Steel (Poke)Ball Run

Chapter 19 – VS COBALION

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Gyro's condition had improved somewhat over the course of the three hours they had fled for. Well, his bleeding had stopped and there was no pain. The scratches in his back were a lot shallower than they feared. He hadn't dressed any of his wounds yet so he would have to pay a lot of medical attention to himself later. But for now, he and Johnny had to get to later.

They raced through the night, keep a hasty eye on that who stalked them. Johnny kept glancing back through the darkness, looking down the barrel of a telescope as he did sweeping scans.

'Can you see the rest of the Boom Boom family? Or is it still just that one guy?' Gyro asked; his voice rasped.

'No, still that one guy following alone.' Johnny called back.

Gyro was racing ahead of Johnny but he was keeping great pace. He had been for the whole of the time they had been fleeing.

'Our mounts're at their limits.' Gyro huffed.

Johnny steadied his telescope. 'I just had a thought.' he said. 'This riding style… I've seen it before and not from the Boom Booms, it's too professional, so to speak.'

Gyro turned back to Johnny and gave him a screwed-up expression that bared his teeth.

'But who else would want to chase us?' he asked. 'And at this time of night?'

He swung back around. He and Johnny continued onwards, faces straight ahead.

'We need to get to the next waterhole or this whole thing'll be a filthy mess! And we still have fifteen k's to go!' Gyro yelled, mostly out of pent-up bitterness.

Their mounts were beginning to put puffs of complaints in their voices as they breathed. Their movements began to slow. It would appear the fatigue of yesterday still ate away at them; not to mention all the travelling they had done today. No wonder they were beginning to slow. But, apparently, their pursuer's mount still had plenty of energy. Having noticed Gyro and Johnny were slowing, he speeded up.

'Shit,' Gyro muttered as he tossed his head over his shoulder again, 'we're not goin' to avoid a battle, I think.'

'Then what're we gonna do? We really need to get you patched up still. And your Furret, it's fainted right?' Johnny said.

'We've gotta lose him somehow!' Gyro decided. 'We can't let him get any closer to us. In this forest, at night, this bloke's gotta have a fucked-up reason for chasing us!'

That person continued to close in on Johnny and Gyro. Their panic channeled into their mounts unwittingly and that led to hesitation and doubt; further opportunity for their pursuer to close the distance. Until he was close enough to be recognised by the brow of his Zebstrika patterned clothes; even in the dim of the night, such a gaudy pattern was easy to discern.

It was Mountain Tim.

Why was he after them?

But the way Gyro saw it, that was a good thing. A guy like him, a wholesome Unovan cowboy through and through, would understand the situation. Gyro smirked, became overconfident, and blissfully unaware of the plans Benjamin Boom Boom had placed into action. Gyro yanked the reins back and his Mudsdale reared back onto its hind legs. It's sudden halt meant that Johnny's Zebstrika almost collided but it was smart enough to have read the signs. Now, it had reared back.

'What the fuck, Gyro?' yelled Johnny.

'Change o' plans, Johnny, we fight!' Gyro declared with an add of that obnoxious laugh for good measure.

He steered his Mudsdale around but remained where he was. No point in wasting his energy if Mountain Tim was coming straight at them. Johnny growled but he followed Gyro's lead. His Zebstrika stroked angrily at the ground once it had been re-positioned in the opposite direction.

Mountain Tim, on the back of his Tauros, sauntered in close enough to be heard.

'I'm glad you reconsidered things, Joestar!' he called out. 'Realised it was useless to run away.'

'Run away?' Johnny murmured.

'What's he goin' on about?' Gyro muttered.

He drew in closer still. His eyes flared as he made eye contact with them both from the twenty metres or so between them.

'Our eyes've met, in the laws of this here race handbook, that means a battle is to start. Resist or misbehave and I'm in every right to kill on sight.' Mountain Tim informed them both.

From a ridge on the giant outcrops of rock, the Boom Boom family observed the tense situation unfolding between Mountain Tim and his supposed murderer and his partner. The three of them were positively gleeful about it; snickering and beaming. They scrabbled at the ground, trying to draw in closer for a better look.

