Chapter Six - The World Turned Upside Down!

August 5th, 2022

Training Grounds, Jay Town, Asture Region

Raine strutted out of the laboratory in a simple shirt and pants with two Poké Balls clipped to his belt. For once his lab coat was left hanging in his office. He wasn't a researcher for the next hour, he was a hopeful Pokémon trainer. His shirt had a small Poké Ball logo on the breast and was the most adornment that he was willing to accept. Unlike the children who wore garish designs of Pokémon on their shirts and pants he kept his clothes simple and basic.

As he arrived at the training ground two kids were battling their Beedrill and Mudkip. The Beedrill had the upper hand and was continually peppering the Mudkip with its stinger.

Mirella hadn't arrived yet so Raine joined the small group of onlooking children including the Boise twins and brought Buizel and Teddiursa both out of their Poké Balls to watch as well.

"Woah," Eli said, alerted by the appearing Pokémon. "You got a Teddiursa, Raine?"

"About time," Henning mocked. "I heard how embarrassing your loss to Mirella was. Your Buizel is pathetic"

"Shut it, Hen," Eli said and slapped his brother on the back of the head. "Don't be a rude jerk."

"What? What is that?" Henning said with fear in his eyes, pointing at the sky, totally ignoring what had been happening.

Raine tilted his head and shaded his eyes from the direct sunlight, catching a glimpse of a dark shadow passing far overhead. "That looks like a Charizard!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly the Pokémon started to dive straight towards them out of the clear blue sky. Within seconds they confirmed that it was indeed the enormous, orange, flying and fire type Pokémon.

"What is it doing?" Eli cried, cowering behind Raine's legs. "Is it going to attack us?"

"No," Raine said calmly even though he felt anything but calm. "It can't."

The Charizard levelled out about fifty metres from the ground and turned sharply in the air to fly directly over the row of houses at the North end of town. As it reached the first house it unleashed an enormous bout of fire. It sustained the attack, setting alight the grassy rooftops of all thirty residences.

"No!" Raine screamed, with no idea what to do. "No, no, no."

"Help!" The children screamed. "Someone do something."

Raine was frozen for a moment, watching Jay Town burn to cinders before he could react.

"Raine," Eli cried, shaking Raine furiously. "Do something!"

"Buizel, let's go," Raine finally ordered, snapping out of his stupor. " We have to put out the fires."

Raine and Buizel ran for the far side of town as the Charizard shot off into the sky. Whoever or whatever had caused it to attack was nowhere in sight. But Pokémon didn't do this kind of thing unprovoked. Still that was a matter to work out later, first things first he had to save the town before it burnt to the ground.

"Buizel, Water Gun," Raine yelled as they arrived at the closest house at the Western end of the row.

It was too much to ask of Buizel alone and his sustained spray of water was doing nothing to extinguish any of the growing flames.

People started to come out of their houses as Raine yelled, "Fire, fire!"

They spluttered and coughed from smoke inhalation. As they saw the state of the town they started to scream and yell in desperation. Anyone with a Pokémon that knew any water or wind based moves was summoning them to assist Buizel, but within minutes it was clear that it was too late. All they could do was fight to contain the fire from spreading to the rest of the town.

Professor Sakura arrived with almost twenty water Pokémon in tow. They were all from the Research Laboratory's grounds. Together with the town's Pokémon they all put out the fire as the houses finally started to collapse.

Through the chaos came a barking laughter and everyone turned to see three black clad people striding through the centre of town shoulder to shoulder.

"You deserved this," the person in the centre, a twenty something year old man, said. He had stark black hair, slicked back with a thick oil and wore a reflective visor similar to the PokéTinker. "Yet, this is only the beginning of your suffering."

Had the PokéTinker done this to them because Raine had denied him a look at the Pokédex?

The man held an arm up to the sky and the Charizard slammed into the dirt behind the three figures. They barely flinched at the impact, but the townsfolk shied away as Charizard roared at the sky.

Professor Sakura stepped a metre ahead of everyone and demanded, "Who are you? Why have you done this?"

"We are Team Omni," the man said proudly, "and we have come to claim what is ours by right." He threw a black duffel bag at Professor Sakura's feet. "Place all of your Pokémon in the bag."

