Flannery knew something was wrong when Looker made a sudden return alone. Looker did not waste any time and got straight to the point.
"Vel's absol had suddenly acted up. Something will happen."
The bad feeling that had been pooling at the depths of Flannery's guts suddenly felt heavier. As a Hoenn native she's all too familiar with the absol species and the accuracy of their predictions. She's well aware of the implications that followed when an absol "suddenly acted up".
She has her own opinion on how they should continue going forward. However, she's not the person leading this operation.
"Drayden, your call?"
The muscled old man fell deep in thought, his dilemma clear in his eyes. The crux of the problem lies in the fact that nobody has any idea of just what the calamity Velda's absol had sensed may be. Will it be within the Team Plasma stronghold that they were about to storm, Opelucid City itself, or somewhere else?
"My greatest concern right now would be that this stronghold is simply a lure to draw us away from the city," Drayden admitted and Flannery could understand where the aged Gym Leader was coming from. "I'm thinking that we should perhaps split into two groups, where one of us would head back to Opelucid to guard the city just in case."
"It sounds like the safest option," Flannery agreed, also thinking that this course of action would be one that would most likely cover all their bases. In the end, Flannery was the one sent back to Opelucid City together with a team of Unova Elite trainers. As luck would have it, they actually found a few small groups of Team Plasma hiding on the outskirts of the city. Their presence only solidified their unspoken acceptance for the worst to possibly happen anytime, anywhere.
"Just what are they planning?" Flannery muttered to herself as she easily defeated another group of Team Plasma grunts. No matter how the trainers under her lead had tried interrogating the captured Team Plasma members none of them breathed a word of what would come next. It's not that they were zealously loyal to Team Plasma's cause but rather, even they weren't let in on what the higher echelons were planning to do to the city.
All Flannery knew was that whatever that may be, if it could get an absol to "act up" then it couldn't be anything good. She doesn't like the feeling of this, the sense of the calm before the storm.
Vel better be alright, Flannery found herself having those thoughts but on second thought, her boyfriend's sister should be alright. Her absol would naturally lead her away from the calamity and Vel still hadn't exited the stronghold she infiltrated into as far as she's aware. Does that mean that right now, the Team Plasma Opelucid stronghold is in fact, the safest place to be?
Going by that logic, would it mean that the "calamity" that her absol sensed should most likely be at Opelucid City instead?
"Drayden."
Flannery immediately radioed for Drayden and immediately told him of her conjecture. Drayden listened patiently, weighing his options based on what they learnt.
"Looker and I are about to wrap up the battle here on our end," Drayden informed Flannery as his haxorus easily fling its enemies backwards with a sweep of its thick tail. "I can take over things from here, so I will send Looker to your side just in case. I will join as soon as I can."
"Is Vel okay?"
"We haven't seen her and radio is still silent, our guess is that she's probably waiting for us to clean up the mess here before she leads the hostages out from the stronghold."
"Alright, keep me posted if there's any updates," Flannery forced herself to calm down and ended the call. She needs to get herself together, she's a Gym Leader too. Over worrying is not a behaviour that she should be exhibiting right now when she has people looking up to her for instructions and support.
Flannery conducted another swift sweep of the city with help of the local Opelucid Police, taking down any Team Plasma grunts which they managed to locate. Many of them were trying to flee the city on orders from their higher-ups which they only just received. Flannery surmised that Team Plasma were probably trying to cut their losses when they caught wind that the Unova League had discovered their secret stronghold at the outskirts of the city, preventing as many of their members from being caught as possible.
But was it really just that? For some reason, Flannery felt as if there's a much sinister underlying reason why the leaders of Team Plasma gave the orders to those in Opelucid city to evacuate as soon as possible.
Her radio suddenly crackled to life.
"Flannery! Emergency! Get the police to evacuate the city as fast as you can!"
It was Drayden's voice. His voice was a panicked one, a far cry from his usual steadfast and unwavering image. To evacuate an entire city is not a decision any Gym Leader will make lightly and Flannery immediately assumed the worst.
"What's the situation?!" Flannery shouted back into the radio and immediately passed on the message to the local law enforcement. They would be more familiar with the city's evacuation procedures than she is. She would stay here to ensure their safety until the city has been evacuated, it's the only thing that she can do now.
