"Ash!" Gary shouted. "Snap out of it."
Ash looked at him blankly. He blinked once, then his gaze returned to the concrete wall of the bunker. "Why would he just leave?" He said softly.
"Ash, he might've been your friend but he's gone." Gary stated. "He killed a guard in his escape, sucked him right into the shadows along with Misty."
"No, there's something we don't know." Ash said. "Jay wouldn't just abduct Misty and run. He would've had a reason. He would've needed a reason…" He trailed off, not wanting to finish his thought.
"Ash, he didn't need a reason. You heard the general." Gary said. "He was under the influence of an extremely powerful ghost. And all the evidence of distortion ripples in the bunker prove that he had outside help in his escape."
Ash didn't answer him directly, sinking further down into his chair. "He couldn't…"
Gary rose to his feet, getting out of the chair he was seated in. "Ash! Snap the fuck out of it!" When the younger trainer didn't respond, Gary grabbed the edge of Ash's leather chest piece and hauled him to his feet. "I don't give a fuck how upset you are. We need to finish what we came here to do." He let go of Ash and took a step back. "Like it or not, we are the Rebellion." He took a breath. "And I can't do it all alone. If I'm gonna be Blue, then you've gotta be Red." He paused, letting that sink in. "C'mon Ash, I need you."
Ash smirked slightly, some life returning to his eyes. "The friends that brought an empire to its knees." He remarked in a sullen tone.
Gary smiled at him, trying to comfort his friend. "Except, this time we don't stop until the Empire is nothing but ashes."
Ash grinned. "You said that on purpose."
"Maybe. What are you gonna do about it?" Gary said, almost taunting him. "Run away? Hide in a shell?"
"No." Ash said quickly.
"Then what are you gonna do?" Gary asked again.
Ash took a breath, and finally looked Gary in the eyes. "Bring Lance down."
Gary grinned at him, opening the door to the dreary hallway. "Then let's go claim that inheritance we never got."
Brock looked up from his table in time to see Daisy storm in, followed by a very distraught looking man. "M'Lady." He said in a baritone voice. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
She furrowed her brow and massaged her temples. "You remember Preston Galbert?" She asked, motioning to the man at her side. "He's brought news of the hunt for the Rocket remnants in the foothills before Rock Tunnel."
Brock shook his head, regarding the man with caution. "No, I don't think we met after the battle. Too much to do I'm afraid." He rose to his feet and tipped his head in a nod. "I'm sorry for your loss. Your father saved us all with that charge, even if it cost him his life. He'll be honoured alongside Pewter's greatest heroes."
The young man dropped into a deep bow. "I thank you for your kind words M'lord. But that's not why I've come. I bring news of the Rocket army." He hesitated, Brock motioning for him to continue. "They're still retreating. Most of their forces are splitting off, deserting at every turn. We've caught wind of a few rumours from those we've captured, and frankly they aren't encouraging. Most of the army is dissolving into warring groups of raiders that are tearing the foothills apart." He paused, hesitating. "Cerulean is going to have a problem feeding itself soon. Those foothills were a huge part of our food supply, and without them we'll need to have the trawlers haul in more than they already are."
Daisy frowned and pulled a bundle of scrolls from the folds of her overcoat. "These are the fishing reports from the last ten years." She sighed and dropped into a chair opposite Brock. "We're running out of fish, and fast. Cerulean Cape won't be able to support the city in under a year."
Silence fell on the room. Brock looked up at Preston, a solemn look on his face. "Pewter can't spare much food, but we'll share what little we've got. It won't be enough, but it'll buy us some time." Brock paused, contemplating his options. "Viridian won't help. I've never even met Lord Sakai, and he's got extremely close ties to Blackthorn. We're practically rebels at this point, so I wouldn't count on any support from anyone close to the throne."
"What about Celadon?" Daisy said. "Last time we spoke to Lady Erika, we parted on good terms."
Brock shook his head. "Even if she would help us, how would they get the food here? The wilds are too damn dangerous to send convoys through, and the only safe route passes right by Saffron. With the Rockets' controlling that route, we wouldn't be able to sneak a small party past them much less enough food to feed a whole city."
