'll coordinate our attack together."
"Sounds perfect!" cried Candice, cheery as ever, "Now get going before we lose another Guardian!"
Sam nodded and looked at the recently released Abra.
He and Alyssandra returned their Rapidash to their Poké Balls, and Sam returned Lucario as well.
"I'll meet you there," stated Aurelio confidently, before disappearing again, "And if I may say? If you ever get up the nerve and she says yes, you'll have yourself one hell of a woman standing by your side."
They grasped hands, Sam and Alyssandra, and gave each other a look of pure determination. They were going to get their friends back, and they were going to stop Team Galactic.
Failure was not an option.
