Chapter 124 – Captured Charizard: The forest murder and the ambush

"Pi-CHUU."

Thunderbolt was the first to attempt to shatter the boulder. He attacked it with iron tail. His tiny tail turned a metallic color, as he jumped into the air and slapped the surface of the boulder. There was a tinkling sound, like a hammer falling on an anvil, as a small fragment of rock slips off. Thunderbolt landed back on the ground then folded his arms pouted when he saw what little impact his attack had made.

"Chu."

Ashachu could not help but chuckle. He tried to stifle it, by putting a paw over his mouth, but Thunderbolt noticed nevertheless and glowered at him.

"What's so funny."

"Err nothing it's just…That was a good effort," Ashachu said hurriedly.

"Hey, I told you I was going to shock Ryu, and I did," Thunderbolt grumbled.

Charizard seemed mildly impressed. "How does he know Iron Tail already," he said coxing his head.

"Egg move," Ashachu suggested. "Pikachu knows it, so he does too. I knew how to use Iron Tail from the moment I hatched too."

Charizard gave a single nod of his large head. "Zar."

Charichu had a bit more luck with his boulder. Like Thunderbolt, he used an iron tail attack, swinging his tail hard at the boulder, which glowed a metallic color. The boulder split into three pieces and fell apart.

"Char." Charichu folded his arms across his chest, like Thunderbolt, except he smiled a satisfied smile rather than a pout.

"Whoa." Ashachu and Charichu both exclaimed at once.

"Was that."

"Iron tail Yes it was." Ashachu finished the flame Pokémon's thought for him. He frowned trying to work out how the Charmander had learnt the move. "Hmmm. Pikachu birth me and Thunderbolt, and I made Charichu. The move must have passed down each time."

"That's incredible." Breathed Charizard, before sidling up to his lizard kit and rubbing his head against him.

Charichu closed his eyes and cooed softly. "Charrr."

Thunderbolt looked even more irritated. He glowered at Charichu and grumbled "Pi chu."

Something that made Ashachu laugh again, in spite of himself. "Ha. Yeah, I know that feeling kiddo."

Thunderbolt turned to glower at Ashachu instead. But before he could say anything, Ryu shouted confidently, "my turn!" He reared himself up in front of the rock. Then, just as he had in their first battle, his body started to glow with a red aura and his eyes started to blaze.

"Wait, Ryu," cried Ashachu, far too late. "That's not a good idea."

"Outrage again," squeaked Thunderbolt.

Ryu let out a loud cry and started throwing his body at the boulder. "DRA-TINIII!"

He succeeded in producing exactly no cracks in the large rock. Something that angered him further. "TINI TINI." Again. and agin he struck the rick with head, tail, and midsection, without causing any damage.

"That's the move that cost you our…ahhhh," Thunderbolt started to say, before Ryu turned is anger or frustration on him, and slapped him hard in the chest with his tail. He flew through the air like a fuzzy yellow tennis ball and slammed into a a tree trunk.

"Hey," Ashachu protested. "Don't do that."

He ran up to Ryu and tried to grab him from behind, only to get slapped across the face with his tail.

"Ouch. Son of a…"

"Ugh. Stop using outrage." Grumble Charizard. He tried to lean over Ryu and pin him down from above, but her serpent like Pokémon managed to give him the slip, before biting an unsuspecting Charichu's tail.

"Char. Charmander char." Charichu cried in pain and started hopping from one foot to the other, trying to pull his tail free from Ryu's maw. He turned and raised his claw to slash at Ryu. But Ryu started to spin around on the spot.

"Char Chaarrrr…"

Charichu became an orange blur as Ryu spun him around on the spot. The flame from his tail burned a large orange blob into Ashachu's vision. Ryu eventually let go the Charmander, sending him flying high into the air.

"Charrr."

Charichu cried out in fright as he felt his body rising higher and higher into the air, as though he had been shot out of a cannon.