"I've run into Zinzolin, one of Team Plasma sages! I'm currently in a battle with him and unable to come over!" Drayden quickly summarised the drastic turn in events that happened as he continued to command his team to battle against Zinzolin, who was surprisingly a powerful trainer in his own right with a plethora of ice type pokemon under his command. They've come prepared, knowing that ice types are the natural nemesis of the dragon types which Drayden led.
"Looker is on the way to assist you! Keep a lookout for the skies!" Drayden tried his best to convey what he just learnt to the Lavaridge Gym Leader while keeping his focus on the vicious battle taking place between him and Zinzolin. Already, he was almost frozen into an ice statue by a stray Ice Beam from Zinzolin's weavile. He cannot afford to remain distracted any longer.
"An aerial attack?!" Flannery asked but radio communication between them was cut to a halt at that exact moment. Flannery clicked her tongue in frustration, knowing that some sort of interference must be at play here. She looked up into the sky, still unable to spot anything out of the ordinary.
Better to be safe than sorry.
Flannery released her entire team of pokemon and her charizard immediately took flight. She stood guard as the Opelucid Police Force swiftly carried out the evacuation order given by their city's protector and Gym Leader. It will still take a while for the city to be evacuated and she could only pray that nothing will happen in this period of time.
But of course, things were never easy.
"You freaks kept me waiting," Flannery gritted out to herself when she spotted the Team Plasma army marching in from the other side of the town. She signalled for the inspector beside her to hurry with the evacuation efforts as she jumped onto her charizard's back, commanding her pokemon to run ahead and meet the evildoers in battle. The reinforcements that the Opelucid Police Force can spare her are limited; they were already spread very thin from the sudden unforeseen city-wide evacuation. She's largely on her own for the moment until Looker returns.
"Let's show 'em what we Hoennians are made of!" Flannery roared as her pokemon lit themselves up in a blaze of fire one after the other, preparing to unleash their signature move. Now that Team Plasma had finally made their move and she had sprung into action, she's suddenly not feeling all that jittery any more.
"Overheat!"
"Once more, Hyper Voice!"
Up ahead, a rampaging dragon with blood-soaked crescent wings unleashed a devastating sonic attack, the power behind Hyper Voice transformed and empowered by its newfound Aerilate ability that came from its Mega Evolution.
Three minute fifty-five, fifty-six, fifty-seven-
Vance Vera continued to keep a mental count of the duration which he managed to sustain his salamence's Mega Evolution. In front of his salamence were his sceptile, magmortar, and metagross, engaged in combat with the rampaging dragon of their team.
-Four minute thirty-two…
Mega Salamence's brutality swiftly rose as the seconds ticked by and Vance recognised that his dragon was too far gone to be taking any orders from him when it started to attack him instead. He immediately severed the link between him and salamence, forcing it to revert back to its original state and thereby returning some clarity to its mind.
"Don't feel bad buddy, you managed to increase the duration of Mega Evolution by thirteen seconds this time," Vance comforted the dejected looking dragon who looked very guilty after it realised it had nearly maimed its trainer in its blind rage. Vance was well aware of the risks of trying to Mega Evolve a salamence, which includes dying a gory death under its claws should it prove to be uncontrollable from the sudden surge in power. Thankfully, nothing of the sort had happened so far.
Sceptile landed beside them with a simple leap, looking a little banged up but still came out of this training only slightly worse for wear. Unlike salamence, sceptile had already mastered Mega Evolution with its trainer. This training was to assist salamence to master Mega Evolution and they are making good progress in spite of the occasional hiccups.
Vance took a glance back at the destroyed training ground hidden deep within his family's private land. The destruction a Mega Salamence can bring is truly a terrifying sight to behold. However, he needs to be able to pull this off with salamence. This is his duty and responsibility as the heir of the Vera family. He needs to be better, to be a qualified successor so that his dear little sister can live a carefree life doing whatever she likes to do without needing to worry about the responsibilities that comes from being a Vera.
If he had his way his little sister would be living comfortably at home, enjoying luxuries and riches as he pampered her with millions of dollars of monthly pocket money. None of that risky beat-the-bad-guys-to-save-the-world interpol stuff that puts her in danger every single time. Is it bad for him to actually secretly wish that the interpol initiative would fail? Because like this, his dear little sister would come home where he can keep her safe.
