Plot-Scorbunny 7: The Girl With The Pendant Part 2
Author's note: This story takes place the same time as "Ghetsis's Revenge" and "Ashley and Sapphire vs. Ghetsis"
"S-Sprigatito! Help me out here with Leafage!" Liko shrieked.
Her Pokémon bravely leapt into action and tried to attack Zir and his Rhydon. But the moment it jumped up, Rhydon simply swatted Sprigatito away like a fly. The poor kitten yowled in pain and crashed down on its side.
"SPRIGATITO!" Liko screeched.
"Real cute. You think you can actually fight me?" Zir sneered, "Don't make me laugh! Now you be a good little girl and come with me or else things are about to get very, very violent!"
And things did get violent…but not for Liko. Zir and Rhydon found themselves suddenly snatched up by huge vines and catapulted away from Liko. The Paldean teen turned to see that it had been Emerald that had done this. The Galarian girl was back on her feet and had called Kerchak out to help her. Kerchak's Drum Beating had been enough to through Zir and Rhydon away. Now she was free to go, Liko scooped up Sprigatito and ran over to Emerald.
"Are you two alright?" Emerald asked.
"Sprigatito's looking a little stunned but it'll recover." Liko said as she patted him softly, "Thanks for saving me Emerald."
"Don't thank me yet." Emerald said grimly, "I have a feeling there's more to come. Who is that man and why is he after you?"
"He's part of the Explorers, a group of bad guys who are always chasing after me and my crew." Liko explained, "They…they want this."
She decided that there was no point hiding it anymore. Emerald was clearly no spy for the Explorers for she'd expressed confusion over who they were and Emerald was fighting to protect her instead of trying to capture her so she clearly wasn't on their side. It was safe to let her know. She pulled her pendant out of her shirt and showed it to her friend. Emerald gazed at it in awe. She'd never seen such a pretty looking pendant before. It sparkled a dazzling blue and yellow colour and seemed to shine brighter than jewellery usually did. Also, Emerald wasn't sure why, but she felt as if this pendant was more than just a piece of jewellery.
"That's a beautiful pendant…so why do the Explorers want it?" Emerald asked, "Are they treasure hunters or something?"
"We can explain later. I have a feeling more of them will show up so we need to get out of here." Liko insisted.
"How many Explorers are there?" Emerald asked nervously.
"Just three, but even one of them's too much trouble if you ask me." Liko answered, "So I'd rather we not deal with all three of them…"
Unfortunately, that was exactly what ended up happening. Liko's heart sank as she saw two other Explorers members flying in on the scene to join in the fray. One was riding on a Skarmory and the other was riding on a Corviknight. The two members jumped off their bird Pokémon and surveyed the scene before them. One was a girl named Conia and the other was a boy named Amethio. Conia had greyish blue hair with two large tufts pointing up at the back, blue eyes with pink highlights and was dressed in the usual Explorers uniform but her's included a black skirt and high-heeled shoes. Amethio was a tall, lanky boy with black and silver hair, purple eyes with triangular pupils, a stoic expression on his face and he wore a different uniform to Conia and Zir where he wore a simple purple long-sleeved shirt, black trousers with purple stripes down the legs and purple shoes with toes that pointed upwards. Amethio was the leader of this trio, something Emerald picked up on quickly with how he stood ahead of the trio and glared at Zir as he got back to his feet.
"You had the target cornered, was it?" he snapped.
"It wasn't my fault sir!" Zir protested, "I had her pinned against that wall until some brat with a Rillaboom threw me and Rhydon away!"
"You think we're accepting that as an excuse?" Conia sneered, "Surely you can handle a mere child, Zir. Or is that too much to ask from you?"
She shot a glance over at Emerald and whipped out a Pokéball.
"Let me show you how it's done!" she crowed, "Golduck, put this twerp in her place!"
She threw her Pokéball and brought out the Water-type Golduck. Golduck resembled a large humanoid deck with arms instead of wings, webbed fingers, webbed feet, a large tail, a red gem in its forehead, a large beak and a spiky hairdo. It was the fully evolved form of Psyduck. Emerald didn't flinch upon seeing this opponent.
"Oh no, a giant duck. Whatever shall I do?" she sneered, "It's not like I've got a big powerful grass gorilla on my side!"
But she didn't battle just yet. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Tony was running over to Liko. He didn't look hurt despite the Rhydon's ambush earlier, much to her relief.
"Tony, get Liko out of here. She's their target so we best not make her one." Emerald ordered.