"Vermillion and Fuchsia are both under Rocket control as well, so that rules them out. Lavender?" Daisy asked.
"No good. I'm pretty sure they don't even eat actual food there. Which leaves us with only one option. Cinnabar Island is the only place that can supply Cerulean until it can get back to its feet." Brock finished, looking at Daisy.
"I was afraid of that" she said. "If we go to Cinnabar, then we are declaring ourselves against Lance. Are we ready for that?"
Brock shook his head. "No, but what other choice do we have? We need the food."
Daisy rose from the chair, collecting the scrolls she had laid out. "Then we'd better prepare a ship. It's a month long trip by sea, and we're running out of time." She looked up at Brock. "One of us should stay here. Cerulean still needs a leader. I'm trusting you to take care of her while I'm gone."
"With all due respect, the city needs its Lady. I should be the one to go" he said. "I've got more experience with negotiations, and I wouldn't be able to keep order here nearly as well as you would. It is your city after all."
Daisy shook her head, smirking. "Brock the Rock at sea?" She asked with a laugh. "That's something that'll never happen. Like you said, it is my city. I need to do this."
"Very well then" Brock said. "Preston and I can keep things under control here." He laughed. "We'll keep her safe while you're gone M'lady." He stood up and held out a hand for her to shake.
She raised an eyebrow and regarded Brock's hand with incredulity. "Still haven't come to terms with the whole marriage thing, have you?"
Brock chuckled softly and put his hand down. He stepped around the table and pulled Daisy into a crushing hug. "Come back safe" he whispered. "We need you."
"Again!" Shouted Ethan.
Lyra raised her sword again, stalking towards Ethan. He mirrored her, his sword at the ready in his left hand. Lyra charged with a cry, attempting to run her sword through Ethan's chest. Ethan danced away, deflecting her sword to the side. She charged again, attempting a clumsy feint. Ethan saw the feint coming and swung his sword to meet hers. They locked blades, both stepping in close to give themselves more leverage. Ethan forced her sword down with the flat of his blade, then locked her pommel against his. He spun and twisted his sword, tearing Lyra's sword from her hands. Lyra stumbled forward and was met by Ethan's boot crashing into her chest, driving the wind from her lungs. She landed flat on her back and felt the point of Ethan's sword tap her chest.
"Dead. Yet again" he said.
She pushed herself up into a sitting position, panting heavily. "Just give me a second" she said between ragged breaths. "How?" She asked. "How do you always know?"
"You're too easy to read" he said. "It's all in the hips and shoulders. I can tell what you're going to do before you even attempt it. It's nothing that more practice won't fix." He looked down at her, and held out his hand.
She took it, hauling herself to her feet. "I still don't know how I'm ever going to even be half as good as you are. You're not even breaking a sweat, and you've only got one arm to use."
He looked down at his right arm, frowning. "It itches." He looked back up at her, a grin on his face.
She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "You weren't listening, were you?"
He shook his head. "No. My arm was itchy."
She smiled and laughed. "I'll be glad when you get that damn thing off. If only to actually carry a conversation with you again."
"What's wrong with Grams?" He asked. "I'm sure she'd carry a conversation with you. And Grandpa would talk your ear off if you gave them a chance."
She shrugged. "They lack the same enthusiasm that you've got."
Ethan shook his head, and turned to head back up to the house. "C'mon, we're done for today. I've got something I wanted to show you."
"What is it?" She asked
"Remember the conversation we had the night we got here?" He asked.
Her eyes lit up. "Ethan, you better not be shitting me. You didn't."
"I did" he said, grin stretching from ear to ear. "He's waiting on your bed."
She jumped at him, squeezing the air from his lungs with her hug. "What's his name?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"You get to choose" he said. "He's all yours."
She practically squealed with glee as she tore off for the house. Ethan followed her slowly, a happy smile worn on his face.
"Which way, Shepherd?" One of the former grunts asked.
Alan pushed his way out of the crowd, giving himself a clear view of his options.
"I don't think there's an over land route to Lavender." One of the men said. "I thought you had to go through the mountains to get there."
