Chapter 49: Going Where the Cold Wind Blows
"(Oh! I'm so sorry! Did I scare you?)" She squeaked as her eyes widened a little.
Groaning, Pikachu rubbed a sore spot on the back of his head.
"(A little.)" He mumbled before looking up at her. "(You trying to find somewhere to hide too?)"
Easing up a bit, Meloetta put her "hands" down. "(Y-Yes. I figured turning invisible would be cheating.)"
"(Yeah, that makes sense.)" Pikachu muttered as he got up. He looked around before glancing up at the trees. "(Why not up there? You can fly, so why not just hang out in the trees?)"
"(Do you think Buneary can find me? She can't fly so is that also cheating?)" Meloetta quietly replied.
Pikachu smirked at her. "(Heh, you haven't seen Buneary when she uses Bounce. It's really impressive, trust me.)"
"(Well...alright.)" The mythical Pokémon said looking up, having been convinced.
Suddenly, they heard some rustling from not too far away. Panicking, they whipped their heads in its direction.
"(Oh no...)" Pikachu muttered before looking back at Meloetta. "(Hide!)"
She nodded at him and they split off in opposite directions.
Floating away, she could hear some scurrying coming her way and for a moment, she swore that she could hear Buneary's excited giggles.
Panicking, Meloetta darted in another direction and kept at it until she found a rather tall tree. Then she floated up to a thick branch that was high in the air and waited. She carefully listened and heard the sounds fade away and when all was quiet, she breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back against the tree's trunk.
Closing her eyes, Meloetta took in the sereness of the forest. From constantly following Ash around Unova and then getting to know everyone, she had forgotten just how much she had missed taking it slow if not for just a little while.
She could just sit here and take it all in. She could feel the gentle breeze blowing through the forest that she was in. She could imagine the fun-filled day that awaited her starting on this fine morning. She could hear...someone running?
Opening her eyes, Meloetta turned over to the opposite side of where Pikachu had ran off to and peered at something making a small commotion further away. It was probably another member of their group attempting to hide from Buneary and being less-than subtle about it. Lord knows that some of them weren't exactly the quietest like that one little squirrel, er...Pachirisu was it?
She looked over the side of the branch that she was sitting on and darted her eyes around the foliage, expecting to see the squirrel's bushy tail. Instead, she saw a little brown puppy – a lillipup to be exact – run out of a bush and further into the forest. Following where he went, Meloetta saw the leaves of another bush shake before things went quiet again.
Huh...guess it was just a wild Pok-
Meloetta immediately whipped her head over to see two humans in dark green camo clothing running over to the bush that the little pup had run out of. Blinking, the sprite watched as they whispered to each other. They sounded rather annoyed.
Somewhat curious, Meloetta leaned forward a little more to eavesdrop on them. They were a tad far away and spoke under their breaths but she distinctly heard the words "fan out" before they split off in opposite directions, neither of which was correct for where the pup had ran off.
Strange...was one of them the pup's trainer? Were they simply worried and just wanted to find him?
Meloetta looked over on the opposite side of the branch in the direction of where Pikachu had run off to. Should she go get someone? This sounded a bit more serious than a silly game of hide-and-seek...
The sprite looked back at where she last saw the humans and felt conflicted.
She should get help, right?
...
...Then again...did Buneary shy away from Team Rocket when she saved Pikachu from them? No, she sprang into action when she could...granted she had some help but still!
And that's not mentioning all of the times that Ash and Pikachu helped so many others, people and Pokémon alike.
She felt a chilly wind blow in the direction of where she had seen the lillipup go.
Well...it'll only take a few minutes right?
Plus she had already seen where the pup went sooo...
Fully invisible, Meloetta quietly floated through the forest in the direction of where she had last seen the lillipup. Glancing around, she felt like she was going in circles yet deep down she knew she was getting closer. She just needed to keep an eye out for the smallest of moveme-
Meloetta quickly whipped her head in the direction of the sounds of a bush lightly shaking. Blinking, the semitransparent sprite got a little closer. She squinted her eyes and saw a flash of brown fur. Feeling quite proud, she peered into the bush and saw the shaking little figure of the young pup covering his eyes with his paws. Meloetta paused, feeling a strange mixture of sympathy and excitement upon seeing him. Poor kid, he must be scared to death, unable to find his trainer...
When Pikachu told her the times he was separated from Ash, it sounded so horrible. To be separated from someone that he considered family...
But it's okay, he didn't have to worry anymore! He'll be reunited with his trainer very soon now that she's here! A small gesture compared to Ash's accomplishments but hey, she was off to a great start!
Quietly inhaling, Meloetta leaned forward a little more.
"(Hi there.)" She gently said.
Evidently, no matter how sweetly she had said that, it wouldn't have made a difference as the little pup yelped and nearly jumped out of the bush!
"(Eep!)" He squealed as he jolted back to look at her. "(Who are you?!)"
Unable to hold back a giggle, Meloetta waved her "hand" at him.
"(Hee~! I was playing hide-and-seek and saw you running away and thought you needed help!)" She laughed.
The lillipup stared at her and then tilted his head.
"(You're...gonna help me?)" He quietly asked.
"(If you want! I can take you back to your family in no time!)"
"(I...er...what kind of Pokémon are you?)" The lillipup muttered as he looked her up and down.
Perplexed, Meloetta stared at him and then looked over herself. "(Oh, I'm...er sort of new around here. But I found some good friends who're showing me around!)"
"(Yeah...I've never seen you around here or with...anyone else…)" Lillipup muttered to himself, looking away as his voice became a whisper.
"(Hmm? What was that?)" She asked, not quite hearing that last part. The little pup looked back at her. He looked too nervous to continue his statement.
"(N-Nothing, so you'll take me back to my family then?)" He asked, looking back at her, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
Taking on a proud pose reminiscent of a certain penguin, Meloetta nodded her head. "(You bet! I'll lead the way!)"
"(O-Okay...)" Lillipup shyly said as both he and Meloetta exited the bush and began their mini journey.
As the pup walked beside her in the direction from where he came, he looked up at her.
"(Oh, I can't wait to see the looks on their faces!)" She beamed, her "hands" clasped against her cheek. "(It'll be so nice to reunite you with the ones you love!)"
"(Yeah...me too.)" Lillipup replied as he watched her floating figure. "(Um...do you mind if I ask how you're doing that?)"
"(Huh? Doing what?)"
"(Flying without any wings.)"
Blinking at him again, Meloetta looked down and saw that she wasn't touching the ground. "(Oh yeah. I...guess I just do it...)"
"(Huh...neat.)" Lillipup remarked, seemingly unable to respond to that in any other way.
"(Yup! And once I get you back to your family, I can tell my friends all about it! They've helped lots of people and Pokémon before so I'm really excited to be brave like them!)" Meloetta brightly said.
Lillipup hung his head a little an gave a sad frown. "(I wish I was brave...)"
Meloetta looked at him and saw his face. "(Oh, well...you're still sort of young. And hey, you've been pretty brave being separated so far I think!)"
Still frowning, the pup gave a sigh. "(But my species is supposed to be brave...and I've always been a scaredy cat.)"
Still floating beside him, Meloetta merely looked at the pup. "(What's a cat?)"