"Charichu," yelled Charizard. "Arceus damn it."

Charichu flew over the tops of the trees before dropping back to earth and out of sight.

"Ugh." Charizard clutched the top of his head with his claw in frustration, before pouncing on Ryu and holding him to the floor.

"TINI TINI."

Ryu continued to wriggle under his claws for a moment, before falling still. The aura disappeared from around his body and his eyes glazed over.

"Are you done," growled Charizard, as Ryu looked up at him, his eyes out of focus.

"Huh, how'd I get here," he mused.

"Oh, give me strength," grumbled Charizard. He let go of Ryu and straighten up, stretching out his wings. With a flap he rose up into the air. "Ashy, keep an eye on these two here. I'm going to find Charichu…"

[Pokémon]

Charichu was fortunate to have landed on a pile of leaves that had broken his fall. Still, his body ached all over from the impact. He got gingerly to his foot claws and started trying to make sense of where he was. The ground felt solid and relatively even beneath his foot claws, so he wasn't standing on roots or anything that could make him fall. Sticking his arms out in front of him, he couldn't feel anything around him.

So far, so good…

"Char."

Charichu stretched, throwing his head to stretch his neck muscles. His head was pounding slightly and his there were scratches all over his body. His heart started to pound in his chest as he contemplated his situation.

Where was he…How far had he flown…

"Charmander."

Taking a deep breath, he dropped onto his all fours and started feeling his way around. The ground seemed to be sloping upwards, meaning he must have come over the the other side of the hill. He hoped it wouldn't be a long climb back up. He thought of calling for help, hoping Charizard would find him. But something in his instinct told him that would only attract unwanted attention to him. Who knew what other Pokémon lived in his forest.

"Char."

He hadn't been moving very long when he felt his nose hit something solid and the smell of earth and dirt hit his nostrils. Getting up and feeling around, he felt a solid wall of earth and root in front of him. He could try to climb it, but had no idea how high it was. He sure didn't want to get up high then loose his footing.

Not that way…

He turned and continued in another direction that felt flatter. He gave a big sniff of the air, trying to see if he could pick up Charizard or Ashachu's scent. Instead, he caught something else. The scent of blood and fresh meat…

What the hell…

His stomach gave a rumble at the smell, and he suddenly realised how hungry he was. Sniffing heavily, he moved towards the source of the smell. It didn't take his nose long to find it. Although he could not see who it had belonged to. There was a definite recently dead something lying near a tree.

"Charrr." He had only ever been fed by Charizard before, but instinctively he knew what to do. Blasting the meat with embers until it smelt cooked. Then he sank his teeth into the blacked flesh.

[Pokémon]

The trees were so thick it was almost impossible to see through the canopy. Charizard circled the area several time without sighting so much as an orange scale or tiny tail flame. He cursed to himself irritably.

"Where the hell could he have got to…He couldn't have flow that far, I saw him coming back down to earth. Not like a Team Rocket blast off."

He briefly thought about blasting the canopy with fire, but that risked setting the whole forest ablaze. With Ashachu and the other's still on the hillside, he didn't want to risk that. He also didn't want to fly too close to the treetops, lest he accidentally crash into them.

"Charichu…CHARICHU!" He roared loudly. The sound of his voice echoed in the distance. A flock of Pidey and Spearow fled from a nearby treetop. Charizard ignored them, listening out for anything that sounded like a Charmander.

"Fuck," he swore to himself when no reply came. At this rate he was going to have to land and search for Charichu on the ground.

And that was when he felt something hard and wet hit him in the undercarriage. The force of impact winded him and he felt a sudden wave of cold. Charizard's eyes watered with pain, and he doubled over in mid-air. He blinked furiously to clear them and saw the canopy rushing towards him. He tried to flap his wings to stay airborne, but too late.

CRASH!

Charizard crashed into the top of the tree. The branches broke and spluttered under the weigh of his body, and he fell to the ground. He cried out his pain and cursed as he slammed painfully into the ground.

