Chapter Twenty-Two:
Pride

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon in any way, shape, or form. The only "ownership" I can claim are the personalities and my interpretation of how Pokémon look in a more realistic light, but other than that...yeah, I don't own anything on them. XD I do, however, own my original characters and writings, unless otherwise stated. In an exceptional case, a few special OCs belong to their respective owners, I'm merely borrowing them for the story that's to unfold. I'll point them out when their time to show up comes. :3

Note: Thank again to those who reviewed! I greatly appreciate it! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. :3

And I also apologize for the delay, things have been difficult time-wise as of late. BUT! I come bearing good news! One, there is art on my bluescalesandbrokenteeth tumblr account. A very sassy Riptide awaits to be viewed and adored by his loving fans. And, I have gone to a gator ranch in Louisiana! I got an awesome privilege to not only see gators up close and personal—as well as a beautiful Nile Crocodile! Gorgeous!—I also got the amazing experience of catching baby gators and handling them! Oh, they were beautiful and feisty little things! Much was learned. :D

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"All your life, other people will try to take your accomplishments away from you. Don't you take it away from yourself."
-Michael Crichton, "The Lost World"

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"Sorry for the shady-looking meeting I set up. Seems like a place some mobster would choose and not a dig student, right? Ah, well. I just wanted to make sure I got my bet put in for the race and this was my only week off to come up here. I just can't get enough of these races, especially since Grace is here in Kalos this season."

"No trouble at all. I'm not a stranger to these kinds of places for meetings."

Well, that was mostly true. At least he didn't need full tactical gear this time around. That was partly a relief.

The buzzing of hushed and excited voices resounded in the air around the two men sitting in the bleachers. Some waved little flags with names such as Thunder Horn or Drill Sarge, each rooting for their favourite rider and mount. Alastor's eyes flicked to the race track down below for a moment. The Rhyhorn and their riders were getting restless as they lined up in the gates, waiting for the bell to release them and start the race.

"Right, so, before this gets underway, here. Took me some time, but I found what you asked about a few weeks earlier! Got it all set up for you, too."

"Thanks. I would have gone down to the dig site myself, but I won't be heading that far out west for a while. This is actually as far as I'm going before heading back up into the mountains in the east."

"Oh, the rangers, I'm guessing. That's who you're employed with at the moment, right?"

"More or less, yes, that's right."

It was temporary at best, if he was to be honest, but it wasn't something he was going to announce out loud. The lanky fellow beside him only bobbed his head a few times as he dug into a worn out pack beside him. Moments of rummaging produced a wrapped parcel covered in dust. He smiled nervously, patting it off.

"Ah. Sorry about that. Dig sites. Full of dirt, ya know? Comes with the territory." He said as he unraveled the cloth to produce a pokéball. The red and white finish gleamed in the early morning sunlight. "Here you are. Took a while to get the cloning done, but I can happily declare, it's a healthy boy! You might want to draw up a feeding plan for the future when he gets bigger and evolves. Apex predators have pretty voracious appetites and they only get greater as they grow up."

Alastor nodded, knowing that sentiment all too well. It hit home pretty close and he offered a faint smirk at the irony.

"I think I can handle it for the time being. Thank you again for doing this."

"Not a problem. So, what're you planning on doing with it?"

"He'll be a present for someone. She'll love him, I'm sure."

"Oooh, a lucky lady?" A sly grin spread on the other's face.

"My wife."

"Oh, my. Very lucky indeed. I'm betting if she can handle this little guy, she has no problems with you!"

The werewolf felt another smile briefly tug at the corner of his lips as he gave a nod. Oh, the irony that was loaded into that comment, and the dig student beside him had no idea. "You could say that."

He minimized the pokéball and deposited it into his own pack lying at his feet. A huff of air to his other side drew his gaze to a dark furred Houndoom lying on the bench. Garnet eyes were trained on the race track, but they diverted to meet Alastor's gaze for a brief moment.

"What? You know she'd like this."

"Your woman has seven fire breathing flying lizards back home," the dark pokémon pointed out with another snort. His dark lips curled into a vague smile, white teeth glinting as the feeble sunlight caught on them. "I don't think getting her an old fossil is an apt enough apology for taking so long in finding her."

