"All right, Flight, let's go get your mom back!" I heard Eve say next to me. I could see her and Foaling bristling with anticipation. "Now… Luca, how do we get in?" Eve turned to Luca, a questioning look in her eyes.
"Ah..." Luca looked up and put his hand to his chin, pondering. "Hang on. Do any of you hear that... rustling noise?" He looked around, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. "Flight, get Kitsinge to find it. He has good senses."
"Kitsinge, you heard the man. Let's find that noise. It could be a rare Pokemon!" On my command, Kitsinge started looking around and eventually wandered a zigzagged path toward the bushes surrounding the fortress. We all followed in a group, streaming out behind my fiery kitten. Eventually, Kitsinge's tail shot up into the air and he took off running for several meters, then stopped. He flicked his tail twice, and we all fell in behind him. Next to me, Eve pointed.
"Flight. Do you see him?" I looked where she was pointing, and saw a boy sitting on the ground, and as I looked closer, saw he was rolling a brightly colored stone between his hands. Kitsinge was bristling. "Easy, Kitsinge. He doesn't look like a threat." Eve stepped forward. "Hey! You! Boy!" The boy jumped, visibly started, and the stone rolled behind him. "Who are you?"
"Um… Who… are you?" The boy asked, trying to sound intimidating, but it was easy to tell he was scared out of his wits.
"My name's Eve. This here's Flight, and that's Luca. This here's Kitsinge-"
"A… What now?" The boy asked, looking confused. "I've never seen one of those before." Eve turned to me.
"I know Kitsinge isn't common, but pretty much everyone knows what a Kitsinge is. Perhaps he knows what Aukine and Foaling are." Eve turned back to the boy. "Do you know the Pokemon Aukine and Foaling?"
"Um… no… should I? None of these Pokemon look familiar at all to me." The boy looked sad and lost, and for the first time I felt pity for him.
"Look, boy. What's your name?" I asked, not looking as intimidating as I was before. The boy looked up at me.
"My name's… Igneo. My parents named me that because from the moment I was born, I played with this stone here." Igneo held the stone up to me, and I took it from him and looked at it with an examining eye. It was clear yet opaque, with rainbow colors flowing through it, but more red and white than others. I handed him the stone.
"Now, Igneo. Where are you from?" Igneo paused a second before replying.
"Um… I'm from Kalos." Our jaws dropped in unison, and Luca dropped Aukine's Pokeball. Aukine came out and looked around, a bit confused. "What? Do you not know what Kalos is?"
"You're… from… KALOS?! I thought that place was a myth! That explains why none of the Pokemon look the least bit familiar to you! Do you have any idea what you're doing here or what's going on here?" Igneo looked really confused.
"Uhm… I've seen people in metallic suits going in and out of that fortress for a day or two, ever since they took me here. I've been sitting here waiting for someone to come along, with just my stone here." I sat down, and motioned for Eve and Luca to do the same.
"Well… those men and women in metallic suits are members of a group called Team Corona. As the story goes, thousands of years ago, legendary Pokemon of creation created this region, Islaa, as a perfect world. A utopia, so to speak. They placed three Pokemon, Torretia, Volatia, and Manteltia, in control of the regions. There's another region, Onous, parallel to this one in space-time. For thousands of years, Islaa was a sacred place, where people and Pokemon coexisted in perfect harmony. There was no fighting, no violence, no nothing. However… in Onous, where we had peace, they had eternal chaos. The place was starved of natural resources, and had no order and stability. It was a free-for-all, with human feelings put below the need of survival. A century or so ago, the people decided a government should be formed in order to preserve the peace for all eternity. Their mission, also, was to keep the state of Onous a secret from the public, so no one tried to intervene. However, one day, one man found some books dating back several hundred years, from Onous, telling the story of the region's terrible past, and threatened to tell the public everything if the government didn't do it first. Around that time, Team Corona split from the government, and the man went into hiding, never to be seen again. Did you get all that?" Igneo looked at me.
