Chapter Twenty-Five: Turbulence
"Well?" Sofia asked impatiently.
"Ugh… I guess we'll go for the Mistralton site." Trainers willing to challenge Omega were becoming scarcer the weeks following the Galar's surrender. People were either becoming discouraged and not contesting Omega's conquest or were being defeated and taken.
To make matters worse, the invasion came with a lot of unforeseen effects. Things such as food and sanitation products had always been easily available, always a trip to the store away. But now that shipments of all sorts had ceased and most stores around these parts had long since been looted, there was nothing left. Now in order to survive, they had to stand for hours in lines that were heavily guarded for them to disperse necessities. There was something especially humiliating about accepting help from one's invaders. At least water and electricity were still up…
Both he and Sofia had participated in nearly a dozen missions each. She had won her battles handily each time while Aaron's team more or less barely slipped by. Omega's trainers favored no particular type or battling style, though many of them did seem to possess rather powerful species, only heightening the uncertainty associated with each battle.
If there was a silver lining to this whole thing, though, it was that he often got to see Pierce. Sofia's team was also, in his opinion, a net positive for his own. They often sparred with each other and the company proved welcome – all except for Silenus, her reclusive ferrothorn. All of them were fantastic resources, too, each possessing great knowledge and skillset when it came to battling. They had taken well after their trainer.
Though it was a bit awkward being in proximity to that particular trainer, especially after what had occurred between her and Nora.
Seth looked like he was struggling not to doze off at the table as his trainer scrolled through her phone, the ampharos' eyes being heavy and only blinking back to attention every so often. "What's wrong?" Sofia asked Aaron. "You seem out of it."
"Huh?" She looked at him expectantly. "Oh, my bad. It's just… we almost lost back at Nuvema." Marcus looked down as though he had something to be ashamed of. "A deoxys for fuck's sake. That isn't fair at all."
"Yeah…" He didn't know how her team would have fared against that cobalion, either. Maybe both of them had caught a lucky break. "Well, live and learn. Whatever could have happened didn't, so no use worrying about it now."
"Right."
"But we do need to step things up. Clearly these guys have a lot of legendaries. We need to be prepared to deal with that." If anything, that was less comforting a thought.
"Eh, they bleed all the same," Wynette said with a shrug.
"I guess…" Aaron and his team could vouch for that fact. "So that's it, then? We defend Mistralton, you defend Aspertia? Then we meet up afterwards if everything went well?"
"Sounds like a plan." Aaron nodded in agreement, hoping that everything did go well.
The living room was full – far more so than its builders had likely intended. Marina and Krista chatted idly while the television was running on low volume. He often wondered why Omega so often showcased the ongoings around the world. Maybe they wanted people to be aware of what was happening – or maybe they just wanted to flaunt their success. Either way, it was annoying that the only source of public information was from them.
Aaron felt Nora discreetly make a move for his hand under the table. These past few years, he had missed being in a relationship, though this particular one wasn't something that he imagined himself getting into in a million years. Sofia and her team already knew; if she had something negative to say about it, she kept it to herself. But what about his father? How would Robert react? He still had yet to release that bit of news. His fingers slipped between her digits. With everything going on in the world, it was nice to have someone to fall back on. She discretely motioned for him to follow her outside.
"Hey, we're gonna step outside for a minute," Aaron said. Sofia nodded, not looking up from her phone, and Nora cut him an unamused glare. Once the door shut, she folded her arms.
"I meant for it to be a lot more subtle than that."
"Oh." She rolled her eyes. "Well? What's up?" The typhlosion dismissed her agitated demeanor and smiled.
"I wanted to try something," Nora said, closing her eyes and focusing. He looked at her curiously until he felt an all-too-familiar push against his mind. 'Can you hear me?'
"Damn, that didn't take long at all…"
'Adira showed me yesterday – and I've been practicing all morning with Marcus. Though… I guess my first telepathic words should have been something more interesting…'
'Hey,' Aaron thought, 'that's still pretty impressive. Marcus said it took him months to learn and Krista still doesn't really have it figured out yet.' He heard her giggle in his head, smiling at the sound. 'Don't tell her I told you that little detail.'