Alastor promptly ignored the light barb and fished out an envelope from another pocket in his pack. The man beside him went rigid suddenly when a klaxon of bells sounded off and an announcer over the PA began a rushed dialect of the race that had just begun. As soon as the Rhyhorn left their gates, Alastor no longer existed. His temporary companion was up on his feet, cheering for a Rhyhorn and its rider named Grace. He bellowed at the top of his lungs over the crowds, the announcer, and the thundering noise of the Rhyhorn below trampling the racing grounds. The air and ground positively shook with the mere force of the gargantuan armoured creatures propelling themselves forward on surprisingly fleet feet. Alastor deposited the reasonably thick envelope beside the man and motioned for Ares to follow him. The Houndoom did so, pausing only to stretch his cramped muscles.

"Wherever she is, she's certainly blending in well enough to avoid notice. You're usually on par with tracking people down," Ares remarked when they were well away from the race track.

"She'll show up eventually."

"She never did when she went on her little hunting trips. What makes you think she'll do that now?"

Alastor shot a slightly sour look to the dark pokémon.

"I'm simply playing devil's advocate. I'm not doing this because I dislike her, far from it. But have you considered the possibility that she…might not have survived the trip here?"

The werewolf nearly stopped in his tracks, but to his credit, kept walking toward the main route that would take him back to Lumiose City.

"You know as well as I do that she has a helluva lot more fight in her than that…thing gave her credit for. First thing she's going to do is go to ground, gather her bearings, gain information, then branch out for further action. She's probably got a team going, same as us, and she's laying low for the time being. She knows how to hide well enough, I'll give her that. But she knows I won't be that far behind her."

"Well…there was the Nebraska Incident." Ares conceded with a bob of his horned head.

"According to her, that was a 'non-event that never happened'." Alastor smirked a little, remembering how red her face had gotten when he'd shown up out of the blue like he had with no warning. She hadn't even told him where she was at the time. Tracking her hadn't taken long, but it wasn't exactly a short process, either. She was good at covering her tracks, he'd give her that. But he was just as good at uncovering and pursuing them back down to the source. "Regardless…she knows I don't give up very easily, just as I know she won't either. We're both stubborn like that. She's probably trying to find a way back home right now."

The Houndoom exhaled loudly once more as he trotted alongside the werewolf. Odyssey Village and its famous little Rhyhorn race track were quickly retreating away the further they trekked down Route Four. Alastor could already smell the fragrant gardens that lined the southern hem of the city, miles and miles away, but it was pleasant nonetheless.

"Two peas in a pod," the dark pokémon remarked, his ears twitching. He turned his snout to the sky, scanning briefly. "Speaking of…our little aerial friend's returning."

"I hear her."

Alastor turned his gaze skyward as well, pinpointing the familiar silhouette of Fenghuang, still high up in the hot blue sky. "She'll be down in good time. Let's make it to Lumiose and meet up with the rest of the rangers, see if we can't do another sweep before we head out."

"Have to make money somehow," Ares agreed. The Houndoom briefly hesitated before adding a hopeful note to his tone, "I'm sure she'll turn up. She'll eventually pry herself out of whatever little rock she's been taking shelter under. And then all we'll have to worry about it is getting back home again."

He sighed at Ares' comment, still tracking the Talonflame high above them. She dipped into an air current before tilting her wings and pulling them close in for a dive, hurtling rapidly toward the ground.

"Easier said than done."

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Shaky hands worked at the faucet knobs, palms still slick from sweat, but eventually were able to get the water running. Lupin shuddered as she splashed cold water on her face, cupping her hands together time and again, her head buzzing with…

With nothing.

Again.

It had all faded to black all too quickly, retreating into another thick miasma of convenient forgetfulness. She ignored the bombardment of questions she could hear from Bullet as she concentrated more on leveling her breathing, calming down. Slowly, her heart rate leveled out to an even rate instead of the rough clatter it went about and her nerves felt less jittery as well. Only when she was sure she wasn't going to fall over or puke, did she turn back toward the hallway to find Riptide and Bullet waiting for her. They had long since fallen silent, but she could plainly read the open worry written on Bullet's face and the sheen of concern in Riptide's eyes.

"You haven't had one of those in a while," Riptide said quietly after a moment. Bullet whined, looking torn between sitting still and wriggling forward, his body locked with pent up energy.

"You wouldn't wake up, you just kept…you kept yelling. And you were crying too," he added, ears folding back further against his head. Lupin stood there, staring, not fully comprehending at first. Her hands finally reached up, feeling her face and noting the wetness there. When she swallowed, she winced, realizing how raw her throat felt.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean…I didn't know I…" Her voice didn't sound like hers; it was so rough and grating, it surprised her. I'm going to feel this in the morning, I know it.

