To Bazinga 288:I think Utrom is a synonym for Ultra. It's based off Utrom Shredder from TMNT.
Chapter 24:Beating the Desert Heat
Do you know what a desert is like? If not, lemme give you a hint.
It's hot. Really. Fucking. Hot.
After beating Flannery and getting her badge, we were going to backtrack through the route we came from, only to find that the area was under construction. So, we reluctantly decided to go through the desert. Not our best group decision, I'll tell you. Wisely, the others had decided to rest in their pokeballs until I reached the other side of the desert. Unfortunately, poor Serenity had no such escape, and was forced to stay out here with me. Thanks to my powers over fire, I could withstand heat much better than most people, and even most pokemon, but Serenity was forced to feel the full intensity of the desert heat, so I decided to carry her. I was wearing my goggles and had my hood over my head, both to protect my eyes from the sun's intense glare. We had been wandering through the barren wasteland for a few hours, a few Skarmory flying in circles over our heads.
I glared up at the steel vultures."Get outta here! We're not dying!"
"Maybe not you, but you're friend doesn't look too healthy!"one of them called back. I looked down at the Kirlia in my arms, seeing that her eyelids were drooping.
"Serenity, you have to stay awake,"I told her worriedly.
"But it's...so...hot..."she panted quietly. Her 'hair' was damp with sweat, her lips were cracked, and she had some nasty sun burns, so yeah, she was in pretty bad shape. Without a second thought, I used my telekinesis to unzip my backpack and pulled out the last bottle of water I had. There wasn't much in it, but she desperately needed it. I pulled off the top and, using my ice powers to make it colder, brought the lid to her mouth.
"Here, drink,"I said, propping her head up and making sure she drank every bit of the water. Sighing, I put the bottle in my backpack as she licked her lips. Even though we were in the desert, that didn't mean I was going to litter; I respected the environment too much, even if it was torturing my friend."Feeling any better?"I knew it was a stupid question, she would need more water than that. Fortunately, I could see what looked like a bluff up ahead, which would offer some shade from the blistering heat.
"A little bit,"the Kirlia mumbled, smiling softly."Thanks..."I heard the sound of fluttering above us, then looked up to see the three Skarmory from before land in front of us.
"You're in my way,"I said irritably, eyes narrowed. The vultures pointed at Serenity with their wings. I sighed."Okay, two things. One: you can talk because I can understand pokemon, and two: Hell. No."
"All we want is the little morsel you're holding,"one of them grinned."There's something about you that we like, so just hand her over and we won't bother you."After he spoke, I sensed some anxiety from Serenity. Did she really think I would give her to them? I could only assume she was pretty delirious at the moment.
"Now, the thing is, that statement contradicts itself,"I calmly told the birds."If I hand her over to you, more than likely, you're going to eat her, which, as a matter of fact, would bother me."
They smirked at me."Yeah, that wasn't a request."
"How about this:Hand her over or we'll eat ya both!"one of them said with mock cheerfulness. I scowled at them.
"Get out of my way. Now."
"Why don't you make us?"another Skarmory taunted.
I stared at them for a long moment."You asked for it."I closed my eyes and bowed my head, taking a deep breath. I heard them laugh.
"Ooh, you one of those psychic humans?"one of them asked.
I grinned coldly, opening my now glowing eyes."And so much more."The desert sand began to shift and shake as I exerted my will on it, manipulating the thousands of grains and forming them into giant tendrils of sand in a circle around us. The Skarmorys gawked in disbelief as the tendrils of sand loomed over us, occasionally blocking out the sun's glare as I moved them back and forth threateningly, just for effect, really."You have one chance to get out of here. I suggest you take it."They didn't need to be told twice. Like the metal chickens they were, they fearfully flew off. Sighing again, I let the sandy tendrils back down. I looked back at Serenity, who was staring at me with a dazed smile."You okay?"
"Ken, you're amazing,"she mumbled, closing her eyes.
"Serenity?"I asked worriedly. She went limp."SERENITY!"No good. She was unconcious. I silently swore to myself, then started running towards the bluff up ahead at top speed, kicking up sand in my wake. It was only after a few seconds of running that I realized something that made me feel very stupid. I could fly much faster than I could run. I quickly leapt up with a burst of wind, flying through the air at triple my running speed and blowing up sand in my wake. Once I made it there, I gently laid Serenity on the sand, then I quickly released the others, who looked around before spotting the unconcious Kirlia.