"If there's a way that doesn't involve us going underground, I say we take it. Our food stores won't last more than a week and who knows how long going under the mountains will take." Another grunt suggested.
Another grunt spoke up, adding to the noise. Alan turned away from the group, studying what he could see. The opening on the wall of rock was clearly carved out by human hands, but darkness covered everything barely a few meters into the cave. Alan turned to the other path and gasped. It was barely wide enough for two men to walk side-by-side, and bordered on each side by a sheer cliff.
Alan looked back at the men who followed him, and made his decision. "We go over land. Keep your right hand on the wall at all times. We walk single file. You have anything important to add, you tap the man in front of you and he passes it on." Without waiting for an answer, he started off down the path. One by one, the former Rockets followed him.
Misty stepped out of the brush, checking the surroundings. She turned back to the brush, and whistled softly. Jay trampled his way out of the brush, nearly stumbling over a knot of roots at his feet.
"No noise." Misty hissed. "We don't know if they're out of earshot."
"Did they go the right way?" Jay asked quietly.
Misty shook her head. "No, we won't have to worry about them anymore."
"Why not?" Jay asked.
Misty smirked. "That's the path to the old power plant" she said. "It's been shut down for years."
Jay raised an eyebrow. "So why do we not have to worry about them?" He asked.
"Because they're walking right into the God of Lightning's lair."
Jay spun, looking at the unassuming path. "Gods… Zapdos…"
"Yup. And he doesn't take kindly to visitors" she remarked. "I doubt that any of those men are gonna come back down that path."
"So we have to go underground?" Jay asked cautiously.
Misty nodded solemnly. "Unfortunately, yes. I think I remember the fastest route through, so we should be out by tomorrow night if we keep up a good speed."
Jay groaned, and released his growlithe. "Stay by my side boy, we're gonna be going in there." He pointed at the cave opening. Growlithe whimpered and hid behind his leg. "Great, I don't even have my guard pokemon." He sighed and pulled one of the flashlights Misty had stolen from the rebel base from his bag. He flicked it on and shone it into the darkness. "Ready?"
Misty rolled her eyes and pulled out her own flashlight. She motioned for Jay to go first, then followed him in. Slowly, their lights faded from view as they went further into the cave.
"Delia, please! It's not like I meant for this to happen!" Samuel Oak shouted. His eyes widened and he ducked, narrowly avoiding a flying bottle that smashed against the cramped apartment's wall behind him.
"He's my fucking son!" She shouted. "You sent him off to fight a war! A war that he can't win!"
"Delia please! He's practically an adult." He ducked under another flying bottle. "Delia you knew this would happen."
"No!" She shrieked. "I swore it wouldn't. I swore to stop it." She raised another bottle but Oak was at her side, pulling the bottle from her hand. "And what about Gary? Caught two pokemon, then lost both of them? He's just a kid! He's your grandson for fuck's sake, do you even care about his mental state?"
Oak put the bottle down on the table gingerly, stinging from Delia's verbal assault. "I wouldn't have sent them to Cerulean if I didn't think they could handle it" he said. "Look, it's not like they're alone. All the reports I've heard indicate that they've arrived at the rebel base. Bill will take care of them. He'll train them himself if he has to."
"And what about Jay? We read the same report."
Oak grimaced and furrowed his brow. "It's odd to say the least. Without being there, I can't even speculate on what actually happened." He took a step away from her. "Look, we're stuck here. I know it's difficult, but you can't fall apart like this. I need your help. I can't take care of Daisy on my own."
Delia collapsed into the chair behind her, sighing heavily. "Just remind me why we're here Sam. What was so important that you had to drag us across Johto?"
He turned around grinning. "Hopefully, the key to bringing Lance down."
"What does that mean?" She asked.
Oak sighed and took his place in the chair opposite her. "Matthew's rebellion failed because he had no support from the west. He couldn't bring Lance down alone, and that's what caused his failure." He looked down at the floor. "Are you sure you want to know why we're here?"
She nodded, not saying anything.
"We're here to make sure that Ethan Gold's son unites Johto. That egg we sent him to find? It's a dragon killer. We're arming him for war." He sighed, looking back up at her. "We're in Goldenrod right now because I've been negotiating an alliance with the Lady Whitney on his behalf. Elm went to Olivine to do the same."
