Chapter 3
That Which Shatters the Heart
BOOM! The whole Gym building shook from the shockwave of the explosion. Cassius jumped to his feet, knocking his chair down to the ground. Every muscle in his body tensed. I'm not even here for more than a few hours and shit already begins to hit the fan! Ramos went from smiling grandfather to stern Gym Leader at the drop of a hat. This was the side of Ramos that only showed up whenever his dear city was in danger. Not many people saw this side of Ramos, but those that did knew that whenever he was like this he was scary.
Their eyes met, reaching an immediate understanding. Cassius returned all of his Pokemon while Ramos went for his Pokeballs. They rushed to the slide built-in to the Gym and took a ride down. They ran through the front door and saw smoke billowing up from the monorail.
Cassius was immediately in damage control mode, ready to give orders. "Grandpa, I'll head toward the monorail and see what's going on. You should-"
Cassius made the mistake of thinking that Ramos was just his grandfather, but Ramos was in just as much of a state of mind to control the situation as him. "Now don't be telling me what I should and shouldn't do, sonny. I may be your grandpa, but I'm also the Gym Leader in charge of this city! I can handle myself just fine. Call the police chief and meet me at the monorail." Ramos tossed a Pokeball into the air and his Gogoat appeared. He climbed on top of it and rode off towards the monorail.
"GRANDPA!" Damn it. Cassius pulled out his cellphone and dialed the police department.
A familiar voice answered the phone, a young woman by the sound of it. "Coumarine Police Department, how may I help you?"
"This is Detective Proctor. I am on my way to the Seaside Station Monorail. An explosion just went off a few minutes ago and I see smoke coming from the direction of the monorail. I was with Gym Leader Ramos, who just went off in the direction of the explosion to investigate. Requesting backup."
"I will have backup on the way."
Cassius hung up the phone and called out Patriot. "Time to fly." He reached up for Patriot, grabbing onto his legs. With a few wing beats, Cassius was in the air, headed towards the monorail. It was a short flight from the Gym and he made it there just as his grandfather arrived. Patriot hovered a few feet in the air, close enough for Cassius to drop down safely.
The flames of the railcar danced in front of their eyes, the screams of men, women, children and Pokemon creating a cacophonous song that rang throughout the air. The monorail lay on its side, close to the edge of the cliff. Cassius's stomach churned at the idea of it falling into the abyss beyond. Innocent people were trapped in a flaming monorail car with no way to get out.
"Grandpa, we need to get them out of there!" Possible ways to save the passengers continuously streamed through his mind so fast that he couldn't grasp the right way to do it. He looked to his grandfather for help. He was not used to something like this. He dealt with criminals and guns, not with flaming vehicles that would kill trapped innocents.
"I agree. I say we bust a hole through the bottom of the car and pull everyone out." Cassius took a deep breath in and exhaled, letting his panic fade away. He couldn't help anyone if his mind was muddled with worry. He nodded in agreement, his mind calmer with a plan in mind, and let out the rest of his Pokemon. Flashes of light burst from his Pokeballs and in an instant Flash, Cerberus, and Anubis were standing in front of him. Ramos did not release any more of his Pokemon and stuck with Gogoat.
"Patriot, Crush Claw!" Patriot flew up to the car, talons glowing, and started to slash at the bottom of it. He began to slice through, the sound of metal being ripped apart resonating in the air, but not enough to rip open a hole. "Anubis, Shadow Claw!" Anubis ran up to the spot that Patriot was tearing away at, his paws surrounded by a purple energy that formed long claws. He began to tear away at the hole, as well, opening it even further. But it still wasn't enough to open a hole that the trapped people could get through.
Then Ramos stepped in. "Pull your Pokemon back. They've opened it up enough for Gogoat and I to bust through. Have Cerberus and Flash on standby to start pulling people out." Cassius nodded in agreement and called the two of them off. "Gogoat, Take Down," bellowed Ramos. Gogoat lowered its head as if it were a raging Taurus and charged forward towards the hole, ripping it open large enough for people to get out.
"Flash, Cerberus, let's go," Cassius commanded. The three of them ran into the flames, charging in with the intent of pulling out those who needed help. Instead, all he saw was an empty monorail and a boom box that had the sounds of screaming people and Pokemon. Aw crap. This is a- was all that he was able to think before he began hearing explosions outside of the railcar. Cassius turned around to stare out from the entryway. There were three people standing outside with Ramos facing them with Gogoat, Patriot and Anubis. Gang members, probably a local crew. Cassius scrambled out of the fiery deathtrap with Flash and Cerberus, standing next to Ramos.
The three gangbangers stood on the adjacent cliff, standing above them. Holding the high ground. They're smart. "Grandpa, do you know who these guys could be," whispered Cassius.
Ramos nodded, his face stoic in the midst of danger. "These are some hooligans that I helped the police put away a few months ago. They broke into a house and nearly beat a woman to death because she wouldn't give them her wedding ring."
