Chapter 8

Meeting

A/N: The poll is officially over. The winner is… somebody. If you don't know already, you'll have to wait and see.

Now read!

"Oh my god!"

The scene stretching before them could not be summed better than one word: nightmare. Wasser had said this was the Southern Lake. She had been to the Southern Lake once, and this looked nothing like it.

The water was a sickly green color. Still rotting bodies of Magikarp and Finneon floated amidst wooden branches and stinky algae.

The trees lining the lake had once been full and green. Now they were grayish skeletons, reaching up to the clouds with bony fingers. Even the grass appeared dead. The entire shore and stretching back as far as they could see was brown.

The morning sun cast a blood red light across the clouds, making the sky appear to burn with fire.

And the smell… Sam doubled over as her stomach emptied itself.

Luca just stood in shock. He didn't really know what to expect, but this wasn't part of any ideas.

Wasser shared Luca's face, only more horrorful than shocked. His eyes began scanning the shoreline until he found something. "ALEY!!!" He jumped from the pipe onto the shore and took off at a sprint.

"Wasser, wait!" Luca started after him, but stopped to help Sam, who was still suffering from bile in her mouth. He helped her down and they quickly followed.

He hadn't run far, so they quickly caught up. He was kneeling inside a ring of bloody bodies, a mixture of Buizel and Floatzel. They all had massive holes through their bodies. Several were missing limbs; one was completely decapitated.

The sight horrified Sam. She had seen carnage before; Feuer had once mutilated a large group of humans. But she had never seen this kind of bloodshed to shaiyas. She stepped back as her body forced her to vomit again.

Luca gave her a passing glance, but kept his attention of Wasser. "Wasser?"

The Buizel reached a paw out to one of the bodies in front of him. "Voda." Tears started to pool on the ground in front of him. He slowly fell over, covering the body with his own, as he began to cry in earnest. "Who could have done this?"

Luca could only imagine what Wasser was feeling. He tried to think of how he would feel losing his mother or father, but even that didn't seem to do it justice. Wasser had just lost his entire clan.

Sam coughed, spitting some nasty spittle to the ground. Something glinted on the ground. She spit again to clear the taste as she reached down through some leaves. It was a small blue orb. A red "R" was branded on one side. She picked it up slowly. It was the same kind of Pokeball they had used on her yesterday. "Luca, look at this."

He took it from her. "Team Rocket. I should have guessed."

"Rocket?" Wasser was suddenly up and grabbing the ball from his hand before Luca even knew he was listening. He looked at the ball for a second before throwing it to the ground with a scream. The orb shattered on impact with the hard dirt. "They have her! We must go back!"

Luca just managed to throw an arm around him before he got past. "Wasser, stop! Think for a second!"

"I don't have time! I must save Aley!"

"Sam, help me."

She paused, but then grabbed onto Wasser's flailing arm. The two combined successfully managed to pull him to the ground. "Let me go!" he screamed, trying to break free. His arm managed to slip from Sam's grasp, though she quickly found it again, but Luca's grip was firm. The Buizel struggled for several seconds until the screams became whimpers. He soon stopped struggling. Luca cautiously let the arm in his grasp fall, and Wasser fell into Sam's arms, crying softly.

And she couldn't help but hold him. She completely understood how he felt. He was reacting exactly as she had when she awoke to Feuer's bleeding body. The emotions were practically overflowing from his shivering form, bringing up painful memories from only months ago as her heart began to feel the agony again. A few drops of her own tears fell and began mixing with his. "It's ok."

Wasser managed to look up and through his whimpers said, "Please. We must go back for her. She's all I have left."

Luca stood up slowly. "We got out. I'm sure we can sneak in just as easily."

"I doubt you would be able to get through the first guard."

They all looked up. Someone came walking through the trees. He stood tall, a long black coat covered what looked like a jet black workout suit, with a beige duffle bag slung over one shoulder. None of them could truly see who he was until he came into the light of the shoreline. Sam was the first to recognize him. "It's you!"

He kept his eyes straight as he walked past, suddenly seemingly oblivious to their presence. He simply went past them, past the bloodied carnage, and on along the shoreline.

Sam stood up and followed him. "Why did you help us?"

"I told you already." He gave her a sideways glance. "I suggest you leave. Recons will be after you in a bit."

"We can't do that," Luca said from behind Sam. "They still have other Pokemon in there."

"Including my mate!" Wasser screamed.

"We can't just leave them."

