Disclaimer: I can't own Pokemon.
Well, it certainty has been a while since I last updated this story. Been extremely busy and unfortunately, going to be even more busy later on.
Nothing much to say except we're wrapping up for the next arc so enjoy!
Chapter 13:
Ring Town...
Murph was surprised to hear the news of the arrival of Professor Hastings but nevertheless, provided a gracious welcome. The thin man looked so minuscule compared the large Dragonite that was used for transportation. The Pokemon then spread its small wings and after several large gusts of wind, flew back into the sky and disappeared. It was as though it had never come.
"Professor Hastings!" Murph said, "Welcome. And before you ask, Solana is fine and sleeping though the doctor said no visitors allowed."
"Murph, good to see that you're still alive! I'm really relieved about Solana too! Where is Spenser?" After giving Murph a hearty handshake, the professor looked around as he adjusted his monocle as though expecting Spenser to pop out anytime.
"He is, uhh, still out." Murph really didn't know what to say.
"Out? But you and Solana came back right? What's the need of being out still?"
"Uhhh…" Murph fell silent as he tried to gather his thoughts.
"What are you hiding?" Another voice, much higher and more feminine, spoke up from behind Professor Hastings. Murph froze with fear. He knew that voice!
"A-Aria!" Murph sputtered. Aria was one of the few people Murph truly feared. The curly blond hair girl was very headstrong and talented. She was the best ranger (besides Joel) in Fall City and one of the few top female rangers in the region. This status made her quite proud and thus, she tended to boss low level rangers (like Murph) around.
"Don't just stand there!" Aria exclaimed. "Get us up-to-date! We heard from Spenser a while back about what happened with you and Solana in Lyra Forest. What happened?"
"It's a long story…" Murph muttered, not daring to look Aria in the eye.
"If you haven't noticed, I'm not that busy," Aria said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Start talking chubby."
"Aria," Hastings interrupted, "Let's get inside first. I could use a cup of tea. Could you get one for me Murph?"
"Oh yes, sure!" Murph said quickly, "Absolutely." With a breath of relief, the ranger quickly left.
"Don't worry," Hastings said before Aria could protest, "Spenser will come back soon and probably explain the whole thing. Besides, our other fellow important friends aren't here either." It was true; Aria noticed that there was nobody around in the Ring Town's Ranger base besides Murph and several of the locals who live here.
"Murph said Solana is okay right?" Aria tried to sound casual as though she really didn't care too much about her fellow ranger's wellbeing.
"Yes," Hastings said, sighing in sadness, "I can't believe something like this has happened to her. A ranger shouldn't have suffered something like this."
"Still this incident acts as evidence of what I've been suspecting."
"What is that?" Hastings didn't like the grim sound in Aria's voice.
"After Joel's incident, I've realized… that these people, whoever they are, will not hesitate to use any force necessary to stop us if we decide to stand in their way." There was an immediately chill running down Hastings' spine. Aria was right. Solana's and Joel's critical injuries proved Aria's point. Whoever these people were, they weren't going to be playing by the book and when the times come, everybody had to be prepared for the worst.
"What are we going to do?"
"What do you think? We're going to stop them," Aria's voice was harsh and angry. "I'm going to show them personally what happens when they mess with us rangers, and they are going to regret they ever decided to step into our territory."
…
Deep within Lyra Forest…
"Hey, want to fill in the blanks?" Lunick asked while rubbing his neck. He could still feel the lingering pressure numbness from where the mustache man was choking him.
Wes ignored Lunick's question and was determined to search in careful eye on every detail of the forest. Wes didn't think Gonzap would have another trap laid out for them but the teenager wasn't going to take any chances. Not to mention that they were completely lost and he would need to use every flora and fauna life as a landmark to determine where they should be going.
"Wes!" Lunick snapped angrily.
Sorry, but I don't feel like talking." Wes didn't sound like he was sorry though.
"If you haven't noticed I've been in the dark for quite some time. I'm sick and tired of it."
"Good, then stay in there. It'll give me some peace and quiet." Wes wished he had brought headphones or earplugs, anything in order to stop hearing the annoying rambling from Lunick. Wes would rather hear the grinding noises in The Under back in Orre than a ranger's nonstop chatter.