"(Er...never mind. I'm just not very brave.)" He muttered.
"(Hey, don't worry about it! I'm not either, but my friends are helping me out with it! I've already made new friends in the past week!)" Meloetta giggled.
"(Well...that's good to hear.)" Lillipup said with a tiny smile.
A few minutes went by of the two traversing the forest and all the while, Meloetta told stories about Ash's misadventures...well at least according to Pikachu.
"(And then they saw an onix that was made out of glass! It was even more spectacular than the green onix we saw yesterday!)" Meloetta exclaimed, twirling in midair as Lillipup watched her.
"(Wow...)" He said, looking forward as he continued to walk. "(He sounds like a really fun guy.)"
"(He is! And he's super caring and brave!)" She chirped.
"(I hope I'm that brave one day.)" He squeaked.
"(Oh don't worry, you will be!)" She said with a smile which caused him to grin at her.
Suddenly, he stopped in place and looked around.
"(Huh, weird...)" He muttered, causing Meloetta to also stop and float in place next to him.
"(What's wrong?)" She asked.
"(It's just...I don't remember my family being this far out...)" He said, glancing at the foliage.
"(Hmm? Oh, but I'm sure that your trainer is here! I just saw him go this way!)" She said, also looking around.
His ears pricking up, Lillipup looked over at her in bewilderment. "(My trainer? I don't have a trainer.)"
Surprised to hear that, Meloetta turned to dumbfoundedly stare at him. "(But...you said you wanted to get back to your family...)"
"(Yeah, my parents and my siblings.)" He said, also rather perplexed. "(I stepped away from them to check out a berry bush and then these creepy guys in dark clothes approached me and-)"
They both heard muttering from beyond the trees and they turned to look at what was causing the commotion. Immediately, they realized that it was two humans talking.
Out of the corner of her eye, Meloetta noticed the pup get very low to the ground and start shivering.
"(Th-That's them...!)" He squeaked.
Meloetta looked at him, then back to the voices beyond the trees and then back to him.
Wait...so if that's not his family, then why were they looking for him? And why was he running away? And-
"(Run!)" Lillipup yelped as he quickly turned and ran in the opposite direction.
Startled, Meloetta gasped as she saw him take off. "(W-Wait...!)" She yelled as she chased after him.
Soon, the two were fleeing beside each other, hoping to get as much distance between them and the strangers as they could.
"(Why are we running away?! Who are those guys?!)" Meloetta shouted to Lillipup who looked back as he ran.
"(I don't know! They wanted to take me away! I just ran and hid to-!)"
His words were interrupted by another noise up ahead. Looking forward, the two saw something move in some rather tall grass.
"(Eep!)" Meloetta squealed and she immediately turned invisible.
"(Hey! Where'd you go?!)" Lillipup cried out as he continued running before skidding to a halt in front of the tall grass. He could only shiver in place as a human in a camo uniform stepped out.
"There you are!" The man excitedly shouted as he raised what looked to be some sort of metal contraption at the Normal-type.
Still fully invisible and hiding behind a tree, Meloetta watched, mouth agape, as a net shot out of the object and ensnared the little canine! Lillipup yelped as the net wrapped around him which then caused the youth to fall over backwards.
Absolutely horrified, Meloetta put a "hand" up to her mouth as she watched the grunt stand over her new friend.
"Gotcha...! Heh, you really gave us a run for our money for a while..." The man chuckled as he reached down to grab the net which ensnared the thrashing Normal-type. "C'mon...you're our ticket outta here."
With that, the man held the net containing Lillipup next to his leg. Using his other hand, he reached for something in his pocket. He pulled out a small device and held it up to his ear. Meloetta leaned in a little to overhear what he was saying, all the while Lillipup loudly protested and tried to squirm out of his ensnarement.
"(Lemme go!)" He squealed as the net rocked from side to side in the man's hands. "(You're gonna regret this! My friend is gonna come back any second now and then you'll be sorry!)"
Still holding the device up to his ear, the man ignored the pup and without any expression, looked forward before nodding his head.
"Mhmm...that's right. Got the last asset." The man muttered as he turned away, causing Meloetta to fully hide behind the tree despite already being invisible.
"(Meloetta! Where are you?!)" Lillipup cried out as he and the man headed further into the forest.
"Yes...meet me at the truck. We're heading to the coast." The man said before he clicked a button and put the device back in his pocket.
Peeking around the tree, Meloetta watched the grunt pick up the pace and walk away with the pup.
She dryly gulped. What...has she done?!
All she wanted to do was help, but instead she's made things a million times worse! What was going on anyway? Who were these people? And why did they want her new friend?
As those thoughts circulated in the sprite's head, she looked up and saw their figures getting smaller and smaller. Her heart beating out of her chest, she froze up.
What would Ash do? What would Pikachu and Buneary do?!
She looked down at the ground for a moment.
They would...help their friends.
Furrowing her brow, Meloetta looked back up at them and – with an explosively intense feeling of determination rising in her chest – she floated forward and tried to stay amongst the tallest tree branches.
About five minutes went by of following them whilst still invisible and all the while, she could hear Lillipup's protesting turn into quiet whimpers, often pleas for her to come save him.
Don't worry little one...she's still here and this time, she won't screw things up!
Finally, after a few more paces, things came to an abrupt halt as the two came up to a red pickup truck with another grunt leaning up against it. Hiding amongst the tree leaves, Meloetta stared down at them and noticed how the back of the truck had several strange-looking cages. Even more unnerving was the fact that she could hear other voices in Pokéspeech, all sounding rather distressed.
"'Bout time..." The grunt muttered as he opened his eyes at them, his arms folded over his chest.
"Hey, gimme some credit. I had a whole forest to search. Y'all are lucky I'm good at my job." The other man muttered as he walked over to the flatbed portion the truck.
For Meloetta, his words stung a bit. He probably never would have found Lillipup if she hadn't intervened...
"Alrighty then, in ya go!" The man declared as he opened an empty cage and promptly shoved Lillipup inside before retracting the now vacant net and closed the door.
"(W-Wait!)" Lillipup shouted as he got up to the cage door. "(I'm not supposed to be here!)"
His protesting was accompanied by voices from the other cages.
"(Me too! I'm not supposed to be here either!)"
"(My little sister's sick! I was taking care of her, please let me go!)"
"(I miss my trainer! Why are you doing this?!)"
The shouting only continued yet the two humans sighed and shrugged.
"Look what ya did...got 'em all riled up!" One of the grunts said.
"What can I say?" The other one said with a flick of his wrist. "No preventing that!"
The two laughed and for a moment, Meloetta felt a wave of disgust. Those absolute jerks...!
As their chuckling died down, they looked over in the direction of footsteps approaching them. Emerging from behind some trees was another man and a woman, both also dressed in the same uniform.
"Are we late?" One of them asked.
"Nah, I just got here." The man with the net in his hand said before he tossed it in the back of the pickup truck. As soon as they did, they all started to pile into the automobile and a few moments later, it sprang to life.
Panicking a little, Meloetta floated downwards to the truck. She didn't exactly know what to do, but she feared that she couldn't keep up with the vehicle, even as it traversed the forest. As quietly as she could, she landed her translucent form down next to the cages.
