Chapter 3-The Wall
Far away on the other side of the Hoenn region sits the resistance's headquarters. The headquarters is a large, heavily armed facility located in what used to be Sootopolis city. Long ago, when the resistance was just forming, they were looking for a suitable place to establish an HQ. Sootopolis made a perfect secure location because of the natural barriers surrounding it such as the ocean and the sheer cliff face of the volcanic crater it's nestled in. Once the resistance built their HQ, they renamed Sootopolis to New Hope and transformed it into a purely military city.
The actual headquarters building is built in the very center of the crater surrounded by the small former town of Sootopolis. They've come to call this building The Wall because it is the last thing stopping Celibe's army from marching in and taking the entire Hoenn region by force. This is where a boat full of new recruits is heading in order to be trained to fight the Royal Army.
"Well it looks like our new shipment of recruits is coming in today." Said a burly looking Hitmonchan. He was standing in a watch tower on the rim of the crater and had just spotted a boat approaching from the west.
"Hey wait, isn't there some new master sergeant coming in with them?" asked a Rapidash also on guard duty.
"Yeah, he served over in Dewford and now General Douse is special ordering him to come here."
"Why?" asked the Rapidash.
"Dunno, but rumor has it that the general needs him for some kind of special assignment."
"Special assignment? What do you mean?"
"Well," The Hitmonchan said scratching his chin, "It's just a rumor but, word has it that he's very important to winning this war."
"Dang that sounds kinda cool." The Rapidash said. After a tentative pause he asked, "So what is he anyway?"
"I think he's a Lucario and they say that he single handedly won the Battle of Dewford."
"Wow. I hope he's as good as you say. He'll need that skill if he's going on some kind of special assignment."
"Yeah no kidding. Hey Ted," The Hitmonchan said while turning to face an Exploud sleeping in the corner, "wake up and sound the alarm."
"Why are we under attack?" he said keeping his eyes closed and stifling a yawn.
"No, that boat of new recruits is coming in."
"Alright then." Ted said as he stood up with a grown. He walked to the edge of the tower and,
"WHOOOOO…WHOOOOO…WHOOOOO"
He produced three long drawn out siren noises to alert the dock workers below that the boat was approaching.
Meanwhile aboard the S.S. Whiscash was the master sergeant, Ore Areeder. He was standing on the bow of the ship watching the approaching cliff face grow larger and larger while the boat softly rocked up and down beneath him. He breathed in deeply and let it out slow to calm his nerves. He could smell the salt being carried in on the warm breeze as it gently blew through his fur. He had just been fighting in the Battle of Dewford and now he had an order from General Douse to report to New Hope immediately. He didn't know why the General had wanted him in the first place. All he did know is that shortly after the resistance won the battle and re-captured Dewford city, he was promoted to master sergeant and immediately shipped out to New Hope. As Ore thought about why he was on this boat heading for New Hope several scenarios started to play out in his head; he could have been sent here to help train the new recruits or maybe it was to be personally thanked by General Douse for helping recapture Dewford. Or maybe the general was going to tell him that his promotion was a mistake or he was being put in jail for some crime he might have committed, or worse, he was receiving a dishonorable discharge. Ore took a deep breath, he was freaking himself out. He didn't know what was going to happen and worrying about it wouldn't help. Ore glanced up and looked at the place where his future would be decided. One thing was for sure; whatever awaited him in New Hope would be better than fighting back in Dewford…right?
Soon the boat had docked outside of New Hope. Ore was standing with his hands locked around the ship's railing staring at the top of the crater when the boat captain walked up to him.
"Don't you think you should be getting off now?" The old sea-worn Psyduck said with a smile.
"Yeah sorry." Ore said breaking out of his daze. He looked around and saw the last few passengers getting off the boat. He looked back towards the captain and said, "Thanks for the lift."
"Don't mention it." The Psyduck said with a large smile.
Ore nodded towards the captain and hefted his duffle bag of belongings onto his back. He squared his shoulders and started for the gangplank and down to the dock.
