Chapter 17: Search And Rescue
Pandabot: Bam! And yet another double whammy upload hits! Anyway, I'm really enjoying this little arc so I wouldn't have thought that the next chapter will be far away. Though we've promised that before with...less than desireable results. Sorry again =/. I just wanted to take this opportunity to give a shout-out to our favourite reviewer, kaerfratiug. It's awesome to have a reviewer who gives us some genuinely good thoughts every chapter, thanks. To everyone else, we love you too. You're awesome
Peppy: Panda, stop gushing. He's right though. So, in that little train of thought, leave a review. Le Hare is out!
Pandabot:...Sorry, he got a new girlfriend and he's gone a little...weird
A shadow ghosted through the night, black on black, making almost no sound as it slipped over the grass. It placed it's back against the side of the nearest tent, catching its breath for a moment, glancing around cautiously.
All clear, it thought, moving slowly around the edges of the tent, keeping close to the side. JT peered out at the main area, bright lights covering the ground, watching as a burly man stumbled away from him, muttering to himself. He held his position for another second, listening intently.
With a burst of speed, he took off, sprinting across the brightly lit area and bursting through the flaps of a large tent, hand resting on his pokeballs cautiously. He stopped, surpised at the interior of the tent, holding most of the props used in the show, as well as a few cages containing pokemon. He heard a whimpering cry from one of the cages and made his way slowly to the sound.
The strange blue pokemon was sat in the corner of it's cage, curled up and shivering, with red marks across most of it's body. Now that he was closer, he could see the pokemon properly and, once again, he had the impression that he had seen a pokemon like it somewhere. As soon as he thought this, the pokemon sensed his presence, whipping it's head around and staring fearfully in his direction, it's red eyes wide.
JT stepped closer quietly and began to look carefully at the cage, inspecting it closely for a way to unlock it. As he searched, he spoke to the pokemon softly,
"Your name's Raven, right? My name's Jordan". The pokemon made an indefinable noise, somewhere between a growl and a purr in answer, glaring darkly at JT through the gloom. Suddenly a voice answered him,
"How interesting. My name is Medesto". JT spun in shock, hand reaching to his pokeballs automatically; he froze, eyes caught by the swinging pendulum, held in the Hypno's hand. The colourful man grinned evilly,
"I think it's time for your bedtime now, boy" he said darkly, watching with triumph as JT slumped to the ground. He chuckled and turned his heavy-lidded eyes on the pokemon huddled in the cage,
"Hypno," he adressed his pokemon, smirking at the blue pokemon, "Use Nightmare".
(Line Break)
"He's down there, isn't he?" Lyra asked, looking down at the Eevee sat by her side. She sighed as the Eevee gave her a short nod, turning her gaze to the lit group of tents below. She crouched, edging to the lip of the cliff, watching the milling people,
"JT, what're you doing?" she whispered to herself, watching as a small group of four workers entered a tent; most of the commotion appeared to centred around that tent. She frowned, patiently watching for about a minute, before the group reappeared, lugging a limp body out of the tent.
JT!, Lyra stood, trying to get a better view; her heart pounded in shock. Then, one of the men almost dropped him, causing a colourful man to shout angrily as he stepped from the tent.
"Hey! Don't damage him, Team Rocket will pay us better if he's alive!" he yelled, gesticulating with a silvery whip that sparkled under the bright lights. Lyra glared angrily at the man, marking him so that she could take him out later; some of her anger must've been communicated to Eevee because the little pokemon began to growl, low and suprisingly intimidating.
"We'll get him" Lyra said, in tones of steel; her new Eevee nodded determinedly at her side. She looked behind her to the Bayleef standing, silent, ready as always.
"Let's go"
(Line Break)
Water. Everywhere, pulling him down, surrounding him. Drowning him.
He flailed, arms thrashing madly as he reached desperately towards the sun he could no longer see. Bubbles escaped his mouth as he screamed out, flowing up away from him.
Unable to hold on any longer, he opened his mouth and water flowed into his mouth and down his throat. A stab of agony in his chest and suddenly he was falling, suddenly able to breathe, suddenly able to move. He screamed again, twisting his body around to look below, his whole body shaking as he saw the turbulent water below him.
He splashed down and thrashed, desperately trying to keep his head afloat.