As soon as she did, the truck lurched forward and they started heading off.
The road was a tad bumpy, but the truck was moving at a careful speed to maneuver through the forest.
For a moment, Meloetta watched the endless trees moving past them. She snapped out of it when she heard Lillipup whimpering in his cage.
Looking around, Meloetta saw the pup curled up in a little ball in the darkness. She moved over to the cage door and turned herself visible again.
"(Hey!)" She whispered to which Lillipup squealed in fright and jolted backwards, hitting the rear end of his cage.
"(Eep! Meloetta?!)" He cried out, which earned the confused mutterings from the other containers.
"(Who's that?)" A tranquill asked, peeking out from the side of his cage.
"(When did she get here?)" A purrloin muttered from her container which was next to Lillipup's.
"(I can't see, what's going on?!)" A blitzle yelled from the other side of the truck's bed.
"(Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of this!)" Meloetta determinedly said before leaning back a little. "(It might be a little loud and...not the most pleasant sounding tune, but I'll try to bust down that cage door!)"
The tranquill loudly scoffed from inside his container. "(Tsk, don't bother. These cages can withstand Pokémon attacks...)"
Several others muttered in agreement.
Meloetta looked amongst the other containers and stared at Lillipup.
"(Well...I'm still going to save you! I got you into this mess, I'll get you out!)" She whispered.
"(Please...)" Lillipup squeaked, tightly shutting his eyes in an effort to stifle tears. "(...Please don't leave me...)"
"(I won't...!)" She quickly replied before turning to the other cages. "(And I won't leave you either! I'll save all of you!)"
"(Thanks...I don't know how you're gonna do it, but I'm pretty hopeful!)" The purrloin brightly said.
"(Yeah same, but if you ask me, you should probably go back to being invisible.)" The tranquill remarked.
Blinking at him, Meloetta looked over herself.
"(Oh! Uhh...good idea!)" She said, followed by a rather embarrassed laugh. Then she promptly turned invisible again, much to everyone's awe.
The truck continued on its way for another few minutes before it finally came to a stop. Peeking over the cages, the now-translucent sprite peered through the back windshield and saw how one of the grunts held up the small device and talked into it for a while until he put it down.
They waited there for what felt like a long while. As they remained in place, Meloetta tried her best not to make a sound.
Finally, things started up again as the truck began to move forward. As they did, Meloetta noticed how the trees became somewhat sparse and a few moments later, they came out of the forest and onto a cliff that overlooked the ocean.
Confused, Meloetta peeked over the side of the truck and realized that a ship was in the waters below! Even stranger was that a long metal bridge was extending from the vessel onto the cliff. Without having any time to wonder what was going on, the truck moved forward onto the bridge and slowly began to drive down it and onto the deck of the ship.
As Meloetta told her story, the trio munched on some berries they had found in a bush nearby, having decided to take a quick rest to restore their dangerously depleted energy.
"(Woah, so you were on the truck then?)" Pikachu said as he and Buneary sat on the ground, still holding onto each other. "(We saw that! We were hiding and I saw you go below the deck!)"
Meloetta nodded her head at him. "(Mhmm! And then we got on this weird airplane thing and went up to that huge airship!)"
"(Then what happened?)" Pikachu asked, as he held Buneary's paw.
Buneary held back a giggle as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"(You're leaving?!)" A sawsbuck nearly exclaimed in a hushed whisper as his eyes darted around in the vain hope of seeing Meloetta's invisible figure.
"(I'm going to see what I can do to get you guys out.)" Meloetta whispered back as she floated above the cages, looking from side to side. It had only been a few minutes since everyone was transported to where the rest of the cargo was stored.
"(What are you going to do?)" The purrloin gently asked as she sat in the same cage as Lillipup.
"(I'm going to check this place out. They can't see me; they don't know that I'm here. Maybe I can find the keys or something to get you out. Maybe...maybe I can send some sort of signal for help.)" Meloetta quietly replied as she started to float away. "(Maybe I can get Ash, but no matter what...I'll do everything that I can to help you!)"
"(Meloetta...)" Lillipup muttered, taking a step forward to look up from his cage, though from his perspective he was merely staring at thin air. Meloetta paused and looked down at where he was. "(...Just be careful okay?)" He finally said.
Feeling a rather odd mixture of fear and determination, the invisible sprite nodded her head.
"(I will...)" She confidently whispered back before she turned and floated out of the room, down the hallway and rounded a corner. All the while, she stayed near the ceiling to avoid any prying eyes.
"(And I was wandering around ever since.)" Meloetta said, taking a bite out of a berry that she had plucked from a nearby tree.
"(Wow...that's...)" Pikachu muttered, both he and Buneary eating colorful apples a few feet away. His ears suddenly flicked. "(But wait...so you were wandering around the ship all along then?)"
"(Mhmm...I was trying to figure out a way to help the others, but I had to be stealthy the entire time. It wasn't very easy.)" Meloetta said, swallowing a portion of her snack.
"(So when the shooting started and the alarms were going off...)" Pikachu muttered, tilting his head at her.
"(Oh...uhh...I sort of...got lost.)" Meloetta replied, a light blush dusting her cheeks. Rather nervously, she tapped her "hands" together and looked at the ground. "(I-I'm not used to big airships, so I didn't know where I was going. When things started happening, I avoided any Team Rocket people I came across.)"
"(I...guess that makes sense. Wouldn't want you captured too right?)" Pikachu gently said to which Meloetta shook her head. The mouse leaned back a little and scratched behind his ear. "(But that still doesn't explain how you found me.)"
The sprite's eyes brightened up and she gave him a little grin.
"(Well, if you want to know, I suggest you ask her!)" She giggled as she pointed at Buneary.
Perplexed, Pikachu looked over at the bunny who had the strangest smile on her face.
"(Bun...?)" He quietly asked as Buneary took in a long breath and closed her eyes. "(What happened...?)"
Calmly exhaling, Buneary looked back at him.
"(When I asked you to get my vest, I was certain that I wasn't going to make it.)" She finally said before forlornly looking off into the distance. "(I knew the master passcode to stop the cannon but I couldn't stop the self-destruct command. If you came along or tried to do it, you wouldn't have had enough time to escape. With my injured leg and all, I figured that you had the best shot at stopping Team Rocket here on the island. And so...)"
Buneary watched as the escape pod holding her darling mouse began to detach itself from the ship. She watched as Pikachu's horrified expression disappeared into the far off sky.
Then...he was gone.
Taking a moment to hold that image in her mind and heart, Buneary turned around and hopped as fast as she could beyond the flames that had encircled the room and she rushed down the hallway towards the observation deck.
Several minutes passed as the sounds of the computerized voice occasionally came on, urging whoever was left on the ship to evacuate immediately, followed by the status of the main cannon being ready to fire soon.
Just as she figured, she had barely enough time to make it to her destination and even then, there wouldn't be able to get to the escape pods before the place goes up in flames. She grimaced as she continued to make her way down the hallways. Pikachu had Quick Attack so he would've been a little faster at first but even he couldn't keep it up continuously, not long enough to get back to the escape pods and get away from this whole thing when it blows. She'd seen him train and battle enough to notice the guy's limitations after all...
