Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokemon series, or any of its content.
I'd waited three more days days, to regain my strength. After attempting to use Rage again a few more times, I decided to use it as more of a finishing blow to them for two reasons: first of all, it would hurt them. Badly. Excruciating pain, if I could aim it correctly. Second, when I used it it's like the move is not only hurting my opponent, but my body as well. That's a problem that I don't yet have an answer to.
But my few days were over. Now I could smell it on the wind: the humans of the Death Machine were leaving the town. If I didn't catch them today, I might never get the chance. Thus, today was the day. Today, I would confront them and exact my revenge!
Feeling light-hearted, I began to waddle down the hill as best I could. This was a pain to do because I kept almost tripping over myself and rolling down the hill, but this didn't dampen my spirits. I was going to get revenge, after all, and nothing is sweeter than that.
I was halfway down the hill when a Swellow soared over me. At first I just glared up at it in annoyance because it was intruding on my space (anywhere I am is my space). But when it didn't fly away and kept pace with me my glare hardened because I recognized it from days before.
"Hey, hey, there you are!" the Swellow chirped. "I want to tell you some things!"
I stepped out of its shadow. It was blocking my sun and my sky. It was a good thing for this creature that I was in a good mood, with revenge so close I could taste it. "Leave now and your ignorance will be forgiven, bird," I growled.
"Oh, that's one of the things I want to tell you," it said. "My name isn't 'Bird', no, no. It's Lord."
"Of what?" I snorted before I could stop myself.
"Why, of the skies!"
I snorted again. How flight, something bestowed only upon the elite, came to this bird, I have no idea. It's a bit infuriating. "Realize and be thankful for your luck, bird, that I am not wasting my Rage on you today."
"That's the other thing I wanted to tell you about," it continued. "About that Rage thing. Well, I thought about it a lot, I did. 'Why did only one move nearly knock me out?' I asked myself. 'Why did only one move, and their move at that, nearly knock them out?' And I thought, and thought, and I've come up with the solution." Before I could reply that it could keep its solutions to itself, it said, "You claim to be Rayquaza, yes, yes?"
"You can bet your ability to fly that I am," I declared, and made to tell it to go away: "But I demand you—"
"How old are you?"
"Several millennia," I growled proudly, "which is why—"
It crowed in victory, excited. "Aha, yes, yes! That explains it, then!"
"Explains what?" I demanded, annoyed that it was ignoring me.
"Why your move is so powerful!" it exclaimed happily. "Imagine a ladder."
"A ladder?"
"Yes, yes, a ladder. Like the kind that the humans use, you know?"
I didn't have a clue what it was talking about. I'd never heard of this "ladder" in my life, but I didn't say so.
"Imagine a ladder," it continued. "Each rung on that ladder represents a different level of strength. To reach those levels of strength, you must climb the ladder. The higher you get on the ladder, the stronger you are."
"Great," I yawned, already bored and hoping that at least some response would appease the bird. It didn't.
"Now, to get from rung to rung, you must gain experience. You gain experience by fighting in battles and as time goes on, and you get older. The older you are, the stronger you are, both mentally and physically. The perfect balance between strength of mind and strength of body is what makes a Pokemon powerful and able to climb the ladder. From the mind comes the will and power and strength of a move, and from the body comes your physical strength to be able to withstand the power of the move while you use it.
"This is why if a smaller, but more experienced Pokemon, faces a larger, less experienced Pokemon, the smaller one will win despite its size. It's mind and body are better balanced, with experience.
"Now, sometimes most of a Pokemon's experience will go towards a move that is specific to it for whatever reason--it may match the personality of the Pokemon or it simply favors it. In your case, your mind is full of lust for power and rage. Thus, because power comes from the mind, and your mind is full of rage, that particular attack is very powerful. However—and I have no idea how you ended up this way, no, no!—but however, I can see that your body is very young. That attack is beyond it. It cannot handle it, which is why the move hurts you as well. In this way your mind and body are out of balance."