"I got pretty much all of it, but in case there was something I missed, could you please repeat everything you just said?"
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me! This boy's gonna drive me crazy soon!" Luca said, throwing his hands up. "Either he figures out what he's doing here and gets some knowledge of the place real soon, or Team Corona will have his head on their mantle!"
"Well… could you explain all these Pokemon to me? I don't really know any of them..." Igneo looked down, shamefully.
"Here." I reached into my pack and pulled out my X-Pad, tapped on Pokedex, and handed it to Igneo. "Data for all 115 Pokemon is registered in there, though I don't have it for the ten legendary Pokemon. Feel free to take a look around it." As I finished speaking, Igneo tapped on a Pokemon I recognized from earlier. The tablet started speaking.
"Ferrince. The Ferret Prince Pokemon. Ferrince is a ferret-like Pokemon, brown with tan stripes, who serves its final evolutionary form, Ferroyal, in groups of seven."
"Wow… this thing can do a lot! What other Pokemon are there?" Igneo started scrolling through the list. "Concrantle… it's a living thing of concrete! Sootalon… it's a bird that's on fire! Swordsashi… it's a swordfish. Turrsmic… it looks like a living turret. Ververn… it's a grassy dragon. Prenteeze… it's an ice-looking wizard. Huh? This one doesn't have any data." Igneo handed the X-Pad to me. He had highlighted the Pokemon Scytolin. I put the X-Pad back in my backpack and stood up.
"Scytolin is the legendary dragon of destruction, who, with its six heads, devoured anything and everything. It was banished to Onous centuries ago." Eve stood up and cleared her throat.
"Well, this has been heartwarming and all, but Flight, your mom is still in there. We can't just leave this kid here, so he's coming." Eve took off running, and the rest of us, including myself, had no choice but to follow her. I stayed in the back, next to Igneo, so he wouldn't get hurt. Eventually, we four arrived at the gates to Gearbreeze Fortress, its official name, and looked up at it.
"How do we get in?" I asked, and all three of us, including Igneo, for some reason, looked at Luca.
"What? I don't know how! Well, perhaps we could find a way to get in. Everyone, let's put our heads together." Me and Luca got in a two-man huddle, and started exchanging ideas.
"I could have Kitsinge burn it away with Nightnova," I suggested, but Luca shook his head immediately.
"That move is far too powerful. We can't just use it at will." With that, we both put our heads down and began to think.
"Hey, idiots! The door's unlocked!" Eve pulled the door open and walked inside. Embarassed, me and Luca followed Igneo and Eve in. Expecting bustling noise, we were met with silence. All four of us started looking around at the walls and doors, wondering where to go. Igneo walked up to a door, and tried the handle. It opened, and we followed him through. We were now walking through a hallway, and the only sounds I could hear were our footsteps echoed by the sound of Kitsinge's pawsteps. After a fair bit of walking, we were met with a door. It was a huge steel door, with giant bolts the size of my fist. There was a handhold on the door. I grabbed it and pulled, but no such luck. All of a sudden, Luca waved his hands, as if to tell us to quiet down.
"I hear voices. I can't make out what they're saying, but I can definitely hear voices." I pressed my ear to the ice-cold steel and strained. Sure enough, I could hear human voices- none of which sounded all too happy.
"Everyone. We need to get this door open. All four of us." I motioned, and one by one we grabbed the door handle and pulled. The door came, and slowly opened. I ran inside first, and saw what I had came for- my mother. "Mom!" I cried, and ran over to her. She had needled ropes around her hands and feet, and was bleeding from those areas.
"Flight… get out of here… now. I want one of us out of here alive. They'll kill both of us." I stood up and walked back, and took a look around the room. There were other people, all of which I recognized. There was Rae, Luca and Juliana's sister, who annoyed the everything out of me. There was Maylee, a quiet, shy girl who didn't really have any friends. People called her weird and bullied her because she admitted to someone she had a crush on Eve. I had tried to befriend Maylee once, but she just cried, saying Eve was meant for me. I haven't spoken to her since. The only other person was Maple, Aspen's assistant Pokemon Professor.
