The time had finally come. The night had become dark and crystal-clear; not even a tiny spot of cloud obscured the twinkling stars shining like diamonds across the vast expanse. Which was harder to tell than everyone inside Machu Picchu would've thought at first glance; the many bright artificial lights that Lawrence's Army had strung the central plaza with did interfere somewhat.
Within one of the large tents now erected in the central plaza, Oakley was helping Lawrence III pull on his pacco costume's lower half. It was uncomfortably like a skirt to the man's pride; he was wearing bicycle shorts on underneath. Oakley was quite at ease in her own acllacuna's wear. Despite the modern device strapped around her neck and shoulders, easily visible over her blouse. The curved, jet-black metal device reminded her of an American football player's shoulder pads.
Lawrence III's personal physician, Miles, was the only other person in the tent with them. The skinny boy peered through his thick spectacles at the readouts his portable equipment, hooked up at various points on Lawrence III's bare torso, was giving him. The doctor observed, "Again, sir, I remind you that you are taking an awful risk. You've hardly recovered from your outburst this afternoon. The effects of the stimulant mixture I've given you are strictly temporary; you will feel far more capable than you actually are. The probability of your overreaching yourself during this brief span of time is incredibly high."
Lawrence III began pulling the electrodes loose from his body at this proclamation. "And I remind you again, doctor, my time overall is growing very short. I only need to be fully functional during the ceremony. I can enjoy recalling my revenge as I recover in my hospital bed afterwards."
Miles clucked his tongue at this, but made no further comment as he gathered up his equipment and left. Oakley continued helping Lawrence III dress and thus conserve energy. Lawrence III paused once his shirt was on to fuss with his remaining hair in the mirror. As he did, he chirped at Oakley, "Did you see the crowds, my dear? I daresay the entire central plaza will be filled for tonight's performance."
"Noche del Maullar does only come once per year," she admitted neutrally. She couldn't maintain her careless pose, however, and forced herself to admit her misgivings openly to him. Her formal address in private drew Lawrence III's undivided attention when Oakley went on, "Sir, the crowd. I know you want Ash Ketchum's humiliation to be public, but there's the matter of crowd control. Pride in their heritage aside, I doubt these modern Inca mixed-bloods will go for the sacrifice."
He patted her hand reassuringly, "You didn't watch those videos I sent you, did you? The celebration always includes dancers pretending to be sacrificed. By the time the crowd realizes this event is genuine, it will be far too late." Seeing she was still chewing her lip, Lawrence III added, "Do not forget that the Nusta, the princess, is on our side. And so is what lies beyond her."
"Is she?" Oakley quipped, only half-teasing. "Then you've made the changes to your will we discussed, I hope."
Lawrence III actually laughed, "I adore your gallows humor, my love. Please remember, we also have these." Her lover patted his own black collar device laying on the counter. It was identical to Oakley's save its smaller, lighter frame to accommodate his weak and narrow shoulders. He sighed at the device anyway; he wasn't looking forward to the discomfort. "Help me put this heavy thing on next," Lawrence III requested. Annie slipped in just then, her own acllacuna's outfit as impeccable as her metal collar, to remind them the time drew near.
Not that far away, Ash and Rudy fumed. Lawrence III had thoughtfully provided them with their own private booth, manufactured from yet another tent, about ten meters away from the Intihuatana. The side of the tent facing the sundial had been left off completely for their viewing convenience. Armed guards, posing as a private security force, were just outside the tent and ready to turn any potential ropehoppers away before they saw the prisoners within.
As Lawrence III had promised, both young men were free of any sedatives. Their captor had not been able to find out Rudy's identity. Unsure if Rudy was a good enough friend to really hurt Ash by dying in front of him like the Morgans, Lawrence III had finally elected to hold Rudy until the ceremony was over as well. Meowth had been left at the villa.
Misty had disappeared immediately after arrival at the ruins.
The cold dread coating Ash's heart was lightened somewhat by Rudy's actions. Since they were sitting so close together, Rudy had already picked both their wrist cuffs' locks. Their ankle cuffs had been looped around the chairs' forelegs, instead of chaining them ankle-to-ankle as they had before. If the guards would stop glancing backwards so often, it would be easy for the young men to tip their chairs backwards and slip their ankles free; then remove their gags. The guards' attentiveness also kept Rudy from unlocking their Pokémon restraint collars. So both men swallowed their impatience and kept their arms behind them.
