Chapter Forty-Eight:
First Flight

Disclaimer: I do not own the series Pokémon. Like, at all. It and all its respectable characters are © to Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri. However, all writing contents and semi-plots here are © to me; unless it is stated otherwise. All shows/ books/ video games/ songs that are mentioned in this chapter are all © to their respective owners, I do not own them.

Notes: I've been posting art for this story to my tumblr, blue-skiesand-silverlinings! Go and have a gander, y'all!

Current Team: Keno the Swampert, Sela the Mightyena, Ambrose the Kirlia, Faye the Swellow, Nux the Gyarados, Gunner the Lairon

Badges Won: Stone Badge, Knuckle Badge, Dynamo Badge


"Commander, I have an idea."
"Go ahead, Watney."
"Well, if I can find something sharp in here, and poke a hole in the glove of my EVA suit, I could use the escaping air as a thruster and fly towards you. It would be easy to control because it would be on my arm."
"I can't see you having any control if you did that. You'd be eyeballing the intercept using a thrust vector you can barely control."
"Yes, those are all very good points. But consider this: I'd get to fly around like Iron Man. Commander…let's go Iron Man!"
-Mark Watney and Commander Melissa Lewis, " The Martian"


"Are you sure? We aren't gonna get in trouble, are we?"

Shay smiled up at the uncertain Gyarados staring down at her as he tilted his head to the side, as though to size her up with more scrutiny. The rest of her team, sans Faye, were already tidied up inside their pokéballs. They were nestled safely inside her sling pack now that camp was broken down. They were ready.

Right?

"Nah, none of those Rangers can do jack-shit to us now, Nux. We got the license, remember?"

All her annoyance and frustration that had been building up nearly a month ago was gone, as though it had never existed at all. It was a relief that had finally come, easing away all those pent-up feelings. She adjusted her pack on one of Nux's dorsal spine, careful to cinch the straps to keep it from loosening mid-flight. If she lost this, she'd lost everything in it. Everything she owned, including the few things from her old life she had left.

"Everything good to go?" Faye called down from her perch atop the Gyarados's head. Her eyes were bright with mirth as Shay shot her a smile.

"Yeah, looks like we're good."

When she was satisfied, she pivoted towards Nux's head, a hand pressed to his scales as she walked. They were like flat coins pressed smooth and flush to his body, with hardly any depressions or grooves to disrupt his sleek build. From afar, she wouldn't have guessed that he had thousands of tiny scales that fell in neat rows, one right after the other the way they do. He appeared slick and smooth from a distance, but up close, she could count each individual scale and it was almost akin to that of snakes.

Or perhaps, more accurately, sea serpents.

If Shay were to judge, Nux's sleek build was perfectly honed for fast swimming and flying. They were also tough, with there being little give to the pressure of her fingers pressing against them. She could feel the flex of Nux's muscles as he shifted and breathed, could sense the power behind it and could only imagine just how much damage he could unleash if he really wanted to. If he ever decided to flick her away, she knew she wouldn't stand a chance in trying to hold her ground. She'd definitely go flying and perhaps even sustain broken bones, if not ruptured organs.

She stopped just past his front limbs, where another dorsal spine lay centered along his backside just ahead of his shoulders, high and imposing to stare at from the ground. It was almost as big as her. Slowly, Nux lowered himself further to the ground, head twisted to face her. He got closer until a huff gusted in her face and she laughed, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Dude, stop! We're gonna be fine. I took a look at some of that stuff Morgan had me pick up before we left Shardust. There was a lot of supplementary material in it, most of it about pokémon riding. We'll take it slow and steady, okay?"

Nux's coral-coloured eyes flicked away from her to his backside. "Do you think it's enough to do this?"

Shay quirked her lips. "Dunno. I think so, but I'm not going to get too cocky and say that I'm a hundred percent certain. More like…eighty-ish? I think that's good enough."

"Is that good?"

She snorted. "Out of a hundred? Sure."

"How encouraging," Faye added. Shay ignored the light barb but shot the Swellow a warning look. Nux seemed to mull on this before his lips peeled back to show off his gleaming teeth in a draconic smile. "Sounds good enough to me!"

Shay beamed and reached up to pat his snout. Anticipation and excitement sang inside her, urging her to hurry up. "Okay. Let's do this!"

Nux responded by silently laying down all the way, as much as he could to allow Shay to clamber up onto his backside. She managed to pull herself up once she got a good grip on his dorsal spine. It was rough and ridged, a solid piece of hardened keratin that had three distinct points, the middle one being the largest and tallest. She gripped the third lowest one that sat just above her eye level with hands that shook with excitement. Let's just hope I don't accidentally impale myself on this thing through the face because of turbulence.