"All women..." I thought so myself. "Perverts!" I shook my head in disgust and began working at the ropes at my mother's feet. "We're getting out of here. I don't care the risk. And we're going far, far away from Gearbreeze. Around the room, my friends were untying the others.
"Luca… thanks," Maylee said, relieved, as Luca's swift handiwork got Maylee out of the ropes easily, and she dropped to the floor and gave him a small hug. Eve was untying Rae, who, for once, wasn't looking like the spoiled brat she was and actually seemed grateful for once. I finished the ropes on my mother, and she fell to the ground, hurt and beaten. I helped her up. Lastly, Igneo finished untying Aspen, who smiled gratefully. Only she was unhurt. "So… how do you plan to get us out of here? The door locks from the inside, you know," Maylee said, pointing to the now-shut door. There were two other doors, all which presumably locked from the inside as well. All of a sudden, I heard footsteps, and the eight of us froze in unison. Coming from the right of me, I ushered everyone behind me and beckoned Luca beside me. He tossed out Aukine's Pokeball, and I sent out Kitsinge. The two immediately sensed the danger and took up a fighting stance towards the door. My heart skipped a beat as I saw the handle turn, and open.
"I wonder… which one of them have I not used yet? Oh, right, that Aspen girl. The smart one. Oh?" He asked as he saw us. "Glacister, what have we here?" He turned and I saw a Pokemon that looked like a human being, but had on wizard's robes and was partially made of ice. Glacister… that's Prenteeze's evolution! We're all going to die! "Who might you four be?" The man asked, waving his hand at me, Luca, Eve, and Igneo. "Ah, I don't care. You managed to get in here, and freed those four idiots, minus Aspen, the smart one. You've got the spoiled brat who can't have an ounce of self-respect to save her life," he said, pointing at Rae, "The weird and crazy one who likes girls instead of boys. Something's deeply wrong with her head."
"There's nothing wrong with Maylee! You just make it a problem! She can choose who she wants to like!" I shouted, Kitsinge leaping in front of me.
"Oh, right, boy. Remind me again why I've left you alive? Anywho, as I was saying… something's wrong with that girl's head. She'll be the first to die, people like that shouldn't be in society."
"You're gonna have to kill me first!" I replied, Kitsinge bristling.
"Why do you value that stupid girl's life over your own? You have value as a human being, able to command a Kitsinge. That girl, and those like her, aren't worth the skin and flesh they're living in. That's how it's always been. People like her shouldn't exist in society."
"Flight… please. He's right. Perhaps if he kills me, he'll keep you alive… out of all us, I'm the one worth the least. Just let me die so the rest of you can have a chance at living. This life's already hard enough to live, with everyone, even my parents, being cruel to me for being different. Just let him kill me." Luca turned to Maylee, his eyes blazing.
"I'm not gonna let anyone die. You're worth just as much as I am, who you like doesn't matter." He turned back to the man, his eyes still burning, and added, "Who she chooses to want to be with shouldn't condemn her to die. You're going to have to kill me first before you lay a hand on Maylee." With that, Aukine set a foot down, growling.
"Oh, please. Do I have to kill each and every one of you? Please, spare me. Cleaning up all the blood will be an annoyance. Knowing my power… do you still want to stand and fight?" Glacister looked right at me, with ice-blue eyes, and I could see the incredible power radiating from his being. He raised his hand, and I could feel the air in the room chill. "Now, Glacister… Winter's Wrath. Kill these worthless fools where they stand." I watched in horror as Glacister raised both his hands , and I could see icicles start to form all around us, growing in mass and power with each passing second. As Glacister dropped his hands, I threw myself at Eve, as if to use my body as a shield to protect her from the fatal icicles that would surely take all of our lives. Suddenly, I heard a massive explosion, followed by a rush of heat and a fierce growling. The icicles never hit.
