PokeStones of the Dead - Chapter Twenty
"Prepare for battle!"
Lillette's words drew the relaxing soldiers – human and Pokemon alike – back to a state of alertness. Sabrina had returned a few minutes before, proclaiming that Brock had been successfully brainwashed – he would suddenly feel an overwhelming sense of hatred towards Lance, and would approach the venue of the final battle. He would then confront Lance, and if all went well, enraged or distracted Lance long enough for the binding spell to be cast. Sabrina had set Brock's departure time to two hours from now, meaning that the final battle preparations and tactics needed to be finalised immediately.
Lillette had already a battle plan, formulated not to eliminate as much of the Dead as possible, but rather to clear a path through them for the Gym Leaders to get in range. Unlike the battle at the tunnels, flying Pokemon would be a main part of Lance's arsenal. There would be no simple flight above the battle, not even on the mighty legendary birds. Lillette quickly divided her troops into the three divisions agreed on earlier, and reiterated the battle plan once again. The Gym Leaders had to be withdrawn from their captain positions, as they were needed to take cover until the Dead were split apart. Thus Lillette decided to take on sole command of the entire army, accompanied by some Kanto trainers who had turned up. The number of trainers in Kanto was so few that it had been a tough job finding any competent or experienced ones.
Lillette called a fifteen-minute recess, and then went to the Pokemon Centre to wake Temperance up. He had to make his own preparations as well. After all, it made no difference whether the battle plan was brilliant or a total failure if Temperance could not defeat Lance in battle. Temperance had no doubt refreshed his body and mind enough. He had apparently gotten over those horrifying visions, at any rate. So it was with optimism that Lillette shook Temperance lightly, getting him to wake up. He had to be seen outside – it was also a morale boost for the troops, who were laying their lives on the line for him.
Temperance washed his face before leaving the comfortable Pokemon Centre – would it be his last vision of peace? Temperance and Lillette then went outside, where the Gym Leaders were examining the three legendary birds. Lillette once again called the troops to attention, announced the arrival of Temperance, gave another overview of his duties and importance, finally addressing the entire crowd with the tone of finality. "Now, make haste to Death Peak!"
Death Peak was a mountain south of Cinnibar. If one were to venture beyond the islands of Seafoam, he would be entering the open ocean, where new islands were still being discovered. Signs of life had already been found, but the area was still relatively unexplored. Yet the discovery of ruins and other strange artefacts had confirmed that the desolate area south of Kanto was once bustling with life. Actually, the phrase was a bit of a misnomer. That area had been inhabited for all of twelve hours, before it collapsed to bits. The explanation for such an occurrence had been long thought to be lost, but Lance must have obviously found out the secret. And now Lillette knew, of course, having read Lance's notes on his computer. She had avoided revealing the full secret to anyone except Temperance – it was not needed, and some might be shocked regarding the scale of the entire project.
Death Peak was the area where the creator of Kanto originally wanted to place the new country. Yet a terrible miscalcuation of the spell at the last minute had horribly corrupted the spell and turned all life on the new country into horrifying zombies – the Dead which now stood at the exact same location. Not to mention an evil spirit, one so horrifyingly strong that the massive battle that followed blew the entire foundation of Kanto was to bits. The evil attacking Kanto's creator was defeated, but not before spreading its nature to the one that vanquished it. The creator of Kanto was none other than the very first Pokemon that was created – Mew, the mysterious Pokemon that none had ever seen save in legend.
Mew had won the titanic battle, and created Kanto to the north instead. However, it had failed to totally purge the land of the evil created from its attacker, and thus paid the price when it was corrupted by the remnants of its evil opposite. Thus Mew, creator of Kanto, rose three years later – after its soul had been finally taken by its inner enemy – to destroy what it had created. The Gym Leaders rose to the challenge, and Mew – or Dark Mew – lay buried deep under Death Peak, the site of the original battle, the site where the evil inhabiting its body was created as well.
But the Gym Leaders of the past had done their job. Even now, Dark Mew could not rise up of the ground either as in its original form – the dark spirit representing all evil in the world – or as the Mew form that it has corrupted. It could only transfer its power to another being. Obviously, Lance was this puppet that had unlocked the hidden power. And now he wielded some of the power of Mew. Even though the transfer was incomplete, Lance would still hold enough power to totally blow any other opposition to bits. Yet things like mass creation or destruction would be beyond his power.
However, he would now strive to go to Death Peak and unlock the full potential of Dark Mew – in other words, infinite power. Thus, he would even have the ability now to create a new world, or destroy one. It was imperative that they divert some of his power into another source, so that he would have an equal, and let the two slug it out – a lesser replica of the battle that had happened so many years ago. It would not be as titanic, but the result would have as much consequence as the previous one.
The troops were moving out now. The two hours had passed, and Brock was by now finding his own means of transport to Cinnibar and beyond. Entire flocks of wild Pokemon marched orderly out of Vermillion, united to destroy the Dead protecting Lance. Temperance was in the middle of the troops, similarly protected from any surprise attack that Lance might spring on them. After all, he was indispensable, and they could not afford to have him picked off from afar, either by a projectile or from Lance himself.
Viridian was slowly emptied, with only the necessary units left behind. All forces available for battle had been sent to the battle. Lillette briefed the units as the left Viridian. "March to Cinnibar, where you will stand and await further orders. You know how to cross the sea. And prepare yourself for the battle ahead."