She twitched suddenly, her eyes alighting as she turned to Riptide.

"Did I…a-a name, did I say…anything? O-or about anyone…?"

He faltered. It was brief, but it was noticeable and her heart sank when he shook his head a few short seconds later. Slowly, he shuffled forward and that encouraged Bullet to do the same. She sluggishly lowered herself to sit down, her back to the towel cabinet beside the sink, feeling dizzy and disoriented, and above all, disappointed.

"You didn't say a name. Or a place. You just…kept screaming. Crying. Shouting. Telling someone to not hurt…someone else. Them. You said, 'don't hurt them'. I'm not sure what it meant. You were terrified and thrashing around. We couldn't get close. You woke up a few minutes after, but you weren't really all there and then you came stumbling in here." He wavered again, and pressed against her side, no longer looking her in the eyes. "I don't think I've ever seen you scared like that before. You've had nightmares, but this was…"

He didn't finish and he didn't need to. Lupin nodded, feeling numb and disjointed from the situation, as though she was no longer within her body and was watching all of this from somewhere else. Bullet slid into her lap and the warmth encouraged her to pull him close and bury her face into his fur, listening to a faster-paced heartbeat drumming away. It was almost a comfort and it worked for a time. It settled her nerves some, helped ease her from fidgeting or worrying at something else. It gave her something to focus on.

Her other hand eventually found its way to Riptide's head, rubbing at spots she knew he liked. The repetitive motions had their own calming effect, both for herself and for the other two. Bullet's scent mark was finally soothed. Riptide lapsed into silence, his eyes closing entirely and a soft hiss emanating from him every now and then. The cabin was quiet, except for the soft ticking of a clock somewhere, and outside, the Charizard…

She remembered where she was and it came in a rush all at once. She relaxed a little more against the towel cabinet, frowning.

"It's really quiet."

"The noise started dying down not long after we went to sleep. A few grumbles here and there, but…" Riptide peeped his eyes open and gently smacked his jaws shut. "…It's a little too quiet. Even for a valley full of giants."

"I hate those words. It usually means something ends up being wrong," Lupin made a soft, disgruntled noise.

"That's usually the case."

Lupin continued to frown. "Ridgeback said they see poachers often enough that they've had to 'defend' themselves. If Liza's gone and no one can call for backup in case something like that happens…"

"It's a possibility, but don't jump to conclusions," Riptide countered. Lupin wasn't convinced, but she nodded all the same and pushed herself to her feet. "Wait until you have all the facts."

"Right. Well…let's just take a quick walk. See what we see. Maybe the Charizard really do just get quiet at night."

Truthfully, she didn't think she could get back to sleep just yet. Her nerves were tetchy and her headspace too wired to settle, the adrenaline from the earlier night terror still coursing through her veins. Perhaps a walk and the brisk night air would calm things down further, lull her back to a somewhat easier sleep. And hopefully, at the same time, nothing sinister was happening and it really was just a quiet night hunkering down in the Charicific Valley.

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Great behemoths slumbered away, the Charicific Valley practically vibrating from the ground up with the deep rumbles of their breathing alone. Their brightly lit tails flickered about, dancing in the air with minds completely of their own now that their owners were not watching. Lupin walked on quiet feet through the dust choked landscape, the faint wisp of sulfur and scorched earth still permeating the air, while Bullet trotted alongside her on one side, and Riptide flanked her other side. The Growlithe's ears were pinned loosely to the top of his head, a half-whine built up in the back of his throat, although it soon guttered out the longer they were out there. Riptide eyed all the draconic beings with suspicion and wariness, never letting up in his careful tread as he moseyed after the other two.

There was nothing that showed that anything was out of place or amiss. Lupin relaxed visibly, the tension she had carried herself with ever since she'd awoken and left the cabin. To the puppy pokémon, it was a relief. To an extent, Riptide felt some relief as well. It really had been the worst night terror she'd suffered to date. At least, the ones he was aware of, it was the worst. She had been terrified, to say the least. The crying and the screaming had been bad…but the begging had been worse.

He hadn't told her in full, and he didn't plan to either. It would only needlessly stress her at this point in time.

Instead, he put his focus on observing the Charizard. That was what he should be doing, yes.