"You can and you should." They approached the pipe again. The man dropped his bag and turned around, leaning against the rusted metal.

A connection came together in Luca's head. "Wait. Don't you work for them?" He didn't answer, but he didn't really have to. Luca already knew the answer. "You can help us get inside."

"I don't think so."

Wasser grunted and jumped forward, grabbing the guy's shirt. "Listen to me, you piece of trash. We are going to break into that place and get my mate. And you are going to help us!"

The man's arm moved in a blur of motion. Wasser was suddenly spun around, his arm twisted to his back with the man holding him tight. "Try and do that again, you won't get off with a sore arm." He threw the Buizel to the ground.

Something splashed into the water beside them. The man turned and pulled out a large clear plastic bag. Another duffle bag was inside. Sam looked over his shoulder as he checked the contents. The only thing she caught a glimpse of was a gun handle. But he zipped it closed before she could get a look and slung the bag over his shoulder. He started to walk off.

"Wait!"

"You aren't my problem."

"What is your problem then?" Luca said to his retreating back. "One moment you're helping us, and now you can't even say three words to us? What's up?"

He stopped walking. For a moment, the air stilled. A dead silence fell over them. A second later, he spun around. "You want to know what my problem is?! I spend sixteen years becoming a Hunter! And Roth refuses to give me the respect I deserve!" And then he turned and continued walking, his stride stronger.

Sam took a frightened step back. In a moment, his entire demeanor changed. He really hated this Roth guy.

Wasser formed a grin. "You know, if we rescue everyone, Roth is going to be really pissed."

He kept walking.

Luca put a hand on Wasser's shoulder. "Let me. You want to make Roth suffer?"

He stopped again. Without turning, "I'm listening."

"If we let all of the Pokemon go, imagine how mad he'll be."

There was another stillness as he considered the offer. It was a good idea, Sam thought. If Roth really hated this man so much, he would take it. And he definitely had the connections to get them inside.

He turned and walked back towards them. "If we're going to do this, you follow my instructions to the letter."

"We can," Luca said with a nod.

She clutched his hand gently. This was a good thing. She didn't want to spoil the mood, so she kept her fears to herself. A picture of Feuer appeared in her mind, giving her strength. Saving shaiyas was what she had to do, so she would do it.

Wasser suddenly put his paw in, creating one of those group moments. He then looked to the other man.

"I don't do corny moments."

Luca gave a laugh. "Don't ruin the moment, buddy."

He didn't return the laugh. "First, I'm not your buddy. Second, my name is Braun. Use it." He reluctantly brought his hand in a laid it on the others.

A flash of light burst from their hands. They spread, but the light overtook them.

They suddenly found themselves in a dark void. Sam recognized the place. It was very similar to what it felt like inside Luca's bubble: the space pressing in on her, the cold penetrating her bones.

Braun spoke first. "What have you done?" he said accusingly to the others.

"I didn't do anything," Luca returned.

Another, smaller flash appeared above them. A small body entered the space over their heads and floated. "I brought you here."

Braun looked up. "Who are you?"

Luca dropped to one knee and bowed his head. "Mew."

"Mew? Never heard of you."

Sam relaxed at hearing the name. She knew about Mew. "She is the messenger of the Great Spirits." But that thought brought more tightness to her muscles. Why was Mew appearing to them?

"Guardians of the earth, listen well. You four have been brought together on the winds of destiny. Your time has come. Eldryn is close to unlocking the secret."

Braun again butted in with a question. "Eldryn? Who is Eldryn?"

"Eldryn is Arceus' brother," Luca answered. "He was jealous of Arceus, so he tried to defile his creation by creating the Mäyto. When Arceus stopped him, he left the Spirit Realm."

"Arceus implores you. You must stop his brother before he can unleash his plague upon the world."

"Hold on, hold on," Braun said, raising his hands. "Why can't Arceus stop him? Isn't he the head honcho or something?"

"Arceus is bound to the Spirit Realm. If he were to leave, as his brother did, he could never return. Only the four of you can put an end to his plans."

"That's all fine," Wasser said, "but we can't do that now. I have to go save my mate."

"Eldryn currently resides within the body of Roth. If you can stop him, you will stop Eldryn."

Sam noticed a glint pass through Braun's eye, though his face remained solid. He was hiding his excitement well. But how could he be excited about this? Their simple plan to save some shaiyas had just become a mission to save the world!

"Fulfill your destiny. Or the world will perish." There was another flash of light, and the world reappeared around them.