The bird fell silent, but it took a few moments for me to register that it was done. It looked at me expectantly to see what I thought of its observations. Honestly, I didn't want to think a thing of them. I had no idea how this Swellow had even come up with such an in-depth analysis. Don't get me wrong; it may have been in-depth, but the bird is still an idiot. He's just an idiot with a slight trace of a brain. But there is no other idea that I can come up with, thus I must put some faith into this one until its proven wrong. Ho-Oh's words came pouring back to me . . . "Your mind may be millions of years old, but your body is not!" That must be its way of saying, "You're powerful, but at the same time very weak." The weakness of my body was holding me back. So what the bird said . . . made sense?
Of course, I said none of this aloud.
It didn't matter anyway, because Lord didn't seem to mind that I voiced no opinion. It had complete faith in its discovery and that was enough to make it content.
The human abodes nearest us, on the outskirts of the town, were fenced in by large blocks of wood around what they deemed to be their property. The Swellow simply soared right over the obstacle. I had to hunt around for a hole and then crawled through.
What happened next is one of the most curious instances in my life. Inside the fence was a yard. Playing in the yard was a human hatchling no bigger than I was, and its mother. While the child clapped its hands at me, and spluttered happily something along the lines of "Doggie!" the female adult charged me, screaming, with a strange stick in her hand that had bristles of hair on the end.
"Get out of here! Shoo!" she shrieked, jabbing at me with the bristles. "Go on, or I swear I'll swing this broom at you!"
I snarled, but before I could attack she'd swung the broom down. It hit me on the head. I had little doubt that, had my head not been rock-hard, that might have hurt a bit. When she swung it down again I hopped awkwardly out of the way and lunged, getting my teeth around it and trying to snap it in two. However, my teeth were small and weak.
It turned out that I didn't need my teeth. The human grabbed her hatchling and ran inside.
I released the stick, proud of my victory! I uttered a small victory cry and then remembered my purpose of being here. Leaving the incident behind me, I found a second hole and squeezed through it. Lord had been sitting on the fence and, once I was through, it continued to follow me. I made no move to stop it because I couldn't reach it.
Now, this town is small. Small. There aren't any buildings large enough here that would even be worth destroying. They're mostly all one or, maybe, two stories high. Yet somehow humans make even this little setting chaotic.
It is completely and utterly ridiculous. Little humans on strange, two-wheeled contraptions rode around all over the place, nearly running me over. Several Miniature Human Death Machines—cars?—roamed the streets. And noise. The noise didn't sound like much to the average creature, but I have never been around them. Roaring, laughing, tapping, walking, playing, hatchlings crying . . . these new noises were overwhelming and were so harsh that they made me see stars. I longed for my solitude.
I nipped at the ankles of a few humans that got in my way. A Miniature Human Death Machine nearly ran me over but I dove between its wheels and scrambled for the white pavement by the road—the safety zone. The walk on the side. Sidewalk.
Panting, I let my tongue loll out into the air for a few moments while I tried to catch my breath. Lord circled above me, amused. When I was ready I began walking again.
Down the road, into a side-street, out into another road and take a left—these were the directions in which my instincts led me. I listened to them blindly and it was well that I did, because we finally found ourselves standing underneath the front gate: a large, wooden arch with strange symbols carved into it. I cannot read, but I can illustrate the symbols: WELCOME TO OLDALE TOWN: WHERE THINGS START OFF SCARCE. Whatever that mess of symbols means. Humans are odd creatures.
There were two sets of fresh footprints in the ground, heading into the forest that lay ahead. My toes tingled with excitement and I trotted after the footprints as fast as I could. Lord was still above me.
For the next few minutes I could think of nothing but my revenge, drinking in the fact that it was so close. I was almost there, I would make them pay . . . Thoughts tinted blood-red and dark orange pierced my mind as fury rose up inside of me. I felt a fire burning in my chest. Rage was ready.