"I'll keep her safe, little gem." Tony declared, "You'll deal with those scoundrels no problem!"
"Be careful!" Liko warned, "They're not to be underestimated!"
Emerald nodded. She was sure these people were going to be tough to beat but she was supremely confident in herself. She was the girl who thought her own sister to a draw after all so what chance did these people have against her when she was essentially Champion-tier? Tony took Liko by the hand and ran out of the docks with her. Amethio watched her go and tried to chase after them but Kerchak used Drum Beating to snag him with a vine and stop him fleeing.
"Ah, ah, ah! No! You're all staying right here where I can keep an eye on you!" Emerald growled, "Nobody leaves here until I've thoroughly kicked your asses! Understand?"
"My you're a feisty one, aren't you?" Conia sneered, "If you weren't so adorable looking, I'd almost feel bad about what I'm about to do…Golduck, use Psychic!"
Golduck held out its hands and used Psychic to immobilize Kerchak. But to Conia's amazement, Kerchak was able to break free after a bit of a struggle. The grass gorilla break free of the psychic hold with merely his own strength and once that as done, Emerald ordered Kerchak to retaliate by using Drum Beating. Kerchak banged his drum heavily and summoned two vines that shot up from the ground and entwined Golduck. The Water Pokémon quacked in shock and struggled furiously as the vines wrapped around its body and limbs. Zir tried to help by ordering Rhydon to use Megahorn and break the vines but Kerchak stopped it as well with another Drum Beating. Once Rhydon was grabbed, the two vines slammed both Pokémon together head first and knocked them out instantly. The two collapsed in a heap together on the floor. Conia and Zir were astonished. Emerald just smirked as if to say "I knew I could beat you both!" and Kerchak pounded his chest in victory.
"No way, she took us BOTH out in one move?!" Conia exclaimed.
"Who IS this kid?! She makes that Friede guy of the Rising Volt Tacklers look like an amateur!" Zir blustered.
"You're out of your league against me, mates!" Emerald taunted, "I'm the sister of Galar's current Champion and I'm pretty much a Champion-tier trainer in my own right!"
"Is that so?" Amethio muttered, stepping forward and drawing out two Pokéballs, "Then let's test your mettle, shall we? Ceruledge, Corviknight, go!"
He threw the Pokéballs and brought out his two Pokémon. Emerald grimaced as she weighed up the opposition. Both Pokémon were the WORST opponents for Kerchak to go up against as both were super-effective against Grass-types! Ceruledge was part ghost which meant Kerchak's Darkest Lariat could stop it but she knew that Ceruledge were tough fighters and their signature move could be a problem. She'd watched Ruby train up her own after all. And Kerchak knew NO moves at all that could stop Corviknight so it was pointless to keep him out. Emerald returned Kerchak to his Pokéball.
"Looks like I'll need to change things up a bit." the coordinator acknowledged, "Razer, Thor, let the fun begin!" she commanded, throwing two different Pokéballs out.
Her faithful Haxorus and Raichu materialized onto the field. Zir and Conia recoiled a little upon seeing who their boss was up against. A Raichu was nothing special but the little brat had a freaking HAXORUS?! They'd clearly underestimated how strong this girl really was! Amethio didn't flinch, seeing the two as just obstacles standing in the way of his target.
"Not bad. But don't expect to win." he muttered, "Ceruledge, Bitter Blade on Raichu! Corviknight, Iron Head on Haxorus!"
Both his Pokémon charged towards Razer and Thor. Ceruledge sprinted quickly and raised its swords up high ready to strike while Corviknight whizzed towards its opponent with its head glistening in the sunlight.
"Dance out the way!" Emerald ordered.
Razer pivoted on one foot and spun to one side, causing Ceruledge to miss entirely while Thor sprang into the air with his tail and somersaulted over Corviknight. Amethio recoiled in astonishment. He'd never seen anyone fight like this before! As Ceruledge went past Razer, the Haxorus continued her pivots until her tail slammed into its back and knocked it down onto its stomach. Thor landed back on the ground, spun on the balls of his feet and zapped Corviknight with a Thunderbolt. The metal crow squawked loudly in pain and it crashed down onto the floor, dazed but not out of the fight yet. Emerald smirked confidently. Her skills as a coordinator had certainly given her an unpredictable battle style! She could tell from Amethio's face that he was confused over what just happened.
