RE-UNION TOUR
Alakazam landed lightly on the hard, rocky ground, the four Pokémon it Teleported to safety staggering to their feet after falling over from the shock of landing. Charizard raised its head, a tired smile creeping onto its face as it surveyed its new surroundings; the group of five were standing, or in Aggron's case lying, on a precipice of rock which jutted out from the mountainside it was stationed on. As such, they had a breathtaking view of the scenery below them, a drop estimated to be close to two kilometres. A forest of lush green trees occupied most of the valley situated below the ledge, a winding crevasse between the treetops marking the region where a river flowed through the forest. If one traced the path of the river back to the mountain, then they would notice that the stream originated form a spot halfway up the mountain - near the ledge where the Pokémon were - where it raged out the side of the rock face as a waterfall. The trees themselves were home to a large number of Pokémon, ranging from Taillow to Beedrill to Hoothoot, many of which Lucario, with its keen vision, could see enjoying a late meal or flying over the treetops, their wings skimming over the thick foliage. Although from the ledge the forest floor was hidden by the canopy, it was well known that the forest was a popular habitat for Bug and Grass type Pokémon. Indeed, one of the members of the rescue team had originated in this very forest.
The mountain itself was quite a spectacle as well, the jagged peaks clashing magnificently with the skyline, especially at sunsets like the one it was experiencing today, casting slanting shadows across the mountainside and the forest below it. Composed of something that resembled hardened clay, the mountain served as the team's fortress, providing shelter and a place to stay the night, without fear of being attacked in the middle of the night.
The river was conveniently close to the team's headquarters, allowing them to easily gather water without having to rely on the team's two Water Pokémon to provide it. Not only that, the water that flowed from the mountain spring was significantly cleaner than that produced by Blastoise and Kabutops. The nearby forest served as an excellent place to gather food, filled with a rare delicacy not often found these days; Sitrus berries.
As Aggron picked himself up of the ground, groaning and rubbing the plates on his head where he'd been struck by the door that Regirock had destroyed, Charizard, Blastoise and Lucario moved away from the ledge, towards a sheer wall that blocked access to the rest of the mountain. Perfectly flat and rising about ten feet up the mountainside, its pristine condition would make anyone suspicious of its location; indeed it was not natural.
Charizard approached the smooth rock and exhaled a hot breath on the wall, which instantly evaporated into thin air, as if by magic, revealing a gaping hole in the wall which led further into the mountainside. After a small grunt from Blastoise, the three Pokémon walked inside, leaving Aggron and Alakazam outside on the precipice.
"We need a better security system," Alakazam mused, staring at the now vacant piece of wall.
"We need a Ghost-type," Aggron muttered, cricking his neck and stretching. "That way we could design our own method of concealment, instead of relying on the one the last team left here."
"Are you volunteering to find us one?" Alakazam asked, turning to Aggron with the slightest hint of a sneer.
Aggron let out a grunt of a laugh as he considered Alakazam's absurd request. "Zam," he said, walking towards the hole, "I'm a physical unit," he banged an iron fist on his rock-hard chest, "What could I possibly do to convince a Ghost-type to help us?" he disappeared into the cavern, his last few words echoing noisily off the walls.
"It's called diplomacy," Alakazam countered, following Aggron into the pitch-black cave, who gave no answer, his footsteps sending a rumble through the floor and an echo off the walls. A faint light ahead of her told her that Charizard had come to stop. Probably for the riddle… she mused, walking up to the four Pokémon ahead of her, coming to a stop in front of a large boulder set in the wall. Lucario was waiting patiently as Charizard's tail flame sent flickering shadows across the walls, the light reflected off Aggron's body as per usual. Blastoise was apparently having a conversation with the boulder, and his words became clearer as Alakazam came closer.
"—on Ursaring, open the damn door already," Blastoise muttered, rapping a blue knuckle on the boulder. A voice floated under the small gap between the rock and the ground, echoing up to the ears of the five Pokémon waiting outside.
"I've told you once before, but this will be the last time I repeat it: If you are true of heart, I will strangle you, and if you aren't I will cut off your head."
"Well hurry up and open the door so you can cut off my head, you dumbass bear," Blastoise growled, smacking the door in impatience.
"Better."