'I knew we could rely on that Mountain Tim!' Benjamin exclaimed as he excitedly gripped a pair of binoculars. 'It's perfect, they'll knock each other out of competition perfectly. Mountain Tim for unlawful arrest and the other two pricks for resisting arrest. Assuming they don't wind up killin' each other first.'

His sons grinned and laughed with him over it.

L.A. bounced where he stood. 'Daddy, let's go get in closer! I wanna see it all up close; just in case it gets bloody!'

'Yeah!' Benjamin yelled back, equally excited by the prospect of bloodlust.

Andre sprawled out on the ground. He clutched his stomach. He had been standing a moment ago but he had buckled beneath his own weight. He grasped at the grass.

'I'm kinda… getting chills.' he moaned. 'And everythin' is blurry… I don't think I' alright.'

'Chills?' he father echoed, almost disgusted. 'Oh toughen up, it ain't that big a deal. You still alive, ain't ya?'

As they edged in closer to the where the battle should be taking place, a stalemate of sorts had emerged.

'Johnny Joestar, tell me, what's the name of the Rapidash you own? Why aren't you riding it?' Mountain Tim asked.

There was a pleasantly placid drawl to his voice; like he wanted to genuinely understand the position that Johnny was in. He juggled a sole PokeBall in his hand and kept his other hand draped over his weapons holstered to his hip: a gun, some rope, and a whip.

'You own a Rapidash, Johnny? Yeah, why aren't you riding it?' Gyro asked. 'Would've been a hell of a lot easier for ya to ride it instead of that there Zebstrika, nasty thing it was at that ranch. Almost killed you half a dozen times.'

'I don't own a Rapidash.' Johnny said. 'Why're you asking?'

Mountain Tim inhaled deeply. He gripped tightly onto his PokeBall once it landed in his palm again. He moved his other hand to his hip. A thoughtful expression moulded his strong features.

'You know what, Joestar. I believe you.' he decided.

'Thanks?' Johnny supposed.

'In fact, I'm starting to think I've got this whole situation backwards. You don't seem like the type to kill a man, let alone three. I think some sort of deception is at play here.' Mountain Tim nodded.

'Wait, what? Me, kill three men?!' Johnny yelled.

'There's been three murders during the race and I think I've been led astray by someone else's devious plans.' Mountain Tim explained.

'I've had Johnny up my ass this whole race, he definitely didn't ill anyone.' Gyro said.

'Thanks, Gyro.' Johnny huffed.

'But unfortunately, that doesn't make everything hunky-dory. The real killer is still at large. And we still have to battle though; if we don't want to play this race in foul, of course.' Mountain Tim continued.

'We'll make it real quick, nyo ho, 'cause I reckon your real killer is real close and has a stupid fucking Ditto.' Gyro's voice turned into a growl despite his chortle; still peeved about having his Furret faint at the hands of Benjamin apparently.

'A Ditto, you reckon? That'd certainly explain some things.' Mountain Tim stroked his chin.

'What're we gonna do? I know you ain't gonna ditch this battle.' Johnny said. 'And we can't just stand around with our dicks in our hands.'

The Boom Booms watched in wretched horror. As they waited and waited for Pokemon to be sent out in battle, they were able to listen in on the conversation. Their deceptions had been unravelled and now Mountain Tim was back on track to finding the real killer.

'Shit, what are we gonna do?' Benjamin muttered.

'The only thing we can do.' L.A. decided, resolute.

Back on the field, the stalemate continued to thicken. It was the only thing they could do either. They couldn't leave because they were trapped by the rulebook and were apparently all to honourable to hope to get away with leaving a locked Trainer battle. So, all they could do was wait and listen in closely to the sounds of nature; for the sound of someone that shouldn't be there.

'All we gotta do is beat the shit outta of those creeps the moment we see 'em.' Gyro decided.

'There's no need for that.' L.A. said.

He tossed out of PokeBall but nothing seemed to appear. There was a splash of silver light and then nothingness. Did he have some invisible Pokemon?

But then a sandstorm picked up. It whirled and raged. Gyro pulled down his goggles, not that they offered the best protection, whilst Johnny and Mountain Tim raised their arms to protect their faces. A rumble emerged from thin air and that rumble turned to a fearsome grunt. Rising from the ground, in a heap of shifting sands, came a Hippowdon.