'Mmm, alright.'
'So, anything else? Or should we head back inside?'
'Eh, maybe in a minute," Nora replied. 'You aren't in a rush to listen to Sofia babble on about her plans, are you?'
'Not particularly.'
'Good.' She sat down on the porch steps and patted the area next to her. He laughed, checking the window behind him to make sure they weren't being peered over, and joined her. Nora cuddled up to his side.
'Clingy girl,' he joked, putting his arm around her and kissing her cheek.
'You think I'm clingy?'
'Very.' She backed away, giving him an almost offended look. 'And I think it's adorable.' Nora brushed under his chin, looking up eagerly, almost expecting him to close the distance. And he would have, too, had something not caught his attention from the sky. Chloe, Sofia's noivern, was approaching them, only barely managing to slow her descent with a few heavy flaps before crashing into the ground. Both Aaron and Nora looked at her like deer in the headlights as she heavily panted.
"What's wrong?!" Nora asked. She held a claw up, eagerly sucking in oxygen, until her gasps became less pronounced. Chloe stumbled forth and Aaron caught her. Supporting her, they worked their way into the house, and as everyone stared in concern, the noivern broke the news.
"Alpha's trying to blow up the bridge!"
"What?!"
"They're strapping it with dynamite now!" She slumped against the wall, sliding down to the floor after having flown back full speed. Aaron had heard her say something about going for a leisurely flight. It appeared that had been anything but…
"The Driftveil Bridge?" Sofia asked, receiving a nod in return.
"What reason would they have to blow up their own bridge?" Aaron couldn't understand how such a move would profit them until Nora spoke up. Her eyes went wide at the realization.
"They're trying to trap everyone here…" A gut-wrenching silence spread throughout the room. But with the increase of Delta members retreating from Kanoma into the Unovan cities – particularly Nimbasa and Castelia – such a move made sense.
"They're taking advantage of the lack of a government," Sofia stated. "Shit. They'd slaughter everyone around here if it meant sinking Delta for good."
"We've gotta do something!" Krista said. Aaron shrugged.
"What do you want us to do? Go out there and get ourselves killed?"
"Well if it's between that and staying here and getting killed, I'd at least like to try and fight." Marcus had a point. But what could the twelve of them do against dozens of Alpha members armed to the teeth? It was then that Krista offered a suggestion that nobody liked.
"…We could tell Omega," she said meekly. Immediately everyone shot her an accusatory glare.
"Absolutely not! We are not helping those guys!" Aaron said. "I'm not about to have you four fighting alongside the very people we're trying to take down!"
"Well between the three teams, at least they seem to care about preserving life!" she said. "I don't like them any more than you do, but we don't have a lot of options! And I don't know about you, but I don't like the idea of being shot!" Aaron's jaw clenched shut, knowing she was right but hating that fact all the same. His typhlosion rested her cheek against her hand.
"She has a point," Nora said.
"This sucks." Sofia only stated the obvious. "But I guess we have no choice. You want to make the call, Aaron? Or should I?"
"Fine. I guess I'll do it. How far along were they, Chloe?" She had finally managed to catch her breath.
"I don't know – but they were moving the explosives to the bridge when I saw them." That hadn't been too long ago, but counting the time it would take them to drive there, there wasn't a lot of time left to act. Any minute a distant explosion could be heard. With equal parts reluctance and fear, they rushed out of the house and got in the cars.
"Thank you for your cooperation, citizen," the soldier said.
"Don't mention it," Aaron mumbled, hanging up. The number Omega had broadcasted over the local news was not one that he ever imagined himself using. The fact that the invaders had now assumed the jurisdiction that had once been possessed by human governments was terrifying, but right now, he had other things to worry about.
Like not dying on this absolutely absurd, borderline suicidal, mission. One that wouldn't even grant them any progress against Omega. Aaron and his team parked beside Sofia's car and got out, scanning the area. They approached the bank, careful to stay out of sight. Dozens of pickup trucks were haphazardly parked along both sides of the river, and several of those on the other end had lowered trailers into the water, allowing their boats access to the water. From the looks of it, they could count eight, three at each rotating joint and a pair coasting along with some water-types. A blastoise and gyarados looked particularly hostile. Throughout the river, multiple local water-types peaked over the surface, powerless to do anything against humans with guns.