Now, even his girlfriend has embarked on a trip to Unova. Vance knows she had volunteered herself for the trip because it would allow him and his parents to rest a little easier knowing that a familiar and trusted adult would be there for Velda should she need it. For that, he's thankful that he has such a wonderful girlfriend.
Even if it may get a little lonely sometimes now that it's just him alone in Hoenn…
"Let's go back, we still have work to do at the Battle Frontier in the afternoon and we have to make a trip to the company at Rustboro later in the evening," Vance softly sighed as he mentally braced himself for the work that has been piling in his office. He would not accept anything less than perfect from himself as the successor and heir of his family. Be it in terms of pokemon battle, raising them, being a breeder, managing his family's business empire… everything that he needed to learn and do as the heir of the Vera family, he made it a point to excel in them ever since he was old enough to understand the weight resting on his shoulders.
He could still remember back when he was young, the only time where he felt like he could be himself without all the worries and pressure that comes with the title of the heir of the Vera family was when he was with his little sister. Whenever he spends time with her all the hardship that he had to endure suddenly felt like it was worth it. If taking on such harsh lessons would mean that his sister could be spared from it, then the lessons suddenly didn't feel too unbearable anymore.
Although that might be a needless worry seeing as how his parents dote on his little sister more than he does. Their father could never really bear to subject Velda to the truly harsh lessons that Vance had to undergo under their father's tutelage, especially when it comes to pokemon battles. Velda seemed to be a natural in that field, which surprised them but at the same time, not really a surprise either. She is a Vera and the Vera blood runs through her veins as well.
"Hope they are doing fine…" Vance mumbled under his breath as his right eyebrow twitched for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day. He's not a superstitious person, but his right eyebrow had been twitching uncontrollably ever since he woke up this morning. If only he could go to their side in an instant.
Maybe he should give Sebastian a call later just to check in on his trouble-prone sister.
"Haze, then Overheat!"
Chandelure released a dense cloud of hazy fog that obscured their foes' vision of them while cancelling the negative side effect of Overheat at the same time. Flannery's torkoal unleashed another Overheat that cremated the Team Plasma members that tried to kill them in the next instant.
Flannery's presence alone was able to stall and blockade the Team Plasma army from advancing too far inwards into Opelucid City to cause harm. She acknowledged that she's young and compared to her fellow Hoenn Pillars, she's probably on the lower end of the power spectrum. She may be a relatively inexperienced Gym Leader but she's by no means a pushover.
What she lacks in skill and experience, she can make up for it in sheer firepower.
"Heat Wave!"
Her charizard released a blast of scorching air that forced the Plasmas to temporarily retreat lest they wish to suffer a nasty death. She could see shadows dancing about the edge of her vision, an indication that Looker was also assisting in the city's evacuation efforts with the help of his ghost types. The faster they evacuate the city, the faster she could unleash her full strength without needing to worry about friendly fire.
Is Drayden not back yet? Flannery thought and suddenly, Zinzolin's threat level started to rise in her mind. If Zinzolin could stall Drayden for so long it would mean that he's a very accomplished trainer as well. Drayden is recognised as the most powerful Gym Leader of Unova, someone of equal stature with the likes of Norman, Giovanni, and Volkner in their respective regions.
It's just bad news one after the other.
"Flannery, we received reports of an unknown bogey coming in hot from the southeastern side of the city's airspace! Whatever it is, it's carrying a dangerous amount of energy! Shoot it down before it reaches the city!"
"I'd like to, but I cannot even spare the effort to catch my breath with so many Plasmas here!" Flannery yelled back into the comms as she commanded her infernape to torch a sawks with a Flamethrower. She's able to hold the fort thus far but it still did not change the fact that she's being severely outnumbered. How is she supposed to spare a pokemon to shoot down a flying unknown bogey with how chaotic things are?
The first solution that she came up with was, unfortunately, to somehow burn down the entire Team Plasma army before that unknown bogey arrived. That's the only answer that she could think of to address this sticky situation.
