Hello again,
If you've already read this chapter and are wondering what has changed in my rewrite of this, please refer to the author's note at the end.
There is another torture scene in this chapter as well something that could be considered controversial. I have left an author's note stating when the torture scene begins and when it ends if you don't want to read it you can skip it. It's not all that gory but it is highly implicative.
A series of x's separating two paragraphs means that the setting has changed, either to a different character or location or time, etc.
However a series of hashtags separating two paragraphs means that it is still in the same setting, but the point of view has changed to someone else in that setting.
Please read and constructively criticize, comment on problems you find. Thank you.
Flames will be ignored.
I don't own Pokémon.
Chapter 4: Wind Torn
Somewhere; Somewhen:
She had always loved the water; its essence of malleability, its power of erosion, its soothing touch to the body and the sounds that it made; the babbling of a brook; the trickling of a stream; the splashing of a ford; the silence of a fjord and even the roaring of a waterfall. But the sound she loved the most was that of the ocean lapping against the sundrenched shores upon which she stood.
"Mama!" her musing was interrupted by the sound of her daughter calling out to her as the little girl rushed to her mother. The woman turned around and smiled brilliantly at her daughter before rushing forward, scooping the little girl up and spinning her around while they both giggled. She brought her daughter's face to hers and nuzzled her nose as the little girl shrieked in laughter. She then heard a masculine chuckle that always set her blood racing. "She couldn't wait to see you; it sounds like she had a good first day."
The mother turned around still holding her daughter in her arms to see her husband strolling towards to her with a huge smile on his face. He wrapped his arms around his two girls before kissing both of them on the cheek while they giggled. "Come on let's go inside," he said, "I have something to show you."
The mother sighed happily; every year her husband always bought her some ridiculously expensive gift despite her protests, she wondered what he had gotten her this time. The trio walked away from the beach and onto the wooden walkway that led to their house. It was a quaint little cottage that was cozy and fresh. Although they certainly had no shortage of money, they had both wanted a simple house by the sea, surrounded by the beauty of nature and the sounds of the ocean and far away from civilisation.
They entered the house and made their way to the living room. As she entered the room she heard several people yelling, "Happy Birthday Misty!" She gasped as she saw all the familiar faces scattered around the room. She saw her sisters, as beautiful as ever and all smiling proudly at their little sister. She saw May and her brother Max, the former with her arm around her husband Drew. She saw Iris and Cilan; she didn't know them as well as May and Max but over the years she had become good friends with them. She saw Professor Oak and his grandson, who was wiggling his eyebrows at her husband for some reason.
Lastly she saw Brock, Dawn and her mother-in-law in the centre of the room, all of them beaming at her. Tears pricked her eyes and her throat thickened as she saw all of the people who loved her gathered in her living room, wishing her a happy birthday. Finally the person that loved her the most moved towards her, holding their raven-haired daughter, before stopping in front of her. He leaned forward and kissed her chastely on the lips before whispering, "Happy Birthday Misty Ketchum" in her ear.
The tears flowed as she looked around at her all her friends in her beautiful house. She gazed at her husband and beautiful daughter. She sighed happily; this is how it was supposed to be.
xxxxxxxx
Viridian City Airport; 02/03/2013:
It was almost 11 PM and Cynthia and Max were still seated in the hangar next to a small airstrip where they had been since leaving the Station. It appeared that someone had sabotaged the fuel tank of Cynthia's private jet which was no easy feat considering the G-Men Custodians guarding the perimeter of the airstrip.
The G-Men Custodians, or just Custodians for short, were the most elite special services force in the world, consisting of stealthy and vicious warriors from the frozen mountains in the north of Sinnoh, dark-skinned khukuri wielding Ghurkas from the slopes of Mt. Silver, specially trained Marines from both Hoenn and Unova, and Berets Verts, the Kalosian Naval Commandos. The toughest of the toughest from each region sent to Indigo Plateau to work together for the G-Men. The blonde Champion was quite worried about who was skilled enough to slip past the Custodians, but she had more important things to worry about.
Mechanics were still fixing the plane up, and then they had to refill it, which took no small amount of time. The blonde woman sighed for the umpteenth time as she re-crossed her legs the other way and leaned further back into the couch she was seated on in the office in the hangar.
She looked next to her and her irritated expression softened a little; head resting on her shoulder and fast asleep was Max Maple, the fifteen year old Hoenn native and past travelling companion of Ash Ketchum; currently the most hated man in the world. After she and Max had left the Station she had decided to pass the time by getting to know the young Pokémon Trainer, she admired the way he had stood up to her when she was arresting Tracey. So she took him out to the nearest café and bought him a big lunch. While doing so she could also get his opinion on the rest of Ash's travelling companions and see if they all could be trusted.
Unfortunately Max could only really talk about his sister, Brock, Dawn and Misty as he had never met the Unovian couple before and had only briefly seen the others from time to time. But she could tell May was innocent from her breakdown after Max's speech, and no one could fake the mourning that Misty was going through. Obviously Brock and Dawn were irrelevant and as for the Unovian couple, Cynthia slightly regretted not interviewing them but her gut told her that they were innocent as well and her gut had never let her down before.
But who her gut was warning her about and who she had really wanted information about was Gary, his grandfather and Delia; she didn't think they had anything to do with the Colossus or Lance's death, but she knew that they were still withholding information about Red. After she had cooled down sufficiently she had though back on what Gary told her about Red and found a flaw in his story; why on Earth did Red mail his suicide note to Delia Ketchum of all people? And how? The thought that perhaps Red was Delia's husband and Ash's father had crossed her mind, especially considering the similarities between him and Ash, but if that was the case, she needed confirmation, and she could only get that from Delia.
But all she had learnt from Max was that Gary was a researcher and a womanizer, as if she didn't already know that, which was why she had decided that she was staying in Kanto, to interrogate the Pallet trio. But she needed to make sure that Max safely boarded her jet before she could head back to Pallet Town, which was why she was still here in Viridian City.
Her musing was interrupted by a knock on the office door before a mechanic strode in, "Your jet is ready ma'am" he said politely. She nodded and shook Max's shoulder to wake him. He grumbled a bit before realizing that his head was resting on the Champion of Sinnoh's shoulder, at which point he jumped back and blushed heavily. "I-I'm sorry Cynthia-I mean Ms. Lawson!" Cynthia let out peal of laughter that was music to the teenager's ears.
"Oh Max," Cynthia said while giggling, "We know each other well enough to call each other by our names, and don't worry about your head on my shoulder, it's fine." Max blushed even darker before chuckling nervously. Cynthia smiled at him, comforting him, "Well it's time to go; the jet is ready and it's almost midnight." Max smiled back and nodded, signaling that he was ready.
As the two walked out of the office Cynthia realized that, despite the very short time they had spent together, she had grown a little fond of the young teenager walking next to her. He had the same determination she had seen in many of today's Elites when they were just ordinary Trainers, the determination she herself had when she was younger, the determination to be the best that Ash had radiated. In fact in Max she could see another Ash; the Maple boy reminded her of when she had first met Ash in Sinnoh, a young, cocky and headstrong teenager who loved his Pokémon.
Although Max had told her about how Ash had influenced both him and his sister during his speech in the interrogation room it was only when she had spoken with him afterwards when they were alone that she realized for herself just how much the raven haired Pokémon Trainer had affected this young kid's life. The kid was a miniature Ash.
When talking to him in the café earlier she had managed to get the Hoenn boy open up to her. The kid was very smart for his age; he read a lot of books, watched a lot of knowledge shows and even listened to documentary podcasts when he had the time. His parents often teased him, saying how he was far too smart for his own good, far wiser beyond his years than he should be. His sister often teased him for growing up too fast and for being so mature.
But Cynthia could see that he was still just a 15 year old boy. He had probably never kissed a girl, never taken a sip of alcohol, never sat behind the wheel of car. And even despite recent events he was still so, so innocent. He'd never witnessed death; sure he'd seen the Lily of the Valley Final on the television but the cameras had been destroyed by the white light before anyone had actually died. To him death was still something that happened to people far away, and never anyone close to him. She hoped to Arceus that he wouldn't be forced to grow up too fast and forsake the childhood that he still lingered on the border of.
