Chapter 10
April
I flutter out of breakfast, my little belly full. They gave us, like, twice as many food than before! I love it! Maybe it's one of the perks to evolving. What perks aren't there? It's awesome to be a Togetic! I don't have to walk anymore! I can just fly to wherever I want to. I get more food. I laugh in the face of gravity! On top of all that, I heard that I'm finally gonna get roommates! More pokemon equals more fun!
I was asked by my new superior, Fido, to go to the training grounds for some reason. In fact, he's called everyone to the training grounds. I have no idea what Fido called us for. Maybe for training. I have just gotten my wings, after all. I need lots of practice.
I come to the training grounds and I feel overwhelmed. Every pokemon is already there and they are organized into perfect rows of twelve. The Crobat, Fido, a Fearow, and a Flygon oversee the troops. That is, until everyone turns to me at my entrance. I'm late. And I'm paying the price.
Fido comes over to me, his four wings effortlessly keeping him above the ground where I stand with my delicate little feet. He glares down at me with his glowing yellow eyes. "You're late." I bow my head in apology. His expression doesn't change. "I'll let it slide since this is your first day and first battle, but I catch you late to anything one more time, you'll take it up with Leyorra." I bow my head again. "Go line up, third row." I swallow, jump up, and flutter over to the third row which has eleven pokemon instead of twelve. I settle at the very edge and try to make myself discrete.
Fido flies upward so he looks down on the hundreds of awaiting troops. "Now, there has been a threat to our home, Skyborne. The Wings of Legend are coming again soon. Well, they will regret ever setting wing on our territory! We will defend our home until our last breath. We will be victorious!" This is to get us riled up. Some shout battle cries. Most stay silent. Including me. I'm still shaken up from the scolding from Fido.
I'm also a bit shocked. Battle? Who said anything about a battle? I haven't even gotten the hang of flying yet! I can't fight. All I know are two attacks. I know Magical leaf which won't do much good on flying types and Metronome which inflicts damage only half the time! I can't do much else and I have no real way to defend myself. I run this all through my head, but I'm snapped out of my trance when I see the rest of my row filing out of the training ground. I scramble to catch up and nervously follow my comrades.
We march through the caves, footfalls or wing-flaps synchronized as methodically as clockwork. I fall into step with everyone else, my eyes frantically searching around for some sort of comfort. I find none. My heart beats a mile a minute. I take extra breaths and I can't slow them down. My hands get sweaty and I have to force my body to move me forward. Then I realize it.
I'm worried.
I'm more than worried. I'm terrified! The reality of it all hits me. I could die out there. This is a life-or-death deal. Instantly, I want out. No one told me that, by evolving, I would have to face death! Then, I remember. That's not true. Grayos told me. Kila told me. I wouldn't listen. I was too ignorant to pay attention to my future.
Our lines turn a corner and I'm blinded. Some sort of light streams in through an opening in the cave. One wall at the end stands agape like a mouth, showing off it's sparkling white teeth. I squint in the light. Something moves in the back of my mind, as if I've seen this kind of light before. Perhaps a field trip long ago? No, that's not it. It almost feels as if it's from some other world. As my eyes adjust, I dismiss the feeling and march forward.
The opening leads to a cliff, it's edge overlooking a huge cluster of trees. It's so many more trees than what we have in our network of caves. Their green leaves rustle in the cool breeze. My eyes wander upwards. I'm pretty sure those white things are called clouds. Ontinous always described them to us when I was a Togepi. My wandering mind is shot to attention by Fido's booming voice. "Ready, go!" Everyone else takes to the air and I do the same, working my tiny white wings.
The rest of the fleet turns around to face a huge rock called, as far as I'm told, a mountain, much larger than all of our massive caverns combined. The top is coated in snow, a cold and fluffy substance that our Delibirds sometimes made for us to play in on rare occasions. Many pokemon already are perched onto the top of the mountain, looking like tiny specks against the white.
We get closer, but our fleet stops short and settles onto a couple of craggy rocks on the side of the mountain. Winded, I stop for a breath and look around. Everyone else, not even sweating, stares at something above the forest, their eyes serious. I follow their robotic-like gaze and I see a line that separates the earth and the sky. I don't know what to look for. All I see are trees and clouds and sky.
Then, I see it. A few black specks in the distance hovering above the trees. Too big to be normal birds. Much too big. There is also something else. A bright light that comes from one of the larger specks. It widens and appears to come closer. I squint to get a better look and my eyes widen. Leaping off of my perch, I fly away as fast as my wings can carry me. I don't look back to see if anyone else has followed. But, if they stayed they're goners.
That's when the Hyper Beam struck where I used to stand.