"Whoa, what happened, Ken?"Anubis asked as they gathered around us in concern.
"She's suffering from heat exhaustion,"I said."We need to find water fast."
"What do you need us to do, boss?"Zaps asked.
"First off, Psyche,"I looked at the Alakazam."Do you know that meditation trick for finding water underground?"
He nodded."Yes. I've actually done it a few times before I joined the team."
"Good, cause you and I are going to do just that,"I told him."I saw some plant life while we were walking, so there should be some around somewhere. But just in case..."I put down my pack and pulled out a canteen."Fang, do you think you can fly around to find an oasis somewhere? That way, we can all get a drink."The Gliscor nodded, taking the canteen in a claw.
"Sure thing,"he said, turning around and then looking over his shoulder."Can ya give me a boost?"Nodding, I held an arm back, then swung it at him, creating a gust that sent the Gliscor into the air."I'll be back as soon as I can!"As he flew off, I looked at Anubis.
"Anubis, how far along are you with Healing Beam?"I asked. For those who don't know, Healing Beam is an actual move that a few pokemon, including Lucarios, could use to heal others.
Anubis scratched the back of his head."Well, I'm getting better at it, but it's kind of hard to heal the really bad stuff."
"Good enough for me,"I said."I want you to try to heal Serenity's sunburns. Can you handle that?"He looked down at the unconcious Kirlia and knelt down to examine her.
"Hmm, she doesn't look too bad,"he mumbled, then nodded."I'll do my best, partner."
"That's all I ask."
"What do you desire of us, Ken?"COREM asked.
"I want you, Wrath, and Zaps to keep watch while the rest of us are busy,"I told them.
"Very well,"Wrath said.
Zephyr saluted."Yes, sir!"He then held his arms straight out and his head began to rotate; it was basically their form of radar.
"You got it, boss,"Zaps nodded at me. I nodded back, then Psyche and I sat down cross-legged and closed our eyes. I took a deep breath, and my conciousness escaped my body.
XXXX
Hi! Imma Zephyr!
And as you can most likely guess, I am COREM. As you know, we are two computer programs who share the same physical body. Unlike other such programs, we are sentient beings.
That means we've got E-motions! Aren't we awesomesauce?
Obviously, he means 'emotions.' But while we are indeed capable of it like other living things, I am rather uncertain as to whether we have actual souls or not.
I think we do, but COREM's too logical. He thinks we don't have 'em just cause we're a robot.
Regardless, we are proud to call ourselves members, or a member, of Ken's team. Sometimes our situation confuses even us. Zephyr, would you be so kind as to tell the readers what is happening at the moment?
Okey-dokey, bro! Our head was spinning cause we were usin' our radar function.
...
...More?
Yes, Zephyr.
Oh, uhh...well, while Ken and Psyche were metabolizing-
Meditating.
Yeah, that-Zaps was climbing up the big rock thingy, I dunno why.
I believe he was trying to obtain a better view of the desert.
Oh. Anywho, it got pretty boring after a couple of minutes. We detected some stuff a couple miles away, but nothing was heading our way. I wanted to see if I could get their attention from where we were, but COREM said that was a bad idea. Eventually, Anubis got done fixing up Serenity, but she still had a couple of burns left. We were gonna stop and ask how she was, but then we found something huge! Wanna tell 'em, COREM?
Certainly. We detected what appeared to be a large metal structure near the far corner of the desert. Upon further scanning, we were able to confirm it as a Chrome Syndicate base. Needless to say, we immediately decided to tell the others. We quickly faced Anubis and Wrath. The former had been sitting against the bluff at the moment with his head bowed and eyes closed, while the latter had been near the edge of the bluff's shade.
"Anubis, Wrath there is a problem,"I said urgently. They looked at me in response, eyebrows raised.
"What's the matter?"Anubis asked, his tone laced with excitement."Trouble coming our way?"I could have sworn I saw him hiding a grin. He enjoys fighting far too much.
"Worse. There is a Chrome Syndicate base approximately 2.4 miles to the east of here,"I told them.
Anubis blinked, frowning."Okay, that's not good."He looked up."Hey, Zaps, Get down here! We got an issue!"
We looked up to see Zaps poke his head out, but for some reason, he didn't say 'Peekaboo, I see you!' Weirdo. He climbed back down the big rock and landed between us and Anubis while Wrath floated over.
"Now what?"Zaps asked, sounding the same way he does whenever he talks to me.
