Day 3
Chapter 9 – Devastation Imminent
The smooth, blue titan was facing the steely colossus. Both Pokemon were trapped inside their electrified cages at either end of Richard's newly renovated office. What had previously been the remains of a violent attack had now become a modernised room with a large curtain wall overlooking a large lake. The lake was tucked neatly inside a large mountain ridge that was covered in lush forest.
Both Pokemon were as silent as they were still. It appeared that they didn't even breathe. The blue Pokemon on the left side of the room looked different. It seemed to give off a dark purple glow. To match the glow, there were many thin veins that shone a strong scarlet colour. It looked quite demonic.
Directly opposite the curtain wall on the other side of the room, two very thick and large metal doors slid open to allow Richard access inside. He entered with his head held high. He looked like a man that had achieved a great victory. With his hands on his hips, he stared out of the curtain wall and spoke to the Pokemon either side of him. "Ah… How beautiful the view is…"
The Pokemon remained still and silent. Richard continued, "That view is so precious that I wish I could have the privilege of witnessing it for a thousand years… You see, that is the issue. As lucky as I am to experience the beauty of a mountain lake on a day like this, I will not be lucky for much longer." He thought he saw the Pokemon on the right twitch a little. "I've seen what this place becomes… I have seen the devastation that wreaks the entire world, and guess what? It was caused by the very Pokemon that we humans worship and treat like friends. I do not say that friendship with Pokemon is bad, but I do say that we must be careful. I need to prevent that forest from becoming wasteland. I need to prevent the Earth from turning into a devastation zone."
The Pokemon on the right shifted, making a noisy, metallic clunk. Richard's lip curled into a small smile. "That is why I have you. That is why I need the third. Three sacrifices to save the world sounds like a fair trade." He looked directly at the Pokemon at the right. "You see what has become of your friend over there? That is what will happen to you, and to the last of you. It is necessary to save the world." He was now raising his voice, as he stood right in front of the electric cage. "You see? Do you see, Registeel? I need to capture you in the ball, and I need to capture Regirock."
Registeel made a loud mechanical roar and Richard dived on the 'stun' button quickly, sure that the roar would cause explosions like it had last time. Registeel was shocked and was again, still.
Clearly frazzled, Richard turned and marched over to the other Pokemon's cage. He looked anxiously at the pulsing veins and the dim glow. He whispered, "I am so sorry it had to come to this… Your power is the only one that can work." With a sigh, he pulled out his cell phone and hit one of his speed dial numbers.
It rang for a moment, and then there was a pickup. Richard started, "Get together the team, we need to retrieve Regirock as soon as possible. I want a team heading out by night." With that, he ended the call and left the room.
-- -- --
Zane headed a circle of Pokemon as he sat in the sleeping area of the Oreburgh City Pokemon centre. To his immediate left sat a fully recovered (but still a little fazed) Snover. To his right, an equally fazed Geodude that had its eyes only half open. Sitting across from him, there was a curious little Shieldon that was carefully eyeing off the other Pokemon in the group.
"OK…" Zane started. "I think it is time we should all formally meet each other." He turned to Geodude. "Geodude, sitting across from you is Snover. Snover was my first ever Pokemon. To your right is Shieldon. Shieldon only hatched this morning and is the newest member of our team."
Geodude looked across at Snover and peered out the corner of its eyes at Shieldon. There were many nervous glances from all three Pokemon.
"Shieldon, meet Snover and Geodude." Shieldon made a quiet growl of acknowledgement as it tried not to look at them. Zane went on. "OK, now that we have officially met each other, I think it is time for a break."
Zane recalled Snover, then the other two into their shiny, new Poke balls. Under the care of Nurse Joy, all the Pokemon had been fed, so Zane exited the Pokemon Centre with one main objective in his mind – to take on the Oreburgh City gym.
The streets near the Pokemon Centre were becoming more and more familiar to Zane the more he walked them. Though he was getting confident finding his own way, he still set out to get directions from a sign near the shopping centre.
He followed the path he had taken the day before and eventually ended up a short distance from the front doors of the shopping centre. He stood at the foot of a massive billboard-style sign, looking at a shrunken version of the map of Oreburgh.
"Hmm… Well if I'm here, then that means I have to follow that road past the mine entrance… Then a left and I should be there."
The map confused him a little, but he got the jist of it and set off down the dirt road towards to outskirts of the city. It confused him that the gym would be so far out of the city, but nonetheless, he continued on his path, following the mental image of the large map. It became difficult for him to remember the turns and twists he had to take along the way.
Zane began to feel a sense of isolation and loneliness as the number of buildings slowly declined the further he got away from the bulk of the city. Loneliness was something he hadn't felt a lot in his entire life. His childhood had been spent under the watchful eye of his mother, and company of the young amateur battlers in Sandgem Town. Now, with no one to guide him, he felt vulnerable.
Before long, Zane could see the dome-shaped roof of a building in the distance. He knew right away that the building was the Oreburgh City gym. Years of reading Pokemon magazines and watching the battle channel on television had given him a crystal clear picture of what a gym building should look like.
As he drew closer and closer, the afternoon sun began to scold him painfully, increasing his desire to pass through the doors and be in the shade once more. It was with a huge sigh of relief that he walked into the shaded area outside the glass double doors of the building.
Zane looked up above the doors and admired the large steel words "Oreburgh Gym", and underneath, a plaque listing the names of all the previous gym leaders. The loneliness quickly dissipated and was soon replaced by nervousness. This was it, this was his first shot at a real-life gym badge.
He pushed open the glass door and was greeted by a narrow corridor as the only way to go. Following it slowly, his eyes lit up like skylights when he finally emerged into a large enclosed stadium. Zane struggled to take it all in. He looked around excitedly at the various features of the battlefield.
Situated at either end of the rectangular field were two massive stone platforms overlooking the battle area. Peppered across the field, there were many piles of rock in different shapes in sizes, clearly obstacles for battle. As Zane feasted his eyes on the extravagant battlefield, he slowly wandered into the middle of the stadium.
"Welcome!" a voice boomed from a narrow corridor on the opposite side to where Zane had come in. Zane, startled, jerked his head around to look at the place the voice came from. "Welcome to the Oreburgh City gym!"
He found the source of the speaking. Slowly walking out of the corridor and into the stadium, a relatively tall man wearing dirty industrial clothes and a very dusty hard hat continued speaking out to Zane. "My name is Roark, and I am the gym leader here. I take it you are here for a badge?"
"Uhh, hi. I'm Zane… Yes I am here for the gym challenge." Zane's nerves took hold of him and he seized up.
Roark gave a loud, cheerful laugh. "Haha! Your first gym then I guess. Let's get to it then!" He indicated a steep set of stone stairs that led up to the platform nearest to Zane. "Take your position. It's going to be a three on three battle."
Zane slowly ascended the steps, his nerves crippling his movement badly. When he finally stood out on the top of the platform, a fresh wave of nervousness pummelled, which was made worse by the incredibly confident Roark standing on the other side waiting to get started. Zane stood up straight, tried to relax, and muttered quietly to himself, "How am I going to beat this guy?"