Locked Away, Chapter 56
A chill filled the summer air that Drew would never forget. On the back of flygon, his body shivered, and he secretly wished that he had brought a coat for himself, other than his small sweater. As a child, Drew grew up in the Johto region with his family, then eventually took to the Hoenn region in later years—until finally moving to the Sinnoh region for the fairness and equality shared between battlers and coordinators. Over the past four years, he spent the better part living in Sinnoh—and never once had it been so cold. Especially not in the dead of summer. South Sinnoh, about an hour outside of Pal's Park, where the two regions met at the border.
Trees wilted, snapped, and broke under the pressure of building frost, and in the distance, he saw the swirling blizzard blotting the skies from the top of the usually peaceful Mount Coronet. The Sinnoh and Kanto region border, which was usually empty nearly fifty miles above Route Twenty Five, was packed with people from the very small, fragile gates, to as far as he could see until the mist swallowed them. Tents, fires, and sleeping bags were sprawled out in scattered like tiny ants, and Drew felt his heart drop.
"Hey, you there!" A loud megaphone tore into the breeze. "This is a no fly zone! You are requested to come down, or you will be removed from the sky."
Drew was always a stickler for the rules, and so he did not hesitate to swoop down, landing only a few feet away from the guardsman who called for him.
The green-haired coordinator noticed several interesting facts immediately. Well over one hundred guardsmen were at the border, unheard of in peaceful territories like Kanto and Sinnoh—since the border was never previously managed. Countless families, travellers and strays were camped out in the chilly weather, and not a single person was fighting the guards.
"Get to the back of the line." Shouted one of the guards, who met a very nasty look from his harsh green eyes.
Drew waited to speak until he was sure that he, and his ground and dragon type pokemon had the man's attention.
"What's going on here?"
"Kanto is under total lock down. We're not accepting any refugees or travellers at the moment."
"I'm not a traveller, I live here!" Shouted one of the women in the distance, screeching as the men hissed to silence her. Drew scowled as a whisper fluttered through the crowd you know what they did last time.
"Lock down, huh?" He muttered quietly, skeptical of their motives. Drew had two options, he could fight here, and land himself a pretty bullet in his side from one of the nice guards to the right of him, or he could walk away. With an eye roll, he took the second option, and waked away, much to teh relief of the people around him.
"Pokemon aren't allowed out, either. Return your pokemon to the ball."
At that, Drew's lips smacked, and flygon's large eyes twisted to his master to view his face, asking for permission what their next choice was. Feeling his shoulders stiffen, Drew licked his lips, and then clicked the button on his belt, returning flygon without another word, or glance at the guard.
Drew was not Misty, or Brock, or even Ash; he didn't fight the lines—besides, if he stepped forward and started yelling at the guard, demanding answers, he would more than likely start a riot before anything else, and these cold, tired people made up mostly of small families and children wouldn't last a second against the Kanto Region's squads from the league. They were all equip with weapons, and strong pokemon. No, instead he held his head high, and walked away with his hands in his pockets, to observe the situation up close.
To have this many people waiting for entrance to another region, implied that what ever was happening with the weather was getting worse, not better—and judging by the vicious sound in the distance of whirling clouds and whistles, he didn't doubt that it would get much worse. As he walked, staring into empty faces, and hopeful, excited children who thought they were only playing, he noticed how truly endless the line up was. Generally, the citizens of the Sinnoh Region helped one another, shared food and fires—tents and sleepwear; but even when they occasionally flooded or were met with a hurricane, it had never escalated so far.
What exactly happened here?
"Drew, is that you?" The familiar voice returned his thoughts to the present, and he turned quietly to view a woman with curly, pink hair zipping through the crowd to reach him. His lips still turned into a frown—he nodded his acknowledgement.
"Yeah, it's me. Hey Ursula," he paused. "What happened here? What's going on?"
She was in a large, recently knitted sweater, squeezing it to her small frame—odd since she usually wore overly revealing clothes, generally inappropriate for the weather, and flaunted her body. Today, she looked totally serious, and a bit sore. Struggling at first for words, she gestured to the howling mountain.
"A few weeks ago, this blizzard blew in. We were skeptical at first that it would stick around...but it kept getting worse." her voice was shaky as she pulled the wool of her sweater over her mouth, recounting the events.
"First, the local towns, Eterna City, and Celeestic City were buried in snow, but when a few inches turned into a few feet—they evacuated those towns to Hearthorne and Solaceon...Unfortunately, that didn't last, because the storm kept expanding, swallowing everything... The entire region was told to evacuate when the blizzard started to spread to Floaroma, Oreburge and Veilstone... only," her pink eyes shifted uncomfortably to the guardsmen chatting amongst themselves. "The Kanto border won't let the southern cities evacuate. We think the western towns fled to Kalos...we don't know what's happened with the north since... since..."
"Since what, Ursula?" Drew asked quietly.
She scoffed bitterly.
"Now...I'd offer you a place to sit down, but we're currently short of that so...brace yourself."
She swallowed hard, her whole body trembled.