"Who is this Gonzap?" Lunick was tired of going about the roundabout way and decided for direct approach.
"Some guy." That response took at least a minute.
"Some guy? You make him sound like he is an average Joe or something. He could be a professional wrestler with those muscles! He almost choked me to death!"
"Starting to wish he did," Wes muttered but Lunick didn't hear him.
"How do you know him?"
"Orre." Lunick was starting to get fed up with Wes' one answer responses.
"Do you dodge attacks as well as you dodge questions?" Wes didn't reply to that question. Finally fed up, Lunick then grabbed Wes by the collar of his jacket and turned the white hair guy so that they were staring face to face. Wes's amber eyes looked annoyed and fearless at Lunick's blazing hot eyes.
"Lunick, let go."
"Wes, what that mustache dude said about their grand scheme, I know it's not a joke. Whatever they are planning its bad and they're doing this where I live. My friends, the other rangers, the people who live here, the Pokemon... everyone I know and care about are going to be affected. I can't just… sit on the sideline and feel hopeless." Lunick remembered how Joel was lying unconscious in Fall City, how Wes' Espeon and Umbreon were suffering from cruel treatment, how Solana was held hostage and tortured by these people. "I don't want someone else to get hurt."
After a long silence (Dodrio decided to stop walking after noticing this scene), Wes sighed in resignation and pushed Lunick away so the guy would release his hands from Wes' long blue coat. "Very well. I'll tell you. However-" Wes added when Lunick was about to open his mouth. "I rather not repeat the same boring story over and over again so I ask that you wait until everybody is assembled. At the very least, questions won't be repeated."
"Everybody else?"
"Professor Hastings, Spenser, and any other people who are involved in this already. Besides, I'm pretty sure Professor Hastings would be very interested in what I have to say."
"So, you promise that you'll tell?" Lunick demanded suspiciously.
"Cross my heart if that'll get you to shut up," Wes replied while rolling his eyes. Lunick was about to give back a snappy retort when he spotted something glowing in the forest. At first, Lunick thought it was the trick of the light until…
"Hey, it's Celebi!" Lunick gaped.
"Biii!" The little green fairy Pokemon shot out through the forest as it looked frantically around for its friends. It was moving so fast that it almost crashed into Wes and Lunick, causing Dodrio to stumble and almost crash to a nearby tree. Celebi would've tumbled to the ground had not Lunick instinctively reached out to grab it.
"Hey there! We've been looking all over for you!" Lunick rubbed Celebi's head like some sort of stuffed Poke doll. "Where were you?"
The little Pokemon buzzed around angrily and used its tiny hands to bop Lunick and Wes on their heads. How dare they suddenly disappeared and made it worried to tears! Not that it was crying of course! It was merely an expression.
"OW!" Lunick exclaimed though it surprised him more than hurt him. "What was that for?"
"Well, what do you know?" Wes muttered, not believing what he was seeing. "Looks like luck is still on our side."
…
Spenser felt uneasy as he looked down around him. After a tedious climb down, the Ring Town ranger wasn't able to find a single person thought there were quite a few large rocks lying about. Fearow perched on Spenser's shoulders and glared its beady eyes into the dark forest.
Spenser prayed that Lunick and Wes had landed farther from the explosion though the chances of finding them uninjured and alive from the blast and the fall were getting slimmer by the second. This required a large scope search, something Spenser didn't want to do without the proper equipment and people. Spenser had no choice but to head back up and wait for the backup that Murph was supposed to get.
Suddenly, there was a large ominous rustling sound in the forest. Spenser indistinctively reached for his Capture Styler on his belt and turned to face into the darkness of the forest where the noise was coming from. His Fearrow was about to strike as well when it suddenly recognize a familiar face.
"Lunick?" The exhausted ranger looked up at the sound of his name and couldn't be more relived to see whose voice it was. He jumped off of Dodrio and raced toward Spenser.
"Ranger Lunick, reporting back from duty and quite alive," Lunick grinned as he saluted.