She rounded another corner, certain that she was almost there. All the while, she gripped the keycard that she had taken from Ozzy.
Her injured foot ached, screaming at her to ease up. But she couldn't stop. Not now. There was still a chance to prevent even more bloodshed!
Not letting a shred of doubt or fear into her heart, Buneary kept going until at long last, she came upon the observation room. Ignoring her throbbing injured foot, she promptly bolted through the entrance and came up to the control panel that she had seen other grunts use for the main cannon.
Looking at the computer, she saw several small windows dotting the screen, all of which had white and green texts of coding that she did not understand. Steeling her nerves, she carefully used the computer mouse to select the command prompt that had the words "main cannon" and "locked on target" on it in white letters. Carefully going over the black pop-up window, she saw the words "Abort?" followed by the text "(Y/N)".
Carefully selecting the option, she hit the "Y" button on the keyboard. When she did, another window popped up with the words "Insert passcode to unlock cannon from target".
Taking in a deep yet careful inhale, Buneary slowly typed in the master passcode.
2-4-1-10-DLZ. Enter.
The text on the screen changed to "Please scan keycard to complete the application."
Suddenly, a tiny red beam of light appeared from the top of the computer's monitor. Startled at first, Buneary gently held Ozzy's keycard in front of it and the light shone on the grunt's barcode before a beeping sound rang out.
In big letters across the computer's screen, Buneary saw the words "APPROVED. TARGET LOCK-ON DISABLED."
With that, the computer showed a new window with a camera's view from the perspective of the main cannon with the text "Aim the main cannon at target's location to fire."
Feeling a bit uncertain, Buneary used the computer mouse to click somewhere completely away from the island and instead at a random part of the ocean.
Just in case the cannon was to still fire, at least it wouldn't be at-
"New target locked on."
Buneary looked at the computer screen. New target? So the cannon was still set to-
The ship's computerized voice came on.
MAIN CANNON PREPARED TO FIRE IN FIVE, FOUR...
Buneary looked up at the ceiling.
Oh crap...
THREE, TWO, ONE...
Buneary steadied herself and her body tensed up.
FIRING MAIN CANNON.
The entire ship slightly rocked as a bright yellow beam of energy erupted from the main cannon. The bunny's world went blurry for a few moments before things finally eased up. Slightly opening one eye, Buneary watched as the computer screen showed the main cannon fire into the middle of the ocean, creating a small tidal wave that briefly moved inwards before disappearing altogether.
It was done...she did it. The island and its inhabitants were saved for now. All that was left was for Pikachu to-
ATTENTION: SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. SELF-DESTRUCTION WILL COMMENCE IN FIFTEEN MINUTES. ANY AND ALL ONBOARD ARE ADVISED TO EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. THIS COMMAND CANNOT BE ABORTED.
With the computer's voice repeating itself, Buneary sighed and slumped her shoulders. Just as she suspected. Fifteen minutes...definitely not enough time to get back to the escape pods and get away from the blast radius...
So this was it then...
Resigned to what was about to happen, the bunny hopped off the control panel and walked out of the room.
Stopping by a window, she figured here was as good as any place. Might as well have a nice view of the sky when...wh-when...
Dryly gulping, Buneary watched the clouds lazily go by, completely unaware of the complete mayhem that was about to dominate the sky. Not allowing any sort of panic or regret to creep into her mind, she focused on Pikachu's face.
"(Pikachu...)" She muttered to herself, gently placing a paw on the window. "(Just be careful okay? Save the day like you always do and...a-and...)"
She grit her teeth, closed her eyes and held back the urge to cry.
Stop it. Be strong for just this moment okay?
Taking in a deep breath, Buneary opened her eyes, ready to finish her thoughts when something from down the hallway interrupted her.
"(Hey! What are you doing?!)" A salamence's deep, gravelly voice rang out. Startled, Buneary turned to him only to see him accompanied by a clefairy.
"(Huh?)" The Fairy-type muttered upon seeing Buneary. Gasping, she pointed at her. "(Hey! You're part of Ozzy's group right?)"
Blinking at that, Buneary took a step back. Oh yeah...
"(Ozzy's group?)" Salamence quizzically muttered to himself.
"(Yeah, yeah! Hey, she's with your group isn't she?)" Clefairy asked to someone from around the hallway's corner. A moment later, a haunter floated forward.
"(Huh? What about my group?)" The Ghost-type asked as he looked at the bunny.
A shiver went up Buneary's spine. Oh crap...
Surprised to see the rabbit, Haunter jerked his entire body backwards and he furiously pointed at her.
"(Hey! She's not with my group! She froze us and took Ozzy's keycard!)" He yelled which caused the other two to confusedly look at her.
Silently gulping at his correct accusation, Buneary puffed her chest out.
Welp...if she was going out, she might as well go down fighting!
"(Oh really...?)" Salamence growled as he crouched down into an attack position. "(And the cannon...it missed the island.)"
"(What did you do?!)" Clefairy angrily muttered.
Staring them down, Buneary scowled. "(What needed to be done.)"
"(I don't know how you did it, but you're not coming out of this scot-free!)" Haunter yelled.
Buneary leaned forward, ready for anything. She'll just use Ice Beam and then-
Suddenly, an incredibly loud, resounding cry came out from behind the bunny. So strong was the noise that soundwaves were projected forward and a powerful echo filled the vicinity. Completely caught off-guard, Buneary flinched and both of her ears curled up as the attack moved past her and struck the three Rocket Pokémon.
Screaming, the aggressors were knocked backwards into a metal wall with enough force that it bent it outwards. The three fell onto the floor in a heap.
Opening her eyes, Buneary looked behind and saw a strange floating figure staring down at them. The rabbit tilted her head as the figure moved past her towards their opponents.
Odd...the figure's body looked a lot like...Meloetta's? Instead of the normally green flowing hair with the occasional blue dots, this sprite's hair was bright orange and curled up on top of its head. Not to mention that the jewel atop its forehead and the color of its eyes were also bright orange instead of the sparkling light blue that Buneary was accustomed to seeing. Finally, the skirt that made up the sprite's body was positioned slightly upward, making her appear akin to some sort of exotic dancer than a singer!
"(...Meloetta?)" Buneary murmured as the figure stopped halfway down the hallway, watching as the other three Pokémon quickly got back up.
"(Who the hell are you?!)" Haunter shouted, rubbing his head.
Completely irate, Salamence's mouth began to open and Buneary saw fire spewing from its maw. Before it could do anything however, Meloetta rushed forward and promptly landed a series of blows onto the dragon's face courtesy of Close Combat.
Mouth hanging open, Buneary watched as the sprite appeared to lose all control and landed its last few kicks and punches on the wall before quickly floating backwards unleashing another Hyper Voice. This time, however, not only did it once again push the three away, but the attack also blew a large hole in the wall, giving everyone a rather picturesque view of the sky and clouds.
Groaning, Salamence slowly rose to his feet and stared the sprite down. The two shared a glare, each on the other side of the newly-created exit, before Buneary took a step forward.
"(ENOUGH!)" She yelled, causing everyone to look at her. Then the bunny pointed up at the ceiling. "(You heard the computer...the ship is gonna blow! You can either waste time fighting or you can leave with your lives right now.)"