"...Before...before we lost communication with Sunnyshore, they made the announcement that Champion Cynthia's body was found outside of Snowpoint City... Only hours after it was announced that the long absent champion was going to find the heart of the storm. The Elite Four told everyone not to panic, but after that, people started packing up and running for the nearest borders—that's why..." she gestured to the groups of people, some watching, most people silently praying. "Some people are saying it's an attack from Unova, like they attacked Kanto—others are saying it's punishment, and an act of god... either way, it's been quiet since then, and the storms only getting worse."
Drew's mouth opened, then closed; his eyes wide and dilated, heart aching. "...Are...are you sure it was Cynthia?"
"They're sure."
"How? She hasn't been in the public eye for years! Why would she suddenly choose now to go out?!"
"Shh!" Ursula scolded his raised voice while holding her finger to his mouth. "I know, but there was no doubt. I tried to get back to Sunnyshore, but they've restricted flying and...frankly...I kinda wanna be close to my family, just in case this is it, you know?"
Drew spit. "This isn't it, Ursula."
She offered her best attempt of a smile. "Are you sure? We've been pushed to the corner, and we can't go any further—what should we do?"
"Well aren't the Elite Four doing something? What about Dawn?"
"...Like I said," her face grew dark, "...it's been really quiet."
Drew's eyes hit the dirt, suddenly the rocks below his feet were more interesting than the conversation. They had only been gone from Sinnoh for a few weeks, and the mountain had already eaten the threads of hope that were left. Originally, Kanto and the pokemon league were the only casualties of this war with Team Rocket but now... Could they have had a part in starting this? Slowly, his green eyes worked their way up the mountain, and then locked on the dark shadow lumbering above, where the distant crackle of lightning and boom of thunder sent shivers down their spines. He came here to warn Dawn about the tower—but now, her not answering seemed relevant and understandable. Yet, now more than ever, his plate was overflowing.
"Ursula, get everyone here in a shelter—get people to share cover and blankets... get them to turn on their smart TV's and any other electronic device."
"...why?"
"Because—we're not done yet. I'm going to go fix this. I'm going to Sunnyshore."
"Pfft... how are you going to get there?"
Drew clicked his pokeball, a red light glimmered around them, and then faded, immediately, patrolling guards started yelling.
"No pokemon allowed in the safe zone!"
"I'm not going to be in the safe zone much longer, so try to stop me!" Drew snapped back, jumping onto the back of flygon, who stood easily at seven feet, and hissed angrily at the guard—spitting a yellow goo at the man, who immediately started screeching and peeling off his clothes; light acid.
"Drew what are you doing?!" Ursula shouted, clearly having not expected this from the man; and she might have been right, a few weeks ago.
"I already said. Don't forget what I told you. Thanks, Ursula!" And with that, and a strong flap of the green dragon's wings, Drew was off—since the flailing guard clearly had no way to stop him.
XOX
Evacuation notices for Viridian City were already being announced by the time charizard landed with Ash at the former therapist' s house. No movement came from behind the large glass window, except for the glow of a television screen's flicker.
"Charizard, return for now. Thank you." Ash whispered, listening to the dragon flap his wings tiredly. He was breathing heavy, practically groaning. Will alone carried the dragon, and carrying Ash was becoming more difficult every time they went.
"...I promise, this is almost over, buddy." Unlike their first meeting, charizard did not flinch when Ash ran his hand over his snout. "I'll call you if something happens, I promise. Rest for now."
Obediently, the pokemon closed his eyes, and with a brief red glow, the massive flying beast disappeared, leaving Ash and pikachu to scout out the apartment.
Pikachu pressed against the glass window pane, his cheeks and nose flattening against the solid object. Movement flashed in front of their eyes, and they both ducked down below the window sill and gestured to the door. When he checked the handle, it was locked, of course. Misty was the expert at unlocking things peacefully, but she was—no, he couldn't think about Misty right now.
Ash focused on the door handle, noticing that the door was made up of glass—He could simply break through it with a rock or two. Maybe even use one of Sebastian's fancy flower pots that rested on the balcony. He already knocked off two upon arrival—what was one more? His heart thundered inside his chest as he walked to the plant, and then with one powerful throw, he dislodged it from the corner of the balcony, and threw it through the seventh story balcony door—shattering it, and allowing his entrance.
"See, that was easy enough.." Ash mumbled, still whispering, but he knew that after such a loud noise, his location was already given away. Instinctively, Ash waved for pikachu to wait at the door, out of sight, and then walked in quietly when a click alerted his senses.
"Welcome to my humble home, Ketchum. You didn't think to knock?" Behind him, the muzzle of a gun pressed into his back, and Ash allowed himself to smile.
"You know, I always knew the next time we spoke it would get heated—but I never imagined weapons."
"Shut your smart mouth. Go over there." he flicked his wrist several times and Ash put up his arms like he saw in all the movies—like how he and Gary used to play 'cop and robbers' when they were kids, and followed Sebastian's instructions, slowly turning to face him in the dark. Pikachu was ready to pounce, but Ash just gave him a look that kept him in place, quietly waiting the perfect moment.
"I saw that dragon you few in on. Can't believe you really did have a charizard after all." he spit at Ash, "Looks like it's half dead."
"He's still strong enough to eat you if I told him to."
