Chapter Twenty-Four

Colby's head shot up as her gaze rose to see the giant Wailord towering over everything and every bit as tall as he bridge itself. She clapped her hands over her ears at the loudest sound surely she had ever heard, Subway made of course.

The crowd did the same, covering their ears and looking up at the beast that had stopped the fighting. Subway closed his mouth and ended with a cute little hiccup, flapping his flippers with glee as everyone's eyes were focused upon the great beast.

"Hey! Listen up!" Josh yelled, looking like a midget next to his huge Pokémon.

Everyone's eyes then shifted to the dark haired guy in the trench coat who was looking at them blankly.

"Calm the hell down and stop your fighting! Smithers, Saria, there's got to be a better way to solve this instead of killing each other. What are we all barbarians now?" Josh yelled.

Everyone kept their eyes on him and sort of just looked at each other as if they didn't know what to do. Colby looked between the brown-headed woman and her group, waiting for something to happen.

"Well?" Josh echoed. Smithers seemed to part the crowd, appearing to the general vicinity to where Saria was, surrounded by a couple wardens.

Her light pink hair was messed up, one chunk partially out of the pig tails and fell slightly over her pale blue eyes.

"I suppose…this is a bit silly…" Smithers started.

"So…truce?" Saria asked, looking up at his tall frame but being careful not to meet his eyes.

Colby watched patiently as they shook hands warily.

"Truce," Smithers resigned.

"For the love of the Stellar Spirits, the things I do," Josh griped, recalling Subway and coming back over to the area that Colby, Riley, Ellis, Amanda, and the lady were standing.

"Well what are you waiting for? Scatter," Saria said with a light accent of some sort that Colby hadn't noticed when she was screaming into the megaphone.

The crowds around each of the gym leaders seemed to be locked into their own conversations and easily dispersed. Some were grumbling or discussing the fight, though others didn't seem to really care anymore. Two separate herds headed for either side of the huge bridge, either on the way to Mayberry or back to Sanville. Colby was fairly surprised that they exited so quickly for the amount of rage that had just unfolded.

Everyone left except Smithers, Saria, Colby's group, and that lady that was talking to them earlier. Josh approached the group and kept his eyes glued to the floor, kicking a rock with his boots.

"Nice job Josh. Another reason why Subway was good to keep around," Amanda said with a smile, pushing up her glasses.

Josh just muttered something under his breath and tried his best to ignore everyone as usual, gazing off after the mob of people headed back towards Sanville with no interest at all.

Colby just rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the gym leaders who were ten feet off, standing a couple feet apart in the direct center of the bridge. Water was on either side shining a clear blue and making the scene almost peaceful with a light breeze also present, blowing the escaped strands of Saria's hair around her face. It was as if no giant fight had just burst out less than ten minutes ago.

Smithers looked down at the gym leader who was at least a head shorter than him, trying to put into words exactly what he should say. Colby noticed his hesitance and was grateful that Saria actually broke the silence before it started to get a bit awkward.

"Well…that's that I guess. The Wailord boy was right…"

Colby couldn't help but giggle at the 'Wailord boy' comment, cracking a smile in Josh's direction. Obviously it was completely ignored, oh well. Smithers cleared his throat and ran his hand through his extremely messy, wind-blown hair and didn't make eye contact with her.

"Mhm…well…so, what does this mean for the uh, land?" Smithers asked, still putting his gaze everywhere but in the deep blue of her eyes…

"What if it was just no mans land? Able for citizen of Mayberry or Sanville to explore but without any harm coming to the land?" Riley suggested.

Saria looked at him and Smithers turned around to do the same.

"I'd say that is an alright idea. Then both of our people could benefit," Saria said with the beginnings of a smile.

Amanda looked Riley's way, brows raised, "That wasn't bad Giaden."

Riley wiggled his brows back at her, causing a blush to color her cheeks and for Amanda's glance to go the other way. He looked absolutely pleased with himself as Colby and Ellis smirked at the display of flirting that was obviously never going to end.

"So…see you around I guess," Saria stuttered, pushing the pink locks out of her face and chewing her lip a bit.

Smithers cleared his throat for about the thousandth time, "Yeah…"

Saria finally met his gaze and gave him a smile, turning on her heel and clomping off the bridge in her boots, leaving Smithers staring after her. When she disappeared from sight Smithers looked back at their group, a mix of emotions seeming to occupy his eyes.

"I'm sorry about that…I really didn't mean for it to get out of hand like that. I should have been more adult about it…" Smithers stammered.

"I enjoyed it," Josh muttered under his breath, seeming irritated and extremely sarcastic about it.

Amanda rolled her eyes, shoving Riley's draped arm (obviously he thought it was a totally nonchalant act) off of her shoulders, "Ignore him. It's alright Smithers, we're just glad everything turned out okay and that no one got seriously injured."

Colby nodded her approval but could tell Smithers still wasn't totally assured about the mistake.

"And to think it took some mere challengers to set my head straight," he murmured, running his hand through his sandy brown hair again.