Ash's hopes soared to new heights as a familiar face, beneath a bald skin cap disguise, appeared atop a Lawrence's Army guard uniform at the tent's entrance. "Orders from Mr. Talbot," Giovanni said firmly, pointing toward Rudy, "This one's a red herring. He doesn't want him here any longer."
The nearer guard looked up at him; she was short but stocky. "So where does the Chief want him to be?"
Giovanni lost his business tone to sigh ruefully, "That's my problem, not yours. At least you two will get to see the show." Both guards were sharing his bemusement now. Giovanni, key in hand, resumed his professional demeanor to sternly command Rudy, "I'm going to take off the cuffs and gag. One word or trick out of you and your friend here will regret it." Kneeling to unlock Rudy's feet, Giovanni belied his command with the urgent whisper, "We'll be back for you in a minute, Ash." Ash nodded ever so slightly.
Giovanni led his younger son out. Neither guard seemed to realize that Giovanni hadn't been forced to unlock Rudy's hands too. Ash's hopes fell in a sudden thought: Would they be back?
Ash's anxiety only increased as the show began. Instead of setting up a stage, more guard ropes outlined the area where the audience wasn't supposed to cut onto the cultivated grass around the Intihuatana. Spotlights began tracing elegant female dancers in native dress appearing across this natural amphitheater. A wooden stage along the side, near to Ash's booth, held the musicians playing accompaniment. The sensuous dance was short but captivating. Ash realized his heart was hammering in time to the music; an ancient melody transcending language to promise rebirth and renewal.
At a musical cue, the dancers suddenly became two lines pointing toward the huge sundial itself. An older woman stepped out of the stone's shadows, a Raichu at her side. Ash had to look twice to confirm her age by her wrinkles; the Nusta's resplendent costume combined with her confident poise to outshine the much younger women surrounding her.
And then there were the Nusta's eyes. Ash couldn't look away from them. The throbbing green glow of her irises burned its way into his mind, creating an image of himself standing at the edge of a great void. Somewhere deep within that timeless expanse, an elder force was drawing far too close for comfort.
The Nusta turned away slightly, incidentally releasing Ash from her hold. He realized he was gasping with relief.
Now in the center of the stage, the Nusta thrust both hands into the air, feet spread wide. Her voice boomed across the vast central plaza in the Quechua language: "Welcome! The first true Noche del Maullar in centuries begins!"
A murmur ran through the crowd. Everybody, including Ash, had understood the woman's proclamation perfectly. Despite her using a language few of them knew. And she hadn't used any loudspeakers or other artificial aid to be heard, either. For the first time, Ash felt a true twist of fear for his own safety and not just his loved ones' about tonight. What was Lawrence III unleashing here?
The Nusta shooed away the dancers as a very familiar pacco took the stage. The audience laughed a little, their misgivings blown away by the reassuring sight of the pacco leaning on canes to make it onstage. So pleased was Lawrence III at the sight of Ash squirming helplessly in his booth that the man didn't mind the crowd's mockery one bit. He even played into it, stopping to wipe his brow theatrically before continuing to his appointed place. The audience laughed again, this time with him instead of at him. Nobody seemed to mind the out-of-place device across his straining shoulders; not even the Nusta.
Another familiar face appeared from backstage and shocked Ash bolt-upright in his chair. Thankfully, his gag muffled his cry of "Mom!" as his outstretched hands reached for the stage. Ash hastily tucked his hands back away, all of this unnoticed by his guards.
Annie and Oakley continued gently leading the procession of Delia, Misty, Jessie, and James to the Nusta waiting on the stone lower half of the Intihuatana itself. The victims themselves were in native dress also, but their attitude had the crowd both concerned and laughing anew. Finally the general consensus was reached that a batch of drunk tourists had somehow been stuck in the role this year.
Delia's gaze roved over Ash's booth, but either the achiote drug or the relative darkness of his place kept her from recognizing him in return. Ash, realizing this and that his guards were now very intent on the proceedings, openly tilted his chair back and slipped his ankles free. The gag was next to go. He felt at his Pokéball restraint; the deceptively thin metal and plastic was a solid no go for breaking it. For his merely human strength, at least. Inwardly Ash vowed; first thing after he got back home, he was taking some kind of class to become a master of unlocking like Rudy.
When he looked back up, Ash froze for a second. As Lawrence III had promised, Delia was the first to kneel on the Intihuatana's stone base. The Nusta stood over her, wrapping a ceremonial scarf tightly around her face and chin. Then the Nusta drew both ends up in a strong grip; all it would take was one quick turn, one little snap, at that angle. Delia did not mind the scarf thanks to the achiote; she giggled at that. Instead she tried to stretch her knee-length skirt down to cover the rest of her legs, which were getting cold from the stone.