The three Rocket Pokémon merely looked at her, appearing to contemplate what she had said. Clefairy opened her mouth to say something when the computerized voice came on again.
SHIP SET TO SELF-DESTRUCT IN FIVE MINUTES.
The three aggressors looked at each other.
"(Oh screw this...)" Salamence muttered before walking over to the large hole in the wall. Just as he did, Clefairy jumped atop his back as Haunter floated next to them.
All three exchanged glances at Meloetta and Buneary before Salamence fully opened up his wings and proceeded out into the open sky with Haunter following him.
Finally alone, Buneary looked up at Meloetta.
"(Umm...thanks.)" She finally said, causing the sprite to look back at her in a panic.
"(There are prisoners on this ship! We can't just-!)" Meloetta started to say before Buneary cut her off.
"(I know. Pikachu and I freed them.)" She calmly said.
Truly taken aback by that, Meloetta's eyes widened a little. "(Wha...? When?)"
Buneary looked away and pointed at the newly-created entrance. "(I have a lot of questions myself but it can wait...!)"
"(Oh yeah...right!)" Meloetta replied, still getting over the initial shock. With that, they both got closer to the hole in the wall and looked down. They couldn't distinguish sky from ocean at this height. It didn't help that the white sparkling clouds often obstructed their view.
"(Okay...how do we do this?)" Buneary muttered to herself, her paws up to her mouth in worry.
"(Just hold still.)" Meloetta firmly said as she floated behind the rabbit.
"(Huh?) Buneary mumbled, turning to look at her friend. "(What are you-?)"
She didn't have a chance to finish her sentence as the sprite scooped her arms from under the rabbit's and the two were suddenly enveloped in a light blue aura. Buneary felt her body being lifted up. Was Meloetta using Psychic to carry her?
Gasping a little, Buneary felt her feet no longer touch the floor as Meloetta moved forward.
"(Hang on!)" The sprite declared as she moved them into the open air.
"(W-Wait!)" Buneary cried out as they went outside and for a moment, she felt as if they were floating in an endless void. Absolutely terrified, Buneary closed her eyes as she felt the cool breeze course through her fur.
Slowly but surely, they began to float closer and closer to the water. It was certainly still a dangerous drop from here but they were getting away in pretty good time.
Unfortunately, time was something that they didn't have much to spare and the sprite pushed herself to move faster, ultimately feeling like they were almost in a freefall!
Squealing the entire time, Buneary tensed her body up and braced herself! She clung to her friend for dear life as they began to descend in rather large spirals, continually moving towards the ocean.
Buneary opened her eyes and saw that they were making good progress. She peered forward at the island down below and saw that they were getting closer to where Pikachu's escape pod was directed towards. If they keep going, they can probably catch up to him in no time!
Inwardly giving a sigh of relief, she smirked. Heh, looks like they-
Then suddenly, the entire sky above them erupted in a hellish cacophony as the ship exploded in a massive fireball.
Screaming, the two were pushed forward, the only thing that their dizzying vision conveyed was the ocean rapidly getting closer!
"(Brace for impact!)" Buneary shouted as they fell forward into the water. Then they landed with a large splash.
Under the waves, Meloetta let go of the rabbit and they both frantically swam upwards.
Simultaneously, they broke the surface of the water and gasped for air.
"(You okay?)" Buneary managed to ask in-between breaths.
"(Y-Yeah...I think so.)" Meloetta muttered, looking around. She opened her mouth to say something else but just as she did, something landed in the water next to her face. Both she and Buneary blinked at what it was.
A tiny piece of metal...
They both looked upwards and struggled to gasp in surprise.
Far up in the air, they could see debris from the ship falling towards them! It started out as tiny fragments harmlessly hitting the water like the first one but soon, large comets of flaming metal began to break through the clouds.
"(DIVE!)" Buneary exclaimed as both she and Meloetta took deep breaths and dove beneath the waves.
Desperately attempting to make progress, the two frantically swam further into the depths as the muffled sounds of debris crashing into the water echoed all around them. From off to the side, they could see distinguishable parts of the airship sink nearby. Glancing at one piece of debris, Buneary could see a metal scrap bearing the Team Rocket logo appear in her view before disappearing into the murky depths.
Soon, the two were unable to continue holding their breaths and – without any choice – they swam back up to the surface. When they did, they hoped against hope that they wouldn't come into the path of the oncoming hellfire. As soon as their breaths were steadied, they dove under the water again.
"(And then we eventually got to the shore!)" Buneary declared, with a wave of her paw.
His paws on the sides of his head, Pikachu's eyes were as wide as they could be. "(That's unbelievable!)" He exclaimed as he watched her smile grow even larger.
"(Hee~! It was really terrifying if not for my savior over here!)" Buneary beamed as she pointed at Meloetta.
"(Oh...it was no big deal...)" The sprite muttered, a light blush dusting her cheeks.
"(Meloetta...I don't know what to say...)" Pikachu gently said, rubbing his arm. "(I mean, you saved Buneary's life. I-I can't even begin...to...)"
"(Oh...! Don't worry about it!)" Meloetta beamed, her blush starting to overtake her face. She nonchalantly twirled her "wrist" at him. "(Besides, you two saved all of the Pokémon in the cages! I can't thank you enough for that!)"
Then, everybody stopped talking and there was an oddly comfortable silence before Buneary spoke up again.
"(Well, why don't I tell you what happened next?)" She suggested, to which Pikachu looked back at her.
Crawling onto the shore, Buneary and Meloetta flopped on their backs as they panted their lungs out. Their bodies feeling particularly heavy, it took them a few minutes to even begin to move again.
"(Hey...)" Meloetta muttered as she continued to lay on her back before pointing off to the side. "(When we were floating down, I saw something land near the shore...)"
Her ears extending in response to that, Buneary looked at her and then to where she was pointing at. Shakily getting to her feet, the rabbit slowly walked down the shore and within a minute, she saw how the ground appeared to have been violently disrupted. Looking down, Buneary saw how a large crevice appeared to streak from the direction of the shore inwards to the island. Curious, she followed it until she stopped in place and gasped upon seeing an escape pod! Without even thinking, she ran forward and got inside, frantically searching all around for Pikachu only to see that nobody was around. Her ears drooping, Buneary sadly stepped out only to see Meloetta's floating form pointing further down the shore.
"(Hey, I can see something from here!)" The sprite declared.
Walking up to her friend, Buneary peered forward and saw something attached to a white marble column near the water. It looked like...her vest?
Utterly confused, she hopped atop the column and looked down at her vest which was lightly blowing in the breeze like a flag attached to a pole. Then, she saw something glimmer out of the corner of her eye. Looking down near her foot, she saw a small letter bracelet bearing a heart symbol followed by the letters "B.B".
It was...his bracelet. Why did he leave it here? And where was he anyway? He couldn't have been very fa-
"(Up there!)" Meloetta cried out as she pointed at something in the sky.
Buneary looked up and saw an aircraft with the PLA's logo on the side idly fly overhead towards the center of the island. Blinking at that, Buneary's face became determined. Right then and there, the temperature around them dropped a few degrees and a gust of air blew down the shore and into the mainland.