'You know, it's not very polite to remain mounted whilst a battle is taking place, Three, use Earthquake!'

'Johnny, shit, protect Zebstrika; don't let it faint!' Gyro yelled just as L.A. finished his order for his Hippowdon.

'You don't have to te- aaah!'

The ground beneath them shook violently. Trees rustled, one was even felled. Mudsdale and Tauros whinnied and grunted but were ultimately fine. Mudsdale had resisted it quite well and Mountain Tim's Tauros was a healthy beastie. Gyro and Mountain were thrown from their mounts, just as L.A. had obviously planned, but were also ultimately fine. The damage they had taken wasn't got up with minor scratches but Johnny and Zebstrika were a completely different story. Johnny was thrown to the ground. He had landed hands first so they stung but now that he was on the ground, he was basically rendered immobile. Then there was his Zebstrika. It had taken a terrible hit. Most of its health was completely sapped.

Johnny got up and Zebstrika padded towards him. He reached for his bag and yanked it down. He was able to heal Zebstrika with some potions but still, another hit like that and Zebstrika would faint and he would be out of the race because he didn't have a mount. He gritted his teeth, infuriated by the situation.

Through the howling winds and flying grains of sand, a second figure approached L.A.

'Ya know, three on one ain't very fair.' Benjamin drawled. 'Tomb of the Boom, Royal Flush!'

Two PokeBalls were hurled into the swirling sandstorm. From them, appeared a Ditto and a Skarmory.

'Tomb, use Transform, turn into Hippowdon!' Benjamin yelled.

Mountain Tim and Gyro prepared a PokeBall each. Johnny was still scrabbling with his own things. His hands were pretty roughed up from falling on them. However, Benjamin was not going to give any of his opponents for the opportunity for a fair battle.

'Royal Flush, use Air Slash! Tomb, use Earthquake!'

Johnny finally managed to pull out a PokeBall but the idea of letting his Zebstrika faint chilled him to the bone so he let go of PokeBall and grabbed some berries instead. He hoped, he begged, that a Shuca Berry would be among them. He yanked out his hand from his bag and he could have cried tears of joy. Among the slightly crushed berries in his hand was on that was a soft, bulbous, yellow berry.

'Eat!' he yelled at his Zebstrika.

And just in time too, Benjamin's Pokemon made their move.

'Elizabeth!' Mountain Tim's voice was cut off. His hand let go of his PokeBall but in the midst of the sandstorm, it was unknown if had opened.

Gyro didn't have a chance either.

Both men and their mounts were assailed by the onslaught of attacks. The Skarmory whom Benjamin called "Royal Flush" attacked first. It fluttered its slat-like wings of steel and sent cutting waves of air towards Mountain Tim. Mountain Tim's skin was cut by the air and he was forced backwards. His head knocked against a tree and he fell to the ground. He his lolled forward and he appeared unconscious.

The Ditto, now transformed into a second, mighty Hippowdon, went next. With a great grunt, the ground underfoot began to tremble. Gyro's Mudsdale brayed but stayed strong due to having a type resistance to the attack. Gyro, however, was thrown from where he stood. He collided with Johnny and his injured foot twisted strangely. Gyro muttered out of pain. He tried to get up, off of Johnny, but it was useless. The Earthquake kept them both pinned.

Mountain Tim was tossed about like a rag doll despite being a big and burly man. He must have been truly out of it. His bleeding worsened. Meanwhile, his Tauros did its best to fair against the attack but once the thunderous shaking came to a delayed halt, it seemed ready to drop to the ground and faint. But still, it valiantly stayed up and toughed out the hit.

'Heh, I knew it'd be too dangerous for you to battle 'em alone but look. Now we can make a clean escape. They're left for dead with these injuries.' Benjamin smirked. 'Do you feel blessed? We're such a blessed family.'

'I can feel it, Daddy! We really are such a blessed family!' L.A. agreed excitedly.

'Fuck…' Gyro muttered. 'I can't get up, I'm too injured.'