Delia blinked, taking a breath. "Does he know?" She asked. "Does he know what you're planning?"
Oak shook his head. "Not yet. We were going to allow him time to rest before we set everything in motion."
Delia shook her head, holding it in her hands. "I can't believe you… You're a manipulative bastard, you know that?"
Oak nodded, smiling softly. "I have been called that many times. Never has it made me so sad to hear."
She stood up, and turned to leave the cramped apartment. "For your sake, you better hope that it was worth it." She opened the door, glancing back at him. "Because if my son doesn't survive, then you won't." The door slammed behind her, leaving Oak alone.
"M'lord, there is still the issue of the Rocket encampment across the river."
Brock looked up at Preston, bearing an annoyed look. "How many Rocket corpses do we have left?" He asked.
"M'lord?" Preston answered, confused.
"How many?" Brock asked again.
"I don't know M'lord. I'm not acquainted with the reports."
Brock sighed and pointed at a pile of papers on the desk before him. "The report is in there somewhere." He motioned around him at the mountain of other papers and huffed in frustration. "I vaguely remember seeing a body count among all this tauros shit."
Preston shifted through the pile, pulling a lone paper free after barely a minute of searching. "Our dead number at six-hundred and thirty-seven. The wounded number at nine-hundred and seventy-two." He scanned the paper searching for the Rockets' information. He cleared his throat as he found it. "One-thousand, four-hundred and twelve dead. Unknown number of wounded. All wounded Rocket soldiers were left on the field of battle as per Lord Brock's orders." He looked up at Brock, disgusted.
Brock caught the look, returning a questioning look of his own. "Yes?" He asked.
"You ordered the wounded Rockets to be left on the field?" Preston asked.
"Yes." Brock answered curtly.
Preston put the paper back down and shook his head. "That's barbaric. It's not right…" He paused. "It's just wrong. How could you?"
Brock leaned forward, abandoning the paperwork he'd been working away at. "How old are you?" He asked.
"Seventeen, M'lord." Preston answered. "I fail to see…"
Brock cut him off with a glare. "Too young to remember Red's Rebellion. That's what I thought." Brock stood up, towering over the youth. "I've lived through four separate wars. The rebellion was easily the bloodiest war I've ever seen. Entire families were butchered by Lance. Dynasties that had lasted since the founding of the Lavender Empire were snuffed out by the dragonlords." Brock sighed, and massaged his temples. "Another war is coming, and it threatens to be even bloodier than the rebellion was. If we are to survive, then no action is too ruthless. No slaughter is unforgivable if you win the war."
"But the rules of war, as set down by the Indigo Confederation in…"
Brock slammed his fists down on the table, interrupting Preston again. "Don't you get it? There are no rules in war. Only the victors, and the mountains of corpses that they stepped on to get there. So I will ask one last time. How many dead Rockets do we possess?"
Preston looked nervously back down at the paper on the table. "One-thousand, four-hundred and twelve at current count."
Brock nodded. "Good. Have the men recover the remaining bodies still in the field. Move all the bodies into catapult range of the Rocket encampment in preparation for the arrival of my Bannermen."
Preston nodded solemnly. "At once my lord." He rushed out of the room, concealing the tears that were forming as he went.
Hello ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back to Shattered Thrones, I hope you enjoyed Oak's return. I've got big plans for him, including him becoming a major POV character in the future. Apologies for the shorter chapter, but I'm putting out chapter 2 of Edge of a Revolution today to offset some of the lack of length.
EDIT: I read the words wrong and thought that I only had 2500 words instead of 3500. So yeah. Whatever though, extra chapter released for ya!
I haven't posted a new chapter here since putting out chapter one of Edge of a Revolution, so... Surprise! Unless you read my profile. Then you knew it was coming. To those who haven't read the description on my profile, the story will be a prequel that takes place in Unova 10 years before the start of Shattered Thrones. Im writing it to bridge the gap between Shattered Thrones and its sequel, and in the process answer a question that will be raised at the end of Shattered Thrones.
Well that's all for now! Have a great weekend! Sqcircles out!