"I said shut up!" Sebastian was rattled, and even in the dark, Ash could see that his perfectly gelled hair was a tussled mess, falling into his eyes and glasses. His composure was lost, and his hands were shaking. Perhaps, Ash could use this to his advantage.
"You scared, Sebastian?"
"I will shoot you if you talk again." He warned Ash, and he immediately bit down onto his tongue, watching as Sebastian circled back around to grab his cellphone. Even his clothes were a mess. If Ash had to guess, it was because of the pokemon rampaging outside, because the tears in his shirt and pants looked painfully familiar.
Funny, Giovanni didn't even spare his troops the repercussions of his actions.
"Now, when the boss sees that I have you—it'll be my signing bonus."
Light reflected in Ash's eyes, he closed his fist, wanting Pikachu to wait a bit longer as a great—and stupid idea filled his head.
"You'll take me to your boss?" Ash asked quietly, earning another uprising from Sebastian, who fired a warning shot.
"Not another word!" Unhinged, he circled back around and Ash sunk backwards as a worried pikachu's ears lowered. Maybe...maybe they could find Misty—they could end this quickly! Pikachu, having read his expression shook his tiny head, but Ash refused to listen.
"You're too late, anyways. I'm on my way out of town. It'll be a new world when we're done with it; everything you did—it'll be for nothing."
"I wouldn't say it was for nothing." Ash grumbled confidently, which only enraged Sebastian further.
"I helped you back on your feet, and if you wanna keep your legs, you'll talk out of turn again." He threatened, shaking the gun at him.
"Which one of those traitors told you I was here, huh? Their heads will be on chopping blocks."
"Agatha did." Ash lied quickly, but Sebastian smirked. He spent the better part of Ash's first month watching him, he knew when Ash was lying.
"So it was dear Abby then, huh? Guess you can't train old dogs."
Ash felt his eye twitch, he frowned, and curled his hands into fists. When Sebastian held his hand up, the gleam of metal cuffs reflected back at Ash.
"Turn around."
"Where are you taking me?"
"I'd cut out my tongue before telling." When Ash turned, he could see pikachu in the reflection of a glass cupboard above the couch. He didn't resist, and was surprised to notice that pikachu knew to go along with it. Ash smirked, and fought the relieved sigh.
If he was lucky, Sebastian could take him right to Giovanni after all. Ash winked into the mirror, and behind him pikachu nodded and sniffed the air, and dipped behind the broken door once again.
"Walk." Sebastian ordered, digging the barrel of the gun into Ash's back. Mindlessly, Ash moved forward, holding his breath.
XOX
Ursula wasn't lying.
The ride to Sunnyshore was a rough one that met with random gusts of wind that nearly knocked him and flygon out of the sky. The winds forced them to fly lower and lower until they were barely over the tree line. From there, he could see the real damage.
People were stubborn. Some so much they stayed in their houses, refusing to leave, even though mountains of snow threatened to bury them alive. Trees crumpled from the weight of snow, and he saw how much it had grown from where Ursula warned him. If they didn't act fast, this would swallow the entire region, and the people—what was left of the people.
Ignoring the sinking feeling in his gut, Drew carried on through Pastoria City, until he finally landed outside of Sunnyshore City, at the break of dawn. His body was so tired, and worn; having done nothing but flee and travel for the last few weeks, he was ready to fall into bed, count his loses, and regret ever knowing any of these people—on the other hand, he eagerly moved forward, glad to be assisting in something so huge. That's why when he walked into the Sinnoh Region League headquarters, where walls of people usually lined up for jobs, advertisement, and news, was barren and empty; his stomach clenched.
The lights were all turned off, but the front door left unlocked. Most of the city was empty except for the docks loading people up, though they had no place to go. Unova wasn't accepting travellers, and Kanto was under lock down, which meant the only place left was Kalos region—and if they were having issues like Kanto, they would surely reject them. However, Drew guessed being in a boat was still better than freezing to death.
Team Rocket really put them into a bind here.
Notably, the signal tower hadn't affected any of the pokemon in the pound, as the pokemon were left to wonder back and forth alone—but that might have been due to the tower's location in Eterna City, which according to Ursula, was buried in snow days ago.
"Hello?" Drew called aimlessly, praying that Dawn and the rest of the Elite Four didn't flee the City.
In response to his echoed voice, the sound of clicking heels raced down the hallway from the staff quarters, and a bob of red hair poked out of the cracked door that washed relief into Drew's bones.
"Zoey, you're here." He sighed, rushing forward to hug her.
"We never left—how could we? Where have you been? Did you see how horrible it is here?" She hiccuped, then naturally included him; "How did things go in Kanto? We're so sorry about...well... you know. We thought you wouldn't be back until after the funeral."
Drew's eyebrows pinched, remembering that, outside of their little group, no one else knew that Misty and Gary were alive and well.
"They're not really dead." he broke the ice, wasting no time for an explanation. The clock was ticking, after all.
Zoey's tears dried immediately, replaced by intense confusion as Drew brushed past her to the conference room, and explained what had happened until this point.
"Team Rocket made an elaborate plan to force all the pokemon from the pound—and any with a chip—to behave violently and attack their trainers. It's why the other regions are under lock down. That's why I'm here, I came to shut down that tower and instead I saw this—the entire region is covered in a blanket of snow and...and Cynthia—are we sure it was...?"