He looked towards the cave at the end of the dock that would take him and the recruits to the inside of the crater and started walking toward it. On either side of the cave were two massive Rhyperiors standing at attention. Ore had done some research on New Hope before arriving and knew that they were there in order to collapse the cave in the case of a siege. They glared down at him as if sizing him up as he neared. He hurriedly shuffled past them and into the long dimly lit cave. He walked through the cave for several hundred feet until he eventually found daylight on the other side. Once he reached the end of the cave, he realized the exit was positioned a hundred feet above the crater floor. Once Ore looked up to take in the city his jaw dropped. The inside was more breathtakingly beautiful than he ever imagined. The sheer cliff face of the surrounding crater seemed to focus one's vision straight onto the crystal clear lake in the center. The lake had an outstanding mirror-like quality that reflected the quaint little town surrounding it. The picturesque bright blue sky above framed the entire surreal image in an everlasting splendor. With the glowing sun and cloudless heavens it was hard not to marvel at the sight. At the very center of it all was the most magnificent building Ore had ever set his eyes on that could only be The Wall. It was in the middle of the lake on a small island. The large building was stylized after a roman temple with large columns on either side of its massive front doors and a massive arched roof. Ore snapped out of his daze as he realized he needed to meet General Douse at The Wall. He took one last look at the sight and walked down the gradual slope that led to the crater floor.
As Ore walked down toward The Wall he noticed that the recruits were being ushered to the barracks for debriefing and introductions. He had remembered the first time he arrived in Dewford and received a similar treatment. Boot camp was nothing but being yelled at, eating, drills, workout, eat, more yelling, more drills, and finally sleep only to wake up the next morning to start all over again. Those poor recruits have no ideas what they're getting into Ore thought to himself. He was just grateful that he no longer had to deal with that.
Once Ore reached flat ground he made his way to the small bridge that spanned the lake. As he walked he started to take in the city around him. It was smaller than he expected and with the exception of one or two military vehicles driving around he would have thought it was any other ordinary town. He noticed several small children running around and a couple of shopkeepers opening their stores for the day. He even saw some pokemon playing in a park nearby. He couldn't believe that a place of such peace still existed after what he saw in Dewford. These pokemon probably had no idea of how bad it really was beyond these walls. He instantly wished he could be like them, simply enjoying a beautiful autumn day, to be blissfully ignorant and thinking there was nothing wrong with the world.
Without realizing it, Ore had reached the bridge that would take him across to The Wall putting an abrupt stop to his daydreaming. Ore looked back at the cave he had arrived in one last time and took a deep breath to calm his nerves as walked across to The Wall. He noticed General Douse was waiting for him when he arrived at the front entrance.
"Master sergeant Ore Areeder, welcome to New Hope!" He bellowed as he offered Ore a hand shake. General Douse was an old Farfetch'd that had led the resistance forces for almost forty years. He was battle-hardened and a brilliant strategist making him the ideal candidate for a general position.
"General Douse sir, it's an honor to be here." He said as he shook his "hand".
"So I'm sure you're wondering why I've assigned you to New Hope." He said with a gruff voice.
"Yes sir, I am" Ore said tentatively.
"Well let's take a walk inside and I'll explain everything." He said simply as he turned and walked through the massive front doors.
"The reason I've called you here, is because I've been playing around with an idea." Douse said some time later ten stories below The Wall.
"What idea is that sir?" Ore asked nervously. They were currently walking down a set of stairs on their way to floor B-10. On the way Ore kept glancing nervously down at General Douse. He didn't dare ask him why he was here and instead waited for the general to tell him.
"Well, obviously we've been trying to stop Celibe and her royal army with direct attacks up until now with little success." He said as they reached the bottom of the last staircase and stepped into a long dimly lit hallway. "Her palace is to heavily fortified for us to do any real damage, so the war council has been mulling over the notion that what we need to do is use stealth and cunning to take out Celibe without having to deal with getting through the Royal Guard. The idea is simple; attack her palace directly with our main forces to distract her while a small elite group goes behind the scenes to take her out." Douse stopped to look at Ore to see if he understood what he was saying.
"Okay but what's this have to do with me?" Ore asked anxiously, "And where are we going?"