'It's okay, we'll figure something out.' Johnny said.

He tried to push back at Gyro, help him get to his feet but from this squashed angle, it was useless. Not to mention that Gyro was being purposefully unresponsive.

'I've already got something worked out.' Gyro hissed. 'Do you have a free hand, Johnny?'

'Yeah?'

'Good, good, what about that cork? And can you reach it?'

'Yes to both.'

'Okay Johnny, here's the plan…' Gyro's voice quietened so that only Johnny could hear. 'You only get one chance, unless you can find a rock in front of you, but you're gonna have to use the Spin to knock both these assholes straight out.'

'What?! I can't do that!' Johnny hissed. 'It… it was only a coincidence last time!'

'Johnny, you have to. Lesson three: believe in the Spin, trust the rotation, I know you can do it. Johnny, you must!'

Mountain Tim's head drew back and his eyes fluttered open. 'Elizabeth.' his voice was groggy and his PokeBall rolled off his palm. He was determined to unleash whatever Pokemon was inside of that PokeBall.

There was a silver flash and then the sandstorm eased off.

'Huh? What's going on?' L.A. said. 'Three's Sand Stream shouldn't have worn off yet!'

'Golduck!'

'Johnny, now's your chance, whilst their distracted thanks to Mountain Tim!' Gyro urged Johnny.

The sandstorm cleared up. Johnny dug through his pockets and found the cork. He ignored the fact that it had been up his Zebstrika's anus but was thankful it was dry, unlike before. His heart hammered. He was completely uncertain of himself. The last time he had managed to get that cork to spin, it had been an accident and an unruly one at that.

Right now, in this instance, there wasn't much room for a mistake. Gyro was putting a lot of faith in his thoroughly untrained student. But still, Johnny resolved. He placed the cork on his fingers and he concentrated. That's why he had signed up to this race, after all. It was so he could master the Spin. If he didn't do it now, it would all end here.

'Hurry, Johnny!' Gyro yelled.

The cork began to move. At first, it was weak and unbalanced but the more focused Johnny became, the more violently it moved. But, it began to move as he wanted. It wasn't straying off course or anything similar. It was behaving within Johnny's control. It was spinning within his control.

His eyes widened and johnny couldn't hold it back. He was utterly elated by this development.

'Gyro, it's spinning!' he yelled.

Then, a foot stomped on his arm. Before he could even get the chance to shoot. Loathing over his own stupidity swamped Johnny. If only he had kept his mouth shut. He didn't even want to a hear peep from Gyro over this. He knew it was his own fault.

Benjamin stamped down on Johnny's arm a tad more. He snickered as he did so.

'I'm sorry, Gyro, I couldn't do it.' Johnny muttered.

'Step back, a little L.A. and don't even think about relaxing. Be careful, the dying make some desperate moves.' Benjamin warned.

'I couldn't…' Johnny became choked up.

It seemed so utterly hopeless. There were no desperate moves to made. Unless Gyro could get up but his foot injury seemed terrible. But even in the midst of such thick despair, a miracle made itself known with a noble roar. A roar that caused the trees to curl as though in a curtsey. A roar that made the silence deafening.

'What was that?' Benjamin asked.

'Wha… What the hell?' L.A. yelled.

He began pointing at something in the distance. Heavy footsteps made themselves known. There was a second roar: a noise filled with unearthly majesty, as though some divine being had heralded its own arrival. The footsteps drew closer in. Then, there was the third roar.

The third roar was the loudest of them all. It instilled a deep reverence in the deepest parts of the soul. The noise of it awoke Mountain Tim and tears dripped from his eyes as the sound of it. The creature finally made itself known.

No one had seen a Pokemon like it but it matched the description of a mythic Pokemon that made its home the deepest parts of the mountain range next to this forest. It was a tall creature: it loomed above them all. It bore a coat of cobalt blue, thick with a fluffy chest. From its head, it had horns the colour of spun gold and seemed to be like a pair of thunderbolts. It had such serious eyes.

'What the hell is that? Is it… common to the area?' Gyro asked.

'Stars, no… that's… that's a legendary… I - I didn't even think it was real.' Johnny replied.