"Graahhh…Fuck."

He rose to his feet and looked around, brushing the leaves and twigs from his scales. There was nothing remarkable about this part of the forest, and certainly no sign of Charichu. He could see the large hole the canopy above through which he had crashed.

"What the hell was that!"

It had to be an attack of some sort. A water type attack, though not one he had encountered before. It had been strong…He could feel that he had taken damage.

"Who did that…SHOW YOURSELVES." He roared loudly, baring his teeth, and flapping his wings. It had been intending to be an intimating display.

It allowed the invisible Pokémon hiding in the tree behind him to sneak up and get close to him…

"Three…Two…NOW SOBBY!"

"Huh." Charizard's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped in shock as he saw a pair of blue lizard-like creatures handing in mid-air directly in front of him. As though they had just leapt at him. He did not have time to react before he was hit with a torrent of water from two water type attacks, and the world went black around him…

[Pokémon]

Charizard knew he was in trouble the moment he woke up. He was unable to move. His arms, legs, tail, and wings had all been tied down. He was just able to move his head, thanks to his long neck.

"Rah."

His eyes widened as he saw the extent of his predicament. Thick vines had fastened themselves around his wrists and elbows fastening his arms to the ground beside him. His ankles, thighs and the base and tips of his tail were similarly ensnared, and two vines had snaked their way over his chest and stomach.

"Gah."

He thrashed and tried to break the vines off him, but they were strong. Charizard was unable to do anything other than roar and wiggle. His heart pounded in his chest as he tried to work out what had happened and what was going on. The vines…It was probably a Leech Seed attack, but from quite a powerful grass type. And those blue Pokémon. He'd never seen anything like them before. What type of Pokémon were they.

"Zard!"

And for that matter, where was he? It was a room of some kind, but it didn't look to be human built or a cave. The walls were too green and plant like. A secret base maybe. Hidden away from prying eyes in the forest. It was dimly lit. The main source of light was the sun that filtered from the roof and from his tail flame.

"Not so tough now, are you?" came a soft voice.

Charizard raised his head as much as he could to see who it was who had spoken. There was a doorway at the far end of the secret base. A tall slender figure was standing in the entrance way. As it approached Charizard, he saw that it was a blue chameleon like Pokémon. With a long tail, pointed face and a frill on the top of its head. It stood beside Charizard's shoulder. Although the chameleon Pokémon was probably about his size, it appeared to tower over him from his position on the ground. As it bent over him, Charizard noticed another, smaller lizard Pokémon sitting on its shoulder. This one had a small body and a large head, topped with a similar shaped frill.

"Same evolution line," Charizard mumbled to himself. He then glared upwards at the Pokémon, bared his teeth, and snarled, "Who are you? What am I doing here? Let me go or I'll."

The blue Pokémon chuckled. "Hehehe…You're in no position to make threats, Charizard. Why do they always think they can threaten us, Sobby."

"D-don't know," the Pokémon on his shoulder mumbled, as though not really wanting to respond.

Charizard noticed that, while the tall Pokémon seemed confident and in command, the smaller one looked apprehensive and fearful. Gazing at Charizard with wide eyes, as if worried he might attack, despite the restraints.

"You're the one who's going to answer questions," the taller, Chameleon like Pokémon continued. A menacing tone had entered his voice. "Let's start at the beginning. Why did you kill Guzma?"

Charizard had not expected that. He glared at them in disbelief and growled, "what?"

"Don't play dumb with me. We've been tracking him all day. We saw him run past you in the forest. A moment later he was killed by the Darkrai. We want to know why."

"Guzma?" Charizard repeated the name. He remembered the gray-haired kid running past and Ashachu telling him the name. Comprehension dawned on his face.

Which of course, his captor misinterpreted as an admission of guilty.

"I thought so. Don't think you can lie to us? I'll ask you again, why did you kill him?"