"I don't mean to intrude or anything on the pity fest, but can someone explain to me who she is?" Josh asked, motioning to the woman who had originally encouraged them to help her stop the fight.

Her light brown hair swayed in the wind, matching her light brown v-neck t-shirt and silver necklace with some sort of figurine on it.

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Lindy; I work as a Pokémon researcher and doctor at the Mayberry Safari Zone. I heard about the commotion and had to come down to see what I could do to help," Lindy explained.

"Oh I've heard of the Safari Zone before. Isn't that where a whole bunch of wild Pokémon roam? You can also take tours I think," Ellis thought aloud.

The woman nodded in his direction, folding her small arms over her chest.

"Yes, we are the main tourist attraction that Mayberry has to offer, of course besides the beautiful scenery surrounding the township itself. I just came to see what all the commotion was; not even thinking it would be some type of riot like this! Thank you for helping me break this up because if we hadn't, people could have gotten hurt," Lindy said.

Colby thought for a while… Safari Zone, it sounded like a pretty cool concept. They hadn't had anything like that back in Hecate. They were going that way anyway to go challenge the gym leader…so how about a tour? They deserved to do something laid back and interesting for a change.

"Ma'am, do you think you could give us a tour?" Colby asked.

"Field trip time?" Ellis asked with a grin.

"That's not a bad idea, it could give us an opportunity to log some new Pokémon, as well as just enjoy ourselves," Amanda said, agreeing with the idea.

Riley snaked his arms around her waist, putting his head on her shoulder.

"Oh don't worry, I'll enjoy myself. Anytime you're around," he grinned with a devilish look.

Amanda hit him in the gut, easily getting out of the hold and pushing her glasses up with a blush forming on her pale cheeks. Ellis looked at Colby and rolled his eyes, which she returned. Eventually Riley was going to get it. "Of the Safari Zone you mean? I'd love to! Wasn't actually in the process of recruiting tours this trip, but I haven't given a tour in a while, so why not!" Lindy smiled.

"How far is it from here?" Josh asked, keeping a neutral expression.

"I saw you have air transportation so it shouldn't be that long by air. Now if you were walking, that would be another story," Lindy laughed.

Smithers seemed far away; just kind of mellow and relaxed as he listened to their conversation with little interest in what was being planned at all.

"We only have these birds because Smithers's sister lent them to us when we had to get from Sanville to here in a hurry…I don't know if we can use them for much longer," Ellis explained.

Lindy's smile fell a bit, "Oh, well I understand if you can't. Are you friends of Smithers's?"

Amanda shook her head; "No actually we were challenging him when this whole crazy thing started. Just some tag-along trainers. Except for him, he's forced company."

She then proceeded to gesture to Riley, who was chatting in a low voice with Josh.

Lindy smiled, "I remember when I was young and in love-"

"We're not in love!" Amanda yelled.

"She's in denial," Riley answered.

Colby rolled her eyes, as she often did in this situation. If they kept this up her eyes would eventually roll out of her head! Riley was the one in denial!

"Will you stop your bickering? You are making me sick," Josh said.

"Can't handle too much happy," Ellis whispered from beside Colby.

"Do you need to use the birds?" Smithers asked, finally seeming to come back from dreamland.

"Yes it would be quite helpful, if you wouldn't mind of course Smithers," Amanda said politely through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes in Riley's direction (who was yet again making kissy faces).

"I liked him better when he was screaming like a girl," Josh muttered, walking a ways down the bridge and looking over the edge nonchalantly. "Well, let's just say what Lena doesn't know won't hurt her," Smithers grinned, throwing out four black Poke Balls to reveal the birds.


Less than ten minutes later the Skarmorys were in flight again with everyone strapped in again. Luckily Smithers had brought an extra pair of flight goggles so Lindy could ride with them, strapped in behind Smithers. Colby and Ellis were on one, Josh on another, and Riley with Amanda on another.

"Apparently the little red-headed prick didn't learn his lesson from last ride," Josh muttered as they were about to take off.

For once he did have a point because Riley was getting just as much torture this ride as before, if not more. Smithers was enjoying himself and was taking kindly to flying along with Lindy who didn't seem to mind it as much as she originally thought. After all, everyone has pre-flight jitters!

Ellis kept the reins steady as they soared in and out of the clouds; so close that Colby thought she could easily reach out to touch these billowy balls of cotton fluff. Ellis grinned back at her as they just immerged from a huge cloud, breaking out into the open air and the rolling plains Colby assumed to be a ton of miles below them.

Colby noticed Josh couldn't stop himself from smirking as he saw that Amanda was now doing practically a barrel roll in the air with Riley screaming like a banshee the whole time. He must have flirted, big surprise. Amanda was clearly enjoying this as a huge smile was plastered on her face. The four almost stayed in a straight line flying through the sky. These birds were obviously very experienced in flight because they could get where they're going quickly and relatively smoothly.