With a hideous grinding noise, the boulder slowly rolled to the side of the door, giving the five Pokémon a glimpse of the interior before a large Pokémon stood in front of them, a small smirk playing on its face. Sticking true with Blastoise's comment, it simply resembled a giant bear. Standing at about Aggron's height, its entire body was covered in short brown fur, barring a small ring-shaped patch on its stomach, which was yellow. Its long arms ended in a pair of clawed hands similar to the ones Charizard wielded, and its cream-coloured muzzle showed a number of sharp teeth as it continued to grin at its guests.
"'Bout damn time," Blastoise chuckled, ruffling the fur on Ursaring's head as he walked past, earning himself a soft jab in the side of the shell from the bear.
"Yeah, well, we invented that riddle for a reason, so, tough," Ursaring laughed as the four remaining Pokémon stepped across the threshold, Aggron, as always, having to duck his head. "Guys," he added, nodding at each Pokémon that entered the room, receiving a nod from Lucario, Aggron and Charizard as they walked past. "Gal," he sniggered as Alakazam brought up the rear, earning him a rap on the head form one of her spoons. "Ow…" he mumbled as stalked over to the side of the boulder, shoving his shoulder flush against the stone and giving a growl as he slowly pushed the stone across the entrance to the door, turning back to the group assembled in the room once the stone blocked the doorway.
The six Pokémon were standing in the middle of a small, yet high-ceilinged room whose walls were lit by three torches, which were positioned in small niches in the walls, and Charizard's ever-present tail. Surrounded almost entirely by walls made of the same clay as the rest of the mountain, the cramped space looked like the entrance to a dungeon, the cold air rustling under the blocked doorway doing nothing to diminish the effect.
Blastoise gave a repressed shudder as it averted its eyes to the ceiling, perfectly hemispherical, sloping gently down to the high walls which ran perpendicular to the ground. Charizard gave a grunt of amusement at his colleague's behaviour; the room looked like nothing out of the ordinary to him, seeing as how most Charizard lived in mountainous areas like these. Although most wild Charizard nested outside the caves, the labyrinth of tunnels and connected rooms was the only place the Charizard standing in the room could really call home, having lived in the underground network for most of the last two years. Lucario didn't mind the location of the base either. It suited his somewhat peaceful nature, and its isolation from the rest of the world gave him time to dwell on his thoughts for hours on end; something he often availed himself to. Alakazam also enjoyed spending time in the dark spaces, allowing her to hone her psychic abilities to their potential, and meditate at leisure, unless she was preparing for an important mission, like the one she'd just completed.
To Aggron, on the other hand, the place was simply heaven on earth. Even though all Aggron loved living in caves, he seemed particularly fond of the base, volunteering to clean it at every possible opportunity, if only to spend more time in his natural habitat. Prone to insomnia, Aggron would often spend hours at night simply wandering the corridors in a slow aimless walk, fixing anything that seemed out of place to him. This particular organisational quirk of his had created some bad blood between him and Alakazam over the time they'd spent inside the headquarters, with Aggron, many times, moving an object out of Alakazam's room when she'd gone out for a mission.
After one such instance, Alakazam had locked Aggron inside his room for three days. Aggron merely laughed at the threat, and happily spent the three days admiring his room, chewing on a mineral deposit in the corner. He'd uncovered it – roaring delightfully at the discovery – the preceding year, and he enjoyed snacking on it whenever he felt peckish. Quite content with the Spartan existence he lived, his room contained the least amount of items out of all the rooms in the base; including the one he was standing in.
Ursaring grunted in amusement as the usual affectionate look crept onto Aggron's face as he stood there, gazing absently at the walls, so he shook his head and marched off, taking a spacious tunnel that led directly away from the entrance and into the depths of the structure, Lucario, Alakazam and Blastoise following. Charizard, deciding to snap Aggron out of his daydreaming, swung his tail around, holding it directly under Aggron's. The searing heat gradually took hold of his tail, and he gave a yelp when the sensation finally registered as pain. Glaring reproachfully at Charizard for disturbing him, he stomped off after the four Pokémon, Charizard walking lazily behind him, fighting back a laugh.
The bear led them further into the cave, finally coming to a halt outside a door which had a single word scratched into the hard rock; 'Meeting'. The door swung forwards with a soft grating sound as Ursaring pushed on it, moving in an arc before grinding to a halt.
