An Age of Valour
by the Lady of the Mists
Chapter Eleven: Wounded Pokémon
Lydia groaned slightly as her head pounded slightly. As her head spun, she felt someone push her head aside and someone laughed. "She's out cold, this one," a girl's voice remarked. It sounded familiar to Lydia, though she couldn't place it at the moment. "Just take them, the chief will be pleased that we got some Pokémon and left this little girl to die. She won't last ten minutes out here alone."
"What about the boy?"
"I don't think that we have to worry about him," the girl said. "They've been giving me trouble since I first saw them and I'll be glad to cause him this pain. As for the girl . . . I think she's been giving the chief some grief, so I doubt he'll want her to survive. So long as she stays down here long enough, she'll run out of air."
"Vee! Eevee!"
"Poli!"
"Quil!"
Her eyes flew open as she heard the voices of her Pokémon, obviously frightened and alarmed. With such force that she didn't think that she was capable of, Lydia pushed herself up off of the floor, her head spinning as she scrambled to her feet.
All it took was for her to see Alicia Knightly standing in front of her for her head to stop spinning. "Oh, great, it's you," she grumbled, shaking her head. "Can't you stay out of my life? It was bad enough seeing you on the ferry here; I don't really like having repeats of stuff." Alicia chuckled as she stepped forward, watching Lydia carefully.
"Careful there, Talon," she warned. "Otherwise, I might have to have your precious little Pokémon be tortured just to have you listen. And I don't think you really want that to happen. After all, those Pokémon have already been through enough, don't you think?"
"Yeah, being in your insufferable presence is torture enough," Lydia threw at her. A flush crossed Alicia's face and she sputtered incoherent words towards the trainer. "What, can't think of anything intelligent to say?" she inquired, giving the older girl a sardonic smile.
"Aren't you interested in the fate of your little boyfriend?" Alicia said, finally recovering.
Lydia froze; until that moment, she hadn't realised that Jesse wasn't with her. And she didn't see Ivysaur, Gastly, or Natu with them. Her heart pounded in her chest as she glared at Alicia.
"One, he isn't my boyfriend. Two, what have you done with him? If you've laid one hand on him . . ."
"Relax, girl, calm down," Alicia said lightly. "We haven't done anything to him. Yet. He'll be fine. It's you that you need to worry about. The chief is highly interested in your disposal. I don't know what you've done to get on his bad side, but I really don't care."
"Weren't you banned from Pokémon training for six months?" Lydia wondered, shaking her head.
"Oh, that? The chief managed to get us out of that," Alicia said with a shrug. "He wasn't too happy about it, but he pays greatly for loyal supporters. If you weren't such a nuisance, then I'd consider helping you join, but unfortunately for you, I don't like you."
"Well, even if you did, I wouldn't join him even if he was standing here, threatening me with life or death," Lydia said coldly. "I won't hurt innocent people or Pokémon."
"What makes you think that we do?"
"'Most of them would never even think about using Pokémon's power for evil,'" Lydia mocked, throwing her words from the ferry back at her. "'Our main obligation is to rid the world of evil and to do that, Pokémon must be under our control.'" Alicia's eyes widened as she stared in disbelief at Lydia. "How do you think the captain found you out?"
"Why, you little—"
"And by the way," Lydia added, "you've picked the wrong girl to mess with. Threatening me is one thing, Knightly, but threatening my friends in another thing entirely. You just made a really big mistake."
"Oh, I don't think so," Alicia snarled. "Start the machine," she ordered one of the men behind her. "Let's see how long she lasts with her precious 'friends' being tortured in front of her. Let's see . . . start with the fire starter," she remarked with a smirk.
Cyndaquil squealed as they lifted her out of the cave, looking at Lydia fearfully. "Don't you dare!" Lydia yelled, struggling against the bonds that were holding her captive. "If you even harm her for one second . . ." She left the threat hanging as Alicia turned.
"Empty threats, Talon," she told her. "You see, we both know you don't have it in you to hurt another human being. There's just too much decency in you, little girl. Too much honour. That's the problem with you and always will be until you learn that no matter what you do, somebody is going to get hurt."
"Not innocents," Lydia retorted, plunging into the depths of her power. "And by the way, Knightly . . ." Alicia looked at her, eyebrows raised. "I really wouldn't hurt my Pokémon if I were you."
Alicia smirked before looking at the men. "Start it up!"
The moment that Lydia saw the switch flipped, her eyes blazed with anger and power. "Big mistake," she said softly. As she felt her anger grow, so did the force of her attack. A titanic force flew towards Alicia and the others as the bonds broke.
Immediately, as Cyndaquil began squeaking with pain and anguish, she raced towards them, attempting to break the machine holding Cyndaquil in the machine. "Hang on!" she yelled towards the fire Pokémon. "Come on!" she ordered the machine. "Cyndaquil, can you do a flamethrower?"