Thoughts of possible injury scenarios aside, Shay held herself in place with the strength of her thighs, like she would if she were in the saddle of a horse. Nux was watching her thoughtfully, head tilted in curiousity.

"I'm ready whenever you are," Shay said, trying to ignore the way her heart was racing in anticipation, or how sweaty the palms of her hands were suddenly becoming. She kept wiping one and then the other on her pants, hoping to dry them manually until they got in the air.

Slowly, Nux rose up, and Shay clenched her legs instinctively while looking down. The curve of Nux's spine where she seated was level enough that she wasn't tilting too far forward or too far back. She most attributed that to the curve of his shoulder blades disrupting the otherwise cylindrical shape of his build.

"If you start to fall, I think that I can catch you if you stay in that spot on my back," Nux stated, and he lifted one of his front limbs to wave at her.

"I kind of figured as much," Shay replied. She could barely hear him over the sound of blood rushing in her ears. Nux nodded in understanding and swung his head forward, shaking it rigorously as he readied himself. Faye took to the air when he did with a whistle, pumping her wings to propel herself upwards.

"Hold on tight!"

She barely got the word, "Okay" out of her mouth the Gyarados launched himself upwards. His leap stole the air from her lungs and the upwards rush made her belly grow abruptly hollow and cavernous, leaving her suddenly lighter than the air itself. The roaring of blood in her ears from moments ago was instantly replaced by the rushing of the wind. It tugged relentlessly at her, determined to rip her from Nux's backside as he undulated and climbed higher up into the air. She held on tight, her hands beginning to ache from the uneven texture of his dorsal spine while she likewise squeezed with her legs to keep herself in place.

A bellow ripped from Nux as his incline steadily evened out.

Shay could finally breath and she sucked in air with a few stunted laughs in between. Delight rippled through her as she glanced around,

We're flying. We're really in the air, we're flying—

Something caught her eye, and she glanced off in the direction it came from. She belatedly realized it was a mistake when that something happened to be Faye gliding right below her and Nux, wings spread out as she swayed to and fro. And below her and Nux, below Faye, way, way down…

Shay's stomach returned in that moment to remind her that nausea existed, and it hit her with a vengeance. She slammed her eyes shut and squeezed her hands, taking deep and calming breathes, waiting for it to pass. Luckily, it didn't last, and she slowly reopened her eyes and spared another glance down. It wasn't as nauseating to see the ground so far beneath them now, thankfully. The mountains that had sheltered them for the night were quick to fall away, all except for Mount Chimney. It remained an imposing figurehead of Hoenn, crowned in silver clouds, its sides a rich and earthy, warm reds and browns and greys, with smatterings of green from the forests that ringed its base.

In the far-off distance, well beyond the fuzzy distance of the land, she could swear she saw the ocean, a faint glittering line on the horizon.

Hoenn was a lot larger than she had originally believed. A second thought struck her upon that realization.

Shit. Shit , I don't know where Lavaridge is from the air!

Shay craned her neck and leaned a little over, trying to see if Faye was still beneath her and Nux.

"You have no idea how to get anywhere from up here, and no way to direct this big lummox, do you?"

Shay yelped and hurriedly clutched all the tighter to Nux's dorsal spine, head snapping upwards to see Faye had perched herself on the topmost point. Her wings were tucked in as she clung to the Gyarados, looking barely ruffled or bothered.

"Got any ideas?"

Faye nodded. "I can scout ahead and get the lay of the land ahead of us. We're going west, right?"

"Yeah, with a slight trajectory northward. It should be closer towards Mount Chimney; I remember that from the map. Once you've got eyes on the prize, you come straight back to us and take point. We'll follow your lead from there."

The Swellow nodded again and spread her wings, letting the wind do the work for her. It swept her away and she languidly unfurled them fully and with a tilt, she was dipping back to an air current below Shay and Nux. The way she moved was so casual, so natural. Shay was envious and hoped to achieve that, even if she was only ever a backside passenger.

Shay lifted herself up by the strength of her thighs, trying to see past Nux's head to follow after Faye and seeing if she was flying out ahead of them. She relaxed when she finally caught a glimpse of Faye's dark form gliding off into the western distance ahead of them.

"Is she supposed to be going that far from us?" Nux called back to Shay, craning his head to glance back at her. The wind was roaring in her ears, making it hard for her to hear accurately. It took a moment for Shay to process Nux's words before she replied.

