Here it is finally!
First things first, in case you've already read this story and missed my update about how I was fine tuning it, you can go to the end of each chapter to find a summary of what's new in that chapter.
The most important change is a new scene I added in chapter 3, please refer to the end of chapter 3 if you want some help finding the new scene. It is quite important so I suggest you do read it.
Now, the ending of the last chapter confused a few of you I'm sure and though that was my intention, I would just like to point out that I have never stated anywhere in the story that Red is Ash's father.
This chapter contains a little less action than the previous, though it does have another torture scene, which, by the way, is a lot rougher than the last chapter's one.
This chapter focuses instead on character and story development. I hope it isn't too boring, I had fun writing it, I hope you fun reading it.
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 5: The Desolate
Lily of the Valley Island; 23/03/2013:
The charizard snorted heated smoke out of its nostrils as it flew in a lazy circle above the smoking remains of the stadium. Its passenger grimaced as he saw the carnage spread out below him. There was so much blood, so much that there were actually small waterfalls of the red liquid pouring down what steps remained of the once great stadium. Stringy muscles and tendons lay draped over the horribly distorted shapes of melted plastic chairs and human offal was splattered against the crumbling walls and ceilings. The man even saw a hand gripping the railing that separated the battleground from the spectators. He grimaced again; it was much too small to belong to an adult.
But worst of all was the thick red mist that hung about the entire stadium. How many people had died here to make so much blood mist? "Charizard, Gust," the man quietly ordered. While charizards technically couldn't learn the move, a single flap of their mighty wings could outmatch most Flying Pokémon's Gust. The huge charizard huffed and then flapped its huge, serrated wings, the two wings on its forearms flapping as well to give it an extra shove.
The gust of wind descended upon the stadium, sending the blood mist spiraling out of the way. Flurries of blood vapour splashed against the walls, condensing into liquid and dripping onto the floor, making it look like the walls were weeping tears of blood, the blood of all the people that had died in this forsaken place. When the red air faded the passenger gestured to his charizard to land in the centre of the stadium, where Ash's and Paul's Pokémon would have fought had things happened differently.
The passenger slid off the beast's back and landed with a heavy thud onto the blackened, crystallized sand in the exact middle of the battleground. As he landed he felt a jolt go through his body and the hair on his neck stood on its ends; there was still a lot of static resonating in the stadium from the explosion. With a simple gesture of his hand he sent Charizard back into the skies while he slowly spun in a circle, taking in the carnage that surrounded him. He noticed that he was standing in the centre of a huge black circle, beyond which the sand became red with caked blood.
He realised that this must have been where the explosion had detonated. He stepped forward while looking around for a vantage point; the podiums had been far too close to the centre of the explosion to have survived the blast. He soon found an odd rock protruding out of the sand off to his right but as he moved towards it he felt his foot land on something soft and squidgy. He lifted his foot to find a bloody, yellow, zigzagged tail plastered to the bottom of his boot. He grimaced yet again as he reached down to peel it off and fling it away with is hand, causing a spiral of blood to fly out.
He put the tail from his mind as he made his way up to the rock before leaping onto it with a single bound. His eyes flashed blue as he begun rotating on the spot, surveying the entire stadium for any signs of life. When he completed his circle he sighed in frustration; he had hoped that there would be a survivor. Suddenly his enhanced hearing picked up the sound of a helicopter approaching, he cursed; he was running out of time!
But that was when his ears picked up another sound, a faint breathing coming from… below him? His eyes flashed blue again as he glanced down at the rock upon which he stood. There it was! A faint blue outline of a breathing human! He leapt off the rock before placing two fingers in his mouth and letting out a piercing whistle, which was soon responded by a bestial roar and an earth trembling thud as Charizard fell out of the skies and landed next to him.
"Use Strength on this rock," he commanded quietly, before steeping back and watching as his massive friend gripped the strange rock with its claws and ripped it away, letting it fly off and crash into one of the remaining walls. The man then realised that it had not been a rock, but rather the charred remains of an aggron. The metal exoskeleton had melted away and its rocky form had been blasted apart, making it so that he only recognized the Iron Armour Pokémon when its relatively intact front was revealed by Charizard's Strength.
Where the dead Pokémon had lain was an unconscious, lavender haired man, and he was in a bad shape. One of his arms ended in a bloody stump at his elbow and his face was horribly burnt, sealing half his mouth in fused and melted flesh. Riddling his body were patches of red raw skin and blisters and he seemed to be missing half of his right foot. But he was alive, and that was all that mattered.
The man bent down and tossed the wounded man over his shoulder before trotting over to Charizard and placing the man upright on the Flame Pokémon's back. Then he climbed up and wrapped his arms around the poor man to keep him steady as Charizard roared once again and leapt up into the air. As Charizard gained altitude the man saw the news helicopter he had heard earlier approaching, as well as the flashing blue and red of fire trucks, police cars and ambulances. He sighed; it was disturbing to know that the ambulances would be going home empty.
It had taken them two days to get to the island and now they had to fly all the way back, he was fortunate that his Charizard could maintain his Mega form indefinitely, otherwise the beast would have been far too tired to make the flight. But what had the man worried was that their new passenger might wake up during those two days, all of his anesthetics were back at his hideout and he wasn't sure that the lavender haired man would make it through the pain if he woke up without being sedated.
"Pick it up Charizard!" The man suddenly yelled frantically as he realised that they were getting dangerously close to the helicopter's field of view. With a grunt that somehow how conveyed the feeling of 'don't tell me what to do you lazy bastard' the Flame Pokémon increased his speed until they almost breached the sound barrier. The man breathed a sigh of relief; had Charizard flown any faster than he had then all the authorities and reporters would have undoubtedly heard the resulting sonic boom, which was something he really wanted to avoid as they would have instantly identified him had they seen him. He was the Pokémon Master after all.
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King's Rock; Orange Archipelago; 03/04/2013:
"I must say that I am disappointed, I have been waiting for someone to come forth seeking answers since the events in Sinnoh, I expected you earlier," spoke the Diving Pokémon in a tone that could give a gengar the chills. Jenny swallowed and opened her mouth to speak "I-," before she was interrupted by the huge beast hovering just a few metres from the cave entrance.
"I know why you are here, child. You seek the aid of the Legendary Pokémon in finding and defeating the one you call the Colossus." Jenny, bristling a bit at being called a child, but far too nervous to be truly upset, asked anxiously, "So will you ask them to help us Lugia?" The policewoman became aware of Melody's mortified stare when she heard the girl choking on thin air. She glanced at the maroon haired girl to find her prostrated on the damp cave floor. Jenny glanced incredulously at Slowking who just shrugged with a resigned expression on his face.