The fire Pokémon struggled and almost immediately whimpered. "Come on, sweetie, I know it's hard, but I need your help to get you out of there! We need you. I'm right here, just one flamethrower and we'll get out of here!"
Cyndaquil looked up at her and opened her mouth. The flame on her back flared as a flamethrower exploded from her, destroying the machine. Lydia had to duck as it exploded, but popped up and seized Cyndaquil before the machine started flaring, spreading fire as it went.
Holding the unconscious Cyndaquil in her arms, Lydia ran towards Eevee and Poliwag, trying to figure out a way to break the cages that they were in. Spotting a rock laying nearby, she told them, "Stand back!" As they retreated, she began pounding the lock on the cage with the rock, praying it would work. It took several minutes, with fire starting to spread faster, but finally it broke and the two Pokémon leaped into her arms, clinging to her.
"Okay, I'm glad you guys are okay, too, but we have to find Jesse and get out of here!" Lydia, still holding Cyndaquil, looked around at the flames. "Poliwag, use water gun!"
The tadpole Pokémon released the water attacked, extinguishing the flames enough for them to escape through the cave door, plunging through before returning to the eerie darkness.
"Jesse!" Lydia yelled. "JESSE!" There was no answer. "Jess, if you can hear me, please answer me! If you can hear me but can't answer, then give me some sign that you do hear me! And if you're completely unconscious," she added lamely, "then somebody please help me."
"Lydia?" Jesse's voice echoed slightly through the darkness. "Thank goodness!" He raced towards her and hugged her quickly before letting go. "Are you all okay?"
"Cyndaquil needs help," Lydia said, looking helplessly down at the fire Pokémon in her arms. "Are all of yours okay?"
"We're fine," Jesse said, taking her arm. "Natu, find the way out of here and hurry!" The bird/psychic Pokémon flew away from them, using her psychic powers to find the exit. With Eevee and Poliwag at her feet, Lydia ran with Jesse after Natu to get them out of Union Cave as fire raged behind them, threatening to take them.
--
With Natu as their guide, it didn't take them long to find the exit to Union Cave, but every second seemed like an hour to Lydia and with each passing minute, she could feel Cyndaquil growing weaker and weaker in her arms, shivering slightly.
"Hang on, sweetie," she whispered, stroking the fire Pokémon gently as she caught sight of light ahead of them. "Hey, is that sunlight?"
"Thank goodness!" Jesse hurried ahead and they burst from the cave, spilling out into the bright daylight. For a moment, Lydia was blinded from the light, her eyes struggling to adjust to it, but the whimper from Cyndaquil reminded her that time was of the essence.
"Come on!" Jesse ordered as he grabbed her arm. "Azalea Town is this way!" Dashing down the road, they were met by a police car with its lights flashing speeding down the road, skidding to a stop next to the two trainers.
"Hey, did you kids just come from Union Cave?" the police officer who opened the door asked them, looking at them. "Couple of hikers said that there was some kind of commotion going on in there. Smelled like there was a fire or something—"
"Yeah, it's still going on down there, but we don't have time to explain what happened," Jesse interrupted, jerking his head towards Lydia. "Her Cyndaquil is hurt badly. We need to get it to the Pokémon Centre."
The officer nodded once, jerking his head towards the car. "Get in, kids, I'll get you there. Jerry!" he called towards another cop. "Call for the fire department quick. I'm gonna take these kids to the Centre and then get the information."
Lydia didn't ask questions as they piled into the car and the car squealed away towards Azalea Town. Eevee climbed onto the seat, looking worriedly down at Cyndaquil. He looked up at Lydia, the question evident in his brown eyes as he looked back at Cyndaquil. Poliwag looked just as worried as she joined them.
"She'll be okay, you guys," Lydia assured them. "Nothing's gonna happen to her." I hope, she thought worriedly as she saw the Pokémon Centre up ahead. "There it is!"
The officer had barely pulled to a stop when Lydia yanked open the door to the car, racing out of it with her Pokémon at her heels. "Kid!" the officer yelled after her. "Wait until I stop!"
She ignored him as she raced up the steps and burst into the Centre, startling two trainers that were receiving their Pokéballs from Nurse Joy after having them checked over.
"Nurse Joy!" Lydia yelled, her chest heaving as she ran towards the nurse as fast as should could. "We need help!"
It only took one look at Cyndaquil to make Nurse Joy gasp and call immediately for a stretcher. "Here, set her down gently," she instructed Lydia as Jesse and the officer appeared. "There you go. Rush her to the critical care unit," she instructed the Chansey. "Miss, you'll have to go to the waiting room."
Lydia nodded, not arguing as the doors closed behind her, shutting her out. All she could do was sit down and worry.
At least, that's what she planned on doing before a throat cleared and she turned to the officer, who was smiling gently. "Don't worry," he told her. "She's in good hands. I don't mean to intrude, but could you two tell me exactly what happened in the cave?"