Chapter 5: The Beast Unleashed
The quartet of trainers were stunned and paralyzed with such a fear that none of them had ever known previous to this event. All of them visibly shook and trembled where they stood and the Pokémon they had summoned were equally fearful at this newcomer. They all watched as Aiden walked of to it and slowly lifted something off the creature's back; they were all very surprised to see that it was Vivian! However, whether it from stress or terror or whatever the reason she appeared to be unconscious.
Aiden removed the tape from her mouth and gently placed her down on the ground safely away from the Armageddon that was soon to come. Once satisfied, he turned towards his opponents and took a few steps forward to align himself with his Pokémon.
"I warned you, didn't I? Now you'll feel the full fury of my wrath!" His voice seemed deeper and characteristically unnatural than his usual tone.
"Wh… W—Wait a minute!" the other trainer stuttered nervously. "Let's make a deal."
Curiously, Aiden glanced over to the trainer with the Poliwrath standing in front of him and raised an eyebrow. This fourth person must have been his replacement after he left Maranda's group. He was not at all as tall as himself and he was not at all as rounded as Jon. He was in fact as skinny as Aiden if not even more so. He had short brown hair that curled and pointed on his forehead. He wore black nearly rectangular frames that gave his brown eyes better sight.
"I don't know who you are but if you've sided with them then that makes you my opponent!" Aiden replied not bothering to listen to his proposal.
"B—But surely there must be something that we could give you in return for our safety? How about Maranda? She's the one you're really after, right?"
"Randy!" Maranda hissed back in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"Yeah, man! What are you…?" Jon began.
"You guys saw him," Randy whispered amongst the group. "There's no way we can take him head on! Not with just the four of us. It'll take a lot more than that. If he takes Maranda hostage then perhaps he'll let you live and we can come back in greater numbers and not only rescue you but also take him down for good."
"Ohh…" Sven replied mulling over the idea. "But if he attacks us now then we may have to fight anyways."
"Hmmm… Randy, am I right?" Aiden called out to the younger kid.
"Yeah? What is it?" Randy asked stepping forward slightly.
"Let me ask you something. How long have you been a part of this group?"
"Ummm…" Randy said stumbling for the answer. What does that have to do with anything? After a quick recount, Randy replied, "About four months. Why?"
Aiden merely shook his head. "Then I have no choice…"
"What'd you mean?" Randy suddenly began to feel uneasy as was the other three members of their little group.
"You've been with them long enough to know them personally. If you would have just joined up with them, say within a week or two, then perhaps your redemption would have been realized. But since you've been with them for a while and know them on a personal level, I have no choice." The same ethereal black aura that surrounded Aiden before appeared once more, this time encompassed Charizard's body.
"Get ready guys," Sven yelled reaching back on his belt for reinforcements realizing that Aiden would not listen and that he'd have to summon more help for this battle.
Scarce were the words out of his mouth when suddenly his entire body froze in place and he could not even move a muscle. He felt an extreme amount of pressure being exerted on his body from an unknown source causing him to growl in pain. The pressure seemed to be coming from every direction at once.
"What's… this…?" came Sven's question strained through clenched teeth. He could move his eyes just enough around him to notice that not only was he being affected by this immobility but also Jon, Randy, and Maranda stood frozen in place. Sven strained once more to move but could not budge himself. He looked over to Aiden with visible anger seething from his eyes. "What… the hell… did you… do to us?"
Aiden smiled and lifted up his right hand and pushed his thumb and middle finger together and gave them a quick snap. Leaping from off of the black lizard's back was another figure whose twin green tails shimmered and twisted through the air. The creature landed with ease in front of Aiden, the form of it easily recognized; however, it came as a shock to Sven as his eyes widened considerably.
"Es..pe..on…!"
"That's right…" Aiden glowered at Sven with slightly curved lips. "After I chased you guys down in that alley I discovered this amazing creature and lent it my help. In return, this Espeon, formerly your Espeon, Sven, desired to lend me its strength in this battle." His smile became more pronounced on his face as he saw the irony of this situation. "So, tell me. How does it feel knowing that your betrayal of this one creature will be not only your downfall but the downfall of your companions as well?"
"You…" Sven managed to wheeze out angrily. His breath felt like it was being suffocated from his lungs. His air passages seemed to be getting more and more constricted with each labored breath he tried to take. Any more of this and perhaps this would be his downfall. "Lan..turn…"
"It's no use calling for him. Both trainer and Pokémon are paralyzed by this Espeon's psychic ability. But don't worry. I won't let you suffer for much longer. But first…"
Aiden paused and then turned his gaze toward Maranda's general direction. She also struggled for breath like her companions. "Maranda, you did the right thing in stopping Sven. And for that, I thank you." Aiden sighed and finally lifted his eyes to meet her gaze one last time before he acted. "I loved you with everything that I was capable of and even more. I had never known a more wonderful feeling than when I was with you. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy; and if you've found that in him then so be it. But, please, all that I ask of you now is this: Don't ruin your life with people who don't care or who are involved in such evil. Even though it hurts me, I pray that you are always happy… like the way we used to be."
