Chapter 16: Dante's Peril
The dark moon peered from behind the shadowy clouds that dotted the night sky. It cast an eerie, patchy silver glaze of light across the large shipyard. Warehouses almost three stories tall stood like sentinels in the night, their faded, and battered sides still slightly warm from the heat of the day.
It was through this grim labyrinth that Dante crept, quiet as a shadow. He was dressed in all black, and his rapidly lengthening hair was tied back tightly at the base of his neck. Sweat trickled across his brow as he peered around the corner of a building, almost not breathing. No one was there. Like a cat he darted across the exposed space, flinging himself into a darkened recess. There he stood like a statue for almost a minute, his chest lightly heaving, hands clenching and unclenching. Still, there was no sign of life.
He made his way across the yard in this way for almost fifteen minutes, gradually drawing nearer and nearer to the ocean. At fifty yards from the pier, he halted, listening with all of his might. There. The minute sound of male voices drifted across to him, almost indiscernible from the murmur of the sea. A small smile spread across his lips. Finally, he was on to something. Dante snuck as close as he could to the group of men, and crouched behind a trash bin. He could see their shadows clearly in the moonlight, and their voices seemed to echo in the still air.
"…to risky. I can't keep transferring at the same rate anymore. Interpol is breathing down my neck at every step I take…."
"You have no choice," another voice broke in curtly. "The rate will stay the same. If you don't keep up, you don't get paid."
Dante let a small smile of satisfaction escape as he listened to the two men arguing. Silently, he pulled a pen out of his pocket and pressed the end. The tip began to glow a dull red and flashed twice.
"Then I won't work for you," the first voice said angrily. "Go find someone else to involve in your crime conspiracies."
Dante saw the shadow of a man throw his arms around one of his companions.
"Now see here, my good man," the other man said smoothly, with a voice now calm and placating. "There is no need to get angry. You are the best smuggler we have on hire. We know that you can ship these Pokémon to Johto with better speed and secrecy than anyone else on the continent. We run a lot of Pokémon every day and we need you. Now please, won't you reconsider?"
"No," the man said stubbornly. "Your sweet talk got me into this position, and I won't fall for it anymore. I don't like what you are doing, and it poses to much danger to me so I'm out."
"Reconsider," the second voice said again, this time even more sweetly. "That was not a suggestion."
Suddenly, the first man let out a terrible choking noise and gargled pitifully. Dante dared a peek around the corner. His eyes widened in horror. A portly sailor was held in the grasp of a seemingly endless mass of vines. Dante peered closer. A Tangela. The creature lifted the struggling man high into the air, while a group of four other men watched silently.
"I can't hear you," the leader of the group said, stepping closer to his victim. "Do speak up."
Tears came pouring down the helpless sailor's face. "Please," he managed to rasp. "I have family, a little girl. I can't do it. I don't want her to grow up with her daddy in prison."
"Would you rather her grow up an orphan?"
Dante had had enough. He knew his orders, but pushed them to the back of his mind. The old man is just going to have to deal with this, he thought. He stood up and hurled a poke ball as hard as he could into the group of men. "Torch it!" He yelled as the capsule exploded in silver light.
A majestic Arcanine emerged from the ball and landed lightly on the damp concrete. Without missing a beat, it roared and shot a huge column of flames at the vine Pokémon. Tangela squealed and immediately released its hold on the sailor. Leaping forward in unison with his Pokémon, Dante rushed through the crowd and caught the semi-conscious man in his arms. He groaned slightly and touched the bruises on his neck and arms. This was no good.
The men yelled and began to rush at the two figures. Dante grimaced. "Make a distraction, Arcanine, while I help this man to safety!" Dante shouted over the noise. His Pokémon nodded his majestic head and charged the men, blasting hot flames. In the commotion, the young officer managed to carry his burden to the side of the pier. "You know how to swim better than you know how to walk, if you are truly a sailor worth your salt," Dante whispered to the man. "Go, take your family and leave where they will never find you. You are a brave man." With these words, Dante threw the man into the sea.
The sailor spluttered, but reflex took over, he emerged to the surface and treaded water, staring into Dante's eyes. A silent message was conveyed through the gazes of the two men, and then Dante turned toward the warehouse, and the sailor began to swim for home.
Turning toward the commotion, the young man saw his fate written plainly in front of him. He let out a long shrill whistle. Dragonite emerged from the darkness where she had been waiting and landed heavily beside him. "Take these," he said, hanging a soft bag filled with four pokeballs around her great neck. "Save our friends. I think I stuck my neck into someones business one too many times." Dragonite let out a keening cry but obeyed. Without a backward glance, she shot up into the air and fled, shedding a single tear. It fell to the ground and landed in Dante's hand. It crystalized into a solid drop, and he held it to his chest. "Thank you my friend." He whispered.
Arcanine let out a cry, he had finally been overcome by the mass of men and Pokemon now flooding the scene. Without another word, Dante ran forward to save his friend, fighting man and beast alike with his bare hands. The last sight that Dragonite saw before she disappeared into the darkness was her master kneeling beside his fallen comrade, slowly being dragged down. Then a cloud covered the moon, and all was lost in darkness.