'Cobalion… one of the Swords of the Justice. My word, never thought I'd see it in the flesh.' Mountain Tim added.

'Cobalion... ' Johnny murmured, enchanted by the beast.

It was gorgeous. In the starlight, it seemed to gleam. Never before had Johnny - had any of these men - ever seen a more ethereal creature. It strode towards them. It strode towards Johnny and Gyro. Johnny was scared but he reached out. He was terrified, sweating bullets, but he reached out.

Cobalion let him stroke its leg. Its fur was coarse and it felt similar to iron filings. It wasn't unpleasant though.

'...Use Swords Dance.' Johnny said.

'Coba…'

Cobalion turned around and let a proud noise burst from its stomped down and a great energy burst forth. The energy spun around it and Cobalion's attack stat was raised sharply. It grunted, pawed at the ground. It signalled that this was now its fight also.

And it was championing Johnny.

But that seemed so… extraordinarily unlikely. A Pokemon like Cobalion - a beautiful, mythical legendary - would not see worth in Johnny but he was desperate. He was certain he was dreaming but he was certain he would continue on. He would take this chance, s bizarre and unlikely as it seemed.

He licked his lips. Was Cobalion awaiting his orders or was he imagining it? What moves would it know, anyway?

What was that story? Childhood stories, bastardised versions of true folklore, seemed so far away now even though he was only nineteen.

'Use, um… uh… Sacred Sword on Ditto!' he yelled.

'What the hell, Johnny?' Gyro asked.

Mountain Tim made a noise which seemed to imply he was in the same vein as thinking as Gyro.

'I know what I'm doing!' Johnny yelled. 'Cobalion, use Sacred Sword on Ditto!'

Cobalion's eyes lit up. As though that loud, resolute voice was what it had been waiting for. As though it refused to take orders unless they were an utter command.

Cobalion's body glowed blue. A celestial light emanated from beneath its fur; from beneath its skin. It raised its head and its horns gleamed with a white aura. Cobalion struck its head forward and the light slashed through the battlefield.

With a single strike, Cobalion felled all of the foes Pokemon. The two Hippowdon moaned as they collapsed. Puffs of sand rose up before fading into invisible motes of dust. Ditto transformed back. Benjamin's Skarmory flapped its wings and with a breathtaking fall, it crashed into the ground beneath it. Benjamin and L.A. were forced to recall their Pokemon.

Cobalion roared, gracious in victory.

'Th-Thank you, Cobalion.' Johnny was dumbstruck but a voice of appreciation seemed appropriate in this situation.

Cobalion made an odd noise. Rebellion gleamed in its handsome, pale gold eyes. It shook its head, flicked its ears, and pawed at the ground. It no longer seemed interested in obeying Johnny's orders. Or, perhaps, it was never truly meant to obey Johnny, it just so happened they had similar ideas as to what the main course of action ought to be.

Cobalion let loose a second Sacred Sword attack. Benjamin and L.A. screamed, cowered, as they realised that they were the target for such an attack. The glow that encapsulated Cobalion previously returned and this time, it returned much stronger; much brighter. With a majestic growl, it thrust itself forward. The light slashed Benjamin to pieces. Blood spurted from his horrendous wounds. His leg was lopped right off from the stump that was his thigh.

'Bloody hell..' Johnny gasped at the utter horror of it all.

L.A., in his terror, had managed to dive away from where the attack was aimed. His father's body twitched strangely as the man turned to a corpse with his blood gushing from his clean-cut wounds. It was an awful, awful sight and it caused something inside of L.A. to snap.

He was slow, at first, scared to move. Questioning himself and every thought but he decided to dive on Johnny. He yanked him away from Gyro and clutched at his throat.

'You! This is your fault!' L.A. shrieked. 'You fucker, how dare you do this to Daddy!'

L.A. popped a knife and he edged it along Johnny's throat. He tried to still himself but his heart raced.

'I'm gonna tear out your arteries!' L.A. yelled.

'Coooba!' Cobalion howled.