The Nusta paused, turning her glowing gaze first to Ash, then to Lawrence III, then back again. The crowd held its breath, realizing something was up. The Nusta was now openly staring into Ash's tent; her unfathomable gaze did not hold him like before. She waited to see what he would do. Ash held perfectly still; unsure if the woman was daring him to try or not..
Lawrence III grew impatient. Angrily he questioned the Nusta, "What are you waiting for? Blast my weak body or I'd do it myself!" Finally his gaze followed hers into the tent. He blinked, wondering if the dim tent's interior was playing tricks on him.
Ash plowed into the male guard from behind, his fury knocking the hapless guard clean over. The female turned and lost a couple of her teeth to Ash's chair as he swung it into her face. Ash leapt between the downed guards and into the stage area, plowing hard toward the Intihuatana, focused solely on the scarf that held his mother's life in the balance.
The Nusta remained motionless, watching his advance with inscrutable glowing eyes.
Lawrence III bellowed, "Oakley! Annie! Stop him!" The sisters appeared, barring Ash's path with limbs akimbo. Ash tried the bait-and-switch hook that had worked on Rudy earlier; it did indeed catch Annie's jaw but Oakley slid into her place. A straight kick to Ash's side made his ribs pop alarmingly as Ash skidded sideways. He blocked Annie's punch for revenge but it left him open to another kick from Oakley. This one swept his left leg out from under him; Ash fell backwards hard.
Stunned, Ash fought to get his breath back, staring through tears of pain at the women looming above him. The roar of the crowd filled his ears; they were beginning to realize this wasn't part of the show.
Suddenly Giovanni's commanding baritone cut through the cacophony like a knife through warm butter. "Scizor, use Fury Cutter to free her, now!"
In a blazing red blur, the big bipedal Bug- and Steel-Type came out of nowhere to sever the scarf binding Delia with her huge pinchers. Delia giggled, only pausing to rub her neck with relief as the wind of Scizor's close passage pushed her onto her side. The Nusta merely stepped back a little; she made no attempt to recapture Delia nor help her either.
That was the last straw for the watching crowd. Although Lawrence III's foresight had limited the number of guests to ensure his army had the numerical superiority tonight, his minions still found themselves facing the worst-case scenario tonight. Many of the tourists were surprisingly well-armed Pokémon Trainers in their own right. Not to mention the local police, realizing they'd been duped into helping a madman. The dancers and musicians, completely unarmed, abandoned their posts but not their precious instruments as they tried to flee. Both groups unintentionally fed the chaos exploding across the plaza as countless Pokémon battles mixed with human fisticuffs.
The only ones not quickly swept up in the gigantic brawl were the wild Pokémon of Machu Picchu. Raichu relayed the Nusta's orders to his clan, remaining at her side. The wild Pokémon retreated to safe hideaways in the rocks and crannies of the ruins, watching wide-eyed at the battle they were forbidden to participate in raging all around them.
Giovanni commanded, "Scizor, give Ash some backup!" Scizor leapt and glided back down on her gossamer wings to land between Ash and his tormentors. Annie and Oakley backed up, reaching for their Pokéballs, but were stunned as Giovanni stepped up to Scizor's side. Now sans disguise, he grinned mightily at the shock of recognition evident on the sisters' faces. As Ash stood, he found Rudy appearing at his other side as well. Rudy barked, "Hold still, Ash. Let's even the odds; Feraligatr, use Slash on that restraint collar."
Rudy's large Water-Type cut Ash's Pokémon team free with care and strength. Without even scratching the paint on his Pokéballs; Ash nodded, impressed. Pikachu appeared instantly, angrily releasing himself with his own internal safety catch. Pikachu, Scizor, and Feraligatr joined their trainers in glaring at the outnumbered Annie and Oakley, despite the appearance of their Slaking and Manectric. Lawrence III stumped up, Machamp out and ready, to meet their charge; Lawrence's Army still barred their way to the Intihuatana.
Butch's permanent sore throat ground out, "What was that about evening the odds?", as he and Cassidy stepped onto Lawrence III's side of the stage. Cassidy hesitated; both in when she'd first come out at Butch's side and when she sent out her Houndoom to join his Hitmontop. Instead of her opponents, she was watching her partner carefully. Butch, eyes only for Rudy across the way, didn't notice.