"You're speaking to the Guardian of the Seas Jenny! Show some respect!" Jenny bristled at the young Servant girl's tone, and she had thought that Melody was one of the more sensible ones… "He may be Legendary but he's still just a Pokémon! There is more at stake here than your bloody Servant rules." Melody's face went red with anger and she was about to let loose before her Guardian of the Seas interrupted her, "Silence!" the beast roared, causing Melody's face to become whiter than snow. Even Jenny appeared shaken by the Pokémon's command. Slowking just smiled knowingly.
"A hundred thousand people lie dead in empty graves and you bicker as foolish children!" the Pokémon bellowed with the wrath of most tempestuous ocean. Jenny, though trembling and scared witless, stepped forth and asked again in a loud, but shaky, tone, "W-will you ask the Legendaries to h-help us?" she knew that she couldn't let her fear halt her from her task. Like she had said to Melody, there was simply too much at stake.
The beast appeared to calm down, though he still spoke in that gravely stern voice, "I have already spoken with them, child, they will not come." Jenny felt sick, she should have known! Why should they care about petty humans? Humans; who have been raping and pillaging and poaching and torturing and killing for as long as they have existed. Pokémon must think of them as the scum of the earth.
Then Lugia continued, "Until you have the found Chosen One, they will not come." Lugia noticed Jenny's sickly face and chuckled, though it was hard to discern what it was he was doing since it sounded like a quiet crashing, if waterfalls could be said to be quiet that is. "I suppose I should have lead with that," he said humourously, though no one was laughing.
"M-may I ask why?" Jenny said tentatively, her memory of Lugia's reprimand still strong in her mind. "The Chosen One is far more than the saviour of Shamouti Island, which is all that I will tell you at this time; the world is not yet ready to hear the truth of Ash Ketchum. Rest assured though, to face the Colossus, you will need him."
Jenny frowned, "So you will help us defeat the Colossus if we find Ash? I don't understand!" Lugia bared his fangs at the policewoman, causing her to shrink back into the cave in fear; there were a lot of more of them than she expected. "You don't need to understand, you only need to do what I tell you, and what I've told you to do is find the Chosen One!" he growled ominously.
Jenny swallowed, she knew Cynthia would not be pleased if she returned saying that they had to find Ash bloody Ketchum, but her fear of the powerful beast before her finally won over her eagerness to please the Sinnoh Champion. "O-okay, uh, w-where w-w-would we find h-him?" she nervously asked. Lugia smiled a toothy grin which had far too many fangs in it to calm the distressed policewoman. "The summit of Mt. Silver," he said simply.
Jenny paled; what the hell was Ash doing on that desolate and god forsaken place? Bruno had told her about that mountain; it was essentially an Elite graveyard, Elite Pokémon, having become feral again from lack of human contact, preyed on travelers and often injured them seriously, sometimes killing them, making that mountain a death sentence for any fool who dared ascend it. Not to mention the howling blizzards with winds so fast that helicopters could not fly there and gusting ice that could burn exposed flesh and cause almost instant frostbite, or the avalanches that occurred almost daily because so much snow fell every day, or the lack of oxygen because of the dizzying heights that the mountain reached, or even the hidden crevasses that dotted the many glaciers that snaked their way down the mountain.
"M-Mt. Silver?" the policewoman whispered with dread, "Y-you want us to go up there? To the summit?" The Diving Pokémon nodded, "Ash Ketchum's companions will go with you. It will be tough going I know, but that is the point. The Legendary Pokémon need to see the determination of the Chosen One's companions, he will need a lot of faith and support if he is to survive his ordeal." A chill went down Jenny's spine at Lugia's grim tone; what was going to happen to Ash?
But Jenny wasn't finished; she needed to know more if she was going to approach Cynthia with this information. "Why is Ash on Mt. Silver? How did he get up there?"
"The Chosen One is there because we put him there, and I've already told you why! We need to test his companions!" Lugia growled, causing Jenny to wince once again; this Guardian of the Seas was a really grumpy Pokémon! "Now, I will not answer any more foolish questions, so leave and do what you've been told. I have to go now, there's a lot to be done in order to prepare the Chosen One." With that, Lugia suddenly flapped his huge hand-like wings and soared into the pale blue sky, going so high that he disappeared from Jenny's view all together.
The policewoman groaned; that had not gone well.
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When Jenny stepped off the boat and onto the docks of Shamouti, she was immediately approached by her 7 foot boyfriend, who quickly sidestepped as Melody stiffly brushed past him. He frowned as he reached Jenny, "What's wrong with her then?" he asked the frustrated policewoman. She sighed, "Blasphemy apparently, she didn't like the way I addressed Lugia." Bruno smiled widely and his eyes twinkled in excitement, sometimes Jenny though that he was just a kid in a big body… a big body… "So you spoke to him then? What was he like? Was he awesome? I bet he was awesome," he spoke animatedly.
Jenny grunted, "Not quite, he was a bit of an arsehole actually, very rude and very grumpy." Bruno's face faltered as he stared in disbelief at his girlfriend, before his smile returned tenfold and he began laughing uproariously. "An arsehole?! Only you darling, only you would have the balls to call a Legendary Pokémon an arsehole!" Jenny felt her frustration melt away as the contagious laughter bubbled up through her mouth too. The nervousness remained though; she hoped her new boyfriend wouldn't be too disappointed with the way things had gone down.
As if Bruno had read her mind, his laughter died down and he asked the very question Jenny was dreading, "But he's going to help us right?" Jenny chuckled nervously and started rubbing her arm, "Uhh… sort of? Soon?" she said hesitantly, fearing her boyfriend's disappointment. He frowned, "What do you mean? Will they come?"
Jenny sighed, "I'm sorry Bruno, but Lugia said that the Legendaries will only help us once we find Ash… on Mt. Silver…" Bruno hummed while stroking his chin, pondering the news, "Hmm… Well Cynthia won't be happy about that… Did he mention why we have to find Ash?" Jenny shook her head, "Not really no, he said that Ash was the Chosen One and that he is the key to defeating the Colossus, but nothing more than that, like I said he was very rude."
Bruno remained there stroking his chin and staring into the sunset before his smile returned, "Oh well, it's better than nothing, I'm sure you did your best Jenny." Jenny sighed in relief; at least her boyfriend wasn't angry with her! Suddenly Bruno's phone began ringing; he fished it out of his pocket and became puzzled when he saw the caller ID. "Cynthia again? Perhaps she found out what happened in Pallet," he muttered to himself, confusing Jenny who knew nothing about the events in Pallet, before answering the call and putting it on speaker phone so that Jenny could hear as well.