The two eventually reached the ivory black jet, where they stopped just before the steps. The tall blonde woman turned to the shorter blunette boy and smiled at him. "So this is where we part ways Max, what are you going to do when you get to Hoenn?" Max smiled, "I'll probably continue my journey, perhaps I'll go to this Kalos you spoke of afterwards. Those Mega-Pokémon sound really cool!" Cynthia frowned slightly, "So soon? You sure you shouldn't take some time off? Clear your head?"
"Nah, if there was any way to honour Ash, whatever his fate is, it would be to continue striving to be the best I can be. It's what he would have liked, I want to make him proud of me." Cynthia noticed that the boy's eyes had misted and his voice had thickened. "If we meet again someday, I want to fulfil my promise and battle him, and I want to give him such a good battle that neither of us would ever forget it."
Cynthia smiled; she could understand that, as a Pokémon Trainer, the greatest respect you could show a fellow Trainer was to battle your heart out against them, no matter the outcome. The bonding process of a Pokémon battle was lost on too many Trainers nowadays, but there were always those who cherished the Pokémon battle because of that bond, like Ash, Max and herself.
She clasped the boy on the shoulder with one hand and fished out a PokéBall with the other. She saw Max's eyes widen as he recognized the Ball he was handed. It had black top with a yellow 'u' shape and it was not a new Ball. It was riddled with scratches and burns but most importantly, it contained the Sinnoh Champion's famous ace Pokémon: the garchomp that had never been witnessed to lose a battle.
"I have never been attacked on my jet before but I always make sure my Garchomp is handy, just in case. In the very very very unlikely event that someone is stupid enough to attack you on my jet, and my Custodian escort isn't enough to protect you, which he certainly is, Garchomp will be able to deal with it, his undefeated status isn't just a rumour after all." Cynthia said to the young Maple boy. Max nodded dumbfounded as he accepted the Ultra Ball from Cynthia, "Th-thanks Cynthia!" he stuttered before pocketing the ball.
She nodded before gesturing to the man who stood at the top of the steps leading up to the jet. "He is my Custodian escort, his name is Ville Friman and he's from the frozen mountains in the north of Sinnoh, a place where the sun never sets during summer and never rises during winter. Those places breed very tough men. His English is perfect but he may be a little hard to understand because of his Uralic accent, but he's a very nice man so don't be afraid of him at all." She reassured the kid with a comforting smile.
Max waved timidly to the Custodian, who waved back with a broad smile upon his bearded face. The boy then turned back to Cynthia, "Where will you be going then?" he asked. She replied, "Back to Pallet, I need to have a word with Professor Oak and his grandson, and probably Mrs. Ketchum as well. There's something they're not telling me." Max nodded, he had assumed that Gary was hiding something from his nervous fidgeting in the waiting room earlier.
"Well, goodbye Cynthia, I hope you find all the answers you're looking for before it's too late." He said smiling up at the blonde Champion. Cynthia returned his smile, "Thank you Max, I hope so too. Stay safe and farewell." She replied before striding away, pausing a few times to look over shoulder and make sure everything was alright with Max.
As she got in her car and left Viridian City she couldn't help but wonder if Max would be alright without her, sure the boy had a very highly trained Custodian and pilots and her ace Pokémon protecting him, but Lance had had very strong Pokémon too. If something happened to the boy while under her care, the G-Men's already rocky reputation would plummet further, not to mention the headache that would arise from his Gym Leader parents. But if something happened to Max, Cynthia knew deep down that she would feel an emotion quite foreign to her, guilt.
#########
1 hour later:
Cynthia had just passed through the forest surrounding Pallet Town when she thought she saw the distinct puppet-like trio of heads a hydreigon flying over her and towards Viridian. But its destination wasn't what concerned her, rather its source was. It had come from Mrs. Ketchum's house. She had originally planned to spend the night at the professor's lab but after seeing the hydreigon she decided to check up on Delia and the others.
She pulled in behind May's rental car and had just stepped out when she heard a scream followed by a thud. A few seconds later she heard the unmistakable sound of retching. She rushed to the door and knocked on it hard, "Mrs. Ketchum! Is everything alright? It's Cynthia!" she yelled. Several seconds passed before she heard footsteps and then the door being unlocked.
The door swung open to reveal May's pale face and trembling body, she frowned and whispered in a strained voice, "Cynthia? What are you doing here? Where's Max?" Cynthia, worried by the state of May's voice, replied hurriedly, "He's on his way to Petalburg, don't worry my garchomp is with him. Now what happened here?" The brunette just stepped away to reveal a scene of chaos. The window looking out to the garden had been smashed and the coffee table lay in pieces. There were a few indents in the walls and the remains of a PokéBall lay near where Delia was sobbing on the floor and Drew was sitting against the wall. Cynthia rushed to Delia, avoiding the puddles of vomit, and checked to see if she was injured before glancing into the cupboard.
Her eyes widened and she gasped at what she saw, she cursed before pulling out her phone and dialing 999, "This is Cynthia Lawson and there's been a murder of an owned Pokémon in the household of Delia Ketchum on number 1 Acacia Avenue in Pallet Town." The blonde G-Men Officer noticed that May was breathing hard and clutching her stomach, and that there were bloodstains strewn about the floor. "People have been injured too, bring an ambulance." She then hung up before the police could ask her anything; knowing that the abrupt ending would bring them faster.
She glanced again at Delia sobbing at the floor before moving onto Drew, who was still sitting against the wall, pale-faced with flecks of sick about his mouth, eyes unfocused and staring blankly ahead. She finally looked at May who was carefully picking up the crushed PokéBall she had seen earlier. "Poor Cilan… Poor Whimsicott…" The shaken brunette whispered. Cynthia flinched as she saw blood seeping out of the cracks in the ball; she realized that it had been inhabited when it was crushed. She wouldn't wish that fate on her worst enemy.
She surveyed the devastation once more, coming to the conclusion that Iris and Cilan must have flown away on the former's hydreigon, and she sighed in frustration as she realized her questions for Delia and the Oaks would have to wait.
xxxxxxxx
Cerulean City Gym/Waterflower Household; 03/04/2013:
The red head awoke confused. She looked around the room in which she lay and eventually realized it wasn't the living room of a seaside cottage and that she was alone. It had happened again. Ever since the incident in Sinnoh and Ash's disappearance, her mind constantly tortured her of what could have been during her sleep. She rested her head on her pillow again and stared straight ahead at the ceiling.
It wasn't long before the tears came. Her mouth involuntarily drooped and her vision became misty as she began to cry. Her cries became more desperate at the thought of Brock and Dawn's demise and of the missing man that she had grown to love.
After she had left Ash in Johto and returned home, the two had always kept in touch, sometimes by e-mail, sometimes by vid-phone and sometimes by letters. They had never drifted apart emotionally, despite their physical separation, and during Ash's most recent journey around Sinnoh Misty had thought that they were growing very very close. She had been sure that Ash reciprocated her feelings, despite him not actually saying anything of the sort, and she was going to reveal her feelings for him when he returned home after the Conference, whether he had won or not.
But then he had disappeared, replaced by Ritchie who then plunged the world into confusion and fear. And now Misty doubted she would ever be able to tell Ash how she felt, which was why she despaired every morning after her dreams of what could have been… what was supposed to have been.
Her weeping was interrupted by a knock on her bedroom door. "Misty? Breakfast's ready." Misty sniffled and wiped her eyes and her nose before yelling back at Daisy, "Coming sis!" She got out of bed and washed her face in the sink in the bathroom en suite before slipping into acceptable clothing and heading downstairs to the kitchen.
She was greeted by the sight of her eldest sister and her boyfriend, who had medicinal tape spread across his nose. When Daisy had first seen Tracey yesterday with blood all down his face and his shirt she had flown into a rage, demanding to know who had hurt her precious 'beau' and ranting about how whoever was responsible was going to feel the wrath of the most sensational of the Sensational Sisters; though she had become a tad more responsible over the years her arrogance was still sky high.