She quickly grabbed Pikachu's bracelet, put it on her arm and pointed forward.
"(We're following it! Can you carry me over the trees?)" She asked, to which the sprite looked at her.
"(Uhh...yeah I think so.)" Meloetta replied as she floated up to Buneary's position and once again used Psychic to help lift her into the air.
"(And so we started following the airship.)" Buneary said.
Pikachu looked between them. "(So you flew over here eh?)" He said with a little relieved smile. "(Sounds like you had an easier time than me.)"
The two girls giggled a little.
"(I'll say!)" Buneary laughed, placing her paw on his shoulder. "(You actually had to walk!)"
"(Not only that...)" Pikachu said before his expression became a little more serious and he briefly went quiet. Seeing his reaction, Buneary and Meloetta stopped laughing and merely stared at him. "(...I think I met whatever those guys are after...the target.)"
Both girls looked at him and then to each other.
"(...Really?)" Meloetta asked, looking back at him. "(How was it?)"
Pikachu merely looked at the ground and for a moment, the image of Buneary in that cave flashed through his mind. Then he took in a quick breath.
"(It was...weird.)" He finally said in a low voice. "(It came to me as uhhh...an illusion and said a bunch of vague stuff. I think it was deliberately trying to freak me out.)"
"(An illusion?)" Buneary asked, tilting her head a little. Pikachu looked over at her but upon seeing her gaze, his face felt warm and he glanced elsewhere. Although he wasn't looking at Meloetta, he could hear her make a sound as if she was putting the pieces together.
"(Y-Yeah...it just appeared as some random Pokémon.)" He quickly said before he furrowed his brow. "(Maybe it feeds off of fear or something.)"
This time, it was Meloetta who tilted her head at him. "(Sounds scary...but...)" She started to say, causing the other two to look at her. "(...Maybe it's something else.)"
"(Huh? What do you mean?)" Pikachu asked with a raised eyebrow.
Meloetta merely shrugged her shoulders. "(I mean, I sometimes have a hard time talking to strangers so I feel more comfortable singing what's on my mind. Maybe this thing was trying to talk to you in its own way.)"
Both Pikachu and Buneary merely looked at each other.
"(That'd be a really weird way to get a message across...)" Buneary quietly said.
"(It's just a hunch.)" Meloetta quipped.
Pikachu frowned a little. If that was this thing's way of talking to him...he'd hate to see it actually angry with ill-intent. Then again, it was some sort of mysterious, possibly legendary being so who was he to say at this point?
A moment of silence passed between them before another thought struck the mouse.
"(Hey...that aircraft you were following...it went down. I saw it...)" He muttered. "(How'd you find me?)"
Meloetta suddenly looked a tad sheepish and she rubbed her arm, looking away while doing so. Meanwhile, Buneary gave him an embarrassed chuckle and glanced elsewhere.
"(Well...y'see...)" She started to say.
Hiding amongst the trees upon seeing the PLA aircraft engage in an air battle with a vessel bearing Team Rocket's symbol, Buneary and Meloetta stared at the sky. They watched as the PLA aircraft began billowing smoke and headed in the direction from which it came while the Team Rocket vessel flew further into the island's landmass.
"(Change of plans, we're following that one.)" Buneary whispered to Meloetta as she pointed at Team Rocket's airship.
"(Okay...)" Meloetta muttered as she watched the ship head off.
No matter what, they were here to take out that tower. The PLA can wait, what matters is stopping Team Rocket!
With that, Meloetta resumed carrying Buneary through the air. All the while, the sprite remained invisible and they traveled above the trees.
They continued to follow the aircraft for so long that they had lost track of time but eventually, it all came to a head when they saw a sudden fire break out along the side of the vessel and the entire thing began to rapidly descend.
Only a few minutes later, they witnessed the aircraft make an uneasy landing near the center of the island. Traveling more slowly now, the two cautiously approached the site. It took them quite some time to arrive at their new destination, often due to staying in place for minutes at a time in order to avoid being spotted or heard. After what felt like an eternity, they finally came upon the ship only to see a most unusual sight.
One of the doors to the aircraft was already wide open and they both heard some sort of muttering from inside. Hiding in the tree leaves, Buneary peered at the ship and frowned. Taking in a deep breath, she looked over at Meloetta.
"(Stay here, if anything happens, you can rush in, but lemme see if I can handle this first.)" Buneary said to her friend.
Not entirely sure what else to do, Meloetta silently nodded her head before Buneary hopped down from the tree and quickly walked into the ship.
As she made her way towards the fallen vessel, she glanced over to her right and saw some strange metal contraption that looked to be used to deploy projectiles. Guess this is where those missiles came from to attack the PLA airship...
She stepped into the downed aircraft. It was only a few paces in did she see a raticate thrashing on the floor, his paws and feet bound as he let out the occasional curse.
Tilting her head at the sight, she cleared her throat and the rat looked up at her.
"(Eh? Who're you?)" He muttered, clearly quite annoyed.
She merely looked down at him before puffing her chest out a little. "(I'm with Ozzy's group.)"
He blinked at her. "(Ozzy's group?)"
She nodded her head. "(Yup.)"
The rat eased up a little and gave an amused smirk and he looked down at the floor. "(Heh, figures. Always getting new recruits...)"
She furrowed her brow in an attempt to look rather stern. "(I've been given orders to regroup with the others...but I'm new. Do you know where I can find them from here?)"
Raticate looked up at her. "(They should be at the tower. That's where everyone is supposed to be in the next two hours.)" He said before continuing."(My trainer Brumsfield was supposed to erase the ship's data and meet up with them but then the PLA came and well...I managed to close the door and tried to leave at least.)"
Buneary looked at him with sympathy. "(Oh...I'm sorry about your trainer.)" She said. Raticate merely shrugged in response and Buneary tried to maintain a tough look. "(Right...so then the tower...what direction is that in again?)"
"(Northwest from here.)"
"(Alright. Say...uhh...mind if I ask who did this to you? Was it the PLA? Is that why the door is open now?)" Buneary asked, pointing at the rat's bindings.
Raticate scoffed and looked away. "(No, it was some jerk. I don't even know who he's with...probably an inhabitant. If you see a pikachu...watch out, he'll get you too.)"
Her body immediately becoming as still as a statue, Buneary did everything in her power not to visibly respond to that. So she's on the right track to him after all!
She gave him an amused shrug. "(Sure...I'll keep an eye out.)"
"(Say, if you don't mind...can you untie me? These restraints are specialized, so I can't just chew through them.)" Raticate chuckled.
"(Oh uhh...sure.)" Buneary muttered. "(But how can I-?)"
"(We have a tool for this in the third drawer.)" Raticate interjected, pointing in the direction of a rather large computer.
Not wanting to give up her ploy, Buneary nodded at him and walked over to where he was pointing at. Just as she did, he spoke up again.
"(And while you're at it, get some special hearing plugs.)" He said.
"(Hearing plugs?)" Buneary asked as she walked up to the drawer.
"(Yeah, the tower is set to go off when the captains get there. All Pokémon on this island are gonna be turned into a mindless slave unless they're wearing hearing plugs.)" Raticate nonchalantly replied.