I was so consumed in my thoughts that I didn't notice anything until we came upon them. There were two of them and they were about ten yards ahead of us, with their backs turned to us as they walked. They had a strange uniform, even stranger than usual human attire: all silver with black, diagonal stripes. Target acquired.
I did my best to roar, though I'm not sure exactly how fearsome it was when it came out. I didn't care. It did what it needed to do: get their attention.
The two of them spun around. They were both female and looked exactly the same. All humans do, really.
"Reddi, look!" one of them whispered urgently, as if I couldn't hear them. "It can't be . . . can it? It is! Look, it has the yellow ring." They began to draw a Poke Ball from their loose sleeve.
"Umi, hold on." The one called Reddi put her hand on the other's arm, halting her. "It's only a Bagon now. It's powerless."
"It's still Rayquaza!" Umi protested. "Bagon or not. And if it was turned into a Bagon, there has to be a way to turn it back. Think of the scientific improvements we could make."
They argued a bit more, but finally Reddi relented with a shrug and "Whatever."
Both threw their Poke Balls. From Reddi's burst the Crobat and from Umi's burst the Skarmory.
"Uuuhhhhh . . . can you take them?" Lord asked uneasily.
Even I felt my anticipation wilt. They looked a whole lot bigger close up. But this might be my last chance to make them pay. I wouldn't let it slide through my nonexistent claws, so to speak.
Growling, I leapt at the larger of the two, the Skarmory. I unleashed Rage and barreled into its metal chest, knocking it backwards. It landed hard on the ground with a priceless, stunned look on its face that matched that of its master.
I landed on the ground shakily but fortunately, that wasn't enough to make me fall; my head hurt from the impact, but my Rock Head ability must have softened the damage. But the attack had zapped a good portion of my physical strength already and I began to have doubts about possible victory. I pushed them away.
Reddi's eyes gleamed. "So Rayquaza lives in you after all. You have its strength, unmatched by any Pokemon. It's power." As the word 'power' left her tongue, her eyes seemed to glow with an inhuman fierceness. Greed, or something similar. "Umi, you're right. Its form doesn't matter. It is still Rayquaza, power and all. Crobat, Air Slash!"
The Crobat dove down for a hit but I leapt out of the way. Although, its wing cut a small, shallow gash on one foreleg. I was still unused to blood and it tingled, but I shook the feeling off. I had a battle to fight.
While the Crobat circled back around I leapt again, using Rage. I slammed into it and sent it hurtling backwards; it managed to catch itself before hitting the ground and spiraled back into the sky. This time, I stumbled.
Meanwhile, Skarmory had clambered back to its feet and charged me from behind. Lord intercepted the attack and Gusted it back to the ground. For a moment I wondered why, exactly, Lord was so strong, but I dismissed the thought as unimportant. Next in that moment I made to bark at Lord to back off from my battle, but the Crobat was coming back.
"Poison Fang!"
"Steel Wing!"
Lord caught the Skarmory's Steel Wing on his beak and kept it at bay by pushing it backwards by sheer force. The Crobat was coming back at me. My Rage kept going. I connected with the Crobat again, but a split second before I hit, it sank its teeth into my hind-leg. My attack sent it wheeling into the nearest tree. It hit the trunk and sank to the ground.
"Just think," Reddi laughed madly. "Just think what we could do with it! With proper training it could be invincible, Umi! Why, look how it won't give up!"
My bad leg buckled when I hit the ground but I refused to surrender. I supported myself with my good leg, hardly letting my injured one touch the ground.
"Oh, how powerful it'll be when it's fully evolved!" Reddi cried. That ferocious gleam was intensifying with every passing minute. She gazed at me hungrily, like she couldn't wait to sink her teeth into me.
My brain felt fuzzy and dizzy, and I looked at where the Poison Fang had sank into my leg. Poison, I thought faintly. Got through.
Lord dealt a powerful blow to the Skarmory—a beam of white light that would have fully encompassed the metal bird had it not ducked out of the way in time. I recognized the move as Hyper Beam, which was strange because I knew for a fact that Swellow don't learn that naturally. Do they? I couldn't tell; my mind was so fuzzy . . . couldn't think straight . . .
