Chapter 3
Departure
Sarah returned home shortly before sunrise the next morning. She entered into a completely empty building. Luke would have already gone to prep the clinic for the day. It was common, but it hurt her that he didn't stay to see her off.
In her room she put on her dark blue Morph Skin. It was unique piece of clothing designed specifically for her. In fact, it was so special that it didn't even exist to the rest of the world. It used special nano-tech to change shape and color whenever she entered any Pokemon form. Prof. Oak had to pull several enormous favors to get it for her, but it was extremely useful when she had to change quickly and couldn't worry about getting in and out of conventional clothing.
Only minutes later she was outside and a black sedan pulled up. Without a word she opened the door and threw her bag in before turning for one last look back. No one, not even Ivysaur, was there to say goodbye.
"It's my choice." She fell into the back seat and the vehicle went off down the road.
Twenty minutes later they were pulling into a small airstrip outside of the city. A small personal jet was already getting warmed up. Without any kind of introductions, several men came over and escorted her up the stairs and into the craft. She couldn't help but think that they seemed extremely eager.
Smith and Hamilton were waiting in the passenger cabin and rose when she entered. "Good morning, Ms. Adams. How are you doing today?"
"Well enough," she said with a shrug.
"Good. This jet will take us north to a small military outpost on the edge of the mountains. From there you and a small squad will take a…"
"I'm going alone."
"I…beg your pardon?"
"I don't want any kind of escort. I will go alone."
The two agents shared and glance. "Very well. You will take a helicopter into the mountains close to where we found Oak's beacon."
"Do you have any idea where I should start looking?"
Smith reached back and pulled out a clear plastic bag. "Oak thought this may provide some help." He pulled out a piece of wood, splintered on two ends. On its face was colored a small scene of a large city.
Sarah breathed when she saw it. It was beautiful. And…somehow familiar. She reached out and brushed a finger across the tallest building.
An image flashed through her mind. The plane and the two agents vanished in light and was suddenly replaced by mountains and fire. She was somehow looking down on a massive city, easily triple the size of Safron, settled down in a valley deep in flames. Voices screamed in agony as people ran to and from buildings.
A small section of the city, only slightly touched by the fire, broke off and began to float up into the air, rock and all. But even as it did, an enormous meteor fell from the sky, smashing it back into the ground. The ground rumbled and dust rolled up and over her.
When the dust passed, she was back in the plane. Smith and Hamilton were looking deep at her eyes, a slight awed look. "What?"
"You…spaced out for a moment. Are you alright?"
"Yeah. I should be able to find my way, I think." Only then did she get the sense of movement. She peered out the window. The ground was several hundred feet down and passing very fast. "How long was I out?"
"By the clock? About ten minutes."
"What?! Ten minutes?!"
"We should be arriving at the military base in about half an hour."
Sarah nodded and reclined her chair. Hopefully the illusion of sleep would keep them out of her hair. She wasn't really tired, but she wanted peace. That vision had given her another bad feeling. Something about this trip didn't seem right.
But it was too late now.
--
The agents didn't speak for the rest of the trip.
Several times, Sarah kept going back to that morning. He wasn't there at all. Yeah, he held a grudge. But that shouldn't have stopped him from at least seeing her before she left.
At the base, several people were out, for why she couldn't figure out. The mountains rose to the north, big and grey. Only a few had snow-capped peaks. Her Morph Skin would protect her for any moderate temperature changes.
They ushered her to the copter, which was already set, and wished her good luck.
It was only a five-minute trip to the drop site and they passed in silence. At the place, the chopper hovered down, but stopped a few feet up. The area was too rocky to completely land. So Sarah fell out and landed in a crouch. The pilot revved the blades and it rose back into the air. It made one pass and she waved, signaling she was good to go, and the chopper flew off.
When it finally vanished and the sounds of metal on air stopped, she removed her outer layer of clothing, leaving her in the Morph Skin.
"The beacon is two hundred yards north." She shouldered her bag and morphed into a Rapidash. It would be much faster that way.
"GO POKEBALL!"
Sarah spun her head to see a spinning orb flying at her. In a blur, she changed back into a human and caught the pokeball and inch from her face. "What's the big idea?"
A big man in a red vest and buzz cut stepped from behind a rock. "Good catch." His voice was heavily accented.
Sarah dropped the orb. "Do you have any idea who I am?"
"Duh. There isn't a person alive that doesn't." He drew another pokeball from his belt.
"And you're still stupid enough to fight me?"
The orb in his hand grew large. "Way I figure, you're a Pokemon. And since you're a Pokemon, I can catch you."
That was new. She tried to hide her slight fear, but a small quaver entered her voice. "You can't be serious."
"Oh, I'm dead serious, honey. GO ONIX!"
A/N: Many of you wondered, what would happen if she got captured? Will we see that happen? Stay tuned.
Also, I couldn't really put this in due to setting, but think German when doing his accent.