Just what I hoped for. If I keep this up and keep confusing him, he'll go down easy-peasy! she gloated, I bet this guy has NEVER fought a Pokémon Coordinator before…
"Razer, mow down Ceruledge with Outrage!" Emerald ordered, "Thor, get that Corviknight with another Thunderbolt!"
Razer charged towards Ceruledge with orange energy coating her body while Thor fired another Thunderbolt at Corviknight. Amethio ordered his Pokémon to dodge. Ceruledge leapt to one side and Corviknight flew back into the air. Razer and Thor missed their targets but that didn't stop them for long. Razer continued to chase after Ceruledge while Thor simply took aim and fired again. Corviknight spun away and charged towards Thor with another Iron Head. Ceruledge kept somersaulting backwards to avoid Razer's Outrage but it couldn't avoid her forever. Razer proved to be too fast in the end and she eventually caught up to the ghostly knight Pokémon. She ploughed straight into Ceruledge and knocked it down flat on its back. Amethio winced, feeling Ceruledge's pain. Razer went wide-eyed and vacant for a moment as the side-effect of Outrage left her confused but it didn't last long. Emerald had trained her to get over that side-effect. Razer smacked herself in the back with her tail. The pain she caused herself snapped her out of her confusion and she was back to her old self again. Amethio's eyes narrowed.
She's well trained… he acknowledged, Liko sure picked the worst possible time to find a new friend to protect her from us!
He turned to Corviknight just as it missed with Iron Head as Thor somersaulted out of the way again. As he sailed over Corviknight, he suddenly lashed out with his tail and slammed it down on the steel crow's head. This was Thor's own unique way of using Brick Break as his stubby arms were hardly useful for karate chopping anything. Corviknight was disoriented by the blow and it was forced to land so it could shake off the pain. Amethio ordered his flying Pokémon to use Air Slash, hoping he'd get Thor to flinch and stop him from attacking for the moment. Corviknight swiped the air with its wings and hit Thor with blades of air that cut into him. To Amethio's delight, he successfully made Thor flinch. Corviknight was now free to attack. Corviknight flew straight into Thor with Iron Head and finally managed to land a hit…only for it to be a pyrrhic victory for Thor's static ability immediately paralyzed it! Corviknight winced as electricity crackled around its body and made its muscles lock up. It had stopped Thor from moving, now Thor was stopping it from moving too! With Corviknight paralyzed, it couldn't react and was helpless to do anything as Thor simply hit it with another Thunderbolt. Corviknight squawked loudly in pain and collapsed to the ground, wiped out completely by the blow.
Meanwhile, Ceruledge and Razer were trading blows with Ceruledge's swords clashing against Razer's axe-like tusks. To any onlookers, this was like watching the brave knight go up against a monstrous dragon to save the princess from its clutches. And so far, it looked as if the dragon was winning. Ceruledge's hits barely seemed to faze Razer while her tusk swipes would hit with more force and nearly knock the ghostly fire knight off its feet. Then Razer lashed out with her jaws and bit down hard on Ceruledge's shoulder with Crunch. The twin-sword Pokémon let out a haunting wail of anguish and it only got worse for it as Razer suddenly picked it up off the floor and tossed it to one side with one flick of her powerful neck muscles. Ceruledge hit the ground hard and rolled to a stop. Amethio began to feel nervous. He wasn't used to losing as his Ceruledge was always his ace-in-the-hole in battle. How powerful was this girl when even he was struggling against her?!
"You may as well give it up you jerks!" Emerald taunted, "I've got you on the ropes here! You're never gonna get Liko, not as long as I'm around!"
Amethio nodded agreeably.
"Yes, you are very strong. Too strong for us clearly." he muttered, "Liko was lucky to run into you. I'd be very interested to know why you're so keen to protect her from us."
"You say that as if I need a reason." Emerald retorted, "How sad are your lives when you NEED a reason to protect someone?"
Amethio frowned in annoyance.
"You've fought well, but play time is over." the Explorers admin declared, "Ceruledge, Phantom Force!"
The Fire/Ghost Pokémon opened up a purple portal beneath its feet and dived down into it, vanishing from view. Emerald scowled irritably. Trust that Amethio to have a Pokémon that could do that! But she wasn't too worried. Trainers like that were so predictable.
"Fifty quid says it appears right behind Razer." she deduced.
If it had been a real bet, she would be fifty quid lighter right now. Instead, Ceruledge had reappeared behind EMERALD! The brunette girl screamed in shock as she found herself with Ceruledge's blades crossed in front of her neck! If she dared to move, it would slit her throat or worse, decapitate her entirely! Razer and Thor saw this and ran towards their trainer.