"I told her to, yes! She's gonna find Lavaridge for us!"

A rumble answered her back and nothing more as he brought his head forward once again. He gave a small, almost lazy, adjustment in his flight path following Faye's trajectory.

Shay was suddenly glad she had decided to pull on a long-sleeved jacket, despite the heat of the early morning. It was getting colder the higher they went…

And the air was getting thinner, she began to notice. Her chest was growing uncomfortable with how tight it felt, how her vision was growing fuzzy and tunnel-like, how hard it was it was to focus with the sudden ache in her skull that was growing to a rapid crescendo…

Not good. Gotta get lower, we're way too high, Shay quickly recognized, wincing as her chest continued to tighten up even worse with each struggling, painful breath. It didn't matter how much she tried to suck in, it wasn't enough. She struck uselessly at Nux's side a few times with the flat of her hand. He didn't seem to notice, so she called out to him. Or tried to, anyway. Her voice felt smaller than usual. It didn't help how the very wind seemed to steal away her voice, drowning her out.

She was gasping now, struggling to focus. Her hands shook and rattled, and she tried to tighten her grip on Nux, the fear of falling off his backside swelling inside her.

Okay, now I need to get his attention. Hit hard, he can take it, and I'll apologize when we're at a better place.

Shay sucked in a large gulp of air—as much as she could— and balled up a fist and smacked it against Nux's side, harder than she had moments before. At the same time, she called out his name, again as loud as she could. She did this several times, hating how she struggled to simply breathe, never mind move. Her actions, thankfully, seemed to finally get his attention. Nux jolted, startled and he glanced back at Shay as she slumped forward, clinging as best she could to his dorsal spine. She really didn't want to lose her grip and go tumbling over. She pondered whether Nux would have even noticed if she had fallen off.

Shay motioned for him to go down. Nux wavered, but he eventually obliged, turning his head back around to dip it forward and downward. Slowly but surely, the agonizing tightness in Shay's chest lessened and began returning to a semblance of normalcy. Nux glanced back at her periodically before he piped up, "Why do you want me landing? Is everything okay?"

"No, no! Don't land! Just…fly lower."

"Why?"

"I can't breathe up there!" Shay replied with a gasp. She still struggled for breath, but it wasn't as pronounced or painful as it had been when they were much higher. Nux's eyes widened, and he glanced upwards at the endless and vast amount of sky that still loomed above them.

"I could breathe just fine up there. Why couldn't you?"

Lower still they went, until they were almost below the peak height of Mount Chimney. It was very nearly the absolute landmark they were aiming for, given their trajectory. How tall was the volcano again? How close was Lavaridge to it again?

"The air gets a lot thinner the higher we go. I would have gotten altitude sickness if you kept going. I don't know how you do it, but I can't. Not without training." Shay finally managed to reply, finding the lower altitude agreeing with her more readily. What was the old adage? ' Live high, train low'? That was an essential she'd learned during her deployment training. Stupid, she should have remembered that advice before she and Nux had gotten to that point.

"So…you need to train like us, then." Nux concluded, giving her another glance backwards.

"Something like that," Shay said, more to herself than to Nux. Even experienced mountain climbers had to prepare for higher elevations and lower air content. She didn't know how to do that, and she'd need to figure it out soon. Especially if she was going to be flying on the regular with Nux.

"Well, if you need to train, we should start now!"

Before Shay could process what he had meant by that, or even get a word out, Nux jerked forward and dipped into a sudden and sharp nosedive. A yelp spilled out of Shay as the atrocious pokémon picked up speed, making his way back towards the earth.

"You've never flown before! Me neither! So, I guess we'll learn together!"

" NuxNuxNuxNuxNUX—OooohhhhHOLYSHITDUDE! "

The ground, it seemed, was the suddenly abrupt destination that Nux seemed hellbent on heading toward. More specifically, it was the trees that were densely populating the ground, pressed so close together, Shay could no longer make out any discernable landmarks, roads, trails—nothing. It was all a terrifying, insane, thrilling blur.

"Nux, come on, dude! Pull up! PULL UP!"

Nux only rumbled back in vague response. Once again, the space within her abdomen felt like it was no longer housing any of her organs. She was nothing more than a gaping, hollow shell clinging to the back of a Gyarados that could hardly even hear her speaking. The only thing she was remotely aware of that seemed to actually be working was her heart. It was pounding relentlessly away against the backs of her ribs, threatening to break free past her sternum.