Maranda listened intently to his final words and could not help herself when her eyes began to water; however, the tears did don't flow from her eyes but remained glistening in the crevices of her eyes. "Ai..dan…"
"I'm not going to do this because I hate you," Aiden began. "Hate is too strong of a word. No, I don't hate you… I'm… just disappointed." He lifted his arm out and pointed a finger at the ground right in front of the middle of the group. "Now, Charizard, it's time! Fire Blast!"
There was nothing that any of them could have done to avoid the attack or even stop it this time. All they could do was watch as the black Charizard glowed with an intense and furious glow before it leapt into the air slightly and released a swirling concentrated discharge of flames at them. The size and amount of fire that outpoured from the lizard's mouth was unreal. The Pokémon were the first ones to be struck and even though they were strong against fire attacks they were no match for the devastating attack. The Lanturn, Poliwrath, and Clefairy each were blasted backwards and into their respective trainers. Then the mass of tumbled Pokémon and humans began to lift off the roof as the Charizard slowly descended down onto the roof. They soon were hurtling through the air, hopefully to never be seen again.
"Full power!" Aiden screamed. The fire attack doubled or even tripled in strength and intensity accelerating his old companions far from Celadon and far from the reaches that the human eye could detect. A satisfied grin formed on Aiden's face as he watched them soar away from his life hopefully forever. And now they would think twice about coming back to this city. A sudden moan from behind him alerted his sense of hearing to a presence behind him but when he turned his head he realized that Vivian had finally wakened out of her "coma."
"Uhhh… My head…" the young trainer complained as she tried to lift her hands but was unsuccessful seeing as how she was still bound. "What the…?"
Aiden inhaled sharply and apologized. "Oh… I'm sorry. Hold still okay… Dragonair, Iron Tail."
The loyal subject nodded and dutifully swung into action cutting the restraints with ease without even scratching the skin of the brunette trainer and then drifted gracefully back to his trainer's side.
"Are you all right?" Aiden asked with a pleasant grin as he extended his hand down to help her off the ground.
"Umm… Yeah, Thanks…" Vivian replied grabbing his hand. With a little tug from Aiden she managed to pull herself up to her feet, but the momentum at which she came up was far greater than she thought and when she was standing on her feet her body came within inches of his own. Vivian looked up and blushed when she realized that she was within inches of his face too.
"I… uhh…" she stammered feeling the temperature of her body increase and her breathing coming in at shorter and shorter intervals. She could feel his strong arms around her back holding her up giving her chills of excitement rippling across her body. "Thank…you…" she managed to breathe out.
"I'm just glad that you're all right, Vivi," Aiden replied in his deep soothing voice. Just the mere sound of his voice enveloped greater feelings of excitement within Vivian and yet, at the same time, his voice was calming and relaxing. It was almost like listening to the gentle ebb and flow of a small stream as the water weaved through a riverbed that simply flowed with the natural current. He began to move in closer to her and Vivian felt her heart begin to race with excited anticipation. She closed her eyes and moved slowly to meet her rescuer's lips with her own. Vivian was rewarded with a gently kiss on her forehead as she felt his breath for a moment on her face as he kiss her.
"Come on! Let's get going!" Aiden said as he backed away from her and signaled for her to follow.
Vivian opened her eyes and saw Aiden back away and signal for her to follow. She immediately felt disappointment for not receiving what she had hoped for; however, she did get a kiss on the forehead. It would have been better if it was on my lips but… still… I did like that… Vivian was broken from her train of thought when Aiden came up to her and snapped his fingers right in front of her face.
"Hey! You all right?" Aiden asked with concern. She had, after all, been through quite a bit more than anyone else her age had been through in one day. He could see how she might suffer from symptoms of distress, trauma, and a slight inclination towards anxiety. On top of being kidnapped by his ex- and her cohorts, she had fallen off the top of the Celadon Pokémart and had fainted sometime between being the fall and being caught by his Pokémon. And who knows what they did to her while she was under their custody.
"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine. Thanks," Vivian replied gratefully. "And… thanks for coming to help me…"
"You're welcome. I was glad to do it. And I'm sorry about my ex- and everything that happened here…"
"No…" Vivian interrupted. "It's all right. It wasn't your fault." She felt her face flush red with embarrassment. "I also want to thank you for earlier today when you fought off those three guys for me. It was very brave of you to help a stranger like me…"
Aiden could not help but crack a two-fold smile. First of all, his smile was from the gratitude that Vivi displayed and for the fact that she expressed her thankfulness. And secondly, Aiden smiled because of the thought that occurred to him for the reason why he initially decided to help her.
That's funny. Aiden thought to himself in amusement. I initially helped because my nap was being halted. The smile on his face faded slightly as he mused over his last thought and corrected it. But… that's not the right attitude to have about it… I did it because…
"I did it because I have the responsibility to maintain the peace and well being of those who are less fortunate than I." Aiden paused for a moment and then realized what he actually said. "I-I-I mean… not to say that you are any less fortunate than me and that I'm some kind of… umm… I mean that…"
"Aiden… It's all right… I understand…" Vivian said as she walked to his side. "I know what you meant…" With that, she leaned up and returned his kiss with a kiss of her own to his forehead. "Come on. I need to go look for my Pokémon."
"Your Pokémon?"
