In this chapter, we finally get back to Barn, Elf, Adrianna, and Topaz, and their Noivern adversary! …After we take a look at some of our other characters, of course. *smirks*
Also, at Megadracosaurus' request, I have switched the Purrloin's name from Purgully to Shadepelt. Take note of that.
I just want to say that I just went to go see the Monsters Inc. prequel, "Monsters University". It was hilarious and in my opinion, better than the first movie. The scene with the librarian was the best – the whole time I was thinking "RELEASE THE KRAKEN!"
Moving on…
-.-.-.-.-.
Wyvern never expected to wake up. The last thing he could remember was sitting by Pteryx's bed, watching over him, when all of a sudden the boat began rocking ferociously. He was thrown off balance and ended up on the floor. Then there was the sound of rain and thunder, and more rocking, and when he tried to get up he had banged his head on the edge of the bed. Then he had been knocked out, and next thing he knew, everything was silent.
But not totally silent. Indeed, Wyvern could hear two unfamiliar voices talking. "Extinct?" one was saying. It seemed to be a young female talking. Then the other voice said, "They're not supposed to exist anymore. They're all supposed to be dead."
At that, Wyvern realized that they were talking about him. His eyes snapped open, and the first thing he saw was a bright orange muzzle staring him in the face.
The Archeops was so startled he shrieked and leapt to his feet. "RUUUUUN!" said the one with the orange muzzle, legs wind-milling as he ran off. Another Pokemon, presumably the owner of the other voice, followed him closely.
It's just a couple of kids! Wyvern realized, surprised. He roared after them, scared and angry to have been frightened so badly, the primal sound tearing from his lungs and sending the two into a renewed panic. Don't kids know to respect their elders? the Archeops wondered, then immediately rejected the thought. Fossil Pokemon were never respected by the newer breeds.
Sighing to himself, Wyvern surveyed his unfamiliar surroundings. The beach was pebbly and uncomfortable under his talons. Huge cliffs rose into the air not so far away, making the island look very uninviting. This is definitely not Diamond Island, Wyvern thought grimly.
Then he turned around, and gasped at the sight that greeted his eyes. The wreck of the Tranquility was before him, sitting on the rocky coast like a beached Wailmer. Behind it, he could see that there were lots of jagged rocks present in the water, which decreased in number as the water opened up to the open ocean. Where am I?
Wyvern circled the shipwreck, feeling eerily alone in this unfamiliar land. "Gaby? Tortuga?" he called. "Luke? Pteryx? Where are you?" He called out again and again, voice slowly getting more desperate.
It was after the fifth time he called out for his friends when Wyvern realized the truth. "Pteryx… brother…" he murmured, sitting down wearily on a flat rock. Tears welled in his eyes as he faced it – he was alone here, separated from his dear brother. Pteryx needed him most, but they were separated by who knows how many miles.
"Pteryx…" Wyvern said again, then buried his head in his claws and cried his heart out.
-.-.-.-.-.
"Is he still there?" Terra asked nervously. She was crouched behind a decently-sized rock, and Cenric was hiding behind one that was a fair distance from hers.
"I don't know," he whisper-shouted back, referring to the mysterious fossil Pokemon. "I don't think he chased us this far."
Both of them slowly poked their heads out from behind their boulders. The canyon in which they were hiding was completely empty. Breathing sighs of relief, the Buizel and Charmander both stepped out from their hiding spots and scratched their heads, wondering what to do next.
"Where is that fossil anyway?" Terra asked curiously. Cenric shrugged, clearly indifferent to where the creature was – unless it was anywhere near him, of course. "Maybe still down at the beach," he replied.
Terra was confused. "Did it even chase us?" she wondered. Now Cenric did start to wonder, no longer indifferent but maybe a little curious. "Actually, I don't think so," he replied. "I guess he just wanted to scare us off."
But the Charmander's curiosity was piqued, and she wandered back down the canyon and toward the beach. "Hey, don't go back! Maybe he really will chase us this time!" Cenric called, but grudgingly followed after a moment.
They reached a part of the canyon where a bit of the wall had collapsed, forming a small, enclosed cliff that dropped abruptly down to the beach. Terra and Cenric stood on this cliff and looked down, where they could clearly see the wreck of the Tranquility. After a moment, Cenric pointed toward the yellow-feathered figure, who appeared to be crouched on a rock.
"Now what's he doing?" Cenric asked, despite himself. Terra scratched her head and wondered aloud, "Maybe he's thinking?" The Buizel shook his head and said seriously, "No, that can't be it. My parents said that fossil Pokemon don't do much thinking. They act on instinct and aren't very bright."