"Flame-"
Her next command never left her mouth because to her disbelief, Team Plasma suddenly beat a hasty retreat for no discernible reason. Flannery decided not to give chase because it could very well be a trap and however strong she may be, she's still only one person against an entire terrorist organisation that had terrorised an entire region.
Her priority now is to ensure that the city's evacuation efforts goes on smoothly without a hitch, not to battle. Besides, now that she's not preoccupied with defending the city from Team Plasma she can now direct her attention elsewhere.
"Fly!"
She commanded her charizard to fly up even higher so that she could take a better look at the unknown bogey which was said to be flying in from the southeastern direction. It should be in sight anytime now and true enough, she spotted it rather easily.
A flying airship? Now she had really seen it all.
"Flamethrower!"
Charizard blew a scorching cone of flames at the flying airship but to her surprise, the attack bounced off harmlessly as an unknown protective barrier which surrounded the airship from all sides shimmered into view. She tried again, this time commanding all her pokemon to focus their firepower on the airship which had now approached dangerously close to the city. It was stated that a tremendous amount of energy was being detected on that airship. She needs to shoot it down before the obviously weaponised airship could utilise that energy to wrought devastation on Opelucid City.
"This is Flannery! The airship is being protected by some sort of barrier, I'm not sure if I can break through it!" Flannery reported through the comms as her charizard flew closer to the airship while continuing to spew blazing cones of fire out of its mouth. The temperature around them was getting colder and colder the closer she flew to the airship and at this point she's certain that this wasn't her imagination.
"Stall it! We are still not done with the evacuation!" Looker replied through the comms as shadows started to envelop the city, causing people to disappear wherever the darkness passed. It's evident that Looker really is trying his darnest best to get everyone out of danger before the weaponised flying airship starts to lay waste to Opelucid but there's really no time left.
Flannery took a quick look at the situation down below on the ground. Only her charizard is capable of flight among her team. If she wants to focus her entire team's firepower onto a single spot, doing it from below where most of them were at would be optimal.
"Sarah, regroup," Flannery told her charizard and the draconic fire type turned around to make its landing where its companions were at. Now that Flannery's back on the ground, she could see that the bottom of the airship had opened up to reveal a huge cannon, the barrel of the weapon aiming at the Opelucid Pokemon Centre.
Crap, not good.
"Its target is the Pokemon Centre! All personnel evacuate from the area immediately!" Flannery ordered with a shout as she ran ahead with her pokemon to get a better angle for their final shot. Right now, the orders to her by her Champion were thrown to the back of her mind.
"Hoenn cannot afford to lose two Gym Leaders in a diplomatic exchange, especially Gym Leaders of your calibre. If the situation spirals out of control to the point that your lives are in danger, you have my permission to pull out of it immediately."
The barrel of the cannon started to glow in an eerily bluish-white. Even at this distance she could feel the tremendous amount of power being packed into the shot that the cannon is charging up. The energy that's being accumulated is most likely ice-natured seeing as how low the surrounding temperature has dipped. She has no idea what that cannon is but she knew instinctively that it has to be a tactical level weapon. She could not in good conscience watch as that weapon of mass destruction fired its shot and wiped an entire city off the map in her presence. That's not like her, because she's Flannery.
Her thoughts briefly flitted back to her parents that she had lost a long time ago and which she had also resented for a large part of her youth growing up. They never had time for her because they were the best Rangers Hoenn had to offer and she remembered just how much she resented them for always leaving her alone. She barely remembered them because she lost them when she was only eight.
But now, suddenly, she found herself wondering if her parents were having the same thoughts as she did when they went on their last mission, that she has to do something to buy time for people to escape before things spiral out of their control. She couldn't help it, her body simply acted before she could think things through.
Because Unova being a foreign region or not, she's a Gym Leader, a Pillar, a bastion and representation of her region's strength. Protecting the people behind her back is her responsibility and is something that is second nature to her. She simply cannot stand by and watch as a massacre takes place before her eyes.
The cannon took aim as her pokemon took theirs. Flannery whipped out her Key Stone as her camerupt let loose a determined bellow. The mystical colours of the rainbow covered her camerupt as it Mega Evolved and Flannery gave her orders to her pokemon.
"Aim for the cannon! Give everything we got!"