Three more Pokémon occupied in the room, sitting on the cold earth and deep in conversation, but they instantly fell silent when they heard the sound the door made as it scraped against the rocky earth, their heads whipping around to study the newcomers. The one closest to the door, leaning on the wall nearby, stood up, its green head swivelling on its thin neck as it narrowed its red eyes at the group of six, chewing a toothpick. A giant gecko standing on two legs, it scratched the groove in its head with a clawed hand, readjusting the toothpick as it brought its forest-green arm back to its side. A horizontal red line was splashed across its lower torso, and the Pokémon standing in the doorway noticed a series of yellow bulbs on the Pokémon's back as it gave a half turn and nodded at its two companions. It brandished a long green tail at Ursaring, which was lined with a series of cross-shaped razor sharp blades.
"Don't point that thing at me," Ursaring said casually, brushing Sceptile out of the way as it walked into the large room, followed closely by Lucario, Aggron, Blastoise and Charizard, Alakazam bringing up the rear and closing the door behind her, just as the room's two other occupants rose to their feet and walked over to greet them. One of them blended in almost perfectly with the dull brown walls, barring a mismatched assortment of bright-red plates that covered much of its arms and lower torso. Towering over even Aggron, the shining silver drill that stood proudly on its craggy face gave a whirring sound as it spun in place, the owner raising a spear-like arm covered in similar red plates in greeting. Receiving a wave in return from the other Pokémon in the room, Rhyperior happily swung its mace of a tail through the air behind it, its fellow Pokémon jumping nervously out of the way to avoid it.
After regaining its balance, the last Pokémon from the original group of three approached the rest of the congregation, most of its white head covered by what looked like a green crash helmet, a knife-sharp blade protruding from the rear. Two large red eyes scanned its compatriots as it raised a thin green arm - a wicked sickle running the length of the appendage – in a military salute, its long white legs springing together. A small red shard seemed to jut out of the Pokémon's chest and back, its green torso abruptly changing colour to a paper white, which ran down the rest of its body to the dark brown floor. Charizard chuckled lightly as Gallade performed his salute, only stopping when the Blade Pokémon returned the weapon-limb to its side, again with military precision.
"Gallade, you need to loosen up a bit," the Flame Pokémon said, still resisting the urge to laugh as he made his way to the back wall, sitting himself down on the ground and making sure to move his tail out from under his body.
"You need to shut up a bit," Gallade countered, himself choosing to lean on the door, swinging himself around.
"So what's the news?" Rhyperior asked in a voice that was surprisingly high for such a large Pokémon.
"Mission completed," Lucario said, preferring to stand in the middle of the room. "We recovered all the survivors, and we all managed to escape."
"That's a relief," he muttered.
"Wait—wait—wait," Ursaring interrupted, his hands waving wildly in the air. "You say survivors – plural – yet you only brought back one Pokémon; that half-dead Umbreon," he added, recalling the events of a few minutes ago; Alakazam had come bursting through the door, holding two bodies aloft with her psychic powers. Ursaring had instantly recognised one of them as Kabutops, but he hadn't gotten a decent look at the other until he'd moved it into the light inside the base. By the time he was able to recognise the unconscious Dark-Type, Alakazam had disappeared.
"Well, the little guy was the only one left alive when we got there," Blastoise growled, sensing Ursaring's condescending tone.
"What? We got told that there were three Pokémon left. What happened to the other two?"
"Gone," Aggron said, with a finality that the others couldn't ignore, shifting around restlessly.
"How do you know?"
"They weren't there when we rescued Umbreon!" Lucario yelled, his frustration with Ursaring's lack of understanding finally getting the better of him. "Their containers were empty! There was no trace of them!" Ursaring took a hesitant step backwards, unnerved by this very rare display of emotion from the team's leader. "We were lucky to get him out alive!"
"How come? What happened?" Gallade asked nervously.
"Well…" Charizard began, unsure how to properly recount the day's events.
"We got there alright," Alakazam said, her voice magnified eerily, "I took them right outside the lab with Teleport. I couldn't take them directly in," she added, as Sceptile opened his mouth to interrupt. The Forest Pokémon closed his mouth, now chewing on his toothpick, and Alakazam continued. "The lab's protected by some force-field," she explained, "Pokémon can't Teleport in or out, nor can they use Dig either, otherwise I'm sure a hell of a lot more Pokémon would have escaped. That's why I had to drop them off next to the entrance. Also, there had been reports of a few mobs of Abomasnow hanging around and I didn't want to take chances leading them across the tundra when I could get them close enough to avoid them."
