CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
DISASTER STRIKES
-Udon-
Everything had gone bad all at once.
One second, Ruffles and I were waiting for our cue to fight, and the next, there was a large explosion behind us.
We were close enough to the blast that we flew forwards in the air, before landing on the ground.
Coughing and wheezing, I looked around me. Ruffles was laying beside me, and he looked like he was in pain.
"Are…are you okay?" I managed to ask.
"I think so…" he uttered. "What just happened?"
We both looked back and saw, through a ton of smoke, that the village had caught fire.
"Oh…no…" I stammered.
This was not how any of us had imagined this would go.
Then, I remembered something. Everything that we had with us, including the map, was back in one of the village's storage rooms.
"The map…" I said. "We need to get… the map…"
Ruffles' eyes went wide. "My jacket!" he yelled, getting himself up off the ground.
We began to race into the smoke and flames to grab our stuff. Usually, we wouldn't dare do something this stupid, but the map was our only way out of here.
Also, I kinda liked my mail bag, believe it or not.
Then, as we both ran, Ruffles fell to the ground.
"My… my leg…" he uttered.
I looked down at him and saw he was clutching his leg with his paws. This was not good. What if it was broken? How would he go on?
"Hey, hey," I said, trying to comfort him. "It's okay, buddy. We'll get you fixed up, I promise."
He looked at me with tears in his eyes.
"You need…you need to go on without me…" he said.
That was not happening. I couldn't let him die on me.
"I can't do that…" I said. "You're my friend. I'm not gonna leave you."
So I bent down and picked Ruffles up. He either didn't weigh too much, or I was just very strong.
"Thank you," he said before coughing.
I walked with him in my arms for a while, dodging flames and inhaling smoke, until we reached the storage building.
Unfortunately for us, it had already caught fire, and smoke and debris were everywhere, but there was still a small window of time where we could get in and make it back out.
So I kicked down the wooden door and was greeted by a face-full of fumes.
"Try not to breathe much in, okay?" I said.
I raced through the building, holding Ruffles still, and veered past debris that was falling from the ceiling.
Finally, we made it to our stuff, and, surprisingly, everything was fine. A little singed, but fine.
I quickly grabbed everything, which was a challenge considering I was still carrying my friend, and began to make my way out.
But the ceiling was starting to make a strange creaking sound.
No. I wasn't going to let our story stop here. Not to a falling roof.
So I hurried as fast as I could, and right when I stepped outside, the roof collapsed in, destroying everything we had just passed through.
Ruffles and I breathed a sigh of relief, which probably wasn't the best idea, considering we were getting fumes in our lungs.
"You're okay, right?" I asked.
"Yeah…I think so…" Ruffles responded.
Just then, a familiar blue Pokémon came running up to us. It was Aura. He was okay!
"Are you two hurt?" he asked.
"I think Ruffles has a broken leg." I stated. "Other than that, I don't know."
"Quick, follow me," Aura said. "We need to get to the bunker. I'll fix you up in there."
So we followed him through more fire and smoke, and finally made it to a large cellar door.
Opening it up, we all got inside, and closed the door, saving us from the apocalypse outside.
Loom and Amp were both waiting for us inside. They were both okay too.
"You made it!" Amp said, surprisingly excitedly. "Took ya' long enough."
Amp had come over to see us, but Loom was sitting by herself in the corner of the room. She didn't seem very happy with all that had occurred.
"Okay, now for Ruffles' leg," Aura said, going over to a shelf with supplies.
He pulled out of a box a spray bottle of sorts with purple liquid inside, and came back.
"Hold still," he said. "It's gonna sting for just a second."
He then sprayed Ruffles' leg with the bottle. Ruffles winced. I could tell by his face that it was not a very enjoyable experience.
Then, it was all over.
"Alright, everything should be healed now." Aura stated.
I put Ruffles down on the ground, and he was, luckily, now able to walk on his own again.
"Wow, I feel great," he said. "What's in that stuff?"
"Just some herbal medicines," Aura answered. "You seriously don't have potions in your world?"
"Not like that," I said. "Thank you. For everything you've done for us."
Aura looked pleased with himself.
"Happy to help," he said.
After a little while of sitting in the bunker, we decided it was time to check out the damage above.
Opening the bunker door, we were greeted by nothing but ash and dust. Everything in the village had been burned to a crisp.
Out of all of us, Loom was the most distraught. This was her village. And now, it was all destroyed.
She sat down and looked in front of her, with tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"My…my home…" she stammered.
I felt terrible for what had happened. I felt like it was all my fault, as I was the one who brought the Elite Four here.
Aura sat next to her and put a paw on her.
"It's going to be okay," he said, consolingly.
"No…it's not…" Loom said, in-between crying breaths. "This…this was the only place…I ever felt welcome."
We all stayed like that for the longest time.
"Who could've even done something like this?" I asked.
This didn't seem like something the Elite Four would be capable of. There had to be more that we didn't know.
"There's only one Pokémon that could do this," Aura stated. "The Elite Four call him the Great One. But he is known to us as Mewtwo."