It wasn't long until there was no colour left in either of their faces as Cynthia told them about both what had happened to Cilan, and the wounded garchomp and the 15 year old kid it was supposed to have been carrying.
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Pallet Town; Professor Oak's Corral: 03/04/2013:
Gible sighed from within his spherical home; it wasn't that it was uncomfortable, far from it actually, it was just that this was the last place he wanted to be.
Gible had not had a good couple of days… After Professor Oak had released him and scolded him for biting that blonde woman, he had returned to his usual haunt, namely the small cave next to the pond that Oshawott liked to relax in, the one the blonde woman had been laying by, and found out that his best friend had evolved into Dewott. This made Gible furious as not only had Oshawott been weaker than him, but he hadn't even been training when he evolved. It was so unfair!
Gible knew that something needed to be done as training alone was obviously not working, so he had immediately sought out Bulbasaur as he knew that the Seed Pokémon was the oldest and most experienced Pokémon of Ash's in the Corral. After the usual lecture about how he didn't need to evolve and how he mustn't feel pressurized by other Pokémon to evolve, etc. etc. Bulbasaur had eventually told him some interesting news.
Apparently there had been sightings of an old Pokémon of Ash's, one of his first actually, in the Corral. It was just a rumour that had been going around but Gible hadn't really been sure what a rumour was, so as soon as Bulbasaur had told him about it he had set off in search for the Pokémon. While it wasn't technically a Dragon Pokémon, it apparently had all the physical qualities of one and could even learn several Dragon type moves, so Gible figured that this Dragon that was not a Dragon could help him evolve. Especially after hearing Bulbasaur say that it was reputed to be Ash's strongest Pokémon.
He had spent the remainder of that day searching for the Dragon that was not a Dragon and had found nothing. So he had woken up bright and early the next day and, after biting Dewott's head for having the audacity to evolve before him, set out again in search of the elusive Dragon that was not a Dragon. It was when the afternoon had begun to fade into evening, while he was contemplating the meaning of 'rumour', that he heard a powerful roar split the skies above the Corral. He had glanced up at the sky in excitement, hoping to see the Dragon that was not a Dragon, but instead he had seen something that was definitely a Dragon.
Gible had watched as the garchomp began to lose altitude at an amazing pace. After the garchomp had smashed into the ground near the cave where he lived, tearing a long rend into the earth and causing a cloud of soil and dust to erupt into the air, Gible had excitedly sprinted his way to the landing site. But when he had arrived there he noticed that the Mach Pokémon was not awake and not matter his prodding the beast did not stir.
Gible had then recalled his success in alerting that blonde woman to his presence and so decided to apply the same tactics with the garchomp. But as he had leapt from the ground, maw open and fangs out, he felt the red beam connect with him again before pulling him away.
Which was how he had ended up in that damn PokéBall again.
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To say that Cynthia was worried was an understatement; actually it was just plain inaccurate, Cynthia was writhing in anxiety as she skid the minivan into Professor Oak's driveway. She got out and slammed the door behind her, causing the windows to rattle before storming into the lab and out again into the Corral, while everyone was still filing out of the minivan.
She scanned about wildly until she saw the unmistakable shape of Professor Oak and his grandson standing on what appeared to be a huge mound of upturned earth. The distressed Pokémon Champion rushed towards them but as soon as she saw what they stood by she let loose a horrified cry and fell to her knees beside her first Pokémon. She shakily stretched her hand out to the unconscious Dragon Pokémon and sobbed when she gently touched the bloody rends that carved their way down his face and across his right eye.
She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the wounded beast's head as she buried her face into his coarse skin. She barely heard the shocked gasps of everyone else as they arrived on the scene or the sympathetic words of the professor and his grandson as she cried for her injured friend. The others all watched sadly as the Champion grieved for her wounded friend, but an emotion they felt far more strongly than sympathy was fear.
Cynthia's garchomp had never been seen to lose a battle, sure when she had started out as a rookie trainer her gible would have undoubtedly lost a few, but since becoming famous, it had not. So to see the awesome beast in such a bad state was alarming to say the least; what could have done this?! None were more disturbed than May and Drew though, the former because she feared for her brother since Garchomp was supposed to be with him, and the latter because once again, he was learning what Pokémon were truly capable of.
Eventually the Champion pulled back and wiped her eyes before they turned a steely gray with fury. She noticed that Gary had in his hand a Pokétch, not just any Pokétch though, Max's Pokétch. She stood up slowly and with a quietly furious voice, she spoke. "Is there anything on that Gary?" Gary jumped at being spoken to in such an ominous tone but then composed himself and replied, "There might be, but this thing's waterlogged, I'll have to hook it up to a computer to see for sure." Cynthia nodded, "Professor, do you have an EmerBall I can use?" she asked the elderly man quietly.
The old man nodded and reached into his coat to retrieve a plain white PokéBall with a red cross on the top half, he tossed the Emergency Ball, a special PokéBall that could recall an owned Pokémon in a situation where said Pokémon was unconscious or grievously injured and its PokéBall was not present, to Cynthia who then recalled the unconscious Mach Pokémon by her feet. She glanced at the ball with a sorrowful expression etched upon her face, "I had hoped never to use one of these on one of my own…" she whispered sadly as her anger dulled.
The Sinnoh Champion composed herself once more as her anger returned and she pocketed the ball before nodding to Gary, who nodded in reply and turned around to head back to the lab with Max's Pokétch in his hand. Everyone began shuffling after the young researcher, but Drew paused as the blonde Champion muttered to him as she walked by, "Keep an eye on May, I suspect whatever's on that thing will be hard for her to see."
Drew nodded determinedly and rushed up to his girlfriend before wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her towards him. May hardly seemed to notice as her panicked mind rushed through all the possibilities of what she was about to see.
A few minutes passed and everyone was seated around the big TV in the lounge, to which Gary had hooked up the computer with which he had managed to salvage the data on Max's Pokétch. They waited with bated breath as the researcher flicked through various snowstorm channels until Gary's desktop was seen. Everyone drew a deep breath and tried to steady their nerves, none more so than Cynthia and May, as Gary pulled up the video he had found on the Pokétch. But no amount of preparation could have readied them for what they were about to witness.
Several gasps and one sob were heard as Max's tear stricken and rain lashed face appeared on the screen and Drew immediately pulled his girlfriend towards him as she stared in horror at the screen.
"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…" the people in the room watched in silent sorrow as the young boy choked and renewed tears came streaming down his face, before gasping once again as they glimpsed a massive orange beast hovering behind the boy before it disappeared behind black clouds again. But three people were absolutely shell shocked, and those three were Cynthia, Delia and Professor Oak. They recognized that Pokémon; a few people had been seen with a Mega-Charizard X, but only one person in the entire world had ever been seen with a Mega-Charizard Y, and that person was the Pokémon Master, Red.