Zoey went through every possible emotion, first surprise and frustration, then happiness and anger—and finally she settled on sadness at the mention of their former champion, followed by a silent nod that acted as the barrier for when Drew entered the conference room.
Sinnoh was less business inclined, and delved more into the practice of relaxation; thus, their hall was a series of large couches, coffee tables, and a large fireplace, unlike other leagues that considered of one stuffy large table. They enjoyed discussing potential changes in society with a cup of coffee, and comfortable seats. Today, however, as the sun crept through the windows illuminating the empty room, it appeared sad and decaying as the last remaining Elite Four member, Paul, sat stoically with his arms crossed, and the same pissed-off expression he always wore.
"Only Paul stayed?"
"The rest of the Elite Four have families. They evacuated nearly a week ago when the news about Cynthia first came out. People panicked."
Drew sighed, feeling a strange sense of dejavu. "They think Unova did this, don't they?"
"Didn't they?" Zoey asked, a subject of conversation that struck Paul.
Drew threw up his arms.
"No, of course not! They're as much victims here as we are! Team Rocket caused all of this. It's all connected."
Skeptical, Paul scowled. "How? Up until this point, their only known target has been the league and Kanto. Why would they choose the Sinnoh region to destroy? If you ask me, Sinnoh should have stayed out of it from the very start!"
"I don't know, maybe it was by accident. Ash mentioned that legendary pokemon play a huge part in how the world works—"
"Taking advice from a coma patient lunatic—he's the reason we were blindsided!"
"Stop fighting!" Zoey screamed, throwing her hands up between the two of them. "We don't have time for a pissing match and we don't have time to blame each other!"
"Even if Ash had never shown up asking for help, we would still be in this situation! Team Rocket wasn't going away unless we forced them out!" Drew turned furiously at Zoey, jaw cocked and frustrated, prepared to explain the complete insanity that was his last few weeks, when he looked around, suddenly worried.
"...Where's Dawn?"
Both last remaining members deflated and flinched at the mention.
"...She's in Cynthia's office... she hasn't moved much since we lost communication with Twin Leaf Town." Drew felt a chill run down his spine, that's where Joanna was headed before he left. "Then... then the news about Cynthia, and then whole region fell into chaos...She's been sitting there since."
Paul scoffed, he hadn't moved when Zoey walked Drew to the dark room, and cracked the door.
"I'll talk to her."
"We've tried-"
"Yeah, but I haven't." Drew removed his purple over-jacket, and handed it to Zoey. "Watch the door."
Approaching the young woman sitting in a large, leather business chair beyond a polished oak desk, the light from the crack in the door left them in pitch darkness. A slight gleam blinded him from a pin-hole size light source torn into the curtains, but the rest was shrouded in silence and darkness.
Drew's voice was barely above a hoarse whisper.
"Dawn?"
At first, nothing, no movement, no life. Then, she slowly turned, blue hair falling in front of deep blue eyes that typically brimmed with life and excitement, replaced instead with hollow, empty eyes. She said nothing, only watched.
"What are you doing, Dawn?" He asked her concave cheeks, and her pale skin—even in the darkness, he saw the reminiscent of a harsh last few days. Her whole body must have been in complete shock. A sigh fell from her lips, and yet she still did not speak.
At this point, the gentle gloves came off, and Drew whipped around the office to tear open the curtains, and let the sunlight devour the darkness. Naturally, the pupil of Dawn's eye shrunk, and she flipped away dramatically, throwing up her arms.
"I asked what you're doing, Dawn!"
"Cynthia is dead!" She shouted suddenly, her voice hoarse. Dark bags clung beneath her eyes that were highlighted by the sunlight, and both Paul and Zoey rushed in when they heard her scream. They stayed at the door when Drew fired back.
"Yeah, and so what?!"
With two steps, Dawn was only inches away from his face with her eyes on fire.
"She was our champion! She was called out there because of me! I sent her there!"
"And when this is all over, we'll have time to mourn everyone that we've lost! This has only just started, Dawn—there's people lined up at the Kanto border, ships overflowing with people that have no where to go and an onslaught of war threats! Losing Cynthia sucks, but we can't lose all of Sinnoh, not after everything we've worked for!"
Dawn took a step back at his shout. Drew lost all composure, his face red and body trembling in anger. "Not to mention what Team Rocket's been up to...they've started their onslaught, and it's not good..."
Drew breathed, collecting himself.
"These people need you, we don't have time to sit and feel sorry for ourselves!"
"Cynthia was my mentor!"
"Yeah, well she was mine, too, that doesn't change that we still need to keep going."
"Then why me? What do you want me to do?"
Drew's face screwed up, wasn't it obvious? The last year, whenever something went moderately astray, Dawn always stepped up—whether her words were twisted or not, she directed the hearts of the people to always play in their favor. Sure, now that Cynthia was gone, the safety net was as well—but that couldn't stop her.
"Talk to Iris, talk to the people, they love you, Dawn—they'll listen to you. The world has to know the truth now more than ever, about Team Rocket, about everything, because we're caught in the middle of a war and we need to work together."
