Divided We Stand
by CidGregor and DragonShadow
Chapter Six: Reunions
The horizon burned with the orange light of dawn as it did every morning, giving one the lie that this was just another ordinary day. Yet the black smoke that quickly began to drown out the light of the sun, and replace its orange light with a burning fury of its own, dispelled any notion of a normal day. The people of Pewter City emerged one-by-one from their homes, aroused by the smell of the smoke or the sound of the inferno from which it poured, and could only stare in shock at the sight that met them. Parents held their children close, while those couples with no children could only hold one-another.
The people gasped again in fright as a bright orange figure whooshed by overhead, bounding from rooftop to lamppost to rooftop with inhuman dexterity as it made a straight dash toward what had once been Pewter Gym. White and fiery orange feathers drifted to the ground as it passed, its feet clinging to every perch it could find while its wing-like arms remained enclosed around itself as if holding two figures tightly against its chest. Soon the Blaziken reached the final building that stood around the perimeter of the gym and slowly rose to its full height, releasing two young girls from its arms.
"I…I can't believe they would do this…" May put her hands over her mouth, staring in horror at the flaming building.
"They already did it in Cerulean City…" Misty looked around at the crowd with a sudden sense of urgency. "But… I don't see Brock's family out here…"
As if to confirm her unspoken concern, an explosion erupted from the side of the building, drawing a fearful gasp from the crowd. Debris momentarily concealed the massive body of a Machamp as it flew back through the air, yelling and flailing at nothing. Its solid body slammed into the side of the building Misty and May were standing on, punching through it with enough force to make the entire building wobble.
"Aaaiiiieeee!" May and Misty screamed, but Blaziken's arms wrapped around them again and it leapt through the air, spinning to land on its feet easily by the side of the lake that flowed in front of the Pewter City Gym.
Misty whirled back toward the gym. "Someone's still in there! We have to put the fire out!" Misty whipped a Poké Ball out of her backpack, ignoring the countless Pewter residents who were watching them. "Goldeen, give me a Surf!" A magnificent light flashed from her Poké Ball, and her small Pokémon vanished into the water before it could barely even be seen.
The water in the lake began to swirl and weave back and forth in the riverbed, as Misty rushed to get in front of it and turn toward the gym. May quickly called Blaziken back into its Poké Ball in a ray of crimson light and rushed to join her.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" May asked.
"Ash has done way stupider stuff than this and come out of it just fine. We should theoretically have a chance to make it," Misty replied.
"As long as you're sure." May didn't have time to smirk before the massive wall of water slammed into both of their backs, launching them into the air along with the rising wave that loomed large over the Pewter City Gym.
Misty whirled and wrapped her arms around her Goldeen as it flitted back and forth inside of the wave, soon pulling May in with her so they could both scan the building as they rose past it. The water soon began to rain down upon the building's roof, cascading down and sending plumes of steam into the air where it touched the raging inferno. The flames began to die down beneath them, but still they continued their search until-
"There's someone in that room there!" May pointed toward one of the open windows of the gym, which looked down inside of the main battling chamber, where a familiar-looking but aged man was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, side by said with an equally-familiar young boy.
"Goldeen, get us in there!" Misty gripped her precious Pokémon with both arms. As deftly as it would in a lake, the Goldeen surged through the wave, as if dragging the wave along behind it, moving toward the open window. The wave was weakening, but maintained enough momentum to fling them through the window, where the two girls and the aquatic Pokémon plummeted toward the ground. The last remnants of the wave helped them land smoothly inside, and the girls now stood in the gym's main battle arena, which was slowly being drenched by the sprinkler system and left the girls standing in ankle-deep water.
"Good work Goldeen!" Misty shouted as a crimson flash drew the Pokémon back into its Poké Ball. Their hands shot in unison to their belts, withdrawing two other Poké Balls ready to be thrown in an instant. "You're not going to destroy this gym!" Misty yelled warningly at the two figures.
"I feel so cool…" May giggled under her breath before getting a scathing look from Misty and quickly turning serious again. "I mean yeah! This stops at once!"
"Misty, it's good to see you again." The middle-aged man at the front of the gym turned and acknowledged her with a comfortable smile. "It's also good to see that you haven't given in to this insanity."
"…Wait a second…I know you, you're Flint!" Misty exclaimed, relaxing for a moment.