"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."
May screamed and began openly weeping as the others paled. Cynthia cursed; she should have known! She had been wrong; whoever had attacked Lance was targeting the Elites, or was it G-Men Council Members? Or perhaps just Champions? There was just too much she didn't know! Her thoughts were interrupted by Max.
"I'm telling Garchomp to take this message to you… the charizard wants me alive and it won't kill Garchomp needlessly!" The boy paused as he began sobbing and the residents of the room witnessed once again that horrifying shape emerging out of the clouds behind him, only this time it never faded away. They watched in horror as massive claws stretched towards Max as he began screaming, "Please Cynthia! Help me! Find me and save me! I don't want to die! PLEASE!" May screamed again as the claws wrapped around her baby brother and yanked him away, his last lingering cry of help fading as he did into the rolling black clouds, "HELP MEEEE!"
May's voice became hoarse as she wept her heart out into Drew's chest before screaming, this time in anger, as she pushed away her boyfriend, strode to Cynthia and slapped her hand hard across the shocked Champion's face. Cynthia did nothing and May slapped her again, and again, and again and again and again. Eventually, as Cynthia's face became numb with pain and everyone else rushed forward to stop the distraught girl, Drew pulled May back into his embrace and stroked her head soothingly as she fell apart in his arms.
Cynthia moved her jaw as feeling returned to her face, though she wished it hadn't; her face stung as if a swarm of beedrills had taken offence to it. She deserved it of course, which was why she hadn't stopped the onslaught, but that didn't make the pain feel any better. She glanced sorrowfully at the broken girl in Drew's arms before looking around at everyone else. They were all as pale as ghosts and most of the women had a few tears rolling down the cheeks, most of the men did as well, even Tracey.
The G-Men Officer realised with a flinch that tears were carving their way down her face too. She gritted her teeth; she should have been with him! Because of her misjudgement an innocent kid may end up dead. The tears became too much and she placed her head into her hands as she began to cry, she was doing that a lot today it seemed, she hadn't cried since she was a little girl.
Her cries became worse as she heard May whisper over and over again, "It should've been you…" the girl was right, it should've been her. But then May said something that made Cynthia raise her head in realisation. "That… that thing wanted you… but now it has my brother instead…" the distraught girl had said, but the charizard had taken Max alive, as Max had suspected it would, which meant that somehow it had known that Max had been on the plane and that the plane would be attacked.
Cynthia suddenly recalled the sabotaged fuel tank of her jet. There was no way that that was a coincidence, whoever had sabotaged the plane must have done so, so that the original charizard had enough time to get into position to attack it far away enough from civilisation. She had wondered who could be skilled enough to slip past the watchful eyes of her Custodian escorts and it now occurred to her that a Colossal Ghost or Dark or even Psychic Pokémon probably could. Whoever had sent the charizard that attacked the plane was certain to have more than one Colossal Pokémon.
But the charizard that had taken Max, the one that had killed the original one, was without a doubt Red's, which meant that the Pokémon Master had to be alive. And that made the blonde Champion absolutely furious; had Delia and the Oaks told her the truth about Red in the first place then perhaps she could have prepared! Because of their silence an innocent kid had been taken and her first Pokémon had been grievously injured!
As her rage amplified, her cries died down and she stood up slowly. "Mrs. Ketchum and Misters Oak," she said ominously, the three mentioned snapped their heads towards the furious blonde with eyes widening in realisation upon hearing her tone, they knew what this was about. Cynthia took a deep breath and rubbed her face, which still stung from May's assault, before exploding in anger, "That was Red's Charizard, which means that Red isn't dead! You kept Red's secrets in the hopes that I would think he is the Colossus and not Ash, and then you told me he was dead only after I had ascertained who the Colossus is! Well I had never known for sure who Lance's murderer was! And now I have to assume that it is Red! I could've prepared for Red, but I didn't because I thought he was dead! Your failure to tell me about him has resulted in Max being taken! If that little boy dies, his blood is on your hands! And my Garchomp!" Cynthia paused with a sob, "My first Pokémon!" the furious blonde trailed off as she reflected on her Pokémon's state.
The room stood shocked to silence, except for May's sniffling. Then Delia's lip quivered, her eyes welled up with fresh tears, and then she broke down into a weeping mess. Losing her son to the unknown had broken her, losing her Pokémon to brutal murder had shattered her and now being named responsible for an innocent kid's kidnapping obliterated her.
Professor Oak slowly walked over to Delia before rubbing her shoulder soothingly while Gary just stood with his head down, eyes and fists clenched. Cynthia sneered at them and was about continue berating them when she heard a strong voice speak up, "You're wrong." The blonde Champion snapped her head to the source to find that it was Misty who had spoken.
The Gym Leader continued, "You said that a Colossal charizard attacked Lance, Max said that a Colossal charizard attacked your plane but then it was killed by this new charizard afterwards, which you say is Red's. Surely the charizard that attacked your plane must be the same one that attacked Lance, thinking it was you inside. If that's the case then that means that Red's charizard saved Max from Lance's killer. I don't know why it took Max but the kid said himself that the charizard wouldn't kill your garchomp needlessly; Lance's murderer wouldn't have given two shits about your Pokémon. The only reason your Pokémon got injured is because it would have undoubtedly put a fight. If that really is Red's charizard, then you should be counting your blessings that Garchomp survived at all. And, be honest Ms. Lawson, even if Red was killing Elites and you knew it, there would still be nothing you could've done."
The blonde Champion stared in surprise at the confident young Gym Leader, her anger long since faded away. She glanced around and noticed everyone else had somewhat similar reactions; Daisy was smiling proudly at her little sister while both May and Delia stared at her with hope. Cynthia smirked mentally, she liked this girl, plenty of things could be said about the toughest Gym Leader in Kanto but stupid was not one of them. Suddenly a piercing squeal ricocheted around the room, "Like, Sis! You're like so smart!" Cynthia winced; her sister was not so fortunate though. She returned her attention to the now blushing red-head, the girl could have a future in the G-Men if she kept showing such promise, especially if she did join the Elite Four like everyone was saying she should.
Cynthia realised that she should probably say something, she really hadn't done a very good job in befriending these people during the past couple of days, she just had too loose a temper. "Well done Ms. Waterflower, that's the kind of thinking we need to be using, I only wish I could rationalise as well as you." Everybody stared in shock at the Sinnoh Champion's complete turnaround in attitude, while Misty blushed even brighter. Cynthia smirked inwardly, sucking up was highly underrated these days.