It bowed its head. The top of its head, the fur, stiffened and became hard like a sheet of metal. It charged forward. The top of its head connected with the top of L.A's back. He screamed as he crumpled to the ground. And yet, despite the force Cobalion had used, Johnny was utterly untouched. It was only L.A. who received the brunt of the force. Johnny's hair had fluttered and he had flinched but that was it.

Cobalion grunted, satisfied that it had protected Johnny. Johnny was awestruck once more. He tried to reach out once more to Cobalion. His mouth fell open but he was too muted to say anything; to even think anything. Cobalion looked down at him and turned away. It slowly strode off and once more, nature met it like it was royalty: curling down it in respect and the utmost reverence.

L.A. dragged himself to his father's side. He clutched the dying man and screamed, cried. Tears streamed down his filth cheeks. He was utterly deranged with grief, anger, and terror.

'You bastards!' L.A. screamed. 'I'll get you back for this! I'll never forgive you!'

Mountain Tim seemed to have snapped himself back to full consciousness or something akin. He saddled up his Tauros and fed it some health replenishing foods. Once more, it was fighting fit.

'Ignore him.' he grunted. 'The Boom Boom Family is finished. They won't survive these woods with those wounds. They'll run out of water before rescue finds 'em.'

Gyro slowly got to his feet. He was a tad wobbly, limping, but he was fine. He was forcing himself on through the pain, already calculating in his head what he would need to do to handle the strain and the wounds.

'You: Gyro Zeppeli!' L.A. seethed and he pointed at Gyro; he looked as though he were about to place a curse on him. There was an unfathomable rage in his eyes. 'There's no way you'll reach your goal! Do you think that we're the only ones after your lives? Wroooong! Just ask that person from your country!'

Gyro ignored L.A. but Johnny, and even Mountain Tim, began to take interest in what he was saying as they readied themselves for their next ride. L.A. continued to rave.

'The reason we were after you isn't just 'because you placed first! It's because we were promised two hundred thousand for your death! There's a bounty for your head!'

Though Gyro had silently promised himself to ignore this lunatic's prattlings, he couldn't help himself. It was likely that it was true. A deep seriousness crossed his face as he asked a single, simple question:

'Who hired you?'

'What?' Johnny asked.

'I reckon we ought to keep moseying along, we don't want to strand ourselves too far from the next waterhole lest we meet with more unfortunate company.' Mountain Tim piped up.

He had already begun to trot off on the back of his Tauros.

Johnny and Gyro took his advice. They reared back slightly then ran after him. L.A. continued to shout maddened things at them but they were ignored. He was merely yelling out of grief for his father and brother and out of the mistaken belief that he could still fight; still, kill them.

At first, they rode in silence. They were still commiserating on what had happened. They had been visited by a godly Pokemon after all but clearly, there was more than divinity at play here. Greed, also. Distinctly human machinations of planning were beginning to turn like cogs in a clock.

They passed through the forest. They passed lopsided trees and silent, hallowed groves as they continued on through the paling darkness. It was hard to believe it was past midnight; past morning at this time. The moon was a solemn beacon of light in the midst of the darkness of the forest they did race through.

But, then, Johnny could bear it no more.

He called out to Gyro; barely half a distance between them. Johnny could practically feel that Mudsdale's tail swat at his face. He frowned, took a breath then cleared it as a cough.

'Gyro… what did he mean that someone from your country is after your life?' he asked, as loud as he could muster.

Gyro shot him a dirty look; one that said "no questions" but Johnny pressed on.

'What did L.A. Boom Boom mean?' he yelled.

'No questions! It's none of your business!' Gyro shouted, fierce.

'It is my business; it became my business when it lost cost me my life. I have the right to ask!' Johnny shouted back.

Gyro was silent. He fumed with so many words he could hurl at Johnny but silence was more than enough to portray how much he wanted Johnny to shut up. Which was exactly why Johnny kept speaking, yelling, to fill the tense silence between them.

'Come to think of it, what if that Mrs Robinson had come after us was because of that bounty on your head? What's your reasoning for entering this race, Officer Zeppeli? Is it related to that newspaper article? I'm gonna get you to talk one way or another, just so you know!'

At first, it seemed like Gyro's lips were sealed tight but he relented. He then began to tell a story that involved the newspaper clipping Johnny had found earlier.