"Ah, ah, ah. Stay where you are." Amethio barked, "If you take one more step forward, my Ceruledge will leave your trainer headless. Don't think for a minute that I'm bluffing."
Razer and Thor didn't know what to do. They couldn't just stand by and let this boy threaten their trainer like this! But if they tried to help, Emerald would be killed. Even Emerald had already accepted that Amethio had won and there was nothing she could do.
"Please Razer and Thor, just do as he says! I'll be fine, honest!" she begged.
"Return them both to your Pokéballs right now." the Explorers admin ordered.
Ceruledge pressed its blade against Emerald's throat as if to say "Do it now, or else!" Emerald whimpered. Her heart was hammering. Her head was pouring with sweat. How had she ended up in this mess?! She was sure to win this fight and now she was being forced to surrender! As much as she hated this, what good would refusing to cooperate do her? She loved her head and very much preferred it being attached to her body! With no other options, Emerald fumbled into her pockets and fished out Razer and Thor's Pokéballs. She returned them both and put the balls away. Zir and Conia smirked with triumph.
"Not so tough now are you?" Zir sneered.
"Good call Amethio sir." Conia complimented, "We'd never have beaten her otherwise."
"Sometimes playing dirty is necessary." Amethio said bluntly, sounding disappointed he'd been forced to do so, "Now then little girl, you're coming with us and the two of us are going to have a little chat. Zir, do the honours." he commanded.
"With pleasure!" Zir said, cracking his knuckles.
"NO!" Emerald screamed.
Zir ignored her and strode up to the teenage trainer. He drew his arm back and threw a single punch directly at Emerald's face. Then everything went black…
Further along the docks, Tony and Liko had dived behind some shipping crates to hide from view and catch their breath. The shipping crates hadn't been used for a long time. Tony could see the rust that had formed from years of neglect. He even wondered if anything had ever been in them at all. At least he wouldn't have to worry about any ships taking them and giving their hiding place away. Liko pressed her back against the crate and took several deep breaths as the stress of the situation started to overwhelm her. She was never the best at handling stressful situations and had to take a moment to calm down. She placed her hand to her chest as if to reassure herself her pendant was still there. Tony stayed quiet and gave Liko her own space so she could settle down. After a minute, Liko had finally calmed down and was back in control of herself.
"I think we're safe now." she said with relief, "Tony I…"
Tony clasped a hand over Liko's mouth and shushed her. Liko nodded and watched as Tony peeked around the crate to see if they'd been followed. He looked to the left and then to the right. He even looked up to make sure the Explorers weren't searching by flight. There were no signs of any Skarmory or Corviknight. The brunette boy sighed with relief.
"Coast is clear. My little gem has definitely kept those villains from following us." he announced.
"I hope she's OK." Liko said worriedly, "The Explorers are very devious people. I'm worried they'll hurt her."
"I am too love, but I know that Emerald will be fine." Tony said reassuringly, "She's handled much worse threats than those people."
"Much worse?" Liko echoed in amazement.
"Oh yes." Tony confirmed, "She helped Ruby foil Team Royal's plans a couple of years ago, she even helped us calm down the Legendary heroes of Galar when they were corrupted, she helped me defeat a Regice in the Crown Tundra and on top of all that, she braved any opponent she face in Galar's first ever Pokémon Contest so she could win the prize money to save my life. The Explorers will barely be a smear on her windscreen." he said confidently.
"Hang on…she saved your life?" the Paldean girl asked, "How so?"
"I needed an operation to cure a disease I once had and it was Emerald who helped win the money I needed to pay for it." the Galarian boy replied, "Without Emerald, I wouldn't be here talking to you right now."
Gosh, no wonder he's Emerald's boyfriend! That's so sweet, incredible and…romantic! Liko squealed in her mind.
"Aww, what a hero!" Liko said aloud, "I see why you love her so much."
Sprigatito mewed in agreement, equally as touched by Tony's story.
"Oh yes. That girl has allowed me to carry on living. How can I not love her for that?" Tony said with awe, "But that's enough about our romance. We'll wait here for a few minutes. I expect Emerald will ring me on my Rotom phone the moment she's dealt with those Explorers."
"OK." Liko said agreeably.
"Why are they after you?" Tony asked, "I think I heard you and Emerald mention something about a pendant?"