"No," Raine said, stepping up beside the Professor with Buizel beside him, puffing up his chest. "Get lost."

"Charizard, melt this impudent fool." The three figures stepped aside so that Charizard had a direct line towards Raine.

Charizard opened its mouth, spraying fire up into the air before lowering its head and snarling ferociously. Buizel skittered on all fours and came up to stand between Raine and the angry Pokémon.

"Wait," the Team Omni man ordered, placing his hand on Charizard's mouth in possibly the bravest or stupidest move Raine had ever seen. Either that or he had complete trust as a trainer. "Hand over the Pokédex first."

"Tinker!" Raine swore.

"Yes, that old fool,?" the man said, patting Charizard on the snout to keep them calm. "He opened his big mouth and we caught wind of what he was saying. Now hand it over."

It. They only knew that Raine was carrying a single Pokédex. They obviously didn't know about the other four that Professor Sakura was keeping somewhere in the lab. Could he afford to hand it over?

"Don't do it," Professor Sakura said loudly, making Raine's decision for him, while holding an arm across Raine's chest. "That's our bargaining chip," he added in a whisper under his breath.

"I'm waiting," the Team Omni man growled, lowering his hand from Charizard's head. "You have three seconds or I let Charizard unleash his fury."

Raine could feel the weight and the press of the Pokédex on his leg through his pants pocket. It was sure to get noticed if he didn't do something.

"Three."

Raine started reaching for his pocket, but saw the Professor shaking his head.

"Two."

"You won't risk destroying it," Professor Sakura said confidently.

"I don't care for it actually," the Team Omni man said. "I'm just here for your Pokémon. One."

"Why now? What other than the Pokédex could have dragged you out of hiding to come and destroy our peaceful town and steal our Pokémon?"

"Retribution. Not only did the Tinker spill word about the Pokédex, but he got up close and personal with one of you villagers and recognised familiar features. She's a descendant of a traitor to our organisation." He craned his head and looked around at all of the terrified faces, temporarily forgetting about his threatening countdown. "Someone we all should have recognised a long time ago. Someone I don't see here. Where are you Mirella?"

Gasps and murmurs rang out from the crowd, but even if anyone had known where Mirella was they wouldn't have handed her over.

"What do you plan to do to her if you find her?" the Professor asked. "Will you threaten to set her on fire too? Like you have done to us."

"That remains to be seen."

"What will it take for you to leave us in peace?"

"That's simple. Hand over your Pokémon, the Pokédex and your Gym Leader and we'll leave you to rebuild this pathetic town."

"I'm here," Mirella said, coming up the road beside the Team Omni figures. She walked right up and stood directly in front of Charizard to block its view of Jay Town's citizens. "If I come peacefully will you give up on your other requests?" She, like all of the others, knew that they couldn't face and defeat a full grown Charizard in battle. None of them had Pokémon strong enough so they had to bargain.

"No, they have defied me, so I will get what we came for or they will burn," the Team Omni man said.

"These people have suffered enough."

"There is always more that a person can suffer. You will find that out, Mirella Phillips." He growled her surname through gritted teeth. Whatever her father had done to betray them had clearly left a wound.

Suddenly he reached out and forced Mirella to her knees by pressing on her shoulders. "Hand over what I've asked for," he said, addressing the townsfolk, "and she lives to see another day. This time I won't be distracted at the end of my countdown. Three."

"What do we do, Professor?" Raine asked, panicked. "We have to save her."

"Two."

"It seems that we must do what they want," the Professor conceded and pulled out a handful of Poké Balls from his coat pockets. He threw them into the open duffel bag and addressed the Team Omni man. "It will take time, but see this as our first gesture of compliance."

"Good," the Team Omni man said. "The rest of you, line up and follow suit."

Raine locked eyes with Buizel and both of them were teary eyed. He couldn't just give up his partner. They had been through so much together. He wasn't just any old Pokémon.

As Raine contemplated what to do the townsfolk started coming over and depositing all of their Pokémon into the bag. They were doing what it took to save Mirella, but Raine couldn't bring himself to join in.

At the same time Professor Sakura was using a handful of empty Poké Balls to gather all of the water Pokémon that had tried and failed to save the houses from the fire. Once he was done he deposited them into the duffel that was now almost overflowing.