"I agree, sitting in here on our hands isn't helping anyone." Paul chimed in surprisingly, earning everyone's gaze. "We should use the last of the broadcasting material we have in victory road to put a message out to the other regions."
"Paul is right. Maybe we could stir a rebellion." Zoey added, and Dawn felt angry, grey eyes on her.
"We've kept quiet too long about the heinous acts of Team Rocket, and now a better time than any to speak up."
"Jeeze... you two pick now to finally agree on something..." Dawn whispered, swallowing against the knot in her throat. "..but who's going to listen to us? We're not champions, and I'm just a figure-head—Even Misty was rebutted for her accusation, they called her crazy."
"The situation has changed since then." Drew reassured her. "It's gotten much, much worse. Half of Kanto is on fire, and from what we saw on those maps, the rest of the league isn't in for much better."
"Dawn," Paul interjected, closing his eyes. This talking business looked painful for the usually quiet member of the Elite Four. "We've been in charge of this region for years now, even without Cynthia, people will listen."
"If not, who else do they have to listen to, anyways?" Drew suggested, and Dawn, looking down closed her eyes.
"Alright. Let's get to the broadcasting studio in Victory Road."
XOX
The ride on mamoswine was brutal, yet overly efficient, the large woolly mammoth pokemon tore through the whipping winds and mountains of snow with the four trainers like knife through butter. As they traveled, Drew attempted his best reiteration of the last few weeks spent in Kanto with his best abilities—or at least the best explanation he could offer as the creature toppled over banks of snow piled on the bridge. All but Dawn held on with panic over their face, including Paul. Had they not been plunging through the thick of a summer winter, Dawn might have taken the time to laugh at Paul for his behavior.
At the moment, however, so very little felt funny. The news about what happened to May, Misty, and Gary didn't sit well with Dawn—she hadn't said much about the accident, or known that any of the three were still alive until Drew told her. They had been so disconnected since the blizzard started to grow, she spoke so little to the citizens, wrapped up selfishly in her own disbelief of their predicament. People that depended on the league's guidance were now freezing, waiting for another option.
"We're going to bust through the league gates. Hold on!" Dawn shouted and then with one great lunge, mamoswine dipped his massive tusks, and tore through the metal gates of the abandoned league building. They glided through the icy grounds, and slipped over the tile until landing with a thud against the heavy, steal doors of the battle dome.
One after one, they piled off the large mammoth, and Dawn thanked him then flicked the pokeball back into her grey winter coat.
"The broadcasting room is to the right, down this hall—follow me!" Zoey ushered them forward with her arm, and the three of them followed along the dimly lit halls. Without the bustle of people, the empty hallways echoed every step. However, inside once again, they could feel their body regaining warmth, and the whistle of distant destruction fell on deaf ears.
When they arrived, Dawn sat at the desk, and Zoey immediately ran to the camera and checked the power, as well as the connection. Drew, who wasn't technical savvy, stood off to the side with Paul, while the girls set up the receiver and backdrop. Dawn spun on her feet, flicked a few switches that were generally saved for the finals of the league, and exhaled.
They hadn't even thought of what they would say. What Paul would say.
"Alright, Paul, you're up."
The man in question blinked. "Me?"
"Yeah, you're the last Elite Four member, which means that if Cynthia is gone, the title goes to the next in line—that's you. As acting Champion, you'll be the main voice, I'll follow up."
A long frown formed over his face, and he nodded.
"Alright, then let's do this."
At the center of the room, now that silence funneled between them, Paul took the stand, where Dawn and Drew stood at his sides, and Zoey gave the thumbs up that they were recording under an emergency broadcast, available to all regions via the official battle network, which was the most viewed channel every year, for the last ten. However, no one, they suspected, was prepared for an announcement like this.
Five... Zoey held up her hand, and Paul glanced back at Daw, who waited patiently. Four... Drew looked at Paul, unsatisfied with Dawn's sudden decision. Three... The rules were stupid, they were in a crisis—who was what shouldn't have mattered at this point!
Zoey gave him the thumbs up, and Paul felt a kick inside of him stomach so hard, he spoke before thinking.
"Greetings to the members of the pokemon league; Kanto, Hoenn, Johto... Unova." he inhaled, his eyes glancing at his comrades for only a moment. "It is no secret, that we've fallen under some hard times. The Sinnoh region is buried under a blizzard, and with the loss of our champion, and the evacuation of fellow Elite Four members, I, Paul Shinji, during this crisis accept the title of League Champion to undergo the swift action that will be needed to establish a safe establishment under the current hostilities and natural disasters..." once again, his eyes shifted to Dawn, then back to the camera.
"...and in my first decree as champion, I hereby declare the full equality of coordinators and battlers; and make it my first issue to allow top-coordinators of a high quality the ability to hold the position and title of champion and Elite Four status." His lips pursed, then stared at Dawn.
"And for my second decree as champion, I would like to resign my title, and promote my replacement, Dawn Matthews, to the title of the Sinnoh Region Champion for her hard work and dedication, and leave the region in her capable hands during this time of need."
Dawn's face paled, and her mouth fell ajar at the idea. Eyes wide, mouth ajar, a million thoughts ran through her head at Paul's brief speech as he stepped back, and gestured her to the center.