It was only after both Misty's and Tracey's assurance that it was illegal to kill someone with a handbag, especially a G-Men Official, she calmed down somewhat and took Tracey to the hospital. Luckily for Tracey the pain was mostly numbed because, as usual, he was under the influence.
After Daisy had left for the hospital with her boyfriend in tow Misty had made her way to the aquarium to release and feed the Pokémon she had on her as well as the Pokémon in the Gym. She always thoroughly looked after her Pokémon, which was why she considered the strongest Gym Leader in the Kanto region. There were even some rumours flying about that she was secretly training with Prima or Lorelei or whatever her name was now in order to replace her and become a new member of the Kanto Elite Four.
They were just rumours of course; her Pokémon may be strong but only Gyarados and perhaps Golduck would be strong enough to defeat an Elite's Pokémon. Whenever Ash came over they would always battle, and true to their competitive relationship they would always use their A-team. Ash would struggle to beat her Corsola, Politoed, Azumarill and Kingdra but he would usually pull through. But then Misty would release Golduck, who always made short work of the rest of Ash's Pokémon. Ash had never even fought her Gyarados because he had never managed to beat Golduck.
While it was true that generally Misty was a stronger Pokémon Trainer than Ash, she reckoned that Ash could maybe beat her if he used his truly strongest Pokémon. Pikachu still always refused to battle her and she knew that his pidgeot could provide a decent match against her Golduck, and Arceus forbid that he ever reunited with his ridiculous Charizard; even with his type disadvantage that beast could probably swipe away most of her team and perhaps hold his own against Gyarados, though Misty would never have admitted that to Ash. Another thing to consider was that, according to Brock, Ash and his Pokémon had apparently become a lot stronger during his rerun through Sinnoh. Misty hadn't fought him since his Unova journey so who knows? Perhaps Ash could beat her now.
Misty was brought abruptly out of her thoughts by the ringing of the home telephone, when she saw that Daisy was too busy being her idiotic self and that Tracey was staring deeply into his Cheerios with his mouth open in a shocked expression, she realized that she would have to answer it herself.
The shaky voice of her close friend May immediately warned Misty that something was wrong, "Misty! Are you alright?!" Misty, alarmed and confused, replied warily, "Yeah I'm fine, why?" The red-head became very worried when she heard May sniffling over the phone. "Oh Misty, it was awful! It came out of nowhere! And Cilan! Poor Cilan! And Mimey! Oh Mew I hope Delia will be alright when she wakes up…"
Misty was very scared now as she tried to calm May down, who had burst into tears. "Wha- Okay May? Can you hear me May? Please calm down… I don't understand, what happened?" She waited patiently as May's sobs died down before the brunette recounted the events of the previous night to Misty. Starting with the ominous alakazam and them being held by its psychic abilities and then going on to the horrible machamp and its brutal assault on Cilan and finally their discovery of Delia's Mr. Mime's brutal demise and Cynthia's arrival.
"Neither Delia nor Cilan have woken up and Iris is just beside herself, Cilan is the only person she trusts in this whole mess since Ash's disappearance. Both of her only friends' fates are uncertain."
Misty gasped and put her hand over mouth, drawing the attention of Daisy and her boyfriend, before speaking, "I'll be over as soon as I can. You're in Viridian hospital right? It's about an hour train ride to Viridian, I'll see you then." May spoke gratefully, "Thank you Misty, I just really need a friend right now, I think Drew's just as shocked as I am…" Misty smiled sadly, "No problem May."
Misty sighed as she hung up and headed towards the Gym, "May and them were attacked in Delia's home in Pallet, Cilan's in critical condition and the rest are in shock, I'm going over to be with them," She explained to Daisy and Tracey as she walked away. Daisy gasped and looked at Tracey, who seemed to understand the situation for once. He nodded solemnly, "It's true honey, the Cheerios warned me of this." Daisy face palmed, she could admit that she was no genius, but Tracey's drug-addled mind made hers seem like that of an actuarial scientist.
"We'll go with you Misty!" she yelled after her sister who only nodded in reply.
xxxxxxxx
Somewhere over Johto; 03/04/2013; early morning:
Max sighed, he had just spoken to his sister on the jet's vid-phone who had told him about everything that had happened in Pallet. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't worried about her, but she had assured him that Cynthia would be with them at all times from now on. Apparently the blonde Champion had insisted on it.
He stared out of the window into the black rainclouds as he wondered who would attack the Ketchum household; he wasn't sure who the target had been but a Pokémon as smart as Alakazam had to have known that the house had been inhabited by more than just Delia that night. That was probably why the machamp had been there, as back-up muscle. So the goal couldn't have been just taking Delia and Max was almost certain that the alakazam had intended to kidnap someone; whomever had sent the two Pokémon would have just sent machamp if he or she wanted to just assault someone.
According to May, the Nurse Joy in Viridian had performed an autopsy on Mimey and had determined that the barrier Pokémon had been dead for at least a day, which explained the lack of decay on his corpse when Mrs. Ketchum had found him, plus the chemicals in the cleaning cupboard would have concealed bad odours had there been any.
But the thing that had Max really confused was that the alakazam must have been surveying the house since at least the day before if Mimey had been dead for that long, so why would it choose the one day when Delia wasn't alone to strike? Which brought Max back to the original question: who was the alakazam targeting if not Delia?
Max sighed once again as he continued pondering the event while still staring out the window. Suddenly a fork of lightning flashed across the sky, lighting up the ominous shapes of black rolling clouds frothing all around the plane and letting off a peal of thunder that caused the plane to shake a bit. While quite a scary sight, Max knew that if the plane was in any real danger, Ville, who was sitting opposite him, wouldn't be acting so calmly.
Eventually, as the thunder and lightning continued and the boy had grown accustomed to the chaos churning about outside his window, he began to enjoy the show. Each time the sky lit up he tried to identify the shapes in the clouds as Pokémon. He saw a tall cumulus tyranitar, plenty of big cumulus pidgeots, and every now and then a reasonably large wispy charizard, though that one seemed quite small compared to the towering tyranitars and pidgeots. The smart boy frowned; there were no wispy clouds in thunderstorms.
As yet another rumble of thunder rolled through him, the sky lit up once again, only this time he saw the charizard cloud again, and it was much closer, close enough for Max to see the bright orange flame burning at the end of its huge tail. Close enough for him to see its dark orange scales glinting in the light of the lightning. To see its massive green webbed wings rippling in the wind. To see its two blunt horns rear back as the beast opened its mouth. From deep within the blood red cavernous mouth filled with razor sharp fangs an orange glow arose, steadily building up until white hot fire filled the entire mouth and molten flame was dripping from its jaws.
Max turned to scream at Ville to move but before any sound escaped his mouth a huge pillar of white fire ripped through the plane. Max put his hands up in front of his face as the pillar completely incinerated the screaming Ville and cut the plane in half as efficiently as any laser. Even though Ville had been sitting just two metres away from him and the white flame had only been present for a split second, Max could feel his hands blistering and his sleeves searing away. The boy screamed in fear and pain as he watched the back half of the plane be ripped apart by the ferocious winds before another huge blast of fire scorched the remains away.
He realized that the front half that he was in was dropping like stone towards the earth before the winds tore him, seat and all, out of the plane and into the angry black sky. He lost all sense of direction as he spun frantically in the air still strapped into his seat. He tried to reach into his pocket to grab Garchomp's PokéBall but his blistered fingers made it hard to grasp the cool object without screaming in pain. Eventually he managed to grab the ball and release the Pokémon within.
"Garchomp help me!" He screamed as the Mach Pokémon took shape. Garchomp, with reactions honed to perfection from years of brutal training, immediately grabbed Max before ripping him out of the seat with raw strength. With the boy secure on his back the beast took off straight through the sky at supersonic speeds, the boom of the of the sound barrier being penetrated almost as loud to Max as the crashing thunder.