He noted how some of them were smaller than others, perhaps juveniles or newly evolved Charizard, while others were gargantuan in size. But they couldn't measure up to the behemoth that had driven away the window peeper from earlier. He looked as though he could have chomped Lupin right up in one gulp and still have room for more. He was, so far, the largest specimen observed in the Valley.

But there were others that came close to matching him. Some were bulky and thick, built for feats of strength and power, while others were skinny and slim but still muscled and lean, built for both power and speed. Another was so bullish in nature, Riptide almost believed him to be a new type of pokémon. It was only the dark reddish-orange hide, flicking fire-tail, and familiar horned helm of the Charizard that denoted its familiarity to him. He had never seen a Charizard like it. Some didn't even hold the traditional colours of Charizard, either, not completely. He had to stop and stare at one when he nearly stumbled upon such specimen. The Charizard in question had charcoal black limbs and tail tip, almost to the base, and perhaps even at its throat and belly and the colourations certainly weren't burnt flesh. It wasn't a shiny—or not what he'd expect a shiny to look like. He's never seen one himself. But he didn't think it'd be like that, he was expecting something…more.

He found out seconds later he wasn't the only one staring.

Lupin had paused to look at the slumbering beast, eyes wide and full of curiosity and wonder. He expelled a soft breath through his nostrils and toddled closer to her, nudging her leg with the side of his jaws.

"Let's start heading back. We have to leave in a few hours, and I don't think Ridgeback would appreciate being made to wait."

"…right. Yeah. I almost forgot," she mumbled back. Bullet glanced up at Lupin, noting how distracted she sounded, like her mind was miles away from where her body was right at that moment. The Growlithe then glanced back to the sleeping Charizard. Just as he was turning, something glinted, catching his eye. It was dull enough to avoid complete notice, but shiny enough to attract in the right lighting. And with the moon, swollen to a near full disc, was directly overhead and its silvery-blue light was bright.

Bullet crept closer, choosing his steps with care, fearing he'd awaken the great flame pokémon at any moment, but it didn't. It continued to slumber on, unaware of the little puppy pokémon edging towards it. Something was sticking out the neck of the Charizard, he found soon enough, a thin, metallic tube buried in the thick, rough skin of the bulky beast. Bullet hesitated, inching closer, then darted forward, snagging it with his teeth and yanking it out.

The Charizard slept, barely moving except for the heaving of its sides and the involuntary twitch of its neck. He scrambled away on surefooted paws, speeding after Lupin and Riptide. He found them both just around the bend, heading back toward him. Riptide looked annoyed, while Lupin—despite her still-distant gaze—was concerned and she stooped to pick him up. He wriggled away from her impatiently, dropping the little device and growling, "Not now, look! Look at this!"

The Totodile edged closer, stooping on all fours to sniff at the little object. He reared back up indignantly, nostrils wide and a hiss building in the back of his throat. Lupin snatched up the object, mindful of the needle at the end. "It's a tranquilizer round."

"That can only mean one of a very few things, and we can probably knock everything else off the list," Lupin surmised, her eyes drawing back into focus as she stared at the small metal tube and its needle in her hand. Without a spare ounce of effort, she crushed it between her thumb and index finger. The metal casing buckled without resistance, and with her other hand, she bent the needle and snapped it clean off. Bullet flinched in surprise. Riptide felt the hiss he had been drawing out suck right back in, once again reminded that his trainer wasn't human. Her ears and tail had become so incorporated with her image, he often forget they were there, like the tail at his backside or the length of his snout.

She dropped the broken round and tilted her head upwards, eyes scanning the sheer, craggy cliff walls and her ears went ramrod straight, slowly turning and twisting. She sniffed on occasion, but scarcely moved. Bullet did much of the same, and it left Riptide feeling out of place. His sense of smell wasn't as superbly defined as a canine's.

Barely a few minutes later, Lupin cursed low under her breath. "I thought I smelled something off, but I wasn't sure…dammit."

"I smell it too," Bullet concurred, but his ears slowly folded to press against his head. "But…I can just barely smell it. What is it you smell again?"

"People."

"Two?"

"Two," Lupin nodded. "Males, a bit 'round my age I think. I smell metal…and plastic…" She fell quiet, listening, sniffing, watching. "About a quarter of a mile away…"

If it were possible, what little colour they could discern in her face drained away.

"The nests."

She took off at full pelt, her tail bristling from end to end. Bullet spared barely a thought and sped on after her. Riptide stared, briefly taken aback. It hit him seconds later and he gave off a loud, ugly snort as he glared at their retreating backsides.