"Once Zam got us to the exit, Lucario punched in the code and we made our way inside," Charizard went on, his flickering flame sending shadows dancing across the faces of the other eight as he spoke. "We got to the second door alright, but the door was already open when we got there. We all suspected a trap, so Aggron here," he nodded his head towards the Pokémon in question, "Powered up an Iron Tail in case there were any Pokémon on guard duty."
"Indeed there was," Blastoise said. "A Vigoroth, who I'm sure, would have woken up the entire facility if it wasn't for Aggron's quick reflexes. Cracked the bastard's skull open before he could even open his mouth," he added, a hint of admiration in his voice.
"Anyways, my heroics aside," Aggron fired back. "The door that the Vigoroth was guarding closed after we'd all gone past it, so Lucario here checked the security code that was still on the keypad, for when we'd have to get out."
"He only got a half a second look at it, but he still remembered all of it," Charizard said, patting Lucario on the back. Lucario shook his head and quickly brushed Charizard's hand off.
"I didn't get it all," he said angrily. "I got the code wrong, in case you couldn't tell."
"In any case," Aggron interrupted, before Lucario's anger burst again. "After the run in with the Vigoroth, we made it past two more locked security doors, Lucario, on both occasions, entering the correct code," he said, placing as much emphasis on the word as he could, "Which, by the way, were attached to my back before we left. How'd you get the codes in the first place?" he asked, turning to Sceptile, who was still gnawing away at the piece of wood between his teeth.
"I know a couple of Abomasnow in the region," he explained casually, staring at his claws, a small smirk on his face. "We're both Grass types so we get along fine."
"After Lucario hacked through the two doors," Alakazam said, knowing that the conversation would digress easily, "We found Umbreon inside one of those containers that you mentioned," she glanced at Sceptile. "There were a dozen in the room, and the rest were empty."
"When we found the poor fella, Lucario set down the ground-rules, you know, told us all what to do," Aggron went on. "Kabutops and Charizard were to hold the doors open, while I smashed open the container. Blastoise held the liquid stuff in place with Whirlpool, and Lucario used Psychic to pull Umbreon out. Of course, my Iron Tail set the alarm off, so we all had to make a mad dash for the exit."
"And as luck would have it, the door slammed shut," Blastoise continued. "Before we could open it, we were ambushed by a few other Pokémon."
"Like what?"
"Metagross, Golem, Crobat, Snorlax and Magmortar," Lucario answered, his voice returned to normal after his outburst at Ursaring, who gave a whistle as Lucario recited each name.
"Yeowch," grimaced the Hibernator Pokémon. "How'd you guys get out of that?" he asked Lucario, who shook his head.
"Ask them," he replied, cocking his head towards the four Pokémon still standing near the door. "I was gone the moment the battle started."
"You left your team to fight against the odds?" hissed Sceptile mutinously, his teeth bared.
"I had to get Umbreon out of there. It was a rescue mission, and I was not about to accept failure as an option. Besides, they handled them, so what's the problem?" Lucario challenged, his eyes boring into Sceptile.
"The problem?!" Sceptile roared, leaping forwards and landing a foot from Lucario, who glared back unflinchingly. "The problem is that you'd put the life of one measly Umbreon before the rest of your team!"
"They can take care of themselves! That Umbreon couldn't! I couldn't help them; I'd have to leave Umbreon unattended and that would have jeopardised the entire mission!"
"Screw the mission!" Sceptile bellowed, his voice echoing off the damp walls. "One Umbreon won't make a difference in the end!"
Lucario snapped, moving faster than light as he sent a spike-tipped fist rocketing into Sceptile's stomach. The force of the punch sent Sceptile flying into the opposite wall with a crunch, the Pokémon sliding slowly down the wall as Gallade jumped between them, throwing his scythe-like arms out in a threatening stance.
"ENOUGH!" he boomed, and Lucario withdrew his shaking fist, as Sceptile picked himself up off the dusty floor, shaking his head to rid his vision of the stars that had just appeared in it. "If we fight amongst ourselves, then what hope do we have against them?!" he hissed, glaring at Lucario before turning his attention to Sceptile, who glared back. Both Pokémon slumped their shoulders as Gallade's remark hit home, feebly nodding their heads in silent agreement. Only then did Gallade lower his arms and step away from the two Pokémon.
"Sorry," Sceptile muttered.
"Apologies," Lucario said, striding over to Sceptile and extending his paw again, only this time for a handshake, the green Pokémon clasping it roughly in one of its clawed hands before turning away. Lucario relinquished his grip and walked back over to the opposite side of the room.
