One chapter to go until the climax of part one of Hoenn. Don't worry, this part will be finished before the end of the week, so you don't have to wait over half a week for the end. But other than that, I don't have anything else to say, do let's just get on with it.
Chapter 47:
To the Top of Mt. Chimney
Before they left for the mountain, Max had given May his Gallade, so they could quickly teleport out of there should the need arise. Unfortunately, Gallade has never been to the top of Mt. Chimney before, so he can't teleport them to it. So, they have to fly up to it. They were planning on flying straight up to the top of the volcano, but then realise it would probably be wiser to take the cable car up, in order to avoid being detected. So, they land their pokémon near where the cable car station is, and begin heading up to it. But before they reach it, Brendan stops and pulls a hooded cloak from his bag, then he throws it on and covers his face with the hood. "Why are you doing that?" Ash asks. "I want to see what these guys are doing here," he replies. "But they won't admit that if they know who I am." Ash and May nod at this, then the three of them walk up to the cable cars.
As Max and Bonnie had described, the cable cars have no power flowing to them, and there's a handful of guards standing in the way. The three of them approach the volcano, and the guards immediately get in their way. "I'm sorry," says one of them. "But we can't let you past." "Why not?" May asks, feigning innocence. "Because the volcano has recently become active," the guard explains. "It's unsafe to travel up there." "Really?" Ash asks. "Because I heard no mention of this on the news." The guard shrugs. "I guess they didn't want to cause a mass panic," he replies. "But the fact of the matter is, I can't let you pass." "Says who?" may asks. "The Champion himself," the guard replies. "Really?" Brendan asks, stepping forward and pulling down his hood. "Because I don't remember giving those orders."
The guard looks like he's standing in the way of a stampede of Tauros. "M-M-Mr. Champion sir!" he exclaims. "W-W-What are you doing here?" Brendan discards the cloak and shrugs. "I heard that there was some commotion going on here," he says. "So I came to investigate. Now, you're telling me that the volcano is active again, and no one thought to inform me of this?" The guard begins to visibly panic at this. "W-W-Well, uh, you see, uh, we didn't want to worry you," he says. "You've had so much on your plate recently that, uh, we felt it would be best if you didn't worry about this one too." Brendan struggles to contain his amusement at this. "And, what would you have told me if the volcano erupted and I wasn't aware of this?" he asks. Now, the guard begins to sweat bullets. "W-W-W-Well, uh, you see, uh," he panics, trying to string a sentence together. Brendan chuckles at this. "Well, you don't need to worry about that," he says, "because I know for a fact that there is no imminent eruption. That volcano isn't active."
The guard freezes at this. "Wh-Wuh-What!?" he asks. "O-O-Of course there is. We checked and double checked! Look at our readings if you don't believe me!" Brendan laughs at this. "Well, I know those are fake," he says. "If there really was an expert who discovered this, they would've informed me right away. Not some random trainers." Then he looks up at the summit and smirks. "Besides, there's no smoke." The guard talking to them freezes again. "Wh-What do you mean by that?" he asks. Brendan points up to the summit. By this time, the early morning sun has just peeked over the horizon, and the summit is quite visible. "If the long dormant volcano was actually active again, there would be smoke," he points out. "There's no smoke, so the volcano isn't active. So, as Champion, I'd like to know what's going on here."
The guard sighs at this. "Mr. Champion sir," he says. "I wish you hadn't spotted that." Then, he lunges for him. Brendan sidesteps and grabs the guards hand. He pins him to the ground and pulls up his sleeve. There on his arm is the emblem for Team Terra. "I knew it," he says angrily. "You're Team Terra agents." The guard the Brendan pinned looks to the other agents. "Well, don't just stand there you idiots!" he yells. "Get them!" The other agents charge at them. Ash and May swerve around them, before kicking and punching out, knocking some of them over. Brendan meanwhile wrestles the guard's gun from his hand. He fiddles with the setting so it's the taser, then shoots the guard with it. He spazzes a bit, before falling unconscious. He then turns the gun to the other guards that Ash and May are fighting, and shoots some of them down too, allowing the two of them to beat the rest unconscious.
When they're finished, Brendan pockets the gun he nicked and looks at the cable car. Looks like it will need to be turned on," he says. "I'll go do that, you two wait here and keep them knocked down." Then, he runs off into the station. Neither Ash nor May say anything at first. Instead they just stand there awkwardly, waiting for Brendan to get back. But, May figures she needs to address something, so she finally speaks. "You know that thing you said to Max before we left?" she asks. "About how you two are alike in that you shoulder responsibility for something that wasn't your fault?" Ash just nods, not looking at her. "You were speaking from experience, weren't you?" Ash grunts. "Of course I was," he says. "I did say we were alike in that after all." "That's not what I meant and you know it!" she snaps. "I was referring to what you're doing right now!"