"W..what?" She barely muttered as Paul gave a slight nod, and beside them, both Drew and Zoey's grins were beyond measure. This, Dawn hadn't been prepared for—she gave speeches and commentary, follow up and hilarious comments—never had she been given the position of...
..Then again, this shouldn't have been a surprise. After all, they came to her, waited for her. Dawn squeezed her eyes shut, then after licking her lips, stared into the lens of the camera, trying to imagine the scared faces of the trainers she helped daily, the travel companions, rivals—the terror in each of their eyes. She swallowed hard.
"This isn't a speech that anyone was prepared to hear—I wasn't prepared to give one, and I never suspected that we, as a region...as a league, would ever be here..."
"Cynthia is gone, and we will miss her dearly—her legacy will go on as one of the greatest Champions that the Sinnoh Region has ever had but that does not excuse her three year absence. It does not change the fact that now that she's gone, we have to keep moving forward. It's a trying time, but now isn't the time to grieve our losses."
"These last few weeks—years—we've watched out beloved region suffer through new regulations, absurd restrictions and rules, and an over-reaching fear of stray pokemon that have been sent to Pokemon Facilities for preservation. There was a time—not too long ago—that we used to live in harmony, we didn't need pounds, or rules, we all played the game by the rules, and the world was a brighter place. A happier place. "
"Now, we watch as a blizzard above Mountain Coronet rips apart our cities, forcing us to flee—where we are left frozen in the cold at the borders by our neighbors to the south, and our former allies to the east have welcomed us with threats of war. However, even in these trying times—we haven't yet been introduced to the true enemy."
Nervous sweat dripped down the back of her neck as she took a long breath.
"Some of you don't believe us—after all, how could you? You're terrified of war, of losing people—but let me tell you, you've been losing people all along. People have gone missing, pokemon have been taken, our leaders have been manipulated, all by the same corrupted team that has been trying to silence us for the last ten years: Team Rocket."
"I was as surprised as you, I'm sure, when Unova proclaimed war against Kanto, but how do you think what-was supposed to be a peaceful territory suddenly decided to put up arms? Because they have been ruled by Team Rocket for the last several years. I didn't believe it—not until I heard the stories of the compounds, seen the pictures. I...never wanted to believe it—but look around you, and tell yourself it isn't true. Where have they been the last few years? Absent from competitions, from battles—trainers who leave for Unova never return, and those that try are turned away."
"The truth is that... a few months ago, we discovered that our fellow region, Unova, never got away, they were never saved, or released. We discovered that the Kanto region was heavily influenced by the criminal organizations objectives. Whether or not you believe that is up to you. All I ask is that you look around, look at the changes, the hostility, the violence—look at the oppression and media manipulation. For ten years we've been lied to and guided by a corporate psychopath and his legion of monsters. Look at what we've become as a league—destruction, fear and slander guides us—enough that we turn away our allies in need—we attack one another in panic."
Slowly, her voice grew quiet, reflecting on her own behavior the last week, then with a strong inhale, she looked down: "We grow silent in the darkness, in fear of what's next. In fear that our utopia was only a lie. We are forced to accept that it was, that it's not just an adventure, it's not fun and games—this is serious, but we can still fight! We're not done yet, and so long as I am standing, I won't stop fighting, and I know there are many of you who will rise to the challenge as well. We need to work together, not just the citizens of Sinnoh, but the regions—Right now we see the loss of our homes, we have watched mother-nature rip us apart, and why do you think this is happening?"
"Because some monsters decided to play god with pokemon, and we can't let them win-We have to hold out a little longer because Kanto isn't evil like Team Rocket, they're misguided, but we can't give up-!"
screeech
Static blared from the machines as the power suddenly faulted, and they stood in darkness. Dawn hiccuped, throwing her hands down and nearly screaming. Tears stung at her eyes, memories of the recent events flooded into her mind—reminding her how little she helped prevent the fall of Kanto. Dawn held her mouth as Zoey flailed her arms to find her footing in the darkness.
"What happened?"
"I looks like the power's gone out." Drew murmured, finding his way to the center podium with with his hands. Paul bumped into him once, and eventually, they stood together. In the shadows, they could only see faint outlines of their companions; what little comfort this brought was destroyed by the sound of wind cracking the windows above.
"Because of the storm?" A frightened Zoey whispered.
Drew grunted. "Probably. We need to get out of here before it gets worse. It's probably blown out the back-up power."
Dawn's head spun.
"Are you okay?" She wasn't sure who asked her, or how she had gone so far off her original ideas—venting about an organization she couldn't control. She was glad for the darkness to hide her emotions, and refused to answer.
"How? We have no where to go—Kanto's not opening their borders without a fight and Iris isn't a friend of ours. We'd be lucky if Frace would accept us, but if they're under the same heat as Kanto it's unlikely they'll welcome us with open arms."
"Then we'll fight them." Paul retorted immediately, much to Zoey's dismay.
"Wait—if we fight, we'll lose a lot more people than will be worth it. I can go to the border, and try to talk with the Kanto guards—maybe we can make a plea to the Kanto-region Champion-"
"Are you kidding me?" Paul scoffed. " He's been absent for almost ten years, other regions don't know his name—what good will that do?"
