Part 45
Vermillion City
Harbor
Dustin threw down the ramp from the boat to the pier, cringing at the loud thud it made on contact with the wood.
"Come on guys, we don't have much time." Dustin said, motioning for his two teammates to follow him off the small boat they had taken to escape the Sevii Islands.
"Get moving Dustin. You're blocking the entire ramp." Randy whispered harshly, motioning for the large male to move.
"Sorry." He whispered back as he ran up the ramp, followed by Randy who looked back at the boat once he was on the pier, spotting Shari who was looking out at the sea.
"Shari, come on!" Randy said, snapping at her.
"Hang on, there's something out there." Shari said, pointing out to the horizon. Far out at the edge of the sea, they could see a brown blur approaching slowly. "What is it?"
Randy quickly pulled his backpack off, digging into his bag for a pair of binoculars. Finding the item, Randy looked through the scopes at the blur before drawing a sharp breath. It was a cloud of Pidgeot's heading straight for Vermillion City. And each of them held an Electrode or Voltrob in their talons.
"We have to go now!" Randy shouted as he threw his binoculars back into his bag. "Come on!"
"Randy, what's going on?!" Shari called out as she and Dustin followed Randy who had taken off in dash.
"It's swarm of Pigeot's and they're going to bomb the city!"
Ecruteak City
"Blake…what happened to you?" Matt went on, approaching Blake who only tilted his head.
"I should be asking you the same thing." Blake replied as he looked at Matt up and down. There was no way this was Matt. He was so much taller and well built. His messy brown hair was longer, and he had lost his baby face. He was battle hardened.
"What do you mean?" Matt asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"How you get so tall in a couple of days?"
For the first time in a long time, Matt cracked a smile.
"A couple of days?" Matt said after chuckling for a few moments. "Blake, you've been gone for more than a year."
It took a few moments for that statement to register within Blake's head.
"Wh…What?" Blake sputtered as he studied Matt's features once again. "How?"
"I don't know much. You disappeared after rushing off to New Bark Town." Matt explained.
"An entire year." Blake whispered to himself. It was then he finally acknowledged the hair that continued to brush against the back of his neck. It had never been that long before, reaching his shoulders for the first time in his life. "How could I be gone for a whole year, it feels like I was sleeping for one night."
"You've been gone for a really long time Blake. Everything has changed while you were gone."
"What do you mean?"
"We're at war with the Committee."
"War…What for?"
"It'll take some time to go into that right now, and we don't have that kind of time." Matt explained. "But we can talk later on, right now, just stick with me!"
Blake soon found himself being led to yet another battlefield at the base of Mt Mortar where the trainers in brown had closed up around Team Rocket from the east and west. As Matt led him into the battlefield, he explained to Blake that this was the final battle that would take place in Johto between the Resistance and Team Rocket. It was the product of an entire year of battling throughout Johto that eventually forced Team Rocket up to Mt Mortar where the remainder of their forces would face defeat.
Standing on the back of his Salamence, Blake drew a shaky breath as he stared at the battles taking place on the field below him. He had never seen a battle of this scale before, and it was a sight to behold. But it was also left him with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Battling for sport in the Battle Circuit never looked this gruesome. The Pokemon where haphazardly launching attacks, hitting both friend and foe. It wasn't right.
The skies had darkened quite some time ago as the Resistance trainers sat around several small campfires, celebrating their victory. They cheered loudly, reflecting on all their hard work to eventually reach the point where Johto was a safe place for all people.
It had been a long fourteen months worth of fighting, but they had done. They had knocked both the Committee, and Team Rocket out of Johto.
Blake was seated alone on a small log, staring into the bright flames of one of the fires. He had seen and heard a lot today. At first he couldn't believe it, but now that the fighting had come to a stop, he could see that they were indeed at war with the Committee who had been allied with Team Rocket. Everything was so out of control.
Blake perked up when a hand was placed on his shoulder, earning a quick glance from him. Matt had stepped up behind him with a bag of trail mix.
"Want some?" Matt asked, offering him the bag. Blake accepted, picking up a fistful which he crammed into his mouth. He realized just how hungry he was. If it had really been gone for a year, then he hadn't eaten in a year too.
"Don't you want any?" Blake asked as Matt sat down next to him.
"Nah." He shook his head. "That's what we've been eating for a while. The only plus to it is you can mix in any berries you find that won't kill you."
Blake snorted before returning to his meal, cleaning out the bag in a few minutes. He then sat in silence with Matt for a few moments, examining his old friend. He really did look older, although the war must've helped him grow up faster.
"What?" Matt asked after take note of Blake's stare.
"Nothing. Just in shock still." Blake replied.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much right now Blake."
"But I have so many questions."
"And we can answer your questions." Matt stated. "We finally finished forcing Team Rocket out of Johto so we can go to Yumi, or Grace. I bet they could tell you anything you want to know."
Blake's expression seemed to darken at the mention of those names.
"What's wrong?"
