Lee.
Six Days Later.
The morning we walked into Celestic Town, you could have heard a pin drop.
It was a small town, built in a bit of a semicircle around a cave in the center of everything: I assumed it was important, like the Cave of Origin in Hoenn. It was settled in a bit of a crater, clearly visible from any point in town.
Then, in the dead of the silence, a shrill scream rang out through the air, as it does whenever I begin to make terrible decisions.
"Graaannndmaaa!" A skinny blonde girl ran out of the cave, half dragged by...
Lucian?! He had shaggy purple hair and glasses. There was no mistaking him.
Without thinking, I shrugged off my backpack and laptop bag, and handed them to Mark, muttering, "Here, hold this."
Before Mark could stop me, I broke into a run and slid down into the crater, and Shift fell into step beside me. I overheard Lucian giving the girl, now crying, instructions.
"...You must head back to your house, Cynthia, you'll only get hurt if you try to rescue her," He gently ordered, a bit out of breath. "Let me handle that boy..."
"But, Lucian...!" She sobbed, wiping her eyes. She was around Riley's age. "My grandma..."
I ran up behind them. "Lucian!" I called. "Lucian, what's going on?!"
"Umm!" Shift yipped excitedly. Her fur stood on end.
Lucian glanced at me, raising his eyebrows. "Lee?" He sighed in relief. "Total hell, I'm afraid...Team Galactic has taken residence in the mountains these past few days, but now an upstart commander is holding Cynthia's grandmother hostage within these ruins."
Damn...! "How long have you been here?"
"Long enough to chase the boy directly in there, but...he has a dangerous pokemon with him, and I promised Mrs. Rose that I would protect her granddaughter..."
Lucian's lilac eyes flitted around nervously, as if he were upset over the decision. I, personally, thought he had made the best choice.
"Lee!" Mark growled, running behind me. He threw my bags on the ground, and I heard the footsteps of the kids behind him. "Just what the (expletive deleted) do you think you're doing?!"
I glanced at him, and gave a rundown of what was going on. I grabbed Cynthia by the arm, and pulled her to Riley.
"Keep her out here! Me and Mark'll go save her gramma!" I ordered. I grabbed Mark by the elbow, pulling him behind me into the cave.
Take off all of your skin,
Be brave when you are free.
Mark struggled as I pulled him along, wrenching his arm out of my grasp.
"Damn you, Leon Higgins," He growled at me. "How the hell do you expect us to save that old broad?!"
Shake off all of your sins,
And give them to me.
"Easy! Use your Gardevoir to teleport her to safety, just like you did with the kids!"
"That nerdy punk said the Galactic dude has a dangero-!"
Close up,
Let me back in.
"Shift can handle whatever that brat can dish out! Just move!"
We reached a wider cavern at the end of the tunnel, and standing in the center was a teenage brat shouting at who I only assumed was Cynthia's grandmother.
I wanna be yours, wanna
Be your hero.
"I'm reaching the end of my patience!" The brat bellowed. "Where is the part of the ruins telling about the legends of Sinnoh?"
I know I'm overusing this term, but the boy looked incredibly bratty. He had his hair done high in a crescent moon shape, almost like cat ears, and it was dark blue, unlike the cyan-haired grunts I had seen before. Standing next to him, making threatening gestures, was a tall blue frog-like pokemon.
And my
Heart beats.
Cynthia's grandmother glared down the boy. "I've told you time and time again, I will not tell such a disrespectful young man. Especially after you lot attacked my poor Cynthia!"
I motioned for Mark to cover his ears, and did mine. Without thinking of the poor old woman, I shouted out, "Shift! Use Screech!"
Let the empires of the world unite,
We are alive.
Shift opened her mouth, and screamed out an amplified bark. It reverberated in the wide cavern, echoing beautifully. My baby sure knew how to project her voice.
She startled the ranting boy, and he tore his attention to me and Mark. His pokemon looked dazed from the noise. I'll bet both their ears were still ringing. Cynthia's grandmother stared at us in awe, and shock.