The two of them continued walking down the slope of the canyon until they reached the beach again. Now they could see that the Pokemon had his head buried in his claws as if he had a headache. Too much thinking? Terra asked herself.
That was when they heard the quiet noises coming from his covered-up head, and saw his feathery shoulders shaking.
He was crying.
Despite her fear of the mysterious Pokemon, Terra hated seeing anyone be upset. She cautiously walked up to the rock he was sitting on until she was right next to it. "Um, sir… Are you alright?"
The Pokemon didn't answer right away, but flinched at the sound of her voice. At last, he muttered, "I'm alone here. I'm the only one that made it here. And there were five of us on that boat when the storm hit."
Terra realized it just then. "You were caught in that storm too?" she inquired, and he nodded. "I don't know where any of the others are," he said, voice still broken with emotion. "And my little brother was with us. He could be dead for all I know!"
Although he didn't cry, the Pokemon let out a long, weary sigh and slumped down on his rock. By now, Cenric had also walked up and was listening as well.
"Hey, it'll be fine," Terra said sweetly, patting the Pokemon's arm… or wing, or whatever it was. "All we need to do is get off of this island, and then we can find your friends!"
As you can see, Terra was an optimist.
"If we're going to be working together for the time being," the Pokemon said at last, "then we might as well get to know each other. My name's Wyvern. I live in – or used to live in – Seaside Village."
Cenric's eyes lit up. "You come from Seaside Village? I've been there," he said excitedly. "I'm Cenric. Yin-Yang Islands originally. Now I'm a wanderer." He pointed to the Charmander and continued, "That's Terra of Team Biosphere. She came from Diamond Island before it sunk."
Wyvern actually chuckled. "Come on, that's ridiculous," he laughed. "Islands don't sink just like that." He chuckled a bit more.
"He's telling the truth," Terra said indignantly. "There was this earthquake that sunk Diamond Island! And my friend Cobalt and everyone else was killed!"
Wyvern stopped laughing and looked at her closely. "You're sure?" he asked. When she nodded, he thought a little bit, then continued, "We need to get off this island and warn the Guardians. My friends and I are an official rescue team under them, ya know."
Cenric looked at him with a new respect. "You're on a rescue team?" he asked in awe. Wyvern laughed again and confirmed, "Yep, we're Team Fossil. We run a little shop in Seaside Village to pay most of the bills, though."
The three of them shared a good laugh before going back to the more serious situation awaiting them. "How can we fix that boat?" Terra asked. "We don't even know where we are!"
Wyvern looked up at the cliffs and said, almost to himself, "I think I know where we are." The other two looked at him questioningly, and he finished, "We're on Deepdark Island."
-.-.-.-.-.-.
The Noivern snarled and faced the group, blocking their only means of escape from the narrow rock bridge. Adrianna looked back fearfully and then took a backwards step, as if afraid the bridge had vanished as they crossed it. Barn and Elf eyed their foe wearily, and Topaz just yawned before falling back asleep.
"So what's the plan for this one?" the Gardevoir asked nervously. Barn said with all the confidence he could muster, "We do what the Guardians would do – we fight our way past it." Elf rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "Oh, good. I didn't have any plans for today anyway."
Apparently, the giant bat-like dragon was growing tired of the lack of action, and released a powerful Screech attack. The noise was so powerful that it shook pebbles from the ceiling that showered down on them. "Th-that's a Screech?!" the Hoothoot exclaimed, clamping her wings over her ears in vain. "It hits like a Hyper Voice!"
And the Noivern wasn't done yet. It rose into the air and shot forward, coming down with a Dragon Claw. All three of them ducked its glowing talons as one, and as it swooped up into the air behind them for another go, Barn raised his head and shot an Extrasensory wave at it. The psychic blast smashed into it, disorienting it enough for it to fall a few meters before steadying its flight again.
With a shriek, the Noivern dove again, strafing the bridge with its Screech attack. The sound threw up dust and pebbles wherever it hit, and it rapidly swept toward the group. If they were hit with the destructive noise, then the group would be inevitably be pushed off the bridge and into the abyss below them.
"Light Screen!" called Barn, throwing up a yellowish barrier to protect them. Although a Light Screen would generally have no effect against status moves such as Screech, in this case it helped block out the potential physical harm the Noivern's attack would do.
The Noivern passed right over them again, cutting off its Screech as it did so, then did a wide aerial somersault and came around for another Dragon Claw. "Reflect!" Elf cried as she saw the incoming attack, and threw up a blue barrier. The Noivern's glowing talons smashed into the barrier with an audible clang.