"Alright, so now what?" Aaron asked.
"We keep them busy until Omega arrives," Sofia stated. "They won't risk detonating while they're near it, so we don't have that to worry about."
"I guess we should split up. One of us should take the guys on the bridge while the other focuses on the guys in the water. If we don't, the other group might retreat and blow us all up." Each of the two options came with risks: the team on top the bridge would be easy targets while those below would be in trouble should anyone fall into the water. And while Sofia's team might be better suited for that given a flier and a vaporeon, there were definitely more people up top.
A slosh was heard to their side, catching them by surprise. The pokémon went on guard, ready to fight and blow their cover, as a floatzel stepped onto the bank, staring back at them in frustration. "What do y'all want? Here to help these assholes?" A heavy frown set on her face. Though she was pissed, it was hard to deny her pout was somewhat adorable. Everyone relaxed, glad that she wasn't with Alpha.
"No," Marcus said. "Actually, we're here to stop them…"
"Well hello there," she said, her tone lightening somewhat. "So you guys aren't cowboys. Are you with the blue lunatics? Or those people with the metal suits?" It took Aaron a minute to figure out what she was saying.
"Oh – no, we aren't with either of the other two teams. We're tired of all of these damn groups." The water-type nodded.
"You and me both." She huffed in annoyance. "You go out there, you die. I don't suppose you noticed those basculin floatin' about, did ya?" Krista recoiled away from the sight, gripping Aaron's leg tightly. "Yeah. Good luck with that and all…" She walked off a bit to the side and left them to themselves, plopping onto her stomach ungracefully in the grass.
"Seth and I can take care of their guns." Nora had become somewhat confident in her new abilities. The ampharos nodded, able to use magnetism to accomplish a similar feat as her telekinesis. Once those were out of the picture all that was left was to win the battles. But numbers definitely weren't on their side. "Well?"
"Fuck it," Aaron said. "If you guys can take care of that, then I guess we've got a shot. I just hope we know what we're doing…"
"We'll take the top of the bridge," Sofia said. "Looks like there are twice as many guys up there." She frowned, looking over the various moving figures on the drawbridge. To think they were going to blow up what had become one of Driftveil's own icons would have been crazy to think about a year ago. Now it seemed like anything was on the table.
"So how are we gonna fight the guys on the water?" Aaron pondered the issue until the tip of Aster's tail nudged him. He pointed towards a pair of Alpha members loading their boat into the water. "That's both a really good and bad idea…"
"Got any others?"
"No."
"Then let's go." Sofia's team went on their way, slipping back uphill to the road while Aaron and his team crept towards the unsuspecting enemies. Hopefully Omega wouldn't take too long to get here. They watched as the boat's motor was cranked before springing into action. Nora was fast as lightning, ripping their pistols from their holsters before slamming their heads into the side of the boat. Everyone looked at her in shock.
"What?"
"Nothing," Aaron said, approaching the vehicle and shoving one of the unconscious bodies out of the way. He picked up the pistol just in case; though he really didn't know anything about guns, he figured it wouldn't be too hard to point it somewhere and pull the trigger. It looked like a 9mm.
Everyone got on board as Aaron stared at the wheel and its nearby levers and gauges. "Do you know how to use this thing?" Krista asked.
"No."
"Some plan this turned out to be, Aster."
"Shut up!" the serperior hissed.
"Guess I'll figure it out." Aaron forced a dry laugh. One lever clearly was comparable to the stick shift within a car. An "R" on the side told him all he needed to know. "There we are." He reversed the boat, hearing the motor hum to action as he gently pushed the gas. They backed up; he turned, and mashing the pedal, sped towards the multitude of other boats. The trainer's heart started racing as they quickly became nearer. Nobody suspected a thing. Wind tugged at his clothes as the front lifted from the surface. His four pokémon held onto the seats tightly.
"Get ready to jump onto their boats!" Aaron yelled over the noise. White foam sprayed over each side of the boat as he could clearly make out the features on the enemy blastoise. He clenched the wheel and made a slight detour to remove one opponent from the equation. The boat rocked as a loud thump could be heard from underneath, all but flinging everyone onto the ground.