Rudy made a sour face at the new arrivals. He turned to address Lawrence III, "What, was there a two-for-one sale on ex-Team Rocket members?"
It was Oakley who responded snidely, "And what's a bad girl looking for a paycheck supposed to do? Join those treehuggers Aqua or Magma?"
Annie added, "Or those space cases in Team Galactic?"
Giovanni cut in with a droll correction, "Annie and Oakley were only occasionally on the Team Rocket payroll. Those two mercenaries would've just as quickly worked a mission against the team if the price was right. Just as they would Lawrence's Army, I'd wager."
Lawrence III paid no attention to Giovanni's zinger; he was checking behind him for additional support. The Nusta's fathomless gaze regarded him back. Just as she made no move to restrain her drunken would-be victims starting to wander about at their whims, the Nusta did not help or hinder Lawrence III in the least. "Fine," he grimaced quietly at her, "I trust this battle will finally impress both of you." He turned back, finding Ash's bloodthirsty countenance staring hard at him from less than ten feet away.
Ash demanded, "Surrender, 'Sir' Talbot. I'd hate to get blood all over that nice costume of yours." Rudy was quick to second his brother's demand from his side. In his own way, at least. "Sir Lawrence Talbot the 3rd! Under the jurisdiction of Interpol, I place you under arrest for crimes of international terrorism!" Rudy bellowed.
The rage building up in Lawrence III at the young men's words burst out in a wordless roar of blood-red hate; all civility lost. His minions took up the call.
Within seconds, rapid-fire trainer commands choreographed the battles across the stage:
-Butch's Hitmontop lived up to his name by standing on his head, launching into a whirling Triple Kick shortly thereafter. Cassidy swooned with the return of her concussion; her Houndoom remained motionless without commands to Butch's dismay. At Giovanni's command, Scizor's tough hide glowed briefly with Iron Defense. The move allowed Scizor to withstand the Triple Kick pummeling at her defenses-barely. Scizor used the pain to fuel a spectacular Reversal Attack. The move flung Hitmontop against Houndoom; both were knocked to Butch and Cassidy's feet. Butch was even more shocked when Cassidy, her heart not in the battle, recalled Houndoom. Giovanni only smiled.
-Rudy's Feraligatr spit a large blot of water on the ground. Then he kicked the resulting grassy goop into the face of Annie's Manectric in a Mud Sport maneuver. The disarmingly gentle shot had the desired effect; the distracted Manectric's Thunderbolt struck only a glancing blow to Feraligatr. Rudy's Pokémon shook off the electric charge to close on Annie's, mighty jaws shining with an Ice Fang. One crushing snap later and Manectric sagged, unconscious.
-Oakley's massive Slaking (which should've been called Slaqueen, technically), true to her lazy nature, allowed Lawrence III's Machamp to lead the charge against Pikachu. The Agility move had Pikachu bouncing all around the stage, trying for a good shot. With four arms to work with, however, Machamp managed to get the aging mouse by the tail. All four of Machamp's hands closed around Pikachu, trying to crush him with a Submission hold. First Pikachu allowed his natural ability, Static, to paralyze Machamp and put the hold on hold; then a Thunder brought Machamp to his knees. An Iron Tail from the released Pikachu felled Machamp like a great oak tree back against Slaking's wide belly. Oakley shrieked for her truant Pokémon to use Skill Swap and get Slaking's big butt in gear.
Lawrence III glanced around; the way his team's battles were going did not fill him with confidence. So instead of reaching for another member of his own Pokémon force to continue the battle, he reached for the metal collar atop his costume. "Annie, Oakley," he added, "Deploy Snag Machines!"
Butch and Cassidy, not equipped with these, joined Ash's group in staring as mechanical sleeves took less than a second to sprout from the trio's metal collars. The flexible metal now coating their arms ended in a large scoop, akin to a custa raquet used in jai alai, except their fists were readily available in the center. Pokéballs appeared, rolling down microconveyers built into the sleeves, in those selfsame fists. The deployment machine was new to him, but the sight of those jet-black Pokéballs made Ash's face freeze in a look of horrified recognition. Giovanni joined his wide-eyed stare; only Rudy was as clueless as Cassidy and Butch.
Giovanni bellowed to his sons, "Recall your Pokémon, now!"
"Snagballs, go!" Lawrence III ordered. The thrown capture devices impacted gently off their targets just as the recall beams from their own trainers hit them. The Snagballs sprang open; their capture beams wrapped around Pikachu, Scizor, and Feraligatr in a mechanical tug-of-war with their own Pokéballs. Ash, Rudy, and even Giovanni cheered for their struggling friends, trying somehow by sheer force of will to make the contest come out in their favor.