(Line Break)
Lyra and Eevee sprinted across the shadowy grassland, Bayleef keeping close behind; the group slid to a stop next to a large tent, unconciously following the same route that JT had used barely half an hour earlier. They peered around the edge of the tent, watching as the colourful man wielding the whip carried a cage containing an odd blue pokemon. The man carried the pokemon into the same tent that JT had been moved to, a small tent on the outskirts of the camp.
With a thoughtful noise, Lyra slipped quietly around the outskirts of the camp, taking care to make the absolute minimum amount of noise possible. She took her time, moving very slowly to ensure that they weren't spotted by the remaining crew.
It took her just under an hour to move, at times crawling, around the edge of the camp to the small tent. Eevee and Lyra crawled up to the wall of the tent, Bayleef hanging back while the pair checked it out.
"Can you smell anything, Eevee?" Lyra breathed, lips barely making a sound in the night air. The Eevee eyed her carefully then sniffed around the edge of the tent cautiously; she made a quiet sound, giving a nod. Lyra closed her eyes in frustration and peered around the side of the tent. Seeing no-one, she placed her face side-on to the ground and lifted the edge of the tent, looking under the gap with one eye.
She could see a pair of feet, pacing back and forth impatiently, as well as a pair of yellow feet; Damn, is that Hypno?. Her guess was concerned a few seconds later when she heard a familiar voice,
"Should we move out now, Hypno?" the whip-wielding man mused thoughtfully, his footsteps pausing. Hypno merely replied with his own name, drawling the syllables out slowly.
"Hmm. Maybe you're right". There was a long pause as Lyra slowly lowered the side of the tent, thinking furiously. She could remember there being a trick with fighting a Hypno, she remembered watching a battle on TV with JT years ago; she just couldn't remember the trick involved. As she was thinking there was a sudden commotion on the far side of the camp, people shouting and yelling in alarm, something snarling and growling threateningly.
"Oh for the love of-! What is it this time?" the colourfully dressed man exploded from the tent, whip in hand; he stomped in the direction of the noise. With a glance back at Bayleef, who had approached at the sound of the man's angry voice, Lyra peered around the edge of the tent again.
A dark shape was dancing around the edge of the camp, having already torn a tent to shreds, avoiding the various men attempting to capture it. Lyra jumped to her feet as she saw the whip wielding man enter the fray motioning for her pokemon to follow her. She slipped around the edge of the tent and whispered a couple of commands to Bayleef.
Her Bayleef leapt through the flaps, flicking it's leaf forward and unleashing a storm of orange particles at the unsuspecting Hypno inside. Then she used Razor Leaf to tear a hole in the back of the tent as Lyra stepped inside with Eevee by her side.
"Great work, Bayleef" she said, patting her loyal grass-type's side. JT was lying on a cot, twisting and turning in his sleep, with the caged pokemon from before set at his feet. She glanced over her shoulder at the pitched battle that had erupted on the far side of the camp, No time to wake him up.
"Bayleef, grab JT and let's get out of here" she ordered, swooping down to the caged pokemon; she could see from the wounds that this was no place for it, whatever it was. She hefted the cage into her arms as Bayleef lifted JT onto her back with her vines, balancing him securely on her back.
The pair burst through the back of the tent, Eevee following in their wake. They dashed over to the base of the cliff, luckily one of the lower points in the surrounding cliffsides. Lyra paused for a second, thinking furiously.
"Alright, put him down for a sec. I've gotta throw you up there". In a second, JT was placed on the ground and Bayleef had been returned to her pokeball. Lyra took a moment to look up at the cliff, measuring the distance mentally; she wound up and threw the ball up the cliff, the sphere barely disappearing over the lip.
The burst of red light was blinding in the dark night, lighting up the surrounding countryside, Crap, she thought. She heard a yell from the other side of camp,
"Bayleef, lower your vines. Hurry!" she shouted, hefting JT from the ground. As the two vines reached down from above, she directed them to JT and watched as they wrapped around him, yanking him up the cliff into the dark. She heard voices shouting as they approached across camp.
A body thumped to the ground above her head and Lyra hefted the cage into her arms again, waiting for Bayleef's vines to appear again. They shot over the edge of the cliff, flying down towards Lyra; blindly, they wrapped around the bars of the cage, yanking it out of Lyra's arms. A sharp edge caught on Lyra's arms, leaving a deep cut that began to bleed instantly; she barely stifled a pained cry, hunching over the wound.