"How are they?" Blake asked.
"Well, they're older." Matt replied weakly with a grin, getting a half hearted glare from Blake.
"As if I couldn't figure that out on my own." Blake muttered.
"Hey, don't blame me. A lot has changed since you disappeared. It's not easy to come up with the right way to tell you what's changed." Matt shot back.
"Well, can you at least tell me what's been going on right now? Like, what happened with the Committee?"
Matt drew in a deep breath before running a hand through his messy hair that he had stopped taking care of months ago.
"Boy, that was something no one saw coming. The Commissioner was actually a Dark Crest the entire time, and he was also in cahoots with Team Rocket. Then came the day he told everyone that he was going to take over. From that point on, Team Rocket went on a campaign to take over Kanto and Johto, and they were nearly successful, but we managed to stop them." Matt explained, causing Blake to wrinkle his forehead.
Matt spoke as though he was an old war veteran, although for all Blake knew, Matt could've been one with how rugged and beaten he appeared to be.
"From that point on it has been an uphill battle against Team Rocket, but we've finally taken back Johto." Matt went on, looking up at the sky hopefully. "And now we're going to Kanto to end this war."
"And what happens after that?" Blake asked suddenly, raising an eyebrow when Matt seemed surprised by the question.
"You know, we ask each other that all the time. But none of us know how to answer that question?" Matt replied with a weak smile.
"What do you mean?"
"Well this mess isn't just a war between us and the Commissioner, there's all kinds of crap going down all over the world right now. This is the Storm." Matt said plainly. "Even if we end the war here, the chaos will continue in the other regions."
The King will stop the Dark Crests from being the world to ruins.
"Are you telling me there's no way to stop all of it?" Blake inquired.
"I'm not saying there's no way to stop it. But we've heard that the situation in Hoenn and Sinnoh are far worse than anything we've experienced here. I don't know if I have the heart to go over there." Matt said gravely as he looked down.
The King will bring the Storm to an end.
Blake couldn't even look at Matt while he was like this. His friend was once ambitious to a fault, but all these recent events had broken him down his zeal and trashed the world he had grown to love. Blake couldn't remain seated anymore. He had let the world slip away once because of his ignorance. Now as the time to act.
"Where are the girls, like Grace and Yumi?" Blake asked as he rose from his seat.
"Indigo Plateau."
"Let's go there." Blake declared.
3/23/0048
Indigo Plateau
Pokemon Committee HQ
The building that had once been the figurehead for the Kanto and Johto Region had been reduced to nothing more than a flat terrain that had been taken over by the Resistance. Every appeal the once famous landmark once possessed had been wiped off the face of the earth during the battles between the two factions. Indigo Plateau had been the sight of numerous battles, but the Resistance had firmly taken control of the area, declaring to Team Rocket and the Commissioner that they will oppose them.
Victory Road had become the Resistance stronghold in the area, although most of the trainers camped outside the cave for safety since the Pokemon were so aggressive within the cave. Not even Team Rocket would deal with it, but it was a safe haven if they were ever to come under attack.
Outside the cave, the Resistance had set up a large camp with tents that held their equipment inside. Most of the tents were filled with communication devices that were used to keep the Resistance organized and efficient. They were still out manned by Team Rocket, so organization was key in order to even the playing field.
"Yumi, there's a call incoming." A dark haired teenage girl called out to a woman that was currently talking to a group of three trainers. She gave each of them a nod before waving them off, then she jogged over to the girl who had called her.
"Thanks Grace." Yumi said, taking a moment to study the girl. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was looked as though she was going to collapse at any given moment. Yumi used both of her hands to straighten out Grace's messy hair before give her a pat on the shoulder. "Grace, you're relieved from your duties. Go get some sleep."
"I can't…" Grace replied weakly. "We're expecting a response from Shari's team within a few hours. Someone has to be ready at all times."
"Grace, I'll do it. You need some rest right now." Yumi insisted, motioning for her to head over to one of the tents where she could sleep. Just to make sure Grace got moving; Yumi spun her around and gave her a push in the right direction. Yumi waited until she saw Grace disappear into one of the tents at the end of the camp, assuming that the girl fell down upon one of the sleeping bags placed inside it.
With a bit of a snicker, Yumi entered the communications tent behind her, taking a seat at the table in front of a transmitter. Since Team Rocket had tapped nearly every radio wave throughout the two regions, the Resistance had no choice but to use basic two way communications in order to avoid having their messages being picked up by Team Rocket.
Picking up the receiver, Yumi waited a few moments for the white noise to pass, then she could hear a voice.
"Matt, is that you?" She asked.
"Yup." The voice on the other end of the line said.
"I take it everything went smoothly at Mt Mortar."
"You got that right." Matt replied, making quick work of this topic. "But you'll never guess who showed up during the battle."
"Umm, Robbie?"
All she heard was Matt laugh in reply. Then a few moments of silence passed. Yumi almost dropped the receiver at Matt's reply.