"But how?" Spenser looked as though he was seeing ghosts but then finally had a relived look on his face as his brain finally processed what he was seeing.
"No need to sound that surprise," Wes said as he got off the Dodrio and returned it back to its Poke ball. "Spenser, has Professor Hasting arrived?" Wes was quick to the point.
"H-Hastings?"
"I received text that he was coming to Ring Town to discuss something important," Wes said, holding up his PDA.
"Wes! Are you heartless? Shouldn't you be asking about everybody else?" Lunick exclaimed. He turned to Spenser again. "What happened to Solana, Murph, that red hair girl, and-? MINUN! Oh no! Did you find Minun?"
"Calm down Lunick," Spenser said as Lunick continued talk so fast that he was spraying spit everywhere, "We found Minun. Rui has him and is waiting for the two of you. Murph took Solana back to Ring Town."
"Is she okay?" Lunick demanded. Spenser fell silent and attempted to smile.
"She is heavily injured but a week's worth of rest and she'll be fine." It sounded more like Spenser was trying to convince himself.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Lunick exclaimed. He was finding himself filled with more worry than before. "Let's get out of here!"
"Wait!" Spenser exclaimed. "Don't start climbing on that cliff; it's dangerous!" Watching Spenser trying to drag Lunick back to the ground while the ranger tried to grab onto the unstable side of the cliff, Wes decided to give up on getting an answer to his question and turned to stare back at the forest. The darkness of the place gave a strange feeling. Not ominous, but it did feel like there was something this place was hiding still. For just a moment, Wes could've sworn he saw a green ball of light twinkled in the shadows before disappearing.
"Thanks Celebi."
…
Rui couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Lunick and Wes climbing up. Fearrow brought up a rope to the top of the cliff, and once Rui realized what the rope was for, she grabbed onto it and tied it to a nearby tree so that everybody could safely come up.
"Wes!" Rui squealed and rushed forward to hug the guy while knocking Lunick away in the process. "I-I thought-! I thought you were…!" She started to sob, unable to hold back her tears. Wes quickly, but gently pushed Rui away. Umbreon came up and rubbed against Wes' leg and giving a slight purring noise.
"Good to see everybody looking at the bright side of things," Wes said in a slight sarcastic tone, but he gave Rui an awkward pat on the head to calm her down and returned Umbreon back into its Poke ball. Lunick couldn't help but give a skeptical look.
"Wes, your girlfriend is so happy to see you and that's all you can do?"
"Lunick!" Rui said, turning bright red. She punched Lunick on the shoulder. "Stop saying ridiculous things!"
"OW! I was just teasing!" Lunick complained. "There is no way he would want a girlfriend."
"Hey Lunick," Spenser called out before Rui could do some more serious damage. "I think 'someone' wants to see you." He held up a little small Pokemon that looked a lot like…
"Minun!" Lunick exclaimed. He held the exhausted and wounded Pokemon who made an attempt to give a hearty grin. "Thank goodness you're still alive!"
"Spenser, have you figure out how we're going back?" Wes said, sounding slightly annoyed now as he rubbed the back of his head in frustration.
"Yes, I told Murph to get backup earlier. I just hope they are able to come soon."
"They?" It was at that moment that Wes noticed that there was a large shadow up in the sky. Wes couldn't make out what he was supposed to be looking at since the sun was in his eyes but Wes could guess that this was the backup.
"What's going on?" Rui asked.
"Spenser!" Immediately, the shadow landed onto the ground. Once the dust settled, Wes realized that he was facing a steel bird Skarmory whose bladed wings gleamed against the light remaining on this day. Its shiny beak was piercing sharp like a knife. This Skarmory was larger than the ones Wes had seen before. With its wingspan, it could easily carry them all back to Ring Town in one trip.
On top of this Pokemon was a beautiful and slender pale woman who looked to be about Spenser's age. Now, maybe it was because of Wes' entire life of living out in the desert but this woman looked like she would fit perfectly as a nomad in Orre. Her white hooded robes were designed nicely with red and purple. She had a hood over her head to cover her face though her pink hair was distinctly noticeable.