Indeed, the man they had seen through the window was Brock's father, grizzled and aged but otherwise a spitting image of their long-time travelling companion. And beside him stood Flint's second eldest son Forrest, the freshly-minted leader of Pewter Gym, though he looked too tense and nervous to acknowledge the girls' presence.
"Still holding out hope that your Pokémon will be able to defeat ours, Flint?" another voice asked from the other side of the gym. The two girls looked, and were astonished to see what looked like a legion of men and women in uniform, some-police issue, and others a strange new black outfit with a logo of a caged Poké Ball on the shoulder. They stood facing the former Gym Leader in a long row, with Pokémon of all kinds standing by their sides.
"However strong a former Gym Leader can be, he can't hope to defeat an army," the man in the middle announced, his police uniform marked with a gold star. "Surrender your Pokémon and this can end peacefully right now. There doesn't need to be any blood shed."
"Blood? They wouldn't… oh…" May's eyes flitted toward Flint, seeing him still standing strong and proud in front of the impossible threat. Her gaze focused past him, however, on the room behind him. The door was cracked partway open, and through it she could see many small eyes and hands peering out at the confrontation. "The children are… in the gym…"
"This isn't about blood or even the law," Flint replied in a powerful voice. "If you seek to capture Pokémon like this, rip them away from their friends and families, you might as well do it to children as well, or any other human being. This is about pride, this is about humanity, and I will not allow you to destroy everything our society has built by enforcing this ridiculous law…sheriff."
"Yeah!" Forrest agreed, his voice shaking only slightly. He snatched a Poké Ball off of his own belt, clutching it tightly in one fist. "Forget the law, we won't let you do this!"
"Neither will we!" Misty announced her support. Misty and May charged toward the father and son team, sliding to a stop on one side of them and facing the threat with Poké Balls in hand.
"You realize this is hopeless…" May gulped.
"Didn't you learn anything from your time travelling with Ash? Nothing is hopeless." Misty's words of encouragement belied the fear she could feel churning deep down in her stomach. "We're just going to have to improvise and work together as a team."
"Right," May nodded and set her mouth in a grim line.
"Enough of this foolishness." The sheriff of the Pewter City Police Department raised his hand toward the four of them. "Attack."
SCREEEEEEEEEECH!
Brock slammed on the brakes and the jeep cleared the tree line of Viridian Forest, and Pewter City came into view. And for a long moment, all he could do was sit there and stare at the sight before him.
"Oh no…" Ash murmured from beside him. "Pewter…"
"We're too late…" Brock whispered as he climbed out of the jeep and stood at the city limits, his attention focused upon a large building toward the center of town. A building both boys recognized immediately as the Pewter City Gym and were horrified to see that it was the source of the biggest plumes of smoke rising into the air around the city. Its mostly stone structure kept it from completely crumbling, but even then, the gym seemed beyond salvation.
"Brock…" Ash started, walking up beside him. "I'm sorry…"
"Chu, chuuu…" Pikachu added her sympathy from Ash's shoulder.
"…No," Brock said, an unwavering calm in his voice. "It's not over yet. The Gym's still standing. My family might still be fighting. I have to get down there and help them."
"Pika!" Pikachu seemed to agree, leaping forward off of Ash's shoulder.
"H-hey, wait a second…!" Ash interrupted, catching Pikachu mid-leap and pulling her back into his arms.
Pikachu blinked in surprise, flailing for a second before twisting in Ash's hands and glancing up at him. "Pi? Pikapi, chu?!" she squeaked in protest.
"Ash, stop messing around, we have to go do something!" Brock insisted, turning an intense stare on the younger boy.
"But Brock, if we go down there, our Pokémon will be at risk!"
"My family is at risk!"
"But they could get captured…!" Ash countered, holding Pikachu protectively tighter.
"Nnnhh, stay here if you want, then, but I'm going down there!" Brock snapped, and leapt back into the jeep.
"Pika, pikachu-pi!" Pikachu shouted in response, squirming out of Ash's grip.
"Wh--hey! Pikachu?!" Ash made a second grab for her, but missed this time, and his friend sprang nimbly up into the jeep.
"Pika pi-KA!" she shouted back at Ash from the front seat, staring at him adamantly.
