Chapter 39 – Myth's Unearthed
Saturn stopped. Lights were popping up around the chamber as the grunts moved around and placed the portable light sources. The long sticks slowly exposed that which was normally kept in darkness. Saturn had descended to the lake bed to find a chamber in the middle. There was something unusual about the chamber that was for sure. Some sort of force seemed to have been awakened. But what was supposed to be present was nowhere to be seen.
"Spread out!" The commander barked out the order. "Find the legend and begin the capture." The chamber continued to light up as more and more lights were placed out. The silence was absolute, with even footsteps being muffled. However, there seemed to be nothing present.
Jill stood on unsteady legs. Teleportation was all fine to talk about, but she quickly grasped why most people chose not to use it as a method of transportation. The sensation was beyond unsettling, as if someone had liquefied her insides before returning everything to a solid state. She took a couple of unsteady steps to a nearby tree to brace herself. Closing her eyes, and focusing on her breathing, the young woman took a few moments to compose herself. After a minute, Jill felt ready and opened her eyes.
It was devastation. Tears jumped into the young woman's eyes immediately. This wasn't right. She found herself on the edge of what had been burnt. Looking down, something seemed to be shining on the grass. Kneeling down, Jill found what appeared to be scales.
"No" she whispered. Whatever had been living in the lakes was most assuredly dead now. Jill wanted nothing more to stay here and let her emotions run, but she had a duty to get revenge for this. Sobbing slightly, she stood once more and made her way forward. Rain was beginning to fall, but not a refreshing rain. Rather this was almost hot, accompanied by an uncomfortable humidity.
Carefully, Jill made her way towards the lake. No longer did waves lap at the edges, but rather muddy paths had been made by sediment falling due to the blast. Jill found one that looked relatively safe and began winding her way down. It took some time to reach the lake bed as every so often, the rain softened mud would let go and the young woman would find herself sliding down a few feet before she could stop herself. Cursing, Jill made it down covered up to her knees and elbows in mud. Her hair kept sticking to her face. None of this stopped her however.
It took some time, but there seemed to be no one watching her progress. Jill was able to make it to the centre of the lake bed, where she came upon a cave opening. Something about this place felt different. There was some sort of power resting here. Or perhaps some sort of power which had been destroyed in the blast. The young woman couldn't place it, but shaking the feeling, she entered.
The cave was dimly lit, with sticks of light placed all over. Her eyes took only a second to adjust. People were milling about the edges, but there was one person who was facing the far wall of the cave. Nothing before him, or around him. Yet there was a presence here. At least Jill felt like there was. She considered bringing out Icarium but decided against it for the time being. At the moment, she was still undiscovered.
"Everything went off without a hitch. We have Azelf in our possession and will be leaving shortly." The man's voice reached back to Jill who froze stricken. She was too late. The man closed the device he was using to talk through and spied the young woman. Both stared at one another for an eternity.
"I should have known you would come" he finally said. Jill was confused and breathing fast. The people shuffling around the edges of the cavern were still watching the two at the center. "You are the one who bested Jupiter at Eterna are you not?" Jill stared definitely at the man, not answering. He smirked despite his emotionless demeanor. "Yes, I can see it in your eyes. She should be ashamed for allowing a child to interrupt our plans. How you stumbled into our plot I do not know, not when even the IP and League fools cannot find us. However, this stops now!"
"I've stopped you twice now and I'll do it again!" Jill finally said. She would stop these creeps no matter what she thought to herself. There had to be some way to save the legend.
"You have no idea what we are trying to achieve. But it doesn't matter. What we do, we do for everyone."
"Is that why you steal other people's Pokemon? And attack innocents? And attacking the Lake guardians?" Jill threw the accusation at the man.
"Sometimes there are people within a group whose actions are not the best way forward. Mistakes happen. The reasons behind this lie within our emotions. But to have the power of knowledge, we can change our ways for the better. Why do you stand in our way?"
"I've seen what you people do to others. There is no for the greater good. You're all in this for yourself and no one else." Jill stared around, hoping to catch some glance of the legendary Pokemon.
"Then it seems I have no choice." The man threw a Pokeball into the air, releasing a Toxicroak. The malevolent grin shocked Jill as it attacked. Before it could land a strike however, a burst of light blinded everyone, and the poison type cried out in pain. Icarium was standing before Jill. She was ready for the man to do something like that. These Galactic people gave no quarter that's for sure.
"I know you came here for Azelf, and I don't know where it is, but I'm stopping you." Saturn regarded the young woman some more, wondering why she would willingly put herself in his way. Most people ran when he began battling.
"It will be coming with me." The man said cooly. Jill frowned, establishing her presence. The man sighed, before renewing his attack. Toxicroack lunged forward again, its red spikes on the ends of its arms dripping with venom. Icarium focused his psychic power into his arm blades and met the poison jab attack head on. A flurry of blows followed before the poison type used its powerful jumping legs to launch itself off of Icariums chest and away from a blow from the psycho cut attack. Icarium stumbled back a step, before regaining his stance.