"I thought you said that the gangs up here weren't that bad," Cassius exclaimed.
"Yes, but some have become increasingly violent. No one has died, yet, but there have been numerous assaults as of late."
Then it clicked. Ramos helped to put them away; now they wanted to revenge. So they blew up the monorail to draw him out and away from the town. They wanted him alone, then overpower him with numbers.
"Grandpa, get out of here. You're their target and I'm pretty sure that it's not for a Gym battle."
"I'm staying right here, Cassius. I won't let them get the better of me, you know that. They wanna fight, then they're gonna get one."
His grandfather was a stubborn bastard, but he knew this. Stubborn was a family trait, after all. "Fine," he conceded, "but don't let them catch you off guard." He looked back at the criminals. They were outnumbered, had no clue how many Pokemon they had or even if they were armed. But he did know that they had backup on the way. The question was could they survive until then?
"Long time, no see, Ramos. How've you been," the delinquent in the center asked. He was about 5' 9", had short black hair, and wore a black tank top with jeans and a red bandana around his head. He had a tattoo on his right arm: a tree on fire. The other two gangbangers had matching tattoos. Where have I seen that tattoo before? It looks familiar.
"Why have you done this," Ramos shouted, shaking his shears in the direction of the railcar.
"I made sure that the two of us would be alone. Well, that was the plan anyway. Didn't realize you had company," he sneered. The other two scowled at Cassius, disgust obvious on their faces. Cassius ignored them, his face stony. "I have some business with you. You see, we have some…investors…that want you out of the picture. In exchange, when they gain control of the city, we get to call the shots for them. This'll be our turf and we'll be rich!"
"Don't get your hopes up too high. Your investors could just as easily turn on you if you fail." Cassius stated. "What guarantee do you have that they wouldn't betray you at the drop of a hat?" The gangbangers turned to look at him, contempt washing over their faces.
"Shut up! WE are gonna run this town soon and you won't stop us!" And that was when he pulled out the gun and opened fire on them. Before Cassius could react, Gogoat ran between Ramos and the bullet, and then dropped to the ground screeching in pain. It had been shot in its rear flank. Cassius didn't think the gunshot would kill it, but it was still going to hurt.
"Gogoat!" Ramos ran up to it, scrambling for its Pokeball to return it and tripped, nearly falling on his shears. Cassius ran up to Ramos and retrieved Gogoat's fallen Pokeball, returning it and giving the Pokeball back to his grandfather. At least we know that one of them is armed.
That was fine with him. It gave him all he needed to get his Pokemon involved. "Cerberus, Smog!" Cerberus ran up in front of the two of them and let loose a cloud of poisonous gas at their attackers, simultaneously providing cover for the two of them. "Flash, blast the cliff with a Shock Wave!" Luxray are a species that also have the ability to use x-ray vision, so Flash could easily see through the Smog attack to find its target. Flash sparked then discharged a blast of electricity at the base of the small cliff. It was just strong enough to create a small rockslide that the attackers soon rode down with.
"Anubis, Flash, get Grandpa out of here. Patriot, use Aerial Ace!" Anubis came up to them with Flash and helped Ramos onto Flash's back. While they were doing that, Patriot spotted one of the attackers and came down on him like the bird of prey that he was. It was a direct hit, throwing the gangbanger up against the rock wall and knocking him out.
They began to run in the direction of the Pokemon Center south of where they were. Ramos didn't argue this time. His precious Gogoat had been hurt. He couldn't let pride be his downfall, nor could he let Gogoat's condition worsen. He turned back to look at Cassius one more time before they were out of sight.
Good, Cassius thought, they're out of danger. And I just have two more to go. Piece of cake. "Cerberus, use Odor Sleuth to find where they are, then take them out with a Feint Attack!" Cerberus nodded and jumped into the smoke cloud. He knew that he wouldn't be affected by his own poisonous Smog, but he couldn't say the same about the gangbangers. He heard a yelp of pain (human, thankfully) and not a minute after that, Cerberus was carrying another one out of the Smog.
One more left. He cuffed the second one, just in case he woke up while everything was still going on. He was confident, but not stupid. He unholstered his weapon as the Smog cleared and the last gangbanger was left. The black haired bastard that shot his grandfather's Gogoat. He still held the pistol in his right hand, but in his left was a Pokeball. "Shit."
The gangbanger smiled and tossed the Pokeball, releasing a Drapion. It was huge and looked ready to kill. Hell, the guy probably trained it to kill for all he knew. "GUILLOTINE!"
The Drapion's claws began to glow as it lunged towards Cerberus. Thankfully, Cerberus had seen it coming before he did and nimbly moved out of the way. "Flamethrower, Cerberus!" Cerberus inhaled then gave the Drapion a face full of fire. It roared in pain with its claws flailing in every direction, hoping to land a hit on Cerberus. He wouldn't give him that chance.