The blonde then turned her attention to the Pallet trio, or more specifically, to Delia, "I'm sorry for what I said Delia, but the fact remains that Red is alive, so you still lied to me, a G-Men Officer and Council Member," she said solemnly. Delia nodded warily; she wondered where this was going. Cynthia continued, now referring to all three of the Pallet natives, "Now you three obviously know something about Red that you don't want to divulge to me, in any other situation that would be fair enough, but a Pokémon of Red's has kidnapped the son of a Gym Leader and I need you to tell me everything you know about the Pokémon Master, Max's life could be on the line."
May whimpered into Drew's chest as she heard that last bit, drawing the attention of the Pallet trio as they gazed sadly at her. Then, while still watching the distraught brunette, Delia spoke, "We will help you, the Professor and I will tell you all about Red, Gary knows only what we've told him, he isn't ready to hear the whole truth." Gary looked at Delia in confusion, who avoided his eyes, then looked at his grandfather who only shook his head slowly at him with a guilty expression upon his face. Cynthia was surprised by the amount of pain and anger that suddenly built up in the young researcher's eyes before he closed them and stormed off.
Cynthia glanced at Professor Oak, who was looking in the direction that Gary had gone with sorrow and guilt etched in his eyes. What was all that about? She shrugged, family spats were no concern of hers, even those of the Oak family. Cynthia began staring at Delia thoughtfully, the auburn-haired mother had lied to her before and she hoped that this time Delia would finally unveil everything, but there were a few things to do first.
"Very well," she said slowly, "I first need to ask you a favour Professor, can you heal Garchomp?" The elderly researcher nodded; one of the many requirements of achieving the highly acclaimed 'Regional Professor' status was a medical degree in doctoring both humans and Pokémon. "Just give me the EmerBall and I will make sure he gets the treatment he needs," the professor said while hobbling over to her.
Cynthia retrieved the ball and tenderly handed it over to the professor who then shuffled his way into to the medical bay of the lab. Cynthia then addressed the rest of the residents of the room, "I will set the rest of my Pokémon patrolling both Delia's house and this lab, and the route between. You can all do what you want so long as you stay in those areas, we have enough missing people as it is," she said.
They all nodded before dispersing their separate ways; Misty gestured to Drew, who was still holding May, to follow her before she disappeared out the front door, heading back to Delia's, and Daisy and Tracey wandered off to the Watcher's room within the lab. Before the Hoenn couple could exit the lab Cynthia halted them, "May…" The brunette looked back and Cynthia saw the pain and worries in her eyes. At least her anger had faded. "I'm sorry May, you're right, it should've been me. But I promise you, I'm going to get him back, no matter what." Cynthia said with fire in both her eyes and her voice, and for once, she truly meant it.
May stared at the Champion for a few seconds before nodding slightly and turning away, reentering Drew's embrace and leaving the lab. Soon only Delia was left who awkwardly stood there while nervously glancing at Cynthia. Cynthia just stared impassively at the auburn haired mother for a while, intending to unsettle her a little more. Although she had apologised for losing her temper and been all polite and lovey-dovey, she was still very shaken at both Max's and her garchomp's state, and despite Misty's assurance that even had she known Red would take Max and hurt Garchomp there was nothing she could have done, she couldn't help but to feel a bit of resentment towards the woman standing before her. But anger and spite would get her nowhere; she needed to be the very essence of forgiveness and humility to get Delia to willingly talk to her.
So the blonde G-Men Officer smiled soothingly, "I need to do few things which will likely take a while so why don't you head home and try to relax a bit. Have a nap, you look you need one," she said slightly enviously, she really needed one herself, she couldn't even remember how long she'd been awake.
Delia smiled gratefully and nodded, "Ok Cynthia…" she took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for lying to you Cynthia, I meant no disrespect, it's just that Red's past isn't a pleasant one and the Professor and I have tried to put it behind us. Had we known that keeping it from you would seriously impede on your investigation, we'd have told you right from the beginning."
Cynthia, though intrigued, just smiled gently and shook her head, "Don't worry Delia, everyone is entitled to his or her privacy and secrets, especially famous people. I know that I wouldn't like my secrets being made known, I can't imagine Red would appreciate it either, or you for that matter. When I come back we can take all the time we need to get through this, alone," she said friendlily.
Delia smiled and nodded again before departing. Cynthia, finally alone, breathed deeply; these people… She wanted nothing more than to collapse onto the couch before her and drift away into sleep, but she knew she couldn't, so with great effort she pulled herself away from those heavenly looking couches and headed in the direction Gary had gone. She eventually came upon a door with a poster of a very provocatively posed topless woman that would've been pornographic were it not that the woman was cradling her breasts in her hands.
Cynthia smirked wryly, this was definitely Gary Oak's room. But her smile soon slipped off her face when she leaned in for a closer look; the woman looked an awful lot like her… she had heard of these celebrity look-alike adult film stars… Was there a doppelganger of her out there who was videotaping herself messing around with men? Or women? Should she be flattered or horrified if there was?
She was still leaning forward and inspecting the poster when the door suddenly swung open, revealing Gary's tearstained face. Cynthia blushed and straightened herself while Gary jolted in surprise before returning to his sombre state and muttering, "Was there something you needed Ms. Lawson?"
Cynthia frowned at Gary's depressed tone but then she shrugged, Gary could mope all he wanted so long as he did what she asked and besides, he probably wouldn't appreciate her getting her nose into his personal problems. She dispelled her frown and instead put on her most charming smile, known to make men's hearts race and their knees to weaken, and asked in a husky voice, "I was wondering if you could give me a copy of Max's message, I need to send it in to my colleagues."
Gary, affected by Cynthia's charm even despite his gloom, nodded quickly, "O-of course Ms. Lawson, I'll just get my laptop from the lounge, I was going to there to get it anyway." As Gary stepped passed the blonde beauty and headed down the hallway back to the lounge, Cynthia trailed after him with a smirk on her face; being so desirable had its perks sometimes. She glanced at the poster on Gary's door before it disappeared around the corner; 'flattered' was what came to mind.
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As Drew followed Misty, trudging down the graveled path towards Mrs. Ketchum's house, he didn't even notice the redhead's gently swaying rear, as fine though it was, as he tightened his hold on his distraught girlfriend, which was true testament as to how strange the normally arrogant Coordinator was feeling. May's head was still resting on his chest as she cried, her tears wetting his shirt. But he didn't mind at all, which he found surprising as, in the past, he hadn't really been the most empathetic person in the world.
Never let it be said that Drew Hayden had ever had trouble getting a girlfriend, it was keeping them that was the problem. Drew struggled to empathize with people, the classic trait of a spoilt brat, so he often came across as callous and rude. Even when May had been mourning the loss of Dawn and Brock, he had failed to understand why she needed so much time to get over it, eventually getting a bit fed up with May's constant crying and sulking.