"Good work, Pyrugami!" I heard Aspen's voice, and looked up to see him, and Juliana, on the back of Dragshine, with Pyrugami in a fierce battle stance below them. Juliana dropped to the ground and looked at us.
"Sorry lot you all are, almost crushed to death by icicles! Good thing me and Aspen got here when we did, or there wouldn't have been a story to tell!" Juliana laughed, and looked at the man. "Helio… You tried to harm these people."
"Yes? And? They all deserved to die, especially that crazy girl," Helio said, pointing at Maylee.
"Grr… there's nothing wrong with her!" Juliana growled, her voice low with anger. "Now take your little ice princess and get your sorry ass out of here, or I will make sure you cease to exist!"
"Juliana. Juliana, look at this." Aspen took the Igneo's stone from him, and showed it to Juliana. "Do you think this is…?"
"Yes. It has to be. Give it to Pyrugami. You do have your Mega Band, right?" Juliana asked. Aspen held up his wrist, the gray band flashing.
"Of course! Pyrugami, it's time to Mega Evolve!" Aspen handed Pyrugami the stone, and the beast became surrounded in a rainbow sphere of energy. When it broke apart, Pyrugami was hovering, looking completely different than before. Where there used to be black stripes, there were now flame, as well as other changes. I couldn't believe it- I had never seen Mega Evolution before. Pyrugami looked… awesome. Pyrugami let out a fierce snarl that shook the ground, and dropped to the ground, making it shake. Then… it spoke.
"HELIO. FORMER MASTER. ARE YOU SURE YOU STILL WANT TO STAND AND FIGHT?" I had never heard a Pokemon speak before, but how Pyrugami spoke conveyed immense power. Pyrugami raised his paw, and blue flame coursed from it as he prepared to lunge at Glacister.
"Fine! All right! You win!" Helio threw up his hands, and Glacister looked furious. "Take that worthless lot back to Gearbreeze with you." He turned to look at me, his eyes red with anger. "If your friend hadn't come to rescue you… you eight would be lying in pieces all over this floor. Count yourselves blessed by Arceus." With that, Helio turned and walked back the way he had came, and Glacister followed. Before he exited, he turned to look at us- I expected anger and revenge, but found… only sorrow. I was stunned with that as Glacister left, before turning back to the group. Igneo looked truly terrified, Eve and Luca were too, as were almost everyone else. Maylee was crying.
"Come on. Let's get out of here. We need to go back home," Juliana said, addressing the group. With that, we all turned and watched as Pyrugami slashed a massive hole in the wall, and we could see outside. One by one, in silence, we filed out of it, into the night. I slowed my pace to walk beside Maylee, who even after we almost were at Gearbreeze, was still shaken and crying.
"Maylee… what's wrong? You're not going to die. You'll be all right." I put my hand on Maylee's shoulder, but that did little to stop her crying. She raised her head from her hands and looked at me with tears in her eyes, and began to speak.
"Flight… I wanted them to kill me. My parents didn't want a 'corrupted' daughter, as they put it, so they just gave me to them because they didn't want me anymore. They're right… because of the way I am, not liking boys and all, I really am worthless..." She buried her head in her hands again, crying.
"Maylee… You aren't worthless. There's nothing wrong with you, but not everyone is accepting of that as we are. You're a perfectly normal human being, and there is no reason for you to think you aren't. Everyone's beautiful in their own way." I gently pulled her hands from her face. "Look at me. You are just as valuable as me, or Luca, or Juliana. The way you are doesn't change that, and you deserve to be happy just as much as any of us. I'm sure there's someone out there for you… you just don't know it yet."
"So… where do I go now? Can I go home with you?" She asked, tears still in her eyes. I looked at her with clarity in my gaze.
"Of course. You're welcome with us. You're a great person, and one quality about you doesn't make you bad. You have friends now, in me, Luca, and Eve. Now… stop that crying. Let's go home."