"Nnhhh…" Ash growled silently to himself. He didn't want to put any of his Pokémon at risk of capture like this, especially not Pikachu. But with her refusing to go anywhere but to the gym with Brock, it didn't seem like he had a choice…
"Ash, are you coming or not?!" Brock demanded.
"…Nnnhh…wait for me!" he finally responded, and jumped back into the jeep a split second before Brock slammed on the gas and tore into town.
Misty didn't have much time to think. Coming straight at her was a wall of Pokémon, bent on bringing the entire gym down around her and everyone else within it. It was an intimidating line, with everything from a Blastoise to a Poliwrath to a Feraligatr coming toward her…
Wait a second… Misty thought, blinking in surprise as she looked again at the attacking line. A second later it dawned on her; most of the attackers' Pokémon were water types. They must have expected resistance from the Pewter Gym, she reasoned to herself, and loaded up on water types to combat the gym's Pokémon, the majority of whom were sure to be rock types.
Well, that was just fine by her.
"You're gonna regret trying to drown out the water-type master!" Misty warned them. "Starmie, Staryu, give 'em a double Swift attack!"
Misty tossed out two Poké Balls at once, her pair of star-shaped Pokémon bursting forth from them and firing twin flurries of stars from the jewels in the center of their bodies. The front of the attacking line of water types stumbled under the attack, and returned fire with water guns and bubble-beams at their masters' orders, but Misty's Pokémon were highly trained, and the water attacks washed harmlessly over them.
May meanwhile wracked her brain, trying to figure out the best way to help. "I can't use Blaziken, fire types are weak against water…" she murmured to herself. "Think, May, what beats water….I don't have any electric types like Pikachu…wait, I know! Grass types! I can use Venusa--…" Her thoughts ground to a halt at that, physically and mentally wincing as she remembered a moment too late that no, she couldn't use Venusaur, could quite possibly never see Venusaur again…
"May, what are you doing?! Snap out of it!" Misty shouted.
"…I-I…I don't know what to do…!" she murmured.
Misty clenched a fist tensely, and chanced a glance across from her. Flint and Forrest were battling together as well and putting up a diligent fight with Forrest's Geodude and Flint's Graveller, but between the water Pokemon's attacks and the steady downpour of water from the gym's sprinkler system, the poor rock Pokémon were barely hanging on. Before long they would be out of commission entirely, and with May freezing up, Misty was starting to realize she'd be standing alone against the onslaught…
But just then, inspiration struck. Freezing up…that's it! she thought.
"May, listen to me!" Misty ordered. "Send out Glaceon!"
"Wh-what?" May stuttered. "Why?"
"Just trust me, do it!" she insisted. "Starmie, Staryu, use Surf together and make the biggest wave you can!"
May slowly nodded and at last tossed out a Poké Ball, her Glaceon bursting forth from it a moment later, while in the meantime Misty's pair of Pokémon focused hard on the slowly-rising pool of water they stood in. Their bright red jewels emitted a sudden glow, and in response the water churned and frothed around them, being drawn toward the pair of Pokémon like magnets.
"May, get ready to have Glaceon use Ice Beam!"
"O-okay!" May nodded. "Glaceon, use Ice--"
"No, not yet! Wait for it!"
May stopped short, not at all sure what Misty was thinking, but instinctively trusting the former Gym leader. Both girls watched as Misty's Pokémon gathered water around them, the Surf wave building higher and higher, looming over their opponent Pokémon like an unstoppable wall, making Pokémon and master alike take a few steps backward.
"Wait for it…!" Misty murmured.
The wave built higher and higher, nearly high enough to reach the ceiling, and though the water Pokémon on the other side would not feel much effect, many of the other types, as well as their masters, were suddenly gulping in fear.
"Starmie, Staryu, pull back! May, NOW!" Misty commanded.
May nodded, finally getting it. "Glaceon, Ice Beam that wave!"
Glaceon shimmered with freezing cold energy, letting out a melodious cry as it opened its mouth and unleashed a crooked blue beam of energy and swept it across the towering wave, freezing it in seconds and putting a solid wall of ice between them and their attackers.
"Whoa…" Forrest whispered, staring in slack-jawed awe.
"That was some fast thinking, Misty," Flint added. "Thank you. Our Pokémon would not have lasted much longer…"
"But we didn't stop them…!" May countered. "They probably have a couple of fire Pokémon back there, they'll melt the ice in a couple of minutes!"