Liko explained the whole story. Her pendant was a gift from her grandmother that had been passed down to her. It was supposed to be a good luck charm. But after some time at school had passed, the Explorers invaded the school and tried to claim it from her. A stray attack from Amethio's Ceruledge had caused some kind of power to activate and protect her from the attack. After that, she nearly fell to her death but was saved by Professor Friede. Now she was part of their crew on the Rising Volt Tacklers and both she and the professor were interested to know more about the pendant.
"So you see, it's as much a mystery to me as anyone else why they want it so badly." Liko finished, "Whatever the reason, it's not good. I bet they want its mysterious power to do something awful like conquer the world or enslave Pokémon."
Tony took all this in with great interest. So all this was for a little girl's pendant that seemed to have some kind of power? He supposed he could understand why the Explorers were after it. If he was part of some evil organization, he'd probably want it too.
"In that case, me and Emerald are right to help you keep it out of their hands." the Pokémon coordinator said, his voice blunt.
"I'm so very sorry that you two have gotten mixed up in all of this." Liko said apologetically, "I shouldn't have hung around with you two. I should've expected something like this to happen."
"Poppycock." Tony said dismissively, "You have NOTHING to be sorry for Liko. The Explorers are the ones trying to steal the pendant. They're the ones to blame for this. Don't pin this on yourself, OK?"
Liko smiled appreciatively. She may not like how Emerald and Tony had gotten caught up in her little skirmish because of her pendant, but she was glad to have met such kind people like them. They were truly the shining moment amongst this hectic situation!
"Thank you Tony. I can't thank you or Emerald enough for being so nice to me despite us barely having met." the Paldean girl thanked.
"Do we need to know you well to want to be nice to you?" Tony said warmly, "You've been nice to us as well so the feeling's mutual."
Liko beamed. Her Sprigatito shared its trainer's expression. They were so lucky to have met such lovely people like Emerald and Tony for this visit. It would be a shame to leave them behind when it was time for the ship to leave but Liko decided to worry about that later. They had bigger things to think about for now.
Ten minutes of waiting passed and Tony hadn't received a call from Emerald. He began to feel anxious. Surely Emerald would've beaten them by now? He decided not to wait any longer and see for himself that his girlfriend was alright. He dialled Emerald's number and waited for her to answer. His Rotom phone rang and rang but Emerald didn't answer. He tried again. Still no answer. All his phone could do was tell her that she was unavailable. That made Tony's blood run cold. Liko was equally as anxious.
"S-s-she's not answering." she stammered, "Th-that must mean…"
"…she's been captured!" Tony gasped in horror, "Come on, we must help her!"
He looked to his Rotom phone again. Curiously enough, Emerald wasn't answering the phone but his tracer app was still able to pinpoint where Emerald's phone was. Her phone had likely been left behind by the Explorers. It didn't seem to be moving anywhere so that supported his theory. Tony and Liko followed the tracer app to where Emerald's phone was. As Tony had feared, Emerald's backpack, her phone and all of her Pokéballs had been left behind. Emerald herself and the Explorers were gone. Tony ran over to the backpack, his hands trembling.
"No…how could this be?!" he exclaimed, "There's no way those fiends could've beaten Emerald! She's way too strong for them!"
"I did warn her they're not to be underestimated!" Liko wailed, "Now she's their prisoner! Oh no…they're probably going to bargain her for my pendant! Oh how could I have allowed this to happen?!" she shrieked, tugging at her hair in worry, "I should've left on the ship instead of sticking around then none of this would've…"
"Liko, please, just stop." Tony said firmly, "Having a nervous breakdown won't save my girlfriend. And what did I say about blaming yourself for this?"
Sprigatito nuzzled Liko's chest to further ease her nerves. Liko sighed and patted her Pokémon on the head.
"S-sorry about that." she said meekly, "I'm just worried for Emerald. The Explorers might hurt her or worse…"
"We'll rescue her, I assure you." Tony declared, "Now let's see if any of her Pokémon can help…"
He picked up all six Pokéballs and opened them up to see what Emerald had. Out of the balls came Kerchak, Razer, Thor, Marinette, Blue and Mei-Mei.
"Ah, that's a stroke of luck!" Tony cried, "She's got her Orbeetle with her. A Psychic-type will help us find her."
"An Orbeetle?" Liko mused with interest, "Never seen one before. In fact, I only really recognize Haxorus, Raichu and Rillaboom." she acknowledged.
"I guess the other three don't live in Paldea too." Tony deduced, "Then this should be interesting for you. Marinette, we think your trainer's been captured." he explained, "Can you use your psychic powers to find her?"