"You're tough, I can see why you have been a thorn in our side" the man said. Jill gritted her teeth. "I will need Azelf however, and you are outnumbered." Jill hadn't noticed the members of this mans squad moving in to surround her. Silently, the young woman cursed herself for not being more aware.
"Why do you want Azelf so bad?" Jill asked, attempting to stall.
"That's none of your concern."
"I'm making it my concern." Jill retorted. Saturn couldn't help but smile. It was a grin that did nothing to enhance his features. Jill found it to make the man look a little unhinged.
"You continue to get in the way of our plans, and yet you know nothing about us?" It was Jill's turn to frown. "We are committed to creating a better world. Our leaders' vision will become a reality now with these legends." The Toxicroak was still prowling, Icarium keeping himself ready for any attack.
"You've killed countless Pokemon here, just to get at a legend? Don't you have any care? How is this a better world?" The young woman demanded.
"Sacrifices are required before our vision is realized." That simple statement brought fresh tears to Jill's eyes.
"You're an unfeeling bastard!" She yelled.
"Perhaps, and that is how it should be in this instance. However, I've had enough. It's time to finish this." He gestured, and once again, the poison fighter began attacking. Icarium was ready however and began counter-attacking. He had the upper hand in this battle, being part psychic. Every hit or glancing blow he landed, sapped more and more energy from the toxic mouth Pokemon. Two people came running into the cavern. Jill turned at that, grabbing another Pokeball.
"Sir, we're loaded!" The woman on the right said. Jill turned back to Saturn, who simply nodded.
"It would appear that all I needed to do was buy us time. Toxicroak, return!" the command was sharp, and the Pokemon was just as fast to respond. It detached itself from Icarium who was glaring at his opponent. A tiny red beam returned the Toxicroak to its ball. It was quickly replaced however with a Golbat. "Take this as a warning. These legends will create a new world. You had best stay out of the way little girl."
"I'll never let you win" Jill responded. The Galactic commander nodded and raised a hand up. Suddenly, Golbat were everywhere. Jill looked around helpless and even Icarium backed up to his trainer. The hand fell, and razor-sharp air ripped its way toward both Icarium and Jill.
Saturn exited the cavern in all the commotion. His hair was dishevelled from the massive windstorm that his squad had kicked up, but it had done its job. That annoying girl who insisted on interfering wouldn't be doing so any longer. Quickly, the commander made his way up to the waiting trucks.
Before that trainer had arrived, the legend had been nowhere to find. After all their research, Saturn was sure that Azelf would present itself to him. While that moronic scientist was sure that if they moved fast enough, they would catch the mythical creatures still in slumber, Saturn knew that they would awake from the blasts. Instead, once they broke the seal, they had found nothing. Until a spot in front of Saturn shimmered that is.
Azelf was weakened somehow, thanks to the bombs. Saturn could see it. While he cared not for the tiny Pokemon, even he could see the pain and confusion in its eyes. It seemed that there was something there which made Azelf believe that it would have time to awaken its power and therefore be able to defend itself. Saturn didn't give it that chance. He quickly used another device from Charon designed to stun the psychic type. Azelf cried out as it was hit with the tazer-like object, then fell unconscious.
The commander looked once more at the mythical Pokemon trapped and unconscious in the back of the truck. No emotion showed on his face. This was simply another step on the path laid out by Cyrus. A new world. A world where corruption was gone, where greed was abolished. Wasn't that something worth working towards? A worthy goal to achieve? Saturn shook his head. Nothing that girl had said could change his path now. He was committed to seeing this through to the end.
Jill was crying. There were cuts all over her face and arms, and her shirt and pants were ripped in many places. None of that compared to her aching heart however. Icarium was lying beside her, his breathing shallow. Being part fighting type, he was weak to flying attacks such as those Golbat's air cutter. But his reaction hadn't been to protect himself, it was to fling himself into Jill. When the attack had finally abated, Jill managed to get out from underneath her friend and see that the cavern was empty. But Icarium was seriously injured.
"No, Icarium, no!" There were cuts all over the fighter's body, most slowly weeping with drops of crimson blood.
"Y… You're… You're okay" Icarium managed to whisper out. Jill's tears were falling hot and salty as her shaking hands ripped open her bag to find her potions or anything to help her friend.
"You hold on Icarium. Please just hold on" Jill begged. She found a single super potion and began applying it to Icarium. Then she returned the psychic fighter to his Pokeball. Running as fast as she could, Jill burst out of the cavern back into the uncomfortably warm rain. Not a single soul could be seen, bringing a rise to Jill's despair. Her friend was potentially dying, and she was helpless to do anything about it.