But it was different this time he found, he genuinely cared about what happened to Max and he felt the pain that May was going through. Only a fraction of it, but it was enough for Drew to realise how much he truly cared about his girlfriend, he had learned how to empathize.
But what was different? Why did he suddenly feel this way? Had what had happened last night really shaken him up that much? Drew smiled as he realised that it didn't matter why he felt this way, the only thing that mattered was that he did. Was that love? When you didn't need a reason to make a person smile? When you only needed to know that you would in a heartbeat?
Maybe it was… And that didn't scare Drew as much as he had thought it would. If he really was in love with May then so be it, and as he buried his face in May's hair and tightened his grip around her, he realised that he would help in any way to find her younger brother, even if that meant climbing the highest mountain.
Perhaps he should be more careful what he wished for.
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After Misty and the Hoenn couple had arrived at Delia's house the redhead had immediately pulled May out into the garden, while Drew, obviously sensing that his girlfriend needed a bit of girl time, had planted himself down on the settee and turned on the TV. So, as the two women had watched the glorious Pallet sunset, they had spoken about everything from celebrity crushes to their Pokémon, even going so far as to have a friendly battle.
May had sent out Venusaur, obviously hoping to gain the typing advantage, while Misty had sent out Politoed. The battle had ended rather quickly but Misty had to admit that, for a Coordinator, May was not a bad battler. But Misty wasn't known as the strongest Gym Leader in Kanto for nothing. But despite her loss, May appreciated the battle as it had taken her mind of things for a while.
After May had gone to bed, Misty remained outside in the chilly evening air, the cold not affecting her too much. As the red of sunset faded and the indigo of night took over, the stars began to shine brightly, lighting up the sky like a Christmas tree. Misty lay down on the grass and sighed as she beheld the stunning view made available by the lack of light pollution in the small rural town of Pallet.
She thought back on the dream she had had that morning and a few tears sprung to life, blurring her vision so that the white dots in the night sky became shining beacons of light. She, like Delia, feared for Ash deeply. She was obviously relieved that Ash had been proven innocent of the crimes of the Colossus, but that didn't change the fact that Ash might be dead, or at least in the clutches of a maniacal terrorist. She honestly didn't know which was worse…
No, that was a lie, Ash being dead was far worse, no matter what the Colossus may be doing to Ash. Misty realised that that was a bit selfish, but how could she not feel that way? She'd take the chance of the raven head that had stolen her heart being alive over being dead any day, and she knew she wasn't the only one who would. Which was why she was going to do whatever it took to find him and when she did, she was going to give him a few good knocks with her trusty mallet for making everyone worry, then bring him home to his mother and, after the celebrations had ended, she was going to kiss him so hard that even if he didn't reciprocate her feelings, no girl he ever kissed could match the stubborn redhead from Cerulean.
#########
Cynthia groaned in fury and fatigue as she stepped through the threshold of Delia Ketchum's front door and saw the tantalising couch beckoning to her. Exhaustion, fueled by the last lingering rays of gold and red on the horizon, was slowly clouding her mind, dulling even her substantial anger and she knew that if she didn't get some sleep soon she would collapse. She noticed Drew had fallen asleep on the single settee and Misty was lying on the grass outside. She sighed, everybody around her was relaxing and it was becoming increasingly hard not to give in to the temptation.
But there was still too much to do! After emailing Max's video to the other Council Members using Gary's laptop and checking up on Garchomp, whom the Professor had said was still recovering, she had called Bruno informing him and Jenny of what happened to Max and Cilan.
But it was what they told her that had really brought her anger bubbling up to the surface again. Though, if she was being honest, she had kind of expected something like that; Lugia was a Legendary after all. She was a Council Member of the G-Men and she was the Champion of Sinnoh, she was literally one of the most powerful women in the world, so she obviously had to keep track and remain knowledgeable of the most powerful beings in existence. She had read every documented encounter with a Legendary, a significant number of them involving a certain raven haired Trainer who always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she had sort of become accustomed to how they worked. She held no resentment towards Jenny for how she handled the situation because honestly, Cynthia doubted she herself could have done any better.
A Legendary would usually send the person fortunate enough to have encountered them on some dangerous and difficult undertaking, leaving them with cryptic instructions and commands that usually made no sense at all, and expecting them to complete said undertaking to perfection, perhaps encountering a Legendary wasn't so much fortunate as incredibly unfortunate… So when she had sent Bruno and Jenny to go and ask for Lugia's aid, she had sort of expected something dangerous to come out of it.
But Mt. Silver? Seriously?! The Summit no less?! Just to find Ash bloody Ketchum?! Now that she knew that Ash was neither the Colossus nor Lance's killer, finding him was, while still relatively important, no longer a priority, though she would never tell his friends and family that. Cynthia just could not see what help Ash could be in finding and confronting the Colossus, sure he had become quite a formidable Pokémon Trainer but pitching him against the Colossus? Not a chance.
Cynthia sighed and planted herself onto the couch, ignoring the chilly draft coming from the broken window in the living room, and began mentally sorting through the possibilities currently available.
Cynthia began to consider ignoring Lugia's instructions entirely and focusing on more fruitful pursuits, such as finding Max, and hence Red. And, after beating the shit out of the Pokémon Master for hurting her garchomp, she could try to recruit him to their cause. After all, who better to face a Colossus than the original one?
But this would be no easy task, she knew. First they had to find a man that had been missing for twenty years, then they had to get him to join them, which he might be opposed to seeing how he blatantly attacked her Pokémon and kidnapped a Gym Leader's son, and then they had to send him up against the only other Pokémon Trainer in the world known to have Alpha Rank Pokémon, the Colossus…
So now she had two choices: join Ash Ketchum's companions on a journey to the Summit of the biggest and most dangerous mountain in the world, a feat that had never been accomplished by anyone ever, never mind by young adults barely past their teenage years, to find Ash and then recruit the Legendaries to their cause, which wasn't even definite given the Legendaries' penchant for going back on their word.
Or: ignore the Legendaries and go searching for a man whom they were no closer to finding than they were twenty years ago, try and avoid being killed by him and then try and recruit him to their cause, which again, wasn't definitely possible.
Talk about a rock and a hard place… Cynthia sighed again and stretched out on the couch. Honestly, even with the large number of potential screw ups, she was leaning towards the second choice more. Though that might be because of her responsibility to rescue Max and kick Red's arse for hurting Garchomp. She sat up suddenly as she remembered that she still had to talk to Delia about Red.
She smirked; well that made the choice a bit easier didn't it. She felt certain that the information that Delia could provide must be something special if only the auburn haired mother and the Professor knew of it. The mystery of Pokémon Master Red would be one step closer to being unraveled when she spoke to Delia, a prospect that would have been exciting even without its relevance to the situation.