COREM pointed our arm."There is a Chrome Syndicate base to the east. We must alert Ken and Psyche as soon as they awaken."Right after he said that, we heard a giant flapping sound, then we all looked up and saw Fang coming down, landing a few feet away.
"Did you find some water, Fang?"Anubis asked.
Fang grinned, pointing a claw to the south. Were we havin' a pointing game?"Better! There's a Pokemon Center a few miles that-a-way!"
XXXX
I gasped as I my eyes opened, bringing a hand to my head and blinking a few times.
"Whoo, I gotta remember to brace for that next time,"I muttered. I immediately noticed everyone looking at me.
"You find anything, Ken?"Anubis asked. I shook my head, then he pointed at Psyche."What about him?"
"He should be up in-"I was interrupted when Psyche gasped suddenly, eyes opening."Zero seconds."
"Aah, it's been a while since I've done that,"he remarked, looking around. We both stood up and I looked at Serenity. A lot of her sunburns were gone, but she still had a few here and there.
I smiled at Anubis."You did a good job."
He smirked smugly, crossing his arms."Yeah, I know."I rolled my eyes.
"Anything happen while we were out?"I asked, noticing Fang had returned. ZC pointed an arm to the east.
"We have detected a Chrome Syndicate base approximately 2.4 miles to the east of here,"COREM said. I blinked in surprise at that, noticing Fang looked surprised, too.
"What are we going to do about it?"Psyche asked, glancing at me.
I sighed in annoyance."Well, I enjoy blowing up CS bases as much as most of you guys, but we have to get Serenity out of this desert. She needs medical attention."
"Then it's a good thing there's a center a few miles from here,"Fang said with a proud grin, pointing in the opposite direction COREM had pointed as he tossed me the canteen I had given him earlier.
"There is? Great!"I smiled widely, quickly putting the canteen in my backpack. I quickly scooped up Serenity in my arms, then looked around."You guys feel like running/flying across the desert or do you want to return your pokeballs for now?"
"We will take that offer,"Wrath said."We would only slow you down."
"Same here,"Anubis said, raising a paw."As much I'd love to go for a run, the desert doesn't exactly have my ideal temperature."
"I think we all will,"Psyche said. Everyone nodded in agreement, except Zephyr, obviously. After we convinced him that the heat could cause him to...well, overheat, I flicked my head, causing their pokeballs to fly out via telekinesis and return them, then I quickly brought them back to my belt. After that, I lifted myself into the air and took off in the direction Fang had pointed. Sure enough, only a few moments later, I saw the familiar red roof of a pokemon center. I quickly landed a few meters away from it and ran the rest of the way there, the front doors sliding open and forcing me to screech to a halt before I collided with the front desk, where a very surprised Nurse Joy was standing.
"Oh my! Are you alright, young man?"she asked worriedly as I took a few deep breaths to steady my heart rate.
"I'm fine,"I said a bit breathlessly."My Kirlia needs help. She's suffering from heat exhaustion, dehydration, and sunburns."
"Oh, dear,"she said, then brought her fingers to her mouth and whistled."Chansey! We need a gurney in here stat!"Almost instantly, a Chansey ran into the room with said stretcher, and I quickly placed Serenity on it."Chansey, it's the usual ailnesses. Get her to the ER."
"Yes, ma'am!"the Chansey said, proceeding to do just that and carting Serenity out of the room. Nurse Joy turned to me.
"Don't worry, we've handled plenty of cases like your Kirlia's,"she said with a gentle smile."We'll take good care of her."
I sighed in relief."Good to hear."
"By the way, was that your big Gliscor I saw earlier?"she asked curiously. I nodded.
"Yeah, I sent him out to find some water,"I said.
"Well, it's a good thing found us,"Joy smiled.
I nodded again, then jabbed a thumb over my shoulder."Ma'am, I need to go back out for a while to take care of something."
"What? Why?"
"Sorry, I can't say,"I said apologetically."If Serenity, the Kirlia, wakes up before I get back, just tell her I'm dealing with the CS. She'll know what it means."
"Well, I would advise against it, but...alright,"she conceded.
"Thanks,"I said, then I turned around and dashed out of the building.
XXXX
Well, that took longer than I wanted. Ah, well. Next chapter will finally have some action. And explosions! Those are always nice, right?
So, yeah, I decided to put part of this chapter in Zephyr and COREM's POV. I hope you're not too weirded out.