And the stars
Make love to the universe.
"We're here to rescue the old lady!" Man, was I eloquent.
Mark was quick as ever to react. He unclipped two pokeballs, throwing both out together.
You're my wildfire every single night,
We are alive.
"Blaziken, Gardevoir, let's go!" He called. "Blaziken, use Slash on that boy's pokemon!"
Both pokemon came out, but Gardevoir stsyed near us, waiting for an order. Blaziken, Mark's starter pokemon, lept into action with his claws.
The blue-haired boy stepped back in surprise. "Toxicroak, dodge that attack! Use Poison Jab!"
Toxicroak swerved out of the way of Blaziken's attack, jabbing back with a fist that faintly glowed violet.
A poison type..."Now, Mark. While he's distracted!"
Mark nodded, swishing his bangs out of his eyes. "Gardevoir! Teleport that old woman-" He pointed to her. "-out of here, with our friends. Now!"
Gardevoir nodded her understanding, closing her eyes. She focused on Cynthia's grandmother and, raising her right arm gracefully, the two of them shimmered into the air and disappeared.
The boy gasped, turning around to see she was gone. "No!"
I smirked. I glanced at Shift, waiting patiently for an order.
"Shift, follow them outside and make absolute sure Cynthia's grandmother made it out in one piece." She hadn't looked particularly fragile, but regardless, Gardevoir's Teleport had done some pretty nasty things to us in the past.
My Umbreon nodded, turning around and bounding off on her tightened muscles. It was a straightforward path, and she was naturally a wonderful navigator.
I stuck two fingers under a pokeball on my belt, curling them and prying it off. I threw it out, calling, "Fallon! Use Shadow Claw!"
Mark and Blaziken had been battling Toxicroak; while the pokemon was fast, it was pretty innacurate with its attacks. A precision attacker, like Shift, would have been preferable, but she was a bit busy.
My Feraligatr came out, his right clawed hand already enveloped on a shadowy violent aura. He came crashing down on Toxicroak, slashing with the shadow, but Toxicroak missed.
I grit my teeth, swearing under my breath. "Again, Fallon! Don't let him get away!"
The blue-haired boy smirked at my frustration. "Toxicroak, use Poison Sting on both of them!"
Toxicroak opened his mouth, and spat out hundreds of glowing purple needles. Blaziken lept up out of the way, and the attack came heading for me and Mark!
"Lee! Move, you retard!" Mark shoved me to the side, using all of his 180 pounds, and I slammed hard into a rock wall, banging the back of my head.
I closed my eyes, groaning. When I opened them, Mark had a hand pressed to his right bicep, fingers spread. His head was pointed down, bottom lip clamped between his teeth to suppress a shout.
Sticking out between each of his fingers was a long, faintly glowing, purple needle. Blaziken and Fallon battled on without their trainers.
"Mark! Shit!" I got up quickly, ignoring the throbbing in the back of my head. "Did you just-?!"
"...Yeah." His voice was strained. "You'd look like...like a pincushion if I hadn't."
His eyes were shut tight, wincing in pain. Mark had a fairly high pain tolerance. If those needles stayed in his arm much longer, poison could enter his bloodstream, and then...
"You've got to get out of here." I clapped him on the back. "Move, Mark. Nurse Joy has to look at your arm."
"No! Lee...if you-"
"Marcus," I growled at him. "Go."
Mark opened his eyes, green eyes constricting to the size of pins. Big oaf knew I was dead serious.
"...Okay." He nodded, and did as I told him to. I watched him run best as he could with his hand to his arm, until I couldn't see any further.
The fact that this little snot-nosed brat, this Team Galactic scum, had hurt my best friend was enough to make me want to physically beat him to the brink of death. I balled my hands into fists, my knuckles white as the bones my skin hid.
"Fallon, use Water Pulse! Douse this sonuvabitch!"