But first she just needed to rest her eyes for a couple of minutes; it wouldn't do to fall asleep in the middle of Delia's interview now would it?
When Delia awoke in the morning and made her way to the kitchen to brew herself a cup of coffee and start cooking breakfast, she found the blonde Champion softly snoring away on her couch. She smiled before grabbing a duvet from the cupboard and laying it over the tired woman, her fear and slight dislike of the younger woman overshadowed by her generosity as a host.
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Petalburg City; Maple Household; 03/04/2013:
Far away in the distant tropical region of Hoenn, Caroline Maple was making her son's favourite food, namely Kalosian crepes with nutty chocolate paste and cinnamon. She sighed as she realised that by the time Max arrived in Hoenn he would undoubtedly be utterly jetlagged and exhausted and may not even be hungry enough to eat her crepes; it was difficult to remember that your children were in a country several hours ahead. Indeed, it would late afternoon in Kanto and it was only morning here in Hoenn.
Oh well, she could always store them in the fridge for later if Max wasn't hungry, though she'd have to make sure her husband didn't get his greedy hands on them. She grinned as she reflected on her husband's voracious appetite that he always seemed to have after a long day at the Gym. She blushed; sometimes his appetite transcended food and was brought into the bedroom, though she couldn't really complain about that. Though since the destruction of the Conference in Sinnoh her husband hadn't been getting many challengers; Pokémon training around the world had sort of temporarily stopped in the aftermath of the disaster.
She finished up the crepes and packed them away into the fridge before making her way over to the couch in the lounge and turning on the TV. She picked up the remote and flicked through various channels until stopping on the news channel. There was a report about a plane that had crashed near Silver Town, what was peculiar about the incident was that only the front half of the plane had been found, proving that this was no ordinary plane crash. Apparently not far from the crash site they found a dead charizard, its belly torn open and its neck snapped, but the forensic scientists could not determine what Pokémon the claw marks down the charizard's belly and shoulders belonged to.
It was turning into quite a mystery and Caroline was getting quite into it when the phone suddenly rang, causing her to jump in shock and put her hand over her heart. She composed herself and stood up, walking over to the house phone and picking it up, "Maple Residence," she said politely. When her husband's boss Steven, spoke his cold greeting, "Hello Mrs. Maple," she immediately winced. Like many others, she found the Hoenn Champion's lack of emotion slightly disturbing. "Mr. Stone! Would you like to speak to my husband? You'll have to call the Gym, he's not here right now."
"No that's fine Ma'am, I'll give him a ring later. I'm just calling to tell you that your son Max will not be arriving home today and he won't be for a while," he said ever so dispassionately. Caroline frowned, "What? Why? What's wrong?" "Nothing is wrong Mrs. Maple, there is no cause for alarm. The Council has decided that we the G-Men are to watch over all peoples who have had extensive contact with Ash Ketchum during his journey around the world. All of his other companions are under the direct supervision of Sinnoh Champion Cynthia in Kanto, but since Max is here in Hoenn I have put in into the care of my Elites. He will be safe in Ever Grande, Ash will struggle to reach him there."
Caroline didn't understand, "If Max is under such threat then why did you allow him to leave Kanto in the first place? Why not keep him with Cynthia?" Silence rang out for a few moments before she heard Steven sigh, she almost gasped; Steven had just shown a flicker of emotion?! Her shock was short lived however as Steven soon spoke, actually sounding a tad irritated. "This information is not be repeated to anyone other than your husband, if I find out that you have been telling other people what I am about to tell you, your husband will lose his job. Do you understand?"
Caroline paled at Steven's threatening tone before shakily answering, "Y-Yes M-Mr. Stone." "Very well," she heard him say, "the Champion of Johto and Johtonian representative of the Council, Lance Wilson, was murdered last night by the Colossus, whom we believe is Ash Ketchum. Perhaps you have heard of a recent plane crash near Silver Town, that was Lance's plane and it happened after Max had already left for Hoenn. Since the depths of the Ketchum's power and unpredictability has been displayed to us we feel we need to make certain that Ketchum's companions are all kept safe and so as soon as Max's plane lands in Petalburg I must ask that you do not go to the airport to greet him. Doing so could make you a target for Ketchum."
Caroline's face became whiter than snow as she became very worried for her child, but she appreciated the Council trying to look out for her children. "Ok Mr. Stone I understand, thank you for looking after my son, please keep him safe" she said gratefully. "Will do Mrs. Maple, it's no problem, thank you for understanding." Arceus, even when grateful he sounded like he was reading out a manifesto.
As Steven hung up Caroline sighed in disappointment, she had really been looking forward to spending some time with Max, and she wanted to cheer him up before he left to continue on his journey. She had seen how the disaster in Sinnoh had affected both her children and it had pained her greatly that they suffering because of the actions of that man. She knew that May blamed Ash for what happened to Dawn but she herself hadn't really known what to make of it, she wasn't sure if Ash really was the one who had killed all those people or not, but the G-Men seemed pretty certain that he was.
As Caroline opened the fridge and grabbed one of the crepes she had made, she wondered how she was going to break the news to her husband. She winced; he was not going to be happy.
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Somewhere; 04/04/2013:
Blue grinned when he saw his victim's back, Alakazam had once again done a fine job, there was no scar or disrupted tissue to be seen under the dull fluorescent lights of the hallway as Blue pushed him along. "How are you today Mr. Ketchum?" Blue asked sinisterly. The man only groaned in reply, the stub that was all that remained of his tongue rattled in his mouth as he tried to from the curses he wanted to yell at his torturer.
Blue laughed at the victim's torment and said cruelly, "I'm doing fine myself if you were wondering; I've decided that I've unlocked my true calling as a history teacher after yesterday's lesson, they do say that the best teachers teach by example after all," the Team Rocket boss barked a laugh before continuing, "so I'm going to be giving you another history lesson today." The sick man laughed gleefully as he saw the look of terror upon his victim's face.
"But first, I've decided that perhaps I should tell you what I want with your son" Blue said, "You see, there an essence, a life force if you will, that flows through all living beings, giving our muscles the strength to do their respective purposes, such as beat blood around our bodies, move one leg in front of the other, lift our arms, give our brains the ability to relay electronic messages to our body in order to move. Basically the only reason a living being lives is because of this life force that flows through them."
"Now, there were a group of ancient warriors who, long ago, learned how to manipulate this life force into physical matter, using it to create weapons and shields on the spot, or to heal grievous injuries and enhance all of their senses and empower their muscles. This physical form of the life force is known as Aura, you may have heard of it."