Colby couldn't wait to get to where the Safari Zone where they were going to get a tour. Who knows what all types of Pokémon could be in there! Maybe she could talk Ellis into getting some Safari Balls and catching a few new teammates.

A bunch of pointless thoughts, several horrific shrieks from Riley, and ten minutes later Smithers and Lindy started to descend. Ellis, Amanda, and Josh followed, lowering their individual birds into the stomach twisting descent. They descended where the clouds parted, seeing the blob below them that was Mayberry, aerial view.

"We're almost there!" Colby yelled to Ellis.

"I know! I can't wait for the Safari Zone tour!" He hollered back.

It wasn't all that easy to communicate without headsets since the air flying by them itself was pretty loud to start with. They made due though as always and were now about a hundred feet off the ground. Smithers and Lindy hit the ground easily, coming to a running stop and getting off of the Skarmory. Colby and Ellis landed with a thump, it being a bumpy ride until the bird came to a stop.

Ellis got off easily, helping Colby off and removing the goggles and helmet. His green hair was going in all directions, which Colby laughed at, though she knew hers was probably just as bad.

"Woo! I'm starting to take a liking to flying!" Amanda said, jumping off the bird and leaving Riley still strapped in, shaking madly and looking more chalky white than usual.

"Eh," Josh responded, recalling his Skarmory and tossing the Poke Ball to Smithers, who easily caught it.

"You're always negative Josh," Colby said.

"Well someone's got to be around all you happy people. Happiness pisses me off," Josh hissed with a frown as usual.

"Is someone going to get him?" Ellis asked, gesturing at Riley.

"For the love of God. Be a man," Josh snapped at Riley, un-strapping him and throwing the poor chump on the ground again.

He flailed around a bit before springing back up, smoothing his messed up hair.

"I-I'm alright," he stuttered, still shaken.

"Let's just get going," Amanda said with a grin the size of Subway.

"I'm all for that, we need to get these birds back to Lena before I get fried," Smithers added.

"Well that would be quite counterproductive don't you think? Follow me," Lindy said with a grin.

The rest of the birds were recalled and their crowd followed behind eagerly, Josh of course just a little behind the group acting all tough. Some things just weren't meant to be understood and Josh Hershey was certainly one of them. The road changed from dirt to paved black top and village huts, as well as some small buildings, surrounded them.

"This is Mayberry in all its glory. We don't build skyscrapers like where you are from I suppose. Our houses and buildings are older and more spread out, built for the comfort of the land and with environmental factors in mind. The Safari Zone is just out past the town square, up ahead, where the statue of an Ivysaur sits."

Colby could make out the large stone statue up ahead with various waterfalls around it, along with flowers and benches for people to just sit and observe the beauty. It seemed like a peaceful place…

"This is the great Ivysaur statue that was here when the town was established many years ago. He is to remind us that we as humans are inhabitants in this place where the wild Pokémon first roamed. We imposed on their land and we as people need to make sure that we don't take more than we need or pollute their home," Lindy continued as they neared the statue. "Normally there aren't many here…I'm surprised…what's going on?" She said aloud.

Colby looked past her, noticing several people crowded in the center by the statue, looking scared and frantic.

"It's probably just a result of the riot," Amanda suggested.

That could be a possibility, after all there were some who stormed back in this direction. Colby hoped they weren't planning another riot, what would they do then?

"What are we going to do?" Someone yelled.

"That's a sanctuary for wild Pokémon! We can't let this happen!" Another man yelled back.

From atop a bench stood gym leader Saria, looking stressed and afraid at the same time with this crowd bearing down upon her, making her seem like a small girl.

"We need to hunt them down! They are disrespecting the Pokémon's natural habitat!"

"What are we going to do Saria?"

"Calm down! Calm down! I know you are all worried but the best thing we can do in this situation is just say calm. I have sent the police to track down the thieves-"

"What good are police going to do? They haven't done anything about the other instances in this region!" A tall man in a suit yelled.

"We are powerless!" A woman shrieked.

"Please! Please townspeople! I assure you that you are all safe and we are going to get this under control! Just keep calm and the matter will be handled humanely and in the best interest of the Pokémon," Saria assured, trying her best to sound confident and convincing.

"But what if it doesn't work?" Another old man called.

"It will, I won't let anything happen to the Pokémon," Saria answered, stepping down from the bench.

"I will be helping with the rescue attempt. Please try to stay calm and try not to worry, the police and special-forces trainers have this under control."

Saria parted the crowd and came right to where Colby's group was standing, listening.

"Oh, it's you five again," she said with a faked smile.

"Saria! What is going on? I was gone for just a while and was just about to take these people on a tour of the Safari Zone," Lindy exclaimed, looking worried and out of breathe.

Saria briefly glanced at Smithers and then back at Lindy.

She seemed sad but with a sigh spilled the words, "It's the Safari Zone…it's been robbed of the Pokémon."


A/N: Well there you have it! A long awaited chapter from me, who is very bad at not procrastinating xD I'm sorry guys for the wait and I PROMISE I'll get better, no matter how long it takes. Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading, review!