But it started to come around yet again, and Adrianna fired a Thunderbolt at it. The bolt went wide, forcing the Noivern to change the direction of its next attack. Barn shot another Extrasensory at it, which didn't stop it either. Instead, the Noivern crossed its wings over its body, then flared them and released several spinning blades of energy for an Air Slash attack.
Barn's Extrasensory attack deflected several of the blades all over the cavern, and his previous Light Screen blocked the rest. Adrianna took this chance to murmur, "Future Sight." Her eyes glowed very faintly – as the attack came closer to completion, the glow would intensify.
Finally, the Noivern took a rest from its continuous attacks. It landed at the end of the bridge, blocking them once more from moving forward. The Flying-and-Dragon-type panted tiredly, trying to regain its stamina. It glared at them defiantly, showing them that there was still some fight in it.
Barn saw an opportunity and snatched it. "Hypnosis!" he hooted, shooting three blue orbs of energy spinning from his feathery tufts. If all three hit the Noivern, it would fall into a deep sleep.
Sadly, the Noivern still had enough stamina to retaliate. It lashed out with Screech, blowing the three orbs right back at him. Elf jumped up to take the blow, and the orbs hit her in quick succession. The Hoothoot hit the bridge and started snoring lightly.
"Thanks, friend," Barn said quietly, then braced himself as the Noivern readied another attack. This time, though, it opened up its large ears and produced a massive, explosive sound wave. As the sound swept toward them, explosions formed behind it, tearing the ground apart while it advanced. It was Noivern's signature move, Boomblast!
The Noctowl almost panicked. But then, Adrianna jumped in front of him, and he noticed that her eyes were glowing a blinding white. "Future Sight!" she called, releasing a wave of energy that met the Boomblast head-on with a colossal explosion. The two attacks cancelled each other out, and the cavern itself was rocked by the force.
Barn noted that the bridge was starting to crumble bit by bit. "We should really get out of here," he told Adrianna as he picked up the unconscious Elf in his talons, and she nodded. "You're right, we need to flee," she agreed, and the two backed away from the Noivern.
However, it had other plans. It chased after them with a Dragon Claw attack, wings spread as it soared rapidly after them. They simultaneously ducked, but since Elf's Reflect was still in effect, its claws clanged off of the barrier anyway.
The Noivern landed in front of them at the other end of the bridge, cutting off their escape. "No matter where we go, we're trapped!" Barn said urgently, but that didn't stop them from running in the opposite direction. The Noivern unleashed another Boomblast, which swept rapidly after them and decimated the bridge as it passed.
Adrianna and Barn looked back to see the explosive noise nearly on top of them. Eyes widening, Barn soared upward noiselessly, avoiding the sound wave. But Adrianna instinctively ducked, allowing the wave of destruction to pass over her. The bridge shattered beneath her feet, and the Gardevoir screamed as her and Topaz fell into the chasm below.
Barn was stricken. He couldn't do anything with his talons full of a sleeping Hoothoot except watch the mother and her son fall helplessly to their deaths.
Just then, however, a female voice rang out into the cavern. "Twister!" it said, and a massive tornado blasted up from the depths, catching Adrianna and Topaz and pushing them up at an angle. They came to rest on solid ground – the Twister attack had pushed them back to the safety of the ledge. On the opposite side, the Noivern shrieked in frustration, and spread its wings once more.
A Dragonair slithered up from the chasm with a Tentacruel hanging on for dear life. The two Pokemon landed gently beside Barn, Adrianna, and Topaz. The Dragonair looked at the bright red patches on her otherwise flawless scales and shook her head. "You owe me a lot of Pecha Berries when we get out of here, Alphonse."
The Tentacruel shook his head and scoffed. "If you haven't forgotten, Evelyn, you can shed your skin. And can I help it if my tentacles are poisonous?"
Barn waved a wing. "Excuse me!" he said urgently. "Could you stop your argument, because we've got trouble headed our way again!" He pointed to the Noivern, rapidly closing in on the group.
Alphonse and Evelyn got ready for battle, prepared to fight off the savage dragon and save their newfound friends.
-.-.-.-.-.
Wyvern wakes up and does some crying over his brother, and is comforted by two new friends. And Evelyn and Alphonse arrive just in time to save the day for Barn and Co.!
For the record, I have no idea what moves Noivern can learn, so I went with generic Dragon-and-Flying moves as well as Screech.
Characters are still welcome, although I'm not getting many requests lately – maybe it's time to shut down the OC request offer?
Anyway, RELEASE THE KRAKEN! …I mean, REVIEW!
Chapter Question #1 (please answer these!): Who is your favorite of all the characters so far, and why?