Blue grinned as he saw recognition flash through the man's eyes, he continued, "Now not a lot is known about these Aura Guardians, as they became known, only that something awful happened to them and they were almost brought to extinction. Those who remained managed to pass down their ability to manipulate Aura, but as genetic inheritance is always a bit unstable, the Aura gene became recessive in the majority of their descendants, only becoming dominant every few generations or so. In fact the last documented user of Aura was a certain man called Aaron, Aaron Ketchum."
Blue smiled again and began laughing at the victim's expression of shock and realisation. "Yes, you're ancestor was the last Aura Guardian, at least he was until twenty years ago, when your son was born. I've heard tell that while the Aura gene lies dormant within you; your son's is dominant. The amazing thing is that, even though your gene is dormant, I can still see the effects of it on you: you age much slower! Your muscle takes less time to build and more time to deteriorate, your senses are without a doubt almost perfect. That is why I want your son, if such power can affect you so much when dormant; imagine what you could do with the power when it is fully active! And your son may not know it yet but he has this power, and I want it!" he said ominously
He noticed the victim's look of fear and cackled, his laughs echoing down the long hallways of his base. Eventually his laughs died down but his sinister expression remained as he pushed the mute man into the same room where he had been crucified, but instead of the wooden structure awaiting him, were two posts situated a metre and a half away from each other, a sharp axe, a jar of salt and the kabutops that had cut off his tongue.
"Enough about the Aura Guardians," Blue said, "today's history lesson is about the Vikings, brutal and hard warriors originating from the mountains and lochs in the north of Sinnoh. You see they, like the Romans, believed in several gods that watched over them. The Vikings believed that the greatest and most honourable thing that could happen to a man was when he was killed during combat and sent to Valhalla." The Team Rocket boss spoke as he guided the trembling man to the posts before pushing him down to his knees and tying his hands to the posts on either side of him. The man whimpered as Kabutops walked around so that he was behind him, its claws clacking against the hard floor as it did so.
Blue continued, "But if a man had committed a sin so heinous, the Vikings believed that there was only one way for him to enter Valhalla. They performed the Bloody Braviary on him, a method of execution said to be so painful that even the gods pitied whoever suffered it. But in order for the man to be granted access to Valhalla, he had to go through the ordeal without screaming once until he was dead." The victim began crying, his tears dripping down his face dropping onto the floor as he heard Kabutops slide its blades across each other before resting the tips on either side of his spine at his shoulders.
Blue chuckled, "Wait Kabutops, there's no way he's going to survive this without Alakazam present." The victim whimpered as Blue went silent for almost a full minute, all the while Kabutops's blades rested against his skin. He was afraid to move a muscle in the fear that the razor sharp blades would pierce his skin if he did so. Suddenly Alakazam and Machamp appeared before him causing him to jump and the blades to do exactly what he had afraid of a moment ago. He grunted in pain as the blades sunk into his flesh as if it were water.
"There you are Alakazam, you know what to do, make sure he stays awake." Blue then looked at his victim again, "Of course you are not a Viking, so I fully expect you to scream, a lot. You see what Kabutops is going to do, is cut away the skin on either side of your spine until your ribs are exposed, then I am going to take this axe here," he gestured to the sharp axe on the floor, "and chop away at your ribs where they attach to your spine."
He chuckled at the victim's sickly and tearstained face, before continuing, "Then Machamp going to grab your severed rib bones and pull them apart, sticking them out so that your back will look like a braviary spreading its wings in flight, hence the name. And then, last but certainly not least, I am going to reach into the holes exposed by your spread ribs, grab your lungs, pull them out, and rest them across your shoulders. That, my dear friend, is the Bloody Braviary."
Blue began laughing uproariously, almost drowning out the victim's screams as Kabutops blades sliced down.
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Pallet Town; Ketchum Household; 04/04/2014:
Cynthia awoke with a start as her cellphone began ringing, she cursed as she fumbled about her body looking for noisy machine. How had she fallen asleep? And why was there a duvet covering her? These questions remained unanswered as she finally found her phone and accepted the call without looking at the caller ID. "Cynthia." She groaned as she heard Steven's emotionless voice, not this human rock again.
"What do you want Steven?" she said resignedly, "Did you not get my email?" she waited impatiently for the Hoenn Champion's reply. "No I did, and I read your attached message saying that you believe that Red might've actually saved Max from the Colossus, or at least Lance's killer. Would you mind explaining that to me?" Cynthia sighed before going over what Misty had said the day before, at the end of which Steven grunted his approval, "I see, I've spoken to Max's parents and have told them that I am keeping Max in Ever Grande for safety, we can't let them know that the G-Men failed to protect their son. I've managed to prevent the news of your plane's destruction somewhat contained; no one knows it's your plane, but if the news does get out I will release a statement saying that it was Lance onboard the plane. I'm afraid I must ask you to get May to go along with this; her parents will no doubt attempt to contact her now and then and she mustn't reveal the truth."
That, was not going to be easy, Cynthia thought irritably. Steven continued, "Lastly I have some very interesting news regarding what we found on the Lily of the Valley Island" Cynthia perked up at this; investigating the ruins of the stadium had uncovered both strange boot prints and huge claw marks on the battleground, and a similar boot print on a pikachu's tail. What was really strange was that they had clearly been made after the explosion.
She listened attentively as Steven gave the report, "After thorough investigation the forensics team managed to ascertain that the claw marks belonged to a charizard, only they were a lot larger than any charizard that anyone had ever seen… except for Red's." Cynthia gasped, Red was in Sinnoh during the explosion? Oh Arceus, maybe he really was the Colossus…
"There's more," she heard Steven say and returned her attention to the phone call, "One smart scientist in the forensics teams had the idea of analyzing the dirt and soil that would have coated the person's boots but the prints in the sand of the battleground were too diluted to find anything useful. The print on the pikachu's tail however…"
Cynthia held her breath as Steven paused, waiting to learn what he had found, "There was a lot of minerals you could typically find most anywhere in the world, but there was one mineral that we found that has only one source… silver!" Cynthia gasped again, only this time much louder, awaking Drew, who had still been sleeping on the single couch, and alerting Delia, who came out of the kitchen to see what was wrong.
Finally, after twenty long years, there was some evidence as to the whereabouts of the most mysterious man in the world. The Pokémon Master, Red, was residing on the world's only source of silver, Mt. Silver! Cynthia smirked, that made her choice easy.
So we got to see a bit of emotion from Cynthia, as well as her vanity.
I wonder if anyone got the 'Bloody Braviary' reference, kudos to you if you did.
I wanted to thank you all for being so patient with me, however I cannot tell you when the next chapter will be out as I really don't know.
Please Read and Review,
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