" NUX, PULL! UP! "

The second the desperate words flew from her mouth, Nux was already banking sharply downwards, narrowly pulling up just before colliding with the canopy of the treetops below. She could hear the scream of the branches and leaves in her ears as Nux blew right over them.

"You still good back there?"

"DUDE, NO! M-MAYBE! I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE!"

Nux startled at Shay's shouts, and he slowed down almost to a complete stop. They were closer to the ground, but barely by any acceptable margins. Nux craned his neck back around to stare at her, a brightness lighting up his coral-coloured eyes. Now that he was still, she could feel his sides heaving beneath her, his body thrumming with unspent energy.

"Was I going too fast? Not fast enough?"

Shay glanced downwards again, taking note of how much closer to the ground they were—but a drop for her would still be lethal at best. She tried to shove those thoughts aside and returned her attention back to Nux. She no longer felt as though she had to gasp and struggle for breath. Her chest no longer ached, demanding more and more air and getting none. Shay didn't know what it felt like to hit past the sound barrier, but she didn't want to senselessly subject herself to such conditions without any prior warning or training.

She was however, fairly confident, that the speed Nux had hit was well below that margin for now.

"A little too fast, buddy, yeah. I'm hanging on by my bare hands, I'm not in a harness or anything." She replied, flexing her hands to rid herself of the sudden onset of cramping. She winced at the sight of the deep, red welts lining the palms of her hands, the creases of her fingers. She wasn't bleeding, thankfully enough, and turned her thoughts elsewhere. Could she even get a harness outfitted for a Gyarados? No, right? She'd have to remember to look it up later.

"I like going fast," Nux said, cocking his head to view the ground below them. "I couldn't swim this fast as a Magikarp, even before I got hurt."

Shay's brows creased together as surprise took her over.

"You…you've never said anything, about what happened that night."

"It was…it's…hard, to-to explain. I remember feeling helpless, though. I watched my schoolmates get shredded into pieces. I don't know how I lived when they didn't. But I also remember just…waiting to die."

There was a tremor in his voice as Nux spoke, and for a moment, Shay forgot how to speak. She could only stare at him, unable to form words. What could she even say to him to follow up? ' Sorry to hear that, let's get a move on with this gym challenge'?

Nux lifted his head back up to bare his gaze on her once more, his draconic muzzle pulling into a toothy smile. "And then you rescued me. I remember seeing you, on the boat with that old fuzzy-faced human."

"Mr. Briney," Shay provided, finding her voice at last. "He was so mad, seeing what happened to you, to the other Magikarp. It made me angry, seeing what had happened too."

"You saved me from being eaten, because…that's what happens, when you're a weak little fish. Bigger fish eat you."

"That's…unfortunately right." Shay muttered resignedly, remembering how she had narrowly reclaimed Nux's pokéball from the dark and blood-soaked sea. Straight from the jaws of a hungry Sharpedo. If she had been even a few seconds slower…

Nux stretched out his neck, coming in closer until he was only an arm's length away from Shay. She instinctively reached for him. and he willingly let her gather his head in her arms to cradle him. She scratched along the curve of his jaw, pleased to find that there was more give and pliancy to his face than his body.

"I'm glad that I was able to help at least one of you. I'm sorry that we couldn't do anything more than pass the buck to the authorities."

Nux rumbled back. "Me too. You're not too bad for a human, even if you've got fragile little sticks for limbs."

Shay squawked in protest, shoving Nux away abruptly to hold him at arm's length. Despite her offense at the comment, she grinned at the Gyarados and laughed.

" 'Sticks for limbs'?! I beg your finest pardon— how fucking dare you!"

Nux flashed his teeth at her in yet another smile, shaking his head. The long twin barbels on either side of his snout wiggled around Shay and she lightly batted them away with another round of laughter. "I'll show you ' sticks for limbs, you overgrown death noodle!"

The Gyarados growled playfully and made a few passing feinted nips at her. He paused mid-nip, tilting his head to the side before he swung back to face forward and gave a delighted wiggle.

"Faye's back!"

Shay leaned to the side to see past him, where Shay saw the Swellow swiftly approaching. She angled her wings and caught an updraft, quickly rising until she leveled out, flinging her legs out to clasp at Nux's horns when she was close enough.

"Faye, it's good to see you back in one piece! Did you find Lavaridge? Or anyplace, really?"

Faye carefully preened one of her wings before answering. "I found a rather large human settlement north of here, so I assume it's Lavaridge. I would have been here sooner, but I got waylaid by a smarmy Pelipper who thought I'd make for an easy meal."