"We're going to The Gate; the nerve center of The Wall and as for what this has to do with you will be explained later." He said as they continued to walk down the long hallway
"There is something else you should probably know." General Douse said after a long pause. "What most civilians don't know is, that legendary pokemon still exist."
"Legendary pokemon? I thought they were all extinct except Celibe."
"That's what most pokemon think to. What's more is that they are actually playing an active role in the war, in fact we have a few on our side fighting for the resistance."
"What?" Ore said in disbelief
"The legendary pokemon are still alive and fighting in the war. Didn't you just here me say that? Clean your ears out boy."
"Wait, but that's crazy. How could there be legendary pokemon fighting in the war without anyone else knowing about it?" Ore asked with a confused look on his face.
Because they wield immense power and have the ability to command nature itself. Didn't you ever read the old stories about the legendries?"
"Yeah but I just assumed they were stories… Wait, if they're so powerful why don't they just put a stop to the war?"
"Because Celibe has legendries that joined her side as well. Long ago they split off into two factions; one that joined Celibe and the other that banded together to stop her. They have been fighting from both sides ever since all this started." The general said as they rounded a corner.
Ore was at a loss for words. His entire interpretation of the world had just been shattered and reshaped. He had read stories of the incredible power the legendries of olden times possessed and to think that creatures with that much awe-inspiring power were still alive was insane. Fed up with frustration Ore asked testily,
"Sir how do you know all of this?"
Douse just looked up at him with a sly smile and said,
"Follow me and I'll show you." They had stopped in front of an automatic door with a numbered access pad off to the side. Douse proceeded to press several buttons with his leek stalk and the door swished open in a rush of cool air.
"Whoa." Was all Ore could say as he tried to take in all that he saw. They walked into a large circular room with doors dotted around the edge leading off in several directions. On the far wall were several large computer screens displaying a myriad of different things. In the center of the room was a raised dais with keyboards, control panels and several other things that Ore didn't recognize sitting on top of it. It appeared to be a control station for all the monitors on the wall. The most shocking thing however, were the hulking forms of two pokemon facing the computer screens.
"Are those…" Ore said his mouth agape.
"Yup. The legendary pokemon of yore; Groudon and Giratina." The general said stoically
"Whoa that's incredible."
At that moment Groudon turned to address the general.
"General Douse," he said, "The royal navy is hammering us from the south near Slateport. They need more troops down there to hold off the assault."
"Do they have warships?"
"No, just two regiments of water types and one of flying types."
"Hmmm; okay we'll need to send in a shock regiment and probably the 32nd. We might want to send in the 45th as well."
"The 32nd and 45th? That won't stop two full regiments of water types let alone the flying regiment."
"We're not trying to stop them, we just need to hold them off for now and minimize casualties."
"Why?"
"Because we're putting our plan into action soon and we can't afford to send down to many troops."
"Oh," Groudon looked hard at Ore, "Is this him then?"
"Yes, and I was just about to get introductions under way."
"What about those other two?"
"We have reports they just finished up and are on their way here."
"Alright then. I'll give the word about sending those troops." Groudon gave one more look to Ore and nodded before turning back to the computer screens.
"Come on kid, I've got some people I want to introduce you to."
"Holy crap that was…that was…" Ore stammered out.
"Yes, Groudon. Clean your ears out kid I already explained that." Douse said as he grabbed Ore's arm and steered him to one of the many doors around the room. "Come on I need to finish explaining that idea I was telling you about."
They entered one of the doors and stepped into a long hallway with several windows on either side. The windows were staggered on each side and spaced about a hundred feet apart. "Remember how I was telling you about that small team to take down Celibe?"
"Yes sir." Ore said uneasily.
"Well any good team needs a leader and I think you would be perfect for the job."
Author's Notes
Just imagine The Gate (the big circle room they stepped into in the end) as any spy headquarters you've seen in movies, that's what I was trying to describe. By the way, do you guys think I'm being too lengthy on my chapters by describing too much and not getting to the point? Leave a review and tell me how you're enjoying the story so far and any improvements I can make!