The badly weakened Scizor was the first to lose the struggle. The Snagball drew her in and locked tight with little resistance; now it was Oakley's turn to grin fiercely. Feraligatr, damaged by the earlier Thunderbolt, was added to her sister's roster at the same moment. Both freshly filled Snagballs, riding the atmosphere's magnetic waves on their gimbals, automatically soared through the air back to their new masters.
Pikachu was still hanging on but Machamp had sapped his aging strength; Pikachu slipped closer and closer to the Snagball. Ash pulled another Pokémon from his belt, yelling, "Donphan! Use Slam on that Snagball!"
Ash's elephantine Ground-Type did as ordered, crushing the Snagball beneath one big flat foot. Pikachu gasped with relief; Ash whooped with joy. He lost that joy, though, as Lawrence III yelled, "Alakazam, Ice Punch on Donphan!" Donphan, blindsided by the Ice Punch, toppled over; forcing Pikachu to scamper out from under his big buddy's falling mass. Lawrence III followed it up with another Snagball; greatly weakened by the Ice-Type attack, Donphan disappeared into his clutches.
Ash saved Pikachu from a similar fate by recalling his partner. Lawrence III wasn't impressed. "Go ahead, boy," he snarled, "Send out any powerful Pokémon you've got. Let's see if I can't Snag them from you. Or will you battle trained Pokémon with bare hand?" Surrounded by his army and their combined Pokémon, Lawrence III laughed uproariously at the look of enraged helplessness on Ash's face.
"That's it!" Ash bellowed, fists ready, "Snag this!" Rudy, just as eager to reclaim his Feraligatr, joined Ash in charging bodily at the line of Pokémon between them and Lawrence's Army. Both hoped that a Snagball would prove the same as a regular Pokéball; that once destroyed the Pokémon would revert to wild status and could be reclaimed. The less hot-headed Giovanni's eyes danced back and forth, trying desperately to calculate a better response and finding none.
"ENOUGH!"
The wave of pure power accompanying that mighty cry knocked every living thing within six meters of it head over heels. Which included the would-be sacrificial victims now lumped into the tangled heap nearest the Intihuatana. Ash didn't even try to contain his relief as he pulled his mother to his feet along with him. "Mom, Mom!" he ran his eyes and hands over her, not daring to believe it after coming so close to disaster, "You're okay!"
Still under the effects of the achiote drug, Delia giggled at him. "Why, sure, son," she grinned tipsily back at him, "Just another day in Pokémonland. Whew, that was some roller coaster just now, wasn't it?"
Rudy had gotten Misty to her own wobbly feet a short distance away. Ash nearly toppled Delia back over as he eagerly pulled his mother over to Misty's side. Misty finally recognized Delia through her own drug-addled haze, smiling broadly at her future mother-in-law's safety. "Well, hey, Delia," she added, "Glad you could make it to the party."
Rudy called out, forcibly drawing Ash's attention from the warm reunion to something far more sinister. "Ash, look!"
The Nusta was standing on the Intihuatana. No; she was just barely floating above it. Raichu was tugging at her feet, trying to pull her back down to earth. Her hair bun had come undone; long streams of grey steel formed an ominous halo around her outstretched limbs. Waves of power pulsed slowly along her hair and clothing with ominous silence. The green glow had completely filled her eye sockets as her blank visage regarded them stonily.
And high in the clear night sky behind her…a falling star. That stopped falling. The bright green pinpoint turned and raced directly toward Machu Picchu in a blaze of bullet-train speed; a comet more than a meteor now. As it neared, it slowed; the glow of friction against its tough hide dimmed. Without the slightest brush of wind or heat pushed before it, the creature came to a calm, sudden stop in the sky above the Intihuatana.
Rayquaza unfurled its massive emerald coils, stretching its full serpentine length out briefly. Without wings or any other limbs besides two tiny forearms, Rayquaza relied on its sheer power to support its massive bulk in empty air. Rayquaza simply stared back at those gathered in Machu Picchu, regarding every creature filling the plaza with narrow yellow eyes. The light green glow from the Nusta's own eyes was paralleled in the soft pulses of power running in strangely-inscribed grooves along Rayquaza's thickly armored flanks.
The booming voice came from the Nusta's mouth; the gestures of annoyance accompanying it came from the true speaker. Otherwise her form was so motionless that Ash feared she wasn't breathing. With the master so close to the slave, the Nusta lost her ability even to express her presence with the merest sign of saying "we" instead of "I".