"Short legs here! RUDE!"

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They followed the scent trail over the uneven landscape, carefully picking their way to higher ground when the trail began to grow stronger, more recently shed. The stony hills were loose and treacherous off path and they were also narrow and thin, resulting in extra care where footing needed to be placed. Bullet followed close on Lupin's heels, while Riptide lingered farther back, grumbling under his breath all the while.

"How do you even know they're near the nests? We haven't been there." He called out at last, incredulous.

"I can smell all the babies. This is where their strongest scent marks are coming from," Lupin called over her shoulder before adding, "Now be quiet, or else you'll give us away."

"Give you away. Right. Give you away, my scales," he groused further, uttering a sibilant and low hiss.

He reached the summit where Lupin and Bullet were crouched at last, silent and still, although Bullet practically vibrated with nervous energy, but Lupin…

Lupin was merely still. Waiting. Watching. Her eyes were glittering darkly, calculatingly, as she peered down the low-grade hill before them. Riptide felt a little unnerved, but he remembered his own words to Bullet from earlier: he had a choice to stick around or leave, and the same applied to himself. The Totodile could have chosen to leave ages ago, but he stuck it out with the werewolf, regardless of what she was.

Instead of mulling over that, he turned his attention to the area below, a deep depression into the cliffs at the edge of the hill. Everything beneath was cast into shadows, but the flickering of several Charizard tails made possible for some light. Good, it helped him some, he couldn't see all that well. His sense of smell…well, frankly, it was much better. In the water.

But he could just make out humanoid shapes moving about, their shadows thrown to the walls against the dancing tail lights provided. After that, he couldn't see where they were going, but he would bet that Lupin could. Perhaps the dog too, if his eyesight was anything better than his own.

"What do we do," Bullet said with a hushed whine, breaking his gaze with the scene below. Riptide shuffled closer, dropping to his belly as he went to settle beside the puppy pokémon.

"We go down and take care of them. It looks like they tranquilized the Charizards around the nest. They're helpless. We can't let them steal from the nests."

"But, Lupin—"

"No buts. Would you rather we pretend they weren't here at all, and wake up to hear the mothers crying for the babies that were stolen?" Lupin responded pointedly, staring down at the both of them with equal disappointment. Bullet folded his ears against his head, pressing closer to the earth in a tiny ball. Riptide dropped his gaze to avoid hers. She pursed her lips together tightly, waiting, and when nothing else was forthcoming, she continued, "You have a choice. Either you help me, or you stay up here and watch me take care of things. It's on you."

The Growlithe's jaw dropped in surprise as the werewolf scrambled over the crest of the hill on silent feet, picking her way down the hill with little disturbance to the loose soil and stones beneath her. Riptide hissed, louder this time.

"She can't be serious, she can't fight pokémon on her own!"

"You forget she's fireproof. She stood up to a Charizard and practically begged to be charbroiled by one." Riptide paused. "And you obviously weren't there when she took down an Onyx in the Dark Cave…"

"But…well, yeah, but that's different, she knew about that…I…we have to help. But I...I'm..." He was afraid to admit he was scared. Afraid to say it aloud. In Violet City, he could be brave, to a point because he knew he wouldn't be caught. In Falkner's gym, he trusted that even if he had been knocked out, Lupin would've made sure he wouldn't die. Out here, however, it was the wild. There was no control, no safeguard. He was a Growlithe and he was afraid.

"What else would we do? We're her pokémon, her team. It'd be a failure on our end if we didn't go down to help. And a little embarrassing, to be honest…" Riptide sighed, pushing back up onto his hind legs. The Growlithe beside him sat up a little, his ears still partially pressed to his head, indecision clearly written on his face.

"Gym battles were one thing, but…these guys are poachers. They don't want to just catch you like the police pokémon, they might kill us."

Riptide paused, halfway lurching forward to start down the hill, regarding the puppy pokémon critically with glittering yellow-red eyes. He snorted and turned to follow after his trainer and called over his shoulder as he went, "Then a word of advice: don't die."

Bullet whined low in his chest and throat, pressing against the hill once more, watching the Totodile as he scurried down the hill. A minute passed. And then another. Finally he lifted himself just high up enough off the ground to slink after the two. He was a Growlithe. It would be an insult if he didn't try, scared or not. He said he'd stay with Lupin and he would, and he'd do it through gym battles or poachers or anything in between.

He wondered if Benjamin would be proud of him.

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