The troops walked in formation – a strange but majestic sight. Obviously, the sheer variety of the Pokemon that formed Lillette's army did not create any symmetry or coordination in the moving of hands, paws, claws, and other body appendages. Yet anyone seeing the sight would no doubt be touched beyond words – all the free Pokemon of Kanto fighting as one unit, disagreements forgotten, against the greatest evil and threat since Dark Mew itself. It was lucky that Lance had left detailed notes of the entire history of Kanto on his computer – otherwise they would have no clue of the venue's whereabouts, paving the way for Lance to tap on the full power of Dark Mew and become as powerful as the Creator itself.
Two divisions slowly marched past Temperance, still transfixed on the various Pokemon that were flying and walking in formation. Then Lillette poked him in the back. "You should be walking behind that division with me. Go."
Temperance recalled Lillette's words to him earlier, cross-referencing them against the sight before him, and now saw that the important people – him, Lillette, the Gym Leaders – were all positioned between the second and third divisions. The two side divisions were about one-third the strength of the main contingent. As for Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno, they would be flying side by side – below the normal flying Pokemon, and above the rest of the troops. The mere sight of them would be enough to cheer up a despairing heart, and it was imperative that they offered this moral support as well as wreak havoc on the Dead.
After twenty minutes, the division ahead of Temperance was about to exit Pallet Town and into the sea separating Pallet and Cinnibar. It was not yet open ocean yet, and the waves here would be small compared to those that would be present on the second sea journey between Cinnibar and Death Peak. All the water Pokemon ahead of him picked up as many land-based Pokemon as they could, and then entered the water. Of course, Pokemon like Gyarados and Tentacruel would be able to carry many. Still, there remained the problem of how to transport humongous Ground- and Rock- typed Pokemon, both of which unable to even approach water.
Then Temperance saw Misty casting a spell again, not unlike the one she had cast on Lapras to allow her to fight on land. This one would allow Pokemon to withstand water, albeit not total submersion. All of the remaining Pokemon tentatively entered the water, and pushed forward slowly but surely. Temperance once again wondered at the extent of the Gym Leaders' powers – he had seen Misty and Sabrina exhibit them already. It was their turn to enter the sea, and Lillette released her Lapras for water transport. Temperance was about to release his own Gyarados, then decided against it and got on Lapras as well.
Lillette was surprised for only an instant, then accepted it as the water behemoth carved a swift path through the water, much faster than the Pokemon that were only enduring the sea because of Misty's spell. Lapras could have overtaken them easily, but Lillette checked her pace. There was an army to look after, and breaking formation would be an unforgivable break of protocol for a military commander. Instead she allowed herself to enjoy the feel of Temperance's hands around her waist – a rare tender moment in the haste of the situation.
And so the two thousand-strong army moved relentlessly toward Death Peak, where at least twice that number of Dead awaited. However, the living force now had, for the first time, an organised army, the power of the Gym Leaders behind them, as well as the mighty legendary birds. It would be a tough fight, no doubt. And all relied on Lillette's battle plan to carve a path through the Dead – for Brock to find Lance, get caught, and provide the necessary distraction for the remaining Gym Leaders to cast the binding spell.
"Lillette, you said that Lance would be waiting for us to go to Death Peak and challenge him. But if he needs to carry out some ritual or rite in order to harness the remaining power of Mew, couldn't he be doing it now? Why does he need to wait for us to try and prevent that from happening?"
Lillette was surprised at Temperance's astute observation. This was the only detail that she had avoided revealing to the troops and Gym Leaders. It put the entire force in a dilemma. If they avoided finding Lance at Death Peak, he would be unable to get the ultimate power he craved, but he would be strong enough to wipe out most of the resistance. Thus she had made a decision to challenge Lance on his home turf. While there was the obvious risk of walking into a trap, taking proactive action allowed for a more combined effort than simply waiting for individual assaults on undefended cities. After all, it made little difference whether they restricted Lance to this lesser power or not – it was still far beyond anything they had faced before.
"You see, Dark Mew does not simply hand over the power to destroy the entire country with minimal effort to anyone. It needs to be satisfied that this person is worthy to wield the power. Thus, what it has stipulated for the transfer of all its power is a single demand – a test if you will. Basically, Lance must defeat all the Gym Leaders in battle – the hated Gym Leaders that banished Dark Mew all those years ago. Only with the total defeat of those that once vanquished Dark Mew would cause a sufficient impression for the transfer of Dark Mew's full power."
Temperance understood. The upcoming battle was not a simple attack and defence of Death Peak. Both sides were fighting for something – Lance to gain the true power of the Creator, the power he had been seeking all this while. The other side was fighting for Kanto. Lillette pondered on Lance's true intentions – surely, he did not mean to destroy the world. Definitely not – dictators were nothing without something to dictate, after all. The journal entries on Lance's computer seemed to hint that he would set up a new system of government, one without the hated Gym Leaders that had abused their power – with him as the head. Probably, Lance did not think that what he was doing now was true evil – merely a last-ditch attempt to wrest power away from the corrupted Gym Leaders. Could they make him see sense? But Lance's actions now seemed to hint that his noble intentions had been corrupted by the evil spirit of Dark Mew. If all he wanted was to transform Kanto into a better place, he would not now wait at Death Peak to obtain the full extent of Dark Mew's evil abilities.
Lapras sailed on. The sun was now low in the sky – night was approaching. With the night came the habitat of the Dead. Cinnibar was in the distance, where the first division – measuring twelve hundreds – were waiting for the arrival of the remaining forces. Temperance looked around him. Gym Leaders were sailing or flying on their Pokemon in the immediate vicinity – with the exception of Sabrina, who was hovering above the water with the help of her Pokemon. Soon, Lance would face the combined powers of the Gym Leaders, the legendary birds, and every free Pokemon living in Kanto. The question was whether it would be enough.