"Hey!" one of the Alpha members shouted, pointing towards Aaron's boat. "They ain't with us – they done took Clyde's boat! Shoot 'em!" Before any pokéballs or weapons were withdrawn, Aaron sped by the first bridge support. Nora reached out, snatching their weapons into the water as they passed them. Thinking fast, Marcus shot an aura sphere towards the incoming boats, forcing their drivers to swerve aside and flinging everyone to the ground. He leaped onto one of them along with Aster, force palming the driver over the side just as a machamp was released.
Aaron drove towards the last three boats, hoping that they would be fine on their own. He clenched the wheel and froze up as black rifles were pointed towards them. Water rose around them as gunfire echoed across the river. Holy shit! He frantically looked towards Nora – the only person keeping them alive right now – as bullets streamed through the water and came to a quick halt. She brought a protective ring around the boat as the Alpha members drew near and circled around. The gyarados from before sprung up beside their boat. Krista thrust her arms forth and sent electricity towards the creature. A terrible roar came from the creature, and as a burning current seared his flesh, he dove beneath the surface and abandoned any attempt of attacking them.
"Shoot that son of a bitch!" a voice called from somewhere. Motors revved as Nora held her guard. She glanced over, seeing an opening, and sent forth a blast of water towards one of the enemy drivers, flinging him out of his boat.
"Drive!" Nora yelled. Aaron mashed the pedal and ducked as though the fiberglass siding would be enough to protect him from bullets. The typhlosion jumped with a frightening level of athleticism onto another nearby boat, attacking the humans and pokémon there. A beam materialized on his own as gunfire dulled the sounds of people yelling. His ears rung as a marowak was released onto their boat and immediately swung his bone club at Krista. She leaped back and responded with an ice beam.
The trainer dove to the ground as bullets cut through the boat. Water began spraying through the bottom. His fingers fumbled as he gripped the pistol, not knowing what to do with it aside from the few video games he had played – and he doubted those were good representations of what to do here.
He sprung up, barely peeking over the side, and just pulled the trigger in the general direction of the other boat. Though he didn't know where he was shooting, they reacted all the same, taking cover just as he had. "Krista!" She only knocked the marowak back with a dazzling gleam before shooting a glance towards her trainer. He picked the audino up, gripping her against his left side, and floored it, bracing for impact. The marowak was slammed into the console and fell limp as their boat collided with the side of the other. As the rocking came to a halt, Aaron shot several bullets into the side of their boat. Fear gripped him. Was he about to kill someone? Had he already done so? He stood over the side of the boat, ready to ensure that they didn't stand and aim their weapons again, until a motion under the water caught his eyes and made his heart stop.
The boat was flung over as the gyarados surfaced underneath, flinging the two inhabitants into the deep, concealing river. Water filled his mouth and nose, and Aaron looked around frantically for Krista and for a gyarados that wanted to kill them. His audino swam towards Aaron quickly, grabbing ahold of him, and the two swam to the surface, sputtering water and straining for breath. He tried to climb the capsized boat to no avail as a click sounded above.
He was staring down the barrel of a .44 magnum.
That was it. He'd failed, and amid the chaos of the fight, Nora wasn't here to save him this time. And a single question rung through his mind: where was he headed after that bullet penetrated his skull?
A splash sounded somewhere and a shard of ice slammed into the man's head, sending him to the ground as though it had gone through his brain. Droplets shot out in each direction as a floatzel skimmed the surface with all the grace of an ice-skater.
He didn't have time to ponder what had happened when he and Krista were dragged under the surface. The water-type's larger fangs only narrowly missed them in his hasty grab. The smaller ones, though, pierced his clothing and dug into his flesh. His yell of pain was absorbed by the water. They sped to the depths as light became scarcer and scarcer. If the bullet wouldn't have done it, this dark underwater chasm and snarling gyarados just might. In desperation, Krista grabbed each side of the larger creature's face, right beside his eyes, and sent a wicked shock through the water. Aaron felt it crawl through his own skin as water rushed in and filled his throat. The sea serpent flailed, releasing his hold on Aaron and twitching in place. Taking the chance, they swam in the direction Aaron felt was upward. His chest felt like it was full of lead, collapsing in on itself. Despite the approaching light, his vision became darker.