Rayquaza hissed through her, "Long have I watched your kind. Long have you warred with each other. Centuries since I last checked and here you are; at war. Pokémon in their natural state may use each other for food; but this has been the way of things since Arceus began all. Only humans have the capacity; no, the drive to attack each other without need."
Lawrence III was the first to step forward, eager to seize the chance he had spent so much effort to provide for himself. His voice, reduced to a wheeze by the night's efforts, sounded even more timorous next to Rayquaza's imposing form. "Don't be angry, ancient one. Give me a moment and I will have the sacrifice you desire. Allow me a chance to seal our bargain, please." He was forced to fumble for his inhaler's support.
This only increased Rayquaza's ire. "Fool," the massive Pokémon spat, "I lust for no human's blood. My concerns align with the Earth itself. If preserving the biosphere meant educating your kind in the error of their ways, I was willing to try it long ago. This notion of sacrificing yourselves to me was a corruption of my teachings by black-hearted humans such as yourself. Did you not realize I was testing your moral resolve when I asked about the fate of these?" Rayquaza's gesture indicated the Morgans. As Rayquaza sneered, "Your kind's moral compass is still badly misdirected," a tiny fraction of the Pokémon's vast power shocked all of the achiote victims out of their drug-induced stupor.
Delia, her reason returning, truly recognized her son standing before her. "Ash…?"
He hugged her on one side; Misty supported the other. All three held each other fiercely, not daring to let go, lest something wrest them away from each other again. None of them noticed Giovanni in the background behind them. If they had, it would have been to see a now-familiar look of a second's great emptiness filling his face.
Rudy did see the look on his father's face and wondered if it meant what he thought it did.
Jessie, her own reason restored, raced into the front of the group despite James' urgent clutch. She was pretty full of righteous ire herself when she bellowed, "You! Rayquaza! Give me back my mother! Now!"
"Mother?" the cry raced along all those who knew Jessie. All eyes fell to the Nusta; even Raichu paused in trying to pull her away at Jessie's outcry.
Rayquaza snorted at her impertinence, "Do not presume to order me, human. I am no woman's trained Pokémon. If I wish it, she will be returned to you when I am through with her."
Jessie didn't dare settle for that. Especially since she hoped that it had been Rayquaza's influence that had kept Jane from recognizing her own daughter. She turned to the Nusta instead, pleading, "Mother, please! You must know me; look past whatever Rayquaza is doing to you! Please come with me!"
James, his own gentility restored somewhat by Rayquaza's relative willingness to talk, added his own plea to hers. "You really must come along, Mrs. Miyamoto. You've got to meet your grandchildren; they're waiting so eagerly for you!"
The glow in Jane's eyes dimmed enough that the outline of her irises was visible. Her mouth formed the silent question, "Grandchildren?"
The glow returned to full force as Rayquza's tail twitched angrily.
Ash gently extracted himself from his mother's embrace, raising his voice angrily in Jessie's defense. "Look around you, Rayquaza! You know I came here to save my mother too! We humans aren't perfect any more than Pokémon are; but we can be noble; not just depraved! If you practice the decency you preach, you'll let that poor woman go back to her daughter now!"
Misty and Delia flanked him, adding their silent pleas to his. Misty shifted at an unexpected touch at her side, drawing the others' attention as well. Rudy was there, not daring to meet his fellow humans' eyes as he stared up into Rayquaza's yellow orbs instead. Only Giovanni, always the outsider, remained in the background.
Most of the crowd and even a few of Lawrence's Army, counting on remaining hidden from their boss in it, took up a sudden rallying cry, "Let her go! Let her go! Let her go!"
To the astonishment of all present, Rayquaza visibly softened. "I cannot believe it," the Dragon- and Flying-Type rumbled in what, for him, was an undertone, "Perhaps Mew was right about your kind. Your potential for kindness just might match your potential for destruction; someday. Very well, I shall-eh?" Rayquaza looked down at his side, distracted more by the movement than by the hardly-felt impact of a Snagball against his thick hide. Make that three Snagballs. Annie and Oakley showed sheepish grins; Lawrence III remained stone-faced.
Text, original characters, and events Copyright © 2011 Keith E. Kimball. This is a fan work and not for profit.
All other characters, events, and trademarks Copyright © their respective holders including but not limited to Nintendo Company Ltd., Tatsunoko Productions, GameFreak, The Pokémon Company, Shogakukan Production Inc., 4Kids Entertainment, etc.