Marinette closed her eyes and tapped into her psychic powers. Liko watched with fascination as the Orbeetle's wing case started to glow and her whole body was surrounded by psychic energy. Who knew this tiny ladybird like Pokémon could have such power? Sprigatito looked almost spellbound by Marinette's abilities. As dire as the situation was, at least it and its trainer could enjoy seeing a new Pokémon in action. Marinette was still for a few seconds before finally, she opened her eyes again.
"She's in a warehouse in that direction." she directed, pointing ahead.
"Then that's where we go." Tony declared, "I won't let them harm my little gem!"
He returned all of Emerald's Pokémon and put them into her backpack. He picked up the bag so he could give it back to her once they rescued her. He was about to storm off until Liko grabbed hold of his arm and held him back.
"No, don't!" Liko cried desperatelt, "What if we stumble right into a trap? They might capture us too and then they'll take my pendant!"
"But if we don't do anything, they'll just use Emerald to force us to hand you over!" Tony protested, "We have to save her now!"
"I know, I know! I'm not saying we're not going to save her." Liko insisted, "I have an idea, but we need my crew to help us out."
"Ah…as in we surprise them with unexpected backup?" Tony realized.
"That's right!" Liko said cheerfully, "Follow me, my ship is this way!"
She ran off with Tony hot on her heels as she led him to where the Brave Asagi had been docked. With the help of the Rising Volt Tacklers, Emerald was as good as saved. Tony only hoped that the Explorers weren't doing anything to her at this moment…
"Wake up."
Emerald's eyes slowly opened and she groaned as she started to slip back into consciousness. Several thoughts ran through her head as she started to wake up. What happened to her? How had she ended up like this? Then she remembered. True that sneaky trainer to get his Pokémon to sneak up on her and blackmail her into surrendering like that! Her vision was blurry at first but she blinked it away and soon she could see clearly again. The Galarian teen saw that she was no longer by the docks, but was in some kind of room with a single door leading in and out of it. Amethio was standing in front of her. The grim-faced teen was gazing at her with his usual emotionless glare. Emerald wondered what he was thinking at this moment. Despite her interference, he didn't seem too annoyed or angry with her, just quietly curious. Yet that somehow didn't make her feel any better.
Emerald tried to move but something kept her from moving her hands. She looked up and gasped in horror to see that they'd been chained above her to a rack of shelves by a pair of handcuffs. The handcuffs were wrapped around a shelf above Emerald's head so she couldn't lower her hands at all. She tugged on the cuffs but it was useless. She had no chance of escaping. Emerald looked back at Amethio with fear in her eyes. Her heart thumped against her ribcage as if trying to escape from it. She was chained up and completely at his mercy! Was he going to torture her? Maybe get his Ceruledge to stab her to death?! She wanted to get away and fast but what could she do? Her backpack was gone so her Pokémon wouldn't be able to help her. Maybe she could try reasoning with this boy and convince him to spare her life.
"W-w-what is this? W-why are you doing this to me? P-please sir, let me go!" Emerald begged feebly.
She hoped that if she came off as weak and pathetic, Amethio would underestimate her and it would leave him wide open for a surprise attack should she get the opportunity. The Explorers leader's face didn't change as he put a finger to Emerald's lips to silence her.
"There's no need to panic, miss." he said softly, "I'm not going to hurt you. I only want to ask you some questions, and I only ask for your cooperation in return. Otherwise Ceruledge might have to get a little…violent. Do you understand?"
"I'll be good!" Emerald swore.
The Explorers leader couldn't help but offer a tiny smile in response. It was so small and quick that Emerald would've called it a nervous twitch more than anything. Amethio was quietly amused over the fact Emerald had been all full of bravado but now she was at his mercy, she was now reduced to being a scared little child who was forced to behave for him.
"Excellent." Amethio muttered, "Now then: who are you and why are you standing in our way? Are you by any chance affiliated with Ms. Liko?"
Emerald gulped as she mulled over the questions. Of course, it was all about Liko and she had a feeling that she was the reason Amethio was even keeping her alive at this point.
"M-m-my name is E-emerald S-Silverlock, sir." Emerald stammered, "I'm a P-Pokémon Coordinator f-from Postwick Town. I only s-stood in your way b-because you attacked me, my boyfriend and Liko. Y-you must understand that I only r-retaliated because y-you started the fight, right?"
"You got yourself involved in matters that don't concern you, Ms. Emerald." Amethio said bluntly, "Your imprisonment here is your own fault."
