August 19, 13 AL
5:14 AM
Light shone off Skarmory's wings as it flew over the island it had once called home. There was almost nothing to see, but a few holes in the clouds were enough to navigate the familiar terrain. It seemed that even the Elite Four could not really control Ever Grande City's weather.
Steven noticed the weakness, but it did not matter. Only one thing was in his mind: getting the trainers he had lost back from Drake. They might be his only way of finding out about Alexander. He had given instructions to Nurse Jen about taking care of Alexander, but she didn't know how long recovery would take. Steven only hoped his guess was wrong.
Memories of times training with Skarmory while he was Champion flooded back, and he knew the land below him. He told Skarmory to begin flying in a circle and found another Pokéball. Only one of the five Pokéballs he carried would open if he threw it. He found it and sighed.
He knew what he needed to do.
"Follow me, Skarmory. I will need your help to fix my mistakes."
With that, he slid off and fell into the clouds.
/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l
Salamence paced the room, trying to stay awake. Drake had gone to sleep and left him on guard duty. He went and checked on the twins. They awoke as he walked between their beds, then turned away. He continued back toward the door.
Crash! The ceiling collapsed and pieces fell. Terra screamed, but then the pieces above the twins stopped in midair and moved away to reveal Metagross.
As Salamence pushed the piece back off, he was hit by a Psychic. They looked and saw Metagross standing in the center of the room. Steven came down from the sky, slowed by Metagross' Psychic. When he hit the floor, he ran toward the twins.
"Come on," he whispered, "we leave now."
Across the room, Salamence began to get up. He looked up, and saw Skarmory. A Dragonbreath left his mouth, but Skarmory turned to the side just as it swirled past. Steven pulled the twins along with him as he jumped under Skarmory's new position. They looked back as they grabbed onto the silver Pokémon. Metagross had Salamence pinned underneath him, but Salamence was flapping the one wing he had free.
"Metagross, quick!" yelled Steven.
Metagross pulled a chunk of the ceiling toward himself with Psychic, then jumped up. The concrete slammed into Salamence.
Just as Metagross reached the top of its jump, Skarmory swooped over. Steven held out a Pokéball and Metagross disappeared into it.
As they flew higher with no sign of being followed, Kyle sighed, "That was close."
Then Salamence roared.
Everyone in Ever Grande city awoke. They would be followed.
"We're definitely not out yet," Steven said.
Sunlight bathed the three trainers as they exited the clouds. As their eyes adjusted to the light, cawing came from behind them. Thirty seconds later, a flock of Murkrow rose out of the clouds. At its center sat Sydney on a massive Murkrow. Behind him came Drake on Altaria with Salamence at his side, all with blinding sunlight behind them.
"Take these, we need them now." Steven handed two Pokéballs to each of the twins. "Nurse Jen told me these were the ones you would want, and Skarmory can't carry all our weight for long."
Terra brought out Flygon and leaped on. Flygon tried to turn her head enough to look back and shoot a Dragonbreath, but she couldn't quite reach.
Kyle brought out Scyther who caught him as he nearly failed to jump on. Shedinja materialized next to him and began firing Shadow Balls back at the flock of Murkrow.
The flock just moved away every time one came near and none seemed able to hit. The sun in Shedinja's eyes didn't help either.
After watching their failures, Steven reluctantly brought Metagross back out. Skarmory strained to carry the extra weight. "Metagross, use Levitate! Skarmory isn't that strong!" Steven groaned. Metagross used Levitate and Skarmory grabbed on with its claws to keep Metagross moving. After they were set, Steven commanded, "Meteor Mash!" They waited a moment for something to happen. Then a Murkrow disappeared in a puff of feathers. Looking up, the rest realized that flaming meteors had begun to fall from the sky. The rest of the rocks were dodged by the small birds. Salamence and Altaria just blasted anything that came near then with Dragonbreath.
Nothing seemed to be working. The Elites knew it was only a matter of time before they would catch up with the tiring Pokémon.
Then a thought popped into Terra's head. "Wait a second! Sandstorm!"
A ball of sand burst off Flygon. The Elites disappeared from view as the sand spread out.
"Now attack!"
Shadow Balls flew back in rapid succession and dots of meteor fire appeared high in the sky.
Sand, stone, and shadow hit as one.
All but one of the Murkrow fell down as the storm washed over them. On that one sat Sydney. Drake appeared unscathed.
The three trainers released another barrage, but Sdyney and Drake dodged everything. Even the best idea seemed to fail. But then…
"No, Metagross!" yelled Steven, but it was too late. Metagross had already jumped.
As Sydney opened his eyes after clearing off the sand, he saw only a flying metal Pokémon. Metagross rammed into him. Claws slashed again and again at the Murkrow. It began to fight back, but it stopped flapping and began to fall.
Drake shot down after them and returned the slower Salamence to its Pokéball.
A light flashed as Metagross returned to its Pokéball unconscious.
Terra looked ahead and was startled to see a tower on an island in the middle of the ocean.
"What is that?"
"Safety."
/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l
Drake saw Sydney splash into the water, then pop back up. "Wait there," he yelled, "I shall return after I have captured them." Sydney had enough strength to get out Sharpedo, and it began to push him toward the land. But it felt something in the depths below.
/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l/l
Steven and the twins landed atop the tower.
"Where are we?" asked Kyle.
Steven waited a minute to catch his breath, then began to answer, "Sky …" he stopped as something clattered onto the ground. It was a Pokéball.
Flash! Salamence popped out as Altaria appeared over the low wall. Both opened their mouths and released a Flamethrower.
The trainers jumped behind Skarmory and Flygon hoping they could be shielded from the blast.
Suddenly, a green blur appeared.
The attack disappeared into plates of armor.
It slithered through the air. Altaria and Salamence were thrown back as it hit them. They tried to surround it and both use Dragonbreath, but it shot to the side. Its tail whipped out and knocked Salamence back.
All three flew up, searching for a mark. Dragonclaws seems to be everywhere, the claws of the new Pokémon slashed at anything near its head. It shot toward Salamence, but Altaria was able to blast it from the side. It convulsed and only one claw hit Salamence. Patterns like dragons' Outrage appeared as it turned back. Altaria was hit in the wing, and Drake turned down and away. Salamence shot a Dragonbreath out while the dragon was facing away, and it blasted into the green scales. The body seemed to fall as it dove under Salamence, but then its tail shot up at the end and whipped out. Salamence was thrown back. As he recovered and looked for where the dragon had gone, he was hit by a blast of Dragonbreath. He fainted as he fell and disappeared in a flash of light.
The green dragon slowed as it returned to the tower.
"I was hoping you were around, Rayquaza," Steven said happily.
A deep voice filled their minds. 'And I am glad you are here; I require your help. Something is wrong outside of my domain, but it seems to affect everything in this world. I cannot control its power like I did with Kyogre and Groudon. They change only the weather, but it changes all life around it, and its creations have begun to spread toward us.'
"Deoxys," whispered Steven. He had known they would need to deal with it eventually.
Author's notes: So, is a battle in the air better than one in a boring open arena?
Sorry it took so long, but updates should come more often now. Please leave any suggestions in a review, I'll probably use them.