There are still people and pokemon who are still trying to escape the vicinity of the Opelucid Pokemon Centre. They wouldn't be fast enough. By hook or by crook, she has to find a way to prevent the cannon from finding its mark.
The cannon of the airship fired its shot in a deafening boom as Flannery's pokemon retaliated with their hottest flames. What followed after was an explosive clash of fire and ice that created a dense white fog that surrounded the entire area. The temperature of the vicinity turned freezing cold and it was with some difficulty that Flannery opened her eyes while trying her best not to shiver with her teeth jittering.
"M-Mark…?"
The Mega Evolution of her camerupt had receded. It was obvious that her camerupt had opted to take the brunt of the blow for the team as it lay unconscious within a crater in front of them with cold white frost covering its entire body. That's not possible. Her camerupt could not possibly be frozen by ice type techniques due to its Magma Armour ability and yet…
"R-Return," Flannery swiftly recalled her camerupt when it was obvious that it could no longer continue to battle. It's not just her camerupt. Magcargo, infernape, houndoom, chandelure; they are all unable to continue to battle. Just one shot of the cannon from Team Plasma's airship had taken out more than half of a Gym Leader's main team. Flannery shivered uncontrollably, but whether the cause of it was from the cold or the realisation of what this meant was lost to her. She felt so cold to the point that she's unable to even stand, only managing to weakly support her body weight with one knee on the ground.
The only good news was that they had somehow managed to knock off the trajectory of the cannon with their previous attack. The shot fired by the cannon had missed the Pokemon Centre entirely, being deflected off course to a secluded area far out of the city instead and it doesn't seem like the cannon would be able to fire a second shot anytime soon. Her camerupt had managed to dent the cannon enough with its final attack such that a second shot wouldn't be possible.
The front of the airship's hull began to open and Flannery's eyes widened in shock and disbelief as a second cannon emerged from it. The same glow of bluish-white light was manifesting at the barrel of the cannon once again.
This gotta be a very sick joke
Her torkoal, her starter, immediately put itself in front of her and defiantly let loose its roaring flames in the direction of the cannon. The same unknown barrier made its presence known again and Flannery understood that this time, there's no way they will be able to break through the airship's defence, not with more than half her team down.
"D-Don't b-bother yourself with me, j-just go… run!" Flannery gritted out through chattering teeth. She's already unable to feel anything from her legs and her fingers thanks to the biting cold. She couldn't even properly hold a pokeball nor could she stand in her current state. If she could she would have returned her pokemon back to their pokeballs so that they could at least have a chance to survive this ordeal, but that just seemed like an impossible wish now that her fingers were almost entirely frozen.
As of now, she's nothing but a liability to her pokemon. They will die if they continue to stick around her.
Torkoal stubbornly stuck close to Flannery, using its body heat to keep her warm as it continuously emitted clouds of white smoke. Arcanine, flareon, and charizard were the same as well. Charizard's wings were even partially frozen and it's still trying to thaw out its wings, but the fierce determination in its eyes to make its last stand together with their trainer had never been clearer.
"You idiots…" Flannery had no idea if she should laugh or cry at the idiocy of her pokemon but she did feel warm at this very moment. Her parents barely gave her any love, but her grandfather and her pokemon filled the missing warmth in her heart which she never felt from her parents.
And her goofy boyfriend too, couldn't forget about him.
Grandpa, Vance, Vel… Sorry
Her remaining pokemon unleashed their final Overheat as the cannon of Team Plasma's airship fired its second shot. If she has to go down, it will be in a blaze of fire.
She's Flannery, the Gym Leader of Lavaridge.
She's the fire that cleanses evil.
Character and pokemon list:
Velda Vera, Age: 14, Female, Pokemon Trainer, Member of the International Police
Pokemon on hand:
1) Rapidash (Flamel), male
2) Swampert (Bigblue), male
3) Banette (Dolly), female
4) Flygon (Snap), male
5) Absol (Kelsa), female
6) Charizard (Toothless), male
7) Cradily (Lily), female
8) Espeon (Rena), female
9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male
10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male
11) Clefairy (Joy), female
12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female
13) Pangoro (Hulk), male
14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
15) Scizor (Archer), male
16) Lapras (Chill), female
17) Gengar (Wacky), male