"But it did concern me." Emerald retorted, "You attacked us completely unprovoked! I had every right to defend myself! Why did you do it anyway?"
"What does it matter to you?" Amethio snapped, "As I asked you, are you affiliated with her in anyway?"
"Well…no, not really." Emerald admitted, "I literally only just met her today. Me and my boyfriend were shopping together and she just happened to run into us. But why does that matter? Even if I've only just met her, I still had to protect her from you. You were attacking us and your comrade tried to take her away. Did you think I'd really just stand by and let you harm her?"
The black and white-haired boy shook his head grimly.
"We weren't going to harm her." Amethio explained, "We only wanted her to come with us. You needlessly complicated things by getting involved. So how much do you know about Liko?"
Emerald shrugged, her handcuffs clinking softly from the movement of her hands.
"Not much. I told you, I only just met her today." she answered, "Aside from her partner being a Sprigatito, her being an adventurer from Paldea who rides on a big airship and also being a student at Indigo Academy, I don't know much else."
"Then you're not familiar with her mysterious pendant, I take it?" Amethio inquired.
"No, when I first met her, I knew nothing about it." Emerald explained truthfully, "I didn't even notice she wore a pendant until I saw the string around her neck while we were dining together and she didn't show it me until after you attacked us. She tells me you Explorer folk are after it but she hasn't explained why yet, no thanks to you guys."
Amethio pursed his lips in thought. So this girl wasn't in it for Liko's pendant and was just some innocent civilian that had been caught up in their crossfire. No wonder she got so recklessly involved. The poor girl had no idea what she was dealing with and now she was paying the price for it.
"Why do you want Liko anyway?" Emerald asked, "Is this pendant of her's really that important to you?"
"Yes." Amethio answered, "That pendant is important to us and we must seize it from her at all costs. Given you got yourself involved in this mess, we're going to keep you prisoner here until Liko inevitably comes to rescue you. She and the pendant will deliver themselves to us in exchange for you freedom, Emerald. She'll have no choice but to give herself up to us."
Emerald's blood ran cold. So she was essentially a hostage for the Explorers to use to make Liko hand herself over to them?! She tugged on her handcuffs furiously.
"Oh please sir, don't do this! Please don't use me as a hostage!" she pleaded, once again keeping up the act of being a scared, helpless girl so Amethio would see her as such.
Amethio ignored her and turned on his heels. He didn't see any point in telling Emerald much else.
"Make yourself comfortable. You might be here for a while…" he muttered.
The teen boy headed to the door. Emerald's heart leapt in horror as she saw him produce a key from his pocket. Her claustrophobia kicked in as the horrid thought of being locked up in this small room flooded her head.
"NO DON'T LOCK THE DOOR!" she screeched at the top of her voice.
Amethio recoiled, surprised by the sudden outburst. Emerald coughed sheepishly, half-embarrassed for she hadn't meant to shout that loudly.
"Please sir, don't lock me in." she begged, "I'm VERY claustrophobic. I get very scared when I'm locked in a room. Please leave it unlocked, will you? It's not like I can go anywhere." she added, motioning to her cuffed hands, "And I promised I'll be good so you don't have to worry about a thing!"
Amethio nodded in acceptance. He didn't see any harm in leaving the door unlocked. There was no need to be needlessly cruel and make Emerald suffer and the last thing he needed was his hostage passing out from a panic attack. He needed Emerald healthy and alive for this exchange.
"Very well. But don't think I'm stupid enough to leave you unguarded." he said grimly.
He brought his Ceruledge out of its Pokéball. The ghostly knight Pokémon crossed swords and stood by the door.
"Keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't try to escape." Amethio ordered, "If she tries anything funny, you may use force, but ONLY to wound her. She's no good to us dead."
Ceruledge nodded and stood to attention as Amethio left the room. As promised, he left the door unlocked so Emerald wouldn't panic. Emerald sighed with relief. She knew she was still in danger but at least she wouldn't have a locked door to deal with. Her eyes darted over to Ceruledge. The Fire/Ghost Pokémon glared back at her as if to say "Try to escape…I DARE you!" Emerald shuddered. The last thing she wanted was to be on the receiving end of those swords!