Startled, Buneary glanced back at him.
Giving a dry gulp, Buneary maintained her cool and looked back at the drawer.
"(This one?)" She asked to which the rat affirmatively nodded.
Opening the drawer, Buneary saw a pair of strange pliers with a shiny metal finish on the blades. Next to it were several circular metal objects in separate plastic baggies. Confused, she grabbed them.
"(They don't look like ear plugs. You put them in your ear and they make a noise to cancel out the radio waves.)" Raticate said, staring up at the ceiling. "(They look like little magnets.)"
"(Okay, one sec.)" Buneary replied, gripping the "earplugs" in her paw.
She had three pairs: one for her, one for Meloetta and one for Pikachu. Putting a pair in her fluff, the rabbit took a step forward when she briefly glanced at the computer and saw that it was activated and the screen showed a map of the island. A sudden idea going through her mind, Buneary hopped atop the computer's desk and she began scrolling through the files using the mouse.
After a few seconds, she came upon a file titled "Operation Elysium". She clicked on it only to get a popup window asking for the password. She smirked and carefully entered the master passcode and scanned the keycard which gave her access to the file.
She took her time reading through it, making sure that she wasn't missing a thing. She read how the operation was divided into five main steps.
STEPS ONE AND TWO WILL BE CARRIED OUT SIMULTANEOUSLY.
STEP ONE: TEAM BRAVO ONE LED BY CAPTAIN GAMMA-7 (ERIC JOHNSON) WILL USE THE CARGO SHIP TO STAY ON THE MAINLAND. PERMISSION HAS BEEN GRANTED TO INCONSPICUOUSLY CAPTURE UNOVA POKEMON (NICKNAMED ASSETS), EITHER FROM THE WILDERNESS OR FROM OTHER TRAINERS. IT IS OF UPMOST IMPORTANCE THAT NO ATTENTION IS BROUGHT UPON THEMSELVES.
STEP TWO: TEAM ALPHA SIX LED BY CAPTAIN T-5 (ERIC JOHNSON) WILL SET CAMP ON LEONID ISLE. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE RADIO TOWER WILL BE CONDUCTED AT THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE ELEVATION. DURING THIS STEP, ALPHA SIX HAS BEEN GIVEN PERMISSION TO CAPTURE ANY POKÉMON ENCOUNTERED ON THE ISLAND.
STEP THREE: ONCE BRAVO ONE'S QUOTA HAS BEEN REACHED, THEY ARE TO TAKE THE CAPTURED ASSETS AND RECONVENE WITH ALPHA SIX ON LEONID ISLE. ALL CAPTURED MAINLAND POKEMON AND ISLAND POKEMON (IF ANY HAVE BEEN CAPTURED) ARE TO BE BROUGHT TO THE BASE OF THE TOWER. OPERATION ELYSIUM IS NOT ALLOWED TO CONTINUE UNTIL HEADQUARTERS GIVES PERMISSION.
STEP FOUR: WHEN THE TOWER IS IN AN OPERATIONAL STATE, THE "CEREMONY" WILL BEGIN. ANY AND ALL METHODS OF BRINGING THE PRIMARY TARGET OUT OF ITS DORMANT STATE IS PERMITTED. SEE "ELYSIUM CEREMONY" FILE FOR MORE DETAILS.
Buneary furrowed her brow at that. Ceremony? That doesn't sound good.
Not at all...
She kept reading the file.
STEP FIVE: ONCE THE PRIMARY TARGET IS OBSERVED, ANY AND ALL NON-LETHAL METHODS OF CAPTURING IT ARE PERMITTED. ONCE THE PRIMARY TARGET IS ACQUIRED, ALL TEAMS ARE TO IMMEDIATELY BRING IT (AND ANY REMAINING POKÉMON) TO HEADQUARTERS. ANY EVIDENCE OF THIS OPERATION IS TO BE ERADICATED.
Buneary read over that part again. Any remaining Pokémon? What does that mean?
Anxious, she searched for the file titled "Elysium Ceremony". When she found it, she used the master passcode and keycard to gain access and she started reading it. What she saw made her sick to her stomach...
A few minutes later, she felt as if she got everything she needed and she hopped off the desk and walked back towards Raticate.
"(Took you enough time. Needed to brush up on the steps I take it?)" The rat grumbled as Buneary came into his view.
As soon as she saw him again, any and all sympathy she may have once had for him was gone.
"(Yeah, I did. So you say a pikachu did this to you? Was he injured?)" She asked.
Raticate curiously looked at her. "(Huh? No, he looked okay to me.)"
"(Alright then.)" Buneary said. "(So northwest from here?)"
"(Yeah, there's only one way to get to the tower by foot. Keep moving in that direction and you'll get to it.)" Raticate replied.
Buneary nodded her head at him before she started to walk away.
"(Hey! Where're you going?! You gotta untie me first!)" Raticate yelled as Buneary turned back to him. He merely watched as the bunny smirked and held up the "ear plugs".
"(Thanks for telling me about these. It'll be really helpful!)" She cheerily said before she began to walk out of the ship.
"(Y-You traitor! Come back...come back here and untie me!)" Raticate furiously yelled as he thrashed his body on the floor. "(You little...if I ever catch you I swear to Arceus...!)"
Buneary didn't turn back as he continued to vent his rage. As she stepped through the exit, she gripped her paws.
"(I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!)" Raticate screamed from behind. "(You better not let me find you...this isn't fair! I never hurt anybody!)"
"(And we've been heading in your direction ever since.)" Buneary said, finally concluding her tale.
Pikachu stared at her, completely taken aback. J-Jeez...he had almost forgotten how resourceful she was...
Among the things going through his mind in that moment, one nagging question took center stage.
"(So, what was this 'ceremony' thing they were talking about?)" He asked.
Buneary and Meloetta uncomfortably looked at each other and then sadly stared at the ground. Their unusual reaction only served to make Pikachu feel uneasy.
"(I don't know what Team Rocket is going after...)" Buneary finally whispered, slowly looking up at him, her eyes conveying a strange mix of anger and fear. "(...But it's some sort of guardian for this island. The inhabitants and Pokémon who lived here relied on it to protect them.)"
Pikachu raised an eyebrow at that. "(But I don't understand how...)"
He trailed off upon seeing their faces gradually become more somber, almost as if they were too horrified to say the next part.
"(When...when I overheard those captains talking about firing on the island...)" Buneary started to say, rubbing her arm as she did. "(...One of their reasons was to bring this thing out into the open. They said it would come out in times of great peril.)"
Pikachu blinked at her. Then he looked at Meloetta who appeared rather uncomfortable.
Protect...great peril...
Pikachu's gaze soften upon coming to a truly terrible realization.
"(They're going to torture them...the island's Pokémon...)" He finally said under his breath. Buneary nodded her head.
"(Apparently, it's the only way they can get it to come out...)" Meloetta quietly said.
Immediately rising to his feet, Pikachu punched one paw into another.
"(Then we have to stop them! We have those ear plug things right? Let's just get to the tower and end this whole thing!)" He declared.
Buneary and Meloetta looked at him before they both smiled.