"You," the Team Omni man said, pointing at Raine. "Hurry up and put that Buizel in the bag."

Raine took a second to consider before putting Buizel away inside of his Poké Ball. Yet he didn't throw it into the bag with all of the others. Instead he clipped it to his belt alongside Teddiursa and pulled the Pokédex out of his pocket. "I have your Pokédex," he said confidently. "Let Mirella go and you can have it."

"So you're the infamous Professor Sakura. Throw it in the bag then."

"No," Professor Sakura said and stepped forward several metres in front of Raine. "I'm Professor Sakura and we will not let you have it."

Without hesitation the Omni Man commanded, "Charizard, hit him with Flamethrower."

This time with no hesitation Charizard unleashed a powerful bout of fire over Mirella's head. It hit Professor Sakura square in the chest and engulfed his entire body.

"No!" Raine screamed, echoed by everyone who was witness to the cowardly attack.

Professor Sakura screamed as the fire set his clothes ablaze and melted the skin off of his face and exposed hands. Within seconds he was a crumpled, flaming mess, writhing on the ground in agony. Raine hadn't even been able to act in time to have Buizel douse him with water.

"You monster," Mirella yelled, lunging to her feet and slamming her fists into the Team Omni man's chest. He didn't even try to defend himself. He just wore the fists like they were nothing.

"Put Your Pokémon and the Pokédex in the bag," he demanded over Mirella's head. "Or more of you will feel the touch of Charizard's flame."

Raine screamed a guttural roar and threw Buizel's Poké Ball towards the Charizard. If he was going to give him up he wasn't going to do it without a fight. If only he had acted sooner, rather than cowering in fear, he could have saved the Professor.

"Buizel, use Hydro Pump," Raine commanded as soon as Buizel appeared.

Buizel hesitated for only a second because he had never managed to successfully master the move in the lab environment, and in that time Charizard flapped his wings and knocked him down with a gust of wind.

"That's enough," the female Team Omni figure said before the fight could continue. "We've shown our hand and gotten what we came for. It's time to go."

"No!" Raine shouted. "Fight me you cowards."

Buizel got to his feet and slammed the most powerful Hydro Pump Raine had ever seen into Charizard's underbelly. Charizard barely even flinched.

"This fight is pointless. You have no chance against Charizard. Now hand over the Pokédex and you can keep this pathetic Pokémon. We wouldn't want one so weak anyway."

Raine saw the futility of trying to fight when Buizel's best attack had elicited no response at all from Charizard. There was meant to be a type advantage, but it seemed like that was nonexistent. He still didn't want to give up and allow Team Omni to just take whatever they wanted. Professor Sakura deserved better than for him to just roll over. If everyone hadn't willingly thrown their Pokémon into the bag they could have all fought together and achieved some kind of retribution.

"Hurry now," the Team Omni man prompted. "We've wasted enough time on this town."

There were four more Pokédexes in the lab, but it didn't make the decision to hand one over any easier. What would Team Omni use it for and was its loss forgivable if it meant Mirella was kept safe.

"Mirella for the Pokédex," Raine said, waving it in the air.

"Argh, I'm tired of this! Fine. The girl can stay if you just shut up and put it in the bag."

"August?" the female member of Team Omni said uncertainly. "That won't go down well."

"It's fine. We know where to find her now, but we can't let that get away from us."

Raine finally succumbed, throwing the Pokédex into the duffel bag and stepping several metres back as the third Team Omni figure, who hadn't spoken, came forward to retrieve it.

"Trust me when I say this," August said. "We will return for Ms Phillips one day. Our complete justice will be served."

They turned their backs on the townsfolk and started walking towards route One as Charizard took off into the sky. When they were out of earshot Raine and Mirella ran over to Professor Sakura's cindering corpse and collapsed beside him. The rest of the townsfolk stood crying over their ruined homes and the body of their beloved Professor. Nobody knew quite what to say or to do. So much rebuilding, both physically and mentally, would have to occur before Jay Town would recover from its losses. If they could ever recover. They had lost the best man that Raine had ever known and he couldn't compose himself or control his raging emotions.