Ash rolls his eyes at this. "Serena spoke to you about this, didn't she?" he asks. "She's concerned about you!" May counters. "We all are! You aren't the Ash Ketchum we all know and love anymore! You've changed!" "No I haven't!" Ash argues back. "I'm still the same!" "No you aren't!" May shouts. "I haven't seen you smile since you got here! And one of those is normally glued to your face!" "Hey! I laughed along with everyone else during your father's antics!" Ash counters. "So that's not true!" "That was a slight chuckle!" May shouts back. "That doesn't count! Other than that, you've had this constant tortured frown on your face! Holding your Aura in is hurting you!" "I don't care!" Ash shouts. "I'd rather hurt myself like this than kill someone else! That man's death came from me throwing a sphere during a second where I lost control of my emotions! What if I do that again, and it's one of you that I hit! I can't stand the thought of losing any of you!"
"But you're doing that anyway!" May practically screams. "Serena's hand isn't glued to yours anymore! Pikachu won't ride on your shoulder! Bonnie barely even talks to you! How in anyway is this what you want! If you keep doing this to 'keep us safe' all you'll end up doing is driving everyone you love away!" Ash looks like he wants to argue back, but before he can, the cable car roars to life, and Brendan returns. "Got it running!" he calls. "Let's go." Ash turns away from her and marches up to the cable car. "We're not done here!" May tells him. "We have other matters to attend to," Ash snaps. "I think we are." May seethes at this. "Fine!" she snaps back. "But when we get back, you're going to sit down and listen to your friends, if I have to gey Venusaur to Vine Whip you to a chair!" Ash says nothing to this, instead choosing to keep walking.
The three of them get in the nearest cart and set off for the top of the mountain. They sit in silence for a while, with May glowering at Ash as he stares out the window, determined not to look at either her or Pikachu, who's sitting with May and fixing Ash with a similar piercing stare. Brendan looks between the two of them, and is about to ask if something is wrong. But just as he's about to, the car lurches to a halt. May and Pikachu are thrown forward, and Ash's head hits the window, while Brendan falls to the side. They all get up and look around. The cable car has come to a stop. "Not again," Ash mutters, before looking at Pikachu. "Come on buddy, let's get this thing restarted." Pikachu nods and goes to follow him. But before either of them can do anything, a screen appears in the car and switches on, revealing the masked face of Admin Bannai. "Well, well, well, we meet again Ash Ketchum and May Maple," he says. "And Champion Brendan Birch, quite the honour." "What do you want?" Ash demands, his voice even more growly than usual. "To talk, mostly," Bannai replies. "Oh, but where are my manners. I suppose you'd prefer it if we spoke face to face." Then, he removes his mask, revealing the face of Brodie, the former Admin of Team Aqua.
Brodie looks around at Ash and May's faces, and sees that they recognise him. "Well, isn't that handy," he comments. "It means I don't have to reintroduce myself." "Get to the point!" May demands. "What do you want with us? Why are you launching the Tremors." Brodie laughs at this. "Funnily enough, the answer to both of those questions is the same," he replies. "We need Max Maple. And unfortunately, it seems he isn't with you." Brendan smirks at this. "That's because we saw right through your scheme," he replies. "And we're here to put a stop to it!" Brodie laughs harder. "Well, isn't that cute," he says. "But the thing is, you can't stop them. Not without Max Maple. Hand him over to us, and the Tremors will cease." "I'm afraid that's not possible," May replies. "We didn't bring him, and we're stuck in here. So, we can't get him." Brodie just laughs some more at that. "Not even with the Gallade you brought with you?" he asks.
May's eyes widen and she looks down at her belt. "How did you know!?" she demands. "Were you spying on us?" Brodie laughs harder at this. "Spy on you!?" he asks, hysterical. "Why would I need to do that? I saw your brother use it to teleport away from us, and you've got a 7th pokéball on your belt. It's not rocket science!" May blanches a bit at this. "Now," Brodie continues. "If you don't hand Maple over, I'll be forced to use our weapon again. I was going to threaten to cover all of Hoenn with a Tremor, but I can do something minor with you. Bring him to me, or I'll launch one at the volcano!" Brendan gets worried at this. "You're bluffing!" Ash calls. "You don't have those power supplies from the cave yet! How can you use the weapon?"
Brodie explodes into laughter once more. "Oh, those crystals?" he asks. "Those were just decoys, to lure Maple up here. We're an eco organisation! Do you honestly think we'd use a non sustainable source of power!?" Now that May thinks about it, that does sound pretty stupid. "Our real power comes from the sun!" Brodie continues. "And now, if you won't do what we ask, we'll show you what we're really capable of!" Then, with a shit-eating grin on his face, he points to his right and shouts, "Sub-Admin R, FIRE!" Nothing happens. Brodie looks over at him awkwardly. "I said, FIRE!" he repeats. Still nothing happens. "Why aren't you firing?" he asks. "It's, uh, warming up sir," says a voice off screen. Brodie facepalms. "Warming up," he asks, exasperated. "The SUN is WARMING UP!?" He looks back at them. "Well, it looks like you've still got some time left," he tells them. "Bring us Max Maple, or we'll cover this region in ash!" He pauses, then grins. "Cover it in Ash, that's funny!" he says, before refocusing on them. "Until then." Then, the broadcast ends.