"Better," said the Blade Pokémon, folding his arms.
"Now I believe you were telling us about the ambush…" Ursaring said edgily, hoping to ween more details out of them.
"Huh? Oh right, that…" Aggron muttered, still puzzled by Lucario's actions. "Well, Charizard one-shotted the Metagross right off the bat," he said, proudly patting one of Charizard's scaly wings, who grinned. "Got it smack in the face with a Blast Burn," he smirked, a small cheer running across the room, much to Charizard's embarrassment.
"Yeah, what about you?" Charizard countered. "Taking on that Snorlax like that, you'd think you'd gone nuts," he said, turning to the rest of the room, four of which were eagerly awaiting the details. "Nailed it with a Double-Edge, then knocked it out with an Iron Tail to the face!' he laughed, another cheer erupting from the room.
"Well we took those two out pretty quickly, but it was that Golem that gave us the most trouble. It kept using Rollout, and we couldn't touch it when it was going on a rampage like that," continued Blastoise. "My Hydro Pump wouldn't even knock it down," he added darkly.
"That Crobat was a little piece of work," Aggron offered. "Whizzing around the room, whacking us at every possible moment, complete pain in the ass," he growled. "Charizard got it at the end with a souped-up Overheat, but that was after it used Double Team."
"Back to the Golem," Charizard chuckled modestly. "It kept rolling around the room with Rollout, and we couldn't do jack to stop it. So Blastoise here used a Double Team of his own and Golem took the bait. Went head on at the clone, full speed, and ended up crashing into a wall!" he laughed, the room's other occupants all joining in, even Lucario, who gave a whole-hearted chuckle at the news, clapping his friend's ingenuity.
"Good on you."
"Yeah, nice work!"
"Always thinking with your head, aren't you?"
"Anyways," Blastoise said, shrugging off the compliments as he resigned himself to recounting the rest of the encounter. "That pissed the Golem off something chronic, and he let loose a Sandstorm, damn thing wiping my clones off the face of the earth. Although, it took Crobat's down too, so I reckon it's a fair trade," he mused.
"Except for the fact that I couldn't see anything," Charizard said.
"Well, you managed to hit Crobat with that Overheat."
"Not quickly enough," he growled menacingly. "It still hit Kabutops with Toxic."
"Hey, where is Kabutops anyways?" Alakazam asked, turning to Ursaring. "I dropped her off here along with Umbreon but then I had to go back. Where'd you put her?"
"She's in recovery with Umbreon," Ursaring grunted. "She's in a bad way, and that's after we gave her a Revive and a Pecha berry. That was no ordinary Toxic she got hit with, even by Crobat standards…"
"When'll she be awake?"
"Not for another twelve hours I'm afraid," Ursaring answered, his eyes clouded. "Got to let her body clean the poison out. Not much we can do from here, though," he added, as the rest of the team made for the door. "Well, since we're all eager to get moving, how about we head down for dinner?" he suggested.
"Good idea," Lucario said. "I'm feeling a bit hungry myself after fending off that accursed Regirock and—"
"What?!" Gallade started, hoping he'd misunderstood.
"I said I'm feeling hungry," replied the Aura Pokémon. He knew why Gallade had burst out with the question, though.
"Did you just say you fought a Regirock?" Gallade asked earnestly.
"Not much of a fight, mind you," Charizard said. "It went straight for Aggron, Lucario distracted it with Aura Sphere, and then we got the hell out of there."
"Still, how'd they get their hands on a Regi?" Rhyperior asked.
"Don't ask questions that none of us can answer," Aggron replied. Lucario, who was about to speak, quickly closed his mouth and shrugged.
"You heard him," he muttered. "Now, I believe we were on our way to dinner?" he added, graciously opening the door. He watched silently as the eight other Pokémon slowly filed out the hole in the wall and into the dimly lit stone tunnel beyond it, before he himself left the room, swinging the door shut behind him.
After descending a small set of stairs and walking the length of another narrow corridor – Aggron pausing halfway down to admire the craftsmanship of the tunnel and causing a small blockage – the team found themselves outside a second rock door. This one had two words scratched into the worn rock; 'Eating Quarters'.
"I still don't see why it's called 'Eating Quarters'," Aggron grumbled, squinting at the inscription by the dull glow given off by Charizard's tail.