"(Heh, glad to see that your fighting spirit hasn't gone away after everything!)" Buneary laughed as she started to get up. When she put pressure on her leg, she stumbled for a moment before regaining her stance. "(I'm right with ya!)" She proclaimed as Meloetta floated behind her and waved her "hands" in the air.
"(And me too!)" The sprite declared to the heavens.
"(Here, take this.)" Buneary said to Pikachu as she took a step closer to hand him a pair of ear plugs. "(We already have our own.)" She remarked, pointing at the mythical sprite.
Pikachu quietly looked at Meloetta, then to Buneary and then back to Meloetta.
He cleared his throat. "(Ahem, actually Buneary, can you do something real quick please?)"
Buneary curiously looked at him. "(Er...yeah, what is it?)"
Pikachu pointed to a particularly tall tree a few feet away. "(Can you go up there and listen to see if anybody is nearby? We don't want to go rushing into a group of bad guys right?)"
Buneary looked at the tree and then back to him. "(Oh...sure. Yeah, I guess that's a good idea.)"
Pikachu gave her a determined smile. "(You check over there, Meloetta and I will check over on that side!)" He said, pointing in the direction opposite to the tall tree.
Meloetta raised an eyebrow at him.
Buneary nodded at him and quickly hopped over to the tree. As soon as she did, Pikachu walked over and grabbed Meloetta's arm and ushered her in the opposite direction.
"(Pikachu, why are we both going in-?)" Meloetta muttered before Pikachu shushed her and they made their way through some bushes and went a few more paces beyond it before sitting down in a small clearing. The mouse hoped that the thick leaves surrounding them insulated their voices from Buneary's superb hearing.
"(Okay look, here's the thing...)" Pikachu quietly said, ushering for the sprite to lean in a little bit to hear his low voice. "(Do you...do you think you can make it back to the mainland from here?)"
Meloetta jerked her head back a little at that. "(Huh? You mean float back?)" She asked only for Pikachu to affirmatively nod at her. She rubbed the back of her head as she contemplated it. "(Er...I think so. It'll take me a long time, but I think I can make it. Why are you-?)"
"(Do you think you can take Buneary with you?)" He quickly said. His response only made her raise an eyebrow at him.
"(Take Buneary? Like carry her all the way back?)" She asked.
"(Yeah. Do you think you can do it?)" He replied.
Meloetta merely stared at him, completely bewildered. She saw a slightly pleading look in his eyes. Rather embarrassed, she rubbed the back of her head again.
"(I...don't think I can.)" She finally said, only to see the mouse's ears droop in disappointment. "(I can probably make it but I don't think I can carry her all the way back. I'm already pretty winded from carrying her around this island...)"
"(Oh...)" Pikachu murmured, his crestfallen voice only making the sprite feel rather concerned.
"(Pikachu...)" She gently said, waiting for him to look back at her. "(Why are you asking this? We can help...)"
"(Meloetta...you weren't there.)" He said, pausing for a moment, as if something flashed in his mind that made him wince in pain. "(I...I almost lost her today. If something else happened...I won't be able take it.)"
Meloetta, now truly baffled by the mouse's response, looked elsewhere for a moment.
"(But I don't understand...)" She muttered to herself. "(I mean, if this was Ash or Piplup or Emolga, I think you would jump at the idea of them helping out. Why would Buneary be so...so...different...?)" She trailed off as she looked back at Pikachu and saw his face become noticeably redder.
"(I-I uhh...)" He mumbled, looking away and holding his arm.
Meloetta's eyes widened and she stifled a gasp. "(You...love her...don't you?)" She whispered.
Immediately, Pikachu frantically waved his paws in front of himself.
"(Not so loud!)" He practically shouted, his eyes conveying a sense of absolute fear.
"(Sorry, sorry!)" Meloetta whispered as she got closer to him. "(Is it true though?)" She asked only for the mouse to dryly gulp. "(...Pikachu?)"
He looked away as his entire face turned the color of his electric cheek sacs.
"(...Yes.)" He finally said.
Meloetta's "hands" went up to her mouth and she suppressed a squeal.
"(Really?!)" She managed to excitedly say only for Pikachu to nod his head. "(But when?! You weren't even sure if you still liked her!)"
Pikachu cleared his throat as he looked back at his friend. "(It was...when I thought I lost her.)"
"(Ohh...)" Meloetta muttered.
"(Yeah...a-and I don't know how she feels and all...but that's certainly how I feel.)" He said, looking away to where Buneary was. "(She's already injured and you two have those ear plugs...if you can't make it back to the mainland, I want you two to stay here and lay low.)"
Unable to help herself, Meloetta gasped. "(You can't be serious!)" She practically shouted as Pikachu looked back at her. "(Pikachu, there's no way I'm going to let you do this on your own! And what would Buneary think?! She's going to be worried sick for you!)"
"(Meloetta...please just do this for me. As a friend.)" Pikachu sternly said, shaking his head and closing his eyes. "(I don't know what you'll say to her, but just keep her safe. Whatever thing you can use as an excuse...do it.)"
"(But I-)"
Pikachu began to get up and once again shook his head. "(Whatever you can think of Mel, just do it for me please.)" He said as he looked elsewhere and furrowed his brow. "(We don't have a lot of time; I need to get over there.)"
"(Pikachu...)" Meloetta muttered as the mouse started walking past her and towards a bush before turning around to look her in the eyes.
"(Meloetta...thank you.)" He said before he turned to part the bush and quickly went through it.
Minutes passed and Pikachu's mind was determinedly focused on the task at hand. He couldn't let worry nor immense relief cloud his thoughts for now. He just needed to do what had to be done and take out that tower!
Resolved, Pikachu rushed as fast as he could through the trees which became increasingly sparse and he continually felt the elevation rise.
At long last, he stopped and took in the sight. There he stood on a narrow strip of land, the ocean visible on either side far below him. The trees no longer present, the mouse had a wide view of the sky and what lied beyond. On either side of him were colorful flowers, some an unusual neon color amongst the lush green grass. Only a few meters beyond where he was standing was something quite wonderous...
...It was the ancient remains of a city. Fully-intact white marble columns on either side of the path led to the equally iridescent, abandoned civilization. No doubt, this was where the inhabitants once called their capital. Where they would worship whatever lived on this island. Just beyond that was where he needed to be.
His ears suddenly twitched as he heard the mutterings of other Pokémon somewhere within that lost colony. His heart beating out of his chest, Pikachu took in a deep breath. His eyes darted around and he realized that there was only one way through the city by foot. If he were to go in...no doubt he would be spotted.
Gritting his teeth, Pikachu allowed a moment to pass as he felt a surprisingly cold breeze course through his fur in the direction of the city. Steeling his nerves, he calmly walked forward, ready for an inevitable ambush.
Author's Notes:
Oh Pikachu, you don't think it's going to be that easy do you? It's only a brisk walk through an enemy-infested city after all! Never mind the sounds of warfare all around you...
I'd like to give a shoutout to scarcrow59 and their fic "Try Again". Their description of a colorful city helped give me some ideas for the island setting for this story! If you're in the mood for an original tale with suspense, action and mystery, give it a read!
Alrighty, let's see how things are gonna go down for our favorite mouse, on an all new episode of About Her!