OK, so the door's unlocked but Ceruledge is guarding the door. Emerald pondered, Great…now I've got to somehow get my hands free without setting him off! There's got to be some way for me to escape! And I better do it fast before Liko is forced to give herself up! I hope she and Tony are alright…
Her thoughts went out to the two. Wherever they were, they were hopefully out of harm's way and might be bringing some backup with them to deal with the Explorers…
"Ah, there it is, just where we parked it!" Liko said excitedly as she and Tony emerged through an alleyway and into another dock.
Tony's breath was taken away as he laid eyes upon the Brave Asagi. The huge airship looked impossible to him, like something out of a steampunk fantasy story and yet here it was, real as anything right in front of him! He'd never seen anything like this before.
"Well blow me down…" he gasped, "I know you said you had a ship but this is like no ship I've ever seen!"
"I thought pretty much the same thing!" Liko giggled, "I was equally as amazed when I saw it for the first time!"
She led Tony onboard the ship and called out to the crew.
"Help! Rising Volt Tacklers, help! We have an emergency!" she hollered.
In response to her calls, the entire crew filed in on deck to hear her out. Tony could see that this crew consisted of three men and two women and a few species of Pokémon also seemed to live on this ship too. He recognized some like Snorunt, Shuckle, Noctowl and Alcremie but he saw some that were strange to him like Pawmi, Quaxly, Fuecoco and Alolan Muk.
Tony looked to the Rising Volt Tacklers. He guessed from their uniforms that the team consisted of a pilot, a nurse, an engineer, a chef and a fisherman. He had no doubt that they were good at their jobs and were able to hold their own in a Pokémon battle if necessary. So these were Liko's friends and crew on this ship? He would like to get to know them more if he ever got the time for that.
"What's the emergency Liko?" Professor Friede asked with concern.
Despite being referred to as "professor", Friede didn't exactly look like a professor. With his huge goggles and aviator jacket and boots, he looked more like a pilot than a professor. He was a slim looking man with white hair, golden eyes and dark skin. He didn't look very old, probably in his early twenties at the oldest.
"You know how I asked if I could have lunch with my new friends earlier?" Liko put in, "Well the Explorers have somehow followed us here to Galar and they've captured one of them!"
"The Explorers followed us here?!" Mollie exclaimed, "But how?"
"We can worry about that later." Friede muttered, "We need to rescue Liko's new friend. Who are we looking for?"
"Her name's Emerald Silverlock and she's my girlfriend." Tony exclaimed, "We believe she's being held prisoner in a warehouse on the docks of this town. We need your help to get her back!"
"Say no more. We'll save your girlfriend!" Friede declared, "Any friend of Liko's is a friend of ours!"
"Thank you so much sir!" Tony said happily.
"Those Explorers will be sorry they followed us here!" Liko declared, "Now then, listen to my idea everyone…"
And she began to divulge her plan to the team. Everyone nodded and smiled in agreement.
"Sounds good to me." Mollie concurred, "They won't expect that."
"It'll be risky, but I'm sure we can pull it off." Friede said reassuringly, "Let's get going and save Emerald!"
Liko beamed with delight.
Hang on Emerald, we're coming for you! she thought to herself.
Emerald's been captured but Liko and Tony have the Rising Volt Tacklers coming in to help. Can they save her? Or will Liko be forced to hand over her pendant for Emerald's freedom? Find out in the final part...
Trivia: Zir has displayed such little personality in the actual show so far that his dialogue here may or may not be in-character for him because I have no idea what his character even is aside from "cocky brute". So don't be surprised if my portrayal of the character here doesn't match up to what we may see in the show.
Also Conia's Golduck has yet to actually use any moves so I can only guess what Golduck's moves are here. It would've been nice if we saw Liko and Conia's battle in Episode 5 instead of Liko beating her OFF-SCREEN(!) so we could see what moves her Golduck can use but for now, I can only make a guess here. Zir's Rhydon has only used Rock Blast so far so any other moves it can use is again only a guess. I can totally see it being able to use Megahorn so I won't be surprised if it can.
Also Amethio's Corviknight has only used Air Slash and Hurricane in the series so whether it knows Iron Head as well is completely speculation on my part. For all I know, it probably does or maybe it knows Steel Wing instead, I dunno so this is once again speculation from me.
Liko not recognizing Orbeetle, Seismitoad or Pangoro is accurate to the games. As of now, neither of them are available in Scarlet and Violet and we don't know if the DLC will bring them back or not so of course with Emerald's current team, she won't recognize them. Rillaboom, Raichu and Haxorus of course are available in the games (Rillaboom will likely get a 7-star raid event in the future and once Pokemon HOME connectivity is up, it'll be available that way too) so she'll know what they are.