"Maybe because we eat in there?" Gallade asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes. The larger Pokémon missed the gesture because his back was turned, not to mention it would be difficult to turn around in the narrow corridor; Rhyperior had been forced to carve small gouges in the walls long ago in order to fit its massive frame through the tunnel. That, and Gallade was three Pokémon behind Aggron.
"Well, duh," Aggron replied, his low voice mirroring the sarcasm. "I mean, why don't we give it a different name? 'Eating Quarters' sounds too… formal," he finished, after finding the right word.
"Any suggestions?" muttered Sceptile, standing behind the Iron Armor Pokémon, although in honesty he wasn't expecting an answer.
"How does shut up sound?" Aggron chuckled, pushing the door open, which swung a wide arc into the room behind it, and heading inside.
"I meant suggestions for the name, jackass," Sceptile hissed irritably, shaking his head and ambling inside after the Steel-Type, his fellow Pokémon close behind him as they trotted into the cavernous space which held the team's 'eating quarters'.
A huge expanse of smooth rock spread out more than sixty feet to the opposite wall of, fashioned out of the same hardened clay as the rest of the mountain. The wall itself towered over the rest of the room, tapering off to a hemispherical ceiling from which a single, brightly glowing lantern hung suspended, anchored into the ceiling by a white string. As the motley group lowered their gazes to the floor, the familiar sight of the eating quarters drifted into their sight. Six long tables were laid out in the middle of the room, each one made of a slab of gray stone propped on four sturdy, yet stubby, logs. Sceptile often boasted that he had acquired the logs from the forest adjacent to the mountain, but most of the others didn't see why he was so boastful about it. Lucario, on the other hand, knew that the trees in the forest were the best quality of any trees within over a hundred miles of their base. The logs Sceptile and Gallade had cut from the trees were testaments to the belief; they looked as fresh as they had been when Sceptile had brought them back over a year ago.
Each table was surrounded by small, roughly made seats, and bore a dozen smaller lanterns on their surfaces, which threw dancing shadows over the granite slates, the light also playing on the room's three sheer walls. The flickering embers also cast a soft glow onto the room's fourth wall, which was actually the front wall of the room. The team always found it odd that the base's previous owners had constructed this particular room in this way; the room's entrance was on the left wall of the room, as opposed to the back wall.
But… Rhyperior thought, as he shuffled into the room behind Blastoise and closed the door. At least they had a damn good reason for making the room like this… he concluded, as he – as well as the other eight Pokémon assembled in the room – turned his gaze towards the room's front wall.
The entire façade was a towering, twenty-foot-tall picture, depicting two large Pokémon engaged in a fearsome battle. Although there was no colour to distinguish the two Pokémon seen in the picture, which was in fact carved into the wall, the two figures were unmistakeable, especially given the intricate detail of the carving. The figure on the left took up at least a third of the wall by itself, and somewhat resembled a whale, although its fins were enormous; their span was as wide as the Pokémon was long. On each fin was an identical pattern, looking similar to the letter 'A'. The pattern ran the length of each appendage before coming to an end at the edges of the fin, their webbed shape making them look like wings, and the Pokémon's tail split at the end of its body into two distinct bunches that flowed out behind it.
Of course, the Pokémon was Kyogre. Naturally, the Pokémon it was quarrelling against was none other than its nemesis, Groudon, who dominated the right-hand side of the wall, and stretched from floor to ceiling, accentuating its height. Unlike Kyogre, who had been etched from a birds-eye view, Groudon had been carved from a side-one angle, so that only the left side of its body could be seen. Nonetheless, it had been carved into the wall with such precision and accuracy that it looked like it could almost leap off the wall at any moment.
The small congregation at the room's entrance let their eyes drink in the scene before they cast their gazes back to the rest of the room and, more importantly, the large crates packed up against the rear-right hand corner. Charizard walked across the cold rock floor to the crates, his feet thudding into the ground but barely making a sound, and he spotted an open crate at the front of the pack, a sweet aroma wafting from its depths.
"How come this crate's open?" he asked the others curiously, his voice echoing quietly off the high-vaulted ceiling as he pointed into the crate, filled with small pink fruit.
"We had to give Kabutops a Pecha Berry, remember?" Ursaring answered, before he trudged over to the closest stone table and plonked himself down on one of the seats.
"So you cracked open a fresh crate to find one?" Blastoise asked patronisingly, although he too took a seat at the table, at which point he raised an eyebrow at the Hibernator Pokémon.