"There they are! Get 'em!". A rough voice caused Lyra to spin, still clutching her arm while her Eevee snarled in a deep tone, far too deep for his small stature. A group of four men stuttered at the noise, slowing to a cautious walk as they approached. Lyra heard the cage banging against the cliff as Bayleef lifted it up over the lip.
"Hey, it's just a baby pokemon! Let's get the girl!". The men leapt forward, aiming towards Lyra and the little Eevee crouched protectively in front of her; she drew breath to call an attack.
A resounding howl echoed into the darkness of the night as a dark shape, the same shape that had been causing the commotion on the far side of the camp, leapt from the night, landing gracefully in front of Eevee. Red eyes glowed in the dark as the Houndoom, the same Houndoom that had attacked them and then saved them in Ilex Forest, glanced back to the crouched pair.
A snarl and the Houndoom launched a Flamethrower at the feet of the attacking men, causing them to rear back, shielding their faces from the flames. The Houndoom howled again as the men regained their feet, forcing them to shy backwards as it stepped into the dying flames, teeth bared and glinting in the fire. Lyra watched on in shock as the Houndoom stalked dangerously towards the men, a low growl beginning to rumble in his throat.
A sudden grip drew a gasp from her and, instinctively, she scooped Eevee from the ground with her good arm as Bayleef's vines tightened around her torso. Abruptly, she was flying, torn from the ground by Bayleef's strong grip, watching as Houndoom unleashed some form of dark shockwave that knocked the men to the ground. She could see another group of men approaching the Houndoom's station at the base of the cliff, running through the trashed campsite.
She was yanked over the edge by the panting Bayleef, hiding the tableau from view, Eevee leaping from her grasp and peering below with a small cry. Lyra hit the ground hard, jolting the cut on her arm; she hissed in pain.
"Bayleef, get the Houndoom too" she gasped past the pain, rolling awkwardly to her feet on the slate. With a grunt, Bayleef shot her vines off the edge of the cliff again, Eevee directing her with little repetitions of his name. Lyra spared a glance at JT and the caged pokemon, the little bllue thing staring out of the bars of it's cage cautiously.
She heard a yelp and stumbled to the edge of the cliff, looking down the drop; Bayleef had managed to locate Houndoom and wrapped him up, yanking him off the ground with a strained cry. The Houndoom struggled to turn in mid-air, trying to look up the cliff and what held him; the force of his struggling, combined with Bayleef's exhaustion, caused the grass-type to lose her footing, sliding towards the edge for a second.
"Houndoom, stop struggling!" Lyra pleaded, gripping the edge of the cliff with white knuckled hands. The dark type snarled but forced it's body to go limp, allowing Bayleef to reel him up the cliff. Lyra heard shouting and looked beyond the Houndoom to the whip-wielding man, stood at the base of the cliff with an Exeggutor.
"Houndoom, quick! Flamethrower that Exeggutor!". The pokemon instantly exhaled a roaring flame, blasting down the side of the cliff towards the man and his psychic type. Before it could reach them, the fire splashed against a lavender barrier that suddenly appeared in mid-air, covering the pair.
"Keep it up, Houndoom!" Lyra cried, urging the dark type to hold the attack as Bayleef pulled him up the cliff. As it was lifted up the cliff at a torturous pace, Houndoom's Flamethrower attack began to weaken, losing it's ferocity. About three quarters of the way up, Houndoom was forced to let the attack go, panting exhaustedly.
"Now, Exeggutor! Use Seed Bomb on that cliff!". Lyra's eyes widened as the colourful man yelled gleefully, grabbing hold of Bayleef's vines herself and tugging desperately. A low growl came from her right and a small brown shape leapt from the clifftop over the drop.
"Eevee, NO!". The little pokemon ignored Lyra, forming a pulsating black and purple sphere in it's mouth; with a snap of it's head, Eevee sent the globe hurtling down the cliff, the force of the projectile flipping it backwards onto the clifftop. A half-second later, an odd harmonic screech of agony echoed from the Exeggutor as the Shadow Ball attack impacted with an explosion.
With a final tug, Lyra and Bayleef managed to pull the Houndoom over the edge of the cliff as the men below panicked and shouted under the smoke created by the explosion. Immediately, Bayleef and Houndoom collapsed to the floor, completely drained by their efforts, and Lyra began to panic. She was stuck on top of a cliff, about fifteen feet away from a group of men who were trying to capture her, with two pokemon collapsed, one in a cage and her best friend passed out and twitching.
What do I do now?