The three of them look around the cable car, hoping to find a way out. "We aren't actually going to listen to him are we?" Brendan asks. Ash looks up and smirks. "Not at all," he says. "I've got a plan." Then, he leaps up and punches a small hatch in the roof, channelling a tiny bit of Aura into his fist. The hatch blasts off, and Ash climbs onto the roof. He holds his hand down and calls out to Pikachu. "Buddy," he calls, "I need you to come up here and electrify the rails! Get us moving." Pikachu nods, and with May's help, gets up on the roof. Then, Ash lifts him up on to the rails. While he powers up his lightning, Ash reaches back down and pulls May and Brendan up to the roof. Just as they're brought up, Pikachu blasts the rails with lightning and the car shoots forward. Everyone immediately grabs onto the pole that keeps the car attached to the rails in order to prevent from falling off.
As the car quickly approaches the side of the mountain, Ash calls out to the others. "Everyone, when I say so, jump off the car!" "What?!" both Brendan and May demand. "Are you crazy!?" "It's either that or crash into the side of the volcano!" Ash replies. "We won't be able to stop in time! So this is our only option!" Neither of them like this, but they agree. So, they brace themselves. Ash counts down from three, then they jump from the car. Behind them, the car flies off of the rail and smashes into the mountain. Ash and May land on their feet and roll, before springing back up, ready to fight. Brendan isn't so lucky. He hits the ground feet first, loses his balance, then falls flat on his face. He spits out a mouthful of dirt and stands up, brushing dirt and dust from his clothes. "When we retell this story to the others," he says, "leave my fall out of it." Both Ash and May agree to that, with May struggling to contain her laughter. Then, they make their way up the mountain.
After a bit more time, they reach the summit. The sound of voices causes them to stop in their tracks and hide behind some rocks. May risks a peek over the rocks and spots two people conversing beside a giant machine. It's a big contraption, with a circular base where the cockpit sits, and a big rod with multiple rings going round it, each getting bigger the further down they go. "So, that's how they cause the Tremors," Brendan muses. "There has to be a way to disable it." Both Ash and May stare at the machine, the same thought in their minds. "Forget that," says Ash. "We take Brodie down, we win!" Then, before Brendan can stop them, the pair charge forward. Brendan facepalms, then follows after them.
Brodie sees them coming and smiles. Before either of them can reach him, he pulls out a gun. "I'd be careful if I were you," he says. "This one is real. One shot and you'd be dead." Both of them freeze, allowing Brendan to catch up. "If you want my brother," May tells Brodie, "then killing me would only hinder you." Brodie shrugs. "True," he admits. "But taking you hostage would almost guarantee his arrival, which is what I'm going to do." May smirks at this. "How will you do that if you can't kill me?" she asks. "The threat of death isn't on the table." "Maybe not your death," Brodie agrees. "But I could always shoot these two. Or, I could cause the volcano to explode, your choice." "It's still not ready yet sir!" Sub-Admin R calls. Brodie rolls his eyes. "I'm aware!" he shoots back. "I'm making a threat here!" May's mind goes into overdrive as she tries to think of a way out of this. In order to give herself time, she decides to keep him talking.
"What do you want with my brother!?" she demands. Brodie smirks. "Our goals are beyond your understanding!" he replies. "But suffice it to say, we require his knowledge. The information he holds will be invaluable to Team Terra's cause. His brain could quite literally save the world!" "And you think he'd help you if you keep me hostage or threaten to destroy Hoenn?!" she demands. Brodie shrugs. "He'll do so reluctantly at first," he admits. "I don't doubt that. But eventually, once he realises what we're trying to do, he'll willingly help us. Now, enough chatter." He points the gun at Brendan. "Call your brother and get him to come here, or I'll blow the Champion's head off!" May panics, trying to think of what to do. "You know that'll only get the people of Hoenn to hate you right!?" Ash shouts. "They won't side with the group that killed their champion!" " A Champion who failed to protect them!?" Brodie asks. Brendan's face flushes red with anger. "Please, I know the people of Hoenn. As long as the Tremors stop, they won't care what happens to him. In fact, I'd bet they'd be pleased, because it'll mean the return of the far superior Steven Stone." Brendan charges towards him.
BANG!
The sound of a gunshot pierces the air as Brodie fires. May shuts her eyes, not wanting to see her friend die. But no sound comes out of Brendan's mouth. Opening her eyes, she sees that Brendan was pushed out of the way. Ash stands in his place, panting furiously and clutching his chest. To her horror, May spots a red stain sprouting from his t-shirt.
Yes I am leaving you there until Thursday, because I am that annoying. Hey, just imagine if I left you with this last week. I bet some of you would've wanted me dead lol. Anyway, I forgot to say that Max gave May Gallade in the last chapter, which is why I brought it up at the start of this one. But with that, see you all in two days for the two-parter. I've been looking forward to writing that for ages.