But the sound that terrified Max the most, more than the sonic boom, more than the thunder, more than the tearing winds, was the guttural roar of that beastly charizard as it took off after them, almost matching their speed. Suddenly Garchomp pulled up as another absolutely gigantic charizard rose up in front of them. Max noticed that this one had three sharp horns, serrated wings, a spiked tail and was at least three times larger than both Garchomp and the original charizard, he realized that it must be one of those Mega-Charizards that Cynthia spoke of.
He cowered in fear as the new charizard glanced at him and Garchomp, but instead of chasing after them as Max expected the new, larger beast shot towards the original charizard, tearing a rend through the air and causing crashing thunder at the speed it was going. As the larger dragon closed in on the original one it flipped upside down and spread its claws out.
The smaller dragon stood no chance as the larger one flew under it, its claws raking down the soft underside of its belly. The smaller charizard roared in anger and agony as blood sprayed out from its belly, soaking the larger dragon as it flew past under it, still upside down. The larger dragon then righted itself before launching itself above the smaller injured beast with a single flap of its mighty wings. It grabbed the smaller beast with vicious sharp claws that dug in, penetrating the injured charizard's hard back scales and drawing blood. It then snaked its long serpentine neck down and, with fire writhing around its foot long fangs, chomped down on the smaller beast's neck, crushing the bone within. Then it twisted its mouth, causing the smaller beast's neck to snap.
The larger charizard released the dead charizard and watched as its body plummeted to the earth, the tearing winds whipping it back and forth. Max, who had seen the whole thing due to the almost continuous lightning cracking about the sky, cried out in horror. He had never seen a Pokémon so viciously killed and even though the beast had killed Ville so horribly he didn't feel any joy at its brutal demise.
Suddenly he saw the larger charizard making its way over towards him and Garchomp. He felt Garchomp rear back and then release a massive beam of orange energy in an earth-shattering Hyper Beam. But the charizard simply flew straight into it! The beam detonated causing a huge cloud of smoke and sparks to arise, only to be whipped away instantly by the ferocious winds. The charizard was unharmed! What sort of beast was this that it could withstand a Hyper Beam from a Beta Rank Pokémon?!
Max suddenly remembered hearing about Lance's death and how it was suspected that it was a charizard that had done it. His face paled as he realized he must be facing that charizard right now. If that was the case then this beast was Colossal Rank! Come to think of it, given the power of its flamethrower, the other one might have been Colossal as well.
If his assumptions were correct, then Max knew they needed to get the hell out of there. He yelled to Garchomp over the howling winds, "Garchomp we have to get out of here! You don't stand a chance! That Pokémon must be a Colossal one!" Luckily Garchomp's acute hearing picked up Max's words before it was whipped away. The beast grunted its name in agreement before blasting off, creating another sonic boom as it sped away.
Max glanced behind him but to his horror he found the orange dragon not only keeping up with Garchomp, but also overtaking him! The beast flew low over them and spread out its claws, each one longer than Max's arm, and tried to grab him. Fortunately Garchomp suddenly halted its flight, causing the charizard to shoot over them. Unfortunately this seemed to anger the huge beast immensely as it roared bestially before whipping around, veiling itself in blue fire and hurtling towards them in a Flare Blitz attack. The fire was so hot that all rain within a metre of the blazing comet instantly evaporated.
Garchomp just managed to barrel roll out of the way but not before one flaming hand raked across his face. Three instantly cauterized rends opened up upon Garchomp's face, one running straight across his right eye. The Mach Pokémon roared in pain and Max screamed in fear before shock silenced him. He had had the sudden horrible realization that he wasn't going to get out of this. He had always been a smart boy and despite a few lapses of judgement during his journey with Ash, he knew when he was beaten. It was obvious that the charizard wanted him alive; otherwise Garchomp would be missing more than just an eye. It was also obvious that Garchomp was no match for this beast.
Max knew that there was only two ways this scenario was going to play out; if he is taken and Garchomp survives, or Garchomp gets killed, probably horribly, and Max still gets taken. So with tears streaming down his face, mixing with the lashing rain, and bile hovering at the tip of his throat he opted for the former scenario and shakily unclasped his Pokétch and put it on Video record.
He wrapped the Pokétch around the base of Garchomp's dorsal fin, where it was just thin enough for it, though his trembling blistered fingers made it difficult to do so. He spoke with a shaking voice as he did so. "Cynthia! I-I've been attacked by a ch-charizard! I think it was Colossal! Garchomp and I are the only survivors from your jet, Ville is…" Max choked as the sudden realization that Ville had been so violently killed hit him.
The tears burned as he continued. "Ville is… h-he didn't make it. But the charizard that attacked the plane is dead! It was killed by another one, but this new one is even more powerful! Your Garchomp didn't stand a chance… Cynthia… I think it might be one of those Mega-Charizards you spoke of… I-I think it might be the same one that attacked Lance."
"I'm telling Garchomp to take this message to you… the charizard wants me alive and it won't kill Garchomp needlessly!" Max paused as Garchomp reared up at his words, before relaxing and solemnly nodding his head. He would take the message to his master. Max sobbed and began weeping, his tears were carving burning trails down rain lashed face. He began to yell frantically. "Please Cynthia! Help me! Find me and save me! I don't want to die! PLEASE!"
He was just a fifteen year old kid, he'd never seen death before and now suddenly his own seemed inevitable. He felt massive claws slowly wrap around him and watched in terror as they overlapped around his chest. He screamed as the charizard yanked him away, watching the injured Garchomp and that little screen fade away into the black thunderclouds. "HELP MEEEE!"
#########
Garchomp watched Max and the charizard disappear into the angry skies with a sorrowful expression before grimacing. Due to the instant cauterization of the wounds upon his face his eye would probably never grow back. But that didn't mean that there wasn't a lot of thick hot blood streaming down his face. He was tired but he had a long way to go if he was to deliver Max's message to his trainer, but he deliver it he would, even if he drew the last breath from his body doing so.
So with black chaos and white thunder crashing around him he bellowed out an earth-trembling roar before blasting off towards Pallet Town at a speed that might have reached the edge of Mach 2. And while the stinging rain lashed at his wounded face, the only thought going through his mind was that he was going survive this ordeal, he was going to get stronger, and he was going to crush that charizard.
xxxxxxxx
Shamouti Island; 03/04/2013:
Jenny groaned as the speed boat bounced of yet another swell before slamming down again into the clear blue waters, causing her knees to buckle and her knuckles gripping the rail to turn white. Meanwhile the girl next to her laughed out joyfully. Jenny stared incredulously at the young woman who she had met on Shamouti. With maroon hair flowing behind her and a beret covering her head, Melody laughed as her eyes sparkled in merriment. Jenny shook her head, this girl was crazy!
When she and Bruno had arrived at Shamouti Island, they had begun asking around the nearest PokéCentre about Melody and Lugia. Eventually someone had gotten over Bruno's size and directed them to Melody's house, which she shared with her sister Carol and her sister's girlfriend Maren. They spoke to Melody who agreed to take them to the shrine where Lugia could apparently be summoned. The maroon haired girl had then taken them to the docks where her boat was mired.
But when they arrived at the docks, Bruno had taken one look at the boat they'd be taking and decided he needed to make an impromptu conference call with Cynthia, deciding that even a chance to meet the Legendary Lugia wasn't worth a trip on that small little speedboat. Jenny had laughed at him and told him that his massive physique would probably sink the boat anyway, to which Melody laughed at. But then Bruno had promptly informed the policewoman that she hadn't seemed to mind his massive physique last night on the ferry to Shamouti. Melody had guffawed as Jenny's face became redder than the aforementioned girl's hair.
After Bruno had walked away with an awfully satisfied smirk spread across his face, the highly embarrassed Jenny and chuckling Melody had stepped onto the boat before Melody revved the engines and set off at a speed that no marine vehicle should have access to. Which bought the two to where they were now, soaring into the air as the boat ramped up another swell while Melody shouted in delight, "Woohooo!"