A surge of current lifted them up, all but hurling them out of the water and towards the enemy boat. His hands found the small latter near the motor. Krista climbed up his back and leapt on top as he coughed and sputtered. A bright light flashed before she turned around and looked down at him. "All clear!" she said. With what remaining strength he had left, Aaron climbed up and rolled over, not five feet away from the Alpha member that the audino had just knocked out. Streams of light peeked through the side of the boat, and through one of them, he saw the floatzel from before skating across the water towards Marcus and Aster.
"Get up!" Krista yelled. "We need to get to the others!" She grappled at his t-shirt, which stuck to his skin. He reluctantly stumbled to the steering wheel and sped towards the others. Nora used what looked like a pyshock attack against a sawk. His head snapped back, and in that split second, she lunged forth, slamming her fist into his nose. The fighting-type's body fell limp within the boat. Her eyes darted over before going wide.
"Aaron!" He looked down, seeing the spots of blood along his chest. The wounds weren't deep at all but definitely bled like they were.
"I'm fine." In truth, he didn't feel the cuts. He probably would later. A familiar whirring was drawing close, and those who still retained consciousness looked up. Two airships descended onto the bridge itself while one circled above the surface of the water. The fighting ceased as Omega held everyone up. As the boat came to a slow halt beside the other, Nora hopped on and pulled him into a tight hug.
They eventually made it back to the bank where Aaron laid down on the dirt with little concern. Omega was busy making arrests and removing explosives; Sofia's team had yet to make their way back. The sun descended behind a bridge that would remain standing for the foreseeable future. A few light footsteps caught him out of his stupor.
"You saved Krista and I…"
"Yeah, don't mention it," she said, placing her hand on her hip. "You two looked like you could use the help."
"But why?" asked the audino. "Why'd you help us?"
"I didn't think you guys would actually be crazy enough to attack them…" She cracked a slim smile. "But here we are. You dumbasses actually did it…"
"That was some fighting. Where did you learn all that?" Aster asked. A look of indifference took over.
"Eh, once upon a time I fought at the water gym, actually. Was gonna be on the leader's team but I didn't quite make the cut. Figured I'd venture out on my own rather than sit the bleachers and be second string."
"Makes sense." Marcus seemed to draw that smile out again.
"Well whatever the case, thank you so much," Nora said, all but pulling herself into Aaron. "You saved our trainer."
"Mhm – about that. Would y'all mind buzzing off for a sec? Think I'd like to have a word with him." Everyone looked at each other in confusion, but eventually, they did as she asked. Aaron sat up. Salt from the brackish water still stung his eyes.
"Hey, what's up?"
"You're crazy," she said. "You and your team. And yet you pulled that off."
"Thanks to you."
"Yeah, yeah – I know." She smirked. "Name's Brooke!"
"…Aaron."
"Well nice to meet ya." He took the paw she offered. Very humanlike, he noted. Not 'wild' at all. "So…"
"Yeah?"
"Isn't this the part where you offer me a spot on your team or somethin' like that?" the floatzel asked.
"You… want to join us? Why?"
"I dunno – I guess just driftin' around without any goals was fun and all for a couple years, but it's gotten boring. You guys, though, seem to like getting into trouble."
"No kidding," Aaron replied. "Well, I don't see why not. We only have four – and we could definitely use someone of your skillset."
"Alright!" Her pointy teeth peeked through her jubilant grin. "This should be fun. Besides, it's not every day you see a trainer who's doin' his pokémon." His cheeks flushed.
"We're not… doing anything." That much was true.
"Uh-huh. Sure. Well, I don't judge. Humans ain't exactly my cup of tea, but to each their own." Her eyes darted over towards the others, then back towards her new trainer. "Your lucario, on the other hand… well, I could climb him like a tree."
"Alright, I did not need to hear that."
A/N: And this marks the halfway point of the story. Special thanks to FuryWrites for beta reading this chapter.