"Then we'll talk to Lance—because we have to talk to somebody." The strain in Dawn's voice as they felt the ground shake brought them to an uncomfortable silence, and they realized they needed to make their way out of the building.
How fast the storm was spreading terrified them, though they would never admit it out loud.
Without words, they exited through the door where they entered, and one by one filled the windowed hallway. The light burned their eyes temporarily, but in the distance, they could see the clouds swirling over their heads, and their breath left them. A chill, perhaps the cold outside seeping through, filled the air.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place—telling the world about Team Rocket would hopefully help society with acknowledgement of the true danger they are facing, but what real goal did she have other than proving to them that they were not alone? In the end, they were all alone—they could fight Team Rocket, but they couldn't stop the blizzard. How could she help thousands of people?
They were in a real crisis, but no action was worse than a good attempt. Dawn spun to look at her comrades—who knew as well as she did that their options were limited. They couldn't rip through the border of Kanto, to smuggle them over would take too long, and a shore-ride to the dragon infested, legendary pokemon assaulted island of Unova was out of the question.
"...Kanto is still our best bet."
"Or Johto." Drew suggested, though they knew that Lance controlled those borders, too.
"Anywhere would be better than freezing."
"But how are we supposed to get thousands of people over a border—whose to say that they would be safe there!?" Zoey snapped.
"Kanto is still Kanto, they aren't all controlled by Team Rocket-"
"but our allies are a presumed dead Elite Four member and a terrorist." Paul interjected.
Between their banter, Dawn's eyes bounced back and forth, listening to their angry cries and reasons. Without being noticed, she turned away from them and approached the foggy window, and placed the palm of her hand against the cold.
In the distance, she saw a few boats still sitting on the shore, beyond that, she saw fog—beyond that, she knew that Unova was only a day away, as was the ever-terrifying, formerly-captive prisoner and Dragon Champion, Iris.
"Stop it!" Dawn yelled, her strong voice demanding silence from her companions. "We'll make Kanto open their doors."
Their faces screwed up as Dawn folded her arms. "We still need to take out Team Rocket, and we know that the other regions Signal Towers, or whatever, have been activated thanks to Drew. We know that Ash, and Misty are on their way to stop Giovanni, and Brock, May, Max, and Gary are prepared to help the other regions. We know that the tower here is nonoperational due to the storm, which means my primary concern is the citizens of the region. If Kanto won't open their doors willingly, we'll make them."
All eyes, mostly concerned, were on the confident woman. "...How do you plan on doing that?"
"Iris has already made proclamations to the Kanto region, assuming she isn't under the same electrical deficiency as we are, if we can convince her to stand down, we could make a peaceful arrangement with Lance—maybe we can get him to listen to us given the circumstances."
"That's...that's putting a lot of faith in Iris." Paul's amazement faded as he spoke, exchanged with concern.
"We all used to know Iris, she was a little wild, but she was never hostile. I know if she understood the whole story, she wouldn't mindlessly wage war. If we can get Iris to settle down, Lance might be more open to allowing Sinnoh refugees given the lack of war he'll be faced with."
"That's smart." Drew chimed in, quickly adding. "But how are you going to get to Unova? I don't know if you've noticed, but we're short a boat, or water pokemon for proper travel."
"Even then, it wouldn't be safe to travel by sea right now, since the storm has finally reached the coast, this could get ugly..." Zoey added, and Dawn chewed her lips for thought.
Rolling his eyes, Paul crossed his arms. Whatever feeble emotion he was carrying died with his frown.
"Right, but let's think like pokemon trainers, not pathetic coordinators."
"Hey—you were the one that just made a coordinator the champion!" Dawn, Drew, and Zoey yelped in unison, but knew that his low-key insult was simply Paul's demeanour.
"We don't have to travel the whole way—there's a whole ocean of powerful water pokemon, and between the four of us, we have at least six. If we can catch a larger one, we can surf to Unova with the help of flying pokemon—and repeat until we make it. The further from shore we get, the safer the tides should be."
"That's..."
Paul immediately interrupted Dawn.
"It's not cruel. It's practical. The pokemon will be grateful that we don't keep them after the journey."
"But we can't all go." Zoey strained to speak. "Drew has to go to the old Kalos region, and someone has to stay behind with the people waiting at the borders—There's no doubt that what Dawn said today is not going to fall on deaf ears, and what good is all of this if Kanto chooses to execute the people we have down there?"
"You're right, Zoey, and since you're more personable than Paul—you should go to the border. Paul and I will chance the ocean and Drew will help France recover from this tower thing." Her deep blue eyes shifted remorsefully to the green-haired man. "If we fail, for whatever reason, you'll get a guarantee from Diantha, or whoever is in charge of the former league to allow Sinnoh Region refugees in until this storm passes."
Drew took a step back, blinking. "...Of... Of course. I'll do whatever it takes."
"Then it's settled." Dawn inhaled, trying her best to smile, though the weight of the world was too heavy. "Zoey, I'll lend you mamoswine to get to the border-"
"Then I'll lend you lumineon. You might be able to get her to find an appropriate sized water pokemon for your crazy journey."