Oh, god, I forgot that pelicans will do that, Pelippers do that too? Ugh. One problem at a time.

"Sorry to hear that, Faye. Stick close to us from here on out." Shay called out to the Swellow, motioning for her to come closer.

"Like they can catch me, but if it will make you feel better…I'll stay close."

Faye took to the air once more, but her flight was decidedly short-lived as she dove towards the dorsal spine Shay was clinging to, clawed appendages gripping the keratin tightly in her grasp.

"Keep heading north. There's some smoke coming out of the homes, so you should look for those."

"Smoke? Does that mean something's on fire?" Nux queried back to them.

"More likely they have cooking fires or…what are they called again? Not campfires, like we have."

"Fireplaces or pit fires. Some people like to have a fire in the backyard, especially if it's for a special occasion or for parties. Some people have grills or brick ovens in the backyard and cook some meals that way," Shay replied helpfully. A wistful smile graced her features for a few moments. "I used to go camping in the desert as a kid with my family. It got cold at night, especially in winter months. We'd have a fire going for hours and we'd pull hot coals out by a shovel and settle it under whatever camping chairs we were in."

Nostalgic memories aside, Shay cleared her throat.

"We'll land wherever Faye directs us and see if it's Lavaridge when we do. Let's get going, Nux!"

The Gyarados gave a chuff in the affirmative, jerked his head forward and began moving again, body slowly undulating as he set course for the northwest, closer still to Mount Chimney.


Lavaridge lay nestled at the base of Mount Chimney, a cozy mountainside town. True to Faye's direction and markers to look for, there were several thin threads of smoke that wafted into the air from dozens of homesteads.

At a few pats to his sides, Nux flew lower until Shay found the telltale marker that signaled the Pokémon Center's location. By the time they touched down, the sun was already low in the sky, having dipped down past the apex of the mountain peaks. Cool shadows softly wrapped themselves around the town, making the lights—both fire and electric—glow like gold.

The yellow lights from the Pokémon Center especially held a welcoming warmth as she slid from Nux's backside and down onto the ground. Shay groaned at how much her body ached, especially her lower back and thighs from keeping herself upright and in position on Nux.

Like riding a horse. A really girthy and long horse…that can fly, Shay thought. It has been, admittedly, a hot minute since she's ridden an actual horse.

Faye followed her trainer's example and swooped down to land on Shay's shoulder while Nux shook and stretched himself. Shay flinched at the startled yelps from a few passersby on the sidewalk.

"Watch it with that thing!" One of them shot at her, coupled with a glare from both himself and a gnarled-looking Nuzleaf. They shot Shay and Nux a similar look as their trainer, the leaf atop their head shivering menacingly as they trotted rapidly off down the sidewalk.

Nux growled softly and lowered his head to nudge Shay. "What's their problem?"

"You, apparently. Ignore them. Don't engage."

"Why not? They're snippy. I think I deserve the right to be snippy back."

Shay sighed and patted him gently on the snout. "Trust me, it's rarely worth it. Especially when someone is as big as you. Let's get checked in and then we can rest together."

Already, she was going through a checklist in her head as she moved to pull her hiking pack up and off the dorsal spine she'd secured it to. Shay's mother always put her faith into a hearty checklist. Shay was hoping she could acquire her essence in trying it out more closely. Faye briefly leapt into the air, hovering, until Shay had secured her straps over her shoulders. She winced as the aches in her body protested but clenched her jaw and bore the brunt of it without protest.

She recalled both Faye and Nux before stepping inside the Lavaridge Pokémon Center, a cool wave of A/C and relief washing over her. One step closer to the Hoenn League. One step closer to Sinnoh.

One step closer to home.


Additional Notes: I had a good chunk of this chapter done before I went on vacation a few weeks back and got another chunk done while I was away. I just got back this week and whoo-boy! I got to ride some Clydesdales, and those horses are big! With me being only 4'11", I looked like a tiny child on a horse like that! I had so much fun with my family doing that. They even had baby Clydesdales, and they were as big regular horses at only a few months old! THEY WERE SO FLUFFY AND ADORABLE! :D

On separate note, I know that in ORAS, the plot progression was meant to go through Fallarbor, Meteor Falls, and then Mount Chimney itself first before going through to Lavaridge for the Heat Badge...but I have elected to change the order around because dammit, there are things to plan! Things to write! Things to get out of my head and onto the page, and it will make more sense when I get to it!