Jenny rushed to the side and emptied the contents of her stomach into ocean, perhaps it was best that Bruno had not come, she thought grumpily. He'd never have made it. Melody, who only seemed to notice Jenny's plight just then, slowed the boat down a tad before coming over. "Ma'am I'm so sorry! I always get carried away when my hands are behind the wheel of my boat, just ask my sister; this one time she fell out of the boat and I only noticed about a minute later! Luckily she was close to the shore so she could swim back."
Jenny spat what remained in her mouth into the ocean before wiping her mouth and turning to smile weakly at the apologetic Island girl. "Don't worry about it Melody, and please, my badge and uniform are at home. I'm not on duty so call me Jenny." Melody released a relieved sigh before smiling brightly once more.
"Well we're almost here Jenny, there's the shrine island up ahead, King's Rock." Melody pointed ahead of her to a small rocky island jutting out of the sea like a small blemish on an otherwise flat landscape. As the boat drew close to the island Jenny saw a tiny cove with an even smaller beach tucked away behind the folds of the unforgiving rock edge of King's Rock. The boat just managed to fit in the cove and the beach couldn't have been more than a few metres across.
Jenny leapt over the edge of the boat and splashed into the ankle high waters as she made her way onto the warm sand. She noticed that where the beach joined the island there were stairs hewn into the rocks. They lead up around the island, spiraling to top of the sharp spire that rose in the center of King's Rock, where a small cave could be seen.
Melody, who had just finished tying up the boat to a small wooden post that was hammered into the rocks surrounding the beach, and then had thrown the anchor overboard for good measure, came up beside Jenny an spoke while pointing to the cave at the top of the spire. "That's where we need to go, we'll meet an old friend to the residents of Shamouti and he will tell you how to summon the Guardian of the Seas."
Jenny was again reminded of how Melody always referred to Lugia as 'the Guardian of the Seas'. She wasn't the only one either; everyone she had spoken to on Shamouti called him that as well, almost as if speaking his real name was blasphemous. Indeed some folk had looked at her as such when she spoke his real name but Melody seemed a bit more accepting of other people's cultures. The off-duty policewoman figured that people of Shamouti Island were Servants and that they probably saw Lugia as a god of sorts; they did seem to be the religious sort.
"Let's go then." Jenny said before determinedly striding up the stone steps. She soon found however that the going was dangerous, very dangerous. Time, combined with the constant crashing of waves against island's rocky walls, sending up sea spray onto the steps, had smoothed the steps so they became rounded, sporting almost glass-like qualities. Coupled with the fact that the steps were always wet and they became as slippery as ice. Only one misstep was required to send the blunette sliding down into the razor sharp rocks below.
"Careful Jenny!" Melody yelled as the policewoman slipped, the only thing halting her untimely demise was Melody's fist gripping her collar. Jenny breathed a huge sigh of relief, "Mew! Thank you Melody! Why hasn't your friend done something about this? Surely he would rather not risk his life every time he walked these steps?" Melody laughed, "You'll understand when you meet him, I'm not sure he's even left his cave since the Legendary Bird disaster six years ago!"
Jenny frowned, what sort of sick man were they going to meet?! A lonely hermit who hadn't seen a woman in years? A misshapen heap of flesh who liked to eat people that asked too many questions? Jenny knew she was being ridiculous, but she wasn't exactly in a rational state of mind after just having been saved from grinding waves and rocks by the skin of her teeth. Melody saw Jenny's uneasy expression and reassured her, "Relax Jenny, he's very friendly, he's not some sort of pervert or anything. I come to see him at least once a week to keep him company."
The relief on Jenny's face was evident. Still, she wondered what sort of person would live in a small cave for years on end. At least he wasn't starved for company. Taking deep breaths to settle herself she carefully made her way up the steps and around the spire. When she finally stepped onto the firm surface of the cave entrance floor she released a sigh of relief that she hadn't even realised she'd been holding.
She slumped against the wall of the cave as Melody stepped up beside her and stretched her arms out. After she had sufficiently rested up she noticed a small shrine which held three round openings on the edge of the ledge she had just got up onto. She stood up to inspect the shrine but was soon distracted by the glorious view that lay behind the shrine. While climbing the steps she had been too preoccupied with watching her step to notice it but now that she was safe she could truly appreciate it.
In the distance she could just see a smudged dark shape that was Shamouti Island and to its right she could make out Fire Island. To its left she could see Ice Island and she assumed that Thunder Island was on the other side of Shamouti. But what caught her attention was how the turquoise blue waters of the Orange Ocean sparkled under the shine of the sun.
The water was clear enough to see schools of magikarp and goldeen flitting about under the surface. She saw a long serpentine shape in the distance off to her left; it might have been a gyarados. She even saw a lone lapras drifting across the horizon to her right. But one other thing that caught her eye was a massive circle of navy blue with a diameter of at least fifty metres in the ocean right before the entrance to the cove where Melody's boat was mired. It appeared to be a huge deep hole right underneath the surface of the water. They must have passed over it while getting to the island and the police woman wondered how on earth she had missed it.
"It is truly beautiful is it not? I am blessed to see it every day, when Mother Nature allows for it of course; can't see much of this in a storm after all." Jenny jumped as a rumbling and definitely male voice spoke out from behind her. She turned around to find Melody giggling and a large primarily pink bipedal Pokémon. It had a pale yellow muzzle, a scaled belly and a spiny ruff with alternating red and white stripes about its neck. With only one claw on each foot and hand it appeared relatively harmless, except for the huge spiked shell with two huge horns and a red gem in the centre of it that lay on its head.
But that wasn't where a slowking's strength lay. Brought about when a shellder bit its head rather than its tail, a slowking's massive intellectual potential is unlocked when the shellder's venom mixes with the chemical solution that is a slowpoke's brain, allowing the usually slow members of the slowpoke family to become smarter than most Pokémon. Side effects of this sudden increase in intellect were speech and psychic abilities.
But this one was old, very old. Jenny could see murkrow's feet in the corners of its huge eyes. His shell was worn down and one horn was missing its tip. He was missing some teeth and those that remained had been worn flat. There were rips in the ruff around his neck and the gem in the centre of his shell had a crack in it.
Slowking gazed quizzically at Jenny and then tilted his head, "Has your tongue frozen inside your mouth child? Can you not speak?" Jenny jumped again as she realised that she had been standing there and staring at him with no response to his original statement. Melody, who saw Jenny's discomfort, stepped forth and spoke. "Slowking, this is Chief Investigator Jenny, a police officer from Viridian City who has come with questions regarding the Guardian of the Seas." She then turned to Jenny, "Jenny, this is Slowking, an old friend to the people of Shamouti, it was through his actions that the Chosen One was able to summon the Guardian of the Seas and defeat both Lawrence III and the enraged Legendary Bird Trio."
Slowking let loose a deep, yet warm laugh. "Melody my child, I may be old by human standards, but for a slowking I have yet to reach my twilight years." Melody rolled her eyes but she was grinning, "Well being over 150 years old is old in my book, so I'll call you old whenever I feel like it!" she replied while laughing. Slowking chuckled again before returning his attentions to the still silent policewoman before him.
Jenny realised she still hadn't spoken, so she sought to remedy that as soon as possible. "Forgive my silence Slowking, it's just that when Melody told me that someone lived up here I assumed she was referring to a human. I hope I have not offended." She said somewhat formally. Slowking laughed and spoke reassuringly, "Not at all my dear! I know how rare my species are. It takes an incredibly foolish Pokémon, even for a slowpoke, to get its head bitten by a shellder after all. Now, what questions do you have regarding Lugia? Has a confrontation with Chosen One sent you desiring answers?"
Jenny noticed that the Royal Pokémon had called Lugia by his name, but thought little of it. She wasn't sure if she entirely trusted this slowking, but she spoke anyway. "I have come here to speak to Lugia. Recent events have the G-Men very worried and we have reason to believe that the Colossus, the man who has killed over a hundred thousand people in Sinnoh, has access to Colossal Rank Pokémon. As you must well know, Pokémon of Colossal strength are very powerful indeed and we may need the help of the Legendaries. Lugia has been seen by humans more than any other Legendary Pokémon and so we thought that through Lugia we could ask the Legendaries to help defend us against the Colossus should he strike again."