"It would've been stupid to go into the forest to look for one when we had a fresh supply of them well within walking distance," countered Gallade, stalking over to the table. He chose to remain standing as he continued, "Besides, one Pecha Berry isn't gonna make a difference to our food supplies; we've got plenty."
"Just remember to be frugal," Lucario said, taking the seat next to Ursaring, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. His fellow Pokémon nodded, before Rhyperior stomped over to help Charizard pick the food for dinner. "If we keep saying 'one more won't hurt' we'll end up using too much of our resources," he added wisely.
"Well said," Sceptile concurred, and he, along with Alakazam and Aggron, sat down on some of the remaining seats and waited for the last two Pokémon to join them.
"Okay, we've got loads of Sitrus berries, some Apples and a couple of grapefruit," they heard Charizard say from across the room, so they turned in the general direction of the voice to see Charizard and Rhyperior looking over at them. "Who wants what?" asked the Flame Pokémon.
"Apple," Lucario said flatly, still with closed eyes, as Blastoise and Aggron exchanged brief glances.
"Toss me and Aggron a couple of Sitrus berries each," Blastoise told them, motioning between himself and the other Steel-Type.
"Yeah, we're both pretty worn out after that battle, so we're gonna need a couple," agreed the Iron Armor Pokémon, allowing himself to slump onto his seat.
"Three each sound good?" Rhyperior asked them, raising a spear-like arm into the air and pointing it at another of the open crates, this one filled to the brim with yellow fruit.
"Sounds good," chorused the two stocky Pokémon at the table.
"Okay, coming right up!" grunted Rhyperior. With a sound like a vacuum cleaner, the Drill Pokémon lowered the hole in its arm to the surface of the Sitrus pile and a dozen of the small fruits shot into the cavity. The other Pokémon watched on, unimpressed, as Rhyperior did a half-turn so that it was facing them, and fired the fruits across the room, moving its arm ever so slightly with each shot. Aggron raised a hand as the fruit sailed across the room and caught his three Sitrus Berries comfortably, as across the table Blastoise did the same.
"Cheers," Aggron said gratefully, as Charizard lobbed Lucario's apple to its rightful owner, Lucario nodding thankfully at him.
"Me and Sceptile'll split one of those grapefruit," Gallade said, glancing quickly for at Sceptile for his approval, and receiving it a second later as the Forest Pokémon gave him a curt nod.
"One grapefruit…" muttered Charizard, picking up the large fruit in one of his claws as he glanced over his shoulder. "What about you, Zam? You hungry?"
"I'm fine," Alakazam replied. "However," she added, drawing a surprised glance from the six Pokémon seated around her, "I think it would be prudent if we all split a Pecha Berry. From what Ursaring told us, Kabutops was hit with a powerful Toxic, and since the Sandstorm that Golem kicked up could have blown the particles onto us, I think—"
"Say no more," Rhyperior interrupted, already sucking up one of the small pink fruits. Alakazam glared at Rhyperior for having been interrupted, but promptly shut her mouth; there was no need to start a fight over something so trivial. The last two Pokémon made their way to the dinner table and sat down on the two remaining seats, Charizard pulling his in closer to the table. Sceptile looked hungrily at the grapefruit in the Fire-Type's arms, before clearing his throat and pointing at the object in question. Charizard glanced up briefly before remembering why he'd picked it up in the first place, and let out a slightly embarrassed laugh.
"Oh, right, sorry."
"It's alright," Sceptile said. "Gimme," he added eagerly, hands outstretched. Charizard grunted a laugh and dropped the large fruit into his arms, and barely a moment after he'd retracted his claws, a green blur raced through the air in front of him. He started forwards for a fraction of a second, but stopped as he realised that Gallade had kept true to his promise of splitting the grapefruit in half with Sceptile. Sceptile nodded happily at the Blade Pokémon – who took one half of the grapefruit – before he sat down on his seat and began eating his meal, his comrades following suit.
Whew, another chapter revised.
I figured I'd add a little bit more to this chapter, since I really wanted to nail the descriptions on the head.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I did writing it.
Oh, and a special mention should go out to TimeBender, whose reviews pulled me out of my seven-months hiatus on Last Stand. Thanks mate.
The next chapter is titled Chapter 3 – Aftermath. Try and guess what's going to be in it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
And another reference to Halo: Combat Evolved. Lol.