Dawn's eyes flashed up at her immediate response—a time ago, Zoey might have tried to rationalize with Dawn, after all, she could tell that the red-head wasn't supportive of their decision. Then again, trying times brought out the best and worst in people, and when the two exchanged their pokeballs, a grin was passed between long-time friends, and former rivals.
"It might be crazy—but what else do we have right now?"
Not wanting her more 'reasonable' plans to be neglected, Zoey nudged Dawn's shoulder with sad eyes.
"We could all go to the border and talk to the patrol there; Lance might talk with you."
Dawn couldn't look at Zoey when she shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah... but did you see what he tried to do to Misty? I think it's best if we have leverage."
Words pressed against Zoey's lips, a retaliation that she did not speak. Instead, she nodded. "...I see."
"Anyways, let's get this show on the road—we don't have time to waste." In times of high-stress, Paul always sounded authoritative; admiring to all but knew him—those that did found his personality sometimes a bit abrasive and pushy. However, his heart was in the right place.
"Alright, then let's go!"
"Wait—we should decide on a place to meet when-" "If we are successful, we won't need one, Drew."
"Don't draw this out," Dawn waved over her shoulder as they walked in tandem to the exit. For the first time, Drew saw where Dawn and the Kanto natives would get along. "There's no need to worry, let's just see this through and we'll worry about the rest later!"
XOX
Ash always had a gut feeling that whatever his purpose was—he would serve it among the living. Giovanni had a million chances to kill Ash, but he never acted. This was the only faith that reminded him even though he had a gun pointed at his back, Sebastian wouldn't pull that trigger. However, bringing him directly to Giovanni was surprising. With the addition of Ho-oh, Team Rocket should have known the whereabouts of the rest of the legendary pokemon; in time, they would find them all, even without Ash's help. So now Ash asked himself, what more could he offer?
Sebastian was far form helpful, throwing out commands until they reached the lower parking garage. Ash only hoped pikachu was able to keep on his scent, as Sebastian already removed his pokeball belt. He suddenly thought his idea wasn't so great, that maybe exhaustion and sore, achy muscles were more a factor than he believed—then, from the corner of his eye, Ash saw another flash of yellow and sighed.
There was no need to worry, they could do this together. Then, as they neared a silver sedan without a license plate, Sebastian opened the trunk of his car and Ash visibly flinched.
"Get in the trunk."
"Now try it with a please." Ash laughed nervously, but heard the gun cock back, and gulped.
Again he reminded himself, Giovanni didn't want him dead—or maybe Giovanni wanted to do it himself after sending lackey's after Ash so often.
For a moment, he hesitated. If he wanted to, he could have pikachu act now, end it with an electric shock so wild Sebastian would fall, crippled under the pressure of lightning. Afterwards, Ash could make him talk, get directions, the full story—but all of these events would take time, and while he originally thought they still had some time left, the current state of Viridian City terrified him, the activation of the signal towers mortified him—and Misty's disappearance filled him with a dread so deep and hollow, he wasn't sure he would ever feel happiness again.
Swallowing down the knot formed in his throat, Ash reminded himself this was the quickest way into enemy territory, he only prayed that the former-therapist lack of information about Ash would work in his favor. After all, Ash knew what he was capable of now, as did pikachu. When their backs were against a wall, they would win. No matter what, this time, they had to stand victorious.
Glancing for only a moment back at pikachu's reflection in the metal of the car, Ash inhaled, then listening to Sebastian's warnings and quips, finally crawled into the cramped interior of the silver vehicle. Resting his head against the wheel bump, Ash looked up and swore under her breath at Sebastian's over-confident smile, and victorious grin.
"We're gonna go for a ride, so don't make any noise—not like anyone wants to help you."
With one swift motion, darkness swallowed him until his eyes adjusted to the faintly lit trunk. Ash was never a fan of cars to begin with, but now that his first personal experience, outside of a taxi, was in a tobacco infested, itchy trunk with his hip bone grinding painfully against the spare tire, he let out a very long, and frustrated sigh he had been containing.
Now that he was here, bound and quiet, he felt robbed of a few necessities; light, fresh air, and the faith that he would be successful.
When the engine revved up, Ash held his breath, and squeezed his eyes shut- praying his instincts didn't fail him now.
Author's Note:
A few things, I still have to call Kalos 'France' from that decision I made in the start of the story. Where Kalos isn't a part of the league anymore, so they 'changed' their name. Sorry if that's confusing! Furthermore, I realize I kind of skimmed through what happened with Sinnoh but I think the 'feeling' of the portion could be described perfectly by Dawn's last words. "Don't worry about it, we'll figure the rest out later" Since they're all under a time crunch, I wanted them to feel like they're in a hurry, that includes Dawn's "snap out of it" with Drew. She isn't the type of person to 'linger' on her problems.
The idea of a bunch of trainers gathered around asking "How do we get across the ocean" when there are literally pokemon named "waillord" made me laugh, so like the time when snorlax decided to swim, I decided on a creative, albeit, reckless solution. Drew's changed a little, hasn't he?
ASH WAS KIDNAPPED, OH NOES. At this point, I imagine Ash has developed a million wrinkles from just being so done with everything.
Thanks again for all the support; the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive and I appreciate all the favorites and follows.
NINT