Charizard shook his head. "What. I didn't kill anybody?"

"Where's the Darkrai."

"Darkrai?"

Charizard's heart started to race a little. Darkrai…He couldn't have meant. "That's impossible. He's dead!"

"Don't try and fool me. I know exactly who you are and who you work for."

"Yo, Inteleon. Sobbel."

The blue Pokémon was interrupted by a third voice. Charizard raised his couldn't see who had spoken. Squinting, he managed to make out the outline of something flapping just beyond the entrance way to the secret base. The chameleon like Pokémon went over to the door.

"Agent Flapple," he said.

"Reporting for duty," the thing beyond the entrance replied. "How are you doing with that Charizard. He is talking yet?"

"Not but he will."

"That leech seed I used still holding."

"Oh yeah. How's the recognizance going. You found anything yet?"

"No signs of a Darkrai. Though I suppose it wouldn't leave any?"

"Keep looking. But be careful and do not engage if you find him! We know how savage he is."

"So. They're called Inteleon and Sobble," Charizard muttered to himself. "And whoever is out there is call Flapple. What the hell is going on."

Inteleon returned from the entrance way to stand over Charizard again. "Alright, cards on the table. This is your last chance to tell me the truth. We're from the OSS and we've been monitoring you and your trainer, Misty, for a while. We know that your trainer is part of a gang called the Ultra Recon Squad. We saw you kill a schoolboy at the Blueberry Academy in the Unova Region only a few days ago. You were still a Charmander then. We also know the Ultra Recon Squad has been working for the President of the Aether Foundation. We know that a juvenile called Guzma travelled to this region to meet with Interpol agents. And we just saw a Darkrai named Shadow murder him, defile his body and scatter his corpse across the forest."

Charizard blinked and breathed heavily, trying to take this all in. It made no sense.

"I've been a Charizard for years," he growled. "Do I look like I just evolved? And Misty is most certainly not my trainer."

"Perhaps it was the other Charmander," said Inteleon. "The one we found eating Guzma's torso."

Charizard's heart skipped a beat. "What. What other Charmander? Charichu…" He thrashed around in his bindings and snarled viscously at Inteleon and Sobble.

Sobble let out a little squeak and retreated behind Inteleon's head.

"Where is he. I swear if you've hurt a single scale on his body."

"Oh, he's perfectly fine," said Inteleon, gesturing to something behind him. "You can see for yourself."

Charizard flicked his head back as far as he could and saw it. He hadn't noticed it before. A block of ice and contained within.

"YOU BASTARDS…LET HIM GO RIGHT NOW!"

It was Charichu. The little Charmander was trapped in the ice, his eyes wide and his jaws open. Fortunately, his tail flame was still a blaze. Charizard thrashed and pulled on the vines with all his strength. The vines did not break. He gnashed his teeth, puffs of smoke erupted from his nose.

"LET ME GO! I'LL KILL YOU!"

He opened his maw to use flamethrower. But Inteleon had faster reflexes than he did. He jumped backwards, raised his paw, and pointed a long finger at Charizard. A shot of water fired from his fingertip directly into Charizard's face. It was a powerful move too. Charizard felt his strength leaving him. He stopped thrashing about.

Inteleon shook his head. "Well, you can't say you weren't warned. Sobby, fetch the cloth."

"R-really Tel," squeaked Sobble, but Inteleon replied firmly, "Now!"

Sobble swallowed hard, his body trembling, but he did as he was told. Scurrying off Inteleon's shoulder to fetch something from a corner of the room Charizard couldn't see. The next thing he knew, Inteleon had shoved something in his mouth.

It was circular and tasted of rubber and latex. He tried to spit it out but couldn't seem to dislodge it.

"Mrrmmm w-h-a-t t-h-e h-e-l-l!"