Slowking frowned while Melody solemnly nodded; she had already been informed of Jenny's task. The Royal Pokémon spoke. "This is worrying news… and what of the Chosen One? Has he formed a counterattack? Or is that why you are here? Is this his plan?" Jenny became very confused, "Uhh… I don't know of any Chosen One Slowking, I don't believe I've met him."
Slowking frowned before turning his head to Melody, who leaned forward and whispered to him. "The Chosen One is a legend only told among the residents of Shamouti, out in the rest of the world there is no Chosen One." Slowking seemed very alarmed by this news. "What! The Chosen One doesn't apply only to Shamouti Island! He is the prophesized saviour of the world!"
He turned and then focused sharply on Jenny. He moved closer to her and then stared deep into her eyes. Jenny had the feeling that he was staring at more than just her eyes though. Was this how Psychic Pokémon read your mind? The Royal Pokémon leaned back again. "You have met the Chosen One Jenny, seven years ago he came into your town cradling an exhausted pikachu. You helped him to the PokéCentre. You may not know him as the Chosen One, but perhaps you know him by the name given to him, Ash Ketchum."
Jenny gasped, Ash was the one who summoned Lugia and saved Shamouti from disaster six years ago?! Bruno would want to know this, and Cynthia, she supposed. She licked her lips nervously as she spoke. "Yes I know Ash, everybody knows Ash." A huge smile spread across Slowking's face. "They do? So he has mounted a counterattack then? Perhaps he is just not known as the Chosen One, it is only a title after all."
Jenny winced and with a grim tone she said, "Not quite Slowking. Everybody knows Ash because everybody hates him, they believe he is the man behind the Lily of the Valley attack, they believe he is the Colossus." Slowking frowned heavily, "The Chosen One would never do that! Surely his friends and family cannot believe this!"
Jenny replied, "Well no, they know Ash is innocent, as do I. But Ash has been missing since the attack and as the imposter looks remarkably like him, most of the world does believe him to be the Colossus. But Ash is sort of irrelevant right now, I was sent here by Cynthia Lawson, Champion of Sinnoh , to ask the Legendaries for their help."
Slowking growled, "The Chosen One is missing is he? This is bad, very bad. And child, if you, an Officer of the law, truly believe that the Chosen One is irrelevant then I fear for the people of this world. For it is not the Legendaries you need, but the Chosen One. But perhaps Lugia can help you find him… I will summon him."
As the Royal Pokémon gestured for her and Melody to step away from the ledge and back into the cave Jenny thought about what he had said. She didn't understand what help Ash could possibly be against the Colossus but if Slowking believing so made him summon Lugia then she was happy to play along with his delusions. The pink salamander moved right to the edge of the cave and raised his arms into the air. He made no sound but his eyes started to glow a pale blue and the gem on his shell glowed a piercing red.
Suddenly the water in that gaping blue hole Jenny had seen earlier began to twirl. It was a slow spin at first but it gradually increased in both velocity and size until a massive whirlpool was spinning, its root extending deep into that hole. Melody's boat was pulled towards the whirlpool, the only thing stopping from getting sucked in and crushed was the chain tied to the post and the anchor.
Jenny stared transfixed at the whirlpool as it roared not twenty metres away from her. Suddenly a pillar of water the width of the hole blasted into the air before slowly halting its ascent. Then it collapsed, falling apart as water rushed out from it. Yet as a giant tsunami headed towards King's Rock, threatening to flood the entire island and drown its inhabitants, it smashed against an invisible spherical barrier, rocketing back up into the air before falling back down in one final smash.
As the water finally retreated back down to normal heights Jenny noticed a huge beast hovering amidst rainbows brought on by the sun shining on the mist left over by the watery eruption. It appeared to be some sort of a mix between a dragon, a plesiosaur, and a bird. It had a long, slender neck and a smooth, streamlined, white body, with the exception of the huge navy plates that protruded down of the length of its back. Its massive wings resembled hands and its head was pointed with two sharp plates protruding from behind its narrow eyes.
Then it spoke with a voice deeper than the sound of roaring whirlpools, "Greetings humans. I… am Lugia"
xxxxxxxx
Viridian City Hospital/PokéCentre; 03/04/2013:
Drew had his head in his hands and was sighing when the person in the bed he was sitting by stirred. He glanced up and was relieved to see his girlfriend, his beautiful girlfriend, awake. He lunged forward and wrapped May in a hug. "Oh May, I'm so glad you're alright!" He pulled back and saw May's stunned expression. He continued, "I'm so sorry for not protecting you like I should have, I can't believe that a Pokémon would do this to you!"
His eyes were watering he realised, but he didn't care. His May was alive! "And I know that I've been a terrible boyfriend, but I'll make it up to you I swear! Starting now Drew Hayden is a new man, a man that'll be however you want him to be May!" He suddenly realised that May was crying. "May! What's wrong!"
The brunette girl smiled through her tears, "Oh Drew… that was so sweet! But I was the lucky one Drew, Cilan is suffering a lot worse than I am." Drew nodded faintly as he felt nauseous. Having lived a very privileged lifestyle most of his life the green-haired Coordinator had grown up with the belief that Pokémon could only be friends to humans. He had never taken them for granted, probably the only thing he hadn't in his life, he realised bitterly, but the concept of a Pokémon harming a human was very foreign to him.
He knew the power of Pokémon but he'd only seen it unleashed on other Pokémon and they had remarkable durableness and healing abilities that kept them safe from any lasting harm. So to see a Pokémon's power unleashed on a human was a very traumatic experience for the Hoenn native. Sure he had had a few scuffles with bad sorts on his journey around Hoenn, but he had Solidad and Harley to back him up back then and besides, most bad guys had sense enough not to order their Pokémon to attack a person, no sensible criminal would want robbery to turn into murder after all…
Drew shuddered as he again thought of Cilan; when Drew had learnt the extent of the damage May had suffered from just one punch from that super-powered monster, namely a few cracked ribs and a bruised stomach, he had realised the depth of the danger that the polite Unovian was in, which again brought on bouts of fear at the prospect of a Pokémon causing it.
But it was when he thought of the machamp hitting his girlfriend that panic seized his heart. A person close to him had gotten injured by a Pokémon! And as he had struggled helpless against the powerful bonds of that horrible alakazam, another Pokémon of ill content, he had realised he'd never felt so useless before. His experiences with bad sorts in the past had been a walk in the park when compared to the violence and futility of what had occurred in Mrs. Ketchum's house.
And while May had lain recovering in the hospital bed, getting up only once to call her brother and Misty, Drew had had a revelation of sorts. He realised that the world was dark, a lot darker than he had thought. Sure the 'Valley of Death' incident had been shocking but he hadn't been there, nor had he lost anyone really close to him, the deaths of Brock and Dawn had been, while unsettling, sort of inconsequential to him. So experiencing such trauma first hand as he had had in Pallet Town had eliminated his naivety and he eventually came to the realization that he had to protect those he cared about, starting with his girlfriend.
xxxxxxxx
Somewhere; 03/04/2014:
AN WARNING: This coming scene features torture, the characters in question are the same torturer and victim from the 1st chapter. While not all that gory it is quite vivid and implicative. It features whipping and crucifixion. Please do not read this if you such content disturbs you, though I would recommend that you stop reading this story be that the case. There is a notice when the scene ends if you want to skip it. And please read my author's note at the end of the chapter regarding the crucifixion if it offended you.