4/2/0048/Late Morning
Victory Road
"Alright Blake, we're almost there." Matt said as the two of them trekked up a steep incline. The cave was dark and damp, although Blake had no trouble ignoring these conditions since he spent a majority of his time battling the territorial wild Pokemon.
"Good." Blake replied. He had to admit that he was pretty tired since he had spent two days in Victory Road. He and Matt had been battling non-stop since they entered the cave, and the exhaustion was just starting to get to Blake.
The entire cave rumbled, which gained an alarmed expression from Matt as he looked about frantically. There was a pause, and then the cave rumbled once again.
"This isn't good." He said slowly before picking up his pace. "Come on Blake."
"What's going on?"
"The base is under attack again."
"Attack? What Pokemon is strongest enough to make the whole cave shake?" Blake exclaimed.
"It's probably Brad and Mewtwo. They're the only ones left under the control of the Commissioner." Matt replied, getting raised eyebrows from Blake.
"Wait, what?"
"Oh right, I knew there was something I was forgetting." Matt said. "There were a few members of the Kanto Committee that had Crests. We're pretty sure the Commissioner had gathered them himself. Anyway, he's been controlling three of them since the war started, using them to match the Legendary Pokemon we've got."
"So he's been using them to keep you guys busy?" Blake pointed out.
"Probably. We've never seen the Commissioner of the battlefield. Just his lackeys. We've already freed two of the Crests from his control, Jackie and Stanly, so that just leaves Brad before we can launch a full attack on the Commissioner and Team Rocket." Matt explained.
"I see." Blake said as the incline came to a stop on a platform where they found over a hundred people standing together around the exit of the cave.
"Commander Matt, you made it." One of them exclaimed, motioning for Matt to hurry over.
"What's the situation?" Matt asked as he was led toward the exit of the cave.
"It's Brad again along with Mewtwo. Commanders Mari, Robbie and Grace have already engaged him."
"Then this should be over quickly." Matt said as he looked back at Blake, motioning for him to follow him out of the cave. The duo left the cave silently where Blake discovered the Victory Road had muffled most of the noise that was taking place outside. Outside was a vastly different battlefield, like nothing he had ever seen before.
Over the flat terrain, Blake could see pillars of fire erupt into the air, lightning bolts dropped from the skies and the reddish orange wings of an enormous bird flapping majestically. All of these attacks were directed at a white blur that continued to bounce around the battlefield, occasionally ramming itself into its three attackers.
Matt led Blake up to higher ground for Blake to have a better look at the battle, although this gained a questioning look from Blake.
"Aren't you going to help them?" Blake asked.
"No, they don't need it. It's three on one. At this point I'll just get into the way." Matt said in response before pointing to the field, telling Blake to focus on the battle. Looking out at the open stretch of land, Blake watched as the white blur blew through another pillar of flames as if it weren't even there before advancing on Entei who was trying to track its movements.
Entei gave a roar of pain as the white blur slammed into it once again, but as it bounced away Entei unleashed an orb of scarlet flames that crashed into the white blur which effectively brought it to a halt. In the flames, everyone could clearly see that it was Mewtwo in a protective white bubble.
Mewtwo quietly raised its hands, using Psychic to cut off the oxygen that fueled the flames, causing them to die out quickly before it thrusted its arms forward. A shockwave of energy was launched at Entei which sent it deflected away by breathing out a powerful stream of flames. As Mewtwo lowered its hands, its raised its gaze toward the sky, noticing that a large shadow had been cast over it.
Ho-oh gave one great call before it opened its mouth to drop a massive inferno onto Mewtwo that quickly covered the entire field with flames. Entei quickly sprinted out of the range of the large attack, eventually coming to a stop beside Raikou who had also abandoned the scene to avoid getting caught in the flames.
The field burned for a while as Ho-oh hovered above it, scanning the field for the enemy. Everything was quiet, but just for a moment. The center of the burning land was blow outward as Mewtwo rushed up at Ho-oh, ramming itself into Ho-oh's stomach. The large bird gave a roar before it swatted Mewtwo with its wings, unleashing another blast of fire from its mouth onto Mewtwo who parted the flames with the use of Psychic.
With its attention full focused on holding off the flames, Mewtwo was unaware of the thunderbolt that would be dropped down on it from above. Mewtwo's bubbled blocked out the attack for just a moment, this moment being enough time for Mewtwo to realize it was under attack from two directions now. Then it used to Teleport to escape the attacks and avoid having its shield collapse early on.
Blake could only stare in complete awe as the Pokemon that possessed such tremendous power battled each other. Blake was certainly an experienced trainer, but he never thought he would see the day when he would see Pokemon that could rock the entire planet battle each other. The times had really changed while he was gone.
And thus begins Blake's journey into the Storm that his violently shaped the world into one colossal mess. Now that the transition chapters are over, we can really start getting into the Storm and the cause of it. But for now, thanks for reviewing and please continue! :D
Until next time guys.