"That's all we need," Misty said, looking to Flint with a firm, determined gaze. "The sprinkler system should have put out the fire by now, so the Gym should be okay. You two can't do much more good here, your Pokémon can't handle the water…you should get out of here while you can, and get your family to safety, too."
"I'm sorry, Misty, but I'm afraid we can't abandon our gym," Flint said with a shake of his head. "And we certainly can't let you girls stand up to these awful people alone. We're not going anywhere."
Misty blinked in surprise, her hard stare faltering; that was not the answer she'd expected. "No? But your family's in here, they're in danger!"
Now it was Flint's turn to look firm and determined. "I trust my wife to keep the children safe. But I will not run away from this fight and let these ridiculous laws and enforcers destroy my gym or my town."
"M-me neither…I'm gonna fight too," Forrest echoed his father.
Misty growled a little as she stared at Flint, and slowly began to realize that she wasn't going to talk him down. His tone was final. He wasn't going anywhere. Even Forrest, though visibly more nervous than his father, looked just as sure. For better or worse, they were both going to stand and fight with her.
"Nnhh…since when did everyone become as stubborn and bull-headed as Ash…?" she murmured to herself.
"…Hey, I'm not THAT bad, am I?"
Misty's head shot up and froze for a handful of seconds, eyes wide, hardly daring to believe her ears. Then she whirled on her heels, and her eyes realized that her ears hadn't lied.
"Oh my god, it's Ash!" May squeaked in surprise.
"And Brock!" Flint and Forrest exclaimed together, smiling broadly.
Misty was the only one who remained silent, because all she could do at that moment was gape in surprise. She almost didn't believe what she was seeing, it seemed so surreal. But there they were, jogging in through the outside door toward her.
Brock, making a beeline for his father and brother, his gaze eternally fixed in that stare that was at once friendly and frightening depending on how he looked at you with it.
Pikachu, who sprinted at top speed and up into her surprised arms, looking as fit and happy as ever and even seemed to have acquired a partner Pikachu that gazed curiously up at Misty from below.
And above all, Ash, who came to a halt just in front of her, looking so much older and wiser than he'd ever been and yet exactly as she remembered him.
"Heh…hey, Misty," he finally said. "…Wasn't expecting to see you and May here."
"…wasn't expecting to see you here either," she managed to reply.
"Pipikachu!" came Pikachu's greeting, nuzzled happily in Misty's familiar arms.
"I guess we have you guys to thank for keeping the Gym from burning down," Ash said, noticing the battle-worn and waterlogged gym arena.
"It was mostly Misty's doing," May told him. "If she hadn't put a Surf wave between us and froze it over, we'd still be fighting right now…"
"Fighting? You mean the Pokémon Enforcers are still here?" Ash demanded, his gaze and tone suddenly as firm as the one Brock's family kept giving.
As if in answer to his question, a bright red glow began to shine through the massive wall of ice, drawing everyone's attention as it glowed dangerously.
"Everyone out of the way!" Ash shouted, grabbing the girls and yanking them to one side.
Just in time, it turned out, for a second later a gigantic wall of flames burst out from the wall of ice, scorching across the spot they had just been standing in and slamming into the wall beyond. And as the flame faded, the small army of law enforcement and their Pokémon came marching through the melted hole in the ice wall, spreading out to face Misty and company once again. Their brief reprieve was over.
"Guess we'll have to finish this reunion later," Ash said with a slight growl, his hand dropping to his belt and the Poké Balls that were attached there. "Everyone get ready…"
Misty couldn't help but admire him for the briefest of moments. His intensity was almost infectious, giving her a warm, confident glow inside, the faith in herself that yes, they could win this fight…they WOULD win this fight.
"We're with you, Ash…!" Misty assured him, standing firmly at his side.
"Thanks, Misty," he said, giving her that familiar boyish smirk she knew so well, and looked back at their opponents. "Alright guys…let's do this!"
"RIGHT!" his friends all nodded, rallying in a line with him, and with a few bursts of light, they had a row of their own Pokémon standing ready.
And as though emboldened by Ash's very presence, it was Misty who stepped up to strike first.
"Starmie, Staryu…GO!"
Comments and critiques are welcomed and appreciated, as always.