"Have you heard of the ancient Romans Mr. Ketchum?" when the man made no noise the torturer continued, "Well if not allow me to educate you," he said as he pushed the shirtless and blindfolded man down the narrow hallway. "The Romans were a mighty empire governed by a mostly corrupt senate and a few bloodthirsty dictators. They have a bloody history rivaled only by a few other empires. Possibly the most successful empire in history, not the largest, but the longest reigning one, they used to worship several gods which of course we recognize as Legendary Pokémon nowadays, well most of us anyway. They also used to go watch slaves fight to the death with a whole assortment of weird and wonderful weapons in huge colosseums. But perhaps their most famous trait was their vast intolerance of people who did not follow their ways."
The torturer pushed the man into a large room before forcing him down onto his knees. "They devised a very effective way of punishing those who opposed them," he said while unclipping a coiled cord of knotted leather from his waist before flicking it out so its three metre length cracked in the air, causing the blindfolded man to jump. The wielder smiled.
"First they whipped them like this," with a grunt he stepped forward and swung the whip across the man's bare back, leaving behind a huge bloody rend across his shoulders. The man screamed, his mutilated tongue rattling in his mouth as the force of the whip jolted his body. "And like this! And this! And this and this and this!" the torturer cackled as he opened the victim's back in a pattern of myriad scarlet crevasses. "I must say Mr. Ketchum, for someone who must be approaching at least 40, your body is in remarkably good shape, it seems such a shame to scar it so." It was true; the man didn't sport a single sag or wrinkle on his body, it was almost as if he stopped aging when he reached adulthood. Perhaps it was the effect of…Yes it must be!
The torturer threw the blood-soaked and flesh-speckled whip away as he walked to the man then leaned down to whisper in the man's ear as he removed the blindfold. "After there was no skin left on their backs, they crucified them... on a cross not unlike this one." The cloth fell away to reveal a huge wooden structure that appeared to be shaped as a lower case letter t lying on the floor. The torturer forced the man to his feet before turning him around and shoving him onto the cross. The wounded man screamed yet again as his torn back fell against the cross, soaking the wood with his blood.
The torturer grinned evilly as he pulled a cloth bag and a hammer from inside his coat, "And if you're wondering how they managed to keep them on the cross after they had righted it," he opened the bag to reveal large nails that were at least 4 inches long and an inch wide. "Well here's your answer!" he said cruelly before laughing gleefully at the man's fearful expression.
AN: The torturing has finished.
10 minutes and countless screams later the torturer stepped back to admire his handiwork. He had to give it to the Romans; they sure had known how to kill people. Of course, he didn't intend to kill the man, not yet anyway, but in order to take him down from the cross he would need Alakazam to ensure that he did not succumb to the shock or blood loss. All of sudden he sensed a powerful presence behind him. He grinned wryly; speak of the Renegade Pokémon and all that.
Without turning around he spoke, "you're late. Did you bring the package?" When no images flashed in his mind he turned around only to find his alakazam with three claw marks across its face. "What happened?" he demanded angrily; it was not like Alakazam to fail. Now images assaulted his mind, images of a dead Mr. Mime, a crushed PokéBall, a battered and bloodied green-haired man, another green haired man and two brunettes pinned against the wall. Lastly an image of a large black-skinned and gold-plated dragon taking down both his machamp and alakazam flashed past his eyes.
Blue cursed; he should not have underestimated that black girl! "Go heal yourself and Machamp and then come back, we'll need a new plan to take Delia." He said to his Pokémon. However the alakazam remained and a strong feeling of confusion seeped into Blue's brain. The Viridian Gym Leader understood immediately what Alakazam was trying to say. "You are wondering why I still allowed you to attack Delia with all those people in the house." He didn't need to see Alakazam's nod to know he was right.
"Those people are friends of my friend's," he gestured to the unconscious man nailed to the cross, "son, and if they had happened to suffer during the taking of my friend's wife, it might have drawn his son out of hiding, given his penchant for selflessly helping his friends and whatnot. Not only that, but in the unlikely event of you failing," he glared at the Psi Pokémon, "It would confuse the Police and the G-Men as to who my target was. They won't know who to protect now."
Alakazam nodded in understanding and was about to teleport away before his master stopped him. "Wait! Take him with you and heal him as well, I don't want him dying on me just yet." Alakazam nodded once more before teleporting away, taking the crucified man with him.
xxxxxxxx
Viridian City Hospital/PokéCentre; 03/04/2013:
It was now afternoon and Cynthia was tired, very tired. She had not slept since the morning before. After the police and ambulances had come they had quickly cordoned off the house, but only after making sure that the residents had been safely shuttled off to the hospital in Viridian. There they had met up with Iris who had been pacing about in the waiting room. She had had red eyes and a runny nose, and she had been angry. But when May quietly informed her of Mr. Mime's demise she had calmed down and then offered words of sympathy to Delia, who had only nodded sadly in reply.
Cilan was in a coma, May had a bruised stomach and was drugged up and resting and Misty, who had arrived a few hours ago, was with her, as was Drew, who was in shock and hadn't spoken a word at all. That stupid stoner had come as well, along with his girlfriend, whom Cynthia quickly realised wasn't as fortunate as she was regarding the blonde stereotype.
Delia had cried herself to sleep last night and still hadn't woken up and Iris hadn't moved from Cilan's bedside. So Cynthia still had no idea what had transpired last night and she still hadn't spoken to Delia and the bloody Oaks! All in all it had been a pretty horrible morning for the blonde Champion, and a horrible morning almost always made for an even worse day.
Oh if she only knew just how much worse her day was going to become.
It started with a phone call while she was stretching her legs by walking around the nearby park. It wasn't the first phone call she had had that day, she had spoken to Bruno earlier and informed him of the all that had happened (not that she really knew what had happened). But it certainly wasn't one that she wanted to answer. For the caller ID was one Steven Stone, the Champion of Hoenn. Cynthia grimaced, speaking to Steven Stone was like speaking to a rock, if a rock exhibited even less emotion than it already did. She picked up, "Steven" she said warily, "Cynthia" came his detached reply.
Cynthia sighed, "What do you want Steven?" this was going to be painful. "A report on your findings on the Colossus and Lance's murderer" he said simply. While Cynthia really didn't like Steven, she could admire his lack of ostentatiousness when it came down to business. If only he didn't lack it in every other situation as well, perhaps their relationship would've lasted longer then.
"Ash isn't the Colossus and I have reason to believe that he wasn't behind Lance's murder either. I have a suspect as the Colossus, a man named Ritchie Jackson, apparently an acquaintance of Ash's and almost identical in appearance. According Misty Waterflower, Cerulean Gym Leader and a friend of Ash's, Ritchie has a charizard so I believe he may have killed Lance as well" she said tiredly.
If Steven noticed her exhaustion he gave no indication, only replied in that same monotonous voice. "Is it not true that Ash has a charizard as well? And that this charizard has recently disappeared? At the same time that Lance was killed? What is your reasoning behind Ash's innocence in both his role as the Colossus and Lance's murderer?"
Cynthia cursed under her breath, she should have known that the G-Men would have begun monitoring all of Ash's Pokémon as soon as the Colossus struck. So Steven knew of Ash's charizard and his recent disappearance, did he? It was going to be very hard to convince him of Ash's innocence, she took a deep breath and began speaking.
"I have spoken to Ash's friends and family and they have told me about this Ritchie Jackson. He does seem the ultimate contender for both roles as he is known to own all the Pokémon that the Colossus was seen with, except for the glalie. But I saw Ash's glalie in the Corral where Professor Oak keeps all of his and his trainer's Pokémon, so I know that the glalie at the Lily of the Valley wasn't Ash's. Also I checked the measurements of the Colossus on the PokéCentre Database, after being asked to by Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother, and they are not the same as Ash's. I don't know why the referee didn't pick up on it."
"As for Lance's murderer, well after having spoken to Ash's friends and family their conviction of Ash's innocence has convinced me that he simply couldn't have done it. I made a judgement call and I never seem to end up regretting them." She said defensively. She awaited with bated breath the steel-hearted Steven's reply.