Part of the Hyper Beam still hit the Skarmory and blasted it backwards. It struggled weakly to its feet. Lord had to recharge itself after such a powerful move, but while it tried to attack again Crobat slammed into it from behind. Lord hit the ground hard and gasped. Crobat attacked again, with Cross Poison. Lord had trouble getting out of the way in time and was nailed with the attack. It stood, shakily, and shuddered. Not poisoned, by the clear look in its eye, but terrified.
Lord looked around—at the masters opposite us on the road and their Skarmory and Crobat. Skarmory was just barely holding on; it could barely stand. Crobat had a bit more fight in it.
Finally Lord's wide, panicked eyes rested on me. It took off, flapping its wings in a frenzy. "Gotta find Damion," it squawked in terror. Then, louder, "Gotta find Damion!" And it flew away, still screeching that phrase over and over.
I stared after it, disbelieving. My mind was hazy and I felt awful and my leg burned and I could barely stand and I was bone-tired from using Rage and it just left me? Well, of course, I reminded myself. Maybe it had been more worn out than it'd looked, and fled a hopeless battle.
The fogginess in my mind blocked out my normal train of thought and left one, clear notion behind, and that was that I couldn't win this alone. At least, some of my sense of dignity must have been able to live through the poison, however, because the very second that that awful thought appeared it vanished as if torn to shreds.
The Rage continued. Awkwardly because of my injured leg, I leaped at the Skarmory. It was weakest; Lord had worn it out well, and it could be dispatched faster. I was right. I aimed for its throat, to knock the air out of it. The poison threw my aim off a bit and I ended up hitting its upper-chest area, but it was powerful enough to knock it out of the battle. Umi recalled it to its Poke Ball.
Reddi's eyes were feverish now. "Crobat!" she yelled, and the bat Pokemon swooped down and hit me with full force.
I was thrown far back down the road and landed in the dirt, bouncing twice before I rolled to a stop. With a growl thrumming deep in my throat, I struggled to my feet again. Another hit, another toss down the road, and another fight to stand.
This went on for several minutes. I refused to give in. Every time I tried to stand up it took longer, and every time I came up shorter than before. Finally, after several rounds, I could only raise myself so that my head, and nothing else, was above the ground. At least it was something.
"Reddi, isn't it weak enough to be caught?" Umi asked.
"Of course not," Reddi snapped. "Umi, this is Rayquaza. You can't catch it like any other Pokemon. It has to be knocked out, period!"
But she had grown impatient with waiting for me to be knocked out. She had had a black Poke Ball out for several minutes now and was shifting it from hand to hand, waiting for the opportunity to use it. "I've had enough," she growled. "Crobat! Shadow Ball!"
But right before it fired the Shadow Ball, something broke inside of me—part of my will, maybe. It just broke. It broke as simply as one might snap their fingers. I collapsed in the dirt, unable to move further. Just collapsed. Me, Rayquaza, just collapsed.
Reddi let out a maniacal laugh. "Ha! You're mine, you're mine, Ray—"
"Hey," an unfamiliar voice called behind me, interrupting her. Crobat fired the Shadow Ball. "Hey—HEY! What are you doing! Hyper Beam!"
I saw the dark ball of energy flying towards me, but a second later someone came between it and me and took the blast with a grunt.
My first impression was that it was Lord, but that wasn't so. Lord had just blasted the Crobat out of the sky with a Hyper Beam and was chasing the two human females away. I couldn't move my head at all and could only roll my eyes up to see who had taken the Shadow Ball for me.
And what I saw, if I had not been in the state that I was, would have made me so furious that I would have summoned a Rage powerful enough to knock down every tree within a ten mile radius.
Lord returned to stand off to the side and I began to demand furiously if it was aware of the magnitude of what it had done. "You brought a—" But my vision flickered and everything went dark before I could finish.