It rendered him unable to bite, breath fire or even make intelligible sound. He started to wriggle and squirm again, as a damp cloth was thrown over his face. Charizard shook his head in an attempt to dislodge that too. But a pair of small paws grip it from behind, pulling the cloth over his head. The wet fabric pressed against his nostrils. It was thick, and hard to breathe through.

"Make sure you keep a tight hold of that Sobby," Inteleon instructed.

"G-got it," squeak Sobble.

Inteleon smiled wickedly at Charizard. "So, shall we get started!"

[Pokémon]

Meanwhile…

"It is done Master Misty."

Shadow knelt on the forest floor in front of the human girl. It was an almost unnatural gesture for the Darkrai. While he had legs, he almost appeared to float above the ground, giving him a more sinister appearance. Kneeling like this, with his cloak like lower appendage touching the grass, and his back bent forward, Shadow took on an almost comical appearance.

"No, it is not," Misty replied curtly.

Shadow recoiled slightly at the tone of Misty's voice. The Darkrai had never seen her face, hair, or any other identifying features. She always dressed in the high-tech jumpsuit, with her head and face mostly covered by her helmet and visor. He knew very little about her, or the other members of the Ultra-Recon squad for whom she worked. She gave the instructions, and he followed. That was all there was to it these days.

Unless he wanted to be punished.

"But…The boy is dead," Shadow said rather quickly. Almost Pleadingly. "He never made contact with the police. He's not said a word."

"I've had reports from the boss," snapped Misty. "You were seen. Two agents from OSS saw you kill Guzma. A third agent found part of the body. Take a look."

Misty raised her right arm. From the gauntlet she wore on her hand, a holographic image beamed into the space between Misty and Shadow. Three dimensional replications of Inteleon, Sobble, and third Pokémon that resembled a small spindly winged lizard who looked like he was wearing an apple. The sides of the apple were stuck to his arms to form wings, and the top of the apple sat on his head like a tiny hat.

"Inteleon, Sobble and Flapple. Known as agents seven, nine and recon one. You weren't careful enough."

"I-I…" Shadow started, his voice noticeably nervous. "I…Master Misty. I beg your forgiveness."

"I don't want to hear your apologies," said Misty. "I want them dead. Bring me that Sobble's head. Understood."

Shadow arched his back, bowing as far as he could. His plume nearly touched the ground. "At once Master Misty. It shall be done."

He rose back up in the air, turned around and disappeared back into the trees.

Misty tapped a button on the side of her helmet and spoke into a built-in communicator. "Report status. Subject G has been terminated as required. Instructions relayed to dispose of witnesses…Will update as developments occur."

[Pokémon]

In an office a thousand miles away, a dark brooding man sat back in a large chair in a dark office. A red line on a computer screen on the desk in front of him read, "COMMUNICATION TERMINATED."

He looked at the woman standing on the other side of the desk. Fair haired with a hard face.

"The Ultra-Recon squad are proving to be valuable assets. All the same I suspect we will have to have Misty and Shadow killed before the operation moves to its final stages. Too much bloodlust can become a liability if allow free roam for too long."

"Chairman Rose, if I may," said the woman. "Ze Pokémon, you want killed. They are OSS agents. Is dat wise. If ze OSS are investigating us. Then ought we not be cautious."

Chairman rose grinned evilly. "Better dead agents with no news than alive ones with a potential lead. I own this region; I own its government. A pair of dead Inteleon with nothing to show for their work won't cause us any trouble."

He stood up and started out of the glass window behind him. It was twilight and the first stars were appearing in the night sky. The city below was a maze of shadows, punctuated by the glow of light from the street lamps and windows of buildings. The moon reflected silver of the glassy surface of the river, then ran through the city like a Seviper or Dragonair.

"Has the meeting with the Prime Minister been established."

"All preparation are made."

Rose permitted himself another sinister smile. "Excellent. Soon we will be overseeing the greatest transition seen by human or Pokémon kind. And then there will be nothing standing in my way…"