"Patriot, Brave Bird!" Patriot came down hard and fast at the Drapion, surrounded by an aura of blue energy. It was a direct hit and the Drapion was down. The black haired man's smile turned into a scowl. He pointed the gun right at him as Cassius trained his on the man.
"Give it up. I already have backup on the way, your friends are knocked out, and I'm pretty sure that I'm a better shot than you."
"Who's to say you are? I just might be better than ya think."
"I doubt that. I've been around guns my whole life. I know exactly how to pull that weapon apart and put it back together again with my eyes closed. Now drop it."
The man went from scowling to worry for a split second, not moving the gun down at all. Then he dropped it, raising his hands above his head. Patriot scooped up the gun in its talons, tossing it away from the man. Cassius moved forward and placed the man's arms behind his back, cuffing him. He read him his rights, then had Cerberus and Patriot stand guard around him. He picked up the man's Pokeball and returned his Drapion. Don't want that thing waking up with its trainer cuffed. He walked over to the third member and cuffed him, too. Now all he needed to do was to wait for backup.
The minutes passed by slowly before he heard the sirens coming from the north. Took them long enough. Three squad cars rolled up onto the scene with Police Chief Ryodan leading the pack. He saw the blazing railcar and ordered his men to put out the fire.
"And get it done fast!" He turned to look at the gaggle of criminals with Cassius standing over them. "Good work, Proctor. Now do you mind explaining the situation?"
"Normally, I would give you the full run-down right now, but Ramos' Gogoat was shot and my Luxray and Riolu went with him to the Pokemon Center. I need to see if they made it back safely."
Chief Ryodan gave him a frustrated look and then tilted his head to the side questioningly. "What's up with you and Ramos? And why are you so worried about him?"
This was where things got awkward. Anywhere he went, people would find out about his family. Then they would look at him differently. It took almost the whole first year with the Lumiose PD to get everyone to stop looking at him funny, awkwardly and on edge, when word got out that a Gym Leader's grandkid was working there. He didn't want more people to know. But it was his superior asking him and he needed Chief Ryodan to trust him.
Cassius let out a sigh. "Ramos is my grandfather." Chief Ryodan's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "He and I were the first on the scene. We thought there were people in the monorail over there, but it looks like this was a setup. One of them was armed with a gun, said that they had 'investors' that paid them to get rid of Ramos. That was when he opened fire on us. The bastard was tring to kill Ramos, but shot my grandpa's Gogoat. I made sure that Ramos was fine, got his Gogoat back in its Pokeball, and sent him off to the Pokemon Center with my Luxray and Riolu for protection. I then proceeded to immobilize the criminals utilizing my Pokemon. I'll give you a written report later, but right now I need to be with my grandfather."
Chief Ryodan look astonished, a slack jaw look on his face. He then composed himself enough to say, "Fine, we'll take over from here. Just be sure to bring that report in before your briefing tonight. I want to know what the hell went on here, down to the last shot fired. Now go and make sure that Ramos is alright."
As soon as he returned Cerberus to his Pokeball he grabbed onto Patriots legs and began to fly in the sky. The flight was a little longer than the one from the Gym, but they made it. He rushed inside and to the front desk. Nurse Joy looked a little frightened by the man all but crashing through the door. "Where's Ramos? Are he and Gogoat alright?"
Understanding came across her features and she nodded. "He's outside of the Operating Room. His Gogoat will be fine, but he won't be battling for a few months. Let me take you to him."
Cassius nodded and followed her down the hall to the OR. He saw Ramos sitting on a bench, his face in his hands. "Grandpa!" Cassius rushed to his grandfather. Ramos looked up and stood up. "He's going to be fine; the bullet went through and through. He'll be in a cast for a few months, but other than that he'll make a full recovery. But if that bullet had strayed to the right an inch, it would've hit an organ and Gogoat might not have made it. Flash and Anubis are getting checkups right now. Thought it be best."
"That's fine, Grandpa. How're you holding up?"
Ramos sighed. "Beating myself up. That bullet was meant for me, not Gogoat. I feel terrible for letting that happen. I let my pride get me and it nearly cost me my precious Gogoat." Ramos looked towards the operating room away from Cassius looking dispirited.
Cassius put a comforting hand on Ramos' shoulder. "Grandpa, it's not your fault. Those guys won't be able to do that again. I caught all three of them. Backup arrived and is handling the rest. I'm here now; it's going to be all right." Ramos nodded. "I'm going to get Patriot and Cerberus looked at. I'll be back in a few, alright?" Again, Ramos nodded.
Ramos sat back down while Cassius walked back to the front desk. As he walked down the hall, he couldn't help but hear crying. It was his grandfather. That just pissed him off. And broke his heart. I'll make sure those bastards go away for a long time, Gramps. I promise.