"Well Cynthia I believe I speak for all the entire Council when I say that your judgement has proven to be flawless in the past, so I see no reason to doubt it now. If you say that Ash is innocent, then innocent he is." Cynthia gaped; Steven Stone, the human incarnation of taciturnity, had just given her, an ex-girlfriend no less, a compliment! She smiled; perhaps this day wouldn't turn out so bad after all. "But I must advise you against revealing your discoveries to the public just yet." Cynthia's smile slipped off her face. And perhaps it would.
"What? Why? We can't just let people go on believing the Colossus is Ash! They need to know the truth!" Cynthia spoke heatedly into her phone. Steven's cold reply did not please her. "We can and we will. The world already knows a truth, it may not be the right one but it's the one the world needs to hear. Already hate propaganda against Ketchum has riddled the media, many of which support our organization, directly or otherwise, which you cannot deny we are sore need of. To turn around and say that Ash isn't actually the evil monster the world thinks he is will sow discontent and confusion among the masses. But worst of all it would make our organization appear weak and indecisive and people will lose trust in us. This cannot happen, they need something to trust in and they need something that they can unite in their hatred of. That something is Ash and we cannot change it."
Cynthia growled in frustration, Steven was right of course; unfortunately a shared hatred could unite humans far better than a shared love ever could. Human beings, what a perfect fucking race… Cynthia thought bitterly. But she refused to accept defeat; if she let this go ahead she didn't think that any of the people in the hospital would ever trust her and she would never get any answers from Delia and the Oaks.
"But what of Ash's family and friends!" Cynthia yelled angrily. "What of them?" Steven replied ever so indifferently, "They are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. You know this Cynthia, I shouldn't have to remind you. Perhaps you have been spending too much time with Bruno. The Council let him go because we have no time for sympathy, don't make us let you go too." He said so emotionlessly before hanging up with no salutation of any sort.
Cynthia reeled in shock; had he just threatened her with redundancy?! Her, one of the Council Members herself! It was always hard to tell if you'd hit a nerve with the Champion of Hoenn, but Cynthia thought that she definitely had, which meant that Steven must be really stressed, which meant that the G-Men Council really were struggling to keep the situation under control.
Cynthia sighed as she headed back towards the PokéCentre; she was not looking forward to telling Delia of the G-Men's most recent decision, she only hoped that the mourning mother would still be willing to talk to her, but she doubted it. Cynthia paused and thought a while. Perhaps amidst the recent events at Delia's house everyone would have temporarily forgotten about how Ash had been demonized. It was difficult to remember what others believed in if you were surrounded by those who strongly believed in what you did after all.
That settled it, as soon as May had sufficiently rested up Cynthia would take everyone back to Delia's house, find out what happened, find out what Delia and the Oaks knew and then she would inform them of the G-Men's decision. Maybe…
Luckily for Cynthia, as she walked through the hospital's automatic doors she saw May, Misty and Drew sitting in the waiting room, flicking through various new channels depicting abnormally high tides and some plane wreck near Silver Town. She smiled before heading over to them and informing them of her decision to go back to Pallet Town.
"But Ms. Lawson," Misty asked politely, "How can you be sure that whoever attacked May and Cilan won't come back again? They obviously know where to go." Cynthia had thought of this. "Whoever did attack them won't come back if I'm there, and if they do, they won't succeed." Cynthia replied simply. She wasn't boasting, just stating a fact. At any rate Misty did seem a little reassured by her reply.
"Alright, if there are no more questions, would one of you kindly go wake up Mrs. Ketchum and fetch Iris please? Then we'll make our way to Pallet Town, I'll send out Togekiss to fly with us along the way, she should be more than enough to handle any assault headed our way. Will you and your sister and her boyfriend be coming with us Ms. Waterflower?" Misty nodded as May left to do as the Champion had asked, "If it's no problem Ms." Cynthia inwardly smirked, she could tell that the redhead was having trouble maintaining her polite demeanor in front of her. It seemed that the Cerulean Gym Leader had not quite forgiven Cynthia for her outburst in the Police Station the day before. As well she shouldn't, Cynthia knew she had behaved remarkably unprofessionally.
"Alright so we need to get a van; I won't allow any of you to travel alone." Cynthia said, "We have to assume that from now on danger lurks behind every corner, though that shouldn't be too hard to do." She saw May returning with Delia but not with Iris, she shrugged; she didn't really need to talk to Iris and besides, PokéCentres and hospitals were heavily guarded, the black Unovian was in the safest place she could possibly be short of Indigo Plateau. The only reason Cynthia was taking the rest back to Pallet was because she felt that a friendlier environment would make them more at ease, hence making them more open to her. Besides she had told Garchomp to meet up with her at Professor Oak's lab after Max had safely landed in Petalburg.
An hour later and they had pulled into Delia's driveway. They all filed out of a minivan that the G-Men had brought at her request. May had shakily told her the whole story on the way and, while a bit peeved that Misty seemed to have already heard the story and had not told her, she found it very worrying. She just could not figure out who the target must have been.
As Cynthia locked up the van and followed the rest into the house, the Police having cleaned up all the mess and removed any crime scene evidence long ago, she noticed wearily that it was only 3 PM. But Cynthia was tired and she needed rest so she released all her Pokémon and sent them patrolling the house. Then she checked to make sure everyone was safe before collapsing on the couch, hoping to finish this awful day before it got much worse. It only occurred to her that maybe the shit she kept encountering wouldn't end with the sunset, after she received a call from a very alarmed Professor Oak frantically telling her about the horribly wounded and near-death garchomp that had crash landed into his Corral.
xxxxxxxx
Somewhere; 03/04/2013:
It wasn't the freezing cold or the lack of oxygen or even the howling wind that awoke Max, but rather the sound of boots crunching the soft snow in which he lay getting louder. He was lying face down on what appeared to be the coldest damn place on Earth. He tiredly dug his hands into the snow while gasping in the thin air, hoping the ice would soothe his blistered hands. It did so only for a few seconds before the searing pain returned a thousand fold, but Max didn't notice for his attention lay grasped by the two black combat boots in front of him.
He felt two gloved hands reach under his armpits and pull him up onto his feet. As soon as the hands left he almost collapsed but was halted by the hands again. In front of him was a medium-height well-built man that wore a pair of camouflaged cargo trousers and a bulky black hiking jacket with red accents and a furred hood. The man pulled down his hood and snow goggles and the red buff that covered his face from the eyes down. Max gasped, and not because of the thin air, and would have fallen again if not for the man's hands holding his shoulders.
Black, shaggy hair and unkempt stubble with snow-whitened traces outlined the man's weathered and wind torn face. Then, with a friendly expression gracing his face, the man who was the spitting image of an older Ash spoke, "Welcome Max, to Mt. Silver. I apologise for the way Charizard treated you, I hope he didn't frighten you too much, but it really was very important that I meet you," The man paused and waited for a response. When he received none from the shell-shocked boy he continued. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Red, you might've heard of me."
And there it is, my longest chapter yet, though only by a couple hundred words.
First off, regarding the crucifixion scene: While I am not religious, I do realise the religious connotations of having the guy crucified, but please know that I am in no way implying anything. I am simply using crucifixion as a method of torture in this story as it is obviously a very painful experience. The Romans had been crucifying people long before Jesus was and that is the way I intended to use it. I am not comparing the victim in my story to Jesus.
So if any of you were offended by it please know it was not my intention to do so.
Secondly; you may have noticed the comparison between Sinnoh and Scandinavia, and also my implying Alto Mare city as Italian in the previous chapter (It is actually based off Venice) I know that all the regions are supposed to be based off regions in Japan except for Unova and Kalos, but I have decided to make the Pokémon world as big as ours, so I sort of expanded everything. It is a fictional universe with a fictional continental layout, but each country will be based off real places on Earth.
Changes:
-I have changed the name of the G-Men Air Services (GAS) to the Custodians, as well as supplied a bit of info on them, mainly just who they're composed of.
-Following the new thing I introduced in chapter 1, The residents of Shamouti Island are Servants as well.
And that is it.
If you are confused about something, or you want to ask me something, please feel free to PM me and I will try my best to reply without giving away spoilers unless you want them.
Until next time.
-SwallowtheSun