Wes noticed that this woman was wearing worn out hiking boots which caused Wes to suspect that this woman was from somewhere that had a lot of high altitude mountains.
"I cannot believe you made Professor Hastings to explain this crisis instead of yourself while getting yourself into another heap of trouble," the woman said immediately as she got off. The gusts of wind blew her long wavy pink hair in a uniform manner.
"Hello Elita," Spenser said, ignoring the woman's comment, and instead grinned in relief, "You have pretty good timing."
Wes and Rui were completely confused at this woman's appearance. Lunick seemed to know who she was though he seemed rather uneasy.
Elita – the only female Ranger leader in Fiore… Lunick had never met her personally but he certainly heard about her from Solana who seemed to admire Elita a lot. Wintown's rangers were skilled and top notch compared to all the other rangers in the other cities. Their leader had the skills and talent that rivaled Spenser's and Joel though her personality does seemed to come off as cold or uncaring sometimes.
"Care to explain why this place looked as though an earthquake went through?" Wes didn't seem remotely abashed by Elita's question even though it was partly his fault that the place looked like as it was.
"Unfortunately, I can't," Spenser grinned sheepishly. "I don't really have all the puzzle pieces myself to explain." He glanced at Wes as he said this. Elita looked immediately annoyed at Spenser's calm manner and shook her head in resignation.
"You never change." Elita's icy blue eyes seemed to confirm her cold demeanor as they swept across the area. Her eyes finally rested upon Wes' and Rui's. "May I ask who these two are?" Before Spenser could say anything, Rui spoke up.
"I'm Rui and this here is Wes. We're from Orre. It is very nice to meet you." Rui couldn't help but feel a sort of awe respect for this woman.
"Orre…" Elita said the word slowly as though trying to extract the meaning, "Ah, so you are the two that Spenser spoke about." Rui didn't know what Elita meant by this but apparently, Wes did and he didn't like the look the woman was giving him now.
"Where is Cameron?" Spenser interrupted, "I thought I told Murph to get him as well."
"I don't know," Elita sounded surprise for once. "I was merely told by Murph to come here despite the fact I live so far away."
"Hmm, strange," Spenser thought, "I know Cameron is slow… could he be late?" He looked worried though he knew Cameron's personality quite well. "I'll need to give him another call."
"How is Solana? I heard what happened to her." Elita's voice had a hint of compassion and a worried tone.
"She is back at Ring Town resting up. I need to go and check up on her in fact."
"Then let us go," Elita said as she got back on Skarmory who was pecking the ground rather impatiently. "The rest of my rangers should be here shortly to asset the damages. After I drop you guys off, I'll come back here and give a full report... though I still don't know exactly WHAT it is I'm supposed to be looking for." She glared at Spenser. "I hate being left in the dark."
"Elita," Spenser said, realizing that this comment was directed to him. He hated when Elita got mad. There were many things Spenser could face but the scorn of a woman was not one of them. "Wes here will be explaining the situation and I assure that you'll be notified later." Elita didn't seem satisfy with this answer and gave Wes a critical look. Wes looked back but didn't give a single hint of what he was going to explain. In the end, Elita decided that it was best to not argue.
"Get on then." Without objecting Elita's words, everybody quickly scampered up onto the Pokemon's back. Lunick took a while to get on since he was carrying Minun. With a spread of its glittering steel wings, Skarmory screeched and flapped its wings. Now flying high in the air, Lunick could see the ground shrinking below him and the forest now looked like thousands of tiny green dots.
With a shudder against the cold wind, Lunick, Wes, and Rui stared back at the crumpled remains of the factory as it slowly receded back into the horizon until it disappeared. The place was now a haunting memory to them all as though reminding them that what happened today was only just the beginning and things were going to get a lot worse from here on out.
Author's Notes
Urgh, that took a while to write. I didn't know where to cut off the story but I thought this place would be the best.
Updates are still going to be slow. I do hope to update BW story next if all goes well.
Anyways, let's thank my reviewers before I go.
…
741852AuthorNicolaStarlaLili
ZXCVBNMEM
Trainer-Ken
littlmiget123
…
I'll see you in the next chapter!
-JapanDreamer